THE AQUEDUCT.
Water is brought to the city through an aqueduct which was built a hundred years ago, and is in good condition; some of the best modern houses are supplied through pipes from the aqueduct, but the greater part of the inhabitants rely upon the water-carriers, who are similar to theirfellow-craftsmen whom we have already seen at Para. In the early morning the streets abound with these men, and with numerous house-servants, bearing buckets or small casks of water on their heads. The fountains are the great meeting-places for gossipers, as similar places have been since the days when the New Testament was written, and sometimes the scenes at the fountains of Rio are animated to a degree bordering on commotion. Of course, the aqueduct is one of the sights of the city, and the drive along the road leading past it was greatly enjoyed by the youths.
A BRAZILIAN FOREST, WITH CHARACTERISTIC MAMMALIA.
The aqueduct is twelve miles long, and at one place it crosses a valley seven hundred and forty feet wide and ninety feet deep, on double arches. It is insufficient for the wants of the city, and a new one is likely to be completed before long.
People die in Rio as well as in other cities, and the cemetery is one of the institutions of the place. The old cemeteries of Rio adjoin the churches; since 1850 no interments have been allowed in them, and new cemeteries have been established in the suburbs. The foreign cemetery is at Gamboa, on the shore of the bay.
COFFIN CLOSED.
"We went to one of the cemeteries," said Frank, "and happened to arrive at the entrance chapel just as a funeral was going on. The coffin was so shallow that the body lying within it was distinctly visible above the sides as it stood on a stand resembling a sarcophagus; the lid is shaped like the roof of a house, and is made of two sloping boards meeting and forming a ridge. The Catholic service for the dead was performed, and then a procession of priests and mourners formed, and the coffin was borne from the chapel to the cemetery.
COFFIN OPENED.
"This was an enclosure with four thick walls, in which there were niches for the coffins, in the same manner as in a receiving tomb at Greenwood or Mount Auburn. The coffin was placed on a stand near one of the niches, the cover was opened, a handkerchief was spread over the face of the corpse, and one of thepriests sprinkled the body with holy water, and threw a scoopful of quicklime upon it.
CEMETERY OF THE PAULA CHURCH.
"The other priests and the friends of the deceased followed his example one by one, the sprinkler and scoop being passed to them by a sacristan. The lime was thus heaped on until there was at least a bushel of it, completely concealing the body; the coffin was slid into its niche; the door was closed and locked, the key was delivered to one of the friends of the deceased, and then the attendants proceeded to close the space in front of the door with brick and plaster. Orations were pronounced by those who chose to speak, and the ceremonies were over.
"We were told that the bodies do not decay, in the ordinary acceptation of the word. The flesh is consumed by the quicklime; at the end of two years the niche is opened, the bones are removed and placed in a funeral vase, and the niche is then ready for another tenant. No names are placed above the niches, but each one is numbered, and a reference to the register of the cemetery will show by whom and for how long a particular place is occupied. Fees are exacted for the funeral services and the rent of the niches; in fact, there is hardly anything in life or death inBrazil in which the Church does not have a place. Christenings, baptisms, marriages, death, and burials are all within its supervision."
VIEW OF RIO FROM BOA VISTA.
Rio de Janeiro has beautiful surroundings, and there is no prettier spot among them than Tijuca, a favorite resort of the residents who seek to escape the heat of the city. Other retreats are Petropolis, Boa Vista, Constantia, Nova Friborga, and Teresopolis, all of them at elevations of from one to three thousand feet above the water front of the city. Boa Vista offers a fine view of Rio as it nestles on the shore of the bay; all these resorts are reached by carriage-roads, and some by railway, and in whatever way the journey is made it is sure to be enjoyed.
It was decided to visit Tijuca first of all, and for this purpose a carriage was engaged for a drive of less than two hours, over a magnificent road. They started late in the afternoon, panting with the heat, but within an hour each of the party had donned his overcoat, and found its warmth acceptable. Frank thought he could perceive a fall of the temperature with every foot of the ascent, and regretted that he had not held a thermometer in his hand during the journey.
