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CHAP. XI. 



Origin and present State of Villa Kica. — Account of the Mint. — 

 Visit to the City of Mariana. — Excursion to the Fazendas of Barro 

 and CastrOf belonging to His Excellency the Conde de Linhares. 



'^HE history of an establishment which, twenty years after its 

 foundation, was reputed the richest place on the globe, was an 

 object of considerable interest with me, and I made many inquiries 

 respecting it from some of the best informed men on the spot. It ap- 

 pears that the first discovery of this once rich mountain was effected 

 by the enterprising spirit of the Paulistas, who, of all the colonists in 

 Brazil, retained the largest share of that ardent and indefatigable 

 zeal for discover}'^ which characterized the Lusitanians of former 

 days. They penetrated from their capital into these regions, braving 

 every hardship, and encountering every difficulty which a savage 

 country, infested by still more savage inhabitants, opposed to them. 

 They cut their way through impervious woods, carrying their pro- 

 visions with them, and occasionally cultivating small patches of land 

 to afford them food to retreat to, in case of necessity, as well as to 

 keep up a communication with their city, St. Paul's. Every inch 

 of ground was disputed by the barbarous Indians, here called 

 Bootocoodies, who were constantly either attacking them openly or 

 lying in ambush, and but too frequently succeeded in surprising 

 some of them, or their negroes, whom they immediately sacrificed 

 to their horrible appetite for human flesh. They believed the ne- 

 groes to be the great monkeys of the wood. The bones of the un- 

 fortunate sufferers were frequently found exposed, shocking testi- 

 monies of the barbarity of their murderers, whom the Paulistas, 



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