THE LIBRARY OF
BROWN UNIVERSITY

THE CHURCH
COLLECTION
The Bequest of
Colonel George Earl Church
1835-1910

THE

HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

TilE

PAULO AFFONSO, KING OF THE RAPIDS, THE NIAGARA OF BRAZIL.

THE

HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL
By captain EICHAED

F.

BURTON

F.R.G.S., ETC.

Krazil

is

usually represented by a

VOL

Tupy Woman.

11.

LOXDOX
TINSLEY BROTHERS,

18,

CATHERINE STREET, STRAND.
1869.

[All Rights of Translation

and Rcyrodudwii

reserved.']

EXPLORATIONS
OF THE

HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL;
WITH

A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE GOLD AND
DIAMOND MINES.
ALSO,

CANOEING DOWN 1500 MILES OF THE GREAT RIVER SAO FRANCISCO,

FROM SABARA TO THE SEA.

BY

CAPTAIN RICHAED
F.R.G.S.,

F.

BURTON,

ETC.

VOL. IL

LONDON:
TINSLEY BROTHERS,

18,

CATHERINE

ST.,

STRAND.

1869.
[All Rights of TrcmskUion

and McproductioH

reserved.']

».

LONDON
BRADBURY, EVANS, AND

CO.,

a(p 5

:

PRINTERS, WUITKFRIARS.

2.

i<

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER.
I.

— SABARA

PAGE

TO SA2sTA LUSIA

Departure.
Eliza. "

— SAXTA

II.

—Adieux. — The

—The

—AT

Raft,

and what

of the

—TO

*
'

Brig

11

23

—

—

—

Excui-sion to Lagoa Santa.

Word

"Cachoeii-a" means.

CASA BR^iXCA AXD THE CACHOEIRA DA ON9A

—

—TO

—The

JAGUARA

The Countiy House.
Ugly Rapids.
V.

it.

— Hospitable Receptions.

Nims.

—

IV.

in

State of the River.

Rides about the Place.
The Vegetation.
Dr. Lund.
M. Fom-reau.
What the

»

is

LUSIA TO JAGUARA

Macahubas
III.

1

.

— The Country Gentleman. —Visit

.

.

THE FAZEXDA DO DOM SUCCESSO
The Coroa,

—Preparations

or Sand-bar.

38

to Jequitiba.

56
to Visit Diamantina.

— The

Pleasures of Solitude.

VI.

—TO

THE CIDADE DIAMANTIXA

72

Parauna River and Village
the Caboclos. — The Windy Rivulet. —
The SeiTra da Contagem. — Comjilete change
Country and Vege—Camillinho Vegetation. —Gouvea. —Dona Chiquinha.
Solar Eclipse. — Bandeirinha. —
of

of

tation.

'Arrival.

VII.

—AT

DIAMAXTIXA

—
—The Diamond

City described.

94

.

Society.

— Populaiity

of the English in the Brazil.

in the Brazil, its discovery, &c.

— Value

of exported

Diamonds.
VIII.

—TO

THE DIAMOND DIGGINGS OF THE SOUTHERN RIO DAS
PEDRAS, ALIAS THE JEQUITINHONHA
.

.

The Ride.
Servigo

—Mine

Plunder.— Dr.
Mountain.

.

.

—The
— Sao Gongalo the Good
Machinery.
described. — Expenses. —Want
—The " Lomba Mine.— The Maravilha

Quaint Stones.

of

Girls.

of

Dajn-ell.

— Return to Diamantina.

"

109

CONTENTS.

vi

CHAPTER
IX.

PAGE

— THE

DIAIHOND MINE AT SAO JOAO
The Brant Family.— " Duro."— Ride out.

—
—

Reach the Arraial
Kinds of Deer.
Rapid Feeding. The Duro Mine.
"
Menino," the new Paddle.
X.

— NOTES

of

125

— "Le

Sport. " —Different

Sao Joao do Descoberto. ^Barro Mine.
Engage

—The

—

ON THE DIAMOND

135

—

Diamantine Lands in the Brazil, where found.
Prospecting for
Diamonds. Concession to work,
Perfection of the Diamond.
Debated origin of the Stone. —Refraction, Tests, &c.
Where

—

—

—

—

—

Diamond grounds.- Diamond "Formagoa," 6r Stones
formed.
that accompany the Gem.
Note from M. Damour.
Shape of
Its colour.
Diamond.
Its laws.
Its weights and price.
About
" Boart." Celebrated Brazilian stones.

—

XI.

—FROM

—

—

—

—

—

BOM SUCCESSO TO THE COROA DO GALLO

The Saco

—

—

.

.

—

.

155

or Porto das Burriuhos.
Independence Day.
The Cachoeira do Picao. "
The Lajja dos Urubus. The Burity Palm.

—

—

'

'

Silent Birds.

XII.

—FROM

THE COROA DO GALLO TO THE ILHA GRANDE

.

169

—

The delightful
''Cachoeira da Escaramuga " {No. 10, and final).
The Howling Montemj)erature.
Vennin.
Eclipse of the Moon.
The
keys howl, and other signs of an approaching rainy season.
Gulls, and noisy birds.
Serpents.
Jacare, or Brazilian crocodile.
Last night on the Rio das Velhas.

—

—

—

—

—

XIII.

— TO

—

—

AND AT GUAICUHY

185

— The great " Meeting the Waters.
—The "
Guaicuhy described, the Manga and the
—The Serrinha and
Vi€w. — The good "Delegate
Leandro Hermeto

Landing.

Jiggers."-

of

Villa.

of Police, Sr.

its

da

XIV.

—TO

Silva.

THE RAPIDS OF THE PIRAPORA

—

199

'*Pirapora " means.
The name " Sao Francisco " explained.
A new crew. The Pirapora examined. Diamonds. The Storm
"
The " horse -boat
and the " Bull's eye. " The barca, or yawl.
wanted.
The Barqueiro, or Waterman of the Rio de Sao Francisco.
His poetry, his improvisation, and his suj)erstitions.

What

—

—

—

—
XV.

—THE

—

—

—

—

RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO

214

—Direction. — Length. —Magnitude. — Geology. — Glazed
—Iron Deposits. — Wealth
Valley. — The River considered
connection with
and
—
communication. — The
the Brazil
as a
Deplorable neglect
water communication. — Rivers versus
Railways. — The Rio das Velhas
the Upper Sao Fran—Estimates clearing the Rio das Velhas, by M.
Estimates
clearing the Rio da Sao Francisco by M. Half
Estimates
M. de
Martiniere. — The author's own estimates.

The system

of the stream.

—

Its source.

rocks.

of

colonization,

in

line of

rivers of

generally.

of

jireferable to

for

cisco.

Liais.

for
of

eld.

la

Steam navigation on the Rio das Velhas begun by M. H. Dumont.
Steam navigation on the Rio de Sao Francisco by the councillor
Creation of new province on the
Manoel Pinto de Souza Dantas.
Sao Francisco River.
Genei'al view of the great line of communi-

—

cation.

XVI.

— FROM

—

— Its benefits to the Empire.

GUAICUHY TO SAO ROMAO

237

—

—

—

Game. The Otter.
Aspects of the River.
Estrema Village.
The Cashew showers. Reach Sao Romao. Its history. Giant
fig-trees.
Actual state of the Town.
A Good Time coming.

—

—

—

—

—

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
XVII.

Vll

PAGE

— FROM

Sa:o

ROMAO TO JANUARIA

251

—

—

Steam-boat Islands.
The Uracuia River. The village As Pedras dos
Angicos.
Quixaba-trees.— The Ria Pardo.
Approach to the City
Vegetation at Village of N» S^ da Conceigao das
of Januaria.
Reach the Porto do Brejo do Salgardo.
Pedras de Marin das Cruz.

—

—

—The present
Danger

—

—
—
—

city of Januaria.

—

Its history

and present

—

state.

—

swept away.
Reception.
Petty Larceny.
Civility of Sr. Manoel Caetano de Soiiza Silva.
Tlie Peqnizeiro.
Missionaries and Missioners.
"VTalk to the Brejo do Salgado.
Romantic legend of the people's descent.
Its actual state.
of

being

—

—

XVIII.

—FROM

JANUARIA TO CARUNHANHA

The

2G9

— Remains

—
—
—
—

of the Red-skins.
The Hamlet and
N= S^ Da Concei9ao dos MoiTinhos. Decay and
The Manga do Amaclor settlement. The song of the
Desolation.
birds.
The Rio Verde, a Salt Stream. Tlie Carnnhanha River.
The Malhada settlement and its receivership. Lieut. Loureiro.
Visit the Villa of Carunhanha.
Don Rodrigues. Vile Night.
vile weather.

large church of

—

—

—

—

XIX.

—FROM

CARUNHANHA TO SEXHOR BOM JESUS DA LAPA

—

A

.

283

—

The Liigar da Cachoeira. The Parateca
Gooseless Michaelmas.
Stream, and the disputed "Rio Ramalho. " Diamantine Deposits.
The Alligator now killed out.— The Conde da Ponte. The
Assassin Gruimaraes.
The Mountain of the Holy Cave described.
The Village. The Holy Cave. The stout-hearted Vicar, Rev.
Francisco de Freitas Soueiro.
The " Uniformitai-ian " envies the
" Catastrophist.

—
—

XX.

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—FROM

SENHOR BOM JESUS DA LAPA TO THE ARRAIAL DO
BOM JARDIM

294

The Rio do Corrente.— The Settlement " Sitio do Mato."— The
" Bull's Eye " and Stonn. Visit to the Villa de Urubti. Urubii

—
— We

—

—

resume work.
Complete Change of
Climate and Aspect of Country.
The Settlement "Estrema."
Reach Bom Jardim. Its Rivulet and fine Diamantation. True
Itacolumite. —Bom Jardim a good Site for a City.

will not be a Capital.

—

—

XXI.

—

—FROM

THE ARRAIAL DO BOM JARDIM TO THE VILLA DA
BARRA (do RIO GRANDE)

—

The Carnahuba,

308

or Wax-^Dalm.
Vintens offered to Santo Antonio.
The gull-fair.
First sight of the Arassua Range.
Big Cranes.
The Toca, or Cave of Saint Anthony. The thorns. —The villages

—

—

—

—

—

—

The leathei'-coat bird and the chameleon. Approach to the Villa de Barra do Rio Grande, a proposed capital.
The Rio Grande an important influent. The Villa described,
of the Para.

—

XXII.

—

—

THE VILLA DA BARRA (DO RIO GRANDE) TO
THE VILLA OF PILIO ARCADO

FRO:\r

— Complicated approach to Chique-Chique. — The
settlement described. — The Xique-Xique cactus. — Good mutton.
— Hire animals to
the Diamond Diggings. — The old fi'eedman.
of CarnaThe Trees and Birds. — Breeding fazendas. — The
—The servigo or diamondhuba palms. —Lakes. — Ascent of
digging " do Pintorshino. " — The Village of Santo Ignacio. — Origin
Chiqueof the Diggings, and other peculiarities. — Return-ride

The sand-dunes.

visit

gi-ove

hills.

—

Chique.
Resume navigation.
Pilao Arcado.

—The portals.— The

to

storms.

— Reach

324

CONTENTS.

viii

CHAPTEB
XXIII.

— FROM

PAGE

THE EX-VILLA DO PILAO ARCADO TO THE VILLA

DE SENTO SE

342

—Ruined by private wars. — Great iron
— Bad apiaroach the Villa do Eemanso.
— The Town described. — Resume work. — The great
bend
the Rio de Sao Francisco — The Tucum
— Limestone. — An
iron
— The Minhocao
the Serrote do Tombador. —
monster worm. — The willows. — Reach the
Sento

Pilao Arcado described.

mations.

— Storms

for-

again.

to

easterly

of

jxalm.

Shells.

hill,

of

to"v\Ti

XXIV.

Se.

— FROM

THE VILLA DE SENTO SE TO THE CACHOEIRA DO
SOBRADINHO AND THE VILLA DO JOAZEIRO
.

.

.

355

— Indolence of
— The Porto. —The women.
— Long delays by winds.'— Pretty Country. — Village near the Ilha
de Santa Anna. — We attack the Cachoeira do Sobradinho, the
break after 720 miles. — Our Life on the River. — Precautions

Sento S6 described.

first

for health.

XXV.

— AT

peoi)le.

— Reach the

Villa do Joazeiro.

THE VILLA DO JOAZEIRO

3G9

—

The Villa has a great name undeservedly. The Villa described.
The lands about it. Present prices of articles. The vine.
Colonel Santo Se and the steamer " Presidente Dantas. "—Visited
the Ilha do Fogo.
The railways from Pernambuco and Bahia to

—

—

^

—
— Railways

—

Neglect of water
a failure in the Brazil.
Steam Navigation Comjjany and a
lateral tramway past the Rapids the true system for ex^jloiting the
Joazeiro.

commvmication.

—The Bahian

Sao Francisco.

XXVI.

— FROM

THE VILLA DO JOAZEIRO TO THE VILLA DA BOA

VISTA

380

General remarks on this travessia, the garden of the Sao Francisco.
The "two brothers. "—The Cachoeira Jenipapo. The Villa da
Boa Morte, anciently Capim Grosso. — Its origin. Its scanty civility. —Resume work.
Pretty approach to the Villa da Boa Vista.
The Canal proposed. Also another canal. Arrive at the Villa.
The commandant superior. Recruiting of the Conservatives.
Origin of the Villa. — Its present state described. — Engaged a new
crew, the pilot Manoel Cj^mano and the paddle "Captain Soft,"
Made new paddles for the Rapids.

—

—

—

—
—

XXVII.

— FROM

—

—

—

—

THE VILLA DO BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDONDA

393

The Rapids and the Smooths.
XXVIII.

— TO

THE GREAT RAPIDS

432

— Dismissal

Varzea Redonda described.
relief.

— The

muleteers

of

crew and consequent
Great Rapid of the
Pernambuco.
of

—

Itaparica.

XXIX.

— PAULO

APPENDIX

AFFONSO, KING OF THE RAPIDS

.

.

.

443
459

/

THE

HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.
CHAPTER

I.

SABARA TO SAXTA LUSfA.
DEPARTURE,

— ADIEUX,— THE RAFT,
— THE STATE

AJSTD

"j\Iessieurs les delicats

fajon

Comme

?

ie

Wednesday,

.

.

.

WHAT

IS

IN

IT.

—THE

"

BRIG ELIZA."

OF THE RIVER.

voulez-vous vous embarquer pour vivre de telle
Jean de Lerij.

ne vous conseille pas."

^zt^ 265^ 7, 1867.

—WewaU^ecl clown

to the Porto

da
I never saw such

Ponte Grande,* where the ajojo or raft la}^
an okl Noah's Ai'k, with its standing aT\Tiing, a floating gipsy
*'X)al," some seven feet high and twenty-two long, and pitched
like a tent upon two hollowed logs.
The river must indeed be
safe, if this article

can get down without accident.

All the notables of the place witnessed the process of embarkation.

Miss Dundas broke the bottle with

all

possible gi^ace uj^on

" Brig Eliza," and two
Many " vivas "
pair of slippers were duly thrown at my head.
the bows, and christened

my

craft the

—

were given and returned, and all embarked for a trial-trip shall
I call it, -^T-tli the Royal Geographical Society, a " tentative expedition "

—of a couple

of miles.

When

the fifteen souls came on

board, they sunk the article some three palms, and deluged the

port platform,

makmg

Qao Vieira," very nervous
''going

We

down

"Manoel de Assump-

the heachnan, or pilot,

—abeady he began

to predict

in a jiffey," and being dashed to pieces

swamping,

by the rapids.

shot past the Pedra Grande, a quartzose rock in mid stream;

* The upper landing-place at the Ponte Pequena Quarter
from a stream and an old gold washing hard by it.
VOL. II.

is

called

''

Porto do Gall ego,"

B

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

2

[chap.

i.

remove this obstacle
imfortunately no one here can fire a charge under water.
At the little " chnrch village" of Santo Antonio da Roga

Camara has threatened

the

for years to

Grande, the animals were waiting to carry home the non-voyagers,

my

wife

—who was

incapacitated for accompanjing

and a serious sprain

fall

hearted escort stood
tains

—included.

—as the setting

—and watched the

raft

story told by Mr. Curzon,

I confess

?

and warm-

What made me think of the
of the white man paddled by

barbaric gold,

quented by the traveller

My hospitable

a bad

sun sank behind the mounturn the last corner, and float off into

the far mj^sterious unknown.

Amazons adorned with

me by

down

Nile

dark

the streams imfre-

to having felt an unusual

sense of loneliness as the kindly faces faded in the distance,
and, by way of " distraction," I applied my bram to the careful

examination of

The

my

conversance.

ajojo, or, as it is called in other places, the

represents the

flat

" balsa," here

boat of the Mississippi, and of the Arkansas

" chicken thieves," in the days when, according to Mr. Nolte,

men

spent a

month between the mouth

On

Orleans, and then walked back.

of the Ohio and

New

the Rio das Velhas, how-

have become an institution, and I
am the only traveller who has yet passed down from Sahara to the
Rapids of Paulo Afl'onso. As explorers, frontier-men, and other
"pioneers of civilization " will have to use it upon the still unknown
branches of many a stream, including the Amazons River, a
ever, it cannot yet be said to

detailed description of the craft

The

usual ajojo*

is

may not

be without use.

a bundle of two or three canoes, in the

latter case the longest occupying the centre.

The

best materials

Tamboril Vinhatico, and " Cedro," or
Brazilian cedar, about one inch thick; mine were of " Peroba,t
nearly two inches deep, and consequently too heavy. We drew
two palms, approaching a foot and a half (seventeen inches) even
without cargo. There is sometimes a helm, always fixed to the
are the strong

and

light

longer or the longest boat

;

if

not, the pilot poles or paddles,

standing or sitting in the stern.

The canoes should be lashed

together by hide ropes, with an interval of six to eight inches,
not connected as mine were by iron bars joining them at both
*

most

Or

ajotijo.

In Portuguese,

as

in

of the Latin languages, the circumflex

often denotes crasis, or contraction by the
omission of a letter whose sound is or is

not retained,

f A fine hard wood, formerly reserved
hy government for ship-building,

CHAP.

SABARA TO SANTA

I.]

LUSIA.

3

and thus destroying all elasticity. Bound or
squared poles fastened by leather thongs to the gunwales, support
the ''soalho," or platform, which should fit tight to the sides,
stem and

stern,

otherwise the craft,

when ''broaching

may be

to,"

water-logged.

This boarding of ten planks, laid horizontally, projects laterally
into coxias, trampways eight to ten mclies wide, where the men
work.* My canoes, thirtj^-three feet four inches long, and when
joined, six feet broad, formed a solid foundation for the standmg

was made fast by five
wooden stanchions, of which the two pair fore and the one aft,
were supported, besides being nailed, by strong iron knees, or
The tent was of rough Minas cotton, protected in the
stays.
forepart, where I slej)t, by wax-cloth from Morro Yelho
and it
was a Idnd of " pal," to throw off the ram. Facing the head,
and in the coolest place, was a tall deal writing-desk, which
rivalled the awning in catching the wind.
Behind tliis, on each
side, stood a Gii'ao,"|* or boarded bunk, for sofa and bed, raised
Amidships was the table, a locked box of
on four uprights.
provisions flanked by two stools (tamburetes). In the stern stood
the galley, a similar bench, but lined with bricks, and around it the
batterie de cuisine, ii'on kettles and pots, cups and goblets, of
awning, a somewhat risky comfort.

It

;

com-se not forgetting the invaluable frying pan.t

Two

large jars

of porous earth (talhas or igacabas),§ carried the su^^ply of water,
* When the Ajojo carries merchandise,
the platform is reduced to the gangway.
Coxia also means a stall, a corridor in a
hospital, a passage in a warehouse, &c.
according to the
'h The Grirao or Jirao,
T. D. is properly a hut on piles, used as a
Sr. J. de Alencar uses it as the
granary.
"horse," or small gallows-shaped frame of
In the south it is
the Jangada-raft.
Generally in the Brazil,
called "Noque."
Girao is applied to various rude pieces of
furniture, shelves of wood or hide, a frame
work for smoking or sun-drying meat, and
so forth.

jerked meat
provisions were
4! The
(Came seca), in Pernambuco called Carne

de Ceara, in other places Came do Sertao
and Carne do Sol, when simply cut in
strips, hung in the air and sun dried, fine
coriaceous matter for pulling at with the
teeth.
Lard (Toucinho) is never wanting
and rice and beans can
in these parts
The men also received
generally be found.
a dram of rum (Cacha9a) every evening.
For my own stores I had a box -ndth a
it contained white salt and sugar
lock
;

:

—

the brown can be found everyT/here mustard and black pepper
here they cannot
be bought, while cayenne grows vrud.
I
also had tea
it is no iise to carry coffee.
The good Mr. Gordon had supplied me
with excellent salt beef in rounds, with
tongues and with bread, to relieve the
monotony of the Brazilian rusk; also, in
case of sickness, with a bottle of Cognac
and another of gin, which might take the
Finally, a few tins of
place of Pinga.
beef, sardines, and potted meats, for a
"treat," were stored in the table-box.
]Mr. James Smyth, of !Morro Yelho, gave
me a few valuable boxes of excellent Havanahs, which were highly appreciated by
my hosts. In Brazilian travel cigai-s are
soon exhausted, and it is the ciistom to pass
round the case.
generally
§ Ygacaba is a Tupy word,
The first letter had
used in these parts.
amongst the savages a dubious sound be;

—

tween

"i"

(or

"y") and "u."

Hence

the Portuguese wi-ote it in various ways, as
" ira " or "ora," honey, and una for yg,
una, a dark stream.

B 2

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

4

[chap.

i.

which was renewed every night, and allowed to stand for a day.
The President of Sao Paulo advised me not to drink liquid from
INIr. Gordon
the stream, hut all on board did so, and so did I.
had taken care to provide the raft with a stout boat-hook, with
an anchor in the bows, a standing wonder to the riverines, who
had never heard of Anacharsis the Scythian, and with strong

—

English ropes for *' cordelling"* these are of the greatest consequence when swinging round the rapids.

The crew numbers

three,! old Vieira

to receive, besides food,

bows with

$000 per

which they

poles,

The

paddles.

5

and his sons, who are

day.|

stand in the

former, called varas, and

when

large, varegoes, are

Parahybuna wood,

twenty feet long, by two inches in diameter.

shod with iron

(ferrao), and,

They

is

cloven-footed, and the "

has, in addition,

use, is

;

The paddles

ing trees.

Gongo "

the

;

on by whilst the Forquilha, which rarely
a hooked pole, that arrests the course by catch-

a boat-hook to hold

comes into

are

when not, the ends must be sharpened
The points are of various lands, the

before shooting a rapid.
" Ponta de diamante " is a long pyramid, with a ring band

" Pe de Cabra "

than

prefer, as being easier to use

stout elastic cuttings of the supple Peroba or
fifteen to

Two

(remos), used in deeper waters, are

and vary in shape every few hundred miles here
they are straight and flattened spatulse. The next set will have
handles four feet long, ending in a blunt lozenge one foot broad
its rowlock will be a lashing of hide rove through a hole in the
gunwale. This article has no leverage. At the junction of the
two streams I found fine elastic paddles of the veined and yellow
They were
taipoca wood, which not a little resembled our ash.
six feet in length, and broadest at the lower end, which was
rounded so as to present a clean sm-face when used as a pole
against bank or tree, or ended with trimmed beams of a heavy
Cactus, which sinks in water like lead, and which is capable of
doing very hard work.
The men were mere land-lubbers, quite unlike those of the S.
artless articles,

;

They

Francisco.

feel,

They have been rowing

or afiect to feel, nervous at every obstacle.
all theii' lives,

* Locally called 'VSirga."
trip six men are necessary,

+ For the up
and the work

of one

day down stream takes

three.

t

I carried Brazilian

bank-notes, taking

and yet they know not how

tliey were new and of small
between 10 $000 and 1$000 besides these, a small bag of coppers and of
silver pieces for especial occasions, was in
store.
Total, 1:500 $000.

care

that

values,

:

—
CHAP.

SABARA to SANTA LUSIA.

I.]

to back water

stream.
the river

They
is

everywhere the case down
their might for a few minutes, when

curious to say, this

;

pull with all

is

rapid, so as to incui^ all possible risk

almost dead, they

5

;

and,

when

the

upon

then- oars and lazily allow
Thus, during the working day,
between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., very little way is made.
They have
no system, nor will they learn any it is needless to suggest
placing rollers under the canoes or stamping upon the platform
when we ground; they never saw such things done, and they
don't care to see them.
All have the appetites of Abyssinians,
and suck sugar-cane like their '' Indian " ancestry they might

water

is

lie

themselves to be floated down.

;

;

take for motto,

Au

A

boire je prens grant plaisir,

viande

Quand

frieiclie et nouvelle:

a table

me

voy servir

Lion esprit se reiiouvelle.

They

are energetic only in performing

upon the cow-horn, the

bozina de chifre, derived from the ancient savages;* with this

they announce

arrival, salute those

on the banks, and generally

enjoy the noise.

My

Morro Velho boy, named " Agostinho,"
lent to me by Mr. Gordon.
He knows something of the river, of
gold washing, of diamond digging, and of rough cookery. Despite
sole attendant is a

occasional attacks of dipsomania, he proved very useful, and at

Rio de Janeiro he was returned into store vdih all the honours.
*'
Negra," the mastiff, -v^ild eyed as an ounce, becomes very
She
savage when tied up, and barks as if under a waggon tilt.
is the terror of those who see her for the first time, and she will
prove useful

—in

these parts

all

men

travel with fierce dogs.

I

have two passengers on board.

One

* The Tupys called it "Mamia," and
formed it of two pieces of wood joined togeFerreira,
ther with thread and resins.

the Upper Amazons the horn is made of two
pieces of thin hollowed wood, joined togegether by a lashing of twine and coated
they are blunderbuss-shaped,
with wax
four feet long, with a red mouth-piece, and
The Indians use
a deep mellow sound.
them to fiighten away the monsters of
the deep, and, like Africans, to show
by their noise that they come as friends.
My men also enjoy the use of the " banduiTa," or small viola, a wire-guitar, and
the Marimbao, a Jew's, or rather Jaw's
harp the name is distinctly Portuguese
Angolan,

the last century, says of these
played in the forepart of the canoes whilst travelling in the
interior, they serve to summon the Indians
before starting from the places where the
According to
embarcations are moored. "
Prince Max. (ii. 179), the Botucudos (whom
he will call '' Botocoudys,") termed it
coimtchoun-cocann, and made it out of the
tail of the great armadillo (Dasypus gigas,
Cuv. ).
The more civilized Coroados used
horns to call one another in the forest. On
WT.'iting in

rude trumpets that,

'

'

is

a certam Antonio Casi-

:

:

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

6

[chap.

i.

miro Pinto, popularly called '' Onga ;" by profession a fogueteiro,
he asked for brandy at once, and the pilot,
or rocket-maker
;

pointing to

liis

fiery face, exclaimed,

*'

Cliupa muito,"

lie

sucks

monkey) much. We presently landed at a breeding estate,
where his son, the capataz,* or overseer, looks after some 2000
The other was a Southemer-mimigTant, Mr. Hock this
head.
old pilgrim-father had brought with him a party of twenty souls,
''
Sprat " of
all had been spiiited away by the indefatigable
Sahara, and lilie Rachel, he declines to be just now comHis present idea is to make a railway on condition of
forted.
receiving alternate sections of sixty square miles, or thirty on
both sides of the line. In the United States, where the contrac(tlie

;

.

tors were satisfied with gi'ants ten times less, the world predicted

theu' ruin

;

but the new lots attracted

settlers,

and paid remark-

would willingly see this sj^stem adopted in the
Empire, which now suffers from paying seven per cent, interest
upon vast sums extravagantly laid out. Mr. Hock accompanied
ably well.

me

I

as far as Jaguar a.
river line is officially twenty

Between Sahara and Jaguara the

between forty-four
and seventy-seven metres, and the average! slope 0™*4135 per
This distance, about -|-th of the whole length, was
kilometre.
leagues, 1,118,490

the breadth

metres,

is

000 $ 000, and this figure will be useful
The stream is deeply encased
in estimating the total requii'ed.
the reaches are short, and we seem to run at the bluffs, where
high ribs come down to the bed, and cut the bottom into very
partially cleared out for 6

small bends.

As

:

usual in the smaller Brazilian rivers, there

hardly any breadth of valley

;

in places

it is

a

mere

to be called " dale " or ''level" at the hill-foot.

often perpendicular, are of gravel, sand, or dark

is

ledge, hardly

The banks,!

puggy

clay,

and

The
between October and January they are deeply flooded.
pilots speak of 16 to 20 i^alms rise, and of small baj^ous, more often
The
flood-lagoons than filtration-lagoons, formed in the flats.
* Formerly called

Amo

or Vaqueiro

;

lie

receives a certain projiortion of the stock

and has complete command over
the " Campeiros " or "M090S," who are
mostly youngsters.
+ Of course the current greatly varies,
and in some jdaces the water is almost still.
According to M. Liais, the river at Sabara
stands in the dry season 695 metres above
sea-level, and at the confluence it is 432 "3
as pay,

The distance between the two
metres.
places is 666,080 metres, or 361*28 miles,
or 120 '43 geograj^hical leagues, and thus
'3941 per kilomethe general declivity is
The slope of the Upper Sao Francisco,
tre.
between the Paraopeba River and the Rapids
of Pirapora averages 0""'4890.
J Here called Barrancos or Barreiras do
the classical Ribas or Ribeiras not

rio,

being used.

CHAP.

SABARA TO SANTA LUSIA.

I.]

7

bottom is of coarse pebbles and finer arenaceous matter, mthont
mud, except where deposited by influents at this season there
are many shoal-islets or sand-bars, and bed-islets in mid stream.
We find a few rivers but no " Cachoeii'as," or rapids, properly
so called. The most troublesome featiu'e is the shallow (raseii'a) ;*
at places where the bed broadens we ground with unpleasant
regularity, and om- crew has to tumble in.
This part abounds in
snags, locally called ^' tocos," meaimig tree trunks; the "saw^^er"
is unknown, but there are galheu'os (pronomiced gayj-eros), trees
Sometimes they appear
with upright and projecting branches.
;

like poles, placed to stake the channel.

The tortuous

bed, never

showing a mile ahead, prevents anything like waves, though the
wind is in our teeth, and it will long contmue so. "NMiere there
is much depth, the water boils upt and spreads out, sometimes
the effect of a floor uneven with pit holes, and of the mid stream
flowing faster than the surface or the bottom, where it is retarded
by friction.
At this time we see the worst of the Old Squaws' River. The
*'
Solde Augusto" is proverbially bad, especial^ between two and
four P.M.
Heavy morning mists enforce idleness, and will last
till the openmg of the wet season, in September to October.
There is a minimum of water and a maximum of contrary wind,
sometimes, but rarely, chopping round to the south, and blowing with strong flows

when

the regular current ceases

not the case during the rains.
*'

is

Moon

of Flowers;" the

miknown

—teems with

I

On

the other

poor second growth

hand

this is

;

it

— virgin

the Flor de Quaresma, with

its

is

the

forest

bunches

of purple beauty, and the hill tops are feathered bj^ the tall Licorim and the Guariroba palms.
After about tliree hoiu's we passed the Pedi-a do Moinho, the
onty really bad shoal, made worse by rocks on the left hand the
first sight of human habitation was a little farm near the Lagoa da
Fazenda do Barao (de Sahara), a flood-fed pool. Opposite it, on
a narrow step of poor ground, was the baronial manor-house with
;

*

j\I.

narrow the stream
between Sahara and Ro^a Grrande

Liais proposes to

artificially,

especially.

But we came

do'WTi

easily in

the worst month, dra^^-ing, when loaded, at
least 20 inches.
" 'Sta fervendo," the men exclaim.
+
This must not be confounded with our
popular term "boiling water," that is,

when the wind

forces the waves one way
and the tide checks them the other, thus
making them lose their run, rise, dance,
and bubble into points,
t Dnring the rains there is least wind,
and it does not always accompany even
thunder and lightning,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

8

a queer green portico,

lil^e

[chap.

Mtoni, near Zanzibar City.

i.

Then

came sundry breeding fazendas and Retiros,* which sell fat and
good jerked meat for 3$000 to 3$ 500 per 321bs. The cattle,
numerous but degenerate, stand in the water or bask upon the
sunny sand, and the horses gathering upon the grassy hill sides,
In rare places there are patches
stare snorting at our awning.
(canaviaes)

t

of stunted sugar-cane.

Near the house of Jose Correa, where the river forks to east
and west, inclosing a hilly island, we found the " Barque JaguShe was loaded with the enormous secular logs for Morro
ara."
Velho. This large flat craft, 105 feet long by 24 feet broad, and
24 inches in depth (pontal), built of the hard Vinhatico and
Canella woods, with ribs of Pau d'Arco, and iron-plated bottom,
The weight is 32,000 lbs., of which
is triangular fore and aft.
Unloaded she draws four inches, and
the greatest part is metal.
increases one inch per four tons

down

;

she carries seventy-two tons

the channel, twenty-two inches deep, betw^een

Macahubas

and Jaguara, and she makes Sahara in twelve daj^s from the
Evidently a steam-tug
latter place, retm^ning in two or three.
will be a success here, without

expending much money upon the

river bed.

" You'll never reach Trahiras " cried the people on board the
barque, deriding the " Eliza." And indeed we seemed likely to
waste much time. However, if we crept on slowly, it was surely,
!

and the Morro da Cruz of Sahara, which early in the day was a tall
bluff to the west, presently gave us a parting look from the southAs evening approached the weather waxed cool and
south-west.
and the excessive evaporation gave the idea of great dryness my books curled up, it was hardly possible to write, and it
reminded me of the Persian Gulf, where water-colom^s cannot be
The
used because the moisture is absorbed from the brush.
a tall ridge about a
first view of Santa Lusia was very pleasing
mile from the stream, was capped with two double -towered
churches, divided by fine large whitewashed houses and rich
clear,

;

;

vegetation, with palms straggling

down

* The E-etiro (dim.
means a small breeding

and the Tupy " -tyba " or
"-tuba," e.g. Indaia-tyba, a place where
the Indaid palm abounds Uba-tuba, a site
It must
whero the Uba reed is plentiful.
not be confounded with -xiba, or -uva, a

Retirozinlio)
estate,

here

where the

absentee landlord establishes a capataz.
f The desinences " -al " and "-edo,"
(jjlural "-aes" and "-edos,"as Clival or
Olivedo, coiTespond in Portuguese with the

to the water.

Latin -etum,

;

tree.

—

—

CHAP.

sabaeA to SAXTA LUSIA.

'

I.]

-

9

Porto de Praia de Vicente Eico," above the
bridge, and ascended a hill lined by hovels, with torn calico for
wmdow glass the path showed remnants of a slippery grass-grown
The " Hotel," kept in the Paia Du^eita by a "Doctor "
Calcada.
I landed at the

''

;

Joaqiiim de Silva Torres, had broken

back, and attendance

its

might be defined as the power of clapping hands and ejaculatmg
" Pst " ad libitum. On the other hand, the bill was a mere
trifle.

A

walk up town led to two churches, the Ptosario and the
Matriz, the latter with its steps in ruins.
I left my two letters
of introduction, and heard no more of them for some time
the

—

recipients, of course, could not call before the next noon.

The

Baroneza de Santa Lusia, who has a large house in the main
street, with a front all windows, was an mvalid
the venerable
lady is the widow of Sr. Manoel Pdbeu'o Yianna, who founded the
" S. Joao de Deus de Santa Lusia," a hospital for sick paupers.
He died before the work was finished, and his relict masiiificently dowered it with a house, fm'niture, and £'3000.
The gold diggings which built Santa Lusia were of two kinds,
Cascalho and " Om'o de Barba," Gold of the Beard. The river
floods deposited particles upon the bank, the sods were cut* and
the grass was shaved off to be panned, hence the pictm-esque
:

popular term.

The

Hard ''Marumbe"

iron

stone

still

abounds.

Mimicipality, which in 1864 contained 22,980 inhabitants,

1915 voters, and 48 electors, might be rich with an improved
system of agriculture.
The land supplies sugar in quantities,
a little coffee and "mantimento," rice and manioc, beans and
millet,

the Eicinus plant, whose oil

is chiefly used for lamps,
sweet potatoes (Convolvulus edulis),f and the Cara-tuber, together

* After catching the deposit of two
the sods are sliced off one finger thick,
and 2 to 3 inches deep are taken up after five
years* rest.
Lower do-mi stream I saw the
cakes heaped on the bank.
t ]VI. Renaidt, who has made an especial
study of the Cara and the Convolvulus
edalis, has obliged me with the following
information
The Caras belong to the family of the
Dioscoreacere, created from that of the
Asparaginte, and the genus Dioscorea bulbifera. There are six known species, of which
all, except No. 6, have a fecula superior to
that of the potato.
The cultivator opeu.g,
yeai-s

:

in

a

by preference, large deep
whose proportions the root is

light soil

to

holes,

supposed to fit itself
these are filled
with dried grass to support the cuttings,
which are covered up ^dth a little earth.
The root is cooked like the potato, and
is eaten with or without sugar or sweet
meats
its flour enters into cakes and
puddings
1. The ordinaiy Card (D.
sativa) produces a spheroidal tuber, at times attaining
the weight of 30 lbs.
2. The Cara de dedos, or palmatcd (D.
Dodecaneura), resembles in shape a man's
hand.
;

;

:

—

"

'

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

10

with small timber; while the river

[chap.

exceedingly rich in

is

1.

fish,

way to Morro Vellio. To judge from the streets,
prostitution is the most thriving trade
but all assured me that
it was outdone by Cruvello, a city further north, and ten leagues
to the west of the main artery.
Both of these are '* churchwhich finds

its

;

towns," visited by the planters on Sundays and holidays.

The

little

Arraial became on July 8, 1842, the site of the acting

and here on August 20 of the same year, ended the
revolutionary movement.
The intrusive President kindly disappeared at night, and the then good genius of the Conservative
party. General Barao (now Marquez) de Caxias attacked the
insurgents.
The fight raged around the bridge, beginning with
early morning
the field was still doubtful at 3 p.m., when the
Presidency

;

:

8th Battalion of Regulars

occupied the highest point of the

and put the enemy to hopeless flight. The chiefs, Srs.
Ottoni, Jose Pedro, Padre Brito, Joaquim Gualberto and others,
were made prisoners of state, and since that day, to them disastrous, the Ultra-Liberals have ever been called ''Lusias."*
St. Lucy or Luiz, I may remind jou, is the patroness
of
the bhnd, and generally holds in her hand an eye apparently
village,

gouged.
Cara Cobra (D. hyperfolia), supposed
resemble a serpent.
4. Cara Mimoso (D. triloba); its small
roots produce a fine fecula.
5. Cara Tinga (D. alba) grows wild in the
Capoeirasof Minas, and is the least esteemed.
The spheroidal root is a little bigger than
an ostrich's egg, the skin is white, and
covered with small asperities, and boiling
water softens it but little it is cooked
under ashes, and is eaten when a quill can
be thrust into it.
6. Cara do Ar (D. Peperifolia).
This
species also produces climbers, sometimes
12 to 13 feet long, and as many as 40 fruits,
weighing 1 lb. in shape a rhomboidal tetraThe climbers die after fruiting,
hedi'on.
and I'eappear next year. This tuber is reproduced from the frviit, and yields within
the first twelve months
whereas the other
five kinds are propagated by cuttings of the
stalk, to which are attached some of the
fibrous roots of the climber.
This Cara do
Ar has no maladies nor enemies, and it
would be a boon to Europe. It requires
little care, once planted it lasts for many
seasons, it can be crowded without injury,
and it wants only a somewhat tall support.
A single stem yields ten times more than
3.

to

;

,

;

the potato, and it would save much surface
by demanding very little ground.
There is also a "Cara do Mato," the
tuberculous roots of a wild Cara much
eaten by the Indians.
The Caras, like the true yams and the
sweet potato, have often been confounded
with the Topinambours (vol. i. chap. 8^*,
because all are tuberous roots, and were
imported from America.
The sweet potato belongs to the family
Convolvulacese, and to the genus Convolvulus
edulis.
Of this j^lant there are four well-

known
1.

species

:

Convolvulus edulis.

2.

C. tuberosus.

3.

C. esculentus.

4.

C. varius (Martins).

" Lusia " was opposed to Saquarema,
which some travellers call "Sagoarema.
It is a village and a water on the seaboard
near Rio de Janeiro, and being the headquarters of the "old Tory" party, esj^ecially the families of Torres (Itaborahy) and
Soares de Souza (Uruguay), it became a
noted name.
The term " Cascudo," somewhat similar, is taken from the Rio Cascudo, between Minas and S. Paulo.
*

' *

'

CHAPTER

IT.

SANTA LUSIA TO JAGUARA.
MACAH^BAS OF THE NUNS. — HOSPITABLE EECEPTIONS.
Que se a abundancia a industria se combina
Cessando a inercia, que mil lucres tolhe,
Houvera no algodao, que alii se topa
Roupa com que vestir-se toda a Europa.
{Caramuru,

August 8
was calm as

:

— The morning was
if it

tranquil

its

and the

face of natui*e

could show no other expression.

like rays of the sun, radiating

arose in

delicious,

7, 48.)

The sword-

from the unseen centre before

it

sj)lendour, soon dispersed the thin mists that slept

upon the cool

river-bed.

We

shot the Ponte Grande

de Santa Lusia, leading through Lagoa Santa,

distant

three

leagues, to Cruvello and the

long crooked

affair,

"backwoods." It was the usual
with twelve trusses or trestles in the water

and many outside, showing that the floods are here extensive
an older erection has disappeared. The gu'ders are rarely raised
high enough, and an exceptional inmidation sweeps them away,
leaving bare poles bristling in the bed, and dangerous piles under
water.
These must be removed before the stream can be safely
:

navigated.

About two miles below Santa Lusia the water becomes deeper,
and the country changes. The right or eastern side is rough
and hilly, with heights hugging the bed. Near the other bank
the land is more level, and the soil shows a better complexion,
On the uplands,
b}^ which both sugar-cane and timber profit.
extending to ten miles, the superficial formation

The

best

is

the

rich

ferruginous

is

of four kinds.

chocolate-brown

alluvium,

based upon a mountain limestone, blue streaked with pm-e snowy
lines
the second is the red soil underlaid by the same
;

calcareous matter.

The

soft

black alluvial loam,

considered

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

12

[chap.

ii.

A

1 in the Mississippi Valley, is here the third;

and the worst

is

the white sun-scorched ground without

On

are saltpetre caves, and the produce

is

ii'on.

hoth sides

prepared at the mouths

I heard vague
by a simple process which we
reports of salt- diggings, which probably refer to the Salinas about
the Paracatu River described by old travellers.
After the first hour we reached the Fazenda da Carreira
Compridar * of the Fonseca family it supplies provisions and
The lands extend far up the hills, and the
Restilo or rum.
"Engenho " or sugar house is on a ledge near the stream, which
It was working when we sped by, and
loops to the south-east.
the music reminded me pleasantly of certain water-wheels in
shall presently see.

:

Sindh, Egj-pt, Arabia
gestion of the Past

—in

is

these lands of the Future any sug-

Establishments with water-

a god- send.

I)ower motors pay 40 $000 per annum, those driven by bullocks
half that sum, and upon the produce of both there is, when
entering towns, an octroi of 0$320 per barrel of thirty bottles.
It will be better for the people when circumstances admit of a

much

heavier taxation.

This part of the river shows many contrivances for exploiting
a far more valuable industr}^, the vast shoals of fish which haunt

The

the waters.

usual weir

(Gamboa

Camboa

or Curral, not

accompanied by the Jequi or Jiqui, a conical
crate of wild cane, bound with cipos two feet long, and attached
The Grozeira is a system of thin poles,
to stakes (estacadas).
apart,
and connected by Uianas, to which
planted five to six feet

and Coral)

hooks and

is

lines are fastened.

tall roofless closet of

to the

the

bank

:

fish pulls

it

cane,

The

some two

Chiqueii'o or hog-stye

has a perpendicular trap- door, which

at

a corn-cob.

Another

favourite because a trouble-saver, is

bamboo with
(minhoca).
The Girao is
hollow

a

and

feet in diameter,

cotton

affixed

falls

when

machine, a
"
Linha douradeira,"
the
self-acting

hook,

line,

a perch

is a

on four

and

earth-worm

piles, often

planted

head of a sand bank, and the man who exerts himself upon
He will, howit with his cana or rod must be hungry indeed.
ever, find a single take sufficient for the day and its appetite,
and the rest of the twenty-three hours and fifty-five minutes may
at the

*

"Of

the long quarry;" it is said that
is here found.
I shall mention
only the principal Fazendas which struck my

white lime

attention
Liais.

;

a complete

list

is

given by M.

;

CHAP.

SANTA LUSIA TO JAGUAR A.

II.]

13

be expended in doing nothing. I can liardly persuade niy crew
to throw a hand-line overboard when we anchor
the pretence is
;

that the}^ have brought no hoe for digging out earthworms.

But
"*
they can catch half-a-dozen sprat-lilve "piabas
by
full
of
calabash
water,
and
a
up
heaving
by throwing it upon the
bank; or they can shoot a bird or rob a nest, which will do
A fish-gullet best fits the hook, and will
equally well for bait.
not come off, but they do not approve of this " new-fan oied
" or ''piaus

Salt

fashion."

is

m

is

not,

and two

moisture from the fish-meat when cut thin
For long journe^^s these can be fried and
the an*.

days will extract

and hung

here wanting, but sunshine

all

The

potted with \TLQegar and spices.

flavom'

preserved by
quite fresh from the water; it can be

game when
"warmed up" when wanted;

frying the

many ingredients
As a rule the
enjoyable.

is

fish-soup is invaluable, but

it

re-

quires too

for a traveller to succeed in

making

it

people reject the scaly

because

fish,

they say the spines are dangerous.

Those who

these streams should be provided with fishinotackle, with the largest fresh-water hooks, and with the stoutest
visit

running gear, or the

sometimes weigliing upwards of a
hundred pomids, will sm^prise them. On the other hand guns
The crew generally carry theii' shooting irons, the
are useless.
locks guarded as in Africa by a sheath of monkey's skin but
''

cats,"

;

little game appears upon the banks ; it was confined to a waterhog, a smgie small deer, doves, and at rare intervals, a few

Wild

ducks (Marecas, called by the
aborigmes Jerere or lerere), were sometimes seen, and cranes
were heard screammg from the bayous within the River Valley
to get at these places, however, reqrdres much marsh-walking
and nothing else to do. In the Brazil those streams which, like
the Tiete and the Paranapanema of the Sao Paulo Province
ignore the white man, even the squatter, and can be reached only
Penelopes.

after a

sport

;

week

of

fowl, especially

much

travellmg from the coast, afford magnificent

not so those where the

* The Piaii is a small fish, which has
given its name to the vast Province of
Gardner mentions the Piau
Piauhy.
branco, one of the Salmonidte, one to two
It is taken
feet long, wdth large scales.
with the hook, and is held to be good eating.
On the Rio das Velhas the bait is a bola of
manioc flour. By night the Piau used to

gun

is

jump

well known.

into the tender canoe

Sportsmen
;

the light slate-

back and white belly reminded
my companion of the " silverside. " "We
heard of the Piau certia, a large species
some white, others dark, and of the Piau
de Capim, a sea-fish which feeds on
coloiu-ed

grass,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

14

[chap.

ii.

do well to bear tliis in mind; tapii's,
ounces, and anacondas are still found near the sea-board, but they
are exceedingly wild and troublesome to seek out, whilst the

visiting the Brazil

will

bad and the walking is detestable.
Another hour carried us to the Port and Fazendaof the Capitao

climate

is

Frederico Dolabella, w^iere we sighted the first cotton-plantation,
and right well it looked. It is mostly herbaceous, the seed having
lately

been introduced; but

still

lingers the Brazilian ''kidney-

This, after some years, becomes a tree fifteen feet high,
and thick as a man's leg, with large luxuriant foliage, red yellow
blossoms, and bearing a strong medium-staple lint, that covers
This is the " Gossypium
moderate-sized and naked black seeds.
cotton."

—

arboreum," of which travellers in this Empire speak the more
exact limit the term to the ''purple-blossomed, green-seeded,

There is a mine of
and the more we see of it

short- staiDled, small cotton tree of India."*

neolected wealth in cotton and

fish,

The

were clothed with thin
brown-gTey grass, looking, in places, as if they were frosty with
hoar, and they were profusely tasseUed with noble Macahubas or

the richer

we

shall find

it.

hills

Coqueii'o palms.

The snags and "branchers" were bad
and we
" broad

as those of yesterday,

lost an hour by grounding at the Volta dos Pinhoes, a
" and a bend in the river. Then we ran at the " Penedo,"

mass of bare stone, protruding from the trees
a little below it
w^hich straggled over it from base to summit
a pile of wood
the
two
was another hill, all forest, and between
On the right was the Rio Vermellio, a
aAvaited the " barque."
of Sahara,
little stream coming from the Arraial da Lapa, east
a tall fronting

;

and allowing unloaded canoes to ascend it for a league, f Presently another bend showed certain white lines between the
river fringe of trees, and a hill fronting west; this was the "Ma"
cahubas das Freiras

— of the Friaresses.

" or gap in the clay bank, here
Before making fast to a " porto
from Lagoa
called a Port, I gave a passage across to a traveller
Santa. He wore a cow-skin hat, shaped lilve the Petasos of
* So says Major R. Trevo'r Clarke.
the cotton has more lint than usual
lbs will give 500 lbs. of cleaned

;

Here
1200
fibre,

Alabama 1500 would be reThe people usually replant the

whereas in

quired.
shrub in its fourth year.
t Thus all my informants.

_
_

M.

Liais

"Rio de Macahubas," and makes
a stream of some consequence, with a
contingent of 20 metres per second, which
makes the Rio das Velhas of " great importance," and gives it a debit of 62
metres.
calls it
it

CHAP.

SANTA LUSIA TO JAGUAR A.

II.]

Mercury, a

shirt

wliite

—a paletot

streaked mtli indigo

Minas

15

—an

old st^de

still

and deer-skin riding-boots
built to reach the thighs, but falling below the calf as if he stood
An impm^e path, winding past cascalhoin his carpet bags.
heaps, by a dii'ty i)ond, and through offals of pig-sties, leads to
the high site of the Recolhimento or Recluse House.
On both
sides of, and attached to, the church, are long double-storied
wings of whitewashed j)ise, based upon the usual fine blue limestone, and all the windows are jealously latticed and barred.
To the left is the Vicar's house, and at a lower level rise clay
and thatch huts, inhabited by slaves and jDorkers, fowls and
lingering

of

cotton,

All appears exceedingly foul, but the

turkej^s.

people declare

that with godliness, but without cleanUness, they live to a great
age.

As

there was no

Yenda we went

to the Tropeu'o's

Ranch, and

surlilj^ received b}" the housekeeper.
This chattel of the
" Recolhimento " was making pots, of course without wheel,

were
out

of a grey, iron-coloured

before

clay

we declared our names.

she refused to give coffee

;

Such

is

the effect of a single

party of highly Protestant emigTants visiting so highly Catholic
I at once sent

a place.

Lana, whose
of

first

Ouro Preto.

at once called

my

card and letter to the Rev. Padre

cousin had been so kind to

This amiable Mineiro, educated

upon

us, ordered dinner,

me

at Itacolumi

at the Caraca,

and carried us

off to see

the Hons.

The "Madre Regente,"

or Reverend Mother, rather a pretty

person, received us at the door, kissed the Padre's hand, and

way

and gold with
which
had nothing
frescoed ceiling.
We visited the dormitories,
new, and from the windows we could see the inner square, which
may not be visited without an order from the Bishop and his
The galleries are long the rooms, large and aiiy,
coadjutors.
reminded me, in their rougimess of mihewed beams, of a Goanese
led the

to the little college-chapel, white

;

establishment which I desciibed nearly a score of years ago.
The lecture " sala " showed a black board for '' c^^ihering,"

some old maps, and creditable specimens of caligraphy, emThe Infirmary contained one
broidery, and artificial flowers.
The thii'ty-six reverend women
sister and four invalid girls.
are dressed in white veils,
front,

and over

all

and petticoats with black scapulars in

a blue capa or cloak.

The

twenty-five edu-

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

16

"

;

[chap.

ii.

candas or pupils f(3llowed giggling in the steps of Galatea, con-

whom

corning

it is

written,

Et f ugit ad

The grounds

salices, sed se cupit

ante videri.

consist of six acres walled in, and producing

an

abundance of well-watered "green meat;" here, however, the

brown scummy
used

river,

ugly to look at but tasteless,

indeed, below Jaguara the people prefer

;

The

Corregos.

it td^

is

generally

that of the

vegetables, especially the salad, are excellent

the vine, which at Sahara as at Barbacena bears fruit twice a
year, is a failure.

For the

tune in the Brazil I saw the

fii'st

the
palm (Cocos butjTacea) not wholly neglected
fruit-pulp makes good tallow for lamps, and the kernel gives a
medicmal oil;* besides which the "cabbage" is by no means

Coqueu'o

;

despicable.

We

then visited the church N^ S^ da Conceigao, and found
the Santissimo exposed and the nuns singing behind the grated
choir-cage, which, as usual, fronts the Seat of Honour or High
Altar.
At the " Speak-House," where a grille allowed us to
address the unseen inmates, and where an upright barrel with
a stave or two knocked out, pivots in and out their

we were allowed

wants,

to take the Livro

das

Entradas

begins with an interesting paper dated July 18, 173-.
collating

it

with the

Claustro

Franciscano

humble
;

it

After

(Frei Apollinario,

Lisboa Occidental, mdccxl.), and lastly with the Relatorio of the
Vice-Director General, the Chantre Jose Ribeiro Bhering (Ouro
1852), I compiled the following account of the oldest

Preto,

house in Minas.
About 1710 two brothers, Manoel and Felis da Costa Soares,
" godly men and of a goodly house " in those days the " vulgar "
colonist would hardly have dared to be better than his neighbours
came here from Pernambuco, in search of lands, bringing
On August 12, 1714,
sisters, nieces, and a widowed daughter.
they began to build a secular house, which "had no meum and
tuum." This " Convento Vellio " lay south of the present site,
and its rums still show in the thin palmetum. Felis met on
religious

—

—

*

Hil.

(I.
ii.
378), says that this
very remarkable.
Car, s'il
existe nne foule de s^mences oleagineuses,
I'olivier est, a ma connaissance, le seul
ar))ro dont le p^ricarpe ait
ete signale

palm

St.

tree

is

* '

comme foxirnissant de I'liiiile."
Yet he miist often have seen the Elteis
gninecnsis, the Dende of the Brazil, and
perhaps he had eaten " j)alm- oil -chop.
jiisqu'ici

SAXTA LUSIA TO JAGUAllA.

cH.i.r. IT.]

17

the banks of the Rio das Yellias a hermit, habited in a garb then
strange to liim, but which he presently found to be that of " N""

S^ da Conceicao

—

Monte Alegre

de

;

" the recluse mysteriously

—

was a vision and
the laic, being unmarried, resumed the garb minus only the hat.
Thus arose in the " Sitio de Mocaubas," the first convent of
the Eecolhidas, dedicated to the " Immaculate Mother of God."
The " Seraphic Order," then in lusty youth, came to its aid,
and soon raised for it by alms 60,000 crusados, say £60,000 of
disappeared

perhaps, said Padre Lana,

it

—

this our day.

The

Sister

—a

Catharina de Jesus became the

first

Reverend

some confusion in the Livro
das Entradas and died in 1717.
She was followed by Felis on
Oct. 11, 1737.
The old convent sufi'ered from a torrent, and
D. Fr.
the present building was completed Dec. 25, 1745.
Manoel da Cruz made it a branch Third Order of St. Francis,
and it became a Mosteiro on Sept. 23, 1789. According to the
" Relatorio," a rule was given to it bj^ Padre Antonio Affonso de
Moraes Torres, Superior of the Caraca.*
The Recolhimento receives nothing from the Government, but,
as ^ill appear, much land has been left to it
it lives by agriculture and cattle breeding, and it no longer works the once rich
muring estate. Of late years the revenues have been simplified
by conversion into Government Bonds. Its object is to give
the ''usual instruction required by the mother of a family," and
in 1851 a sister and a pupil w^ere sent to learn, from the Soem"s
of Marianna, a better system of instruction and house manageMother

fact

about wliich there

is

—

;

ment. The h}^oercritical declare

it

to be a

kmd

of ''bush "-school,

and the confessor had never heard of the Bull Unigenitus. The
name of Professor Agassiz, who had been repeatedl}^ quoted by
every journal in the Empke, was utterly unknown to him. How
many millions of men ignore, we may ask, such persons as
Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon, the great Triad, the mighty
Avatars of humanity

?

Venda, where we sat down
Here we found a weak old woman,

Padre Lana accompanied us
to

a long conversation.

* Even until very lately, throughout the
Brazil pious women have collected together
in houses, and have cohabited for devotional
purposes.
priests,

who
VOL.

The foreign ultra-montane
are here flocking like eagles to
ir.

to the

the battle-field, reprehended the harmless

and often beneficial practice, and forced
upon these sisterhoods the "rules" of
Europe, which are often nothing else but a
mere system of old Asiatic asceticism.
C

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

18

who had worked
but will not
treated

^'
:

at the

Moito

BRAZIL.

mine

Vellio

[chap.

—the

sisters will let,

asked her how
— " I Inever
catched

sell their slaves.

nunca

apanhei "

tj.

it

she had been

" said the

poor

We

nanny-goat voice.

bade an unwilling adieu to the excellent
Padre, who complained that I was pajdng him a " visita de
Medico," in the Brazil not so complimentary as our ''angels'

Mr. Hock, who complained that he had been stiffly
treated by a former vicar, that found him to be a ''herege,"
asked me, with Aj'-merican gravity, if I really thought that the
''
sisters " were chaste
it is curious to see how these men, so
jealous of their countrywomen's honour, find " libertinism " ever}^" What a sad (triste) race they seem to be," quoth
where.
Padre Lana on his side, as he looked at the old man champing
in melancholy silence, behind his thin drawn-down lips, a huge
visits."

;

quid.

The moon and
delightfully clear

were unusually bright, and the night was
and cool. Before dawn in the next morning
stars

I was aroused by the
the Saracura

—

moan of the dove and
commonly called the Saracula

cura, Gallinula Cayennensis)

roaches

the small piping of

(Mr. Bates Serra-

— crane, that useful

enemy

of cock-

the cry of the Siriema or serpent bird, wdiich resembles
the whining of pups, and the gabbling of bubbly-jocks mingled
;

curiously.

Land and water were obscured by

a thick white fog,*
but the Eliza was not a Ehine steamer to be stopped by it. The
pilots

consider

it

a sign of a

showing a wondrously high
curved brushes,

still

day,

and presently

it lifted,

vault, stretched with cirrus in long

f

Friday, August

9.

—AVe

out at 7 a.m., and presently ran

set

down to '' Coqueiros," a fine site for a house, a dwarf level at
the mouth of a gap between two hills, one grass}^ the other
feathered and forested with palms.
influent appears in reaches

To-day the

effect of a large

somewdiat longer, there

is

less

of

dead drift-wood lining the banks, and the bed now begins to
show "Bemansos," still places in deep pools. We grounded
but three times, and only once our men were obliged to '' tumble
in."
The stream is admirably embanked, the bottoms are more
extensive, while the lands, higher and drier, are of superior
* Pqnilarly known as NeLIina or Novoega; tins latter is probably an imported word,
otten applied to a dark place where

the sun

is little

seen,

cock's

tail.

" Catas Altas de Noroega.
known as Rabo de Grallo—

e. g.

f Generally

CHAP.

SAXTA LUSIA TO JAGUARA.

II.]

19

Women washing upon the margin no
we disembarked, and some asked with
The negroes
a scream if we were makmg a " planta " (map).
were loading corn-cobs upon carts "s\ith plank floors, fenced
round the top with square wattles fom' feet high sometimes this
woven work sloped backwards from a high front, like the
There is a scarcelj^ perclassical biga and the car of triumph.
ceptible rapid called "das Alprecatas," * near the mouth of the
Upper Pdbeii'ao de Taquarussu, whose jxllow and shallow waters
head some eight leagues away. Near this place are settled a Mr.
and Mrs. John Wood, whom I failed to find.
Near the Taquarussu influent the bed, which has formed a
quality and less desert.

longer ran away unless

;

neck, narrows, leaving a broad sandbank to the west

;

this in-

creases the swiftness of the stream from two to four knots,! and

the sharp

tmm and

they have passed
are tilted

up

shallow water

Huge

it.

make

the boatmen rejoice

when

blocks of stratified sandstone (lapa)

at a shallow angle

towards the river, forming giooni}'

caverns, recesses and natural piers, wliich continue till near the
ruinous " Fazenda do Mandim " of the Mandim or Snorter, t

—

The

last

time that I heard the song of the fish was in the port of

Paulo de Loanda.

S.

Then

and the low cultivable sides are those of
an English water, whilst Campo-ground appears in the distance
ahead.

the hills

fall,

Fields of the liveliest colour, tellmg the richness of the

sugar-cane, contrast with the darker gTeens and wintry browns

;

the Uba § or arrow-reed, with lanceolate fan-shaped leaves and
whitish flowers, here grows twenty feet high, and forms impene*

The Alparcatas

or Alpargdtas sandals.

Liais calls the large sand-bar above
f
the Taquarassn " Proa-Grrande, " doubtless a
jVI.

misprint for Coroa-Grrande.
X The Mandim (M. Liais

-writes Mandin),

Roncador or Snorter, from

skin,

with dark round spots,

is

scaleless,

the long barbacels give it the Anglo-American name, and the three dorsal fins are
dangerous.
It keeps near the bottom,
bites voraciously, and, as it has few bones,

is
it

tolerable eating, at least

There are

so.

many

Mandim-assu M. Amarello M.
Armado M. Capadelho M. Esquentado,
&c., and M. Halfeld remarks (Rel. 215)
varieties

:

;

its gninting noise, especially in the hot afternoons
before rain, was kno-^ii to the Tupys as
Mandue or ?.[andube. Some of the pilots
declare that the noise is produced by friction of the head upon the canoe bottom. It
is one of the Sihuidfe, and resembles the
Mississippi "cat."
The usual length is
from 18 inches to 2 feet, the yellow-brown

called

the white meat
the otters find

;

;

;

that "all these qualities are diminishing."
"Roncador" is the name given to several
fish, especially on the south of the Villa da
Yittoria. (Prince ]\Iax. ii. 157.)
§ Grynerium parvifolium, Mart. , Yuba,
orArundo sagittaria(because the Indians used

the System, and Saccharum Uba of St.
who (III. i. 18) says that Luccock is
wrong to write "Uva." Yet Uva. is preIn S. Paulo it is
ferred by old authors.
called Uba, from the Tupy iiy'ba, an arrow,
The ^lineiros know it as " canna brava, or
wild sugar-cane,

it) of

Hil.,

'

'

c 2

"

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

20

[chai-.

ii.

This Calamus seems ahnost independent of
climate, and enjoys the coast-levels as well as the Highlands of
the Brazil. Another narrow, where the drift-sticks hanging to
trable thickets.

the trees
first

mark

of the

a flood rise of at least fourteen feet, leads to the

curious

formations

called

Here the limestone rocks on the

left

Lapa de Stalactite."
were hung in front with
*'

long tongue-shaped lappets of thin stone, which have a strange
effect.

The next interesting point is the Ponte de Dona Ignacia.
Since M. Liais wrote, the tall weed-grown bridge has opened a
central gap of 30 feet, and people cross by the normal ferry, an
" ajojo " of four canoes, with railed platform, worked by a chain

and pulley.
belonging to

Opposite the large white Fazenda and

distiller}^,

now

Lieut. -Col. Luiz Nogueira Barbosa da Silva, was

steamer that appeared upon these waters, or
indeed upon any of the island lines of the Brazil. M. William

wrecked the

first

Kopke,* who came out as interpreter to the Cocaes Gold Mining
Company, and who obtained a concession to navigate by steam
the Rio de Sao Francisco, had the energy and enterprise to build
her at Sahara in 1833-4. Like Captain Fitzgerald, of Larkhana
who, by-the-b3^e, blew himself up M. Kopke was
in Sindh
obliged to make the greater part of his own engine, and sometimes to use wood where metal was wanted. The experiment was
the steamer here went down
so far successful, but no farther

—

—

—

''snagged."

On

below this place, is an Olho de Agua,
or pool, which they say communicates by a " sinker," t with a lake
on the other side of the river. Bits of wood have been thrown in
the right bank, a

little

and have been recognized on re-appearance

;

of

course these

natural tunnels are possible in a limestone countr3\
*

M. Kopke

(or

Kopque

?)

wliom

tlie

"negociaute Hambiirghese,
losing liis steamer, rigged up a boat and
visited the Paracatu River.
His brother,
Dr. Henry Kopke, is still at Petropolis.
After the first concessionist, whose permission to navigate the Rio des Velhas was decreed Aug. 26, 1834, and was extended to the
Sao Francisco November 14, 1834,M.Tarte, a
decree

calls

Belgian engineer, applied for the same exclusive privilege, but did not obtain it.

The first steam-shiij that ever plied in
the Brazil was built in 1819 at Bahia, by
Sr. Felisberto (jomes Caldeira Brant Pontes,

Presently

afterwards Marquess of Barbacena.
Slie
ran to tlie then Villa of Cachoeira, and was
wrecked by a storm upon tlie Monserrato
beach.
In 1822 a steamer was sent from
Rio de Janeiro to Santos, carrying a deputation of distingiiished men, and the Desembargador Joao Evangelista de Faria Souza
Lobato.
They persuaded the patriotic Jose
Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva to accompany
them, and returned to the capital on January 16, 1822, a week after the Prince
Regent had declared that he would not
leave the Brazil.

f

Popiilarly called the

* *

Sumidouro.

"

CHAP.

SANTA LUSIA TO JAGUxVRA.

II.]

21

made us gather round the galley- fii-e, and
with low, uncertam light. The crew, not having

the sun set, the cokl

the

moon

rose

seen the bed during the last

foiu* years,

became veiy nervous

as

we swung round the Cachoeii'a de Jacii, with its swift deep current imimiging upon the right bank of the narrow bed.
I felt
that a stick or a stone might spoil

my

whole journe}^, and I
allowed them to make fast at the
Porto do Bebedor."* AVe
scrambled up the steep bank to the house of Sr. Antonio
Loiu'enco, and were admitted to the strangers' room, as soon as
the key would tm*n, by the daughter of the house. D. Conrada,
''

still

in

her teens, w^as the mother

widow of a

tropeii'o

she

:

we

made

of

three children and the

warmed

coffee,

oiu' beef,

and

sat

—a rare

and recordable incident of
hodiernal Brazilian travel in the Far West.
August 10. The morning was mistless, and we set oif early.
After nearly two hours we saw on the left bank a large and much
decaj^ed square of white-washed and red-tiled building, backed
by a neat chiu'ch the Fazenda de Jaguara.f At the " port
chatting with us

till

slept

—

—

* The " drinker ;" a drain, not a drainer.
+ Some explain Jaguara to be the name
of the well-known ounce—puma or S. American lion.
Othei-s explain it by Jahu or

Jau-guara.

The

"Jahu-fish

(is

here)

abundant."
Jaguara, corrupted Jaguar, lagoar, and
is properly "Ja," we, us, and
"guara," an eater, a devourer (of us),
and was applied by the indigenes to all
man-eating beasts.
Doubtless in the eaidy
days of colonisation, when these large cats
knew nothing of the gun, they were dangerous enough.
At present their corn-age
seems to have cooled, and the ]Matador de
Oncas -tueur d'onces once so celebrated
in the Brazil, finds a large slice of his occupation gone.
]\Iany travellers have seen
nothing of this king of the cats, except the
I have
places Avhere it sharpens its claws.
had experience of one live specimen, and
The people stiU fear
that too by night.
them, especially at night, and have many
They
traditional tales of their misdeeds.
are still very dangerous to dogs, monkeys,
after which they climb, to the Capyi^ara, an
esj)ecial favourite,
and to the young of
black cattle. There are four large varieties

so forth,

—

—

of these Felidte

:

The Onca gucuaranna,

or gucurana,
(Mr.
Bates
Sassu-arana, or the false
deer"), v.-hence the barbarously corrupted
"Cougouar," derived throuarh the " (jrua1.

'

'

zouara" of Azara.
It is variously termed
FeKs Onga, or brasiliensis, or concolor,
It is
the last term being the best name.
I have seen a brownone of the biggest.
red skin 5ft. Sin. long, not including the
The
tail, yet it is the least dangerous.
range of this puma, or red lion, a^jpears to
extend throughout the tropical and temi»erate zones of the New World. It is evidently
the "painter" (panthei") of the United
States.

Cangouassu or Cangussu, the largest
yviih. smaller rounded spots of a
lighter colour, on a dark brown-red skin.
Prince Max. informs us (iii. 1-38) that in Bahia it is applied to a small animal whose
pelage is marked with small blacker spots.
3. The On^a ijintada (painted ounce), also
2.

variety,

called the Jaguarete (true or great eater).

This "Felis discolor" is a very beautiful
animal, especially when the M'hite field of
In
its maculfe has a light pink blush.
shape much resembling the " cheetah," or
himting leopard of Hindostan, it is the
it does great damage to
most dreaded
cattle
it worries and destroys far more
than it needs, and after gorging itself with
blood, it retiu-ns at leisure to eat the flesh.
4. The "Tigre," or On^a Preta, is the
black Jaguar, a rare animal now in the
Brazil, but still found, I am told, on the
As a
banks of the Upper Paraguay River.
variety it probably resembles the black
;

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

22

[chap.

ii.

was met by Dr. Quintiliano Jose da Silva, ex-President of Minas, and now here officially as Treasury Judge (Juiz dos Feitos da Fazenda Nacional).
He led me up to the house, introduced me to the mistress, D.

where the Eibeii-ao

cle

Jagiiara falls in, I

Francisca dos Santos Dumont, the daughter of our host at Ouro
Preto, showed me to the strangers' room, and lavished all the
hospitable attentions in wdiich his countrjanen are such adepts.
leopard of the Niger Yalley and the dark
spots upon a sable skin render it peculiarly
;

interesting.
I have seen good collections of these skins
Here, however, as
on the Rio das Velhas.
elsewhere, they are expensive, and are soon
bought up for local iise.
All classes covet

them

for saddle-cloths, pistol holsters, tra-

veiling bags,

and even hunting

caps.

Of

course the spotted ounce is preferred ; and,
as a rule, the skins are as thoroughly spoiled
as if they had been handled by negroes,
They are ruthlessly deprived of head, legs,
and often of tail. En revanche the leather is
well and carefully tanned,

—

CHAPTER

III.

AT JAGUARA.

—

—

RIDES ABOUT THE PLACE. THE VEGETATION. EXCURSIOX TO LAGoA SAXTA.
DR. LUXD. M. FOURREAU. WHAT THE WORD " CACHOEIRA " MEAXS.

—

—

A distant clearness in the liill,
A secret sweetness in the stream.
Canning.

At

house I spent five pleasant days, wliilst
another crew was being engaged, and arrangements for \\\\ reaching Diamantina were being completed.
"Jaguara" has, in its
day, caused no little sensation in the Province, and the following
are the heads of information touching the ^'extincto vinculo"
this liospitable

the ''cut-off entail."

Half a centuiy ago, a certain Colonel Antonio de Abreu Guimaraes amassed a large fortune with 750 slaves, and still more by
forgetting to pa}' the Government dues on diamonds exported
from Diamantina and other places. He held an enormous property of 36 square leagues (427,504 acres), which was afterwards
divided into seven great estates.
The first was Jaguara, containing 1000 alqueii'es, (each
square acres) this was lately
bought, without the 200 slaves, b}'^ M. Dumont's father-in-law,
for 12 contos, 1200/.
The next was the Mocambo, actual^
belonging to Colonel Francisco de Paulo Fonseca Vianna. Then
came the Bebida, including Casa Branca, Saco das Egoas, and
Saco da Yida. It once contained four square leagues, now it is
reduced to 1300 or 1350 alqueii'es, and it is to be sold for 3000?.
30,000/. with a total of 170 slaves:—we shall visit it down stream.
Number 4 was the Pviacho of Joao Paulo Cotta then ranked the
Pindah3'ba, now Ponte Nova, including the Taboca, formerly the
X^roperty of Antonio Jose Lobo and Domingo Jose Lobo, nephews
of the Abreu, and afterwards purchased by Colonel Domingo
Diniz Couto. No. 6 was the Brejo of Francisco Fernandez

6x2

:

;

24

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

Machado and

his

brother; and lastly,

the

''

[chap. hi.

Mello " was the

nucleus of the estate.

The

old contrabandist,

who had

success the ruinous ro3'al tithes,

farmed with exceptional
presently went to Lisbon, realso

pented liim of his sins, and was ordered by his confessor to build
a church to N^ S* da Conceigao
furthermore, by way of fire;

was directed to tie up (vincular) the greater part of
enormous estate for the benefit of religious houses. He wrote
from Portugal to his brother, Francisco Martins de Abreu, with
all directions to carry out his orders, and the latter, much against
his will, was compelled to sign all necessary documents by the
authorities of Sahara, who met him, they say, on the road, and
led him into an adjoining cave.
The old man died in the Convento da Cartuxa at Lisbon, some declare miserabty poor, others
represent in miserly wealth, of which he had droj^ped but a small
escape, he

his

portion.

The revenue

of this vast estate w^as divided into five portions,

of wliich three were made over to the Misericordia of Sahara, one
was given to the Eecolhimento of Macahubas, and the fifth part
was distributed amongst the relations of the mortgager, the
famihes of Abreu and Lobo. The Governmental administration
w^as placed under a Junta, or Commission, who levied the rents,
and paid them through the Juiz dos Feitos Provincial, into the

Treasury.

Provincial

It

is

needless

to say that the revenue

gradually fell to 4 $800 per annum.
Decree No. 306,
of Oct. 14, 1843, " extinguished " the mortgage, and permitted
declined;

it

the sale of the property.

Since that time

it

has fetched, they

me, some 40,000L The seventh estate, called the Mello, is
still being surveyed for sale,* and this accounts for the presence
tell

of the high officials at Jaguara.

is

Dr. Quintiliano kindly rode with me about the estate.
There
a garden close to the stream, on a fine ledge of rich, red-

brown clay (macape), which might be extended for many acres.
My companion was emphatic upon the immense fertility and
salubrity of the place, f and truly, as the spring was setting in.
The Mello contained 63 sesmarias (here
generally half a square league).
Of these
10 were measured in 1865; 38 in 1866;
and 1.5 in 1867 leaving 63 for survey. It
has })een bought since I left the river by
the Provincial Gfovernment for the benefit
;

of the

American

settlers,

Pao de Cheiro, some
three leagues down the river, and belonging
to 7 or 8 proprietors, is held to be a sanitarium.

f Another

estate,

CUAP.

AT JAGUARA.

III.]

25

were making love, and the trees were weaving their
new coats of many colours, the microcosm looked enchanting.
He showed me some dry sticks, which a few days before he had

and the

bii'ds

m

the ground ^\ith ashes of decayed wood, and upon
turned a tiny stream all had budded the effect of
had
which he
The tenethe subjacent limestone, the finest natural manure.
ments are in poor condition the low, long walls, and the hollow

planted

;

:

:

"Hishan" of the Ai^abs these, however, are
The out-houses are in a still more
white- washed and tiled.
tattered state
the owner cares more for the exploitation of the
Pdo das Yelhas * than for agriculture or horticulture. The only
squares suggest the

;

;

part tolerably well preserved

is

a detached building, the Casa da

met the little church had been
congregation was mainly the " Sanharo," I

Junta,t where the Commissioners
lately repaii'ed, but its

;

a fierce species of wasp, dangerous to other honey-makers.

Our next visit was

to the lakelets

and to the vast limestone

mations on the north-west of the estate.

an open cut from which

We

passed a red digging,

much gold had been taken by the

Thence we issued upon a

praii'ie

red, there white with gravel.

for-

ancients.

of " spotty soil," here rich and

No

lack of good grazing ground,

on the estate had, I was told, been worth 4000/.
The vegetation was that of the Campos about Barbacena, the
trees were hard gnarled Barbatimao, Pataro, Geao de Gallo,
Piqui, Tingui,§ and Sicupira.
Besides these, I remarked the
Sambahj^ba (Curatella Sambaiba, also written Sambaiiva), with
valueless fruit, a rough leaf used for brushing cloth, and astrm-

and the

cattle

gent bark, good for tanning and for dressing wounds

;

it

has the

Another
common tree was the Cagaitera (Eugenia dysenterica), an ugly
name, but a pretty growth, with white flowers and milk-producing
leafage
the Cagaita, or berry, is a strong drastic. Here grows
effect

of iodine

in

resolving chronic inflammations.

:

* I obtained a copy of a map siu'vey of
the Rio das Velhas by M. Henrique DiimoDt,
dated October 186J:. It agreed Avell with
the kbours of ]\L Liais.
+ 1 found the Casa da Junta (B. P. 208^ "SO,
therm. 72°) = 1807 feet above sea-level.
Pelissher's aneroid gave (29 '46, therm.
6i°)
51:3 feet.
Mr. Gordon's observation
(29 "14, therm. 74°)
553 feet. AH these
observations are cui-iously under-estimated.
The river is here about 646 metres above
sea-level (2120 feet), or 49 metres lower

=

=

than at Sahara,

J It resembles the PelopaEus lunatns
described by Azara and Prince ^lax. (i. 139).
The latter makes it attach its pyriform nest
to trees as well as houses,
§ This must not be confounded with the
Tingi, Tingy, Tingui, or Tiniury daPraya, a
kind of lliana (Jacquinia obovata), which,
like the Paullinias, is used for intoxicating
fish.
The branches are cut, bruised, tied
in bundles, and thrown into water whose
course has been arrested by a dam.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

26

[chap. hi.

abundance the stunted Acaju or Caju, wliicli we call Cashew
(Anacardiumoccidentale,Lmn.; Cassuvium, Jussieu) amongst the
aborigines it was a growth of great importance,* they numbered
then- 3^ears by it, they kept the nuts to remind them of their age,
The
and they made of it their most valued Cauim or wine.
Goanese extract from it a neat brandy; here it, is mostly made
into sherbets, and strangers have burnt their lips by eating the
dark reniform kernel that grows outside the bitter gum called
by the Tupys Acaju- Cica (for " icica," resin), is used b}^ bookIn the lower sites there is a kind
binders, and keeps off worms.
in

:

:

Campo and do Matto), which
trees. The root is large and white

appears on

of salsaparilla (Salsa do
ant-hills

under the

being preferred in Europe and the United States
declare that

it

;

the people

;

should be drunk with milk, to disguise

the yellow

its acridity,

and use it much, but with care, avoiding it for instance in the middle
of the day.
The garden-grown salsaparilla is all cut at this
season, and the shops here ask 2 $000 per lb. of the dry old twigs
sent from Eio de Janeu-o.
The only birds were the Siriema,t that hunted the serpents
from our path; its favourite ''big brother" the Ema (ostrich)
which never gave a shot under 200 yards, and the pretty little
Tiriba

paroquet,

with

cuneiform

Mart.),! which shrieked as

it

tail

i^assed

(Psittacus

cruentatus,

The

us like an arrow.

" Campeu'os," or herdsmen, wild as the Somal, were pictm'esque
in their leather wide-awakes, sitting loosely upon ragged nags

huge spurs armed their naked heels, and
the wooden box stirruj)s which the cistus renders necessary in
Portuguese Algarves, defended their toes. They were wiry and
well-grown men here it is remarked that even the slave-boys

with wild equipments

;

;

* They called ''Acaju acai piracoba"
Avhat the Brazilians term Chuvas de Cajii,
which fall in August to September, and
which injure the inflorescence of the Ana-

convert the quarters into week?.
+ The Cariama of Marcgraf.

Prince

115) describes it as an " oiseau
ddfiant," but I have seen it tame enough,
especially as the people do not molest it.

Max.

(iii.

"Caju" with the "Anati"
a Chrysobalan), a "Madeira

It is

easily domesticated.

hard-wood forest tree, of which there are
many species, some bearing a fruit that
yields an intoxicating drink.
The altorigines began their years with the
heliacal rising of the Pleiades. Their months
were called, like the moon, "Jacy," from
"ya," we, or our, and "cy," mother.
Like most savages, they had not learned to

had a specimen. It flies for short distances,
the wings being feeble, the l)ody heavy, and
down where there are no
it may be

cavdium.

Sonthey

(i.

181) confounds the
(Olli moquilia,
reservada," or

My

friend Sr.

Antonio da Lacerda, jun., of Bahia, has or

nm

trees,

t Described by Prince Max. (i. 103),
of the "Croupion" (P.

who was reminded

crythrogaster) of the Berlin

Museum.

;

CHAP.

III.

AT JAGUAR A.

J

mounted

wlio are

in earl}'

27

much taller and stronger than
This may partly be owing to their

life,

those bred in the house.

are

abundant diet of milk and cheese, farinha, and sun-dried meat.
Here and there were scattered the huts of ''aggregados," squatters
who are permitted to Hve upon theFazenda, but who do not acquii'e
by residence any right to the soil.
The lakelets are of little importance they are the Lagoa Seca,
then dry; the Lagoa dos Porcos, where i^orkers are bred and cut
up; the Lagoa de Dentro, which oyerflows, and leayes after retreat
a thick, short-piled carpet of soft sweet grass, and the Lagoa de
Aldea, so called from an Indian settlement, which has now disappeared.
These pools, fed by rain- drainage, and somethnes by
:

they are
sprmgs, are scattered eyerj'where oyer the country
"
"
Trahh-a fish.*
natural yivaria, producing in abmidance the
:

Presently crossing a waye of ground, we entered a small Mata

The low-lying soil
Mutamba or Motamba tree

or patch of dwarf forest in the Bebida estate.

we

as

fine,

is

(Guaxuma
rine fruit,

by the
which bears an emoUient

told

are

ulmifolia),f

and whose gum

(Acacia Angico),

The leguminous Angico

refines sugar.

delicately

gelatino- saccha-

whose bark abounds in
attention was called to the

feathered,

tannm, is also a good sign.
My
Macela do Campo, whose yellow flowers, resembling immortelles,
are used to stuff pillows
to the Fruta Cheh'osa (one of the Anacardiaceffi), with a large "baga " or berry, now green and milky
;

and

to the Almecegueira (Icica or Icicariba Amyris, Aublet), with

sweet-smellmg wood, and perfumed resin used for a
technologic purposes.
I could

yariet}^ of

+

not but observe

how abundant was

the

antefibrile

Formulary quotes 15 species, several of them
resembling those of Peru. In the denser growths was the Quina
element

the

:

* Grardner writes

Traira (Pi'ince Max.
it as " rather slender."
I found it short and thick, like a
doubled John Dory.
It extends all down
the river, and has several varieties, Trahiraassit, T. -mirim, and so forth.
The flesh is
good, but too spiny to be eaten with pleasure.
Its dark back, ugly mouth,^ and
rat s teeth make the people cal it Pau de
JNegro— negro wood and refuse to touch it.
1
4.1,
m,
XI
-D- V,
1,
1
The rr
Trahira, Ti
like the Piabanha and the
-4.1,
4.1
T)riau, IS commonly met with
the rivers
/-^
4-1
11
4.ij-i
tnat ftall
into 4.U
the Atlantic
Ocean.
4.1
J. Tir .'
u
A
1
Mutamba
is
aa Angola
word;
the
T
Trai'ra),

—

•

'

•

1

m
•

J.

•

t.

4.

•

1

•

knew

Tiipys

as Ibixuma.

it

is gum mashence the Brazilian tree is

J In Portuguese Almecega

and describes

(Amyris)

tic

;

named.

"
,,

^

almecega que se usa no quebranto.
^^ ^^^^.^ ^^^^^ f^^ -^^^^

^,^^

Caramuni

,,

1^^^^,^,^..

On

the coast
^^
^.^^
.^^j^
^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^,^^^
^
v i ^ .+„ „iixr ^^^,. ;r,+«-,.r,ni
IS every«^here applied externally tor internal
^^-^

^
.

(7, 51).

•,

^

^.
i
, + ,,.„c„T,ric.^f^,^iT
as hernias, ruptures, and so forth,
luiunes,
„J
.

.

The
...

' •

.

t

v.-ord
.

"
u
m i
"Quebranto

,.

fascmatio,
^^^'^
•
,

4-

,,^i

^i,/„;^„n,.
classically

-i
eve.
the evil

-rr^^^-^c,
means

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

28

[chap. hi.

and with it the " Poor man's
Quinine," a tree with bitter bark and sweet fruit, called by manj^
names. Pan Pereira (Geissospermum Vellozii), Uba-assii, Pau
do Mato (Cliincliona Remigiana)

;

Pan de pente (comb-wood), Camara de bibro (for
bobbins), Camara do Mato, Canudo Amargoso or Pinguaciba.*
There is also an abundance of the Cha de Pedreste, or de frade
(Lantana Pseudo-thea).
The giants of the forest are there,
Forquilha,

especially the Jatobaf

(H3'men?ea, whose leaves are in pairs),

which in August yields a wine, said to be very pectoral it bears
gum anime (Jutay Cica), a good pottery varnish, and a copal
used by the Indians in making their labrets and other ornaments
;

the flowers are enjoyed by the deer, especially that called Mateiro,

and the long chestnut-coloured pods that strew the ground suppl}'
a flour of insipid taste, which serves, however, in times of
famine.
The most beautiful growth is the Ipe Amarello, or Pan
''
d'Ai'co,
bowdarque " (Bois d'arc, a Bignonia), a tall thin trunk,
as yet without leaves, which will appear after inflorescence
its
trumpet-shaped blossoms, in tufts of j^ellow gold, would make the
laburnum look dull and pale.t
Presently we came to the foot of the Pedreiras, where the land
wants water, a fatal objection in the present state of things. This
;

a

is

lump

weathered so as to
to south,

and stratified limestone,
resemble basalt from afar it runs from north

of naked,

when

it

fine

black-blue

:

joins the forested Serra d'Aldea, also a calca-

reous formation, large enough to supply the Province for centu-

The outcrop

ries.

is

marked with

stride

and holes of

dull,

dead

white, from which spring trees, and especially Cactus, whose figs
* System

95-97).
In the Campos
Chinchonacete, Qiiina do
Campo (C. Vellozii?) with dark and spotted
leaves, and a sweet fruit upon which birds
feed.
St. Hil. (III. i.
229) mentions a
Quina do Campo or de Mendanha, which he
found to he a Stryclmos Pseudo-quina.
The other common sjiecies is the Quina da
Serra (C. ferruginea).
Camara is the local
name of a plant called in Portugal "Maimequer;" bibro (from "volvere") is

are

the

(p.

several

"fusus."

t This fine feathery forest tree, which
prefers the dry woodlands, has many other
Tupy names, for instance, Jatahy (Jutahi
and Jutahi-Sica (Mr. Bates, i. 83), Jetahy,
Jetaiba,
Abati-timbaby,
Jatai-uva
(or
uba).
According to Sr. J. de Alencar " Jatoba"

is

derived

from

Jetahi,

the tree.

" ol)a," a leaf, and "a," augmentative,
alluding to the dense and beautifully domed
The hark was used to make the
foliage.
The wine must
native "uba," or coracle.
be drawn before the young leaves aj^pear.
+ Of the Bignonias there are many kinds,
Ipeiina, whoso heart supplied the
c.(/.,
Ipchardest and best material for bows
roxo with mauve and purple blossoms
Ipe-tabaco, so called because the heai't conthe Bigtains a fine powder of light green
nonia cordacea (Sellow), with blossoms of
;

;

;

tender yellow Ipe-branco, Avith large white
On the coast the young foliage
blossoms.
of In-own and burnished tinge, curiously
contrasting with its neighbours, is put forth.
In
in early spring, at the end of August.
;

these Highlands

it is later,

CHAP.

AT JAGUAR A.

III.]

To

are here appreciated.

29

the west of these " Bald Knobs," I

arismg near the hill-summit, a
common feature in Kentuck}- and other limestone countries.
After runnmg 300 yards it disappears into an underground pas-

was

told, flows

a broad stream,

from which it presently emerges.
My "American"*
informant told me that it could work any amount of machinery.
Hereabouts are caves which yield saltpetre, and where Dr. Lund
sage,

made some

On

of his greatest discoveries.

our waj^ back we passed by the Lagoa Grande, the largest

of the pools; around

newly

a

fii-ed

prairie

was a Campo Novo

it
;

—a ''new," that

is

the bright green grass started up from

betw^een the stones, which are supposed to defend

Here

serving the moisture.

it

by

i)re-

also were fair slopes of graceful

rounded forms, where the plough can act perfectly. From the
rising ground we saw to the north the long Hne of the Cipo
Eange, limestone forested with Mato Dentro.
To the northeast was the box-lilve apex of the Serra do Baldim (pronounced
Bardim), and to the south-south-east the quoin-shaped and
cloud-crowned head of our old friend the Piedade near Cuiaba.
My next excursion was to the Lagoa Santa, in company with
Sr. Jose Rodriguez Duarte, whose amiable family we had met
at Ouro Preto.
The path was southerly, hugging the left bank
of the Old Squaws' Paver.
From the uplands before 8 a.m., the
Valley appeared a serpentine of dense white mist, cHnging to and
curling up along the wooded bed
a suggestive spectacle, which
:

never loses

Lagoa do Corrego Seco
Inspeitor

Presently we passed the rich fish-pool,

its interest.
;

its village

of four houses boasted of an

humblest of police authorities,
facetiously called Juiz de Paz.
x\fter a total of an hour we
crossed the southern limit of the Jaguara estate, and at six
miles for head-quarters we sighted the " Sumidouro " or Smker. f
This pool
de

de

is

Agua on

Quarteriio,

the

said to be connected by a tunnel with the Ollio

the right bank.

To

creeping up the wild slope, and

the west lay the village, lazily

much resembhng

a scatter of

termitaria.

*

Americano

a citizen of

tlie

+ The

in the Brazil always

United

means

States.

place alluded to by Southey, iii.
his (Fernando Diaz) head
quarters at the Sumidouro (or Swallow, as
those places are called whei-e a river sinks
48.

"From

lie explored
The feature
the Sei-ra of Sahara Bussu. "
reminds us of the subterranean river which
is supposed to run under the good city of
Tours,

into a subterraneous cliannel)

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

30

[chap. hi.

was the " Qumta do Sumidouro," a oneit
streeted Tillage with a brand-new chapel, N'^ S^ do Eosario
is mainly the work of an Italian, the Rev. Padre Eafaelle
Speranza, who, if half the tales told about him are half true,
has been left to live by a kind of mii-acle. Here men still remember a tragical episode in the eventful career of Fernando
Dias Paes Leme, one of the most adventurous of the Paulista
explorers. He was then seeking for " green stones " or emeralds,
near a pestilential water known as the Vepabussii or Great Lake,
and the hardships caused many of his Ped-skin auxiliaries to
They were prompted by one of his illegitimate sons, to
revolt.
whom he was greatly attached. When the mutiny was quelled,
the father took the first opportunity of asking the 3'outh what
I)enalty was deserved by a man who had dared to rebel against

The next

feature

;

the king's majesty.
'•

He

"

Thou

should be hanged," said the son.

own doom " rejDlied the father,
who, stern as the first consul of Pome, ordered the sentence at
once to be carried into effect.* The old man died a few da3^s
afterwards, '' Ynhouzzled, disappointed, vnnaneld," on his way
hast pronounced thy

!

from the Lagoa Santa to Sahara.
Sr. Leite, an intelligent store-keeper at the Quinta, which is
about half a mile from the Piver, assured me that the ground
had lately been subject to shocks, which were most frequent
about full moon he seemed to fear for it the fate of Mendon9a.
In this limestone region I could detect no sign of igneous action,
plutonic or volcanic
but the earthquake at Alexandria, and
another which I witnessed at Accra on the Gold Coast, prove
that sedimentary formations are b}^ no means exempt from the
;

;

visitations of Ennosigaeus.

The
where

rest of the road

the

valuable.

bright

was over wild and picturesque Campo,
Pibeirao Jacques will some day be

little

Presently, after

3'""^

30'"

=

12 miles, topping a long

we saw below us a shallow basin, with a church and a
scatter of white and brown houses
the town of Lagoa Santa.
The streets were formed by the '' compound " vv\alls tile-coped,

hill,

—

:

and protected by a few inches of taipa or
* Soutliey (iii. 49) recounts the story
nearly in the same words. St. Hil. (I. ii. 189)
places the scene of the " Octagenarian's"
adventure in the Province of Porto >Seguro,

pise, resting

on a layer

that the " Vupabussu" was
afterwards called
"Lagoa Encantada,"
because it could not he found,
niul declares

CHAP.

AT JAGUAR A.

III.]

31

of ruslies, wliicli projects on both sides and defends the lower

mud.

AVe rode up to the square,
"Praca de N^ S^ da Saude, so called from the Matriz, to the
east of which is a fine fig-tree being rapidly devoured by the

part of the x^erpendicular

*'

Herb"

Bird

(a

Polygonea

The

?).

place,

now

quiet and

so

Successful at Queluz (Juh^ 27, 1842),

sleej)y, has seen wild times.

the insui'gents retu*ed to the Capao de Lana, and, after a week,
when the " Oligarchy" rendered this position untenable, the}^ re-

Lagoa Santa.
Manuel
An ambuscade of forty men wounded
his
and
repulsed
Sahara,
Barao
de
afterwards
Antonio Pacheco,
750 men. The attack was renewed, the Kevolutionists fought
stoutly, and an aunt of Adrianno Jose de Moura assisted them
by serving out ammunition on the 6th August, however, they
were obliged to take to the bush. The conduct of the late Baron
was praised, even by his enemies he was one of few who treated
treated and entrenched themselves in the Arraial da

the lo3'alist colonel,

;

;

the captm-ed with kindness.

We

rode up to some horse-posts (estacas) opposite a door,

over which was inscribed F. F., and, having heard of a French
hotel,

we knocked.

looldng dame,
to see

The house was opened by

who proved

to

a verj^ Enghsli-

have been born at Malta

M. Francois Fom-reau, and we were

we asked

;

told to dismount.

After shaking hands and exchanging salutations in the

*'

language

we ordered breakfast unceremoniously
enough; the host joined us, and we enjoyed an excellent soupe
and bouilli, not often eaten outside French walls. An old sousofficier of the 16'"^ Leger, he had been taken prisoner m the
of Racine and Corneille,"

Russian Campaign, and the result was that he, a tres joli garcon,
His
set up a cii'cus, and had travelled all about Western Asia.
three stalwart sons, including "Bibi," were still conducting
the business at Diamantina his daughter, a pretty ecuyere and
;

The
married, as " Pedrinho " proved, lived with her parents.
good old soldier had bought considerable property at Lagoa
Santa, he lusted to escape from

it,

but he did not see the way

He

was by no means one of that wretched race, which
belongs to France or to England, not to the world. We passed
the night with wine and jollity, and when I suggested the
I am sorry to
''addition," M. Fourreau laughed in my face.
out.

say that

On

Madame

arrival

did lilvewise

;

them with regret.
Dr. Lund, the illustrious

yet I left

we sent our cards

to

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

32

[ciiAr.

in.

hermit of science, who had spent a portion of his life
I was most anxious to ask
in the hone-caves of Minas Geraes.
"
"
sub-fossil man," as opposed
fossil man," or
him ahout the

Dane,

tlie

man." The term has been
prematurely decided to be "a misnomer, since the thing so
designated is of all things the most desired, the most sought
to the ''primeval" or "prehistoric

after,

but perhaps the least likely to be found."

of Cuvier

!

the fossils

Still the influence

was also desirous to know if the incisor teeth of
had naturally oval upper surfaces (not worn down),
I

and of longer antero-posterior diameter than transverse. Dr. Lund
has for years been prevented by consumptive tendencies from
he has bought a house in the square
living out of the Brazil
of Lagoa Santa, and, as might be expected, he has become bedridden by rheumatism. He is said to live chiefly on CaparosaWe perforce
ptisane,* which combines theine with cafl'eine.
accredit others with our own feelings, and I felt sad when picturing to myself the fate of so great a traveller, doomed to end
his days without a relation by his side, in the social gloom of
;

this gorgeous wilderness.

M.

Fred.

obliging secretary, came over with
that

we would wait

out success.

till

Wm.

Behrens, the savan's

many excuses and

the next morning.

We

prayers

did so, but with-

I suspect that our failure was caused by the nervous

which often aff'ects even strong men after a
long residence in the Brazil, and indeed in the Tropics generally.
Having heard many cimous lake tales f about what proved to
be on inspection a vulgar feature, I spoke to M. Behrens, who
led me to his employer's lust-haus on the holy lake, launched
fear of strangers,

* " Caparosa" is primarily our copperas
(sulphate of iron), also applied to verdigris,
and the shrubby tree got the name on acIt is
count of the tender blue-green leaf.
knowTi at once by the ci:t or torn part of
Acthe twig turning dark and tarnished.
cording to the System it contains tannic
acid with a solution of iron, which may be
made into ink, and which supplies a black
The abuse of its ptisane has, I was
dye.

been already fatal to some who have
The
followed the example of Dr. Lund.
celebrated Paullinia Sorbites, better known
as Guarand (from the Tupy Guarana-uva)
also combines theine and caffeine.
t These lake superstitions are common
in the Brazil.
La Condamine, Humboldt,
and others speak of the Lagoa Dourada.
Henderson mentions that of the Lagoa Feia.

told,

Prince Max. records tlie fables of the Taipe,
and heard of other traditions on the banks
of the Rio dos Ilheos and the IMucury. The
Parima or Parimo Lake of Guiana is equal y
Connected with lakes of
rich in legends.
golden sands was the city of Beni, Griio
Pard,, Grrao Pairiri or Paititi, alias El Dorado,
wliose streets were paved with the precious
metal, and where the Emperor of the Musus,
the great Paititi or gilded king of the Spaniards, was smeared with oil as lie rose in
the morning, and covered with gold dust
blown at him by his courtiers through long
Castelnau (vol. xi. 41) relates
reeds.
This
those of the Boldivian " Opabusti. "
word, like Southey's Vepabussii, is a corruption of Ypabussti, ypaba in the Lingua
Brasilica meaning a lake.

§

CHAP.

"

AT JAGUAR A.

III.]

3;J

The piles and poles
the boat, and struck out with the paddle.
which have been said to denote pfalbauten or crannoges, were
probably an old palisading now flooded. The length is about
one and a half miles from south-west to north-east bending east,
wdiere a sangrador or drain,

some eight

to nine miles long, dis-

Eio das Yelhas, near the Fazenda called of
Dona Ignacia.* The southern side had gTeatty shrunk, and we
saw at once what causes the "bubbling surface." Here, during
the rains, is a Cabeceira or head stream, one of the many feeders
chai'ges it into the

from the basin-sides, which gently rise to grassy Campo ground.
On the opposite margin of the little reservoir rises a pretty bit
The
of cockney forest, which has been pierced with toy paths.
lake is said to be filling up, and the greatest depth in the centre
The sides are overgrown with a fine pithy
is three fathoms.
rush

(j

unco), of which mats are

made;

this is one of the local

the others are fishing and rude pottery, glazed with
The poor almost live upon the Trahira, the
yellow^ and green.
industries

;

Curumatfio,
stunted

is

;

t

and the dreadful Piranha.

we

are

but the Araucaria

vegetation around

in the lands of the plantain

still

is

The

I

and the pine,

short and ricketty, evidently finding the air

too hot to breathe.
originally called Ypabussii (Yupubussu),

The Holy Lake was
or

Lagoa Grande

;

it

owes

its

^ Jlr.

Gerber's map makes it heartlying north and south, v,-ith the
apex to the south, and he drains it h y a
The
greatly exaggerated "Rio Fidalgo."
latter is the name of an estate belonging to
the heirs of the late Cirurgiuo M6r, Serafini
Moreira de Carvalho.

shaped,

t The

name

Salmoby authors. Prince
Max.,Crumatam^Pizarro,CorimataandCurmatan St. Hil.,'also Curmatan Gardner,
Cunmiatam Halfeld, Cumata or Curimata,
and the Almanak, Cummata— the latter
two neglecting the nasal sound which it
certainly has.
I hesitate whether to wTite
Curumatao or Gurumatao, the first consoThis fish
nant being doubtfully sounded.
it leaps like our
is about two feet long
salmon, with its silvery scales glancing in
the sun, and it must be caught in drag-nets,
There is also a
as it will not bite at bait.
salt-water fish of this name, soft and full
The savages shoot it with arof spines.
rows (Prince Max. ii. 137), Mr. Bates (ii.
140), "Caught with hook and line, baited
with pieces of banana, several Curimata
of this fish, one of the

nidfe, is variously ^^Titten

;

;

;

;

VOL.

II.

name

pretentious

to

superstitions

(Aiiodus amazonum), a most delicious fish,
which, next to the Tucamare and the Pes*
cada, is most esteemed hy the natives.
t The well-known Scissar fish, Piranha
Our authors
in Tupy meaning scissars.
call

it

''devil

fish."

Cixvier

named

it

Serra Salmo Piraya, and unconsciously sanctioned the vulgar Mineiro and Paulista corruption of Piranlia to Piray^-a (so Canayya
Tlie fish is common in the
for Canalha).
Upper Uruguay and the Paraguay, as well
Those that I saw
as in the Sao Francisco.
were from one foot to eighteen inches long
by about ten inches deep, flat but short and
tliick.
The carnivorous fish swims vertically, and is supposed to turn on one side
the serrated teeth bend
when it bites
backwards they easily tear off the flesh,
and a shoal will, they say, in ten minutes
I found
reduce a bullock to a skeleton.
the meat dry, full of spines, and with poor
flavour.
On the Lower Sao Francisco the
;

;

people refuse to cat
§

it.

The Lagoa Santa provedlto be 2228

feet above sea-level (^B..P. 20-8° 'l, therm.
76°).

O

—

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

34

[chap. hi.

which have now died out. In ancient days people made of it a
Pool of Bethesda, and a Dr. Cialli, in 1749, found that its waters
The tale which Henderson recontained medicinal properties.
being filmed over with a silvery pellicle
They preserved, however,
like mercury, was unknown to all.
upon
a
time,"
a woman used to be seen
the tradition that, "once
counts about

its surf\ice

hovering over the centre, whilst a silver cross arose from the

Many

depths.

a hardy fellow, doubtless in a pitiable state of

paddled to make a prize of a precious metal, and
was sunk by a mysterious whirlpool, when, as the Arabs say, he
passed without loss of time from water to fire. The spirit was
nervousness,

exorcised
hoi}'

—a

common

process in Hibernian legends

man, whose name has

some

unmerited forgetfulness.

fallen into

Similarly in the Manitoulin Islands of

—by

Lake Huron, the Manitou

Great Spirit " ) forbade
his children to seek for gold the ore was supposed to be found in
heaps, but no canoe could reach the spot before being over(popularly and erroneously translated

*'

;

whelmed by a tempest.
The

All these have vanished

intelligible

:

forms of ancient poets.

Die alten Fabel-wesen sind

niclit melir.

no longer sorely tempted upon the Holy Lake.
Ave returned, and I found it difficult
to tear myself away from the pleasant society of my new friends.
Dr. Quintiliano and Sr. Duarto. I little thought at the time that
the latter was so near his end he had been treated for ulceration
the wound was healed, but when he returned to Ouro
of the leg
Preto he died suddenly. Hospitality is the greatest delay in
you
Brazilian travel.
It is the old stjde of Colonial greeting
may do what you like, you may stay for a month, but not for a
day, and the churlish precepts and practices of Europe are unknown.* At length, however, I found a pilot, Chico (i. c, Francisco) Diniz de Amorim, who had a farm near the Petiro das
lie was described to me as very "fearful" (medroso),
Freiras
meaning skilful and prudent. The others were Joaquim, the son
of Antonio Correa, overseer of Casa Branca: a useless shock-

and humanity

is

Disappointed, to Jaguara

:

;

;

:

* The Basquo proverb says,

Arraina eta aiToza

Heren cgunac
"

i-'^lsh

ami guests after

carazes,

tlie tliinl <lnv stink,

campova

cleragoza,

nnd must ho east out of the house."

CHAP.

AT JAGXJARA.

III.]

35

I presentl}- bought for 40 g 000, a Idnd of
" Igara,"* a tender-canoe, and used to send him ahead to exi:»kn'e
the Rapids.
The third was Joao Pereu'a, of the Rio de Jaboticatuba, a freedman of the hite Padre Antonio he was the hardest
worker of mj^ five crews, but as fierce and full of fight as a
thorough-bred mastift'. We got on well together I did not,
however, engage him for the Rio de Silo Francisco, lest his
readiness with his shooting-iron might get me into trouble.
These men were to receive 5 $000 per diem, and 2 $000 whilst
returning to then- homes they asked a couple of days to prepare,
and they caused no unnecessary delay. Usually, every excuse is
offered, the favourite one, both here, on the Rio de Sao Francisco, and on the Amazons, being that the wife is about to grow

head, unable to work.

:

;

:

another olive branch.

As

far as Jaguara, the

River has shown us mere broken waters

(Quebradas), tide-rips (Maretas),
" Correntezas," '' Corradeiras," or
d'agua,"

when

traveller,

King

called

The

equally applied to the smallest ripple or Strom-

caused

b}^

a sunken tree, and to the Paulo Affonso,

The word,

nience, without attaching to

is

properly

the stream swings swift around the points.

of Rapids.

extent

runs,

Corredeiras," and''pontas

however, will hear them denominated Cachoeira,f a

generic term,
schnelle,

and
''

it is

therefore,
it

Avill

be used for conve-

To

any importance.

a certain

most of the rapids
or drop (Salto) till we

coiTect, the difference of levels in

unimportant, and we shall not find a

reach the Silo Francisco.

The

fall

perpendicular steps in the

little

Cachoeira, or Correnteza, are called Corridas and Corred6cas,t
and especialh" occur in the scatters of rocks, known as 'Taipaba,
*'

a

Canal "

corruption
is

of Itaipaba.

§

On

the

other

hand,

the

the fair-way through the Cachoeira.

* This

is the Tupy word from "yg,"
and "jara," lord. My "Lord of
the Water" was of Mandim or Peroba

same pronuuciatiou.

wood, twenty-five feet long, with average
breadth of nineteen inches. As usual here,
and the same is the case on the Mississippi,

means equally a rapid (Cachoeira)

v/ater,

in defiance of all the rules of disjilacement,

the dug-out was made leek-shaped, bulging
at the bows, with a head larger than the
body, under the raftsmanlike idea that
this facilitates progress. We can only compare them with the "plough bows" and
the "short bluflF ships" which are now
figuring in our naval estimates.
f Also written Caxoeira, which has the

The word con'esponds

with the Raudales of the Orinoco,
Tupy it is " aba-nheendaba," which

in part

In

or a cata(Cascata or Catadupa).
In parts of
the Brazil, especially the Province of Sfto
Panlo, Cachoeira means a rivulet, without
I'act

conveying the idea of raiiids.
Cachoeira
a classical Portuguese word, scil. Cachaocira, a place
abounding in "cachoes,"
plural of cachao, derived by Constantio
is

from Coctio, boiling (water),
+ This is also a classical
used in a limited sense.
§ The word is Tupy,

Avord, locally

"Ita-ipa" meau^

D 2

The
hill,

that

or

a

Caclioeii-a

''

river

breaks through a range which projects

its

Generall}^

diminutive form

is

it

of loose stuff

(j^odras

a

rocks

it

the "Camboinha," a *'Carreira,"

The upper

Corredor."

into

skirts

extends from one side to the

Rio das Velhas

strata in the

being mostty limestone, the obstruction

men

[chap. hi.

a place where the

x^roper is

cause rapids.

other:
or

HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

TttE

36

is

often a narrow^ wall

movedicas) through which

a few Irish-

with picks would open a wa}" in twenty-four hours

;

once

opened, the water laden with sand and gravel would not allow
it

to close.

Before this

is

attempted, I should advise, however,

the use of the diving-bell, or helmet, in each deep pool (fundao)

which precedes the break. These basins where the w^ater slackens
(remansbs, pocos, aguas paradas), and which lie close above the
rapids, are in fact huge flumes and cradles where the gold *
and diamonds washed down to the river-bed will be found to
have settled, whilst the rock-bars crossing the stream must preserve the deposited matter from being swept awa}- during the floods.

In the Rio de Sao Francisco the Cachoeii'a
because formed

of

either

the hardest

is

much more

serious,

sandstone or of lumpy

when here we have inches.
The Cachoeira, like the '' Pongo," or "Mai Paso" of the
Upper Amazon, is nearly alwaj^s found at the mouth of a tributary, a river, or a corrego or stream wdiich brings down mud,
granite,

whose

crest

numbers

" creek-sand," and gravel.

feet

It causes inundations

by arresting

the flow, and these floods would be easily remedied, whilst the

stream would not be injured by additional velocity. In rare
places it may be necessary to canalize across a neck of ground,
but the Brazil

is

not yet prepared for such expenses. t

On

the

Rio das Velhas there are generally houses near the Cachoeiras,
but, as a rule, in the dangerous parts the people know^ nothing of
the river a league above or below their doors
for fishing, crossing,

and paying short

visits,

:

they use canoes

but they travel by

the roads along the banks. +
It is translated " Guriug a stony reef.
or "Pedragullio," coarse gravel.
Castelnau (i. 424 and elsewhere) mentions
upon the Tocantins River the "Eutaipava,"
probably a peculiar way of spelling.
* Two attempts have been made to turn
the bed of the Rio das Velhas
one was
bcloAv Santa Lusia, and the other was above
Jaguara.
The success was partial, the
precious metal was found in quantities,

giilho "

;

Imt

after

an

enormous

expenditure

of

labour, the floods came down and
the stream returned violently to its old

human

At ju'esent the people cannot reach
the liottom of the bed, and coffer-dams,
dragging machines, and diving bells are
equally unknoM-n to them.
+ Upon this subject I shall offer some
obsciwations in Chapter 15.
In the Brazil, as in British India,
:}:
course.

"

CHAP.

AT JAGUAR A.

III.]

The bad " Cachoeiras

37

"

on the Rio das Yelhas number ten,
and all will require more or less work before a tug can be employed upon the river. They are "wild rapids," Cachoeiras
brabas (bravas), the others being ''meia braba " and"mansa,"
There is no rule for passing them. Sometimes the
or tame.
raft

must

make

cvee]}

down the

sides

at other tunes the pilot

;

must

apex of the triangle, whose base is up-stream, and
whose arms are formed by jumping water. In many of the tiderips there is a double broken line, containing a space smooth
for the

which shows the deep bed. The rock or snag, on the
other hand, is known by the triangular ripple, with the base
down stream. The paddles should be taken in, and the raft
as

oil,

must be pointed down with poles (sobre

vara)

:

if

the

men

are

lazy the}" will spare themselves this trouble, and they will pro-

bably come to

grief.

Where

the

cui'rent

advisable to diminish the pace by dropping

is

very rapid,

down

Cordelling," stern foremost by a rope from the bows,

''

confined to the tail-end of islands, where there

it

is

stern foremost.*

is

is

mostly

a gate in the

down
by the current, must pass. Of course, the seasons make the
greatest difference in the rapids f some of them which are
formidable during the floods, are safe when the dries set in.
Generally they are most dreaded in the winter weather, when
during the inundations between December and
I passed them
March, a small steamer might i)ass over many of them without
knowing that they are there. The boatmen swim like ducks,
A stranger without a lifedespite which many are drowned.
rocks through which the raft that would otherwise be swept

;

:

belt

to

would have

prepare for

little

chance of escape

accidents

;

it is

by attacldng

therefore advisable

dangerous

i^laces

eii

chemise.
water communication, wliicli sliould liave
been first undertaken, has been left to the
last.
I sliall have more to say upon this

*' cle

corrida.

descida)

Liais Avas on the Rio das Velhas
between April 10, 1862, and July 3, 1862.
His head pilot was one Clemeute Pereira
of Tabatinga, in the Vinculo do Mello.

" de bunda," more prettily " de poppa;"
opposed to the normal way " de bica " or

Hence the names of the Cachoeiras, and
other featiire.s, which are not all correct.

subject.

*

Commonly

called

(virar

or

f

JM.

—

CHAPTER

IV.

TO CASA BRANCA AND THE CACHOEIEA DA ONgA.
THE COUNTRY HOUSE.

—THE

COUNTRY GENTLEMAN.
UGLY RAPIDS.

—VISIT

TO JEQUITIBA.

echo do Rio que o trovao Simula,

E

lento »e prolong-a reboando,

Domingos Jose Gongalves de Magalhaes.

—

Friday, August 16, 1867. After a week at Jaguara, I packed
up 111}^ chattels b,y an effort of the will, and, accompanied to the
*'

Porto

" b}' n\y

kind hosts, embarked.

M.

We

parted with

and with long wavings of the hat

hopes to meet
I fomid myself, once more,
again,

like Violante in the

pantry

:

many

present^

— alone.

May from

Jaguara downwards, a constant
depth of two metres, and no danger of grounding except from careLiais records in

lessness

:

this,

however, was not

my

experience.

Dm'ing the ten

We passed the bar of
through
we shot
a broken bridge and
with chain and pulle^', belonging to the Fazenda

miles of to-day there was

little to

observe.

the Rio Jaboticatuba,* and

by a

ferry raft

Anna of Sr. Antonio Martms de Almeida. After anbend we sighted on the left a square of white and brown

de Santa
other

houses with turreted entrance and private chapel. This place,
the head-quarters of the Casa Branca estate, lies below a iDlantaincovered hill rising above the wild growth of the banks. The land
is

of rich limestone, with a wealth of water

sugar, maize

and

;

is

rich in cotton and

haricots and the castor-plant

rice,

horses and mules, black cattle, and pigs

;

'"

The name

that of a fiuit, somewhat
Jaboticaba (Eugenia CVuiliflora)
}mt the tree is taller, the bark has
a diflerent appearance, and tlie berries do
not grow so low along the trunk.
Canoes
ascend the stream for five leagues it heads
is

common

;

;

it

and on the

banks large granular gold in rusty quartz looking

like the

;

breeds
river's

like iron is still

in the Serra do Cipo, and is navigable for
the smallest craft to the Ribeiruo de Abaixo,
distant some twelve leagues. Further down
is the Corrego da Palma, whose
bend, a
little below the mouth, is called the Roto da

Palma.

;

TO CASA BRANCA AND THE CACHOEIPtA DA OX^A.

CHAP, IV.]

30

The four square leagues may be bought for 300 000 S 000,

washed.

:

or less.

A small pai-tj' of Anglo-Americans met me

on the bank and introduced me to the owner, Sr. Manoel Francisco (de Abreu GuimaHe was a fine, handsome, middle-aged man, Portuguese
raes).
by bu-th about eighteen years ago he inherited half the estate of
his uncle, Major Joao Lopes de Abreu.
The manor house was
in the normal style, fronted by a deep verandah, from which the
owner can prospect the distillery, the mill, vdiose wheel informs
us that sugar is the staple growth and the other offices. At the
end of the verandah is the Chapel of N^ S^ do Carmo, with her
;

;

upon a wooden shield pamted blue
chaunting on Sunday evenings.
The Senzallas or

escutcheon of three
here there

is

negro quarters
square, which

gilt stars

;

are, as usual, ground-floor lodgings
is

cross and a raised

generally provided with a

wooden

tenements are locked

tall

stage for drving sugar

at night, and, in order to

within the

central

wooden

and maize

;

the

prevent disputes,

the celibataires are separated from those of the married blacks.

These Fazendas are isolated villages on a small scale.
They
supply the neighbom'hood with its simple wants, dry beef, pork,
and lard, flom- of manioc and of maize,* sugar and spiiits, tobacco
and oil; coarse cloth and cotton thread; cofi'ee, and various teas
of Caparosa and orange-leaf. They import only iron to be turned
salt, wine, and beer, cigars, butter, porcelain,
into horse-shoes
drugs, and other '' notions."
There is generally a smithy, a
carpenter's shed, a shoemaker's shop, a piggery, where during
the last month the beasts are taken from the foulest food, and an
ample poultry yard.
The life of the planter is easily told. He rises at dawn, and his
;

* ''Farinha deiMillio" sliould be steeped
(molhado) for 24 hours; the manipuktion
is delicate, and especially the water must lie
flowing, or the floiu- turns sour, and acIt
quires a nauseous taste (farinha podre).
is then pounded (socado) in the stamps
the dough
(pilao) and sifted (penerado)
(massa) is toasted by slow degrees, otherwise it will be injured, in large pans of
tile stone or metal (Furnos de cobre, &c.)
Travellers
fixed in masonry over the fire.
have used these articles for drying skins
and plants. This farinha is best when
The people ignore the
eaten with milk.
corn bread of the United States. In making
manioc-farinha, the bag in which the raw
;

raspings were strained (tapety or tapiti, in
French colonies "la Couleiivi'e ") is supplied by placing palm-leaves above and
below the massa when in the press (prensa)
the sediment of the juice that comes from
the mass is called tipioca (our tapioca), and
the liquid is thrown away.
The Indians,
like the Dahomans, prepared a much roasted
and hard meal, which they called ouy-entan,
and the Portuguese know as "Farinha de
guerra" (Prince IMax. i. 116).
In the
Brazilian forests there is a poisonous species
called mandioca brava
in Europeans it
produces fatal vomitings, but the wild
people are said to eat it after keeping it
;

for a day.

'

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

40

[chap. tv.

and wash-hand basm with ewer,
both of sohd silver.* After strolHng about the mill, which often
begins work at 2 a.m., and riding over the estate to see that the
hands are not idling, he returns between 9 and 11 with his famil}^,
and if a bachelor with his head men, to breakfast. The sunny
hours are passed either in a siesta, aided by a glass of English ale
in reading
there is often nothing English in it but the name
The dinner is between
the newspapers, or in receiving visits.
sometimes later it is invariably followed by
3 P.M. and 4 p.m.
slave-valet brings liim coffee

—

—

—

and tobacco.

coffee

;

Often there

is

another relay of coffee before

and butter or conserves, and the day
ends with chat in some cool place. The monotony of this Vida
de Trade Friar's life is broken by an occasional visit to a
neighbour, or to the nearest country town. Almost all are excellent sportsmen, good riders, and ver}^ fond of shooting and

down

sitting

to tea, biscuits

—

—

They

fishing.

are also doctors, great at administering salsapa-

and other simples, and at prescribing diet. In Gardner's
time Buchan's "Domestic Medicine," translated into Portunow the Formulary of Chernoviz must
guese, was the book
have made a little fortune it is part of the furnitm'e, as was
" Guillim " in the country-houses of our grandfathers. Homoeopathy f throughout the Brazil is in high favour, and generally
preferred to the " old school " and the ''regular mode of practice."
The choice is the result, I presume, of easy action upon the high
nervous temperament of the race, and the chemist who deals in
the similia sbnillhus, makes more money than his brother the
rilla

;

;

allopath.

We

A\ill

now

visit

the Engenho, or sugar-house, the simplest

In the more civilized establishments a
light wheel works by a cogged axle, the two h'on or iron-banded
expression of a mill.
cylinders

* This

the custom of Turkey,
On the Rio das Velhas
metal is preferred to the more frangible
material; for everywhere in the Brazil
negroes break -whatever they handle.
+ The establisher of homoeoimthy in the
Brazil, who corresponds with Dr. Samuel
Gregg in New England, was Dr. B. Mure,
a Frenchman, a most active and energetic
proselytiser, who worked the press with
unwearied energy,
"You and I are the
only men who love homoeopathy for its own
Egjrpt,

is

and

The

placed horizontally. J

still

Persia.

sake,"
I

old

three

Hahnemann

believe on the

perpendicular

said to him.

Red

He

died

Sea, riding his favou-

hobby-horse towards and for the benefit
of India.
The " Institute Homeoijatico do
Brasil " jniblished his "PraticaElementar,"

rite

and

it

has reached several editions.

''Engenho de ferro deitado," opposed
the ancient system of upright cylinders

Ij:

to

"Engenho de pan empe. " When
not worked by a water-wheel, a long lever
is carried round the walk by cattle,
called

TO CASA BRA^X'A AXD THE CACHOEIRA DA OXQA.

CHAP. IV.]

41

and a hopper sometimes protects
in these daj'S the slaves' hands from mutilation.
There is
an utter absence of Em-opean chemical science and of modern
machinerj': the vacuum-pan, the " subsider," and the "steam
Even the simple use of bone
evaporator," are equally unknown.
black and lime, to remove the albumen and the acetic acid of
The ripe stalk should be
the sugar, have not been adopted.
is
often
piled
in the yard for days, and
ground as soon as cut it
the outside skin, hacked b}' the awkward
the accidental rents
black, acidify the juice by admitting the au*.
The caldo or
garapa* is run right into the pans, which often are not thoroughl}'
rollers

are waxing obsolete

;

:

m

cleaned

down

exposed to atmospheric action, and the laziness of the boilerman prevents his
skimming the juice with care. Hence, in this Land of the Cane,
;

it

slowl}" boiled

is

in coppers

who prefer loaf sugar must send for it to Europe.!
The "American" party consisted of nine souls, including

those

a

and three young childi'en, white-headed, blue-eyed, redcheeked rogues, always blessed with health, restlessness, and
accidents
they are extreme contrasts to the slow, dull, whitybrowns of the land, and here the southern " cross " is uncommonly strong. They had been Hving for some four weeks in a
house assigned by the host, and during that time their united
wife

;

* The word is, I believe, ludian
it
properly means Caouy, or wine of sugarand it extends far.
cane, or wild honey
It is simply the fresh cane-juice, which
the people are fond of drinking after the
:

:

Indian fashion, wanii

more agreeable

;

to

me

it

is

much

Garapa is a favourite
beverage with Tx-opeiros, and it stands on
cold.

the shelves of every Yenda, together with
and other mixtures. For cattle,
and especially for horses, it is an admirable
fattening food.
+ The following is the rude system in
this part of the Brazil.
The canes are
gi'ound by the rollers, and the juice (caldo
or garapa, the Spanish huarapo) flows into
the boiling coppers (caldeiras)
of these
there are usually three, worked by a single
negro.
The trash (baga9o, in French bagasse) is still rich
it is good for animals,
especially pigs, it would supply fuel for a
Capillaire

:

:

steam engine, and

it is

excellent manure,

returning silex and saccharine matter to
Now it is generally piled in a
the soil.
heap and left to decay. From the coppers
the juice passes to the cooler (resfriadeira),
where feculences and impurities subside,

and the "caldo" crystallizes. It is then
placed in vats (formas) whose bottoms, half
the breadth of the tops, are pierced with
holes, and are pro\'ided ^vdth bungs. These
troughs are covered with brick-clay, never
animal charcoal
when the molasses (melado) has drained out, the sugar is dried in
the open air, raked about by negro boys,
and allowed to become thoroughly imjiure.
Finally, it is stored in the sugar chamber
(Caixao de assucar).
For distillation the molasses from the
troughs is led by channels (bicas) to a large
canoe-shaped wooden cistern (coche).
It is
then mixed with the scum from the boilers,
and reduced to about 11° Reaumur, in the
:

tank, for alcoholic fermentation (tanque de
azedar).
It is then carried to the still
(alambique), an old-fashioned and rarely
cleaned machine like a retort. This usually
receives three feeds (alambicadas) in the
twelve hoiirs
work being rax-ely done at
night.
Finally the spirit is poured into a
square wooden bin containing some 500
kegs this "tanqiie de Restilo " when hoilowed out of a single log is called " Paiol."
:

:

THE

42

THE BRAZIL.

HIGHLAIs^DS OF

[chap. iv.

—

26 $000 sa}^ 30/.
per annum. A wonderful infirmity of purpose seemed to affect
them the only reasonable cause of delay was a wish to try
the effect of a rainy season before squatting in the new Alabama.
Some liked the place, because it is above the difficult rapids, and
*WencIa

bill,"

food

iiicliided,

had been

onl}^

;

connected by land and water with Sahara the market, a sine
qua non here. Others abused it they held [it unfit for the
plough, and objected to the Brazilian style of spontaneous proit is

;

duction, where the land is uncleaned, where the only implement
is

a bill-hook at the end of a long handle used to lop off the

wood springing from undecayed roots, and
They naturally
where gathering is the only work and care.
enough objected to plant in the same field cotton and corn, beans
sprouts of the young

and Palma-Christi, the

sole rude

succedaneum

for a rotation of

now known in the Brazil. The best lands are here sold at
15 $000 40 $000 per alqueire of 6 x 2 square acres, and large
To work profitably,
tracts may be purchased for much less.
crops

—

—

however, they requii'e stock and fifteen black hands the latter at
The
present a very expensive article, rangmg from 501. to 100?.
production per acre is of cleaned cotton, one bale of 500 lbs., worth

40 bushels of corn fetch from 40 $000 to
80 $000, and the same is the price of an equal quantity of beans
and ricinus seed.* The acre also produces 100 lbs. of tobacco,
worth 60 $000, and the price will be raised by proper treatment.
a

minimum

of 200 $000

;

Not being over-burdened with money, the colonists must rely
mainly upon tune-purchases. I heard afterwards that they had
One of
bought a raft, and descended the river to Tralm-as.
them, Mr. Davidson of Tennessee, volunteered to accompany me
as adjutant-general I liked the man, and gave him a passage to
;

the Rapids of Paulo Affonso.
The host was a bachelor, and the evening of

my

arrival

was

a "pagoda," however, not
ushered in by music and dancmg
a "fandango," nor the peculiar Congo style of saltation known as
I could not enjoy it, the sun had been overthe " batuque." t
;

my principal sufferpowerful, and the breeze had been too cool
ings were from cramps in the fingers, here, apparently, a common
:

* This mamona-oil sells at 1 $ 200 per
The
alqueire—nearly 8 imperial gallons.
Southerners are familiar with the plant,
hut they rarely hurn the oil, as is done in

tliis

part of the Brazil,

f Not
Max.

l)atucca, as it is written

hy Prince

—
CHAP. IV.]

TO CAS A BRANCA AND THE CACHOEIEA DA ONCA.

complaint.
give

me

I

had arrived on

Frida}', but the

leave to depart before

My

43

host wouhl not

Monday, and then,

also,

not

till

was plentifully sui)plied by him with
fine ''Restilo," or rather *' Lavado," whose exceeding strength
provoked the wonder and admii'ation of the river. A single wineglass of this spirit before turning-in, especially when the wind
and rain rushed under the raft-awning, was a protection against
Thus, Peter Pindar
ague.
after breakfast.

raft

:

"

you, my friend, the power of death defy
Pray keep your inside wet, your outside dry."

Would

I found also a six-months' provision of

me

the best of voyages

August 19.

white, clayed Papa-

9x6x2

inches.
Sr. Manoel Francisco
"
Eliza," embraced me, and wished me
to the

duras sugar bricks,

accompanied

fine,

?

;

I parted from

—After two

him with

regret.

hours we passed on the right bank the

Paracatu influent,* a buttress of caverned rock ending a

was the

fii'st

of three picturesque

hill

;

it

composed of calcareous

clift's

and separated by shallow green hollows.
In front the distances were charmingly painted by the pink-blue
us twenty-three days
ail* of the Brazilian spring, which lasted
the gauzy, filmy sky
longer, till we reached the Eio Pardo
blurred the outlines of the vegetation and rendered mirrory the
surface of the stream.
The timber was small, the tallest growths
being the Jatoba and the Angico Acacia the most spreading was
blocks, tufted with trees,

;

;

the Gamelleira or wild

fig,

cool, dark-green foliage,

widely-extending boughs.

that kindly gift of Nature, with dense,

and

*'

beard of wood"! garnishmg

its

Clearings extended from the water to

making brown patches of dead vegetation and
oranges and bananas showed where the dwelling places lurk.
There was the usual beautiful variety of hue and foim, so attracThe mauve Quaresma,
tive to all wdio have an " eye for trees."
the chrysoprase of the J^oung sugar, and the fan-shaped Arrowcane (uba),t here 14 to 15 feet high, tasselHng the long, smooth
reaches, and a hundred tints of leek-green, gold-green, darkthe hill-sides,

;

green, spinach-green, brown-green,
* TLis must not he confounded with the
Paracatu influent of the true Sao Francisco.
The word thus written means good (catu)
others hold it to be a corstream (para)
ruption of Pira-catu, good fish (pira or
;

pink-green,

and red-green,

pyra).

+ Barba de Pau or Tillandsia.
J " Uira " is also in Tuj)y a
aiTOW, and Uira9aba, a quiver,

shaft or

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

44

[chap. iv.

contrasted with the white flowerets of the Assa-peixe branco, with
the silver-lined leaves

and with the coppery
foliage of the Copah3^ha.*
Here rose a tall skeleton, blasted by
lightning, or slain by the annual fires there a nude form enjoyed
the disrobing of the dry season before assuming the impermeable
of the rains
there a panached palm rose bending and rustling
in the wind.
Now the trees shot boughs horizontally over the
stream and curled up or put forth secondary branches towards
of the Sloth-tree,

;

;

the

light;

orchids were rare,

but the llianas were as usual

and pendulous birds'-nests occupied the best places.

rampant,

There half-cut trunks bent then* heads into the water, whilst
others, inclining down the river in the teeth of the wind, showed
the force of the floods. Masses of vegetation rolled bulging down
the bank.
"We especially remark the massive digitations of the
Castor-plant, and the Taboca Cabelluda (hairy bamboo), a
graceful, maidenly shape, but armed with angry thorns cockspurshaped, and disposed in threes.
The Hibiscus, 10 to 12 feet
high, here

the eye by

known

as the

its j^ellow

Mangui

or

Mangue,f

cotton-like blossoms,

b}'

will

long attract

the 3'oung cordi-

form leaves with velvety lustrous green, and by the dead
tion washed with faint vermilion, looking from

aftxr

infolia-

like spangles

of red.

Below Paracatu

is

projecting from the

the P090

feio,

or " ugly well," where a rock

bank caused the little whiids and regurgitations here called, from theii* shapes, " panellas de agua," or
water-pipkins.
Three hours carried us down to Pau de Cheu'o, I
thus long had it taken to coast this part of our friend's grounds.
The estate, belonging to half-a-dozen owners, is estimated at 200
alqueires, and may, they told us, be bought for 8 to 10 contos of
reis.

make

A

Californian

left

who

lately Adsited

it,

declared that he could

2 $ 000 per diem by panning the gold which hes unworked

in the banks.

Then we came

to the Lapa, the longest and tallest
on the river. This ''rupes prsecelsa sub auras"
is broken into a thousand cracks and holes, whilst the cavern is
fronted b}^ the most corpulent of stalactites.
Here the Calcaire
is based upon an iron-stone grit, which stains the banks with

limestone

blufl'

* The Copaliyba, also written Copaiva, Copauba (Copaifera officinalis, copaier, "capivi " tree) will l»e mentioned in Chap. C.
t Arruda calls this Malvacea Gruachnma

(Guaxuma) do Mangue (Hibiscus

liernanilju-

censis).

X

Literally

rinea.

" perfumed wood," a Lau-

TO CASA BRANCA

CHAP. IV.]

iridescent water

and

AND THE CACHOEIRA DA OXgA.

upon sand, evidently the old bed.

rests

45

In

many

parts the slopes are frosted over with a curious incrustation,
which lasted to the mouth of the Eio das Yelhas.
The crew

declared that

it

was the efflorescence of arsenical pyrites from

We

Morro Velho.

dissolved

in

it

boiling water,

strained

it

and made a hardish cake of uncrystallized
matter like impure sugar the taste was that of alum and saltpetre. The latter, as in Kentucky, often overlies a whitish-yellow,
arenaceous soil, whose pores act as strainers.
The rest of the
surface was a rich soil some six feet deep, or double what satisfies
the farmer on the fertile Mississippi.
Now the currents are becoming rapids, and the bed is studded
through

flannel,

;

with

islets of

calcareous stone, dangerous during half-flood.

Palma* M. Dumont's navigation at j^i'esent
Four huts stand at the Bari'a de Pau Grosso, justh' so

the Porto da

At

ends.
called

from the huge timber of its banks. It is said to head near
f estate, which was bought from a certain Marquez
(P. N.) of Sahara by the English Company at Cocaes, who
intended it to supply then- miners with provisions.
The smwey
of this Fazenda extended over a j'ear, and cost some 1400/.
The overseer under the General Manager, Mr. J. Pennycook
Brown, is a Mr. Broadliurst, whose father, together with a sonin-law, Manuel Simplicio, bought from Sr. Bonifacio Torres part
of the estate called " Cana do Reino."
Mr. Broadluu'st the
elder brought out English machinery for carding, spinning, and
weavmg cotton he was afterwards drowned in the Cipo Eiver,
which runs out of a dip in the mountain. The same happened
to two or three other Englishmen
an accident charitably attributed to the superior excellence of the rum. The Fazenda do
Eotulo has fine red and black soils, based on limestones, and in
two places saltpetre has been worked. It is to be sold for
the Rotulo

;

—

50

:

000 S 000, but

carriage.

On

broad, and

it

it

has the disadvantage of being far from water

some six leagues long by two
would support a little settlement of forty families.
At 5.10 p.:m. we idty came to anchor off a sand-bank, the Praia
da Cancancao t it is backed by land bare of grass, and a few huts
the other hand,

it is

:

* Or Porto das Palmas.
it i.s
+ Rotulo means a roll or label
generally corrupted to "Rochclo."
"
J "Of the nettle (Jatrophaurens). The
;

wild men, -who were well acquainted ^vitl^
had given names to the medicinal
growths of their forests, used this j^lant in
local phlebotomy.
They sM-itched with it

and

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

46

We

[chap.

iv.

on board the ^' Coffin," and
were pleasantly sminised to find no insects. The night was
still as the grave, and at times curious sounds from water, earth,
and air reminded me of those described by wanderers in the
Amazonian forests the work of some night-bird or beast, or fall
are on the other side.

slept

—

At midnight, tall
distinct pillars of white mist, silvered by the moon, formed a
majestic colonnade slowly progressing down stream.
At 4 a.m.
the hot humid air of the Kiver Valley was clear before sunrise,
however, a cold draught swept from the Serra Grande or do
hungry

of heavy fruit, or the plashing of

fish.

;

EspinhaQo on the east,* and condensed the vapour into a thick
fog.
During the day the breeze chops round to the north,
forming a head- wind which refrigerates the surface stream the
The evenings are
fish will bite at midnight but not at noon.
;

mild, serene, delightful.

—

August 20. We resolved to set out betimes, but the vapours
kept us at anchor till long after sun-rise, and we had reckoned

The country now assumes

without (including) om* host.

which

will last.

In the

offing is a grass}^ table-land

a type

or ridge

either with one or two distances, bristled with a few trees, and
rising high above the avenue of

the stream flows.
split

bush and

through which

forest,

After a couple of hours we paddled under a

bridge which had been carried away in 1858

:

like that of

Casa Branca it should have been raised at least 50 instead of
32 feet (10.30 metres), a fair allowance for extraordinar}" floods.
The site is, as usual, badly chosen instead of being divided into
two a little lower down, it runs like a causeway right across a
branch channel formed by inundations on the left bank.
The
original cost had been 2:800^000, and the lioles made for plantAn engineer
ing the piers had yielded 4 400 $ 000 of gold.
instead of 60/.
and the owner
offered to repair it for 6007.
;

:

—

—

therefore prefers a raft.

Just below
Jequitiba

;

t

it,

here

to
is

" larboard,"

is

the pretty

little

a lakelet draining into the

the part aftcctcd, and when sufficient iuflannnation Avas produced, they made a
great number of incisions witli a stone or a
knife, a style of cupping more barbarous
even than the African.
^ This corresponds with the south-east
wind that blows at sunrise on the lower

village

of

main channel

Mississippi.

+ Or

Grequitiha, a magnificent forest
(Couratari legalis, Mart.
Pyxidaria
macrocarpa, Schott. ). The colossus is often
180 feet high, and its spreading shade
would slielter a small caravan.

tree

;

CHAP.

IV.]

TO CASA BRANCA AND THE CACHOEIRA DA ONCA.

4/

Opposite we sighted the Fazenda do Jequitiba, a
known to the people
It was impossible to pass
as Ca2)itao Domingos Diniz Couto.
liim, and the visit led to the expected result
a room was shown,
further down.

sugar estate belonging to Colonel, better

;

breakfast was ordered, and with difficulty I extracted a promise

—

on the next day after the early meal. One cannot
sympathise with the Northron's estimate of Brazilian hospitality.
Besides the fact that the guest has obligations as well as the
for dismissal

Fazenda sufficient intelligence, especially on local matters, to make up for lost time.
At Jequitiba I
was asked about the murder of the Baron yon der Decken; at
Jaguara my name was shown to me in the " Eevue des Deux
Mondes," a publication which, not havmg been salaried, persistently abuses the Brazil, and consoles the Brazilians by its gross
ignorance of the subject which it maltreats.*
Colonel Dommgos has a fine taste for good soil people wonder
that he still works at adding acres to acres, but the process has
now become part of his existence. He has some forty square
leagues of land, and trayellmg down-stream for three daj^s we
shall pass his estate.
Besides this Fazenda he owns the Ponte
host, I always find in the

;

Noya on

the Barra de Jequitiba, about

six miles

distant,

the

head of negroes, the Bom Successo with
upwards of 300, and the Laranjeii-as, He will sell any or all of
them, and from 1 pair to 500 paii- of hands he begged me to
pubhsh this sporting offer, wdiich I accordingly do.
We spent a pleasant day, and were yisited by M. Bruno yon
with

Paiol

100

;

German engineer, married, and settled near Ouro
he is now suryeymg the Mello estate. A small Portu-

Sperling,

Preto

;

a

me

had heard of coal in the neighbourhood, but exact information was not to be obtained. As the
Colonel was suffering from cataract he sent Sr. Antonio Justmo
de Oliyeira, his Idnd and ciyil admmistrador, to show us his fine
grounds.
The place would be a Paradise with a steamer passing
by it once a month. The gardens, sloping down to the stream,
giye a pretty yiew of the little Arraial on the opposite side, with
its chapel, backed by pink-blue hills in the far distance.
The
many acres were planted ^^'ith a few roses, cockscombs, and
guese landholder told

that he

* I refer especially to the "Review's"
upon the Brazilo-Paraguayan war.
Either it knows the truth, and conceals, or
articles

rather travesties it; or it ignores facts, and
sliouhl seek information.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

48

other flowers

the fruit trees were mangos,

;

figs,

[chap. iv.

Avocado pears

(Abacutis, Persea gratissima), and large Cuyetes or gourd trees

(Crescentia Cujete)

;

the rest was sugar* and bananas.

There

was a noble row of Jaboticabeiras (the well-known Eugenia cauliand
fiora) with cupped or rounded summits, dense foliage,
smooth myrtaceous bark, ever^^iere studded along bole and
bough with small yellow-white flower-tassels and young berries,
In Sao Paulo the tree bears fruit
little larger than a pin's head.
only once a year in early summer, October and November here
I had looked forward to the myrtle
it is continually productive.
season as one does to the strawberries in England and the cherthe tree, however, is not found on the Lower Sao
ries in France
Francisco a great disappointment. Its fruit is one of the most
delicate, in size a little larger than the biggest gooseberry, with a
:

;

—

tough coriaceous skin
flavour is lost

proper thing

when

is to

eat

the Jaboticaba
it off

Brazilian

that of the

like

the trunk

is
;

The

grape.

brought to market

a tree

Paulo for 10 $000 per annum, and " andar

may
ii

the

;

be hired at Sao

Jaboticaba "

t

en

famille is a very pleasant picnic.

August 21.

—Having

offered

some parting advice

to our host

some ophthalmist at Eio de Janeiro, before
couching became too late, we set out at 7 a.m., much condoled
The river was beautiful its grassy bluff seemed to bar
with.
the course, and the irregular lay of the heights told us what was
coming. At 1.40 p.m. our troubles began, they were to last for
Our awning nearly came to grief at a sharp volta or
five days.
bend I a little below the Barra do Diamante. Twenty minutes
The Saco
afterwards we came to the Saco da Anta or d'Anta.
"
Horseshoe bend " of
or Reviravolta here corresponds wdtli the
the stream makes a sharp turn, at
the North American rivers
times running almost parallel with itself, and the land on its
convexity becomes a quasi-peninsula with a narrow neck.
touching a

visit to

;

;

* I

have rarely seen

certainly none in
Cayana quality,

the

finer

Brazil.

KUgar-cane,
It

is

the

and the stalks when
are 10 feet long by 1^ inch in diaSuch is the effect of the Ma9ai)e
meter.
ciit

soil.

" To go to Jaboticaba."
f
X Usually i>ronounced in Minas and Sao
Paulo "Yorta." The confusion of the r
and I are as common as in China, and

I

have lieard a " University

Depnty
morning

man

"

and a

the Estrella da
star) Estrera da Ai-\'a.
Alva (the
As has been said, many of the "Indians"
cannot articulate the I.
Moreover, in
Tupy it is iiopularly asserted that /, r,
This, however, cerand I arc wanting.
tainly does not appear in the Lingoa Geral,
which ignores f?, /, Ii, I, and,-:,
Provincial

call

t

CHAP.

TO CAS A BRAXCA AXD THE CACHOEIRA DA OXgA.

IV.]

Here a grassy
the stream

;

the

bluff
tall

on the right bank fends

rock

falls into

off

49

and loops

the bed, throwing over a

the
ridge which causes the water to break nearly right across
material is lamellar shale, porous, and full of holes it might
;

;

easily be

The

removed by a small steam-hammer.

current, as

we

can see, swings to the left, having a large sand-bank to the right,
bends in the latter dkection under a tall bank and disappears ;*

from west to east. Chico Diniz went down in the
tender carrying our damageable goods, and cut away some
branches dangerous to the awning. We then floated along
the bank to port under pole, and stern foremost, an occupation
which cost us eight minutes, and the preparations for it half-anthe com'se

is

hour.

After the " Tapir's bend"

we

at

once came to the Funil

Sao Paulo, pronounced Funi.

as in

—

This name

—

—here,

entonnoii', or

on the Brazilian
funnel
in land formations means
rivers it is usually applied to rapids breaking across the head of
Here an
a long, straight reach that ends in a vanishing pomt.
a defile;

eyot or sand-bank, covered with gravel and pebbles, bisected the

upper entrance, and the course was from west to east. We
bumped down the island's right side, hugging it to escape bad
then we poled over,
rocks on the river's bank to starboard
alwaj'S a delicate oi)eration, to the proper left side, avoided the
" brush," and made fast. Bag and box were sent down the left
branch uxthe tender, wdiich ascertained that the rock-bed was now
;

too

much exposed

Perforce we again

for the raft.

bumped

across

the stream below the heavy central break to the right bank, where
canoes, plantains, and

At

5 P.M.

we

abut denoted the Fazenda do Funil.

prej)ared our dormida (bivouac) on the Praia do

Funil, a dry sand-bank to the

the hearth, and
w^here.

I

tliis

left.

The

first

step was building

did not take long, fuel being found every-

observed that,

contrary to

the

my

African habit,

people preferred the small fire, which was the practice with the
" Indians," who, to warm their naked bodies even in the wigwam,

and to defend themselves against wild beasts, used
*
east,

and

The

total windings

are south-southnorth-east, north,
at last the general direction, northsouth-east,

east,

M. Liais, who descended the Rio
west.
das Velhas, where the river must have been
somewhat fuller, shows nine detached rocks,
VOL.

II.

five

to

make

on the right and fom- on the

obstacle

then-

left.

would severely try the engines

This
of

a

tug going up-stream.
t ^M. Liais shows a clear way between
the sand-bank on the left and three lumps
of rock dotted along the right bed.

E

)

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

50

women keep wood burning

all

night.*

Came

[chap. IV.

Seca and

caught, are skewered and planted by the blaze.
operation is to make Angu, that almost universal dish

any

fish,

when

The next

is

;

porridge,

hasty-pudding, stirabout, polenta, mush, and the ugali of UnyamFuba or maize meal is thrown Httle by little into boiling
wezi.
water and moved with a stick, or it will be lumpy it should be
:

eaten as soon as the whole

is

wetted, f

dish, feijao floatmg in lard,l is kept

The

upon the

favourite national
fire all

night so as

be ready for the dawn-breakfast. The men pass the evenmg
chatting and smoking till ready for sleep, when they spread their
mats and hide well in the smoke -drift, and no wonder that they
to

so often suffer from Cadeira or lumbago.

and I sat for some time hstening
"
Pst " the blow *' Whip-poorto the voice of an old friend.
This Caprimulgus begins to be vocal with the crepusWill."

The

air

was

delightfully pure,

—

—

somewhat lilve certain owls, especially the Strix Aluco of
Em'ope,§ and his loud and remarkable cry will extend, with
His mancertain intervals, all down the Rio de Sao Francisco.

cule,

* Like Africans, they used to light fires
side of newly made graves, not to
frighten away evil spirits or the devil (according to travellers), bnt for the personal comfort of the defunct.

by the

t Another form is called Mingau (not
it is
Mingant, as Prince Max. i, 116)
made of manioc, farinha in water, and
sometimes with a little cinnamon. A third
preparation is termed Cariman, derived from
running
Caric to run, and Mani Manioc,
"
manioc. " In old authors we find " mingan
or "lonker," potage or thick "bouillie,"
made with salt, pepper, and manioc-meal.
Yves d'Evreux mentions a Norman interThe Pirao is
preter named David Mingan.
farinha mixed with hot water, or better
it is a fastill, with broth of fish or fowl
voui'ite accompaniment with fish.
Popular writers inform us that fatty
and carbon-producing substances, so neces;

'

'

;

Ij:

sary to the inhabitants of the Arctic regions,
lose their use as we approach the Equator,
and are supplanted by fruits, rice, and
This is by no means
similar light food.
The Italian consumes a quantity
the case.

which would make an Englishman
sick. The Hindu swallows at a meal nearly
a tumbler full of Ghi or melted butter, and

of oil

few,

if any, Northrons can eat his greasy
sweetmeats with impunity.
The naked
negro, panting near the Line, saturates his
food with palm oil, and even at Bahia in

the Brazil, where the " coloured cuss from
Africay " is comfortably clothed, where he
can buy meat in abundance and obtain any
quantity of ardent spirits, the oily and
spicy caruru and vatapa (j)alm-oil chop, &c.
Near the Equator,
are eaten by all classes.
the damp heat has much the same efi'ect
upon diet as the cold of high latitudes ;
strong difi"usible stimulants, port, sheriy,
and stout are better than thin claret and
French wines, and meat is much more digestible than vegetables.
Practice is worth
all the theories or rather the hypotheses of
pseudo -theorists, and the habit of one writer
copying from the other without an attempt
at independent inquiry traditionalises a
variety of error.
§ Prince Max. mentions sundry other
Engoulevens.
There is a larger species
than the common Whip-poor-will, which
calls Ibiyaou, and he (i. 267)
Bacouraou.
Another (described i. 370) is
the Caprimulgus a^thereus, which soai-s
high in the air like a bird of prey. A third
is the Mandalua (C. grandis), white mixed
with brown
and its sharp whistlings fill
the forest.
The German ornithologist described for the first time (iii. 91) the Curyangu, a day-bird which flies during the
light, and mixes with horses and black
cattle in the ])asture and the Caprimulgus

Marcgraf

:

;

leucopterus (iii. 178), whose beak
that of C. grandis.

is

like

"

CHAP.

IV.]

TO CAS A BRANCA AND THE CACHOEIEA DA ONgA.

51

we observed, resemble those of tlie N. American
species, and we often saw by day a pair nestling in the sand.
The Portuguese call the bird '' John cut Wood," and it is a curious
commentary upon the ''ding-dong" theory that one race hears

ners, as far as

"

and the other " Joao CortaPau." By
mentally repeating the words I could produce either sound, but
the Latin version seems j^referable.
August 22. We were aroused at an early horn- by the Corvanoii
or Curyangu (not Criango) bii'd (Caprimulgus diurnus, the Nacunda of Azara), which seemed to say, " How well ye w^oke "
This goat-sucker has a musk-colom-ed coat, with white spots and
bars on the wings. I often disturbed a quiet pair nestlmg by day
in the shade of rock crevices
the flight was that of oui* nightjars, and it was always short and low.
We set out at 6 a.m.
somewhat prematurely, and the " smokes " obscm'ing the riversurface, nearly caused an accident
a tree on the left bank, wliich
could have been cut in ten minutes, drove us amongst the stones
of a " rush."

Pst—Whip-poor-Will

"

—

!

;

;

At

we shot the Saco do Barreiro (de Gado)* the Bend
These places abound on the Eios
das Velhas and de Sao Francisco the banks of red, grey, yellow,
or dull brown clay are burrowed with lines of holes by the
tongues of beasts and the beaks of bii'ds, which usually visit them
As in the United States, the lick is often
in early morning.
and the practice must be compared with the
name,
only
by
saline
8 A.M.

of the Salt-Lick (of Cattle).

;

earth-eating disease of Africans in the

New

breeders mix salt with the clay and tlu^ow

it

World.

upon the stream-side

to i)roduce an artificial glaisiere, but as a rule
sufficient to lay
*

down

Liais calls it "Caclioeira do Pao
Here the stream runs from south
noi-th, and is faced by three low blue

hills.

M.

We

easily descended in four minutes,

left, and thus avoiding the breaks on both sides.
According to Azara (i. 55) the "Indians,"
who ignored the use of pure salt, supplied
it by the saline "barro," which they devoured in abundance. Prince Max. remarks
" La glaise du Bresil n'a pas le
(ii. 257)
gout salin, et je n'ai rencontre chez les habitans indigenes de ce pays aucun mets sale.
A cui'ious commentary upon the supposed
It must, hownecessity of the condiment.
ever, be observed that the Tupys were

crossing from right to

:

it is

not considered

salt, as the lick requii'es a peculiar sort

Seco."
to

In parts the

eminently carnivorous, and thus they found
This of course
would not be the case with "vegetarians.'
Earth eating is not unknowTi to the Brazilians.
I have shown that in Africa, as

their salt in their meat.

amongst the Ottomac Indians,

whom Hum-

boldt describes as intrepid geophagi,_ it
is eaten in large quantities without doing
injury.
I cannot, therefore, with St. Hil.,
hold that the Ottomacs are the sole excepHe detion to the fatality of geophagism.
clares that the Brazilians prefer the clay of
this is also the case in
the termitaria
;

Unyamwezi,

where

it

is

called

earth."

E 2

'
'

sw^eet

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

52

of clay.

BRAZIL.

After two unimportant features,* we

[chap. iv.

drew near the

Maquine Rapids, which have a very had name. No one could
explain the word our pilot " guessed " that it was that of a huge
*'
ki'aken " like the " worms " of '' strange dragons of vast magnitude " which haunted England in the "good old" days. It is
;

called the ''Maquine

Pequena," to distinguish it from a creek lower

down the river.
The first symptom was

a fragmentary ledge on

dark friable lunestone tilted
the Cabeceiras do Maquine.

an angle of 40°

uj) at

We

made

;

hoth banks,
this is called

fast to the left

bank near
Here we

up a gently sloping hill.
could look down the straight reach, some 400 yards long about
600 feet of smooth water separate the Ui)per from the Lower
Rapids, which are considered to be the worse.
They are formed
by the bluff end of a short range, whose general course is to the
north-east, but which bends to the north-north-east, throwing the
stream from its main direction to north-east 25°. The limestone
base forms an oblique ridge from north-west to south-east, where
the water breaks right across, and even at this season only one
a fine cotton-field that runs

;

The

rock appeared well above the surface.

friable limestone,

and stratified, is easily broken with the hand
before
approaching the narrow wall there is a fundao or hollow at least
ten feet deep, and thus nature would keep open the narrowest
split

;

road.

