States

Its bite is attended with great suffering, and with the most serious consequences, even where death is averted. In the marshy countriés of the S. the boa or python is said to attain a Jength of over 20 feet. Other im- ‘portant reptiles are several species of alligator and different kinds of turtle, which, on the Amazon in particular, supply abundance of food. The insects of Brazil are, many of them, remarkable for the beauty of their colors and their size, especially the butterflies and moths, of which as many as 14,000 species are known. In some localities insects are so numerous in the woods that their noise is heard in a ship at anchor some distance from the shore. The white ants are especially numerous and destructive. The scorpions of Brazil attain a length of six inches. Most of the bees of the country are stingle , there being no fewer than 30 species of that description. The shores and rivers abound with fish, Among the most valuable of those caught on the former is the - garopa, which attains a length of from 12 to 20 feet, and is well flavored; they are most numerous on the coast of Bahia, where great quantities are annually taken and exported. The numbers of fish caught in the Amazon and other rivers of the country are very great, constituting a principal part of the subsistence of the inhabitants. In every town schools for teaching the first rudiments are now to be found, to which the children of all citizens are admitted free. ‘There are no universities, but there are government colleges of law, medicine, ete. In all large towns there are profe orships of Latin, Greek, English, French, philosophy, rhetoric, geometry, chemistry, botany, etc.; and _ printing pre es are now common throughout Brazil. The varied population of Brazil consists of people of pure Portuguese blood, who form a comparatively small minority of the whole; of full-blooded negroes, who form the largest unmixed element in the peg alation; of aborigines or native Indians; and of.people of mixed race, the most numerous of all; besides a certain number of German and other European immigrants. The Portuguese portion of the population have made Portuguese the national language of the country. The native Indians are copper-colored, robust, well-made, but of short stature. They generally go naked, paint their skins, and are fond of ornamenting their heads with feathers. A number are nominally Christians. ‘They belong to various tribes of which the chief are the Tupi, Guarani, and the Onagua. In recent years there has been a considerable immigration of European colonists, the majority Italians. Italy enjoys a “favored nation ” tariff with Brazil. In Dec., 1906, it was reported that the German govt, offered exemption from military service to German settlers in Rio Grande. The annual imports of German iron, steel and hardware were estimated at $20,000,000. Exports comprise coffee (the most valuable product), sugar, rubber, cotton, hides, drugs, gums, and diamonds. There are nearly 14,000 m. of railroad, over 29,300 m. of telegraph line and extending telephonic systems. A feature of the telegraphic system is the cable laid on the bed of the Amazon river and giving Para, Manaos-and other towns on its banks telegraphic connection with the rest of the world. There is now no established religion in Brazil, but the Roman Catholic is the one most exclusively prevalent.