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in few countries is it more generally neglected. It is | erable extent in the N provinces, as Pará, Maranestimated that not more than 1 acre in 150 of the ham, Pernambuco, and Bahia; and were the colowhole cultivable area of B. is under any kind of cul-nists enterprising and industrious, more might be ture; probably not 1 acre in 200. The articles of raised, and of a superior quality. The cultivation food raised in the maritime provinces of B. in fact is chiefly followed in the table-land or interior elefall short of the consumption; and wheat is imported vated plateau of the north, on account of the dryness from the United States, and occasionally from Eu- of the climate. The plantations therefore lie generally rope, owing to the industrial strength of these districts at a distance from the coast. The culture is rude and being devoted to the preparation of products for ex- primitive. Little or no capital is embarked in it, or portation to Europe and the United States. Maize, is likely to be, so long as the expense of transit-on beans, rice, and cassava root are very generally cul- mules, over jungle and wild wastes for hundreds of tivated, and in some places, wheat and other Euro- miles-absorbs a heavy per centage of the price. pean grain is reared. The flour of the cassava root, The cotton is gathered in small quantities, and colfarinha de mandioca, is the staple article of farina- lected by local dealers until a quantity large enough ceous food for all the less wealthy classes, and is so to transmit to next town has been got. It passes especially of the Indians and slaves. The common through many hands before it reaches the port of emgarden pea has been sown and gathered in the barkation, and chiefly in barter, or in payment of neighbourhood of Rio within 21 days. Coffee is the debts.-The cacao region of B. covers several hungreat staple mercantile product in the provinces of dred square miles, along the banks of the Amazon. and around Rio-de-Janeiro, and is the most valuable The cacao trees are low, not rising above 15 or 20 in amount of all the exports of Brazil. At the com- ft.; and are distinguishable by the yellowish green mencement of the present century, the quantity of their leaves. They are planted at intervals of grown was trifling. Its increase may be dated from about 12 ft.; and, at first, are protected from the 1810. The construction of a highway to Minas Ge- sun's fierceness by banana palms. Three years after raes added greatly to the cultivation in the interior. planting, the trees yield. The tree tops are suffered Some of the coffee estates near Rio-de-Janeiro are to mat together until the whole becomes dense as extensive, and occupy 800 to 1,000 slaves in the thatchwork, and the ground below is constantly wet. culture and preparation; on the other hand, many of The trunk of the tree grows irregularly. The leaf is the smaller lavradores have not more land under it thin and smooth-edged. The flower is very small, than their own family and two or three slaves can and the cone-shaped fruit grows direct from the trunk manage. A superior quality is grown by a colony of or branches. It is 8 inches in length, and 5 in diaGermans at Caravellas, in the province of Bahia, but meter. Within the cone is a white acid pulp, and most of it finds its way to, and is disposed of in, the embedded in this are from thirty to forty seeds, an market of Rio. The following table exhibits the com- inch in length, narrow and flat. These seeds are parative production of coffee in B. and all other cof- the cacao of commerce. The cacao tree yields two fee-growing countries in 1832, 1841, and 1845, in crops annually. [Edwards's Voyage up the Amazon.] millions of pounds. -In the province of San Paulo a few large plantations of tea have been established. The produce is scarcely to be distinguished from that of Chinese manufacture; but the flavour is inferior, having more of an herby taste. It is now ascertained that it cannot be produced so as to give a sufficient recompense to the grower, the price of labour being greater in B. than in China. [Gardner's Travels in B.] The proprietors of the large estates or fazendas on the sea-coast are frequently wealthy, and even intelligent. The houses built by the Dutch and Portuguese are substantial and spacious; and chapels and hospitals are provided for the slaves, sometimes apart, sometimes within the buildings. The sugar planters, or Senhores de Engenho, have their lands protected against sale for debt, except with their own consent, or when it amounts to two-thirds of their value. — With all the natural advantages peculiar to the climate and soil, the lavradores or cultivators of the far interior of B. are generally poor, ignorant, and inactive. The houses are usually wretched hovels. of one story; the floors are neither paved nor boarded; and the walls and partitions are formed of wicker-work plastered with mud. The fire-places are formed by the rude contrivance of three round stones; and as there is no proper chimney, the place-like the worst of our highland cabins - is always filled with smoke, which vents itself through the door and other apertures, leaving all within black and dirty. The people, says Mawe, seem to act as if the tenure by which they held their lands was about to be abolished; all around has the appearance of makeshift; old houses, fast decaying, bear no marks of repair about them; wherever a bit of garden ground is enclosed, it appears overrun with weeds; where coffee-trees still exist, the present occupiers seem too indolent to gather the fruit; no artificial grasses are cultivated; no enclosures made; nor is any fodder laid-up against the

Brazil,

Java,

40:3

112-0

1832. 1841. 1845.
80.6 156-8 180.0
100 0

Cuba and Porto Rico,
St. Domingo,

56 0

56:0

25.0

44.8

33-6

30-0

British West Indies,

24.6

13:4

120

Sumatra,

44.8

J13.4

Mocha, Bourbon, &c..

