MISCELLANIES. 



541 



in two years is there found through- 

 out the whole washings a stone of 

 thirty carats. During the five days 

 1 was here they were not very suc- 

 cessful; the whole quantity found 

 amounted only to forty, the largest 

 of which was only four carats, and 

 of a light green colour. 



From the great quantity of de- 

 bris, or worked cascalhao, in every 

 part near the river, it is reasonable 

 to calculate that the works have 

 been in operation above forty years ; 

 of course there must arrive a period 

 at which they will be exhausted, 

 but there are grounds in the neigh- 

 bourhood, particularly in the Cerro 

 de St. Antonio, and in the country 

 now inhabited by the Indians, 

 which will probably afford these 

 gems in equal abundance. 



State of Society among the 

 MIDDLING Classes employed 

 IN Mining and Agriculture. 



(From the same. J 



We are naturally led to imagine, 

 that, in the country where mines of 

 gold and diamonds are found, the 

 riches of the inhabitants must be 

 immense, and their condition most 

 enviable; the Portugueze them- 

 selves, who reside in the mining 

 districts, encourage this supposi- 

 tion ; and whenever they go to 

 Rio de Janeiro, do not fail to make 

 all possible show and parade. But 

 let us view them in the center of 

 their wealth ; and as a fair crite- 

 rion of the middling classes of so- 

 ciety, let us select a man possessing 

 a property of fifty or sixty negroes, 

 with datas of gold mines, and the 

 necessarj' utensils for working 

 ■ them. The negroes alone are worth, 



at the low valuation of 100 milreis 

 each, a sum equal to 1,200/. or 

 1,500/. sterling ; the datas and 

 utensils, though of value, need not 

 be taken into the account. Sup- 

 pose this man to be married, and 

 to have a family : What is the state 

 of their domestic concerns, their 

 general way of life? May I be al- 

 lowed to describe them in the lan- 

 guage which truth dictates, without 

 exaggeration or extenuation .' Their 

 dwelling scarcely merits the name 

 of a house ; it is the most wretched 

 hovel that imagination can describe, 

 consisting of a few apartments 

 built up to each other without re- 

 gularity ; the walls wicker-work, 

 tilled up with mud ; a hole left for a 

 frame serves as a window, or a mi- 

 serable door answers that purpose. 

 The cracks in the mud are rarely 

 filled up; and in very few instances 

 only have I seen a house repaired. 

 The floors are of clay, moist in it- 

 self, and rendered more disagree- 

 ble by the filth of its inhabitants, 

 with whom the pigs not unfre- 

 quently dispute the right of pos- 

 session. Some ranchos, it is true, 

 are built upon piles; and under- 

 neath are the stables, &c. these are 

 certainly a little superior to the 

 former. They are built so from 

 necessity, where the ground is un- 

 even or swampy; but it may be 

 easily conceived, that the disagree- 

 able eft'ects produced by want of 

 cleanliness, must in these instances 

 be increased by the effluvia from 

 the animals underneath, which I 

 have frequently found intolerable. 

 The furniture of the house is 

 such as might be expected from 

 the description above given. The 

 beds are very coarse cotton cases, 

 filled with dry grass, or the leaves 

 of Indian corn. There are sel- 

 dom 



