CHAPTER XII.

SAN ROMÃO TO THE DIAMOND DISTRICT.

Leaves San Romão—Passes Guaribas—Passagem—Geräes

Velhas—Espigão—Caisára—Cabeceira—Arrives at the Villa

de Formigas—Town described—Account of the impostor

Douville—Country around rich in botanical products—Passes

Viados—Arrives at the Arraial de Bomfim—Reaches San

Elo—Sitio—Comes to a Gold Working called Lavrinha—Crosses

the River Inhacica—Reaches As Vargems—Registo do Rio

Inhahy—Bassoras on the river Jiquitinhonha—Examines a Diamond

Mine—Formation in which the Diamond is found—Mode of Working

it—Arrives at the Arraial de Mendanha—Town described—Ascends

the Serra de Mendanha—Reaches Duas Pontes—Arrives at the

Cidade Diamantina, formerly the Arraial de Tijuco, the

Capital of the Diamond District—Town situated on side of

Hill—Description of its Population—Their mode of Dress—Its

cold Temperature—Productions of its Neighbourhood—Mining for

Diamonds, formerly a privileged Monopoly, now is open to

all.—Character of Miners—Extent of Diamond Mines—Privilege

of Slaves there employed—Climate very Healthy—Women very

Handsome—Complaints incident to its Climate—Loyalty shown by

its Inhabitants—Fatality among Horses.

The province of Minas Geräes is not only one of the largest in Brazil,

but one of the richest, its natural resources being very considerable. It

extends between the 14th and 23rd degrees of south latitude, and between

the 41st and 53rd degrees of west longitude, the four more westerly

degrees, however, include but a very narrow corner; on the east, it is

bounded by the maritime province of Espirito Santo; on the north, by

those of Bahia and Pernambuco; on the south, by those of Rio de Janeiro

and San Paulo; and on the west, by that of Goyaz. It is naturally divided

into two very unequal portions by a mountain chain, that runs from

south to north, in which exist the Gold and Diamond mines, for which the

province is so celebrated. The country to the east is mostly covered

with virgin forests, while that to the west, which is flatter, chiefly

consists of pasture lands, much of which, however, is covered with

Catinga forests, forming one of the largest tracts in Brazil, to which

the name of Sertão is given. In order to reach the Cidade Diamantina, the

capital of the Diamond district, which it was now my intention to visit,

it was necessary to make a long journey through this desert-like country;

the road most frequented, is that which runs southward along the east

bank of the Rio de San Francisco, and the north of the Rio das Velhas, a

large tributary of the former, which takes its rise in the Gold country;

the other, which is a far worse road, leads through the Sertão in a

south-east direction; but I preferred it, because it would sooner bring

me into the mountainous regions of the Diamond district.

On the 1st of July, preparatory to our departure, my horses were brought

over from the island to the east side of the San Francisco, and early

on the following morning the luggage was all at once passed over, in a

large ajojo, two canoes lashed together. All being now prepared, I had

resolved to proceed immediately, but on collecting the animals, my own

saddle horse was not to be found; all that day was spent in search of

it, but the only trace left, was the leathern strap, by which its fore

legs had been secured, and which was found in the wood unbuttoned at both

ends, and as this could only have been done by some person, we came to

the conclusion that the horse was stolen; I, therefore, resolved to lose

no more time in looking after it. About midnight we were awakened by a

black man, who had assisted my men in the morning’s search, who came to

inform me that a horse similar to mine, had been seen during the day,

tied to a tree in the wood considerably further up the river. Early next

morning, I despatched one of my people in that direction to look for

it, who returned in about an hour, bringing the horse with him; it was

evident it had been taken there, in the hope of its remaining concealed,

until an opportunity occurred of carrying it away altogether. I now lost

no time in commencing the journey, and making a short stage of about

a league, rested, during the middle of the day, at a fazenda called

Guaribas. The first half league was through a flat thinly-wooded tract,

which is generally overflowed by the river, during the rainy season; I

saw some fine large trees in this wood, of a species of _Triplaris_,

and an arboreous _Bignonia_, destitute of leaves, but covered with

flowers not unlike those of the Foxglove, in shape, size, and colour.

The underwood here consisted chiefly of different kinds of _Mimosa_,

_Acacia_, _Bauhinia_, _Cæsalpinia_, &c., and an immense number of Lemon

trees, loaded with fruit; this tree has here become quite naturalized,

and the cattle that pasture in the woods are so fond of the fallen fruit,

that when killed, their flesh smells strongly of it. The other half

league led through a thickly-wooded Taboleira. At Guaribas, I occupied

myself with skinning a very large howling monkey, which Mr. Walker shot

the evening before, on a tree on the banks of the Rio de San Francisco;

and in the afternoon we advanced another two leagues, and arrived at a

fazenda, called Passagem. The road was dreadfully bad, in consequence of

the underwood which choaked the almost untrodden path; on this journey,

every little twig and blade of grass was loaded with carrapatos, in

balls, often the size of filberts, and we became completely covered with

these annoying insects; the banks of the little stream near the house,

in particular, were swarming with them. In the afternoon, we passed two

small lakes which were full of wild ducks, but we were too much annoyed

by the badness of the road to lose time in shooting any of them, although

they appeared to be very tame; they are smaller than those which frequent

the lakes of the north of Brazil.

The fazenda of Passagem, at which we stopped, belongs to a person who

resides in San Romão, whose acquaintance I made during my stay there;

the vaqueiro in charge of it, had orders not only to entertain us for

the night, but to guide us to the next fazenda, which is three leagues

distant. It was my design to leave early on the following morning, but

my mortification was extreme on finding that my riding horse again was

not forthcoming with the others. As the country around the house was

covered with a thick Catinga forest, abounding in many places with a

small kind of Bamboo, of the leaves of which the horses are remarkably

fond, we concluded he would be found grazing somewhere near at hand,

but all the forenoon was in vain spent in search of him; the vaqueiro,

who was a most obliging man, and well acquainted with the country, then

mounted his horse, in quest of the lost animal, but he returned in the

evening, without having been able to find the slightest trace of him.

All the following day was again spent in a useless search, and, as the

pasturage at this place was very bad, we went on in the evening, for

the sake of other animals, to Geräes Velhas, the fazenda to which the

vaqueiro had orders to conduct us. He remained here with us all night,

and next morning, I sent one of my men back with him, to have a last

search for the missing horse, being unwilling to proceed without him,

as he was one of the best belonging to my troop; but on the following

day, the man returned without having obtained the slightest intelligence

of the lost animal. I entertained no doubt that the thief who had been

disappointed on the former occasion, had now followed us, and at last

made sure of his booty. The country between Passagem and Geräes Velhas

consists principally of a flat Taboleira, which for the most part is

covered with a tall grass, a species of _Andropogon_, from six to twelve

feet high. For the next four days after leaving Geräes Velhas, our route

was through a very thinly inhabited country, consisting sometimes of low

Catinga forests, at others, of Taboleiras cobertas, and not unfrequently

of woodless grassy hills, on which that species of _Callopisma_, called

Boca do Sapo, and the beautiful _Chresta pycnocephala_, grew profusely,

both of which were then in full flower. In passing through bushy grassy

tracts in the Sertão, the ears of the traveller are greeted, from

early dawn till night, by the loud cries of a large gallinaceous bird,

called by the inhabitants, Seriema; they generally go in pairs, and by

keeping among the long grass, they are seldom seen; like the Ostrich of

the country (Emu), they run with great quickness. St. Hilaire compares

their cry to that of the turkey, but I find in my Journal, that I have

frequently remarked it to be like the yelping of a whelp. They build

their nest in the low trees, and lay two eggs; as their flesh is not much

esteemed, they are seldom sought after by the sportsman; and on this

account are frequently heard uttering their peculiar cry in the immediate

neighbourhood of houses: it is the _Dicolophus cristatus_ of Illiger.

