The men carry the sand upon their heads
in small wooden bowls called _carumbes,_ which hold about 15 kilogrammes,
and throw it somewhere where the deposit will not interfere with the
exploitation. Almost all of these men are negroes, who run with their load
upon their head over the white sand, singing some song of their country.
It, is very picturesque, but it is doubtful whether it is economical.
Since the century and a half that these rivers have been dug and redug, it
may be admitted that wherever the cascalho has been easy of access it has
been removed; and that wherever it has not been, little attempt has been
made to work it. How have these attempts, which have doubtless been made
at several periods, come out? This would at present be very difficult to
ascertain. The exploitations have been too numerous to allow us now to
estimate the value of a bed from the data furnished by geology, and local
tradition is too uncertain or exaggerated to allow us to place much
confidence in it.
We can, at the very most, say that if some points still remain intact it
must be because the exploitation of them was too difficult with the
processes that were employed, and this should be a reason, were it desired
to attempt new operations, for having recourse to entirely different modes
of work.
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