11-2

100

[blocks in formation]

15:0

432-2 408-0

-The cultivation of sugar is extensive in B., but is confined to the sea-board, and margins of rivers and streams having a convenient outlet to a port for exportation. As sugar cannot be grown with advantage except on the richest soils,-and these extend in the respective provinces only where alluvial deposits have been formed,-the quantity grown has not increased during the present century, nor is likely to do so. In the middle of the last cent. it formed the principal riches of the country. In the course of 150 leagues along the coast, from 25 leagues beyond Pernambuco to 25 leagues beyond the bay of All Saints, Perard counted above 400 sugar-mills, each of which manufactured annually about 100,000 arrobas, or 2,500,000 lbs. of sugar. While the Dutch were in possession of Northern B., 250,000 chests of sugar were annually remitted to Holland. Although the cultivation is now spread over a wider space, it is chiefly confined to the same districts as in these epochs. In the interior, and where it would not bear the expense of sending to the ports of export, sugar is made into cakes called Rapadoura, and consumed by the natives.-Tobacco is cultivated, but not to a great extent. The tobacco is put up in rolls of from 200 to 300 lbs. each, prepared with a syrup of sugar, and is exported to Europe and to Guinea. -The cultivation of cotton is pursued to a consid

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its rider; but after a long course, in some degree yields to the bridle. The next day the same exercise is repeated; and in a few days more, the horse is broken and fit for riding. The common Paulistas, as the natives of the province are called, and particu

