To this market come the hucksters from all parts of the city for their supplies, which they then peddle from door to door. Fish and vegetables are carried in baskets that are hung on the ends of a long pole, which is balanced across the shoulder. A score or more of fowls may be placed in a basket which the peripatetic merchant carries around on his head, while the inmates cackle and crow along the way. The bread merchant carries his stock in trade on his head, in a contrivance which looks more like a baby-crib than anything else. Onions and garlic are carried on strings with the stems woven together with straw. Along the streets one will constantly hear the oddly varying cries of these house-to-house merchants, the flute-like whistles which some of them carry, and the clapping of sticks by others or the strangely penetrating noise of the scissors-grinder, which is made by touching a piece of metal to the grindstone. From the standpoint of comfort the great and imposing Avenida Central is a failure. The sun beats down unmercifully during the hot days, and it is not half so comfortable as streets like the Ouvidor, Gonçalves Diaz, Quintana and others of the business streets which are so narrow that they are shaded from curb to curb during most of the day, and the sun does not really have a fair chance to get in its work. It is, however, the centre of the street life, and at all times is a study of Brazilian life. There is always a crowd of men in the many cafés, which line this street on either side, and the tables of which are set out over half the broad sidewalk, or more. After eating his noon breakfast, a man never takes his coffee at the same restaurant, but always goes to one of the cafés where he sips a small cup of strong, black coffee, smokes a few cigarettes and gossips with his friends. The Brazilians drink coffee as the German drinks beer—not in such great quantities, but fully as often. In fact they drink so much that it must have got into their complexions. A Brazilian proverb says that good coffee must be as “strong as Satan, as black as ink, as hot as hades and as sweet as love.” It is certainly black and strong, is served hot and enough sugar is used to make it very sweet.