BRAZIL. 



63 



tation. At Hamburg and Antwerp the SSo Paulo 

 coffees have been more quickly appreciated at their 

 true value, and they are there very well known un- 

 der the name of Santos coffee. These two ports in 

 1877-'78 took almost one half of the coffee exported 

 from Santos, having imported 422,169 sacks. 



A table showing the number of primary 

 schools in each province, and the attendance 

 thereat, will he found in the "Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia " for 1875. 



The Minister of the Interior has abolished 

 in the Government College of Dom Pedro II., 

 which confers degrees of Bachelor of Arts, 

 the obligation for Protestants to be examined 

 in the course of religion, and has also abolished 

 the oath in regard to religious creeds. Exam- 

 inations have been opened to persons not at- 

 tending the collegiate course. This is one of 

 the secularizing measures projected by the 

 Sinimbu Cabinet, and will probably be fol- 

 lowed by the establishment of civil marriage, 

 the removal of religious disabilities, and in- 

 creased facilities for naturalization. 



In 1867 there were only six railroads in the 

 empire, of the aggregate length of 515 miles; 

 in 1872 there were fifteen, with 768 miles; in 



1876, twenty-two lines, with an aggregate 

 length of 1,143 miles; in 1877, twenty-seven 

 lines, with an aggregate of 1,994 miles open 

 to traffic. There were at the latter date 4,672 

 miles of telegraph and one hundred and four 

 offices. Although the new administration has 

 inaugurated an era of strict economy and re- 

 trenchment, extending to the public works 

 projected by a former ministry, the construc- 

 tion of important lines of railway will be con- 

 tinued. A commission had been engaged in 

 studying a general system of railways to be 

 built under a governmental guarantee of seven 

 per cent, for thirty years, or a kilometric sub- 

 vention for snch lines as show a probability of 

 a net income of at least four per cent. ; but 

 this system having proved impracticable, and 

 too onerous to the Treasury of the empire, 

 another will be devised more in accordance 

 with the economical tendencies of the reform 

 Cabinet. By a decree dated November 24, 



1877, a guarantee of seven per cent, on 400,- 

 000 of additional capital has been granted in 

 favor of the Madeira and Mamore Railway. 

 The guarantee is for thirty years, and is to 

 take effect after the actual employment of 

 600,000 realized from the Bolivian loan and 

 deposited in London. When the line is in op- 

 eration, the guaranteed capital will be credited 

 with a part of the net earnings of the railway, 

 until the Brazilian Government is reimbursed 

 of its expenditure. As it was thought that the 

 Brazilian and Bolivian trade resulting from 

 the construction of the Madeira and Mamore 

 Railway would mainly fall into American 

 hands, the thorough survey of the Amazon 

 and Madeira Rivers was undertaken by the 

 Navy Department of the United States. Com- 

 mander Selfridge, a skillful, energetic, and 

 experienced officer, and an able corps of assist- 



ants, were chosen for this work. The expedi- 

 tion started from Para in the United States 

 corvette Enterprise on June 3d, and entered 

 the main Amazon on the 7th. On the^ 15th 

 they reached Serpa, 872 miles from Para, and 

 twenty miles below the junction of the Ma- 

 deira, the principal tributary of the Amazon. 

 They ascended that river for a distance of 300 

 miles to San Antonio, the northern terminus 

 of the projected railway, below the falls of the 

 Madeira. A track chart of both rivers has 

 been made, showing latitudes and longitudes 

 along their banks, and also their shoals, rapids, 

 and bars, so that navigation may in future be 

 perfectly safe. 



LONG-HOBNED BRAZILIAN OX. 



On November 10, 1877, the imperial decree 

 No. 6,729 was signed by the Emperor of Bra- 

 zil, granting a subsidy of $100,000 a year for 

 a period of ten years to Messrs. John Roach & 

 Son, to establish a line of steamships between 

 the ports of New York and Rio de Janeiro, 

 calling at St. Thomas, Para, Pernambuco, and 

 Bahia. The contract, signed on the 14th of 

 November, requires that the ships composing 

 the line shall compare favorably with the 

 steamships plying between Europe and Brazil. 

 The time allowed between New York and Rio 

 de Janeiro is twenty days, and a failure in this 

 respect subjects the contractors to fines and 

 penalties. Two steamships have already been 

 placed on the line, the City of Rio de Janeiro 

 and the City of Para. They are each 370 

 feet long over all, 39 feet beam, depth of hold 

 31 feet 6 inches, and 3,500 tons custom-house 

 register. They are divided by bulkheads into 

 six water-tight compartments, and their engines 

 are of 2,500 horse-power. The City of Rio 

 de Janeiro, the pioneer ship of the new line, 

 reached the harbor of Rio de Janeiro on the 

 29th of May. On June 3d the steamer was 

 visited by the Emperor and Empress of Brazil, 

 accompanied by the ministers of state and the 

 officers of the court ; and they were received 

 by the Honorable H. W. Hilliard, the Ameri- 

 can Minister, Captain Weir, the commander 



