General View of Minas Geraes.

THE capitania of Minas Geraes extends from 600 to 700 miles from north to south, and about the same distance from east to west. It is bounded on the north by the capitania of Bahia; on the west by that of Goyaz; on the south by the river Paraibuna, which divides it from the capitania of Rio de Janeiro. It is separated from the capitania of Espirito Santo and the coast by an immense chain of mountains, which country, being inhabited by the Aborigenes, is of course very little known.

This capitania is estimated to contain three hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants, of whom two hundred thousand are negroes, or their immediate offspring. The population of Indians is not included in this estimate, nor can it be ascertained; they are considered as by no means numerous, as they never make any opposition against an armed force, however small. In the course of my journey I did not see one, except the child at the village of ConceiÇÃo, nor did I ever hear of one of the race of the Buticudos becoming civilized, or living in any of the villages with the settled inhabitants[58].

The regular military establishment of the capitania is very respectable, and consists of 1400 cavalry, which number is prescribed by law. Their principal station is at Villa Rica, where the general resides, who, jointly with the governor, issues all orders respecting them. They form a disposeable force for the general service of the capitania; they are appointed to guard certain places known to contain valuable products; also to receive tolls, collect tythes, patrol the roads, and search suspicious persons, for which purposes parties of them are stationed at the various guard-houses and registers. They go in quest of felons, guard the prisons, and likewise execute orders to impress men levied for service in Rio de Janeiro. They are employed exclusively in the mining country, which they never quit, except when they escort diamonds and treasure to the capital, or are dispatched on any particular service. The regiment is a very fine one, and enjoys so high a reputation, that numbers are continually offering to enlist in it. While I was at Villa Rica, nearly two hundred volunteers were serving, without any remuneration whatever, waiting to be placed on the establishment according to their seniority, as vacancies should occur. This affords the general an opportunity of choosing the most soldier-like men, and those of best character; in which respects it is asserted, and I believe with great truth, that the corps is unrivalled. The officers enter very young, and serve as cadets for a certain period, during which they perform the duty and receive the pay of privates, from whom they are distinguished by a star on the right shoulder, and generally exercise together. They are promoted according to seniority.

Besides this force, there is a militia, in which all the male inhabitants of the capitania are enrolled, and are liable to be called out when occasions require. It is a part of the present policy of the Prince’s ministers to stimulate the Creolians to active occupations, by obliging them either to till their grounds, or to enter the ranks and become soldiers.

The known produce of this vast extent of territory comes next under consideration. On this subject I shall not follow a variety of vague accounts, which have been compiled with little regard to truth, but shall present to the reader the result of my own observations.

The great quantities of gold, precious stones, iron, &c. produced in this country have been largely treated upon. Lead ore appears to be rare, as it is found only near AbaitÉ. Antimony abounds in the vicinity of SabarÁ; native bismuth is found near Villa Rica; arsenical and iron pyrites are very common; titanium is found in octahedral crystals, also in beautiful prisms and tender spicula, finely grouped in rock crystal. Platina may be obtained in tolerable quantities at Lagos, but the place which produces it has been abandoned from want of a market. Chromate of lead, I was informed, is found in the vicinity of Cocaes; but I have reason to suspect I was imposed upon. At Tejuco, also, I was shown some, and was presented with two pieces, which are uncommonly fine, more brilliant in color than that from Siberia, and distinctly crystallized on a matrix of granular sand-stone, accompanied with the green oxide of chrome. Copper can scarcely be said to exist in this country; the only place at present known to produce it, is a mountain twenty leagues from Tejuco, where small particles appear in a rock of quartz and hornblende: the matrix is so hard, and the quantity of copper so trivial, as to afford no encouragement to work it. The place has been examined by the Intendant, and is known to most persons in Tejuco[59]. No mines of silver have been discovered in the capitania, but the gold is generally found to contain that precious metal, sometimes in great proportion. No tin, cobalt, or any other metal, except those above mentioned, have been hitherto met with.

Of salts, impure nitrate of potass is formed in great abundance, generally, if not always, in calcareous situations, in a tract of country which commences from ten to fourteen degrees west of Tejuco, particularly at Monte Rodrigo, which is situated between the two celebrated rivers called Rio dos Velhos and Parauna. This mountain is very large and well wooded; the stratum is calcareous, and contains many eaves furred, as it were, with nitrate of potass. Since Government has made nitre an object of commerce, and encouraged its production, many families have settled at this place, and have collected large quantities of this saliferous substance, which, after several operations, is sent to Rio de Janeiro, where it is refined for the great powder-manufactory recently established near that city.

In various places are found the finest clays in great plenty, fit for porcelain and earthenware of every description, which are entirely neglected. In other parts I saw cyanite, actinolite, tremolite, pot-stone, and chlorite. Conglomerate masses of recent formation, enveloping diamonds and grains of gold, are sometimes, though rarely, met with; also a siliceous substance of a fine dark-blue color, probably totally unknown.

