BRAZIL. 



C7 



ART. 2. At the date fixed in article one. shall be also 

 opened to foreign navigation, tin- River San Francisco 

 u s f.ir us tlu- rity of IVnedo. 



AHT. 3. The navigation of the tributaries of the 

 Amazon, in jil.iees u here only one bank belongs to 

 .-hall depend DM treaties yet to be made with 

 the Slates holding title to the other bank as to the 

 iv.-|>eeii> i- limits dt' e.n.-h State as well as to Qscul und 

 police reiiulatiuns. 



AI:T. 4. The present act shall in no way alter or 

 interfere with existing treaties of navigation and 

 eoMimereo with the republics of Peru and Venezuela, 

 lu-eoniing to the regulations already published. 



AHT. 5. My ministers and secretaries of state, 

 through their respective departments, shall attend 

 to the arrangement of the treaties spoken of in arti- 

 cle three, and shall issue the necessary orders and 

 regulations for the due execution of the present de- 

 Signed bv the Emperor and by the Minister of 

 :i Affairs, Antonio Coelho de Sa e Albu- 

 querque. 



I'ALACE or Rio DE JANEIRO, Dec. 7, 13GG. 



Tho Amazon runs through the very centre of 

 Brazil, and, unlike most, if not all, of its tribu- 

 taries, it is navigable throughout its whole 

 course of nearly 4,000 miles. It is deep, with 

 a uniform current uninterrupted by rapids or 

 cataracts. The tides of the Atlantic into which 

 it flows, through an embouchure 180 miles 

 wide, are felt 400 miles from its mouth, where 

 the water is twenty fathoms deep, and the river 

 more than a mile across. On its banks and on 

 carh side the interior produces maize, rice, cof- 

 igar, cotton, tobacco, spices, timber, medi- 

 cinal plants, horned cattle, gold, iron, and lead. 

 Tho tributaries, which enter this river from the 

 neighboring country of Bolivia were opened by 

 the Bolivian Government to the navigation of 

 all countries in 1853, but the value of this con- 

 cesMoii was neutralized by the then and subse- 

 quent policy of the Brazilian Government in 

 refusing to open the Amazon. Now the Ama- 

 zon is free from the frontiers of Brazil to the 

 oecan, and a great channel for trade, population, 

 and civilization is open to all nations. The To- 

 cantins, which is a tributary of the Amazon, is 

 about 1,200 miles long. Owing to rapids and 

 cataracts, it is not navigable, except in patches, 

 for any thing near this extent, but it runs 

 through exceedingly fertile countries, produ- 

 cing most of the articles just enumerated. Ow- 

 ing to the natural obstacles of rapids and cata- 

 racts, the decree specifics that it is open from 

 the sea to Cametti, which is on the left bank, 

 and a rising city with 40,000 inhabitants; the 

 Tapa.joz to Santarem, also a growing place ; and 

 the Madeira to Manaos, a name which repre- 

 sents a province rather than a town. The San 

 Francisco is the other great river opened to 

 free navigation. It is said to resemble the 

 Volga, the largest European river in length 

 and the most diversified in character. It has a 

 course of about 1,300 miles ; but it is to bo 

 opened only to Penedo, which is not far in the 

 interior, owing to the natural obstructions to 

 navigation. But at intervals it is navigable for 

 200 miles at a stretch, and the current is rapid 

 enough to carry vessels, without any other aid, 



100 miles in twenty -four hours. Like the Vol- 

 ga, it is, in places, subject in the dry Reason to 

 shallows, and in the wet to inundation*, bat 

 these inundations fertilize a wide extent of 

 country. Gold H found among its deposit*. 

 The sugar-cane thrives on its borders. It was 

 on this river, at a place now called Salitrc, that 

 the extensive deposits of nitrate of soda were 

 discovered, which excited so much interest in 

 this country and in Europe abont eight or 

 nine years ago. There is said to be one val- 

 ley, sixteen leagues brood by twenty leagues 

 long, where this product is to be found in 

 many places on the surface, and in all with 

 little or no labor. As a superficial manure or 

 top-dressing, nitrate of soda is of great value 

 to agriculture, and it may be brought to this 

 country at a cheap rate now that the river is 

 open. 



The regular session of the Brazilian Parlia- 

 ment was opened by the emperor on May 3d. 

 In his speech he announced the birth of the 

 Prince Dom Pedro, son of Princess Leopoldina 

 and Duke August, of Saxe-Coburg Gotha. He 

 congratulated the country on the recent victo- 

 ries on the Parana, and called the attention of 

 the members to the necessity of inquiring into 

 financial matters. Among the most important 

 bills adopted by both Houses and signed by the 

 emperor, were a resolution upon the Bank of 

 Brazil and the improvement of the circulating 

 medium, and bills on the postponement of the 

 elections and for an extraordinary supplemental 

 credit for the expenses of the war. The session 

 was closed on September 16th by a speech from 

 the throne, which thus referred to the subjects 

 of greatest importance for the country : " The 

 United States of North America have given to 

 Brazil the most complete satisfaction for the 

 violent capture in the port of Bahia or the pri- 

 vateer Florida by the war-steamer Wachusett. 

 The war to which the President of Paraguay 

 provoked ns still continuing, the Government is 

 employing with effect the means necessary to 

 vindicate the national honor, aided therein ever 

 by the patriotism of all Brazilians. The hopes 

 of a good harvest in the generality of the prod- 

 ucts of our industry fortunately are being real- 

 ized. The public tranquillity has been disturbed 

 in no part of the empire, which is due to the 

 disposition and growing civilization of tue 

 people." 



The Government of Brazil, and all classes of 

 the people, continued to feel a deep inter e>t in 

 immigration, and showed a great desire to pro- 

 mote it. An official publication on the subject, 

 by the Government, states: ''Immigrants will 

 find an abundance of fertile land, suitable for the 

 culture of cotton, sugar-cane, coffee, tobacco, rice, 

 etc. These lands are situated in the provinces 

 of Rio Grande do Sul, Santo Catharina, Parana. 

 Sao Paulo, Espiritu Santo, and Rio de Janeiro; 

 and each immigrant may select his own lands. 

 As soon as the immigrant has chosen his laud, it 

 will be measured by the Government, and pos' 

 session given on th<? price stipulated. Uuoccu- 



