BRAZIL 



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BRAZIL 



of these mountain systems is the Serra do Mar, 

 or Sea Mountains, which border the south- 

 eastern coast, leaving but a narrow plain be- 

 tween mountains and sea. The highest peak in 

 these mountains is Itatiaya (8,900 feet), west 

 of Rio de Janeiro. The very spot where Rio 

 stands was ages ago in the midst of a moun- 

 tain range which has been drowned or washed 

 over by the sea; this is shown by the wonder- 

 ful harbor of Rio, with its steep, clear-cut sides 

 and nearly 300 islands. Parallel with the Sea 

 Mountains run lesser ranges, most of which 

 reach almost to the northeastern coast. 



To the north and west of this plateau is the 

 vast Amazon River basin, which forms the 

 lowland portion of Brazil and with the valleys 

 of its tributaries comprises over half of the 

 country. This great plain, much of which is 

 flooded each year, is for the most part less than 

 500 feet above sea level. It is in this basin 

 that there still exists the largest unexplored 

 area on the western hemisphere (see subhead 

 Forests, below). 



The Amazonian lowland is bordered on the 

 north by a plateau, less important than the 

 southern tableland, which forms a natural 

 line between Brazil, the Guianas and Venezuela. 



A RAILROAD THAT REDUCED A VOYAGE 

 Corumba is an important city in Matto Grosso. 

 Before 1914 it was reached by a sea voyage and 

 a boat trip up the Parana and Paraguay rivers 

 a six weeks' journey from Rio. Now it Is 

 joined to the coast by a railroad little longer 

 than one from Boston to Chicago. 



Rivers and Transportation. Brazil has not 

 only the greatest river system of the world, the 

 Amazon, which drains two-thirds of the coun- 

 try, but it has also several other large rivers. 



Chief of these are the Paraguay and Parana, 

 together draining one-fourth of the country, 

 and the Sao Francisco, which is the waterway 

 for the eastern plateau region. This last-named 

 river, together with several of the streams 

 which enter the Amazon in its lower course, 

 have sharp falls at the edge of the plateau, 

 and are thus practically useless for navigation, 

 but, as a whole, the Amazon system affords a 

 navigable waterway which only the Mississippi- 

 Missouri system can approach in length. Of 

 'the 19,000 miles of the Amazon system which 

 lie within Brazil, over two-thirds, or 13,000 

 miles, is navigable. The importance of this is 

 hard to over-estimate, for throughout much of 

 their course these rivers flow through a valuable 

 forest area, and are the only means of trans- 

 portation. At the best, in a region of so vast 

 a size, river travel is unsatisfactory, because 

 the up-stream voyage must be very slow, weeks 

 of journeying by canoe along the Amazon 

 scarce equaling a day's travel by rail along 

 the shores of the Mississippi; but the time 

 is not yet in sight when roads or even trails 

 can be opened up through the forests, so dense 

 is the undergrowth and so heavy the rainfall. 

 See AMAZON. 



All of Brazil is not dependent upon the 

 rivers for travel, however, as the more open 

 parts of the country have well-developed rail- 

 road systems. In 1915 there were 15,120 miles 

 of railway in operation, and several thousands 

 more under construction or planned. Of the 

 present mileage, the government owns about 

 one-fifth and various states over one-fourth. 



The river systems of Brazil received new 

 popular attention in 1914 when Theodore 

 Roosevelt, during his exploration of the wild 

 central portion of the country, announced the 

 discovery of a new river a tributary of the 

 Madeira, almost 1,000 miles in length. A 

 chorus of skeptical comment arose at once 

 there could be no such river; the "River of 

 Doubt" it was called in the press. The govern- 

 ment of Brazil, however, sent out explorers to 

 the region, with the result that Roosevelt's 

 findings were confirmed, and a new river, the 

 Rio Teodoro (Theodore), was placed on offi- 

 cial maps. 



Climate. Save for three little states in the 

 extreme south, Brazil lies entirely within the 

 tropics, with comparatively even climate. In 

 the Amazon valley, the hottest part of the 

 country, the average temperature is about 90, 

 but in the higher, dryer regions there is a some- 

 what greater range; in some large areas it is 



