"The first individuals who established themselves at the mine of Sincura were mostly convicts and murderers; and their presence was marked by burnings and assassination.
The difficulty of procuring sustenance in the country, and the danger incurred by those who came thither to exchange diamonds against the paper money of Brazil, prevented the respectable merchants from engaging in this commerce.
But as the population, nevertheless, gradually increased, police regulations were adopted by the new colonists; and the working of the mine began then on an extended scale.
The population, which in the previous August numbered only 8,000 souls, distributed amongst three townships, was at the close of July last upwards of 30,000, and is continually increasing.
The central point of the diamond commerce is Para- guassu, which, though populous, has yet only twelve small houses of masonry.