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high, which cost over 30,000l. Formerly numbers of colonists and others perished in trying to cross here in rainy seasons, and whether from this circumstance or from the gloomy scenery around, the place is called the Devil's Glen.

A steep ascent leads from the bridge to the village on the hill. The principal trader of the place is Herr Kossel; a good shop is also kept by Frau Blauet: the inn is clean and comfortable, and as usual there is a large ball-room, 40 feet square, with a gallery for the musicians: here the villagers have their monthly balls. The chapel is built in the same style as all the rest in the colonies, but it is to be noted that the Protestant chapels have no turret or belfry. The graveyard has but few tombstones, and in a meadow hard-by we see a Jesuit reading his breviary.

Riding through the village we attract the notice of the inhabitants, and as we pass the school the children seem well-ordered at their tasks. As we ascend Bergsmerberg, a long and gentle acclivity, we observe gardens, cottages, and a Protestant chapel, in a very diversified landscape. Half-anhour farther finds us in dense woods, where we meet two ladies unaccompanied and riding sidesaddle. As the woods open we come out on a

cloth-mill built over a little stream, with a jollylooking miller and comfortable residence. A couple of miles farther we come to a wayside shop kept by a smart-looking woman, who kindly gave us permission to rest, for the sun was now hot. She had neither meat nor eggs, but sent out her little boy to dig some potatoes for us (these people are great vegetarians), and offered to borrow some hay from a neighbour for our horses. As we were, however, very hungry, having had nothing all day but a cup of coffee at Acht-und-Vierzig, we resolved to push on to San Leopoldo for dinner. Wild, bare mountain scenery succeeded, affording us a fine view of the country: to the left we are leaving behind us the Dos Irmaos, and to the right lies the Caffee-schneitz, while ahead of us is the Farapoi Wood, famous for guerilla combats in the civil war. Below the wood is a pleasant valley, and yonder snug farm-house belongs to Carl Wilk. A few paces from our path we are startled to observe the body of a man: as we proceed to dismount, Cornelius remarks to me that he must have died of a fit or exposure to the sun. The body was not quite stiff, but to all appearance dead, until Cornelius exclaimed, 'It is warm, he cannot be dead;' and turning up the face, we saw it was

a poor old negro slave, who presently opened his eyes. The smell of cashaso was intolerable, for the old fellow had been on a drunken spree, having probably obtained a holiday from his master, Herr Wilk. Had he remained there a few hours longer the sun must have killed him. We meet several waggons returning to the hills, most of them with oil casks, having left their produce at San Leopoldo, the church of which is now distinctly visible. Traversing some miles of low, sandy ground, from which the glare of the sun is most distressing, we reach the Rio dos Sinos and wade it at a depth of five feet, arriving at Koch's comfortable hotel in time for dinner.

XIII.

THE GERMAN COLONIES: THEIR ORIGIN, GROWTH, AND PRESENT CONDITION.

THE first colony was that of San Leopoldo, established by the present Emperor's father, Dom Pedro I., in the fertile lands of the old Féitoria Real de Canhamo (Royal flax factory), still called Féitoria Velha, on the banks of the Sinos river, now forty-seven years ago. The first batch of settlers, comprising 26 families and 17 unmarried persons, arrived on June 25, 1825, to the number of 126 souls, and were followed some months later by 157 families numbering 909 persons. In the four subsequent years the arrivals reached 3,701; but the civil wars which ensued put a stop to immigration until the renewal of peace in 1844, the number of arrivals in 1846 amounting to 1,515. A census taken in 1854 showed the colonists to number 11,172 souls, including 3,680 children born in the country, occupying 2,083 houses. The increase by

births over deaths was amazing, and the number of colonists was also increased by the disbanded battalions of German chasseurs and grenadiers after the war, who received, like the soldiers of Augustus, free land-grants, that they might turn their swords into reaping-hooks, and each man sit down under the shadow of his own fig-tree. In 1866 the Inspector of Colonies reported the number of Germans (including children born in the country) at 25,000 in the single district of San Leopoldo, and their farm-lots ranged in value from 10 to 28 contos (say 1,000l. to 2,8001. sterling).

When we bear in mind that the colony at the very outset had to encounter a civil war which lasted nearly twenty years, and in which the colonists themselves were forced to take part on opposing sides, it is simply marvellous what progress San Leopoldo has made, now the richest, most productive, and most populous district in the Province of Rio Grande.'

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The first settlers received free-grants each of 130 acres uncleared land, besides farming-implements, seeds, and a subsidy for their support: this subsidy consisted of a pataca (about a shilling) ahead per day for the first year, and half a pataca the second. The total number of immigrants alive in

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