AUTHORITIES.--(1) General: _Manual for the Study of Monumental
Brasses_ (Oxford, 1848); Boutell's _Monumental Brasses of England_,
engravings on wood, folio (London, 1849); _Manual of Monumental
Brasses_, by H. Haines (2 vols. 8vo, 1861); Waller's _Series of
Monumental Brasses in England_ (London and Oxford, Parkers, 1863);
_Monumental Brasses_, by H.W. Macklin (8vo, 1890); _The Brasses of
England_, by H.W. Macklin (8vo, London, 1907). (2) English Counties:
Cotman's _Engravings of the most Remarkable of the Sepulchral Brasses
of Norfolk_ (4to, London, 1813-1816); and second edition, with plates
and notes by Meyrick, Albert Way and Sir Harris Nicholas (2 vols.
folio, London, 1839); _Illustrations of Monumental Brasses in
Cambridge_ (4to, Camden Society, 1846); _Monumental Brasses of
Northamptonshire_, by F. Hudson (folio, 1853); _The Monumental Brasses
of Wiltshire_, by G. Kite (8vo, London, 1860); _Architectural and
Historical Notes of the Churches of Cambridgeshire_, by A.C. Hill
(8vo, 1880); _Monumental Brasses of Cornwall_, by E.H.W. Dunken (4to,
London, 1882); _Monumental Brasses of Worcestershire and
Herefordshire_, ed. by C.T. Davis (1884); _Kentish Brasses_, by W.D.
Belcher (4to, London, 1888); _List of Monumental Brasses in the County
of Norfolk_, by the Rev. E. Farrer (Norwich, 1890); _The Monumental
Brasses of Lancashire and Cheshire_, by James Thornby (8vo, Hull,
1893); _Monumental Brasses in the Bedfordshire Churches_, by Grace
Isherwood (8vo, London, 1906), a large collection of rubbings of
special interest and value. (3) Foreign: _Monumental Brasses and
Incised Slabs in Belgium_ (8vo, 1849); _Books of Facsimiles of
Monumental Brasses of the Continent of Europe_, folio (1884), by the
Rev. W.F. Greeny.
BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG, CHARLES ETIENNE (1814-1874), Belgian
ethnographer, was born at Bourbourg, near Dunkirk, on the 8th of
September 1814. He entered the Roman Catholic priesthood, was professor
of ecclesiastical history in the Quebec seminary in 1845, vicar-general
at Boston in 1846, and from 1848 to 1863 travelled as a missionary,
chiefly in Mexico and Central America. He gave great attention to
Mexican antiquities, published in 1857-1859 a history of Aztec
civilization, and from 1861 to 1864 edited a collection of documents in
the indigenous languages. In 1863 he announced the discovery of a key to
Mexican hieroglyphic writing, but its value is very questionable. In
1864 he was archaeologist to the French military expedition in Mexico,
and his _Monuments anciens du Mexique_ was published by the French
Government in 1866. Perhaps his greatest service was the publication in
1861 of a French translation of the _Popol Vuh_, a sacred book of the
Quiche Indians, together with a Quiche grammar, and an essay on Central
American mythology. In 1871 he brought out his _Bibliotheque
Mexico-Guatemalienne_, and in 1869-1870 gave the principles of his
decipherment of Indian picture-writing in his _Manuscrit Troano, etudes
sur le systeme graphique et la langue des Mayas._ He died at Nice on the
8th of January 1874. His chief merit is his diligent collection of
materials; his interpretations are generally fanciful.
BRASSEY, THOMAS (1805-1870), English railway contractor, was born at
Buerton, near Chester, on the 7th of November 1805. His father, besides
cultivating land of his own, held a large farm of the marquess of
Westminster; his ancestors, according to family tradition, having been
settled for several centuries at Bulkeley, near Malpas, Cheshire, before
they went to Buerton in 1663. Thomas Brassey received an ordinary
commercial education at a Chester school. At the age of sixteen he was
apprenticed to a surveyor, and on the completion of his term became the
partner of his master, eventually assuming the sole management of the
business. In the local surveys to which he devoted his attention during
his early years he acquired the knowledge and practical experience which
were the necessary foundation of his great reputation. His first
engagement as railway contractor was entered upon in 1835, when he
undertook the execution of a portion of the Grand Junction railway, on
the invitation of the distinguished engineer Joseph Locke, who soon
afterwards entrusted him with the completion of the London and
Southampton railway, a task which involved contracts to the amount of
L4,000,000 sterling and the employment of a body of 3000 men. At the
same time he was engaged on portions of several other lines in the north
of England and in Scotland. In conjunction with his partner, W.
Mackenzie, Brassey undertook, in 1840, the construction of the railway
from Paris to Rouen, of which Locke was engineer. He subsequently
carried out the extension of the same line. A few years later he was
engaged with his partner on five other French lines, and on his own
account on the same number of lines in England, Wales and Scotland.
Brassey was now in control of an industrial army of 75,000 men, and the
capital involved in his various contracts amounted to some L36,000,000.
But his energy and capacity were equal to still larger tasks. He
undertook in 1851 other works in England and Scotland; and in the
following year he engaged in the construction of railways in Holland,
Prussia, Spain and Italy. One of his largest undertakings was the Grand
Trunk railway of Canada, 1100 m. in length, with its fine bridge over
the St Lawrence. In this work he was associated with Sir M. Peto and
E.L. Betts. In the following years divisions of his industrial army were
found in almost every country in Europe, in India, in Australia and in
South America. Besides actual railway works, he originated and
maintained a great number of subordinate assistant establishments, coal
and iron works, dockyards, &c., the direction of which alone would be
sufficient to strain the energies of an ordinary mind. His profits were,
of course, enormous, but prosperity did not intoxicate him; and when
heavy losses came, as sometimes they did, he took them bravely and
quietly. Among the greatest of his pecuniary disasters were those caused
by the fall of the great Barentin viaduct on the Rouen and Havre
railway, and by the failure of Peto and Betts. Brassey was one of the
first to aim at improving the relations between engineers and
contractors, by setting himself against the corrupt practices which were
common. He resolutely resisted the "scamping" of work and the bribery of
inspectors, and what he called the "smothering of the engineer"; and he
did much in this way to bring about a better state of things.
Large-hearted and generous to a rare degree, modest and simple in his
taste and manners, he was conscious of his power as a leader in his
calling, and knew how to use it wisely and for noble ends. Honours came
to him unsought. The cross of the Legion of Honour was conferred on him.
From Victor Emmanuel he received the cross of the Order of St Maurice
and St Lazarus; and from the emperor of Austria the decoration of the
Iron Crown, which it is said had not before been given to a foreigner.
