NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



491 



coating of rust or oxyd of iron. Tiie hill is so lofty and steep that its 

 top was not discernible ; but from its more elevated parts nodules of 

 corroded metal had rolled down, and greatly embarrassed the road. At 

 the foot of the mountain, the soil is red clay mixed with ponderous brown 

 dust. As we advanced the metal seemed to become less pure, until, 

 after an extent of two leagues and a half, it altogether vanished, and M as 

 succeeded by the common clayey land. At the end of the dell we again 

 crossed the stream, then greatly increased, and, by a good bridge, passed 

 from the Comarca of St. John to that of Villa Rica. 



I had often heard of this immense mass of metal, but none of the 

 reports had presented an adequate picture of it to the imagination. The 

 very core of the hill, as far as we could judge, appeared to consist of 

 vast blocks of iron in tables ; and it is so singularly free from alloy as to 

 produce, when smelted, ninety-five per cent, of pure metal. 



About a mile from Ouro Branco, we met the mail proceeding from 

 the North to Rio de Janeiro. It was contained in a moderate sized bag, 

 carried by a miserable horse, under the charge of a black man, with the 

 usual mixture of blue and scarlet in his jacket, and the never failing 

 chapeau-bras on his head. There were few appearances of importance 

 attached to his office, either by those who fitted him out, or by himself. 

 He was armed only with an old half-guard sword, and stood talking 

 with us nearly a quarter of an hour, while his horse sauntered up a hill. 

 This circumstance led me to conclude, that there is much less danger in 

 travelling through this part of the country than had been represented, 

 and strengthened my persuasion that more is to be apprehended from 

 the collusion of a guide, and from the artifices of persons who appear 

 officiously friendly, than from open violence, from valentes, and those 

 robbers who plunder without some previous knowledge of their victim. 



The village of Ouro Branco, or White Gold, situated at the foot of 



an extensive Serro, contains about fifty wretched houses, among which 



are mingled two or three of a better order, several Vendas, and a Church, 



which is in such situations called Metropolitan, and enjoys a sort of 



authority over the sacred edifices of the neighbourhood. 



3 Q 2 



