São Paulo Railway. The story of Daniel Makinson Fox. Mod
São Paulo Railway. The story of Daniel Makinson Fox. Mod
Edinburgh, 1859
Dear Daniel,
I just received a letter from my good Brazilian friend Barão de Mauá. In the state of São Paulo, being the biggest exporter of coffee in the world, the economy is booming. There are, however, two issues. First of all, it is very hard to get the goods from the plantations to the ocean, because of the steep mountains near the coast. Second, due to the recent abolition of slavery, coffee plantations have a shortage of workers. Lots of poor immigrants, mainly Italian, arrive in Brazil every day to start a new life working on these plantations.
The man asked me to build a railway from the port of Santos to the plantations in the mainland. To transport the brown gold to the harbour, and the immigrants to the plantations. I want you to go to Brazil and build this railway for me. Given your language skills and the experience you gained recently by constructing railways in Wales and the Pyrenees, I am certain that you are the right man for the job.
Yours sincerely,
James Brunlees
Chief engineer
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