The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-06-26
HOME OF THE COFFEE TRADE
Trip to San Paulo, the Most Important
Province of the Brazilian Empire.
Railroading TO the Heart of the Coffee Dis
trict-The Famous Law School, Es,ab-
lished MOretban Three Centuries Ago.

cpeclai correspondence OF the SUNDAY journal.
SAN PAULo. Brazil, May 2.-To visit Bra
zil without coming to this, the southern
most prOvince-the great headquarters of
the coffee ~trade-would be like the attempt
OF q travelling foreigner to do" the United
States without seeing New York and
Washington. Like the play of Hamlet"
with Hamlet left out. There are two
routes between Rio de Janeiro and San
Paulo, one by steamer due south to Santos
(the southern terminus of the United
Sta tes aud Brazilian mail steamship line
from New York aud thence over the mount
aims forty miles by rail, or all the way
ov erland, 80 miles. by the Dom Pedro III,
Rio de Janerio and San Paulo railways.
For the tourist who desires to see all he can
OF the country In the shortest
possible time, the best way is
to 60 by one of the above
named routes and return by the other. But
if time Is no object, the lover of nature and
the naturalist will find far more enjoyment
despite some hardships and discomforts,
in making most of the journey over unfre-
quented highways and by ways. ION the
deck of q mule" Having tried the three
ways of transit we heartily commend the
latter to those with average powers
OF endurance, who can sleep securely, if
need be, with the saddle for o pillow and
the starry ok for q counterpane. and who
have acquired that cheerful indifference to
pulgas, poor food, and other minor ills.
without which one has no business TO he
prowling about semi-civilized countries.
The sea trip from Rio to Santos occupies
twenty hours, costs $40. aud most of il ia
made within sight of the shore. To 90 all
tine way by rail between the Brazilian cap
ital and San Paulo, takes about fourteen
fatiguing hours, aud costs $50 40.
AN UNwHoLEsoME TOWN.
Though of no little consequence, COM
mercially speaking, being the only seaport
of the rich San Paulo province and the
SECOND. in the republic in the value and
Importance of its exports, Santos is so ex-
oessively hot. dirty, damp and unwhole-
some that the Quicker one can get out of it
the better. In other parts Of the world
profane seamen are wont TO characterize
the weather as hot as sheol. bnt in these
that connection. The town has a popula-
ton of about twenty thousand, most of
whom, however, reside about four miles
further south. in a healthier suburb called
the the BaI,a the bar. reached from Pm
close at the foot of some emerald hills that
environ the crescent.shaped Bay of
Saints" and between them q short, deep
river PUSHES to the sea, permitting ocean
steamers to approach the wharves. At
Barra the bathing facilities are excep-
tIOnally fine, and it has become tho Cape
May, Atlantic City or Manhattan Beach of
Brazil, thrOnged at all timss with health
seekers. Many beautiful cottages and villas
have been built there, mostly by resident
foreigners; there is q dilapidated but plot
uresQue fort in the vicinity, incompatible
drives along the beach and in the high
lands. and tino views of the broad Atlantic
stretching TO the horizon on the one hand
and a sea of verdure on the other.
The railway ride from Santos up the hills
to the city of San Paulo. takes two hours
and costs IS, The road is forty miles long
and was built by English engineers, with
English capital, and merely as q specimen
of fine engineering is worth coming far to
see. 1t climbs the SIERRA by four inclined
planes" which in less than five miles
overcome an elevation of 2,552 feet. The
wire cables are an inch and a half in
diameter. and powerful Engines are located
at the top of each incline, the steepest of
which Is ten. per cent, the train com
ing up balancing. that going down:
The road is called the San Paulo."
Its original cost was very great, running.
as il does, upon the steep banks of valleys
and up the Sierra do Mar coast ranReL
where an extraordinary amount of stone.
WIN" was ACQulICus IL " VIZ u
topography of the section, enormous floods
of rain often fall during q single storm. In
order to draw Oft these dangerous inunda-
tiOns. frequent sluices arc built beneath
the road-bed. and massive conduits follow
along the surface. Notwithstanding every
precautIOn. destructive landslides some
times occur, and the track IL constantly pa
trolled by q force of watchers with shovels.
From the summit of the Sierra do Mai the
scenery is superb-Of coffee grove emer-
AID yalleyR naima and ninPa dim mountain
peaks and the restless ocean; but some of
1t along the 'inclines"-as o rush down
awful grades with the speed of the wind,
apparently upheld from b0ttOmlessa bysses
only by q single frail cable-is too hair
lifting to be thoroughly enjoyed.
THE RIP BY RAIL.
Coming overland from Rio to San Paulo,
you leave the former city about 5 A.. M.
from the d. Pedro II station, on the Praca
da A~celamacao, by the train marked
Ramal dc San PaulO. 1t passes over tho
main line only to Barra do Pirshy, thence
over the San Paulo branch of the ID. Pedro
it arrives about midday, and here you
change TO the meter-gauge San Paulo s.
Rio Janeiro line. The distance is 80 miles,
and several interesting towns are passed,
among whose notwithstanding names
Pindamonhangaba is easy. For q great
part of the way the road follows the Para
hyde rivera muddy little stream full
of rapids and noisy ca~scades-some-
times on one bank, sometimes on the
other. This Dom Pedro railway is said to
be one of the best specimens OF engineer
ing skill In the world. After passing Belem
1t ascends the mountains in heavy grades
and sweeping curves, and runs through a
score of tunnels-one OF which IS q mile
and q half long. and upon 1t alone was ex-
pended seven years of labor and 1000, COO
milreis. The cars are q sort of com promise
with the American idea, though they. as
we'll as the locomotives, were made in
England. For mounting the Sierra two To-
comOtives are used, one at each end of the
train. The scenery is indescribably bean
tlfnl. especially in the neighborhood of
Palmeiras, a little station overlooking
the Marcos valley, which has q high repu.
tation as q health resort. After leaving
Rezende we pass along the rim of an enOr-
nous valley, full forty miles wide. bor-
dered by the coast range on one hand and
the Sierra da Mantiqueira on the ether. In
the latter range the splendid peak
'Itatiaia." the highest in Brazil. about
nine thousand feet, is in full view; and
Immediately west of the mOuntaine are
the most famous coffee regions In the
world. The city OF San Panic. with it's
fifty thousand inhabitants, lies between
two small rivers, on an elevated PLAIN
by low green hills. half a days journey
from the heart of the coffee district. Its
streets are narrow and rambling. laid out
regardless of system or general regularity,
and have pavements of red sandstone.
Near it's center is a pretty public garden,
with a tall observation tower-somethine
like the Washington monument on n small
scale. Tramways run To the suburbs
where are many charming country
honaa a Iar.ya proporftnn nf than m