CHAPTER XVI.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS OF BRAZIL.

RELIGION AND CLERGY.—EDUCATION.—LAW, MEDICAL, AND SCIENTIFIC SCHOOLS.—HIGH AND COMMON SCHOOLS.—PUBLIC LIBRARY AND MUSEUM IN RIO DE JANEIRO.—HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE.—SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS.—PUBLIC FUNCTIONARIES.—AGRICULTURE.—ZONES OF VEGETATION.—COFFEE.—COTTON.—TIMBER AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF THE AMAZONS.—CATTLE.—TERRITORIAL SUBDIVISION OF THE GREAT VALLEY.—EMIGRATION.—FOREIGNERS.—PARAGUAYAN WAR.

I cannot close this book, written for the most part by another hand, without a few words as to my general impressions of Brazil. No one will expect from me an essay on the social and political aspects of the whole country, even had I remained there long enough to acquire the right of judgment on these matters. I am so unaccustomed to dealing with them that my opinions would be entitled to little weight. There is, however, another point of view, more general, but perhaps more comprehensive also, from which every intelligent man may form an estimate of the character of a people which, if sincere, will be in the main sound and just, without including an intimate knowledge of their institutions, or the practical working of their laws. My scientific life has brought me into relations with a world wholly unknown to me before; under conditions more favorable than were possible for my predecessors in the same region, I have studied this tropical nature, so rich, so grandiose, so instructive; I have seen a great Empire founded in the midst of unlimited material resources, and advancing to higher civilization under the inspiration of a sovereign as enlightened as he is humane. I must have been blind to everything except my science, had I not a word to say of Brazil as a nation,—of her present condition and her future prospects.

There is much that is discouraging in the aspect of Brazil, even for those who hope and believe as I do, that she has before her an honorable and powerful career. There is much also that is very cheering, that leads me to believe that her life as a nation will not belie her great gifts as a country. Should her moral and intellectual endowments grow into harmony with her wonderful natural beauty and wealth, the world will not have seen a fairer land. At present there are several obstacles to this progress; obstacles which act like a moral disease upon the people. Slavery still exists among them. It is true that it is on the wane; true that it has received a mortal blow; but the natural death of slavery is a lingering illness, wasting and destroying the body it has attacked. Next to this I would name, among the influences unfavorable to progress, the character of the clergy. In saying this I disclaim any reference to the national religion. It is of the character of the clergy I speak, not of the church they represent. Whatever be the church organization in a country where instruction is still so intimately linked with a state religion as it is in Brazil, it is of infinite importance that the clergy themselves should not only be men of high moral character, but of studious, thoughtful lives. They are the teachers of the people, and as long as they believe that the mind can be fed with tawdry street processions, with lighted candles, and cheap bouquets; and as long as the people accept this kind of instruction, they will be debased and enfeebled by it. Shows of this kind are of almost daily occurrence in all the large cities of Brazil. They interfere with the ordinary occupations, and make working days the exception rather than the rule. It must be remembered that in Brazil there is no laborious, cultivated class of priests, such as have been an honor to ecclesiastical literature in the Old World; there are no fine institutions of learning connected with the Church. As a general thing, the ignorance of the clergy is universal, their immorality patent, their influence very extensive and deep-rooted. There are honorable exceptions, but they are not numerous enough to elevate the class to which they belong. But if their private life is open to blame, the Brazilian priests are distinguished for their patriotism. At all times they have occupied high public stations, serving in the Legislative Assembly, in the Senate, and even nearer to the throne; yet their power has never been exerted in favor of Ultramontane tendencies. Independent religious thought seems, however, rare in Brazil. There may perhaps be scepticism; but I think this is not likely to be extensively the case, for the Brazilians are instinctively a believing people, tending rather to superstition than to doubt. Oppression in matters of faith is contrary to the spirit of their institutions. Protestant clergymen are allowed to preach freely; but, as a general thing, Protestantism does not attract the Southern nations, and it may be doubted whether its advocates will have a very wide-spread success. However this may be, every friend to Brazil must wish to see its present priesthood replaced by a more vigorous, intelligent, and laborious clergy.

In order to form a just estimate of the present condition of education in Brazil, and its future prospects, we must not consider it altogether from our own stand-point. The truth is that all steady progress in Brazil dates from her declaration of independence, and that is a very recent fact in her history. Since she has passed from colonial to national life her relations with other countries have enlarged, antiquated prejudices have been effaced, and with a more intense individual existence she has assumed also a more cosmopolitan breadth of ideas. But a political revolution is more rapidly accomplished than the remoulding of the nation which is its result,—its consequence rather than its accompaniment. Even now, after half a century of independent existence, intellectual progress in Brazil is manifested rather as a tendency, a desire, so to speak, giving a progressive movement to society, than as a positive fact. The intellectual life of a nation when fully developed has its material existence in large and various institutions of learning, scattered throughout the country. Except in a very limited and local sense, this is not yet the case in Brazil.

I did not visit San Paolo, and I cannot therefore speak from personal observation of the Faculty which stands highest in general estimation; I can, however, testify to the sound learning and liberal culture of many of its graduates whom it has been my good fortune to know, and whose characters as gentlemen and as students bear testimony to the superior instruction they have received at the hands of their Alma Mater. I was told that the best schools, after those of San Paolo, were those of Bahia and Pernambuco. I did not visit them, as my time was too short; but I should think that the presence of the professional faculties established in both these cities would tend to raise the character of the lower grades of education. The regular faculties embrace only medical and legal studies. The instruction in both is thorough, though perhaps limited; at least I felt that, in the former, in which my own studies have prepared me to judge, those accessory branches which, after all, lie at the foundation of a superior medical education, are either wanting or are taught very imperfectly. Neither zoölogy, comparative anatomy, botany, physics, nor chemistry is allowed sufficient weight in the medical schools. The education is one rather of books than of facts. Indeed, as long as the prejudice against manual labor of all kinds exists in Brazil, practical instruction will be deficient; as long as students of nature think it unbecoming a gentleman to handle his own specimens, to carry his own geological hammer, to make his own scientific preparations, he will remain a mere dilettante in investigation. He may be very familiar with recorded facts, but he will make no original researches. On this account, and on account of their personal indolence, field studies are foreign to Brazilian habits. Surrounded as they are by a nature rich beyond comparison, their naturalists are theoretical rather than practical. They know more of the bibliography of foreign science than of the wonderful fauna and flora with which they are surrounded.

Of the schools and colleges in Rio de Janeiro I have more right to judge than of those above mentioned. Several of them are excellent. The Ecole Centrale deserves a special notice. It corresponds to what we call a scientific school, and nowhere in Brazil have I seen an educational institution where improved methods of teaching were so highly appreciated and so generally adopted. The courses of mathematics, chemistry, physics, and the natural sciences are comprehensive and thorough. And yet even in this institution I was struck with the scantiness of means for practical illustration and experiment; its professors do not yet seem to understand that it is impossible to teach any of the physical sciences wholly or mainly from text-books. The facilities granted to pupils in this school, and perhaps still more in the military school, are very great. The instruction is entirely gratuitous, and in the military school the students are not only fed and clothed, etc.; they are even paid for their attendance, being considered as belonging to the army from the time they enter the school.

The Dom Pedro Segundo College is the best school of that class I have seen in Brazil. It may be compared to our New England high schools, and fully deserves the reputation it enjoys.

Of the common schools I saw little. Of course, in a country where the population is sparsely scattered over very extensive districts, it must be difficult to gather the children in schools, outside of the large cities. Where such schools have been organized the instruction is gratuitous; but competent teachers are few, the education very limited, and the means of instruction scanty. Reading, writing, and ciphering, with the least possible smattering of geography, form the groundwork of all these schools. The teachers labor under great difficulties, because they have not the strong support of the community. There is little general appreciation of the importance of education as the basis without which all higher civilization is impossible. I have, however, noticed throughout Brazil a disposition to give a practical education, a training in some trade, to the poor children. Establishments of this kind exist in almost all the larger cities. This is a good sign; it shows that they attach a proper value to labor, at least for the lower classes, and aim at raising a working population. In these schools blacks and whites are, so to speak, industrially united. Indeed, there is no antipathy of race to be overcome in Brazil, either among the laboring people or in the higher walks of life. I was pleased to see pupils, without distinction of race or color, mingling in the exercises.

