118 COFFEE. 



Catharina, S. Pedro do Eio Grande do Sul, Minas Geraes, Goyaz, 

 and Matto Grosso. 



Extensive mountain ranges and rivers of enormous size tra- 

 verse the empire, so that vast plains and extensive valleys abound. 

 Its principal river, the Amazon, is the largest on the globe, being, 

 with its tributaries, navigable for over thirty thousand miles. 

 This river empties . into the ocean with a velocity so great " that 

 at a distance of nearly one mile from the coast its current is still 

 equal to four miles an hour, and navigators may drink of its 

 waters after losing sight of land." 



The climate of Brazil varies greatly in different parts of the 

 empire, being hot and damp during the rainy season in the region 

 from Kio de Janeiro, the capital, north to the Amazon, the mean 

 temperature being 26° Centigrade (79° Fahrenheit). From the 

 capital to the extreme southern point the heat diminishes, and the 

 climate becomes cool, especially in the provinces of S. Paulo, 

 Parana, Santa Catharina, S. Pedro do Eio Grande do Sul, and part 

 of Minas Geraes. The following particulars are given in a work 

 published under the auspices of the Brazilian Government, entitled 

 " The Empire of Brazil at the [Philadelphia] Exposition of 1876" : 



" As a rale, the rainy season commences in November, and 

 lasts until June. These limits, however, vary according to locali- 

 ties. From the river Amazon to the Parnahyba it rains a great 

 deal ; thence to S. Francisco but little ; and more again to the 

 south. The immense valley of this river embraces the region 

 which the natives call the Sertao, and has two very distinct sea- 

 sons, the dry and the wet season, the former lasting from January 

 to May, and the latter from Jime to December. In June aU vege- 

 tation ceases, aU seeds ripen ; in July the leaves commence to 

 turn yellow and to fall ; in August vast tracts of land. present the 

 aspect of a European winter without snow, with two or three 

 exceptions the trees being denuded of leaves. Where the old 

 mode of preparation is in vogue, this is the most favorable 

 season for the preparation of the coffee cultivated on the moun- 

 tains. Being gathered, it is spread on the ground, which exhales 

 no moisture, but, on the contrary, absorbs it. Surrounded by an 

 atmosphere in the same conditions, the coffee dries rapidly with- 

 out fermenting. 



