Chap. VII. EDUCATION. 287 



the better sort of people in the towns and villages on 

 the Amazons ; it seems natural to the climate, and is 

 promoted by the occupation being well suited to the hot 

 and lazy hours of mid-day. It is a pity the Portuguese 

 language, on account of the poverty of its modern 

 literature, is so poor a medium for acquiring knowledge, 

 and that books are so scarce in Northern Brazil, other- 

 wise the Amazonian people would not be condemned 

 to the wretchedly narrow range of information which is 

 now generally their lot. A system of popular educa- 

 tion supported entirely by the Government, has been 

 established for some time in Brazil, and a primary 

 school for boys exists in every small town from Para to 

 the frontiers of the Empire. Padre Torquato was the 

 schoolmaster, as well as the priest at Villa Nova. He 

 had about thirty scholars, who were of all shades of 

 colour, from the negro and Indian to the pure white. 

 The schoolmasters, as mentioned in a former chapter, 

 receive the same amount of salary as the priests, namely, 

 600 milreis, or about 70^. a year ; but they are entitled 

 to a bonus if the number of scholars exceeds a certain 

 limit. In some of the larger villages, schools for girls 

 have also been established. It is very desirable that 

 these should be well supported, for the future advance- 

 ment of the Brazilian people towards a better "social 

 condition depends in a great measure on the improve- 

 ment in the education of their women. 



Villa Nova, like most places on the main Amazons, 

 is very healthy ; it is considerably more so than Santarem, 

 where the climate is much drier and hotter, or the 

 regions further west, where the air is sultry and stag- 



