nace,
and the tilt hammer, after this it was led into a large vegetable
garden for the purposes of irrigation, and thence conducted to work a
machine for drawing ore from the mine. Leaving this it descended to
drive a large pumping wheel, forty feet in diameter; besides which it
kept in action two stamping machines for reducing the ore to powder,
another machine for raising ore, a second forty feet pumping wheel, and
lastly, it turned a wheel that worked a machine for ventilating the
mine. The gold is found in a soft, friable, greyish-coloured, micaceous
iron schist, which is called by the Brazilians Jacotinga : the
principal shaft is about fifty fathoms deep. At the time of my visit,
there were thirty English miners, about three hundred slaves, and
thirty hired free Brazilians, at work in and about the mine.
The
village of Cocaes is not only the prettiest I have seen in Minas, but
is also the most beautifully situated. It is built on the gentle slope
and summit of a low hill that stands in the bosom of a semicircle
formed by the Serra, which in some places is covered with virgin
forest, and in others is bare and rocky. Between the Serra and the
village runs the Una, a small stream, which, however, in the dry season
contains but little water. Everywhere along its banks, and even to a
considerable distance, the ground has been turned over and washed for
gold; these operations are still carried on. Far from exhibiting the
ruin and decay, which the other villages we shortly before passed
through presented, the houses here have all a neat appearance, being
mostly whitewashed, and surrounded by little gardens containing orange
and coffee trees, bananas, &c. The church stands out conspicuously
from all the other buildings, and around it are planted a few tall
palms, which give to the whole place a truly tropical aspect.
On
the morning of the second day after our arrival, we left the Arraial de
Cocaes ; and I thought it very hard to be travelling in the famous El
Dorado, with scarcely a sixpence in my pocket, while judging from my
first attempt there were but faint expectations of improving my
pecuniary wants. Ascending the Serra de Cocaes by an excellent road,
and passing the entrance to the
