BRAZIL: THE CAPITAL, INDIVIDUAL STATES, CITIES
THE CAPITAL
=Rio de Janeiro=, the capital of Brazil, with a population of
1,200,000, the second city in South America and the fifth in the
Western Hemisphere, is generally conceded to have the finest harbor in
the world. It is also the most beautiful city in respect to natural
advantages, while the improvements which have recently been carried
out have made the artificial structure of the city in harmony with
its picturesque surroundings. In the early part of this century the
Government awoke to the disadvantages of the narrow streets, the poor
facilities for commerce, and the notoriously bad conditions of health.
Immense improvements were inaugurated and speedily executed. Fine
drainage canals were installed, mosquitoes practically exterminated,
wide avenues were cut through dense quarters, and port works
constructed, so that in health, beauty, and commercial convenience,
nothing remains to be desired. A new Central Avenue, now renamed Rio
Branco, is counted among the finest in the world; other splendid
avenues are lined with fine commercial structures or beautiful private
residences, perhaps with royal palms; along the shores are magnificent
boulevards unrivaled in beauty, often thronged with luxurious
automobiles, all amid surroundings of ideal loveliness of sea-shore and
of mountain. Hotel accommodations, hitherto only fair, and inadequate,
are improving with the erection of needed new structures, as increasing
travel for business and pleasure demanded. Living expenses are
called high in all parts of Brazil, but on the whole Rio has seemed no
dearer than New York. The city may boast of a splendid opera house,
said to have cost $5,000,000, of the largest library in South America,
and the finest art gallery, a wonderful botanical garden, museums,
delightful sea and mountain resorts, etc., etc.
[Illustration: EASTERN BRAZIL]
STATES AND CITIES
As the country of Brazil is so large and of such diversity in its
various sections and even in single States, with many independent
systems of railways connected with its numerous harbors, it may be
desirable to speak of its ports and to some extent of its railways in
connection with a review of the different States. In this we may begin
with the Coastal States, coming up from the south, and conclude with
those of the interior.
=Rio Grande do Sul=, eleventh in area among the States of Brazil, and
equal in size to Indiana and Illinois together, borders on Uruguay at
the south. The Uruguay River separates it from Argentina on the west
and most of the way from the State of Santa Catharina on the north. Its
population is about the same as that of the State of South Carolina,
which is one-third of its size. It is called a pastoral State as its
chief source of wealth at present is cattle; 45 of the 70 million
acres are cattle ranges, 6¹⁄₄ million, farms, and 13³⁄₄ forests. The
nearly 9,000,000 head of cattle are called the best in Brazil. Blooded
stock is being introduced and packing houses are taking the place
of _saladeros_ for _charque_ or dried meat, which formerly were the
destination of most of the cattle. High class poultry is extensively
and profitably raised, $4,500,000 being invested in the industry.
With a temperate climate and well watered, the country is by no means
confined to stock raising, for its agricultural products are more
diverse than those of any other state. Not only cereals like wheat and
oats, but cotton, rice, sugar cane, tobacco, _manioc_, alfalfa, etc.,
even tea are successfully raised, as well as temperate zone fruits and
vegetables. It has important coal mines, with some of copper, gold, and
wolfram also being operated, and a wide distribution of these and other
minerals. With 13,000 industrial establishments its important factories
include nine textile mills.
The capital, Porto Alegre, is the chief manufacturing centre, and the
State is third in such industries. The capital is the largest city in
southern Brazil, with a cosmopolitan population one fourth of German
descent. An important commercial and industrial centre, it has fine
public buildings, colleges, theatres, clubs, good shops, parks, and
hotels. The population is nearly all white with a large percentage of
Italians as well as of Germans.
Rio Grande is the chief port, 1000 miles south of Rio de Janeiro, and
180 by sea north of Montevideo. The city lies just inside the entrance
of the Lagôa dos Patos at its south end. Unfortunately, the entrance
has been obstructed by a sand bar with a varying depth of water above.
