f 175 ) 



delicate particles of gold, which settled in the ground near its base. 

 When the waters abated, this rich deposit gave employment to num- 

 bers of the poorer sort of people, who took it away and washed it at 

 their convenience. 



Antonio Dias, the person already mentioned as one of the leaders 

 of the Paulistas, who discovered the place, having become extremel}' 

 rich, built a fine church, and dying soon after, bequeathed to it con- 

 siderable funds. It still bears his name. Five or six others were 

 begun and soon finished, as neither wood nor stone was wanting, 

 and the inhabitants were all ready to contribute a share of their pro- 

 perty, and to employ their negroes in furtherance of these pious 

 works. A law highly creditable to the wisdom of the Portugueze 

 government was now enacted, to prohibit friars from entering the ter- 

 ritory of the mines. What treasures were thus saved to the state, 

 and what a number of persons were thus continued in useful labour, 

 who would else have become burthensome to the community ! 



The town now underwent many improvements ; its streets were 

 more regularly built, and some parts of the side of the mountain were 

 levelled to afford more convenient room for the construction of houses, 

 and the laying out of gardens. Reservoirs were formed, from which 

 water was distributed by means of conduits to all parts, and public 

 fountains were erected in the most convenient and central situations. 

 The mint and smelting-houses were enlarged, and rendered more com- 

 modious for the transaction of business. About this period the inha- 

 bitants amounted to twelve thousand or upwards ; those who posses- 

 sed mines were either the first settlers or their descendants, and as the 

 best part of the district was occupied, the new adventurers who con- 

 tinued to arrive from time to time were obliged to enter into the ser- 

 vice of the existing owners until they had learned their methods of 

 working, after which they generally went in search of fresh mines, 

 proceeding along the water-courses and ravines, where they some- 

 times discovered new sources of wealth. Between the years 1730 

 and 1750 the mines were in the height of their prosperity ; the Kings 



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