272 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



railroad. Personally, and in the interest of many excellent resi- 

 dents in those parts who have proved true friends to me, and who 

 wish for the line, I hope it may ere long be opened for traffic* 



In concluding these notes on the railways of Minas Geraes, 

 I may remark that it appears a pity that such varied gauges should 

 have been used. Brazil is as yet far from a " battle of the gauges," 

 which created so much trouble in England ; but some time in the 

 future it may be found out that a mistake has been made. 



Note on Fernando de Neronha. 



To-day, as I have stated, but little is known of this place, and 

 ships generally give it a wide berth. It belongs to the province 

 of Pernambuco, and lies in lat. 3° 50' south, long. 32° 25' west of 

 Greenwich. It is distant from the coast about two hundred miles, 

 and consists of one large island and several smaller ones^f the 

 whole being, according to Darwin,^ nine miles long by three 

 broad. Darwin considers it all to be of volcanic origin ; " the most 

 remarkable feature is a conical hill, about one thousand feet high." 



It may be of interest to describe an abridged account from 

 the translation of " A Voyage to South America, . . . undertaken 

 by command of His Majesty the King of Spain, by Don George 

 Juan and Don Antonio de Ulloa, both captains of the Spanish 

 Navy, members of the Royal Societies of London and Berlin," 

 etc. § It is a most interesting work. These explorers landed on the 

 islands May 21,1 745. They say, " On our arrival we were informed 

 that the French East India Company had made a settlement on it 

 as a convenient place for their ships to put in at for refreshments ; 

 but the Court of Portugal, being unwilling that either the French 

 or any other nation should have a settlement so near the coast of 

 Brazil, obliged them to evacuate it. This resolution was taken 

 about seven years ago, since when . . . forts have been erected, 

 and a colony settled on the island. . . . This island has two 

 harbours capable of receiving ships of the greatest burthen : one 



* Construction began January 6, 1885. 



+ Hartt's " Geology and Physical Geography of Brazil," p. 478. 

 X " Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.'s ships Adventure and 

 Beagle" vol. iii. p. 10. 



§ Published in London, 1758. 



