The business centre of the city is a triangle composed of the two streets above mentioned, and the Rua Direita, the straight street. Around this triangle in the afternoons the ladies walk on their shopping tours; in the evening it is the promenade, and all the people who are down town at night may be seen somewhere on that route. São Paulo is not a typical Brazilian town, for it has outgrown many of those characteristics to be seen in the towns which are more peculiarly Portuguese. There is a large foreign element, and their influence is notable in every part of the city, and even in the life of the Paulistas themselves. A great deal of the exclusiveness of the family life has disappeared, and the young women of the city may be seen out upon the street on a shopping tour, or performing an errand, unaccompanied by the duenna, which would be unknown in more conservative Rio. There are perhaps one hundred thousand Italians in the city, and added to these are several thousands of other nationalities, with only a small sprinkling of those of American birth. And yet, although the number of Americans is small, the American influence is paramount, and everywhere I went, among high officials or business men, I found a great interest in things American, and an effort to copy after and learn from the institutions in the United States. Their aim is progress and, although some of the methods are rather crude and sometimes impractical, the effort is apparent and great good is being done.

The Tramways, Light and Power Company of São Paulo has had a great influence in this city and has, I believe, been an educational feature in the business development. It is owned by the same group of capitalists who control the company having similar concessions in Rio, but their influence is more easily traced here. The charter of this company is Canadian, but its methods are strictly what we term American, and a number of our fellow-citizens are at work with it. Brazilian young men consider it a credit to be in the employ of this company. They furnish an excellent system of electric traction with about eighty miles of track. The electricity is developed from a waterfall on the Tieté River, a few miles away. A great deal of freight is hauled on the tram lines, and it is no uncommon sight to see car load after car load of squealing pork hauled through the streets.

English is taught in the public schools, and is a required language before a degree is given, so that it will not be many years before the educated classes will all have a knowledge of that language. “And,” said the able director of the schools, “we aim to teach a conversational knowledge of the language and not merely a reading knowledge.” “Furthermore,” he said, “we are copying after the educational methods of the United States just as fast as it is possible to introduce new methods. It can not all be done at once, for certain prejudices exist in favour of the old systems.”

“Estado, Senhor? Correio?” These are the cries that greet one’s ears as the hustling little newsboys ply their trade, just as their counterparts do in our own land. This city supports a dozen dailies. The two above mentioned are very enterprising publications, which publish more foreign news than the average American daily, although the most of it is European. Then the lotteries are everywhere in evidence. In some blocks there are three or four agencies, besides the vendors on the streets. The Brazilians are born gamblers, and this is their favourite method of wooing the fickle goddess of fortune. There is a national lottery, and perhaps the next most popular one is that of this state. There is a drawing nearly every day, with an occasional grand prize of fifty thousand dollars. I met one American who had just drawn a prize of sixty thousand dollars in the National lottery, and this had caused quite a flutter in the English speaking colony. The people forget that not one dollar is paid out for perhaps four that are paid in, but they are always hoping that the lightning will strike in their direction. Men, women and school children, people in silk and rags, black, white and brown, all buy the little strips of paper with the magic numbers on them, and they eagerly scan the drawings when posted. Brazil is not alone in this folly, however, for all the republics surrounding her encourage the same form of gambling.

As São Paulo is the capital of a state there are the usual public buildings that one will find for the transaction of the public business. The finest and most imposing building in the city is the Municipal Theatre, which is a very fair rival to the one in Rio de Janeiro. It is not quite finished as yet, but the exterior is very fine and in good taste. There are some beautiful homes on the Avenida Tiradentes and the Avenida Paulista, the latter being a comparatively new street. The new thoroughfares are broad and roomy, while the streets in the old town are, for the most part, very narrow and illy adapted for the traffic of a large city. This is overcome to a certain extent by allowing the cars and street traffic to move only one way on many streets.

Just beyond São Paulo, and only a short ride by electric car, is a magnificent building known as the Ypiranga, which deserves more than passing notice, for it is built on the site of the birthplace of Brazilian independence. Dom Pedro, representative of the Portuguese authority in Brazil, was also the son of the King of Portugal. In the struggles between Brazil and the Cortes of Lisbon, which was striving to increase the taxes of that country, and at the same time remove what little constitutional liberty had been granted, this prince was heart and soul on the side of the people. During the long struggle Dom Pedro had ingratiated himself with the people, until all were united with him. Insult was heaped upon the Brazilian deputies in the Cortes, by refusing to let them speak in behalf of their country’s cause. At length a peremptory order was sent to Dom Pedro ordering his immediate return to Portugal. The messenger bearing this decree met the prince as he was returning with a hunting party on the bank of a little stream called the “Ypiranga.” Upon reading it he called upon his followers, and declared that he would never leave Brazil. “Independence ou morte (independence or death), is my watchword,” said he. The party took up this watchword, and it spread like wildfire all over the land. This was on the 7th of September, 1822, and a month later Dom Pedro was proclaimed Emperor of Brazil. One will find many streets in Brazil named 7th de Setembro, in commemoration of this grito, or shout of independence.