After reconnoitering, we embarked with the " trem " or luggage in the tender, which now drew 4 5 inches. Apparently

—

there was a fair

and the

way on the

right,

but

it is

not shown in the Plan,

We

went to port of a
^central rock-knob, and, safely crossmg the broken water, we
made for the half-way house, a sand-bank on the starboard side
fronting the smooth that divides the Rapids.
Hence we watched
the "great ole barque" take her lumbering way; after two or
three chancy swings and half broachings-to she obeyed the pole,
and came down gallantly.!
pilots

always prefer the

Having rested

till

left.

noon, we prepared to attack the Maquine

The Cachoeiras das duas Barras and
das Cabras.
t M. Liais's plan shows a clear way in
the midstream, and two main obstructions.
The upper break is of two blocks of stones,
with the thalweg in the centre. Then after

come three detached rockand ojjposite them a
corresponding formation, but smaller and
more broken.
In this section there are
two stones, which must be removed from
the

smooth,

piers on the right,

the thalweg.

"

CHAP.

TO CASA BRANCA AND THE CACHOEIRA DA OXgA.

IV.]

53

Abaixo or Lower Rapids. Fortunately, I left my books on board
AVe went to the left, grounded on the rock ridge,
tlie ''Eliza."
which slants like the upper formation, and were whirled round
I could save only my journals, somewhat
against the trees
like, to institute a modest and uninvidious comparison, Csesar,
Camoens and Mad. Andre (de la Mediocrite). Reaching the left
bank we viewed from the feathery shade of a charming Jatoba the
doings of the ark. A second portage had been made, each occupying some two hours, and, thus relieved, she slid safely down in
her usual playful elephantine way. But she was assisted by
certain moradores of the neighbouring hamlet of Maquine Pequeno, Jose Luiz de Oliveira, who, accompanied by his two
cousins, stripped, and lent a hand in lifting the "Eliza" at a
They would take no reward, but a glass of our
critical moment.
fine cohobated Lavado and a few cigars seemed to content them.
After shooting this "Long Sault," the line, "barring" the
easily avoided scatter of sunken rocks Q^edras mortas), should
have been safe, but it was not so. M}^ men had worked well,
but they had di-unk still better. They dashed upon a limestone
They then bumped hea^dly and unnecesrib near the left bank.
sarily in two places
the tender was almost lost, and I felt by no
means comfortable as we approached the Cachoeu-a da Onca.
Probably from these adventitious circumstances, the Ounce Rapids
have left with me a more unpleasant impression than all the other
;

;

combined
entered a
!

the Rio das Yelhas. *

we turned to south-south-east and
" 'Sta gritando," it is
gorge already gloomy at 4 p.m.

about two

After
crying

difficulties of

miles

said the men, giving anxious ear to the roar.

swiftly for a few yards

we saw the

We

dangerous projecting rocks.

Advancing

Cachoeii'a, breaking across with

poled down the

left side,

and

by opening too much to starboard we struck heavily upon the
stones, and the water spouted up between the planl^s of the platHaving escaped this shock, we crossed the stream to a
form.
smooth on the right and prospected it. The result was a sternI

went down entirely by the

left

;

tlie

however, evidently runs at the
middle of the bed, and this, when opened,
In the Upper
will give a clear passage.
Maquine the detached rock or rocks must
be knocked away, and in the lower the wall
must be pierced. It would, I think, be
easy here to work a large hammer, not by
stream,

steam but by water power,
* Yet the Plan shows only a stone pier,
and two hard heads on the right, faced by
five scattered rocks which may easily be
removed. The danger is from the detached
stone upon which the current breaks immediately below the upper " gate.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

54

presentation, and

we slipped down

[chap. iv.

eight minutes, narrowly

in

shaving to port a dark laminated stone, dij^ping 50°, which was
angrily throwing

off the

and upon which the current

waters,

broke.

The crew was

and out of condition I resolved to avoid,
by an early halt, the risk of a bad accident. We found on the
left, opposite a clump of five huts called Jatoba, a few j^ards of
sand under a precipitous bank of yellow clay the men termed
tired

;

;

Praia da Cachoeira da

the place

On^a.

The day had been

wearying work, we had nearly boxed the compass.
An angry mass of purple-brown cloud hung in the western sky;
my men, hoping that the stream would be swollen, prayed for
rain, which at this season sometimes lasts three or four daj^s.

At night

On

the view was suggestive.

our right was the ominous

growl and the lurid flashing of the Ounce Rapid

from the left or
down-stream came the rattling babble of the Coroa braba, the
" Fierce Sandbar," whilst the sky was red with the last gleam of
day, and flashed with the frequent prairie-fu^e.*
In front flowed
the stream, dark steely blue
the further waters were scolloped
with the black reflections of the trees, which rose high where the
Little Bear should have been.
:

;

And

become a highway of
nations, an artery suppl3dng the life-blood of commerce to the
world.
The sand-bank upon which we lay may be the landingplace of some wealthy town.
The " Ounce Rapid " and the
"Fierce Sandbar" will be silenced for ever.
And the busy
hum of man will deaden the only sounds which now fall upon our
ears, the ba^dng of the Guara wolf, f and the tiny bark of
the little brown bush rabbit.
this

* St. Hil.

desert stream will presently

202) declares that in

G-u-^ra-a, a great eater,
**G" is the relative,

mucli resembled the French wolf, except
that the coat was redder.
This carnivor
especially favours the lands where forest
and prairie meet or mix.
I have never
heard of its attacking man but, on the
other hand, there are no snows to make it

and

ravenous.

(III.

i.

Western Minas cultivators fire the grass
only during the moon's wane (dans son decours).

t The word
very

"u"

is

" wala

to eat,

-ara

") is the verbal

(an eater)
a.

is

voracious.

(in

Hindostani

desinence.

Guara

by the post positive
the animal here called

intensified

is

The name

is of

wild dog or Brazilian wolf (lobo), the old
Ursus carnivorus being very well calculated
to mislead
the Aguara-guazu of Azara,
and the Canis mexicanus of Cuvier. I have
seen closely but a single specimen, which
;

;

There

is

also a

swamp -bird

called

Guara

Gara (an Ibis), a word derived from ig,
water, and ara, a parrot or parroquet
"water-parrot," from its fine pink-red
or

:

colour.

As a desinence, guara means lord or
master e.g. pyguara, a guide, literally lord
of the path or foot (py).
;

;

CHAP.

TV.]

We

TO CASA BRANCA AND THE CACHOEIilA DA ON^A.

are taught to

dwell far too

55

much upon what

has been
upon the apxri, the proem, the first canto of the grand Epos of
Humanity ; we are too indifferent about what is to be, in the days

when

the whole

there

is

Worlds.

poem

shall be unfolded.

Rightly understood,

nothing more interesting than travel in these
They are emphatically the Lands of Promise, the

New
*'

ex-

pression of the Infinite," and the scenes where the dead Past
shall be buried in the presence of that nobler state to which we

must now look in the

far Futm'e.

—

CHAPTER

;

y.

TO THE FAZENDA DO BOM SUCCESSO.
THE C0R6A, or sand-bar.

—

PREPARATIONS TO VISIT DIAMANTINA.— THE
PLEASURES OF SOLITUDE,

The day is placid in its going
To a ling'ring sweetness bound,
Like a river in

its

flowing

Wordsworth.

Before
feature, of

setting out

it

will

be necessary to describe the

which a neat specimen awaits

The "crown"

*'

Coroa"*

us.

the ''sand-bar" of North American rivers,
an island in the stream, but very unhke our " holm," inch or
is

as we have observed of the Cachoeira,
some little stream where the influx of fresh water
slackens the flow, and it is often built upon detached stones or
upon rock-ridges. The current swings to either side, leaving in the
Qjoi.

at the

It is mostty,

mouth

of

centre a bald convexity like the shaven pole of a Coroado Indian,

and of
it,

all sizes, from yards to acres.
The water is shallow above
deep below, on both flanks, and in the baylets and concavities

where
is

fish live to

When

plunge and cattle to bask.

very low the drift

wood

floats

over

it

are mostly found at the sides, and snags

;

the formation

otherwise, tree-trunks

must be

feared, especi-

about the head or up-stream. Often the Coroa is double, or
even treble
it is always elongated down stream by the current
never circular as in lake formations, and the edges are either flat
ally

;

with the water, or stand up in dwarf precipices.

The

surface is pebbly and gravelly

* Pronounced C'roa
it
is the Latin
Corona, certainly not to be wintten with
Prince Max. "Corroa."
The feature is
opposed to Praia, a *' sandbank, " attached
to the side.
The Tupys called the former
Iby cui' 09U, "Coroa de Areia," opposed
;

— of

all sizes,

from an inch

with them Cua
was the river plain (varzea) where liable to
inundation, and '' Coara, " literally a hole,
was a little bay (enseada) or river port,
where canoes can be made fast.
to the latter Iby cui' praia

;

TO THE FAZENDA DO BOM SUCCESSO.

CHAP, v.]

57

come from the banks, and

are brought
mostly of quartz in its protean forms, jasper, touchstone, pingas d'agua (Quartzum nobile),
crystallized, stratified, and almost always red or rusty with iron.
to a foot

these

;

scatters

The

dowii by the floods.

There
rite,

is

" canga

"

country.

may

mud

may

not contain gold,* together with bits of
or ferruginous conglomerate, the gift of the upper
or

In places the sand

very loose, adixdtting the foot to
In the hollows where rain sinks there are large flakes

the ankle.

of

is

an abundance of sandstone, limestone, and chlo-

also

wliich

material

is

three to fom' inches dee^), and wherever the waters extend,

show a coat of indm-ated slime,
whose base may be either cascallio (rolled gravel), soft sand,
These Coroas pure and simple are haunted by
or hard mud.
gulls and terns, hawks and kingfishers, ducks and herons, plovers,
sandpipers, and other bkds which will be mentioned.
A scattered vegetation of stunted trees and verdigris-coloured
grasses and shi'ubs, forms, generally beginning with the end down
stream, and thus the sand-bar becomes wooded.
The t}^ical growth is the Ai'aga guava, with comparatively small
tliin leaves, and an exaggerated strength of wood, self-adapted
to its locality.
Another common shrub is the Ai'iuda, also called
" Alecrim da Coroa " the leafage is smaller than that of the
Psidium, the stem and branches are as stout and tough, and it is
bent down stream by the force of the inundations this plant also
appears upon the sands.
In places the water-sides are edged
with a sedgy grass, whose blades average a finger and a half in
the pebbles in the dry season

;

;

breadth.

It is

used for stuffing pack-saddles.

Uj)on the Pdo

das Velhas we shall not find the osier-like and broom-like growths

which we
Pemanso.

observed in the Pdo

first

Sao Francisco below

de

forms under water, when it is called Ai^ao,
it rises b}^ degrees, and where the annual floods
are not too violent it presently becomes an " Illiota " or islet; a
" Carapuca " if cap-shaped
and if large, an " Ilha " or island.

The sand-bar

or " big sand

first

"

;

;

Many

of them, like the Mississippi tow-head, are partly timbered,

the wooded portion up-stream, the sandy below, or vice versa.

The
*

feature is then permanent,

From some,

for instance the CorSa

deep into the sand.

da

and the

figs

gallinJia, gold

and mimosas bind the

has been taken

;

the people dig

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

58

soil like the

Pardo we

'^

[chap. v.

cuttun woods " of the United States. Passing the Eio

shall see another complication,

where blocks of blue

limestone, thinly grown with sturdy shrubbery,

cumber the

sur-

and lower down on the Sao Francisco, a combination of tall
rock, timber, and sandflat.
M. Liais advises these obstructions to be removed by " draguface,

With diffidence I differ from him but would not the
upon which they are formed themselves require drag-

age."

;

obstacles

ging ?

A

single rock will, like a stick in the

duce an accumulation
to be in

sandy desert, pro-

same causes continue
operation, and doubtless every flood would renew the
of matter

the

;

effects.

August 23, 1867.

— The warm morning tempted us again

to set

The course was from
and we found our babbling friend the Coroa braba
a complicated affaii' of stone and sand-bar.
On the left was a
out at 6.30 A.M., half-an-hour too early.

east to west,

rock, then gravel, then another rock
bar,

upon whose dexter

heavily.

We

poled off with

we

to starboard rose the sand-

lost

difficulty,

no time in grounding
and I did not like the

Luckily we met a ragged youth, puntmg a dug-

look of things.
out towards

side

;

the village,

and,

for a consideration,

Herculano

accompany us.
He
landed, and presently returned a smart young waterman, in white
shirt and pants, with straw hat, and the inevitable bone-handled
sheath-knife strapped round his waist.
After about three-quarters of an hour the "Eliza's" head was
de

Teixeii^a

Queiroz

was persuaded

to

turned to the north-east, thus describing a long horse-shoe with a
very narrow heel. In places the river is to the land route, 3:1, not

an unusual ratio
in others, 5:1.
Before us rose the tall blue
broken wall of the Serra do Baldim, the "Baldoino" of M. Liais,
which bore north-east of Jaguara it is said to contain deposits of
alum, like those which we found on the Sao Francisco. Half-anhour afterwards we passed the Cachoeira dos Paulistas, whose ledge
does not run right across the Plan makes it part of the " banks
of Cafundo." * It became evident that the rapids were now waxing
less laborious and far more dangerous, with deeper water and
;

;

;

—

This is apparently Ca fundao here
a deep place fundao where the pole
does not reach.
Near the right bank there
is a sand-bar
on the left, and a little up-

—

(is)

;

—

is a hard gravelly sand-bank flanked
by two rock-piers, one above, the other
below it.

stream,

—

"

CHAP,

TO THE FAZENDA DO BOM SUCCESSO.

v.]

jam the

59

We

hugged the right
point and then made the mid-stream, steering for the apex of a
smooth equilateral triangle strongly defined by borders of foam
narrow

cliannels, likely to

raft.

or ripple broken against stocks or stones

the clearway.

Then came

a complicated obstacle

—here the usual guide to

—a bold

bluff of ferruginous

stone to port deflected the steamer to starboard, almost from

Avoiding two sand-bars and two rock
ledges, we went to the right, and nearly romided the Coroa
going with the sun from south-east via east and north-east to
north-west. A couple of rock-piers in our way made us cross to
the left, and bendmg to the north we found a break formed by
north-east to south-east.

—

This " Cachoeh-a da Barra do
Engenho de Manuel da Paixao was an affau* of eight minutes
the deviations are risky, and, before a steamer can ply, the bed

detached lumps of limestone.

"

;

must be

cleared of rocks, after which the current

-will

dispose of

the sand and gravel.
After

ending some

four miles, where a voice could be heard

across the neck of the loop,

bloom, and a

fine cotton-fields

tier-like succession of gently

A

perspective.

field of

plantains on the

huts, of which at least one
to prophecy,

we saw ahead

swelling hills in far
left

bank,

S*^

Anna

and

foiu'

that, contrary

was a Venda, told us

we had reached

m full

de Trahiras.

This place

on the highway of the Tropas, travelKng between the Provincial Caj^ital and Diamantina *
it became a parish in 1859,
and it is now under the vast municipality of Curvello. In 1864
the population was computed at 4298. I was told 12,000, which,
as usual, doubles the i^robable number.
Here were two ferries, one with a chain and belonging to a
is

;

kind of company, the other with a

from Morro Velho

;

civilised

wke-rope, procm^ed

the latter was the property of Sr. Joao Gon-

had an introductory letter. He met
us on the bank, and showed me a tree marked by the water ten to
On this
twelve jeavs ago, 40 feet above the present stream level.
^alvez Moreira, to

whom

I

occasion the floods swept the riverine valley to the foot of the
Campo hills, and people were taken by canoes out of their

thatched roofs.

In average years the inundation

* The distances are by land, 25 miles
from Diamantina, 21 from Sabard, 24 fi'om
Morro Yelho, 9^ leagues (24 by water)

rises for a

few

from Casa Branca, 6 leagues (by the river
20) from Jequitiba, and 44 ^to our present
destination,

" Bom

Successo.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

CO

days to the ferry chain.

[chap. v.

railway engineers in the

If foreign

everywhere subject more or less to these exceptional deluges, recurring with a somewhat vague periodicity, had
taken the advice of the natives, and had built their bridges and
Brazil,

which

drains

accordingly,

trouble and

is

theii-

they would have saved themselves
employers more expense.

We

much

walked to the village on the right bank the ground was
somewhat stony, pebbly and poor.
It was rich in the low shrub
;

with a leaf like the Mimosa,

known

to the

Tupys

as Tareroqui,

to the Brazilians as Fidegoso (Cassia occidentalis, sericea, etc).
The '' stinkard's " root is a powerful drastic, homoeopaths infuse

and employ it as quinine
the beans are
coffee, as maize is in the United States.
The village main square on the highest ground has two chapels
Santa Anna and the Rosario, a few young i:>alms and some
Vendas, especially the double store of Sr. Totto {i. e., Antonhico or
Antonio) Rodrigues Lima, and the apothecary's shop of the
Professor of Fu'st Letters, who, though his father was named
Custodio Amancio, has preferred to term himself " Emmanuel
it

in spirits of wine

;

sometimes made mto

Confucius of Zoroaster."
The houses may number 200

300 within church-bell
sound
all are one-storied, and mostly of the meanest.
The
"
only thing that seems to flourish is the goat
the
Cabrito " is
or

;

;

Minas and Sao Paulo, favourite food. Our
led us about to the several Prud'hommes, who

here, unusually in

kind

guide

Antonio Gomez de Oliveii'a, a
relation of Colonel Domingos, asked us to breakfast, and gave
us some good English stout.
His house was the neatest in the
invited us to pass the day.

place, a long building fronted

Sr.

by a

bit of

shrubbery

;

of course

it

contained a shop.

Our temporary

pilot

had done work enough, and we sent

to

two others, but without the least chance of an answer for
three days.
Chico Diniz politely intimated his utter despair,
and we returned to the ferry. Sr. Moreira enticed us to his

invite

home on

the other side, and whilst he despatched a peremptory

message, introduced us to his wife, and showed us the garden, in
whose oranges and cabbages he took no little pride here the
soil is an improvement upon that where the village lies.
He
spoke warmly, evidently not believing a word, about the coming
;

Steam Navigation;

to

him

the

Cachoeii^as were insuperable,

"

CHAP,

TO THE FAZENDA DO BOM SUCCESSO.

v.]

61

and when we spoke of cutting away the obstacles we talked maniGreek.
In 1853 a Government engineer had spent six months at

fest

rapids above Trahiras

the

;

remembered

the people

his fusees

all agreed,
and mule-loads of tin cylinders for mine-charges
removed
had
not
a
he
single
difficulty, and most men
however, that
opined that he had left the place worse than when he found it.
At last, worn out by delay, we bade a friendly au 7'evoir to our
host, and we quitted Trahiras, satisfied that if the opening of
the Ptio das Yelhas be abandoned to men who receive public pay,
and to those who live upon passing mule-troops, the splendid
stream will remain long closed.
AVe set out shortly after noon, and the day was a succession of
sand-bars and rapids, T\ith rocks on the right, on the left, and
The first serious feature was the
in the central thalweg.*
Eibeirao da Onca, a rapid on the left of a triple '' Coroa " it is so
called from a little green-set rivulet up which canoes go for several
miles.
Presently we came to a place where four men were loitering we offered to pay for pilotage, but they refused. They did
;

;

;

not object, however, to assist us in cordelling down the Cachoeu'a

da Barra do Ribeirao dos Geraes, alias Cachoeira dos Geraes (do
Lamego).f "Whilst they held the tow-rope we hugged the left
bank, a di'op of loose sand
the broken ledges of horizontally
stratified dark stone project from the right shore above the
rivulet-mouth, and deflect the stream to the left, thus doing
engineer's work. J Above the rapids much gold has been dug.
A couple of hours carried us down to the Cachoeii'a do Lagedo,§
a small rapid formed by a porpoise nose of wooded bluff on the
right from its summit, they say, the Piedade of Sahara may be
sighted.
After sundry unimportant features,'! and passing the
;

;

* It began with

two

bluffs of rock, floor-

ing the hill to our north.

At the Corrego

da Tabaquinha (the little Taboca, Taquara,
or bamboo), a rock-outcrop from the left
bank intrudes upon and deepens the
stream.

+ The

name would mean

the rapids
of the
General Lands, an influent from the right.
Geraes are mostlj' lands out of the reach of
the river, either Pasto, Campo or Mato,
and bearing general produce, cotton, tobacco, cereals, as well as breeding cattle.
St. Hil. (I. ii. 99) confines the use of the
first

at the embouchui-e of the stream

word to pastures, and says that " urates"
must be expressed when forests are meant,
I did not find this difference, nor did the
people ever emj)loy '' As Geraes " to mean
" As Minas Geraes.
t In order to drive the stream to the
" tunage avec
left, M. Liais proposes a
enrochment" on the right with a passage
through it for the streamlet
a gigantic
work.
§ In the Plan rocks are placed on the
right bank
in the description (p. 8) on
the left.
The Fazenda do Jardim belongs to the
;

;

||

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

62

Coroa do Jardim, almost an

we anchored

at

usual

the

and

islet,

hour,

[chap. v.

new

to us a

spectacle,

5'30

before

shortly

p.m.,

Below was a Coroa of the same
name, which made music for us all night.
Behind the holeriddled bank were a few hovels with patches of sugar-cane
Praia da Ponte.*

at the

soil, good only for ticks.
A
few boors came up and stared at the menagerie
they would
neither eat with us nor take anything but fire for their

growing poorly in rough, scrubby

;

cigarettes,

and we were as formal as they were.

warned to treat them with " agrado e gravidade "
gravit}^

— otherwise

that they

They spoke

resx^ect.

usual, he

was

ill.

may become

of a pilot, and

Two women

had been
civility and

I

—

quarrelsome or lose

we sent

for

him

;

but, as

bringing fowls for sale, squatted
Africans, and chuckled their

near us with feet wide

aj^art

remarks to each other

nothing could be less like certain Buffalo

guds.

At sunset

all

;

like

disappeared, touching then* hats in the

deepest and gloomiest silence.

saddened by this contact with my kind.
It was the
the bright kaleidoPresent in its baldest, most prosaic form
scope of cultivated life here becomes the dullest affair of unI felt

;

no poverty, much
nor is there competency, much less wealth. There is
less want
no purpose no progress, where progress might so easily be no
collision of opinion amongst a people who are yet abundant in
Existence is, in fact, a sort of Nihil Album, of
intelHgence.
which the black variety is Death. I prefer real, hearty barbarism
varying shape and changeless colour.

There

is

;

;

;

to such torpid semi-civilization.

—

August 24. The cold night made the fog hang long over the
Two Coroas, neither of
water, and we did not set out till 7 a.m.
Thence the river
them in the plan, gave us some trouble.
entered a gorge, each side alternately being high ground,
wooded above and stony below. Before the hour was finished
we were at the Cachoeira das Violas t but, instead of going down

—

;

widow of the Capitao Herculano
a
streamlet comes in from the right bank,
and below it there are two sand-bars the
first with a clear way to starboard, the
second on the other side.
Then came the
Saco de Pindahyba, where the river loops
to the south-west, and the llibeirao de
Luiz Pereira on the left.
* A Ponte is the name of a corrego
;

:

which does not appear in the Plan,
probably some one lost
f Or, da Viola
his fiddle here.
The stream runs north to
south
and the obstructions are two rockwalls from the right
then one from the
left, and lastly detached rocks on the right.
I include this feature amongst the bad ones,
;

;

;

as

it

has done

much harm

in its day.

—
TO THE FAZEXDA DO BOM SUCOESSO.

CHAP, v.]

the mid-stream, we took
like

to avoid driftwood,

tlie left

A

the bucking of a mule.

63

and we bmnped

charming reach, with beautiful

woods, api)eared ahead, and the material of the latest clearings
strewed the land here the direction of the limestone (?) is north15°.
After sundry unimportant features*
east, and the dip 12°
;

—

on the west a

w^e left

belonging to

Delfino

Sr.

of land, the

bit

fine

Fazenda do Boi,

The people

Santos Ferreira.

dos

crowded down the yellow bank to stare and to frighten us about
the Cachoeu^a Grande, a place of which we had akeady heard
The dialogue was in this style
ugly accounts.
" Do you know the Rapids ? " we inquired.
:

*'

We know them!"

"

WiU you

*'

We

will not pilot
"

" For money ?
" Not for mone}"
*'

"

pilot us ?

you

"
!

"
!

And why?"

" AVhy

"

Because we are afraid of them
This was spoken as the juniors ran along the bank
?

!

or the natives of

Ugogo

;

like ostriches

they are begimiing to lose the use of

and "no," and to answer by re-echomg
half youi' question the true old Portuguese style.
Shortly before noon we landed on the right side and examined
their un-Latin ''yes"

—

a thick

layer of

Canga

or pudding-stone, probably auriferous,

The almonds were dark, rusty quartz,
paste, and from this pomt downwards we

and possibly diamantine.
in the usual ii'on clay
shall

see

facing the
quarrj'ing.

large

deposits

of

it.

Further

south-east in nearly horizontal

The men

on,

sandstone

com^ses,

crossed to an orchard on the

left

lay

ready for
bank, and

brought back baskets of fruit and sugar-cane, which they tore

and chewed like Botocudos. They sounded the horn, but as no
the
one came they put off.
Alas they had robbed the chm'ch
ground belonged to Padre Leonil, and worst of all, his oranges
;

!

*

As the general course

of the river is

from north to south, I shall call the right
bank east, even when it is not, and so forth.
The obstacles here are a rock (os Pandeiros^
in the centre, which causes a break, and
allows passage on the left.
Then to starboard enters the Ribeirao de Sao Pedro
amongst rocks and sand-banks. Followed
the easv Cachoeira da Agua Doce near the

Sr. Nicolao de Almeida
Barbosa.
We swang w-ith the stream to
the left, avoiding the thick shrubbery
clothing the bank, and finding a clear way
between it and the three detached rocks of
Then a larger sand-bar than
the Plan.
usual led to broken water, and sent us

Fazenda of the

down by

the right.

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

64

[chap. v.

This, however, is here a venial offence.
were not worth eating.*
You may freely take from a plantation a Ro^a cannot be robbed,
but jou must not touch, for instance, a little plot
is the saying

—

—

of onions or other vegetables
pains,

entering

such as

ferae naturae

the latter

;

is

it

upon which the proprietor bestows
at dawn.
For the former are as

a park or a poultry-yard.

—

—

Luckily for us the Cachoeira Grande was no joke we found
Saco Grande, on the right bank, a small crowd preparing
for a " Samba," or to keep " Saint Saturday," and perhaps " Saint
at the

Monda}'

" with

The men

dance and drink.

carried guns in hand,

—

and daggers mider their open jackets evidences that
they did not intend to be recruited. The women were in full dress
and

—

pistols

rainbows

brilliant as

—with blood-red flowers in the glossy crows-

but of the dozen not one was fairly white. After a
wing hair
few words with Chico Diniz, the bow pole was taken by a certain
*' Felicissimo
Soares de Fonseca," the stem was occupied by a
;

" yaller "-skinned elder with curly white beard, " Manuel Alves
Pinto," and his son Joaquim.

new comers were men
they pushed

This looked

of few words

;

The

like business.

they saluted us

and

civilly,

off.

The beginning

of the end was the

Rapid of the Saco
bed turning sharply

little

Big Bend," where the river
To avoid
from south-east to north-west makes parallel reaches.
the rock-pier on the left we floated stern foremost down along the
right bank, here a mass of ferruginous sandstone, striking to the
After bringing the boat
south-east and nearly plane (3° 4°).
round, we left, on the right, two sand-bars and as many detached rocks upon the 02:)posite side also was a mass of blue
This elbow is too
stone, t which must not be approached.
sharp for a tug-boat, and the obstructions absolutely require

Grande or

''

—

;

removal.

* Tliey were veiy like the Laranja da
TeiTa, the "indigenous orange," alias the
The taste is a
imported orange nin Avald.

fade " mawkish " sweetness ending in an
I have, however, seen
unpleasant bitter
the juice beneficially used in ptisane for
one of the severe catarrhs (constipacoes or
defluxos) which abound in Minas and Sao
Paulo.
I presume that, like the Laranja
Secca or juiceless orange, the " bitter
orange" is the effect of a high country,
rough soil, and other local conditions.
St.
;

Hil. (i. 280) quotes PizaiTO, who enumerates
three subvarieties, one sweet, another agrodolce, and a third very sour, and believes
that the Lan.nja da terra is a retiu'n to the
primitive type of the sweet fruit.
Personne, " he says, " n'aurait probablement
song^ h, nommer un arbre qu'on aurait fait
venir d'Europe, oranger indigene. " This verbalargumentis worthless; many productions
imported in ancient times are now called
by the Brazilians " da terra.
f In parts of the Rio das Velhas it is
'

'

—
TO THE FAZENDA DO BOM SUCCESSO.

CHAP, v.]

Presently we turned to the

east-south-east,

65

and faced the

dreaded Cachoeii*a Grande, which is formed by another sharp
bend in the bed, winding to the north-east. The obstacles are

on the right
left,
awash,
cunning
the
and
is required
on
mostty
bank, and
We began b}^ passing the port of
to spiral down between them.
No. 1, then we made straight for No. 2, to the left here, by
had a stick broken we should have
23ushing furiously up-stream
six several flat ledge-like i:)rojections of dark stone
foiu'

;

—

—

the " Eliza " was forced over to the right, was

been nowhere
swung round by main force of arm, and was allowed to descend,
well in hand, till within a few feet of No. 4, which rises right in
front.
Finally leaving this wrecker to starboard, we hit the
usual triangle-head, with plenty of water breaking off both arms.
A single bump upon a sunken boulder (pedra morta) was the only
event. The descent occupied sixteen miimtes. The Great Eapid
is more dangerous, but not so serious an impediment to navigation as the
off the
all

is

After

.to

;

Any form

heads of the rock-piers,

that

leave

"Maquine."

mean

wanted.

many

all
''

ram would easil}' loiock
and open a way in mid-stream
of

made

show of taking
had some important business, which proved on inquiry
congratulations our friends

As

doing compliments."

a

the dangers were not over,

was tasted and pronounced
*'muito brabo
the Ma-a-jor (myself)
hot in the mouth)
became so irresistible that all would accompany me to the Rio de
Sao Francisco or elsewhere, an^-^^here. The poles were twirled
and wielded with a will. We left to port broken water and an
the keg of Restilo was produced,

it

" (very

;

—

known

ugly stone, a hogsback,

as the Ca^^ivara (H3^drochaerus),

and then we crossed to scrape acquaintance with a sunken mass
'^
corin front.
it is a mere
This place is called the Eapadura
renteza," but the many " dead stones " would render it dangerous
;

for a steamer.

the Cachoeh-a das Gallinhas,* to which

The end was
sently came.

We

down stream.

without
determine "whether
impossible,

left side

Here

of the Coroa,

is a

testing the

rock,

to

be sand,

clay,

or

it

VOL.

II.

till

we had reached

narrow gate formed by two rock
* M. Liais treats it as a matter of little
we thought it quite the reverse,

moment

;

and evidently

lime.

pre-

gave a wide berth to a rocky wall on the right

bank, and stuck to the
its tail

we

so did the pilots.

F

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

GO

piers, projecting

[chap. v.

from the shores, and in suchphices "

The men sprang

is alwaj^s advisable.

corclelling

"

into the water with loud

''He Eapasiada,"* and pulled at the hawser till the curthey then cast off and sprang
rent had put us in proper position
"We left to starboard
on board before we could make much way.
two blocks and one smiken rock of fine blue limestone, brushmg
them as we ]Dassed. The " Rapid of the Hens " occupied us
cries of

;

The right channel may
wood is all that obstructs

nine minutes, chiefly spent in shouting.
easily be

the

left,

mass of drift
and knocking away the rock walls w^ould soon
cleaned

:

a

start

the " Coroa."

A

second dram of the ''wild

ruled.
for us
for

stuff,"

and

all

our friends in need

Thej^ blessed us fervently but stammeringiy

somewhat the

:

theypraj-ed

way, and they unintelligibly invoked

"vvrong

us the protection, of the Virgin and

all

the

saints.

landed with abundant tripping and stumbling, carrying

and a bottle of the much prized

I

restilo.

be grateful to them, for they had most

immense amount
certain "

of trouble

;

had

ever}^

civilly

They
1^000

reason to

saved

me an

but, shortly afterwards, reports of

deaths " in which they had been actively con-

little

cerned, showed that they were not exactly lambs, except after the

fashion of Nottingham.

By

this

my men

time

were

"pretty well dead beat."

I

anchored a little above the Barra da Cerquinha,t oj)posite the
Corrego do Paiol. The ground was sandy and unusually clean,
w^hilst

the

valley soil,

cotton in quantities.

apparently arenaceous

To-day the

river,

only,

j)roduced

except where disturbed

by rapids, has been a vista of beautiful amenit3\
Mr. Davidson was in ecstacies, and began to talk of the Yazoo and to sing
something about "Down the O-hi'-o *' The grandly moving
stream, hardl}' broad enough to suffer from winds, is not too
narrow for vessels to thread their way up, while steamers could
easily turn in the fine reaches.
At nightfall the sugar- wheel of
the "Paiol"! creaked and sang in curious contrast with
the accompaniment of nature
the distant hum and the nearer
!

;

" Now, my lads "
+ The "Embouchure
*

or paling (stream) ;"
Plan.

mm

!

of the small

hedge

named

in the

it is

not

X Properly a "bread-room," but often
applied to places where coffee, sugar, and

This Paiol has been
even
are stored.
mentioned as one of the estates belonging
to Colonel Domingos.
I afterwards visited
it
the soil is fine, the water abundant,
and there is a large house, with the usual
chapel and sugar mill.
;

cHAr.

TO THE FAZENDA DO BOM SUCCESSO.

v.]

cries

67

of birds and beasts, frogs and toads,* and a noisy liltle

rapid fretting and snorting

down stream.

We

were now approaching a place of rest, and I contemplated
with satisfaction a fortnight of land-march, even on mules. Eapids
resemble in one point earthquakes the more you see of them the

—

you like them, and the stranger at first is disposed to look
contemptuously upon the i3rudence and precaution of the " old
Shortly after dawn we went do^^^i the small but ugly
soldier."
Cachoeira da Cerquinha, between a bad rock on the right and a
It was followed by
stone ridge on the left, to which we mclined.

less

another

little

break.

After two hom's' work we turned fi"om the main stream up the
Here we made fast the ''Ajojo,"
Corrego do Bom Successo.
and the crew agreed to keep guard in it at night. As a rule the
riverines avoid sleeping in these places between the days of the

and of the St. John. The waters bring down much
it is easy to smell the difference
earthy, decomposed matter
of the branches and of the main line, and especially during the

new^ year

:

Vasantes, or annual retreat of the waters

;

the}^

dread the danger-

ous marsh fevers, remittent and intermittent, called the Maletas.

At Jaguara

Bom

had been warned that the Rio das Vellias below

I

Successo required certain precautions, such as to eat

pepper, to avoid the cold night

damp

after the

wash or bathe when perspiring, and not

much

day heats, not to

to drink coffee in the

I could not, however, be troubled with so much
" coddling," and we both found the climate perfectly healthy.

open au\t

After making the necessary arrangements

we walked up

to the

Manor House the aii* was crisp and dry, and the soil gravelly
but rich.
The stunted Cashevv everywhere grew^ wild, and there
;

was an abundance of the Jaboticabeira myrtle, justly called cauliflora, the aspect of the dark leafage being exactly that of an
enormous cauliflower. The other fruits were the Mango, Planthe Gabiroba { and
tains in a fine patch on tlie hill to the left
:

* Humboldt, on tlie Orinoco, heard by
night the sounds of the sloth, the monkey,
and the day -bird. This is not the case

Paulistas, even in tbe healthiest part of the
Province, refuse coffee out of doors.

any rate at this season.
+ The two latter somewhat whimsical
precautions are general on the Sao Francisco
River, where the iieople, seeing an old

name

here, at

bathe in a state of violent
remarked, " You are
calling upon Death " I have often known

hydropathist

persi^iration, quietly
!

J In the System, " Gruaviroba " is the
of sundry Eugenias. The Tupy Diet.
St. Hil. (III.
\\Tites the word Gruabiraba.
us that the small species of
bales arrondies " are called
Grabiroba, opposed to Araga, those with
I believe this to be
pear-shaped fruits.

ii.

270)

Psidium

tells

"a

correct.

F

•_>

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

G8

the Araticum,* of which

all

are so fond.

At the

[chap. v.

tall

gate

we found

The garden

a fine fig-tree planted onl}^ fourteen years ago.

to

the north-east of the house contains vines, as usual trained to
here Bacchus a2:>parently refuses to live without
lath tunnels
;

The

support.

The

flowers were, as usual, few.

Brazil has

many

more of the wild than the tame.
I remarked the pretty white Beijo de Frade, or Friar's Kiss,
and the Poinsettia hracts, brilliant as the " flame tree," and
There is also a
generally known as Papagaio, the parrot.
graceful tobacco (N.

ruralis

or Langsdorffii), wdth thin leaves

it is, I believe, the " Aromatic Brazilian,"
and pink flower
much admired in the United States, and there found to lose its
aroma after the second year. The Tropeiros learned from the
Indians, who used it for smoldng, and in medicine, to clean with
:

its

infusion their mules of the Berne-maggots.

do

w^ell to

remember

The

traveller will

that a leaf rubbed over his hands and face

compel the greediest mosquitos to buzz harmlessly about
him. According to the System this Nicotiana grows spontaneously, and is a Brazilian indigen, local as the Missouri variety
I have always found it a companion of man, and flourishing unplanted about the houses and villages. The Coqueiro palms
will

:

were peculiarly

fine,

although here as elsewhere the reticulum

pendent about the throat, a kind of vegetable goitre, is never
removed. The Jenipapeiro f (Genipa americana, L. Jenipa brasiliensis), whose fruit is compared by strangers with the medlar,
but which appears to me even more nauseous, is a noble tree its
fine white flowers had ah'eady fallen.
Wheat will grow at Bom
;

;

Success©, but

it is

subject to rust,

and the

flour,

which

is

made

into bread, is of a dirty-brown tmge.
I introduced myself to Dr. Alexandi'e

Severo Soarez Diniz,

nephew and son-in-law of Colonel Domingos his family occupied
the Sitio, now the Fazenda of Andrequeice, mentioned in 1801
by Dr. Couto.
There is nothing to describe in the establish;

* Also written Araticu, and pronounced
The name is given to many
Anonacese (A. muricata, A. spinescens, &c. ).
Thus the fruits are distinguished from the
Anona squamosa, the custard apple of India,
here called pinha, fructa do Conde, and at
llio de Janeiro by its Hindostani
name,

"Articum."

Atta

t

(for Ata).

This

is

the tree,

Ic

Grenipayer, well

kno%vn to the " Indians, " who painted their
bodies with its juice, yielding a dark
The fruit is called Jenipapo,
blue dye.
Jenipabo, or Genipapo.
Such is the general rule in Portuguese, as Caju, the CashewCajueiro, the Cashew-apple-tree.
apple
At times, however, the former is used by
synecdoche, as grammarians call it, for the
:

latter.

"

;

TO THE FAZEXDA DO BOM SUCCESSO.

ciiAP. V.J

09

which was the Casa Branca on a large scale. Here, for the
first time, Friday appeared honoiu'ed by fish and eggs.
After
meals all stood up with clasped hands and prayed, ending with
As is the custom of old Mmas, the slaves
crossing themselves.
meiit,

in waiting did the same.

much

I do not

know why

St. Hilah'e

Durmg

was so

the household and the field-hands sang a long,

evenmg
loud hymn, and

On Sunday

the prayers were

scandalised by the anticipatory process.

recited the " Christian

Doctrme."

more
At

until

the

elaborate.

Bom

quicksilver

Successo,

fom'

3'ears

ago,

globules

of free

found adhermg to the cross-battens of the

were

which feeds the overshot
Several bottles were filled, when suddenly the jield
wheel.
stopped. Mercury is reported to have been discovered on the
Jequitinhonha River, and in other parts of the Mmas Province
but a suspicion arose that it came from ancient gold washings.
''

or race

bica "

Here, hovrever,

of raised troughs

all

agreed that this could not be the case

therefore resolved to

com'se

of the

inspect the formation.

Rego or

leat

water channels, sometimes 12

which

— 13

We

;

we

followed the

supplies the race.

These

feet dee^), are of vital import-

ance to an estate, and are levelled by the eye, like the Kariz of
Belochistan, to great distances.

An

Irish ditcher,

kept sober, would soon make his fortune.

if

he could be

The banks were green

with grama (Triticum repens) pricking up from

between the
stones
the Herva do Biclio,* held sovereign for headaches the
bamboos were the Taboca de Liceo, and the Cambahuba, which
resembles the tasselled Criciuma. These gigantic reeds fatten
cattle well, but it is beheved that the food aftects the \sind of
horses and nudes.
We were on the left of the Bom Successo
stream, which heads three leagues to the north-east, and in it we
found argillaceous shale, unelastic sandstone, slaty, talcose, and
;

;

laminated,! fine blue limestone in bits and boulders, and quartz
rusty and black, and especially
—white and
black and white —passing into one another. In the small creeks
of

many colours

j-ellow,

feeding this main Hne scattered fragments of cinnabar apjoeared,

and a

bit

about the size of a nut was fomid in the

* This well-known term is usually applied to tlie Polygonum anti-liEemorrhoidale,
the Tupy "Cataia" or "Cataya."
This
Polygonea supiDlies a bitter peppery decoction, used to cure the disease kno^ii as

"

leat.

largo.

In fact, diamantine Itacolumite. There
are several diamond diggings about Bom
Successo.

f

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

70

After about four miles we reached the

here

leat;

BIlAZiL.

dam

at the

[chap. v.

head of the

bent down-stream, and weighted with

stakes were

might pass over them with as little
damage as possible. Evidently the metal came from below this
if not, it would have been deposited beyond the possibility
point
We
of being w^ashed down, in the deep water above the weir.
therefore thought it probable that, as has happened in Spain and
Austria, in Peru and California, the w^ater or the pick had struck
the gangue of native mercury, and had set free the disseminated globules. The deposit in the earthy w^ater would be
washed out and exhausted, and thus the ore would not appear
stones, so that the floods

;

until another cavity

may

be laid bare.

Intending to visit Diamantina city, I had engaged at Jaguara
an old Camarada and employe of Casa Branca, named Francisco
He had preceded me for eight days, acting as guide to
Ferreira.
Trooper Manuel and to the four mules obligingly sent for my use
by Mr. Gordon of Morro Velho. Matters did not look pleasant;
the *' talkeej' " elder reported with a hiccup and a stagger, that it
w^as " aw right " and landsmen and watermen at once engaged in
It w^as in vain to take away the keg; in
a general "drunk."
these Fazendas liquor is always to be had gratis. Mr. Davidson's
and my three Calibans
health did not allow him to accompany me
Agostinho was to act page-cuisinier
w^ould, without the
in
normal
disguise.
strictest supervision, be
a
state of
On the other hand my old longing for the pleasures of life in
the backwoods for solitude was strong upon me as in Bube-land.
I sighed unamiably to be again out of the reach of my kind, so to
speak once more to meet Nature face to face.
This food of the
soul, as the Arabs call it, or diet of the spirit, as Vauvernagens preferred has been the subject of fine sayings, from the
days of Scipio to those of J. G. Zimmermann
it is the true
antidote to one's entourage, to the damaging effects of one's
epoch and one's race it is hke absence, wdiich, says the proverb,
extinguishes the little "passions " and inflames the great; from
;

;

—

—

—

—

—

—

;

;

those

who think mth

others

it

" totus quis " comes out in
wishes to think for himself.
is

"

almost half true

O Solitude, where
How unliappy is

;

takes

and

it,

"

all

Homo

Yse soli

!

is

are thy charms

it

powder of thought, but the
largely gives to

him who

solus aut deus aut daemon,"

evidently professional, and

? " is a poetical study.

the traveller who,

like

St. Hilaire,

is

ever

CHAP,

v.]

TO THE FAZEXDA DO BOM SUCCESSO.

71

bemoaning the want of " society," of conversation, and who, "reduced to the society of his plants," consoles himself only by
hoping to seethe end of his journey " Une monotonie sans egale,
rien qui put me distraire un instant de
une solitude profonde
mon ennui." This, too, from a naturalist, '' * * * Je finis par
!

;

me

desesperer a force d'ennui, et je ne pus m'empecher de mauOne understands the portrait which he draws
dire les voj^ages."

of himself, veiled, with parasol to ward off the sun, and a twig to

smtch away

ticks.

It suggests a scientific

Mr. Ledbury.

—

—

CHAPTER

VI.

TO THE CIDADE DIAMANTINA.*
PAEAUNA EIVER AND VILLAGE OF THE CABOCLOS. — THE WINDY RIVULET. — THE
SERRA DA CONTAGEM. COMPLETE CHANGE OF COUNTRY AND VEGETATION. CAMILLINHO VEGETATION, — BIRDS, GOUVeA.— DONA CHIQUINHA.

—

—

SOLAR ECLIPSE,

— BANDEIEINHA.—ARRIVAL.

Haec Boreas
Verrit

.

.

.

summa cacumina pallam>
humum, pavidamque metu, calig-ine tectus,

Pulvereamque

traJiens per

Orithyian amans fulvis amplectitur

alls.

Ovid, Met. vi.

SECURED a sober

I

forward

my

start

from

Calibans to bivouac at a

Bom

Successo by sending

j)lace

be3"ond the reach of

and I followed them on the morning of Tuesday, August 27,

liquor,

1867.

The

hung the north with heavy blue
outlying an arch of lighter and more scattered

cold windy night had

fleece-pack,

Itinerary from

1.

2.

Bom

Bom

Successo to Bura

Successo to Sao Joao via Diamantina (approximately).

time

CHAP.

TO THE OIDADE DIAMANTIXA.

VI.]

—signs

73

Whilst the wind blows from
the north or east we shall find the road dusty, not muddy vice
Here the rains open in early October,
versa, if it shift to south.
if the 15th be
either with or without thunder-storms (trovoadas)
vapour

of galey weather.

;

;

The grass-burnmgs

still dry, people fear for their crops.

madas), began about 9th
Sej^tember

August, and will

the patches are fh-ed in

:

may

forage

— 10th

alternate

last

j-eai's,

(quei-

through
that

so

never be w^anting, and we shall sometimes see half a

dozen blazings in different directions.

The custom

is

old and

poetical.
to fell the virgin

wood,

To fire the second growths while young- they grow,
To feed with fattening ashes all the field,
The grain in holes to hide."

There

no doubt of the real injmy, independent of the
timber, which such romantic and picturesque practice
is

upon the woodlands.
kill

out

all

must greatly

It

but the strongest species.

however, there

and the potash

is less to
is

say against

it

;

loss in
entails

and
In these rugged Campos,
affect the vegetation,

the grass sprouts at once,

believed to be wholesome for cattle.

Caminho do Campo, the western high

I fell at once into the

road to Diamantina City, on the occidental

sldi't

of the Serra

Grande or do Espinhaco. It is separated by an interval of ten
to twenty leagues from the Caminho do Mato Dentro, on the
eastern flank, and via the Serra da Laj)a
this latter is the
shorter, the more trodden, and the better, but still very bad and
:

;

both are

during the rains.

equall}^ detestable

The path runs over the crests and round the flanks of familiar
Campos gTound, whose surface is sandy, gravell}-, or j)ebbly, with
stones, bearing stunted vegetation, Cerrados,
"
Capoes t ^nd Matas," or dwarf woods, clear of underwood, like
the charmmg forests of France.
The gTound, strewed by the
scatters

of

loose

north winds with dry leaves, was over-rich in ticks. Water
gushes ever3'where from a white or red clay, now compact, then
a silty dust
and the vile bridges are logs loosely laid over a

fierce

;

*

... demibai- os virgens mates
Queimar as Capoeiras ainda novas

;

;

Sei-vir

de adixbo a terra a fertil cinza
os gi-aos nas covas.
(Gronzaga, LjTas, part 1, 26\

Lan9ar

+ There

are two principal Capoes, separ-

ated by two miles, the Capao das Moendas
(of the IVIills), to which it siippHes hard
wood, and do Padre (Antonio).
Both are
near waters flowing to the Bom Successo
and thence to the Rio das Velhas. The
usual desvios mark the worst places.

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

74

BllAZlL.

[chap. vi.

There is very little of human life in view on
the " Rissacada," * a Retiro, or shooting box, con-

pair of sleepers.

the

left

is

;

sisting of a few i^oov huts, belonging to Colonel
after

an hour's sharp riding I reached a similar place, the Retiro

do Bura

—of the Bura bee.

passed the night, and I
burly

Domingos, and

Paulino.

feitor, Sr.

The

Here my Calibans and animals had
was most civilly received by the honest,

inevitable coffee duty drunk,

we pushed on merrily over

broken ground at the foot of the hills, thick with copse, and
showing green grass sprouting from the ashes of the dead.

Where

clearing was in process, the people

worked off the reedlike vegetation with a bill-hook at the end of a long handle.
Crossing the limpid streams,! and passing the Tapera (da Maria)
do Nascimento, the ex-home of a defunct widows w^here the
vultures were enjoying a dead bullock, we reached the Serra do
Bura, which divides the basins of the Bom Successo and the
Paraima t streams. Up this buttress, which is partly grassy,
and partly white and ston}', with boulders of blue limestone
striking south, there are two steep windings divided b}^ a step or
level.

From

the

summit we have a

perfect

command

of the country

around us. We see in front the tall blue wall through which the
Parauna breaks in places the summit appears level, in others
there is a feature locally known as Tapinhoacanga, § or Niggerhead, a porcupine-like lump, with out-cropping ledges of dark
bare rock. Behind us the Campos roll as usual in flattened
waves to the blue horizon, a smooth ring except where fretted
:

with some solitary peak or notch of darker hue which suggests
the Koranic " W'al Jibalu autadan,"
a peg to pin down earth.

—

Everywhere in the Brazil the idea of immensity suggests itself,
and nowhere more than on the Campos.
Beyond the Bura Crest begins a yellow descent, rough with
gravel, soft laminated clay-slate, and porous iron-stone, like slag
* Translated

"Bosq\;e."

In the die-

tionaries Ressaca or llesaca is the Fi'ench
ressac, the back drag of the tide.

+ The

first is

the Corrego da Eissacada,

which at times swells and is dangerous
the second, an unimportant feature, is
;

known

as the Correginho

— the streamlet.

X The Blackwater River, from "Para"
and " \ina.

§ St. Hil. (III. ii. 103) derives the word
from Tai^anhuna, which he says in the
Lingoa Geral means black the latter, however, is Pixuna, Pituna contracted to Una.
The dictionaries give Ab^ (man) tapyy"!!htna or tapyyiuna contracted to Tapanhuna or Tapanho, meaning a negro, and
;

" acanga, "

a head,

CHAP.

TO THE (JIDADE DIAMAXTIXA.

VI.]

orlaterite.

75

Tliis leads to the "

about four miles in length
sently becoming a rich red

Cerradao/' a taboleiro or plateau,
at iii'st something sterile, but pre-

;

soil

with

fair vegetation.

The

grass

Capim-Assu, whose grain, often compared with rice,
keeps cattle always fat, and amongst the dwarf woods are Pahns
in abundance, the Licorim, delicate, with ragged leaves,* the
Indaia,t and the Coqueiiinho do Campo, which rises but little
above the ground. The plateau ends at the Ollios de Agua,
where a few huts gather near a Corrego that supplies pure water.
is

the

Below

us, to

the right, lies the Parauna, a dull dark (turvo)

stream, running in snowy sand, vdih banks of white clay.

After three hoiu's we

Parauna, on the

left

reached the wretched

bank of

It has a

its river.

little

Aldea de

smgie straggling

some seventy mud hovels, including one large open
Rancho and eight Vendas most of the tenements are tiled, few
are whitewashed, and many are in ruins.
On the right bank are
six huts and a tilery.
Tliis old Indian settlement was once rich
in gold, it flourished in the days of the '' Diamantine Demarcation," which here began
in 1801 it was an Arraial, with most of
its houses shut or fallen, and tenanted by a guard to prevent
precious stones bemg smuggled.
It lives now upon its excelstreet

of

:

:

lent-stapled cotton, which fetches

2g500 to 2§800 per arroba,
The people are famous for their
churlishness, possibly the effect of the moody Indian blood, and
a cmious contrast to those further on.
As we found no civility
at the house of a Caboclo shopkeeper, by name Sr. Totto, we
and by supplying

travellers.

rode up-stream to the Httle Fazenda do Brejo, an Engenhoca

Manuel Eibeiro dos Santos,
Manuel do Brejo," Emmanuel of the IMarsh.

(small sugar-house) belonging to
as "

better

known

When

unable to

visit

it,

I heard of a place called the Brejinho,

where there is a salt stream that might be utilized.
The Parauna, whose mouth we shall presentlv pass, drains the
* The Licorim palm must not be confounded with the Aricuri (Cocos coronata),
which is common along the coast latitudes.
It grows twenty-five to thirty-five feet high,
with foliage like the tiiie Cocoa -palm the
fruit hangs in bunches, and each nut is
covered Avith a deep yellow and sweetish
pericarp.
The Macaws are fond of these
Cocos de Licorim, and break the kernels
with their powerful beaks.
t Also written Indaja, and in places
;

jtronouncecl Andaia.

Prince Max. calls

it

Coco Ndaih, assu, and describes it (ii. 30).
On the coast range and shore we may truly
say of this Attalea comi^ta, "I'arbre est
majestueux; c'estun des plus beau jjalmiers
dans ce pays."
On the Camjios it is a
stunted gi-owth, almost without bole.
The
leaves are not eaten except by the hungriest
of cattle
the nut is small and exceedingly
hard, with an almond resembling that of
the Cocos nucifera.
;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

76

western slopes of

Serra Grande

the

stream, here about 200 feet broad,
Avood

drift

The
is

:

:

it

full of

is

[chap. vi.

a useless shallow

rapids and choked by

the banks are of hard, white, rain -guttered cla3\

valley, a flat of red

and grey

silt,

edged by gravel and stones,
is browned by

narrow, and the lower vegetation at this season

the burning sun.

The

hill

tops preserve then- black verdure,

whilst the flanks are yellow, and dark clumps are scattered about

The

them.

ferry is six leagues

by water, or four

and a
half by land, from the Barra or Embouchure into the Rio das
Yellias.
In opposition to the map-makers, ^^ all assured me that
the Cipo stream, which is fed by the Serra da Lapa, falls into the
Parauna, one league by water, or one and a half by land, above
this village.
Eight leagues up-stream from the Ferry is the
Arraial de Parauna, a place of no consequence.
In 1801 Dr.
Couto declared that the Parauna and its branches, as well as the
Pardo Major and Minor, in fact all the waters from the Great
Serra, would prove diamantine.
This has lately been shown to
be the case, and there are now washings at the confluence of the
Cipo with the Rio das Pedras, near the south-west corner of the
Rotulo

to four

estate.

The ferry here belongs to Colonel Domingos, who lets it for
600^000 per annum and free passage for his tropas the toll was
not tollendus, being only 0$500 for five mules and four men.
;

After the riverine valley on the right began the usual ascent,

winding round and up

hills,

whose tops and bottoms are earth,

whilst the sides are almost invariably ribbed with

ledges of white grit, smooth as

blue

sandstone. t

These

marble, and

strike

to

the

bare

scatters

rock,

of dark

south-west, and

are

raised at angles varying from 25° to 80°, giving a peculiar and

new appearance to the scene. The ascent of such
made worse by tree-roots, is troublesome enough
is still more disagreeable.

;

From
in its

places, often

the descent

the crest of this dividing ridge, the Black River,

still

snowy bed, showed the Cachoeira do Parauna, with three
down a rock wail, backed by the Nigger-head
The vegetation, like the pure white sandy soil, was a

distinct flashes
Hill.

Burmeister is one mass of confusion.
M.^ Gerber makes the Cipo join the Paratina close to the Rio das Velhas, and calls
the Junction " trcs barras," the three

embouchures.

+ To avoid

tliis

sandstone break, a road,

or rather a path, has been haid out to the
left, np a brown dusty hill, not yet worn

down
little

to the stone, and at present offering a
shade.

"

CHAP.

TO THE CTDADE DIAMAXTIXA.

VI.]

detritus of

new

'^

or

For the first time in the Brazil,
" Shank bones of Ostrich," the
peculiar to these uplands. f
The}-

Itacolumite."

I saw the Canelas

Yellozias,*

77

de

Ema,

tree-lilies,

take the place of the heaths so

common

in

Europe and

Africa,

and of wluch Gardner remarks, "not a single species has
hitherto been detected on the American Continent, either South
It is, like the tree fern, the bamboo, and the
or North." +
Araucaria, an old world vegetation, suggesting the Triassic en-

was that of the Dragons' -blood
Dracaena.
The field showed all sizes, from a few inches to ten
feet, the rough endogenous stems, mere bundles of fibres, were
quaintly bulged with abundant articulations, like those of a polyTins part of the plant contams resin, and the soft, highpus.
dried substance is prized for fuel where wood is scarce and
exceedingly dear.
On the summit of each quaint stem was a
bunch of thin narrow leaves of aloetic ap2)earance as we brushed
through them, the mules snatched many a mouthful. In the
centre of the foliage was the lily-like flower, with viscid stalk,
quadrangular calyx, and blue and yellow stamens. There was
a smaller variety showing lavender-coloured blossoms, which the
people called Painera.
This must not be confounded with the
Paina do Campo, or da Serra,§ from whose fibres are made
horses' saddle-cloths
it is probably the Composita named by
Gardner, Lyclmophora Pinaster, a narrow-leaved, stiff shrub,
whilst

crinitis,

the

leafage

:

:

rarely exceeding six feet in height, but

young

much resembling

a ver}'

and giving a decided feature to the i)eculiar vegetation
It will be found taller in the u^^per levels.
The
Caralwba do Campo, with tortuous branches easily formed into
yokes, lit up the scene, as if points of gamboge had been scattered over it the naked form contrasted curiously with the wellfir,

of Minas.

:

clothed

Mimosa Dumetorum, one

foot high, bearing a flower here

pink, there white, ten times larger than proportion requii'es, and
* So named from Dr. Joaquim Yellozo de
Miranda, Jesuit and botanist, born in

Minas Geraes.
+ They flom-ish, I
de Ouro Branco. We

believe, on the Sen-a
shall find

them again

on the middle coiu'se of the Sao Francisco
River, where they clothe the western
counterslopes of the Bahian " Chapada.
J I need hardly say that such is no
longer the belief of botanists.
Australasia
alone has Epacrids instead of heaths.

§ St.

Hil.

(III.

i.

247)

mentions the

" Paineira " do Campo (Pachira marginata),
whose bark is scraj^ed for bed stuffings.
I

name Paina do Cerro (or
applied to a palm which extended
over the higher levels as far as the end of
also heard the

Serro)

The trunk is thicker above than
below, the general aspect is that of a huge
Sago, and the leafage, which resembles the
Indaia, is useful for making hats,
this trip.

-

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

78

BILVZIL.

[chap.

vi.

with the pink, white, and scarlet tassels of the Cravinho do
Campo, a shruhlet whose root is a wild purge.* The people
declare that Arnica is found

medicine, none

in the

uplands

:

f

all

know

the

its plant.

Early after noon I descended the white hill into a red hollow,
which grows a little coffee, sugar, and plantain fruit for the
household. This is the place called Riacho do Vento Windy
Stream a clean and well- wooded stream, flowing from the north.

—

—

A

was increasing his ranch, and the
ground was strewed with timbers of the Aroeira, an Anacardium
the heart w^as mahogany-coloured, and harder
of several species
than any oak. The reception was not splendid, a tray turned up
served for a table, a quarter-bushel measure for a chair, the food
was as usual,"and the dessert was snuff, either the coarse Rolao or
certain Joao Alves Ribeiro

:

the finer

and

P6 de fumo.

civility,

En

bill,

including breakfast

was only 6 $000.

soon found out why

I

revanche the

from sleeping here.
gims, threatening to

nw

^'

Camarade

At sunset the
carry away the

"

east Avind
tiles

had dissuaded me
began to blow great

—truty the place

According to accounts the infliction

justifies

milder during

name.
the first and second quarters; it sets in violently with the full, and
It comes from the high and
is most dreaded at new moon.
bleak meridional range to our right, and easily accounts for
There
the regular morning gale on the Rio das Velhas.
"
"
"
taboleiros
are propasto fechado," and these
was no
ours began locomotion at
verbial for causing mules to stray
They were necesuntil
sundown.
once, and were not found
sarily tethered for the night in an empty rancli, and the tinkling
Nor were the
of their bells proved that they were starved.
its

is

:

men

better

off.

We

were glad to mount at 6 a.m., though the gale still howled
overhead, and the stars were twinkling over hill tops, clearly cut

Crossmg the Windy Rivulet, we struck up the
This offSerra da Contagem,t or Range of the (diamond) tolls.

and

"

silver tipped.

ProLably a MjTtacea

:

of this

several are called Craveiro da terra

genus

—native

clove-tree.

t The Brazilians mostly mistake for
Arnica a Composite knowTi to us as Eupatorium Ayapana.
i These Contagens weve established with

the consent of the lieges in 1714, -when,
it will
be remembered, the capitation
Dr, Couto tells us
quints were raised.
(1801) that the Villa do Principe was one
*
Contagens dos Sertoes, " and
of the four
says, " they call Sertoes in this Captaincy
theinnor lands distant from mining villages,
'

—

TO THE CTDADE DIAMA^TIXA.

CHAP. VI.]

79

from the Espiiiliaco runs from east to west, and acts as
Our course was to the northbuttress to the Rio das Yelhas.
east, and we wound from side to side with the blast catching our
Thi'ee
pouches, and doing its best to blow down man and beast.
ascents, not precipitous, but rough with rolling stones, and mostly
set

using the rock}' beds of streams, led to the summit

they were
(Chapadinhas),
scattered
dwarf
levels
over with grass
divided by
and trees: in places water-sank, and dui'ing the rains transit must

The

be desperately bad.

soil

was mostly

:

red, set in patches of

glaring white sand, the detritus of the rock

;

in

some places

it

was blackened with vegetable humus, in others it sx)arkled with
There were slabs and sheets of
pebbles and fragments of quartz.
in ^^laces
the white gritty Itacolumite, yesterday' so abmidant
long ridges crossed the path like the rock-walls that form a
Cachoeira, and nothing could be quainter than the shapes here
they were gigantic frogs and '' antediluvian," i. e. Tertiary beasts,
Megatheres and Colossocheles, seen in profile there were magni:

:

;

fied

tombstones, erect or sloping, and there

were

fragments

j)itched about as if in the play of giants.

After two slow miles up the south-western crest, we reached the
highest Chapada, and saw for the last time the plain behind us,

Here the
rocks and crags disappeared, and the compound slope was bisected
billowy with endless tossing of green-yellow waves.

from north to south b}' As Lages, a tree-clad stream, running
over a bed of smooth slippery slab
an " ugly " spot; nor much
better were the ribs of fast or loose stone on the farther side
beyond a patch of rich ferruginous soil. On the right, a charming
Capao, wliich seemed to be traced by the hand, divided shade
from sunshine whilst cattle, -s^ith clean hides, browzed the juicy

—

;

and where there
-j.^
n
Caitd

is

no mineration. "

Under

•±^
/n XI, '\ nr
(Caethe) Menm, ^ith an-

Kibello

.

Inhacica
iinei)

.

;

.

.,,^,,^
/66|400

/Mfl»/

•

....

(on

PedoMorro

.

Jequitmhouha

Contagem do Galheiro
lered stag) to south

4db|»»/

4o2$a3

.

_

(0. ant-

.

.

1:146$4.3/

^

iota ]

The
(say

four were but 5: 446 1 562
£544), without deducting the ex-

pi-ofits of all

=

o. f:QQ*p9i
tj.oa-f^

The author

wMch,

changing posts
justly ridicules

for such paltry gain, did

much harm. Those who farmed the
Contagens cared only for locating them
^.]^gj.Q they paid best; when a new mine
^^s discovered they sunwnded it with a
^^gj^ ^j obstacles, and thus they lost all,
_^.^^ ^^^ husbandman who harvests beso

f.^e harvest-time.
^j^^^^^^

TV

of barrack-repair,

so forth.

a svstem

•

nual revenue of

penses

and

&c. p. 89) were,

it (]\Iemoria,

^^^^^

Of course the

toll-gates

^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^.^^^.^^.^

not inland
^^^^ collected from the imports
where imports paid twice, or where dues
were taken from those who had bought
country-made goods.
;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

80

We

pasture.*

[chap.

vi.

then crossed a divide running east to west; the

path was broken, and near it was a rib or dyke of dark stujff,
which after rude testing appeared to be cobalt. The crest leads

Limoeiro Basin, a formation similar to that
just traversed, and cut b}^ three waters flowing to the southto the adjoining

west, t

Two

hours of dull riding placed us on the eastern edge of the
Chapada, where the view suddenly changed. From our feet fell
a long slope, or rather two slopes, a big one and a

little

one, of

velvety surface, curiously contrasting with the hedgehog rocks

around.

At the base was

a gleam of water flowing to the north-

we are still in the valley of the Sao Francisco Eiver. Below
us, somewhat to the right, is a clump of oranges, spiky pitas and
wind-wrung bananas, showing where stood the old Contagem das
east;

Aboboras, now desolate as the Inquisition of Goa.

Further
on the right the
Alto das Aboboras, and to the left an unnamed lump, form the
huge portals of the lowland-gate. Masses of white sandstone, in
places weathered to dingy blackness and queer shapes, and swept
clean of everything by the wind, strike to the west, where the}^
stand up in bluffs like river cliffs the dip, from 70° to 90°, gives

down

is

the Bocaina, or Gorge, seen from afar

;

:

a quoin-like aspect, whilst the eastern backs are of gentle slope,

frequently grass-grown.

Scattered about are knobs, heads, walls,

and saws, a peculiarl}^ wild and hard aspect, and we look in vain
for any correspondence of angles.
Here Minas, alwaj^s hilly,
becomes extra-mountainous
and writers declare that the formation, generally arenaceous, turns to quartzose. In front are
;

the distant lowlands, apparently plains dotted with dark
really without half a mile of level,

hills,

but

and the furthest distance

is

another hne of fantastic rocks.

We now

enter the true diamantine land, which older writers

term the Cerro formation, thus distinguishing Diamantina of Minas
from the diamond grounds of Bahia and from Diamantino of
* I

No

saw no sign

of the

one, however, breeds,

berne or worm,
and consequently

the herds are small.
f The first is the Pindahyba, a muddy
bed into which, mules sink even in the
"dries."
An unpleasant path of white
sandstone, with a pole serving as parapet
to a precipice, leads to the Riacho da
^ areda.
The latter word here means a
" Campina " or dwarf plain. The stream,

coming from north to south, courses cold,
dark, and clear over a rocky and slippery
bed of sandstone, and on the left is a place
where the tropeiros encamp. The third is
the Limoeiro, dark and muddy, with a
As a rule
dense Capao a little beyond it.
pure vehicle
the water is of the best, a
In
for forming the finest crystallizations. "
some places a white sand is spread over
'

'

the black mud, reversing the usual process.

CHAP.

VI.]

TO THE CIDADE DIAMAXTINA.

81

Matto Grosso. Tlie view strilies at once.
It is a complete
change of scenery everything is the image of bouleversement
and aridity. The hills are no longer rounded heaps of clay, grown
;

over with luxuriant vegetation.

Here we have

2)auper growth springmg from the split rocks,

a dwarfed and
a

mean Campo

flora, or yellow tliickets based upon scanty humus, and even the

hardy Coqueii'o becomes degenerate.*

It is a fracas of Natm-e,

a land of crisp Serras stripped to the bones, prickly and brist-

peaky liills and fragments of pm-e rock separated by
deep gashes and gorges; some rising overhead black and threatening, others distant with broken top lines, with torn blue sides,
striped with darker or lighter lines.
Here and there, between
the stern peaks, lie patches of snow-white sand or a naiTow bit
of green plam, confused and orderless, a fibre in the core of rockmountam.
The land also is illiterate, and it is wild fossils,
those medals of the creation, do not belong to it.
After the first view of this country, and inspection of its material, I felt how erroneous was the limitation of the old men who
confined the diamond to between 15° and 25° of north and south
latitude, thus including Golconda, Yisapur and Pegu, and making
Borneo and Malacca the only Equatorial diggings. I at once
recognized the formation of the Sao Paulo Province, in which
many diamonds have been fomid.f My little trouvaille was that
we may greatly extend the diamantme, as we have the carboniferous strata, and that the precious stone will be found in many
parts of the world where its presence is least suspected, and even
where the ignorant have worked the ground for gold.
But when, returning home, I looked at my newspapers, the
trouvaille had been made for me.
In one I read, " There are
fifteen localities in California at which diamonds I have been fomid
The Melbourne Argus
in the course of washing for gold."
"
declared that
a small but very beautiful diamond had been
ling with

;

found in a claim at Young's Creek, near Beechworth
is

perfectly white,

and the

crystallization well defined.

* \Ylien clothed with sufficient humus,
degraded Itacolumite is a veiy fertile soil.
f M. Barandier, a French artist, found
a small diamond at Campinas in Sio Paulo.
I have seen the "forma9So," or stones
supposed to accompany the gem, in many

parts of the Province, in the valley of the
Southern Parahyba, and even near the city
of Sao Paulo.
A fine specimen of the

VOL.

II.

:

the stone
It is the

bhxck diamond, perfectly symmetrical, was
taken from the Rio Verde, near the frontier
of the Sao Paulo and Parana Provinces
moreover the Tibagy and other influents of
the Parana are kno-wn to be diamantiferous,
and have supplied small specimens set by
nature in the Cauga rock.
X The "California diamond" vas formerly a bit of rock crystal.
;

a

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

b'2

second diamond found on
Advertise}' recorded the

[chap.

Again, the

that Creek.

\ j.

Coleshery

discovery of a diamond digging on the

farm of Dr. Kalk, and asserted that some gems had been washed
worth 500/.*
Old Ferreu'a, my comrade, used very hard words as he passed
the ruins of the Contagem das Aboboras, which he called the Contagem do Galheiro.f The senior was a kind of Mr. Chocks,
exceedingly grandiloquent till Nature expelled Art he would call
heat a " temerit}' of sun," rich ore a " barbarity of iron " he told
;

;

me

charge to the right," meaning to take that direction when
imcertain he declared that " it did not constate," and when he
to

''

;

ignored a thing, he was '^not a great apologist of

it."

But,

if

tradition do not mightily exaggerate concerning the " days of des-

potism," as the colonial rule

is

popularly called, his bad language

was justifiable. The soldiers and their commandant who occupied
yon stone ranch, now ruined, held all the passes and watched the
neighboming Corregos, the only zigzags up which the Garimpeii'o
or smuggler could travel. Travellers were searched, and muleteers
were compelled to take to pieces the pack-saddles where treasure
might be concealed. Extreme cases are quoted. Men who bathed
in the diamond rivers were flogged, and those found washing in
them lost theii' hands. The tradition here is that the obnoxious
system was abolished by D. Pedro L, that popular prince having
accidentally, when disguised a la Harun El Rashid, learned from
a mule- trooper all its evils and injustice.
From the white soil we i)assed to a wave of reddish j^ellow
ground, the ''Mulatto" of the Southern States, and took the left
of the huge portal on the right.
The descent was gentle, but at
the bottom came the usual troubles—tree stumps in the ground,
holes whence roots had been drawn, banks up which the mules had
to climb, a red soil forming puddle during the rains, and black
earth even now a rivulet.
We met a few mules about 9 a.m.
Here the cold prevents an earlier start. Some carried for sale in
the backwoods *'Pedras de furno," round slabs of white Itacolumite,
For drying manioc
2J- feet in diameter by 1 inch in thickness.
''^'

When

traveHiug In Virginia, I Lad
diamond picked ui) near
Richmond
it -^Acighed some twenty-four
<arat8-and cut to about lialf, and was
sold for a small sum as it wanted "water."
f The (xalheiro is to the north on tiniieard

of a tnie
;

Rio rardo
nortli

Llraiule,

hix

to seven leaguc.-

Eio Paraima,

of tlie

There

is no^N-

a Fazenda do (xalheiro, which l)elongs i«
many owners it in drained hy tJie Riacho
-lo Vento;
;

;

TO THE CIDADE DIAMANTIXA.

CHAP. VI.]

S;i

they are preferred to metal pans or plates, because tliey cost
The manufacture is easy. They are x)rized up
3 §000 to 5S000.
with levers, chipped into rounds or oblongs, and are ready for the
oven.
For convenience of carriage they are sometimes divided

The quarry was shown

into semicircles.

— a mere dot on the

hill

drop in the ocean that could supply all the Empii-e. Fine
heavy soapstone is found in the torrent beds, and 1$000 procured
the shape of a candlestick.
for me a specimen
side, a

m

Presently we reached a miserable hamlet of tattered wattle and
dab huts, called Camillinho little Camillus after some ^'regulo

—

—

da roca" who

first

man and

Monteiro, lodges

An

settled there.

beast.

honest Eancheu-o, Luis

In his absence the wife gave

us coffee and food, whilst the mules were sent to a good closed

Ai'ound the huts, which were jalousie-closed
towards the road, and swarming -^-ith hens, pigeons, and black
gu-ls, grew a few coffee trees and v>-ind-wrung bananas, whilst a

pasture hard by.

smgie rose, which had learned to be a creeper, curled over a
thatched roof.
From Camillinho v\-e took a north-easterly com'se between two
lines of rock.

The

soil

appears to be always red clay upon the

which sometimes throw

lines

across the road, and white or yellow tints in the lower parts.

The

liill

tops, with stony

and ribbed

sides,

huge Esbarrancados are here a mixture of water-breach and suncrack in places they cut up the country and cut off the roads.
They are mostly elongated crevasses, whose projecting and reentermg angles correspond. Some form central islets, like St.
;

Michael's

Mount

in miniature.

The

favourite site is the side of a

be eaten away, and often they moat the
heights like the ditches of Titans. The old formations are known
hill,

which

will inevitably

by their tarnish, and by the growth of trees in the lowest levels
the new are fi-esh, and generally bottomed with mud or flowing
water. The whites and reds, yellows and pm'ples, are lively as in
other parts of the Province, and the feature is pictm-esque with
light and shade, especially at thnes when the sun lies low. At fii-st
the brilliantly coloured secsight they suggest artificial models
;

tions wliich are supposed

to represent the earth's interior.

We find

even the ''faults" and " djdces" which restrain percolation.
The line ran over sundry waves of ground, and wound round
the hill sides, white vvith their small, loose^ glaring stones.

descents and ascents were both bad, and led to

The

and from waters
G 2

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

84

[chap. vi.

either grej'-coloured or crystal clear, flowing to the right, that is

Paraima Eiver south-west. The huts appeared temporary, like mining villages, and here and there a manioc i^atch
shows the capability of the soil. I presume that in many places
the land would bear the short and strong-stemmed hill-wheat of
Texas. The cool and shady wooded bottoms swarmed with the
Carraputo tick, and it was found advisable to send a man forward
by way of " drawing them off." We are now approaching springtide, and the tints are prettily diversified.
The pink Quaresma,
dwarfed by cold, hugs the damp places near water the golden
Ipe, that local yew, also small, prefers the stony upland.
In the
hollows there is a flower that reminds me of the purple Aster,
to swell the

;

llie stripped trees project their grey lean limbs against back-

grounds of lightest-green, middle-green, and darkest green, and
everywhere the bush is red, burnished with the new leaves of the
Pau de Oleo,* a leguminous celebrity which prefers dry grounds and
shuns stagnant waters.

The

birds

seem

of the Province.

to be less bullied here

I saw for the

extends down part of the

Ivio

first

time a peculiar pigeon which

de 8iio Francisco, and

The people

the Highlands of Bahia.

than in most other parts

call it

Pomba

is

found in

Verdadeii'a, or

de Encontro branco, from the white marks on the wings.

It is

probably a variety of the Columba speciosa found on the seaboard,

and

its

marbled neck and superior

size suggest

looked like a giant by the side of the

many doves

of the
*

*'

Oil --wood,"

also written

other

Bola,

(Jurity,

Copaifera

officinalis,

Copahyba, Cupauba, and in

wa3^s.

The Caramuru

(7,

51)

de-

scribes it as,

A
''

Copaiba

em

curas applaudida—

The Indians, who knew the medicine
it

Avell,

in sections of nuts, corked with

wax, and during hot weather it used
to sweat through the rude bottle, i)ro"\dng
its excessive
"tenuity."
In 1787, according to Ferreira, a pot of nine Lisbon
canadas (each two litres) cost 6 $000 to

6$400, and "Capivi" was considered to
be an important importation, having credit
for inany pseu do -virtues.
Painters used it
for linseed oil, but not in places exposed to
weather, as it easily came off.
Here it is
ijold

Pomba Torquaz,t

It

the largest

and others) which inhabit

vexy violent remedy, and mostly confined
the treatment of cattle sores.
The
season for collecting the precious balsam
opens with the new moon of August the
people say of the tree "Chora " (it weeps like
Myi-rha) "tudo o mez de Augusto," and a
^ing^e trunk fills several bottles.
The bark
is cut, and pledgets of cotton are placed to
drain the slit
the people have an idea
that the greatest yield is Avhen the moon is
full, and that it gradually falls till the
wane.
f The word is the Latin "Torquatus,"
and alludes to the ring round the neck
the vulgar corrupt it to Trocaes, and thus
we find'it Avritten by Prince Max. (i. 396).
Amongst the uneducated in the Brazil the
to

;

Capivi which oft works a certain cure."

collected

our blue rock.

in the shops, but

it

is

held to be a

;

;

iiufoitiniatc

letter

r

is

sul)ject,

amongst

other injuries manifold, to excessive transposition.

)

CHAr.

TO THE CTDADE DIAMAXTIXA.

VI.]

The Eaptores

these liiglilands.

So

are unusually numerous.

There

the Caracara, which ranks with the eagles, and behaves, the
degenerate aristocrat, vilely as a buzzard,
vulture (V. aura),

is

A

probably the Acabiray

first

described by Azara,

Urubii Cacador, or the hunter.
bird, but

is

form the vulgar
red, and the wings are black

with silver lining, like the noble Bateleur of Africa.

makes the

bird's

here called

It resembles in

The head

high.

it flies

is

head and neck

Prince Max.

to be gris cendre,

which is
not the case he also guides its distant com*se by smell, which I
vehemently doubt. Another hawk, known by the general name
Gaviao, poises itself in mid air, and is said to be a game bird, self75)

(i.

;

taught to follow and

the C'adorna, or local partridge.

kill

there would be no difficulty in training

There

it.

The

raptor, hardly larger than a sandpiper.

first

is also

a

tin}^

swallow seen

during this year darted by in search of a warmer climate.
Scissar-tail (tesoura)4urns sharply in the air,

If so,

The

opening and shutting

forked tail the x^retty white and black Maria Preta, and the
crimson Sangre de Boi or Pitangui, disported themselves amongst

its

;

the stunted trees

;

tering before us as

tame as

while John Clay (Joao de Barros) hopped chatif

file

quick succession,

upon

Ascending a slope
of scene.

To

who makes

the right,

of

its

nearly

"at a
The
miles."

and -a, what exists.
St, Hilnire
26) derives it from Ara, day, and
He
pong, ''son d'line chose creuse."
wai-ns us not to confound it, like ]\rr. Walsh,
with the "ferrador"or blacksmith frog,
and, curious to say, for once ISlv. Walsh
The T. Diet, explains Guirais right.

poetic,

i.

Castelnau men274) and (in i.
169) the feiTador frog, which Prince Max.
(i. 269) calls Ferreiro.

Ijonga by ferrador-ave.
tions the ferrador bird

(i.

recognised the voice of

been introduced to England.
ride, we found a fresh change
in a low, flat green bottom by the banks

Chasmorh}^lchos nudicollis is popularly
known as Araponga, a coiTuption of Guiraponga, from C-fuira a bird, pong onomato(III.

and sometimes

an hour's

voice audible

three

We

At times the

latel}'

after

* A drawing of a specimen which reached
England lately appeared in the Illustrated
News.
It is the Campanero or hell-bird
described in the last generation by Water-

distance

and the Tico-tico,

a saw, sometimes singly

was heard.

the bell-bird,* which has

ton,

tell,

a robin, flirted with us like a little girl.

sharp stroke of a
in

he had some secret to

The Procnias

(a

genus formed by

Illiger,

called nudicollis from its thin gi-eenpatched throat, so conspicuous in the snowis

It has no caruncle like the
bird figured in the illustration to "Kidder
and Fletcher," (edition of 1857) and called
Uruponga the l)ird with a tubercle is the
named Guiraponga or
white Cotinga,
Ampelis Carunculata (Linn.). Prince ]\Iax.
has described other species of tliis remarkable family, as, c.ff., the Procnias
melanocephalus (i. 260), and the Procnias
Cyanotropes or ventralis, with blue green

white plume.

;

reflections

(i.

291).

The peculiarity

of this winged Stentor is
the disproportion of the note to the size.
We hear the blow of a hammer upon an
anvil
we see a creature about the size of
the smallest turtle dove,
;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

86

[chap. vi.

do Tigre, another influent of the Paraima, lay
houses and dwarf fields on the hill side was a tall black cross in
of

tlie

Ribeii'ao

;

a brand-new enclosure, a cemetery lately built, and already in

Around was

active use.

a kind of prairie, high

and subject

to

dwarfed Bromelias and the stunted Vellozias
proved: the grass was thick but brown in the upper levels, and of
fierce winds, as the

The

metallic green below, suggesting fine pasture.

Armadillo

:

many

surface

was

been mined by the
mostly they showed annexes of a darker grey, clumsy

pitted with termitaria, of which

modern additions

liad

some old country house.
The praii'ie fires produced a dull glow in the sky, and the smoke
folds crossing the sun had the effect of a cloud, and in places
cast shadow upon the face of earth
we blessed the beneficent
gloom. Far to the north-east lay our destination, Gouvea we
are now about half-way—pointed out by its road, a red-bro^\ai
projections

lil^e

to

;

—

ribbon spanning the sunburnt

To

turf.

its left

rose a massive,

lumpy peak, streaked with horizontal wavy lines on the right
towered a cloud-kissing point, which some called Morro das Datas,
and others Itambe.* The horizon in other places w^as bounded
with bluff' cliffs, which seemed to buttress an immense imaginary
stream.
Here and there was a '' Pilot-knob," with strata regular
:

as

if

built up, but defjdng

The

hill sides

human hands

to build

it.

here showed traces of ancient leats, and heaps

Within the
Contagem all the soil is reputed to be diamantiferous, and the
people delight to tell 3^ou that you may be treading upon precious
stones.
This, indeed, appears to be their thought by day and
their dream at night.
The surface was still disposed in waves,
with abrupt inclines of red and yellow ground, deeply gashed,
leading to thi'ee several waters, f which are struck perpendicularlv.
The watershed is from north-west to south-east, discharging to
the Parauna River. Mostly they are bright little streams, painted
of clay stone grit which they had helped to wash.

* Ita-mbe, the big stoue or rock.
St.
(L i. 294) proposes as derivation,
yta aymbe, pierre a aiguiser.
There are
tv.'o features of this name, as will presently
appear.
Hil.

t
left

The first is the Agoa Limpa, on whose
bank rose a tall cliff, black as if vol-

canic

—

the effect of grass burning. Further
on to the right is a silvery lakelet, containing a knobby islet.
The llibeirao das
Areias spreads out T>-idc, and has a rough

bridge of eight trestles, some sixty-three
yards long
at this season it is fordable.
The Ribeirao das Almas showed a thread of
pure water running along the main current,
which had been made a dirty slate -coloured
The
drain by washings in the upper bed.
soil is mostly red as if rusty with oxide of
oranges
iron
it is fertile and produces
(remarkably good) and Jaboticabas, beside;^
the nonnal coffee shnibs and bananas.
;

;

=

-

TO THE C'IDADE DIAMAXTIXA.

f'HAP. VI.]

87

and set off by golden sands and avenues of
In the dwarf riverine valleys and the hillsides
leek-green trees.
were fields and huts, some of them tiled, and near the Areias a
venda was being built.
We met on the way sundry parties of women coming from
some local festival, a few wliites, di'essed in straw hats and rain-

l^ink-red with

ii'on,

They

bow-coloured cottons, with blacks carrying their children.

many

did not, as in

unusually

civil,

seeing that I was

The

a recruiting- of&cer.

still

Corrego do Chiqueii'o

last divide led to the
v/hicli is

run away, and the tropeiros were

places,

—

deep and dangerous during floods.

of the Hogstye

We

are

*—

now one

league from om' night's destination, and presently, after a long
ascent and a leg to the east,

we saw over

a dwarf

peak the con-

spicuous church of Gouvea.

Women,

all

with the Caboclo look, carrying wood, entered

mth

us as we passed the Cruz das Almas, which rose fi-om a pile of

This cross, wluch recalls the souls in Pm'gatory,

stones.

general.
N** S^

On

is

here

the hill to the right was an unfinished building,

das Dures, undertaken by the vicar. Rev. P^ Francisco de

Paula Moreii'a, and Sr. Eoberto Alves, Jun., the son of a wealthy
family.
I thought that the grim, stone buildmg, with what
appeared to be a single chimney, was a fort raised for some
and it reminded me of the old Portuguese

inexplicable purpose

fane

;

—

"

We

Half churcli of

Grotl,

half castle 'gainst the Moor."

palm
of ground-floor houses and

passed the Rosario, a detached chapel with

a

single

and rode northward, up a street
open Ranchos, each with its fi'ontage of stakes towards the
After the sunnjsquare, which apparently represented the town.
ride, and the high wind, which promised a cold night, I looked
Presently my guide
wistfully for a lodging, and saw none.
remembered Dona Chiquinha, the wife of a Diamantina merchant,
now at Rio de Janeiro his name, Ehzardo Emygdio de Aguiar,
Here
is written as pronounced by his friends, Elizaro Hemedio.
began the civility of which I afterwards experienced so much in
The Dona at once admitted me, her
this part of the Province.

tree,

:

* A poetical name not rare.
Near Oui'o
Preto is a place called N* S^ da Concei^ao
do Chiqneiro do Allamao (for Allemao).

— Oiu*

Lady of the Conception
stye of the Grerman.

of the Ho-v-

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

88

maiTied daugliter brought oranges, her

little

[chap. vi.

granddaughter orange

and her slaves cofl'ee.
I presently walked out to view the place, and to escape bemg a

flowers,

The people

menagerie.

stared like the negroes of

could hardty gaze their full

and

;

Ugogo

:

they

they would, when tired, rest awhile,

The operations

ju'esently take another ''innings."

of shav-

ing and of using a tooth-hrush seemed to produce a peculiar

North of the town stands the chief church, Santo
Antonio, occuiDying part of the square, which is rather a bulging
edification.

in the street.

It stands awry,

Gouvea was founded

;

it

having been built probably before

fronts south-west, unpolitel}' i^resenting

to Jerusalem its dorsal region.

the red

About

it

On

each side bits of Calcada line

and these incipient pavements lie here and there.
are a few Casuarinas and Coqueiro palms, at this season,

soil,

they feed a large caterpillar (lagarta) *
which presently becomes a " borboleta " moth or butterfly

they say, always mangy

;

—

which they recover. The square shows one sobrado, belonging to Jofio Alves, amongst the sixty-four houses east of the
chm'ch: the fiftv-eight to the west have sundry half-sobrados, and
all the better sort are distinguished by shutters painted blue.
The holy building is crooked from cross to door, a2)parentl3" the
people's eyea cannot see a straight line
it has four windows, and
two weather-cocked towers, with roof covers upturned there are
two bells, and the eastern belfry has a bogus clock. Behind the
after

:

:

temple

is

the God's acre, quaintly adorned with corner-posts of blue

plaster, supporting

The town

rude and rusty armillary spheres.

and water is scarce and distant.
On the east, far below, lies the usual Lavapes nearer is the Rua
do FogOjf a kind of chemin des affronteux, and in the distance is
the Morro de Santo Antonio, a noble stone-knob based upon an
is

on a rough

ridge,

:

earthen pedestal.

chmbed on the

No

one has ascended

south-east.

Westward

it,

is

yet

the

it

may

be easily

Rua do Socego

or

dos Coqueu'os, with a few houses scattered and whitewashed, in

compounds defended by dry stone

The growth

walls.

is

the

Castor shrub, the Jaboticaba, the papaw, whose leaves are here
* The Curculio palmarnm is relished
Africa, and greedily eaten by the S.
American "Indians." I have never tasted
it, but white travellers have informed me
that it has a delicate and even a delicious
in

flavour,

of Fire, not an uncommon
in the Brazil, usually mean-

f The Street
village

name

ing that in it liquor and
quarrels abound.

consequently

"

CHAP.

TO THE CTDADE DIAMAXTIXA.

VI.]

80

used for soup, the plantain, a few good oranges, and the sweet
lime with bitter placenta, called Lima da peca the coffee looks
:

crowded and untrimmed.
thriftless and
Provisions are excessively expensive, having to make the
journey which we have made, and maize* costs 4 $000 per
starving, as usual

it

is

alqueire.

On

the next morning,

when

I called for the

bill,

the

Dona

such was her hospitable habit,
and she declared that her sons also were wandering over the

refused everything, even a gift

world abroad.

;

AVe mounted at 7 a.m., a light east wind rising

with the sun, whilst the sky was moutonne with clouds.

Our

course lay north-east towards the pyramids of dull grey stone,
the smaller below the larger, and both sentinelling the richer

diamond lands. A slipper}^ hill, gashed with water-breaches, led
to the
to a wooded hollow, which sheltered a few thatched huts
It had outhouses,
right was a Sitio, belonging to Roberto Alves.
enclosures, and a coffee plantation, somewhat thin, but defended
from the blasts and superior to all rivals.
Here began the Pe de Morro, or ascent, which will last till near
Diamantina. The wheel-road winding round the western side is
the bridle-path to east seems made for goats, with its
easy
Presentlv
loose stones and its ruts petrified in hard pink clay.
the latter fell into the former line, and the slope im23roved. From
the summit we had a good back view of Gouvea, but soon the
wind, chopping round to the north, drifted in oiu' faces a thick
Scotch mist. Old Ferreira complained that the Corrubiana t got
into his bones and nearly made him lose the way.|
The hill led to a plateau consisting of two plains divided by a
One of them was about two miles
water and a prism of rock.
;

:

across
fine

;

such an extent of level surface

is

here rarely seen.

Cattle

and plump, despite the Carrapatos, and probably strengthened

by the highly ferruginous water, made it look like " a pastoral in
a flat."
The Capao, however, was not of the style " bonito," §
* In this country the alqueire of maize
regulates prices like the quai-tei-n loaf in
England.
I have seen it at Sao Paulo, the
city, fluctuate between 2 $000 and 4 $000

— more

exactly

4 $160,
f This word

is

between

1

$ 940

and

popular in Minas Geraes,

Rio Grande do Sul.
pronounce it "Cruviana,
X 0^ the right hand a road sets off to
Datas, the property of Colonel Alexandre
it reaches
de Almeida Silva Bitancourt
the city, but after a very long round.
" is often seen
§ The "pretty tree motte

and

also, I believe, in

Some

Caijilras

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

90

[chap. vi.

was coarse and lagged, whilst the land was much burnt.
The road became excellent, broad, level, and fit for a carriage
unhapi3ily, like that approaching Agbome, it is a mere patch.
At 9 A.M. we descended to Barro Preto, the first diamond digThe site is a stream bed, the
ging which I had seen at work.
head-waters (Cabeceiras) of the Corrego das Lages, which feeds
it

:

successively the Corrego das Datas (or the

Cachoeira), the Cor-

The surface showed
rego da Grupiara and the Parauna Eiver.
"
varying
in colour from
saibro," clayey sand,
spoil-heaps of
quartzum lacteum,
tm-fy and vegetable matter, and pebbles mixed with fragments of
rock crystal. A Httle thread of muddy water triclded down and
served the *' Servicosinho."* We passed two huts and a half of
thatch-wattle and dark-grey dab, whence the negroes stared, the
dogs barked, the pigs grmited. The place, knomi for two to
three years, has been worked during the last eight months by
dirty white to milky white, like the detritus of

Joao and Manuel Alves, the sons of a centagenarian. It is said
that they have several diamonds exceeding two oitavas (say each
= 280L), and there are vague rumom-s of a large stone which is
kept a profomid secret. In these diggings all is mystery, and not
an exceptional diamond generally counts in the
wild parts at least one murder.
Pushmg across the sterile diamantine land, where the windwrung trees acted as anemometers, I again remarked the fantastic
forms of the sandstone, especially on the north-east, whence the
weather comes. Here were watch-towers and pyramids, there
without reason

;

were walls which no CjTlops could have raised now we passed
Between them the surpeeled skulls, then mouldering bones.
face was mottled, sand -patches white as kaolin, or stained with
humus and soil, yellow, purple, and dull crimson with ochre
;

and haematite, dotted the expanse of warm-red brown land the
latter was comparatively fertile, and clothed with black ashes, from
which si^routed grass of metallic green, spiky as a stifi" beard.
The expected eclipse came on, the sun diminished to a crescent,
but the mist was so thick that the efi'ect passed away almost
;

where the
nap of yellower green veh'et,
sweeps up to the clump, which is of tall
in the Province of Sao Paulo,

grass, like the

and

regx\lar growth.

A

The latter is an old
small Servigo.
applied in Minas <xeraes and
Bahia to diamond washings worked ])y a
tropa or slave-gang under free-men.
'"

name

still

TO THE CIDA_DE DIAMANTINA.

CHAP. VI.]

imperceptibly.

No

one

paid

91

any attention to

it,

nor would

they
Si fractus illabatur orbis

;

not because over-just or tenacious of tilings proposed, but from

mere incui'iousness. Old Ferreii'a, it is true, remarked that it
might be the cause of the '^ confounded Corrubiana," * but then,
he could think of nothing else.
Still ascending, we crossed thi-ee waters flowing to the westward, t and divided by bulges of ground. Near the fii'st was a
clump of huts and signs of industr3^ A rough "Baco,"t or
three-sided trough of planks and sandstone-slabs, awaited the
After four miles of barren
rains to wash the heaps lying near it.
''
Bandeirinha," § a wliitewashed house, surrounded
soil we made
by a few trees, and a close pasture fi'onted by an open ranch.
Maria Augusta de Andrade, in the absence of her husband, Jos^
da Eocha, miner, ''merchant," Rancheii'o, and so forth, rose up
shivering and prei)ared breakfast for us the south-east Tvind had
blown for five days, and on my retimi, five days afterwards, I
:

found

it

Now

blowing

still.

remained only ten miles.

In half an hour w^e ascended a
This is the great dividing line
ston}^ hill of red and white soil.
from this
l)etween the Rivers Sao Francisco and Jequitinhonha
;

I'joint it

On
villages O

trends in a northerlv dii'ection, bending to the west.

the left was a cross-road leading through the

little

Guinda, the Brumadinho, and the Rio das PecU'as to the Mme of
In fi'ont lay a huge bro-^ai slope, patched with
Sao Joao.
,

and here and there growing grass
in places there was an abundance of the
of a lively green
ground-palm, here called Coqueirinho do Campo, dwarfed by the
snowy, ghttering, dazzling sand,
:

* Perhaps this was the case.
On my
return the mist tried to gather thick, but
svas soon dispersed by the sun.
+ The first is the Corrego de Joao Vaz,
so called from an old settler whose descendthey have
ants still gamble in diamonds
It
seven huts, one neatly whitewashed.
flows to the Corrego do Capao, and thence
diu-ing the
to the Rio Pardo Pequeno
The second is known
rains it is dangerous.
as the Brauna (Melanoxylon Grauna), a
rocky bed with the bulges called Caldeiroes,
and at this season a ti-ickle of water, which
;

;

also feeds the Corrego do Capao.
A single
house is built near its bank,
% This trough con-esponds -\\-ith the canoa used in gold-washing,
§ Dr. Couto, in ISOl, mentions the
Sitio da Bandeirinha, the little Bandeira,
or Commando.
Burmeister en'oneously
-wi'ites " Bandeirinho. "
This and Bandeira
are common names in the Province of
Minas, dating from the days of the slaving

expeditions,
||

See Chapter

9.

—

—

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

92

Near

gales.

the

horizon,

scatters

of

tall

[chap. vt.

stone,

heads,

shoulders, knobs, piles and lumj^s broke the outline, and far to
rose the long blue wall which bears the majestic
p^Tamid Itambe.
Presentl}^ we passed, on the left, O Guinda, so called from a
broad, shallow, and sandy stream, once very rich, and still
worked it feeds the northern Eio das Pedras, the Eio do Caldeirao, the Biribiri, the Pinheiro, and the Jequitinhonha Rivers.
It is a miner- town, surrounded by red excavations, and looks from
afar like an ant-hill; has a single small square and large black cross,
sheds for tropeiros, and decent houses, hugging the left bank of
the water.
Beyond it is the Brumadinho, a similar settlement,
but smaller. Presently we sighted, far ahead, a grim rock}^
wall, with a white path winding up its darkness
this is the good
new road leading to Medanha on the Jequitinhonha River, and
thence to Sao Salvador da Baliia.
Crossing the northern Rio

the right

:

;

das Pedras, a crystal water-babe in a sandstone cradle, I crested

and saw to the east a big white house, garnished with a
fcAV brown huts, and standing apparently on the edge of a precipice
the Episcopal Seminary.
Diamantina was within musket-shot, but a long northerly
detour was necessary in order to gain the main road.
I forded
the Riacho das Bicas, so called from an old and rich gold mine
on the hill behind the Seminary
this Lavapes flows to the
east, and falls into a little Rio de Sao Francisco, south of tlie
a

hill,

—

:

city.

The hollows were

and deeply digitated
known as Imbe, or Guaimbe, and in

rich in the large

Ai'oid with an edible fruit,

Tupy, Tracuans (Philodendron grandifolium). It loves damp
places, and has an extensive range between sea-level and 3000
feet of altitude.
A stiff ascent the last and a line of stunted
Araucarias, led to a hill-crest and the usual Cruz das Almas.
Here the traveller first sights the city, falling in perspective below
his feet. It is a Brazilian *' Pangani "
a settlement "in a hole."

—

—

—

The

first

glimpse suggests
Dirarum

Yet sings of

it its

nidis

domus opportnna volucrum.

local poet, the late Aureliano J.

Ves

la

na encosta do monte

Mil casas

em

gruposinhos

Lessa

CHAP.

V].]

TO THE CIDADE DIAMANTIXA.
Alvas como cordeirinhos
Que se lavaram na fonte
Qual dragao petrificado
Aquella serra curvado

Que mura a cidadesinha

?

?

Pois essa cidade e minlia
E meu berco idolatrado.*

* See'.sf thou

A

upon

j'on slope of hill

thousand houses grouped together,

White as the yeanling of the wether,
All freshly bathed in summer rill ?

And

see'st not in far backgi-ound
Like to a serpent tiu-ned to stone,
The range in regidar curving thrown,
That walls the little city round !
Behold my o^vn dear M-alls arise,

The cradle which

I idolize.

93

—

—

CHAPTER

VII.

AT DIAMANTINA.
CITY DESCRIBED.

— SOCIETY. —POPULARITY

THE DIAMOND

IN

THE BRAZIL,

OF THE ENGLISH IN THE BRAZIL.
VALUE OF EXPORTED

ITS DISCOVERY, &C.

—

DIAMONDS.

" The temperate climate enjoyed by the inhabitants of this part of the country
them more healthy than those who dwell in the Sertao (Far West) the
women are the most beautiful I met with in Brazil." Gardner^ chap. xii.
renders

;

The

site of

Diamantina

peculiar

is

:

it is

almost precipitous to

the east and south-west, whilst the northern part

is

a continua-

This incipient Haute Ville

tion of the broken prairie -land.

is

the

best and healthiest locaUty, and here the settlement will spread.

Cidadesinha" runs down the western face of a strongly
inclined hill to meet on the sole of the deep valley the Kio de Sao

The

''

Francisco, or Rio Grande

;

its

water, draining the lowlands, feeds

the main artery of this basin, the Eio Jequitinhonha, distant three

leagues in a straight line, and

five to six indirect.*

The breadth

of the torrent-bed, here running from north to south,

with red-brown

soil

and

brilliantly

green herbage

:

is

white with cascalho heaps thrown up by the old diggers

thread of water

dangerous

now

trickles

down

it,

but after rain

a dwarf bridge has been put w]) to

J

patched

the middle

it

:

is

mere
becomes
a

save servile

life

from the frequent inundations. The further side of the ravine is
a grim broken wall of grey rock, white under the hammer; the
rampart springs steeply from a base encumbered with spoilbanks, washed many a year ago, and is raggedl}^ clothed with
grass now brown, f
Viewed from the '' Alto da Cruz," the cit}" has a well-to-do
* The course

southerly to the Southei'ii
it then turns by east to
noi-tli-east, and joins, or according to some,
forJns the head waters of tlie gi-eat .Jequitin-

Kio

(las

Pedras

is
;

lionlia.

t It is advisable to walk up tlie new
Bahia road, whicli commands an excellent
prosi^ect of the city.

CHAP.

VII.

AT DIAMANTINA.

]

and important look.
"Arraial do Tejuco

95

It is much changed since 1801, when as the
"
the village of the mud-hole,* it

—

had

nothing hut wooden tenements nor can it be recognised in the
pages of Gardner and M. Barbot,t who described it as it was
;

durmg

the last

dressed in

many

Belov>" us

generation.
colours,

pmk,

white,

lies

a sheet of houses

and

3-ellow,

with large

green gardens facing broad streets and wide squares, whilst public
buildings of superior size, and a confusion of single and double
church-steeples, testify to the piety of the place.

From

the Alto da Cruz

we make the Largo do

building-site in, or rather out

stabled and slaughtered

of,

now

;

Curral, the best

the city. Formerly cattle w^ere here

a tall black cross has converted it

Descending the good new Calcada of
the Rua da Gloria, formerly '' do Intendente," we passed on the
left the Sobrado da Gloria, which began life as the Intendency of
Diamonds, then became the provisional Episcopal Palace, and
now lodges those Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul whom we met
upon the road near the Caraca. Inside the carpenters are at
work pulling to i^ieces thnber stiU sound after a centmy of use
an old-fashioned wooden verandah looks upon a large backgarden of the richest soil, supplied with the purest water.
02:>posite is the tall sobrado belonging to the Lieut, -Col. Eodrigo de Souza Reis, whose mine we shall presentl}^ visit.
The Gloria strikes at right angles a street called, no one laiows
why, the Macao do Meio. It must not be confounded with the
Largo do Macao, where stands the Caridade Infirmary, a long,

mto

a respectable square.

:

white

broad,

building

belonging to

a

" brotherhood."

roughly paved Middle Macao contams good shops, the

''

The
Hotel

and the Church of Sao Francisco, whose doors and wmdows are set in a framework of very unpretty streaky red here a
A six-faced and
fashionable tint, supposed to resemble marble,
two-spouted fountain of Egyptian grotesqueness, set in the wall
and dated 1861, begins the normal Eua Direita* '* Straight
Street" is exceedmgiy crooked, steep, and badly paved. Most of
some preserve the
the houses are new and boast of windows
shutter, and one retains the hanging gallery and Eotula or
Cula,"

I

—

:

'^

The word

is

exjjlahied

at

leugtli

in

Chap. 10,
+ Traite Complet, etc., p. 218.
i In full Sr. Herculano Carlos de ^Maga^

Vol.

I.

baeus Oastro, a delegate of police. Breakfast at 9 'SO a.m., a table d'hote (mesa
redonda), at 4 p.m., and

0$S00

i>er

meal,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

96

lattice-work of dingy, cliocolate-coloured wood.

removed
Brazil

:

these

:

It will

soon be

antiquities are very properly despised in the

here Temple Bar would be photographed, and no longer

allowed to
is

[chap. vii.

The sooner

cumber the ground.

demolished, the better for progressive

the

old Pillory

Diamantina

—

let

me

suggest.

In the Larofo da Kua Direita or de Santo Antonio is the TownhaU (Casa da Camara), a humble building, displaying the Imperial
Arms.* It has latterly been used as a Masonic Lodge. This was
forbidden, justly enough, because a Portuguese priest, Padre Luis,
became a brother. Opposite the Camara, and facing with the
Course of Empire, is the Matriz, whose '' Orago" is Santo Antonio.
an

It is

'^

insula," with a raised platform towards the northern

slope of the

hill.

quam primum.

A

stone wall shows the cemetery, to be banished

The two-windowed

front,

bound in neutral-tmted
french-grey, whilst the doors and shutters are daubed

pierced in the rude Taipa-conglomerate,
skj'-blue

with two rose-lights

chocolate.

All above the cornice

is

of board work, even to the

is

which I have seen in the
Brazil. The single window of the steeple shows a gilt bell. There
is a clock which, wondrous to relate, goes, but goes wrong, and
the finial is the usual armillary sphere with the normal extensive
weather-cock, more often a dragon than a cock. There is nothing
to be described in the interior of this or of any other Diamantine

belfry, the first instance

of the Idnd

Church, and the ''lumber" work gives them generall}^ a look of
instability.

We
lation.

are in the heart of the city, the centre of business-circu-

On

the left of the Square

is

the Intendencia de Sousa

"Intendency" here means a substantial market shed, the
embryo of the Pisan Sotto borgo. Sousa Reis is private property,
and under the deep dark verandah are shops which sell everything,
from flour to snuff, required by the wild country. Below and to
the east is a large open square, the " Cavalhada Nova," as distinGuished from the '' Yelha," further down and almost outside the
These clear spaces were so called from the Portuguese carcity.
rousels, which, like bull-fights, once accompanied every festivit3\
They are obsolete in the Brazil, though they preserve vitality in
Beis.t

*

The losvfv story is not the iiurinal
which h;i.s l.)een veinoved to a biiikl-

jirison,

ing near the tlicntrc.

+ There arc two other Intcndencias, dc
the hitter
Scbastiao Picada, and tlic Lagcs
has tive storca.
;

AT DIAMANTIXA.

CHAP. VII.]

97

and even in Anglicized Madeira. The last
tournament" I saw was at the Island of Fogo, in the Cape Verde

Italy,
'^

in Portugal,

group.

Crossing and leaving on the right the Rua da Quitanda, I found
the house of my host, Sr. Joao Ribeiro (de Carvallio Amarante),

Bomiim.

The ground

on the

noi*thern side of the Pra9a do

is laid

out in a dr^'-goods store and an inner writing apartment,

floor

where the diamonds are kept. The dining room and kitchen
affect the back part of the tenement, and above are the apartments
of the famil3\
The hospitable Lisbonese freely confesses that he
began life with di'iving a few mules he is now the wealthiest mer;

and he supplies goods even to
Guaicuhy and Januaria.* At the Pe de Morro, near the Curumatahy influent of the Jequitinhonha, he owns a large fazenda,
where he breeds cattle, grows provisions, and manufactm^es sugar
and rum. He is in trouble about his 50 slaves, and nowhere, as
chant where

far as I

know

all

are merchants,

the Brazil, are negroes so troublesome as those in

and around Diamantina. Many of them take to the bush and
become *' Quilombeiros," black banditti, ready for any atrocity
which their cowardice judges safe. Here no one travels even by
day without having his weapons handy and without looking round
the corners.
They are skilful as Canidia or Locusta, and much
addicted to the use of Stramonium.f A common sj^mptom is an
intense pam in the legs, a medical man assm'ed me, causing a
drawn and anxious countenance. Many a slave-owner has suspected mahngering, till mideceived by the sufi'erer's speedy death.
A case has lately occiu'red at Pe de Morro the owner will presently visit it and make a terrible example of the poisoner. Thus
a tlu'eatened servile mutiny was summarily crushed in 1865 by
flogging and the galleys + nor did anybody meet with the fate of
Governor E}Te.
Sr. Joao Ribeiro consigned me to his bachelor guest-house in
the Rua do Bomfim, so called from a Chmxh dedicated to Our
Lady of Good End. The street is a kind of ragged iiTegular
;

;

* See Chapters 13 and 17.
says that its alkaloid principle is well known to the negi'oes, who prepare from the plant their " philters," that

+ The System

is to say,

charms and poisons, love-draiights

and other devilries. May not the seeds of the
Stramonium have been brought from India
vis,

Africa

VOL.

?

II.

St. Hil. (I.

ii.

97) determines

that the plant has here followed the foot-

man from N. America,
J The " Quilombeiros " of Medanha had

steps of

a Maroon settlement within a league of the
and threatened the suburbs of
Diamantina.
When their stronghold was
attacked and taken, whites as well as
blacks were found in it.
village,

H

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BHAZIL.

98

square

;

it

boasts of a good barber, a watchmaker, and an apothe-

Of course

cary.

[chap. vii.

all

imported articles are sold

an extravagant

at

and considering the transport, this is not astonishing.* From
the Eua do Amparo, tolerably paved, runs to the east,
and strikes the Valley of the Eio de Sao Francisco. It passes by
the Church of N^ S^ do Amparo
Our Lady of the Eefuge. The
price,

the

Bomfim

—

Sunday

front was adorned with coloured glass lamps, and the

morning squibs told us that a Novena was in progress there. The
is brought from the bottom of the ravine,
where a few houses and huts, plantations and fields, are scattered
about, leaving abundant building room.
If not afraid of snakes,
ticks, and thorns, you may fight your way far down the Rivulet
best drinking water

banks.

My

three daj^s spent at Diamantina

agreeable im23ressions of

women

the

been

my

upon me the most

left

The men

its societ}^

are the prettiest and the

are the

''

most amiable that

fortune to meet in the Brazil.

frankest,"
it

has yet

Strangers everywhere in

these regions receive cordial hospitahty, but here the welcome

is

warm.

Perhaps the wealth of the place has something
to do with it.
Where lodged I was at once called ui)on by some
young men from Rio de Janeii'o, here popularly called Cometas.
Sensible, obliging, and well-informed, they had none of that offenpeculiarly

siveness of the

The

Em*opean Commis-voj-ageur, or

calling is honourable as

any other.

It

travelling

may

bagman.

be said with

and greatly to the credit of the Brazil, that no man feels
degraded by honest industry, however humble.
Consequently
society ignores the mauvaise honte about professions which dis-

truth,

tinguishes the old world, where I have seen a man blush to own
that his father was a "doctor," and where Faraday was lauded

because he dared to confess in public that his brother was a gasfitter.

My first

evening was spent at the house of John Rose, a Cornishman, originally a miner at Morro Yelho, afterwards a diamonddigger, carpenter,

*

My

test bottles

3
3
2

mason, architect

having been broken,
oz,

;

his last job

.

acid
tannin, in alcohol

Total

At that time about one

guinea.

at the Bishop's

I bouglit

muriatic acid

.

.

.

.

.1^040

oz. nitric
oz.

was

.

.

.

.

1$040
6$ 500
10 $580

—
;

CHAP.

AT DIAMANTINA.

A'lL]

-

99

and good conduct he has cleared some 5000?.,
and now he can amply enjoy his propensity for independence in
word and deed. Not so pleasant was another stranger, who at
once showed the cloven foot by loudly abusing the Brazilians, and
I
b}" declarmg that they allowed none but themselves to thrive.
liis
name, for, although he must have tm'ned the
will not mention
half-centmy, he may still find out that it is never too late to mend.
He is a well-educated man, laiowing German and English perfectly,
Portuguese well, French tolerably he can teach languages he can
keep books of course he has a gold mine he has been a doctor
still a j)opular character * and he still practises homoeopathy. But
he prefers to ''loaf about," borrowing 100 $000 from this and
160 $000 from that acquaintance, whose charity he expends, not on
Palace.

B3' sobriety

;

;

;

;

;

When in liquor he is addicted to the free
use of knife and pistol. He attributes his habits of sleeping in the
He had left her at Kio
streets to the infidehty of his spouse.
raiment but upon drink.

and she was persuaded to accept the protection of a Portuguese, who offered to, and who did, maintain,
The latest little game of my
educate, and settle her children.
unpleasant acquaintance has been Freemasomy, to which he has,
totally

unprovided

for,

for a consideration, admitted the least worth}" aspirants.

posed, moyennant the payment of 5L, to

make me

He

a P.M.,

pro-

and he

message from me to a certain ecclesiastic, begging that Freemasonry might not be jDreached against
it was necessary to call, and to explain the affair.
This man was a Hanoverian, consequently a Prussian, but he
Britons in the Brazil are wont to
called himself an Englishman.
complain that they and the Portuguese are exceedingly unpopular.

had the impudence

to deliver a

not only for our own sins,
which are manifold, but for those of our European neighbours,
which are not few. Foreigners also exaggerate our unpopularity.
" Les Anglais sont detestes au Bresil on regarde comme apparte-

The

fact is that

we frequently

suffer

;

nans a cette nation tons les etrangers chez lesquels des cheveux
blonds et une peau blanche indiquent qu'ils sont origames du

*

The Diamantists did not

satisfied

with the

seeto to

me

gifts of their Esculapiuses,

as everjTV'here in the outer Brazil a stranger
I was
is expected to be a medicine-man.
at once consulted for a simple hepatitis,
which the leech, after the normal treatment of cupping and blistering, was attack-

In vain I
Ing with antl-spasniodics.
assured the patient that my favoiirite prof ession was rather to kill than to cure ; he
seemed satisfied that he had already run
the very greatest risk of killing without
murder,

H

2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

100

[chap. vii.

M. Dulot
Nord," says, in 1815—1817, Prince Max. (i. 119).
qui
faibles
(p. 62) speaks of "la brutalite traditionelle envers les
fait detester partout I'Angleterre " and here he would be justified
St. Hilaire (III. i. 219) reif he alluded to the '' Aberdeen Bill."
marks that *' grace a leurs compatriotes,Mawe,Luccocket Walsh,"
the English became unpopular in the land. And it is almost a
;

truism to say that

from

if

perhaps we hear too

little

good of ourselves
much good of

hear far too

others, we, like other nations,

This puffery and clap-trap about our
own perfections is still held to be patriotism, and at last the ** genial, broad-shouldered Englishman" has learned to bear without
ourselves from ourselves.

a

murmur gigantic weights of " Buncombe." *
The Brazil, also, like other people, has met

amount

of merited praise,

abuse.

But the

polite to her

travellers

than those

experience at present

Abrantes- Christie

lilves

us as

much

as, if

not pretended that
Brazil

;

of the

is that,

silly

with a small

and a large amount of unmerited
of one nation have hardly been more

affair,

others. f

despite the

the

The

result

Aberdeen

Empire respects

are

my

and the
and even

Bill
us,

not more than, her other visitors.

strangers

of

favourites anywhere

It is

in the

them far too much, and they
than the most moderate expectations.

the country expected from

justified considerably less

In our case they complain of the "insular manner," now happily waxing obsolete, as the Frenchman of Goldsmith and Sterne,
the coarse roughness of the uneducated, X and the shy pride and
haughty reticence of theu' " betters," are ever gall and wormwood to the Brazilian spirit. And we have lost esteem by the

* It has lately been judged advisable in
British India to consult high officials concerning the afjpreciation of our rule by the

Many men,
not by ourselves.
myself included, have since 1850, written
and repeated in the plainest English, what
now comes before the public in a decorous
foolscap form.
The only result was that
we were pronounced by the few who took
the trouble of reading us, to be either
ignorant or impertinent, and ignorance and
impertinence in such matters can expect
very little mercy.
+ Nor have the French tended to improve the entente coi'diale.
The Comte de
Suzannet (Souvenirs, 1842), M. de Chavaignes (Souvenirs, j). 160), the unjustly
treated M. Jacquemont, and MM. Biard,
natives,

and D'Abbadie, may be quoted
Reybaud, Ferdinand Denis,
and Liais. I cannot explain, except by the
influence of an oiitrageous nationality, how
Hilaire (III. i. 263), defends and
St.
homme de beaucoup
applies the terms
d'esprit," to M. Jacques Arago, author of
the " Voyage autour du Monde, " and one of
the most disgraceful charlatans that ever
Expilly,

versus

MM.

*

'

appeared in the Brazil,
This is a free country, and any man
+
therefoi'e may take any freedom he likes
with any other man, and protest is simjjly
'

'

Quixotic.
But we are a coarse people."
Thus writes a popular author, who has
never yet been called a "degenerate English-

man."

t"

CHAP.

AT DIAMAXTIXA.

VII.]

great country's

little

101

wars, which began the dotage of a liberal

and which led it to shirk the duties of its position, and to
An Abyssmian Expediretire from the business of the world.
Hindostan, and
tion benefits England as much in the Brazil as
may be pronounced to be worth the two-pence.
I paid a visit to the Rev. Michel Sipolis, at the Episcopal
j)ohc3^,

m

Semmar}', the staring white building with unfinished outhouses,
before mentioned.

The Government

establishment

assists the

and the three French
annum,
only
priests receive, per
400^000 for clothmg and all
wants this salary of £40 must raise them above all suspicion of
interestedness.
At 1 p.m. the bell rang and we went to the
Refectory
there were twelve pupils, a considerable number
"
during
Ipng vacation," and these young men spoke French
during the meal, and ended it with a long prayer. M. Sipolis
by paying

salaries for the several chairs,

;

;

then led

me

to the Episcopal Palace,

which

is

opposite the

Carmo

Church, a white building picked out with blue, j^lastered concrete

below and boarding above. The diocese of Marianna formerly
extended here
Pius IX. created the bishopric b}^ the Bull
The Ex^^^ and
Solhcitudinis," June G, 1864.
*' Gravissimum
Rev"'° D. Joao Antonio dos Santos,* of the Council of H. I. M.,
is an old eleve of the Caraca Seminary
he naturally patronises,
in preference to the Propaganda of Lyons and the Capuchins of
:

;

hard work to
answer all the calls upon him. The Bishop was a man about
I found him
forty, with a gentle, feminine voice and manners
dihgently engaged with M. Mirville on Magnetism (not Fara-.
day's), and he did not take part with M. Sipolis when the latter
proved to me that table-turning and " rapping " are the works of

Rome,f

St.

Vincent of Paul, who must find

it

:

evil spirits.

From

we passed over to the house of a fazendeiro,
at whose door an Agent de Police sat comfortably in the shade.
He had had with a neighbour some trifling dispute about a waterthe Palace

* In the Brazil it is often impossible to
the family names of ecclesiastics, who
mostly adopt some technical or theological
cognomen, somewhat after the fashion,
Praisethough not quite in the style, of
Grod-Barebones.
t Here the Capuchins have assiuned as
instructors the place held by the Jesuits.
I need hardly say that they have never done
tell

'

'

BO in Europe.

'We may add
J Nee deus intersit, etc.
As regards the spirit theoiy
nee diabolns.
I may again remark that, if after this life
my psyche or pnenma, or whatever it may
be, is to find itself at the mercy of every
booby who pays half-a-crown to his or her
medium, evidently the future state of
this person will be much worse than the
present.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

102

course, which ended in a " shyuting," and he

[chap. vii.

was expected

to

purge himself before a juiy. The
his side and mangled his thumb, which required amputation, the
antagonist having fired into

wounded man

cried out to his son,

who discharged

a barrel or

two into the hostile face, and then sensibly took to the bush.
Of course there was another and a contradictor}^ account, which
declared that the fazendeiro had snatched the gun from his
antagonist,

and that

it

had exploded, hurting his hand.
apocryphal

could not but think of the true or
Sir Walter Ealeigh and the

have found
at

it

''

I

story touching

History of the World " he would
:

impossible to settle the rights of this

little affair

Diamantina.

Meanwhile the hurt man was in great pain, restless, and fearing tetanus. Yet the room was darkened, the windows were shut,
the ail' was oppressive, five silent ladies sat pensively lookmg on,
and just outside the doors were half a dozen muttering male

When

friends.

held to be sick unto

a patient is

popular Brazilian idea

— of

death, the

course the rare sensible scout

it

and console and condole with him. Such an apparatus would injure the most robust surely it would be humane
The
to pubhsh a Portuguese version of " Notes on Nursing."
vile Caldo de Gallinha, or hen-broth, which it is indispensable
to swallow every two hours, is an infliction to be compared
is to visit

;

only with the ''beef-tea " of the old-fashioned priestess of Libitina in Great Britain.

My
.a

last

wealthy

Leme,

appearance in "Society" was at a ball given by

widow,

the

Sra.

D^ Maria de Nazareth Netto

honour of the baptism of a grandson, the second
child of a very charming young person, wife of Sr. Joaquim
Manoel de Vasconcellos Lessa. When this pretty lady was
married, she was attended by twenty-four bridesmaids in
dresses from Paris the merry-makmg was kept up for a fortnight, and it is said that 750 bottles of Bass disappeared every
night.
This rain of meat and drmk at the City of Diamonds
is a great
contrast to the ascetic '' tea and turn out " of
Southern Europe.
The whole of the City of Diamonds was in accurate black
raiment before 3 p.m., the hour for the religious ceremony. As
evening approached, I accompanied Sr. Joao Pdbeiro with the
most amiable D^ Maria and his daughter up the Bua das Merces,
in

;

AT DIAMAXTIXA.

CHAP. VII.]

SO called from

its

church, to the Alto da Gupiara.*

were crowded, and many had

The

103

sat

down

The rooms

to a preliminary sup]3er.

were remarkably good, a contrast to the times
described by Gardner, when ladies went abroad in men's hats,
and " black seemed the most fashionable." Every neck sparkled
toilettes

with diamonds

:

the other ornaments were the solid and honest,

The

seemed to be
here, as amongst the
a family party, infinite in merriment
CathoHcs of England, all are related or connected, more or less,
and those who are not, intend to be, or are '^ gossips." The
dancing was chiefly quadrilles. I excused mj'self on the plea
that my last performance had been with Gelele, King of Dahome
thus the proprietress of No. 14, St. James's Square wore for life
if

not tasteful, jewellery of Diamantina.

ball

:

:

upon the hand saluted by a former Prince of Wales.
Supper seemed never to end, and a stiff shower of rain only
added to the mirth within. The life of the party was " O Diamantino," curtly for Sr. Jose Diamantino de Menezes, son of the
late Barao de Arassuahy.t
I stole away at 2 p.m., leaving all
" merry and wise." This is specified, because the country mice
around give the city mice a bad character, and declare that every
morning the ladies and their slaves sally forth to pick up their
husbands from the pave, where " tangle-leg " had put them to
a glove

Of this I saw nothing.
Of course in a place where money

bed.

where

visitors

flock in

for

pleasure,

is

abundantly

after

I

spent,

the toils

and

and the

dulness of the out- station, there must be some debauchery. The
many smilmg faces, protruding from small casements, cheeks

bloommg^^ith the juice of a certain Hibiscus and a squeeze of
lime, tell their own tale.
But such things have nothing to do

The "

moreover, that usually accompanies
the modern growth of mining cities, does not exist in these

with society.

hell,"

no one takes the trouble to

dis-

I hare already explained Gupiara
(comipted Grupiara), to mean the slope of
a tilted shed hence ip gold and diamond

Avhich

diggings it is applied to a ledge projecting
eaves-like over a stream.
The Alto, seen
from the entrance of the city, is a conspicuous hill, crowned by a building that
This proresembles a fortress or redoubt.
perty originally belonged to Sr. Luis Antonio, and then passed to Sr. Jose Joaquim
Netto Leme, whilome husband of the present proprietrix.
It is still rich in gold,

from Diamantina, passing by IVIinas
Novas (do Arassuahy), and forming the
The
eastern gate of the Jequitinhonha.
Avord is Aracu, a kind of bird, and -hy,
There was also a Baron of DiaAvater.

'"

;

turb.

+ The

river rising about t^velve leagues

east

mantina, of the Lessa family,
+ Here, as in Australia and California,
the miner is mostly poor, whilst the merchant or storekeeper is rich.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

104

regions, except

when

a stray

Frenchman

[chap. vii.

starts a roulette table,

and makes his fortune after a few months.
An Englishman, who had spent thirty years in and about Diamantina, told me that of late years its prosperity had diminished.*
Formerl}^ diamonds were easily washed from the surface diggmgs
now the works are confined to capitalists. In early days the
stones were sold in the city, at present they are sent to Rio de
The slaves have been traded off to the
Janeiro,! and to Europe.
coffee-growing Provinces, and the free man, white or black,
:

Hence fortunes now average 4000L,
these figures,
whilst the highest may amount to 10,000/.
however, represent very different values in Minas Geraes and in
cannot work.

will not, or

;

England.

But

so far from the diamonds being exhausted, I believe that

the true exploitation of precious lithology has

still

and

to begin,

extend 800 miles along the Serra do Espinhago.t
There are also rich gold-diggings, which men hardly take the
trouble to w^ork; with gold they justly say you may be poor, with
that

it will

diamonds never. § When the rail shall have reached Sahara,
and the paddle-wheel shall connect the Rio das Vellias with the
great Sao Francisco, the immigrant may be expected, and the
Diamantine country will attain its full development. " The Lord
bring them

!

" say the mine-proprietors, alluding to the

" and they will soon use up our useless

erners of the Union,
slaves

!

"
||

the Cape of

And

whilst Golconda and Visapm' have failed, and

Good Hope,

Australia, and California are but begin-

nmg, and whilst men sink
•

5000

Tlie
;

capital in the trash

in 1800 was about
was 6000 and now it

population

in 1840,

it

South-

;

not increased.
cutting was attempted without success by a Sr. Carv^alho, at Bahia.
There are three or four lapidaries at Rio de
Janeiro
the best is, I believe, Sr. Domingos Moitinho (at the corner of the Rua
d'Ouvidor and tlieRua dos Ourives). Some
of his workmen ai-e descendants of the
artists brought from Portugal by D. Jo^o
VI.
The machinery is driven by an engine
of five-horse power.
The diamond is here
cut exactly as in Europe, and the Brazilians
ignore the Hat slab-like shapes of Hindostan.
Of late years Boston has attempted
the industry, but it cannot, I am told,
compete with Amsterdam.
is

+ Diamond

;

J The portion which has been explored

manufactured in

begins at the Rio do Peixe, nine leagues
south of Diamantina, and extends to the
celebrated SeiTa de Santo Antonio, forty
to fifty leagues to the north, or between
All was found to be
N. lat. 16° to 19°.
diamantine, but not continuously so, as in
the Demarcation Proper,
§ According to Dr. Couto (p. 112), who
settled and died at *'Tejuco," the city is

upon slabs of red copper, and the
metal is found in the i3avement and the
garden walls.
built

'
||

'

The pride of man makes him love
Wherever the law allows it,

to domineer.

therefore, he will generally prefer the ser-

(Wealth

\ace of slaves to that of freemen. "
of Nations,

iii.

2. )

My

experience

metrically opposed to this

Smith.

dogma

of

is

dia-

Adam

;

CHAP.

AT DIAMAXTIXA.

VII.]

may

Paris and Bii'mingham, the Brazil

105

still

hope

to

do great

things in the " diamond-line."

The somids of every city leave upon the traveller's sensorimn
At Diamantina my brain connects the
their own impression.
clmrch-bell and the Ai'aponga, or blacksmith bird.
The sharp,
sudden cry, which to the stranger seems artificial, charms in the
dead silence of the forest alcove, tempered b}^ the distance of the
tallest tree-top, and when the little white form is not visible in
the verdant gloom.
Caged, and in a street, the tiling is quite
out of place.
The situation of Diamantina, as has been seen,
renders the rumbling of the cart and the rolling of the carriage
impossible

only conveyance, and

As

Sao Joao d'El-Eei, the hammock

here, as at

:

usual in the Brazilian interior, the city

Mechanics' Institutes, Christian

cafe.

and Mutual Improvement
the bands, however, are,

the

seen in the hall of every rich house.

is

it

is

is guiltless

Young Men's

of club,

Association

Societies, except for musical pm-poses

considered, good.

tilings

all

There

is

neither library, literary cabinet, nor bookseller, but of course
there

paper "

O

expii^ed,

and now the

citizens

About three

a photogTapher.

is

3'ears ago,

the only news-

Jequitinlionha," which was devoted solely to politics,
city does

—the Brazilian

not contain a printer.

a citizen, not a subject

is

even for church education.

education,

The

Yet the

— are wild

for

"Sisters" have

already had offers of 100, and have accepted 30 pupils.

The

site of

the city

is

one of the highest in the Empu'e,* and

we have ascended seven distmct gradients. The
months are June, July, and August, when fi^osts are

to reach

coldest

common

it

in the lower levels

;

they do not, however, prevent the

of the Pitanga berry, f
The wet season ojiens in
October or November, with thunder storms from the north the
heaviest downfalls came from the west, but sometimes the warm
south-west winds bring rain and hail.
The fertilizing showers of
the dries, which abound in other parts of the Brazil, are here

matiu'ing

;

*

The altitude ranges, according to trabetween 40UU feet and 1730
meti-es (5702 feet) above sea level.
The
steps of ascent from the Kio das Velhas
Tellers,

are seven, viz. , first, to the Paratina stream
second, to the Riacho do Vento
third, to
the Chapada ; fourth, to the Contagem
;

;

summit
cirinJia

;

;

fifth, to

Grouvea

and seventh,

;

sixth, to

Band-

to Diamantina.

Eugenia pednnciilata
whose quadrangular
red fruit ripens well at Madeira, and makes
good jellies.
When raw it has a drug-like
llavour, which is disliked by strangers.
In
this part of Minas Greraes it is rare, but it
flourishes at S. Paulo, 2200 feet above
sea level, though not so kindly as on the
Tlie well-kno-mi

f

(E.

Michelii, Linn.),

coast.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

103

rare.

Tlie east

north

is

[chap. yii.

the mildest and the most agreeable

v^incl is

the

From

causing sickness like om* east.

cold and raw,

;

February is the hot season, and the annual range
of the thermometer is from 64° to 88°. Water of the best quality
In the clear, bracing air
is sui^phed by almost every hollow.
European fruits and vegetables thrive the soil is sometimes rich
and deep, and the abnormal expense of provisions would make

November

to

;

neighbourhood an excellent

the

market

an

for

agricultural

colon3\

" Tejuco," the village in the Comarca do
Freguezia September

Cerro, became a

1819, a VHla Oct. 13, 1831, and the

6,

Cidade Diamantina by the Provincial Law, No. 93 of 1838. It
owes its prosperity solely to the diamond. This valuable stone

by the Indians as playthings for their chilThe first man who sent it to Portugal was one Sebastiao
dren.*
Leme do Prado, in 1725; he had washed certain brilliant octaheThey
drons in the Bio Manso, an influent of the Jequitinhonha.
found no sale, and the same happened to Bernardo (or Bernardino) da Fonseca Lobo, who hit upon a large specimen amongst
was used,

it is said,

There is a local tradition that the
who had been in India, and that about 1727,

others in the Cerro do Frio.
latter

was a

friar

seeing the curious, brilliant

gammon by

little

stones used as counters at back-

the gold miners of the Jequitinhonha, he

collection of

them and went

to Portugal.

made

a

Others attribute the

discovery to an Ouvidor or Auditor Judge, fresh from service at

Goa

;

the specimens were sent to the Netherlands, then the great

jewel-market of Em'ope.

The

official

Almeida, the
Sept.

1,

account of the exploitation

first

is

that

D. Lourenco de

Governor of Minas Geraes (August

1732), reported the

new source

18,

1721

of wealth to the

Home

once declared the diamond to be Crown
property (Carta Begia, Feb. 18, 1730), and established the cele-

Government. Portugal

at

brated Diamantine Demarcation, forty-two leagues in cii'cumference, with a diameter
* It

is

generally

of fourteen

s-api30secl tliat in

Van Berghem,

Enropo

popularly -written
Berquen (1456 1475), invented the practice of making diamond cut diamond, and
established a guild in Bruges.
But the
Hindus must have been long beforehand,
and the working of diamonds in Europe is
mentioned in IbGO.
It is possible that the

Louis

—

to

fifteen

leagues.!

Gold

industry had a little before tlie fourteenth
century drifted, like the cholera of modern
daj'S,

"westward.

+ John Mawe's Map

gives a sketch of the
It is an oval

" Diamantine Demarcation. "

by sixteen leagues, and "Tejuco"
was nearly in the centre,

of eight

—

—

"

AT DIAMAXTIXA.

CHAP. VII.]

107

digging was forbidden within the limits, and a tax of 20 g 000

—

subsequently raised to 40 $000 and 50 $000 was placed upon
every head of negro. To arrest the many and repeated disorders,
an Order, dated Sept. 30, 1733, created the " Intendencia

Diamantina " the washing-grounds were marked out, and no
one might enter without a licence. In 1740 (Henderson says
1741), the lands were farmed out, with great restrictions, for
138:000$ 000, but this first contract was much abused. In 1771
(1772, John Mawe), the great Pombal reformed, with characteristic thoroughness, the diamond mines, b}' taking the management
He abolished rumous leases, and governed
into his own hands.
by an Intendant- General, under whom worked a board of three
Directors in Lisbon, and three Governors in the Brazil. The
scheme failed, and so energetic was action against the '' extrariadores," that the place became almost a desert. In 1800 to 1801 the
gold supply began to fail, and the lands about the Villa do
Principe, where diamantine was mixed with auriferous matter,
;

3'ielded only

2| instead of 25 arrobas.

by reducing

all

because they

industry to

could

not

Thus

the

Government

lost

the diamond, and the i^eople fled

afford

to

buy

ii'on,

and gmi-

steel

powder.
I have not been able to find out exactly at what ]3eriod of Tejucan
history occurred the event alluded to by Sr.
Souza Silva *

Joaquim Norberto de

:

E

o filho de Erin, que

em

duros ferros

Pagou seu pasmo por

um

novo imperio.

The name given in the foot note is ^'Nicolas George." He was,
we are told, of Irish extraction, and employed in the Junta of the
AiTaial do Tejuco.

Admiiing the

fertility,

the wealth and the

vastness of the Brazil, he declared that her shores contained
ev'erj^thing necessary for

a mighty Empire, and that she might

become free and independent as the United States.
ment made him share the pains and penalties of the

The
''

senti-

Conspira-

tors of Minas."

According to John Mawe, from 1801 to 1806, both years
included, the expenses incurred by the Government in exploiting
* In the Cantos Epicos

—a Cabega do MartjT

''And Erin's son avIio in the eating irons,
Atoned the purpose of a free-born realm.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

108

[chap. VII.

the district were 204,000/., and the diamonds sent to the Trea-

sury amounted to 115,675 carats.

was washed and valued
23s. 9d,

at 17,300Z.

At length the Decree

During the same period gokl
Thus, he saj^s, the carat cost

of Oct. 25 (1832) abolished the

monopoly with its Junta Administrativa dos Diamantes, and the
industry assumed its present form.
If the Portuguese doubted the existence of the diamond in the
Brazil, the English did the same.
There is a difference in
specific gravity between the noble Vieille Roche of India and the
produce of the New World.* In the last century, Jeffries and
other lapidaries contended that the Brazihan were unformed
gems exported from Hindostan. The miners cleverly turned the
tables upon their scientific antagonists b}^ sending their stones
to Goa, whence they were forwarded as true East Indian to
Europe.
According to John Mawe, dming the first twenty years some
1000 oz. of diamonds w^ere annually extracted from these diggings.
Castelnau

(ii.

338), in 1849, estimates the total value of the

Geraes exportation

at

treated by Jose de

300,000,000 francs.

Bezende Costa, in the

sobre os Diamantes (Bio, 1836).

with details, as

even the

I will not trouble the reader

such estimates are the merest guess-work, and

modern appliances

statistics are

The

all

Minas

The subject is also
Memoria Historica

of

Custom-house

collection

and

powerless against the general rule of contrabandism.

following table, however, taken from Mr. Nathan's annual

report (Bio de Janeiro), will

show the

EXPORTS OF DIAMONDS AXD ESTIMATED VALUE IN YEARS 1861 TO
Years.

18G7.

—

CHAPTER

YIII.

TO THE DIAMOND DIGGINGS OF THE SOUTHERX RIO DAS PEDRAS,
ALIAS THE JEQUITINHONHA.

—
—

—

THE RIDE.— QUAINT STONES. SlO GONgALO OF THE GOOD GIRLS. THE SERVigO
MINE DESCRIBED. EXPENSES. — WANT OF MACHINERY. PLUNDER. — DR.
DAYRELL. THE"L0MBA" MINE. — THE MARAVILHA MOUNTAIN. RETURN

—

—

TO DIAMANTINA.
Ov
Oh

Shortly

after

xiLiJ.(jjv

Xvwe7

ireivT} a*

my

ov

cr'

ov Kavfx

5ti|/os

arrival I

ex^t

oil

vovaos eVoxAe?,

o"'.

was introduced to a Brazilian genwho lost no time in inviting

tleman, Sr. Francisco Leite Vidigal,

me

to visit

liis

" Servico," known as the Canteii'o or "pot-stand."

This season, the height of the dries, is the best for exploring the
diggmgs, which are now all activit3%
AVe breakfasted perforce and set out late, although the sun is
hot, and we had four to five leagues of total work before us.
We
rode down the

Rua do Bomfim

to the southern suburb, past a

very small post-office in the Largo do Eosario, and a fountain

with cocks sticking out of steatite faces.
as usual

mean and gaudy, and

Here

is

a negro church,

a large unfinished theatre, a carcase

A

whose
natural grandeur did not set off the dwarfishness of the Art around
Here the
it, led us to a Calgada winding down a stiff descent.
site of the city falls into the riverine valley, and the slope of fine
soil is rich in oranges, plantains, myrtles, and trees that give
more shade than fruit.
Beyond the bank the place is called La Pallia here are the
large ranch, the venda, and the camping ground belonging to a
Frenchman, M. Antoine Richier. I failed to find liim at home,
but the thumbing of his photographic manuals showed an interest
in something civilised.
We then crossed a confluence where the
of timber and

brown

clay.

splendid Gamelleira

;

fig,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

110

[chap. viii.

Porurnca or Pururuca,* translated " Stream of the sand and
gravel, '* flows from the west into the little Rio de Sao Francisco.
The banks were a mass of loose amygdaloid, pebbles of w^aterand they '' paint gold," which no one cares to
rolled quartz
work. In the evening my host show^ed me many oitavas lying
in the corner of his hut ; they had not even been washed for
;

market.

We

then ascended to

Campo

ground, and struck the highway

which leads to the Provincial Capital, via the city of Cerro, now
Cidade do Principe, distant ten leagues.! Before us rose the
grand Peak Itambe, said to be 6000 feet above sea level. Its
head was in a cap of clouds, ever similar, never the same, and the
shoulders were clad in ruddy grass and gloomy forest.
On the
eastern horizon rose the hilly mass called the Curralinho, and
held to be very rich in diamonds. Around us w^ere outcrops of
the usual granular quartzose Itacolumite, hard and soft, finely
laminated or coarsely agglutinated, gre3dsli outside, and overgrown with lichens the inside is snow^-coloured or slightly yellow.
In places the masses are horizontal, forming regular walls in
others the}' become ridges of slabs disposed at every possible
During the day we saw a man in a liberty cap, a sphinx,
angle.
a frog-like labyrinthodon, an old mutilated lion, gravestones with
inscriptions, stones with hands, gaps, arches, circular holes, and
;

;

The degradation

every variety of outlandish shape.

of this grit

forms the frequent patches of snowy sand, which are of course
sterile,

whilst here again the red-brown soils which separate

them

are often exceptionally fertile.

The road proved to be
we w^re

cipitous narrows

and at the most premeet strings of horses or

especially vile,

certain to

unruly mules laden with large square boxes, generally labelled
" Louca," equivalent to '' Glass, with care."
How an3'thing
ever reaches Diamantina unbroken
* The

word

is

here applied to a large

sand and pebbles, either water-rolled or
not the formation is not agglutinated by
has no
l^aste or cement (gomma), and
body (corpo).
In the diamond mine it is
more watery than the "desmonte," which
will presently be explained.
;

t St. Hil.

(I.

i.

330) says that Cerro

is

more than ten leagues from Diamantina.
Dr. Couto (p. 1) makes it ten leagues to
the south-south-west.
The people say it is
less,

but their leagues are of the longest.

is

be3'ond

my

comprehension.

Cerro (or SeiTO, perhaps a more modern
form) is a rare word applied to particular
places where there are lines of hills or
moimtains.
Originally it signifies a hillock
Constancio explains it
or rising ground
"Monte Alto ;" and Moraes " Outeiro," as
The Cerro do
well as "Monte Alto."
Frio, which is more usual than Cerro Frio,
be a translation of the
is suj^posed to
Tupy "Yviturui," from "Yvitu," wind,
and " tuy " cold,
;

THE JEQUITINHONHA DIAMOND DIGGINGS.

CHAP. Yiii.]

After fording siindiy streams,
Eibeirao, called

b}^

we crossed by

a neat bridge the

the early travellers do Inferno on account

of the difficulties which

Its soui'ce to the west is

offered.

it

kno^n as "As Porteiras," and the yellow rocks and blue
it

a " Rio Verde."

Ill

skies

make

Above the bridge were the " casas palho^as,"

the poor thatches of sape and walls of stick and clay that

tell

the

presence of miners.

Beyond the stream we found a few men tinkering up a very bad
ascent, and we remarked with indignation a mile-post which told
us that we had finished one league such here are leagues after

—

—

two hours of sharp riding. We then pricked across a taboleiro
In
coberto,* or wave of ground, beautified only bv the view.
addition to the fronting Itambe, we had now to the left or west
the Maravilha, or Marvel, a local Sugarloaf, just the place where
a Maharatha Rajah or an Abyssinian Dejaj would build his
Durg or Amba. The Ribeirao do Palmital, bridgeless, and rolling

its

pellucid waters over a dwarf

cliff

of sandstone, veined,

dyked, and ribboned with lustrous-white quartz, dashed to meet
the " Rivulet of Hell."
Of course a house was near the ford ;
linen

hung

no amount of shouting would

in the yard to dry, but

open the door. It was the same at the next bridge, although
near it was a large ranch and a staked camping ground.
The hills resembled those about the Parauna River, rough
above, whilst the lower folds were of earth, here light, there stiff.
On the flaiiks about half-way up were zones of stone piercing the
soil, weathered and trodden into
ledges, gutters, and deep
The
hollows, whilst here and there lay loose rounded boulders.
head was generally spread into a dwarf plateau of thin soil, with

more or less of vegetation. On cresting a summit we suddenly
saw across a long green valley traversed by the long red line of
highway, the church

and

village

of the

" Marriage-maker of

remarkable for its order and
industry; not a ''lost girl," I was told, can be found in it, and
the inhabitants have many small industries. They do not care to

Old Women."!

The

place

work, where diamonds are, a
their doors.

When

is

hill of

these six-sided prisms of pure

* Not Tabolelra coberta as Gardner wrote.
This '* covered plateau," a modification of
the Campo, is thinly clad with gnarled
trees
the term is opposed to the Taboleiro
descoberto, a formation of greater altitude,
growing only the hardier shriibs and
;

rock crystals which

lies

near

silicic acid,

grasses.

+ Casamenteiro

das Vellias,

the

title

which S. Gon^alo bears in the Brazil,
John Mawe, with his usual inaccuracy
" San
aboiit names,
calls
the village
Gonzales."

"

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

112

[chap. viii.

terminating in hexagonal points, have unbroken pyramids, which

and when the

rare after traveUing,

is

interior contains the water

of crj^stalHsation or heterogeneous bodies, the larger blocks are

valuable as

museum

specimens.

This wave of ground ended at the Corrego do Jaca (of the
Pannier),* which boasts a small bridge.
Another ridge brought
us to the Descida do Corrego do Mel (the Descent of the Rivulet
of Honey).
On the further slope the sandstone slabs were so
steep and slippery that

mounted from
it is

his

my

companion, a very light man,

good new mule.

When

generally wise to follow his example.

we have traversed

a Brazilian does this

All the ground which

rich in diamonds, but

is

dis-

it

cannot be worked

want of water near the Corrego which feeds the Rio das
Pedras many white heaps were waiting to be washed during the
rains.
The Gurgulhoi or breccia, here sometimes so sharp
for

;

(gurgulho bravo) that

it

cuts the hands,

is

peculiarly rich in

and about the bridge the torrent banks produce gold.
We then turned to the left, and made two miles of "picada"
or bridle-path.
The country w^as as before rocky on both sides,
and poorly clad. The greenest and shadiest tree was the Canella
(Laurinea).
I remarked also an abundance of the large-leaved
Congonha do Campo (Ilicinea), and a tree with green berries,
called by my friend '' Mata Cavallo," a general term for all things
that bear " wild," that is to say poisonous, fruit.
The herb
called Arruda do Campo, because supposed to resemble the European rue, scented or tainted the air.
The last descent led us to the Southern Rio das Pedras, here
running from the south. It is one of the head waters of the great
Jequitinhonha | River, a lesser rival of the Rio de Sao Francisco
stones,

*

The Tv.py

(l>asket)

made,

Diet, explains

de Cipos.

It

Jacd by Cesto

is

more usually

woven bamboo-bark.
pronounced like, but not
"Gorgulho," which means a

I believe, of

+ The word
written,

is

weevil (Curculio).

It is described as

a loose

compact pudding of angular stones
mostly found in Campo gi-ound, and thus
distinguished from the water-rolled Cascalho.
Some apply the term to a collecor

tion of Cascalho, others to a larger formation than Cascalho.
An English wi'iter on
precious lithology has followed John IVIawe's

misprint, which
" burgalhao.

* The name

is

corrupted

gurgulho

written in

many ways

to

;

Gectinhonha.
Tlien came
Gigtinhonha,
Geqiiitiuhonha, Jigitonhonha, and so forth.
The
trivial and popular explanation of the
word is "Jequi tern nhonha," the fishing
crate has caught a nhonha fish.
Jequi is a
Tupy word meaning a fish trap (armadilha).
Nhonha, according to some, in the
local dialect
meant any fish ; in the
Lingoa Geral the word is Pyra or Pira.
St. Hil. (I. ii. 142) says it was explained
by une nasse (creel) pleine
to him
" Juquia" being the nasse. This reminds
us of such derivations as Capivarhy from
Capivara ahi, Arassuahy from Ouro so ahi
(gold only here), and so forth.
the old style

is

Gfiquitignogna,

THE JEQUITINHOXHA DIAMOND DIGGINGS.

CHAP. viiL]

113

mountains to the north of
It is joined by many streams, amongst
the Cidade do Principe.
which is the Lomba or Jequitinhonha do Mato about two leagues
below the Canteii'o it becomes the Jequitinhonha do Campo, and
finally the true Jequitinhonha. According to others, the Southern
(Maior).

It rises a

mere torrent

in the

;

Eio das Pedras
receiving the

is

the

Upper Jequitinhonha do Mato, which,

Pibeii'ao

do Inferno,

absorbs the Jequitinhonha do Campo.

is

after

the

Jequitinhonha, and

The

course of this river,

which upon maps looks so well, is said to be much obstructed by
rapids.
I have not -visited it. At last it takes the name of Rio
Grande, divides into several arms, unites with the Hio Pardo, forms
a delta, and buries itself in the Atlantic about forty-five miles
north of Porto Seguro in the Province of Bahia.
After six hours' work we entered the little mining station of a
dozen huts, built upon a rough stubby slope that lines the left
Under the cii'cumstances, a " Roxo
side of the Rio das Pedras.
this
forte," or cup of cafe noir " laced " -^ith rum, was excusable
;

taken,

we went

AVe began

off

without further

mth

dela}^ to inspect.

the beginning, a proceedmg which, say the

Germans, we English rarely adopt. The descent to the mine is
a narrow unrailed path, winding down the precipitous left bank
of the Rio das Pedras.
It was crowded with double meeting
lines of black and whitey-brown labourers, free as well as servile, whom the presence of the master had galvanized into a
momentary *' spui't." Those ascending carried on theii* heads
Carumbes, or cedar-wood platters, about twice the size of soupplates, containing " desmonte,"* or the useless sand and gravel
which is washed down by the gi'eater inundations of the year,
and which underhes and overlies the strata of true diamantiferous
Cascalho. Planks, rough ladders, and incHned planes, led to the
bottom of the long pit, whose southern extremity was 80 feet
deep by 19 to 20 broad. It was evidently the river bed in bygone
ages before the channel was filled up to its present height. Each
talliiao, or rock- wall of the underground channel, was wonderfully
worked into pit holes and convex ciu'ves, regular as though the
latter had been used, by the grinding action of gravelly water,
"f

* Desmonte

sand and gravel, with.
In gold
literally to
nnmining "desmontar"
mount is to remove the vegetation and
the humus from over the auriferous cas-

more

is

or less consistency (liga).

—

—

VOL,

II.

calho.

In Portugal it is synonymous with
"desmoutar," to clear the

"rocar" or

land for cultivation.
f We shall find many of these " jjitholes" in the bed of the Sao Francisco River.
I

"

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

114

[chap, vni;

and each may yield a hundred contos
of reis.
The hanging wall, and the loosened blocks on the sides,
were carefully timbered wherever a joint was inclined to open.
The negroes, watched by overseers stationed at every angle,
w^ere removing, with the usual merry song, the valueless stratum
under which they expected to find the gem-bearing yellow
Cascallio.
Some bored, others broke away the interfering rock
with huge pyramidal-headed crow-bars
These
(alavancas).
loosened the gravel with the almocafre, * an oval-shaj)ed, bluntheaded iron, whose handle was about two feet long
those
scraped out of the fendas or fissures the likely sand, with an
" almocafre de frincha," a bent blade one inch broad by four to
I was shown in situ the curious formation called
six in length.
" Canga preta," which is found in hundreds of pounds' weight,
though rarely of large size. At first it was mistaken for coal,
but it became red-hot in the fire without being consumed. It
looks fibrous, like asbestos, and in appearance much resembles
graphite.
Here also are found loose fragments of polished sandI saw a child's
stone, tm'ned by the water into curious shapes.
foot perfectly imitated, and many leg bones and shoulder blades
were of monstrous size.
A
All this work is going on far below the water level.
strong dyke of ashlar and earth has been run out from the right
bank to the mid-stream of the Bio das Pedras, which here runs
from south-east to north-west, bending north. Above the pit
the waters are all collected into solid wooden launders, some 400
The trough bifmxates below the mine one fork
feet in length.
discharges its load of foaming yellow water into the lower
channel the other turns a wheel which works the syj^hons and
drawing pump, f a '' sack " or wooden tube, with leather joints,
which should be replaced by caoutchouc. + The mine, though
somewhat wet, is thus kept in order.

These are the

richest pockets,

;

;

;

—

The name is " Cakleiroes, " not " Calclrones,
as John Mawe writes
he justly, however,
describes them as " les creux, qiii etaient
;

auparavant des remous"(ii. chap. 2).
* Not Amocafra as written by Castelnau.
Tavernier mentions
little iron rods bent
at the end," and used to " draw diamond
sand and earth from the veins.
t The usual pump is called Bomba, the
one above mentioned is known as Buxa
de Saco.
'

'

In this part of the Brazil several
are supposed to be capable
of
supplying caoutchouc.
In 1785
1787
Ferreira noted the "India rubber" of the
" Resina elastica
Hancornia speciosa.
e concrete succo lacteo arbor vulgo Mangabeiras in hac observantur proprietates
ususque gummi elastici."
The peojjle
seem to think highly of this source of
caoutchouc.
I do not.
Ij:

trees

—

—

CHAP.

