The great extent of Brasil, and the general as of the country, diversified as it is by bill and valley, gives it such a variety of soil and climate, that it is well adapted to produce all that is neces sary either for luxury or use ; and the fruits and productions of the tropical climates, as well as all sorts of European gram, are accordingly found to flourish in its congenial soil. In no country would agriculture yield larger returns to the industrious farmer, and in no country is it more generally ne glected. A propensity to seek after gold and dia monds, with which the country abounds, is fatally prevalent among the people ; and to such a length is this carried, that they have lost all relish for sober industry. They will not be turned away from this, as they fancy, short road to wealth ; and their whole time being wasted in a fruitless search after these precious productions, they entail upon themselves and their families wretchedness and want. It is a general remark, that those who devote themselves wholly to mining, are badly clothed and worse fed, while those who have attended to agriculture are well provided with every necessary of life. But though there are not wanting many examples of the superior advantages of agriculture, it is extraordi nary that, throughout all Brasil, the husbandmen have ever been considered an inferior class to the miners ; and it is probable that this prejudice will con tinue until the country being in a great measure ex hausted of its gold and diamonds, its inhabitants shall be compelled to seek, in the cultivation of the soil,. a sure and permanent source of wealth. Most of the towns in the southern provinces of Brasil were first settled by bands of adventurers, who pene trated into the interior in quest of the precious metals ; and when they bad gradually exhausted the country of its mineral treasures, they were then compelled to employ themselves in husbandry. The town of St Paul's, in the province of Minas Geraes, which contains about 15,000 inhabitants, was settled in this manner. The town of Villa Rica owed its origin to the same cause. The country around both these places has been in a great measure drained of its gold by the rapacious industry of successive ad venturers. The inhabitants of St Paul's, the vicinity of which has been long exhausted, have betaken themselves to industry. But in Villa Rica, where the precious metal has not entirely disappeared, they still retain their blind passion for mining; and totally neglect the fine country around them, of which the produce would amply compensate them for the loss of its former wealth. The descendants of the original settlers in the interior of 'Brasil, have generally sunk into a deplorable degeneracy of man ners. They are unfitted for active life by their edu cation, their habits, and, still more by their heredi tary prejudices. Perpetually indulging in prospects of fancied wealth, they neglect the means by which alone their hopes can be realized. They are listless and indolent, passing whole days in perfect inacti vity, and leaving every trade to be occupied by mu lattoes or negroes.
Every where throughout Brasil there are large tracts of unoccupied land, which may be obtained by making proper application to government, and may be afterwards held as freehold property. Other excellent lands are possessed by many indolent persons, who are either unwilling or incapable of turning them to any advantage. These may be bought at very low prices, and they afford every possible encouragement to enterprising settlers. Many districts abound with iron ore and limestone ; there is excellent clay for making bricks,—wood in abundance for every purpose, and water at command. As an example of the profits which may be gained by farming in Brasil, Mr Mawe mentions having met with an industrious Priest, who, having obtained pos session of a farm, which he diligently cultivated, had- in the course of four years rendered it worth L. 400,---although he possessed only L. 8—per an num:, his salary as a clergyman, with which to hire ne groes for the cultivation of his property.
Maize, beans, cassava root, which is generally eaten as bread by all ranks, are very generally cul tivated. In many parts wheat and other European grain is reared ; and where the farmer has plant ed a sufficient supply of food for the consumption of the farm, he grows coffee, and, if he has the means, he prepares for growing and manufactur ing sugar. The farm-houses are generally. mise
rable hovels of one story ; the floor is neither pav ed nor boarded, and the walls and partitions are formed of wicker-work plastered with mud. The kitchen is a filthy room with an uneven muddy floor, interspersed with pools of water; the fire-places are formed by the rude contrivance of three round stones; and as there is no proper chimney, the place is always filled with smoke, which vents itself through the door and other apertures, leaving all 'within black and dirty. In more remote paits of the country, the same habits of indolence prevail. " The people," says Mr Mawe, to whose researches we are indebted for much valuable information re specting this interesting country, " seemed to act as if the tenure by which they held their lands was about to be abolished; all around them had the appearance of make-shift; their old•houses fast hastening to decay, bore no marks of repair about them ; wherever a bit of garden ground was in closed, it appeared overrun with weeds ; where coffee-trees, planted in former exist ed, the present occupiers were too ndolent to ;gather the fruit; no inclosures were made for pas turage ; a few goats supplied the little milk that was consumed, and cow's milk was rarely to be pro cured." Brasil has long been celebrated for the gold and diamonds with which it abounds ; but so watchfully was this precious produce formerly guarded by the jealousy of the Portuguese Government, that no foreigner was ever permitted to penetrate into the interior ; and, in consequence, no satisfactory infor mation could ever be procured respecting those va luable productions. Lately, however, and more especially since the emigration of the Portuguese Royal Family to the Brasils, this policy has been re laxed; and we are indebted to Mr Mawe, who was freely permitted to visit both the gold and the dia mond mines of the interior, and to examine every part of the works connected with them, for many curious details respecting this branch of domestic industry, by which the inhabitants are drawn from every other pursuit.
In the beds of almost all the rivers which have their rise in the interior of Brasil, gold is found in abundance, and the nearer the source of the river, the soil always proves to be the richer in mineral wealth. • It is known that the head waters of all those streams which have their source in the pro vinces of Minas Geraes or of Goias, and which, run ning .south-west, fall into the Parana, a branch of the great river Plata, or turning to the north-east, are carried by the Rio Francisco to the Atlantic, are rich both in gold and diamonds. Almost all the towns in the interior of Brasil, were established by ad venturers in pursuit of gold, and they will be found, accordingly, to be situated near the sources of the great rivers. The town of St Paul is situated on the western declivity of the chain of mountains which run along the coast near the source of the river Tiete, which, running west, falls into the Par ana. Villa Rica is, in like manner, situated near the source of the Paraiba, which falls into the Atlantic, and on the sources of all the other rivers, towns have been established by adventurers drawn to these remote and unfrequented regions by their eager searches after gold. The village of Paracatu is este _ blished on the sources of the Rio Francisco, between SOO and 400 miles north-west from Rio Janeiro ; its population is estimated at 1000 souls ; and it will soon be more numerous, as the rumoured dis covery of some rich mines lately found in its vi - cinity, has already tempted many families to re - move to it. Farther to the west, we meet with the head waters of the rivers Toccantins, and with those of the river Aragua, as we advance into the province of Matto-Grosso. There is every reason to believe that those unexplored regions abound in untouched treasures both of gold and dia monds. The town of Villa Boa is situated on the eastern waters of the river Aragua, in the province of Goias, and is 80 leagues to the west of Paracatu, from whence there is a good road.. Several other villages have also been established, at no great dis tance, for the purpose of collecting the gold which is found in the channels of those mountain streams.