I am indebted to Senhor Gabriel de Guimaraẽs, an intelligent citizen of Barra, for the following table of the annual exports of the Comarca, being the mean of the three years, from 1839 to 1842, with the prices of the articles at Barra:
| Sarsaparilla, | 4,000 | arrobas, a | $3 00 | $12,000 |
| Salt fish, | 8,500 | " | 50 | 4,250 |
| Brazilian nutmegs, | 73 | " | 1 00 | 73 |
| Tonka beans, | 3 | " | 1 00 | 3 |
| Tow, | 360 | " | 25 | 90 |
| Pitch, | 132 | 32 | 42 | |
| Carajurú, | 320 | pounds, | 50 | 160 |
| Cocoa, | 1,200 | arrobas, | 50 | 600 |
| Coffee, | 1,000 | " | 1 00 | 1,000 |
| Tobacco, | 140 | 3 00 | 720 | |
| Copaiba, | 400 | canadas, | 2 50 | 1,000 |
| Mixira, | 750 | pots, | 1 00 | 750 |
| Oil of turtle-eggs, | 6,000 | " | 1 00 | 6,000 |
| Farinha, | 300 | alquieres, | 40 | 120 |
| Brazil nuts, | 1,400 | " | 25 | 350 |
| Tapioca, | 30 | " | 50 | 15 |
| Hides, | 100 | 50 | 50 | |
| Hammocks, | 2,000 | 25 | 500 | |
| Heavy boards, | 480 | 1 25 | 600 | |
| 28,323 |
These are the exports of the whole province, including the town of Egas, (the exports of which alone I estimate now at thirteen thousand dollars,) with the little villages of Tabatinga, San Paulo, Tunantins, &c. Very little, however, of the trade of these last-named places passes Barra, and goes on to Pará. We will now see how much the trade has increased by examining the following table of the exports of Barra alone for the year 1850. This was also furnished me by the Senhor Guimaraẽs.
| Hammocks, ordinary, | 40 | a $1 50 | $60 00 |
| Hammocks, superior, | 15 | 4 00 | 60 00 |
| Hammocks, de travessa,[8] | 100 | 5 00 | 500 00 |
| Hammocks, feathered, | 2 | 30 00 | 60 00 |
| Hammocks, bags containing 25, | 9 | 5 00 | 45 00 |
| Hammocks, boxes, | 1 | 10 00 | 10 00 |
| Bird-skins, boxes, | 2 | 10 00 | 20 00 |
| Tiger-skins, | 4 | 50 | 2 00 |
| Hides, | 27 | 50 | 13 00 |
| Oil of turtle-eggs, pots, | 1,212 | 1 50 | 1,818 00 |
| Copaiba, pots, | 27 | 2 50 | 67 50 |
| Mixira, pots, | 66 | 1 50 | 99 00 |
| Linguicas,[9] pots | 2 | 1 50 | 3 00 |
| Rope of piasaba,[10] inches, | 1,792 | 50 | 896 00 |
| Piasaba, in bundles, arrobas, | 4,292 | 42 | 1,802 64 |
| Brazil nuts, alquieres, | 10,406 | 50 | 5,203 00 |
| Salt fish, arrobas, | 14,002 | 50 | 7,001 00 |
| Coffee, arrobas, | 316 | 1 50 | 474 00 |
| Cocoa, arrobas, | 631 | 1 00 | 631 00 |
| Tow, arrobas, | 119 | 42 | 50 00 |
| Tobacco, arrobas, | 154 | 4 00 | 616 00 |
| Sarsaparilla, arrobas, | 786 | 4 00 | 3,144 00 |
| Peixe-boi, arrobas, | 50 | 42 | 21 00 |
| Brazilian nutmeg, arrobas, | 20 | 5 00 | 100 00 |
| Guaraná,[11] pounds, | 18 | 31 | 5 00 |
| Tonka beans, arrobas, | 4 | a$5 00 | 20 00 |
| Grude de piraiba,[12], arrobas | 1 | a 3 50 | 3 50 |
| Plank,feet, | 10,000 | a 2½ | 250 00 |
| 22,975 00 |
In this last list there appears to be no carajurú, pitch, farinha, tapioca, or planking for vessels. In place of these we find a greater variety of hammocks, bird skins, tiger-skins, guaraná, grude de paraiba, and boards. This last article, however, was only furnished for one year; the saw-mill was burned, and no one seemed disposed to take the speculation up again.
The Brazilian nutmeg (Puxiri) is the fruit of a very large tree that grows in great abundance in the low lands (frequently covered with water) that lies between the river Negro and Japurá, above Barcellos, a village situated on the banks of the first named river. Its value seems to have increased between the dates of the two tables, or between the years 1840 and 1850, from one dollar the arroba to five. The fruit is round, and about the size of our common black walnut. Within a hard outer shell are contained two seeds, shaped like the grains of coffee, though much longer and larger, which are ligneous and aromatic, and are grated for use like the nutmeg of commerce. It is not equal in flavor to the Ceylon nutmeg; but this may be owing to the want of cultivation.
Tonka beans (Cumarú) are found in great abundance on the upper waters of the Rio Negro. This is also the nut-like fruit of a large tree. It is the aromatic bean that is commonly used to give flavor to snuff.
I thought it a curious fact that nearly all the valuable fruits of this country are enclosed either in hard ligneous shells, or in acid pulps; and judge that it is a provision of nature to protect them from the vast number of insects with which this region abounds. Thus we have the coffee and the cocoa enveloped in an acid, mucilaginous pulp, and the Castanhas de Maranham, or Brazil nuts, the Sapucaia nut, the Guaraná, the Puxiri, and the Cumarú, covered with a hard outer shell, that neither the insects nor the monkeys are able to penetrate.
It appears from an examination of the tables, that the exports of Barra alone, in the year 1850, are not in value far below those of the whole Comarca in the year 1840. I have no doubt, as in the case of Egas, that the value of the imports is very nearly double that of the exports; so that the present trade of Barra with Pará may fairly be estimated at sixty thousand dollars per annum.