TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.

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TRAVELS

IN THE

INTERIOR OF BRAZIL;

WITH NOTICES ON ITS

CLIMATE, AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, POPULATION,
MINES, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS:

AND

A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT

OF

THE GOLD AND DIAMOND DISTRICTS.

INCLUDING

A VOYAGE TO THE RIO DE LA PLATA.

BY

JOHN MAWE.

SECOND EDITION.

ILLUSTRATED WITH COLORED PLATES.

London:

PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,
PATERNOSTER ROW;
AND SOLD BY THE AUTHOR, 149, STRAND.

1822.

W. M’Dowall Printer, Pemberton Row Gough Square.

PALACE & GREAT SQUARE IN RIO DE JANEIRO.

PREFACE.

SINCE the first appearance of this work, nine years have elapsed, during which period translations of it have been published in France, Sweden, Germany, and Russia, as well as in Portugal and Brazil, and two editions of it have been given in the United States of America. Encouraged by these unequivocal proofs of approbation, and by the kind offers of assistance from several eminent persons in Brazil, and from others attached to the Portuguese interests in this country, I have at length, and I trust not prematurely, ventured again to submit it to the notice of the Public. In its present form, it is divested of some details, which however interesting at the period of its first publication, have ceased to be so; and their place has been supplied by matter of higher and more lasting importance, collected from official documents relative to Brazil, and from private memoranda communicated by persons well acquainted with the present state of that interesting country. For the opportunity of making many of these improvements, I have to offer my grateful acknowledgments to the Conde de Funchal, late ambassador from Portugal at the British Court; and I have also to express my sincerest thanks to A. F. J. Marreco, Esq. for the access which he has afforded me to various authentic and valuable sources of information, and for his kind and judicious suggestions to me while preparing the present edition for the press. How far I have profited by these estimable advantages, will best appear from the work itself, which I now submit to the equitable judgment of the Public. Conciseness, as far as is consistent with fidelity of description, has been my principal aim; and I trust that the reader will not think that I have trespassed too much on his time, when he compares this with the more voluminous productions which have recently been published on the same subject.

CONTENTS.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES,

WITH

DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.

TRAVELS,

&c. &c. &c.

[CHAPTER I.]

Voyage to Cadiz and thence to the Rio de la Plata. Adventures at Monte Video.—Character of the Inhabitants.—Trade.—Climate.—Geological Remarks.—Recent Changes.—Monte Video under the Portugueze.—Agriculture and Trade at the Rio de la Plata.

IN the year 1804, I was induced to undertake a voyage of commercial experiment, on a limited scale, to the Rio de la Plata. On my arrival at Monte Video, the ship and cargo were seized; I was thrown into prison, and afterwards sent into the interior, where I was detained until the taking of that place by the British troops under Sir Samuel Auchmuty. I afterwards obtained leave to accompany the army under General Whitelocke, which was sent against Buenos Ayres, and I rendered such services to the expedition, as my two years’ residence in the country enabled me to perform. At the termination of that expedition, I went to Rio de Janeiro. A letter of introduction to the Viceroy of Brazil, which was given me by the Portugueze Minister at London, gained me the notice and protection of his brother, the Condé de Linhares, who had then just arrived with the rest of the Court, and who recommended me to the Prince Regent, as a person devoted to mineralogical pursuits, and desirous of exploring the ample field for investigation which his rich and extensive territories presented. His Royal Highness was graciously pleased to further my views, not only by granting me letters to the public functionaries of the various places I wished to visit, but by ordering an escort of soldiers, and every other necessary provision for performing the journey. I had the more reason to be grateful for this munificent patronage, because I knew that a decree existed, prohibiting all foreigners from travelling in the interior of Brazil, and that no other Englishman had ever begun such an undertaking with those indispensible requisites to its success, the permission and sanction of the Government.

Observations, made, in the course of these Travels, on the country and its inhabitants, constitute the main part of the volume now offered to the public. Whatever be their faults or their merits, they relate to a subject at present extremely interesting, both in a political and a commercial point of view; they profess to develope the physical resources of a colony, which, through recent changes, is likely to become an empire; and in part, to portray the character of a nation which is now the most ancient, and has ever been the most faithful, ally of Great Britain.

As the recital of a voyage is proverbially tedious and superfluous, I shall forbear to trouble the reader with any detail of mine, and shall merely state, that, after encountering many difficulties at Cadiz, in consequence of the rupture with Spain, I sailed for the Plata, and having narrowly escaped shipwreck from a tremendous storm near the mouth of that river, entered the harbour of Monte Video.

The hardships I experienced in reaching this ill-fated port, were a fit prelude to the misfortunes that awaited me there. We were bound for Buenos Ayres, but my captain, who in London and at Cadiz had assured me that he had the experience of a pilot in the Rio de la Plata, proved totally ignorant of its navigation, and urged this circumstance as his reason for putting into Monte Video. Happy should I have been, if this had been the only instance of his ignorance; he gave an ill-judged and blundering report of me to the governor, and the sailors affirmed that I was an Englishman, declaring at the same time that we had passed an English squadron under Spanish colors. This statement was enough to whet the avarice of the governor, who, notwithstanding I had served the colony, in bringing a cargo which was then much wanted, and every article of which had paid legal duty in Cadiz, ordered me to be thrown into prison. I was placed in close confinement on board a wretched sloop of war; and though my health was much impaired in consequence of exertion during the voyage, I was denied every comfort, except such indulgences, as the officers, who lived on shore, could at times clandestinely allow. Unprovided with letters of recommendation to any person in the town, and destitute of the means of making myself known, I had the mortification to see the property I had brought with me seized, and my papers taken away to be searched and examined. I was enjoined to make declarations, and to give evidence against myself, to men whose sole wish was to find a pretext for criminating me. After three or four examinations, it was found that I had sailed from Cadiz with a cargo of goods, marked, manifested, and duly registered, as Spanish; nor could any circumstance be discovered as a ground of accusation against me, but the strong suspicion that I was an Englishman, and on that account could not be too harshly treated. I had no lenity to expect from the governor, nor indeed from any of his advisers, who were, for the most part, men of the lowest order, refugees from Old Spain in consequence of criminal prosecutions. The rest of his associates were the captains and officers of two Spanish privateers, all Frenchmen, whose natural prejudices, no doubt, contributed to foment his antipathy against me. My sole reliance was on the consignee of the cargo, who at length arrived from Buenos Ayres; but, instead of clearing up the affair, he joined my persecutors, knowing that if he gave security he should have the cargo delivered to him. This favorable opportunity he failed not to embrace; he sold the property, and withheld the proceeds, under the pretext, that he could not pay them over to me while I remained a prisoner. This conduct to one who had depended on him for support, and who relied on his continually delusive promises of assistance, proved him to be one of those mean and spiritless beings whose station in society is mid-way between the simpleton and the knave.

My confinement would probably have been long, but for the good services of a Limenian, who attended me during my illness in Cadiz, and who had come over in the vessel with me. He was the only person I was permitted to see; and he interested himself so much in my behalf, that an old gentlewoman, with whom he had formed an acquaintance, determined, on hearing my story, to procure my liberation, and never rested until she had procured two bondsmen to answer for my appearance when called for.

The treatment I experienced, while in prison, was one of the many instances of oppression which disgraced the administration of the governor, Pasqual Ruiz Huidobro. It is well known that his political conduct was entirely subservient to the interests of the French, and that he lost no opportunity of evincing his attachment to their cause. As a further proof of this, I may state, that he caused all the captured English seamen to be confined in the prison, and, although its spacious court was doubly grated and guarded, he debarred them the use of it, and ordered them to be shut up, night and day, in a small room, the door of which was never opened except when victuals were given them. Aware of his severity, and knowing that I was the only prisoner at large, I was very circumspect, and strove to guard my conduct and discourse against artful misconstruction; but I had the misfortune to incur his displeasure at a moment when I least suspected it, by a very trivial, and certainly unintentional offence. Some written papers had been stuck up in various parts of the town, by order of Government, inviting foreign seamen to enter the service. Returning home at midnight from a visit, I observed one of these placards; the rain, which was pouring very fast, had partly detached it from the wall, and it was blown to and fro by the wind. Curious to examine the contents of a paper that had attracted the attention of many persons in the course of the day, I took it down and carried it home with me; this was observed by an old Spaniard of the name of Dias, who gloried much in having it in his power to injure me, though a perfect stranger to him, and unconscious of having done any thing to excite his malice. At the instance of this man an order was issued by the governor for my arrest; I was roused from my bed by the officers, and again hurried to prison. What charges were brought against me I could learn only by report; they were vague and indefinite, and no opportunity of answering them was allowed me. After a close confinement of six weeks, during which period my case was laid before the Viceroy of Buenos Ayres, I was again suffered to be at large, on payment of a fee of three hundred dollars. It was to the humane exertions of my advocate, seconded by those of the Limenian and the lady before-mentioned, that I owed this mitigation of my captivity, and I gratefully acknowledge that they made every provision in their power to render my situation comfortable.

During my stay at Monte Video another adventure befel me, which had well nigh cost me my life; I am induced to relate it, by reason of the insight it gives into the character of a certain class of the people. I had gone on a shooting excursion to the promontory opposite Monte Video, with my much-valued friend Captain Collet, owner of two or three large American ships, and M. Godefroy, a merchant, resident in the town. After some hours’ sport we met a party of four Spaniards, among whom were Mr. Ortiga, the consignee of Captain Collet, and a person called Manuel d’Iago. Our friend M. Godefroy had some conversation with them at a short distance from us, and on his return gave us to understand, that d’Iago had said it would not cost him above five hundred dollars to send a pair of bullets through me, and that had I been alone he would not have scrupled to do it. For this blood-thirsty insinuation I was at a loss to conjecture any motive, nor knew I the man, except by report, which designated him as a captain of militia, extremely rigorous in his treatment of the unfortunate English, whenever his turn to mount guard at the prison subjected them to his authority.

We pursued our diversion; he and his party meanwhile arrived at the Signal-house, about three miles above us, where they took refreshment. Some space of time afterward we observed a horse-soldier ride down towards us, who on approaching eyed us with a look of great suspicion. I had some little talk with him, having frequently seen him there before. He returned directly to the Guard-house, and an hour afterwards five blandengues, or horse-soldiers, sallied from the place at full speed, and, surrounding us, demanded our arms at the peril of our lives. Each of us obeyed, by surrendering his fowling-piece, M. Godefroy at the same time enquiring the cause of this extraordinary treatment; but they ordered him to be silent, and to march on along with us, or they would tie him on horseback. We were conducted to the Guard-house, and delivered (the officer being absent) to the corporal on guard, a fiery old Spaniard, who ordered us into an inner room, and placed two centinels at the door. The fellow was so stifled by passion, that we could not get an answer from him; at every moment he was drawing a long sabre which hung at his side, and venting his fury in the most abusive language. After a full half-hour of expostulation on our part, and menace on his, M. Godefroy obtained a hearing from him, and, declaring he was a merchant, married and actually settled in Monte Video, begged to know by what authority and under what pretext he was imprisoned. The corporal, on learning this, sent a soldier to the officer on guard, and while waiting his return, related that D’Iago had described us as Englishmen belonging to a privateer, who had landed with an intention to blow up the powder-magazines, kill bullocks, and plunder the natives. It was evident from his manner that he was very willing to believe this account, and that by treating us with severity he hoped to display his zeal for the service, and obtain promotion. M. Godefroy’s testimony being at length attended to, another soldier was dispatched to D’Iago’s party, who were not yet embarked, with notice that one of us affirmed himself to be a resident in Monte Video. This they did not contradict, but persisted in their accusations of the rest of our party; Mr. Ortiga denied any knowledge of Captain Collet, probably imagining that, in case of our conviction, he should benefit by the cargoes which the latter had consigned to him; and for me, whom they denounced as a spy, no punishment in their opinion could be too ignominious. On the return of the soldier, the corporal thought proper to release M. Godefroy, who took our boat to cross the port to Monte Video, with the intention of procuring an order for our liberation; but they had scarcely sailed, when a gust of wind arose, and as he and two boys he had with him could not manage the sails, they were nearly overset, and after considerable danger were picked up by a ship in the road. Meanwhile Captain Collet and I remained in strict custody, and at every syllable of complaint we uttered, the corporal brandished his sabre over our heads, roared out for the guard, and vociferated the most opprobrious language against the English. Thus threatened at every moment with assassination, we withdrew into a corner of the room, and quietly waited until the officer on guard arrived, when we were conducted in great form, between two men with drawn swords, into the room where he sat to receive us. Nothing could exceed my joyful surprise at recognizing in the officer an excellent and worthy friend, whom I had often visited at his farm, and who had given me repeated proofs of his liberal disposition and intelligent mind. His surprise exceeded mine; for instead of plunderers or spies, such as report had described us, he found an American merchant and a prisoner at large under bail. He was deeply grieved and ashamed at the treatment we had met with, liberated us immediately, mounted us on his own horses, and appointed a trusty person to attend us to Monte Video, where we arrived at eight in the evening. The disappointment of the corporal appeared as deep as his rage had been violent; and the recollection of his conduct operated on us as a warning against persons of his class, who rarely see an opportunity of doing mischief to a stranger, without a strong inclination to avail themselves of it.

During the time I was at large, I had leisure to acquire some knowledge of Monte Video. It is a tolerably well-built town, standing on a gentle elevation at the extremity of a small peninsula, and is walled entirely round. Its population amounts to between 15,000 and 20,000 souls. The harbour, though shoal, and quite open to the pamperos, or south-west gales, is the best in the Rio de la Plata; it has a very soft bottom of deep mud. When the wind continues for some time at north-east, ships drawing twelve feet water are frequently a-ground for several days, so that the harbour cannot be called a good one for vessels above three hundred or four hundred tons.

There are but few capital buildings; the town in general consists of houses of one story, paved with bricks, and provided with very poor convenience. In the square is a cathedral, very handsome, but awkwardly situated; opposite to it, is an edifice divided into a town-house, or cabildo, and a prison. The streets, having no pavement, are always either clouded with dust or loaded with mud, as the weather happens to be dry or wet. In seasons of drought the want of conduits for water is a serious inconvenience, the well, which principally supplies the town, being two miles distant.

Provisions here are cheap and in great abundance. Beef in particular is very plentiful, and, though rarely fat or fine, makes excellent soup. The best parts of the meat may, indeed, be called tolerable, but they are by no means tender. The pork is not eatable. Such is the profusion of flesh-meat, that the vicinity for two miles round, and even the purlieus of the town itself, present filthy spectacles of bones and raw flesh at every step, which feed immense flocks of sea-gulls, and in summer breed myriads of flies, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants, who are obliged at table to have a servant or two continually employed in fanning the dishes with feathers, to drive away those troublesome intruders.

Of the character of the inhabitants of Monte Video, I am perhaps not qualified to speak impartially, having been treated with unmerited harshness, deprived of my property, and repeatedly persecuted on the most groundless suspicion. These abuses, however, are solely chargeable on the governor and on the persons immediately under his influence; and I am bound in fairness to avow, that I did not perceive any disposition in the generality of the people to injure or oppress me. From individuals in the town I received all the assistance which disinterested benevolence could afford to a person in my critical situation; and were I, from the impulse of gratitude, to judge of the whole by a part, I should say, that the inhabitants of Monte Video, particularly the Creolians, are humane and well-disposed, when not actuated by political or religious prejudices. Their habits of life are much the same with those of their brethren in Old Spain, and seem to proceed from the same remarkable union of two opposite but not incompatible qualities, indolence and temperance. The ladies are generally affable and polite, extremely fond of dress, and very neat and cleanly in their persons. They adopt the English costume at home, but go abroad usually in black, and always covered with a large veil or mantle. At mass they invariably appear in black silk, bordered with deep fringes. They delight in conversation, for which their vivacity eminently qualifies them, and they are very courteous to strangers.

The chief trade of Monte Video consists in hides, tallow, and dried beef; the two former of these articles are exported to Europe, and the latter is sent to the West Indies, especially to the Havannah. Coarse copper from Chili, in square cakes, is sometimes shipped here, as well as an herb called Mate from Paraguay, the infusion of which is as common a beverage in these parts as tea is in England.

Sugar, coffee, and sweetmeats, are supplied from Rio de Janeiro and other parts of the Brazilian coasts by small traders. Some articles of jewellery are also brought from thence, and the returns are made in dollars, hides, and tallow, which are forwarded generally to Europe.

The inhabitants were by no means opulent before the English took the garrison, but through the misfortunes of the latter at Buenos Ayres, and the losses of our commercial adventurers by ill-judged and imprudent speculations, they were considerably enriched. The great prospects indulged in England, before the expedition to the Plata, of immense profits by trade to that river, have generally ended in ruin; very few, indeed, of the speculators have escaped without considerable loss. Property, once litigated, might be considered in a fair way for confiscation; and in case of its having been deposited until certain questions were decided, restitution was generally obtained at the loss of one half. It frequently happened that goods detained in the Custom-houses, or lodged in private stores in the river, were opened, and large quantities stolen. The party on whom suspicion seemed most reasonably to fall was the consignee, who, even with a few cargoes, was generally observed to get rich very rapidly. Not contented with the profits accruing from his commission, he seldom scrupled to take every advantage which possession of the property afforded him, to further his own interests at the expence of his correspondent. The dread of a legal process could be but a slight check upon him, for in the Spanish courts of justice, as well as in others, a native and a stranger are seldom upon equal terms. Other circumstances have occurred to enrich the inhabitants of Monte Video. It is a fact, which I afterwards ascertained, that the English exported thither, goods to the amount of a million and a half sterling, a small portion of which, on the restoration of the place to the Spaniards, was re-shipped for the Cape of Good Hope and the West Indies; the remainder was for the most part sacrificed at whatever price the Spaniards chose to give. As their own produce advanced in proportion as our’s lowered in price, those among them who speculated gained considerably. The holders of English goods sold their stock at upwards of fifty per cent. profit immediately after the evacuation of the place.

The climate of Monte Video is humid. The weather, in the winter months (June, July, and August), is at times boisterous, and the air in that season is generally keen and piercing. In summer the serenity of the atmosphere is frequently interrupted by tremendous thunder-storms, preceded by dreadful lightning, which frequently damages the shipping, and followed by heavy rain, which sometimes destroys the harvest. The heat is troublesome, and is rendered more so to strangers by the swarms of mosquitoes, which it engenders in such numbers that they infest every apartment.

The town stands on a basis of granite, the feldspar of which is for the most part of an opaque milk-white color, in a decomposing state; in some places it is found of a flesh-red color and crystallized. The mica is generally large and foliated, in many places imperfectly crystallized. It is obvious that the excessive quantity of mud in the harbour and throughout the banks of the river cannot have been formed from this stratum. The high mount on the opposite side of the bay, which is crowned with a Light-house, and gives name to the town, is principally composed of clay-slate, in laminæ perpendicular to the horizon. This substance appears much like basalt in texture, but its fracture is less conchoidal; it decomposes into an imperfect species of wacké, and ultimately into ferruginous clay, from beds of which water is observed to flow in various parts of the mountain.

The vicinity of Monte Video is agreeably diversified with low gently sloping hills, and long valleys watered by beautiful rivulets; but the prospects they afford are rarely enlivened by traces of cultivation; few enclosures are seen except the gardens of the principal merchants. The same defect appears in a north-east direction from the town, where similar varieties of hill, valley, and water prevail, and seem to want only the embellishment of sylvan scenery to complete the landscape. Some wood, indeed, grows on the margin of the Riachuelo, which is used for the building of hovels and for fuel. There is a pleasant stream about ten leagues from Monte Video, called the Louza, the banks of which seem to invite the labor of the planter, and would certainly produce abundance of timber[2]. It is to be remarked that the almost entire want of this article here, occasions great inconvenience and expense: wood for mechanical purposes is extremely scarce, and planks are so dear that hardly one house with a boarded floor is to be found.

In this vicinity the farms are of great extent; few are so small as six miles in length, by a league in width. Such is the scarcity of wood, that the land-marks, when not already designated by nature in a chain of hills, a rivulet, or a valley, are made by ranges of stones of a peculiar form. The quintas (or farms owned by gentlemen), with the country houses built upon them, as rural retreats for their proprietors, resident in Monte Video, were extremely pleasant and agreeable; the gardens were full of fine flowers and fruits, and every thing about these establishments indicated so much peace, harmony, and good neighbourhood, as to make an impression on the mind of a stranger equally pleasing and indelible. But the scene, alas! has been changed through the intestine discords produced by a revolutionary war; and the colony has been reduced from a state of happiness to one of distress and wretchedness. The inhabitants of the interior, having been instigated to plunder each other until nothing remained, ranged themselves under the banners of the predatory chieftain Artigas, and formed a desperate banditti, who robbed and frequently murdered all they met; drove the peaceable inhabitants from their farms, plundered their houses, took away their cattle, reduced the rich to poverty, and the poor to wretchedness, almost so as to desolate this once florishing colony. A man, who but a few months before possessed 100,000 head of cattle, was driven from his estate, and obliged to purchase, at the price of one shilling per pound, the meat which he had formerly left in the slaughter-house, having killed his beasts merely for their hides; so that the necessaries of life which were once to be procured almost gratuitously, became extravagantly dear; and the horrors of approaching famine were superadded to those of anarchy and spoliation.

