42 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



fashion ; but I defer a fuller description for the present. 

 One thing, however, I must mention, which is continually 

 striking me, not only here, but in all the villages, namely, 

 that there is so little cultivation to be seen, and everybody 

 appears to have nothing to do but to lounge about and 

 smoke, while most of the necessaries of life — even food — 

 such as butter, wine, and beer, etc., are imported. 



I have now finished the sketch map, which is the result 

 of my three days' expedition, dotting on it a proposed route 

 for the railway, from the Government trunk line to this 

 place.* We have shown it to several of the principal people 

 belonging to this place, who all approve of it. There are, 

 however, other proposed routes which we must look into and 

 examine, selecting the one which appears the best. Of course, 

 length of line and cost have to be taken into consideration. 



In the Tr^in. 

 July 20. — You will be surprised to see that I am again, 

 so soon, en route to Rio de Janeiro; but business demands 

 it. I left Brumado in the afternoon of the i8th, and, sleep- 

 ing in a hut at Sao Caetano, reached Paraopeba next 

 morning early. There were the usual delays in going on 

 to Carandahy, whither I should have ridden straight but 

 for requiring some luggage. The contractor's two small 

 engines have broken down, and only the " granda machina," 

 as they call an ordinary American engine, is in use. I 

 expected, at least, that we should get along quicker by it ; 

 but oh no ! First we stopped to empty some ballast waggons, 

 twice we pulled up owing to rocks and earth being on the 

 line ; and at length, when three miles off Carandahy, we 

 stopped to take up the engineer of the section, who was 

 about to begin dinner, and we had to wait three-quarters 



* This proposed route was that which I eventually surveyed. 



