NOTliS ON BRAZIL. 



about fifteen miles from Rodeiro. It was full of travellers, but the 

 lateness of our arrival prevented that communication with them which I 

 should otherwise have sought. Early in the morning we looked back 

 on the high ground near Rodeiro, nearly North-East of us ; and from 

 thence Westward extended a noble wall of mountain, whose face was 

 an inclined plane from twelve to fifteen miles in breadth. Nearly North- 

 West of us these mountains descended to a point, behind which rise 

 other and more majestic heights. The waters of a spacious amphitheatre 

 tend to the interval between the two ranges, and hasten through it to 

 swell the vast Francisco. 



Hence we proceeded Westward over uneven ground, for we 

 evidently crossed the little streams of the country in a direct line, where 

 the soil and minerals change very abruptly. At one point we passed a 

 deep Corgo, the naked sides of which, down to the bottom, were com- 

 posed of red clay, mingled with mica. A little farther on, the road 

 led us through a pretty village, surrounded by rocks of a soft, white, 

 unbroken stone, different from any thing of the kind which we had 

 recently observed. It appeared to me to be the uncrystallized substance 

 of which quartz is formed, some of which I have detected in the 

 decomposed granites of Rio, and which, in the parts of the country 

 where it is found in masses, is described as a saponaceous earth or stone. 

 In some places veins of quartz are seen running through it, and the 

 natives call it Tabatlnga, a name which alludes to its colour alone. 



It has already been stated as probable, that Gold, in Brazil, is never 

 found in Lime-stone; to confirm this opinion, an appeal may, I believe, 

 be made to the state of things in this part of the country. It is here 

 diffused through every variety of soil and rock besides ; not in Cascalho, 

 as is most common, nor in the lumps called Caldeiraos ; but scattered, 

 in the form of dust, among Schist, Clay, and the other component 

 parts of the ground. Nor does it seem to make any difference, what 

 is the external appearance of the soil ; this Gold Dust is found in it 

 with equal certainty, and in nearly equal quantity, whether it be of the 

 prevailing red hue, or any of the shades of brown and yellow. The 