Reverting to the former order of things, I could name more than fifty individuals of Monte Video, whose estates were from twenty to fifty miles in length, by ten or twenty in breadth, with cattle in such numbers as are almost incredible. An estate of this kind, consisting of a varied extent of hill, plain, and valley, is called a fazenda, as distinguished from the quinta, which bears a closer resemblance to the English farm, being a portion of land, generally selected near the house, for the culture of wheat, beans, Indian corn, melons, fruit trees, &c.

The farm house is almost destitute of furniture; the couch consists of a raw hide, stretched and suspended, on which is placed a flock bed; strangers most commonly sleep on a mat, or dried hide, spread upon the ground.

At a small distance from Monte Video, herds of deer, and flocks of ostriches are to be met with; the eagle is often seen, and sometimes the tiger. Soon after the time when the troops of Artigas drove the cattle from the mountain opposite, two tigers swam across the bay, penetrated at night into the town, and killed two or three of the inhabitants ere they were attacked and destroyed. They were supposed to have been driven by hunger in search of food.

The country which was formerly so peaceable and so safe, that a traveller might go to almost any distance, and meet with nothing but hospitality, has been latterly so infested with banditti, that to wander a mile or two from the town exposes a man to the danger of being robbed and murdered; so that while anarchy and confusion prevail within, there is nothing but plunder and destruction without the walls of Monte Video. It has however fallen into the possession of the Portuguese, who cannot be dislodged from so strong a fortress by any force which their neighbours are able to bring against them. Indeed, the Potuguese, availing themselves of the advantages afforded by the disorganized state of Buenos Ayres, will, no doubt, incorporate the northern part of the Plata with the captaincy of Rio Grande, and thus extend to that distracted country the blessings of their own mild and beneficent government. Artigas being at length taken prisoner, public confidence will be restored in Monte Video, and the reign of peace and security be there re-established.

The operation of ploughing, consists here of little more than forming a small furrow, by running a sharp pointed stick through the soil. There are no dairy farms, and scarcely is any butter or cheese made. Mining is unknown; and little notice is taken of the small quantity of lead ore which appears in limestone at Maldonado.

An estate, however large, seldom contains more than from ten to twenty men, who are employed in domesticating cattle; and scarcely a woman is to be seen, except the domestic negresses. Sheep are kept solely for their wool, and pigs for their fat, an article much in request for culinary preparations. The usual mode of travelling is on horseback, and there are very few carriages in Monte Video.

The breeding of horses is less attended to than that of cattle, as their hides sell at an inferior price. Herds of 500 or 1000 horses are not often seen in this district, though those of oxen sometimes amount to ten times the latter number. Cows are but seldom domesticated, and then very few, and it is by mere stratagem in managing the calf that any milk can be procured. Every kind of handicraft trade is ill conducted. Though the Monte Videans have hides, they procure their leather from Europe, as that which they make themselves is comparatively worthless. Their carpenters and other artisans are bad workmen; but I am told their barbers are men of superior skill in their calling, and this distinction may, perhaps, be attributed to the great beards of the Spaniards; the men of Paraguay having a stinted portion of that natural ornament. The silversmiths are of so inferior a stamp, that they might with greater propriety be called coppersmiths. The common people excel most in catching cattle, either with the noose, or the balls.

In the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, wheat alone is grown. It is stored, until wanted, in hides; and when there is a great demand for grain in Brazil, it is sometimes exported to Rio de Janeiro. But of late years the inhabitants of the provinces of La Plata have paid less attention than ever to this branch of agriculture; and the supplies to Brazil have been chiefly derived from the Cape of Good Hope.

[CHAP. II.]

Journey to Barriga Negra.—Geology of the Country.—Limestone, and mode of burning it.—Horned Cattle.—Peons.—Horses.—Defective State of Agriculture.—Manners of the Inhabitants.—Dress.—Wild Animals.—Monte Video taken by the British.—My return thither.

ON the arrival of General Beresford’s expedition in the river, I was again ordered into close confinement, but my advocate obtained permission for me to be sent into the interior, under a stipulation not to approach within forty leagues of Monte Video. This removal seemed for the moment to shut out all hope of obtaining my liberty, and at the same time threatened to expose me to fresh dangers, but I derived some consolation from the generous offers of shelter and protection made to me by a worthy Spaniard named Don Juan Martinez, whose establishment, not more than fifty leagues from the lake of Meni, was situated at the full distance prescribed in the orders respecting me. A retreat so remote and unfrequented offered few amusements to relieve the tediousness of banishment, but it at least afforded the prospect of a wider range for mineralogical observation, and of ampler leisure to attend to this my favorite pursuit.

In the course of the journey thither, my attention was principally engaged by the wild and solitary aspect of the country. About twenty-five leagues north-east from Monte Video, I observed an irregular ridge of granite mountains, in a direction nearly north and south, and the country from this distance gradually assumes a rugged appearance. Mica is very common upon the road, and in some places quartz; on one hill I gathered several detached crystals of the latter substance. The ravines of these stony wilds and the wooded margins of the rivers afford shelter to many ferocious animals, such as jaguars, (here called tigers), lions, and ounces. Here are also great numbers of wild dogs which breed in the rocks, and at times make great havoc among the young cattle. The farms in this district, for the most part, include tracts of land from twenty to thirty miles in length by half that extent in breadth, watered by pleasing streams. Vast herds of cattle are bred upon them; it is calculated that each square league sustains one thousand five hundred or two thousand head.

At the distance of about forty leagues from Monte Video, in the direction above mentioned, the range of hills gradually lessens and disappears; the country opens finely on the left, and is intersected by numerous rivulets. After crossing several of these we arrived at the head of a little brook called Polancos, which a few miles below, assumes the name of Barriga Negra. It there receives several small streams, and in the course of ten leagues is augmented by the confluence of some others; becoming thus a considerable river, about as large as the Trent at Gainsborough, it is denominated Godoy, but, on passing into the Portugueze territories, it changes its name to that of Sebollati, and flows into the Lagun Meni. Near the junction of two rivulets that form the Barriga Negra, stands the great lime-kiln of my friend, in whose house I took up my residence, and was received with that kindness and sincere hospitality which in an instant dispelled every doubt from my mind, and excited in me sentiments of gratitude that were every day more deeply impressed in my heart.

Having become thoroughly domesticated in my new abode, I began to make excursions into the surrounding district and the parts beyond it. The country in general may be termed stony and mountainous, though its inequalities do not exceed those of Derbyshire. No traces of either volcanic or alluvial matter are to be found; the solid rock frequently appears on the surface, and in many places projects in masses of various sizes. The mountains and rocks are of granite; no veins of metallic substance have hitherto been discovered, but fine red and yellow jasper, chalcedony, and quartz, are not unfrequently found loose on the surface. Some fossils of the asbestos kind, and some very poor oxides of iron are likewise to be met with occasionally. The bases of many of the conical mountains are overlaid with limestone of a dull blue color; I found in this substance many capillary veins of calcareous-spar, and sometimes crystals of pyrites. In one part of the vicinity there is a plain about half a mile square, on the surface of which are found large quantities of white stone in nodules; it is of a very close texture and proves to be gypsum without water (Anhydrite). The summits of these mountains are no where calcareous, excepting those of one ridge, the singular appearance of which induced me to trace it as far as was practicable. The limestone on these summits is of a close compact kind, united to transparent quartz in a tabular form, standing, as it were, in laminæ perpendicular to the horizon, and thus presenting to the view a number of upright slabs, somewhat similar to the grave-stones in a country church-yard. This singular ridge apparently commences at a mountain of very unusual form, and, extending about two miles, in which it crosses two or three valleys, and terminates in a ravine of considerable depth. No vestige of calcareous crystallization appeared in this limestone[3]. It is singular to remark, that the cavities formed by the laminæ afford refuge for reptiles, particularly rattle-snakes; the person employed by Mr. Martinez in getting the stone, destroyed upwards of twenty-seven serpents of that species in the course of a few weeks.

The limestone is loosened by the wedge and lever, and brought away in large slabs to the kilns, where it is broken into fragments of a convenient size, and burnt with wood. The kilns are very capacious, but so badly constructed that the process of calcination is very slow and tedious. The lime, when slaked, is measured, put into sacks made of green hides, and sent in large carts, drawn by oxen, principally to Colonia del Sacramento, Monte Video, and Buenos Ayres.

Barriga Negra is distant about 160 miles north-east from Monte Video, about 120 from Maldonado, and 90 from the town of Minas. The country around it is mountainous, well watered, and not destitute of wood. The banks of the streams are thickly covered with trees, rarely, however, of large size, for the creeping plants, interweaving with the shoots, check their growth and form an impenetrable thicket. Here are numbers of great breeding estates, many of which are stocked with from 60,000 to 200,000 head of cattle. These are guarded principally by men from Paraguay called Peons, who live in hovels built for the purpose at convenient distances. Ten thousand head are allotted to four or five Peons, whose business it is to collect them every morning and evening, and once or twice a month to drive them into pens, where they are kept for a night. The cattle by this mode of management are soon tamed; a ferocious or vicious beast I never saw among them. Breeding is alone attended to; neither butter nor cheese is made, and milk is scarcely known as an article of food. The constant diet of the people, morning, noon, and night, is beef, eaten almost always without bread, and frequently without salt. This habitual subsistence on strong food would probably engender diseases, were it not corrected by frequently taking an infusion of their favorite herb Mate, at all times of the day, when inclination calls for it.

The dwellings of the Peons are in general very wretched, the walls being formed by a few upright posts interwoven with small branches of trees, plastered with mud inside and out, and the roof thatched with long grass and rushes. The door is also of wicker-work, or, in its stead, a green hide stretched on sticks and removable at pleasure. The furniture of these poor hovels consists of a few skulls of horses, which are made to serve for seats; and of a stretched hide to lie upon. The principal if not the sole cooking utensil is a spit or rod of iron, stuck in the ground in an oblique position, so as to incline over the fire. The beef when spitted is left to roast until the part next the fire is supposed to be done enough, then its position is altered, and the change is occasionally repeated, until the whole is cooked. The juices of the meat, by this mode of roasting, help to mend the fire, and indeed the people seem to think that they are fit for nothing else. The meat, which is naturally poor and coarse, being thus dried to a cake, bears little affinity to the boasted roast beef of England. Fuel, in some parts, is so extremely scarce that the following strange expedient is resorted to for a supply. As the mares in this country are kept solely for breeding, and are never trained to labor, they generally exceed, in a great degree, the due proportion; a flock of them is frequently killed, and their carcasses soon becoming dry, are used as firing, (with the exception of the hides and tails), which, when properly prepared, are packed for exportation.

The Peons are chiefly emigrants from Paraguay[4], and it is a singular fact that, among the numbers that are here settled, very few women are to be found. A person may travel in these parts for days together without seeing or hearing of a single female in the course of his journey. To this circumstance may be attributed the total absence of domestic comfort in the dwellings of these wretched men, and the gloomy apathy observable in their dispositions and habits. It is true that the mistress of an estate may occasionally visit it for a few months, but she is obliged during her stay to live in great seclusion, on account of the dreadful consequences to be apprehended from being so exposed.

The dexterous mode in which the Peons catch their cattle, by throwing a noose over them, has been frequently detailed, but certainly no description can do full justice to their agility. They throw with equal precision and effect, whether at full gallop or at rest. Their method of catching horses, by means of balls attached to leather thongs, is similar to the former but more unerring; scarcely an instance has been known of its failure, except in those frequent trials which are requisite to acquire perfect skill in the practice.

They have a very singular and simple way of training mules and horses to draw light carts, coaches, &c. No harness is used; a saddle or pad is girted on, and a leather thong is fastened to the girth on one side, so that the animal moving forward, with his body in a rather oblique direction, keeps his legs clear of the apparatus which is attached to him, and draws with a freedom and an agility that in a stranger excite great surprise. A similar contrivance is used in the catching of cattle. The Peon fastens one end of his lazo[5] to the girth of his horse, who soon learns to place himself in such an attitude as to draw the ox which his rider has caught, and even, should the latter dismount, to keep the thong on the stretch.

The horses in this country are very spirited, and perform almost incredible labor. They seldom work longer than a week at a time, being then turned out to pasture for months together. Their sole food is grass, and the treatment they endure from their masters is most harsh and unfeeling. They are frequently galloped until their generous fire is spent, and they drop through exhaustion and fatigue. The make of the bridle is alone sufficient to torture the animal, being of the heavy Spanish fashion. They are never shod. The girths of the saddles are of a curious construction; they are generally formed of shreds of green hide, or of the sinew of the neck; the middle part is twenty inches broad, and each end is terminated by an iron ring. One of these ends is made fast to the saddle by its ring; to the other side of the saddle is attached a third ring and a pliable strap, which, being passed through it and the girth-ring three or four times, affords the rider great purchase, and enables him to gird the saddle very tight, which is thus kept so firm in its place that a crupper is unnecessary, and indeed is never used.

Trained horses sell here at from five to seven dollars each; horned cattle, in good condition, by the herd of a thousand, at two dollars a head; mares at three rials (1s. 6d. sterling) each. Sheep are very scarce and are never eaten; they are kept by some families merely for the sake of their wool, which is made into flocks for bedding. It is worthy of remark, that, in the remote parts of the interior, where no settlements have been made, the cattle are found of a dark brown color, except on a small part of the belly, which is white, but when they become domesticated, they produce breeds of a lighter color, with hides beautifully spotted and variegated. The fine herds bred in many parts of this district, have often tempted the Portugueze to make predatory incursions; and the country being accessible by fine open passes to the frontier, as well as to the north side of the Plata, these violations of territory have been carried on to a very serious extent. So frequent were they at one period, that it became necessary to appoint a military force to parade the boundaries and to defend the Spanish settlements against these inroads.

PEON CATCHING CATTLE.

PLOUGHING FOR WHEAT.————OSTRICH NEST.

In taking a general view of the country, a stranger cannot but observe, with regret, that while nature has been profuse in her blessings, the inhabitants have been neglectful in the improvement of them. Here is, for instance, abundance of excellent clay and plenty of wood on the margin of the rivers, yet it is rare to meet with an inclosure, even for a kitchen garden, much more so for a corn-field. They generally choose their grounds for tillage by the banks of a rivulet, so as to have one side or sometimes two sides bounded by it; the remainder is fenced in the most clumsy and bungling manner imaginable. Ploughing is performed by the help of two oxen yoked to a crooked piece of wood, about four inches in diameter, and pointed at the end. After the ground has been rooted up, the wheat is sown, without any previous attempt to clear it from noxious seeds. While it grows up, it is never weeded; so that wild oats, poppies, and other pernicious herbs, thriving among it in wild luxuriance, obstruct the sun’s rays and hinder it from ripening kindly. Indian corn, beans, melons, &c. are all treated in a similar way. The wheat, when ripe, is cut down with sickles, and gathered into heads or sheaves. A circular pen of from forty to sixty yards in diameter is then formed with rails and hides; in the centre of this enclosure is placed a quantity of about one hundred or two hundred quarters of wheat in the straw. The pile is so formed as to have the ears on the outside as much as possible. A small quantity is pulled down towards the circumference of the circle, and a herd of about twenty mares is driven in, which, being untamed, are easily frightened and made to gallop round. At this pace they are kept by means of whips for four or five hours, until the corn is trod out of the ears, and the straw is completely reduced. Another parcel of the sheaves is then pulled down, and a fresh herd of mares is let in, and this operation is repeated until the whole heap is reduced, and the straw is broken as small as chaff. In this state it is left until it blows a brisk gale; and then the winnowing is performed by emptying baskets of the mixed grain and chaff at an elevation of eight feet from the ground. While the chaff is borne away by the current of air, the grain falls, and at the close of the operation, is sewed up in green hides. In this state it is sent to Monte Video, where it is ground for consumption, or exported. It is obvious, that by the above mode of separating the grain, a considerable quantity must be lost by abrasion, and by mixture with a large portion of earth which cannot be blown away by the wind.

The climate and soil are equally favorable for the growth of grapes, apples, peaches, and in short every species of fruit belonging to the temperate zone, but these are known here only as rarities. That inestimable root, the potatoe, would thrive abundantly, if once introduced; but, though much has been said in recommendation of it, the people remain totally averse to this or any other proposal for improving their means of subsistence, and seem to wish for nothing beyond the bare necessaries of life. Indeed the state of society among them weakens those ties which naturally attach men to the soil on which they are accustomed to subsist. The Peons, brought from Paraguay in their infancy, grow up to the age of manhood in a state of servitude, uncheered by domestic comfort; at that period they generally wander, in search of employment, toward the coast, where money is in greater plenty. There is no specie in circulation in the interior; their wages are paid monthly in notes on Monte Video. The men, for the most part, are an honest and harmless race, though quite as liable, from the circumstances of their condition, to acquire habits of gambling[6], as the higher classes of the people, numbers of whom fall victims to that seductive vice. The various evils hence resulting are multiplied by the lax administration of the laws; even in case of murder the criminal has little to fear if he can escape to a distance of twenty or thirty leagues; he there lives in obscurity, probably for the remainder of his life, without ever being brought to justice. I know not whether this want of vigilance in the magistracy be not a temptation for the numerous refugees who seek shelter here, such as European Spaniards, who have deserted from the service or have been banished for their crimes. These wretches, loaded with guilt, flee into the interior, where they seldom fail to find some one or other of their countrymen who is willing to give them employment, though frequently at the peril of his life. By the corrupt example of these refugees, the innocent Creole is soon initiated in vice, and becomes a prey to all those violent passions which are engendered and fostered by habitual idleness.

The common dress of the people is such as might be expected from their indolence and poverty. They generally go without shoes and stockings; indeed as they rarely go on foot, they have seldom occasion for shoes. Some of them, particularly the Peons, make a kind of boots from the raw skins of young horses, which they frequently kill for this sole purpose. When the animal is dead, they cut the skin round the thigh, about eighteen inches above the gambrel; having stripped it, they stretch and dress it until it loses the hair and becomes quite white. The lower part, which covered the joint, forms the heel, and the extremity is tied or sewed up to cover the toes. These boots, when newly finished, are of a delicate color, and very generally admired. The rest of their apparel consists of a jacket, which is universally worn by all ranks, and a shirt and drawers made of a coarse cotton cloth brought from Brazil. Children run about with no dress but their shirts until their fifth or sixth year. Their education is very little attended to, and is confined to mere rudiments; a man who is able to read and write, is considered to have all the learning he can desire.

Among the many natural advantages which this district possesses, are the frequent falls in the rivulets and larger streams, which might be converted to various mechanical purposes, if the population were more numerous and better instructed. Some of these streams, as was before stated, join the various branches of the Godoy, and flow into the lake Meni; those on the other side of the mountains in a northerly direction empty themselves principally through the Riachuelo and the St. Lucia, into the Plata.

The want of cultivation in this vast territory may be inferred from the numbers and varieties of wild animals which breed upon it. Tigers, ounces, and lions are common. The former are heavy sluggish animals; their chief prey is the young cattle, which they find in such abundance, that they rarely attack a man. Hence little danger is to be apprehended from them by any person travelling on horseback[7], unless when inadvertently approaching the haunt of a female with young. The ounce has the same character, and the lion is considered less vicious than either. There is an animal of the pig kind, called the pig of the woods, (Pecari),[8] which has an orifice on its back, whence it emits a most intolerable stench when closely pursued. If on killing the animal, the part be instantaneously cut out, the flesh affords good eating, but should that operation be neglected, even for a short period, the taint contaminates the whole carcass. The domestic pigs are by no means good; they feed so much upon beef, that their flesh is very hard and coarse. There is an animal of the opossum kind, about the size of a rabbit, called a zurilla, the skin of which is streaked black and white, and is considered of some value. When attacked, it ejects a fetid liquor, which is of so pungent a nature, that if it falls on any part of the dress of its pursuers, there is no possibility of getting rid of the stench, but by continual exposure to the weather for some months. The zurilla is very fond of eggs and poultry, and sometimes enters a house in quest of its prey; the inhabitants immediately hasten out and leave their unwelcome visitant in quiet possession, as long as she chooses to stay; well aware that the slightest attempt to drive her out, would expose them to an ejectment from the premises for ever. Eagles both of the grey and blue species, as well as other birds of prey, are found in great numbers. Here are also parroquets in immense flocks, pigeons, great red-legged partridges, small partridges, wild ducks, and wild turkies. Ostriches of a large species are very numerous; they are so fleet and active, that even when well mounted I could never get near them but by surprise; the stroke of their wing is said to be inconceivably strong.