The museum is very imposing, as it stands on an eminence that overlooks the country for miles around. It is built of marble, but the red sand of the country has given it a very peculiar effect, almost like that of old ivory. It contains much that is of scientific interest. Especially fine is the collection of humming birds, beetles and butterflies. There are several specimens of the Louvadeus grasshopper, which raises its feelers and poses itself almost in the attitude of prayer. The name means “praise God.” One of the principal objects of interest is a large painting representing the scene when the prince pronounced the watchword “independence or death.”

The governments of several different states are endeavouring to induce immigrants to come in. The efforts of São Paulo have been most successful, and their methods are copied by other states. This state maintains a splendid immigration office in the city of São Paulo, which is strictly up to date. The immigrants upon landing at Santos are taken by special train to this station, and here they are kept for a week or ten days at government expense. During this time they are housed in excellent quarters, given good food, and kept under the supervision of doctors. Many have had their entire expenses from their homes paid by the government. In these buildings are offices where immigrants are secured employment on the various fazendas. A record is kept of each fazendero to see if he carries out his contracts. Notices are posted up where labour is wanted on fazendas or railroads. Written contracts are made and signed between employer and employee in legal form. The wages generally received are from $.90 to $1.25 per day for such labourers. Interpreters are kept who are able to converse in the many languages that will be required. The labourer is then forwarded to his destination in the interior at government expense. It is far different from the way they are received in our own land, and I only wish that a few hundred thousand of those seeking the shores of the United States each year would turn their steps down this way. They would be better off there than they are in our own great cities.

When I visited this immigration station there were about nine hundred immigrants there who had just been landed. Of this number four-fifths were Spaniards, with a sprinkling of Russians, Poles, Austrians, Hungarians and Italians. A few days later I saw a couple of hundred more of the same varied nationalities landed at Santos, and loaded on a special train for São Paulo. I always pity these poor immigrants who come to a new country with no money, few clothes, many children, and nothing else but a big hope of something, or faith in somebody, in their breast. The total number of immigrants reaching all Brazil in the past year, the excess over those leaving, would not exceed eighty thousand.

The government of São Paulo has established a number of colonies in the state, one or two of which I visited. In these colonies the land is platted in tracts of about fifty acres, which are sold to the colonists at $500 per tract, payable one-tenth each year. The colonist is allowed to live one year free of charge in the colony house, but within this time he must construct his own home. Some of these colonies have proven quite successful, and many immigrants have thus been able to acquire a home with their own vine and fig tree surrounding it. It is certainly the best thing for the colonist, for he has a chance to secure his own home and that ought to be a stimulus to bring out the best there is in a man. In the less developed part of the state, lands will be given the colonist practically free.

The Italian element in Brazil is large, and is increasing each year by immigration. In all of the cities of southern Brazil the Italians are numerous, but they probably reach their largest percentage in the state of São Paulo, where they number about forty per cent. of the population. Of the two and a half millions of people in that state there are perhaps one million of Italian birth. Everywhere one can see evidences of these children of sunny Italy, who have sought homes in the new land because of the overcrowding at home. Most of them come from northern Italy, and they are said to make better workmen than those from Southern Italy. It would be difficult for the coffee planters to work their plantations were it not for these people, and every plantation has one or several colonies of these labourers. They are generally preferred to the negro labourers by the planters. The most of them are industrious and frugal. Many of them eventually join one of the government colonies, and purchase a small tract of land; others become tradesmen, and open a small store to cater to those of their own nationality; still others travel from door to door selling small household articles needed by the housewives. One will hear the same street cries, see the same characteristic packs and bundles, and observe the same styles of dress that are common in the northern provinces of Italy. In recent years the number of Italians coming to Brazil has because of restrictions of the Italian government.

There is still an abundance of soil in this state, nearly three times as large as all New England, awaiting development. The entire western half, which is composed of fertile virgin soil, is practically unexploited. The recent completion of the railroad, which follows the Tieté River to its junction with the Paraná, will open that section to emigration. Along this river, and the other water courses of the state, much fine hardwood timber is found that is well adapted for finishing lumber. Some of the woods are similar to and will take as fine a polish as mahogany. The difficulty is in marketing them. The logs will not float, so that it is necessary to build rafts on which to transport them. As none of the streams flow direct to the Atlantic, the logs must be sent down through the La Plata system, and the many waterfalls make this impracticable. Cheap railroad rates furnish the only solution to this problem.