season of scarcity. The system of farming followed in the grassy campos, extending from the Rio Ypanema to Curitiba, in the province of San Paulo, is described by Von Spix in the following terms, which may hold true also, or nearly so, of the entire province of Rio-Grande-do-Sul: "Every landholder pos-larly the piaōs-the herdsman's servants-make use sesses, according to the extent of his farm, from sev- of a very small flat wooden saddle, which is often not eral 100 to 2,000, nay, even 40,000 head of cattle. even covered with leather. The stirrups are so small They generally reckon from 3,000 to 4,000 head on that they will only admit the great toe. The spurs an estate which has 2 sq. m. of good pasture. All are fastened to the naked heel. The dress of the these roam at liberty in a wild state; but every farmer piao consists of a short jacket, narrow trowsers, and keeps, besides, as many tame draught oxen and cows a flat round hat fastened with a strap, altogether of as he requires for the purposes of agriculture, and for brown leather, made of deer or capivara hides, and wellmilk which is partly made into cheese. From four adapted to protect him against the thorny hedges to six servants, under the direction of a chief cowherd, through which he must force his way when pursuing prevent the herds from straying, and defend them wild animals. The best horses in B. are imported from from the attacks of the ounces, wolves, and wild the Plata. The mules are here more handsomely made dogs. These people are almost always on horseback, animals than the horses; they are commonly equal as their office compels them to ride 20 m. or more in in size to a European horse; their colours are black, a day. Every year the whole herd is collected to re- brown, fallow, or striped like a zebra. They are preceive the mark of the owner, which is branded on the ferable to the horses, especially on long journeys, behind quarter of one year old cattle, of which they cause they can better endure hunger and thirst, and reckon 1,000 annually from a herd of 5,000 or 6,000. carry with greater security heavier burdens." Sheep Those of four years old and more are selected for are not numerous, and their wool is short and coarse. slaughter. The catching of these, as in the pampas The B. government offers great inducements to emiof Buenos Ayres, is by means of long leathern nooses, grants, and yet these are more than neutralized by which the farmers' servants manage with incredible disabilities and present disadvantages. Land may dexterity. The tame cattle are kept in the vicinity of be had in certain situations and upon application to the fazenda, run free in the meadows during the day. the government, free of cost. Any new improveand are only shut up in the enclosures during the ment in tools or machinery may be introduced free night. Their flesh is preferred to that of wild, be- of duties. The ground is easily cleared, as the roots cause, from their more quiet way of life, they grow of the trees do not extend far beneath the surface, fat sooner, and with less fodder. The pasture being and the efforts of man are further aided by causes atso good, the milk is excellent; but a cow here gives tendant upon the clime. The soil is frequently of only a third part of the quantity that good milk cows the greatest fertility, and sugar-cane, rice, coffee, give in Europe, and gives it only while her calf is by anatto, cotton, cacao, and a hundred other products, her side. The hide is always the most valuable part richly repay the labour bestowed upon their cultivaof the cattle. When stripped off, it is stretched upon tion; while from the forests are obtained gums and the ground by means of short pegs, a little salted, and drugs--all yielding a revenue. Almost everything dried in the sun. The flesh, cut into thin strips, rub-grows to hand that man requires; living is cheap and bed with salt, and dried in the air, forms an impor- the climate delightful. The rights of citizenship tant article of exportation from the harbours of San are easily obtained, viz., by a three years' residence, Paulo and Rio-Grande-do-Sul, to the cities in the or by marriage with a native, but must be applied north; particularly to Rio-de-Janeiro, Bahia, Pernam- for in the form prescribed by law. Import-duties buco, and Maranham," (although the latter and the are extravagantly high, and articles of furniture, neighbouring provinces of Ceara and Parahyba, and tools, or machinery, which cannot be manufactured even Pernambuco, are also supplied with it from the in the country without great expense, if at all, are interior table-land sertaōs of Piauhy,) “where, under taxed so highly as to be really prohibited. The the names of Carne seca do Sertaō, Passoca, or Carne export-duty, although modified of late years, is nevcharqueada, it constitutes an essential part of the sub-ertheless severely felt, especially as being collected sistence of all Brazilians, but especially of the Negro on the ad valorem principle, and on the price of slaves." (The same system of farming extends in a the articles at the port of export. It is levied after greater or less degree over the table-lands of Piauhy they have borne the expense of a long journey by and interior of Pernambuco, whence cattle are driven land, and one or more transhipments by water,-for from 250 to 300 miles to supply the markets of Bahia there are few ports on the sea-board where foreign and Pernambuco, and are sold-notwithstanding so trade is permitted, and to one of these all articles of long a journey, and payment of a local tax charged export must be sent. But the chief drawback is the upon the weight of the flesh when killed- at a insecurity to life and property, the lax execution or price not exceeding threepence or fourpence per lb.) non-execution of the laws, and the hostility of the "Besides the breeding of oxen, that of horses and lower classes in the interior, who-whatever may be mules likewise occupies several farmers in the pro- the feelings of the government and educated Brazivince of San Paulo, but is carried on upon a far more lians- look upon foreigners who come to settle extensive scale in Rio-Grande-do-Sul. The horses amongst them, as planters or citizens, with jealousy; of San Paulo are of a middling size and of slender a jealousy, however, which does not exist in the seamake; and, if treated with care, acquire an elegant ports, or with respect to merchants or traders. The carriage, and become excellent racers. In general, greatly lower type of civilization exhibited by the 20 or 30 of those wild animals herd together, and masses, composed as they are of Whites, Negroes, hardly ever separate. When the hunters have suc- and Indians, and the descendants of a mixture of ceeded in securing an animal fast by the ears and lips all these, and unacquainted with most of the comwith a pair of tongs, and putting a halter over his forts of European life, is another discouragement to head, and a sheep-skin by way of saddle on his back, emigration, as the peasantry of Europe, especially of a rider mounts him, and endeavours to overcome the northern Europe, will not associate with them on obstinacy of the horse by means of the whip. After equal terms, nor reside with satisfaction among them many violent motions and leaps, the animal is at in a state of isolation. Colonization, if attempted, length so far subdued that it runs furiously away with should take place in numbers, and the colonists lo

cated near one another, so as to form a little community for society and defence, as has been the case at San Leopoldo and Caravellas, with some success. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, for which there is much allowance to be made, there is a wide field for emigration in Brazil, and when the difficulties arising out of the transition from a colony into an independent empire, and the internal convulsions into which the country has been thrown, have been overcome, and peace and order established, it may be hoped it will attract capital and industry to its shores.

and the mutuca have retired, they are succeeded by the mariuimum, an insect almost imperceptibly small, but whose bite is sharp and painful. The carapata and the muroçoca are abroad night and day, and can bite through the folds of any clothing but strong silk. -The rivers and sea-coast of B. are well-stocked with fish. Whales are numerous in the adjacent seas. The garopa is met with to the N of 15° S lat. The manati [Vacca marina] abounds in the Amazon and its greater affluents; and turtle are numerous on the coast and in the estuaries of the greater rivers. The rattle-snake, the coral snake, the javaraca, and several other venomous snakes exist in B.

