Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-30
A BAnlAx our FOR Al ArHrxo.


ginserly on its slippery, STRAIGHTFORWARD chair,
you are Instantly hp-silted topsy-turvy and
manage to remain right end up only by the
zreatess effort. while the bearers slevste the
poles to their shoulders. And then they trot of
gleefuIly, - much elated st tho opportunity Of
carrying such o weight up the Tong hill for
few cents a. IL they were sitting at ease on tbs
top of 9 coach driving . spanking pair.
In Bahia every family with any pretentions
to style considers It indispensable to own two
or three cadeiras. as people in other parts Of the
world keep their carriages, and tho rank and
standing Of its owner is plAiniy written on the
PalanQuin, in the expensiveneB Of its curtains,
the amount Of its gliding. the livery Of its car
TieYs and maybe BY the arms emblaxoned upon
it. And when the splendor OF the private sedan
has departed 1t Is sold for public usss. Ger
tainly every lady Of the aristocracy must have
her own especial csdeira, to be carried shout by
two hveried house negroes and followed by q
retinue Of female servants-for the ride in the
plebeian tram cars which traverse the upper
town in all directions, or to descend into the
one by public elevator, would be to lose caste
beyond retrieving
THE BIG ELHvAfon TOWER.
Pausing in the market place, you observe
that the hghter-skinned, well-dressed portion Of
the crowd appear to be perpetunlly tending in
one direction-toward the big, square elevator
tower. Join the procession Of merchants, in
suits Of cool white linen. with pale green sun
umbrellas and planters with broad brimmed
hats and Jackets of yellow ponges, followed by
servants carrying their smallest parcels-and
Won enter massive stone building backed up
close under the bluf. In its seni-darkness you
are unpleasantly conscious Of . strong smell Of
grease, q bewildering display Of machinery in
motion and degree OF oxygenless heat which
100 refs Is cents) at the turnstile, grops your
way along . dark, damp, moidy corridor to q
double elevator, only one car Of which Is used
at a time, and enter the one about to ascend.
By tight squeezing it holds a dozen passengers
and is lighted by a tiny lamp in one corner,
which smokes like .'all possessed ~ as does every
male passenger. You feel as If down in
q deep we'll and gasp for breath as the
swaying thing gets in its work, bobbing up
and down with q seasick motion, and
presently you are dumped on top Of the bluff,
$50 feet above The starting point. Then passing
through another self-registering gate you find
yourself upon one side Of q beautiful little
plaza Fronting it are the Municipal Palace,
the Case da Gobernador and other quaint old
mansions, which look as il they had strayed by
mistake from Portugal. From the square you
have a magnificent view Of the harbor and lower
town, though from such an elevation directly
over it you can distinguish little in the latter
but semicircular sweep of red-tiled roofs and
in the open spaces between them multitude Of
ant-like figures moving about. Just beyond
canoes, row boats. jsgandas and launches dot
the harbor and dart to and fro like living
things. Farther out faint spires Of smoke do
note passing steamers and white sails from
many lands resemble painted ships upon
painted ocean" and stin farther on the ultra
marine blue Of the tropical ne. blends with the
ultramarine blue Of the tropical sky.
IRREGULAR srRAaeLrNa STREETS.
On the land side squares of the oldest look
ing houses you ever saw stretch away into long,
irregular streets and straggle of into the green
country, outlined by rows Of palm and orange
trees- The leading hoser'-s short distance
from the elevator. facing another and nsore ex-
price, as any it has been my ill-fortune to find.
There is better one at the southern extremity
OF the town in the suburban hamlet called Rio
VermilhO Green river. where many OF the city
merchants reside with their families. II II sit
uated close to the surf and is reached by horse
cars-a delightful half hours ride through
orange groves and thickets Of wild bamboo and
banana and bread fruit trees. Part Of the way
hes along the Vermilho river, whose banks are
always lined with squatting women washing
the city's dirty linen.
AT Vermilho the principal amusement and in
dustry Is whale fishing, for, strange to say,
those huge fish frequent these waters, though
they long ago deserted every other place along
the Brazilian coast. 1t il not generally known,
but it is true nevertheless, that once Bahia bay
Was the most renowned whale fishery in the
world and near the close of the seventeenth
century was rented BY the Portuguese king for
$50 900 year. To this day hundreds of Ba-
hans are engaged in the business, rs much for
the flesh of the monsters, which they relish az
an article Of food, a. for the more commercially
valuable oil and bone, Quantities of whale
flesh are cooked in the streets and eagerly COB
bled by the negroes and Portuguese, and II IN
unsophisticated foreigner goes TO market TO buy
pork he Is quite as likely to have whale steak