134 



A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



which are grown in this locality, and which I have eaten, 

 or, at least, seen in gardens. 



This list seems to prove that almost anything will grow 

 here. When I see the small patches of cultivated ground, 

 and the luxuriant abundance that they yield, and then take 

 a bird's-eye view of this broad, fertile valley, wherein but 

 few traces of cultivation are visible, and remember it is but 

 one among thousands, it gives a faint idea of the almost 

 inexhaustible resources for production. 



There is no population away from the main roads, no 

 labour, and no energy in the few inhabitants that exist ; 

 the facility with which they can get their bodily wants 

 satisfied is the reason of their being in continual, perhaps 

 unalterable, poverty. The expense of transport, distance 

 from foreign markets, and enormous competition would 

 probably prevent the possibility of exporting much ; but, at 

 least, there is room for immigration on a gigantic scale to 

 one of the healthiest climates that exists, as is shown by 

 the success of the German colony at Petropolis. 



There are no coffee plantations near here. Grapes are 

 planted very sparingly, so also cotton, sugar-cane, oranges, 

 and rice, being chiefly for the owners' use alone ; but as 

 the produce is always excellent, there is no reason why 

 they should not thrive as well in large plantations as in 

 plots of an acre or two. The only thing planted at all 