It is surprising that, in a country so rich in mineral wealth, there should exist no special Mining School, and that everything connected with the working of the mines should be under the immediate supervision of the Minister of Public Works, without the assistance of a special office for the superintendence of mining operations. Nothing would more speedily increase the value of the mineral lands of the whole country than a regular geological survey, which has not yet been begun.[107]

The Imperial Library at Rio de Janeiro should not be omitted from an enumeration of its educational establishments. It is very fairly supplied with books in all departments of learning, and is conducted in a very liberal spirit, suffering no limitation from religious or political prejudice. In fact, tolerance and benevolence are common characteristics of the institutions of learning in Brazil. The Imperial Museum of Natural History in the Capital is antiquated; to any one acquainted with Museums which are living and progressive, it is evident that the collections it contains have been allowed to remain for years in their present condition, without additions or improvements. The mounted animals, mammalia and birds, are faded; and the fishes, with the exception of a few beautifully stuffed specimens from the Amazons, give no idea of the variety to be found in the Brazilian waters. A better collection might be made any morning in the fish-market. The Museum contains some very fine fossil remains from the valley of the San Francisco and from Ceará, but no attempt has as yet been made to arrange them.

The only learned society deserving a special mention is the Historical and Geographical Institute. Its Transactions are regularly published, and form already a series of many volumes, full of valuable documents, chiefly relative to the history of South America. The meetings are held in the Imperial Palace of Rio, and are habitually presided over by his Majesty the Emperor.

I cannot close what I have to say of instruction in Brazil without adding that, in a country where only half the nation is educated, there can be no complete intellectual progress. Where the difference of education makes an intelligent sympathy between men and women almost impossible, so that their relation is necessarily limited to that of the domestic affections, never raised except in some very exceptional cases to that of cultivated companionship, the development of the people as a whole must remain imperfect and partial. I believe, however, that, especially in this direction, a rapid reform may be expected. I have heard so many intelligent Brazilians lament the want of suitable instruction for women in their schools, that I think the standard of education for girls will steadily be raised. Remembering the antecedents of the Brazilians, their inherited notions as to what is becoming in the privacy and restraint of a woman’s life, we are not justified, however false these ideas may seem to us, in considering the present generation as responsible for them; they are also too deeply rooted to be changed in a day.

On several occasions I have alluded in terms of praise to the working of the institutions of Brazil. Nothing can be more liberal than the Constitution of the land; every guaranty is therein secured to the freest assertion of all the natural rights of man. And yet there are some features in the habits of the people, probably the results of an antiquated social condition, which impede the progress of the nation. It should not be forgotten that the white population of Brazil is chiefly descended from the Portuguese, and that of all Europe Portugal is the country which at the time of the discovery and settlement of Brazil, had least been affected by the growth of our modern civilization. Indeed, the great migrations which convulsed Europe in the Middle Ages, and the Reformation, upon which the new social order chiefly rests, have scarcely affected Portugal; so that Roman ways, Roman architecture, and a degenerate Latin were still flourishing when her Transatlantic colonies were founded; and, as in all colonies, the conditions of the mother country were but slowly modified. No wonder, therefore, that the older structures of Rio de Janeiro should recall, in the most surprising manner, the architecture of ancient Rome, as disclosed by the excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and that the social condition of Brazil should remind us of the habits of a people among whom women played so subordinate a part. It seems to me that even now the administration of the provinces, as in the Roman civilization, is calculated to enforce the law, rather than to develop the material resources of the country. I have been surprised to find young lawyers almost invariably at the head of the administration of the provinces, where practical men, conversant with the interests of agriculture, commerce, and the mechanical arts, would, in my opinion, have been better adapted to the pressing duty of stimulating all pursuits connected with the active life of a young and aspiring nation.

The exaggerated appreciation of political employment prevailing everywhere is a misfortune. It throws into the shade all other occupations, and loads the government with a crowd of paid officials who uselessly encumber the public service and are a drain upon the public funds. Every man who has received an education seeks a political career, as at once the most aristocratic and the easiest way of gaining a livelihood. It is but recently that gentlemen have begun to engage in mercantile pursuits.

It seems to me, that, though the character and habits of the Brazilians are not those of an agricultural people, Brazil is an essentially agricultural country, and some occurrences in her recent history confirm this view. Brazil had formerly a great variety of agricultural products, but now the number of plants under culture is rather limited. Agricultural operations are at present centred upon coffee, cotton, sugar, tobacco, mandioca, some cereals, beans, and cocoa. Owing to her climate and her geographical position, the vegetable zones of Brazil are not so marked as those of other countries. It would not be difficult to divide the whole Empire, with reference to its productions, into three great regions. The first of these, stretching from the borders of Guiana to Bahia, along the great rivers, is more especially characterized by the wild products of the forest: Indian-rubber, cocoa, vanilla, sarsaparilla, and an infinite variety of gums, resins, barks, and textile fibres still unknown to commerce in Europe and the United States. To these Brazil might add spices, the monopoly of which belongs now to the Sunda Islands. The second region, extending from Bahia to Santa Catarina, is that of coffee. The third, from Santa Catarina to Rio Grande, and in the interior of the high plateaux, is that of the grains; and, in connection with their culture, the raising of cattle. Rice, which is easily grown throughout Brazil, and cotton, which yields magnificent crops in all the provinces, bind together these three zones, sugar and tobacco following in their train. An important step with reference to agriculture, which has scarcely been thought of as yet, is the cultivation of the heights of the Organ Mountains, as well as those of the Serra do Mar and the Serra do Mantiqueira. On these high lands might be raised all the products characteristic of the warmer portions of the temperate zones, and Rio de Janeiro would receive daily from the mountains in her immediate neighborhood all those vegetables and garden fruits which she now procures in small quantities and at high prices from the provinces bordering on the La Plata. The slopes of these Serras might also be covered with plantations of cascarilla, and, as the production of quinine must sooner or later be greatly diminished by the devastation of the Cinchora-trees on the upper Amazonian tributaries, it is the more important that their culture should be introduced upon the largest scale on the heights above Rio. The attempts of Mr. Glaziou in that direction deserve every encouragement.

The sugar-cane has long been the chief object of cultivation in Brazil, and the production of sugar is still considerable; but within several years the planting of sugar-cane has given way in many districts to that of coffee. I have taken pains to ascertain the facts respecting the culture of coffee during the last fifty years; the immense development of this branch of industry and the rapidity of the movement, especially in a country where labor is so scarce, is among the most striking economical phenomena of our century. Thanks to their perseverance and to the favorable conditions presented by the constitution of their soil, the Brazilians have obtained a sort of monopoly of coffee. More than half the coffee consumed in the world is of Brazilian growth. And yet the coffee of Brazil has little reputation, and is even greatly underrated. Why is this? Simply because a great deal of the best produce of Brazilian plantations is sold under the name of Java or Mocha, or as the coffee of Martinique or Bourbon. Martinique produces only six hundred sacks of coffee annually; Guadaloupe, whose coffee is sold under the name of the neighboring island, yields six thousand sacks, not enough to provide the market of Rio de Janeiro for twenty-four hours, and the island of Bourbon hardly more. A great part of the coffee which is bought under these names, or under that of Java coffee, is Brazilian, while the so-called Mocha coffee is often nothing but the small round beans of the Brazilian plant found at the summits of the branches and very carefully selected. If the fazendeiros, like the Java planters, sold their crops under a special mark, the great purchasers would learn with what merchandise they have to deal, and the agriculture of Brazil would be greatly benefited. But there intervenes between the fazendeiro and the exporter a class of merchants—half bankers, half brokers—known as commissarios, who, by mixing different harvests, lower the standard of the crop, thus relieving the producer of all responsibility and depriving the product of its true characteristics.

