A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



would be regarded with suspicion; people would think that there 

 must be something amiss ! In this respect I was able to fulfil my 

 hosts' expectations; but not, unfortunately, in another. At my age 

 a Brazilian is not only married, but has ten to sixteen children! 

 Here again old-world conditions prevail. 



High officials are not addressed as "Privy Councillor" or "Excel- 

 lency," but by their Christian name and the title of Doctor. The 

 use of the Christian name is general ; a pleasant custom, for which 

 I have always envied the Russians, though they, of course, add the 

 father's name. In Pernambuco even the directory gave the Christian 

 names in alphabetical order. These are susceptible of greater 

 variation and more individual than the family names, and are so 

 chosen that they are not constantly recurring. I, of course, was 

 Dr. Conrado, and was always so addressed by planters, officials 

 and others, even on first acquaintance. If I went up the great public 

 staircase into the Government palace of Recife, I was free to enter 

 unannounced the room of the Secretary of State, whose doors, 

 like its windows, were always open. Behind his great desk sat the 

 Secretary ; I myself sat down on a sofa, which, as a rule, already 

 had one or more occupants ; coffee was served, and sooner or later 

 one was able to sit behind the desk by the Secretary's side and 

 discuss one's business with him. I often had occasion to admire the 

 uniform courtesy extended to one and all; this is a trait in which 

 the Brazilian is incontestably superior to the European. Even to the 

 beggar, if one cannot or will not give to him, one must apologize 

 with a "Desculpe" (Excuse me!). An acquaintance told me that he 

 was once talking to a beggar in Spain, when the man suggested 

 that they had better not stand in the sun, but go into a cafe. There, 

 however, the foreigner was not permitted to pay for the beggar, 

 or even for himself: to do so would have offended the beggar's sense 

 of honour. 



The Brazilian is more sensitive and emotional than the European, 

 and the ill-success of diplomatists and persons who have a mission 

 to fulfil or wish to form connections in Brazil may often be explained 

 by their ignorance of this peculiarity. I know of many cases in 

 which a too openly displayed frigidity has meant failure to achieve 

 the ends desired. No South American will put up with superciliousness 

 or arrogance, and such qualities are quite out of place there. I have 

 known many men of sterling worth in Brazil, whose hearts were 

 full of kindness, and to whom envy and falsity were unknown; 

 more particularly, indeed, among the simple countryfolk. In South 

 360 



