The first lot which fell to my own share, was two dozen of eggs, which cost nearly a penny each; the next was a cake, made no doubt in the best style of the donor. This I begged permission, if not absolutely contrary to all rule, to divide among the ladies who were with us; and being allowed to eat, it was presumed that drinking would not be improper, and the mistress of the house produced wine. The auctioneer, elevated, as it might seem, by the high prices which he had obtained, quitted his beaten ground, stepped into the ranks of the females, and strode over their shoulders. Incommoded by his freedoms, they at first repaid him with jokes, and afterwards with pinches on his naked legs and feet, and at last with hearty slaps on the buttocks, which a short jacket left unskirted. In this manner, they beat him off the field, and the feat was applauded as excellent sport. The officiating priest seemed to participate in our feelings, on the conversion of a religious ceremony into a scene so ludicrous; for he commenced the more serious part of the service, which imperatively demanded silence, and vindicated its claim to attention. At this season, similar offerings are made all over the country, and generally disposed of in the same way. In these sales, the common character may not often make so unreserved a display of itself, as in the present instance; yet a man wishing to become acquainted with Brazilian manners, will be well repaid for the time which he may spend in an attendance upon them."

In the year 1817, our author made a journey into the province of Minas Geraes, when he put himself under the guidance of a tropeiro or carrier, partially adopted the dress of the country, and supplied himself with a variety of articles, both of furniture and table requisites, which show that, to take a journey in Brazil, is a very different thing from travelling in Britain. Goods are carried into the interior on the backs of mules, two hundred and fifty-six pounds being the average load of each; but on this occasion a poor animal carried a load of tea-boards, which, with their counterpoise, amounted to four hundred and sixteen pounds weight. On frequented roads, says our author,

"The owner of a large estate builds what is called a Rancho, which, in general, is nothing more than a long and broad roof, covered with tiles, and raised upon rough and unhewn posts, about twenty feet high; intended to afford shelter from the sun and rain, but it has generally no walls whatever, and very frequently the ground upon which it stands is not even rendered smooth and level. In these respects, therefore, they are inferior to the common hovels of English farms, under which cattle are usually housed. Beneath these sheds, those who travel with a troop, for the most part, take up their residence for the night, and have no communication whatever with the house or the owner of it. Just by he establishes a venda, that he may be able to dispose of milho, a chief article which the farm produces, and too bulky and heavy to be conveyed over

mountainous roads to a distant market, where also the price obtained would hardly defray the expenses of carriage. At a small distance also, upon the farm, is a pasture, into which the cattle belonging to the troop are turned at night. This is generally in some secluded valley, where the mules require neither enclosures nor keeper, for they seldom stray from the spot, separate from each other, or mingle with the individuals of another troop. For pasturage a small sum is paid to the owner of the land, and he derives the additional advantage of keeping his estate in some measure free from brushwood, and in a condition suitable for furnishing his own cattle with grass."

The country to the north of the capital is finely diversified with hill and dale. The scenery of one of the tributary streams of the river Parahyba, reminded the author of the vale of Matlock; and a fine vale at some distance from the banks of the Parahyba itself, had some resemblance to that of the Tees near Barnard castle. At the ferry of another river, the officers of the register were found employed weighing gold dust, which they had received as the produce of the washings, by a number of country people who had brought it in.