If the provinces adjacent to Rio de Janeiro offer naturally the most favorable soil for the culture of coffee, it must not be forgotten that coffee is planted with advantage in the shade of the Amazonian forest, and even yields two annual crops wherever pains are taken to plant it. In the province of Ceará, where the coffee is of a superior quality, it is not planted on the plains, or in the low grounds, or in the shadow of the forest, as in the valley of the Amazons, but on the slopes of the hills and on the mountain heights, to an elevation of from fifteen hundred to two thousand feet and more above the level of the sea, in the Serras of Aratanha and Baturité and in the Serra Grande. The channels opened to these products should augment their importance, and should give rise to numerous establishments in the valley of the Amazons.

The increased exportation of cotton from Brazil during the last few years is a still more marked feature in its industrial history than the large coffee crops. When, towards the close of the last century, cotton began to assume in England an importance which has ever since been increasing, Brazil naturally became one of the great providers of the English market. But it soon lost this advantage, because our Southern States acquired, with an extraordinary rapidity, an almost complete monopoly of this product. Favored by exceptional circumstances, North America succeeded, about the year 1846, in furnishing cotton at such low rates that all competition became impossible, and the culture of cotton was almost abandoned in other countries. Brazil, however, persisted. Her annual production showed a slow but steady progress; even the cessation of the slave-trade did not interrupt this advance. Indeed, it is a striking fact, which may well be mentioned in this connection, that the statistics of Brazilian agriculture have been steadily rising ever since the abolition of the slave-trade. When the Rebellion broke out in our Southern States, Brazil thus found herself prepared to give a considerable impulse to the cultivation of a product as much sought for as bread in time of famine. Spite of the want of population, which is an obstacle to all industrial enterprises in Brazil, she found labor, and, what was still more important, free labor, for this object. It seemed as if it were a point of national honor to show what could be done. Provinces like San Paolo, where a foot of ground had never before been planted with cotton; others, as for instance Alagoas, Parahyba do Norte, Ceará, where the cultivation of cotton had been abandoned, produced extraordinary quantities,—so large, indeed, that two lines of steamers were established, and have prospered, between Liverpool and the above-mentioned ports, chiefly for the transport of this crop. It will be remembered that during the whole of this time Brazil was in want of laborers, that she received no foreign capital for this undertaking, that she imported neither Coolies nor Chinese, that almost immediately after the movement began her war with Paraguay broke out, and yet her production of cotton has quadrupled and quintupled. This fact assumed such importance in the estimate of industrial interests at the late Paris Exposition, that an exceptional prize was awarded to Brazil, on the ground that, in supplying the European market so largely with this indispensable staple, she had rendered it independent of the former monopoly of the United States. It is true that the same prize was also granted to Algeria and to Egypt. But the Brazilian planter had not, like the colonists of Africa, the stimulus of a large subsidy from government; he could not, like the Viceroy of Egypt, seize 80,000 men in a single district and transport them to his plantations; neither did he, like the Egyptian fellah, abandon all other branches of agriculture in order to devote himself exclusively to that of cotton. In fact, the general interests of agriculture prospered in Brazil, in the midst of this new enterprise.

I have insisted on these facts, which I think are little known, because they seem to me to show a greater energy and vitality than is usually supposed to exist in the productive forces of Brazil. To stimulate this movement, the government has recently taken the initiatory steps in the organization of an Agricultural School in the vicinity of Bahia, in which all the modern improvements suggested by the progress of science and invention, are to be tested in their application to the natural products of the tropics.

The importance of the basin of the Amazons to Brazil, from an industrial point of view, can hardly be overestimated. Its woods alone have an almost priceless value. Nowhere in the world is there finer timber, either for solid construction or for works of ornament; and yet it is scarcely used even for the local buildings, and makes no part whatever of the exports. It is strange that the development of this branch of industry should not even have begun in Brazil, for the rivers which flow past these magnificent forests seem meant to serve, first as a water-power for the saw-mills which ought to be established along their borders, and then as a means of transportation for the material so provided. Setting aside the woods as timber, what shall I say of the mass of fruits, resins, oils, coloring matters, textile fibres, which they yield? When I stopped at Pará, on my way home to the United States, an exhibition of Amazonian products, brought together in preparation for the World’s Fair at Paris, was still open. Much as I had admired, during my journey, the richness and variety of the materials native to the soil, I was amazed when I saw them thus side by side. There I noticed, among others, a collection of no less than one hundred and seventeen different kinds of highly valuable woods, cut from a piece of land less than half a mile square. Of these many were dark-colored, veined woods susceptible of a high polish,—as beautiful as rosewood or ebony. There was a great variety of vegetable oils, all remarkable for their clearness and purity. There were a number of fabrics made from the fibres of the palm, and an endless variety of fruits. An empire might esteem itself rich in any one of the sources of industry which abound in this valley, and yet the greater part of its vast growth rots on the ground, and goes to form a little more river-mud or to stain the waters on the shores of which its manifold products die and decompose. But what surprised me most was to find that a great part of this region was favorable to the raising of cattle. Fine sheep are fed on the grassy plains and on the hills which stretch between Obydos and Almeyrim, and I have rarely eaten better mutton than at Ereré, in the midst of these serras. And yet the inhabitants of this fertile region suffer from hunger. The insufficiency of food is evident; but it arises solely from the inability of the people to avail themselves of the natural productions of the soil. As an instance of this, I may mention that, though living on the banks of rivers which abound in delicious fish, they make large use of salt cod, imported from other countries!

While travelling upon the Amazons, I have often asked myself what would be the best plan for developing the natural resources of that incomparable region. No doubt the opening of the great river to the commerce of all nations was a first step in the right direction; and this measure in itself shows what extraordinary progress Brazil is making, for it is hardly more than half a century, since, owing to the narrow policy and jealous disposition of the Portuguese government, the greatest traveller of modern times was forbidden to enter the valley of the Amazons; while to-day a scientific errand of a similar character is welcomed and fostered in every possible way by the government of a nation now independent of Europe. But a free competition is a necessary complement to the freedom already granted, and competition is scarcely possible where monopolies are kept up. I hold, therefore, that all the exceptional facilities granted by the Brazilian government to private companies are detrimental to its best interests. There is, however, another direct obstacle to progress which ought at once to be removed, since the change could in no way injure the general welfare. The present limitation of the provinces of Pará and of the Amazons is entirely unnatural. The whole valley is cut in two transversely, so that its lower half is of necessity a bar to the independent growth of the upper half. Pará, being made the centre of everything, drains the whole country without vitalizing the interior. The great river which should be an international highway has become an inland stream. But suppose for a moment that the Amazons, like our Mississippi, were made the boundary between a succession of independent provinces on either side of it; suppose that on the southern banks of the Amazons the province of Teffé should extend from the borders of Peru to the banks of the Madeira, the province of Santarem from the Madeira to the Xingu, and that of Pará be reduced to the country east of the Xingu, including the Island of Marajo; each of these separate provinces would then be at once bounded and traversed by great streams, securing the double activity of competition and the stimulus of internal conveniences. In like manner should the lands on the northern banks of the Amazons form several independent provinces; that of Monte Alégre, for instance, extending from the Rio Trombetas to the sea; that of Manaos, from the Rio Trombetas to the Rio Negro; and perhaps that of the Hyapura, enclosing the present wilderness between the Rio Negro and the Solimoens. It will, no doubt, be objected that such a change would involve an administrative staff quite disproportionate to the present population; but the government of such provinces, even with the few inhabitants they might number, if organized upon the plan of the territorial governments of our infant States, would only stimulate local energies, and develop local resources, without interfering in the least with the central government. Moreover, any one familiar with the working of the present system in the valley of the Amazons must be aware that all the cities started during the past century along the great river and its tributaries, far from progressing, are going to ruin and decay; and this is unquestionably owing to the centralization at Pará of all the real activity of the whole country.