Tijuca beautifully is situated among the hills and in the midst of denseforests and groves. There is a waterfall which has a local reputation, something like that of Niagara; it possesses quiet beauty rather than grandeur, and is in a charming retreat where the thickness of the foliage keeps out the rays of the tropical sun. There are several similar cascades in the neighborhood, and the sound of the water pouring among the rocks is very gratifying to the ear of one just escaped from the heat of the city.
HOTEL AT TIJUCA, NEAR RIO.
Foreign residents of Rio have their summer residences at Tijuca, Boa Vista, and other places within easy reach of the capital, and a liberal expenditurehas been made by them in the construction of houses and in laying out gardens and lawns. There are several hotels at Tijuca, and the stranger can be reasonably sure of satisfactory quarters during his stay. Dr. Bronson and his young companions were highly pleased with what they found there, and wrote a line of commendation in the register of the hotel.
Frank had wearied of carrying a monkey as part of his baggage, but was so much attached to his purchase on the Madeira that he was unwilling to part with it except to some one who would treat it well. With some trouble to the youth, and more to Manuel, Gypsy had been tenderly cared for during all their travels, from the day of her purchase until they reached Tijuca, where the tiny animal found a genuine admirer.
The daughter of the landlord was mourning the loss of a pet which she declared was "the very image" of Gypsy. Frank was touched by her grief, and with the permission of the proprietor of the establishment the ownership of Gypsy was transferred to the child.
Frank rejoiced that his pet had found a good home; the girl was delighted with the possession of the duplicate of the animal she mourned; the father was pleased at the daughter's joy; and it is to be presumed that the monkey was contented to give up travelling, and settle down amid the pure air and charming scenery of Tijuca. But our record closes without a distinct avowal from Gypsy of the sentiments that swelled her simian breast.
Frank and Fred were up early in the morning after their arrival at Tijuca, and ready for a horseback excursion to the top of a neighboring mountain. Dr. Bronson concluded to remain at the hotel, and satisfy himself with a promenade among the trees, and so the youths departed without him.
CASCADE AT TIJUCA.
They had an exhilarating ride, and came back about ten o'clock full of enthusiasm concerning it. There is a carriage-road nearly to the top of the mountain, and a bridle-path the rest of the way, so that they had no occasion to leave their saddles. At every step they had beautiful views of mountain and valley, thick forest and open lawn, and there were frequent glimpses of the bay and the distant ocean. From the top of the mountain the view embraces a considerable extent of country, backed by the higher mountains of the Serra, which fills the horizon to the west.
THE ARMADILLO.
Breakfast was served soon after their return, and they sat down to the meal with good appetites. After breakfast they busied themselves with letters and journals, and with the contemplation of a happy family of monkeys and other Brazilian animals in a large cage in the court-yard ofthe hotel. One occupant of the cage was an armadillo; as nature had not adapted him for climbing, he wisely remained on the floor and allowed the monkeys a monopoly of acrobatic feats. The upper half of him was protected with scales like plates of mail, and when alarmed he closed himself together till he resembled a cocoa-nut. At such times there was little else than the mail-plates presented to outside view, and he could be tossed around with impunity, at least to the tosser. The monkeys had a way of rolling him from side to side of the cage, and occasionally they carried him to the top and let him fall. This application of the laws of gravitation did not affect his gravity, and when they wearied of the performance he opened out his iron-clad coating and looked as serene as ever.
Frank wished to know the uses of the armadillo; Manuel told him itwas an excellent article of food, and was liked by both native and foreign residents of Brazil. The youth was sceptical until he had the opportunity of tasting the new diet, whereupon he declared that he would be a friend of the armadillo as long as he remained in South America.
From Tijuca they went to Petropolis, a summer resort higher in the mountains and more distant from the sea than is the former place. They took the carriage-route by the Union and Industry road, a magnificent highway, which was built by private enterprise, and is a model of engineering skill. It penetrates the coffee district back of Rio, and until the railway was built from the capital to and beyond the mountains of the Serra it had almost a monopoly of transportation. It still has a large business, and the company which controls it runs a line of stages and freight wagons, in addition to collecting tolls on every private wagon and every pack animal that passes over it.
