CARXAUBA WAX—MIMXG 191 



The wax is graded into "" Cera de 1 ',"" " Cera de 2\"' and " Cera 

 Mediana " for which the local prices at the time of our visit (July. 

 1921) were oO$000, 30|000, and 20-$000 per unit. 



Everything is used of the Carnauba palm. 



(1) The leaves after the extraction of the dust are given to the 

 cattle ; houses are lined inside with the leaves and hats and 

 various paddings are made of them. 



(2) The small black seed is much appreciated by man and animals. 



(3) The stem (pau) is excellent material in the construction of 

 houses, fences, etc. 



(4) The root is used in the preparation of medicine. 



(5) The wax, besides being a commodity of export greatlj' in 

 demand, is used as an illuminant in the houses. (Often our 

 only lamj)S were small, open, flat, iron basins with a A\ick and 

 dissolved Carnauba wax.) 



Carnauba palms grow wild in marshy land (" lama ") — such as 

 is depicted in the bottom pictures on page 137 — and low-lying margins 

 of rivers (" varzeas "). 



Besides the above work no further attention is required and 

 Carnaubas therefore jDrovides an ideal occupation for lazy people, 

 similar to Mandioca. Indeed, nature has been too kind to Brazil : 

 most products grow with little or no help on the j^art of the joeople ; 

 no wonder that they are at times indolent. 



Mining. — The following is a statement by Mr. Orville Derby, 

 Director of the Geological Government Service at Rio de Janeiro, 

 which gives a short general resume such as might interest the reader : — 



A. — Gold mining. — At Sahara and Ouro Pieto, in the central part 

 of Minas Geraes, there are two large mining enterprises and a number 

 of smaller ones, to which we are indebted for nearly all the gold ex- 

 ported from Brazil, which amounts to about 4,000 contos de reis (gold) 

 (2,222,000 dollars). In this and several other districts of the same and 

 other States, a certain amount of gold is produced owing to the 

 intermittent labours of isolated miners, called faiscadores, operating in 

 alluvial deposits, but as this gold enters the local circulation, its vnlue, 

 which certainly cannot be very great, escapes computation. 



B. — Diamond mining. — Diamond mining has been on the decline 

 since 1872, when the yield of South Africa became so great as to 

 supplant it, but it is still carried on in the districts of Diamantina and 

 Bagagem, in the State of Minas Gejaes and in those of the Chapada, 

 Diamantina and Cannavieiras, in the State of Bahia. The ofiHcial 

 value of diamonds exported through the custom houses of Rio de 

 -laneiro and Baliia, in 1912, was about 250 contos de reis (138,000 

 dollars), but there is no doubt that the total value of the production 

 was far above this figure. 



C. — Carbonate mining. — This is limited to the diamond region of 

 the central part of Bahia. The official value of exportation through 

 the custom house of Bahia. in 1912, was a little over 86 contos de reis 

 in gold (47,700 dollars). 



