TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



191 



■working the mines. The Mineiro fancies he has 

 done enough if he opens a mountain with an open 

 mine (talha aherta)^ or digs shallow trenches in 

 the course of the auriferous quartz veins and nests 

 (trabalhar par minus), and leaves v^hat remains to 

 be done to the ore he has procured, partly to the 

 force of the water, and partly to the skill of the 

 negro, who generally works with the hammer in- 

 stead of the stamping mill, and with the bowl in- 

 stead of platform and troughs, or amalgamation. 

 We saw stamping mills and platforms nowhere but 

 in the mine belonging to Padre Freitas, at Congon- 

 has de Sahara. 



According to a very rigorous law, all the gold 

 obtained in this manner must be brought to the 

 lojal smelting house, there to be melted. In 

 former times, gold dust was current instead of 

 money, but this is now prohibited, and only certain 

 owners of vendas (yendeiros) in the city, where 

 brandy is sold, are permitted to accept small quan- 

 tities of it in lieu of coin, chiefly from negroes in 

 payment for brandy, and which they must imme- 

 diately deliver to the smelting house. 



In order to make ourselves acquainted with the 

 mode of smelting the gold, we took advantage of 

 the permission granted by the governor ; and visited 

 the laboratorv of subterraneous wealth which is in 

 the ground story of the palace, and in which eight- 

 een persons are employed, of whom the escrivao 

 contador receives the highest salary, namely, 3000 



