44 



PROVINCE OF RIO DE JANEIRO. 



and brushwood, to the perpendicular height of eighteen feet. In some woods, 

 a sort of almond tree is met with, with fruit almost spherical, and of the magni- 

 tude of a hen's egg. Cocoa trees are not very abundant, owing to an insect 

 M'hich gnaws the sprout after it grows to any size, and prevents their arrival at 

 the perfection they otherwise would. European horticulture succeeds better 

 here than in the northern provinces. The mango tree is only abundant in the 

 suburbs of the capital, and rarely fructifies to perfection. Oranges grow spon- 

 taneously, and consist of various sorts ; the selectas, which are large, and the 

 tangerinas, both of the most delicious qualities. The coffee tree, having been 

 naturalized here, during the government of Conde de Bobadella, by the atten- 

 tion and care of a magistrate, multiplies prodigiously, and is now one great 

 branch of the riches of this province. The cotton tree does not prosper uni- 

 versally. Apple, pear, cherry, and apricot trees do not succeed. Fig trees 

 grow rapidly, and produce fmit in perfection ; but they have an enemy in a little 

 insect, which introduces itself very frequendy into the pith, and dries it up. 

 Amongst an infinity of other productions may be enumerated jalap, ipecacuanha, 

 called here poaya, trees of gum, of sangue de drago, (blood of dragon,) of oil of 

 capaiba, and of Peruvian balsam. The cultivation of cochineal is now little 

 attended to. 



Cities and Towns. — The cities and towns in this province are remarkable for 

 their small number and general insignificance, considering its extent and capabi- 

 lities. The same observation is applicable to all the other provinces, and to some 

 infinitely more so. In this province may be reckoned two cities and twelve towns, 

 having no good roads or regular communication with each other by land, but 

 mere tracks and bridle- ways constituting an intricate and difficult medium of in- 

 tercourse. But we hail, with no common satisfaction, the improvements that will 

 necessarily succeed to the change that has taken place in the system of govern- 

 ment in the mother-country, and which has already begun to operate a like 

 change in the provinces of Brazil. 



The deplorable want of roads, and all the other facilities of husbandry, com- 

 merce, and enjoyment, is the natural consequence of the state of penury and 

 ignorance in which the inhabitants, generally, of this region are involved, by a 

 system that cannot too soon give way to the more enlightened policy which ap- 

 pears to be dawning upon them. This good work, as far as it has proceeded, 

 redounds highly to the honour of the Portuguese people ; no sanguinary event 

 ha>ving marked their endeavours in the cause of freedom, thereby affording a 

 most satisfactory contrast to the bloody pages that blacken the revolution of 

 many other nations. May they soon regain their former dignity of character. 



