DEPARTURE FROM PARA. 



351 



chandise from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, &c, but all merchandise coming 

 down the Amazon is considered as the produce or manufacture of Brazil. 



" By a law of Brazil, the estate of any foreigner who may die in this 

 country is subject to the jurisdiction of the Juiz dos Ausentes e difuntos. 

 A will is no protection to the property, but it must be 'recovered, availed, 

 and deposited in the public depository by a juiz competente.' The 

 getting hold of the property by the heirs to an estate is a tedious and 

 expensive process; and w r hen the inheritance consists of real estate, 

 about twenty per cent, is consumed by taxes of various kinds, and in 

 some cases, by the collusion of the officers entrusted with settlement, it 

 has disappeared entirely. The French by treaty are exempted from this. 



" Not long since, at Maranham, a guard of soldiers was placed around 

 the dwelling of a foreigner about to die, and who was supposed to be 

 possessed of a large amount of personal property. A similar case also 

 occurred here, which has created alarm amongst those of our countrymen 

 who have property invested in this country ; for should it be made to 

 appear that, upon the death of one or more of the partners of any of 

 our large mercantile houses, the affairs of the concern must pass into 

 the hands of a 'juiz competente,' it would have a serious effect upon 

 the credit and standing of all the citizens or subjects of those nations 

 which have no treaty with Brazil on this subject." 



It remains for me but to express my grateful acknowledgments for 

 personal kindness and information afforded by many gentlemen of Para, 

 particularly by Mr. Norris, the consul, and by Henry Bond Dewey, 

 esq., now acting consul. These gentlemen were unwearied in their 

 courtesy, and to them I owe the information I am enabled to give con- 

 cerning the history and present condition of the province and the city. 



On May 12th, by kind invitation of Captain Lee, I embarked in the 

 United States surveying brig Dolphin, having previously shipped my 

 collections on board of Norris's clipper barque the Peerless. 



