The rivulet of Lagos empties itself into the Rio de St. Antonio, along which we rode a small distance, and proceeding about four miles farther, arrived at Conceição, a large and tolerably handsome village. I was conducted to the house of the curate, who kindly assigned to me an apartment for the night, and, perceiving that I was unwell, gave me an invitation to rest a day, which I very gladly accepted.
I here received many visits from the villagers, whose curiosity had been excited by the news of an Englishman having arrived: some of them were upwards of eighty years of age, and, as they had resided here more than fifty, they were able to give many curious accounts of the country, and of the progress and decline of its mines. I was much pleased with the information they communicated, but more so with the attention of the good curate, who corrected every misrepresentation, and seemed anxious that I should not be led into error, either through accident or design. By some means or other, an opinion circulated among them that I was a medical man, and numbers of infirm persons, principally old men, women, and children, were brought to me for advice. In the evening we were entertained with music by some of the younger females, who brought their guitars, and sung several pleasing airs.
I was here shown a Buticudo Indian boy, apparently about nine years of age, who had been taken about six months before. He could not utter a word of Portuguese; but, from the expression of his countenance, his mind seemed capable of receiving any tuition. His eyes had so much vivacity in them that they almost spoke, especially when his attention was attracted by any thing agreeable, as I found by offering him a few sweetmeats, with which he seemed much delighted. I examined his features and the construction of his frame with some curiosity, as exhibiting the characteristics of the singular race of men from whom he sprung. The face was short, the mouth rather wide, the nose broad, the eyes large and black, skin of a dusky copper color, hair jet-black, strong, straight, and of regular length, limbs stout and well-proportioned, feet large, probably from going without shoes. He lived with a poor woman, who clothed and brought him up exactly as one of her family. On enquiring how he came there, I was informed that he belonged to a party of Indians who were surprised at a place about six leagues distant, and all either fell or escaped, except this little fellow, who was taken care of, and brought hither by an officer resident in the village.
Being still too unwell to travel, I remained another day, and met with every attention and care from the good clergyman and his housekeeper. In the course of conversation, he informed me that he studied and had been ordained at S. Paulo; and when he learnt that I had been there so recently, seemed much pleased, and asked me many questions respecting the present state of that city, which showed his attachment to it as the scene of his youthful days.
About a week previous to my arrival, this village was the scene of a somewhat remarkable adventure. A tropeiro[42] going to Rio de Janeiro with some loaded mules, was overtaken by two cavalry soldiers, who ordered him to surrender his fowling-piece; which being done, they bored the butt-end with a gimblet, and finding it hollow, took off the iron from the end, where they found a cavity containing about three hundred carats of diamonds, which they immediately seized. The man in vain protested his innocence, stating that he had bought the gun of a friend: he was hurried away, and thrown into prison at Tejuco, where I afterwards saw him. The diamonds were confiscated, and the soldiers received half their value. The fate of this man is a dreadful instance of the rigor of the existing laws: he will forfeit all his property, and be confined, probably, for the remainder of his days in a loathsome prison, among felons and murderers. What must be the feelings (if, indeed, he can be said to possess any) of the fellow who betrayed him; for, doubtless, the poor man owed his misfortune to some secret villain, in the shape of a confidential friend, who, having learned his mode of carrying diamonds concealed, had, for the sake of a paltry premium, or from some mean spirited motive, given notice of it to Government! How must the miscreant recoil at having brought to irreparable ruin, and plunged into that lowest state of human misery, perpetual imprisonment, a man who not only claimed his sympathy as a fellow-creature, but was united to him by the ties of friendship!
