Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/487

* BRAZEN SEBPENT. 431 BBAZIL. the Assyrian and Babylonian sanctuaries, ser- pent images stood as guardians at the doors. The serpent was also looked upon by the Phceni- eian* as a god of healing. BRAZIL', I'ortuy. pron. br4-zel' (from the color ot its dye-woods, braza, I'ortug. braza, a live coal). UxirEi) States of. The largest coun- try in South America, and one of the most e.Kten- sivc political subdivisions of the world, including the central and eastern jiortions of the continent. It is embraced, approximately, between latitudes 5' N. and 34° S., and between longitudes 35° and 74° W. : its greatest length from north to south is about 2fitiO miles, and from east to west 2700 miles; the total area is estimated at 3,218,139 square miles. Its limits on the northeast and southeast are the Atlantic Ocean, while the re- maining portion of the northern boundary is formed by the Guianas, Venezuela, and Colom- bia : on the west, southwest, and south it touches Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and I'ruguay. It lies entirely to the east of the Great Andean system. Xorthern and western Brazil is occupied by the basin of the Amazon, and while the political boundary extends to the motmtains and high- lands on the north, yet almost the whole of this section is a great plain, the so-called 'Selvas,' in which the altitude does not exceed 1000 feet, and the greater part is below 500 feet. The southern and eastern parts of Brazil are plateau- like in character, rising above 2000 feet in alti- tude, and much of it above 4000 feet ; it is broken by the valleys of the Paran.l and Uruguay in the south, of the Tocantins and its branches in the north, and the Sao Francisco in the cen- tral and eastern parts. Lpon this plateau, which is sometimes designated the 'Highlands of Bra- zil,' stand many mountain ranges. It is the oldest part of South America. It was elevated bodily, with little, if any, distortion, and the present configuration of the surface is due to dif- ferential erosion, by which the harder and more resistant rocks have been preser-ed in the moun- tain ranges. It results from this mode of origin that the ranges are irregular in distribution and trend. They may, however, be grouped in three systems, the most important of which is the Serra do Mar, which forms the southeastern slope of the plateau to the narrow strip of coast along the Atlantic. In this system, west of Rio .laneiro, i.s the highest peak in Brazil, Itatiaia, probably not much over iJOOO feet in height, although at one time thought to considerably exceed 10,000 feet. The system bears many different names in ditrerent parts, as Scrra (icral, Sena da Manti- quiera. and Si-rra dos Aimon's. Connecting with this range near Rio .Taneiro, and stretching north- ward, between the S.ao Francisco and the streams flowing directly to the coast, is the Serra Central, while a third range trends northwestward, sep- arating the heads of the SSo Francisco and To- cantins from those of the ParanS. Minor ranges and ridges separate the tributaries of these rivers fnim one another. West of this great plateau of East Brazil a highland stretches across to the Andes, dividing the waters of the Amazon from thos<' llr)ving southward to the Rio de la Plata. On the north, the Tumuchinuac and Acarai moun- tains separate Brazil from the Guianas, and the Serra Pacaraima separates it from Venezuela. The .Atlantic coast line has a length of about 4000 miles. North of Cape Saint Roque it is compara- tively low, and the slope toward the sea is grad- ual, but south of the Cape the coast line gradually becomes more elevated, the sloix! of the sea is steeper, and at the extreme south very abrupt. The northern coast is but little liroken, and thus offers but few fine harbors, and not many isl- ands; but at the south good harbors are not wanting. HYDROGRApnT. The rivers of Brazil possess a degree of importance greater than most of the other rivers of the world, since they fonn the chief, and in some eases the only, highways of travel and commerce through a region of great natural resources. Owing to the copious rainfall and the mild climate, navigation of most of them is possible throughout the year, in spite of their great lluctuations in volume from the wet to the dry season. More than two-thirds of Brazil, 2.235.000 square miles, is drained by the Amazons and Tocantins; about a fourth by the great arms of the Rio de la Plata, the Paraguay and Parana; while the remainder is drained by the Sao Francisco and smaller streams. The Amazon with its great branches, the Xegro, Yapurft, and led on the north, the .Tavari, .Jurua, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, and Xingu on the south, with the Tocantins, which joins it in its delta, affords a system of internal navigation comparable only to that of the Mississippi. The length of the main river from the Peruvian bound- ary to its mouth is about 2500 miles, practically all of which is navigable. The total length of the Amazon and its main branches within Brazil is estimated at ISt.OOO miles, of which 13,000 miles are navigable. The navigable stretch is much longer on the upper than on the lower branches, as the latter head in the plateaus of Guiana and southeast Brazil, and are interrupted by rapids and falls, especially where leaving the plateaus. Such is the case also with the Sao Francisco, where navigation is interrupted by the falls of Paulo Affonso, only 60 miles above the river's mouth. The waters of the Sao Fran- cisco communicate with those of the Amazon through the Rio Preto. one of its main tribi- taries, and the Rio do Somno, an affluent of the Tocantins. The Xegro, a large northern branch of the Amazon, is connected through the Casi- quiare with the Orinoco. See also Amazon ,- TocAXTixs, etc. Climate. Brazil lies almost entirely within the tropics, the region of the trade winds, and is dependent upon the latter for its rainfall, and upon the Atlantic as the source of moisture. Wet and dry seasons alternate, as the movement of the trades follows the sun from north to south, the effects being modified by the direction of the coasts and the relief of the surface. In the greater part of the country the climate is remarkably constant, with a fairly uniform tem- perature throughout the year, and a heavy rain- fall. In the great Amazon Valley, which is low and moist, densely forested, and sidjji'Ctcd ;vt all times to the sweep of the trades, the temperature is never very high, rarely exceeding 05°. The an- nual range is slight, not exceeding 15° in the course of the year, and everywhere the moist winds afford a copious rainfall, ranging common- ly frimi 75 to 100 inches, and increasing to much greater amounts at the foothills of the Andes, v.here the air-enrrents are fnrced upward into colder regions. It is believed that in some parts of the valley of the Amazon the rainfall is fully