From The Spectator.

LIFE IN BRAZIL.

appliances that I could invent, the rain, after ten or twelve hours' duration, copiously penetrated the tent, and I have more than once been, for a whole week, without a single article in the tent that was not more or less

[The following interesting letter corroborates so fully the details of our recent articles on slavery in Brazil, and in other respects gives so striking a picture of the state of 80-saturated, bed-clothing and everything I had. ciety there, that it cannot but be interesting to our readers.]

When I add to this, that from the roads being impassable I had difficulty in obtaining anything to eat, and have sometimes subsisted for days on beans, a little pork-fat, and tincture of quinine, and that while at work I was in constant danger of being bitten by the most poisonous snakes known, you will perceive that a railway engineer in Brazil has other than pleasant things to encounter.

Rancho, near Os Perus, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1863. MY DEAR-I am now about to make a tardy performance of my promise to give you some account of my experiences in Brazil. The climate of the province of São Paulo, generally from April to November, is really magnificent; it surpasses in grandeur and beauty anything that can be imagined by one In the wet season the roads are execrable who has never been out of England. But in the extreme. I have seen portions of two from November to April, excepting in such hundred yards long which could be comunusually dry seasons as the present, and in pared only to the bed of a river, in which the the vicinity of the mountain ranges at almost mud was thick and deep, and in one of those all times, the rain is terrific. In the hot places I have counted the heads of more than season it comes on pretty regularly about the twenty dead mules projecting above the mud. middle of the day, and continues till the mid- Goods are transported either on the backs of dle of the night. I have sometimes had to mules or on bullock-carts, and cannot be conwalk two or three miles in a stream of water veyed by any other means. The bullockover my ankles-the bed of the stream be- cart consists of a platform, pole, and axle, ing the road, or track, which goes by the mounted on two solid wheels. Its form apname of a road. At other times I have seen pears to have undergone no change since the it rain for a whole week without any cessa- time of the Romans, and is exactly similar to tion, and portions of that time in torrents that of some vehicles of the same description which I have no skill to describe. During which I saw in Portugal. The drivers obduthe interval, in the months of December, Jan-rately refuse to grease the wheels, and the reuary, and February, the heat is very great. sult is that they make a noise which can Iron left stationary in the sun's rays for a few sometimes be heard at distances of more than minutes will burn the hands on being touched. a mile. During two or three months of the This I have frequently found to my cost, year the roads become impassable even for when suddenly laying hold of instruments of these barbarously rude vehicles, excepting in that material. Insects the most difficult to the immediate vicinity of the towns. I have kill are speedily burnt to death when placed sometimes seen thousands of mules interon a hand-biil that has been thus heated. I cepted by a bad place in the road, and comwas living in a canvas tent during nine or pelled to remain stationary for days. Mules ten months, which included the whole of the are the only means by which the produce of wet season last year. In January my tent the interior is conveyed to the sea-coast. was pitched in a shady place in a wood, and They are sent from the interior-laden prinalthough the sun's rays could never penetrate cipally with coffee-in troops varying in numthe foliage sufficiently to fall directly on the ber from twenty to a hundred; a troop travtent, a thermometer in the inside reached 110 els in separate divisions of ten or twelve, each degs, Fahr., but I do not think that fairly in division in the care of two men, or a man and the shade it ever marked more than 93 degs. a boy, who are called "troupeiras" (proThe interior of the tent in the middle of the nounced " troupára"). A troupeira's cosday was from 15 to 20 degs. hotter than the tume in the hot weather generally consists exterior. This intense heat was alternated solely of a pair of trousers and a broadwith rain, such as I have partially described brimmed hat. Each man has with him, howabove. ever, a thick cloth cloak, called a poncho, Notwithstanding all the contrivances and which serves for a blanket at night and for a

