£2 



TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



must be carried to one of the smelting houses 

 in Minas, The Paulistas have lost their inclination 

 for mining, or rather, it seems that that part of 

 the inhabitants who felt an attachment to that pre- 

 carious occupation, have gradually emigrated to 

 the richer provinces of Minas, Goyaz, and Matto- 

 grosso. Those who remained, happy enough to 

 forget the metallic riches under their feet, dedi- 

 cate themselves exclusively to the more secure 

 employments of agriculture and the tending of 

 cattle. 



The climate of S. Paulo is one of the most 

 agreeable in the world. Both the situation, it 

 being almost under the tropic of Capricorn, which 

 is distant from it only a mile and a half to the 

 north, as well as its elevation of twelve hundred 

 feet above the surface of the sea, at Santos, give 

 the city all the charms of a tropical climate without 

 any considerable inconvenience from the heat. Dur- 

 ing our stay the thermometer fluctuated between 

 15"^ and 18° R., and the hygrometer between 67*" 

 and 70°. According to the account which we ob- 

 tained from our countryman, Mr. Miiller, and 

 some other inhabitants, the mean temperature of 

 the year is from 22 to 23° of the centigrade ther- 

 mometer. The difference of the temperature dur- 

 ing the winter (May to September) and the sum- 

 mer, or rainy months (October to April), is more 

 considerable than in the provinces lying farther 

 northward. Hoar frost is not uncommon during 



