NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



been provided, and guns have lately been placed along the beach of the 

 Ajuda. An excellent Parade Ground had been inclosed, and planted 

 with broad spreading trees, to abate the superabundant vigour of the sun. 



To describe the measures of Internal Police and management, which 

 had been adopted, would require a volume instead of a paragraph, and 

 would be interesting chiefly to the Philanthropist ; these Notes, there- 

 fore, must be confined to their principal features. Colonial Laws had 

 been abrogated at an early period of the Royal residence in Brazil, and 

 this laid a foundation for the improvement of the country ; for when 

 the Colonists found that their interests were no longer to be sacrificed to 

 the exclusive advantage of Portugal, they began to cultivate their estates 

 with energy and perseverance, success giving them new hopes and a 

 new stimulus. They felt the advantages of industry, and multitudes 

 began to perceive the principles, upon which their individual interests 

 were founded ; to calculate upon the profitable result of their own plans, 

 and to derive advantage from their own peculiar genius : hence there was 

 no longer an uniform object of culture, nor a single mode of proceeding, 

 men ventured to deviate from the maxims of their forefathers. Experi- 

 ments were tried upon fruits and vegetables, and other objects of culture, 

 which had hitherto been neglected as insignificant ; and no sooner was 

 it discovered that they were acceptable to the public taste, or might be 

 rendered so by the improvement of their qualities, than the market was 

 well supplied with them. The success of one individual encouraged 

 others to exert themselves. The King himself, in one particular lin^, 

 had furnished the means and set a noble example, by importing eighty 

 thousand Vines, and distributing them among the most intelligent 

 Planters for culture, in favourable situations ; thus laying a foundation 

 for supplying the market with a wholesome fruit, and affording a distant 

 prospect of a nutritious native beverage; while new energy was gradu- 

 ally diffused by such means through every department of Agriculture. 



At the period when the Queen arrived, the Treasury of Brazil was 

 so poor as to be utterly unable to support the increased expenses of the 

 Government, without having recourse to new and heavy imposts. — 



