Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v1.djvu/313

 the better sort of people in the towns and villages on the Amazons; it seems natural to the climate, and is promoted by the occupation being well suited to the hot and lazy hours of mid-day. It is a pity the Portuguese language, on account of the poverty of its modern literature, is so poor a medium for acquiring knowledge, and that books are so scarce in Northern Brazil, otherwise the Amazonian people would not be condemned to the wretchedly narrow range of information which is now generally their lot. A system of popular education supported entirely by the Government, has been established for some time in Brazil, and a primary school for boys exists in every small town from Pará to the frontiers of the Empire. Padre Torquato was the schoolmaster, as well as the priest at Villa Nova. He had about thirty scholars, who were of all shades of colour, from the negro and Indian to the pure white. The schoolmasters, as mentioned in a former chapter, receive the same amount of salary as the priests, namely, 600 milreis, or about 70l. a year; but they are entitled to a bonus if the number of scholars exceeds a certain limit. In some of the larger villages, schools for girls have also been established. It is very desirable that these should be well supported, for the future advancement of the Brazilian people towards a better social condition depends in a great measure on the improvement in the education of their women.

Villa Nova, like most places on the main Amazons, is very healthy; it is considerably more so than Santarem, where the climate is much drier and hotter, or the regions further west, where the air is sultry and stag-