LETTERS FROM ABROAD.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 27 June 1911, Page 2

LETTERS FROM ABROAD.

(Written specially for the "Mail.") 1. HOMEWARD VIA CAPE HORN. TWO SOUTH AMERICAN CITIES. A glance at the hull of the JR.M.S. Corintfoic as she .lay at tJiie Wellington wharf gave one the idea that she would ride calmly and untroubled through. a.ny sort of sea, but this impression needed some revision when wo .-were well out in the South Pacific. Here the giant rollers came trooping up from the south-west in swift, relentless stride. Out of the grey onist a.s'tern they raced towards us, and then were quickly lost in the grayness ahead, while the Corinthic wallowed and reeled in th e trough of the sea. Thus we sailed for many days; but on one day Father Neptune exerted himself a little more than usual, giving us what the log called a "high sea." This kept the decks almost continuously awash, the watermountains crashing at out stem and tossing their foamy crests aboard. However, before" reaching Cape Horn the waves subsided, and w e rounded the South of Tierra del Fuega in a perfectly calm sea. During a whole day-$ from dawn until dark, we were within sight of the rugged, coastline in the vicinity of Cane Horn. The numberless islands were all steep and mountainous, while away on the horizon the glint of snowdad ranges could be occasionally 'seen. Four days afterwards we arrived at Monte Video, the capital of Uruguay, and after a stay of nineteen hours left I for Rio de Janeiro. The notes I have made about these two cities consist of isuperiicial impressions- of the things that were most striking and unique. As I, spent onlv a night and morning rn •Monte Video, and one day in Rio, no elaborate description or .comment has ibeen. ''attempted.

MONTE VIDEO. Que comes away from Monte Video with the impression that the city looks 'much, more attractive by night than by •day. The 'bright lights'add lustre to its beauty.- and their shadows cast a kinddy ■veil over its dilapidations. The main street, the C'alle 18 de Julio, is a great white path at -night, and the squares which intersect it are with numberless electric arc lamps. These squares—Plaza . Independeneia, Plaza Constitucion. and other's—are bea/utiiully laid out with broad stretches of tur.l, set with beds of flowers, and bordered with trees and spreading palims. The broad path-ways are paved with tiles and •concrete. Until the early hc,ur s of the morning the paths and seats were thronged with a gay fashionalble crowd, while sprayti'rig -fountains glittered overhead, and the strains 4>i music came floating from the cafes which 'border the parks-. ACono- the ia'ee-fannged CaLle de. la Julio all was light and life. Every few .yards brightiy-kit cafes, bearing the legend "Bier-Chopp," attracted the attention. These are open ail night, borne of them contain- only a> few tables, whilst others are huge apartments noisy wdth the hum tlf voices, the clink of sJiaias-es the tapping of billiard balls and the merry sounds of music. Such are the impressions of my first view of the Monte Video. Later that night, and during che following mornin" came scenes in the cdder and less fashionable quarters. Here the streets are narrow, cobble-stoned, and noisome. The city is built mainly of stone, arnd, although there are a few very large and handsome buildings, most of the structures are low and devoid of good appearance. Many buildings have, balconies, but veranc'.as are nowhere to be seen. Flat xoofs are very common, -and most places possess am inner- central courtyard containing pots c|f palms or shrubs. Everything one hears, sees, or smells .savours of things sti-ange and Spanish. Every detail of the city's normal life and activity has for the peram.bulh.tuig stranger a special and unique, interest. At all tunes the policeman is before you —a email, loose-limbed Cuban, with a black helmet, ill-fitting uniform, and white spats, armed with a sword' and revolver, and with a great-coat slung 'over his shoulder: One sees 'him everywhere, dozing in the middle of the streets, apparently always in a stand-at-ease position. Trams run in every street, and, owing to the narrowness of the thoroughfares, the lines in some places are laid within two feet of the footpaths. Here and there are to 'be seen mulle trams, whose drivers amnounce their . approach with a tooting horn. I stood on a street corner for a time and watched the traffic : Smart electric ; trams; mule waggons with high lattice sides; fine carriages'. -and high-stepping horses a /policeman with spectacles a military officer in a blazing uniform; an old negress with a basket on her ahead; t beautiful ladies wearing the most extreme of hobble skirts; mules •carrying ! panniers loaded with vegetables; dirty old men -with huge baskets of cakes and sweets; ragged urchins begging for cents., or desiring to blacken any hoots, or to sell me a "La Tribune Popular," <ox a lottery ticket. And from all around came the Tattle amd -clatter of traffic on cobble stones, and voices calling and talking a jargon I could not •understand. To my mind the most interesting scene im Monte Video was the public cemetery. Fronv under a stone-arched gateway <me passes along a glass-roofed path, with noble tombstones'on eitherr side. This leads to a handsome chapel, wdth a hi'ghgleaming dome. The interior is 'beautifully decorated, and contains a lovely array of vestments and sacred, From this building, paths radiate to, ail iparts of the cemetery. Around the outskirts of the grounds lua a high stone wall, which is honeycombed with vaults arranged five tiers deep. This wall may be said to TesemMe a picture gallery, with "in memoriam" slabs talcing -the place -Of paintings. The cemetery eontains scime magnificent states and monuments, which stand amid a profusion of trees- and flowers. We left Monte Video amid the rann and roar of a tropical thunderstorm, fierce but short-lived. Four days aftierwards we reached Rio de Janeiro,, capital of the Republic of Brazil', and-the queen of South American citaes. RIO DE JANEIRO.

