Other companies have service, Maranhão north to Pará, 599 miles, south to Pernambuco 884 miles; Recife north to Maranhão 803 miles, south to Bahia 385 miles, east to Fernando do Noronha Island, 239 miles. On the São Francisco River, Januaria to Pirapora. Other Lines serve from Rio de Janeiro to ports south to Laguna and Ribeira de Iguapé, São Paulo; also on the Paraná and the Rio Grande, and on the Lakes Patos and Mirím. Service from Rio de Janeiro to Corumbá, 765 miles above Asunción, and 280 miles farther to Cuyabá on the Cuyabá River, in time of high water is continued on the Paraguay 250 miles beyond to São Luiz de Caceres. RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION While the great rivers of Brazil with their 27,000 miles of navigable waters have been a large factor in the development of the country, of equal importance for the future is transportation by rail. The total present mileage, second to that of Argentina, exceeds 16,500, these having developed from 9¹⁄₂ miles in 1854 and about 10,000, 50 years later. About 90 per cent are of metre gauge. For the economic unity of the great Republic, the Government policy is favorable to a rapid extension of the present railway systems, a matter as important as was the creation of our railways to the Pacific 50 years ago. The development in Brazil has been retarded by the difficult topography of the country, in striking contrast to the Argentine plains. Along the greater and better part of the coast is the high steep wall of the plateau region, which must be climbed to enter the interior. Once at the top the way in some sections is easier, but in others there are additional mountain ranges. The wall, obviously low in comparison with the mighty rampart of the Andes, presents difficulties, but none to compare with those experienced in Peru. The first railway, built and operated in 1854, was from Mauá on the north shore of the Rio harbor to Fragosa. Soon after carried to Petropolis, it is now a part of the Leopoldina Railway system. Only two South American railways antedate this, the Demarara of British Guiana and the Caldera-Copiapó in Chile. =The Central of Brazil Railway= was the first of much importance, its first section, 32 miles, opened in 1858. For this road leading out of Rio expenses were heavy. Many were the difficulties of construction, tunnels, bridges, etc., the boring of one tunnel, only 1¹⁄₂ miles long, requiring seven years. The system, now in Government ownership, has a network of lines extending from Rio to the city of São Paulo, to Bello Horizonte in Minas, and to other points. It has express trains with sleeping cars (state rooms), and a heavy suburban traffic. It is intended to carry this system northward to the city of Pará, with branches to new territory. Twenty-five million passengers are carried annually with much freight of coffee, lumber, iron, manganese, etc. The railway is to be electrified near the capital with a Government appropriation of $32,760,000.