THE BEAUTY OF BRAZIL 



Orange and violet clouds float in the upper sky ; the blue of the 

 ether is all the more splendid by contrast. The city glows in an 

 unearthly radiance ; of a sudden it seems as though uplifted on to 

 the hills, as though floating in an ethereal vapour. 



But now the light fades, and Bahia looks empty and forsaken; 

 a dead city, while behind it a mountain of reddish clouds towers 

 menacingly upwards. Rosy streaks play across the water, which 

 begins to shimmer and flicker. Overhead the clouds are dissolving, 

 growing lighter and ruddier in hue. Now there is blue sky every- 

 where, besprinkled with a thousand rosy cloudlets. The sea turns 

 from rose to violet, and then to grey. Chain-cables rattle, the ship 

 begins to move, and steams slowly out to sea, while in the city the 

 lamps flash out, and a sparkling cross is kindled above one of the 

 churches. 



The State of Bahia is bordered on the south by the much smaller 

 State of Espirito Santo. Voyaging along the coast, one enters the 

 waters of the new State as through an inlet ; for abreast of the frontier 

 of Bahia and Espirito Santo the Abrolho Islands lift themselves from 

 the sea. "Open your eyes !" is the warning name which the Portu- 

 guese have given these islands, which rise precipitously from the sea. 



In fine weather one first sees the islands floating above the water 

 in a rosy vapour; but as one draws nearer the yellow hills seem to 

 be sailing on an ultramarine sea; the islands begin to spread out 

 and rearrange themselves, and to assume more definite shapes. The 

 dark tufted crests of coconut-palms appear ; the ridges grow green, 

 while the ruddy slopes are shaded by rifts and gulleys. The lonely 

 watcher on the white lighthouse is said to receive food and water 

 only once in every two months. 



The Abrolhos are left astern in the light of the afternoon sun, 

 and the next morning reveals a very different scene (Plate lo). 

 A black jagged mountain-range looms above the sea, traversed by 

 streaks of cloud. Sharply-pointed peaks alternate with rounded 

 summits and crumbling declivities ; there are blocks and turrets of 

 rock that look like churches ; and behind them all rises a lofty range 

 on whose flanks the clouds lie like snow. The nearer the vessel 

 approaches, the more plainly the green of the mountains appears, 

 while the dividing-line of the golden sands emerges from the water. 

 And now the mountain range is cut in two : an inlet appears, of 

 bright grey sparkHng water. The steamer enters. To the left rises 



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