Guianas, and the Atlantic Ocean; east by the Atlantic; south by Uruguay, the Argentine Republic, and Paraguay; and west by Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. The dividing lines with Bolivia, Colombia, the Guianas, and the Argentine Republic have not been definitely drawn. The empire borders upon all the South American states except Chili; and occupies more than two fifths of the South American Continent. It is divided into twenty-one provinces and one neutral municipality (municipio neutro), which, with their areas and population, were as follows in 1876:

*

The capitals, in the order of the numbers, are as follows: 1, Manáos; 2, Belem or Pará; 3, São Luis; 4, Therezina; 5, Portaleza; 6, Natal; 7, Parahyba; 8, Recife; 9, Maceió; 10, Aracajú; 11, São Salvador or Bahia; 12, Victoria; 13, Nictheroy; 14, Rio de Janeiro; 15, São Paulo; 16, Curitiba; 17, Desterro; 18, Porte Alegre; 19, Ouro Preto; 20, Goyaz; 21, Cuyabá. In the foregoing table, the population of the provinces marked thus is according to the last census, but that of the others is merely estimated. The complete report of the census when published will probably show a total population of 12,000,000. An official return gives the population of Rio de Janeiro, the capital, at 274,972 for December, 1875, made up as follows: Free population, 226,033 (males 133,880, females 92,153); slaves, 48,939 (males 24,886 females 24,053). In the coast cities and in the northern provinces the mixed races predominate; not merely those resulting from the union of whites and Indians (mamalucos), whites and negroes, and negroes and Indians (cafuzos), but half-breeds of every shade and degree. Brazil is probably the country where the mingling of races has taken place upon the most extensive scale, and yet intellectual development has not been inconsiderable. But

such is the insuperable apathy of most of the inhabitants of the interior as seemingly to undermine their social and political existence, prevent good administration, and retard the introduction of needed reforms. Naturally the moral level is also very low; but the Government has organized a system of popular education adapted to the requirements of the various races, which promises favorable results. In the southern provinces, from Espirito Santo to Minas Geraes, the white element prevails, and there the European immigrants might be acclimatized and their descendants gradually scatter over the whole country. An increase of population being desirable, the Government continues its efforts to attract foreigners to the empire with a view to the founding of colonies in the southern portion of its territory; and similar endeavors on the part of the provincial governments and of private companies have already been attended by the establishment of a number of settlements, some of which are in a thriving condition. By the gradual operation of the law of September, 1871, the institution of slavery is fast disappearing, to give place in the succeeding generation to free labor. The number of emancipated slaves up to December 31, 1875, was 21,704. The Emperor takes much interest in the prospects of the freeborn children of slaves, technically called ingenuos, whom the Government may be called upon to receive from the owners of the mothers to the number of about 25,000, on September 29, 1879, when they shall have attained the age of eight years. The masters may either retain them till twenty-one, paying them wages and educating them, or receive from the Government bonds of $300 bearing interest at 6 per cent. per annum.

The Government of Brazil is a constitutional monarchy. The Emperor is Dom Pedro II., born December 2, 1825; proclaimed April 7, 1831; regency, until July 23, 1840; crowned July 18, 1841; married September 4, 1843, to Theresa Christina Maria, daughter of the late King Francis I. of the Two Sicilies. Soon after the return of the Emperor and Empress from their tour through the United States and Europe, in September, 1877, a new Liberal ministry was formed through the personal influence of the sovereign, whose policy of reform the Conservative ministry would not agree to carry out. It is thought that the existing Chamber? will be dissolved should a majority not be obtained in support of the policy of the new Cabinet. The latter, formed January 5, 1878, is composed as follows: Interior, Senhor Leoncio Carvalho; Justice, Senhor Lafayette R. Pereira; Foreign Affairs, Baron de Villa Bella; War, Marquis de Herval; Navy, Senhor Andrade Pinto; Finance, Senhor Silveira Martinos; Public Works, Commerce, and Agriculture, and President of the Council of State, Senhor Sinimbú. Senhor Sinimbú, the head of the new ministry, is a well-known statesman, entertaining most liberal views, and his

