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Show Matto Grosso's Fabulous National Wealth Attracts Brazilian Government Expedition Matto Grosso, Brazil's "wild west," is again the goal of an exploring ex-ploring expedition. Second largest, least developed, potentially richest of the 20 Brazilian states, Matto Grosso is remembered as the setting set-ting for the disappearance, 18 years ago, of Colonel Fawcett's party, according ac-cording to the National Geographic society. The expedition, sponsored by the Brazilian government, intends to explore ex-plore and open to colonization those large parts of northern Matto Grosso Gros-so which Theodore Roosevelt, General Gen-eral Rondon, Fawcett and other noted not-ed explorers ignored in previous journeys. Matto Grosso means "big woods." It is handicapped in the development develop-ment of its immense natural resources re-sources by lack of transportation and population. One railroad connects con-nects the southern end of the state with Sao Paulo, but the gauge varies va-ries and rates are high. The "big woods" state deserves its name only in part. Jungles cover cov-er less than half its area. Much of the country is grassland, where graze four million head of cattle, the state's biggest industry. Hides and skins are exported. Out of forests for-ests come wild rubber, Brazil nuts and the mate, the South American "tea." Cultivated areas yield corn, cotton, vanilla and sarsaparilla plants and ipecac. The greatest wealth of the state is underground untold riches of gold, diamonds, iron, manganese, platinum, plati-num, sapphires, and some coal. Nearly all these products are found elsewhere in Brazil, in the more accessible ac-cessible areas. One of the objects of the expedition expedi-tion is to increase Matto Grosso's rubber output in order to supply the manufacturers of Sao Paulo and Rio. This production would free Amazonian Am-azonian rubber for the United States. |