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to act as if the tenure by which they held their lands was about to 

 be abolished ; all around them had the appearance of make-shift : 

 their old houses, fast hastening to decay, bore no marks of repair 

 about them : wherever a bit of garden-ground was inclosed, it ap- 

 peared over-run with weeds ; where cofFee-trees, planted in former 

 years, still existed, the present occupiers were too indolent to gather 

 the fruit: no inclosures were made for pasturage; a few goats supplied 

 the little milk that was consumed ; and cows'-milk was rarely to be 

 procured. On observing these deplorable consequences of the apathy 

 of the inhabitants, I could not but reflect on the advantages which 

 might accrue from the introduction of the English system of agricul- 

 ture among them. The example of a single farm, conducted on that 

 system, might go far towards rousing the people from their slothful 

 state ; and, when they once felt their faculties awakened, they would 

 be ashamed to lounge about as they now do, under an old great coat, 

 for days together, burthens to themselves, and objects of contempt 

 to all strangers who see them. 



The next place we visited, after quitting the residence of these old 

 ladies, offered every requisite for making the experiment above al- 

 luded to. It was a fazenda called Mantegera, situated in the largest 

 plain we had hitherto traversed, consisting of rich land watered by 

 numerous streams. The establishment was in a fit state to begin 

 with : the house was falling to ruin, and the grounds about it were 

 over-run with weeds and brush-wood. What more desirable situa- 

 tion, exclaimed I to my companion, could an Enghsh farmer select ! 

 Here cattle of every description are cheap ; cows and oxen at two 

 years old may be purchased at 30s. or 40s. per head ; excellent horses 

 from 60s. to 81. each ; and pigs, poultry, and other live-stock, at a 

 price too trifling to mention. Here is land which, under the influence 

 of this genial climate, is capable of yielding two-hundred-fold ; here 

 is wood in abundance for every purpose ; excellent clay for making 

 bricks ; and water at command. Yet all these advantages are lost to 

 the present occupiers, who consider them too cheap to be valuable ; 



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