The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1886-06-25
SETTLERS IN BRAZIL.
SOME EXPERIENCE AS RELATED IN
THE DIARY or A LADY.

TIE DIARY OF A LADY.
Making Homes insthe Wilderness of Lagao
Gu Jnparanao Erection of Houses
- Hospitality of the Natives Products OF
!, . Observation-Disclosures. @
Iwas telling you of the settlement of the
aAnlerieanos del Norte" on the Lagado du
/ Jnparanao, Provincio du Espirito Santo,
J RraziE We arrived there about the last
OF June, 1867. We rented most COM
Portable house of four rooms, two of which
had board floors, which was quite lux
ury, for milreis per month-about 50 of
our money Others, less fortunate, scat
American settlers who had preceded us In
the village of Linhares, until the men folk
should go out prospecting, make choice OF
their future homes, and settle claim,
each one being entitled to as much again
land as he cleared and cultivated, and no
one could turn him off his claim unless he
were paid for it. If he wished more land
he could buy it from the government at ~
cents per acre and pay for it in Six years
The building sites were selected on the
borders of the lake, some of the hills being
SO high they resembled mountains. There
was a low range of mountains about Iour
miles from the western shore OF the lake.
There were no roads or paths in the forest
In many places it was SO dense that it was
almost impenetrable. All travelling and
visiting was done in canoes Rude houses
were erected by putting posts into the
ground. using poles for the rafters, and
then covering and weather boarding were
made of the palm, many punches being
tied together, and then tied to the rafters
and sides of the house with vine called
sepoy, not nail being used in the whole
building A mortar was then made and
pounded down to make hard, smooth
floor
MAKING HOMES IN THE WILDERNESS.
BY the 25th of July nearly all of us had
settled down, and the men began clearing
to plant. Lawyers, doctors, dentists, ETC.,
laid aside their diplomas and entered into
their new life with the proper spirit, fac
ing the forest ak in hand, seemingly with
the determination to succeed or die in the
attempt. .-. ....-.. ....r
Again the Brazilians, many Of whom in
this community are of Indian descent, well
coined us with outstretched arms as it
were. The wealthy would take turns and
send few slaves to help first one and then
another settler. The poorer classes would
visit us and bring as offerings of friend
ship punches of bananas, pineapples,
chicken, few eggs, bottle of milk and
such things as they could spare and knew
we could not get ,..- .s- ...-.
All seemed interested and anxious to
know how we Americans of the United
States did things. Many things planted by
the new settlers did not do well on ac-
count of the land having been SO recently
cleared. On old clearings everything that
can be mentioned grew to perfection and
in abundance, yielding more bountifully
than the same things do in the United
States, with the exception of corn, which
did not yield so well in that vicinity, but
does exceedingly well higher up the Doce |
and also in other portions OF the empire.
h"d substitute in the Farinha du |
MandlOca. THIS Is Il low s.A,,
resembling the castor oil tree. The root,
which is the edible portion, resembles the
sweet potato, and is eaten by man, beast, |
and fowls and even fish, for the natives |
bait their hooks with it. |
THE PRODUCTS OF A PLANTATION. |
The national dishes are black beans, |
dried beef (Which is shipped from Monte |
video), and Farinha du Mandioca We felt |
satisfied that the land in this vicinity is |
better adapted to the culture of sugar i
cane than anything else. 1t is said it will /
produce from 5000 to 1900 pounds to the |
acre with the aid of the hoe only-the |
plow had never at that time been used in |
this soil. I have seen on one |
of the farms of our neighbor, |
Senior Dom Raphael Pereira de
Cavalho, cane twelve and fifteen feet high
and two and one-half inches in diameter,
which received no culture except from the
hoe. Three crops can easily be made in
twenty-four months. Cotton does well in
other portions of the empire. Bananas
grow in profusion and to perfection; one
acre is said to produce ZOO pounds There
besides being very wholesome and nutri-
tious for man. They bear one year after
being planted, multiplying year after
year, and believe they never die out after
they are once started.
One year we all remained i'll this colony.
Sickness, failure of crops, ETC., began to
break us up; besides we had unfortunately
made u bad selection. Most of our men
knew more of the culture of cotton. con-
sequently it was an unwise step to go into
sugar raising district. The professional
men had been unwise to settle in a wilder
ness. Many of them were young and un-
married, consequently had no one to cook,
wash and attend to the household duties
for them. Some decided to remain; and
the agent stood by them another year,
then had to bring them away, sending
them down to San Paul0, in cotton
district where they became successful
Cor. New Orleans Times Democrat.