Animal Productions.] In the different regions of land, water, and air, B. teems with animal life. It may be remarked, however, that such animals as the Von Spix thus describes the appearance of animal lama, vicuna, chilihueque, paco, and guanaco, na- life in a B. campo, or mountain-plain: "On these tives of Peru, Chili, and part of Buenos Ayres, do serene and tranquil heights, the noisy inhabitants of not exist in B. Monkeys are so numerous, and their the wood are mute. We no longer hear the howling species so various, that B. seems as if it had been of herds of monkeys,-the incessant screams of indestined for the special abode of these animals. A numerable parrots, orioles, and toucans,-the farspecies of bearded monkey, with a countenance re- sounding hammering of the wood - peckers, - the markably resembling the human, inhabits the woody metallic notes of the uraponga, the full tones of isles of the marsh of Xarayes. They are hunted for manakins, the cry of the hoccoes, jacues, &c. The the sake of their black and glossy fur. The tapir of more numerous of the animated tribes are the humB. is by no means so large as that of the E Indies. ming-birds, buzzing like bees round the flowering The sloth is very common. The armadillo is used shrubs; gay butterflies fluttering over the rippling for food. The jaguar, or American tiger, is not so streams; numerous wasps flying in and out of common in B. as in Paraguay. Of tame and grami- their long nests hanging suspended to the trees; nivorous animals, black cattle are the most numerous; and large hornets (morimbondos) hovering over the and these, in the districts S of the parallel of 25°, ground, which is undermined to a great extent with have multiplied to such an extent, that they are for their cells. The red-capped and hooded fly-catcher, the most part slaughtered for the sake of their hides, the barbudos (the barbet), little sparrow-hawks, the many thousands of which are annually exported. The rusty-red or spotted caboré (Brazilian owl), bask on immense number of carcasses which are thus left to be the shrubs during the heat of noon, and watch condevoured by birds and wild beasts would afford room cealed among the branches for the small birds and for an extensive trade in provisions, were not salt so insects which fly by; the tinamus walks slowly among dear, on account of the inland carriage, without good the pine-apple plants; enapupes and nambus traverse or indeed any roads.-Among the birds, the ouira the grass; single toucans, seeking berries, hop among common in Maranham, is said to be double the size the branches; the purple tanagers chase each other of the eagle, and in strength and size to exceed the in amorous pursuit from tree to tree; the caracara condor. His plumage is variegated like the Guinea (Falco Brasiliensis), flying about the roads quite tame, fowl. Another large bird, called the salian, is in size settles upon the backs of the mules or oxen; small equal to a turkey, with the beak and legs of a stork; wood-peckers silently creep up the trees, and look in like the ostrich he cannot use his wings, but he runs the bark for insects; the rusty thrush, called Joaō de so swiftly that he cannot be taken but by snares. Barros, fearlessly fixes its oven-shaped nest quite The colibri, or humming-bird, is known in B. by the low between the branches; the siskin-like creeper poetical epithet of Beija fior, or 'kiss the flower.' slips imperceptibly from its nest-which, like that of The aral, whose plumage is variegated with blue and the pigeons, is built of twigs, and hangs down from scarlet, and the candidi, adorned with blue and gold, the branches to the length of several feet-to add a are birds of surprising splendour. The jacu may be new division to it for this year; the caoha, sitting still termed from the delicacy of its flesh the pheasant of on the tops of the trees, looks down after the serpents B. It is not unlike a hen-turkey, but rather smaller. basking on the roads, which, even though poisonous, -Of all the tribes of insects that infest B., the ant is constitute its food, and sometimes, when it sees peothe most formidable and destructive. The district of ple approaching, it sets up a cry of distress, resemItamaraca, which appears to be peculiarly subject to bling a human voice. At rare intervals the tranits depredations, is in some parts rendered quite bar-quillity of the place is interrupted, by garrulous orioles, ren by the continual devastations of these insects. and little parrots and parroquets, which coming in The large red ant, which is from a quarter of an inch flocks from the maize and cotton plantations in the to an inch in length, and inflicts a most painful bite, neighbouring wood, alight upon the single trees on lives upon vegetables, and is so peculiarly destructive the campos, and with shrill cries appear still to conto the manioc as to have obtained the appellation of tend for the booty; or when bands of restless hooded the manioc-ant. A very diminutive black ant, the cuckoos, crowded together upon the branches, desmallest of the species, is so determined an enemy to fend with a noisy croaking their common nest, which the large red ant, that colonies of them are encouraged is full of green-speckled eggs. Alarmed by this noise, by the planters to settle upon the orange and other or by passing travellers, numerous families of little fruit-trees, which they defend most effectually against pigeons (rolus), often no bigger than a sparrow, fly the red enemy. The small black ant is a carnivorous from bush to bush; the larger pigeons (amarzoga and insect. The banks of the Amazon are infested with troquase), seeking singly among the bushes for food, myriads of insects, which by day and night harass hasten alarmed to the summits of the neighbouring the unfortunate voyager; of these, the pium is the wood, where their brilliant plumage shines in the sun; most terrible; it is an exceedingly small insect, but numerous flocks of little monkeys run whistling and its venomous bite is accompanied with intense pain. hissing to the recesses of the forest; the cavies, runThe acarus is a formidable plague of this country.ning about on the tops of the mountains, hastily seThe spider reaches an enormous size in this country. The mutuca, a large fly, also inflicts a troublesome wound, but only torments by day. When the pium

