104 TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



reasonable terms, at Sorocaba, because a great trade 

 in them is carried on from this place to the north of 

 Brazil. It is calculated that above thirty thousand 

 mules are annually brought from Rio Grande do Sul, 

 through Sorocaba ; a tribute from one thousand two 

 hundred and eighty to two thousand rees for each 

 is paid to the crown, on its entrance into the new 

 capitania. This duty is one of the most lucrative 

 for the government, because it is repeated with cer- 

 tain modifications on the frontiers of every province. 

 The price of these animals, which is from twelve 

 to five and twenty piastres, is hereby doubled and 

 tripled by the time they get from this place to the 

 northern capitanias of Bahia, Pernambuco, and 

 Ceara, to which droves are sometimes led through 

 the interior of Minas, particularly along the Rio de 

 S. Francisco. Mules from Spanish America, which 

 are much handsomer, taller and stronger, are but 

 seldom seen in Brazil, their importation being pro- 

 hibited. A traveller who intends to proceed from 

 Rio to visit the interior of the country, will do best 

 to go by sea to Santos, and then come to this 

 place where he may in the shortest time and with 

 the least expense, collect his troop of mules, and 

 every requisite for his journey. 



From Sorocaba to the little town of Ytu, which 

 is six leagues distant, the road, which is very 

 fatiguing, leads N.W. over hilly land, alternately 

 covered with bushes and grass. The mountain 

 Araasojava overlooks the neighbourhood, in which 



