Neither will I take upon me to affirm, that murders are frequently committed here; but the churches afford an asylum to the criminal: And as our cockswain was one day looking at two men, who appeared to be talking together in a friendly manner, one of them suddenly drew a knife and stabbed the other; who not instantly falling, the murderer withdrew the weapon, and stabbed him a second time. He then ran away, and was pursued by some negroes, who were also witnesses of the fact; but whether he escaped or was taken I never heard.

The country, at a small distance round the town, which is all that any of us saw, is beautiful in the highest degree; the wildest spots being varied with a greater luxuriance of flowers, both as to number and beauty, than the best gardens in England.

Upon the trees and bushes sat an almost endless variety. of birds, especially small ones, many of them covered with the most elegant plumage; among which were the humming-bird. Of insects too there was a great variety, and some of them very beautiful; but they were much more nimble than those of Europe, especially the butterflies, most of which flew near the tops of the trees, and were therefore very difficult to be caught, except when the sea-breeze blew fresh, which kept them nearer to the ground.

The banks of the sea, and of the small brooks which water this part of the country, are almost covered with the small crabs, called cancer vocans; some of these had one of the claws, called by naturalists the hand, very large; others had them both remarkably small, and of equal size, a difference which is said to distinguish the sexes, that with the large claw being the male.

There is the appearance of but little cultivation; the greater part of the land is wholly uncultivated, and very little care and labour seem to have been bestowed upon the rest; there are indeed little patches or gardens, in which many kinds of European garden stuff are produced, particularly cabbages, pease, beans, kidney-beans, turnips, and

white

corruption in its lethalic stage. But even this indignant and most exaltedly moral poet, in his relation of the infamous actions of noble and royal prostitutes, does not fail to imply the advantages they sought in deception and secrecy-the night-hood, the yellow veil, and the cunning artifices of proficient mothers.—E.

white radishes, but all much inferior to our own: Watermelons and pine-apples are also produced in these spots, and they are the only fruits that we saw cultivated, though the country produces musk, melons, oranges, limes, lemons, sweet lemons, citrons, plantains, bananas, mangos, mamaneapples, acajou or cashou apples and nuts; jamboira of two kinds, one of which bears a small black fruit; cocoa-nuts, mangos, palm nuts of two kinds, one long, the other round; and palm berries, all which were in season while we were

there.

Of these fruits the water-melons and oranges are the best in their kind; the pine-apples are much inferior to those that I have eaten in England; they are indeed more juicy and sweet, but have no flavour; I believe them to be natives of this country, though we heard of none that at this time grow wild; they have, however, very little care bestowed upon them, the plants being set between beds of any kind of garden-stuff, and suffered to take the chance of the season. The melons are still worse, at least those that we tasted, which were mealy and insipid; but the water-melons are excellent; they have a flavour, at least a degree of acidity, which ours have not. We saw also several species of the prickle-pear, and some European fruits, particularly the apple and peach, both which were very mealy and insipid. In these gardens also grow yams, and mandihoca, which in the West Indies is called cassada or cassava, and to the flower of which the people here, as I have before observed, give the name of furinha de pao, which may not improperly be translated, powder of post. The soil, though it produces tobacco and sugar, will not produce bread-corn; so that the people here have no wheat-flour, but what is brought from Portugal, and sold at the rate of a shilling a pound, though it is generally spoiled by being heated in its passage. Banks is of opinion, that all the products of our West Indian islands would grow here; notwithstanding which, the inhabitants import their coffee and chocolate from Lisbon.* Most

Mr

4 The Portuguese government, it appears, from Mr Barrow's represen tation, have taken effectual measures to preserve this colony in a state of dependance on the mother country: "It no sooner discovered," says that gentleman," that sugar could be raised in any quantity, and afforded, in the markets of Europe, at reasonable prices, than it thought proper to'impose on them an export duty of 20 per cent. which operated as an immediate check on the growth of this article. When the cultivation of the indigo

Most of the land, as far as we saw of the country, is laid down in grass, upon which cattle are pastured in great plenty; but they are so lean, that an Englishman will scarcely eat of their flesh: The herbage of these pastures consists principally of cresses, and consequently is so short, that though it may afford a bite for horses and sheep, it can scarcely be grazed by horned cattle in a sufficient quantity to keep them alive.

This country may possibly produce many valuable drugs; but we could not find any in the apothecaries shops, except pariera brava, and balsam capivi; both of which were excellent in their kind, and sold at a very low price. The drug trade is probably carried on to the northward, as well as that of the dying woods, for we could get no intelligence of either of them here.

As to manufactures, we neither saw nor heard of any except that of cotton hammocks, in which people are carried about here, as they are with us in sedan chairs; and these are principally, if not wholly, fabricated by the Indians.