Without a much denser population, the best efforts of Brazil to increase its prosperity must be slow and ineffective. No wonder, then, that, immediately after the declaration of independence, Dom Pedro I. attempted to attract German emigrants to his new empire. From that period dates the Colony of San Leopoldo, near Porto Alégre, on the Rio Grande do Sul. It was not, however, till the year 1850, when the slave-trade was actually abolished, and it was no longer possible to import labor from Africa, that these colonization schemes assumed a more definite and settled character. In this attempt the planters and the government were agreed, but with a different object. The plan of the government, undertaken in perfect good faith, was to create a laboring population, and a class of small landed proprietors. The planters, on the contrary, accustomed to compulsory labor, thought only of recruiting their slave ranks by substituting Europeans for Africans. This led to terrible abuses; under pretence of advancing their passage-money, poor emigrants, and especially the ignorant Portuguese from the Azores, were virtually sold under a contract which they subsequently found it very difficult to break. These abuses have thrown discredit upon the attempts of the Brazilian government to colonize the interior, but the iniquities practised under the name of emigration are now corrected. In fact, the colonies established directly by the government, on public lands, have never suffered wrong; on the contrary, the German settlements in Sta Catherina, on the Rio Grande do Sul and on the San Francisco do Sul are very prosperous. The best evidence of the improvement in the condition of the colonists, and of the more liberal spirit of the nation towards them, is the spontaneous formation in Rio de Janeiro of an international society of emigration independent of all government influence, consisting of Brazilians, Portuguese, Germans, Swiss, Americans, French, &c. The objects of this society, of which Mr. Tavares Bastos is one of the most influential members, are, first, to reform the constitution in all which may place the foreigner at a disadvantage; second, to redress the wrongs of the emigrants; third, to provide them with such assistance and information as they may need on arriving. This society has been in existence only two years, but has already rendered valuable services. It is to be hoped that the government will persevere in the liberal course it has entered upon, and, above all, put an end to the unnecessary legal formalities by which the emigrant is prevented from taking immediate possession of his new home. This is especially important in the region of the Amazons, where the new-comer finds none of those facilities which welcome the emigrant in the United States. I cannot too often repeat, also, that all monopoly of transport in the Amazons should speedily be abolished. As soon as the wild products of its shores are subjected to a regular culture, even of a very imperfect kind, and are no longer gathered at random,—as soon as organized labor, directed by an intelligent activity, takes the place of the thoughtless and uncertain efforts of the Indians, the variety and excellence of its staples will be increased beyond all expectation. As it is, a little foresight would prevent an immense deal of suffering in this fertile region, where food abounds and people die of hunger. Accustomed to live upon fish, the natives make little use either of milk or meat, and the fine pasturage which might maintain herds of cattle is allowed to run to waste. Careless of the inclemency of the weather when gathering the harvest of the forest, they scarcely build a shelter against the heavy rains, allow their wet clothes to dry upon their skin, and expose themselves to constant alternations of heat and cold. Add to this, that they do not hesitate to drink stagnant water, if it be nearer at hand than spring water, and we have causes enough for the prevalence of intermittent fever and malarious diseases, without attributing them to a climate which is in the main salubrious, and far more moderate in temperature than is generally supposed. The false notions generally current, even in Brazil, in regard to the climate of the Amazons might have been removed long ago, were the public officers of the northern provinces of the Empire not interested in keeping up the delusion. The Amazonian provinces are made stepping-stones to higher employments. The young candidates who accept these posts claim a reward for the disinterestedness they have shown in exposing themselves to disease, and make the reputed fatality of the climate an excuse for leaving these remote stations after a few months’ sojourn. The northern provinces of Brazil need an administration less liable to change, and based upon patient study of their local interests, and a faithful adherence to them. It is impossible that the president who comes for six months, and is daily longing for his return to the society and amusements of the larger cities, should even initiate, far less complete, any systematic improvements. Like every country struggling for recognition among the self-reliant nations of the world, Brazil has to contend with the prejudiced reports of a floating foreign population, indifferent to the welfare of the land they temporarily inhabit, and whose appreciations are mainly influenced by private interest. It is much to be regretted that the government has not thought it worth while to take decided measures to correct the erroneous impressions current abroad concerning its administration, and that its diplomatic agents do so little to circulate truthful and authoritative statements of their domestic concerns. As far as I know, the recent World’s Fair at Paris was the first occasion when an attempt was made to present a comprehensive report of the resources of the Empire, and the prizes awarded to the Brazilians testify to their success.

Imperfect as is this sketch, I trust I have been able to show, what I deeply feel, that there are elements of a high progress in Brazil, that it has institutions which are shaping the country to worthy ends, that it has a nationality already active, showing its power at the present moment in carrying on one of the most important wars ever undertaken in South America. Neither is this struggle maintained by Brazil for selfish ends; in her conflict with Paraguay she may truly be counted among the standard-bearers of civilization. The facts which have come to my knowledge respecting this war have convinced me that it originated in honorable purposes, and, setting aside the selfish intrigues of individuals, inevitably connected with such movements, is carried on with disinterestedness. It deserves the sympathy of the civilized world, for it strikes at a tyrannical organization, half clerical, half military, which, calling itself a republic, disgraces the name it assumes.

* * * * *

Will my Brazilian friends who read this summary say that I have given but grudging praise to their public institutions, accompanied by an unkind criticism of their social condition? I hope not. I should do myself great wrong did I give the impression that I part from Brazil with any feeling but that of warm sympathy, a deep-rooted belief in her future progress and prosperity, and sincere personal gratitude toward her. I recognize in the Brazilians as a nation their susceptibility to lofty impulses and emotions, their love of theoretical liberty, their natural generosity, their aptness to learn, their ready eloquence; if also I miss among them something of the stronger and more persistent qualities of the Northern races, I do but recall a distinction which is as ancient as the tropical and temperate zones themselves.

Footnote 107:

I deeply regret that I could not visit the mining districts of Brazil. Especially would I have liked to examine for myself the Cascalho, in which the diamonds are found. From collections which I owe to the kindness of Dr. Vieira de Mattos in Rio de Janeiro, and Senhor Antonio de Lacerda in Bahia, I am prepared to find that the whole diamond-bearing formation is glacial drift. I do not mean the rocks in which the diamonds occur in their primary position, but the secondary agglomerations of loose materials from which they are washed.

APPENDIX.

I.—THE GULF STREAM.

As the results of the systematic investigation of the Gulf Stream upon a plan laid out by Dr. A. D. Bache, and executed, under his direction, by his most able assistants, have hardly yet been presented in a popular form, a sketch of the whole may not be out of place here. This investigation embraced not only surface-phenomena, but the whole internal structure and movement of this wonderful current. It is well known that the Gulf Stream has its origin in the equatorial current which, starting from the Gulf of Guinea, flows for a time in a westerly direction, till it approaches Cape St. Roque. This great projection of the eastern coast of South America interrupts its onward progress, and causes it to divide into two branches, one of which follows the coast of Brazil, in a southerly direction, while the other continues its course to the northwest, until it reaches the Caribbean Sea. After pouring into that basin, the great stream turns to the east to enter the Atlantic again off Cape Florida. The high temperature of the equatorial current is owing to its origin in the tropical zone, its westward course being determined by the rotation of the earth and by the trade-winds. On issuing from the Gulf of Mexico the stream is encased between the island of Cuba and the Bahamas on one side and the coast of Florida on the other. Here it meets the Atlantic in a latitude where the ocean-waters have no longer the high temperature of the tropics, whereas the stream itself has acquired an increased warmth on the shoals of the Gulf. This accounts for the great difference of temperature between the waters of the stream and those of the ocean to the east of it; while the still greater cold of the sea-water on its western side, between the Gulf Stream and the continental shore, is explained by the great Arctic current, pouring down from Baffin’s Bay, and skirting the shore of North America as far as the Coast of Florida, until it is lost in that latitude under the Gulf Stream. The object of Dr. Bache’s investigation was to trace the mutual relations of these two great currents of warm and cold water, flowing side by side in opposite directions, and to discover the conditions which regulate their movements and keep them within definite limits.

