ral vegetable
productions are important, and include _manicoba_ or Ceara rubber,
carnahuba wax and fibre, caju wine and ipecacuanha.

There are two lines of railway running inland from the coast: the
Baturite line from Fortaleza to Senador Pompeu, 179 m., and the Sobral
line from Camocim (a small port) to Ipu, 134 m. These railways were
built by the national government after the drought of 1877-1878 to give
work to the starving refugees, and are now operated under leases. Great
dams were also begun for irrigation purposes.

The misfortunes and poverty of the people have hindered their material
development to a large extent, but another obstacle is to be found in
their racial and social composition. Only a very small percentage of the
population which numbered 805,687 in 1890, and 849,127 in 1900, is of
pure European origin, the great majority being of the coloured races and
their mixtures with the whites. The number of landed proprietors,
professional men, merchants, &c., is comparatively small (about
one-sixth), and a part of these are of mixed blood; the remaining
five-sixths own no property, pay no taxes, and derive no benefits from
the social and political institutions about them beyond the protection
of the proprietors upon whose estates they live, the nominal protection
of the state, and an occasional day's wage. Education has made no
impression upon such people, and is confined almost exclusively to the
upper classes, from which some of the most prominent men in Brazilian
politics and literature have come. The state of Ceara has formed a
bishopric of the Roman Catholic Church since 1853, the bishop having his
residence at Fortaleza. The state is represented in the national
congress by three senators and ten deputies. Its local government is
vested in a president and legislative assembly of one chamber elected
for a period of four years. Three vice-presidents are elected at the
same time who succeed to the presidency in case of a vacancy according
to the number of votes received. The judicial organization consists of
the tribunal da Relacao at the state capital and subordinate courts in
the _comarcas_ and _termos_. The judges of the higher courts are
appointed for life. The capital of the state is Fortaleza, sometimes
called Ceara, which is also the principal commercial centre and shipping
port. The principal towns are Aracaty, Baturite, Acarahu, Crato,
Maranguape and Sobral.

The territory of Ceara includes th