ROAD OVER THE SERRA, NEAR PETROPOLIS.
The scenery along the road, where it crosses the Serra, elicited the warmest expressions of admiration from the Doctor and his young companions. Frank said it was a combination of the Corniche road from Nice to Genoa and the mountain journey from Colombo to Kandy, in Ceylon. Fred was reminded of the passage of the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania, and the Simplon in the Alps, though he missed the snow-clad peaks of the latter, and the pines and other northern trees of the former. They unanimously agreed that the engineers who made the road understood their work thoroughly, and had constructed a route which would endure through everything except the demolition of the mountains by an earthquake, or the outbreak of a volcano beneath them.
They were caught in a storm while ascending the Serra; one is generally caught in a storm in some part of the day in the mountains near Rio. The rain falls in such quantities as to drive the wayfarer to the nearest shelter, and if he is not quick to reach it he is drenched to the skin. Rain falls every afternoon at Tijuca, and so certainly may it be expected that the sojourners so time their excursions that they may be indoors when the showers come. The moisture from the ocean is driven against the mountains, where it is condensed into rain, and by this daily rain the streams around Tijuca have an unfailing source of supply. The morning is clearand comfortable; from ten or eleven in the forenoon until three hours after the meridian it is too warm to stir about; and at three o'clock the clouds gather, and the rain falls an hour or so later. At sunset the clouds roll away, and the night sees the canopy of the heavens glistening with stars.
The storm on the Serra had the peculiarity of rolling below their route and leaving them travelling above the clouds. It began at the summit of the mountain and then descended; it wrapped them in its misty folds; lightning played about them; they met wagons and pack-mules looming suddenly out of the fog as though literally dropping from the clouds; then the mist became less and less dense; and at length they emerged from it into the open sky, and looked upon the storm sweeping over the valley below. From the Alto do Serra, the highest point of the road, they had a view of immense extent. The mountains rose above and around them; the valley, visible through occasional breaks in the clouds, was a picture of serene loveliness, disturbed only by the lightnings and the rain that fell copiously. Far off was the Bay of Rio de Janeiro, dotted with its many islands, dominated by the mountains that encircle it, and lighted by the afternoon sun.
THE PALACE AT PETROPOLIS.
Petropolis lies in a beautiful valley among the mountains; it was founded by Dom Pedro I., who built a palace there and established a colony of Swiss and Germans, which were imported from Europe at considerable cost to the government. The plan was continued by his son and successor, and of late years the place has become a fashionable resort of no small importance. It has fifteen thousand inhabitants, and many of the wealthy residents of Rio have their summer homes in Petropolis; the imperial palace is an extensive building with beautiful grounds, and the situation is certainly an attractive one.
The German settlers brought the names of their fatherland when they came here to live, and also retained many of their home customs. Some of them have become wealthy coffee-planters, and a good deal of businesspasses through their hands. Many of the hotels are kept by Swiss or Germans, and not infrequently the buildings are perfect copies of the chalets we have seen in the Alps, or among the lowlands of Switzerland. Petropolis has several Lutheran and other churches, and the government makes an annual appropriation for schools, in which the children of the colonists are educated. There are several hotels, and the stranger can pleasantly pass a few days in this attractive spot.
RELIGIOUS PROCESSION IN BRAZIL.
There are several railways running out of Rio de Janeiro, of which the longest and probably the most important is the Dom Pedro Segundo, so named in honor of the emperor. The first section of the line was opened in 1857; it was started by a private company, with a government guarantee of seven per cent. interest, but the capital was speedily absorbed, owing to the enormous extent of the outlay beyond the estimates. Instances of this last have happened in other countries than Brazil, and will probably continue to happen until railways are superseded by other modes of travel and transportation. The first hundred miles took all the capital of the company, and then more money was needed. In 1865 the government bought out the stockholders, and since then the railway has been run as an imperial concern, like many of the railways on the continent of Europe.
