R A S I L. 



a>il. 



Uf- 



of 



ceo. 



til re is tlien greater than during the dry season, it is 



In the interior of Brasil there are great chains of 

 mountains, mingled with superb rallies and laige fer- 

 tile plains. The principal chain passes westward from 

 the government of St Paul ; but this and the other 

 mountainous ranges have never yet been described. 



The principal rivers of Brasil are the Maragnan, 

 the Paruiba, the Para, the Panacas, the Tocantm or 

 Socantin, the San Francisco, the Rio dos Ilhcos, the 

 Rio Dolce, the Parana, and the Rio Grande. The 

 merchandise of Europe is carried up the Rio Grande, 

 partly by the force of oars, and partly by drawing 

 the vessels with ropes. Sometimes more than two 

 months are spent in this tedious navigation ; but the 

 gold and silver, and merchandise of America, which 

 comes from the new kingdom of Granada, are 

 brought down the river in the short space of three 

 weeks. The Rio Dolce runs in a serpentine motion 

 from west to east, and after receiving different rivers, 

 it waters the province of Spiritu Santo, which it 

 separates from that of Seguro, and then runs into the 

 sea. The San Francisco, whose source is not well 

 ascertained, runs to the north east, and after passing for 

 a considerable way under ground, it takes an east- 

 erly course, and separating Fernambuco from Ser- 

 gippe, it empties itself into the ocean. The Parana, 

 after mixing its waters with the river Gaibuio, joins 

 the San Francisco. The river Para, which is known 

 only at its embouchure, runs from south to north, 

 and falls into the gulf formed at the mouth of the 

 river Amazons. 



The principal productions of Brasil are tobacco, 

 wood, sugar, salt, and hides. The culture of tobacco, 

 which forms a considerable branch of the revenue, oc- 

 cupies only a small part of the year ; and the labour is 

 so easy, that a single negro can manufacture annually 

 about two thousand pounds weight. The tobacco 

 is put up in rolls of from 200 to 300 pounds each, 

 and is exported to Europe, and to Higher and Lower 

 Guinea. 



Timber forms the natural staple of a yet uncultiva- 

 ted country ; and no region in the world produces finer 

 forests than those of Brasil. The principal woods, as 

 we have already observed, lie on the Rio Grande, 

 in the captaincy of Porto Seguro. One species, cal- 

 led the sippipira, resembles the teak of India, which 

 is well known to be superior to any European wood 

 for firmness and durability. There, are also the 

 pcroba, orauliu, and lonro, which resemble species 

 of oak and larch. There are, besides, lighter kinds 

 of wood, similar to fir ; not to mention logwood, 

 mahogany, brasil, and an infinity of ornamental and 

 dying woods. The government, however, accord- 

 ing to its usual system, as soon as it appeared that 

 profits were likely to be derived from timber, assum- 

 ed to itself the exclusive monopoly of that article. 

 The consequence is, that every person who becomes 

 proprietor of a forest, begins with destroying all 

 the finest of the trees, which would otherwise be 

 seized by the intendant, whose odious visits it is de- 

 sirable to avoid. Notwithstanding this oppressive 

 ystem, excellent vessels are still built in Brasil, at 



about half the price which they would coat in Eu- Brazil. 

 I'd, of cutting timber from these noble for.-sts, and 

 of building ships on the spot, may thus prove of in- 

 calculable importance. 



Sugar is cultivated to a great extent in Brasil. In Sugar, 

 the time of Pirard, about the middle of the last cen- 

 tury, it formed the principal riches of the country. 

 In the course of 150 leagues along the coast, from 

 25 leagues beyond Fernambuco, to 2.5 leagues be- 

 yond the bay of All Saints, Pirard counted above 

 400 sugar mills, each of which manufactured annually 

 about 100,000 arobas of su^ar.* 



The number of cows produced in Bn>. il i; so great, Hides, 

 that they are, for the most part, slaughtered merely 

 for the sake of their skim, many thousands of which 

 are annually exported. The immense number of car- 

 cases which are thus left to be devoured by birds and 

 wild beasts, would afford inoin for an extensive trade 

 in provisions, were not the salt trade prohibited 

 by the monopolising spirit of the government. 



In Bajo, near Cabo Frio, salt is gathered in such Salt, 

 abundance, that whole ships might be loaded with it. 

 " In the country of the Mines, or Minas Geraes," 

 says Da Cunha, " salt becomes so indispensible a ne- 

 cessary, that not only men, but cattle, and other ani- 

 mals, require it for their food. In every place where 

 a high mountain extends from the sea to the mines, 

 salt must be given to the cattle, else they would of- 

 ten refuse their usual fodder. The fields, near these 

 mines, produce, indeed, plenty of grass ; but not salt 

 enough to feed the cattle. Thus large tracts of land 

 must be lost, or the cattle must have salt, which is 

 much higher in price than they themselves. 



It is remarkable, too, that, in the interior parts of 

 these countries, where nature has impregnated the 

 soil with salt, quadrupeds and birds flock together, to 

 eat of this earth. A combination of so many animals, 

 of various species and colours, on one single spot, and 

 the different tones which they utter, exhibit a most 

 diverting spectacle to the curious observer. 



Salt, a product so indispensibly requisite to keep 

 and preserve meat and fish, is uncommonly dear in 

 those parts. The quantity necessary to salt an ox, 

 costs, in many places, twice or three times as much 

 as the ox itself." Such, too, is the case with fish. In 

 the province of Rio Grande, a bullock costs 700 

 reis (about four shillings and six pence English), a 

 horse from 6 to 800 reis, the largest and fattest oxen 

 1600 reis per head (10 shillings and 8 pence,) a 

 cheese weighing 9 pounds 160 reis (one shilling), a 

 pound of butter 40 reis (three pence), &c. 



The salt trade being prohibited throughout Brasil, 

 the exclusive privilege for this useful branch of com- 

 merce is farmed out to one individual, who pays for 

 it the sum of 48,000,000 of reis, every year, into the 

 royal treasury. This fanner gets annually from Bra- 

 sil ninety-six millions of reis, of which forty-eight 

 millions go to the queen's treasury, and an equal sum 

 remains tor himself, his agents, and receivers, even 

 after deducting all the principal expences of the salt, 

 including freight and carriage. But much more con- 

 siderable are the profits he draws from the inner parts 



An aroba weighs about 39 pounds French, and 4 arobas make a quintal. 



