BRAZIL. 13 



this government. They fish in the whiter months 

 at the entrance of the harbour. Sometimes only 

 open bpats go out, manned with six rowers, a mate, 

 and a harpooner, and the fisli caught is dragged on 

 shore, where it is cut in pieces. Each Arma9ao 

 brings in every winter about a hundred ; and we 

 have been assured, that the number might be mucli 

 greater if the payment of the wages (which are now 

 three years in arrear) were more punctual. The 

 whale-fishery in Brazil does not belong exclusively 

 to this government ; some lying more northward 

 have a share in it. In this ocean, the whales of 

 the south appear to penetrate further towards the 

 equator than those of the north. They are said to 

 have been met with, under the twelfth degree of 

 south latitude. 



The only vehicles which are used in the colony, 

 and by which the produce is brought here from 

 distant provinces, are extremely inconvenient. Two 

 solid pieces of wood, which turn with the axle, to 

 which they are fastened, carry a piece of wood, 

 which serves at the same time, both for shafts and 

 carriage, and is drawn by oxen. Horses are used 

 only for riding. The canoes, with which the chan- 

 nel, the main road in the colony, is navigated, are 

 not superior. They are long and narrow, and con- 

 sist only of the trunk of a tree, hollowed out with- 

 out any out-rigger. Every species of tree is used 

 for them. 



On our excursions along the coast, we found 