The present length of the railway is about four hundred miles. The main line is extended every year or two, and branches are built whenever their value as feeders can be demonstrated. The road has been of great benefit to the coffee planters in the region it penetrates; in fact, the line was built for the transportation of coffee, and the people or goods dependent upon it. Nearly every passenger is in some way connected with the coffee interest, and nineteen twentieths of the freight has some relation to it. Take away the coffee business and the road would require government aid to pay the cost of the fuel for its locomotives. At present it returns to the government about five per cent. upon the capital invested in the line, without counting the indirect benefits of the development of the country's industries.
The other railways of Brazil are less profitable than the Pedro II., and some of them would be given up altogether were it not for the aid received from the government. Freight and passenger tariffs are very high, and the limited amount of business renders it impossible to fix low rates.The passenger fares are from four to five cents a mile, first class, and about half these figures for second class, while excursion tickets, limited in time, and not transferable, are sold at twenty-five per cent. discount from the double tariff. Every pound of baggage beyond that carried in the traveller's hand is charged extra, and a fair-sized trunk costs as much as a passenger's ticket. Live-stock may be said to "ride their heads off" if carried by railway in Brazil, and for this reason horses, oxen, cows, and goats are rarely shipped by the trains.
NEGRO HUT NEAR THE RAILWAY.
The freight on a sack of coffee (133 pounds) is about one cent a mile; coffee coming from the end of the Dom Pedro railway must pay four dollars a sack, which is about one third of its value, when delivered in Rio. From Rio to New York the freight rarely exceeds sixty cents a sack, andis often no more than twenty-five. Fifty miles of railway transportation in Brazil costs more than five thousand two hundred miles on the ocean.
A few of the planters send their coffee to market by mule trains, and say it is cheaper than by railway, and there have been several schemes proposed for organizing a system of mule transportation on a large scale, in the hope of making a material saving of money. Of course, the government would not favor such an enterprise; and as it could not be extensively conducted without imperial sanction, the experiment is not likely to be tried.
Our travelling trio made a journey over the great railway line, and had an interesting ride. The engineering was found worthy of the praise that has been given by others; the passage of the mountains near Rio presented many obstacles which were successfully met by the English and American builders of the road. The line was begun by Englishmen, but since the first section was opened the work has been in charge of engineers from the United States.
Frank and Fred were disappointed in the amount of business over the road, as they had been told it drained a large district which produced coffee in abundance. The Doctor came to their relief with the following explanation:
"You must bear in mind," said he, "that there is a vast difference in the producing power of land, according to what is raised upon it. You cannot raise more than five hundred pounds of coffee from an acre of groundunder the best conditions, while you can get five or ten times that weight in corn or wheat, especially the former. One gentleman who has studied the subject (Mr. Herbert H. Smith) says, the coffee district drained by the Dom Pedro railway and another line near it does not give one thirtieth as much freight as would come from the same area of ground in the western states of North America. The large plantations are very widely scattered, and their products do not afford sufficient business for the railways; much of the land held by the planters is uncultivated, and, besides, their laborers are mostly slaves, or people who have very few wants beyond what the country around them will meet.
ENTRANCE TO A COFFEE PLANTATION.
"A coffee plantation requires nothing but the machinery for tilling the land and preparing the coffee for market, the furniture, and some provisions for the house of the owner, and possibly a few bales of cloth for the garments of the slaves. The food of the negroes is grown on the place, their houses are built of bamboos, also grown there, and they raise enough mandioca and corn for their food. Those who have looked carefully into this matter say that long lines of railway in Brazil could not pay their running expenses if they were built for nothing. There have been several schemes for extending railways into the Matto Grosso province; at the present rate of freight it would cost eight dollars to bring a sack of coffee to Rio, which would be two-thirds of its value. The product of the land would not pay the cost of exporting it to a market."
"But why don't they raise corn or wheat instead of coffee?" one of the youths asked.
