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animated with the English country-dance. The ladies seldom go 

 abroad, except to mass, and then they are usually carried in a chair 

 hung with curtains and a canopy, and suspended from a pole, borne 

 by two men. The sedentary habits of the females I have often 

 thought injurious to their health ; but, since English saddles have 

 been introduced, they begin to take airings on horseback. 



Warm baths are very generally used, being considered of great 

 efficacy in removing recent colds, to which all persons here are 

 liable, on account of the peculiar nature of the climate. They are 

 invariably offered at night to travellers, as a means of relieving the 

 pains occasioned by the fatigues of the day. 



A continuance of ill health obliged me to take leave of my friends 

 in Tejuco, and to return to Rio de Janeiro with all possible expedi- 

 tion. It will not l)e expected that I should relate all the particulars 

 of my journey thither, as I retraced my former route with a few 

 occasional deviations ; I shall therefore confine myself to whatever 

 I saw worthy of interest which I did not observe on my way to 

 Tejuco. 



Mr. De Camara did me the honour to accompany me as far as 

 San Gonzales, and shewed me a work a shoi t distance from the esta- 

 blishment, near the margin of a river of the same name. As I staid 

 here one entire day with this gentleman, I had leisure to examine this 

 singular situation, where I, for the first time, found mountains of 

 sienite, incredibly hard, composed of hornblende and feldspar. 

 About forty 3'ears ago this excavation, which was of considerable 

 depth, was suddenly filled up by the bursting-in of the side, for want 

 of proper support to resist the pressure of the incumbent stratum, 

 which falling in immense masses, totally destroyed the works ; and 

 the}"^ remained in this state until about two years ago. As the wings 

 of vague report are in general much longer than those of truth, this 

 place had the reputation of being extremely rich in diamonds, and 

 the apparent impossibility of clearing it, added greatly to the credit 

 which was given to it. Old inhabitants came forward to say that 