The water power awaiting development in this state is almost incredible. As the rainfall is large and frequent the volume of water is constant and reliable. On the Tieté River alone there are hundreds of feet of hydraulic falls that could furnish thousands of horsepower energy for practical purposes. The same might be said of the Piracicaba, the Rio Grande, the Paranapanema, and the Mogy-Guassu Rivers, as well as the mighty Paraná itself, which forms the western boundary of São Paulo.

One of the most interesting trips made by me in Brazil was to Riberão Preto, which is in the very centre of the richest coffee district in the world. The route first led over the tracks of the São Paulo Railway to the town of Jundiahy. This line runs through the hills and gradually reaches a lower level. No villages of importance are passed until Jundiahy is reached, and that is interesting only as a railroad junction point. Here a change was made to the Paulista Railway, over which a ride of an hour takes the traveller to Campinas, a city once very flourishing because the centre of the coffee trade. During the past few years this town has declined, because the coffee production in this neighbourhood has greatly decreased. The city probably contains twenty-five thousand people, and is a typical Brazilian town—far more representative than its more successful rival of São Paulo. There are hundreds of acres of coffee trees still producing in the Campinas district, but they are not well kept, as it seems to be the general intention of abandoning it when the present trees cease to bear. I visited one plantation in this neighbourhood, the Fazenda da Lapa, and it was very interesting, because it was the first one that I had examined, but it cannot compare with the ones later to be described. The charming hospitality of these fazenderos is most captivating. On the visit to this plantation the owner served us a meal of fruit fit for a king’s table. It was in the early days of January, and we had oranges, bananas, figs, mangoes, pineapples, strawberries, plums and several varieties of grapes, all of them raised on the plantation, and most of which we had ourselves assisted in picking.

At Campinas is located the Instituto Agronomico, which is an experimental institution of the state government. Its purpose is to study the various enemies which attack vegetation and discover means, if possible, for their eradication. It also experiments with the raising of various kinds of grain, and the cultivation of fruits. The work laid out for this institution is a good one, for what is needed in Brazil is a practical application of good agricultural principles, a study of the soil and a knowledge of what it is adapted for. The equipment of this institution is good, and the buildings are large and commodious. But a great deal of money is spent for what might be termed the show features, where it could better be expended for practical purposes. There is a great field, I believe, for the cultivation of fruits. In a country such as this, where fruit trees grow almost without cultivation, a very large percentage of the fruits are imported. For instance, at the hotels the fruit served would be American or Portuguese apples, and Malaga grapes. And yet, right here at this institute, I saw grapes finer, in my opinion, than those brought over thousands of miles of water. With proper cultivation nearly every one of the common fruits of the tropical and temperate zone could be raised here, and of fine quality. Instead, thousands of dollars are sent out of the country for the fruits which might be better raised at home.

From Campinas the journey was continued over the Mogyana Railroad, a narrow gauge track. The line passes through coffee plantations for some distance, and then into uncultivated lands, where the only industry is the raising of stock. A part of the land traversed is abandoned agricultural land, and part of it has never been under cultivation. The cattle seen on these farms are only of fair quality, for not much care has been taken in breeding the animals up to a high standard. With many bends and graceful curves the road follows a stream, cuts across valleys and around hills. There is no part of the ten hours’ journey when hills of fair size are not a prominent feature in the foreground. A number of towns are passed, and a few very narrow gauged railroads run off to plantations, which cannot be seen from the railroads. The soil is almost the colour of dried blood, and this red dirt filters in through the windows in great clouds. This blood-red dust colours everything it touches with a reddish hue. The clothing is soon tinted with it, and even the children’s complexions show the effects, for Brazilian children, like their cousins all over the world, like to play in the dirt. But this red soil is good coffee land, and coffee plantations are seen crowning the summits of the hills. At last the train reaches Riberão Preto, near which are situated the best and largest coffee plantations, not only in Brazil but in the world. The town is comparatively modern, for this district is newer than Campinas, and it has been growing in importance year after year in the past two decades. It is now a city of ten or fifteen thousand people.

At the station were waiting carriages from the hospitable “Monte Alegre” fazenda, the residence of Colonel Francisco Schmidt, who is known as the “coffee king.” This man came to Brazil as a poor emigrant boy a half century ago, and hoed coffee trees for other fazenderos, and on lands which he now owns. Seated on the broad veranda of “Monte Alegre,” one could see avenues of coffee trees stretching out over the hills, and good coffee lands are always hilly, until they were lost in the horizon. Although it was not possible to see, yet one knew that they continued in the same unbroken rows down the other slope. I rode in a carriage with the Colonel for hours through a continuous succession of coffee trees, during the three days that I was his guest, with no end in sight. When you consider that there are from two hundred and fifty to three hundred trees to each acre, you will readily realize that the number of trees soon runs into the thousands, then into the tens of thousands, and finally into the millions. So do not be surprised when I tell you that this coffee king has already growing upon his various fazendas the almost incredible number of eight million coffee trees. I did not see all of them, but I saw so many that numbers lost their meaning, and I could only think in millions.

