UNLIKE most of the State capitals of Brazil, SÃo Paulo lies some distance inland, but in close touch with its port Santos, some thirty-five miles distant. Many passengers travelling by the Royal Mail steamers bound for the Argentine, disembark at Rio and take the train from the Central Railway Station across country to SÃo Paulo, rejoining their steamer at Santos. This variation is not only a pleasant break in the voyage, but affords the opportunity for viewing the most thriving and prosperous city in South America.

The journey by rail from Rio to SÃo Paulo occupies about twelve hours in a sleeping or observation car, equalling if not excelling anything of the kind in Europe. The separate two-berth cabins provided with electric light and fans will be appreciated by the most experienced railway travellers accustomed to the latest improvements in the way of comfort.

The first part of the journey is through a hilly country, with immense woods and thick undergrowth of tropical vegetation, covering the earth as with a vivid green mantle as far as the eye can reach. Numbers of curious trees with fantastically twisted stems reaching to a height of 100 to 150 feet tower above the dense masses of tangled foliage, tall palms of many varieties with fan-shaped leaves, and straight smooth trunks, grow side by side with dwarfed bushy shrubs, over which great banana leaves bend with their own weight, whilst magnificent flowers and orchids of brilliant colour peep out from the dark recesses of the woods, sparkling like jewels in a mass of lovely hair.

As SÃo Paulo is neared, the tropical luxuriance fades, and nature’s wild and prolific garden is replaced by the ordered arrangements of man’s industry, for this State is the best farmed as well as the most thickly populated in all Brazil. Its staple industry produces at least one half of all the coffee consumed in the world to-day, besides which its people gather large harvests of sugar, cotton, grapes, tobacco, and several kinds of cereals, principally rice and wheat.

This agricultural prosperity is due to several causes: a kindly climate, a regular rainfall, a natural system of irrigation, and an increasingly industrious population from all parts of Europe.

The workers in this State pursue their occupations amidst the fairest surroundings, and in an environment well calculated to induce happiness and contentment. The air is clear, the climate mild, the sun shines brightly, the scenery is varied and cheerful, whilst the social element so necessary to civilised beings is full of charming diversity.

The capital of the State takes second place amongst the cities of Brazil, and like the Federal capital has in recent years undergone many changes. Much of it has been already rebuilt, and more is undergoing alteration. New buildings, imposing and exhibiting the latest styles of architecture, have largely replaced the old Portuguese colonial houses which, although solid, were rather lugubrious and forbidding.

The replanning of the city has the enthusiastic support of all the inhabitants, and not a few of the more prosperous citizens have evinced a public-spirited generosity in their contributions to the beautifying of their city. The work that has already been done, and that still going on, is worthy of the magnificent site which the city occupies between two great mountain ranges, the Serra do Mar and the Mantiqueira, the peaks of the latter rising from 2000 to 2500 feet above the level of the sea. Two rivers take their rise in these hills, the Paranapanema which flows in a westerly direction and forms the boundary between Parana and SÃo Paulo States, and the TietÉ which in a north-westerly direction flows right through the latter State. Both these large rivers are but tributaries of the Parana, the great waterway of the interior of the continent.

The State extends over an area of more than 112,000 square miles, and its climate varies in the different zones, which have strongly marked and differing characteristics.

The low-lying lands which border on the coast at the foot of the eastern Serra are marshy swamps, a region of damp heat uncongenial to man but excellent for the cultivation of rice. The humid, steamy air of the littoral is in strong contrast to the agreeable conditions on the plateau upon which the capital stands. The intermediate region of the Serra do Mar is covered with dense vegetation, subject to heavy rains, whilst mists continually envelop the hills, and the sun shines but seldom through the thick vapours. Frost and hail are not uncommon on the Serra, and even snow is not unknown.

But it is the plateau between the Serra and the Parana that possesses the most favourable climate, for although the temperature varies slightly it is always agreeable and pleasant, being neither too hot nor too cold. This plateau is perhaps the most fertile and productive in the great continent, which abounds with favoured regions, and its great prosperity gives some indication of its popularity with European settlers.

The early history of the State of SÃo Paulo has a romance running through its pages which can never cease to be of interest, and the beginnings of its prosperity are traceable to the friendly relationships established in the beginning of the sixteenth century between a shipwrecked Portuguese sailor, JoÃo Ramalho, and TybiricÁ, the chief of the GuayanÁs, a tribe who dominated the country.

Ramalho married the chief’s daughter, and this alliance cemented a friendship with the chief and his tribe, over which the castaway soon acquired so great an influence that when Martin Affonso arrived at the head of an expedition he met with a friendly welcome. For his good offices Ramalho was rewarded by the Portuguese Crown with a grant of the lands which he and the tribe were occupying, the new-comers establishing a settlement at St. Vincente, near Santos, and erecting a fort on the island of St. Amaro at the entrance to the bay. From the union between the Portuguese settlers and the GuayanÁs there sprang the race of half-breeds known first as Mamelucos and later as Paulistas, a race that accomplished much in the exploration and development of various parts of Brazil.