Here are considerable herds of small deer, which in this fine country would afford the sportsman excellent diversion; but unfortunately the dogs are good for nothing, as there is no attention paid to the preservation and improvement of the breed. The rivers produce tortoises and other amphibious animals, but they are chiefly noted for a variety of singularly ugly fish, which afford tolerable but by no means good eating.

During a residence of six months in this remote district, as a prisoner at large, or in fact as a welcome guest at the house of a most hospitable man, my life passed away in an equable tenor, uninterrupted by those vicissitudes that elsewhere befel me, and therefore a narrative of it is little calculated to interest the reader. Rather than occupy his attention by relating my various hopes and disappointments, as the prospect of liberation became more or less favorable, I have chosen to present him with the result of some general observations on the country, made during the daily excursions which I enjoyed through the liberality of my friend. The longer I resided in his house, the greater was his kindness to me in allowing me those indulgences, and the more did he and his family strive to render my exile agreeable. An event at length occurred which at once delighted and distressed me; because while it afforded me hopes of immediate deliverance, it destroyed for a time the harmony which had so long subsisted between me and my protector. I allude to the taking of Monte Video by the British troops under Sir Samuel Auchmuty.

On hearing of the surrender of the place, I solicited Mr. Martinez to liberate me, as I thought myself no longer a prisoner. He seemed much astonished at this, and gave me to understand that I continued a prisoner, because, not being actually at Monte Video, I was still in the power and under the jurisdiction of the Viceroy of Buenos Ayres. This worthy man’s mind was so distracted by the fall of the town, and by the disgrace of the Spanish arms, that he secluded himself from society, and avoided all communication with me. In these circumstances I was advised to attempt my escape, but I felt great repugnance at the idea of thus wounding the feelings of a man who had humanely released me from confinement, and had ever treated me as a brother. Averse to such an act of ingratitude, I intreated his amiable wife to intercede for me, and to suggest that, on returning to Monte Video, it might be in my power to be of service to him. But he rejected the proposal in the most vehement manner, and forbade any one to talk to him on the subject. I now thought that my liberty was unreasonably denied me, and as I saw no probability of obtaining it but through my own exertions, I determined at all events to make the attempt. After deliberating for some days, and consulting with two men who had frequently mentioned the subject to me, I decided on my plan of escape, and gave them six ounces of gold to provide horses and every thing necessary. On the appointed night, all was in readiness, the horses were saddled, and the men waiting to escort me. This moment was one of the most melancholy in my life; I reflected with compunction, that, while striving to regain my freedom, I was apparently abusing the confidence of a man of honor, who had done all in his power to merit my friendship. Agitated by these emotions, and oppressed by a sadness which the thick gloom of the night rendered more heavy, I was walking to and fro in the neighbourhood, on the spot appointed for my guides to meet me, when a voice, with which I was familiar, accosted me. The person was very near me, but owing to the extreme darkness I could not see him. He asked me what I was doing there. I replied, “only walking about.” “Don Juan,” said he “you are going to escape to-night.” I answered, “indeed I am not.” He replied, “you are; and the men whom you have chosen for your guides are to murder you, to seize your money, and to bury you in a ravine about a league distant. The man in whom you have most confided has a knife concealed in his saddle, with which he is to give you the fatal blow.” This so staggered me, that I was unable, at the moment, to make any answer. I felt confident that no one knew of my intended departure, except the two men and myself. On asking, “how do you know this?” he replied, “I overheard them talking of it.” He added, “you know they are both gamblers, and one of them killed two men last year.” Ere I had recovered my surprise, so as to speak again, the man went away. While meditating on the choice of evils, namely, whether to run the risk of being murdered and thrown into a ravine, or to abandon my design and remain a prisoner, one of my hired Peons came to inform me that the horses were waiting. I told him I had a violent pressure at my stomach and could not ride. He treated this very lightly, and urged me with great earnestness to mount at all events. Considering at this moment that money was of little value in comparison with my life and liberty, I offered to give him two ounces of gold if he would perform a piece of service for me, which I would explain to him through my room-window at midnight. He still used every argument to persuade me immediately to set out, but finding that I persisted in alleging my indisposition as an excuse, he at length acceded to my proposal. Having reached my chamber, I wrote to a magistrate at Monte Video, who, I knew, would, if he had survived the assault of the town, send an order for my liberation. When I had finished writing, the man appeared at the window according to agreement; I gave him the letter, charged him to convey it to Monte Video, and presenting him with two ounces of gold, promised him another ounce if he should bring me an answer. He departed unknown to any of our good family, and on the fifth day following, in the forenoon, returned, to my inexpressible joy, with a paper signed by Don Francisco Juanico, the magistrate to whom I had written, stating that I was free, and ought immediately to proceed thither. On receiving this welcome intelligence, I hastened to Mr. Martinez, and joyfully embracing him, gave him the paper to read; after examining its contents, he observed, that it was nothing official, but would avail me as a reasonable pretext for going away, to which he cordially acquiesced. He immediately ordered three Peons and a trusty old Creole to accompany me, with twenty-five horses, that we might perform the journey with greater expedition. The best dinner was provided which the time would allow, and while partaking of it I received the sincerest congratulations on my liberation from my worthy host and his amiable lady. I then took an affectionate leave of every branch of this good family, expressing my warm acknowledgments of the many obligations they had conferred on me. Having joined my guides, we each mounted a horse, and, at three in the afternoon, set off at full speed, driving the rest of the cattle before us. My first horse bore me forty miles, and I changed him at ten o’clock. The night was fine, and after a rapid but pleasant journey, we forded the river St. Lucia and halted at two in the morning, half way on the route to Monte Video. At the house, into the corral of which our horses were driven for the purpose of changing them, I procured a slight repast of dried figs, after which we again mounted and travelled tolerably fresh until six in the morning, when we were again obliged to change, having proceeded about one hundred English miles. Our horses now began to lose their generous spirit, and were much distressed. As our progress became slower and our changes more frequent, my anxiety increased, because I was aware there were Spanish parties scouring the country about Monte Video, and stopping the passage of all provisions from the interior. To avoid suspicion, I rode in the dress of a Peon, with the lazo coiled up and hung at my saddle. At eleven o’clock the heat of the day became oppressive, and our horses flagged exceedingly. To add to my distress I had a violent hæmorrhage from the nose, and could obtain no water to drink or wash with, so that, through thirst and the coagulation of the blood, I was nearly suffocated. On arriving within six miles of Monte Video, our horses were nearly worn out; but no rest could be allowed for either them or the men. At noon we reached an English piquet-guard on the out-posts; after the usual questions I was conducted by a soldier to the officer on guard, and having explained some particulars to him, I rode to General Lumley’s tent, and afterwards into the town.

No language can describe my emotions on beholding an English flag on that tower in which I had been so often confined, and, on seeing English soldiers in possession of a place where I had experienced so much injustice and oppression. The joy I felt made me forget my fatigue and the dangers I had passed through. I rode up to my friend’s house; all was barricadoed, and I feared the worst might have happened; but, on advancing to the window, I observed one of the ladies, who instantly recognized me. All the family welcomed me most cordially, and invited me to dinner, after which I went, in my Peon’s disguise, to visit some of my friends. On taking possession of Mr. Martinez’s house, I found my chests, &c. undisturbed, (although the town was taken by storm), and in the same condition as when I left them on going into the country.

[CHAP. III.]

Expedition against Buenos Ayres.—Account of the Population of the Country, and of the various Classes which compose it.

WHEN the expedition against Buenos Ayres was ready to sail, I obtained General Whitelocke’s permission to go with the army, under the hope of recovering the property I had in that city, and offered my service to the commissary-general, whom I accompanied. As the details of that disastrous enterprise have been long before the public in an official form, and as my own observations on the occasion are of no general interest, the reader will excuse me if I forbear all mention of them, and confine myself to some general remarks on the colony.

The population of Buenos Ayres and its immediate suburbs, exclusive of the country in its vicinity, has been ascertained to amount to upwards of sixty thousand souls. The proportion of females to males is said to be as four to one, but if we take into consideration that many men are almost daily arriving from Europe, as well as from the South American provinces, and that under the old government neither the militia nor the marine was recruited from the mass of the population, we shall find reason to conclude that the proportion of the sexes is not so unequal. In the interior, the excess of males is very great, for as the lands are granted in large tracts only, and but poorly cultivated, there is no encouragement for the laboring classes to marry and settle upon them. The poor are compelled to remain single, from the very bare resources on which they depend for subsistence, and are accustomed to consider the married state as fraught with heavy burthens and inevitable misfortunes. It is not uncommon to find estates, larger than an English county, with hardly more than an hundred laborers upon them, who subsist upon the sale of a little corn, which each is permitted to grow for himself, but only to such an extent as a single man can plough.

The various races which compose the population are as follow:

1. Legitimate Spaniards or Europeans. In Buenos Ayres there are about three thousand; in the interior the number is very trifling, except in Potosi, which, being a mining country, contains many.

2. Creoles; legitimate descendants from Spaniards or Europeans.

3. Mestizos, the offspring of European and Indian parents.

4. Indians, almost all of whom have some mixture of Spanish blood.

5. Brown mixtures of Africans and Europeans.

6. Mulattos of various degrees.

All these races intermix without restraint, so that it is difficult to define the minor gradations, or to assign limits to the ever-multiplying varieties. Few families are entirely exempt from characteristics of Indian origin, physical as well as moral. It is well known that in the Spanish colonies little regard is now paid to purity of blood; the various regulations for preserving the races distinct have gradually become obsolete. This may be regarded as a momentary evil; but may it not be conducive in the long-run to the good of society, by concentrating the interests of the various classes, which, in remaining separate, might one day endanger the stability of the government, as has been the case in the French colony of St. Domingo?

In describing the orders of society in Buenos Ayres, it is necessary to premise that I mean to class them, not by degrees of birth, rank, or profession, but by the relative estimation in which they stand in point of property or public usefulness.

According to this scale, the first which comes under consideration is the commercial class. Every person belonging to it, from the huckster at the corner of the street, to the opulent trader in his warehouse, is dignified by the appellation of merchant; yet few individuals among them can lay just claim to that title, as they are wanting in that practical knowledge so essential in commercial dealings. They are averse to all speculation and enterprise; the common routine of their business is to send orders to Spain for the articles they need, and to sell by retail, at an exorbitant profit; beyond this they have hardly a single idea, and it has been said that their great reason for opposing a free trade with foreign nations, is a consciousness of their own mercantile inexperience. The more considerable houses are almost all branches of some European establishment; few of the Creoles have any regular trade. Those among them, however, who engage in it, are much more liberal in their transactions than the old Spaniards, and are observed to make less rapid fortunes, for their manly and independent character makes them spurn a miserable economy, and disdain to assume that church-going hypocrisy which must be practised twice or thrice a-day by those who would enrich themselves through the patronage of the opulent families. Among the inferior tradesmen, those who gain most are the pulperos, the warehousemen, and the shopkeepers. The pulperos retail wine, brandy, candles, sausages, salt, bread, spices, wood, grease, brimstone, &c. Their shops (pulperias) are generally lounging-places for the idle and dissipated of the community. In Buenos Ayres there are about seven hundred of them, each more or less in the interest of some richer individual. The warehousemen sell earthen and glass ware, drugs, various articles of consumption, and some goods of home-manufacture, wholesale and retail. The shopkeepers amount to nearly six hundred in number; they sell woollen cloths, silks, cotton goods of all sorts, hats, and various other articles of wearing apparel. Many of them make considerable fortunes, those especially who trade to Lima, Peru, Chili, or Paraguay, by means of young men whom they send as agents or factors. There is another description of merchants, if such they may be called, who keep in the back-ground, and enrich themselves by monopolizing victuals, and by forestalling the grain brought to market from the interior, much to the injury of the agricultural interest.

The second class of inhabitants consists of the proprietors of estates and houses. They are in general Creoles, for few Europeans employ their funds in building, or in the purchase of land, until they have realised a fortune to live upon, which commonly takes place when they are far advanced in life, so that their establishments pass immediately into the hands of their successors. The simple landholders derive so little revenue from their possessions, that they are generally in debt to their tradesmen; their gains are but too commonly engrossed by the monopolists, and having no magistrate to represent them, they find themselves destitute of effectual resources against wrong and extortion. So defective and ill-regulated are the concerns of agriculture in this country, that the proprietor of an estate really worth 20,000 dollars can scarcely subsist upon it.

Under the class of landed proprietors, I may reckon the cultivators, here called quinteros or chacareros, who grow wheat, maize, and other grain. These men are so depressed and impoverished, that, notwithstanding the importance of their calling, and the public usefulness of their labors, they are ranked among the people of least consequence in society.

The third class is composed of handicraftsmen, such as masons, carpenters, tailors, and shoe-makers, who, although they work hard and receive great wages, seldom realize property. The journeymen are usually people of color; the masters for the most part Genoese, and universally foreigners, for the Spaniards despise these trades, and cannot stoop to work along with negroes or mulattos. Many of the lower orders derive subsistence from these and other employments of a similar nature; here are lime-burners, wood-cutters, tanners, curriers, &c. The free porters constitute a numerous body of men; they ply about the streets to load and unload carts, and carry burdens, but they are so idle and dissolute, that no man can depend on their services for a week together; when they have a little money, they drink and gamble, and when pennyless, they sometimes betake themselves to pilfering. These habits have long rendered them a public nuisance, but no corrective measures have hitherto been taken, nor does there appear, on the part of the higher orders, any disposition to reform them.

Persons employed in public offices may be comprehended under the fourth class. The best situations under Government are held by native Spaniards; those of less emolument by Creoles; the former are regarded as mere sinecures, and the persons enjoying them, are considered as in no way serviceable to the community, except by spending their large salaries within it.

The fifth class is the militia or soldiery. Previous to the invasion of the English, the officers were not much noted for military science, or for that ardor which leads to the acquisition of it; their chief ambition was to obtain commands in towns and villages, especially those on the Portuguese frontier, where they might enrich themselves by smuggling. The privates were ill-disciplined, badly dressed, and badly paid. The effective force which the crown of Spain maintained in these possessions, was one regiment of the line, which was to consist of 1200 men, but was reduced to less than half; one regiment of dragoons, amounting to 600, two of cavalry called blandengues, 600 each, and one or two companies of artillery. With the exception of the blandengues, all the troops were originally sent from the Peninsula, but not having for the last twenty years been recruited from thence, their ranks were gradually filled by natives. By eminence they were called veterans, but they have been of late disbanded, and their officers have passed to the command of the new corps which were formed on the English invasion. The force of these corps may be estimated at nine thousand men.

The sixth class is the clergy, in number about a thousand. The seculars are distinguished by their learning, honor, and probity from the friars, who are in general so grossly ignorant and superstitious, that they render no real service to the public in any way, but rather tend to disturb the minds of the honest and well-disposed.

Every observation I was able to make, gave me a favorable idea of the general character of the people; they are tractable, prudent, and generous; and doubtless, had they been under a milder and more beneficent government than that of the Spaniards, they might have become a model to other colonies; but it is lamentable to add, that, in points of morality, they cannot be considered as much superior to the other inhabitants of America. This is attributable to the want of a proper system of education for youth, to the pernicious example afforded by the vices of the Europeans, and, in a word, to the prevalence of an intolerant system, which, by aiming to make men what they cannot be, causes them to become what they ought not to be. The intolerant rigor exercised by the ministers of worship as well as by the government, for the suppression of immorality, defeats its own end; it is like the unskilful practice of a physician, which, directed solely against the external symptoms, aggravates instead of removing the disease. Thus, while open profligacy is discountenanced in Buenos Ayres, libertinism of a more dangerous kind is connived at, if not tolerated; the peace of the most respectable private families is liable to be destroyed by votaries of seduction, who respect neither the purity of female virtue, nor the sacred rights of matrimony. This evil pervades all classes of society, and is the source of domestic disputes, which often lead to serious consequences.

In thus attempting to describe the state of Buenos Ayres, as I found it in the year 1807, I have purposely avoided all discussions of a political nature, and have declined entering into a detail of the events which led to the present struggles of the people for independence.

[CHAP. IV.]

Voyage to St. Catherine’s.—Description of that Island, and of the Coast in its Vicinity.—Arrival at Santos, and Journey thence to S. Paulo.

ON my return to Monte Video, I lost no time in putting in execution my purposed voyage to Rio de Janeiro; and as advices had arrived, stating that considerable difficulty might attend the entrance of an English ship into that port, I bottomried a Portuguese vessel, called the Vencedor, and was joined by a party of gentlemen, whose business required them to visit the capital of Brazil.

In the beginning of September 1807, we had just embarked our stock for this voyage, when an order for the immediate evacuation of Monte Video by our troops was unexpectedly issued. As it had been generally believed that a prolongation of the time for giving up the place had been agreed on, the greatest hurry and confusion prevailed in embarking the troops and stores, as well as the baggage of individuals. About mid-day the whole was on board; a signal-gun was then fired for the Spanish troops to enter, and about three in the afternoon we had the mortification to behold their flag hoisted on the ramparts of this important military post and commercial depôt, which the British forces had, a short period before, so bravely and so dearly won.

Having still some purchases to make, I returned on shore, with two of my friends, about four o’clock, but we had soon reason to repent of our temerity, for on passing the mole we were noticed as enemies and threatened severely, so that we found it necessary to pass into the more private streets, in order to avoid the malignant and hostile taunts of those very men who had of late expressed themselves our friends and well-wishers. Desirous of expediting our several affairs as much as possible, we separated, and I was not able to rejoin my companions until eight in the evening. I found them in great anxiety for my safety; the Spaniards had fired a feu-de-joie from the citadel and fort St. Joseph, and were now preparing for bonfires[9] and illuminations, and my friends, though they did their utmost to avoid the riotous crowds that paraded the town, had several narrow escapes from being plundered and stripped by the soldiery. We all got safely on board by ten o’clock, congratulating each other on having happily avoided the dangers to which our rash confidence in the amicable disposition of the inhabitants had exposed us.

On the 11th of September we sailed from the Rio de la Plata; the vessels bound for the Cape of Good Hope were then nearly out of sight, and as we beheld them we felt a melancholy but proud delight in reflecting that, after such grievous and unexpected reverses, our brave countrymen were once more within their wide undisputed empire, the ocean. After a voyage, in which nothing worth relation occurred, we made the island of St. Catherine’s, on the 29th, at sun-rise, and we were delighted with a grand and picturesque view of its conical rocks rising abruptly from the sea, embellished with the lofty mountains of Brazil, covered with wood, in the back-ground. This sublime scenery interested us the more from the contrast it formed with the extensive and woodless plains of Buenos Ayres. This island is situated in 27° 29′ south latitude, and is separated from the continent by a strait, in some places not half a league wide.

Entering the port of St. Catherine’s by the north, we passed several islands, on one of which, westward of the entrance, stood the respectable fort of Santa Cruz. After running a few miles in shoal water, we sailed into a narrow passage, guarded by two forts, which forms the harbour. From the anchorage, and more particularly from the landing-place, which is at the bottom of a verdant slope of about five hundred yards, the town has a most beautiful appearance, and the perspective is nobly crowned by its fine cathedral. The green is interspersed with orange-trees, and forms an agreeable parade. Immediately on entering the town, we discerned in its general appearance, and in the manners of its inhabitants, a striking superiority over those which we had of late visited. The houses are well built, have two or three stories, with boarded floors, and are provided with neat gardens, well stocked with excellent vegetables and flowers. The town consists of several streets, and may contain from five thousand to six thousand inhabitants. It is a free port. The produce of the island consists in rice, maize, mandioca, coffee of excellent quality, oranges, perhaps the finest in the world, and a variety of other fruits. Sugar and indigo are likewise produced, but in small quantities. A profusion of the finest flowers indicates the genial nature of its climate; the rose and the jessamin are in bloom all the year round.

The surface of the island is varied with mountains, plains, and in some places swamps; here is found a stratum of excellent red clay, which is manufactured into jars, culinary vessels, large water-pots, &c. which are exported in considerable quantities to the Plata and to Rio de Janeiro. The lands capable of cultivation are under considerable improvement; a great extent of them was formerly covered with large trees, but as great quantities have of late years been cut down and used for ship-building, good timber may now be considered scarce. They grow flax here of a very fair quality, of which the fishermen make their lines, nets, and cordage. The sea hereabouts produces an abundant variety of excellent fish, and some fine prawns; so large is the supply to the market, that a quantity of fish[10], sufficient to dine twelve persons, may be had for a shilling. Meat is much the same in quality as at Monte Video, being rather hard and lean; its general price is about three halfpence per pound. Pigs, turkies, ducks, poultry, and eggs, as well as fine vegetables and excellent potatoes, are plentiful and cheap.

