The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-04-07 00:00:00, page 2

Brazil.
Since the reported, project of the
Portuguese government to emigrate to
it* Transatlantic territories, this coun
try (oi which the following is a compen
dious an j'i authentic account) hns natur
ally excited much curiosity respecting
its climate, soil, See. 8cc.
Brazil is in length near 2500 miles ;
in breadth it exceeds 700. It is bound
ed on the north by the river Amazon
nnd the Atlantic ocean ; on the East bv
the same ocean ; by the mouth of tin
liver. Plata, South ; and by a chain ol
mountains which divide it from Para
guay and Amazonia, on the west.
The name of Brazil was given to this
country, oecause it seas observed to
abound with a wood of that name. It
was discovered hv chance, in 1500, by
Avarcz Cabral, a Portuguese, who was
forced upon it by a tempest. They
did not however begin regularly to set
tle and plant the country till 1549, when
they fixed themselves at the Bav of
All Saints, and founded the tits ol St.
Salvador, which still continues the ca
pital. They met with some inte rrupti
on at first irom the court of Spain, w ho
considered the whole continent of South
America as belonging to tlum. The
affair was at length made up by trea
ty, and it was agreed that the Portu
pp.v should possi si all the country ly
ing within a certain hue between the
t vo great rivers Amazon and La Plata,
and v. hidi they still enjoy.
(.. h i m a i i., ike.— l o the Northward
tile climate ofl3raz.il, as lying almost
un ler the equator, is hot, boisterous,
mul unw holscme, subject to great ruins
f.nd variable winds, particularly in the
months ol March and September, when
they have such deluges of rain, with
r torm i a.id tornadoes, that the countr\
s oft n overflowed. Pul to the south
ward, beyond the tropic of Capricorn,
there is no part of the world that enjoys
a more* si rent* and wh 1 sore c air, being
re 1 r> bed with the soft bn /.e* of ocean
on the one li m l and the cool breath <;l
ihc mountains on the other. The land
near the* conv *s in g ner.d low, hut ex
ceedingly pleasant, being interspersed
with nu adows and woods; but on the
west, fat* up the country, are mountains,
whence issue many noble ‘Un ans
which lali i’ to the gn at ri\ is Aina'/ m
curd I .a Pl.itu ; others running across
the; country b . n vast to east, fall into
tli - Atlantic or r meliorating the
lands, w hich tin y annually overflow, and
I in their course turning multitudes ,of
| su gar mills.
1 !•< ii— In, moral the sc.il is extreme
j 1\ iruitful, producing sugar, which being
d yeti, is whiter and. liner than our
M uscovndo. Also tobacco, hides, indi
go ipecaeuanaha, copaibo, brazil wood,
—which is of a red color, and chiefly
us. d for dx ing ; it has likew ise some
reputation in medicine. The Portu
guese had long been in possession of
brazil, before they discovered the trea
sures ol gold and diamonds with which
many parts of the country abound, and
w hiclyhave since made it so considerable.
Tradf—l he trade of brazil is very
great and has increased progressively.
1 his may in some degree be a' counted
ior, by considering the opportunities
xvhich tiler Portuguese have ol suplying
themselves w ith slaves for their several
x\-orks, at a cheaper rate than any other
European power that has settlements
m America. Its exports oi sugar has
increased prodigiously. Anciently,
when they were without rivals in that
branch of trade, it made the whole oi
their exportable produce. Their to
bacco is remarkably good, though not
raised in such quantities as in N. Ameri
c i. The Northern 8c Southern part of
Brazil abound with horned cattle ; these
are hunted for their hides only,of which
no fewer than 20,000 are upon an ave
rage sent annually to Europe. The ex
port fleets rendezvous in the Bay ol Ail
■ Saints, to the amount of more than IOC
sad of large ships, in lae months o'
-"'lay and June, and carry to the old
world a cargo little interior in value to
the Spanish flotilla and galleons.
C-1 ov i rnhknt — Brazil is divid • d nto
nuecn provinces, v, men are cam-ti gov
ernments, or captainships. Kigbt of
these are more particularly vested in the
crown i in the remainder a sort of feu
dal property or government prevail:-,
I" compact with those Grand.as by
whom they were originally peopled and
cultivated l ;n ” were all, however,
under the genera! government o: aYicc
rov, who resides at tlie metropolis,
St. Salvador, ’a Inti, is sometimes called
t:u city of Haiti.;. i< i> built on an cle
v t (1 rock, which commands a noble,
sj at i >us, and com mo lious harbor , the
houses .re high foi tint country, and
strongly built 'if stone ; behind the town
i-, a 1 .k'v, in .he form of a crescent, and
whit i' v ‘ ih th • h irbor, p al ly surrounds
it. This situation renders it in a man
( n;r impregnable by nature, but in ttcfdi
tion it is very strongly fortified. This.
of course will become the seat of gov
ernment of New Portugal.
THE JUNKET.
By Richard Kummager, Es<^.
No. xiii.
Hie ultra vires habitus niter: hie illi
quid plus,
Qitam satis est, interdum ahena sumitur
areacy
Commune id vitium est: hie vivimns am
bitiosa
Pauper tate omiles, Ju v. S. 3.V. 1 80.
-Beyond our power arrayed we go
In all the gay variety o f show, [ more,
And when our purse supplies the charge no
Borrow, unblushing, from cur neig
hour's stem.
This is the reitpnintp vice; 5k thus xvefiaimtt
Pi ~oud in distress, andprod'gal in want.
Gifford.
Some fifty or sixty years ago, a very
learn d discourse between a Parson and
a Philosopher, on th dill rei.ee between
virtue, moral rectitud , i >..1 religion,was
interrupted by Sep.ire Western in the
following terms : “ L>-t us drink about,
and talk a little of liu state ol the nation,
or seme such dr nurse which we all un
derstand ; for I am sure I d int under
stand a word of tiiis. Th-.- people of
this country are all at least as wise as
SqnireWvS cm. il m e vt r ignorant they •
m v be of othi r things, thev can all
'"■iirink about," and understand a dis
course on the state ol the nation. Tin re
is no m ui v,ho is rot qualified to scan
tin conduct of the President, or to judge
and condemn the opinions of the Chi t
Justice. . livery man comprehends the
\\ hole proceedings of the governmi nt or
its funciionarh s, and can discourse upon
t'n- subject w ith the greatest confidence,
il who writ % upon politics, is read and
understood, applauded or condemned ;
but lie who writes upon other subjects,is
doomed to see his essays‘‘fall dead-boro .
from the* press.” Nobody has leisure to
read, or capacity to understand him.
With this rage for political discussion,
which swallows up all taste for litera
ture and science, there arc conncc. <1
certain w: ■ r habits, calculated tin fly
to umh-nuint* and destroy the chararti r
and t pectnhility, both of indivio i s .
j and tiie ration. I allude to the
i luxurv, cxiiavagance, and profusion,
I v lit* !• cycry where abound; to that
i tas.; for io.cign manufactures, and