He died at St Leonards on the 8th of December 1870. His life and labours
are commemorated in a volume by Sir Arthur Helps (1872).
He left three sons, of whom the eldest, THOMAS (b. 1836), was knighted
and afterwards (1886) created BARON BRASSEY. Lord Brassey, who was
educated at Rugby and Oxford, entered parliament as a liberal in 1865,
and devoted himself largely to naval affairs. He was civil lord of the
admiralty (1880-1883), and secretary to the admiralty (1883-1885); and
both before and after his elevation to the peerage did important work on
naval and statistical inquiries for the government. In 1893-1805 he was
president of the Institution of Naval Architects. In 1894 he was a
lord-in-waiting, and from 1895 to 1900 was governor of Victoria. In 1908
he was appointed lord warden of the Cinque Ports. His voyages in his
yacht "Sunbeam" from 1876 onwards, with his first wife (d. 1887), who
published an interesting book on the subject, took him all over the
world. Lord Brassey married a second time in 1890. Among other
publications, his inauguration of the _Naval Annual_ (1886 onwards), and
his volumes on _The British Navy_, are the most important. His eldest
son Thomas, who edited the _Naval Annual_ (1890-1904), and
unsuccessfully contested several parliamentary constituencies, was born
in 1862.
BRASSO (Ger. _Kronstadt_; Rumanian, _Brasov_), a town of Hungary, in
Transylvania, 206 m. S.E. of Kolozsvar by rail. Pop. (1900) 34,511. It
is the capital of the comitat (county) of the same name, also known as
Burzenland, a fertile country inhabited by an industrious population of
Germans, Magyars and Rumanians. Brasso is beautifully situated on the
slopes of the Transylvanian Alps, in a narrow valley, shut in by
mountains, and presenting only one opening on the north-west towards the
Burzen plain. The town is entirely dominated by the Zinne of
Kapellenberg, a mountain rising 1276 ft. above the town (total altitude
3153 ft.), from which a beautiful view is obtained of the lofty
mountains around and of the carefully cultivated plain of the
Burzenland, dotted with tastefully built and well-kept villages. On the
summit of the mountain is one of the numerous monuments erected in 1896
in different parts of the country to commemorate the thousandth
anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian state. It is known as
Arpad's Monument, and consists of a Doric column erected on a circular
pedestal, which supports the bronze figure of a warrior from the time of
Arpad.
Brasso consists of the inner town, which is the commercial centre, and
the suburbs of Blumenau, Altstadt and Obere Vorstadt or Bolgarszeg,
inhabited respectively by Germans, Magyars and Rumanians. To the east of
the inner town rises the Schlossberg, crowned by the citadel, which was
erected in 1553, and constitutes the principal remaining fragment of the
old fortifications with which Brasso was encircled. The most interesting
building in the town is the Protestant church, popularly called the
Black Church, owing to its smoke-stained walls, caused by the great fire
of 1689. This church, the finest in Transylvania, is a Gothic edifice
with traces of Romanesque influence, and was built in 1385-1425. In the
square in front of it is the statue of Johannes Honterus (1498-1549),
"the apostle of Transylvania," who was born in Brasso, and established
here the first printing-press in Transylvania. In the principal square
of the inner town stands the town hall, built in 1420 and restored in
the 18th century, with a tower 190 ft. high. Brasso is the most
important commercial and manufacturing town of Transylvania. Lying near
the frontier of Rumania, with easy access through the Tomos pass, it
developed from the earliest time an active trade with that country and
with the whole of the Balkan states. Its chief industries are iron and
copper works, wool-spinning, turkey-red dyeing, leather goods, paper,
cement and petroleum refineries. The timber industry in all its
branches, with a speciality for the manufacture of the wooden bottles
largely used by the peasantry in Hungary and in the Balkan states, as
well as the dairy industry, and ham-curing are also fully developed. A
peculiarity of Brasso, which constitutes a survival of the old methods
of trade with the Balkan states, is the number of money-changers who ply
their trade at small movable tables in the market-place and in the open
street. Brasso is the most populous town of Transylvania, and its
population is composed in about equal numbers of Germans, Magyars and
Rumanians. The town, especially on market days, presents an animated and
picturesque aspect. Here are seen Germans, Szeklers, Magyars, Rumanians,
Armenians and Gipsies, each of them wearing their distinctive national
costume, and talking and bargaining in their own special idiom.
Amongst the places of interest round Brasso is the watering-place
Zaizon, 15 m. to the east, with ferruginous and iodine waters; while
about 17 m. to the south-west lies the pretty Rumanian village of
Zernest, where in 1690 the Austrian general Heussler was defeated and
taken prisoner by Imre (Emerich) Tokoly, the usurper of the
Transylvanian throne.
Brasso was founded by the Teutonic Order in 1211, and soon became a
flourishing town. Through the activity of Honterus it played a leading
part in the introduction of the Reformation in Transylvania in the 16th
century. The town was almost completely destroyed by the big fire of
1689. During the revolution of 1848-1849 it was besieged by the
Hungarians under General Bern from March to July 1849, and several
engagements between the Austrian and the Hungarian troops took place in
its neighbourhood.
BRATHWAIT, RICHARD (1588-1673), English poet, son of Thomas Brathwait,
was born in 1588 at his father's manor of Burneshead, near Kendal,
Westmorland. He entered Oriel College, Oxford, in 1604, and remained
there for some years, pursuing the study of poetry and Roman history. He
removed to Cambridge to study law and afterwards to London to the Inns
of Court. Thomas Brathwait died in 1610, and the son went down to live
on the estate he inherited from his father. In 1617 he married Frances
Lawson of Nesham, near Darlington. On the death of his elder brother,
Sir Thomas Brathwait, in 1618, Richard became the head of the family,
and an important personage in the county, being deputy-lieutenant and
justice of the peace. In 1633 his wife died, and in 1639 he married
again. His only son by this second marriage, Sir Stafford Brathwait, was
killed in a sea-fight against the Algerian pirates. Richard Brathwait's
most famous work is _Barnabae Itinerarium or Barnabees Journall_ [1638],
by "Corymbaeus," written in English and Latin rhyme. The title-page says
it is written for the "travellers' solace" and is to be chanted to the
old tune of "Barnabe." The story of "drunken Barnabee's" four journeys
to the north of England contains much amusing topographical information,
and its gaiety is unflagging. Barnabee rarely visits a town or village
without some notice of an excellent inn or a charming hostess, but he
hardly deserves the epithet "drunken." At Banbury he saw the Puritan who
has become proverbial,
"Hanging of his cat on Monday
For killing of a Mouse on Sunday."
