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was utterly unknown. Tallow was exceedingly dear, and candles 

 Vere at more than double the price at which they sell in this 

 country. 



Though our arrival in the town excited some surprise, as we 

 were the first of our nation who had visited it, yet the people did 

 not regard us entirely as strangers, many of them having seen 

 Englishmen in their frequent intercourse with Rio de Janeiro. My 

 worthy companion had letters to some of the principal shopkeepers, 

 which we took an early opportunity of delivering. When we spoke 

 to them of the richness of the country, and of the quantity of gold 

 with which it was reputed to abound, they seemed glad of the op- 

 portunity of telling us, that they believed the gold was all sent to 

 England, adding that their town ought now to be termed Villa 

 Pobre, instead of Villa Rica. Indeed we were surprised to ob- 

 serve the comparative poverty which prevailed among them. Of 

 above two thousand habitations, which the town contained, a con- 

 siderable proportion were untenanted ; and the rents of the rest were 

 continually lowering. Houses were to be purchased at one half 

 their real value ; for instance, a house built a few years ago at lOOOl. 

 cost, would not now sell for more than 5001. 



The mountain on which the town stands, appeared to me in length 

 from eight to nine miles, in every part narrow and almost insulated, 

 being surrounded by deep ravines. In riding over it in various di- 

 rections, I observed it to be composed of argillaceous schistus in 

 almost every gradation, migrating from the compact blue slate into 

 micaceous schistus. In some parts it lies in regular laminae, in 

 others it appears in confused masses. The slate is sometimes, but 

 not very generally, used for paving, roofing, and other similar pur- 

 poses. In some parts I noticed a few slender, confused, and 

 irregular quartzose veins of little consequence, a large proportion of 

 ferruginous accumulations and conglomerations, together with mar- 

 tial pyrites, and a considerable quantity of rounded quartz of all 

 sizes. That side on which the town is built presents many small 