The village of St. Andre, where Ramalho and his father-in-law TybiricÁ lived, rapidly grew until in 1533 it was raised to the position of a town, and these two settlements of St. Vincente and St. Andre were the forerunners of the cities of Santos and SÃo Paulo which afterwards arose upon adjacent sites.

The Jesuits, who arrived upon the scene in 1554, proved an important factor in suppressing the invasions of savage tribes who threatened the little colonies from time to time, and in organising the settlements by the construction of a road connecting that at the coast with the mission station which they established at SÃo Paulo. This mission station grew in power and importance until finally it usurped the position of St. Andre, which was destroyed at the instigation of the priests.

The history of the two succeeding centuries is filled with the contests between the lay Paulistas and the Jesuits, their methods being in constant opposition, for whilst the former desired native labour to cultivate their lands and work their industries, they found that the missions absorbed most if not all of the available natives. These were gathered under the protection of the missions upon the communistic plan so successfully practised under the Jesuits in other parts of the continent, the natives meeting with fair and considerate treatment, although practically reduced to the position of slaves working for the common good. The laymen sought to bring the natives into the condition of slaves for their own personal interest, and to treat them as property to be used for their own aggrandisement, and professed to see little or no difference in their doing individualistically what the Church did communistically.

The association of the whites and their half-Indian progeny with the pure native Indians was also the cause of much dissension, and led to numbers of the latter withdrawing from the settlements and forming new ones antagonistic to the invaders. In all the quarrels TybiricÁ stood loyally by his son-in-law’s fellow-countrymen, and even fought against his own brother when the latter led an attack upon SÃo Paulo.

As the Mamelucos grew in numbers their demands for native labour increased, and its monopoly by the Jesuits came to be a grievance which the laymen determined to redress. Raids upon the Indians of the interior were consequently organised, and the adventurous Paulistas did not hesitate to risk their lives in the pursuit of tribes as far as the borders of Bolivia after the nearer districts had been cleared of natives, and in these expeditions even the mission settlements of the GuayanÁ were not spared. Immense numbers of natives were captured and brought down to the markets of SÃo Paulo for sale, many of them being purchased to supply the demands of neighbouring States.

As this slave hunting went on unrestrained, the Jesuits removed their missions further west to escape the attentions of their enemies; but in 1641 a large party of the Paulistas invaded the Paraguayan missions and bore away many natives as captives. These Paulistas had become adventurous, and hardy, past belief, and were the most energetic race in the whole continent, opening up much of the country in the course of their expeditions—discovering diamonds in Minas, gold in MaranhÃo, and laying the foundations of towns and villages wherever they went.

When the emancipation of the Indian (not the negro) slaves was decreed in 1758, the energies of this indefatigable people, checked in one direction, were turned towards exploration for a period, and it was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when their country was opened up to the trade of the world, that they found fresh and congenial outlets for their enterprise.

During the whole of the last century immigration has flowed steadily into the country, and its abundant agricultural wealth has been developed with a steady persistence. The virile peoples from the Old World, who have flocked into the State, have been rapidly absorbed by the Paulistas, and a conglomerate race, made up of many elements, now populates the country. The energy of the Paulista resembles that of the American of the United States, and the activity in the city of SÃo Paulo is remarked by all who have compared it with Rio and other towns in different parts of Brazil.

The city of SÃo Paulo is full of pleasant surprises. Its three principal streets, the Rua SÃo Bento, Rua Quinze de Novembro, and Rua Direita, form a triangle in the busiest part of the city, and are narrow, crowded thoroughfares, the electric cars taking up the principal part of the roadways, which in business hours become so congested that progress is very slow, both for pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

Many of the shops are fine, and contain a goodly display of wares, but prices are high. Their harvest season is somewhat restricted, owing to the large number of feast days or holidays throughout the year, in addition to the Sundays, upon which

the bulk of the shops are closed. In the case of tobacconists Sunday closing is rigorously enforced, and the multitude of smokers have to lay in their supplies for the week-end. It is on a Sunday or a festa day that the crowds in the street are most interesting, for then the folk come out in their gala clothes on pleasure and amusement bent. There is no uniformity whatever in the costumes worn by either sex. Bare-headed women wearing fur boas, men wearing overcoats, others clad in white drill suits and straw hats or black felt head-gear, parade the streets in an ever changing stream. The car conductors, in grey uniforms with gold facings, are kept busy attending to the human freights, whilst policemen, in black with red facings, direct the traffic with small, white batons, as in Paris. Lottery ticket vendors yell their wares in competition with purveyors of sweets, cakes, and pastries, whose yellow delicacies tempt the flies and children who swarm around, the former brushed off with large feather brushes, the latter encouraged by glowing entreaties. Everything looks new here, even traditions and customs from the Old World seeming to undergo a change. In the crowds at the street corners the men are mostly garbed in black, but the women affect all the colours of the rainbow.

