102 



STAY AT VILLA DE ST. SALVADOR, 



The situation of this town is very agreeable ; it extends consider- 

 ably along the bank of the beautiful Paraiba, and affords a pleasing 

 prospect, especially when viewed from the road down the river. The 

 bank every where presents an animated scene ; a busy crowd, mostly 

 people of colour, is continually in motion, engaged in commercial 

 or other business. An active trade in various productions is carried 

 on at Campos : the country up the Paraiba produces, particularly, 

 a large quantity of sugar ; and considerable sugar-refineries are met 

 with on the little river Muriah6, which falls into the Paraiba on the 

 north side, opposite to St. Salvador. ColFee, cotton, and all the 

 other products of the soil, thrive extremely well ; and even Euro- 

 pean vegetables are met with in the markets. The chief produce, 

 however, is sugar, and the brandy distilled from it. Among the 

 mhabitants are opulent people who have their sugar-refineries near 

 the river, in which a hundred and fifty slaves and more are employed : 

 besides the brandy, four or five thousand arrobas of sugar are made 

 annually in such an establishment. It is in contemplation to intro- 

 duce improvements into the process of refining, and to erect steam- 

 engmes for the purpose. The refinery of Captain Netto Fiz, who 

 shewed us many civilities, is very handsome, and judiciously arranged ; 

 his sugar-plantations are extensive, and he possesses two other fuzen- 

 clas on the Muriahe. In this district, on the Paraiba and Muriahe, 

 there were, in 1801, two hundred and eighty refineries, of which 

 eighty-nine were large and very profitable*. 



In the town there prevails a considerable degree of luxury, espe- 

 cially in dress, an article in which the Portuguese are very extrava- 

 gant. Cleanliness and neatness are universal among these people, 

 even in the lower classes, at least in Brazil. But if w^e visit the 

 interior of the country, or towns of smaller note, it will be generally 



* Corografia Brasilka, t. II. p. 47. 



