504 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



of the country. I have been surprised to find young law- 

 yers almost invariably at the head of the administration of 

 the provinces, where practical men, conversant w r ith the in- 

 terests of agriculture, commerce, and the mechanical arts, 

 would, in ray opinion, have been better adapted to the 

 pressing duty of stimulating all pursuits connected with 

 the active life of a young and aspiring nation. 



The exaggerated appreciation of political employment 

 prevailing everywhere is a misfortune. It throws into the 

 shade all other occupations, and loads the government with 

 a crowd of paid officials who uselessly encumber the public 

 service and are a drain upon the public funds. Every man 

 who has received an education seeks a political career, as 

 at once the most aristocratic and the easiest way of gaining 

 a livelihood. It is but recently that gentlemen have begun 

 to engage in mercantile pursuits. 



It seems to me, that, though the character and habits 

 of the Brazilians are not those of an agricultural people, 

 Brazil is an essentially agricultural country, and some 

 occurrences in her recent history confirm this view. Bra- 

 zil had formerly a great variety of agricultural products, 

 but now the number of plants under culture is rather 

 limited. Agricultural operations are at present centred 

 upon coffee, cotton, sugar, tobacco, mandioca, some cereals, 

 beans, and cocoa. Owing to her climate and her geographi- 

 cal position, the vegetable zones of Brazil are not so marked 

 as those of other countries. It would not be difficult to 

 divide the whole Empire, with reference to its productions, 

 into three great regions. The first of these, stretching from 

 the borders of Guiana to Bahia, along the great rivers, is 

 more especially characterized by the wild products of the 

 forest : Indian-rubber, cocoa, vanilla, sarsaparilla, and an 



