Rio dc
Janeiro.
“ broods. T h e .insects are soon converted info cochi-
“ neal by $ very simple process ; but if, in corporal suf-
< ‘Jerance, the poor beetlefeels a pang as great as when a giant
“ dies, this process, is not more simple than it is cruel.
“ The inseetSijwhich were, collected in a wooden bowl,
“ are thickly" spread, from thence*,; upon a flat dish of
“ earthen; ware, and placed, alive over ,a- charcoal fire,
“ where they1 are, slowly roasted until the downy cqver-
■“ ing disappears,j and the aqueous juices of the animal
‘ j are totally evaporated. During* this operation the in-
seetsare constantly stirred abput with a tin ladle, and,
*‘. sqipetimes, fwatgy: is sprinkled upanu them, <to pReyemt
“ absolute torrefaction, which would destroy thecolour,
“ and reduce the; ip s e # .; c © i ld y b u t .a !little habit
“ teaches; >yhen tO:,rem,oye them from the fire. They
then appear like so many dark round reddish grains;
“ and take the name of cochineal,: preserving so httle
“ the original form of thte
“ was lopg known and sought in Europe before; natu-
“ ralists had determined whether it was an animal, ye-
“ getable, or mineral substance. The garden at Rio
‘ ‘ doe.s not, annually,, produce above thirty, pounds
“ weight of this commodity ; tho by proper treatment,
“ from the same number of plants, ten times the quan-
f‘i.ttty might be obtained. At Marica and Saquarima,
“ both places contiguous to Cape Frio, are considerable
“ plantations of .the cactus, which are propagated easily
v• from Cuttings set inte lhe- earth during the5 cold afid
“ rainy season, - tho < they iafter wards thrive least -wherë
V excluded from the sun; The insects!'breed and are
“ collected, in dry Weatheiy* frdm October until March.
“ The preparation of | cochineal is encoiiBaged by / the
‘.‘ -trade being :laid;ropynjrwiwcl^fcdcfarmerlyfbefen a
'll monOpolyjto, the crown !$
h Beside this speciqsrof manufacture in thenfeigbjDaui?-«
hteod of Rio, anoFther, of which an? bkelusive- privilegh
#as to ojBSésrprofits
to the crown, was caktied, ón within the haibour^and
opposite'teihe town. Thifeherwas brought#®* the purpose
jof being reorwerted into oil, the'Mubber or firnafaC
ofl^e.-black whales, mo;longer, indeed, (Caught, as formerly,
close to it, but-on shores more fréefrom the busy
haunts of >men. The whafcdbonq w* (cartilages« of;tbe
j-aw‘were1,* also,* properly separated and «hdliised? here,
before .they'were sent, to Europe., , The'/white* whale,
'which supplies the sperrriarGeti,. isioftfenssmght for »M ias'the
Pacific Opesto. An EngLish ship horn thwe-;seas
Hvasiaitely comciixitb Rioharbaui for lefteshmeJits-i^'She
had- taken* sixty-nine whales,vveach Worth,* upon an« averag,
two hundred pounds. Some1 arebf}ats£se|totfetch
one thousand* Thfe recenfagfegpdéaEy thatlhe muscular
part of animals is convertible into a matter 'similar to
spermaceti, may, perhaps, hereafter diminish the 'profits
of those.distant‘adventuresi: ;
vo&. Z
Rib die
Janeiro.