The trade of this place is inconsiderable, as the produce does not much exceed the consumption of the inhabitants, who are in general far from rich. It affords an agreeable retirement to merchants who have discontinued business, masters of ships who have left off going to sea, and other persons, who, having secured an independence, seek only leisure to enjoy it. Few places are better calculated for such a purpose than this; it is enlivened by the numerous coasting-vessels from Bahia, Pernambuco, and other ports, bound for the Plata, which frequently touch here; and it is amply provided with artisans of all descriptions, such as tailors, shoe-makers, tin-workers, joiners, and smiths. The inhabitants in general are very civil and courteous to strangers; the ladies are handsome and very lively, their chief employment is making of lace, in which they display great ingenuity and taste.

The mountains of the interior, and the rocks on the coast, are of granite. Close to the fort, on the left hand of the entrance to the harbour, is a vein of green-stone in various states of decomposition, which ultimately migrates into clay of a superior quality to that generally found in the valleys. The soil in the interior, being rather humid, is surprisingly fertile. It consists principally of a rich vegetable decomposition, on which shrubs and plants grow in great luxuriance. Myrtles appear in all parts, and a most beautiful variety of the passion-flower is found in equal abundance. Here is also a profusion of roses, pinks, rosemary, &c.

The animals are chiefly opossums, monkeys, and armadillas; there are various serpents, among which is the beautiful coral snake. Of birds, there are cranes, hawks, parrots, of various species, humming birds and toucans, the latter of every variety in great numbers.

The climate is serene and wholesome, its solstitial heats being moderated constantly by fine breezes from the south-west and north-east, which are the winds that generally blow here; the latter prevails from September to March, and the former from April to August, so that a voyage to the north, during one half of the year, is slow and tedious.

The island is divided into four parishes: 1st, Nossa Senhora do Desterro; 2d, St. Antonio; 3d, Laguna; and 4th, Ribeiraõ. The divisions of the opposite part of the continent are likewise under the jurisdiction of the governor of St. Catherine’s, who is subject, in certain cases, to the captaincy of S. Paulo, and in others to the government of Rio de Janeiro. These divisions, are 1st, St. José; 2d, St. Miguel; and 3d, Nossa Senhora do Rosario; the entire population of the island and its dependencies amounts to about 30,000 souls.

Of the fortresses which defend this island, the most considerable is Santa Cruz before mentioned; there are four others, Porto Groed, Ratoé, Estreito, and Conceição. Off the former there is safe anchorage for a fleet of men of war, and the harbour which it protects may be entered by ships of 300 tons, if not of a heavy draught of water. Ships passing the channel are required to send a boat on shore at Santa Cruz before they proceed.

To the west of the island, on the opposite coast, is an almost inaccessible barrier of lofty mountains, thickly covered with trees and underwood. At a small port in the vicinity, called Piripi, which has a very pretty river, an immense quantity of fish is caught, dried, and exported. They are extremely fat, and very soon become rancid.

On the continent, opposite the town of St. Catherine’s, stands the pleasant village of St. José, the inhabitants of which are principally occupied in sawing timber into planks, making bricks, and growing rice. The net gains of a poor family here are incredibly small, but the necessaries of life are cheap, and they have few incentives to curtail their present enjoyments for the sake of improving their future fortunes. Near this village is a lovely vale called Picada, thickly studded with white cottages, embosomed in orange-groves and plantations of coffee. The gently-sloping hills which enclose this spot, give a picturesque effect to the bold rugged scenery beyond them. This valley, and others contiguous to it, form the extremities of the territory habitable by the Portuguese, for on the land to the westward, though at a considerable distance, dwell the Anthropophagi, here called Bugres. These savages live entirely in the woods, in wretched sheds made of palm-branches, interwoven with bananas. Their occupation is chiefly hunting with bows and arrows, but they frequently employ these weapons in hostilities against their neighbours. A party of them will sometimes way-lay a Portuguese[11], whose residence is solitary; they have even been known to attack and destroy whole families. No regard to humanity seems indeed to be paid by either party in their encounters; they are mutually bent on a war of extermination.

There is much low swampy land in the island, over which causeways, supported by piles, are made to a considerable extent. These lands, on account of their humidity, are very favorable to the growth of rice. The palm-trees, seen at intervals in every direction, have a very pleasing effect. The whole coast may be said to be almost uninhabited. There are, indeed, some few settlements; but families scattered at the distance of ten or fifteen miles from each other can scarcely be called a population.

Our stay at St. Catherine’s was prolonged by some unforeseen circumstances, and we had time to make various excursions into the interior of the island and to the adjacent continent. On one of these occasions I happened to be absent, but the adventures which attended it being rather amusing, I am tempted to relate them in the words of one of my friends who formed the party. “Having hired horses and negroes we set out early in the morning for the river Tavarinha. The road for three leagues lay through thick woods, along which we passed without any material accident, and arrived at the end of our journey about two in the afternoon. We dined with Captain Leaõ, who entertained us very hospitably, and would have persuaded us to prolong our visit, but we determined to return that evening over the mountains. We travelled for a league through a level, well-cultivated country, clothed with orange-groves and coffee-plantations, and tolerably populous. At sun-set we arrived at the foot of the mountains, and began to ascend a steep and dangerous road, in the intricacies of which we were soon bewildered, and had great difficulty to regain the most beaten path, which led homewards. Night suddenly overtook us, and we had still three hours’ journey over the mountains, without guide or attendant, along a perfectly alpine road, winding on the edge of horrible precipices. In this part of the journey two of us, having advanced a little, the rest of the party were suddenly alarmed by a dreadful shriek, which excited great apprehension lest some one should have been precipitated down the gulph, but we were agreeably undeceived soon after by the whole of the party joining us. We now heard a noise like hammers, which proceeded from persons beating cotton, and in a little time arrived at a house, where, on enquiry, we were informed that the town was ten miles distant. We were proceeding, when a voice cried out in English, ‘but will not you stop and have some grog?’ It may be easily imagined that to be thus suddenly hailed with one of the most familiar phrases of our native English, while benighted in a strange land, operated like an electric shock upon us; we immediately alighted at the house whence the voice seemed to proceed, and found a Mr. Nunney, the English interpreter, who furnished us with a guide; we now continued our way with greater confidence, and reached the town about midnight. This Mr. Nunney, as we afterwards learnt, receives a dollar per diem during the stay of every English or American ship that touches at this port, whether his services are wanted or not, and by these means, with the profits of the sales of provisions which he makes to such ships, he has acquired a little fortune and a pretty estate. His profits, indeed, are exorbitant, for he charges the articles 100 per cent. higher than they can be procured at from any other dealer in the place.”

While at the town of St. Catherine’s, we visited some of the gardens with which its vicinity is embellished. They are laid out with great taste, particularly one belonging to the vicar, another in the estate of the late excellent and able General Soares Coimbra, and a third the property of Colonel Gama. At Barragros, near the village of St. José, we visited a gentleman of the name of Caldwin, who collects and preserves insects. He showed us his grounds, which occupy a space of eighty-five fathoms along the beach, and extend a mile inland, containing orangeries, coffee, rice, and mandioca, in a fine state of culture. These well-watered plantations, together with a neat house and garden, he offered to sell for a thousand crusados (about £125 sterling).

This was not the only instance we remarked of the low value of landed property here. About two miles from the town of St. Catherine’s, a neat house, a small orangery and ground clear of brush wood, capable of forming a pretty plantation, was offered at 100 dollars. An excellent house, in one of the best situations in the environs of this town, with a garden of about two acres well and tastefully planted, was offered to be sold for £400 sterling. The building of the house must alone have cost that sum and it was in perfect condition. In short, money appeared so valuable, that a large landed estate might be purchased for a mere trifle.

On contemplating the many natural advantages of this island, I could not but be struck with its importance, and was tempted to wish that it were annexed by treaty to the dominions of Great Britain. Emigrants might subsist here at a very cheap rate; and the isle is tenable against any force so long as we remain masters of the sea. Ships would trade to it from the western coast of America, and from the eastern coast of Africa, and in our hands it would soon become an emporium of commerce. It is adapted to almost every variety of produce; the highlands are capable of cultivation, and the plains and valleys are fertile even to luxuriance. The climate is humid, but its general temperature is moderate and salubrious. If colonized by English, the isle might be made a perfect paradise. Though not situated within the tropics, it produces indico, rice, sugar-cane, pulse, and the finest oranges in the world.

Our excursions to the main land were not confined to the districts immediately within the jurisdiction of St. Catherine’s. Proceeding northward from St. José, we entered some fine bays, the shores of which were studded with houses pleasantly situated amid bananerias, orangeries, and plantations of rice, coffee, and mandioca. After having passed several well-peopled parishes, we arrived at Armação, a village at the extremity of a bay about nine leagues distant from St. José, and four leagues north of Santa Cruz. This village is a fishing station for whales, which were formerly very numerous on that coast, and in the bays that indent it. The fishery is farmed by government to a company under the superintendance of a Capitao Mor, and a number of inferior officers. About 150 negroes are employed on this station, but the number of whales now caught is not so great as formerly, when the average was three or four hundred in a season[12]. Their conveniences for flinching or cutting up the fish are extensive and well-contrived[13]. Several fine piers project from the shore into eighteen to twenty feet depth of water, on which are erected capstans, cranes, and other requisite machinery. Hither all the fish caught on the coast are brought. The boiling-house, tanks, &c. are far superior to any thing of the kind at Greenland-dock, and indeed to all similar establishments in Europe. To give an idea of their magnitude, it is sufficient to say, that in one range there are twenty-seven very large boilers, and places for three more. Their tanks are vast vaults, on some of which a boat might be rowed with ease. We obtained a view of these great works through the civility of the commander of the place, Capitaõ Mor Jacinto Jorge dos Anjos, who lives here in a princely style, and possesses a very considerable property, which he diffuses with great public spirit and liberality. All who have visited Armação can bear witness to his, affability and urbanity to strangers.

We crossed this peninsula by a mountainous road of four leagues to the Bay of dos Ganchos, commonly known by the name of Tejuco. Here land is of little or no value; any one may take as much as he pleases of what is unappropriated, provided he make a proper application for it to the government. We passed two sugar plantations with conveniences for making rum; and observed numerous huts interspersed in the vicinity. The contrary side of this peninsula forms the bay before named. The poor cottages of the people here present a curious picture of rural irregularity; some are built on the summit of conical mountains, the passage to which is frequently obstructed by clouds; others stand on the sides of gentle acclivities; but the greater number of them is situated almost in contact with the ocean, which often flows to their very doors. The bay is from two to three leagues across, and extends about the same distance inland; it is well-sheltered, and affords good anchorage, and fine situations for loading timber, with which the mountainous country around is thickly clothed, and large quantities of which are felled and embarked for Rio de Janeiro and the Plata. Canoes are made here, at a cheaper rate and in greater numbers than in any other part of Brazil. The inhabitants grow rice in considerable quantities, as well as some coffee and sugar; but such is their indolence and poverty that they use only hand-mills, consisting of two horizontal rollers, in manufacturing the latter article.

Into this bay fall several streams formed by the mountain-torrents and springs, and two tolerable rivers, the less called Inferninho, and the larger Tigreno. They both flow through low swampy land, subject to inundation, and overgrown with mangroves and an immense variety of trees. The insalubrity of this tract might be corrected by clearing away the underwood and draining the soil, but the arduousness of such an undertaking might deter a more active and skilful people than this. In the rainy season it is inundated to a great extent, and in summer it is infested with terrible swarms of mosquitos and burachala flies, which render it almost uninhabitable. The bay of dos Ganchos is a most desirable place. The timber cut and shipped for Rio de Janeiro might form, together with some of the sugars and spirituous liquors made here, an advantageous article of export to the Cape of Good Hope; but unfortunately there exists no stimulus to this sort of commercial speculation. Here are no small vessels fitting out for cargoes, nor will any person risk the equipment of a vessel to a distant part, where there is so little certainty of returns. So common an enterprize as that practised by ship-owners, in England, of sending out vessels to wait for cargoes (up the Baltic for instance) is here unknown; and this is a sufficient proof of the low state of commerce and shipping.

Along the beach of this bay I found the shell of the murex genus, which produces that beautiful crimson dye, so valued by the ancients. It is here called purpura, and to my great surprise, its use is in some degree known to the natives, one of whom shewed me some cotton fringe, dyed with an extract of it, though ill-prepared. The shell is about the size of the common whelk, and contains a fish, on whose body appears a vesicle full of a pale yellow, viscid, purulent substance, which constitutes the dye. The mode of extracting it, is to break the shell carefully with a hammer, so as not to crush the fish, and then let out the liquor in the vesicle with a lancet or other sharp instrument. I, for greater convenience, used a pen, and immediately wrote my initials, &c. on a handkerchief; the marks in half an hour after were of a dirty green color, and on being exposed to the air a few hours longer, changed to a most rich crimson. The quantity produced by each is very small, but quite sufficient for such an experiment. The best time for making it, is when the animal is in an incipient state of putrescency. I have not a doubt that if a sufficient quantity of them were taken, and the dying matter, when extracted, were liquified in a small degree with gum-water, a valuable article of commerce might be produced. At least the trial is worth making. The liquid is a perfect substantive dye, and of course resists the action of alkalies.

On the rocks, and in greater abundance on the trunks of old trees, I observed a variety of lichens, some of which produced tints of several shades of colors. The continual decomposition of vegetables here adds greatly to the richness of the soil; it is not uncommon to find trees lying on the ground with their interior substance entirely decomposed, and a great diversity of plants growing on them in high luxuriance. Among the numerous tribes of birds that frequent this region, the aquatic afford good eating, as do also the smaller parrots. The woods are filled with monkeys; and on the banks of the rivers are found capivaras in considerable numbers.

In coasting along this shore, it is customary for strangers to visit the chief person in command at every station, whatever may be his degree or rank; he, on being requested, will furnish guides, and afford every assistance in his power. I always experienced the greatest attention and civility from these gentlemen, and have reason to believe that they uniformly pay the same regard to all who visit them for permission to see the country.

Ten leagues north of this place is the fine and capacious harbour of Garoupas, with its handsome town; the anchorage is equally good as in that of dos Ganchos. The inhabitants here pursue the same mode of living as their neighbours in Tejuco. They have a fine climate, and a soil which yields a hundred-fold for whatever is sown or planted in it, and is noted for its delicious fruits. The cotton of which their common clothes are made, is grown, spun, and woven among them; they build their own houses, and form their own canoes, which they are dexterous in managing, and prefer to boats. It may indeed be said that every man is more or less an artisan; but I am sorry to observe that they prefer ease to care and industry, and are by no means so good husbandmen as those of Tejuco. This bay, as far as I could observe, during my short visit to it, presents to the view a greater diversity of hills, valleys, and plains, than the one before mentioned. Both are esteemed fine fishing-ground during the whale-season, which is from December to June.

From hence northward is the fine harbour of San Francisco, in the bay of the same name. It has three entrances defended by forts; that to the south is most frequented. The land here is very flat for several miles, and the rivers which intersect it are navigable for canoes as far as the base of the great chain of mountains, where a public road, begun at incredible labor and expense, leads over that almost impassable barrier. This road will soon be a work of national importance to Brazil, as through it the finest district in that country, and indeed one of the finest in the world in point of climate, the rich plain of Coritiva, will be connected with the ocean. The ridge of mountains is more than four thousand feet above the level of the sea, and there is a regular ascent for twenty leagues from their inland base, to Coritiva. On this fertile tract are fed large herds of cattle for the supply of Rio de Janeiro, S. Paulo, and other places; here are also bred mules in great numbers. Its soil and air are so genial, that olives, grapes, apples, peaches, and other fruits, grow to as rich a maturity as in Europe, though they are here almost in a wild state. It is divided into many parishes, but its population is small, compared with its extent; a circumstance rather surprising, since every necessary of life is here so cheap and in such great plenty. Its distance from the coast and from the chief towns, and the hitherto bad road, may have contributed to deter settlers; it is principally occupied as a breeding district, and supports no more inhabitants than what are barely competent to manage and tend the cattle, which are chiefly purchased by private dealers, and sometimes by commissioners from government, who come hither occasionally for the purpose. The road from hence to the city of S. Paulo, distant about 80 leagues, is tolerably inhabited, especially in the vicinity of Sorocaba, something more than half way, which is a great mart for mules and horses[14]. Near this place is a well-wooded country called Gorosuava, abounding with fine limestone, where a considerable quantity of rich iron ore is found. How deplorable is it that the people should yet have to learn the application of such valuable resources!

The neighbourhood of Coritiva is watered by fine rivers, which flow into the Paraná. Many of the streams produce gold, particularly the Rio Verde; and one called the Tibigi is rich in diamonds, as the few good families in its vicinity have reason to remember with gratitude. More to the westward it is dangerous to travel, since in that direction live the Anthropophagi, who were driven from these boundaries a few years ago. The country to the north is very full of wood.

From its great elevation above the level of the sea, the climate of Coritiva is peculiarly congenial to Europeans. Its soil is in general rich, and the hills are peculiarly well adapted for the grape, which here thrives as luxuriantly as in any part of Europe. On the low lands, particularly those bordering on rivers and rivulets, are woods of considerable extent, containing timber of enormous size, and fit for almost any purpose. This immense tract of land is thinly peopled; the few inhabitants that are scattered over it, occupy themselves chiefly in the rearing of cattle, which, as it requires little or no trouble, is almost the only business which is followed. At Sorocaba there are held various market days and fairs, for the sale of horses, mules, and horned cattle, which are attended by dealers from S. Paulo, Santos, and more distant parts of Brazil. From this market mules are sent to the Rio, and even to Villa Rica. Many smiths are employed at Sorocaba in making shoes for the cattle, and a considerable number of men gain a livelihood by training and domesticating these animals, for which recourse is had to very severe methods. A fine mule, which has been thus rendered tractable, will sell for four or five times the price of one not yet “civilized;” the cost of the latter, if the animal be full grown, and from two to three years old, will be about four dollars. The horses, which are usually of the same value, are in general handsome, with fine manes and tails, short necks, and in height about fourteen hands. They are trained solely to the saddle, and are not used as mere beasts of draught or burden.

At the Rio, a good pair of carriage-mules will often sell at the enormous price of 150 or 200 dollars; such is the difficulty of rendering these animals tractable. Horses alone are used for the saddle, the mares being reserved for breeding.

Coritiva is not reported to contain gold or diamonds, yet, both these valuable products are found in some parts of the district; a fact known to but a few persons, who have profited greatly by keeping it secret. This fine country, therefore, offers few attractions to the great mass of emigrants to Brazil, who are commonly tempted by the very name of the gold mines to settle in them, or are allured by the profits accruing from plantations of cotton, sugar, or coffee, and look with indifference on the pursuits of what is termed common agriculture.

Although the soil of Coritiva is capable of producing the finest wheats, the inhabitants, for obvious reasons, persevere in cultivating mandioca. Wheat requires a series of preparations before it can be fit for food; it must be thrashed or trampled from the straw; it must be ground to flour, and afterwards divested of the bran, and must then undergo the elaborate process of panification. Mills and ovens are not among the first articles of convenience introduced into a territory, newly colonized and thinly peopled; but on the contrary, any substitute for the food, which they are instrumental in preparing, will be preferred, if it demand less care and labor. Hence the mandioca obtains the preference; it requires less culture than wheat, and when ripe, may be converted into nutritious farinha in half an hour; indeed I have gathered, prepared, and eaten it as food in a less space of time. It is therefore no matter of wonder, that the inhabitants should continue to subsist on this aliment, and on pounded maize, rather than on bread made of wheat, which demands so much greater a share of attention and industry. Maize, or Indian corn, is grown in considerable quantities, for the express purpose of feeding pigs, which constitute a staple article for consumption. In every fazenda, salt pork, as well as fowls, is invariably to be found; and bacon is cured in large quantities, and sent to S. Paulo.

The breeding of horned cattle, is left in a great measure to nature, and is much less attended to than that of mules. Few cows are domesticated; and the little cheese that is made, if I may judge of the specimens I saw at S. Paulo, is of a quality almost disgusting. I did not see any butter made here, and indeed the few products of the dairy that are obtained, are considered of no manner of importance.

The inhabitants lead an easy kind of life, in a great measure free from the molestation of fiscal and municipal officers; they pay their tythes with great cheerfulness, in kind, specie being rarely seen. Their sole wants seemed confined to salt and iron; and it is much to be lamented, that from the distance of the nearest sea port, and the badness of the roads, these commodities are with difficulty procured. From the same causes, the improvements which this delightful country might derive from commerce have been retarded, and it is as yet very inadequately provided with the means of exchanging its superfluities, for articles of the first necessity.

The chain of mountains which bounds the plain of Coritiva, is washed at the base by a lagoon, communicating in a direct line with the fine harbour of San Francisco, where many merchant-ships have been constructed of the finest timber.