The investigation is even now by no means complete, though it has been going on for many years. It has, however, been ascertained that, while the ocean-bed deepens more or less rapidly as we recede from the shore, forming a trough in which the Gulf Stream flows, this trough is limited on its eastern side by a range of hills trending in the direction of the current, outside of which is another depression or valley. Indeed, the sea-bottom exhibits parallel ridges and depressions, running like the shore of the continent itself, in a northeasterly direction. The water presents differences of temperature, not only on the surface, but at various depths below. These inequalities have been determined by a succession of thermometric observations along several lines, crossing the Gulf Stream from the shore to the ocean water on its eastern side, at intervals of about a hundred miles. The observations have been made first at the surface, and then at successively greater depths, varying from ten to twenty, thirty, one hundred, two hundred, and even three and four hundred fathoms. This survey has shown that, while the Gulf Stream has a temperature higher than that of the waters on either side, it is also alternately warmer and colder within itself, being made up as it were of distinct streaks of water of different temperature. These alternations continue to as great a depth as the observations have been carried, and are found to extend even to the very bottom of the sea, where this has been reached. The most surprising part of this result is the abruptness of the change along the line where the two great currents touch each other. So sharp is this division that the boundary of the Arctic current is now technically designated as the “Cold wall” of the Gulf Stream. Of course as the latter flows northward and eastward it gradually widens, and its temperature is lowered; but even as far north as Sandy Hook the difference between its temperature at the surface and that of the surrounding waters is still marked.

Off Cape Florida the width of the Gulf Stream is not over forty miles; off Charleston it is one hundred and fifty miles; while at Sandy Hook it exceeds three hundred miles.

The inequality of the bottom may be appreciated by the soundings off Charleston, where, from the shore to a distance of two hundred miles, the following depth was successively measured: 10, 25, 100, 250, 300, 600, 350, 550, 450, 475, 450, and 400 fathoms.

The following table may give some idea of the temperature of the stream in connection with its depth:—

Off Sandy Hook, at successive distances from the coast, of

100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, and 400 miles,

the temperature near the surface to a depth of thirty fathoms averages:

65°, 66°, 64°, 81°, 80°, and 75° Fahr.;

at a depth of between forty and a hundred fathoms it averages:

50°, 52°, 50°, 47°, 72°, 68°, and 65° Fahr.;

at a depth below three hundred fathoms it averages:

37°, 39°, 40°, 37°, 55°, 57°, and 55° Fahr.

The rapid rise of the temperature after the fourth column of figures indicates the position of the Cold wall.

For further details see the United States Coast Survey Report for 1860, page 165, and the accompanying maps,—which should be copied into all our school atlases.

II.—FLYING-FISHES.

The motions of animals vary greatly with reference to the medium in which they live. Our present knowledge renders it, however, necessary that we should weigh these differences with reference to the structural character of the organs of locomotion themselves, as well as to that of the peculiar resistance of the element in which they move. When we speak of the flight of Birds, of Insects, of Fishes, of Bats, &c., and designate their locomotive organs indiscriminately as wings, it is evident that the character of the motion and not the special structure of the organs has determined our nomenclature. We are influenced by the same consideration when we give the name of fins to the organs of all animals which swim in the water, be they Whales, Turtles, Fishes, Crustacea, or Mollusks. It requires but a superficial acquaintance with the anatomy of the flying-fishes to perceive that their organs of flight are built upon exactly the same pattern as the pectoral fins of most fishes, and differ entirely from the wing of birds, as also from the wing of bats, the latter being in all essentials a paw, identical with the paw of ordinary quadrupeds, save the length of the fingers and the absence of nails on the longest of them. No wonder, then, that the flight of the flying-fishes should entirely differ from that of birds or bats.

I have had frequent occasions to observe the flying-fishes attentively. I am confident not only that they change the direction of their flight, but that they raise or lower their line of movement repeatedly, without returning to the water. I avoid the word falling designedly, for all the acts of these fishes during their flight seem to me completely voluntary. They raise themselves from the surface of the water by rapidly repeated blows with the tail, and more than once have I seen them descend again to the surface of the water in order to repeat this movement; thus renewing the impulse and enabling themselves to continue for a longer time their passage through the air. Their changes of direction, either to the right and left or in rising and descending, are not due to the beating of the wings, that is to say, of the great pectoral fins, but simply to an inflexion of the whole surface, in one or the other direction, by the contraction of the muscles controlling the action of the fin-rays, their pressure against the air determining the movement. The flying-fish is in fact a living shuttlecock, capable of directing its own course by the bending of its large fins. It probably maintains itself in the air until the necessity of breathing compels it to return to the water. The motive of its flight seems to me to be fear; for it is always in the immediate neighborhood and in front of the vessel that they are seen to rise; or perhaps at a distance when they are pursued by some large fish. Now that I have studied their movements, I am better able to appreciate the peculiarities of their structure, especially the inequality of the caudal fin. It is perfectly clear that the greater length of the lower lobe of the caudal is intended to facilitate the movements by which the whole body is thrown out of water and carried through the air; while the amplitude of the pectoral fins affords only a support during the passage through the lighter medium. Nothing shows more plainly the freedom of their movements than the fact that, when the surface of the sea is swelling into billows, the flying-fishes may hug its inequalities very closely and do not move in a regular curve, first ascending from and then descending again to the level of the water. Nor do they appear to fall into their natural element, as if the power that had impelled them was exhausted; they seem rather to dive voluntarily into the water, sometimes after a very short and sometimes after a rather protracted flight, during which they may change their direction, as well as the height at which they move.

The most common flying-fishes of the Atlantic belong to the genus Exocetus, and are closely allied to our Billfish (Belone). J. Müller has shown that they differ greatly from the Herrings, with which they were formerly associated, and should form a distinct family, to which he has given the name of Scomberesoces. The other flying-fishes belong to the family of the Cottoids, of which our common Sculpins are the chief representatives.

III.—RESOLUTIONS PASSED ON BOARD THE COLORADO.

_Resolved_, That the cordial thanks of this meeting are due to Professor Agassiz for the highly interesting and instructive lectures which he has delivered daily during our voyage, and which, though intended more immediately to prepare his party for their proposed expedition, have furnished to all of us a rich repast.

_Resolved_, That the Professor and his companions will carry with them to their beneficent work the earnest prayers and good wishes of all with whom they have been associated on board this ship, that health and abundant success may be vouchsafed to them.

_Resolved_, That in this mission of science from one country convulsed by war to another not entirely at peace, we behold the humanizing and pacific influence of its aims and studies, and that we cannot but look forward to a day when nations engaged in the common pursuits of science and industry, and bound together by commerce and by enlightened views of interest and of Christian duty, will refer all questions in dispute to peaceful arbitrament rather than to one of violence and bloodshed.

_Resolved_, That in the facilities afforded by the government of the United States to this scientific expedition, in the munificent contribution of a single citizen of Boston towards its expenses, and in the generous manner in which the owners of this ship have placed its unsurpassed comforts and luxuries at the free use of Professor Agassiz and his party, this meeting beholds a pledge of the profound and growing interest of our entire people in the advancement of liberal and useful knowledge.

_Resolved_, That we cannot approach the capital of Brazil for the purpose of leaving this party, without expressing our admiration for the personal and political character of him who presides over this vast Empire, and who may well be held forth to all rulers as a model of intelligence, of virtue, and devotion to the public weal.

