Two classic volumes in one book. Exploration of the fabulously rich mining region of Minas Gerais. Canoeing down the entire 3000 kilometre length of the previously uncharted Sao Francisco River to the Atlantic. In 1866 Richard Burton became British Consul in Santos, Brazil, and began scouting for the British Empire, with an eye for what would be useful and what would not. As always, Burton is colourful, opinionated, insightful, detailed (noting and recording innumerable ethnographic details), and highly entertaining.