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district or parish, where the several mines, or gold-beds, in their 

 different stages, might be exhibited at one view. 



On this estate are employed one hundred and fifty-six negroes, of 

 all descriptions, who, on such excellent land, producing every neces- 

 sary for food and clothing, might be expected to earn considerably 

 more than their own maintenance ; yet a former steward managed so 

 ill for twenty successive years, that, although he had nothing to pur- 

 chase but a little iron, and though the gold-mines were then more pro- 

 ductive than at present, he ran the establishment annually into debt 

 to the shopkeepers of Villa Rica. A single circumstance may account 

 for this mismanagement; — the noble proprietor resided in Portugal. 

 At present the estate is in a much more prosperous way, being en- 

 trusted to the care of another steward, and three overseers, all Cre- 

 olians. The latter receive a salary of thirty milrees (about nine 

 pounds sterling) per annum, besides their maintenance ; their busi- 

 ness is to execute the orders of the steward, and to superintend the 

 labour of the negroes committed to their charge. They lead a life 

 of extreme indolence, never putting their hands to any species of 

 work. 



The general diet of the country-people in this land of Canaan is 

 somewhat similar to that of the miners in the vicinity of St. Paul's, 

 already described. The master, his steward, and the overseers, sit 

 down to a breakfast of kidney-beans of a black colour, boiled, which 

 they mix with the flour of Indian corn, and eat with a little dry porjv; 

 fried or boiled. The dinner genei ally consists, also, of a bit of pork 

 or bacon boiled, the water from which is poured upon a dish of the 

 flour above-mentioned, thus forming a stiff pudding. A large quan- 

 tity (about half a peck) of this food is poured in a heap on the table, 

 and a great dish of boiled beans is set upon it: each person helps him- 

 self in the readiest way, there being only one knife, which is very often 

 dispensed with. A plate or two of cole wort or cabbage-leaves complete 

 the repast. The food is commonly served up in the earthen vessels 

 used for cooking it ; sometimes on pewter dishes. The general 



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