THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1890. 
how delightfully oool and pleasant the air gets, 
as one gradually ascends to a height of 2,000 feet. 
After the last tunnel has been passed through 
and the train has gone souoding through the last 
rocky defile, a descent is made to Barra do Pirahy. 
Here we come to the Bio Parahyba which takes the 
drainage of a large tract of country ; that on the 
north side of the Serra do Mar from near Santos 
200 miles south of Bio to Campos 150 miles north. 
The Parahyba has also a large watershed on the 
north, as it receives the drainage of the high hilis 
which have a water partini/ on the north towards 
the large river San Prancisco, and also to those 
rivers which go to supply the river Parand which 
goes to form the Biver Plate. The river Parahyba 
is navigable for about 100 miles from its mouth, 
and by it some of the coffee from Gantogallo, and 
St. Fedelis districts, and sugar from the Campos 
district find their way to a seaport. The hills on 
each side of it are covered with coffee plantations, 
and it is principally on these where the coffee 
disease has been playing havoc for the last few 
years. This is a disease or insect which attacks the 
roots of the coffee tree, in old districts. Government 
has tried what it could by sending specialists to 
study this pest, but as yet no cure or preventative 
has been found. Fortunately it has not as yet 
visited the new coffee districts in Sao Paulo and 
Minas Geraes. Barra do Pirahy, means the bar of 
the river Pirahy where it enters the river Parahyba, 
This first section of the Dom Pedro 2nd railway ends 
here, the trunk line goes north to the province of 
Minas, and receives traffic from many small lines of 
metre gauge formed by companies whose share- 
holders are, or at least many of them, people 
who live in the localities through which these 
pass. The main line is opened to the capital of 
Minas Geraes — Ouro Preto — altogether it has an 
extension of some 900 kilometres — 750 kilometres 
(465 miles) of which is broad (5 ft. 3 in.) gauge, 
and 150 kilometres (97 miles) narrow 1 metre say 
3 ft. 3J in.* The gauge was broken after reach- 
ing so far (750 kilometres) into the interior 
for reasons which satisfied the Government, and 
which I do not care to enter into at present. It was 
the old question of “ the battle of the gauges,” 
and the narrow was victorious. t 
From the Dom Pedro line about 3 hours’ ride 
from here strikes off a metre gauge line worked by 
a powerful Company called the Leopoldino Bailway 
Company. This line has a larger mileage than its 
parent the Dom Pedro 2nd, which is a Govern- 
ment line, and forms a network all through the 
northern part of the Province of Minas. It now 
threatens to take away a great deal of the traffic 
from its progenitor, having bought the Cantogallo 
Bailway (gauge 3’ 6 ') and made a branch to connect 
its old line with the latter, which has its initial 
station and terminus for unloading coffee and other 
produce at Bio de Janeiro, thus securing to itself all 
the goods traffic with which it formerly fed the Dom 
Pedro 2nd. Surmounting hills and crossing deep 
ravines seem nothing to the enginesrs of this Com- 
pany, who do not hesitate on their metre gauge to 
locate on gradients of one in thirty-three (3 per cent) 
and lay down curves of three ohains’s radius. J The 
Leopoldino Bailway has 900 miles open — cost of 
construction &c., £5,000,000. 
* There have been spent ,f 12,000,000 on the 466 miles 
of broad and £1,200,000 on t ho 150 miles of narrow. 
I The highest station on the Dom Pedro railway above 
the level of the sea is iiarlmcoLia say under 3,700 
feet and distani i'rom Itio 2IJ.5 miles. 
X Three chains radius I This means very slow sjieod 
or danger and rapid wear of rails from the elloots of 
BupeMilevatioD.— Bo* T, 4- 
The express for the main line passengers — those 
going towards Minas Geraes — and for the small 
feeder lines I nave mentioned above leave Bio de 
-Janeiro «t five in the morning. The train with Sao 
Paulo passengers leaves at six : there is thus not the 
same scrambling and pushing for breakfast at Barra 
de Pirahy as formerly. The main line train leaves 
Barra de Pirahy before the other arrives. The 
distance of Barra de Pirahy from Bio opened 1858 is 
67 miles and height above level of the sea 1,200 feet. 
It is 8-30 a.m.; the refreshing air of the hills gives 
everyone a good appetite ; there is a beautifully 
clean refreshment-room, and the table is leaded with 
good things hot and cold to eat, of which one may 
eat his fill, and wines &o. are for the ordering — the 
charge is moderate, and sufficient time is given to 
finish up with a cup of black coffee. 
The line fur Ka.r' Paulo branches off here 
towards the west, but it is still the Dom 
Pedro 2nd or Government line the same 
gauge (5 ft. 3 in.) and passengers do not change 
carriages here, nor until they change into a metre 
gauge at the end of this line. The railway now 
follows tne right bank of the Bio Parahyba, the 
train passes the small stations, and with few 
stoppages reaches Cruzeiros — where there is a 
junction wiih a railway (metre gauge) made and 
worked by a Briiish Company, called the Minas 
and Bio Bailway Company. The Minas and Bio line 
goes due ni.rth uniil it reaches a river, the Bio 
Verde, in Minas Geraes which is navigable. The 
districts through which it passes are more pastoral 
than coffee producing. Other lines are being made 
as feeders to it, and if it do not pay, it very 
soon will. The Company enjoys a state guarantee 
for the line at present open, and a provincial 
guarantee for some 200 kilometres of extension tills 
to be made. After leaving Cruzeiros and continu- 
ing on the side of the river Parahyba for other 
14 kilos in due time we reach Oachoeira, which 
is the terminal point of the Dom Pedro 2nd on 
this side. We are now 165 miles from Bio, altitude 
1,720 above sea-level — opened 1876. Passengers and 
goods have to be changed to the Sao Paulo and 
Bio railway, a metre gauge line. The valley of 
the Parahyba from Barra do Pirahy offers little 
variety : first we pass through some cane-fields 
for half-an-hour or so, the bulk of these canes 
are grown for a large central sugar factory which 
has ■ a guarantee of interest from the Government 
of 6 per cent per annum. This ought to do good 
to the district, for the most of the coffee seems 
dying out and cane is growing very well on what 
were coffee plantations. Further up the valley there 
are fewer cane-fields, and the coffee fields, although 
not looking fresh and young, are not reduced so 
far as not to be able to pay their way. Nearer 
Oachoeira, but up on the hills, we pass some very 
well arranged coffee estates said to be bearing fair 
crops the present year, with plenty of young wood 
for the next. Being nearer some very high hills — 
one Itatiaiha said to be the highest in Brazil — 
6,6C0 feet, the climate is more moist, and has 
not suffered from the late drought, which has 
devastated whole provinces in the north and 
from the ravages of which few districts in the 
south have escaped. On the lands near the 
river cane is planted where coffee-fields were — more 
or less all along the valley. I may also mention 
that several metre gauge lines branch off to the 
left but on the right bank of the river. These 
lines go south towards the Serra do Mar and into 
a second valley of the Bio Parahyba which lies 
parallel with this soma 30 miles to left and south 
of us and some of them have concessions from 
Government to enable them to extend to the sea 
port towns situated between Bio and Santos. The 
