the large number of old churches, convents, colleges, and public institutions date its origin from the time of the Jesuits, who must have been very industrious and wealthy to have found the means for building such huge places, with the object of perpetuating their order, and for the spread of the Roman Catholic religion. I much regretted that the stoppage of the railway, and very unfavourable weather—constant thunder storms, with deluges of rain—prevented me travelling some distance into the interior, where the coffee and cotton plantations lie, but the accounts received from others, who possess a thorough knowledge of the localities, enable me to speak most highly of its resources.
His Excellency, Saldanha Marinho, the President of San Paulo, and who by his affability and business habits has won the esteem and affection of the people, received me kindly during my stay here. He is a determined supporter of every practical measure having for its object the improvement of the city and of the province. Respecting the great work of the railway, on which so much of the future welfare of the province depends, I will endeavour to give a tolerably ample description; but to begin with, it may not be out of place to quote as follows from the work of Mr. Scully, entitled “Brazil and its Chief Provinces”:—
“Passing over the Mugy river you arrive quickly at the foot of the gorge formed by the two out-jutting spurs of the buttress-like mountain, and the black defiant ravine is suggestive of anything but a railway course. Here the line climbs boldly up the side of the Mugy spur, at a usual ascent of one in ten, crossing mountain torrents, leaping gloomy chasms, cutting through solid rocks, holding hard on to every foot gained, until it attains a resting-place upon the table land, 2,600 feet high, after five miles of gigantic excavations, removing 1,100,000 cubic yards of granite rock and earth.
“Here we must give a slight idea of how this daring plan is utilised, which was at one time laughed at as an engineering impossibility, and which even yet stands pre-eminent among similar works.
“This entire and almost straight ascent of upwards of five miles is divided into four “lifts” of about a mile and a quarter each, having a level platform of some 400 feet in length between them. On these lifts, as in general on all the line, the track is single, except at the upper half, where it is doubled to admit of the ascending and descending trains passing each other. At the upper end of each platform is placed a powerful stationary engine of 200 horse-power, whose two cylinders are 26 inches diameter and 5 feet stroke, calculated to haul up 50 tons at the rate of ten miles an hour, which are supplied by five Cornish boilers, three of which suffice for the duty.
“A steel wire rope, tested to a strength far exceeding the requirements which will ever be made upon it, passes over a friction-wheel on each side of the fly-wheel drum upon which it is wrapped round, and, one end being attached to an ascending and the other to a descending train, it is intended to make the “lift” partially self-acting, as it now wholly is at one of the inclines which is not supplied with its stationary engine, the weight of the descending train drawing up the ascending one. Powerful brakes that will stop a train instantly are supplied to guard against a breaking down of any part of the machinery, or a rupture of the rope. From this short description our readers can form an idea of the mechanical contrivances for effecting the ascent.
“Throughout these wonderful inclines the most majestic and wild scenery is observed along the slightly winding way. On the third lift occurs a ravine still more gloomy than the rest, which is called the Boca do Inferno (Mouth of Hell); that, having a width of 900 feet, is crossed by an iron viaduct, which lies on rows of iron columns resting on stone piers 200 feet below in the centre of the line.”
I have great pleasure in endorsing all Mr. Scully says as to the excellent qualities of the railway officials, and can also affirm that to Mr. Aubertin and Mr. Hutchings is due the extraordinary development that has been effected in the production of cotton.
THE SAN PAULO RAILWAY.
I will now proceed to describe the railway in my own terms, without reference to the statistics or the reports that have been published about it. My impression on leaving the station was that of setting off on an adventurous journey—not merely ensconcing oneself in the corner of a railway carriage and taking a comfortable nap. Curiosity was excited to the utmost, after the accounts I had heard, and the temporary stoppage of the line by recent heavy rains washing down some of the slopes of the cuttings rather added to the interest of a first visit. There was a tolerable amount of bustle at starting, but away we went about eleven o'clock, over low, swampy ground. For seven miles the rails run parallel with the old road to Santos, and the bridge at Cubitao (an arm of the sea) is passed, beyond which for a further distance of six and a half miles (making 13½ miles to the foot of the Serra) it becomes a dense mass of forest and jungle, which it must be difficult to convert to any useful purpose; indeed, the curse of the country is this mass of useless forest, only fit for the haunts of wild animals and reptiles. How they have hitherto been able to carry on the traffic between Santos and San Paulo is a mystery when we look at the country and miles of wood passed through. However, we are now in sight of the first rise of the mountain, which looks grim enough, and the train comes to a stop at the station, after passing an open space of ground, on which stands a house, built and formerly inhabited by the contractors, with almost a little village about it, occupied by their staff, &c., where, I understand, cricket was often played to while away the leisure hours after the labours of the day. Now everything is going to wreck, and if the land is not kept clear it will soon be a jungle again: such is the quick growth of vegetation in this country and so rank does it become. The station at the foot of the Serra is a good substantial sort of house, the station master being a young German, with a wife and family, very comfortable adjuncts in so lonely a spot; and the house was surrounded by fowls and other live stock needful to family wants. We stood contemplating the height we had to be dragged with a certain kind of awe, and presently we saw the train descending, which it did steadily enough, bringing Mr. Aubertin, the general manager, Captain Burton, her Majesty's consul, and some other notabilities of San Paulo. The former gentlemen returned with us, adding materially to the interest and pleasure of the trip by their intelligent knowledge of all we had to see and pass through.
Bridge Viaduct on the San Paulo Railway.
Well, the signal is given, and we are off, mounting an incline of about 1 in 10 for a distance of some 800 yards, where there is a curve, and we are shut out from the lower level of the line, steadily ascending the mountain, until we reach the first lift, about 1¼ miles. After a short delay, we were hooked on the second lift, and as we mount the scenery becomes grander, the shadows of the mountains deeper, and the work becomes heavier. I was surprised to find so many curves, which are an additional strain on the wire rope, as well as an additional risk, requiring close attention to the break, where we rode in order to have a good view of everything. Mr. Fox, engineer-in-chief, and Mr. Welby, locomotive superintendent, were with us, and we got down to look over Fairburn's splendid stationary engines, which are of 200 horse-power, embedded in a granite foundation, about 40 feet deep, with live boilers to each, three being generally used. The curves continue on the third lift, close to which, entering the fourth lift, is the wonderful viaduct across a chasm in the mountain, which makes your head giddy to look down. The bridge is certainly a great engineering achievement, resting on iron pillars with a stone foundation, the centre being nearly 200 feet deep. We are accustomed to great altitude of railway bridges at home and elsewhere, but there is a peculiar aerial look about this one which makes one glad to be over it. At one point in this fourth section is a fine view of a deep valley behind us, the opposite mountain one dense mass of forest, and the scene is inexpressibly grand. To have made the lifts straight would have necessitated frequent tunnelling and added another half million to the cost of construction. On reaching the top of the Serra, a distance of about five miles from its base, the break is detached, a locomotive takes hold of the six carriages which have
