242 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



land. But the tribes themselves have disappeared, either exterminated or absorbed 

 in the half-caste white populations. 



At most about 1,000 full-blood Indians, called Coroados or Bugres, are still 

 found settled round the military colony of Caseros, in the north. They claim 

 to be " Christians," without any memories of their ancestors, and living after the 

 manner of the Grauchos. Before the emancipation the x4.frican element was re- 

 presented by about 100,000 slaves. But the descendants of these negroes have 

 also been greatly reduced, and partly absorbed in the general population. 



The same process of absorption is extending to the other ethnical groups. 

 The Germans, formerly a sixth or a seventh, are now reduced to little more 

 than a tenth of the inhabitants, although they own one-fourth of the public 

 domain, and monopolise half of the local industries. Nearly all the workshops and 

 the export trade are in their hands. 



The other more recent immigrants — Italians, Portuguese, Gallicians — are 

 collectively ten times more numerous than the Germans ; but being of Latin race 

 and speech, they become assimilated far more rapidly to the general population. 

 Stockbreeding and meat-curing being the chief pursuits, as in Uruguay and Argen- 

 tina, this general population itself resembles the neighbouring Gauchos in habits 

 and character far more than it resembles the ordinary Brazilians. Like the 

 Gauchos, the people of all the rural districts are great riders, men of resolution, 

 daring, adventuresome, full of resources, cruel, and accustomed to scenes of blood. 

 During the Brazilian wars the Rio Grande horsemen took a decisive part in most 

 of the conflicts. 



Till recently the Germans comprised a sixth or a seventh of the whole popula- 

 tion ; at present ihey are reduced to one-eighth, or even to one-tenth, if those 

 alone be included who habitually speak their mother-tongue. * Nevertheless, they 

 possess one-fourth of the public property, while about half of the local industry is 

 in their hands. The German settlers in the hill}^ districts of the Serra da Costa 

 (Coast Range) enjoy the largest share of national cohesion, but these are precisely 

 the most backward in every social respect. They are not yet familiar with the 

 Portuguese language ; they preserve their old agricultural methods, and continue 

 to dress in the old-fashioned way. On the other hand, their descendants domi- 

 ciled in the towns are distinguished by their knowledge of the current languages, as 

 well as by their enterprising and industrial spirit. They have almost a monopoly 

 of the factories, workshops, and export trade. 



Topography, 



Porto Alogre, present capital of Rio Grande, occupies the true geographical 

 centre of the country, being situated at the head of the Guahyba (Jacuhy) estuary, 

 converging point of all the land and water highways. It stands on a picturesque 

 headland immediately below a cluster of wooded islets, where it was founded by a 

 few Portuguese families from the Azores in 1742, though it did not take its 

 present name till 1773. Its prosperity dates from the time when the German 



