SOUTH AMERICA. 



The larger part of the land belongs to the govern- 

 ment, and is farmed out at moderate rents for 

 the purposes of agriculture and pasturage. The 

 public revenue is now about ,170,000, and the 

 expenditure ,150,000. There was no debt till the 

 late war, when a foreign loan of .2,000,000 was 

 raised on the security of state property. There is 

 no direct commerce between Paraguay and Europe, 

 all the foreign trade passing through Brazil or the 

 Argentine Confederation. The population con- 

 sists mostly of native Indians, with a good many 

 mestizos, and a smaller number of Spanish Creoles. 

 The capital is Assuncion, situated at the junction 

 of the Paraguay and Pilcomayo. Paraguay 

 possesses great commercial capabilities in its 

 rivers, the Parana and the Paraguay, the latter of 

 which is navigable for vessels of 300 tons to 

 Assuncion, and for smaller vessels on to Bolivia 

 and Brazil. 



URUGUAY, OR REPUBLICA ORIENTAL DEL 

 URUGUAY. 



Area, 73,538 square miles ; total population, 

 350,000 (102,000 of foreign birth). 



This republic, formerly known as Banda 

 Oriental, extending from 30 to 35 south lat. 

 and from 53 to 58 west long, is bounded south 

 by the Plata, west by the Uruguay River, north 

 by Brazil, and east by the Atlantic. On the over- 

 throw of the Spanish dominion, it was seized by 

 Brazil ; but after a war of several years' duration, 

 it became an independent republic in 1828. Its 

 constitution dates from 1831. 



The region along the coast is flat and treeless ; 

 but the interior is rugged, hilly, and well wooded. 

 The soil is well adapted both for cultivation and 

 pasturage. The climate, although moist, is tem- 

 perate and salubrious. All sorts of grain and 

 European fruits thrive well, as do also cotton and 

 the sugar-cane. The greater part of the inhabit- 

 ants are guachos, or herdsmen, who mostly live 

 on horseback, and are almost as rude as Indians, 

 many of them having Indian blood in their veins. 

 Considerable attention, however, is now paid to 

 agriculture. There has been, during late years, a 

 constantly increasing flow of immigration from 

 Europe. The annual public revenue is about 

 .2,000,000 ; and the foreign debt is upwards of 

 1 2,000,000. More than a half of the foreign trade 

 is with Great Britain, which, in return for cotton 

 goods and manufactured iron, receives hides, 

 tallow, wool, sheep-skins, grease, bones, bone- 

 ash, and a considerable quantity of Liebig's ex- 

 tract of meat. To the list of exports may now be 

 added preserved beef. Most of the commerce is 

 in the hands of foreigners. The yearly imports 

 exceed ,3,000,000, and the exports .2,500,000. 

 The capital is Monte Video, on the estuary of 

 La Plata, with a population (1870) of 125,728. 

 Uruguay is divided into thirteen provinces. 



BRAZIL. 



Area, 3,100,104 square miles; total popula- 

 tion, 10,095,978 (1,683,164 slaves ; 250,000 aborig- , 

 ines). 



Brazil is by far the largest and most important , 

 state in South America. The climate is more 

 salubrious than in other tropical countries, and 

 the soil is amazingly rich and fertile. It is bounded 



on the land side by Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, 

 Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Guiana; and on the 

 east and north-east by the Atlantic, extending 

 from 4 30' north to 33 south lat. and from 35 

 to 70 west long. 



Brazil was colonised by Portugal early in the 

 1 6th century. In 1807, to escape the power of 

 Bonaparte, the king and the royal family of 

 Portugal fled to Brazil, where they were warmly 

 received. In 1815, the colony was raised to the 

 rank of an independent kingdom, subject to the 

 crown of Portugal. The court returned to Europe 

 in 1821 ; and afraid of seeing their country again 

 reduced to the condition of a subject colony, a 

 national congress chose Pedro, eldest son of 

 Joamo VI. perpetual dictator of Brazil. In Sep- 

 tember of the same year, Pedro proclaimed the 

 independence of the state, and in October was 

 appointed constitutional emperor as well as per- 

 petual dictator. Owing to his unpopular and 

 despotic measures, Pedro was, in 1831, compelled 

 to abdicate in favour of his son, the present 

 Emperor Pedro II. then a child six years of age. 



The form of government is that of a constitu- 

 tional hereditary monarchy. Four political powers 

 are recognised : i. The legislative, which resides 

 in a general assembly, consisting of a senate and 

 congress, the members of both being chosen in 

 the first instance by the people, by a system of 

 indirect election ; although the ultimate choice of 

 the senators, who are appointed for life, rests with 

 the emperor or his ministers. 2. The executive, 

 exercised by the king through his responsible 

 ministers. 3. T\\& judicial, intrusted to the estab- 

 lished tribunals ; and 4, the moderating power, or 

 royal prerogative. Each province, besides a presi- 

 dent, appointed by the emperor, has its own pro- 

 vincial legislative assembly. The local powers of 

 these bodies are very considerable, resembling 

 those of the individual states of the North Ameri- 

 can Union. The state religion is the Roman 

 Catholic ; but the exercise of all others is toler- 

 ated, provided that the places of worship have not 

 the exterior form of temples. 



Many of the earliest Portuguese settlers married 

 Indian women, thus giving rise to mixed breeds. 

 Then came negro slavery, introducing a new ele- 

 ment of race. Hence the population of Brazil 

 contains every possible combination of white, red, 

 and black blood. All citizens, provided that they 

 are free, are not only equal in the eye of the law, 

 and enjoy the same political privileges, but are on 

 the same footing of social equality, irrespective 

 of all distinctions of race. The Indian element 

 prevails in the north, and the European in 

 the sea-ports. These are crowded with dense 

 masses of population, while vast tracts of 

 country remain uninhabited, or only sparsely 

 peopled. A law for the gradual emancipation of 

 slaves was passed in 1871, which provides that 

 the children of female slaves born after the pass- 

 ing of the act shall serve as apprentices, till the 

 age of 21, and shall then be absolutely free. 

 There has lately been a large immigration into 

 Brazil from Europe and the United States ; and 

 in 1879, there were fifty European colonies with 

 40,000 settlers (chiefly Swiss and German), each 

 forming the nucleus of a settlement. These 

 colonies, however, are not prosperous. 



To describe minutely the physical characteris- 

 tics of so vast a region as that of Brazil, would 



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