Vessels drawing more than 11 feet could not pass; uncertainty, often
a few days’ waiting was the fate of others. An attempt to dredge a
passage was unsuccessful, but with building of jetties improvement
is manifest. Port works in the city, including a mile of quays, have
been established, and a rapid development of the region is expected to
follow. The city, population 40,000, has an active commerce by rail and
water. By rail it is connected at Cacequy with the through line from
São Paulo to Montevideo, and beyond this line at Uruguayana (population
20,000), on the Uruguay River, with the Argentine railways on the other
side. There is regular steam navigation to the port of Pelotas, three
hours, population 32,000, noted for its dried meat products, and to
Porto Alegre at the north end of the lagoon, 150 miles and 12 hours
distant.
=Santa Catharina=, north of Rio Grande, less than one third of its
size, has rather similar characteristics. Bordering on the Atlantic,
it has Argentina on the west; on the north is the State of Paraná,
from which it is separated for half the distance by the Iguassú River.
The State is notable for wheat growing and other grains, for cattle
and dairy products, for its exports of fruits, for its coal mines, and
for the timber from its forests, especially the Paraná pines. It ranks
second in Brazil as a producer of _yerba mate_, in Portuguese _herva
matte_, 14,000,000 pounds being its annual output. Its manufacturing
establishments (174) are of small size.
The capital and chief port is Florianopolis on an island of that name.
Improvements in the way of good port works are in hand, and though
without rail connection a tonnage of about 300,000 has entered and
cleared in a year. The port of São Francisco, a smaller town in the
State, is called the best port south of Santos. This advantage will
give the city future importance. Already it has rail connection by way
of the town Rio Negro with Curityba and Paranaguá, and so with Ponta
Grossa on the São Paulo-Uruguay Railway which of course crosses the
State, a distance of 225 miles. The city is expected to be the terminus
of a road which will pass through União da Victoria to the Iguassú
Falls and across Paraguay to Asunción.
=Paraná=, about the size of Rio Grande, is between Santa Catharina and
São Paulo, having Argentina also on its southwest corner beyond the
Iguassú River and its great Falls. Along the western border flows the
larger river, the Alto Paraná (with the tremendous La Guayra Falls)
separating the State from Paraguay, and farther north from Matto
Grosso. Besides these boundary rivers the Paranapanema, affluent of the
Paraná, flows between this State and São Paulo, while the Rio Negro and
Iguassú are between it and Santa Catharina. Many more tributaries of
the Paraná are entirely within the State. _Matte_ is the chief industry
at present, 100,000,000 pounds being annually exported; but with
the best wheat land of Brazil, its forests of Paraná pine, and other
varieties of timber it may have another leader before long. Paranaguá,
the State’s chief port, with a deep anchorage and improvements planned,
is now visited by 650 vessels a year and has a total annual trade of
$6,000,000. A smaller port, Antonina, is on the north side of the same
bay.
The capital, Curityba, has rail connection with the two ports and with
Ponta Grossa on the line to Uruguay traversing these three States. In
the delightful four hours’ journey of 70 miles from Paranaguá to the
capital, the climb of the Serra do Mar up a steep tropical valley is
made without cogs or cables by means of high trestles, bridges, and 17
tunnels; the ride rivaling if not surpassing in beauty the more famous
one from Santos to São Paulo.
=São Paulo=, a great and justly famous State, about the size of
Arizona, more than twice that of New York, has Minas Geraes on
the north, also east with a small extent of the State of Rio de
Janeiro; the ocean is southeast, Paraná south, and Matto Grosso west.
This enterprising State is the leader in agriculture, producing
60 per cent of the world’s coffee supply, besides cotton, sugar,
tobacco, cereals, etc., in large quantities; it is second to Rio in
manufacturing industries, contains large mineral riches, is advanced
in stock raising, leads in educational advantages, and has the best
railway service of 4300 miles. The wealth of this State is estimated
as at $1,100,000,000 in agriculture, $500,000,000 in manufactures,
$170,000,000 in railways, and $2,230,000,000 miscellaneous. While
most of it is in the torrid zone, the altitude of the State averaging
over 2000 feet gives it (except for the narrow coastal strip) a fine
healthful climate, a blessing enjoyed too by the States previously
mentioned. In the Falls of its rivers the State possesses 3,000,000
horse power of which only 250,000 is employed.
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.
