Year: 1874

i


Habits and Customs OF the Brazil


ians-


We are permitted by Hon. G. II. Till
man, ofShelbyyille, to publish the follow


ing letter, just received from his brother
who accompanied the Transit of Venus Ex
pedition:


The SHIP SwATARA, July 1, 1ST4-Th,
uncertainty Of our opportunities to mai
letters renders it necessary 10 have then
on hand all the time. On the 9th o
! June We signalled an English vessel anC
asked her to take a mail. We understood
her TO reply in the affirmative, and al
hands commenced to close up their letters
but the vessel finally informed us that she
did not understand our signal, and sailed
away. On the 2Sth of June we sent let
ters by ship bound for Cadiz, so it wiz bC
long time before they arrive, if at all
We are still moving nicely on our way; to
day we are degrees North, in the region
of calms.


We have sailed since leaving New YOTB
until yesterday, when We raised steam, and
are going to steam across the region OF
calms. Ii rains every day and night now
but We expect to strike the trade winds
south of the equator bv. Snndar ,I,l,s
PoIariS is almost down to the waters edge.
OF course we have seen no land since we
left New York. We have seen a great
many ships in the last few days. The
sight brings fOreibly to the mind the vast
amount of traffic that goes on throughout
the world. But you merely catch glimpse
usually Of the sails above the horizon,
specks upon the vast waste spread out be
fore you.


canLOt see how men can become infat-
uated with the sea; for it presents the most
unbrOken mOnOtony. So far as the impress
sion on the eye is concerned, the view is
absolutely the same, save when there is a
passing cloud or sail. All admit that life
on the sea is so inactive, and tha motion 50
incesSant that a person is unfit for much
mental labor. He feels like reading a novel
perhaps, but not much else.


Two of our company going out on the
transit expedition have been sick all the
way; too unwell 10 do anything bus net
sick enough to be waited on. Both of
these men are foreigners. All of us were 4
little sick, but it takes the American to
dominate over circumstances. An Ameri-
can may get sick, but he don't get impressed
with the fact at all. notice the same SUI
periOr qualities here that our eOuntrymen
displayed last summer ia New Mexico when
will had to be exercised.


July 7.-Still slowly but steadily we
are vending our way down. Now we are
seven degrees south of the equator, and in
about eighty miles of the Brazilian coast.
Ii is our intention now to run into Bahia,
city of Brazil on the coast, in l3 deg.
latitude. We will 90 close by there, and
if there are no contagious diseases, will
run in for coal, fresh provisions, etc.


We have made quick trip for a sailing
vessel, and have had no rough weather.
II is Just a month since leaving New York.
and We have seen no land until yesterday,
when we passed in sight of an island used
by the Brazilian government as a penal
colony. Il rises solitary and desOlate right
up from the sea What an end it gave to
the life of the great Napoleon 10 be confined
in his last days in a prison which men
could not initiate. The land had no bas-
tile strong enough for him.


am getting along very well now, doing
some work and reading novels and books Of
travel. cannot endure the close air of
the ship state-rOOmS, so l take the great
coat, which served me so well last year, and
sleep upon the deck in the open air. The
rain troubled me while passing the equator,
but / have no trouble now.


BAHIA or ST. SALVADOR. BRAZIL, July
Is. IST4.-Have been three DAYS in this
port; leave here tomorrow. L have Just
been closing letters written on the voyage,
and now commence a separate one TO tell
of what have seen here. There is but
one mail a month fcOm this place, 50 all
my letters viii reach you At once


On the morning Of the 10th We came
in sight Of the Brazilian coast. At
first only a gray, dim outline rose feebly
above the horizon. Slowly and gradually
it grew into green slopes and ridges of de
lightfully gTeenhue. The white sand, drilled
far up from the waters edge, presented the
appearance of driven snow. Soon the
different shades Of green began to be dis
tinguished and the topography to stand
more boldly out. When the distance was
sufficiently diminished To distinguish veg
etable outlines the historic palm tree, seen
in all our old school Biographies, was the
first TO appear against the sky, looking at a
distance for all the world like an inverted
shaving brush. Then the lighthouse at
the harbOr'S entrance came into view.
Thus, after having been out Of sight of the
main land for Just one month, We came as
squarely into the harbOr of Bahia as though
the dome of the cathedral had been in sight
all the time. The wilderness Of the sea
would cOnfOund the widest hunter from
the days of NimrOd down to Daniel Boon;
but the compass tells the North far more
unerringly than the moss upon the trees in
a land wilderness.


1t was surely gratifying to the landsmen
of the party to come once more in such
close proximity to another earth" One
old gentleman. who had been sick ever
since he had got into the ferrybOat at
BROOKLYN. commenced TO friSk around
and declared that he felt the eff
fects of the land (thOugh the wind was
blowing from the opposite direCtiOn); and
two emaciated kittens were also supposed
to sniff the land. They were certainly the
more lively, but L think il was a necessity
forced upon them in order to avoid being
trOd upon by the animated landsmen-


About three O'Clock we cast anchor, and
soon after the health officer came aboard,
and our perpetual patient (the old gentle
man spoken Of abOve) answered him that
there were no 'sick aboard" In a short
time our vessel was visited by officers from
a German man-Of-war, and also from
Brazilian one.


The town of Bahia or st. Salvador, from
the anchorage, was decidedly pretty. The
houses appeared high, full Of windows, and
of many colOrs. The business portion Of
the city is situated near the waters edge,
and also many of the residences and dwell
ings. This portion is separated from the
remainder of the city by a bluff nearly
three hundred feet high. Upon this bluff
is located the larger part Of the city.


went ashore from the ship by the first
boat. 1t was then late in the afternoon,
and / did not return TO the ship that night.
Bahia contains about 10000 inhabitants.
The first thing that struck me on
the place was the alb
sence of ehimneys; but when We
remember that this time corresponds TO the
middle of January with US, and the ther-
averages about 50 deg, the lack
of chimneys is easily accounted for. All
the houses are, without exception, covered
with tiles. A tile is a piece of common
For roofing they are made
about three feet long and in shape Of a
half cylinder hollow, split lOngitudinally
A series Of these are first laid in juXta-
position with the cOncavity up, and then a
second layer is placed upon these with the
up. The roofs rs a general rule
have but little pitch.


The houses are high and the streets very
narrow. An American young lady would |
hardly be able to maintain Der equilibrium