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BRAUN A U — BRAZIL

His chief merit is his diligent collection of materials ; his interpretations are generally fanciful. Bra.una.li (Czech, Broumov), the chief town of a government-district in Bohemia, Austria, near the frontier of Prussian Silesia. It has an imposing Benedictine abbey (1321), and a church (1683) which played an important part in the events leading to the Thirty Years’ War still stands. In 1618 the attempt to build a Protestant church was forcibly prevented, an act which was regarded as the immediate occasion of the Protestant insurrection in Bohemia. After the battle of the White Hill, near Prague, the town was deprived of all its privileges, which were, however, in great part restored nine years later. It is now a manufacturing centre (cloth, woollen and cotton stuffs, &c.), and has a considerable trade. Population (1890), 7052; (1900), 7622, chiefly German. Braunsberg, a town of Prussia, province of East Prussia, 38 miles by rail S.W. of Konigsberg, and 5 miles from the shore of the Frisches Haff. Braunsberg

has manufactures of soap, yeast, carriages, bricks, and an active trade in flax, corn, flour, timber, &c. Population (1885), 10,759; (1895), 11,856; (1900), 12,497. Bray, a maritime town, urban sanitary district, and watering-place in the county of Wicklow, Ireland, on the Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford railway, 12 miles S.S.E. of Dublin. Formerly the town was situated partly in Wicklow and partly in Dublin, but under the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, the portion in Dublin was added to Wicklow. It is known as the “ Irish Brighton,” and is the chief watering-place in Ireland. A sea wall and promenade, erected at a cost of £25,000, was opened in 1885, and has since been enlarged. A commodious harbour has been constructed by the Urban District Council, who are also the harbour authority, at a cost of £45,000, which is capable of accommodating steamers and ships of 400 tons burden. The town is lighted by electricity, and is rapidly increasing in size. Population (1881), 6535; (1901), 7284, a number which doubles in the season.

BRAZIL. 1. Geography and Statistics. BRAZIL, a country of South America, extends from about 4° FT. lat. to 35° 41' S. lat., and from 35° to about 73° W. long. On the north the greater part of the frontier is undefined, but by agreement of 1883 Bound- tRg watershed between the Amazon and Orinoco rivers was accepted as portion of the Yenezuelan boundary. The dispute concerning the boundary towards French Guiana was, under a convention of April 1897, referred to a Swiss court of arbitration, which gave its award on 1st December 1900. The boundary follows the Oyapoc river from its mouth to its source, and thence the watershed of the Tumuc Humac mountains to the frontier of Dutch Guiana. Towards Peru the Javary river is regarded as the boundary. The frontier line towards Bolivia is still a matter of dispute. The Acre region, claimed by Bolivia, contains rich rubber forests and has attracted many Brazilians, who refuse to acknowledge the Bolivian claim. On 30th October 1899 a protocol was signed on behalf of the two republics providing for the demarcation of the frontier. Farther south the boundary of Brazil is not disputed, the frontier towards the Argentine Republic having been settled in 1895 by arbitration. Climate and Topography.—Within the vast area of Brazil are comprised very varied conditions of climate and widely - diversified topographical features. In the south is Rio Grande do Sul, a state consisting, for the most part, of fertile prairie land, suitable for pastoral and agricultural industries, with a temperate, healthy climate, admirably adapted for European settlement. The adjoining state of Santa Catharina has similar characteristics, but is intersected by broken country and low mountain ranges. Farther north lies the state of Parana with a climate, at the sea-level, humid and almost tropical in summer, but on the grassy, well-watered plateau, some 50 miles from the coast, at a height of 3000 feet, temperate and healthy. In the states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Espiritu Santo, the coast-level is tropical and unhealthy, while the highlands of the interior are temperate and pleasant. Inland to the west and north of Rio de Janeiro is the state of Minas, possessing fertile valleys and bold mountain ranges, interspersed with grassclad tablelands and great areas of forest. Northwards as far as the delta of the Amazon the country, having a

fertile soil and a heavy rainfall, is clothed with dense vegetation and forest growth ; but towards the interior the land rises to a height of some 4000 feet, and spreads out into a fairly open plateau with a temperate climate. From the delta of the Amazon inland, for many hundreds of miles, there are low, heavily-wooded lands, intersected by innumerable swamps and streams. To the west and north of the Amazon the territories are practically unexplored, but many of these forest districts are rich in india-rubber trees. The only important waterways in Brazil are the Para and the Amazon, with its tributaries in the north, the San Francisco in the east, the Uruguay in the south-west, and the Paraguay in the west, the last giving access to the state of Matto Grosso. The Amazon is navigable as far as Iquitos in Peru, about 350 miles from the Pacific. All the inhabited districts of Brazil are well watered, and rain falls abundantly. Area and Population.—Brazil, with an area of 3,218,100 square miles, had in 1890 a population of 14,333,915, the average density being thus 4'5 inhabitants per square mile. Of the population, 7,237,932 were males and 7,095,983 were females. The area and population of the twenty states and of the Federal District are given in the subjoined table :— Population, Pop. per Area in States. Square Mile. 1890. Square Miles. 22 511,440 22,580 Alagoas 147,915 732,250 Amazonas. 12 1,919,802 164,600 Bahia 20 805,687 40,240 Ceara 135,997 17.310 Espiritu Santo 227,572 288,460 Goyaz 430,854 177,510 Maranhao. 92,827 532,550 Matto Grosso 3,184,099 221,890 Minas Geraes 328.455 443,790 Para. 16 457,232 28,840 Parahyba. 3 249,491 85,430 Parana 21 1,030,224 49,560 Pernambuco 2 267,609 116,490 Piauhy 33 876,884 26,630 Rio de Janeiro 12 268,273 22,190 Rio Grande do Norte 10 897.455 91.310 Rio Grande do Sul 10 283,769 28,620 Santa Catharina 12 1,384,753 112,280 Sao Paulo. 20 310,926 15,090 Sergipe 970 522,651 540 Federal District. 14,333,915 3,218,160 Total