example of slavery, have stamped on them the character of an ignorant, superstitious, and slothful people. We have no intention to accompany Mr. Mawe, whom the fall of Monte Video had once more released, to the attack of Buenos Ayres, nor to repeat, after him, the causes of the failure of that ill-advised and worse conducted expedition. May no memorial of it remain to interrupt the friendship which has since happily sprung up between the two nations! We shall be better pleased to attend him to Rio de Janeiro, and thence to the gold and diamond mines of Minas Geraes, to which, we believe, he is the first Englishman who ever found admittance. The extreme jealousy of the Portugueze would not, till very recently, allow a foreigner, touching at any of the ports of Brazil, to sleep on shore, nor even to walk about in the day time, without a soldier at his heels: the interior of the country was a terra incognita, completely sealed up by a succession of guard houses, which the colonists themselves were not permitted to pass without leave from the highest authority. The same jealousy, added to the general ignorance of the people, has hitherto prevented any authentic information of this magnificent colony from being communicated to the world. The little that we have is generally derived from Spanish writers, seldom just to the Portugueze, and from the hasty visits of navigators to the sea-port towns, necessarily defective, and almost always inaccurate. Every account of it, therefore, drawn from actual observation, however meagre, must be acceptable, and will be read with interest. The first place on the coast at which Mr. Mawe touched, after his departure from Monte Video, was the island of St. Catherine's. In the general appearance of the town on this beautiful island, and in the manners of its inhabitants, a manifest superiority was observable over those which he had just left. The houses were well built and provided with neat gardens. Every article of provisions was abundant and cheap. The detailed account of this charming spot agrees pretty nearly with that already given by the few navigators who have touched there for refreshments; but when Mr. Mawe terms it a free port,' we would wish to refer him to an article* in a former number, where he will find, on the authority of Captain Krusenstern, how little it deserves the name. Were it really so, it is scarcely credible that, at the distance of two miles from the town of St. Catherine's, a neat house, a small orangery, and ground clear of brushwood, capable of forming a pretty plantation, should be offered for sale at one hundred dollars; or that on the skirts of the opposite continent, close to the harbour, grounds which oc * No. XII. Art. II. eupy cupy a space of eighty-five fathoms along the beach, and extend a mile inland, containing orangeries, coffee, rice, and mandioca, in a fine state of culture, together, with a neat house and garden,' should be sold for a thousand crusados, about £125 sterling. A little to the northward of San Francisco, the rivers are navigable by canoes to the base of the great chain of mountains which runs parallel to the coast at the distance of twenty or thirty miles. Over this chain a public road has been constructed for opening a communication from Francisco with the rich plains of Corritiva. Olives, grapes, apples, peaches, and all kinds of European fruits, with many of the tropical, grow here in great perfection, almost without care or culture. From the range of mountains before mentioned, whose height is at least 4000 feet above the level of the sea, these plains decline with a gentle slope to the Paraua, intersected by a thousand different streams, all of which fall into that mighty river. As the belt of land between the base of the mountains and the sea is mostly covered with wood, San Francisco is likely to become of considerable value as a port for building ships. A great deal has been said of the magnificent forests of Brazil: there is reason, however, to believe, that those, at least, between St. Catherine's and Rio de Janeiro contain very little timber fit for line-of-battle ships. They have been carefully examined by an intelligent English shipwright, sent for that purpose from Rio de Janeiro, whose report, we understand, is very far from being favourable to the sanguine expectations of those who had speculated on the inexhaustible supply of naval timber to be drawn from them. Coasting to the northward, Mr. Mawe next visited the harbour of Santos, formed by the island St. Vincent and the main. The town is situated at the head of a lake, three or four leagues in length, surrounded by mangrove trees. It is the port of the city of St. Paul, the capital of the district, with which it communicates by means of a navigable river running back about twenty miles to a place called Cuberton, from which an excellent road has been cut, in a zig-zag direction, across the chain of granite mountains, at the expense of some millions of crowns. Five leagues beyond the ridge commences a fine tract of open country, terminated at a distance by the city of St. Paul's, which is situated on an eminence, about two miles in extent, amidst rich meadows, intersected by a - number of rivulets, whose united streams meander round the base of the hill. St. Paul's was founded by the Jesuits, who probably had in view the fertility of the soil, the salubrity of the climate, and, above all, the quantity of gold with which the surrounding country then abounded. The streets are paved with a laminary grit-stone, cemented cemented by oxide of iron. It contains particles of gold, which, after heavy rains, are washed into the hollows, and diligently collected by the poor of the place. The population is supposed to amount to 20,000 souls, of whom about five hundred belong to the clerical order; which, we are told, is here composed of men free from that pride and bigotry which disgrace the clergy in many other parts. The worthy bishop sets the example of cultivating the sciences and diffusing useful information; the consequence of which is, that the higher ranks are more accomplished and social, and the lower classes more decent in their conduct, than in any of the other colonial towns. The ladies dress tastefully, and, at balls and assemblies, of which they are very fond, appear in elegant white robes, with a profusion of gold chains about their necks. Mr. Mawe strenuously denies the existence of that levity, which some travellers have ascribed to the females of Brazil, and asserts that there is no such practice as that of throwing flowers from balconies, or presenting them by way of assignation; he admits, however, that, on the first two days of Lent, persons of both sexes amuse themselves by throwing balls of wax, in the shape of lemons and oranges, filled with perfumed water. The lady generally begins the game; the gentleman returns it with such spirit that it seldom ceases until several dozens are thrown, and both parties are as wet as if they had been drawn through a river. Sometimes a lady will dexterously drop one into the bosom of a gen tleman, which will infallibly oblige him to change his linen, as it usu、 ally contains three or four ounces of cold water.' He is equally indignant at the ridiculous stories, quoted from impure sources, of the origin and character of the Paulistas, as he calls them, who, so far from inheriting the obloquy which an ancestry of rogues and vagabonds would have entailed upon them, have long been famed for their probity, their industry, and the mildness of their manners.' That the original inhabitants of St. Paul were vagabonds,' there can be no doubt; all the historiaus, whe ther Spanish or Portugueze, attest the fact; but Mr. Mawe is quite correct in reprobating the absurdity of a modern English geogra pher, who would persuade his readers that all strangers who did not bring certificates of having been thieves, were refused admittance into this hopeful colony;' and that virtuous actions were carefully punished with death!"