New
paganism, as full of superstition and of all unrighteousness as the
mythology of the ancients - a new paganism organized at the expense of
evangelical traditions, shamelessly falsified and travestied by the
Romanists. The Romish Church in all ages has been a power, religious
scarcely in name, but always inherently, essentially and untiringly a
political power." As Bishop Neely of the M. E. Church was leaving
Rio, Dr. Alexander, one of Brazil's most influential gentlemen, said
to him: "It is sad to see my people so miserable when they might be
so happy. Their ills, physical and moral, spring from lack of
religion. They call themselves Catholics, but the heathen are
scarcely less Christian!" Is it surprising that the Italian paper
L'Asino (The Ass), which exists only to ridicule Romanism, has
recently been publishing much in praise of what it calls authentic
Christianity?
"Rio Janeiro, the beautiful," is an imperial city of imposing
grandeur. It is the largest Portuguese city of the world - greater
than Lisbon and Oporto together. It has been called "the finest city
on the continents of America, - perhaps in the world, with
unqualifiedly the most beautiful street in all the world, the Avenida
Central." [Footnote: Clark. "Continent of Opportunity."] That
magnificent avenue, over a mile long and one hundred and ten feet
wide, asphalt paved and superbly illuminated, is lined with costly
modern buildings, some of them truly imposing. Ten people can walk
abreast on its beautiful black and white mosaic sidewalks. The
buildings which had to be demolished in order to build this superb
avenue cost the government seven and a half millions of dollars, and
they were bought at their taxed value, which, it was estimated, was
only a third of the actual. [Footnote: "But as a wonderful city, the
crowning glory of Brazil - yes of the world, I believe - is Rio de
Janeiro." - C. W. Furlong, in "The World's Work."]
Some years ago I knew a thousand people a day to die in Rio Janeiro
of yellow fever. It is now one of the healthiest of cities, with a
death-rate far less than that of New York.
Rio Janeiro, as I first knew it, was far behind. Oil lamps shed
fitful gleams here and there on half-naked people. Electric lights
now dispel the darkness of the streets, and electric streetcars
thread in and out of the "Ruas." There is progress everywhere and in
everything.
To-day the native of Rio truthfully boasts that his city has "the
finest street-car system of any city of the world."
A man is not permitted to ride in these cars unless he wears a tie,
which seems to be the badge of respectability. To a visitor these
exactions are amusing. A friend of mine visited the city, and we rode
together on the cars until it was discovered that he wore no tie. The
day was hot, and my friend (a gentleman of private means) had thought
that a white silk shirt with turn-down collar was enough. We felt
somewhat humiliated when he was ignominiously turned off the car,
while the black ex-slaves on board smiled aristocratically. If you
visit Rio Janeiro, by all means wear a tie. If you forget your shirt,
or coat, or boots, it will matter little, but the absence of a tie
will give the negro cause to insult you.
Some large, box-like cars have the words "Descalcos e Bagagem"
(literally, "For the Shoeless and Baggage") printed across them. In
these the poorer classes and the tieless can ride for half-price. And
to make room for the constantly inflowing people from Europe, two
great hills are being removed and "cast into the sea."
Rio Janeiro may be earth's coming city. It somewhat disturbs our
self-complacency to learn that they have spent more for public
improvements than has any city of the United States, with the
exception of New York. Municipal works, involving an expenditure of
$40,000,000, have contributed to this.
Rio Janeiro, however, is not the only large and growing city Brazil
can boast of. Sao Paulo, with its population of 300,000 and its two-
million-dollar opera house, which fills the space of three New York
blocks, is worthy of mention. Bahia, founded in 1549, has 270,000
inhabitants, and is the centre of the diamond market of Brazil. Para,
with its population of 200,000, who export one hundred million
dollars' worth of rubber yearly and keep up a theatre better than
anything of the kind in New York, is no mean city. Pernambuco, also,
has 200,000 inhabitants, large buildings, and as much as eight
million dollars have recently been devoted to harbor improvements
there.
Outside of these cities there are estates, quite a few of which are
worth more than a million dollars; one coffee plantation has five
million trees and employs five thousand people.
With its Amazon River, six hundred miles longer than the journey from
New York to Liverpool, England, with its eight branches, each of
which is navigable for more than a thousand miles, Brazil's future
must be very great.
CHAPTER XII.
A JOURNEY FROM RIO JANEIRO TO THE INLAND TOWN OF CORUMBA.
Brazil has over 10,000 miles of railway, but as it is a country
larger than the whole of Europe, the reader can easily understand
that many parts must be still remote from the iron road and almost
inaccessible. The town of Cuyaba, as the crow flies, is not one
thousand miles from Rio, but, in the absence of any kind of roads,
the traveller from Rio must sail down the one thousand miles of sea-
coast, and, entering the River Plate, proceed up the Parana,
Paraguay, and San Lorenzo rivers to reach it, making it a journey of
3,600 miles.
