The Republican journal., 1892-08-04
The Oldest City in Brazil.

HAIR, OR RIDE IN A NEW STEAM Ell
FVAroR? wHALE-FLESH IN LIEU OF
'oRk.
special Correspondence of the journal.
BAHIA, SAN SALVADOR, June 18th,
SCI No city in Brazil is SO interesting
q, the foreigner as Bahia, because, with
: precipitous streets, antique architect
mes sedan chairs and mo ngrel citizens,
p, is by far the most characteristic. 1t
bears about as much similarity to Rio
Is does gay, half creole New Orleans to
p.im and Puritan Boston. Its massive
Stone buildings are of the very quaintest
estripton, and most of the dwelling are
,topped on the verge of breezy cliffs by
lormous buttresses of masonry. The
f1r>es ascend skyward more stories than
LILY others in South America for the same
.ea,on that houses do in New York and
hicago-because they could not find
..um enough in a horizontal position and
gene therefore compelled to take it YER
liy. Bahia is also the spiritual capital
HJazil, being the residence OF Ills
ace, the Archbishop and dominated ny
IS >jNty-scven churches as palpablv as
..- 1mbridge and New Haven 10y Ilal-
4t. and Yale The instant You set foot
iahia, You are plunged at once into
heart of the oldest portion and the
nJer of its business activity. ion the
an- is fronted by a busy market place,
mi Ia lbuD ct that mt
acs The water is the original san Saliva
. founded nearly four centuries ago
"a. Today filled with commercial houses.
5 literally swalming with negroes, and
b people whose complexion are not
uch lighter though their noses may be
lhe less fiat and their hair less tightly
llc'l-for the city's population is ''col-
aci about ten TO one. Among the light
med minority are many English and
.,rIman merchants (the latter nationality
dominating and few Yankees who
I.n engaged in the sugar and tobacco
alr for in those two articles this port
as fully as much commerce with the
uted States as Para with its india rub
ter and Rio with its coffee, though in
.,ts} case the exports are greatly in ex-
r>, If the importationS. Rice. coffee,
.,monds, dye woods and oranges are al
Slapped in considerable quantities.
5lacker blacks than those of this sec
-u ii would be impossible to imagine,
hey come direct from Africa within
uoration OF two. Lying directly oppo-
~-e the dark continent, this portion
Brazil was the great rendezvous in
miller times, for those engaged in the
.Htr trade. BY the way, | came across
ME ancient records the other day, which
>oN that the pious Portuguese Of the 18th
lJ 18th centuries characterized the
t-iic by the bland title of commerce
the spiritual ransom of slaves. and
ied it on under the 9uise Of philan-
pN-ostensihy to rescue the pagan
4,ives as brands from the burning and
IT, them to christian country where
might he baptized, and at the same
- reward those who had been SO kind
rarture them by a life time of unre-
med toll.
ere are enough Chinese here to add
/ Nul ot saffron to tile prevailing ebony.
when the slaves were first c1nancipat-
'leY would not work for love ormonev.
ST. the planters imported a few ship
1 IDS If coolies. But the experiment did
lrove Il brilliant success. and poverty
/ reduced the negroes to reason. one
"e1> numbers of Creole Nina Negresses
ud as peacocks in their gorgeous tur-
1S, white gowns and multiplicity of
a ornaments because rejoicing under
name, pttr eieq0Ace of Balkans. With
feet thrust into high heeled slippers.
~ swing along with ma lestic gaia
4 image that comes only from perfect bod
proportions and cannot be acquired
4 nough any amount of cultivation by the
1 sr-waistcd narrow-hipped, lean limbed
'4men of colder climates.
4 fAe negroes who labor about the
Il AaVes display remarkable muscular de
4 Qlmcnt of arms and shoulders, and
Il Isl have skulls OF astonishing thickness
ne may judge by the burdens they are
annually bearing upon them. There is
school of scientists, you know. who
4 avn that the greater thickness of the
4 r9ro scull, as compared with that of
4 White man, is simply the result of an
4 -2oIt on the part of nature to protect his
4 am from the intense rays of the tropical
1 A- to which, like the Moor he is "a
4 G-hbor of near breed They assert
4 "a thc black man mental inferiority is
lc entirely to the fact that the sutures of
skull close at an earlier aye than those
oiher races, the growth of the brain
4 rH- arrested by the Uranium thus be-
hng solid that up to certain age the
4 -rgrp child is as bright and capable of re-
ewing instruction as any white one and
'@ Ie suddenly grows stupid and midi
4 eenl They also claim that were Africans
"utinue dwelling in temperate climates
many centuries DIS have the SaXonS,
iA skulls would lose this then umneces
Na density and the brain keep on ex-
Mding with the demands made upon it.