THE BEAUTY OF BRAZIL 



a bench in the water. For the fishing-boats of North-eastern Brazil 

 are rafts or jangadas, of a primitive type adopted from the Indians. 

 Seven to nine logs of a particularly light wood, the pau de jangada, 

 are bound together to form the hull; there is a mast and sail, a 

 bench to sit on, a basket for the catch, and a rudder, and that is all. 

 I was often astonished to see how safely the jangada rides a rough 

 sea, but the light wood cannot sink; the waves, of course, break 

 foaming over boat and crew, but the men are used to this, and their 

 scanty clothing soon dries in the sun (Plate 2). 



The hght of the ocean on the north-east coast of Brazil exerts a 

 magical spell. Men who have once felt this magic are always drawn 

 back to these latitudes, and the inhabitants of these north-eastern 

 States of Brazil are well known to be peculiarly faithful to their 

 home. This I can well understand. It is as though the clear radiance 

 of the air and the water were imbibed by the soul of man, filling 

 it with cheerful serenity. I at least found that in this country such 

 dismal moods as might arise (perhaps as a result of news from home, 

 for this was the time of the inflation) could not long endure. Assuredly 

 the flood of light that pours down upon Pernambuco is in some 

 degree responsible for the cheerful temper of its inhabitants, which 

 constantly impresses the foreigner. 



It is not only the sea that shines and glitters; even the leaves 

 of the trees reflect flashes of light from their smooth upper surfaces, 

 and not a month goes by but some species of tree puts on a shining 

 garment of blossoms. These latitudes know nothing of the black- 

 and-white winter of Europe. There is, of course, an alternation of 

 seasons in Brazil, and these, owing to its position in the southern 

 hemisphere, are the contrary of our own; the north side of the houses, 

 too, is the sunny side, as one realizes in Sao Paulo, and even more 

 clearly in the Argentine. In North-eastern Brazil, however, there is 

 no great difference between the months ; and every day, with but 

 little deviation, the sun rises at six and sets at six. 



Likewise, in the course of the year there are no great variations 

 of temperature. When I arrived in Pernambuco, at the beginning 

 of July, it was still winter; and then the mean temperature was 

 77° by day, with a minimum of 62-6° at night. There were often 

 heavy downpours of rain, which lasted perhaps an hour, but which 

 always gave way to blue sky and bright sunshine. From August 

 onwards there was rarely rain ; the weather was always magnificent, 

 and it was the same in September ; while from October to the early 

 part of December it rained once more, but only now and again ; 



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