TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 1^5 



clothed with bushy grey-green grasses, numerous 

 lysianthias, declieuxias, biittnerias, escobedias, and 

 small-leaved apocynum, but the low grounds with 

 small bushy trees. The rock is chiefly light yellow 

 granite, with small scaly black mica, on which the 

 red auriferous loam lies. The village of S.Gonzalo, 

 which is three leagues north-north-east fi'om S. 

 Barbara, possessed above thirty years ago, very 

 considerable gold-washings, and enjoyed great 

 prosperity, the instability of which is testified by 

 several handsome but half-decayed buildings. 

 Most of the inhabitants, however, still obtain from 

 two to four thousand crusadoes from their mines, 

 which is a great advantage to them, provided they 

 do not at the same time neglect agriculture. 

 Along the road from S. Gonzalo to Villa da Cam- 

 panha, we met everywhere with indications of the 

 principal occupation of gold- washing ; the trenches, 

 in particular, by which the water required is led 

 from the liighest parts of the country, are often 

 of surpiising extent, and run for leagues along 

 the declivities of the mountains. Here, too, the 

 mountains consist- of granite, which not unfre- 

 quently passes into gneiss, and the felspar of 

 which is almost entirely decomposed into kaolin. 

 We often saw great tracts entirely decomposed 

 into loam of a white or bright violet colour ; 

 for the felspar has the first colour, as the 

 chief ingredient of the rock of this country in 

 general, and it gradually acquires the latter by 



