of large
cities; but the moment you leave those cities, or the narrow zone along
the few hundred kilometres of railways which now exist, you immediately
relapse into the Middle Ages. When you get beyond the comparatively
narrow belt of semi-civilization, along the coast, Brazil is almost as
unknown as Mars or the moon. The people who know least the country are,
curiously enough, the Brazilians themselves. Owing greatly to racial
apathy, they care little for the trouble of developing their beautiful
land. They watch with envy strangers taking gold, diamonds, platinum, and
precious stones out of their country. They accuse foreigners of going
there to rob them of their wealth; yet you seldom meet a Brazilian who
will venture out of a city to go and help himself. The Brazilian
Government is now beginning to wake up to the fact that it is the
possessor of the most magnificent country on earth, and it is its wish to
endeavour to develop it; but the existing laws, made by short-sighted
politicians, are considered likely to hamper development for many years
to come.

Brazil is not lacking in intelligent men. Indeed, I met in Rio de Janeiro
and S. Paulo men who would be remarkable anywhere. Councillor Antonio
Prado of S. Paulo, for instance, was a genius who had done wonders for
his country. The great development of the State of S. Paulo compared with
other States is chiefly due to that great patriot. Then the Baron de Rio
Branco--the shrewd diplomatist, who has lately died--has left a monument
of good work for his country. The cession of the immensely rich tract of
the Acre Territory by Bolivia to Brazil is in itself a wonderful
achievement. Dr. Pedro de Toledo, the present Minister of Agriculture, is
a practical, well-enlightened, go-ahead gentleman, who makes superhuman
efforts, and in the right direction, in order to place his country among
the leading states of the two Americas. Dr. Lauro Severiano Mueller, the
new Minister of Foreign Affairs, is a worthy successor of Baron de Rio
Branco. There are many other persons of positive genius, such as Senator
Alcindo Guanabara, a man of remarkable literary ability, and one of the
few men in Brazil who realize thoroughly the true wants of the Republic,
a man of large views, who is anxious to see his country opened up and
properly developed. Another remarkable man is Dr. Jose Carlos Rodriguez,
the proprietor of the leading newspaper in Rio--the _Jornal do
Commercio_--and the organi