Brathwait's identity with "Corymbaeus" was first established by Joseph
Haslewood. In his later years he removed to Catterick, where he died on
the 4th of May 1673. Among his other works are: _The Golden Fleece_
(1611), with a second title-page announcing "sonnets and madrigals," and
a treatise on the _Art of Poesy_, which is not preserved; _The Poets
Willow; or the Passionate Shepheard_ (1614); _The Prodigals Teares_
(1614); _The Schollers Medley, or an intermixt Discourse upon Historicall
and Poeticall relations_ (1614), known in later editions as a _Survey of
History_ (1638, &c.); a collection of epigrams and satires entitled _A
Strappado for the Divell_ (1615), with which was published incongruously
_Loves Labyrinth_ (edited, 1878, by J.W. Ebsworth); _Natures Embassie;
or, the wildemans measures; danced naked by twelve satyres_ (1621),
thirty satires finding antique parallels for modern vices; with these are
bound up _The Shepheards Tales_ (1621), a collection of pastorals, one
section of which was reprinted by Sir Egerton Brydges in 1815; two
treatises on manners, _The English Gentleman_ (1630) and _The English
Gentlewoman_ (1631); _Anniversaries upon his Panarete_ (1634), a poem in
memory of his wife; _Essaies upon the Five Senses_ (1620); _The Psalmes
of David ... and other holy Prophets, paraphras'd in English_ (1638); _A
Comment upon Two Tales of ... Jeffray Chaucer_ (1665; edited for the
Chaucer Soc. by C. Spurgeon, 1901). Thomas Hearne, on whose testimony
(MS. collections for the year 1713, vol. 47, p. 127) the authorship of
the _Itinerarium_ chiefly rests, not inappropriately called him "the
scribler of those times," and the list just given of his works, published
under various pseudonyms, is by no means complete.
A full bibliography is given in Joseph Haslewood's edition of
_Barnabee's Journall_ (ed. W.C. Hazlitt, 1876). See also J. Corser,
_Collectanea_ (Chetham Soc., 1860, &c.).
BRATIANU (or BRATIANO), ION C. (1821-1891), Rumanian statesman, was born
at Pitesci in Walachia on the 2nd of June 1821. He entered the Walachian
army in 1838, and visited Paris in 1841 for purposes of study. Returning
to Walachia, he took part, with his friend C.A. Rosetti and other
prominent politicians, in the Rumanian rebellion of 1848, and acted as
prefect of police in the provisional government formed in that year. The
restoration of Russian and Turkish authority shortly afterwards drove
him into exile. He took refuge in Paris, and endeavoured to influence
French opinion in favour of the proposed union and autonomy of the
Danubian principalities. In 1854, however, he was sentenced to a fine of
L120 and three months' imprisonment for sedition, and later confined in
a lunatic asylum; but in 1856 he returned home with his brother,
Dimitrie Bratianu, afterwards one of his foremost political opponents.
During the reign of Prince Cuza (1859-1866), Bratianu figured
prominently as one of the Liberal leaders. He assisted in 1866 in the
deposition of Cuza and the election of Prince Charles of Hohenzollern,
under whom he held several ministerial appointments during the next four
years. He was arrested for complicity in the revolution of 1870, but
soon released. In 1876, aided by C.A. Rosetti, he formed a Liberal
cabinet, which remained in power until 1888. For an account of his work
in connexion with the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, the Berlin congress,
the establishment of the Rumanian kingdom, the revision of the
constitution, and other reforms, see RUMANIA. After 1883 Bratianu acted
as sole leader of the Liberals, owing to a quarrel with C.A. Rosetti,
his friend and political ally for nearly forty years. His long tenure of
office, without parallel in Rumanian history, rendered Bratianu
extremely unpopular, and at its close his impeachment appeared
inevitable. But any proceedings taken against the minister would have
involved charges against the king, who was largely responsible for his
policy; and the impeachment was averted by a vote of parliament in
February 1890. Bratianu died on the 16th of May 1891. Besides being the
leading statesman of Rumania during the critical years 1876-1888, he
attained some eminence as a writer. His French political pamphlets,
_Memoire sur l'empire d'Autriche dans la question d'Orient_ (1855),
_Reflexions sur la situation_ (1856), _Memoire sur la situation de la
Moldavie depuis le traite de Paris_ (1857), and _La Question religieuse
en Roumanie_ (1866), were all published in Paris.
For his other writings and speeches see _Din Scrierile si cuvintarile
lui I.C. Bratianu_, 1821-1891 (Bucharest, 1903, &c.), edited with a
biographical introduction by D.A. Sturza. A brief anonymous biography,
_Ion C. Bratianu_, appeared at Bucharest in 1893.
BRATLANDSDAL (i.e. Bratland valley), a gorge of southern Norway in
Stavanger _amt_ (county), formed by the Bratland river, a powerful
torrent issuing into Lake Suldal. A remarkable road traverses the gorge
by means of cuttings and a tunnel, and the scenery is among the most
magnificent in Norway. It is usually approached from Stavanger by way of
Sand and Lake Suldal, and the road divides above the gorge, branches
running north to Odde and south-east through Telemarken. The junction
of the roads is near Breifond, 13 m. above Naes at the mouth of the
river, on the west shore of Lake Roldal, which is fed by the snowfield
to the west, north and east, and is drained by the Bratland river.
BRATTISHING, or BRANDISHING (from the Fr. _breteche_), in architecture,
a sort of crest or ridge on a parapet, or species of embattlement. The
term, however, is generally employed to describe the ranges of flowers
which form the crests of so many parapets in the Tudor period.
BRATTLEBORO, a village of Windham county, Vermont, U.S.A., in a township
(pop. 1910, 7541) of the same name, in the south-east part of the state,
60 m. N. of Springfield, Massachusetts, on the Connecticut river. Pop.
(1890) 5467; (1900) 5297 (686 foreign-born); (1910) 6517. It is served
by the Central Vermont and the Boston & Maine railways. Situated in a
hilly, heavily wooded country, it is an attractive place, with a few
houses dating from the 18th century. Among the manufactures are toys,
furniture, overalls and organs, the Estey and the Carpenter organs being
made there. First settled about 1753, Brattleboro took its name from one
of the original patentees, William Brattle (1702-1776), a Massachusetts
loyalist. It was incorporated ten years later.
See H. Burnham, _Brattleboro_ (Brattleboro, 1880), and H.M. Burt, _The
Attractions of Brattleboro, Glimpses of Past and Present_
(Brattleboro, 1866).
BRAUNAU (Czech _Broumov_), a town of Bohemia, Austria, 139 m. E.N.E. of
Prague by rail. Pop. (1900) 7622, chiefly German. The town is built on a
rocky eminence on the right bank of the Steine. It has an imposing
Benedictine abbey, once a castle, but converted into a religious house
in 1322, when Ottakar I. gave the district to the Benedictines.
