l23 



Chapter VIII. 

 STATE OF ALAGOAS 



Superficie : 26,915 sq. km. 



Population : 800,000. 



Density : 30 per sq. km. 



The capital is Maceio and has 40,000 inhabitants. 



S TATE 



ALAGOAS 





Alagoas is the second smallest State to Sergipe. It is situated 

 north of the latter on the left side of the Sao Francisco river. It has 

 a frontage to the Atlantic Ocean with Maceio as an important harbour. 

 In the north its boundary is Pernambuco. 



The State of Alagoas is chiefly sugar producing, but of its 35 

 municipalities the following may be mentioned as growing cotton : 

 Agua Branca, Paulo Alfonso, Piranhas, Pao de Assucar, Bello Monte, 

 Traipu, Sao Bras, Colegio, Penedo, Junqueiro, Sant'Anna de 

 Ipanema, Palmeira dos Indios, Victoria, Vigosa, Limoeira, Anadia, 

 Santa Luzia, Leopoldina ; others produce sugar and cotton, viz. : 

 Parahy%a. Atalaia, Pilar, Alagoas, Sao Miguel, Sao Jose da Lage, 

 Uniao and Muricy. 



There are 10 cotton mills in the State, with 50,000 spindles ; we 

 visited only the cotton thread mill of Pedra, of which I have given a 

 description in chapter II. 



A steamer took us from Propria up the River Sao Francisco, but 

 after a few hours our boat ran on a sand bank. We then continued 

 our journey in a " canoa," a native boat of small dimensions, but had 

 to seek shelter on account of a heavy storm, meanwhile our steamer 

 got off the sand bank and soon overtook us. 



