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Brazil and Her People of To-day / An Account of the Customs, Characteristics, Amusements, History and Advancement of the Brazilians, and the Development and Resources of Their Country cover

Brazil and Her People of To-day / An Account of the Customs, Characteristics, Amusements, History and Advancement of the Brazilians, and the Development and Resources of Their Country

Chapter 24: III THE AMAZON BASIN
By Nevin O. Winter
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About This Book

A descriptive travel study surveys Brazil’s geography, major cities, rivers and natural landmarks while detailing economic resources such as coffee, rubber and mining. It combines on-the-ground impressions with official information to outline transportation and infrastructure developments, including railways and ports, and discusses immigration, agricultural practices and urban life. Social observations cover customs, education, the arts, religious influences and military organization, while historical chapters compare imperial and republican eras. Illustrations and interviews accompany analytical chapters that assess economic prospects, regional diversity and the everyday character of Brazilians across temperate, tropical and Amazonian zones.

FOOTNOTES

[1] The profession of a man can often be told by the ring he wears, which is generally placed on the first finger. The ruby signifies a lawyer, the emerald a physician, the sapphire a civil engineer, the turquoise a military engineer and the granada, a red stone almost like a ruby, is worn by a chemist.

[2] See appendix.

[3] “The New Brazil,” by Marie Robinson Wright.

[4] Land of the Amazons.

[5] The Bible in Brazil.

[6] Note.—The author desires to acknowledge his obligation for a number of historical facts to The South American Republics, by Hon. Thomas C. Dawson, and published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, of New York and London.

APPENDICES

I
AREA AND POPULATION

The statistics of area and population of the various states are widely divergent. One authority gives the total area as five million six hundred and eighty-two thousand four hundred and fifteen square miles, and the figures of population range from fifteen million to twenty-two million. The figures herewith given are, in the writer’s opinion, the most reliable, although the estimates of population are too high by perhaps ten per cent. The total population probably does not exceed eighteen million. The last census in 1900 gave the total number of inhabitants as a little less than fifteen million, but it was considered very inaccurate. The following table gives the estimated population in 1909:—

State Area Population Capital Inhabitants
Alagoas 22,580 744,193 Maceio 40,000
Amazonas 732,250 286,269 Manao 60,000
Bahia 164,600 2,427,59 Bahia 205,000
Ceará 40,240 973,266 Fortaleza 48,360
Espirito Santo 17,310 240,452 Victoria 20,000
Goyaz 288,470 292,605 Goyaz 13,475
Maranhão 177,520 572,304 São Luiz 50,000
Matto Grosso 532,550 135,279 Cuyaba 25,000
Minas Geraes 221,890 4,119,971 Bello Horizonte 25,000
Pará 443,790 510,465 Pará (Belem) 120,000
Parahyba 28,850 562,534 Parahyba 25,000
Paraná 85,430 374,961 Curityba 40,000
Pernambuco 49,560 1,350,391 Pernambuco 120,000
Piauhy 116,490 383,205 Therezina 20,000
Rio de Janeiro 26,630 1,061,418 Nictheroy 40,000
Rio Grande do Norte 22,190 314,420 Natal 23,000
Rio Grande do Sul 91,250 1,317,060 Porto Alegre 90,000
Santa Catharina 28,620 367,113 Florianopolis 30,000
São Paulo 112,280 2,612,878 São Paulo 350,000
Sergipe 15,090 408,348 Aracajú 25,000
Federal District 540 855,920 Rio de Janeiro 800,000
Acre 114,600 70,000
3,332,730 19,910,646

II
EDUCATION

The educational facilities in all of the states are inadequate, as the statistics show, but in some of them, they are not only inadequate but poor. The Ministry of Industry, Transportation and Public Works has recently published a volume of general statistics, from which the following table has been compiled, the first three columns giving the figures for primary education, and remaining two columns relating to secondary education:—

State Schools Enrolment Attendance Schools Enrolment
Alagoas 271 3,255 10,959 7 837
Amazonas 250 5,476 4,495 5 452
Bahia 1,007 47,288 32,135 24 2,010
Ceará 382 16,267 12,982 16 1,183
Federal District 419 57,271 36,106 43 4,662
Espirito Santo 175 6,359 4,674 6 439
Goyaz 162 6,134 4,149 4 347
Maranhão 217 11,941 8,231 9 638
Matto Grosso 107 5,288 4,677 7 466
Minas Geraes 2,178 119,613 66,252 51 4,281
Pará 433 19,870 17,093 11 938
Parahyba 223 9,870 6,852 7 527
Paraná 309 13,566 10,640 7 483
Pernambuco 386 21,139 15,104 17 1,613
Piauhy 146 7,754 6,030 6 438
Rio de Janeiro 485 24,773 16,075 14 1,486
Rio Grande do Norte 152 7,601 6,547 5 378
Rio Grande do Sul 1,516 67,370 50,809 26 3,605
S. Catharina 376 14,159 10,535 9 905
São Paulo 1,708 82,089 61,066 46 4,146
Sergipe 245 8,839 5,797 7 419
11,147 565,922 991,188 327 30,258

III
THE AMAZON BASIN

It may be interesting to the reader to take a brief survey of the Amazon and its tributaries. It will, at least, give a little idea of this vast river system, which is the most marvellous in the world.

