October i, i88r.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
361 
iOM U10 TO NORTHERN BRAZIL: 
We 
■oi'i.'i:i; in noi:' 
tlie attention ot our 
Slanting readers to 
tho folic 
long and instructive letter from our 
correspondent, Mr. Scott Blacklaw. His visit to the 
Ceara rubber neighbourhood although not productive 
so far of much practical information as to the industry, 
is nevertheless very interesting for the glimpse^it 
dly 
Empire. " Neglected, " we say, and yet l\ 
would Ceylon exchange its lot, at least in one 
respect, with the province of Ceara, namely, in the 
matter of railway progress. There we lind the planters 
of 100,000 acres of young coffee with the railway 
already within 25 miles of their plantations, while 
it will be ten miles nearer before the year is out ! 
Mr. Scott Blacklaw is right in supposing that, with 
such facilities, the produce of the Ceara division of 
Brazil must henceforward be taken into account in 
estimating tho coffee production of the world. As 
regards rubber, what is to hinder the same planters 
cultivating this "weed" ad libitum, will be a ques- 
tion naturally asked. Our reply may be that possibly 
tho growth of Ceara rubber in Ceylon is greater than 
in its own habitat, at least the figures given by 
our correspondent would be deemed very poor for 
rubber trews of the same age here. Mr. Scott Black- 
law's arrangements for procuring fresh seed of various 
descriptions from North Brazil may turn out of special 
service to Ceylon hereafter. Meantime, here is his 
letter to which we have been referring : — 
Lisbos, 2Sth July 1881. 
Deab Shis, — I am not sure, but I think ray last to you 
was from L'ernambuco, or somewhere near it. 'lhe jour- 
ney from Rio de Janeiro, calling at Bahia, Maceio, and 
Araloas, had occupied some days. My usual luck of 
havingaday on which no business could be done on shore 
accompanied me to Pernambuco, and on Sunday, the 
day-seekers pass along continually — have nothing about 
them that you and your readers do not already 
know. I got ashore early on Monday morning and 
I took a run through tho cily and suburbs in 1 ram- 
way oars. Tropic. il life is here seen to great ad- 
vantage, and my old friends the jak and bread fruits 
take up their places among mujestio palms and 
[lowering shrubs and plauis with variegated leaves 
form the surroundings of tho beautiful villas in lhe 
suburbs through which tho ears run. Some of tho 
streets of the t'>wn ore pretty, being in the business 
part paved with hard stono block-, and side walks 
luid with broad tl igs. Tho curse of slavery exist* 
here also, as ono may see by tho great swarms of 
negroes doing tho rough work — and one may note that 
nearly all tho negro women have the tattooed faces 
showing African birth and up bringing. 
Tim principal commerce hero is sugar, cotton, and 
tho produce of tho coconut treo, also form important 
items in tho lists of transport. Caeno l as also a 
01 
place, but coffee is sometimes with a balance on the 
side of import ! 
Here, at Pernambuco, I was almost dissuaded from 
sec 
"These 
suppliei 
the lat 
ember a 
the 
(..ear; 
d to that 
October, and u 
ago could not yet be Slit 
which would bo unsafe t( 
coasting steamer was talc 
place 1 would go. 
Nothing amused me so much for a long time ns 
to see, on nearing Pernambuco harbour, at daylight 
on Sunday morning (20th June) a boat came along- 
side, in a rough sea, and, on a rope being thrown to 
it, an old man, of over sixty years, catch hold of 
the rope, and climb the steamer's sides, right uplQ 
the hurricane deck, without the vessel slowing in the 
least. This was tho pilot, and now on Monday even- 
ing ('ilth. June) before I get on board, this same active 
man had his position on the bridge. In a few minutes 
we were off. Outside the harbour, the pilot, without 
the steamer slackening speed, slides clown the rope, into 
his two-oared boat, and we soon enjoy the fresh 
Atlantic breeze. 
We sail along the coast, and reach the mouth of the 
river Parahyba next morning (Tuesday, 28lh June), 
and we have, before breakfast a beautiful sail up the 
river, to the town of Parahyba. As we are only to 
be here a few hours, no one goes ashore. We land 
some passengers engaged on railway construction. Even 
here there are railways. Land near the river is very 
fiat, and should do well for sugar cultivation. Here 
and there, through the trees, a patch of cane could 
he seen near some rude hut, covered with coconut 
tree leaves, or "cajans" as I remember you call them. 
At the mouth of the river is an old Dutch fort 
they tell me the Dutch, at one time, hail all the 
northern coast of Brazil, but of such slender con- 
struction that the pressure of earth behind the w»lla 
is bringing the latter down. No guns are to be seen ; 
so it appears to be abandoned. There seems to be 
great extent 
ot laud hero 
lablo 
cultivation 
the extensio 
less under sr 
Thetown^ 
The en tram 
but sent a b 
only hero 
we lose 
but the 
ity of labourer; 
for sugar 
will make 
)ssible, un- 
m ourtavour, ana on i< 
cast anchor at Fortalea 
have been eleven days f 
from tiio sea the regula 
the beau I 
lio Grande do Norte, 
esday, 29th June, 
ship did not go in, 
assengcrs. The boat 
1 sounds, and pad- 
imc time. We sail 
find barren-looking, 
to tho sea, with 
recipice. At 2 p.m. 
find and current 
July, at 9 a. m., we 
it.il of Ceara. Wo 
Janeiro. Viewing 
ivn of Fortaleza aud 
'or twenty or thirty 
my patches of corn 
, Hat .stretching awa; 
I miles to tho foot ot the hills ; the 1 
and rieo fields ready for harvest, showing a pro- 
I spcet of plenty for man and beast ; the hills covered 
with virgin forest, through which tall grauito rocks 
I aro peeping ; and coffee, sugar, and cotton planta- 
tions showing themselves on the tamer portion* 
j of them ; one cannot help a«king oneself can this be 
the land to which tho heavens were shut for tha 
thrco years 1877-7<S-79, when famine aud its attend- 
ant miseries carried oil" 200,000 out of a population o£ 
[ 930,000 and 99 per cent of the cattlo died ? 