In passing through a little hamlet, called Espigão, which consists of

about a dozen scattered houses, belonging to people of colour, I met with

a horse dealer, with whom I exchanged two of my horses, that were a good

deal exhausted, for two better ones, giving him a sum of money to boot;

but as he saw I was almost driven by necessity to make this exchange, he,

of course, contrived to have the best of the bargain, in which respect

the Brazilian horse-dealers very much resemble those of more civilized

countries. On leaving Espigão, we travelled all the afternoon, and the

whole of the next day, before we came to any habitation; it was dusk

when we arrived in sight of it, and it was not without some difficulty,

owing to the badness of the road, and our not knowing which path to

take, that we at length reached this fazenda, called Caisára. I was much

disappointed to find this portion of the province so thinly populated,

and exhibiting but few indications of native industry; although many

tracts appeared equally well adapted for the rearing of cattle, as the

greater portion of Goyaz, we saw scarcely any animals distributed over

its surface. There seemed abundance of excellent pasturage and good

shelter for cattle, and notwithstanding that the upper parts of the hills

were sometimes bare, the valleys appeared to be well wooded. When I asked

for quarters for the night, at this place, I was told by the owner, an

old mulatto, that if we chose, we might sleep under some orange trees,

to which he pointed, at a little distance from the house. Thither we

accordingly went, but just as we were getting the horses unloaded, he

came down to inform us, that although he gave us liberty to sleep there,

he would not on any account allow us to make a fire. The nights in this

part of the country being too cold to admit of sleeping in the open air

without artificial warmth, I determined to keep aloof from a man who was

so uncivil and inhospitable, and therefore moved away from his orange

trees, carrying off all our equipage to the high road, which passed by

the house, where we kindled a large fire, by the side of which we slept,

but most uncomfortably, as the ground was covered with carrapatos. Next

morning before we started, the owner of the fazenda came out to visit us,

and no doubt being ashamed of his conduct, he begged I would not mention

to any one the manner in which we had been received, which was entirely

owing to the smallness of his accommodation; but this was evidently a

mere excuse, as his house was by no means small. The true reason for

making this apology, was his having ascertained, from one of my men, the

nature of my profession, for he brought with him one of his daughters, to

solicit my advice respecting a complaint under which she had laboured for

some time. I was also asked by him to visit one of his slaves, who for

many years had been prevented from working, by a complaint not uncommon

in Brazil, Sarcocele; this, however, was the most remarkable case I had

ever witnessed, exhibiting an enormous mass of solid flesh in a pyriform

shape, that reached the ground, weighing nearly as much as the rest of

his body. The wretched being who was thus affected was a man still in the

prime of life, and suffered but little, except from the inconvenience it

caused him.

On the afternoon of the following day, we arrived at another fazenda

called Cabeceira, the distance between the two places being about four

leagues and a half. On this journey, the country still continued to rise,

and about half a league before reaching this place, we passed over a

bare Serra of considerable height, the ascent of which was rather steep,

although the road over it is excellent, being so constructed that carts

can cross it without difficulty. That portion of the mountain in which

the road has been made is a soft brownish-coloured clay slate, but at no

little distance on each side, the more lofty summits of the Serra consist

of black compact limestone. The bushy campos through which we passed in

the forenoon, were beautifully adorned with a fine plant, belonging to

the natural order _Compositæ_, which grew in the greatest abundance, and

reached to the height of about five feet, the _Chresta sphærocephala_

of De Candolle; it has large leaves, which, together with the stem and

branches, are covered with a white woolly substance, and is much branched

at the top, each branchlet being terminated by a large globose compact

head of purple flowers. As there was a good watering place in a wood a

little beyond Cabeceira, we preferred going there, rather than remaining

at the house, to which we were invited by the owner. During the whole

interval since we had left the province of Goyaz, we never suffered for

want of water as we had done in the dry provinces of the north. In every

part of the country through which we were now travelling, we found in

nearly every valley a little stream of clear, cool, and delicious water,

and during our future progress it became even more abundant. We were

now only two leagues and a half distant from the Villa de Formigas, but

owing to the badness of the roads, we did not reach it till nearly one in

the afternoon, notwithstanding we left our encampment at an early hour.

The country was rather hilly, and the road stony, but it presented one

great advantage to the traveller, which I knew well how to appreciate, in

the bridges which are to be found crossing all the little streams that

intersect the roads. They are constructed of wood, and however rude, they

save the traveller much trouble, and prevent the risk of damage to the

luggage, as we too often experienced on our journey between Arrayas and

San Romão. Immediately on entering the Villa we passed over an excellent

bridge of considerable span, one of the best I had yet seen in the

interior; it crossed a small river which passes through a portion of the

town. Having letters of recommendation to the Vigario of the district,

Padre Antonio Gonsalves Chaves, I proceeded at once to his house, where

we met with a most hospitable reception; an excellent breakfast was

immediately prepared, and good quarters provided us, in an empty house

belonging to him, adjoining the one which he inhabited.

The Villa of Montes Claros de Formigas, is of small dimensions,

containing a population of about 1,000 souls, but in respect to its

situation, the arrangement of its streets, and the neat and clean

appearance of the houses, it far exceeded any Villa I had seen in the

interior. It is distant from Rio de Janeiro and Bahia upwards of two

hundred leagues, and about fifty from the Cidade Diamantina; until the

year 1832, it ranked only as an Arraial, but in that year it was elevated

to the dignity of a Villa, and is now the chief town of the Comarca of

the same name. The site on which it is built has been well chosen, being

a slightly elevated plateau, in the centre of a large valley, which is

surrounded on all sides by an irregular ridge of hills of considerable

elevation. The greater part of the houses are arranged in the form of a

very large square, much longer than broad, of which the south side is

still incomplete. At the north end of this square stands the only church

the Villa contains, near which is an excellent roofed market-place, for

the sale of provisions brought from the country; at the south-end of the

space fronting the church, is a large jail not yet finished. The small

river that passes it, called the Rio Vieira, falls into the Rio das

Velhas, yielding the town a very good supply of fish, similar to those

found in the Rio de San Francisco. The Villa contains a few shops, where

European goods are sold; these goods were formerly brought from Bahia,

but Rio de Janeiro seems now to be the principal resort of the merchants,

who take with them in exchange to the coast its chief produce, saltpetre,

which is found not only in the soil in certain parts of the surrounding

Sertão country, but in caverns in the limestone rocks, of which the low

mountains in the vicinity are principally formed. The fazendeiros in the

country around Formigas, occupy themselves principally in the rearing

of cattle and horses, which are for the most part driven to the Bahia

market. They also cultivate a little mandiocca and Indian corn, but no

rice, the dry nature of the country not being suited to its growth.

I remained only two days in Formigas, being now very anxious to reach

the gold country, where I expected to find letters from England awaiting

my arrival: I should otherwise have made a longer stay here, in order

to recover from the effects of the bruise I received on my leg at San

Romão, which, in consequence of my being obliged to ride every day on

horseback, had become so greatly inflamed and swollen as to cause me

much pain and inconvenience, and totally to prevent all chance of making

any excursions on foot in the neighbourhood of the Villa. During my stay

I received many kind attentions from the Vigario, who readily afforded me

the use of his library, which, though small, contained a good selection

of Latin, French, and Portuguese works. From him I received the following

information respecting the unfortunate impostor Douville, the pretended

author of the travels in the interior of Africa:—[14]

In the year 1836 he visited Formigas, and lived for some time in the

house of the Vigario, passing himself off as Dr. Douville, and gaining

much money by the practice of medicine: he also trafficked in the buying

and selling of horses, notwithstanding that he said he was sent to

Brazil by the king of France, on a mission to investigate its natural

productions and curiosities, and to construct a map of such portions

of the empire as he chose to visit during his travels. He boasted much

of his African journeys, exhibiting everywhere a gold medal, which he

said he received from the Geographical Society of Paris, subsequent to

the publication of his work. The Vigario, as well as other persons of

intelligence in Formigas, suspected him to be an impostor, concluding

that he was not the real Douville who was said to have travelled in

Africa, but another person who had got fraudulent possession of his

papers, &c. He generally charged exorbitant sums of money to those he

attended in his medical capacity, and it was owing to an instance of

this kind that he met with his death. Somewhere near the Rio de San

Francisco, he was called upon to attend a fazendeiro who was ill, and

with whom he bargained to effect his cure for the sum of 200 mil-reis,

about twenty-five pounds sterling; but in the end the patient died,

notwithstanding which, he insisted on receiving the stipulated sum, and

after some time, the heirs of the deceased yielding to his importunities,

gave it to him. They did not, however, intend it should remain long in

his hands, for when Douville embarked to go down the river, they sent a

man after him, who killed him one night as he was asleep in his canoe,

and robbed him not only of the 200 mil-reis, but of everything he had in

his possession; thus he fell at last a victim to his own gross impostures.

We left Formigas on the morning of the 13th of July, and after travelling

about half a league we reached the mountain range, by which the valley

is bounded, its structure being a dark compact primitive limestone. The

ascent, which is very gradual, is well wooded with small trees, but on

reaching the top, we entered upon an undulating open barren country,

with only here and there a few clusters of trees in hollow places; to

these isolated woods, the name of capoes is given, an appellation which

is highly poetical, being derived from the Indian word Caapoám, which

signifies an island. These island-woods form a peculiar feature in

the upland, open, undulating campos of the province of Minas Geräes.

The trees which compose them, chiefly consist of different species of

_Myrcia_, _Eugenia_, _Vochysia_, _Anona_, _Laurus_, _Styrax_, &c.,

intermingled with climbing shrubs, such as _Bauhinia_, _Paullinia_,

&c. The soil in which these trees grow, is often so swampy that it is

difficult to get among them, nor can this be done without risk, on

account of the large boa constrictors which frequent these places.

