Brazil has a considerable navy, several warships; and a merchant marine of 450,000 gross tonnage. The leading national line is the Brazilian Lloyd which with 62 ships has a service to the United States as well as a coastwise, the latter shared by the Navegaçao Costeira and other companies. Rio de Janeiro has three dry docks, one with a capacity for the largest battleships, and a yard where ships are constructed. The country has 30,000 miles of navigable rivers, with boats for these having a tonnage of 75,000.
Coastwise and river steamers have service in the Amazon Basin, the most important as follows: Pará-Obidos-Manaos, 975 miles; Pará-Santarem-Itaituba (Rio Tapajós) 729 miles; Pará-Maués, Pará Tocantins, 1544 miles; Tabatinga (Frontier) Remate dos Males, 1743 miles; Pará-Santo Antonio (Madeira) 1617 miles; Pará-Rio, Peru-Senna-Madureira, 1934 miles; Pará-Chaves (Marajos Island), Oyapock River; Manaos and Rio Negro to Santa Isabel, 423 miles; Manaos to the Yapurá River—to the Juruá River, Cruzeiro do Sul, 1090 miles.
Other companies have service, Maranhão north to Pará, 599 miles, south to Pernambuco 884 miles; Recife north to Maranhão 803 miles, south to Bahia 385 miles, east to Fernando do Noronha Island, 239 miles. On the São Francisco River, Januaria to Pirapora. Other Lines serve from Rio de Janeiro to ports south to Laguna and Ribeira de Iguapé, São Paulo; also on the Paraná and the Rio Grande, and on the Lakes Patos and Mirím. Service from Rio de Janeiro to Corumbá, 765 miles above Asunción, and 280 miles farther to Cuyabá on the Cuyabá River, in time of high water is continued on the Paraguay 250 miles beyond to São Luiz de Caceres.
Railway Transportation
While the great rivers of Brazil with their 27,000 miles of navigable waters have been a large factor in the development of the country, of equal importance for the future is transportation by rail. The total present mileage, second to that of Argentina, exceeds 16,500, these having developed from 9¹⁄₂ miles in 1854 and about 10,000, 50 years later. About 90 per cent are of metre gauge. For the economic unity of the great Republic, the Government policy is favorable to a rapid extension of the present railway systems, a matter as important as was the creation of our railways to the Pacific 50 years ago. The development in Brazil has been retarded by the difficult topography of the country, in striking contrast to the Argentine plains. Along the greater and better part of the coast is the high steep wall of the plateau region, which must be climbed to enter the interior. Once at the top the way in some sections is easier, but in others there are additional mountain ranges. The wall, obviously low in comparison with the mighty rampart of the Andes, presents difficulties, but none to compare with those experienced in Peru.
The first railway, built and operated in 1854, was from Mauá on the north shore of the Rio harbor to Fragosa. Soon after carried to Petropolis, it is now a part of the Leopoldina Railway system. Only two South American railways antedate this, the Demarara of British Guiana and the Caldera-Copiapó in Chile.
The Central of Brazil Railway was the first of much importance, its first section, 32 miles, opened in 1858. For this road leading out of Rio expenses were heavy. Many were the difficulties of construction, tunnels, bridges, etc., the boring of one tunnel, only 1¹⁄₂ miles long, requiring seven years. The system, now in Government ownership, has a network of lines extending from Rio to the city of São Paulo, to Bello Horizonte in Minas, and to other points. It has express trains with sleeping cars (state rooms), and a heavy suburban traffic. It is intended to carry this system northward to the city of Pará, with branches to new territory. Twenty-five million passengers are carried annually with much freight of coffee, lumber, iron, manganese, etc. The railway is to be electrified near the capital with a Government appropriation of $32,760,000.
The São Paulo Railway. The most successful, financially and otherwise, of the railways of Brazil is no doubt the São Paulo, operating a double track, broad gauge line (5 feet 6 inches) from Santos to the town and junction, Jundiahy (population 20,000), 86 miles; it passes through the city, São Paulo, and has a branch to Bragança, 65 miles. This road has a granted monopoly of trade between the two cities, Santos and São Paulo, 50 miles apart. This, in spite of the great expense of the railway construction, has insured them large profits, dividends in 1912-13 being 14 per cent. The train mile earnings are the largest in South America and normally are greater than any reported in the United States. With the construction of more and more lines in this State and beyond, a steady increase in the traffic seems assured, as nearly all must pass in and out by way of Santos. The road now carries annually more than half of the world’s coffee supply.
ENVIRONS OF SÃO PAULO AND RIO DE JANEIRO