104 



BEAZIL. 



18,000 of them in three months at Rio, 6,000 

 in the Province of Parana, and 4,500 at Kio 

 Grande do Sul. 



During previous years the numbers of im- 

 migrants arrived in Brazil were as follow: 

 1870,9,123; 1871,12,331; 1872,18,441; 1873, 

 14,931; 1877, 29,029; 1878, 22,423; 1880, 

 22,859; 1882, 25,845; and in 1883, 26,789. 

 Among those landed in 1883 there were 11,- 

 286 Portuguese ; 10,698 Italians; 2,343 Span- 

 iards; 1,690 Germans; 249 Austrians; 158 

 British subjects; 152 Frenchmen; 94 Swiss; 

 and 119 belonging to other nationalities. 



Colonization. German colonization at Join- 

 ville and Eio Grande do Sul flagged in 1885, 

 at the former place in consequence of some 

 difficulties between the Hamburg Coloniza- 

 tion Company and the Brazilian Government, 

 interfering, it was thought only temporarily, 

 with the prompt payment of part of the sea- 

 passage of colonists from Germany. 



Meanwhile, Mr. G. Stutyer purchased in 

 April, 1885, about 7,000 acres for settlement 

 by German colonists at Blumenau, on the Ita- 

 jahy river. Blumenau is an extensive colony, 

 with a population of 20,000, 15,000 of whom 

 are Germans. And in October a new coloni- 

 zation society was formed in Berlin, to direct 

 emigration especially to Rio Grande do Sul. 



Exploration of the Xingn. In the summer of 

 1885 Dr. Charles von Heinen returned to Para 

 from an exploring expedition in the Matto 

 Grosso. This immense region, more than four 

 times the size of France, occupies a large part 

 of central and western Brazil, and was till then 

 hardly known to geographers except iu the 

 most imperfect manner. It is divided by great 

 rivers, of which the Madeira, the Tapajos, the 

 Xingu, the Araguaya, and the Tocantins flow 

 northward, and the Paraguay flows southward. 

 It is watered by innumerable streams, which 

 unite with these rivers,, along whose banks live 

 thousands of the most primitive people. There 

 is steam navigation on the Tapajos and Tocan- 

 tins, and a railway is constructing along the 

 banks of the Madeira. But the Xingu is al- 

 most unknown. Previous explorers have not 

 passed the fourth degree of south latitude, be- 

 yond which were supposed to be fierce tribes 

 of cannibals. The primitive inhabitants of 

 Brazil, retiring before the whites, were sup- 

 posed to have concentrated themselves here as 

 in a last stronghold. Between the Piranha- 

 guara and Paranatinga the river is absolutely 

 unknown, and the existence of a water-way 

 for trade to Para is of the utmost importance 

 to the inhabitants of the Matto Grosso, now 

 confined for commerce to the Paraguay. The 

 military force, commanded by Paulo Castro, 

 worked with the civilians in perfect accord. 

 They left Cayaba, May 26, 1884, crossed the 

 Paranatinga on July 5, reached Piranhaguara 

 on Oct. 13, and returned, without the loss of a 

 man, to Cayaba early in the summer. 



Imprisonment of an American Consul. On May 

 26, the Department of State at Washington 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



received a report from Minister Osborn in 

 regard to a matter that led to the arrest and 

 imprisonment of Beckford Mackey, United 

 States Consul at Rio Grande do Sul. It ap- 

 pears that Mr. Mackey had for many weeks 

 been violently assailed, for no ascertained cause, 

 in a newspaper there. The editor, named 

 Thadeo Amorin, sent Mr. Mackey a note on 

 April 13, proposing that if he subscribed for 

 the paper it would cease to attack him; he 

 declined the offer, and kicked the messenger 

 out of his office. On the next day the editor 

 made a scurrilous attack on Mackey, and as- 

 sailed his mother. On the same evening, as 

 Mackey entered a theatre, he was confronted 

 by Amorin with an uplifted stick. Mackey 

 at once struck him a heavy blow in the face 

 with his walking-cane. His assailant drew his 

 pistol, but before he could fire the consul shot 

 him twice, and he fell to the floor. Mr. 

 Mackey then surrendered himself to a police 

 magistrate. On June 5 Mr. Mackey was ab- 

 solved by the jury. 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. The completion of the 

 Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 marked the 

 beginning of a new era in British Columbia. 

 Hitherto the province has been completely 

 isolated. It has had more interests in common 

 with the neighboring States of the Union than 

 with the Dominion, of which nominally it has 

 formed a part since 1871, but from the rest ot 

 which it has been more completely separated 

 than the Dominion is from the British Isles. 

 Its interests are now decidedly Canadian. Be- 

 sides the advantages the province will obtain 

 from being a great trade-route between Eng- 

 land and China and Japan, it is expected that 

 there will now be a rapid development of its 

 natural resources. The Imperial and Dominion 

 Governments have recognized the strategic im- 

 portance that British Columbia acquires by the 

 completion of the railway, and measures have 

 been taken to fortify the Pacific terminus. 



Government. The Lieutenant-Governor is the 

 Hon. Clement Francis Cornwall, B. A. The 

 Executive Council is composed as follows: 

 Premier, Chief Commissioner of Lands and 

 Works, and President of the Council, Hon. 

 William Smithe; Attorney-General, Hon. A. 

 E. B. Davis ; Provincial Secretary, Minister of 

 Mines, and Minister of Finance and Agricult- 

 ure, Hon. John Robson. 



The Chinese Question. Popular excitement 

 over the Chinese question reached a very high 

 pitch in 1885, and in British Columbia, as in 

 several other provinces, threats of secession 

 were made. The anti-Chinese agitation, as a 

 political question, began in this province about 

 1872. Lately there has been a rapid immigra- 

 tion of Chinese, on account of the construction 

 of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and at pres- 

 ent the Chinese population of the province is 

 roughly estimated at about 25,000, out of a to- 

 tal of about 60,000. No accurate census has 

 ever been taken of the Chinese in British Co- 

 lumbia. Many of the people of the Pacific 