policy will, it is expected, favor the best interests of the empire. The promised reforms will embrace direct representation, retrenchment of national expenditures (especially in the departments of War and the Navy, both unduly developed during the Paraguayan campaign), the repression of custom-house frauds, and a return to normal budgets. Recent elections in Bahia and Paraná, although these provinces are administered by Conservatives, give indications that the Liberal party is increasing in strength and influence. The President of the Council, himself a planter, has taken the departments of Agriculture and Public Works, once considered of secondary importance, and has raised them to the rank becoming such offices in an agricultural country requiring public improvements, particularly railways and internal navigation, for the development of its natural resources. The Council of State is made up of the following members in ordinary: the Princess Imperial Donna Isabel, Prince Gaston d'Orleans Count d'Eu, and the Senators Viscount de Abaeté, Viscount do Rio Branco, Viscount de Muritiba, Viscount do Bom Retiro, Viscount de Jaguary, Viscount de Nictheroy; and of six members extraordinary: Senators Viscount de Araxá, Duke de Caxias, J. P. Dias de Carvacho, and J. J. Teixeira, Vice-Admiral J. R. de Lamare, and Dr. P. J. Soares de Souza. The President of the Senate, which is composed of 58 life-members, is Viscount de Jaguary; the Vice-President, Count de Baependy. The Archbishop of Bahia, J. G. de Azevedo (1875), is Primate of all Brazil, and there are 11 bishops, viz., those of Pará, São Luis, Fortaleza, Olinda, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Marianna, Diamantina, Goyaz, and Cuyabá.

The amounts and various branches of the national revenue and expenditures for the fiscal year 1875-'76 are exhibited in the following table:

The following is a statement of Brazilian finances from a London publication :

The internal debt of the empire consists of six, four, and five per cent. apolices, the dividends whereon are payable in currency, and a gold loan raised during the Paraguayan war, the interest of which appears to be paid in sovereigns. Despite some recent addition to the former through the Bank of Brazil, which that institution has not yet wholly placed at the profit it seeks, the quotations of apolices at Rio are slightly above par, and the gold bonds are, of course, at higher quotations. Converted into sterling, at 24d. per milrei, the funded home debt of the empire may be stated at £30,208,670, carrying interest in sterling of £1,810,802. So that the conBrazil in 1877-'78 will need in sterling £3,247,240, joined services of the foreign and home debt of out of a revenue for this year calculated to exceed fractionally £10,000,000, and brought, according to the Emperor's speech at the close of the session of the General Assembly, to an equilibrium with the expenditures. Thus far, then, the resources of Brazil are amply sufficient to bear a charge for debt, which bears a proportion to receipts less than the service of the public debt of England bears to its revenue. But, in calculating the revenue for the current year at that amount, it is to be borne in mind that the revenue of Brazil has for two years past been adversely affected and reduced, as well by the commercial misfortunes of the world, as at home by bad sugar and coffee crops, and by a drought in three of its northern provinces almost totally destructive of the crops. Not only have the great ports of Bahia and Pernambuco been suffering from short supplies reacting on the revenue, but, as Mr. Heath lately told the São Paulo Railway shareholders, a few nights' frost did last year enormous injury to the coffee culture of that province, diminishing also the traffic of that line. The new crop is, however, greater than ever. As, then, the revenue has in the past suffered from these causes, so the present revenue will, it is to be expected, improve with better crops; indeed, in the past ten months of 1877 those of cotton and sugar imported into England exceed by £800,000 in value their imports for the same period of 1876, and we may again shortly see the total income of the empire rising to £12,000,000, to which it had ascended a few years ago, when the services of its debt will bear still more reduced proportion to its income.

The total values of the exports and imports in 1875-'76, including precious metals, were $104,247,000 and $86,074,500 respectively. The values of the chief articles of export were, in the years 1874-75 and 1875-'76, as follows:

The duties on imports were on the 1st of March increased 5 per cent. on the additional duty, raising it to 50 per cent.; and the following additions were made on articles of luxury: 40 instead of 30 per cent. on the official values of fermented drinks, liqueurs, spirits, wines, etc., furniture, fine woods, silks, and fine earthen and glass wares; 5 instead of 2 per cent. on gems cut or uncut, set or unset; 10 instead of 5 per cent. on goldsmith's work in gold or silver, gold and silver watches, and on platina wares not employed in science

and manufacture.

