Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-27

| sItSr t-sSas Ceara is one of the
| hHIN most enterprising of
the Brazilian states.
{,F"= You would not think
| y much of a person
| who had never heard of Ohio. This is the
condition of ninety-nne people out of
| every hundred here. They would think you
| equally ignorant that you had not heard
! of Ceara.
| Ceara is as big as Ohio but it has only
one-fourth many people. 1t is situated
| 200 miles south of the equator just below
| the Amazonian forests and at the begin
| ming of the highlands of Brazil. 1t is
| land of plains and mountains Some of its
| peaks are from 1900 to 5000 feet high and
some of its plains are at times as bare as
| the desert of Sahara.
| Where Famine Refgns.
have stopped in Ceara to give you some
| idea of the dry part of Brazil. In the
| Amazon just north of here it rains more
| than in any place else in the world. Here
| it is often so dry that everything burns up
| and the land has a famine. The soil of
| this region is a porous sand which needs
| water to make it produce crops, and its
| prosperity depends entirely upon the rains
| The climate is, of course, tropical There
are two seasons. One is the winter, from
| June until January, and the other the
! summer, from January until June. In the
! winter everything is dry and brown. About
| December the rains begin, and with her
magic brush nature colors the landscape
| with luXuriant vegetation. The hot SUM-
| however, demands that she have plenty of
! water to mix her colors. If there are not
| heavy rains there is a drought. and such
| droughtS have occurred at ten-year inter-
/ walls for long time. In 1877 and 1875
| Ceara was afflicted with terrible drought,
! succeeded by one of the great famneS in
| history. Right here under the shadow of
where psr wit h.
| out cultivation. people suffered because
| they could not get things to grow. The
| famine was so bad that during ii One-half
the whole population died. one hundred
| and fifty thousand people died on their
march from the interior to the sea coast.
| Smallpox and other diseases took away
10000 more. while 100000 died of fever and
heri-5eri. There is now another famine
here, and the people have been going north
and south by thousands. The ship when
shall take from here to the Amazon is
already loaded with them. Thousands have
gone to Rio de JaneirO, and for months the
ships departing each way have been filled.
The government has interested itself in
the matter and it is aiding the people to
places where they can get work. The
famine has not been nearly so bad as that
Of 1878, but it has been bad enough.
4 City of Upper Brazil.
Forteleza is fair type of the cities of
upper Brazil. 1t lies right on the coast
without pier or a landing place to aid you
in getting from the ship to the shore. There
is practically no harbor to speak of. The j
ship casts anchor far out and you approach
the shore in boats. When you get within |
several hundred feet of it you are met by
half-naked men who hold out their arms
to you and carry you in them on to the
land The shore slopes that the boats
cannot come further up and you have to
depend upon men. | have made the trip
several times and have always thanked my
stars that was not dropped into the water. |
as was the case with another passenger,
a Brazilian dandy dressed in white duck. |
His white duck suit got ducking and |
when he reached the shore he made me |
| think Of drowned cat-a white cat.
Forteleza lies on a hill just above this |
beach. We climbed up the hill over cob |
BILE stone road went by a beautiful park |
in which Were palm trees and tropical |
plants and then Went to a low sky blue |
building known as the French Hotel. From |
this point made my tours over the city.
Streets of Mashed RainbOws.
Forteleza is remarkably clean. Its streets |
well paved with clean cobbles and its !
houses look as though they had just re- |
ceved a fresh oat of kasomine The |!
streets cross one another at right angles |
They all have narrow sidewalks walled with |
these clean brght-colored houses As you /
lCok down one side of the street YOU have !
the effect of a solid wall splashed with |
mashed rainbows. Every house is of diff |
ferent color and all colors are used.
The most of the houses are of one story. |
Only the better classes afford two. |
Each house has one or two windows and a |
door facing the street Both windows and |
door are covered with green shutters which |
raise up instead of swinging back. The |
shutters OF the doors divided in halves !
at the height of your waist. The upper half |
of each door is usually raised just enough |
for woman or girl to peep out. In many |
of the windows there are two girls, but at |
every window and every door there is one.
This is the condition the sunny side !
of the street. On the shady side the WIN |
dows are open, the shutters raised up and |
the women hang out and stare. They are |
not, as rule pretty women, and many |
have their hair hanging down their backs. |
The most untidy and not few wear /
mother hubbards." Some have babies in |
their arms ranging in ages from John !.
Rogers youngest, who you know was at |
the breast, to old four years.
All of these babies are naked Their
mothers squat them before them on the |
window sills and display them as though
baby nudity was the most natural thing
in the world. Indeed, there is no immodesty |
in it. Clothes are only matter of custom
and in this hot climate one would be far |
better off without them. Few of the chill 1
dren here up to the age of four wear any
thing, and ! certainly envied them. It is so |
hot at midday that one wants to get out !
of his skin and flesh and sit in his bones
but for the sake Of fashion We wrap our
selves in Sleeps wool and layers of cotton
and steam like tea kettles.
In the Markets.
Among the most interesting places of the