"They have talked of doing so," the Doctor answered, "and some parts of the interior provinces are well adapted to the culture of our American staples. But they have not the right kind of a population for such work, and even if they had it, the cost of bringing grain or flour to Rio would be greater at the present railway tariffs than transporting it from the United States. I am told it has been carefully figured out that wheat from Wisconsin or Minnesota could be laid down in Rio cheaper than wheat from the end of the Dom Pedro railway. "While we are on the subject of railways," the Doctor continued, "you may be interested in knowing that Brazil owes some of her railway lines to a calamity." "To a calamity! how can that be?" "In the past hundred years," Dr. Bronson explained, "there have been several famines in some of the interior and coast districts, particularly in the Ceara. One of the worst began in 1790; it lasted three or four years, and when it ended the province of the Ceara was nearly depopulated. Another followed in 1824-25, and another in 1844-45, the latter being less severe than its predecessor. [Illustration: VICTIMS OF THE FAMINE.] "The next, and thus far the most terrible, _secca_ or famine was in 1877-78. There was an excess of rain in 1875 and 1876 which caused great losses in consequence of the floods. Lands could not be tilled, as they were buried in water, and many cattle on the estates were drowned. "The excess of rain was followed by a drought that dried up the streams and withered the grass and trees. The seed placed in the ground did not sprout, as there was no moisture to give it life, and month after month passed without rain. All this time the tropical sun poured its heat over the land, and you can easily imagine how it could change the rich forest into a desert of withered and blasted trunks, and the open country to a desert. "The people left the plantations and flocked to the villages, many of them dying of hunger on the way. Thousands perished at their homes; they remained there hoping for rain until too weak and famished to move. As long as the cattle lasted there was no hunger; the herdsmen killed the animals for their hides, and meat was abundant for all who would come and take it. Of course this could not last long, and when the herds were killed the people began to perish of starvation. [Illustration: DYING FOR LACK OF FOOD.] "In a little while all the produce of the country was gone, and an appeal came to the government for aid. There was little law and order in the midst of the famine, and many people were killed in the struggle for existence; thieves were numerous, and desperate men wandered about taking food wherever they could find it; when they met the trains of provisions going to the relief of the famished district they exercised the right of might, and even killed the horses and mules that were laden with food.