Part 2

The Cape Verds consist of seven principal islands, and were tolerably populous, but of late years have been subjected to a continuous emigration to South America and the West Indies, where, like the hardy mountaineers from Madeira, they are found most useful in tilling the soil, and in other laborious occupations; thus demonstrating the fallacy of the old notion, that laziness is the predominant element in the Spanish and Portuguese idiosyncrasy. What appears to be a present disadvantage, in regard to this human flight from the Verds, may prove beneficial hereafter, when the Ilheos (as they are called) return to their homes, possessed of a little money wherewith to improve their social and moral condition. The islands produce wine, barilla, large quantities of orchilla weed, and cochineal, the cultivation of which is rapidly forming a more and more considerable item of export. Steam navigation will ere long bring them into much closer commercial contact with the world, and enhance the appreciation of their products and natural advantage. The climate is fine, though subject to occasional high temperature and frequent droughts. Despite the name Verds, suggestive of Arcadian animation, nothing can be more desolate than the appearance of the islands, as approached from the sea; bold, high rocks, against which the surge breaks violently, with mountains towering in the clouds, are general characteristics, to which those of the island of St. Vincent offer no exception. On our arrival the weather was thick, with drizzling rain, as we made Porto Grande; and only cleared up in time to enable us to see Bird Island, a most remarkable sugar-loaf rock, standing right in the entrance of the bay, after passing which we reached the anchorage ground in a few minutes. A more convenient little harbour can hardly be imagined, being nearly surrounded with hills (or mountains as they may be called), which protect it from all winds save the westward, where Bird Island stands as a huge beacon, most admirably adapted for a lighthouse, and on which it is to be hoped one will soon be placed. There is deep water close to the shore on most sides of the bay, that where the town is built being the shallowest; and here some wooden jetties are run out, having very extensive coal and patent fuel _depôts_ close at hand where these combustibles are put into iron lighters, and sent off to the vessels. So beautifully clear is the water in the bay that you can see the bottom at a depth of from twenty to thirty feet, literally alive with fish of all kinds, but for which the people seem to care very little, either for home consumption or export, though there is no doubt that, in the latter direction, a large business might be done with profitable results.

Porto Grande must become a most important coaling station, situated as it is midway between Europe and South America, and close to the African coast. Several important steam companies have already adopted it, viz., the Royal Mail (Brazil), the General Screw, the Australian, as also the South American, and General Steam Navigation Company, whilst occasional steamers are, likewise, glad to touch at it. At the period at which I am writing, the Great Britain was the last that coaled here, on her way to Australia. In order to meet this increased demand, a proportionate degree of activity and exertion is observable onshore; and a large number of iron lighters, carrying from fifteen to forty tons each, are now in constant requisition, loaded, and ready to be taken alongside the steamers the instant they cast anchor. Unfortunately there is a very poor supply of water, the want of it having been the occasion of frequent emigration in the history of the islands; but it is understood to be attainable at a slight expense; and a small outlay conjointly made by the steam companies might not only procure a plentiful provision of this all-necessary element, but also other conveniences, essential to the comfort of passengers. There is no doubt that, as the place progresses, supplies of meat, fruit, and vegetables will be forwarded thither from the neighbouring islands, which are so productive that there is a considerable export of corn; and the cattle are numerous. Until lately fowls were only a penny a piece; and turtles abound. Hitherto there has been no regular marketable demand for such things; but one, and a large one too, is henceforth established, from the causes assigned, and will doubtless be regularly and economically supplied. The labourers here are chiefly free blacks and Kroomen, from the coast of Africa, most of whom speak English, and chatter away at a great rate, as they work in gangs, with a kind of boatswain over them, who uses a whistle to direct their toil—the movements of all the race of Ham to the days of Uncle Tom, being seemingly susceptible of regulation to musical noise of some sort or other; whether the “concord of sweet sounds,” or what would appear to be such to more refined ears, does not greatly matter.

But for want of vegetation in its neighbourhood, a more picturesque little bay than Porto Grande can hardly be conceived. Towering a short distance above the town, is a kind of table mountain, some 2,500 feet high; and at the opposite side, forming the south-west entrance, is another very lofty one, remarkable as representing the colossal profile of a man lying on his back, _à la_ Prometheus. He has his visage towards heaven, wherein there are generally soaring vultures enough to devour him up were he a trifle less tender than volcanic granite. The features are perfect, even to the eyebrows; and a very handsome profile it makes, though it does not appear that any tropical Æschylus has yet converted the material to the humblest legendary, much less epic, purpose. On the shore ground, forming the right side of the bay, looking towards the town, is a neat little monument, erected to the lamented lady of Colonel Cole, who died here on her way home from India. The spot where she lies is, from its quietude and seclusion, most meet for such a resting-place, there being a small, conical hill behind, with a cottage or two near, and a sprinkling of vegetation on the low ground between, serving to “keep her memory green” in the mind of many an ocean voyager in his halt at this half-way house between the younger and the elder world.