Twenty-three million pounds of coffee were marketed by this man in one year. This is enough to give every man, woman and child in the United States and Canada a cup of coffee for breakfast for one week. He has twenty railroad stations on his thirty-two different fazendas. He has twenty machines run by water or steam power for cleaning coffee, and acres upon acres of drying yards, all of which are scenes of activity in the harvesting season. Nearly a thousand horses are employed in the work of the plantations, besides more than that number of mules and oxen. There is also a fully-equipped sugar mill, which turns out thousands of pounds of refined sugar each year. In fact, the Colonel told me, as we were seated at the great dining table, that would seat forty persons, and which was spread with the good things of life: “Everything on the table, except the flour used in making the bread, was raised on this plantation.”

The Colonel reminded me of the feudal lords of old, for the eight thousand people who live on his plantations not only depend on him for labour, but look up to him and tip their hats respectfully whenever they see him. The work of taking care of the coffee trees is all let out to families at so much a thousand trees per year, and a family will take care of five thousand trees. The price paid is from $25.00 to $30.00 per thousand per year for hoeing and cleaning the fields, and they are paid in addition to this for picking the coffee at established rates. Furthermore, they are permitted to plant corn and beans in between the coffee rows which gives them an extra profit. Day labourers are paid at the rate of $.90 to $1.00 for each day’s work.

Everything about this plantation is conducted in a systematic manner, and in that is the secret of Colonel Schmidt’s success. The thirty-two farms are all connected with his home by telephone, for which more than eighty miles of telephone wire have been strung. Everything, including plumbing supplies, is kept in systematic order and the owner himself knows where each article may be found. Machinery when not in use is carefully stored under shelter to protect it from rust. A half dozen blacksmiths, as many woodworkers, harnessworkers, shoemakers, etc., are kept on the plantation, and even a private tailor is employed at the house. A dozen or more general stores are operated for supplying the wants of the employees. With this and much more detail this great plantation is run on modern business methods, with as perfect a system of bookkeeping as the average business man employs. From these books can be told at a glance the exact cost of each plantation for each year, its production and the net profit to the owner. And, above all, the Colonel is a charming host, and finds time to make it interesting for those, like myself, who visit him where he is king.

The “Dumont” fazenda adjoins the one just described, and it is the second largest plantation in Brazil, and perhaps in the world. It was formerly owned by the family of Santos-Dumont, the aeronaut, but is now under the control of an English company. They own a private railroad with more than forty miles of track, which runs to Riberão Preto. The track is only twenty-six inches wide, and the cars are rather narrow with room for only one person on each side of the aisle. A special train, with the best car the road possesses, drawn by a Baldwin engine, was sent for us and we were taken over the coffee plantation, which possesses nearly five million trees. It was also very interesting to travel over the thousands of acres owned by them, in and through the rows of coffee trees which almost brushed up against the car in places, in this comfortable, if diminutive coach, and see the methods of culture and care of the coffee, which is slightly different than that pursued on the other. It was also interesting to find an up-to-date American in charge of the vast interests of this English company, and to know that one of our own nationality is making good in the coffee-raising industry as well as in other lines. This company markets all its own coffee through an auxiliary company in England in packages under its own labels. The “Dumont” fazenda is also conducting an experiment in rubber culture, and now has forty thousand trees growing, some of which are almost ready to tap. If rubber continues to advance, as it has in the past year, this part of their plantation may prove more profitable than the growing of coffee.

CHAPTER VII
AN AMERICAN COLONY UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS

Have you ever heard of the Villa Americana in Brazil?

Quite likely you have not, for I had never heard of it myself until my visit to that interesting country brought it to my notice. We frequently hear of German villages, Hungarian settlements and Italian colonies, but a settlement of North Americans on the other side of the equator is something new. And yet the colony is not new, for it was established more than a generation ago; children have grown up and married, who still call themselves North Americans, and who have never set foot on soil over which waves the stars and stripes. In travelling over Brazil I frequently met with American young men and women who informed me that they came from the Villa Americana. So often did that name reach my ears that I decided to visit this place, and see for myself what kind of a settlement it was, and how these voluntarily expatriated fellow countrymen lived in this land so different from our own. It is a journey of about two hours from Campinas on the Paulista Railway.

