The importance of the province has increased very rapidly. Previous to the last sixty years no cotton was exported, and I heard that when the first parcel was about to be shipped, a petition was made by several of the inhabitants to the _Camara_ or municipality, requesting that the exportation might not be permitted, for otherwise they feared that there would be a want of the article for the consumption of the country; this of course was not attended to, and now the number of bags exported annually is between forty and fifty thousand, averaging about 180 lbs. weight each[62]. The quantity of rice grown there is likewise great[63]; but the sugar which is required for the consumption of the province is brought from the ports to the southward. Some sugar cane has lately been planted, but hitherto molasses only have been made. I heard many persons say, that the lands are not adapted to the growth of the sugar cane[64]. The cotton and rice are brought to St. Luiz in barks of about 25 or 30 tons burthen. These come down the rivers with the stream from the plantations; their return is not however so easy, as they are obliged to be rowed or warped, but being then empty, or nearly so, the difficulty is not very great. Considerable quantities of manufactured goods have been sent out from Great Britain since the opening of the trade, as has been done to the other principal ports upon the coast; but a ready sale has not been found for them here to any great amount. The province of Maranham will not bear comparison with that of Pernambuco. It is still in an infant state; there still exist wild Indians, and the plantations upon the main land are still in danger from their attacks. The proportion of free persons is much smaller; the slaves very much preponderate, but this class can of necessity use but little of what is in any degree expensive, of what in such a climate is mere luxury. There exists at St. Luiz a great inequality of ranks; the chief riches of the place are in the hands of a few men who possess landed property to a great extent, numerous gangs of slaves, and are also merchants. The wealth of these persons and the characters of some of the individuals who enjoy it, have raised them to great weight and consequence, and indeed one governor knows to his cost that without their concurrence it was useless to attempt the introduction of the innovations proposed, and impossible to trample long upon the rest of the community. But the great inequality of rank bespeaks the advancement of this place to have been less rapid than that of other settlements further south, where the society is more amalgamated, and property more divided. As a port of trade with Europe, St. Luiz may be accounted the fourth establishment upon the coast of Brazil in point of importance, giving precedence to Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco.