was called Forquilha, but to-day is the city of Cuyaba, where 
in those early days a rich gold mine was discovered. In those 
days, according to Elysés Reclus, the vast region of Matto 
Grosso, was hardly anything except a narrow, ordinary zone, 
nothing more than an immense solitude of undefined limits and 
unknown, but given over to Indians and wild beasts. It was 
joined to the rest of Brazil by the lonely paths of hunters, and by 
channels of the rivers that had their origin there. Really in 
those days communication with the remainder\of Brazil was as 
difficult as with Matto Grosso. It is within the memory of many 
and known to those who read the history of Brazil, that it was 
impossible for the troops who were enrolled and equipped in the 
coast provinces, to go directly to the aid of their compatriots in 
Matto Grosso, when the Brazilian people had to respond to the 
declaration of war by Paraguay. 
With the thousands of obstructions in their path, a portion 
of the army composed of 3,000 men, which left Rio de Janeiro 
in April, 1865, and which could only be organized in Uberaba, 
in the upper basin of Parana, was reduced to about 700, when it 
arrived at that safe and impregnable place. 
The war with Paraguay being ended, there is no doubt that 
the victory gained by Brazil opened wide the ports of Matto 
Grosso, for the natural declivity of the soil, the course of the 
streams, with the free river navigation, guaranteed by her tri- 
umph, established a regular line of packets between Rio de 
Janeiro, Corumba and Cuyaba, by way of the River La Plata, 
passing by Montevideo, Buenos Ayres and Assumption. 
The fluvial ways of the Guaporé, Madeira and Amazon 
were constantly used in the Eighteenth Century, after the ex- 
ploration made by Manoel de Lima in 1742. Navigation by 
the Guaporé river to the Madeira, in short to S. Antonio, which 
is the initial point of navigation on this last mentioned river, is 
long and full of difficulties. Withal, Matto Grosso is gradually 
approaching the coasts of Brazil by means of railroads, such as 
the Northwestern Road, which will shortly unite it with Rio de 
Janeiro, and the railroad, already projected, which, parting from 
S. Luiz de Caceres, will reach the old city of Matto Grosso, 
where the Gauporé begins to be navigable, to Guajara-Mirim, the 
terminal point of the great Madeira-Marmoré Railway. 
In a short time, as can readily be seen, these roads will be a 
reality, the navigable rivers being united by the stretches of rail- 
roads between them. The Paranapanema and the Ivahy in the 
States of Parana and S. Paulo, continue on the one side of the 
Parana River, ascending the Ivanhema, and the Brilhante, as 
far as the neighboring mountains of Miranda, in the meridional 
part of Matto Grosso. 
168 
