TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 197 



ous to industry in Brazil ; for though a great 

 quantity of merchandise and manufactures is im- 

 ported which might be produced in the country 

 itself, it is rather the want of artisans and mechanics, 

 than the competition of foreign commerce, that 

 causes articles made in the country to be so dear. 

 As the population increases, the activity of the 

 interior provinces will be animated, and conse- 

 quently the balance of exportation and importation 

 will become still more favourable to Brazil. Many 

 mechanics, chiefly French, are at present settled at 

 Rio, who have been encouraged by the govern- 

 ment. Among the natives the mulattoes are those 

 who show the most ingenuity and perseverance in 

 the mechanical arts, and they are even said to mani- 

 fest great taste for painting. The free negroes, of 

 whom there is a great number in the city, do not 

 prove such useful members of society as in the 

 country, where they not unfrequently become able 

 and wealthy farmers. The artisans, on the other 

 hand, partly work with their own black slaves, 

 who, under the strict discipline of their masters, 

 learn, together with ability and aptness for business, 

 also the virtue of social order. Trades and profes- 

 sions in general are not subject to the strict super- 

 intendence of the magistrate that is exercised in 

 Europe. Many trades are carried on without 

 being incorporated into guilds, and are exercised 

 without restraint by any person who is so disposed, 

 and yet the prices of all manufactured articles are 

 very high. The liberty enjoyed by the owner of a 



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