VIEW OF BAHIA.
Bahia was the next city visited by the youthful travellers. For two days the steamer kept near the coast of Brazil, which presented a more picturesque appearance than near the mouth of the Amazon. There was a background of hills filling the western horizon, and occasional headlands jutting into the sea; in several places the hills rose to the dignity of mountains, and formed an agreeable contrast to the stretches of sandy beach, backed by low forests, which extend much of the way from Para to Pernambuco.
Bahia takes its name from the Bay of All Saints (Bahia de Todos os Santos), on which it stands. It is a magnificent sheet of water, thirty-seven miles long from north to south, and twenty-seven from east to west, and its depth varies from eight to forty fathoms. It has two entrances from the south, and is an admirable shelter for ships of all possible tonnage.
The bay also gives its name to a province with an area of two hundred thousand square miles; the province of Bahia contains some of the richest land of Brazil, especially along the coast, where there are many plantations, and a liberal sprinkling of towns and villages. Sugar, tobacco, rice, cotton, and coffee are the principal products; the coffee is inferior to that of Rio, but the tobacco is good enough to be made into "Havana" cigars and sold as such in England and the United States.
DIAMOND-WASHING IN BRAZIL.
Diamonds were discovered in the province of Bahia in 1844, and since that time their fame has spread through the world. The celebrated diamond "Star of the South" came from the mines of Brazil, and in the few years following the discovery the yield was so great as to seriously disturb the diamond market of Europe, and cause a heavy decline in the prices of the gems. At present the product has greatly diminished.