268 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



" Turks," but in reality Christian Maronites of Mount Lebanon and Syria, bave 

 begun to find their way to Ptio de Janeiro. 



Agriculture. 



Despite the recent increase of agricultural settlements, the extent of land 

 under cultivation is insignificant compared with the superficial area of the 

 country. In many regions the least clearing attracts attention, so accustomed 

 is the eye to wander over interminable forests and savannas on both sides of the 

 track. It would be difiicult to obtain accurate statistics on the subject, because 

 the Brazilian peasant is still half a nomad. There being no lack of land, 

 whenever the ground seems exhausted he abandons his holding, and makes a 

 fresh clearance in the woods. The impoverishment of the soil is revealed by the 

 encroachment of certain plants, such as the samamhaia [polypodium incanum) in 

 S. Paulo, and in South Minas and elsewhere the tristcgis glutinosa or panicum 

 melinis, which follows the cultivator in all his wanderings. 



Except on the large plantations the method of tillage is of an extremely 

 primitive character, based on the process followed by the Tupi aborigines. It 

 must be described rather as a reckless plundering of the soil than an orderly 

 system of husbandry. Nevertheless, each peasant obtains in abundance all that he 

 requires for his own consumption — manioc, black beans, rice, maize, bananas, yams, 

 and sweet potatoes. The standing dish of all Brazilian tables, the feijoa da, as it is 

 called, comprises the first three ingredients, to which is usually added the cai-iie 

 secca (jerked beef), imported from Rio Grande do Sul and the Argentine regions. 



Next to provisions the most important product of the soil is coffee, introduced 

 from Cayenne in 1727. But this plant, first grown at Para, possessed no 

 economic importance till the declai-ation of independence. Since then its cultiva- 

 tion has spread so rapidl}^ that, despite epidemics, financial crises, revolutions, 

 Brazil has outstripped Java, and all other coffee-growing lands, and at present 

 supplies more than half of the world's consumption. It thrives almost every- 

 where, although the great plantations are limited to the regions stretching from 

 Espirito Santo to the Rio Parana, with Rio de Janeiro as their centre. About 

 half the exported article is still forwarded through the port of Rio ; but the 

 largest and most productive plantations are now found in the State of S. Paulo, 

 where the best quality is also grown. 



Many of the planters, especially in the States of Rio de Janeiro and Minas 

 Geraes, mostly absentees wedded to the old ways, were ruined by the emancipa- 

 tion. But those of S. Paulo had prepared for the crisis by introducing free 

 hands, and thus weathered the storm successfully. Instead of being impoverished 

 they became more prosperous than ever. "When the slave system was con- 

 demned, but before its abolition, one of the great planters, the Viscount of Nova 

 Friburgo, exclaimed lugubriously, addressing his words to Java and the other 

 foreign coffee- growing lands : " For you the future ! all hope of preserving our 

 plantations ends with to-day." 