"They have talked of doing so," the Doctor answered, "and some parts of the interior provinces are well adapted to the culture of our American staples. But they have not the right kind of a population for such work, and even if they had it, the cost of bringing grain or flour to Rio would be greater at the present railway tariffs than transporting it from the United States. I am told it has been carefully figured out that wheat from Wisconsin or Minnesota could be laid down in Rio cheaper than wheat from the end of the Dom Pedro railway.
"While we are on the subject of railways," the Doctor continued, "you may be interested in knowing that Brazil owes some of her railway lines to a calamity."
"To a calamity! how can that be?"
"In the past hundred years," Dr. Bronson explained, "there have been several famines in some of the interior and coast districts, particularly in the Ceara. One of the worst began in 1790; it lasted three or four years, and when it ended the province of the Ceara was nearly depopulated.Another followed in 1824-25, and another in 1844-45, the latter being less severe than its predecessor.
VICTIMS OF THE FAMINE.
"The next, and thus far the most terrible,seccaor famine was in 1877-78. There was an excess of rain in 1875 and 1876 which caused great losses in consequence of the floods. Lands could not be tilled, as they were buried in water, and many cattle on the estates were drowned.
"The excess of rain was followed by a drought that dried up the streams and withered the grass and trees. The seed placed in the ground did not sprout, as there was no moisture to give it life, and month after month passed without rain. All this time the tropical sun poured its heat over the land, and you can easily imagine how it could change the rich forest into a desert of withered and blasted trunks, and the open country to a desert.
"The people left the plantations and flocked to the villages, many of them dying of hunger on the way. Thousands perished at their homes; they remained there hoping for rain until too weak and famished to move. As long as the cattle lasted there was no hunger; the herdsmen killed the animals for their hides, and meat was abundant for all who would come and take it. Of course this could not last long, and when the herds were killed the people began to perish of starvation.
DYING FOR LACK OF FOOD.
"In a little while all the produce of the country was gone, and an appeal came to the government for aid. There was little law and order in the midst of the famine, and many people were killed in the struggle for existence; thieves were numerous, and desperate men wandered about taking food wherever they could find it; when they met the trains of provisionsgoing to the relief of the famished district they exercised the right of might, and even killed the horses and mules that were laden with food.
"When the horrors of the famine became known in the cities of Brazil an appropriation was voted by the government for the relief of the sufferers. Fairs were held, subscriptions raised, and a large amount of money was obtained, which went for supplying food to the survivors. The government sent engineers to lay out lines of railway and employ the people; in this way they obtained relief, and the country was provided with iron roads that will develop the country and be of practical use in transporting provisions in case of another drought.
"That was the way the calamity helped the building of railways," said the Doctor, "just as famines have led to similar public works in India and other countries. In the beginning of the distress the government and the public contributions supplied food to the people free of charge; the result was that they soon looked upon it as their right, and refused work when it was offered. When the government began operations on the railways it was ordered that no one who declined to work should receive either money or rations, and in this way the indolent were compelled to do something."
Frank asked what was the mortality in consequence of this famine?
"According to the figures at my command," said the Doctor, "there were in 1876 about nine hundred thousand inhabitants in Ceara. In 1877 and 1878 five hundred thousand people died, or more than half the whole population!"
"Did they all die of famine?"
"Not all; but the greater part of the mortality was the result of the famine. Fifty thousand died of starvation and disease in 1877, and about two hundred thousand in the first four months of 1878. Then small-pox, fevers, and other diseases appeared, and numbered their victims by many thousands, in addition to those who perished directly for want of food in the remaining months of the second year. Many persons moved away to other provinces and will not return to Ceara; the periodic occurrence of droughts will make life there very uncertain, and the probabilities are that it will never be prosperous.
"But enough of this sad subject," said the Doctor, with a sigh; "let us talk of something else." His suggestion was adopted, and Fred called attention to a patch of mandioca near the station where the train was coming to a halt.
A TROPICAL RAILWAY STATION.
"That is one of the staples of Brazil," said Dr. Bronson, "and it figures in her exports in the shape of tapioca. Mandioca is as necessary to the native of Brazil as the potato to the Irishman, or beef to the Englishman; mandioca flour, in this country, fills the place occupied by wheat flour or corn meal among ourselves."
