Chapter XII: San Romão to the Diamond District (1)

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.