The tide is very apparent at Gurupá. The river fell several feet during the morning whilst we were there. This point is about five hundred miles from the sea.
After we had sailed, the Commandante-militar, to whom I had applied for more men, and who had told me there were none to be had, sent a man in a canoe after us. I suspected so much courtesy, and found, accordingly, that the man (a negro) was a cripple, and utterly worthless. He had evidently been palmed off upon us to get rid of him. I made him feed the birds and cook for the men. These men made the best and hardest-working crew I had during my voyage.
About thirty-five miles below Gurupá commences the great estuary of the Amazon. The river suddenly flares out into an immense bay, which is probably one hundred and fifty miles across in its widest part. This might appropriately be called the "Bay of the Thousand Islands," for it is cut up into innumerable channels. The great island of Marajo, which contains about ten thousand square miles, occupies nearly the centre of it, and divides the river into two great channels: one, the main channel of the Amazon, which runs out by Cayenne; and the other, and smaller one, the river of Pará. I imagine that no chart we have gives anything like a correct idea of this bay. The French brig-of-warBoulonnaise, some years ago, passed up the main channel from Cayenne to Obidos, and down the Pará channel, making a survey. But she had only time to make a survey of the channels through which she passed, leaving innumerable others unexplored. This she was permitted to do through the liberality of Senhor Coelbo, the patriotic President of theprovince; but when she applied for permission to make further surveys, she was sternly refused by the government of Rio Janeiro.
I think it would cost a steamer a year of uninterrupted labor to make a tolerably correct chart of this estuary.
At this point we turned into a small creek that penetrated the right bank, and ran for days through channels varying from fifty to five hundred yards in width, between innumerable islands. This is the India-rubber country. The shores of the islands were all low; and, indeed, we seldom saw the land at all, the trees on the banks generally standing in the water.
We stopped (April 3) at one of the establishments on the river for making, or rather for buying, India-rubber. The house was built of light poles, and on piles to keep it out of the water, which, at this time, flowed under and around it. The owner had a shop containing all the necessaries of life, and such articles of luxury as were likely to attract the fancy of the Indian gatherers of the rubber. It was strange, and very agreeable, to see flour-barrels markedRichmond, and plain and striped cottons fromLowellandSaco, with English prints, pewter ear and finger rings, combs, small guitars, cheese, gin, and aguadiente, in this wild and secluded-looking spot.
This house was a palace to the rude shanty which theseringero, or gatherer of the rubber, erects for a temporary shelter near the scene of his labors.
The owner of the house told me that the season for gathering the rubber, orseringa, as it is here called, was from July to January. The tree gives equally well at all times; but the work cannot be prosecuted when the river is full, as the whole country is then under water. Some, however, is made at this time, for I saw a quantity of it in this man's house, which was evidently freshly made.
The process of making it is as follows: A longitudinal gash is made in the bark of the tree with a very narrow hatchet or tomahawk; a wedge of wood is inserted to keep the gash open, and a small clay cup is stuck to the tree beneath the gash. The cups may be stuck as close together as possible around the tree. In four or five hours the milk has ceased to run, and each wound has given from three to five tablespoonfuls. The gatherer then collects it from the cups, takes it to his rancho, pours it into an earthen vessel, and commences the operation of forming it into shapes and smoking it. This must be done at once, as the milk soon coagulates.
A fire is made on the ground of the seed of nuts of a palm-tree, of which there are two kinds: one called urucari, the size of a pigeon'segg, though longer; and the other inajá, which is smaller. An earthen pot, with the bottom knocked out, is placed, mouth down, over the fire, and a strong pungent smoke from the burning seeds comes up through the aperture in the bottom of the inverted pot.
The maker of the rubber now takes his last, if he is making shoes, or his mould, which is fastened to the end of a stick; pours the milk over it with a cup, and passes it slowly several times through the smoke until it is dry. He then pours on the other coats until he has the required thickness; smoking each coating until it is dry.
Moulds are made either of clay or wood; if of wood, it is smeared with clay, to prevent the adhesion of the milk. When the rubber has the required thickness, the moulds are either cut out or washed out.
Smoking changes the color of the rubber very little. After it is prepared, it is nearly as white as milk, and gets its color from age.
The most common form of the India-rubber of commerce is that of a thick bottle; though it is also frequently made in thick sheets, by pouring the milk over a wooden mould, shaped like a spade, and, when it has a coating sufficiently thick, passing a knife around three sides of it, and taking out the mould. I should think this the least troublesome form, and the most convenient for transportation.
From twenty to forty coats make a pair of shoes. The soles and heels are, of course, given more coats than the body of the shoe. The figures on the shoes are made by tracing them on the rubber whilst soft with a coarse needle or bit of wire. This is done in two days after the coating. In a week the shoes are taken from the last. The coating occupies about twenty-five minutes.
An industrious man is able to make sixteen pounds of rubber a day; but the collectors are not industrious. I heard a gentleman in Pará say that they rarely average more than three or four pounds.
The tree is tall, straight, and has a smooth bark. It sometimes reaches a diameter of eighteen inches or more. Each incision makes a rough wound on the tree, which, although it does not kill it, renders it useless, because a smooth place is required to which to attach the cups. The milk is white and tasteless, and may be taken into the stomach with impunity.
The rubber is frequently much adulterated by the addition of tapioca or sand, to increase its weight; and, unless care is taken in the manufacture, it will have many cells, containing air and water. Water is seen to exude from nearly all of it when cut, which is always done for the purpose of examination before purchase. I brought home some specimens that were more than half mud.
The seringeros generally work on their own account, and take their collection to the nearest settlement, or to some such shop as this, to exchange it for such things as they stand in need of.
