o f cryftal in many of the;'mountains, from whence the {Beams
came, which walhed down the diamonds. ^
But it was foon represented to the King of Portugal, that if fuch
plenty of diamonds fliould be met with, as their fenguine conjectures
feemed to indicate, this would fo debafe their value, and di-
minifli their eftimation, that, befides ruining all the Europeans
who had any quantity of Indian diamonds in their poffeffion, it
would reader the di'fcovery itfelf o f no importance, and would prevent
his Majefty from receiving any advantages from it. And on
thefe cohfiderations his Majefty has thought proper to reftrain the
general feareh of diamonds, and hasereftsd a Diamond Company
for that purpofe, with an exclulive charter. This Company, in
confideration of a fum paid to the King, is Veiled wkh the property
o f all diamonds found in Brazil: but, to hinder their collefting too.
large quantities, and thereby reducing their value, they are prohibited
from employing above eight hundred Haves in fearehing after
them- And to prevent any of his other fubjefls from adti-ng
the fame part, and likewife to fecure-the Company from being defrauded
by the interfering of interlopers in their trade and property,
he has depopulated a large town, and aconfiderable diftria
round it ; and has obliged the inhabitants, who are laid to amount
to fix thoufend, to remove to another part o f the country ;. for, this
town being in the neighbourhood, of the diamonds,, it was thought
impoflible to prevent fuch a number of people, who. were on the-,
jpot, from frequently fmuggling.
In . confequence of thefe important diftoverles in Brazil; new
laws, new governments, and new regulations, have been eftablilhedi
in many parts o f the country : for, not long fince, a confiderable-
traa,. poffeffed by a fet of inhabitants, who, from their principal
Settlement, were called Paulifls, was almoft independent of the:
Crown of Portugal, to which it fcarcely acknowledged, more than
a nominal allegiance. Thefe Paulifts are faid to be defendants of
tsbofe Portugueje, who retired from, the northern part o f B r a z il
t ' - when
when it was invaded and poffeffed by the Dutch. As from the
confufion of the times they were long ueglefled by their fupenors,
and were obliged to provide for their own fecurity and defence, the
"neceflity of their affairs produced a kind of government amongft
them, which they found Efficient for the confined manner o f life
to which they were inured. And being thus habituated to their
own regulations, they at length grew fond of their independency :
fo that, rejecting and defpifing the mandates o f the court o i LiJbon,
they were often engaged in a ftate of downright rebellion; and
the mountains furrounding their country, and the difficulty of
clearing the few paffages that open into it, generally put it in their
power to make their own termfgbefore they fubmitted. But as
gold was found to abound in this country of the Paulifts, the pre-
fent King of Portugal (during whofe reign almoft the whole dif-
eoveries I have mentioned were begun and compleated) thought it;
incumbeut on him to reduce this province, which now became of
great confequence, to the fame dependency and" obedience with the
reft of the country, which, I am told, he h?s at laft, though with
great difficulty, happily effeded. And the feme mot,ves which
induced his Majefty to undertake the redu&ion of the-Paulijish has-
alfo occ&fioned the changes I have mentioned to have taken place:
at the Ifland of St. Catherine'!? For the Governor of Rio Grande,.
of whom I have already fpoken, affined us, that in the. neighbourhood
of this HI and there were confiderable rivers, which w.ere-
found to be extremely rich 1 and that this was the g g g g | | j| | a.
garrifon, a military Governor, and a new colony, was fettled there.
And as the harbour at this Eland is by much the fecureft and the
moft capacious of any on the coaft, it is not improbable, ■ the:
riches of the neighbourhood anfwer their expeflatron, but it may
become in time the principal fettltement m B razil, and the molt
confiderable port in all South-America,. I
Thus much I have thought necefl'ary to infertr, in relation to the
prefent ftate of Brazil, and of the Illand
this laft place has been generally recommended as the moft eligible-
port for our cruize,-.s to refreffi. at, which are bound to the So*t~