pressing itself deep into the coves. Perhaps no city in the world
has a more picturesque combination of mountain and water with
which to make a beautiful location. It has about a million
inhabitants, and being the federal capital, is the greatest and
most influential city in Brazil.

Most of its streets are narrow and tortuous and until recently
were considered unhealthy. A few years ago the magnificent Avenida
Central was cut through the heart of the city and one of the most
beautiful avenues in the world was built. Twelve million dollars'
worth of property was condemned to make way for this splendid
street. It cuts across a peninsula through the heart of the city
from shore to shore, and is magnificent, indeed, with its
sidewalks wrought in beautiful geometrical designs, with its
ornate street lamps, with its generous width appearing broader by
contrast with other narrow streets, with its modern buildings.

There is another street, however, which is dearer to the Brazilian
than the Avenida. He takes great pride in the Avenida, but he has
peculiar affection for the Rua d'Ouvidor. Down the Ouvidor flows a
human tide such as is found nowhere else in Brazil. No one
attempts to keep on the pavement. The street is given over
entirely to pedestrians. No vehicle ever passes down it until
after midnight. In this narrow street, with its attractive shops
filled with the highest-priced goods in the world, you can soon
find anyone you wish to meet, because before long everyone who can
reach it will pass through. In this street the happy, jesting,
jostling crowd is in one continuous "festa".

In passing through the city one is greatly impressed by the number