54 mines. L '1838 



south of the Acaray mountains, there are extensive plains, 

 wooded near the streams, but elsewhere covered with rank 

 grass. These grassy plains are called llanos, or pampas ; 

 countless herds of wild horses and cattle roam over them at 

 will, unchecked and unpursued, save by the guachos, or 

 herdsmen, who spend most of -their time upon horseback, 

 armed with the knife and lasso. Immense numbers of cat- 

 tle are annually taken by them and slaughtered, chiefly for 

 their hides and horns, though the hams, and sometimes other 

 portions of the carcass, are smoked or jerked. After being 

 cured, the hides are bound up in packages, for exportation, 

 one of which is called a last, and contains twelve dozen. 



(9.) Not more famous were the pearls of Ormuz, or the 

 diamonds of Golconda, than, in former days, was the mine- 

 ral wealth of Brazil. This may be said to have been meas- 

 urably exhausted, yet the annual products of the mines and 

 diamond washings, at this time, are by no means inconsider- 

 able. The first discovery of gold was made in 1682, at Ca- 

 lapreta, in the sands of the Mandi, a tributary of the Rio 

 Dolce. Since that time it has been found almost everywhere 

 in the streams and ravines at the foot of the Brazilian Andes, 

 from the fifth to the thirtieth degree of southern latitude. 

 The most productive mines are near Villa Rica, in the sub- 

 urbs of the village of Cocaes : a remarkable example is 

 here presented, of the existence of this mineral among the 

 primitive strata, disseminated in small grains, spangles and 

 crystals ; great quantities of native gold, in spangles, being 

 obtained from beds of granular quartz, or micaceous specu- 

 lar iron. There are, also, many valuable mines in the prov- 

 ince of Minas Gerae's, where the metal is found in veins, in 

 beds, and in grains, among the alluvial loams ; and there 

 are washings yielding handsome profits, on the eastern slope 

 of the Cordilleras, in the upper valley of the Amazon. 



From 1790 to 1802, over fifteen thousand pounds, avoir- 

 dupois, of gold, were annually taken from Brazil to Europe ; 

 but the yearly product is now estimated at only two thou- 