_Resolved_, That we cannot close this part of our voyage without tendering to Captain Bradbury, and his subordinate officers, our special thanks, not only for the masterly manner with which their vessel is handled, but for their unwearied devotion to the comfort of their guests.

IV.—DOM PEDRO SEGUNDO RAILROAD.

The part taken by American engineers in this great undertaking induces me to give here a short account of its history.

The decree conceding to one or more companies the entire or partial construction of a railway which, commencing in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, should terminate in such points in the Provinces of Minas and St. Paulo as should be most advantageous, was promulgated in 1852. A company was organized with a capital of thirty-eight thousand Contos of reis, or nineteen millions of dollars; the general plan being to construct a trunk line from the city of Rio de Janeiro to the River Parahyba, a distance of about 67 miles from the coast. A contract was made with an English engineer, Mr. Edward Price, for the building of the first section of this road, extending a distance of 38½ miles, from Rio de Janeiro to Belem. For the construction of the second section, which embraced the mountain barrier separating the valley of Parahyba from the sea-coast, and in which the greatest difficulties were therefore to be encountered, it was proposed by Senhor Christiano B. Ottoni, President of the road, to employ American engineers, and if possible to engage the services of men who had actually constructed railways across mountain ranges in the United States. To this effect, Colonel C. F. M. Garnett was engaged as chief engineer, and came to Brazil in 1856, accompanied by Major A. Ellison, as his principal assistant. Colonel Garnett remained in the country somewhat more than two years, during which time the portion of the road known as the second section, and extending from Belem to Parahyba, was laid out and its construction commenced, surveys being also made of the branches up and down the river, constituting the third and fourth sections. On Colonel Garnett’s departure, Major Ellison remained as chief engineer, having his brother, Mr. Wm. S. Ellison, associated with him in the direction of the road. In July, 1865, at which time the road was actually completed as far as Barro de Pirahy, the company being unable to raise funds for the continuation of the work, it was assumed by the government, as a national undertaking, and Major Ellison, resigning his position, was succeeded by Mr. Wm. S. Ellison as chief engineer.

The difficulties of construction throughout the second section were immense; indeed, there was an almost universal distrust of the practicability of the work. Even after it was considerably advanced, it would probably have been abandoned but for the energy of the President, who shared the confidence of the engineers, and pushed forward the enterprise almost single-handed, in spite of the incredulity of its friends and the objections of its opponents. The sharpness of the mountain spurs rendering it impossible in many cases to pass around them, tunnels became necessary, and fifteen were actually made, varying from 300 to more than 7,300 feet in length, forming, in the aggregate, three miles of subterraneous line. Of those tunnels, three pass through rock decomposed to such a degree that lining throughout was necessary, while the rest are pierced, for the greater part, through solid rock, though requiring the same precaution occasionally. The total length of lining with masonry is 5,700 feet. In the course of this operation constant danger and difficulty arose from the breaking in of the rock, and in one instance the whole mountain spur through which the tunnel had been driven parted from the main mass and, sliding down, obliterated the work, so that it was necessary to begin the perforation again, contending continually against the enormous pressure of the loose superincumbent _débris_. Were this the fitting place, it would be interesting to give the history of this enterprise more in detail; especially that of the work connected with building the great tunnel and the temporary track which was in use when I first passed over the road. Suffice it to say, that all that portion of the road which is included within the second section is a triumph of engineering, which excites the admiration of the most competent judges, and is in the highest degree creditable to those under whose direction it has been accomplished.

V.—PERMANENCE OF CHARACTERISTICS IN DIFFERENT HUMAN SPECIES.

As my special object of study in the Amazons had reference to the character and distribution of the fluviatile faunæ, I could not undertake those more accurate investigations of the human races, based upon minute measurements repeated a thousand-fold, which characterize the latest researches of anthropologists. A thorough study of the different nations and cross-breeds inhabiting the Amazonian Valley would require years of observation and patient examination. I was forced to be satisfied with such data as I could gather aside from my other labors, and to limit myself in my study of the races to what I would call the natural history method; viz. the comparison of individuals of different kinds with one another, just as naturalists compare specimens of different species. This was less difficult in a hot country, where the uncultivated part of the population go half naked, and are frequently seen entirely undressed. During a protracted residence in Manaos, Mr. Hunnewell made a great many characteristic photographs of Indians and Negroes, and half-breeds between both these races and the Whites. All these portraits represent the individuals selected in three normal positions, in full face, in perfect profile, and from behind. I hope sooner or later to have an opportunity of publishing these illustrations, as well as those of pure negroes made for me in Rio by Messrs. Stahl and Wahnschaffe.

What struck me at first view, in seeing Indians and Negroes together, was the marked difference in the relative proportions of the different parts of the body. Like long-armed monkeys the Negroes are generally slender, with long legs, long arms, and a comparatively short body, while the Indians are short-legged, short-armed, and long-bodied, the trunk being also rather heavy in build. To continue the comparison, I may say that if the Negro by his bearing recalls the slender, active Hylobates, the Indian is more like the slow, inactive, stout Orang. Of course there are exceptions to this rule; short, thick-built Negroes are occasionally to be seen, as well as tall, lean Indians; but, so far as my observation goes, the essential difference between the Indian and Negro races, taken as a whole, consists in the length and square build of the trunk and the shortness of limbs in the Indian as compared with the lean frame, short trunk, deep-cleft legs, and long arms of the Negro.

Another feature not less striking, though it does not affect the whole figure so much, is the short neck and great width of the shoulders in the Indian. This peculiarity is quite as marked in the female as in the male, so that, when seen from behind, the Indian woman has a very masculine air, extending indeed more or less to her whole bearing; for even her features have rarely the feminine delicacy of higher womanhood. In the Negro, on the contrary, the narrowness of chest and shoulder characteristic of woman is almost as marked in the man; indeed, it may well be said, that, while the Indian female is remarkable for her masculine build, the Negro male is equally so for his feminine aspect. Nevertheless, the difference between the sexes in the two races is not equally marked. The female Indian resembles in every respect much more the male than is the case with the Negroes; the females among the latter having generally more delicate features than the males.

On following out the details concomitant with these general differences, we find that they agree most strikingly. In a front view of an Indian woman and a Negress the great difference is in the width between the breasts of the former as compared with their close approximation in the latter. In the Indian the interval between the two breasts is nearly equal to the diameter of one of them; while in the Negro they stand in almost immediate contact. But this is not all; the form of the breast itself is very different in the two. The Indian woman has a conical breast, firm and well supported, the point being turned so far sideways that the breast seems to arise under the arm-pit, the nipple being actually projected on the arm in a full-faced view of the chest. In the negress the breast is more cylindrical, looser, and more flaccid, the nipple being turned forward and downward, so that in a front view it is projected on the chest. In the Indian the inguinal region is broad and distinctly set off from the prominence of the abdomen, while in the Negro it is a mere fold. As to the limbs, they are not only much longer in proportion in the Negro than the Indian; their form and carriage differs also. The legs of the Indians are remarkably straight, in the Negro the knees are bent in, and the hip as well as knee-joint habitually flexed. Similar differences in other parts of the body are visible from behind; in the Indians the interval between the two shoulders, the shoulder-blades being comparatively short in themselves, is much greater than in any other race. In this respect the women do not differ from the men, but share in a feature characteristic of the whole race. This peculiarity is especially noticeable in a profile view of the figure, in which the broad rounded shoulder marks the outline in the upper part of the trunk and tapers gradually to a well-shaped arm, terminating usually in a rather small hand; the little finger is remarkably short. In the Negro, on the contrary, the shoulder-blades are long and placed more closely together, the shoulder being rather slim and narrow, and the hand disproportionately slender, though the fingers are more extensively webbed than in any other race. In this respect there is little difference between male and female, the build of the male being more muscular, but hardly stouter; in both, a profile view shows the back and breast projected forwards and backwards of the arm. The proportions between the length and width of the trunk, as compared with each other, and, measured from the shoulder to the base of the trunk, hardly differ in the Indian and Negro; this renders the difference in the relative length and strength of the arms and legs the more apparent.

