504 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



his trench in any direction which suits him, provided the ground be not 

 previously occupied by another adventurer ; and at the end of it raises a 

 barrier, to prevent any w^eighty particles from being carried off. The 

 water is generally let into these trenches early in the morning, and let 

 off towards night ; for their contents are esteemed too precious to be left 

 to the risks connected with darkness. A fine black sediment is then 

 carefully collected, and carried av»ray in a bowl, to be washed at home. 

 There cannot be a doubt that there is almost always more or less gold 

 mingled in this mass, yet could I never detect it, on the strictest 

 examination, and with the aid of a lens of high magnifying power. 



These miners, as they proudly call themselves, are the poorest 

 creatures with whom I ever attempted to converse ; and their numbers 

 were, at this time, as contemptible as their skill. Half a dozen of them 

 were the most that I ever saw on the plain together; yet it should not 

 be forgotten that the season was then dry, that, after the spot has 

 been recently flooded, the inhabitants are said to turn out en masse, to 

 pursue the search with ardour, and do not desist until the whole impreg- 

 nated surface is completely ransacked. 



On the side of the hill, which is steep, a different method is adopted. 

 Wherever a natural stream trickles down, its bottom is frequently and 

 carefully searched, particularly where the current has met with any 

 check, for there the precious metal is commonly detained. In parts where 

 nature has provided no water, pits are dug, and flanked with strong 

 walls or stoccades, through which a stream is turned from a distance. 

 The surplus, running over the edge of the embankment, is generally 

 received into a second pit below ; sometimes into a third. At proper 

 seasons the pits are cleared of the water, the sediment is taken out, and 

 treated as before. The waters are generally saturated with red clay ; 

 and, by a repetition of these processes, the hill has been stripped of its 

 soil, as well as its verdure, wherever a stream can be conducted to carry 

 it away. 



Numerous drifts also have been run horizontally into the softer parts 

 of the mountain, until they entirely perforate tiie coating of schist or 



