RIO GEANDE DO SUL. 235 



Boundaries — Extent — Settlement. 



Towards Argentina Ptio Grande is bounded by the natural frontier of tbe 

 Rio Uruguay ; but southwards the vicissitudes of war have caused a purely 

 conventional frontier to be adopted towards the conterminous republic of Uruguay. 

 The line, which, on the coast, coincides with the little river Chuy, runs inland 

 across the Lagoa Mirim to the mouth of the Jaguarâo, which constitutes the 

 frontier as far as the Alto da Mina rivulet. Here begins a sinuous line, traced 

 from hill to hill north-westwards to the divide between the two rivers, Ibicuy 

 Grande and Tacuarembo, beyond which the boundary is formed by the course of 

 the Rio Quaraim. 



Rio Grande do Sul thus constitutes a somewhat irregular quadrilateral of 

 about 300 miles on all sides, with a superficial area of over 91,000 square miles, 

 and a vigorous population (1894) of rather over 1,000,000. The territory has 

 been traversed by explorers in all directions, except in the northern campos ; but 

 it still lacks accurate maps, for which the preliminary surveys have not even yet 

 been undertaken. 



The first settlers were natives of the Azores, who were driven from the 

 Archipelago by famine, and who founded the two cities of Rio Grande and Porto 

 Alegre in 1737 and 1742. German immigrants began to arrive soon after 

 the declaration of independence. Some settled in 1824 on a domain near 

 the spot where now stands S. Leopoldo ; these were followed by military 

 settlers, and towards the middle of the century the German colonists numbered 

 over 7,000. 



Even the European revolutions exercised a certain influence in the develop- 

 ment of Rio Grande, Over 1,000 of the so-called Bmnimers, most of whom 

 had taken part in the German risings of the year 1848, afterwards entered 

 the Brazilian service, and were engaged in the war against the dictator, Rosas. 

 Several men of eminence, members of this volunteer force, became leading 

 citizens of liio Grande, and to them was due the first educational movement 

 to which this State is indebted for the prominent position it holds in the 

 Brazilian union. 



Although the early agricultural colonies have lost the organisation imposed 

 on them by the central or provincial government, and although all immigrants 

 and their descendants have become naturalised Brazilians, the Germanic element 

 has not yet been entirely assimilated. The national sentiment and cohesion, 

 fostered by a foreign language, education and usages, is still kept alive in many 

 districts. But this " State within the State," constituted by aliens, with different 

 aspirations from those of the natives, loses ground in proportion to the rapid 

 increase of other ethnical elements, and especially of such as, through racial and 

 religious affinities, are more readily absorbed in the dominant Lusitano-Brazilian 

 nationality. 



Numerous Italian, Spanish, and Slav colonists have also arrived, and in 1875 the 

 Negro element was estimated at over 90,000, Before the final abolition of slavery 



