264

BRASIL.

CHAP. XXV.

should be abandoned and exchanged for the moreprofitable employment of cultivating sugar, cotton,coffee, and the other productions of the surface ofthe country 1 . It seems probable, from what isknown of the state of society in Brasil , that theslaves of those employed in seeking for gold areso far cultivators of the soil as to raise sufficientfood for the workmen of the lavras: but if thatbe the case, and their subsistence is so procured,the small apparent profit would be insufficient topay interest on the capital invested in slaves,especially in districts where, as in Minas Geras,the common rate of interest is one per cent, permonth. The prospect of great sudden gain, whichis always before the eyes of those seeking for theprecious metals, may induce numbers to continuean employment which may be clearly seen by the

1 Count Mollien, in his Travels in Colombia , remarks that“ a mine which employs sixty slaves, and produces twentypounds of gold annually, is considered a good estate.” Atthis rate each man is calculated to produce the third of apound. The gold found there is only of eighteen carats, calledoro bajo, and worth about forty pounds sterling. The labourof each slave, then, produces thirteen pounds six shillings andeight-pence. In Colombia , however, provisions are by nomeans so cheap as in Brasil , and the constant state of internalhostilities has made labourers scarce, as the negroes are readyor are compelled to become soldiers, and thus to leave the finestestablishments to abandonment and ruin.—Mollien’s Colombia ,p. 376.