324 The Andes and the .Amazon. 



dies have led a dreary life of constraint and silence, with- 

 out education or society, the husband making a nun of his 

 wife after the old bigoted Portuguese notion ; but during 

 the last twenty years the doors have been opened. Brazil 

 attained her independence in 1823 ; Brazilian women in 

 1848. 



Here, in this virgin valley, where every plant is an ever- 

 green, possessing the most agreeable and enjoyable climate 

 in the world, with a brilliant atmosphere, rivaled only by 

 that of Quito, and with no changes of seasons — here we 

 may locate the paradise of the lazy. Life may be main- 

 tained with as httle labor as in the Garden of Eden. Per- 

 haps no country in the world is capable of yielding so large 

 a return for agriculture. E'ature, evidently designing this 

 land as the home of a great nation, has heaped up her 

 bounties of every description — fruits of richest flavors, 

 woods of finest grain, dyes of gayest colors, and drugs of 

 rarest virtues ; and left no sirocco or earthquake to disturb 

 its people. Providence, moreover, has given the present 

 emperor a wise and understanding heart ; and the gorern- 

 ment is a happy blending of imperial dignity and republi- 

 can freedom. White, Negro, half-caste, and Indian may 

 be seen sitting side by side on the jury-bench. Certainly 

 " the nation can not be a despicable one wdiose best men 

 are able to work themselves up to positions of trust and 

 influence." 



God bless the Empire of the South ! 