On the vegetable products of this capitania I have but few observations to make, in addition to those already given in the course of my narrative. Many parts are well calculated for the growth of hemp and flax, and water for steeping them is easily obtained in most situations; so that the only impediment to the introduction of these useful plants appears to be the labor required to clear them.

In the immense woods the finest trees are frequently destroyed by the creeping plants, which cannot grow without adhering to some support. When they attach themselves to a tree, they shoot up very rapidly, encircling it with numerous fibres, and in a few years become so strong as entirely to stop the growth of the tree, and at length destroy it. When in a young state, they are so flexible as to be used for ordinary purposes instead of cords. I have seen negroes make their bridles of them, and ride with them for a day together.

As these forests remain unexplored, many of the trees are unknown, and consequently the qualities of their barks. However, there are some used by the inhabitants in dying yellow; and I was informed some yielded a black color that could not be washed out. There is a variety which serves for curing skins, or tanning, some of which give the hide a red color, others leave it almost white: but this art is so little known, and the people are so averse to employments of this sort, that it has hitherto made little progress.

Gum tragacanth is in great plenty, and of a very good quality. There are immense quantities of aromatic shrubs; and I found in many places, upon the bark of trees, and more particularly upon old wood, a lichen, which yielded to water a most beautiful crimson color[60]. Jointed canes grow spontaneously, frequently above thirty feet long, and in many places form arcades over the road: these plants always indicate the soil to be very fertile.

Ferns grow so large, as almost to lose their characteristic: I have frequently seen them twelve feet high. These and other succulent plants, when reduced to ashes, serve to make soap, of which almost every negra knows the process, and most families make for their own use. It is very sharp, and washes white articles uncommonly well[61]. In this fine country, where almost every gradation of climate may be found, European fruits, such as olives, almonds, chesnuts, mulberries, &c. would thrive, if properly attended to.

The mulberry is cultivated at one place, where I saw a few silk worms. The climate is favorable to them, but the population is not sufficient to carry the breeding of them to any extent, as they require great attendance and care.

Cochineal may be said to be almost unknown in the capitania; the palma Christi grows spontaneously, and from its seeds great quantities of castor oil may be extracted. For bananas and other tropical fruits the climate is not sufficiently hot, and is too changeable. Beans, peas, and pulse in general are very fine; pumpkins also, and cabbages grow to a great size. It is a fine country for flowers; the rose is extremely fragrant, and is in bloom all the year. Varieties of the passion-flower are found in all parts; pinks and carnations, with numberless other flowers, grow in great profusion.

This capitania contains four comarcas, or districts, St. JoÃo d’El Rey, SabarÁ, Villa Rica, and Cerro do Frio, all of which produced much more gold a few years after their discovery than at present, though in the year 1809 Villa Rica alone received for gold permuted a hundred and six arrobas of thirty-two pounds each. The mines in the other three comarcas cannot be rated to permute less than from fifteen to twenty arrobas, therefore the capitania may be estimated to yield to Government, as the annual fifth, a quantity not less than one hundred and fifty arrobas.

St. JoÃo d’El Rey, the capital of the district so called, is a considerable town, and contains at least five thousand inhabitants. It is situated near the Rio das Mortes, which runs northerly, and empties itself into the Rio das Velhas. The country around it is very fertile, and produces excellent fruits, both exotic and indigenous; also Indian corn, and beans in great quantities; as well as a little wheat. This comarca being more cultivated than any other part, is called the granary of the district; cheese is made here in tolerable quantity, and bacon very indifferently cured, both which are sent to Rio de Janeiro, and form a considerable trade. Great numbers of fowls are also sent thither, and a little rum, sugar, and coffee. Provisions of all kinds are much cheaper than at Villa Rica; pork and beef are about a penny per pound, poultry in proportion, and vegetables equally cheap.

About two leagues distant from the town is the rivulet of San JosÉ,[62] formerly abounding in gold-washings, some of which continue good, particularly those in the vicinity of a pretty village, called Campanha. In the neighbourhood is a mountain that produces a great quantity of iron pyrites, which many people believe to be gold, and say that no method is yet known for extracting it. In this district are a great number of pines of a very singular variety, from the bark of which exudes much resinous gum. The wood is of a fine brown-red color, full of knots, and inconceivably hard.

Some cotton, although not very considerable in quantity, is grown in this district; it is spun by hand, and woven into coarse clothing, generally for the use of the negroes. Finer cloth is sometimes woven for table linen. The making of lace is a favorite occupation with the ladies of St. JoÃo d’El Rey, who are reputed to be more attentive to domestic concerns than those of other towns, many of them being descendants of the Paulistas, so celebrated for industry and economy.

