About the year 1713, when Dr. Bras da Silva was appointed governor, the quantity of gold produced was so considerable that the royal fifth amounted to above half a million sterling annually. The mountain became pierced like a honey-comb, as the miners worked every soft part they could find, and penetrated as far as they could, conveying the _cascalho_ which they dug out to a convenient place for washing. In rainy weather the torrents of water running down the sides of the mountain, carried away much earthy matter containing delicate particles of gold, which settled in the ground near its base. When the waters abated, this rich deposit gave employment to numbers of the poorer sort of people, who took it away and washed it at their convenience. Antonio Dias, the person already mentioned as one of the leaders of the Paulistas, who discovered the place, having become extremely rich, built a fine church, and dying soon after, bequeathed to it considerable funds. It bears his name. Five or six others were begun and soon finished, as neither wood nor stone was wanting; and the inhabitants were all ready to contribute a share of their property, and to employ their negroes in furtherance of these pious works. A law highly creditable to the wisdom of the Portuguese government was now enacted, to prohibit friars from entering the territories of the mines. What treasures were thus saved to the state, and what a number of persons were thus continued in useful labor, who would else have become burthensome to the community! The town now underwent many improvements; its streets were more regularly built, and some parts of the side of the mountain were levelled, to afford more convenient room for the construction of houses, and the laying out of gardens. Reservoirs were formed, from which water was distributed by means of conduits to all parts, and public fountains were erected in the most convenient and central situations. The mint and smelting-houses were enlarged, and rendered more commodious for the transaction of business. About this period the inhabitants amounted to twelve thousand or upwards; those who possessed mines, were either the first settlers or their descendants, and as the best part of the district was occupied, the new adventurers who continued to arrive from time to time, were obliged to enter into the service of the existing owners until they had learned their methods of working, after which they generally went in search of fresh mines, proceeding along the water-courses and ravines, where they sometimes discovered new sources of wealth. Between the years 1730 and 1750, the mines were in the height of their prosperity; the King’s fifth, during some years of that period, is said to have amounted to at least a million sterling annually.