After a journey of about three leagues through this description of

country, we came to a small stream in a hollow, where we determined

to halt for the remainder of the day, as we had been told the next

watering-place was about three leagues further on. The spot we selected

for our quarters was under the shade of some small trees, but we had

scarcely unloaded one horse, when we found ourselves covered with

carrapatos, and on examination discovered that both the grass and

ground were swarming with them. No time was lost in abandoning this

spot, and ascending again to the open campo, we obtained shelter

under the wide-spreading boughs of a large Jatobá tree. In the grassy

fields I found a pretty little melastomaceous shrub with rose-coloured

flowers; and on the slanting face of a hill which led down to one of

the island-woods, I collected no less than five species of the genus

_Eryngium_. During the night a cold wind blew over the table-land where

we slept, from the effects of which we endeavoured to protect ourselves,

by means of a large fire that we kept burning, but which we had some

difficulty in maintaining for want of dry wood. Towards morning we were

all aroused by the barking of our large mastiff dog, and the screaming

of some one he had attacked. Our encampment was close by the side of the

public road, and the dog had sprung upon a poor black man who was on his

way to Formigas from the diamond districts, and who had set out on his

journey at this early hour to escape the heat of the day.

On the following morning we went on to the next watering-place, which

was a spring in a wooded hollow. The country through which we passed

was very different from that we had traversed on the previous day; the

first half of the three leagues was through an elevated, but rather

thickly wooded country, on leaving which we ascended a low Serra, covered

with a stunted shrubby vegetation; to these elevated shrubby tracts the

inhabitants of Minas Geräes give the name of Carrascos.[15] Many of

the shrubs seen here, belonged to forms that were quite new to me. One

of the most remarkable of these was a fine new species of the curious

genus _Lychnophora_, belonging to the natural order _Compositæ_, and is

peculiar to the mountains of Minas Geräes, and which, together with the

Vellozias, give a decided feature to their otherwise peculiar vegetation.

This shrub is about six feet high, with numerous branches issuing nearly

horizontally from the upper part of the stem, each bearing a cluster of

narrow leaves about half a foot long. The whole of the plant, with the

exception of the upper sides of the leaves, is everywhere covered with

a dense coat of long brownish-coloured wool, which, in places where it

grows abundantly, is collected by the inhabitants to fill their beds and

pillows. I afterwards met with some other species, having their leaves

so very narrow that at first sight they resemble the Scotch fir, the

likeness being increased by their habit of growth, which is somewhat

similar. In the afternoon we made a journey of three more leagues,

through a hilly, barren, grassy country, and halted for the night in a

hollow by the side of a small stream, a little beyond a fazenda called

Viados.

After travelling about a league on the following morning, through a

flattish country, we arrived at the Arraial de Bom Fim, an irregularly

built village, consisting of a church, and about forty or fifty houses,

many of which have a very dilapidated appearance. We stopped here no

longer than was necessary to give a feed of corn to the horses, of which

they stood greatly in need, the pastures through which we now were

passing affording very little nourishment. The principal shop in the

village of Bom Fim belonged, as it did twenty years before, when it was

visited by M. Auguste de St. Hilaire, to Colonel Pedro José Virciani,

the proprietor of a large fazenda about two leagues distant, where he

resides, the shop being entrusted to a person in whom he confides;

this practice I found to be not uncommon with rich fazendeiros in this

province. From the Vigario of Formigas I obtained a line of route from

this place to the Cidade Diamantina, but being here informed of another

road having the double recommendation of being both better and shorter, I

determined on giving it the preference; by so doing it became necessary

to pass the fazenda of San Eloi belonging to the above-mentioned Colonel

Virciani. On arriving there I sent one of my men to ask leave to remain

till the following day, which was granted; but on learning that I was

a foreigner, he immediately ordered two good rooms to be prepared for

me and my men, in a house adjoining that in which he resides. On being

introduced to him, I found him to be an elderly man, of hale appearance,

and of very pleasing manners. I passed the evening very agreeably in

his house, when he informed me that M. Auguste de St. Hilaire remained

a day and night with him during the course of his journey to the Rio de

San Francisco. Although he made no mention to me of the circumstance, I

afterwards learned that some observations made by that learned traveller

and botanist, in the account of his visit to San Eloi, had much offended

this worthy man. The obnoxious passage was the following:—“Pendant tout

le temps que je passai chez le Capitaine (for he was then only a captain)

Virciani, la maîtresse de la maison ne se montra point; cependant, tandis

que nous mangions, je voyais un minois féminin s’avancer doucement à

travers la porte entr’ouverte; mais aussitôt que je jetais les yeux de ce

côté, la dame disparaissait. C’est par une curiosité semblable que les

femmes cherchent à se dedommager du peu de liberté dont on les laisse

jouir.”[16]

The same lady was still alive, and I saw her every time I was in the

house, but twenty years had made great alterations on the pretty face

of which St. Hilaire had only a few glimpses. She had, however, several

daughters grown up, who were no less shy than the mother was in her

younger days. As soon as the colonel ascertained that I was acquainted

with the practice of medicine, he talked upon no other subject, being,

as he said himself, a Curioso, which is the appellation given to those

who dabble in any profession, without having been regularly educated

to it. As a number of his slaves were indisposed, I accompanied him on

a visit to each in succession, his object being to ascertain whether

he was treating them properly, and to have my advice respecting their

complaints. His usual guide in these matters was a Portuguese translation

of Buchan’s Domestic Medicine. I found all over Brazil, individuals

possessed of no better information, who made a livelihood by their

practice of medicine, passing from town to town, and from fazenda to

fazenda, many of them, like their brethren in Europe, making large sums

of money by their pretended skill in this science.

This fazenda was one of the best I had then seen in the interior; the

colonel’s house, which was of two stories, those of his slaves, his

store-houses, and other offices, were arranged in the form of a square;

near the house was a garden, in which most of the common European

vegetables were cultivated with great care, and yielded good crops. It

was here that, for the first time since I left the coast at Aracaty, I

saw water employed to drive a wheel, as a substitute for manual labour,

in the grinding of mandiocca, &c. This wheel was about fifteen feet

in diameter, and was well supplied, on the overshot principle, with

water from a small stream that passed at some distance, conveyed in

a well-constructed wooden aqueduct: this power served alike for the

grinding of mandiocca, of cane, of Indian corn, and for bruising castor

oil seeds. The colonel every year prepares a considerable quantity of

castor oil, which is of better quality than any I have seen made in

other parts of Brazil; it is used principally for burning in lamps,

but a little is also employed medicinally. The property belonging to

Colonel Virciani is well adapted both for the rearing of cattle and

the cultivation of sugar-cane, and it is from these sources that he

principally derives his large income. The mandiocca, Indian corn, &c.,

which he cultivates, are grown in quantities, not more than sufficient

for the consumption of his household and slaves. Besides an abundant

supply of corn for my horses, for which he would not accept payment, the

colonel provided me with a small quantity of tea, as my stock was then

nearly exhausted, and none could be purchased either in San Romão, or

Formigas. Colonel Virciani and his family used it constantly, procuring

at intervals an entire chest from Rio de Janeiro.

On the morning we left San Eloi, we did not depart till after breakfast,

so that we only accomplished a distance of about two leagues and a

half, passing through an elevated level country, large tracts of which

were covered with low shrubs, forming that kind of vegetation called

Carrasco; we then halted for a short time under a large silk-cotton tree,

near an open marshy campo, in which a fine stemless _Eriocaulon_ grew

in great abundance. In the afternoon we made another journey of about a

league and a half, through an upland, grassy, hilly country, and towards

dusk arrived at the fazenda do Sitio, which belongs to the Guarda-Môr,

Gonsalvo Christovão Pereira d’Alcami, from whom, though I carried no

letter of recommendation to him, I received a most hospitable reception:

rooms were immediately prepared for our use; and during the day and a

half we remained there, both Mr. Walker and I were entertained at his

table. His house, which is an excellent one of two stories, is situated

in a hollow, from which the view of the hilly country in the distance is

very fine.

I remained here a day longer than I had intended, finding my collection

of plants so great that it became necessary to arrange them; this

occupied me a whole day, and I had fortunately the assistance of a

bright sun-shine, which enabled me to dry all the moist paper, and to

place all the specimens in dry sheets. A fine stream flowing from the

hills, passes close to the house, and in a walk I took along its banks

in the afternoon, I added many botanical novelties to my collection. I

was informed by our host, that in the gravel of this stream two or three

diamonds had been found, from which it was evident that we were now on

the verge of that district, to which this precious stone gives its name.