VIII.]

THE JEQUITINHOXHA DIAMOND DIGGINGS.

115

These works must be renewed every year. At the end of the
dries the moveable plant is taken down for use dui-mg the next
season.
In November, when the rains set in, the dam is swept
away the height of the inundation here averages twenty-five to
The uncertainty of the
thirty feet, and has risen to fort}".
seasons renders diamond mining far more precarious than any
other industry which depends upon the weather.
Of course, the
longer the dries last the better and miners gratefully remember
1833-4, whose prolonged drought followed closely the Anno do
;

;

Eato, or Eats' year,

when those rodents appeared

Usually the wet season ends in April

;

in swarms. *

in 1867, however, showers

This incertitude, combined with many other
hazards, serves to explain the gambling nature of the pursuit.
**
If I hit upon a pocket of diamonds," said an Englishman to
me, " I will go home next year." But the " if" points to a con-

fell

even in July.

tingency far less to be expected than breaking the bank at Baden-

Baden,
In former days, the diamond diggers, like the gold diggers,
contented themselves with washing the rich superficial Cascallio
after which they removed to another place.
It is but a short
"
time since
deeper winnings " have been commenced, and the
originators had to endure the usual amount of ridicule, in addition
to the great expense.
They have now silenced the laugh by
winning the day the " old school " revenges itself by predicting
that the " luck " cannot last.
This Canteu'o mine was held to be
exhausted, valueless, when Sr. Vidigal, who deserves to become a
Podre de Eico,f took it in hand. A most energetic and progressive man, he ventured ^66000, here a fortune, before getting
the mine into proper working order.
Some 6400 pounds of
;

:

gunpowder are

annually expended

in

blasting.

The

outlay

and the income was
80 000 $ 000 this year it may rise to 100 000 $ 000.
My host employs dm'ing the digging season 300 slaves, worth

during the last year was 25: 000 ^'000,
:

£120
is

is

:

;

to

£150 per head.

The

hii-e

of each hand, food included,

about 1 $ 200 per day, and the monthly expense

£750.

As

engaged in any pm^suit that
head-work, Sr. Yidigal complained bitterly of the servile

general

requii^es

is

amongst Brazilians

* In parts of tte Brazil rats are supposed to swarm every seventh year, when
the bamboo flowers.

f " Rotten with

riches," an expressive

conversationalism.

I

2

!

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

116

labour-market

;

lie

[chap. viii.

wishes to dig by night as well as by day, but

the smallness of his gang compels

him

to begin at six a.m.,

and

to end at six p.m.

Another especial grievance is the prevalence
of theft.
Some mine owners go so far as to declare that almost
all the finest stones disappear.
A receiver of stolen goods settles

near every new digging, as surely as a public -house follows the
Hydropathic EstabHshment; and here, as elsewhere, the broker
is

generally richer than the

Jefferson,

of Virginia,

diamond

desired

that

a

President

proprietor.

might roll
Vidigal would

of

sea

fire

between Em^ope and the United States.
Sr.
prefer, and justly, to see a tunnel or a bridge.
The desmonte which we have just seen carried up in platters
is disposed of in the readiest and most suitable way.
AVhen the
rich Cascallio, * or Canga, t is struck, the labourers transport it
up the left bank, and dispose it in heaps (amontoadas) near the
Lavadeiro, or washing place. In this shed I at once recognised the drawing familiar to my childhood, and copied from
John Mawe into every popular book of travels. I remembered
the long thatched roof of the Mandanga mine, with a stream
of water passing through a succession of lengthy boxes
the
four inspectors in straw hats perched upon the tallest of stools,
and armed mth the terriblest of whips whilst the white-kilted
sable washers, in a vanishing line, bent painfully to their tasks,
and one of them, in an unpleasantly light toilette, was throwing up
It was written that " when
his arms, to signify *' Eureka."
;

;

a diamond

is

found weighing seventeen and a half carats (my

nocence did not remark that "half"), the negro
liberty

—

is

crowned with

look for diamonds on his
thise

with

that

simplicity, as does

flowers,

and

is

many

entitled to his

is

entitled through life to

How

own account."

happy black person,

in-

I used to sympa-

thinking

little

in

my

a philanthropist, that he was likely to

from a disease which may be described as conmainly of want, drink, and debaucher}^

die an early death
sisting

* Generally called " Cascalho corrido"
(water-washed),
Cascalho
opposed
to
virgem, the pudding stone.
Its substance
is quartz of many varieties and colours,
clear
as
crystal,
yellow-white, slightly
transparent, ojjaque and dark.
+ The Canga of Diamantina is a conglomerate of quartz, mica, and other components pasted together with red-yellow
iron clay, and covered with the dark,

ferruginous,
gives to

it

shining,

a name.

metallic coat which

It is

eminently diaman-

M. Sipolis
embedded in it, of

tiferous as well as auriferous.

showed me a

stone

fine

This
course the result of water washing.
amygdaloid has always consistency or body
(corpo).

When

broken

" gurgulho de Canga."
ticulars, see Vol.
**

Canga," in

I.

its

becomes
it
For other par-

up

chap. 21.
agglutinated form,

is

CHAP.

VIII.]

THE JEQUITINHONHA DIAMOND DIGGINGS.

The reaKty
"convenient"

117

of the Lavadeiro is an open thatched ranch, built
for the master's eye,

and one end, which

The

depressed, is set off for the use of the panner.

may

is slightly

total length

be 35 to 40 feet by one-thu'd of that breadth but the size
of course proportioned to the number of washers at the

is

;

Canteii'o.

One

of the long sides is occupied

" bacos," * three-sided troughs of rough wood

make them

of

flat

;

line of nine

by a

the poorer owners

stones, clay slates, or slabs of the granular,

quartzose and laminated Itacolumite.
feet long, three feet broad,

The troughs

and one deep

;

are each four

they open with a

slope towards the inside of the shed, where the water

there

As

is

little

is,

and

a cross piece to arrest the heavier material.

the Brazil borrowed her gold mining through Portugal from

the Romans, so she has taken her system of diamond washing

from Hindostan.f There the season was in January when the
The diamantine
rains had ceased, and the rivers ran clear.
earth was carried into an enclosm'e, surrounded by a wall from two
spans to two feet high, with little di-ains at the foot this served
Water was added, and the mixture
as a "baco" or ''batedor."
was left for a day or two till it became mud. The mass was
again watered, and loaded with soil to press down the mud, after
which the di-ains were opened, and the earthy matter flowed off.
The residuum of gravel was again covered with water if not clean ;
when diy it was sifted in baskets like gi'ain for the sand to drop
;

was retm'ned to the enclosm'e, spread out with a
rake, and beaten with long staves or wooden pestles pebbles had
been used, but they flawed the stones. After this it was resifted,
spread out again, and collected in one spot, when the diamonds
through.

It

;

were picked from

it. I

begins with the rains about November. The
upper parts of the troughs are charged with Cascalho, and a hand
"
standing before the open end or at the side of each *' baco

The washing here

dashes water from a shovel, often a bit of wooden platter, upon
the contents he then sths with the fingers the mass to relieve
clay, till the water runs
it of the wortliless earth, dust and
;

often applied, says Dr. Couto, to oclires of
When Mr. Emmanuel writes
copper.
*'Takoa Carza," I presume that he means
"Taua," felspathic clay, and "C^nga."
* These in older books are called Guy.
acaa

;

they seem to have been then

made

larger,

often

three

yards

long

by two

broad.
in soil,
f The stone there occurred
gravel, and silicious grit (Itacolumite?)
t I>r. Jobn Francis Gemelli Careri's

Voyage round the "World.

1683.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL,

118

[chap. viii.

Thus a pocket of
and this washing may be repeated.
diamonds is sometimes, but very rarely, hit upon. The fortunate
He
slave no longer claps his hands in the old style of signal.
more
than
may receive his freedom after finding a stone weighing
an oitava and a half; not by law, however, but in order to

clear,

encourage the other labovu-ers.
*'

This prehminary ended, the Cascalho, now technically called
areas " or sands, is made over to the panner.
His implements

are two

wooden basins

peneu^a or sieve-pan

like those
fitted at

is

used in gold-washing.

The

the bottom with a bit of tin

pierced with holes, averaging six to the inch, and arresting stones
of one vintem (half a carat)

The

other

is

the

common

;

the sizes, however, vary as required.

batea with the central depression (piao)

into which the diamond, like gold dust,

sinks by its superior

specific gravity.

The washing

(lavagem) begins in the batea.

It is

charged with

the rich Cascalho, mixed with sand and water to form a paste in

which the gem

will sink

;

the usual rotatory motion

is

given to

and the upper useless
removed with tho hand, more water is added, and the

the pan, the surface water

matter

is

operation continues.

is

pom-ed

The next

off

process

is

pierced pan being held over the other batea.

sifting (peneirar), the

After this the finer

sand which falls into the under pan is washed and becomes
" corte," from " cortar," to cut or stop. When washed once

more

it is "recorte."
The gravel may be thus treated a dozen
times or more, and precious stones, of course very diminutive,

found in it. A good washer takes from half to threequarters of an hour in order to exhaust a single pan-full. After
sifting the sand is called no longer areas, but canjica grossa, and

will still be

the pieces are smaller in the latter than in the former.

Magnifying glasses are not yet in use, yet they would save
much trouble and prevent loss. The present rude system is very
severe upon the sight, which soon fails
past twenty-five few
eyes can be trusted, and children are always the best washers.*
;

during this treatment that robberies are mostly effected.
swallow the diamond, not because it is considered poisonous,
as by the Hindu,! but on account of the difficulty of doing so

It is

Few

* Thus in Hindostan Tavernier tells us
that children were the best judges of the
water, weight, and clearness of the dia-

mond

;

he gives a pleasant description of

the boy purchasers and their boy principal,
f The Hindus, it is well known, conaider powdered diamond to be a deadly
poison, and all old Indians remember the

THE JEQUITINHONHA DIAMOND DIGGINGS.

CHAP. VIII.]

In India the miner jerked the stone into his mouth,

unobserved.
or stuck

it

m

the corner of his eye

requii'ed per gang of

Tvere

119

fifty

twelve to fifteen overseers

;

Hght-fingered men.

The

civilized

and picks up the i^lunder with
favourite way is to start as if fi'ightened by a

thief pretends to be short-sighted,

A

his tongue -tip.

snake, and thus to distract the attention of the superintendent,

who,

if

'^

clever," is

wide-awake to the

Most

trick.

of the stones

by being tilted or thi'own over the Hp of the pan duiing
They are easily sold
the washing, and are picked up at leism'e.*
disa23pear

to the huckster, the pedlar, or the keeper of the nearest groggery.

Thus may be explained
theu' liberty

owned

the

number

of slaves

and taken to the bush.

that his

first

who have purchased

Even

the white

man

has

imjDulse is always to secrete the diamond.

In the evening I met Mr. Thomas Piddington, a Cornishman,
who, thirty-two years ago, came out as a miner, and who dming
upwards of a generation has not seen his wife or children. Yet,
to do him justice, he always talks of returning " home," and
perhaps he might do so, but for an unhapj^y habit of being
generous to the extent of double his means. He has tm^ned his
hand to and from everything between a pump and a bridge, and
he is generally consulted in their difficulties by the mine-owners
of

all

the countr}^ side.

A fine-looking man,

with straight features

and jovial countenance, he is still the model of a Britisher, and
he would hardly be persuaded that I was not an American in
;

fact

he probably

visit

one of his chums, a

still

preserves
^Ir.

liis

opinion.

Aaron, who

is

He

urged me to
diamond washing

on the JequitinQuebra Lenha near the Santa Cruz
honha Paver, twenty-tln-ee leagues from Diamantina. Tune, not
inclination, was wanting to me.
The night was cold, the stream was dark and suUen, and heavy
clouds gathered in the north, making my host look glum a few
showers at this season are sadly damaging to the owners of
diamond mines. On the next morning we arose early, for we
had hard work " cut out " for us. After coffee we rode down the
very rugged and troublesome left bank of the Rio das Pedras a
Close to the Canshorter and better path runs along the right.
village,

at

;

;

case of the great Commissariat Agent who
into coua-t with a small packet under
his waist-shawl, determined to swallow it
if cast in his suit.
It can only act mechanically like coarse powdered glass, formerly given to dogs as an anthelmintic, by

came

abrading the surface which it touches,
I have known cases in which the latter has
been tried in the Brazil,
* Many a wager has shown that the
black can rob his master under the latter's
eyes.

120

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

[chap. viii.

my

friend Vidigal;

teiro is a smaller ''Service," also belonging to

at this season it

good

employs about a score of

site for a liouse,

overlooking the work

;

Above

it is

a

with the essentially useful capability of

but

my

host

a philosopher, satisfied

is

money

with his hut as long as

it

brings

better building until

is

built for him.

it

slaves.

;

he

will

never have a

The country here

is

and the contrast of blue sky, white sands, and a profusion
of the purple Quaresma, wliich grows about in clumps, makes it a
Wady in the waste. The land, where not stony, is productive, as
was proved by the fields around the Fuba Mill.
My guide
pointed out to me certain red cuts and spoil banks at the bottom
of a small Guj^iara on the further side of the stream. Here, some
years ago, one Jose Joaquim da Souza saw the true diamond

pretty,

formation tlu'own to the sm-face outside the nest of the large
plantation ant (Atta cephalotis, the Tao of the Tupys and the

Formiga da Eoga of the Brazil). Before purchasing the ground
he cleared 150 oitavas (nearly four lbs.) of diamonds, and at his
death he left ^6000.
After half an houi' we forded the Rio das Pedras, a notoriously

dangerous stream

:

but lately

it

had drowned two boys.

I readily

recognised from afar our destination.
The house looked neat,
and the orchard- garden, rich in oranges and other fruits, was

was some flavour of the old country,
pleasm^able when not too strong in a new land.
The most
curious growth is the Cipo Jiboia,* the ''boa," or "snake"
creeper, so called from its form the juice they say forms excellent cement, and cracked cliina mended with it will, when thrown
on the ground, fracture in another place. This would be a boon
prettily laid out; in fact there

—

—

;

to

many

a notable house-wife.

Dr. Dayrell, my countrj^man, of Barbadoes family, originally
from Bucks, can correct Rokeby in the matter of his ancestor
" Wild Darrell " of Littlecot Hall, who burned the baby. After
taking a

London degree and marrying, he came out

the Cocaes Company, and he can

For the

tell

many

in 1830 to

a curious tale touching

he has been settled at
Diamantina, where a large family of sons and daughters has gi'own
up around him, and where, much to the detriment of his professional
prospects, everybody is now his " gossip."
He has a house in
the early mines.

last thirty years

* Or Giboia,
the boa constrictor, from "ji"
" boya," a serpent, because it is supposed to strike

or

"gi," an axe, and

like a hatchet.

*'boia"

or

CHAP.

THE JEQUITIXHO^'HA DIAMOND DIGGINGS.

VIII.]

121

the city, and a fazenda of some 1200 acres all his sons have
found employment, and he looks with indifference even at the
;

becoming lord of the old manor-house.
Dr. Dayrell kindly consented to accompany us, threw his
holsters across the mule saddle, and whistled his dog, a half-bred
Enghsh mastiff of the Morro Yelho breed, now mifortimately
becoming extinct. He had learned to be cautious, ha\ing been
twice shot at in the Serra de Grao Mogor, once by mistake and
once with malice prepense. We rode down the right bank of the
prosi3ect of

Eio das Pedras to a little Lavra where one of the doctor's sons,
Mr. Felisberto Dayrell, was working with a score of hands. The
property is hii'ed and has produced daily 2 $ 000 per head with
The '' Corrida" is
industry and economy it may turn out well.
;

a miniature of the Canteu'o mine
size,

and the

;

there

is

the dam, but of trifling

pit is still very shallow.

we found the road rough, and the river
After about a league we reached the
valley much turned up.
Ponte de Santo Antonio, named after a rich Corrego, which has
caused the gi'owth of an AiTaial. The troughs worked last year

Beyond

this point

by Sr. Antonio Baptista still lay on the gTound. The Corrego do
Mel joins the Eio das Pedras above this Devil's Bridge, and the
joint channel is liideous with jagged cruel rocks extending almost
The blocks are of the hardest crystalline Itacolumite,
across.

showing a distinct cleavage

:

one kind

is

the green (Cabo verde),

whilst the other has a ruddy, pui'plish blush, the effect of

Both glitter and sparkle with mica.
Accompanied by Mr. Carlos Dayi'ell, another of the

ii'on.

scions,

we

reached the Barra da Lomba Mine. This Servigo, worked by the
concessionists, Jose Bento de Mello, Jose Juliao Dias Camargos
and others, deservedly enjoys a high reputation. During the last
year a single share jdelded forty-one oitavas, or above five ounces,
worth £4000. The system was that of the Canteii'o, but the
works are lai'ger, the pit is deeper, and the labour is more dangerous.
a

The dam extended

much more important

half across the Eio das Pedras, here

stream, and cut off the water from the
I descended about 180 feet along a

excavation on the left.
50°, and found the subterraneous part very narrow
slope of 45°
and close, as the workmen were obliged to use lights, and those

—

lights

were torches.

The Lomba was unwatered by

a

pump which John Mawe

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

122

[chap. viii.

and wliicli Caldcleugh compared with the irrigators of China.
This Caixao de Rosario, or Macacu,* borrowed
from the Himde, or Hundslauf of Freyberg, is on the principle
sketcliecl in 1801,

of elevating-buckets

squares of

:

wood disposed

at intervals in

endless string, passing up a long narrow trough, which they
tightly,

and worldng over the axle of a water- driven wheel,

As

the drainage.

fit

raise

I have before remarked, the only labour-saving

machine bequeathed by Portugal

wretched

to the Brazil is the

The

old Monjolo-mill, rudest of Oriental contrivances.

art of

mechanics is at as low an ebb as on the southern shores of the
Mediterranean, and we still recognise the apphances described by
Piso and MarcgTaf in 1658.
I found in the most civilized
diamond- diggings of Minas Geraes no trace of kibble, crane and

no knowledge of that simplest contrivance a

pulley,

or

tackle

the negro was the only implement, and he carried as

;

much

as

rail,

a

schoolboy would stuff into his pockets

—a

pair of

buckets would have done the work of a hundred such men.
Even the Hindus used great wooden wheels turned by hand
labour to work the steel plates upon which the diamond was

Important improvements, however, can come only from the
example of a more constructive race. I was asked my opinion
cut.

about the system, and suggested a few of the simplest modifications they were fomid to be unpractical, and did not meet with
;

In this point many Brazilians resemble the phreno-

favour.

logical patient,

of

" soft

who

will

sawder," but

gested that

a

single

swallow unmoved the largest draughts

who makes wry faces when it is sugmay be "somewhat deficient in

organ

development."

We
is

breakfasted at the

Lomba

with new appetite.

The meal

usually eaten at a late hour by mine -owners and diamond-

diggers,

The

who

give the greater part of the forenoon to then' work.

The head man

style is very patriarchal.

the table and drinks from a silver cup, whilst

all

sits at

the

tojo

of

his overseers are

ranged along the sides, and disappear immediately after cofi'ee.
Despite the " difference " about machinery there was no want of
cordiahty on the part of

From

this Servi9o

my

hosts.

we made

for

* Former travellers describe tlie Mac&cu as a " series of wooden cogs passing
up a square trough."
Mawe, vol. i.,

Diamantina by a

vile line

some

French Edition, has given a sketch of the
machine,

THE JEQUITINHONHA DIA^IOND DIGGINGS.

CHAP. VIII.]

123

twenty miles long, leaving the highway on the w^est. Happily
for me I was mounted upon a mule as good for bad as it was bad
for good, roads

—not an

broken, and the

The

unfrequent case.

muds were deep

only bridge was

the bridle-path was

;

all

up and

down, and the banks were unpleasantly steep. The vegetation,
Peroba and Copahyba, Monjolo and Brauna,* seemed to be as
hard and stony as the soil, here justifying the popular belief in
or perhaps I should say, the consequence.
the concomitance
We passed to the left of the Maravilha, or Wonder-Mountain,
That to
wliich here appeared to be divided into two lumps.

—

north-west had a sheer

the

of

fall

immense

height,

a

grim,

up which only an insect could creep; fi'om the
At the base were
south-east the ascent is probably easy.
white holes and heaps awaitmg the rains, and the summit
was feathered with vertical slabs of stone emerging firom the
dark

wall,

thin scrub.

Under

a broiling sun

that bear the

we pm'sued our way over 'the barren

diamond.

We

thatched hovels, at this season

passed
all

sundiy

deserted.

hills

forlorn-looking

The

first

stood

near the Ribekao do Inferno, where certain wet-weather diggings
called Mata-Mata,f belong to Sr. Jose Juliano and Company.

The next were

the washings on the tributary Ribeirao do Pal-

Yenancio
Morao. Shortly afterwards we struck the southern highway by
which we had left Diamantina, and between the gloaming and the
mirk we found ourselves once more imder the hospitable roof of
mital

Sr.

they are the property of the

;

Joao

Collector

Sr.

Eibeii'o.

After this experience of two days we

may

venture to set right
Mr. Harry Emanuel, who, in his carefully written book, I almost
ignores the Diamantine formations of Minas Geraes in favour of
Bahia.
Thus for the last thi-ee years the cotton of Sao Paulo

much

has,

to the disgust of the Paulistas, appeared in the

market misnamed " Rio Cotton."
* Often written Grauna.
The latter is
tlie
name of a bird -with shining
black plume, from Gruira (avis) and una
contracted from pixuna (nigra).
'
Lorsque Ton decouviit des diamans
t
daus cet endroit, le peuple s'y precipita en
foule
des rixes s'engag^rent, et de 1^
vient, dit-on, le nom de IVlatamata (Tue-

also

'

;

tue)."

St. Hil.

Mart. Reise

i.

(II.

452.

i.

64),

from Spix and

§

London

Minas began her labours

J Diamonds and Precious Stones, by
London
Harry Emmanuel, F.E.Gf.S.
:

Hotten, 1865.
§
foot

"Provinces like Sao Paulo, where a
of ground had never before been

planted

mth

cotton,"

(A Journey in

Brazil,

says Prof.
p.

508),

Agassiz

But the

Province of Sao Paulo has ever been celebrated for her cotton cultivation.

124

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

[chap. viii.

with the seventeenth century, and in 1732 the Lisbon fleet carWe read (p. 59)
ried to Europe 1146 ounces of precious stones.
*'In 1754 a slave who had been working at (?) the Minas Geraes

was transferred

to the district (?) of Bahia,"

and that thus emi-

But the great Province
of Baliia commenced to work her Chapada or diamantine plateau
In the same page we find " the most
1846.
only in 1845
productive district is at the present time the Province of Mato
Grosso, in the vicinity of the town of Diamantma." Tliis must
refer to the city which we have just visited in Minas Geraes;
the Mato Grosso diggings are called (Rio, Arraial or Sertao)
gration set in and exploitation began.

—

*'Diamantino."

*

* Memorias Historicas (Pizarro,

ix. 19, 20,

21, &c.).

—

CHAPTER

IX.

THE DIAMOND MINE AT SAO

JOAO.

THE BRANT FAMILY " DURO." RIDE OUT. — " LE SPORT." — DIFFERENT KINDS
OF DEER. — REACH THE ARRAIAL OF SAO JOAO DO DESCOBERTO. — RAPID
FEEDING.— THE DURO MINE. — THE BARRO MINE. — ENGAGE O MENINO,"
THE NEW PADDLE.

—

—

'*

" C'est dans ces lieux sauvages que la Nature s'etait plu a cacher la pr^cieuse
pierre qui est devenue pour le Portugal la source de tant de richesses." St. Hil.
II.

i.

2.

Mr. Gordox had

supplied

me with

" recommendations " to the

brothers Lieutenant-Colonel Felisberto Ferreira Brant, and Major
Jose Ferreira Brant. The family is descended from an ancient

governor-at-arms of Bahia, and, as

may

be seen in Southey and

has taken a prominent part in the exploitation of
The Major has a store at Diamantina, and the

St. Hilaire,*

diamonds.

Lieutenant- Colonel, during the temporary absence of his son-inIt hes
law, superintends the important digging of Sao Joao.
north-north-west of the

city.

I was threatened with the worst of

journeys, but the reply was, " There

road in the diies

;

there

is

no good pasture or bad
no bad pasture or good road in the
is

rains."

About noon I set out, '' convoyed " for a short distance by
Major Brant M. SipoHs had half agreed to join me, when the
theft and flight of the negro slave-cook who fed the Episcopal
Seminary required his presence at home. Passing through the
Curral and by the Alto da Cruz, where the prospect was the
more enjoyable because now I understood its details, we struck
the high road to the west of the city. A party of yomig chas;

* Joaqnim

and

Felisberto

Caldeira

Brant, says Sonthey (iii. 624), were rich
Under the Count de
miners of Paracatu.
Bobadella, the second became the Third
Administrator of Diamonds in Tejuco of

Minas Geraes, and botli were bound to
organise a " Serrigo " of 200 negroes to
work the two Diamantine Rivers of Goyaz.
Felisberto,

acciised of

in prison at Bahia.

malversation,

died

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

126

[chap. ix.

guns thrown across their shoulders, was leisurely
An over-love for "sport" has done as much
sloping along.
harm in the Brazil as the ridiculous " sparrow clubs " of a former
day threatened to do to England. I have mentioned the prevalence of the ant plague since the ant-eater has been killed out,
seurs, with

and the destruction of

The

bii'ds

has increased the host of Carrap^tos.

scenery, too, has lost in artistic beauty

;

the brilliant birds,

and taken
It is to be desired that amateurs would
refuge in the Far West.
give ear to the sensible advice of Padre Correa, and attack vipers
and jaguars, instead of slaughtermg the Tanager and the Orpheusas the Arara (Macaw), have disappeared from the coast,

thrush.

The

cantonnier

is

not abroad in this part of the Brazil.

The

ascents and descents over the normal waves of ground, subtended

by streams in sandy or rocky beds, with pure water or current
dyed slate-colour by the washer,* were of the worst. The land
many little mining stations were
was by no means deserted
scattered about, and frequent snowy heaps denoted '' Servigos."
At 2.15 P.M. old Ferreu-a and I crossed the Corrego dos MorrinThe mistress of
hos, and halted for coffee at the nearest ranch.
the house sat coiled up on her bed like a Hindostani woman, but
her extreme communicativeness, and an approach to what we call
*'
chaff," made up for want of graceful posture. The semi-Oriental
and old Portuguese reserve begms to vanish as w^e enter the
I
interior, and to a Northron the effect is decidedly pleasant.
did not ask the names of host or hostess, as they openly told me
that I was the Chief of Pohce from Ouro Preto, and they were
;

most anxious
idea of
*'

how

my

is it

to

know my

being an Englishman.
that you do not

* The drainage

is

know

to the Rio Penheiro,

Jequitinhonha, six
On the left
leagues below Diamantina.
bank of the Ribeirao dos Caldeiroes is the
Servigo known as the Retiro de Joao Vieira.
The next important stream is the Corrego
da Prainha then comes the Corrego da Sepultura, an ill-omened name, common here.
+ Amongst the Southern Latin races
generally, and especially the Hispanian,
the individual is known by his Christian
name only and as this must be taken

which

into

falls

They laughed

business.

the

;

;

from some saint, and as saints are few,
nicknames are common. The family name,
which we use, is mostly neglected, espe-

''

'

to scorn the

If this be true," they asked,

Nicholas,'

cially

whose

t

your countryman,

in the case of northern strangers,
cognomens are so often iini^ro-

and thus
nounceable by southern organs
the foreigner is perpetually in a fix.
Even neighbours who have known one
another for years often ignore all but the
The practice is of old date,
prenomens.
" Quinti," puta, aut " Publi," gaudent
pr^enomine molles
;

Auriculae.'

surname also was rarely used
amongst us in the days of the Plantagenets,
and until the last fifty years the Christia,n
name was that of the people in certain of

The

our rural

districts.

"

THE DIAMOND MINE AT SAO

CHAP. Tx.]

JOAO.

127

He was, they in"
perdidos," the lost ones, a poor
sinuated to me, one of the
wretch who spent his life in squalor and in liquor, when obtained
who

is

living within

musket shot of us

? "

by some i)recarious job. However, they gave me a good brew of
coffee, and sent us on our way rejoicing.
We then crossed a long plain, a most likely place for game
only one Campeu-a, or prairie deer (Cervus campestris), showed
giving good venison, it is much
at a considerable distance
hunted. Castehiau mentions the Campeko, and Prince Max.
(iii. 109) suggests that it may be the Mataconi of Humboldt, the
Cerf du Mexique (C. mexicanus) of natm-alists, and the Guazati
:

;

of Azara,

who speaks

of a white variety (albino

It prefers

?).

plains to forests, and runs with frequent bounds.

The

size is

about that of the roebuck the tail is short, and the coat is a
reddish brown. Here the people declare that it is the female of the
Gallieu'o, whose large antlers prevent it from entering the bush,
and whose fiesh is fetid. It is the (Ju^uapara* of the Tupys,
;

and the Guazupucu of Azara

according to the older

;

TVTiters, it

This deer haunts the prairie and
the marsh.
It is short tailed, and about the size of a yearlmg
calf.
Its flesh is eaten in January, February, and March, after
which it is said to be offensive. The favourite form is "Moquendo,"t roasted on the embers. The Mateiro, or forest deer,
the Guazupita of Azara, called by the Tupys " Cua9u rete," or
attacks

man

at certain seasons.

*'true deer," is of all the

most common species;

it

is

white

and stands about the height of a sheep; the dry, hard,
lean flesh much resembles that of the cow (Carne cle Yaca),
tailed,

especially the old cow.

The

Catingueii^o, Hterally the Stinker!

(C. simpHcicornis), the Guazubira of Azara, lives, like the pre-

ceding, in

woods and weU-clothed valleys.

* More correctly 9Tia9u-ap^ra, a word
The Tiipy Diet.
applied to both sexes.
declares that it has large horns, and feeds
in the Campos.
t Amongst the Botocudos, '* bacan,"

pronounced "bacoun," meant flesh, and
the Tupys had '' mocaem," to toast in the
In Tupy also, according to Sr. J.
flame.
de Alencar, Bucan was the implement wdth
which meat was roasted, and the origin of
The indigenes
the French boucaner.
meat-provision
for
their
smoke-dried
journeys or campaigns by hanging it upon
a little gallows over a wood fire, or by
suspending it to the fuliginous thatches of

It is

their huts.

" moquem
Hil.

III.

"
i.

supposed to shed

Hence is derived the Brazilian
and the verb Moquiar (St.
269), synonymous with the

Moquem has
boucan of the buccaneers.
become the name of many country places
in the Empire.
X So the word was explained to me by
The Tupy Diet, writes
Alexandre.

Dr.

(^vi?i(}<x-Q,a.Sii\ng?i,

growth (Mato

the

deer of

rasteiro).

St.

the second
Hil,

(I.

i.

337) makes the fetor proceed from " une
matiere d'un vert noiratre que remplit une
cavit^ profonde que Ton trouve entre les
deux sabots des pieds du derriere.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

128

[chap. ix.

very short, straight, branchless horns it is dock-tailed, and
the brown-coated body is apparently too heavy for the slight legs,
which are disposed at an angle fitting the animal for long high
its

;

buck-jumps. In shape it resembles the Pallah, or hog deer of
Sindh, and even the Brazilian rodent " Paca " (Coelogenys Paca).

heard of a marsh deer (C. paludosus), the Quagiipucu), sometimes erroneously written Guacu pucu, and the rare
Bira, a small red deer which is said, when pursued, to leap upon
But the fallow deer mentioned by Mawe have not
a tree branch.
Besides

this, I

yet been discovered, nor have the antelopes which Koster has

placed in the

New World.*

Creeping up a bad

hill,

pitted with the deep gutters,

and dotted

with the loose stones of the normal Itacolumite, we saw, far to
the left or west, amongst the peaks of the Cerro Frio group, the
curious formation known as the Tromba d'Anta, the Tapir's

From

trunk, t

this point

it

much resembles

the Itacolumi of

Ouro Preto, a huge monolith raised at an angle of 50°. Another hill, and below us on the left was the large mining establishment known as the Chapada. Yet another long slope and
struck a high grassy plain, where nothing taller than a foot
could face the fierce north wind, which caused the leaves to droop

w^e

in the lower levels, whilst the fiery sun

made

the wild flowers

Here we sighted the Arraial

shrink and wither.

Descoberto, considered to occupy the highest

of Sao Joao do

site in

the Munici-

pality.

The village
made it. To

shallow hollow close to the mines which
the west is the " Morro Eedondo," a dwarf quoin
lies in a

crested with a tall cross

;

eastward

is

the cemetery, also with

its

wooden chapel in
it 2000 souls and
by two. The tene-

single street boasts of a humble
The " Almanak " (1864) gives
a dwarf square.

The

cross.

300 houses, a figure which I should divide
* I have seen a large red skin broiiglit
from Rio Grande do Snl the people had
no name for the beast but Cervo. The
Tupy Diet, gives as the native names of the
;

Cervidge
smallest.

:

9^^^?'^"*i^g^

1.
2.

Qua^u

(white),

Cariacu,

so

the
called

from its sleeping in the thickets, and
Ferreira explains
showing only its back.
the word as "Caa," foliage, "ri," many
or much, and "acu," that exposes itself.
3.
^uacu Anhanga, the devil-deer, so
because its flesh is held to be
injurious to those suffering from fever or

called

syphilis,

+ The

Portuguese,

who

ignored

the

Tapir, called it Anta, or buffalo (F. Denis,
thus their
Anta or Danta *' buffle ")
:

ancestors
bullocks.

had named elephants Lucanian

On the other hand, the Tupys,
never having seen black, called the bull
Tapy'ra o^u (big Tapir), and the calf
Tapy'ra Curumim O^u (Pappoose of the big
We have corrupted the word
Tapii-).
Brazilian purists prefer
Tapy'ra to Tapir
;

Tapyr.

THE DIAMOND MINE AT SAO JOAU.

til AT. IX.]

129

ments are the usual taipa, mostly whitewashed, of the door and
window order, veiy narrow and somewhat deep, roofed with
thatch or tile.
Each has a large ''compound" to defend the
the material is puddle or
vegetation from the rudest Boreas
dry stone, here and there eked out with stakes and other con;

trivances.

Tm-ning

to the right

we made

a crest our " espigao mestre,"

Avhose watershed is north to the Jequitinhonha, and south to the

Eio das

Vellias.

eighty miles

he

piles of

the

liill,

To

commands

it

the west

is a

a view of about

bald Campo, eastward

jagged rock; in front, placed for shelter a Httle below

stands a long, low, single -storied house, with a small

upon

end, and looking

muddy

of

clear days

m diameter.

chapel at one
full

On

a tall black cross, a pit

water, and a vegetable plot enclosed to keep off

animals.

According to custom

The

letters.

mistress of the house

hospitably asked

men and

sundry

my Camarada had

me

to dismomit.

ridden forward vdth

met me

at the door,

my
and

I found the host during with

youths, relatives and employes.

refreshment soon over,* we repaired to the digging.

The work of
It is known

Duro Mine, because when the diamond was first ''won"
sinker had met hard ground presently to become soft and

as the

—

the

soppy as that of the neighbouring pit.
We found a large hollow, which at

glance suggested the

first

Mmas

Esbarrancados, or water-breaches, so nmnerous in

The shape was an elongated

Geraes.

horse-shoe, with the major axis

disposed from south-west to north-east, and the heel draining

towards the Jequitinhonha River.
ninety

The

feet,

The maximum

dej^th ma}' be

the breadth 300 yards, and the length about double.

material

is

a hardened paste of clay,

whose regular and

level

have been deposited in shallow water.
The eastern side of the gap is the more ferruginous formation
stratification argues it to

* Brazilians eat nearly as fasst as the
the United States.
I have
met only one m'Iio "took time over his
meals " and indeed this is the rule of the
world.
In the nearer East a man sits
down with a j)ions ejaculation, swallows
his quantum, ends with drinking water,
ejaculation,
rises
with another pious
washes his hands, and with frequent
Those
eructations, applies to his ])ipe.
who amongst \xs write * Manuals of
citizens of

;

'

VOL.

T[.

Health " never forget to dwell pointedly
uijon the necessity of food being thoroughly
well insalivated before it is swallowed,
and they allow at least half an hour to

presume that the necessity,
from the artificial habits
engendered by civilization, and the practice of eating frequently and at regular
hours when the stomach does not call
each meal.

if it exists,

I

arises

aloud for another supply.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

1-50

(terra vermellia)

;

Below one

sand.

on the west
foot of

it

brown

is

[chap. ix.

mixed with beds of white

soil the argillaceous

matter has

the usual staining and marbling, glaring white like fullers' earth
with felspar and kaolin, chocolate-brown or rape-coloured Avith
organic matter, blue-green with traces of copper, pink and rose-

purple and dark yellow with various oxides of iron, especially
haematite, and dark steel colour with oxide of manganese.

Thus

old travellers describe the diamantiferous pits of the ''Mustapha
nagar circar " as a peculiar fat white clay associated with ironstone.

We

zigzagged down the easy slope of the eastern wall, which
"
Here the ''hydraulicking
of water hollows out chasms 250 to

everywhere bore marks of the pick.
of California, where a

800

feet

fall

deep, might be applied with great

advantage.

The

No. 3, or tlie highest. The strike of the
ribboned clays is north and south, bending eastward. The lode
inclines towards the higher grounds, and thus the owner hopes to
find the gem-bearing strata spreading over the crest or watershed
ridge which forms his property.
Through the ferrugmous sandstone (borra) and the white felspathic matter run dykes and lines
of fragmentary rock crj'stal, sometimes fibrous like arragonite,
and often finely comminuted. Large pieces of imperfect specular
iron and thin strata of quartz, yellow and brown at the junction,
thread the argile, and I was shown a specimen of fine sandy
conglomerate, blackened and scorified by the injection of melted
matter.
The characteristics of this upper lode are a drier clay,
silica, a trace of copper, of iron-cement, and of Canga in small
pieces when the specular iron is in large pieces and abundant
the rock is rich in gems.
Its " agullias " are iron-lilve bundles
of needles welded together by intense heat
some are double, the
"
"
fibres coming at obtuse angles.
Agullias Cor de Ouro
The
have a burnished co2)pery surface, wdience the name.* Throughout all these corpos the diamonds are small, averaging perhaj)s a
little under one grain, or G4
72 per oitava
they are mostly
richest lode (corpo) is

;

:

—

;

crusted superficially with a light green tinge.

Lower down we came

to the middle or second body.

**taua" (felspathic clay) was
blue,
"

Here the

and sand}^ marbled with a fat,
muddy marl, which leaves upon the fingers a greasy steely

The owner iuforiDcd

liiiititutc of Civil

iiic
that he
Engineers, London,

stifi'

IkuI

sent

8iicelniens

of all

his miuerals

to

the

THE DIAMOND MINE AT SAO JOAO.

CHAP. IX.]

streak.

rest

;

131

It also yields a dark olive-green argile harder than the
like

all

the others

it

but when
Lieutenant- Colonel

has consistency in

situ,

removed it crumbles to pieces after drying.
Brant gave me from this corpo a fragment of hard large-grained
cla}', reddish coloured with oxide, and showing a small brilliant
imbedded in it.
We then descended to the lowest formation. Here the clay
the colours are
contams very little sand, and much stained
white and blue, red and yellow, rosy, si)otty, and in places dyed
Here also are found the '' Agulhas " in streaky
as with blood.
bimdles of iron like asbestos. The sole of the pit is uneven with
working, and m places ''horses," ''old men," and long walls of
stiff clay have been left standing amongst the holes and gashes.
From this point the several lodes were distinctly traceable in the
walls of the basm. A deep di-aining trench divided the length,
and at the north-eastern end was a washing place, a shallow,
muddy pool, faced by two concentric circles of staked fascines, to
prevent the slime from falling in.
We then walked to the north-eastern end, and found traces of
Messrs. Rose and Piddmgton. Rails, 600 fathoms long, had been
laid doTsai, and a white -washed towerlet denoted the engine-house,
where a raising pump of three -horse power enables the mine to
work throughout the year. The washing apparatus under the
;

neighbouring shed consists of a " batedor," or stone-faced
eighteen feet long, nine broad, and eight deep
in

it

by the " trolleys "

running water washes

is
it

here

first

down

a

puddled.

;

the clay tilted

Thence a stream of

succession

of

bulinetes,* coffin-shaped troughs like Canoas, but

They

are revetted with masonry,

lower end, where the slope

wood

is,

and each

pit,

is

bolinetes

much

or

larger.

provided at the

with a batten or cross piece of

from being carried do^Mi
Formerly the Duro
stream.
Very few hands were at work.
employed upwards of one hundred negroes, a nmnber now reduced
to half, and looking very " small " amid the vast area*
In the evening the host discussed the celebrated Rabicho of
the Jequitinhonlia River, seventeen leagues from Diamantina City.
The " crupper " takes its name from a saco or bend, across
which a cutting of one mile would expose five miles of highly
to prevent the heavier substances

* St. Hil. (I. i. 255) makes the cliamoiut ''boliuete, un cailal de bois beailcoup
court et plus etroit que ceux dans lesquels on lave le cascalho."

K

2

i>\\\>:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

132

[chap. ix.

adamantine bed. A plan of this place has been made by Mr.
Charles Baines, C.E., and also a concession to exploit it has been
granted to the Commendador Paula Santos. Unhappily the law

unwisdom requires that companies for working diamonddiggings must be composed of at least an equal proportion of

in its

Brazilians to strangers.

minded

This

colonial exclusiveness

is verily

—

it

is

a relic of the old narrow--

not easy to see

why

the

diamond-coin should require an especial regulation.
Early on the next morning Lieutenant- Colonel Brant took
to visit

Mina do Barro, belonging

the

me

to Lieutenant- Colonel

Rodrigo de Sousa Eeis, a wealthy mine owner, who is part concessionist of the Caetlie Mirim.
We gained the Espigao mestre,
''
the great
Wasser-schied," and found lying dos a clos Avith the
Duro, another similar quarrj^, but somewhat larger and deeper.
A narrow s\i]) of land was preserved for a path between the two,
but this will probably soon disappear, as Lieutenant- Colonel
Brant's i)rospects are best in this direction.

It

was a strange

view to one standing on the crest, with the two painted pits yawning on either side, and stretching away into the distance.

On

further bank of the artificial ravine lay the owner's house
large, i^ale

clay square of buildings, with courts

enclosed, as if for defence, reminded

Ugogo. We found
it was drained by a
caving in by stakes
under an overseer,

me

;

the

the

and outhouses

of a fortified village in

Barro ;" Hke the Duro
trench the washing pit was prevented from
and fascines. A few negroes were removing,
the clays, coloured and white (Jiz), which
serve as guide to the diamond formation; and there was a
steam pump of four-horse power, with a tall useless engine
nothing new in the

'^

;

turret.

This diamond digging was discovered at a time and place w^hen
and where no one dreamed of looking for the gem. An old
woman, who was in the habit of j^anning Cascalho gravel in a
little trickle of water from the gap, found that the precious stones
extended into the blue argile (barro azul). About thii'ty -three
years ago the digging was begun Avith a will, and presently it
passed into the hands of the actual owner, who has emploj^ed as
many as two hundred head of slaves. Other similar diggings
came to light, and the wealth was such that sometimes an owner
"
would exclaim, " O my God, are you doing this to cause ni}' loss ?

The Duro

is

the legitimate offspring of the Barro, begotten, seven

THE DIAMOND MIXE AT SAO

CHAP. IX.]

to eight years

JOAO.

ago, by Lieutenant-Colonel Brant,

naturally enough, that
so might be the other.

if

133

who judged,

one side of a clay slope be productive,
As has been seen, the progeniture has

thriven.

^

I

left

.^

vi-

Jjt

4j4

the Diamantine region, including the
Socially speaking,

regret.

the most

it is

the Brazil, according to the light of

^'

my

Duro mine, with

sj^mpathetic " spot in

experience.

''enemy in the fortress" traitorously urging delay,

from

it

With an

was not easy

My plea

was the absolute neceshad promised to be at
Bom Successo before the eleventh day, and the promise must be
kept.
This requii'ement is universally recognized throughout the
Empire. Lieutenant-Colonel Brant accorded to me a reluctant
dismissal, and the amiable Senhora charged me to return, and
loaded me with kind messages to an miknown, and what might
have been a theoretical, or even a hj-pothetical wife.
Old Francisco Ferreira was in no hurry to take the road once
more. He was i^aid by the day 1$000 and thus interest comto escape
sity of

its hospitalities.

an Englishman being punctual

—

I

;

—

bined with inclination to urge a

laziness.

little

But neither

cough nor groan, nor euphuistic phrase of the old eloquent, nor
muttered anticipations of '' Corrubiana in the bones," was of the
least avail.
I struck the direct road via Guinda to Bandeirinha,
and on Thursday, September 5, 1867, after a day's ride of
fort}'

foiu'

miles upon jaded beasts, that

now

fell

twice every twenty-

hours, I found myself within the pleasant walls of

Bom

Successo.

As my Jaguara

pilots did not profess to

know much

of the

stream below this point, I engaged, with the assistance of Dr.
Alexandre, a third paddle. He answered to the name of Antonio

Marques, but was better known as '' O Menino," the '• Little 'un,"
because he was peculiarly tall, broad, and raw-boned, " a long,
hard-weather, Tom Coffin-looking fellow ;" moreover, he was
grim and angry-looking as a Kurdish '' irregular cavahyman."

He had begun

life

in English emplo3'ment at the

Vao Mine, near

Diamantina, and he had mastered more than one northern habit,
such as drinking and brawling.

He had

learned the world, he

had travelled half-way down the Sao Francisco, and had struck
overland to Piauhy he had rim up north as far as Maranham,
and he had even seen a steamer. His price was somewhat exorbi;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

134

tant

— 2 $ 000 per diem, and

as pilot

lie

[chap. ix.

vainly attempted to instal himself

by ousting the good old " Chiko Diniz," who was worth

a dozen of him.

He

greatly preferred conversationizing to row-

and drink to both. My temper was sorely tried by him, but
I kept it till we reached Varzea Redonda,

ing,

—

CHAPTER

—

X.

NOTES ON THE DIAMOND.
THE BRAZIL, WHERE FOUND. — PROSPECTING FOR
TO WORK. PERFECTION OF THE DIAMOND.
DEBATED ORIGIN OF THE STONE. — REFRACTION, TESTS, ETC. — WHERE
FORMED. DIAMOND GROUNDS. DIAMOND " FORMACAO," OR STONES THAT
ACCOMPANY THE GEM. NOTE FROM M. DAMOUR. SHAPE OP DIAMOND.
ITS COLOUR. — ITS FLAWS. — THE WEIGHTS AND PRICE. ABOUT " BOART."
CELEBRATED BRAZILIAN STONES.

DIAMANTINE

LANDS IN

DIAMONDS.

^

—

— CONCESSION

—

—

—

—

—

—

"

The substance that

stones, but of all

was known

human

possesses the greater vahie, not only
possessions, is adamas, a mineral

to kings only,

and

to very

few

of

them."

among

which

the precious

for a long time

PUnij^ xxxvii., Chap. 15.

Couto (p. 127) described the diamond diggings of
Bagagem which he visited, and named Nova Lorena, after
D. Bernardo Jose de Lorena, Comit of Sarzedas, and eleventh
Dr.

Governor or Administrator of the Minas Geraes captaincy. These
lands, he shows, are of greater antiqiiitj^ than the countries near
the coast, as is proved by their degraded and water- washed forms.
They are also the easier to work, ha^dng more of plain ground
and larger rivers. The crystallisations of the Cerro or Diamantina
diggings have smoother facets and sharper angles, whilst the yield
On the other hand, the stones are
is more regular and constant.
small 1000 oitavas hardly produce a single gem of one oitava.
From Bagagem many stones, varying between three and six oitavas,
have been taken, but by jumps, as it were. The water is fine
and brilliant, but the shapes are more rounded and more deeply
flawed, the effect of longer weathering and more water-rolling.
Castelnau (ii. 231) describes, in 1844, the diamond diggings of
Goyaz, on the Araguaya or Rio Grande. We lack, however, a
modern description of the Diamantino diggings near Cu3^aba, in
Mato Grosso, and of the Bahian Cliapada. Tlie latter Province
extends its wealth almost to the seaboard gems have been found
;

;

—

"

THE HIGHT.ANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

mo

[chap. x.

within one or two leagues of Sao Salvador, at the Engenho do
The Caldeirinos of
Cahrito, and at other places near the railway.
Parahy, thirty leagues from the Sao Francisco Eiver, and the

lands hetween Crato and Ico, in Ceara, require inspection. I
shall presently allude to the formation on the lower waters of the
In the Provinces of Sao Paulo and Parana, the
great artery.

Parahyha do Sul, Verde, and Tihagy, have produced
diamonds, whilst the hest indications are found near the coast

rivers

ahout Ubatuha.
Evidently the Brazil has a vast extent of diamantine ground
reserved for future generations to w^ork with intelHgence, and

by means of machinery.
Prospecting for diamonds is done as follows The vegetable
humus, the underlying clay, and the desmonte, or inundation
especially

:

sand, are

removed with the almocafre,

till

the labom'ers reach the

gem-bearing *' cascalho," or ''gurgulho." This first w^ork is
The larger fragments
usually an open cut of a few feet square.
of quartz are then removed by the hand, the gravel is washed in a
*'

baco,"

''

canoa," or

''

cuyaca," and, finally, the batea

is

used.

After the prospecting (provas) a concession to work diamantine
ground is directed to, and is easily obtained in these days from

Government. The api)licant specifies the limits of the extent
which he proposes to exploit. The land is put up at public
auction, any one may bid, and it is knocked dow^n to the highest
The owner of the soil has the right of pre-emption, and
ofi'er.
if

only

0g200 per braca

prietor can take

it.

(Brazilian fathom) be called, the pro-

After the death of the concessionee, the

inherited by his wife, his children, or, in default of
For the use of the reach * in the
other heirs, by his brother.
Rio das Pedras, 13,000 bracas long, Sr. Vidigal pays a tax of

digging

is

$ 000 per thousand, and Dr. Dayrell, within whose limits the
Canteiro is, might for that sum have exploited it had he so

1

pleased.

The diamond,!

say old writers, unites

ling limpidity, lustrous brilliancy
*

"

Tiro do
Caire

+ M.

rio.

Science des Pierres
precienses, Paris,
1826,) observes that
the word is derived from aSa^as (in
Arabic and Persian, almas), " indomptable"
nulla vi domabilis, because not
to be conquered by fire.
This is true

—

(La

—the

all

perfections: spark-

efiect of its

hardness

when the oxygen of the atmosphere
exch;ded from it, and when the heat is
He also notes
nnder 14° Wedgewood.
that onr modern word " diamond, "" diamant," &c., by rejecting the " alplia
only
is

privative," etymologically signifies the reverse.

NOTES OX THE DIAMOND.

THAr. X.]

137

the accidental colours of the rainhow, reflections that come and go
with the vivacit}' of lightning and, finally, it has " as many fii'es
;

as facets."

and thus

The

structure

is

it is easily split

parallel with the planes

of thin shining plates closely joined,

along the line of cleavage, which

of the octahedi'on or

is

dodecahedron.*

The substance has been proved to be crystallised carbon, f but
Some believe that the vapours of
the origin is still debated.
carbon, so rich during the sandstone period,

may have been

con-

densed and crystallized into the diamond. Xewton, it is well
known, argued from its great refractive power that it is ''proFor reasons which
bably an unctuous substance coagulated."
will presently appear,

it is

formation of gold, and

it

evidently younger at times than the
is

possibly

still

forming, and with

Others have conjectured that the Itacolumite matrix may have been saturated with petroleum which has
gradually disappeared from oxidation or otherwise, except where
capacity for growth.

gem

the carbon has collected into nodules, and has formed the

b}'

gTadual crystallization, t

As has been shown,

the specific gravity of the diamond varies

from 3*442 to 3*556, quartz being 2*600, and water 1*000 hence
it is easily washed, and a i^ractised hand distinguishes it b}^ the
weight.
The index of refraction or quotient, resultmg from the
division of the sine of the angle of incidence in the vacuum by
the sine of the angle of refraction in the vacuum, is equivalent to
5*0, § water and plate-glass being 1*50, sulphur 16*0, and bi-sulphide of carbon, the most refractive liquid at present known,
37*0.
According to Sir D. Brewster it slightly changes the light
passing through it older authorities remarked that it decom;

:

poses light into

its

prismatic colours, and shows a distinct phos-

phorescence after being

exposed for some time to the sun,

imbibing luminosity even through leather.
it

Rough

or polished

acquires by friction positive electricity, other precious stones

* Thus the test of striking with a
hammer, often applied by those who have
heard that the diamond is of extreme

hardness, has destroyed many valuable
They were split with the grain
gems.
That
or in the plane of the ciystals.
" shocking the diamonds " (with iron
levers) "causes them to be flawed " was
The
taught by the Hindus to Tavernier.
file roughly applied to the girdle or edge
is likely to chip it.

f It was, and perhaps still is, believed
that a dissolvent of carbon is alone wanted
to make the artificial diamond,
J I have seen it popularly stated that
flexible Itacolumite is the matrix of the

diamond, which is undoubtedly incorrect.
I believe do any of the Itacolumites

Nor

contain petroleum.
§ It has been stated to
2 '439 (Brewster).

be as low as

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

ms

being negative in the rough, and positive
state.*

[chap. X.

onl}^ in the

pohshecl

Okl authors remarked that the gem when placed in the

magnetic line of the loadstone neutralizes the attraction to a
degree.

considerable

the diamond cuts

it

Most precious stones

scratch glass

"wdll

with a peculiar creaking sound, hence this

is

Another is the peculiar shock of diamonds
rubbed together, which is more or less sonorous according to the
a favourite test,

f

hardness of the stone

:

I

however, requires long practical

this,

hand a sensation of cold, a property shared with it b}^ many other stones, and notably by rock
Finally it is said that the diamond is the only stone
crj^stal.
which can scratch the sapphire.
It gives to the

acquaintance.

As regards
are

many popular

the matrix of the diamond,

still afloat.

errors

"
It has been washed mostly in the " Cascallio

down by streams and deposited either on the
Hence books have determined that " the
the beds.
always found imbedded in gravel and transported

gravel brought

banks or in

diamond

is

Others are of
whose history cannot be traced."
opinion that the diamond was formed in the alluvial and arenaceous matters that accompany the Tertiary and Quaternary
The accurate M. Damour, who wrote two conscientious
epochs.
materials

papers § upon the diamantine sands of Bahia, tells us (p. 11)
" Ces roches crystallines, servant autrefois de gangue au diamant,
ayant ete brisees et en partie detruites par
qui ont remue et sillonne la surface du

I'effet

des commotions

globe, a certaines periodes

geologiques, ne se montrent plus qiCa Vetat de debris

et

de matieres

Professor Agassiz (A Journey in Brazil, 501), " is
prepared to find that the whole diamond-bearing formation is
" I do not mean
This, however, is qualified by
glacial drift."
arenaceesJ"

—

^

+ Diamonds,

Tlie electro-magnetic current strongly

I spoiled a fine rosethe diamond.
cut stone by allowing the ring to remain
njDon my finger when iising a Meinig's
chain.
My attention was aroiised by a
peculiar rasping sound, and I found the
and
corners of the diamond chipped
ground off as if a rough file had been
Perhaps this
applied to a bit of glass.
may prove a labour-saving method of
affects

which rec^uire to l>e much
The " Odylic Sensitives" of Reichenbach see when "magnetized" a brilliant
white light proceeding from the diamond
and hence probably the idea that precious
stones had specific virtues.

treating stones
cut.

;

especially those Avith acute
injured by violent

been
rubbing upon hard

angles,

have

process

of

testing

hammer may

Pliny's
substances.
by anvil and

them

easily split

them.

X I have heard this asserted by some
diamond merchants and denied by others.
§ Bulletin de la Societe Philomatique,
la
de
Bulletin
Fevrier, 1853, and
2*^
Serie.
Societe Greologicpie de Paris.
It is regretable
Seance du 7 Avril, 1856.
that sands from other parts of the Brazil,

5

from the Ural, from Hindostan, and from
the Borneo have not been sent to this
savant.

CHAP.

tlie

NOTES OX THE

X.l

rocks in

but

tion,

tlie

^\liicli

DIA:srOXD.

diamonds occur

in

inn

tlieii'

primaiy posi-

secondary agglomerations of loose materials from

tlie

washed."
authors have mistaken the secondary for the primary

wliicli thej^ are

Many

The gangue, about Diamantma

formation of the diamond.

at

least, is the white and red, granular and quaiizose Itacolumite,
which has been weathered and worn down by geological commoThis was suspected by Dr. Gardner, who observed that
tions.*

the matrix of the stone

not the

is

''

the metamorphic quartzo-schist rock.

people

:

the general idea

fact is easily proved.

It is not

when

old,

soil,

unknown

that the hard sandstone

is

or psammitic grit bears diamonds

The

diluvial" gravelly

''

but

to the

pissarra

"

but not when new.

All the diggings which are not near

some stony mass.t Diamonds
have been found in the Itacolumite by several hands, and finally
I have sent to England a specimen embedded in Itacolumite.
Perhaps the dajMvill come when the rock will be spalled, stamped,
and washed for diamond- dust as if for gold.
Accordmg to miners in this part of the Brazil the best diamantaor in rivers, lie at the base of

tion (to borrow the native term)

is

found in the gurgulho, breccia,

or loose pudding of angular stones, t

how

wealth,

its

AVonderful tales are told of

the discover}- of five or six

pulling up a handful of grass

—the picturesque

gems was made by
detail has, since the

days of Potosi, become a fiivom-ite legend, and has ever been
carefully collected

by the popular

The

writer.

said to be "

choicest specimen

O

Pagao," at the head
The next best
waters of the Caethe-Mirim near Sao Jofio.
supply (Mancha de diamantes) comes from the " Cascallio,"
which has been compared ^^ith boiled beans of this the Pdo das
of a digging of this kind is

:

Pedras
at

is

an instance.

Sao Joao

is

the

''

The

barro

the others, mixed and degraded.

mind that the diamond grounds
mense as the Brazil. §
In tlie crystalline Itacolumite I have
not seen the diamond, but I can hardly
donbt that it exists there.
t So Tavernier, sj^eaking of the G-ani
under the King of
or Coulotir Mine,
""

where 60,000 soiils were emremarks, "The place where the
diamonds are found is a plain situated

Grolconda,
l^loyed,

we have visited
which seems to contam all

third habitat which

" formation,

It must, however, be borne in

greatly vary in a country so im-

between the town and the mountains, and
the nearer they ajiproach the latter the
larger stones they find."
t Castelnau (ii. 323) declares of the
diamond-diggings of Diamantino (Mato
jamais de diamant
(rrosso),
II n'y a
dans le gorgulho " (gurgulho).
§ Dr. Dayi'ell described it to me in the
'

'

"

"

THE HIGHLAKDS OF THE BRAZIL.

140

As

em

diamantes),

The

chief signs

various are the indices of diamonds (pinta

and almost every digging yields some novelty.*
of

[chap. x.

many

united

and their name

are here given in order of importance,

the

is

Formacao Diamantina, Diamantine formation.

Cattivo (the Slave), of old called

supposed to accompany

it,

^'

escravo do diamante," and

This

as the pilot-fish does the shark.

includes at Diamantina bits of transparent, semi-transparent, or

The

rusty quartz, silex, rock crystal, and especially spinelle.f
latter is transparent or semi-transparent,

octahedrons (Cattivo

and with tolerably regular facets (facetas) it
tinguished from the diamond by its want of fii'e and
oitavado),

;

The

hardness.

" Cattivo Preto," or black slave,

Titaniferous iron, and the miners believe that
quantities

it

inferior

when occurring

there, not that

it is

in

These

betrays the presence of black diamonds.

diamond may be

dis-

j)robably

is

Cattivos in places are found strewed over the ground
that the

is

they show

;

The same
The word is

there.

has been said of quartz, the ''flower of gold."

applied to very different formations.
Dr. Pohl translates it
" thonseisenstein," oxidised hydrate of iron or the limonite of

Bendant

(St. Hil. III.

that

the

at

Chapada

ii.

144).

SeiTa de Grao Mogor of Miuas Geraes, a
lode of soft sandstone, one foot broad, in
containing walls of hard Itacolunaite.
He
gave me a specimen of sand from Brocotii
or Brnciitu, near Cocaes, where spongy
nuggets of Jacntinga gold abound
it
contains a small diamond, a ruby, a
sapphire, and iron jijTitiferous as well as
specular.
The curious formation called
;

"Boart," and
to

say,

Minas

is
it

is

of

which

I shall

have more

At Diamantina of
unknown, and Bagagem pro-

also local.

duces small qi;antities.
It is found at
Sincora, the Diamantine Chain of Western
Bahia, and the largest supply is from the
Chapada of the latter Province. I have
remarked that in many places gold acconipanies the diamond.
Plato believed
that the diamond is the kernel of auriferous matter, its purest and noblest jDith,
condensed into a transparent mass.
Thus
also we may exjilain Pliny's statement that
" adamas " is a " nodosity of gold. " Itacolumite is also the matrix of the tojmz and
the ruby.
A specimen of the latter was
shown to me it was a small square stone
of tolerable water, but too light in colour,
not the real "pigeon's blood" of Asia.
Garnets are found in handfuls, but they
:

A

practical

Bahia

of

''

miner assured me
includes zoned

Cattivo "

are valueless.

* John

Mawe

(ii.

chap.

2)

describes

the diamond-accompanying substances as
" Un mineral de fer brilliant et pisifonne
(ferragem), vxn mineral schisteux silicieux
ressemblant h, la i)ierre indique
KieselSchiffer
de Werner (?), de I'oxide de fer
noir engrandequantite, desmorceauxroules
de quartz bleu, du cristal de roche jaunatre, et toutes sortes de mati^res entierement differentes de celles que Ton sait
etre contenues dans les montagnes voiCastelnau limits the "fonnasines."
Cattivo do diamante,
^ao " to three kinds
Pedra de Osso, and Pedra Rosea,
a
According to Taverviolet-coloured grit.
nier the Hindus judged the land diamantine when they " saw amongst it small
stones which very much resemble what we
'

'

—

call

" thunder

+ The
is,

stones.

Brazilian

I believe,

name

''Sarud. "

of this

Under

crystal

this word,

however, are probably included the hexahedrous fluor spar, corundum, and jDcrhaps
also certain titanates.

gests

Pliny's

The

description,

than a cucumber-seed, or
from it in colour.

chrysolite siig-

" never

larger

diiFei'ing

at all

XOTES OX THE DIAMOND.

CHAP. X.]

141

quartz, clirysolite, bits of magnetic iron ore, iron pyrites, and so
forth.

With

we must

Cattivo

associate

''

Siricoria," elongated prisms of

and Cymophane, Haiiy), of a faint
Amongst the Cattivos on
yellow-green, sometimes almost white.
the Sao Francisco River I found a large proportion of strawcoloured topazes,* with sharp angles, and readily leading to error.
Pinga d'agua (St. Hil. I. ii. 6, " Pingo de agua ") "drop of
water." It is applied to rounded and cylindrical pieces of every
some are white, others rusty
size from a pea to a pigeon's egg
chrysolite (Chiysoberil, Werner,

;

;

the drops are transparent, semi-transparent, opaque, or zoned.

and more especially
The small diamond-shaped stones are the
quartzum nobile.
most prized. With the Pinga d'Agua we must associate the balls
of quai-tz, called from their shape Ovos de Pomba, or " doves'
eggs," and the pedras de leite, " milk stones," rounded and waterwashed bits of silex calcedonius and agates. Both are clear and
diaphanous, dull and o^^aque, or zoned and prettily marked with

They

cornelian,

include

white

topaz,

concentric undulations.!

Fava, a stone shaped somewhat like a broad bean, and varymg
in size

from a pea to two inches in diameter.

jasper, blood-stone, or one of the

and

yelloAV

with

ii'on,

Many

quartz.

mam'

deep.:!:

a rule

varieties of wliite,

''favas," however,

one-half to two lines

As

The

it

is

brown,

are clay revetted

fava branca and the

fava roxa are sometimes of ^Dure silex or of crystallised quartz.

Several appear likely to supply good blood-stone for seal rings.
Feijao, a haricot-shaped stone, rounded and rolled.

It is also

mostly of tourmaline (Schorl) or hyalotourmaline, like that which accompanies the tin-mines of Cornwall.
The colom- ranges between dark gTeen and black, and the
of different sizes,

people believe

it

and

to

is

have been glazed by gTeat heat.§

"•

The Cattivos may be compared with
the Bristol or Irish diamonds so often
associated with bog-oak.
They have been
frequently taken to Europe, but with
little profit.
It is said that they break
when being cut.
" These
t Mr. Emmanuel (p. 126) says,
topazes (/. c, of ]\Iinas Greraes), found in
rounded

pebl)les,

coloiu'less,

or

'

ai-e

perfectly pure

and are termed

gouttes d'eau

;

'

'

and

pingas d'agoa

'

they are also termed

Nova Minas (?),
The Portuguese call
them 'slave diamonds.'" Here there is
CA-idently a

confusion between the quaii;-

" pinga d'agiia " and the crystal
"Cattivo." The term " Minas Novas " is
taken from John Mawe (ii. chap. 3.)
J :Mai-umbe, or Pedra de Capote,
§ I believe that the feijao is sometimes
zose

of jade,

axe-stone, nephritis or nephrite,

"the
because used by Hindus against
pain of the kidnej-s. " The aborigines of
the Brazil employed it as labrets and other
oniaments, and made their hatchets of
this fine apple-gi-een mineral, which is
known to be soft when first taken from
the quany, and to become tough and
compact l)y exposui-e to the atmosphere.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

142

Caboclo, mentioned by Dr. Couto

and explained

Ferrum

(p. 64) as

[chap. X.

Pedras Cabocolas,

and rubrum, red with dark
name from
stains (mesclas).
It is compact, and
the dull yellow tmge caused by oxide of iron.
The surface is i)olished and lustrous, as
feebly scratches glass.
if it had been in contact with excess of caloric
the usual colour is
of dark or light yellow, opaque, and verging on brown
and there
is no pecuUarity of shape except that the fragments are mostly flat.
There are many varieties of the Caboclo. The C. Oitavado is that
which has angles. The C. bronzeado, common in the Barra da
Lomba, is dark yellow. The C. Comprido is an elongated bit of
The C. Eoxo is a compact red sandstone, possibly altered
jasper.
by heat. The C. Yermelho, common in the Caethe-Mirim, is
to be

Siniiis

This jasper or petrosilex takes its

;

;

apparently cinnabar.

Esmeril,* in shape resembling the

feijao, is mostly oxydulated
According to the miners, some stones contain eighty to

iron.

Of

ninety per cent, of metal.
varieties.

this stone, also, there are

The Esmeril Caboclo has

a dull j^ellow tinge.

many
The
The

E. preto, in Gardner's opinion, is a kind of tourmaline.
E. lustroso is almost pure iron, often welded by heat to a fine
breccia it sometimes resembles a black diamond, but it is amorphous. The E. de agulha is a long, thin strip of iron-stone.
Ferragem, or Pedra de Ferragem, is either flat, bean-shaped,
nodular, or rounded like a bullet.
It is mostly of ohgistic or
specular iron, of dark purple or lustrous black. I have seen some
specimens which are iron pj^ites, and others are bullets of silex,
making good touchstones of velvet-black colour.
Pedra de Santa Anna, squares and cubes of magnetic iron that
;

aftects the needle.

The name

is

also applied to copper pyrites^

and this is often found degraded to a mere sand.
Osso de Cavallo, t '' horse's bone," which it resembles in aj^pearance and consistence.
The shape is long or round like an
osseous fragment, and it appears to be pure sandstone (granular
Itacolumite ?) which has long been buried,
Palha de arroz, "rice straw," a fragment of light j^ellow sublustrous chlorite, slate or hardened clay-slate, resembUng a
cucumber- seed.
'"

Not Isnihim, as OastcliiaU

178).

"

L' oxide noir

dc

cmeri," says John Mawe
8pix and Martins explain

"Eisenghmz."

fer,
(i.

the

Write.s

(ili.

appelc
cliap.

word

ici

12).
l>y
'

+
Tlii^j

rctlra

"

fic

founded

witli

" horse-hoof, "
its

O.sso

hortic-bonc "

name.

(Castcluaii,

ii.

olio).

must not be ecuthe " Pe de Cavallo" or
a yellow jasper, which merits

.

NOTES OX THE BIx^MOXL).

CUAP. X.]

143

AguUia, or Aoullia de Cascallio, Titanic iron, in bundles or in
single needles.

Casco de tellia, cinnabar or reddish
showing mica and talc.

clay, yellow inside,

and

Pissarra folliada, schists of different colours,^ var3'ing from a
dull yellow white to black.

Pedra Pururucu, a light-coloured

''
The following uote is taken from
the valuable paper of M. Damour (Soc.
Geol. p. 542, April 7, 1856), describing
the cUaniantiterous sands sent to him from
The numbers show the formations
Bahia.
which occur most frequently,
Quartz (the yellow is the
1. Hyalin
occidental topaz, the blue is the

Itacolumit^s,

This substance
it is indistinguished
fusible by the blow-pipe, consists
of
little
needles or thin-bladed
crystals, the edges are rounded by
rubbing, and the coloui-s are pearlgrey, light blue and pale-green.
Zircon or Hyacinth, also found in the
This
auriferous soil of California.
silicate shows well-preserved crysin
tals more than a millimetre
diameter it occurs in squares and
prisms ending in four-sided pyramids, with the angles and crests
sometimes modified.
!^ome arc
coloiu'less, othei-s are lirown, yellow, violet, or clear red.
Felspar, in rare water-rolled fragments
of reddish matter, cleavable in two
directions, which ineet
at right
angles.
It is not affected by acids,
but is fusible before the l)low-pipe.
^Melted with cai'bonate of soda it
proves to be composed of silica,
alumina, and a little oxide of
iron, with probably some alkaline

Disthene or Cyanite.
ea,sily

;

:

earth.
2.

lied

Garnet (almandine

nitre,

shows manganese by assum-

ing a dark violet tinge.
!Mica.

Tounnaline (green and black.)
Hyalo-tourmaliue (feijao).
Density,
3*082,

scratches

or

precious

garnet).

Slanganesian CTarnet (spessartiue or
Density, 4 "16.
deep red garnet).
In dodecahedral rhomboids, very
small bright crystals of a topaz yellow.
The blow-pipe fuses it to
a ghi.ss which becomes black and
opaque in the oxidizing flame.
The glass made with salt of phosphorus (microcosmic salt\
and
heated to redness with a little

glass

feebly.

Under the microscope it looks like
a number of small needles crossing
one another
The dust

occidental sapphire).

Jasper and Silex.

is

friable grit.*

the fracture is fibrous.
of
greenish grey.
Heated in a glass tube it disengages a little water: melted with
borax, it gives a reaction of iron,
and before the blow-pipe it swells
and fuses to a brownish black or
dark green scoria, which, after
being subjected to burning charcoal,
becomes slightly magnetic.
The
scoria can be decomposed by boiling
:

is

and biu-nt in
;
gives a green flame, showboracic acid.
Analysis also

in siilphuric acid

alcohol

ing

it

yields silica, titanic acid, alumina,
magnesia, a trace of lime, soda,
water and volatile matter. It differs
from black tourmaline only by the
presence of water and titanic acid.
Talc.

Hydrous jihosphate

of alumina, or

Wa-

Density, 3 '14 in
Diamantina and Abaete, and colour
a coftee lirown.
Density, 3*19 in
Bahia ; tint rosy or brick-red, and

vcllite (Caboclo).

shape rounded galets.
Composiphosphoric acid, alumina,
a little lime, barj-tes, oxide of
iron, and 12 to 14 per cent, of water.
Phosphate of white yttria, which J.l.
tion,

Damour previously called Hydrophosphate. Before the blow-pipe it
liecomes white without fusing
the
;

lustre is tlie fat adamantine,

and

the colour white or pale j^ellow
it
scratches fluorine and is scratched
:

by a steel point.
The iiTegular
and rounded fragiuents have a
double cleavage leading to a rectangular or slightly oblique prism.
One incomplete crystal showed a

pyramid

Avith foiir faces,

two largo

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

144

As regards shape
most regular. The

the rule

is

[chap, X.

that the smaller stones are the

larger specimens

seem

to

have no constant

form or crystallisation; they are round, flat, or elongated, and
generally truncated abruptly at one end, as if a j^iece were wantThe facets, which when cut appear flat and even, are, in
ing.
the natural stone, concave, convex, or rounded hence the Abbe
:

may

Hatiy observed that the component molecules
Wallerius (quoted by

tetrahedra.

M.

be regular

Caire) assigns to the

diamond

three shapes, the octahedron, the plane, and the cube.*

normal form of the diamond, here

as elsewhere, is the regular
iVom the diamond by inferior hardness
and reactions before the
blow-pipe.
It becomes opaque,
brown and reddish after an epigene, which converts it wholly or
partially to nitile.
These transformed crystals are holloAv, and
composed of a multitude of needles
Avhich cross in all directions.
Hydrated titanic acid ; of this substance no quantitative analysis wa-s
The whitish yellow conmade.
cretional matter crepitates strongly,
and disengages water in a glass

and clean with an angle of incidence at the summit, amounting to
96° 35'
the two others, narrow
and miiTory (miroitantes), had
;

the angle of 98° 20', whilst that of
the neighbouring facets was 124°
23' 30".

Phosphate
tria,

titaniferous

of

])reviously
silica

yttria,

termed silicate of ythaving been confounded

it
Density, 4 "39
it is ojoaquc
feebly scratches glass

with zirconium.

:

;

cinnamon

and of
rounded

The

brown.

grains are pierced wdth
in
holes ;
it
is
also
surface
with
octahedrons,
square-based
Boilfacets like those of zircon.
ing sulphuric acid decomposes it,

tube

7.

Iron,

rolled

grains

having the
entirely

from

crystal

comj^osed

rutile

type.
of titanic

It

Iron, oxydulated (Esmerih)

Iron, oligist (rhombohedral,
Iron, hydroxydated.

Mercury, with suli)luir
heated in a
glass tube it gives a black sublimate.

iron.

;

11.

Gold, free.

49) says, "The
generally found in
octahedral, the Brazilian in dodecahedral
* Mr.

Indian

Density, 4*06
octahedrons, transparent or
.^tmi -transparent, and distinguished
;

six-faced

Iron, yellow with sulphur.
Tin, oxide of.

a

(titane).

O^).

prisms).

The only specimen examined was

l>right,

4 '82.

Ta

;

8.

is

in Wales.

8 (Ti O^,

9.

in

striated along the
flat prism
major axis and ending in the
dihedron, like the formations found

reddish

the fracture has
a semi-metallic histre, and the dust
dark olive-green.
The black grains
are almost all water-rolled ; a few
crystals show rhomboidal oblique
prisms of 123°.

10.

differing

-f

It scratches glass

or

cations.

Brookite,

is

Density,

titaniferous.

Formula, 3 Fe

;

small

the dust

;

brown.

and water when this is disengaged
by the blow-pipe, it becomes opaque
and milky white.
in

sulphur

of

;

regular crystals

quadrangular prisms, with stria3
along the major axis, ending in
a foiir-sided pyramid with modifi-

salt

Avith

scratches glass.
Baierine, or Columbite (Niobate of
iron)
in flat striated and often

lina.

Anatase

and

black amorphous substance, which

This
white residuum.
is found in the auriferous
sands of Georgia and North Caro-

Rutile,

;

gives reactions of titanic acid.
Tantalate.
Density, 7 '88 ; it is a
it

leaving a
substance

alumina.
Diaspore, or hydrate of
Density, 3 '464; composed of bright
crystalline blades of greyish wdiite,
The
resembling certain felspars.
composition is alumina, ferric acid,

The

Emmanuel

diamond

crystals."

is

(p.

NOTES ON THE DIAMOND.

CHAP. X.]

145

octahedron (Adamas octahedrus turbinatus of Wallerius), composed of two four-sided and equilateral pyramids, springing from a

common base. This is called the Diamante de piao, and it loses
much in cutting. With this i^rimarj are found the modified
forms, the hexahedron or cube, the dodecahedron (twelve rhombic

pyramidal hexagon (tetrakis-hexahedron of twentj^-four
and others. When the table and the culet of the funda-

faces), the
faces),

worn

down, the octahedron becomes a
decahedron the abrasion of two other points or angles (quinas)
makes it a dodecahedron, a geometrically allied form, but
approaching the si)heroidal, and w^hen two other edges at the
mental

system

are

;

pyramid disappear, it will number
These rounded stones (tesselladas or boleadas,
fourteen facets.
Adamas hexahedrus tabellatus of Wallerius) are locally known as
the primeira formula, and they are preferred by the trade, as they
There are all manner of derivations
lose least by lapidation.
from the normal octahedi'on and dodecahedron, as the flat
and triangular hemi-hedral, or half-sided diamans hemiodres
girdle or base of the double

macles, the effect of secondary cleavage, called diamantes

forma de chapeo

(hat-shaped)

;

these

tetrahedrons (four-sided) are pjTamidal,
vertices are acute.

There are

find
little

em
The

no fi\vom\

valued when the

also diamantes rolados (water-

rolled stones, reboludos, M. Jay), which lose all their ''pointfes
naives ; " these are held, when round and oval, to be a good form.

They may, when

elongated, explain Pliny's "two cones united at
"
the base;
they are often covered with o^^aque crust, and rugged
like gi'ound glass

in this state they are not to be distmguished,

;

power of scratching softer substances, from the
Pinga d'agua. Some of the latter, on the other hand, especially
when of pure opaque quartzum nobile, so much resemble the
gem in its " brut " or rough state, that many an inexperienced
man has lost his time and his money.
The form of the diamond gi'eatly influences the price, and thus
it is that the merchant makes his profit.
He pays for size,
w^eight, and water
he gains by the shape. Purchasers on a large
scale have boxes of metal plates pierced with holes, and acting
Those shown to me were in sets of nineas sieves (crivos).
teen, and bore upon them the mark of Linderman and Co.,
Amsterdam.
The diamond greatly varies in colour. Those mostly prized
except by

theii'

;

VOL.

II.

u

*

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

146

[chap. x.

are nitid as silver plates, clear as dew-drops, lively and showing

the true diamantine lustre.
''

oxide are called

All that are deeply tinted with

fancy " or coloured stones.

A

light yellow is

very common, and detracts from the value ; the decidedly yellow,
the amber-colom^ed, and the brown are worse. The rose-tinted

and much admired, the red are seldom seen. At
Diamantina I was shown a fine green specimen, but the price
The black or rather steel-coloured diamond
was enormous.*
being very rare, and rather curious than beautiful, is valued by
museums as the shape is often a good double pyramid, it should
be mounted uncut, f The dead-white is not prized, and the same
may be said of all '^ false colours," especially the milky and
undetermined tints. The violet is still, I believe, unknown. I
heard of blue diamonds, and many of those brought from Caetheare rare

;

Mii'im are coloured superficially with a greenish-blue coating.

This and the various oxides of iron must be removed by burning
The *' Duro " stones are
at a loss of about one per cent.t
distinguished by a light green colour, crusting sometimes thickly
Tavernier learned in India that the
outside, but they cut white.
colour of the diamond follows that of the soil in which it is dug
red if it be ruddy, dark when the ground is damp and marshy,
and so forth. This has been copied into om^ popular books.
To discover the flaws so frequent in diamonds, the purchaser
has several simple contrivances, such as to breathe upon the
^ !Mr. Emmarixiel relates a case of

£300

having lately been paid for a diamond of
vivid gi-een colour, weighing 4 J gi'ains
had it been of the normal colour the value
"Until lately,"
would have been £22.
the people of Golconda
says Tavernier,
made no difficulty in buying diamonds,
;

'

'

externally of gi'een colour, because when
cut they appear white and of a very fine
water."
+ "One (diamond) was jet black, a
colour that not unfi'equently occurs."
Thus says Mr. Gardner (chapt. 13), speaking of the " Serro " formation.
I have
only seen one in the Brazil, and that was

brought from Rio Yerde of Sao Paulo by
my friend Dr. Augusto Tiexeira Coimbra.
he drojipcd it from
It came to a bad end
his waistcoat jjocket, and it was swallowed
by a fowl. In rich and new districts the
:

crojjs of all

poultry when killed are carefully

examined, and are often found to contain
diamonds another j^roof, if wanted, that
the gem is not poisonous.
Possibly this

—

may

explain tlie fable believed by Marco
Polo in the middle of the thirteenth
centnry
"Such as search for diamonds
watch the eagles' nests, and when they
leave them, pick up such little stones, and
search likewise for diamonds among the
eagles' dung."
Hence too " El Sindibad of
the Sea " (Sindbad the Sailor), whose adventures are a curious mixture of fact

—

distorted to fable.

+ At the Chapada
are

placed

"w-ith

of

Bahia the gems

saltpetre

in

a crucible

and kept over the fire,
usually for about a quarter of an hour:
this, however, is a " kittle " point.
When
sufiiciently roasted to have lost the oxide
which

is

closed

of iron or the earth colour, the stones are
throwTi into cold Avater, and of course they
are found to have lost a little weight,
Heating the diamond and then throwing it
into cold water was a Hindu test of soundThese
ness and freedom from flaws.
crusted stones, according to John Mawe,
genei-ally cut well.

f"

CHAP.

NOTES ON THE DIAMOND.

X.]

147

and deficiencies of colour appear ; or to
place it in the palm of the hand, and to look thi'ough it towards
The Jaga (in French
the light, turning it in all directions.*
stone, wlien defects

Gi\T.'e,

or Gercure)

colour, such as is

is

a shallow line or speck, often of a dark

seen in crystallized quartz

it is

;

also a semi-

opaque imperfection, which we call "milk," or ''salt." The
Natura (glace) is a want of continuity, or a void where the planes
meet ; the Kacha is a fissm'e, or vein and the Falha is a serious
In cutting
fractm'e, where two flaws join as if cemented together.
these flaws they open out, and the diamond is spHt (estalado).
The " ponto " is a strange body which has entered mto the
Grains of sand have been observed in the
cr}^stallization.
diamond by many writers. I heard of a stone which contained a
spangle of gold, and the same peculiarity has before been noticed.
This formation shows the comparative date of the stone, whose
crystaUizations of carbon, or protoxide of carbon, must have
arranged themselve's round the metal and favoui's theu' opinion
who beheve with Brewster, that the diamond, hke coal, is originally vegetable matter which has passed through Nature's
crucible.
A stone was lately fomid at Bagagem, with a loose
piece nailed (cravado) as it were into the body of the gem
a
"
similar
implantation of crystal " was suspected in that celebrated stone the '' Estrella do Sul."
The flawed diamond
;

;

;

generally is

may

called

''fundo."

Possibly

many

of these defects

be removed, and tradition dimly records that the Comte de

who have

Saint Germain, and others

had mastered the art.
The diamond-merchant

displayed

in the Brazil

still

immense wealth,

cleaves to the old

system of money-weights, introduced by the Portuguese in the
* The Hindus tried the goodness of the
diamond by cutting one with another, and
if the powder was grey or ash-coloui-ed, it
was held sufficient test, " for all other precious stones, except the diamond, afford a
powder." (A Description of the

white

—

Coasts of Malabar and
Philip Baldasus, 1670.)

by
They also examined them by night, and judged of the
water and clearness by holding them between the fingers and looking through them
Coromandel,

at a large-wicked lami^ placed in a wallniche.

f

" Nous y avons constate des paillettes
says M.
Charles Barbot (Traite

d'or,"

Complet des Pierres Precieuses).

He

the flaws caused by metallic molecules,
" crapauds. "
M. Damoiir, speaking of
" boart," remarks, " Des paillettes d'or
sont quelquefois implantees dans les cavites
de certains morceaux de ces diamants.
Sir J. Herschel (Phys. Greog. 291) quotes
M. Harting, who in 1854 "describes a
diamond from Bahia, including in its sub
stance differently formed crystalline filaments of iron pyi-ites a fact unique in its
kind, and, taken in conjunction with the
affinities of iron and carbon at high temperatures, likely to throw some light on the
very obscure subject of the ultimate origin

—

of this

gem."

calls

L 2

—

—

—

,

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

148

The

days of colonial ignorance.
especial

diamond weight * but
;

Brazil

lias,

[chap. x.

ourselves, an

lil^e

and amongst miners,

practically,

one hears of nothing but ''grain" and " oitava."

Quilate, or

Thus, in selUng ''fancy" or coloured

carat,! is not popular.

stones, such as the blue, green, rose, or j^ellow-coloured, the old
said, for instance, " eighty grains," not

French lapidaries

" twenty

carats."

The

following

=

Dezreis

1

a complete

is

list

of weights

:

is the lowest of all weights
becomes "fazenda fina," or diamond

grain (0-892 gr. Troy). This

below this

all

dust.

=

Vintem

2 grains (2-25 Portuguese)

Vintem
writes)

Meia-pataca

=16

Meia oitava
Cruzado

=

Sello

Oitava

32 grains
45 grains

=
=
=

Above four

grains

=

20 reis

=

|

a carat.

The

(plural Vintens, not Vinteis as St. Hilaire

the unity of measure.

is

reis = 8 vintens.
= 320 reis =16 vintens.
= '400 reis (an old weight).

=160

480 reis (quite obsolete).
64 grains J (72 grs. Portuguese)
= 32 vintens =16 carats.

vintens, the

diamond

is

=

640

reis

=

17'44 carats

Many

considered large.

miners have dug all their lives without finding a stone that
exceeds twenty vintens.
The most useful size is probably six
vintens or three carats.

The

known

smaller stones are

in the

trade as " pedra de dedo," stone of the finger, because they can

upon them. The "cuberta" is
of the larger gems
e.g., " Partida (parcel) de

be raised by pressing the

when

the lot consists

tip

;

diamantes que tem cuberta."
* The Brazilian measures (found in books) are
Lisbon lb.

4 grains
6 quilates

Our diamond

1 quilate (carat)

=

1

t The word

J^LJ
^^

escrupulo (scruple)

=

=
=
=
=

grain

=

1 carat

=

1

458 "92 grammes.
= 0-199

=

1-218

1-195

1

O'S grains Troy.
3-2
,

ounce Troy (8 oitavas, or 256 vintens).

1 pound,

carat

is

derived fiom the

(Klrat),
the
/» through
&
V

Greek

the small, red, blacktipped bean of the Abrus precatorius, a
tree probably indigenous to Hindostan, but
which has migrated to Eastern Africa,
where it grows wild. Mr. Emmanuel (p. 55)
says, "The origin of the carat weight is
Kepi^TLou.

=

scale is

16 parts
4 grains
151-50 carats
16 ounces
Arabic

=

Brazilian Custom-house lb.

233 '81 grammes.
= 0-203

It

is

from the Arabic word

'

Kuara,' the

name

of

*^^
,^,
^}^''\\%f''^'}^^
on f^'^
i\^Q Q-o]j "^^^'^l^^'f^
The
Coast of Africa
(?).
" Kuara" of Bruce grew upon a region adjoining the Red Sea.
The Hindu equivalent is the Rati (Ruttee), which Tavernier
makes = |ths of the carat
3^ grains,
60 grains
Z Some make the oitava

f

=

=

English.

NOTES ON THE DIAMOND.

CHAP. X.]

Of

the price of diamonds

late years,

149

the world over has

all

In 1750-4, when David Jeffries wrote,
and
si)read brilliant of one carat was worth
a perfectly white
£S; it now fetches from ^17 to 56I8.* The reason is easily

prodigiously increased.

found.

The

influx

of gold

has raised the

price

of

stones.

The market has greatly extended f in the United States, for
instance, these gems are eagerly sought by those who have made
;

money.

And

lastly,

in unsettled countries, as the Orient has

and wherever poHtical troubles threaten, the
diamond is used " en cas," or " en tout cas " its extreme portability
the fact that its currency is nearly at par all the world
over and the difficulty of destroying it, raise it to the category
In the Brazil, as in the Atlantic
of a coin of the highest value. |
cities of the United States, where every one that can afford
them, even hotel waiters and nigger minstrels, wear diamonds in
rings and shirt fronts, demand has produced the same result,
which is, moreover, exaggerated by the want of slave hands, and

long

proved,

;

—
—

by the exhaustion of the superficial deposits. Thirteen years
ago the oitava sold for 320 $ 000 now it fetches from 800 $ 000
In 1848,
to 1:000 $000, nearly three times its former value. §
dming the European convulsion, the price of brilliants at Baliia
was reduced to fifty per cent. but the market lost no time in
recovering itself.
Castelnau (ii. 345) predicts that at the end of
the present century the diamond will be worth onty twenty per
;

;

!|

*

A

"specimen stone" will

rise to

£20

or £21.

t

'
'

Good diamonds of three
$3500 to $4000.

to four carats then sold for

Amid

the sumptuous articles which

distinguish the Russian nobility, none,
perhaps, is more calculated to strike a
foreigner than the profusion of diamonds,"
says Cose, writing in 1802.
California,
after 1848, developed the demand for dia-

monds

rose above 200.

United States.
During the
ten years following 1819 the various customhouses registered a rise from an annual
average of $100,000 to about $1,000,000.
The duty was kept as low as 1 per cent, to
discoui-age smuggling
but it was paid,
they calcidated, by something less than
one-sixth of the imi^ortation.
The stones
are mostly small, weighing under the half
carat, and jewellers ask 2.5 per cent, more
than in Paris. A good article on " Diamonds
and other Grems " (Harper's New Monthly,
February, 1866) declares "it is doubtful
whether there is any diamond in the United
in the

;

States of over twelve carats in weight. " It
marked advance in price took
place between 1863 and 1864, when gold

states that a

Finally, it assures us that

'
'

ninetj' -nine

out

diamonds sold in the
United States are what are called brilliants,"
as opposed to the rose, the table, and the
every hundi'ed

of

brilliolette.

J Thus only can we explain the

fact that
noble but reduced families have sent
their diamonds from Hindostan, the very
home of the diamond, to Europe, and have
brought them back because they could find
On
a better market in the older countiy.
the other hand, the general style of East
Indian cutting, making the gem lustreless
and glassy from want of depth, injures it in
public esteem.
I have seen a fine stone
placed like a bit of crystal over a portrait,
and even thus it was valued at £1000,
§ In 1867-8 the fall of the milreis has
produced other comijlications in the diamond trade of the Brazil. At the present
moment (July 28, 1868) the oitava may
average 1 000 $ 000 at Rio de Janeiro,
During the first French Revolution,

many

:

||

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

150

cent, of its value in

1800.

[chap. X.

I venture to say that, unless the

stone can be manufactured, the reverse will approach nearer to

the truth.

diamond, Nature preserves her regular prothe small are comparatively numerous, and the larger
portions
stones are progressively rarer. In rough diamonds, the ratio of
Thus, supposing
value more than doubles with the weight.
and one
a stone of one vintem to be worth 18 $000 to 20 $000

In

j)roclucing the
;

;

of 16 vintens wiH fetch 400 g 000 to 500 g 000 when the oitava is
at 1 000 $ 000. At Bahia the price is thus ascertained. Assuming,
for instance, the unworked stone to be worth £2 per carat, the
worth of a heavier diamond is known by doubling the square of
For worked
the weight (e. g,, 2 carats x 2 = 4 x 2 = d68.)
multiply
and
by 2 ; for
stones, double the weight, square it,
:

instance, 2 carats

x2 = 4x4 = 16x2= ^£32.

Lieut. -Colonel Brant gave

me

the following

list

of prices in

brute stones, showing that the value at Diamantina differs

Diamonds, I should remark, are divided
of pricing into first, second, and third waters.

from that of England.
for facility

little

Grain diamonds*

—

CHAP.

NOTES

X.]

The

0:N

the DIAMOND.

151

curious substance called by the English ''boart"* and

by the French ''boort" and *' diamant concretionne," that is to say having no cleavage, and by the Brazilians
" carbonato," was formerly valueless. In 1849 it became worth
from one to two francs -per carat, and now it fetches 56 $000 per
It is supposed to be the connecting link between carbon
oitava.
and diamond; its hardness is that of the true gem, and its
The granular amorspecific gravity ranges from 3*012 to 3*600.
phous mass appears under the microscope distinctly crystalline,
in fact an aggregate of granules or lamellas of diamond
In some si^ecimens
analogous to a grit of quartzose sand.
are cellular canities like pumice, empty or full of sand, and geodes
It is
lined with small regular crystals of colourless diamond.
black and lustreless, and when burnt it leaves a residue of clay
and other substances. This " diamond- carbon" accompanies the
diamond in sandstone and in cascalho it appears in angular and
rounded galets the irregular lumps bemg often as large as a
walnut. Castelnau speaks of a piece weighing more than a pound.
*'

graphite,"

t

;

;

I have heard of 2: 500 $000 (^250) being paid for a single frag-

When "boart"

ment.
find if

it

be

is

full or hollow.

of large size
It is

it is

known by

generally broken to

the great weight, by

diamond-like coldness in the hand, by the sharp peculiar
sound when bits are scratched and rubbed together. The miners
sometimes steep it in vinegar, as we do lard in water, to augment
the weight, and it so resembles a piece of common magnetic or
its

13}Titic

ii'on

ore that

without great care the best judges are

The larger stones often remain on hand
circumstances of buyer and seller, and so forth.
I have heard of a Brazilian gentleman who
years before they find a purchaser.
expended nearly all his property in buying a " great bargain," in the shape of a diamond,
of which he has never been able to dispose. The larger stones are always sold singly.
Tavernier gives the following nile for estimating their value
15 carats (imperfect stone)
15 carats (perfect stone)

many

:

15

15

225
150 (value
33,750

225
of a single carat)

livres.

* Wonderful to relate, the diamond merchants of Bahia could not agree upon the
meaning of "boart," which books apply as
One of the oldest and most
in the text.
experienced insisted that it was the cheapest
and worst kind of perfectly crystallised

diamond, worn by attrition into spherical
globules, like shot grains,
This kind is

80 (value of the single carat)
18,000 livres.
mostly unfit to be cut, and when crushed
the dust is used for polishing gems and for
engraving on hard stones.
+ Graphite is usually applied to the pure
debitumenised carbon found in the Laurentian, and associated with anthracite in the

Cambrian systems.

Its vegetable origin
not thoroughly established.

is

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

152

[chap. x.

and used principally in diamond cutting.
Drills pointed mtli this mineral have, I am told, been employed
with great success in driving tunnels through hard rock.
Of tliis little known substance three kinds are distinguished by
The worst is the "Carbonato;" a finer kind with
the trade.
deceived. *

It is x^ounded

better formed crystals is the ''Torre," which fetches 60 $000 per
oitava ; the best occurs in small rounded balls of shining metallic

appearance, and

80 $000 per

is

therefore called "Balas," this

oitava. t

may

rise to

Some Chapadista miners have not

yet

learned to sort the varieties.

The

Brazilian diggings have produced

some

large

and valuable

gems, which have all been sent out of the country.
The Braganza diamond was worn by D. Joao VI., who had
a passion for precious stones, and possessed about ^3,000,000

Now

amongst the crown jewels of Portugal, it was
Authors
extracted in 1741 from the mine of Caethe Mirim.t
differ touching its weight, § and no drawing of it has, I beUeve,
been published it is supposed to be larger than a hen's egg, and
value.

in

;

has long laboured under the suspicion of being a fine white
often counterthe Brazil, as elsewhere,
topaz, a stone which

it

m

feits

|I

the diamond.

* The boart or carbonate, however, has
is tried by striking

no attractive power. It
it between two copper

coins,

and

if

it

breaks or does not dint the metal, it is
held valueless.
+ Dr. Dayi-ell gave me a specimen of
"boart" from Sincora. It much resembled
The substance is
pyi-itiferous iron-sand.
found in pieces varying from one gi-ain to
I have heard it called
half an oitava.
*'bolo redondo," and was told that the
colour is sometimes of an opaque white.
t M. Barbot specifies the place as the
little river "Malho Verde," in the vicinity
ef *' Cay-de-Merin,"
§ John Mawe and the Abbe Reynal
make the weight 1680 carats (12^ French
Rome de I'lsle, who estimated its
ounces).
value at 7 milliards 500 million francs,
gives 11 ozs. 3 gros. and 24 grains of gold
weight.
M, FeiTy says 1730 carats, esti'006 less
mating the Brazilian carat at
Mr, Emmanuel gives
than the European.
it 1880 carats in p. 78, and 1680 in p. 128,
the former being probably a misprint.
Mr, St. John (Forests of the Far East,
vol. i. 48) mentions a noble in Brunei who
for £1000 offered a diamond about the size
of a pullet's egg, which proved to be a
II

pinkish topaz,
In reading these two pleasant and instmctive volumes I con Id not but regret
that the author had not given us an account
of the celebrated diamantation of Borneo.
In old authors we find that the sands of the
" Succadan" River produced fine stones of
white and lively water, but that the Queens
of Borneo would not allow strangers to
We remember, too, that in
export them.
Borneo was found, in 1760, the largest
The weight was 367
diamond known.
It caused a war of
carats = 1130 gi-ains.
nearly thirty years' duration, and it remained with the original possessor, the

The island, with its
of Mattam,
core of givanite and syenite which protrude
in the vast mountain mass known as Kina

Rajah

Balu, the " Chinese Widow, " through the
secondary limestones and sandstones, much
We read also of the
resembles the Brazil.
pot holes washed by sand-water, the gravels,
and the rocky streams which characterise
There are curious
a diamantine country.
resemblances in minor points. For instance,
the people of the Sulus Islands keep their
small stores of seed-pearls in hollow bamThese are the " Pequas," so well
boos.
known to the Brazilian mine-owner.

—

NOTES ON THE DIAMOND.

CHAP. X.]

153

was found in 1791, and the circumstances
of the discovery are related by John Mawe, M. F. Denis and
Three men convicted of capital offences, Antonio da
others.
Sousa, Jose Fehs Gomes, and Thomas da Sousa, when exiled to
the far west of Minas, and forbidden under pain of death to enter
a city, wandered about for some six years, braving cannibals and
Whilst washmg for gold in
search of treasui'e.
wild beasts,
the Abaete River, which was then excej)tionall3^ dry, they hit upon
this diamond, weigliing nearly an ounce (576 grains = 14^
They trusted to a priest, who, despite the severe laws
carats), t
against diamond washers, led them to Villa Rica and submitted
the stone to the Governor of Minas, whose doubts were dissipated

The Abaete*

brilliant

m

by a special commission. The priest obtained several i^rivileges
and the malefactors their pardon, no other reward being mentioned.
A detachment was at once sent to the Abaete River,
which proved itself rich, but did not offer a second similar prize, t
D. Joao VI. used to wear this stone on great occasions attached
to a collar.

The "Estrella do Sul" briUiant was found in July, 1853, at
Bagagem of Minas Geraes by a negress. § In the rough state it
weighed 254^ carats. The owner parted with it for 30 contos
at the Bank of Rio de Janeiro it was presently
(£3,000)
deposited for
300 to 305 contos, when it was worth
;

£2,000,000 to £3,000,000. After being cut by the proprietors,
Messrs. Coster of Amsterdam, it was reduced to 125 carats, and

now

it

belongs, I believe, to the

perfectly pure

and white,

gems extant.
The Chapada

its

Pacha of

*'fii'e"

Eg}3)t.

renders

it

Though not

one of the

finest

1|

*

M.

of Bahia also produced a stone weighing 76|-

(427) calls the Abaete dia-

Biiril

mond *'0 Regente."
+ In some books the
1384 carats

;

weight

in others it

is

is

made

given at
213.

+ This stream has already been men-

The diamond was described by
John Mawe as octahedral in shape, weighing seven-eighths of an ounce Troy, and
tioned.

perhaps the largest in the world. It passed
through the hands of the Viceroy, and was
sent in a fi-igate to the Prince Regent.
§

A

story far too long to tell here belongs

do Sul, which appeared at
our Grreat Exhibition in 1851.
Exceptionally, for few diamonds with names can
make such boast, it has caused no bloodto the Estrella

even the finder was not murdered
Of
only ruined, and died broken-hearted.
the score or two of persons who made fortunes by the discovery, Casimiro (de Tal),
whose negress (not a negro, as the writer in
shed

;

"Harper's"

says) brought

it

to

him

in

order to obtain her freedom, was the only
one disappointed.
M. S. Dulot (France et Bresil, Paris,
1857), p. 20, seems to confound the "Star
of the South," which was found in 1853,
with the " Braganza," dating from 174:1.
]\Ir. Emmanuel (p.
61) rightly makes the
Eitrella do Sul the largest found in "the
||

Brazils."

154

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

[chap. x.

and when cut into a drop-sliaped brilliant it proved to
It was bought by
possess extraordinary play and lustre.
Mr. Arthur Lyon, of Bahia, for 30 contos, and it is now, I am
told, in the possession of Mr. E. T. Dresden.
Briefly to conclude.
As yet the Diamantine formations of the
Brazil have been barely scratched, and the works have been com2)ared with those of beavers.
The rivers have not been turned,
the deej) pools (po9os or po9oes) above and below the rapids,
where the great deposits must collect, have not been explored,
even with the diving helmet; the dry method of extraction,
long ago known in Hindostan, is still here unknown. All is conducted in the venerable old style of the last century, and the
fiend Routine is here more deadly than Bed Tape in England.
The next generation will work with thousands of arms du'ected
by men whose experience in mechanics and hydraulics will enable
them to economize labour and it is to be hoped that the virgin
gem-bearmg waters will be washed up-stream.
This was the
Diamantine
Regulation.
Unforsensible provision of the old
tunately it came too late, when the channels had been choked
with rubbish which was hardly worth removing.
carats,

;

CHAPTER XL
FROM BOM SUCCESSO TO THE COROA DO GALLO.
THE SACO OR PORTO DOS BURRINHOS. INDEPEXDEXCE DAY. — THE " CACHOEIRA DO PICAO." THE LAPA DOS URUBtJS. THE BURITY PALM. SILENT

—

—

—

—

BIRDS.
" Cette partie
livree a

cesser."

un

—

si

importante de I'economie publique, en un mot demeure encore
que le gouvemement ne peut trop s'empresser de faire

etat d'abandon

(J/.

Claude Deschamj)s, of the French Rivers in 1834.)

presumed the Brazil will not attempt to dispute the now well-settled
no nation holding the mouth of a river has a right to bar the way
to market of a nation holding (land ?) higher up, or to prevent that nation's trade
and intercourse with whom she will, by a great highway common to both"
{Lieut. Herndon, p. 366.)
" It is

doctrine, that

—

Saturday, SeiJtemhcr 7, 1867. My letters were soon written,
the trooper Miguel and his mules were dismissed with good characters, and at 9.30 a.m., after embracing our kind host, Dr.
Alexandre, we pushed out of the creek " Bom Successo."
" O Menino," the new broom, swei)t, as hapjoens for a short
time, uncommonly clean, naming every little break of water or
hole in the bank.* The rocks, sandstone aboimding in iron and
laminated blue limestone, were all in confusion. The strike was
to the east, the north-east, the south-east, the west, the north-

west and the north, and sometimes within ten yards the strata
were anticlinal, nearly vertical, and almost horizontal. There

were slabs of clay, with perpendicular fracture dipping towards
the river, and here and there " Canga" and " Cascallio."
After a few unimportant featui'es,t we left to starboard the
* E.g. the Cor6a do Nenne, so called
nickname of a man with a cripi^led
hand, and the Corda do Saco, both with the
main channel to the left. Then the Coroa
do P090 do Gordiano and the Coroa do
Cedro, with the Ribeirao do Cedro faUing
into the left bank ; these have the thalweg
CD the right.
after the

+ Corrego do Bom Successo Pequeno on
the right bank, one league by water and
one mile by land from the Fazenda. Then
the Coroa do Saco do Cedro, grassy and treegrown, -ndth a break above and below it.
On the right bank the Sitio of Antonio
Alves, with traces of cultivation.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

156

[chap. xi.

Larangeii'as stream and estate, belonging to Colonel

Domingos.
Barro do Maquine Grande, a little '' fishy "
creek of clear water, which has a water-way of five leagues for
canoes, forming a Coroa (do Saco do Maquine Grande), with a
clear way to the right.*
In the Maquine Fazenda there is, they
say, a cavern which gave fifteen days' work to Dr. Lund, and the
savant found there a " pia " or baptismal font of stalactite, which
Opposite

it

is

tlie

would have commanded 400L in Europe. Shortly after noon we
descended this day's first rapid, the Cachoeira da Capivara, which
has two channels, with a sandbank in the centre. The left is the
deep water-way, but rafts come to grief by dashing against the
bank where the pole cannot touch bottom. We therefore floated

down
The

and hugged the Coroa.
air was dense with bush-burnings, here producing an
" Indian spring," which corresponds with the " Indian summer "
in the north
mostly Brazilians complain of the smoke, and
declare that it gives them difficulty of breathing.
Nothing could
be more picturesque than the long lines of vapour like swathes or
veils, whose undulations overlay the hill-tops, and gradually disstern foremost, threw out a cord

:

persed in air.f

At 4

we passed the Eio de Santo Antonio, a pleasant little
stream which admits for two leagues tolerable-sized canoes, whilst
P.M.

the small dug-outs ascend

it

about double that distance. It leads to

(Santo Antonio de) Curvello, a town so called after an ecclesiastical colonist

;

built

upon the Campo, and the

supposed to demarcate the " Sertao,"

last in this region,

Far West. But
own to the soft impeachment the
traveller is always approaching the Sertao, and yet hears that it
is still some days off.
He remembers the lands of the tailed
nyam-nyams, which ever fly before the explorer, or, humbler
it is

the inhabitants do not readily

X

or

;

comparison, the fens of certain English counties which, according
The next holm,
sent US to the

Coi-oa do Palo,

left, is

which

not mentioned by M.

Liais.

+ After the Palo are the Porteira, so
named from a creek, and the Coroa das
Mamonciras, with the thalweg to the left
neither of them is mentioned by M. Liais.
Then comes the Corrego das Canoas (Ribeirao das Canoas, Liais), exposing on the
right bank a mass of auriferous puddingstone, and beyond it the boulders dip 10°
to 30°.
Here the Coroa das Canoas blocks
;

up the

right channel.

On

the left

is

a

perpendicular bank of brown clay six feet
deep, with red-leaved Co^Dahyba trees gi-owing fi-om it. There is little to notice in the
Porto and Corrego da Anta or in the Porto
do Murici, so called from a small edible
yellow berry.
Z Southey "WTites the word after the old
fashion, "Sertam," and declares (ii. 565)
It is
that he does not know its origin.
nothing but a contraction of Desertao, a
large wild, and it is much used in Africa
as well as South America,

FROM BOM SUCCESSO TO THE C0R6a DO GALLO.

CHAP. XI.]

to the pallid, ague-stricken, web-footed informant, are not

by being

157

honoured

his dwelling-place.

After passing broken water at the Coroa de Santo Antonio and
the Coroa and Corrida das Lages, at 5 p.m. we fixed upon our

was a sandbank in a bay called Saco or Porto
dos Burrinhos, of the Little Donkey's, and o]oposite it, on the
right, lay Boa Yista, still the property of Colonel Domingos.
The moon, that traveller's fiiend, a companion to the solitary
man, like the blazing hearth of Northern chmates, rose behind
We have
the filmy tree-tops and made us hail the gentle light.
not the same feeling for the stars, or even the planets, though
Jupiter and Venus give more light than does the Crescent in
England they are too distant, too far above us, whilst the Moon
is of the earth, eartli}^, a member of our body ph3^sical, the com*'

dormida."

It

;

plement of our atom. We did not forget a health to this, the
Independence Day of the Brazil. Within the life of a middleaged man she has risen from colonyhood to the puberty of a

mighty Empire, and history records few instances of such rapid
and regular progress. This ''notanda dies" also opens to the
ships of all nations, the Amazons and the Rio de Sao Francisco
a measui'e taken by Liberals, but, curious to say, one of the most
liberal that any nation can record.
In spirit we join with the
rejoicings which are taking place on the lower waters of the
;

liberated streams.

September

8.

—Pushing

Cui'vello with a

mantina.

The

off at

ranch on the

6*30 a.m., we passed the Porto do

left,

denotifig the high road to Dia-

rapid and shallow,

known

as Saco da Palha, sent

and then to the right. Again the rocks are
The
quaquaversal, with dip varying from horizontal to vertical.
banks at the beginning of the daj^ were low, but ^n-esently they
became high and bold forested hills on the right formed a hollow
square.
The first rapid was the Cachoeii'a do Landim,* with its
*' crown "
and shallow; aline of stone, fractured in the centre,
stretches nearty across stream, and gives passage to the left.
Beyond this point are sundry minor obstructions,! not named

us

first to

the

left

;

* Said to be the

name of a fish and a
M. Liais writes Landin.
+ The Coroa do Jatahy, but little above
water, and Tvdth a break to the right, shows
where Col. Domingos' property ends. Then
by the right of the low banks the Coroas
do Garrote and do Pau Dourado
by the
tree.

;

a third, where two sandbanks narto fifty yards, and descend the
Saco daVarginha or Varzinha. Another little
nameless break, the course turning from
east to north, and backed by a hill-line
wooded to its flat top, and apparently crossing the sti'eam.
left of

row the bed

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

158

by M.

Liais.

He

[chap. xt.

"
proposes, however, extensive " ameliorations

of the stream, "tmiage," draguage," canalizing to suppress the
useless *'chenal,"

and

'*

attacking" the bank.

After the Varginha, a low sandbank which gave us passage to
Here
the left, the Porte do Silverio (P. N.) sent us to the right.

a reef, at this season very shallow, nearly crosses the stream,
and "Marumbes" or h^on-coated stone, began to ghsten on the
bank. Next came the Saco and Cachoeii'a de Jequitiba, with

We

landed on the Coroa and
inspected this neat mill-dam, a broken ridge of ferruginous rock
extending right across
possibly derived from the Serras
Canoes can creep
from north-north-west to south-south-east.
fields

•

and houses on the

left.

—

—

along the

left

middle, which a

side,
little

but our ark gallantly plunged down the
hammering would easily open. We noticed

the magnificent sugar-cane, which exceeds in size that of

Bom

Successo.

More small troubles* led us to the not very important CachoThe word denotes a narrow lane, and a square
eira da Manga.
of rough rails leading to the water edge.

Cattle are driven in,

and the pressure of those behind compels the foremost to set the
example of swimming the stream. A clearing ran up the neat
hill-slope on the right bank, horses and cows basked on the sands,
and men, squattmg like Africans under shady trees, shouted
warnings of the dreaded Picao, and promised to pilot us if we
would wait a day. We expressed our gratitude chaffingly, modifymg the puppy pie and the lady in mourning.
Steering to the left of the Tronqueira break, and describing a
little circle to the right, at 3 p.m. we entered the Saco do Picao.
Here the stream, swinging to the left bank, works round from west
and east. At first a little break extending across
nearly home, and well provided with snags, made us present rear
and hug the right the bank was hard and soft argile, quartzveined, and supporting Canga, whose strike was east and dip
30° to 35°.
Then passing to the left of an ''mch" we landed
on the right side to Hghten the craft and to inspect the for-

to north-east

;

mation.
* Barra do Breginho, with a turn to the
on right bank, huts and fields
with snake fence opposite.
The Cachoeira
do Saco, a dam of ironstone, with narrow
The
gap to left, and grassy hill in front.

noi-th-east

;

Cachoeira and Coroa dos Tachos (Taxes, M.
Liais), with bad break over rock wall to
the right, passage on. left, but two rocks iu
the way.

"

FEOM BOM SUCCESSO TO THE COROA DO GALLO.

CHAP. XI.]

The

;

Picao, or Pickaxe, deserves

its ill-fame

159

perhaps the
broken band
of jagged serrated teeth dams the stream, besides which rocks and
sandbanks extend some two miles above and below it. The material
is a very hard blue clay shale, whose laminations easily spHt

worst obstruction on the Eio das Yellias.*

apart

and

:

it

dently

it

has a metallic ring,

hardens
it

will

in,

without

it

bemg

;

it is

A broad,

does not effervesce under acids,
otherwise affected by, fire ; evi-

be valuable for building.

The emergmg rocks cause
them m httle

the waters to groan and splash, to dash and s^did by

rapids (Corradicas), averaging

some nine

crept under the right bank, but

feet per second.

now drawing

sixteen inches,

AYe

we

were soon aground, and required liftmg by levers. Passing to
the right of a small sandbank below, we had a good back view
the water-fall was between three and fom' feet, and there would
opening the mid-channel.
be no difficulty
At 5 p.m. we
crossed to the left and nighted on a sandbank, still in the Picao

m

Sack, opposite a

hill,

and a small cascade which resembled a

toy.

Here we enter the land best fitted for emigrants. We are
beyond the reach of the great planters who vdsh to sell square
leagues of ground, some good, much bad, and all, of course, at
There are no terrenos devolutos, or
Government grounds, but the small moradores ask little. Here-

the longest possible price.

ready to part with four square miles,
including a fine large Corrego, for 300§000 to 400S000, less
than I paid for my raft. The Geraes, or lands beyond the river,

abouts a proprietor

are

still

is

cheaper, and generally where water runs in deep chan-

may be purchased at almost a nominal price; the
people have no appliances for iiTigation, which the steam-engine
nels, land

would manage so efficiently. The views are beautiful, the climate
is fine and dr}^, mild and genial, there is no need of the quinine
bottle on the breakfast-table, as in parts of the Mississippi
Valle}".
There are no noxious animals and, excej)t at certain
seasons, few nuisances of mosquitos and that unpleasant family.
The river bottom is some four ixdles broad, and when the roots
are grubbed up, it will be easy to use plough or plow, whilst the
yield of " corn " and cereals is at least from 50 to 100 per cent.
;

* M. Liais remarks of ttis Picao (p. 10\
petite barque vide et a moitie portee
par des hommes pent seide passer tout contre

" ime

la rive droite,

et en

fond de pieiTes.

toucliant soiivent

ua

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

160

[chap. xi.

There is every facility for breeding stock and poultry besides
washing for gold and diamonds, limestone and saltpetre abound,
Water communication will
whilst iron is everywhere to be dug.
soon extend from the Rio de Sao Francisco below, to the excelLastly, the
lent market of Morro Velho in the upper waters.
people are hospitable and friendly to strangers my companion,
who had a smattering of engineering, could have commanded
employment at any fazenda.
The end of the Picao was a shallow break, known as
Sept. 9.
the Portao it is formed by a ledge projecting from the high right
bank of red-stained limestone.* This was followed by a straight
reach, with fine bottom lands, wooded hills bounding them to
the left. After paddling for about two hours and a half, w^e
descended by the stern " as Porteiras," the gates, and came to
the rapids known as Cancella de Cima, and Cancella de Abaixo,
the upper and lower barred gate.f These unpleasant gratings were
not passed without abundant clamour and fierce addresses, beginning with " Homem de Deus." The river is shallower than
ever, we can see the water line below which it has lately shrunk,
;

;

—
;

and evidently the usual rains are wanting in the upper regions.
The marvellous dryness of the air continues to curl up the
book covers at sunrise the breath of the morning deadens our
fingers, and incapacitates them from writing, though it ranges
between 55° and 60° (F.). At noon the mercur}^ rises to 75°, and
at 1 P.M. to 85°. Presentl}^ a south wind will blow from the Serra
;

Grande or do Espinhago.
At 11 A.M. the reach bent from north-east to north, and we
passed the mouth of the Parauna Piver I (Barra do Paratina),
now an old friend. The breadth of this, the most important
of influents, is 90 to 105 feet, a mass of sand cumbers the left
* Further

down was limestone on the

right bank, striking to the north-west,

and

dipping 45°.

t The upper Cancella is formed by scattered teeth of stone projecting from the
We hung upon a detached rock in
banks.
the centre, and the poor canoe took in
levered her oflf and found
much water
Rest of
passage close along right bank.
run occupied by a ledge stretching fi-om
north-west to south-east; touched again
and spent a total of twenty minutes before
getting into deep water.
Another dam
from left bank gives free passage to the
;

on opposite side a Barreiro de Gado
with huts, sugar-cane, and Jaboticabas. The
Cancella de Abaixo has on the left bank a
grating composed of four long walls and
detached rocks, the passage is along the
right side, where there are two separate
here also
stones and a pair of dam lines
we struck, and lost twenty-five minutes,
X M. Gerber places the Barra da Parauna

right

;

;

M. Liais in 18°
in south lat. 18*^ 50' 0".
30' 19" "9, at fifty-three direct miles from
and eightyCasa Branca, in 19** 23' 45"
;

four from Sahara (in south

lat.

19°

54').

FROM BOM SUCCESSO TO THE COROA DO GALLO.

CHAP. XL]

jaw, and elsewhere there are

white and red clay.
station

when

The

stiff

IGl

banks of brown humus, and

j)osition will

make

a great central

it

a railway from Eio de Janeiro shall connect with

the steam navigation of the Sao Francisco.

At the Barra do Parauna began new

scenery.

Hitherto the

mountains have been like crumpled paper now they assume a
kind of regularit}^, and often lie parallel with the axis of the
On the left there is a buttressed calcareous line through
stream.
which the Rio das Velhas breaks at its confluence with the Parauna further south the same ridge is to the right, or east, and
The Eio das Vellias widens
flanks the Cipo river on the west.
;

:

to

200 yards;

the

stream

tortuous

becomes

comparatively

with a general dii'ection of north, 11° west, and the

straight,

A

"fancy country" showed itself,
the blocks of hill drew off, and the banks were gently sloping
and yellow clay
ledges, with brown drift wood at the water edge
and sand with rocks here and there in higher levels. Large undulatmg ribbons of tender green, set in sun-burnt flanks, showed
slope

is

greatly diminished.*

;

the torrent-beds green-lined as those of Somali-land in the rains,

and here and there the thicket contrasted with tall scattered trees,
the remnants of an old forest.
Cattle lay and sunned themselves
upon the damp Coroas, and we heard with pleasure the voices of
\illagers and the barking of dogs.

At 1'30

we passed the Lapa d'Anta, a formation reminding us of Pau de Cherro.
The river runs to the north-east,
and its right bank is buttressed by a bold mass of limestone
P.M.,

from the sands and clays on
both sides, and forming a small bay with a graceful sweep. It
is the perpendicular face of a long range, extending from souththe
east to north-west, and hemming in the river on the east
bluff to the west, rising sharply

;

The

featm^e corresponds with that before noticed.

exposmg only the edges towards the stream

:

dip

is

the lower part

a hollow of wavy, blue-tmged strata, wliilst the upper half

'

25^,

is

is

an

overhanging mass of solid matter, looking as if crystallised,
stained red by the rusty clay, and curtained with black tongues
apparently dyed by the cinders of the burnt soil above.
\

the summit sloped backwards a brick- coloured
* According to M, Liais,

/
I

(

tween Trahiras
metre per mile.
VOL.

II.

and

tlie

Parauna

From

slope beis

0"4355

hill,

From

with leafless

latter stream to tlie deboucliure of the
Eio das Velhas, it diminishes to "2735.

tlie

the confluence of

M

f

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

162

trees,

[chap. xi.

contrasting singularly with the metallic verdure of the

banks.

from north to west, and we passed
a similar formation.
Here a cave, the P090 do Surubim or do
Loango,* faces south, and shows an arch of blue limestone with
soffit-like edges of brick, built as if by art, with then- laminations
of dark chocolate embedded in a limestone resembling marble.

At 1'45

A little

P.M. the river turned

below, a sandbank, projecting from the

stream to half-size and makes
pleasant, hill piled on

hill,

it

very deep.

left,

contracts the

The prospect

is

and changing colour from brown-red

to blue as the lines recede.

Lapa dos Urubus, a limestone
but rising some eighty feet in height

Presently we sighted the
lilie its

neighbours

crowned with green

:

;

bluff
it

is

and has grey vegetation above. It faces
to the west, the river running north to south and the strata are
horizontal, except where they had slipped dovni into the water.
On the right bank, and in front, lay a tapering point projecting
from a bushy hill, whilst the sand-ledge that banked the stream
was tasselled with verdure. A single splendid Jequitiba, with a
cauliflower-like head and a wealth of cool verdure, marked the
trees,

spot.

About 5 P.M. we landed and walked up to the Lapa. Beyond the
bank, some fifteen feet high, was a dwarf clearing (Eoga), with
felled trees and a field of tomatos and Quiabos, or " Quingombos,"
(Hibiscus esculentus), mixed with the Cordao do Frade.J After
a few paces we reached a cliff from whose crevices trees sprang
and creepers hung down here also the arches had a brick-like
;

* According to

tlie

people, tlie Loango

the male of the Surubim others declare
that the Moleque is the male of the Loango.
The fish here supplies the Amazonian codfish, the Pirurucu (Vastus gigas), and the
people will learn to salt and export it.
It
is a kind of sturgeon, scaleless, spotted and
marbled, flat-muzzled and whiskered, like
the "cats" (Silurus), which drown the
negro boys fishing in the Mississippi waters,
and ugly as any "devil fish." It is often
five feet long, and attains a weight of 128
lbs., yielding two kegs of oil.
Several
species are mentioned
for instance, the
Surubim de Couro. The people declare it
to be a cannibal like the pike
they net it,
and the wild men shoot it with arrows.
They split the body, sun-dry it, and sell it
is

;

;

;

in tlie Sertao.
firm,

and

fat.

The meat
I

is

excellent, white,

have never tasted a finer
it has, however, the bad

fresh-water fish
name of causing skin disease,
f Here occurs the Ilha Grande which
blocks up the right side.
Then the Coroa
do Clemente with three sandbanks, one
tree-grown, the others sandy.
Beyond
this is another large islet, which must be
passed on the right.
t Leonotis nepettefolia. From Ukhete,
in Eastern Intertropical Africa, I sent home
;

a specimen of this labiad, which grows
Avild all over the low damp region of the

The negroes use it to narcotise
and probably it has been introduced
into the Brazil by the old Portuguese.

seaboard.
fish,

cii-AP.

XL]

FROM

B0^[ SUCCESSO TO

appearance, and the

tall

THE COKOA DO GALLO.

1G3

The

organ-pipe Cactus hedged the foot.

cave faced to the south, dehris of rock encumhered the entrance,
and liigher up was a large shield-formed slah, masking a dark

some three feet high, and said to extend two miles. Here
was a shallow j)it whence the saltpetre earth had been taken, and
we found nothuig within but bats and " horse-bone limestone."
The night was cold, a chilly eastern breeze coursed
Sept. 10.
down from the Diamantine mountains, and the ^' Corrubiana " apgallery

—

l^eared fi'om afar in fleecy dark-lined clouds. After twenty minutes'

work we came

to the Cachoeii'a das Ilhotas, an ugly place,* but

The sun
and
high,
and
waxed hot, the east wind was exceptionally cold
my companions began to suffer. Joao Pereii'a was treating a
bruised arm with arnica, and was compelled to "lay up;" a
serious matter with a small crew. The other men had for the last
two days complained of a sensation of malaise, headache and
easy to be opened, as the crest of the ledge

want of
a

new

is

narrow.

I resolved to begin

sleep, without an}^ apparent reason.

system, and to halt during the greatest heats.

the Eliza overweighted to starboard

we pulled up

Finduig

a plank and dis-

covered that, in addition to the leak, the carpenter had not taken

In the Bight of Benin none of
and a few would have remained on,

the trouble to remove his chips.

us would have escaped fever,
or rather in, the banks.

After the Ilhotas

we attacked the three Jenipapos.

No.

1 is a

wooded islet defended b}" a dangerous snag there are rocks in
abundance and the current swings towards them. AVe ran down
the left bank of the holm, and crossed water breakmg over sunken
;

here in June, 1866, they wrecked a canoe and implements
Jenipapo
for sugar-maldng, en route from Sahara to Januaria.f
No. 2, where the stream runs to the north-east, has few difliculstones

;

water in the mid-stream. After this, for
some three miles, we made easting, and gained notliing. Then
we crossed the Bedemoinho da Beija-mao, the " Whirlpool of

ties

;

there

is suflicient

* Ptocks extend across tlie stream from
blocking it up in tlie latter
direction.
We went to starboard, groimding upon the dexter bank of the Coroa,
above the rocks on the right, and rounded
its lower end by cordelling.
Then we shot
through a bad break formed by a rock pier
running from north to south, and made the
left side to avoid two similar formations, a
detached stone and a shallow.
The second

riglit to left,

caused us to hug its eastem side to
avoid a reef on tlie riglit bank of the
stream, and we ran the rapid, carefully
looking out for ledges below water. This

islet

occiipied half-ai-hoiu\
it is another break, stones and
crossing the stream from north to

t Below
an

islet,

south

;

further down, the water dances and

whilst,
flows over a nev/ly formed bank
lowest of all, there is a break of ironstone.
;

M

2

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

164

[chap. xi.

not even a Maelstrom, but it may be
dangerous to small craft during the floods. The third Jenipapo

Hand-Kissing."

It is

was a Coroa, which we skirted on the

way breakuig

Shortly afterwards we passed the Ilha do

heavily.

Hippolito * with a

right, the res't of the water-

saw of jagged rocks that barred the right

side.

At 2 P.M. we resumed work
The right bank showed a bed
feet high,

and below

in the teeth of a strong north wind.

of quartz-conglomerate four to five

was the dry Corrego do Brejo with its
limestone outcrop. At the Vao da Carahybaf there is a ford in
the dry season, and the Saco of the same name showed a rock to
starboard, not dangerous, for the channel on the left is well
marked. Here we followed three sides of a square, and a cut of
1*5 mile would save six.
At 5 p.m. we passed the Porto de Areas,
on whose right people were encamped. It was marked by a quaintlooking Angico Mimosa, then leafless, and exposing a smooth
rhubarb -yellow bole.t Another hour placed us at the Saco da
Manga, a sandbank 20 feet high, spangled with the Mangui
Hibiscus, and supporting fine rich soil eight feet deep. Here the
waters of the Rio das Velhas, probably affected by some influent,
were particularly dark and foul, with the peculiar smell of the slimy
African river where rain has not washed it. The pilots declared it
crj^stal compared with the waters of the wet season, when the upper
washings give it a blood-red hue. At night, however, the evil was
it

mitigated by a strong wind from the " Eange of the Spine."

—

The dawn when we set out was clear, but as the
SeiH. 11.
horizon waxed yellow, smoke columns began to rise from the
water till dispersed by the hght breeze which became a strong east
wmd. At noon the sun was fiery, and the afternoon w^axed wintry,
but it was a winter in Egypt. It reminded my companion of a
"fall day" in Tennessee, when men begin to pick " cutt'n."
About eventide clouds hke smoke-pufl's

flitted across the sky and
gathered in the north, whilst a purple haze in the west, and a
misty moon betokened, said the pilot, not rain but wind.
Swee]3ing round a corner we saw white sand-drift and tall trees,

which showed the Porto da Manga of the Rio Pardo.
M. Liais calls it " de San Hippolyto.
+ Also called CarauLa, Caroba (an error),
Caraiba, and Carahiba
we shall find it in
*

;

quantities

upon the
where there are two

de Sao Francisco,
species, one with pale

llio

It drains

goldeu brown, the other with a smaller
blossom of pleasant lilac colour.
J The guides named it Pau Breu X-'itch

—

tree,

CHAP.

FROM BOM SUCCESSO TO THE COKOA DO GALLO.

XI.]

the western slopes north

supply

Caethe-Mhim

tlie

The

of Diamantina.

to the Jequitinhonha.

165

countersloioes

Canoes, after

two days, reach its Serra, distant only twelve leagues from the
City of Diamonds.

stream being 650.

The month was 140 feet broad,
The first hour saw us bumping down

the main
a shallow

formed by a break, and i)assing a jagged Hne of limestone slabs
with a western strike, and nearly perpendicular, like half-submerged gTave-stones. A little below it were limestone blocks,
with a south-eastern strike. Again the surface of the land displays extreme iiTCgularity, caused probably by the meeting of
different systems of uplands wdiicli project their bands from both

banks across the stream. It is one of the peculiarities of this
Low^er Rio das Velhas, and deserves attention.
Presently we shot at the Cachoeira do Goncalvez,* an ugly
place with broken water.

and hung
sm-face ail

Shortly afterwards we struck heavily,

upon a sunken rock
the year round, and not noted

for a time

On

minutes led to a similar accident.

in midstream, under
in the plan.

Twenty

the latter occasion, how^-

lumps emerged from the water near the bank.
These obstacles are dangerous to boats the Cachoeka must be
At 9*30 a.m. was
cut through, and the rocks should be removed.
crossed the mouth of the Cm^umatahy Eiver, which heads north
Here the pretty stream
of and runs parallel with the Rio Pardo.
its right bank is rich with tall trees, and
is about 105 feet broad
ever, limestone

;

;

it

curves gi-acefuUy out of sight.

The Rio

das Velhas again alters

had seen in front a long grey
from a

little

line,

stream entering the

its aspect.

For some time we

the Serra do Bicudo, so called

left

bank.

Now we make

a long

compelled by the Serra do Curumatahy, a chine
rismg some 1500 feet above the river-bed, and at this point
approaching within 300 yards of the stream. It is prolonged to the
w^esterly bend,

north

\)j

opposite

the Serras do Cabral, do Paulista and da Piedade, whilst

them on the

left

bank

are the Serras da

Palma and da

Tabua. There is a remarkable correspondence in the lines. The
smnmits are grass-grown, and shrubbery appears in the damper
hollows.
Here, as elsewhere, more rain falls upon the higher

*

Cacboeira de Gongalo. Two
of limestone on the right
all below
strike south-east, and dip 75°
We w^ent
is rugged, with scatters of rock.

M.

separate

Liais,

lines

;

dow-ii

on the

riglit,

for the left side,
east,

shaviug a slab,

and then crossed

made
to the

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

163

than upon the lower

levels,

BPvAZIL.

but the former

[ciiap. xi.

readil}'-

drain into the

Between the southern chains, which appear

to be the
an average interval of four miles.
The ranges are composed of gently swelling hills, with a surface
of brown bush from which the timber has been removed, and with
scattered patches and gashed lines of green, denoting water. The
slabs of blue stone, probably lime, are said to form caves and

latter.

boundaries of the old bed,

is

At the base are bayous and swamps (brejos) lying below
highstream level. The banks show a remarkable difference on
saltpetre.

;

on a ferruginous argile *
used for whetstones. On the left, where sandstones and laminated clays appear, the vegetation is poor and " scraggy."
At noon we anchored for rest near a bed of conglomerate, six
feet thick, shaded by a noble Jatoba salaammg to the water. The
place is called the Brejo do Burity, and it bears a thin forest of
monocotyledons with a dicotyledonous undergrowth. The word
wTitten by Pizarro and St. Hilaire "Bority," by Martins, Gardner
and Kidder " Buriti," and by the System " Bruti," is a vulgar corruption of the Tup3^ " Murity." f This Mauritia vinifera is at once
elegant and useful, but I was disappointed with it v\^hen recalling
to mind the magnificent Palm^^as or Fan-jDalms of Yoruba. The
people, however, declare that near the river it is an inferior
growth, attaining its full dimensions only in the high and dry
Geraes lands. They could not tell me how far it extends. Most
of them agreed that where the Carnahuba clothes the margins of
the middle Sao Francisco the " Burity" grows inland.
Here it
flourishes isolated and in groups.
I saw every size, from the
little ground-fan to the tall column crowned with sphere of leafage.
According to Leblond and Codazzi, a tribe of Guaraunos or
Waraons depended for life upon this palm, where they built their
aerial houses, and whose larvae are still fixvourite food Avith the
the right

is

a fertile calcareous soil, based

" Indians" of the Orinoco.

Here the

leaves are

woven

into bas-

and the fronds are cut, rafted down, and sold for fences.
The oily, reddish pulp between the fruit scales and the albuminous substance of the nut I is made with sugar into a massa
or lump, and carried bound in leaves to market.
The people
kets,

relish this

" doce," although

it

is

believed that eating the fruit

At 9-50 A.M. Ave passed in the river
and on the hanks, ironstone, apparently

est remjili d'une moelle, dont

^^ch.

sorte de confiture."

t Some

old travellers have

" murichv.

t

it

St.

Hil. (III.

was from the

ii.

fruit.

34-i)

says, *'le tronc

on

All assured

fait

une

me

that

FROM BOM SUCCESSO TO THE

CHAP. XI.]

stains tlie sldn yello^v.

mocks, wliich

COPvOA DO GALLO.

1G7

Tlie brown-3'ellow fibre forms strong liam-

last longest

when

the material

On

greased.

is

the

Rio de Sao Francisco they cost from 1$000 to 1,S500. The
saccharine juice gives the most highly prized palm wme in the
Brazil, where,
delicatest, is

by

cmious to
unknown.

say, that of the

Cocoa nut, of

all

the

It is extracted, after the wasteful negi-o

felling the tree

holes are cut with the axe half a foot
long by three inches deep, at intervals of five or six feet, and they
fashion,

;

As time advances a more
"
economical system will be tried.
The
Buritizal" suffers much
from the lar2"e
D ant called lea or Yea.
are soon filled with the reddish liquor.

3

At

2 P.M.

we

3

the Jatoba shore, which seemed to be enjoyed

left

and other pests as well as by ourselves. "We made a
straight line of five miles between the parallel range, after which

by

flies

the narrowness of the right-hand channel drove us to the left of a
Corao. At 3*15 p.m. we passed an island wooded on the north.

The west bank was
limjnd stream.

with very loose Cascallio, and cut by a
Here the bed narrowed to 250 feet.
few " derstre^^Ti

A

rubadas," or clearings, contained dead trees encumbering the
ground, and httle onion plots spoke of population. Half an hour
afterwards a sandbank squeezed the

down the

Here we saw

right.

left

channel, and drove us

for the first time

groups of lime-

and overgrown with the woody
Ai'uida.
The Cachoeu'a do Pdacho das Pedras breaks in the
centre and shows the same features, calcareous blocks bare of
everythmg but shrub. Lastly we left on the right the Coroa do
Gallo, two bars of limestone almost a fleur d'eau
and at 5'45 p.m.
we anchored on the port bank, a tract of sand thinly covered with
stone rocks just above water,

;

scrub.*

This day we passed over immense wealth, of which, like philosophers, we took no heed.
The Eio Pardo, lilve the Parauna,
di'ains

highlands rich in diamonds and gold, whilst the bed of the

Pio das Yellias

is

a natural system of launders.

In due time

it

be thought, perhaps, advisable to turn and lay diy certain
bends in this part of the stream, and there are several places
will

where such an operation suggests itself.
For the last two nights the " Whip-poor-will
* Opposite this place the map shows a
dwelling-house, '* As Porteiras," but from
the stream Ave did not sight it.
Porteira

"

and the

''

Cury-

(originally a porteress,) here means a baiTcd
gate leading to a pasture, &c.

168

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

angu" have been

silent

[chap. xi.

—they who so often had broken our sleep

with their complaints and responses, delivered from the thickets
along and across the stream.

Men

are certainly not

numerous

enough to destroy them. Perhaps their fovourite food abounds in
some places, not in others, and thus the}^ may not inhabit the
banks continuously. Or again, the cold wind is, we may conjecture, micomfortable enough to interrupt the concert.

—

CHAPTER
FRO^l

XII.

THE COROA DO GALLO TO THE ILHA GRANDE.

—
—

"CACHOEIRA DA ESCARAMUQA " (NO. 10, AND FINAL). THE DELIGHTFUL
TEMPERATURE, — VERMIN. ECLIPSE OF THE MOON. THE HOWLING MONKEYS HOWL, AND OTHER SIGNS OF AN APPROACHING RAINY SEASON.
THE JACARE, OR BRAZILIAN CROCODILE.— GULLS, AND NOISY BIRDS.—
SERPENTS. LAST NIGHT ON THE RIO DAS VELHAS.

—

—

o clima doce, o

E

campo ameno

entre arvoredo immenso, a fertil 'herva

Na

viQOsa extensao do aureo terreno.

{Caramnrd,

vii. 50.)

—

Thursday, Sept. 12, 1867. We had been idle j-esterday. I
had given an inch, and very naturally my men had taken the usual
We began earl}" with the best of resolutions, doomed, howell.
ever, to

be disappointed.

Presently slack water prepared us for a

by M. Liais the '' Cachoeira dos Ovos.* Here a mass
of green-clad blocks and a break sent us fii'st to the left and then
down midstream. Half an hour afterwards we reached O Desemboque the disemboguing.! A little further down an old Morador
put off from the right bank to buy twist-tobacco, which the ^' Menino" had bought for seven and sold for twenty coi:>pers per yard.
Yet the wdiole country is admirably fitted for growmg the weed.
He gave us a terrible account of a rapid some seven miles down
stream, declaring the fall to be six feet high, and nothing would
persuade him to accompany us. Probably he had never seen it.
Presently appeared on the left the opening of the Rio Lavado,
or Washed River, so called from the diamond diggings in the
fall,

called

—

Menino " nametl it " Barra das
and an old man on the bank
"Cachoeira do Ribeirao," from a little
stream on the right which we passed at
*

The

*'

Pedras,"

9 '30 A.M.

+ In Minas Geraes there is a town called
Desemboque.
]\I.
Liais writes Desem-

borque and

''

Emborqiie "

(p. 22),

thepopu-

pronunciation
there is, however, no
such word.
Here a shallow tide-rip (mareta) crosses the bed, the effect of rocks
extending from the right bank.
We descended, stern foremost, in ten minutes,
and took the right of a small Coroa.
lai*

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

170

upper bed.
green.

We

The

BKAZIL.

[chap. xii.

gap, 150 feet broad, appeared to be choked with

easily shot a small

break garnished

v.dth three

of stone, and went to the left of a Coroa and its shallow.

reach and banks, regular and

artificial

lumps

Now

a

dykes, backed by a fine

mass of blue Serra, prepai'ed us for the Cachoeira de Escaramu9a,
the tenth and last serious obstacle on the Eio das Yellias.
This rapid is formed by a broken wall extending nearly across
stream from north-west to south-east. The hard clay is capped
with iron, and the shapeless rocks are tilted up nearly vertically.

In the centre is the main drop, about
the channel would easily be opened.*
the shallow thalweg, close to

and here
We went half way down
the eastern bank, and after six
tlu-ee feet high,

minutes we made fast near a patch of bright green " water grass,"
hardly sweet enough to be good forage, whilst the pilot went
ahead in the tender to i)rospect. Under the shady trees the rush

and bubble of the cool waters made pleasant music, and
interesting to see the old

man balancing

it

was

liimself like a rope-dancer

upon his hollow log, tossed by the tide-rip.
Below the principal fall were three channels. That lying to the
right of the Coroa proved too shallow. Above the sand-bar was a
bad broken passage, rejected because of the rocks to leeward. Between them and the gravel-islet lay the clear way. The river was now
at its lowest, and the drift timber showed that it had lately fallen
two inches. The crev/ was obliged to clear away the rock-fragments, and the Eliza v/as led like a vicious mare down the handmade channel. On the Coroa we found for the first time the
bivalve shells of a ''river mussel," f which extends all down the
Eio de Sao Francisco, and which is valued for fish bait.
After working nearly an hour we made for the left bank, and
anchored near the mouth of a small marsh drain, " S. Goncalo das
Tabocas" (of the wild bamboos). Here the m.en changed their
dripping clothes, and guarded against the rheumatics with a dram.
At 2'20 P.M. we resumed work, passed sundry Cor6as,| and ran
under the Serra do Paulista. At 4*30 p.m. we attacked the Cacho* M. Liais proijoses to oijeu tlie right
channel, but this portion would, I venture
to think, soon be filled up.
t It is the No. 1 of my small collection.
According to the pilots this mussel, when

keeps in deep water, and only shells
are found in the shallows.
alive,

J The first was a .small Coroa Avith a
break and snags the right bank a little
below it showed heaps of black stone, in
;

Avhich sand, and frequently the blue calc'aThe next Coi'oa
reous matter, reappeared.
was close to the Serra, which in the map
is placed one mile too far east.

CHAP. XII.]

FROM THE

eira das Prisoes

(JOFvOA

—of the

large pebbles between

DO GALLO TO THE ILHA GKAXDE.

prisons.

which spring

171

formed by a Coroa of
of grass. On the northern

It is
tufts

end grew a clump of the largest trees yet seen. The right channel
beino- too narrow, we took the left, and bumped along the islet,
It was not easy to escape a snag in
leaA'ino- the break to port.
the middle, where there are also

many

rocks.

The Mandim

fish

croaked like a frog and grunted like a pig under our bows.
This day's sim had been burning hot, and till 1 p.m. we had no
As we descend the atmosphere undergoes a notable
breeze.
change, like the air of the Mediterranean after the English Chan-

Nothing can be more delightfid than this sensation one
feels thawed; the " snow gets out of the eyes," the ''ice leaves
the bones," and man is restored to the passive enjoyment of Hfe
Hence oui* seain the medium where he was first born to live.
men, it is weU known, prefer the AVest African Station, despite its
A "spell of cold" easily explains the
fevers and dysenteries.
nel.

;

preference.

remembering that we are in
S. lat. 17°, about the parallel of Mocha in Southern Arabia.
Here we have 85° (F.), there 105^ The climate is tempered by
the large area of sea compared with land, by the abundance of

Nor can we complam

of heat,

water causing a regular ventilation, by the height above sea-level,
by the hours of darkness being nearly equal to those of light,

and generally by the shape of the continent. At times, however,
especially under the tree-shade, the vermin bite viciously. Of the
larger nuisances, I have not yet seen dm-mg my Brazilian sojom-n
the centipede, or any but spirit specimens of the lacraia, or scorpion,
Patagonia the latter is
although Koster was stung by one, and
plentiful as in El Hejaz. Hence the term is sometimes applied to
the Bicho Cabelludo, or hairy caterpillar, called by the indigenes
Tatm-ana. The Carrapato tick and the jigger, except in huts, are
rare. We did not suffer from the Berne or blow-fly, nor from the
Marimbombo, the ''Jack Spaniard" of trappers. The borrachudo
(Culex penetrans) which gi'eatly affects cool and wooded Serras, at
The bite draws a point of blood which must
times gives trouble.

m

be pressed out, and the place rubbed with ammonia, otherwise the
itchmg becomes intolerable. I never travel without a large supply
of " smelling salts," which are equally valuable agamst a snake or

In this arid atmosphere the mutuca or motuca
(which Southey mtes "mutuca") gadfly is rare. The Mosquito,

a headache.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

172

generall}^ called

[chap. xii.

mosquito pernilongo,* but here murigoca or muri-

soca (Morisoca, Koster), at times pipes a small song, in " la shai-p,"

The "bar," however, is as little necesThe insect is not a large variet}^,

say the musical^ eared.
sary as

is

the " fever-guard."

Yincudo of the coast, especially of the Mangrove rivers,
and its threat is worse than its bite. In February and March,
when the waters recede, and the banks, like those of an African

like the

river, are

dressed in mire, the infliction

is

said to be severe.

The

most troublesome is the diminutive dark sand-fl}", known as Mucuim (Muquim, St. Hil.) or polvora. The Maruim or Moruim
(Maroim, Koster

Miruim,

;

like a "blister" of fire;

it

St. Hil.

;

Meroh}", Gardner), burns

produces swellings, especially around

who do not

from the Mosquito, and
where swarms are found it is as well to wear gloves and a gauze
veil connecting head and body gear. The Carapana and a smaller
variety, the Puim, which delight in the Assacti (Hura Brasiliensis),
the eyes, even in those

sufi'er

also bite b}^ day.

At 5*45

P.M., after

sorry to find on the

A little

much

left

labour, short and sharp,

bank a clearing known

as the

we were not
Curralmho.

above was the Corrego do Negro, with a white-tasselled

Ingazeira

f

drooping over the water.

A black

morador sold us a

gourd full of eggs at the rate of five per "dump," copper or
penn3\ Here we saw fine sugar, castor plants 15 feet high, and
magnificent cotton. It was a fine study of wild life. The screams
of the wild fowl told us of a lakelet on the right bank, and as
the after glow deepened, flights of wild duck and the splendid rosetinted Colheireira+ winged their

way

across the stream.

The

and almost obscuring Jupiter, rose
majestically above the misty wall, the Serra da Piedade, which
bounded the view to the left. The shadow of the vegetation upon
the far side, as the lunar disc tipped the tallest trees, was nearly

moon, nearly

at

the

full,

upon the mirrory waters as in the soft blue air.
The river seemed to sleep, and over its depths brooded unbroken
The stars and
silence, except when a fish sprang to its prey.

as well painted

* Mosqiuto, both in Spanish and Portugnese S. America, is jiroperly speaking a
"little fly," namely a sand-fly, and the
name which we have perv^erted is thoroughly
appropriate.

+ Not Angaseiro as Halfeld has it. The
name, Inga or Enga, is applied to Mimosas

of varions species,

some bearing an edible

legnmen.

t The "spoonbill," so called from its
The zoological name,
peculiarity.
"Platalea Ayaya " or "Ajaja," is evidently
derived from the Trpy Ay' uya.

chief

cnAr.

XII.]

FROM THE COROA DO GALLO TO THE ILHA GRANDE.

173

planets rose with no glimmering indistinct beams, as they appear

upon the horizon
once in the

in northern lands

the rays strike the eye at

;

At times a cold breath

blaze of their beauty.

full

came from the highlands to the north-east, soon to be followed
by a warm and violent gust from the north, which swept harmThen recommenced the persistent
lessly over our sheltered raft.
clamom- of the " CuiyangTi" and the complaint of " Wliip -poorwill," whilst in the distance the wolves bayed theii* homage to the

Queen

of Night.

What

the glaring of the gas

September 13.

a contrast to the

hum

of civilisation and

!

— The morning

was warm

— 65^ F. —and we were

en route with the rising of the " fall-sun," whose smoke-stained
Presently we passed the Piedisk was harmless as in England.
dade Pdver, which heads

far to

the north-east.

'f^

Under

its

influence the Eio das Yelhas siDreads out into a bay widening to

—

and half a mile my companion was remmded of the
Yazoo Kiver. The flat benches and ledges of the banlvs, fifteen
to twenty-five feet high, show by theii' regularity the action of
water.
Half a mile below the Piedade we found the Cachoeira
1500

feet

dos Dourados, t with rocks on the

left

;

the channel to the east

shallow, and a bottom of heav}^ pebbles causes a break.

the Coroa

we poled across

to the western side, shaving

is

Below

two large

trees in the stream.

At 7'15
takes

its

A.M.

we passed the Corrego de Sao Goncalo,t which

name from an

old ^illage and chapelry on the upper

After making another channel by removing loose stones
and safely cordelling down a difliculty,§ we came to another
" Cachoeii-a do Desemboque," which M. Liais calls the most
course.

It is a complidangerous point on the Lower Kio das Velhas.
cated feature; at the north is a gravel islet covered with trees;
||

*

is 110 feet wide, and the
garnished with a green patch
and fine trees
the stream is said to be
full of fish, and, though shallow, it gives
passage to canoes as far as its Serra.
t The Dourado, or gilt fish, the Aurata
of Dr. Levy, so called from its red yellow
belly and fins which flash in the sim, is
one of the Salmonidse, found in salt water
and in streams where it cannot escape to
the sea.
It resembles a trout in shape of
the body, not the head, and it gi-ows to a
It readily
length of two to four feet.
The
swallows bait and devoux-s small fry.

left

The mouth
jaw

is

;

people consider it one of the best fish for
the table, and the head and belly are the
parts prefex-red.
% ]\t. Liais has called it Corrego de
Maria Grande.
§ Below the Corrego was the " meio
brabo (half fierce) Cachoeira das TaboThen
quinhas " of the little bamboos.
a long mass of black rock forms two distinct
ledges, the northern stretching from southeast to noi-th-west almost across the stream,
Here M. Liais has placed on the right
bank a tall block of hill, which does not

—

II

exist.

_

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

174

fi

white and

sancl}^

holm

also well clothed,

The brawling

sand-bar.

[chap. xii.

and below

it

a

common

river-channel on the right has not water

Here magnificent masses of green bulge out
towards the stream, and are set off by large bunches of rustyenough

for canoes.

red yellow flowers, resembling from afar the autumnal and maturing leafage of the sugar maple (Acer saccharinus).

Jahu,* when seen singly,

This Paii

by no means beautiful the Sertanejos
make tea of the blossoms, and the ashes are used for soap. We
took the left of the islet down a thalweg with a small sand-bank
and two breaks in the centre. The second was the more dangerous; a rock below the surface threw back the flood in white foam.
"We then poled to the north of the Coroa and down the centre,
is

;

inclining to the right.

Followed a confusion of small sand bars, f while in front rose
the " Serra do Brejo," trending from east-north-east to west-north-

The

and there are two
distances, the nearer forested, whilst the farther is dyed blue with
air.
We halted for an hour at 1*30 p.m., when a high northerly
wind set strong in our teeth it lasted till 4 r.M., when it fell to
the deadest calm.
These breezes greatly retard progress, as the
men seem to disdain the shelter of the bank. A charming reach

west.

height

is

from 1300 to 1500

feet,

;

then appeared, a long i^erspective of corresponding sides, some
ninety feet high, into which ran large blocks of stratified and
weathered stone. Below the small " Coroa da Carioca,"! (of the

white man's house,) the Rio das Pedras opens on the
of ninet}^ feet from jaw to jaw.
leagues, but at this season
all

but the

it is

It

dry

left

a

mouth

comes from a distance of ten
;

such indeed

is

the case with

ver}^ largest drains.

The Coroa-cum-Ilha do Cahir d'Aguia was

we had
it took us fifteen minutes to run b}' it, and in England
yet seen
it would have been a prett\' little estate.
The narrow right hand
the largest

;

channel

is

garnished with splendid forest-trees, faced on the

* Tlie i)llots callcJ it ]\tarmelo ilo Mate,
ov wild quince. Tlie Jaliu is also the name
of a large Sihinis, not found in tlie llio

das Velhas, but abundant in the llio de
Sao Francisco, the Upper Paraguay, the
Tidtc, and other streams.
+ The first was a shallow break, tlie
"Cachocira da Cannella ;" it is just below
the "Coroa do Curral," a deep strong
current with the passage on the left.
The
"Cachoeira do Cotovclo " (of the elbow)

left

Buotcnds .1 long island, antl tlie " Coroa do
Cantinho " (of the little covner) is a donble
islet, with dark rusty jiehbles to the south
and tall trees to the north.
From Carfba, a" Carib," a white man,
a Portuguese, and "Oca," a house. " Carioca " was often ajiidied to a small fort,
and hence the name of the suburb of llio
This Coroa has many snags
de Janeiro.
on the right, the swiftness of the stream to
the left sweeps them away.
ij:

CHAP. XII.]

FROM THE COROA DO GALLO TO THE ILHA GRANDE.

175

by second-gTowtli and scrub.* About 5 p.m. we anchored near the
left bank, at the " Porto da Palma," a i:)eculiar formation.
Projecting into the stream, and flaked and caked with the mud of the
last flood, was a natural pier 150 yards long by twenty deep, with
The substance is the ''Pedra
a dip of 5° and a westerly strike.
de Amolar," an argillaceous schist of greenish colour, sometimes
bare, more often capped with ironstone
the cleavage is in all
;

du'ections, the subaerial portion is veiy fragile,

and the laminations vary from wafer thickness to a foot deep.
A Httle below
on the right bank there is a sister formation. AVe picked up
sj^ecimens of this clay shale
as whetstones they were too easily
;

broken.

on the left bank is baked to white mud and
sprinkled with silt, showing that it is regularly inundated
small
drains bear scattered lines of trees, and the rest of the vegetation
is mostly bitterish water-grass, which will not feed cattle without

The

river plain

;

salt.