Noteworthy also is the great church of Saints Wenceslaus and Adalbert,
built between 1683 and 1733. This stands on the site where, in 1618, the
Protestants attempted to build a church, the forcible prevention of
which by Abbot Wolfgang Solander was the immediate cause of the protest
of the Bohemian estates and the "defenestration" of the ministers
Martinic and Slavata, which opened the Thirty Years' War. After the
battle of the White Hill, near Prague (1620), the town was deprived of
all its privileges, which were, however, in great part restored nine
years later. It is now a manufacturing centre (cloth, woollen and cotton
stuffs, &c.) and has a considerable trade.
BRAUNSBERG, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Prussia, 38 m. by rail
S.W. of Konigsberg, on the Passarge, 4 m. from its mouth in the Frisches
Haff. Pop. (1900) 12,497. It possesses numerous Roman Catholic
institutions, of which the most important is the Lyceum Hosianum
(enjoying university rank), founded in 1564 by the cardinal bishop
Stanislaus Hosius. Brewing, tanning, and the manufactures of soap,
yeast, carriages and bricks are the most important industries of the
town, which also carries on a certain amount of trade in corn, ship
timber and yarn. The river is navigable for small vessels. The castle of
Braunsberg was built by the Teutonic knights in 1241, and the town was
founded ten years later. Destroyed by the Prussians in 1262, it was
restored in 1279. The town, which was the seat of the bishops of
Ermeland from 1255 to 1298, was granted the "law of Lubeck" by its
bishop in 1284, and admitted to the Hanseatic League. After numerous
vicissitudes it fell into the hands of the Poles in 1520, and in 1626 it
was captured by Gustavus Adolphus. The Swedes kept possession till 1635.
It fell to Prussia by the first partition of Poland in 1772.
BRAVO (Ital. for "brave"), the name for hired assassins such as were
formerly common in Italy. The word had at first no evil meaning, but was
applied to the retainers of the great noble houses, or to the
cavalier-type of swashbucklers familiar in fiction. In later Italian
history, especially in that of Venice, the _bravi_ were desperate
ruffians who for payment were ready to commit any crime, however foul.
BRAWLING (probably connected with Ger. _brallen_, to roar, shout), in
law, the offence of quarrelling, or creating a disturbance in a church
or churchyard. During the early stages of the Reformation in England
religious controversy too often became converted into actual
disturbance, and the ritual lawlessness of the parochial clergy very
frequently provoked popular violence. To repress these disturbances an
act was passed in 1551, by which it was enacted "that if any person
shall, by words only, quarrel, chide or brawl in any church or
churchyard, it shall be lawful for the ordinary of the place where the
same shall be done and proved by two lawful witnesses, to suspend any
person so offending, if he be a layman, from the entrance of the church,
and if he be a clerk, from the ministration of his office, for so long
as the said ordinary shall think meet, according to the fault." An act
of 1553 added the punishment of imprisonment until the party should
repent. The act of 1551 was partly repealed in 1828 and wholly repealed
as regards laymen by the Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860.
Under that act, which applies to Ireland as well as to England, persons
guilty of riotous, violent or indecent behaviour, in churches and
chapels of the Church of England or Ireland, or in any chapel of any
religious denomination, or in England in any place of religious worship
duly certified, or in churchyards or burial-grounds, are liable on
conviction before two justices to a penalty of not more than L5, or
imprisonment for any term not exceeding two months. This enactment
applies to clergy as well as to laity, and a clergyman of the Church of
England convicted under it may also be dealt with under the Clergy
Discipline Act of 1892 (_Girt v. Fillingham_, 1901, L.R. Prob. 176).
When Mr J. Kensit during an ordination service in St Paul's cathedral
"objected" to one of the candidates for ordination, on grounds which did
not constitute an impediment or notable crime within the meaning of the
ordination service, he was held to have unlawfully disturbed the bishop
of London in the conduct of the service, and to be liable to conviction
under the act of 1860 (_Kensit_ v. _Dean and Chapter of St Paul's_,
1905, L.R. 2 K.B. 249). The public worship of Protestant Dissenters,
Roman Catholics and Jews in England had before 1860 been protected by a
series of statutes beginning with the Toleration Act of 1689, and ending
with the Liberty of Religious Worship Act 1855. These enactments, though
not repealed, are for practical purposes superseded by the summary
remedy given by the act of 1860. In Scotland disturbance of public
worship is punishable as a breach of the peace (_Dougall_ v. _Dykes_,
1861, 4 Irvine 101).
In British possessions abroad interference with religious worship is
usually dealt with by legislation, and not as a common-law offence. In
India it is an offence voluntarily to cause disturbance to any assembly
lawfully engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious
ceremonies (Penal Code, s. 296). Under the Queensland Criminal Code of
1899 (s. 207) penalties are imposed on persons who wilfully and without
lawful justification or excuse (the proof of which lies on them)
disquiet or disturb any meeting of persons lawfully assembled for
religious worship, or assault any forces lawfully officiating at such
meeting, or any of the persons there assembled.
In the United States disturbance of religious worship is treated as an
offence under the common law, which is in many states supplemented by
legislation (see Bishop, _Amer. Crim. Law_, 8th ed. 1892, vol. i. s.
542, vol. ii. ss. 303-305; California Penal Code, s. 302; _Revised Laws
of Massachusetts_, 1902, chap. 212, s. 30.).
BRAY, SIR REGINALD (d. 1503), British statesman and architect, was the
second son of Sir Richard Bray, one of the privy council of Henry VI.
Reginald was born in the parish of St John Bedwardine, near Worcester,
but the date of his birth is uncertain. He was receiver-general and
steward of the household to Sir Henry Stafford, second husband of
Margaret, countess of Richmond, whose son afterwards became King Henry
VII. The accession of the king Henry VII. favoured the fortunes of
Reginald Bray, who was created a knight of the Bath at the coronation
and afterwards a knight of the Garter. In the first year of Henry VII.'s
reign he was given a grant of the constableship of Oakham Castle in
Rutland, and was appointed joint chief justice with Lord Fitz Walter of
all the forest south of Trent and chosen of the privy council.
Subsequently he was made high treasurer and chancellor of the duchy of
Lancaster. In October 1494 he became high steward of the university of
Oxford, and he was a member of the parliament summoned in the 11th year
of Henry VII's reign. In June 1497 he was at the battle of Blackheath,
and his services in repressing the Cornish rebels were rewarded with a
gift of estates and the title of knight banneret. His taste and skill in
architecture are attested by Henry VII.'s chapel at Westminster and St
George's chapel at Windsor. He directed the building of the former, and
the finishing and decoration of the latter, to which, moreover, he was a
liberal contributor, building at his own expense a chapel still called
by his name and ornamented with his crest, the initial letters of his
name, and a device representing the hemp-bray, an instrument used by
hemp manufacturers. He died in 1503, before the Westminster chapel was
completed, and was interred in St George's chapel.
