Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/754

Rh 712 AMERICA [STATES. by the Governor-General, and are 75 in number. The mem bers of the House of Commons are elected by the people in the proportion of one member for each 17,000 souls. The seat is retainable for five years, and each member is allowed a salary and travelling expenses. Ottawa is the capital of the Dominion. According to the latest census, taken on April 3, 1871, the area and population of the several pro vinces are as under : Area, square miles. Population. Ontario 121, 200 Quebec 210,020 Nova Scotia 18,660 New Brunswick 27,105 Manitoba 2,891.734 British Columbia 213,000 3,481,779 Newfoundland (18G9) 40,200 Prince Edwards Island (May 1871) 2,173 1,620,842 1,191,505 387,800 285,777 111,903 50,000 3,647,887 146,536 94,021 111 1871 the Dominion had 2834 miles of railway open, 1173 miles in preparation, and 3000 miles for which con cessions had been granted by the government. A line has been projected to extend from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean. Brazil is the largest state in South America, and enjoys the greatest combination of natural advantages. It is bounded on the south, west, and north, by La Plata, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Guiana. Embracing an area of 3,100,000 English miles, it is nearly as large as Europe, and is capable of supporting a much greater population. Its climate is probably cooler and more salubrious than that of any other extensive tropical country ; and every part of its soil is rich and fruitful, as its magnificent forests and the exuberance and boundless variety of its vegetable productions attest. Its commerical advantages are admirable. No country in the new world has the same facilities for carrying on in tercourse with Europe and with all its neighbours. The Amazon, with its numerous branches, the Parana, the To- cantins, the St Francisco, and other streams, supply the most remote parts of the interior with easy means of communi cation with the sea. Brazil possesses iron, copper, and pro bably all the other metals ; but her mines of gold and dia monds are remarkably rich. Her most valuable productions for exportation are cotton, sugar, coffee, hides, tobacco, vanilla, dycwoods, aromatic plants, timber, &c. Her com merce is much greater than that of all the Spanish colonies put together. The Brazilians are lively, irritable, hospitable, but ignorant, superstitious, and rather inclined to indol ence. Their acquisition of independence in 1822, however, worked like a charm, and produced an extraordinary change in their industry, opinions, and modes of thinking. There are numerous schools, but although the education is gra tuitous, they are not well attended. The advance litera ture has made will be allowed to be great when it is remembered that printing was unknown in the country in 1 807. According to the constitution introduced by Dora Pedro, the legislature consists of a Senate of 52 members, who hold their places for life, and a House of Congress of 107, elected by the people for four years; upon the acts of both of which bodies the emperor has a negative. The members of the lower house are chosen by elections of two stages. The householders of a parish meet and appoint one elector for every, thirty of their number, and the electors thus chosen meet in districts and choose the depu ties. The members of both houses receive salaries. The executive power is invested in the emperor assisted by a ministry and a council of state. The population of Brazil amounted to 3,671,558, accord ing to returns published in 1818, and procured probably for the purpose of taxation. This was exclusive of the wander ing Indians. In 1823 it was estimated at 4.000,000 by Humboldt. M. Schoeffer carries it to 5,700,000, and an estimate for 18G7 makes it 9,858,000, comprising 8,148,000 free persons, and 1,674,000 slaves. The census taken in 1872 gives a population of 10,095,978, including 1,683,864 slaves. Brazil, unlike the Spanish American provinces, has re mained, subject to its ancient sovereign ; and its govern ment, from being colonial, has become imperial and inde pendent, without any violent revolution. The result has been greatly in favour of the peace and prosperity of the country. See BRAZIL. The portion of South America next to the isthmus in cludes the states of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. From 1820 till 1831, when a separation took place, it formed one state under the name of Colombia; which name has recently been assumed by the republic long known as New Granada. The territories of these three states are bounded on the south by Peru, on the south-east and east by Brazil and Guiana, on the other sides by the sea, and embrace an area of 1,020,000 square English miles. The soil is fruitful and the climate salubrious, except along the coast and in a few other low situations. The eastern part consists chiefly of the llanos or steppes of the Orinoco, which are very hot ; the western, of the mountain ridges of the Andes, which support tracts of table-land where the blessings of a temperate climate are enjoyed, and the cerealia of Europe can be successfully cultivated. The tropical vegetation extends to the height of 4000 feet ; from 4000 to 9000 is the region where wheat, barley, and leguminous plants thrive. Above the level of 9000 feet the climate becomes severe ; and st 15,700 feet vegetation ceases. The situation of Colombia is highly favourable for commerce. It has excellent ports on both seas ; and being mistress of the isthmus of Panama, it has superior facilities for establishing a communication from the one to the other. The Orinoco and the Amazon aiFord the inmost districts of Venezuela and Ecuador the advantages of water carriage to the ocean. The Cassiquiari, an inter mediate channel, by which the Orinoco bifurcates or con nects with the Amazon (a remarkable hydrographical pheno menon), is within the limits of Venezuela. The territory contains much gold and silver the former in alluvial depo sits : it has mines of copper and mercury also, with platinum, iron, and coal. Its tropical productions are similar to those of Brazil ; but it has as yet cultivated few articles for foreign markets, and its exports are inconsiderable. The civilised population of this country is chiefly located in the districts near the coast, and in the high valleys or table-land of the Andes. Its amount, according to the Statesman s Year- Book, is Venezuela 1,5(54,433 Colombia 2,794,473 Ecuador 1,300,000 Cohunlj Vcncxui and Kci dor. It is always of importance to know in what proportions the different races are blended, but on this subject we have only approximate data. In Colombia the whites form about half of the population, the Indians about one-third, and the negroes about one-tenth, the remainder being of mixed blood. In Venezuela the whites form about one-third, the Indians about one-thirtieth, and Zamboes (from Indiana and negroes) about one-half. In Ecuador the proportions are, roughly whites one-sixth, Indians nearly one-half, negroes one-thirteenth. All the three states are republican. See VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA, and ECUADOR. The Argentine Republic, or La Plata, is, in point of natural advantages, the second state of importance in South