The district of SabarÁ was discovered and settled by the Paulistas, who took possession of it as early as the year 1690, or, according to some accounts, twenty years earlier. They founded the town which is now the capital of the district, and worked several gold-mines in its neighbourhood, the produce of which they sent to their native place, as it was their custom to do with all the gold found in the various parts which they explored; on this account the city of S. Paulo acquired a much higher reputation for riches than it merited, it being generally believed that all the gold sent from thence was procured in that vicinity. Some years after the establishment of SabarÁ, the Court of Lisbon sent out a nobleman as governor to reduce the settlers, and to oblige them to pay a tribute in conformity to the laws of the colony. The settlers took up arms, and several encounters took place, in one of which the nobleman was killed: but, after some time, the viceroy sent great reinforcements into the interior, and quelled the insurgents, who submitted to pay a fifth of the gold produced. An adventurer of the name of Artis, who was a man of great intrepidity and perseverance, and had made considerable discoveries in the neighbourhood, was afterwards appointed governor, and this proved the means of reconciling all parties.

Respecting the working of the mines throughout this capitania, it has been already observed, that much loss of time and labor is occasioned by the want of machinery, and proper implements for the workmen. Not a cart or wheel-barrow is in use: every thing necessary to be removed is carried on the heads of the poor negroes, in gamellas, who have in many instances to climb up steep ascents, where inclined planes might be employed to great advantage, and would be formed with very little trouble. The cassoon is the only hydraulic machine known, and is very generally adopted: but it is constructed with great difficulty and expense, and can be used only where a strong current of water can be commanded. Pumps might, at very trivial cost, be constructed on the simple plan of the machines used to pound their Indian corn.

The tedious process of washing the cascalho for gold in gamellas, would be much shortened by using a machine of very easy construction. Suppose a cylinder to be formed of bars of iron longitudinally placed, and nailed to circles of wood, open at each end, and suspended on two centres, one about sixteen inches higher than the other. At the highest end the cascalho is to enter by being put into a hopper which communicates with it. The bars must be nailed almost close to each other at the upper end, gradually widening to the lower end, where they should be about half an inch asunder. The cylinder ought to be from ten to twelve feet long, and a stream of water conducted to fall upon it length-wise: it should be inclosed, like a dressing-machine in a flour-mill, and be subjected to a very quick motion. The portion of cascalho containing the most gold will fall through, near the upper end; the other parts, according to their comparative fineness, gradually descending until nothing but the pebbles fall out at the lower end. The earth, &c. falling into partitions or troughs below the cylinder, would be ready for being separated from the gold by hand, which might be done with very little trouble. Machines of this kind might be made on any scale, and, if generally known and adopted, would save the labor of the negroes in a tenfold degree. The one constructing in Cerro do Frio will, when complete, do more work than a hundred negroes in the same space of time. A considerable improvement might yet be made in this useful apparatus; for, if the gold, &c. washed from the machine were to fall upon troughs placed in an inclined position, having a channel across about a yard from the upper end,[63] all the gold would precipitate into it, and; if a negro were to be continually employed in agitating the water, the earthy matter would run off, leaving only the gold and the ferruginous particles, which might be easily separated by mercury[64]. The utility of machinery of this kind is too obvious to need pointing out.

Mills composed of three heavy irregular stones, resembling our flint-mills, would reduce many of the ferruginous aggregates and softer substances which contain gold. The matter thus reduced might be immediately washed by falling or being put into the inclined planes before described, and would, no doubt, prove the means of obtaining considerable quantities of the precious metal, which would be otherwise lost. Stamps might be useful where gold is found in hard and brittle substances: but these would be more effectually pulverized by a heavy stone rolling upon its edge, not unlike a tanner’s bark-mill.

In many instances, hand-sieves might be useful, and would save much time and labor in washing, but perhaps they would be too expensive. Even miners’ tools are much wanted, the only ones in use being the iron bar and the hoe. The common miner’s pick would in many cases be serviceable, and bucking-irons[65] would reduce the matrix much more effectually than beating it with stones, which is the only mode now practised. It is a most unfortunate circumstance, and very detrimental to the interests of the miners, that whatever is made of iron is so dear as to be beyond the means of the inhabitants to procure, nor have they any substitute for it.

When the present state of the mining country is considered, and its rich resources are compared with the want of science, which prevents the inhabitants from improving them, how much is it to be wished that Government would establish and encourage economical societies on the plan of our Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, in which inquiries might be made into all subjects relative to the useful arts. Repositories also might be established in all the principal towns of the capitania, where models of useful machinery and various implements might be kept for the inspection of the public. Scientific publications should be purchased, and every means employed to promote the cultivation of science among the inhabitants. At the meetings of the societies, every measure tending to increase the commerce of the district should be discussed with particular attention; honorary gifts should be made to those who most promoted its welfare, and premiums should be offered for the encouragement of all attempts to ameliorate the condition of the working class of the negroes.

Thus emulation would be enkindled among them, and useful knowledge, descending from parent to child, would soon be universally diffused. This would be the true foundation of the prosperity of the country; for no territory perhaps in the world is so rich in natural products, and at the same time so neglected for want of an enlightened and industrious population.