1821.] 



Sketch of a Journey to Brazil. 



107 



For the Monthly Magazine, 



SKETCH of the JOURNEY of the twO BA- 

 VARIAN ACADEMICIANS, DOCTORS 

 SPIX and MARTINS, to nRAZIL, 



{from the Eos. a periodical tvoric on 

 Arts and Sciences, published at Mu- 

 nich.) 

 THE two naturalists and academi- 

 cians set out I'roni Triest in the fri- 

 gate ^^(«<r/«, whicii carried the present 

 Queen of Poriugal, then Arcluhichessof 

 Austria, to Brazil ; and after having 

 touched on this voyage at Pola, Malta, 

 Gibraltar, and Madeira, they were safely 

 landedon thel4tliJaly, 18175in thenew 

 metropolis Rio de Janeiro. After hav- 

 ing investigated the vicinity of this city, 

 and despatched from that place a lai-ge 

 collection of natural curiosities for 

 Munich, they entered on the 10th Dec. 

 on their journey into the interior of the 

 country. They proceeded to the south 

 of Rio de Janeiro, to the province of 

 S. Paulo, as far as Porlo-Felix on the 

 Tieti, beyond the tro])ic of Capricorn. 

 Here they again turned to the north to 

 S. Joa'o d'El-Rcy and Villa-Rica, the 

 centre of the Brazilian gold-mines, 

 formed a digression into the forests on 

 Rio Doro, inhabited by the tribes of 

 Puri, Corope, Coroato and Botccudo, 

 and then continued their journey to 

 Tejuco, the centre of all the diamond- 

 mines. The diamond district, of 

 which Tejuco is the capital, is the 

 Alpine-country of Brazil, the delight- 

 ful valleys of which offered ample store 

 for the investigations and collections 

 of the naturalists. From hence they 

 went to the Comarca of Minasnovas, 

 particularly for the purpose of examin- 

 ing the appearance of the emeralds, gar- 

 nets, red tourmalines, white and blue 

 topazes, chi-ysoberyls, &c. in their na- 

 tive beds. They afterwards traversed 

 the extensive Cerrao between the dia- 

 mond-river Jequetinhoiihaandthe Rio 

 de S. Francisco; crossed this large river 

 near Salgado, and penetrated over the 

 high plains of the Chapada de Paranan 

 in Goyaz, to the sources of the Tocantin, 

 which, from here, runs to Para, towards 

 the river Amazon. 



Amidst the greatest difficulties and 

 sufferings they returned from those 

 central parts towards the coast; they 

 crossed th»! Rio de S. Francisco again, 

 at a narrower place, and after having 

 crossed the burnt, and now leafless 

 wowls of \\w. interior of the Capitania 

 of Bahia, they reached at the end 

 of 1818, the capital of this province 

 8. Salvador, commonly callea Bahia. 



This journey backwards they chiefly 

 undertook for the purpose of embark- 

 ing tlie treasures they had been col- 

 lecting for Europe, and to prepare for 

 anotlier joiuuey into the interior. From 

 Bahia they nr.ule a digression to the 

 Comarca d'os Ilheos, at a distance of 

 about oO miles south from the city ; 

 they went thither by water, and made 

 some excursions into the forests of that 

 coast. The favourable season for their 

 new journey being in the mean time 

 arrived, they left Bahia and proceeded, 

 with the greatest exertions, to the 

 villa da Jacobina, 100 miles from Bahia, 

 and even were fortunate enough to 

 penetrate from that spot for 40 miles 

 farther on one side into the mountains, 

 where they met with many fossile bones 

 ofthemammoth, and ablock of meteoric 

 iron, M'eighing 300 arrobas. Our ex- 

 hausted naturalists tiien hastened to 

 leave this dreary district, in which 

 a drought of three years had consumed 

 all vegetation, and threatened destruc- 

 tion to themselves as well as to their 

 cattle. With the loss of tlie greater 

 part of their Troppa, they again reached 

 the Rio de S. Francisco, near Joazeiro, 

 on whose verdant banks they could 

 collect and re-organize it. They then 

 crossed this river, and proceeded on 

 their journey with renewed courage. 

 They crossed the rich plains of the 

 Capitania of Pernambuco, and then 

 those of Pianhy, so rich in salt, and 

 which, on account of the quantity of 

 cattle they contain, may be called Bra- 

 zilian Switzerland. After unspeakable 

 dangers and sufferings, to which our 

 travellers had been exposed through 

 iutPi mitteut anil nervous fevers, on the 

 river Painaiha, they at last reached 

 Aldeas-Aldas, tlie first village in the 

 Capit.inia of Rlaranhao. Although 

 still ill, they yet pi-oceeded on to the 

 town of S. Luiz de Maranhao, embark- 

 ing on the river Itapicuni, dangerous 

 on account of its many currents and 

 rocks. The travellers cannot speak 

 enough in praise of tlie English con- 

 sul (if (hat place, who, under (he gene- 

 rous feeling, that men who sacrificed 

 tliemselves for all mankind, ought to 

 be treated with kindness by all men, 

 took the greatest care for their re- 

 covery. After the naturalists had 

 examined the isle of Maranhao and the 

 neighbouring main land, they embarked 

 for Para, where tliey arri\-ed after a 

 navigation of six days. Tliey liad suc- 

 cessfully completed their jouniey, on 

 horseback, from Rio de Janeiro, beyond 



the 



