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South America: Portugal

HISTORY. After Vasco da Gama had returned to Portugal from the East Indies with his story of the marvelous discoveries he had made there, King Emanuel sent out Pedro Alvares Cabral (in 1500) to follow up the same. Adverse winds drove him upon the shores of an unknown country, which he named Vera Cruz, a name afterwards changed to Santa Cruz, which in turn gave way to the present one of Brazil. Vespucci afterward visited it, and it soon became the favorite resort of merchants who dealt in dyewoods. In 1549 John III. of Portugal appointed a governor of the new territory, who took up his abode there and founded the present city of Rio de Janeiro. The nations then hostile to Spain, Portugal having been annexed to Spain in 1580, made numerous attempts to wrest this country from the possessor, the Dutch and the French being notably pertinacious. The Dutch succeeded in securing an extensive portion of the territory, but it was subsequently taken from them with the exception of the insignificant strip now known as Surinam or Dutch Guiana. When Napoleon invaded Portugal the sovereign fled to Brazil, which act was instrumental in materially modifying the colonial administration, and a new era of prosperity sprang up. In 1815 Brazil was raised to the rank of kingdom and became the head of its own mother country. In 1821 the king returned to Portugal, leaving his son Dom Pedro as regent of the country. This same year a revolution took place, and in 1822 Brazil was proclaimed an independent empire and Pedro was crowned as its emperor. In 1824 a constitution was adopted, and the independence of the empire acknowledged by the government of Lisbon. Singularly enough, Dom Pedro, who had succeeded in setting up an empire for himself and wresting it from his father, became, in 1826, king of Portugal as well, his father John VI. dying. Pedro, however, resigned in favor of his infant daughter. From this time until 1831 Brazil was largely engaged in warfare with her neighbors in South America, and given over to internal dissensions, which culminated in Pedro's abdicating in favor of his son, then but six years of age. Until 1841 the country was governed by a regent. This Monarch, Dom Pedro II., enjoyed a prosperous reign up to the recent revolution which converted Brazil into a republic.

PARAGUAY.

This inland republic extends from lat. 21° 27′ to 27° 30′ S. and from long. 54° 21' to 60° W. It is bounded on the N. and N.-E. by the republic of Brazil, on the N.-W. by Bolivia, and on all the other sides by the Argentine Republic, through which state only by means of the Uruguay and Rio de la Plata has it communication with the seaboard. The country is well watered by the rivers that bound it, and has many lakes. The only wealth of the country is that which it derives from its forests and its wonderfully fertile soil. It has no manufactures. Over 5000 sq. m. of land are devoted to the culture of yerba-mate, the tea of Paraguay. Three crops of tobacco are grown yearly. Maize returns, 140, and rice 250 fold. Cotton, indigo, and manioca are also grown. The forests abound in valuable trees. Iron and copper exist. The country was first discovered in 1530 and settled by the Spaniards six years later. In 1811 Paraguay declared its independence. CHILI.

The republic of Chili lies on the W. coast of South America, and extends from 24° to 56° 50′ S. lat., or, to locate its extremities more definitely, from the Bay of Moreno to Cape Horn, a distance of 2270 m. This limit includes that part of Patagonia S. of lat. 43° 20′. It is bounded on the N. by Bolivia, which, by a narrow neck reaching to the Pacific, separates Chili from Peru; on the E. by the Andes; and on the W. by the Pacific Ocean.