The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1907-07-31
Letter From Rio De jane7io,
South America.

10 the Editor or Inc DlSpaGcn:
We arrived here from Bapia, which
is a dull place with no mail facilities
and is not very progressive place.
We left Hampton Roads, Va, on
the 25th of June for Sanfrancisco,
Cal, and arrived here July 16, with a
crew of 600 men, and as there is moth
ing for the navy to do we are taking
our time Macawber like, waiting for,
something to turn up. We stop at all
places of any note.
Rio De Janerio is city of 10000
inhabitants, laid off with wide streets
that cross at right angles, and are
kept as clean as a new pin and will
compare favorably with most, of our
North American cities. But the peo-
pie here are so badly mixed with the
negro race that it is impossible to dis
tinguish one race from the other.
They inter-marry or co-habit together.
Their habits are entirely different
from ours or any people I ever saw.
The amalgamation appears to i'm
prove the negro, but deteriorates the
Caucasian to a considerable extent
and puts a Jdamper on enterprise and
progress, but I may be mistaken and
it may be the influence of the climate
under the tropical sun in greatpart.
The Caucasian race does not do well
here. 1t is too warm and he is sus-
ceptible to the diseases peculiar to
the torrid zone and the mortality is
great. There is yellow fever here
winter and summer, but by sanitation
it has been reduced to minimum,
and they consider it as practically
stamped out.
I took a trip, accompanied by a
brother machinist, to the top ofCoco-
vadol mountain. This is the highest
mountain near the city. 1t has an
elevation of 5000 feet above sea level.
We were over four hours getting to
the summit. We took the car and
cog lines which climbs grade of 32o
feet to the mile. 1t is a wonderful
sight to see the vegetation, such as
bamboo, bananas, mangoes, coffee
and thousands of tropical plants that
grow so thick that it seems impossi-
BILE for rabbit to 60 through. All
the way up the mountain one can see
and hear small animal, about half as
large as our grey squirrel, that be-
longs to the monkey tribe.
The panoramic view from the top
of the mountain is grand in the ex-
treme, provided it is fair day, other
wise it is cloud-capped. With the
broad expanse of the Atlantic stretch
ing far away. to the east fanked by
the bay and city, ripling in the sun
as far away as the eve can reach. The
beauty of the scene is understandable.
Even elision fields and fairyland and
heaven itself, as described by John in
The Apocalypse, seems to be but faint
hints and glimpses of the glory spread
before you. But, alas, the dream
could be soon dispelled for death turks
in its myriads of forms. The boa con-
strictor, cobra, spiders larger. than
your hand whose bite is fatal, and the
death dealing centrepede with thous-
ands of other insects are it's inhabi-
tants. There is a bridge near the top
of the mountain that:spans gorge,
the bottom of which is 1000 feet be-
low. It is said it was built by slaves
orpeons and it cost 80 many lives it
is called, the "Bridge of Inferno,'
which is Spanish for hell in our, Ian
guage. The soil is extremely fertile
here.
We came down on the opposite side
of the mountain which took US six
hours. We were fifteen miles from
where we started. We found town
out there where we got breakfast that
cost US s1.65 apiece, but we ate that
much anyhow.
We will go from here to Uruguay
for the next stop and then through
the straits of Magellan and may meet
some of the icebergs from the South
ern ocean, as it is winter there now.
Our mail will be very uncertain from
low until we get to the Pacific end of
the Panama canal.
A. s. NUNAMAKER, JR.,
Chief Machinist Mate,
u. S. Cruiser St. Louis.
Rio De Janerio, Brazil, S. A., July
20, 1907.