CEUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE! — ^PIEESON 



95 



At the time this study began, and for some time 

 thereafter, researchers traveled to the village on 

 horseback or in a chaiTete from the nearest station 

 on the railway to the south. To travel the 9 miles 

 of muddy road in rain}' weather over steep hills 

 took from 2 to 21^ hours. One could also continue 

 on to the next stop on the rail line and from there, 

 if fortunate, find a truck going over to the village 

 or arrange a car at a high rental for the trijD. At 

 that time, there was no way to get to the village 

 from the north unless one went by bus to Piracema 

 and, by chance, found a truck going over from 

 there. Remarked a farm boy : 



If you are like many people In the community and 

 don't have a horse or a charrete when you have to travel, 

 it's very difficult. You may be able to find someone who 

 is going in a truck to Sao Jos6 dos Patos or Boa Vista ; 

 but when you want to come back, it may be raining and 

 there is no truck to bring you. Either you have to walk 

 in the mud or spend the night somewhere along the way. 

 If you have a horse and you want to take a train, you 

 have to put him in a pasture when you get to the railway. 

 And then when you come back you have to go fetch him 

 from tiie pasture and saddle him. It's a lot of trouble. 

 What we've needed for a long time here is a bus line. 

 No one in Boa Vista or Piracema takes any interest in 

 putting in one because those towns already have their 

 own. If we could go by bus, we wouldn't have all that 

 bother we have now ; all we'd have to do would be to 

 arrange the money to pay for the ride. Some people don't 

 think it would be so good, but mo;;t do ; as for me, I think 

 it would be a fine thing for this place. 



Other local inhabitants for many years have 

 felt the need to increase transportation facilities. 

 Finally, at the initiative of a village leader who 

 himself put up 20,000 cruzeiros and who con- 

 vinced nine other persons to do likewise, some 

 much-needed work was done on the road that runs 

 through the village from Boa Vista on the south to 

 Piracema on the northeast and, during the period 

 while this study was in progress, a bus line was 

 organized and two chassis purchased. The village 

 leader is a former farmer, part-time carpenter, 

 and present sub-delecfado. The organization was 

 called Empresa Nossa Senhora da Penha (Our 

 Lady of Penha Enterprise), in honor of the prin- 

 cipal santo in the village church. Unable to ar- 

 range in Sao Paulo, in the immediate future, the 

 building of bodies for the chassis, clue to heavy 

 backlogs which had piled up during the war, the 

 new company had them built in a town 120 miles to 

 the north. The inauguration of the bus line was 



of such importance that it was given ceremonial 

 sanction. (See Isolation and Contact, p. 101.) 



Passengers are carried and also farm produce, 

 especially milk. Each morning farmers who sell 

 milk leave their cans at the roadside to be loaded 

 into the bus and delivered in Boa Vista. In the 

 month of June 1948, according to one of the owners 

 of the bus line, 7,444 liters of milk, from three 

 farms, were delivered in Boa Vista. The charge 

 is 20 centavos (about 1 cent) per liter, the bus 

 line accepting no responsibility for loss on those 

 days when heavy rain makes its operation impossi- 

 ble. "Around 350" liters of milk are carried daily 

 to Piracema. An occasional basket of eggs or vege- 

 tables or a coop of chickens also are picked up. 



The second bus is held in reserve for use in emer- 

 gencies, should the first bus break down or travel 

 become unusually heavy. It is also available for 

 special occasions like that recently when pilgrims 

 were carried to the shrine of Nossa Senhora da 

 Aparecida in the northeastern corner of the State. 



VPEALTH AND PROPERTY 



Wealth is almost entirely in such tangibles as 

 land, houses, and other buildings, livestock, and 

 personal belongings. The existence of stocks, 

 bonds, insurance, and other intangible forms of 

 wealth is unknown to a considerable portion of 

 the inhabitants and so far as could be discovered 

 no one in the community possesses these forms. 

 A few farmers have money, usually in limited 

 amounts, on deposit in the Boa Vista branch of 

 the Caixa Economica, an agency organized several 

 years ago by the Federal Government, which pays 

 5 percent interest on deposits after 6 months, com- 

 pounded semiannually. An occasional local in- 

 habitant, including one of the village storekeepers, 

 has purchased one or more titulos de capitali- 

 zagdo. These are certificates issued by commer- 

 cial firms in various amounts which pay various 

 rates of interest and have the additional lure of 

 being subject to a lottery drawing at stated pe- 

 riods, usually once a month, with sizable 

 premiums. 



Since neither silver nor gold coins have been 

 in circulation in Brazil for many years, hoarding, 

 if done, would have to be either in paper money, 

 the depreciation of which is at present increasing, 

 or in coins made of cheap alloys, which are almost 

 equally valueless, so far as intrinsic worth is 



843805—51- 