But first let me tell you the history of this colony. At the close of the civil war many Southern families, whose plantations had been devastated by the northern armies, felt that they could not live again under the old flag. Proud spirited and unconquered, these brave southern veterans who had marched with Stonewall Jackson, and the Lees, and Johnsons, decided that they would leave the land that had given them birth and seek fortunes anew in a new land, and amidst new surroundings. Brazil appealed to the leaders in this movement because the plantation system was similar to that under which they had been raised, and slavery was legal in that land, which was still an empire. A few men went as an advance guard and selected a site about one hundred miles northwest of the city of São Paulo. A favourable report was made to those still back in the States, and it was not long until several hundred families had left their Southern homes, and were making new homes underneath the Southern Cross. In all it is estimated that at least five hundred American families located in that section of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, between the years 1865 and 1870. They came from Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and perhaps one or two other of the seceding states.

As I stepped off the rapido, as the express train is called down there, the name Villa Americana, which means American Village, on the neat little station struck a sympathetic chord in my heart. It seemed good also to see a number of tall, slender men, typical Southern types, such as one might see at almost any station in Tennessee or Georgia, standing on the platform awaiting the incoming train. One member of the colony, who was in the government employ, was with me and performed the introductions necessary. “How do you do,” “Glad to see you,” “Come around and see me,” and similar cordial expressions came from every one. And the best of it is that they were sincere, and not the empty, meaningless expressions so often heard. It was a pleasure to accept several of these invitations, as many as my limited time allowed.

On entering the home of perhaps the most prosperous member of this colony I felt like standing at “attention,” and giving a salute when I saw the silk starred and striped banner of Uncle Sam fastened up on the wall of the “best room.” The house itself, with its large hall, roomy apartments and broad veranda surrounding the house, looked like one of the plantation houses so common in the South. This man had a large family of children, all of whom, with one exception, had been educated in the schools of the United States, and two boys were at that time in one of our colleges. About the whole house was an American atmosphere that warmed the very heart’s blood in a traveller so far away from home. And so it was in the other houses I visited; in every one was the same cordiality, the same pleasure at seeing some one from the “States,” and the same loyalty to everything American. In some of the younger members one could detect a slight accent in speaking English, which is always noticeable when children learn a Latin tongue in their babyhood. The older ones said that these young people speak the Portuguese with a similar foreign accent. The young ladies of the American colony, and there are a number of them, were typical American girls, bright, cheery and free as their sisters are at home, and so different from the Brazilian young women among whom they live, and who are so hampered by the customs and traditions of the race. We took a “trolley” ride over the settlement, but it is rather different from the American trolley, for it is nothing more than an old-fashioned buckboard.

Many of the original members of the colony became dissatisfied, and returned to their former homes. There are, however, four or five hundred Americans still living in this colony, or within a radius of a few miles. A few have moved to other parts of Brazil, and others have intermarried with Brazilians; but, in general, they have remained true to their Americanism. Some of the original families purchased slaves and worked their plantations in that way, until that institution was abolished in 1888. A few have prospered very much, but many others have done just fairly well. One of the wealthiest men made his little fortune out of watermelons. Others have sugar plantations and make brandy, or raise coffee; and still others do general farming, similar to what they were accustomed in the Southern States. A Protestant church, called the Union Church, adorns one hill, and a school-house in a conspicuous building is in another part of the village.

Some one had told me that the war was a tabooed subject; that the few older members still left were fighting the battles over. When I met the oldest member of the colony, who had left the United States in 1865, the impulse came to test this subject. I mentioned the fact that my own father had served in the Union army and fought for his country on that side. This old man, who was past the allotted three score and ten, and who had fought with that intrepid warrior, Stonewall Jackson, then told me the whole history of the colony, and the causes that led to its establishment. “It was a mistake,” he said, “but we did not realize it then, and afterwards it was too late to sacrifice what we had here and move back. We still love the old flag.” When I left, he gave me the Brazilian embrace as a special mark of favour; and I verily believe that I left a good friend in this old man who had the traits that we all love in the Southern gentleman.

When Senator Root, then Secretary of State, visited Brazil four years ago, a new station was named Elihu Root in his honour on the Paulista Railway, and this name stands out conspicuously on every time-table of that line. The special train conveying him passed through the Villa Americana, and he was asked to stop and address the Americans. When the train stopped many of the older residents met him with tears in their eyes; and, I was told, the eyes of the distinguished American were not dry; and he has said that it was the most pathetic incident in his trip. He was asked whether it would be better for the colony to remain in Brazil or return to the United States. “Stay where you are,” he said, “and be good Brazilians. You will find the States so changed that they would no longer seem like home.”

The Secretary was right. A few months before my own visit one of the prosperous members of the colony went, with his family, to his old home in Texas, with the intention of remaining there. He left his property in the hands of an agent for sale. A few weeks after his arrival in Texas he cabled to his agent not to sell the property, as he was coming back. In a few months he and his family returned to the Villa, giving as his reason that the old neighbourhood had changed so much that it did not seem so much like home as Brazil.