"These men, some of them negroes, appeared to be very poor, who, having collected a few oitaves of metal, carry it to the register, where it is examined, weighed, and a small sum advanced upon it. These circumstances are entered in a book, the dust, wrapped up in a small packet, is deposited in an iron chest, and the man departs to search for more. When he has collected as much as he thinks will make a bar, a certificate is given to him of the gross weight and probable value; the metal itself is sent to the smelting-house, where it lies for several months. In the meantime this written certificate is negociated by the searcher, and circulates until the bar which it represents be inquired for. One of these documents fell into my hands in the city, which had been issued at Sabara, two years before. On presenting this writing at the smelting-house, the bar is produced, and with it a certificate of the gross weight of the dust, the waste it suffered in smelting, of the quantity deducted as the royal fifth, of the present weight, assay and value of the bar. These bars, bearing the royal arms, the name of the place where they were issued, the weight and quality of the gold, accompanied by their certificates, circulate as coin, in the province of Minas Geraes, and some others, but now, when they find their way to that of Rio de Janeiro, they must be carried to the treasury, where they are coined into pieces of 6,400 reis, or 4000 reis each. The former of these certificates, it is evident, becomes actually a paper currency, and on a small scale produces in commerce some of the same effects; the latter also, though in the present mode it rather encumbers the circulation, might be made a very convenient kind of bank note, payable on demand, by the

bar which it represents, or exchangeable for treasury paper after date."

The gold searchers exhibited specimens of the dust they had collected, but with the utmost secrecy, as the sale of it to foreigners is prohibited. Upon the lower part of the river Parahybuna, searching for gold is interdicted; yet a considerable quantity is procured from it in a clandestine manner. In reference to the prohibition, an old searcher shrewdly remarked to our author, you know, sir, the night has no eyes." A cone of wet sand three feet high, which takes a man a day to raise, and two days to wash, yields gold to the value of from twenty to five and twenty shillings.

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The party now entered upon the province of Minas Geraes, and travelled through a fine pastoral country with cattle grazing around. The range of the thermometer in the course of the day was from 54° to 76°. The nights and mornings, of course, fest cool, but the air was finely bracing. In the course of their journey the party had some invitations to dine at the houses of rich farmers, or had fruit and other delicacies sent to them at the ranchos where they stopped. The route lay through a country resembling the West Riding of Yorkshire in external aspect; and from one of its hills our author was presented with a splendid scene.

"Here was nothing romantic and rough, no gray and naked peaks, no abrupt precipices and projections, but one expansive picture of elegant symmetry. Yet, having proceeded a few yards over the brow, a still more delightful scene burst at once to view. We looked down upon an ocean of mist, through whose surface broke, for many miles round, the tops of innumerable mountains, ranged like islands upon the bosom of the deep; all formed by the most delicate hand, painted by the richest pencil, and enlightened by the full splendour of a newly risen sun; even my negro boy, who might have vied with any one in human shape, for want of sensibility and taste, gazed in silence for a time, and then cried aloud, "He muito bonito"-It is very fine! Could I have passed such a spot without admiration, I should have thought myself destitute of one capacity for joy, if without feelings of devotion and gratitude, incapable of praising that Being, who, having formed, looked upon creation and pronounced it good."

The town of St. John D'El Rey is two hundred and sixty-five miles distant from Rio de Janeiro. It is of a circular form, and, in point of situation and size, bears a strong resemblance to Halifax in Yorkshire. The intermixture of public and private buildings, the white-washed walls, the red tiled roofs, the gray paved streets, the yellow sands of the river, and the green shrubbery of the gardens, combined to form an interesting picture. This town was blessed with a good governor, and it is certainly delightful to find among such a people, so much humanity and integrity, as are exhibited in the following extract:

"The character of the governor soon displayed itself, not merely in the frankness of his manners towards strangers, and the easy terms upon which he admitted to his presence every respectable individual of the place, but also by the kind notice which he took of a poor sickly Indian boy, who had accidentally seated himself upon the steps of the house; the tender interest which the condition of this poor outcast excited in the bosom of a person whom fortune had placed so much above him, quite won my heart, and rivetted my esteem for a man so gentle and humane; nor had I occasion afterwards to detract my respect. As a friend, he was warm and sincere, as a judge, upright and inflexible. In the latter respect, his character just before had been put to a severe trial, by the appearance of a person at his tribunal who had till then shared his esteem, and for whose acquittal great interest had been made; nevertheless he suffered not the friend to usurp the seat of justice, but passed an unmitigated sentence. On this account some were disposed to think him severe, yet, besides the satisfaction arising

m the consciousness of having done what was right, he possessed the respect, the affection, and blessings of the people. Without reserve, parade, or affectation, he showed himself among them, and was every where received as their guardian and friend."

