INTIIODUCTIOX. 



3 



examined, during his mineralogical journeys, the various produc- 

 tions of those lofty ridges, where among other things he has lately 

 discovered sulphureous springs. He promotes with the greatest 

 courtesy the objects of foreign travellers by his advice and assistance. 

 Some other Germans, animated with equal zeal, have repaired to 

 that country ; and they too cannot fail of meeting with ample 

 materials for observation. Being recommended to the King by that 

 patron of the sciences, his minister, the Count da Barca, they not 

 only obtained permission to travel through the different capitanias 

 of the monarchy, but they were also most generously aided in their 

 views, by the allotment of a certain annual sum for the prosecution of 

 their researches, and by passports accompanied with the most emphatic 

 letters of recommendation to the captains-general of the several pro- 

 vinces. What a contrast is there between the liberal policy of the 

 present government, and the ancient system, when the traveller, upon 

 his landing in Brazil, was surrounded with soldiers, and cautiously 

 watched! In the name of my countrymen, and of all other European 

 travellers, I cannot do less than thus publicly express my gratitude 

 towards a Monarch who has adopted measures equally wise and 

 popular. Such a favourable reception and friendly treatment are in- 

 expressibly gratifying to the wanderer remote from his native country, 

 and will certainly be attended with incalculable advantage to the 

 sciences, in which the whole civilized world will participate. 



Whoever would travel through the interior of this vast continent 

 so as to derive any considerable benefit from his researches, must 

 make up his mind to devote several years to this object, and arrange 

 his plan accordingly. Thus, for example, two years are not sufficient 

 to penetrate to Goyaz and Cuiaba only ; what time, therefore, would 

 it require to travel across Brazil, to the frontiers of Paraguay, to the 

 banks of the Uruguay, to the remote boundaries of Matto Grosso, 