I need not allude to the difference of the hair; everybody knows the heavy, straight black hair of the Indian, and the wrinkled, woolly hair of the Negro. Nor is it necessary for me to recall the characteristic features of the Whites in order to contrast them with what has been said above of the Indians and Negroes.

Only a few words more concerning half-breeds are needed to show how deeply seated are the primary differences between the pure races. Like distinct species among animals, different races of men, when crossing, bring forth half-breeds; and the half-breeds between these different races differ greatly. The hybrid between White and Negro, called Mulatto, is too well known to require further description. His features are handsome, his complexion clear, and his character confiding, but indolent. The hybrid between the Indian and Negro, known under the name of Cafuzo, is quite different. His features have nothing of the delicacy of the Mulatto; his complexion is dark; his hair long, wiry, and curly; and his character exhibits a happy combination between the jolly disposition of the Negro and the energetic, enduring powers of the Indian. The hybrid between White and Indian, called Mammeluco in Brazil, is pallid, effeminate, feeble, lazy, and rather obstinate; though it seems as if the Indian influence had only gone so far as to obliterate the higher characteristics of the White, without imparting its own energies to the offspring. It is very remarkable how, in both combinations, with Negroes as well as Whites, the Indian impresses his mark more deeply upon his progeny than the other races, and how readily, also, in further crossings, the pure Indian characteristics are reclaimed and those of the other races thrown off. I have known the offspring of an hybrid between Indian and Negro with an hybrid between Indian and White resume almost completely the characteristics of the pure Indian.

VI.—SKETCH OF SEPARATE JOURNEYS UNDERTAKEN BY DIFFERENT MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION.

It is not possible for me to give here at length the narrative of the separate journeys undertaken by my young companions. To do them any justice, their reports should be illustrated by the accompanying maps, geological sections, &c., which are more appropriate in a special scientific account. I trust that I shall hereafter find resources for publishing all these materials in a fitting manner; but, in the mean while, I should do a wrong to my own feelings as well as to my assistants, did I not add to this volume such a sketch of their separate work as will show with how much energy, perseverance, and intelligence they carried out the instructions I had given them. It will be remembered by the reader that one object was kept constantly in view throughout this expedition,—namely, that of ascertaining how the fresh-water fishes are distributed throughout the great river-systems of Brazil. All the independent journeys, of which short sketches are given in this summary, were laid out with reference to this idea; the whole expedition being, in fact, a unit so far as its purpose and general plan were concerned. In this sense my own exploration, and those of all my assistants, belong together, as parts of one connected scheme.

That detachment of the party which was conducted by Mr. Orestes St. John left Rio de Janeiro on the 9th of June, 1865. This company consisted of Messrs. St. John, Allen, Ward, and Sceva. The first two were to reach the Atlantic coast by way of the Rio San Francisco and the Rio Paranahyba; while Mr. Ward was to descend the Tocantins to the Amazons, and Mr. Sceva to remain for some time in the fossiliferous region about Lagoa Sancta for the purpose of collecting. As far as Juiz de Fora they followed the road described in the foregoing narrative. Thence they crossed the Serra do Mantiqueira to Barbacena, and kept on from that place through Lagoa Dourada and Prados across the Rio Carandahy to the divide separating the head-waters of the Rio Grande on the south from those of the Rio Paraopeba on the north. They crossed the Paraopeba just above the water gap of the Serras of Piedade and Itatiaiassu, traversing the former Serra into the mountain valley in which the village of Morro Velho is situated. They thus found themselves successively in the basins of the Rio Parahyba, the Rio La Plata, and the Rio San Francisco; all these great streams being fed by rivulets which arise in this vicinity. On leaving the mountainous districts they continued their route through alternate campos and wooded tracts to Gequitibá, passing through Saburá, Santa Luzia, Lagoa Sancta, and Sette Lagoas.

At Lagoa Sancta, as had been previously agreed, Mr. Sceva left the party, with the purpose of exploring the caves of that region in search of fossil bones, and making skeletons of mammalia. He remained for some time in this neighborhood, and brought away a number of specimens, though he did not succeed in finding many fossils, the caves having been already despoiled of their fossil remains by Dr. Lund, whose indefatigable researches in this direction are so well known. Mr. Sceva, however, made very valuable collections of other kinds, and I am indebted to him for numerous carefully prepared specimens of Brazilian mammalia, which now await mounting in the Museum. On leaving Lagoa Sancta, Mr. Sceva returned to Rio de Janeiro, taking his collections with him. He passed some days there, in order to repack and put in safety his own specimens as well as those which had been sent back to Rio by other members of the party. He then proceeded to Canta-Gallo, and passed the remainder of the time in collecting and preparing specimens from that part of the country, until he joined me subsequently at Rio just before we returned to the United States. His contributions to our stores were exceedingly valuable, both on account of the localities from which they came and from the care with which they were put up.

Mr. Ward had already separated from his fellow-travellers at Barbacena, on his way to the Tocantins, taking the route by Ouro-Preto and Diamantina. And in order to keep together the adventures of the little band who left Rio in company, I may give here a short sketch of his journey, before completing the account of the route pursued by Messrs. St. John and Allen. After leaving the valley of the Rio Parahyba and crossing the Mantiqueira the party found itself in the water-basin of the Rio Grande, one of the principal tributaries of the Rio Parana, which, emptying into the Rio La Plata, reaches the ocean below Buenos Ayres. Eastward of this basin, on the ocean-side of the great ridge which bounds the valley of the Rio San Francisco, arise several large rivers,—the Rio Doce, the Rio Mucury, and the Rio Jequitinhonha. It was one of my most earnest desires to secure the means of comparing their inhabitants with each other and with those of the great rivers flowing north and east. As will be seen hereafter, Mr. Hartt, with the assistance of Mr. Copeland, had undertaken to explore the lower course of these rivers; but it was equally important that specimens should be obtained from their head-waters. While, therefore, Mr. St. John and his companion pursued their way across the region drained by the head-waters of the Rio San Francisco, Mr. Ward crossed the mountains, passing from one river-basin into another, in order to examine as many of the tributaries of the Rio Doce and the Rio Jequitinhonha as possible. To him I owe the materials necessary for a general comparison of the river faunæ in these different basins. His journey was a laborious and a lonely one. Separating from his companions at Barbacena he kept on by Ouro-Preto and Santa Barbara into the basin of the Rio Doce, which he followed nearly to the point where the Rio Antonio empties into it. This part of the journey gave him an opportunity of making a collection not only in the head-waters of the Rio Doce, but in one of its principal tributaries also. Thence crossing the Serra das Esmeraldas Mr. Ward entered the water-basin of the Rio Jequitinhonha, commonly called Rio Belmonte on the maps, and after passing Diamantina explored several arms of this great stream. The collections he made in this region are of special interest with reference to those gathered by Messrs. Hartt and Copeland on the lower course of the same rivers, and in many other streams along the Atlantic coast between Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. Having accomplished this part of his journey, Mr. Ward crossed the San Francisco at Januaria, making a number of excursions in that vicinity; then passing in a northwesterly direction over the ridges which separate the valley of the San Francisco from that of the Tocantins, he followed the whole course of this great stream to the Amazons. It was a daring and adventurous journey to be accomplished with no other companionship than that of the camarado who served him as guide, or the Indian boatmen who rowed his canoe, and it was a day of rejoicing for our whole party when we heard, in the month of January, 1866, of his safe arrival in Pará, whence he embarked a few weeks later for the United States.

