NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



58^ 



will long be of consequence, yet ought to be outstripped by Para, a 

 place commanding a more extensive internal navigation than any other 

 on the face of the globe. In this respect New Orleans, Gibraltar, Cal- 

 cutta, and Monte Video itself, yield to its superior claims. The immense 

 territories of Brazil, on the Northern side of the Amazon, are as yet of 

 no value to her, and scarcely bring her even in contact with her 

 neighbours. 



In order that these Tables might have exhibited more correctly the 

 prevailing Winds on the Coast of Brazil, the Quarters of the Year 

 should have been divided rather differently ; the first should have included 

 March, April, and May, the others the succeeding months in rotation, 

 because in March, the winds prevail from the S. W. and continue until 

 August ; in September, they begin to blow from the N. E. and in 

 December, January, and February, calms are very common, and some- 

 times delay voyages, both from the North and the South. According 

 to the division of the quarters, adopted in the Tables, it appears that 

 the shortest voyages from the South, are made from April to September ; 

 and from the North, in the half year from October to March. There 

 seem, also, to exist some local causes, which tend to affect the voyages 

 of vessels from different ports, and which, probably, we shall not fully 

 understand, until many repeated observations have been made. Thus 

 the shortest passages are made from Ilha Grande and Santos, during the 

 quarter, which ends with the month of September ; from St. Catharine's, 

 which is farther South, in April, May, and June ; from Rio Grande and 

 the Plata, the least time is spent at sea, in the half year from April to 

 September, without any remarkable difference with respect to the 

 particular months. Vessels, which come directly across the Atlantic, 

 make the best passages from July to March ; and those from the North of 

 the Line in the last three of those months. 



By the removal of the Government to Brazil, the Portuguese Colo- 

 nies on the Coast of Africa, have greatly increased their value, and 

 furnish the basis of a trade, which is of much higher importance than 



