Bahia

Bahia, capital of the Brazilian province of the same name, next to Rio de Janeiro the largest city of the republic, on a range of hills stretching along the seashore. It is otherwise called São Salvador—the more usual term being taken from Bahia de Todos os Santos, or Bay of All Saints, on the east shore of which it is situated. The bay, which is one of the finest in America, is defended by forts, with the island of Itaparica (pop. 16,000) sheltering the entrance. It is built partly on the shore and partly on high ground; the lower town is dirty, with narrow paths. Street railways connect the city with its suburbs, and flights of steps and a hydraulic elevator aid the communication between the upper and lower town. Bahia has a university, an exchange, arsenal, and imperial dockyard, over sixty churches, and many public institutions; is the seat of an archbishop, who is primate of Brazil; and is the point of departure for a railway line to the interior. It is connected by submarine telegraph with Pernambuco, Para, and Rio. The value of imports and exports each exceeds £1,000,000 annually. The chief exports of Bahia are sugar, cotton, coffee, tobacco, rice, rum, dye-stuffs, fancy woods, cocoa-nuts, horns, hides, diamonds, and bullion; and it imports manufactured goods, provisions, flour, salt, iron, glass, and wines. Bahia is the oldest city in Brazil, and till 1763 was the capital of the colony. The bay was discovered by Amerigo Vespucci in 1503, and the city was founded by a Portuguese navigator named Correa in 1510. As a port, Bahia is unrivalled, and flags of all nations may be seen in the harbour. Unfortunately it is very unhealthy, and yellow fever and other epidemics find many victims here annually. Bahia contained, in 1892, 200,000 inhabitants, pretty equally divided between whites, blacks, and mulattoes.