The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-11
BRAZIL AW ATS GREAT EXPLORER
 TO FIND SECRETS
Vast Tracts Are Still Un- known And Await
 Adventures

It is sometimes forgotten that Brazil is larger than the United States. It's communications are undeyel0ped, vast tracts being accessible only to those willing to take the risks of the explorer, says the London Times.
 A series of mountain ranges, attain ing a maximum elevation of about ten thousand feet near Rio extend along the coast from the mouth of the Amazon to the frontier of Uruguay, forming a hilly plateau from two hun dred to three hundred miles wide and averaging two thousand feet in height, for nearly a thousand miles of this dis tance.
 7 This region contains the chief centers of population and the most developed districts. The hills rise abruptly from the coast the steep Atlantic slopes sub side inland gradually until they merge with the vast plains of thA Amazon and the River Plate water systems, which occupy the interior of the country ana consist of practically virgin forests, swamp and pasture. q
 The capital, Rio Janeiro, is prac- tically creation of the last twenty years. The harbor, with it's n1any islands and the mass of the Pao q As sucar-so called froms its resemblance to sugar l0af--rising Esheer tWelFe hundred feet out of the water near the entrance. and in the background the neak of Corcovado is a fine sight. RIO Janeiro means "River of January, and was so called because 1t was dls- covered on New Year day. The Wlnd- ing stretch of the bay misled the Pertu, euese mariners into thinking they naa found the mouth of great rlver' put in fact the harbor of Rio IS more neaEAS a lake. The entrance IS tess .han z naile wide, and the wnter witiiah ls sasels
 The line of the shore is so indented md +ba field of vision is So broken by tha surrounding forest-clad hlLs anu tba numerous wooded islands that US ,1ast exfent is not at first apparent. Isror, tl,e ion of the Corcovado and the paa TAssucar. the first of when IS coached hv funieular and the second Dy on aerial railway strung on wire ropes ocross the road, the whole magniieeht nanorama of the bay, the ocean, tns d;ty and the Serra is displayed m alt it's grandeur and iluxuriaHee.
 The city of Rio has grown up on what land the hill made 1t posslple +o buiId on. Consequently It sIretc.SS for several miles along the easterns siae of the bay, and beyond, along tne AL iavt;c shore. The sea front is followed Inv series of broad, well-planted ave rnas offording pleasant drives and de- i;ghtful views, lilly spurs come down ,In,ost to the water, and are doIted ,,,;tb villas standing in their own leary grounds and covered with brilliant creeperS. wd3
 Air Of Prosperity. -.
 1,bo husiness center of the town IS +raversad bv the broad .Avenida RIO R~anco. which is more or less a repro 1,,etion of a Parisian boulevard and IS ;ntarsected by the principal business and shopping streets. The Dullainss are everywhere somewhat florld ana uoo reminiscent of the stuccO palaces at e4, bibitions, but the streets gre well paVe1 and well kept, and there IS generai air of prosperity and progress. More, over. the striking foliage ana Viytu flowers of tropical plants lend lDen- selves to the easy Identification or tne city.
 There is a famous avenue of royal nolms in. the interesting botanical gar Hens and another in the Rua Paysandu, Mi even more remarkable are the donnie rows of the same tree on each side of the canal in the Ayentda do Mangue. which leads inland toward the weIl-laid- -outsslopes of the Quinta de Boa Vistn. where stands the. National mu- scum. The long lines of tall, siendeE, smooth stems, bulging slightly m the middle like classic columns and crowned bv green crests of feathery leaves, are strikingly majestic.
 Twenty years ago the streets were narrow and dirty, there were few sub stantial buildings, yellow fever was rampant. All this is changed now and modern sanitation and town planning have made Rio as healthy and pleasant as any city in the tropics. The. cli- mate is damp and enervating, but, ex- cept for two or three months in mld- summer, is not accounted overpOwer- ingIy hot The inhabitants number million and a half, and are mostly of colonial descent, though there is of course a large cosmopolitan element.
 The old Brazilians. as one might say, in contrast to the new Brazilians of European and immigrant origin, seem a gay and Open-handed people. This is reflected ill the capital, and by nothing more than the brilliance of the street lighting. There are three electric lamps for every one that would be considered adeduate elsewhere.
 North And South.
 Rio Janeiro is the federal capital of the republic, but Brazil has no completely representative center. Each state has its own very definite char acteristics, due in part to the vary ing composition of the population, and in part to their being the centers of diff ferent industries. The northern states, for instance, have a large negro pOpu- lation, which is absent in the south, and everywhere north of Rio, where the old Prazilians of Portuguese extraction pre- esn nate, the white population is more sal les mixed with the negro. The Portu- k,ase had Serg little coloc feeling, and tis, Consequence is evident. It is im- poside to draw n eOlor line in the norheyu states, so imperceptibly do the sssaes dary between coal black and pug eiiite.
 n ltis other Na.- . uIhern states hd7s haptt uiaEtiv Dftltuf- cil nv fulfif-