The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1949-05-12
THROUGH
Hazel.
EYES

AA0vC WAASSCA Va AbAO 0G SdAlCA-
70, the capital city Of Brazil, and
called it the most beautiful city in
the world.
BY the same token / would say
Inst Brazil is the most colorful
and challenging country in all
South America.
Brazil. the largest state in South
America, was discovered in 1900
by q Portuguese navigator named
Pedro Alvarez Cabral, who NAM
ed It Vera Cruz and planted a
cross for God and Portugal in the
custom Of the days. But shortly
there came a Florentine merchant,
Amerigo Vespucci, who was SO
interested in species Of red wood
which he found there that he gave
the name Of the wood to the
country and called it Brazil.
The Portuguese influence was
strong in the settling Of this vast
country and today the official
language of Brazil is still Portu-
guese. All other countries in
South America have Spanish as
their official language.
The most significant impress
sion Of Brazil is that Of its size
and enormous possibilities for de-
velopment. To give an idea OF
its vastness, it has coast line OF
1850 miles on the Atlantic ocean
and extends approximately 2,676
miles from north to south and
about 1894 miles from east to
west.
Brazils coastline on the Attain
tic ocean is longer than the COM
bined Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf
coasts of the United States.
Its area is 3,286,17O square miles
and only one-third Of the area is
populated to the extent of being
civilized. Only about IS million
acres are in cultivation. The min
eral wealth is believed great but
it has had very little development
Brazil, only one country in
South America, is as large as all
of the United States of North
America, with another Texas
thrown in. The northern part of
the country is in the heavily
wooded basin of the Amazon
river 1,465.637 square miles in
Brazil alone. The Amazon is
navigable for 100 miles the ex-
!. tent of its course in Brazil In
all its rivers, Brazil has 27,3f8
miles Of navigable waterways and
its horsepower is estimated at
l9.519.1OO. The Amazon basin
alone has a network of rivers
which are navigable for 1894
miles.
Brazil is divided into twenty
states and has everything, geo.
graphically speaking. Vast jun
giles where the feet of white men
have never trod, mountains,
waterfalls, plains and valleys and
desert country. The beautiful
falls at Iguassu on the border OF
Parana, a southern state of Bra
zil. are one of the natural wonders
of the world and they surpass
Niagara in their majestic glory.
The eastern and southern states
of Brazil are marked with noun
tain ranges traversed by fertile
valleys. Temperatures range
from mild and delightful to the
almost unbearable heat of the
equator.
The country is republic found
ed in 1889 when the last emperor
Dom Pedro II was driven from
his throne and governed by a
constitution patterned closely
along the lines of ours.
The people of Brazil today ap-
pear genuinely friendly and hos
pitable to visitors from North
America. Everywhere you go in
shops, theatres, night clubs, or on
the streets, the casual citizen is
curious, smiling and tries to be
helpful. He appears very anxious
to make your stay in Brazil easy
and pleasant; and he appears a
lot more eager to learn English
than we do Portuguese.
An accurate estimate of the
population Of Brazil is impossible
The last count anywhere near
official, was some AZ million
Some say that if the Indians in the
interior could be counted, the fig
ure would run as high as sixty
millions. But white men do not
20 into some of the jungles and
come back.
Most of the people seen in the
great cities like Rio have some
color. They are not pure white
although some Brazilians will tell
you the majority Of the population
is white.
There is no color line in Brazil
and intermarriage of the races is
and always has been, widely prac-
ticed. The pure blooded Negro
probably has a better chance in
Brazil today than anywhere else