In this place, although rather in anticipation of the regular course of the narrative, it may not be improper to state, that, at the request of his Excellency the Condé de Linhares, I submitted to the Court a paper on the advantageous situation of Coritiva and the sea-port above mentioned. Among other points, I suggested that an establishment might there be formed for the joint purposes of rearing live-stock, and of salting and curing beef and pork for the royal navy; that the culture of wheat, and the manufacture of bread might be encouraged; and that a depôt might be formed at San Francisco, from whence grain with other articles of consumption might be shipped to any part of Brazil. Indeed no other part of the country offers such temptations to agriculturists; nor could a colony of them planted here fail to florish, if directed by common prudence and moderate industry. The climate is salubrious; the land consists of a beautiful diversity of hill, mountain, dale, ravine, and woodland, watered by numerous streams, which take their course, not toward the sea, but in an easterly direction, and flow into the great river Paraná. Here are beasts of burden in unlimited numbers, and a sea-port within two or three days’ journey. Here is land of the finest quality where a plough was never used; here are mules and horned cattle to be had on the cheapest terms; and yet the operations of making butter and cheese are either unknown, or are practised in such a slovenly manner, as to render the articles unpalatable. Here is the finest timber; here are fruits of every kind, except those peculiar to the tropical climates. What more then is wanted? An enlightened and industrious population to improve the blessings which nature has lavished on this district with so bounteous a hand. If agriculture, in the miserable way in which it is now practised, produces sufficient to exempt the people from want, what wonders might it not produce in Coritiva, if followed according to the improved system of Europeans! A numerous and industrious population would soon adopt this, and all the other useful arts of life; the silk worm would be propagated; the hidden stores of the precious products would be explored, and the interest of posterity might be excited by the exhibition of silk, gold, and diamonds, from the banks of the same river. Another luxury might be superadded; since, from what I have seen of the grapes grown here, there can be no doubt, that, where rocky lands occur, “the generous vine” would thrive in great abundance, and Coritiva might in no long period of time become the vineyard of this vast continent.

The cattle at Coritiva sell at various prices; oxen, much fatter and in better condition than those of the Rio de la Plata or of the Rio Grande de S. Pedro, may be bought for about 14s. or 18s. a head. The horses are in general finer than those of Buenos Ayres; mules for the pack-saddle sell at about 40s. and those for riding at from three to six pounds. There is, however great fluctuation in the prices, owing to the occasional scarcity as well as the occasional abundance of specie.

But to return from this digression to San Francisco. The chief occupations of the inhabitants are the cutting of timber, and other labors connected with ship-building. Vessels of large dimensions, and a number of small craft for coasters, have been built here by merchants of Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco. When this trade is brisk, there is a great demand for the various classes of artisans whom it requires, and many negroes are employed. The wood used is so strong, and holds the iron so firmly, that ships built of it endure many years, and are in greater esteem with the Portuguese and Spaniards than those built in Europe. On this account, the harbour of San Francisco is likely to become of considerable value to Brazil; and as it is connected with Coritiva, the cattle of which have been found superior to those of Rio Grande, there is every probability, that at no distant period the Portuguese navy will be here supplied with salt provisions. This must, however, depend on the completion of the great road over the mountains, to which the present administration have laudably directed their attention, with a degree of zeal commensurate to the importance of the work in a national point of view.

I must not omit noticing another production in this district, which will rise in utility and value as the port of San Francisco improves. Toward the north there are woods of fine large pines, exceedingly hard, tough, and full of resin. They constitute a singular variety of the genus Pinus; the boughs branch off from the upper part of the tree only, and have tussocks of leaves at each extremity. A tree eighty feet high, for instance, will appear without branches to the height of about fifty-five feet; the branches there extend horizontally in every direction, with leaves at their extremities, the lowest and largest to a distance of fourteen or fifteen feet from the stem, and the higher ones gradually diminishing in length towards the top, which ends in a tuft of leaves, as a crown for the whole. These trees are very picturesque, and indeed beautiful; they grow to a sufficient size to serve as masts for ships of two or three hundred tons; I was told there were much larger ones to be found.

Resuming our voyage, we left San Francisco, and, passing the port of Cananea, arrived near the entrance of the harbour of Santos. The coast along which we sailed is low and flat, and on its verge are some poor fishing-huts, which rather add to the dreariness of its appearance. It is covered with lofty trees, which also fringe the mountainous scenery beyond it. Several rivers occur, of little note in geography, but highly advantageous to the settlers, as they pass the very doors of the dwellings, and afford easy means for the transport of produce from the interior. On nearing Santos, we passed several bold rocks, called the Alcatrazes, and a ledge or reef on which the sea broke furiously. The main land is very elevated and mountainous, so much so that the low grounds which extend from its base are scarcely perceptible from the heights next beyond them.

The harbour of Santos has a safe entrance, and is very secure; it is a strait, having the island of S. Vicente to the left, for the extent of half a mile, when it takes a different direction. Here is situated the port, which has good anchorage, with regular soundings towards the shore, which shoals gradually. The currents and eddies cause some inconvenience, and the high land occasions much variation in the winds, which perplexes mariners on their entrance into the narrows, but as the water is not deep, and the current far from strong, a ship is safe the moment her anchor is let go, and by means of a boat and kedge she may be placed in any situation the pilot chooses. The part called the narrows, is defended by two forts, on passing which there is a kind of lagoon of three or four leagues in length, almost full of mangroves, terminated by the town of Santos, one of the oldest European settlements in Brazil. In common with S. Paulo, it owes its origin to the first shipwreck on the island of S. Vicente. The river or lagoon has three or four fathoms water and a muddy bottom. Santos is a place of considerable trade, being the storehouse of the great captaincy of S. Paulo, and the resort of many vessels trading to the Rio de la Plata. It is tolerably well built, and its population, consisting chiefly of merchants, shopkeepers, and artificers, amounts to six or seven thousand souls. The situation is by no means healthy, as the country around it is low, woody, and frequently deluged with rain, by reason of the high mountains in its vicinity, which impede the passage of the clouds. Several rivulets flowing from the foot of these mountains intersect the land in various directions, and unite in one great river a little above the town of Santos. The rice of this district, which is grown in great quantities, is considered the best in Brazil, and the bananas are equally noted.

From this port the Spanish territories, as well as Rio Grande, receive several vessels loaded with sugar, coffee, rice, mandioca, &c. in return they bring chiefly hides and tallow, which are generally exported hence to Europe. The Portuguese send much of their produce to the Spanish colonies, and are generally ill paid, but the shortness of the voyage, and the want of other markets, tempt many young men to speculate, notwithstanding the heavy duties and the numberless petty obstacles with which their neighbours have impeded and encumbered this commerce. A Spaniard in his own country rarely allows even a shadow of justice to a Portuguese; he uses a thousand artifices for procrastinating the decision of a cause at issue between them, till the latter, when his patience is completely exhausted, finds that he is likely to derive nothing from the contest but immense piles of law-papers, frequently written on the most trivial points in litigation, and paid for at an exorbitant price. If he persevere after all this disappointment, it generally happens that another alcalde or judge is appointed, and then the business is laid on the shelf. The injured Portuguese, after so much waste of time and money, is threatened with worse consequences, and frequently is obliged to leave the country in ruin and disgust.

As Santos is the embarking port of S. Paulo, its intercourse with that town is very considerable. In the course of a day several hundred mules frequently arrive, loaded with the produce of the country, and return with salt, iron, copper, earthen wares, and European manufactures. For the traffic of it’s immediate vicinity, it has the convenience of water-carriage, its river being navigable about twenty miles, up to Cubataõ, where an officer with a guard of soldiers is stationed to receive the king’s duties for the repair of the roads and other public purposes.

The governor of Santos being subject in all cases to the governor of S. Paulo, we applied to him for permission to go thither, which was immediately granted. It was now eight in the evening, and we were without an asylum for the night. I had several letters of recommendation, not one of which procured us any civility, and we found that the inhabitants were far from being courteous to strangers. We were willing to impute this to want of convenient accommodations, but it may be generally observed, that along the whole coast the same shyness prevails, while in the interior the people vie with each other in acts of hospitality. Perhaps in all countries this duty is most practised where the occasions for its exercise most rarely occur.

Being unable to procure a bed at Santos, we were obliged to engage a canoe to convey us up the river to Cubataõ, where we arrived at two in the morning, and were introduced into the guard-house for a lodging. The corporal being called, he accommodated us as well as he was able; we lay down on the softest planks we could find, and made pillows of our portmanteaus, but though much wearied we found ourselves little disposed to sleep on so uneasy a couch. At sun-rise, when we got up, an extraordinary and busy scene presented itself; before the guard-house was a large space of ground enclosed by the storehouse and other out-buildings, and here a hundred mules were in the act of being harnessed and loaded; the gentleness and tractability of these fine large animals pleased us much, and the expertness of their masters, particularly of the negroes, in placing and replacing the burdens, was truly surprising.

From the good corporal, who was commanding officer here, we received every attention, and much more civility than we had reason to expect from having experienced the unaccommodating disposition of the people in Santos, in much better circumstances than himself. He procured us a good breakfast, and furnished us with saddle-mules for our journey, at the rate of ten shillings each, the distance being eight leagues. Having obtained a guide we mounted, and proceeded about half a mile, when we reached the foot of the stupendous mountains we had to cross. The road is good and well paved, but narrow, and, on account of the rugged acclivities, is cut in a zig-zag direction, with very frequent and abrupt turnings, continually on the ascent. The trains of loaded mules which we met on their way to Santos rendered the passage disagreeable, and at times dangerous. In many places the road is cut through the solid rock for several feet, in others along the perpendicular sides, and it leads frequently over the tops of conical mountains, along the edge of precipices, down which the traveller is liable to be thrown into an impervious thicket full thirty yards below. These dangerous places are secured by parapets. After ascending for an hour and a half, during which time we made innumerable turnings, we arrived at a resting place, near which, at a spot a little lower than the road, we found water. This place, as our guide informed us, was only half-way to the summit; we were astonished at the intelligence, as the clouds were already so far below us that they obstructed our prospect. During our progress hither, we observed that the mules travel as quick on an ascent as on level ground; they much excel the horse in uneven roads with sharp turnings, and still more so in bad roads.

To attempt the geology of mountains so covered by vegetable matter would be a difficult task; the component parts of those along which we passed appeared to be granite, and frequently soft, crumbling, ferruginous sand-stone. Some picturesque streams bursting from their high sources form fine cascades, and in crossing the road force their way through many detached and round masses of granite. The woods are so thick in every part, except where the mules tread, that no soil can be seen; the branches of the trees in some places meet and form an arbor over the road, which shades the traveller from the heat of the sun, and shelters him from rain.

After resting for about twenty minutes we again mounted and resumed our ascent. The road presented at times four or five zig-zags above us at one view, and gave us fresh reason for astonishment at the completion of a work so fraught with difficulties. The millions of crowns which must have been expended in clearing the woods and thickets in its course, and in cutting through the solid rock for a considerable distance, as well as in paving it through the whole extent of the ridge, afford no mean idea of the enterprising spirit of the Brazilians. Few public works, even in Europe, are superior to it; and if we consider that, by reason of the scanty population of the district through which it passes, the labor bestowed on it must have been purchased most dearly, we shall hardly find one in any country so well completed under similar disadvantages.

In three hours we reached the summit, a plain of considerable extent, the lowest estimated height of which is six thousand feet. The surface is chiefly composed of quartz covered with sand. The sea, though distant twenty miles, seemed to us as if it washed the foot of the mountains; the level part of the coast and the port of Santos below us came not within the angle of vision. While we enjoyed this sublime prospect, we were refreshed by a cool breeze, which renewed our strength and spirits, and enabled us to pursue our journey with alacrity. Advancing about a mile and a half, we came to a part of the road which was cut several feet deep through the rock, and observed in this quarter many small streams, which, though contiguous to the sea, all flow in a south-west course to an immense distance, and, uniting, form the great river Correntes, which joins the Plata. This circumstance will sufficiently explain the form of this mighty ridge of mountains, namely, that the highest and steepest side fronts the sea, and that the other shelves more gradually and with more frequent outlets to the plains of the interior. This part of the road is lined by fine trees and large thickets on both sides. The heavy rains of the season (December) had damaged it in various parts; the readiest mode of repairing these breaks is to cut down several trees, about seven inches diameter, place them across, and fasten them down with hooked stakes. The mules which travel these rugged declivities, though far more hardy than horses, frequently fall victims to fatigue; we observed some dead by the way-side. In the course of our route we passed several parties of negroes and some of Indians, working at repairs in the road, or making new branches from it. Some of them I noticed with swellings in the neck, though very different from those I have observed in Derbyshire and other mountainous countries. In the case of these Indians there not only appeared that protuberance from the glands commonly called a wen, but lumps, of from half an inch to three inches in diameter, hung from it in an almost botryoidal form. Persons thus afflicted are called in the language of the country papos.

After crossing several rivulets and passing a few houses we arrived at a tolerable inn, belonging to an officer of militia, where we were soon provided with plenty of milk, coffee, and fowls. It is distant sixteen or twenty miles from S. Paulo, and may be considered as half-way between that town and Santos. The owner, who was much surprised to see Englishmen, treated us with every civility, and procured us a change of saddle-mules. While they were preparing, he shewed us a tract of land in front of his house, tolerably well cleared, where we took an hour’s shooting. We then proceeded through a much more open country, which bore the traces of former cultivation, and seemed of late to have been much neglected. As we drew nearer S. Paulo, the road improved, and was enlivened by a greater number of habitations in its vicinity. We passed two convents, which had the air of convenient houses, and were distinguished by large crosses erected before them. The land was watered by several fine streams; in one part we observed a quarry of ferruginous grit-stone, but we had not leisure to make much mineralogical research. S. Paulo, although on an elevated site, is not observed at any great distance in this direction. In its immediate neighbourhood the river runs parallel to the road, which it sometimes partially overflows, and covers with sand. To our left we saw a large estalagem, or inn, where numbers of mules are unloaded, and travellers commonly pass the night. It consists of a very large shed, supported upon upright pieces of timber, with separate divisions for receiving the cargoes or burdens of the mules, each traveller occupying as many as his goods require; and there is a piece of ground of about a hundred yards in circumference, planted with small upright stakes, at ten or fifteen feet distance, to which the bridles of the mules are tied while they are fed, saddled, and loaded. These estalagems are common in all parts of Brazil.

On entering the town, although we had expected much from its being the capital of the district, and the residence of the governor, yet we were struck with the neat appearance of its houses, stuccoed in various colors; those in the principal streets were two or three stories high. Having arrived an hour or two before sun-set, we walked to the house of a gentleman, to whom we had a letter of recommendation; but he being absent, we were obliged to pass the night at the estalagem, where our mules had been put up. It was a miserable abode. The next morning we breakfasted with our friend, and were conducted by him to the governor, Brigadier General França Horta, who honored us with an invitation to dinner, permitted a perishable cargo of my friend’s property, which was lying at Santos, to be unloaded, and gave us a general welcome to his palace. We had the good fortune to find that two of his Excellency’s aides-de-camp, men of excellent character, had been educated in England. They assisted us in obtaining lodgings, rendered us every service that we stood in need of, and shewed an earnest desire to make our stay as agreeable as possible.

[CHAP. V.]

Description of S. Paulo.—System of Farming prevalent in its Neighbourhood.—Excursion to the Gold Mines of Jaraguá.—Mode of working them.—Return to Santos.

S. PAULO is situated on a pleasing eminence of about two miles in extent, surrounded on three sides by low meadow land, and washed at the base by rivulets, which almost insulate it in rainy weather; it is connected with the high-land by a narrow ridge. The rivulets flow into a pretty large stream called the Tieté, which runs within a mile of the town, in a south-west direction. Over them there are several bridges, some of stone and others of wood, built by the late governor. The streets of S. Paulo, owing to its elevation (about 50 feet above the plain), and the water which almost surrounds it, are in general remarkably clean; the material with which they are paved, is grit-stone, cemented by oxide of iron, and containing large pebbles of rounded quartz, approximating to the conglomerate. This pavement is an alluvial formation containing gold, many particles of which metal are found in the clinks and hollows after heavy rains, and at such seasons are diligently sought for by the poorer sort of people.

The city was founded by the Jesuits, who were probably tempted by the gold mines in the vicinity, more than by the salubrity of its air, which, however, is not excelled by any on the whole continent of South America. The medium of the thermometer here is between 50 and 80 degrees; in a morning I have observed it at 48, and even lower, though I was not there in the winter months. The rains are by no means heavy or of long continuance, and the thunder-storms are far from being violent. The cold in the evenings was frequently so considerable, that I was obliged to shut my doors and windows, put on more clothes, and have a pan of embers in the room, there being no chimneys.

Here are several squares, and about thirteen places of religious worship, namely, two convents, three monasteries, and eight churches, the greater part of which, as well as of the whole town, is built of earth. The mode of erecting the walls is as follows: a frame is constructed of six moveable planks placed edge-wise, opposite each other, and secured in this position by cross pieces bolted with moveable pins. Earth is put in by small quantities, which the workmen beat with rammers, and occasionally moisten with water to give it consistency. Having filled the frame or trough, they remove it and continue the same operation till the whole shell of the house is completed, taking care to leave vacancies, and put in the window-frames, door-frames, and beams as they proceed. The mass, in course of time, becomes indurated, the walls are pared perfectly smooth inside, and take any color the owner chooses to give them; they are generally enriched with very ingenious devices. This species of structure is durable; I have seen some houses thus built that have lasted two hundred years, and most of them have several stories. The roofs are made to project two or three feet beyond the wall, in order to throw off the rain to a distance from the base; spouts might be a more effectual preservative against wet, but their use is little known here. They cover their houses with gutter-tiles, but though the country affords excellent clay and plenty of wood, very few bricks are burnt.

The population of this place amounts to full fifteen thousand souls: perhaps nearer twenty thousand[15]; the clergy, including all ranks of religious orders, may be reckoned at five hundred. They are in general good members of society, free from that excessive bigotry and illiberality which is the reproach of the neighbouring colonies, and their example has so beneficial an effect on the rest of the inhabitants, that I may presume to say, no stranger will be molested while he acts as a gentleman, and does not insult the established religion. His Excellency the Bishop is a most worthy prelate, and were the inferior orders in his diocese to follow his steps in cultivating the sciences and diffusing useful information, they would command greater respect from their flocks, and by that means further the interests of the religion they profess. Priests, so ignorant, can hardly escape contempt.

No endemial diseases at present prevail here. The small-pox formerly, and indeed of late, made great havoc among the inhabitants, but its progress has been checked by the introduction of vaccine inoculation. Surgeons attended at a large hall belonging to the governor, to which the public were invited, and the operation was performed gratis. It is to be hoped that the credit of this preventative will make its way among the people here, for they are not competent to enter into the merits of that controversy which injured it in Europe.

Here are few manufactures of any consequence; a little coarse cotton is spun by the hand, and woven into cloth, which serves for a variety of wearing apparel, sheets, &c. They make a beautiful kind of net-work for hammocks, which are fringed with lace, and form an elegant piece of furniture, being slung low, so as to answer the purpose of sofas. The ladies are particularly fond of using them, especially when the heat of the weather disposes them to ease and indolence. The making of lace is a general employment for females, some of whom excel in it. The shopkeepers here are a numerous class, who, as in most colonial towns, deal in almost every thing, and sometimes make great fortunes. Here are few doctors, but many apothecaries; some silversmiths, whose articles are equally indifferent both in metal and workmanship; tailors and shoe-makers in great numbers; and joiners, who manufacture very beautiful wood, but are not so moderate in their charges as the former classes of tradesmen. In the out-skirts of the city live a number of Creolian Indians, who make earthenware for culinary purposes, large water-jars, and a variety of other utensils ornamented with some taste. The greatest proportion of the inhabitants consists in farmers and inferior husbandmen, who cultivate small portions of land, on which they breed large stocks of pigs and poultry for sale. With these the market is generally well supplied, and in the fruit-season is also stored with pines, grapes, peaches, guavas, bananas, a few apples, and an enormous quantity of quinces.

Esculent plants are grown in great profusion and variety. Here is a favorite bulbous root called the Cará, which is equal to the best potatoe, and even more farinaceous than many varieties of that plant; it grows to about seven inches in diameter, and affords excellent food, either boiled or roasted. Fine cabbages, sallad-herbs, turnips, cauliflowers, artichokes, and potatoes are in abundance; the latter, though very good, are little used: the sweet potatoe is in greater request among the natives. Maize, beans, green-peas, and every species of pulse florish amazingly. Fowls are cheap, we bought some at three-pence and sixpence each; small pigs from one to two shillings; and flitches of bacon, cured after the mode of the country, at about two-pence per pound. Turkies, geese, and ducks are abundant, and reasonable in price; the latter are of the Muscovy breed, enormously large, some weighing ten or fourteen pounds. Here is a singular breed of cocks; they resemble the common English in plumage and shape, but they crow very loud, and continue their last note for 15 or 20 seconds. When their voice is good, they are much esteemed, and are sent for as curiosities from all parts of Brazil. The cattle are in general good, considering that so little attention is paid to feeding them; when their pastures are full of grass, they are tolerably fat, but when otherwise they become lean. A drove may be bought at 24s. or 30s. a head; beef at about a penny or three-halfpence per pound. The curriers have a singular method of blackening cow-hides and calf-skins: when they have prepared them for that operation, they search for some mud-hole at the bottom of a ferruginous stratum, a ditch for instance; with the mud they cover that side of the skin required to be stained; and they prefer this material to the solution of copperas, probably with reason, as the sulphate of iron formed by the decomposed pyrites acts more mildly in this state than when applied in the common way.

