CHAP. XXV. 



BRASIL. 263 



1812. When the war between England and the 

 United States of America began, the price of 

 cotton rose so high, that the labour of the slaves 

 in Brasil was found to be much more profitably 

 employed in the cultivation of that commodity 

 than in washing the sands for gold ; and since 

 that war has ceased, the cultivation generally of 

 tropical productions has been the most beneficial 

 application of labour. 



It is shown by Eschwege, in an official docu- 

 ment which he procured in Brasil, that the em- 

 ployment of about sixteen thousand persons in 

 the six hundred and thirty-one lavras or gold 

 washings in Minas Geras obtained gold to the 

 amount of three hundred and eighteen thousand 

 seven hundred and ninety milreas, or seventy-nine 

 thousand six hundred and ninety-seven pounds. 

 From this must be deducted one-fifth for duty to 

 the crown, or fifteen thousand nine hundred and 

 fifty-nine pounds, thus leaving sixty-three thousand 

 six hundred and thirty-eight pounds for the pur- 

 chase of slaves to replace such as might be worn 

 out by the severe labour, and to maintain the 

 whole number of the persons employed 1 . As the 

 net amount of the gold seems to be little more 

 than four pounds per head, it cannot appear ex- 

 traordinary that such a description of industry 



1 See Appendix, No. 9. 



