478 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
June 7th. - Yesterday we visited the Mint, the Academy 
of Fine Arts, and a primary school for girls. Of the Mint it 
is scarcely fair to judge in its present condition; a new 
building is nearly completed, and all improvements in 
machinery are wisely deferred until the establishment is 
removed. When this change takes place, much that i 
antiquated will be improved, and its many deficiencies 
supplied. 
There is little knowledge of, or interest in, art in Brazil. 
Pictures are as rare as books in a Brazilian house ; and 
though Rio de Janeiro has an Academy of Fine Arts, in- 
cluding a school of design and sculpture, it is still in too ele- 
mentary a condition to warrant criticism. The only inter- 
esting picture in the collection derives its attraction wholly 
from the circumstances connected with it, not at all from 
any merit in the execution. It is a likeness of a negro who, 
in a shipwreck off the coast, saved a number of lives at the 
risk of his own. When he had brought several passengers 
to the shore, he was told that two children remained in the 
ship. He swam back once more and brought them safely 
to the beach, but sank down himself exhausted, and was 
seized with hemorrhage. A considerable sum was raised 
for him in the city of Rio, and his picture was placed in 
the Academy to commemorate his heroism. 
Of the public school for girls not much can be said. 
The education of women is little regarded in Brazil, and the 
standard of instruction for girls in the public schools is low. 
Even in the private schools, where the children of the better 
class are sent, it is the complaint of all teachers that they 
are taken away from school just at the time when their 
minds begin to develop. The majority of girls in Brazil 
who go to school at all are sent at about seven or eight 
