83 RIO DE JANEIRO. 
scriptive of what were then considered as the eight most im- 
portant productions of the Brazils. They consist of 
1st. A view of the. diamond and gold 7nmes, which were first 
discovered about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and 
the most productive of which are at Villa Rica, about 200 
miles behind Rio de Janeiro. 
2d. View of a sugar plantation and mill for bruizing the 
canes ; an article which is not much cultivated in the neigh- 
bourhood of Rio, being considered as more suitable for those 
districts lying nearer to the equator. The few mills which we 
saw were of a rude construction, turned generally by a pair 
of small horses, and the canes passed between three wooden 
rollers ; and such they appeared in the painting. 
3d. The cnlture and preparation of indigo. Although this 
■ plant grows well and thrives without much attention, the 
preparation of the dye simple, and requiring no great ex- 
pence of labour, yet the small quantity that is produced will 
scarcely entitle it to be considered as an important article of 
commerce. 
4th. A plantation of the Cactus Optmtia, with the mode of 
preparing cochinille from the insect. There can be no ques- 
tion that this article, so valuable in the arts and manufac- 
tures, might be cultivated in the Brazils to as great an extent 
as in Mexico, whereas the quantity raised at present is ex- 
ceedingly trilling. 
