Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-09-23

- ~NNCAdh VI q NAoAb paw
BY her to an extensive sugar es-
tate in Brazil. She says:
We founa a typical Brazilian manor
house and chapel, as essentially Portu-
guese in construction and arrangement
as if they stood in some interior valley
of Portugal, with traces of the Moors
thrown ina very large, square mansion,
two stories high, with walls of plastered
brick and overhanging roof ofIndia rcd
tiles, thickly coated with mold and
parasitic plants. 1t is surrounded on all
sides by clumsy sort of veranda, or.
more properly speaking, by series OF
deep arched inches built into the walls,
foored with brick aud topped by a
lean-to roof of tiles The tiny, unglazed
windows are set close up under the
eave. as if the architect were as averse
TO fresh air as Noah rnrst nave been
when he built the ark, and only the
upper rooms are inhabited--that is, by
humans. The ground floor IS partly
used for stabling and storage, but
most Of it - windowlcss. doorless
and dcserted-is given over to stray
pigs, sheep and fowls. toads, centipedes,
snakes and other wandering abomiua-
tons. The great, bare unventilated
rooms OF the upper story seem TO be
more thar Sufficient for tic needs Of the
family; yet the "guest chamber, " 10
which was conducted with a fgurativo
flourish of tlumpets, bad all its corners
occupied by sundry piles of pack
saddles, panniers of dried beef, odor-
ifcrous casks OF cod Ash, kits of mack
crel and goodness knows what, and was
as innocent of any sort Of window
or other aperture leading to outside air
as of the ordinary toilet srticles that
most people consider indispensable.
Windowless sleeping apartments arc
common throughout Brazil, even in
some Of the srandcst but older palaces
Of Rio--owiDg, probably TO the Por-
iurese ide1 that night air is unwhole-
some. As in most country houses, the
partitions arc carrie only about half
way 20 the roo. so that the rooms with
out windows recelve mo1icum of light
and air from the general supply Of the
house, so to speak, aud whatever may
be going on in one apartment is dis
timely audible 10 all the others.
VIC arrived 80 late in the evening that
there was time for nothing but enthusias-
tic greetings before being shown to bed,
or rather to hammock, for in this hot
country bug-harboring couches and mat
.resses ale not much in favor. Toomuch
cannot be said in favor Of the hammock
in suon a climate rs this, being not only
cooler and satcl. but a much more tidy
article Of furniture than a bel. for these
can be washed as easily as a sheet. The
commoner varieties Of snow white cotton,
woven at home and quite durable, cost
s. or SC; Others are striped or plaided
with blue or red, with deep borders of
crochet work, and sell from so to $40;
and there are others, large, square, home
woven of strong linen, with ahalf-yard-
wide border Of handmade lace, which
are cheap at $50. They last a lifetime
and no bed covering is necessary, for
one may wrap himself IN the surplus
width and utilize the lace for a mos
quito netting. Speaking of the words
boa noite good night, should add that
they do not always signify the time for
retiring. 1t is the quaint custom In
most well-disciplined Brazilian families
for all its members to bid each other
good night as soon as the lamps are lit,
as O reminder that evening has come.
They may be sitting at dinner or enter
tanning visitors, but everybody pauses
in the midst of conversation to exchange
this salutatiou, aad the children rise and
kiss the hands of their parents, saying
bencao mcu pai-"your blessing,
father"--as in patriarchal days.
At sunrise the family was aStir and its
female members focked into our room en-
massc, ostensibly to bring the before
rising cup of coffee and bid good morn
ing. and also, it seems, TO curioIsly in
spect our belongings, even trying on our
shoes and experimenting with the toilet
articles. Country coffee, by the way. is
excellent though made in peculiar man
ner. Some unbrOwncd berries and sugar
are stirred together and then roasted in
a covered pan, so that when the sugar
melts and cools it is candied over the
coffee grains. A spoonful of this is
pounded in mortar, put into bag of
coarse linen aud boiling water is poured
over it, cups being held beneath it to
catch the drippirgs-and the beverage
is ready. Coffee pots are not used, but
each cup is thus made separately.
Boiled milk is generally added in the
morning, but never at any other time.
The usual breakfast hour in the rural
districts is ten o'clock, ard the menu does
not vary much year in and year out.
There is always angu--a sort of thin
porridge-black beans stewed in lard,
dried meat cooked with garlic and
farinha or mandioca meal eaten raw or
stirred into tho aOgu, and perhaps by
,vav II extra ,tisDes for "comDany"