A TRIP HOME.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3020, 17 October 1908, Page 3

A TRIP HOME.

THE VOYAGE DESCRIBED. (By J. C. Alpass). No, 5. We decided to put in the rest o: •our time in seeing the city, so wt -strolled down the Avinida Central the principal street in "Rio, and i very fine street k is, of a good width and built with all new buildings oi massive structure, the shops beina constructed more after the style tha' we have been used to, although none of them have anything J ike tht window show of our modern New .Zealand shops. The side walks ai*e very wide, and in the middle of these walks, opposite hocels and drinking saloons, ,are littli tables and seats where those who choose can sit and quaff their favourite drinks, chat with each other, oi throw 'dice, a tavourite pastime. We noticed the manufactures of many American and British firms in the way of agricultural machinery, in particular. In the jewellers' shops numerous beetles anc humming birds' heads, mounted ir —"gold, attracted our attention as being something out of the usual line of jewellery. Five years ago THE STREETS OF RIO were all narrow, but a city improvement society was formed, they borrowed about eight million pounds, bought up all the property on each side uf the principal street, pulled down the old buildings, laid out the present wide street, and erected magnificent new buildings along -each side, so that at present the Avinida Central in Rio de Janerio would be a credit to any city. All the streets of Rio are now kept nice and clean, with the happy result that yellow jack has been stamped out, and the capital city of Brazil is not to be "despised or to be passed by as some loathsome pestilential place unfit for the toot of civilised man. The heat in summer is very trying to foreigners, and after five years' residence in the city or suburbs it is almost imperative that a person should take a trip for at least six months to some more temperate clime, and thus give nature an opportunity to recover and get back to a normal condition again before starting on another five years' apprenticeship to tropical Brazilian sunshine. House rent is dear in Rio, a five or six-roomed house costing about £4 per week to rent. Many of the working classs live outside the city, where rents are much lower; but daily tram and train fares to and from the city prove a serious drain on their wages. Mutton and beef in a fresh state is dear, the former being imported ;from the Argentine or New Zealand, and, costing about lid per pound retail.' Salt beef, called biltong, is largely consumed, but to outward appearance, as exhibited in the shops, it looked MORE FIT FOR MAKING BOOTS with, thar? food for the human frame. Fowls are more popular with Brazilians than mutton or beef; fish is also freely eaten Many kinds are plentiful in the rivers, and some of them are very large, weighing up to four or five hundred pounds. This country should present a good field for a temperance crusade, as everybody drinks rum, both male and female, young and old, it being put on the i table at every meal. ! There is no duty on. rum, and no licence required to sell it, consequently it is retailed by every shop at the very modest price of threepence per pint bottle. Rum, like tobacco, is locally produced, Rin possessing something under a dozen ; •distilleries where fire-water of extreme potency is manufactured. Returning through one of the narrow business streets,, we found it crowded with well-dressed people, the jewellers' shops being, perhaps, the greatest attraction. We found our steam launch waiting at the quay, and soon after four -o'clock got on board almost as close together as are sardines in a tin. Before going up the gangway on to •pur ship, the fare of 2s per head was collected, and but few of us were sorry to step on the deck of what appeared like home. Instead of starting at five, as arranged, our ship did hot lift anchor until about 9 o'clock. The men who j had arrived about ten with the lighters to take off the cargo, chiefly apples, from Tasmania, could not be induced to start work until about 1 •o'clock, consequently the ship was * unnecessarily delayed for several hours. A rumour was circulated amongst the passengers that ships were not allowed to enter or leave the harbour of Rio until the sun was up. Consequently the lonic would not be allowed to leave until morning. This, I understand, was a STRICTLY ENFORCED RULE 'a few years ago in Rio. Report says that a British ship that made the attempt to leave the harbour without carrying out some simple formalities was very soon brought to her bearings by the sound of a cannon at one of the forts, which sent a shot over the ship as a warning to stop and •carry out the rules to the letter. Of recent years, Brazil has modified these restrictions considerably, so that when our ship was ready she weighed anchor and steamed out of the harbour.

(The passengers were all on deck watching the various lights on ships and on shore. The electrical lights around the esplanade presented an illuminated crescent, which for size and beautjrwould be hard to equal. Generally speaking, the lights of the town jid not compare in beauty and variety of* colours to the hills and terraces of Wellington. After passing the lighthouse, most of the passengers retired to their bunks, thoroughly tired out for the first time after leaving Wellington. In the morning the land was still visible for several hours, but whf>n we got round Cape Frio we lost sight of the coast of South America, and were not likely to again see land until we got across tho Atlantic and caught sight of some of the islands off the coast of Africa; Teneriffe being our next port.