=The Federal District of Brazil=, the capital, Rio de Janeiro, has been
sufficiently described except as a port city. From a commercial point
of view the harbor and port works are the chief interest. The Guanabara
Bay is a wonderful harbor, not merely on account of its size, depth of
water, absolutely safe anchorage, and the beauty of its surroundings,
but it is extraordinary from the fact that it is hardly a mile from
the ocean to the landing docks. Here a granite quay extends for 2¹⁄₄
miles along the water front with a depth of water alongside of 31
feet. The deep channel entrance is narrowed to a mile in width by long
narrow peninsulas extending on either side and further by a small
island blocking the waves. The docks have the additional protection of
a projecting point of the city, on the other side of which, on rare
occasions, the waves do break over upon the splendid boulevard. The
larger inner harbor is hardly noticeable, being cut off by peninsulas
and islands, of which last the bay contains nearly a hundred. The
entire bay is 18 miles long, and the inner section is 15 miles wide. At
the docks the most modern machinery is provided for hoisting, loading
and unloading ships, with electric power for the work and for lighting.
A width of 80 feet was left for railway tracks; back of these are
storage ware-houses, administration offices, and customs, for which a
space of 110 feet was allowed. Behind these buildings is an avenue 125
feet wide, with double tracks on which run electric cars. Two million
dollars are now (1921) to be expended for additional port works, an
extension of the granite quay or dock wall about 2000 feet and two
breakwaters of 800,000 cubic feet.
=Rio de Janeiro.= This State, though containing or surrounding the
capital, is distinct from it, with a capital of its own on the opposite
shore of the bay. As the direction of the coast line changes here, the
State has the ocean east and south; São Paulo is west, Minas Geraes
north, and Espirito Santo at the northeast. The State is comparatively
small, being only about one sixth the size of its western neighbor, and
less than one twelfth of its northern; it is even a trifle smaller than
Espirito Santo, its next coastal neighbor.
Nictheroy, the capital, is a comparatively small, quiet town of 65,000
population, which has some important manufactories. The State has other
smaller towns, as Petropolis, the so-called summer capital, population
30,000, at an elevation of 3000 feet. The Parahyba Rio do Sul, which
flows northeast, back of the mountain range, is navigable to the city
of Campos, population 30,000, 60 miles from its mouth. The agricultural
products are important, the State ranking third in coffee and second
in sugar. Large quantities of corn and rice are raised, the coast
lands with lakes and lagoons being well suited to the latter. Valuable
forests and minerals exist, and in manufacturing industries of great
variety the State stands first. Besides the harbor of Rio there are a
number of good though small ports.
=Espirito Santo.= Little Espirito Santo, northeast of Rio State, has
Minas at the west and Bahia north. The principal products of the State
are coffee, rice, and other cereals, sugar, cotton, and _mandioca_;
while the export of fine timber, rosewood, satin and brazil wood,
is increasing. Gold and precious stones are its chief minerals. Its
factories are few, but the town of Itaperim on a navigable river has
cheap electric power, which makes it a fine centre for industry in the
future.
The capital and chief city, Victoria, population 20,000, is the first
port of importance north of Rio. On a fine bay 2¹⁄₂ miles wide with
a narrow entrance of less than ¹⁄₂ a mile, it is the outlet of the
eastern part of the State of Minas, which contains the richest mineral
deposits so far exploited in Brazil. A railway connects the port with
interior cities. Works of importance have been planned, a quay ⁵⁄₈ of
a mile long with 28 feet of water and with suitable equipment; the
widening and deepening of the channel entrance, and the building of a
steel bridge to the main land from the island on which the city stands.
Over 500 steamers and 200 sailing vessels clear yearly.
=Bahia=, an important and well known State, the largest yet considered,
exceeding California in area, touches three smaller States on the
north, Piauhy, Pernambuco, and Sergipe; it has Espirito Santo and Minas
on the south and Goyaz west. All kinds of tropical and subtropical
products are found here, cacao, sugar, and coffee in large quantities,
rubber of the _maniçoba_ and _mangabeira_ varieties, cotton, vanilla,
the finest kind of oranges and pine apples, and other fruits. Bahia has
the principal whale fisheries of the country and the best grounds for
table fish. Its mineral wealth includes even the sand, _monazite_, the
most important supply in the world.
