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equally good as in that of Dos Ganchos. The inhabitants here 

 pursue the same mode of living as their neighbours in Tejucos. 

 They have a fine climate, and a soil which yields a hundred-fold 

 for whatever is sown or planted in it, and is noted for its delicious 

 fruits. The cotton of which their common clothes are made is 

 grown, spun, and woven among them ; they build their own houses, 

 and form their own canoes, which they are dexterous in managing, 

 and prefer to boats. It may indeed be said that every man is more 

 or less an artizan, but I am sorry to observe that they prefer ease 

 to care and industry, and are by no means so good husbandmen as 

 those of Tejuco. This bay, as far as I could observe, during my 

 short visit to it, presents to the view greater diversity of hills, vallej'^s, 

 and plains than the one before-mentioned. Both are esteemed fine 

 fishing-ground during the whale-season, which is from December to 

 June. 



From hence to the northward is the fine harbour of San Francisco, 

 in the bay of the same name. It has three entrances defended by 

 forts ; that to the south is most frequented. The land here is very 

 flat for several miles, and the rivers which intersect it are navigable 

 for canoes as far as the base of the great chain of mountains, 

 where a public road, begun at incredible labour and expence, leads 

 over that almost impassable barrier. This road will soon be a Vork 

 of national importance to Brazil, as through it the finest district in 

 that country, and indeed one of the finest in the world in point of 

 climate, the rich plain of Corritiva, will be connected with the ocean. 

 The ridge of mountains is more than four thousand feet above the 

 level of the sea, and there is a regular ascent for twenty leagues 

 from their inland base, to Corritiva. On this fertile tract are fed large 

 herds of cattle for the supply of Rio de Janeiro, St. Paul's, and other 

 places ; here are also bred mules in great numbers. Its soil and 

 air are so genial, that olives, grapes, apples, peaches, and other 

 fruits grow to as rich a maturity as in Europe, though they are 

 here almost in a wild state. It is divided into many parishes, but 