The village of Conceição, seemed to me large enough to contain two thousand inhabitants, but, like most others in this exhausted district, it was fast hastening to decay. The rent of a tolerable house is about two shillings a month. The only manufacture carried on here is that of a little cotton, which is spun by the hand and woven into coarse shirting. It appears to be a maxim among the inhabitants rather to go naked, than labor to clothe themselves. The vestiges of old gold-washings in every direction, and the slight quantities still found in all parts, from the summits of the mountains to their bases, might almost lead a traveller to conclude that the whole country was at one period auriferous. The surface is in general fine red earth, and in many parts presents fine situations for iron works, as there is ore and wood in abundance. It is much to be wished that such works were established; for iron is so dear at Conceição, and the people in general so poor, that the mules have seldom a shoe to their feet, which is irksome to the riders, and dangerous to the animals themselves, as they are continually coming down, particularly when ascending a clay-hill, after a shower of rain.
Neither here, nor in any other part of my journey from Villa Rica, did I observe any limestone, though I was informed that considerable quantities were found near Sabará.
Taking leave of the worthy curate, I set out for Tapinhoá-canga[43], distant about thirty miles. After an unpleasant ride through a rough stony country, abounding in quartz laminated with schistus, I reached a village called Corvos, where there are some gold-washings, one of which produced, about half a year ago, a net profit of £800, though only four negroes were employed a month upon it. The road to the village above mentioned led through a most uneven tract, presenting formidable precipices, which required us to travel with so much caution, that we did not complete our journey until an hour after sun-set. I was received into a very respectable house, which had the appearance of former opulence. The owner, Captain Bom-jardim, a venerable old gentleman, came to welcome me: on entering into conversation, he informed me that he had emigrated hither from Oporto at the age of seventeen, and had lived here sixty-two years. He was tempted to settle here by the hope of participating in the rich treasures for which the country was then famed; but he arrived two or three years too late: the mines were already on the decline, and he was obliged to turn his attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he persevered with such success that he was enabled to realize a comfortable independency, and to bring up a numerous family in credit and respectability. It had been well if his neighbours had profited by so eminent an example, instead of deserting the country when the gold on its surface disappeared. That many did so was evident from the declining state of the village; a great number of its houses were falling to decay, others were untenanted, and its population, which formerly amounted to near three thousand, was dwindled to a third of that amount.
Continuing my journey next day, I crossed the ridge of a lofty chain of mountains, abounding with streams, that were much swoln in consequence of the late rains; one of the largest, called Rio dos Peixes, I forded thrice, and entered on a wide champaign country. In many parts I saw large tracts of bare places, where the grit-stone alternated with argillaceous schistus. The next ten miles led through an elevated and fertile plain, intersected with rivulets in every direction, and well calculated for farming, but very thinly inhabited. Early in the afternoon I reached an eminence, from which I had a fine view of Villa do Principe, situated on the rise of a lofty hill opposite, the base of which was washed by a rivulet called Corvinho dos Quatro Vintens[44]. On arriving in the town, I was conducted to the house of the governor, or chief magistrate, who received me very politely, and introduced me to his lady and a party of friends, with whom I took tea.
Villa do Principe was established as a comarco, or district, in the year 1730, when the gold-washings were most productive: but it dates its origin fifteen years earlier, at which period the place was discovered by the Paulistas, who had then commenced to migrate from Villa Rica and the adjacent settlements. The town at present contains about five thousand inhabitants, the most considerable proportion of whom are shopkeepers, and the rest artisans, farmers, miners, and laborers. Here is a house of permutation, to which every miner in the district brings the gold he obtains, and pays the royal fifth, as is done in Villa Rica. The ouvidor holds the office of mint-master, which renders his situation one of the best in the gift of the crown. Here are several inferior officers belonging to various departments of the public service. As this town is situated very near the confines of the Diamond District, and on the high road leading to it, the strictest regulations prevail respecting the passage of all persons thither. No one, except travellers on business, with certificates to that effect, is suffered to proceed, until a formal notification has been made to the governor of that district; the laws of which are so strict, that any person found within it, out of the regular road, is liable to be apprehended on suspicion, and subjected to an examination, which frequently occasions much trouble and delay.