FORMALITIES 



239 



mulattoes and have each several apprentices ; the black- 

 smiths are chiefly Indians, as is the case generally through- 

 out the province. The manners of the upper class (copied 

 from those of Para), are very stiff and formal, and the 

 absence of the hearty hospitality met with in other places, 

 produces a disagreeable impression at first. Much cere- 

 mony is observed in the intercourse of the principal people 

 with each other, and with strangers. The best room 

 in each house is set apart for receptions, and visitors are 

 expected to present themselves in black dress coats, 

 regardless of the furious heat which rages in the sandy 

 streets of Santarem towards mid-day, the hour when 

 visits are generally made. In the room a cane-bottomed 

 sofa and chairs, all lacquered and gilded, are arranged in 

 quadrangular form, and here the visitors are invited to 

 seat themselves, whilst the compliments are passed, or 

 the business arranged. In taking leave, the host backs 

 out his guests with repeated bows, finishing at the front 

 door. Smoking is not in vogue amongst this class, but 

 snuff-taking is largely indulged in, and great luxury is 

 displayed in gold and silver snuff-boxes. All the gentle- 

 men, and indeed most of the ladies also, wear gold watches 

 and guard chains. Social parties are not very frequent ; 

 the principal men being fully occupied with their business 

 and families, and the rest spending their leisure in billiard 

 and gambling rooms, leaving wives and daughters shut up 

 at home. Occasionally, however, one of the principal 

 citizens gives a ball. In the first that I attended, the 

 gentlemen were seated all the evening on one side of the 

 room, and the ladies on the other, and partners were 

 allotted by means of numbered cards, distributed by a 

 master of the ceremonies. But the customs changed 

 rapidly in these matters after steamers began to run on 

 the Amazons (in 1853), bringing a flood of new ideas and 

 fashions into the country. The old, bigoted, Portuguese 

 system of treating women, which stifled social intercourse 

 and wrought endless evils in the private life of the Bra- 

 zilians, is now being gradually, although slowly, abandoned. 



When a stranger arrives at an interior town in Brazil, 

 with the intention of making some stay, he is obliged 

 within three days to present himself at the Police oflice, 

 to show his passport. He is then expected to call on the 

 different magistrates, the military commander, and the 

 principal private residents. Thif done, he has to remain 



