340 EIO DE JANEIRO gated tiles, and others are covered with stucco ; only a few are of granite or brick. The sub- urban dwellings are usually surrounded with gardens. The business streets are paved with cobblestones, and the others macadamized. Ex- tensive sewers, of the aggregate length of 75 m., have recently been constructed through- out the city. At their three outlets attempts are made to disinfect and filter the sewage be- fore it passes into the bay. Water is brought from Mt. Corcovado by means of an aqueduct which is more than 100 years old. It is 12 m. long, and crosses a valley 90 ft. deep and 740 ft. wide, upon two tiers of arches, one above the other. The water is distributed throughout the city to fountains, from which it is drawn for use. The supply is insufficient for the increasing demand. The streets, es- pecially those of the suburbs, are lighted bet- ter than those of any^)ther city in the world. The principal public edifices are the chamber of deputies and city palace of the emperor, in one spacious unattractive building fronting Palace square ; the imperial chapel, of no ar- chitectural merit and unadorned, on the same square ; the exchange, a low building divided into stalls which are rented to brokers, and con- taining a good reading room ; the post office, unworthy of the business transacted through it ; the custom house, perhaps the finest struc- ture in the city; and the marine arsenal, also a fine building, at the end of the rua Direita, in which are all the preceding. The rua Ou- vidor, leading out of this, is the principal street of Rio de Janeiro ; from it leads the largo do Sao Francisco, on one side of which is the church of the same name and on the other the military academy. A narrow street leads thence into the largo do Rocio, in which is the theatre of Sao Pedro d' Alcantara. In the middle of this square is an equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I., the pedestal of which is or- namented with Indian figures emblematic of the great rivers of Brazil. The Campo San- ta Anna, the largest square of the city, is un- adorned and filthy ; on one side of it is the senate, on another are military barracks and the offices of the minister of war, on a third those of the minister of commerce, and on the fourth the Italian opera house and a museum. Among the remaining public buildings are the hospital of Misericordia, the mint, the acade- my of fine arts, the observatory, and the pal- ace of Sao Christovao. Among the charitable institutions are several hospitals for natives, one for Portuguese, one for English, and oth- ers for French and Spaniards. The educational institutions are a national college, a military and engineering school, a naval academy, a commercial school, a school of medicine and surgery, a geographical and historical insti- tute, a polytechnic and an agricultural school, several night schools for adults, and many other schools. The city contains 30 churches and chapels, and six convents and monasteries. Besides an Anglican chapel there are several congregations of other Protestant denomina- tions, composed chiefly of foreigners, the na- tives being nearly all Roman Catholics. The hotels, with one exception, furnish wretched accommodations. There are several libraries, only one of which, the imperial, contains books in different languages, the others being small and purely local. The imperial library, for- merly the royal library of Portugal, brought from Lisbon by the emigrating royal family, has now upward of 100,000 volumes. Among other treasures it possesses the only complete series of Durer's woodcuts of the " Passion of Christ." There are a government printing establishment and about 50 private publish- ing and printing houses ; 70 native periodicals of little merit, a well conducted English daily newspaper, and a French and a German daily. There is one large market, plentifully supplied with great varieties of fish, poultry, fruit, and vegetables, but deficient in good meat and game. Of the two public gardens, the Passeio Publico is within the city, and the botanical just beyond its limits. Several lines of street railway traverse the city and its suburbs ; om- nibuses run to all the neighboring villages; two lines of steam ferry boats cross the bay ; the Dom Pedro railway connects with the Pa- rahyba river ; and a steamer runs to the ter- minus of the Petropolis railway at the head of the bay. Steam communication with the seaports of the empire is frequent, European steamships arrive and depart almost daily, and there is telegraphic connection with Europe. A sea wall is now (1875) under construction along the water front of the city, beside which the largest vessels may lie. On the N. side of the Ilha das Cobras, off the N. E. extremity of the city, is a dry dock excavated from the solid rock, capable of admitting a vessel 280 ft. long and of 28 ft. draught ; and a much larger one is in course of construction near it. There are numerous ship yards, and factories for the man- ufacture of cotton, tobacco, paper, soap, glass, and carriages, but none of the factories are very extensive. The climate is damp and un- heulthf ul, and the city is seldom free from yel- low fever, but this rarely assumes a malignant form. Diseases of the respiratory organs are very common. The mean annual temperature is 82 F. ; the mean annual rainfall. 42*5 in. The trade of Rio de Janeiro is hampered by the national export tax, which averages 13 per cent, on all articles of home production. The exports for the fiscal year 1872-'3 were valued at $52,643,275, as follows : coffee, $48,- 048,725; gold in bars and dust, $2,108,462; diamonds, $587,424 ; tobacco, $521,990; hides, $484,080; cotton, $408,480 ; timber, $275,165; sugar, $133,559; rum, $68,784; horse hair, India rubber, and wool, $6,606. The United States takes about 58 per cent, of the coffee and half of the timber (fancy woods) ; Great Britain takes about half of the remaining ex- ports; the residue is chiefly sent to France and Germany. The imports are very varied ;
