480 



BRAZIL. 



11. Jlgriculturc and Commerce. The cultivated tracts are covered with sugar, cotton, 

 coftee, and indigo plantations, and the exports chieHy consist of those articles. In some places 

 the soil is so exuberant, that 60 crops of rice may be raised in succession. 



12. Inhabitants. This extensive country, being divided between the English, French, and 



Scene in Demerara. 



Dutch, contains more than the usual varieties of people. There are Indians and negroes. Tne 

 savage tribes are indolent. The Dutch, with their usual perseverance, have converted a marsh 

 infested with reptiles, into a fruitful and cheerful country. The common diseases are fevers ; 

 the climate is humid, and in expeditions against the Indians, the soldiers have sometimes been 

 compelled to march in water to their breasts. There are several petty States of revolted ne- 

 groes in the interior, and many savage tribes of Indians. 



CHAPTER LXVIII. BRAZIL. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. Brazil is bounded N. by New Granada, Venezuela, and Gui- 

 ana; E. by the Atlantic Ocean ; S. by the ocean, Uruguay, and Paraguay ; and W. by Para- 

 guay,. Bolivia, Peru, and The Equator. It extends from 4° N. lat. to 3-3° S. lat., and from 

 35^ to 73^ W. long., having an area of 3,000,000 square miles, and a population of 5,000,000. 



2. Mountains. This extensive region is traversed by several distinct chains of mountains, 

 chiefly in the eastern and northern provinces. The most easterly chain, called the Serra do 

 Mar, or Maritime Range, stretches from 16'^ to 30° S. lat., in a direction parallel to the coast. 

 The highest summits are Arasoiaba, near San Paulo, 4,1G0 feet high ; and Tingua, near Rio 

 Janeiro", 3,600 feet high. Further west, lies the Serra do Espinhaco, extending from the San 

 Francisco in 10°, to the Uruguay in 28° S. lat., and separating the confluents of the former 

 from the rivers which flow easterly into the Atlantic. Its loftiest summits are in the province 

 of Minas Geraes, between 1S° and 21° S. lat. ; among them are Mount Itacolnmi, near Villa 

 Rica, 6,17.5, and Serra do Frio, near Villa do Principe, 6,000 feet high. A third chain, the 

 Serra dos Vertenfe^, separates the confluents of the Amazon, the Tocantin, and the Parnahiba, 



