372 The Andes and the Amazons. 



derfnl ease ordinarily. One of Northern caste and repub- 

 lican principles is not a little taken back by the sight, on 

 imperial soil, of the courtesy with which Brazilian gen- 

 tlemen of distinction treat senhoras whose blood is fully 

 one half Indian or African. Balls are the chief amuse- 

 ments; and Paris fashions, imported through Eio, lead. 

 The ball opens at nine p.m., when tea is immediately 

 served ; thence till midnight there is dancing, sandwiched 

 with liquors. Then follows the large supper. At two a.m. 

 chocolate is served ; and at four, a bouillon. During my 

 sojourn,! was invited to a very grand affair, " uma solenme 

 e franca demonstraqao cPajpreqo^'' given by the merchants 

 to President Peixoto on his thirty-ninth birthday. Twice 

 a week two excellent bands play before the President's 

 Palace, one furnished by the military, the other by the In- 

 dian boys of the " Educando," a government industrial 

 school in the suburbs, worthy of all praise. 



Agriculture, as every where on the Amazons, is dead ; 

 even farina, the bread of the land, is imported from Para, 

 although this is the mandioca country. In fact, there is 

 a constant lack of food in the city. The soil is rich, and 

 would yield bountifully under proper cultivation. But it 

 may be said, in general, of the whole valley, that the land 

 is prolific only when charged with moisture. The natural 

 forest, with its " pillared shade," keeps it damp ; clear it 

 off, and the sun bakes aiid burns up every thing, leaving a 

 sandy carrvpo. By leaving a number of trees, or by Egyp- 

 tian irrigation, the country would yield like the Nile flats. 

 The trouble with Manaos, as with Peruvian Iquitos, is that 

 it is not productive ; it lives upon its position, importing 

 every thing but fish. ISTo cotton or coffee now leaves Eio 

 Negro, although nature has done every thing to favor 

 their culture. 



The only productive industry worth mentioning is seen 



