PROVINCE OF RIO DE JANEIRO. 



.99 



consul-general, a delightful situation, and which he became possessed 

 of in consequence of his pursuits as a naturalist leading him frequently 

 into that part of the country. To accommodate a person, from whom he had 

 received some civilities, with a certain portion of land to form a ranclio, for 

 the accommodation of mules and their drivers coming from the mines, he was 

 induced to purchase the whole tract of land, in the possession of one indivi- 

 dual, without any fine, and, from its peculiar adaptation to the produce of 

 mandioca, he gave it that name. He paid under one thousand pounds for it, and 

 its extent, which is estimated at ten square miles, he has not yet explored. He 

 has already planted twenty thousand coffee-trees upon it, and the produce of 

 mandioca in 1819 yielded near one thousand sacks of farinha, worth from eight 

 to ten shillings per sack. The King has granted him the important privilege 

 of allowing the neighbouring people, working upon his estate, an exemption 

 from the militia duty, which, of course, induces a great many to offer their 

 services upon moderate terms ; so that, with the addition of about sixty slaves 

 working upon it, the property is rapidly improving. He is building a house 

 upon the estate. Mr. Langsdorff is respectably known to the literary world 

 by the publication of his voyages. His pursuit in the obtainment of objects in 

 natural history has been indefatigable, and in butterflies alone he has accumu- 

 lated sixteen hundred different kinds.* 



Some leagues from hence, upon the track leading to the mining districts, is 

 situated the extensive establishment of Padre Corre, for shoeing mules, previously 

 to their proceeding into the interior districts. In this trade the padre has accu- 

 mulated a considerable sum: he grows a prodigious quantity of the finest 

 peaches, and has the character of being exceedingly hospitable to strangers. 



A league to the south-east of the port of Estrella is situated the parish of 

 Our Lady of Pilar, upon the left bank of the river from which it derives its 

 name, producing mandioca, Indian corn, rice, and vegetables, for which the 

 soil is well adapted. 



* Mr. Langsdorir has recently (since his return to Europe) presented to the National Institute of 

 Paris the head of a Botocudo Indian, who had been in his service for some years. He sent this 

 Indiau to St. Helena to collect insects, which commission he executed satisfactorily, and died soon 

 after his return to the Brazil. 



The Botocudos are really the Aymores of the province of Porto Seguro, and received their present 

 name from the Portuguese, in consequence of their custom of perforating the ears and lips, and 

 introducing pieces of wood as ornaments, which they imagine render them more genteel and 

 comely. 



o 2 



