CHAPTER XV. 



MINAS GERAES. 



JOURNEY TO VILLA RICA, and MARIANNA. 

 A.D. 1817. 



TAMANDUa'. RIDE TO CAPITAON JOAN RIBEIRo's. MODE OF ENLARGING AN 



ESTATE. PALMEIROS. FARMING. aUELUZ. ORNITHOLOGY. A DEAD JARA- 



RA'CA. MASS OF IRON ORE. OURO BRANCO. GOLD SEARCHING THERE.- ■ 



— -MEYO SERRO. ALTO DO MORRO. BOA VISTA. MINERALS. CHAPON. TOPAZ 



AND GOLD MINES. FALSE JEWELS. VILLA RICA. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE 



PLACE. PUBLIC BUILDINGS. FORMATION AND MODE OF WORKING ITS 



MINES. DIFFERENT KINDS OF GOLD. CALX OF IRON. COMMERCE. MANU- 

 FACTURES. CARRIAGES. GENIUS OF A WORKMAN. SYSTEM OF COLONIZATION. 



A RESIDENT ENGLISHMAN. CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. RELIGIOUS CERE- 

 MONIES. NEIGHBOURHOOD. OTHER MODES OF MINING. MARIANNA. INDIANS. 



STATE OF SOCIETY. CLIMATE. BIRDS. 



WE found the soil extremely rich in the first few miles of our 

 progress, well clothed with what we should call natural grass, or with 

 the Arasa, a low shrub, now in flower, the root of which is full of a 

 pleasant juice, most grateful to the thirsty traveller. The day was 

 singularly wild, with some rain, like an April day in England ; for many 

 years I had never, when on shore, heard the wind so noisy, nor felt it 

 so bitterly cold. It came from the North-East. We passed a small 

 assemblage of huts, and then turned aside from the great road leading 

 to Tamandua, the name of a place signifying the Armadillo. Of it I 

 can say very little, and that only on the report of a gentleman, whom 



fortune had recently favoured with the great prize of 30,000,000 of 



3 p 