Coffee is the principal staple of Brazil, and is cultivated from the Amazon southward to the province of São Paulo, and from the Atlantic westward to the limits of Matto Grosso. There is no country that can rival Brazil in its production, from the great advantage it has over all others, the coffee ripening during the dry season. The quantity exported in 1877 was 340,506,600 pounds, of which the United States, the greatest coffee-consuming nation in the world, received 205,208,876 pounds. Coffee is admitted into this country free of

duty, while in France it pays a duty of 1 franc 56 centimes per kilogramme, or nearly 15 cents per pound. When the American Congress repealed the duty on coffee, the Brazilian Government immediately increased the provincial export duty to the amount of the custom-house duty formerly paid in the United States. The culture of the coffee-plant in Brazil, and the increasing commercial value of this important product to the great South American empire, are thus described in a French journal:

Even among the most ardent lovers of coffee, few persons have an approximate idea of the area of its production, the extent of its consumption, or of the very considerable traffic to which the coffee-berry has given rise. In the reign of Louis XVI. of France, by the care and diligence of Captain Duchieux, it was first introduced into Martinique. Planted and acclimatized in the soil of that island, the limits of its growth and cultivation have steadily enlarged, until coffee has now become an article of primary importance to modern commerce. In 1861 the total production of the whole world was estimated at 3,460,000 metrical quintals*; in 1870 it had increased to 3,890,000, and in 1875 to 5,670,000 quintals. Since then the development has been equally progressive, and for last year the total is estimated at not less than 6,500,000 metrical quintals, which, at an average of only 75 francs ($15) per 50 kilos at the places of production, would represent a sum of not less than 975,000,000 francs. It is calculated that the consumption of Europe in 1877 absorbed about 283,000,000 kilos of coffee; and Brazil furnishes nearly one half of all the coffee consumed in the world. It is, therefore, both curious and instructive to observe the steady progress made by that country, whether as regards the increase in production or an improvement in the quality of the coffee. The culture of coffee in Brazil extends over a surface of about 655,000 square kilometres. The principal places of produc tion are the provinces of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Bahia, and Ceará. The construction of railways has enabled the planters to reduce their beasts of burden, and to concentrate their labor and capital more immediately to the culture of coffee and other exportable products. The transport by rail avoids the damage to which their products were exposed when carried by mules. The following figures will give

an idea of the radical transformation which has taken

place in the conditions of transport in the province of São Paulo. Fifteen years ago, before the establishment of the São Paulo Railway, from 80,000 to 100,000 mules were sold annually at the Sorocabo fair; now only 10,000 to 12,000 mules are sold. On ince, which amounted then to 300,000 sacks of 75 kil.. the other hand, the production of coffee in the provor about 22,500,000 kil., has risen to 1,300,000 sacks of 60 kil. in 1877-78, or obout 78,000,000 kil. At the French Exhibition of 1867 Brazilian coffees alone obtained the gold medal. The berry varies in color province of São Paulo, more particularly, the berry from pale green to green, and is rather long. In the is found small and round, almost identical with that of Mocha, and produces a delicious infusion. In fact, the coffees now grown in São Paulo rival in quality the best and most esteemed descriptions derived from continually increasing. The import duties in France, other countries, and their consumption in Europe is 1 frane 56 centimes per kilogramme, being excessive, have hindered the development of the consumption of coffee. The rapid augmentation in the import of São Paulo coffees into France from Santos has only been brought about in consequence of their superior quality, which permits of their taking the place hitherto occupied by other sorts of established repu The metrical quintal 100 kilogrammes. + = $195,000,000.

of the ship, Colonel Willard P. Tisdel, the superintendent of the line, Captain Mayo of the United States steamer Hartford, and other distinguished Americans. The Emperor expressed his satisfaction with the ship and the manner in which the contract had been carried

out.