To

the south-west the land, as the forest shows,

the reach of water
lately

;

here the soil must improve.

been burnt, and the shrubby

hung

The

bej^ond
flat

had

warmed, had put
of the scorched brown

trees, well

forth the tenderest green leafage in lieu
tatters that

is

loosely to the twig tops.

This evening was the perfection of chmate, fresh yet balm}-.
The boys fished successfully ; everj^thmg bit voraciously, even at
the bird-bait.
Five douradinhos-'- and eight mandins soon lay
crimped upon the ground, and when the line, nearly the thickness

was left in the water, it was cut, the pilot said,
by a pu^anha. Again the noise of water-fowl told us that a lakelet
was not distant. Clouds liigh
ah' flitted over the moon's full
disk, which threw across the water a pillar of tremulous fire,
and crested with red the ripples tliat rose from the inky sui'face
swirlmg under the farther bank. The mobile physiognomy of
of a little finger,

m

this river is not the least of its charms. Its expression is changeful

human face.
mountam tarn, now it

as that of the
as a

Yesternight
is swift

it

was

still

and shallow

and deep, covering the back-

waters with flecks pjid curds of foam.
Presently the eclipse came on, and the dark shadow of our globe
creeping slowly over the disk of the old "harvest moon," was
* The left bank sliowed tolerable soil in
the beginning of this day's v/ork, but the
improvement was only temporary. As a rock

it

was not nearly so

f Considered to
doiirado.

fertile as tlie otlier side.

be a small species of the

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

17G

shown by

reflection in the

new moon's arms

;

[chap. xii.

the gibbus of the

There were none of the
appalhng than imposing, which

crescent, however, faced to the south.

appearances,

sinister

accompany

rather

solar obscm'ation, the lurid copper-coloured

slinking of beasts and the silence of birds, and in

man

aii',

the

the feel-

is not above or beyond change.
Here the
waned, the various voices of frogs and night birds
came from swamp and forest, bats flitted about, fireflies lit up

ing that even the sun
light slowly

the copse, and the fish splashed merrily to catch the gentle

As might be expected, the human beings there present
hardly noticed the phenomenon by looking upwards; a comet
would not have roused their attention.*
Then the glorious
breeze.

satellite

climbing the zenith finally emerged from the shadow, and

again shed silvery light and gladness over the nether world.
^yily of anti-cHmax we " turned in."

By

—

We set out at 6 a.m. in warm and perfectly still
foam was floating in hues down stream, and curdling near
the banks where the deep water lies.
An hour's work took us to
the Ilha da Maravilha, where the Corrego do Lameh-ao t enters
the left bank.
On the opposite side appeared a good *' improvement," the soil was excellent, and a fence of stakes and poles had
been run down to the waterside.
Presently we heard, for the
first time, from a tall Jatoba tree, whose fruits are its delight, the
hoarse roar of the Guariba monkey (Mj^etes m^sinus, or Stentor).
It is here known by the general words bugio, and barbado, the
bearded; the French colonists call it alouate.
John Mawe
September 14.

air;

declares that

it

snores so loud

when sleepmg,

that

it

astonishes

the enlargement of the larynx into a square bony box
which causes the disproportionate noise, is now familiar to naturalists.
This brown monkey was eaten by the Indians, and in
wilder parts BraziUans do not disdain it.
The pilot mentioned a
similar species with a long fine black coat, which may be the
Mycetes Beelzebub. He declared that the roaring of the guariba was
travellers

;

* Mr. Buckle, whose first volume liatl
the good fortune to be designated by a
poiJuJar writer
a farrago of energetic
nonsense and error," remarks (i. 345)
there probably never has been an ignorant nation whose superstition has not been
excited by eclipses."
Possibly in the New
World, where the operations of nature are
on so grand a scale, man is steeled against
'

'

'

'

appearances whicli in other countries would
stimvilate his imagination.
Who that has
ever inhabited an earthquake country woidd
think of drea'ding an eclipse, unless at
least it be connected in the popular mind
with earthquakes ?
f "Of the big miid;" the pilot gave
this name to an opening in the right bank,

;

FKOM THE COROA DO GALLO TO THE ILHA

CHAP. XI r.]

GRA^'DE.

177

a sign of the Rainy Season drawing near, and noted a variety of
other small sj^mptoms, such as the trooping of butterflies in moist
places, the louder frog-concerts, the

hum

and chirp of the Cicada,

and the song of the Sabia, that Prmce
Durmg the last three days also, the soft and
of the Merubidae.
had
been distiu"bed by gusts of wind, vapours
balnw atmosphere
here la}' upon the ground, there accmnulated into clouds, and distant sheet lightnmg flashed from the mists massing round the
The smoke of the praii'ie-fires rose in columns, and
horizon.
they might have beeli mistaken for the fumes of a steamer by
night those that were near glowed like live coals, whilst the more
AVe prepared for an Ember week of equidistant gleamed blue.
noctial gales, but we hoped to be far down the Sao Francisco
River before the beginning of the wet summer, which usually
As will appear, we had dedates from the middle of October.
the biting of

tlie

sand

flies,

;

ceived ourselves.

About 10
Corrente

A.M.

we passed on the

right

bank the

a small stream, which greatly swells

;

Ribeii'ao do

dmdng the inmi-

was trickling down it the line is not navigable, but the
waters abound in fish, and these places vriR act as preserves when
life is driven from the main line by steamers.
The embouchure
is marked by a columnar conical mass, which suggests an enormous cypress formed by vines and creei)ers swai'ming up a broken
tree-shaft.
Here a dog swimming across the stream showed little
apprehension of the "Jacare" (Crocodilus sclerops), and the
dations,

:

people declare that those of the lakes are dangerous, whilst the
river-caj^mans * are not.

woman was

carried

Ribeira de Iguape by this congener of the dreaded

off in the

African crocodile.
its

Lately, however, a

It is said to prefer its

meat "high,"

as

does

big brother, and before deglutition to break the bones of

victims

b}'

blows with

the wild people eat

even the

it,

its

ponderous head.

According to Koster,

but the negroes will not touch the meat

Gabams (Negroes

cannibals.

its

of the Gaboon),

who

are believed to be

Both on the Rio das Yelhas and the Sao Francisco we

often saw the Jacare protruding its snout from the water, basking
in the

mud, or lurking amongst the

exceeded

five feet in

length

;

VOL.

II.

No specimen
and the equinoctial

wood.

in the Apui'e

* In old French, Caymand and Cajinande
are equivalent to " faineant " perhaps the
early travellers found the huge lizard un;

drift

move.
It becomes unwieldy
but in youth it is very agile,

willing to
with, age,

X

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

178

[chap. xii.

it grows to four or five times that size.
The negroes, it is
known, use the crocodile gall in their philters and poisons
the molars of the Jacare are here hung round the neck as talismans against disease. The musky smell of the meat must deter
any one hut an ''Indian" from using it, and the people ignore
the alligator- skin hoots which Texas invented.
A lumpy liill, grassy ahove and forested below, and stretching
from north-east to south-west, strikes the stream at this point,
and bends it from a straight course to the south-west and the

rivers

well

north-east

this

;

" sack "

is

Present^ we

i^assed a large

dicular clay,

some

seven miles long instead of one.

Fazenda on the right bank of perpen-

thu'ty-five feet

high

;

it

belongs to Dr. Luis

Francisco Otto of Guaicuhj^, and we begin to acknowledge the
odour of civilization. After a few obstructions,* we rested at

noon on the left bank, sheltered from the strong north wind
here was a mass of bluish stone, which appeared to be finety
laminated calcaire when it was only clay shale.
Resuming our way, we passed to port the Corrego das Pedras
do Burit}^,! where the great bend terminates, and two nameless
;

—I

mention them, because they are ''Corregos de
Morada," where men have settled, and which afford a good '' situacao," giving value to the lands adjacent. At 4 p.m. hove in sight
a tall blue wall of mountains, denoting the line of the Rio de
Sao Francisco; the crew disputed about the name,| and also
about a couple of Corregos further down.§
At 5 P.M. we made fast to the right bank of the Illia da Tabua,
wliich the pilots called Ilha Grande.
It has a large Coroa to the
south, with a mound of stiff clay, tree-grown and root-compacted,
influents

extending from south-east to north-west.

The

left

arm

of the

and beautifully clear under
on the other side we saw a farm with a line of

river is here greenish in the centre,

the banks

*

A

.sunken

;

sand-bank

(Areao)

wliicli

)uust he passed on the left, a Coroa in the
bend called Saco do Jequi, and a double

smooth water; this is
formed by a beach (praia) on the right,
which narrows the stream to 120 feet,
tide-rip inclosing

" CoiTego gi'ande dos Buritis. " Liais.
J One named it SeiTa do Jemipapo, and
another the Sen-a da Tabua
it may have
been the Serra da Porteira (Liais) on the
right or eastern bank of the junction.
"
§ In the map "Corrego da Gamelleira
"t

;

The Avikl
and " CoiTego do Tamburil. "
fig here attains a great size, and sometimes
six stems spring up together.
The Tamburil, pronoimced Tamburi (M. Liais "Tanibury "), also called Vinhatico do Campo, is
The *'Menino"
a tall hardwood tree.
insisted that the " Tamburil " influent
should be called the " Gramelleira," and
that it is " de morada," not navigable
but coming from afar. The mouth is eighty
feet wide from jaw to jaw.

—

"

CHAP. xii.J FJrlOM

THE COEOA DO GALLO TO THE ILHA GRANDE.

179

of wood, thicket,

and

noble trees, whilst the north

is

a tangle

grass.

For the

first

The Urubii

time we found the Coroa well stocked with birds.*

scavenger, regardless of the

rifle,

expanded his wings
back.
Small Cha-

and looked as if he w^ore a silver
radriadse hopped gieesomeh' about the sands, together mth Manuelsinho da Coroa little Emanuel of the Sandbar a Scolopax
with red-stockinged stilts, much resemblng our sandpiper. The
South Ameiican plover (Yanneau d'Amerique, Yanellus cayennensis, Neuw.), also with red stockings and pretty variegated
plume, followed the cattle tracks. Spanish America calls it after
its cry, Tero-Tero, the Portuguese prefer Quero-Quero (I want
I want ) and Espanta boiada, " Startle Cattle "f its manners
to the sun,

—

—

!

:

!

haunts marshes and pastures,

seems
never to sleep, and it is a great plague to the sportsman. In
remarkable contrast ^^itli its unpleasant vivacity, is the solemn
Acara, or heron with the long tliin legs supporting a body alwaj^s
delicately white and clean.
A tern very like the Sterna hii'undo,
are those of the peewit,

it

it

looking snow-Avhite against the slatey blue sky, fluttered in the

lower

ail'

with the rising and falling flight of the

The

butterfl}'.

Tupys term Atyaty, or Cara-carai,
dark-backed and red-billed, reminded my companion of those
wliich show communication between Memphis and the Mexican
Gulf, one of the colonies which I saw upon the Tanganyika Lake.
The whole flock rose and with circlings andswoopings followed and
Gaivota, or gull, which the

seemed determined

dog Negra, occasionally varying the
exercise b}' feinting to assault the men. They were enraged at our
intruding upon theu' i)rivate j)roi)erty, and with proverbial stupidity
they told by screams the secrets of their menage. We retaliated
by taking their eggs, I which were about the size of a plover's, with
^'
splotches " of light and dark chocolate brown upon a dirty
cream-colom'ed ground.
They revenged themselves by a persistent '' corrobory " round our camp-fii'e, which effectually banished
*

to fight the

The number, however,

gi-adually in-

creased below the Parauna River.
+ Thus Sr. Ladislao dos Santos Titara
sings,

Yao quero quero

pelo ar soltando.

t So on the lower Purus, in July the
eggs of the Gaivota may be picked up by
scores from the nests, round holes, four
inches across and three deep, in the sand-

banks,

where an npper coating of
drifting of the wind

ju-events the

;

mud
'
'

the

or four in each nest, are of a
dirty light green or brown, with patches as
eggs, three

when fresh they are very
^^ ^^^^^^^ .^^^ood
good eating and much like puffins' eggs.
Ascent of the River Purus, by W. Chandless.
Jouraal Royal Geo. Soc, vol. xxx-si.
IS 66.
;

N 2

THE HKJHLA^'DS OF THE

180

BllAZlL.

[chap. xii.

and they were viciously ready by early dawn to " see the
last" of us with taunts and execrations.
The " Menino " found ui^on the sands the parallel lines which
might easily have been mistaken for cart-ruts he declared it to
be the sign of the dreaded Sucuriti,* or Watersnake, whilst
Chico Diniz declared that the straightness of the trail showed a
sleep,

;

This hideous boa mostly haunts stagnant waters,
it is amphibious, and when not disoccasionally visiting rivers
small Jacare.

;

enormous length of
thirty feet.
I heard of one that measured sixty, and swallowed a
bullock in old travellers we read of men sitting down upon a
like the whale with the
fallen tree-trunk, which presently began
The " Indians " eat the
fire on its back
to change location.
Sucui'iu which, like most serpents, is savoury and wholesome
turbed by

man and

prairie fires,

it

attains the

;

—

—

food

;

the civilized confine themselves to eels.

be tanned for boots and housings,

now

it

is

The

skin used to

kept chiefly as a

curiosity.

At Maquine,
secure

it,

a

morador threw into the

river, before I

could

a fine specimen of the Surucucu, or (Jurucucti, first

mentioned by Marcgraf.

It is the

Lachesis mutus of Dandin,

the Crotalus mutus of Linnaeus, the Bothrops Surucucu of Spix

and Martins, the Xenodon rhabdocephalus of my friend. Dr. Otho
Wucherer (Zool. Soc. London, Nov. 12, 1861), and the " great
viper " of Cayenne and Sminam, which is suj^posed to cause death
in six hours.
The length of this trigonocephal varies from three
to eight and even to nine feet its skin is of a du'ty tawny yellowy
wdth dark brown lozenges on the back, and the broad head gives
;

it,

to the

connoisseur,

a pecuharly vicious

reported to be attracted by

fire,

appearance.

It is

but rarely to injure travellers.

There are two species of this snake, the less common being the
*'
Sururucu bico de jaca."
The other serpents of which the people spoke were the fol* The Boa Anacondo of Dandin
(the
Boa Murina of Mart., Ciinectes naurinus).
"Sucuriu," properly " Sucury," is derived
from "Suu" beast, and "cuiy" or "curu"

a snorer, a snoi-ter, alluding to its sibilant
powers.
According to Prince ]\Iax. (ii.
172) this boa is called " Sucuriu " in
Minas, and " Sucuriuba " on the Rio Belmonte. Pizarro prefers "Sucruyu. " Some
write '* Sucuruju " and even "Sucuriuh,"

It is also
and i^ronounce "Sucuriu."
called " Cobra de Yeado " because supposed
to be fond of venison, and Spix and Martins heard from M. Duarte Nogueira that
it has attacked a man on horseback, and
A Brazilian
has even swallowed an ox.
gentleman assured me that in Maranham
he had seen the terrible reptile swimming
across the stream with a pair of horns j^rotruding from its mouth.

;

CHAP.

XII.

1

lowing.

Cascavel

FROM THE COROA DO GALLO TO THE ILHA GRAXDE.
The

rattle-snake (Crotalus horriclus), is

(not Cascavella, as

some

write), a

known

181

as the

"hawkshell," and

the Tupvs called it " Maraca," a rattle, or boicininga, from
"boia," or ''boya," a serpent, and *' cininga," a chocalho, or
bell.
It is well proportioned, in length between foiu' and eight

with lozenges of lighter and darker colour.
It prefers stony and hilly ground, where it can easily sun itself,
and has a kind of domestic habit of maldng a home. It is
very lazy and harmless, except when troubled hence, probably,
feet,

and brown

gre}^

;

its

fame

for listening

most wiUmgiy

to the voice of the serpent-

and it may be killed
with a switch cattle are often poisoned by it, but I have not
heard in the Brazil of a man dying by its bite. Possibly the
dampness of the climate may modify the venom. The fiercest
charmer.

The

rattles* soon give warning,

;

of the lance-headed vipers, and emphatically declared to attack
mankind, like the Cobra de CapeUo of the Guinea Coast, is
or Yiper atrox

the Jararoca (Cophias

Spix and

;

Bothi^ops Neu\^iedii of

Martins, alias Crespidocephalus

du'ty dark yellow, turning to brown-black

nme

It is of

atrox).

about the

tail,

a

and

seldom exceeds five feet
in length, and the Jararacussu is the same reptile when full
grown and old. The Caninina often mentioned by old \\Titers,
is a Coluber not much dreaded, and the papo-ovo or egg-eater
much resembles it. The Cobra Coral is so named by the people
although Koster gives

it

feet,

it

resemblance to a necklace of mixed corals the term,
however, is applied to four, five, or more animals of difi'erent
species.
The common Coral, Elaps coralHnus, called Coluber

from

its

;

fulvus by Linnaeus,

who saw

it

when

the beautiful colours were

tarnished by alcohol, has black, carmine-red, and greenish-white
All declare, both in
transversal rings upon a smooth thin body.

books and viva voce, that it is as venomous as it is charming
but the fangs, though formed for offence, are so placed as to
be almost useless. Another Coral (Coluber venustissimus), is
also ringed with tricolor ornaments, but the head and gape are
A third ringed snake is the
larger than that before-mentioned.
Coluber formosus, with an orange-coloured head, and not venomous. Lastly, there is the Cobra Cipo, or whipsnake (Coluber
* Dr.

Renault

of

Barbacena declares that the

male and horizontal in the female.

rattle (sonnette), is perpendicular in the

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

182

bicarinatus, the

on each

side

fine, green,

:

Cypo
it

is

[cHAr. xii.

of Koster), with a line of carinated scales

Cobra Yerde, a

often confounded with the

I have killed

harmless Coluber.

the praj^ers of the b3^standers,

who

it

in a tree despite

declared that

it

can project

an arrow. The same tale is told of the Cananina, which
mentioned as a " fl^^ing snake " by Koster.
When first visiting the Brazil, travellers come prepared to

itself like
is

meet serpents on every path, their minds are brimful of beasts,
every spider
roach,

is

deadly, the}^ suspect the intentions of the cock-

and a thorn-prick suggests a scorpion.

Even

the

un-

Macaco fl}^, the African Millipede (piolho de Cobra),
the Amphisb£ena or Slow- worm ( " Miii das Sambas " ), the
fortunate

innocuous " Dryophis," and the Gitaranaboia * are capable of
dealing sudden death.

Presently the}^ find out that the rep-

have retreated before man, either to the seclusion of the
maritime regions, or into the Far West. As in Africa, so here,
" snake " means something more or less fatal. I presume that

tiles

man's aversion to this harmless and maligned animal is partly
traditional, derived from the old Hebrew m3^th, and, to a certain
extent, instinctive
the brightness of the e3^e, upon which Mr.
Luccock could not look, and the form of the head, a curious
;

resemblance to humanity, being the most remarkable points. I
have heard, even amongst the educated, of an inherited horror of
the snake, but this must rank with the tales of the Serpent kings,
and with the " Indian" fancy that a man when bitten must not

look at a woman.

The Brazilians inherit from the old inhabitants f a sensible
way of treating snake bites, but their system admits of improvement. The savages apj)lied above the wound a ligatui'e, wliich
* Tliis Insect, of which the traveller will
is described as aboiit two inches
long, with an oblong body, a snake-shaped
head one third of its total length, and
wingslike those of the tree cricket (Cigarra),
but much longer.
The proboscis folds
under the abdomen like the blade of a penknife
this stylet is supposed to be thrust
forth like a bayonet when the insect flies
straight as an arrow, and as it is always
blind it victimises ever}i;hing which comes
in its way.
1" And from the Africans.
I could not,
however, find any traces of the "Mandiguciro " or serpent charmer, Avho, according
often hear,

;

to Koster, is the West Indian Obeah.
But
the word is evidently a corrujition of Mandingo, the old and incorrect form of
Mandenza, a Semi-Semitic Moslem race,
well known at " Sa Leone."
Wonderful
tales are told of these "Curadores de
Cobra," how they could handle the most
venomous reptiles, cure the patient (curado
de cobras) by wrapping a tamed snake
round his head and shoulders, or by reciting magical words, or by the use of
" contas verdes, " literally " gi'een beads,"
which were probably nothing but the blue
Popo bead of which every West African
traveller has left an account.

"

CHAP. XII.]

FEOM THE COEOA DO GALLO TO THE ILHA GRANDE.

prevents the blood reacliiiig the heart for some time
lized bind

;

the

183

civi-

so tightly that mortification of the limb has followed.

it

which has been
imitated by the scientific man.* They almost always administer as sudorifics spiiituous cU'inks in large quantities, and this

Both indulge

the secret of the cure

is

the

venom

functions.
''

in a butchei'-like st^de of sui'geiy,

sinking "

On

;

the action of the heart

is

restored,

and the brain returns to its normal
"When the patient, who mostly complains of a
sensation, as in cholera, becomes intoxicated he is
is

expelled,

hand they mix with the alcohol what is
either harmless, as lemon juice, or spirit in which a Cobra Coral
has been macerated, or what is positively injurious, as mercurials.
There are many simples in general use, such as the Herva
safe.

the other

Cobreii'a, the Ai'istolochia, the leaves of the

and

the

grease

of the

Paternosters do the rest.

Plumieria obovata,

Teyu, tree-lizard, f wdiilst Aves and
''
On dit que les sauvages guerissent

morsures des serpens, et Ton m'a meme assure
que parmi eux personne ne meurt de cet accident." + Evidenth'
the civilized man ought not to die unless he delay too long to
apply ammonia, eau de luce, or the " whiskj'-cure."
tres bien les

Eio das Yellias recalled to mind the
words of an eloquent BraziHan writer. " I cast my eyes now on
the stream spanned by a line of fii*e reflected from the planet
Jupiter, then on the banks whose beautiful woods concealed
Oiu* last night on the

The

the rich champaigns.

despised by and

despising

produce, fertilizing in
full of all

canoe was

human

tied,

art,

'

'

a thousand

kinds

of

life

;

banks here and there a
rose the log which the

to its silent
its

vraters

his perch; while at rare intervals a

Sellow records treatment hy
repeated bimiing with gnnpowder, and peppering wdth Cantharides.
Labat, to mention no others, scarifies the
le rum est
Koster obsers^es,
wound,
aussi administre jusqu'a produire ri\Tesse.
.
+ The Teiu or Tejii (Lacerta Teguixin,
Linn.), is black spotted ^^ith yellow, and,
Yves
including the tail, four feet long.
L'E%T:eux writes Tyvu, Marcgraf Toiuguafu,
M. Denis Till (Tupinambis monitor), and
declares with St. Hil. that the white,
savoury, and delicate meat is eaten by
This is
Brazilians in good circumstances.
IsL

in

sinuous course millions of acres, was

and from

scarification,

ricli

of navigation,

its

fisherman makes

solitary

* Thus

but

river, a natural line

certainly not the case in the Sertao of these
Koster mentions the Tijaa9u, which
days,

he believes to be the Teguixin; the Cakngo,
a smaller variety also edible; the \-ibra,
and the lagartixa, a house and wall lizard,
a vivacious little animal which destroys
Some travellei's
flies and other insects.
have confounded the Teiu with the Jacare,
as the old Greek who wrote the Periplus
did at Zanzibar. The good missioner (Yves)
specifies the Taroiiire as a grand lizard, but
his editor corrects him, and declares the
TaranjTa to be smaller than the Tiii,

+

Pi-ince

Max.

ii.

294.

!

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

1S4

[chap. XII.

and clearings that ignore civilized agriculture,
Such misery and so much want in the
dotted the forest-shore.
here such neglected wealth, and so much that
Old World

dwelling-pLice,

!

can make

—

life

happy

!

Lands that

will fructify every

manner

of plant and grain cast into their hosom, shoals of fish to feed

the poor, a wealth of precious stones and ores, a channel easily

connecting with the outer world
the day has dawned,

!

when men

But the age
shall flock to

shall come,

and

these unknown

regions,

shall adorn the

river

when gardens, quays, and works of art,
side, when town and village shall whiten

the plain, and

when

the voices of a happy people shall be heard where the

profound solitude and silence are now broken only by the moan
of the dove, by the scream of the night-bird, and by the baying of
the wild dog."

So be

it

—

CHAPTER

;

;

XIIl.

TO AXD AT GUAICUHY.
LANDING,— THE " JIGGEES."— THE GREAT "MEETING OF THE WATERS."—
GUAICUHY DESCRIBED, THE MANGA AND THE VILLA, THE SERRINHA
AND ITS VIEW. THE GOOD DELEGATE OF POLICE, SR. LEANDRO HERMETO
DA SILVA.

—

—

"

A descrip9ao das scenas

de natureza deleita, a dos costumes instrue."
que so deleita toma se superficial, o que so instrue, aborrecivel
casemos pois estas duas qualidades," A. G. Teixeira e Soitza.
" Aquelle

A
fire,

HOUSE on the left bank kept up diuing the night a red
which shone through the dark trees, another evidence that

we were approaching a centre of settlement. After a few days of
traveller's life and liberty, of existence in the open aii', of sleej:)
under the

soft blue skies, of daj's

without

neck-ties, the

sen-

sation of returning to ''Society" is b}^ no means pleasant; all
have felt, although, perhaps, all will not own the unamiable
The idea of entering a town
effort which it has cost them.
after a spell on the Prairie or on the River, is distasteful to
me as to any Bedouin of the purer breed, who must stuff his
nostrils

with

cotton

to

exclude the noxious

looked forward with little
and to entering Guaicuhy.
a

i:>leasure

to

atmosphere.

breaking up

my

I

crew,

The first of Ember Week (Sunday, September 15) showed
warm cloudy morning with a north wind, contradictory signs.

We

passed on the

left

the Currego da

Tabua,

it

comes from

contmuation of the Palma range
about two miles from the mouth is an AiTaialsinho, or little
Presently rose before us the peaky Serra do Jenipapo.
village.

the Serra of that name,

The uniform

;

river-banks would in Europe

here they seemed
their huts

a

utterl}- civilized,

and vegetable-plots, and

be

called a forest

with their Coqueh'o palms,
their scatters of old

and new

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

186

clearings.

The

river

widened out and became somewhat shallow

the sole obstacle w^as a sunken rock

We

"

cleaned ourselves "

for delivering letters

[ciiAr. xiii.

—

known

literally

not funnily

About 10

Jahii.

— and prepared

being directed to

of introduction, which,

absentees, all proved useless.

Pan

as the

a.m.

we made

fast at

the Porto da Villa do Guaicuhy, the port being a rough

bank, covered with thicket, through which a path

upper settlement.
gate

;

cut to the

Presently we received a visit from the Dele-

of Police, Sr.

friends

is

clay

Leandro Hermeto da

and sundry

Silva,

he kindly detached a sergeant to find us a lodging at

the Porto da

Manga, a few hundred

j^ards

down stream, and

two great rivers, das Velhas and
de Sao Francisco. We w^ere soon established in the house of
Major Cypriano Medeiro Lima, who had offered us its hosj^iclose to the junction of the

tality at

walls,

Diamantina.

It

containing a well-ventilated

table, a

mud and

wattle

room which boasted

of a

was in the usual

dark closet with a pair of

''

st3de,

catres," or cots, one with

a bottom of cow-hide, the other wdtli leathern thongs.

sage nearly blocked up by the big water-pot led to

a

upon the ground, and
compound well calculated for the accommodation

A paskitchen

distinguished by thin stones

to a little

railed

of beggars,

and dogs.
Here a mature old age ends the stream which w^e have accompanied from its babyhood for the last three months this, howIt was
ever, is not a Thanatos, it is a Mokshi, an absorption.
impossible to contemplate without enthusiasm the meeting of
The '^Eiver
the two mighty waters which here lay mapped.
"
gracefully
round
from
north-east
sweeps
to
of the Old Squaws
nearly due west, and flowing dov/n a straight reach about 550
feet broad,* merges into the Sao Francisco, which flows from
pigs,

:

* M. Lials gives 167 metres. The figures
the Rio
as follows
das Velhas discharges 209 metres per
of the junction are

:

and lies above sea-level, 2,365
palms (Halfield), or 567 metres (Gerber),
I made
or 432 (Liais at the confluence).
the Manga 1774 feet high (B. P. 209° '40,
second,

Before the confluence the
temp. 45°).
Sao Francisco is 359 metres broad, more
than doul)]ing the Rio das Velhas, and the
debit is 446 cubic metres.
The limited
discharge is 655 cubic metres per minute.
The Barra or mouth of the Rio das
Yelhns, smith lat. 17° 11' 54', and west

long. (Rio) 1° 43' 35",

maybe

considered

almost in a straight line of prolongation of
Rio de Janeiro, Barhacena, and Sahara,
The distance from the arc of the great
circle uniting these points is only five geographical leagues to the west, although
the old maps placed it far to the east. The
deviation from the direct line prolonged from
Rio de Janeiro to the Barra do Rio das
Velhas, is only 3800 metres, about half a
Brazilian league, or y^o^d of the total dis656 kilometres, or 5° 55' 31 " "4
tance,

(355 geogi-aphical miles).

:

'

CHAP.

XIII.]

TO AND AT GCAICL'HY.

•

the east to receive
is

of

stiff

:

it.

The

187

bank of the Eio das Yelhas

right

On

clay standing almost upright.

the other

side

is

Chacara with the plots of Castor-shrub which stretch in
blue-green tufts towards the water, backed by a climip of
oranges and bananas. Beyond it, at the point projecting into
the united rivers, is a matted forest of wild figs, Pan Jahii, and
a

little

other wild gTowth.
I remained at the

tember

Manga from

the 15th to the 18th of Sep-

the house, which had been long unoccupied, was well

;

tenanted by the Bicho do pe, and two of them chose to lodge with

me. It

is

mam^ names, Pulex penetrans, P. subintrans,
The old French Missionary Yves D'Evreux

a beast of

or P. minimus.

(1613

—

14), calls it le Thon, and the modern Gauls
" *
thus the neo-Latin tongues borrow

" des biches

—

speak of

from one

I have also seen
another, only changing the terminal vowels.
Brulot and " Pou de Pharaon," although Pharaoh was never in
America. The Tupys Imew it as " Tumbyra." The Spaniards

chose Nigua and Chigua,t from which again the French took

and the term has descended to us in various forms
Chigre, Cheger, Chegre, Chegoe, Chigo, Chigoe, Chigger,]: and
finally the Jigger, thus immortalised by the Negro minstrel
Chique,

Rose, Rose, lubly Rose,
I

This

nuisance

abodes

:

§

camphor

wish

I

may

especially

be jig-gered

aftects

the old travellers bitterly

if I

don't lub Rose.

and deserted
complained of it, and carried
coffee-stores

in their boots, being careful never to go barefoot.

persons of whatever rank,"
Catharina, the island

(iii.

says Southey,

861),

''

carefully

A traditional

naturalist, wishing to

* "Bicho" in Portuguese is a veiy
comprehensive word, as Sir Charles Napier
said of Hindostani; it applies to everything,
from a flea to an elephant, and even to a
steam-engine (bicho de fogo, bicho feio),
Koster pleasantly relates how, being a Protestant, he was called in the out-stations
"Bicho."

+ "Chica" is also used, and M. F. Denis,
the editor of Yves D'Evreux (Notes, p. 416)
Xiga.
writes
t The "Chigtrer" or "rod bucj" of the
'

'

'

All

speaking of Santa

wash

their feet every

night, as the best preservative against the Chiguas,"
not.

'^

—which

carry home

it is

a live speci-

Southern States of the Union, is, I believe,
a kind of tick which, like the Carrapato,
It does not hatch its
affects the woods.
young in the body, but the result is a
i^ainful pimple.
§ According to Koster (ii. xix.), it is not
found in the plains of the Xorthern Sertao,
and some people in parts badly infested
have been so much preferred by the insect,
that they were compelled to leave the
country.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

188

[chap. xiii.

men, would not be operated upon, induced mortification, and
became a '' martyr to science." I have often seen boys with their
toes dotted over, as if i)epper had been sprinkled upon them, but
no death has been recorded, and I have heard that careless
negroes have lost their feet by amputation.
The Jigger, seen under a microscope, has the appearance of a
small flea with well developed bod}^ and of somewhat lighter
colour.
It crawls more quickh^, but does not jump so well as the
ordinary pulex; the popular belief is that the male is never
found.
It burrows under the nails of the hands and feet, especially the latter

;

I have extracted as

The

never from the fingers.

sole is also

as six in one day, but

a favourite place

Bicho colonizes wherever the skin

fact the

preference for negroes.

and the

many

flesh, into

Its

which

not lodging room

it

proper habitat

is

is

thick

—hence

between the

;

in
its

cuticle

does not penetrate, and where there

Having ensconced itself bodily, the jigger proceeds to increase and multiply
the small dark point develops to the size of a pea, and can move

is

it falls ofl'

drawing blood.

after

;

no more.

The

light-coloured bag

eggs of a slightly yellow
the parent departs this

The small

tint,

enormously distended with
and after producing her fine family
is

life.

which appears about the nails is generally
accompanied b}' a certain amount of titillation which old stagers
enjoy; they describe it as sui generis, and make it almost deserve
the

name

livid poiiit

of a

new

pleasure.

Men

with tender skins easily feel

the bite, and remove the biter before

it

can penetrate.

The}^

then send for a negro, alwaj's the best practitioner, and he proceeds to extract the intruder with a

join

in preference to a needle.

Should the sack be burst, and the fragments not be all extracted,
the place festers, and a bad sore is the result
some sufl'erers
have had to wear slii:)pers, and have walked lame for weeks. The
wound is finally cicatrized with some light alkali, even snuff and
cigar ashes are used, and a little arnica completes the cure.
If any place bear the stamp of greatness aflixed b}^ Nature's
hand, it is this Junction. It is the half-way house on the mighty
riverine vallej^
it has, or rather it can have, water-traflic with
Sahara, Diamantina, Curvello, Pitangui, Para (or Patafugio),
Dores de Indaia, Campo Grande, Paracatu, Sao Romao, and the
;

;

other settlements on the Siio Francisco River.
It links together
the Pi'(-)Yinr'os of (lovaz, Pernambuoo, Pahin, and Minas, and

CHAP.

TO

XIII.]

many

AND AT GUAICUHY.

189

steamer and tlie railwa}' will connect it
with the Capital of the Empire. I shall ink more paper than
before

enough

years

tlie

for the present settlements

then* future greatness shall have

;

been

thus,

when

m}^ forecast of

justified, the traveller

may

compare his Present with m}- Past, and therein find another
standard for measuring the march of Progress as it advances, and

must advance with giant

strides,

in the

Land

of the Southern

Cross.

In early colonial times the Junction of the rivers and the
settlement near it were called Barra de Guaicuhy, and formed an
old Julgado, or Chef-lieu de Justice, extinct about fifty years ago.

Tupy name into Barra do
and
the
municipality were created
Rio das Yellias.
in 1861 (Provincial Law, No. 1,112 of Oct. 16) by takmg in part
of Montes Claros, Sao Komao, Paracatu, Curvello, and Diamantina, and the principal tovm. took the name of Villa de Guaiculiy.
Afterwards were annexed to it Mumbuca and the new districts of
Estrema, Pii'apora, and Sao Goncalo das Tabocas, and now it is
divided into foiu', namely, Guaiculiy, Sao Goncalo, Pii'apora, and
Estrema. The population is stated to exceed 15,000 souls, with
1200 voters and seventeen electors the latter seldom exercise
their functions, as the College sits at Montes Claros, distant 120
to 200 miles of vile road from their several homes.
The settlement is divided into two BauTos, or Quarters. Near
the confluence is the (Ai-raial da) Manga, or the Cattle-ford,
popularly called the Port.
The upper village is the Villa, formerly the Arraial da Porteira, so called from a neighboiuing
range, also an old name.
The municipality has a single parish,
The

later generations translated the

The

district

;

the " Freguezia de X^^ S^ de

Bom

Successo e Almas da Villa de

Guaicuhy."

The Manga
to destruction.

a wretched decaying village, apparently

is

doomed

perched upon an almost upright bank of
twenty-nine feet six inches high, and the walls

It is

white -yellow clay,
of the tenements

show

a

water-mark of more than six

feet

;

thus

between thh'ty-five and thirty-six feet, with
The river, as usual with
a weight which nothing can withstand.
large streams, flows upon a ridge, and swings towards the north
its course will be arrested only
side, which readil}' melts awa}^
Serrmha
da
Manga,
the
or
Muritiba,
a long low lump of hill
by
The southern bank projects into the Sao Francisco
to the north.

the total of the rise

is

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

190

[chap. xiii.

a long tongue of sand, with hardly hve inches of water at this

season.

The Manga hank
samhi, and

its

is

rude attempts at steps,

safe only to the semi-prehensile

it

first

hghts,

is

of the natives.

feet

conspicuous building, upon whose
the traveller's eye

Angolan Kuiwhen greased by rain are

painful climbing, as that of

tall,

the

The only

gaunt, sloj^ing roof of tiles

Bom

Jesus de Matosinhos

;

fronts the meeting of the waters, or south, with a little westmg,

and

it

now

stands almost at the edge of the precipice.

ashlar and lime,
better

it sIioavs

Built of

that in Colonial times the place

knew

a "work of Santa
it is half-finished,
The southern entrance has never been roofed, the

days; as usual

Engracia."

and the belfry is the normal
gallows of three timbers. Pilasters and i)ulpits of cut stone are
destined to remain in embryo, and a neat arch of masonry
intended to mark the high altar to the north, now the body of
sacristy to the east is bare scantling,

the temple,

is foul

with weeds.

Beyond the

Bom

Jesus

is

a small

rum-distillery, and fm*ther down stream the " bush."
Formerly the Manga had two thoroughfares, but in 1865 the
inundation swept away the most convenient portion, and only
part of " Water Street " shows a double line of blocks and huts,
numbering twenty-four. They are built upon flags of hard blue
sandstone, resembling lime, sometimes capped with iron, or

showing junction with reddish gneiss. The new^ thoroughfare to
the south, and running parallel with the former, has thirtj'-three
tenements wliich look upon a road ankle-deep in sand. These
lodgings contrast badly in point of comfort with Dahome, or
Abeokuta, in Egba-land they are unwhitewashed cages of wattle
:

and dab, roofed with half-baked

tiles.

All have ground-floors of

tami:)ed earth, except the Sobradinho,* belonging to Sr. Joao

Pereira do Carmo, merchant, and Juiz de Paz.

In the Brazil

this official has conciliating powers, intended to spare appeal to

the Juiz Municipal.

But

in country places the

servants of old

Father Antic, the Law, not unfrequently recall to mind the Scotch
saying about a far cry to Loch Awe.
Most of the houses have back-yards, green with bananas,
Cuietes or Calabash trees (Crescentia Cujete
•

* The Meio Sobrado is a single-storied
house upon a raised platfonn of masonry.
The Sobradinho is a one-storied house "vWth

or

Cuyete)

and

a single room above it, and the Sobrado is
a two-storied dwelling a casa nobre when

—

Avell

made.

—

TU A^'D AT GUAICUHY.

CHAP. XIII.]

oranges,

wliich

191

exported clown stream.

are

Tlie

Settlement

abounds in manioc, and as wheat was not to be found, we laid in
a store of iDolvillio or Tipioca cakes (roscas de Tipioca)* and
fuba-meal, wliicli is very expensive on tlie Upper Sao Francisco.
As in Africa, tlie housewives Avould not sell their eggs. Tiu'ke^'s

and cost 2 $000 a head. About half that sum is paid
for fowls and for Guinea-fowls, which are exceptionally held to be
good food. The people do not readily part with theii* provisions,
and they are perniciously frugal. A month's work at manioc
Moreover, much more is to be had
gives them bread for a year.
by barter than for money. All determined that we were merHad we known
chants, and offered cent, per cent, for tobacco.
this I should have invested heavily in the article, and thus made
A fatted bullock costs 30 $000,
mj^self a something inteUigible.
a cow 15 $000, a pig from 10 $000 to 16 $000, and fine goats
and sheep, mostly fom'-horned, 2 $ 000. Fish is, of course, cheap.
A fresh Carumata, weighing 4 lbs., is worth a halfpenny, and
a salted Surubim of 32 lbs., from 3 $000 to 6 $000.
The high
value of the latter is owing to the price of salt, which must be
imported from the lower river, and the plate of 4 lbs. or 5 lbs.
fluctuates between 0$ 800 and 1$320. Washerwomen and sewing
thrive here,

women

gave their services at the cheapest possible rate.

At this season the Manga is tolerabh^ healthy, but between
January and Jmie, agues, typhus, and malignant marsh-fevers
(carneii'adas)

decimate the inhabitants.

lids, paralytic,

Many

or suffering from ophthalmia

are clu'onic inva-

and

which

goitre,

below Guaicuhy will cease to offend the eye. The climate has
won for itself an enduring bad name f but the blame attaches
;

'^

I

Our "tapioca"

is

a

mere coiTuption.

,,
„
Half a

modified

by

^
r ^r
n
quarta of Manioc fioiu•

4 lbs of toucmho lard
32 lbs_. of carne seca (sundried beet)
.

.

....
,,,

,

lotal

•.*A,-,-%

1

100

1

$ 280

6^iii0
««;ioA
b$i2U

+ "Le long du Rio San Francisco, a
I'epoque oil le fleuve baisse, le pays est
afflige d'epidemies qui enlevent beaucoup
de monde et de^dennent surtout tres
dangereuses pour les etrangers, ainsi que
pour les vovageurs qui ne sont pas acclimates " (Prince Max. iii. 185).
This is
repeated by many a "v\Titer, and is sensibly

Lieut.

Hemdon

(p.
326).
passes these places
without danger.
It is the enthusiast in
^^.
^.j^^
^^^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ .^
collecting curious objects of natural history,
^^, ^^^ ^^,.^^^^^^ ^^^.^1^^^ ^^ consequences
in
^^^ ^niTsuit of doUars, T\ho sufi-ei-s from the
Sezoens."
As a rule on the Sao Francisco
^Yie fevers, though at times of malignant
^^'P^' ""^'^ ™<^-^% "chills," and the people,
^'^^^""^ ^^^'^^^^ ^^ procure the much valued
Q^^mme, treat them with simples such as
^^^ Amargo, the antifebrile Quina, the purg^.^!^ Fidegoso, the bitter root Cipo de

" The mere

bought,

traveller

;

mil-homens or de Jarrmha
^""'^ ctiurctic

Aristolochia).

(a diaphoretic

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

192

BliAZIL.

[cuAr. xiii.

and dissolute habits of the people than to the
maligned river.* Drainage is absolutely unknown, and the worst
sites are preferred, because they are the most handy. The houses
The pig lives in the parlour, and
are impure to the last degree.
"intramural sepulture" here survives. The diet, fish and manioc,
manioc and fish, assists the work of dirt hence the sallow unwholesome look and the listless languor of the people. The}'
drink to excess new rum, the " Ivill-John" of the Mediterranean.
On Sunday evening hardly a soul was sober, and two of my men,
the " Menino" and Agostinho, could hardly stand. Having little
They sit up half the
else to do, their libertinism is extreme.
and
singing.
smoking,
Of course they
playing
night chatting and
Hence too
are unfit for work till nearly noon on the next day.
often poverty, misery, and churlishness.
The inhabitants are all more or less coloured, and as the yellow

more

to tlie dirty

—

—

;

skin denotes the Brahman, so here a light-tinted face

The genus Vadio abounds, and

a token of rank.
are not above a

little

stealing, w^e

is

invariably

as these idlers

removed, by advice, the iron

On common

of the

men

are absent at their rocas or are fishing with seines (Pugas),!

and

grating of our

raft's galley.

The

days

many

and a half shows here and there
a vagrant stretched upon a bench or on a mat to protect him from
with long hand-lines.

Rarely a great

the sand.

street

man

passes, with

wooden box-stirrups

and ambling nag. The
small for want of breeding, but showing original good blood in the
shape and carriage of the head. At times a Caipera, mostly a
animals are like those of Pernambuco,

vagueii'o

or

driver,

cattle

showing that he

is

* Dirty not in person

rides

in

leather-dressed cap-a-pie,

a denizen of a thorny land.t
but in lodgings.

The

slave boys

Sao Francisco.
A
from 5 $000 to 25 $000,
and it is far superior, softer and more
durable,
than what
a London tailor
The preference is given
supplies for ^'5.
aria,

Rio de

on the

37) remarks "En general,
c'est Ih, line des qiialites qui distinguent
qu'ils
quelque pauvres
les Bresiliens
soient levu-s chaumieres ne sont presque

whole

sales, et s'ils ne possedent que deux
chemises, celle qu'ils portent est toujours
He doubtless spoke as he found
blanche."
matters, but he wrote much from memoiy.
My exi)erience amongst the poor showed
me that they reverse the practice of the
Netherlanders, amongst whom I have seen
a woman whose arms required a bath-brick,
diligently scouring a door-step white as
snow.
+ The Pucja is a bag-net of reeds which
two men drag along the bottom.
^ These leathers are best made at Janu-

the skins of deer, Yeado, Sassuapara,
Catingeiro and Mateiro
an inferior kind
is made
of the Capivara,
here called
Caititu.
Bullocks' brains are principally
used to soften the leather, which becomes
like casimir
this is a trick doubtless
inherited from the savages of the land,
The full suit consists of the Chapeo, a
billy-cock hat, sometimes flapped behind
like a sou' wester, the Gribao or jerkin, a
short jacket opening in front and with
pockets outside, the Gruardapeito, an oblong piece of skin extending from throat

St. Hil.

(HI.

ii.

:

;

jamais

siiit

costs

to

;

;

-

CHAP.

TO AND AT GtAlCUHY.

XIII.]

upon the cruppers of

sit

On

bestride then- donkeys.

Nothing

horseback.

naked

else

ci^il

lean garrons as the youth of

ass-back the seat

is

The dogs and

lads.

chronic

tlieir

193

to be seen but

is

Egypt

correct, not

on

bmls, beasts, and

pigs are apparently in a state

of

war, and the onh' gymnastic of the citizen and the

citoyenne consists of ''sticldng" them.

Amongst

these half-breeds respectable

men

are invariably civil

and obliging. Churlishness increases with the deepenmg tint of
the skm, and at times, when ver}^ dark, it indulges in the peculiar
negro swagger which speaks of a not unintentional rudeness.
When, however, the men are sober, they show nothing of the
ruffianism so

common amongst

European uneducated. A
manners as offensive, whereas

the

stranger would often look upon their

the offence proceeds not from mtentional

want of

ill-will,

but from a total

discernmg the decorous, and absence

tact, incapability of

of perception that they are giving offence.

Men come

to the

door, lean against the post, stare like the OphidicT, stare like the

gods of Greece and Rome, with eyes which never wink. They care
not whether the man in the den is eating, shaving, or bathing they
;

intrude conversation, and they

make

viva voce personal

and remarks, as the Central Africans would
Realm
is

of

women
first

In

fact the

Bocchus by the Blackland Sea

the best of patience-teachers.

learn, to endure

do.

comments

You

what the Englishman

there learn,

and must

enter uninvited, cigarette in mouth, and

sit

down

AVe have a pretty neighbour,

time like old friends.

resembling the ''Yaller Gal of

New

The

hates, perhaps, most.

Orleens."

The

S'-'^

for the

much
Miner

vina of Salgado loved, said the tongue of medisance, a soldier,

Like the rest of her sex in this
region she carried one shoulder alwaj's bare, and she asked for
The
everything, valuable or valueless, which met her sight.
not wisely and not too well.

through Avhich
passed, and acting waistcoat,
the Perneiras or tights, v^-hich reach
ancles.
Over these boots are drawTi on
to stomach, -with a hole

the

head

and

is

feet,

and protected by

less

shoes,

like

the

closely

fitted

under

slippers

the
the

sole-

of

Egypt.
I soon adoj)ted leather. Bniziliau travel,
especially in the interior, wears out a pair
of overalls per month.
^Yhere the land,
^|lr,.

Ti.

however, Is not very thorny, the suit ]nay
be limited to the breeches or even to leggings
some backwoodsmen here economize
the "seat."
A modem author justly
praises the material for long lasting, but
he probably never tried what he describes
;

as " frais et leger."
It is, as most of
blaster Shoetie's brethren knovr, heavy and

cumbrous, hot in hot weather, cold in
wet in wet.

o

cold

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

194

smallest

was

trifle

[chap, xii

because better than

thanklessly received,

The women are here tolerably independent of the men.
saw them paddling themselves and their children across

nothing.
I often

the streams.

We

took an early opportmiity of visiting the Serrinha, behind

or north of the Manga.
lies a

Beyond the

fifty

bayou-bed, mud-flaked and in parts

exjilains the

Crioulma

On

fevers.

trees, regular

yards of river-ridge

still

green

;

this partly

damp margin grew a circle of
and domed like enormous oranges, with
the

thick trunks two feet high, and leafage like the myrtle oftenderest
j)istachio-green

the perfume of the flower resembles

;

and the small red berry

is

eaten by children.

They

vanilla,

contrast

strongly with the " Carrascos " and Cerrados of the broken
waterless ground further from the stream.

This vegetation is
European rather than tropical in w^ant of variety, and it presented anything but a gay prospect, this depth of winter in the
heat of the dog days.
winter

;

some were dead,

heat of the sun

;

IMany were

leafless, like

hazels in our

according to the people, by the

killed,

ground was rich in the black *'formiga douda," or
which loves the orange tree it is so called because
;

about as

if

mad

The

others said that frost was the cause.

or drunk.

Wens

mad
it

ant,

moons

of termite nests* throttled

the branches, and we were once pursued by a

Marimbondos

swarm of furious
This nuisance must be abated by

or tree-wasps.

breeding birds

;

we found few

of the feathered race, and orna-

mental rather than useful, with brilhant tints they lighted up
the dull and arid view. Passing a few outlying hovels, each of
which sent forth its barj^ing cur, we began the ascent. Here
the land shows, where denuded, red and yellow sandstone, new,

and regularly

shaly,

stratified;

perhaps

it

is

the ''Old Eed,"

discovered in the Serra da Porteira by Dr. Vii'gil von Helmreichen,
the same who detected granite in the limestone near Gongo

Soco.

The dry

t

grass was

benefit of the few cows,
rivulets.

On

still

burning in parts, for the future

and the surface was cut by wet-weather

the higher levels, well swept by the cool breeze,

houses might be built be^'ond the range of malaria, but there

'"

Tlie

trailed

+

nest

of the

" panella," a

tevines arboruin

k

pot.

Similarly on the Amazons River, older
observers l.elieved tlie slatv rock and hard

on the banks at Manaos to
Prof. Agassiz (p. 199)
determined both to form part of the ''great
fiaudstoiic sccli
l)e

Trias or OhI

Red

drift fdrmatioii,"

:

CUAF. xiii.j

is

TO A^'D AT GUAICUHY.

no surface water, and none but a

down pipes.
The view from the summit

I95

madman would now dream

of lajing

delighted us.

To

the north the

was broader than the eye
could estimate, and the least width was nine miles.
To the east
*
is the crescent-shaped Serra da Porteira,
a long tongue of raised
the
towards
stream.
land, convex
Southwards the horizon was
broken by the high blue lines of the Serras do Rompe-dia and
do Saco Redondo. A httle north of west stood the Serra do
Itacolumi, f forming with the Jenipapo and the Yarginha to the
south-west another half-moon, whose bulge faced the river.
The
Jenipapo is said to bear a plateau on its head, and to
aboimd in gold. These western mountains have gaunt forms,
as if broken by volcanos, and there are two p^'ramids connected
by natural curtains, which make magnihcent land marks. Below
the peaks there are gradmgs of horizontal lines, evidently formed
under water.
The sm-face bore the growth of the great and
arid plams called Campos Geraes, and resembling the upheaved
''
levels " of England and the '' carses " of Scotland.
Here it
was dull and grey, there the trees were donning their spring
riverine valley of the joint streams

dresses of liveliest gTeen.

+

Between these limits of the stream in davs of vore, the Rio
de Sao Francisco winds up through its verdant avenue from the
south-east, spreading out into bays 1800 feet broach
Above
the thin confluence-point of trees and sand, its noble tributary,
the Rio das Yellias, serpentines from the south-south-east, and
shows a silvery lake on the left bank. Grand are the ciu'ves
described upon the lacustrine lowlands, the ^'straths" and
" dales " of om- countrj^, whose vast extent smokes like a battletield with prairie fires.
During the rams the flats must become
Below us lies the shallow line of village,
a broken line of lakes.

*

M. Halfekl

calls the uortliein part of
barra da Manga," and connects it to the south -^'ith the Serra do
South of the confluence ho
Rompe-dia.
da Tabua and do
the Serras
places
Truichete.
1* Down
stream,
near the town of
Remanso, there is on the left bank a "Serra
dos Columis," and a hill called " Itacolumita" is at the junction of the Rio
Preto with the Rio Grande,

this SeiTa

"da

i The extreme breadth
determined by
lies between
the Serra
Espinhago on the right
valley as

of the riverine
its

tributaries,

or

Gf-rande

do

and the
highlands that divide IMinas Geraes from
Goyaz, under the names Serra dos Piloes,
da Tiririca, dos Ardras and do Parana
(called by St. Hil. Serra de S. Francisco e
do Tocantins).
Thus its extreme breadth
would be 240 geogi'aphical miles from Rio
de Janeiro to

W.

(east)

long. 4° (Rio).

2

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL,

VJ'6

[chap. xiii.

and scattered near the junction are plots of bright and luxuriant
sugar-cane.
I did not neglect to ins2)ect the Villa de

Guaicuhy, distant

from church to church about three-quarters of a mile. The path
wound along the right bank of the Rio das Yellias, which is
only partially subject to inundations their limit is denoted by
green grass and thickly foHaged Almacegueiros (gum trees)
;

the prettiest feature

the

is

Pau de Arco de Flor Roxa

—the

red-flowered Bowdarque. This Bignonia, rich with mauve-coloiu'ed

used as an anti-syphilitic, and the cerne or heart
made to do the duty of lignum guaiacum. In places there is

trumpets,
is

is

good ground
turn

its

for cotton

fibre

to lint

;

grown annually, and '^topping

"

would

here the comparative aridity of the soil

would save the trouble of cutting the tap root. The people
say that there is too much sand and too little water for coffee
the " Cafezal " is an exception, and the best are in the Fazendas
of Eompe-dia, Bejaflor, Canabrava, Mumbuca.
We crossed a
dwarf ridge of the usual shaly sandstone, and a fiuman now
;

dry; be^'ond

Two

it

lay

Campo

ground, dotted with a few cattle.*

bulls eyed us curiously, but the novelist's pet animal is here

unknown.
Presently we

crossed by stepping

over stones

the

normal

bridge, the small Corrego da Porteira, which drains the crescent-

shaped Serra of the same name other streams can be added
it, and thus there will be a sufiicient water suppl}^ for the
future city.
Passing the Quartel or barracks, a more substantial
house than usual, we issued into the square, where the superi;

to

ority of the site

at

once became apparent.

only to the lovrer portion
to the

;

The

floods reach

the upper part slopes gradually up

skirts of the stony hill,

and affords a beautiful view of

the double distances which buttress

the

riverine

plain.

At

present the settlement consists only of the square, and the square

has a total of forty-five tenements, not including the church.

At present

it

supports

itself

* In tlie true cattle-Lreediug euiuiiries,
as Texas and the Argentine Republies, a few head turned out to graze and
completely neglected multiply exceedingly
in the shortest jjossible space.
Here, as in
the southern part of the Sao Paulo Province, they do not, and the cause is hardly
apparent.
The climate is excellent, and
sucli

by exporting provisions, and
the surface
vvliile

of tlie

grouud

is

it

favourable,

forage, possibly not of the best de-

scription, abounds.
On the other hand
the animals cannot live without salt, and

want of communication, by adding 400 to
500 per cent, to the price, greatly limitthe supply.

"

riiAP.

;

TO AND AT flUAICUHY.

XTTT,]

imports from Joazeiro

salt

197

and dry goods, and from Januaria

and sole leather. The post reaches it twice a
month, on the 7th and the 27th.
The vicar, Eev. P^ Francisco da Motta, was confessing at
Desembrigo I was sorry not to meet him, as all spoke liighly
The excellent Delegate insisted upon
of liis local information.
my companion
giving ITS coffee and sponge cake (pfio de 16)
saltpetre, hides,

;

;

marked

at his store a bit of cotton

bought

full of starch,

substantial

leucom, and dextrin,

home-made produce

it

J.

Bramley Moore

contrasted badly with the

Our

of Minas.

friend led us

by the sound.

to the village school,

which could

The BraziUans have

facetiously described the viva voce S3^stem,
It should

borrowed from the Arabs.*

demned

precipitately^

Mj

assists in

not, however,

it

it

system of learning foreign tongues has long been

The process

to me.

con-

teaches abstraction of

"read out loud," and mentally to repeat whatever

to

be

forming pronunciation,

upon the memory, and

fixes the subject

thought.

it

;

easily be traced

is

tedious, but

it

is

said

masters the language in

three months.

The

fault of every old settlement in the Brazil,

Rio de Janeiro,
it

is

beginning with

the narrowness of the streets, and after a time

can hardly be corrected.

We

advised the Delegate to lay out

the wide open space in regular parallelograms, with thoroughfares
at least

100 yards broad, and thus to make ready for the days

when, pace the manes of Sir John Shelley, tramways will become
universal.
We visited the church in charge of a Sacristan, born
about 1796. Founded some 150 years ago, b}^ the piety of an old
philanthropist, the Rev. P^ Xicolau Pereira de Barros,

the

fair

view to the setting sun.

The

stone front

three windows, a door, and what by courtesy

may

is

it

faces

pierced with

be called a rose

and the material is taipa, armed with mail of broken
The bells depend from the
pottery wherever the rain strikes it.
normal gallows outside, and of the two Sacristies one is in ruins.
Inside there is an organ-loft, and the two plain wooden pulpits

light,

The High Altar bears the
Patroness supported by Sao Miguel and by N^ S* Mae dos

resemble magnified claret chests.

^

((

Ouve

se

um

concerto

infernal

e

monotono, uma esj)ecie de canto descompassado e confuso, composto de gritos
o
de uma modulaffio especial.
Grrita

mestre, grita o discipnlo, gritao os monitodos gritao, e finalmente uingneni
aprende.
tores,

.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

108

Homens
corner.

it

;

On

unfinished

has been
the

still,

left

[chap, xiil

but I detected a bird's nest in a cosy
are two side chapels, one of S^° Antonio,
gilt,

the other of Santa Anna, somewhat in the pier

by a devotee in the olden day, Joao da
Rocha Guerreiro. Opposite Santa Anna is N^ S* do Carmo in
newer fashion, with pillars and capitals, the gift of Joaquim Jose
Caetano Brandao.
The fourth is completely modern, columns
resting on consoles, the liberahty of a Genoese, Antonio da Costa.
The worst part of the Matriz was its floor the nave w^as paved
with loose boards, and the sanctuary with coffins and brass tacks,
forming dates and initials. The sacristy had the huge boxes de
rigueur, the waterless fountain, a spout projecting from a human
face, and the stool and sieve confessional.
Sr. Leandro lent me the last papers from Ouro Preto, and the
style of Bahia,

and

gilt

;

Presidential annual reports, together with the original description

M.

Halfeld.

de

Janeiro,

He

had travelled little,
had collected a
his thirst for knowledge was unlimited,
varietj^ of information
and he often spent half the night in study. He was great upon
the education question, and as a moderate politician he deplored
the excesses to which zeal and interest led, appropriately quoting
the fable of the old man, his son and the ass, to show how difficult
it was to please even his own part}-.
He wrote for me a variety
of introductory letters to his friends on the Great River
in the
Brazil generally the handwriting w^ould have charmed Lord
Palmerston, but the Delegate's caligraphy was positively copperAVe had every reason for being grateful to Sr. Leandro,
plate.
and I embrace the first opportunity of expressing to him my best
acknowledgments
of the Sao Francisco by

and

ignored even

Rio

j^et

he

;

;

A

r^HAPTER XIY.
TO THE RAPIDS OF THE PIRAPORA.

WHAT "PIEAPORA" MEANS.— THE NAME " SAO FRANCISCO" EXPLAINED.—
NEW CREW.— THE PIRAPORA EXAMINED.— DIAMONDS.— THE STORM AND
THE "bull's eye."— the BARCA, OR YAWL.—THE " HORSE-BOAT" WANTED.
THE BARQUEIRO, OR WATERMAN OP THE RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO,— HIS
POETRY, HIS IMPROVISATION,

.

.

.

And

AND

HIS SUPERSTITIONS,

streams as

if

created for his use,

wand
Pursue
Sinuous or straight, now rapid and now slow,
Now murmuring' soft, now roaring in cascades.
the track of his directing-

Cawper.

We

were strongly advised to visit the Eapids of the Pii-apora,
which are said to be, after the Casca d'Anta at the begmning, and
the Paulo Affonso at the end, the important feature upon the

Rio de Sao Francisco. The word means a '' fish leap,"* and is
applied to places on more than one Brazilian river it has, howOn the Tiete, in Sao Paulo, the
ever, many significations.
people translate it " Sign of fish," making " Pora" a corruption
;

of " Bora."

With

t

a flush of joy I found myself

upon the bosom

whose dimensions hereabouts average 700 feet. I had seen nothing that could be compared with it since my visit to the African Congo. In due time
the banks T\ill be leveed, the floods T^ill be controlled, the bayous
of this glorious stream of the future,

will

be

filled

up, and the great artery will deserve to be styled a

" coelo gratissimus amnis."

The author

of the Noticias do Brazil

* Pira, orpyra, a fish, and pora, salto,
Thus Colonel Accioli explains it,
a leap.
" lugar onde peixe salta. " The word must
not be wi-itten with St. Hil. (III. ii. 213),

"Ph-apora."

"

by
t The dictionaries explain pyra-pora
a gi-eat fish which Hves

fish- inhabitant,

in the open

(1589) informs us that
sea— that

is

to say, a whale.'"

"Bora," contracted from " Bor vera,"

is

a

verbal desinence con-esponding with the
Hindostani -wala in such expressions as
" Canheu-bora," which a Hindu would

render " Fujne-wala."

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

•200

now

the once numerous and

[f'TIAr.

XIV.

extinct tribes living near this river,

Tupinamhas, the Tajiuyas, the Tupiaes, the
Amorpiras, the Ubirajaras, and the Amazonas of course there
the

the

Caetes,

were Amazons

—knew

—

as

it

O

''

Parii," the sea.

The old PortuRomish Calendar

guese explorers went down the coast with the
in hand, and thus the Eio de Sao Francisco (de Borja) derived

name from

its

the Jesuit saint presiding over the 10th of October.*

So Yarnhagen assigns the honour to the little squadron of five
caravels which, commanded by Joao da Nova, and bearing on
board as pilot the cosmographer Vespucci, f sailed from Lisbon
about the middle of May, 1501. It must not be confounded with
the little Eio de Sao Francisco in the Province of Santa Catherina,
a port also described by tlie author of the Noticias (chap. 66)
and it is as well not to suggest California by giving to it the
Spanish form San Francisco, instead of the Portuguese Sao or
San Francisco. t The river soon attracted the attention of those
like the Nile and the Congo, it floods
dwelling on the seaboard
during the dry season, and rice versa sufficient to excite, in
;

;

—

those days, the marvel-faculty. §

Adventurers Avho determined to

* Thus we find the Promontory of Sao
Roque first visited August 16 Cape St.

America a Vesputio invente qufe occidentum
Columbus did not complain
of him, and the fortunate Genoese died
convinced that he had discovered the
Eastern portion of the "Indies," to which
Castella added the term "Western."
The
historian sensibly remarks (i. 27), "And
the designation of
West Indies would
best perpetuate for lis the work of Columbus and his genius in perseveringly working
out a great idea.
It will ever remind
human nature of the respect due to genius,
even where it greatly errs, inasmuch as

;

Rio de Sao Miguel,
Augustim, Aug. 28
Rio de Sao Jeronymo, Sept. 30
Sept. 29
Rio das
Rio de Sao Francisco, Oct. 10
Rio de Santa Lusia (the
Virgens, Oct. 21
Rio Doce?), Dec. 15 Cax^e St. Thome, Dec.
Sao Salvador da Bahia, Dec. 25
Rio
21
de Janeiro, Jan. 1, 1502 Angra dos Reis
;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

Island of S. SeLastiao,
G
( Epiphany), Jan.
Rio or Porto da Sao Vicente (Sao
Jan. 20
Paulo), Jan. 21.
Frei Gaspar Madre de Deus would attriliute the naming of Sao Vicente to the
Souza, who
fleet of Martim Afionso de
touched there on his return from the Rio
But the port is
da Prata, Jan. 22, 1532.
mentioned under the name of its saint iu
the Diary of ]\I. Alfonso's brother, Pedro
Lopes de Souza, before the squadron in
which he commanded a ship reached it. It
is, moreover, found in the map of Riiysch,
;

;

:i

508 (Varnhagen, i. 425).
f Sr. Varnhagen (i. 27) ably rehabili-

tates the

name

of

god-father against

Amerigo Vespucci, the

whom

many

for

years

America, and even Europe, have been so

He

quotes the Phisices
Compendium
Salamantice, 1520 (eight
years after Vespucci's death),
Prima est
furiously raging.
:

'

'

Asia, secunda Africa, et tertia Europa
fifldfnda tamen veteribus incognita
.

....

.

versus," &c.

'

'

these errors often lead to the discovery of
truth, which in the exact sciences is reached

by setting out at times from gTatuitous
hypotheses."
X This inadvertently has been made by
stranger authors from Soiithey to Agassiz,
I know only one who has avoided it, Lieut.
" Les Hollandais an Bresil,"
Netscher,
1853.
§ The same is the case with the Paraguassii of the Bahian Mediterranean
in
fact, with all the streams which in these
latitudes rise west of the sea-fringing ujjlands
they flood during the dry season,
and they shrink when the coast rains set
in.
The reason is simply that the dry
season of the coast is the rainy season of
the interior.
;

;

"

TO THE EAPIDS OF THE PIRAPORA.

fHAP, xiY.]

201

who prohahly had heard of the then
"
abundant Brazil wood," and mines of gold and silver, ascended
solve this great mystery, and

The ''protomartyr
Porto Seguro, who was sent to

as far as the Great Rapids in early days.

was one Sebastiao Alvares, of
explore by the second governor of
de Brito

T^uiz

Albuquerque.*

de Almeida,

captaincy of Pernambuco,

tlie

who succeeded Duarte Coelho de

After four years of travel he and his twenty men,

—

were massacred there has been man}^ a
an insufficient
Pam"' in these regions. Presenth^ Joiio Coelho de
*' Bloody
Souza ascended more than one hundred leagues above the Papids,
force,

and published a Roteiro, now curious.
Two new men were hired to guide us in the 'Hender" canoe,
which they described as very " violenta e banzeira," crank and
kittle.

We

that which

eyed curiously the contrasts of the new stream with

we had

Here the

lately left.

green, like the mighty Zaire;

it is

Avater

said to be

drunk, than that of the Rio das Yelhas
deeply embedded as to be

now

was of a transparent

;

"heavier," when

the influents, often so

useless, were clear, especially

when

on the sides. The water seemed to
break even from the stiff cla}^, which was in places caving in.
The Coroas were either mere sandbanks, lines of gravel or lumps
of boulder, or clothed with the Arinda, which in places grows
they drained

twenty
theii'

feet

little

ba3'ous

high.

Cattle,

favourite haunts.

here the chief produce,

The

made them

barreiro, or salt lick, cribbled the

aluminous white rash which distinguished
but we
the Rio das Yelhas.
The banks were cut and graded into steps
b}^ the receding floods, and where not broken by " riachos," they
were above high-water mark. In places there were heaps of
decayed leaves crushed and pressed together the}^ formed layers
lost the

sides,

;

—4

At noon we passed on the left bank ledges
caked over with hard " Canga ;" water trickled fi'om it upon the
often 3

feet deep.

loose Cascalho and the felspathic clay of the Sao Joao Mine.

This is a true diamantine formation. A natural pier projected
from the right side, hard clay deeply tinged with iron and the
violence of the floods was shown by a tree root, weighing at least
;

*

Here the Noticias para a Historia e
das Na9oes nltramarinas
(March 1, 1859), which has a chapter

a

Gfeogi-aphia

(No.

20),

"On

the Greatness of the Rio
its Sources," seems t<)
Luiz de Brito de Almeida

de Sao Francisco and
1)6

incorrect.

about the end of 1573 govevneJ the Caj)taincy of Bahia. D. Coelho de Albuquerque
(the second Donatoiy, not to be confounded
with Duarte Coelho the First) became in
1560, third governor of Pernambuco.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

202

a ton, and lodged in

tlie

fork of a

fig,

[chap. xiv.

whose gigantic limbs were

distorted b}' the burden.

All

tliis

region

Rio das Velhas

is

of the greatest beauty and fertility

;

when

the

have been opened it will become the garden
On the banks were many clearings and small sugar
of the land.
plots, with which the owners are ready to part.
Beds of melons
shall

show that the fruit has now grown to be a favourite, and will,
presently, become the daily bread * the Mangui Hibiscus and the
Castor shrub here stand thirty feet, and everyAvhere we saw
;

the broad-leaved Brazilian tobacco growing half wild

;

the people

Baependy and Pomba. In
women had stuck, as in Harar-land,

prefer to pay heavily for the gifts of

the patches of cultivation the

a cow's horn on an upright stick, to keep off the evil eye

olho da gente.

Fishermen and boys appeared
negroes and negresses washed by the waterside

—por

and the
here there is no
cause to fear the crocodile or the slaver.
Before the banks were
sloped cuttings of sugar-cane, ready for planting in October if the
rains be early, if not in November.
A fish hung lifeless, hooked
to the stern of a small canoe, whose beak was the wedge-formed
projection used in Africa as a handle
and the turkey buzzards
were hard at work upon a dead terrapin (Kagado), which infatuated
humanity in these regions will not eat.
During the ascent we hugged the left bank as closely as possible
at times,

;

;

;

the descent was,

till

struck by the storm, via the

''

fio

de agua,"

or mid-stream, crossing to the headlands and points round which

The distance was said to be five leagues,
must represent six and a half geographical
miles, f
After nearly nine hours of hard work, we doubled a
wooded projection from the left bank, and sighted the Cachoeira
of the Pirapora.
The break is now at its worst like most others,
it is easier to pass during the rains, and the more Avater upon it
the current swings.

and

if

so each league

;

the better.

The Pirapora

from anything that we have yet viewed it
is a su2)erior article in quality as well as in quantity.
This is, in
fact, partly a true fall, divided into two sections
but we have
differs

;

;

•'

Tlie fruit is of two kinds, tlie melancia,
water melon, and the melao, mnsk
melon.
The former is a great favourite
with the barquemen, who seem to have its
name ever in their mouths. Yet they de-

or

clave that

it

gives

them **dumb

chills,"

and the same is the belief in tlie Southern
United States
few will touch the fruit
:

when Avorking in the sun.
f It is about six leagues west
das Yelhas.

of the

Rio

—

TO THE RAPIDS OF THE PIRAPOHA.

fHAP. XIV.]

203

c<jme a long Avay to see a small sight, and ^ve tremble to think
what Paulo Affonso may really be. On the western bank rises a

lumpy

—

hill,

the Curral da Pirapora

—some

day

it

^vill

be built

whose foot is a narrow stony beach. The course of the
Pdo de Sao Francisco is here from south to north, and the rocky
mass crosses it in ledges and scattered blocks, mostly disposed
There are evidently several breaks, and southwards
diagonally.
the dark blue of the swift gliding river, backed by the light azure
Qver

at

of the Saco

Redondo range,

contrast T\ith the boiling raging flood

that forms the "foreground."

cramped limbs we landed at the Porto da
Pirapora, on the right or eastern bank, and proceeded to inspect
''
Barandao," a
the Cachoeii-a from above. The path led through
Glad

to stretch our

caricature of the Arraial da

Manga

its

;

principal featm-es were

huge seines and large fish, split, limig on gallows to sun dry.
The people do not export this produce, but sell it only to passing
mule troops. Finding that we did not trade, and suspecting us
of being agents of Government, they were scantily civil, but they
"
sand without
offered for pui'chase their refuse " desmonte
diamonds. The dogs were even more churlish than their masters.
Had we had tobacco and other small matters for barter we might

—

have been received in another way.

At

first

a

is

the rest of the right bank
of rock, which probably extends far under the

we walked over loose sand

flooring

eastern bank.

The

;

natural course of the water

and canoes prefer it during the
canalization would here be easy

M.

floods.

is

to this side,

Liais opines that

hard however to predicate
M. Halfeld
this mitil careful piercings shall have been made.
proposes sluice gates, moreover, which the French authority does
not consider necessarv.*
There is no danger of the Brazil under;

taking any such work

The

stone platform

and mostly narrow
*

M,

Liais

;

m the present
is

generation.!

composed of

the cleavage

makes the length

of

the

Pii'apora oltstacle a total of one kilometre,
and the difterence of level 3 "So metres,

t The

it is

is

slabs,

some

forty feet long,

perpendicular with the stream

This would give a velocity of only 3 to 4
metres or yaixls per second,

....
....
....
....

estimates for opening forty leagues are as follows
Canalizing up the Pirapora
1,400 000 $000
To the Cachoeira Grande
4,100 000 $000
To the Porto das Melaneias
.3,200 000 $000
Total

:

:

:

:

8,700 :000$000 say ^870,000,

THE HTOHLANBS OF THR

204

BFiAZIL.

[vhw.

xtv.

and the water-turned iDot-holes and channels, cut a yard and more
The suhstance is generally a
in depth, show the effect of floods.
hard compact gneiss (granwacker sandstein, gris traumatico) of
light purple tinge, dotted with specks of mica glistening white.
We found also sandstones and impure calcaire which effervesced
hut little under acids.
From this point we could easily distinguish the two main steps separated hy ahout 700 yards, a
length which makes the slope of the rock planes appear very
gentle.
The upper rapid, six feet high, seemed more formidNear the right
ahle than the lower of ahout seven feet.
bank these form catadupas, or true falls they are also garnished
with escadinhas (little ladders), miniature cascades in gerbs and
jets, rushing fariousl}^ down small narrow tortuous channels,
between the teeth of jagged stone-saws, and tumbling over dwarf
buttresses.
Thus the total height between the upper and the
;

lower

"smooths"

is

narrows to 1800

above the break the stream

thirteen feet;

feet,

whilst below, at the Porto da Pirapora,

where the serpentine arms, after crossing and dividing between
the boulders, unite, the bed broadens to 3500.
the fair wa}^,

may

if it

the western bank

;

no

so be called,
ajojo,

is

During the

dries

a thin sheet of water near

however, can pass, canoes must be

unladen and towed up, and without a good pilot there is immiAt the present season it is broken by outcrops of
nent risk.
rock, and during the floods

The Pirapora

is

it

has dangerous whirlpools.

a serious obstacle.

It is not insurmountable,

would cost more money, and take a longer time to remove,
than all the most serious obstructions upon the Rio das Velhas.
No work could be carried on in the rainy season, and the inundaHands
tions would damage the labour done during the dries.
would have to be sent here at a great expense, and even on this
most wealth}^ soil imported provisions would be required. Above
it also the Pdo de Sao Francisco becomes a mass of rapids, and
when you clear one you are within hearing of another. Canoes
but

it

ascend with

difficulty to the

mouth of the Abaete.* M.

Liais accu-

embouchure of the Paraopeba, and
he found that no expense would clear more than a hundred

rately survej^ed as high as the

leagues of

its

course.

Pieturning to the Porto,
* Etyinologically,

man, and

dt(j,

the true

man

veritable), or hero.

we

visited the

(aba,

This

is

tlie

diamond diggings,

stream

diamond

wliicli

in 1792.

whicli

ijroducetl the celebrated

TO THE RAPIDS OF THE PIKAPORA.

CHAi\ XIV.]

are

of

some antiquity

industry has
afar,

is

now

formerly gold was washed,

;

205

but this

The gem, which comes, perhaps, from
Most
Cascalho arrested by the rocks.

ended.

found in the

probably the Caixao or hollow at the foot of each fall would yield
About a dozen men raising " desmonte " from
a better supply.
a pot-hole (panella) between two boulders deeply channelled out

by the joint action of sand, gravel, and w^ater. For small and
valueless stones they asked per vintem (two grains) from 12 $ 000

$000, something above the London prices.
This part of the Sao Francisco should be eminently diamanOn the east it drains the Cerro, which we have already
tiferous.
to 14

visited.

To

Bambuhy

(of old

the

west

it

receives

the

Rio
Dores

washings of the

Bamboi), which falls in south of the city
do Indaia. Beyond it is the Rio Indaia, or Andaia, where in
May, 1800, Dr. Couto's part}^ took from one hole fort3'-two
stones. Further north is the Ribeiriio do Borrachudo, which also

gem

and its neighbour is the Abaete, di'aining the old
Sertao Diamantmo.
These four streams, to mention no others,
issue from the eastern liaiiks of the great chain, whose western
Further north
counterlopes supply the diamonds of Bagagem.
is the Serra da Gamelleira and the valley of the Somno, an
eastern branch of the well-kno-s^ii Paracatu. I will allude to these
rich diamantine deposits as we pass them.
During the last night a raw south '\\ind had set in from the
mountains, and told us that rain had fallen there. It was the
gave one

;

'

beginning of the wet season, but the people called the showers

Chuvas da Queimada
larly said

— of the bush-burning.

everywhere to bring down water

;

Prairie fires are popu-

they sublimate a vast

mass of humidity, the heat and steam rise, a cool draught supplies
their place, and thus the atmosphere camiot support the condensation. In the temperate parts of North America, diu'ing the fall
of the leaf, the tree-trunks restore to the ground the juices whicli
spring injected into the wood-pores, and hence the phenomenon of
streams swelling without a drop of rain. Here, however, though
the dry season was just ended, the vegetation is assuming its
vernal green.

As we began

descent lightning flashed from the

the

the south, and presently from

To

grumblings of thunder.
de Boi, or bull's eye

;

it

all

the horizon, followed by low

the right

is not,

east,

hand appeared the

Ollia

however, the white patch under

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

•206

the black arch of the African tornado.

[cuat. xiv.

Here the sign

is

a little

section of distant rainbow glistening in all its colours against the

background of the discharging cloud, and showing that
a gale will blow up from the falling shower.
Mosth' we shall see
it in the east, meaning therefore in the afternoon, and when it is
accompanied by wind that sinks the thermometer 8° (F.), we shall
slaty grey

expect a patter of rain, and a storm like a charge of cavalry.
The peo2-)le call it either simply- or " com rabo de gallo " accom-

—

panied by ciiTus.

Presently our cranky canoe was struck

b}'

the gale (rajada de vento), one of the especial dangers of the Sao

The east wind was heard roaring from afar and, as
it came down upon the stream, white waves rose after a few
minutes, subsiding as easil}^ when the gale had blown itself out.
Francisco.

;

In July, 1867, a white squall of the shortest possible duration
carried off the tiles from the roofs of Guaiculn^

Our men

upon which the blast
broke, leaving the water below comparatively dead, and thus they
preferred the leeward bank

escaped the risk of falling trees.

now blocked by

channel being

The

surface of the central

the fierce wind, the side current, a

It was very
dark at 7*30 p.m., when we climbed the steep and slippery bank

backwater during our ascent, bore us swiftly down.
of the

Manga.

Shortly the thunder growled angrily overhead,

and heavy rain fell, fortunately upon a tight roof. This was the
first wet weather which we had experienced since July 21, and it
began a season desolate as a fete-day in England.
At the Manga we saw for the first time the ''Barca,"* which
reminded my companion of the Mississij)pi '" yawl." It has been
introduced only during the last

fort}^

years

before that time

The shape

the work was done by ajojos and canoes.

taken from the Douro, but here the form

;

is

more

in

is

all

probabh'

Dutch

style,

round and spoon- shaped to suit the stream it wants also the
immense Portuguese caudal fin, though by no means without a
The planks are of the best woods in
large and powerful rudder.
the country, Cedro and Vinhatico, the keel is of Aroeira, and the
huge ribs (costellas or cavernas), together with the heavy crosspieces and gangways, are of the stout, tough Rosea. The average
length may be 45 feet by 14 broad, drawing 3, 4 to 5 feet when
;

* Barco is the

term for large
In this point
Portngnese agi-ees Avith the Italian, which
makes the feminine major than the niascuiraft, whilst

Barca

general

is larger.

line; for instance,
nientative form of
authorities,

smaller.

however,

" trivella,"^ the augSome
" trivello. "

make

Barca

the

TO THE RAPIDS OF THE PIRAPORA.

CHAP. XIV.]

207

some 400 aiTobas, reckoned by rapaduras or
sugar cakes, each about 4 lbs. At Salgado was built tlie X^ S^
sbe was 81 feet
da Conceicao da Praia, now broken up
loaded, and earning

;

long and 6 feet in the water.

Tliese large craft

bottomed (de prato) to work
as they cause upsets

The bows and

lows.

off slioals.

when the current

ai-e

alwaj's flat-

Keels are dangerous,

carries

them

to the shal-

stern are raised, as in the old caravel, and

matted over or covered with hides in the centre,
Above the
leaving a narrow trampway of plank at each side.
Paulo Aftbnso the toldo or standing awning is unwisely placed in
the cargo

is

the stern so as to catch every puff' of Avind.
prefer the cabin in the bows, and diminish

The lower rivermes
its

dimensions.

It is

Guinea
coast, and it is worthy of imitation by the dwellers on the upper
The stern-cabin, which from 8 feet long sometimes
stream.
takes up a quarter of the length, is of solid planking, in the poorer
sort arched and matted with fronds of the Indaia or the Carnahuba
palm, or even vMi common grass the ends hang over both sides
A rich trader assumes some fine
so as to carry off' the rain.
name, as the ''Baroneza de Minas," displays a flag with a " Santa
Maria," and has doors and glass windows. His cabin, which is
also liis shop, is fitted up with shelves for goods
he comfoi-tribly
swings a hammock, and he disdains to sit at table "s\itliout a

made

in tmniel shape, resembling the sm'f-boats of the

;

;

table-cloth.

The crew

moderate -sized craft may be ten men, the
extremes being six and foiu'teen.
The pilot stands or sits at his
rudder on the raised stern. His men, dressed in white kilts,
and at times in tattered shirts, with hats of leather or straw, have
hard work. Their poles, 21 to 23 feet long, are much heavier
than those of the ajojo, and like the Bedouin lance, require a
practised hand.
They also work huge oars like sweeps, one man
pulHng whilst another pushes. Durmg the floods they must creep

up

of

a

two leagues per diem, wearmg, as they say, holes
chests, and exposed to all the insects of the shore
hence

at the rate of

in theii'

;

as a rule they

make only one trip per annum, and at the beginning

of the rains they return

home

to cultivate for themselves or for

others.
I

was

siu'prised at the absence of sails

two places, Pilao Arcado, and
were limited to

**

;

they were seen at only

Joazeiro;" and even there they

ferries crossing the stream.

The people

declared

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

208

that the channel, besides behig studded with

[chap. xiv.

snags, was

very far from being the case.

too

They

tortuous.

This, however,

also feared

sudden gusts (Pes de Yento or Eedemoinhos), wjiich

is

would cause accidents.

The

On the Lower

where the sea-breeze from the south9 a.:\i., every barca goes up under sail and

east sets in regularly at
at

chief reason

is,

doubtless, ignorance.

Sfio Francisco,

steamer pace.

The Upper Sao Francisco has
vary with night and day, and

its

still

regular trade winds, which

more with the

seasons.

The

sometimes veermg towards the north, is called the Vento
it often acts as a " soldier's wind," useful both wa3's.
By night in the lower j^arts of the stream it is followed by a
Terral or land-breeze from the west.
Of this '' vent traversier "
also the barca-men declare that with canvas their boats would be
driven out of the channel. +
During the four rainy months,
which of course are different in the different sections of the river,
east,

Geral,* and

and which as a rule follow the southing and the northing sun, the
trade shifts to south with vresting, and thus blows down stream.
The regularity of the meteor suits admii'ably not only for sailing
but for all manner of simple and economical machinery.
In tliis portion of the Brazil, where the simplest labour-saving
contrivances are unknown, they have never heard of the " horseboat," now so common upon the streams of Continental Europe,
and still used in the United States. The machinery might easily
be adapted to the rafts and boats. A platform some seven feet
long, and raised at an angle of 20° to 31°, faces the stern, and the
animal is taught to walk up it. It is composed of some forty-two
slabs, each four inches square, and the hard, unelastic woods of the
country would supply the best material.
Connected by vertical
joints of iron, which work loosely upon one another, forming an.
endless band or chain, the platform is fastened to an ''idler"
axle in the fore flooring and aft to the tranverse tree which works
the paddles.
This portion is made fast to strong uprights,
and the diameter of the working wheel is about 3 1 of the axle.
:

* The regular east wind of the Amazons
also known as "Yento Greral " (Mr.
Bates, i. 213).
+ "The fault of the vessels navigating
the Amazon is the breadth of beam and the
want of sail. I am confident that a clipperbuilt vessel, sloop, or rather kcteh-riggod,
is

^\ith

a large mainsail,

topsail, topgallant-

—

the last three
and studding-sails
fitted to set going up before the wind, and
to strike, masts and all, so as to beat down
Avith the current under mainsail, jib and
jigger
woukl make good passages l)etwecu
Para and Kgoas " (Lieut. Herndon, 262).
sail,

—

TO THE RAPIDS OF THE PIRAPOEA.

CHAP. xiY.]

Thus

it

would be easy

to get over thirty miles per

209

diem with a

tithe of the present toil.

I dismissed with the highest recommendations

At the Manga

my

good old pilot, Chico Diniz and his stoutThe expense was 190$000,
hearted companion, Joao Pereii-a.
on the
now
at a fancy price
are
but on the Kio das Velhas wages
Sao Francisco there is a regular demand and supply. Joaqumi
volunteered to accomi3any me, but he was short-sighted and softThe " Menino " agreed to remain with me on condition
bodied.
On the
of being supphed with a return passage from Joazeiro.
great stream barquemen do not leave then- beat it is the custom
to future travellers

;

;

to engage

them per

travessia or trip, of which, as will be seen,

I Im-ed the cousins

there are eleven.

Manuel Casimiro de

Oli-

and Justmo Francisco da Conceicao both were very dark,
and the latter, 6 feet 3 inches long, reminded me of Long Guled
the Somal.
They were well acquainted with the water, civil and
obliging, but they lacked the pluck and bottom of the Highlander
veu-a

;

crew.
a rule the worst hands offer themselves to the stranger, and
thus he may find himself in great trouble. All men are here
more or less amphibious the canoe, as they say, is their horse.

As

;

The

real barqueiro is a type as peculiar as the bargee of olden

days in England

employ
can, he

slaves.

;

he

is also

a free-born

More handy than
acquamted with

is perfectly

man

;

few^ traders ]ike to

a sailor with us, like the Afriall

the small industries neces-

he can build his house or his dug-out, and
make his tiles or his clothes arts which among the civilised
demand division of labour. Thus he is mostly inferior to those
of his own class in more advanced lands where society has split up

sary to his comfort

;

—

Here, as elsewhere, it is wonderful how little
foul language is used. The same has been remarked of the North
American backwoodsmen, and the aborigines of both countries
know, we are told, neither swearing nor abuse, "bad man" being
into thin strata.

the worst reproach.
tolerably hardy,

The good specimen

and perfectly respectful

prietor or hu-er of the boat.

He

is

quiet,

inteUigent,

to his Patrao, the pro-

usually eschews drink altogether,

fearing the drunken quarrels to which

it

leads.

The worst

lot is

rough as its own barque, and desperately addicted to strong
waters and women, to the nightly Samba and Pagodi, the local
My last gang will be a good specimen of the bad.
.^...
VOL.

II.

P

a
;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

210

All are lieadstrong, a race of '^aiitonomoi,"

who

[chap. xiv.

will

have their

own wa}', and who do not lilve to be directed or contradicted. I
was advised to carry plenty of spirits and tobacco to prevent them
jumping ashore at every house. They have enormous appetites,
which come, they say, from the shaking of the barca. This is
probabl}' an

'^

Vv'ould sacrifice

lilve

have seen a

derivation

the

;

we

savages,

are told,

everything for food, and ate with the voracity of

Although

jaguars.
dehgiit,

Indian "

know

the}^

that

it is

injmious, the barqueiros

the Peruvians, in rapadura or Chancaca sugar

man

eat 2 lbs. of

it

They have

at a sitting.

;

I

the usual

Portuguese and tropical horror of fresh millv on the other hand,
the soured form, here called Coalhada, and in Hindostan " Dahi,"
has a high reputation; it certainl}^ is antibilious. The rest of
;

the diet

is

Jacuba, which has been before mentioned, sun-dried

meat, water melons, and beans * with lard.
few take snuff, and very few chew.

A characteristic

Almost

all

smoke, a

of the barqueiro is his aptitude for mild slang-

ing and chaffing, the latter being a practice abhorrent to the

—

mind in general. '^ O Senlior e muito ca9uador "
great joker means that you are not pleasant.
He has also the
habit of the Hindu palanquin-bearer carrying a " griffin," and
will, if impudent, extemporise songs about his patron.
The lanBrazilian

—

guage renders the rhj^me eas}^, but the stranger is astonished by
the facility with which men and women squatting on then* heels f
answ^er one another in Amabsean verse, made without a moment's
thought.

Althougli we have had an Ettrick Shepherd,

many

deride the pastorals wherein the swains prefer poetry to jDrose.

They should hear

the

capping verses with his
everything in general.

Sao Francisco River
young w^oman," and making songs about

barqueiro
*'

of the

Similarly the opera

is

held to be fictitious

and unreal because emotions and passions are expressed in music
but the negroes of Central Africa show by chaunting when their
sorrow is deepest, and the South American Botocudos evince
excitement by singing instead of speaking. "lis ne paiient plus
ils

chantent," says the traveller.

* This
cattle (70
of oats).

an excellent food, not only for
per cent, of nourislnnent to 60

is

The principal species of these
Papilionacete are Feijao Preto (Phaseohis
derasus), Feijao Carrapato (P. tumidns and
sphsericus),

and Feijao Mulatinho

(P. vul-

garis).

+

Tliere are

many

others,

nsual in the wild parts
The eye familiar -with it in
of the Brazil.
Eastern lands is struck by it when the
squatter wears the garb of the "West,
Tliis position is

—
TO THE RAPIDS OF THE PIRAPORA.

CHAP. XIV.]

Naturally

the

matter

subject

is

211

amorous.

mostty

The

barqueiro delights in screaming ''a largas guelas," at the top of
his voice,

some such verse

as

Hontem
Por

meu

vi

uma dama

rispeito cliorar.

Cor de Canella or brunette of these
regions, and he is severe upon those of the sex who dare to
deceive the poor mule-trooper or boatman.

He

eternally praises the

Mulher que engana tropeiro
Merece couro dobrado
Coitadinlio tropeiro coitado

He

thus

dii'ects

!

(chorus).

Mariquinha to put the kettle on

:

frango na panella
Quanda vejo cousa boa
Nao posso deixar perder.

Beta

Pilota (ctorus).

Some

of the songs

resembled "

Sam

still

haunt

'AH."

better for the journey;

my

ears, especially

The more and
it

one which

much

the louder they sing the

seems to revive them as the

bell does

the mule.

The

superstitions of the barqueu'o are as

numerous

as his

He beheves fii-mly in the Duende or Goayajara, wizard
chaunts.
and witch, the Lobishomem or loup-garou of Portugal, the Angai,
the Anhanga,"* the Ahna or ghost, the Esqueleto or skeleton
apparition, the Gallo Preto, or

bad

priest turned into a black cock,

and the Capetinha or imp. They have curious tales about the
Cavallo de Agua and other fabulous animals. This beast is the
size of a small colt, round-hoofed, red-haired, and fond of browsing on the banks. The ''Menino " declares that he saw it in a
pocao or kieve below the Cachoeu'a dos Geraes
* Angai in the ''Tesoro de la lingua
guarani " is translated "the evil spirit,"
also called Giropary, Jurupari, and Jerupari.
I presume that it was really applied
to that injured man or to some ghost that
had made itself notoriously unpopular.
Anhanga is Anglicised " phantom " (phan-

tasma) from "anho," alive, and "anga,"
thus it means soul
ghost, soul, spirit
Of course,
only
soul without body.
"soul" and "spirit" are civilised terms

—

:

in the Pvio das

applied to a barbarous idea.

Tliey denote

which may be reduced to the
totality of central and nervous action. The
Alma is like Dr. Johnson's, or rather Mr.
''
"something of a sliaCave's " ghost
dowy being." N obrega and Anchieta -ni'ote
Anhanga, Yves D'Evreux, Aignan, Barand other forms used upon
riere, x\naanh
the Continent and the Islands are Uracan
and
(hurricane ?), Hyorocan, Amignao,
subjectivities

—

;

Amignan

(F. Denis).

P 2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

212

[chap. xiv.

and that a youtli fired at it. Perhaps it may be the
Lamantin, so well known in the Amazonas waters, but I am not
aware that the Peixe boi (Manatus Amazonicus) has been found

Vellias,

here.

The Cachorrinha d'Agua

or water-pup has a white coat

and a golden star upon the forehead

mand

all

whoever sees it will comThe Minhocao or large worm, the

the gifts of fortune.

;

Midgard, the Great Sea Serpent, the Dabbat-el-Arz of the Ai'abs,
plays a part as important as the Dragon in China. It is 120 feet
long by 2 in diameter, barrel shaped, scaleless, bronze-coloured,

and provided with a very small mustached mouth. The Minhocao
is a perfect " Worm of Wantley " in point of anthropophag}^
St. Hilaire (III. ii. 133) heard of it in the Lagoa Feia of Goyaz.
At first he beheved it to be the Gymnotus Carapa, then a gigantic
Lepidosiren.
Col. Accioli (p. 8) holds it to be an extinct monster.
Castelnau (ii. 53) speaks of it in the Araguaya. It was 30 to 40
metres in length, and the terrible voice resounded for many
leagues.
Halfeld (Relatorio, 119) mentions that his men mistook
for it a tree trunk, and thinks it fabulous. Farther down we shall
pass a part of the bank which has been injured by the Big Worm,
and many educated men have not made up their minds upon the
superstition is evidently of " Indian " origin.*

The

subject.

All these legends have a taint of the Tupy, grotesque savage
best adorned his j^erson by spreading upon a coat of gum the
hashed plumery of gaudy birds, in fact who invented tarring and

who

experimentum in corpore vili.
Classical, and worthy to rank with the Sea Fairy Tales, however,
is the Mae d'Agua, a spirit, a naiad, a mermaid who aspires to
be a mer-matron, and who inhabits the depths of Brazilian
feathering

b}'

Of

rivers.

appljing

it

to himself

;

perfect form, utterly disdaining the

fish-tail,

clothed only in hair glittering like threads of gold, she
siren.

Her

e^^es

sex,

when

beautiful boatmen.

She

is

fond of

bo3"S, lilve

Unlike the churlish Undines and Melusines

'

'

swamp

a

arrived at a certain age, and she seduces

* Thus Lieut. Herndon (Chapter 8),
speaking of the Lake Country of the Upper
Amazons, remarks,
Many of these lakes
are, according to the traditions of the
Indians, guarded by an immense serpent,
which is able to raise such a tempest in the
lake as to

is also

exercise iiTCsistible fascination, and none can

withstand the attraction of her voice.

most of her

aird

their canoes,

immediately swallows the people.

when
It

it

is

called

Mama,

in

the Lengua Inga (Inca),

'Yacu

and the
or mother of the waters
Indians never enter a lake with which they
are not familiar that they do not set uj) an
obstreiierous clamour with their horns,
*

;

which the snake is said to answer, thus
them warning of its ijresence."

giving

CHAP. XIV.]

TO THE RAPIDS OF THE PIEAPORA.

213

when she pro^ooses a change, she dismisses her lovers
with great wealth. Gon^alves Dias, the poet, has made of her a
malevolent pixj, a Lurelei, whose object is to drown youth ; but
of Europe,

he takes away none of her charms.
Olha a

bella creatura

Que dentro

d'ag-ua se ve

!

—

CHAPTEK XV.
THE RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO.
THE SYSTEM OF THE STREAM. — ITS SOURCE. — DIRECTION. — LENGTH.— MAGNITUDE. — GEOLOGY.— GLAZED ROCKS. — IRON DEPOSITS.— WEALTH OF VALLEY.
THE RIVER CONSIDERED IN CONNECTION WITH COLONISATION, AND AS
A LINE OP COMMUNICATION. — THE RIVERS OF THE BRAZIL GENERALLY.
— DEPLORABLE NEGLECT OF WATER COMMUNICATION. — RIVERS VERSUS
RAILWAYS. THE RIO DAS VELHAS PREFERABLE TO THE UPPER SAO
FRANCISCO. — ESTIMATES FOR CLEARING THE RIO DAS VELHAS, BY M.
LIAIS.— ESTIMATES FOR CLEARING THE RiO DE SAO FRANCISCO BY M.
HALFELD. — ESTIMATES OF M. DE LA MARTINIERE, — THE AUTHOR'S OWN
ESTIMATES.— STEAM NAVIGATION ON THE RIO DAS VELHAS BEGUN BY M.
H. DUMONT. — STEAM NAVIGATION ON THE RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO BY THE
COUNCILLOR MANOEL PINTO DE SOUZA DANTAS. — CREATION OF NEW
PROVINCE ON THE SAO FRANCISCO RIVER. — GENERAL VIEW OF THE GREAT
LINE OF COMMUNICATION. — ITS BENEFITS TO THE EMPIRE.

—

—

"

One

grand a channel of communication,
Darwin, Naturalisfs Voyage, Chap. vii.

of the best gifts of nature, in so

seems here wilfully thrown away."

Lieutenant Mauey is undoubtedly correct when he remarks
that the valle3^s of the Amazons and the Mississippi are commercomplements of each other, one supplying what the other
The geographical homolacks in the great commercial round.
logy of the riverine formations in the Northern and Southern
divisions has also been remarked by many writers. The Amazons
cial

represents

The Kio

the

comparatively diminutive

de la Plata

is

Missouri, and the Parana

Laurentian

system.*

the Mississippi, the Paraguay
is

is

the

the Ohio, whilst the Pilcomayo, the

Bermejo, and the Salado are the Plata, the Ai'kansas, and the

Bed Piver.
The Pio de Sao Francisco has been
the Mississippi and with the Nile.

It

compared with
presents an analogy with
trivially

The valleys of the Amazons and the Paraguay Rivers can easily be connecteJ like
those of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi.

:

THE RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO.

CHAP. XV.]

215

One
the African Niger, but none with those of North America.
of many, it rises in the South, flows to the North with easting,
and near the end of its course it bends eastwards and disembogues into the Atlantic. It is the external segment of sundry
similar sections of cu'cles, bounded by basins draining north
to the Amazons, and west and south-west to the Parana-Plata
the included arcs are the great Jequitinhonha and the Doce rivers.
Further South is the Parahj-ba do Sul, and South again the
Eibeira de Iguape.* Except the latter all these streams burst
through the barriers which more or less developed subtend this
part of the South American, as they do the corresponding portion
of the African, seaboard.

The

oldest traditions (Noticias do Brazil, 1589) derived

from

the savages, make the Sao Francisco rise in a " great and famous

would be very desii-able to discover." Luccock
(p. 530) remarks, "in the St. Francisco and the Parana we beheld
the drains of an immense mternal lake, bounded on the east b}^
the Serros Frio and Mantiqueira, on the south by that of Maracana, and on the west by those which separate the Parana from
lake which

it

The waters

the Paraguay, or He bej^ond those streams.

ancient elevated sea have burst their barriers in S.

lat.

of this

15° and

wearing their channels deeper at the Falls of
Pirapora in the north, and Setequedas in the south just as the
Lakes Erie and Ontario, in North America, will, in all probability, be drained by wearing away the impediments which now
20°,

and are

still

;

form the Falls of Niagara."
is

thmk

inclined to

M. Halfeld

that the Serras of

''

(Relatorio,

Ibyapaba,"

t

p.

108)

and the

Brejo and Itacaratu, with the minor features near
the Monte Escuro were of old the walls of an extensive '' saltwater sea." He drains it off through the Eapids of Itaparica
(317 leagues I) which burst and formed the great futm-e Paulo

Itacutiara,

Affonso.

Salinas abound

upon

* This stream rise s to the east or sea-

ward side of the great Serra do Mar,
which in the southern province of Sao
The
Paulo bends away fi'om the shore.
etymology is "yg," water, "cua," belt,
and "ipe," a place where. I reserve the
Eibeira for a future volume.
t Sr. J. de Alencar prefers to write
"Ibyapaba." Yieira translates it "Terra
aparada," and Maii^ins explains it by
" Iby "
"Iby,"land, and "pabe," all.
thus the name of the
is often corrupted
:

its

Ime, the grits and calcareous

celebrated Pjiiiguara tribe v/as originally
Iby-tiva-cua-jara, the lords of the land-

According to ]\I. Brunet, of
Bahia, the height of the range does not
Mr. Keith Johnexceed 2200 metres.
stone has adopted Ibiapaba, and Gardner
informs us that the Poi-tuguese name is
M. Halfeld writes HipSerra Yermelha.
piapaba.
J JVI. Halfeld's first league was at the
Pirapora, and he places the junction of
the Rio das Velhas,

valley.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

216

[chap. xv.

salt (chloride of sodium),

marls contain an abundance of

Chilian saltpetre (nitrate of soda),

*

and

and as in the Valley of the

Indus the Sal da terra effloresces during the dr}^ season. I may
add that the presence of iodine would explain the absence of
goitre, and the fact that the cocoa-nut palm flourishes at such
abnormal distances from the ocean.

The main somxe

of the Eio de

Sao Francisco

is

in the eastern

versant of the Serra da Canastra, the great central platform of

Minas Geraes, between
(Pdo de Janeiro).

than 1000

"

S. lat. 20°

From

and 20°

30'

and

W.

long. 3°

the gap of a perpendicular rock

feet high," says the

Baron von Eschwege, "

The

principal nascent of the Sao Francisco."

more

bui'sts the

spot was visited

by St. Hilaire (III. i. 184), and " tore from liim a cry of admiration."
He gives to the Casca d'Anta Cascade 667 feet of
altitude, and he remarks " qu'on se tache de se representer la
reunion de tout ce qui charme dans la Nature
ciel,

des roches eleves, une

;

le

plus beau

cascade majestueuse, les eaux les

plus limpides, la verdure la plus fraiche, enfin des bois vierges

qui presentent

toutes

les

formes de

la

vegetation

des tro-

piques."

The waters

young

sweep from west to east for a
distance of about fifty-five and a half leagues, and are mere
mountain torrents. Before receiving the Paraopeba the breadth
of the united stream is 140 metres, and the maximum depth 3*25
metres, with a discharge of 130 cubic metres per second.
The
direction is then from south to north with the Serra Grande or
Espinhaco on the east, and the Mata da Corda forming the
western wall. From the Paraopeba to the Pirapora Kai^ids the
line has been surveyed, it inclines at first to the west and then
of the

river

to the east, the distance being forty

leagues (226,845 metres).

From

Sobradinho, a distance of 239

and

four-fifths geogi'ai)hical

the Pirapora to the Cachoeii'a do

—

240 leagues, the whole line is
ready for a steamer, and including the Rio das Velhas, a total of
508 leagues can be made transitable with little difficulty. Below
the Sobradinho there are twenty-nine clear leagues, followed by

though dangerous, are transitable to rafts and
From Varzea Redonda, twent^^-five to twenty-six leagues
are unnavigable, and in this section occur the Great' Rapids of

forty-four which,

canoes.

See Chap. 10, wlicrc the nitrate of potassa will Le mentioned.

;

THE RIO DE 8A0 FRANCISCO.

CHAP. XV.]

Paulo

Affonso.

leagues,

below the

Finally,

upon which steamers now

Sao Francisco with the ocean.

ply,

217

of rapids, forty-two

line

connect the Lower Rio de

It is here unnecessary to enter

into details of direction * or distance, as

we

shall float

down

the

whole way.
The Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes de France assigns to
the Sao Francisco the foui'th rank amongst the streams of South
It follows the

America.

held to be by

Amazons (5400 kilometres f ),

far the largest river in the world

;

until lately

the Parana-

I

and the Tocantins (2300). But M. Liais has
Plata (3440
shown that the Sao Francisco has been wrongly assumed to
represent 2100 kilometres from its source to the mouth of the
Pdo das Yelhas is 800 kilometres, and 2100 from that point to
ks.)

:

the sea

:

the total, therefore, will be 2900.

Thus

§

the cosmic

In Em-ope
rank of our stream
in Asia by the Yenissei, the
it is surpassed only by the Volga
Yang-tse-Kiang, the Hoang-ho, the Oby, the Lena, the Amour,
will be seventeen or eighteen,

j

;

and the Mei-Kong
*

;

in Africa

We may

briefly remark that it runs
with a little westing as far as
the Urucuia R. (.30th league from the
mouth of the Rio das Velhas), noi'th-northeast to the Bom Jesiis da Lapa (106th
league)
north, with a little westing to
This
the Villa da Barra (162nd league).

north,

;

meridional course is plea.sant to the traveller, who always regrets when he must east
Then
or west, and thus catch the sun.
begins the long north-eastern bend, whose
or
Quebobo (278th
apex is Cabrobo
Thence the stream curves to
league).
the south-south-east, and finally to the
south-east.

+ Lieutenant Hemdon

assigns

to

the

Ucayali-Amazon an uninterrupted naviHe estimates in
gation of 3360 miles.
round numbers the flu\dal lines of the
valley for large vessels at about 6000 miles,
and he supposes that, including the
numerous small streams, the length would
swell to 10,000 (p. 280).

X The Nile

rapidly rising in point of
friend ]\Ir. A. Gr. Findlay,
the geographer, says (June 3, 1867)— "If
the source be near the Muxinga Range
the total course will be 3500
geographic or 4050 British miles, almost
unparalleled by any other river."

length.

is

My

.

§ Professor D.T. Ansted(p. 34, Elementary
Course of Greologj', Mineralogy and Ph3\sical
Geography) gives the Sao Francisco a total

by the Nile, the Niger, the Zam1000 British statute miles
he
sets dowTi the area of drainage at 250,000
square miles.
Sir John Herschel (Physical
Geography, p. 188) says
"The basin of
the San Francisco includes the district (?)
of Minas Geraes, the great source of the
mineral wealth of Brazil.
It includes an
area of 187,200 square geographical miles
in length to its source in the Sierra da
]\Iatta da Corda (?)."
It is regi-ettable
when any but professed geographers write
geography.
Mr. Gerber makes the total
of the two hydrographic basins in the
Province of Minas to contain 20,000 square
direct length of

and

of 1600, including wdndings, whilst

—

leagues

square

(180,000

geographical

and amongst these he places first
the Sao Francisco, to which he assigns
8800 square leagues, or 79,200 square
miles),

geographical miles.
II

But

M.

Liais assigns to it the 16th place.

very difficult to calcuZambesi and the Congo
Rivers.
Assiiming the former to rise in
E. long. 16° and to debouch in E. long. 36"
(and to extend between lat. 8° and 18°),
with the mean length of a degree of 58*472,
we have a greater direct course than the
Sao Francisco.
The Congo is not to be
estimated in the present state of geographical knowledge
it will probably prove
itself equal to the Nigex*.
at present

it is

late the area of the

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

218

besi

and

(?)

Congo

tlie

(?)

;

in

America

BllAZIL.
b}"

[chap. xv.

the Amazons, the

Mississippi, the Parana-Plata, the St. Louis, St. Lawrence, and

the Mackenzie.

A late

expedition has decided that the basins of the

and the Amazons are
sip2:>i,

identical,

cretaceous formations.

and that both are

lilve

Piauhy

the Missis-

Neither Professor Agassiz nor

Mr. Orestes St. John found marine deposits, but these may
have escaped the notice of a flying survey. They judged that
both were of fresh-water origin. During the cosmic winter the
glaciers had moved down to the valleys, without, however, ploughing then- soles, or leaving those " glacial inscriptions," furrows,

and burnishings which characterise ice-action. When the
frozen masses w^ere raised by thaws, the triturations were deposited at the bottom, and now form the underlying distinctly
stratified sandstones and the loose sands.
Upon these rest the
clay formations, laminated, stratified, cross-stratified, and unstratified, with lines and waves of coarse gravel and pebbles,
whose material is quartz, often highly ferruginous. Capping the
whole is the sandy and once pasty clay, red with ochre, and

stride,

common

and intertropical Africa. It overspreads
the imdulating surface of denuded sandstone, following all its
The
inequalities, and filling up its furrows and depressions.
breaking up of the geological winter, and the final disappearance
of the ice, formed a vast fresh-water lake. This, after a someAvhat
com2:>licated histor^^ finalty burst its seaward dyke, effected denudation on a gigantic scale, and wore the land down to its
rock-core, except where the strata were hard enough to resist.
Professor Agassiz found distinct moraines, and shows that instead of forming a Delta, the mouth of the Amazons has suffered
extensively from the encroachments of the ocean.
Li the case of
the Sao Francisco the river builds up faster than the sea can
destroy and the denudation of the coast is not to be compared
to the Brazil

;

with that further north.

Its Delta does not equal in size those

of the Nile, the Niger,

and the Zambesi, but

it

is

distinctly

traceable.

M. Halfeld
grit, is

(Pelatorio, p. 172) opines that the gres, or sandstone

the characteristic formation of the Pdo de Sao Francisco.

The stream

rises, as

form of Minas

:

has been seen, from the great central platmaterial is the Itacolumite or granular

its

laminated sandstone, which seems to compose the central and

THE RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO.

CHAP. XV.]

the

iiGT^'er

portions

of

Some would compare

continent.*

tlie

219

these deposits with the vast Sihirian beds of North America.

M. Chusin

present characteristic proofs are wanting.

de

de I'Academie
univalve in the

Bruxelles,

modern red

viii.

grits of

found

5)

the

(Bulletin

print

Minas Geraes.

At
of

a

Travellers

and miners, however, are both agreed that hitherto the Brazil,
and even Southern America generally, resembles Africa in
the difficidt}' of finding organised fossil bodies, and thus it is
difficult to decide the geologic age of the immense grit deposits
This Itacolumite reapin the Eastern and Northern plateau.
pears at Bom Jardim (138th league) and runs down stream
alternating with coast granite.

Below the gneiss and

schist of the Pii*apora,

we

find

sand and

sandstones here brown, there of a deep ochre, often highly ferruginous, rarely stratified, and

more

or less nodulous and j)orous.

This formation resembles the coast
continuously

all

the river valley

;

'^

di'ift,"

is

it

still

and once covered
superficial except

where the flood-mud has acciunulated upon it, and in parts it
shows intervening layers of clay. It is also broken by outcrops
of hard, blue mountain-limestone, and
draulic

limestones,

compact

or

by

argilliferous or hy-

stratiform,

and abounding in

silex.

Further down stream are close sandstones resembling ferru.ginous

quartzite

and

chemical or mechanical.

covered with

The rocks

a polished

crust,

either

are blackened to the colour

of dark coke in places where the floods have less polishing
power and the presence of the muTory glaze upon the brown,
yellow or red rock, sandstone, granite and syenite, readily gave
the high-water mark.
In many parts it resembled magnetic
iron, and I tried it upon the needle without any effect.
The
coating did not exceed wafer-thickness, and in places where the
softer material had yielded, glazed sheets, and surfaces partially
glazed, stood up detached.
The people term these tinted rocks

Pedras de Marumbe, evidently believing them to be ii'onstones.
The glaze, however, is of three kinds the darkest purple, which
;

* Tlie same grit was found by Castelnau
on tlie Tocantins River, and on his route
from Groyaz to Cuyaba, in Mato Grosso.
Near Santa Cruz of JNIinas Greraes he also
mentions erratic blocks of a granite which
does not exist in the neighbourhood.
That
traveller records the absence of fossils, and

believes that as a rule the low-lying and
hot j^ortions of the South American conti-

nent are of much older date than the
Highlands otfsetting from the Cordilleras,
and whose formations are placed regularly
as those of Europe,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

220

appears black in the shade, another

is

[chap. xv.

plumbago-black

(peclra

warm red-yellow, probabl}" pm'e ferruginous matter deposited upon boulders whose inner colour is
negra), while the third is a

On

the same (pedra cabocla).*

the Sao Francisco the further

we went down the deeper became the

and the denser the
glaze, till in j^laces above and below and about the Great Eapids,
the monstrous masses looked like castings of solid metal.
This
would suggest that it is the work of the stream, but it is difficult
to decide whether the waters carried it in solution, or whether
their friction had drawn it from the interior to the surface.
Analyses by Berzelius and Charles Konig made it to consist of
oxides of manganese and iron, f
The specimens from the Atures
proved to contain, besides oxide of manganese, carbon and supercarburetted iron, but they blackened the paper in which they
were wrapped. Such is not the case here, nor do the people
attribute to them any noxious influence ujoon the atmosphere.
The subject was, I believe, first discussed by Humboldt. | He
found that ''whenever the Orinoco, between the missions of
Carichana and of Santa Barbara, periodically washes the granitic
rocks, they become smooth black, and as if coated with i)lumbago."

On

the

Congo Paver

tint,

I observed the thin shining black

resembling the coatings of meteoric stones, to
begin at Boma, just below the narrows of the Zaire, and to
crust, strikingly

extend up to the Yellalah or Great Eapids, in fact where the
stream is most turbulent.
Here it was first observed by the
expedition of 1816 under Captain Tucke}-, and the specimens

were described by M. Konig. § In 1832 Mr. Darwin found near
Bahia, where a rivulet entered the sea, and where the surf and
tidal waves supply the polishing power of cataracts, coatings of a
rich

brown

like those of the

that *'hand specimens

Sao Francisco, and he justty remarks

fail to

give a just idea of these burnished

stones which glitter in the sun's rays."
* I never heard tlie people say, as on the
Orinoco, that "the rocks are burnt" (or
carbonised) " by the rays of the sun,"
or that "the rocks are black where the
waters are white."
+ I have sent to Europe specimens of
these curious rock-incrustations from the
Sao Francisco River.
During the few

months since they were removed, the glaze
has become comparatively dull, and looks
as though

it

required renewal.

He

could assign no

+ Personal Narrative, vol. ii. chap. 20
Bohn's Scientific Library, London, lSf>2.
§ Tliat geologist (Appendix to Captain
Tuckey's Expedition, No. 6) argued from
the primitive rock-formations of the lower
mountains
Zaire the probability that the
of Pernambuco, Rio, and other adjacent
parts of South America, were primevally
connected with the opposite chains that
traverse the plains of Congo and Loango."
:

'

'

THE RIO DE SAO FKAXCISCO.

CHAP. XV.]

reason

wli}^

221

these coatings of metallic oxides always remained of

During his second expedition Dr.
Livingstone (chap, ii; Zambesi and its Tributaries) remarks of
the rocks of the Kibrabasa Eapids, that "they were covered with
a thin black glaze, as if highly polished and coated with lampblack varnish." This was apparently deposited wdiile the river
Vv^as in flood, for it covers only those rocks which lie between the
highest water-mark and a line about four feet above the lowest.
This aj^pearance has also been remarked upon the Cataracts of

nearly the same thickness.

the Nile.*

In the river
detached

runnmg

valley,

hills rising

parallel with the glazed rocks, are

abruptly from the level surface, and divided

from one another by low spaces, t Some of these piers, which
appear to be pinned down, as if they w^ere segments of dykes to
control the stream, and to keep it from wandering, are composed
of almost pure magnetic iron t we ascended several of them, and
;

* M. Rozi'Jre pointed out to Humboldt
that the primitive rocks of the little cataracts of Syene display, like those of the
Orinoco, a glossy sui-face of a blackish
grey or almost leaden colour.
f For the first few leagues below the
mouth of the Rio das Yelhas, the Sao
Francisco runs between containing walls.
Thence to Urubu in the 127th league, it is
bounded by the scarjDs of ridges which
divide the secondary river-valleys.
The
hills
backed by " denudation
mountains " appear below Urubu.

detached

t This vast

iron formation

not noticed
in 1854 ad-

is

J. A. Monlevade, who
dressed Sr. Diogo de Vasconcellos, then
President of Minas Greraes.
He declares
the Province to be i)eculiarly adapted for
the industry, having a healthy temperate
climate, a vast expanse of virgin forest to

by M.

supply charcoal, and waterfalls which will
of
facilitate the ajiplication
The united deposits contain
machinery.
more iron than the whole of Eui'ope, considering the richness of the ^angue, which
It is
gives 76 per cent, of pure metal.
principally martite, or magnetic ore almost
alM'ays accompanied by Jacutinga, oxydulated iron, or protoxide of iron, with
layers of manganese and titanium in the
The analysis by Dr. Percy of
sandy state.
the micaceous Itaberite gives 68 'OS per
Sesquicent, of metal thus distributed
peroxide of mangaoxide of iron, 97*25
nese, '14; lime, 0*3 4; residue, silica, &c.,
1 '88
a trace of magnesium and no phosOverlying the
total, 99 '61.
phoric acid
everj'where

—

;

;

:

rich ores

is

often Cdnga, or hydr'ate of iron,

worked in Europe by

air fui-naces

:

it

is

only
There are besides
huge scatters of mineral, five principal
ranges lying at a mean distance of eighteen
leagues east and west of one another on a line
The richest
perpendicular to their trend.
diggings are associated with gold, which
occurs for the most part in the lower hills,
The metalliferous
slopes, and valleys.
north -north -east to
strata strike from
south-south-west, inclining to the east
the breadth is one-eighth to one quarter of
a league, and the dejtth is unknown.
JSTo. 1.
Cordillera, beginning from the
east, extends from near Sacramento, Municipality of Santa Barbara, Parish of Prata,
River rid S.
the Piracicava
crosses
Domingos and Jequitib^, covers a vast surface near the Ribeirao de Cocaes-Grrande,
and after twelve leagues, is lost in the
The land is everywhere wooded
forests.
on both versants, the soil is fertile, and
water abounds.
It rises in
No. 2 is ten leagues long.
the farm of Professor Abreu, 3 4 leagues
above the village of S. Miguel, and it
forms the left-hand wall of the Piracicava

here neglected, because
from 25 to 35 per cent.

its

yield is

:

*'Moito Aguado " (Agudo ?), its
River.
culmination, fronts the foundry of M.
Monlevade, and crosses his grounds for a

whole league.
No. 3, twelve leagues long, ajjpears in
the "Capao," south of Ouro Preto, is rich
to the west of that city, prolongs itself
fid Santa Anna and Antonio Pereira, forms

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

222

I reserve a further notice.

The low

[chap. xv.

hinds are finely laminated

sands and clays with regular cleavage, where sun-burnt and

air-

baked, and patched with a variety of colours, white and black,

The

blue and grey, pink and yellow, crimson and orange.

dotted levels are backed by ranges

of denudation

which, from the stream, appear to be concave.

iron-

mountains,

Their smooth

and terraces show that they were once continuous
walls, now isolated b}^ weathering on a vast scale, and being
still degraded by tropical rains and suns.
The superior hardness of their ferruginous sandstone saved them from being worn
down to the low alluvial levels, and the laminated formations at
table tops

their base.

The

great granitic formation of the coast reappeared about the

238th league, and continued with interruptions to the Bapids of
Paulo Affonso, where it passed into syenite. Approaching tliis
feature,

and due south of the Araripe plateau, where Dr. Gardner

found, on argillaceous

ground,

the

stone-cased fishes of the

cretaceous sj^stem, the end of the secondary epoch,
signs of a remarkable correspondence with the

appeared

Amazons.

On

both sides of the river were arenaceous buttresses suggesting
gault.

The

coarser materials had invariably settled in the lowest

and above were the fine grits known to the
"Pedras de Amolar," or whetstones.
In this part
agates and an abundance of flint, with the coticular
re-occurring about Paulo Affonso and the Porto das

levels,

On

the

lower S.

Francisco,

after

j^assing

the

people as

he found
sandstone
Piranhas.

rapids,

about

Talhado (332nd league) in Alagoas, I saw the same sandstone
Near the town of
Propia (367th league) there is an outcrop of lime, and extensive
deposits of modern calcaire are met with on the lower courses of
the shoii broad streams which cut the coast line.
overlying granite and underlying limestone.

the MoiTo d'Agua Quente and the cross
chain of the Caraga, and is lost opposite
the mine of the Griiarda Mur Innocencio.
No. 4, twenty leagues long, begins at the
south of the Card^a half a league from CaIjanema, and extending north via Cachoeira
Morro Vermelho, 1109a (Rossa) Grande,
G-ongo Soco, Cocaes, Brucutu, and the
Serra da Conceigao, forms the peak of the

Northern Itabira.
No. .5, eighteen leagues long, begins
south of Itabira do Campo, which is composed of pure oxide of iron, accompanies

great Cordillera to Curral d'El-Rei,
crosses the liio das Velhas at Sahara, forms

the

the Piedade Range, and prohably reappears
far north at Graspar Rodrigues, Candonga,
in the Serra Negra and in the Grao Mogor
all places very rich in iron.
Evidently, says M. Monlevade, it wants
nothing but roads, which will save 7 $ OUO
out of 8 $ 000, and an import duty on
A few model
foreign iron of 25 per cent.
establishments would soon give an impetus

—

to the trade,

THE RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO.

CHAP. XV.]
St. Hilaire (I.

ii.,

14),

when describing

Francisco, had remarked, "

La

tlie

223

course of the Sao
phis elevee que la

rive gauche,

generalement moins exposee aux debordemens." Col.
Accioli (p. 14) seems to confirm this observation, which was
The great river, however, flows on a
probably only local.
droite, est

meridian, and the result of the compound motion produced by its
northern course and the earth's revolution from west to east,

tends theoretically to withdraw the weight of water from the left
or western side, and to throw it against the right or eastern.

Thus

it

has been remarked, that on long lines of railways running

on the eastern rail. Practically I
did not find that this theory, which has been extensively discussed
in Kussia, affected the Sao Francisco.
This stream is not a ''holy river," caret quia vate sacro, but
its future will be more honorable than the past of the Ganges or
The valley and the high dry Geraes which limit it
the Indus.
on both sides contain all the elements of prosperity required by

north and south, the wear

is

The population

an empire.

is

now

calculated at 1,500,000 to

2,000,000, probably nearer the latter than the former, and it can
support 20,000,000 of souls. As was said of the Upper Amazon,

maybe

''here the sugar-cane and the pine-apple

seen growing by

a spectator, standing in the barley-field and the potato patch."

The uplands can breed

in any quantities black cattle, horses,

mules, sheep, pigs and goats, while there will be no difficulty in
Of mineral wealth, besides diamonds
acclimatisino- the camel.

and opals

(?),

agates, gold

de la Martiniere*

and

iron,

and others,

we

find

platina,

mentioned by M. E.
galena,

argentiferous

mercury, cop]3er (near the Sete Lagoas), antimony, arsenic, manSalt and saltpetre, sulphur
ganese, cobalt and various ppites.

and alum have been found in large deposits. Of building materials
we notice marble, freestone and slate, lime generally dispersed
and hydraulic cement; silex, grindstones and potter's-clay are
also abundant.

and

The land

is

admu'ably

for the cultivation of cotton,

immense

fisheries, t

The basin

* Official Letter. Annexe X. to PresidenRelation of 1867.
+ The names of the fish not occurring
in the following pages, but mentioned by
]VI. Halfeld, and referred to by the people,

tial

ave
1.

:

— The scaly
Camurupim

which

(?),

short and thickset.

will

silk-worm,

some day

of the Silo Francisco
2.

rival its
is terres-

Camurim, mirim, and assu

small),

(large

and

white with dark stripes on both

sides,
3.

Tubarana,

4.

dourada

(yellow),

and

lean up-stream, but
admired below the rapids.

branca, a large

much

:

fitted for the

fish,

B\gre de Ouro.(.')

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

224

not aquatic, and

trial

is

it

the source and above

tlie

completely isolated by cataracts near

The

mouth.

have Amazonian names will

The

[chap. xv.

i:)robabl3"

fishes, therefore,

which

be found to be distinct.

locahsation of species lately found, even to a greater extent

than he expected,

main

arter}^

b}"

Professor Agassiz,

who remarked

of the great northern basin

was broken up into

The

distinct families, will be the case here.

that the

riverines,

who have

never attempted classification, or distribution, or limitation, can
generally tell whether a fish

grounds.

The

is

who

naturalist

or is not caught below certain
shall attempt the ichthyologj- of

the Sao Francisco will have before

him the task

of years.

The

stupendous results obtained by Professor Agassiz, the revolution
of ichth^^ology of which he sj^eaks, were effected by an immense
collaboration,

public and

That savant may be

private, as far as collection extends.

said to have been assisted

by the forces of the

empire.

The hop, and to
Amongst the cereals

certain

a
it

extent the vine,

will

flourish.

produces a wealth of maize and

rice,

whilst barley, rye, and probably wdieat, will succeed in the Geraes.

Most

of the fruits

and vegetables that belong to the sub-tropical

and the temperate regions may be introduced. A sugar plantation lasts ten years, although the cane is most inefficiently treated.
Coffee grows admirably; tea, congonhas (or mate), and the
favourite of North- Western Brazil, the guarana (Paullinia sorbites)
will

the best in the

Empire

5. Robalo, a kind of pike
streams of the Brazil.

:

common

in tlie

it
feet long and covered with hard scales
keeps near the bottom, is easily netted,
and makes good bait, but is rarely eaten.
The Pacamum of the Amazons is described
as of a bright canary colour, and weighing
10 lbs.
7. Sardinha.
;

8.

10.

Sarapo.
Sibeira or Aragu.
Card.

Pirampeba, white and black,
with teeth like needles.
12. Lombia, about one foot long.

11.

small

flat fish

13.

Sudia.

Niqiiim.

2.

Cumba.

3.

Prepetinga.

heard also of the Tambure, about one
and held to be good eating, and
the Piguri and Lambari, small fishes from
which oil is extracted, on the Upper ParaThe Shark (Tubarao, Squalus
guay lliver.
tubero, Linn. ) has carried off people near
the mouth, and they speak of another large
"Meru," x>robably a Squalus,
fish, the
which some say is anthropophagous, and
others not
it is also found at the mouths
of the short disconnected tidal rivers which
Of course the
drain into the east coast.
Manatu or Sea-Cow, that representative of
the Dinotherium, and the Porpoise of the
Amazons, are wanting in the ujJiJer waters
of the Sao Francisco.
I

foot long

:

a

some of

The smooth-skinned are
1.

Pacamon and Pacamon de Couro,
which, says M. Halfeld, is a soft fish that
Gardner describes the
lives in mud.
Pocomo as an i;gly black fish, about two

is

and cochineal-cactus, aloes

salsaparilla

6.

9.

The tobacco

succeed in low, hot, humid spots.

THE RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO.

CHAP. XV.]

225

and vanilla grow wild. Tlie lumber trade is susceptible of a vast
development the Aroeii'a, tlie Brauna, the Candea, the Peroba,
the Canella, and the fine hard-woods of the Brazil generally,
await exploitation. Oil-plants and tanning barks, basts and fibres,
;

Bahn

drugs and gums, as the Jetahy-copal, the

of Peru, the

Copahj'ba and the Asafoetida, are yielded in abundance, and the
same may be said of beeswax and of the Carnauba wax, which is
converted

into

candles

at

abimdant, from indigo to the

Pdo de

The dyes

Janeii'o.

Pau Amarello, and

of cabinet

are

woods

headed by the Jacaranda and the Brazilian cedar.
In the presence of such vast and unexploited wealth awaiting
the distressed classes of Europe we may exclaim with Goethe,
''AYho says there is nothing for the poor and vile save poverty and
a long

crime

list is

?

We

"

will

now

consider the Rio de Sao Francisco in another

most important light, as a line of communication linking the
maritune and sub^maritime regions with the Far West, the north
with the south, facilitating commerce and colonization, obviating
scarcity by giving an issue to the surplus of the central regions,
especially when the irregular seasons of the coast mjure agriculture, or

when the seaboard may be blockaded.

And

thus will

be completed the strategic circle which the Empu-e, if it would
I may here premise
preserve its integrit}^, now greatly needs.

Amazons and

that the streams of the Brazil between the

the Plata

African peninsula, to be distributed
many are short and direct, rather

are, like those of the great

under two heads.
The
estuaries than rivers, surface -draining the ranges wliich subtend the
coast.
The few are the long and indirect, like the Sao Francisco
and the included arcs before specified. The former are of limited
value, the latter

The

Brazil

is

may

emphatically the land of great, but as yet "un-

improved,"

rivers.

bad name

*

;

be extensively utihzed.

They

have, however, gained for themselves a

and water communication

neglected as in British India.
^ I came to tlie Brazil prepared to
believe and to regi'et with llv. Kidder
that, "notwithstanding the number and
vastness of the rivers flowing through the

northern and western portions of the
Empire, and finally mingling their waters
with the Amazon and the La Plata, there
is not one, besides the Amazon, emptying

VOL.

ir.

has

been deplorably

Capital for railways being prointo tlie Atlantic along the whole Brazilian

na\dgable any considerable
But actual
inspection soon showed that the lower beds
of many streams can be joined by short
railways with the upper lines, which are

coast,

which

way from

its

is

mouth inland."

naturally adapted for communication,

which have been completely passed

and

over.

Q

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

226

curable at heavy interest from England,

tlie

[chap. xv.

various

modes

of

communication have been performed in the reverse order of their
Water communication, a vast and economic power, which
should have been first undertaken, will be the last roads have
been limited to the use of the mule or the pack-bullock and the
merit.

;

;

Empire

is

threatened with a railway system of marvellous inepti-

In Europe, Italy

tude.

is

perhaps the only country which pro-

Here the want of a Toppmade the Pernambuco
threaten to run into the Bahian Eailway at Joazeiro, and the
D. Pedro Seguiido cut across the Maua line, and prepare a
campaign against the Cantagallo and the Santos and Jundiahy.
spected before brealdng

its

ground.

graphical Commission on a large scale has

I shall reserve this important subject for future consideration.

Communication by the Valley of the Sao Francisco is still in
embryo.
Dr. Mello Franco, Imperial Dei:)uty, drew attention
about 1851 to the importance of the Eio das Velhas. As has
been seen, this stream drains the northern versant of the Minas
Plateau, whose culminating point is the Itacolumi.
Its eastern
Grande or do Espinhaco and westward
divided by a long spine of many names from the Valle}^ of

valley wall is the Serra
it is

the Sao Francisco.

;

More tortuous than

the latter,

its declivitj^,

as far as the junction, is less, being an average slope of 0"*'3941

During the months of high water the
whole river is naturally navigable, and exceptional rises would be
dangerous for only a few days. In March, 1852, a respectable
Portuguese trader, Manuel Joaquim Goncalez, whom I met at
Januaria, floated down the Rio das Velhas with three ajojos, of
which one was lost. In 1862, when the Councillor Jose Bento
da Cunha Figueirado was President of Minas, the Imperial
Government ordered a survey under M. Liais and two assistants,
Lt. Eduardo Jose de Moraes and Sr. Ladislao de Souza Mello
Netto and their admirable plans of the Pdo das Velhas and the
Upper Sao Francisco are now well known to Europe.
This Commission preferred the Rio das Velhas as the line of
communication with the Empire, and apparently for the best
reasons.* The opening of the Upper Rio de Sao Francisco
per kilometre, to 0*4890.

;

_''*

Tims the

riverines truly observe

"

Rio de Sao Francisco faz barra (falls into)
llio das Velhas."
The discharge of the
former at the confiuenco is 446 cubic
metres per second, of the latter only 209.

But these proportions do not
At tlie Porto das Andorinlias,

last

long.

sixty-tAvo

leagncs above the junction, the debit of
the Sao Francisco is but tifty-nine cubic
n)eti-es, and the llio (has Velhas has the same

CHAP.

THE PJO DE SAO FRANCISCO.

XV-.]

227

would be a gigantic work for which the country is not 3'et prepared
the Pirapora Eapids alone would cost more to remove than all the
most important obstacles on the Eio das Yellias. In the thirtyfour leagues above this point, the Sao Francisco has as many
'*
Cachoeii'as " as the whole of its rival between Sahara and its
mouth. The ridges traversing the latter are mostlj^ friable and
;

shal}'

;

whilst

the bars rarely exceed six to seven yards at the summit,

many

obstacles are merely detached rocks or sand-bars.

and sandstone,
and spread out horizontally sometimes forty to fifty metres. For
a description of other obstacles, such as the nine terrible leagues,

In the former the material

is

of the hardest gneiss

human life, about the Porto dos Passarinhos,
to M. Liais.
Trade, moreover, has preferred

so fatal to
^^ill

refer

the reader
the former

between the mouth of the Paraopeba River; from_ above the
confluence hardly a dozen ajojos descend per annum, whilst many
boatmen, feaiing for

lives, refuse to hire

tlieii'

small tov/ns are sparsely scattered

;

and

themselves.

diu'ing the rains,

The
when

Carneu-adas drive the inhabitants into the interior, the banks are

abnost desei*ted.*

On

has been shown that a meridian, with a
small deviation, connects the metropolis of the Empire with the
the other hand,

it

Sahara is only sixty-four dii'ect
tlie analogous point on the S,
Francisco vrould be ninety leagues- a weighty consideration
wlien looking to a Railway,
This pro:dmity, combined with
Line of the

Pdo das Velhas,

leagues from Eio de Janeiro

;

—

superiority of climate, will
it is

recommend

it

to colonists.

Finall}",

connected vdth more important places, such as Diamantina

and Curvello.

M.

Liais also decides, I believe rightly, in preferring water to

land communications.

Here

again, as in British India, village

intercommunication has found no place in the sj^stem of public
" Nature's roads," the vilest paths made by the foot, and
works.
never bearing the impression of the cart-wheel, run down both
banks of the Piio das Yelhas and the Sao Francisco. Both are
Even in the dry
bad, but usually one is worse than the other.
.

season the canoe
are

ineAdtably

is

preferred, and during the rains these lines

closed.

There would

volumeat 111 leagues from its embouchure.
The reason is that the former receives
laore affluents in the lower, the latter in

the upper course,

l)e

great

difficulties

* All

in

agi-ce upon tLe subject^ of tliesc
yet the plane of the Upper Sao
Francisco is higher than that of the Rio das
Yelhas,

fevers,

Q 2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

228

[chap. xv.

making, and even greater in preserving, a rolling road and the
expense from Sabara to Joazeiro (244 leagues) would not be less
;

than 12,200: 000 g 000 (say ^1,220,000), whilst the high tolls
would do away with all the benefit. A similar objection would
to tow-paths for tracking boats.

ai^pl}^

M.

Liais divides the obstacles of the Kio das Vellias into five

varieties

axes

—stone-piers or detached rocks

whirlpools, with vertical

shallow sharp curves, snags and timber

sand-bars and

;

;

encumbering the bed. While greatly admiring his plans, I cannot
agree with his system intended '' pour assainir la riviere " he
wants to make of this wild stream a Seine or a Rhone and my
:

;

experience

more

of India and the United States suggests far

He

attention to econom3^

is

too fond of mines and blasting

applied to soft stone, of "suppressing" boulder-piers, or marking

Here

every rock, and even shoal, where an accident can happen.

un

no joke, yet he would sup"
press channels; to prevent
echouage," alter the stream-bed;
change its direction, rectify every abrupt detour, and canalize
even the shallows
doubtless the first flood would restore the
''

petit travail de canalization" is

:

''

status quo ante."

Often, too, he would obstruct one half of

the channel and canalize the other, a precarious work.

I have

alluded to his plans of draguage and tunage, either simple or
'^

avec enrochements; "

the removal of the Rapids will render

these costly works useless by increasing the current, and by
narrowing the bed where it spreads out in the dry season. He
wishes to ^' nettoyer " the stream of floating wood, which of
course will stick where it has stood.
To obviate the deposit of
sands from the gold washings of and about Sabara, he would

compel proprietors to dig tanks, through which the muddy
streams would pass and deposit their burdens before entering the
river.
But in the present condition of the Brazil such precautions would be impossible nor would the profits derived from
gold-digging enable, as he supposes, mine-owners to make the
necessary disbursements. He would establish a water-police to
prevent trees being thrown into the stream the policemen would
probably be the first to throw them. Finally, the key-note of his
estimates is that the channel should be made independent of
pilots, and offer no risk even to a mismanaged steamer,
I need
;

;

hardly characterize these as works of supererogation.*
The Brazil
inclined

towards

is
*'

already but too -well
moniiinental works."

''Les ouvriers
i,
394) "

(I.

Mineiros,"
s'ils

says

mettent de

St.

la

Hil.

lenteiir

—

"

THE KIO DE SAO FRAXCISCO,

cuAP. XV.]

A considerable portion
dead low water

—that

229

of the laboiu' could be carried on only at

is to

say, for thi'ee or foiu'

months

m

the

Half water would suffice for another part. Durmg the
floods (enchentes) from November to March nothmg could be
3'ear.

About April there is often a small inundation called
Enchente de Paschoa, wliich would limit the season to six
months. Thus the swellmg of the S. Francisco sj^stem is almost
synchronous with that of the Amazons, which begins in November, and lasts till May or June, the greater extent of time
bemg the result of its superior dimensions. Both streams have
the prelmimary freshets, which will presently be described and
in both the oscillations are known by the name of '' repiquete."
During the retuing of the waters (vasantes) sickness must be
expected amongst unaccUmatized workmen seduced from distant
parts by a rise of wages.
The following is the estimate proposed by M. Liais
done.

;

:

200: 000 1 000

Between Sabard and Macahubas,

to admit in the
dry season a vessel drawing- 0°»'G0 (deeper
draughts would require a great increase of

outlay).
Canalization
" suppression " of rock.
1

,730 000 $ 000
:

195: 000 $000

480: 000 $000

—

of

four

places

Between Macahubas and Jequitiba, draught

and

l"-25.

Draguage, suppression of a ford, rectification
of Poco Feio, and removing rocks.
Between Jequitiba and Parauna. This is one of
the worst sections. For same draught.
Between Parauna and embouchure of the Rio das
Velhas, the finest part of the course draught
;

l"»-o0.*

Total 2,605: 000 $000 (say £200,000) between Sahara and the mouth, 120
leagues.

The followmg
Sao Francisco
1 ,400

:

are the figures for opening the

Upper Rio de

:

000 $ 000

4,100: 000 $000
3,200: 000 $000

opening the Pirapora Rapids.
from Pirapora to Cachoeira Grande included,
from Cachoeira Grande to Porto das Melancias.

Total 8,700: 000 $000 (say £870,000) between Pirapora and the Paraopeba
River, 41 leagues.

dans leur travail, au moins ils domient
beaucoup d'attention a leiirs ovuTages, et
je crois meme qu'ils les finissent plus que
ne feraient les ouvriers europeens.

* I need hardly obsei've that such a
In 1849,
draught is wholly uncalled for.
according to ^M. Claudel, on the high
Seine, empty _hoats drew on an average

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL

230

We

now proceed to the Eio de Sao
has made a detailed plan
Halfeld
M,

[chap, xv.

Francisco.

will

rather than a

map

;

it

wants meridians, parallels, and the astronomical determination of
The
eight or ten points hefore it can be considered correct.
letterpress describes every league of the stream ; but as the distances are not checked by instruments, it is evident that one
league must often run into the other.

paper has been expended,

was not given
This

parts.

it is

much

to

And

The German
chained down

amount of

be regretted that a place

to enlarged plans of the Rapids

is

as any

and the obstructed

one of the chief merits of M. Liais' publication.
engineer, with true Teutonic industry, probably
the wdiole distance, and thus also he must have

ascertained the breadth

;

when

the stream

is

very wide, no figures

Moreover, he was engaged in this gigantic labour for
the space of only two years, which would be insufficient accurately
are given.

down the topography of the complicated thirty-one leagues
between Boa Vista (269 leagues), and Surubabe (300 leagues).

to lay

From

the details of a

'^

desobstruction," which would convert

—

—

enormous bed into a clear channel a kind of canal like
the Ehine or the Rhone, M. Halfeld i)roposes a total of
1,089:000$000 (say £108,900). A considerable portion of'this
expense is mere waste removing rocks, building dams, applying
fascines (which suggest the proverbial tide and pitch-fork), clearing of snags and timber, sloping banks, erecting quays and other
improvements all these may be reserved for the daj^s when

this

;

—

steam navigation shall have begun. I may observe that a total
of 12 900 g 000 (say £1290) has been devoted to the stream
between Porto das Piranhas and the Villa de Piassabussu, a line
:

upon

w^liich

steamers have plied smce August

expending a farthing.
any attempt at a canal

1867, wdthout

Strong objection must also be raised to
fifty

palms broad

at

bottom, and extending

seventy-two leagues (206 geographical miles) between

Boa

Vista

and the Porto das Piranhas, the present terminus of steam navigation.
This can hardly succeed the land is alternately sandy
and stony, deeply flooded during the rains, and subject to enor;

C'n-27;

on the Loire and Moselle 0«'-22.
Steamers on the various streams of France
and Germany drew, say ]\I]\L Mathias
and Gallon, between a minimnni of 0'"'3G
(Ville d'Ojleajis, on the Loire) to a maxi-

miun

of l'"-23 (Bretagne, Biisse Loire).
In the United States we find flat-bottomed
steamers drawing 22 inches, and a metre
j^uftices for sea-going craft,

—
THE RIO DE SAO FRAXCISCO,

CHAP. XV.]

mous evaporation

231

Eyiclently a line of light
tlie dry season.
communication.
of
system
be the true
Compared with the two preceding estimates, M. de la
in

rails will

Martiniere

Theii* united

economical.

is

sum

for the

Eio das

and the Pdo de Sao Francisco is £368,900, He reduces
and for this amount, besides
it to 2,000 000 S 000 (say £200,000)
clearing the chamiel, he builds bridges and workshops, boats,
But he runs only between Sahara
slips, and five tug-steamers.
and Joazeii'o. Other s\Titers adopt the estimates of M. Liais for
the desobstruction of the Rio das Vellias, adding 2,400 000 $000
(£240,000) for clearmg the channel between the Sobradmho and
Varzea Eedonda; and 12,000:0005000 (£1,120,000) for a road
round the difficulty of Paulo Aft'onso. This estimate represents
a total expenditure of 17,000:0005000 (1,700,000) for a navigation of 476 leagues (1428 miles).
Yellias

;

:

:

now propose my own

I will

the plan

the

out

estimates, simply premising that

not professional, and that I do not intend applying to

is

Government

Brazilian

for the

privilege of carrying

them

:

for the Rio das Vellias.

£55,000
40,000

to

remove the Sobradinho Rapid and the obstructions

above Joazeiro.
Railways and locomotives past the Great Rapids between
Varzea Redonda and the Porto das Piranhas, thirty-six
miles (at £3000 per mile, gauge 2 feet to 2 feet

108,000

6 inches).

£203,000

With

respect to

the

first

charge,

£4000

for twenty tons of

blasting powder, which, however, might possibly be

made cheaper

The machinery would amount,

transport in-

upon the
cluded,

spot.

slot-joint

;

—

viz., two big
sledge hammers, and two
and two picks working in slot or cradle, with a

£15,500

to

smaller ditto

adjustable

to

the

piston,

£1000

;

drags

for

the

£2000 and five-horse-power engine mounted on a
raft, £2500
first-class steam-tug, with donkey-engines to follow
and assist in working, £10,000.
The wages and support
of the working hands may be set down at £30,000; and the
remainder for '' contmgencies," which in these lands demand a
Rapids,

;

;

large margin.

The second item

I take from

M.

Halfeld,

who proposes

to

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

2.-12

expend upon the correction of

[chap. xv.

Sao Francisco channel (240th
league) to Joazeii^o (247th) the sum of 416: 320 g 000 (say
This is the highest possible estimate
the work is
^41,632).
the only absolute necessity between the Rapids of Pii^apora
(league 1), and the Villa da Boa Yista (269th)
and as will be
seen when we reach the place, Nature is doing there her own
tlie

;

;

engineering.

From

da Boa Vista to the Porto das Piranhas, seventy
to seventy-two leagues (216 miles), the Sao Francisco can hardly
the

Axilla

be called navigable.

Bafts like

my

own, and canoes traverse even

in the dry season the first thirty-four leagues between

Boa Vista

and Varzea Eedonda, but with a thousand perils. The remaining
thirty-eight leagues (114 miles) between Varzea Eedonda and

The minimum
maximum, s0648,OOO.

Porto das Piranhas are absolutely unmanageable.
of railway required will be .£342,000

;

the

tramway be preferred, the expense will be reduced
to one-half; a cart road would cost about one-third.
I rejoice to
hear that the Government of His Imperial Majesty has sent a
If a marginal

well-known German engineer, M. Karl Krauss, to ascertain the
levels which can connect the Lower with the Upper Sao Francisco.

As

the great riverine valley becomes settled, the rapid drainage
tend to increase the floods and corresponding droughts. It
will then be necessary to build dams on the main artery and the
will

from either shore throwing a
strong current into the centre, and creating sufficient depth of
water for navigation.
Thus, combined with the removal of the
Cachoeii^as, the lower valleys will be secured from inundations.
Again, the droughts of winter can be avoided by deriving supplies
from artificial lakes and reservoirs constructed on the secondary
This plan has been proposed for the Mississippi, whose
streams.
area of drainage is a million and a quarter of square miles, and
whose navigable lines are ten thousand miles. Such bold and
magnificent schemes have been proposed and partly carried out
in the New World,* whilst the engineers of Europe have had a
chronic fear of '^ meddling" with great rivers, and have propounded the theory that these were made to make canals. It is
only a question of time when the Brazil will follow the example
of the United States.
tributaries, solid piers jorojecting

* Ellet

"On

the Ohio and Mississippi Kivers," Philadelpliia, 1853.

THE RIO DE SAO FEANCISCO.

CHAP. XV.]

233

Steam exploitation of the Eio das Vellias is upon tlie point of
commencing. On Jmie 25, 1867, the President of Minas Geraes,
Comicillor Joaqiiim Saklanha Marinho, entered into a contract

with Sr. Henrique Dumont, C.E.

bomid

itself to

(£1900), when

Provincial Government

pay before June 30, 1867, the sum of 4: 000 $000

before

(£400);

The

July 15,

33:000S000 (£3300); 19:0005000

a tug-steamer of not less than twenty-five horse

power should reach Rio de Janeiro, and make up a total of
75 500 S 000 (£7550) after the vessel's first satisfactory trial-trip.
Counting from June 25, 1869, the engineer was to have for ten
years the use of the steamer, after which it is to be handed in
good condition to the Provincial Government. The latter also
undertakes to solicit admission free from duty of all imported
articles, such as steamer, boats, tools, and machmery requu-ed
:

for clearing the channel

upon

itself the

or should the application

;

The

expenditm'e.

fail,

to take

desobstructions of the bed were

to be carried out according to the estimates of

M.

Liais

;

and the

report was that £160,000 would at once be devoted to the work.

M. Dumont,

on

other

the

hand,

bound

lihnself,

under

penalty, to place within two j^ears after date of signing, a steam-

tug at Sahara.

The

gomg and coming

make per mensem two

vessel to

(viagens redondas) over

passages,

the portion of the

channel which would permit, and at the rate of ten leagues per

The passage money to be 1$ 000 per league and for
goods, OS 100,* while Government emploj-es were to pay only for
rations.
The contractor to keep the steamer in good order, and
day.

;

to be responsible for its

unavoidable accident),

injmy or
till

it

loss (except b}' act of

God, or

should belong to the Provincial

The stream between Sahara and Jaguara to be
according to the plans of M. Liais and to be rendered

Government.
reformed,

;

navigable, as the public purse shall permit, to its confluence with

the Rio de Sao Francisco,

f

* The public at once began to complain
these conditions.
From Sabara to
Jaguara the passenger will pay 20 $ 000 ;
and each arroba (32 lbs.) of merchandize
But the same distance may be
2 $ 000.
done for 4 $ 000 by a mule carrying six to
seven aiTobas.
Time of course is never
taken into consideration,
f ]\I. Liais calculates that a iDoling-boat
drawing three palms (2 feet 1"8 inches),
of

with a crew
diem, and

10 men working 8 houi-s per
spending 15 days between

of

Sabara and tbe month of the Rio das
Yelhas, would carry 4000 arrobas (50 to
At present this would be done
60 tons).

by 340 mules and 42 men in 36 days.
The ascent of the boat would demand treble
the time and double the crew, yet it would
have a great advantage over transport by
animals.
On the other hand, a small steamer of
20-horse power, biu-ning wood, which is
everjT\'here plentiful, would tug the same
load,

working twelve hours a day, in five days

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

234

Dumont

[chap. xv.

no time.

In March, 1868, he brought from
Bordeaux to Eio de Janeiro the sections of the " Conselheiro
Saldanha " and " Monsenhor Augusto." The steamers are of
forty and twentj^-horse power, and their speed will be about eight
miles an hour, upon a draught of ten inches. About the beginnmg of the next 3'ear they will begin operations upon the Eio das
Vellias.
I have abeady alluded to the horse boat, with inclined
planes working paddle-wheels, and it is to be hoped that this
improvement will soon follow the appearance of steamers.
Sr.

As

lost

early as 1865

His Excellency the Councillor Manoel Pinto

de Souza Dantas, then President of the Bahian Province, pro-

posed to place a steamer uj^on the Rio de Sao Francisco. The
little *' Dantas," ninety feet by fourteen, and of about ninetj^-four
tons, was built by Mr. Hayden at the Ponta d'Area Works, oppo-

Bio de Janeu'o. The plates and machinery had been taken
to pieces, and were sent numbered, with a model and detailed
di^awings, by land to Joazeii'o.
The road, however, was found
unfit for wheel vehicles
of 346 bullocks sixty had died in the
site

;

had been an equal loss of horses. It is
regrettable that the fine timber of the Bio de Sao Francisco had
not been preferred to iron plates, and that local jealousies, of
which I shall have more to say, had delayed the execution of a
shortest time, and there

great project.

Of

late years there

has been a re\ival of an idea

first

suggested,

by a certain Colonel Joaquim de Almeida, and
which, since 1832, had ftiUen into oblivion.
This is to erect the
valley of the Sao Francisco into the twenty-first jn'ovince of the
Empire.* The main object is to remed}^ the social, commercial,
and political evils which arise from the isolation of the settlements these are often 150 leagues distant from their provincial
capitals.
The only objection of which I am aware is the trifling
I believe, in 1825

;

increase of expenditure

;

it

would, however, soon reimburse

down, and in eight days \ip stream, with
hands for the tug and two or three for the
hoat. The expense of descending, including
commander and
engineer,
Avould
be
100|000;of ascending, 160 $000. Doubling
this sum for time lost in taking in and discharging cargo, and adding per trip 100 $000
for wear and tear of machinery, we have a
total outlay of 600 $000 for each descent,
and 9001000 for the return.
Thus the
aiToba should pay a maximum of 0$loO
five

from Sahara

to

Gnaicuhy, and

itself.

$ 225 from

(ruaicxihy to Sahara,
'
I find that most of the gentlemen of
the lower Province are disposed to sneer at
the action of the Goveniment in erecting
the Comarca of the Rio Negro into a pro\dnce ; but I think the step was a wise
one. ... If the countiy is to be improved
at all, it is to be done in this Avay" (Liei;t.
'

'

Ilemdon, 329).

