ii6 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



something of the riches of manufacturers, ironmasters, coal- 

 owners, etc. 



Some years ago the old man's wife had become quite 

 blind from cataract. He took her down to Rio, where she 

 was operated upon, and can now see tolerably, but only by 

 wearing a huge pair of spectacles with circular highly 

 convexed glasses, which, with her old wizened face, make 

 her look just like an ancient owl. All the women get old 

 and ugly here comparatively early ; and, with their exceed- 

 ingly wrinkled and wizened faces bandaged up with hand- 

 kerchiefs, they look fac-similes of the women in the 

 pictures of the old masters of the German schools. 



I spoke of the blind in England, how they not only 

 have books which they can read with their fingers, but also 

 a style of writing by pricking, so that one blind man can 

 write to another, who can read it himself. He replied, 

 " What a wonderful country England must be ! Here the 

 blind have nothing to do, and are shut out from every- 

 thing." 



November 26. — The singing in harmony of the blacks at 

 their work of weeding the young maize plantations on the 

 other side of the valley was extremely pretty, softened by 

 distance. These blacks work about eleven hours a day, 

 and get a milreis ; they are mostly freed slaves. Aleixo 

 has eleven working in his plantations, four of whom 

 belonged to an old priest who freed them on his death, and 

 left twenty-five alqueires of land for them to settle on, 

 build huts, and cultivate for their own use. They are fine, 

 stalwart, pure-blooded negroes. 



In the evening we had a final serenade from the same 

 "artistes" as on the 24th, with the addition of some 

 dancing. Roberts did the proper thing, and picked out the 

 prettiest girls he could select, while I looked on. There 



