44 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



I gave the bar keeper a Spanish dollar to pay for some le- 

 monade. He balanced it on his finder and offered to change it 

 for four <^petaks," which is little more than one-half of its 

 value. I insisted that it was worth two " mil reis," and several 

 native gentlemen present told him the same thing, but it was 

 some time before he was satisfied, and at last said, ^'well, I 

 am doing this at a great risk, and I fear I shall lose both mo- 

 ney and lemonade." 



I remarked to Brunner that there appeared to be a great 

 difficulty in the rate of exchange. 



"Yes,'^ he replied, "it is owing to the fluctuating value of 

 the currency, which changes almost daily. At present a Spanish 

 dollar is worth seventy-two * vintems' or 1,440 reis, in copper, 

 and 2,000 reis in the paper of the bank of Brazil. By this 

 you will find that copper is at a premium of about 38 per cent. 

 A thousand hard dollars will be received in trade at 1,920 reis 

 each, but to purchase the same number, each one will cost 

 2,020 reis."* 



« Then it is necessary, when transacting business, to be al- 

 ways well informed of the value of money. I have noticed in 

 the market, that money has a different value at stalls only a 

 few yards apart, and in order to avoid difficulty, it is best to 

 resort to the money-changers, who give copper for silver at a 

 very small premium." 



" Yes ; but you lose by it. They say that copper is at a pre- 

 mium of 33§ per cent, and when they change a note of 10,000 

 reis, they calculate the discount on that amount instead of the 

 copper which you receive, and thus you lose about 400 reis." 



"Is not the bank paper as good as copper? neither can be 

 made a tender out of the country, and I suppose the bank will 

 redeem its notes." 



" The paper never will be redeemed ; though it is said that 

 the bank has sufficient in its vaults to do so. The copper has 

 an intrinsic value, for when the worst comes to the worst, we 



• December 1833. The exchange has risen j the dollar is now worth only 

 1,300 reis. 



