Gum tragacanth is in great plenty, and of a very good quality. There are immense quantities of aromatic shrubs; and I found in many places, upon the bark of trees, and more particularly upon old wood, a lichen, which yielded to water a most beautiful crimson color[60]. Jointed canes grow spontaneously, frequently above thirty feet long, and in many places form arcades over the road: these plants always indicate the soil to be very fertile.
Ferns grow so large, as almost to lose their characteristic: I have frequently seen them twelve feet high. These and other succulent plants, when reduced to ashes, serve to make soap, of which almost every negra knows the process, and most families make for their own use. It is very sharp, and washes white articles uncommonly well[61]. In this fine country, where almost every gradation of climate may be found, European fruits, such as olives, almonds, chesnuts, mulberries, &c. would thrive, if properly attended to.
The mulberry is cultivated at one place, where I saw a few silk worms. The climate is favorable to them, but the population is not sufficient to carry the breeding of them to any extent, as they require great attendance and care.
Cochineal may be said to be almost unknown in the _capitania_; the _palma Christi_ grows spontaneously, and from its seeds great quantities of castor oil may be extracted. For bananas and other tropical fruits the climate is not sufficiently hot, and is too changeable. Beans, peas, and pulse in general are very fine; pumpkins also, and cabbages grow to a great size. It is a fine country for flowers; the rose is extremely fragrant, and is in bloom all the year. Varieties of the passion-flower are found in all parts; pinks and carnations, with numberless other flowers, grow in great profusion.
This _capitania_ contains four _comarcas_, or districts, St. João d’El Rey, Sabará, Villa Rica, and Cerro do Frio, all of which produced much more gold a few years after their discovery than at present, though in the year 1809 Villa Rica alone received for gold permuted a hundred and six _arrobas_ of thirty-two pounds each. The mines in the other three _comarcas_ cannot be rated to permute less than from fifteen to twenty _arrobas_, therefore the _capitania_ may be estimated to yield to Government, as the annual fifth, a quantity not less than one hundred and fifty _arrobas_.