( 325 ) 



it with the capital would be cleared of the thousand inconveniences 

 which now encumber them, and new ones* would be opened for the 

 more expeditious conveyance of its produce. 



During my stay at Canta Gallo I undertook a journey to the 

 gold-washing at Santa Rita, distant about five leagues, in a north- 

 east direction. After passing the uneven country in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the village, we arrived at the Rio Negro, a con- 

 siderable stream formed by many rivulets, which empties itself into 

 the Paraiba ; on crossing it-f-, we entered upon a fine open country, 

 the fertility of which was evident from the luxuriant growth of the 

 tobacco and other plants : but it lay in a state of almost total 

 neglect, and the families thinly scattered upon it appeared in the 

 lowest condition of indolence and misery. We proceeded a league 

 farther, through a tract entirely destitute of inhabitants, and arrived 

 about two in the afternoon at Santa Rita. The proprietor of the 

 works received us very kindly, and conducted us through them 

 while dinner was preparing. The washing is in a deep ravine, 

 bounded at one end by an abrupt hill, and open at the other to the 

 plain. The vegetable earth appeared extremely rich, being clothed 

 with luxuriant verdure, and the hills on each hand covered with trees 

 of all sizes. The stratum of cascalhao, which hes under a bed of soil 

 four or five feet deep, is very thin and uneven, being no where more 

 than two feet thick, and in many parts not more than seven or eight 

 inches. The incumbent soil is removed at great labour and expence, 

 being dug out and carried away in bowls ; and the cascalhao is con- 

 veyed with great care to a convenient place for water, where it is 

 washed by the most expert among the miners, in a way similar to 



* I was well informed that a few hundred pounds, judiciously employed, would de- 

 fray the expence of making a good road from Canta Gallo to Porto dos Caxhes, which 

 loaded mules might travel in two days. 



f The mode of crossing a river with horses or mules in these parts, is to tie one to 

 the canoe, and drive him into the water; the rest follow. 



