484 The Naturalist Brazilian Expedition. [May, 
his roving existence, despising his more laborious brother of the 
north. In disposition he is variable; the exigencies of his life 
have taught him to mistrust strangers, and his rough hospitality 
is generally guarded by a knife and pistol; so the farmer con- 
siders him ill-natured and blood-thirsty. On the whole the two 
classes have very little to do with each other. 
But beyond this a very strong race-distinction has arisen, 
owing to the influx of German immigrants who have chosen the 
northern part of the province on account of its mild climate and 
fertile soil. Of the 700,000 inhabitants of Rio Grande do Sul 
about 110,000 are Germans or their descendants, and all excepta 
few thousand of these are settled to the north of the River Ja- 
cuhy. These figures, however, do not at all represent the impor 
tance of the German element. It is the brawn and skill of the 
province; the element of progress, which is building up manufac- 
tures and doing away with the slovenly Brazilian agriculture; the 
commercial spirit which has given this province, with its one poor 
seaport, the most important trade south of Santos. The rich 
northern lands of the province are rapidly being taken up by 
German agriculturists, and their thriving plantations are seen 0” 
every hand. The grazing industry remains in the hands of Bra- 
zilians ; it is still the most important pursuit of the province, the 
large amount of prairie land being favorable to it; but as a sour 
of riches it is stationary, or perhaps decadent, the grazers being 
unable to compete with the great proprietors of Uruguay and the 
Argentine. The plantations, on the contrary, are yearly incoat 
ing in importance, é 
Porto Alegre owes its commercial importance almost entirely 
to the German colonies which have been formed in its vicinity. 
The first of these colonies, that of Sao Leopoldo, was establi 
in 1823, soon after Brazil became an empire; this is now G 
cipated,” that is, freed from special government co 
has become a flourishing city of nearly 5000 inhabitants. 
are many other colonies, nearly all formed by 
grants, and preserving the German language and cu 
in Porto Alegre one hears German spoken quite as often 
tuguese. With three exception all the wholesale com “id k 
houses in the city are German, and their warehouses wo sat 
honor to any city. There are German retail merchants, : jes 
cians, lawyers, schoolmasters; the two most important 
German immi- 
stoms ; eve# 
as Por- 
