The capital and chief port is Florianopolis on an island of that name. Improvements in the way of good port works are in hand, and though without rail connection a tonnage of about 300,000 has entered and cleared in a year. The port of São Francisco, a smaller town in the State, is called the best port south of Santos. This advantage will give the city future importance. Already it has rail connection by way of the town Rio Negro with Curityba and Paranaguá, and so with Ponta Grossa on the São Paulo-Uruguay Railway which of course crosses the State, a distance of 225 miles. The city is expected to be the terminus of a road which will pass through União da Victoria to the Iguassú Falls and across Paraguay to Asunción.
Paraná, about the size of Rio Grande, is between Santa Catharina and São Paulo, having Argentina also on its southwest corner beyond the Iguassú River and its great Falls. Along the western border flows the larger river, the Alto Paraná (with the tremendous La Guayra Falls) separating the State from Paraguay, and farther north from Matto Grosso. Besides these boundary rivers the Paranapanema, affluent of the Paraná, flows between this State and São Paulo, while the Rio Negro and Iguassú are between it and Santa Catharina. Many more tributaries of the Paraná are entirely within the State. Matte is the chief industry at present, 100,000,000 pounds being annually exported; but with the best wheat land of Brazil, its forests of Paraná pine, and other varieties of timber it may have another leader before long. Paranaguá, the State’s chief port, with a deep anchorage and improvements planned, is now visited by 650 vessels a year and has a total annual trade of $6,000,000. A smaller port, Antonina, is on the north side of the same bay.
The capital, Curityba, has rail connection with the two ports and with Ponta Grossa on the line to Uruguay traversing these three States. In the delightful four hours’ journey of 70 miles from Paranaguá to the capital, the climb of the Serra do Mar up a steep tropical valley is made without cogs or cables by means of high trestles, bridges, and 17 tunnels; the ride rivaling if not surpassing in beauty the more famous one from Santos to São Paulo.
São Paulo, a great and justly famous State, about the size of Arizona, more than twice that of New York, has Minas Geraes on the north, also east with a small extent of the State of Rio de Janeiro; the ocean is southeast, Paraná south, and Matto Grosso west. This enterprising State is the leader in agriculture, producing 60 per cent of the world’s coffee supply, besides cotton, sugar, tobacco, cereals, etc., in large quantities; it is second to Rio in manufacturing industries, contains large mineral riches, is advanced in stock raising, leads in educational advantages, and has the best railway service of 4300 miles. The wealth of this State is estimated as at $1,100,000,000 in agriculture, $500,000,000 in manufactures, $170,000,000 in railways, and $2,230,000,000 miscellaneous. While most of it is in the torrid zone, the altitude of the State averaging over 2000 feet gives it (except for the narrow coastal strip) a fine healthful climate, a blessing enjoyed too by the States previously mentioned. In the Falls of its rivers the State possesses 3,000,000 horse power of which only 250,000 is employed.
The port of Santos, population 80,000, is regularly visited by the large Transatlantic and North American steamers. It is called one of the best and most important ports of the world, receiving 1600 ships annually besides coasting vessels. The largest ocean steamers, 20-40 foot draft, come up to the quay which extends for three miles along the harbor front; fine granite walls rise five feet above high water mark on a base 10-20 feet thick. Modern machinery is provided, making it the best equipped port in Brazil, and nothing is allowed to interfere with the efficiency of the service. It is a very busy city though warm. The heat does not prevent people from rushing about. A Brazilian writer has said, “People do not run, they fly.” The reason for this unusual haste, by no means manifest in Rio, is that many prominent business men come daily, others occasionally, from São Paulo by morning train, returning at four P.M. A splendid railway which will be referred to later, leads to that important city, a two hours’ ride.
The capital city, São Paulo, 310 miles from Rio and 50 from Santos, while lacking the charm of Rio’s scenic beauty, is preferred by many as a place of residence on account of its cooler climate, the greater business activity apparent, and the cosmopolitan society, more than one third of the population being of foreign birth and another one third direct descendants of Europeans. The city has many splendid buildings, both public and private, including an opera house superior to any in the United States, a large number of excellent schools of various kinds, and all the attractions and facilities, except good and adequate hotels, of a city of half a million inhabitants.
The Federal District of Brazil, the capital, Rio de Janeiro, has been sufficiently described except as a port city. From a commercial point of view the harbor and port works are the chief interest. The Guanabara Bay is a wonderful harbor, not merely on account of its size, depth of water, absolutely safe anchorage, and the beauty of its surroundings, but it is extraordinary from the fact that it is hardly a mile from the ocean to the landing docks. Here a granite quay extends for 2¹⁄₄ miles along the water front with a depth of water alongside of 31 feet. The deep channel entrance is narrowed to a mile in width by long narrow peninsulas extending on either side and further by a small island blocking the waves. The docks have the additional protection of a projecting point of the city, on the other side of which, on rare occasions, the waves do break over upon the splendid boulevard. The larger inner harbor is hardly noticeable, being cut off by peninsulas and islands, of which last the bay contains nearly a hundred. The entire bay is 18 miles long, and the inner section is 15 miles wide. At the docks the most modern machinery is provided for hoisting, loading and unloading ships, with electric power for the work and for lighting. A width of 80 feet was left for railway tracks; back of these are storage ware-houses, administration offices, and customs, for which a space of 110 feet was allowed. Behind these buildings is an avenue 125 feet wide, with double tracks on which run electric cars. Two million dollars are now (1921) to be expended for additional port works, an extension of the granite quay or dock wall about 2000 feet and two breakwaters of 800,000 cubic feet.
Rio de Janeiro. This State, though containing or surrounding the capital, is distinct from it, with a capital of its own on the opposite shore of the bay. As the direction of the coast line changes here, the State has the ocean east and south; São Paulo is west, Minas Geraes north, and Espirito Santo at the northeast. The State is comparatively small, being only about one sixth the size of its western neighbor, and less than one twelfth of its northern; it is even a trifle smaller than Espirito Santo, its next coastal neighbor.
Nictheroy, the capital, is a comparatively small, quiet town of 65,000 population, which has some important manufactories. The State has other smaller towns, as Petropolis, the so-called summer capital, population 30,000, at an elevation of 3000 feet. The Parahyba Rio do Sul, which flows northeast, back of the mountain range, is navigable to the city of Campos, population 30,000, 60 miles from its mouth. The agricultural products are important, the State ranking third in coffee and second in sugar. Large quantities of corn and rice are raised, the coast lands with lakes and lagoons being well suited to the latter. Valuable forests and minerals exist, and in manufacturing industries of great variety the State stands first. Besides the harbor of Rio there are a number of good though small ports.
Espirito Santo. Little Espirito Santo, northeast of Rio State, has Minas at the west and Bahia north. The principal products of the State are coffee, rice, and other cereals, sugar, cotton, and mandioca; while the export of fine timber, rosewood, satin and brazil wood, is increasing. Gold and precious stones are its chief minerals. Its factories are few, but the town of Itaperim on a navigable river has cheap electric power, which makes it a fine centre for industry in the future.