This little town was thrown back sadly by the epidemic which afflicted it in 1850 and decimated the population. During its continuance Mr. Miller, one of the few English residents, did so much in assisting the inhabitants as to elicit from the late Queen of Portugal the honour of a knighthood, in one of the first orders in her dominions. It requires no small degree of patience and philanthropy to aid the development of a place like this, labouring, as it does, under such great natural difficulties, and where everything has to be brought from a distance, there not being a tree or a blade of grass to be seen—nothing but dry, arid sand, or a burnt-up kind of soil. Undoubtedly, the heat is very great at times; and there are about three months of blowing, rainy weather, which is the only period when vessels might be subjected to inconvenience whilst coaling, as the southerly winds drive up a good deal of sea into the bay. There is an English Consul resident here, Mr. Rendall, who has done much to assist in bringing these islands into notice, and into comparative civilization; and, by so doing, has many times over reimbursed this country in the cost of his stipend of £400 a year, saying nothing of the services he has performed to shipping, in the ordinary discharge of his duties.

Cape Verds are a very numerous family of islands, called after a cape on the African coast (originally named Cabo Verde, or Green Cape, by the Portuguese), to which they lie contiguous, though at a considerable distance from each other in some cases. All are of volcanic formation—one, that of Fogo, or Fuego, once very celebrated as being visible, especially in the night time, at an immense distance at sea. The islands generally do not possess any very attractive points, being unlike Madeira and the Canaries in this respect, as well as in extent of population, that of the latter being four or five times more numerous than the others—say about 200,000 in one, 40,000 in the other case, though some statements make the inhabitants of the Verds considerably more. The islands are occasionally subject to shocks of earthquakes; and there was rather a strong one at Porto Grande the night before we left, supposed on board our vessel to be thunder, from the noise it made, though we were not aware until next day that a shock had been felt on shore. The chief product is salt, a valuable article for vessels trading to South America, though it is here manufactured by the somewhat primitive process of letting the sea-water into the lowlands, where the sun evaporates it. Though Porto Grande, in St. Vincent, is the great place for shipping, and as such almost the only place of interest for passengers in transit, Ribera Grande, in St. Jago, the principal island, and most southerly of the group, is the chief town, though it is at Porto Playa (often touched at by ships on the Indian voyage) that the Governor General resides, particularly in the dry season. The island second in importance, in point of size, is St. Nicholas, where are some small manufactories, in the shape of cotton-stuffs, leather, stockings, and other matters. The orchilla weed, however, is the great object of governmental interest, and its monopoly is said to yield some £60,000 per annum; the same wise policy that grasps at that interdicting the manufacture of wine, though grapes grow in profusion, and are of excellent quality for the production of a very acceptable beverage.

_December 31st, 1867._—The last day of the old year is an event that calls for reflection and particularly at sea, when the mind is generally more open than elsewhere to receive impressions, and free to take into review the past—to enquire how the time has been spent. Few of us, probably, can answer this question satisfactorily, but at all events it is desirable to make the enquiry. There is no postman's knock at the door, no friends to see, nor any to seek us out. Our little world is the ship on which we are sailing, and those within it, the greater part of whom have been utter strangers to each other previous to embarkation. Selfishness under such circumstances finds its level, or is confined within very narrow bounds, and a common instinct draws every one together, until at the end of the voyage, when those who are only passengers part, and go each on his several mission, few in all likelihood ever to meet again in their various walks in life. Most leave friends behind, whom they look forward to rejoining, or they have friends to welcome them in the new countries to which they are speeding their way. The great ocean brings strikingly home to us the wondrous works of the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, and the littleness of man himself. Again, we are apt to forget the immensity of the ocean, which, as compared with the land, is computed at 145¾ million of statute miles against 51 million square statute miles of land, or a total of both of 196¾ millions. A little incident occurred this morning in our meeting the screw steamer Uruguay (which signalised twenty days out from the River Plate), one of the Liverpool line of steamers, making her way to St. Vincent to coal, and she will, no doubt, report us at home. Time did not afford opportunity for exchanging news, which would have been very acceptable on both sides. We also passed an American ship steering northward, being now in the track of vessels homeward bound, 10° 30´ north latitude and 26° 30´ east longitude; a fine steady breeze driving us, with the aid of the screw, fully eleven knots an hour.