THE RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO.

CHAP. XV. 1

Foreigners,

who

235

are accustomed to view the Brazil with the

most

superficial glance, have represented to me the evils of increasing
an official staff ah-eadj far too large. They seem not to be aware

that the highly constitutional government, wliich has been well

described as a republic under the disguise of an empii'e, requu-es
to be strengthened as

much

as

it

legally can be,

and that good

they are called in India) form the readiest

"appointments"
and most practical mode of strengthening it. And if the Brazil
cleave to number twenty, she may borrow from her northern sister,
the United States, an admii'able system " of territories " which
(as

are there States,

and would be here Provinces, in statu

pupillari,

educating for self-rule.

On

the Eio de Sao Francisco, where the subject of No. 21 is

perpetually ventilated, every city, town, and village

and resolved to be the capital.
the south, and to the north

remam

as they are

The

is

prepared

gTeat rivals are Januaria in

Joazeii'o

;

both would, I believe,

than accept a subordinate position.

desiderata for a chief settlement are man}'

:

The

a central site, facility

of communication with the seaboard and the interior, a healthy

chmate, and,
I

if i^ossible,

rich

Bom

would award the palm to

The
of the

and

fertile lands.

As

will be seen,

Jardim, or to Xique Xique.

new^ province or territor}- might embrace the whole vallej-

Sao Francisco Kiver.

The south would borrow largel)^ from

Minas, the Serra de Grao Mogor, Minas Novas, Montes Claros

and Formigas, on the east

;

to the west the valleys of the streams

Paracutu, das Egoas, Urucuia, Eio Pardo, and Carunhanha.

From

would take the western watersheds of the Serra das
Almas and the Chapada Diamantina, and from Pernambuco the
It would extend to
Avestern river valley north of Carunhanha.
the Piapids of Paulo Affonso, and communicate with the sea by a
railway or a tramway, and the steam navigation now upon the
Bahia

it

may

And when

population and wealth shaU increase, it
admit of further subdivision into a southern territory, with

lower river.

Januaria for capital, and a northern, in wliich Joazeko would command. Each of these would own about 500 miles of liver, and

both are more worthy of provincial honours than the unimportant
Provinces of Alagoas and Sergipe, which are crushed like dwarfs

between the two giants Pernambuco and Bahia.
The du'ect distance between Rio de Janeiro and Sahara is
'?° 12' 39'^
or 192 geographical miles, and the usual calculation for

23G

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

the length of raihvay Imes

is

276 miles.

Of

this,

portion has heen covered hj^the D. Pedro Segundo.
navigation we have

down

[chap. xv.

however, a

For^steamer

the Eio das Vellias 366 miles, and

the Pdo de Sao Francisco, from the

mouth

down

Rio das Yellias
to the Villa da Boa Vista, 792 miles, perfectly clear, save at one
From Boa Vista to the Porto das Piranhas, the railway
point.
or tramway will run for 216 miles, and from the Porto das
Pii^anhas to the mouth of the Sao Francisco, in south latitude
10° 27' 4'', and west longitude (G.) 36° 21' 4:1", there are 129 miles
of good navigation.
of the

Thus we have the segment of an immense circle, whose arc
numbers 1779 geogTaphical miles, exceeding the average breadth
of Russia.
Of these by raih'oad are only 492, the rest (1287)

bemg water communication, which

is

usually considered to be

ten times cheaper.

Communication even by steamer will not create population,
except by attracting colonists on the other hand, it will, like the
railwa}^ benefit the country b}^ collecting and centralising the now
;

scattered homesteads.

This route of nearly 1800 miles, connect-

ing the heart of the Brazil with
placing

its richest

its

head, the metropolis, and

Provinces in direct communication with the

outer world, will be the most important step yet taken.

The

opening of the Rio de Sao Francisco will not only benefit directly
the Provinces of Minas Geraes, Bahia, Pernambuco, Alagoas, and

and indirectly those of Goyaz, of Mato Grosso, of
it will contribute potently to maintain the
integrity of the Empire.
Sergipe,

Piauhy, and of Ceara

—

f

"

CHAPTER

—

XVI.

FROM GUAICUHY TO SAO ROMAO.
FiKST Travessia, 24 Leagues.''

OF THE EIVEPw, — ESTEEMA VILLAGE. — GAME. — THE OTTER. — THE
CASHEW SHOWERS.— REACH SAO ROMAO. — ITS HISTORY. GIANT FIG-TREES.
ACTUAL STATE OF THE TOWN". A GOOD TIME COMIXG.

ASPECTS

—

—

Montanhas vimos, campos mil patentes,
E huin terreno nas margens tao extensa,
Que poderd elle so neste hemisferio
Foiinar

com

tanto povo lium vasto imperio.
Cava.,

6, 27.

Lad been on the Sao Francisco my terminus ad
tlie rest of tlie voyage lying down
quern, and now it was a quo
stream.
The weather was still surly from the effects of the last
night's scold, but the air was transparent, cleaned of atoms,
spores, and molecules, whilst increased humidity, as in England,
rendered it still clearer.
The books no longer curled ^\^!th
drought, as in the Eio das Yelhas, and an increased reference to
The Vento Geral, or
the quinine bottle was judged advisable.

The

Pii-apora

—

Eastern Trade, set

in,

but we were evidently at the break of the

rainy season.

—

Wednesday, Septemher 18, 1867. Ember Day. Of com'se delays
were numerous
the new crew had to shake hands with the
villagers.
It was noon before the Eliza w^as poled off from the
bank of Guaicuhy, and tm^ned " head downwards " into the Great
;

We

on the right the Ilha do Engenho, upon wliicli
people were congregated canoes were made fast to the alluvial
Stream.!

left

;

* The

Koster

(i.

word
iv.

)

is
^\Titteu by
and translated by

Travessia
Ti'aversia,

M. Jay "Traversee."

It is

probably a

form of Travessa, a "passage." In
Spanish South America "Traversia" is

local

applied to a land stage. This Travessia, or
trip, begins normally at Pii-ap6ra, and thus

I have heard tlie
thirty leagues.
boatman, when we crossed the stream under

numbers

difficidties, call it

a

" Travessa

t " Navegar cabe§a

braba.
abaixo, " in the dia-

is opposed to " Cabe9a
acima," going up-stream,

lect of the river,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

^38

banks, rising in regular steps or grades

[chap. xvt.

this side of the island is

;

sandy, and fir-trees rise from the banks.

The

Ilha do Boi led to

the Barra do Jatoba, a stream coming from the west, and this

we

shall find to be the rule of almost all the great affluents.

Its

waters, called

'^

the}^ say, chills.

Agato

;

*

seizoentes,"

A little

*'

sesonarias,"

below

''pestiferas,"

were detached

it

rocks.,

breed,

Pedras do

these the pilots did not expect to pass, as the head

wind, especially during the afternoon, often waxes fierce there
did not offer let or hindrance.

—

it

Passing '^A Barreii'a,"t where

we saw
Canga." Beyond

there was a clearing and a few huts on the right bank,
large deposits of the iron-revetted amygdaloid

''

was the mouth of the Jequitahy]: stream, brealdng the right
bank with a gap of some 150 feet, and gracefully curving through
On the opposite side is a remarkable point, the
the low trees.
Pedras de Bura do Jequitahy, horizontal strata of stone from
which blocks and boulders have been washed into the stream.
As soon as the air became dusk we looked about for a nighting
place
here the working hours are from sunrise to sunset. Boatmen will not travel in this part l)y night even with the full moon,
they cannot see the ^' Maretta," or ripple caused by snags below
Our men preferred the exposed left bank, which supplies
surface.
wood the right affords more shelter from the east wind, and from
In the river
the storms which sweep up from that direction.
tongue, the latter is known as Banda da Bahia, the Bahian side,
These are old
the western being the Banda de Pernambuco.
names, dating from the days when the captaincy of Pernambuco
covered part of the present Minas Province.
This portion of the Sao Francisco, and, indeed, we may say
the whole course, is more civilised, tamer, and less picturesque
than the Lower Pdo das Velhas we passed hardly a league of
land without sighting huts or improvements. Making fast at
5*30 P.M. to a sandy '' praia," and climbing up the steep c\b.j
bank, we found a small tenement, surrounded b}^ a dwarf field of
manioc, poor bananas, and first-rate cotton, which seems to
flourish every^diere.
The maisonnette turned its back upon the
it

;

;

;

;

'''

Or

Agatiio, probaljly a P. N.

t M.

Halfckl calls it ''Barreiva dos
Indies," a name given to a place further

down

stream.

J Or "Gequitahy,"aconsidcral)le .stream,
120 direct miles long, heading in the western

counterslope of tlie cliaiu that discliarges
It is
eastwards into the Jeqnitinhonha.
navigable for canoes, "which ascend it three
leagues in the dries, and twenty-eight
during the rains.

—

FROM GUAICUHY TO SAO ROMAO.

CHAP. XVI.]

west, the rainy quarter, and

230

some trouble had been taken

to build

There was a kihi constructed in the river bank, a circle four
feet in diameter by two deep, a clay floor pierced with holes,
separatmg the fii'e below from the material to be fired the latter
operation ajDpears very insufficiently effected both in pots and tiles.
The Western Valley is bounded at a distance of about five miles
by the Serra do Itacolumi the mists, however, robbed us of the
view.
On the opposite side was the Povoado do Ollio d'Agua, a
few thatched sheds, buried in orange trees and Jab otic abeiras.
To-day the stream has averaged some 1200 feet in breadth, and
The banks to which the
in places has widened to 1600 yards.
flood swings are eaten below, and rise perpendicularly, whilst the
The height varies from
opposite side assumes the natm-al angle.

it.

:

;

25 to 36

feet

;

the material

supporting hard

with

The

silt.

^'

a base of white or reddish sand,

is

taua," and the surface

suppl}' of

wood

is

humus, mixed

rich

will last for j-ears,

but the vegeta=

tion is miinteresting after the magnificent avenues of the

Velhas.

The

surface is

composed of

swells

Eio das

and waves of ground,

whose hollows are Alagadi9os, or stagnant waters. Now, also,
begins the Ypoeira, which partly corresponds ^^itli the Igarape,*
or canoe path of the Amazons and the Lower Sao Francisco.
When the bayou is considerable, it retains its water through the
3^ear, and is drained to the level of the dries by a Sangradouro*
These little creeks carry a quantity of sand; they are mostly
disposed perpendicularl}- to the stream, and they assist in unwatering the waves of gromid which are not reached by the inundations.
In many places there are lumpy hills, forested or cleared,
and on both sides the divides of the riverine valley are well
marked vdih. heights which will disappear a few leagues down
in

stream.
.

September

men

—We

19.^

an unusually early

eftected

are paid " by the job."

The

right

start,

but our

bank showed a mass of

building material, argillaceous schistose sandstone in horizontal

* Igarape is

cleriyecl

from

yg,

water

a canoe), and ipe, where
(it goes).
Of the Ypoeira feature I shall
have more to say further do"^-n stream,
Avhen it becomes important.
It is what
Lieut, Herndon calls Cauo on the Upper
Amazon, a natural arm of the main river,
opposed to the " Furo " (small mouth) and
the "furado," an artificial (but sometimes

jara,

lord

(i.e.

a Natiire-iiiade)

That traveller

cutting,

" Igarape

also remark^;,

for a creek or ditch,

the Indian

is

which

is

back water from the river
term raranamiri(m) literally,
'

—

'

—

is

it."

;

and

with
tlie

little river

arm of the main
main bank and

applied to a narroAv

river running between tlie

an island near to

name

filled

§

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

240

[chap. xvi.

on the other side was ''As Lages," a clearing with
bananas and oranges. Presently rose before us the Morro da
Estrema, a terrapin-shaped buttress, disposed perpendicular to
the stream, high above the floods, well wooded, and with good
improvements below. The little village of the same name was at
the bottom of a sack, formed by the river sweeping to a projection of the opposite left bank.
It is built upon an inner ledge of
rising ground, and a few poor tiled huts clustered about the little
church, N^ S''* do Carmo.
At noon we halted for rest on the Pernam side, below the
slabs;

hamlet known as Serra da Povoacao.*

The

hills of that

name

form a meridional line of scattered lumps running ]3arallel with,
and rarely three miles distant from, the stream. At the Serra or
Serrote do Pe de Morro, they impinge upon the banks the little
crescent is called b}^ the people Serra do Salitre, as it contains a
saltpetre cave, and they declare it to be a north-eastern branch of
Opposite it the Barra do
the great Mata da Cordaf range.
Pacuhyl forms the usual Cor 6a; a little below, on the left, we
were shown a sand-bar, where a pleasure party of seven had come
They were returning from a
to grief some eight years ago.
;

Estrema, a little place of great debauchery; the " dugout " struck a snag, and all w^re drowned.
Passing the Pviacho da Fome, an ill-omened name now not
uncommon, we anchored before sundown at the mouth of a San-

festival at

gradouro, called the Cachoeirinha, from an adjoining village.

The

clay wall of the river is here

the streamlet draining a bayou

Mandim

fish

is

some thirty-two

feet high,

about a mile in length.

had awaked, and grunted

like a gurnard,

and

The

and his

hunger in the afternoon suggested to the pilots that he foresaw
Presently a cold east wind arose, the clouds gathered in
rain.
heaps, and the horizon gleamed lurid with the reflection of field
mistaken for electrical ''weather lights."
fires, easily to be
During the early night there were raw and violent gusts, and
they presently induced a downfall whose steadiness j)romised persistency.
* Serrote da Povoa9ao (M. Halfeld).
Forest of the Cord, so called from its

t

narrow line.
X This stream runs almost parallel ^\•itll
the Jequitahy, and drains the Montes

long,

Claros de Formigas.
It has no mines, but
the lands are good for pasture and agriculture.

Tlic Pacu, according to Castelnatl, is tte
genus Characiniis of Artedi, and sub-genus
The carp-like body
Curimata of Cuvier.
averages two to tlu-ee palms in length, and
the Pacu veris considered good eating
melho licing held to be the best,
§ There is a Cachoeira hamlet on the
right or opposite bank.
;

FEOM GUAICUHY TO SAO

CHAP. XVI.]

flOMAO.

241

This day showed us a more than usual quantity of animal life.
A Jacare (cajanan) stared at us from the bank, Avitli the short
round muzzle ]3rotruded in cmiosity, and another lay dead upon
the stones. Jacus (Penelopes) chattered on the tree-tops, and
afforded fine practice, but the bush

men

although we worked like

was too thick

A

for the pot.

for bagging,

large otter plunged

close to us, and at times we heard their whistling cries, which the

compared with the quarrelling and scolding of old fishwives,
and the frequent ejaculation of '' diabo." There are two kinds,
the Lontra, or common species (Lutra brasiliensis), and the
Lontra grande, also known by its Tupy name, Ai'iranha. This

pilots

animal

said to attain a length of six feet

is

brown than

in the smaller variety,

may have

This species

neck.

water fauy

making

its

it

;

bites terribh',

board, and

if

it is

it

given rise to the

Mae

and dogs fear to attack

a lighter

The

otter has

it

d'Agua, or

when

it is

an extensive

frequent upon the streams of the sea-

the ^'main d'oeuvre " were cheaper, its skins should

reach the markets of Europe.
destroy

is

and a white rmg encncles the

escape over the rocks.

range in the Brazil,

the colour

;

because

it

is

The people

so injurious to fish.

of the

Sao Francisco

It lives in families,

tunnels into the river bank, and drives a breathing shaft (suspu'o)
to the surface.
The hunter stops both holes for a time, and then

opens the entrance, the inmates rush out to take the au', and then
they are killed ad libitum.
Often, also, they are shot in the
rivulets,

The

and

theii'

bodies are found floating after some hours.

skins are of a comparatively high price, I bought none under

2 $000.

—Ember Day again.

In the morning the men
looked like turkey buzzards during a heavy shower they were so
benumbed that we had some difficulty in avoiding the snags and
After two homes'
a dangerous sunken rock, said to be of silex.*
Sejjtemher 20.

:

bank the Paracatu de Seis dedos,
which M. Gerber has located on the right. The pilots praised
it for good water (rio bonito), but none could explain how it
came to have six fingers. Near its mouth was a hamlet and
clearing on the finely -wooded banks, and the creaking of the
water-wheel spoke of molasses and rum.
One league below that point we halted for breakfast on the left

work we passed on the

* The
vo.l..

II.

ijilots

called

it

left

Pedra de fogo

(of fire), or

de Espingarda

(of tlie gun),

R

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

242

[chap. xvi.

jaw showed a point
or shoal which drove it to the other side, the centre was garnished
with dangerous chevaux de frise of embedded timber, and the
course, bending like a Turkish scimitar, was painted with the

bank of

red

Its dexter

great Paracatu River.*

tlie

Pau Jahu.

The

sides, despite their height, are flooded in the

wet season, and the sandy ground, mixed with humus and clay,
slopes to bottoms where the trees show a water-mark of eight feet.
There was little undergrowth, and the surface was strewed with
dead leaves it was cut in all directions by tracks and paths the
;

:

cattle fled

from

us,

and

the ticks soon caused us to beat a retreat.

Yesterday we had seen but a single bark creeping up the right
bank.
To-day we find two ajojos anchored at the mouth of the
The owner, a stout, healthy man, whose appearance
Paracatu.
spoke well for the chmate, was taking provisions to CajDao
Redondo, a '^ Garimpo," or small diamond- digging up-stream.

In former days hundreds of arrobas of gold were sent from this
valley
he declared the bank-diggings to be now exhausted, but
M. Halfeld tells us that in his day the
the bed to be still rich.
active and energetic riverines supplied flesh and cereals to the Lower
8ao Francisco, even as far as Joazeiro, distant nearly 700 miles.
Our informant stated that the staple industr}^ of the land was
stock-breeding, although agriculture still thrives, and the fine
;

Macape

soil

will

produce

any

quantity of

fruits,

especially

mangos. He ended by predicting that we should not reach
Sao Romiio that night, as he himself would probably not have

Of course we resolved to give him a practical dementi,
and we now thought little of discouraging reports which had
done.

begun

at

Rio de Janeiro, and which

After receiving this

widens and shallows.
a remarkable bluff,

*'

end there.

formidable tributary," the Sao Francisco

At 11

we passed on the left hand side
the Ribeira da Martmha, f which drives the

course nearly due east.

a.m.

Before reaching

* Dr. Couto and other old writers prefer
Piracatu (pja-a-catu), or good fish river,
opposed to Parahyba (Pira-ayba), the bad
This imiportant stream drains
fish river.
2° 30' of latitude by 3° of longitude.
Its

northern branch, the Rio Preto, breaks
most of the great western influents.
through the frontier chain of Goyaz, the
Scrra do Tauatinga, which sets oflf the great
noi'thern versant, the Serra dos Pyrenees.
The mouth is about 1500 palms wide, the
like

will

it

the land was low and

normal breadth of the stream is 600 feet
twenty-eight falls and rajjids encumber the
bed, and it is navigable, after a fashion,
nearlv 260 miles, to the Porto do Buriti.
f Or Kibanceira (blufif) da Martinha
(P. N. of a Moradora, the proprietrix).
The up-stream end is the Barreira da
the centre, Ribanceira
Martinha proper
de Amancio Josd ; and the eastern, or
down-stream, Ribanceira da Martinha.
;

FROM GUAICUHY TO SAO EOMAO.

CHAP, xvr.]

243

thickly-wooded like an old river bed, possibly that of the Paracatu.*
The Barreira is the butt-end of a ridge cut off by the

stream

the material

:

and brow^i,

is

compact

many colours, white
with thin humus it stands

argile

pmk

uj) stiffly to

and yellow, surfaced
a height of some eighty

of

;

feet,

and

at the

base

it

has

After a total length of some 440 yards
thms out into '' Canga," and terminates in woodland. Below
it the bank became sandy, and showed the usual huts and improvements which argue the approach to a place of some importance.
Beyond this Barreira the river is a mass of shoals, sand-banks,
and sand-bars, whilst the stream varies from 0'87 to 1*28 miles
The '^ remanso," or sluggish cm-rent, is dreaded by
per hour.
fallen into the usual slo23e.

it

barquemen, and usually the General Trade forms a troublesome
head wind. For some hom's the low dark clouds, dissolved by
the cold breath of the north, which in this section promises a
continuance of wet weather, f had indulged us "^ith a slow, steady
rainfall
it began at 10 a.m., and lasted, ^\T.tli rare intervals, till
4 P.M. An ajojo is certainly not a pleasant place dming the
''Cashew Showers :" on the other hand the heavy discharge from
above silenced the gale.
At I'lo P.M. we grounded in the narrow channel of hard gravel
between the left bank and the Ilha do Jatoba the men were
:

:

obliged to take foot,;

i.e.,

tumble

to

in,

and to shove us

off.

Here the

total

Jatoba

the normal type, an elongated lozenge with the side

width of the river, including the island, is some
1600 fathoms, and wonderful to relate, M. Halfeld proposes to
block up the western channel ^ith " stakes and fascines."
The
is

angles shaved

off,

where the bank
stream there

and outlines of sand in
is

highest.

At

this

all

season

du'ections, except
it

is

double

:

up-

a small, well- wooded clay formation,

which a long
sand-bank connects with a similar and larger feature to the
north-east, and the latter boasts of a few inhabitants.
Further
''
down there is a Pedra Preta," black blocks and green Ai'inda
is

flat

shrubs, as on the

Lower Rio das Yelhas, which drives the stream
The next turn is to the

almost at a right angle to the west.
* The pilots denied this, but their reason
was that they had never seen the stream
liere.

the Cashew nut), a term evidently derived
from the Indians. They declare that the
wet season does not begin till K'ovember
;

t The cause is the cold wind setting in
after a few days of hot sun and still, damp
The people call these showers, which
air.
are normal in August, Chuvas de Caju (of

biit

this year they are manifestly out of

their reckoning.

J Tomar

p^,

to

find

deep

water

wading,

R 2

by

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

244

north, and presentl}^ after tliirty-six miles

[chap. xvi.

we reached our

desti-

nation for the night.

Sao Romao, or to give it the name in full, " Villa Risonha de
Santo Antonio da Manga e de Sao Romao," (the riant (?) town of
St. Anthony of the Cattle-ford, and of Saint Romanus)
takes its
nom de baj^teme from the holy martja', St. Romanus, who presides over the 9th of August, and who is, I believe, generally
ignored by the English faithful.
Two Paulista explorers, the
cousins Mathias Cardoso and Manoel Francisco de Toledo,
having killed an Guvidor-judge, fled with their families and
slaves to the Sertao do Sao Francisco.
The date of their
journey is not positive^ known, but it is supposed to have been
between 1698 and 1707. They were driven upon the islet opposite the town, and having beaten off the Indians they settled here
for a time, and then resumed their voyage, finally estabhshing
themselves at Morrinhos and Salgado.
Between 1712-13 the
Bishop of Pernambuco, hearing that the Indians were of peculiar
savagery, sent the Padre Antonio Mendes to catechize them.
Before 1720 S. Romao was a Julgado belonging to the Comarca
of Sahara.
The district was presently subjected to the arrondissement of Paracatu, a city then newly settled, and distant 200
miles
only.
On August 16, 1804, the Bishop D. Jose Joaquim
da Cunha sent its first parish-priest (parocho), the Rev. FeHcianno Jose de Oliveira. A chapel was dedicated to Santa Anna
and Sao Luis at a place above the confluence of the Japore with
the Sao Francisco
this was removed to S. Romao on his own
day and the invocation became Santo Antonio. The settlers
throve
Sao Romao, in 1804 a freguezia, rose in 1831 to the
honours of townshij).

—

—

;

;

I shall describe at
for

what

it is,

but for

some length this God-forgotten place, not
what it will be. Many travellers have men-

and most of those who have visited it left with the
worst impressions. The last was a naturalist sent down the
river by Professor Agassiz
he got into trouble by carrying
weapons.
There is absolutely no reason why the settlement
should be so miserable, the people so barbarous. A good building-site is close at hand, the surrounding country is admirably
tioned

it,*

;

St.

n'avoir

and he

(I.
ii.
428) regi'etted " de
visiter la Justice de S. Rumao ; "
defines the symbol of a " justice "

Hil.

pu

as

The

"le poteaii surmonte d'une sphere."
Monsenhor Pizarro had previously

given a detailed account of

it.

;

FROM GUAICUHY TO SAO

CHAP. XVI.]

RO:\rAO.

245

and the town is well placed for the carrjing
trade.
The da}- I hope is not distant when some wayfarer shall
pass through Sao Romao and find my description of the Sao
fitted for agriculture,

Romanenses utterly obsolete.
Xear the town the stream, nearly 1300 yards broad, runs to
the north, and hugs the left bank it is broken by the island of
Sao Romao, about four miles long by 400 paces broad, densely
wooded, uninhabited, and still private property. At the ''port"
one canoe was drawn up, and about half a dozen were in the
;

water

;

the only " ship-yard "

to the side

was

a fine

barca

is

on the top of the bank.

flj^ing

the Imperial

Staked

The

flag.

crew,

including the pilot, numbered seven, and the tonnage was 4000 to

5000 ''Rapadm-as,"— 20,000 to 25,000 pounds.
We swarmed up the steep bank, some thii'ty feet high and buttery with rain
the lower part was yellow cla}^ much mixed with
silt and sand above.
On the summit appeared a remarkable
feature, a line of six enormous Gamelleii'a figs,* like those described upon the Tocantins River.
At the point where the
stream deflects a little to the east, a decayed stump shows that
there was a seventh, and two of the giants are likely soon to be
washed awa3\ The paii' to the south raise their majestic crowns
of stiff and burnished ovoid leaves, and overhang the stream with
an admirable umbrella of verdure. The trunks, instead of being
as usual, low, thick columns, are bundles of compacted trees,
five or six feet high, and of the horizontally projected branches,
one, not the smallest, measured 100 feet.
The birds had settled
in colonies amongst the boughs, and but few epiphytes had
;

sprung from the bark.

In one of the two wliich front the
landing-place time had dug a chamber iised as a dwelling-place
the idea must have originated in Central Africa, where the
bulbous Calabash acts alternately home and water-cistern.
Immediately beyond this ridge with its colossal growth, the
land droops towards a bottom flooded during the rains, and
it must be a hot-bed of miasma during
thinly covered with bush
the retreat of the waters, and the sun must raise it well to the
'

;

* The

term the Gamelleira
chiefly from the
coloiu- of the bark.
Koster (ii. 11) makes
the latter useless, and the former distil,
after incision, a gummy juice, which is
taken internally for drojjsy and cutaneous
Brazilians

either Preta or Branca,

diseases.

According to the System,

the

acrid milk of the white fig Figueira branca,
or Ficus doliaria) is an anthelmintic, but it
adds that many other figs have the same
(

properties,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

246

The swamp

level of the local face.

is

[chap. xvi.

subtendecl by a rise cor-

responding with the lay of the ridge running parallel with tlie
stream, and facing the east.
Here is the Kua do Alecrim, consisting of a dismantled

hut on one

tenements, of which one, by affecting
story, ambitionizes

the

of

title

''

by seven poor
a square box as an upper

side, faced

Beyond

Sobradinho."

thoroughfare of flowery name, and lying side by side with
the

Eua do Fogo,

a higher and drier

site.

this

it,

was

Here we comited

and mud
the
and wicker-work walls,* slightly washed with Tauatinga
large compounds are either railed or enclosed with j^ise, coped
with thatch.
The most pretentious show attempts at ornamentation, white scrolls of plaster on azure ground, doors striped
with blue, and windows with small lattices instead of the shutter
or the cotton cloth.
Amongst them were three Vendas, the
main of whose occupation is to sell spirits and the blacksmith
in his leathern apron, suggested the village Vulcan of Negroland.
The wealthier houses had wooden stej^s leading to the raised
floors, the poorer logs of wood above the level of the puddly
thoroughfare, by courtesy called a street.
To the south some of
the tenements were propped up with stays and others were in
ruins not a few had a closed room attached to the unwalled
tile-roof which the Tupys called Copiar or Gupiara, and sometimes Agua furtada. In this place the traveller is allowed to
swing his hammock and to cook his meals.
Going northwards we passed the Quartel, or barracks, hung
inside with carbines, and tenanted by eight soldiers, who on paper
appear as a battalion. These black-brown men in Kepis and holland blouses looked somewhat more surly, as in duty bound, than
fift^^-four

tenements, mostly with roofs of coarse

tiles

;

;

;

the rest of the citizens

;

they eyed our patent leather waist belts

curiously, but they did not interfere with us.

was the Lago da Cadea, a

Beyond the Quartel

and an open scantling,
suggestively representing the future prison.
Joao de Barro had
derisively built his domicile upon the cross beams, and upon not
a few of the wooden crosses profusely scattered about the settletiled roof

ment.

Beyond the northern end

of the

Rua do Fogo, and surromided

by bush, was the old Rosario Church,
Tlie citizens declare that tliey liave

definitively

broken down.

no stone, wlicn the viver bed

is

a quarry.

FROM GUAICUHY TO SAO ROMAO,

CHAP. XVI.]

247

Turning to the left we ascended the Eua Direita, an embiyo
thoroughfare which numbers twelve houses, including a farrier's.
It rises gently from the river to a cemetery, denoted by a cross,
from which half the instruments of the Passion had been
This village of the dead was fronted by a support of
abstracted.
the surface
rough stones, while the rest was wholly unwalled
was cumbered with timber, and littered with graves which lacked
monuments. In the centre of High Street was the square of the
new Rosario, a w^hite -washed temple wdth three shutters, a very
model of meanness.
;

To

the w^est of this Rosario

aristocratic

numbering

quarter,

is

the

thii'ty

Rua da Boa Vista, the
houses
it commands a
;

islet, the reaches above and below,
on the Bahian or Eastern side. I sent in a
card to the Delegate, Sr. Joao Carlos Oliveii'a e Sa.
He had
probably never seen that civilised instrument, for he left us in the
rain till a friend beckoned to us fi'om the window to come in, and
after eyeing the pasteboard much as a crow inspects a dubious
marrow-bone, he returned it to me with a little weary sigh.
Unwilling to acce^^t defeat, I produced my Portaria or Imperial
passport he glanced over it and restored it in dead silence. My
desii'e for information was lil^el}' to catch cold, when fortunately
a decently dressed man walked in, and did not prove so chillingly
micommunicative. I told my tale all down the river, where men
agreed in giving a good name to the Delegate it is therefore onl}^
fair to suppose that he was exceptionally suffering under the
influences of Sao Romao.
Resuming our walk after this episode, to the south of the Boa
it
Vista we foimd a second church, the N'* S"" da Abbadia
boasted of the usual white-washed and two-window^ed face, wearing

pretty view of the stream, the

and the low blue

hills

:

;

;

a mutilated, noseless look.

To

the w^est or inland of this line

whose enclosures are hedged with the
the highest and healthiest ground, w^here

are a few straggling huts,

organ cactus. Here is
the villa should be built; unfortunately
business

quarter, the river

African

" convict stations,"

side.

men

it

is

too far fi'om the

Therefore, as in our
will

not move

;

West

they would

walk into their Avindows. At times exIn 1838 the water
ceptional inundations put them all to flight.
rose in places five feet above the floors, and in 1813 the lowest

rather

street

see

the

was nine

floods

feet

under

w^ater.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

248

The

[chap. xvi.

town show the excellence of the
soil.
The Almecega or Mastich grows to the largest size. Nowhere in the Brazil have I seen finer tamarinds, the natural
corrective of hver complaints.
The Imbuzeiro (Spondias
tuberosa) is a magnificent rounded gro^vth
the juice of this
myrobalan, tempered with milk and sugar, makes the favourite
"imbusada" of Pernambuco and Bahia. There is an abundance
of fruit, limes and oranges, papaws and bananas.
In the higher
levels, where the thorny mimosa and acacia flourish, cotton grows
taller than the houses, and in the lower parts sugar-cane flourishes.
Behind and above the town the vegetation is that of the canipo,
excellent for cattle-breeding.
In the streets w^e saw^ a few small
horses, the goats and poultry were tolerable, the pigs and sheep
much wanted breeding. An idea of the popular apathy may be
formed from the fact that whilst the river flowing before theii*
trees scattered about the

;

doors produces the best of fish, and while salt may be brought
from a few leagues, if indeed it cannot be washed from the ground,
the to^vnspeople eat the hard, dry, and graveolent "bacalhao," or
codfish, brought in driblets from Newfoundland.
In 1822 Pizarro gave to S. Romao 200 houses and 1300 souls.
Gardner, in 1840, reduced the number to ''not above 1000
inhabitants." M. Halfeld (Belatorio, pp. 27—28) numbers 220
houses and 800 souls.
The Almanak (1864) assigns to the
municipality 8676 inhabitants, 723 voters, and 17 electors.
According to my informants, in 1867 the houses, or rather

amounted

hovels,

to 200,

and the tenants

wrote,* the ''village of S.
carrying trade of salt between the
Hilaii-e

to 450.

When

Saint

Rumao "

monopolised the
Santa Lusia of
and
river
Goyaz it also exported a considerable number of hides.
In
those days it had its "richards," Major Theophilo de Salles
Peixoto, the late Lieutenant- Colonel Ernesto NataUsta Amaral de
Castro, the Capitao Jose Jacob da Silva Silveira, and others.
A rehc of the good times is the vicar, Padre Antonio Ferreira de
Caires hearing that he was a " curioso," t rich in local information, I called upon him
unfortunately he was at his Fazenda,
and the Sacristan assured me that there was no such thing as
:

:

;

a Livro do

+
mot

Tombo,

or parish register.

216 and 359.

III.

i.

St.

Hil.

(III.

104) remarks, ''le
curioso repond dans notre langue, a
celui d'amateur
mais il a un sens moins
;

i.

liiuite."

In the Brazil,

an amateur, and curioso
non-i)rofessional expert,

"

afficciouado " is

also includes the

CHAP. XVI.]

FROM GUAICUHY TO SAO KOMAO.

About ten years ago the diamond- diggings

249

at Santafe *

and on

the Paracatu Eiver have caused a small exodus, hence partly the
falling off of the census, and the exceptional nimiber of old men,
women and children. The fevers have greatly increased; we
could read ague legibly wi'itten in the yellow skins, emaciated
frames, and Hstless countenances of the people

dming

the retreat of the waters between

fomentors are, as usual, poor

diet, excess in

who

suffer terribly

May and

July.

The

drink and debauchery,

not of person, but of habitation. In
this point they seem to have borrowed from the indigenes of the
land, who bathed several times dm-mg the day, but allowed them-

late

hom's and extreme

filth,

selves to be Uttered out of theii' ''carbets" (wigwams)

tainous collections of

by moun-

offal.

The Sao Eomanenses

did not affect

me

pleasantly.

I did not

amongst them; they were a "regular
ranch" of bodes t andcabras,| caboclos and negros. The lower
orders if there be any in this land of perfect equality, practical
as well as theoretical
were in rags the wealthier were dressed
in Em'opean style, ''boiled" shirts and velvet waistcoats, but
theii' lank hau' and flat faces recalled the original ''Indian."
They are devout, as the wooden crosses of squared scantling
affixed to the walls show
scant of civility, they have barely
energy enough to gather in groui)s at the doors and windows, the
see

a single white skin

—

—

;

:

men to j^rospect, the women to giggle at the i)assing stranger.
Some of the older blacks plied the primitive spinning wheel, but
the

hammock,

despite the raw chilly weather, was in

more general

requisition.

Sao Romao, I have said, is well situated for trade. A good
road, some sixty leagues long, rmis up the valley of the Rio Preto,
the northern branch of the Paracatu. A little bevond the settle* This place was described to me as a
village, with the nidiments of a
chvu-ch in the municipality of S. Romao.
+ In the Brazil, " bode," or he-goat, is a
slang term for a mulatto.
X St. Hil. (III. ii. 272) makes the
Cabra (she-goat) a mixed breed between
the Red ]\Ian and the ?»Iulatto, and sjTionymous with the Pemvian "Chino." Here
it is applied as a general term to those who
addressed to
are neither black nor white
a man, it is grossly insulting, but I have
heai'd a boatman facetiously apply it to

little

;

himself.

The wild meu,

I

have

said,

gave the

name macaco da terra ("country monkeys")
Yet travellers have stated
to the African.
that they were fond of si;ch monkey's
meat, and all agree that their Avomen had

" un gout tres-vif pour les negnres. " Some
have advised, by way of saving the "Red
Man," to mix his blood with the black,
There
This is indeed unanthropological.
is no need to preserve a savage and inferior
race, when its lands are wanted by a higher
development and, in this case, the artificial would be worse than either of the
;

natural races.

,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

250

[chap. xyi.

ment, called Os Arrepenclidos, it crosses the Serra of Goyaz,
which here offers no difficulties. Thence it bends north to the
old Villa dos Couros, now Villa Formosa da Imperatriz.
Here

communication with the great Tocantins tributary of the
Amazons, via the Eio das Almas, the Corumba,* and the Eio
Paranan, which bears canoes.
there

is

At night-fall we returned to the Brig Eliza, lighted the fire,
drew down the awning, and kept out as much of the drifting rain
and cold shifting wind as possible. It was not easy to sleep for
the Babel of sounds
here the dark hours are apparently the
:

time

When man must

drink and

The Samba and Pagode seemed

woman must

to rage

scold.

in concert

with the

and the harsh voices
screaming a truly African chaunt, suggested an orgie at Unyanguruw^w^e.
Evidently much reform is here wanted, and it will
come in the form of a steamer.
elements,

the twanging of instruments

* Men of information at Jauuaria, as
well as Sao Romao, mentioned tlie Corumba stream and village. I hope that they
have not confoimded it with another CoiTimba, the great northern influent of the
Southern
Parnahyba,
or
Pai-anahyba.
Usually, traders embark at the Villa das
Flores, or the Paranan, or Parana (St. Hil.
Parannan), the eastern head Avater of the
Tocantins.
Castelnau (ii. 106) declares,

'

Le Parana pent etre descendu en canot
jusqu'au Para." My informants described
the river as very "bravo" above S. Joao
da Palma, at the junction of the Araguaya,
or great western fork, and some have spent
six months in ascending it.
Hence they
say goods worth 0$700 at Para on the seaboard, sell at the Villa das Flores for
5 $000, and a bottle of wine bought for
01500 fetches 4 $000.
'

—

;

CHAPTER XVIL
FROM SAO ROjMAO TO JANUARIA.
Second Travessia, 26^ Leagues.

—

—
—
—

the village as pedras
steam-boat islands.
the uracttia rivee.
dos angicos. quixaba-tree3. the rio paedo. approach to the
city of jaxuaria. ^^^egetatiox at village of n-*- s^ da conceigao
reach the porto do brejo do
das pedras de maria da cruz.
salgado. the present city of januaria. its history and present
state danger of being swept away. reception. petty larceny.
civility of sr. manoel caetano de souza silva. the pequizeiro.
missionaries and missioners. walk to the brejo do salgado. its
actual state. romantic legend of the people's descent.

—

—

—

—

:

—

—

—

De

Scto

—

—

—

—

—

outro se ensTossa
Francisco, com que o mar se adoca.
Caraimirn.

Satnnlay, Septemher 21, 1867.

islets.

ceaseless drencliing rain

manner of torpid hyhernating state. After
under difficulties we threaded the long line of shoals and
In some places as many as six sand-bars v\^ere in sight

reduced the
a start

men

— The

to a

were of finely sifted material without the gravel of the Coroas
in the Rio das Yelhas.
Passing the Roca do Porto Alegre and
all

we came to the first of many features Avhich
we reach Remanso. It is a long, narrow bank of

other clearmgs*

will

last till

stiff

and shaped like a river steamer in the
United States
places bushes formed the x^aflt'-le-hoxes, and
strata the lines of cauUdng.
We called them Steamboat Islands.
The vegetation was generally of yeUow-green, showing want of
sand, sharp fore and
;

aft,

m

humus.
A head wind, driving misty blue clouds, drove us

fat

* ]\I. Halfekl calls this pretty spot
''Povaodo," or Village do Poilo Alegre.
His villages are mostly tenned by the pilots

"fazendas"

here,

meaning

vated by a number of

tracts

settlers.

cidti-

The next

to the right

Barra do Braudao, a long, lovvThe bank also shows
improvement, bnt it must be extensively
innn dated,

M-as the

clearing ou the right.

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

252

bank.

[chap. xvii.

mercuiy showed 71° F., but we trembled with cold
such is the effect of air in motion, which seems to desjnse a sun
nearly overhead.
Furhng the awning we made a good "lick" to
the entrance of the great Uracuia stream. *
The right bank was
wooded with a truly magnificent vegetation it showed for the
first time the Carahyba de flor roxa, a tall tree with lilac-coloured
blossoms, which will presently become common, and here we
Tlie

;

observed that every great western influent brings down with its
waters a new growth.
The mouth of the Uracuia is about 315
feet broad, and behind tlie woodland the low banlc of yellow clay
bears only thicket.

A white-washed house,

now

a novelty, appeared on the

Bahian

side, and presently we took the left of the "Illia do Afunda,"
which is interpreted to mean that the water is deep its material
is a pure yellow and easily melted sand.
The upper part of the
islet is well clad with various growths.
We then ran in mid
stream past the second Afunda, f and, after eleven hours of hard
and comfortless, dull and eventless work, we came to anchor at a
praia on the left bank.
;

blew

itself

—

The north wind which had raged all night
out about dawn, and we set out with alacrity.
The

Septemher 22.

banks were dead

and
tree-cotton, but generally showing second growth where magnificent forests had been.
Passing on the left the little Acary
tributary, I we found another high white bluff' about a mile long.
flats,

in places splendid with tall sugar-cane

Also written Aracuia, wliicli means,
say the peoi^le,
"fartura," or plenty,
allnding to the fertility of its upper banks.
It drains the southern slopes of the Chapadao (big plateau) do Uracuia, and is
divided from the Paracatu Valley by the
Serra do Rio Preto.
Its area of drainage
is

latitudinally

1

30

2°,
and longitudinally,
The stream, though broken by
many rapids, is navigable for rafts and
canoes as far as Campo Grande, 102 miles
from the mouth.
.

Lama, and A. de Espinho.
It is the
Juacana which Marcgref saw at Pernambuco and the Cachimbo, or Cachimbao, of
Ilheos.
A species is probably the Acara
bandeira (IMesonanta insignis, Gunther) of
which Mr. Bates (ii. 140) gives an illustration.
It grunts like the Mandim, and
the pilots say that when eating the mud
and weeds from the canoe-bottom it rubs
its bluff head against the wood, and produces the peculiar sound.
They declare
that it lives in holes along the banks
;

t

]\I.

hibas,

Halfeld calls this Ilha das Caraand elsewhere sijells the word

Caraibas.
is

+ According to the pilots, the true Acary
further down-stream.

The name of this fish (a loricaria of many
species) is also Avi-itten Acari and Acarehy.
The Tupy name was Acara, with the
mmations,

ter-

-apua,
-assu,
-tinga,
and
-peixuna.
In this river we find the A.
de Pedra, A. do Casca (or Casci-do), A. de

many deem

poisonous, and

generally
thrown away on account of the trouble of
Both the black and the white
cooking it.
kinds have hard, spiny skins, with longitudinal lines of points, highly dangerous
dorsal fins, and hooks above the caudal
it

it is

Another well-known loricated and
''grunting" fish is the "Cascudo," which
The
abounds in the rivers of the interior.
people praise it, but I found the white

fins.

meat

soft, tasteless,

and

full of thorns.

;

FROM SAO ROMAO TO JANUARIA.

CHAP. XVII.]

253

and divided into two sections, the Barreira do Indio (do Honorio,
M. Halfeld), and the Barreii'a Alta. Here we remarked the
abundance of the Angico Preto acacia, on this part of the stream
an ugly tufted tree its timber
given to consumptive patients

is

;

;

gum

too dry for use, but the

is

the bark abounds in tannin, and

the ashes in potash.

About noon, entering

S. Lat. 16^,

we came

to a

new

featui'e,

"as Pedras" (dos Angicos), and we landed on the right bank to
Here a wall some forty-two feet i^rojects from a
insj)ect it.
fronts
to west and drives the river to the north-west
shallow sag,
it runs nearly a mile down-stream, and is found in a hollow, to
the north-east of the httle village.

The outcrop

base of a bulge of ground observed on the east.

is

evidently the

The

floor

near

a hard bluish limestone, effervescing kindly under

the water was

was a stratum of laminated, friable clayshale, capped by a bluer calcaire, with dislocations, broken blocks
and horizontal bands, varying in thickness from three inches
Water drops appeared upon the
to three and a half feet.
exposed slabs on the summit, which is always six feet above
water, and it was revetted in parts with iron cla}^, whilst to one
block is attached a small portion of quartz conglomerate.
This
is one of the many places which will supply admirable hydi'aulic
muriatic acid

;

above

it

cement.

The bank and
trees,

the village showed a scatter of noble Quixabeira
huge bouquets of verdure, whose aromatic flowers and

2)erfumed shade attracted hosts of bees.*

The

little

chapel of

Sao Jose, the brago of the place, is about nine feet above the
AValking up the
floods, and yet boasts of a stone foundation.
sandy street, perpendicular to the stream and sliowmg traces of
pavement and bottom, we found the usual hollow parallel with
the ridge and periodically under water.
In the loose free soil,
cotton, essentially a sun-plant, grows neglected, fifteen feet high,

and the castor shrub twenty. In ''AVater-Street," whose houses
and ranches were superior to those of Sao Romao, appeared three
Yendas, with men sitting outside the counters, or using them as
card-tables.
Two shoe-makers and a dry-goods store seemed
* Also written Quicliabeira, one of
Sapotaceffi, a tree

which covers large

tlie

tracts

on the Rio de Sao Francisco, above and
below the Great Rapids.
It resembles the
Zizyphns, produces an edible berry, and

The
a fine shelter for cattle.
mentions the Quijaba and the
Catinga branca (here called Catinga do

affords

Sj^stem

Porco), as legnminosre

num.

abundant

in stryph-

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL,

254

to be doing a thriving business.

canoes selling fine water-melons.

[chap. xvii.

South of the village were three
Under an old angico hung with

dark moss stood the frame-work of a barca, very solidly built of
On the northern waterside washerwomen were plj^ing
cedar.*
their trade, whilst their bantlings

swam

about, or plaj^ed on carts

with wheels of one piece some eighteen inches high.

Horses and
mules were restmg after being ferried across the river, and a
This at once
little caravan appeared upon the opposite bank.
explained the prosperity and the civility of the place. The Delegado had at once sent to procure lodgings for us. It communicates with the Acary Pdver, where, at the distance of ten
Sao Jose das
leagues from the mouth, are diamond diggings.
Pedras dos Angicos now numbers ninety-five houses and a popuwe left it convinced that it has good things
lation of 500 souls
;

in store for

it.

Resuming our way

in an exceedingly hot sun,

we presently

passed on the left
t which breaks its way
through a sandy Coroa. Below the mouth are three '' steamboat
islets" of the same name, and the Ilha do Barro Alto, a wooded
holm. Then came the mouth of the Pdo Pardo X about 140 feet
broad here began the magnificent bosquets (capoes) of cedar,
vinhatico and balsamo (a myrospermum) found in every river and
The air had become
Opposite this i^oint we nighted.
rill.
''muggy," damp and tropical, like Western India, and, for the
first time after leaving Pdo de Janeiro, Ave began to disuse the
I need hardly say that we recalled to mind with regret
blanket.
the charming accidents of the Old Squaws' Stream the clear
the Barra do Acar}-,

;

;

limpid air rich in oxygen, the splendid forest scenery of the
wild banks, the music of birds and beasts, even the song of the

and the cheerfulness of nature in general.
Septemhcr 23. After an hour's paddling appeared the Barro
Alto, a high bank of white clay on the right side where the bed
We landed a little below it, at the mouth of a
is embayed.
Corrego known as the Braima it puts forth an under water ridge,
extending from south-west to north-east, and ending in what the

rapid and the

fall,

—

;

*

31- barcas here cost 200 $000
and the
moderate size, 500 $000
largest (45 x 14 feet), 1:600 $000.
t This Acary stream is not mentioned l)y
M. Halfeld, nor is it in M. Gerber's map.
The mouth is about 150 feet broad the

The small

tliose of

;

;

high

left

bank

of yellow clay is garnished

trees, and on the oppothe vegetation rolls almost to the

with grass and low
site side

water's edge.

J The Rio Pardo drains the Southern
of the Chapadao de Santa Maria.

slopes

Its length is 1° 30',

but

it is

canoes only twelve leagues.

navigable for

;

CH.vr. XVII.

J

FROM SAO ROMAO TO JAXUARIA.

255

crew called a ^'batida," a low sand-bank flaked with mud. Here
we found the true diamantine '^forma^ao," the Cattivo, the Siricoria, in fact all the symptoms, but not the gem. These evidences
appear at scattered intervals
apparently arbitrary, that

is

;

the

people <leclare them to be

to say, the source

come has not been investigated.
Beyond this point the stream showed on the
on the

right,

thrown out in

a relief of

from wliich

left

the}'

heaps of stone

bare or bluiTed line agauist

the blue sky, rose the Serra do Brejo,* which from this point

appeared a slope, a broken saddle-back and a liunp swelling
above the trees and sands. To starboard we passed the Pdacho

do Peixe, near whose mouth is the small Fazenda of a German
settler. Doctor Otto Karl Willielm Wageman fm'ther down is the
;

whose winding course admits canoes for
some five leagues nearly opposite it the Biacho do Mangah}'.
The northern Hmit of the S. Bomao municipality showed at the
mouth a clump of magnificent trees, and, a little below, a large
bed of Cascalho. In fi'ont rose the remarkable table-mountain
known as the Itabirassaba, corrupted to Piassaba I the word is
We are evidently approaching an
translated "Monte de Fogo."
Biacho dos Pandeiros,

t

;

;

important place

;

the

primitive

vegetation

disai^pears,

nature

begins to look cbilled and disciplined, there are kihis, the huts

and the people offer fish for sale.
After a few features of no great importance, § we reached a
place which we had long seen in the shape of a lumpy line on the
right bank, and we ascended a flight of steps cut out by the
retii'ing waters.
Here there is a bed of the finest white limestone
some 10 feet thick. The i^lace is known as N^ S^ da Conceicao
das Pedras de Maria da Cruz, and the first edition of the httle
chapel was built about 1725 by the PauUsta Miguel Domingos,
after the defeat at the Bio das Mortes
1708.
The mound that
are whitewashed

and

tiled,

m

* Brejo do Salgaclo, which we shall
presently ^asit,
+ The Pandeii-o is a gipsy kind of instmment a bow and calabash, derived from
Africa.
The wild men, as might be expected, greatly enjoyed its music
hence
the name has been given to many places in
the backwoods.
Near this Pandeiros a
man lately died said to be 107 years old.
+ The head man declared, and with
truth, that this saddle-back was the Seri-a
do Brejo to the north-east of the former.

—

;

§ At noou we passed three islets near
the Pernani. bank, and an h.our afterwards
v^e saw the Ilha das Pedi-as, a sandy and
shrubby formation, with small clearings
and barking dogs.
On the bank opposite
to it were ledges of Canga
beyond it
appeared, upon a base of light-coloured
stiff clay,
a wall of fenniginoiis argile,
black and red, pudding'd with pebbles,
varpng in thickness from one to nine feet,
and thinning off from north to south,
;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

256

[chap, xvii,

had an old and remarkably good " ladrillio," or tile
The river,
pavement, which commands a magnificent view.
broken b}' sand-bar and island, sweeps nobly from south-west
The wavy
to west, and at this point trends nearly due north.
bank in front is clothed with immense trees, and about eight
miles distant the western horizon is closed by the quaint-shaped
supports

it

Itabirassaba, towering high above its chain.

The population

of the

little

hamlet was scattered about in low

Some of the women
huts of wattle and dab, thatched or tiled.
working the old pillow-lace were hardly clad with decency, and on
the bank was a j^ellow girl with unveiled bosom, as

if

she had

been in the Bight of Biafra. All, however, are more or less
tinged, and here, as elsewhere, the brow^n buff simulates dress.
Goats wandered about the bush, and seemed to enjoy the shiny,
succulent leaves of the gigantic croton shrub, which grows to an
abnormal size. This Jatropha Curcas* of many names supplied
the physic nut for the Lisbon lamps, and thus for a time preserved certain of the Cape Yerde Islands from starvation. It has
an extensive range. I have seen it at altitudes between the seaThe Guinea negroes administer with
board and 3000 feet.
the dose
excellent effect the green seeds together with the pulp
is, I believe, a quarter of the nut boiled in water, which is drunk, t
Half-dram doses used to be given in the Brazil, but the "physicnut " is now neglected, as it is a dangerous, and has proved a
As the rains begin, everpvhere sprouts a pretty
fatal, drastic.
pink flo'^er somewhat like a primrose, solitary, and capping a
""
the people call it
stalk about one foot high
3
thin an
*'
," or the poison-onion, and declare that cattle will
Cebo]
On the higher banks, where the floods do not
not tor
;

;

extend, ^.

the Solanaceous Jua,

blackened berries

;

still

the organ cactus

;

bearing the last year's

the Pitombeira (Sapindus

with an edible fruit; the Pingui, here called
Imbaru, and the shady Aroeira de Minas, also known as Capicurii.
The latter resembles the Melia Azadirachta of Hindostan, but
edulis), a large tree

the leaves are not bitter.
*

"

Here

it

pinlieiro

de

popularly kno^v^l
is
purga," or " i>inliao

as

vellers— namely, not to eat iinknOAvn fruits

do

which birds

The Tupy dictionaries give
Paraguay."
" Mandiibi-guagu " (the great ground-nut,
or Arachis), a mixture of African and
American terms. Labat has " Medicinier"
or " pignon d'Tnde," and when describing
its eflects, he ofters sensible advice to tra-

refuse.

pulp, didy prepared, is, I believe, also taken as a strong
medicine,
J In other parts cattle are, they say,
poisoned by it.

f In Africa the unripe

FEOM SAO KOMAO TO JANUAEIA.

CHAP. x^^I.]

257

As we advanced, the long reach, running nearly due north, bent to
the north-east and showed in the far distance a whitewashed chapel
and three large double-storied houses. On the left was the Ilha
do Barro Alto, a long " steamboat island." We were obliged to

we could make the Porto do
Brejo do Salgado, the channel above the town not admitting even
our raft. This is the most important place on the Upper Eio de
Sao Francisco, and its only rival is Joazeii'o, distant 190 leagues

round the

large, flat sand-bars before

down-stream.

The

site is a

dead

flat

on the

left

bank, distant

fom' to five miles from the Serra do Brejo, a broken line to the

north-west and north.

A

certain Maciel, of

whom more

pre-

and lime, the people assembled
and the Bishop of Pernambuco sent a curate, the Padre
Custodio Yieu-a Leite.
The principal settlement however was
inland, at the base of the hills, and this povoacao or hamlet on the
sently, here built a chapel of brick

round

it,

river side took the

to "

O

name

Swamp, abbreviated
the people insist upon

of Port of the Salt

Salgado," "the Salted," and this

Of com'se the two settlements were rivals and enemies.
In 1833 the Port became the "Villa da Januaria," chiistened
after the sister of the reigning Emperor; in 1837 the honoui* was

retainmg.

was re-transferred to
the Port; in 1849 it again moved to the Brejo; and finally, in
1853, it settled upon the Stream.* The water side objects to the
the hill side
hill side that it is too far from the seat of trade
retorts that at least it is in no danger of seeing even its samts
swept into the river. The municipahty, which is large, and contransferred to the Brejo inland

;

in 1846

it

;

tains a considerable extent of uncultivated land,

numbers

five

namely, the City, the Brejo, Mocambo,f Morrinhos, Sao
Joao da Missao, and Japore, the latter distant about 20 leagues.
districts,

We

hard against the strong cm-rent, which now
shows signs of incipient flooding. We passed the tall sobrado of
the Capitao Jose Eleutherio da Souza, fronted by a dozen stunted
and wind- wrung palms, and a slope of Capim ussu (the big
The herbage is of a
grass) stretching doAvn to the stream.
metallic green, lil^e young Paddy.
It is not destroyed by the

had

to fight

* According to the Almanak, the parish
was created by Royal resolution of Jamiaiy
2, 1811, and the Port was made the Cheflieu by Pro^ancial Law K"o. 288 of ]\Iarch
12, 1816.
+ ]\Iuch of the land in the J\Iocambo has

Here the best land
worth at most 500 $000 per league, not,
however, a square league, which would be
nine geographical miles, but half a league
each way.
In these matters there is no
regulation, and each man adopts his oyro.

no i^roprietor, and

system.

VOL.

IT.

its

admii'able fertility

suggests colonisation.
is

S

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

258

inundations, and cattle will eat

it.

season by two sand-bars fronting the

The Port
left

bank.

is

[chap. xvii.

formed at this
been pro-

It has

remove them, but the best authorities are agreed that
they defend the side, to which a strong flood swings during the
rains.
The river is now upwards of 3000 feet in breadth, and
the weight of water does far more damage than the superficial

loosed to

washing.
3^ears

It will not be easy to save the place

Rua do Commercio,

ago half of the

;

about twenty

the " w^ater street,"

became the stream-bed. A few stakes have been planted to act
as grains, and a stockade of tree trunks defends the sloping bank
of sandy clay, perilously near whose edge runs a line of low,
whitewashed, and red-tiled tenements. The principal danger is
above the city, where a small channel admits a vast influx of
flood water.
Here it would be easy to throw up one of those
levees with which we d^^ked the Indus near Hyderabad.*

We

found in port a number of canoes and eight barcas made

at once recalled to

The

bank is here called,
mind the African market, and the monotonous

fast to the usual poles.

praia, as the

chaunt of the negroes measuring beans did not diminish the
resemblance to the scenes of distant Zanzibar. "Women, now

more numerous than men, washed at the water-side, or cai'ried
their pots to and fro
the hojs, more than half-nude, squatted
on the s^nd-bars on tree trunks, or in their dug-outs, bobbing for

far

;

daily bread.

The dark boatmen,

(Jale or Camisola),

clad in the sleeveless waistcoat

and the cotton-kilt (Sayote) of the Guinea

Coast, stroll about or

lie

stretched upon the slopes playing with

the splendid and majestic Araras,f which they have brought
from down-stream, and whose plumes glittered in the sunshine.
On the more level ground were planted seven shed huts of poles,
mats, and hides. Here the merchant who disdains to hire a
house exchanges his salt and cloth for provisions and supplies.
* In making these levees, it is well to
dig a trench, and carefully to remove tree
roots, and everything that can assist per_

eolation.

of 3

:

The dyke should have a base

1.

is regi-ettable that we have not adopted
this pretty onomatopceia, instead of the

gi'otesque half-bred

(Ararauna) and tlie Arary, also
termed Caninde, or Arara Azul.
The
former (Psittacns hyacinthinns), as its name
denotes, a black, or rather a dark-purple
;
it flies in
pairs high, with loud screams, like the
bird, of smaller size than usual

+ Ara, I have remarked, is a parroquet,
or parrot ; the augmentation ara -ara contracted to arara in the large psittacus.
It
Spanish macaw,

and

the scientific " Araina^.
The common wild varieties here are the

\nilgai-ized

Aranma

parroquet. The Arary (Psittacus Ararauna)
the well-kno^^ii and magnificent bird,
with a coat of the brightest blue, and a
ii.
golden waistcoat.
(I.
376)
St. Hil.
notices the ei'ror of Marcgraf, who gave the
name Ararauna, which means black or
dark macaw, to the -wTong bird.
is

CHAP. XYiT.]

FROM SAO ROMAO TO JANUARIA.

259

my

card and intro-

When we had

slipped into place I sent up

ductions to Lieutenant-Colonel Manoel Caetano de Souza Silva.
Januaria showed her civiUsation by crowding to inspect us with

extreme avidity.
into feline shape

A

very drunken j^outh, with teeth chipped

—here

"moleque" — small

fashionable

—very

slave bo}^

— addressed

Agostinho

as

offensive to a big slave bo}-,

and a ''row" of the mildest natm^e ensued. Another stole an
" Engineer's Pocket-book," and offered it for sale to a Portuguese,
The police authorities took no
v\dio at once returned it to us.
notice of the theft, perhaps because the robber was half silly with
liquor, and consoled us with the intelligence that we might expect
This, however, was
to be extensively plundered down-stream.
not the case Januaria was the only place where anything of the
;

kind was attempted.
"VVe were soon rescued from the situation

b}^

Manoel

Sr.

Caetano, who, accompanied by some friends, invited us to inspect

bank summit. To
floating
upon a sea
faint
as
clouds
purplmg
hills
were
the west the
In front lay the Eiver
of ruddy haze, the last effort of day.
Valley, at least twelve miles broad, and suggesting a vast expanse
About two leagues distant rose the
of water during the floods.
Morro do Cliapeo, curiously shaped like a Pluygian cap it is an
outher of a long broken wall extending from north-east to southThis Serra dos Geraes de Sao Felipe
w^est as far as we can see.
is exceptionall}^ rich, and supplies the river with lard, tobacco, and
maize-flour.
Its remarkable pomts are the Urubu peak, from
the

city.

I greatly enjoyed the view from the

;

this point a regular p}Tamid, the Serra das Figuras, the table-

shaped Morro da Boa Vista, and the three round heads known as
the Tres Irmaos.
The N'* S^ das Dores is rather a chapel than a church, and at
the building is
times, they say, fish have been caught in it
fronted by a tall cross, enclosed in a dwarf square of short wall.
At the other end of the settlement is a N^ S^ do Rosario blown
;

'

down by

the wind, and

still

unrepaii'ed.

The

streets are floored

with sand, and in places there are strips of trottoii', slabs of the
fine

blue limestone from the Pedi-as dos Angicos.
its

staked round, but the largest
here called the " Garii'oba " *

a

Or Guariroba (^Cocos oleracea,
growths of the Sertao.
^'

i\Iart.

requii-e

"compound," walled or
growth is the papaw, and a palm

a soil less lean; each house has

;

Trees

it is

),

a

tall,

dull-brown stick bear-

palm commonly found

in the

S 2

stunted

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

260

[chap. xvii.

ing small ragged fronds and a raceme of edible fruit about the

an egg. The thoroughfares are straight, but as usual too
narrow; their names are carefully inscribed upon the corners,
showing that the Camara does its duty, and the tenements are
numbered. The Pra^a das Dores contains the jail, with barred
'v\andows, where guards and sentinels loll and loaf, and near it
size of

the humble Guildhall.
the streets

The

total of

fifth are

lation

many

it

may

much wanted

;

we met

in

may

be upwards of 700, of which at least a
In 1860, the famine-year of Bahia, the popu-

numbered 6000

and now

is

cripples.

houses

Vendas.

A hospital

souls

;

years ago

five

be 5000, slaves included.

it

declined to 4000,

For some time past

the serviles have been traded off to Rio de Janeiro, and, only

head were sent do^vai country. The city is supported b}" brokerage and the carrying trade. The Quattro-Maos*
of the backwoods bring in a very little cotton, a quantity of sugar
and rum, excellent tobacco and provisions, especially hill-rice
and manioc, which flourish on the table-land beyond the riverine
valley.
Fine canoes of the best Vinhatico and Tamboril,f forty
feet long here, cost 100 $000, and are sent down-stream, where
lately, thh-ty

large trunks are rare.

The imports

are chiefly via Joazeiro,

which the people place

at a distance of

220 to 240, instead of 190
Those who have

leagues

they are chiefly dry goods and salt.
not visited the inner Brazil will hardly imagine
;

prosperity

is this

condiment.

how

must be given

It

animals, cattle, mules, and pigs; they convert into

necessary to

to all domestic
'^

licks" every

place likely to sux)ply the want, and even crunch bones to find

Without

it

they languish and die

be defined as a place where

;

in fact, here the desert

salt is not.

A popular

it.

may

succedaneum

and gunpowder, and even this is found better than nothing.
In 1852 the mule load of eight arrobas from Eio de Janeiro (200
leagues) + via Diamantina, paid 45 $ 000
it has now risen to
15^000 or 163 000 per arroba, nearly three times the price.
Consequently the capital sends only "notions" and "objects of
luxury."
Bahia (186 leagues) adds hides and salt, potter}^,
ammunition, and ii'on-ware the price of conveyance varies from
12 $000 to 143000 per thirty-two pounds.
Goyaz, like the
is oil

;

;

*

Quadnimana

:

here

tlie

word is used
bumpkin.

in tlie sense of Caipira, country
+ _A hxrge leguminous tree.

St.

Hil.

331) writes the word "tamburi,"
according to the pronunciation of the
(T.

ii.

Sertanejos.
t The distances are those given to me
Tliey made
by my friends at Januaria.
Diamantina 70 leagues distant, and Leu^oes
70 to 80.

FROM SAO ROMAO TO JAXUARIA.

CHAP. XVII.]

261

Geraes * lands on both sides of the river, supplies stock and
provisions, " doces," cheese, and a little coffee and cotton ; some
of

them produce a small quantity

''Colossal fortunes,"

of wheat.

says the Almanak, " are rare," but there are
of £4000, and

money here breeds

safely

men worth upwards

2-1:

—36

per cent, per

annum.

Our host was a distinguished " Liberal," ^vho prefers politics to
trade or farmmg he is made well known throughout the country
;

by a greater

He

generosit}^ tlian is usual.

offered us the novel-

and cognac, he compelled us to sup with him,
and he placed his house at om' disposal. For liberty's sake I
preferred the raft, also to escape from the screams of the children,
wliich, throughout the Brazil, fonn the terribly persistent music
of the home.
The mothers, I i^resume, physically enjoy being
noisy by proxy, the fathers do not object, and thus the musicians
are never punished.
Indeed you are considered a " brute " if
you object to losing a night's rest by a performance, which could
be settled in a second. The onl}' place where the shriek of
woman and the scream of babe are silent is, I believe, the Island

ties of absinthe

of Madeu'a.
Sr.

Manoel Caetano gave an

invitation

to visit

him

at his

fazenda, where he intended to sleep, and promised to send animals

daybreak on the morrow, but apparently the light at Januaria
dawns after 9 a.m. AVe, therefore, set out on foot under guid-

at

Candido Jose de Senna, ex-Professor of First
Letters.
The path led to the north across an inundated flat,
which appears lilvely to disappear, and a line of mist showed the
Corrego Secco, that requires the levee. Dming the rains it is a
flood, now it retams water-pits (pocoes) frequented by washerwomen. Ahead, and a little to the left, lay the table mountain,
ance

of

Sr.

'

up which men have ridden

;

at its foot is the

fazenda of the

Capitao Bertoldo Jose Pimenta, and near the summit, they say,
is

a natural well.

After

walkmg

a mile

white sand for ruddy

we made

soil rich

rising ground,

with himius.

and exchanged

Here even the

of 1792-93, wliich rose thii'ty-eight and a half feet above the
level of the stream, did not extend.

inmidation,

when

a

named

mean

In 1813 there was another

Surubim was caught

* In these parts the Greraes are generally
das Palmeiras, do Borachudo, &c.

floods

in the church, followed

after their

streams;

e.g.,

Geraes

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

262

by a

tliii'd

In 1857 the

in 1855.

spent several days in picnics and

[chap. xvii.

and

citizens took refuge here,
jollit3\

It is called the Piqui-

from the abundance in former times of the wild Caryocar
and it will probably become the left bank of the Bio de Sao

zeiro,*
tree,

Francisco.

Evidentl}^ this

is,

settlement, which a line of

with the Port
there

;

the

aii'

even now, the

wooden

rails

place for the

fittest

would

easily connect

cooler and healthier, water abounds,

is

plenty of building-ground, and the soil behind

is

it is

loose

and red, excellently adapted for cotton and sugar.
A scatter of huts is sprmging up around the Piquizeiro, where
a new cemetery has been laid out.
Our host dug a leat to
supply the builders with water, and the place is strewed with
adobes and fine slabs of blue limestone. A tall cross of cedar
bears a little cross and the legend " Salus. P. E. G. C. 1867."
This was lately set up by Fr. Eeginaldo Goncalvez da Costa, a
vicar detached on a missionary campaign from his cure near
Montes Claros b}'' the Bishop of Diamantina. He collected a
copper from the poor and a testoon from the rich. Some 6000
souls, mostly feminine, strewed the plain as he doled out the
Bread of Life, and the fireworks which ended the day are deJanuaria
scribed as having the efi'ect of a volcano in full blow.
had lately been visited by a convert, pervert or divert Spaniard,
in the j^ay of a certain Bible Distribution Societ}^

there he had left to raise

more

When

grist for the mill at

I w^as

Bio de

and he had bequeathed to a Portuguese clerk the work
of conversion, perversion, or diversion. The priests down-stream
were much scandalized by the distribution of '* false Bibles," and
I could not but sj^mpathize with them, knowing how easily in
these countries the local mind is unsettled by a small matter.
Surely it will be time to Protestantize the world when it shall
have been Christianized. Similarly the missioner t and the mis-

Janeiro

;

* According to Arruda, the "Acantacarix pinguis " the tree prefers the sandy
soils of the Taboleiros and Chapadas, where
the growth deserves all encouragement. Its
;

height is fifty feet, with proportional girth
the timber is good for boat-making
and
the fruit, as large as an orange, supplies an
oily, farinaceous, and very nourishing pulp,
much enjoyed by the people of Ceara and
;

—

Piauhy (Koster, ii. jjp. 486 7).
t The Saturday lleview, when noticing
a book which I wrote after my return from
Dahomc, remarked the use of the word

''

]\Ii.s,sioner."

member that of

The Eeviewer did not
late years

re-

"Missioner " has

been adopted by the (Roman) Catholic, in
Miscontradistinction to the Protestant
sionary."
Perhaps it would be more anthropological to call the former the phase of
faith at present adopted by Southern Europe,
opposed to the young Church which belongs
to Northern Europe, and to the Greek
Church, as old as the oldest which prevails
in semi-Oriental Eastern Europe. Similarly
Ave ol)serve in El Islam that certain ununimporimportant articles of belief
'

'

—

FROM SAO ROMAO TO

CHAP. XVII.]

JA^'UARIA.

263

and Cliiircli of England, have been let loose upon
Abj^ssinia, whose church dates from the tliii'd centiuy, and
doubtless resembles the i)rimitive form far more than those of
Eome and London. A few massacres have been the direct, and
sionary, Jesuit

an Abyssmian campaign the indirect, result of the merciful interference. Meanwhile, mitil quite of late years, the Galla accolents
have been

left

in full enjo^^ment of theii' savage fetishism.

After a walk of four miles we reached an admii*able grove of mangos, perhaps the finest that I have beheld in
the Brazil, lining the approach to our host's property, the Fa-

Eevenons

!

zenda de Santo Antonio do Brejo do Salgado. It is on the right
bank of the Salgado, or Salt Eivulet, which rises in a pretty plain,
the Fazenda da Carahyba, and which feeds the Sao Francisco a

below the settlement, to wliich it gave a name. Here it
breaks through the Boqueirao, a gap in the Serra do Brejo,
vrhere it acquires a cooling and salt-bitter flavour, which argues
When floods in the main artery block up the mouth,
saltpetre.
it can be ascended by canoes, showing that the channel could be
little

The people avoid drinking the water, as
and after usmg it strangers must check the
it is highly laxative
efi'ects with an orangeade made of the sweet, fade and medicinal
converted into a canal.
;

In two years it has deposited on the
wooden watercourse which tm-ns the turbine, a coat of calcareous
matter about three inches in thickness. Its lime and salts give
a wondrous fertility to its little valley, the richest spot that we
have yet seen on the Rio de Sao Francisco and dm'ing the whole
''laranja da terra."*

;

we shall see few that equal it.
Amongst the Mangos I detected by

jom'ne}^

its circular

crown of fronds

an old friend in the other hemisphere, the Cocoa-nut, here called
Coco da Praia. It was a fine taU and lusty specimen of the
Cocos nucifera, hung with sixteen nuts. The tree is plentiful
along the coast from Pdo de Janeiro to Para t except, however,
;

tant because neither the Koran nor TracUare
tion has pronounced iipon them
adopted by one school of di^'inity because
the rival school has preferred another view.
*'
Ragban I'il Tasannun"— in hate against
the Sunnis— is the Shiah reason for adopt-

—

its minor usages.
* The perfumed flower of this countiy
orange is much admired by the humming-

ing some of

I was here told that the fiiiit becomes bitter or tasteless, imless periodically
refreshed by grafting, and they showed me
orange -trees six years old, but still barren.

bird.

St. Hil. (III. ii. 409) says of Salgado,
*'Cette bourgade doit son nom a I'un de
ses premiers habitans, et non, comme on
pom-rait le croire, a la qualite, un peu
saumatre, de ses eaux." This is, I believe,
Pizarro has explained the
a mistake.
origin of the term correctly ; he remarks
that the waters are stomachic, deobstnient,
digestive, and capable of healing or dimi-

nishing goitres.
f I* ^^^st be remembered that the Cocos
nucifera was not found in the Brazil by the
earliest explorers.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

264

upon the

river sides,

it

[chap. xvii.

wanders but a short way inland, justifying

the popuhxr belief that

it requii'es

sea air.

Here a

bee-line to

we shall find it extending
The largest plantation is
the way down-stream.

the Atlantic measures 350 miles, and
in patches all
at the

Lugar da Aldea do

Joazeiro

the fruit

;

is

seven leagues south-west from

Salitre,

exported by Dr. Joaquim Jose Ribeiro de

Magalhaes, who x)referred farming and road-making to being a

Desembargador in the Ilela9ao of Maranham. Both these places
have saline or saltpetrous waters. The Coco da Bahia, as it is
also called, is found, however, in many spots where the ground,
possibly an old sea-bed, supplies the want of sea air.
The host led us into his garden, and showed us, embedded in
the soil at an angle of 45°, a semicircular fragment of " Cavitaria,'^
the true white and black granite of Rio Bay, two feet broad, two

and a half long, and three deep. The sides had been chipped,
and the face had been used as a grindstone. An old Quattromao declared that the Geraes had whole hills of such rock, but
no one believed him. It had probably been brought from downstream, and about Joazeiro we found the formation common.
The energetic Netherlander s, it will be remembered, built a Fort
Maurice at the mouth of the Sao Francisco, and plundered
Penedo it is more than probable that during their Thu'ty Years'
War in the Brazil, they visited the upper stream. So M. Halfeld remarks that the floods of 1792 laid bare in the river bank
several tiles more than a foot long each way, and five mches thick.
He believes them to date from the age of the '' Hollandezes."
The plague of the garden is the '' Cupim," and nothing but
the plough will remove it from the rich fat soil.
The coffee
planted under the shade of the Shangos or luxuriant jack-fiaiit
;

trees, ajDpeared to be subject to the caterpillar;

not so the leaves

We

saw a single tree dating from 1828, and
were told that during its best days it had borne fifteen pounds per
annum. The sugar-cane was remarkably fine, and once planted
it lasts almost through a man's life.
The arrowroot (a Maranta)
grew well the Guandu pea was common, and there was a large
grass whose dried root much resembled patchouli.
The flowers
were the i)erfumed "Bougarim," suggesting a white rose, lilies,
gigantic snowy jasmines, and the "bonina," a land of ^'prettj^exposed to the sun.

;

by-night."

To

the north-east

we saw the

Rosario gleaming against a green

solitary steeple

hill.

South of

it

of

N^

S'^

were the

do

tiled

FROM SAO EOMAO TO JAXUARIA.

CHAP. XVII.]

265

roofs of the Barro Alto, a fine plantation, and behind them lay
the '*Boqueii*ao " estate, as well as gap, where the Church of

Santo Antonio, built by Maciel, the Adelantado, lies in rums.
To the west-north-west peeped the summits of the Matriz do
Amparo, the mother of Januaria city. And the background was
the Serra do Brejo, pillared with cactus, capped with thin bush,
and walled with banded grey cliffs of a stratification so regular as
to resemble art,

and stained here and there with a bright

ferru-

ginous red.

We

then visited the sugar-house,* which had poor machinery,

but an excellent article to work upon. Instead of troughs there
were Jacas, cones of bamboo, each containing four bushels, and
piu'ging into pits below.
Good mules were straying about the
grounds; the natives cost 30 $000, and those driven from the
Province of Rio Grande do Sul, via Sorocaba and S. Paulo, a two
000 to 60 $ 000. A " Jack " showed that

years' journey, fetch 50 $

down the

become
common. Flesh is not plentiful, and a cow of the small Raga
curaleira, which gives good meat, commands 8 §000 to 10 $000.
The '' Curios " shown to us were broad-brimmed hats of the Imbe
breeding

is

here in vogue

;

further

river asses

Vermelho, an Aroid used like the African '' tie-tie ;" its fibre takes
a good colour the leather clothing was soft as cloth there were
stout cottons, and woollen stripes and checks, worked by the
women of Tamandua, and stained with indigo, and a powerfully
;

di'astic

We

;

cucurbitaceous plant

known

as the

Bucha dos

Paulistas.f

breakfasted at the usual bucolic hour, 9 a.m., preferred to

Lisbon wine the " Minas wine," i.e., Restillo, and the peculiar
cheese Requejao,! which here always accompanies coffee. We
ended mth Januaria-made cigars the tobacco came from the
hilly Geraes three leagues to the north-west of the city, and the
;

'

* The whitest sugar in Januaria came
Pitangui (120 leagues).
It would

from

easily

have been

crystallised,

and moulded

the use of animal
charcoal
but who will take the trouble to
make it when clay is found ready made ?
+ Literally, the gun-wadding of the
Paulistas.
The specimen showed to us was
a fibre containing dark oleaginous seeds.
About one square inch of it is steeped in
water over night, and drunk in the morning
as an emetic, &c. by those who suffer from
paralysis (" ar," or "stupor") induced
by river fever. The System asserts that in
into loaves.

I suggested

;

,

S. Paulo it is known as the Purga de Joao
Paes (Momordica oijerculata), and alludes
to its various uses.
We also heard of a
smaller variety, said to be even more violent in its action, and the jjlant was
described as resembling the Passion-flower,
It is probably the Buchinha,
or Lufia
purgans, whose extract is used as the

coloquintida.

J In making Requejao, the milk is
curded, as if for cheese, and butter and
cream are afterwards added.
It lasts for
two

years,

and

is still soft,

f

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

2C6

[chap. xvii.

leaf costs 3 $000 per bushel; the cigars are retailed at a half-

l^enny each, and they are better than

many

*'

Havannahs."

we mounted neat nags, and taking the western road,
which goes to Mato Grosso, visited the venerable Arraial do Brejo
Finally,

do Salgado.

It lies at the eastern foot of the Serra,

which gives

the air some similaritv to the breath of a hothouse, and the curious

The hamlet now

limestone blocks were reeking with heat.

con-

sprinkHng of houses round a square, whose centre is the
Chui'ch of N''^ S^ do Amparo, remarkable for notlimg but red

sists of a

doors of solid timber, with

tall bosses.
Adjoinmg is a stone box
with barred windows rej^jresenting the jail, and a tall tiled roof,
wanting the finish of walls, showed that it did not need enlargement. The people were yellow from eating fish and manioc*

Amongst them was

Moses Mamlofsky, who did not
terms of his new home he had been in partnership with a German co-religionist, Samuel Warner, who called
upon us at Januaria. The latter called himself a New Yorker;
a Polish Jew,

sx)eak in flattering

;

unfortunately he could not speak English
settled in these parts,

The

made money, and

;

twenty years ago he

sj^ent

it.

glory of the Brejo was the Conego Marinho, before

men-

movement
He was equally distinguished as a liberal, an orator, and a statesman. We called upon
several of the notables, who exhorted us strongly to visit the Lapa
de Santa Anna, distant two leagues. Here the old conquerors
tioned as the historian of the

of '42.

found, or by vivid fancy thought that they found, stone crosses
cut by the " Indians," statues of Saint Anthon}^, and so forth.
We heard, also, of another cave, in which a rocket could be fired

without striking the ceiling; perhaps some more leisurely tra-

may find

worth his while to inspect these places. At the
Brejo we were told the romantic tale of its origin. When Manoel
Pires Maciel, the Portuguese explorer, was descending the river,
he attacked, on the Pandeiros influent, a powerful kinglet, who
governed 120 miles of country between the mouths of the Urucuia
and the Carunhanha streams. The redskins fled luuTiedly, and
veller

it

the chief's wife hid her babe under a heap of leaves, as the
* They are not, liowever, a short-lived
Our host's father, aged 81, rides
like a man of 40, and the vicar. Padre
Joaquini Martins Pereira, is still vigorous

race.

at the ripe age of 77.
t I will not positively assert that all was
fancy.
The Eastern Coast of South Ame-

rica,

long before the age of Saint Columbus,

was doubtless reached by Em-opeaus and
Africans, possibly by Christians, even as the
western shores had Asiatics occasionally
driven to them. I shall reserve the grounds
of my conclusion for a future volume,

—

FROM SAO EOMAO TO JANUARIA.

CHAP. XVII.]

conceal

csLjjnsin is said to

267

Tlie Conquistadores' dogs

its j-oung.

found the pappoose, who was christened Catherina, brought up as
a Christian, and finally married by her capturer.
She bore to
him two daughters, Ainia, who settled with her husband Joao
FeiTeira Braga, upon the Acaiy River, and Theodora, who became

The name of Maciel has
many Portuguese houses, Bitancourt,

the wife of Antonio Pereira Soares.

been merged
Gomes, Morenas, Proencas, and Carneii'os. Catherina's issue
now forms a clan of 4000 souls, whose coal-black haii', brown
skins, and sub-oblique eyes, sometimes *' brides," still bear traces
of this Brazilian Pocahontas.
We retmiied to Januaria delighted with our visit, but justly
into that of

anticipating

men

some trouble

The Guaiculiy

in collecting a crew.

despite liberal offers, to i^roceed

positively refused,

were, doubtless, anxious to look after

wives.

theii*

;

they

Manoel

Sr.

Caetano and his brother-ui-law walked with me all about the cit}^,
and found that six of the barcas desired to start, but wanted
hands. Man}^ of the barqueiros had been carried off to the war,
others had fled theii' homes, and some declmed to leave the city,
lest they might be enlisted in a strange land.
Moreover, this is
the season, as we were warned by the fiercely howling vrind, which
swept up the water from the Bahian shore, when the fields must
be made ready. Finally, there is no actual poverty in this part
of the world

mare

the pauper has at least a cow, and a

;

to ride,

with imlimited power of begging or borrowing food from his

neighbom*;

consequently,

he will not work

till

compelled by

Those who did consent coquetted, demandthree daj^s' delay, and one fellow, free, but black as

approaching want.
ing, at least,

my

boot, could not start without his boiled shirt.

From

Januaria to Joazeii'o the

of a bare a is 1 S 000 per

liii'e

diem, and the barquemen are usually paid 14 $000 a head, a poor

sum, but the diet is some consideration. It was vain to offer
20 $000, of course including tobacco, spirits, and rations. At
last I closed with a pilot and a paddle-man, who demanded
35 $000 and 30 $000. My excellent friends had sent on board
everything necessary for the long jom^ne}^,* and we determined to
*

The proyisions

were:
32 lbs. roll tobacco
20 Rapaduras
Demijolm of Restillo
Lard

boiiglit

.

.

.

.

.

Januaria

at

.

.

.

.

Farinlia

.....

6|000

6 medidas of rice
5 lbs. meat

2 §400

Quarta

1$S00
3$500

.

.

of beans

.

.

Total

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

1$280
1$920
o|600
2 $000
19$500

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

268

[chap. xvii.

There was an ugly frown upon the forehead of

set out at once.

the western sky, thunder growled, and lightning flashed in

The new crew shook

directions.

the loss

of, at least,

of grace, and

half the next

we pushed

to

off,

all

and I began to fear
However, they took heart

their heads,
da}'.

make fast a few mmutes

afterwards

near the ruins of the Rosario.
We shall miss the frank and ready hospitality of Januaria as we
advance, and going farther we shall fare worse in the little matter

The change

make us think more often of the
kind-hearted and obhging Lieutenant- Colonel Manoel Caetano de
of reception.

Souza Silva

;

will

of his brother-in-law, Capitao Antonio Francisco

Teixeira Serrao

;

of the

chado

;

much

interest in the

Promotor Publico, Luis de Souza Ma-

of Gongalo Jose de Pinho Leao, and others

passmg

strangers.

who took

so

—

CHAPTER

XVIII.

FROM JA2sUARIA TO CAHUNHANHA.
Third Travessia, 30| Leagues.

—
—
—
—

the ^^le tveather.— remaln^s of the red-skin's. the hamlet and large
church of n^ s*^ da coxceiclo dos morrixhos. — decay axd desolation. — the manga do amador settlement. the song of the birds.
the rio yerde, a salt stream. the carunhanha riyer. — the
MALHADA SETTLEMENT AND ITS RECEIYERSHIP. LIEUT. LOUREIRA. \T:SIT
THE YILLA OF CARUNHANHA. — DON RODRIGUES. VILE NIGHT.

—

—

mar alto peuedo,
Que huma angra a raiz tern dos naos amparo,
Onde das ramas no intrechado enredo,

Ergue-se sobre o

Causa o verde prospecto

hum

gesto raro.

Caramnru,

It was an abominable

nigiit.

The

G, 18.

storm, as often happens in

the Brazil, assumed the t3^)e of a Cyclone, passmg round from

north via east to south, and about the small hours I thought
Eliza's " awning

would have been beaten down by wind
and rain. The new men, both now and afterwards, j)roYed themselves real watermen
the}' tallied much, but they worked more,
and better still, neither of them drank, nor had "sarnas."* The
pilot, Jose Joaquim de Santa Anna, officiates in a black coat
he
is silent and dignified, rarely consorting with the barquemen.
Of
very different temper is Manuel Felipe Barboza, who rejoices in
the cognomen ''das Mocas," or '' Barba de Veneno " he sings, he
roars, he improvises Amab?ean verse
he chaffs like a bargee,
and the fluency and virulence of his satire have made this
'*
repentista" t celebrated as
the Poison beard."
Yet he has
that the

''

;

;

;

;

'•'

* The ''Indians," from time immemoused to treat their " sarnas " by extracting, with a pointed thorn, the Acarns
(an Arachnid) which produced it.
The
psoriasis is very common amongst the boatmen of the Sao Francisco, but they have
never adopted the wild system of healing it.
rial,

Some

are loathsome objects, with blotched

and mottled skins, even after the .sores
have become scars. As on the Lower Congo,
the disease is highly infectious, and very
difficidt to

cm-e

;

in fact,

many

declare it

to be incurable,

f An

imj)rovisatore.

I

need hardly say

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

270

not ignored the main chance, and he expects to
investing
(tijolos)

[chap, xviii.

make money by

and bricks
of orange and other sweetmeats, which he will sell
in

capital

straw-hats,

water-guggiets,

down- stream.
Tlmrsday, Sept. 2G, 1867.

— The

evil

weather produced a start

some uninteresting spots * we were on the
jDarallel of the Mocambo, which has been mentioned as one of
the districts of Januaria.
Beyond it,! on the left bank, rose the
Morro do Angii, and its long sandy and partially cultivated
at 5 A.M. After passing

_island

the heights are aj^parently an offset from the Serra do

;

Brejo,

scrubby lump with

a

scarped walls

of grey and red-

Presently the rain and thunder, coming from

stained limestone.

the north, drove us for refuge into a narrow channel formed by a
''

steamboat island," near the right bank.
peta " or feint,

a mere

''

sumed

the

The hurricane proved
we re-

and after losing half-an-hour,

way and presently anchored on the Praia do Jacare,
opposite a small Arraial of the same name.
AVe are now careful
to take the windward or Bahian bank, and to avoid the vicinity
of tall trees.

To

its

north rose the Pico do Itacaramby,t a term

which none could explain
lilve

a tall blue pyramid.

;

early in the day

Here we found

it
it

had appeared

to us

to be the southern

buttress of a line of scattered hills that trend to the north with
easting.

The low cone presented

a cmious aj^pearance,

the

colour was somewhat darker than the slaty back-ground of low-

and it seemed to vomit grey puffs of heavy mist,
which formed conducting lines of electrical vapours gu'ding the
nimbus cloud.
Sept. 27.
The nev/ moon brought with it for a time heavier
ering

sk}",

—

that the practice come« from Portugal,
Tv'liere the " jnsta," or trial of strength, is
still popular amongst the peasantry.
Here
it met the
"Indian" blood, which had
also
the habit of mailing impromptu
chaunts.
* The Ilha da Boa Vista on tlie right
the Ilha de Rodeador, fronted by houses,
and the Vendinba islet, on the left.
t Tbe Barra do Pan Preto, a small yellow stream from the right the Fazenda and
large island of Amargoso
and the Yarginha, which showed a tiled house.
After
noon we passed the Ilha do Jatoba, a buttress lying to the left of the stream ; at
the bottom of the sack, the Arraial do
;

;

Jatoba, fronted by canoes, and composed of
mud and tiled huts, faced the river, which
here must flood the banks,
Z St, Hil. (I. ii, 24) mentions a Fazenda
de Itacorambi, and derives it from "ita,"
a stone, and "and carambui," small and
pretty ; certainly not applicable here.
l.>etter explanation is that given to him by
a Spaniard of Paraguaj^ well versed in
Gruarani
"itaacabi," a mountain divided
into two branches.
Pizarro believes that
this place was discovered in 1698 by the
Paulist Captain Miguel Domingos;
St.
Hil. (I. ii. 303) attributes it to Fernando
Bias Paes.

A

:

FROM JANUARIA TO CARUXHANHA.

CHAP. XVIII.]

271

weather, and the an* was wet and soppy. Presently tlie west
bank showed a broad sandy ramp, the road to Sao Joao das

Missoes (or dos Indios), distant from the river three leagues, and
the object of a great Patron (Komaria) on its Samt's-day. Here,

removed eighteen leagues from
do Salgado, a savage paradise

their old

home

—the beautiful Brejo

— are villaged the remains

great tribes, the Chavantes,

still

of three

powerful on the head waters of

the Chacriabas (Xicriabas), and the Botucudos or
" bung-lipped " races, an indefinite general name.
Of old the
Geraes hereabouts were held by the Acroas, vulgarly known as the
Coroados or tonsured people, the Clierentes, and the Aiicobis,
Now the nearest of the wild
who were dangerous till 1715.
"
are about Moquem,* in Goyaz, distant some 125
'' Eed-skins
the Tocantins

;

leagues.

After a succession of the usual features,! at 1'30 p.m. we saw
Cascalho on the right bank, and washerwomen, the usual

'We ascended a natui-al ramp, and fell into
approach to a town.
thence turning
a kind of street much broken up by the waters
its
tall
central
cross, the
with
square
to the right we made the large
beginnings of a second. Here the inundations have never ex;

tended.

On

the north there

are shut, and a jail

including

tv\'o

a Casa da Camara, whose shutters

is

whose gratmg

ruins, are of the

is

open.

The twenty-one houses,

humblest, and down-stream are

two parallel lines of thii-teen to fourteen huts.
of the square is occupied

by

N*"^

The

eastern side

S^ da Conceicao dos Morrinlios,

which gives a name to the place. It is a '^ delubrum mir© magnitudmis," which enjoys a wide reputation, and which makes the
stranger inquh-e how it came here. It owes its origin to the piety
of a certain Mathias Cardozo, before mentioned, who, with liis
sister Catherina do Prado, married in Sao Paulo to a Portuguese,
"

and for his services against the " Indians
obtained the rank of Mestre de Campo, a dignity to extend
He, and after him his son J anuario,
thi'ough three generations.
built, of com-se by the svreat of ''Indian" brows, the fane,
and the latter sent to Bahia for masons and carpenters.
settled in the wild,

* I have explained tliis word (and its
moqnear), whicli tlie author of the
Caramurii defines as follows
Chamao ilfog-M^Hi as carnes que se cobrem,
E a fogo lento sepiiltadas assao.
This is our "gnishen." The term, however, is also applied to meat smoked or
verlj

:

slightly exposed to tlie flame.

+ The Ilha do Capao, where T\I. Halfeld
places a ^'illage ; opposite it, on the left
bank, the Fazenda da Barreira (H., As
Then the sandy islet and Fazenda da Resaca (H. Resacca) made ns take
the left side.
Barreiras).

,

—
THE HIGHLA:XDS OF THE BEAZIL.

272

The

temple, facing a

little

[chap, xviii.

north of west, rises from a platform

of fine bricks, 1 span 4 fingers long, and 2 inches thick

;

these and

mortar compose the building.* It might easily have been made of
stone, as massive calcareous blocks appear bald-headed above
The fagade has the usual pediment, protected by
the ground.
eaves with three rows of tiles, an attempt at a rose-light, and
shuttered and railed windows above and below. Between the
two latter is the gate, with massive doors, strengthened by large
it is apparently never opened, and signs of
round-headed nails
bits of crosses, strings of beads, and
fire appear near the floor,
decayed scapulars hang about it. The towers are massive, and
;

—

capped with whitewashed pyramids like those of Sao Bento
The brickwork, however, is falhng from
in Bio de Janeiro.
above the windows, and poles planted against the front show that
On the northern and southern sides are
repairs are in prospect.
fragments of
piers

;

ties.

cloisters,

arches

supported by six large

square

both end towards the east in rooms intended as sacrisOutside the mortar is green with damp below, and stained

red by the ochreous earth above. Inside, the northern cloister
opposite it the bulges of
is heaped with sand and goat-dung
;

red clay dotting the floor betoken graves, a bier also

lies

under

the arches, and a broken coffin

is propped against the wall.
at last appeared
had some trouble to procure the keys
The interior was worse
the sacristan with the normal " tail."
the ceiling was partly stripped of its cedar
than the exterior
boardings, the choii* was ruinous
here deca}^ generally comThe four sidemences, and the pulpits were likely to fall.
chaj)els in the body of the cluu'ch resembled portable oratories.
A bold and well-built arch, revetted with fine wood and raihngs
of turned Jacaranda, led to the high altar, which did not show
any signs of gilding or whitewash. Below it a broken slab of
slate from Malhada, bore inscribed

We

;

;

—

:

AQVI IAS

JANVARIO C
ARDOZO DE
ALMEIDA.

The

date had been forgotten, and the sacristan could only
*

Not "templo de pedra,"

as

M. Halfeld Las

it.

tell

FROM JAXUARIA TO CARUXHANHA.

CHAP. XVIII.]

273

US that at Morrinhos had lately died, aged 113 years, a

man who

tomb was there when he was born.
We ascended the little hill at whose western foot the fane lies.
The substance is blue limestone, in places banded with hard
said that the

and

quartz,

capped with

agglomerated

sandstone

the

;

soil

stained with oxide of iron produces the red blots which marble

Formerly the Morrinho supplied saltpetre

these lumps.

now

either

exhausted

or

From

neglected.

mit we ascertain that the

left

bank

is

of

;

it

is

the thorny sumsimilar

formation,

and even more subject to floods.
Here we count foiu*
knobs of ground, the Morros da Lavagem, do Salitre, and so
forth.

The smoky mists

foam
which startled us by its
resemblance to an expected steamer.* Descending on the right
of a long island, the Manga do Amador, we saw the village of
that name, advantageously situated upon the " Pernam side."
It is the first unflooded settlement which we have seen on the
high Sao Francisco, and the superiority of site will tell in
future years.
Two barrancos or bluffs rise at least 100 feet
above the brown tree-dotted bank, and are divided by a deep
gulley, draining a bayou behind the village.
The colour is a
rising above a floating tree that left

in its wake, formed a phantom-ship,

deep red earth
clay

of

—the

finest of soils

the water-side.

I

northern summit, and the

—extending down

to the white

on the
settlement though 3'oung was not
counted

seventeen

doors

without ruins.
After a last hour's work we found anchorage ground near the

Towards night we viewed the

Ilha do Carculo.
lilve

the faces of long-absent friends.

flashed through

tlie

The

^'

stars

and planets

Avander-lights "

+

darkness of the trees, the gull screamed at

our intrusion, the bull-frog (Sapo boi), and the Cururu (Rana
ventricosa), croaked like the wheel of a sugar-mill being set in

and again we heard the complaint of Whip-poor- Will, and
of the Eurj^angu, which brought to mind the delightful wilds of
the Eio das Velhas.
The raw damp became mild and balmy, the
lightning sank to the very horizon, and the north cleared to

motion

*

;

Chapter 25 will

tell

how we were

dis-

appointed.

t Vaga-lume, the tirefly, also known a.s
pcrilampo, and Cacafogo (Elatevnoctilncns),

VOL.

ir.

These specimens will show that the Portu=
giiese langiiage has some of the prettiest

and the

ugliest of descriptive expressions,

T

"

274

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

a dull blue.

In

fact,

Hope

visited

[cuAr. xviii.

more, and very

once

us

;

deceitfully.
Sc2)t.

28.

—We

normal hour, 5

set out at tlie

heavy shower, and,

despite the

A.:\r.,

work, we landed on the

after three hours'

hank to inspect the mouth of the Rio Yerde Grande.
This stream flows from the northern sloj^es of Montes Claros
coming from the south it receives the Verde Pequeno, which
drains the western Serra das Almas, a branch of the Grao Mogor
range, and a counter versant of the great Rio Pardo that inosculates wdtli the Jequitinhonha, the two uniting and bending to the
north-west from the frontier of the Minas and Bahia Provinces.
The stream is ascended by canoes, some thirty leagues from the
embouchure.

right

At the mouth

of the Rio Verde

Grande

is

a broad "praia

"

which causes the stream to flow along the right bank of the Sao
Francisco.
U2)on the water-side, which is caked with mud, we
found, as might be expected, a liner diamantine "formariio.''
The higher parts of the beach were occupied by a negro family,
whose hut was in a little garden of beans and water-melons. Here
the latter thrive upon sand, almost pure of humus, and where
" corn " is short and wilted. They sold to us for three coppers
melancias, very cheap compared with what the fruit will be

five

Bees were bus}^ among the flowers, the pink
Crista de gallo, Hke our '' cockscomb," and the thorny-leaved,
yellow-blossomed dog-rose-like Sarrao (Argemone mexicana)
called '' Cardo Santo," or holy thistle, from its real or supposed
further down.

medicinal properties.*"

From

green glaucous leafage

all

this point

down

we

the river.

shall see

its

grey-

Another plant with

white flower, pink stigma, long stamens, delicate leaves which
curl

up

damp

in

in the sun,

and viscous

stalk, will

trial of

over the

The

verdure

call it

the taint, declared

the ''stink-plant" of the Mississippi valley.

common on the

its dull

The people

places near the settlements.

tambe, and Mr, Davidson, after

show

it

Musto be

Tiririca rush, so

streams of the Brazil, resembles paj^yrus, and towers

Capim Amargoso

(bitter grass), a large

broad

flag

much

We

loved by cattle*

saw but few animals on the banks, as the
owners had begun to drive them inland*
A few ^ears ago one of
'^

Azara

(i.
132)
Prince M-ax.
a remedy for snake

fcvevfs

;

its fee in
891) refers to it an

iiiCntloiis
(i.

l>ites,

The

wnr'l snti-

the Carduus iJcnedictus of the olfl
Morld, couccrning which Me may ask, ** Ik-

gcsts

nc<liitiis

I

mIiv IJencdictiis

,'

FROM JANUAELl TO CARUNHAXHA.

CHAP, xviii.]

275

the breeders lost 300 head by the sudden floodmg of the Green
River.

The Rio Verde

discharges tlu'ough a bending avenue of fine

The water
timber a considerable stream about 150 feet broad.
was of a dii'ty muddy green, "heavy," as the crev\^ remarked, and
sensibly

mthout, however, the taste of saltpetre. These
on the Ui^per Sao Francisco were remarked by Dr.
they attract swarms of fish, who enjoy them as beasts do
salt,

saline influents

Couto

;

the "salt-licks."

heard of

many

From

this part

similar formations

leagues below Carunhanha

;

:

downwards we
the Riacho do Ramalho, ten
of the valley

the Riacho dos Cocos, falling into the

northern Rio das Egoas, and others.
tion

Salinas or deep

;

They

are

worth explora-

deposits of sea-salt would be better than

gold-mmes, and open a fount of wealth to some enterprising man.
The water might be treated like saltpetre, made into lye, and left

must be here imda Barra do Rio Grande, and even from

At present

to sun in pans or troughs.

ported from the Villa
Joazeiro

On

;

consequently

it

salt

costs per quarta * 8 §000 to 12 $000.

Green River there is yet more
We were charmed with the soft and amene scener}*
cultivation.
about the Fazenda das ]\Ielancias, backed by the Serra da Malhada, a north-eastern oftset from the Montes Altos, the further
wall of the Rio Verde Pequeno.
Presently ^Ye passed the mouth
of the Japore, a considerable stream draining the Geraes massed
the
together in our maps as the Chapadfio de Santa Maria
the
j^ilots
confluence is known as the Barra do Prepece, which
could not explain,
I believe it to be the name of some Indian
chief.
The next influent, also from the left, was the Riacho do
Ypoeii'a.
Mr. Halfeld translates this Indian term " lagoa," or
the low right bank beyond the

;

"

whereas the " lagoa
It is becoming a constant feature, found where the
is perennial.
banks are flat, and have not, as above Januaria, waves of high ground
perpendicular to the main artery, and dividing the tributaries from
" tanque d'agua," but

it

the east and from the west.

is

temporary,

We here miss these heights, which often

extended to the water, rising above

all

inundations, and forming

dyke to contain the channel. The low lands subtending
the river-ridge are periodically filled by the floods, which are thus
a natural

'

The

old ''Broaca " of 2t prates (each

no longer mentioned. The smaller
20 medimeasure is the medida of i 11 »s.
4 lbs.)

is

:

das to o'i (at Joazeiro), or from SO to 12^
]])s.,make the " quart'." vhich everywhere
varies.
r

-2

'THE

^t6

HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

[chap, xviii.

The
on tlie upper stream.
swamps afterwards dry up or become ^'nateiros," i.e., slimes.
Wonderful draughts of fish, especiall}^ the Surubim and the Trahira, are taken from the Ypoeiras, and some parts of the valley are
literally manured with fin.
A boat-load is caught by dragging
branches along the Avaters as they dry up, and the denizens may
prevented from extending

be caught

We

Avith the

as

far,

hand.

Carunhanha,*
a large western influent which di^ams the Serra da Tauatinga, and
is a counter' versant of the Parana or Paranan, the eastern headran quickly past the Pontal da Barra do

llio

some tw^enty leagues
to the Serra or dividing ridge, through which it breaks
then
it becomes a succession of rocks and rapids.
Large timber,
especially cedar, is here felled
made into balsas or rafts, and
floated down for sale.
Seen from the south the low sole appears
overgrown with trees, a view from the west discloses a river about
300 feet, curving through grand vegetation, and it has probably
shifted south-westwards or up-stream.
The left jaw is a mass of
sand, disposed in waving lines
a little further down, and forming
water of the Tocantins.

It is navigable for

up

;

;

;

a dark line,
is

a deposit of fine purple slate in slabs or layers.

is

not wholly neglected.

and twenty

It

feet

saw several pieces two inches thick
long, and smaller sizes were cut into round and

oblong tables;

I

they were without stains or signs of p^Tites.f

The Carunhanha

is

the western frontier between the Provinces

Minas Geraes and Bahia, and at the Pontal or Ponto do
Escuro a guard was stationed, and duties upon goods were
levied.
It was deserted on account of the malignant typhoid
of

fevers,

called " Carneiradas,"

(carneiros).

which butcher

men

like

sheep

Since 1852 the receivership has been transferred to

the right bank.

We

made

Malhada," or to give it the full name,
N^ S^ do Eosario da ^'Malhada," i.e., a shady place where cattle
gather during the hot hours.
Here the Sao Francisco broadens
to 2650 feet, and turns to the north-east
the Carunhanha pourfor the

*'

;

ing down the

channel strews the main stream with snags and
branchy trunks, and forms a sand-bar, and a shoal which extends
left

some way down.

We

were obliged to round the northern end of

* It is thus generally written
other
forms are Carynhanha, Carinhenha, CariuT
licnha, and Caronhanlia (preferred by Dr.
Couto)
it is su])poscd to be a corruption of
;

;

Arinhanha, the large

+ M. Halfeld
calls it

otter,

notices this qnariy,

Phyllado or argillaceous

schist.

and

FROM JANUARIA TO CARUXHANHA.

CHAP. XVIII.]

277

Brig Eliza's " head up to the southThe shore being exposed to the south-west wind, wliich

the latter, and to bring the
east.

came on

*'

emCoroa da Malliada,
The single barca which was at anchor
above the settlement.
followed her example, but the canoes remained staked to the
ba}'

heavily, yeasting the stream, I sent the craft to

herself (ensaccar-se)

leeward

of

the

shore.

The

bank of sand and clay cut in steps by the ebb
of the floods, grown with a few weeds, but bare of trees.
A few
horses and mules lingered over a scanty meal, and boys were
fishing and bathing near a sandspit, where the water is too shalPoi*to is a

low for the dreaded Piranha. The settlement faces a little to the
north of west, the houses on the bank are of mud and tile, one
only being whitewashed
is

;

the long ends, of wliich the greater part

occupied by the door, fronts the stream, and the

compounds

are

used as

''

horses "

for

rails

of the

The

drying clothes.

settlement consists of a water-street and two parallel thoroughHere is the Rosario Church, a
fares, T^ith a central square.
before it stands
ground-floor fronted by a deep sheltering porch
a rude black cross, bearing amongst the instruments of the
Passion a very rude cock, and planted round with the Bai'ba de
;

Barata, or

''

cockroach's beard."*

The houses show
Malliada

is

for about a

a water-mark three feet high.

Above the

the Sangradom'o de Santa Cruz, which every year

week

in January or February, permits the floods

nearty to surround the settlement.

After that the flow

is

sur-

rounded

by stagnant water, in places so deep that a boatpole does not touch bottom.
Of com'se this evil might
easily be remedied, but who will undertake the cure which is
" everybody's business ? "
To the east the land becomes sandy,
and produces good cotton and sugar, the castor shrub, and the
ever-gTeen Joazeiro-tree,+ a gigantic shady umbrella for man and
The level here begins to rise above all floods, towards the
beast.
Serra de Yuyii, or lujaiy, | distant six leagues. It is a segment
* This is tlie Poinciana

pulcliemma, a
leguminous shi'ub, supposed to
have been brought from Asia.
According
to the System it is rich in " stryphno, " the

to the System, its acrid, Litter, and astrinHere, as in
gent bark promotes emetism.
the Sertao of Ceara, it presei-ves during the
diy season its foliage, which is eaten by

astringent j)rinciple.
+ "Zizyphiis Joazeiro " (A9eifafa Joazeii'o), a species of Jujube tree
an ally to
the hawthorn (Prof. Aga.ssiz).
Accoixling

cattle.

brilliaut

;

+ This is a Tupy word, which no one
could explain.
The range Js also called
Serra da Malhada.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

278

[chap, xviir.

of an arch extending from east to south-east, and opposing its

concavity to the river

there

;

is

apparently

a

projecting elbow or

a buttress which forms an apex fronting to the west.
to be calcareous,

to

abound in

is

a vast level

and

of the Siio Francisco

The western bank

saltpetre.
;

It is said

the nearest range

is

distant

This Serra do Eamalho, more generally
known as'* A Serra," is also calcareous and off- sets from the
great dividing ridge between Bahia and Goyaz.
I had a letter for Lieut. Silverio Goncalvez de Ai'aujo Lou-

about fifteen leagues.

Administrator of the duties payable to the Provincial

reiro,

Mmas

Geraes (Administrada da Cobran^a do Thesouro Provincial da Provincia de Minas). We called upon him
at his house in '' Water Street," and sat there talking over
He hails from Ouro Preto and having spent twelve
coffee.

Treasury of

;

months in this vile hole, where of his escort, a sergeant and four
men, all but one are dead or absent, he pui'poses to leave it as
soon as possible.
Lieut. Loureiro gave

me

a printed paper, dated October 19,
several " Recebedorias " collected a
the
1860, and showing that

Here imports and exports are
both taxed, and onl}^ salt going up-stream does not pay. Three
per cent, are taken on cotton, minor articles of provisions, worked

total of 600Z. to 800?. per

tobacco

annum.*

(including Pixua,

a

kind of Cavendish prepared for

che™ig), clothes, pottery bowls, canoes and woods for fui'niture

hammocks,

wliips, saddles,

and so

and-a-half per cent, and six per cent,

;

liides,

is

recovered from grain,

which is the best thing in this
ipecacuanha, quinine, and precious stones, the

raw provisions, including
place

;

Coffee is rated at three-

forth.

x)oultry,

The horse, valued at 51. is taxed
diamond only excepted.
3 $160; the native mule (8Z.), 4g.960; the Sao Paulo mule,
5g000, and black cattle, 0$600. These animals are driven to
it crosses difficult
Bahia by a vile road which their hoofs made
,

;

Serras without bridges or any "benefits," and the distance

is

130

leagues.

A

white

man walked

in whilst

we were

sitting

with Lieut.

Loureiro, and astonished us by his civilised aspect, amongst

all

Gente de Cor; he was introduced as Dr. (M.D.) Joao Lopes
Kodrigues, who had graduated at Eio de Janeiro, and had settled

this

* In 1852-54 M. Halfeld makes the
exports reach a value of 21,200/. ; imports,

34,5007,
13,300/.

;

balance in favour of the latter,

FROM JAXUARIA TO lAKCXHAXHA.

CUAP. xviri.]

279

one had the indecenc}- to ask him the reason
why he complained of the Preguiea do Sertao -the idleness of
the wild country and of stunulns heing totally wanted, except
at Carunhanlia.

No

—

;

—

when

a stranger happens to pass.

I have heard the

same

m

Dublin society possibly Dr. Eodrigues, like a certain Abyssinian
traveller, found *' making up his mind " a severe and protracted
process. He had suifered from the climate of the River Valley,
alwaj's cold-dami) or hot-damp, so different from the dry air
and sweet waters of the sandy table-lands on both sides of,
and generally at short distances from, the river. He had none of
the pretentious manner and address usually adopted by the
Bahiano, who holds himself the cream of Brazilian cream, and
he readily accepted a passage in the raft to his home, about two
;

miles dovm. stream.

The
their

denizens of the Malhada have a fever- stricken look, and
are bistre-coloured

lips

as tlieh-

faces.

Yet within the

houses we heard singing and clapping of hands, after the fashion
and, as we embarked, a Httle crowd of women colof Guinea
;

lected to prospect us.
calico, a

The

dress was a skirt of light chmtz or

chemise or rather a

and above

slurt, generally a shawl,

and below comb or kerchief, and slippers.
We dropped down the still fierce stream, here treacherous and
much dreaded. The strong up-draught often keeps craft in port
for fourteen days
they load hea^-ily, and the waves are likely to
The weather looked especially ugly, but our
damage the cargo.
companion consoled us by declaring that we were fast outstripping the rains. Here showers had begun to fall only five daj^s
The
ago, and were called *' chuvas de enramar," of branching.
wet season will not set in till November, when the Vento Geral
We escaped swampwill shift to the south, the normal quarter.
ing with some difficulty, and presently reached the head of the
Ilha da Carunhanlia, which splits the stream into two channels of
;

The com'se of the river is here to the northformerly'
east, and the western arm is apparently ^\idening
The islet is about two miles
children could swim across it.

about equal

deiDth.*'

;

grows fine cotton, and
as upon the Sao Francisco, lower down, manioc planted during
the Vasante Geral (March and April), produces a large root

long, sandy, but of admirable fertility.

*

]\r.

channel

Halfeld remarks that the right
low and full of shallows.
The

is

It

eastern bank
western.

is

only half the height of the

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

280

for farinlia before the flood-time

fit

Here

is

a

good

for

site

a

ill

bridge

[cHAr. xviii.

November and December.
to

connect

Minas with

Goyaz.

At the landing-phice

are large blocks of Pissarra or Saibro do

Rio, a felspathic clay, yellow-tinged with iron

;

this

bank

is

to 75 feet high, or 5 to 25 feet high above the annual rise.

much

55
It

up by a surface drain, now an Esbarrancado, but a Corrego during the rains, dividing it into waves of
high and low ground, and loudly calling for a levee. Sao Jose
da Carunhanha is a larger place than it appears from up-stream
there are some 450 houses,* none double-storied, and mostly
flanked by the Gupiara or Agua furtada.
Though noble timber
Young cocoa-nut trees
is here, the wood-work is mostl}^ sticks.
grow well in the court-yards, and the produce of the adult in
this saline nitrous soil is 200 nuts per annum.
In the north of the town we found an enormous square, the
Largo do Socavem t it has a cross and symptoms of a chaiDel.
Bej'ond the settlement a Sangradouro with a sandy bed, based
on hard reddish clay, breaks the bank with a gap some fifty
yards broad, and the floods form a back-water which does
however,

is,

cut

;

not extend

far.

The

best houses are in the southern square,

where fewer people squat on logs before their doors there is
in the latter our Januaria man
a Camara and a prison
found a friend who had been resident for nearly four years,
after kniving a brother boatman in a drunken quarrel.
The
Matriz of Sao Jose da Carunhanha suggests nothing but an
old termitarium, yet it has a bell which sounded for us the
;

;

Angelus.
It

now becomes

diflicult to

collect

information.

local

The

great Province of Bahia is behind most of her rivals in i)opular
toi^ograj^hical works,

and those which she

i^ossesses are too

cum-

brous and discursive for the traveller, whilst Minas Geraes has
her Almanaks, and Sao Paulo has two handbooks. Carunhanha,

dismembered from the Allla da Barra, rose to township thirty
is now capital of the Comarca of Urubu in the Bahia
Province. Its municipality formerly extended to the Bio das
Egoas, the western branch of the Paracatu
here, however, a
villa has lately been established under the name of N'^ S'^ da

years ago, and

;

*

In 1852 there were 265.
is the name of a town in Portngal,

t It

but none of tlie Carunhanha people knew
wliat it meant.

\

—

CHAP. xviiT.]

FROM

JAI>}UAPvIA

TO OARUXHAXHA.

281

This mimicipio still numbers about
slaves are
10,000 souls, of whom 1000 to 1200 are in the town
rare, and few fazendeii'os have more than 40 to 50 head. The post
arrives three times a month,* and each side of the river has a
distant thirty leagues.! The prinfair-weather road to Januaria
cipal imports are from Joazeiro, and include salt and diy and wet
There are no rich men, and the chief people breed
goods.

Glona do Rio das Egoas.

;

—

cattle

for

They

export.

also

send

" sola "-leather,

hides

here worth each 1 $ 250, and at least double below Joazeiro
The land would produce rice
a Httle sugar and dried fish.

Hereabouts also the Geraes grow
known all down the river as Calemba or

and cotton in abundance.
a

medicinal root

Calunga. I

Dr. Rodrigues led us to his house in the square, and offered
us the luxuries of sofa and rocking chaii', wax candles, and a
map of the war moreover he gave me his photograph. I sent

—

an introductory letter to the Delegate of PoHce, Capitao Theotonio de Sousa Lima. That young man did not even return a message possibly he, a Liberal, had seen us walking with the doctor,
;

a Conservative.

Again the stranger was tempted

to

exclaim,

Confound their politics!" Unfortunately for us, the Juiz de
Du-eito of the Comarca, Dr. Antonio Luis Affonso de Carvallio,
was on leave at Bahia
all spoke well of this distinguished
*'

;

^'Curioso."

We
let

reached the raft in time to prepare for a night of devilry
A cold wind from the north rushed through the hot
loose.

and precipitated a deluge in embryo. Then the gale chopped
round to the south, and produced another and a yet fiercer do's\Tifall.
A treacherous lull and all began again, the wmd howling
and screaming from the east. The thunder roared and the lightair,

ning flashed from

all

directions

;

the stream rose in wavelets,

mentioned by St. Hil. (III. i. 164-5).
The System (p. 93) calls it herva amargosa
(Simaba ferruginea or Pichrodendron CaThe bark of the root and trunk of
lunga).
this Rutacea, which is much valued as a
simple, has an unpleasant, bitter, acrid,
and astringent taste it is stomachic and

* The 5th, the 15th, and the 25th are
the days appointed, and this tri-monthly
delivery is- the rule of the river. Of course
punctuality is not to be expected.
t The reaches will now become straight,
and the land routes, which everpvhere
connect, are but little shorter than the

It is

water lines.
t Probably the word is taken from the
African Colombo or Calomba (Cocculus palmatus), which gives the ra<lix Colombo.

anti-febrile.

;

of,

heard it everywhere spoken
but no specimen was procurable under
I

a couple of days' delay,

282

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

[chaf. xviit.

which washed over the " Eliza " and shook her by the bumping
just before day-break, the crisis
hot
took place, and we snatched a few minutes of such sleep as
heads and cold feet, and dogs persistently baying at the weather,
of the tender-canoe.

would permit,

At

last,

CHAPTER
FRO:\r

XIX.

CARUNHAXHA TO SENHOR
FouETH Travessia,

2-i^

BO:Sl

JESUS DA LAPA.

Leagues.

—

—

THE LUGAE DA CACHOEIRA. THE PARATeCA
QOOSELESS MICHAELMAS.
STREAM, AITD THE DISPUTED "RIO RAMALHO."— DIAMAXTLNE DEPOSITS.
THE ALLIGATOR NOW KILLED OUT. THE CONDE DA POXTE. THE
ASSASSIX GUIMARAES. THE MOUXTAIX OP THE HOLY CAVE DESCRIBED.
THE \aLLAGE. THE HOLY CAYE. THE STOUT-HEARTED YICAE, REV.
FRAXCISCO DE FREITAS SOUEIRO.— THE " UXIFORMITARIAN " EXVIES THE
" CATASTROPHIST,"

A

—
—

—

—

.

.

.

—

—

—

lapa que esconde alto mysterio.

Caram7/t%

Michaelmas Day found us

7, 8.

gooseless, Avorn out and cross

song was hushed, and silenced was the voice of

chaff.

;

the

After a

couple of dull leagues we reached the Lugar da Cachoeii'a, famed

The

made

and quartinhas (guggiets), ornamented with red taua, placed upon the
naturally yellow groundwork hefore burnmg. What is here bought
for two coppers fetches six at Joazeiro
our men made a small
pui'chase, and the prospect revived their spii'its.
The Cachoeii'a
took its name from a ridge of rock forming a diagonal rapid across
the stream. A sand-bar has now been thrown up, and we passed
On the left bank, which
over the place ignoring its old break.
floods,
and
which
is
drained
by two ^' bleeders,"
rises above the
there are a few huts. Further do^^i is the Fazenda dos Angicos,*
where the yellow variet}- of Acacia is common.
We halted at noon on the left bank near the Fazenda do
for pottery.

clay is

into neat tallias (jars)

;

Espiiito Santo

whose bark
*

M.

is

;

it

has a large grove of Joazeiro or Jujube trees,

sold for tanning.

Halfeld, I liave remarked, calls
(povoagoes) what the pilots speak
The words are here nearly
of as fazendas.
synonyroous ; the fazenda is a breeding
villages

The

straight reaches,

some twenty

agriciiltui-al establishment, often containing a little chapel and a dozen huts
belonging to as many proprietors in partnership.

or

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

284

[chap. xix.

miles long, and the narrowness of the stream, 1460 feet, greatlyincrease its flow, which averaged three knots an hour. The morning rain had diminished to a spitting, but a strong wind came up

from the south and played about the west.

Here the people do

not shout
Honor be

to Mudjekeewis,

who is also of the Pau-puk-Keewis
symptoms induced the men to caulk

These signs and
the port canoe, wdiich had
scraped bottom till the cracks formed a leak. At 3 p.m. we had
to repeat the operation on a large praia to the right, opposite
the Fazenda das Pedras.
Here we found bits of pure saltpetre,
and a trunk of Brauna tree almost lignite, while the diamantine
*'
formacao " appeared under water, between wind and water, and
above water.
About 5 p.m. we "knocked off work" at a long
f\miily.

beach near the mouth of the Parateca * called a river, it is a
mere streamlet, a fillet of water now coursing down the right
bank, and even during the floods it admits canoes for only two
;

leagues.

A

barque and sundry dug-outs were being repaired by a

dark carpenter, who told us five lies in three minutes, and wdio
apparently would have ridden twenty leagues to unburden himself.
He pointed to the " finest place on the Sao Francisco,"
the Barra da Yj)oeii'a on the Pernambuco, as the boatmen
the

now Bahian bank.

still

was the usual high bluff, red above,
white below, with sand up-stream and bush down-stream.
The
neat huts upon the level ground reminded me by their small size
and " natty " look of the pretty one-street villages on the Old
Calabar and the Gaboon Rivers.
call

Sept. 30.

—Durmg

mist-laden clouds lay

It

At dawn, low,
heavy where Carunhanha was, and lighter

the night rain

fell

again.

vapom-s coursed from south-east to north-west,but far behind us.
Presently the climate became that of Malabar, and before 8 a.im.
the pilot actually removed his black coat.
About noon a strong
southerly breeze

There was nimbus

swept through the well- washed

atmosphere.

to the south as well as to the north, but

we

were not molested, and the weather was peculiarly comfortable
and good for work. It was a '' dies notanda," this our first fine
day upon the Pio de Sao Francisco.

Tljis

sitreaiu

ulso sliows si^ins of diainonds in its sandbanks.

CAEUNHANHA TO SENHOR BOM JESUS DA

CHAP. XIX.]

We

LAPA.

set out at 5 a.m., and, after passing the usual features,*

285

we

landed at 7.30 below the Sangradouro da Volta de Cmia to
inspect the large E. Ramalho, which in ]\Ir. Keith Johnston here

Xothing appeared but a mere ditch, a
Eiacho.f Most men agreed that the Rio do Ramallio is a branch
Hence, possibly,
of the Rio do Corrente, further down stream.
the confusion in our maps, which give a Rio Corrente entering
tlie imaginary Ramalho, and to the north a Rio Correntes, which
The beach again afforded good
is the true Rio do Corrente.
sign of diamonds, including the cattivo, the crj^stal, and the
canga-stone.
Barboza, '' Barba de Veneno," picked up a wax
foot, some yotiye offering that had remained here en route to the
Bom Jesus. He forgot to leave it at the shrine, and thus all
our little accidents and evils were chaffingiy attributed to him.
We passed in succession the Barra do Riacho das Raas, from
the right, and the Pitubinha and Pituba, formerly Fazendas. The
Rio das Raas, also on the east, is a mere rivulet, whose waters are
said to be fetid.
The opposite side showed a regular and tabular
bank of soft greensward, adorned with tall trees. At the Ilha da
Coroa Grande, a sand-bar and clump of vegetation, there was a
shallow and a tide-rij). We took the right channel, and both
abound in snags. Of this part M. Halfeld says, " there are many
ca3Taans (Jacares), of ashen-brown colour, and one with a yellow
throat, called the Ururau, which is the Crocodile (!) I
Frightful
numbers appeared, and my boats were surrounded by more than
thii'ty."
He also mentions Capivaras, which similarly have
enters from the west.

"made

tracks."

About the " Frogs' River
pendicular to the

mouth was

we sighted

a long blue range per-

stream, and extending far inland. §

At

its

memento of some forgotten
At 3.30 we passed the Ilha da Boa

the Ilha da Batalha, a

struggle with the wild
Yista, a

"

men.

sand-bar in mid-stream.

A

On

the

left

bank was the

*
gTeeu islet on tlie Peruam side
leads to "As Barreiras," a red bhiff, wavj'
in outline with ijrojections and bays ; the

Ramallio Riviilet exists near Pitubinha. M.
Halfeld shoAvs a drain, but does not name

central depression is the only part subject
to the "tip over" during floods.
Then

+ This is probably the Jacare de papo
amarello (yellow-throated cayman), which
is su^^posed to be more dangerous than the
common Crocodilus sclei-ops. I do not know
whether there be, as has been suspected,
any specific difference between the two.
§ Mr. Keith Johnston's map places along
the stream a range which does not exist.

appeared the Ilha da yolta de Cima, where
the stream bends to the east-noi-th-east
it
is a strip of yellow-gi-een vegetation, with
its ruddy bluli' a league long, and its San;

gradouro.

+ Some

authorities told

me

that a

little

it.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZiL.

286

[vuxf. xix.

Fazenda of the same name. Here in old colonial times began
the enormous property of a Portuguese, known onh^ as the Conde
da Ponte the family has long left the river. The Fazenda da
;

Boa

Vista afterwards belonged to the

*'

Assassin" (Antonio Jose)

Guimaraes, who sixteen years ago murdered his brother, the

He w^as

Commandant Superior Jose Guimaraes.

afterwards killed

by a party of mule-trooj^ers. A canoe was
fastened to the bank, and w^e counted twenty huts, faced by a tall
thin wooden cross.
The men indolently stretched under the
trees, reiolied gruffly to the extempore songs and bawling chorus
of my crew.
Here they are contented with a curral or fenced
enclosure for their animals when driven from pasture, with railedoff plots of manioc and corn, melons running over the sand, and

in Goj^az,

it

is

said

in rare places with a few stems of arboreous cotton.

ture of the tiled hut

The

furni-

a girao or cot, a sleeping-hide, a few

is

benches, riduig apparatus, wooden bowls and cooking pots, whilst
the gun and the line never allow

them

to see the face of hunger.

These are humble comforts, but thej^ far exceed those attainable
by the dwellers about the Great Rapids. The wigwam was as
w^ell furnished, even to the w^ooden ferule for thrashing the women,
which hung to the ceiling.
Near the Fazenda da Volta de Baixo, on the right bank, we
heard the dash of falhng water, and at 5.30 p.:m. we landed for the
night upon one of the three " Illias do Campo largo."
The clear
dry minute sand crunched with a peculiar chipping sound, like
snow under foot-friction and here again diamantine deposits lay
;

parallel with

in lines

de Sincora,

And

it

from

afar.

is

is

AVe are now in about the
Almas, whose eastern horn, the Serra

the water.

latitude of the Serra das

one of the richest diamond

districts in the Brazil.

evident from the state of the sand that

—During

it

has floated

and we had some
off.
Observing the cirrus and cirro-cumulus
high in au-, the pilot quoted a proverb similar to om' own.*
The channel between the sand-bar was very foul with timber.
On the right was the head of the Ypoeira or baj^ou, which spreads
out into a little lake about its central course, and returns to the
Oct. 1.

the night the water

fell,

delay in pushing

*

Ceo ])C(hcuto,
Oil clmva oil vciito.

Oh

nuulanria de tciniio.

A

.stone-paved

or change to diy,

.sky,

lain or vincl hi^li,

—

!

UARUXHANHA TO SENHOR BOM

CHAP. XIX.]

main artery above the " Lapa."

Below

JESL'S

it is

DA LAPA.

the Ilha do

237

Medo

—

another reminiscence of the dark and bloody days. As
we bent to the right, or north-east, the Serrote da Lapa rose tall
and abrupt over the vegetation based on the river sand. Above
of Fear

them was a

slight central

depression, and a yellow gash noted

Below it ran diagonally to
the stream a thick avenue of Jacare * and other trees, showing
where the bayou re-enters the parent stream.
As we advanced northwards, the Serrote \iewed from the west
changed its form to that of a headless sphynx, or a crouching
And now we could distinguish the
lion, the popular comparison.
peculiarities of a scene, whose novelty has raised it to sanctity.
It is the mere skeleton of a mountain, disposed with a north-east
It is
to south-west trend, and Ijing lone upon a dead level.
the position of the mysterious cave.

remarkable for perpendicular Hues bristhng against the an*, mth
The sides, fretted and
ribs which resemble finials or pmnacles.
jagged like the flying buttresses of a Gothic temple, are cut up

and are sharp-pointed by weathermg. It has
cleavage rather than stratification deep black cracks, at altitudes
varying from ten to thii'ty feet, run horizontall}', forming gigantic
into salient angles,

;

coiu'ses

of masonrv.

On

the north-eastern side these com'ses

are slightly dislocated, dipping towards a
centre.

The south-western end

bushy depression in the

a vertical precipice, with a

is

long broad yellow stripe, where the stone had been removed.

The

colom' of the mass generally

is

grey-slate, breaking blue,

with fine crystals of the whitest calcaire.

A

few tiled roofs, and one white-washed house, rismg in their

above the trees and shrubs, directed us to
landed on the right jaw of the bayou, which

line at the hill base

We

the Port.

dm'ing the floods becomes a harbour of refuge.

much
tall

water-waslied, led to a plain

trees

;

groAm

^\T.th

A

tall

bank,

grass, shrubs,

and

one of the latter, an acacia, with golden blossoms,

Deep

emitted a heavy cloying scent.

pits, cut for

adobes, showed

the nature of the gTound, sand and clay, with scatters of limestone.

Hence

cultivation here flourishes

;

the people plant garlic

and onions, melons and water-melons, pumpkins-^especially the
^ So called from iU rough :-oaly bark
the word ih possilily a eoutraction of Jacare
ihi;a (or iga, a canoe !), -svhich supplied the
"Indians" v%-ith du^-outs twentv to thirtv
;

feet long.

f Colonel Accioli calls it a graaitic
umtion
it is, ho^^ever, all limestone.
;

foi'-

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

288

—

Girimu
rice, and

[chap. xix.

and the castor bean, Quiabos or Hibiscus
a little maize, sweet potatos, and excellent cotton.
We
also passed a well-railed field, whose freshly-cut grass preserved
the aroma of ha}-.
Presently we entered the settlement, which is detestably situaharicots,

even the African avoids the vicinity of great rocks. Here
eighteen houses, disposed in arch-shape, front towards an unted

;

finished church,

They

which stands

at the base of the great stone pile.

upon foundations of
and one is solidly made, with attempts at
pilasters.
The total of the tenements may number 200, and, as all
are inhabited, the population cannot be less than 1000 souls.*
AVe found fresh meat, and bought tiinoca cakes, whilst every
vendor applied to us for medicine. We can hardly wonder that
the}^ suffer from psoriasis, cutaneous eruptions, terrible fevers, and
are all of the ground-floor order, built

rough limestone

;

inflammations of the spleen (opilacoes).

Besides the limestone

reverberator, they have the full benefit of a large Ypoeira

swamp.

Thus the stone raises the temperature of the air, and the heavier
marsh poison rushes in to supply its place.
At the crescent a party of pilgrims were mounting their
animals, and were being dismissed with a " Bom Jesus da Lapa
guide ye

We

"

!

walked to the south-west, noticing in the

occidental face of the buttress several ogival entrances, doubtless
natural.

In the higher

degraded to
spring

;

soil,

levels,

wherever the rock had been

trees displayed the filmy light-green foliage of

the most conspicuous were the Joazeiro, the Angico, and

The stone was clad with lichens
and air-plants grey as itself. At the south-western end is the
tallest bluff", which contains the grotto.
Here a huge column,
the delicate Pitombeira myrtle.

horizontally fractured in three places, and separated from the

main wall by
cliff'-foot

is

a perpendicular fissure, threatens to

fall.

At the

the Ypoeira channel, and here large fragments of

limestone, cut into curious shapes by the water, block up the

ledge which once allow^ed a path.

Six rough steps of blue limestone lead up to the Lapa, which

A

faces west.

above

M.

it

stout

wooden door, with ponderous

two shuttered windows,

Ilah'clcl

says l28 Jiouscs
is the rule.

where alj^enteeism

aud 250

Avith

souls,

lock,

and

''rose-light" and drain

a very

unusucil proportion,

except

cuAV. xrx.]

CARUXHAXHA TO SENHOE BOM JE^US DA

are flanked

pipe,

by thin

LAPA.

289

of the burnt brick and lime

pilasters

Inside, ten steps of brick, placed
composing the entrance.
edgeways, and dangerously narrow for crippled devotees, admit to
I looked in vain for aught to
the body of the Holy Grotto.
justif}' the vivid imagination of Rocha Pitta, which saw here an
entrance large enough for a city, a stone bell * made by Nature's
hand, marvellous columns of stalactite, and a high altar with
collateral shrines ready for

The Cavern,

human

use.

bends to the right, and
extends forty paces in depth, widening from ten to twenty paces
at the far end.

the

all

a very vulgar feature,

The

tamped earth, which, being like
collected by coloured people to be

floor is of

Serra, mu'aculous, is

used as medicine.

It is the

Near the entrance the

sovereignest

ceiling is

blackened; over the shrine

it

is

flat,

thmg

for a headache.

water-w©rn, and smoke-

somewhat arched.

Down

the

length of the blue limestone runs a light-yellow band, forming

In the vicinity of the steps there is a
The narrower end,
stalagmite resembHng a Hindoo " lingam."
and both sides of the grotto, are supported with masonry. On
truncated stalactites.

the

left of

one advancing towards the

altar,

wooden

steps lead to

and lace fringed with cloth. The
awnmg of this pulpit is a projectmg ledge of stone. Further on
Opis a shallow recess in which some hermit has been buried.
varanda
the
projects
posite it, at the broadest part of the tunnel,
a

box covered with red

silk,

Here, upon a bench,
lounged a few idlers, chiefly negroes, enjoying the fresh draught
from the green-avenued bayou below. The atmosphere reminded
or balcony, a natural opening in the wall.

me

thermometer showed only 85° (F.) f
The high altar is at the further and broader end of the Cave.
It is approached by a raised i)latform of dislocated wooden
The shrine is fronted by a tall
oblongs, showing old graves.
central arch, between two of smaller size, all three lined with
That to the right opens
painted wood, and hung with ex-votos.
ui)on a narrow passage behind the adytum the ascent is bad,
the boarded floor threatens to fall, and there is an odour of
of Yambii, yet the

;

death

—perhaps

the calcaire

* Meaning, I presume, a thin
which could be used like
The only bells now are two small
hung to the usual wooden gallows,
tected by a small tiled roof.
stone,

VOL.

II.

may be

plate of

a gong.
articles,

and pro-

+

of that kind vulgarly called
]\L

Halfeld found

it

95° (F.), nearly

The bats of which he comblood-heat.
plains have disappeared, leaving no sign,
and the dead are no longer buried within
the cave.

U

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

290

" stiiikstone."

The

left

arcliway

is

the

mouth

[chap. xix.

of a recess heaped

up with heads and faces, arms and legs of beeswax, and other
offerings which commemorate the sanative powers of the spot.
In the highest part, under the central arch, and protected by a
wooden tunnel ceiling, stands the Senlior Bom Jesus da Lapa.
The little crucifix is, to judge by the ghastly style of the colouring, modern. A polite devotee assured me that it had been found
here, and that, despite m-any attempts, no one had ever been able
to remove it.*
Upon the ledge at its feet are statuettes and two
candles burnmg.
On the altar below there are more images, and
six lights, whilst a massive

and expensive

silver lamp,

bought

at

Bahia, hangs from the ceiling outside. Be^'ond the railings of
painted wood stand portable chapels of Nossa Senhoras, each

about ten feet high, sentinelling the shrine.
tant of

''Papel

all,

a strong

box

Also, most impor-

of iron, labelled in the largest letters,

—

Cobre," catches the first glance.
This place of pilgrimage has the highest possible reputation
devotees flock to it from all directions, and from great distances,
even from Piauhy. Sometimes there may be a crowd of 400

;

The

visitors, t

average daily receipts, I was told, amount to

20 §000, and on Sundays to 50^000. The "esmolas " are paid
to a certain Lieut. -Colonel Francisco Teixeira, who is the Procurador of the shrine. My crew when exhorted to visitation,
lest they should call then- employer " herege," pleaded " who
prays, pays."
They went, however, and the pilot gave fourteen
vintens, the rest two. I left something at the foot of the crucifix
the old Sacristan did not readily find it, and he hurriedly sent a
message, asking the amount of my alms.
;

We
heat.

the fane very

left

Our next
This

Ypoeira.

little

impressed, except by the

step was to the Porto, on the right

is

the seat of trade.

We

at the

is

making

saltpetre,

which

is

bank of

found a few houses,

half-a-dozen sheds, one barca and five canoes.

industry

damp

The

principal

here found in quantities

south-eastern side of the Serrote.

It is a constituent of

these calcareous soils, the effect of atmospheric air decomj)osing the limestone.
The process of extracting it is a mere
all

Thus, at Cairo and in other Moslem
tombs are seen let into tlie walls of
the domiciles.
This is where the bierbearers have been unable to contend with
cities,

an obstinate

corpse,

which

insists

upon

choosing its own sepulture, and becomes so
heavy that none can carry it.
t From Jannaria the best road is on the
eastern bank of the river.

CARUXHAXHA TO SEXHOR BOM JESUS DA

CHAP. XIX.]

lixiviation

LAPA.

£91

the cliocolate-coloured earth, mixed with stone,

;

thrown into a bangiie or

This

strainer.

is

is

generally a square

l)yramid of boarding, with the base upwards, equally useful for
extracting saltpetre or soap-lj^e.

The poorer people

supported by four uprights, and both act like

use a hide,

When

jellj^-bags.

exhausted with hot water, the nitrous particles find their way,

through a tube leading to a '' Coche " or trough,
The '' decoada," as it is now called,
often a bit of old canoe.
is a thin greenish liquid, which must be boiled in a ''tacho," or
duly

filtered,

metal pan,

like that

mounted upon an ant
cess,

and

''

is

sometimes

by repeating the pro-

It is purified

hill.

tacho "

appears in regular six-sided columns of yellow-white

The

colour.

Yellias

it

This

used for sugar.

price is here six coppers
for

it sells

;

on the Upper Rio das

In the Sertao saltpetre is
specimens were unfortunately lost,

10 §000 per arroba.

used medicinally for nitre. My
and I cannot decide whether the material

or

is

is

not the nitrate

of soda like that of Chile, which though usefully employed in

composts and
of

little

We

nitric acid works, attracts so

value for

much damp,

that

it is

making gunpowder.*

introduced ourselves to the Yicar, the Rev. Francisco de

Lamego, near Douro.

Freitas Soueu'o, a native of

He

spoke

with great reserve about the miracles of the place, and declared

must be some 100 years old. The Lapa Sanctuary,
dates from 1701, and was founded by a Lisbonese, the

that the image
hovrever,

Padre Francisco de Mendonca
siderable property.

Jesus,

He

set

(alias

up the

andX'^S'da Soledade, and

Monteiro da Vide,t after sending to
a chapel, and the Padre its priest.

By no means

da Soledade), a
figures

man

of con-

Bom

of N'^ S^ da

the Archbishop D. Sebastio
it

a Visitant,

made

the

Lapa

was the Padre Baldoino
upon the Vicar. He
gravely assured me that all the Serrote was blessed by Heaven,
and consequently that it must contain gold and diamonds. The
crucifix, he said, was at least 367 A'ears old
about the date when
the Brazil was discovered and was worshipped by the wild
people before it was found by Christians.
His red face became
so reticent or so sensible

of the Villa da Barra,

who was

calling

—

—

* Contraband

often been

gunpowder

made with

lias,

saltpetre

however,
brought

from ]\Iinas, even in the daj^s when the
former was a royal monopoly; the latter
in 1816 sold for 4$ 6(H) per arroba at Rio

de Janeiro.

A

brown Bahian
of

lately-mide analysis of

tlie

saltpetre gives a fair account

it.

+ This

ecclesiastic issued the
tutions " of lUhia in 1707.
\-

"
2

Consti-

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

•292

redder when I asked him

if

[chap. xix.

another woukl not do as well.

He

declared, with various inuendoes, that the efficiency resides in

was the work of a miracle that it
was formed by a miracle, and that by a miracle it remains. Substitute for it anything else, and all virtue departs from the Lapa.
I afterwards heard that this reverend was once a person of fair
attainments, but that his devotion to Bacchus had dislodged part
that particular figure

;

that

it

;

of his intellect.

The Vicar had

from an abscess in the leg,
which, despite Lanman and Kemp's Salsaparilla, had nearly
killed him.
When we spoke of ascending the Serrote, he concealed his ailments, and offered to guide us.
He proved himself
a good man, and actually climbed up in his slippers.
At the
base of the hill began a thin grove of Xique-Xique, here a kind
of Cansancao or Jatropha urens.
This is a tall shrub, with
lately recovered

common
much feared

patches of sharp and venomous thorns radiating from
centres.

It extends to the

summit

in clumps,

and

is

Another unpleasant growth is a small Bromelia,
In the lower part I found sundry young
shells of a pink-lipped Achatina (No. 2), which here grows to
a large size.
John Maw^e (i. Chap. 12) records his astonishment at seeing the eggs laid by this '' new variety of helix."
The air was perfumed with the odour of peppermint from a bright
blue floweret, which seemed to have no name.
We ascended the
wooded central depression on the western side, behind the main
bluff", and a steep rough path had been w^orn by the fuel-seeker.
In the shade the thermometer was 94° (F.) The small red ant
stung viciously, and huge iguanas eyed us as if the lazy things
disdained^to run ^way.
We found adhering to the lime a hard
red sandstone, with black spots like syenite, and silex with a
conchoidal fracture, which had the tint and the compactness of
Rosso Antico.*
Beaching the summit of the guile}', we started flights of urubiis,
which had whitened the pinnacle tops. Here there is no soil
except where the rock is resolved into its original elements. The
jagged surface is like the waves of a cross sea, and in places it
looks as though rain-drops had s^^lashed upon a soft substance.
by the people.

with cruel serrations.

This appeared to he a sign of igneous
our glasses could detect no signs of
shell in the liiuestone
and the glazed iron

action

;

;

stone and conglomerate scattered about
base suggested exposiire to heat,

tlie

cn.vr. XIX.]

A

CARUXHAXHA TO SEXHOR BOM JESUS DA

rude triangulation fi'om below liad given 150

LAPA.

2'Xi

feet, a total of

Between the thorns we enjoyed a
noble view of the Sao Francisco, whose inundations extend in
The broad band which glittered in
places three leagues across.
the sun with silver and gold winds in majestic sweeps round the
Island of Bom Jesus, the well-cultivated " Canabrava," and the
about 180 above the stream.*

"Itaberava," or Shining Stone.!

On

the north

is

a blue knob,

the Brejo de Sao Gon^alo, beyond the Rio do Corrente, and to

Bom Jardim, and
Nearer is the Fazenda of
low domes, near Urubu.
Itaberava, where only the stream-edge is flooded; its green
And at our feet lies
pastures are rich in horses and black cattle.
the village, with its three small streets branching from their
the north-east a long purple line, the Serra do

the two

nucleus, the square.

In this grand lump of limestone there is sign of convulsion
The growth or upheaval must have been so
or catastrophe.
gradual, that the long horizontal lines are

still

hardly broken.

be desired that some catastrophist, T^Titing upon
" geological d^mamics," would state i:)recisely the ground upon

It is greatly to

which he believes that the ancient oscillations, dislocations, and
inversions of strata are not wholly explicable by existing phenomena, with the Hindu ages and the Tropical and glacial epochs
behind them. And when the Uniformitarians shall have won the
day and I presume that the believers in continuity, in the

—

" orderly mechanism " of slow and long-continued movements

broken by periodical paroxysms, will win it, seeing how much
they have already won I
it is to be hoped that they will do
better than the Cosmos, which includes under vulcanism, or
vulcanacity, " crust-motion," together with earthquakes and

—

Archeus has been proposed for the honour of naming
that slow growth which belongs to the earth as to other inanimate
We want something which does not
things so has Ennosig?eus.

volcanoes.

;

hail quite so far back.
* !M.

Halfeld gives 240 palms

(—172

feet).

Itaberava or Itaberaba " pedra que
Rocha Pitta, the
is, according to
name of the whole Lapa. The Fazenda
formerly belonged to the Conde da Ponte.
J In the beginning of the present century, M. Boubee and others explained the
appearance of aerolites, erratic blocks, and
similar "problems," by supposing tliat the

+

liiz,"

earth had daslie J to pieces some minor star
or planet.
This is but a modification of
that semi-barbarism which sees in the

world-plan disorder and destruction, the
of offended deities.
Buckle (i. 800)
complains, with feeling, that many men of
science are still fettered in geology by the
hypothesis of catastrophes
in chemistry,

work

;

by«fche h}itothesis of vital forces.

CHAPTER XX.
FROM SENHOR BOM JESUS DA LAPA TO THE ARRAIAL DO
BOM JARDIM.
Fifth Teavessia, 2G^ Leagues.

THE KIO DO CORREXTE. — THE SETTLEMENT " SITIO DO MATO."— THE " BULL'S
EYE" AND STORM. VISIT TO THE VILLA DE URUBU. — URUBtJ WILL NOT
BE A CAPITAL. WE RESUME WORK. — COMPLETE CHANGE OF CLIMATE AND
ASPECT OF COUNTRY. — THE SETTLEMENT " ESTREMA."— REACH BOM JARDIM. — ITS RIVULET AND FINE DIAMANTATION. TRUE ITACOLUMITE.— BOM
JARDIM A GOOD SITE FOR A CITY.

—

—

—

Os

E

tres reinos aqui

bases sao da

Em Minas

que a opulencia,

humana

subsistencia,

animaes e vegetantes,
Tao uberrimos sao e tao patentes,
Que nao resolve a subida subtileza
Por onde niais pendeo a natureza.
e

Fret F. do

S. Carlos Assiinqjqao,

Canto

G.

AVe bade adieu to the good Yicar and resumed our journey,
although it was already late. Presently a bad storm followed the
sultry

''

Morma^o,"

or stillness of the atmosphere, and

ing up from the south.

appeared a white

fire,

The

whereas

came rush-

lightning, seen through the rain,
it

was remarkably pink in the dry

Dripping with wet, and anything but merry, we made fast,
at nightfall, to the Sitio do Mato, a well- cultivated island
we
"
fed and we
turned in," to "bless the man who invented sleep."
Mixed with the sounds of mankind, the cry of the night heron
resembled that of the ounce, and the fish splashed a treble to the
grim bass of the falling banks.
Wednesday, October 2, 1867. Cirrus again and ''mackerel's
back " prepared us for more bad weather. AVe set out, hoAvever,
air.

;

—

and ran down the island which had sheltered us
it thinned out and showed an even richer cultivation than above.
At the bottom of a high bank on the left, came in the Rio do
at 4*45 A.M.,

;

CHAP. XX.]

SENHOR BOM JESUS DA LAPA TO BOM JARDIM.

295

Corrente,* so called from the swift currents which sweep round

We

the salient angle.

crossed the mouth, some 500 feet broad,

of this great stream, wliich here runs from west to east

;

its

right

and a dark avenue in its left
cheek shows the line of an affluent, the Pdacho da Barra.
Below the port, which is flooded, the bank rises 35 feet,
The high ground is
driving the main stream to the north-east.
divided into two waves, and, in the hollow between them, is the
manga or kraal for cattle, communicating with the ajojo raft,
which passes them over for Sincora and the Bahian Chapada.
Above rises the village Sitio do Mato, running nearly north and
south, a Ime of mud huts and three whitewashed tenements.
AVe landed below it upon Taua, a stiff white clay, underlying a
Opposite was the flash house roof-corners
steep, sandy ramp.
adorned with pigeons of white plaster and so forth belonging
He tm^ned
to a cattle breeder, Theodoro Antonio de Oliveira.
and,
of
course, he
his back to us, as we were walldng past him,
was a " cabra "or a '^ bode," probably the latter. Fm-ther to
the north is a tiled shed covering, a portable chapel and a cross,
with its sudarium behind it lies the railed cemetery, and a heap
of adobes, intended for a mortuar}" sacellum, whose beginnings
were washed away in 1860.
Inland, the bush extends up to the settlement, and the outWesth'ing lands are said to be good for cotton and castor.

jav/ projects in

a long sand-bar,

—

—

;

ward, and not in sight, rises a range

known

as

''

A

Bibeii^a; "

f

between it and the village are many lakelets and j^ioeiras, which
do not recommend the ''Sitio do Mato" for a future capital.
The tillage proper is to the south here the floods enter between
the waves of ground, and extend to the habitations behind the
" manga." The small industries are cotton-spinning and making
the
soap-lye; we shall now find the " bangue " ever3'where
especially
and
poultry,
animals are barking curs, and pigs,
;

;

When we

wanted to buy fish, the fisherman refused to
and under a shady
sell, saymg that he had a large family
Joazeii'o tree we found, in excellent repair, the good old
tm-keys.

;

* This gi-eat influent drains the meridional spine that separates Bahia and Groyaz.
Boats navigate it, despite snags, as
far as the Porto de Santa Mai-ia, 28 leagues
from the mouth the banks are said to be
;

grandly forested, and, in places, to be cul-

One of its many tributories is the
northern Rio das Egnas, and this again has
a considerable influent, the Rio Acanhuao.
f The right bank showed a long blue
range which the people called de Sant'
Inofre (Onofre or Onofrio).

tivated.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

296

[chap. xx.

" tronco,"* or village stocks, which have but lately disappeared
from rural England. Here thej^ are two long boards, planted

accommodation

upright, and pierced with ten holes,

" in log," as the Africans sa}'. At times
but the offence must be very grave.
Pushing off from the Sitio do Mato,

it is

for five

men,

used as a pillory,

we found the water

would not touch bottom. The effect of
the Corrente River is a great sack to the left, and then to the
The eastern shore is only nine feet high, and the interior
right.
so deep that the pole

is still

lower

;

during the rains boats cut across country to the

Urubu, despising the risk of submerged trees, and the
annoyance of insects. On the side is the Fazenda da Bandeira,
and below it, a section of the eastern shore, the large island of
Santo Antonio,! from which another cross-cut, setting off north-

Villa de

east to Urubti, joins the other.

An

ostrich appeared, pacing

along the shore, but the people have not yet learned to
its feathers,

t

we were going north with easting, opened up a
prospect of what we had dimly sighted for five hours, and

At
full

kill it for

1*30, as

wdiich prepared us for a change of country

and chmate.

On

the

bank appeared a "neat's-tongue," projecting in regularly
This is a spur of
shaped treeless mounds of brown-red hue.

left

range

;

the specimens shown to

with quartz. §

me

M.

is

a calcareous

were sandstone

grit revetted

the Serra Branca, which, according to

Halfeld,

Behind the Serra begins the plateau known as

the Alto do Paranan, rising

almost imperceptibly towards the

Along the southern
begins the highway to Goyaz city,|| w^hich

heights which feed that stream.

side of this

neat's-foot

is

* Trunco in St. Hil. (I. ii. 42 and III.
101), who describes it minutely, but
makes it like the "Tornilho," a militai-y
punishment, and refers to the neck being
placed in the pillory.
The invention is
probably due to the Arabs, whose ' Makantarah " has extended to the Zanzibar
coast in East Africa.
+ Mr. Keith Johnston places on the right
bank, about half way between the Lapa and
Urubu, the town of "Santo Antonio,"
which is a mere fazenda or Sitio fronting its
ii.

'

large island.

X The Welsh colony
buying, I

pence
in

am

told,

Ema

in Patagonia are
feathers for three-

jjer pound, and expect to
England for thirty shillings.

sell

them

In these

here said

civilized clays, when no head requires to weaithe colours which Nature gave it, surely the
grey plume of the American bird may, by
bleaching and dyeing, learn to pass off as an
African.
§ The citizens of Urubu declare that
from this Serra an old Minas negro, who

was prosjiecting for gold, brought rounded
steely gi-ains, which in the cupel proved
refractory.
The discoverer died, and the
discovery was lost on the road to Bahia.
Platinum, of which the jjeople have seen littie and heard much, is naturally suspected.
The country lying to the west of the
city, is one of the few which the Brazil
II

still

offers to

the traveller.

the explorer, as opposed to

;

8EXH0R BOM JESUS DA LAPA TO BOM

CHAP. XX.]

The road

to be distant 150 leagues.

is

JATIDIM.