They had repeatedly seen mandioca growing in patches near the villages, and in their journey down the Madeira and Amazon they had found it an excellent article of food. Ascertaining that the train would be nearly half an hour at the station, they strolled over to the little garden and learned how mandioca is cultivated.
MANDIOCA PLANT.
"The plant has several names," said the Doctor, as they were walking to the garden; "the one most generally used is mandioca, but it is also called manioc, mandioc, yucca, and cassava, while its scientific appellation isJatropha manihot. It is a native of South America, but has been introduced into Africa and other tropical countries, where it is extensively cultivated. There are two kinds of the plant; one is called the sweet cassava or sweet yucca, and its roots are eaten raw, but are more commonly roasted or boiled, and they are as nutritions as their South American brother, the potato. The other, which produces the tapioca of commerce and the mandioca flour of South America, contains a poison so deadly that thirty-five drops of it were sufficient to kill in six minutes a negro convicted of murder."
"And this poisonous plant is used as an article of food?" Fred asked, in astonishment.
"Yes. The juice contains hydrocyanic acid; but it is removed by pressure and by the action of heat, so that the dried flour is perfectly harmless. It is still a mystery how the unlettered Indians learned the virtues of the plant, whichwas in universal use when the Spaniards and Portuguese first came here.
PLANTATION NEGRO.
"The Indians have a pretty fable concerning the origin of mandioca," the Doctor continued. "They say that long ago, in one of their tribes, a child was born which walked and talked precociously. It was named Mani, and died when it was only a year old. It was buried in the house where it died, according to the custom of the tribe; the roof of the building was removed, and the grave was watered daily. An unknown plant sprung from the grave; and when it ripened the earth cracked open and revealed the root. The Indians ate this root, and thus learned the uses of mandioca. Believing it to be the body of Mani, they gave it the nameMani-oca, the house of Mani."
"A very pretty story, indeed," said Frank. "I will make a sketch of the plant in remembrance of it."
By this time they had reached the garden, and Frank busied himself with his pencil, while Fred made note of the appearance of the bush, which was about five feet high, and had long, pointed leaves at the extremity of the branches.
One of the plants was dug from the ground in their presence; the roots were in a cluster, and resembled large turnips, and the aggregate weight of the half-dozen roots that were taken out was from twenty-five to thirty pounds. In a shed close by a native was preparing the substance for use; the process may be thus described:
The roots are washed, and then scraped, with a shell or knife, into a fine pulp. This pulp is placed in a loosely-woven bag of palm-fibre, which is suspended from a pole; a weight at the lower end of the bag brings a pressure upon the pulp, by which the juice is forced out. While the substance is still damp it is spread on metal plates, and driedover a fire; and great care must be taken to drive off every drop of the poisonous juice. During the drying it is stirred and broken into coarse grains, and this forms thefarina, or meal of mandioca.
The poisonous juice is placed in a vat, where it deposits a fine sediment after standing a few hours. This sediment is the tapioca which is extensively used in Europe and America for the manufacture of puddings and other articles of food. Arrow-root is another form of the same substance.
The whistle recalled them, and they returned to the train. From tapioca the conversation turned to slavery; a very natural turn, as a good deal of the tapioca which comes from Brazil is grown by slave labor.
"Slavery is in process of extinction here," said the Doctor, "as a system of gradual emancipation was adopted in 1871. There will be nothing left of the institution after the year 1892. Many slaves have been freed already, and it is thought that the northern provinces of Brazil will anticipate the enforcement of the law, and give freedom to everybody before that date. Most of the slaves are on the plantations in the southern part of the empire; some of the coffee-carriers in Rio are still held in bondage, and pay their masters a certain amount daily for their time. All they earn beyond that they retain for themselves."
"How does the system of gradual emancipation affect the slaves at the present time?" one of the youths inquired.
PUNISHMENT.
