The port of Santos, population 80,000, is regularly visited by the large Transatlantic and North American steamers. It is called one of the best and most important ports of the world, receiving 1600 ships annually besides coasting vessels. The largest ocean steamers, 20-40 foot draft, come up to the quay which extends for three miles along the harbor front; fine granite walls rise five feet above high water mark on a base 10-20 feet thick. Modern machinery is provided, making it the best equipped port in Brazil, and nothing is allowed to interfere with the efficiency of the service. It is a very busy city though warm. The heat does not prevent people from rushing about. A Brazilian writer has said, “People do not run, they fly.” The reason for this unusual haste, by no means manifest in Rio, is that many prominent business men come daily, others occasionally, from São Paulo by morning train, returning at four P.M. A splendid railway which will be referred to later, leads to that important city, a two hours’ ride. The capital city, São Paulo, 310 miles from Rio and 50 from Santos, while lacking the charm of Rio’s scenic beauty, is preferred by many as a place of residence on account of its cooler climate, the greater business activity apparent, and the cosmopolitan society, more than one third of the population being of foreign birth and another one third direct descendants of Europeans. The city has many splendid buildings, both public and private, including an opera house superior to any in the United States, a large number of excellent schools of various kinds, and all the attractions and facilities, except good and adequate hotels, of a city of half a million inhabitants.