C1DADE DIAMANTINA TO OURO PKETO. 387
now
exhausted, they have mostly taken to the cultivation of the soil much
of which in the neighbourhood is well adapted for the growth of coffee,
Indian corn, &c.
The
tropeiro not being able to start for some days after my arrival, and
making objections to go round by Ouro Preto, which I had a great desire
to see, I determined to make a hurried visit to that city alone. I
therefore hired a guide, and started on the morning of the 5th of
October. A journey of three leagues through a hilly and thinly-wooded
country, brought me to the city of Marianna, the situation and
appearance of which pleased me very much; it stands on the S.W. side of
a broad level valley, on the gentle declivity of a rising ground which
skirts the base of the range of the Serra de Itacolumi. It is more
compactly built than the towns I have generally seen in Brazil, and as
there are several fine and handsome churches, and the houses are mostly
large and white-washed, the city has altogether a very noble
appearance. In the suburbs, and even in the city itself, many of the
houses have gardens attached to them, planted with bananas, oranges,
and the round-headed Jaboticabeira, which with their different shades
of green, contrast well with the white-washed walls of the houses; in
passing through the town, it appeared so quiet, that I could almost
have fancied it deserted. In some of the principal streets, I saw a few
shopkeepers leaning listlessly over their counters, and on the stairs
in front of the prison a few soldiers keeping guard; these and an
occasional black urchin squatted at a door, were all that gave an idea
of life in the city, which is said to contain about 5,000 inhabitants.
It is more a clerical than a commercial city, being the residence of
the bishop and the seat of a theological college.
The
imperial city of Ouro Preto, formerly Villa Rica, is about two leagues
distant from Marianna in a south west direction. The road, which is
very good, gradually rises towards Ouro Preto; in many places along the
side of it there are planted at irregular distances wild tig trees,
natives of the country, which have grown up, and not only give a good
shade, but recall to a European the roads of his native country. Near
the entrance to the city, where
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