The riches of the place consist chiefly in the mines which we supposed to lie far up the country, though we could never learn where, or at what distance; for the situation is concealed as much as possible, and troops are continually employed in guarding the roads that lead to them: It is almost impossible for any man to get a sight of them, except those who are employed there; and indeed the strongest curiosity would scarcely induce any man to attempt it, for whoever is found upon the road to them, if he cannot give undeniable evidence of his having business there, is immediately hanged up upon the next tree.

Much gold is certainly brought from these mines, but at an expence of life that must strike every man, to whom custom has not made it familiar, with horror. No less than forty thousand negroes are annually imported, on the king's account, to dig the mines; and we were credibly informed,

he

that,

plant had been considerably extended, and the preparation sufficiently understood, so as to enable the colonists to meet their competitors in the markets of Europe, this article was assumed as a royal monopoly." Salt, says, is another royal monopoly, and yields the sum of L.15,000 annually: But one of the immediate effects of its being so, is the entire destruction of the valuable fisheries. Does the reader remember the fable of the hen that laid golden eggs? Would not certain governments do well to study the moral of it?-E.

that, the last year but one before we arrived here, this number fell so short, probably from some epidemic disease, that twenty thousand more were draughted from the town of Rio.

Precious stones are also found here in such plenty, that a certain quantity only is allowed to be collected in a year; to collect this quantity, a number of people are sent into the country where they are found, and when it is got together, which sometimes happens in a month, sometimes in less and sometimes in more, they return; and after that, whoever is found in these precious districts, on any pretence, before the next year, is immediately put to death.

The jewels found here, are diamonds, topazes of several kinds, and amethysts. We did not see any of the diamonds, but were informed that the viceroy had a large quantity by him, which he would sell on the king of Portugal's account, but not at a less price than they are sold for in Europe. Mr Banks bought a few topazes and amethysts as specimens: Of the topazes there are three sorts, of very different value, which are distinguished by the names of pinga d'agua qualidade primeiro, pinga d'agua qualidade secundo, and chrystallos armerillos: They are sold, large and small, good and bad together, by octavos, or the eighth part of an ounce; the best at 4s. 9d. All dealing, however, in these stones, is prohibited to the subject under the severest penalties: There were jewellers here formerly, who purchased and worked them on their own account; but about fourteen months before our arrival, orders came from the court of Portugal, that no more stones should be wrought here, except on the king's account: The jewellers were ordered to bring all their tools to the viceroy, and left without any means of subsistence. The persons employed here to work stones for the king are slaves.

The coin that is current here, is either that of Portugal, consisting chiefly of thirty-six shillings pieces; or pieces both of gold and silver, which are struck at this place: The pieces of silver, which are very much debased, are called petacks, and are of different value, and easily distinguished by the number of rees that is marked on the outside. Here is also a copper coin, like that in Portugal, of five and ten ree pieces. A ree is a nominal coin of Portugal, ten of which are equal in value to about three farthings sterling.

The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is situated W. by N. 18 leagues

leagues from Cape Frio, and may be known by a remarkable hill, in the form of a sugar-loaf, at the west point of the bay; but as all the coast is very high, and rises in many peaks, the entrance of this harbour may be more certainly distinguished by the islands that lie before it; one of which, called Rodonda, is high and round like a hay-stack, and lies at the distance of two leagues and a half from the entrance of the bay, in the direction of S. by W.; but the first islands which are met with, coming from the east, or Cape Frio, are two that have a rocky appearance, lying near to each other, and at the distance of about four miles from the shore: There are also, at the distance of three leagues to the westward of these, two other islands which lie near to each other, a little without the bay on the east side, and very near the shore. This harbour is certainly a good one; the entrance indeed is not wide, but the sea-breeze, which blows every day from ten or twelve o'clock till sunset, makes it easy for any ship to go in before the wind; and it grows wider as the town is approached, so that a-breast of it there is room for the largest fleet, in five or six fathom water, with an oozy bottom. At the narrow part, the entrance is defended by two forts. The principal is Santa Cruz, which stands on the east point of the bay, and has been mentioned before; that on the west side is called Fort Lozia, and is built upon a rock that lies close to the main; the distance between them is about three quarters of a mile, but the channel is not quite so broad, because there are sunken rocks which lie off each fort, and in this part alone there is danger: The narrowness of the channel causes the tides, both flood and ebb, to run with considerable strength, so that they cannot be stemmed without a fresh breeze. The -rockiness of the bottom makes it also unsafe to anchor here: But all danger may be avoided by keeping in the middle of

the

5 Mr Barrow, during his stay at Rio de Janeiro, had an opportunity of ascertaining the height of the Sugar-loaf, as it is called from its conical appearance. It is, he says, 680 feet high, above the surface out of which it rises, and is a solid mass of hard sparkling granite. On the eastern side of the chasm which forms the entrance into the bay, there is a mountain of the same material, but so far different in form, that it slopes easily and gradually from the water's edge to the summit, which however is about as high as the cone. This side is well defended by forts and batteries. Mr Barrow's description of the magnificent scenery of this harbour, is perhaps somewhat poetically conceived, but may be advantageously consulted by the reader.-E.