The Carnival.

This is well kept up, and lasts for three days, beginning on Quinquagesima Sunday. There are masked balls at all the theatres; every one appears to have taken leave of their senses, and I fear the proceedings are bacchanalian and heathenish. There are processions organized by three carnival clubs-the Fenians, the Democrats, and the Lieutenants of the Devil (Tenentes do diabo). Every kind of horse-play is exercised. Numerous mulattos, called Capoeiros, dance about and run "amok" with open razors strapped to their hands, with which they rip people up in a playful manner. The police are always on the look-out for these gentlemen, and rush out on them with drawn swords! The carnival taking place in the summer, there is often much rain. I saw one of the comic papers this year, which was sent up to Brumado-the Revista Illustrada, a paper which, alas! often turns religion into ridicule. In it were a series of well-drawn sketches of the procession. Amongst them was one depicting it struggling through a surging sea; beneath was the remark that this display resembled the passage of Pharaoh's host into the Red Sea. The final sketch was a boy kneeling, with a serio-comic expression, grasping a huge codfish, and underneath was written "Lent has begun. We must now welcome the catholic and apostolic baccalháo (salt cod)!" In Brumado, where I was at that time, there was no carnival, and the priest would inevitably have stopped any proceedings which the least bordered on profanity.

Lotteries.

I must not conclude these notes without a word about the public lotteries, which form a very important part of the amusement of the people. They are tolerably frequent.

The

In June, 1884, for instance, there were "drawings" on the following days: 4, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 25, 28, 30; i.e. about three a week. The highest prize is from 20 to 25 contos (ie., at 24d. to the milreis, £2000 to £2500). There are also varying numbers of prizes of ten, five, four, two, and one conto, of 800, 500, 200, 100, 40 milreis, and from 1800 to 1900 of 20 milreis. The object is the benefit of the province or the town, some hospital or conventual institution, or the fund for emancipation of slaves. I believe a third of the proceeds goes to the cause. price of a ticket is 20 milreis; but portions are sold, down to one-twentieth, which costs a milreis. The drawing appears to be done with fairness. I heard of many successful individuals, among them an office-boy, who, buying a milreis ticket, drew a prize of £50; and an English captain, who had only that day arrived in Rio, drew a prize of £200! The tickets are obtainable at all the kiosks, where coffee and newspapers are sold, also in many shops, while many bureaux exist solely by their sale; and one cannot walk a hundred yards without seeing little placards floating in the breeze, "Hoje anda a roda "-" To-day the wheel goes," or to-morrow, or whatever day it may be. There are also notices stating, "In this office No.- was sold, which drew such a prize." The little newspaper-boys, who cry the evening paper Gazeta da Tarde, never weary of calling out "Results of the Lottery." As this happens about three times a week, one soon gets tired of it.

The system may be objected to on account of the gambling it induces; but the Government upholds it, as it brings much money into their impoverished treasury.

( 241 )

CHAPTER XI.

Manchester

Society

HOMEWARD BOUND.

July 28, 1884.-The Valparaiso steamed off at 5.50 p.m., and our friends accompanied us in the steam launch until it was too dark to see; then, with a parting, "Deus guarde as Vses Srias," we bade adieu to Rio.

July 30.-I saw a splendid and cloudless sunrise. First appeared a dull red spot on the eastern horizon, which, as swiftly as the wire in the incandescent electric light, became a dazzling white point; and then the sun rose so quickly that in about two minutes from his first appearance the whole fiery globe was above the horizon. At 8 a.m. we sighted on our port bow the French steamer La France, which sailed from Rio three or four hours before us; we passed her about noon, and lost sight of her astern by 4 p.m. This was the chief amusement to-day, though we caught sight of two whales, and by sunset saw several small chains of hills and mountain peaks.

July 31.-Went on deck at six; very dull morning. A low line of coast close on the starboard side showed we were approaching Bahia, and by 8.15 we had anchored in the bay. The entrance to this bay is very much wider than that of Rio de Janeiro, and the coast is surrounded by low hills, many of them forest clad. We were, unfortunately,

R

unable to get a good view of the whole of the bay, which is very extensive; but the various parts of the coast were only visible piecemeal-whenever there was a lull in the heavy showers which, sweeping across the country, came down incessantly till noon.

The city itself is beautifully situated, and consists of an upper and lower town, the means of communication being principally by a lift, or by a well-constructed inclined road, supported throughout most of its length on arches, with a vertical rock face above and below. The principal part of the lower town is commercial, and very dirty and malodorous. High buildings-stores, warehouses, and shops and narrow streets are the rule, though there are a few respectable thoroughfares.

Walking up the incline we reached the upper town, and there met a tram-car nearly filled with our fellow-passengers from the Valparaiso, so joined them, and went out to Vittoria along really good well-paved and wide roads, bordered by neat and sometimes even grand houses in gardens, after the manner of Botafogo; but, alas! we were unable to see any of the lovely scenery from the heights of Vittoria, owing to the torrents of rain. Returning from this suburb to the upper town proper, we came to one or two places where the gradient was so rapid that the mules were taken from the car, and we descended by gravitation, the conductor controlling the speed with his brake; other mules were ready at the foot of the incline to carry us further. I was struck by the very dilapidated appearance of the churches, and at length came to a square called the Praca do Condé d'Eu, than which it is impossible to imagine a more broken-down old place. In it are three old churches, and the rest of the buildings consist of tumble-down houses, generally two-storied, with grass and sundry weeds growing

promiscuously on roofs and eaves, and sprouting out of a hundred corners and crevices. There is a row of large trees on the four inner sides of the gravelled quadrangle, but the place has "Ichabod" plainly written on it. During the afternoon the rain ceased, and then it was hot. We descended into the lower town by one of the numerous very steep and narrow streets, and eventually found our way to the markets.

The sable market-women of Bahia have the reputation of being some of the finest of their stock; but though I saw several fine women, and some of a respectable bulk, I did not see any special points of superiority over the dusky beauties of Rio, either in the markets proper or the promiscuous one formed by the continuous row of women with their baskets all along the quay. I was certainly struck at Bahia with the very great preponderance of blacks over whites, but was told that it is called a cidade dos pretos (the city of the blacks), and that out of a population of some 230,000 there are only about 50,000 whites. I noticed a peculiar form of Sedan chair made thus: An ordinary wooden-framed cane-bottomed chair with a footboard is enclosed in a stout frame with a roof; from the roof proceed two long bent poles, which are borne palanquin fashion by negroes; a curtain at each side completes the furniture of this superior hackney carriage. When I saw the elegant machine, it was at rest under a tree, while four attendant blackies were coiled up asleep beside it.

There was a splendid variety of birds and monkeys on sale in the markets; but a good-sized cage with about twenty live toucans (Ramphastos Ariel) was, perhaps, the most remarkable object there, and well worth seeing. I invested in two marmosets, which I hope to bring home. alive. They are common in the woods round the Corco