68 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



similar articles can be grown without much labor or attention. 

 Lately very good cheese , has been made and exported to the 

 main. The forests of St. Catherine produce several excellent 

 species of wood. 



Rio Janeiro, besides possessing a fertile soil, remarkably 

 well adapted to the cultivation of coffee, which is rapidly in- 

 creasing, is the focus of industry and trade, from which im- 

 provements of all kinds spread in every direction over Brazil. 

 The flourishing state of the spice trees in the botanic garden 

 near the city, promises that their cultivation may be extended 

 in the province, and if not sufficiently productive for exporta- 

 tion, will at least supply the demand for home consumption. 



Minas-Geraes, besides the major part of the productions 

 common to the southern provinces of Spain and Portugal, yields 

 gold, diamonds, and precious stones. Wheat and Indian corn 

 grow in plenty, and large quantities of nitre are obtained from 

 the mines of Monte Rorigo. 



Matto-Grosso and Goias are but thinly populated. They are 

 inhabited by several tribes of unsubdued Indians. The soil is 

 covered with rich pasturage, forests, and several useful plants 

 which are common to Peru. 



In the provinces of Espirito-Santo and Porto-Seguro, are 

 found several kinds of wood suited to cabinet work and archi- 

 tecture. The Ibirapitanga (Brazil wood), now so necessary 

 in manufactures, and which is beginning to fail in Pernambuco, 

 is met with here. 



Ilheos and its adjacent territories furnish manioc, and the 

 cacao tree, though its cultivation is not extensive. 



The soil of Bahia is well adapted to the growth of sugar- 

 cane ; the manufacture of which is daily improving. Tobacco 

 also flourishes in this province, and afibrds very considerable 

 profits. At St. Salvador (Bahia), as well as at Rio Janeiro, 

 several mechanic arts are exercised with a degree of perfection 

 which would not disgrace European workmen. 



In Pernambuco and its vicinity is grown some of the finest 

 cotton in South America. The Brazil wood thrives better here 

 than in any other part of the empire ; very little attention is 

 paid however to its propagation. 