crete themselves under loose stones; the emus or American ostriches, which herd in families, gallop at the slightest noise like horses through the bushes,

and over hills and valleys, accompanied by their
young; the dicholopus (siriemas) which pursues ser-
pents, flies, sometimes sinking into the grass, some-
times rising into the trees, or rapidly climbing the
summits of the hills, where it sends forth its loud,
deceitful cry, resembling that of the bustard; the
terrified armadillo (tatu) runs fearfully about to look
for a hiding-place, or when the danger presses, sinks
into its armour; the ant-eater (tamandua) runs heavily
through the plain, and in case of need, lying on its
hack, threatens its pursuers with its sharp claws.
Far from all noise, the slender deer, the black tapir
or the peccari, feed on the skirts of the forest. Ele-
vated above all this, the red-headed vulture (urubu)
soars in the higher regions; the dangerous rattle-
snake (cascavel), hidden in the grasses, excites terror
by its rattle; the gigantic snake sports suspended
from the tree with its head upon the ground;
and the crocodile, resembling the trunk of a tree,
basks in the sun on the banks of the pools. After
all this has passed during the day, before the eyes of
the traveller, the approach of night, with the chirping
of the grasshoppers, the monotonous cry of the goat-
sucker (Joao corta pao), the barking of the prowling
wolf and of the shy fox, or the roaring of the ounces,
completes the singular picture of the animal
dom in these peaceful plains."

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Geraes amounted to £400,000 sterling. The bullion and jewels which were sent the following year (1754) were estimated at 1.000.000 of moidores. For about 16 years, the fifths averaged 109 arrobas, or £182,000 sterling; but in the ensuing 11 years they fell to 86 arrobas, or £145,216 sterling.

The gold of B. is contained generally in a loose marl-like stratum of rounded quartzose pebbles, and adventitious matter, called cascalhao, which rests upon granite, and is covered by earthy matter of variable thickness. The gold is sometimes found covered by the soil at the depth of 20 ft.; while at other washing, particles of gold appear in the soil at little greater depth times, on many of the hills, where water can be procured for than the roots of the grass. At Villa Rica, the bed of cascalhao was on the margin of the river; and Mawe found the workmen employed in cutting away the bank to the depth of at least 10 ft., before they could reach the vein containing the gold, which was incumbent on the rock. The substance they had to pierce was a clay so strong that though falls of water were precipitated upon it, and Negroes were constantly working it with hoes of various kinds, it was with difficulty removed, Nor was this the only impediment, for by the continual washing down of mud from the higher grounds, the cascalhao was 5 ft. lower than the bed of the river; so that when the pits were sunk to its depth, they were soon filled with water, which had to be drawn-off by machinery. When the stratum which contains the gold is found at a distance from the rivers, it is dug up and carried to a convenient place, where it is washed for the purpose of separating the earth and other materials from the gold. The process is simple, and is well described by Mawe, who was freely allowed to visit the different lavaderos established in the country. In the Congo Soco and other mines wrought by the Anglo-Brazilian Mining Association and other English companies, a great deal of time and labour king-The hydraulic apparatus for drawing off the water is of the most wasted by the natives in the process above described is saved.