We navigated all day, after leaving this place, through a labyrinth of island channels, generally one or two hundred yards wide, and forty-eight feet deep. No land is seen in threading these channels, it being all covered; and the trees and bushes seem growing out of the water. Occasionally the bushes are cleared away, and one sees a shanty mounted on piles in the water, the temporary residence of a seringero. At a place in one of these channels, I was surprised to find one hundred and ninety-two feet of water, with a rocky bottom. The lead hung in the rocks, so that we had difficulty in getting it again.
April 4.—The channels and shores are as before; though we occasionally see a patch of ground with a house on it. This is generally surrounded with cocoa-nut trees and other palms, among which themiritiis conspicuous for its beauty. This is a very tall, straight, umbrella-like tree, that bears large clusters of a small nut, which is eaten.
We arrived atBreves, on the island of Marajo, at 11 a. m. This settlement is about two hundred miles below Gurupá. It is a depot of India-rubber, and sends annually about three thousand arrobas to Pará. It has a church, and several shops; and seems a busy, thriving place. Below this we find the flood-tide sufficiently strong to compel us to lie by, though it is but of three or four hours' duration. The ebb is of longer duration, and stronger.
Nearly opposite Breves, at a place called Portal, a village of sixty or eighty houses, two rivers, called thePucajashandGuanapu, empty into the Amazon close together. A German, whom I met at Pará, told me of these rivers. I can find no mention of them in Baena's essay. My German friend said that thePucajashwas a large river which came down from the province ofMinas Geraes, and that he had found gold in its sands. According to his account, thePucajashmay be ascended for eight days in a montaria (quite equal to twenty days in a river craft) before the first rapids are reached. Tapuios and boats may be had at Portal. The savages who inhabit the banks of thePucajashare nearly white; go naked; but are civil, and may be employed as hunters.
We employed the 5th, 6th, and 7th of April in running through island passages, and occasionally touching on the main stream, anchoring during the flood-tide.
I could keep no account of the tide in these passages. We would encounter two or three different tides in three or four hours. I imagine the reason of this was that some of the passages were channels properof the Amazon; some of them small, independent rivers; and some, again, furos, or other outlets of these same rivers. On the morning of the 7th, we were running down on the main river, here about three miles wide, and with a powerful ebb-tide. Suddenly we turned to the right, or southward, into a creek about forty yards wide, and with twelve feet of water, and found a small tide against us. After pulling up this creek an hour, we found a powerful tide in our favor, without having observed that we had entered another stream; so that from 5 a. m. to 3 p. m., we had had but a small tide of one hour against us.
I could get no information from our pilot. He seems to me to say directly contrary things about it. The old man is very timid, and will never trust himself in the stormy waters of the main river if he can find a creek, though it go a long distance about.
The channels are so intricate that we find, at the bifurcations, bits of sail cloth hung on the bushes, to guide the navigators on the route to Pará. Those channels which lead to Cametá, on the Tocantins, and other places, are not marked.
We passed occasionally farm houses, with mills for grinding sugar-cane. The mills are as rude as those in Mainas, and I believe make nothing but rum.
At 8 p. m. on the 7th, we arrived at the mouth of the creek, which debouches upon the bay ofLimoeiro, a deep indentation of the right bank of the Amazon, at the bottom of which is the mouth of the river Tocantins. We had a stormy night, with a fresh wind from the eastward, and much rain, thunder, and lightning.
April 8.—The pilot objected to attempt the passage of the bay; but another pilot, who was waiting to take a vessel across the next day, encouraged him, telling him that he would havefeliz viagem.
We pulled a mile to windward, and made sail across, steering E. S. E. The wind from the northward and eastward, encountering the ebb-tide which runs from the southward, soon made a sharp sea, which gave us a rough passage. The canoe containing our animals and birds, which was towing astern, with our crippled negro from Gurupá steering, broke adrift, and I had the utmost difficulty in getting her again; indeed we took in so much water in our efforts to reach her that I thought for a moment that I should have to make sail again, and abandon the menagerie. The canoe, however, would probably not have perished. She was so light that she took in little water, and would have drifted with the ebb-tide to some point of safety.
We had a quick run to an island near the middle of the bay, and about five miles from the shore that we sailed from. The bay on thisside of the island has several sand-flats, that are barely covered at low water. They seem entirely detached from the land and have deep water close around them.
Our pilot must have steered by instinct, or the direction of the wind; for most of the time he could see no land, so thick and heavy was the rain. He grinned with delight when we ran under the lee of the island, and I nodded my head approvingly to him, and said,bem feito piloto, (well done pilot.)
We breakfasted on the island, and ran with the flood-tide to its southern extremity; where, turning to the north, we had the flood against us, and were compelled to stop.
The Bay ofLimoeirois about ten miles wide; runs north and south, and has the Tocantins pouring in at its southern extremity. Thirty-nine miles from the mouth of that river is situated the flourishing town of Cametá, containing, by the official statement for 1848, thirteen thousand seven hundred and forty-two free, and four thousand and thirty-eight slave inhabitants. I suppose in this case, as in others, the inhabitants of the country houses for miles around are included in the estimate.
Baena, in speaking of the condition of this town in 1833, says:
"The city and its 'termo' (a territorial division of a Comarca, which is again a territorial division of a province) has a population of eight thousand and sixty-eight whites, and one thousand three hundred and eighty-two slaves. The major part are to be found in the town on holy-week, or any of the great festivals; but for the most time, they live dispersed among the adjacent islands, on their cocoa plantations and farms.
"They cultivate mandioc, cocoa, cotton, rice, tobacco, urucu, and sugar-cane. They make much oil from the andiroba nut, which they collect on the islands, and also lime from fossil shells.
