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 is 

 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 



