The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1892-12-08

ing pedestrians into the nearest doorways
Naturally there are not many carriages in
the city, since there is only one good car
riage road ON the whole island. and that
only two or three miles long The Sedan
chair is not used here, as at Bahia, but the
''fede' abounds-a sort of strong ham
mock which provides easy means of loco
motion up and down the hills. 1t is very
common to see ladies taking their passeio,
or daily constitutional, but few gentle
men go abroad in the rede except inva-
lids and octogenarians, though they in
dulge in them greatly at home. Between
the paving stones of the steep streets grass
grows thickly, and tropical rains dash
down them in torrents washin. the whole
city clean. One Of the narrowest and
steepest avenues is appropriately named
ing to the combined heat and humidity of
the atmosphere everything you touch is
clammy with moisture. green with mould,
musty of odor and sticky to the touch, as
III t'slGtfnt L ne houses are SUBSTANTIALLY
built of stone those OF the better class be
ing two stolcd. with balconied windows.
All Of them have messy, red tiled, over
hanging roofs, under whose caves swal-
lows breed in great numbers, and are sur
rounded by odorous gardens where myri-
ads Of pica-flores, finy Brazilian hum
ming birds that look like living jewels)
dart forever among the flowers.
The city has nowadays not more than
b. 900 inhabitants, and general air of
having gone into a decline. Time was,
say thirty years ago, whel the population
was much greater, before Para to the
northward and Pernambuco to the south
ward had diverted and absorbed so much
of it's commerce. But Maranhao must al
ways be Of consequence, being the outlet
of the products OF a very wide extent of
rich country, the province alone of Which
/ it is the capital having an area of 140 600
square miles. 1t is the entreport for vast
quantities OF rice, cotton, rum, drugs and
medicinal herbs, hides, manteiga di tar
taruga OF turtle-egg butter, sugar. ham
mocks and pottery; and the receiving
point for manufactured goods FROM Eu-
rope to supply the same interior region.
Steamers ply from Maranhao direct to
Havre, Liverpool and Lisbon; to Para and
Rio de Janeiro; and also up the great
rivers ltapicura, Guajahu and Pendare.
The cathedral and Episcopal palace are
magnificent structures, built by the
Jesuits many years ago and there are ten
other fine churches and no end of con-
vents and monasteries. Among other
notable public buildings are the Governor $
palace. the treasury, custom house, mu-
nicipal hall, naval arsenal. military hos
pital. the richly endowed hospital da mi
sericordia and half a dozen other refugees
for the Sick and unfortunate; orphans
home foundling's home, lepers home,
theatre. museum, public library botanic
garden, the great college OF 'l.yceum, "
As it is here called. where the higher
branches are acquired. including the Ian
:
design, astronomy, etc: commercial
school with evening sessions. and another
for artes;,ns and working people generally.
in which the trades are taught. The ma
iority Of citizens are more than s'well-to-
do. owning interior estates of greater or
less extent, (and in former DAYS many
slavesl, which are carried on by resident
administrators. that all the most lucky
owners have to do is to spend the revenues
thereof in the pleasures and designations
OF city lite The children OF these opulent
land owners are universally well educated
at least in the snowy branches if not in
those most practical, and generally fin
ished i'll Madrid, Lisbon or Paris. Bra
zllian> proper, that is, descendants Of the
early Portuguese and Spanish emigrants-
the highest class of society, from whose
ranks come most of the civil functionaries.
officers OF the army and navy. priests and
gentlemen OF ltisure-comprise about one
third of the population. The Portuguese.
including most of the shop keepers arti-
sans. and money getters, number about
one-s sixth; and the rest is made up of
human cattle-negroes. mulatto, mestiZo
and Indian. There is an undying feud
between the Braziians and Portuguese.
at least on the part Of the former 1t had
its rise IN the time Of colonial dependence
on Portugal, when the monarchs home
bred courtiers crowded all the walks of
ambition to the exclusion of native worth
and talent In those DAYS the govern
ment WAS terribly unjust and oppressive.
and the history OF the "Capitanias' is
repetition of the old story of the rapacity
and outrage> of the Roman pro consuls.
TO this hereditary hatred another cause is
added i'll the steady flow of Portuguese
emigration into the Republic and the fact
that the miserably poor emigrants almost
invariably become rich, while the financial
tendencies Of the naughty Brazilians, who
as a rule, toll not neither do they spin are
steadily downward, especially since the
abolition OF slavery.
Taken all in all, despite its steep streets
and sticky moisture, sac Louiz de Maran-