Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-09


drowsy as though the metropolis of Brazil
were hundreds of miles away instead OF close
at hand, occupies the shore OF Jurujuba bay,
and following the coast line far as the eve
can reach. are other villages, forts, batteries.
naval stations and splendid government build
ings-many Of the latter constructed Of the
beautiful white marble from the near
BY quarries Of the Moro da Gloria. The
island Of Villegagnon. which lies almost in
front of the entrance to the bay, its quadri-
lateral fort protected by water batteries. well
armed with modern guns, was the site OF the
first settlement of Rio de Janeiro, in 1866.
HOW LANDING Is EFFECTED.
After permission has been given by the au-
tocrats Of the custom house for free prsctique
with the shore the mails are first disembarked,
and then the steamer proceeds to the upper
anchorage, where the passengers and their lug
gage are discharged. Customs officials are at
once put on board, who remain night and day
at their posts until the steamer is again ready
for sea- All baggage is sent directly to the
custom house. near the Caes dos Minerros,
where passengers can claim it at any time be-
tween a. m. and pm. Nothing can be passed
on board without special permission, not even
your hand bag or shawl strap. 1t is wise plan
to pack the few things needed for day two
into a gripsack and leave the trunks to their
fate until you are established In hotel
and equal to engaging in the customary
wrestle at the Caes. One should remember that
leaving Brazil, and no steamship company is
permitted to sell a ticket to foreigner until
his passport has been properly yised at the
central police station. For that no charge Is
made, though the passport cost a dollar at the
Department of State in Washington and another
dollarfor the oath before notarythat you are not
somebody elsa specimen OF red tape equal
to that which compels needy females who are
so fortunate to secure S75 clerkship in
Uncle Samuel's treasury to make oath (and pay
for hat fhpy hay horDa
arms against the government" Recently Rios
police authorities have adopted regulation re-
quiring a consular wise before their own, and
this involves slight expense.
There is also port regulation which forbids
any communication with vessels in the harbor
after Pun. without special permit There
fore II you are unacquainted with the Portu-
guese language and have gone ashore merely
for look about town. you would better keep
eye on your watch and not put faith in the
rosy lights that linger long on the mountain
tops after the sun has disappeared unless you
want to spend some uncomfortable hours in
prison and require the services of the U. S. con-
sui in the morning, and meanwhile the ship
may sail away without you.
TAKEN ASHORE IN BOATS.
Passengers will find no difficulty in finding
boats to take them ashore, for as soon as a
steamer stops it is surrounded by them like
flies around a molasses barrel The Rio boat
men drive a roaring trade at all seasons, and it
is one of their humorous practices to land pas
sengers for moderate sum and then refuse to
take them back until the helpless travellers
have. IN effect, transferred to them a chattel
mortgage of all the worldly goods of which they
stand At that moment possessed. The boat
men have the best of it every time, being in
league with one another. especially when their
victims have acted as passengers generally do
and stayed on shore until the very last minute
before the ship Is to sail. The common price,
each way, is 1900 refs, though two passengers
are often carried on the one fare. The law re-
quires all boats to be numbered and registered
as are all the public vehicles and carregadores
(porters) In the city, and it is we'll to make
note OF these in case any misunderstanding
shall arise.
While we fingered on the massive stone dock
that lines the water front of Rio we noticed a
curious steam yacht close by painted white
with open galleries end strange flag flying
We wondered with languid interest what it
could be, but did not inquire, there being
none but Portuguese-speaking people at hand.
Presently an ambulance drove down to it and a
litter, with a sick man on it, was hauled out by
some uniformed persons and put on board.
Everybody fell back with a most surprising
show OF respect everybody but ourselves; we
wanted to see what was going on), utter silence
fell Tor moment upon the noisy throng and
thought within myself that had never seen
wharf loafers display SO little intrusive Curl
oslty. Was it some member of the royal
family -some noble but invalid relative Of the
late Dom Pedro going out for an airing in his
private yacht! Just then the purser. looking
somewhat pale, came hurrying up. For
heavens sake" he cried, why didn't you get
out of the way when that thing went bY?'
What thing!" we innocently asked. "Why.
the hospital yacht, to be sure, loaded down to
the guards with smallpox and yellow fever"
AT THE MONEY CHANGERS.
The first place ON shore that foreigner gem
orally seeks is the establishment of some money
changer. in order to convert his American gold
or English sovereigns. or the coin of the last
country he visited, into the circulating me-
dunn" Of Brazil And very much astonished
will he be when the changer hands over a huge
pile OF metal-copper. brass, iron and nickel
that looks like old pewter plates, stove lids and
the ponderous brass tags that landlords some-
times attach to door keys to prevent them from
being carried off In the pockets OF their pa
irons very few American dollars, exchange
added, when converted into the currency Of
this country, require cart rather than q
pocket book in which to take it away. Brazil
still adheres to the absurd old Portuguese sys-
tenn OF financial enumeration, in which 1t takes
1000 refs to make what call half dollar,
the word .'Ieis' being the plural of real.
When reis are at par 100 Of them are worth
about cents American money. What hard
time OF 1t brazilian bookkeepers must
have with the long lines Of figures
which represent the ordinary commercial
transactions of q banking or mercantile house
For example. real, the unit OF the monetary
system, is written 0S001, and lie equal to the
value Of one-twentieth Of the U. s. cent There
Is no such coin in circulation, the smallest
being 10 reis- There is a copper coin of 40
refs and nickel coin of 100 refs and another
OF 200 refs. Next comes the paper money in
notes of one thousand refs, called milreis.
There are two milres, five, ten, twenty, thirty.
nifty and one hundred, to a maximum of Ave
hundred milreis, numerically expressed this
way-5OOS0o0. Then there is an imaginary de-
nomination named q conto, which means a
Thousand milreis, and is expressed ON paper
lOUs. The par value of the paper milreis is
equal to about "a cents American money, but
OF course 1t varies with the times. On the day
Of the revolution, November Is. 1889, it was at
par. and has never been since. Awhile ago il
was down 10 IL cents and today is up to %
cents.
PRICES ARE PRoPoRTIoNArK.
copper coin of the old monarchy worth
half cent still circulates largely in northern
Brazil, which is it only to use in driving nails
or for paper weights, being altogether too heavy
to carry in any pocket Though they Law around
ever 50 carelessly nobody ever steals them
being too bu-densome to get away with. On
inquiring the price of living at a hotel
you are at first amazed to find that
1t is SO many milreis per diem, and are
absolutely staggered when the laundry
bill is presented in six figures Fancy
a fIll- hank z 49,.