My collections having been all put into order, I had resolved to

resume the journey early next morning, but in this I was disappointed

in consequence of one of my horses having strayed into the woods, and

therefore our departure was delayed till the afternoon. I had here again

the choice of two roads, one winding round the foot of a very high Serra,

which, although longer, was much better than the other that passed over

the top of the Serra: I preferred the latter on account of the very

different vegetation I expected to find there, but as regarded the

horses, which were not at all in good condition, the former would have

been the better. The Guarda-Môr wished me to remain another night, in

order to avoid sleeping on the top of the mountain far from any house;

but as we were all much accustomed to this, it gave us no concern,

although afterwards we had reason to regret our decision. Shortly after

leaving the fazenda, we ascended a Serra of considerable height, barely

wooded with a few low shrubs, the greater part of which consisted of

three species of _Lychnophora_. Continuing along the undulating top of

this, we reached another ascent, stony and difficult in the extreme

for the horses, which terminated in a rocky and rather flat top of

considerable length. This place presented quite an alpine appearance; the

rugged arenaceous schistose rocks, and even the ground, as well as the

small shrubs, had a hoary appearance, from the numerous lichens by which

they were covered; and the cold we experienced was quite in unison with

the aspect of the country.

With the exception of the elevated ranges of the Organ mountains,

this was the richest botanical field I had met with during my long

peregrinations. So numerous indeed were the objects that presented

themselves on every side, each more beautiful or more curious than the

other, that I was obliged to restrict myself in the number of specimens

collected, so that I might obtain at least a few of each kind. The

shrubs here consisted of different species of _Lychnophora_, beautiful

_Melastomacea_, a _Virgularia_ covered with rose-coloured blossoms,

several _Hypti_, a _Panax_, &c.; and among these grew many curious kinds

of _Eriocaulon_, and other small herbaceous plants. The soil here was

rather boggy, and numerous little rills of limpid water were flowing down

the mountain in all directions. Leaving this flat, we entered upon a

third ascent, steeper and more stony than the previous one, which shortly

brought us to a flattish, grassy, somewhat shrubby tract.

On this ascent a different vegetation again presented itself, two of the

most beautiful of the plants being a species of _Physocalyx_, a handsome

shrub about three feet high, with numerous orange-red flowers, surrounded

by a large inflated calyx of nearly the same colour, and a beautiful

scarlet-flowered _Lisianthus_. We proceeded on the flat top of this

ridge about half a league, every step yielding some new plant. It was

quite dark before we arrived at a place suitable for our encampment; this

was a dry, sandy, grassy spot, by the side of the path; there were only a

few small trees in the immediate neighbourhood, and the men, by groping

beneath them, obtained as many dry sticks as sufficed to make a small

fire wherewith to cook our supper.

The sky was quite clear on our arrival, but shortly afterwards a thunder

storm was seen gathering to the westward; and no sooner were we laid down

on our hide beds, by the side of the fire, than the rain began to fall,

and having no shelter of any kind, we were soon completely drenched;

the men, in their anxiety to keep the fire alight, held a hide over it

till the storm ceased. The flashes of lightning were extremely vivid,

and the peals of thunder fearfully loud. After it had passed over, we

made ourselves as comfortable as our circumstances would permit, and

laid ourselves down, in the hope of not being again disturbed. In this,

however, we were sadly disappointed, for shortly after we had fallen

asleep, the storm returned in all its fury, leaving us in a far worse

state than we had previously been. Those only who have passed a night

under such circumstances can imagine the annoyance we experienced; could

we have seen the probability of its occurrence, we might have been better

prepared for it, but in the middle of the dry season we certainly had no

reason to expect so much rain. A third time we laid ourselves down, not

to sleep, because that was now impossible, cold and wet as we were, for

the fire had been completely extinguished by the quantity of rain that

had fallen.

When daylight broke, I found the place where we were encamped to be one

of the most lovely that can be conceived, abounding in a variety of

beautiful shrubs, and many curious plants. We remained here till noon, in

the expectation that the sun would shine with force sufficient to enable

us to dry all the things that had been wetted by the rain during the

night; but the whole forenoon continuing cloudy, we resolved to pursue

our journey. In the morning, immediately after breakfast, I returned

with one of my men to the top of the last ascent we had passed the night

before; and made several other shorter excursions in the vicinity of

the encampment, by which many interesting novelties were added to my

collections. We did not start till shortly after mid-day, when, after a

fatiguing journey of three long leagues, we arrived at a very recently

established gold working called Lavrinha. Our route was entirely along

the flat top of the Serra, sometimes passing through large open grassy

tracts, abounding in numerous kinds of _Eriocaulon_, _Melastomaceæ_,

_Compositæ_, a blue flowered _Lupinus_, a small _Virgularia_ with

pale rose-coloured flowers, great profusion of a purple _Vellozia_,

and the beautiful scarlet-flowered _Lisianthus_, &c.; and sometimes

through rugged tracts thinly wooded with small shrubs, among them

numerous _Melastomaceæ_, many of them with small imbricated leaves, and

large rose-coloured blossoms, forming the most elegant little bushes

imaginable, in general habit not unlike heaths. Although this journey

was very fatiguing to the animals, to me it was exciting and delightful

in the extreme; the whole country through which we had passed for nearly

two days, was one vast flower garden, where, ‘like a child at a feast,’

I knew not which object to grasp at first: everything was not only new

to me, but each more beautiful or more curious than the other. In this

upland region a solemn silence reigned, not a single animal of any

description having been observed during our progress through it, nor any

sound heard except that made by ourselves.

We reached Lavrinha about five o’clock in the afternoon; and although

the sun shone brilliantly during the better part of our journey, it was

too late to attempt drying any of our things when we arrived. Lavrinha,

as I have already stated, is a small gold working, then but recently

established. The only buildings near it were a small hut, made of a few

posts and poles, covered with Buriti palm leaves, where the overseer

slept, and a few sheds of the same materials for the shelter of the

slaves; we obtained accommodation in one corner of the former. A small

stream that passes close by, but which is only supplied with water in the

rainy season, had offered some indications of gold, which induced some

rich fazendeiros, among whom were Colonel Virciani and the Guarda-Môr,

to form themselves into a society, six months before my visit, with the

object of establishing a working; accordingly about forty slaves were

sent to carry on the operations, under the directions of the person who

first discovered the gold, and who, for his labour, obtained a number of

shares in the concern. The vein from which the gold found in this small

stream had been washed, was discovered proceeding downwards through a

soft white arenaceous schistose rock; and at the period of my visit,

they had mined to the depth of about thirty feet. I found them then

occupied in washing the material they had taken out, which proved to be

very uncertain in its product, some days yielding one, two, and three

ounces of gold, but more frequently the amount was less than an ounce.

A short time before our arrival, as much as four ounces resulted from a

single day’s labour, but it had again diminished to less than an ounce.

It appeared to me, from the awkward manner in which the works were then

carried on, that they would never turn to profitable account, as the

person in charge of the operations was not only quite ignorant of the art

of mining, but unacquainted with the most simple operations in mechanics.

While employed in the labour of excavating, a considerable amount of

water was constantly flowing into the mine from two springs; and this was

again drawn out in buckets by hand labour, continued both day and night;

whereas a pump of no large diameter would have served to carry off the

water more quickly and effectually, and saved the labour of at least ten

or twelve men. When I mentioned this to the manager, he told me that no

one in the neighbourhood had the smallest idea of the construction of a

pump. Even a common winch and buckets would have been far better than

the plan here adopted, but such was the low state of their mechanical

knowledge, that they knew not how to construct even so simple a machine.

The following day being one of clear sun-shine, we were occupied all the

forenoon in drying our wet clothes, and in arranging the large collection

of specimens made the day before; and in the afternoon, I took several

short walks in the neighbourhood in quest of novelties. Lavrinha is

situated on the southern extremity of the Serra, in a hollow, surrounded

by rocky hills, somewhat lower than those which form the northern parts

of the Serra. Here I again made numerous collections, among which were

two fine orchideous plants, both species of the beautiful genus _Lælia_,

one of them bearing violet-coloured, and the other bright yellow flowers.

In dry arid clefts in the rocks grew several curious little _Vellozias_,

and _Eriocaulons_; one of the latter was a branched species about six

feet high.

