We arrived and refreshed at a little village called Camargo, and passed an excellent house, situated near a rivulet of that name, where there is a gold-washing, which employs about two hundred negroes, and is said to be very productive. About a league farther we passed a poor little place called Bento Rodriguez, and about six in the evening arrived at a very considerable village, called Inficionado, which contains full fifteen hundred inhabitants. It had been more populous, but its mines having decreased, it was then on the decline. Finding no inn that offered any thing tolerable, I alighted at the house of a shopkeeper, who very civilly provided me an apartment to sleep in, and introduced me at supper to his wife, and three other ladies, whose society was very pleasant and cheerful. On the next day, after some trouble, my soldiers at a late hour procured mules, when I set out about ten o’clock upon a bad road, and, after travelling half a league, arrived at the Corgo do Inficionado, a fine rivulet flowing through a country rich in gold, particularly near the village of Santa Barbara, where washings appear in all directions. From hence to the village of Catas Altas, two leagues distant, is a tract of the finest open country I ever travelled in Brazil; it has many features resembling that between Matlock and Derby, and its mountains bear a strong similarity to those of Westmoreland. There are slips in some of them in which topazes are found, but rarely any of good quality. This district appeared equally suited for mining and agriculture, the ground being rich above as well as below. The village of Catas Altas, through which we rode, contains at least two thousand inhabitants, and is situated in a populous neighbourhood. The public buildings are well constructed, and the private houses in general appear very respectable, but bear evident marks of decay. We crossed the river which is broad but shallow, and has works on its banks of greater extent and under better management than any I had hitherto seen. The whole vicinity is irrigated by numerous rivulets, many of which are diverted from their courses to a great distance for the purpose of gold-washing. In all parts, even on the tops and sides of the hills, we observed operations of this kind going on; in the valleys there were many spots still rich in gold, which had not yet been washed.