Note 55 — Chapter IX · RIO JANEIRO, CAPITAL OF BRAZIL.

Yesterday an experiment was tried with a locomotive steam-engine on the rails of a finished portion of the road from Mauá to the Estrella mountain. Our ‘Weekly Correspondent’ sent us last night the following communication respecting this trip:—Whilst the political world was agitated this morning, and the sword of Damocles, ceasing its oscillations for a moment, fell on the ministry, myself, and some other curiosity seekers, amongst whom were noticed the ministers of England and of Austria, risked ourselves in a trial of the first steam-carriage that travelled over the first railway in Brazil. We crossed the bay in a vessel, also moved by Fulton’s agency, and in two hours (the steamer was of small power) we arrived at Mauá. The first part only of the pier for disembarking being laid, we climbed up by the aid of ropes, and threaded our way amongst a succession of loose and insecure planks to the shore, at the risk of taking a mud-bath. A few paces distant we saw a single, graceful-looking locomotive, with the certificate of the year of its birth and the name of its worthy papa engraved on the central wheels. The letters, in yellow metal, were as follows: ‘Wm. Fairbairn & Son, 1853. Manchester.’ The proper carriage was not yet attached; they substituted for it a rough waggon, used for the conveyance of materials, and without further delay we squatted ourselves at the bottom of this impromptu vehicle. Suddenly a prolonged and roaring shriek, a whistle with the force of 50 sopranos, screamed through the air, deafening the hearers, and causing us to raise our hands to our ears. It was the signal for departure; the warning to those who might be on the line to guard against a mortal blow; an announcement made by a tube attached to the locomotive itself. Swifter than an arrow, than the flight of a swallow, the locomotive threaded the rails, swung about, ran, flew, devoured space, and, passing through fields, barren wastes, and affrighted animals, it stopped at last breathless, at the point where the road does not yet afford a safe passage. The space traversed was a mile and three quarters, and the time occupied in the transit four minutes. It is just that we should here record the names of Messrs. Trever and Bragg; the first, for having had the boldness to undertake the enterprise, the other, for executing, with zeal and skill, the respective works. Mr. Hadfield, who also went on this excursion, appeared greatly delighted. One of his dreams for many years past has been the application of railroads and steam in this empire. Being amongst us as the representative of a company which undertook the line of steamers from Liverpool, towards the establishment of which he greatly contributed, he could see his dreams realized, as our Latin masters would say, terrâ marique. Whether it was George Stephenson or Trevithick, as the English assert, the Brothers Sequin, according to the French, or Oliver Evans, as the Americans pretend,—whoever was the inventor of locomotives, what is certain is, that humanity has taken a gigantic stride since that acquisition. The Peace Congress ought to commemorate in annual session so prodigious an invention, which can, more than half-a-dozen pompous discourses, cement the bonds of union of nations, bring nations together into one family, and develop commerce, that most powerful element of peace and greatness. What a brilliant future for Brazil do we see in the wheels of that locomotive! Happy those amongst us who may have long lives—they will pass by great cities, by great rural establishments, recollecting that on their sites were swamps and forests. Oh! if the existence of man was not so short; if, at least, we could return to this world invisible shadows, wandering in our native country, how small we should find ourselves, comparing our past, that is, our present of to-day, with the progress made by the generation then before us. But human beings are like the workmen who assist each other in raising an edifice: each age deposits its stone towards the completion of the great work. Our first stone has been laid on the plain of Mauá. The edifice is already commenced; let us not be discouraged; and if death should overtake us in the midst of the work, here are our generations to continue it. Peace, in the meantime, and eternal rest to the poor Mauar race. The invisible power has come to replace their services, with the first-fruits and benefits of which a bright morning succeeds to a dark and ugly night. May the material improvements of the country come, and with them peace and industry; and, to commence the sooner the better, let us have the roads of Minas and San Paulo.