"It affects them unfavorably," was the reply, "as you can readily see. If a man has a lifelong interest in his slaves, he is apt to treat them well out of regard to his own pocket, by making them useful as long as he can. But if they are to be free in a given number of years, he is tempted to get as much work from them as possible during that time, and leave them broken down and quite worn out at the end. Sell a yoke of oxen to a man, and he will work them much less than if he had hired them for a year, and was not bound to return them in good condition, would he not? This is exactly the position of the slaveholder in Brazil; there are many humane masters who treat their slaves well, but, unhappily, they are in the minority. These people have been accustomed to regard the negroes as their property, and they use them as theywould property of any other kind. Whether the slaves will be well or harshly used depends very much upon the temperaments of their owners.
IN THE FIELDS.
"On a coffee or sugar plantation the slaves are required to work about seventeen hours out of the twenty-four. Some masters are satisfied with fifteen or sixteen hours, and others exact eighteen hours at least. Here is the ordinary routine:
SLAVES WITH COLLARS.
"The slaves are called to work at four o'clock in the morning; coffee is given to them at six, and their breakfast at nine in the forenoon. The breakfast consists of dried beef cooked with mandioca-meal and beans, together with corn-bread; and it is eaten in the field, in an intermission of not more than fifteen minutes. At noon they have a small drink of rum, and at four in the afternoon they have a dinner which is exactly like the breakfast, and eaten in the same way and time. At seven o'clock they leave their field-work, and go to the mill or the household until nine o'clock, when they are locked in their quarters, and can sleep until roused for the next day's toil."
"But do they have no holidays?"
SLAVE WITH MASK.
"Yes, they have a holiday on Sunday, but it simply amounts to a cessation of labor for three or four hours; in busy seasons the Sunday's rest is reduced to one or two hours, and with many masters to nothing at all. They have no allowance of Christmas holidays, as was the custom in the United States in the slavery days, and in many respects the life of the Brazilian slaves is harder than was that of the slaves in most of the Southern States of North America before the emancipation.
MASK.
"But, with all the toil of the Brazilian plantations, the life of the slave is a great improvement upon what it was twenty or more years ago. The blacksmiths' shops in Rio used to expose slave-shackles for sale as freely as those of our own country exhibit horseshoes, and the demand for these things was not small. There were collars to be locked around the neck, made of round iron an inch in diameter, and provided with prongs to prevent the unfortunate wearer from turning his head to either side; there were masks, through which no food or drink could be taken; shackles for fastening the ankles together, or for binding the wrists to the ankles; chains to be fastened to the waist or ankles, and attached to logs of wood, which the wearer was obliged to drag around wherever he moved; and numberless other devices of cruelty.
SHACKLES.
"A picture of slavery, drawn by an English clergyman in British Guiana before England had freed the slaves in her colonies, will apply to Brazil as it was twenty years ago, and as it may now be on some of the country plantations. Remember, it is a picture of English slavery as it existed in an English colony.
"'The cruelty of the lash, which was often steeped in brine, or pickle and pepper, is something very dreadful to think of. Twenty-five was the number of lashes laid on the bare back of the slave when a dry leaf orpiece of the boll was found in the cotton, or a branch was broken in the field; fifty for all offences of the next grade; a hundred for standing idle in the field; from a hundred and fifty to two hundred for quarrelling with fellow-slaves; and five hundred, laid on with the greatest possible severity, for any attempt to run away or escape from an estate or plantation. The overseers and gang-drivers made the slaves work with the greatest possible rigor, and their lives bitter with hard bondage. Up to the day before the slaves were emancipated, or proclaimed free, the lash was freely used on a plantation near Georgetown, and on the morning of the emancipation several freed slaves walked up to their overseer and asked if they were not to be whipped for obtaining their freedom.'[2]
HOUSEHOLD SERVANT.
