504 



TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



the most important articles of barter employed by 

 the Guinea ships in the slave-trade. 



Guaratingueta is situated in an extensive savan- 

 nah near the river Paraiba, opposite some projec- 

 tions of the Serra do Mantiqueira, on a pleasant 

 hill, surrounded with banana and orange trees. 

 The Indian name of the village gives a favourable 

 specimen of the talent for observation possessed by 

 the aboriginal inhabitants ; for this long word sig- 

 nifies the place where the sun turns back. In fact, 

 the tropic of Capricorn is scarcely a degree south 

 of the villa, which pleases by its simple and cheer- 

 ful appearance and some traces of a superior mode 

 of life. Since our departure from Rio this was the 

 first place where we saw any glass windows, which 

 in Brazil, always indicate prosperity, and, in the 

 interior, even luxury. On the other hand, the tra- 

 veller is surprised at the want of all regularity and 

 order in the exercise of trades. Here, as almost 

 everywhere in the interior except the more popu- 

 lous places, very few trades are exercised by guilds 

 and corporations. On the other hand, it cannot 

 be said that the trades are free, for the trades them- 

 selves are for the most part wanting. Only the 

 rich land-holders are able to give due employment 

 to mechanics, and the poor man supplies all wants 

 of this kind by his own ability. The former gene- 

 rally have, among their own slaves, all those 

 mechanics w^ho are necessary for domestic pur- 

 poses. An obvious consequence of this is that 