"The women paint gourds and make ewers and basins of white clay, which they paint very beautifully. They also make figures of turtle doves and crocodiles from the same clay.
"The inhabitants enjoy a fine climate, charming views, the clear and good water of the river, abundance of fish, and every kind of game, which is found on the margin of the river and on the islands—such is the fertility which nature spontaneously offers; and much more would they enjoy had they a better system of cultivation on those lands, all admirably fitted for every kind of labor.
"There are those who say that the water of the Tocantins has a certain subtle, petrifying quality, which causes attacks of gravel to those who use it."
According to M. Castelnau, who descended this river from near thecity ofGoyaz, by one of its tributaries, called theCrixas, the Tocantins forks, at about three hundred and forty miles from its mouth, into two great branches, called the Tocantins proper and theAraguay, which latter branch he considers the principal stream. "For," he says, "when we consider that the Tocantins presents an almost continued succession of cascades and rapids, whilst the Araguay (as we have before said) is free for the greater part of its course, it will be seen how this latter offers greater advantages for navigation; particularly when it is recollected that one may embark upon it at all seasons at fifty leagues from the capital, (Goyaz,) and in the rainy seasons at only a very few leagues from it. The Tocantins, on the other hand, cannot be considered navigable farther up than Porto Imperial, which is nearly three hundred leagues below Goyaz, by the windings of the route."
Again, he says: "The rivers of which we have been treating, although they are secondary on a continent watered by the Amazon and Mississippi, would elsewhere be considered as of the first order; for the Tocantins has nearly four hundred and forty leagues of course, and the Araguay, properly so called, has not less than four hundred and twenty. But this last, after uniting itself to the Tocantins, runs in the bed of the latter a new distance of one hundred and thirteen leagues; considering, then, the Araguay, on account of its being the larger branch, and the most direct in its course, as the main river, it has a total length of nearly five hundred and thirty-three leagues," (1,599 miles.)
It is necessary, however, in ascending these rivers, to unload the boats at many places, and drag them over the rocks with cords. The voyage from Porto Imperial to Pará occupies from twenty-five to thirty days; but upwards it takes from four to five months.
M. Castelnau descended the Araguay from Salinas (fifty leagues by land from Goyaz) to its junction with the Tocantins in thirty-four days. Just below Salinas he found the Araguay upwards of five hundred yards wide. At the junction of the rivers, the Tocantins has a width of two thousand yards, with a current of three-fourths of a mile per hour. The height of this point above the level of the sea is one hundred and ninety-seven feet, and its distance from Pará, in a straight line, is about one hundred and sixty-one miles; thus giving the river in this distance a fall of about eight-tenths of a foot per mile.
We crossed the other arm of the bay (about five miles wide) with the ebb-tide, and anchored at the mouth of a small river calledAnapui, which empties into the bay near its opening into the main river of Pará.
There are large mud flats near the mouth of this river, which are enclosed with small stakes driven in the mud close together, for the purpose of taking fish when the tide is out. A great many small fish—about the size of a herring—calledmapará, are taken and salted for the food of the slaves and tapuios. The fishermen, in ludicrously small canoes, gathered around us, admiring our birds and asking many strange questions.
This river is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, and has a general depth of thirty-six feet. Its banks are lined with plantations of cane, sugar-mills, and potteries. Nearly all the rum and the pots for putting up the turtle-oil that are used on the river, are made in this district. The owners of these establishments are nearly all away at this time celebrating holy-week in Sta. Ana, or other neighboring villages.
The establishments are left in charge of domestics; and we saw no signs of activity or prosperity among them. Most of them have neat little chapels belonging to them.
The river Sta. Ana empties into theAnapui. We anchored at its mouth to await for the flood-tide. Our pilot, who always sleeps on the arched covering over the stern of the boat, rolled overboard in the night. The tide was fortunately nearly done, and the old man swam well, or he would have been lost.
The village of Sta. Ana is eight miles from the mouth of the river, and two hundred and fifty miles below Breves. It is the centre of the rum and molasses trade of the district. It is a small, neat looking village of about five hundred inhabitants; but the country around is very thickly settled; and thus the official account states the population of the town ofIgarapé Mirim(which I take to be this Sta. Ana) at three thousand one hundred free persons, with two hundred and eighty-one slaves.
The river opposite the town is one hundred yards wide, and has a depth of thirty feet. Just above the village we entered the mouth of a creek calledIgarapé Mirim. This creek has an average width of thirty yards, and depth, at this season, of fifteen feet.
Six miles of navigation on this creek brought us to a canal which connects the Sta. Ana with the riverMojú.
The canal is about a mile long, and has six feet of depth at this season. It seems, at present, in good condition, and large enough to give passage to a vessel of fifty tons.
We found the Mojú a fine stream, of about four hundred yards in width, and forty-five feet deep opposite the entrance of the canal. Thewater was brown and clear, and the banks everywhere three or four feet out of the water. I was surprised to see so few houses on its banks. It looked very nearly as desolate as the Marañon in Peru.
Forty-five miles of descent of the Mojú brought us to the junction of the Acará, which comes in from the southeast. The estuary formed by the junction of the two rivers is about two and a half miles wide, and is called the riverGuajará.
Five miles of descent of the Guajará brought us to its entrance into the Pará river, five miles above the city, where we arrived at half-past 9 p. m. on the 11th of April.
I was so worn out when we arrived, that, although I had not heard from home, and knew that there must be letters here for me, I would not take the trouble to go to the consul's house to seek them; but sending Mr. Potter and the Frenchman ashore to their families, I anchored in the stream, and, wrapping myself in my blanket, went sullenly to sleep.
