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page 232 ----wildlife---Porto
de Estrella----route to Minas
Gerais----mule trains---
On the Inhumerim river, approaching Porto de Estrella
Unluckily it is impossible to catch any of these animals as soon as they
retire far into the thickets, because it would be vain to attempt to penetrate
through the close bushes, or when the ebb leaves the ground visible, to
the swamp. We followed the Inhumerim about a mile up the country,
till we reached the village Porto
de Estrella, the low ill-built houses, or rather huts, of which
form an irregular street at the confluence of the small Saracuruna with the Inhumerim river.
Porto de Estrella, province of Rio de Janeiro
Porto de Estrella is the common harbour between Rio
de Janeiro, and the province of Minas
Gerais. Long trains of mules laden with chests and packages arrive
here from the interior, or return to it. The European, accustomed to the
conveyance of considerable burdens in wagons, is astonished at the sight
of so many cargoes divided into small parcels which are abandoned to the
discretion of the beasts, or of an unskillfull driver, daily loaded and
unloaded several times, either in the open air or in exposed sheds, scarcely
protected against the rain and the weather, and often carried in this
manner several hundred miles.
page 233 ---mule trains-----
When we beheld the confusion of the caravans, loading and unloading, we
could not think without regret of the future fate of our instruments,
books, and collections, which would be given up to blind chance, instead of being under our own care.
Road from Rio to Minas passing through Serra das Estrellas
The caravans (tropas), however,
particularly on the better road from Sao
Paulo and Minas to the capital [Rio],
are so well organized, that comparatively very little risk is to be apprehended.
Each caravan, which may consist of twenty to fifty mules, is conducted
by an leader (Arieiro) on horseback; he gives the necessary orders
for the caravan to set out, to halt, or to encamp for the night; takes care  that the burdens are well balanced, and the pack-saddles (cangalhas)
in good condition; repairs them when they gall, cures the sick beasts,
and attends to the shoes. Under him are the drivers (toccadores),
each of whom generally has to manage a division of seven mules. They go
on foot, put the burdens off and on, feed and water the animals, drive
them to the pasture, and cook the provisions.
The Arieiro, generally a free mulatto,
frequently attends to the sale and purchase of goods in the city, and
acts as commissioner for the proprietor of the caravan. The drivers are
for the most part negroes, who soon became accustomed to the employment,
and prefer this wandering life to the labour of gold-washing, and working
in the plantations. The most important article of trade brought hither
by the inhabitants of Minas
Gerais, called Mineiros, is raw cotton.
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