BRAY, THOMAS (1656-1730), English divine, was born at Marton,
Shropshire, in 1656, and educated at All Souls' College, Oxford. After
leaving the university he was appointed vicar of Over-Whitacre, and
rector of Sheldon in Warwickshire, where he wrote his famous
_Catechetical Lectures_. Henry Compton, bishop of London, appointed him
in 1696 as his commissary to organize the Anglican church in Maryland,
and he was in that colony in 1699-1700. He took a great interest in
colonial missions, especially among the American Indians, and it is to
his exertions that the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel owes
its existence. He also projected a successful scheme for establishing
parish libraries in England and America, out of which grew the Society
for Promoting Christian Knowledge. From 1706 till his death in February
1730 he was rector of St Botolph-Without, Aldgate, London, being
unceasingly engaged in philanthropic and literary pursuits.
BRAY, a village in the Wokingham parliamentary division of Berkshire,
England, beautifully situated on the west (right) bank of the Thames, 1
m. S. of Maidenhead Bridge. Pop. (1901) 2978. There are numerous
riverside residences in the locality. The church of St Michael has
portions of various dates from the Early English period onward, and is
much restored. It contains a number of brasses of the 14th, 15th, 16th
and 17th centuries. A well-known ballad, "The Vicar of Bray," tells how
a vicar held his position by easy conversions of faith according to
necessity, from the days of Charles II. until the accession of George I.
and the foundation of "the illustrious house of Hanover" (1714). One
Francis Carswell, who is buried in the church, was vicar for forty-two
years, approximately during this period, dying in 1709; but the legend
is earlier, and the name of the vicar who gave rise to it is not
certainly known. That of Simon Aleyn, who held the office from c. 1540
to 1588, is generally accepted, as, in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward
VI., Mary and Elizabeth, he is said to have been successively Papist,
Protestant, Papist and Protestant. The name of Simon Simonds is also
given on the authority of the vicar of the parish in 1745; Simonds died
a canon of Windsor in 1551, but had been vicar of Bray. Tradition
ascribes the song to a soldier in Colonel Fuller's troop of dragoons in
the reign of George I.
BRAY, a seaport and watering-place of Co. Wicklow, Ireland, 12 m. S.S.E.
of Dublin on the Dublin & South-Eastern railway, situated on both sides
of the river Bray. Pop. of urban district (1901) 7424. For parliamentary
purposes it is divided between the eastern division of county Wicklow
and the southern of county Dublin. A harbour was constructed by the
urban district council (the harbour authority) which accommodates ships
of 400 tons. There is some industry in brewing, milling and fishing, but
the town, which is known as the "Irish Brighton," is almost wholly
dependent for its prosperity on visitors from Dublin and elsewhere. It
therefore possesses all the equipments of a modern seaside resort; there
is a fine sea-wall with esplanade upwards of a mile in length; the
bathing is good, and race meetings are held. The town is rapidly
increasing in size. The coast, especially towards the promontory of Bray
Head, offers beautiful sea-views, and some of the best inland scenery in
the county is readily accessible, such as the Glens of the Dargle and
the Downs, the demesne of Powerscourt, the Bray river, with its loughs,
and the pass of the Scalp. The demesne of Kilruddery, the seat of the
earls of Meath, is specially beautiful. About 1170 Bray was bestowed by
Richard de Clare or Strongbow, earl of Pembroke and Strigul, on Walter
de Reddesford, who took the title of baron of Bray, and built a castle.
BRAYLEY, EDWARD WEDLAKE (1773-1854), English antiquary and topographer,
was born at Lambeth, London, in 1773. He was apprenticed to the
enamelling trade, but early developed literary tastes. He formed a close
friendship with John Britton, which lasted for sixty-five years. They
entered into a literary partnership, and after some small successes at
song and play writing they became joint editors of _The Beauties of
England and Wales_, themselves writing many of the volumes. Long after
he had become famous as a topographer, Brayley continued his enamel
work. In 1823 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He
died in London on the 23rd of September 1854. His other works include
_Sir Reginalde or the Black Tower_ (1803); _Views in Suffolk, Norfolk
and Northamptonshire, illustrative of works of Robt. Bloowifield_
(1806); _Lambeth Palace_ (1806); _The History of the Abbey Church of
Westminster_ (2 vols., 1818); _Topographical Sketches of
Brighthelmstone_ (1825); _Historical and Descriptive Accounts of
Theatres of London_ (1826); _Londiniana_ (1829); _History of Surrey_ (5
vols., 1841-1848).
BRAZIER (from the Fr. _brasier_, which comes from _braise_, hot
charcoal), a metal receptacle for holding burning coals or charcoal,
much used in southern Europe and the East for warming rooms. Braziers
are often elegant in form, and highly artistic in ornamentation, with
chased or embossed feet and decorated exteriors.
BRAZIL, or BRASIL, a legendary island in the Atlantic Ocean. The name
connects itself with the red dye-woods so called in the middle ages,
possibly also applied to other vegetable dyes, and so descending from
the _Insulae Purpurariae_ of Pliny. It first appears as the _I. de
Brazi_ in the Venetian map of Andrea Bianco (1436), where it is found
attached to one of the larger islands of the Azores. When this group
became better known and was colonized, the island in question was
renamed Terceira. It is probable that the familiar existence of "Brazil"
as a geographical name led to its bestowal upon the vast region of South
America, which was found to supply dye-woods kindred to those which the
name properly denoted. The older memory survived also, and the Island of
Brazil retained its place in mid-ocean, some hundred miles to the west
of Ireland, both in the traditions of the forecastle and in charts. In
J. Purdy's _General Chart of the Atlantic_, "corrected to 1830," the
"Brazil Rock (high)" is marked with no indication of doubt, in 51 deg.
10' N. and 15 deg. 50' W. In a chart of currents by A.G. Findlay, dated
1853, these names appear again. But in his 12th edition of Purdy's
_Memoir Descriptive and Explanatory of the N. Atlantic Ocean_ (1865),
the existence of Brazil and some other legendary islands is briefly
discussed and rejected. (See also ATLANTIS.)