The capital and chief port, 720 miles northeast of Rio, about 60 hours
sail, is generally called by the name of the State, though its proper
title is São Salvador. It has an excellent and beautiful harbor, though
over-shadowed by the more remarkable picturesqueness of Rio. The bay,
Bahia de Todos os Santos, about 25 miles wide (three at the entrance),
and 20 miles deep, provides good anchorage for large steamers, 40 feet
close in shore. It is a port of call for Trans-Atlantic liners and
for steamers from North America, the only one north of Rio for some
of the Lines. A company has undertaken port works which will greatly
advance the prosperity of City and State, the works to include three
breakwaters and two quay walls, the levelling of a large wharf space,
erection of store-houses, laying railway lines, installing electric
cranes, and constructing a floating dock and a lighthouse. Over 1000
large steamers with 2,300,000 tonnage enter the port annually. The
imports are $13,000,000, the exports $20,000,000. The city is connected
by rail with various cities in the interior of the State, and with the
São Francisco River at a point above the Falls, from which there is
navigation upstream a distance of 990 miles. The river has a length in
the State of 850 miles. Bahia is a great cocoa port, shipping about
one-fifth of the world’s supply; the State produces about as much
tobacco as Cuba.
=Sergipe=, the smallest of all the States, is larger than nine of ours,
a trifle bigger than Maryland and Delaware together. The São Francisco
River separates it from Alagôas on the north, it has Bahia on the
west and south. Its chief products are cotton, sugar, and rice; the
cattle industry is important; the State has profitable manufacturing
industries; cotton mills, sugar, shoes, soap, and other factories, and
unworked mineral deposits.
The capital, Aracajú, population 40,000, is a small port with 95,000
tons of shipping yearly; but it suffers the disadvantage of receiving
ships of no more than 8 feet draft, and needs the improvements now
planned.
=Alagôas=, of triangular shape, has Sergipe on one side and Pernambuco
on the other, the ocean on the third. Its main products are sugar and
cotton; the cattle industry is prosperous; it has copper, lead and
iron deposits, not operated, and very important milling industries,
particularly of cotton. The São Francisco River is regularly navigated
175 miles to the Paulo Affonso Falls, around which there is a railway
52 miles long to navigation above.
The capital, Maceió, is a modern city; its suburb, the port, Jaraguá,
with a tonnage of 600,000. The State is the most thickly populated next
to Rio de Janeiro.
=Pernambuco=, the twelfth State in size, with area equal to that of New
York, extends well into the interior, though with a coast line of 112
miles only. Ceará and Parahyba are on the north, Alagôas and Bahia on
the south, and Piauhy on the west. The State leads in the production of
cotton and sugar, sometimes exporting 150,000 tons of the latter, and
raw cotton worth $5,000,000. Other agricultural products are secondary,
but cattle and dairying are important, still more the milling industry.
Minerals, coal, iron, saltpetre, kaolin, and manganese exist in paying
quantities. There are two good ports besides the capital; railways
connect Recife with Maceió and with cities inland.
Recife (often called Pernambuco), capital of the State, is a port
protected by a coral reef parallel to the shore, where fine works are
being constructed: these include a breakwater three-fourths of a mile
long, a stone jetty one-half a mile; quays, one with 33 feet of water,
one with 28-30, together three-fourths of a mile long, also other
equipment. One thousand steamers are its annual quota, with tonnage
of 1,750,000; the city has obviously great commercial importance,
exporting especially cotton and sugar, also rum, hides, and cereals.
Its imports surpass those of any other Brazilian city except Rio. The
cost of living is high.
=Parahyba= has on the north Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco south,
Ceará west, and 72 miles of coast east. Cotton is the chief product,
and mandioca is important. Vast coconut groves of trees, growing wild,
should be taken advantage of. The pastoral industry is important, with
goats a specialty as with its neighbors.
A little below the capital, Parahyba, at the mouth of the Rio Parahyba
do Norte, is the seaport Cabedello, where port works are planned.
=Rio Grande do Norte= is the first of several States which have the
Atlantic Ocean on the north. It is on the east also, forming a coast
line of 290 miles. Parahyba is south and Ceará west. Here, too, cotton
and sugar are the chief products, though 180 tons of rubber annually,
from the _maniçoba_ trees, are of value; the cattle and goats are
important; _carnaüba_ wax and vegetable oils come from the forests;
the State, from natural _salines_, supplies much of the salt used in
Brazil. Dried and salt fish are supplied to the rest of the northern
States, and much cotton cloth and thread are exported. Natal, the
capital, is near the mouth of the Rio Grande. A great reservoir with
a dam 160 feet high and a capacity of 2,200,000,000 cubic metres of
water is to be constructed, the irrigation of 250,000 acres thereby
transforming a large district; others here and in Ceará.