The members of this colony are now Brazilian subjects, the younger ones because of their birth in that land, and the older ones by virtue of a general proclamation. Few of them actually take any part in the politics of the land. All of them, of course, speak the Portuguese language, but use the English in their homes. They are still Americans at heart. My visit to this little American settlement in the very heart of the great Republic of Brazil will always remain a pleasant memory of a most delightful trip.

CHAPTER VIII
THE TEMPERATE ZONE

Brazil is not all within the tropics. The Tropic of Capricorn passes through the suburbs of the city of São Paulo. South of this line is the temperate zone, within which is included the states of Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul, almost the entire state of Paraná, and a part of the states of São Paulo and Matto Grosso. Leaving São Paulo, a ride of two hours over a unique railroad carries the traveller to the busiest port in Brazil. The ride down the Serro is delightful on a clear day. The train is divided into small sections, each with its own powerful little engine, which are attached to a cable. One section is always taken up while another is going down in order to balance the load. Through tunnels, over tressels and along shelves cut out of the solid rock, the train gradually descends until the coast level is reached, and a short ride carries the traveller into the splendid station at Santos.

The city of Santos is not alone one of the most important ports of Brazil, but of the world as well, because of the enormous quantity of coffee shipped from it. At one time it was noted in a different way. It was then regarded as one of the most unhealthy cities in the Americas. I talked with a man who had lived there for twenty-five years, and he told me that in times of pestilence the dead bodies would be taken out to the cemetery by the score each day. People who went there hardly dared to breathe, so fearful were they of contagion. The Brazilian government deserves great credit for the changes that have been wrought in Santos, for the death rate is no greater than in the average coast city, as complete sanitation has been effected, and a good water supply brought in.

The name of Santos is an abbreviation of the original name Todos os Santos (All the Saints), for it was on All Saints’ Day that the site was discovered by Braz Cubras, in 1543. It was plundered by the English Vice-Admiral Cook in 1651, under orders from Admiral Thomas Cavendish. Because of its admirable bay Santos early became an important port. It is situated on a point of land which becomes an island in the rainy season. It looks quite picturesque as one sails up the channel to the docks, with the tropical vegetation and the surrounding hills which slope almost to the water’s edge.

It is the only harbour along the Atlantic coast where vessels can unload without resort to lighters. A very extensive system of docks has been constructed here, which will be two and one-half miles in length when finished. Several dozen vessels will then be able to lay at the wharf at the same time, as frequently happens in the busy season. More than one thousand boats call here each year. The city is not especially interesting, as there is nothing to distinguish it from other Brazilian cities. The main interest lies along the docks. And, by the way, the Docas de Santos Company have a contract that is worth a fortune. This company constructed the docks, and are given a concession which is bringing in millions of dollars in profit.

In the coffee season the docks, the streets of the shipping quarter and the warehouses have a busy appearance. The streets are almost rendered impassable by the wagons loaded with bags of coffee. Dozens of carigadores hurry back and forth between the wagons and warehouses, or between warehouses and boats, with two or three bags of coffee on their shoulders. Women dart here and there among the wagons, and pick, or scrape up, the berries which have been spilled upon the ground during the loading and unloading; and they sometimes realize a fair sum for a day’s work. In the warehouses the coffee is emptied out in immense piles, sorted and resacked in bags of uniform weight, and then stacked up in piles which number thousands of bags. From these docks the coffee is sent out to Europe and America, and from there distributed to all parts of the civilized world.

The through steamers to Argentina and Uruguay do not stop at any Brazilian ports south of Santos, so that it is necessary to take the national boats. It is a law of the country that coast steamers must fly the Brazilian flag. There are two lines that make the various stops, of which the Costeira Line of Lage Brothers is probably the best, as they have English captains.

After leaving Santos the tropical plants and palms grow less luxuriantly, and the vegetation more closely resembles our Gulf States. The first port at which the boat stops is Paranaguá, the only harbour, and the only port of any importance on the coast of the state of Paraná, a state about the size of Pennsylvania. There is a strip of lowland along the coast that is subtropical, being low, flat and marshy. On these marsh lands rice has been very successfully cultivated during the past few years. West of the coast range of mountains the climate is more temperate, and there are some fine plateaus that extend as far as the Paraná River on the western boundary.

Paranaguá is a thriving town of ten thousand or more, and has one of the finest harbours on the coast. From this port a railway has been built to the capital, Curytiba, and Ponta Grossa, the second largest town in the state, a distance of nearly two hundred miles. This line is a triumph of engineering, for it climbs over the Serro da Mar without resorting to the aid of cogs or cables. A ride over it affords some magnificent views in the richness and variety of views to be seen as the train runs around bends, and bursts forth from the many tunnels along the line. This route is said to have been the scene of many tragic deaths during the revolution of 1893-4, when revolutionists were carried by train to the highest points along the line, and then brutally hurled into the depths below.