Tocantins. This river empties into the Amazon near its mouth, and some have disputed its right to be named as an affluent of that river. James Orton says this river “flows over a bed of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, topazes and opals” on its way to the sea. With its branches, the Maranhão and Araguay, it reaches out in a southerly direction for hundreds of miles, and carries an immense volume of water.

Xingu. “The Xingu,” says an eminent authority, “receives fourteen tributaries on its right and sixteen tributaries on its left bank, the principal of which is the Iriri.” Any of these feeders would be considered large rivers in any part of Europe.

Tapajoz. The source of this river is in the great state of Matto Grosso, where it is formed by the union of the Arinos and Juruena. It is eight hundred and twelve miles in length, but it is interrupted by a number of cataracts. In some places the width of the Tapajoz is as great as ten miles, but where it joins the Amazon it is only a trifle more than a mile from shore to shore. Santarem, an ancient Indian village, is situated on this river near its mouth, and has now grown into a town of several thousand inhabitants.

Madeira. One of the largest of the rivers which flow into the Amazon is the Madeira, which means the river of wood, owing to the number of uprooted trees which float along its course. At low water these trees are oftentimes thrown up on the sand banks, where they accumulate in great masses. It is formed by a number of Peruvian and Bolivian streams. This river is said to have a course of three thousand one hundred and twenty-five miles, most of which is navigable for small boats at least.

Purus. This river is more than a mile wide at its mouth and has an entire length of two thousand two hundred and eighty miles. Even in the dry season it is navigable for almost a thousand miles. A dozen or more rivers empty their contents into this stream, the names of which are known to but few, and yet they are goodly rivers in themselves.

Jurua. There is a regular service of steamers up the Jurua for nine hundred and thirty-eight miles of its one thousand two hundred and fifty miles. This river was known to the early discoverers, and had been fully explored nearly four centuries ago by those adventurers.

Japura. Yapura and Yapuru are other names of this river which serves as a boundary between Brazil and Colombia for a distance. A regular service of steamers is maintained on it also for several hundred miles.

Rio Negro. The Negro, or Black River is one of the principal arms of the Amazon. It is more than a thousand miles in length and is one of the largest rivers in this basin. It is joined to the Amazon by four mouths, the broadest of which exceeds a mile in width. Through the Cassigueare this river is put into direct communication with the Orinoco River, which flows north into the Atlantic. There is a stretch of several miles, where the water, at times, flows into the Atlantic through the Amazon, and at others through the Orinoco. The Rio Branco, the White River, is the principal tributary of the Rio Negro.

From the Peruvian Andes to its mouth the Amazon is three thousand seven hundred and fifty miles long, of which two thousand five hundred miles are in Brazil. Fair sized steamers can sail up the river three thousand two hundred and fifty miles, and boats of lighter draft can go up another one hundred and fifty miles. It would be wearisome to name all the various affluents of this king of waters, for they are legion. The names are interesting, if one looks at the meaning, for they are nearly all Indian names. Thus the Carapauatuba is the “spot abounding in mosquitoes,” the Gyrparana is the “river of the axe,” the Jacaré the “river of alligators” and the Guariba is the “shrieking monkey.”

IV
SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAVELLERS

The Portuguese language is universally used in Brazil. Although very similar to Spanish it is difficult for the Spanish linguist to understand unless well versed in that tongue, for the ear will not readily catch the difference in the sounds. The money is the same as the Portuguese system also, with the milreis as the unit. It is better in travelling through South America to carry your exchange in English pounds, for all exchange is figured on that basis; otherwise American dollars are converted into pounds and then again into the money of the country, and the traveller is likely to pay a double exchange.

Railroad travel in Brazil is rather high, and you are allowed no free baggage. If you have a large trunk it will cost you almost as much to carry it as for your own ticket. It is well to reduce your baggage to a minimum in all of South America. The service on most of the roads is quite good; the cars are very comfortable, being built on the American plan. The most disagreeable feature is the dust at times, and it is well to choose a day following a rain if such a thing is possible, and provide yourself with a good dust coat. Good boats run several times a week between Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Santos, and smaller coasting boats touch at the smaller ports. If the traveller is going to Argentina it is well to purchase a through ticket, otherwise a $10.00 tax is charged by the government for every ticket that carries one out of the country. It costs nothing to get in the country, but $10.00 to get out, providing the ticket is bought there.

