60 



BRAZIL. 



Guianas, and the Atlantic Ocean; east by the 

 Atlantic; south by Uruguay, the Argentine Ke- 

 public, and Paraguay ; and west by Bolivia, 

 Peru Ecuador, and Colombia. The dividing 

 lines with Bolivia, Colombia, the Guianas, and 

 the Argentine Republic have not been definite- 

 ly drawn. The empire borders upon all the 

 South American states except Chili; and oc- 

 cupies more than two fifths of the South Amer- 

 ican Continent. It is divided into twenty-one 

 provinces and one neutral municipality (mu- 

 nicipio neutro), which, with their areas and 

 population, were as follows in 1876 : 



The capitals, in the order of the numbers, 

 are as follows : 1, Manaos ; 2, Belem or Para; 3, 

 Sao Luis ; 4, Therezina ; 5, Portaleza ; 6, Na- 

 tal; 7, Parahyba; 8, Recife; 9, Macei6; 10, 

 Aracaju ; 11, Sao Salvador or Bahia ; 12, Vic- 

 toria; 13, Nictheroy ; 14, Rio de Janeiro; 15, 

 Sao Paulo; 16, Curitiba; 17, Desterro ; 18, 

 Porte Alegre; 19, Ouro Preto; 20, Goyaz; 21, 

 Cuyaba. In the foregoing table, the popula- 

 tion of the provinces marked thus * is accord- 

 ing to the last census, but that of the others is 

 merely estimated. The complete report of the 

 census when published will probably show a 

 total population of 12,000,000. An official re- 

 turn gives the population of Rio de Janeiro, the 

 capital, at 274,972 for December, 1875, made up 

 as follows: Free population, 226,033 (males 

 133,880, females 92,153) ; slaves, 48,939 (males 

 24,886 females 24,053). In the coast cities and 

 in the northern provinces the mixed races pre- 

 dominate ; not merely those resulting from 

 the union of whites and Indians (mamalucos), 

 whites and negroes, and negroes and Indians 

 (cafuzos), but half-breeds of every shade and 

 degree. Brazil is probably the country where 

 the mingling of races has taken place upon the 

 most extensive scale, and yet intellectual de- 

 velopment has not been inconsiderable. But 



such is the insuperable apathy of moat of the 

 inhabitants of the interior as seemingly to 

 undermine their social and political existence, 

 prevent good administration, and retard the in- 

 troduction of needed reforms. Naturally the 

 moral level is also very low ; but the Govern- 

 ment has organized a system of popular educa- 

 tion adapted to the requirements of the various 

 races, which promises favorable results. In 

 the southern provinces, from Espirito Santo to 

 Minas Geraes, the white element prevails, and 

 there the European immigrants might be accli- 

 matized and their descendants gradually scat- 

 ter over the whole country. An increase of 

 population being desirable, the Government 

 continues its efforts to attract foreigners to the 

 empire with a view to the founding of colonies 

 in the southern portion of its territory ; and 

 similar endeavors on the part of the provincial 

 governments and of private companies have 

 already been attended by the establishment of 

 a number of settlements, some of which are in 

 a thriving condition. By the gradual opera- 

 tion of the law of September, 1871, the insti- 

 tution of slavery is fast disappearing, to give 

 place in the succeeding generation to free la- 

 bor. The number of emancipated slaves up to 

 December 31, 1875, was 21,704. The Emperor 

 takes much interest in the prospects of the free- 

 born children of slaves, technically called in- 

 genuos, whom the Government may be called 

 upon to receive from the owners of the moth- 

 ers to the number of about 25,000, on Septem- 

 ber 29, 1879, when they shall have attained the 

 age of eight years. The masters may either 

 retain them till twenty-one, paying them wages 

 and educating them, or receive from the Gov- 

 ernment bonds of $300 bearing interest at 6 per 

 cent, per annum. 



The Government of Brazil is a constitutional 

 monarchy. The Emperor is Dorn Pedro II., 

 born December 2, 1825 ; proclaimed April 7, 

 1831; regency, until July 23, 1840; crowned 

 July 18, 1841 ; married September 4, 1843, to 

 Theresa Christina Maria, daughter of the late 

 King Francis I. of the Two Sicilies. Soon af- 

 ter the return of the Emperor and Empress 

 from their tour through the United States and 

 Europe, in September, 1877, anew Liberal min- 

 istry was formed through the personal influence 

 of the sovereign, whose policy of reform the 

 Conservative ministry would not agree to carry 

 out. It is thought that the existing Chambers 

 will be dissolved should a majority not be ob- 

 tained in support of the policy of the new 

 Cabinet. The latter, formed January 5, 1878, is 

 composed as follows : Interior, Senhor Leon- 

 cio Carvalho ; Justice, Senhor Lafayette R. Pe- 

 reira ; Foreign Affairs, Baron de Villa Bella ; 

 War, Marquis de Herval ; Navy, Senhor An- 

 clrade Pinto; Finance, Senhor Silveira Mar- 

 tinos ; Public Works, Commerce, and Agricul- 

 ture, and President of the Council of State, 

 Senhor Sinimbu. Senhor Sinimbii, the head 

 of the new ministry, is a well-known states- 

 man, entertaining most liberal views, and his 