=Ceará=, smaller than Pernambuco, is nearly twice the size of Rio
Grande do Norte, which with Parahyba is on the east; Pernambuco is
south and Piauhy west. Cotton is the chief product though coffee,
sugar, cacao and cereals are also raised. Cultivated rubber is exported
as from Bahia; the cattle industry is important, though affected by
occasional severe droughts. However there are approximately 2,000,000
head of cattle. Minerals and precious stones are found in variety.
The capital and port, Fortaleza, is one of the worst on the coast.
Three powerful dredges are maintained by the Government for the
continual dredging of the channel into which sand from the dunes is
ever drifting. Two smaller ports require similar dredging.
=Piauhy=, eighth of the States in size, with a deep interior has the
smallest coast line, only 43 miles. It has Ceará and Pernambuco east,
Bahia south, and Maranhão west, from which it is separated by the
Parnahyba River. The State has the expected agricultural products, vast
herds of cattle and large flocks of goats; important forest wealth of
rubber, timber, wax, and medicinal plants, and a variety of minerals.
It has one seaport, Amarraçao, but a good deal goes out from a port
of the next State, Tutoya, on the other side of the river Parnahyba.
Therezina, the capital, is of some importance.
=Maranhão=, a little larger, has Piauhy east and south, Goyaz south
and west, almost touching Bahia between these two; it has Pará also on
the west. Its coast line is 100 miles more than Piauhy’s. Cotton is
the chief agricultural product, but others exist; the cattle industry
is important, much live stock going to Amazonas; there is good forest
wealth, various minerals, and important cotton factories.
São Luis do Maranhão, the capital, population 50,000, is called the
chief port though troubled by sand, while Tutoya is excellent.
=Pará=, a name at last familiar to all, is third of the States in area,
equal to Texas and California, with West Virginia thrown in. It has
Guiana on the north, with the Atlantic northeast; east are Maranhão and
Goyaz. Matto Grosso is south, and Amazonas west. Its chief products are
of the forest, particularly rubber, also Brazil nuts, medicinal plants,
oils and timber. Little is done in agriculture though many plants grow
freely such as cotton, rice, tobacco, and especially cacao, of which
3500 tons a year have been exported. There are large herds of cattle,
perhaps 2,000,000 head, and various minerals are found. One railway,
with branches, leads from Pará to Bragança, near the ocean, and to
other towns; and one is open for a short distance in the valley of the
Tocantins, the beginning of an ambitious project.
The capital, Belém, usually called by foreigners Pará is a fine
city of 200,000 and the only considerable seaport, if so it may be
termed, as it is on a bay of the Pará River 80 miles from the ocean.
Mean temperature 78°. Harbor works, begun in 1906, and costing over
$60,000,000, have been of immense value. They include a fine quay
a mile and a half long with a depth of water part of the way of 30
feet, docks and storehouses, two floating docks, a Custom House, oil
storage tanks, etc. One thousand steamers formerly entered yearly with
tonnage of 1,500,000; imports at one time were valued at $15,000,000
and exports at $30,000,000. A channel from the outer river, 30 feet
in depth, is marked by 26 buoys lighted by acetylene gas. The city is
notable with attractive plazas, a unique forest park, a museum, a white
marble theatre, and a good hotel. The various cities or villages are
coast or river ports, some on the Amazon, others on the Tapajós, Xingú,
Tocantins, Araguary, or smaller streams.
=Amazonas=, first of the inland States, and the largest of all, has
Colombia and Venezuela north, Pará east, Matto Grosso, Bolivia, and
Acre south, and Peru and Colombia west. Its area is equal to that
of our three Pacific Coast States with Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and
Colorado. In this great space the population, estimated at 435,000, is
about one person to 1¹⁄₂ square miles. Manaos, the capital, and the
various other centres of population by the river side mean rubber.
There are no roads except of water, no paths save those made by rubber
gatherers, with a few by Indians, the number of whom is a mere guess.
All tropical products thrive but their production is negligible save
that of rubber. Various minerals are unexploited. Manaos, 924 miles
from Pará, 1030 from the ocean, and 2000 from Rio, is the first real
city in the wilderness, though Obidos, still in the State of Pará, is a
port where 300 vessels call in a year, and a number of smaller places
claim that title.