From Lagoa Sancta, where they parted from Mr. Sceva, Messrs. St. John and Allen kept on to Januaria together, but at this point Mr. Allen, whose health had been failing from the time he left Rio de Janeiro, found himself unable to prosecute the journey farther, and he resolved to strike across the country to Bahia, taking in charge the collections they had brought together thus far. After a short rest at Januaria, he made his way to Chique-Chique on the Rio San Francisco; and his separate journal begins from the time he left this point, on his journey to Bahia. It gives a very full account of the physical features of the region through which he passed, of the geographical character of the soil, and of the distribution of plants and animals, including many original observations concerning the habits of birds, with a detailed itinerary of the route through Jacobina, Espelto, and Caxoeira. Prostrated by illness as he was, he has nevertheless furnished a report the character of which shows how completely his interest in the work overcame the lassitude of disease.

From Januaria Mr. St. John followed the San Francisco to the Villa do Barra, where he made a short stay, and then resumed his journey by land through the valley of the Rio Grande to the Villa da Santa Rita, thence to Mocambo and across the table-land separating the basin of the Rio San Francisco from that of the Rio Paranahyba. At Paranaguá he remained several days, and made a considerable collection from this vicinity. Thence he followed the valley of the Rio Gurugueia to Manga, one hundred and twenty leagues from Paranaguá. At Manga he embarked on one of the singular river-boats made of the leafstalks of the Buriti palm, and descended the Paranahyba to the villa of San Gonçallo. Here he stayed for some time to collect, and forwarded from this vicinity a considerable number of specimens, chiefly reptiles, birds, and insects. His next station was at Therezina, the capital of the province of Piauhy, where he made one of the most interesting collections of the whole journey from the waters of the Rio Poty. The Poty is a tributary of the Paranahyba, into which it empties below Therezina. In examining this collection, I was particularly struck with the general similarity of the fishes contained in it to those of the Amazons. They exhibit throughout the same kind of combination of genera and families, although the species are entirely distinct. Thus, from a zoölogical point of view, the basin of the Parahyba, though completely separated from it by the ocean, would seem to belong to the Amazonian basin, as it unquestionably does from a geological point of view. The character of the drift deposits along the Rio Gurugueia and the Rio Paranahyba shows this area to have been continuous with the basin in which the Amazonian drift was deposited; and the similarity of their zoölogical features is but another evidence, from an entirely different source, of the extensive denudations which have isolated these regions from one another by removing the tracts which formerly made them a unit.

From Therezina Mr. St. John proceeded to Caxias, and finally arrived in Maranham, by the way of the Rio Itapicurú, on the 8th January, 1866; having completed a journey of more than seven hundred leagues in seven months, over a route the greater part of which had never been examined from a zoölogical or geological point of view. His collections, though necessarily limited by the difficulty of transport and the insufficient provision of alcohol, were very valuable, and arrived at their destination in good condition. Of his geological observations I have said little; but it is from him I have obtained the data which have enabled me to compare the basin of Piauhy with that of the Amazons. He made careful geological surveys wherever he was able to do so, and has recorded the result of his observations in a manner which shows that he never lost sight of the general relations between the great structural features of the country through which he passed. At Maranham, the intermittent fever, under which Mr. St. John had been suffering during the latter part of his journey, culminated in a severe illness, from which he recovered under the care of Dr. Braga, who took him into his own house, and did not allow him to leave his roof until he was restored to health. From Maranham Mr. St. John joined me at Pará, where I had an opportunity of comparing notes with him on the spot.

During the first two months of his stay in Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Hartt was chiefly occupied with Mr. St. John in examining sections of the Dom Pedro Railroad, of which he prepared a very clear and careful geological survey, with ample illustrations. On the 19th of June, 1865, he left the city to explore the coast between the Rio Parahyba do Sul and Bahia; being accompanied by Mr. Edward Copeland, one of our volunteers, who gave him very efficient assistance in collecting, during the whole time they remained together. At Campos, on the Rio Parahyba, they obtained a large number of fishes, beside other specimens. From that point they went up the Rio Muriahy for some distance, and then, returning to Campos, ascended the Rio Parahyba to San Fidelis, where they again added largely to their collections. Taking mules at San Fidelis, they traversed the forest northward to Bom-Jesu, on the Rio Itabapuana, and then descended that river, stopping to collect at Porto da Limeira and at the Barra. Thence they followed the coast to Victoria; and it was their intention to have proceeded northward to the Rio Doce, but, for want of mules and money (their supplies having given out), they were obliged to make Nova Almeida, their farthest point. Thence they returned by way of Victoria to Rio de Janeiro in a sailing-vessel. In the course of this journey they obtained valuable collections both on the Rio Itapemérim and at Guarapary. Mr. Hartt also made a careful study of the geology of the coast, the result of which forms an interesting portion of his report.

On their return to Rio, Mr. Hartt and Mr. Copeland were detained for some time by the failure of a steamer. They occupied themselves in the mean while in various work for the expedition, making excursions in the vicinity, and collecting in the harbor of Rio. Disappointed in the steamer, they started on board a sailing-vessel, and had a slow and tedious voyage to San Matheos, collecting on their way wherever the stopping of the vessel enabled them to do so. Neither did Mr. Hartt neglect, on every such occasion, to examine the coast, and the phenomena connected with its general rise, of which he obtained unquestionable evidence. From San Matheos, where they made considerable collections, they took conveyance to the Rio Doce, and ascended this river for ninety miles to the first fall, Porto de Souza. Descending its course again to Linhares, they explored the river and lake of Juparanaā, and then returned to San Matheos; making large marine collections at Barra Secca, half-way between the Rio Doce and San Matheos. Thence they proceeded to the Rio Mucury, stopping a few days at its mouth to collect, and then ascending the river to Santa Clara. Here Mr. Copeland remained, and secured a fine collection of fishes; while Mr. Hartt crossed over the river Peruhype to the Colonia Leopoldina. On his return he was detained for some days by illness, but was soon able to resume his journey; and he and Mr. Copeland then went on with Mr. Schïeber[108] to Philadelphia, in the province of Minas Geraes, collecting on the way at the Rio Urucu, and afterwards at Philadelphia. Along the coast, and indeed throughout his whole journey, Mr. Hartt continued his geological observations, which he carefully recorded. From Philadelphia he and his companion proceeded by land to Calháo, on the Rio Arassuahy; making a detour from Alahú to Alto dos Bois, in order to study the drift and the geological structure of the elevated Chapadas. At Calháo they also made good collections of fishes. Returning to Calháo from a visit to Minas Novas and a study of its gold-mines, Mr. Hartt descended the Rio Jequitinhonha three hundred and sixty miles to the sea. Mr. Copeland had preceded him in order to make an excursion to Caravellas; and they met again at Cannavieiras.

At Cannavieiras they made good collections, and then ascended the Rio Pardo to its first fall, fishing and geologizing along their route. They visited also Belmonte, and then went southward to Porto Seguro, where they stayed for several days, collecting corals and marine invertebrates. Here, as at several other points along the coast, Mr. Hartt made a careful examination of the stone-reefs. His researches on these “recifes,” which constitute so remarkable a feature along the Atlantic coast of Brazil, are exceedingly interesting; and I do not know that any geologist has made a more careful and connected examination of them. He believes them to be formed by the solidification of beach ridges; the lower part of which being cemented by the lime dissolved from the shells contained in them remains intact, while the upper portion was carried off by storms; thus leaving a solid wall running along the coast, broken through here and there, and divided from the land by a narrow channel. He studied the coast reefs both at Santa Cruz and at Porto Seguro, and ascertained their southward extension to the Abrolhos. From Porto Seguro Messrs. Hartt and Copeland went northward to Bahia, touching at several points along the coast, and thence returned to Rio de Janeiro, whence we sailed together for the United States in the month of July, 1866.

Footnote 108:

This gentleman, who is thoroughly familiar with the whole country, was untiring in his attentions to Messrs. Hartt and Copeland, and gave them, so far as he could, every facility for their researches.

Cambridge: Stereotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors. 2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.