i^ROVINCE OF MllSIAS GERAES. 



279 



cane, the rum from which is considered the best of the province. A rich mine 

 of gold occasioned numerous disputes and deaths amongst its first dwellers, 

 who were Paulista miners. There was amongst them oneD. R. do Prado, who 

 gratified his vile and avaricious feelings, by assassinating even those who did not 

 offend him ; such was the lawless state in which those primitive mining settle- 

 ments were involved. 



Paracatu do Principe is a middling town, famous for its mines, well and 

 pleasantly situated upon an elevated plain, with straight and paved streets, 

 having a church dedicated to St. Antonio da Manga, three hermitages of Our 

 Lady of Abbadia, Amparo, and Rozario, another of St. Anna, and two good 

 fountains. The houses are built of timber and earth, and include a royal school 

 for Latin. This town is one hundred and forty miles from the St. Francisco, and 

 about half a mile from the small stream of Corgo Rica, which after forty miles 

 of course enters the Paracatu on the left, near the port of Bezerra. It has 

 decayed much from its first flourishing condition ; the people are peaceable, but 

 indolent. Cattle and the produce of mines constitutes what wealth there is 

 amongst them. The vine bears fruit in perfection twice a year. The pine-apple 

 and orange are abundant and excellent. Around this place are an abundance 

 of partridges, deer, and other game. The gold has a fine appearance, but be- 

 low the proper degree of purity is of difficult extraction for want of water, and 

 is not allowed to be searched for at any great distance. Diamonds having 

 appeared in various parts is the reason of the working of mines being restricted 

 to a few leagues round the town, upon which circuit are detachments to prevent 

 the prescribed limits being passed for the purpose of mining. The district of the 

 town comprises the main poition of the comarca, that is to say, all the territory 

 lying westward of the river St. Francisco, from the Carynhenha to the Abayte. 

 Near the confluence of the latter is the passage from Villa Rica to Goyaz, 

 called Porto Real. 



In 1744. when there was no other colony to the west of the St. Francisco 

 but St. Romao, these mines were discovered, and made known to Gomez Freyre 

 d'Andrade, governor of Rio de Janeiro, who ordered the country to be divided 

 according to the prevailing custom. These mines attracted a great concourse 

 of people here, and their affluence in gold led to the concurrence of a numerous 

 party in the purpose of expelling the Indians, whom they at once drove from 

 this extensive district. The inhabitants of Paracatu, and those of the parishes 

 of its vast circuit, constitute one regiment of cavalry, seven companies of whites, 

 three of mulattoes, and two of free blacks. 



