Piauhy is a large state about which little is known. It has a population of less than two to the square mile, and has a coast line not exceeding ten miles on the Atlantic. Only a very small portion of the land is cultivated. The principal exports are a white wax, made from the scales of a palm, and a rubber known as Maniçoba rubber. The towns are small, the largest, Therizina, also the capital, having a population of only twenty thousand. There is much fine timber in the state, and probably not a saw-mill to cut it. With railroads, men of enterprise and money, Piauhy might be developed into a great, prosperous and influential state. About half-way between Bahia and Pernambuco is the mouth of the São Francisco River, another of the great water-courses of Brazil. For a thousand miles from its mouth this river is navigable for small vessels, except for a distance of about one hundred miles, where there are some wonderful rapids and inspiring falls. In April, when the dry season sets in, the people from the hillsides and mountains move down to plant their corn, beans, rice and mandioca. The freshets leave a deposit of fine white sand, which enriches the soil. It is not necessary to break the ground. The native makes a hole in the ground, with a sharp stick, into which a seed is dropped and then covered. He then builds a shelter of the palm branches and awaits the maturing of his crops. When they are gathered he sells his surplus to the traders, and moves up again into the hills and mountains, where he lives a life of comparative ease and idleness until the next season. [Illustration: THE PAULO AFFONSO FALLS.]