This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1891. Excerpt: ... wooded. Toward the west they give way to open plains, which become quite barren as the centre of the continent is reached. With this general idea of the surface of the country, let us visit the individual states of South America, and observe the people in their homes and on the street. Let us notice how they dress, what they eat, what they say, and the cities they have built for themselves; in short, let us become so well acquainted, that, through our growing interest in them, we may be neighbors indeed. CHAPTER XIX. THE GREAT REPUBLIC OF THE SOUTH. South of the equator lies a country nearly as large as the United States, and quite as rich in mineral, vegetable, and animal wealth. This country is Brazil. Within a few years the government has been changed from a monarchy to a republic. Its model is the Great Republic of the North, as the natives of South America call our own country. Its ambition is to be to South America what the United States is to North America. Brazil may be divided into three regions. The first region extends from the northern boundary of Brazil to the tenth parallel of latitude, and comprises the selvas, or the region of greatest vegetable wealth. The second region extends from the tenth to the twentieth parallel of latitude, and comprises the gold and diamond mines, or the region of greatest mineral wealth. The third region lies between the twentieth and thirtieth parallels, and is the cattle-raising region of the country. The first of these regions is low land, the other two are high land. The first region comprises the northern half of the country of Brazil. Through it flows the Amazon River, the largest, though not the longest, river in the world. With its tributaries, it drains one-third of the continent of South America. The he...