1 62 Voi/age of the Novara. 



likewise the five miles of railway between Maua and Fragosa ; 

 and yet how highly important would railway communication 

 prove from the metropolis to the northern provinces,' by means 

 of which the excessive cost of carriage by mules might be so 

 considerably reduced, benefiting alike the landowner and the 

 merchant! As an illustration, the fact may be mentioned, 

 that the cost of transit for an arroba (32 lbs.) of coffee from 

 the coffee district of Vassouras to Rio, a distance of about 

 50 miles, amounts to from 700 to 800 reis (about I*. 8t/.). 

 The trouble and expense connected with this miserable mode 

 of conveyance, so much enhance the price of some kinds of 

 natural produce, that it does not pay to transport them to 

 the harbour of the capital. Several companies have latterly 

 been projected, and money subscribed for constructing railways 

 in the various provinces of the empire, and a few of these are 

 already under weigh, as, for example, that of Dom Pedro 

 Segundo, which will put the richest provinces in direct com- 

 munication with Rio, and for which the amount of money 

 required has been entirely subscribed. But in this, as in all 

 other Brazilian enterprises, energy is wanting to make these 

 good intentions bear fruit ; and so long as there is not a greater 

 adm.ixture of foreign go-a-head-ativeness in the country, much 

 must remain confined to the mere expression of patriotic wishes. 

 And in this connection, foreign immigration, of which we shall 

 treat further on, will prove of immense importance. 



The journey by carriage through the Sierra from Fragosa to 

 Petropolis is extremely beautiful. He who is not fortunate 



