Brazilian literature - Cristo Raul

8 BRAZILIAN LITERATURE
The trade wind, blowing on the eastern coast of South America,
and proceeding from the east, crosses the Atlantic ocean, and
therefore reaches the land charged with the vapours accumulated
in its passage. These vapours, on touching the shore, are, at
periodical intervals, condensed into rain ; and as their progress
westward is checked by that gigantic chain of the Andes, which
they are unable to pass, they pour the whole of their moisture on
Brazil, which, in consequence, is often deluged by the most de-
structive torrents. This abundant supply, being aided by that
vast river-system peculiar to the eastern part of America, and
being also accompanied by heat, has also stimulated the soil into
an activity unequalled in any other part of the world. Brazil,
which is nearly as large as the whole of Europe, is covered with a
vegetation of incredible profusion. Indeed, so rank.and luxuriant
is the growth, that Nature seems to riot in the very wantonness
of its power , . . Such is the flow and abundance of life by which
Brazil is marked above ail other countries of the earth. But,
amid this pomp and splendour of Nature, no place is left for Man.
He is reduced to insignificance by the majesty with which he is
surrounded. The forces that oppose him are so formidable, that
he has never been able to make head against them, never able to
rally against their accumulated pressure. The whole of Brazil,
notwithstanding its immense apparent advantages, has always
remained entirely uncivilized, its inhabitants, wandering savages,
incompetent to resist these obstacles which the very bounty of
Nature had put in their way. . . . The mountains are too high
to scale, the rivers are too wide to bridge ; everything is contrived
to keep back the human mind, and repress its rising ambition.
It is thus that the energies of Nature have hampered the spirit of
Man. Nowhere else is there so painful a contrast between the
grandeur of the external world and the littleness of the internal.
And the mind, cowed by this unequal struggle, has not only been
unable to advance, but without foreign aid it would undoubtedly
have receded. For even at present, with all the improvements
constantly introduced from Europe, there are no real signs of