Having so frequently mentioned this curious tribe of plants, I will

here make a few observations upon them. When Linnæus published the

last edition of his _Species Plantarum_, in 1764, he described only

five species from all parts of the world, while, from Brazil alone, my

herbarium contains upwards of one hundred. Only one species is found in

Great Britain,—a little grass-like plant, with a single flowering stem

about six inches long, bearing a small globular head of minute white

flowers. It is found only in lakes in the Isle of Skye, and in the west

of Ireland. Very few of the Brazilian plants bear much resemblance to

this northern species; for a great number of them are large suffruticose

plants, often obtaining a height of from four to six feet, with leafy,

very much branched stems, each branchlet terminated by a large white

ball, composed of a vast number of smaller heads, placed on peduncles

of unequal length. Another remarkable circumstance connected with these

strange plants, is the fact, that the greater number of the Brazilian

species do not inhabit water, in the manner of our native British one,

but grow in the most dry and arid portions of mountainous declivities;

many others also grow in parched, flat, sandy places, which are flooded

in the wet season; the truly aquatic Brazilian kinds, more or less

resemble our own in habit.[17]

Shortly after leaving Lavrinha, we began to descend the Serra, which on

this side is of no great height. The road was very bad, turning and

winding among large blocks of rock, and covered with loose stones, which

rolled under the horses’ feet, and rendered our downward progress not a

little dangerous. Having at length accomplished the descent, we found

ourselves on a comparatively good road, and in a flat country, being in

fact a large valley surrounded by hills, and presenting several small

swamps where a few Buriti palms grew, but which, from their diminutive

stature, compared with those we had seen in similar situations in the

provinces of Piauhy and Goyaz, did not appear to thrive under the great

degree of cold to which they are here exposed. After travelling about two

leagues and a half, we halted during the middle of the day in a shady

place by the side of a small rivulet, opposite a rounded knoll, which

was covered with _Lychnophora pinaster_, bearing much resemblance to the

Scotch Fir, and a large kind of tree-lily.

Proceeding in the afternoon through the same valley, which had now become

gradually narrower, and which was bounded by two long ranges of bare

grassy hills, we arrived about sunset, on the banks of a small river,

called the Rio Inhacica, and took up our quarters for the night in the

open veranda of a small venda, the only house in the place. We fully

expected to have purchased here some addition to our stock of provisions,

but the only article to be found for sale was rum. Not long after our

arrival, however, a person belonging to the house returned from the river

with a fine fish about a foot and a half long, which I gladly bought for

a small sum, and it afforded us an excellent supper. While engaged in

arranging my plants, and placing the specimens in paper, I was surprised

to hear from the proprietor of the venda, a middle aged mulatto, who was

standing by looking on, that he also was well acquainted with that kind

of occupation, having been in the employment of Drs. Spix and Martius,

during their excursions in the provinces of Minas Geräes, Goyaz, and

Bahia. He spoke in the highest terms of the kindness he received from

these travellers, and the pleasant life he led while in their service,

the only drawback to which was the great trouble he often experienced in

drying the paper for preserving their botanical specimens. This I could

well believe, as I found from experience that the men did not at all

relish such labour, being often obliged, in cloudy and rainy weather, to

dry every day several reams, sheet by sheet, over the fire.

The mulatto, being the ferryman, passed the luggage safely over to the

opposite side of the river in a canoe. We were again annoyed by our too

frequent cause of detention, the straying of one of the horses, which

was not found till near mid-day, so that we were not able to accomplish

that day more than about three leagues. The country still continued flat,

with the exception of one or two low, dry, gravelly hills that we passed

over; in many places, particularly in the hollows, it was pretty well

wooded with small evergreen trees. The day was very hot and sultry, and

as I suffered much from a severe headache, I was extremely glad when we

arrived early in the afternoon at our destination, which was a little

hamlet, consisting of about half a dozen houses called As Vargems: we

were allowed to take up our quarters in an open shed belonging to one

of the houses, used for the preparation of farinha de mandiocca, in

which process several persons were then employed. The wheel used for

grinding the root was driven by a small water-wheel, which, although

rudely constructed, answered the purpose extremely well, and saved much

manual labour. The little streams of water, which are so frequent in the

hilly districts of the province of Minas Geräes, afford the inhabitants

great advantages over those of the dry northern provinces. This was only

the second time I had seen water power applied to such purposes, but in

travelling further south I found it generally used. The people belonging

to the house where we rested, were nearly white, and appeared to be very

poor, but they were very civil and kind.

A journey of about a league and a half from As Vargems, through a flat

valley, bounded on the right by a high bare rocky Serra, brought us

to another small stream called Rio Inhahy, which, being here of no

inconvenient depth, the horses forded in safety with all the luggage.

On a rising ground a little beyond the river, we observed a large house

close to what appeared to be the ruins of a church; but we afterwards

learned that it was a Registo, or place where all travellers, who passed

into or out of the Diamond district proper, of which this is one of

the boundaries, were duly examined, in order to prevent any contraband

extraction of diamonds—a system of precaution that was chiefly in vigour

prior to the independence of Brazil, when the workings of this precious

stone were carried on entirely by the government. On reaching the house

we found it uninhabited, and fast falling into a state of decay: we took

possession of one of the largest apartments, which, being well roofed,

afforded us better shelter from the sun than we could have obtained under

the shade of a tree. It was late in the afternoon before we left this

place, having employed the morning in repairing the horses’ trappings,

and we did not accomplish more than half a league of our journey, our

route being, for the greater part of the way, over a bare grassy hill,

where I found a few shrubs in flower: we encamped for the night under

some trees in a hollow, by the side of a little limpid stream. Another

short journey of somewhat more than half a league, brought us early

in the forenoon of the following day to a place known by the name of

Bassoras and Areas, on the banks of the Rio Jiquitinhonha. Although

this river is not very large here, we found it too deep to venture the

luggage upon the horses’ backs; and as there was no canoe, no alternative

remained but to have it carried over on the heads of the men; this

occupied so much time, that we found it too late to proceed further

before breakfast.

I was afterwards glad that we were obliged to remain here, as it afforded

me an opportunity of witnessing the operations carried on in one of the

largest diamond mines, if not the largest, at this time worked in the

district. The principal house in this place belonged to Captain Jozé

d’Almeida e Silva, who was also the proprietor of the mine. As no large

tree could be found under which we could take shelter, I was directed

to the house of the captain, who would be most likely to afford us

accommodation, during the short time we intended to remain here; and

seeing him at the door, I accosted him with this view, when he politely

informed me that the only place he could give us was an open shed, to

which he pointed, where some black carpenters were at work. About half

an hour after we had established ourselves in this not very comfortable

place, and while employed in arranging the collections made during my

morning’s ride, the captain having learned the nature of my occupation,

came over to offer me the use of an empty room in his house, but as

all my luggage was now unpacked, I thanked him for his kindness, and

declined his invitation: he, however, politely pressed me to remain all

day, that I might see how the mining operations were carried on. About

an hour after we arrived, a troop of several mules came in from one of

his fazendas, with provisions for his slaves; and very soon after, he

sent me a present of fruit, consisting of a basket of fine oranges, and

another of Jabuticabas, both of which we greatly enjoyed, as we had not

tasted fruit of any kind for a long time. The Jabuticaba is the fruit

of a species of _Eugenia_ (_E. cauliflora_, Mart.), which grows wild in

the woods of the south of Brazil, and is also cultivated in most of the

gardens in the diamond and gold districts. It is of a black colour, about

the size of a greengage plum, of a pulpy consistence, and very refreshing.

The mine of Captain Almeida was close to the Rio Jiquitinhonha, upon an

elbow of land that at one time must have formed the bed of the river.

A mine in the neighbourhood had been worked by the government about

forty years ago, which yielded, in the course of three years, not less

than thirty-seven lbs. six drs. of diamonds;[18] the formation, as it

is called, becoming exhausted at the end of this period, the mine was

abandoned. In the expectation of similar good fortune, Capt. Almeida

commenced operations near the same place, about seven months before my

visit, with upwards of a hundred and fifty slaves, all of whom were hired

from his neighbours. At an expense of about £1,000 sterling, he brought

a small stream of water from a distance of a league and a half, opened

a large excavation, and erected pumps, worked by a water-wheel, for the

purpose of clearing the mine of water. The excavation was carried on to

the depth of about thirty feet, without encountering any proper diamond

formation, although on being washed it yielded a small number of stones

of no great value. A short time before my arrival he commenced another

excavation in the same neighbourhood, about forty yards square. The

different kinds of soil through which it was necessary to cut, before

reaching the deposit in which the diamonds were found, were, in the first

place, about twenty feet of a reddish sandy soil, which was loosened by

the hoe, and then washed into the river by a current of water, issuing

from the small stream that served to work the water-wheel; below this was

about eight feet of a tough yellowish clay, which was dug out by the hoe,

and carried away on the heads of negroes, in flat wooden bowls about a

foot and a half in diameter, no such implement as a barrow being known

here; beneath this clay appeared a layer of coarse reddish sand, about

two feet and a half in thickness, below which was found the peculiar

soil that contains the diamonds. When this diamond formation consists of

loose gravel, it is called Cascalho in the language of the miners, and

Canga, when found in the shape of a ferruginous conglomerate; this bed

varies from one to four feet in thickness, and the gravel of which it

is composed, consists of small pebbles of primitive rocks, which from

their rounded and polished nature have evidently, at some distant period,

formed the bed of a stream of running water. These pebbles are of various

kinds, but when there appears much of what they call Esmeril preto, a

variety of tourmaline, the Cascalho is considered to be rich in diamonds.