approved character. In breaking down the ferruginous cemenMines and Minerals.] B. is rich in mineral treasures, and these tation and other substances which contain gold, powerful hamhave as yet been only imperfectly explored. As the rage formers and mills driven by steam are employed. By adopting the gold and silver was the grand stimulus of the earliest transat- most efficient modes followed in the Cornwall mines, and under lantic voyages and American expeditions, the Portuguese were the direction of skilled workmen brought from thence, the object not long in forwarding parties of discovery to explore the inte- of separating the metal is effected with admirable skill and to rior, in search of that wealth the possession of which was the vast advantage. Formerly on the particles of gold being separatanimating principle of all their efforts. The Dutch also, while ed by washing from the stratum in which they are found, they in possession of North B., endeavoured to explore its mines, but were brought to the nearest mint, where a fifth part was taken without success. Anthony Soary, a native of San Paulo, was for the Crown; the remainder underwent a process of amalgamathe first who discovered gold mines in this country; and, in 1695,❘tion with mercury, and was afterwards poured into an ingot, they began to be wrought at Jaragua with amazing success, as which was sent to an assay-master, who ascertained its weight the metal was abundant, and easily extracted. No sooner, how- and measure, and stamped it, when it was delivered to the owner ever, was the court of Lisbon apprised that a source of new and for circulation. As respects the British companies, however, so vast wealth was opened up to view by the enterprising activity honourable has been their conduct, and so great is the confidence of private adventurers, than it ordained, that on the discovery of of the imperial government in their probity and fair dealing, that a mine, immediate notice should be given to government, and during many years past the payments on account of the royal that a fifth part of the produce should always be paid into the fifth, and subsequently of the modified duty, have been made and treasury. Other mines were soon discovered; and the produce accepted upon their simple declaration of its amount, and withwas so copious, that the royal fifth annually amounted to £480,000 out being necessitated to send their produce to the imperial mint. sterling, and consequently the total produce to £2,400,000 sterling.The operation of smelting does not occupy more than ten miAt this rate, it continued from 1728 to 1734. It then began gra-nutes; and those who deliver into the mint any quantity of golddually to diminish, till the whole produce sunk to £1,300,000 dust, may reckon upon having it returned to them for circulation sterling, and the royal fifth to £260,000 sterling. So watchfully in less than an hour. The gold is of different qualities. Some was the mineral produce of B. formerly guarded by the Portu- of the bars in circulation are so low as 16 carats; while others are guese government, that no foreigner was permitted to penetrate so fine as 23 carats, or within half-a-carat of pure unalloyed into the interior; so that no satisfactory information could be gold. The standard of fine gold is 22 carats. Beyond this stanobtained respecting the mines. But after the emigration of the dard, gold receives a premium proportioned to its fineness. Gold royal family, the watchful policy of the government greatly re- of a low standard is generally of a pale colour, owing, it is supposlaxed, and Mr. Mawe was freely permitted to visit both the gold ed, to the mixture which it contains of silver, platina, or of some and diamond districts of the interior, and to examine every part other coarser metals. of the works connected with them; he has accordingly given the public many curious details respecting this branch of domestic industry, which unfortunately draws the inhabitants from every other pursuit.

Gold mines] In deep valleys, and in the beds of almost all the rivers which have their rise in the interior of B., gold is found in abundance; and the nearer the source of the river, the richer the soil always proves to be in mineral wealth. All the head-waters of those streams which rise in the provinces of Minas-Geraes and Goyaz, on both sides of the Serra de los Vertentes, and which running SW fall into the Parana, or turning to the NE are carried by the San Francisco to the Atlantic, are rich both in gold and diamonds. Almost all the towns in the interior of B. were originally established by adventurers for gold, and they are accordingly situated near the sources of the great rivers.-The mines of Cuyaba, on the river of that name, and near the town of Cuyaba, were discovered in 1718, and were long celebrated for the quantity of gold which they produced, which has been calculated at 500 lbs. annually, or £33,750 sterling, and of an extremely fine quality. A piece of native gold was found in the province of Goyaz, weighing 43 lbs. avoird., and sent to Lisbon, where Southey saw it in 1796.-But the produce of gold is not confined to the provinces of Minas-Geraes and Goyaz: it is also found in the prov, of Mato Grosso. The first gold mine in that prov. was discovered, in 1734, on the banks of the Sarare, a branch of the Guapore, which it joins 12 m. above Villa Bella, the capital of Mato Grosso. The fifths of the gold mines in Minas-Geraes averaged, for 15 years, 100 arrobas, or 2,800 lbs., which at £4 per ounce, amounted to £156,800 annually. In 1753, the fleet from the Rio, the richest till then that had ever arrived at Lisbon, was believed, at a moderate computation, to have brought home £3,000,000 sterling in gold. The fifth that year from Minas

It is impossible to determine the quantity of gold which has been extracted from the mines and lavaderos of B. since their first discovery. For the first 60 years, namely, from 1695 to 1755, the quantity brought to Europe, according to the registers of the fleets, amounted to 480,000,000 dollars, or £108,000,000 sterling, being double the produce of gold extracted since; and estimating (with Humboldt) the annual produce from 1756 to 1803, at 32,000 marks, the total sum for this latter period will amount to 204,544,000 dollars, or £46,022,400 sterling, or a general total of 684,544,000 dollars, or £154,022,400 sterling. To this sum must be added the unregistered produce, which, in spite of every precaution adopted by the government, is enormous, amounting to no less than 171,000,000 dollars, or £38,500,000 sterling: making a total of registered and contraband produce of B. gold, from 1695 to 1803, amounting to 855,000,000 dollars, or £192,625,000 sterling. Humboldt estimated the annual produce of the B. mines at 29,000 marks, or 4,360,000 dollars, or £981,000 sterling; but by others it was estimated at only 20,000 marks, or £670,000 sterling. It is certain, that for many years towards the end of the last cent., upwards of £900,000 sterling of B. gold annually found its way to Great Britain; and that the supply began to fall off in 1792, and almost wholly ceased after the removal of the royal family to Rio Janeiro, in 1807. The produce of the B. mines, from 1811 to 1825, averaged annually 1,095 lbs. of gold, and 4-5ths more as contraband, or 876 lbs. of gold; total 1,971 lbs.; total value £127,144 sterling. In 1824, the produce of gold was only 584 lbs., or £34,376 sterling. The Congo-Soco mines, wrought by the Anglo-Brazilian Mining association, produced, in 1826, 550 lbs. of gold; in 1827, 2,008 lbs; in 1828, 1,062 lbs.; in 1829, 4,044 lbs., or in value, £258,876 sterling. Its speculations are said to be still conducted with profit to the shareholders. Before dismissing this part of the subject, we shall subjoin a