The poorer classes are here employed in searching for the precious metals. Some of them collect pieces of quartz, break them, and examine the fragments; others take up the sand of the river and wash it; and others dig holes and divert the stream into them. Westward from the town, the ground on the declivity of a hill is trenched and washed. Our author thinks, and we dare say justly, that it would be more profitable to crop the ground, than to treat it in this manner. The mine which gave being to the town is nothing but a deep pit, near the government house, into which the rills from the neighbouring hills were guided, and the sand with which they were charged afterwards searched.

"Here accounts relating to gold are kept in marks, ounces, oitaves, and vintems, twelve vintems being equal to one oitave, or eighth part of an ounce, and eight ounces to one mark. The integral weight or ounce of the metal, when pure, or twenty-four carats fine, and when the royal claim or fifth has been satisfied, is estimated at 13.090 10-11 reis, which, at an exchange of sixtypence per milreis, gives three pounds five shillings and fivepence halfpenny, nearly as the sterling value of pure gold, when issued from the smelting-house; or for British standard gold, which is only twenty-two carats fine, less than three pounds sterling per ounce. The relative value of every quality of gold may be easily found by multiplying the number of carats by 75, or otherwise, at one operation, by using as a multiplier the number 130.9166, which gives the product in British farthings. Hence it is evident, that the intrinsic value of gold, when taken from the earth, and without any duty being paid upon it, is something less than forty

eight shillings per ounce for British standard, or that quality which is twenty-two carats fine."

Besides the trade in gold, this town enjoys a considerable share in the commerce of the country. The imports consist chiefly of British manufactures, the demand for which is great, and likely to increase. Oxen, horses, and mules; bacon and cheese; cotton, sugar, and coffee; gold, and precious stones, with some manufactured articles, are given for them in exchange. The military of this town and the comarca or county of which it is the head, consists, as in every part of Brazil, chiefly of militia; hence every person of note is an officer, and very tenacious of his military rank. The climate is fine and dry from March to November. Rain always comes from the south; snow sometimes falls on the hills, and ice is occasionally formed in the night, but neither can resist the heat of the mid-day sun. The disorder called goitre, here papas, prevails throughout the mining district, affecting people of all colours, classes, and conditions, and not sparing even the cattle. Salt, a luxury highly relished, both by the people and the brute creation, seems to be very efficacious in preventing and curing this disease.

From St. John the party proceeded to Villa Rica, through a country similar to that already traversed; but the elevation of which was so much greater, that the thermometer, which, before, had not been observed below 50o, now descended to 37°. The first appearance of Villa Rica is like an assemblage of well-built white villages, perched upon the salient points of the northern hill. But, on a nearer approach, these objects prove to be churches and other public buildings, while the dwelling-houses are found in the hollows between them. Nothing but the love of gold could have raised a town on such a spot; yet it is substantially built, kept clean and in good repair, and is supplied with abundance of pure water. It contains two thousand houses, all white-washed, fourteen public fountains, numerous bridges across the streams, ten churches, and the edifices of state, such as the governor's palace, the treasury, mint, and custom-house. The town is placed at the junction of several streams, whose waters have only one outlet by a narrow chasm. The united streams take the name of Rio de Carmo, and its sand is productive of much gold. In a small plain near the town, which is often flooded, trenches are opened by any one who chooses, and the mud deposited in them is carefully collected, and washed at home. The rills from the mountains are carefully examined for particles of precious metal; and in places where there is no natural flow of water, a series of pits is dug, a stream conducted to them, at proper seasons the water is drained off, and the sediment collected and searched. Drifts have been also run horizontally into the softer parts of the mountain, to allow the water impregnated with gold to ooze through the shistose materials of which it is composed. These drifts are about twen