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158 chapter viii y The Different Prices for Gold Sold in Brazil and the Amounts of Gold Annually Extracted from the Mines The prices for gold have varied during the past few years, not only because one was better than the other, because it had more karats, but also because of the locations where it was sold. Gold is less expensive in the mines than in the town of São Paulo or Santos, and it is much more expensive in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia than in the two towns to which I referred. Also it is worth more in bars after paying the royal fifth rather than in powder, because the gold sold in powder leaves the furnace with a lot of fractures. In addition, there is the factor of the tax of the royal fifth—whether it has been paid or not. An arroba of gold dust at the rate paid in Bahia, which is fourteen tostões for an oitava, would yield 14,336 cruzados. After paying the royal fifth, at the rate in Bahia, which is sixteen tostões for an oitava, this would total 16,384 cruzados. An arroba of gold powder at the prices paid in Rio de Janeiro, which is thirteen tostões for an oitava, totals 13,312 cruzados. After the royal fifth has been collected, it would fetch fifteen tostões for an oitava, or 15,360 cruzados. In this way, extracting more than one hundred arrobas of gold annually , at fifteen tostões per oitava, which is the current price in Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, with the royal fifth taken from it, what will be imported in Portugal will be 1,536,000 cruzados. These one hundred arrobas are subject to the royal fifth, which is only just, and they yield twenty arrobas to His Majesty, which are 307,200 cruzados. However, it is certain that each year more than three hundred arrobas of gold are mined in Brazil. With all this, it will not appear incredible that, from time to time, 159 The Different Prices for Gold Sold in Brazil people talk about those who have become wealthy. Those who discovered these named creeks, those more fortunate in making claims, those who sold cattle and negros at high prices as well as other goods and items in high demand, or those who planted or bought fields of corn near the mines—they all obtained what others had extracted from the earth. This is not even mentioning the great wealth that Governor Artur de Sá brought with him the two times he returned from the mines to Rio de Janeiro. Nor does this mention those who were able to amass one, two, or three arrobas of gold; and this was not just a few people. It is certain that Baltazar de Godói by way of planted fields and open mining pits pulled together twenty arrobas of gold. From various streams and by doing business with farmers, trading in slaves, and goods, Francisco de Amaral earned more than fifty arrobas of gold. Not much less did Manuel Nunes Viana and Manuel Borba Gato earn. With a lot of lucre did José Góis de Almeida leave for São Paulo, as did Garcia Rodrigues Pais leave on the new road. João Lopes de Lima was able to extract five arrobas of gold from his creek. The Panteado brothers earned seven arrobas from their mines and dealings. Domingos da Silva Moreira from his businesses and mines obtained five arrobas. João de Góis earned five arrobas. Amador Bueno da Vega garnered some eight arrobas from the river at Ouro Preto, streams, and other places. To mention the last name, leaving aside others who were very fortunate, Tomás Ferreira was able to collect a fortune by bringing herds of cattle from Bahia to the mines, by purchasing many cultivated fields, and employing numerous slaves in the mines and streams. He accumulated more than forty arrobas of gold, some of it gold and some of it owed to him in debt. Speaking of collecting debts of gold, there have been those, who in their displeasure, have let loose some slugs of lead. This happens frequently in the mines. People in a short time also acquired considerable amounts of gold by selling consumable goods such as rum and garapa. The Indians and ne­ gros hide many oitavas of gold as they are mining in the creeks...

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