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Rh importance on the Quarahim river opposite the Uruguayan town of Santo Eugenio, and surrounded by a rich grazing country which supports one of the largest saladeros in the state; São Leopoldo; Santa, Maria da Bocca do Monte; and Uruguayana.

The territory was first settled along the Uruguay. river by the Jesuits when they were compelled to abandon their missions on the upper Paraná. Between 1632 and 1707, they founded on the E. side of the Uruguay seven missions—all under Spanish jurisdiction—which became highly prosperous, and at the time of their transfer from Spanish to Portuguese rule by a treaty of 1750 had an aggregate population of about 14,000, living in villages and possessing large herds of cattle and many horses. A joint effort of the two powers in 1753 to enforce the treaty, remove the Indians to Spanish territory, and mark the boundary line, led to resistance and a three years' war, which ended in the capture and partial destruction of the missions. On the coast the first recognized settlement—a military post at Estreito, near the present city of Rio Grande—was made in 1737. Before this, and as early as 1680, according to some chroniclers, the region S. of Santa Catharina was occupied by settlements, or penal colonies, of degradados (banished men) and immoral women from Santos, São Vicente and São Paulo, and was known as the “ Continente de São Pedro.” In 1738 the territory (which included the present state of Santa Catharina) became the Capitania d’El Rei and was made a dependency of Rio de Janeiro. Territorial disputes between Spain and Portugal led to the occupation by the Spanish of the town of Rio Grande (then the capital of the capitania) and neighbouring districts from 1763 to 1776, when they reverted to the Portuguese. The capture of Rio Grande in 1763 caused the removal of the seat of government to Viamao at the head of Lagoa dos Patos; in 1773 Porto dos Cazaes, renamed Porto Alegre, became the capital. In 1801 news of war between Spain and Portugal led the inhabitants of Rio Grande to attack and capture the seven missions and some frontier. posts held by the Spaniards since 1763; since 1801 the boundary lines established by treaty in 1777 have remained unchanged. The districts of Santa Catharina and Rio Grande had been separated in 1760 for military convenience, and in 1807 the latter was elevated to the category of a capitania-geral, with the designation of “São-Pedro do Rio Grande,” independent of Rio de Janeiro, and with Santa Catharina as a dependency. In 1812 Rio Grande and Santa Catharina were organized into two distinct comarcas, the latter becoming an independent province in 1822 when the empire was organized. In 1835 a separatist revolution broke out in the province and lasted ten years. It was reduced more through the use of money and favours than by force of arms; but the province had suffered terribly in the struggle and did not recover its losses for many years. An incident in this contest was the enlistment of Garibaldi for a short time with the forces of the separatists. In 1865 a Paraguayan army invaded the state and on the 5th of August occupied the town of Uruguayana. On the 18th of September following, the Paraguayan general (Estigarribia) surrendered without a fight—an unusual occurrence in the remarkable war that followed. Political agitations have been frequent in Rio Grande do Sul, whose people have something of the temperament of their Spanish neighbours, but no important revolution occurred after the “ten years’ war” (1835-45) until the presidency at Rio de Janeiro of General Floriano Peixoto, whose ill-considered interference with the state governments led to the revolt of 1892–94, under Gumersindo Saraiva. In this struggle the revolutionists occupied Santa Catharina and Parana, capturing Curityba, but were eventually overthrown through their inability to obtain munitions of war. An incident in this struggle was the death of Admiral Saldanha da Gama, one of the most brilliant officers of the Brazilian navy and one of the chiefs of the naval revolt of 1893–94, who was killed in a skirmish on the Uruguayan frontier at the close of the war. RIO GRANDE DO SUL, or (sometimes and commonly ), a city and portof the state of Rio Grande. do Sul, Brazil, 'on the western side of the Rio Grande (as the outlet of the Lagoa dos Patos is called), about 6 m. from its mouth and nearly 780 m. S.W. of Rio de Janeiro, in lat. 32° 7′ S., long. 52° 8′ W. Pop. (1890) of the municipio (area, about 656 sq. m.) 24,653; of the city, including its suburbs, 20,193; (1900, estimate) of the city, 22,000, and of the city and its suburbs, 30,000. Rio Grande is the coast terminus of the Rio Grande to Bagé railway, which now forms part of the railway system of the state leased to the Belgian Compagnie Auxiliare de Chemin de Fer au Brésil. Some of the principal streets are served by tramways, and the Rio Grande to Bagé railway has an extension to its shipping wharf called “ Estacao Maritima ” (1 m.), a branch to some points on the river (1 m.), and a branch to Costa do Mar, on the ocean coast (11 m.). The city is a port of call for several steamship lines, and has direct communication with European ports. The bar at the mouth of the river, however, restricts traffic to vessels of light draught, not exceeding 12 to 1 5 ft. Extensive improvements, at an estimated cost of about 13 millions of dollars, were undertaken in 1908 for deepening the bar to admit vessels of 30 ft. draught.