The charm of Mr. Norris's breakfast table next morning, however, with ladies and children seated around it, conversing in English, might have waked the dead. Under the care and kindness of himself and his family, I improved every hour; and was soon in condition to see what was to be seen, and learn what was to be learned, of the city of Pará.
Pará.
The city ofSanta Maria de Belem do Graõ Pará, founded byFrancisco Caldeira do Castello Branco, in the year 1616, is situated on a low elbow of land at the junction of the river Guamá with the river Pará, and at a distance of about eighty miles from the sea.
A ship generally requires three tides, which run with a velocity of about four miles to the hour, to reach the sea from the city.
Pará is not fortified, either by land or water. There is a very small and inefficient fort situated on an island about five miles below the city; but it is only armed with a few ill-conditioned field-pieces, which do not command the channel. There is also a small battery in the city near the point of junction of the two rivers; but there are no guns mounted, and its garrison could be easily driven out by musketry from the towers of the cathedral.
The harbor is a very fine one; it is made by the long island of Onças in front, and at two miles distant, with some smaller ones further down the river. There is an abundance of water, and ships of any size may lie within one hundred and fifty yards of the shore. There is a good landing-place for boats and lighters at the custom-house wharf; and at half tide at the stone wharf, some five hundred yards above.
The corporation was engaged, during my stay, in building a strong stone sea-wall all along in front of the town. This will make a new wide street on the water-front, and prevent smuggling. Formerly, canoes, at high stages of the river, would land cargoes surreptitiously in the very cellars of the warehouses situated on the river.
The city is divided into the freguezias, or parishes, of Sé and Campina. Nine other freguezias are included in themunicipioof the capital; but many of these are leagues distant, and should not geographically be considered as belonging to the city, or their population be numbered in connexion with it.
The population of the city proper numbered, in 1848, (the last statistical account I have, and which I think would differ very little from a census taken at this time,) nine thousand two hundred and eighty-four free persons, and four thousand seven hundred and twenty-six slaves.The number of inhabited houses was two thousand four hundred and eighteen; of births, seven hundred and eighty-five; of marriages, ninety-eight; of deaths, three hundred and seventy-five; and of resident foreigners, seven hundred and eighty-four.
Pará was a remarkably healthy place, and entirely free from epidemics of any kind, until February, 1850, when the yellow fever was taken there by a vessel from Pernambuco. It was originally brought from the coast of Africa to Bahia, and spread thence along the coast. The greatest malignancy of the disease was during the month of April, when it carried off from twenty to twenty-five a day.
About the same time the next year, (the fever being much diminished,) the small pox broke out with great violence. About twenty-five per cent. of the population died from the two diseases. I imagine that the city will now never be entirely free from either; and the filthy condition in which the low tide leaves the slips, in which lie the small trading craft, must be a fruitful source of malaria, and an ever-exciting cause of epidemic.
The crews of these vessels, with their families, generally live in them. They are consequently crowded; and, when the tide is out, they lie on their sides, imbedded in a mass of refuse animal and vegetable matter, rotting and festering under a burning sun.
Pará, however, is an agreeable place of residence, and has a delightful climate. The sun is hot till about noon, when the sea breeze comes in, bringing clouds with rain, thunder, and lightning, which cool and purify the atmosphere, and wash the streets of the city. The afternoon and evening are then delicious. This was invariable during my stay of a month.
The rich vegetable productions of the country enhance much the beauty of the city. In nearly all the gardens grow the beautiful miriti palm, the cabbage palm, the cocoa nut, the cinnamon, the bread-fruit tree, and rich green vines of black pepper. The rapidity of vegetable growth here is wonderful. Streets opened six months ago in the suburbs of the city, are now filled up with bushes of thestramonium, or Jamestown weed, of full six feet in height. There are a number of almond trees in various parts of the town, which are very ornamental. These trees throw out horizontal branches, encircling the trunk at intervals of five or six feet, the lowest circle being the largest, so that they resemble in shape a Norfolk pine. Mr. Norris and I thought it remarkable that, in a row of these trees planted before a house or line of houses, those nearest the door were invariably the farthest advanced in growth. This we particularly remarked in the case of a row planted before the barracks,in two parts of the city. The tree under which the sentinel stood, in both cases, was the largest of the row.
We saw, in a walk in the suburbs of the town, what we thought to be a palm tree growing out of the crotch of a tree of a different species; but, upon examination, it appeared that the tree, out of which the palm seemed growing, was a creeper, which, embracing the palm near the ground, covered its trunk entirely for fifteen or twenty feet, and then threw off large branches on each side. It may seem strange to call that a creeper, which had branches of at least ten inches in diameter; but so it was. It is called in Cuba the parricide tree, because it invariably kills the tree that supports it. (Har. Mag. January, 1853.)
The most picturesque object, however, in Pará was the ruins of an old opera house near the palace. The luxuriant vegetation of the country has seized upon it, and it presents pillar, arch, and cornice of the most vivid and beautiful green.
The society of Pará is also agreeable. The men, I am sorry to say, seem to be above work. Most of them areHidalgos, or gentlemen; and nearly all are in the employ of the government, with exceedingly small salaries. In the whole city of Pará, I am told, there are not a dozen Brazilians engaged in trade of any kind. The women are simple, frank, and engaging in their manners, and very fond of evening parties and dancing. I attended a ball, which is given monthly by a society of gentlemen, and was much pleased at the good taste exhibited in its management. Full dress was forbidden. No one was permitted to appear in diamonds; and the consequence was, that all the pretty girls of the merely respectable classes, as well as of the rich, were gathered together, and had a merry time of it.
