586 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



stretch more freely out to sea, and shape their courses, according to 

 circumstances. Hence the trips are shorter, and the men make more 

 frequent voyages than the vessels, for no sooner do they arrive in port, 

 than other vessels are ready to go out, and wanting hands ; wages, 

 therefore, are greatly increased. 



The Coasting Trade to the South of Rio comprehends the Districts 

 of llha Grande, Santos, St. Catharine's, and Rio Grande. The first of 

 these includes the Ports which are enumerated at tl)e foot of the table, 

 but has little communication with the interior ; all behind the harbours 

 being nearly one continued mass of mountains, which forbid any con- 

 siderable transit. The intelligent reader, however, will observe the 

 varied articles of agricultural produce which it sends to market, and 

 notice the peculiar industry which some require, to bring them into a 

 state fit for sale. There are, indeed, few new objects of culture intro: 

 duced since 1813^ pulse in the 5th quarter, and onions in the 9th, 

 being the principal ; but if we turn to the goods which this District 

 receives, we shall behold a striking proof of its uninterrupted prosperity. 

 In the first quarter the Imports consisted almost wholly of necessaries, 

 in the latter they rose to luxuries ; and, considering the nature of the 

 country, some of these are luxuries of the first description, such are 

 Paraguay segars, wheat-flour, biscuit, and British earthenware. It is 

 proper to remark here, that when, in any of the lists, an article appears 

 both as an Import and Export, the first is of Brazilian produce, the latter 

 foreign growth ; and the same remark will apply to all the other districts. 

 It will be unnecessary to point out particularly the increased culture or 

 export of any district, or its increasing demand for luxuries ; the reader 

 who is anxious to discover these things will easily perceive them as he 

 goes along. The old articles, both of import and export, are named 

 together at the head of the list ; the new ones are placed opposite the 

 quarters in which they first were noticed.1 



The District of Santos was formerly the most important of any 

 along the coast of Brazil ; it was then the channel of communication 

 between the coast and the rich district of Cuyaba. From the port of St. 



