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months, and sometimes four, in going, and the same time in return- 

 ing. These animals in this district are double the price that they 

 are in St. Paul's. The journeys are attended with considerable ex- 

 pence and difficulty ; Indian corn must be daily bought for their use ; 

 and, notwithstanding the great attention paid to them on the road, 

 manj'^ die, and others are frequently lamed and disabled. Their 

 burdens are divided into two equal parts, and suspended on a pack- 

 saddle of peculiar make by straps of raw hide. The average burden 

 is nine arrobas, nearly equal to three hundred pounds weight, the 

 carriage-expence of which, from Rio de Janeiro to Minas Novas, is 

 six or seven pounds sterling ; to Tejuco five pounds; to Villa Rica 

 about three. 



The trade to Minas Novas from Rio de Janeiro consists princi- 

 pally in negroes, iron, salt, woollens, hats, printed cottons, hard-ware, 

 arms, and some fancy articles, a little wine and oil, salt-fish, and 

 butter. Few luxuries enter these remote parts, the inhabitants seek- 

 ing for little beyond mere necessaries. 



Minas Novas is under the jurisdiction of the Ouvidor of Villa do 

 Principe, who goes thither once a year to settle disputes, administer 

 justice, and discharge other duties belonging to his office. 



At Tocaya the Jigitonhonha flows into a larger river, called Rio 

 Grande, which, taking an easterly direction, enters the sea in lat. 16'* 

 20' south, near Porto Seguro. A gentleman with whom I was ac- 

 quainted undertook to navigate this fine river from Tocaya to the 

 sea, and, as the current was rapid, he performed the task in six 

 days. On his return, which occupied fifteen days, he observed 

 several tributary rivers, the communications of which are unknown, 

 as they rise in the country inhabited by the Indians. The river 

 being free from falls, tnay in time be frequented by vessels from sea, 

 for I did not learn that its entrance was shallow or unfit for naviga- 

 tion. Probably the land about it is low and marshy, which may be 

 the reason that it is so little known. 