But the principal charm of Pará, as of all other tropical places, is theDolce far niente. Men, in these countries, are not ambitious. They are not annoyed, as the more masculine people of colder climates are, to see their neighbors going ahead of them. They are contented to live, and to enjoy, without labor, the fruits which the earth spontaneously offers; and, I imagine, in the majority of cases, if a Brazilian has enough food, of even the commonest quality, to support life, coffee or tea to drink, cigars to smoke, and a hammock to lie in, that he will be perfectly contented.
This, of course, is the effect of climate. There was a time when the Portuguese nation, in maritime and scientific discoveries—in daring explorations—in successful colonization—in arts and arms—was inferior to no other in proportion to its strength; and I have very little doubt but that the bold and ambitious Englishman, the spirited and cosmopolitanFrenchman, and the hardy, persevering, scheming American, who likes little that any one should go ahead of him, would alike, in the course of time, yield to the relaxing influence of a climate that forbids him to labor, and to the charm of a state of things where life may be supported without the necessity of labor.
To make, then, the rich and varied productions of this country available for commercial purposes, and to satisfy the artificial wants of man, it is necessary that labor should be compulsory. To Brazil and her political economists belongs the task of investigation, and of deciding how, and by what method, this shall be brought about.
The common sentiment of the civilized world is against the renewal of the African slave trade; therefore must Brazil turn elsewhere for the compulsory labor necessary to cultivate her lands. Her Indians will not work. Like thellamaof Peru, they will die sooner than do more than is necessary for the support of their being. I am under the impression that, were Brazil to throw off a causeless jealousy, and a puerile fear of our people, and invite settlers to the Valley of the Amazon, there might be found, among our Southern planters, men, who, looking with apprehension (if not for themselves, at least for their children) to the state of affairs as regards slavery at home, would, under sufficient guarantees, remove their slaves to that country, cultivate its lands, draw out its resources, and prodigiously augment the power and wealth of Brazil.
The negro slave seems very happy in Brazil. This is remarked by all foreigners; and many times in Pará was a group of merry, chattering, happy-looking black women, bringing their baskets of washed clothes from the spring, pointed out to me, that I might notice the evils of slavery. The owners of male slaves in Pará generally require from each four or five testoons a day, (twenty testoons make a dollar,) and leave him free to get it as he can. The slaves organize themselves into bands or companies, elect their captain, who directs and superintends their work, and contract with a certain number of mercantile houses to do their porterage. The gang which does the porterage for Mr. Norris, and for nearly all the English and American houses, numbers forty. Each man is paid about three cents to fill a bag or box, and four cents to carry it to the wharf and put it aboard the lighter. It costs from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars to discharge and load a moderate sized ship.
I have frequently seen these gangs of negroes carrying cocoa to the wharf. They were always chattering and singing merrily, and would stop every few minutes to execute a kind of dance with the bags ontheir heads, thus doubling their work. When the load was deposited, the captain, who does no work himself unless his gang is pressed, arrays them in military fashion, and marches them back for another load.
For carrying barrels, or other bulky and heavy articles of merchandise, there are trucks, drawn by oxen.
Churches are large and abundant in Pará. The cathedral is one of the finest churches in Brazil. Itspersonnel, consisting of dignitaries, (dignidades,) canons, chorists, and other employés, numbers seventy-four.
A large convent of the Jesuits, near the cathedral, having a very ornate and pretty chapel attached, is now used as a bishop's palace, and a theological seminary. The officers of the seminary are a rector, a vice-rector, and six professors; its students number one hundred and fifteen; its rental is about five thousand dollars, of which one thousand is given from the provincial treasury; and it teaches Latin, the languages, philosophy, theology, history, geography, and vocal and instrumental music.
There are but two convents in Pará—one of the order of St. Anthony, and one of Shod Carmelites.
I attended the celebration of the festival of the Holy Cross, in the chapel of the convent of the Carmelites. There was a very large, well-dressed congregation, and the church was redolent of the fragrance of sweet-scented herbs, strewn upon the floor. There were no good pictures in the church, but the candlesticks and other ornaments of the altar were very massive and rich. In the insurrection of the Cabanos the church property was spared; but I am told that, though they have preserved their ornaments, the priests have managed their property injudiciously, and are not now so rich in slaves and real estate as formerly.
I imagine that the priesthood in Brazil, though quite as intelligent and able as their brethren of Peru, have not so great an influence in society here as there. This is seen in an anecdote told me of a rigidChefe de Policia, who forbid the clergy from burying one of their dignitaries in the body of the church during the prevalence of the yellow fever; but compelled them, much against their will, to deposit the body in the public cemetery, and accompanied the funeral procession on horseback to see that his orders were obeyed. It is also seen in the fact that the provincial assembly holds its sessions in a wing of the Carmelite convent, and that a part of the church of the Merced is turned into a custom-house and a barracks.
There are forty-one public primary schools in the province, educating one thousand and eighty-seven pupils. This gives a proportion of onefor every one hundred and six free persons in the province. Each pupil costs the State about seven and a half dollars.
In the four schools of Latin, one person is educated in every five hundred and sixty-four, at a cost of twenty-six dollars.
In the College of Pará, called "Lyceo da Capital," the proportion educated is one to two hundred and eleven, at a cost of sixty-two dollars.
There are two capital institutions of instruction in Pará—one for the education of poor boys as mechanics, who are compelled to pay for their education in labor for the State; and the other for the instruction in the practical business in life of orphan and destitute girls. I think that this education is compulsory, and that the State seizes upon vagabond boys and destitute girls for these institutions. There is also another school ofeducandosfor the army.
The province also maintains three young men for the purpose of complete education in some of the colleges of Europe.
