COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH AMERICA. 393 



extent of these in latitudes fit for European settlers. Till recently 

 the practice of slavery has deterred free immigrants from settling 

 in those provinces in which the institution was most firmly estab- 

 lished (those growing tropical products), but since 1871 it has 

 been in process of abolition, and it was entirely abolished in 1888. 

 Great efforts are hence being made by the Brazilian Government 

 to attract immigrants to those districts in which a substitute for 

 slave-labor is most needed. Immigrants, chiefly Italian and Port- 

 uguese, are now arriving in thousands. In the southernmost 

 provinces, where slavery was never very general, German and 

 Italian colonies have existed for many years. Railways are so far 

 most numerous in the coffee region of Brazil. Of the projected 

 railways, one of the most important is that designed to avoid the 

 rapids of the Madeira, but for which steamers would be able to 

 ascend to the base of the Bolivian table-land.' 



The capital of the empire is Rio Janeiro, which is also the 

 chief seaport, and the principal outlet for the coffee region. Its 

 harbor is admirable on account of its commodiousness and safety, 

 and delightful on account of its beauty. The second port of this 

 region is Santos, farther south. Bahia, or San Salvador, and Per- 

 nambuco are the seaports of the region producing sugar, cotton, 

 and tobacco; Para, Maranham, and Ceara, those of the region 

 yielding forest products — rubber, Brazil-nuts, cabinet and dye 

 woods, together with cacao and sugar. The ports of the temper- 

 ate region producing animal products are Rio Grande do Sul, 

 Pelotas, and Porto Alegre, all of which are accessible only to ves- 

 sels of small draught (under eleven feet), on account of a bar at 

 the entrance to the shallow lake on which they all stand. 



Colonial Guiana consists of three portions — one British, about 

 equal to Great Britain in size ; one Dutch (Surinam) ; and one 

 French (Cayenne). Cultivation of plantation products (chiefly 

 sugar-cane) is almost confined to the British and Dutch colonies, 

 and in these to a strip of lowlands along the coast and the river- 

 banks — a strip partly below sea-level, and protected by embank- 

 ments. In British Guiana Demerara is the chief sugar district. 

 The laborers are negroes, mulattoes, and coolies. In British Gui- 

 ana a rich gold-field lies on the banks of the Cuyuni in the west, 

 but it has long remained unworked on account of claims being 

 made to this portion of the territory by the government of Vene- 

 zuela. A rich gold-field is reported to have been recently discov- 

 ered on the borders of Dutch and French territory. Cayenne is 

 used by the French as a place of deportation for Arab convicts 

 from Algeria. 



Venezuela, a republic in the north of the continent, consists 

 chiefly of the basin of the Orinoco. People of Spanish, Indian, 

 and negro descent, all now free, make up the bulk of the popula- 



TOL. XXXVII. — 29 



