Show what L I 1 ese i en si Z AW scene at a coffee warehouse in santos brazil prepared b by the national geographic society y washington D 0 C Is so huge it Is a be BRAZIL t ter e r of a million square miles larg er r than the united states and I 1 Is a made up of so many diverse regions that tile the average visitor can do little more than acquaint himself with a limited area but modern trav e el 1 me methods t linds have at least greatly great y stretched etched tile the area that can be cov ered by a brief tour now many travelers from the united states to south A america inerda I 1 go by airplane skimming a long along over the atlantic const coast of the treat great republic the first familiar feature of brazil th that at th the e air traveler seis sees Is the ama ton ron at its mouth the big river ISO miles billes wide between its capes colors the sen sea and dilutes its salt for BO 50 rail miles s off offshore here lien alen in small fishing bon boats t s veli venturing turing out of sight of land figure how far fair out th aliey ey are by tast last ing the water the rise of the river near para in ili flood times Is often 50 feet then alien vast areas of forest foiest tire are completely anun dated dt ed snow tn in the andes beins begins be ins to melt me it in august but this till delta dila does not feel tile the rise ilse till six bit months later with a valley covering square miles and containing about miles of navigable water ater coin coal it Is easy to see why it takes kes the big river six months to rise and six months to tall fall also the slope ot of the vast valley from the toot of the andes to the atlantic la Is only about abo u t feet this la is why ft liy tides from the sea are felt up the amazon for miles sometimes three or four tides are riding the river at once like big waves for far apart looking at maps one observes the amazon delta does not run out to sea on land bridges as do the nile the ganges and the mississippi it car ries prodigious londs loads of mud and geologists say its delta oie 01 u extended et ended miles past its present mouths months but now the ocean Is rapidly eating into the continent and from the air you soc see how this goes on by an odd freak of nature the sea Is driving in land huge waves of white sand these big dunes in many places have bur led the trees elsewhere you can tee see dead trees once covered colored with sand and killed and then exposed again t to 0 the advancing sea waves washing them out by the roots rush of the amazon bore and the para or south coast of the delta you sou notice la is higher and drier than the coast of brazilian guiana north of the amazon delta around maraca island and the mouth of tile the Ara graguary guary river the famous amazon bore Is at its best when it runs in its roar can be heard six miles its speed Is ten to fifteen knots an hour and anything in its path Is swept away look down on all these mud banks rip tides and shallows and you see why skippers dread navigation in these waters changes in coast outlines tire are constant shoals and flats flats form only to be washed away banks banka which a few years vears ago barely showed above tile the sea are now covered with trees bad lights and buoys lack of good charts ever shifting cur rents bring many ships to grief even the many small native trad ing boats their cabins thatched over and their sails made of blue cotton cloth have their own troubles here with wind tide and mud san luls luis from the air Is a compact red roofed town of many patios and narrow streets it was first a fort built by the french and named after louis XIII the town tonn Is on oil nn an island and a railway connects it with the mainland it Is a thriving place you xou see new buildings going up alongside wonderful old houses with fronts of fancy glazed tiles and marble statuary lifted above their patio gates scones scene along the coast at the mouth of the amazon and north of it brazil Is very damp but once you quit the amazon delta and get well un on your way down the slop ing coast toward tile the great shoulder of northeast brazil like englc the soaking jungles and mud hats flats change to a parched and land with mile long sand duties bare and forlorn as the shores of suez if you ou placed a few camels under take ali e lonely clumps of coconut trees which you see being smothered by sand dunes often CO 60 feet high you would get as good a desert picture as any from bagdad to cairo men alen killing a big sen sea turtle on the beach lonely lighthouses sandy araby scenery with goats prowling sand dunes for stray stiny plant life odd boats of he five spliced splice togs logs and a dirty sail rail awash an ash from stein steal to stern so that two fishermen aboard work standing in water voter ish fish raps like long picket fences in coastal Eli allows grass glass roofed huts on fur far apart stretches of coconut it shaded beach nn an idyllic robinson crusoe setting belting these sights the air traveler along brazils coast sees e while much empty country and a few busy towns that america never heard of slip under him take fortaleza often called ceara in the state of that name it Is one of the many min ports stuttered scattered down this seaplane scap line path that kielp consume the avei growing stream of shop made things we illusto export it if vo no tire are to keep our mills lullis running full time walk its noisy narrow cobble stoned streets und and see how american ma i alnes and methods mirk mark its life broadway melodies les crooned by yan k kee kec ec talking ina chines to soo soothe the a roomful of bob haired dressmakers another roomful of girls iris demonstrate demon strat ing sewing setting machines bussis busses trucks motor cars cais typewriters cash reals fountain pens printing presses corn poppers vending machines earn cam eras garages with young brazilian boys 10 s using american tools ferris wheels merry go rounds gas stoves lelec I 1 equipment movie houses ven even movie movie fan in tile the na the live language lang aage but printed in the states telephones street cars wireless a city of whose very name few americans ever heard yet a good customer of ours pa paying j ing us for what it buys with skins and vegetable wax wai or with crash cash from cotton sold to liverpool here heie as in all cities which stand along this world transportation route american capital and management help build up the public utilities and here the people bless the rockefeller foundation for killing their old enemy enem the mosquito natal and bahia rounding hounding the shoulder of south america one passes cape still san roque which aviators say Is their nearest point from which to quit tills this coast for europe below it stands natal the well known western tei terminus minus of africa brazil nights flights alere alei e too con verges the air afir web of plane paths which collect south american mall for or europe which mall mail Is sent from here to dakar africa by speedy french dispatch boats and there put again on planes for europe the french fience hope in ili time to set up tip a transatlantic airmail air mail mall line between natal and dak ar rhe five air lines now serve sene this town of natal reveals resells proof of brazils interest in air travel cousee you see hangars for seaplanes sea planes radio towers brazils hist first civilian chilian school for avla tors and a fine flying field for land planes well voll around the northeastern about der of brazil lies bahia between this port city and the united stites states st ites close ties exist california owes a big debt to bahia in 1871 richard edes then united states consul at bahia sent seat to the department of agriculture in washington some navel orange trees A letter went back to the con sul bul saying you have placed the department part ment in possession of one of the most desirable varieties of or oranges tinges known and one chichi it has much des desired fired you lou omitted to in ili close your bill from this simple tart for which a pioneer yankee consul did not even send his bill for expenses was to arise a horticultural achievement without parallel in the migration of fruit trees balila Is the lie site of the oldest chiv in south america half fair a century before the first white settlements in the united states stales it was a portuguese colony mimed aimed by amerigo vespucci and his band for centuries it led a turbulent life assailed ass by pestilence famine indians and alls bons bona old enemies the dutch often the india indians devoured large bands of ta settlers the military commander and the whole population of the colony nt at cair were ea butchered while attending church chuich and eaten yellow fever was epidemic for three centuries on one occasion 29 20 pirates were hanged at tile the same time and place for generations erat loni ions all lisbon trading ships came to bahia guarded eu ardeil by gunboats gun boats against pirates and other enemies |