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

Hi ~ III NucTc ucaFy uuLce ar
elk~ imposed on imported
II nm goods, Rios port regu-
ftZONINO lations extremely
QN AlyJ rigorous and often vex-
AhN- e. atioIs. All incoming
4 AA ~, vessels are required to
ATlEfS- drop anchor of Fort
l[ Vilegagnon-commonly
~@SA known as the "Pico"-
and there await the
coming of the health
~- and customs officials.
Those gentlemen take their own leisurely time
for II, and their convenience must be awaited.
however imperative your reasons for expedi-
ton. IL the steamer happens to have arrived
near the dinner hour Is pm is the Brazilian
rule for that most important meal). or near the
fashionable time for promenading in the Rua
do Ouvidor-say an hour earlier; or If a fiesta
happens to be in progress, or one of the polit j.
cal demonstrations so numerous in the new re-
puohc-no attention will be paid to it till some
time next day. and meanwhile no communica-
lion whatever Is permitted between ship and
shore-not even SO much a message to wait
Ing friends, or letters to catch an outgoing
mail
RIGID QUARANTINE REGULATIONS
should quarantine be imposed, as it is more
though there may not be a case Of sickness on
board, the vessel is sent away back to Ilha
Grande, sixty miles down the coast There is
no accounting for quarantine regulations
especially In times Of scare. We experienced
their unreasonableness to the full a few years
ago Ween sailing among the West Indies Be-
cause our ship had passed place where small
pox was raging-though no passengers were
taken on there and nobody went ashore but the
Purser on his regular business-we were noAal-
lowed to come within three miles of any port
though not q soul on board was i'll we could
not visit Martinique Barbados. St Thomas
nor any OF the places We had come so far to
see; nor send ashore for the longed-fo home
letters waiting IN the consul's office, nor dis
Pateh those We had written during the voyage.
Passengers who must land were compelled to
spend fifteen days at the quarantine station a
Pest house to which we're consigned the leprous
and diseased Of every class and all nationalities.
IN which the chances were few for a person
who entered in perfect health to come out alive
at the end of half month
Among our number was q charming French
family who had been visiting in Para and were
coming to their home at st. Pierre OF course
they were obliged to disembark at Martinique
and mournful procession they made-hus-
band, vile. four children and three servants
being rowed away to the desert quarantine
island in the custody Of officers like Criminals
headed by the yacht Of the health commissioner
with Its significant yellow flag. Though the
"cAo luuueQtldl and all good
health nothing could save then.-simply be-
cause they happened to take passage on a
steamer that had stopped at an infected port
several hundred miles below the place where
they embarked A year later, happening to
meet again the captain of the same steamer on
more fortunate voyage, inquired after the
quaran2ned family, and learned with sorrow
that the husband and three of the children
died Of yellow fever contracted at the pest
house.
COSTLY CHARGES FOR COMPULSORY BoARDERs
About ten years ago the Brazilian authorities
erected q costly Quarantine station on Grand
Island Cllhe Graude) and have got their money
back long ago from the charges, fixed by law,
Ior tneir compulsory boarders- The rates are
as follows: FIrst-class passengers must nav
DUO reis per diem for semi-staryation on vii
famous food; second-class, 1900 refs; third
class, 500 refs; children between four and ten
years old, half rates, and between one and four
years, one-third rates Then all the baggage
must be disinfected, the charges being 1000
reis per kilogram, and the ordinary Saratoga
VIII weigh many Kilograms. 1t is useless TO
protest that nothing Is the matter with YOUR
luggage and you don't want il disinfected. II
muss undergo the process or be dumped into
'ne pay. and You must pay for it all the same
In cases Of merely quarantine Conservation
which Is usually from twenty-four to forty-eieht
hours. the vessel Is required to anchor of Ju-
ru)uba point; but that is no hardship il ones
SN'&ASSo - hOt ulScDt IOr the glOrlOu6
amply compensates for being compelled to en-
cure sea food and Q stuffy state room awhile
ionger 1he ship hes in what the old nayi-
gators called Three Fathom bay." between
icarahy beach. which is famed alike for its
beauty and Its bathing, and the rocky nenin-
s1la which is crowned by the celebrated Forta-
ieza de Santa Cruz One never wearies of this
magnificent harbor, which far surpasses that
o. Naples or the Golden Horn. The whole bav
iO miles IN circumference, is surrounded by
peaked and turreted hills. standing one behind
another In every conceivable position-some
pare, Others covered with verdure, and al. with
palm trees growing at their feet Most prom,-
nent because nearesr, among the dark hills
looming close on every side is the
Fao do Assucar C'Sugar LoarO, so
smooth and sharp that its conical neal
does not appear to be more than twenty feet
IN diameter 1t Is the extreme and highest
point OF q range CT granite hills that extend a
s snsI' Instance along the coast, separated from
tne larger range back Of the city by a narrow
valley, IN which has been built the sristocratie
suburb called Botofoga. just behind the sugar
LOAF Is the gap known as Praia yermilha
toreen valley }. where the first Portuguese
settlement on Botofoga was located in the wear
100 IL 10 strongly fortified and is the sIts of
tne imperial military academy A rocky
peninsula juts out from the base OF the sugar
Loaf, and on II Is the FortalezA de s. Joao and
sous eh'ensise BARRACKS. some Of the bate
rles belonging to this Saint john fort are cut
Into the solid rock and are said to be among
the strongest in the world
TWO srRoS3 ToarREssEs
The fort Aleza de Santa Cruz. under vbo.e
frovnins walls the vessel il anchored, in Bra
MS most important stronghold-a perfect
Gibraltar in strength and inaccessIbility. and
ss picturesque as formidable. Il was built in
1915. but has since been greatly enlarged and
streng Ihened- IL holds q large garrison aud IL
well armed with modern cannon OF the most
approved type. Standing at the foot of two
rocky peaks II Is further defended on the ont
side beach by strong water battery, while the
summit above 10 capped by the small but i'm
pregnable Forte do Pico. The only approach
. TO the Pico fortifcstion 10 through the Santa
Cruz fortress below, and that in turn Is assaiI.
able only by water.
Then there 10 the Fortaleza de Iage. built
upon partially submerged rock near the mar
row entrance-tbe site of the first attempted
settlement in the River Of January" Its for
tifcation, constructed about $50 years ago,
Possesses no great strength. but its position
gives il great advantage. In Its dungeons,
followed out Of the solid rock below sea level,
prisoners OF state used to be incarcersted, and
gruesome tales are told Of how part Of the
punishment consisted Of letting the water in al
regular intervals, when the wretched prison
en- we're obliged to swim for their lives or