76 



BRAZIL. 



The number of uncivilized Indians is estimated 

 at 600,000. There were 723,419 slaves in 1887 ac- 

 cording to an official report, valued at $485,225,- 

 *\'2. I'.oth Chambers passed an act in 1888 de- 

 claring slavery to be abolished and denying all 

 claims for compensation, and on May 13 of that 

 year the Crown-Princess signed the decree of 

 emancipation. In the northern part of the coun- 

 try tho Indian element preponderates ; in Per- 

 nambuco, Bahia. Rio de Janeiro, and Minas-Ge- 

 rai'> there is a large negro population ; and in 

 the coast towns the main part of the population 

 is < >f European descent. In eighteen years ending 

 with 1888 a half-million of immigrants are said 

 tn have entered the country through the ports 

 of Rio and Santos. In 1888 the number of set- 

 tlers arriving in southern Brazil was 131,268, of 

 whom 115,000 were Italians and the rest Portu- 

 guese, Germans, and Spaniards. The number of 

 arrivals in 1887 in the same region was 55,986 : in 

 1886, 25,135; in 1885, 30,135. In several States 

 there are laws for compulsory school attendance. 

 The number of children in the schools, public 

 and private, was estimated in 1889 at 300,000. 

 Of the total population 84 per cent, is reported 

 to be unable to read or write. The Roman Catholic 

 was the established religion of the empire , but 

 the republican Government has abolished the 

 connection between church and state, while con- 

 t inning the stipends of the clergy that were for- 

 merly provided by the state and agreeing to sup- 

 port the chairs in the theological seminaries for 

 at least one year longer. The individual States 

 can subsidize the Roman Catholic or any other 

 form of religion. 



Commerce and Production. The total 

 value of the imports in 1888 was 260,999,000 

 milreis, and of the exports 212.592,000 milreis. 

 The values of the principal exports for the year 

 ending June 30, 1887, were as follow, in railreis 

 (the milreis = 55 cents) : 



Value. 



. . . . : 187,000,000 



16,020,000 



15,120,000 



5,200,000 



' 6.250,000 



Hides 5,360,000 



Cacao 1,630,000 



Paraguaytea 8,600,000 



Gold dust 1,200,000 



Diamonds . . 360,000 



Hair 210,000 



The export of coffee from Rio was 413,756,000 

 pounds, valued at 106,274,358 milreis. Of the 

 total exports of Brazil about one third go to the 

 United States, the same proportion to Great Brit- ' 

 din, and one tenth each to France and Ger- 

 many. Of the imports Great Britain furnishes 

 nearly one half, France one sixth, and Germany 

 one eighth. The United States in 1888 imported 

 5i per cent, of the total, a smaller proportion than 

 Portugal, and not much greater than Belgium 

 supplied. The largest imports are cottons and 

 wines and spirits, the next most important being 

 preserved meat and fish, woolens, flour, coal, 

 linen goods, and iron and steel manufactures. 



Only a small part of the cultivable soil of Bra- 

 zil has been made productive, and little has been 

 done to utilize the valuable resources of the 

 mines and forests. The vast deposits of iron 

 ore can not be worked for want of fuel. Coffee 

 is cultivated extensively in Esperito Santo, MI- 



EXPORTS. 



Coffee 



Supar 



Cotton 



India-rubber. 

 Tobacco .. 



nas-Geraes, and Sap Paulo. There were 90 cot- 

 ton mills in operation in 1888. The number of 

 cattle in Brazil is estimated at 17,000,000. 



Navigation. During 1888 the number of ves- 

 sels engaged in ocean commerce entered at the 

 ports of Brazil was 3,243, of 2,391,022 tons, of 

 which 2,858, of 2,416,464 tons were foreign and 

 385, of 174,558 tons, Brazilian ; the clearances 

 numbered 2,390, comprising 2.267 foreign vessels 

 of 2,346,682 tons, and 123 Brazilian vessels, of 

 701,103 tons. The coastwise movement was 1,- 

 545 foreign and 3,279 Brazilian vessels, of an ag- 

 gregate capacity of 2,131,373 tons, entered, and 

 1,342 foreign and 3.290 Brazilian vessels, meas- 

 uring 2,410,006 tons, cleared. 



The mercantile navy in 1888 consisted of 89 

 steamers and 115 sailing vessels. 



Railroads. In 1889 there were 5,582 miles of 

 railroads in operation. 984 miles building, and 4,- 

 938 miles in contemplation. The state owned 1,- 

 444 miles of the completed roads and had guar- 

 anteed 1,748 miles belonging to companies, while 

 1,754 miles more had been guaranteed by the 

 provincial governments. The capital expendi- 

 ture on the state lines had been 161,286,720 mil- 

 reis, and on all the railroads 488,148,327 milreis. 

 There were 7,315,486 passengers and 1,820,106 

 tons of freight conveyed in 1887, the receipts 

 amounting to 38,202,450 milreis and the expenses 

 to 25.444,569 milreis. The receipts in 1888 on 

 the state lines were 14.183,761 milreis, and the 

 expenses 9,059,034 milreis. 



The Post-Office and Telegraphs. The 

 length of telegraph lines in 1889 was 10,720 

 kilometres, or 6,700 miles, with 18,489 miles of 

 wire. The number of dispatches was 567,935; 

 the receipts, 1,523,200 milreis ; expenses, 2,427,- 

 980 milreis. 



The Army and Navy. Obligatory military 

 service was introduced by the law of 1875, which 

 allows substitution or the purchase of exemption 

 by the payment 01 1,000 milreis. The period of 

 service is six years in the regular army and three 

 years in the reserve. The reorganization of the 

 army was begun in February, 1890. Its strength 

 was fixed by a decree of the Provisional Govern- 

 ment at 24,877 men of all arms, six battalions of 

 infantry, two regiments of cavalry, and one of 

 artillery being added to the former establish- 

 ment. The strength of the forces on the peace 

 footing in 1889 was reported as 956 officers and 

 15,689 troops, comprising 774 engineers, 2,572 

 artillery, 2,410 cavalry, 9,531 infantry, and 402 

 in the transport service. There were besides 

 6,850 gendarmes. 



The most powerful vessels in the navy are two 

 turret ships built in England, the " Riachuelo " 

 and the " Aquidaban," protected by a belt of 11- 

 "inch steel-faced armor, and carrying 4 20-ton 

 breech-loading guns, besides machine guns and 

 70-pounders. Two other sea-going armor clads, 

 two powerful vessels of light draught, plated 

 with 10-inch armor and carrying 4 10-inch guns, 

 each mounted in two turrets, and four other 

 vessels for coast defense complete the iron-clad 

 navy. The principal unprotected vessels are 

 three first-class cruisers, including one that is 

 not finished, and two of the second class. The 

 torpedo fleet comprises five boats of the first class, 

 six of the second class, and three of the third class. 

 There are also a torpedo school ship, two training 