The horses are very fine, and in general docile; when well trained they make excellent chargers. Their size is from twelve and a half to fourteen and a half hands, and they vary in price from three to twelve pounds. Mules, as we have before observed, are considered more useful beasts of burden. The breed of sheep is quite unattended to, and mutton is rarely or never eaten. Here is a very fine and large breed of goats, whose milk is generally used for domestic purposes. The dogs are very indifferent, and of no distinct race.

In my walks round the city, I had frequent opportunities of examining the singular succession of horizontal strata, that form the eminence on which it stands. They lie in the following order: first, one of red vegetable earth of variable depth, impregnated with oxide of iron; below that, sand and adventitious matter of different shades of color, as ochre-red, brown, and dusky yellow, together with many rounded pebbles, which indicate it to be of rather recent formation; it varies in depth from three to six feet, or perhaps to seven, and its lower part is uniformly yellow: under this is a bed of exceedingly fine clay of various colors, but for the most part purple; the white and yellow is the purest in quality; it is interveined with thin layers of sand in various directions. Then succeeds a stratum of alluvial matter, which is highly ferruginous; it rests on a variety of decomposed granite, containing hornblende, the proportion of feldspar apparently exceeding that of the other constituents[16]. The whole is incumbent on fine grained granite. The sides of the mount are steep, and in some places nearly perpendicular[17].

The fertility of the country around S. Paulo may be inferred from the quantities of produce, with which, as I have stated, its market is supplied. About a century ago, this tract abounded with gold; and it was not until they had exhausted it by washing, that the inhabitants thought of employing themselves in husbandry. As they did so more from necessity than from choice, they were tardy in pursuing those improvements which other nations have made in this noble art, and, pining at the disappearance of the precious mineral, considered their new occupation as vile and degrading. Indeed throughout the whole of Brazil, the husbandmen have ever been considered as forming a class greatly inferior in point of respectability to the miners; and this prejudice will in all likelihood subsist until the country shall have been drained of its gold and diamonds, when the people will be compelled to seek in agriculture a constant and inexhaustible source of wealth.

I shall attempt to describe the system of farming which at present prevails in the neighbourhood of S. Paulo. It has been elsewhere observed that, in this extensive empire, land is granted in large tracts, on proper application; and we may naturally suppose that the value of these tracts depends more or less on their situation. It therefore becomes the first object of a cultivator, to look out for unoccupied lands as near as possible to a large town; good roads and navigable rivers are the desiderata next in point of consequence which he attends to. When he has made choice of a situation, he applies to the governor of the district, who orders the proper officers to mark out the extent required, generally a league or a league and a half square, sometimes more. The cultivator then purchases as many negroes as he can, and commences his operations by erecting habitations for them and himself, which are generally miserable sheds, supported by four posts, and commonly called ranchos. His negroes are then directed to cut down the trees and brushwood growing on the land, to such an extent as he thinks they will be able to manage. This done, they set fire to all they have cut, as it lies on the ground. Much of the success of his harvest depends on this burning; if the whole be reduced to ashes he expects a great crop; if, through wet weather, the felled trees remain only half burnt, he prognosticates a bad one. When the ground is cleared, the negroes dibble it with their hoes, and sow their maize, beans, or other pulse; during the operation they cut down any thing very much in the way, but never think of working the soil. After sowing as much seed as is thought requisite, they prepare other ground for planting cassada, here called mandioca, the root of which is generally eaten as bread by all ranks in Brazil. The soil[18] for this purpose is rather better prepared; it is raked up in little round hillocks, not unlike mole-hills, about four feet asunder; into which are stuck cuttings from branches of the plant, about an inch thick and six or eight long; these soon take root, and put forth leaves, shoots, and buds. When enough has been planted for the entire consumption of the farm, the owner, if he is rich enough, prepares means for growing and manufacturing sugar. He first employs a carpenter to cut wood, and build a mill with wooden rollers for crushing the canes, by means of water, if a stream is at hand, if not, by the help of mules or oxen. While some of the negroes are assisting the carpenter, others are employed in preparing ground in the same way as for mandioca. Pieces of cane containing three or four joints, and in length about six inches, cut from the growing stem, are laid in the earth nearly horizontally, and covered with soil to the depth of about four inches. They shoot up rapidly, and in three months have a bushy appearance not unlike flags; in twelve or fifteen months more they are ready for cutting. In rich virgin soil it is not uncommon to see canes twelve feet high and astonishingly thick.

The Indian corn and pulse are in general ripe in four months or eighteen weeks. The average return is two hundred for one; it is a bad harvest when it falls short of one hundred and fifty.

The mandioca is rarely ready to take up in less than eighteen or twenty months; if the land be suitable, it then produces from six to twelve pounds weight per plant[19]. They grow very little indigo in this neighbourhood, and what they have is of indifferent quality. Their pumpkins are of enormous size, and small ones are sometimes served up as table-vegetables, but more frequently given as food to the horses. Melons here are scarcely palatable.

In no branch of husbandry are the farmers so defective as in the management of cattle. No artificial grasses are cultivated, no enclosures are made, nor is any fodder laid up against the season of scarcity. The cows are never milked regularly; they seem to be considered rather as an incumbrance to a farm than a valuable part of the stock. They constantly require salt, which is given them once in fifteen or twenty days, in small proportions. The dairies, if such they may be called, are managed in so slovenly a manner, that the little butter which is made becomes rancid in a few days, and the cheese is good for nothing. In this essential department the Paulistas are deplorably deficient; rarely indeed is there to be seen a farm with one convenience belonging to it. For want of proper places in which to store their produce, they are obliged to lay it in promiscuous heaps; and it is not uncommon to see coffee, cotton, maize, and beans, thrown into the corners of a damp shed, and covered with a green hide. One half is invariably spoiled by mould and putridity, and the remainder is much deteriorated, through this idle and stupid negligence.

They feed their pigs on Indian corn in a crude state; the time for confining them to fatten is at eight or ten months old; and the quantity consumed for the purpose is eight or ten Winchester bushels each. When killed, the lean is cut off the sides as clean as possible, the fat is cured with very little salt, and in a few days is ready for market. The ribs, chine-bone, and lean parts are dried for home consumption.

The farm-houses are miserable hovels of one story, the floor neither paved nor boarded, and the walls and partitions formed of wicker-work, plastered with mud, and never under-drawn. For an idea of the kitchen, which ought to be the cleanest and most comfortable part of the dwelling, the reader may figure to himself a filthy room, with an uneven muddy floor, interspersed with pools of slop-water, and in different parts fire-places formed by three round stones to hold the earthen pots that are used for boiling meat; as green wood is the chief fuel, the place is almost always filled with smoke, which, finding no chimney, vents itself through the doors and other apertures, and leaves all within as black as soot. I regret to say that the kitchens of many opulent people are not in much better condition.

It may well be imagined that, in a country like this, a stranger finds the greatest comfort and enjoyment out of doors. The gardens in S. Paulo, and its vicinity, are laid out with great taste, and many of them with curious elegance. The jasmine is every where a favorite tree, and in this fine climate bears flowers perennially, as does the rose. Carnations, pinks, passion-flowers, cockscombs, &c. grow in great plenty; one of their most estimable shrubs is the Palma Christi, which gives fruit the first year, and yields abundance of castor-oil, which all families possess in such quantity, that no other sort is burnt.

Bees are by no means uncommon; they are easily domesticated, and, I believe, are perfectly harmless. Their honey is pleasant; the wax, particularly that generally sold, which is taken from their nests in old forest-trees, is very foul, but might be purified by a very simple process. The woods contain a great variety of animals of the monkey kind, and also beasts of prey, some of which have tolerably good fur. Among the latter may be classed a peculiar species of the otter. Insects are numerous, but the musquitos are not so offensively so as in the Rio de la Plata. The animalculum, called the niagua or jigger, is troublesome; it beds itself under the nails of the toes, and sometimes of the fingers, but it may easily be banished by extracting it and its bag of eggs with a needle, and filling the cavity with calomel or snuff, for fear any should have remained. Reptiles, I was told, were very numerous, but I saw few, except toads, which, in the evenings, crawl upon the foot-paths, and even infest the streets of the city. The sorocucu or jararaca (serpents) are said to be very dangerous.

The woods produce large and durable timber, well calculated for building. Of their trees, all of which retain their Indian names, some yield very fine gums. The jacarandá, called in England rose-wood, is here very common. Many of their shrubs bear beautiful flowers, and are very aromatic. Among the innumerable creeping plants which clothe the soil of their uncleared lands, there are some distinguished as infallible antidotes to the bite of venomous reptiles; one in particular, called the coração de Jesus[20], is universally esteemed.

Beyond the plain which nearly encircles S. Paulo, the country is hilly, or rather mountainous. Had the period of my stay been longer, I should have devoted some time to a geological tour in that district; but having urgent reasons to hasten my departure for Rio de Janeiro, I had leisure to make only one excursion of this kind. The governor invited me to visit the old gold-mines of Jaraguá, the first discovered in Brazil, which were now his property, together with a farm in their vicinity, distant about twenty-four miles from the city. We travelled along a tolerable, and in some places, fine road, in a southerly direction, for twelve miles, and crossed the Tieti. This river is here considerably larger and deeper than in the neighbourhood of S. Paulo; it has an excellent wooden bridge, free from toll. On its banks there are some situations truly enviable; fine rich virgin lands covered with timber, and capable of producing, not only the necessaries, but the luxuries of life, in a hundred-fold degree, if properly cultivated. It was melancholy to behold a territory, which, for its teeming soil and genial climate, deserves to be called a paradise, neglected and solitary, like that of Eden after the fall; while its infatuated possessors, like the offspring of Cain, hungering for gold, kept aloof from the rich feast which nature here spread before them.

After travelling onward four leagues, we arrived at the ancient mines of Jaraguá, famed for the immense treasures they produced nearly two centuries ago, when at the ports of Santos and S, Vicente, whence the gold was shipped for Europe, this district was regarded as the Peru of Brazil. The face of the country is uneven and rather mountainous. The rock, where it appeared exposed, I found to be granite, and sometimes gneiss, containing a portion of hornblende, with mica. The soil is red, and remarkably ferruginous, in many places apparently of great depth. The gold lies, for the most part, in a stratum of rounded pebbles and gravel, called cascalho, immediately incumbent on the solid rock. In the valleys, where there is water, occur frequent excavations, made by the gold-washers, to a considerable extent, some of them fifty or a hundred feet wide, and eighteen or twenty deep. On many of the hills, where water can be collected for washing, particles of gold are found in the soil, scarcely deeper than the roots of the grass.

The mode of working these mines, more fitly to be denominated washings, is simple, and may be easily explained:

Suppose a loose gravel-like stratum of rounded quartzose pebbles and adventitious matter, incumbent on granite, and covered by earthy matter of variable thickness. Where water of sufficiently high level can be commanded, the ground is cut in steps, each twenty or thirty feet wide, two or three broad, and about one deep. Near the bottom a trench is cut to the depth of two or three feet. On each step stand six or eight negroes, who, as the water flows gently from above, keep the earth continually in motion with shovels, until the whole is reduced to liquid mud and washed below. The particles of gold contained in this earth descend to the trench, where, by reason of their specific gravity, they quickly precipitate. Workmen are continually employed at the trench to remove the stones, and clear away the surface, which operation is much assisted by the current of water which falls into it. After five days’ washing, the precipitation in the trench is carried to some convenient stream, to undergo a second clearance. For this purpose wooden bowls are provided, of a funnel shape, about two feet wide at the mouth, and five or six inches deep, called gamellas. Each workman standing in the stream, takes into his bowl five or six pounds weight of the sediment, which generally consists of heavy matter, such as granular oxide of iron, pyrites, ferruginous quartz, &c. and often precious stones. They admit certain quantities of water into the bowls, which they move about so dexterously, that the precious metal, separating from the inferior and lighter substances, settles to the bottom and sides of the vessel. They then rinse their bowls in a larger vessel of clean water, leaving the gold in it, and begin again. The washing of each bowlful occupies from five to eight or nine minutes; the gold produced is extremely variable in quantity, and in the size of its particles, some of which are so minute, that they float, while others are found as large as peas, and not unfrequently much larger. This operation is superintended by overseers, as the result is of considerable importance. When the whole is finished, the gold is placed upon a brass pan, over a slow fire, to be dried, and at a convenient time is taken to the permutation office, where it is weighed, and a fifth is reserved for the Prince. The remainder is smelted with muriate of mercury, then cast into ingots, assayed, and stamped according to its intrinsic value, a certificate of which is given with it; after a copy of that instrument has been duly entered at the mint-office, the ingots circulate as specie.

My attention was strongly engaged by the immense debris or refuse of old washings, which lay in numberless heaps, and contained various substances that gave me strong hope of finding some interesting and valuable specimens of tourmalines, topazes, and other crystallizations, and also a rich series of rocks, which form the geognostics of the country. So strongly was I prepossessed with this hope, that I really fancied I had within my reach some of the finest mineral products of Brazil. Early one morning, before the sun became too hot for work, I set out accompanied by two or three men, with iron crows and hammers, whom I had engaged to assist me. We broke up immense quantities of quartzose and granite-like matter in various stages of decomposition, and others of a ferruginous kind, but after pursuing the operation for three whole days, until my hands could no longer wield the hammer, I was obliged to give up the search as fruitless; not a grain of gold did I find, nor anything of the nature of crystallization, except some miserable quartz, a little cubic and octahedral pyrites, and some very poor maganese! In short the substances presented so little novelty, and were in themselves so ordinary, that I hesitated whether I should carry them with me to S. Paulo. This disappointment at the first gold mines I had seen, not a little dejected me.

In company with the Governor and his lady, I now took a survey of the farm; we walked and rode through extensive plantations, the productions of which, as well as the mode of culture pursued, were similar to those I have already described. Our next recreation was hunting the deer. Let not the reader imagine that I am going to lead him a chase through miles of country with a pack of hounds and a joyous company of horsemen; the mode of hunting in Brazil affords no such diversion. Three or four men go out armed with guns and attended by two or three dogs; the men separate and wait in some open place; meanwhile the dogs quest among the plantations and thickets; if they find, they drive the game out, which the hunters immediately shoot. The deer are small, and of the fallow kind; but their flesh is not esteemed.

The wild animals of this district are chiefly monkeys, sloths, a variety of the porcupine, and opossums. These, and other predatory beasts, make great havoc among the poultry. Of the feathered tribe there are not many varieties; I shot several snipes and beautiful lapwings[21] with red horns on each pinion, about half an inch in length. Here are great numbers of parrots and parroquets.

The vampire-bat, so often described by travellers, is a most formidable foe to the horses and mules. If he gets access to them in the night, he fixes on the neck-vein, above the shoulder, and sucks it to such a degree as to leave the animal almost covered with blood, fanning with his wings all the while he retains his hold, in order (as it should seem) to lull the pain caused by his bite.

The garden has a bed of fine potatoes, which were planted three or four years ago by Mr. Quarten, from Gibraltar. They are suffered to grow and reproduce themselves from season to season, none being taken up unless when wanted for food. Cabbages and other vegetables for the table grow in abundance.

This farm has the advantage of very fine timber in its neighbourhood, and when the improvements, begun by the governor, are completed, it will be well provided with water, brought from a distance of six miles, in sufficient quantities to wash the hills, and to work the machinery of a sugar-mill. On the estate were employed about fifty negroes, and half that number of free Indians; the latter ate at their master’s expense, and earned about sixpence a day; but they appeared far less laborious and handy than the negroes. They were clearing grounds and making walks in a wood, which when finished will render the place a most agreeable summer retreat.

Among the many marks of kindness with which the governor honored me, I must not omit his repeated assurances, that in the event of war between our respective countries, which was then talked of, he would not detain me. After remaining here five days, which were rendered as agreeable as possible by the polite civilities of my host, we set out on our return in the order in which we came: the governor and his lady in a carriage drawn by four mules, his aide-de-camp and myself on horseback, and six dragoons in front, the guard usually attendant on an officer of his rank. We arrived at S. Paulo without any material occurrence.

This city is seldom visited by foreigners. The passes to it from the coast are so singularly situated, that it is almost impossible to avoid the guards who are stationed in them, to inspect all travellers and merchandize passing into the interior. Soldiers of the lowest rank on these stations have a right to examine all strangers who present themselves, and to detain them and their property, unless they can produce passports. I and my friends in our way hither were thrice obliged to exhibit our licence from the governor of Santos, which was attested. Our appearance at S. Paulo excited considerable curiosity among all descriptions of people, who seemed by their manner never to have seen Englishmen before; the very children testified their astonishment, some by running away, others by counting our fingers, and exclaiming, that we had the same number as they. Many of the good citizens invited us to their houses, and sent for their friends to come and look at us. As the dwelling we occupied was very large, we were frequently entertained by crowds of young persons of both sexes, who came to the door to see how we ate and drank. It was gratifying to us to perceive that this general wonder subsided into a more social feeling; we met with civil treatment every where, and were frequently invited to dine with the inhabitants. At the public parties and balls of the governor we found both novelty and pleasure; novelty at being much more liberally received than we were in the Spanish settlements, and pleasure at being in much more refined and polished company.

The dress of the ladies abroad, and especially at church, consists of a garment of black silk, with a long veil of the same material, trimmed with broad lace; in the cooler season black cassimere or baize. In the same veil they almost always appear in the streets, though it has been partially superseded by a long coat of coarse woollen, edged with velvet, gold lace, fustian, or plush, according to the rank of the wearer. This coat is used as a general sort of undress, at home, in their evening walks, and on a journey, and the ladies, whenever they wear it, appear in round hats. The appellation of Paulista is considered by all the females here as a great honor; the Paulistas being celebrated throughout all Brazil for their attractions, and their dignity of character. At table they are extremely abstemious; their favorite amusement is dancing, in which they display much vivacity and grace. At halls and other public festivals they generally appear in elegant white dresses, with a profusion of gold chains about their necks, their hair tastefully disposed and fastened with combs. Their conversation, at all times sprightly, seems to derive additional life from music. Indeed the whole range of their education appears to be confined to superficial accomplishments; they trouble themselves very little with domestic concerns, confiding whatever relates to the inferior departments of the household to the negro or negress cook, and leaving all other matters to the management of servants. Owing to this indifference, they are total strangers to the advantages of that order, neatness, and propriety, which reign in an English family; their time at home is mostly occupied in sewing, embroidery, and lace-making. Another circumstance repugnant to delicacy is, that they have no mantua-makers of their own sex; all articles of female dress here are made by tailors. An almost universal debility prevails among them, which is partly attributable to their abstemious living, but chiefly to want of exercise, and to the frequent warm-bathings in which they indulge. They are extremely attentive to every means of improving the delicacy of their persons, perhaps to the injury of their health.

The men in general, especially those of the higher rank, officers, and others, dress superbly; in company they are very polite and attentive, and shew every disposition to oblige; they are great talkers and prone to conviviality. The lower ranks, compared with those of other colonial towns, are in a very advanced state of civilization. It were to be wished that some reform were instituted in their system of education; the children of slaves are brought up during their early days with those of their masters; they are playmates and companions, and thus a familiar equality is established between them, which has to be forcibly abolished when they arrive at that age, at which one must command and live at his ease, while the other must labor and obey. It has been said, that by thus attaching the slave to his master, in early youth, they ensure his future fidelity, but the custom seems fraught with many disadvantages, and ought at least to be so modified as to render the yoke of bondage less galling by the recollection of former liberty.

The religious processions here are very splendid, grand, and solemn; they have a striking effect, by reason of the profound veneration and enthusiastic zeal manifested by the populace. On particular occasions of this kind, all the inhabitants of the city attend, and the throng is frequently increased by numbers of the neighbouring peasantry for several leagues round. The balconies of those houses, which command the best views of the spectacle, are crowded with ladies in their gala dresses, who consider the day as a kind of festival; the evening is generally concluded by tea and card-parties or dances.

