24 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



I had to wake up the rest of our party, for though we 

 had told the boots to call us, he never did, and we were 

 only just in time; for at 3.30 our two carriages drove up. 

 They were large, comfortable, and showy, each having 

 two mules, and the coachmen wearing top hats, with a 

 broad gold lace band. There was also a huge covered 

 waggon for the luggage, of which we only had thirty- 

 eight packages, the rest having been sent direct up coun- 

 try from the Custom House. Arriving at the station at 

 4.20, we were allowed half an hour to enjoy our coffee 

 and bread ; the coffee is always excellent, and invariably 

 drunk noir, with a large amount of native sugar, which is 

 pale yellow and fine as flour. We left Rio at 5 a.m. 

 punctually, and are now proceeding by the Estrada de 

 Ferro Dom Pedro II. — the principal state railway — to the 

 extreme northern limit of the line, which at present is 

 Carandahy. 



The engine and carriages are of American make and in 

 American style — the Pullman cars — fitted with every con- 

 venience, but being on the bogie principle they oscillate 

 tremendously. I have spent a good deal of the day on the 

 platform at the end of the train — fortunately there is not 

 a guard's van there — looking back at the line, examining 

 the construction, curves, tunnels, bridges, and the general 

 points of engineering interest. The train is going at 

 really a very respectable speed, though it does stop at 

 every station, that is,, about every eighteen kilometres. 



Since daylight I have been able to admire the scenery, 

 which is most varied and beautiful, very hilly, and in some 

 parts very thickly wooded ; but I can give you no idea of 

 the luxuriance of the forests and their intense green. 

 Sometimes we wind along the edge of steep slopes, while 

 below are undulating hills rising out of the snowy mists of 