There are several hospitals and charitable institutions in the city, among which is a very singular one. This is a place for the reception of foundlings maintained by the city. A cylinder, with a receptacle in it sufficiently large for the reception of a baby, turns upon an axis in a window; any one may come under cover of night, deposit a child in the cylinder, turn the mouth of the receptacle in, and walk away without being seen. Nurses are provided to take charge of the foundling.
Though I pumped all my acquaintances, I could get no statistics concerning this institution, or whether it was thought to be beneficial or not. I judge, however, that for this country it is. Public opinion here does not condemn, or at least treats very leniently, the sins of fornication and adultery. This institution, therefore, while it would tend to lessen the crime of infanticide, would not encourage the above mentioned sins by concealment; for where there is no shame there is no necessity for concealment. In speaking thus, I do not at all allude to the higher classes of Brazil.
The executive and legislative government of the province is in a president and four vice presidents, appointed by the Crown, and in a legislative assembly.
The provincial assembly meets once a year, in the month of May. The length of its sessions is determined by itself. It elects its own presiding officer. It is a very inefficient representative system. The people in the districts elect electors, who choose delegates andsuplentes, or proxies. Most of these proxies belong to the city; they have little knowledge of the wants, and no sympathy with the feelings, of the people they represent. Each delegate (at least this is the case, in theprovince of Amazonas) is allowed one dollar and sixty-six cents per diem; and the salary of the President of that province is one thousand six hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty six cents; it is probable that the salary of the President of Pará is greater.
The police of the province is under the direction of achefe de policia, with delegados for each comarca, and sub-delegados for the termos and municipios. These officers issue and visée passports, and the traveller should always call upon them first.
The judiciary consists ofJuizes de direito; three for the comarca of the capital, and one for each of the other comarcas of the province, besidesJuizes municipaès, andde orfaôs. The Juiz de direito holds a singular office, and exercises extraordinary powers; besides being the judge, he presides over the jury, and has a vote in it. An appeal lies from his court, both by himself and the defendant, to a higher court, called the Court ofRelacâo, which sits in Maranham and has jurisdiction over the two provinces of Maranham and Pará. There are three or four such courts in the empire, and an appeal lies from them to the Supreme Court at Rio Janeiro.
Persons complain bitterly of the delay and vexations in the administration of justice. I have heard of cases of criminals confined in jail for years, both in Peru and Brazil, waiting for trial. It is said also, though I know nothing of this, that the judges are very open to bribery. I think, however, that this is likely to be the case, from the entire inadequacy of the salaries generally paid by the government.
I believe that the Brazilian code is mild and humane, and I am sure that it is humanely administered. The Brazilians have what I conceive to be a very proper horror of taking life judicially. They do not shrink in battle; and sudden anger and jealousy will readily induce them to kill; but I imagine the instances of capital punishment are very rare in Brazil.
The police of the city is excellent, but, except to take up a drunken foreign sailor occasionally, it has nothing to do. Crime—such as violence, wrong, stealing, drunkenness, &c.—is very rare in Pará. Probably the people are too lazy to be bad.
The province covers an area of about 360,000 square miles, and has a population of 129,828 free persons, with 33,552 slaves.
Much as it needs population, it has suffered, from time to time, considerable drainage. It is calculated that from ten to twelve thousand persons were killed by the insurrection of the Cabanos, in 1835. Since that time ten thousand have been drawn from it as soldiers for thesouthern wars; and the yellow-fever and small-pox, in one year, carried off between four and five thousand more.
The war of the Cabanos was a servile insurrection, instigated and headed by a few turbulent and ambitious men. The ostensible cause was dissatisfaction with the provincial government. The real cause seems to have been hatred of the Portuguese.
Charles Jenks Smith, then consul at Pará, writes to the Hon. John Forsyth, under date of January 20, 1835:
"After the happy conclusion of the war on the Acará, this city has remained in a state of perfect tranquility, until the morning of the 7th instant, when a popular revolution broke out among the troops, which has resulted in an entire change of the government of this province.
"The President and theGeneral-das-Armaswere both assassinated at the palace, by the soldiers there stationed, between the hours of 4 and 5 a. m. Inglis, Commandant of theDefensoracorvette, and Captain of the port, was also killed in passing from his dwelling to his ship. The subaltern commissioned officers on duty were shot down by the soldiery, who, placing themselves under the command of a sergeant named Gomez, took possession of all the military posts in the city.
"About fifty prisoners were then set at liberty, who, in a body, proceeded to a part of the city called Porto de Sol, and commenced an indiscriminate massacre of all the Portuguese they could find in that neighborhood. In this manner about twenty respectable shop-keepers and others lost their lives.
"Guards were stationed along the whole line of the shore, to prevent any person from embarking; and several Portuguese were shot in making the attempt to escape."
A new President and General-das-Armas were proclaimed; but they quarrelled very soon. The President, named Melchor, was taken prisoner and murdered by his guards; andVinagre, the General-das-Armas took upon himself the government. In the conflicts incident to this change about two hundred persons were killed. The persons and property of all foreigners, except Portuguese, were respected. Many of these were insulted, and some killed.
Vinagre held the city, in spite of several attempts of Brazilian men-of-war to drive him out, until the 21st June, when, upon the arrival of a newly-appointed President, he evacuated it. During these attempts the British corvettesRacehorseandDespatch, a Portuguese corvette, and two French brigs-of-war, offered their services for protection to the American consul.
On the 4th of August, Vinagre again broke into the city. TheEnglish and Portuguese vessels landed their marines; but, disgusted with the conduct of the President, withdrew them almost immediately.
The fire of the Racehorse, however, defeated Vinagre's attempt to get hold of the artillery belonging to the city.
On the 23d of August, the President abandoned the city to the rebels whose leader exerted himself to save foreign life and property, permitting the foreigners to land from their vessels, and take from the custom-house and their own stores the principal part of their effects.