"Emancipation in Brazil is largely due to the humanity of the present emperor," continued the Doctor. "He urged the suppression of the slave-trade, and was considerably in advance of his cabinet on the subject. When this was accomplished, he presented plans for the emancipation of the negroes held in bondage. He repeatedly sent messages to the Brazilian parliament on the subject. Progress in the movement was slow, as four fifths of the members of that body were slave-owners, and more than half of them planters. But he never gave up the struggle, and in 1871 the law was passed. He had set the example by freeing his own slaves, and inducing the members of his family and many wealthy citizens to do the same. Slaves were allowed to purchase their own freedom, and in other ways the humane movement was accelerated. In 1855 there were, in round figures, three million slaves in Brazil. Twenty years later the number had been reduced nearly one half, and it has been further diminished since that time. Year by year the number of bondmen is growing less, and it is by no means impossible that, when the day comes for the final proclamation of freedom, there will be no one to set free."
"Let us hope it will be so," said both our young friends. Every reader of this narrative will echo the sentiment, and give all honor to Dom Pedro II., the enlightened Emperor of Brazil.
SLAVES GATHERING SUGAR-CANE.
AT HOME WITH THE SUGAR-CANE.
Our friends remained several days among the coffee and sugar planters to whom they had letters of introduction, and then returned to Rio. They found the planters exceedingly hospitable, and it was no easy matter to bring their visit to an end. They were pressed to remain indefinitely, and Frank and Fred were half inclined to accept the invitation, and become growers of Brazilian staples, but when they reflected what a life of isolation they would be compelled to lead they abandoned the idea, and were ready to depart at the appointed time.
"It is no wonder," said Fred, when they left the house of Señor J——, "that he urged us to stay longer. I know we must make allowances for Spanish and Portuguese politeness, but in this case it was not altogether politeness, but a genuine desire for society. Think what it must be to be cooped up in this plantation with no one but your family and the servants for weeks together. If I were he I should hail with delight the arrival of an intelligent visitor, and would shed genuine tears when he announced his intention to move on."
Frank shared the opinion of his cousin, and the youths resolved that they would not entertain the thought of becoming Brazilian planters.
Their return to the capital was timed to correspond very nearly with the departure of a steamer for the south. They had a day to spare, and devoted it to a few farewell calls, and a visit to the museum, to inspect some of its antiquities and other curiosities. They had already seen the collection, but their first visit was unsatisfactory, as it was on a day when the place was altogether too crowded for comfort in sight-seeing.
As they came out of the hotel on their way to the museum several urchins in the street were pelting each other with balls filled with water, one of which accidentally struck against Frank. The youth frowned and then laughed; for the moment he could not understand the situation, but suddenly remembered that it was "Intrudo Day."
The youths retreated to the balcony, and for half an hour watched the performance in the street. They were joined by the Doctor and a gentleman with whom they had become acquainted; the latter explained the Intrudo, which corresponds to the carnival of Italy in some respects, but differs widely from it in others.
"The Intrudo festival begins on the Sunday previous to Ash Wednesday," said their informant, "and lasts three days; the carnival has special reference to abstinence from eating flesh, but the Intrudo has no such significance. In the carnival of Naples and other Italian cities, dust, flowers, confectionery and its counterfeits, are the missiles used in the mimic combats, while the Intrudo is devoted to throwing balls filled with water, emptying small bags of flour and starch, and to playing jokes more or less practical in their nature.
"As you are strangers in the hotel you are exempted from the tricks connected with the Intrudo, but you must expect an occasional attention of the kind you have already experienced. When I rose this morning I found that one leg of my trousers had been sewn up near the bottom, and on placing my foot inside in the effort to dress myself half a dozen Intrudo balls were crushed. Fortunately I had some clothing in a trunk of which I alone held the key, and the trunk was in a locked closet in sole charge of my butler. All clothing that was accessible had been removed; it was probably done while I was busy late the previous evening in despoiling the apartment of a friend.
"Of the two boiled eggs I had for breakfast one was raw and the other hard enough to be used as a bullet; my tea was sweetened with salt; slices of boiled tongue were really pieces of soaked leather; and the cold chicken had evidently been run through a sewing machine, to judge by the number of threads in it. Pranks had been played with everythingon the table; while you were laughing at the perplexities of your neighbor you found yourself the victim of a kindred deception.