The Cascalho generally rests upon a substratum of a kind of hard clay

called Pizarra, beneath which are found the solid schistose rocks which

generally prevail throughout the whole diamond district. Sometimes Canga,

or the agglutinated gravel, rests upon a rock called Marmore, which

appeared, from the description of it given by Captain Almeida, to be a

kind of limestone; and when this occurs, it is always found to be rich in

diamonds.

The manner in which the washing of the Cascalho is carried on is the

following: along one side of a pond of water is placed a range of eleven

troughs, about three feet square, made of small straight stakes driven

into the ground, the side next to the water being much lower than the

others; the bottom is made of clay closely pressed down; the troughs are

called Bacós, and into each of them a portion of Cascalho is put by a

slave stationed there for that purpose; immediately in front of each Bacó

stands a slave up to his knees in water, having a large flat wooden plate

(Bateia) with which he dashes water upon the Cascalho with considerable

force; by this means, and by stirring it at frequent intervals with a

small kind of hoe, it is freed from the earth and sand with which it is

mixed, when the larger particles of gravel making their appearance on

the surface are taken out; it is during this process that the largest

diamonds are generally found. Immediately in front of these troughs,

and about three feet above the level of the ground, separate seats are

erected for two overseers, each armed with a long leathern whip, who keep

a strict look out that no diamonds are stolen. This labour is continued

from morning till about four o’clock in the afternoon, when the Cascalho,

thus washed and purified, is taken out of the Bacós, and carried to

the side of a little stream of running water, to be finally washed. On

accompanying the captain to witness the performance of this operation,

which to the stranger is the most interesting process in diamond-mining,

I found seven slaves seated on the side of a small canal about four feet

broad, with their legs in the water nearly up to their knees; this little

stream of running water is called the Lavadeira. Each of the slaves had

a large flat wooden plate, similar to that used in washing the rough

Cascalho, into which a small shovelful of the purified Cascalho was put

by a slave stationed behind the others for that purpose. This done, the

washer filled the Bateia with water, and whirling it round in a peculiar

manner on the surface of the stream, the larger gravel rose to the top,

and was carefully examined. This being repeated several times, he then

placed the Bateia on his knees, the right knee being considerably lower

than the left, when with his hand he threw water on the fine gravel,

which was thus washed out with great care into the canal, continuing in

this manner until the Bateia was empty; it is in this last process that

diamonds are expected to be found. A small Bateia, containing a little

water, was placed on a low pedestal between the two overseers, and into

this the diamonds were put as they were found, which on this occasion

amounted to eleven, all of which, however, were small. In the bottom

of the Bateias is always found a small quantity of gold dust, which is

carefully preserved.

Although diamonds are usually found in the diluvial gravelly soil above

described, that is not, however, the matrix in which they have originally

been formed. Whatever may be the case in other countries, I remained

perfectly satisfied that here, they have originally been formed in the

metamorphic quarto-schistose rock, of which the mountains in the Diamond

district are constituted, and that they have, during a long series of

years, been washed down along with the other débris, to the places where

they are now found so abundantly. These rocks are rather soft in their

nature, and of course easily disintegrated; hence the many wild ravines

which intersect this range, excavated by the small streams that flow

from it. Small masses of the rock have frequently been found containing

diamonds imbedded in them; in the Cidade Diamantina I saw two beautiful

specimens, in each of which one half of a small diamond was exposed; the

extravagant price asked for them prevented me from purchasing either.

When we read in books, that the diamond is a production of the most

recent geographical epoch, as stated, for instance, by Dr. A. Petzholdt,

in Jamieson’s Journal, no. 68, we cannot help imagining that those who

promulgate such opinions, have been led astray by travellers, who have

listened to the idle stories of the uneducated inhabitants of Diamond

countries, who almost all assert, that diamonds are regenerated in the

course of a few years, in the soil from which others had previously been

taken. This I found to be a very common opinion in Brazil; but those

best able to form a just conclusion on the subject, for instance, such

intelligent miners as Captain Josè D’Almeida e Silva, believe otherwise.

It is true that he, as well as others, have frequently a second time

washed the same Cascalho that had been worked when the government held

the monopoly in its own hands, not because they believed new diamonds to

have been since formed, but because they well knew that in those times

the Cascalho was not so carefully examined as it is at present; indeed,

notwithstanding the most careful scrutiny, it is believed that some

diamonds still escape notice.

We resumed our journey on the following morning, and after travelling

about two leagues and a half, we halted to breakfast in an open shed,

belonging to a house by the road-side, which was then uninhabited. The

country through which we passed was hilly, and well-wooded with small

trees and shrubs. The ascent and descent of the higher hills are much

facilitated by the care bestowed on the formation of the roads, as

they are well paved with large flat blocks of the schistose rocks, of

which the mountains are composed. In many places, however, the pavement

is beginning to give way, from the water flowing over it in the rainy

season, and if not repaired, it will soon fall into a very ruinous

state. A wooden bridge, also, which crossed a small river, and which

appears to have been at one time of excellent construction, was now in

such a decayed state, that no one could venture to pass over it; we

were consequently obliged to ford the stream a little way below the

bridge. In the bed of the river we saw several groups of people washing

for diamonds. Early in the afternoon, we started for the Arraial de

Mendanha, only half a league distant; the road led through a flat bushy

valley, surrounded on both sides by mountains, those on the left rose

to a considerable height, and presented the same arid rocky aspect as

the mountains in the Highlands of Scotland. In the middle of this valley

ran the Rio Jiquitinhonha, which we crossed to reach the village on the

opposite side: this was easily accomplished over a well-constructed

wooden bridge, of considerable span, on which is a toll-bar, the first

we had yet met with in the country, and this afforded evidence that we

were now approaching a more civilized part of Brazil than any we had yet

traversed. At this bar, I had to pay forty reis for each loaded horse,

and twenty for each of my men, which I did with much pleasure, as I well

knew the labour and risk encountered in passing the luggage over rivers,

when not provided with bridges.

On enquiring for a place where we might pass the night, we were directed

to the public Rancho, but finding it a small place, extremely dirty, and

occupied by a number of black Tropeiros, I could not think of taking up

my quarters there. Ranchos are large sheds, generally open at the sides,

and built near a venda, for the accommodation of travellers. This was the

first I had seen since leaving the coast, but I afterwards found them

very common on the more frequented roads in Minas, but particularly on

the great highway between the Gold district and Rio de Janeiro. Rather

than remain at the Rancho, I preferred hiring an empty house for the

night, and obtained, at last, after some trouble, the keys of one that

was newly built.

The Arraial de Mendanha appeared to be a flourishing little place,

containing a population of about eight hundred persons, nearly every

house being inhabited. The situation of the village, although romantic,

is far from fertile, being on the bare rocky bottom of a high mountain,

which nearly overhangs it, with little or no ground in its vicinity

fitted for plantations of any description. The greater part of the

inhabitants obtain an income by employing their slaves in mining for

diamonds, or by keeping shops to supply the others with provisions and

clothing, principally in exchange for diamonds and gold-dust, and were it

not, indeed, for the diamond mines that exist in the neighbourhood, not

a single house would have been erected in this place. Soon after leaving

Mendanha on the following day, we began the ascent of the Serra, which

bears the same name; it was about a league in length, and notwithstanding

its steepness in many places, the excellence of the road rendered it

comparatively easy. In nearly its whole extent, it is well paved with

large flat blocks of the sandy schistose rock, of which the Serra is

formed, taking a zigzag direction, where the ascent is steepest; the

lower part of the Serra, particularly along a deep ravine, by the side of

which the road leads, is pretty well wooded with small trees and shrubs,

but towards the summit it presents the same bare alpine appearance as

that we had crossed before reaching the little gold mine at Lavrinha.

I walked up the greater part of the ascent on foot, botanizing all the

way, and picked up several novelties. From the summit to Duas Pontes,

which is a league distant, the road leads through a flat rocky and bushy

country, with some elevated ridges on the left, covered with a very

stunted shrubby vegetation. At Duas Pontes, where we halted to breakfast,

we found two houses, being the only ones existing between Mendanha and

the Cidade Diamantina, a distance of four leagues; the place takes its

name from two bridges which exist near it, standing about a mile distant

from each other, both very well constructed of timber. One of the houses

was a small venda belonging to a negro, who informed me that he was a

native of Africa, and had worked for many years as a slave in diamond

washing, but that by the provident use of his privilege of working on

his own account on Sundays and holidays, he had been fortunate enough to

find as many diamonds as enabled him not only to purchase his freedom,

but that of his wife and several children. Near this place I found a

species of _Rubus_ loaded with fruit, which forcibly reminded me of the

days of my boyhood, and the bramble hedges of my native country. In open

places, I met with a few specimens of a second species of _Physocalyx_,

and a beautiful _Andromeda_, having large panicles of crimson flowers.