The rebels held the city until the 13th of May, 1836, when they were finally driven out by the legal authorities, backed by a large force from Rio Janeiro. They held, however, most of the towns on the river above Pará till late in the year 1837. They did immense mischief, putting many whites to death with unheard-of barbarity, and destroying their crops and cattle. The province was thus put back many years. I think that the causes which gave rise to that insurrection still exist; and I believe that a designing and able man could readily induce the tapuios to rise upon their patrons. The far-seeing and patriotic President Coelho always saw the danger, and labored earnestly for the passage of efficient laws for the government of the body of tapuios, and for the proper organization of the military force of the province. His efforts in the latter case have been successful, and, very lately, a good militia system has been established.
The city of Pará is supplied with its beef from the great island of Marajo, which is situated immediately in the mouth of the Amazon. This island has a superficial extent of about ten thousand square miles, and is a great grazing country. Cattle were first introduced into it from the Cape de Verde Islands, in 1644. They increased with great rapidity, and government soon drew a considerable revenue from its tax on cattle.
Before the year 1824, a good horse might have been bought in Marajo for a dollar; but about that time a great and infectious disease broke out among the horses, and swept away vast numbers; so that Marajo is now dependent upon Ceará and the provinces to the southward for its supply of horses. I heard that the appearance of this disease was caused by the fact that an individual having bought the right from the government to kill ten thousand mares on the island, actually killed a great many more; and the carcasses, being left to rot upon the plains, poisoned the grass and bred the pestilence which swept off nearly all.
Other accounts state that the disease came from about Santarem and Lago Grande, where it first attacked the dogs; then thecapiuaras, orriver-hogs; then the alligators; and, finally, the horses. It attacks the back and loins; so that the animal loses the use of his hind-legs. Government sent a young man to France to study farriery, in hopes to arrest the disease; but the measure was productive of no good results. The disease still continues; and, ten years ago, appeared for the first time in the island ofMexiana, not far from Marajó. Within the last year, nearly all the horses on this island have died. I believe it has never attacked the horned cattle.
Beeves are brought from Marajó to Pará in small vessels, fitted for the purpose. They are frequently a week on the passage; and all this time they are on very short allowance of food and water; so that, when they arrive, they may almost be seen through.
The butchering and selling are all done under municipal direction; and the price of beef is regulated by law. This is about five and a half cents the pound. Gentlemen maintain horses and milch cows in Pará, or its neighborhood. These are fed generally on American hay. Some small quantity of grass is to be had from theroçinhas, or small farms, in the environs of the city; and a tolerably good food for cattle is had from a fine flour, found between the chaff and grain of rice. This is calledmuinha, (quim, in Maranham,) and is very extensively used, mixed with the chaff.
The island of Marajó is very much cut up with creeks, which, in the rainy season, overflow the low land, and form marshes, which are the graves of a great number of cattle. The cattle, at this season, are also crowded together on the knolls of land that are above the waters in the inundation, and many of them fall a prey to the ounces, which abound on the island. These creeks are also filled with alligators. Mr. Smith, former consul at Pará, told me that he had seen the carcass of one there which was thirty feet long.
I saw a number of curious and beautiful animals in Pará. Mr. Norris had some electric eels, and a pair of large and beautiful anacondas. I had never heard a serpent hiss before I heard these, and the sound filled me with disgust and dread. The noise was very like the letting off of steam at a distance. The extreme quickness and violence with which they darted from their coil (lacerating their mouths against the wire-work of the cage) was sufficiently trying to a nervous man; and few could help starting back when it occurred. These animals measured about eighteen feet in length, and the skin, which they shed nearly every month, measured eighteen inches in circumference. They seldom ate; a chicken or a rat was given to them when it was convenient. They killed their food by crushing it between theirhead and a fold of their body, and swallowed it with deliberation. I imagine that they would live entirely without food for six months.
Many gentlemen had tigers about their establishments. They were docile, and playful in their intercourse with acquaintances; but they were generally kept chained for fear of injury to strangers. Their play, too, was not very gentle, for their claws could scarcely touch without leaving a mark.
Mr. Pond, an American, had a pair of black tigers, that were the most beautiful animals I have ever seen. The ground color of the body was a very dark maroon; but it was so thickly covered with black spots that, to a casual glance, the animal appeared coal black. The brilliancy of the color—the savage glare of the eye—the formidable appearance of their tusks and claws—and their evidently enormous strength—gave them a very imposing appearance. They were not so large as the Bengal tiger; but much larger than the common ounce. They were bred in Pará from cubs.
Electric eels are found in great numbers in the creeks and ditches about Pará. The largest I have seen was about four inches in diameter, and five feet in length. Their shock, to me, was unpleasant, but not painful. Some persons, however, are much more susceptible than others. Captain Lee, of theDolphin, could not feel at all the shock of an eel, which affected a lady so strongly as to cause her to reel, and nearly fall. Animals seem more powerfully affected than men. Mr. Norris told me that he had seen a horse drinking out of a tub, in which was one of these eels, jerked entirely off his feet. It may be that the electric shock was communicated directly to the stomach by means of the water he was swallowing; but Humboldt gives a very interesting account of the manner of taking these eels by means of horses, which shows that they are peculiarly susceptible to the shock. He says:
"Impatient of waiting, and having obtained very uncertain results from an electrical eel that had been brought to us alive, but much enfeebled, we repaired to thecaño de Berato make our experiments, in the open air, on the borders of the water itself. To catch the gymnoti with nets is very difficult, on account of the extreme agility of the fish, which bury themselves in the mud like serpents. We would not employ the barbasco. These means would have enfeebled the gymnoti. The Indians, therefore, told us that they would 'fish with horses,' 'embarbascar con cavallos.' We found it difficult to form an idea of this extraordinary manner of fishing; but we soon saw our guides return from theSavannah, which they had been scouring for wild horses and mules. They brought about thirty with them, which they forced to enter the pool.
