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the state of those who possess only eight or ten negroes, or whose property- 

 does not exceed three or four hundred pounds. 



Thus situated in one of the finest cUmates in the world, with rich lands full 

 of the finest timber, abounding in rivulets and water-falls in every direction, 

 containing, besides precious minerals, iron ores, and almost every other useful 

 product, the inhabitants of Brazil, though secured from absolute want, remain in 

 indigence. It is true, the miner procures his gold by great labour, but this need 

 not preclude him from improving his domestic condition. Were his hovel con- 

 verted into a house, his slaves better fed and lodged, and his family better provided 

 for, his whole affairs would receive a new impulse, and every part of his property 

 would become doubly productive. ::im ■gimi^yjiQ:^ . Mn < i: '= so 



Negroes employed as Messengers. 



One description of men whom I have omitted to mention before, are negroes 

 employed as messengers by the various chiefs in the Capitania of Minas Geraes. 

 The men selected for this employment are the most trusty and able-bodied that 

 can be found. Their letters are locked up in a leathern bag, which they buckle 

 Tound them, and never take off until they deliver its contents. They carry a 

 a gun and ammunition with them to defend themselves, as well as to provide them- 

 selves with food. Wherever they halt, they are sure of a kind and friendly recep- 

 tion, for nothing can exceed the cordiality with which the negroes welcome each 

 other. These men are trusted on V&ry important missions, and are dispatched to 

 every part of the Capitania. On urgent occasions, some of them have performed 

 journeys with astonishing celerity. I was most credibly informed, that one of 

 them had been known to travel seven hundred miles on a mountainous road in 

 sixteen days, though that distance usually occupies twenty or twenty-one days. 

 The men are generally tall, and of spare habit ; they are accustomed to light food 

 and long abstinence. 



Diseases peculiar to the Country. 



Of diseases I did not hear of any that were contagious, except Psora, which 

 sometimes prevails among the lower orders, who rarely use any remedy against it, 

 nor will they hear of sulphur, as they believe it to be fatal. Colds, attended with 

 fever, are the most general complaints ; but consumptions are rarely heard of. 

 Among the miners, I saw no symptoms of elephantiasis, though that disease is so 



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