We found very little difficulty in accommodating ourselves to the general mode of living at S. Paulo. The bread is pretty good, and the butter tolerable, but rarely used except with coffee for breakfast, or tea in the evening. A more common breakfast is a very pleasant sort of beans, called feijoens, boiled or mixed with mandioca. Dinner, which is usually served up at noon or before, commonly consists of a quantity of greens boiled with a little fat pork or beef, a root of the potatoe kind, and a stewed fowl, with excellent sallad, to which succeeds a great variety of delicious conserves and sweetmeats. Very little wine is taken at meals; the usual beverage is water. On public occasions, or when a feast is given to a large party, the table is most sumptuously spread; from thirty to fifty dishes are served up at once, by which arrangement a succession of courses is obviated. Wine circulates copiously, and toasts are given during the repast, which usually occupies two or three hours, and is succeeded by sweetmeats, the pride of their tables; after coffee the company pass the evening in dancing, music, or cards.

I may here observe, that neither in S. Paulo, nor in any other place which I visited, did I witness any instance of that levity in the females of Brazil, which some writers allege to be the leading trait in their character. I allude to the custom which has been said to prevail among them, of throwing flowers from the balconies on such of the passers-by, as they take a fancy to, or of presenting a flower or a nosegay to their favorites, as a mark of partiality. The circumstance which seems to have given rise to such an ill-founded conjecture is this: flowers are here considered an indispensable part of the female head-dress, and when a stranger is introduced to a lady, it is nothing more than an act of common courtesy for her to take one from her hair to present to him. This elegant compliment he is expected to return in the course of the visit, by selecting a flower from the profuse variety which adorn the garden, or the balcony, and presenting it to her.

One singular custom I must not omit to notice, that of throwing artificial fruit, such as lemons or oranges, made very delicately of wax and filled with perfumed water. On the two first days of Lent, which are here celebrated with great festivity, persons of both sexes amuse themselves by throwing these balls at each other; the lady generally begins the game, the gentleman returns it with such spirit that it seldom ceases until several dozens are thrown, and both parties are as wet as if they had been drawn through a river. Sometimes a lady will dexterously drop one into the bosom of a gentleman, which will infallibly oblige him to change his linen, as it usually contains three or four ounces of cold water. On these days of carnival the inhabitants parade the streets in masks, and the diversion of throwing fruit is practised by persons of all ages. It is reckoned improper for men to throw at each other. The manufacture of these missiles, at such periods, affords no inconsiderable occupation to certain classes of the inhabitants; I have been informed, that in the capital of Brazil, many hundreds of people derive a temporary subsistence from the sale of them. The practice (as I can testify) is very annoying to strangers, and not unfrequently engenders quarrels which terminate seriously.

During our stay here an unpleasant report was circulated, that the port of Lisbon was shut against the English, and that war was daily expected to be declared between the two powers. Had it not been for the kindness of the governor in offering to permit our departure before he should receive orders to the contrary, we should have felt ourselves in a very disagreeable predicament. But news soon arrived that his Royal Highness the Prince Regent had left Portugal with all the court, and that they were embarked for the Brazils, under the escort of a British squadron, dispatched by Sir Sidney Smith. This intelligence was most joyfully received by the Brazilians; they considered, indeed, that the occupation of Portugal by the French, was a disaster very likely to ensue, but they consoled themselves with the hope of receiving a Prince, in whose praise every tongue was eloquent, and to whose cause every heart was loyal. The Brazilian empire was considered as established; and the worthy bishop consecrated the auspicious era by ordaining daily prayers in the cathedral, to invoke, from Divine Providence, the safe arrival of the Royal Family. News of their having touched at Bahia arrived in about ten days, and was welcomed by every demonstration of public joy, processions, fire-works, &c. Hoping, every day, to hear of their arrival at Rio de Janeiro, I made all ready for my departure, and devoted the few remaining days to a second excursion to the gold-mines, and to some farewell visits among my friends in the vicinity of S. Paulo. The governor and many of the principal inhabitants gave us parting invitations, and by their urbanity rendered the last hours we passed with them at once delightful and melancholy. Some of the latter accompanied us two leagues on our way, and on separating testified the warmest wishes for our welfare.

I never recal to mind the civilities I received at this city without the most grateful emotions, in which those will best sympathize who have known what it is to visit a remote city in a strange country, where, according to the narratives of preceding travellers, nothing prevailed but barbarism and inhospitality, and where they have been agreeably undeceived. It may easily be supposed that I found it difficult to reconcile the character of the Paulistas, such as I beheld it, with the strange accounts of their spurious origin, quoted by modern geographers. These accounts, founded on the suspicious testimony of the Jesuits of Paraguay, and at variance with the best Portuguese historians, have been of late most ably confuted by an enlightened member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Lisbon[22]. He fully exposes the inconsistencies of Vaissette and Charlevoix, in ascribing the origin of S. Paulo to a band of refugees, composed of Spaniards, Portuguese, Mestiços, Mulattos, and others, who fled hither from various parts of Brazil, and established a free-booting republic; and he satisfactorily shews that the first settlers were Indians of Piratininga and Jesuits, and that the city, from its first foundation, never acknowledged any other sovereignty than that of Portugal. The veracity of this account is further supported by the predominant character of the Paulistas, who, far from inheriting the obloquy, which an ancestry of rogues and vagabonds would have entailed upon them, have long been famed throughout all Brazil for their probity, their industry, and the mildness of their manners[23].

[CHAP. VI.]

Coasting Voyage from Santos to Sapitiva, and Journey thence to Rio de Janeiro.

WE left S. Paulo at ten in the morning, and took the same road to Santos by which we had come, there being no other, fit to travel. On the following day, before noon, we arrived at Cubatão, where we were detained by rain, until four in the afternoon. About seven we arrived at Santos, and as we were provided with a letter of introduction to a judge, and another to a merchant, we relied on a kinder welcome than we had met with on our first visit, the more so as we came from S. Paulo. We were, however, deceived. The judge received us coldly, and when I asked him where the person lived to whom our other letter was addressed, he seemed quite rejoiced at the opportunity for shewing us out of his house. The merchant was as frigid as the judge, and made us a paltry excuse. We then repaired to an apothecary, from whom we had experienced some acts of urbanity, and who had attended one of our friends, who, having left S. Paulo in a bad state of health, had waited here three weeks for a passage to Rio de Janeiro. After telling him our situation, and stating that the wet weather prevented us from passing the night in our canoe, he kindly offered us his shop-floor for a lodging, it being the only place under cover he had to spare. We commissioned him to offer four dollars to any of his neighbours who would admit us for the night, but he said it would be of no avail, as the people of Santos were proverbially notorious for their want of hospitality. The great influx of strangers and renegadoes from all nations into this and other towns on the coast, had completely steeled the hearts of the people against those claims on their good-will, which the inhabitants of the interior, less frequently imposed upon, are ever ready to acknowledge and to satisfy.

Thus disappointed, we resolved not to wait at Santos for a ship, but to proceed to Rio de Janeiro, along the coast, in a canoe. Having hired one we embarked, and after rowing all night in a strait between the continent and the island of S. Thomas, which forms one of the passages to Santos from sea, we arrived by sun-rise at Bertioga, situated at the north end of that island. It is a village, consisting of some tolerably good buildings, erected for the convenience of the Capitão Mor and his attendants, who superintend a fishing establishment here, similar to that near St. Catherine’s, and belonging to the same company, but very much inferior in extent and capacity. At both places the most expert of the negroes are employed in dressing whalebone, which is a considerable article of commerce, though smaller and less valuable than that of the Greenland whale. Along the coast which we passed, are several fine bays, where, in the best times of the fishery, large quantities of whales were annually caught. The buildings for boiling the blubber and storing the oil were conveniently situated.

The fine harbour of Bertioga is well sheltered from all winds, and the town itself, being situated at the foot of a hill, is protected from the inclemencies of the weather, and is at times inconveniently warm. The basis of the hill is primitive granite, composed of hornblende, feldspar, quartz, and mica. Fine springs of water, bursting from various parts, give variety to the scenery, and an agreeable freshness to the air. Though the place bore the appearance of poverty, we observed no signs of want; the sea affords great plenty and variety of eatable fish, and the soil produces pulse, of various sorts, and rice, quantities of which we saw loading in boats for Santos. The people with whom we had to treat used us civilly, and seemed anxious to anticipate and to gratify all our requests. As the Capitão Mor was ill, he could not render us any assistance in procuring a passage for St. Sebastian; we were therefore obliged to hire the canoe to go forward.

A strong current setting in-shore detained us until midnight; we then took advantage of a calm which succeeded, and rowed away for a headland to the eastward, near which we arrived about sunrise, after a most laborious passage. The shore was quite solitary, with the exception of two very miserable huts, at which we could procure no better a breakfast than muscles. The face of the country is low and sandy, covered with underwood and groups of trees, and watered by rivulets from a range of mountains apparently about two leagues distant.

A breeze springing up about mid-day, we again embarked, but after contending with both elements for four hours, we were obliged again to take to our oars, in order to reach Porto d’Una before sun-set, which, with considerable exertion, we effected. At this place we observed a large plantation, belonging to a religious society at Santos, who hence derive a great part of their maintenance. After waiting till two in the morning for a change either of wind or current, we got out of port and proceeded on our voyage to Rio de Janeiro. We rowed against the wind till day-light, and then found ourselves near a bluff headland with steep rocks, forming a good harbour for boats, called Toque Toque, where we arrived about nine o’clock, having passed several conical islands, which are not laid down in any chart that I have hitherto seen. Off the point of Toque Toque, extends the fine island of St. Sebastian; the strait between it and the main affords an excellent passage, and a good harbour for ships of war.

The wind still blowing fresh against us, we rested awhile, and were amused by watching some fishermen haul their nets ashore with large draughts of cavallos in them. These fish weigh from fifteen to twenty pounds each, and are caught in great numbers along this coast.

Passing point Toque Toque at noon, we entered the strait of St. Sebastian. Its width is about two leagues; the land on both sides is bold and steep, and being well cultivated has a very grand and rich appearance. The varied foliage of the trees, and the different shades of verdure in the enclosures, combined with the romantic situations of the houses dispersed among them, presented a view worthy the ablest pencil; we had full leisure to enjoy it, for the wind being still adverse, our progress depended on the toil of our wearied boatmen. Several vessels, going the contrary way, passed us in full sail, the crews of which added to our chagrin by ironically wishing us a pleasant voyage. At four in the afternoon we arrived at the town of St. Sebastian, situated on a low tract of ground about three hundred yards from the beach. The inhabitants, amounting to two or three thousand, are an indigent and not very industrious people; they subsist chiefly on fish, which was the only food we could procure during the three days we staid among them. There are some inconsiderable plantations in the neighbourhood, where a little indigo is made, and some tolerably good tobacco is grown. This town is noted (and formerly was much more so) for its very large canoes scooped out of the solid timber; some of them I have seen of almost incredible dimensions. The civil government is entrusted to a Capitão Mor, whose authority is supported by a garrison of ten or fifteen soldiers under the command of an ensign. At the house of the latter we took up our abode, while waiting for an opportunity to hire a large canoe to carry us to Sapitiva, near Rio de Janeiro. The people with whom we had to bargain, used every petty means to thwart and impose upon us, and our host shewed no disposition to protect us against their chicanery, so that we encountered many vexatious delays ere we could accomplish our purpose.

This place is by no means a desirable, or indeed, a tolerable residence for a stranger; it is exposed to all the inconveniencies peculiar to low and sandy situations; the hot unwholesome weather, seldom refreshed by a breeze, tends to multiply the immense swarms of mosquitos, which constitute one of the plagues of the torrid zone. The neighbouring island, on the contrary, being more elevated, has the advantage of a freer air, and is therefore less annoyed by these troublesome insects. It has the reputation of producing the best sugar, rum, and pulse, as well as the finest cattle in all Brazil, and these advantages, joined to its convenient situation, must render a plantation upon it highly valuable. In common with the opposite shore, and the rocks observable in various parts of the straits, the island appears to be composed of the same variety of granite I have before described. Near the town of St. Sebastian’s, I found some large pieces of green-stone, which, when struck, emitted a very clear sound; fragments of limestone were abundant on the beach, but these probably were part of some vessel’s ballast, which had been thrown overboard in the bay, and washed ashore.

Having at length hired a canoe, we embarked for a village about five miles distant, called Bayro, where we arrived safe, and staid all night at the house of a fisherman, who undertook the charge of our navigation until we should arrive at Sapitiva. Bayro is a pretty but poor village, built near the beach, and is chiefly noted as being the place where most of the earthenware, used at Rio de Janeiro, is made. The clay appears to be formed by the decomposition of feldspar. Here is a large convent, well built, and finely situated, fronting the bay and near the sea.

About nine in the morning, we embarked in our canoe, which was forty feet long, covered with an awning, and rowed by six men. In the afternoon we arrived at Porcos, a fine, bold, conical island, with good anchorage, but no port. Its coasts abound with excellent fish. Here was stationed a guard of soldiers to prevent contraband trade, and to give information respecting it; the officer, an ensign, made us welcome to all he had, and treated us with great kindness during our short stay. Leaving this place at two in the morning, we rowed through an archipelago of islets, and arrived at Porto Negro, within four leagues of Ilha Grande, and the morning following reached a bay in that island. The land is, in general, very high and irregular; in the interior it is well wooded, and contains some excellent iron ore, which is very little known. Its coasts are but partially inhabited. The strait, which separates it from the main land, is an excellent harbour in all its extent, and was the rendezvous of some English privateers during our war with Spain. The country, in its vicinity, is well clothed with large timber, and appears very fruitful, but is thinly peopled by a set of men, whose manners and pursuits denote them to be outcasts from society. In the evening we entered a fine bay, and procured some refreshment at a house on the beach, where we intended to pass the night, but a plan had been laid to rob us, and we were obliged, on discovering it, to re-embark before day-break, much rejoiced at having narrowly escaped the loss of our property and our lives. Pursuing our course among the many islands, with which this part of the coast is studded, we passed the beautiful and fertile island of Madeira, and, at noon, crossed two wide bays. A favorable breeze now, for the first time, sprung up, which lasted until we arrived at Sapitiva, and here ended our romantic canoe-voyage.

I would strongly impress on every traveller, pursuing a similar course, the expediency of providing himself with a soldier commissioned to attend him, and to protect his person and property against the evil-minded persons, who prowl about the coast in search of plunder, and greedily seek every opportunity of securing, by fraud or force, the property of defenceless passengers. We had more than once occasion to rue the neglect of this precaution.

At Sapitiva, we met with excellent accommodations. The owner of the house at which we put up, furnished us with a plentiful supper of fish, fowls, coffee, and excellent sweetmeats, which we relished the more from having, for eight days, subsisted wholly on fish. Our lodgings were tolerably comfortable, and were rendered more so by the earnestness with which every one in the family strove to please us. At sun-rise next morning, after diverting myself with shooting a few horned plovers on the beach, I took a survey of the romantic scenery around. Here are a few poor houses, and some plantations of indigo, sugar, and pulse. The beach is lined with fine aloes, and presents an interesting view of several islets in front of the bay, the most conspicuous of which is Madeira, before-mentioned. In another direction is seen that of Ilha Grande. Four leagues distant from Sapitiva is Santa Cruz, formerly the property of the Jesuits, and now the royal farm of the Prince Regent of Portugal, of which I shall have occasion, in the sequel, to speak more at large.

After settling with our host, we hired mules to carry us to Rio de Janeiro, distant forty miles. Owing to the weight of our baggage, we travelled but slowly: this, however, we did not regret, as the fatigues of our coasting-voyage rendered us rather averse to violent exertion. Proceeding through a low sandy country, covered with wood, for about three leagues, we skirted the boundary of the Prince’s farm, which encloses some of the finest and most fertile plains in South America, and gives employment to upward of fifteen hundred negroes. We soon afterwards reached the main road, which in general is very good, but the lands about it are little cleared, and seem almost destitute of cultivators. In the course of twenty miles, we saw only one house that deserved the name of a plantation; the only dwellings by the way-side were miserable huts and dram-shops, exhibiting deplorable symptoms of sloth and poverty. Before sun-set we halted at a kind of inn, where our mules were turned out to grass, and a supper was provided for us of fowls, milk, and coffee. The house, though pleasantly situated on an eminence among orange-groves and coffee-trees, was miserably deficient in those conveniences which its exterior had announced. The room where we supped was lighted by a small poor lamp, (here being no candles,) and the floor was so uneven, that our table stood on only two of its four legs. Tired with this cheerless gloom, we ordered our beds to be unpacked, and retired to rest. The want of candle-light is a serious inconvenience to travellers in all parts of Brazil, and no one ought to undertake a journey without an ample provision of candles, with the necessary implements for using them. Snuffers are articles of luxury, very rarely to be met with, except as curiosities. I need not add that beds are an equally indispensable part of a traveller’s equipage.

We resumed our journey at an early hour next day, along an excellent road in the middle of a valley, formed by lofty mountains. After travelling about three miles, we came to a house, called the Padeira (bake-house), which is reckoned half way between Sapitiva and the capital. From this place the road gradually becomes more enlivened by dwellings and plantations, (but many of the former, are wretched hovels erected for the sale of bacon, corn, liquors, &c.) and by numbers of countrymen bringing produce from every part of the south-west, even from the far districts of Goyazes, Coritiva, Cuyaba, S. Paulo, and Mato Grosso. It is not uncommon to see eight hundred or a thousand mules passing and repassing in the course of a day, besides numerous droves of fine cattle for the use of the city. Our heavy-laden and weary mules travelled so slowly, that we did not come within sight of Rio de Janeiro, until about three in the afternoon. On reaching the eminence, which commanded the first prospect of this fine city, our joyful sensations banished every feeling of fatigue. One of the party, who had advanced a few paces, rode back as fast as his mule could go, exclaiming, “the English flag.” We hastened onward, and beheld one of the most welcome sights that ever greeted the eyes of a traveller, with a remembrance of his native country—a squadron of our men of war at anchor in the bay, which had recently escorted the court of Portugal to an asylum in their own dominions, beyond the reach of their foes. We no longer felt uneasy at the thought of entering a large city inhabited by strangers; we knew that the name of Englishman would be a passport among them, and we anticipated something of that delight which is connected with the near prospect of home. I, who had for eighteen months lingered in exile, and beheld each setting sun close another day of almost hopeless captivity, enjoyed this evening-scene with indescribable emotion; it was here, that, for the first time since my landing in South America, I had just reason to promise myself a night’s repose in freedom, safety, and peace.

We soon reached the suburbs, which are very large and pleasant, being agreeably interspersed with gardens and pleasure-grounds. About five o’clock we halted in the vicinity of Campo de Santa Anna, at an inn, or rather hostelry for cattle, whence, having secured our baggage in the miserable stall allotted to us, we sallied forth in search of the friends who left us at St. Catherine’s. Accustomed, as we long had been, to rude and solitary scenes, we were forcibly struck with the opulence of this city, displayed in its magnificent buildings and regular streets. While engaged in anxious enquiries after our friends, we accidentally met one of them, who, with unspeakable joy, conducted us to the rest; and the evening was passed most agreeably in relating our several encounters, and in asking and answering innumerable questions. Returning to our inn at midnight, we remained with our luggage until morning, when we carted it up to the house of our friends in Rua dos Pescadores.

During our journey from Sapitiva to Rio de Janeiro, we had not much leisure for geological observation. The stratum, in the course of the route, appeared to be generally granite, like that before described. In some parts we observed large stones, approximating to green-stone, and in other parts we found fine clay. Nearer to the capital, and particularly in the environs of St. Cristovão, the Prince’s country-palace, the stratum has a gneiss-like appearance, and produces some fine specimens of feldspar. In the precincts of the city, there is an extensive flat, covered with mangroves, and overflowed by the tide. At the foot of the mountains which bound it, are quarries of granite, large blocks of which are raised for building purposes, as well as for paving the streets of the city.

[CHAP. VII.]

Description of Rio de Janeiro.—Trade.—State of Society.—Visit to the Prince Regent’s Farm at Santa Cruz.

RIO DE JANEIRO has been so often described by former travellers, that, were I to confine myself to the supply of what they have omitted, or to the correction of their mis-statements, my task would be speedily performed, but, as I have uniformly chosen to write freely from my own observation rather than follow the track of others, I shall trespass on the reader with a more detailed account than he might perhaps require. It will, however, be recollected that the period at which I visited this capital, being a political æra in the annals of Brazil, is sufficiently interesting to excuse, if not to justify me in the attempt to improve upon descriptions of an earlier date, though at the risk of a little repetition.

The finest view of the city is from the harbour[24], whence its lofty eminence crowned with convents, and the hills in its environs, interspersed with villas and gardens, have a rich and magnificent appearance. The royal palace skirts the beach, and is seen to great advantage from the principal landing-place, which is within sixty yards of its doors. This palace, though small, is the residence of the Prince Regent and the royal family: the mint and the royal chapel form parts of the structure. Parallel with the beach runs the main street, consisting of noble buildings, called Rua Dereita, from which the minor streets branch off at right angles, and are intersected by others at regular distances.

Some idea of the extent of the city may be formed from the population, which, including the negroes, (its most numerous portion,) is estimated at a hundred thousand souls: the dwellings, at the out-skirts, are generally of one story only.

