204 



The National Geographic Magazine 



The rivers are numerous, among the 

 largest being the Amazon, Madeira, 

 Negro, Para, Tocantius, Parana, and San 

 Francisco. In the extreme northern part 

 of the country are the llanos, or grassy 

 plains, on which roam millions of horses, 

 many being caught and sold in the differ- 

 ent markets of the world. Central Brazil, 

 especially that part lying contiguous to 

 the Amazon and its tributaries, is called 

 the silva, or forest region; it abounds in 

 Para rubber and palm trees, mahogany, 

 and dyewoods. The eastern and southern 

 parts form the great Brazilian plateau. 

 On account of the climatic conditions and 

 the fertility of the soil, this section is es- 

 pecially adapted to the cultivation of the 

 coffee tree, the production of sugar, cot- 

 ton, tobacco, rice, and fruits. Among the 

 minerals, besides gold and diamonds, 

 iron of superior quality is abundant. The 

 emerald, ruby, topaz, sapphire, garnet, 

 and other precious stones are found in 

 considerable quantities. Quite large 

 quantities of corn and wheat are grown 

 in the Amazon basin, but none for ex- 

 port. 



Brazil is a country of varied and won- 

 derful resources, and with the introduc- 

 tion of up-to-date methods its develop- 

 ment could be extended so that within a 

 few years it would produce enormously 

 and take high rank among the leading 

 commercial countries of the world. The 

 export trade is increasing at a very rapid 

 rate, especially in that of rubber, which 

 amounts to millions of dollars annually. 

 The introduction of the bicycle, auto- 

 mobile, and other rubber-tired vehicles 

 has given the rubber production an im- 

 petus that has caused it to forge to the 

 front as the leading export of the country. 

 The coffee trade is being extended and 

 has a very healthy growh. The United 

 States buys 50 per cent of the coffee ex- 

 ported, which amounted to $46,922,974 

 during the year ended June 30, 1904. 



Of the three leading countries that sold 

 their products to Brazil in 1904, Great 

 Britain ranks first, with $34,976,266, or 

 28 per cent of the total amount ; Germany 

 second, with $15,975,118, or 12 per cent; 



the United States, $14,041,970, or 11 per 

 cent. The great disparity in the amount 

 of goods sold by Great Britain and the 

 United States to Brazil presents a prob- 

 lem that must be studied by the manu- 

 facturers and exporters of this country if 

 their trade with that and the other South 

 American countries is to be extended. 



In recent years a large amount of 

 foreign capital has been invested in 

 Brazilian enterprises, especially in the 

 city of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and 

 in the southern states. German capital- 

 ists have established steamship lines for 

 coast service, and American and Cana- 

 dian capitalists have acquired the car 

 lines, gas works, and telephone service 

 at Rio de Janeiro, the money invested be- 

 ing estimated at $25,000,000. 



NAVIGATION RETURNS 



During the year 1904 there entered at 

 the several ports of Brazil 17,407 steam- 

 ers and sailing vessels, of 11,879,563 tons, 

 being an increase of 1,339 in number of 

 vessels and 811,265 in tonnage. Of these 

 13,452 vessels or 4,589,544 tons were 

 Brazilian, 1,792 or 3,661,010 tons were 

 British; 737 or 1,730,375 tons were Ger- 

 man ; 392 or 829,526 tons were French ; 

 168 or 363,301 tons were Argentine, and 

 practically none from the United States. 



The American Consul General at 

 Callao, Peru, Mr Gottschalk, writes that 

 a Peruvian loan of $14,610,000 gold has 

 been awarded to the German Transat- 

 lantic Bank of Lima, as the representa- 

 tive of the Deutscher Bank of Berlin. 

 Peru is to issue bonds for the loan at 

 98^2 net, bearing interest at 7 per cent. 

 One per cent of this will be devoted to 

 canceling the debt. The award was made 

 after the offers were carefully considered 

 from a London bank, a Paris bank, two 

 New York banking firms, and the Ger- 

 man institution. The people are elated 

 over the favorable terms, which, joined 

 to the fact that a former loan was also 

 taken up by Germany , greatly strengthens 

 the prestige of the local German bank 

 and German commercial prestige 

 throughout Peru. 



