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of evils. The object of my reasoning is to shew that these degraded 

 persons have been of service to the state, and may still be rendered 

 useful to it. May it be permitted me to enquire vi^ho were the dis- 

 coverers of perhaps all the diamond mines which have enriched the 

 caskets of the royal family of Portugal beyond comparison with 

 those of any other state, and which have not only augmented the 

 revenues of the government, but have proved the source from which 

 many respectable and enterprising individuals have derived their 

 opulence ? Adventurers, who, at great risk and with indefatigable 

 toil, have penetrated unknown forests, and explored deep ravines 

 among the haunts of the savage Anthropophagi, in search of gold- 

 mines, and in them have by chance found diamonds. When a place 

 of this description has been once discovered by these men, it seldom 

 remains long secret ; the agents of Government take possession of it, 

 and either work it immediately, or guard it until a future occasion. 

 The discoverer of course flies from the place ; and if he have picked 

 up a few stones, or robbed the earth of some of its most brilliant 

 rarities, he will seek the best and safest means of procuring value for 

 them. If he be a man of sufficient property, he will hire a few mules, 

 load them with cotton, bacon, and other commodities, and proceed 

 to Rio de Janeiro in regular form. On his arrival there, he enters 

 some good house in which he has confidence, and disposes of his 

 concealed treasure. His mind is then relieved from apprehension, 

 and he begins to make preparations for his return. His first care is 

 to lay out his money to the best advantage : negroes are his chief 

 object, and these pay a duty to the state on their leaving Angola, 

 and another of ten milreis each on entering the mining country. If 

 they be employed in mining, Government obtains a fifth of the gold 

 found, and if in agriculture, a tenth of the produce is exacted. The 

 next object of the adventurer is to lay in a stock of woollens, and 

 other English manufactures, which pay a duty of fifteen percent, on 

 being landed, and are subject to another, according to their weighty 

 on entering the territory of the mines. Thus it really appears that 



