The Brazilian navy has, exclusive of her capital torpedo-boat flotilla, over fifty vessels, of which a dozen are classed as armored. These last are mainly medium draught, coast-service turret-ships and river monitors, though among them are the _Riachuelo_ and _Aquidaban_, twin-screw armored cruisers, and the _Solimoes_, an armored battle-ship. The _Riachuelo_ made a sensation when she first appeared, and is still one of the most formidable vessels in the world. She is built of steel, and has the following dimensions: length 305 feet, beam 52 feet, draught 19 feet 6 inches, displacement 5700 tons. Her armor is compound, eleven inches thick on the belt and ten inches on the turret, conning-tower, and redoubt. She has also a steel deck, which curves forward to strengthen the ram, and aft to protect the steering gear. Her armament consists of four 9-inch 20-ton Whitworths (Armstrong altered) mounted in two echeloned turrets, and of six 5½-inch guns carried under cover in the superstructure. Her secondary battery includes fifteen machine Nordenfeldts and five above-water torpedo-tubes. With 7300 horse-power she attained a speed of 16.71 knots, and is credited with a coal endurance of 4500 miles at 15 knots speed. The _Aquidaban_ is of the same type and general appearance as the _Riachuelo_, but of smaller dimensions. Her length is 280 feet, beam 52 feet, draught 18 feet, displacement 4950 tons. The compound armor is from seven to eleven inches in thickness, and seven feet in width on the water-line belt, and is ten inches thick on the conning-tower and on the oval redoubts which protect the bases of the two echeloned turrets. The armored deck and redoubt roofs are built of steel, from two to three inches thick. The armament consists of four 9-inch 20-ton guns mounted in the turrets, and of four 70-pounders carried under the superstructure. The secondary battery is made up of fifteen 1-inch Nordenfeldts and five above-water torpedo-tubes. She developed on trial 6251 horse-power and a speed of 15.81 knots, and made on the voyage from Lisbon to Bahia 3600 knots in 13 days and 17 hours, and from Bahia to Rio Janeiro 750 knots in 2 days and 20 hours. The average speed for the passage from England to Rio was nearly eleven knots on a daily coal consumption of forty-three tons.