, 1879-02-16
Starring Peasants Eating Their Own
Observation-Disclosures Bodies Torn
ard Deyoured by Wild
Animals.
gmall-Pox Victimg-Thousands in Open
Trenches Rotting at Lagoa-
Funda,
Cla;k P!ague at Work---Graphit Sketch Of Tho
Eest Horrible Visitation Of Modern
Timts.

is known as the Ser,ao This region is utterly
unlike the matted forest fats OF the Amazon or
the grcss mountains OF Rio. It is a rolling
nlein ascending gradually from the sen coast
and diversified everywhere with isolated hills
End mountains. There is forest growth. but it
is low and not thick, much more like our North
e,u woods than one is apt to Imagine for trop-
iral growth. Portions of the land are opcn
plains, with only scattered trees; in other places
tie woods hare been cut away over extensive
tracts In the Scrtao the Seasons arc
ycry sharply divided. The rainy months
proper extend from January to June
or July; the remainder of the
wear is dry. so dry that the trees shed their
leaves and the grass is all withered. People
can only Obtain water bv digging for it in the
dry beds Of streams, for there arc light show
ers in October, the so-ca1led cliurar de caju, or
cachen rains, when the tree Of that name is in
bloom. It sometimes happens that the winter
months remain dry like the oihcrs-a terrible
calamity for the poorer people, because they
depend for living on the products OF their
little plantations, and the crops can only be
raised during the raius. The drounhts haye
left black marks on the history OF Northern
Brazil. aar.lly one Of the dozen or more on
recu1d has failed to count its victims BY hun
Ureu6 U1 LHpuSALaS, I!sQ tl2E luALcflul lOSS Ii
immense. We understand this better ii We
consider the peculiar status OF the population.
PoyERTI-sTR1cKES POPULATION.
In this part Of Brazil there are no nanufact-
ures whatever, very few mines, no fisheries OF
Importance, no forest industries. The com
nunity is exclusively agricultural and pastoral.
There are immense herds of cattle, consider
able plantations of sugar, cotton. etc, and
the poorer people plant nandioca and corn,
using the land OF their richer neighbors, Tor
whom they do little work occasionally.
Whether it be for the pasturagc Of cattle or the
growth Of crops the whole community depends
on the soil. and hence the fertilizlng rains Of
winter. It the rains do not come tho people
starye. Again. the population has to suffer ter
ribly because it has no help in itself. Of the
22.55O, 600 nominal inhabitants Of the Sertao not
100000 are rich men, or even reasonably well
OH. The vast majority are an Arab-like ruce,
produced By the interuixture Of the blacks,
whites and lndians-peopie who have no prop.
conditiou. Probably this is the most degraded
class in Brazil; immoral. ignorant and aoom-
inaply nlthy, hardly washing flesh or clothes
from one years end to tie other. The dress
generally is OF COARSE cotton, white or blues the
men with pair Of DRIVERS, a shirt hung loosely
outside OF ttlcm, and broad -brimmcd leather
hat; the women with only chemise. skirt, aud
cloth to throw orcr their heads. These people
live in palm-thatchcd butts; the women do most
Of the farm work, the men gain few dollars
as herdsmen or br hiring themselves out for q
day occasionally. The uppcr classes. on the
contrary, will compare favorably with any in
Brazil. Most Of them are pure whites; they
are intelligent, brave, dqmestfc,-far ahead. in
mixed population was distributed THROUGH
the Scrtao, much as the people are in our
Western communities-ttcre were numer-
Gus villages anil hamlets joined to-
gether bY tolerable roads, hardly any rail-
roads, and, as have intimated, no naYigable
rivers. It is important to note this, as it cx-
plaius much Of the suffering brought on BY the
Drought The Sertao is strip averaging 500
miles In width, extending from the Parabyba
River southwark along the coast or near it to
range Of mountains it Is continued southwest
ward to Mlnas Geraes, almost in the latitude Of
Rio. The drought of 1S1i-'13 was felt all over
this tract, bu. its black nucleus was in the
Province OF Ceara. This Province, to which my
observations were confined, is about as large as
the Middle States, In 1876 it contained Y00-
GOO inhabitants, Of which at least 5000 were
on-proprietors.-the poor people of whom
port OF importance, its Capital; this is ndiffer-
emily set down on the maps as Fortaleza, or
Ceara; its normal population is s5,000. The
streets are we'll laid cut, and in general the lit
tie cty is one OF the pretticst and neatcst in
Brazil. There is no harbor; vessels anchor ID
the open roadstead and passengers are taken to
and fro in little sailing-rafts, -tangadas Or
catamarans.
FIRST TERRoRs OF 1871
With these preliminary remarks on the Sertao
and the Province OF Ceara. your readers are In
position to understand the drought and its ter
r1ble effects. In Ceara the winters Of 1875,
1876, and 1871 were ali remarkable for torrcntiat
rains. The poor people had ABUNDANT harvests
from their little clearincs, and all went on hap
ply enough They were preparing to plant ]
again with the rains Of January. But carly in |
the winter of 1875 vague reports Of drought be- |
gan to circulate in Fortaleza. 1t mas said that |
Cra1o, Jeo, Telha, and other villages OF the in
terror had had no rains; that the cattle we7e !
DYING, and even the poorer people began to be ]
pinched for food, even went SO fnf US seriously t
to fear a bad year. The Government papers in-
sisted that these reports we're fiction Of the |
Opposition: hut when the 1st Of March came and |
the ruplors we're worse than erer, the Bishop |
ordered PRAYERS in all the churches ad Dr<eut7a,n
p!uyiu,n. Still, except for this uneasy feeling
that ran through all business, there was nothing
unusual observed in the peasapt city or villages |
around it. I visited the place in March, 1877
The drought was then subject of general con-
tersat;ou: but nobody understood the extent of /
the calamity. Suddenly, like a thuuderbolt,
there came to the quiet town 4 message OF ter
ror; meu's faces grew white; mems hearts sank
within them. for they knew what the words
prophcsied. It was from Telha. In The interior
Of the province. a letter dated March 5. SO that
it must have reached Fortalcza about March 20.
The sar,7e ,-a-a e;,n, ,,1o ono,.nh.