820. Iron ore.—In a short time this region may be exporting more iron ore than any country in the world. Special ore docks have been built near the city of Victoria, and a railroad four hundred miles long has been built westward into the interior of the Bra zilian state of Minas Geraes, to reach moun tains that have nearly twice as much iron ore as those near Lake Superior. (Sec. 334.) Some of this iron will be smelted for use in Brazil, but it is expected that the ore will be shipped more and more to the furnaces of North America and Europe, because it is the richest iron ore so far discovered.
821. Lumber.—On the southern part of this plateau is a large pine forest, much like the pine forests of Florida. Trees taller than a three-story house cover an area several times as large as Massachusetts, and because railroads have been built only to the edge of this forest, most of it is yet almost un touched. However, the export of lumber from the port of Curitiba has already begun and may become very large.
822. A land for is a region of great promise for growth in trade and industry. Most of the people are white. It is the first part of South America where large numbers of immigrants are seeking homes. Already hundreds of thousands of
Italians have gone there. Immigrants keep arriving and we may expect this region to build up as our own southern states are building up. This is by far the most pleasant and wholesome part of South America that we have yet studied.
The corresponding part of Africa, on the slopes of the Drakensberg Mountains, is very small. (Sec. 769.) 623. Many resources.—This region prom ises to have a more varied industry than any other part of South America. No other part has so many different natural resources. It can have within its own bounds coffee, cotton, corn, beans, and many other agri cultural crops. The meat industry is increas ing. The region also has minerals, lumber, and water power, and a plateau high enough to be as healthful in climate as the south eastern part of our own United States. Already in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo there are many factories where English machines, driven by water power, make cloth from Brazil ian cotton; and in the near future great smelt ing plants may arise.