_January 4th, 1868._—We have crossed the line, gone through the variables, and are in the south-east trades. The air is cool and pleasant, and the ship making nearly twelve miles an hour, with a smooth sea and little motion—the perfection of sailing. There is a freshness about the Southern hemisphere which I have always enjoyed. Steady breezes and a clear sky, with light fleecy clouds. We passed several vessels yesterday standing to the northward, amongst them a fine Yankee screw corvette, which hoisted her number, but she was not in our signal book. Less than another week of this weather will take us into Rio de Janeiro, in somewhat over 20 days, which will be a very good passage, and we have certainly been very much favoured in having fair, moderate weather, with scarcely any rain, and no squalls. The great advantage of steam over sailing ships is not only much quicker passages, but running out of calms or variable winds, and making a straight course to the point of destination.

_January 10th, 1868._—We made Cape Frio light, off Rio de Janeiro, about midnight, and came into harbour early this morning, twenty-one and a half days from Falmouth. After the usual formalities in connection with the health and custom-house departments, we steamed up to the coal island, and were soon moored alongside, ready for coaling and discharging cargo. There were fewer ships in the bay than I ever remember to have seen. Her Majesty's store-ship Egmont was lying there, and one or two other vessels of war. A splendid Spanish frigate, the Blanca, which had participated in the bombardment of Valparaiso, steamed out of harbour as we came in, but whither bound no one could say. On going on shore I found the landing place not much improved, and the custom-house formalities had increased in rigour, extending even to a charge on the small quantity of luggage required for a change whilst on shore. It is a mistake in an enlightened country like Brazil to subject passengers to such absurd regulations, which can bring in very little revenue and get the country a bad name. In other respects little or no restriction is experienced in going to or from the ship, either day or night. We found the news from the seat of war unsatisfactory as regards its progress, and, what was worse, we learned that the cholera was raging at Buenos Ayres, vessels from the River Plate being placed in quarantine on arrival at Rio; but the latter city was healthy, notwithstanding the great heat which, during the two days we remained in harbour, was most intense, the thermometer in the shade being over 90°. Working all night enabled the steamer to be ready to start again on Sunday morning, the 12th January, when we again sailed from Rio on our way to the River.

Footnote 1:

Since writing the above, Messrs. Tait have parted with their exclusive interest in the line to a limited company, with a very influential board of direction, and of which Mr. Peter Tait is himself the chairman. No doubt this will lead to a yet more vigorous prosecution of an enterprise which has already and thus early secured so large a share of commercial patronage and support.

THE CITY OF MONTE VIDEO.

Seeing the accounts at Rio were not encouraging, I was advised to delay my trip southward, but as the River Plate was my ultimate destination, and my business pressing, I was desirous to reach Buenos Ayres as quickly as possible, taking Rio Janeiro on my return. So I continued on board the steamer, which left Rio on Sunday morning, the 12th January, 1868, and we came to anchor in Monte Video harbour at 1 p.m. on the 16th—a very good passage of four days and a few hours. The weather had been hot during the passage, giving us a foretaste of what we might look for here. The health inspector did not come off to us for three hours, a very annoying delay after the captain of a steamer has done his best to get quickly to his port, and to whom, as well as to his owners, hours are of consequence; but not so to officials in these countries. I believe I surmised correctly that the health officer was at dinner when we arrived, that he would take his siesta, and then come to look after us. As it was then getting past business hours, I preferred remaining cool and quiet on board the ship, but several of our passengers went on shore, and passed the night there, as it is difficult to get off after dark. The budget of news we received from the agents, who came on board after the health visit, made me wish I had taken the wise advice of Rio friends. The cholera was raging at Buenos Ayres and throughout the Argentine Republic, and appeared to be bad enough at Monte Video, in addition to which a revolution had broken out at Santa Fé against the Government, the rebels having actually got possession of Rosario, as well as some portion of the railway, whose metals they had partly torn up at one of the bridges, throwing them into the river below. It is difficult to account for this kind of wanton mischief, unless it was to show their contempt for civilized means of transit, for having reached Rosario, their policy should have been to keep the line open as a means of retreat in case of need, and then to have taken up the rails to impede troops who might be following them. I found Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright at the Oriental Hotel, Monte Video, a new and handsome building erected since my last visit, and worthy any city in Europe, but unfortunately several of the inmates died of cholera there and it was afterwards deserted. The Oriental was full when we arrived, but we found comfortable quarters at the Gran Hotel Americano, also a large and handsome edifice lately built, nor can anything more strongly mark the advance of Monte Video than these two hotels in addition to those previously existing. The impressions conveyed in my former narrative as to the development of Monte Video were favourable, but I hardly expected to see the place grown half as large again since that time, which certainly is the case. Building of late years has taken extraordinary proportions here, and the price paid for choice spots in the city is something fabulous. Then again the streets have been all paved and flagged—roughly enough it must be confessed, but still they appear to answer the purpose for the peculiar description of traffic over them, and are a great improvement upon the sand and mud which existed before. During the few days I remained at Monte Video, everything was in a very miserable state, the mortality increasing and the telegrams from Buenos Ayres quite awful. I therefore resolved to return to Rio Janeiro, and wait a more favourable moment for prosecuting my mission. The heat was intense, and the minds of people so preoccupied with the pestilence as to render it impossible to follow the object of my mission with any chance of success. The City of Limerick came up from Buenos Ayres on the morning of the 24th of January, and was released from quarantine in the afternoon, when Captain Peters came on shore, and his report confirmed my previous views as to returning to Rio; so at 5 p.m. I went on board with him. We got under weigh at sunset, with a fresh breeze, and, passing Flores light, were off Maldonado light about 3 p.m.—a nasty navigation, with the island of Lobos dangerously near, on which there ought also to be a light. Daylight took us to the open sea, and four and a half days' steaming brought us again into Rio harbour on the morning of Wednesday, the 5th of February, when we were put to quarantine in what is called Three Fathom Bay, where we remained until the third morning, when we were released and steamed to the coal wharf.