BRAZIL, a republic of South America, the largest political division of
that continent and the third largest of the western hemisphere. It is
larger than the continental United States excluding Alaska, and slightly
larger than the great bulk of Europe lying east of France. Its extreme
dimensions are 2629 m. from Cape Orange (4 deg. 21' N.) almost due south
to the river Chuy (33 deg. 45' S. lat.), and 2691 m. from Olinda (Ponta
de Pedra, 8 deg. 0' 57" S., 34 deg. 50' W.) due west to the Peruvian
frontier (about 73 deg. 50' W.). The most northerly point, the Serra
Roraima on the Venezuela and British Guiana frontier (5 deg. 10' N.), is
56 m. farther north than Cape Orange. The area, which was augmented by
more than 60,000 sq. m. in 1903 and diminished slightly in the boundary
adjustment with British Guiana (1904), is estimated to have been
3,228,452 sq. m. in 1900 (A. Supan, _Die Bevolkerung der Erde_, Gotha,
1904). A subsequent planimetric calculation, which takes into account
these territorial changes, increases the area to 3,270,000 sq. m.
_Boundaries._--Brazil is bounded N. by Colombia, Venezuela and the
Guianas, N.E., E. and S.E. by the Atlantic, S. by Uruguay, Paraguay and
Bolivia, and W. by Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and
Colombia. Its territory touches that of every South American nation,
except Chile, and with each one there has been a boundary dispute at
some stage in its political life. The Spanish and Portuguese crowns
attempted to define the limits between their American colonies in 1750
and 1777, and the lines adopted still serve in great part to separate
Brazil from its neighbours. Lack of information regarding the
geographical features of the interior, however, led to some indefinite
descriptions, and these have been fruitful sources of dispute ever
since. The Portuguese were persistent trespassers in early colonial
times, and their land-hunger took them far beyond the limits fixed by
Pope Alexander VI. In the boundary disputes which have followed, Brazil
seems to have pursued this traditional policy, and generally with
success.
Beginning at the mouth of the Arroyo del Chuy, at the southern extremity
of a long sandbank separating Lake Mirim from the Atlantic (33 deg.45'
S. lat.), the boundary line between Brazil and Uruguay passes up that
rivulet and across to the most southerly tributary of Lake Mirim, thence
down the western shore of that lake to the Jaguarao and up that river to
its most southerly source. The line then crosses to the hill-range
called Cuchilla de Sant' Anna, which is followed in a north-west
direction to the source of the Cuareim, or Quarahy, this river becoming
the boundary down to the Uruguay. This line was fixed by the treaty of
1851, by which the control of Lake Mirim remains with Brazil. Beginning
at the mouth of the Quarahy, the boundary line between Brazil and
Argentina ascends the Uruguay, crosses to the source of the Santo
Antonio, and descends that small stream and the Iguassu to the Parana,
where it terminates. This line was defined by the treaty of 1857, and by
the decision of President Cleveland in 1895 with regard to the small
section between the Uruguay and Iguassu rivers. The boundary with
Paraguay was definitely settled in 1872. It ascends the Parana to the
great falls of Guayra, or Sete Quedas, and thence westward along the
water-parting of the Sierra de Maracayu to the _cerro_ of that name,
thence northerly along the Sierra d'Amambay to the source of the
Estrella, a small tributary of the Apa, and thence down those two
streams to the Paraguay. From this point the line ascends the Paraguay
to the mouth of the Rio Negro, the outlet of the Bahia Negra, where the
Bolivian boundary begins. As regards the Peruvian boundary, an agreement
was reached in 1904 to submit the dispute to the arbitration of the
president of Argentina in case further efforts to reach an amicable
settlement failed. The provisional line, representing the Brazilian
claim, begins at the termination of the Bolivian section (the
intersection of the 11th parallel with the meridian of 72 deg. 26' W.
approx.) and follows a semicircular direction north-west and north to
the source of the Javary (or Yavary), to include the basins of the Purus
and Jurua within Brazilian jurisdiction. The line follows the Javary to
its junction with the Amazon, and runs thence north by east direct to
the mouth of the Apaporis, a tributary of the Yapura, in about 1 deg.
30' S. lat., 69 deg. 20' W. long., where the Peruvian section ends. The
whole of this line, however, was subject to future adjustments, Peru
claiming all that part of the Amazon valley extending eastward to the
Madeira and lying between the Beni and the east and west boundary line
agreed upon by Spain and Portugal in 1750 and 1777, which is near the
7th parallel. With regard to the section between the Amazon and the
Apaporis river, already settled between Brazil and Peru, the territory
has been in protracted dispute between Peru, Ecuador and Colombia; but a
treaty of limits between Brazil and Ecuador was signed in 1901 and
promulgated in 1905. The boundary with Colombia, fixed by treaty of
April 24, 1907, follows the lower rim of the Amazon basin, as defined by
Brazil. The Colombian claim included the left bank of the Amazon
eastward to the Auahy or Avahy-parana channel between the Amazon and
Yapura, whence the line ran northward to the Negro near the intersection
of the 66th meridian. The Brazilian line ran north and north-west from
the mouth of the Apaporis to the 70th meridian, which was followed to
the water-parting south of the Uaupes basin, thence north-east to the
Uaupes river, which was crossed close to the 69th meridian, thence
easterly along the Serra Tunaji and Isana river to Cuyari, thence
northerly up the Cuyari and one of its small tributaries to the Serra
Capparro, and thence east and south-east along this range to the Cucuhy
rock (Pedra de Cucuhy) on the left bank of the Negro, where the
Colombian section ends. Negotiations for the settlement of this
controversy, which involved fully one-third of the state of Amazonas,
were broken off in 1870, but were resumed in 1905. The boundary with
Venezuela, which was defined by a treaty of 1859, runs south-eastward
from Cucuhy across a level country intersected by rivers and channels
tributary to both the Negro and Orinoco, to the Serra Cupuy watershed
which separates the rivers of the Amazon and Orinoco valleys. This
watershed includes the ranges running eastward and northward under the
names of Imeri, Tapiira-peco, Curupira, Parima and Pacaraima, the
Venezuelan section terminating at Mt. Roraima. On the 9th of December
1905 protocols were signed at Caracas accepting the line between Cucuhy
and the Serra Cupuy located in 1880, and referring the remainder, which
had been located by a Brazilian commission in 1882 and 1884, to a mixed
commission for verification.
The disputed boundary between Brazil and British Guiana, which involved
the possession of a territory having an estimated area of 12,741 sq. m.,
was settled by arbitration in 1904 with the king of Italy as arbitrator,
the award being a compromise division by which Great Britain received
about 7336 sq. m. and Brazil about 5405. The definite boundary line
starts from Mt. Roraima and follows the water-parting east and south to
the source of the Ireng or Mahu river, which with the Takutu forms the
boundary as far south as 1 deg. N. to enclose the basin of the Essequibo
and its tributaries, thence it turns east and north of east along the
Serra Acaria to unite with the unsettled boundary line of Dutch Guiana
near the intersection of the 2nd parallel north with the 56th meridian.
