BRAZIL. 



73 



its light being visible at a distance of 24 miles. 

 It has an electric light. 



Emancipation. The census completed through- 

 out Brazil on March 30, 1887, showed that 

 there are now fewer than 700,000 slaves in the 

 whole empire. Oa March 31, 1873, 1,530,000 

 were still registered. Deputy Alfonso Celso 

 consequently introduced, during the summer, 

 a bill for immediate emancipation, the fate of 

 which remains uncertain, there being consid- 

 erable opposition to its passage among con- 

 servatives and slave-holders. 



Immigration. The number of immigrants 

 landed in 1886 at Rio, was 22,286, of the fol- 

 lowing nationalities : 



There were 7,439 that remained at Rio per- 

 manently, while 14,847 left for the provinces. 

 At the same time 7,503 third-class passengers 

 went abroad, so that the net gain of population 

 by immigration amounted to 16,975. 



The Government made a contract for the 

 introduction in 1887 of 5,000 immigrants from 

 Northern Europe at reduced rates of passage 

 from either Hamburg, Bremen, or Antwerp 

 to either Rio or Santos, the maximum passage 

 money for adults to be 60 marks ; for children 

 between the ages of 8 and 12, 30 marks; and 

 15 marks for children between 3 and 8 years. 

 To certain immigrants the Government will 

 grant a free passage. The steamers employed 

 will enjoy all the privileges of mail-steamers. 



Penal Settlement. Brazilian convicts 'are sent 

 to the island of Fernando de Noronha, in the 

 province of Pernambuco, if condemned to hard 

 labor. Besides the convicts there is a free pop- 

 ulation consisting of Government officers, sol- 

 diers, and their families. There were 3,955 

 inhabitants on the island in 1887, 1,434 of 

 them being convicts. 



Various Industries. A coal-mine of consider- 

 able depth and extent was discovered early in 

 1887 in the municipality of Santa Clara, prov- 

 ince of Sao Paulo. The chief coal-deposits in 

 Brazil are those of Tubarao, in the province of 

 Santa Catharina, and of the Arroyo dos Ratos, 

 Rio Grande do Sul, the latter producing 

 6,000 tons a month, and being the property 

 of an English company. Its product is con- 

 sumed in the province. The company is ex- 

 tracting coal from two shafts and 32 galleries, 

 and employs 100 miners, who, with the aid of 

 powerful machinery, are capable of taking out 

 250 tons of coal a day. The " briquette " and 

 washing- works are furnished with two steam- 

 engines, of 120 horse-power each, and can turn 

 out 60 tons of washed coal and 70 tons of brick- 

 coal daily. A railroad of 17 kilometres con- 

 nects the mine with the navigable Jacuhy 

 river. A Brazilian company owns besides a 

 lar^e mine of bituminous peat at Taubate in 

 Parahyba, said to be very profitable. 



There are in the province of Minas-Geraes 

 110 iron-works, occupying 1,100 workmen; an 

 industry capable of considerable development, 

 in view of the extensive iron-ore deposits in 

 the Espinhaco mountains, estimated to contain 

 2,000,000,000 cubic metres of ore. 



There were in operation in Brazil, in 1887, 

 62 cotton-spinneries and weaving-factories, 

 with 5,084 horse-power, and 5,712 looms; the 

 number of yards of cotton fabrics turned out 

 being 48,175,000, representing a value of 

 $8,400,000. Fourteen of the concerns were in 

 Minas-Geraes, with a joint capital of $1,600,- 

 000, 13 in Sao Paulo, 12 in Bahia, 9 in the 

 province of Rio de Janeiro, and 6 in the city of 

 Rio de Janeiro. 



There are in operation in Brazil 52 central 

 sugar-houses, 33 of which have the interest on 

 their capital ($10,900,000) guaranteed by the 

 Government. They are distributed very un- 

 equally, 22 of them, as follows: Pernam- 

 buco, 11 ; Bahia, 6, and Rio de Janeiro, 5. 

 The guaranteed interest is 6 per cent in most 

 cases ; a few receive 7 per cent, because the 

 capital in each case amounts to $1,200,000. 



English capitalists propose building flour- 

 mills in Rio de Janeiro, and, under concessions 

 from the Government, they intend to import 

 wheat from the Argentine Republic free of 

 duty. This would create a competition with 

 American flour now so extensively consumed 

 in the empire. 



The province of Rio Grande do Sul has tak- 

 en the necessary steps to introduce the grow- 

 ing of wheat on a large scale. A hundred 

 families of wheat-growing peasants, procured 

 in Europe, were landed at Pelotas. Ninety 

 years ago wheat was cultivated successfully in 

 the province, but when the rust appeared this 

 branch of culture was abandoned. 



The municipality of Itatiba, in the province 

 of Sao Paulo, produced, in 1887, 160 pipes of 

 wine, or 768 hectolitres, one of the viticultur- 

 ists alone turning out 550 hectolitres. Viti- 

 culture is rapidly on the increase in the local- 

 ity, giving returns as remunerative as coffee at 

 present high prices, and requiring but half the 

 number of field-hands. 



The raising of cattle and breeding of horses 

 is one of the principal pursuits in the province 

 of Rio Grande do Sul. On a single estancia, 

 that of the Curral das Pedras, there are 30,000 

 head of cattle, 4,500 mares, 2,000 stallions, and 

 3,000 sheep. The estancia is divided into 

 seven farms. Vines and European fruits are 

 also cultivated. Only whites and freedmen 

 are employed, the number of hands being 75. 



New Plants. There grows abundantly and 

 spontaneously in the province of Ceara a plant 

 of the Malva kind, whose botanical name is 

 Orena lubata, hitherto looked upon as a mere 

 weed of no commercial value. It has recently 

 been discovered that, with a very simple treat- 

 ment, not involving much expense, it can be 

 made to furnish a valuable textile fiber, having 

 properties akin to those of the jute of British 



