g, if allowed to reside on the spot.

In consequence of these important discoveries in Brazil, new laws, new
governments, and new regulations, have been established in many parts
of the country. Not long ago there was a considerable track of country
possessed by a set of inhabitants called Paulists, from the name of
their principal settlement, who were almost independent of the
crown of Portugal, to which it scarcely ever acknowledged a nominal
allegiance. These Paulists are said to be descendants from the
Portuguese who retired from the northern part of Brazil when it was
invaded and possessed by the Dutch. Being long neglected by their
superiors, owing to the confusions of the times, and obliged to
provide for their own security and defence, the necessity of their
affairs produced a kind of government among themselves, which sufficed
for their mode of life. Thus habituated to their own regulations, they
became fond of independence, so that, rejecting the mandates of the
court of Lisbon, they were often engaged in a state of downright
rebellion; and, owing to the mountains surrounding their country, and
the difficulty of clearing the few passes leading towards it, they
were generally able to make their own terms before they submitted. But
as gold was found in this country of the Paulists, the present king of
Portugal, in whose reign almost all these great discoveries have been
made, thought it necessary to reduce this province, now become of
great importance, under the same dependence and obedience with the
rest of the country, which was at length effected, though, as I was
informed, with great difficulty.

The same motives which induced his majesty to reduce the Paulists,
have also occasioned the changes which I have mentioned as having
taken place at the island of St Catharines: For, as we were assured
by the governor of Rio Grande, there are considerable rivers in this
neighbourhood that are found to be extremely rich in gold, for which
reason a military governor with a garrison have been placed here,
along with a new colony; and, as the harbour at this island is by much
the largest and most secure of any on the coast, it is not improbable,
if the riches of the neighbourhood answer their present expectation,
that it may become in time the principal settlement in Brazil, and the
most considerable port in all South America.

This much I thought necessary to insert, in relation to the present
state of Brazil and of