Santos 83 



quickly said in excellent English, ' ' You are an American, 

 not so?' I answered in the affirmative, and he went 

 on to tell me that he was a graduate of Cornell Univers- 

 ity, had married in the United States, and we presently 

 discovered that we had a score of mutual acquaintances, 

 among them one of my own classmates, who for years 

 has been the honored professor of the German language 

 and literature in Cornell. 



The State of Sao Paulo produces from its fertile 

 acres more than one-half of the coffee which is annually 

 consumed in the world. While our steamer lay at the 

 wharf we took on board five thousand bags intended for 

 the coffee-market of Buenos Aires. There were twenty 

 or more large steamers engaged in loading coffee. The 

 sacks of coffee, which each weigh one hundred and twenty 

 pounds, were carried on board on the backs of men. 

 The bearers as they came to the hatch let the sacks fall 

 upon a chute, and they disappeared into the hold, where 

 a crowd of men were engaged in piling them. As soon 

 as each bearer had dropped his burden he returned at a 

 trot for another. The procession formed an endless 

 chain of carriers, one half loaded with sacks, the others 

 hurrying back for a new load. Their movements 

 were quick and agile. There was little suggestion of 

 " the land of manana. ' The gang seemed to represent 

 many nationalities. It was composed mainly of negroes, 

 but I recognized Italians, Portuguese, East Indian 

 coolies, and a couple of Japanese. They were all 

 bareheaded, many of them barefooted, and all quite 

 lightly clad. The perspiration fairly dripped from them 

 as they dashed up and down the gang-planks. They 

 earn from four to five dollars a day when engaged in 

 loading, but employment is not constant. An attempt 

 is being made to dispense with the service of men in 



