BRAZIL 
17 
Brazil is so immense, situated between the 
fifth degree north and the thirty-third degree 
south, and its topography so varied that it has 
all kinds of climates excepting extreme cold. 
Lying in the temperate and tropical zones one 
would incline to the belief that it would be 
more or less warm, but its many rivers and 
mountains, its high table-lands and plateaus 
exert a beneficial influence in this regard and 
materially modify what otherwise would be 
extreme degrees of heat. 
More than half of Brazil is an elevated 
plateau, varying from 2000 to 3000 feet in 
altitude. It has four distinct mountain 
ranges, which deflect its rains and form vast 
watersheds for irrigating the fertile lands at 
their base. The eastern and central portions 
are elevated while the chief characteristics of 
the north and west are its fertile plains and 
valleys. 
The coast of Brazil straggles along for over 
5000 miles and is provided with numerous 
natural harbors, where the earlier settlers es 
tablished cities which have grown and pros