Negotiations were initiated in 1905 for the definite location of the
boundary with Dutch Guiana. Running north-east and south-east to enclose
the sources of the Rio Paru, it unites with the French Guiana line at 2
deg. 10' N., 55 deg. W., and thence runs easterly along the
water-parting of the Serra Tumuc-Humac to the source of the Oyapok,
which river is the divisional line to the Atlantic coast. The boundary
with French Guiana (see GUIANA), which had long been a subject of
dispute, was settled by arbitration in 1900, the award being rendered by
the government of Switzerland. The area of the disputed territory was
about 34,750 sq. m.
_Physical Geography._--A relief map of Brazil shows two very irregular
divisions of surface: the great river basins, or plains, of the
Amazon-Tocantins and La Plata, which are practically connected by low
elevations in Bolivia, and a huge, shapeless mass of highlands filling
the eastern projection of the continent and extending southward to the
plains of Rio Grande do Sul and westward to the Bolivian frontier.
Besides these there are a narrow coastal plain, the low plains of Rio
Grande do Sul, and the Guiana highlands on the northern slope of the
Amazon basin below the Rio Negro.
Relief.
The coastal plain consists in great part of sandy beaches, detritus
formations, and partially submerged areas caused by uplifted beaches
and obstructed river channels. Mangrove swamps, lagoons and marshes,
with inland canals following the coast line for long distances, are
characteristic features of a large extent of the Brazilian coast.
Parts of this coastal plain, however, have an elevation of 100 to 200
ft., are rolling and fertile in character, and terminate on the coast
in a line of bluffs. In the larger depressions, like that of the
Reconcavo of Bahia, there are large alluvial areas celebrated for
their fertility. This plain is of varying width, and on some parts of
the coast it disappears altogether. In Rio Grande do Sul, where two
large lakes have been created by uplifted sand beaches, the coastal
plain widens greatly, and is merged in an extensive open, rolling
grassy plain, traversed by ridges of low hills (_cuchillas_), similar
to the neighbouring republic of Uruguay. The western part of this
plain is drained by the Uruguay and its tributaries, which places it
within the river Plate (La Plata) basin.
The two great river basins of the Amazon-Tocantins and La Plata
comprise within themselves, approximately, three-fifths of the total
area of Brazil. Large areas of these great river plains are annually
flooded, the flood-plains of the Amazon extending nearly across the
whole country and comprising thousands of square miles. The Amazon
plain is heavily forested and has a slope of less than one inch to the
mile within Brazilian territory--one competent authority placing it at
about one-fifth of an inch per mile. The La Plata basin is less
heavily wooded, its surface more varied, and its Brazilian part stands
at a much higher elevation.
Of the two highland regions of Brazil, that of the northern slope of
the Amazon basin belongs physically to the isolated mountain system
extending eastward from the Negro and Orinoco to the Atlantic, the
water-parting of which forms the boundary line between the Guianas and
Brazil. The culminating point is near the western extremity of this
chain and its altitude is estimated at 8500 ft. The ranges gradually
diminish in elevation towards the east, the highest point of the
Tumuc-Humac range, on the frontier of French Guiana, being about 2600
ft. The Brazilian plateau slopes southward and eastward, traversed by
broken ranges of low mountains and deeply eroded by river courses. The
table-topped hills of Almeyrin (or Almeirim) and Erere, which lie near
the lower Amazon and rise to heights of 800 and 900 ft., are generally
considered the southernmost margin of this plateau, though Agassiz and
others describe them as remains of a great sandstone sheet which once
covered the entire Amazon valley. Its general elevation has been
estimated to be about 2000 ft. It is a stony, semi-arid region, thinly
wooded, having good grazing _campos_ in its extreme western section.
Its semi-arid character is due to the mountain ranges on its northern
frontier, which extract the moisture from the north-east trades and
leave the Brazilian plateau behind them with a very limited rainfall,
except near the Atlantic coast. The more arid districts offer no
inducement for settlement and are inhabited only by a few roving bands
of Indians, but there were settlements of whites in the grazing
districts of the Rio Branco at an early date, and a few hundreds of
adventurers have occupied the mining districts of the east. In
general, Brazilian Guiana, as this plateau region is sometimes called,
is one of the least attractive parts of the republic.
The great Brazilian plateau, which is the most important physical
division of Brazil, consists of an elevated tableland 1000 to 3000 ft.
above the sea-level, traversed by two great mountain systems, and
deeply eroded and indented by numerous rivers. A thick sandstone sheet
once covered the greater part if not all of it, remains of which are
found on the elevated _chapadas_ of the interior and on isolated
elevations extending across the republic toward its western frontier.
These chapadas and elevations, which are usually described as mountain
ranges, are capped by horizontal strata of sandstone and show the
original surface, which has been worn away by the rivers, leaving here
and there broad flat-topped ridges between river basins and narrower
ranges of hills between river courses. From the valleys their rugged,
deeply indented escarpments, stretching away to the horizon, have the
appearance of a continuous chain of mountains. The only true mountain
systems, however, so far as known, are the two parallel ranges which
follow the contour of the coast, and the central, or Goyana, system.
The first consists of an almost continuous range crossing the northern
end of Rio Grande do Sul and following the coast northward to the
vicinity of Cape Frio, and thence northward in broken ranges to the
vicinity of Cape St Roque, and a second parallel range running from
eastern Sao Paulo northeast and north to the eastern margin of the Sao
Francisco basin in northern Bahia, where that river turns eastward to
the Atlantic. The first of these is generally known as the Serra do
Mar, or Coast Range, though it is locally known under many names. Its
culminating point is in the Organ Mountains (Serra dos Orgaos), near
Rio de Janeiro, which reaches an elevation of 7323 ft. The inland
range, which is separated from the Coast Range in the vicinity of Rio
de Janeiro by the valley of the Parahyba do Sul river, is known as the
Serra da Mantiqueira, and from the point where it turns northward to
form the eastern rim of the Sao Francisco basin, as the Serra do
Espinhaco. This range is also known under various local names. Its
culminating point is toward the western extremity of the Mantiqueira
range where the Itatiaya, or Itatiaia-assu, peak rises to an elevation
of 8898 ft. (other measurements give 9823 ft.), probably the highest
summit in Brazil. This range forms the true backbone of the maritime
mountainous belt and rises from the plateau itself, while the Coast
Range rises on its eastern margin and forms a rim to the plateau.
