230 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



Iguazu witli the Parana, below the great falls, for the military colony of Foz de 

 Iguazu, which has since become a free settlement with a mixed Brazilian, Para- 

 guayan, and French population of 700 souls chiefly engaged in collecting maté 

 and cultivating cereals. Foz de Iguazu occupies an important strategical position 

 as a frontier station towards Paraguay and Argentina. Here a beginning has 

 already been made with a national arsenal and a flotilla, and there can be no doubt 

 that sooner or later an important centre of population must spring up either at Foz 

 de Iguazu, or at some other confluence in the neighbourhood. In this district the 

 valley of the Parana is intersected by the shortest highway running from the Atlantic 

 seaboard westwards to Matto Grosso, that is, to the geographical centre of the Conti- 

 nent. The position is somewhat analogous to that of St. Louis on the Mississippi. 



Towns of Santa Catharina. 



This State, which takes its name from the long island of Santa Catharina, the 

 Juru Mirim of the Indians, has benefited more than any other region of Brazil by 

 the movement of immigration controlled by the Government. If a " New Ger- 

 many " has not been developed in Santa Catharina and the neighbouring Pio 

 Grande do Sul, at least the German language prevails in many districts, and 

 thanks to the higher standard of education this State exercises an influence in 

 public affairs out of proportion to its slight population. 



In 1849 a Hamburg trading association introduced the first German colonists, 

 who established themselves on the banks of the Rio Cachoeira. The rising station 

 took the name of Joinvilk, iu honour of the French prince to whom a territory 

 of about 60,000 square miles had been ceded as the dowry of dona Francisca, 

 sister of the Emperor of Brazil. The district soon assumed the aspect of a 

 flourishing German domain, and of the 19,000 present inhabitants of the muni- 

 cipality over 14,000 claim German or Polish descent. Breweries, distilleries, 

 and other w^orkshops have sprung up round about Joinville, and hundreds of 

 waggons are engaged in carting to the port of S. Francisco the maté, tobacco, 

 maize, tapioca, butter, and other produce raised in the district. 



A carriage road crossing the Serra do Mar runs northwards to S. Bento and 

 other colonies about the Parana frontier, and at Rio Negro this highway joins the 

 railroad from Curitiba. 



8. Francisco, where is centred all thé local traffic, is one of the best harbours 

 on the coast. The channel separating S. Francisco Island from the mainland has 

 a depth of 20 feet, and offers excellent anchorage to the shipping, which is here 

 sheltered from all winds. 



Blumenau on the Rio Itajahy, south-west of Joinville, dates from 1852, when it 

 was founded by the German speculator from whom it takes its name. From the 

 first it had a hard battle to fight with adverse circumstances, but it has at last 

 entered on a prosperous career, and numerous roads now radiate in all directions 

 through a rich district studded with mills, workshops, and farmsteads. Steamers 

 plying on the Itajahy communicate with the port of Nova Trento, where the 



