Long Autograph Letter Signed ('Frank H. Evans') from the banker Sir Francis Henry Evans, writing while a young man in Santos, Brazil, to his parents in England, describing a mishap with a tent at the turning of 'the first sod' of a railway station.

14pp., 12mo. The first 11pp. are addressed to his mother and signed, and the last 3pp. to his father and not signed (possibly indicating that a continuation is lacking). In fair condition, on aged paper, with the last leaf worn and creased. He explains his situation at the beginning of the letter: 'First of all you may see from my address above that I am in Santos, & secondly from the more cleanly appearance of the letter that I am not in the woods. - Would that I were back again for ever since I have been here I have been ill [...] On the 11th. of May we finished our Picado or in other words we worked our way well down on to the flat - the next day we came to Santos & have been here with one or two days exception ever since'. He gives 'a short account' of when 'the first sod' was 'turned': 'The affair took place just behind the convent of San Antonio - which is sold for a terminus Station to the Company - it was a good large open place & in every way favourable for such an occasion. [...] According to the general custom of Brazilians the whole lot of them came an hour too soon & found every thing in a state of confusion - for we had run our time up too near. - You may fancy our horror when we, still in our working clothes heard the national band coming & shortly after behld it marching with the guard into the grounds - attended by all the swells. Well there was nothing for it but to make them all wait & pay no attention to them till the time was up so, on we worked & on they looked (thoroughly disgusted at our cool reception of them - so much for the first mistake) | At twelve o'clock everything was all right however & the president of the Province a wretchedly small insignificant being (agaisnt whom I have a small account for examining me so boringly to see if I bore any forged notes about me when I landed in Rio di Janeiro) turned the sod - the Bishop of the diocese or whatever they call it here spat on it & blessed it & put holy water on it much to our disgust as we believe all three of these thing bosh especially the first & third - although according to the ideas of Brazilians the ceremony is not complete without each one - well, after this, a few of the gift-of-the-gab-in-their-own-opinion Brazilians jawed away for about 3/4 of an hour - the English taking it very quietly sitting down under the tent till they had finished [...] We all stuck ourselves near the ladies platform to see the far-famed Brazilian ladies - oh! horrors in horrors what a sight when they did come ! ! for one minute we all stood aghast & then as if by magic all disappeared in the crowd & noe talked more of the gentle sex that day'. He proceeds to discuss 'The "Tent affair"', with a small drawing of a tent. The weather worsens, and a gust of wind sends 'all the ladies immediately under & in the middle of the tent - well it came stronger & stronger & blew & tore up sheet & holdfasts in the ground - unknown to all ladies we then had about forty men holding for their lives on tow or three other sails. At last came a sneezer - a heavy crack above - & with a shriek & a yell the whole of our beautiful femal garrison hooked it head over heels on hands & knees out of the place jumping forms chairs &c & under the ropes securing the sails'. The women are persuaded to return, when there was a gust of wind 'such as I never felt [...] & away went 240 feet of Canvas'. The description continues in the same light tone ('Champagne & beer are rather apt to make one keep repeating to one's friends - Did you say I was drunk Sir? 'cause if you did Sir, let me tell you, I'm not sir - it's you Sir it's you Sir who are drunk'). 'Everything has been steady work since.' He describes how that day he was 'thrown or rather tumbled off a horse'. On 30 May he describes to his mother how he has 'had a dispute just now' with 'Mrs Rankine, the wife of one of our Engineers here', 'about the wife of Charles Matthews - she would have it that the present Mrs. C. M. was the former Mme. Vestris - of course I denied & she in her obstinacy would bet me a pair of gloves'. He concludes with the news that he is 'going to another ball'. To his father he writes in more businesslike terms, giving a 'short account of my progress here', with financial details. He reports that 'Bolland with whom I am on the Sierra had spoken highly of me', and that 'Not one day passes on which I do not speak all the four languages & plenty of them too. French, Germ. Portug & English. You see German after all turned out a most valuable addition.' He sends his best wishes, and asks for family news. The letter concludes 'It is an awfully sickly country & one is liable to all sorts of fatal diseases any minute - People in England sitting quietly at their jolly fires in a comfortable parlour cannot understand what it is to have as much illness round you & to know that you are quite liable to it at any moment.'