207

described as being safe,

and abounding in game and water the sole inconvenience is a
desert tract, 30 to 40 leagues broad, where provisions must be
On the right bank was the second distance, a straight
carried.
blue wall, the Serra do Boqueirao, three leagues beyond Urubii
;

and the third, still further east, consisted of a saddle-back, a
ridge and two lumi:)y heads, parts of the Geraes attached to the
Boqueirao.
red above and white below
showed the Povoado do Mangal, and its Rosario church, with
Bej^ond its island the stream bent to the northfalling front.
Shortly afterwards, the

left

side,

and already, behind a large central holm of vivid red, we

east,

descried the white dottings of a town.
" mackerel's back " declared themselves.

But now the

effects of

Boulder clouds surged
up from west and south, hiding the hills with hangings of rain
sheet.
To the east appeared the ominous " Olho de Boi," or
section of Iris that promised a " temporal."

AVe made, with

might and mam, the windward bank, where at 4*15 p.m., the
roaring gale compelled us to anchor, and to bush the Eliza.* AVe
passed a night of scanty comfort.
the village

The

guinea-fowl clucked in

dawn, and there was another nuisance.

till

Hitherto,

we had slept near Coroas or Praias to avoid insects, which are
Here the weather comvery properly termed " immundicities."
pelled us to roost under a ridge, with a fall inland, a mere
and a rich breeding-ground for a small and almost
minute mosquito, whose sting was like a needle-prick. As a rule
the river has been wonderfully free from insects as from snags
this part, however, is an exception.
When we least wanted a
calm, the gale fell dead, and when light was worthless, the stars
hung like lustres from the cloudless sky. The pilots declared
that we had escaped from the rains to fall into the power of the
Our course was
Avind
it will be seen that they were right.
against the sun, which will presently bring up with him wet
weather, but the heavy showers, now falling behind us, must
cattle-trail,

;

;

increase

the

evaporation,

and open a way

the

for

cool

dry

Trade.
Oct. 3, 1867.

—At

earliest

dawn began angry

* To prevent the waves washing over
these shallow rafts, the pilots have the
sensible practice of cutting off the heads of

puffs

from the red

yoxmg trees or leafy branches, which,
enecl

alongside

screens.

or

to

the

bows,

fast-

act

as

THE HIGHLA^^DS OF THE BRAZIL.

298

[chap. xx.

eastern sky, which was striped with cirri of a dull vermilion, and

was mottled with clouds, standing out hard and solid as if cut
in dark grey pai:»er.
This appearance will soon become familiar,
and cause many an impatient sigh. The stream turns nearly
due east, so ever}^ capfull was a head-gale. On the left bank
rose the Povoa^ao de Pernambuco, a hamlet of dingy huts nestling below the Ponto do Morro, the south-eastern buttress of the
Serra Branca. Here the stream is broken into two arms b}^ the
rich and fertile Ilha do Urubu, a mass of grass, bush, and trees,
one league long, and shaped like a leg of mutton, with the

The

knuckle-bone down stream.

channel

left

is

the broader,

we took the right, upon which
once grounded upon a sand-reef. Both

the deeper, and the straighter

;

and at
sides are low and liable to floods; on the right, at a "port,"
denoted onl}^ by women with water-pots, is the mouth of the

the towai

is built,

Sangradouro, which, during rains, admits canoes to the Sitio de

Santo Antonio.
Presently we landed to inspect the town of Urubu, the
" Gallinazo," the turkey buzzard.
The riverine plain is here

low and caked with mud, soon trodden to impalpable silt. A
bush of the " Araticum " Annona here the people mention three

—

varieties of the shrub
it

— shows the

limits of the floods.

begins the vegetation of a dry and sterile land.
time,

first

the

"Favelleiro," that

sinuate leaves, described by Gardner.
of a blackberry and an

once attracts the eye.

ai")ple

The

tree,

Jatropha, with

arboreous
It varies

and the

Beyond

I saw, for the

between the

stiff,

size

quaint look at

leaves, resembling those of the

oak,

but dangerous to touch on account of their cruel, poisonous
thorns, are, as often happens amongst " Campo " plants, only
terminal, not axile, and planted in tufts at the end of fat twigs.

The

leaves are used to narcotize water, and to catch birds

fruit,

;

the

described as resembling that of the castor plant, supplies

oil

The rhubarb -coloured gum, with a faint perfume, is
compared with gum arable, and the wood is made into spoons. The
Aloe family musters strong, especially the " fedente babosa,"

for the table.

wliich

Liliacea can

only be rendered " fetid slabber chops

the leaf-juice, mixed with

oil,

and called

''

Azeite de babosa,"

"
;

is

used to correct baldness. A flock of dirty-white sheep, whose
fleeces were torn to rags by the thorns, wandered about, seeking
what they could devour.

XX.]

ciiAi".

A

SENHOR BOM JESUS DA LAPA TO BOM JARDIM.

walk of 200

the

3'ards leads to

tov.ii, wliicli

The

mam

street,

along the whole length, and

houses displayed the
shutters, lattices,

is

are

compounds and

rounded tuft, rose
the Rua de Sao Goncalo, runs

rude gardens, in which the cocoa-nut, with
consj)icuous.

the usual

The items

long, shallow Ime, fronting to the north-west.

chapels, adohe houses, palm-frond huts, railed

is

299

its

Two

raised ahove flood level.

civilization

of glass

and squares of calico

;

windows, amongst

of those twain one

was a

Casa Nobre.* I sent in my letter to the Juiz de Direito, Dr.
Joaquim Rodrigues Seixas, who asked us in, gave us coffee, and
gallantly exposed himself to a well-furnished fire of questions.

memory by living in
such a hole, and I can readily believe him. The climate, as so
often happens m dry places, unpleasantly close to damp situaThe judge complained that he had

tions,

is

}T.elding

dangerous.

Fevers,

easily to native

lost his

or rather

" chills,"

practice, tartar emetic

they generally, however, end in spleen diseases.

are

mild,

and quinine +
About August,
;

dangerous when treated with the popular simples,
of " lancers and
fatal when exposed to
scientific practice
leechers," copious blood-lettmg, tartar emetic, heavy doses of
l^leurisies are

and ptisane of a certain emollient Hibiscus, I the only harm-

nitre,

less part of the '^cure."

Santo Antonio de Urubii was formerly known as the Urubu de
Cima, the upper turkey buzzard, opposed to the nether turkey
buzzard (Urubii de Baixo), a pleasant name now changed to
Propia or Propria, on the Lower Rio de Sao Francisco. According to the citizens, this place began the diamantine discoveries,
which presently sx:>read to the Chapada Diamantina, then in the
district of the Yilla

do Livramento do Pdo das Contas.

It

may

be remarked, however, that in 1755, gems were discovered at
Jacobina, on the eastern flank of the Bahian Chapada, and that
the

Prime Minister, Pombal, forbade the worldng of the vast

buried' treasures, for fear of injuring agriculture.

these davs of ignorance endured

* It belonged to Sr. Gualteiro Josd Guimaraes, a merchant who at the time of
our visit was pilgrimaging to the Lapa.
+ Svdphate of quinine is much used in
the Brazil, and with little pinidence by the
thus while it relieves one disease,
people
Honi'popathy
it often brings on another.
;

till

The

effect of

1837.

has clone mucli good by preaching against
the abuse, and by substituting pilules for
doses of six to ten grains.
t Cozimento de Althea, which IMoraes
translates Malvaisco (Hibiscus^ The System
(60) also gives Alcea, and describes the use
of the Sida althseifolia.

THE HIGHLANDS OF

300

The judge
jurisdiction,

THP: BKAZIL.

[ciiAr.

xx.

congratulated himself upon the fact that, under his
there had been only four murders in four years.

—

The municipality contains only 3051 voters in 1852 54,
Halfeld gave the district 731 fires, and 7204 of all sexes
The town cannot contain more than 300 houses,
ages.
when full 1600 to 1700 inhabitants. They live and die in
greatest ignorance.
I was astonished at the absence of
;

M.
and
and
the
all

jn'ogress in these western outstations of the great

Bahian Province,
whose chief city was once the metropolis of the country, and
whose seaboard is now one of the most prosperous and populous
portions of the Empire.
Everything that we see denotes
poverty, meanness, and neglect a Fazenda in the interior of
Sao Paulo or of Minas is equal to a town here and whilst the
majestic Sao Francisco flows before these hovels, and there are
excellent lines for routes both to the seaward and to the interior,
the people have wholly ignored their communications.
This is
at once the cause and the effect of their semi-barbarism they sit,
calling upon that Hercules, the Imperial Government, but they
;

;

;

will

not put shoulder to the wheel.

Urubu

will not

deepl}^ flooded every year,

to be utilized.

The

be a capital.

port

is

bad, the lands are

and the Serra do Boqueirao

is

too far

which
and these metamorphic formations may be
found to be rich in minerals. All vaunted the fertility of the
inner country to the east and to the south-east they declared
that four shrubs give three pounds of uncleaned cotton, formerly
an item of export to Bahia. The so-called '' Irish " potato is
I heard, how^ever, of olhos or w^ater pools,

possibly exist in

it,

;

small but ver}^ good, and onions grow from their own and not from
imported seed. In addition to the usual list, the soil produces
cucumbers, ground-nuts (Arachis hypog?ea, here known as Man-

Mundubi, or Manobi), and oriental Sesamum (Gergelim or
Jerxelim).
Oranges and limes*
grow, and the tamarind,
though stunted, produces an abundance of fruit, which the
dubi,

Africans

know how

also heard of soils in

manioc,

which the

spontaneously

the sweet kind.

*

to prepare,

becomes
The Judcfe and

The sweet lime (Citnis Limoniiim)

known

as

limao doce;

''

the

soiir

is

lime or

while the Bahians do not.

I

Mandioca brava," the poisonous

"Aipim"

or

Jucfe de Paix,

limetto
lima.

(C.

" Macaxeira,"

Dr. Claro Fran-

Limctta)

is

simply limao or

CHAP. XX.]

SEXHOR BOM JESUS DA LAPA TO BOM JARDLM.

cisco XegTdO, also assured

me

that the}-

had seen three

301

colts got

by stallions out of she mules, addmg that the offspring was a
most unsightly animal.
The x^rmcipal " curio " shown to us was a bit of compact uncrystallized alum from Mocahubas,* a town fourteen leagues to the
It is said to appear like stalactites in the caves which
south-east.
riddle the Serra do Machichi, and, as we were floating down
stream to the north-west, the pilot pointed out a white mark
to be the mine in a range right behind us.
the
easy art of purifying their " j)edra hume."
ignore
people

which he declared

The
The ruddy

Angico Acacia, which here forms their
and the
forests, was vaunted as a pectoral and an expectorant
yellow gum of the Jatoba, light as amber, serves to caulk
boats.
The chief of the small industries is weaving hats, for
which the Aricuri palmf supplies material; here they are worth
resin of the

;

$ 200, and they sell down stream for $ 500.
AVe walked up the Rua da Pallia, which runs parallel with and
inland of the Siio Goncalo
two lines of very humble houses led to
;

the large square behind the Matriz of Santo Antonio.

This fane

mixed with boulders (rolados) from the opposite
Ponto do Morro, and with ii^on-stone from the river banks as
3'et the belfries are wanting.
There is a Casa de Camara, a
detached jail and a vicar-general's house, but no such things as
parish registers or public documents.
Here the dry, sandy, and
is built

of brick,

;

silty plain is

covered with the Quipa, a dwarf cactus, about eight

inches high, with

fine, hair-like,

but sharp thorns, radiating from

white spots.
Its flat plates contrast curiously with the tall
" organ," the five-sided chandeliers (C. candelabriformis), the
short, thick

around

it.

cyHnder (C. brevicaulis), and the serj^ent cactuses
My friends showed me upon the Quipa what appeared

a white web, but after crushing
a rosy-pink juice.
it

This

is

it,

the fingers were stained with

the indigenous

cochineal-insect,

extends throughout the dry riverine regions.

ux3on,

hke most unknown things,

as a magnificent

It

mine

is

and

looked

of wealth,

can be made useful in commerce.
1 told the b^^standers about Tenerife, which had imported from
but years must pass before

* In Mr. Keith Johnston's map,
cauba."

it

"Mil-

+ Commonly spelt " Ouricury, " also
written Aliculi, Aracui, and Arari (Cocus

According to the System,
used in Bahia for curing oph-

schizophylla).

the juice
thalmia,

is

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

302

Mexico the large succulent nopal, and the

fat insect.

[chap. xx.

The}" man-

fully suj^ported their fellow-country growth, the Quipa,* which

was juiceless as a shoe-sole, declaring that during the rains it
Here, as elsewhere in the
swells to thrice its present size.
"
esprit du mieux ennemi du bien " to
Brazil, men hold the
advice they are untameable as flies their minds must grow, like
those of infants or " Indians," by example rather than by precept, and though intelligent and imitative, they always require
improvements to be subjected to the faithful ej^es.
Our friends " convoyed us a bit," gave us oranges and limes,
and saw us off at 11 a.m. The nortli-east wind, cold in the
burning sun, blew in strong blasts (refegas), frequently repeated till
3 P.M., and hindered progress. And now we noticed that a complete change of soil and formation, climate and phj^siognomy, had
taken place the frontier being Urubii, and its portal of hills.
The limestone country, with its gi*eat productive powers, and the
rich Macape clay, have passed into sandstone, and the wooded
banks have altered to a "Carrascal," or lovr bush. This ground
in places produces the small maize, but agriculture and breeding
The river, which
flourish only in the " Geraes," or inner lands.
;

;

—

before could spread far over

its

wide,

flat valley, is nov^^

narrowed,

checked by bounding ridges, through which
the larger tributaries must twist the eastern wall will last with
breaks till near the Great Hapids, the western till the Villa da

and the overflow

is

;

There

Barra.

is

no general name

for the

range, each place

christens its own section ; that to the right is usuall}" spoken of
Serra," while near Urubu the opposite wall is the Serra
as "

A

Branca

;

it

then becomes Serra de Santa Catharina, the

O Furado

and so forth. The effect of these
containing walls is to form a funnel, up which the Trade, now to
the greatl}' increased
be our deadly enemy, blows violently
evaporation is carried up due south, hence the lands on the
higher stream are drenched, where here all is bone dry.
These Serras are disposed in straight and in slightl}" waving
lines, which viewed from the stream appear to be great lunes and
crescents, approaching and diverging.
The regularitv of their
shape, the flatness of the summit-line, and the steps and benches,
which run in straight course along them, suggest that they were
(or Serra Furada), the pierced,

;

* Tlie

fig of tliis

cactus

i,^

eaten, but

it is full cf

seeds.

"

SENHOll

CHAP. XX.]

;

BOM JESUS DA LAPA TO BOM JAEDIM.

30;l

and that presently they rose to be river
branches. As the bed, whose general course is from south to
north, winds between them, the ridge of one side is often conFrom the plains connectmg
founded with that of the other.
their feet with the stream-banks, rise detached and mound-like

formscl under

Avater,

now

perpendicular

to, then
running diagonally from, the bounding Serras in i3laces they
form bluffs, striking the bed at right angles. The material of all
the heights is sandstone, in places revetted with quartz, and con-

knobs, here single, there in groups,

;

taining, according to the people, gold

;

we

often see the strata

Further down

exposed in the precipitous flanks facing the river.

we

sliall

The

find iron in the lowland lumps.

formations

is

a poor, shrubby growth, chiefly thornv, and here

the giant Cactus, the Acacia, and the

About

surface of these

Mimosa

are kings.

we touched at Estrema on the right bank, which,
here was a whitewashed
is swept by great floods

3 P.M.

though high,

;

and various ''timber," post and rail, and
snake-fence.
We had been told that the owner had a goat for
At sunset we
sale
he was absent, and w^e v>'ere disappointed.
made fast to a coroa, opposite a little hamlet, the Riacho das

house, a

few"

huts,

;

Canoas.

The crew was

salted cod, whilst the fish

they had no bait.

upon a bit of dried " bacalhao, or
leaped and splashed in all dii-ections

living

Ashamed

for

them,

I

made

the youth,

Agostinho, arm a hook with a bit of meat, and in a few minutes

we had enough

for a day's food.

the Matrincham-|"
Oct. 4.

is

The worst was

the Curuvina

*
;

not bad, and a kind of Pirat bit freely.
red, nothing could

— Sunset and sunrise had both been

be more delightful than the dawn, but we

felt that,

as in

Hindos-

noon and the afternoon would make us do unlimited
penance.
The gusts and raffales which blew at times during the
night, fell into a fitful slumber, wliich, however, did not in any
way delude the watchful suspicions of the i:)ilot. Here the river
tan, the

itself offers

prime conditions to the breeze

* Gardner writes Curvinlia, ^L Halfeld
has Cariivina.
The fish is aboiit two feet
long when full-grown, scaly, with pale,
The
soft meat, anything but delicious.
head contains a white hone, which is
pounded and administered for various
diseases.

Grardner writes the word " Matrixam
it is one of the Salmonidfe, smaller than
the Douiado, and very common in the

t

;

;

upper waters.

it

will

broaden to a

Yellow and

seal}', it

to the length of three to four palms,

grows

and

is

a favourite food with fishermen,
it
t Also called Tamandua

is a longheaded fish, v/ith light-blue tinge, about
two feet in length, and tolerably good eatOne variety is the Pira de Couro,
ing.
;

another the Pira-pitanga (M. Halfeld, PriThere is also a sea-fish of this
petinga).
n^iue.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE EEAZIL.

3C4

[chap. xx.

mile and a half, and split into channels, often of equal depth, and

both

with

filled

stranded

greatly increase in size

and

;

we

trees

and snags.

shall presently pass

The

river islets

one about a mile

These formations are mostly
of sand, covered with thin humus, 'green with grass, in ]3laces
cultivated, and bearing tall trees, amongst which the Grao de

in breadth,

five

miles long.

Gallo

is conspicuous.
"
After a few minor features,* and a prudent halt at an " espera

on the Bahian side, we sighted at the bottom of a ''big bend,"
the Arraial do Bom Jardim.
Tiled huts api)eared on the right
bank, a wave of higher ground offsetting from the Serra iliey lay
some five miles behind or to the east. This range was patched
with green, suggesting that it is better watered than the hills
about Urubu, and the nearer surface appeared as if the bush
had been burnt, or that a cloud was fitfully shading it in patches.
Dark streams and sheets, apparently spread by an eruption,
invade one another, alternate and strive for master}- at last,
puzzled, I ascended a hill side, and found the gloom to be produced by a matted aromatic shrub, with leafless twigs of umberbrown, and growing between stones, set off by the light of golden
;

;

yellow grass.

The

bank

Bom

Jardim

mass of
tangled forest, cut by many an ypoeira, and nothing but an embanked causeway could render it passable. The bend is fronted
by the western containing ridge, Serra Furada, a tall and regular
line, runnmg north and south here it is some seven miles distant
from the stream, but below only about a league. On the waterside appeared the hamlet, Passagem (do Itahy or Bom Jardim),
with its ruinous chapel, N* S*^ do Bom Successo. Where piles
can be fished out of the stream, no one thinks of planting them
under their floors, and of thus securing ventilation and escape
left

oi:>posite

is

a lower level, a

;

from the

We

floods.

landed at the Biacho de Santo "Inofre,"! above the set-

* After one hour

we passed the large
do Saco, and on the left bank,
when the thalweg is to the right, rises the
Fazenda (H., Povoado) do Saco do Militao.
A rugged line in front, apparently on the
PernamLucan, really on the Bahian side,
presently shows peaks and distances, and
in the pure clear air it seemed £o be at no
distance.
Another hour brought us to the

gi'een Ilha

Gado Bravo (H., Ilha do Barreiro},
some two miles long. We took the normal
line, the western channel, and facing to the
Ilha do

north-east, we were compelled to anchor
hy a head wind, which, meeting a current
like a mill-race, produced an angry tide
up.

f In Mr. Keith Johnston the " R. S.
Oncfrio " is marked with dots, and made to

"

CHAP. XX.]

SEXHOR BOM JESUS DA LAPA TO BOM JARDIM.

tlement.

It rises to the south-east, di'ainmg,

affluent, the Boqueii'ao, the

305

with the aid of

its

north-western face of the Serras das

Ahnas de Sincora and dos Lencoes ;* the eastern slopes forming
Small canoes ascend it for some leagues,
the great Paraguassu.
during the floods, to the Yargem de N^ S^ da Guia. During the
hot season it is nearly dry, but leats and courses would readily

The mouth

create reservoii's in the lower levels.

avenue
right

is

a stony platform,

is

jaw

about forty feet broad, the left

composed

of

is

of the green

a sandpit, the

ferruginous " canga

and pebbly conglomerate, j)asted ^\ith hydrate of iron.
the stream swings to
it will become a steamer-pier
;

allowing a deep-water approach;

it,

always

flooded for a few days

is

it

In time

during the year, but a levee higher up would, if necessary,
At present it is used only as a
obviate the inconvenience.

The shallow pits and pot-holes sup"
diamantation " the people, who leave
plied the finest sign of

ground

for

washing

linen.

;

it

unworked, declare

it

to be

brought down by an eastern influent,

the Eiacho do Pe da Serra, where they

Below the mouth

still

dig gold.

of the stream Hes the

water froths against pm-e pottery-clay of

little

dull,

arraial.

The

dead white, worn

upper levels it is
mixed with sand. The settlement consists mainly of a smgle
There
line, whose railed backyards extend to the river-brink.
are scatters of houses inland of this line, including a ranch for
travellers.
The total may be forty, whereas in 1852 4, there
into holes by the tongues

of cattle

;

in the

—

The people live by
were 300 inhabitants under 103 roofs.
breeding cattle, by agriculture, and by fishing. AVe bought a
three days' provision of the fine Cacunete f for ten coppers
$ 400). Behind the village lies a sandy plain, about 100 paces
broad, with thin pasture, and showing symptoms of flood.
Beyond it the ground, thickly bushed over, rises high above
(0

all

inundations, and here

present

it is

wmdowless
it

faces to

^\t.11

be the

At

had been freshly whitewashed. Like the hamlet
A heap of torrent-rolled
the west with southing.

front

come from the western

versants,

which send

cessionees of the Paraguassu Valley line, the

"Paramirim" is the main western drain
corresponding with the Paraguassu to the
IT.

the settlement.

occupied by the vicarless church, N* S^ da Guia, whose

to the Atlantic the Eio das Contas.
* In a map lately published by the con-

VOI„

site of

details in the text were supplied
the people of Bom Jardim, and
therefore are open to doubt,
f A fish with few spines, highly prized,
and sixpposed to be a kind of Suriibim.
last.

to

The

me by

X

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

306

[cHAr. xx.

stones (pedras de enxurrada) lay at the wall-foot, and at once

showed

the

origin

of

the diamonds

and the gold.

There

were large pieces of laminated quartzose sandstone, in fact, true

Mostly it was reddish, like a half-burnt brick, exceedingly compact, and streaked and dotted with finely disseminated mica
other specimens were purely Avhite, and their
Itacolumite.

;

coarser texture showed the grain distinctl}^

The formation

is

found upon the hilly Geraes, three to six leagues to the northeast of the river's right bank, the strata are often too thick
solid for use

;

it

and

supplies, however, the country-side with the

and it equalled in size those
" Pedras de Furno," which I had seen near CamiUinho of
Diamantina.
slabs for flooring massive ovens,

We

were

much

prepossessed by the general appearance and

the capabilities of the land even the phlegmatic German exclaims, " E esta uma das mais agradaveis paragens a beira do Bio
;

de Sao Francisco."
after the

The people appeared comparatively healthy

wretched palHd faces of Urubii, and even the horses
better bred.
The prospect is charming, and this

seemed
must alwaj^s form a great consideration, when estimating the
future value of a place.
The channel is narrow, compact, and
unencumbered with shoals, while the current is not too rapid
sweeping to north-east, and frequently to north-west, it throws
its main current agamst the bend, whilst the general wind, being
easterly, and blowing over a high and dry country, the evils
which might arise from ypoeiras, bayous, lakes, or lakelets in the
low riverine valley are corrected.
Building-room is endless,
material abounds, and in the vicinity are hills wliich will allow
change of chmate.
Bom Jardim, a name of good augmy, is the only site yet seen
which deserves to become a cit}^, or which can pretend to be the
capital of the long-expected province or territory. In some points,
especially as regards river-navigation,
it is

inferior to, its rival down-stream,

it

is

better than, in others

Chique-Chique.

The

posi-

tion is central, about equi-distant from Januaria on the south,

and from Joazeiro to the north.
It is nearly due west of
Sao Salvador, metropolis of the opulent commercial province of
Bahia it is nearly due east of Palma, one of the most important
cities, in agricultural and cattle-breeding Go3^az, where the navigable Paranan or south-eastern branch unites with the Pdo
;

CHAP. XX.]

SEXHOR BOM JESUS DA LAPA TO BOM JARDIM.

Maranliao to form the grand Tocantins.

307

thus connects with
the Atlantic by two roads, more and less dkect.
The water-vv^ay
is

down the Rio de Sao Francisco.

It

The land

route

is

via the

Paraguassu Eiver, which passes by Cachoeu-a city,
I will say nothing about
the steam tramway, which proposes to run along the southern
valley of that stream, as the ground is absolutely unknown to me
line of the

the head of Bahian steam navigation.

beyond

Cachoeii'a.

A

glance at the map, however, will

show

that this has the advantage of a riverme plain, whereas both the

Pernambucan and the Bahian Anglo-Brazilian main-trunks are
distinctly '' cross-countrj-."
Meanwhile it has been strongly
advocated by Mr. John Morgan, of Bahia, v\dio has had the
advantage of a thii*ty-five j^ears' residence and the works have, I
am told, commenced under ever}^ advantage.
Finally Bom Jardim connects by land and w^ater with that
Brazilian Mediterranean, the Amazons'; and we may safely pre;

dict

for it

high destinies, of which

it

is

at

present naively

unconscious.

X

2

—

CHAPTER XXL
FROM THE ARRAIAL DO BOM JARDIM TO THE VILLA DA BARRA
(DO RIO GRANDE).
Sixth Travessia, 29^ Leagues.

the carnahuba, or wax-palm. — vintens offered to santo antonio.
first sight of the arassua range. the gull-fair. — big cranes.
the toga, or cave of saint anthony. — the thorns. — the villages
OF THE PARA. — THE LEATHER-COAT BIRD AND THE CHAMELEON.
APPROACH TO THE VILLA DA BARRA DO RIO GRANDE, A PROPOSED
CAPITAL.
THE RIO GRANDE AN IMPORTANT INFLUENT.
THE VILLA

—

—

—

—

DESCRIBED.

Onde a natureza
mostra aos olhos do homem
Qual moga Indiana, que as ing-enuas gra9as
Em formoza nudez sem arte ostenta.
{Poesias B. J. da Silva Guimaraes.')

BeUa

As

the wind

fell

e

virgem

se

we put

bank, below Cachoeirinha.

off,

and presently landed on the right

At

this point a short projection of

stone makes the water dash and murmur, but in no

way

injures

We broke through the tangled bush and found a
sandy plain between the stream and a knob of thickety sandstone
hill, distant about 100 paces.
The surface sloped away from the
the thalweg.

river-ridge to a hollow

a water-course during the rains.

mud

must be
All the ledge was cut by paths

paved with flakes of

;

it

leading to the various settlements, cattle grazed the thin grass,

and the sheep besides being fat, were woolly and not hairy.
Amongst the Angicos and the Myrtacese, one of which w^as mistaken by the '' Menino" for a Jaboticabeira, now alas
no more,
!

we observed a white-blossomed bush, much resembling in perfume and physiognomy, English " May." And here we saw for
the first time in situ the beautiful wax-palm known in the Brazil
as Carnahuba (Carnauba), and Carnaiba (Corifa cerifera, Arrud.
Copernicia cerifera. Mart.), the Caroudai of Spanish America.
Its habitat is the riverine land

upon the streams of the Pernam-

—
BOM JARDIM TO VILLA DA BARRA.

CHAP. XXI.]

buco, Parahyba do Norte, Ceara and Piauhy

few years

The

309

during the last

;

been introduced into gardens near the coast.

it lias

Carnahtiba,

when

first

appearing,

As

projecting above the ground.

it

a

is

mere bunch of fronds

advances the trunk

clad

is

armour of spikes. The fronds, as they fall off,
dull brown petioles in whorls or spirals winding round

in a complete

leave their

When

with or against the sun.

youngster's pith or heart yields,

somewhat
shaft,

At

smooth, clean, and

a

it

assumes

its

tinctly fan-shaped,

attains a

maximmn

full

a

lumpy cone

it i^uts

forth a thin

which conof corrugated chevaux cle fiise
silk,

After the

protects its base.

fifth

beauty, the cruelly-thorned leaves dis-

and with long rays rising from a spindle which
of thii'ty-five feet, are peculiarly picturesque

In old specimens the trunk

upon

in water, a fecula

dove-colom-ed

gTe}', like

—which

the magnified thistle

the

and useful in times of

more adult age

trasts strangely with the six feet

year

when crushed

like tapioca, white as manioc,

drought or famine.

man

not higher than a

is raised,

after the fashion of palms,

Some

of fibres or aerial rootlets, a foot high.

eccentric individuals have narrowings

and bulgings of the bole,
upon the frond-

others encom'age creepers to form in masses
petioles below,

and suggest the idea of a tucked

The

petticoat.

and I
have seen instances when the trunk lay upon the ground and the
upturned head was still alive, fighting to the last. It grows to a
great age
people mostly decline to mention the number of its

vitaUt}" of the tree is great,

it

resists the severest droughts,

;

j^ears.

The Carnahuba

is

justh^ considered, both for

the most valuable palm of the Sertao.

Its

gum

man and
is

edible

beast,

and the

down

roots are used as salsaparilla.

The mid-rib

streams for fences, the fibre is

worked into strong thread and

cordage.

The

lent thatching,

and cords,

for

is

rafted

the

leaves are good food for cattle,* they form excel-

and the
nets and

fibre is

seines.

made
The

into "straw-hats," ropes,
fruit is in large

clusters of berries, wliich in places strew the ground.

green the nut resembles a small olive

;

it

black, and attains the size of a pigeon's egg.

drooping
AVlien

ripens to a brilliant

The

pulp, boiled to

becomes soft like cooked maize it is considered good and wholesome, especially when eaten with milk, and

remove

its astringenc}',

* I have read of, but Lave not
miolho, or pith of the young tree.

;

seen this

:

the part usually given to cattle

is

the

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

310

animals readily fatten upon

Tlie ripe berry

it.

[chap. xxi.

usually eaten

is

raw.

The most

notable property of

tliis

palm, according to Koster,

was discovered in 1797, by the Portuguese naturalist. Dr. Manoel
Arruda da Camara;* the latter communicated it to Frei Jozc
Marianno da Conceicao Vellozo, who published an account of it
The leaves of the young tree,
in the ^'Palladio Portuguez."
when two feet long by about the same breadth, are cut and dried
Thej then discharge from the surface pale greyin the shade.
yellow dusty scales, which, melted over the fii-e, become a brown
wax.
Cereous matter is also procured by boiling the unripe
berries,! and chiefly by scraping the central spike, which prolongs
the tree.
The wax occurs mixed with heterogeneous substances,
bark or fibre, and it loses considerably by sifting. The material
the smell has been compared
is tasteless and soft to the touch
;

with that of newly

made

Its chief fault is its brittleness

hay.

;

remedied by mixing with three-parts of vegetable
Carnaone-part of animal wax, or l-8tli to 1-lOth of tallow.
huba candles are made upon the seaboard but I saw only one

this,

however,

is

;

upon the Eio de Sao Francisco, where, a little lower
down, the palm is found in forests. The colour was that of rhubarb, 3'ellow or brown sugar, and the light was not to be com*'

dip "

pared with the worst " Paraffine."!

Another league placed us at the head of the Illia da Pedra
Grande, the largest jet seen, and where the river contained a

We

greater breadth of land than of water.

channel, although the

left is

marked

took the right-hand

in the plan

;

perhaps the

crew did not wish to land at the cave of Santo Antonio in a rock

lump (Morro da Imagem de Santo Antonio), near
* Pic piiblislied at Bio de Janeiro in 1810
brocliiires, wliicli were analysed by

two

a remarkable

After three weeks it became a
pale yellov/, witb a surface almost wbitc.
plates.

The same change was effected by reducing
thin plates, and dipping them into an

Appendix, vol. ii.
Koster.
+ This also is from books. I do not
believe that the fruit is used to extract

it to

wax.

Made

X Koster tells us (quoting vol. xxxi. p. 14,
Trans. Philos. Soc. 1811) that the Count of
Valveas (the minister Pombal, Count of
Yciras) sent from Ptio de Janeiro to Lord
Grenville a si^ecimcn of the "carnanbaa"
wax as an article of export, produced betwcen N. lat. 3° 7°.
The brown-yellow
colour of the dust was attacked with weak

tioned wick, it burned uniformly and with
It was found to differ
perfect combustion.
from other species of vegetable wax, such
as that of the M3'rica cerifera, lac and
white lac.
The latest authority upon the
subject of this jmlm ''Notice sur le palmier
Carnauba," was publislied at Paris, 1867,
by Sir M. A. de Macedo, 1 vol. 8vo.

—

nitric acid,

and exposure to

air

on

glas,s

aqueous

solution

of

oxymuriatic

acid,

into candles, with proi3erly propor-

BOM JARDIM TO VILLA DA BARRA.

CHAP. XXI.]

buttress, tlie

Morro do

Picliaim.

311

contented themselves witli

Tlie}'

throwing a vintem into the water, reminding me of m}^ Beloch
escort and their slender gift to the hol}^ but angry Shaykh, who

We cheated the
upon the banks of the Pangani River.
sand-bar
below
the Fazenda do
anchoring
upon
a
mosquitos by
lies

Barro Alto, and were regaled with the music of song and drum,
which extended into the smallest hours.
October
site,

5,

1867.

—Appeared

in the yellow of

dawn

a pretty

the Limoeiro Fazenda, backed by the Serrote do Limoeiro,

an assemblage of sandstone heaps and hills, here and there tied
and compacted with ribs and ridges its containing wall vanished
to the north-west.
From the Fazenda Grande further down, a
;

man

put

tian

donkey pad, and priced

off,

bringing for sale a neat
at

new

8g000.

saddle, like the Egj'p-

At

''the Carahybas" a

boat-load of the last night's revellers greeted us with shots, and

we returned

The hierarchy

shouts.

established with a certain rigour

pearing before the

''

of the river formerly was

wliicli,

however,

is fast

disap-

The canoe

levelling tendencies of the age."

was expected to halt and compliment the raft, by trumpeting or
blowing the conch the raft showed the same deference to the
barque, and the saluted craft passed proudly on without deigning
;

reply.

Shortly before noon, as we passed the islands do Meleu'6 and

do Sabonete, the wind

fell to

a dead calm

;

all

Nature seemed

to

m

front
was cloudless, and the long level
horizon
to a
the
near
showed a silver plate of water narrowing
thread.
Behind lay a charming prospect, strata of golden sand
supporting emerald bush, a warm ruddy buttress flying from the
back-ridge of sandstone, a mound of purple distance, and a iixr
perspective of sky-blue peaks. About noon we opened the Riacho

take a siesta, the

das Canoas;* this
zeii-o,

aii'

is

the half-way house for the pilots of Joa-

as is the Villa da

Barra for those of Januaria, and thus the

boats overlap.

showed a brown saddleit was the
back, apparently on the left bank, and quite close
At its foot
Morro do Para, on the right shore, and distant.

The

stream,

now bending

east,

;

* Mr. Keith Jolinston gives tlie ''R.
Canoas," making it Lead near the Puo do
CoiTente to the sonth-^-est.
It is a brook
01 little importance.
At the mouth is
"Passagem," a small well-situated settle-

mcnt on a wave of ground; it lives apparently upon a ferry-raft used by passen ers
and animals, bound to the Bahiaa Diamantine range and to the provinciil
capital.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

312

seemed

to nestle the

Penedo da Toca, above

[chap. xxi.

j^ellow ^Yith dry

The

tufty grass, and below dark, with water-glazed sandstone.
far distance was

side

by a

tall

bounded by

a broken blue range, on the

ridge with a pyramid peering above

it,

Bahian

a central

saddle-back connected by a low wall, with a lion couchant on the

This is our first view of the '' Serra de Arassua."
As we approached the Penedo buttress, the sudden curve made
the stream run swiftly, and form, near the left side, an eddy and
a boil, which the pilots called a " Eemanso." A sand bank to

left.

the right showed a kind of gull-fair.

The

larus and the sterna,

wandering and restless birds, ma}' have been trooping
preparatory to a jaunt during the approaching rains. Amongst
essentially

them the rosy Spoon-bill
forming a flower bed

;

(Platalia Ajaja)

gathered in patches

and the Guara, or red Ibis (Ibis rubra, or

Tantalus rubra),* with stiU brighter plume, reminded

me

of

fla-

mingo-companies. Amid the variety of gloomy divers and snowy
herons, large and small, stood aloft the Jaburu (Jabiru),! here

Tuyuyu

Touyouyou, Mj^cteria americana, Linn.),
about four feet tall, with a bare jet-black head capping its purely
white plume. It haunts the banks and sand-bars, where it passes
the time in fishing I hence the people do not eat it, declaring
also called

(or

;

that

it

tastes of fin as

much

We

as of feather.

shall often see

down-stream, especially in the morning, when

all

in regular triangles, flying low

enough

it

wings

to be shot

its

down

;

it

way
and

amongst the chatter and the screams of the smaller birds its loud
hoarse voice sounded " like the chaunting of a friar." Mr. Davidson compared it with the sand-hill crane of Florida. § I could
not but remember the " adjutant-bird " of old.

We

paddled to the

left

bank, were swept down-stream by the

eddy, and poled up to the landing place, at the base of the rock.

A

rough cross to the east directed us to the " Toca de Santo

* This ibis "was of importance to the
''Indians," who Tised its fine plumes in
There are several kinds,
their full dress.
the white and the green (Tantalus Cayanncnsis), which the Tupys called Grarauna,
blue or dark Ibis, and which was corruirted
to

"Carao."

Mr. Bates (i. 282) mentions the Jaburti-Moleque
(Mycteria americana),
a
powerful bird of the stork family 4 4 feet
•\-

in height.

+ Prince
was a bird

Max

(iii.

of prey

1-46) heard that it
which devours other

This the pilots deny.

volatiles.

Lieiit.

Herndon found the Tu^aiyu grey on tlie
Amazons the pair
which he succeeded
'

'

;

in

getting

white."

He

to

United States were
mentions a " large white

the

also

crane, called JaburCi "

(p. 229).
§ Other common species are the white
TantaCourica (Ciconia americana).
lus albicollis, with white and black jjlume,
and loud harsh voice, is mentioned by
The Qarqa, real (ArPisen and Marcgraf.
dea pileata, Lath.) has a black head and a

A

yellow-white coat.

BOM JAEDIM TO VILLA DA BARRA.

CHAP. XXL]

—

now becoming

313

This tunnel,
seven paces long and six feet broad, opens to the south a mouth
The ceiling is pierced with a natural shaft the
eight feet high.

Antonio

lioly

caves are

banal.

;

floor is of dry caked mud, and the liighest water-mark is ten feet
high at the entrance. We found inside a flight of bats, whose

perfume was the reverse of pleasant, and a taper of the usual
brown bees'-wax, curled up like the match of a matchlock, was stuck
up against the wall. The formation is a hard, red, laminated Itathe dip is nearh^
columite, with dots and particles of mica
;

vertical.

Seen from the strfeam in front, this *' jienedo" appears a sharp
roof-ridge of stone, somewhat like a cocked hat, tapering to the
Externally the profile has a strike nearl}^ north and
north-west.
south, and cleavage lines dipping 45°, split by other fissures nearly
"We failed to ascend the eastern wall, which was
at right angles.
worse than precipitous. Where it thins out, however, the slope
is easy.
The summit, 100 feet above the plain, bristled with
slabs serrated and set almost on edge.
The Itacolumite was
striped with broad bands of white quartz, and the junction may
be the bii'th-place of the diamond. The stone would readily have
cooked a beefsteak, yet it sheltered the goatsucker, which rose in
pau*s, flitted past as if thrown from the hand, wheeled suddenly
above gromid, and hid itself nestling a few 3'ards from our feet.
On these rocks also the coney had his refuge. The brown Moco
(Caira rupestris) * peeped out of its home, stared curiously from
side to side, and, scenting danger, sprang back with the action of
the rabbit.
The riverines hunt this animal, and declare the flesh
to be excellent eating.
It is a congener of the tame variety
which, preserving its voice, changed its coat dming the process of
domestication, and deceived the world by calling itself Guinea pig
and Cochon d'lnde.
I was simple enough to ask, when in
Guinea, whether it was at home there.
Santo Antonio has not been so successful with the thorns as
was St. Peter with the frogs. We scraped unpleasant acquaintance
with the Macambira, a Bromelia whose thorns, shaped like a
bantam's spurs, are sharp as awls. The gregarious Quipa Cactus
* It was called Kerodon by ]\I. Fred.
Cuvier, and is mentioned by every traveller
in the Brazilian interior, from Koster to
In the Sierras of Peru
the present day.

Herndon (chap. 4) seems to have
found a dish of stewed Guinea pigs very

Lieut.

good.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL,

314

did

its little

best to sting.

[chap. xxt.

The ugliest customer of the nettles by far

was the Urticacea which the men here called Cansan9ao bravo
(Loasa rupestris), a poison nettle. The tall stem was garnished
with short sharp bristles which seemed automatons, finding
tlieii* way through the
air.
Worse than an}^ Dolichos, they
penetrated the skin in dozens, caused a violent itching, and
raised an eruption, wdiich disappeared only after su2:)purating.
The only non-spinous tree that grew upon these rocks was a
stunted and silvery Cecropia.
Thus the ancient *' Indians"
found growing together the two shrubs, large nettle and the
sloth-tree, which supplied fibre-thread for their thick, heavy, and
enduring cloths.

The rock top gave a fine view of the glorious river-plain below.
The stream, dotted and patched with islets, made a long sack
from south to east and north. The Morros do Para and da Torrinha, on the right

and left, seemed planted to keep it in place.
To the north-east the Arassua range displayed its huge folds and
slopes, and far to the south-east giant ramps stretched between
earth and cloud.
Between the blocks was a dead level which,
according to some informants, extends as far as the northern
breakwater of the great Paraguassu valley.* The riverine plain is
liopulous and well cultivated.
It showed the usual features, hut
clumps, bright green clearings, dark green woods, and yellow
grass, which four several prairie-fires canopied with a long purjDle
awning of smoke.
Once more shooting across the eddy, we reached the elbow
upon whose right bank stands the Povoacao do Para where
" Barboza of the Girls " struck up the '' riUng" ditty
;

me qiierem bem, nao me querem
Par^ e longe, nao vou la.

Niio

The mouth

mau

of the Para-mirim, or, as the pilot called

it,

Parana-

mirim,t opened vith a line of green to the south of the settlement,
and formed a sand-patch upon which cattle basked. The houses

domes of freshthe south-western foot of the umbre-

of red clay, and ashen grey thatch, set off by a few
foliaged trees, ran in lines at

* The road passes by a town, knov/n as
N. S. do liom Caminlio: despite Avhich, many
informants complained that it was in a
desperately bad state.
t This is the Paramirim which in Mr.

John Morgan's map encloses the Riacho of

Bom Jardim.

According to the people it is
no importance, and certainly the moulh
docs not argue a long course.
of

;

BOM JAllDIM TO VILLA DA BARRA.

cnAP. XXI.]

coloured

The next

liill.

feature was the

315

Morro da Torrhiha,

a

stony ridge begmning at the water-side and forming a double

At the pomt were
This is the Fazenda laid

tongue, the more distant lump being the higher.

taU trees, and above rose broT^ii bush.

Commendador Antonio

out by the

Mariani, and the ten huts and

houses to the water front are so disposed that the people can fly

from the floods

to the knob-top.

or less inhabited, we

bar below the

Illia

Passing sundry islands,

all

more

anchored at night-fall near a low sand-

Our visit disturbed hundreds
night we heard a concert of drums

do Timbo.

of V\'ater-fowl, and again at

no want of "jollity" here. Yesterda}",
however, a blind white had begged ahns with the true drone and
whine of the professional '' asker" an event rare enough to be

and

voices.

There

is

—

chronicled.
Oct. 6.

—At

night,

the Yento Geral gave

way

to the westerly

When we
had risen some eighteen inches, floating away one
of oiu' paddles, and placing us at some distance from the sandbar.*
These "repignetes," as the barquemen call them, are
swellings and subsidings preliminary to the flood of the year

land breeze, and the sensation was of unusual cold.

awoke the

river

according to the pilots they occur three or four times in succession.

wmd.

The morning was pleasant, but it showed distinct signs of
As the sun, between G a.:\i. and noon, warms the earth

and blows hard
till about 2 p.m., when the equilibrium of the atmosphere is
Then by slow degrees succeeds a calm, which often
restored.
lasts till evening.
Near Remanso we shall have alternately one
of rain.
wind
another
and
day of
Setting out at dawn, we presently sighted, from a distance of
four to five miles, the Serra do Brejo, or western containingit is faced by the
ridge, trending to the west, and bending north
Assaraua, rising like a gigantic insulation, and capped by a high
and water, the cold breeze comes up

vdtli puffs,

;

white cloud, like a second storey of island in the light blue sky.

The near banks
of

v\'ere flat,

grassy ledges, producing an abundance

the hard, gnarled, and dark-barked

* ^Ye had, I have said, an anclior with
and this proved of no little use. Grenerally rafts, and even barques, are made fast
us,

and many an accident has
taken place from their breaking loose. The
men work hard, especially if they wish to

to upright poles,

Jurema Acacia, f

The

reach a town in time for some fete, a watch
at night is never set, and the craft would
be amongst the rapids before the sleei^ers
would awake.
+ This Acacia vvas first noticed about
Malhada and Carunhanha, where it is sup-

THE HIGHLAXDS OF THE

316

BExVZIL.

[cHAr. xxi.

branch ends with nests two or three
feet long, bags of diy and thorny twigs, opening with a narrow
entrance at the upper end, and comfortably lined with soft grass.
Probably, like the clay hut of Joao de Barro, it receives an
annual ''annexe." Here the tenant is called Casaca de Couro,*
trees were tasselled at tlie

or " leather-coat."

We

had to battle with the winds and the wavelets, which rose
and off the " Angical " Fazenda the enemy had the
as by magic
This is a
best of the affair, and kept us at halt for three hours.
large breeding estate in a sack on the right bank, which is sandy
and produces fine Cocoa-nuts, Carnahubas, and Quixabeiras.
;

From

a point a

little

below

this,

canoes during the floods

make

a

Apshort cut across country to the Ypoeira of Chique-Chique.
proaching the Ilha do Camaleao,! of the Chameleon, we saw
ahead, the white houses of the settlement, attached to a huge
The northern approach
pile, projecting over the green left bank.
to the Villa da Barra do Rio Grande is by the narrow " Corre-

formed near the western side by the long thin
island-ship, the Ilha do Laranjal; to the east is the main line of
The course
the Sao Francisco, a mass of sand-bars and beaches.
is then across the mouth of the Pdo Grande, which here runs to
the east with northing, and discharges into the Sao Francisco.
Its right jaw pushes out from inundated thickets a clay point
thinly covered with bush, and in the centre there is a shrubby
island. The current at the confluence, where 1200 feet of breadth
deira," or channel,

upon the Pontal, or projection which faces to the south-east, and separates the two rivers.
The material, fortunately for the town, is a perpendicular bank
rush to meet 6100

feet, strikes

It will
posed to give the finest charcoal.
become more alnmdant as we approach the
The people speak of two
Great Rapids.
Jiirema (alias
the
qualities (species?),
Gerema or Geremma, Acacia Jurema), and
The ample growth of
the Jurema Pesta.
Acacias and Mimosas Angico, barbatuirao
and Inga, combined with the saline soil of
this part of the valley, prove how wellfitted it is for camel-breeding.
* It may be the same as the Gil)ao
de Couro (leather-jacket), a gobemouche
(Musicapa rupestris)
I did not see the
bird.
Prince Max. (iii. 95) described a
similar nest of the Anabatis rufifrons, or
Sylvia rufifrons, with an opening at the
•

:

heavily

he found tlie Lird in the upper
and below it a kind of bush-monse

lower end
storey,

:

(Rat des Catingas, IVIus pjTrhorhinns).
t The author of the Caramuru asserts
(vii. 58) that the Camaleao feeds upon wind,
In the Brazil, however, the Chameleon is a
lizard (Lacerta iguana), which changes a
little the colour of the skin, but which
cannot be compared with the true chama3This animal in the wilder parts
leones.
of the Sei'tao is considered to be more delibut the people are
cate than the chicken
not particular, they devour the ounce, the
cayman, the wild cat, the Siriema-bird,
and other strong meats.
;

:

CHAP. XXL]

BOM JARDIM TO VILLA DA BARRA.

317

of hard clay, strengthened with hj'drate of iron, at this season
six feet ahove the water

side of the Rio de

;

it

extends some leagues down the

Sao Francisco.

From

the mildest of heights

see the low-lying valley of the Eio

we can

left

Grande winding up

from the south-west, where there is a break in the blue cm'tain
which subtends the plain. It is a flat Delta of dense vegetation,
at least twenty miles across in a bee-line.
These confluence
towns run a double risk, from the main artery and from the
influent; the heavy downfalls of rain are often local deluges,
and thus one stream may do damage when the other is peacefullv
During the last night the Eio Grande rose several
inclined.
the people declared that
inches, when the Sao Francisco fell
they never saw this happen so earh', and began to predict that
water would be wanted when most required.
The town runs from west to east, along the northern bank
of the Pdo Grande,* beginnmg about a mile up-stream, and
:

extending to the " Pontal."

mean

It has a

look, the

houses

and small, with roughly railed courts on the waterside, where the floods prevent building, and sunchy are unfinished, mere tiled roofs without walls.
Here and there, on
the higher levels, is a platform of rough stone and lime brought
from Porto Alegre, six leagues down stream
it supports a
whitewashed back waU or a tenement half-white, half-yellow,
are low

;

set

ofi"

with pea-green shutters.

place of sand and clay, is the

The

Porto, t a dirty landing-

common

mornings
it becomes a fish-market, durhig the day seines hang on poles
to dry, children pelt the dogs, the asses, here a " feature," and
the long-legged pigs, ducks and fowls, wander about in com* This great influent has heen surveyed
by M. Half eld, who devotes to it three
Well deserving the name, it drains
charts.

the eastern side of the northern di^-iding
The mouth is in (approxirange of (jroyaz.
mately) south lat. 12° 10', and west long.
(Rio) 1° 3'. It is navigable for 45 leagues to
the Villa do Campo Largo, where it is still
its depth is about 4 metres,
350 wide
the cui-rent 0'77 per second, and the discharge about 190 cubic metres, or nearly
double the Seine at Paris.
Bej^ond this
point there are difficulties, but small
"dug-outs" go 20 leagues fiirther to
The Rio Preto, its great northLimoeiro.
western fork, gives a navigable line of 32
;

leagues

sewer

rid Santa

;

in the

Rita to

this is a troublesome journej^

Formosa

;

but

From

these
maize,

lands are exported rice, farinha,
legumes, rapadura, and other proWsions
some salt is also made at the Barra do
Boqueirao, 16 to 18 leagues from the embouchure of the Rio Grande.
The Rio
Preto is the stream whose waters Lieut.
]\Ljraes would throw over the mountains
into the Parnagua Lake. I have alluded to
this wondrous project in Chap. 26.
f I do not understand what M. Halfeld
means by *' este portoparece ser artificial."
It is rare to find an}i;hing more WTetchedly natural,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

318

pany

witli lialf-tamecT cranes,

women wash

[chap. xxi.

white and asli-coloured, and

tlie

company. Water for househokl use must be
here it is dark, foamy, and tainted.
brought from up-stream
A number of canoes and barcas ride at anchor attached to their
poles, and a favourite conveyance appears to be the ''balsa,"
in

:

or raft of

''

Burity " fronds.

The long bundles

lashed to-

are

gether in live or six places, and are kept in position by crosspieces

;

they rise about one foot above water, and, being elastic,

they are less likely to be injured by shoals and rapids. They
carry down the river huge " pipas," or. hides full of grain, and
similar

make

"trem:"

posts and

at

their destination they are

broken up to

which are tolerably durable.
This is a great '' festa," the peculiar day of the Padroeii'o,
As w^e approached
or patron saint, " S. Francisco das Chagas."
the town, we saw the F. F. in accurate black, riding small
horses and smaller mules, along the unclean Praia to join in
The rest of the crowd was in hats of sorts, cliimneythe office.
pot, Burity- straw, or felt, and in brown or white cotton clothes.
There was the usual grotesque old negro, wearing a caped cloak
of the thickest blue broadcloth, in an atmosphere of 98° (F.).
The women are all in church till the ceremony ends, and the

men

rails,

cluster at the door

lilve

a

swarm

''function" ended with a discharge

broad daylight

—which

seemed

to

Presently the

of bees.

of fireworks

administer

—

it

much

was

still

spiiitual

A

procession issued to perambulate the streets, and
the dignitaries, by their red and white " opas," or short cloaks,
comfort.

caused no

little

sensation.

dressed

Girls

in

the

brightest

coloured stufts, and small youths in the lightest of clothing,
and very little of it, charged wildly about the place, dodging
round the corners to " catch another sight." I visited in the
evening the little chapel of Bom Jesus, vdiich has stumps where

towers should be

—a

man

in uniform without epaulettes.

The

showed me that the feminine element predominated the principal duty seemed to be to
kneel down before a table, and to kiss the Saint's very diminutive feet the principalest to deposit a few coppers upon
an adjoining table.
The night showed not a few of the
scenes which one expects to see at a commercial port on festal
illumination was not brilliant, but
:

—

occasions.

it

"

BOM JARDIM TO VILLA DA BARRA.

CHAP. XXI.]

319

M. Halfeld speaks with enthusiasm of the townspeople.* I
found them civil and courteous, as indeed is the rule of the Brazil,
but the Bahiano did not

My

sliine after

letter of introduction to the

the Paulista, or the Mineu'o.

Lieut.-Col.

Joaquim Francisco

Guerreu'o was not followed by any results on the other hand,
the Lieut.-Col. Carlos Mariani, the grandson of a Corsican who
had emigrated to the Brazil, " in the days of the Genoese Republic," came at once to see me, led me to his house, and showed
me all his curiosities. He had octahedral pieces of magnetic
;

(ferragem), which is found scattered about the fazendolas

ii'on

and on the Vareda do Curral das Egoas, beyond
His rock crystals came from an
the western containing-ridge.
eastern Serrote wdiilst the Tauatinga Range and Natividade in
(little estates),

;

the Tocantins Yalley supplied red sandstone vnih attachments of

and
He informed me that a wandering
diffused traces of copper.
German had lately been robbed of some opals, which are supposed to be found near the Villa de Sao Domingos, en route to
quartz, showing at the junction regular lines of free gold,

Cuj^aba in Mato Grosso.
I spent the main of

my

time wandering about the town, and

Beginning at the east and

trying to detect its latent merits.

walking round by the north, we find that the site is a great
Varzea, or river plain, raised 18 to 20 feet onty above the low
The land immediately behind the town
level of the stream.
is

flooded six

feet,

and even more

;

to the north there is a large

swamp-bed, which has its own (h'ain to the east. Many of the
houses in this du'ection show a water mark of 3 to 4 feet in
height ; and some have smik twenty-four to thii'ty-six inches into
It is probable, however,
their sopped and sandy foundations.
that this may be accounted for by the deposit of the inundation
the Mississippi, in some places, leaves annually a coat of mud and
sand two or three feet thick. On the north-west is a whitewashed
;

and beyond it another of clay. In this part also is
the Tezosinho (little rise) da Conceicao, a '' Retu'o," where the
townspeople huddle together when then' houses are under water
it is the resisting bluff which prevents the plain being swept

cemeter}^,

;

*

'

Tlie noble and loyal character of the
inhabitants of the Villa da Barra, especially the higher classes, evinces,
in all
'

their acts, civil

and

religious,

cordiality.

gentlemanly politeness, and in
an extreme delicacy of manners
which rivals the most civilised Coui-ts.

the most

social life

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

320

away.

Here

At
is

the west end

the tip- over, the

we
''

[chap. xxi.

find the origin of all these evils.

transbordamento," where the waters

Grande enter, form an Ypoeira, and, with the assistThe
ance of the swamp, convert the site into an island.*
and
the
bayou-head can hardly be embanked, it is too broad
soil is too loose and silty to form a levee. Lime being expensive,
clay is used in its stead, and the deep holes dug for this material
of the Rio

form, under a sun that burns at

marsh

disease.

but the question

6' 30 a.m.,

The only remedy
is

where to find

is to

another fomenter of

remove

to a better place,

it.

narrow form, with silty and
sandy thoroughfares, all bearing names, none boasting paveBehind, or north of Water Street, is the Paia do
ments.
Santissimo behind it the Rua do Rosario has at the west end
a Praca, a huge cross, and a two-windowed ground-floor chapel
still northwards is the Rua do Amparo, a wild suburb, and
These long lines are connected as
beyond it the " Retiro."
streets.
There are a few sobrados
cross
usual by Travessas or
and meio-sobrados, fronted by the usual bits of brick-edge trottoir,
and proudly displaying glass windows. Most of the houses are
many, even
small, with large projecting eaves under-boarded
in the highest parts, appear half interred. There are a few shoi)S
of dry goods, and a photographic establishment, which sells

The town

is

in the usual long

;

;

cartes de visite at the rate of 8 $000 per dozen; a butchery supplies tolerable meat,

ura, onions

and

and a host of Vendas

sell spirits

and rapad-

garlic.

The nucleus of the settlement
The people determined to show

is

their spirit

Francisco a church of the grandest
begin vigorously in the Brazil.

about the Largo da Matriz.

by building to Sao
Such things

description.

The

Provincial

Government

£2400.
Bahia was applied to for a plan and an architect the person
chosen was a German, Herr Heinrich Jahn, who brought with
him his family. The first stone was laid on Oct. 4, 1859. The
building is, or rather will be, 100 feet long by fifty broad,
gave £'400,

which

alms

and

contributions

raised

to

;

double towered and with a clerestorv.

* Since the

little deluge of 1792 the
has often been threatened with destruction, especially in 1802, 1812, and
1838.
In 1857 the Villa da BaiTa escaped
to^vll

The

material

better than Januaria;
as Uriibu,

was not

former in 1865.

is

brick

the latter, as well

so fiercely visited as the

—
BOM JAEDlM TO VILLA DA BARE A.

CHAP. XXI.]

321

and lime upon a foundation of ashlar. The front has the usual
three entrances and five windows, and the graded pediment has
introduced a little change into the popular monotony of facade.
In the interior part}" walls set off two sacristies, which seriously
diminish the space. At present all is scaffolded with Carnahuba
The whole
palms, and the works are stopped by lack of funds.
affair is out of place and size, and the Villa da Barra looks like
an annexe to its Matriz.
On the south-east of the church square is a detached Casa
da Camara, with a bell and six windows above, and a grating
which shows the jail below. At times the floods have rendered
it

necessary to

appeared, like the rest of the people,

need

The

the arcliives in canoes.

save

never sing with the

starling,

and here they

''jolly,"

"I

prisoners

can't get

The

out."

of one sergeant

military force, paid by the Province, consists

and ten men, whose duties seem principally to sound the bugle.
The sentinel at the door leans against the wall he has neither
collar nor shoes, his only weapon is a bayonet, and he much
reminded me of the items which composed a certam corps on
;

the Gold Coast,

now disbanded.

The

last of the public build-

The Government assisted
with funds a Brotherhood, which subscribed 1$000 each per
mensem, and contmued to do so for a short time. The house
ings

is

the Hospital de Sao Pedi'o.

still

remains, but the inmates are at most two, and the good work

may

be said

The

vii'tually to

have been dropped.

Siio

— Its municii^ality
only one freguezia
— the houses in the

Villa da Barra dates from 1753

There
In 1852

contains 10,000 to 12,000 souls.

Francisco das Chagas,

4.

is

54,

town numbered 660 and the population 4000
creased in

1867.

imperfect.

The road

Its

connection with the

to the

cit}"

;

neither had in-

seaboard

is

very

of Lencoes (sixty leagues, each

—

mere '' picada " in 1855 -a line of river
The
fords, muds, and mountains barely passable, but passable.
best road to Baliia is through the old town of Jacobina (seventyIt is described to rmi over
five leagues), a long leg to the east.
of 3000 bracas), was a

a plain

leagues

-s^dth

three ''jornadas" or stages of twelve to fourteen

each, waterless

during the dries

;

the mule troopers,

however, accomplish each one in the twenty-four hours

comes the Serra do Tombador, leading

to

ladeira or ascent, for which, however, the
VOL.

II.

;

then

the town, a stony

mules are unshod,
Y

—

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

322

and

lastly

from Jacobina to Caclioeira City

[chap. xxi.

all is

comparatively

level.

Tlie people of the Villa da Barra breed cattle

and a few mules

;

their chief occupation, however, is the carrying trade,* and, like

the

West African

seaports, they act as brokers between strangers

and the people of the
the

great

salt

We

interior.

now on

are

the outskirts of

formations, which, however, d^es not prevent

the condunent being imported from the coast via Joazeiro.

by water

saline matter is deposited

visited further

down

with the view of making it
The " Salineiros " collect and

make

soil,

were, breed.

it

been found. We
had been ''planted,"

3'et

several places where salt

that is to say, mixed with the

spread and, as

chiefly in the vicinity of

gemma) has not

streams, and rock salt (sal

The

between the months of July and October. It is treated
like salt]oetre, strained in bangues (coffers or hides), evaporated
over the fire, and allowed to crystalUze.
Sometimes it is exposed
in " coclies " or huge troughs to solar action onl}^ and this
it

simple operation would pay better

done on a grand scale.
What it chiefly requires is purification, and the separation of
the other salts, magnesia, for instance, which are equally disagreeable and deleterious.
Some of it is white and fuie like
sea salt; often, however, it is bitter and brown (amargoso e
trigueiro), fit only for beasts.
Finally it is packed for exjiortaif

tion in hide-bags called Surroes (Surons).

The

f

Pdo Grande has a high and unmerited
reputation.
I soon found how it had risen to fame.
The
Mineiros wish to see Januaria the capital of the new Province.
The Bahianos prefer Carunhanha on the Villa da Barra, and
Villa da Barra do

the cause of the latter has been ably esjooused by the ex-Minister

and Senator, Joao Mauricio Vanderley, the Baron of Cotigipe.
"'^

The following

da Barra

my

list of

purcliaso« will bIioW

tlie

1 Gf-arafao (4 bottles) of coxintry
"
lbs. salt

2
10
16
10

lbs.
Ibft.

beef
lard

j^

riilti

.

.

.

,

0$500

,

......
,..,..,

.

,

lbs. rice

1 string (resta) onion.-r

,

quarter of fariuha

=

,

,

,

,

Total

T The

prices then current at the Villa

:

nicufciurc vavies

everywhere

;

hero

,

.

.

,

tJic tSurro«3 is of

21

,

7$ 130

piato.s,

say 50 lbs

CHAP. XXI.]

BOM JAEDIM TO VILLA DA BARE A.

This influential Conservative
a

filial

regard for

its

is

323

a ''son" of the place, and has

prosperit3\

My

conviction

is

is fitted

Chique.

only to be a port or outpost for

the

and that it
Jardim or Chique-

Villa is one of the worst sites that I have yet seen,

Bom

that

—

CHAPTEE

;

XXII.

FROM THE VILLA DA BAREA (DO RIO GRANDE) TO THE
VILLA OF PILAO ARCADO.
Seventh Tkavessia,

—

29

Leagues,

the sand-dunes.
complicated approach to chique-chique.— the settlement described. the xique-xique cactus.
good mutton.
hire animals to visit the diamond diggings. — the old freedman.
the trees and birds. breeding fazendas. the grove of carnahtjba palms. — lakes. ascent of hills. the servlgo or diamonddigging " do pintorsinho." the village of santo ignacio. origin
of the diggings, and other peculiarities. return-ride to chiquechique.— resume navigation. the portals.
the storms.— reach

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

PILAO ARCADO.
" Ce beau pays pent se passer de runivers entier."

We

Voltaire.

The air during the early
hours was still and
Then the cold land-wind set
in.
At first a long monotonous song made the hours unpleasant
did not pass a pleasant night.
sultry (82° F.).

afterwards came the lively splashing of Piranha, the

''

devil-fish,"

and the muffled growl of the stream, which seemed

to be mis-

chievously inchned.

Below the Yilla da Barra the Sao Francisco broadens, the contaming ridges retreat, and the riverine valley is a dead flat. The
heat greatly increases, altliough the channel trends between north

and north-east, the direction of the Yento Geral. Boats must
sometimes remain embayed for days near the low ragged sandbars, and the crews congratulate themselves on having a dozen
clear working hours.
Accidents are so common that there is
hardly a boatman who hereabouts has not been wrecked at least
Suddenly, in the clearest atmosphere, the breeze dashes
down upon the wide surface, the waves rise, and the canoe or raft

once.

swamped. The greatest care is given to observing the premonitory symptoms, especially the '' redemoinhos," columns of sand

is

sixty to seventy feet liigh,

which career whirling over the

plain.

CHAP. xxiT.]

"

f

VILLA DA BARE A TO PTLAO ARC ADO.

323

Boats creep along the windward or sheltered bank and make ready
for the refuge -place before the ''yendaval" or squall bursts.

We
The

The vnnd began

could not set off before 9*30 a.m.

first

Ypocommunication

league showed on the right a blind channel, the

eira funda," which, dining the floods, gives direct

with Chique-Chique.

Jose Vicente
verging to

beyond Cajaseu-a* of the Capitiio

little

another bayou also impassable at this season, con-

is

its

A

early.

^'

These should be

southern neighbour.

made

carefulty

practicable to admit craft

examined.

The

at all times,

would greatly assist navigation to Chique-Chique, and

narroY\' opening,

main

relieve the latter place of its

difficulty,

direct

approach.

managed. We shall preOn
sently skii't it when riding inland from Chique-Chique.
the other hand it must be taken into consideration whether such
opening will not throw the thalweg to the right and greatly increase
the amount of flooding.
Fazendas and fazendolas were scattered
We landed on the right side to
in all directions over both banks.
examine a place reported to contain limestone. It proved to be a

The

channel,

said,

it is

would be

easily

mere " barreii'o." After we had passed sundry cultivated spots,
and Carnahuba groves standing up like huge palings, the furious
wind compelled us to anchor at the head of a little sand-bar, the
Ilha do

Mocambo do Yento. This

"

Maroon

village of the wind,"

an ill-omened and appropriate name, is considered one of the
worst places.
The channel bends to the east and the south-east.
The bed is unusually broad, and the stream flows in the teeth of
the Trade.
Upon the Coroa we found diamantme crystals, and a

had been thrown awa}^
had
been mummified, and
The spiny outer sldn

scatter of acary, the armom'-plated fish,

from the

seines.

the attitude was

Tuesday,

still

Oct.

8,

that of the death-throe.

1867.

— The

wind,

after

a

fierce

struggle

through the night, made a feint of falling. It rose, however, with
the sun and filmed over the Coroa with a gauze of sand which
reminded me of the Arabian ^ilds. Even at 1 p.m., when we set
The left bank was dotted with small
out, advance was difficult.
detached

hills,

* Probably
dias

and between

Ai'eia

from Acaya or Acaja (Spon-

vemilosa,

in

Tupy

ybametara),

Burseracea resembling the

Imbu

or

a

Imbu-

tliree-poled
Poi-to

The Arraial do
near a fine wooded rise of
and Caatinga on the left, and
gallo-v\-s.

Alegre,

Camabuba
so forth.

zeiro.

with red
milho hanging to dry upon a Yarao, or

t Sambahiba,

branca and Hycatu| we entered

a

little

village

X

'i'he

''

good water.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

326

[chap. xxii.

a land of ^'lencoes," or shrouds, as they were called

Portuguese explorers.

b}'-

the old

Sheets and heaps of the whitest sand, the

degradation of Itacolumite, glittered in the sun, Hke the patches
that

about Diamantina.

lie

Here and there

it

was dotted with

black points, dark green tufty shrubs, which at times the mirage

In parts the substance becomes yellow,
and resembles even more the low dunes lining an ocean shore.
The underl}ing rock is probably limestone, and the formation
converted into

will

tall forests.

extend for

many

leagues dowai stream, especially on the

left.

Nothing could be more picturesque than this bit of the Sahara,
especially when backed by a gloomy pall in the northern sky
here a sign of wind, not of rain and when fronted by the steely
stream, damascened by the golden glories of the setting sun.
The main channel runs far to the north-west of Chique-Chique,
and there was not water enough to float us over the direct line,
about two miles long, passing to the south of the Illias do Gado *
and do Miradouro. We were therefore compelled to skirt the
whole western shore of the latter, which in length is at least seven

—

miles, with four miles of extreme breadth.

At

its

north-eastern

extremity the navigable channel, a continuation of the blind
Ypoeira, doubles back to the south-west in order to reach Chique-

Chique.

It is at least eight miles long, not including the

nume-

This is the ''Barra da Picada," so called from a
small place at its mouth.
There is yet another passage, at times
practicable, between the main stream and the Ypoeii'a, the "Barra
da Esperanca," which passes between the smaller lUia do Gado
and the Miradouro. This portion of the Sao Francisco is exceed-

rous windings.

ingly complicated, and the network of channels can hardly be

understood without a map.

The

great artery widens to upwards of a mile, and is

marked

by sno\\y sand-heaps, set in the darkest verdure, opposite the
mouth of the Barra da Picada. This channel begins with a
breadth of 500 feet between terra firma and the Miradouro, which,
at its north-eastern extremity, fines off to a

swampy

point, the

Ponta da Ilha. It presently narrows to 200 and 150 feet, and
where it joins the Ypoeira to the north-east of Chique-Chique it
* Tills is the lesser ''Illia do Gado," to
thc west of the great Miradouro Island.
The larger "Ilha do Grado" is the space
included between the blind Ypoeira and

tlie

main channel it is south of the Miraand it is insulated only during the

douro,
floods.

:

VILLA DA BAREA TO PILAO ARCADO.

CHAP. XXII.]

widens out to 700

bend"
will

to the west.

to allow waves

first it

After that

admit boats at

after the

At

j^ards.

all

to

its

makes

course

a long " liorseslioe-

The depth

is direct.

seasons, and the breadth

form.

327

is

hardly sufficient

Its tranquillity, especially enjoyable

roughness of the great

river,

reminded me of those West

African lagoons which subtend the shores of the boisterous sea,
and wliich aid so much the loading of slave ships. The low banks

on both
the

sides, the

little

b}''

a bare talus, and

patches of spinach-green fields with their rough fencing,

vividly brought to

We

dense bush, at times broken

mind the

features of

Dahoman AVhydah.

passed a few tiled huts on the proper right bank of this

quiet channel, and the whitewashed chapel and hamlet of Santa

Anna do

Mii'adouro* on the eastern margin of

mouth

entered the broadening

its islet.

of the Ypoeira

—

We

then

at tliis season a

backwater, and found a safe anchorage where the gusty north-

At the port were a number of canoes
belonging to fishermen and melon vendors. A barca had been
stranded, and another was being caulked upon the beach. Above
wind can do

little

damage.

us rose the town, which was not less ''jolly" tlian

its

neighboui's.

Drum

and song, dance, laughter, and shouts of applause, prolonged till dawn, showed that, despite the absence of festival, the
*' folia" was not wanting.
The next day opened so badly with the wind-clouds that I
determined to rest the crew, and to indulge myself in a short "sisit
to the nearest diamond washings. We began by inspecting ChiqueChique. The "porto" along the eastern bank is formed by a
natm'al pier, a dwarf cliff, at this season some four feet above
water.

The material

granulated

Avitli

is

a silicate of white-grey lime, in places

iron stone and puddinged with large and fuiely

and a considerable proThis
portion of clay,t it will make the best hydraulic cement.
and the Lapa are the principal lime quarries. Chique-Chique
annually sends up and down stream, between the Axilla da Barra
and Joazeii'o, 1500 to 2000 alqueu'es. On the beach were canoes
Horses were being groomed by
full of the finest water-melons.
the usual process of dashing water upon them from a large caladisseminated quartz.

* In

jMr.

Keith Jolmston'.s
" is

Containing

map

"

S.

silica

and
15 per cent, of argile, tlie good, IG
which make the best cement the
proportion rises to 25 and even 30 per
;

a small town
upon the eastern hank of the Sao Fran-

in those

Cisco.

cent.

Anna de Miradonro

f Ordinary

made

hydraulic limestone contains

THE HKTHLANDS OF THE

328

BEAZli:.

[vu\i\ xxii.

Lads in naturalibus were preparing to batlie, and waslierwomen and carpenters plied their trades. Spoonbills (platyrhynchus) stalked amongst the dug-outs, which had brought for sale an
abundance of fish. The birds were not improved by civihzation,
and their delicate pink plumage had turned grey with mud.
Ui)on the bank-top we found a large space open to the stream,
with a central cross suj)ported by a heap of stones. At the bottom,
facing to the west-north-west, is the Chapel of N. S. Bom Jesus
do Bomfim.* It is a poor, mean pile of brick and lime upon a
stone foundation. The usual preposterous front was four windows,
and no belfty-towers. The interior, anciently a burial ground,
disj)lays a blue and gold high altar, with frescoed ceiling, and two
side-chapels wdiere swallows had nested. The walls show a single
miracle paj)er, dated 1804, and the congregation consisted of three
old women, two in uniform black, the third girt with the white
cord of St. Francis.
The town extends on both sides and behmd
bash.

.

the church, thus forming a truncated cross.
the creek show a water-mark two feet high.

The tenements near
They can easily be

upon platforms. The floods do not extend to the higher
and the people boast with justice that their ''assento," or
site, is the best upon the river.
The heavier rains begin to fall
in October, and continue with breaks till May.
The inundation

raised
parts,

months, from November to April. Already there is a
freshet of six palms, and the indirectness of the water-course here

lasts five

makes a rise of one foot to four or five in the true Siio Francisco.
There is some excitement in visiting and describing these
places, now the most WTetched of '' rancheries," but destined to
become the centres of mighty States. Chique-Chique runs nearly
north and south

;

as usual the long straight streets are parallel

with the creek, and here they are almost sufficiently broad.

ment

is

been

built.

Pave-

unknown, but scatters of ironstone upon the hard
ground render dust and mud equally impossible. A triangular
"square," south-east of the clmrch, surrounds a detaclied Camaracum-jail, and the iron-bars of the latter are fixed into wooden
frames.
Farther to the east tliere is a neat, whitewashed cemetery, with incipient catacombs.
One Casa Nobre, Avith a balconj^
of quaintly jjainted wooden railings, and a few half-sobrados, have
as yet

The

rest are ground-floor tenements, eacli witli its
* N'^ S»

<lo

Boviifim (M. Halfeld).

VILLA DA BAERA TO PILAO ARCADO.

lHap. xxiT.l

329

"hanging-garden" of geranium, basil,
and lavender (alfazema),* of onions and choice vegetables the
latter is mostly a trough or a bit of canoe, raised on poles be3'ond
The tenements may number 180,
the reach of ants and pigs.
but many of them are opened only on fete-days, vvhen 1500 souls

large

compound and

little

;

find lodgings.

The country behind the tovai is a field of various Cactaceae, which
form contrasts. The dwarf of the family is the Quipa, with its
large crimson fig, so much enjoyed by the parrot (Psittacus cacAnother pigmy is a bulb
torum) that the beak is stained red.
nearly a foot in diameter (]\Ielocactus, or Echmocactus), ribbed

upon
melon, and guarded at the angles by terrible thorns
the top is an inflorescence, lilve a Turkish fez, and the people knovv^

like a

it

;

Horses learn to

as the friar's head (cabeca de frade).

like the

much

care to
spongy substance, which the plant takes so
it keeps them in condition, and they fetch a higher
preserve
soft

;

who

price than those

refuse

The

it.

declare that riding

i^eople

animals and black cattle learn to open the armed exterior by

There is the common flat Opuntia and
it with the hoof.
"
hedges, and gives its
Xique-Xique," + which is planted
the
striking

m

According to M. Halfeld, this is a kind
of cactus which, roasted and peeled, has the taste of a batata or
The almost general word is differently used in the
sweet potato.
Here it is applied especially to a tall " Organseveral i^laces.

name

to the settlement.

Cactus," which

is

in j^outli

many-sided, and

it

The shape

is

almost a tree
varies

also

ground, there

it

stands

;

;

here
stiffly

the angles vary with

it

life

runs

serpent-like

white flower resembling wax-work;

though

patched with white

fleece, as

almost conceals

dark-red blossom.

its

along the

One kmd has

upright.

years,

ahnost cylindrical.

ends

it

its

a fleshy

another (C. mamillaris)
it

is

had robbed a sheep, and
AVe shall meet ^nth other

forms further down the Sao Francisco.
I was surprised to see about a place so rich in Cactus, goats so
small and stmited, whilst here were the finest shee^) of the Brazil,

and mutton

is

justly preferred

Hardly

to beef.

an}" pasture,

except thorns, was upon the ground, yet a perfect assimilation of

* The women are fond
fumed herbs, and ornament
the

of

these per-

their hair with

flowei-s.

f Gardner writes Shuke-Shuke, as the

word is pronounced.
form " Chiqiie-Chiqiie

" Xique-Xique "
distinction

is

T

have prefen-ed the

" for the settlement,

for the plant; but the
not recognised by the people.

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

330

[chap. xxii.

Somali countiy and on the Western Praii'ies of
North America, kept the animals in the highest condition. The
lambs wore a thick fleece, which disappears from the adult some
are white, others are brown, all are thin-tailed, and not a few are

food, as in

tlie

;

No

taken to breed them the owners, howhave sense to pen at night the flocks, numbering thirty to

bearded.
ever,

trouble

The usual

fort3\*

is

price

;

is

2 $ 000, or 3 $ 000

when

the animal

is

Horses, small but hardy, and with signs of blood, cost

A^erv fat.

60 $000; good riding mules, which make Jacobina (sixty short
leagues,) in four days, rise to

SOgOOO

or

100$ 000.

The

cattle

neat and sleek, apparently untroubled with ticks or " bernes."

is

Besides stock-raising the country supplies, every year, 1000 to

2000 alqueires of salt to the Upper Siio Francisco manioc planted
after and taken up before the rains, gives good farinha
maize
and excellent tobacco are brought from the Assurua Eange.
The people boast that their land is one of the richest, if not the
richest near the river
it produces gold and diamonds, fish and
salt, and the wax-palm grows in vast forests.
After some trouble about conveyance I hired for 3 $000 each,
a horse and a mule, with the owner as guide.
Cyriaco Ferreira
was a tall, thin, old black, with a preposterous masticatory apparatus, and a scanty, scowling brow.
He consulted me shame;

;

;

lessly in the presence of his wife concerning a certain

here even white

were a

now

^'

men

talk about

cold in the head."

it

*'

Gallica

before their families as

The

;

if it

frequent mutilations which

begin to meet the eye doubtless proceed from the use, or

rather the abuse of mercurials, to which are added the ignorance

and the recklessness of the patient, who, even when the facial
bones are attacked, will drink spirits and take snuff.
Our negro had been a good man and true as a slave a false
idea of charity had emancipated him, and with freedom appeared
;

all

the evils of his race.

Fawning

as a spaniel to those

who knew

was surly as a mastiff to us recalcitrant as a mule,
he would loiter when we wished to advance he " trod upon our
toes" at all opportunities, and with the real servile style he proceeded to give his orders. Travellers who have even a constituhis origin, he

;

;

tional aversion to a " row," are forced into

thrust

is
*

The

seen here,

upon one the only way

]>rnzilian variety,

is

called on tlic Amnzoiis

it

"to go
"sheep

at times.

When

it

into it," tooth and
of

five

rinarters,"

was not

VILLA DA BARRA TO PILAO ARCADO.

CHAP. XXII.]

831

This was done a few rough words, and clearing decks for
action, soon brought back the old slave, but at times it jdelded to
a passionate outburst of the new freedman.

nail.

;

Riding down the Paia das Flores, we struck out into the open
country, towards a long blue rock with a table-top summit, southThis Serra do Pintor ^Y\U. be conspicuous
east of the settlement.
for several

da^-^s

do^ai stream

;

it

appears a frustum of a cone, a

second distance rising above a long sloping ridge. Cotton of
and the district
smaller than usual size grew in the suburbs
;

be^^ond

it,

the Praia Grande, was clay strewed T\ith iron pyrites,

which unless neutralized by underlying lime, must produce inOur path lay along the left bank of the
jurious sulphuric acid.
great Ypoeira Funda, which bulging out forms a lake round a

Higher up the bed, it sends to the southeast a canal or navigable arm, which we shall presently sight.
The Fazenda da Prainha was built upon the most unfertile soil,
which produced only dwarf thorns
attached, however, to the
ranch was a large stockade of palm-trunks, and wandering about
the fold were the fattest of sheep. Few j)eople were on the road,
all were armed, and most of them were talking about a late murder
in three acts
a chinking bout, a stab, and a shot.
An old prol^rietor rode b}^ ^ith two immensely long pistols projecting far
above his holsters, and the attendant slave followed with a gun
slung over his shoulders.
A typical sight was a woman on
foot and a man on horseback carrying the bab3\
The tropeiros

wooded

central islet.

;

—

mostly drove horses

;

here,

however, we are getting into the

These men boast that they travel
till noon, like the muleteers of the Southern
Provinces, and that thus they cover an umber of leagues.
But
almost all were mounted upon pads supported by two broacas,*
wliicli carried their salt and grain
moreover the leagues are
short, and it is easy to walk over two in an hour and a half.
My companion could not travel ^^dthout wanting to diink water,
which greatly amused the Brazilians.
For this pm'pose we
halted at the Fazenda de Suassica, one of the many breeding
establishments tiled huts, ranches, and large folds
scattered
countr}^ of the pack-bullock.
all

day, not only

;

—

at short distances.

prietor,

who

—

Two

"^ith half

a

youths, the sons of a neighbouring pro-

dozen wliitey-brown lookers on were

* These square saddle-bags, witlx the hair outside, are
de Couro."

now generally known as "Snrroes

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

332

playing dominoes in a clay

room

BT.AZlh.

limig witli

[chav. xxii.

hammocks, came

to

When

the door and asked us to dismomit.

coffee was finished
came the usual queiy, 'Tois, que trouxerao de negocio?" The
inevitable repl}'' puzzled every brain
they must have thought
"
that they had entertained unawares
diabos " government men
on no angelic errand but they preserved their courtesy to the
last, and held our stirrups when we remounted.
Beyond Suassica the land became a deep sand of ruddy colour,
and presently passed, as the house-walls showed, into a blood-red
clay
it was scattered with lime, and it is doubtless exceedingly
;

—

—

;

The

fertile.

Favelleiro (arboreous Jatropha,) stunted near Chi-

and goodly tree. The thorny Mimosas
and Acacias are hung with golden and silver blossoms, and the
charming Imbuzeii^o perfumes the air. Here the growth is lo^\',
di'ooping its flower-laden branches almost to the ground, and forming
a shady bower, like the wild figs on the banks of the Lower Congo
Eiver. Many trees have the smooth barks and straight spindles of
the Myrtacese, especially the Pao branco, which sui^plies the hardest
wood; they contrast curiously with the gnarled Imburana* (Bursera leptophlocos. Mart.), whose bole is hung with burnished yellow
que-Chique,

is

here a

tall

rags, the peeling off of the cuticle that exposes the green-blue

This tree 34elds a greenish-yellow

cutis beneath.

resembling turpentine, and the scent
bee, as is proved

is

gum

or balsam,

a favourite with the wild

by the many places cut away by the hatchet to

reach the combs.

These

of forest

strips

variet}^ of birds.

support,

chiefly

on the

a

outskirts,

Plovers coiu'se across the opens, large green

paroquets rise screaming from the boughs, and Ardras of the
usual two
first

si^ecies,

the red and the black, appear to us for the

time in a wild state.

The " Encontro branco,"

or large blue

and white winged pigeon of Diamantina, here called " Pomba
Verdadeira," is a visitant from the hills; it aj^parently prefers
Itacolumite formations.

The

''

Alma

de Gato," a large, light-

brown Coprophagus

(?),

the topmost twigs,

especially of the shrubs, balances

seeks lizards and such small cheer.

On

itself

a

snow-white bird with black wing-feathers, probably a Muscicapa

we

see

it

now

for the fu'st time.

* St. Hil. (I. ii. 105) explains Imburana by the Gruarani "ibiranae," meaning
baiil, sdbille, tirvir.
But tlie tcrminatiou

High

in air wheels the

Urubu

" -rana " in the Lingua Geral, equivalent to
the Tortuguese "bravo" or " bravio,"

means poisonous.

)

CHAP. XXII.]

VILLA DA BARE A TO PILAO ARCADO.

Cacaclor, or liiinting

viiltui-e,

333

with crimson head and silver-lined

Avings.

AYe rode slowly through this interesting tract of wood, and

hedges of
present^ we came upon a bit of African scenery
"
were about
Cactus fencmg a large field, whose " black jacks
This is the Fazenda do Saco dos Bois, with
three years old.
the little chapel of X"" S"* do Amparo, and a scatter of huts,
;

inhabited by the proprietors in partner slnp.
received by

man who was

a

We

were

civilly

lying stratus in umbra, under a

and now blossoming Jua.*
The site is high
ground, never mundated, although within a few yards of the
" Canal," the south-eastern arm of the Ypoeha, which we passed
The back water was then flowing
near the Fazenda da Prainha.
up it toAvards the Assurua lakelet, which it floods during the
rains, and drams during the dries
it was covered with waterfowl, but the fluid was so muddy and impure that our beasts
refused tc touch it.
The civil agriculturist, peasant I cannot

thickly

leaved

;

the hills, former^ blue
and we could distinguish slips of white
rock and patches of sun-burnt grass. But distances are deceptive
in this unsmoked air
the heat was unusual, and heavy stormclouds were surging up from the west,
the especially ramy
The hills must attract every mist within then* range,
quarter.t
and wet weather comes from everv direction. All were pravmg
for the " Chuvas
de Mangaba " (Hancornia)t or de Pu^a
(Mom-u'ia Pusa, Gard.), § the showers which accompany the
call

him, advised us to lose no time

walls,

now looked

;

near,

;

—

fruiting of these trees.

Leaving the Saco

at

4 p.m., we

fell

at

once into deep sand,

with a labyrmth of paths running tlu'ough the stunted blades
of grass.

A

few yards led to the northern edge of a great

Carnahubal, some four leagues long from north-east to south-

enough to supply the whole river with candles.
Every shape and age and size of the palm is here, from the
chubby infant a foot liigh, to the tall thin ancient, vrhom a breath
may fell. The panache gives tremendous leverage, and in parts
the trunks lay prostrated by the north-eastern hurricanes, like

west, and large

* Tliis is a local
Joazeiro or Zhyphxis,

name

of

the tlioniy

f According to others, the north-east is
the rainy quarter by excellence.
Hil. (IL ii. 2L5) mentions two
^: St.

f^pecles

(^jromes),

of

^Langaba, the IM. speciosa
IM. rubescens (Nees and

and the

jMart.
§ This
plum.

shrul>

produces a small dark

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

334

[chap. xxii.

the long thin alleys which canister cuts through a column of
In other places water Hngered upon the black muddy
men.

ground, and the spike}^ bases of the trees, catching the floating
weeds, showed the amount of rise ; this has a curious effect when
the palms are numerous.
great floods of the 3^ear

Much

of the Carnahubal during the

must be crossed in canoes.

After two hours' ride the Carnahiiba began to be mixed up
with strangers ; the Baliii tree, the Mureci (B^Tsonima verbas-

Presently it ceased
and the Mangaba.
"
Lagoa do Pintor,"
altogether, and we saw on the right the
a green-margined tank, about 200 3'ards across, with a central
During the floods, it is connected
islet of lush aquatic plants.
with the south-eastern branch of the Ypoeira, and at times it is
almost dry. Amongst the trees beyond the water line are a few
huts, whose inhabitants seem little aware of the wealth before
them. This pond receives from the mountain slope a number
of small diamantine streams, and the gems must settle in it.
Artificial draining, however, is required, and such operations
the

cifolia),*

Puca,

beyond the reach of the present occupants of the land.
Presently we arrived at the hill-foot, cumbered with large and
small blocks of stone, which have rolled from the upper heights.
are far

This

is

the western counter-slope of the Serra do Assurua, a

meridional range that x)rolongs the diamantme formation of
the Bahian QJiapada. The " ladeira " or ascent w^as a succession
of steps, loose stones and slabs, between which the sandy soil

Peaching the summit of the hog's back, Ave turned
prospect the "taboleiro" over which we had passed; the large

appeared.
to
*'

Salinas," that supply salt to the river, lay

upon

it

in glistening

Lagoa de Assurua, about one league in length,
was surrounded by snoA^7 heaps of sand, like the '' Shrouds " of
This water drains the Serra do Pintor,
the Sao Francisco.
and its village " Itaparica " takes from it every year ^300 worth
patches, and the

of fish, here not an inconsiderable sum.

immense shoals which

The people speak

of

aAvait ex})loitation.

Descending the counter slope of the ridge, we saw below us
a small Servico, with a single house and a few thatched huts
This Piaclio do
on both sides of a narrow stony guile}'.
Pintorsinho flows, like the neighbouring waters, from north-east
*^

Also written "Alnnisi;"'

tin;

Imrk yields

n \i\-Ark .lyci

;

OHAP. XXII.]

VILLA DA BARRA TO PILAO ARC ADO.

335

letters

and feeds the Lagoa do Pintor. We had no
of introduction, but we rode up to the doors and intro-

duced

oui'selves

to

soiitli-west,

owner,

the

to

Capitao Jose Florentino de

Carvalho, wdio, after the hibours of the day, was reposing under
the shadow^ of

liis

own

fig-tree.

Tlie

fig,

by the bye,

w^as a wild

Brazilian, Avhich lately took only eight days to cover itself with

dense verdiu'e

;

such

is

the exceptional fertility of these Ita-

columite soils in the rare places where they are

The

fertile.

Capitao and his amiable wife have been diamond washing in
this ravine since 1864.
He gave us some excellently cooked
Siu'ubim, with

sauce

;

the

the

Dona

usual

trunmings

of *'pira6" and pepper

sent a cup of aromatic coffee, the

were slung in a room under the
slept like toi^s but for

hammocks

and we should have
the heavy rain about midnight, and the
fig-tree,

tremendous snorting of Sr. Cyriaco Ferreira. I cannot call it
snoring, the sound was that of ripping up the strongest new
calico.
When he did not snort he coughed, and the place was
somewhat close as the leopard cannot change his spots, so the
negro skin, even in a freed man, remams negro. Contubernation
with the Hamite does not prepossess one in his favour.
The next morning was warm and pleasant, but it spat, and
it seemed to promise rain for the afternoon.
Our ungracious
guide was salt or sugar, so we resolved to visit Santo Ignacio

—

—

alone.

The

cross-path lay over a wonderfully rugged succession

of hills, forming
delightfully clean

prism- shaped

and

piu-e,

ridges,

whose

crystal

waters,

discharged into the Assurua Lake,

and where Itacolumite showed in all its grotesqueness. There
were shapes of strange beasts, colossal heads and masques
arches, tunnels, and funnels, worked and turned by wind and
ram; huge portals, towers, and cyclox)ean walls, to leeward
smooth and solid, on the weather side seamed into courses of
masonry, that showed an imposing regularity. The granular
quartz w^as not so
of
at

finel}^ laminated as the Cerro formation
some
was hard, white, and polished like blocks of marble, and
fii'st sight it might have been easily mistaken for limestone,
;

it

which, as the river bed shows, here and at Diamantina of Minas,
Underlies the sandstone.
It was also more generally stamed

with oxide of iron, and

sometimes

it had large veinings of quartz, which
formed external layers.
Crystallized quartz and

ferruginous matter, externally vulcanized, lay al)out in scatters.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

336

The

feature,

characteristic

Chapada

to the

also

remarkable

[chap. xxii.

the

in

Bahian

a bouldeiy, not pebbly conglomerate,

east, is

which resembles that of the Scottish Old Ked. The huge blocks,
man}' of them weighing several tons, contained proportionate
pebbles, some rolled, others angular, here entire and there
The hard paste of
split, like the halves of almond kernels.
sandstone, with nestings of manj^-coloured porphyry, will be cut
into slabs of remarkable beauty.

We
liigli

crossed the Eiacho Largo, a narrow gully heading in a

bluff; its delicious water, the prerogative of the Itacolumite

lands, feeds a tiny patch of green grass.

places where the rock wastes to

Beyond

it

were three

a dazzlingly white sand, and

where thorns grow, passes into soil,
brown with a slight admixture of humus. Then we reached
a broad sheet of sandstone shows hollows
the highest divide
this,

in the lower levels

;

The

vegetation v;as

that of the Cerro, the dwarf Mimosa, and the

Ostrich Shank

and holes
(Vellozia)

counted

it

the hoof-j^rints of horses.

lilve

a

by

few inches high, whereas in

On

feet.

Minas Geraes we

the right the eye plunged into the sandy

and where other sahnas
glittered
to the left was an old diamond-washing, from which
the people had taken the sand arrested by the big boulders.
In front and below us lay the little village of Santo Ignacio,
upon the left bank of a Corrego, whose narrow valley was
bounded on the further side by a wall of jagged stone, disposed
The yellow-green vegetation told
in courses, piles, and peaks.
plains which

bore

signs

of floods,

;

the poverty of the

We

soil.

much

wonderment of its denizens. It had a Eua Formosa, a widening
called a square, a miserable chapel, by courtesy termed a church,
and men in ''Panama" hats, black coats, and white overalls.
Every Monda}' there is a fair, frequented by j^eople from far and
The prices are
wide, and some 150^. or 200/. may change hands.
high: what costs on the coast 0$100 here commands 1$000.
We found the shop of a Mineiro from Formiga, who appeared
entered on foot the

excei:)tionally civilised

the Province which

mining

village,

amongst the " atrasado,"

still

The

little

to the

arriere, race

of

boasts of being the Ecclesiastical Capital

booth dealt in notions and provisions,
red japanned tins of English gunpowder, pots, pans, and bowls

of the Empire.

httle

;

onions, garlic,

sardines in cases,

and rum in demijohns.

The

"

VILLA DA BARRA TO PILAO ARCADO.

CHAP. xxiT.]

337

we could not

breakfast, but we drank coffee and
brown-faced
men, whose principal
ate biscuits under the eyes of

wife being unwell,

seemed to be expectoration. Tliis habit is general,
perhaps the climate of the New World
as in the United States
has tended to preserve it from abolition. Brazilians have told
me that it preserves them from obesit3\
As far back as 1803, gold was known to exist in the Arassua
Range, and it was worked in 1836. Diamond washing began in
1840, at Santo Ignacio, which was then transferred from the municipality of Urubii to that of Chique-Chique, and the fii'st digging, near the Pedra do Bode, a little down the Corrego, has not
been exhausted. In 1841, the Chapada do Coral, some twenty
leagues to the south, was found to contain " Cascalho," from
which pieces of gold weighing four pounds were taken. In
1842 — 3, Mucuje, in the Comarca of the Rio das Contas,* became Santa Isabel do Paraguassu, the chef-Heu of its own arronoffice in life

:

dissement.

Presentl}" diamantine deposits were found at Lencoes,

so called from the sheet-rocks in the little stream of the

same

name, the western head-waters of the great Paraguassu River.
The place was then a country hamlet, in the Municipality of the
Rio das Contas. The discovery was claimed by M. Fertin, a
Frenchman, afterwards established at Bahia. It is reported,
hovv^ever, that before 1844 a party of slaves had collected in
twenty da3's some 700 carats, which the}" offered for sale. These
*'
garimpeu'os " were put in i:)rison, but they refused to show the
diggings they were then let loose, watched, and caught working
at midnight.
In 1845, Lencoes which had been in the municipalit}' of the Rio das Contas, was made independent.
Presently
a rush of 20,000 souls took place there, and the city rose to importance.!
M. Reybaud, Consul de France, Bahia, calculated
from the date of discovery (August 1, 1845), a produce of 1450
carats per diem, and a total of 400,000 carats = 18,300,000
;

francs.

On

we walked up the Corrego to visit our kind host's
*'lavra."
The lower part of the bed belongs to another j)i'0prietor, who, having water handy, can wash all the year round.
retm'n,

* Generally written Rio de Contas, wliich
I believe, a corruption.
+ It also became the chef -lieu of the
E.eparti9ao, or Diamantine Department.
The papers (bilbetes) issued to the **faisis,

VOL.

II.

cadores " were cliarged annually, at first
0$020 per square braya, now 2 $000.
They give permission to establish the

"garimpo.
z

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

338

Here we found

tlie

rock-crack forming the

**can6a/' or *'batador; " the

Cascalho "

rill

[chap. xxii.

converted into a

thrown in, and the
diamonds are arrested by cross-pieces. Following the left bank,
we came to a pit some twenty feet deep, where the owner, seated
in an arm-chaii', with book and snuff-box, was superintending the
hands, who, should he happen to go away, lie down to sleep, if at
least they find nothing to thieve.
Two men, armed v/ith alavanca
(crow-bar) and hoe, were loosening a bit of boulder, and were
scraping up the desmonte, or inundation sand, which was carried
up the pit side by a black girl, a youth, and a boy. The Cascallio
must wait to be washed in the rains, and here great inundations
or scanty showers are prayed for.
The host complained that the
increased rate of wages prevented all profit, nor did I wonder
deep works on so small a scale cannot pay. The formation (forma9ao) is here called Pe de Batea, small dark stones, like iron
filings, which settle at the bottom of Ihe pan; there are also the
fava, the ferragem, and fragments of hght or dark-green claj^
unprettily termed '' Bosta de Barata."
The Capitiio showed us
in a Pequa,* one little yellow stone.
The gems are mostty small,
the largest yielded by this pit was the half-vintem, one grain, or
a quarter- carat.
The Riacho do Pintorsinho has produced a
stone of two vintens, and a neighbouring Corrego four vintens.
A diamond of half an oitava (eight carats) had been washed in
former years, and the result was a " difficulty," ending in a
murder, and in the disappearance of the prize.
AVe bade adieu to our liosi)itable host, the Caj)itao and the
Dona, and returned to Chique-Chique with all possible speed.
This short excursion had j^roved that " Cactus-town " has around
'*

is

:

it

lands of immense fertihty, salubrious mountains, which as

yet have only been scratched and played with for diamonds and
gold, and, briefly, all the conditions requisite for a capital.

It is

connected to the east with the coast via Jacobina, Lencoes, and
Caitete,!

* The
generally,

and

to the west with the

Tupy word

Peqiicii,

meaning wood

applied to a bamboo-tuLe a
few inches long, from which the stones
can be turaed out withont letting them
fall.
Castelnan (ii. 343) describes Picoi,
_" Sorte d'etni fait d'une ecorce trcs Ilexible."

is

The miners have sundry

tions about these articles.

snpersti-

Piauhy and the Goyaz Provinces.

+ Alias Villa do Principe. The word,
written in a variety of ways, e.g. Caitete
and Caitete, is a corrnption of Coa-eto,
virgin forest, and is thus s}TionjTnons with
Caethe.
In the days of Spix and Martins

its

cotton.

neighbourhood

was

famed

for

•

VILLA DA BARRA TO PILAO ARCADO,

CHAP. XXII.]

We

ma}^ easily j^redict that, despite the

presently be proud to —

satii'ist,

339

some one

Y>'ill

Ser barSo de Xiquexique.

Oct. 11.

—We

easily ran

down

however, more tortuous than
after tlu'ee horn's

we made the

the Barra da Picada, which

is,

M. Halfeld's plan, and
main artery. The left continued to

it

appears in

show the containing mounds, here dark with vegetation, there
patches of white or yellow sand, and this feature will extend some
eleven leagues do^ni-stream. The land is everj'where arid, and the
principal features are the '^ Carrascal " and the Salina.
In the
afternoon we passed the Arraial da Boa Yista das Esteiras (of the
mats), a little chapel-village with some fifty huts on the right
bank and we presently anchored at a Coroa, known as the Ilha
da Manga, or da Porta. Here a rich diamantine " formacao "
abounded, and the gull, everywhere impatient of man's presence,
;

screamed through the night, justifying Agostinho's epithet " bicho
aburrido," * disgusting vermin.
Oct. 12.

—AVe

are about to enter a Porteira or funnel, where

the stream, after spreading out to five times that breadth,

is

comsome

On both sides liigh lumpy ridges,
umbre- coloured from the green lines of watershrubbery, either fall into the stream, or form bluffs that fiice it
for some distance.
Pamning down the sand-bar shore we passed
with infinite trouble through the fii'st gate.
On the right bank is
*'
the little village
Tapera da Cima," with its broad j-^Doeira.
Opposite rises the Pedra da Manga, i^rojecting southwards into
the stream a ridge lilce that of Santo Antonio, prism-shaped,
about 100 feet high, by half that breadth, red above and dark
below. Here commences the great gisement of magnetic ii'on,
the Itaberite or Jacutinga which we have already visited at Sahara
and Gongo Soco no examination for gold has 3^et, I beUeve,
been made. The strike of the metal is north with westmg and
south mth easting,! and it is prolonged on both sides of the Sao
pressed to 1500

feet.

bare, others rising

;

Francisco.
*

The

word

originally

is

Aboirecido,

abliorred, hateful, disgusting, the strongest
expression of dislike ; it is contracted to

abon-ido,

which

is

pronounced

Caipira aburrido, which,
aught, means doakeyned.

if

it

by

the

signifies

+ In ^I. Halfekl's plan, the strike
down nearly due north and south.

is laid

I

am

these formations so
" disorient " the needle, that peculiar precautions are necessary.

probably in

error

:

z 2

—

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

340

Below

this first portal the river,

[chap. xxii.

flowing to the north-east,

widens out considerabl}^ The Vento Geral, which had been
fitful and fractious at dawn, j^resently brought a cold wind and
violent rain, which made us shiver, though the mercury showed
73° (F.), about the temperature of a comfortable East Indian
Club.

We

made

fast to a

Coroa

till

the storm had spent

its rage,

and then we attacked the second gate. Here again the bluffs on
both sides correspond, and both have similar ports, sandy beaches
a little down-stream.
To the north were the few huts of the
Taj^era de baixo, backed by a hill-knob
and on the south, "As
Pedras (do Ernesto)." We landed at the latter, a short row of
Here the
hovels, and a single block with whitewashed walls.
rock chine, prolonging high ground behind, trends to the northit is broken into blocks, and shows cleavage as well as
w^est
stratification.
Pieces picked up by chance drew the magnetic
needle round the compass card, and the substance appeared harder
and closer than what we had seen in Minas Geraes.
Again the channel bulged out, as we emerged from the second
portal, which ends in a cliff of yellow sandy water on the left
bank. And again the grey nimbus in the purple northern sky
sent forth howling blasts, and a slanting rain which compelled us
to anchor thrice.
The pilot determined at last that this is the
wet season, and somewhat regretted that he had left home. We
presently made fast to a sand-bar in the stream, and prepared to
night.
Far to the west was a blue crest fading in the distance.
We are now nearly on a parallel with Paranagua of Piauhy, on
the southern head-water of the great northern Paranahyba Piver,*
and this may be an offset from the dividing ridge between the two
valleys, called in maps Serra dos dois Irmaos, and here the Serra
do Piauhy.
;

;

— As

work was not

done by day, we determined to try the night in places of minor interest the moon
also was nearly full, and robbed the snag of a few terrors.
Oct. 13.

to

be

;

Again, the yellow

Sao Francisco had

muddy

colour of the margin told us that the

fallen to the extent of

* St. Hil. (III. ii. 250) explains Paranahyba as a corruption of Pararayba, "riviere
allant se jeter dans une petite mer."
Sr.
J. de Alencar supplies the true derivation
Para,'' the sea, " nhanha," to run, and
"hyba," an arm, "running arm of the
^

we

inches, and

six

sea," tliat is, tidal river.
Three words in
the Lingua Geral are easily confounded,
(hiba), an arm ayba (aiba), bud and
hyba, iba, yba or ina, a tree, especially a
fruit tree, and often used as a desinence,

hyba

;

;

VILLA DA BARRA TO PILAO ARCADO.

CHAP, xxii.]

jealously

watclied

every spnptom, wanting

possible, with an eye to the Rapids.

mist, or rather a tliin rain, the

first

as

At o'lO
*'

much

3il

flood

as

a.m. there was a

Garoa "-fog since

quit-

ting the charming Rio das Yelhas, and under its influence the

showed a sea horizon. At 7 a.:j. we saAv over the darkgreen right bank the Serrotinho (M. Halfeld's Serrote do Rio

river

two heads of the lightest leek-colour. A little
enters the Lower Rio Yerde, whose mouth is
about 230 feet broad, and whose line admits of scantv navio-aLilce its namesake, the water is distinctly salt.
tion.
On the
north-east was the Serra do Boqueirao, a long vanisliing Hne
of buttresses, forming three distinct bluffs.
Upon the left bank
Yerde), with

its

to the south of

rose a

little

it

hill

upon whose crupper

sits

the Yilla of Pilao

Arcado, the end of this highly interesting Travessia.*
* In Mr. Keith Johnston's map, the
dotted line o{ the Rio Verde is placed at
soma distance below "Pilau," whence it

enters the Sao Francisco, about two miles
above Pilao Arcado.

—

CHAPTER

XXIII.

FROM THE EX-VILLA DO PILAO AUCADO TO THE VILLA DE
SENTO

SE.

Eighth Travessia,

3L^ Leagues.

—

pilao arcado described.— ruined by private wars, great iron formations. storms again. bad approach to the villa do remanso.
THE TOWN DESCRIBED. RESUME WORK. THE GREAT EASTERLY BEND OF
THE RIO DE SAO FRANCISCO. THE TUCUM PALM. LIMESTONE. AN IRON

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

THE SERROTE DO TOMBADOR. SHELLS. — THE MINHOCAO MONSTER
WORM. THE WILLOWS. REACH THE TOWN OP SENTO S]E.
HILL,

—

—

"

The Missouri and the

Mississippi Rivers, with their hundred tributaries, give

and destiny."
Mr. Ei'creft, July

to the great Central Basin of our Continent its character

4,

18G1.

PiLAO Arcado is still a mere hamlet tlie original settlers here
fomid a crooked ^vooden mortar, hence the corrupted name.* A
natural pier of iron-revetted clay projects to the north-east, and
throws the stream to the right hank, where it forms a sack the
channel then sweeps to the north-west. The heach shows conglomerate, based upon soft green shale, which is traversed by
Three nameless or unnamed streets, running
quartz veins.
parallel with the ^vater, contains about 200 houses, including a
" casa nobre " with wooden shutters.
The Church of Santo
Antonio is a mere "tapera" of bare wattle. The rising ground
behind the settlement shows brown soil, growing tolerable cotton,
and cactus in quantities higher up it is scattered with quartz,
white and rusty, and with fragments of various-coloured Itaco;

;

;

lumites.
*

Properly

Here M. Halfeld places the beginning
"

Pilao

arqueado. "

The

terms do Pilao, or dos PiloSs, are often
added to the names of streams, mountains,
and new settlements in the back-woods.
Eitler a coarse wooden mortar used by the

of the gneiss,

aborigines was found xipon the ground, or
the neighbourhood had peaks, needles, or
clieese-wrings, which the new comers compared with pestles and mortars.

"

CHAP. XXIII.]

''

or

EX-YILLA DO PILAO ARC ADO TO SEXTO
which

gneiss-granite,"

presently

will

pass

SE.

343

into

true

its hills,

made

granite.

In former days Pilao Ai'cado washed gold from

sugar, which was dark but tolerabl}" heavy and well flavoured, and,

being the centre of the Salinas, supplied

salt to

the settlements

up and down-stream.* It became a villa, the chief place of a
termo, and the residence of a Juge de droit presently it lost the
which was transferred to " Remanso,"
desvillou-se
privilege

—

—

distant sixteen leagues.
private

;

The

some generations, and which remind
Percies of Northumberland.
Such things

war which lasted

us of the days of the
were in former times

principal cause of its decadence was a

for

common

all

over the Brazil as they had

been throughout Europe, and traces of the Montague and Capulet
system are still to be found in many towns of the interior. Here
tlie rival houses were those of the Guerreiro and the Militiio
families,

names that

suited vrell with their fierceness.

The head

was Bernardo Jose Guerreiro whilst
the latter were "Captained" by the Commendador, Militao
Placido de Franea Antunes.
This distino'uished " valentiio" f for
nine or ten years defied the power of the Imperial Government,
here perhaps a unique feat, and he appears to have been lilve the
dreaded " Defterdar" of Egypt, a man of peculiar personal " grit."
At the Yilla da Barra I saw one of his victims who had lost both
hands, and I heard of another whom for a greater offence he had
caponized.
He died in 1865, t aged sixty-two, and, as was said
of a certain St. Paul of Scotland, that Militao merited the epitaph,
" Here lies he who never feared the face of man."
Since the
death of this energetic person, who "will long be remembered as
the " Brigador Militao"
Militao the Fighter Pilao Arcado and
the neighbourhood have known quiet da3^s. It showed as a novelty
of the former, in late years,

;

—

—

sails

applied to a large ferry boat.

Eesuming our work, we found the

river trending generally to

the north-east, but often breaking to the west, whilst a multitude

and sand-bars rendered the course very devious. The
channel, in places two miles broad, contained much more dry
of islands

* St. Hil. (I-II. i. 293) mentions the Sal
do Pilao Arca«io, corrupted to Piloes Arcados,

now
f

from the Pi'ovince

of

"Fei-nambom,"

Bahia.
I

need hardly wai-n the reader that we
say, as in the French translation

must not

of Roster's Travels,
nouilla.

"

le

valentoens s'age-

—

M. Halfeld (Relat. pp. 105 111)
speaks of this brave as one who had departed life,
Ijl

;

3U

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

land than water

;

the branches were often bigger than the Rio das

Velhas, and in parts, especially on the
canal, the

''

Paranamirim

by long, thin

off

[chap, xxiii.

" of the

left

bank, a narrow natural

Amazons

River, had been laid

A

tracts of insulated ground.

little

above the

Upper Remanso (Remanso do Imbuseiro), the stream winds sudThe line now
becomes populous, and on the left bank the fields are fenced in.
The waterside abounds in a lush growth of Capim Cabelludo or
hairy grass, and above it is a wooded wave of ground toj^ped by a
blue-green cone.
On the other bank is the Serra do Boqueirao,
denly from north-east to east, with southing.

the northern extremity of the Serra de Assarua.

The

blocks,

low ground, where the drainage passes, were well
defined by the cloud- shadows, and faced the river hke cliffs
frontmg the ocean. Near the summit are long white lines of perseparated

b}^

l^endicular wall, regular as if fortifications

had been thrown up by

below them the reddish-brown ramp, a2:>parently
clothed with dwarf bush, slopes at the usual angle.
The material

the

Titans

;

Itacolumite,

is

based, according to

M.

Halfeld, on granite or

gneiss (schistose granite).

At the Boqueirao Grande,
river again

bends to

tlie

or Great Gap, between the bluffs, the

north-east, and a

little

below, off the

Fazenda da Praia, there is a bad rock in mid-stream. Presently
we passed on the left Caraua,* the large white house and
tiled out-houses of the old "

Brigador Militao."

A

" bull's eye "

glared fiercely at us from the east, and an African rain- sun had

warned us

We

made fast to the north of a Coroa,
called Ilha do Bento Pires, from some huts on the left bank
and here we found a large barca moored in expectation of the
" temporal." This squall did not come on till dark; en revanche
to be prudent.

lasted through the night.

it

October 14.

—We proceeded cautiously down the channel, which

here shallow and bristling with crags.

is

The

valley is watered

on the east by the Serra do Boqueiraosinho, a prolongation of the
Boqueirao, and on the summit there is a " taboleii'o alto," with
fine fertile lands. At 11 a.m. we landed near the Serrote do Velho,
* M. Halfeld writes this word Carna.
In Tu^jy, howevei', it is Caraua and Carauata
lieuce corrupted to Caroa, Caroata,
Caragoata, Grravata (in the Bay of Rio de
Janeiro), and (Bromelia) to Karatas by the
botanist.
In a future volume I shall have
;

something to say about this most important
genus, whose edible fruit gives spirits and
vinegar, and whose fibre, valued for hammocks and nets, is current as coin in parts
of the Brazil,

;

EX- VILLA DO PILAO ARC ADO TO SEXTO

CHAP. XXIII.]

SE.

345

the most southerly of three trimnion-shaped buttresses, which

we had seen from

early

dawn looking blue and

The

small.

nar-

row ledge supx^orted a few pauper huts and bore poor bush upon
a red clay, too ferruginous to be fertile without lime.

Crossing
settlement
we
ascended
the
behind
the
hill-slope
a foul backwater
it is scattered over with red Itacolumite, cut and cloven by quartz

vems, and with magnetic iron, the hardest possible Jacutinga,
As fuel here abounds, and transport
black and amorphous.
as well as water-power are at hand, it ma}^ some day prove
valuable.

From

the hill top

we had

narrows, and the gut

rendered dangerous

is

b}^

snags, shoals, and

Here again M. Halfeld would control the

a large central rock.

stream by fascines

a good view of the river, which here

—a

hopeless task.

We

crossed to the

left

which are
bank
now common on the river, and which will extend to the Great
Rapids
those lying upon the sand-banks were empty, and the
animal seems to prefer shallow water near the edges. The storm
had now worked round to the south, and the scene looked
a stony floor remarkably rich in shells (No. 3),

;

''ugly" as the mouth of the Gaboon River before a tornado.
The sky was hung witli purple black, white-grey cottony mists

upon the

and the water gleamed with a sickly yellow.
Two men were placed at the helm, and presently the fierce
"rebojos"* were down upon us, driving on the "Eliza" with
furious speed, and tearing to pieces the sm'face of the stream.
lay

We

earth,

were compelled to paddle across

— always a risky

process, as

" broaching-to " swamps the raft; tufts of shrub emerging from
the water showed where a Coroa had lately been. A bow-shaped
right

ripple to the

hand denoted the bank upon which we

grounded all sprang into the water till the "Eliza," vigorously
pushed and shoved, sloped over to the safe side. At the bottom
of the reach which rmis from south to north, we had seen
" Remanso ;" the site is a wave of ground gradually suiking to
;

the deep

still

appearance

water

is

f

which gave the place a name

striking, but

a

;

from afar the

nearer prospect shows

little

to

admire.

A
*

single barca

The Rebojo

further south

mous with

;

is

was being

a gale like the

in the plural

it

is

refegas, raflfales, gusts.

built

Pampero
synony-

upon the clay bank, where

+ At the time when I passed it the
remanso" in front of the town had become a strong stream.
*'

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

345

Eemanso, which

Tlie Villa do

several craft lay decaying.

[chap, xxiii,

till

eight years ago was an Arraial or village, extends along stream
from north to south. The houses straggle down towards the

water, and the suburbs wander over the higher land. It is fronted
by a large flat island, and below it the channel is narrowed by

lumpy blue rise projects
from the dividing ridge between the valleys of the Sao Francisco
and the Paranahyba,* while down-stream are the Morro do Marco
and the picturesque Serra do Sobrado, whose crooked cones,
sand-bars and shoals.

To

the west, a

quoins, and plateaux form an outline like a crested sea rushing
to the north-west.

The houses of the new Villa may number 300, and many of
them show a water-mark two feet high. The rains had deposited
big puddles in every street, and the damp heat reminded me of

A ragged

Zanzibar.

square to the north

still

of poles erected to hail the return of July

bore the platform

2nd

—the

Provincial

another open space to the south, and

Independence Day. There is
the Chapel of N^ S^ do Rosario, which appeared so grand in the
offing, was a bald little chapel, with its ruined sacristy to the
north.

The people number about

Here men

1500, more or less.

are

so incurious that after living thirty years in a hamlet of fifty
houses they have never taken the trouble to count roofs or noses.

We

met

at work,

with, however,

and beer

sale in the shops.

some signs of animation

—everywhere

the

;

the tailor was

of civilization

test-

—was

Salinas and good breeding grounds

t

lie

for

on

both sides of the stream. The popular complexion, however,
shows sign of dyscratia, and a French " Commis-voyageur," collecting the debts of his Bahian employers, complained of fever,
and declared that life at Remanso is " heute roth morgen

The " curandeiros

have given some dietetic ideas,
and have taught the sick to use bitters rather than sweets.
Lieut.-Col. Jose Cirino de Souza, who acknowledged by a visit

todt."

my

"

introductory letter, was

astonished

to

see

M. Davidson

devouring sugar, more Americano, after suffering severely from
ague.

At 4
*
it

P.M.

we

set out,

and having run a league down-stream,

The ridge cannot he of importance, as
does not prodiice any but the smallef^t

influents.

t

We

here caught the

tick since leaving Uruhii.

first

Ave

carrapato-

CHAP. XXIII.]

EX- VILLA DO PILAO

ARC ADO TO SEXTO

anchored at a Coroa opposite the Serra do Sobrado.

SE,

347

Here we

seemed likely to rue the night of
Mali culices ranasque palustres

;

and, in addition to the gnats, the mosquitos, \Yhicli during the

day had comfortably housed themselves under the awning and in
The latter, howthe nooks of the ajojo, began to sing and stmg.
ever, after a few minutes rose and departed ; only a few unusually
pertmacious passed with us the night.

Presently, as the sun

disappeared, hosts of large ruddy bats (noctiliones) wheeled with

aud skimmed the surface of the stream. The
thermometer speedily fell to 68° 70° (F.), and the high wind
combined vdth the saturated atmosphere made us tremble with
their jerking flight,

—

At the same time

cold.

Oct. 15.

— This

it

effectually silenced the frog concert.

furious weather

is,

they say, the

effect of the

moon, and the wind shows no sign of weariness. On the
right bank a block of mountains rise suddenly from the *'BaixTo the left
ada," or plain, and prolongs itself down the stream.
is the abrupt Sobrado, with cones and outliers.
The upper parts
were bro^m, and the lower skii'ts were alread}- turning green the
hasty drainage probably causes this exceptional phenomenon.
M. Halfeld makes the material "Itacolumite with hydrate of iron
and pyrites, " the sign of auriferous formation. The name is
derived from a feature which will be common further on, a tall
pile of white stone, emerging from the bush, and not unlike a tvrostoried house.
As we a2:>proached (7*25 a.m.) the low and sandy
Ilha da Tapera (do Muniz) an " olho de boi" drove us across the
waves, which swept over the raft platform, and in a few minutes
we found shelter amongst the shallows to the left. Here we
passed the day, imprisoned by the north-east wind. Happil}^ I
had with me a few pocket classics, the woe of my youth, the
neglect of my manhood, and the delight of my old age, and with
Hafiz and Camoens, Horace and Martial, occupation was never
full

;

wanting.

Beyond Remanso

the channel bends round du'ectly to the east,

and runs in long reaches, with more or less of northing, but
seldom trending towards the west. The wet weather will now
cease the rainy season will break in mid-November, and last
only four months and the showers, which in other parts begin
and end the true rains, are often absent. The skies will be clear
;

;

'

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

348

ultramarine, and

the

evaporation excessive

again curl up, and ink will dry in the pen.

;

[chap, xxiit,

book-covers will

The

sensation w^as at

summer,* and, though we had been
threatened with all manner of sufferings from the sun, I judged
On the other hand we are enterthe climate to be very healthy.
ing a funnel, a fine conductor of wind, and barcas sometimes take
fifteen days to cover the 108 miles f between this and Joazeiro.
The gale will sometimes last even through the night, and I find
in ni}' journal that every day's Trade is w^orse than the da}^ before.
The draught increases because the land becomes more sandy, and
Below Remanso also
there are frequent tracts of rich Jacutinga.
we miss upon the Coroa the diamantine ''forma^ao," and this
suggests that sometimes the supply of the upper bed is not washed
from a great distance. Of the granite and carbonate of lime I
will speak when we reach their limits.
Despite the head wind we set out at dawn. Passing
Oct. 16.
the Ilha Grande do Zabele, a monster of an island, we saw in the
stream lumps of whitish rock, which proved to be pure limestone. J
After two hours we were driven to take refuge on the right bank.
Here the land is inundated, and the short manioc must be taken
uj) before the floods.
The plots were defended against cattle with
a wealth of timber.
The marshy soil i)roduces the largest and
spiniest ''Tucums;" the stems were at least thirty feet high,
double the normal size, and the thorns were strong enough to
first

that of a St. Martin's

—

This Palm (Astrocaryum tucum)§

pierce a cow's hide.

a

palm that Sellow would not admit

it

into the family,

sight the stranger feels disposed to agree with him.

is

so unlike

and

at first

It is

found

growing upon the seaboard, and extending to altitudes of 1000
* Tlie pilots, indeed, called it the
vobreaks the rainy season
about December or January.
In Peru it
'

'

ranhico," which

happens about Christmas
hence it is
called " El Verano do Nino "
the Summer
of the Babe.
The Simniards, be it remarked, are far more poetical in thought
and feeling than the Portuguese it is the
;

—

;

Arab versus the Roman. On the other hand,
the Portuguese have produced far better
poets than the Spaniards.
+ The pilots who, I have said, always
exaggerate distance, make 40 instead of
36 leagues from Remanso to Joazeiro, and
18 instead of 16 to Sento Se.
i M. Halfeld (Relatorio, p. 117) calls
them " Rochas Vivas," whatever that may

mean,
§ This is the Toucoun of P. Yves d'Evreux (1613).
It is mentioned by Piso
and Manoel Ferreira da Camara (Descrip9am fisica da Comarca dos Ilheos).
Arruda (Cent. Plant. Peru.) has a poor oijinion
of the fibre, and his description has been
analysed by Koster (Api:)endix, vol. ii.).
John Mawe attempted it, and was duly
criticised by Prince Max. (i. 118).
In the
Compendio da Lingua Brazilica, by F. 11. C.
de Faria (Pard, Santos e Filhos, 1858), we

Tupys called the fruit of the
" Tucuma
Mr. Bates (i. 121)

find that the

Tucum,
Avrites
it

;

Tucuma; and the Peruvians

" Chambira."

call

EX- VILLA DO PILAO AP.CADO TO SEXTO

CHAP. xxiiT.]

349

SE".

where it prefers sliad}^ ground. Usually the ''frele palmier"
is from twelve to sixteen feet in height and five to six inches in
diameter.
The hard black nut produces an edible almond the
fibre is drawn by folding the foliole and pulling out the nervature
The novice who
of the parenchyma with a peculiar knock.
feet,

;

ignores the twist

is

sure to break the leaf before the threads are

drawn out naked, and a practised hand makes

onl}^

one-eighth of

The practice is, doubtless, derived from the
" Indians," who make their bow-strings of '* tucum" fibre, cotton,

a pound per diem.
or Bromelia-bast.

Maceration was tried and

On

decayed at the end of a week.
thread

is

failed, as the leaf

the Brazilian seaboard

Tucum

used for fishing-nets, and bales of the greenish yarn pass

000 per pound. On the
Sao Francisco River the Tucum is also valued by seine-makers.
The leaves when young make good mats and baskets, and when
old, thatch.
We cut down many of these prickly palms for
walking-sticks.
They are strong, heavy, and elastic, polishing to
a fine dark colour, like those of the Brejalmba palms (Astrocaas mone}^, with the average value of 2 §

ryum

Ayri).

Here we struck upon and followed

The

a cattle path leading west.

was sandy, with platforms of slabs or lumps, compact
or scattered, of carbonate of lime, almost marble, ready to make
a shell road.
Nothing could be finer than the soil, which in
We were charmed by the
X^laces was flooded by the late rains.
surfiice

vegetation.

The

" Inga"

Mimosa was hanging

itself

about with

Jua (Zizyphus) and the Favelleiro in
bud gave out the most grateful odour. The Pao Pereira* (a Casthe bark is used for
suvia) bore apple-like flowers
it gives wax
fevers; and an extract of it kills, like mercury, the " bernes" that
appear in the wounds of cattle. The leguminous "Pao de Collier"
soft white balls, whilst the

;

;

(Spoon-tree), a congener of the far-fiimed "Brazil-wood," turns
u]) its holh'-like leaves,

as the frizzly fowl does its feathers.

The

Convolvulus displays especial beauties, and the species of Bignonia(?) known by the general term " Acoita Cavallo," or " Switch
horse," overrun the trees, forming splendid canopies Avith delicious

perfume.

and

One bears trumpet blossoms

of the finest

mauve

colour,

the other, silver-gold with leek-green leaves, is a delight to

the eye.

We

shall often see

*

Or Pereiro

:

it is

them down-stream.
mentioned by the System.

Many

of the

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

350

[chap, xxiii.

The Cactus was everywhere, from

growths had a spicy odour.

the Turk's Fez to the tall Chandelier, nor were the Bromelias less
in force. The aloe-formed species (Vellozia Aloifolia) was putting
forth long spilves of deep-pink flower, tipped with purple and hght
Another, called by the general term Caraua, (Bromelia
blue.

had whitish-green transversal rings upon the darkgreen surface, and a terminal spur, sharp as a scorpion's sting,
which reminded me of the '' Hig" of Somali -land. This species
produces the best white fibre for hammocks, and it is stronger
variegata),

when not macerated
Presently
a

It is

w^e

in water.
''

reached the base of the

detached

buttress,

different points of view%

it

now

Serrote do Tombador."

common

a

feature, and,

from

appears circular, pjTamidal, or cunei-

want of comparison. The
material is magnetic iron,* of which traces are found in the
and it is based upon limestone, its
clay of the river bank
The ore v>^as almost pure, and large fragments
natural flux.
might have served as anvils it broke into rhomboids, glittering
with finely diffused mica, and it was banded with the whitest
quartz, and here and there faced with a paste of i^udding stone.
The needle was so much affected by it, that we w^ere compelled
Eock crystal, the ^' flower of
to take the sun for our guide.
silver," was scattered about, and quartz seamed with black mica
form

it

;

looks higher than

it

is for

:

;

glittered like galena.

A
may
is

sharp ridge, striking east and west, crested the

be 250 feet high

easily ascended

;

the northern flank

from the

The Mimosas and thorny

is

trees

become rare as
dwindles to

;

the cjdindrical cactus

is

it

the

south-east.

w^e

ascend, and

three

inches in length, without, however, any abatement of
rious thorns

wdiich

precipitous, but

south and from

presently disappear, the Bromelia

hill,

or

four

its inju-

mostly in decay, and from

the irregular cleavage of the hill-top, the Macambira raises

its

salamanders for sun-heat, had here

Iguanas and lizards, real
made their homes. We

Moco

coney, and bleached shells

tall

flower spikes waving in the air.

passed the earths of the

little

nately, all are

common. At this season, unfortudead, and the young race will not appear till the

rains set in.

A pair

(No.

4), rare

below, above

*

of fine pearl-grey hawks, with white waist-

Ferro Oliglsto, M. Halfekl (Eel.

p. 118).

;

ARCADO TO SEXTO

EX- VILLA DO PILAO

CH.\p. XXIII.]

SE".

351

coats (Falco plumbeus ?), screamed at us, hovered over our heads,
and seemed prepared to do battle probably the nest was near.
:

These

bh'ds

have a rapid

flight,

and

are

said

to

be

good

hunters.

From

we had a view which disclosed at fii'st glance
The yellow stream flowed
of the denudation.*

the summit

the gigantic scale
in a broad

band

at

our

feet,

through a plain subject to floods,

and with a mmimum breadth of six leagues. It was buttressed
by a number of deceptive cones, like that upon which we stood
some grey-coloured with limestone, others dark with oligiste, and
their superior hardness had preserved them from the common
destruction.
Both sides of the valley were highlands to the
north the forms were less regular, and the softer portions had
;

been worn away.

On

the south appeared three long terraces

curving into several bays

;

below the horizontal surfaces of the

upper heights long white hues of perpendicular wall, lil^e sea
chfis, capped their slopes, regular as if laid out by the hand.
Descending the hill, we found the wind breaking the current
into backward-rolling yellow 3^east.

Occasionally taldng shelter

under a Girao of four posts with fascined top, we collected the
zebra'd snail-shells scattered over the fields.
They were met
with chiefly in the Maniba,t the dwarf manioc, which ripens in
six or seven months.
At 2'30 we embarked, but shortly after''
wards an opalescent Olho de boi," crowning a thin column of
ram which was falling in little sheets all around, drove us to an
anchorage under '' As Queimadas." Here the bank, twentv-two
feet high, is cut into broad steps by the floods which spread two

The people

miles into

the

caving in

of the side, where, by-the-bye, the river forms a gut,

|

countr3\

attribute the extensive

gambols of the monster " Minhocao" in the daj's that were.
one, however, would afiirm that he had seen the "Worm."

to the

No

The
people

little

fish,

settlement contains about

breed

cattle, sheep,

* "Tliey reminded me of Mr. Bates'
of flat-topped hills between
Santarim and Para, in the narrow part of
the valley near AlmejTim, rising 800 feet
above the present level of the Amazons."
f Usually "jManiba," or "Maniva," is
the stalk of manioc, the root is "mandioca," the juice is " manipuera," and the
leaves aro " mani:3oba. " The latter is prodescription

fifty

thatched huts, the

and long-legged
bably

the

pigs, cultivate

''manacoba"

v/liicli

Gardner

applies to a large si^ecies of the Jatropha.
The root was the staff of life to the Brazilian "Indians," and the civilised race

has inherited from them an immense terminology descriptive of the plant: a volume might easily be filled Avith it.
X " Desmoronamento. " M. Halfeld (Eel.
p. IIP) also heard this legend.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

352

[chap, xxiit.

maize and manioc, and send to Remanso fruits, oranges, and
Despite the sunset of purest
limes, grown upon the other bank.
3^ello\v gohl, the high east wind blew all night, and lowered the

mercury to shivering point, 68°
fortable, the tender-canoe

and the

asking for

him with

bumped unceasingly against the "Eliza,"

rocked like that great

latter

into the ladies' cabin
fire till

;

The repose was not com-

(F.).

sliij)

which admitted the cow

the village drunkard periodically visited us,

Negra received

the small hours, and the dog

furious barkings.

—A

and heat-promising sun were perfect conditions for a gale.
AVe i)assed on the right bank the Fazenda do
Monteiro, a clearing with tiled huts. Behind it is the Morro do
Monteiro it is a cone seen from the west, from the east a saddleback with smaller adjunct the colour is grey, and we picked up
onl}^ sandstone and ferruginous quartz. After three hours of vain
struggling, we anchored at Trahiras on the southern bank; here
On the
also is a Morro, which yielded Itacolumite and quartz.*
opposite side, the Serra do Pico w^ith the conical Morro do Chifre
form a segment of an arc, whose hollow is to the stream. It is a
low mass with " flancs tourmentes " and cups which, due to
Oct. 17.

fine sk}^

;

;

weathering, suggest parasitic craters
its

;

a large ypoeira flows past

southern base.

Resuming our task in the afternoon, we were soon driven to
the Fazenda do Oliveira, six leagues from Sento Se.
The place
swarmed with negrolings and poultry, amongst which were a
tame Jacu (Penelope) and a peacock, which surprised us with
its melancholy cry.
A fine fat pig (capado) was offered for
10 $000. The proprietor, Lieut.- Col. Antonio Martins, stalked
about the premises, but did not address us as we brought no
introductory letter had he been a Paulista or a Mineiro, we
should have seen more of the inside, less of the outside, of his
;

house.
October 18.

The

—An

awful

stillness

at

dawn was

bad sign.
we grounded
a

had greatly fallen during the night
heavily at the outset, and we had hardly turned the point when
the cuttingly cold east-wind set in, and drove us ashore, whilst
the deep blue cloud-bank threatened to keep us *' in quod."
All our attem^^ts to break prison were unavailing till the afterriver

;

*

Here M.

Ilalfehl

iownd

vcinf< of chlorite

and

pyrites.

;

CHAP. xxiiL]

EX- VILLA DO PILAO

ARCADO TO SEXTO

St.

353

noon, when the increased heat xiroduced flows shiftmg to the
south.
We i^assed the thatched huts, with here and there a
tiled house, called ''As Ai-eas " and " dos Carapinas,"* backed

high waves of white sand. After working five houi's to cover
nine miles, we were driven to the right bank, near the Povoacao
da Lagoa.
A swamp behind it swarms with water-fowl, and
b}^

on the northern or

oj^posite

bank

is

a little stream, the Barra das

Itans.f

October 19.

We

— This

day's weather reflected that of

yesterday.

and were soon forced to lay up under the
On the northern bank, rising from chocolate-

set out at 5 a.m.,

shelter of a Coroa.

coloured bush, was a white-capped

and further

to

dome with

the east, the Pico de

a bald ridgey head,

Santarem, a sharp

little

Here the crew sold part of their stock to a stout young
fellow, the main of whose dress consisted of a bit of leather.
He can always catch fish and sell it when caught, and he
professed the profoundest indifference for amlhing but straw hats
cone.

and sweetmeats. The sands supplied us with an abundant collection of live and dead shells (So. 3).
At 1*40 P.M., when the fiercest gusts had blown themselves out,
we again began to wind between the island, sandbanks, and
The right bank,
shoals, which rendered steering a difficult task.
populous with villages and farms, was very rich land canoes
were fastened to the beach, and i^iles of wood, cut and squared,
Here the stream was overhung with a
stood ready for sale.
The
shrub, whose homely form we had but lately remarked.
it is, however, a dwarf
peo]ole call it Mangui (here Hibiscus)
willow, which grows in beds, and supplies strong and supple
mthes. The leaves are spiny at the edges, somewhat like the
the rest of the shrub
holl}', but by no means so well armed
reminded me of the Amazonian Salix Humboldtiana (Willd.),
;

;

;

according to Mr. Spence

t

the onl}^ species of true willow

known

in

the hot equatorial plains.

As we advanced

* "Carapina" in the Lingiia Geral is
it is possibly an
translated Carpiiiteiro
"Indian" corrujjtion of the latter word
;

;

but

it

is

popular in Minas Greraes and on

the Sao Francisco.
t Also written Itans and Intanhas.
Itan in Tupy means a shell generally.

VOL.

II,

.

we

the river showed a clear channel, and

J (Journal, p. 90, R. Geog. Soc. vol.
Mr. Davidson remarked
xxxvi. of 1866. )
that evei-jiihing is thorny in these lands,
I did not neglect to
even the -willow.
,

collect

specimens of this curioixs

unfortunately they were

lost,

A A

shmb

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

354

[chap. XXIII.

passed on the right bank the barras or mouths of two streams,
The former drains a
"da Ypoeira," and " de Sento Se."*
west-south-west, and the

by the
southern highlands. At 4 p.m., after again wasting five hours
over nine miles, we came to an anchorage- -the Porto de Sento
lagoon to

the

latter is

fed

Se.
* In

Mr. Keith Johnston's ma]^ we
helow Sento Se the month of a long
dotted line, the " R. do Salitre," which,
with a course of some 35 leagues, drains
the western counterslopes of the
Serra
Cliapada Diamantina. " The people assured
me that the stream falling in above Seuto
find

'

'

Se is of very limited extent
and, as will
be seen, the Riacho do Salitre enters the
main artery close above Joazeiro. Here
the influents greatly diminish in number
and importance
the
flanking ranges
ajiproach the river valley, and render it very
difierent from the higher stream.
;

:

—

CHAPTER XXIY.
VILLA. DE SEXTO SE TO THE CACHOEIRA DO
SOBRADIXHO AND THE VILLA DO JOAZEIRO.

FROM THE

Ninth Teavessia,

18^ Leagues.

—

sento s^ described.— ixdolexce of people. the porto.— the women.
long delays by winds. pretty country. village near the ilha
de santa anna. we attack the cachoeira do sobradinho, the
first break after 720 miles. our life on the river.— precautions
for health. rkach the villa do joazeiro.

—

—

—

—

O

—

prospecto, que os olhos arrebata

Na

verdura das arvores frondosa,

Faz que o erro se escuse a
De crer que fora hum dia

meu

aviso

Paraiso,

Cara.

The

*'

Se"*

Porto de Sento

row, separated by a tall

7, 75.

consists of fishermen's huts in a

wooden cross

;

a few of the tenements

most of them are thatched, and the walls show a waterAll have small compomids growm with
shrubs, especially the Castor-plant. The soil is w^hite and sandy,
and the floods penetrate deep into the land. It is difficult to
are tiled,

mark

three feet high.

understand wdiy the

first

dwellers did not prefer the opposite

bank, where, a few yards higher up, the channel

is

clean,

there are two undulations wliich the waters can never reach.

and

We

Walked to the Villa de Sento Se, about a mile (1550 yards) to the
south-west.
The poor dry i^lam, now coarse yellow sand,
becomes during the rains a stream bed we saw the weeds of the
It was sprinkled with
last floods adhering to the shrub-stems.
:

*

M. Millivet(Greog. Diet.) has graimnatiand nonsensed the word to" Santa Se,"
which has been adopted by Mr. Keith Johnston.
M. Halfekl, following the pronunciacized

tion, wi-ites it indifferently Santoce, Sentoce,

Centoce, in the

Map

Sento Se.

There are

many

similar names on this part of the
stream, as Ura^e and Prepece (before
Sento Se, like Sahara, wa.s the
noticed).
name of an Indian Cacique to whom the
lands belonged, and I have followed tho
spelling adopted by the Sento Se family.

A A

2

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

356

[chap. xxiv.

the Carnaliuba palm, which seems to delight in these situations of

extreme wet and excessive aridity. On the left of the path was a
bit of water which, with its neat border of trees and its central
islet, looked artificial
the silent spoon-bill paced away in his
;

delicate rosy coat,

and the noisy harlequin plover

fled

screaming

we aj^proached.

as

The

margin of

Villa is at the

and west the horizon

is

this " dry

swamp;"

to the south

fringed with Carnahubas, showing the

About half a league behind it are two
gashed into red and grey quarries, and lined and
patched with Avhite quartz and sandstone. Here they form cliff's
and walls, there they are detached buttresses the general colour
course of the stream.

lumpy

hills

;

flat, and they seem to reek with heat.
This Serra do Mulungu * is, aj)parently, an offset from the Serra
do Brejo, which up-stream showed its white cliff-walls, and which

is

that of the sunburnt

now bends from south-west

to

north-west.

granite piercing through the sandstones
tions

;

The

material

is

and secondary forma-

we are fast descending to the rock-floor, the core of the
we begin to know without being told that we must be

land, and

approaching a succession of Rapids.

The

entrance to the Villa was via the prison, a tiled roof, lath

and plaster walls (pao a pique), and iron bands nailed to a
Opposite it stood the Church of S. Jose, remarkable onl}^ for its excellent bricks, and for the " Cantaria" quartzose granite, with spots of black mica in the blue-grey matrix t
with the exception of the wandering block shown to us at the
Brejo do Solgado, it is the first upon which we have lighted

window frame.

;

Hence

we left the coast ranges.
down the Sao Francisco.

since
all

By
the

extend at intervals

the side of the church, facing north-west, and raised above

and white-washed houses
a scatter of palm-thatched huts, and the only neat

floods,

behind is
tenement
terl}^

it will

is

are

half a

dozen

tiled

The

that of the Vigario.

scoffed at

this

travelled "

attempt at a Villa,

Menino
where we found

" bit-

fresh

meat and rum, but could not buy even the pepper of the country.
*

Mulungu (probal)]y an African word)
the name of a thorny leguminous ti-ee
with beans of a lively red and black like
(but much larger than) those of the Abrus
is

They are mashed and applied
the wounds of animals when the "bicho"

precatoi'ius.

to

has entered,
+ M. Half eld (Rel. 124)
**

gneiss-granite, "

found in
ferous.

it jiyrites

calls

the rock

and declares that he
which may prove auri-

VILLA DE SENTO

CHAP. XXIV.]

TO JOAZEIRO.

Sfi

357

Signs of a smithy appeared upon the ground,* but no symptoms
of an oven
here they prefer the Pao de Milho, an unleavened
;

Seven days' bread," of maize-floiu* kneaded T\ith boiling water.
Other favourite dishes are " faroffa," or "passoca," pounded meat
mixed with farinha, fuba, or even bananas.
*'

The life
The people

of these country places has a barbarous uniformity.

say of the country "

muito atrasado," and they
show in their proper persons all the reason of the atraso. It is
every man's object to do as little as he can, and he limits his
utmost industry to the labours of the smallest Fazenda. These
idlers rise late and breakfast early, perhaps with a sweet potato
and a cup of the inevitable coffee sometimes there is a table,
often a mat is spread upon the floor, but there is alwa3^s a cloth.
"
It is then time "ku amkia," as the Sawahilis say, to " drop in
upon neighbours, and to slay time with the smallest of small
e

;

talk.

The hot hours

are

spent in the

hammock, swinging,

dozing, smoking, and eating melons.

more

substantial matter of fish,

Dinner is at 2 p.m., a
or meat, and manioc with vege-

and everywhere, save at Sento Se, with peppersauce.
Coffee and tobacco serve to shorten the long tedious
hom*s, and the evenmg is devoted to a gentle stroll, or to ''tomar
a fresca," that is, sitting in a shady spot to windward of the
house and receiving visits. Supper ushers in the night-fall, and
on every possible occasion the song and drum, the dance and
tables at times,

dram are prolonged till near daybreak. Thus they lose energy,
they lose memory, they cannot persuade themselves to undertake
anything, and all exertion seems absolutely impossible to them.
At Sento Se the

which is to be
brought from the Rio de Sao Francisco at an expense of £1680.
But no one di*eams of doing anything beyond tallying. " Government " must do everything for them, they will do nothing for
themselves.
After a day or two's halt in these hot-beds of indolence, I begin to feel lilce one of those who are raised there.
Returning to the Porto we amused ourselves with prospecting
the people.
We heard of two elders who could give information,
both however were absent, and the nearest approach to manhood
in the place was a youth in a suit of brown holland and a wideawake of tiger-cat skin. We hunted up, however, an intelligent
*

The

of Joao

citizens languidly talk of a canal

iron, we were told, is brought from the neighboxiring Fazenda de Sento Se
Nunez, upon the stream of that name.

THE HIGHLANDS OF

358

TlfE BRAZIL.

[chap. xxiv.

Moradora (habitantess) who did her best to enlighten us.
The washerwomen, officially called white, worked nude to the
waist the subsequent toilette was a shift that exposed at least
one shoulder, and displayed the outlines more than enough, a
skirt and a bright cotton shawl often thrown over the head.
The
feet were bare, but the hair, which was admirably thick and
glossy, was parted in the centre and combed out straight to below
the ears, where it fell in a dense mass of short stiff ringlets, reminding one of Nubia. Some women and many of the children
had erect hair, a " Pope's head," a fluffy gloria standing out
old

:

eight incheF,

One

lil^e

the

"mop"

Papuan negro.

of a Somal, or a

had taken for her pet a leaden-coloured, hairless dog,*
whose naked skin had a curious effect when compared with the
head of its mistress. The only trace of occupation was the
twanging of a Jango, or African music-bow, which, in the hands
of a boy, produced a murmur which was not unpleasant.
girl

Before night a small

which had been weatherbound, and which the little raft had beaten, came in racing, and
regulating by horn and song the measured dip of their long
sweeps. During the floods they can drop down from Remanso
fleet of barcas,

to Joazeiro in twenty-four hours,

This

days.

end

is

Most

now they

will

the last trip of the year, and

have spent nine

all

are anxious to

had women on board in toilettes as
simple as those ashore.
The patrao on the other hand often
wore old clothes manifestly of French build, a sign that we are
it.

of the barcas

nearing civilisation.
October 20.
asleep

;

—We

set out at 3 a.m.,

when

the barcas were

all

the thermometer showed 78° (F.), which encouraged us

to expect

Mormaco, clouded and windless weather.

We

were not

disappointed in a good working day.
On the right, and lying
from south-west to north-east, was the Serra da Cumieira,t

shaped Uke a vast pent-roof two days ago we saw distinctly its
snowy-white cliff walls resembling " Palisades " of dolomite,
and terminal ramps slightly concave.
It is prolonged by the
;

Morro do Frade, a similar formation, which takes its name from
a single pike or organ-pipe standing out from the abrupt preci* Prince Max (i. 219) informs ns that
he never saw a specimen of these hideous
canines, which are now not uncommon at
B'dh'ni.
He refers to Humboldt (Ansichten
der Natur, p. 90), who mentions them in

Spanish South America.
+ From Cume, a top or ridge-beam, thus
we say the Comb of a hilh The Cumieira
(M. Halfeld, p. 126, Comieira) is opposed
to the

" Caibros

" or rafters,

which sup-

VILLA DE SENTO SE TO JOAZEIRO.

CHAP. XXIV.]

359

now change to the plateaux
and uptilted cliffs of a granitic
country
these are probably ramifications from the primitive
The river is of noble breadth, 4870
ranges nearer the coast.
feet, and its right bank about the Sitio da Gequitaia * was pleasant to look upon.
Near the water-side, plentiful as Hibiscus
on the higher stream, rose in bushes of tender, velvet}^ verdure,
pice.

The shapes

of the mountains

and quoins, the ledges,

bluffs,

;

dotted with decayed leaves of dull gold, the large trumpet-shaped

and mauve-coloured flowers of the Sensitive Canudo,

how-

wliich,

ever, with all its beauty serves only to poison cattle.

On more

elevated ground, and sprinkled with the Carnahuba, were fields of

the dwarf Maniba-manioc and

where ate their fill unusually
fine horses and asses.
The fences of the wax-palm frond effectually keep out the destructive water-hog (Capivara) and extend
to the stream-brink, with passages here and there left open to
the water.
The countrvman is evidently more industrious than
the townsman, and I was surprised to see so many evidences of
civilisation, where all is supposed by Pdo de Janeiro to be a
barren barbarism.
ha}",

Since morning dawned we observed outcrops of rock in midstream, and on both sides

M.

Halfeld

calls

''

;

they are probably limestone, which

Near Encaibro

Pedras Vivas."

calcareous matter to a certain extent quarried.

where we landed
mottled with

;

a deposit of

Fiu^ther down,

bank was red with iron and

for breakfast, the

pj-rites

is

along the brink lay bits of calcareous

tuff,

water-washed into curious shapes, tliigh-bones, knuckles, cii'cles,
bulges, and spinal processes.
Nearly opposite us was the Riacho
da Canoa, said to flow near a rich Salina hence probably the
;

neighboiu'ing chapel, neatly tiled and white-washed like a bridecake, towards which parties of people in

Sunday garb were pad-

dling their canoes.

The

waxed

and it stung. Yet under
the flimsy awning the heat tempered by the breeze never exceeded 87° (F.), and on shore 90° (F.). At 2 p.m. we saw on
the left bank the Casa Nova, a large white and tiled house near
the left jaw of its " riacho." t
It was fronted by a long sandbar,
sun, nearly overhead,

"ripas" or thin longitudinal
under the tiles.
* M. Halfeld writes Giquitaia, and translatesit (Rel. 126) "pimentasoccadacomSal."
+ Above Casa Nova IMr. Keith Johnston places the " E, Casa Nova," which he
makes the frontier line between Bahia and

port

strips

the

hot,

Pemambiico, running about twenty leagues
from the great river, nearly due west to
the long dividing range between the Valleys
of the Sao Francisco and the Paranahyba.

As

will

be seen,

the

frontier

2ilst, not the 234th league.

has laid

it do"WTi

con-ectly.

is

in

the

M. Halfeld

";;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

3G0

[chap. xxiv.

which the waters had partially covered, and a dwarf vegetation
grew ap]5arentl3' from the depths. Below it the bank was green
the
with the sweet Capim Cabelludo * the Capim d'Agua
Taquaril, a thin bamboo used for small pipings and fireworks,
and the Zozo, or Soso, a kind of Pistia, like the P. stratiotes
of the Central African lakes.
The pebble -banks and the sandbars are grown with the Angari, also called Jaramataia or Jarmnataia, which springs up even when nearly covered with water
this stiff and woody shrub, resembling a strong osier, will extend
;

:

The

Guava (Araga) is familiar
About sunset
to us since the mid-course of the Rio das Velhas.
the Sao Francisco was a grand spectacle, of immense breadth,
smooth as oil, and reflecting, like a steel mirror, heaven and
earth.
The typical formation now appeared clearly developed
on both sides we no longer see the rule of rolling, rounded
as far as the Great Rapids.

wild

;

hills

and waves that characterise the Highlands of the Brazil

yet there are ridges that continue in

many

parts to be stone-

faced and white-banded above.

In front a distant block, the
Serra do Capim, showed behind it a dwarf rounded block which
glittered like snow in a Swiss summer.
Again, off the Fazenda
do Mathias on the right bank, we sighted a low Serrote, lumpy
as a camel's back.

This day we had accomplished thirty-three miles in nine
hours, an unusual feat, and at sunset we anchored near the left
bank above the Ilha de Santa Anna. We prepared for pleasant
repose,

when

the north-east

wavelets over what

bad

we

came down upon

called om- deck

;

us,

and swept the

the only change was from

and vice versa till nearly dawn.
The wind was " damnado," as the

to worst via worse,

October 21.

pressed

it,

—

the stream

again

fell,

and,

despite

pilots ex-

the

increased

we made no headway. We therefore
anchored once more on the left bank, and went forth to " hunt
provisions, which are now becoming scarce with us.
The margin
showed scatters of granite and lime, with a strew of broken
velocity of the current,

and some good specimens of massive laminated quartz of
The surface of the river plain is sandy and
the heavy rains last but four months with two of light showers
yet the soil, enriched by the calcareous matter below, supports
flocks of sheej) and goats.
Here the convolvulus with fleshy
shells,

the purest white.

;

Tliis useful growth is unknown to the higher stream
the roughness of the stem and of the under surface of the leaf.
:

it

derives

its

name from

—
VILLA DE SEXTO SE TO JOAZEIRO.

CHAP. XXIV.]

361

and pink trmnpet-flower (Ipomcea arenosa), was a reminiscence of the African coasts. We soon stnick upon a bushpath leading to a couple of huts, where good cotton was growing
in a fenced field.
Yet the people were in rags and rags, though
we think Httle of them in England, here startle the eye the
women had not taken the trouble to weave the tree wool almost
within hand-reach of theii* doors.
There was a Girao-garden of
lavender and geranium for decorating the hair, but no one had
leaves,

;

:

planted oranges or melons, bananas, or vegetables

was
it

to be had.

The country can produce

bears nothing

all

:

the wants of

the people should be well off

;

I compared
and can explain

not even rice

—they

life

are in

state with those a few leagues higher

tatters.

theii*

up,

then* inferiority only

by some

difficulty of

communication.
After wallving 400 3'ards we crossed the inundated low land,
and reached what may be called the true coast. Here the lise
was strewed with water-washed " cascalho " and angular ''gurgulho " in regular lines. The soil was di-ier than usual, and
amongst the Cactacese towered high the Mandracuru, or Mandacui'u (C. brasiliensis, Piso).

It is a singular growth, often thii'ty

high with two of diameter, and the huge limbs, garnished

feet

with

stiff

thorns, stand

The wood

bolt upright.

3"ellow coloiu' ^ith longitudinal white streaks

roof-rafters (Caibros),

and further down

The weight, however, renders
wood falling into the water sinks

;

a

bright

excellent for

makes the best padunwieldy, and the newlyit

dles.

it

cut

like lead.

—

it is

is

In the evening anything for a change
down-stream to the Santa Anna village.
!