Manaos, a city of 60,000 population, is located just off the Amazon
seven miles up the Rio Negro, on a large quiet bay. Port works
have been constructed, a fine stone wall over 1500 feet long, with
floating docks to fit the 50-foot rise and fall of the river, and 16
electrically equipped warehouses conveniently arranged. Considering
its location, it is a wonderful city, well lighted, with a splendid
opera house, expensive of course, a fine cathedral, schools, a public
library, museum, and good sanitation. One thousand four hundred miles
farther is the Peruvian city of Iquitos, near the limit of navigation
for ocean vessels on the main stream. Some distance below Manaos the
Amazon is entered by the Madeira River which gives access to the State
of Matto Grosso and to Bolivia.
=Matto Grosso= is second in size, equal to the States mentioned above
without Nevada and Colorado. Estimated population 275,000. This State
has Amazonas and Pará on the north, Goyaz, Minas Geraes, São Paulo,
and Paraná on the east, Paraguay and Bolivia are on the south, and
Paraguay and Bolivia west. The State is much more open than Amazonas;
its chief industry is cattle. Forest products however abound, with all
kinds of rubber and magnificent timber. There are large agricultural
possibilities and considerable _matte_ is exported. Diamonds and
auriferous sands are exploited though their origin is uncertain. The
river systems north and south meet in the highlands, and connection
might be made by a short canal, opening a way from Pará or Manaos to
Buenos Aires.
Cuyabá, the capital, on a river of the same name, an affluent of the
Paraguay, is quite a city, population 32,000, although 1045 miles above
Asunción, while Corumbá, lower down, on the Paraguay, is of nearly
equal size. The river at Corumbá is 1000 feet wide, and 6 feet deep
at the docks at low water. Corumbá is regularly visited by steamers,
though 1800 miles by river from Montevideo. Its export and import trade
amounts to at least $4,000,000 annually.
=Goyaz=, the fourth State in size, following Pará, has Maranhão on the
north, Maranhão, Bahia, and Minas Geraes are on the east, Minas and
Matto Grosso are south, and Matto Grosso and Pará west. Three hundred
thousand is the estimated population with a guess at the number of
Indians of many tribes. The principal industry is stock raising and
many cattle are exported to neighboring States. The forests have the
_maniçoba_ and the _mangabeira_ rubber, also a vegetable silk, _paina_.
There are great mineral riches, placer gold in many streams, and veins
in the hills; many diamonds and rock crystal are also produced. Other
metals as iron and copper exist. Navigable rivers are the means of
communication as in the neighboring States, but a railroad is coming
and more rapid development will follow.
The capital, Goyaz, is not much of a place, though of late evincing
progress. Several other cities have from 5000 to 10,000 inhabitants.
=Minas Geraes=, the fourth inland State and the fifth in size, has
Bahia on the north, Bahia and Espirito Santo east, Rio de Janeiro
southeast, São Paulo southwest, and Goyaz west, a small southwest
corner about reaching Matto Grosso below. Although without a seaport
and with no large city, Minas is the most populous of the States, with
an active industrious population. The State leads in mineral riches
of almost every kind; it is one of the foremost in agriculture of all
varieties, being second to São Paulo in coffee; it has vast pasture
lands, exporting 300,000 head of cattle a year, a sugar refinery, flour
mills, and a great dairy industry. It has increasing railway service
as well as river transportation. It is believed to have a mineral
future rivaling that of the best region in the world. Its factories are
important and there is a great store of water power.
Bello Horizonte, the present capital, was made to order in 1897, and is
well laid out with broad streets, water supply, sewerage, everything
of the best type: a Government Palace, the finest State building of
Brazil, and a fine Agricultural School. Ouro Preto, the old capital,
has a free Mining School, said to be one of the best in the world.
=The Acre Territory=, triangular in shape, has Amazonas north, Bolivia
south, and Peru west. It is naturally similar to the neighboring
sections. There are three Districts: Juruá, of which the capital is
Cruzeiro do Sul, population 2000, 1351 miles from Manaos; Purús,
capital, Senna Madureira, population 4000, 1320 miles from Manaos; and
Acre, capital Rio Branco, population 2000, 1351 miles from Manaos.