We were now only two leagues distant from the Cidade Diamantina, a

journey that might easily have been accomplished that afternoon, but not

wishing to enter it by night, owing to the great difficulty a stranger

always experiences in find accommodation, as well for himself as for his

animals; under such circumstances, I resolved to take up my abode for the

night, in an open campo on the top of the Serra, near a small stream of

water, within half a league from the city. The country through which we

passed on this short journey was almost entirely destitute both of trees

and shrubs, consisting chiefly of large undulating grassy campos, in many

places abounding in great blocks of rocks, similar to that of which the

Serra is composed. Two miles before reaching the place where we halted,

we obtained a most extensive view of the country to the eastward, which

is perhaps one of the most rugged and arid regions existing in Brazil; as

far as the eye could reach, nothing was to be seen but hundreds of bare

hills, whose barren tops were whitened by the numerous _Lichens_ with

which the rocks were covered. Overlooking these lower ridges stood the

lofty peak called Itambé, the top of which is upwards of 6,000 feet above

the level of the sea. It was with great difficulty the men could find as

much wood as would make a fire to cook our supper, and we were obliged,

for the first time, to lay ourselves down to sleep without a large fire

burning all night, at a time, too, when the cold was greater than any we

had yet experienced.

On rising in the morning, the thermometer indicated 54°, Fahrenheit,

under which temperature we were all shivering with excessive cold, so

long accustomed as we had been to a warmer climate. In an hour’s time,

after resuming our journey, we commenced the descent of the Serra, over

a road constructed in the same manner as the ascent at Mendanha, but

neither so long nor so steep; shortly after which, we came in sight

of the famous Cidade Diamantina, or city of Diamonds. This capital

of a rich province occupies the whole acclivity of a Serra, equal in

height to that we had just descended, from which it is separated by a

narrow valley. The traveller approaches the city so suddenly, that it

almost appears as if called into existence by the power of magic; he is

astonished at the sight of so great an assemblage of large white-washed

houses, intermingled with many churches, rising gradually one above the

other along the steep sides of the Serra, together with the numerous

small plantations, by which the houses in the suburbs are surrounded,

consisting of orange trees, bananas, and the usual productions of

a tropical country; together with abundance of the compact growing

Jabuticabeira, and many fine trees of the large grotesque Brazilian pine

(_Araucaria Brasiliana_), which contrasts strangely with the rocky and

absolutely bare country, that surrounds the city on all sides: it is,

indeed, an Oasis in the desert.

Having no letters of recommendation to any person in the city, I went

immediately on my arrival to the house of the Juiz de Paz, to present

my passport, and learning from him that a small inn was to be found

in the lower part of the city, I determined to put up there, until I

could succeed in hiring an empty house for a few days; fortunately,

the landlord had one to let, in the upper part of the city, whither we

quickly removed, glad that we were not obliged to remain at the inn,

where the accommodations were far from tempting.

This place, formerly known as the Arraial de Tijuco, was, in the year

1839, elevated to the dignity of a city, under the name of Cidade

Diamantina, from its being the capital of the Diamond district. According

to information which I received from the Juiz de Paz, its population

amounted to about 6,000 souls; the streets are very irregular, and

generally very narrow, as well as badly paved; both within the city and

in the suburbs there are many fine houses, of two and three stories, and

as there is abundance of excellent stone in the neighbourhood, nearly all

are built of this material. They are constructed, however, at an enormous

expense, owing to the great distance from which timber can be obtained;

it is all dragged by bullocks from the Sertão, a distance of from four to

sixteen leagues, over a rugged, hilly country, through which carts cannot

pass; owing to the same reason, fire-wood is extremely dear in the city,

and very bad in quality, as it is often brought for sale in a half green

state. Many slaves are employed by their owners in cutting the large

shrubs that grow in the ravines, within a short distance from the city,

the branches of which are made up into bundles, and offered for sale from

house to house; the stems of the large tree-lily (_Vellozia_) are also

collected for fuel, particularly a kind that exudes abundance of resinous

matter. The Tropeiros on approaching the city with their loaded mules,

always bring with them, from the wooded countries, as many bundles of

split wood as suffice them for the purposes of cooking till the period of

their departure.

Many of the shops are quite equal in appearance to those in Rio de

Janeiro, and are provided with nearly the same articles, the difference

in price seldom exceeding twenty per cent. All European goods, with the

exception of a few from Bahia, are brought from Rio on the backs of

mules, which are daily to be seen arriving in troops, sometimes of a

hundred at a time. With the exception of the few vegetables grown in the

gardens around the city, every product consumed here as food is brought

from a distance of from ten to twenty leagues, and sold in large market

places, called Intendencias. These products consist chiefly of farinha

de mandiocca and Indian meal, the latter being much more extensively

used in the province of Minas, than in the northern provinces; also

dried beef, sugar, pork, cheese, Indian corn, french beans, rice, and

castor-oil, which is used to burn in lamps. The city contains three or

four handsome churches, one called Nossa Senhora da Rosaria, belongs to

the negroes from the coast of Africa, and where, over the high altar, is

seen the figure of a black virgin. As we lived closed to this church, I

attended on several evenings the celebration of one of its festivals,

and found not only the blacks who usually attend the church, but many

of the most respectable male and female inhabitants of the city. Every

thing was conducted with the greatest propriety, and on one evening I

heard a very excellent sermon preached by one of the priests belonging to

the city. During our stay a Novena was held in another of the churches,

Nossa Senhora das Mercês, where I attended several times; on all these

occasions I was particularly struck with the different mode in which

the ladies dressed here, from that I had observed in other parts of the

interior. In the large towns I had previously visited, I remarked that

a greater number of ladies attended church during the Novenas than at

any other time, when both the more respectable, as well as the poorer

classes, were always dressed in their best attire. In Cidade Diamantina,

although the churches on such occasions were equally well attended, the

most respectable ladies were not so well dressed as usual, and were

it not that the superior classes avail themselves of the privilege of

squatting on the floor before the altar, they would not be distinguished

from the poorer individuals who take their station behind them. They all

appear in the same kind of dress, which consists of a dark coloured

cloth cloak, with a large cape, in which they muffle themselves; and a

white handkerchief which is tied round the head, surmounted by a man’s

hat. During the three weeks I remained in the city, I never saw a lady

walking abroad in any other kind of hat; some few were white, but black

seemed the most fashionable.

The most elevated portion of the city is about 4,000 feet above the

level of the sea, and the climate is consequently mild. During my stay

in the month of July, the thermometer ranged from 54° to 60° at noon,

a temperature we had long been unaccustomed to, and we suffered not a

little from the cold. As a fire could only be kindled in the kitchen,

we used all to get as close to it as possible, particularly in the

morning; it was however during the night that we suffered most, for our

bed-clothes were too light for this climate, and my stock of money had

now become so far reduced, that I could not afford to purchase additional

blankets either for myself or my men. It was necessary to devote the

little that I had to the purchase of a stock of provisions, for the

continuation of our journey; there was no one here to whom I could

apply for money, and we were still far from any of the English Mining

establishments, where alone I could expect to obtain cash for bills on

my agents in Rio de Janeiro. The coldest months in this region are May,

June, and July; the hottest months are those of November, January, and

February, during which period the thermometer ranges from 74° to 88°,

but mostly only reaching 84°. During the early part of the warm season,

thunder storms are very frequent, which always come from the north. For

a few days after our arrival, the air was clear and bracing, but a cold

drizzling rain soon set in, which lasted nearly a week. The houses have

generally a small garden attached to them, in which I observed most

of the common European vegetables, such as potatoe, cabbage, pease,

lettuce, parsley, &c.; as well as many of the flowers that are ordinarily

cultivated in the gardens of Europe. Some of the European fruit trees

are also found in the gardens, such as the apple, pear, peach, fig, and

quince. The city is abundantly supplied with excellent water, from

springs that take their rise in the mountain on which they are situated.

These streams are conducted into several of the houses, and many families

are by this means supplied with one of the greatest luxuries that can

be enjoyed in a warm climate, at a very small expense; there are also

several public fountains in different parts of the city.

The privilege of diamond washing, formerly a monopoly of the government,

is now accessible to any individual who chooses to risk his time and

capital in this labour, a privilege only conceded since Brazil has

declared its independence; all that is required is that the adventurer

should give notice to the Camara municipal, of the exact spot where he

intends working, a notice demanded in order to protect some of the virgin

tracts still preserved as royal property. The greater portion of the

inhabitants of the Cidade Diamantina who possess a few slaves, employ

them in the washings, which are generally chosen in places where the

Cascalho is near the surface, and near the beds of the little mountain

streams, which are so numerous in the adjoining locality. Many free

blacks also work on their own account, and thus obtain a precarious

livelihood. The persons engaged in these adventures are generally a

very improvident race, for even those who carry on the most extensive

Serviços, as the workings are called, often run deeply in debt after a

rich washing has been exhausted, before they succeed in finding another

productive spot. I was assured by one of the most extensive miners in the

district, that the excitement produced by this kind of life is like that

of a gambler: whoever enters upon it, never renounces it. The district

which gives rise to this curious source of industry, is comprised within

the space of fourteen leagues square, and it is beneath the mark to state

that 10,000 individuals subsist entirely upon the product of diamonds and

gold extracted from its soil. It is not, however, so much the miners as

the shopkeepers who reap the greater share of profit from this source of

industry, all of whom trade more or less in diamonds and gold-dust, which

they take from the miners in exchange for the supply of their own wants,

and those of their slaves. It is rare to meet with a miner, who is not

in debt to some shopkeeper, to whom he is bound to give in payment the

product of his washings, at a lower rate than he could obtain, if he had

the advantage of offering them in an open market to the highest bidder.