* * * * *

Precisely three months after my first arrival in Rio, I left it again to return to the River Plate, whence the pestilence had departed and things resumed more or less their usual appearance. Monte Video had, however, been the scene of a dreadful tragedy—the murder of General Flores in open day—and the subsequent terrible retribution which followed that catastrophe. A gloom hung over the country, heightened by the impending bank crisis, and it seemed as if the spirit of evil had taken possession of the place. Whatever may have been the faults or errors of General Flores, he deserved a better fate at the hands of his countrymen. In forcing himself into power he only followed in the footsteps of others who had resorted to this unconstitutional mode of proceeding. During his dictatorship the country was perfectly tranquil and highly prosperous, nor was a single life sacrificed by him, although he knew he had many secret enemies. His personal courage was undoubted and evinced in many a bloody encounter in Paraguay, where he appeared to wear a charmed life, and had he been at all prepared the assassins might have found the old man more than a match for them. Altogether, this sad event has created a feeling in Monte Video which it will take long to recover from, nor is any confidence felt in the ability of the present rulers to overcome the difficulties of their position. It is a great pity so fine a country and so fair a city should be sacrificed to objects of mere personal ambition, and be the sport of every discontented chief or partisan who chooses to set himself in array against the Government; but unfortunately this is too much the case, nor do the people themselves rise to put down such a state of anarchy.

In alluding to the new buildings erected at Monte Video I omitted the Bolsa or Exchange, which is quite an ornament to the city, with its light, highly ornamented façade. The interior is of a quadrilateral form, providing a spacious hall where the business of the place is carried on, with brokers' offices on the ground floor, the upper storey being devoted to a tribunal of commerce and other public purposes. The cost of the building is stated at about 160,000 hard dollars, or £32,000 sterling, an instance of public spirit hardly to be found elsewhere in South America.

The only thing wanting to Monte Video is business, in which respect the contrast with Buenos Ayres is very much in favour of the latter. Nevertheless, the banks have gone into considerable extravagance in the way of architecture, the Italian Bank being conspicuous by a superfluity of marble. Indeed, the facility for issuing notes has evidently led to expenditure in “bricks and mortar” to an extent that must have greatly embarrassed the managers of these institutions when called upon to meet their paper in gold.

As to the cause of the money crisis there cannot be two opinions. In the first place, Government was wrong in allowing private issues of notes, and in the second place, in interfering when it came to a question of the banks meeting their notes in gold. A “forced currency,” as it was then called, was sure to lead to a depreciation in the value of the paper and only postponed the evil day. It was a curious sight to see a guard of soldiers with fixed bayonets on duty round the doors of the Italian Bank, and a crowd of people waiting outside to receive specie payment of their notes. This process had already shut up several of the banks, and there was little hope of saving the Italian Bank, although great efforts were being made by the mercantile body to do so, as from the large number of Italian tradesmen doing business with the bank serious results might attend the closing of its doors. The wisest course would have been for all the banks to have followed in the wake of Mauá and Co. and closed their doors when they found themselves unable to meet the pressure for gold. This would have brought about some remedial action on the part of Government with a view to self-preservation.