The proportion of black population is much greater in the northeastern states than elsewhere. As one journeys south they become less numerous, until, when you reach the extreme southern states, they are uncommon. In the state of Bahia, those with a negro admixture far outnumbered the whites. This is due not only to the fact that slavery was first introduced there, but also because it was sooner abolished in that state, and fugitive slaves escaping from the coffee plantations fled there, just as they did to our own Northern states. Those who were able to buy their freedom in other states went there as well as those who were voluntarily freed by their masters, as thousands were all over Brazil. In Minas Geraes perhaps one-third of the population have negro blood in their veins. When slavery was finally abolished, in 1888, there were perhaps seven hundred and fifty thousand slaves in the empire, the most of these being held in the coffee producing states. In São Paulo to-day the negro population is very small, as it is said that the former slaves soon became decimated by the excesses in which they indulged when freedom was gained. In the whole republic perhaps very near to one-half the entire population has at least a trace of negro blood in their veins. The mixture is very marked in the north, and down as far as Rio de Janeiro, and almost to São Paulo. There is, however, no race prejudice that I could perceive. In schools I saw kinky-haired boys and girls side by side with the whites, and in all public places they mingled freely. Negro lawyers and doctors appeared to be patronized by the whites, and their families seemed to have friends among all classes. Officially, at least, there is no distinction, and men have occupied the highest offices in the republic, who unmistakably had a trace of the negro blood. Americans, who live there, as well as some native Brazilians, tell me that there is a growing prejudice among those free from the negro blood against that race, and even the slightest mixture of it, until it has now become very noticeable in many ways, and is even making itself felt in political circles. I am making this statement solely upon the authority of those who live there, and ought to know better than a traveller; but, as for myself, I saw no evidence whatever of such a state of public sentiment.