protection from the rain in the day. Judg-themselves slaveholders. Another evil, aling of the rustic population of the interior most as great, is one which is constantly being from those of these men who are not negroes, adduced, but which must, nevertheless, be and from other specimens that not unfre- seen in action in order to be appreciated. It quently present themselves, and comparing consists of the indolent habits and contempt them with other classes, and with all the in- of labor which the "peculiar institution" habitants of the town districts, it appears to engenders in the white population. There is me that if anything great will ever be made an entire absence of either energy or skill in of the present materials of population of this the cultivation of the land. Except in the part of Brazil, it must have its source in the coffee plantations the land can scarcely be class from which the troupeiras are drawn, said to be cultivated at all. The mode and in that class only. Scarcely any individ- adopted is as follows: Fire is put to the uals of this class can read. They are igno- wood on a tract of ground when the high rant in the extreme; uncultivated and fe- grass and brushwood are very dry. By this rocious; barbarous in the severest sense of means the ground is cleared of the underthe word, yet they are punctilious in observ-growth, and most of the trees are thrown ing a certain conventional politeness among down; but the charred stems of those whose themselves, which contrasts strangely with diameter exceeds five or six inches remain on their general bearing. But they have a due the ground. The small roots are then exshare of that sturdy vigor which is necessary tracted and burnt, the surface of the ground for the preservation of a race, the absence of is turned up with hoes, and Indian corn is which in the other classes makes them more planted; but the charred timber and stems insipid to Englishmen than it is easy to de- remain until they rot. The Indian corn takes scribe. about half a year from the planting to its arA very large proportion of the population rival at maturity. It is then harvested, and is made up of negroes and mulattoes, most the ground is planted with sugar-cane, which of whom are slaves. For the short time I occupies the soil about fourteen months, and have been in Brazil I have had considerable is succeeded by mandioca (a plant of the same experience of the habits and characters of family as arrowroot), from whose roots a kind these people, and I have become convinced of flour is made. Dwarf French beans are that their presence is the greatest bane of the planted simultaneously with the mandioca, country. Whether the case of other States and are harvested before the latter plant has may be similar or not, as far as Brazil is con- grown to any considerable size. This course cerned it is an egregious error to suppose that is continued for five or six years. The land has the curse of slavery falls on the negroes. A then become exhausted, and is permitted to few of the masters are certainly inhuman and run to waste for a number of years. It is albrutal in their treatment of the slaves; but most immediately covered with wood and rank this is by no means generally the case, and I weeds, and when it is again required for do not see how it can possibly be doubted that, cultivation an.exactly similar process of reon the whole, the blacks are very much better claiming has to be gone through; manure is off than they would be even in this country, never applied. Feijaos" (pronounced “ fazunder any institutions of their own. The del- hóngs"), i.e., the seed of French beans, flour eterious influence which the colored popula- made from the mandioca root, a little rice, tion exercises on the nation is, however, enor- and pork-fat, form the staple and almost the mous. Perhaps the worst evil is the mixture only food of the general inhabitants of the of blood and consequent degeneracy of the in-country. Meat is rarely eaten except in the habitants. This it is impossible to prevent towns. There one can buy very bad beef at while the two races are living side by side. 3d. per pound, worse mutton at 1s., and fowls In this country-being, as it is, a slavehold-at about 2s. 6d. each. In my district fowls, ing and a slave-trafficking one-the evil is carried to an almost incredible extent. Nearly all the population is more or less tainted with black blood. A large proportion of the land is held by mulattoes of the first generation, and there are instances of negro slaves being

very poor ones, are sometimes plentiful at a shilling each, and eggs at 1-2d.; at other times I have sent eight or nine miles without being able to procure either. Seventy miles further in the interior, however, provisions are very much cheaper. Fowls are there sold

It is said that real gentlemen are to be found in every nation, and even here there are a few individuals to whom you would apply the term, meet them where you might.

at 3d. each and eggs at 2d. per dozen. Wheat | boarded floors. I saw her once in front of is unknown in Brazil, or at least in this part it, in the after part of the day, personally of it. A few years ago the Government pro- superintending the unloading a bullock-cart cured a great quantity of seed from England load of roots. Her dress consisted simply and distributed it in presents among the far- and solely of a dirty blue-and-white cotton mers; but, according to report, they, without gown, and a pair of clogs. I had previously exception, ate the seed instead of sowing it. met her at a party in São Paulo; she was Wheaten bread can be obtained in the towns, then dressed with considerable taste, in an but it is all made from North American flour. exactly similar style to that in which a genThere are slaves of all ages and both sexes tlewoman in England would have been on a in every fazenda — hideous and disgusting similar occasion. looking animals they are, particularly the women; no picture or description could convey even a faint idea of their wretched appearance. The women's dress consists solely of a coarse linen jacket and a linsey-woolsey I know one or two who evince an immense skirt, which is tied round the waist, and extends to the calf of the leg. Imagine them, if you can, as I have often seen them, coming home at night in torrents of rain, thoroughly drenched and covered with mud, each woman with a bundle of wood on her head and a pipe in her mouth, toiling up a steep hill in a muddy lane, so slippery that a firm footing could scarcely be obtained at all! The men have a jacket and pair of trousers, and sometimes a shirt. The children have a short linen frock, but in the hot weather they go perfectly naked, the girls till they are seven or eight years old, and the boys till they are nine or ten. Where negro slavery exists, flogging is a matter of necessity, as the negroes are amenable to no other kind of punishment that would not injure their constitutions. It often takes place in these fazendas. In some of them the dress is not usually removed on such occasions, but generally the men are scourged on their bare backs, and the women have their skirts turned up and fastened round their waists and are flogged behind. The scourge is made of a piece of raw cowhide, five or six feet long, and about two inches broad, fastened to a stick, which serves for a handle.

amount of that kind of regard for other people's feelings which is characteristic of the gentleman of every age and clime. They, however, possess an inordinate share of that national repugnance to action, which is the great bane of the country. Their stately inertia utterly defies description. When they travel from their town-houses to their country estates, they ride on mules at a pace scarcely exceeding three miles an hour, and are attended by a host of servants of all shades of color, and by a number of baggage and extra saddle mules. At such times they vividly call to mind the descriptions of the old patriarchal journeys.