White dresses predominate, but blues, magentas, yellows, pinks, greens, and faded vermilions are freely admixed, varied with yellow and red kerchiefs and purple shawls. Here a group of four or five mules ridden by bare-footed countrymen in blue trousers, there shaggy yellow ponies, sun-faded and mud-stained, brush through and rub against the holiday-making crowd. Yonder, on the steps leading up to the gardens, sits an Italian, munching his midday meal of bread, cheese, and olives. In these gardens, in front of the President’s palace, are many curious and beautiful trees, amongst them two stately oaks with the freshest of green leaves, soft and delicate, as in early summer.

The palms and ferns, cut and cropped into fantastic shapes, mingle with the cactus, which needs no such attention. In the shady bowers are welcome resting-places, where the wearied sit in the patches of sunlight that splash warm upon them through the branches, reading the papers in French, Italian, and Portuguese, smoking eternally, conversing frequently, and moving but seldom. Flower-sellers move here and there, offering tempting bunches of the loveliest pansies, violets, and roses, and add colour to the scene. The singing of birds, the tinkling of the car bells, the hum of voices, the strident cries of the hawkers, all mingle on the sunny Sunday morn, and a happier-looking city and people it would be difficult to imagine.

A favourite jaunt with the Sunday or holiday crowd—Italians, negroes, Portuguese, Germans, Paulistas, and English—is a run on the car from the Largo do SÉ to the gardens and museum at Ypiranga. The journey occupies about half an hour, and the route runs through the Square of 15th September, along the Rua do Gloria, with its small one-story houses, past the abattoir, through boulevards planted on either side with trees, to the suburbs, where building is going on in all directions, the workmen busy at their jobs, although it is Sunday. Outside the town are market gardens and fields with green grass and rich, red soil, firs and pines on all sides, cattle browsing in the meadowland, rose-covered villas and factories springing up amidst the green fields.

Most of the occupants of the cars descend at the gardens of the Ypiranga, in the grounds of which are wide walks, raised terraces, lined with cypress trees, and well laid out beds of flowers and shrubs of all varieties.

The museum is built upon the spot where the independence of Brazil was proclaimed in 1822 by the Prince Dom Pedro, who, on learning of the refusal of the Cortes at Lisbon to listen respectfully to the Brazilian delegates, impetuously gave utterance to the famous cry, “Independence or Death!” and was shortly afterwards proclaimed constitutional Emperor of Brazil.

The museum, erected as a monument to commemorate this historic event, is a well-designed and imposing building, containing fine staircases and lofty galleries, in one of which is a huge picture illustrating the “Independencia ou Morto” incident.

The galleries are filled with collections of various objects of natural and historical interest such as butterflies and birds, wasps and bees, with their curious nests, old leather-covered furniture, sedan chairs, cupboards, fourposter beds, and chests of the colonial period.

Amongst the many curious and instructive objects gathered together are pottery from all parts of the continent, including Colombian, Peruvian, and Mexican; stuffed fish, weird in shape and marvellous in variety, taken from the rivers; lizards, chameleons, turtles, alligators, and snakes. Here, too, are specimens of the feathers and ornaments worn by the savage Indian tribes of the State of SÃo Paulo, head-dresses of yellow feathers, necklaces of human teeth, collars of green parrot feathers and beetles’ wings, and of beadwork mixed with feathers.

The instruments, warlike and peaceful, of the native tribes are also well represented, such as clubs, bows and arrows, stone hammers, baskets, crudely made straw hats, a curious fire-making appliance consisting of spindle revolving in a disc; native panpipes, calabashes, and mats.

Amongst the stuffed animals are such curiosities or freaks as a calf with only two legs, and another with two heads.

The Paulistas, imbued with the spirit of freedom, have bestowed upon many of their streets and squares the names of patriots and public benefactors, as witness the Avenue Tiradentes, which perpetuates the name and fame of one of the ardent spirits of the eighteenth century, who ever strove to rouse the nation to throw off the yoke of Portugal.

Tiradentes, although not the leader of the conspiracy which failed, nevertheless was a martyr to the cause and was beheaded, drawn, and quartered, his head exposed to the public gaze in Ouro Preto, and his house there burned to the ground. He was the first republican to shed his blood in the cause of Brazilian independence, but not till a century after his death was the aim accomplished.

Throughout the city such names as Avenida Rangel Pestana and Rua Visconda do Rio Branco testify to the esteem in which the inhabitants hold their public men.

In striking contrast to the narrower streets is the Viaducto Clia, a broad avenue that leads to the new part of the city where everything is on a magnificent scale, with squares and avenues of which any city might well be proud. The valley which separates the old city from the new was undergoing great alterations during my visit, vast business palaces springing up on this beautiful

THE THEATRE OF S. PAULO.