The city is built on a low sandy peninsula, barely 5 ft. above sea-level, formed by two arms of the Rio Grande projecting westward from the main channel, the peninsula being part of a large sandy plain extending southward. along the coast to Lagôa Mirim. The level of the plain is broken by ranges of sand dunes, some of which rise not far from the city on the south and south-east. The openness of the surrounding country and the proximity of the sea give to Rio Grande unusually healthy conditions, which, however, are largely counteracted by defective sanitary arrangements. Not infrequently the deaths exceed the births, and epidemics of contagious diseases make deadly inroads upon the population. The city has been developed irregularly, but the streets are for the most part broad, and the principal ones are well paved. Gas lighting was introduced about 187I, and in 1908 acetylene was used for public lighting. In one of the public squares is a shaft commemorating the abolition of slavery, and said to be the only monument in, Brazil of that character. There is a notable scarcity of shade trees in the streets and squares, though flowers, shrubbery and some kinds of fruit trees are grown., In pleasing contrast to the drifting sands which surround the city is the fertile Ilha dos Marinheiros (Sailor’s Island) lying directly in front of the port; it is highly cultivated and supplies the market with fruit and vegetables. The water-front has been improved by substantial stone walls, which permit the mooring of light-draught vessels alongside.

Among noteworthy public buildings and institutions are the municipal palace, the parochial church of São Pedro, dating from the 18th century, the modern church of N.S. de Bomiim, the beautiful Protestant Episcopal church (Gothic), the public hospital (Hospital de Caridade), the hospital of the Beneficencia Portugueza, the public library (Bibliotheca Riograndense), created and maintained by private effort and containing about 30,000 volumes, the old custom-house and the quartel-geral (military barracks). Rio Grande is wholly a commercial and industrial city. Its exports include salted jerked beef (came secca, or xarque), preserved meats, tongues, hides, horns, hoofs, woollen fabrics, Paraguay tea, beans, onions, fruit, flour, farinha de mandioca (cassava flour), lard, soap, candles and leather. Its manufactures include cotton, woollen and jute fabrics, wheat Hour, biscuits, cigars and cut tobacco, beer, artificial drinks, boots, shoes and sandals (alpergatas), soap and candles, fireworks, ice, earthenware, hats, cast-iron and leather. The pioneer woollen factory in Brazil, and one of the largest in the country, is in Rio Grande.

Rio Grande was founded in 1737 by José da Silva Paes, who built a fort on the river near the site of the present city and called it Estreito. In 1745 the garrison and settlement was removed by Gomes Freire d’Andrade to its present site, which became a “villa,” in 1751, with the name of São Pedro do Rio Grande, and a “cidade” (city) in 1807. It was the capital of the captaincy down to 1763, when it was captured by a Spanish force from Buenos Aires under the command of its governor, Don Pedro Zeballos, the seat of government being then removed to Viamao at the northern end of Lagoa dos