It is a journey of about four hours to Curytiba, which is a pretty little city of half a hundred thousand people, more or less. It is one of the largest cities south of São Paulo, and is situated at an altitude of 2,500 feet above sea level, thus giving it a pleasant and equable temperature. The city is comparatively modern with the usual public buildings of a capital, plazas filled with shrubbery and flowers, and a Botanical Garden of which the people are very proud.

Paraná is a rich state in natural resources. It was formerly united with São Paulo as one province, and the original inhabitants have many of the same qualities as the Paulistas. Many foreign colonies have been established by state aid, and some of them have prospered. Italians, Poles and Germans constitute the colonists, of whom the Poles are probably the most numerous. There are large areas of forests, of which a tree known as the Paraná pine is the most common, as well as most useful. This tree grows to a lofty and imposing height, with a trunk several feet thick. It is used much the same as our own pine, and a great deal of it is exported to the other Brazilian states, as well as to Argentina and Uruguay.

The most valuable article of commerce at the present time is the Ilex Paraguayensis, from which the herb maté, or Paraguay tea, is made. Brazil is a great producer of this tea as well as coffee. From this maté is brewed a beverage that is used by twenty million or more of South Americans, for one will see its disciples in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina, and probably other countries as well. The early Jesuit missionaries were the first discoverers of the virtue of this plant, when they found the Indians chewed it, and by doing so were able to undergo great hardships with very little solid food. These fathers experimented with the shrub, or rather tree, and instructed the Indians in its cultivation. At a later time immense forests were discovered, and it is from them that the principal crop is now obtained.

The state of Paraná produces more of this preparation than any other country, and several million dollars’ worth of it are shipped each year to the other states and foreign countries. Its production has been the source of wealth to not a few in that state, for the yerbales, as the plantations are called, have proven very profitable. It is made from the leaves of a tree that is generally about the size of an orange tree, but will sometimes grow to a height of twenty-five feet, and with a trunk two, and even three feet, in circumference. One tree will oftentimes yield ninety pounds of the prepared herb. As the plantations are generally remote, the gatherers go together in their long trips across country. The season begins in December, and lasts for a number of months. Firing, and in some places, the picking, drying and packing were all formerly done on the grounds, but now machinery has been installed for the different processes of preparing it for the market. By the old process the maté gatherers cleared off a space of ground, and then beat it down very hard. The freshly cut stems and leaves were first placed in the centre and a fire built around it; then placed on poles with a fire underneath. Drying the leaves two or three days reduced them to a dry powder, and they were then packed in bags made ready to be taken back to the markets. Large copper pans placed over a slow fire now take the place of this primitive process.

A number of scientists claim high medicinal qualities for the beverage. They say that it has more stimulating and tonic effects than the common tea, with absolutely none of the bad or unpleasant effects. Instead of keeping the user awake, for instance, it is claimed that the user is never troubled with insomnia. It can be made and used the same as any tea, but it is commonly taken from the cuya, and drawn up through the bombilla. The cuya is a small bowl or gourd, with a little opening through which the maté is put in. Hot water is then poured over, and a little sugar added. The bombilla is a small pipe, with a strainer on the end, through which the beverage is sipped. Some of these cuyas and bombillas are very elaborate and made of pure silver. Hot water and another lump of sugar must be added every few minutes to keep it palatable. It is a very common sight to see the natives sitting outside their homes sipping this favourite drink of theirs, its use oftentimes supplanting the stronger intoxicants. Some hotels and restaurants serve it, and many foreigners become as fond of maté as those who were born in the country, and its use is being introduced in a small way in Europe.

As the vessel proceeds farther south it stops at Florianapolis, capital of the state of Santa Catharina. The coast of this state is, perhaps, the most beautiful of all the Brazilian states, excepting that of Rio de Janeiro. The maritime range rises very abruptly to a great height, with only a very narrow strip between it and the sea. There are several good harbours. Florianapolis lies on an island, about five miles from the mainland which the city faces. It makes a beautiful picture. Where Rio is grand, there is a softness about this scene that also appeals to the poetic side of nature. Back of the city rises the background of hills, green with semi-tropical verdure, which reach a height of three thousand feet. The entire island is almost a garden of beauty with its variegated hues of shrubs and flowers, and the driveways which are overhung with trees and vines. It is not as large as Curytiba, but is more important in a commercial sense than that neighbouring capital, because it is a shipping port at which several vessels call each week.

