A proposal has recently been made to establish a communication by steam navigation, between the coast and the interior central provinces of Brazil, by means of the Rio de San Francisco. Upon a mere inspection of the map of this portion of the Empire, it would seem that every facility for this specious proposition has been offered by nature; an easy, cheap, although somewhat circuitous water conveyance leads directly from the sea on the confines of the province of Pernambuco into the heart of the inland, rich, and comparatively well-populated mining and diamond districts, which are separated from the great markets of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia by lofty mountain barriers, always difficult of access, and where the means of transport are tedious and costly. I have great doubts whether this plan will ever be carried into effect, in support of which opinion I will adduce three very substantial reasons. In the first place, the bar at the mouth of the river is about two leagues broad, is always covered with a heavy surf, and has seldom more than four feet of water on it. In the second place, at the falls of Paulo Affonço there is a series of rapids and falls about sixty miles in length, forming a serious obstacle to the progress of any navigation. In the third place, there is a very limited population throughout the intervening country, which is not likely to increase, owing to the desert nature of the greater portion of the interior; from these causes the amount of produce likely to be taken to the coast must, consequently, be very small indeed, so that the enterprize would not be likely to succeed in a pecuniary point of view, even were it otherwise practicable. Were the interior of the middle portion of Brazil as fertile as is generally supposed to be by those who have never visited it, hopes might be entertained of its becoming hereafter a rich agricultural district, such as the belt of country along the coast is found to be; in that case some great national undertaking for rendering communication more easy, might be looked for; but while it exists as a dry arid tract scarcely fit for the rearing of cattle, it is not at all likely that any Brazilian at least will sink his money in attempting to render the San Francisco navigable. A company of Englishmen may probably be induced in periods of infectious speculation to venture upon this attempt, for some of the late ill-concerted schemes in Brazil have been far more absurd; in testimony of which we may instance that monument of folly, the Rio Doce Company.