An Oriental tinge runs through all the manners and customs of the country, and is seen particularly in the general deportment of the women. In the interior, the female members of a family are not permitted to make their appearance before strangers of the opposite sex. One sees nothing of them until a visit has been several times repeated. Even in the towns there is a considerable amount of shyness, especially when other people are present. They lead a wretchedly indolent life. Excepting in the upper classes, very few indeed of them can read, and scarcely The following incident may, perhaps, give any, even in the best society, read any other you a little idea of the country life of even the books than French novels. They conceive upper classes of Brazilian society: The Mar- that fat constitutes beauty, and their great quéza de is reputed to be the richest ambition is to become as broad as they are woman in Brazil, certainly she has been the long. When they appear in the streets they most influential. She was the Duchess of are richly attired in European fashion; but Cleveland of the late emperor, and her soci- within doors their apparel is wretched and ety is courted by all the aristocracy. She their habits are filthy. In the principal resometimes resides at a fazenda on one of her ception-rooms of the best houses in São Paulo, estates through which I carried my line. ladies of quality may sometimes be seen pubThis fazenda has neither glass windows nor liely picking unmentionable insects from the

The interiors of the churches consist of scarce- those districts are called German colonies. ly anything more than four whitewashed They are not prosperous. In one of them, walls, with a few barbarously rude images near Rio de Janeiro, a large and handsome and a gaudily colored choir and altar-piece town has been built; but the builders lost at one end. Many of them are absolutely nearly all their investment, and the speculabeggarly. High up in the walls of the nave, tion is said to be a complete failure. The built in the walls, and flush with them, there name of the town is Petropolis. Ships still are little curtained private pews, which look frequently arrive at Santos full of emigrants exactly like boxes in a theatre. Excepting in destined for a colony about a hundred miles these there are no seats. All the central part beyond São Paulo. This proceeding is conof the nave is devoted to women, and merely ducted by a German speculator, who, under a narrow portion on each side and at the end sanction of the Brazilian Government, conopposite the choir, the west end, is left for tracts to bring over families on condition of men. The division is formed by a small hand- their remaining in his employment until they rail, often made only of sticks. In the Ca- have earned over and above their livelihood thedral of São Paulo it is so rudely and care-a previously stipulated sum-generally about lessly constructed that the bark has not been removed from the sticks.

Before the commencement of the service, and during portions of it, the women seat themselves on the floor. Very often their dresses form a splendid exhibition of rich colors, and great taste is displayed in their arrangement. On the great saints' days even the slaves (the domestic slaves in the towns) are elegantly dressed in silk gowns and mantles. The elevation of the Host is announced by a discharge of fireworks, and there is scarcely an hour in the day when the air of the towns is not burdened with their reports. When the divinity has been manufactured, he is invisibly but audibly transmitted to heaven on a rocket.

I ought not to conclude this letter without saying something about one subject which I have not yet mentioned. Some years ago a system of German emigration to Brazil was set on foot. Whether the movement emanated originally from Germans or not, I do not know; but the Brazilian Government took active measures to promote it, and still gives it considerable encouragement. The immigrants have various localities granted to them as settlements, and

seventy pounds-with accumulating interest,

They are sent up the country on foot, under the strict surveillance of agents of the speculator, and it is pitiable in the extreme to see them trudging away in health and spirits and to know the fate that awaits them. Many years elapse before they can accumulate the requisite amount, and they thus virtually become the slaves of the speculator. They are let out for hire in the same manner as the negroes, and are treated almost in the same way, except that they are not flogged.

When they have at last performed their part of the contract age has destroyed their vigor, and bitter experience their capacity for enjoyment. With bodies debilitated by long years of labor on wretched diet, and with minds dispirited by their forlorn position, they are left penniless in an alien and unproductive country to eke out the remainder of their miserable existence as best they may.

The speculator employs agents in Germany
to lure them away, and when they reach
Brazil they are completely in his power.
Yours truly,
B.

A PAPER on the subject of certain Egyptian papyri above four thousand years old will be read by Mr. Goodwin at the Society of Antiquaries at one of the meetings next month. These papyri are stated to contain the autobiography of an Egyptian adventurer under the earliest king of the twelfth dynasty, a part of a poem, and a long story, of which the incidents are referred to the third dynasty. A work on the same papyri has

just appeared from the pen of M. Chabas, and was announced by us last week. We understand that the results of the decipherment of M. Chabas, coincide with those obtained by Mr. Goodwin, who has been studying the papyri independently.

THE name of a poem which the Poet Laureate has ready is "Enoch, the Fisherman."