The state of Santa Catharina is somewhat similar to Paraná, although not so large. The plateaus are devoted to stock raising, of which horses and mules form a large part. The majority of the small but tough and wiry mules used in the states farther north come from this state. Some tobacco, sugar and dairy products are also exported, and fruit is now being cultivated on a much larger scale than formerly. A number of German colonies are found in this state, and some of them are so pronouncedly Teutonic that the Portuguese tongue is scarcely understood. This shows not only in the architecture of these towns, but also in the dress and manners of the inhabitants, although the greater part of the German element has lived here for a long time. Joinville, Blumenau and Brusque are three of these distinctly German settlements. It is a question whether they have advanced faster than the native Brazilians. At least it is certain that they have not kept pace with the Fatherland, probably because there has been no continued influx of new blood into the settlements.

Leaving Florianapolis the vessel skirts along the shores of Santa Catharina, and for a long distance along the low coast of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, until the port of the same name, the most southerly port of the republic, is reached. The coast line of this state is peculiar in that it consists of lakes or lagoons, which are separated from the sea by comparatively narrow strips of land. The principal lake, called Lagoa dos Patos (Ducks Lake), is one hundred and fifty miles long and from twenty to thirty miles wide, and has only one narrow channel connecting it with the ocean, that at Rio Grande do Sul, at its southerly extremity. The lake is not very deep, but a twelve foot channel has been dredged to Pelotas, and a ten foot channel has been completed almost to Porto Alegre. At the entrance there are sandbars which make it impossible for deep draught vessels to enter, but the coasting boats proceed up to the furthermost extremity, at which is located the largest city of the state, Porto Alegre, the “merry port.”

The government is now engaged in the work of dredging a channel to a depth of ten meters (thirty-two and eight-tenths feet) over this bar which, with the port works planned, will give Rio Grande do Sul one of the best harbours on the Brazilian coast, and will probably make it the chief city south of São Paulo. The cost of this improvement will be about $10,000,000 in gold, for which a special tax of two per cent. on all goods coming into the state through this channel has been levied. The port works will cost almost an equal sum, and a concession has been granted to a company which agrees to make this improvement. The plan adopted is to construct two parallel dikes, or jetties, from the mouth of the river into the new harbour, and there construct basins which will be large enough to manœuvre the largest vessels afloat. Rubble stones and immense cement blocks will be used for this work, and it is estimated that at least four million tons of this material will be required. At least ten million cubic yards will have to be dredged for the channel and basins. The sand and clay brought up by the dredges will be deposited inside the revetments in order to fill up the low land. This improvement was formally begun December 11th, 1907, and the preliminary work has been done, so that the main part of the undertaking is now progressing very satisfactorily. An American engineer is in charge of the work, but the contract is held by a French company. It is expected that this much needed improvement, which has been under consideration for a quarter of a century, will be completed in 1913. This will revolutionize this port and make Rio Grande do Sul a port of call for European and American steamers. It will not only give an easy outlet to Southern Brazil, but a much shorter one for Northern Uruguay and a part of Argentina.

Rio Grande do Sul of to-day is a thrifty little city of twenty-five thousand inhabitants, with pretty parks and narrow streets, but nothing outside of its shipping to attract much attention to itself. There are schools, colleges and churches, charitable institutions and a library, all of which are excellent in themselves. It is about eight hundred miles from Rio harbour. A decade hence it will be a much more important and a much larger city than at present. A few miles farther up the lake is the larger town of Pelotas, which is the centre of the beef curing establishments, of which there are so many along this lake. In addition to the beef consumed locally these xarqueados prepare and export more than $6,000,000 worth of this dried and salted meat annually.

The southern part of Rio Grande do Sul is composed of prairie lands, called campos, which comprise perhaps two-thirds of the area of this state, which is twice as large as the state of New York. These plains are covered with pasture, and contain only a little timber along the streams. These great campos are divided up into estancias or fazendas, which are frequently many thousands of acres in extent. Natural boundaries, such as streams and ridges, have generally been chosen, which not only serve as natural fences, but settle absolutely all questions of ownership. The house of the estanciero is generally situated on an elevation which overlooks the estate, and around it are grouped the huts of the labourers. There is, as a rule, no cultivation of the soil except to supply the wants of those dwelling on the estate. The entire attention is devoted to the raising of cattle, of which there are more than four million in the state. A few raise mules to supply the cities. The Rio Grandense, as the inhabitant is called, is, first of all, a ranchman.

In the spring, men, called the tropeiros, visit all the estancias, and bargain for the cattle at so much a head for cash. They are then formed into great herds and driven overland to the xarqueados, which is the name given to the killing establishments of Brazil. In these establishments the salted and dried beef is prepared, which forms the principal meat supply of central and northern Brazil, where few cattle are raised.