"The extraordinary noise caused by the horses' hoofs makes the fish issue from the mud, and excites them to combat. These yellowish and livid eels, resembling large aquatic serpents, swim on the surface of the water, and crowd under the bellies of the horses and mules. A contest between animals of so different an organization furnishes a very striking spectacle. The Indians, provided with harpoons and long, slender reeds, surround the pool closely, and some climb upon the trees, the branches of which extend horizontally over the surface of the water.
"By their wild cries, and the length of their reeds, they prevent the horses from running away and reaching the bank of the pool. The eels, stunned by the noise, defend themselves by the repeated discharge of their electric batteries. During a long time they seem to prove victorious. Several horses sink beneath the violence of the invisible strokes, which they receive from all sides, in organs the most essential to life; and, stunned by the force and frequency of the shocks, they disappear under the water. Others, panting, with mane erect, and haggard eyes, expressing anguish, raise themselves, and endeavor to flee from the storm by which they are overtaken. They are driven back by the Indians into the middle of the water; but a small number succeed in eluding the active vigilance of the fishermen. These regain the shore, stumbling at every step, and stretch themselves on the sand, exhausted with fatigue, and their limbs benumbed by the electric shocks of the gymnoti.
"In less than five minutes two horses were drowned. The eel, being five feet long, and pressing itself against the belly of the horse, makes a discharge along the whole extent of its electric organ. It attacks, at once, the breast, the intestines, and theplexus cœliacusof the abdominal nerves. It is natural that the effect felt by the horses should be more powerful than that produced upon man, by the touch of the same fish at only one of his extremities. The horses are probably not killed, but only stunned. They are drowned from the impossibility of rising, amid the prolonged struggle between the other horses and the eels.
"We had little doubt that the fishing would terminate by killing, successively, all the animals engaged; but, by degrees, the impetuosity of this unequal combat diminished, and the wearied gymnoti dispersed. They require a long rest and abundant nourishment, to repair what they have lost of galvanic force. The mules and horses appear less frightened. Their manes are no longer bristled, and their eyes express less dread. The gymnoti approach timidly the edge of the marsh, when they are taken, by means of small harpoons fastened to long cords. When the cords are very dry, the Indians feel no shock in raising thefish into the air. In a few minutes we had five large eels, the greater part of which were but slightly wounded."
The shops of Pará are well supplied with English, French, and American goods. The groceries generally come from Portugal. The warehouses are piled with heaps of India-rubber, nuts, hides, and baskets of annatto. This pigment is made from the seed of a bur, which grows on a bush called urucu in Brazil, and achote in Peru. In the latter country it grows wild, in great abundance; in the former, it is cultivated.
The seed is planted in January. It is necessary that the ground should be kept clean, the suckers pulled up, and the tree trimmed, to prevent too luxuriant a growth, and to give room, so that the branches shall not interlock. The tree grows to ten or fifteen feet in height, and gives its first crop in a year and a half. It afterwards gives two crops a year. Each tree will give three or four pounds of seed in the year, which are about the size of No. 3, shot, but irregular in shape. They are contained in a prickly bur, about the size and shape of that of the chincapin.
The burs are gathered just before they open, and laid in the sun to dry, when the seed are trodden or beaten out. The coloring matter is a red powder covering the seed, the principal of which is obtained by soaking the seed in water for twenty-four hours, then passing them between revolving cylinders, and grinding them to a pulp. The pulp is placed in a sieve, calledgurupema, made of cotton cloth; water is poured on, and strains through. This operation is repeated twice more, and the pulp is thrown away. The liquor strained off is boiled till it takes the consistence of putty. A little salt is added, and it is packed in baskets of about forty pounds, lined and covered with leaves. It is frequently much adulterated with boiled rice, tapioca, or sand, to increase the weight. The price in Pará is from three to five dollars the arroba, of thirty-two pounds.
An examination of the following tables will give the best idea of the commerce of Pará. The first is an official report furnished to the provincial assembly by the President of the province.
Here are tables furnished by Mr. Norris, United States consul at Pará:
I am indebted to Mr. Chaton, French consul at Pará, for the following table, showing the mean yearly value of the articles of export from the city of Pará.
To this sum is to be added the value of 7,338 canadas of balsam copaiba, worth when I was there three dollars, now worth seven and a half dollars; besides that of pots of oil made from the turtle, the alligator, and the andiroba-nut, which M. Chaton has not included in his list. These last, however, are inconsiderable.
Extracts of letters from Henry L. Norris, esq., United States consul at Pará, to the Department of State:
"Merchandise, the produce of this country, is usually bought for cash, or in exchange for the products of foreign countries by way of barter. There are no allowances made by way of discount, nor is brokerage paid for purchasing. Cash usually has the advantage over barter on the price of produce to the amount of from five to ten per cent. The American business is done chiefly for cash, while English, French, and Portuguese, is chiefly for barter; dry goods, &c., are sold on long credit, and produce taken in payment. With the latter the profits of trade are on the outward cargo; while with the former, the profit, if any, is with the homeward.
"There are no bounties or debentures of any kind allowed here.
"The usual commission for the purchase and shipment of goods is two and a half per centum, and is the same on all descriptions of produce.
"The American trade, with few exceptions, is conducted either by partners or agents of houses at home; consequently brokers are never employed to buy produce, and no brokerage is paid. When foreigngoods are sold at auction, the commission paid is one per cent. on dry goods, and one and a half on groceries.