—we dropj^ed two miles
Here

it is

proposed,

during the dry season, to station the steamer wliich, diuing the

he at Joazeii'o, nine leagues distant. At x>resent it
is a lump of pauper huts raised but little above the bank, whose
iron-stained and water-rolled pebbly beds accompany us some
way down. For four patacas (1 S 140) * we engaged a pilot for
the Rapids, called do Sobradinho or de Vidal Affonso.f
During
this
the last 720 miles we have seen nothing but a wind-ripple
is the portal of a new region, and the river will offer ever-increasing difficulties, culminating in an impossibility.
We examined
floods, will

;

* Barcas

pay 4 $ 000, and when

lost

nothing.

old

+ "Sobradinho"
nerally

than the Sobrado.
Concerning the
name, "Vidal Alfonso," at present
found only in books, I cannot offer the

si^e

cro-miing

a

is

hill,

rock -boulder, geand of smaller

least infonnation.

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

362

[chap. xxiv.

and stream. Opposite Santa Anna
is the Ilhote do Junco, a mere sandstrip, backed b}^ the Ilha do
Junco, or de Santa Anna, an inhabited and cultivated island
The channel
nearly four miles long, by one and a half broad.
the
Santa Anna
running from west to east, trends at the end of
island to the south-east, and breaks over scattered rocks for
about one league, rendering the whole of the right-hand channel
unnavigable.
On the left bank the Serras da Cachoeira and do
Sobrado approach the stream with a la}^ from north-east to southwest.
Upon the opposite side the Serrote do Tatauhy springing
from the south-east completes the head of a broad arrow with
The latter has
the Serra da Castanhera * from the south-west.
a roof-ridge outline slightly bent in the middle, and near the
stream projects a white knob, the Serra do Capim. The reefs
are nothing but the subaqueous prolongations of these aerial
carefully the lay of the land

granitic lines.!

—Despite wind and sun, and " solemn warnings," —the
caution us against accidents, and I " take blame," —we

Oct. 22.

people

shipped the pilot Jacinto Jose de Souza, and set out at 2 p.m. to
attack the Cachoeira do Sobradinho.

Painning in an hour down

we
came to the head of the Ilha da Cachoeira a thin strip of wellwooded island about four miles long, with a narrow channel
between it and the left bank.
The main stream, still flowing on the right, is broken by a number of tufty islets
the
pilot declares that it would be suicide to attempt this gridiron
of reefs trending from north-east to south-west, forming the
the smooth water to the north of the Ilha de Santa Anna,

—

—

;

Cachoeira do Junco, and ending in the

fierce

Cachoeira de

called

the Bra9o da

Tatauhy.

The

navigable Chenal on the

Cachoeira or do Sobradinho

;

left

is

the upper mouth, 200 yards broad,

presently narrows to half that width, and the general trend
south-east,

with shiftings to the

south and east.

smooth water ends, and the current greatly
however, exceeding six miles an hour.
*

M.

Halfelcl

calls

it

the

" Sen-a do

Sacco do Meio.

+ Behind

this broad arrow,

and forming,

as it were, its shaft, is the Serra do Salitre
or do Mnlato, which resembles in gentle

brown ramp and upper white

bluff the

Serra da Cumieira below Sento Se.

When

|

The

Here the

increases,
first

is

never,

obstacle

was

approaching Joazeiro, the highest part of
this range seems to be capped by a bonnet,
like the " Pintor " of Chique-Chique.
+ Of course I mean at the time when
we passed it. Even then the six miles maybe diminished to an average of four miles an
hour.

—

CHAP. XXIV

VILLA DE SEXTO SE TO JOAZEIRO.

]

a pyramid in

mid stream, with a platform

projecting from the left bank.

The

363

of rock " en caboclion,"

material

a large-grained

is

brown-grey granite, often iron-stained and veined with quartz
it has large holes, in which the salt-maker evai)orates the saline
water which he has obtamed by straining the mould.
Immediately below the pyramid, the canal is again split by two
The upper is of low vegetation
islets, the Ilhotas da Cachoeu*a.
and in these x>laces the Joazeiro and
the lower supports trees
the Jatoba, the only growths of any importance, are nobly developed by the exceedingly damp air. In 1857 the head of the
second Ilhota was cut off by the cmTent, which also washed away
a slice of the left shore proper, upon which were fom* houses.
Unless arrested by the granite, it will go still further, and thus
Natm-e will be her own engineer. The clear way leaves to the
;

;

the upper Ilhota, whose head

left

and

strikes,

;

—

is

garnished with lumpy rocks,

as usual, the apex of a triangle

breaks, passed within four minutes,

make

:

here two small

the water eddy and boil

on the right, where an
islet is forming, and they might easily be removed by blasting.
Below the second Ilhota is the true Cachoeira do Sobradinho,
denoted by a fine clump of " Cupped " trees on the long island to
the right
the left bank shows houses and fences extending aU
on both

sides.

The

largest stones are

;

This chief obstruction is a wall built across
stream, with a central breach* where the water breaks in two
Here barcas prefer cordelling they are assisted by the
j)laces.
willing country people, who stand upon a low rock on the left
side
but accidents are by no means unfrequent. f We turned

way down.

the

;

;

stern on, and changing paddles for poles, took, the wind being in
our teeth, the left side of the breach. The gap between the two

rock slabs, worn into pot-holes, and channelled by water, was so
narrow that we almost scraped sides. The sunken stones below
this point

were easily avoided.

After two hours' work we came to the Cachoeii'a do Bebedor,
* M.
the
Half eld calls this part
"Caixao " he makes it 570 to T'l feet
broad, and in the dries almost too naiTOw
The greatest
for barcas to pass through.
:

of the rock above water is 8-60
the current is 4-17 miles per hour,
and the height cf fall 3 -6 feet.
+ HereM. Halfeld's barque, the Princeza
do Rio, snapped her tow-rope, and was nearly
lost.
We read in the Relatorio (p. 132)

height
feet

;

"They
guided

informei-

my

me

that the pilot

who

vessel diu'ing its descent of the

rapid perished in the same place." They
assured me that ]\Ianuel Antonio, the pilot
in question, had fallen out of his canoe,
and had been drowmed in smooth water, of
Nothing
course after "liquoring up."
but the gi-eatest^ carelessness can cause an
accident at the Sobradinho.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

3G4

opposite the liamlet of that ilk
offered

no

difficult}-.

;

[chap. xxiv.

here again the snags and rocks

The next was the Cachoeira Criminosa, of
is the name
here, however, the hlind rocks

which the worst part
are hard to thread, and necessitate frequent passing from side to
side.
AVe are now at the south-western foot of the Serra do
Sobrado, a remarkable formation which has long been in prospect.
Seen from Santa Anna, to the south it is a quoin-shaped mass,
with snow}^ lines sloping to the stream and it appears to be on
the right, wdiereas it hems the left bank compressing the channel.
A nearer view shows the lower three-quarters, invested with tall,
thick bush, which dmndles in stature as it ascends
below the
crest are two nearly parallel bluffs of bare rock, inclining tow^ards
the water, and separated by a thicket-grown level.
In the undercliff appeared the dark mouth of a cave
and further down there
;

;

;

;

they say, a larger tunnel.

is,

The mass wears

the look of limestone, based

which outcrops in the river.*

The

upon the granite

peculiarity of asj^ect has

it with sundry legends.
According to the peoj)le, a
" corrente," or large chain, has been found extending from top

su2)x>lied

bottom.

to

chain

Our

pilot,

not an imaginative man,

derided the

but declared that, at times, especially near the

;

season,

the

mountain

made

" estrondos,"

rainj^

loud rumbling

or

sounds, adding that the last had been sufficient to frighten him.

As

I have remarked, tales

common

of roaring hills are

in the

perhaps in places the mysterious noises mety be caused
by the sudden elevation or depression of the mountain.
Brazil

At

;

we avoided, by traversing to the
right, a succession of small breaks.
A little jump was the last
obstacle, and at 4*25 p.m. we came to the Boca do Brayo, wdiere
the foot of the Sobrado

the south-eastern end of the Ilha da Cachoeira projects a few

outlying blocks into the main stream of the S. Francisco,

Thus we had expended upon

clean and narroAv.

now

the Sobradinho

2 hours 45 minutes, but the wind had always been against us. We
landed Jacinto Jose da Souza on the left bank, and thanked him

good man, careful and
dexterous, and, wonderful to relate, he works without noise.
This obstruction is in its present state, and at this season, fatal
to steamer traffic
during the floods, the only obstacle must be

heartily over a parting '.'tot:" he is a

;

The pilot declared the material to he
marble.
M. Halfeld (p. 133) describes it
as " Itacolumite alternating with strata

of

talcose

schist

and

quartz,

running

south -south -west to north -north -east, with
westerly inclination."

VILLA DE SENTO

CHAP. XXIV.]

Sfi

TO JOAZEIRO.

363

Canalising through granitic rock

the rush of water.

is

not likely

and the state of civilisation is here hardly sufficiently
advanced to keep up sluice gates. Removing the scattered rocks
and bars will draw the water into the central thalweg, and make
a safe passage which, when once made, is not likely to be choked.
to pay,

M. Halfeld estimates the expenditure at d939,000, which is, perhaps, the minimum, if at least the tln-ee miles are to be rendered
navigable for tug- steamers throughout the year.

Altogether, the

Cachoeira do Sobradinho, this furthest southern outlier of the
Great Rapids, is equally interesting to the engineer and to the
geographer.

AVe ran down the

which narrows from two miles to a
quarter of that width, and presently we came to another sjTnptom
of rapids, the first rock-islet sighted in the Sao Francisco.
This
*' hog's-back"
amid- stream is the prolongation of a Serrote on
the north bank amongst the broken slabs of the lower part, half
masked by tufty growth, is a cavern with a bad name. The
novelty of the appearance has, as usual, bred fables the boatmen, however ugly, will not sleep here for fear of the Siren with
golden hair, who lies in wait for them.
They know it as the
Ilha da Mae d'Agua but "serious persons," who "disapprove
of" Melusine de Lusignan, call it de Santa Rita, a saintess to
line,

;

;

;

whom

the impossible

land,

is

festivated

is

possible

;

and who,

(July 12) in the

sandbar do Lameii'ao

the Equator

weather

is

;

:

the great light

cold and gustv.

we
is

known

in

Eng-

and
At sunset we anchored

Brazil T\dth novenas

rockets which render the day detestable.
off the

little

some 9° 20' of
almost overhead, and yet the
are now^ within

Five small huts within sight on the

left bank marked the Pao da
Historia, the frontier (divisa)
between Bahia on the south, and the Pernambuco Province to the

north.
Oct. 23.

—After an hour and a half of paddling, the wind, from

Here a
Herva de passarmho (Polygonum), and sjiringmg from a bed of soft, short, and
green Graminha, the local Bahiana grass, shaded our mats more
pleasanth^ than any tent.
These delays were inevitable, and the
only remedy was to extract from them as much enjoyment as
mist}^ clouds,

clump of wild

drove us to anchor on the right bank.

figs,

tufted with the mistletoe -like

The prospect

lent powerful aid.

The

lustrous blue
"
sky deepening through the dark fleshy leaves, was the " glazing
possible.

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

366

[chap. xxiv.

the picture was a grand flood, flavous as Tiber, coursing behind
the gnarled trunks and the buttressed roots of the Gamelleiras.

Humming

Life and action were not wanting to the poem.
larger than dragon-flies, red-beaked,

little

chatoyant green,

now

and with plumage of

at the stranger as they

stared

birds,

perched

upon the thinnest twig, then poised themselves with
expanded tail feathers and twinkling wings, whilst plunging their

fearlessly

needle-bills into the flower cup, or tapping its side

* then darted,

;

thrown by the hand, to some bunch of richer and virgin
bloom. Compared with the other tenuirostres of the Brazilian
grove, which are, however, more dainty and dehcate than the
tiniest European wren, they w^ere Canova's Venus by the side of
the Sphinx. And the little bodies contain mighty powers of love
and hate they fight as furiously as they woo and no unplumed
biped ever died of " heimweh " so readily and so certainly as the
humming bird imprisoned in a cage.f
AVe rise before dawn, and after a
Our day is as follows
as

if

—

;

:

—

" of coffee and biscuits, or rusks, appl}^ ourselves to

merenda
The crew eat
writing up journals, and to arranging collections.
bacon and beans at 7 to 8 a.m. I reserve the process till 11 a.m.,
when the neck of the da3^'s work has been broken. The bow of
one of the canoes is a good place for a cold bath, and there is no
After noon the labour
better preparation for the hotter hours.
becomes lighter; and the little industries learned by African
For instance, the manufacture of
travel now come into pla3\
rough cigars with the " fumo de tres cordas," the ''three-twist,"
" Reading up " is decidedly more
brought from Januaria.
pleasant than writing in a rickety raft upon the mattress stuffed
with corn-giumes, which acts table, and the scene- shifting of the
river and of the mountains, combined with the subtle delights of
mere motion, is an antidote to ennui. When the breeze becomes
a gale, we explore the valley for shells and metals, or climb the
*'

:

hills to

the

enjoy the scener}^

up2:)er

hand

in his

;

or should the

own home, we

demon

of Idleness get

stretch ourselves beneath

the trees, enjoying the perfumed shade, and a life soft as moss,
an approach to the " silent land." About sunset, we feed in the

humblest way, upon

rice

when

there

* I have often found tlie lull fuchsia
pierced in the lower pai-t of the cnp.
+ Here the people universally believe
that the hummini^-bird is transmutable into

is

any, and

upon meat or

fish

the humming-bird liawk-moth (Macroglossa
Titan).
Upon this subject Mr. Bates has
treated (i. 182).

VILLA DE SEXTO SE TO JO AZ GIRO.

ciiAP. XXIV.]

367

under similar restricted conditions. Wlien the niglit-birds begin
to awake from their day-sleep, we choose some well-exposed place
where immundicities will not trouble us, and " turn in." It is a
life of perfect ease, the only fear or trouble is lest the dark hours
should be too cold, or the sun too hot, or the wind troublesome
the spes finis is, and should be, the last thing dwelt upon.
Diuing nearl}^ four months' travel down the Eio de Sao
Francisco, with alternations of storm and rain, cold wind and hot
wind, mists and burning suns, I had not an hour of sickness.
Mr. Davidson, it is true, suffered from " chills " but he had
brought bad health to the river, and he improved in condition as
we went. On the other hand, it must be remembered that we
did not travel in the bad season, which is here, as elsewhere,
The prenear Brazilian rivers, the drying up of the waters.
cautions which I adopted were few, and mostly comprised in my
;

;

old rule to alter diet as

little

as

possible

;

it

is

my

intimate

conviction that, although the sojourner in foreign lands to a

must not attempt to conform to
"
the
manners and customs of the people." As regards diinkingcertain extent may, the traveller

wash all the jars every night,
and to allow the dej^osit to settle, which it readily does without
alum or almonds. Coffee keeps up the vital heat, and lime-juice

water, the only necessary care

corrects

that scorbutic

is

to

tendency which often accompanies the

loosened state of the waist-band.
night, I

"made

it

On raw

mornings, and every

twelve o'clock," with a wme-giass of sphits,

—

good cognac (so called), when procurable Cachaca when there
was nothing else. We religiously avoided stimulants, even wine
and beer, during the day and two grains of quinine readily corMy chief thought was to be warmly
rected nervous depression.
clothed when sleeping, a precaution learned from the Arabs of
;

East Africa. The wallv and talk were essentially parts of hygiene
but, above all, activity of mind, "plenty to do," contentment, and
again, no " spes finis."
The night was of a stillness so deep, that an unproOct. 24.
Not so the next morning.
tected candle would have burned out.
We passed on the right the Barra do Riacho do Salitre. The
;

—

small brackish stream can, during the floods, be ascended for
some leagues by canoes.* Here the bank is tall, and wliite with
* ]\Ir. Keith Joimston places a stream far above Joazeiro and another far below
but none near it.

it,

368

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

[chap. xxiv.

and scatters of the finest limestone the land is
hedged with dry
well fenced in, and even the Carnahubal is
Below it we found a labyrinth of rocks sunken and
thorns.
no improvements, however, are here necesabove the sui'face
After being nearly swamped more than once, we passed to
sary.
* at the
port the Ilha do Fogo, and found quarters in a baylet
eastern end of the " Villa do Joazeiro," defended by a low bush
Traders usually anchor further
projecting into the stream.
blocks, layers,

;

;

west.
* Here called the Ressaca or Resaca.

CHAPTER XXV.
AT THE VILLA DO JOAZEIRO.

—

THE VILLA HAS A GREAT NAME LTS'DESERVEDLY. THE VILLA DESCRIBED.^
THE LANDS ABOUT IT.— PRESENT PRICES OP ARTICLES. THE VINE.—
COLONEL SENTO SE AND THE STEAMER " PRESIDENTE DANTAS." — VISITED
THE ILHA DO FOGO.— THE RAILWAYS FROM PERNAMBUCO AND BAHIA TO
JOAZEIRO. RAILWAYS A FAILURE IN THE BRAZIL. — NEGLECT OF WATEIl
COMMUNICATION. —THE BAHIAN STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY AND A
LATERAL TRAMWAY PAST THE RAPIDS THE TRUE SYSTEM FOR EXPLOITING
THE SAO FRANCISCO.

—

—

Eucrespava-se a onda docementc

Qual

aiu'a leve, quaiido

move

o feuo

;

E como

prado ameno rir costuma,
Imitava as boninas com a escuma.
Caraimiru,

I

HAD long heard

6, 44.

of this place as the future terminus where

the great lines of rail were to meet

;

on the higher

Siio

Francisco

had been spoken of as a centre of civilization, a little Paris,
and the Provincial Government of Bahia actually ordered a
detailed plan of the place to he made and deposited in its archives.
8o much for the imagination. Now for the realit}'.
Joazeu'o has a family likeness to the Villa da Barra do Rio
Grande. It is a long line of houses fronting the river, which,
here some 2500 feet broad, flows in a straight Ime from west to
The banks are raised 21 to 25 feet above low- water level,
east.
The citizens all
but many of the tenements show flood-marks.
declare that M. Halfeld was in error when he wrote (Relatorio,
p. 140), ''the greatest rise in 1792 was of 45 palms " (upwards of
32 feet) " over the usual height, so that on this occasion the
church was flooded 11 palms deep, and so, more or less, were all
In 1865, they assert, the inundation equalled
the liabitations."
it

that of '92, and, although

it

reached the cemetery,

three palms below the cliurch and the
VOL.

it

was two or

main square.
s B

the highlands OF THE BRAZIL.

;j70

[chap. xxv.

borne of the houses front the stream, especially in the more
civilized western quarter ; the centre shows a ruinous flight of

broad stone steps, and here the abodes turn their backs and their
yard-walls to the water, which has washed off the plaster and
exposed the skeleton of adobe, or palm- wattle, and dab. The

sandy soil requires a foundation of the limestone or the freestone,
of which the country is a quarry; the streets, however, are
totally destitute of pavement, and only the best tenements are
subtended by an embryo bottom of brick. A few trees, under

and small transactions take place, are
scattered over the beach, which is strewed with pebbles, puddingThe Yilla
stone, and u'on-cemented quartz, in the lowest levels.
has but one sobrado, belonging to some fourteen proprietors, and

whose shade

salt is sold,

even this has not a sign of glass windows.

At

the western end there

is

a cemetery, with whitewashed and

Thence runs the Rua

tile-coped walls, including a dwarf chapel.

do Mourao, which fronts the

river.

Behind

Eua do Acougue, " Shambles Street,"
Kua da Eecoada, both ragged lines of i^oor

the

this thoroughfare lies

and, inland of

all,

the

huts, mostly thatched.

hand and
extended forefinger of Rio de Janeiro, directing carriages which
way to go, when there is not a carriage within 300 miles.
About midway in the long shallow Ime is the Praca do Commercio, whose loose sand, sj)read ankle deep, forms an excellent
the chief use appeared to be that of an
reflector for the sun
arena for fighting turkej^ cocks. Attempts have been made to
line it with tamarinds, which are now stunted, and with the fleshystreets have the pretension to hoist the white

These

:

leaved

*'

Almendreira," or Persian almond,* about eight years old,

but poor compared with those further inland.
princii^al

failures

stores

;

1857 there were

fifty-two,

are the

but

many

reduced the number to fourteen— not noticing the twenty-

''Vendas."

five

before

Here

dry-goods store;

That
the

civilization-gauge, the Post-office, is also a

shopbo}^ permitted

Eau

The

de Cologne box.

me somewhat

super-

dead letters," which reposed in a lid-less
correio is supposed to go out on the

ciliously to inspect the

''

and the 23rd of each month, and to come in on the
2nd, the 12th, and the 22nd to-day is the 24th, and it gives no
3rd, the 13th,

;

have never seen the flower or /ruit of
which resembles the Stercxilire.
thrives in the lK>t Iminid atmosphere of

*^

1

this tree,
It

Pcrnambuco, and was planted possihl.y hy
the old Portuguese on the East African
Coast a^iout Kihva (Quiloa).

—
AT THE VILLA DO JUAZEIEO.

CHAP. XXV.]

sign,

and wlio cares

who keeps

it

Here

*?

is a single

own drugs

prescribes his

j)harmacy, and the Capitao
;

there

1000
to

a healthy race

feet,

;

no doctor, and,
are by no

is

The people

consequent!}', there is little mortality.

means

371

the height above sea level does not exceed

yet catarrhs and pleurisies, fevers and pneumonias, not

mention other diseases, abound.

One

of the citoyennes

had a

nose i)rolonged like the trunk of a young elej^hant, and an eye to
match the hideous affection was called Cabmigo, or erysipelas.
;

The head
S'^

occupied by the new Matriz of N"
stone, burnt brick, and lime, of course un-

of the square

das Grutas,

of.

is

had supposed that want of funds was the cause, the
citizens declared that such was not the case
probably it is
" politics." Very mean is the original temple, said to have been
built by the Jesuits and theii"
Indian " acolytes. Above are two
open windows, or rather holes below is a similar pair, railed with
thin wooden posts
the belfries, as in Sienna of the Earthquakes,
are mere walls, with openings in which the bells are slung, and
the quaint finials suggest donkey's ears erect in curiosit3\
Beyond the church is the Rua Dii-eita, a slip of a street running off
into space.
Here the river is faced by the Eua dos Espinheiros,
whose small huts and vendas drive a trifling trade a large halftiled shed, sheltering huge wooden screws and new waggons of the
oldest style, represents the docks, where the steamer will be
finished.

I

;

'"'

;

;

;

launched

—when she

arrives.

Joazeiro was disannexed from Sento Se, under whose tutelage

became

and was created a

on ]May 18, 1833,
It is now the head-quarters of the arrondissement (Comarca), and
the residence of a Juge de Droit, and of a '' Superior Commandant " it has also a tovai hall and a jail. The municipality is
tolerably populous, exceeding 1500 voters.
The townspeople
were 1328 souls in 1852, and are now about 2000, of whom a
(quarter is servile, whilst the houses, which have not increasedj
number 331, subject to the tax known as the Decima Urbana.
The situation of Joazeiro is, commercially speakmg, good
a pomt where four main lines meet the up stream, the down
stream, the great highway to Bahia, and the road to the Northern
This central site will secure for it importance in the
Provinces.

it

a freguezia,

villa

;

—

proposed Province of S3,o Francisco of course it expects to become the capital, but what is the use of a capital close to the
;

frontier?

The

position will be that of a great outpost, transmitB B 2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BBAZIL.

:ir2

Southern Piauhy and of

ting to the seaboard the i)roduce of

Eastern Go^az.

It liad

[chap. xxv.

of okl considerable traffic with Oeiras

and this continues
even since Theresina, ninety leagues further, became the metroI found in port only two barcas, and the exj^ense of transpolis.
port greatly injures trade.
The ''Yiagem Eedonda," on going
and coming to and from Cachoeira city, at the head of steamer
navigation in the Bahian Reconcavo, has lately risen from 15 $000
to 253000, and even to SO^^'OOO per mule, carrying at most
(eighty leagues), formerly cai)ital of l^iauhy,

—

about 10s. per 32 pounds. The down journey,
Nova da Rainha, occupies ten to thirteen days, the fast
travelling bemg eight leagues per diem
and it is said that a line
seven arrobas

via A'illa

;

properly laid out would reduce the distance from ninety-two to

seventy leagues.

The
side,

lands immediately about Joazeiro, especially on the Bahian

are poor, hard, and dry

October

till

March, and the

are wanting.

The

price is

;

the rains last from the end of

fertilizing

showers of the dry season

somewhat high, two square leagues

can hardly be purchased for less than i'2000.
the

way

A

done in
sheep and

little is

of breeding horses and mules, black cattle,

and poultry, especially turkeys. Salt and saltpetre,
limestone and sugar with a saline taste, are supplied by the
Riacho do Salitre this stream rises about Pacuhy, receives the
tributes of the Jacobina Nova and the Jacobma Velha, and feeds
the Sao Francisco after a course of forty leagues.
A place called
goats, pigs

:

the Brejo, distant about four leagues to the south-west,
local

**

is

celleiro," or granary, and, as this is small, provisions

the

must

be imported from up stream.

It produces in abundance pumjikins
and water-melons, especially at the beginning of the rains the
orange is here small and green, like the wild variet}', it does not
find a proper climate, and below Boa Vista it ceases to grow
the
limes are juiceless, and half pips.
Cochineal is unimproved, and
there is no tobacco, for which the nitrous soil is w^ell adapted.
I
was strongly advised, even by a youth who had lately come up in
three days from Boa Vista, to lay in a stock of beans and manioc,
rice and maize, as nothing was to be found in the starving settlements between Joazeiro and the Great Rapids. The precaution
was taken *' on the chance," but, as will be seen, it was quite un;

;

necessary
of

husked

;

moreover,
rice

was

to

it

gave considerable trouble.

Not

a

pound

be bought, the price was high, and the

»

irAp.

AT THE VILLA

XXV.]

J)()

JOAZEIKO.

.s;;}

was coarse and red, fit only for a Kruboy.
Fish was
abundant, and the Surubim, the sahnon of the river, ^Yas hawked
about by bo^'s. Some complain that the increased flow of the
stream, the rocky bottom, and the broken waters, are bad breeding conditions, and that the Sao Francisco is no longer a Mississippi, a father offish.
Others declare, and with truth, that fishermen, not fish, are wanting, that a net is never thro^\^l in vain, and
that the pools, bayous, and ^^^loeiras produce large shoals.
aiticle

On

the opposite or northern side

Joazeiro,

of late

is

the Porto da Passagem do

Petrolina de Pernambuco.

called

It

was

a

and half a dozen tiled houses fronting
the stream, backed by a few huts, and a wave of gi'ound higher
and healthier than the right bank. The two are connected by a
ferryboat which makes use of the *'vent traversier," and carries
twenty-five to thirty head of cattle. Each passenger pays per trip
S 080, horse or mule $ 400 (the load and troojier going free), and
little

chapel, X'' S^ de Tal,

* In the following list of prices
tiriies
1

larger than that of Bahia

:

it

—

must be remembered

1

1
1

1
1
1
1
1

1

here the akjueire

=
=

=

=

=

=

1 lb. steel
1 lb.

=

0$4U0.

= 0$400.
0$080.
0$320.

bar lead or shot

1 lb. saltpetre =-

=

sulphur
vara (yard of 43 inches) cotton cloth (0$32<j) = 0%400.
0§.16(i.
1 vara twist tobacco
1 sugar l)rick (rapadura) of Januaria (0$240) t= 0|1G0.
4 030.
1 sugar brick (small and saltish) of the R. do Salitre =
Tin sheet (folha de Flandres) = 0$24(>.
Plank, wooden (1$ 600) = 2 $000.
1|000.
1 bottle common Barcelona wine (0$640)
bottle port = 2 $500.
1 bottle vinegar (0$320) = 0$800.
1 bottle corn brandy (of Jacobina, poor) = 0$200.
1 1)ottle com brandy (S'" Amaro, the be.st) = 0$500.
1 lb.
1

.

is

four

beans (in 1852, 11 $500)
20 $000.
farinha of manioc (6 $400)
12$ 000.
alqueire salt (12 $000) = 24 $000.
This was the price which I paid, but
arroba (32 lbs.) of lard (7 $680)
10 $000.
it Avas nearly Is. 3d. too much.
arroba wheaten flour (0$240)
14$000 to 16$000.
arroba biscuit (lt)$O0U)
16$000.
arrolja country wax (5 $000) = 6 $400.
Honey is also cheap and plentiful.
aiTol)a Carnahuba wax (5 $000).
It is not made now.
aiToba Game Seca (3 $400)
6 $ 000 to 7 $000.
an-oba cotton uncleaned (2 $560) = 2 $000.
arroba cotton, cleaned == 8 $000.
an-oba sugar (7 $000) - 4 $000 to 5 $000,
alqi;eire

1 alqueire

1

tliat

=

=

1

1 bottle Ricinu.s oil

=

$ 240.

sweet oil (1$000) = 1|600.
Per covado (cubit of 26 ^ inches) of Chita cotton cloth averages
Kaw hide of an ox or cow (1$280) = 2 $800 to 3$000.
Calf, according to size, from 0$800.
Sheep or goat's skin = 0$320.
1 bottle

=

0$2S0.

THE HTGHLANDR OF THE BRAZIL.

874

Matters had clianged

black cattle 0$300.

movement

[chap. xxv.

since 1852,

little

when

7500 to 8000 souls,
10,500 head of black cattle, and 1300 horses and mules, wild and
tame, old and young, intended for the Bahian market.*
My introductory letter was duly sent to the Superior Commandant, Lieut. -Col. Antonio Luis Ferreira, who did not deign

M. Halfeld

rated the annual

to take the slightest notice of

at

I then called

it.

upon

Sr. Jose

young merchant whom we had met up stream his store
was in the Rua do Mourao, or western water street, fronted by a
Of those
black wooden cross on a pedestal of brick and lime.
assembled there none could give me any local information, even
Fortunately I made acquaintance with
the names of the streets.
Yieira, a

:

the Capitao Antonio Eibeiro da Silva, junior, the son of a Portuguese, and born in the place
at once invited us to dinner

The Capitao spoke
descent to the mouth
to four miles,

do

is

Here

Salitre.

and copper

and

at the

east-south-east.

:

he had travelled in Europe, and he

and

chat.

of a Gruta, which he described as having a
like the

Mammoth Cave

it

;

extends three

up the bed of the Riacho
silver mines near S*^ Anna,

distant nineteen

are old legends of

Fazenda da Carahyba, eighteen leagues to the
Our host had found a diamantine formation,

covering at least twenty square leagues, in the rich agricultural

which Jacobina Nova is the centre. He
"
gave us some excellent
doce " of the sweet potato, which is here
a red variety like beet-root, banded white.
His garden contained

and

coffee country, of

fine vines four to five years old, trained to a

almost able to support themselves.

This

is

tunnel-work, but

a grape-country, and

house has its paneiral or arboury the vines produce
all the 3 ear round an " Uva durecina," which sells here for 0$240,
and at Bahia for 1$000 per pound. Much has been written
nearl}^ every

:

about the Brazil being capable to produce her own wine. This,
I apprehend, will be hardly possible in those climates where the
hot season

is

also that of the rains.

and unripe berries,
there any cure for the evils endured by

ripe, half-ripe,

Nor

is

Non

On

The same bunch will contain
which make a good vinegar.

habilis Cyathis et inutilis

this

uva Lycseo.

the other liand, where the wet weather begins with the northing

* The ferry dues
down stream.

are

received

by

tlie

Villa

da Boa

Vistii,

wliicli

we

shall

visit

AT THE VILLA DO

XXV.]

.•'TAP.

of the sun, and where the

summer

JOAZEIPvO.

:;7o

of the southern hemisphere

is

dry and sunn}', the grape, I believe,

is fated to do good service.
was to Sr. Justmo Nunes de Sento Se, a native
this gentleman introduced me
of the town whose name he bears
to his ^-ife and his fair daughters, who after tln^ee months'

2sLy

next

visit

:

experience of Joazeii'o,

The

much

preferred Bahia, their birth-place.

had been chosen by H. E. the Councillor Manoel
Pinto de Souza Dantas to superintend the steamer which was
proposed, even in 1865, to plough the VN^aters of the Upper Sao
Unhappily for the project, Sr. Dantas took the portFrancisco.
folio of agriculture and public works, vdiilst his successor, the
Provincial President, was by no means earnest in carrj^ing out
father

the plans of a predecessor.
private opposition.

Sr.

Sento Se complamed

A Joazeu'an proprietor, Lieut. -Col.

much

of

Domingos

Luis Ferreira, had offered for £'1600 to receive the vessel from
the hands of government at the Porto das Piranhas, the present
terminus of steam navigation on the Lower Sao Francisco, to carry
up the sections on horse and mule-back past the Great Rapids, and

then to embark them on barcassas, or lighters.

His friends

resented the rejection of his proposal, and s^iread a report that
the candidate preferred had wasted ^£'6200, that the fragments of

Dantas" were

scattered about the Bahian road,
and that an engineer sent from Pdo de Janeiro to set up the
machinery had, after four months' waiting in vain, returned in

the ''Presidente

July, 1867.

Then

made to reach Joazeiro,
begm work not later than

the steamer, wliicli the papers had

and which His Excellency expected to
September, 1867, was, in fact, nowhere.

Sento Se aj^peared
to be thoroughly tu-ed of the business, and spoke of raising a
private company for steam navigation of the Sao Francisco. It is
lamentable to see a gTe at thought thus hopelessly frittered away in
Sr.

by private jealousies and by petty individual interests.
this
Much as I deprecate the emplopnent of foreign engineers
Empire, where natives can be found, there are cases when the
appointment of a foreigner will not raise up against him a hundred
enemies, as will assuredly happen to the native.
We were delayed at Joazeiro until the two men hired at
detail

m

Januaria agreed, for a consideration, to place me at Boa Vista
here the people have by no means the best name, and various
tales are told about barquemen robbing their employers, and
:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

870

[.HAr. xxv,

They drink, niul they are dangerous therefore the men helow Boa Vista are always preferred
Jose Joaquim and Barboza, ''Barba de Veneno," had
to them.
always won my gratitude by keeping themselves below not so the
Menino, who at night had returned to the Eliza on all-fours, like
them

leaving

''in the hirch."

:

:

one of the lower annuals, whilst Agostinho, the slave, was succesIt
sivel}" drooping with " sea- sickness," and unpleasantly surly.
was a wear}^ time, as are all those enforced halts near towns. The
nigger boys splashed in the water around us, and the mulatto

youth came to cheapen and wrangle about straw hats, gugglets, and
orange conserve. We were anchored amongst the washer-women,
who were grotesque objects. One defended her head with a
calabash, forcibly reminding me. of that Triton song by Camoens
(vi.

17)

lie

;

was very ugly,
And

for a casque

The

crusty spoils

upon his head he wore
whilome a lobster bore.

In no part of the Brazil had I seen such an excessive display of
shoulder it exceeded the high mode of the Bahian Quitandeira,
or black market woman, and it was truly remarkable after leaving
:

the Province of Minas Geraes.

When

do Fogo, that small

tired of shoulders I visited the Ilha

Mount, which we liad passed hard above the Villa.
an interesting feature, and the first of its kind yet seen, a

St. Michael's

It is

composite river-island of rock terminating down stream in a long
sandspit the level parts were bush-clad, and a splendid Jatoba
The northern arm into
tree added not a little to their beauty.
:

which it divides the Sao Francisco is, though navigable, dangerous
hence probably Joazeiro preferred the right
with sunken rocks
:

bank.

We
The

landed amongst the blocks and boulders of the western end.
material was a gray granite, coated in places with purplish

had been exposed to great heat there were
various masses of amygdaloid and veins of quartz, but pyrites did
It was easy to scale the tower of broken slabs
not appear.*
about eighty feet high certain enterprising sightseers had cut a
path through the Niacambira Bromelias, and had cleared off the
glaze, like iron that

:

;

Quipa Cactus.
*

and

^\.

The summit commanded an

TTalfoM (lesovibes the rock ns qnavtz-veined granite

pyrites.

:

extensive view of

lie

found

tale,

manganese,

-

AT THi: VILLA DO JOAZEIKO.

rifAP. x.w-.]

:j77

the Sfio Francisco, a panorama of plain studded with

lo^v hills

and

dwarf ranges, offsets from the great walls of the riverine valley.
East of the Fire-island main heap are two minor outcrops of the
same rock, emerging from the tliorm^ brush.
Joazeiro, I have said, is the j)roposed terminus of two Anglo

Pernamhuco and its junior the Baliia.
Both were offsprings of the law of June 26, 1852, decreeing the
concession of the line D. Pedro II. A guarantee of seven per
Brazilian Railways, that of

cent, (five

from the Imperial and two from the Provincial Govern-

ments) easily opened the

i:)urses

of the shareholders.

The

reports

of a rich and fertile interior, Avaiting only to be tapped

by the
Rail, determined the direction from the coast towards the Rio de
Sao Francisco.
Works were undertaken with a recklessness

characteristic

of great expectations.

was organised

to arrange the sj'stem

A

road should proceed.

make

staff

Xo

general commission

upon which the great trunk

should have been appointed to

prelimmary studies of the ground this was neglected, and in the Brazil I have seen calculations for cuttings
and embankments based upon a flying survey, whose levels were
taken with the Sympiesometer.
The result was what might be
expected.
The lines were laid out and built with almost everv
serious

:

conceivable defect; they began at the wrong places, and they ran in
the wrong directions they were highly finished where they could
;

have been made rough

been cheap
a

;

song.

they were dear where they should have
they had tunnels where the land was to be bought

Thus

;

were shamefully exceeded,
and the seven per cent, became a snare and a delusion. The
branch roads and feeding lines were not made hence complaints
and recriminations the shareholders were losers, and the Government found itself saddled indefinitely with a huge debt, which it
had calculated to pay off by the increased yield of the railwavs.
Here, and here only, has the steam-horse assisted in uncivilizing
the country by unsettling the communications which before were
bad enough, and are now worse. Here, and here only, the mule
can successfully contend against machinery
anti-Brazilian
writers compare the progress of the country with that of the
sloth, and truly at this rate it will be behind even Canada.
Finally both these main trunks stopped short within a few miles
of the Provincial capitals, where they had commenced and built
for

the estimates

:

;

:

their last stations, either in the virgin forest or in

Campo

ground,

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

nTS

more productive

little

this

moment

stand

still,

Europe

for

tlian the

fi

hap. xxv.

favoured regions about Suez.

railway enterprise in the Brazil

may be said
money market

and the Empire has suffered in the
a maladministration whose blame attaches

At
to

of

chiefly to

foreigners.

On

steamer navigation has prospered, and

the other hand,

from Joazeiro dov^aiwards, we shall find that the weekly arrival of
a little craft at the Porto das Piranhas* has galvanized the whole
country as far as Crato in Ceara, a radius of 270 miles. Leatherclad men, who would never have left their homes, are now loading
their animals with cotton, and are making purchases of which a
few months before they would not have dreamed. In 1852 M.
Halfeld remarked, ^'by reason of the great rapids on the Sao
Francisco, both above and below the town of Cabrobo, fluvial
has been

traffic

1867, showing

little

developed."

how

vitalizing,

The

description

is

even in these thinly populated

regions, is the effect of improved communication.

the

obsolete in

Bahia Steam Navigation Company

(Limited)

I
f

hope to see
increase her

* The first commercial
steamer left Peuedo, August 3, 1867, and x-eached
Porto das Piranhas, August 5, 1867.
f This Company was organized in 1861. Its Articles of Association were approved by
the Inipei'ial Grovernment in 1862, and it dates its proceedings as an English Company
The capital is £160,000, of which about £150,000 has been
from June of that year.
The subsidies granted by the Imperial and Provincial Groveniments amount
paid up.
to £20,000 per annum, equivalent to one-eighth, or 12^ per cent, on the whole capital.
Tlie contract actually in foi'ce extends till 1872, and an Imperial Decree (No, 1232 of
1864) authorises the Government at the end of the above period to revise and extend the
The obligations of the Company
convention and the subsidies for a term of ten years.
comprise communication with the chief ports on the Brazilian sea-board, extending northlikewise
wai'ds from Bahia to Maceio, and south to Caravellas or Sao Jorge dos Ilheos
the internal navigation of the Reconcavo, from the provincial capital to the cities of
Cachoeira, Santo Amaro, Nazareth, Yalen^a, and Taperoa, touching at the intermediate
villages
thirdly, the na\agation of the Rio de Sao Francisco, from Penedo to the Porto
das Piranhas ; and, fourthly, the navigation of the Lakes Norte and Manguaba, in the
Province of Alagoas.
The floating property is represented by the following sixteen
steamers, six of which are employed in the coasting navigation, and ten in the internal,
or bay and river navigation
1. S. Salvador
registered tons, 280
;

;

:

...
...
...
...
...
...
....
...
...
.....
.

.

.

Dantas

(Ton9alves Martins

.

.

Sinimbu

Santa Cruz
Cotinguiba
Sao Francisco
Dois de Julho
Jequitaia
10. Santo Antonio
5.

Boa Viagem

15.
16.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

;

,,
,,
,,
,,

,,
,,
,,
,,
,,

,,

Itaparica

,,

Lucy

,,

Victorina

,,

(building)

,,

fHAP. XXV.]

AT THE VILLA DO JOAZEIRO.

She lias taken the right
and with energy and economy she must prosper.
small

fleet of

sixteen to

fift}'

vessels.

370
line,

As regards fixed property, the Company possess at the city of Bahia workshops, &c.,
for the repair of the fleet, and suitable stores for materials and coals.
At the city they
have recently completed tlie new landing-piers and recei\-ing-honses for cargo, and they
have constmcted smtable landing-places at all the Bay Ports.
This information was given to me by ]\[r. Hugh Wilson, of Bahia, the energetic and
progress-loving Superintendent.
I have only to hope that his views will be adopted with
its usual liberality by the Imperial Government, and that a tramway will presently connect
the Porto das Piranhas with Joazeiro.
E%adently this should have been the step first
taken ; but should it be the last, we shall not complain.

—

CHAPTER XXVI.
FROM THE VILLA DO JOAZEIRO TO THE VILLA DA BOA

VISTA.

Ten'th Travessia,^^ 22 Leagues,

GENERAL REMARKS OX THIS TRAVESSIA, THE GARDEN OF THE SAO FRANCISCO.
rpjjE
TWO BROTHERS." — THE CACHOEIRA DO JENIPAPO. — THE VILLA DA
BOA MORTE, ANCIENTLY CAPIM GROSSO— ITS ORIGIN.— ITS SCANTY CIVILITY.— RESUME WORK.— PRETTY APPROACH TO THE VILLA DA BOA VISTA.
THE CANAL PROPOSED. ALSO ANOTHER CANAL. ARRIVE AT THE VILLA.
— THE COMMANDANT SUPERIOR —RECRI^ITING OF THE CONSERVATIVES.
ORIGIN OF THE VILLA —ITS PRESENT STATE DESCRIBED. ENGAGED A NEW
CREW, THE PILOT MANOEL CYPRIANO AND THE PADDLE ''CAPTAIN SOFT."
— MADE NEW PADDLES FOR THE RAPIDS.
•'

—

—

—

Terra

tu es da Natureza
mais mimosa ella sorrindo
enlevo de amor te encheu d'encantos.
{Pocfiian B. J. da Sllva Guimcwaes).

feliz,

A

filha

N'

um

;

upon me the most
Bet\veen Joazeiro and Boa Vista is the
pleasant impressions.
lower garden of the Sao Francisco, perhaps a finer tract
The stream becomes swift,
than that about the Pirapora.
averaging four knots an hour, and though the sunken rocks
present some risk, the travelling is mucli more pleasant, and the
swirling and boihng of the water show that it has a considerable

We

now

enter a country which has left

On

both sides there are farms and fields, each with its
scarecrow frightening the capivaras and the robber birds, and
there is no drought, though the air is intensely dry, the eftect u(
The dew is heavy, and the dry winds carry oft' the
evaporation.
depth.

watery particles to form rains on the higher bed. The sloping
banks are all green with manioc, maize, beans and wild grasses.
The yalley is studded with pyramidal hills, of which as man}^ as
five are

sometunes in sight

;

they are backed by weaves of ground
these Catingas Altas + will con;

covered with thick or thin bush
* Formerly this
extended
Trave.ssia
twenty-nine leagues to the extinct town of
Santa' Maria (276th league), the terminus
it is
of l)arca navigation dowii .stream
now reduced to Boa Vista (269th league).
;

During the flood.s boats run dowai from
Joazeiro to Boa Vista in twenty-four liours.
f The term is applied to the gi-ound, as
well as to its vegetation,

LiiAP. XXVI.]

tiiiue till
;ire

now

VILLA

L>0

JOAZEIllO TU

The

Yarzea Redonda.
coniniun

;

"^

BOA

Cajiieii'o

V18TA.

381

and the

Cajii Easteii'o

the princix)al growths are the cactuses, the

whose dry wood
seiwes for torches; the echino-cactus, Cabeca or Coroa de Frade;
the Xique-Xique, or cylindrical i:)lant, the common flat band nopal,
and the dwarf Quij)u. The bush or undergrowth is chiefly the
Araca (psidium), and the Tiiigui (Magonia glabrata, St. Hilaii'e).
gigantic

Mandracuru, the Facheiro

(faxeiro),

The larger growths are the Pao Pereira (Aspidospermuni) the
legummous Caraliyba, whose large green bitter pods are loved by
;

goats and deer; the leguminous Catinga de Porcof whose leaf

and the Pao
In many
Preto, whose black trunk appears scorched with fire. §
AVe have left behind us
parts fuel is wanting near the stream.
the diamantine ''formacao" and the iron fields; here we find
The
pyrites, traces of gold and large outcrops of limestone.
winds are furious at the present season, but they will have no
power belovr Boa Vista here the trees and grasses are bent up
stream by their persistency and power. We were told to expect
windy nights, and hot still days we shall have wind night and
The
day, cold and fm-ious by night, hot and furious by day.
mornings are cold and cloudy, but the sun begins to sting at
10
11 A.M. and lasts till late in the afternoon.
resembles the Barbatimao acacia

;

the Salgueii'o,

I

;

;

—

Friday, October 25, 1867.

and dropped

i)ast

—We managed

Joazeu'o Yelho on the right bank

has become superannuated since

The

to set out at 11 a.m.,

its

;

the place

desertion by the channel.

trade whid was moderate, but tourbillons of sand and dust-

made

devils (Eedemoinhos), coursing over the broad river-plain,

Of the

sight onl}' one block,
which the many islands,
sand-bays, and islets divided into sundry independent streams,
Bed and purple glazed rocks scattered in
never less than two.
We
the bed, again gave the familiar sound of the Cachoeii'a.
grounded once by hugging too fondly the left shore, and for a few

usAirl the awning.

five

white and bushy, approached

tlie

hills in

river,

|

* The tree wlieu 1
was not yet in fruit.

\veut

i.lu\\ii

the river

Il

powerful smell, which, however, hardly justifies the harsh name " pig-

+

removes the skin,
M. Halfeld woukl remove them at an
expense of £340 and £500, and in three
others £GSO, £170 and £720, or a total
This may
of £2,410 in tw^enty miles.
he done in due course of time at present
it is useless to expend one milreis.
A good

It has a

stink."
the
+ It produces a usele.ss fruit
Castrong hard wood is applied to the
vcrnas," or ribs of barcas.
§ The wax exuded by the l.\^rk makes
candles which are exceedingly hard, and if
it
a melted drop fall upon the hand,
:

'

'

;

jiilot

can steer clear of

and we went down
they ever
^p^ite

knew

forgotten

the

safely with

difficulties,

men who,

this part of the river,
it.

if

had

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

382

[chap. xxsi.

minutes we Imng poised upon the crest of a sunken rock which
The hanks were green with the spiky Capim
gave no sign.
Cahelludo, which is pLnited for dry season fodder if not drowned
;

hy

the floods

it hists,

they tohl me, twenty years.

we anchored off the huts of Mato Grosso on the
Here the course of the Sao Francisco is north witli

After sunset
right hank.

a very

little

easting,

and the hed

is

no longer so broad as above

Opposite us, or nearly due

Joazeiro.

Avest,

is

a fine landmark,

the Pico da Serra do Aricory, or Ouricory, * attached to a lumpy
Though distant five miles the
line, whose trend is north-west.
features are clearly distinguishable.

October 26.

— The crew, eager to advance, began work

at 5 a.m.,

and we shot rapidly past the Ilha da Manisova ! and other unimportant features wc were, however, driven to anchor from 9 a.m.
The third
to 1.30 P.M. whilst the world was airing and warming.
league showed us the Fazenda do Pontal here on the right or
southern bank a line of scattered cones drives the stream from
Opposite it enters the Riacho do
north-east to south-east.
;

;

and beloAV it stretches the remarkably long island of the
Further down the Bahian side bears the little
same name.
Arraial da Boa Yista and its chapel of N'^ S'^ dos Eemedios. For
many an hour v\'e saw in front the peculiar Serrote dos dous
Irmaos, twin pyramids with gentle, regular and equal slopes on
both sides their cliff' facings of white stone were thrown out by
the now greening ''bush;" and, after sunset, a shadowy grey
colour stole over them. AVhen the gloaming began we sped by
the Cachoeira da ^Missao, an unimportant break to starboard, and

Pontal,

I

;

we landed on the Pernambuco bank, at a place called the
I had given a
Pontalinha, opposite an islet of the same name.
passage from Joazeiro to a young fellow whose home was here
three women came down to the landing-place and carried off', on

presently

;

then- heads, with

much

coquettish recusancy, the few bricks of

sugar and the dozen greybeards of gin which he had brought as
* Also written Aricori aiul Ourieoil (the
in the Lingua Greral the
of a palm)
" and '*y" are equivalent
i
terminations
and are used indifferently, as Tupi or Tupy,
Guarani or Guarany.
+ This is doubtless the Manacoba or
Generally
large Jatropha of Gardner.

name

:

'.'

lyianigoba

is

the Seringa or

Caoutchouc-

The minor features are the Fazenda
de Paulo Alfonso and a few rocks at the
Barra do Yieira, which do nnt rcfjuire
tree.

veiiiovinfi;,

f "

Pontal," like "Oonieco,"

to the

head

point

is

of

an

l)luff.

i»

islet,

especially

The

Riacho

api»lied

when

do

the
Pontal

comes from the Catingas Altas, and though
Irroken, it is ascended by canoes
My informants gave it
during the floods.
Mr. Keith
a length of thirty leagues.
Johnston makes the "R. Pontal "drain

much

the dividing ridge.

t"

VILLA DO JOAZEIKO Tu BOA VLSTA.

CH.U'. \xvi.J

ii

stock

trade.

ill

383

Tliey were wild-looking beings,

tlieii'

ver}-

small faces were set in a frame of hair, and their bead}^ even

peeped out from the profusion of mikempt, ^\'itch-like locks.
October 27.
Passing the Two Brothers we were driven to
anchor at the Comeco da Cachoeii'a do Jenipapo, a small break

—

some

mam

eight miles above the

feature of that name.

Dela^'ed

between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., we saw at 3 p.m., on the Bahia side,
the Barra Grande* do Curaca the mouth is about 230 feet broad,
and the right jaw projects into the main artery a large dome of
;

stone.

verdure.

The view up-stream discloses
About three miles below it is

a pretty vista

of lively

the Cachoeii-a Grande do

Jenipapo, with houses on the right side and rocks dotting the

we fomid, however, a clean central way. Far to the
lumpy hill range with a bro^^ii, gi'een and
white-streaked- surface the bank to starboard showed, alternating
with gTey granitic scliists, large snowy blocks of laminated limestone, whose scatters we repeatedly mistook for human habitations.
At the Barrinha, a httle stream and -sillage further down, two
stream

;

north-east appeared a

;

broken reefs of projecting rock run parallel with each other along
the bed from south-west to north-east.
The wmd tossed us
about

fiercely, the current

ran veiy

dashed against a hard head by the
attributing

it

to the rising

and

and we were nearly
He complained of ague,

fast,

pilot.

fallhig of the

stream

;

the fact

is,

he was sirftermg from over coliee and Jacuba.

As

we sighted from

afar,

on the right bank, a

pictm'esque village, the Villa do Senlior

Bom

Jesus da

the smi sank low

Boa Morte,

—

whose vulgar neighbours persist in calling it Capim Grosso big
the old original name.
grass
Fronting to north-west and
a
white-washed and red-tiled clim'ch in the
towards the stream,

—

Baliian fashion, with pinnacles instead of towers, and a facade

sparkling with imbedded fragments of glazed potteiy, displayed

upon the crest of a ground-wave. Along the river were two
Sobrados and a line of v>'liite houses backed by brown huts. The
field-fences extended to the water side, and on the sloi)ing bank
itself

* Mr. Keitli Jolmstoii ignores it, aucl I
do not think that, despite its fine name,
the stream can claim any importance.
f ^L Halfeld (Rcl. p. 147) says that tlic
rock is Avhite and ash-coloured, vith block
veins traversing the strata in ^va.xj bands
(bichas ondidadas) "of primitive fomiation

rcscml'ling

mai-lilc,

and

as

their

is sufficient for the saw, they may
serve for n-orks of taste, tomb-stones, &c."
Tliose v-hich I examined v.ere an excellent bnilding material,
These are the features v/hich gave rise
to the common local names for hills and

Lreadtli

mountains, " Sobrado " and " Sobi'adinho.

THE HIGHLANDS UF THE BRAZIL.

384

were two

tall

shady trees ^

thorny shrubs.

many

wliicli

Halfway up

[ciiAr. xxvi.

looked gigantic by the side of the

the range, and

a day, was an old barca, there beached

l^y

dry since

i\nd

liigli

the last floods.

We

anchored in a sheltered place below tlie r(jck-i)ile fronting
the church; here however the river is broke) by two islands, the
Ilha do Torres to the south and the ]lho do Giqui (Jequi) hard
i

by the

left

bank.

AVe had scarcely made

steamer had

spread that a

when a report
down the bank a

fast,

l*uslied

arrived.

posse comitatus of notables, mostly '"bodes" and ''cabras," in
black coats, paletots (a word which here becomes "pnriatoca"),

and white etceteras. Only one man approached whiteness he
was probabty the Professor of First Letters, siud he squatted,
Hindu-like, upon a stone, washing his face with both hands, and
;

towelling

it

with

The

his pocket handkerchief.

ment caused by the ''Ajojo"

disappoint-

elicited j)eals of laughter,

and the

smallest jokes bawled in the loudest and coarsest of voices.

I

Exceptionally in the Brazil all ignored the presence of strangers, and
the}^ made unpleasant remarks about the certainty of such a
I have, however, been
craft never reaching Varzea Kedonda.

seemed

to hear once

more the organ of African Ugogo.

threatened with drowaiing ever since leaving Sahara.

hearing that a bullock was to be slaughtered,

Presently,

rushed away,

all

eagerl}' as a flight of tm'key-buzzards.

Capim Grosso, which deserves
was,

till

pression

1853,
of

an Arraial;

Pambu

number 70 and

(•283rd

the souls 350.

it

to be

entitled Villa Grosseira,

rose to township by

league).

the

Sup-

The houses may now

The broad

streets are not badly

and the thoroughfare running parallel with the river is
cumbered with hard talcose slate and quartz-banded granite,
which will readily supply building material. The prison, crowded
with recruits for the war, peering from behind its wooden grating,
was guarded by four soldiers, and the Camara was denoted by
The church, of burnt brick upon
the papers pasted to the door.
a foundation of gneiss, was out of all proportion to what met the
view.
In the usual square we found a few shops, and an "Aula
Publica Primeira." We then walli:ed along the deep, sandy path
to the little cemetery and its shed-chapel behind the settlement.
Hereabouts began the thorny Catiiigas Altas, where, however,
laid out,

^

They arc

tllClll.

(•ailed

l)y

the people

" Moqncin :"

tliis

is

all

tliat.

I

cuuM

learn aliout

"

VILLA DO JOAZEIRO TO BOA VISTA.

CHAP. XXVI.]

cotton seemed to

The

flourisli.

385

gi'ound was strewed with ]pebbles

and quartz-blocks of all sizes and colours, and the stone appeared
This place commands a fine view of the Serra
do Eoncador on the other side, where the wind is said to "snore"
fiuiousl3%
About a league and a half to the east is the Serra da
Capivara, a long broken lump, wliich all declare to contain gold,
although the metal has never been worked. Hence, probably,
to be auriferous.

the am-iferous pebbles.

Capim Grosso is the
did not show a trace of
X)eople

wildest place that

we have yet seen;

it

hospitality, or even of civility.

seemed tolerably "well

to do."

Yet the
of them were on

Many

made "coimtry fasliion," with strong
riding up and down hill.
The Caipiras

horseback, the saddles were
crup2)ers

and

poitrels for

wore, for protection against the sun, ugly "Sombreiros," and the
swells cocked

by a large

up one side of the broad brim, and the

metal button made

"Chapeos de Com-o
is

the best, but any

" are of goat,

serve,

^^ill

flap fastened

These

a three-cornered hat.

sheep or deerskin; the latter

and they look

like the

"babool-

The women greatly
had madvertently made fast near

stained" leathers of Western India.

numbered the men.

We

outtheir

dark they disported themselves in the
water all aromid us, and debated, giggling, about the advisability
of doffing the innermost garment. The site of Bom Jesus da Boa
bathing- ground;

Morte

is

after

natm'e-favoured, but this was the only merit that

we

may

be

recognised in the place.

I

hope that the next

justified in giving a better account of

October 28.

delayed us

came

— The Januaria

till

6 a.m.

to a break, the

risen,

men

travellers

it.

here found relatives, and this

After about two and a half leagues we

Cachoeka das Carahybas

;

the river had again

the water had become exceedingly clear, and

we

easily

foimd the safe Ime near the natm^al stone jetty on the right.
The rains at this point are expected soon to break the weather,
however, has been dr}- since September when there was a short
and copious fall.* On the left was the Serra do CiuTal Novo, remarkable for its rounded summits, platform and high demi-pique
The lands on both sides of the stream were of
saddle-back.
exceeding fertility, presenting a most amene and riant appearance.
At the Fazenda de Goiaz, a neat tiled and whitewashed house,
the river began to tm-n from its northerly course to due west;

* Here called

TOT.

II.

^

"Manga,"

or

" repiquete de Chuva.
c c

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

386

[chap. xxvi.

bank at some distance appeared the Pedra
Branca, a wave of bushy highland with a block of white limestone
conspicuous upon its flank. Below it was a brother formation,
the MoiTo da Boa Yista, * apparently two hills, but really three
lumps disposed in a triangle with the base towards the stream.
east.

On

left

tlie

The nearer

w\as

rise

the further was thinly

Boa

clad

with white

near the stream;
lil^e a head

Catingas Altas,

with

At the south-south-west of the latter rose the

becoming bald.
Villa da

capped

Vista, our destination.

and about half a league above the town, we passed
the Ilha do Ico.t The bank, a "baixada," or low land, is broken
by the Barra Grande da Boa Vista. Here M. Halfeld (Kel. 149
150) would begm the great canal proposed by Dr. Marcos
Antonio de Macedo,t and other "educated men." The waters
of the Sao Francisco are to be drained through a channel to the
Eiacho dos Porcos which falls into the Eiacho Salgado, an influent
of the Jaguaribe Pdver, traversing oriental Ceara from south-

On

the

left,

—

south-west to north-north-east. It is a " gigantic project " it
would efl'ectually lay the horrible plague of famine, and aw^ake
:

from their profound lethargy the people of inner Ceara and their
neighbours of the Parahyba and Piio Grande do Norte provinces.
Unfortunately, at a distance of some forty leagues, the line is cut
by the Serra do Ai-aripe, the dividing line between Ceara and

Pernambuco.

M. Halfeld

highly approves of the idea

(baixada) can be found through the range.

if

The people

a pass
of

Boa

Vista had never heard of Dr. Marcos or of his canal, and
when I read out to them the Eelatorio, they laughed. The projector

still lives,

it

is

said, at Crato, in his native province of

Ceara, which should be truly grateful to him for his good intenEven were the canal to fail, the strong current of curtions.

rency

would be generated even by the attempt would

wliicli

doubtless bear fruit.

As

I

am

speaking of canals,

have been proposed.

is

as well to say that others

Perhaps the boldest idea

* Alias " Dos Dons Irmaos," although
the people ignore this
there are three
:

name.

+ The Ico or Yco (Colicodendron Ico),
which gives its name to a city on the
Jaguaribe River of Ceara, and which will
become common on the Sao Francisco, is a
shrubby tree with an edible fruit, the
latter resembling the

it

common Ameixa

cr

is

that which

yellow plum of the Brazil, where it has
The leaves are
long been naturalised.
injurious to cattle, producing inflammation
of the intestines and of the kidneys.
The System refers to kitchen salt and castor
oil as remedies.
+ This name is mentioned by Gardner
I do not know if it be the same person,
:

VILLA DO JOAZEIKO TO BOA VISTA.

CHAP. XXVI.]

owes

was

387

origin to Lieut. Ecluard Jose de Moraes.
This officer
"
"
M. Emmery's report on the
apparently encouraged by
its

Hudson Eiver and

Lake Champhiin Canal, and by the

the

M. Michel

pictiu'e of prosperity which

Hant

biil-

Chevalier portrays

as the result of canalisation in the United States.

He

would

simply take the waters of the Eio Preto, the main affluent of the
Rio Grande,* and throw them into the Paranagua, or Paniagua

name on

lake, near the city of that

Pdver,

The
it

the

central

great

affluent

distance betv\^een the streams
reported, might be

is

alluded

to,

I

and

it is

encore ete explore."
le trace

"

is

only twenty leagues, which,

reduced to

the dividing line bars the way.

dans

the headwaters of the Gm-geia f
of the Northern Paranyba.

This

fifteen

but unfortunately

difficulty is

confessed that "

Un

;

inconvenient

le
(!)

most naively

Rio-Gurgeia
se presente

n'ait

pas

cependant

de ce canal, c'est I'existence d'une chaine de mon-

tagnes entre la vallee du San Francisco et celle du Parnahiba,
et qui a ete pour cette raison appelee das Vertentes § par le

Baron d'Eschwege,

cjui

autres systemes de

montagnes du

la

ks

trouve la moins elevee de tous
Bresil.

II est

done naturel

de penser qu'une partie de ce canal pourrait etre souterraine,

cependant rien ne vient prouver ce fait puisqu'une reconnaissance n'a pas encore ete faite dans ce sens peut-etre existe-t-il
une gorge, une depression on Ton pom-ra le faire passer meme a
;

And

attempt

such chimeras as these, the
author would tax the English gold-mining companies in the
Brazil, which have never yet been able to support the smallest
ciel

ouvert."

to

impost.

Compelled to cross from the right bank, through a little break
above the town, we were nearly U2:>set by the violence of the
"raifales."
We succeeded, however, in making fast behmd ^
rocky projection, and I sent without delay my introductory
letter to the Commandante Superior Sr. Manoel Jacomi Bezerra
de Carvalho. He at once called upon us and undertook to find
a pilot and paddle-man. We tallied of the raih'oad projected
from this point to the Porto das Ph*anhas, thereby defeating all
* See chapter 21.

+ In

T\Ir.

Keith

Alagoa Doiirada.
Jolinston,

* '

Grugeia

R."
i Rapport, &c., p, 29.
§ The "Serra das Vertentes" is some
1260 miles to the south we passed it at

Tlie Rio Preto is siipposed to arise in the Serra dos Pj-reneos,
which M. Gerber and others extend from
the headwaters of the Tocantins to the
western valley of the Sao Francisco.

:

C

C

2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

388

[chap. xxvr.

our visitor declared that the line was sandy and
without hills, whilst its tortuous length can be reduced from
seventy to sixty leagues. Neither he nor any of his friends had
the Eapids

;

seen the neighbouring Niagara; they have often when riding
down to the i>ort passed it within a few miles. The latest news-

papers dated from early September, and yet we are here only 200
The Commandante presently
miles from steamer navigation.

us in a prodigious hurry, having to superintend the ironing
often whom he called twenty recruits. They were sent to head-

left

we met the returning escort of fom-They were wild-looldng
teen muskets who had escorted them.
fellows, servile as well as free, and only the chief man had a
the dress was old-fashioned shirts and tight smalls of
horse
strong homespun cotton, leather hats, waistcoats and sandals.
quarters at Tacaratu, and

;

In the evening I saw a wretched '' Conservador " pursued through
the bush by mounted men who presently captured him for the
war. No wonder that these places look like the ruins which the
slave wars have made on the Lower Congo.
The Fazenda da Boa Vista, some five leagues down-stream,
and belonging to the Commandante's grandfather, Jose de Carvalho Brandao, was originally an Aldea, or settlement of Indians,
and the head-quarter village of these parts. Presently a church
was here built, and the huts gathering round it took the name of
"Arraial da Igreja Nova," which is still preserved by the riveIn 1838 it became the Villa da Boa Vista, the head of a
rines.
Comarca, and the residence of a Vigario, a Juiz de Direito, a
Its two freJuiz Municipal, and other requisites for self-rule.
fmezias, Santa Maria da Boa Vista, and the Senhor Bom Jesus
da Igreja in the Povoa9cio da Cachoeira do Eoberto on the left
bank of the river, number 6000 souls, an estimate founded upon
the fact that a single parish has 1000 voters.* The town may
contain eighty-live houses, and, at festivals, 500 inhabitants.
They support themselves by breeding cattle, and agriculture, and
they want but little here below we found fresh meat for sale, but
Many spoke to
absolutely nothing else, not even a water-melon.
us of the Serra Talhada, distant some fom-teen leagues from the
;

A rough but ready way of estimating
the population in these outstations is by
the number of voters, which every one
knows.
In some paits a tax is paid upon

doors and windows, but

tliis

again leads to

errors in counting roofs, or as households
are still termed in wigwam phraseology,

"fires."

;

VILLA DO JOAZEIRO TO BOA VISTA.

CHAP. xxvL]

left

bank.

alum and

It is said to contain

single specimen

was

to

match-box full of iron
was for sale as gold

:

be procured.
p3Tites,
is

it

389

saltpetre, but not a

One man brought me

a

which being bright and brassy
to come from the western

said

countr3\

The

toT\^l

has, as

may

be expected,

to show.

little

We

visited

the natural pier at the western end which fronts south-west and
runs back to the north-east. The substance is talcose slate, con-

taining

much

quartz

with cleavage lines
trending fi^om east-south-east to west-noilh-west, or nearly perdistinctly

stratified,

pendicular to the direction of the beds.

The harder

supply large blocks read}^ cut for building

;

in places

parts can
it is

soft

and is worn down b}" the footpath which descends it in steps.
Fm-ther to the west large fragments have slipped into the stream.
At the eastern end there is another outcrop -uith strike to the
south-east and dip north-west 35°; and in parts it is spread
without regularity over the steep bank of stone, sand, and stona
dust.
It IS mostly banded with white quartz, and has embedded
Near the stream its surface is revetted with
lines of amygdaloid.
a coat of the darkest chocolate, the usual ferruginous glazing

and must be brought from
down-stream. The highest floods, even those of 1857 and 1865,
the worst on record, did not extend half-wa}^ up the pier.
The
general belief is, that the inundations are diminishing, and with
here, however, iron is not found,

them the

fevers.

TVe visited the church of N^ S^ da Conceicao, a t37)ical shape,
tall, narrow like the people
its only charm is its site, a rocky
platform forming the highest ground in the settlement, and front;

A

whitewashed cemetery appears to the north
b}' a depression, into which the floods enter
South of the church
"svithout, however, insulating the settlement.
is the town showing a single row, the Eua da beu-a do Rio.
AVith the usual unwisdom here customary, the people have
fronted theii' houses towards the glaring temple and the hot
stony hill, whilst their back-3'ard compounds and plots of pomegranates and flowers enjoy the charming view, and the breezes
Looldng south the Serras da
floating up and down stream.
Capivara and the Curral Xovo break the horizon, and the broad
river, with rocks above surface and rocks below water, serpentines
through its subject valley. To the south-east are the Serras do
ing up-stream.

or inland, separated

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

390

and do Esteviio

[chap. xxvi.

of the four pyramids one

remarkably acute-angular, whilst further east three laiobs denote the
There are no glass windows even in the richest
Serra dos Gros.
tenements, and the jail, at the eastern end, is a house like the
Pii'iquito

;

is

other houses.

Boa

Vista

is

the terminus of barque -navigation

only ajojos and canoes go

;

Varzea Eedonda.

to

at this season

Here

I dis-

missed, with an additional gratuity for extra service, the pilot

Jose Joaquim de Santa and Manoel Felipe Barboza, alias das
Mocas, alias Barba de Veneno, and of late usually kno^vn for
shortness as " Manoel Diabo."
The latter, having quarrelled
with an angry father, had fled his femily, settled a few leagues

down- stream, and had not seen

for fourteen years.

it

tented himself with writing a letter from

Boa

Vista,

He

con-

and he

set

out contentedly with his friend in a small canoe which will take
at least a

month

to

make

Januaria.

We

separated well satisfied,

I hope, with one another.

men.* The Commandante
du'ected the i:>ilot Manoel C^q^riano to hold himself in readiness
the tariff is 25 $ 000 not bad for five daj^s' work in these regions,
and the new man presently came to see us. He w^as a dark
senior, dating from 1817, but looking at least sixty-five
he
declares that his premature old age has been brought on by a fast
life, and that he has long passed the time v/hen men begin to
He has a queer dr}^ humour, he delights in chaffing the
die.
people upon the banks, he twangs the guitar, he takes snuff as
most boatmen do, but requires a snuft'-pocket like our gTandfathers, and he has a private bottle of country rum wrapped up
carefully as if it were a baby.
He never works except when half
seas over, and I should fear to trust him Vv^hen dead sober he
Is slow to excess, taking five minutes to don his coat and to slip
his feet into his ragged slippers.
Yet he is the only real pilot
that I saw upon the river, he knows it thoroughly, he will be
master on board, and he slangs a recusant paddle with the
unction of an Oxford coxswain in my day.
Certainly no beauty
was M. C, but he was stout-hearted and true.
We soon
learned to confide in his nerve, force and precision.
There was

There was no

difficulty in finding

:

—

;

;

—

* M. Half eld (Eel. p. 61) says that here

hard to find watermen for rafts and
canoes, on account of the Rapids.
The

it is

extreme laziness of the
however, only fair to confess
that I lost bnt a single day.
sole obstacle is the

people.

It

is,

CHAP, XXVI.]

VILLA DO JOAZEIEO TO BOA YLSTA.

391

something more interesting even tlian beauty in liis dano-er-look,
when, working his paddle like the tail-fin of a monstrous fish and
firmly planted in the stern canoe of the rocking and tossino- raft,
he bent slightly forwards, steadily eyeing with straining glance

the gTim wall upon which

we were daslung

at the rate of

twenty

by a few ingenious strokes of the helm at the
exact moment, brought round the bows and almost grazed the

knots an

horn*, and,

reef,

I gave Manoel C^T^riano carte blanche to choose his oarsmen,
this was a prime mistake.
Like almost all his countrjinen,

and

he had a certain amiable defect, a constitutional inability to say
No," which is often worse than a moral incapacity to use

''

"Yes." Thus when he was set at in due form by one Jose Alves
Marianno, he objected faintly, he held with him long palavers
Ijdng on the bank, and he ended by engaging Imn.
All this
time he knew the man to be a noted skullv, whose nickname on
the river was Capittio Molle
Captain Soft and whom no one
would engage.

—

—

Marianno is, he tells us, a son of Petrolina, by no means a
good locaUty. His immense curly head-mop of jetty colour,
proves an African maternity, and the legal saving " partus
sequitur ventrem " is true in more wa^'s than one.
He smgs
well, he has an immense repertoii'e, and, as a repentista, he
is

known

to

local

fame.

Ergo, I i^resume, he has taken the

and Ai'cadian name Mangericiio (Ocj^mum basilicum)
which he pronounces " Majeliciio," and which soon becomes
Manjar de Cao dog's meat. He is hopeless, he drinks like a
whu'lpool, he eats like an ogre, he pretends to faint if pushed to
work, and, if undue persistency be appKed, he loses some of the
taclde.
He loves to '' put on a spurt " vrhere the stream is
poetical

—

swiftest, so as to malve a

bump

fatal

snufis, chats, chaffs, or chaunts.

seriously angry with the

rascal

;

:

in

still

water he

upon himself as the
relief when he received

pered, and he seems to look

lolls

back,

The worst is that I cannot be
he is abommably good-temgreatest fun

Yet it was a
his 16 §000
and showed us his back.
The next day was a forced halt. The Escrivao of orphans,
Sr. Felipe Benicio Sa e Lira, kindly allowed me the use of his
house and his desk, which made the hours move more nimbly
than they otherwise would. The wind blew strong and contrarj-.
in the world.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

392

The

[chap. xxvi.

had paddled away to his house down-stream, and was
We wanted large paddles j^esterday the
lading in small stores.
only carpenter in the place had been engaged in ironing the
recruits, and till that important operation was concluded he could
not go to the bush and cut down a Mandracurti-cactus. These
paddles look somethmg lilve action, rude and heavy, but strong
and pliant they are perfectly straight, five feet long, and with a
pilot

;

:

leverage of 2

:

1

—the

little

paddles used uivstream are nearly,

equally divided, and the effect

is like

using a large kitchen-ladle.

"When the work was done, he asked about four tunes

its

worth,

and he took the opportunity of offering for the Eliza 100 $000.
Had he paid as he charged, he would have said 1:000 $000.

—

CHAPTEE XXVII.
FROM THE YILLA DA BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDONDA.
Elevexth Teavessia,

45 Leagues.*

The Rapids and the Smooths.
" Les Brdsiliens avant la conqu^te de leur pays par les Europeens etaient au
degre le plus bas de la civilisation." Prince Max, ii. 39G.

Section

I.

THE GOOD RAPIDS TO CABR0B6.

A

LITTLE below

clear

northern

Boa Vista,

sweep,

the river, after a short and tolerably

returns

to

the

eastern

direction,

and

upon that Cordilheira of breaks and rapids which will last
Earth here begins to show her giant
for some thirt}^ leagues.
The bed broadens in many i^laces to a league,
skeleton bare.
and is worn down to its granitic floor it is a mass of islands and
islets, all bearing names, of reefs and rocks sand-scoured, cut and
channelled by the waters, which glaze them to a grislj^ black. As
a rule, the bed is too winding for the wdnds to form high waves,
but this is by no means always the case. The rocky quartzose
enters

;

highlands, disposed apparently without any system, approach the

broken walls of stone. The Cachoeiras offer some risk to those descending, but more during the
There are many and sundry triangles of water, and the
ascent, f
old rule of the Pdo das Yellias, namely, to make for the single
apex, will hold good here in some places we must get into broken
channel and throw across

it

;

water to avoid sunken stones, and sometimes we must run straight
towards a rock, and rely upon helm and current to escape it.
*

M. Halfeld, \>j some curious oversight
6), makes this eleventh Travessia
thirty-eight leagues, and reckons the distance from Santa Maria, instead of from
Boa Yista. The pilots stretch the distance
(Rel. p.

namely, sixteen to
fifty-two leagues
Cabroho, and thirty-six to Yarzea Redonda.
+ The people declare that accidents never
take place, but we shall find two wi-ecks en
to

route.

;

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

394

BRAZIL.

[ciiAr. xxvii.

be passed on our sixth day ;* it has
nine rapids, two whuipools, and two shallows, which form, durmg
the space of five leagues, obstructions as serious as the whole

The

only

reall}^

bad part

will

Pdo das Velhas. Here a committee of pilots could
point out the best line, which might be cleaned, marked, t and
rendered passable it would be far better, however, to abandon
all this part of the stream, and to run a tramway to the Porto
das Pii-anhas, distant 70 72 leagues along the channel.
The beauty of the banks still continues, and houses, farms,
and fields extend down the wdiole way. Gold cascalho, talcose
At this
slate, and quartz, frequently appear on both sides.
season the vegetation is much burned, and the finest trees are
coui'se of the

;

—

upon the comparatively damp

islands.

The

nearly total absence

of palms gives to the scene a look of the temperate regions.
Agriculture and stock breeding are the main resources of the
j)eople,

but where the stream

is

low sunk, they have no idea of

the Persian wheel or the Avindmill.

The banks,

especially the

much broken by Alagadicos or swamps, and by Ypoeiras,
which here take the Tupy name Igarape, or Ygarape. The
influents, known by the bright green grass at the mouths, are mere

right, are

nullahs, owing to the increased narrowness of the river valley

narrow courses are either dry or slow
and pools (Cacunbas and Pocoes), during the rains

at this season their short

strings of pits

they

roll terrible torrents.

We were

told that during the windless nights a candle

might be

was the case only once. The Serras to the
north-east, Araripe and Borborema, obstruct to a certain extent
The Trade changes with the direction of
the thorough draught.
In
the stream, and at this season it invariabty comes up-stream.
the morning we have catspaws, the wind blows strongly during
There
the sunny hours, and woolpack gathers in the afternoon.
is an immense evaporation, causing a constant thirst, and crmn-

used naked

;

this

bling tobacco to dust

:

the wdiole of this section

that distils a copious stream for the higher river.

is

a laborator}^

The

rains are

showers,
mostly from the north, sometimes from the south
violent only in March and April, extend between November and
Januar}^, fuiiher dov/n the}^ are fiercest in February and March.
;

* Between the 295tli and the 300th
league of M. Halfeld,
+ '* Tlie channels are so intricate that we
find, at the bifurcations, bits of sail-cloth

hung on the

])ushes to gixicle the navigators

on the route to Para " (Lieut. Herndon,
333).

p.

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA EEDO^'DA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

We now

395

enter the head-quarters of the extinct Jesuit missions,

a land of ruins strange in a coimtiy so 3^oung and we see with
astonishment that more than a century ago the neighboui'hood
;

was much more advanced than it is at present. The company, it
will be remembered, was denatiu-alised, and departed with confiscation of property from the Portuguese dommions by the celeThe Jesuits abstraction faite
brated law of September 3, 1759.
de leurs mstitutions vraiement nuisibles, et du mal resultant de

—

leur domination

— certamly taught

of labom", and

now

their converts the civilisation
"
Aldeados," or villaged Indians, have
the

allowed their chapels to

fall,

and are

fast relapsing

mto

savagery.

^Finally, the place of the old Fathers has been but poorly filled by

the Italian and other missionaries, who, of late years, have been
thinly scattered amongst these out-stations.

—Vvlth

infinite trouble we managed
''Menino"
was di-unk, and well
The old
to set out at 11 a.m.
nigh incapable, and the new paddle, " Herb Basil," after a very

Wednesday, October 30, 1867.

short spiu't, began to droop in all save in the matter of singing.

We

dropped down between the left bank and the large Ilha
Pequena it shows fenced fields and thatched roofs on four poles,
under which the shepherd shelters himself from the broiling sun.
The sheep and goats are poor and lean at this season, and the
owners ask 1$000 for a bag of bones. On the bushy liiUs to the
north are many sobrados, the usual house-like lumps of wliite
limestone below are scattered tiled huts, with here and there a
large tenement, and the negroes are singing over the task of bush
clearing.
The baijts are of fine quality fi'om the raft we see no
bottom to the soil, and the tap-root stril^es straight d^wn.
;

;

;

This Roca channel, ^^iiich we have taken to avoid the furious
Cachoeira do Ferrete on the right hand, recalls to memory the
Eio das VeUiafe below its confluence with the Parauna stream.
Presently we find on' the right the Ilha da Missao (Nova), and its

broken fane, one of the most southerly establishments of the
Jesuits.
It runs west-east, vdth a convexity to the north, and it
is at least three and a half miles long. Sundry islets rise between it
and the left bank there are fev.- breaks, but the many sunken rocks
The Serrote do Pao Torto on the left
require careful piloting.*
;

tlie Ilha Pequena and tlie
places the Cachoeira do Fuzil,
which, when I passed, can hardly be called

*

runs.

pai-t of

bank

Probably M. Halfeld surveyed tliis
He
the stream wlien it was low.
"
talks of sundry Cachoeiras and " Cachopos
{shoals here called baixios, or bancos de
Area), which are mere "Corridas," or

Between

lie

a rapid.

THE HIGHLA:NDS OF THE BRAZIL.

39G

gave us a taste of

its

the three hillocks

quality

;

further

seen from

Boa

[chap, xxvii.

down the Morros dos Gros,
Vista,

form a

bluff,

and

approach the channel, which is compressed still more by the
Serra do Estevao* on the other side. Both banks project natural
Above
j^iers of rock, which make the stream dark and swiiding.
the village " Os Gros " is a lump of stone from this enchanted
;

ground the barquemen have often heard the sound of the drum and
As the dangers
the song, and tramp of crowds passing along.
of the bed increase, so will grow the behef in things unseen, till
at last almost every bluff will have its own superstition.
At this point we turned from east to north, and passed between
It contains a ruined
the left bank and the Ilha da Missao Velha.
chapel, N'^ S^ da Piedade, fronted by a cross
formerly it was
popidous and cultivated, now it is inhabited by only one Morador.
" Captain Soft " determined that he had worked enough for that
day it was then 3 p.m. and as I declined to put into the left
bank, where he had friends, he neatly let slip the new paddle of
Cactus, and managed, perforce, to effect a halt. It was useless
to attempt the rapid which we heard roaring downm-stream without
all our gear perfect.
he swam lil^e a fish but
I made him dive
the current was strong, and the heavy timber was, doubtless, soon
;

—

—

—

rolled far

—

down -stream.

Missao Velha, and
Manuel Cj^oriano set out at once to cut down a Mandracuru.
Huts and clumps of noble Joazeiro and Quixaba trees gave the
bank a pleasant aspect. The Zozo, or Pistia, formed bright beds
in the water, especially at the mouths of creeks, and in places the
tall Ubaf was apparently planted by the people.
Ledges some
two feet square upon the water slopes, ^^ere laid out with onions,
mint, that made excellent juleps, and the Merti, an edible tuber,
with an Ai'um-like leaf; whilst the forks of low trees bore i^ots of
lavender and flowers for the women's hair.
We were presently hailed by a famihar voice from above, and
we recognised, despite certain borrowed plumes, the jolly face of
" Manoel Diabo." His brothers, hearing that he had left Boa
Vista without visiting his home, indignantly pursued him, and
brought him back, nolentem volentem, to receive his mamma's
blessing.
He had ''loaned" his friend the pilot's black coat and
"We halted on the

left

side, opposite the

* M. Halfeld calls it the Serra do Inhanhum, from the large island at the bend
of the Led.

f This Saccharum is prohahlythe "frecheira," or arrow-cane, of the Amazons
River.

BOA VISTA TO YAEZfiA EEDOXDA.

CHAP. xxYii.]

slippers,

and

397

them both off when he led us about the
Here the bank is flat, and subject to an excess of
cast

lie

" Fazenda."

droughts and floods.

It is

backed by a grey

hill of talcose slate,

veined with and passing into quartz below.
The cotton slu'ub
"
foot " is said to produce thu'ty
grows admirably, and each
]3ounds; a

little

has been exj)orted, but the old ''laAi-ador" com-

plained of a blight which had lately appeared

i:)lant probably
wants new land. Most of the cottages here have looms, which
are, however, superior in notliing to those of Unyamwezi. Cattle,
sheep, and goats looked tolerably tlniving, and the crew found
abmidance of bu'ds the flights of wild pigeons are described to
resemble those of the United States. In the evening the fatted
:

the

;

was killed, men and women complimented the truant in
extempore verse, to which he replied ^ith interest and the drum
was not silent till suniise. AVe heard for the last time the Whippoor- Will, his wi'ongs are taken up by another volatile, who ever
calf

;

complains, like the

West Afiican bush-dog,

that

the

fire

has

gone out.*
October 31.

— The

under a shady

tree,

defeiTed breakfast

shook hands

all

old pilot worked hard at his carpenteiing

and even

till

''

Majelicao " bore a hand

the paddle was read}'.

round, and pushed off

At lO'SO

—I had

we
towards the spot whence
a.m.

This upper Cachoeira da Panella do Dom'ado,t
below Boa Yista, has been descended by barcas even
dm'ing the dry season, but it is perfectly capable of doing damage.
We ran to the north of the Illia da Missao Yelha, and, poling up
against a strong current, we passed between it and its northern
neighbour, the Ilha do Serrote.
Then turning poop on, we
dashed down the usual channel, + with the Angicos Island on the
right, and the Cabras on the left, and we escaped without anything more serious than a long gTaze. It was a -^ild and haggard

the roaring came.
the

fii'st

scene, a series of rivers within a river, a tortuous labyrinth of

currents formed by seven large and a multitude of smaller rocks,
through which the " eau sauvage " ran straight as an arrow. The

broom-like shrub, Jarumataia, or xlngari, brown below and green
* The cry is supposed to say, '*Fogo
'pagou " (apagoti).
The rapid of the pot-hole of the
+
Donrado," a fish of this species having
been caught in some "boil" by the first
"Panella" signifies either a
travellei's.
'

'

pot-liole

worked by the water

or a small

whirlpool, a
depression in the siu-face.

X There
of the Ilha

me

in tlie rock,

conical

swirling

another channel to the right
do Serrote, but it appeared to

is

very dangerous.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

398

[chap, xxvii.

and in the shallower v/aters,
and heaps of drift-wood were thrown upon the convenient corners
and ledges. The rocks, banded with snowy quartz, glazed like
straight lines by the several levels of
the pigeon's wing, ruled
the water, and in places bored into basins, appeared singularly
Further down, where the flood reposes in depths
characteristic.
studded mth foam, and where the current wheels round in lazy

above, grew in clumps

upon the

islets

m

cii'cles,

we came

On

to the cause of all this disturbance.

the

left

—

bank, without correspondence on the other side, a Serrote 80 90
feet high, and projecting to the north-east, sent a rib of rock clean

The

across stream from north-west to south-east.

blufi

showed

hard sandstone striking to the south-west, and split into
the face was lined
brick-like cubes by the perpendicular cleavage
with thick and thin ramifications of snowy white quartz,* Vv^hich
everywhere lay in fragments upon the surface. From the south
it assumed a quoin shape, with a bushy hog'sback declinmg to
strata of

;

the west.

Beyond the Illia das Marrecas we fell into the main stream. We
had not seen it united since we coasted the Illia Pequena, and now
we found it flowing like Arar " incredibile lenitate." On the left
of this reach, some four miles long, opened the mouth of the
now dry Riacho do Jacare t and its island down-stream. BeloAv
it

the channel passes between the right bank and the Illiota do

Serrotinho, a spine of hard sandstone and white quartz raggedl}^

covered

^^itll

trees

;

the tail end has clearings and cultivation.

Presently we tm'ned almost due east, and sighted ahead another

mass of obstructions. They are caused by a number of stony cones
on the right bank, and on the left by the Serra das Carahj^bas. This
is a block and outliers of rock, with waves of bush}^ ground
(Catingas Altas), which, contrary to rule in the Brazil, show no
At 1*30 p.m. vv^e passed the Ilha Grande,
tree fringe on the top.
where M. Halfeld gratefully mserts the residence of his pilot,
Cyriaco, whose dexterity and courage he greatly praises. Curious
tales are told of the old man, who seems to have inherited from
his

"Indian" ancestry

a coolness of head, a clearness of vision,

and a strength of arm and

will quite exceptional.

* M. Halfeld makes the bluff to consist of
mica, iron, and titanium,
f According to the pilot, it comes fx-om

quaiiiz, chlorite,

As Queimadas,

distant thirty leagues.

I\I.

Halfeld shows a veiy narrow embouchure.

The boatmen

In Mr. Keith Jolinston it drains the eastern
slopes of the Avestern dividing ridge, heading near the sources of the Caniude, the
river of Oeiras in Piauhy.

CHAP. XXVII.]

declare that

BOA VISTA TO VAEZEA EEDONDA.
lie

knows every stone

in the river,

399

and that he can

by night over the wildest dangers, especially when "tornado,"
or slightly *' sprung."
We shot dovm. a rocky run between the
Ilha Grande and the ''Ilha de Yilla da Santa Maria," formerly
the end of the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh travessia.
Two ajojos, laden with salt bags, and raised hardly foui- inches
above the water, were painfully poling up-stream.
We landed on the island to inspect a ruin which we had seen
from afar. The soil is of immense fertility * it bore cotton in
small quantities
manioc wherever men had taken the trouble to
plant it the pinhao bravo, or poison croton-nut, which feeds the
tenantiy of the landshells
and fields of Ico trees, whose ancestors were j^robably planted here b}' the Jesuit Fathers.
The
people, ^ith lank hair and broad yellow faces, showing indigenous
blood, v\'ere better clad than those up-stream, and inhabited the
same miserable huts. After a walk of a few hundred yards to the
south-west, we came upon the temple fronting west towards the
right banli and up-stream, where is the finest view.
Monastery,
cluu'ch, and chapel were all a mere shell, and the latter bore
travel

:

;

;

;

inscribed

upon the entrance

RESVRGE
XT IX XO
VISSIMO DIE
1734.

The material was

maximum size was two
was almost as durable as the ashlar of talcose slate
with which it was mixed, and the chimam, probably shell lime, was
One of the belfries had fallen, and cactus
of the best quality.!
grew upon the walls where roof and ceiling had been. The dimensions of the clunch were 100 x 25 feet.
There were remnants of
an arch mider the tlu'one (for the Host), and a line of stout, square
piers forming an aisle or sacristy to the north.
The lizard and
the pigeon were the only inhabitants of the grim old ruin.
I left
sometliing
There is
unpleasantly impressive about
it in sadness.
these transitory labours, upon wliicli the lives of men have been
feet square.

the finest brick, and the

It

* Below S'''* ]Maria the lands -will become
sandy, less light and rich.
+ Hence the pilasters are called by 'M.
Halfeld (Rel. 156) Coluninas de Pedra. He
In the above-mentioned church
remarks,
'

'

inter the defimct, but with so
that the corpses, hardly covered
with loose earth, exhale an insnj)portable
fetor,"
The hint has been taken, and we
tliey still

little piety,

had not

to complain of the atmosphere.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

400

[chap, xxvii.

The whole scene remmded me of the once renowned
City of Wari (Warree) in the Kingdom of Benm.
Kesmning our way, we ran down the Island of Santa Maria,
and presently we came to another great stone-river coursing

wasted.

through the roots of the Serra do Oroco. These hills form a
hollow crescent between the Serra das Carahybas and the water.
The api)earance is made pecuhar by two knobs, which a curtain
connects, and an outlier, the

the

left

bank.

Upper Oroco proper,*

The stream flowed

like

a

sluice,

ai)proaclies

and in the

Cachoeira de Sao Pedro, where, despite the manful slanging of
the pilot, the paddles preferred looking behind them to working,
we struck heavily. We then threaded our way down the mid
On paper the channels look
stream, though a land of islands.!

The

the blue fissures of a glacier.

like

Illia

de Sao Miguel

showed a deserted temple on a knob of ground. The Ilha de Sao
Fehs disclosed through its dense trees a whitewashed and tiled
chmxh, with belfry and two terminal towers here the saint still
;

resides.

As we emerged from

this " belt " the water fell

smooth as a

but the prospect was not less wild. On the right
bank the Serra do Aracapa crouched hke a sphinx with jubated

metal plate

;

neck, and from down-stream the head will seem distinctly traced.

We

then paddled between the Aracapa Island and the left bank,
where enters the Eiacho da Brisoda (Brigida).t The back water

up the green mouth for about two leagues, and the rest of
We found good
the bed at this season is a string of i^ools.
Aracapa,
do
near
the Fazenda of
the
Porto
ground
at
anchorage
flows

that

name

fronting the island.

The people here breed

horses,

mules, and black cattle for the Cabrobo market, and a good ox is
It was a still, quiet evening, favourable for
sold for 20$ 000.

mosquitos.

The hoary

eastern clouds at nightfall threatenmg

* There is an Oroco debaixo on the left
bank, about two miles do^\Ti.
f To starboard were successively from
west to east, the Ilha das Almas, do Jua,
de S. Miguel, and da Piedade, with a mass
of others, especially the Ilha Comprida,
To
between them and the right bank.
port lay the Ilha de Sao Felis, which the
pilot called " de Sao Pedro " it had about
midway a hillock (outeirinho), upon whicli
the Chai)el is built, nearly due north of the
rising gi-ound that sujijiorts the ruins of Sao
:

Between S. Felis and the left
the Ilha da Tapera
east of S.
Felis is the Ilha do Aracapa, about four
miles long.
Its channel is miich broken,
and Cascalho appears upon its left bank,
Here the broadest part of the river is neai'ly
Miguel.

bank

is

;

tAvo (geographical) miles,

+ Mr. Keith Johnston calls it "R.
Bregido," and makes it drain, correctly,
I believe, the southern slopes of the dividing range between Pernambuco and
Ceara.

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDONDA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

401

wind, and the jacare splashed around us, while the flute and the

song came loud from the shore.
Nov. 1. We set out at 6 a.m., but the gale soon drove us to
take refuge on the western side of the Aracapa Island, where we
found a few huts belonging to moradores and fishers of the
Trahira.
The low lands are often flooded, but there is a dorsum

—

of higher ground to which the people can

I utilised the

retii'e.

The liveliness and the free,
motion of the rapid after the smooths above were rather
enjoyable than otherwise
but the process seemed somewhat a
*'
"
tempting of Providence
in the now crazy Eliza, manned by a
crew that would not work. The pilot, who knew the dangers
better, was far more anxious than we were
and he presently
returned with a barqueii'o who, mo^^ennant 10 §000, agreed to
accompany us. Antonio was a stout, dark youth, with a heavy
shoulder and muscular arms. He justified all the good things
said about the people of the river below Joazeii'o.
Having
received a small advance, he crossed the stream to fetch his
sheepskin, and he took his paddle at 11.30 a.m., the old
delay by engaging another paddle.
swift

;

;

*'

Menino

"

being placed in the

stern to

amuse himself with

his kitchen ladle.

We
an

coursed down the end of the wild Aracapa Channel, passing

on the right and the Ilha do Taboleii'o* to the left. Presently we shot through a gate formed b}" several rocks to port, and
to starboard hy an enormous block which had assumed the domed
form into which granite masses are so often weathered.
The
coloui' was cinereous brown above, and below it was japanned to
the semblance of a meteoric stone.
Here, as elsewhere, the
colouring matter does not penetrate the surface except through
fissures. The coat varies but Httle in thickness, and when broken
islet

with a

hammer

the fragments

removed from the stone.
menon of coloration, which
long series of observations

— " Does the
question

show that the

glaze

is

easily to be

I have before alluded to this phenois
is

common

to

both hemispheres.!

required before we can answer the

river hold the oxides

suspended

?

]\I.

VOL.

Hiilfeld':^
II.

state of

"

Bej^ond the gate with

* In

sand

like

and other earthy substances, or are they found in a
chemical solution

A

map

it is

its gTisl}^

tower was a remanso, half

called the Ilha dos Bois.

f Ghap.
T)

boil,

15.

D

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

402

half dead water, which taxed the paddlers' arms.

[chap, xxvii.

We

then flew

through a " violent rapid " formed by rocks between the eastern
end of the Ai^acapa Island and the left bank. It is known by the
"
loosen your breeches
descrii:)tiYe name of Desataca Calcoes
which is all that requires to be said of it. We then passed on the

—

bank the Serrote da Ponta da Ilha da Assumpcao, where an
ypoeira setting off to the north-east insulates a tract of ground
three and a half leagues in length by five-eighths of a league in
extreme breadth, more than double the width of the river water.*
The Serrote is a lumpy, half-bald hill, with grey bush scattered
over a whitish surface.
The upper part is banded with scattered
rocks of lighter tint running parallel with the bed, and taihng off
left

down stream.
Perforce we took

the main channel to the right or south of

Assumption Island. The bank is mostly of sand based upon hard
clay, and its " Cascalho " extends to the water edge.
The lowtying land has Catingas Altas, where the people fly from the inundations.
They remember in 1838 an exceptional flood, which
rose 32 feet.
The soil is said to be good horses are bred in the
island, and black cattle are said to have run wild. The mountams
The broken line of
of the " terra firma " in front form a picture.
the Serra do Milagre contrasts with the lumpy mass of the Serra
da Bananeira, upon which is said to be an " Olho de Agua ;" and
Far
whilst the valley is bone-dr}^, its highlands are fed by rain.
to the left two pyramids, regular as if cut, breed reminiscences of
Cheops and Cephren in a certain valley of the Old World. Seen
from the south-east, these hills lose their venerable appearance,
and become a saddle-back, banal even as is its name, '^ Serrote
;

do Jacare."

f

At 2 P.M. we entered the " spuming rapid " of Cachauhy, called
da AssumpQao to distinguish it from two others down stream. It
end of the Ilha das Yaccas and other complications
We went
b}' the Serrote do Salgado, a knob on the right bank.
down the breaks where the water danced about the dots of rock,

is

formed

*

at the

We

shall ascend the easternmost part
ypoeira to make Cabrobd.
The
direct route would be by the west, but at
tliis season it is impassable.
The principal
rapids, going down the line, are
1. Bom
Successo
2. Cachauhy
Tucutu
4.
3.
of

this

:

;

;

;

Camaleao
5.
Urubu
Cauam, or
6.
Cauan
7. Fouce
8.
and 9.
Catarina
;

;

;

;

;

The Cachoeira do Graviao, or do Portao.
The latter, about half a league above the
town,

is

described as a droj) (desiJenhador),

which can be passed only in the height of
the floods.
f None of these names is given by M.
Half eld.
The Jacare appears to be his
Serra do Bendo.

;

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDONDA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

and

403

safely accomplished the always delicate operation of crossing.

We

landed on the Island of Assumption to see the church, j)art
of whose brickwork cumbers the shore in large masses.
Nothing
can save it. In 1852-54 it was 51 feet from the stream, which

has now laid bare the southern side.
citizen of Cabrobo,

whose name

is

It

was

1830 by a
and the

built in

already forgotten

style as well as the material are a long

;

way behind those

of the

Jesuits.
It is to be hoped that the next traveller will find a little
more attention given to the dead who are buried in the roofless

^1 closure.

The
*'

]3eople collected to see

us.

Apparently inclined to be

saucy," they came with knives and small biixl-bows and arrow^s.

The

off, and these are mostly a mixed
comes from Africa. The pure blood
showed the w^ell-known signs big, round Kalmuk heads, flat
Mongol faces, with broad and distinctly marked cheek-bones
oblique Chinese eyes, not unfrequentl}^ brides, rather brown than
black, and dwelling upon objects with a fixed gaze
dark and
thick ej^ebrows
thin mustacliios fringing the large mouths full
of pointed teeth
and small beards, not covering the long, massive

old savages have all died

breed, whose curly

hail'

—

;

;

;

The

brought low down over the forehead, w^as that
of the Hindu, jetty and coarser than in the pure Caucasian. The
chins.

hair,

nose had an abominable cachet of vulgarity, small and squat, with
broad fleshy nostrils in fact the feature was all that an Arab is
not.
They were well-made men, except that the trunk appeared
;

somewhat too long and
to

and the shoulders seemed

large for the legs,

The

project horizontally just below the ears.

extremities

showed that delicacy of

size and form which has passed so
remarkably into the Brazilian blood, and the skin was brownyellow and ruddy only where exposed to the light and air.

A

glance

down

the river from the tall

bank

discloses a grisly

There was the rich golden glow of the unclouded sun now
slanting west, and many a silvery Hne of stream to suggest
sight.

Den

Silberbach in goldne Strome fiiessen.

nimbus with a long grey lappet ahead threatened a
gale of wind, and the richly tinted surface was fanged with murderous black stones. Here the Serrote da Lagoa Yermelha* runs

But

a purple

*

Some

call it

the SciTti do Miiagrc

;

others the Serru da Lagoa Dourada.

D D

2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

404

parallel with the right bank,

We

and extends to

it

many

chap, xxa^i.

a hill spur

and stmnbled
through the Cachoeira da Pedra do Moleque, which breaks and
but at the next place we nearly came to grief.
boils right across
Here the channel bends to the south-east, and dashes at a hill
This Alto da Lagoa Dourada deflects it
of stone and red clay.
that reefs the stream.

easily traversed the bed,

;

almost at right angles to the north-east.

The water

flows

down

and see the angle formed by the raft
platform.
It is a violent torrent, pouring at a rate of 10 to 12
knots an hour over the rocks, swirling around them, and producing a complication of currents. In the runs there is a visible
convexity of surface, the waters being heaped up as it were by the
compression of the sides and between the torrents are smooth
boils which seem as though produced by underground springs.
As we were entering the worst part, the strong east wind struck
I had
us, and in a minute we were thrown helpless upon a rock.
taken the precaution to secure everj^thing on board with ropes
had not this been done the surges which swept us as w^e heeled
over would have cleared the deck.
The pilot exerted himself
desperately
the men kept their presence of mind, and the
liill,

and we distinctly

feel

;

;

;

whose power we were, beneficently sent the Eliza's
head down stream, with no fui'ther injury but a scrape and graze.
Enough for one day. The storm set in with fury. We managed
to pass the Serrote da Lagoa Yermelha, and we anchored on the
right bank, a little below the extinct town of Pambu.
This place of unintelligible name lies in a sack of the southern
bank, and to the east of its unimportant Riacho.
The site is a
level at the feet of a thicket- clad ridge.
The ofl'set from the high
w^all to the south-w^est and the huts may number a maximum of
thirtj^-five.
The church, built and dedicated to Santo Antonio
by a rich j^roprietor of Cabrobo, has indulged itself in an architectiu^al eccentricity.
The facades are double, whitewashed in
the rear, brown clay in the front, and the efi'ect is that of a man
with two heads.
ciu-rent, in

We passed the

night at the Pedra do Bode, fronting Pambusinho

was backed by the great Assumpgao.
A clean
patch of sand was dotted with the Oiti da Praia (Pleragina
odorata. Mart.), a bush here considered useless with the wild Ico,
bending under the weight of its fruit and with the Piranha, a
scaly tree, which is green and lively above, whilst the lower parts
Island, which

;

;

CHAP. XXVII.]

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDONDA.

405

Behind the beach rose the rocky and
clayey hill, scattered over with quartz pebbles and red silex that
Passing through the bush we were
resembled Rosso Antico.
attacked by a carrapato-tick, now a novelty, but none the more
suj^ply

good dry firewood.

agreeable.

Nov.

2.

—We ran down half a league to the

tail of

Pambusinho

and then turned north-westwards into the Braco do Tucutu,
the channel parting the mainland of Pernambuco from its subject,
The latter is here kept in position by
the Ilha da Assumpcao.
face to the east and to the south.
which
ground,
lines of rising
It was a delicious morning; the air was sweet and rain- washed,
and the temperature that of Cairo in the cold season. How
much would be paid for such a day at such a season upon the
All creation looked its best, and the birds,
banks of the Thames
gaily in the bush, especially the tame
sang
unusually numerous,
and familiar red-headed songster of many names.* The ashengrey maracana f \ai\\ the long cuneiform tail, was trooping from
the forest to plunder whatever maize was to be found; and the
fine large blue alcedo, | a king amongst the kingfishers, crossed
Islet,

!

the stream with his " vol saccade," or sat

green glaucous verdui'e, looking out for

The brown-black nimble

upon the spray of palewhat he could devour.

plotus shot swiftly past us

;

the ichthj^o-

j)hagous era una, § with dark plume and yellow beak shaped like

long wings and the Soco boi
from
its bull-like bellow, looked
(Ardea virescens), so called
Plundering
twice at us before it would take the trouble to fly.
seems here to be the fashion; even the pigs were necklaced with
w^ooden triangles] to temper theu' love of manioc.

the cmdew, heavily flapped

At

this

its

;

season the lower channel

height of the chies the Cachoeii'a da

Braco, must be troublesome.

is

Boa

clear

;

but during the

Boca do

Yista, alias da

The scenery was

the usual pistia

and haiiy grass near the water, thin IMimosa growth higher up,
and plantations upon the more elevated lands. Fish was plenti* It is called Cal)e9a Yermelho, Gallo
The "MeCampina, and Tico-Tico Rei.
nino" declared that he had sold for
10 $000, at Rio de Janeiro, a pair (casal)
of these birds, which are prized for their
song.

Psittacus
f There are two species
Maca\Taanna and P. Guianensis (Linn. ).
% The people call it " Soco," and de:

clare that

it is

The word

fat

and good

eating.

doubtless a corruption of
" Guaraiina, " the " blackbird " but it is
pronounced as above, and many places
upon the river are named from it.
The
people praise the flesh of this bird, after it
§

is

;

has been fried in

fat.

Locally called Canga (a yoke),
Cambao, a rustic Portuguese word.
||

or

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

406

[chap, xxvti.

but the fishermen asked for it exorbitant prices. After four
hours of very laz}^ pohng we turned a corner from south-west to

ful,

chmip of huts and a large compound
wall facing towards the stream. A httle above was the Porto, where
a feny plies between the island and the main. It is a broad green
boat, with a short mast made fast to a bench stepped in front.

north-west, and

came upon

a

—

Here we found the usual scene women washing, men filling
their " odres " (water-skins), and "borrachas" (leather bottlebags, with wooden corks), and children splashing and catching
There were man}^ horses, and the cleanthe Piaba and the Piau.
limbed cattle fed upon the heaps of cotton-seed which had been
thrown upon the banks. The other live objects were very lean
pigs, prowling dogs, and poultry, which here includes turkeys
and guinea-fowls.
Ascending the bank I found unexpectedly a large place without
any of the sleepiness which had characterised Joazeiro and Boa
Vista the site is the mainland, in the Comarca of Boa Vista,
Pro\ince of Pernambuco. At present it is a very dry land, the
evaporation curls up the leaves of the orange tree, whilst the tall
And at times it is
stout papaws seem to enjoy the temperature.
;

very

w^et

;

the floods enter the settlement, deluging

its floor

of

sandy clay, and driving the people to the Catingas Altas, which
we see scattered about. The main of the town, which may con-

and 700 souls, is formed of a large street, or rather
square, running north to south, and containing the dismantled
church of N^ S'^ da Con9ei9ao. The houses are unusually low
and massive, and they use shutters instead of glass windows,
declaring that the road to Bahia is 140 leagues long, and that
many of the stages want water. On the north of the settlement
The centre shows the new Matriz and inevitis the cemetery.
able cross, the work of a rich devotee, D. Brigide Maria das
Virgens, Vvdiose husband built the now ruined fane on Assumption
both are in the same stjde, and tliis bears the date
Island
The interior is unfinished, showing a ceiling of naked
1844.
there are, however, two pulpits, an organ loft, and
rafters
The Vigario
carpets upon the floor, which show that it is in use.
recites mass every morning, and all the ''respectables" of both
sexes are "expected" to attend with a regularit}^ which reminded
me of the Mosque. Here and there are some decent shops, and
I bought without difficult}^ meat and poultry, rice and water-

tain 125 houses

;

;

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDOXDA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

407

A tiled shed represented the marketwhich was crowded with leather-clad men from the interior,
chaffering over their cotton bales* and broacas of rapadura and
farinha, which will here be exchanged for wet and dry goods.
Here, after some months, I again saw "the Eagle zin " at
work the material comes from the inner highlands to the north,
where yesterday's rain fell. This is a countrj^ of great fertility,
melons, salt and liquor.

place,

;

and extends north
thirty leagues.

mounds

to the Serra de Araripe,+ distant

The range

from Cabrobo

described to be a succession of

is

across which there

an easy road,
whilst behind it is the stony Serra de Borborema, which inosculates
with the Ibyapaba Range, separating Ceara from Piauhy. At the
of rich red clay,

southern foot of the Ai-arlpe
transfeiTed to " Granito."

is

" Ixu," whose Yillaship has been

is

On

the

northern counterslope are

Crato and the Villa da Barra do Jardim.

In this chalk ranoe
Dr. Gardner first fomid the Ichthyolites which now go by the
name of " Penedo Stones." The nodular and rounded limips of

impm'e fawn-coloured limestone, when split down the middle,
display the skeletons of the Mesosaurus, and fishes belonging to the
recent Cretaceous epoch, t

and some are

We

still

The people know

of then* existence,

sent to the coast as curiosities.

The land
Varzea Redonda runs

at once see the cause of prosperity at

road between the Villa da Boa Vista and the

Cabrobo.

met by the highways from Omicory, Crato, and the
Caii'iiys§ to the north and north-east.
The cotton bales are
embarked on rafts or carried down b}^ horses, to the Porto das

by

it,

and

is

Piranhas, distant along the riyer 55 leagues (165 miles).
after long

wandering they find a steamer which ships the exports

* The bales averaged five to six arrobas
they were impressed, but made up neatly
enough with "tie-tie."
+ (xardner has described this chalk formation. The name Araripe has been wholly
Sr. Canomitted in Mr. Keith Johnston.
dido Mendes de Almeida has not forgotten
it
he does not, however, show it backed
by the Borborema, which, properly speakOf the
ing, includes the two Cairin'S.
:

:

latter

more

presently.

Recent cretaceous fishes have been
lately found by that excellent traveller,
IMr. William Chandless, on the Rio Aquiry,
Most of
an aflluent of the Great Purus.
them, according to Prof. Agassiz, occur
between S. lat. 10° to 11°, and W. long.
(Grr. ) 67° to 69°, in localities from 430 to

X

Then

650 feet above sea-level. Here the latitude
Araripe is about 7° south,

of

§ This name is locally applied to the
country about Crato and Jardim.
Cairiry,
also written Cariiy (Carirys), Cariri, or
Kiriri, was the name of a Tapuya tribe,
the ancient possessors of Itaparica Island,
in the Bay of S. Salvador.
In 1699 a
Jesuit
missionary,
Luis Vincencio
P.
]\Iariani, published at Lisbon his
"Arte
da (irammatica da Lingua Brasilica da
Nagam Kiriri." Many places hereabouts
bear the name of Cairirey
they were
doubtless localities to which the old savages
emigated.
There are two principal ranges,
the Cairirys Novos, in the Province of
Parahyba do Norte, and the Cairirys Yelhos,
;

in

Pemambuco.

THE HiaHLANDS OF THE

408

—

BRAZIT..

[chap, xxvii.

was languishing, where
now we find life and energy. A good rolling road, but more
especially a tramway, would give a mighty impulse to trade by
and the many men relieved from the carrying trade
facilitating it
In 1852

to Bahia.

54, I

have said,

all

;

become producers.
I called upon the civil young Delegado Sr. Bertino Lopes de
Araujo of Parahj^ba do Norte, who had married and settled in this
During that time he did not remember a
place six years ago.
single assassination, although, of course, quarrels had taken place.
Neither he nor any of his neighbours could exx)lain the word
" Cabrobo," also written " Quebrobo;" all they knew was that the
old Indian name had been given to a Fazenda which presently
became a Villa. The Delegate warned me, as others had done, to
make everything snug on board the Eliza, as we were soon to be
would

at once

in difficulties.

Section

II.

THE BAD RAPIDS TO SURUBAB^.

—After

—the

Delegate was writing
" hid himletters for us, the pilot attended mass, and " Majelicao
we ran down the narrow arm, safely
self in the nearest brothel
"
Camboinha," and, after an hour's work,
passed its central

Nov.

3.

manifold delays

—

Banco d'Area,* on the Bahian side below Pambu.
point the Rio de Sao Francisco begins the great south-

sighted the

At

this

which it will keep, with a few insignificant variaThe north-eastern Vento Geral
tions, to the end of its journey.
now becomes a side wind, and sometimes blows almost from
The sun is decidedly hot, clouds gather to the east and
behind.
easterly trend,

to the west,

we

violent shower,

see

from afar symptoms of a "repiquete," or

and we therefore expect a

gale, if not a rain-

storm.

On

the

left side

a sandy islet hid from us the

mouth

of the

Riacho da Terra Nova, or do Jequi (Giqui), a nullah of some
Beyond it we entered the Passagem do Ybo, the
importance.!
* It is a clump of huts above a large
sand-bar or beach, known as the Coroa do

Bom
t
from

Jesus.

said

It

is

its

mouth

to

head about 30 leagues

in the Araripe Range, near

Mr.
the place called " Cairirys Novos."
Keith Johnston calls the north-eastern fork
" R- Terra Nova," and the north-western,

" R.

S.

Domingos."

;

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDOX DA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

409

narrowest part of the Sao Francisco, where x)eople can talk from
side to side.

The formation

is

a deep gorge in the valley line,

which, however, shows no especial features
the right

is

not flooded, whilst the

left is

loose rock stands up in mid-stream.

95

;

the banks are sandy,

swept, and a low rib of

The

water, at this season

— 100 feet deep, swiids in palj^able domes,

and foams in shallow
"pots." A little below the Fazenda do Ybo, and a point projecting from the right bank, the 770 feet of stream spread out to
more than a mile. The total breadth of the river below the
narrows is three-quarters of a league, but the greater part of it is
occupied by the Ilha da Yargem, fronted by the main artery, and
backed by its own little branch of the Sao Francisco. Well
inhabited, and with fertile soil, this island, shaped lilve the letter
L, with the angle pointing south-west, is one of the largest, each
limb being about a league and a half long.
Easily passing the narrows, we ran along the left bank between
This is the onl}^ line passable.
it and the Ilha do Estreito.*
Beyond this island the left bank projects a rounded point towards
the concavity of the L, and fills the river with rocks and rapids
the heights are apparently limestone, and again we see along the
brink iron conglomerate in dark ledges. At the apex begins the
Cachauhy de Antonio Martins, the second of the name. The
roar of this rapid is worse than its bite the foul channel, however, is compressed on the right by the Illia do Cachauhy, and
further down b}- the high and sandy Ilha do Carua.
We then crossed the river from west-north-west at the tail of
the Ilha da Yargem, to the " Largo do Brandao " on the eastsouth-east, a long reach of deep smooth water wliich appeared a
''
Remanso " after the swift stream higher up. A gaunt island,
the Ilha dos Brandoes,t here defends the bed from the rocks of
the left bank, whilst the right bank protects us from the wind.
Opposite the head of the island, and on the Bahian shore, is the
mouth of the Riacho da Yargem, which is said to run twenty
Rice fields were on
leagues from a height called the Tombador.
its borders, and boys were pelting the greedy bii'ds with loud cries
At 4 p.m. the pilot said that we must anchor, as
of " diabo."
;

* The Ilha da Boa Vista in

]M.

Halfeld's

maps.
f

On

the left bank are three Fazendas,
from some family

called Brandao, probably

first settled here.
At the Brandao do
Meio there was a neat white house and a
clump of cocoa-nut trees,

that

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

410

BRAZIL.

[chap, xxvii.

amongst the Eapids, which will extend
This is by no means the case, but
ten leagues down stream.
Manuel Cypriano's eyes are not now of first-rate quality, and he
does not like to pass broken water either in early morning or in
there is no safe gTound

the evening shades.

We

below the Fazenda do Abare,* opposite the head
of the Ilha Grande, a thin strip about two and a half leagues long,
immediately succeeding to that of the Brandoes. The bank is

made

fast

here lined with nodules of lime.

The

little

settlement of tiled

and tattered houses had its chapel, and we met no difficulty in
buying a pig and poultry. The crew reproached me for not
having killed a harmless water-snake, and amused themselves
with bulljing an unfortunate frog of large size, which is popularly
supposed to swallow sparks of fire. The boatmen have tales of
the " Sapo" getting to Heaven by the aid of the birds, and the
animal seems to hold in these regions the position of the spider
on the coast of Guinea, f
Nov. 4. This is the critical day the acme of our rapid-

—

—

troubles

;

we

shall pass nine

bad places in 6 to 7 leagues.

The

breadth of the stream is a constantly varying quantity, but
generally it is unusually narrow, the effect of increased slope.

The

bank is a long line of little hills, whilst the right side is
mostly flat and bushy. The profile of the bed is an inclined plane
Long
of rock and gravel, divided into sections by level spaces.
islands and short islands, rocks and reefs, sandbars and shoals,
cumber the bed, and the former bear bits of noble forest. There
is something majestic in the aspect of the Sao Francisco, whose
left

turbid waters, here building up, there lieing low,
in silent grandeur, fanned

now

by the gentle breeze, and

flowing

reflecting

the gold and azure of the sky, assume an angry, sullen, and relentless aspect

when some

obstacle of exceptional importance w^ould

mighty path.
Eising with the dawn, but not pushing off till 7 a.m., we took
the channel formed by the Illia Grande to the north, and pre-

bar

its

* A little below this point is the BarBoth are reminiscences
rinha do Abare.
of the Jesuits, one of whom was called
Abare bebe, the "flying father," because
he was always on the move. They, as well
as the Prelates, took the title of Pay Abare
Gruagu, the Pope being known as Pay Abare
oc(i ete (biggest of all).

The

friars of Saint

called Abare tucura, father
grasshopper, because the hood
gafanhoto.
reminded the savages of the
f M. Halfeld (Rel. 215) mentions the
Calborge, a singing and amphibious toad,
It has also
which covers itself with froth.

Anthony were
locust or

' *

its

legends.

BOx\

CHAP. XXVII.]

sentl}^

VISTA TO VARZEA REDONDA.

scraped over the shrub -gi*o"s\ai stones as

411

we passed down

Tubarana " Shoal. Its site is
through the middle of the great
at the head of the Ilha da Missao, where this landstrip, also long
and thin, lies parallel mth the Illia Grande. On the right was
the Barra do Tubarana, alias da Fazenda Yelha, another nullah
with a pooly bed. At 10 a.m. we coursed down the middle of the
''

Cachoeira do Imbuseiro, formed between highland in Bahia,
fronted in three tiers by the islet

''

do Meio," and the islands da

Missao and Grande.
Twenty minutes then took us to the ''impetuous Cachoeira of
This is a break right across between Bahia and
the Rosario."
the head of the Ilha do Serrotinho. We hugged the right bank,
and shot an incline of water, wliich made us sit back in the raft
The channel is smooth,
as upon a horse landing after a leap.
general
visibly
lower
a
feature
lucent, and
now
than the
stream, which breaks with a railway rush on both sides.
A heavy
bump was the only damage done here the rule is a bump and a

—

—

;

scrape at least once a day.

After the Bosario we took the narrow channel
right

bank and the Ilha da Barra,

group of three disposed in unicorn
Meio and the Ilha da Patarata.

lumpy

a

—the

made by

island,

the

one of a

others being the Ilha do

Near an affluent, knovm as
the Barra do Mucurui'e,* the a^\aiing was taken down, and the
thermometer showed in the sun 114° (F.), which made m}^ companion suffer
even the black boys on ashore crouched and
cowered under theii* little awnings of yellow straw. At the tail of
;

the Ilha da Barra was a narrow pre sentty

''

flaring out " into a bay.

Looking back through a gap to the north-west, we saw the whitewashed Church of Belem another missioner name upon a driedup plain, backed by a range of wavy hill.

—

11 A.M. brought us to our thu'd
of the Cantagallo."

—

trial,

the "furious Cachoeira

"long Sault " of half a
The lower is by far the worse.

It is a

mile, with

We rolled
two distinct breaks.
down the mid stream through boiling glassy water, fringed by
rows of surge flowing noisily. At the bottom we shaved the left
bank of the Ilha do Cantagallo, a pyriform plain of sand, with a
On the right of the channel is the third
small rocky " Serrote."
* ]\I. Halfeld calls it Barra do Tarraxi.
It is said to rise at a place called the
Imbiiranas, at the Pouta da Serra, and to measure forty leagues.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

412

Cacliauhy (do Pianoro, P. N.),* which
obstructed in

river,

its

is

[chap, xxvii.

The

always avoided.

course, there breaks into waves which

dash with thundering violence against the broken reef, and rush
between the jags of rock in sluices of dazzling velocity.
We have now a clear league ahead without rapids, but requiring
Stones, shallows, and many little runs which the
great care.
pilot calls simply Pedras, stud the bed.

On

the

left

bank

is

the

Serrote do Papagaio, which has been visible since leaving the
The profile, seen from the west, is the " Phrygian
Ilha da Barra.
"
bonnet," generally known in the Brazil as the " parrot's beak;

from the stream opposite it is a vertical ridge of bare rock, f
Here begins the upper break of the second Cachoeira da Panella
do Dourado, which the i^ilot facetiously calls O testo da Panella,
Below is the '' famous wdiirlpool and rapid " of that
the pot-lid.
name the only sign of a maelstrom was cross-waves from the
left or north-west, but on the downw^ard side of a rock-lump by
which we ran, we were struck full on the beam by a current flying
rather than flowing, and we were once more nearl}^, but only
;

nearly,

swamped.

After a short halt for baling,

Cachoeira do Boi Vellio, w^as not of

way

fair

Number
much importance it

we resumed.

;

5,

the

gives a

to the right, leaving the heaviest break on the

left.

and the banks were lined with
i^rairie fires, a symptom of expected rains, and
settlements
burnings for new " rogas " appeared all around but they were of
Again the stream became

clear,

;

;

The air
small extent, as the people w^ant grass for their stock.
and
the
surface
than
before,
of
the
land
arid
becomes even more
mere dust. The right shore showed the Arraial da Missao de
Sao Joao Baptista de Rodellas, more curtly called ''AsRodel-

is

las

"
;

it

w^as

a village of " Caboclos," pauper huts gathering

about a large and well-washed church, backed by a wave of high
ground. In 1852 the temple was in ruins, but a Ca]3uchin
Missioner, Frei Paulino de Lusione, collected ahns, and reconstructed

it.

man, here

The

me an

ugly story about some ghostly

who showed

a pronounced i^ropensity for

pilot told

stationed,

" Caboclas " (the feminine), under the age of twelve.

* M. Halfeld gives at this jjlace a
Cachauhy de Cima and a Cachauhy de

Baixo.
t In the Relatorio (p. 168)

it is

called

One

of his

the trend is made from
Serrote da Pedra
north-east to south-west, and the material
is stated to be "gneiss granite" (unstratified gneiss), granite and quartz.
;

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDOXDA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

413

who

victims ran away, and complained to the Delegate of Police,

and finally compelled the Reverend to quit
the countr3\
There were other tales of dehauchery, cloaked
by sanctity, especially one of holy water, which proved to have a
true or not, they prove that the moderns
pestilent taste of gin
do not secure the respect paid to the ancient Jesuits.
We rested on the left bank opposite Rodellas, and the boatmen bathed to prepare for the finale, an ugly stretch of two
leagues.
The channel widens out, for the last time, to nearly
three-quarters of a league, and bending from the south-west
almost to the south, becomes a mass of islands. Of these eight
at once imprisoned,

;

wooded ground. *
At 3.15 we put off from shore, and easily passed tln'ough the
Cachoeira do Urubusinho, which is some hundred 3'ards in length.

are considerable tracts of

On

the right was the hill-island do Urubii, a kind of Careg-

Luzem-Kuz, which from up stream appears like a monstrous
elephant, with white ear and head partly averted, lying down
amongst the trees its spine is a bristling crest of bored and
hollowed stone, f
To the left of this ''hoar rock in the wood "
la}'^ the long thin Ilha da Yiuva
hence we passed directly into
;

;

fmious Cachoeira of the Fura-olho," or gouge-eye.
I
confess to having felt cold hands at the sight of the infamous
''

the

turnings, the whu-lpools which the Relatorio calls the terror of

and the pot-holes some fifteen inches deep in the
water.
Head on, we dashed at the rocks here bare, there shrubclad
and more than once we prepared for the shock often, too,
the pilot giving the raft a broad sheer with the sweep of his
heavy and powerful paddle, carried us safely through places
where we could almost touch death on either side. It was a wild
scene the Eliza swayed and surged to and fro, as she coursed
down the roarmg, rushing waters that washed the platform the
surge dazzled the eyes when it caught the sun, and on the smooth
" Shout, boys,
depths the beams were reflected as by a mirror.
"
cried the old man, in his Cachoeiran element
shout
"I love

na^TLgators,

—

—

;

;

;

;

!

* The islands, beginning from above,
2. Ilha da Viuva,
1. Ilha do Ciiite
are
or dos Cubayos, the latter name confounding it with a smaller feature to the south

—

;

;

4. I. do Jatoba
5.
da Tucurtiba
6. I. da Crueira (sic in
I. de Sao Miguel
map, Cruzcira?) 7. I. do Espinheiro and

3.

I.

;

;

;

;

8.

I.

;

do Surubabe, in the Relatorio called

" Sorobabe " and "Zorobabe. "
Besides
these the Plan shows some thirty-five islets
of larger or lesser size, not including rocks,
f M. Halfeld (Rel. 169) says that the
formation is granitic, and he places the
channel on the right, whereas we pissed to
the right of the " Elephant Islet."

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

414

"

"

[chap, xxvii.

He Fura

Olho " they
exchimieci, with their giapissant voices, calling upon Nossa
Senhora, and ciying, '' O bicho feio " to the whirlpools and the
ugly-headed, black rocks, whose faces ghstened like the hippopotamus fresh from the deep, and whose necks were cravatted with
bands of rushing white water, a thin and semi-transparent gauze.
We managed " Gouge-eye " in fifteen minutes, and pronounced it
very j^retty shooting when it was ended.
The ground-swell below, not a little lilve the " Gallops Rapids"
of Canada, bore us down between the Ilha da Tucuruba, * and its
outlj'ing rocks on the north-west, to the Pernambuco bank.
We
now enter upon the 299th league, which is said to be the worst upon
the river, but we found it less formidable than that preceding it.
The course begins with a stony break between the left shore and
the Ilha dos Espinhos f a mass of Mimosa tasseled with pink
Presently it passes a small
flowers, and well-armed with thorns.
nameless river-holm on the left, then the Ime hugs the bank
once more it winds amongst
to avoid sunken rocks and shallows
and,
the islet-rocks, above the head of the Ilha do Sorobabe
to hear the shout in these places

!

!

!

—

;

;

;

finall}^, it

returns to the

left

side.

The

tide flowed like a mill

and in parts the speed would have distanced any steamer
but we had often to hang back, and the total of two miles
race,

occupied us twenty minutes.

Then, as the sun began to slope behind the Imbuseiro trees, we
heard just ahead the roar of Surubabe, the ninth and last trouble,
where ends this upper Cordilheira of Cachoeiras, which preface
Manuel Cypriano, whose motto certainly
the Great Papids.
should be festina lente, proi)osed reserving

it

for to-morrow, but

the day was only 4.40 p.m. old, and for old reasons, I at once

During the

between December
and May, which, however, are very uncertain, Surubabe is shot
by canoes, and even by small barcas, the only danger being the
rapidity of the run, which dashes them to pieces if they touch.
negatived the measure.

During the

The

dries a portage for

river has

now

floods

merchandise

always made.

is

risen from five to eight palms,

|

and thus our

difficulties are greatly lessened.

* On the left Lank the Riacho da Tucuruha, a mere nulhih, falls in.
+ Others called it "do Espinho." M.
Halfeld's plans name it the I. de S. An-

tonio.

J At Varzea lledonda
that it was four

clared

above low-water

level.

tlae

to

people de-

five

fathoms

BOA VISTA TO YARZEA REDOXDA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

The

Siirubabe, also called the

our ugly rapid between

its

Yao,"* began with
Here the Sao
Passing this, we landed

Cachoeii-a do

**

island and terra firma.

Francisco "fervet immensusque ruit."

on the

left

bank of the

415

island, above the great obstruction, a wall

of granite, extending right across from east-north-east to west-

south-west, which might easily be opened.

The

greater part of

and a reconnaissance determined us
to attempt the right side of the ledge, where the shoot slopes like
the places to which we have been accustomed.
The chief danger
"
upon
the
Vao,"
is the impetus which drives the craft
or gTanitebed just below and in front of the fall the dashing water curls
back in waves two or three feet liigh, and would buiy the init

has a clear

fall

of two feet,

;

truder.

The pilot and two men out with their poles,
manned the rope, making use of the trees where

whilst four of us

the tow-path was

foul with slippery water-grass, dry shrubs, and tough fig-roots.

Down

went the

raft

headforemost, dipping deep her platform,

and grazing a boulder on the right side. When she had reached
the bottom of the fall, Manuel Cypriano and his men stopped
progress with their poles, we sprang on board, punted to the left
of the " Yao," poled back to the island, and, after another little
difficulty, which also requked cordelling, we exchanged poles for
Oui* day's
oars, we ran to the left bank, and landed at 5.15 p.m.
work had covered twenty-seven miles instead of fom'teen, the
average since leaving

Then we passed

Boa

Yista.

out of the gloom and torment of the Rapids

whose

was stained with
Thus satisfactorily ended
the gorgeous red of the western sky.
all my troubles with cachoeiras upon the Rio de Sao Francisco,
and the sensation was certainly one of great relief. We passed a
X^leasant quiet night upon the water-grass and the iron-stained
Cascalho that banked the smooth channel; under a "dome of
steel Ht up by the stars;" and within hearing of the dead
monotonous crash of the Rapids perhaps my prejudiced ear did
There was
underlying the music of the breeze.
to it injustice
not a trace of dew, which parti}" explained the burnt-up look of
into the calmly flowing stream,

light blue

—

—

the land.
* Of the ford,
desert.

or shallow.

M. Halfeld

giv'o.s

Vuo, which moans aa empty place, or

—

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

416

[chap xxvii.

Section III.

THE SMOOTHS.
PARROT HILL. — CHALK FORMATION SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE AMAZONS RIVER.
— DIAMANTINE DEPOSITS. — ROCK INSCRIPTIONS HITHERTO NEGLECTED.
END OF RIVER TRAVEL,

After

terrors, the

phrase,

" Thousand

the

Sao Francisco

3^011

may

down stream
dr}^

accompanjdng

their

a sightly stream

;

here, in the pilot's

hows and

float safely

The scenery somewhat
Redonda.
of the Nile and the Indus when they reach

Varzea

to

country

is

and

fasten a branch to the

suggests the valle3^s
the

Islands "

;

Brazilian river are

but the
all to

artificial

come.

The

glories

of the

area of drainage

far
is

richer

narrowed

there are few influents, and

b}^ mountain-ranges on
none of importance the breadth of the bed greatly diminishes,
an immense evaporation ever sucking up the waters, and reducing
On the other
their volume where we expect to see it increased.
hand the depth is more considerable, and the flow if not swift is
Hence the ypoeira becomes
steady, making up for want of size.
an unimportant feature, and we miss the long chain of island and
The
islet, built up by the waters in the shallower j^ortions.
climate becomes exceedingly dry, and the three-months' rains do
thorns.
It
not suffice for the sandy thirsty land, rich only
w^ants, however, only water to become fertile as Sindh, and the
canalization of Egypt will be much facihtated by the compound
Agriculture, and even
slope of the lands about the stream.
population, are confined to the banks, where the crops thrive by
not a gourd of water
capillary attraction through the porous soil
is ever bestowed upon the growth, and digging a deep trench,

both sides

;

;

m

;

with a

dam

to preserve the supply during the dry season, is far

bej^ond the joower of the present generation.

Here we change the

wild,

stiff,

upright scenery of a granitic

amene, and rounded lines of the sandstone
and cretaceous formations. The right side shows " Catingas
Altas " at a short distance, and at times dwarf bluffs facing the
country for the

stream; the

soft,

left is

low, and excepting a few scattered lumps,

it

stretches uninterrupted to the Serra de Araripe, not visible from
this point.

The water margin,

as far as Varzea

Redonda,

is

BOA

CH.vp. XXVII.]

TO VAPvZEA REDOXDA.

with " Cascallio " of

frequentl}' lined

conglomerate,

A'ISTA

sizes;

all

417

some

of fine

of jasper and the
various forms of silex, mossed with hlack lichen, or stained with

and

iron,

fractures easily, others

wliicli

when

giving,

Here and there

struck, a metallic sound.

the formation shows points of gold, and the peoj^le

" Gurgullio brabo."

AVe shall spend three

da^^s

know

it

as

over the fom-teen

to fifteen leagues along the river

which separates us from Yarzea
The Sao Francisco makes a great bend to the north,

Redonda.

covering seven leagues,
five

miles.

I

when

had no reason

across the heel the line is hardl}^
to

lament the loss of time
this
most interesting part of the
;

section miexpectedly proved itself the

voyage.

—We

found the united stream to measure onl}- 300
fathoms (bracas), and its comparative narrowness was set off by a
dorsum swelling on the right side, here a normal featm'e. I was
Nov.

5.

surprised to see so

many

signs of labour, cultivation extended to

down

the water side, and long lines of hedge ran

the gently sloping

was a peaceful pleasant scene, where nought jarred
upon the senses, save only an old negro who was paddling a
broken canoe, and cursing like a Celt, because he had lost his
Wherever there is irrigation, maize and sugar can thiive,
hat.
onions and ground nuts yield abundantly, and the sweet potato
bank.

It

attains an unusual size.

The

peach-tree abounds, but here as

elsewhere in the Brazil, as far as m}^ experience extends,

hard and
liio

tasteless,

fit

das A^elhas the

laburnum

3'ellow

;

only for stewing.

As on

characteristic colour

even the Carahybeii'a

it is

the uplands of the

of the flowers

now changes

its

is

a

mauve-

coloiu'ed trumpets for gold.

On

bank we passed the little influent kno^m as Eiacho
do Pao Jahu,* and presently we struck the great northerly bend.
This round turn in the bed is subtended by the Serra do Penedo,t
On the
a long and regular ridge Avitli outlines of sandstone grit.
the

left

the material is
north side a dwarf cliff buttressed the stream
coarse arenaceous matter, almost horizontally stratified with perpendicular fractm-e, tinted red and yellow, and in places black
:

it was riddled into holes by the water, and
with iron glaze
displayed long straight lines of imbedded conglomerate, which
;

*

no stream, and
it has
The
only water wells are in the bed.
people declare that it drains the northern
M. Halfeld (Rel. 171)
dividing ridge.

At present

VOL.

II.

word as it is pronounced, Pajau.
Keith Johnston does the same, and

writes the

Mr.

makes it a considerable stream,
t M. Half eld gives "Serra do Penedinho."

E E

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

418

[chap, xxvii.

Our Manuel
been deposited in a calm lake.
Cypi'iano, who had complained of fever during the night, was not
liimself to-day, and we humoured the laziness of the men by
dropping down in mid-stream. A fierce wind presently came up
from the north-east, raising the waves in a few minutes, and
nearl}^ lost us in the safest part of the journey, not an unfrequent
seemed

to have

accident with shipping, British and other.

After some difficulty we

made

the

left

shore and baled.

Here

the tall bank was white with marl, and in the upper levels cotton,
When the gale had
all unheeded, spread the ground with snow.

somewhat abated we struck across stream to the Serrote do Pico,
whose regular dorsum and sliced cliff suggested rapids, but none
were found, the bed being too deep. This lump rises abruptly
out of a sheet of sand crumbled from itself; the lieight is about
110 feet, and the material is the now normal coticular sandstone,
iron-glazed below, and of brick-red and grey-yellow in the upper

The summit

and about the middle the slope
assumes the natural angle, growing a few trees the strata dip
easily to the north or up stream, and the perpendicular fracture
forms at the corners columnar blocks. As we chmbed its kneecrackmg sides, the little Moco-coney came out of his home to
From this point offsets the direct road to
stare and bolt back.
Itacutiara, an hour or two's ride, whereas the stream-way will
require from us three days.
We took the right of the Illia da Tapera, the only island as yet
seen below the Kapids flat, green, and wooded, it was remarkable
near the arid red ground, and the thin dry bush of the bank.
Farther down the Bahian side showed us the Povoa9ao da Tapera
do Yalentao the *' Village of the Buins of the Kuffian." The

parts.

is

a bluff,

;

;

—

pleasant
bullies

name

muito

descriptive of the old inhabitants, a race of
enthusiasmados "
as the pilot magniloquently

is
''

expressed himself.

—

The

tall

well

white-washed

boasting church, that does not set off the

little

and

belfry-

hov6ls, is said to

be a deception, tumble-down inside.*
Dust-devils flew about in front of us, and sheets of distant rain

gave us a hint to take the bank; we made fast in the "nick of
time." Whilst everything around us, even the j)innate leaves,

was i)rofoundly calm and
*

M. Halfeld

still,

rose the roaring of a mighty wind

(Rel. 173) Bpeuks of it as a "vistosa igi-eja."

;

CHAP. XXVII.]

from the

BOA VISTA TO YAEZEA REDONDA.

419

and columns and mists of brown-yellow silt
came charging down upon us as though we had been in the Yalley
of the Indus.
Tlien the gale tore through the w^oodland, ploughing the smooth surface of the water and rushmg \dolently upstream. The meteor, which brought with it only a few thin dro^^s
nortli-east,

of rain, appeared to be, like the African tornado, merely local.

An

independent squall was seen further down. It took an hour
to work romid, again striking us from the south-west at 4 p.m.

We

were then, however, securely embayed in a shallow bight protected by reeds, near a little settlement called Sabuica. The night
brought Avind and violent rain, which kept the mosquitoes quiet
our crew, however, seemed to fear them less than the "Besouro
Grande," a large black and j^ellow^ insect like our bumble-bee,

and they declared that its stmg causes fever. To-day we saw
for the fii'st time under the Gurgulho bravo, agates and on}Tj:es,
banded with red and yellow.
Nov. 6. We resumed our way down the right bank, which
was lined with ledges of dark Cascalho. Presently the stream
began to bend from north-east to east, the effect of ground
waves on the left bank, especially the Serrote do Ambrosio, whose
white ridge and light greenery, seen through the morning mist,
were easily to be mistaken for a giant tree. We then made a
*'travessa braba,"* rendered fiercer by the sunken rocks, to the
Kiacho dos Mandantes on the left bank the dry nullah at whose
mouth the grass had been cut for fodder, becomes an ;s^ioeira
dming the rains. Here the channel bends gradually from east

—

;

to

south-south-west;

the

cause

is

the

Serra do

Papagaio, a

block through which the stream appears to have broken, and

which was formerly continued to the Serra do Penedo, passed
3'esterday.
From up-stream the *' Parrot's Pange" looked like a
*'
Castle Hill," with a tall, ruined tower on the right, connected by
a curtain with a smaller donjon to the left, and trending from eastnorth-east to west-south-west.
We went down cautiously under
pole, and presently landed to examine the chain; at the same time
a fmious south-easter came up and rendered jprogress impossible.

At

the foot of the Castle Hill

is

a nullah flowing in from the

and formerly it supplied the banded stones (pedras lavradinhas), for which the place is celebrated; now, however, it is

east,

A

" dangerous crossing."

E E

2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

420

[chap, xxvii.

choked with sand. We walked to a stony slope further north,
and found on the riverward face, specimens of flint and coloured
The most common form was
quartz that soon filled our bags.
the red and j-ellow-banded pebble, like those so common about
Cambay in Western India a few were striped white and black.
There were also well-stained blood-stones onyxes fit for cameos;
cats'-eyes, as in the streams of Ceylon; ''water-drops" (quartzum
nobile); crystallized quartz, fragments of rock crystal, and a
Formerly the valued stones were in
coarse opallme formation.*
great abundance, but for years they have been carried off, and we
;

;

met a
I

rival collector in the

then worked

my way

shape of a Brazilian youth.
to the Castle Hill,

crossing

sundry

ridges that w^ere crested with upright slabs, like the vertebrse of
monster snakes. The broken surface bore nothing but stones

The
and thorns, the usual species of Cactus and Bromelia.
ascent of the lower tower gave us some trouble even Shakspere's
;

]Mark Antony, in matters of physique the beau-ideal of a traveller
as of a soldier, would have complained of shaky knees and short

The
breath after a two months' diet of manioc, rice and fish.
material is a friable grit, breaking almost with the hand, pierced
by small holes,
stones

;

as

if

worm-eaten, and too coarse for whet-

and more

in the higher parts the particles are smaller

Lines of harder material ramify over the surface,
and rise in alto -relief, forming irregular compartments but even
The soft places
these crests can be knocked off w-ith a stick.
have been weathered into i')ot-holes and caverns that from afar
closely disposed.

;

resemble a dove-cot.

The lower

part shows a slightly green dis-

which at once suggests our upper greensand overlying
blue "gault;" and the higher walls are grey, red and

coloration,

the

stiff

yellow, doubtless a ferruginous tint

;

in fact, signs of iron every-

Lightly imbedded in the arenaceous matter,
where appeared.
and evidently deposited by still w^aters, w^ere horizontal bands of
pebbles, smaller sized than those strewn below; hence, doubtless,
comes the diamantine "forma(;ao" which we shall find in such

abundance further down.
Aj)proaching the summit, where the goats had trodden a smooth
* I have already alluded (chap. 21) to
existence of the opal, the only gem which
as yet art has not learned to imitate.
Jose Bonifaccio (Viagem
Min. p.
29)
found near Ipanema of S. Paulo, the

"common opal very like those of Telcobania in Hungary."
I have not yet
seen in the Brazil the quartz with the
harlequin play of prismatic colour, which
is still

so valuaLle.

;

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA EEDONDA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

upon the

421

worked across the crumbling curtain.
The latter is a "facao de Morro," a narrow sjoine with a fall on
both sides, and in process of rapid degTadation, soon to be level
with the plain.
It ends in the taller donjon, where a large,
upright, and striated block of sandstone, whiter than usual, looks in
patli

the

friable grit, I

offing like a quartz

''

dyke."

The

damp

cold,

sea-breeze

and windy clouds interfered with the prospect from the summit
it showed, however, that the lowlands were sandstone flats, from
which rose many little buttresses similar to that upon which I stood.
This formation we first noticed at the narrows of Ybo. Downstream I could see on the left bank the Serrote dos Cami)inhos,
and the substance extended with outcrops of
a sister block
gi-anite and alternation of limestones to the city of Penedo, on
the Lower Sao Francisco. It was noticed by Gardner at Crato in
Ceara, and vestiges of the cretaceous period have been traced
from Maranham to the Upper Amazons. *
Nov. 7. From the Serra do Papagaio a road strikes southeast towards Yarzea Redonda, distant four leagues by land
and seven by water. The pilots calculate respectively five and
eight, the normal exaggeration of distance, which is measured by
the laziness of the crews and the pace of the wretched nags. We
;

—

4 a.m. in a dark, cold drizzle, at times lighted b}^ the
gusts, and, after a league, we passed on the left bank the Serrote
dos Campinhos (de Baixo) here the sandstone rises bare and it
set

oft'

at

;

weathered to cheese-wi'ings, and
sometimes resembling "logan stones." The place is known b}^ an
ugh' two-headed rock projecting from the river. The next feature
is Ico on the left bank, backed by its Ypoeii'a, which is said to
forms outlying single

breed shoals of

fish, f

pillars,

High

in front rose on the right banlv the

Serra da Itacutiara, backed by " Catmgas Altas," and fronted
by a similar formation, the "Guixaba" on the opposite side.
roaring wind again arose and di'ove us for shelter to the
side
on the bank women smoked thek long reed pipes, with

The
left

;

* Dr. Gr. S. de Capendma, a Brazilian
savant, was of opinion that Gardner's
discovery of immense cretaceous deposits
about the north-eastern shoulder of the
South American continent, might be reduced to *' Tauatinga," or degraded felThe journey of Professor Agassiz
spar.
has, however, set that question at rest.
The signs of the cretaceous jjeriod are
ferruginous sandstone deposited upon a

marls and limestones
and compact thick beds of a finer
and
gi-ained soft and coloiu-ed sandstone
lower greensanJ
soft

;

;

;

lastly,

a

gi-eat

dissemination

of

chertz,

It is apparently
and true flint.
barren in organic remains,
+ In this part of the river fish is caught
easily during the diy season, and especially
The people shoot, as
about the rapids.
well as net and hook, the prey.
silex,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

422

[chap, xxvii.

men

small clay heads, and fetched water, whilst the

scraped

fish,

which they refused to sell. None were in rags as ahoiit Joazeu'o.
The popular skin was yellow rather than sallow the features were
regular and sometimes handsome, the hands and feet were wellformed but large, showing Portuguese blood, and the long, lank
hair was ''Indian," whilst the pointed teeth probably came from
Africa.
All were armed, and some carried pouches of the Mara;

ounce, and very destructive to
Those who passed by on horseback had shoes
with long front leathers, over which the spur strap ran; they used
halters and not bridles, and the stirrups were provided with
caja, a wild cat spotted like the

poultry and kids.

swivels above the instep.
as their ancestry of the

They were not
wild,

and,

uncivil,

but independent

perniciously frugal, they

Yet the land is good, producing in abundance maize and manioc, beans and ground-nuts,
sweet potatoes, pumpkins and onions, melons and water-melons,
sugar-cane and rice, in the places where it is not flooded by the
stream, whilst cotton rotted, as usual, on the uplands.
Upon this "praia," at the turn of the stream from south-west
to south-east, we again recognized for the first time after an

ignored the wants of civilization.

interval of ninety-three leagues, the true diamantine formation.

Along the water were strewed Imes of the

and black
cattivo, the jett}" ferragem, the square Santa Anna, the Agulha,
here very large, the snowy Ovo de Pomba, the straw-coloured
Siricoria (chrysolite or white topaz), and the feijao, the fava and
the many kinds of polished "caboclos," whose bright lustre is
held to be a good symptom.
Further down stream we met with
it after turning up the large pebbles (gurgulho brabo), and under
the superficial humus it is also spread in a thin sheet.
These
vv'hite

deposits will continue as far as the Cachoeira da Itaparica, eight

leagues below, and there

it

will again

be noticed.

have never beheld a diamond, and their

The people

tramp over what
may prove to be a mine of wealth. When they saw us picking
up shells and pebbles they lamented their "backwardness," but
in the present state of things,

cattle

exploitation is hopeless.

The

90 to 93 miles from the highest station of the
steamer, and it is my conviction that it should be carefull}'
examined.

l^lace

is

only

Two young

and Francisco Maria
de Sa, of the Engenho Novo lands, were loitering about and
fellows, Paifino Alves de Sa,

BOA VISTA TO YAEZEA REDO^^DA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

asking us

usual questions,

tlie

e.g. if

them upon the subject
of which ^\Q had heard up-stream

423

the English had a King.

of a " letreiro," or inscription,

I examined

;

thej declared that they knew

the place, and. the sight of a Milreis note easily persuaded them

become

to

my

They shipped on board

guides.

assisted us across the Itacutiara break,

the

raft

and

which can hardly be called

a rapid.

Here the

river,

sweeping round to the

east, passes

between

the long dorsum of the Itacutiara hills and the bluffs of the

*'Guixaba;" the two connect by a ridge of iron-glazed sandstone.
On the right is a clear channel up and down which
boats can pass even by night in the centre is a peculiar mushroom-shaped rock, and between it and the left banlv the bed is
very foul. As we approached the reef, and vv^ere rushing at full
speed with the water, " Captain Soft " let slip the lashing of his
paddle, fell upon his back, and remained there grinning like an
idiot.
The strangers prepared for a cold bath by loosening the
band which held theii' short cutlasses fortunateh^, however, the
old pilot, furiously working the stern paddle, and using the while
language of the most energetic description, drove us safety through
the upper break.
"We landed on the right bank at the Sitio da Itacutiara to the
north of the hills, and walking through a manioc field we reached
;

;

a sandstone wall, locally called a " Talhada."

It bears south-

south-west of the upper break, and forms an angle whose arms
face to the east and the south-east, thus obliquely fronting the
stream.

The

material

is

coarse sandstone with lines of conglo-

merate, reddish-yellow above and below, glazed as though the
river had once washed it.
Between six and seven feet from the

ground there is a roof- like projection, and above it the rock is
The highest strata in the mountain mass
piled up in blocks.
Under the roof the whole
are cut for querns and whetstones.
wall is covered with characters, varying in size from a few inches
to two feet in length, and they extend about twenty feet on each
from the apex of the angle.
I was delighted mth my trouvaille, the first of the kind which
I made in the Brazil, and which here has not before been
noticed.* Jacinto Barbosa da Silva, the farm-owner, declared
side

*

The Relatorio does not

at the

refer

end of the present Chajjter.

to

its

existence.

I shall

recur to these inscriptions

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

424

[chap, xxvii.

was a roteiro or guide pointing out where treasure is concealed, and such is the general opinion touching these inscripthat

it

tions.

An

grandfather had found that

days of our interlocutor's

the

in

Italian traveller

directed

it

him

to a hole in a neigh-

bouring nullah, and by dropping stones they found the cavity to
be deep. Slaves were sent to work at it, but presently the Avaters

came down and the spot was lost for ever.
We then resumed work, and easily finished with the Itacutiara
break.

On

both sides there are

Pe da Serra

:

little

settlements called "

" * opposite these there is a heavy swirl

string of small whirlpools which have a dangerous look.

channel, however,

is

on the

right,

''written rock," resembling,
first visited

;

it

a

is

A clear

and boats go down a hollow in

the water with raised rims and strong lateral shoots.

below on the Bahian bank

Ao

and a

cliff

A little

of red-yellow sandstone, a

but somewhat smaller than, that

projects across the stream a similar dark ledge,

much grooved and turned by

There must be some

the floods.

break when the
wmds are violent and we observe upon the banks that the Canafistula trees, bent almost at a right angle up-stream, rest for
support their leeward branches on the ground. At the Pe da

risk in ascending as

well as descending this

;

Serra of Pernambuco, a line of red sandstone bluffs faces the

fragments and rocking stones,

river with outlines of pillared

whilst a low i^lain of their

own

Avastage separates

them from the

bank.

The next

because supposed to resemble a house.
a large

Morros do Sobrado,
On the left bank below

feature of importance is called

Coroa of sand, thicket and stunted

trees,

extending

across three quarters of the bed, are twin bluffs, tall and yellow,
Stratified and with
locas " or caverns of unusual size, whose

separated by a sandstrip, 400 yards long.
cleavage they

show "

black mouths look as
places

for

if

iron faced

birds, especially

the

;

they are favomite nesting

large

grey-coloured

hawk

(F.

plumbeus ?) which does so much damage to the young of the
flocks.
Large blocks have fallen into the water, and have received, like the granites, a coat of glaze.
On the right bank a
''
mass of ghstening black Marumbes " runs into the stream like
a bed of fresh lava, contrasting strongly with the red hills, the
loose yellow sands, and the brown Catingas Altas.
*

Thus we have Saint Magnus ad pedem

pontis, &c.

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDONDA.

cHAr. xxMi.]

425

Presently turning to the north-north-east we sighted one of

The

the most ^picturesque reaches in this joicturesque Yallev.

now

river,

of noble dimensions, bulges out and narrows with

graceful cmwes, and the view down-stream is closed by the long

low ridge of Tacaratii.
slopes divided

houses

tiled

The banks,

gently shelving, have their

hedges of diy thorn, and bear upon the ridgehere tlie}^ are sandy, there they are green with

b}'

;

grass and corn.

To

the right

is

the hamlet of Casa Nova, con-

some twenty houses, and faced by three magnificent
Cashew trees, whose domed heads of verdure extend their leafy
sisting of

On

the opposite side is the Porto
The
de Sao Pedro Dias da Yarzea Eedonda * our destination.

locks almost to the ground.

—

thundeiing roar of a rapid below

us that we have

tells

now

finished our voyage.

Here then is the great terminus of navigation on the mighty
Piio de Sao Francisco, down which we have floated some 309
leagues, nearly thrice the length of England.

I felt the calm

which accompanies the successful end of a dubious undertaking,
whilst the beauty of the site and the splendid future which awaits
it,

supplied the most pleasing material for thought.

now

return to the inscription.
These " written rocks " a^^pear to be
I

common on

the

Lower

In this part they are found at Ic6 of the
Below this I
Ypoeii-a, at Itacutiara, and at the Pe da Serra.
heard of them at Salgado, two leagues from the Cm-ral dos Bois
and upon the Brejo, a breeding Fazenda
ferry (320th league)
belonging to the Capitao Luis da Silva Tavares, opposite the
The
Porto das Piranhas and distant six or seven leagues.
people have stories of "Estrondos" and superhumanities which
at the Brejo
wait upon these indications of buried treasure

Sao Francisco.

