432 



B R A S I L. 



Bras.l 



of those districts, where the herds are more numerous, 



aiid the 



rapes. 



Whal 

 Ashing. 



Tea. 



expence of carriage over the many mountains which 

 are there to be met with. 



On account of the vast sum of money which is 

 thus every year drawn from Brasil, for the sole pur- 

 pose of enriching the individual to whom the salt 

 trade has been farmed out, all the rest of the inhabi- 

 tants of those countries are made losers ; at least their 

 gain is materially prejudiced by the monopoly. The 

 whole commerce of Portugal, indeed, is made to for- 

 feit, by this abuse, infinite emoluments and advanta- 

 ges which would otherwise accrue to it, from a great- 

 er abundance of salt fish, butcher's meat, bac >n, cheese, 

 and butter, that would be preserved and brought to 

 market. Thus the royal treasury, for the sake of 

 the comparatively paltry consideration of forty-eight 

 millions of rsis a year, robs itself of much larger 

 sums, which the duties on these products would fetch, 

 but for the factitious dearness of salt." 



There seems strong reason to believe, that wine 

 might be produced abundantly in Brasil. At Bahia, 

 the most delicious grapes are reared in the gardens 

 of individuals ; but the want of industry prevents 

 their cultivation from becoming general ; and the 

 extreme heat presents even an obstacle to their being 

 made into wine. About Rio Janeiro, however, which 

 is nine leagues farther south, and above all in the 

 mountainous districts, there seems no doubt that this 

 important article might be produced in perfection. 

 The government, however, adhering to their mean 

 spirit of monopoly, have discouraged and even pro- 

 hibited its production, in order that it may not in- 

 terfere with the commercial interests of the mother 

 country. 



^ situation can be better adapted for the whale 

 fishery, than this coast, which everywhere abounds 

 in these animals. Some are killed by large boats 

 from the shore ; but there is no proper provision, 

 either for tv.king the whales, or for extracting the 

 oil. If there were, this might be rendered an im- 

 portant branch of commerce. 



It is mentioned in a curious manuscript, written 

 in 1578, and recently published by Mr Southey, 

 that tea was found wild in the neighbourhood of 

 Bahia, of similar and equal quality to that of China. 

 We have not found this mentioned by any of the 

 modern relations, and the observation seems to have 

 sunk into oblivion. If correct, however, the culti- 

 vation of a plant for which the demand in Europe is 

 so ample, would open a copious source of wealth to 

 Brasil. 



Besides the productions we have mentioned, the 

 part of Brasil called Amazonia, produces vanilla, 

 coffee, cotton, and great quantities of cacao nuts, 

 which, till lately, were the current money of the 

 country. 



The mineral productions of Brasil are even supe- 

 rior to those of its soil. The country, according to 

 Andrada,* is divided into four mineral comarcas or 

 districts, which, going from north to south, are, 1. 

 St Joao del Rey ; 2. Villa Rica ; 3. Sahara ; 4. Ser- 



ro do Frio, or the Cold Mountains. This last dis- 



Ulfita r ol t ir?m, ir an'Ermu'n'y' ! , zmcT'tin" silver, anH golcj. 

 These mines were discovered by Antonio Soary, a 

 Paulist, who first found out those of gold. The 

 diamonds were afterwards discovered in the Riaciio 

 Fundo, in the Rio da Peixe, in the Saguitinhonha, 

 and in the Guarapara in St Pauls. These precious 

 stones were supposed originally to exist in the moun- 

 tains, but. they are more easily found in a bed under 

 the vegetable mould, disseminated and attached to a 

 ganirart, more or If ss compact and ferruginous. They 

 are likewise often found in the soil of the mountains, 

 in beds of ferruginous sand and pebbles, forming an 

 ochraceous pudding stone, of the decomposition of 

 emery and boggy iron ore. Beneath the pudding stone, 

 or caschalo as it is called, there is a schistus, some- 

 what sandy, and sometimes there is an indurated ore 

 of iron. The mines are farmed to individuals, and em- 

 ploy from seven to eight thousand negroes. Tliey 

 are near the little river of Millhoverde, n*>t far from 

 Villa Nova do Principe, in 7 of South Latitude, 

 and 44 of West Longitude. Diamonds have also 

 been found in .Cayaba, and in St Pauls, hut the mines 

 have not been explored. The other mines are situaied 

 in the mountains, and among the sources of the numer- 

 ous streams that flow into the river Tocantin on one 

 side, and the Parana en the other. There are mines 

 of gold as far in the interior as the river Cayaba, 

 which runs into the Paraguay, and even near the ri- 

 ver Itenas. According to M. Pau ; -j- the mines of 

 Brabil have produced, from the time of. their disco- 

 very till the year 1756, being 60 years, nearly 

 2,400,000.000 livres tournois, which at an average is 

 about 4-0,000,000 livres tournois in a year. 



In the neighbourhood of Bahia, in the direction of 

 west south we.-,t, there are great mines of nitre, which 

 have not yet been wrought. 



As we are indebted to Bougainville for the most 

 complete account of the diamond and gold mines o 

 Biasil, we shall conclude this article with an extract 

 from the voyage of that celebrated navigator. 



" Rio Janeiro is the staple aud principal outlet 

 of the riches of Brasil. The mines called general, 

 are the nearest to the city, at the distance of about 

 seventy-five leagues. They yield to the king, every 

 year, for his right of fifths, at least a hundred and 

 twelve arobas of gold ; in 1762 they yielded a hun- 

 dred and nineteen. Under the captaincy of the ge- 

 nenii mints, are comprehended those of Rio do Morte, 

 of Sahara, and of Serro-frio. The last besides gold, 

 produces all the diamonds that come from Brasil. 

 They are found at the bottom of a river, of which 

 they turn the course, in order to separate from the 

 pebbles in its bed, the diamonds, topazes, chryso- 

 lites, and other stones of inferior quality. 



Of ail these stones, the diamonds alone are contra- 

 band : they belong to the undertakers, who are 

 obliged to give an exact account of the diamoi.ds 

 found, and to place them in the hands of the inlen- 

 dant appointed by the king for this purpose, who 

 deposits them immediately in a casket encircled with 

 iron, and shut with three locks. He has one of the 



4ct<t de la Sac. Hist. Nat. de Paris. Pull, J792. 



Rechtrckas sur k* Amcricaim. 