The numerous convents and churches are well built, and rather handsome; the church of Candelaria, now finished, is in a superior style of architecture. The streets were formerly incommoded by latticed balconies, which had a very heavy appearance and obstructed the circulation of the air, but they have been taken away by order of Government. The greatest nuisances now remaining are those which arise from the custom of persons of all ranks on horseback to ride on the foot-paths, and from the preposterous hanging of shop and house-doors, which all open outward into the street, to the great annoyance of foot-passengers: I may also add the frequent pools of stagnant water, which, from the lowness of the site, cannot without much labor be drained away, and which, through the heat of the weather, often emit the most putrid exhalations. Water for the use of the city flows from the hills through aqueducts, and is distributed to several fountains in various public places. It is to be regretted that there are not more of these for the supply of the inhabitants[25], numbers of whom live a mile distant from any of them, and are obliged to employ persons continually in carrying water: many of the poorer classes earn a living by selling it. The fountains in dry weather are frequently so crowded, that the carriers have to wait for hours before they can be supplied. The water is good, and, when kept in large jars, drinks cool and pleasant. The inns and public houses are almost destitute of accommodations, and so very uncomfortable that a stranger will not reside in them if he can find a friend to take him in. House-rent, after the arrival of the Royal Family, became equally high as in London, owing, it should seem, to the dearness of building materials, and the high price of masonry. Timber in particular is unaccountably scarce, considering the quantity which grows in almost every part of Brazil; even firewood is dear. Provisions are in general plentiful, but not very choice in quality: the beef is very indifferent, and indeed bad; the pork is better, and, if the feeding were properly attended to, might be rendered fine; mutton is almost unknown, as the natives will not eat it[26]; the poultry of every description is excellent, but it is very dear. Pulse and vegetables of all kinds are very abundant, and the fish-market is not ill supplied. Turtles are frequently caught, as well as a great variety of fish; there are abundance of very fine large prawns. The oysters and muscles, though not equal to ours, are very tolerable.

Owing to its low situation, and the general filthiness of its streets, Rio de Janeiro cannot be called healthful. Improvements are now making which will in part remedy these evils; but other causes tend to increase the insalubrity of the air, and to spread contagious distempers, the principal of which are the large importations of negroes from Africa, who commonly land in a sickly state, the consequence of close confinement during a hot voyage. It is much to be regretted that the city was not originally built on the plan of those in the Netherlands, with canals for brigs and small vessels, which might then have been unloaded at the doors of the warehouses: such an improvement would have also greatly tended to the cleanliness and salubrity of the town.

The police is by no means ill regulated; and, from the attention which has been paid to it since the arrival of the court, there is every hope that it will be placed on a footing equally respectable with that of any European capital. The prisons are loathsome, and require the benevolent genius of a Howard to reform them altogether. One great step in favor of humanity has been gained: the inquisition has been abolished, and with it the spirit of persecution, so that no one can now be offended for his theological tenets, unless he openly insult the established religion.

This city is the chief mart of Brazil, and especially of the provinces of Minas Geraes, S. Paulo, Goyazes, Cuyaba, and Coritiva. The mining districts, being most populous, require the greatest proportion of consumable goods, and in return send the most valuable articles of commerce, hence innumerable troops of mules are continually travelling to and from those districts; their common burden is about three hundred weight each, which they carry to the almost incredible distance of 1500 or 2000 miles. Their homeward freight consists chiefly of salt for the consumption of the cattle, and iron for the working of the mines, and goods of all descriptions.

No colonial port in the world is so well situated for general commerce as Rio de Janeiro. It enjoys, beyond any other, an equal convenience of intercourse with Europe, America, Africa, the East Indies, and the South Sea Islands, and seems formed by nature as the grand link to connect the trade of those great portions of the globe. Commanding also, as the capital of a rich and extensive territory, resources of immense amount and value, it seemed to require only the presence of an efficient government to give it political importance, and this advantage it has now gained by becoming the chosen residence of the court of Portugal. The benefits resulting from this great event had but just begun to display themselves at the period to which this narrative refers; and the commercial relations of Rio de Janeiro, though considerably augmented, were still but in their germ. I shall proceed to state them according to the best information I was then able to procure.

The imports hither from the River Plate, and from Rio Grande de St. Pedro, consist in immense quantities of dried beef, tallow, hides, and wheat. Those from the United States are chiefly salt provisions, flour, household furniture, pitch, and tar. The North Americans generally send cargoes of these articles on speculation, and, as the market for them is fluctuating and not to be depended on, they frequently take them to other ports. Their provisions are commonly sent to the Cape of Good Hope. They bring European merchandize, which they exchange for specie wherewith to trade to China, and also take in necessaries on their voyages to the South Seas.

From the western coast of Africa, Rio de Janeiro imports wax, oil, elephant’s teeth, gum, sulphur, and some woods. The negro trade has been restricted to the kingdom of Angola by a decree of the Prince Regent, who has declared his intention of abolishing it altogether as soon as possible.

The trade to Mozambique is trivial; but, since the capture of the Isle of France by the British has cleared that coast from French privateers, it may be expected to increase. It affords many valuable products, such as gold-dust, brought from the interior, ivory, of which the Prince monopolizes the largest sort, ebony and other fine woods, drugs, oil, excellent columbo-root, and an abundance of various gums, particularly of the gum meni. The whale fisheries on the coast have proved a source of riches to many speculators.

The intercourse of this port with India, in common with Mozambique, has been much annoyed by the privateers of the Isle of France, and will therefore, in all probability, florish equally by their suppression. A voyage thither and back is performed with great expedition: one large ship of eight hundred tons sailed, loaded at Surat, and returned within the space of seven months. A voyage to China seldom occupies a longer period. The trade thither will no doubt be revived, and it is not improbable that this port may, at no great distance of time, become an entrepôt for India goods destined for Europe.

Rio de Janeiro is conveniently situated for supplying a great variety of necessaries to the Cape of Good Hope and to New South Wales; indeed, of late years, English manufactures have been sold here so cheap, that it has been found more advantageous to ship them hence for those colonies than from home. Ships going on the South Sea whale-fishery touch here, and lay in large quantities of spirituous liquors, wine, sugar, coffee, tobacco, soap, and live stock.

The imports from the mother-country consist chiefly in vinegar, hardware, coarse linen, hats, silks, wine, and oil. From Sweden some iron, also pitch and tar are occasionally brought: it is preferred to English iron, particularly for mules’ shoes, on account of its greater ductility.

The exports consist principally of cotton, sugar, rum, coffee, rice, ship-timber, various fine cabinet-woods, hides, tallow, indigo, and coarse cotton cloths, in immense quantities, for clothing the Peons in the provinces of the River Plate. Among the more precious articles of export may be enumerated gold, in chains and other ornaments, diamonds, topazes of various colors, amethysts, tourmalines, (that are frequently sold for emeralds), chrysoberyls, aqua-marinas, and wrought jewelry.

This market has been greatly overstocked with English manufactures, in consequence of the sanguine speculations to which our merchants were incited by the late emigration. The supply exceeded the demand in a tenfold degree, and the excess gave rise to auctions, where goods were sold at unprecedentedly reduced prices. In proportion as English merchandize lowered, that of Brazil rose in value; and so great was the demand for it, owing to the numerous vessels waiting for cargoes, that within a year after the arrival of the Prince Regent, the price of every article of produce was doubled. Gold quickly disappeared; for the monied Portuguese, perceiving the avidity and impolitic eagerness with which the English forced their goods upon them, cautiously withheld their specie, and, by the alternative of barter, got rid of their own produce at a very high price, and obtained our merchandize almost at their own valuation. The losing party in this unequal traffic, though they had chiefly to blame their own imprudence in engaging in it, were loud in their complaints and remonstrances against the Portuguese merchants. A treaty of commerce was concluded, by which the duties on English merchandize were fixed at fifteenper cent. while other nations were to pay twenty-four per cent. ad valorem. A judge was appointed to attend solely to the concerns of the English, and to see justice done them: he was entitled the Juiz Conservador of the English nation. The person who now fills this important office is one of the most enlightened and upright of men; his official conduct, of which I have seen much, has secured him the respect of all parties, and has done credit to the choice of the Prince Regent, confirmed by the approval of his Excellency Lord Strangford. Further to cultivate and extend the interests of commerce, his Royal Highness has established a Board of Trade, in which are some experienced and intelligent men, to whose consideration every particular case, and every new regulation, is referred. One of the members of this Board, Dr. José da Silva Lisboa, has greatly distinguished himself by his zeal for the English nation, displayed in various publications on commerce, particularly in one dated May 1810, which contains a fund of solid argument on the principles laid down and acknowledged by our most celebrated statesmen and political writers. It is to be hoped that the diffusion of views so liberal, under the auspices of ministers, will banish that narrow-minded jealousy with which certain opulent individuals of the Brazilian capital regard the English merchants, whom they stigmatize as intruders; and that the general interests of commerce in this thriving colony will gain, through fair competition, what they have heretofore lost through overstocked markets.

The business of the custom-house, although still shackled with many troublesome and tedious regulations, especially with regard to small articles, has been considerably simplified; and in all cases, where a stranger finds himself at a loss how to proceed, he is sure to have every difficulty explained, and every obstacle removed, by appealing to the judge who presides over this department. The liberality and disinterestedness of this excellent officer are the more generally felt and acknowledged, from an apprehension of the inconveniences with which his situation might enable him to embarrass the trade, if he were inclined to a more rigorous execution of the laws.

In mentioning the advantages which have resulted to the English merchants from the liberality of the persons in office, I ought not to omit stating that much has been effected through the exertions of the British minister, who, while pursuing that conciliatory and moderate line of conduct, which gained him the esteem of the Prince Regent, ever firmly upheld the interests of his nation; and in all deliberations concerning them, reserved to himself the casting vote. With respect to individuals, it is true that he declined to be troubled on every trivial occasion, and scrupulously discountenanced every covert attempt at monopoly or peculation, from whatever quarter it came; but in great questions he acted with promptitude and decision; nor was he averse to use his influence in favor of a private individual, when a candid and manly appeal was made to him. Considering the peculiar circumstances attending his embassy, and also the jarring interests he had to reconcile, Lord Strangford conducted himself in a way highly honorable to his talents and character; and in continuing to merit the confidence of his own court, secured that of the Prince Regent and all his ministers. The treaty of commerce is a proof of the harmony which subsists between them, and may be regarded on our part as the most advantageous that, in the existing posture of affairs, could have been procured.

The harbour is easy of entrance and egress, generally speaking, at all times, as there is a daily alternation of land and sea breeze, the former blowing until about noon, and the latter from that hour until sun-set. Ships find here every conveniency for repairing, heaving down, &c. but it is to be hoped that docks will soon be formed, which will render the latter troublesome and dangerous operation unnecessary. There is an anchorage-duty paid, which forms an item in the bill of port charges.

Of the state of society in Rio de Janeiro, what I have to observe differs little from the description of the Paulistas given. The same habits and manners prevail at both places, allowing for some slight variation, caused by the greater influx of strangers to the capital. The Portuguese are in general rather punctilious and reserved in admitting a foreigner to their family parties; but having once received him, they are open and hospitable. The ladies are affable and courteous to strangers, extremely fond of dress, but less proud than those of other nations. In their mixed assemblies the utmost gaiety prevails, and is seasoned by that finished politeness for which the Portuguese are generally distinguished. The conversation of the best bred men, however, is more lively than instructive; for education is here at a low ebb, and comprehends a very limited course of literature and science. It is proper to add that, since the arrival of the court, measures have been adopted for effecting a thorough reform in the seminaries, and other institutions for public instruction; and that the Prince Regent, in his solicitude for the good of his subjects, has zealously patronized every attempt to diffuse among them a taste for useful knowledge. Under his auspices, the college of S. Joaquim has undergone considerable improvement: a lectureship on chemistry has been instituted, to which our countryman, Dr. Gardner, has been nominated by his Royal Highness; and it is to be hoped that from this appointment may be dated the introduction of experimental philosophy in that establishment.

Resuming my narrative, I am bound in gratitude to state that the reception I met with here exceeded my most sanguine hopes, and far more so any individual pretensions on which I could ground them. I must attribute it to the letter of introduction to the Viceroy, with which the Portuguese minister in London honored me on my departure thence, and which I presented to his noble relative, the Conde de Linhares, minister for foreign affairs. This distinguished statesman shewed me every attention, and granted me every privilege I could ask, so that, through his kind condescension, all went well with me. I may state this without incurring the imputation of vanity, since it is only one among the numerous proofs he has given of his disposition to serve the English by every means in his power.

A few weeks after my arrival, I solicited permission of His Excellency the Conde de Linhares to work an iron mine at Guaraceaba, representing at the same time the immense advantages which might accrue to the state from such an experiment, by opening its own resources for the supply of that useful metal. He in part assented to the proposal, but expressed a wish that I should previously devote a few days to an inspection of the Prince’s farm at Santa Cruz; and on my return make a report of the state in which I found it. While preparing for my journey, it was intimated to me as the Prince’s particular desire, that I should endeavour to establish a dairy on the principle of those in England, and direct the people in the management of it, to which I readily assented. Being provided with horses and a soldier to attend me, I set out on the journey accompanied by a gentleman named Paroissien, whose amiable disposition and scientific pursuits rendered him a very useful companion. After about fifty miles hard riding, we arrived at the farm about six in the evening, much fatigued. The accommodations we met with, fully explained to me the motive of His Royal Highness’s minister in enquiring into the state of his domain. Having presented my official letters, I was obliged to wait until ten o’clock before the slightest refreshment could be procured; not a dish of coffee was to be had; the only fare set before us was some lean beef half-boiled, certainly the worst I had ever tasted in Brazil. The mulatto who attended us engaged to have breakfast ready by seven next morning; we were in readiness at the hour, and though told it was coming immediately, we waited three hours, when just as we were ordering out the horses to Rio to avoid being famished, the repast was announced, with an excuse that it could not come sooner, because no milk could be procured.

I then took a survey of the establishment and rode over the grounds. The house, I was informed, was once a convent of Jesuits, who possessed also the extensive tract of land attached to it, which they managed much better than their successors, if we may judge by the remains of their undertakings. The edifice is neither large nor grand: it is built in a quadrangular form, with an open court in the centre, and galleries inside to the first and second floors. The apartments are thirty-six in number, very small, having been adapted to the use of the brotherhood, and since their departure only in a slight degree altered and decorated for the reception of the Royal Family, as their summer residence. In front of the house, to the southward, extends one of the finest plains in the world, two leagues square, watered by two rivers navigable for small craft, and bounded by fine bold rocky scenery, embellished in many parts with noble forest trees. This plain is clothed with the richest pasture, and supports from seven to eight thousand head of cattle. A considerable part of it lies low, and abounds with bogs, which might easily be laid dry and rendered susceptible of cultivation by proper drainage. The park occupies in its entire extent upwards of one hundred square miles, a territory almost as large as some of the principalities of Italy, and capable, by its proximity and connection with the capital both by land and water, of being rendered one of the most productive and populous in Brazil. Under the present system of management it is in a progressive state of deterioration; two small corners, the best of the land, one about half a league square, and the other more than a league square, have been already, through disingenuous artifices, sold off, and the rest may in no long time be sacrificed to men whose cupidity stimulates them to depreciate its value, unless proper means are used to thwart their nefarious designs.

The negroes on this estate, including all descriptions, amount to about fifteen hundred in number. They are in general a very excellent class of men, tractable and gentle in their dispositions, and by no means deficient in intellect. Great pains have been taken to enlighten them, they are regularly instructed in the principles of the Christian faith, and have prayers publicly read to them morning and evening, at the commencement and close of their day’s labor. Plots of ground, at their own choice, are assigned to each, and two days in the week, besides the incidental holidays, are allowed them to raise and cultivate produce for their own subsistence; the rest of their time and labor is devoted to the service of His Highness. The system of management, however, is so bad, that they are half-starved, almost destitute of clothing, and most miserably lodged; their average earnings do not amount to a penny per day each. A reform in the establishment might have been easily effected on the arrival of the Prince Regent, but it will now be very difficult, as the abuses have been tacitly sanctioned by the indifference of those whose duty and interest it was to correct them. In this extent of fine ground scarcely an inclosure is made; the cultivated lands are full of weeds, and the coffee-plantations are little better than a mere coppice-wood, in which the wild shrubs grow higher than the coffee-trees. The cattle are most deplorably neglected, and there is not upon the whole premises a horse fit for the meanest beggar to ride. Such was the state in which I found this rich and extensive district, which seems to have been destined by nature for the introduction of improvements that might produce, through the influence of high example, an entire change in the agricultural system of Brazil.

A short time after I had taken up my residence at Santa Cruz, the Prince came down, and on the day succeeding his arrival honored me with a visit, after which I frequently rode out with His Royal Highness. He one day did me the honor to express a wish that I would undertake to govern the farm; this proposal I begged leave to decline, on the ground of my inability to render such an employ compatible with my other concerns, suggesting at the same time the superior service I could render by working the iron mine. Notwithstanding this, the Prince, on the day following, gave me a paper, containing an offer of the whole direction of the estate, and stating the terms. The repetition of the proposal not a little embarrassed me; I was aware that, by refusing, I might probably debar myself from the prospect of any future favor, yet I anticipated enough of difficulty in the undertaking to make me decline it at all events. This dilemma occasioned me much uneasiness, and in order to remove it I applied to Sir Sidney Smith, who was then on a visit to Santa Cruz, requesting him to explain to His Royal Highness the circumstances which rendered it impossible for me to settle in Brazil, and to tender him the offer of my services during my stay. After some further deliberation, however, I was induced to accept the appointment, by way of trial, for a few months, under the express stipulation that I should act without control. On entering upon my charge I began by making such new arrangements as appeared conducive to the end for which I was appointed, but I soon perceived that instead of being principal intendant, I had a superior, who held me accountable to him for my proceedings, and manifested a fixed determination to thwart them, as innovations on the established course of things. But this was not the only inconvenience; it was expected that I should purchase whatever was wanted on my own credit; but I quickly discovered, that instead of being reimbursed, according to agreement, I was trifled with and at length in part defrauded. The person here alluded to, was one the managers of the Prince’s household; he could not bear that a foreigner should interfere in a concern over which he claimed authority, and hold a situation where real services might induce a comparison unfavorable to those which he contented himself with rendering. A detail of the artifices and insults which this man employed to disgust me with the situation, when he found I would not submit to be his servile drudge, would be tedious; suffice it to say, that, perceiving no chance of obtaining that discretionary power, which alone could enable me to be essentially useful, I peremptorily refused to act any longer. Alarmed at this determination, he at first strove to overawe and then conciliate me, but I had seen too much of his conduct to be duped by this stratagem, or to suppose that any cordiality could in future subsist between us. Imagining himself armed with royal power, he attempted to play the tyrant, but the reception he met with quickly forced him to resume his natural character. I did not hesitate to send in my resignation, and he had the mortification to find that the means he had employed to embarrass and enslave me, restored me to liberty.

In the letter which announced my determination to give up the employ, I thought proper to omit stating to His Excellency the Conde de Linhares, the reasons that led me to this step. Had that nobleman been apprised of the disagreeable circumstances in which I was placed, he would, I am confident, have done his utmost to remove them.

On my return to Rio de Janeiro, the Prince sent for me, and desired me again and again to return to Santa Cruz; I contented myself with a simple excuse; for that was not a time, nor was I in a place to enter into explanations. It is well known, that a system of intrigue prevailed near His Royal Highness’s person, which often tended to counteract representations on matters of the greatest importance.

In this place, I shall take leave to introduce some remarks on the province of Rio de Janeiro, from the pen of my friend, the Baron Von Langsdorff, His communication is dated November 20, 1820.

“The province of Rio de Janeiro, being situated on the confines, and without the tropic of Capricorn, is in general, in consequence of that situation, less warm than the countries which lie near the line. The whole territory extending 90 leagues in length and 35 in breadth is mountainous, with the exception of the district of Goytacazes, usually called Campos. It is therefore naturally divided into high and low lands. In the latter the heat is as great as in the other countries between the tropics, and consequently favorable to the culture of coffee, sugar, cotton, indigo, cocoa, rice, and other colonial productions, as well as to the growth of the most valuable trees of India, and of its exquisite fruits and spiceries, many of which have been introduced with success. The mango, the tea-plant, the bread-fruit tree, from the islands of the Pacific, thrive well here, as well as the camphire of Japan, the ginger, the cardamum, and the casawarine of New Holland.

“On the mountains, which rise to the height of three thousand English feet, which are covered to the summit with impenetrable virgin forests, and of which the smiling valleys are watered by limpid streams, the temperature is as various as the productions. The forests abound in game, and in every kind of wood for ornamental work. In the grounds newly cleared, the fruit-trees and plants of Europe, the peach, the fig, the vine, the quince, and the strawberry, are cultivated with surprising success.