We entered Rio heads at daylight and proceeded slowly up the harbour. At first little could be seen but the rugged outlines of the hills pn either hand. Then the sky quickly paled, and the sun .rose gloriously, bringing into view the tree-clad -slopes and promintorties of •the picturesque harbour. As we glided aloinic fresh scenes of beauty continually came in eight—little blue bays backed bv green hills, dotted with whit© mansions dazzling in the sunshine. Then the square forts frowned at us from either side, amd we were within the harbour proper. Shipping of aill kindls-was scat■tered about us—a five-masted .Inner squat cargo tramps, the girim Dreadho.ug.Ms "Sa© Paulo" and "Minas GreTes," a gleaming white traimng-ehap, modern destroyers, old-fashioned gamboats Along the shore, set agams* & background of brilliant green, glittered the white structures of the city, whale

further to th" right could' be seen the j blue Serras da Tijuea and Ga.vea outlined against a bluer sky. Rio -die Janeiro is quite unlike Monte Video; the .appearance and atmosphere of the city are different; the people, the language and coinage are different. The general aspect of Rio is one of beauty and magnificence., and the newest and most impontant parts of the city are very fine and imposing. Until recently all the streets ■were very narrow, and most of them were squalid and ugly. But six years .ago a great, and unique undertaking was carried out. Through thie centre of the city was cut a straight wide avenue, two miles in length. This wis paved and decorated in accordance with the best ideas of beauty and utility, and a/long its 'borders were erected handsome buildings, all designed to form a beautiful complete harmony. This striking thc/roughfaae is the Avenida Central. Along its centre and borders jure rows of trees. Its footbaths are very wide, and are paved with tiny •squares of white marble, in which scroll designs are worked with pieces of black stone. Trams do not run in this a.venue, so that its* beauty .is not marred with the ugliness of rails, posts amd wires. The buildings—shop, offices, hotels, etc.—are adll very artistic and imposing ; while the Government and municipal structures, situated at the lower end of the avenue, formi an architectural cluster of striking nobiKty and beauty. Here is the i-'eace Palace, a cream-coloured edifice gleaming ajgainstt the blue waters of the bay. Wide-winged figures surround its dome, amd at its bases are waving palms and green swaird, d'otter with beds of scarlet blossoms. This buildinig was erected "n commemoration of the Hague j.-'ea.ce Conifeirence, and Lt is now us-ed on occasions oi public ceremonial. At • a little distance are the public offices, '.national art gallery, public library, and municipal theatre, before which stand' great fountains and statues surrounded by shrubbea-y and gardens. Another magnificent thoroughfare is the Avenida Beiramar, a. chescenit-slhaped avenue bordering the waterfront. It is ibout eighty yards in width, and is beautified with miles of lawns and erariens, fringed with trees arid palms, amid lotted with fount a ins and statuairy.

Electric trains run .around its outside edge, while carriages and motor cars whizz aikvng Vh-e well-ipaived tracks. As .already statad, the streets for the most part a/re very narrow, amd in many places a tram-car can only .with difficulty pass bet-ween the two footpaths. -Most

of these streets, are excellently paved, and the paths' a.re formed with coloured tiles. Parks and squares abound in ail I directions, and' tihe brilliant na«ea oi their lawns and- -trees is very staking, ae ■one. swelters in a heat that in New Zealand would parch all tihe green- out of grass and leaves. Another fine feature of !Uo are the long rows o'f ta.ll palms—toweriing pillars of gray steftn-tufted with spreading masses of vivid green Along the Avenida do- -Ma-nigue are four lines'of these magnificent palms; in the Botanico] Garden® they border the -oaths in close ranks; while their .green heads wave over the city i.n every direct ion.— aimid factory chimneys, around shining white -mansions, a.nd a,bove dilapidated tenements. , . _

The picturesque little incidents and scenes that appear to monqpolise t!he attention in Monte Video are almost absent in Rio. Here certainly are mule waggons, noisy with jangling bells; street hawkers with miniature cake shops on their heads ; and a great number cf negroes. But the street scenes are mostly of a very fashionable and modern character; .the citizens look well-dressed and prosperous-; and 'handsome motor cars and 'busses, taxi-cabs, motor lorries, and waggons, motor street-watering carts, and otheir evidences of up-to-date-ness are continually in sight. A few hours in Rio de Janiero is just sufficient to whet the appetite, and to make one wish for a lengthy stay in its magnificent vicinity. Across the harbour is the city of Tijuca,, the capital of the state; the seaside town of Nictberoy ; and upon the green and on, the borders of blue bays stand- delightful villages that beckon the transient stranger. But our steamer will not wait, and in the late afternoon we must needs return to the ship. In the evening we continue o,ur Homeward journey, leaving behind us a thousand crescents of dazzling light—a fairy-like city floating between sea and sky. MAURICE HURST.