The life of a shopkeeper, although not so exciting as that of a miner, is

one, however, less subject to risk; he generally soon grows rich, while

the poor miner struggles on in poverty, his greatest source of happiness

existing in hopes that are seldom realized.

Slaves are allowed to work on their own account on Sundays and holidays,

not in the Serviços of their masters, but any where else, except on the

royal preserves; and it was told me as a remarkable fact, that most of

the largest diamonds obtained in this district have been found by slaves

on these occasions; it is not, however, an unfair inference to conclude,

that as the blacks are most expert thieves, some of those stones at

least have been stolen. Better opportunities now exist for more readily

disposing of diamonds thus obtained, than when the workings were entirely

in the hands of the government. In those days they were mostly disposed

of clandestinely to contraband dealers, many of whom used to hide

themselves in the mountains by day, and at night visit the huts of the

slaves, to purchase the stolen property; even the shopkeepers were deeply

engaged in these illicit transactions. The Juiz de Paz, who was during

the period of my visit one of the richest merchants in the city, owes his

fortune to the following circumstance:—At the time Brazil still remained

under the dominion of Portugal, he was the proprietor of a small shop,

and occasionally made a journey to Rio de Janeiro to purchase goods.

One evening returning from one of these long journeys, having retired

to rest earlier than usual, he heard some one knocking at his door,

to which at first he paid no attention, concluding it to be only some

customer; but, as the noise continued, he at last arose, when he saw a

slave who had come to offer a large diamond for sale, that weighed about

two pennyweights and a third. The price asked for it was six hundred

mil-reis, at that time equal to about £180 sterling; but not having so

much money in his possession at the moment, he was obliged to borrow some

for the occasion. Early next morning he set off on his return to Rio de

Janeiro with his purchase, stating to his friends that he had forgotten

some important business, which could only be settled by his presence.

On reaching the capital, he found it necessary to use great caution in

endeavouring to dispose of his prize, as all trade in diamonds was at

that time contraband, any one found dealing in them being condemned to

ten years’ transportation to Angola, on the coast of Africa, his property

being at the same confiscated, and sold for the benefit of government. At

last he was prevailed upon to dispose of it for 20,000 mil-reis, about

£6,000, which amount was paid to him in hard dollars; never having seen

so large a sum of money, he was perfectly astonished at its amount when

it was brought to him, and after regarding it for some time, he asked

with great simplicity if it all belonged to him. Shortly afterwards,

the individual who bought the diamond sold it for 40,000 mil-reis, and

when the Juiz learned its great value, and found that he might have sold

it for at least a third more than he received, his mortification it is

said was so great as to affect his mind. He has long, however, recovered

from his chagrin, and is now one of the most active, as well as the most

extensive, gold and diamond merchants in the district.

The temperate climate enjoyed by the inhabitants of this part of the

country, renders them more healthy than those who live in the Sertão; the

women are the most beautiful I met with in Brazil, and the men are also

a finer race than those of the low countries, many of them having more

the appearance of Europeans, than of inhabitants of a tropical climate.

The diseases most common here are those induced by sudden variations

of temperature, such as colds and inflammatory complaints; the slaves

who are constantly working up to their knees in water, are subject to

rheumatism; their diet, which is not of the most nutritious nature,

consists chiefly of boiled French beans and Indian corn meal (fubá),

which, with the addition of hot water, is made into a thick paste, called

Angú; this gives rise to general debility, particularly in those addicted

to the immoderate use of rum. It is not the slaves only who are given to

this vice, but whites of both sexes, in almost all classes of society,

indulge in it to a great extent; this is in some degree manifest, from

the very great quantity of that spirit daily brought to market, for it is

said, that for every troop that enters the city with provisions, another

arrives with rum from the sugar plantations in the low countries. I must

confess that I saw but few instances of intoxication in the streets,

except among persons of colour.

As I arrived in the city without letters of introduction, I made very few

acquaintances among the inhabitants. During my stay, however, I received

great kindness from Senhor Antonio Gomez de Carvalho, the Juiz de Paz,

and Major Luiz José de Figueredo, the President of the Camara Municipal,

both of whom called on me the day after we reached the city. M. Auguste

de St. Hilaire, who visited these provinces in 1817, speaks in high terms

of the great hospitality of the inhabitants of Minas Geräes, but they do

not now appear disposed to treat foreigners with the same familiarity

as formerly; this may be attributed to their great intercourse with

Europeans, particularly since the introduction of English mining

companies, which has greatly tended to alter their character. In one

of the houses where I occasionally visited, I met with Portuguese

translations of Sir Walter Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe’ and ‘Guy Mannering,’ They

had been sent from Rio de Janeiro to one of the daughters of the family

by whom they had been read with the greatest admiration; she had received

an excellent education, and composed verses fluently. I was rather

surprised when informed that neither a bookseller’s shop nor a library

existed in the city.

During my residence in this place, news arrived that produced a great

sensation; the young Emperor, Don Pedro the Second, had been called

upon to assume the reins of government, contrary to the wish of the

regent, before he had attained the age provided by the Legislature; a

proceeding that seemed to be highly approved of by the greater part of

the inhabitants, and rejoicings were consequently made on the occasion.

In the afternoon, high mass was celebrated in the Matriz church, at

which were present all the members of the town council, as well as the

whole body of the national guard. In the evening there was a general

illumination, and the national guard, after firing several volleys in

front of the house of the commandant, paraded through the principal

streets, with the band playing, accompanied with the town council, and

all the principal inhabitants of the city. I walked along with the

council, having been invited to do so by the president, and had thus

a good opportunity of witnessing the whole proceedings; every now and

then a halt was made before the house of some respectable citizen,

where generally five or six persons recited verses, composed during the

day in honour of the occasion, while the ladies of the house, from the

balconies, were showering down flowers perfumed with Eau de Cologne;

and occasionally the crowd below was honoured by a song from one of

the fair ones. This was repeated for three successive nights; many of

the verses produced on this occasion were extremely appropriate, but

a greater part consisted of the most fulsome adulation of the young

Emperor, which was perhaps as unmeaning and ephemeral, as that bestowed

on his father, who when he proclaimed the independence of Brazil,

received honours from these same people, little short of those bestowed

on a Deity, but after a propitious reign of ten years, was suffered to

abdicate in favour of his infant son, without any expression of regret

on their part. On the contrary, they appeared to rejoice in a measure

that tended to the consummation of those republican views, which at

that period seemed likely to draw the Empire into one general vortex of

anarchy and confusion. Happily, however, for the country, the greater

portion of the community had the good sense to resume its attachment

to those monarchical institutions that seem well adapted to the habits

and manners of the Brazilian people, and I had now the good fortune to

witness the exuberant effusions of an enthusiasm, which I hope will prove

more lasting than that exhibited by them on a former occasion towards the

illustrious founder of the Brazilian Empire.

When we arrived in the Cidade Diamantina, my horses were in bad

condition, owing to the long and fatiguing journey they had just

accomplished, and the bad pastures on which they had latterly been

obliged to feed. I found, however, to my regret, that the pasturage here

was still worse, and I feared that by the time I was ready to leave, they

would not be in a condition to resume the journey. The only pastures here

are to be found on the top of the Serra above the city, in a region very

arid, and particularly cold at this season, whence indeed it derives its

name of the Serro do Frio. Although they were fed twice a day with Indian

corn, they grew thinner and weaker after the setting in of the cold

rain, so that notwithstanding all our care and attention, eight of them

died in the course of a few days. Finding the remaining ten were totally

unfit for service, I thought it better to dispose of them at once, for

a mere trifle (70 mil-reis), rather than see them die off one by one.

The person who bought the horses immediately removed them to the Sertão.

As this occurred at a time when my stock of money was almost exhausted,

with no immediate hope of being able to renew it, I was brought nearly

to a stand; with the money I received for the horses I was enabled to

hire a troop of mules to convey us to Cidade do Serro (formerly Villa

do Principe), which is ten leagues distant from the Cidade Diamantina,

on the road towards Rio de Janeiro, and having made the necessary

arrangements, I prepared for my departure.