far as rail connection is concerned Bahia is practically out of touch with active regions of Brazil, but since her one city of first-class importance is situated on the sea margin, and she is very well served both by _cabotagem_ and by ocean-going vessels, national and foreign, no complaint is heard in Bahia concerning the deficiency. The line from S. Felix, a town reached by boat across the bay from Bahia which has achieved fame for cigar manufacture, penetrates richly producing tobacco country: Nazareth is the headquarters of a district exporting manganese ores. [Illustration: Rua Barão da Victoria, Pernambuco. Inauguration of Avenida 7 de Setembro, Upper Town, Bahia. ] Proceeding northward past the mouth of the São Francisco river no railway is encountered between Aracajú and the coconut-embowered port of Maceió (Jaraguá), capital of the State of Alagôas: construction of such a link would involve engineering difficulties in crossing the wide river delta and, north of it, negotiating the chain of picturesque lagoons (“lagôas”) which give the State its name. Alagôas, wedged under the shoulder of Pernambuco, is a fine sugar country: the lower, business section of Maceió literally runs and drips with sugar; the warehouses along the waterfront are piled with bags from which cane juice leaks, and the heady smell of it permeates the streets. From this busy, hot little city the most southerly arm of the Great Western’s series of linked lines reaches, a branch penetrating sugar lands by way of Atalaia and Viçosa, while a more northerly track connects with Garanhuns, runs thence north-east, and, with a sea-ward branch to Barreiros, connects with the fan-handle of the system at Recife (Pernambuco).