;

;

there

is

an " Olho d'Agua

"

where the clashing of

steel rods is

heard.

were known to the
d'Evreux, speaking to an acolyte, said
" Tien, voila ce grand Marata qui est venu
c'est luy qui fit inciser la Eoche, FAutel,
tures qui y sont encore a present, que

Such

inscriptions

of Sainct

* All
call it

that

writers,

the

people

U.

including

Yarzem Redonda.
do

not.

I

HalfelJ,

can only say

Yarzem

and

Yves

old travellers.

Bailhelemy,"

en ton pays
les

Images

.

.

.

et Escri-

vous avez veu vous

Yarzea, however, are synomTnous, signifying water meadows or land occasionally
flooded.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

426

His

autres."

editor,

M. Denis,

refers to

[chap, xxvii.

the " grand voyage

which does not want a certain
tlie rocks are upon the mountain do Anastabia near
interest
Long before him
the Eio Yapura, in the Province of Para.
Koster (ii. Chap. 3)* mentions ''a stone in the Province of
Paraiba upon which were sculptured a great number of unknown characters and figures, especially that of an Indian
woman." The rock, which was of great size, lay in the bed of a
nullah, and the people who saw the draughtsman at work told
him that there were many similar features in the environs, and

pittoresqne " of

M. Debret

(i.

48),

;

'

'

named

the localities.

The Count de Castelnau copied

inscrip-

tions from rocks on the Araguaya Eiver which were pointed out
to him by the Capitao Mor Antonio Rodrigues Villars t he
found them (v. 113 114) at Serpa, i.e. " pierre gravee," t on the
:

—

Lower Amazons, and he

alludes to the carved figures on the rocks

of the Eio Negro, and to the rock inscriptions of the rivers
Orinoco and Essequibo. On the Upper Paraguay the huts of the

" Lidians " and the neighbouring tree trunks were covered with
" singular hieroglyphs " of very varied form, but the traveller
could not determine

whether

they

w^ere

mystical writing or

merely copies of marks which the people had found upon stolen
H. I. M. D. Pedro XL, a most diligent student of Bracattle.
zilian antiquities, has collected all the current information

the subject of these " incised rocks," and told

them

to be the

me

upon

that he held

work of Quilombeiros or Maroon negroes.

cannot accept this view, as the African at

home

I

ignores every

species of inscription.

Sao Francisco were much less
European in form than those published by the Eevista Trimensal
The symbols show considerable
of the Brazilian Institute. §

The glyphs found upon

the

monotony, the most remarkable forms being the hand, the hoof
*

his information from a priest
\asited a friend in the Parahyba

He had

who had

Province; and he was prevented from
copying the sketch by his leaving Pernamhuco more hurriedly than he had expected.
South ey alludes to this inscription.
t They were seen in 1774: during an
exploration by the Ouvidor Antonio Jose
Cunha Mattos (ItineCabral de Almeida.
rario de Rio de Janeiro ao Para) would
trace the inscriptions to the Jesuits.

X According

to

Mr. Uates

(i.

308) the

of Serpao in the Tupi language,
"Ita-couatiara," signifies striped or painted
rock, from the prettily variegated Tauatinga
clay and conglomerate,
§ The reader will find in the Appendix
a translation of this curious document.
Its allusions to the Great Rapids of Paulo
Alfonso are evident, but the tale of the
deserted city is popularly supposed to be a
A Bahian Padre dedicated himromance.
self for a score of years to the re-discovery,
and died before he effected it.

name

BOA VISTA TO VAEZEA REDONDA.

CHAP. XXVII.]

427

and the old Gothic
My kind friend Dr. (D.C.L.) A. Moreira
double-looped CD.
de BaiTos, President of Alagoas, and M. Carl Krauss found
other characters upon the Pdo da Agua-Morta at the village Ollio
d'Agua do Casado, near the Porto das Pii'anhas, and about one
direct league from the Sao Francisco Pviver. The site is a grot from

Tivith

a vertical line

bisecting

or lines

it,

three to five metres in breadth, ^ith perpendicular walls of hard,

massive granite (syenite ?), from which the mica has almost disappeared, and dyed red by oxide of u'on. M. Krauss believes
I would remark,
that the inscription was made with ii'on tools.
however, that the jade hatchets of the natives were with savage
perseverance capable of dinting the hardest stone.* Mr. C. H.
Williams, of Bahia,

who ascended the Panema

influent of the

Lower Sao Francisco, found, two leagues up the bed, characters
traced in red paint upon the under part of a rough granitic slab.
It is

much

to be desii'ed that all these ancient

photographed

before

they are

obhterated

;

remains

at

may

present

be

every

digs his Imife-point into

Caipira, instinctively it would seem,
the '' letreu-o " as if in revenge, because

it

will not betray its

up a dark place in the
pre-historic age of the Brazil,! and the mere mention of them
shows that the traveller is wrong to assert " Au miHeu des
secrets.

The

interpretation will light

rochers et des arbres gigantesques de ces forets qui defient les
siecles, il ne se trouve pas d'liieroglyphes ou aucune espece de
sigTies

graves sur la pierre."

I

* It is not easy to understand how tlie
Alsavages worked refractory substances.
most everywhere, however, man has invented the rudiments of a file by means of
In
sand adhering to a gummed thread.
India nephrite was treated with corundiim

or

diamond

dust,

f The inscriptions on the following pages
are those found by Sr. ]Moreira de Barros and
M. Krauss, to whom my gratitude is due.
X Prince Max. in 1815 1817 (,ii. 314).

—

^lO

ri4

CHAP, xxvii.]
A.

— Horizontal

BOA VISTA TO VARZEA REDONDA.

429

Pro j ection.

These characters are found at the bottom of a natural Caldeirao or pot-hole, which
It is about 3 metres in diameter, 4 deep, and
the people call Igrejinha (little church).
^.th of the actual size.
2k above the actual bed of the stream.

—

Gljijhs

foimd

perpendicular
grotto,

1

upon

wall

metre

of

above

the
the
the

stream bed.

Mh

of the actual size.

This is also judged to be half the original size.
It is at the bottom of a little
cave whose plane is some two metres above the stream, and which can conceal two
persons.
^th of the natural size.

—

430

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

•^loSV*-

-^>^^

[chap, xxvii.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

CHAP. XXVIl.]

Mr.

C.

characters,

H.

Williams

favoiu-ed

which he traced upon the

me
''

witli

a

,431

copy of the

Panema," and these are

the most remarkahle forms.

The subjoined

are the

normal types of what I observed

Itacutiara.

I

Mil

at the

—

CHAPTER

XXVIII.

TO THE GREAT RAPIDS.— PAULO AFFONSO.
REDONDA

VARZEA

described.

—

THE
RELIEF.
ITAPARICA.

— DISMISSAL

OF

MULETEERS OF PERNAMBUCO.

CREW AND

— GREAT

CONSEQUENT
RAPID OF THE

Brazil's best customer and most natural ally,' Uncle Sam,
sends a few thousands of his energetic children) "might Brazil, pointing" to the
blossoming- wilderness, the well-cultivated farm, the busy city, the glancing
steamboat, and listening to the hum of the voices of thousands of active and
prosperous men, say with pride and truth, Thus much have we done for the
advancement of civilization and the happiness of the human race.' " Lieut.
"

Then " (when

'

'

Ilerndon, p. 872.

Varzea Eedonda for a city, or for a thriving town,
and at best I found onl}^ a wretched Quarteirao, which maj^ contain
a score of houses. The population is confined to a slip of ground
along the river, and for want of water, with millions of gallons
flowing within cannon-shot, the uplands are utterly neglected.
The whole of the left bank, from the Serra do Papagaio to the

LOOKED

I

at

Yarzea Allegre, belonged three generations ago to a Brazilian
landowner, Manoel da Souza. When he died, the eleven leagues'
length was split up into the various fazendas do Atalho, da
All
Varzea Redonda, and further down, da Varzea Allegre.
are

still

occupied by the multitudinous descendants of the original

proprietor.

The law

of genesis, or development,

out with a peculiar vigour; the sole metier
famille

—a man who has not

is

here carried

apparently pere de

his dozen is considered a poor devil.

The women bear per head from ten
rare

is

is

to twenty-five children,

the hut that does not show a great-grand-parent.

and

The

though coarse proand yet scantier of what
is popularly called the mind.
And I must notice, that even as
Bahia was found inferior, as regards social life, to Minas Geraes
effect is due to a healthy climate, abundant,

vision, scanty occupation of the body,

CHAP, xxvili.]

and

TO THE GREAT KAPIDS.

S. Paiilo, so the interior of

433

Pernanibuco lay arear of Bahia,

whilst Sergipe and Alngoas will be behind

The

all.

latter two,

indeed, might easily be throvrn into one, but for the political
necessity of keeping up as

many

" government places " as possible.

After arrival I called upon Sr. Jose ^Manoel da Souza, exjustice (inspeitor de quarteiriio),

who

lives at the

Porto do Atalho,

main landing. He freely offered us the use
of his house, but wishmg to make some last arrangements before

a few yards above the

pa3dng

off

the crew and dismantling the " Brig Eliza," I wished

on board, and regretted my resolution. The night was
furious, and the wind raised waves that nearly beat the old raft to
pieces.
My men having reached the end of theii* work, had the
to sleej)

usual boatman's " spree," hard drinl^ing, extensive boasting, trials

and quarrelling, intermixed with singing, shouting,
extemporizing verses, and ending in the snores and snorts of
''
Bacchic sleep.
O Menino " swore that we could not, and
should not, advance a step further without him, which ensured
for him the " sack." " Majelicao " complicated matters by stealing all the provisions, metal, and loose woodwork that came'
handy. Next morning my ruffians shed tears of contrition, and
cane-rum. The former received 1503000 for his two months
of strength,

of work-shirking, and, complaining that he feared alone to face

him the dog
combined
the
The brute

the fierce strangers, was permitted to take with

Negra, who had also ended the voyage.

unpleasant qualities of cowardice and savageness.

be trusted near children and small animals, whilst

from the charge of an angry porker.
rest followed the last glhnpse of

peared en route for Boa Vista.
to see fade in the afar,

earnesth'

my

The

it

would

fly

Another sensation of deep
crew's backs as they disap-

only face which we regretted

was that of the good old

recommend him

It could not

i)ilot.

I

would

to the future traveller.

showed us the country round about, and our
The banks near Atalho are a better
first walk was down stream.
site for a settlement than those below, where the Ypoeu-as produce extensive insulation, and whose levees can hardly remedy
the evil, especially when the streams fall in from the hills. There
are extensive scatters of Cascalho, that pelded gold some years
The experiment, however, was not repeated. We saw a
ago.

The

ex-justice

few agates and a hepatic -coloured silex, here known as figado de
gallinha— hen's Hver— which is hard enough, they say, even to
VOL.

11.

F r

§

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

431

Amongst the usual Catingas Altas appeared
Shady Mariseiro tree, whose fruits were scattered upon the

wear away
the

[chap, xxviu.

ground

steel.

* the Quina-Quina, with convolvulus- shaped flower

;

and
and

and the Embira, whose bark is used for fibre,
whose ashes make good brown soap. The country, according to
our host, is full of game, ounces, deer, and wild pig (peccari).

pointed

leaf,

We

had the usual tales of the man who single-handed slew the
"tiger" with his clasp knife, and of the " Cabollada " that eat
ever3^thing, hawks and lizards.
The higher parts of the bank showed us on the opposite, or
Bahian side, '' Olho d'Agua," pronounced " Oida " a fine hillTo the south, and
block some 800 to 900 feet above sea level.!
on the left side, is the Serrote do Brejinho, here called the Serra

—

da Itaparica.

A

stream.

It

leagues

to four

distant three

is

along the

mile and a half below the Porto do Atalho begins the

second and the greater Cordilheira of Rapids, which will extend
The Cachoeira da Varzea
over some twentj^-five leagues.]:

Bedonda, the portal of the unpassable region, is formed by stony
Black rocks appear on the
hills on both sides of the stream.
right of the bed, and boats have passed it, but in great and lively
fear of the panellas, or little whirlpools.

Close to this rapid, and on the

left

bank,

is

the Varzea Re-

its small chapel, under the invocation of Sao
donda proper
Pedro Dias, bears the date 1862. It is a ground-floor affair,
with a verandah and two shuttered windows, i)ointing to the west.
;

The Vigario
This

east.

resides at Tacaratu, five leagues to the east-southis

which supplies Varzea Bedonda
held there every Saturday, and the

a market-town,

with provisions.

A

country-people visit

fair is
it

from

afar, riding

in to

chases and to attend the next day's mass.

make

It is also

their pur-

connected

by a good road with Bahia, the metropolis, said to be distant
110 leagues.
In 1852, Varzea Redonda boasted only of eight to ten houses
the number has now trebled.
Nothing is easier than building.
The river bed gives the best materials for tiles, and hard woods
^

The

fruit,

when

boiled,

is

said to tuntc

like almonds.

+

It is

on the Bahian

side,

and

iiig

to the Fregnezia of Curral

The

peo])lc

soil to

beloJig-

dos Bois.
declaring the

speak highly of it,
be excellent, the water abundant.

uud tlie air healthy,
i The muleteers stretch out these 75
miles to 27, and some to 30, leagues,
§ That is 90 to Alagoinhas, and 20 by
Many
railway to S. Salvador da Bahia.
still

prefer this line to the steamers.

TO THE GREAT RAPIDS.

CUAP. xxviii.]

Sandstone, of which every

are abundant.

hill is a

435

quarry, splits

The finer kinds
up into natural bricks, ready-made ashlar.
I saw many specimens, in wliich a thin
are good whetstones.
stratum of sparkling grey-green colour was contained in two
the latter, which soon wears down
laj^ers of brown ironstone
About
tools of steel, is readily knocked off ^\itli the hammer.
eight leagues to the north, at a place called Poco Cercardo, lime
Thus, here again, tiie
is sold at the rate of 2 $000 per alqueire.
:

calcareous overlies the arenaceous matter.

Kedonda is famed for salubrity. "We
have again slept m the wind and moonlight, in the rain and dew,
with rather improvement of, than mjury to, health. Here, as we

The

climate of Yarzea

approached that vast ventilating machine, the. Paulo Affonso, the
The north brings tornados of
wind comes from all quarters.
thunder and hghtning the south, " inverno, " i.e. wind and rain
;

;

the east, Hght showers, which

west

is

The
November

are considered desirable,

and the

rainy season opens ^ith storms in

a dry draught.

and the heaviest do^^^lfall is about
This is also the rule at the
the close in February and March.
head of the lower Pvio de Sao Francisco, whereas, as I have
remarked, the coast rains of the same latitude begin when here
October and early

all is

;

drought.
"

had now been '' home
The planks were given away to our
for the last tln-ee months.
The anchor from Morro Yelho vras left in his charge,*
host.
and the two canoes bought from the Piaba of Sahara, were here
The next step was to
sold for 1203000 to the host's uncle.
I dismantled the " Brig Eliza," which

procm-e animals, which were then rare, being, we were told,
The charge for making the
engaged in transporting cotton.

Porto das Ph-anhas by the Tacaratii road, was properly 6 3 000 a
head.
I vainly offered 8 $000, and was asked 10 $000 instead of

The fact
7 §000- for the journey along the stream to Pu'anhas*
is, the ex-justice, remembering that blood is thicker than water,
determined that we should come to terms only mth his cousins.
Neither he nor they, nor any of the neighbours, had seen aught
of the Great Rapids, save the mist-cloud which canopies it, and
the uncle had told me that it was all a "peta," or ''do."

"

The

iron

was

much valued by

of excellent quality,

the

peoj^de.

The

and

ex- justice

promised to remit tlie value to Bahia, but
I have not heard that he has done so.

r F 2

—
;

THE HIGHLANDS OP THE BRAZIL.

436

[chap, xxviii.

Curiosity here cannot overcome the ohstruction of a few hours'
ride.

The muleteers were not ready

The party

till

the thu'd day.

consisted of the worst men, the worst beasts, and

and the
disappointment was the greater as Fame has long spoken loudly
If these be fair
in favour of the ''tropeiros" of Pernambuco.
specimens, two of them are not worth one Paulista, or Mineiro
the worst equipments that I had seen in the Brazil

;

;

and, dm'ing the march, there were

many

unavailing regrets for

the troopers Miguel and Antonio, and for the well-fed mules of

Morro Yelho.
than mules;

The horses were more stubborn and headstrong
they lagged behind; they strayed to enjoy grass

and shelter they rushed forward to prevent being the hindmost,
and sometimes they lay down with their loads. Hence some of
my collections were lost hardly a bottle remained unbroken, and
the best water-j^roofs were pierced by the villanous packsaddles.
The only attempt at correcting the hoof was to i)lace it upon a
plank and to cut down with a formao or chisel. The overcloths
of the saddles were loose, and the stirrups just admitting the
The
toe tips, rendered mounting anything but a pleasure.
would
quadi'upeds were weak from want of forage, and the owners
not buy grain for them. Moreover, they were barbarously treated
and for the first time I saw cruelty done to animals by a
;

;

Brazilian.

The human beings were two and a half, the moiety being
represented by a small bo}^ known as Niger Quim, short for his
name, Joaquim Gomes Lima. He looks like twelve, but claims
and liis gruff voice is in his favour a
strange mixture of man and his father he carries tobacco, flint,
and steel; he knows all the local chaff; he is " i\]) to " every
adult vice
he offers drink to women thrice his date, and yet he
plan's with wild fruits, and he chmbs up the cruppers of the
horses as young Bedouins mount their camels in jA'dj.
The
adults Ignacio Barbosa da Silva, and Joao, popular!}^ known as
**
Joao Caboclo," combine almost every fault of the trooper
intoxication excepted.
The difference between them is that
Ignacio has a merry e3'e, which does not belie his nature, whilst
ver}' vile is the temper of the Caboclo.*
Both are extra lazy.
In the morning I have to turn them out of their hammocks, and
foui'teen years of age

;

;

;

;

* Mofino coino Caboclo (poor devil

a."3

a Caljocio)

is

an old Brazilian proverb.

—

TO THE GKEAT

CHAP. XXVIII.]

PvAPID.S.

437

they sleep in the hush when they shoukl be collecting their

During the first night they allowed (as if the}^ had
been Somal) a dog to plunder their meat-hag, rather than take
the trouble to hang it up.
They must diink water after every
two hours the}^ rest after three they put theii' head into every
cottage, and they halt to chat with chance-comers on the road.
They squabble about carrying half a pound of each other's
cargoes, and they use foul language, here b}^ no means a common
practice.
The principal amusement is to couch the staff like a
lance at rest and to dash at the cattle feeding near the path, this
" making a fox," alwa3^s produces a scamper that is ever enjoyed.
On the morning after our start, the Caboclo found his temper,
and loaded his two beasts to return, demanding, when he knew
me to be at his mercy, an additional sum before he would continue the journey.
His beard was in my hand after we had
reached our destination, but I contented myself with making him
3^ellow with fright for the benefit of those to come, and with not
animals.

;

;

paying the money mijustly claimed.
Island of Zanzibar, after

my

A

similar proceeding at the

return from discovering the Lake

Regions of Central Africa, proved strongly to me the absurdity
of " public si)irit."
Yet mere calumny will never deter me from
doing what I there and then did.
Travellers Avill never be well
treated as long as

theii"

^

it is

— of forgive and forget

— or

******

rather non-principle

because

predecessors act upon the principle

at the joiu'ne3''s end,

the journey's end.

The cream of the expedition was now to be tasted, but the
enjoyment began with a succession of bitters.* Payment by the
host's uncle delayed departure till noon we could not be allowed
to go fasting, and the sun neared the horizon as we mounted
our wretched nags, and cast a last loving glance upon the graceful curve, and the " cupped trees " of the fair " round reach."
The path lay southwards along the left bank down the old
riverine basin, over Avhich the waters were wont to spread as far
It was deej^ly cut b}"
as the rolling-ground on either side.
;

* The approximate distances of the
1.
2.

3.

march were

as follows

time 3h.
Nov. 10, Varzea Redonda to Itaparica,
6h.
11, Itaparica to Barra do ]\roxot6
,,
,,
2h.
12, Barra do Moxoto to paulo affoxso ,,
,,
Total

nil.

30',

:

miles 9, in the 317th league.

0',

,,

15,

,,

0',

,,

5,

,,

30',

miles 29

324th
326th

,,
,,

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

438

[chap, xxvtit.

these must
resemble the higher sites in the Egyptian valley, when " pingui
flumine Nilus " floods. Between the waters are dwarf table^'

tip-overs," svhicli during the rains form islands

;

Iknds, sterile enough, except where the stream has flaked the

Brejinhos,
cereals,

The

little

and

mud

the richest parts are the Brejos and
which
produce an abundance of cane,
swamps

sand with hard-baked

;

oil-seeds.

violent "

Vento Geral," here much deflected from the
I blessed

north-east, struck full in our faces.

it

for the first

During this portion
of the journey, it generally rose with the moon, and blew itself
The climate suggested that which Bruce
out after a few hom^s.
time since the beginning of the last month.

called the

''

hottest in the world," 61° (F.) at sunrise, 82° at sun-

even to 120° in the shade.
When the moon hung high in the air, we reached the " Brejinho de Baixo," and were well received b}^ the owner, Manoel
set,

and

at 3 p.m., 114°, rising

Victor da Silva.

His

little

swamp,

sugar-mill stands near a

the
which feeds an old but still luxuriant clump
fruit was in the best condition for drinking, and the pleasant subacid and highly cooling milli revived memories of Fernando Po.
In front of the house rose the Serra da Juliana,* with a proof cocoa-nut trees

minent knob called Nariz Furado, or pierced

We

eastern limit of the ancient bed.

within hail of a rapid which

we had not

nostril

;

;

this is the

passed an unusual sight
shot,

and which- we were

not to shoot.
Before the shade had cleared away, we were aroused by the
local alarum, the cry of the

Papansho

and as the Rosicler, or

bird,

morning light, dawned over the hill-tops, we w^ent with our host
Here the stream, whose
to examine the rapids of the Itaparica.t
glossy smoothness we had yesterday admired, falls suddenly into
a convulsion
a little bay on the Pernambuco bank shows where
canoes find the " ne plus ultra," and a few yards bej^ond it, the
Sao Francisco dashes at a grim ridge of black rock and, splitting
The gate
into three foamy white lines, disappears from sight.
is formed by a rounded hill, the Serra do Padre + on the left or
;

* So called from an ancient Moradora.
Morador," I may remark, does not always
mean ".habitant isole " here it is mostly
applied! to a cla»ss for which, we have a
name,
peasant-proprietor,
Lut whose
exirstcnce is' sadly wanted.
;

*

:

+ This name
gical

index

;

also

may be an

in the great

bay

ornitholoof S.

vador (Bahia), the Long Island

"

is

Sal-

called

Itaparica.

t M. Half eld (p. 178) calls this staple
the Serrote do Brejinho,

TO THE GREAT RAPIDS,

CHAP. XXVIII.]

bank

nortli-eastern

and on the opposite

:

side

439

by tbe Serra da

Itaj^anca, a long, straight curtain of bluffs, disposed almost per-

In former times they were, parts of a
dam, which, intercepting the stream, contained a lake
the
waters found a " soft place," biu'st through the wall, and formed
pendicularly to the bed.

;

the present Cachoeii*a.

The

material of the ridge

sandstone, lined and pudding'd

is

with large and small water-worn quartz pebbles, often passing
clean through the blocks.
On the banks are found ii^on-pasted
canga, and large blocks of amygdaloid and boulder conglomerate.

The base

is

a fine, pink syenite, like that of the Nilotic Cataracts.

\Vliere the violence of the waters extends the rock is iron-plated

with the usual glaze
aspect

On

it is

;

black, as if coated with tar,

and the

in the extreme.

the right, or Bahian side, the channel has a perpendicular

which has dashed to pieces

fall,*

into

is grizly

it

bi accident

;

all

this feature

slopes of the Itaparica bluff.

A

the rafts and canoes drawn

would be best seen from the
tall,

longitudinal hogsback, of

dark and slippery sandstone conglomerate, rises

The

south-western and the central channel.

between the

latter is divided

from the third or north-eastern branch by a " mal-paiz " of
polished black rock, radiating heat and fire afar, not unlike a
During the depth of the dries, the jutting-stones
lava-field.
approach one another, and a man with a leaping-pole might cross
dry-footed the whole Eio de Sao Francisco. t
At such times,
also,

the site

is

excellent

for a bridge

;

but in the floods the

whole bed becomes a furious, dashing torrent. The rocky ridge
extends to some distance on both sides, and here it becomes plain
that lateral canalization should not be attempted. +
It vdll be
still
when
travelling
along
the
stream,
plainer
whose banks,
alternately rocky and sandy, here dry
will drive the

tramway

and there much inundated,

to the skirts of the northern containing*

ridge.

Nowhere had
holes, turned

such gigantic " caldeiroes," pans and pot-

I seen

by the water-lathe

* The height of the drop varies, according to season, from 6 to 32 feet the united
altitude of the fall, within half a mile, is
nut less, during the dries, than 55 feet.
+ All the Brazilian rivei-s which I have
visited show these extraordinary narrows,
wlien the water, after ha^nng spread out
:

;

some

of

them were

fifteen feet

for perhaps a mile in breadth, is

compressed
dimensions of a brook.
Of course
they are always fatal to navigation,
% ]\I. Halfeld justly deprecates a line of
72 geogi-aphical leagues, mostly cut in the
rock, and requiring 108 flood-gates
at an
expense of about 100,000,000 francs
to the

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZTL.

440

[chap, xxviii.

by half that diameter, and the sides and surface were jetty as
the Itacohimite rock turned into a hole. Mr. Davidson, whom the
guides used to call '^ old lizard " (lagartixo vellio), from the ease
with which he swarmed up the smooth ridges, and stopped upon
the wall-crests, where they would not venture, fomid in these
natural wells the finest crystals and the best diamantine formadeej)

tion.

Many

similar

thin slabs of rock, easity broken

These
by crow-bars.
gems, and some favourite

into

places should be carefully searched for

make

of fortune will probabl}-

months.

The only use

to

money"

of

''pot

a

which

covered over with

doubtless

are

cavities

in

few

a

open cauldrons
are white, and the pits are

at present the

are applied is for tanning, their lips
full of tainted liquid.

Here the

I then walked to below the rapids.

syenite, the

proper material for sphinxes and obelisks, crops out of the white

and tree-scattered sands in smooth, bold, and rounded heaps.
This point shows the meeting of the w^aters, which, spuming and
whirlmg from the prison-walls of iron, rush roaring into one
another's arms.
There is nothing of grace and little of
grandeur in the spectacle all is dark and lurid as a river of the
;

''

Inferno."
Tudo

clieio

Rio,

de horror se manifesta,
e penedos

Montanha, troncos

*

*

*

Claudio Manoel da Costa.

The

miles after the Itaparica led over a land like that of

first six

Then we came

Pdacho do Monro,* where hillspurs, abuttmg uj^on the stream, afforded us only road, narrow
gullies, with steep walls, and gutters paved with rolling-stones
in

yesterday.

to the

—

fact a " Caminho perigoso."

avoided by following the

''

This bad

Desiro do

league away from the stream.

bit

Bom

may, I was

be

After working for two whole hours,

the troopers would halt under a tree, ragged as are

bank, at the Porto opposite the Passagem do Jatoba.

now becomes

told,

Querer," about half a

generally re23ulsive,

it

all

on this

The

river

narrows to the size of the

Upper Rio das Velhas, and the dull, yellow w^aters sullenly
swirl, boil, and foam around and against central and side jags of
* M. Halfeld
ilo

(p.

" Murro, " and

in

180)
liis

calls it tlie Riaclio

map, " Muro

;"

he

niakes lioth to be corniptions of Moito.
I
give the popular pronunciation.
In the

Brazil,

Mouro

and Moureria, a
and the quaror towns to which they

or Moor,

"Moorery," mean a
ters of the cities

were confined by law.

gipsy,

«

TO THE GREAT EAPIDS.

CHAP. xxviTi.]

whose black

rock,

or tawny skins

patches of challv-white sand.
safe,

and there

is

The

441

unpleasantly with

contrast
''

Passage " is comparatively

a ferry to the Curral dos Bois, on the highway to

appeared upon the far side, sheltering
the village, which showed a scatter of huts,* with a chapel dedi-

Some

Baliia.

fine trees

cated to Santo Aiitonio da Gloria.

The

ferr^^nen sat and stared

bare-footed and half-savage b.eings in foul leathers, and
All held, disdaining the
chaplets suspended to their necks.

at us,

support of a belt, sheathless, plate-handled knives, equally ready
formerly the ecclesiastics of these
for a friend or an ounce
An " Eu sei ? " * long
regions never went abroad unweaponed.
;

by an Essex boor, was the question that answered
Oh, pshaw! was the token of
every query, and " Au she,"

drawn

out, as

—

—

dissent.

We

resumed the march under what Sr. Ignacio was pleased to
The road
call ''sol macho," a '' male sun " of ungentle beams.
was now deep and sandy, better for man and worse for beast, cut
by diy nullahs, scattered with pink quartz and silex superficially
streaked and banded
and obstructed by blocks of syenite and
porphyritic granite
the Ollio de Sapo, or toad's eye, of Sao
;

—

Paulo.

Trees which up-stream bore

here in flower awaiting ram,

weeks ago, were
presently resumed

fruit thi'ee

and the

river

had at Pirapora the depth, however,
w^as great, and this, combined with its s^viftness, and the great loss
by evaporation, explains the shrunken dimensions. J
The moon had risen when we descended the vile bank, and
threaded the stagnant pools of the Moxoto or Mochoto, a stream
which rismg near " Cairirys Yelhas " to the northwards, divides
Opposite its mouth
the provinces of Pernambuco and Alagoas.
is a miserable village, which boasts of the last ferry above the
Great Rapids. AVe slept in the bush, and I felt all that depression with which one approaches a long looked-for object, whose
At Yarzea Redonda they had
fruition appears so fair from afar.
compared Paulo Affonso with the Itaparica, which certainly did
not reward 1500 miles of such travel, and all had agreed that the
former is grand only between June and September, wdien the

the dimensions which

* In

it

1852 there were 45 houses, with
200 inhabitants.
do I know?" Emt "How the
phasis is given by the tone as in that most

180

to

useful phi'ase

'
'

Pois nao."

;

+ These

j)laces

seem generally

to

have

.suggested to the older geographei-s that part
of the water disappeared through subterranean passages.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

U2

vrater is at its lowest. I

saw no smoke-columns,

[chap, xxviii.

after hearing that

they were visible from the Serra da Paricornia in the Matinha da

Agua Branca, twenty-four miles off; and after reading Colonel
Accioli, who declares that when condensed by the morning cold,
they

may

be seen from the Ai^aripe Eange, distant

Nor could

thii'ty

leagues.

I distinguish within two leagues of our destination the

*'Zoadao," or thunder, which, they affirm,

is

audible at the Serra

do Sobrado, thirty-nine miles along the stream.

Apparently I was doomed to a bitter disappointment.

Resuming on the next morning our melanctioly way tlu^ough
the province of Alagoas, we could not but remark the nakedness

The

huts, ahnost destitute of side-walls or divi"
sions, were mere
taperas,"* ragged as the population, and from
the bridle-path we could see tln'ough them.
In the immediate

of the land.

Great Rapids there is not a hovel, and at the last
house on the left bank, near the Riacho do Correa, we asked our
direction from its owner, Manuel Leandro de Resende.
He
returned a civil answer, saddled his horse, and accompanied us.
I lilted his manner, and engaged him as a guide.
Hereabouts
vicinity of the

tlie Congo,
"
dwelling near the
Yellalahs," to force services upon the
stranger visiting the " Cachoeira."
I need liardly say that a

the seixd-barbarians are inclined, like the savages of

guide,

unless he

destroys

all

the pleasure of the spectacle by his

attempts to be
*

"Ce mot

be the rare bird of the right species, often

''

agreeable."

seul de Tapera, qui designe

une maison abandonnee, inontre que
etablissement

condemnable

n'existe plus."

cet

(Castelnau,

v.

50.)

We

shall presently see that this is

not always the

rv;le.

—

CHAPTER XXIX.
PAULO AFFOXSO, KING OF RAPIDS.

— wie ein Wassersturz von
Beg-ierig wiithend,

Presently we heard
if

Fanst.

zu.

a deep hollow sound, soft withal, like the

rumbling of a distant storm
the earth, as

Fels zu Felsten brausfca

nach dem abgnind

hut

;

we trod upon

it

it

seemed

another mile the ground

after

:

appeared to tremble at the eternal thunder.
led us off to the left of

come from below

to

Sr.

Manuel Leandro

whence came the Voice, and began un-

I looked for the
"
promised
Traveller's Bungalow," and saw onh^ the stump of a
post, sole remnant of the house run up to receive His Imperial

loading the mules at the usual halting-place.

Majesty of the Brazil, who visited the place in October, 1859.

The

bed of loose sand, wliich in the height of the floods
becomes a torrent. We shall afterwards find where it falls into
the main stream.
Our rude camp was pitched under the filmy and
flickering shade of a tall Carahyba mimosa whose trunk, in places
site is a

peeled of bark, showed
great Smithian
its initials

many

a

name

;

apparently, however, the

Gens has been laughed out

and date

—here

all

who

of cutting

and car\ing

were Brazilians.

Paido .AiPonso in the dry season
to make at once, ^^Ai\\ the aid of plan and guide, for the Mai da
Cachoeii'a, the '' Mother of the Eapids," where all the waters that
come scouring down with theii' mighty rush are finally gathered
together.
To see cataracts aright, it is best, I think though
I should advise those

opinions upon this point

enjopnent, the
pov>^ers,

liveliest

difl'er

—

—

to

begin with

emotion, and not to

by worldng up
one point displays most

mental and

Moreover, this

visit

phj'sical,

the

fritter

greatest

away one's

to the grandest feature.

forcibly the formation

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

444

which distinguishes Paulo Aifonso from

[chap. xxix.

his great hrethren

nil

and

sisterhood.

Stowing

my note and

across the left

Muchlla," or horse's

over the guide's shoulder, I struck
bank of the river; here a lava-like " Mal-paiz,"

and hanging

grain-bag,

''

sketch-books in a
it

The

resembling that of the Itaparica.

stones, polished as if they

were miiTors, or marble-slabs, glittered and reflected the burning

sun-beams

in places the ridges are walls of turned

:

and worked

rock that looks like mouldings of brass, bronze, or iron.

Many

of

the boulders are monster onjT^es, or granite banded and ribboned

with quartz

:

they are of an infinite variety in size and shape, in

make and hue, rough and smooth, warm-red, rhubarb -j'ellow,
dull-black

Chemin

and polished
faisant

jet.

we crossed an Eastern Channel,

almost dry, a thread of water striping the bottom.

at this season

It

forms with

the main body a large trapeze-shaped Goat Island, which presents
its

smaller end

down stream.

from Niagara, whose regular
little

Paulo Affonso
suppl}'

differs essentially

by the inland seas admits

alteration of weight, or size, or strength of stream, except

in the rare winters

when

it

is

frozen over.

About December,

as

the floods run high, this tiny creek * will swell to an impassable
boiling rapid, ending in a fine fall about the " Vampire's Cave."

Upon

this "

Goat Island," where if there are no goats the walking is fit for them only, are short tracts of loose sand alternating
with sheets of granite, and of sj'enite, with here and there a
" courtil" of greener grass. The walk leads to a table of jutting
rock on the west side, where we cling to a dr}^ tree-trunk, and
peer, fascinated, into the ''hell of waters " boiling below.

The Quebrada,
rowest part
is filled

it is

or gorge,

is

here 260 feet deep, and in the nar-

choked to a minimum breadth of

It

fifty-one feet.

with what seems not water, but the froth of milk, a dashing

and dazzling, a whirling and churning surfaceless mass, which gives
a wondrous study of fluid in motion.
And the marvellous disorder is a well-directed anarch}^ the course and sway, the wrestling and writhing, all tend to set free the prisoner from the prison
walls.
Ces eaux mais ce sont des ames it is the spectacle of a
host rushing down in ''liquid vastness " to victory, the triumph
:

:

!

* In M. Halfeld's plan the creek is much larger than
jouniey wius probably made later in the year.

it

appeared when

I visited it

:

his

CHAP. XXIX.]

PAULO AFFOXSO, KIXG OF EAPIDS.

of motion, of

momentum

Here the Imni-

over the immoveable.

noiis whiteness of the chaotic foam- crests,

hmied

breakers against the blackness of the rock,

is

445

in billows

and

bm-st into flakes

There
the surface reflections dull the dazzling crystal to a thick opaque
yellow, and there the shelter of some spur causes a momentary
start and recoil to the column, which, at once gathering strength,
bounds and springs onwards ^\ith a new crush and another roar.
The heaped-up centre shows fugitive ovals and progressive cu-cles
of a yet more sparkling, glittering, dazzHng light, divided b}'
and spray, that leap half way up the immm^ing trough.

points of comparative repose, like the nodal lines of waves.
struggle and jostle, start asunder, and

as

interlace

blast hunts

away the thin spray- drift, and

putfs

they dash

Now

with stedfast purpose ado^wai the inclined plane.
it

They
a fierce

to leeward in

rounded clouds, thus enhancing the brillancy of the gorge-sole.

Then
Then

the steam boils over and canopies the tremendous scene.
in the stilly an- of

deepening
dizzy

fall

The
of

all

more, by

still

that

theii- veil

yawns under our

general
great

warm

dull

efl'ect

—

feet.

the

is

up,

of ever ascending vapour, the

of the picture

cataracts

grey, the mists surge

— and

the same

"realized" idea

may

be said

of power, of

power tremendous, inexorable, iiTesistible. The eye is spellbound by the contrast of this impetuous motion, this wrathful,

maddened haste

to escape, with the frail stedfastness of the bits

of rainbow, hovering above

;

with the " Table Rock " so solid

and with the i)lacid, settled stillness of the plain
and the hillocks, whose eternal homes seem to he here. The
fancy is electrified by the aspect of this Durga of Nature, this
evil working good, this life-in-death, this creation and construcEven so, the wasting storm and hurricane
tion by destruction.
purify the air for life
thus the earthquake and the volcano,
while surrounding themselves with ruins, rear up earth, and
to the tread,

:

make it a habitation for higher beings.
The narrowness of the chasm is narrowed
tlie

tall

abruptness,

3'et

to the glance

a well-cast stone goes but a short

by

way

by the wind. The guide
declared, that no one could throw further than three fathoms,
and attributed the fact to enchantment. Magic, I may observe,
across, before

is

it

is

neatly stopped

in the atmosphere of Paulo Aflbnso

:

it is

the natural expres-

sion of the glory and majesty, the splendour and the glamour of

i

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

440

[chap. xxix.

the scene, wliicli Greece would have i^eoplecl with shapes of beauty,

and which in Germany woukl be haunted by choirs of flying
The hollow sound of the weight
sylphs and dancing undines.
of whirling water makes it easier to see the lips move than to

We

hear the voice.

looked in vain for the cause

:

of cataract

we saw nothing but a small branch, the Cachoeira do Angiquinho of the little Angico Acacia so called from one of the
rock islets. It is backed on the right bank by comparatively
large trees, and by a patch of vividly green grass and shrubbery,

—

—

the gift of the spray drifting before the eastern sea-breeze.
pretty gush of water certainly

thunder which dulls our ears
it

:

may

This

not account for the muffled

presently

we

shall discover

whence

comes.
I sat over the "

become

*'

Quebrada

"

till convinced it was not possible to
:"
with
waters
what at first seemed grand and
the
one

sublime at last had a feeling of awe too intense to be in any way
enjoyable, and I left the place that the confusion

and emotion

might pass away. The rest of the day was spent at ^' Carahyba Camp," where the minor cares of life soon asserted their
power. The sand raised by the strong and steady trade wind was
troublesome, and the surface seething in the sun produced a
constant draught we are now at the very head of the funnel, the
vast ventilator which guides the gale to the upper Rio de Sao
Far to seaw^ard we could see the clouds arming for
Francisco.
rain.
At night the sky showed a fast-drifting scud, and an angiy
:

blast dispersed the gathering clouds of blood- thii'sty musquitos.

Our

lullaby

was the music of Paulo Affonso

;

the deep, thundering

base produced by the longer and less frequent vibrations from the

and from the Rapids the staccato treble of the shorter
wave-sounds. Yet it was no unpleasant crash, the deeper tones
were essentially melodious, and at times there rose an expression
in the minor key, which might be subjected to musical annotation.
I well remember not being able to sleep within ear-shot
of Niagara, whose mighty orchestra, during the stillness of
night, seemed to run through a rex:)ertoire of oratorios and
Falls,

operas

We
Rapids

will

now apply

ourselves

to

prose

the

of

the

Great

i

The name, as mostly happens in these
point.
Some make ''Paulo Affonso"

regions,
a

is

a disputed

missioner-shepherd,

"

PAULO AFFONSO, KINO OF RAPIDS.

CHAP. XXIX.]

4A7

the abyss by the wolves, his ''Eed-skin"
Others tell the story of a friar, who was canoeing along
sheep.
the river, when the Indian paddle-men cried, in terror, that

who was

liiu'led

down

bemg sucked

they were

into the jaws of the

Catadupa

:

he bade

Such
reverends are now-a-days rare," observed Sr. Manuel Leandro
with an unworthy sneer. Sunilarly in the Province of Sao Paulo,
"
the Tiete river has a fierce Rapid, known as " Avaremandoura

them be

of

good cheer, and

all

descended whole.*

— Cachoeii-a do Padre, or the Eapid of the

Priest.

'*

Here, accord-

ing to Jesuit legend. Padre Anchieta, one of the multitudmous
thaumatm-gi of the Brazil, was recovered from the water " some

and reading his breviary with a Ught in
More sober chronicles declare that the poor man
his hand."
The gigantic cataract of
was cbagged out half drowned. +
" Tequendama," we may remember, has also its mii*acle
it
was opened by the great Bochica, god of New Granada, a barbarous land, that had hardly any right to have a god. Others
hoiu's afterwards, alive

;

in-etend that Paulo

and Affonso were brothers, and the

first

names to the place. I would, however,
observe, that on the right bank of the stream, opposite the
settlers,

who gave

their

Ilha da Tapera, one of the

many

that break the river iimne-

upper break, is a village of fishermen and
cultivators, whose name, '' Tapera de Paulo Affonso," shows
that it has occupied the site of a ruined settlement, probably
made by the colonist who, happier than Father Hennepin, left
diately above the

his
''

mark upon

The

the Great Eapids near which he squatted.

Taperistas " are

still o^^Tiers

of the right

bank

:

the left belongs

one Nicolao Cotinguiba, + of the Engenho do Pinho, and near
" Carahyba Camp" two properties meet.
The Cachoeu'a is

to

in the Freguezia of the

The

locale

Mata da Agua Branca.

of the Paulo Afi:onso has been very exactly mis-

who

^\Tite

* M. Half eld (Rel. p. 18i) tliu.s gives
"Even they relate that a
the legend
friar, whilst crossing the rirer above the
Rapid, was sleeping in the canoe which
carried him the pilot, who was an Indian,
lieing unable to manage the craft, and
being dra'WTi into the stream, went down.
He was never seen again" (a moral, I suppose, pointed against careless pilots, here

least

represented by geographers

:

:

as

the

common
fi'iar,

as

who

But
idle apprentices).
neither woke nor felt the
' '

geograj)lw for the people.

§

incouveuieuce, floated ashore belo^v
the Rapids, and was ioxmd still sleeping.
When aroused by the people, he i-emembered nothing of what had happened,
+ Quadro Historico da Provincia de Sao
Paulo, per

J. J.

t P- N. of a

Machado

d'Oliveira (p. 58).

j)lace.

es§ " The San Francisco River
capes through a break between the Sierras
.

.

.

Muribeca and CarjTis, between which latter
ami the Atlantic mm the other chains,

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

448

[chap. xxix.

This sudden break in the level of the bed, this divide between
the Upioer and Lower Sao Francisco, is not formed by a i^rolongation of the Serra da Borborema, nor by the Chapada das
Mangabeiras, nor by Ib3'aj)aba " fim da terra," nor by the Cairirys
old or new, nor by the Serra da Borracha, alias Moribeca, so
imminent in our maps.* The humbler setting of the gem is
a rotting i)lain brown with stone, scrub, and thicket, out of
which rise detached blocks, as the Serra do Eetiro, about three
leagues to the north-west, and to the west the lump}^ Serra do
On the south-western horizon springs, sudden from the
Padre.
flat,

a nameless but exceedingly picturesque rangelet of p^Ta-

and peaks, here and there bristling in bare rock, and
connected by long blue lines of curtain.
Though our prospect lacks the sublime and glorious natural
beauty of Niagara, tempered by the hand of man, and though
we find in Paulo Affbnso none of the sapphire and emerald tints
that charm the glance in the Horseshoe Falls, still it is original
and peculiar. In "geological" times, the stream must have
even now, extraordinary floods cover
spread over the valley
midal

hills

;

a great portion of
softer texture
*'

Presently the waters, finding a rock of

it. f

and more

Talhadao," or great

We

course of ages.
of falling water

;

it

liable to decay,

fissure,

hollowed out the actual

and deepened the glen

in

the

have also here the greatest possible diversity
consists, in fact, of a succession of rapids

and a mighty Fall endmg in the Mai da
Cachoeira, upon whose terrible tangle of foam we have just
looked down. If Niagara be the monarch of cataracts, Paulo
Alfonso is assm-edly a king of rapids an English traveller who
had seen the twain, agreed with me in giving the palm to the
latter, as being the more singular and picturesque of the two,
which are both so wondrous and so awful. He had not visited

and

cauldrons,

;

preserving an exact parallelism witli it
141, Physical Geography, from the
(p.
Ilncycloptedia Britannica, by Sir John W.
F. Herschel,
Edinburgh, Black.
Bart.
The geogi-aphy of this most emi1861).
nent astronomer is frequently at fault he
reminds us of the prophets and the inspired writers of })ygone days, who knew
everything about heaven, and vciy little
:

about earth.
* They mostly make the north-eastern
cxtrcmitv of the Moribeca Range hug the

There is no such line visible, and
Rapids.
the people have forgotten even the name
of the old explorer who is mentioned in
Col. Accioli
documents dated 1753-4.
(p. 14) refers to the mountains, and says,
I know not upon what authority, that they
contain silver and copper. In the Appendix
to this volume, the reader will find allusions to INIoribeca.

+ The
told, the

the Falls.

fullness of the stream alters, I

shape of the

lltipids,

am

but not of

PAULO

CHAP. XXIX.]

the Itaparica, that

AFl^OXSO,

KING OF KAPIDS.

whose griinness so well

foil

449

sets off its majestic

neighbour.

Nature

not in her grandest

is

suits the shape.

or

armed

terribty

Spines predominate.
with

Jatropha,

arboreous

;

attire,

yet the vestment well

There

dark-green

its

is

the Favelleiro

oak-like

the Cansancao Maior (Jatropha

and

leaves
urens),

a giant nettle, whose white spangles of flowers are scattered in

mimicr}' of snow-flakes
is

in force

with

its

we

;

big red

common

little

Quipa,

the Tiu-k's-head (Cabeca de frade)

Melo-

see the
fig,

flat

of a foot

m

Opuntia, the

amongst the rocks project

cactus, with the crimson fez, whilst

half-domes

The Cactus

upon the sombre verdm'e.

diameter (C. aphananthemum).

Some

and
the rest are hairy and bald, angular and smooth, giant and
dwarf, lorded over by the immense Mandracuru (C. brasiliensis),
a tree, but strangely different from all our ideas that make up
a tree.
The Bromelias are abundant, especially the Caraua,
banded hke a coral snake, and the Macambira with needle thorns
and flower-spikes three feet tall it is loved by monkeys who,
have

floAvers

quaint as orchids, others are clothed in

flue,

;

they say,

make

pic-nics

elongated Catingueh-o,

eat

to

now tender

the

leaves.

The

feathery

green, then burnished brown,

remarkable near the dense clusterini**
o verdure of the rounded
Quixabeira, and the Imbuzeii'o with the horizontal boughs, a

is

bush twenty feet high. The Carahyba is the monarch of the
bush, and its leek-coloured leafage, hung with long bitter pods,
and with trumpets of yellow gold, gains beauty seen near the
gay red blossom and the velvety foliage of the " Pmhao bravo,"
and the whitey-green catkins of the thorny Acacia, known as
the Jurema preta.
We also remark the black charred bole of the
Pao preto, by the side of the sweet-scented Imburana, hung
with flakes of light burnished bronze.
The scrub is mostly
the hard Ai'aca-guava with its twisted wood, and the Bom-nome,
whose " good name," I presume, results not from an inedible
berry, but because it is found useful for spoons.
The cattle
straying about the bushes toss their heads, snort, and with
raised tails dash through the tliicket as we approach they are
sleek, clean-limbed,
much more like the wild animal of the
African Gaboon than the Em-opean model of bull and cow.
Thanks to the drift, they find in the dwarf " courtils " more
;

—

succulent fodder
VOL,

ir.

than usual

;

they

suffer,

however,

when not
G G

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

4^0

[chap. xxix.

penned for the night in the Cahycara,* from ounces and vampires, and they are sometimes poisoned by the pretty, pink, and
innocent -looking blossom, here

known

Finish the pictm'e with clouds of

as the " Cebolla brava."

spra}''

and vapour, rising from

the abyss, and pouring to leeward an incessant shower of silvery

atoms

;

with the

burnished

stones,

here

singularly

gloomy,

and with gay troops
of birds, especially the Tanager, the hyacinthine Araruna, and
the red and green parroquet, darting and screaming through the
air, whose j^revalent hue is a tliin warm neutral tint.
My next visit began at the -^beginning, and thence we follow^ed
down the left bank, stepping from slippery stone to stone, and
approaching the channel when possible. t Here the Sao Francisco,
running swift and smooth out of the north-west, escaj)es from the
labyrinth of islands and islets, rocks and sands, blocks and w^alls
which squeeze it, and receives on the left a smaller branch, separated from the main b}' a dark ridge.
The two, leaping and
coursing dovni a moderate incline of broken bed, burst into
ragged, tossing sheets of foam-crested wave, and tumble down
the first or upper break, which is about thirty-two feet high.
This kind of " Kideau Fall" is known as the " Vai-Vem de Cima"
the " upper go and come." + The waters are compressed in the
central channel by the stone courses rising thirty to fifty feet
above them, and are driven into a little cove on the left bank.
The mouth of a branch during the floods, now it is a baylet of the
softest sand hemmed in by high japanned walls, and here the
little waves curl and flow, and ebb again, with all the movement
there mirroring the dazzle of the sun-beam

;

—

Also written " Caisf-ara/' and by Six' J.
dc Alencar "Cai9ara:" he derives it from
*'Cai," biu-nt wood, and "Cara," a thing
possessing.
Thus it means the stakes with
fired ends tlirnst into the ground and forming a cattle "kraal," M^here careful owners
shelter their beasts, and where the careless
brand them with the iron once or twice a
'''

year.

t The formation

of Paulo Afibnso renders
a Protean feature changing with every
month.
I visited it in mid-November,
when, according to the guide, the water
had risen three to fom- fathoms above the
lowest level.
The arithmetic may be briefly taken
from M. Halfeld. The left Ixmk of the
gorge, called Mai da Cachoeira, is 365 palms
',^261 feet, 7 inches) high, and tlie depth of
.

it

the "kieve," or hollow dug by the falls,
is 120 palms (86 feet).
The narrowest
part of the chasm is 72 palms.
The first,
or Upper Rapid (Vai-Vem de Cima), is 792
palms, 1 inch ( = 567 feet, 8 inches) above
and the lowest Rapid (Vai-Vem
sea level
de Baixo), opposite the Vam^jire's Cave, is
426 palms, 6 inches ( = 305 feet, 9 inches),
The united height of Rapids and Fall is
365 palms, 7 inches ( = 261 feet, 11 inches),
:

1

The Horseshoe Fall of Niagara is 158
(some say 149) feet high, with a width of
1900 feet, and a discharge of 20,000,000
ciibic feet per minute.
The American Fall
is 162
164 feet high, with a breadth of
908 feet.
The total breadth of the bed is
3225 feet, and of the Avater 2808 feet,
J Of these Vai-Vens (also written Yaevens) there are, as will be seen, two.

—

1

PAULO ATFOXSO, KING OF

CHAP. XXIX.]

of a tide in miniature.
reflux,

RAPID.S.

4ol

I timed and felt the pulse of the flux and

The

but I could detect no regularity in the circulation.

place tempts to a bath, but strangers

must bear

in

mind

that

it is

treacherous, and that cattle drinking here have been entangled
in the waters, from

which not even Jupiter himself could save

them.

The waters then dashing

against the

left

or south-eastern

boulder-pier, are deflected to the south-west in a vast serpentine

and form, a few paces lower down, a similar
Here insufeature; called by our guide ''Half go and come."
lated rocks and islands, large and small, disposed in long ridges
and in rounded tovrers, black, toothed, and channeled, and wilder
far than the Tln'ee Sisters or the Bath and Lunar islands of
of tossing foam,

Niagara,

split

the

hurrying tossing course into

distinct

five

The

channels of white surge, topping the yellow turbid flood.

four to the right topple over at once into the great cauldron.

The

fifth

runs along the

liigh raised

south,

it is

left

bank

in a colossal flimie or launders,

meetmg

above the rest;

a projection of rock at the

Here

flung round to the west almost at a right angle.

the parted waters spring over the ledge, and converge in the

chaudiere which collects them for the great

fall.
AMien the sun
and moon are at the fiivourable angle of 35°, they produce admirable arcs and semicircles of rainbows in all their prismatic tmtage
from white to red. These attract the eye by standing in a thin
"
arch of light over the mighty highway of the rushing " burnmg

waters

;

guides to cataracts, however, always

make

too

much

of

the pretty sight.

The

third station

is

reached by a 'rough thorny descent, which

might easily be improved, and leads to the water's edge, where
charred wood shows that travellers have latel}^ nighted in the
Turning to the north-east we see a furious brown rapid
place.
plunging

T^ith strange forms,

half a dozen distinct steps

sweep us away.

At

:

down an

incline of forty-nine feet in

the flood seems as though

the bottom, close to where

westward, pauses for a

moment upon

we

stand,

it
it

would
bends

the billow-fringed lower lip

of the Chaudiere that rises snow-white

from the straw-coloured
break, and then the low, deep, thundering roar, shaking the
gromid and '' sui generis " as the rumbling of the earthquake and
the hoarse sumph of the volcano reveal the position of the Great
Cataract,
Tlie trend is southerly, and the height is calculated to
G a 2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

452

be 192

The waters hurl themselves

feet.

full

[chap. xxix.

upon the

right-

hand precipice of the trough -ravine, surge high up, fall backwards,
fling a permanent mistcloud in the air, and like squadrons of white
horses, rush off, roaring and with infinite struggle and confusion,
is

down

the

Mai da Cachoeira

to the south-east.

The

latter

the grandest point of view which we prospected from the table-

rock overhanging the fracture.

Paulo Alfonso is always sketched from our third station,* where
we "realize" an unpleasant peculiarity of his conformation; he
has here permitted the eye of
little

further down, there

is

man

to see the

main

cataract.

a partial view from above

A

but the

;

normal central mistcloud curling high and always ascending above
the lower lij) of the cauldron, veils the depth, and we are not
Now much is
satisfied till we have sighted a Fall from its foot.
left to the imagination, and the mystery is so great as to be highl}^
In the depth of the dries

unsatisfactory.

climb down a portion of the

it is,

the}" say, pos-

and to overlook the
cataract.
I carefully inquired whether it was visible from the
right, or Bahian bank
all assured me that a branch stream
alloAved no approach to the trough-ravine, and all were agreed
A moveable suspensionthat from that side nothing is visible.!
bridge, not, I hope, like that of Montmorenci, could be made to
span the chasm wire-ropes fit to bear cradles, could be passed
across
or ladders might be let down and act as the winding
staircase which leads to the Horseshoe Fall.
At present Paulo
Alfonso is what Niagara was in the days of Pere Fran9ois
Piquet
and we can hardly look forward with pleasure to the
sible to

left wall,

;

;

;

:

time when
terests,

have wooden temples and obelisks, vested
25 cents to pay, and monster-hotels.
it

The next
to begin.

will

in-

station is that with which I have advised the stranger

Thence he must

rough and broken

retrace his steps, the trough

to be followed.

We

up

is

too

again crossed the eastern

boulder-channel, and walking to the south-east reached, after a

* From, this point also the photographs
are taken, and they afford ]mt a poor idea of
the originaL
M. Halfekl, besides his vignette, gives two lithographs, the first from
our third station, and the second from the

had, will not take this assertion on trust.
The distance from the Porto das Piranlias,
where the steamer stops, is only 12 leagues,
And if the
easily done in two days.

Paredao, opposite the Angiquinho, a place
V hich we shall presently visit.
+ Travellers with more lcis\irc Ukmi I

dently the place for a flight of steps, cut in
the rocky wall of the trough.

"Bahian side" be

practicable,

it

is

evi-

I

PAULO AFFOXSO, KING OF

fTTAP. XXIX.]

few liimdred yards, a descent formed
flood-time, sweep over the hollow

''

J^\PIDS.

b}'

4->3

the waters

in

wliicli,

Carahyba Camping ground,"

and course down a stony incline to rejoin the parent flood. AVe
found the bed bone-dry, a sKppery siu'face of bare rock, dark and
bright after man}' a freshet, vrith here and there steps and deep
crevasses.
There are stagnant pools and corrie-like holes,
with
green
Conferv^e, and rich in landshells.
These hollows
long preserve the rain-water, and though covered with scum-like
aquatic growths, they are dm'ing the diies, a great resource for

The hands must be used

cattle.

ing,

and the noonday sun

The

zigzag led

Here the

the river.
it

down

-^ill

to a

torrent

as well as the feet in descend-

peel the palms.

Ressaca or bulge in the
is less

terrible,

but

left

still

dashes ag'ainst the south-eastern wall of the trough.

bank

of

violent, as

The

lii^ht

colour of the precipice, not grown, like the rest of the trough,

with moss, Bromeha, and thorn bush, shows that, despite the

exceeding hardness of the stone, some part has slipped, and more

Manuel Leandro assured me that it has not changed
since the days of his grandfather and his grandmother.
At the trough-foot we reach a baylet formed by the lower ''Go
and come " (Vai-Yem de baixo), another back-water of the

will slip.

Sr.

great rushing tide.

People fetching water have fallen into

but have managed to extricate themselves.

No Maid

it,

of the Mist,

however, will in these ages be able to ascend the line of maelstroms.
abj'ss

Now

the water recovers from the plunge and dive in the

beneath the cascade,

it

continually rebounds, and as

often noticed in the Cachoeiras of the upper bed, there
surface

reall}' level

;

is

we
no

the face seems a system of slightly bulging

domes.

The
wall

is

little

inclined

ramp

of loose stones at the bottom of the

strewed with lumber and with wood brought down by the

last floods

;

its

high, have been

grinding sound and

its

crash

when

compared with the creaking of the

of a Canadian winter.

floods

are

ice at the

end

Light as pumice-stone, the fragments are

rounded off and cropped at both ends by the bruising process,
and the working takes curious shapes, cheeses and shuttles, ninepins and skittles.
Our guide pictm-esquely called the hea23s
" Cidade de Madeira," a cit}- of wood, and in them I recognized
canoe planks and scantUng from the Imperial shed.
The slope ends in a cave opening to the west, and knovrn gene-

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

454

[chap. xxix.

" Casa de Pedra," speeificanv as the '' Furna do
The
Its appearance is singular.
^lorcego," or Vampire's Grot.
entrance, instead of being low, after the fashion of caverns, is a
ricaHy as

tlie

tall 2'>arallelogrammic
it

has

portal leaning a

Saintess (uma Santa),

its

little

who shows

Hence

to the south.

herself at times, and

the people have heard martial music, and singing which did not,
The arch is
they judged, proceed from mortal wind-pipe.
formed by a thick table of hard, close-grained granite, spread out

and a cleavage-line extends to the
southern corner. Its walls are sandstone, here hard and compact,
there soft and mixed with ochreous iron-stained clay, easily cut
in the days when the now shrunken and sunken stream filled the
trough-ravine with its debacles.* At present the inundations
extend only half-way up the floor, where an " old man" is in proas

though

had been

it

lava,

The

cess of degradation.

level sole is strewed with bat's guano,

and with ashes where the people have attempted to smoke out the
blood-suckers. The greatest height is about 90 feet. The eastern
wall overhangs, and the honey-combed upper part shows other
branch caves
angle of

—

8*^

''Devil's

forming, Avhilst the western retreats at the easy
I saw no bats in this " Cave of the Winds," this

still

9°.

Hole;" but the hour

of visit

the plague was probably enjoying
vault has a singular look-out.

its

The

was early afternoon, and

nap.

fleec}^,

torrent, disposed in vorticose-lozenges

The mouth

of the

seething, snow-white

and ridges, with

its

spray

under the sun like myriads of brilliants, strikes upon a
shoulder of polished and intensel}" black rock, whose parallel and
much inclined bands wall the right side of the crevasse. This
mass deflects the boiling rapid at nearly a right angle, and sends
it roaring between the cliffs of its deep-narrow chasm adoAvn the
glittering

abrupt redoublings which end

its

course in the world of waters to

the east.
* M. Half eld gives the dimensions 80
palms (57 feet, 4 inches) tall, x 40 j^alms
(28 feet, 8 inches) wide, and 444(318 feet,
2 inches) long. The entrance to the smaller
Eastern fissure is 30 palms (21 feet, 6
inclies) high, broadening to 60 palms (43
feet) inside.
That surveyor elaborately exIts
plains the foraiation of the "Furna. "
line, he says, presents many veins of calcareous spath, of flesh-coloured felspar, and
of quartz vaiying from ^ of an inch to
5 inches in breadth, causing the granite to
lose

compactness

:

moreovci-,

it

i^;

sometimes

saturated witli muriate of soda, from wliicli
The granite showrs,
a little salt is made.
it is true, many dykes, some raised above,
others sunk below, and others level with
the surface ; but their thickness is trifling,
The rocks also contain lime, hence the quantity of landshells which, dead at this season,
But the cave is evistrew the ground.
dently hollowed out in the sandstone grit,
wliich on the left side of the Lower Sao
Francisco, forms hills and ridges, and which
further down alternates with or overlies
limestone.

—
PAULO AFFOXSO, KING OF EAPIDS.

rnAP. xxTX.]

455

upon the " Pareclao," lower down tlian tlie
Yampii'e's Cave, at the place called '^Limpo do Imperador"
the bush having been cleared away for the Imperial visit. There is
no shade, and water is far off. A tent and barrels, however, would
make all things eas}^, and a traveller encamped upon this Bellevue
would have beneath his eje^ by night as well as by day the most
beautiful if not the grandest scenery of Paulo Affonso.
Here he
stands on a level with the stream above the Upper Rapids, and on
300 feet of perpendicular height over the water, which dashes
curdling and creaming below. To the westwards the vision strikes
full upon the small but gTaceful Angiquinho branch,, which is the
American Falls compared with the Horseshoe, and which remmds
the traveller of the tall narrow Montmorenci.*
Tliis offset is the
fiu'thest line on the right side of the river, in which, about the
Tapera of Paulo i\Jfonso, a mass of long islands precedes the narrows and the rapids. It encloses an " Iris Island," a crag wliich

Our

may

last station is

be confomided with the mainland.

easii}"

It is,

however,

capped with tree and grass, kept green as emerald by the ceaseless
drift, and made remarkable by the brown plain forming the distance.
Here again the still and silent pictm-e around heightens
the effect of the foamino-, rushino; water.

over

own

its

The

flood rolls headlong'

shelf of bro^^^l based on jet-black rock, seen in the

walls which here jut out and there retire.

the drop,

it

Dashed to pieces by
shows about the centre, with the assistance of a pro-

jecting rock, at this season clearly visible, a
Puffs of water-douche,

sprung, rise to half

its

lookmg

as if endless

fall

within a

fall.

mines were being

height, and the infinite globules, " spii-eing

up" in

shafts, repeat the prismatic glories of solar

bows.

At

and lunar rainfrom the spectator's right hand, or from north
to south, a section of an arch represents the terminal part of the
mysterious cataract, whose upper two-thirds are hidden by a
curtain of rock. This, the main stream, impinges almost perj^endicularly upon the right-hand wall of the trough-ravine, and the
impetus hurls it in rolls and billows high up the face to be tin-own
back shattered, and to add a confusion more confused to the sucits foot,

But, subject to the eternal law of gravitation,

ceeding torrents.
a sinuous

Ime perforce midulates down the crevasse, which graduand which puts out buttresses from the right and left.

ally widens,

*

The height

of

Montmorenci

is

about 250 feet by 50 feet of bx-eadth.

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

456

[chap. xxix.

Calmed by the diminished sloj^e, it meets the tall cliffs upon which
we stand, and wheeling from north-west to south-west, it eddies
down the windings of the ravine, which soon conceal it from the
The effect is charming when the moon, rising behind the
sight.
spectator, pours upon the flashing line of cascade and rapid full in
front, a flood of soft

and

silver}^ light,

while semi-opaque shadows,

here purple, there brown, clothe the middle height, and black

glooms hang about the

ribs, spines,

and buttresses of the chasm-

foot.

Not the

least interesting part of Paulo-Aftbnso is this terminal

reminded me of the gorge of Zambezian Mosiwatunya, as painted b}" Mr. Baines. It has given rise to a multitude
of wild fables, especially to the legend of the under-ground river,
an Alpheus, a Niger, a Nile, that favourite theme with the '' old
men."* The black sides, footed b}^ boulders which the force of
the flood has hurled in heaps, and in places cut by small white
streams, preserve their uniformit}', and wall in the stream as far
as the Porto das Piranhas, fort}'- two geograj)hical miles below the
Moreover the elevation profile shows below the
cataract. t
actual cataract, a kieve or deep hollow, and a long succession of
similar abj'sses, prolonged to the same point, and gradually
diminishing in depth, the effect of a secular filling in. Niagara
undermining the soft shales that support a hard structure of limestone some ninet}^ feet thick, has eaten back seven miles from
the escarpment known as Queenstown Heights. It is supposed to
have expended 4000 years in reaching its present j^osition, and
to be receding at the rate of a foot per annum.
Here we find a
similar retreat of the waters. According to the guides, a huge mass
of stone above the Chaudiere formed an arch under which birds
This disappeared lil^e the old original "Fall
built their nests.
ravine, which

* The Noticias Ultramarinas of ] 589
(Chap. 20) Biakes the Sumidoixro, or sink,
80 90 leagues above the Cachoeira, which
was then apparently not named. The classical geographical romance soon sjDread afar.
Frei Rio Giuseppe de Santa Theresa (^Istoria
delle guerre del Brazil) wrote " dopo de
aver corso diciotto giornate di paese dentro
di cui si nasconde per lo spazio di dodici
leghe."
Southey (III. i. 44) borrows from
the Patriota and Cazal with reasonable
correctness, he alhides to the "rapids and
falls
one of such magnitude that the
spray is visible from the mountains, six

—

.

.

.

leagues distant, like the smoke of a conflagration.

+ It is found with breaks to the Pao de
Assucar, distant sixty-three miles.
Of
course these are rude estimates, Avhich may
have an eiTor of two miles.
From Paulo
Affonso to Porto das Piranhas, the perpendicular and inclined walls that hem in the
fiercely-dashing stream, are often 800 lialnis
At the Cachoeira da Gar(570 feet high).
ganta (of the Gorge), nine miles below the
cataract, the breadth of the stream is only
85 palms (61 feet), and the height of the
trough is 350 palms (250 feet).

Rock" about

4-"

PAULO AFFONSO, KING OF EAPIDS.

CHAP. XXIX.]

ten years ago, and since that time the}' say the

******

Zoadao, or roar of Paulo Affonso, has not been so loud. A^^plying, therefore, the rule of the Northern Cataract, we cannot assign
to the

My

King of Rapids an age under 2400
task was done.

away from me.

Two

I

won

its

years.

reward, and the strength passed

days of tedious monotonous riding led to

the Porto das Piranhas.

The steamer had

hospitable rece^^tion awaited

me

at the

just left

it,

but a

house of Sr. Ventura Jose

Martins, agent to the Bahian Steam Navigation Company. My
companion hurried awaj^ to catch the American mail at Pernam-

Rio de Sao Francisco more leisurely,
under the guidance of Sr. Luis Caetano da Silva Campos of
Penedo, whose amiable Senhora made me feel at home. AVhilst
delayed at " the Rock" I met my excellent friend Dr. A. Moreira
buco.

I descended the lower

de BaiTos, then President of Alagoas, and visited him at his
Thence, with the aid of Mr. Hugh Wilson, I
capital, Maceio.

found my way to Aracaju and Bahia, and finally I returned via
Rio de Janeiro to Santos (Sao Paulo), alias AVapping in the

Far West.

APPENDIX.

'^

Extract from the Revista Trtmensal of the I^'^TITUTO Histokico e
Geographtco Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro, July 21, 1865,

Historical account of a large, hidden,

and

very ancient city, vithout inhahitants,

discovered in the year 1753.

In America
in the interior

adjoining the

Master of Can

and

his followers,

haWng wandered

over the desert country (Sertoes) for ten

years in the hopes of discovering the far-famed silver mines of the great explorer Moribeca, which through the fault of a certain governor were not made

and to deprive him of
death, and they remamed again

public,

he was imprisoned in Bahia till
be discovered. This news reached Rio de

this glory
to

Janeiro in the l)eG;imiing of the vear 1754.

After a long and troublesome peregrination, incited by the insatiable greed
of gold, and aknost lost for many years in this vast Desert, we discovered a
chain of mountains so high that they seemed to reach the ethereal regions, and
that they served as a throne for the ^"ind or for the Stars themselves.
rdittering thereof struck the beholder

from

afar, chieflv

when

The

the sun shone

grand and so
had set in
Rain
agreeable that none could take eyes off these shining lights.
before we had time to enter (in the itinerary) this crystalline man'el, and we
saw the water running over the bare stone and precipitating itself fi'om the
high rocks, vrhen it appeared to us like snow struck by the solar rays. The
{uma) shine
agreeable prospect of this

upon the

crystal of

which

it

was composed, forming a

sight so

of the waters
of the weather,

we

and the

tranc[uillity

resolved to investigate this admirable prodigy

Arriving at the foot of the ascent ^^ithout any hindrance from
forests or rivers, which might have barred oui- passage, but making a detour
of nature.

round the mountains,

vre did not find a free pass to caiTy out oiu- resolution

* Translated by :\rrs. Richard Burton, who begs indulgence, on account of this report
having been written in old Portuguese by rade explorers, and therefore very difficult to
render into English.
All the lines that are not tilled in, are illegible from the age and
decaved state of the original MS.

APPENDIX.

4G0
to ascend these

Alps and Brazilian Pyrenees, and we experienced an inexpli-

cable sadness from this mistake.
"We " ranched " ourselves with ^le design of retracing onr steps the following

day. A negro, however, going to fetch wood, happened to start a white stag
which he saw, and l)y tliis chance discovered a road between two mountain
chains, Avhich seemed cut asunder by art rather than l)y nature.
With the
overjoy of this news Ave began the ascent, which consisted of loose stones
piled up, whence we thought it had once been a paved road broken up by the

The

ascent occupied three good hours, pleasantly, on account
which we wondered. We halted at the top of the mountain,
Avhich commanded an extensive view, and we saw upon a level i^lain new
injuries of time.

of the crystals, at

motiA^es to rouse our admiration.

We

discerned a1)0ut a league and a half from us a large settlement, whose

extent couAdnced us that
the Brazil.

We

it

must be some

descended soon to the

city

dependent upon the capital of

A^alley, Avith

the precaution

....

might be in such a case, sending explor
gate the quality and
that they should take good notice
it

chimneys, this being one of the evident signs of settlements.

We

Avaited for the explorers during

two days, longing for ncAvs, and only
waited to hear cocks croAV to be certain that it was peopled. At last our men
returned, undeceived as regards there being any inhabitants, AA'hich puzzled us
greatly.
An Indian of our company then resolved at all risks, but Avith
but lie returned much frightened, affirming that he
;
did not find nor could he discover the trail of any human being. This Ave
Avould not believe, because Ave had seen the houses, and thus all the explorers
took heart to folloAv the Indian's track.
precaution, to enter

They returned, confirming the above-mentioned

deposition, namely, that there

no inhabitants, and so Ave determined all to enter this settlement Avell
armed and at daA\ai, A\diich Ave did Avithout meeting any one to hinder our Avay,
and Avithout finding any other road save that Avliich led directly to the great
Avere

settlement.
Its entrance is through three arches of great height, and the
middle one is the largest, whilst the tAvo side arches are less. Upon the largest
and principal Ave discerned letters, Avhich from their great height could not be
coj)ied.

There

AA^as

one street the breadth of the three arches, Avith upper storeycd
the fronts of carved stone already blackened ; so
;

houses on either side

.

.

.

.

inscriptions all open
(d)oors are Ioav of
7ias

ma(ke)

.

noting that by the regularity

and symmetiy Avith Avhich they are constructed it appeared to be one long
house, being in reality a great many.
Some had open terraces, and all Avithout
tiles, the roofs being some of burnt bricks and otliers of freestone slal^s.

We

AA^ent through some of tlie houses Avith great fear, and noAvhere could Ave
find a vestige of personal goods or furniture which might by their use or fabric
throAv any light on the nature of the inhabitants.
The houses are all dark in

the interior

there Avas scarcely a gleam of light ; and as they are vaulted, the
;
voices of those Avho spoke re-echoed till our OAvn
accents friditened us.

APPENDIX.

4G1

Having examined and passed tkrough tlie long street, we came to a regular
and in tke middle of it was a column of black stone of extraordinary
height and size, and upon it was the statue of an average-sized man, with one
hand uj)on his left hamich, and the right ann extended, pointing vdth his forelinger to the North Pole.
In each corner of the said scpiare was a needle
(obelisk I), in imitation of that used by the Romans, but some had suffered illusage and were broken, as if struck by thunder-bolts.
On the right hand of this square was a superb edifice, as it were the principal
house of some Lord of the land. There was an enormous saloon in the entrance,
and still from fear we did not investigate all the hou(ses)
being numerous and the retret
::erdo to form some
mara we foimd o(ne)
8(j[uare,

.

mass of extraordinary
(per)sons

The

had

difficulty in raising it

bats were so

noise that

it

many

that they attacked the people's faces, and

astonished them.

Upon

made such a

the principal portico of this street was a

and stripped from the waist
upwards, crowned with laurels. It represented a young figiKe, and beardless.
Beneath the shield of the figure were some characters, spoiled by time. How(See the Plate, inscription No. 1.)
ever, we made out the foUo'wing.
On the left side of the said Square is another edifice, quite ruined but from
the vestiges remaining, there is no doubt that it was once a temple, for part of
its magnificent frontispiece still appears, and some naves and aisles of solid
stone.
It occupies a large s^^ace of gromid, and on its ruined walls are seen
carvings of superior workmanship, with some figures and pictures inlaid in the
stone, with crosses and difterent emblems, crows and other niinutia?, which
would take a long time to describe.
Follow this edifice large portions of the city totally ruined and biuied
in large and frightful openings of the earth, and upon all this ground not
a blade of grass, tree, or plant was produced by nature, but only heaps of stone
and some coarse rough works, by which we judged
rergao, because still amongst
da oi coi-pses
which
is part of this unhappy
da,
and forsaken perhaps on account of some earthquake.
In front of the said square runs rapidly a mighty and broad river, which
It might be from 11 to 12
Jiad spacious banks and was agreeable to the sight.
fathoms broad, "without considerable turnings, and its banks were free from
trees and timber which the inundations usually bring down.
"We sounded its
depth and found in its deepest parts from 13 to 16 fathoms. On the fiu'ther
side of it are most flourisliing plains, and ^^itll such a variety of flowers that it
would appear as if nature was more bountiful to these parts, making them
produce a perfect garden of Flora. We admired also some lagoons full of rice,
of which we profited, and likewise innumerable flocks of ducks which breed in
these fertile plains, and we found no difficulty in killing them A\'ithout shot,
but caught them in our hands.
AVe marched for three days do^^n the river, and came upon a cataract which
made a fearful noise from the force of the water and the obst^icles in its
figure in demi-relief carved out of the

same

stone,

;

—

....

APPENDIX.

462

we thought

Ijed, so

that

more.

Below

It is full of

ocean.

the mouths of the far-famed Nile could not make
he the great

this fall the river so spreads out that it appears to

peninsulas covered with green turf, with a sprinkling

which make
Here we found

davel.

of trees,

in default of

it if

(nm)ch variety of game

we

(o)ther

many anmials bred there being no huntsmen to chase and persecute them.
To the east of this waterfall we found several deep cuttings and frightful
excavations, and tried its depth with many ropes, which, no matter how long
;

they were, could not touch its bottom. We found also some loose stones, and,
on the surface of the land some silver nails, as if they were drawn from mines

and

left at

the

moment.

we saw one covered with an enormous stone slab,
and with the following figures carved on the same stone, which apparently
Upon the portico
(See the inscription No. 2.)
contains some great mystery.
(Inscription
No. 3.)
of the temple we saw others also, of the following form.
About a cannon-shot from the village was a building as it might be
The entrance was by a
of a country-house, with a front 250 paces long.
many
coloured stones which
of
staircase
ascended
a
and
we
large portico,
Amongst

these caverns

opened into an immense saloon, and afterwards into 15 small houses, each
with a door opening into tlie said saloon, and each one bore its own
« which waters,
water spout
mCio in the
and adjoinmg
colonnade in a

external courtyard
ra scpiared

cir

by

art,

and hung

with the following characters. (See the inscription No. 4.)
After this wonder we descended to the banks of the river hoping to discover
gold,

and without trouble

Ave

found

rich

''

upon the surface,
We wondered at the

pay-dirt "

promising great wealth of gold as well as of silver.
inhabitants of this city having left such a place, not having found with

all

our zeal and diligence one person in these Deserts who could give any account of
The
tliis deplorable marvel, as to whom this settlement might have belonged.
ruins well showed the size and grandeur which must have been there, and

opulent it had been in the age when it flourished. But now
was iidiabited by swallows, bats, rats and foxes, w^hich fattened on the
numerous breed of chickens and ducks, and grew bigger than a pointer-dog.
The rats had such short legs they did not walk, but hopped like fleas nor did
they run like those of an inhabited ]3lace.
From this spot a companion left us, who, with some others, after 9
days' good march, sighted at the mouth of a large bay formed by a riA'er,
a canoe carrying two white persons, with loose black hair, and dressed like

how populous and
it

;

Europeans,
to

a shot as signal, in order
to fly or escape.

-ye

To have

hairy and wild
ga,

One

and they

all curl

.

.

....

up and invest

of our companions, called Joao Antonio, found in the ruins of a house a

gold coin, round, and larger than our pieces of

Gf 400.

On

one side was the

APPENDIX.

463

image or figure ol a yoiitli on his knees, and on the other side a Low, a crown
and an arrow, of which sort (of money) we did not doubt there was plenty in
the said settlement or deserted city, because if it had been destroyed by some
earthquake, the i)eople would not have had time suddenly to put their treasure
in safety.
But it would require a strong and poAverful arm to examine that
pile of iTiins, buried for so

many

years, as

we

saw.

This intelligence I send to your Excellency from the Desert of Bahia, and
from the rivers Para-oacii (Paraguassu) and Una. "We have resolved not to
communicate it to any person, as we think whole towns and villages would be
deserted
but I impart to your Excellency tidings of the mines which we have
discovered in remembrance of the much that I owe to you.
Supposing that, of our company, one has gone forth under a different
understanding, I beg of your Excellency to drop these miseries, and to
come and utilize these riches, and employ industry, and bribe this Indian
;

to lose hmiself

and conduct

yoiu'

Excellency to these treasures,

etc.

.

.

chardo in the entrances
bre stone

(Here follows in the manuscript what
underneath, No.

is

slabs

.

.

.

found represented in the plate

5.)

Primeira.

Secimda.
Terceira.

Quarta.

t

Quinta.
Sexta.

Setima.
Oitava.

A

Nona.
Inscrij)caes encontradas

na cidade abandonada de que

trata o manuscripto,

existente na Bibliotheca Publica do Rio de Janeiro.

Inscriptions found in the abandoned City, of which the

the Public Library of Rio de Janeiro, treats.

MSS.

to

be seen in

—

INDEX.
Abaete

brilliant, discovery of tlie,

Aboboras, Serra das,

ii.

Arassua, Seira de, first view of the, ii. 312
Araucaria, seen only near settlements, i. 76
Araxa, derivation of the word, i. 145
Architecture, ecclesiastical, in Miuas Ge-

153

43

i.

Acacia, varieties of, on the Campos, i. 76 ;
the Angico, medicinal uses of the resin
the Jurema, ii. 315
of the, ii. 301

raes, sketch

;

Acaju or Caju, wine made from

the,

ii.

Acary, the armour-plated fish, ii. 252 n.,
African slave squadron, a useless expense,
i. 7
Agave amencana, uses of the, i. 35 n.
Agriculture, rudeness of, i. 59
Air-plants, a feature of the Brazilian forest,
1.

295

—

147 149 remarkable situa149 laying the first chain of
railway at, i. 152 gold diggings at, i.
153; grand dinner at, i. 154
Aldea de Paratina, excellent cotton at, ii.
75; inhabitants famous for their churtion

at,

i.

of, i.

;

;

;

lishness,

ii.

301

Amador, Manga

Amazons

ii.

273

River, vegetation of the Cisandine

Valley of the,

217
Angari shrub,

life

i.

292

;

length of the,

ii.

ii.

;

feast

of,

i.

Gold ^Mining Company,

in the Brazil,

i.

i.

5Q

;

[I.

;

147; various forms of

the word, ib.
Bahia, Province of, wealthy in diamonds,
ii. 135
analysis of diamantiferous sands
from, ii. 143 n. ; has no popular topographical works, ii. 280
Bahia Steam Navigation Company, contract
of the, ii. 378 n. ; vessels belonging to, ib.
;

Bamboo,

360

Ant, nests of the, i. 56 foes of the, i. 57
the mad, ii. 194
Anthony, St., the Cave of, described, ii. 313
Anthropology of Minas Geraes, remarks on
the, i. 389
Anum, abuse of the word, i. 56 n.
Araca guava, common on sand-bars, ii. 57
Aracapa, Serro do, ii. 400
Araponga, or blacksmith bird, the, ii. 105
Araripe, Serra de, ii. 407

VOL.

Brazil, i. 180
Assumption, Island of, ruined church on,
ii. 403 ; inhabitants of, ib.
Astrocaryum Tucum, fibre of the, ii. 349
Australia, diamonds found in, ii. SI
in the British
Avalanches, earthen, i. 73
islands, i. 73 n.

Baldim, Serra do,
the,

Anj-'lo- Brazilian

334
Animal

do, village of,

120

Aiiuda shrub, the, ii. 57
Armadillo, varieties of the, i. 290
Arraial, meaning of the word, i. 109 n.
tumours
Aroeira tree, uses of the, i. 77
in the joints from sleeping under the, ib.
As Pedras dos Angicos, the village, ii. 253
Assassin, hired, not yet extinct in the

Baal,

ii'6.

Almecegueira, medicinal uses of the balm
of the, ii. 27 n.
Alum, found in caves in the Serra do Machichi,

i.

;

Ajojo or raft, the, described, ii. 2
Alagoa Dourada, village of, i. 146; inscription ou cottage at. i. 147; scanty
accommodation at, i. 147; Feast of St.

John

of,

Argemone mexicana, medicinal properties
of, ii. 274

26
325

cattle,

ii.

29

varieties of the,

i.

40

;

food for

69

ii.

Bananeira, Serra da, ii. 402
Baptism, remarks on, i. 341 n.
inn accommodation at,
Barbacena, i. 68
civility of Dr. Renault of, i. 80
i. 69
population of, i. 81
climate of, ib
revolution at, 1. 82 churches at, i. 8^^
86 cemetery of, i. 86 jail and hospital
campos of, adapted for cattle
at, i. 87
dulness of, i. 98
bleeding, i. 92
Barca of the Rio de Sao Francisco described,
;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

ii. 206
Barque Jaguara, description of

the,

H H

ii.

8

IXDEX.

43G
waterman

or

I3arqueiro,

of

cisco River, described,

in versification

of,

210

ii.

thtj

Sao Fran-

209

ii.

facility

;

superstitious

;

of the, ii. 211, 396
Barra, Villa da, approach to, ii. 316; festa
ii.
318 ; civility of Lieutenantat,

Colonel Mariani,
scribed,

ii.

320

319

ii,

trade

;

of provisions at,

ib.

;

the town de-

;

of, ii.

322

;

prices

a bad site for a

323
Barro diamond mine, visit to the, ii. 132;
discovery and value of, ib.
Earro Preto, diamond diggings at, ii. 90
Earroso, beauty of the village of, i. 101
Bat, the Vampire, i. 107
man bitten by,
i. 107 n.
capital,

ii.

;

;

;

115
Blacksmith bird,

Eoa
Boa

the,

Serra de,

i\Iorte,

in Para,

i.

ii. 152
Fazenda da, former owners of
the, ii. 286
Villa da, origin aud present state, ii. 388
Boatmen of the Sao Francisco, ii. 390, 433

kinds

Jardim,

304
good

;

Bom
69

Arraial do,

arrival

diamantation of,
for a city, ii. 306

fine
site

ii,

at,

305

ii.

a

;

Successo, Fazenda do, visit to the, ii.
itinerary from, to S. Joao, ii. 72 n.
;

Boqueirao, Serra do, ii. 297
Borborema, Serra de, ii. 407
Bougainvillea, the, i. QQ
Braganza diamond, discovery

of the,

ii.

;

;

of, ii.

435

Bromelia, species

of, ii.

Broom, golden,
Brumado, Bio,

163
146

Bucha dos

i.

i.

350, 449

Paulistas, a powerfully drastic

plant, ii. 265
Buckwheat, hardiness
Bura, Serra do, ii. 74

of,

i.

93

ii.

Buzzard, the Caracar^,
birJ,

i,

i.

56

;

a tick-eating

160

in the,

ii.

296

437

n.

;

exports to the, ib. ; imports
from England, i. 10 n. ; list of works on
the, i. 13
IS; yellow fever in the, i.
SO ; road rollers, and road locomotives
;

—

in the,

i.

35; smuggling in the,

Cachoeiras, meaning of the word, ii. 35 ;
often easy of removal, ii. 36. On the
Bio das Velhas: de Jacu, ii. 21 ; da
Grande, ii. 65 ; das GalOn5a, ii, 53

do
65 da Cerquinha, ii. 67
Landim, ii. 157 das llhotas, ii, 163
do Riacho das
do Gongalvez, ii. 165
Pedras, ii. 167 da Escaramuga, ii. ] 70 ;
dos Dourados, ii.
das Prisoes, ii. 171
On the Sao
173 do Desemboque, ib.
Francisco
de Sobradinho, ii. 363 ; do
das
Bebeda, ib.
do Jenipapo, ii. 383
da Panella do DouCarahybas, ii. 385
de Sao Pedro, 400 ;
rado, ii. 397, 412
the
the impetuous Rosario, ii. 411
de Boi Velho,
furious Cantagallo, ib.
linhas,

ii.

;

;

;

;

;

Brant family, exploitation of diamonds by
the, ii. 125
Brazil, works on the, mostly those of specialists, i. 9
a terra incognita to Euib.

Caatinga, meaning of the word, i. 61n
Cabbage palm, the, i. 55
Caboclos, wars of the, i. 110 ; meaning of
the word, i. 110 n. ; village of the, on the
Parauna, ii. 75.
Cabra (she goat), application of term, ii.
249 n.
Cabrobo, town of, described, ii. 406
Cacha9a, how made, i. 189 ; two kinds of,

;

i.

Branca, Serra, supposed deposits of plati-

rope,

;

;

ib.

152
Bramidos, or subterranean roarings,

num

;

of,

V^ista,

;

Bom

;

332

I\Lorte, Villa da, described, ii. 384 ;
scanty civility at, ii. 385
Boart, remarks concerning, ii, 151 ; three

Boa

;

Burity palm, uses of the, ii. 166
Bursera leptophlocos, gum yielded by,

105
165

ii.
i.

;

;

the, i. 93
Batea used in gold washing, described, i. 133
Batea, Serra da, i. 315
Bauhinia forficata, the, i. 164
Beggars in the Brazil, i. 136
ii.
315
Bee-hives, produce of, i. 95
Bell-bird, the, ii. 85
Big Face Mountain, features of the, i, 309
Bignonias, many kinds of, ii. 28 n.
Birds, gaudy plumage of the, i. 40
of the
Coroa, ii. 179 of the forest, ii. 332, 405
nests of the Leather-jacket, ii. 316
of,

;

;

Batata, or sweet potato, i^ioductiveness of

Births, relative proportion

;

;

;

;

jigmies in the, i. 59; gipsies in the, i.
63 ; national debt of the, i. 91 ; monetary system of, i. 92
probable extinchopeful
tion of slavery in the, i. 269
prospects of the, i. 374; population of,
in 1866, i. 369 n.
climate of the, i, 30
foreigners unpopular in the, ii. 99 ; existence of the diamond in the, formeily
doubted, ii. 108
diamantine lands in
remains of
the, where found, ii. 135
the red-skins in the, ii. 271
railways a
failure in the, ii. 377.
Brejo, Serra do, ii. 174
Ei-ewery at Congonhas de Sahara, i. 196
Bridges, primitive, i. llln.
suspension
bridge in Miuas, i. 428 ; on the Rio das
Velhas, ii. 11
Brig Eliza, christening and departure of
the, ii. 1
description of, ii. 2
crew of
the, ii. 4
provisions for the voyage, ii,
dis3 n.
passengers on board, ii. 5
missal of crew of, ii. 433 ; dismantling

i.

47

•

;

;

;

:

;

;

;

;

;

;

INDEX.
ii.

412

]\Ilnas and
Sao
f;eueral nuisance in
Paulo, i. 159
attacks cattle and horses,
ib.
habitats oP, i. 160 ; remedy for

do Urubusinho, it. 413; of tlie
the Surubabe, ii. 415.
ib.
Lugar da, poltery of the, ii.

;

Fura-olho,
Cachoeirci,

;

;

;

the bites of the, ib.
Carrasco, meaning of the vrord, i. 61 n.
Caiunhanha, Sao Jose da, town of, described, ii. 280 ; trade of, ii. 281

283
Cacboeira, Serra do, ii. 362
Cactus spinosus, indigenous,

Xique-Xique,

329

ii.

;

i.

94

varieties

tbe

;

of,

ii.

Carunhanha River,
276

449 ; cochineal insect on the
Quipa, ii. 301 wood of the ]\Iandiacuru,
used for roof- rafters, ii. 361
Cacunete fish, the, ii. 305
Caethe, definition of word, i. 291 n.
Caieiro, Kio, i. 100
Caipira, oithography of, i. 186 n.
Cahidium esculentum and sagittifolium, i.
93
Calemba, a medicinal root, ii. 2S1
California, discovery of diamonds in, ii. 81
Camarada, definition of the word, i. 297 n.
Campeiros, wildness of the, ii. 26
301,

329,

;

Campos
70

;

or prairies,

description of the,

vegetation of the,

cinal plants of tbe,

air of the,
of paths,

i.

78
156

i.

;

i.

74, 76

i.

78

;

;

;

i.

8

del Bey,

i.

of

13

i

from eating poisonous
426 bamboos as food for, ii. 69
Cauira, or wine made from the Sapucaia,
derivation of word, i. 120 n.
Cave of St. Anthony, visit to, ii. 313
Cecropia or Candelabra tree, i. 283 ; uses
death

Cattle,

prevalence of

plants,

i.

of the,

i.

of,
;

284

Ccdrella odorata,
i.

suoerstition

respecting,

32n.

Cereals, Brazilian, i, 93
Cerro, definition of word, ii. 110 n.
Cervus campestris, or Prairie deer,

C. simplicicurnis,

;

;

ib.

Cara-tuber, varieties of the, ii. 9 n.
Carat, derhation of word, ii. 148 n.
Cardo santo or holy thistle, medicinal properties of, ii. 274
Carnahuba, or "Was Palm, habitat of the,
value and uses of the, ii. SOJ
ii. 303
candles made from the wax of the, ii.
310 grove of, ii. 333

;

;

i.

;

153; a

ii.

Barbacena adapted f jr, i.
the favourite industry at Sao Joao

campos

;

92

;

tick, varieties of the,

and explanation

312 ; poverty of, ii. 313
Catinguelro or Stinker, the, ii. 127
Cattle-breeding o.i the Pao das Velhas,

tion of the word, i. 65 n.
Caprimulgas, varieties of the, ii. 50 n.
Capyvara or wild hog, derivation of the
word, i. 43 n.
habits of the, i. 44 n.
Cara^a, Serra do, grotesque features of the,
meaning of word, ib.
i. 309
Carahyba do Campo, the, ii. 77, 449
Carandahy, Eio, i. 145 ; derivation of

Carrapato

of,

Cassareep, recipe for making, i. 225 n.
Castanhera, Serra da, ii. 362
Cata Branca, gold mines of, i. 131; failure
of, i. 183; Serra de, i. 182
Catas Altas de Mato Dentro, hotel at, i.

medi-

exhilarating

;

26

ii.

Cashew showers, ciiuse
of terra, ii. 243

;

name,

;

tiiin of word, i. 203n
Cashew-nuts, use of, amongst the Indians,

washing at, ii. 117
Caparosa-ptisane, ii. 32 n.
Capim Angola, the, i. 101 ; Cabelludo, ii.
360
Gordura, i. 55
Capital, field for, in the Brazil, i. 218
Capivi, uses of, known amongst the Indians,
ii. 84
Capoeiro, or second-growth forest, deriva116

;

Casa de Pedra, near Sao Joai, description
of, i. 139n.
Cascalho, composition of, ii. 116 n. ; derlva-

;

ii.

estate, visit to,

;

frequently a network

of slaves at, ib.

il.

table reception by Sr.

ii. 386
Candles made from the v»-ax of the Carnahuba Palm, ii. 310
Candonga, Morra da, i. 138
Canga, meaning of v/ord, i. 203 n. ; composition of, ii. 116 n
Cannibalism, was a necessity with the Zealander, i. 115 n.
Canninha, cheapness of, i. 189
Canteiro diamond mine, visit to, ii. 113
expenses and income of the, ii. 115;

theft at,

quarry on the,

slate

hospiii. 38
Manoel Francisco,
ii. 39
sugar house at, ii. 40 party of
Americans at, ii. 41

Casa Branca

Canals, projected,

number

467

ib.

;

C.

il.

127

paludosus,

;

ii.

128
Chacara, meaning of the word, i. 45 n.
Chafaiiz, derivation of word, i. 46 n.
Cliameleon, the Brazilian, ii. 316 n.
Charcoal burners at Morro Yelho, i. 426
Cheese, inferior quality of Brazilian, i. 92.
Cbinchonaceoe of the Campos, i. 78; C.
llemigiana, ii. 28
Chique-Chique, complicated approach

to,

ii.

326 the town described, ii, 328 the
fine
Xique-Xlque cactus at, ii. 329
the diamond digging
sheep at, ii, 330
"do Pintorsinho," ii. 336; possesses
every requisite for a capital, 338
Cigarette manufactory at llegistro Velho,
;

;

;

;

described,

i.

63

City, ancient, discovered in 175-3,
of,

account

45J— 463
II

li

2

INDEX.

468

remarks on tlie, i.
i. 407 n.
effect of on
Climate of the Brazils, i. 30
race, i. 391
Coach stages from Juiz de Fora to BarbaBaibacena to Morro Velho,
ccna, i. o4
i. 99 n.
Coach travelling in the Brazil, i. 34
mine at Ague
Coal formatiou, the, i. 64
Quente, i. 316
Cocaes, Serra de, i. 306
gold mines at, i.
441
Coche d'Agua, i, 187; origin of name, i.
188
Cochineal, attempted exportation of, i, 94 n.
on the
Cochineal insect, indigenous, i. 94
Quipa cactus, ii. 301

Crimes,

Cocoa-nut trees plentiful on the coast, ii.
263 ; produce of adult trees, ii. 280
Coffee shrub in the Doce District, i. 6 ;
poorness of the, at Petropolis^ i. 39
Coinage of the Brazil, i. 90
no gold in
circulation, i. 90
Comarca, definition of a, i. 114n.
Comar;;os, tea-jjlantations at, i. 321

33 n.
Curuvina

Clergy in

406

;

Brazils,

tlie

an educated

class,

;

;

;

;

;

;

Commerce, homage paid to, i. 410
Congonha, application of terra, 1. 167n.
Congonhas de Sabard, i. 194 ; brewery at,
i.
196
Cungonhas do Campo, first view of, i. 165
a Mineiran Loretto, i. 167
oratories
and church at, i. 169 growing stone at,
i.
healthy situa172 College at, ?6.
old qold diggings at, i.
tion of, i. 173
;

;

;

;

;

;

174
Contagem, Serra

da,

ii.

;

;

295
i.

95

Cotton, cultivation of, less profitable than
sugar, i. 6 ; a source of wealth, i. 94
plantation on the Rio das Velhas, ii. 14 ;
the valley of the Sao Francisco adapted
;

ii.
223 fine, grown
279
Cotton-spinning at Morro Velho, i. 242
Crambambali, a native brdle, recipe for
making, i. 155 n.
Crane, the Biazilian, i. 38 ; the Saracura,
ii. 18
big, ii. ol2
Cravinho do Cainpo, the, ii. 78
Creoulo, meaning of term, i. 18n.

growth

at Carunhanba,

;

in

of,

IMinas,

399

i.

;

Crops, rotation of, unknown, ii. 42
Cuiaba, visit to the gold mines of, i. 439
Cuisine, the national, i. 95
Culex penetrans, troublesome bite of the,
ii.

171

Curaieira, Serra da,

Cupim, nests of
1.57

ii.

the,

i.

358
56

;

enemies of the,

Curassoa, the, i. 38
Curral d'Jll-Iiei, Morro do, i. 424
Curumatahy River, the, ii. 165 ; Serra do,
ib.

Curumatao

fish,

the,

fish,

names

various
ii.

of the,

ii.

303

Damour,

M., analysis of diamantiferous
sands by, ii. 143 n.
Dantas (the Councillor M. P. de Souza),
proposed steam navigation on the Rio de
Sao Francisco by, ii. 234
Datura, poisonous seeds of the, i. 198
Debt, national, of the Brazil, i. 91
Deer, varieties of, ii. 127
Dentists,

numerous

in the Brazil,

i.

394

Desmonte, composition of, ii. 113 n.
Diamantina City, first glimpse of, ii. 92
description of, ii. 94
agreeable society
at, ii. 98 ; the Episcopal Seminary at,
ii.
101
a shooting affair at, ii. 102
;

;

;

declining prosperity of, ii.
104; climate of, ii. 105; early history

ball at, ib.

of,

ii.

;

106

Diamantiferous sands from Bahia, analysis
of, ii. 143 n.
Diamantine lands in the Brazil, where
found, ii. 135 concession to work, how
obtained, ii. 136
Diamantine deposits on the Sao Francisco,
ii.
284, 286, 339, 374, 422 ; of Bom
Jardim, ii. 306
Diamond cutting at Rio de Janeii'o, ii.
104 n.
smuggling, prevention of, ii.
;

;

82.

Costume, an Englishman's travelling,

for the

list

to population,

of,

;

78
Contagens, establishment of, ii. 78 n.
profits and expenses of, ib.
Copaifera officiaalis, balsam of, ii. 84
Copal, large deposits of, in Minas and Sao
Paulo, i. 126 ; lip ornaments made of,
i. 127
Coral Snake, varieties of the, ii. 181
Coroa or sand bar, description of, ii. 56
birds and vegetation of the, ii. 57, 179 ;
remarks on the removal of, ii. 58
Corrego, Serra do, i. 138
Corrente, Rio do, navigable for 28 leagues,
ii.

ofiicial

403
Crioulina tree, the, ii. 194
Crocodile, the Brazilian, ii. 177
ratio

of,

ii.

;

Diamond mine
used,

ii.

at Barro Preto, ii. 90
tools
114; gambling nature of mining,
;

115; the Canteiro, ii. 113; the
Loinba, ii. 121 ; the Duro, ii. 129
the
Barro, ii. 132 of the Pirapora, ii. 204 ;
ii.

;

;

at Santo Ignacio, visit to the, ii. 336
in California and Austra-

Diamonds found

lia, ii. 81 ; will probably be found along
the Serra do Esj inha^o, ii. 104; traditions respecting the discovery of, ii. 106 ;
declared Crown property, ib.
diaman;

tine demarcation established, ib.

;

exis-

tence of, in the Brazil doubted, ii. 108
exports and value of, in 1861-7, ib.

;

;

INDEX.
powdered, considered by tlie Hiudu as
deadly poison, ii. 118 n. prominent part
taken by tlie Brant family in the exploitation of, ii. 125; derivation of the
word, ii. 1.36 n. prospecting for, ii. 13d;
perfections of, ib. ; debated origin of, ii.
137 index of refraction, ib. ; tests of,
ii.
138
where formed, ib. ; strongly
affected by the electro-magnetic current,
ii.
133 n.
formacao, or stones that accompany, ii. liO-143; shapeof, ii. 144;
colours and flaws of, ii. 14(5; weights of,
ii, 148
price of, ii. 149 about "Boart,"
ii.
151 ; celebrated Brazilian, ii. 152,
;

46'J

Expectoration, a prevalent habit, i. 51
Eye, diseases of the, use of the green juice
of the young branches of the Aroeira ia,
i.

77

n.

;

;

;

;

;

;

153

Fabbrica da

Ilba, visit to the,

304

i.

Farinha de ]\I;lho, treatment of, ii. 39 n.
Farm-labourers, demand for, i. 7
Fazenda, a, defined, i. 44 n.
interior of a,
i.
301
Fernam Paes, estate of, i, 193
Ferns, varieties of, i, 27 tree, i. 296
Fete of St. John, celebration of the, in the
Brazil, i. 148
superstitions associated
with the, i. 149
Fevers, treatment of, ii. 191 n.
prevalence
;

;

;

Doce, Rio, preferred by emigrants, i. 5
Dog, hairless, common at Bahia, ii. 358
D. Pedro Norte del Rey Gold mine, i. 321

Dourado

fish, the,

described,

Drunkenness, prevalence

of,

ii.

173

n.

in the interior,

i. 404
Duarte (Sr. Jose Rodriguez), excursion to
the Lagoa Santa with. ii. 29 ; death of,
ii. 34
Dumont (M. ), steam navigation on the Rio
das Velhas begun by, ii. 233
Duro diamond mine, visit to the, ii. 129

;

293
Field labour, on the employment of women
in, i. 392
Fig, the Gamelleira, i. 158
ii. 245
Fire-balls frequent in the Brazil, i. 119 n.
Fire-fly, the Brazilian, ii. 273
of,

in the Forest regions,

i.

;

Fish, contrivances for catching,

ii. 12 ; the
Piaa, ii. 13 n. ; varieties of the Mandiin
or Snorter, ii. 19 n.
the Trahira, ii. 27 ;
the Curumatao, ii. 33
the Piranha or
Scissar, ii. 33
the Loango, ii. 162
the
Dourado, ii. 173 n. ; of the Rio de Sao
Francisco, list of, ii. 223, 224
the
;

;

;

Earth, doctrine
251

of a central fire in the,

i.

n.

;

Earth-eating not unknown to the Biazllians, ii. 51 n.
Earthquakes at Jaguara, ii. 30
East Del Rey ]\Iiuing Company, sketch of
the,

i.

;

435

Acary,

252

ii.

n.

wonderful draughts

;

of,

the Surubim, ib.
abundance
of, in the Sao Francisco, ii. 303-373 ;
the Curuvina, ii. 303 n. ; the Matrincham, ib. the Pira, ib. ; the Ca9unete,

276

ii.

;

;

;

Eating, fast, remarks on, ii. 129 n.
Eclipse of the moon, ii. 175
Education, religious, in the Brazil, i. 332 ;
attention paid to, i. 412
Eraa, South American or three- toed, i.
52 n., ii. 296 ; derivation of the word, i.
52 n. ; price of feathers of, in Patagonia,

ii.

305

;

fossil,

ii.

407

Flowers, number and variety of, in the
Brazilian Forest, i. 291 ; odours of, i.

295
Fogo, Ilha do, visit

to, ii.

376

road-rollers in the virgin, i. 35;
scenery of the, ii. 43 ; impenetrable

Forest,

i.
294 number
and variety of flowers in, ib. ; dangers
of the virgin, i. 297
unpleasantly rich

nature of the Brazilian,

ib.

Einbira, bark of the, used for fibre,

ii.

434

Emigration, the remedy for overcrowding
lands on the Rio das
in England, i. 7
Velhas suited for, ii. 159
Engenho, or sugar-house, description of a,
;

40
Entre Rios, railway station
healthiness of, i. 42

;

in the smaller life, ib.

of the,

ii.

at,

i.

41

;

un-

Brazilian, bLrds

;

332

Free labour, superiority
Fruits, list

ii.

;

of, i,

of,

115

i.

n.

93

Funil, Fazenda do, bivouac at,

Furnarius, mud-huts of the,

49
120

ii,

i.

Epiphytes, a feature of the Brazilian forest,
i.

295

Esbarrancado, derivation of the word, i.
73 n.
Espinhago, Serra do, i. 62
Estalagem, the, described, i. 103
Estrella do Sul brilliant, the, ii, 153
Estrema, settlement of, ii, 303
cauliEugenia dysenterica, the, ii. 25
flora, fruit of the, ii. 48
Euterpe edulis yields the finest cabbage
of all the palms, i. 55 n.
;

Gallinace^

of the Brazil, i. 37; accVimatization of the, i. 38
Gamella, the, a bowl for domestic use, i.
103 n. used in gold washing, i. 209 n.
Gamelleira fig, the, i. 158
giant, ii. 245
Game in the Brazil, i. 44 scarcity of, oa
the Rio das Velhas, ii, 13
on the Rio
de Sao Francisco, ii. 241
G-aiapa, a favo-^rite beverage, ii. 41 r.
Garimpeiro, definition of word, i. 210 a.
;

;

;

;

;

INDEX.

470

Gaviao hawk, the, ii. 85
Genipa araericana, juice of the, used by the
ludiaus as a dye, Ji. 68
Gipsies in the Brazil, i. 63 ; numerous in
Minas, i. 163
Giran, application of term,
Git.iranaboia insect, the,

182

3 n.

il.

described,

ii.

theory,

application

i.

i.

;

respecting, i. 202
Gold-mining Companies in the Brazil,

"how
215; causes of failure of, ib.
i. 216
Gold-mines
St. John Del Key, i. 133,
230-235
in Minas Geraes,
i.
200,
203
at Alagoa Dourada, i. 153
at
Congoiihas do Campo, i. 174
Casa
Morro da Gloria,
Branca, i. 181 ;
192
Morro de Santa Rita, i. 192
i.
Morro Velho, i. 197, 220, 245 Morro
Vermelho, i. 235 Rossa Grande, i. 288
Gongo Soco, i. 299 Santa Barbara, i.
307 D. Pedro Norte del Key, i. 321 ;
]\Iorro de Maquine, i, 334
Morro de
Santa Anna, i. 337
Passagem, ib.
East Del Key i.
S. Vicente, i. 417;
435
to.ds used in, i. 438
Cuiaba,
;

:

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

439

Cocaes,

;

441

i.

;

at Santa Lusia,

i.

205 n.
Gongo Soco, rainfall at, i. 286
Gold
Mining Company, history of, i. 211
214 gold mine at, i. 299 Fabbrica da
Ilha at, i. 304
Gongo River, vaiious names of the, i. 300
;

Gonzaga, pastorals
the

—

;

;

life of,

Gordon (M.

i,

of,

367

;

364 n.
sketch of
remarks on, i. 370
i.

;

superintendent of the Morro
Velho gold mine, hospitable reception bv,
),

199''

Gossypium arboreum, ii. 14
Gouvea, hospitable reception
vegetation at, ii. 88

Lean-

197

320

ii. 179
a gull-fair, ii.312
Gupiara, meaning of word, ii. 103 n.
Guigulho, definition of, ii. 112 n.

Gulls, Brazilian,

;

Guyana, rock-inscriptions

in,

i2n.

i.

climate on human, i. 393;
used in the Brazil, i. 393 n.
Halfeld, M., estimate by, for clearing the
Rio de Siio Franciso, ii. 230
Hats made from the Aricuri palm, price of,
ii. 301
Hawks, the Gaviao, ii. 85 grey, ii. 350
Heat, internal, of the earth, remarks on, i.
251 n.
Helianthus tuberosus, hardiness of, i. 93 n.
Heron, the Jaburu, ii. 312
Hibiscus, the Mangui, ii. 44
Homoeopathy, in high favour in the Brazil,
ii. 40
establishment of, ii. 40 n.
Hop-plant, climate and soil adapted for
effect of

oil for,

;

the,

i.

94

Horses, thrive on the melocactus,
price of, at Chique-Chique,

Hotels, expense

of,

95

i.

;

ii.

menu

ii.

329

;

330
of a Bra-

103
Humming-birds, beauty of the, ii. 366
transrautable into the humming-bird
hawk-moth, ii. 366 n.
zilian,

i,

;

Hydrochserus Capybara, Indian name
43 n.

of,

i.

ii,

87

;

187; early history

of provisions at,

ii.

of,

;

free

191

189; cost
bad climate

ii.
;

manners of
193; the Serrinha and
ib.

Ibis, varieties of,

ii.

Ibitipoca, Serra da,

Imburaca

312
6Q

i.

(Bursera

leptophlocos),

gum

yielded by the, ii. 332
Imperial Brazilian Mining Association,
history of, i. 211—214
Inconfidents, rebellion of the, i. 346
353;
leaders of the, i. 347; trial and sentence
of the leaders, i. 350 ; execution of Tiradentcs, i. 352
Indigo, grows wiM, i. 94 ; exportation of,
attempted, i. 94 n,

—

i. 318
Inhanu (Caladium esculentura), the, i. 93
Inquisition, a tale of the, i. 135
Inscriptions at Congonhas do Campo, i.
rock, 423—431
known to
169, 170
the old travellers, ii. 425
Insects, sufferings of horses and cattle from
bites of, i. 159
Introductions, value of, i. 99
I[ e Amarello, beauty of the, ii. 28
Ipecacuanha, i. 164
derivation of word,

Inficionada, villagers at,
at,

Grande, Rio, survey of the, ii. 317 n.
Grass burning, vegetation killed by, ii. 73
Grass, Capim Gordura, i.
55 ; of the
Campos, i. 77
Grape, vintage of the, i. 93 ; excellent
brandy ma'le from the raisins, ib.
Guaicuhy, junction of the Rios das Velhas
and Sao Franci?co at, ii. 187 arrival at,

ii.

i.

Sr.

ii.

9.

Goll Troop at ]\rorro Velho, i. 260
Gold wtight«, table of old Portuguese,

of,

196;

ii.

;

i.

to get up,"

ii.

Gualaxo, Rio,

Hair,

;

395
hereditary nature of, i. 396
Gold currency withdrawn, i. 90
Gold dust, circulation of, prohibited, i. 89
Gold formation, popular scientific error

i.

the Villa de,

the

to

of,

ii. 218
39, 71 n., 293 n.
Goitre, attacks cattle as well as men,

Brazil,

ii.

;

n.

Ghicial

i.

IC'4

dro, the Delegate of Police,

inlial)itants,
its

view,

ii.

;

;

;

]64n.
Ipomoea arenosa, the, ii. 3' 1
Iron foundry of M. Monlevade, i. 298
Iron, occurrence of magnetic, ii. 339, 345,
i.

S

;

I^'DEX.
350

ou

of,

(lepo.'jts

;

Rio de Sao

tli9

Francisco, ii. 221 n. ; atGongoSoco, excellence of, i. 306
Itabira do Caropo, tbe Stone Girl of the
prairie, features of, i, 179 ; meaning of

word, i. 179 n.
Itacolumi Peak, visit
tion

of,

378

377

i.

i.

376

;

i.

Jaboticabeira, fruit of the, ii. 48
Jaboticatuba, Rio, ii. 38 n.
Jacare, or Brazilian crocodile, the, ii. 177
Jacubeiros, meaning of the term, i. 140
Jacutinga, constituents of, i. 132, 301 ;
gold in the, i. 302 ; richness of, i, 304
Jacutupe, description of the, i. 93 n.
Jaguara, derivation of word, ii. 21 n. ;
varieties of the, ih. ; value of skins of

22

ii.

Jaguara, Fazenda de, hospitality of Dr.
Quiutiliano Jose da Silva, ii. 22
description of the, ii. 23; revenues of the,
ii. 24; vegetation
birds
of the, ii. 25
of the, ii. 26
excursion to Logoa Santa
from, ii. 29
hospitality of M. Fourreau,
ii. 31
Januaria, city of, history and present state,
ii. 257
danger of being swept away, ii.
;

;

;

;

;

253
of,

264

ii.

crew
ih.

reception at,

;

at,

;

ii.

ii.

259

difficulty

267

civility

;

;

price

of Sr.

of

;

vegetation

collecting

a

of provisions at

Castano da

I^Ianoel

Souza Siiva, ii. 26
Jararoca viper, the, ii. 181

gum and pods of the,
28
Jatropha urens, medicinal use of, ii. 45 n.
cercas, uses of the, ii. 256
species of,
ii. 449
Jenipapeiro, nauseousness of the fruit of
the, ii. 68
Jequitiba, Fazenda do, liospitality of Col.
fine
i)omingos Diniz Couto at, ii. 47
sugar-cane at, ii. 48
Jequitiuhonha River, ii. 112; various
forms and meaning of word, ib.
Jequitinhonha diamond mines, ii. 113

Jatoba, uses of the
ii.

;

;

Jigger (Pulex),
J

87

;

various names of the, ii.
and habitat of, ii. IBS;

description

painful bite of, ib.
Joazeiro, A ilia do, has a great
servedly,

ii.

3o9

;

name undethe villa described,

370 the lands about, ii. 372 ; prices
of articles at, ii. 373 ; vines at, ii. 374 ;
the proposed terminus of two railways,
ii.

ii.

;

377

i.

49

at,

i.

52

of,

ib.

;

fete

Juliana, Serra da,

ii.

at

Long

Island,

popu-

;

23

i.

n.

i.

;

;

the,

of,

day
438

lation

vegeta-

definition of word,

;

of,

Juiz de Fora, description

KiTCHEX middens
to,

3S0 geological formations of, ih.
view from, i. 381
Itacolumi, Serra da, i. 278
Itacolumite, composition of, i. 373
Itaparica, rapids of the, ii. 438 ; Serra da,
ii. 439
altitude

;

471

Labour, field for, in the Brazil, i. 263
Lagoa Santa, excursion to the, ii. 30
;

pitable treatment at,
at,

superstitions,

Land,
42

ho.'?-

Lund

Dr.

;

31

ii.

Lake

31

ii.

ii.

small extent

32

n.

under culture,

of,

i.

from the subdivision of, i,
47; produce of, per acre at Casa Branca,
ii. 42
price of, on the Rio das Veihas,
ii.
159; price of, at Joazeiro, ii. 372
fertility of the, on the Sao Francisco,
ii. 380
Landed property, value of, dependent on
altitude, i. 106
Landslips in the Campos, i. 73
vivid hues
of the, i. 74
Languages, foreign, how to learn, ii. 197
Lapa, Sr. Bom Jesus da, visit to, ii. 2::5S ;
:

benefits

:

;

;

unhealthiness

ih.',

Holy Cave

;

of settlement,
described, ii. 289
daily receipts at, ii. 290

the
average

Lapa, Serioie da, form of the, ii.
vegetation of, ii. 293
view from,
Lapa dos Urubus, the, ii. 162
;

Larceny,
i.

unknown amongst

Tupy

the

287

;

ib.

tribes,

404

Lavado, Rio, ii. 169
League, the old Brazilian,

100

i.

n.

Leather, excellence of Brazilian, ii. 192 n.
Leather-jacket bird, nests of the, ii. 316
LeguminosjB of the Campos, i. 76

Leme, Fernando Dias Paes, episode in the
lite of, ii. 30
Lenheiro, Serra do, i. 112
L':'prosy, common in Sao Paulo, i. 395
Liais, iM., estimate by, for clearing the

das Veihas,

ii.,

Rio

229

Life, little safety for, in

Mlnas,

i.

402

Lightning, danger of, i. 118
Lime quarries at Chique-Chique, ii, 327
Lingut d'or, the, i. 89, 93
Lizarl, the Teyu or tree, described,

183

ii.

n.

Lliana, the Murderer,

i,

40

;

varieties of,

296
Loango fish, the, ii. 162
Lomba diamond mine, visit to the, ii. 121
defective machinery at, ii. 122
Longevity in the Brazil, ii. 266 n. 273
Lunar action in the Tropics, i. 248
Lund, Dr., researches of, ii. 32
Luso- Latin tongue, richness of the, i. 136 n.
i.

;

JMacahubas das

Fre'.ras,

hospitable

re-

S

INDEX.
ception at, by the Rev. Padre Lana,
15 visit to the Recolhimento, ib.

ii.

;

Macalnibas, Rio, i, 436
]\Iacela do Campo, the, ii. 27
]\Iachichi, Sena do, occurrence of iincrystallised alum in caves in the, ii. 301
IVIachinery in the Brazil, rudeness of, ii.

122
Maize meal, preparations

n.

fluc-

;

of,

ii.

n.

use of, for cigarettes, i. 68
]\Ialhada Settlement and its receivership,
ii. 227; visit Lt. Louveiro at, ii. 27^;
value of duties levied at, ib. ; bad
climate of, ii. 279
Mamia, the, how made, and uses of, ii. 5 n.
Mandim or Snorter Fish, varieties of the,
ii. 19n.
]\Iandracuru Cactus, wood of the, excellent
for roof- rafters,

ii.

361

Mangarito (Caladium sagittifoliura), the, i.
93
Manioc, the, i. 163
]\[antiqueira Range, the, i. 60
vegetation
;

61

i.

;

altitude

tion of the name,
i.

i.

62

of,

ib. ;

deriva-

legends of the,

;

63

]\Iaquine Gold-mine,

i.

337

commonness

rank,

Brazil,

i.

pi'ovinre of,

paied with England,
imports into the, i. 44

109

ii.

in

of,

the

67

;

of,

com*

duties en

diamond mines
ecclesiastical

of

sketch,

;

area

4;

i.

architecture in, i. 120 ; large deposits
of copal in, i. 126 ; gipsies numerous in,
i.
]63; gold mining in, i. 200, 211;
no protection for Englishmen in, i.
278; rebellion of the Inconfidents in,
346 353
i.
insurrection in, i. 385
anthropology of, i. 389 ; leprosy and
goitre in, i. 395 ; official list of crimes

—

;

;

i. 400
frequent murders
newspapers of, i. 413
Mimoia dumetorum, ii. 77

in,

;

in,

i.

402

;

Mineiro, meaning of the term, i. 86 n. ;
honesty, i. 260
the, historically viewed,
i. 383
the typical man in the Brazil
;

;

;

peculiarities of the, i. 392
of the, i. 398 ; morality of the,

ib.

;

;

i.

dres.s

399

;

a religious man, i. 406
ceremoniousness of the, i. 411
dialect of the, i.
412.
Miner, high estimation of the, by Brazilian writers, i. 201
the Brazilian,
rudeness of his system, i. 211 the white
and the brown, i. 262
Mineral waters of Baependy, analysis of,
;

ii.

52

Maranhao, Rio, i. 165
Maravilha Mountain, the, ii. 123
]\Iarianna, Rio, i. 337. o56
Marianna, pillory at, i. 323 inn at, i.
324 early history of, i. 326 situation
of, i. 327
the bishop of, i. 328
seminary at, i. 330
Sisters of S. Vincent de
Paul at, i. 331
^Marriage, aversion to, in the Brazil, i. 384;
early age of, i. 397
;

;

;

;

;

;

Martiniere, M. de la, estimate by, for
clearing the Rio de Sao Francisco, ii.

231

;

;

i. 138
Mineral wealth of the Valley of the Sao
Francisco, ii. 223
]\lining, reckless expenditure in, i. 184
remarks on Brazilian, i. 208 211 ;

—

ii.

Mato, Sitio
ii. 296
Matosiuhos,

i.

127

do, tronco or village stocks at,

174;

109,

at, i. 110
fete
Ill
Mat) incham fish, the, ii. 303 n,
Maua Bay, i. 24; supplies Rio with oysters,
i. 24
Maua Railway, opening of the, i. 25 trip

of Corpus Christi at,

-62

Missionary labours on the coast of Africa
a useless expense, i. 7
]\Ioc6 coney, flesh of the,

Arraial de,
massaci-e of the Paulistas

;

i.

;

ib.

Medicinal plants of the Campos, i. 78
Melocactus, the, relished by horses,

ii.

329
^Melons, water, cheapness of,

of a Brazilian hotel,

i.

274
103

ii.

;

terms, defined, i. 210 n.
Mirage, the, a frequent phenomenon, i. 162
Missionaries and missioners, remarks on,
ii.

]\Iateiro or forest deer, the,

on the,

92

i.

;

]\raquind Rapids, shooting the,
Waracana, species of, ii. 405 n.

Menu

tLe,

[Military

of,

]\Taize leaf,

of the,

;

Miuas Geraes,
50

of, ii.

tuations in price of the aiqueire

89

Midsummer Day at A!;igoa Dourada, i. 152
Milagre, Serra do, ii. 402
Mil-rcis, depreciation in value of, i. 91
a
financial error, i. 91 n. ; subdivisions of

excellent eating,

313
Monetary system of the Brazil,
Monkey, the Guariba, ii. 176
ii.

i.

92

Monvelade's, M., iron foundry at Sao Miguel
de Piracicaba, i. 20

175 influence of
248
Mormonism, remarks on, i. 115
Morrinhos, N* S* da Concei9ao de, hamlet
ruinous condition of temple
of, ii. 271
at, ii. 272
Morro da Gloria Mine, i. 192
]\Iorro d'Ague Quente, village of, i. 314
discovery of coal at, i. 316
Morro de Santa Anna gold mine, i. 337
Morro Velho, hospitality of Mr. Gordon a*",

Moon,

eclipse of the,

the, in the Tropics,

ii.

;

i.

;

;

Mertensia dichotoma, a pest of the Brazil,
i. 27 n.
Mesmerism, extraordinary cases of, i. 391 n.

;

IXJJEX.
buiklings at,
i. 220, 236
uuhealthy situation of, i. 222
Casa Grande, i. 22'±;
rainfall at, i. 223
i.

i.

199
221

life at,

;

;

;

;

;

horticultural society at,

lb.

library,

;

i.

religious
water power at, i. 227
227 221) muster of the
i.
rewards to slaves,
blacks at, i. 230
negro entertainment at, ib.
i.
237
hospital
payment for progeny, i. 238
at, i. 239 moi tality amongst the negroes,
cottoni. 210
state of morals at, i. 211
theatre, i. 213
spinning at, i. 212
itinerary from, to Oiiro Preto, i. 279 n.
villages of Boa Vista and Tinibuctoo at,
i. 423
charcoal burners at, i. 42G
description
l^Iorro Yellio goldmine, i. 197
208
of the minerals of the, 1. 205
amount of ore raised at, i. 207 n. descent
accidents rare, i. 216
into, i. 215
woods used in, i. 247 n. gi-eat size of, L
250 pureness of the atmosphere, ib. ;
miners at work, i. 252 ; spalling and
stamping, 253
255; concentration process, i. 255 ; amalgamation process, i.
257; melting and casting in ingotr>, i.

226

;

;

—

services at,

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

—

;

;

;

;

;

—

260
263

;
;

number
free

of English

Brazilians

workmen

at,

i.

266

;

at,

i.

slaves

i.
273 routine of work at, i. 271
manumissionof negroes at, i, 276 n. discipline at, i. 277
has no parallel in the
Brazil, i. 278
Morro Verraelho, notices respecting, i. 285
jMortes, Rio das, i. 108

at,

;

;

;

;

how

Mosquitos,
of the,

Mountain

ii.

to

172

tarns,

keep

off,

ii.

68

;

varieties

297, 317
frequent occurrence of,

;

stings,

ii.

i.

66
Mulatto households, remarks on, i. 268
Mulberry trees, thrive in the Brazil, i. 94
]\Lules, cost of hired, i. 96
a necessary
evil, ib.
not hardy, nor sagacious, i. 97 ;
price of, ii. 265
Mule troops, the ships of the South American desert, i. 36
;

;

frequency of, in Minas, i. 402
IMutton, popular prejudice against, i. 36

]\Iurders,

Names, remarks on Brazilian,

i.

National

Association,

Brazilian ^Mining
works of, at Cocaes, i. 441

286

n.

i.

277

Kettle, great in-itation caused by a poison,
ii. 314
Newspapers of Minas described,

Nicotiana ruralis,
the,

ii.

use

of,

as food in

warm

50 n.
Old Squaws' Kiver, origin

i.

ii-

178

i.

do, incivility of the pro-

Fazenda
ii. 352

Oliveira,

countiies,

name,
137

of

Oleander, luxuriance of the,
Olive tree, African, i. 126
prietor,

ii. 61 n., 372
Oranges, Brazilian, i. 52
Orange wine, recipe for, i. 88 n.
Orchids, varie;ies of, i. 295
Organ Mountains, derivation of the name,
i. 71
i. 24 n.; altitude of the, ib
Oroco, Serra do, ii, 100
;

,

i. 25
South American or three-toed,

Ostreiculture, remarks on,
Ostrich,

52

n.,

Otter,

ii.

i.

296.

two species

of,

ii.

211

;

21

n.

high

pi-i';e

of skins, ib.

Ounce, varieties of the,

ii.

Ounce Rapids, the, ii. 53
Ouro Branco, Serra de, i. 164
Ouro Preto, Serra de, i. 321
Ouro Preto, sitiiation of the city, i. 313 described, i. 314
climate of, i. 345
churches at, i, 355, 363, 371; populaeducational establishtion of, i. 358
public buildings at, i.
ments at, ib.
360 362 the poet Gonzaga and Marilia,
party feeling at, i. 373
i. 364
;

;

;

;

;

—

;

;

Oysters, on the culture

of,

25

i.

Padrk, Serra do, ii. 433
Paina do Campo, uses of the, ii. 77
fruit of the
Palm, the Cabbage, i. 55
Licorim, eaten by the macaws, ii. 75 n.
the Burity, ii. 166
the Indaia, ib.
hats made from the Aricuri, ii. 301
Tucum, uses of the, ii. 349
Palmatorio, descri[)tion of the, i. 277 n.
Papagaio, Serra do, ii. 419
Papansho bird, the, ii. 438
Paper currency of the Brazil, i. 90 effects
;

;

;

91
Papyrus, the Bradlian,
of,

i.

i.

25

Para, village of the, ii. 314
Paracatu, Rio, ii. 212
Parahyba, derivation of the word, i, 40 n. ;
River, i. 41
Parahybuna River, i. 42 ; derivation of
no longer worked for
the word, ib.
;

44
Parana-Plata River, length of the, ii. 217
Parateca River, signs of diamonds in the,
ii. 284
Parauna River, the, ii. 75, 160 ; ferry on
diaraantine, ib.
the, ii. 76
Pan-ots, rare in the Matro Dentro, i. 297
Passagem Gold Mine, history of, i. 338
workmen at, i. 340 ;
visit to, i. 339
amount of ore raised at, i. 340; burial
service at, i. 341
Passagem, the village of, i. 312
Passion-flowers, indigene, s, i. 47
gold,

National Guard of the Brazil, i. 67n.
Negro, cannot live in presence of the white

man,

Oil,

i.

;

i.

414

dislike of mosquitos to

68

Oats, wild, occurrence of, ii. 77
Guinda, the miner town, ii. 92

;

;

INDEX.

47 i
Paulo
437

Affoiiso,

— 442

;

King of

llapius, jourucy to,

Potato, the American, i. 93
Potter^', Barba(?ena hand-made, i. 83
of
the Lugar da Cachoeira, cheajmess of, ii.

difficulty of procuring borses,

:

435; wretched muleteers, ii. 437;
advice to visitors, ii. 443
description

ii,

283

;

—

444 457
origin of
the name, ii, 447
legend respecting,
ib.
position of, misrepresented by geographers, ib.
height of, ii. 450 n.
probable age of, ii. 4 57
Pedra da Fortaleza, the, i. 43
Pedias, Southern Rio daSj ii. 112 diamond
mines of the, ii. 113
Pedras de furno, manufacture of, ii. S3
Penedo, Sena do, ii. 417
Pepper, varieties of, i. 103n.
an excellent stomachic, i. lOin.
native names
of, i. 104 n.
Petropo'is, altitude of, i. 28 n.
healthy
situation of, i. 31
abounds in mineral
springs, i. 31
population of, i. 33
Pbilodendron grandifolium, range of, ii.
92
Piabanha, Rio, i. 39
Piau fish, varieties of the, ii. 13 n.
Piedade River, the, ii. 173
Piedade, Serradi, i. 425; altitude of the,
i. 437
Pigeon, peculiar variety of, ii. 84
Pigmies in the Brazil, i. 59
Pilao Arcado, hamlet of, described, ii. 342
ruined by private wars, ii. 313
Pillory at ]\lariauna, i. 323
Pinho, Rio do, i. 64
Pintor, Serra do, ii. 331
Piquizeiro tree, the, ii. 262 n.
Pira fish, varieties of the, ii. 303 n.
Piracicava, Rio, i. 318
Piranha fish, the, ii. 33
Pirapora, meaning of the Avurd, ii. 199 ;
Rapids, visit to the, ii. 203
Piumhy, Serra do, meaning of the word, i.
150 n.
Planter, life of the, ii. 39
Plants, medicinal, of the Campos, i. 78
death of cattle from eating poisonous, i.
426
Plata, Rio da, i. 184
Platinum, found in Minas, i. 164
a lost
mine of, i. 165 supposed deposits of,
in the Serra Branca, ii. 296 n.
Poaya, a generic term for Ipecacuanha, i.
164
Poinsettia, the, i. 101
Polygamy, a necessity in the early history
of mankind, i. 1 15 n. morally justifiable
in new countries, i. 406
Ponche, uses of the, i. 147 n.
Pork, a favourite food in young lands, i.
104
Portugal, the most Roman of Latin countries, i. 208
Postal delivery, unknown at Sao Joan, i.
125
of the Falls,

ii.

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

Poultry, breeds

of,

37

i.

found in the crops

of,

Punso, the, described,

diamonds often
146 n.
101
;

ii.

i.

Campos, description of

Prairies or

the,

i.

70
Prata, Eio da, i. 177
Prescription, a valuable, i. 126
Preto, Rio, i. 45
Prickly pear Cactus, the, i. 94 n.
Procnias, species of, ii. 85 n.
Prostitution at Santa Lusia, ii. 10; not so
prevalent as formerly, i. 410 ; in Ntw

York, i. 410 n.
Provisions, p'rice of, at Guaicuhy, ii. 191;
at Villa da Barra, ii. 322 n.; at Joazeiro,
ii.

373

Psittacus, varieties
Psoriasis,

of, ii.

258

n.

successful treatment

common amongst
Francisco,

ii.

of,

i.

47;

the boatmen of the Sao

269

n.

Quicksilver, discovery of, at Bom Successo, ii. 69
Quilomba, application of the term, i. 145 n.
Quilombeiros, or black banditti, ii. 97
Quinine, the Poor Man's, ii. 28
Quipa cactus, cochineal insect on the, ii.
301 edible fig of, ii. 302, 329
Quixaba tree, the, numerous on the Sao
Francisco, ii. 253
;

Raft employed on

the Rio da Sao Fran2
Raihvaj^s in the ]5razi1, a failure, ii, 377
at Alagoa Dourada, laying the first chain
cisco, described,

ii.

;

of,

i.

152

27 n. ; at Gongo
286
Rainy season, symptoms of the, ii. 177
Ramalho, Kio, confusion respecting the, ii.
285
Rancharia, application of the word, i. 46 n.
Rancho, the, described, i. 102
Rapadura, peculiar to South America, i.
105
Rapids on the Rio das Velhas, not always
dangerous, ii. 37
das Alprecatas, ii.
19 ; the JMaquine, ii. 52; the Ounce, ii.
53
Rapids of the Pirapora, visit to the, ii.
203; a serious obstacle to navigation, ii.
204
Rapids of Paulo Aflfonso, described, ii. 443
Raposos de Sabard, parishry of, i. 281
Rattle-snake, habits of the, ii. 181
Recolhimento or Recluse House at Macahubas, visit to, ii. 15 ; object of the, ii. 1 7
Rainfall in Sao Paulo,

i.

Soco and Morro Velho,

;

i.

;

INDEX.
Recruiting, evils of,
llcdondo, village of,

ii.
i.

Rye, hardiness

38S
IQi

lled-skins, remains of the, ii.
llegistro Velho, Rio do, 1.-68

;

i.

237

the popular drink in J.Iinas, i.
190 a protection against ague, ii. 43
Retiro, meaning of the word, ii. 8
Revue des Deux Mondes, ignorance of, on
Brazilian subjects, ii. 47
Rhamphastus, the large-beaked, i. 40
Rheumatics, use of decoction of leaves of
the Ar oeira in, i. 77
Rio Bay, scenery of, i. 20 ; bird's eve view
Restilo,
;

28
Rio Piabanha, i. 39 ; Parahyba do Sul, i.
41
Parahybuna, i. 42 Preto, i. 45
do Pinho, i. 64
do Registro Velho, i.
6S Caieiro, i. 100 das Mortes, i. 108 ;
de Sao Joao, i. 112
Carandahy, i. 145;
Brumado, i, 146; Maranbao, i. 165;
da Prata, i. 177 da Plata, i. 184 das
Velhas, i. 191
Gongo, i. 300
Piracicava, i. 318
Grualaxo, i. '310
]\Iarianna, i. 337
Macahubas, i. 43'J; Vermelho, ii. 14; Jaboticatuba, ii. 38;
Parauna, ii. 75, 100
Southern Rio das
Pedias, ii. 112, 174
do Santo Antonio, ii. 156
Cururaatahy, ii. 165
Lavado, ii, 169; Piedade, ii. 173
Sao
Francisco, ii. 214
236: Paracatu, ii.
Pardo, ii. 254
242
Verde, ii. 275
Carunhanha, ii. 276 Rama^ho, ii. 285
do Corrente, ii. 295
Gi-ande, ii. 317
Rio de Janeiro, official list of immigrants
into during 1867, i. 6
viewed from the
Bay, i. 22; diamond cutting at, ii. 104n.;
of,

i.

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

—

;

;

;

;

;

to,

ii.

457

Road-rollers, French, in the virgin forest,

35
Roads, badness of the,
i.

costs of repairing,

i.

i.

57, 63, 100,

oS

;

137

;

difficulties of

—

of, tales

of the Jesuits at,

413
Rossa Grande Gold Mining Company, i. 288
Rotulo, Fazenda do, described, ii. 45
Rubiacese, poisonous to cattle, i. 428
Rush, the Tiririca, common on the streams,
ii. 274
ii.

93

;

bonfires
on the,
associated with the,

ib.

superstitions

;

149
St. John Del Rey Alining Company, sketch
of the, i. 132, 214
St, John Del Rey Gold Mine, past and present of the, i. 230
early workings of,
ib. ;'* improved prospects of the, i. 232
gold produced by the, during the years
1S37-1S66, i. 232n., 235 n.; declaration of dividend, i. 235
fire at, ib.
Salgado, Arraial do Brejo do, its present
state, ii. 266
romantic legend of the
i.

;

;

;

;

people's descent,

ib.

Salitre, Serra do,

ii.

Salsaparilla, the,

ii.

362
26

n.

i.
134 a necessity
260 value of, ii. 275
purification of, ii. 322
formation of,
at Chique-Chique, ii. 330
Salt-licks on
the Rios de Sao Francisco
and das Vellias, ii. 51

Salt, largely

imported,

in the Brazil,

;

ii.

;

;

;

caves of, ou the Rio das Velhas,
process of extracting, ii. 291

Saltpetre,
ii.

12

price

;

of,

ib.

Saniambaia, a pest of the Brazil, i. 27
Sambahyha, medicinal uses of the, ii. 25
Sand-dunes on the t^ao Francisco, ii, 326
Sandstone, flexible, i. 378
Santa JJarbara Gold Mining Co., history of
the, i. 307
Santa Lusia, first view

of, ii. 8
gold diggings at, ii. 9
fight at, ii. 10
Santa Maria, Ilha da Villa da, ruined
;

;

making, il).
Robberies at the diamond mines, ii. 118
Roya or Roghado, meaning of the word, i.
45 n.
Roga Grande, Serra do, i. 283
Rock formations of the Mantiqueira Range,
i. 64
Rock-inscriptions in Guyana, i. 12 n.; at
the Sitio da Icutiara, ii. 423
431 ;
known to the old travellers, ii. 425
Rocks, coloured, ii. 401
Rodellas, village

i.

Sahara., distant view of, i. 423; description
of the city, ib. ; high temperature of,
i. 429
local industries, ib. ; history of,
i.
431 ; population of, i. 432 ; victory
of, ib. ; a future for, i. 433
Saddlery, a specialty of Prados, i. 139 n.
S. Bartholomeu, Serra de, i. 282
St. John, Feast of, i. 147 ; Tree of, i. 148 ;

;

;

return

of,

271

Renianso, Villa do, bad approach to the, ii.
345 the tonm de?cribed, ii. oiQ
Repuxa Estate, a field for minins operations,

475

church on, ii, 399
Santa Rita gold mine, mortality of negroes
.

at,

i,

192

Santo Antonio, Strra de, i. 170, 176
Rio
de, ii. 156
Santo Antonio da Cisa Branca, i. 416
Santo Antonio do Rio das Velhas, Arraial
of, i. 191
Santo Ignacio, visit to the diamond diggings
at, ii. 336 ; origin of the diggings, ii.
;

Sao Francisco, Rio de, opening of to the
mercliant ships of all nations, i.4 junction of, wiih the Ptio das Velhas, ii. 1S7 ;
;

name

200 early exii.
201
vegetation of the, ii.
202
diamantine deposits of, ii. 205,
284, 286, 339, 422 trade winds of the,
ii. 208 ; the horse-boat wanted on,
ib. ;
of explained,

plorers,

ii.

;

;

;

;

INDEX.

476

the Barqneiro of the, ii. 209
source of
ii. 21 G;
direction and length of
the, ib. ; geology of the, ii. 218; glazed
rocks on the, ii. 219
iron deposits of
;

the,

;

the,

ii.

the,

221
223

wealth of the valley of

;

fish of the, ii. 223, 224,
;
considered as a line of communication, ii. 225; estimate for dealing the,
ii. 229
232 steam navigation on the,
ii.
234, 375, 378 ; proposed creation
of a new Province on the, ib. ; " steamboat islands" on the, ii. 251
storms
on the, ii. 294, 297, 345, 404; accidents common on the, ii. 324
legends

303

ii.

;

—

;

;

;

and

365 ;
life on the, ii. 366
immunity from
sickness on the, ii. 367 the true system
for ex| loiting the, ii. 378
boatmen of
the, ii. 390, 433
the good rapids on
the, ii. 393
fertility of land on the, ii.
380, 399 ; bad rapids on the, ii. 408 the
smooths on the, ii. 416 ; rock inscriptions on tlie, ii. 423
Fao Gon^alo of the Good Girls, ii. Ill
Sao Juao d'El-Rei, introduction to Dr.
Lee and Professor Copsy at, i. 113
the
city described, i. 114
census of, i. 115;
uncentral position of, i. 117; revenue
superstitions

of

the,

ii.

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

of,

ib.

]\lunicipal

;

Library
118';

of,

ib.

the

schools,

Kxternato,

119

i.

Palace,

;

ib.

;

men

literary

;

ib.

;

Public
of,

i.

smaller

Casa de i\liserichurch of the

{<anta

cordia,

account of, ib.
Sao Francisco, visit to, i. 121—124
J ost Office at, i.
125
atrocious paving
of, i. 128; abundance of water in, ib.
the Igreja Matriz, i. 130
N» S=» de
Carma, church of, ib.
its industry at
alow ebb, i. 133; exports and imports
of, i. 134 n.
beggars at, i. 136; itinerary to, from Bom Successo, ii. 72 n.
Sao Joao, Rio de, i. 112 Serra de, i. 131
Sao Joao de Descoberto, Arraial of, described, ii. 128
Sao Joao do Morro Grande, parishry of, i.
306
Sao Jose, Serra de i. 139
Sao Jos4 d'El-Rei, I\ratriz of, i. 140
;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

—

142; early history of, i. 142; population of, i. 142 n.
failure of gold mine
at, i. 143
trade of, ib.
Jose Bafcilio da
;

;

Gama

born

;

at,

ib.

Sao Paulo, rainfall in the Province of, i.
27 n.
large deposits of copal in, i. 126
gipsies rare in, i. 163
increase of popu;

;

;

lation in,

i.

396

Sao Romao, early history of, ii. 244 description of the town, ii. 246
population
;

;

of,

ii,

248

;

well situated for trade,

ii.

249
Sao Vicente, village and mine of, i. 417
Sapucaia tree, the, i. 120
danger of sleeping un ler, ib.
;

Schinus terebinthifolius, decoction of leaves
of, used in rheumatic pains, i. 77
Scissar fish, the, ii. 33 n.
Seasons in the Brazil, i. 21 n.
Sento Se, Villa de, descriheil, ii. 356 ; indolence of people
at,

at,

ii.

357

;

the

women

358

ii.

Serpents, Brazilian, ii. ISO
Serra dos Orgaos, i. 24; das Aboboras,

i.

43; do Espinhago, i. 62; da Ibitipoca,
i. 66
do Lenheiro, i. 112 de Sao Joao,
i. 131
do Corrego, i 138 de Sao Jose,
i.
139
das Taipas, i. 149; de Ouro
Branco, i. 164
da Boa Morte, i. 165
de Santo Antonio, i. 176 de Casa Branca,
i.
182
de S. Bartholomeu, i. 282
Roca Grande, i. 286; de Cocaes, i. 306
do Cara^a, i. 309
da Batea, i. 315 de
Ouro Preto, i. 321
da Itacolumi, i.
378 dx Piedade, i. 425 do Baldirn, ii.
29 do Buni, ii. 74 da Contagem, ii.
78
do Curumatahy, ii. 165
do Brcjo,
ii.
174
Branca, ii. 296
do Boqueilao, ii. 297
do
de ArassutI, ii. 312
Pintor, ii. 331
da Cumieira, ii. 358
do Cachoeira and do Sobrado, ii. 364;
da Castanhera, ib. do Salitre, ib.
do
Oroco, ii. 400; das Caiahybas, ib. ; do
Aracapa, ib.
Sertao, origin of word, ii. 156 n.
;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

;

Servants, demand for house, i. 7
Sheep, poorness of, i. 36 ; breeding of, at
Chique-Chique, ii. 330 ; price of animals, ib.
Silk-cotton-tree, the,

i.

157

Silkworm,

indigenous species of, i. 94
the Valley of the Siio Francisco adapted

for the,

;

ii.

223

Sincora, Seira de, one of the richest diamond
districts in the Brazil, ii. 286
Siriema or Serpent bird, i. 57
ii. 26
Slate quarry on the Carunhanha River, ii,
;

276
Slave labour, inferiority of, i. 11 5n.
the
Southern States could not have been
cleared of jungle without, ib. ; probable
speedy extinction of, i. 269; statistics
;

respecting,

272

i.

n.

—

Slaves imported ia the years 1847
1851,
number of, i. 5 n. ; importation of, prohibited, i. 5
humane treatment of the,
i.
270 ; have many of the rights of
freemen, i. 271
Sloth or candelabra tree, a noticeable
feature in the woodlands, i. 283
Smuggling in the Brazil, i. 47
Snakes, varieties of, ii. 181 ; bites of, how
;

treated,

ii.

182, 274 n.

Sobradiuho, Cachoeira do, estimated expense of making navigable for steamers,
ii.

365

Sobrado,

Sena

do,

ii,

36

t

Society in the Brazil, divisions

of,

i.

262

INDEX.
Soil, richness of Brazilian, i. 55
Solanacese of the Campos, i. 77
Solitude, pleasures of, ii. 70
Songs, specimens of Brazilian, i. 154
Southerners,
immigration of, into

Brazil,

419

5,

i.

;

and

jjluck

Tobacco, excellence of Brazilian, i. 6S, 94 ;
aromatic Brazilian, ii. 68
price of, at
Januaria, ii. 266
Tocantins River, length of the, ii. 217
Tombador, Serrote do, an iron hill, ii. 350
Trahira fish, numerous in the Sao Francisco,
;

the

spirit of,

i.

420
in Minas,

i.

large consumption

ardent,

157
of,

on,

101

ii.

Sponsors in the Brazil, i. 80
Spoonbills, not improved by civilization,

ii.

328
Sport, over-love for, in the Brazil, ii. 126
Statuary, excellence of wooden, i. 124
Steam navigation of the Bios das Velhas
and Sao Francisco, ii. 233, 234, 375,

378
Stiuk-plant of the Mississippi Valley, found
on the Sao Francisco, ii. 274
Stocks, village, at the Sitio do Mato, ii.

296
Storm, signs of an approaching, ii. 206 ; on
the Sao'' Francisco, ii. 294, 297, 345, 404
Stone Age in the Brazil, i. 178
Stones, quaint, ii. 110
Stramonium, alkaloid

known

well

of,

ii. 97 n.
orthography and derivation of word, i. 162 n.
Sugar, culture of, supplanting cotton, i. 6
manufacture of, on the Rio das Velhas,
ii. 41 n.

162

i.

;

;

Sumidouro or Sinker, the, ii. 29
Sunstroke, freedom from, in the Brazil,
;

211, 396
fish, the,
ii.

plentiful in the Sao Fran-

276

Suspension bridge, primitive,
Minas, i. 428

Swamps, variety of plants

i.

llln,

in the,

Sweet potato, varieties of the,

ii.

i.

10

in

;

72
n.

i.

;

ib.

—

342

Tubers, abundance of, i. 93
Tucum Palm, uses of the, ii. 349
Tupvs, larceny unknown amongst the,
Turf, process for compressing, i. 66
Tzetze, grub of the, cattle attacked by,

36; death caused by,

;

;

;

for the bites of the, ib.

Tiradentes. the leader of the Inconfidents,
;

execution

37

i.

n.

;

;

vegetation of the country near, ib.
Urumbeba (Cactus spinosus) indigenous,

of,

i.

3:'2

i.

94

of the,
Vanilla,

i.

the,

i.

107; mode of attack

108

indigenous,

i.

127;

artificial

cundation of, i. 127 n.
Vanella cayennesis, the, ii, 179
Vapour bath, rule form of, i. 78
^'arzea

Redonda described,

ii.

432

fe-

n.
;

healthy

73

ation on the, ii. 1 ; troublesome feacattle breeding on
tures of the, ii. 7
bridges over the, ii. 11, 28
the, ii. 8
saltpetre caves on the, ii, 12 ; fish in
the, ib. ; scarcity of game on the, ii.
13 cotton plantation on the, ii. 14 ;
;

;

first steamer on the, ii. 20
attempts to turn the bed of the, ii. 36
shooting the Maquine Rapids on the, ii.
52 the Ounce Rapids, ii. 53; cordelling
behaviour of boors on
on the, ii. 61
the Saco do Picao on the,
the, ii. 62
land on the, suited for
ii. 159 ; cheap

wreck of the

l-i8
;

346

i.

or arrow-reed, the, ii. 19, 43
Uniao e LiJustria road, i. 35
Urubu, the town of, dangerous climate of,
ii. 299
unfittel for a capital, ii. 300

;

a
Tick (Ixiodes), varieties of the, i. 158
attacks cattle
general nuisance, i. 159
habitats of, i. 160
and horses, ib.

remedy

i.

464

;

180

Thermae de Sao Jose, temperature and comi.

;

Velhas, Rio das, headwaters of the, i. 177;
derivation of the name, i. 178; embark-

Tejuco, etymology of word, i 112 n.
Theatres, number of, in the Brazil, i. 194
of,

59

;

i.

ii.

position

ii.

vegetation

climate of, ii. 435
Vegetation of the Cisandine valley of the
Amazons River, i. 292 ; in the tropics,
killed by grass buraing,
i. 32, ii. 380 ;

Taipas, Serra das, i. 149
Tauatinga, meaning of the word, i. 62 n.
Tea plant, the, formerly cultivated, i. 94
plantations at Comargos, i. 321
Teixeira, incivility at,

;

Travellers in the Brazil, former, i. 1
3 ;
how to make comfortable, i. 187
Travessia, meaning of word, ii. 237
Tree-ferns, extensive range of, i. 296
Tropics, influence of the moon in the, i.
243 depressing influences of life in the,

Vampire Bat,

Superstitions, lake, ii. 34 of thebarqueiro,
or waterman of the Sao Francisco, ii.

cisco,

60

i.

58

Surubim

ferries at,

ii.

Uba
principle

to the negroes,

Suasuhy,

276

Santa Anna de,

the village described,

i.

of,

remarks

n.,

Trabira.s,

405
Spirit rapping,

i.

27

ii.

common

Spinning wlieel,
Spirits,

477

;

;

;

;

;

INDEX.

478
emigrants,

ih.

clearing the,

estimate of M. Lai as for

;

Vellozias or tree-lilies, the, described, ii. 77
Yenda, the, described, i. 102
Verbena virgata, used as a cure for snake
bites,

i.

137

Verde, Kio, a salt stream,

Vermelho, Rio, ii.
Vermin, Brazilian,
Vespertilio Naso,
i.

ii.

275

1-i
ii.

171, 187

sufferings of cattle from,

107

to,

ii.

109

Vines, produce and ripening of, ii, 374
Vulture, the Urubu, i. 5(3; ii. 85, 292,

ii.

309

of the,

;

310

ii.

205 n.
Wheat, liable

to rust, i. 93 n.
Willow, occurrence of a dwarf,
Windy Rivulet, the, ii. 78
Wine, orange, recipe for, i. 88
Wolf, the Guara, ii. 54 n.
Women, on tlie employment

353

ii.

u.

of,

in field

392 live in semi-seclusion, i.
408 treatment of, in various countries,
ib.
toilettes of, at Santo Se, ii. 358
Wood age in the Brazil, i. 178 n.
Worm, the Minhocao monster, ii. 351
labour,

Vespucci, Amerigo, note respecting, ii. 200
Vidigal's (Sr. Francisco Leite) diamond

mine, visit

candles made from the
grove of, ii. 833
;
Weights, old Portuguese gold, table of, i.
of the,

wax

229

ii.

i.

:

;

;

333

XiQUEXiQUE
the,

ii,

cactus,

venomous thorns

of

292

Washerwomen,

grotesque, ii. 376
Water, abundance of, in the sea-range of
the Brazil, i. 27
Water-hog, the, i. 43; flesh of the, i. 44n.
Wax-palm, habitat of the, ii. £08 ; uses

Yellow Fever

in the Brazil,
of altitude on, i. 31 n.

Ypoeira, the, described,

ii.

i.

30

;

effect

239

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