Comfortable hotels will be found in the cities with a minimum rate of about $3.00 per day for everything. Only coffee is served in the morning, but the other two meals are very substantial ones with an overabundance of meats. They are very cleanly in general, with good bath accommodations. A few of the hotels have elevators, but most of them do not. Cab charges are high. Although they are limited by law, it is always best to find out the proper charge beforehand and not trust to the driver’s conscience, for he may not have any. The prices at the stores are generally elastic too, so that a good bargainer is right in his element.

Have your mail plainly and carefully addressed. Do not use the word “Esq.,” as it is likely to be considered a part of the name. In Brazil city directories are indexed according to the first name. Thus John Smith would be found under “J” and not under “S.” The postage on a letter is now two hundred reis (six cents) for each half ounce and a post card is one half that sum. The mail service is generally pretty sure but oftentimes very slow, as I found out by experience.

In nearly all of Brazil light-weight clothing may be worn all the year round. A light overcoat is almost necessary, and in the extreme southern part heavier clothing would be comfortable in the winter time. It is well to remember that the seasons below the equator are the opposite of those in northern latitudes.

If the traveller has the time it is an interesting trip to go to Buenos Aires and see that wonderful city, and then across the Andes by the railroad, which has now been finished, to Chile. It is only a three days’ voyage from Santos to Montevideo and a night’s trip from there across the river to Buenos Aires. From Valparaiso comfortable steamers run to Panama, and the traveller can visit the several republics on the west coast. Furthermore this trip affords an opportunity to visit Panama and see the great work that is being done there. From Buenos Aires the return trip to New York can be made by this route in less time than by Europe or by the direct steamers.

V
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Many books have been published on Brazil in times past, but very few have been devoted to that country in the past quarter of a century. The recent books have nearly all been descriptions of a circular tour of South America in one volume. For the benefit of the reader, who desires to make a further study of this interesting republic, a list of those books which have been found most interesting by the writer, is herewith given:—

Agassiz, Louis: A Journey to Brazil. Boston, 1868.

Akers, Charles Edmond: A History of South America, 1854-1904. London, 1904.

Bates, Henry Walter: The Naturalist on the river Amazon. London, 1864.

Brown, C. Barrington: Fifteen Thousand Miles on the Amazon and its Tributaries. London, 1878.

Carpenter, Frank G.: South America: social, industrial and political. Akron, Ohio, 1900.

Clark, Francis E.: The Continent of Opportunity. New York, 1907.

Curtis, William Eleroy: The Capitals of Spanish America. New York, 1888.

Dawson, Thomas C.: The South American Republics. New York, 1903.

Ewbank, Thomas: Life in Brazil. New York, 1856.

Fletcher, James C. and D. P. Kidder: Brazil and the Brazilians. Boston, 1866.

Gibbon, Lardner and Wm. L. Herndon: Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon. Washington, 1854.

Hale, Albert: The South Americans. Indianapolis, 1907.

Keane, A. H.: South America; comprising a volume of Stanford’s compendium of geography and travel. London, 1901.

Kerbey, J. Orton: The Land of To-morrow. A newspaper exploration up the Amazon and over the Andes. New York, 1906.

Markwick, W. Fisher: The South American Republics. New York, 1901.

Martin, Percy F.: Through Five Republics of South America. London, 1906.

Mathews, Edward D.: Up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers. London, 1879.

Orton, James: The Andes and the Amazon; or, Across the Continent of South America. New York, 1870.

Ruhl, Arthur: The Other Americans. New York, 1907.

Santa Anna Nery, Federico: The Land of the Amazons. Translated from the French. London, 1901.

Smith, Herbert H.: Brazil, the Amazons and the coast. New York, 1879.

Southey, Robert: A History of Brazil. London, 1817.

Spruce, Robert: Notes of a Botanist on the Andes and Amazon, during years 1849-1864. London, 1908.

Tucker, Hugh C.: The Bible in Brazil. New York, 1902.

Vincent, Frank: Around and About South America. New York, 1890.

Wells, James W.: Exploring and Travelling Three Thousand Miles through Brazil. London, 1886.

Wetmore, Claude H.: In a Brazilian Jungle. Boston, 1903.

Wright, Marie Robinson: The New Brazil; its Resources and Attractions. Philadelphia, 1907.

INDEX