INTRODUCTION'. 
19 
1 . to be conuccted with a liim of steamer.s on the Rio das Tellias. It crosses 
> tlie ricRcst coffee-growing districts of Rio de Janeiro and Minas, and has 
long ago repaid tlio vast outlay involved in large rock-blasting operations 
, ill tbe Semi do Mar, and in the eonstnietiou of an iron bridge over the 
Paraliyba of 150 nietres length, and the like ivorks, by augmenting 
the value of the land and increasing tbe productiveness of the whole 
district. 
Witli tlie groat extent of the coast of the Emjiire, the steam uaviga- 
I tioii is, of course, of the greater importance, as the land communications 
,, are by no means easy. Considering tliat, before the time of steamers, a. 
Government order took on an average about a month to get from the 
^ cajiital to Para, or to any seaport of Rio Grande do Sul ; and again, that 
at least six weeks elapsed before the decree reached Manaos, and about 
the same time, or more, before it got from Rio Grande, by tlie River 
I’lute and the Paraguay, to Ciiyaba, the capital of Mato Grosso, one can 
form a slight idea of the difficulties to be surmounted by the Central 
Govcrmncnt. Just as in Cliiua, the jircsident of some di.sfant province 
might have been driven away and the Government overthrown ■without 
' the capital being aware of it for two months or more ; and indeed, at the 
' * time of the Declaration of Independence, the ^Northern provinces, with 
Para at their head, were on the eve of siding ■with Portugal, while at 
Pio and in the whole South the Revolution had long got the nj)per 
hand. 
is greatly changed. Resides several Transatlantic lines 
I (from Southampton, Liverjiool, Antwerp, Hamburg, Bordeaux, Marseilles) 
. and a New \ork line, all of which touch at Rio, Bahia, and Pernambuco, 
; there is also a Bi’azilian line of steamers, which links all the minor ports, 
and eoiTcsponds ivitli the Amazon line and with those on the River Plate 
, • and Paraguay. A voyage along the coast, revealing in quick succession 
the rocky cones of the Serra, proud cities like Bahia and Pernambuco, 
idyllic fisher-villages half hidden under palm-groves, and drcjiry stretches 
ot sandy beach, is certainly one of the most cajitivating that can be 
, fancied. 
But while the blue Atlantic with ease bears the mightiest steamers 
on its broad bosom, and while this paid of it generally deserves the 
appellation given to it by the Portuguese, um. mar de kite (a sea of 
milk) — as neither frequent squalls nor dangerous cliffs imperil the vessels 
— the rivers of the Empire, with the exception of the Amazon and the 
c 2 