* We see no reason why two centuries of progressive improvement should not wipe away the obloquy' which might have attached to their ancestors, who, being originally bred to the pastoral life, were little removed from the aboriginal savages. By leaving their flocks in quest of gold; they • Pinkerton. advanced advanced scarcely a single step in civilization; but when this source of wealth, which had drawn them together, began to fail, and with it the means of subsistence; when necessity compelled them to have recourse to the pursuits of agriculture, they rapidly improved in the arts and comforts of civilized life. Returning to Santos, he hired a canoe for the purpose of making a coasting voyage to Rio de Janeiro, to which, however, he deemed it more advisable to proceed by land, after reaching a port called Zapitiva. The first object that greeted the eyes of our traveller, on approaching the city, was the British flag flying amidst a squadron of British men of war then at anchor in the bay. Mr. Mawe apprizes us that, notwithstanding the many descriptions which have been published of Rio de Janeiro, he is determined to give a full and detailed account of it. We never saw a more meagre and jejune picture than that which he has drawn of this magnificent place. All its grand and commanding features are overlooked. We see nothing, in his tame outline; of those stupendous mountains which terminate, to the northward, the spacious harbour and its delightful appendages, unrivalled perhaps in the whole world, in the grandeur of its accompanying scenery, and in its capacity and convenience as a naval port. The inferior hills, finely fringed with wood, and surmounted by churches, convents, and nunneries, make no figure on Mr. Mawe's canvass; the Isle dos Cobras and its naval arsenal; the grand aqueduct supported on a double tier of arches, are not once mentioned; and that singular insulated block of granite at the entrance of the harbour, which rises out of the sand, in the shape of a cone, to more than twice the height of St. Paul's cathedral, is passed over in total silence; though we should have supposed that an object like this would be peculiarly inviting to the eye of a geologist. On leaving London, Mr. Mawe had taken the precaution of providing himself with a letter from the Chevalier de Sousa, the Portugueze ambassador, to the Viceroy of Brazil; by which he obtained the notice and protection of his brother the Condé de Linhares, who recommended him to the Prince Regent, as a person devoted to mineralogical pursuits, and one who, if permitted to explore the mines, might suggest the means of improving the process of extracting the precious metals, and discovering new sources of wealth. In consequence of this representation, his royal highness not only gave him permission to traverse the extensive mining district, but furnished him with letters to the public functionaries, with an escort of soldiers for his safe conduct, and with every suitable provision for the performance of the journey. Previously, however, to his visit to the mines, he made an excursion, at the prince's desire, to a royal farm at Santa Cruz, about A A 2 fifty fifty miles from Rio de Janeiro, of which, by the advice of Sir Sidney Smith, he undertook the management. He found it to consist of a park, as he calls it, containing 100 square miles. The house, which had formerly been a convent of Jesuits, was situated on the edge of a vast plain, watered by two small rivers, and well clothed with grass, affording support to seven or eight thousand head of cattle. The house was falling into ruins, and the whole establishment appeared to be in a state of decay. Fifteen hundred negroes resided on the estate, who were miserably lodged, clothed, and fed. More pains, it seems, had been bestowed in making these poor creatures good Catholics than in teaching them to improve the prince's farm, and, with it, their own condition. Mr. Mawe soon discovered that his labours would prove of no avail, as one of the managers of the household counteracted all his views for the improvement of the farm. He wisely, therefore, declined the concern. Mr. Mawe's first journey into the mining district was to a place called Canto Gallo, whence two men had brought to Rio a quantity of earthy matter, taken, as they said, out of a silver mine, and from which a small ingot of that metal was smelted. On arriving at the spot, he could not discover the least indication of silver or any other metallic substance, and began to suspect the men to be impostors. On examining them apart, they confessed that they had mixed filings of silver with the pulverized substance brought to Rio de Janeiro. Such impositions,' says Mr. Mawe, are common in South America: I have known instances in which copper filings mixed with earth, and afterwards washed, have been produced as samples, in order to enhance the value of land, or to serve some other sinister purpose. A passion for mining is fatally prevalent among some of the lower orders of the people; by deluding them with prospects of becoming speedily rich, it creates in them a disgust for labour, and entails want and wretchedness upon them. Even among the few families of this district I observed some examples of its effects; those who devoted themselves wholly to mining were in general badly clothed and worse fed, while those who attended to agriculture alone were well provided with every necessary of life.' On his return to Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Mawe obtained permission to explore the diamond mines of Serra do Frio, in the province of Minas Geraes, a favour which had never yet been granted to any foreigner. From the moment that he entered within the limits of this El Dorado of Portugal, the condition of the people bore the most striking marks of wretchedness; and the farther he proceeded, the worse it became. The occupant of every house and farm seemed as if on the point of abandoning it; all the buildings were falling |