North of Cape Frio the Coast Range is much broken and less elevated,
while the Serra do Espinhaco takes a more inland course and is
separated from the coast by great gently-sloping, semi-barren
terraces. The second system--the Central or Goyana--consists of two
distinct chains of mountains converging toward the north in the
elevated _chapadao_ between the Tocantins and Sao Francisco basins.
The eastern range of this central system, which crosses western Minas
Geraes from the so-called Serra das Vertentes to the valley of the
Paracatu, a western tributary of the Sao Francisco, is called the
Serra da Canastra and Serra da Matta da Corde. Its culminating point
is toward its southern extremity in the Serra da Canastra, 4206 ft.
above sea-level. The western range, or what is definitely known of it,
runs across southern Goyaz, south-west to north-east, and forms the
water-parting between the Parana and Tocantins-Araguaya basins. Its
culminating point is in the Montes Pyreneos, near the city of Goyaz,
and is about 4500 ft. above sea-level.
The great part of this immense region consists of _chapadoes_, as the
larger table-land areas are called, _chapadas_ or smaller sections of
the same, and broadly excavated river valleys. How extensive this work
of erosion has been may be seen in the Tocantins-Araguaya basin, where
a great pear-shaped depression, approximately 100 to 500 m. wide, 700
m. long, and from 1000 to 1500 ft. deep, has been excavated northward
from the centre of the plateau. Southward the Parana has excavated
another great basin and eastward the Sao Francisco another. Add to
these the eroded river basins of the Xingu, Tapajos and Guapore on the
north and west, the Paraguay on the south-west, and the scores of
smaller rivers along the Atlantic coast, and we may have some
conception of the agencies that have been at work in breaking down and
shaping this great table-land, perhaps the oldest part of the
continent. The most southern of these _chapadoes_, that of the Parana
basin, in which may be included the northern part of the Uruguay and
eastern part of the Paraguay basins, includes the greater part of the
states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catharina, Parana and Sao Paulo,
the south-western corner of Minas Geraes, a part of southern Goyaz,
and the south-eastern corner of Matto Grosso. The greatest elevation
is on its eastern or Atlantic margin where the average is about 3280
ft. above sea-level. The plateau breaks down abruptly toward the sea,
and slopes gradually some hundreds of feet toward the south and west.
There has been considerable denudation toward the west, the eastern
tributaries of the Parana rising very near the coast. The northern and
western parts of this plateau have an average elevation a little less
than that of the Atlantic margin, and their slopes are toward the
south and east, those of Goyaz and Matto Grosso being abrupt and
deeply eroded. This great _chapadao_ is in many respects the best part
of Brazil, having a temperate climate, extensive areas of fertile
soil, rich forests and a regular rainfall. Its Atlantic slopes are
heavily wooded, but the western slopes exhibit grass-covered _campos_
between the river courses. The Sao Francisco _chapadao_, which has a
general elevation of about 2600 ft., covers the greater part of the
states of Minas Geraes and Bahia, and a small part of western
Pernambuco, and might also be considered continuous with those of the
Parnahyba and Tocantins-Araguaya basins. This region is more tropical
in character, partially barren, and has an uncertain rainfall, a large
part of the Sao Francisco basin and the upper Atlantic slope of its
eastern rim being subject to long-continued droughts. This region is
well wooded along the river courses of Minas Geraes, the lower
Atlantic slopes of Bahia, which are perhaps outside the plateau
proper, and on the weather side of some of the elevated ridges where
the rainfall is heavy and regular. It has extensive _campos_ and large
areas of exposed rock and stony steppes, but is richly provided with
mineral deposits. It breaks down less abruptly toward the Atlantic,
the slopes in Bahia being long and gradual. The Parnahyba _chapadao_
covers the state of Piauhy, the southern part of Maranhao, and the
western part of Ceara. Its general elevation is less than that of the
Sao Francisco region, owing to the slope of the plateau surface toward
the Amazon depression and to denudation. It resembles the Sao
Francisco region in its uncertain rainfall and exposure to droughts,
and in having large areas of _campos_ suitable for grazing purposes.
It is thinly wooded, except in the north, where the climatic
conditions approach those of the Amazon valley. Its climate is more
tropical and its development has gone forward less rapidly than in the
more temperate regions of the south. The Amazonian _chapadao_, which
includes the remainder of the great Brazilian plateau west of the Sao
Francisco and Parnahyba regions and which appears to be the
continuation of these tablelands westward, is much the largest of
these plateau divisions. It covers the greater part of the states of
Matto Grosso and Goyaz, a large part of southern Para, the southern
margin of Amazonas, and a considerable part of western Maranhao. It
includes the river basins of the Tocantins-Araguaya, Xingu, Tapajos,
and the eastern tributaries of the Guapore-Madeira. A considerable
part of it has been excavated by these rivers to a level which gives
their valleys the elevation and character of lowlands, though isolated
hills and ranges with the characteristic overlying horizontal
sandstone strata of the ancient plateau show that it was once a
highland region. The southern margin of this plateau breaks down
abruptly toward the south and overlooks the Parana and Paraguay basins
from elevations of 2600 to 3000 ft. There is great diversity in the
character and appearance of this extensive region. It lies wholly
within the tropics, though its more elevated districts enjoy a
temperate climate. Its _chapadas_ are covered with extensive _campos_,
its shallow valleys with open woodlands, and its deeper valleys with
heavy forests. The rainfall is good, but not heavy. The general slope
is toward the Amazon, and its rivers debouch upon the Amazonian plain
through a succession of falls and rapids.
There remains only the elevated valley of the Parahyba do Sul, lying
between the so-called Serra das Vertentes of southern Minas Geraes and
the Serra do Mar, and extending from the Serra da Bocaina, near the
city of Sao Paulo, eastward to Cape Frio and the coastal plain north
of that point. It includes a small part of eastern Sao Paulo, the
greater part of the state of Rio de Janeiro, a small corner of
Espirito Santo, and a narrow strip along the southern border of Minas
Geraes. It is traversed by two mountain chains, the Serra da
Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar, and the broad, fertile valley of the
Parahyba do Sul which lies between them, and which slopes gently
toward the east from a general elevation exceeding 2000 ft. in Sao
Paulo. This region is the smallest of the _chapadao_ divisions of the
great plateau, and might be considered either a southward extension of
the Sao Francisco or an eastward extension of the Parana _chapadao_.
It is one of the most favoured regions of Brazil, having an abundant
rainfall, extensive forests of valuable timber, and large areas of
fertile soil. The mountain slopes are still masses of dense forest,
though their lower elevations and neighbouring valleys have been
cleared for cultivation and by dealers in rosewood and other valuable
woods. This elevated valley is noted for its fertility and was once
the principal coffee-producing district of Brazil.
[Illustration: BRAZIL