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mines, to 1806, Produce of the mines of Potosi, to 1803, Total produce, registered and unregistered, of Spanish America,

II. PORTUGUESE AMERICA. Produce of the Brazilian mines from 1695 to 1803, registered and unregistered,

Total produce of the Ame

rican mines to 1803 and 1806,

4,888,001,280 = 1,099,800,289 78. 6d.

855,000,000 = 192,375,000

5,743,001,280 = 1,292,175,289 7s. 6d. The whole mineral produce of the American mines, whether Spanish or Portuguese, is not now one-fourth of what it was at the commencement of the present cent., and before the late revolutions in Spanish America.

Diamond-mines.] B. is not only celebrated for its gold, but also for its diamonds,-productions hitherto supposed to be peculiar to the Oriental regions of the Old World. The district in which they are found lies in the Serra-do-Frio, or the Cold mountains,' — which separates the sources of the waters that form the aggregate streams of the Rio Doce and Rio Grande, from those which run into the Rio Francisco. At the foot of this chain the diamond-works of B. are established. This tract of mountainous country, extending 50 m. in length from N to S, and 25 m. in breadth from E to W, is called the Diamond demarcation,' as being exclusively the property of the Crown. The diamonds were first discovered in this district, about 1730, by an enterprising colony of miners from Villa de Principé, 60 m. to the SE of Tejuco. Here, while employed in searching for gold, they frequently met with little shining stones, which at first they threw away as useless. One of the overseers beginning to suspect that these might be of some value, transmitted a specimen to the governor, who forwarded them to Lisbon, and after repeated examination, they were pronounced to be genuine and valuable diamonds. As soon as this intelligence reached B., all the stones which had been carelessly thrown away were immediately collected and sent over to Europe in such quantities as greatly to lower their value. The Serra-do-Frio was now erected into a distinct district called the diamond-ground,-peculiar laws and regulations were framed for its administration,-all trade in diamonds was rigorously prohibited,-and no severity was left untried to enforce this monopoly. In spite, however, of every exertion on the part of the government-as generally happens where government regulations interfere with the private interests of its subjects-these severe laws were evaded. By intrigues and misrepresentations, government was induced to let this district to a company, on condition that they should only employ a limited number of Negroes, and pay a certain sum for every Negro employed beyond the quantity agreed to. Under cover of this agreement, every species of fraud was practised; double the stipulated number of Negroes was employed; and this imposition was connived at by the agents of government, who shared in the gains derived from this illicit traffic. In 1772, the contract on which the works were held being ended, government took the management of the works into its own hands, but they were deplorably mismanaged. From 1801 to 1806, the expenses of the establishment cost £204,000 sterling; and during the same period, the diamonds sent to the treasury at Rio Janeiro weighed 115,675 carats. The gold found was estimated at £17,300 sterling value; from which it appears that the diamonds cost goverument 38s. 9d. per carat. The diamond-works are in the vici nity of Tejuco. The principal establishment is situated on the river Jequitinhonha, a tributary of the Rio-do-Belmonte. There are

others on the river Velho, a branch of the Francisco, and on the Rio

Pardo, as well as several other small streams belonging to this elevated tract The Rio Pardo, though small and insignificant in its appearance, has produced as large a quantity of the most precious gems as any river in the district. The Jequitinhonha, which is formed by the junction of several streams, is about as broad as the Thames at Windsor, and is generally from 3 to 9 ft. deep. At the time Mawe visited these works, they were working at a curve of the river, from which the stream was diverted by a canal cut across the tongue of land round which it winded: the former course of the river being stopped just below the head of the canal, by an embankment across its channel formed of several thousand bags of sand. The water was drained away from all the deeper parts of the channel, by means of large caissons, or chain pumps worked by a water-wheel. The channel being in this manner laid dry, the mud was carried away, and the cascalhao dug up and removed to a convenient place for washing, which was done by Ne

