168 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



call to the reader's recollection the extent of the farms, the riches of the 

 soil, the luxuriance of the herbage, and the auspicious nature of the 

 climate; to, which may be added, that there is no winter to check the 

 growth of vegetation, nor any land employed to furnish food in seasons 

 of comparative deficiency. 



The ridge already described, and which divides the province of 

 Uruguay from that of Rio Grande do Sul, gives rise to most of the 

 rivers of the country, the principal of which take a Westward direction. 

 The first, the smallest and the most Southerly of the rivers of this 

 province is the Santa Luzia, which flows about one hundred and twenty 

 miles. When rain has fallen in the interior, a great quantity of water 

 comes down this channel, and is rapid in its course; in common it is 

 forded without difficulty. The Santo Joze, which runs not more than 

 sixty miles, joins it from the North ; it then takes a Southerly direction, 

 and falls into the Plata about twelve miles West of Monte Video. It is 

 navigable for small craft alone, and that for no great distance from 

 its mouth. 



Proceeding North-west, the next stream of consequence is the Rio 

 Negro, whose estimated course is about three hundred miles, in a South- 

 west direction, over an irregular rocky bed. It receives, on its Southern 

 side, the Hy or Yk, and finally joins the Uruguay. The breadth of the 

 Negro is so various, that from four hundred yards it is sometimes 

 reduced to a very narrow strait ; yet the obstacles to its navigation 

 are overcome, and, affording an useful communication with the adja- 

 cent country, it was much used by the Portuguese when they were 

 driven from Colonia, and is still frequented by smugglers. By British 

 vessels it has been confounded with another river of the same name, 

 which falls into the Ocean below Cape Saint Antonio, in Lat. 41°. At 

 the point of confluence of the Negro and the Uruguay stands the town 

 of Saint Domingos Suriano; a small place, but important as a port. 

 It exports Wheat, Pulse, Hides, Tallow, Fire-wood, Lime, and Stone 

 for building. 



Still farther Northward is the Ybicuy, a large navigable river, too 



