scrubby character
and are called _catingas_.

The sandy, coastal plain, with a width of 12 to 18 m., is nearly bare of
vegetation. The rivers of the state are small and, with one or two
exceptions, become completely dry in the dry season. The largest is the
Jaguaribe, which flows entirely across the state in a north-east
direction with an estimated length of 210 to 465 m. The year is divided
into a rainy and dry season, the rains beginning in January to March and
lasting until June. The dry season, July to December, is sometimes
broken by slight showers in September and October, but these are of very
slight importance. The soil is thin and porous and does not retain
moisture, consequently the long, dry season turns the country into a
barren desert, relieved only by vegetation along the river courses and
mountain ranges, and by the hardy, widely-distributed carnahuba palm
(_Copernicia cerifera_), which in places forms groves of considerable
extent. Sometimes the rains fail altogether, and then a drought
(_secca_) ensues, causing famine and pestilence throughout the entire
region. The most destructive droughts recorded are those of 1711, 1723,
1777-1778, 1790, 1825, 1844-1845, and 1877-1878, the last-mentioned
destroying nearly all the live-stock in the state, and causing the death
through starvation and pestilence of nearly half-a-million people, or
over half the population. The climate, which is generally described as
healthful, is hot and humid on the coast, tempered by the cool trade
winds; but in the more elevated regions it is very hot and dry, although
the nights are cool. The sandy zone along the coast is nearly barren,
but behind this is a more elevated region with broken surfaces and sandy
soil which is amenable to cultivation and produces fruit and most
tropical products when conditions are favourable.

The higher plateau is devoted almost exclusively to cattle-raising, once
the principal industry of the state, though recurring seccas have been
an insuperable obstacle to its profitable development. There is still a
considerable export of cattle, hides and skins, but no effort is made to
develop the production of jerked beef on a large scale. Horses are
raised to a limited extent; also goats, sheep and swine. The principal
agricultural products are cotton, coffee, sugar, mandioca and tropical
fruits. The production of cotton has increased largely since the
development of cotton manufactures in Brazil. The natu