groes, in a range of troughs through which a stream of water was made to flow as occasion required. When a Negro is so fortunate as to find a diamond of 17 carats weight, he is crowned with a wreath of flowers, and carried in procession to the administrator, who gives him his freedom by paying his owner for it. He also receives a present of new clothes, and is permitted to work on his own account.-The following account of the recent discovery of a diamond-mine in the prov. of Bahia is from a native paper:-"Some years ago," says the journal in question, "veins of gold were accidentally discovered in the Assuara; and a crowd of contrabandists soon flocked to that desert portion of Bahia, situate not far from the southern banks of San Francisco, in search of fortune. The gold, however, was but the harbinger of more marvellous wealth ere long to be found. The labours of the miner extended on every side, and diamond strata were soon discovered, of richness incalculable. In every stream, and on every hill of these districts, and of the vast plain of Sincara, treasures inestimable, in gold and precious stones, presented themselves spontaneously to the hand of man. Attracted by the ru mour, multitudes of emigrants from the town and province of Bahia, from Minas, and even from Rio Janeiro, crowded thither to quench the universal thirst at this jewel fountain. It is scarcely three years since the first ounce of gold was found in this region, -then a desert,-and it contains already a population exceeding 40,000 souls." This supply has since fallen off very materially (1849.)

So long as all the gold collected in B. was liable to pay a fifth to the Crown, and the trade in diamonds continued a royal monopoly, an extensive contraband trade, both in gold and in diamonds, was a necessary consequence, Subsequently, the tax upon gold was reduced to 10 per cent. if raised by foreign companies, and 24 per cent. if by natives. The Congo Soco mine, however, which was opened by a native company, and afterwards sold to one in London, only paid 5 per cent from its commencement, in virtue of an agreement with the original proprietors to that effect. More recently, however, all the mines in B., whether of gold or diamonds, are put on the same footing, and pay 24 per cent. in kind, viz., just as it is got out of the mines. Notwithstanding of this reduction, a great portion of the gold, and nearly all the diamonds raised by the natives, are still smuggled; but the English mining companies, who are obliged to publish their returns in London, pay it on their gold with the greatest punctuality. Topazes, &c.] The well known B. topazes are found in low rounded hills of an earthy tale near the Morro de Gravier. The harder parts of the decomposed formation are friable fragments of white quartz, often accompanied with a species of porcelain earth, called massa branca, the surest indication of the presence of topazes. The size of the stones is various, and their colours vary from a grey to a bright yellow. The euklase, a stone akin to the emerald, frequently occurs in the modified mica.

Red amianthus is another mineral product of Brazil, but is extremely rare. Black gamets are often found in the diamond district. Amethysts, yellow and blue, are frequently met with in B. The latter are considered only of value when a number alike in shade are obtained, so as to form a necklace or other uniform set of ornaments. Silver is not found in B., although during the early part of this century a large quantity was coined there, being chiefly however a recoinage of dollars imported from Europe. Iron and nitre are abundant. Several great unwrought mines of the latter are in the vicinity of Bahia. A national establishment for the smelting of iron, the only one in the empire, was erected on the banks of the Ypanema. That valuable mineral, salt, is so abundant in B., that in Bajo, near Cape Frio, at one time whole ships might be loaded with it. There is another salt district, or lick, as it is called, in the Serra Agoapehy, at the W extremity of the Serra de los Vertentes. On the flat sands of the low coast from Bahia to Ceara, salt is made in shallow pits, exposed to the sun's rays, by the sea-side proprietors, and-so powerful is the sun in the season-at very little cost. Salt was formerly a royal monopoly, and farmed out, but the manufacture has been thrown open to all classes since 1817, and quantities of strong coarse salt for curing are also imported from the Cape Verde islands, chiefly by vessels arriving from the Mediterranean in ballast, as well as fine table salt from England.

Population.] When B. was first discovered by the Portuguese, its coasts were found peopled by a great number of tribes; and no less than 150 barbarous languages were spoken on the coast and in the interior. Sixteen tribes are mentioned by Hervas, as speaking dialects of the Tupi or Guarani language, a language spoken by the Tupi tribes of B., the Guaranies of Paraguay, and the Omaguas of the Maranon, traces of which are found through an extent of 70°. Fifty other tribes are classified by Hervas as speaking different languages; but many of these latter have not been sufficiently investigated, nor has the number of their roots been ascertained. The names of seventy other B. tribes have been found in the papers of the Jesuit missionaries, but without any notice of their language, for which reason Hervas could not catalogue them; and Dr. Von Martins's inquiries furnished more than 250 different names of

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