A famine of unprecedented severity has been experienced in three of the northern provinces, but more particularly in that of Ceará. A protracted drought dried up the springs, brooks, and rivers, completely destroyed the crops, and deprived the inhabitants of all means of support. In the city of Aracaty, from the 10th to the 18th of February, 664 persons died of hunger, and an equal number perished in the immediate neighborhood. Many more died from starvation on their way to other provinces. At least 10,000 persons perished in the province of Ceará since the beginning of the famine, in spite of the efforts of the Government to relieve the distress of the people. As much as $800,000 in a single month has been expended by the national Treasury to support the starving population and to remove it to more favored districts.

BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN, an American poet, editor, and author, died in New York June 12, 1878. He was born at Cummington, Hampshire County, Mass., November 3, 1794. His father was Peter Bryant, who was a distinguished local physician of learning and literary acquirements, and was the grandson of Stephen Bryant, who came to this country in the Mayflower. William's remarkable precocity as a poet places him in this respect in the rank with Pope, Chatterton, and Henry Kirk White. Several metrical translations from the Latin poets, written by him before he was ten years of age, were published in the local paper, and in his fourteenth year he published two important poems called "The Embargo" and "The Spanish Revolution," the former a political satire relating to the embargo policy of Jefferson in connection with Napoleon's Berlin and Milan decrees. In 1810 young Bryant entered Williams College, where he soon distinguished himself in the languages and belleslettres; but at the end of two years he left college and engaged in the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1815, began practice at Plainfield, and afterward established himself at Great Barrington. He soon took a high rank as a lawyer, but preferred literature to law, and gave much time to the former. In his eighteenth year he wrote his most famous poem, "Thanatopsis," which has been called one of the most precious gems of didactic verse in the whole compass of English poetry." It was published in 1818 in the "North American Review," and led to the life-long friendship between its author and the now venerable poet Richard H. Dana, who was then one of the club which conducted the "Review." To this periodical Bryant also contributed several

prose articles. Mr. Bryant was married while living at Great Barrington, where he wrote some of his best poems, such as "To Green River," "Inscription for an Entrance to a Wood," and "To a Waterfowl." In 1821 he delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College "The Ages," a didactic poem in the Spenserean stanza; and in the same year a volume of his poems was published at Cambridge, and immediately led to his recognition as a writer of high merit.

In 1825 Mr. Bryant removed to New York, where he became editor of the "New York Review," which was soon after merged in the United States Review," for which he wrote literary criticisms and several poems. About this time he delivered a course of lectures on Greek and Roman mythology before the Academy of Design. In 1826 he became one of the editors of the "Evening Post," of which William Coleman was then editor in chief. This journal then had a marked leaning toward federalism, but Mr. Bryant labored to give it more of a republican character. Acquiring exclusive control of its columns a few years later, he took a bold stand in favor of free trade and against all partial or class legislation, and gave the paper a decidedly democratic tone. From 1827 to 1830, in conjunction with Robert C. Sands and Gulian C. Verplanck, he conducted "The Talisman," a flourishing annual, and about the same time wrote the tales of "Medfield" and "The Skeleton's Cave," which appeared in a book called "Tales of the Glauber Spa.' A complete edition of his poems was published in New York in 1832, and was republished in England with a laudatory preface written by Washington Irving, then in that country. It was favorably reviewed by John Wilson in "Blackwood's Magazine," and gave the poet a reputation in Europe not less than that in his own country. After the death of Coleman, William Leggett became associated with Bryant in the management of the "Evening Post." In 1834 the latter went with his family to Europe, and traveled through France, Germany, and Italy, studying the languages and literatures of these and other countries, and acquiring a wealth of knowledge of which he made good use in his subsequent writings. He made in 1845 a second and in 1849 a third visit to Europe, extending his travels to Egypt and Syria. During this time he wrote letters to the "Evening Post," which were republished in a book entitled "Letters of a Traveler." In 1857 he again went to Europe, spending much time in Spain, whose language became a favorite study with him. Another volume of his letters to the "Evening Post "" was published under the title of "Letters from Spain and other Countries." In the mean time Mr. Bryant had traveled extensively in his own country from Maine to Florida, making also a trip to the island of Cuba. In these, as in his foreign travels, he regularly wrote to his paper letters which were widely read.