' BïAzn..
Town of •
Janeiro.
Mines.
S O U TH AMERI CA,
Spanifh colonifts, and , to, evince that even European nations may.be
found deftitute of knowledge and intelligence p ^ - •
Thé harbour trff Rio Janeiro, is capacious, ajod. excellent j( .and- for-
rounded by a fertile couhtry. Lt is-protected s by .the caftle. oft Santa
Cruz,- erefted on a huge rock of .granite. On .the, weft ia the city of
Sh Sebaftian*leumrnonly called Rio. de Janeirö^ huilt ón.g; $&*|gue of
knd, the hills and roèks 'behind being crowned with woods, £<^vents,
houfes,- and churches.'7 • On a fmall ifle: are a. dock yard, magazines,
and naval ftorehoiifes- j and there are fcveral-other ifles in the haaheur
behind the town. The ftreets are" generally ftraight land wellf eyed.
Water is fnpplied by'an. aquedudt, on the Roman plan ; for^inotrokh-
ftanding the name, thereis-no. riyeboftany'mète.,>-Tbè Ihops were foil
of Mancheftei? and Inglifo prints.'.. Yet the fituration, nf this
beautiful city is Laid to be unhealthy, bwing^tè^ ekfe-'éxhalationgS' from
the p r im i t i v e inland fdrefts. There, are mgnufaétofiés'óf fo'ghrf’ rum,
and cochineal; and feveral diftri&s produce cotton,- indigo, coffee, cacao
or chocolate, rice, pepper1, and .'the noted Brazilian tob’aefco.- The red
or Brazil wood is the property of the crown. The natural hiftory has
been little explored: the circumjacent rocks' al^'^flnitic, ^hit'éy red,
nr deep blue, thé laft being ó f a clofe and hard texture. 1 d
Concerning the celebrated MuesW Brazil there isilittlh'iriformation.
They are fituated in the mountains which_give fource to many ftréams
that flow north and foüth into the fiver' Tocantin, on one fide, and the
Parana on the other, but there are' mines of gold as far inland as the
river Cuyaba, which flows into the Paraguay/ arfd'evehi1 near the river
Ytenas.f The diamond mines are hear the little river óf Milhoverde,
not far from Villa Nova do Principe, in the province of Serro de Frio,
S. lat. according to La Cruz 170 about long. 44 0 W. from London.
This Angular fubftance is hot certainly known to be produced ;ih any
* The ruling people in Brazil were the Tupinambas. See d’Acunha and Condamine. for
the Mamaluks of St. Paul’ s, a kind of Buccaneers, fee. Dobrizhoffer, i. 179. . Tire llahguage
mjjft widely diffufed in Brazil if the Quaranic, or that o f the Guaranis. ’
*7' Staunton, 1. 175* -
+ Others are near the river Peixe and Saguitinhonha, the Riacho-Fundo, and Guaraparaia
St. Paul’s. M. S. In£
«her
p o r t u g u e s .e ; d o m j n i o n s .
other part of the v^orId,-:..:except HmdeAak,£a>ndtohieSyfabouti4h&1,fame BllAZIL
north latitude 170.; but' the. diamonds of. B|fazi%tfjet>ni0tiS;of;fl>• jkre a
wat-ery-heingJioLaSiHf0WnifejobTc^rg'. pft&f | In,.the northern provinbeswaf;
Brazil 'ghere.^e'ymerows-». h^As >of||gEd cattl^'tohidi ‘j^gfedlaughteredj
fer/th^fafee^pf tbp hidt^dk The river 1 rancifco i&»rernirhable foft'
palling a co^|AJerablpway^,uiide|'ground^ after.,ihfe^atfaine d,a great lize.fh
iM|h^->ical'o.ufV^, ?a'nd inermefs* ofotM /Roffogug& ^ yem-ment-lfeyfiv Botany,
effectually ^ prevented any regulay- and fcientific account of. the-natural
produflioiis' of their vaft a'ntd •ejp'al^kt dotai<^qffS3jm'S.riAmemca; and
the few ^Ittfeed^ftagments |0FlBra4®ahHbatknyik^|ef£i©%It^be'^p'k.
from "the jo-urn'M« of tfehsfe navigators WhoAlfaveafottehedlat Rio1
Ja heard, a&dfftoffiffhh flora. L nfit1 a hi epi Varidjelli; wh'feh, contains aijew,'
pladfs"df tBrSziliahi ■ ©■ ftgjjnT" TbefefculeUt pkmtstaretfuelh as(dre common
to »all tM^tropfeateeigiohs of-Am'erica, amohg- which may be diftirfguilhe^
thetp'latrtaih, thebanhna, -theVdacoa ou#v fhe'-ghfelao^enutjAthe» ya-m,
pd&tdfe; cafavay>l&gfethfer with rierhefotte1 Fpeeies ofihael'ons‘'anptgourds.
Offiruks ‘fffi? hhmbgf% feSfoel^to rddfiohM fne |bitn; -
hdwdver, ^foth11 as 'the pine apple', fhe-nfaEf^’d^and The tamafiri'd< have
alread jHrefeh repeatedly mentioned- in -t-he^Sccdufltf of the,, botany'of > thel
wirin that arelfotihd'hereJ
iripArulyindigenpusiflate, arid'kie much nfed by theVinhabifahltf-’as‘t&h-
diment.s"tb'theif/fpfM,”or the babsrhfVaridiil5dHhkk/ate
turmeric, £‘mveral fpeeies1 op pepper, ednee, dajfflciini or1
Guinea pepper,'and the wilcl cinnamoii (Lanfos 'cahella). ’SeverafthW
dicinal plants of high eftimation/ though nolf pecujiar to Brazil, yet grow
here fpontaneoufly arid in' abundance;' thefe are the :
Indian gink, (fpigelia anthelrniritlca) the mechoacan, the. jalap, the amyris
yielding, the gum'elemi, and the guayacum. Woods for Ornamental ca- .
bin6t work, or for the ufe ojF the dy.ers, which are at, prefent f^jrnilhed
by the more enterprifing adttvity of the Dutch, French, and Engliflr colonifts
of Guiana and the W. Indies, might be procured in equal perferition
and variety from Brazil; Rich are the'lbgwdod, fuftic, mahd'glny, ebony,
Brazil wood, fofe' wood, fa-ttin wood, and a- multitude of othe-rs. The
13 Adams.iailjrUuajjEpgliihtraV^ttSPijji^??',
4 Ü