Chapter I: Voyage from England to Rio de Janeiro (13)

Three miles to the east of Villa Boa is situated the arraial of Ferreiro, (Blacksmith) with a chapel of St. Joam Baptista. It is the most ancient establishment of the province. It derived its name from a blacksmith, who remained there exercising his trade, after the miners had deserted it, for the purpose of mining in other places. About eight miles to the east of the preceding place, near a small river, a branch of the river Uruhu, is the considerable arraial of Oiro Fino, (Fine Gold) which took this name from the superior quality of that metal found here. It has a chapel dedicated to the Lady of Pilar.

Eighteen miles to the south-west of the capital is the arraial and parish of St. Joze de Mossamedes, founded in the year 1774, for the habitation of a numerous colony of Indians, consisting of three different nations, the _Carajas_ and _Javahes_, brought from the district of Nova Beira, and the _Accroas_, who lived to the east of the serra Parannan, in the territory where the Correntes has its heads.

Twenty-eight miles to the south-west of St. Joze, and forty-five from the capital, is situated Aldeia Maria, near the margin of the river Fartura, in a plain constantly refreshed by breezes. It was founded in 1781, for the establishment of almost three hundred Cayapo Indians, who were augmented in the following year by more than two hundred of the same nation, invited thither by the report of the good treatment which their comrades experienced. Afterwards came various _mallocas_, or parties, amongst whom arrived some _caciques_, or captains, one of whom had hair resembling that of a mulatto. One cripple and some blind, amongst so many, prove that this nation are not greatly subjected to natural bodily defects. At the beginning they showed themselves grateful for the benefits conferred upon them, faithful to their promises, and without any remarkable propensity to thieving: some learned trades the most wanted in the colony. The women, after a short time, learned to spin, weave, and sew. This establishment, which was expected to have become flourishing by this time, is considerably fallen off, in consequence, it is said, of the repugnancy of the whites to ally themselves with the Indians.

Within this district is the new arraial of Annicuns, situated near the right margin of the Boys, which here has only the appearance of a small stream. It is forty miles to the south-east of the capital, and has a church dedicated to St. Francisco d’Assis. Its inhabitants are miners and agriculturists. The first have formed a company for mining. The land is appropriated to various productions.

_District of_ NOVA BEIRA.

The district of Nova Beira is to the north of that of Goyaz, and extends northward, between the rivers Araguaya and Tucantines, to its termination at the angle of their confluence. It is upwards of four hundred miles in length from north to south, and one hundred and thirty in width. The island of St. Anna belongs to it.

Almost the whole yet belongs to various savage nations. The _Chavante_ tribe, which appears to be the most numerous, possesses the major part towards the north. Their neighbours are the _Pochetis_, the _Noroguages_, the _Appynages_, the _Carajas_, the _Cortys_, and the _Xerentes_. The Chavante Indians after being established, and many baptized, in the aldeia of Pedro Terceiro, (in the situation of Carretao, district of Pilar,) built expressly for them, in consequence of the vassalage which they voluntarily offered, deserted all at one time, and returned to their natural mode of life. They are at present the most formidable enemies of the Portuguese.

The river Crixa, (the northern,) the St. Antonio, and the Taboca, are the most considerable amongst those which enter the Tucantines. The large river Chavante, formed by many others which irrigate the territory of the tribe from whom it takes the name, flows into the Araguaya a little above the re-union of its two arms which form the island of St. Anna.

The povoaçoes are Pontal and Matanca.

Four hundred miles to the north of Villa Boa, and nearly fifteen from the margin of the Tucantines, is situated the arraial of Pontal, so called in consequence of a point or elbow which the river forms in its vicinity. It was founded in 1738, and has a parochial church dedicated to Senhor Bom Jesus, of Boa Morte. Its inhabitants breed cattle, and cultivate mandioca, Indian corn, legumes, and some cotton. All the different species of fruit are known here.

The width of the Tucantines, at the passage from this arraial to that of Carmo, which is distant thirty-five miles to the east, is three hundred and seventy-four fathoms at the period of its greatest diminution, and more than five hundred when its bed is full. Porto Real is the name of this passage.

The aldeia of Mantanca is ten miles to the north of Pontal, near the origin of a small river, which after a course of twelve miles enters the Tucantines. It is yet insignificant, in consequence of the invasions of the Indians, but it abounds with fish, game, and fruits. The salubrity of the climate, the fertility of the soil, the abundance of water, the extensive neighbouring woods, and the gold which is known to exist in the district, ought long ago to have produced an accumulating population, a great augmentation of the existing villages, and many other improvements; in which case its inhabitants would, ere this, have reduced or put to flight the hostile Indians, and, besides, would have been carrying on a great commercial intercourse with the merchants of Gram Para. None of the comarcas of this province hold so advantageous a situation for commerce.

In the angle of the confluence of the Araguaya with the Tucantines, there is a prezidìo, or military detachment, to register the canoes which navigate by both rivers to the city of Para. This is the place where the before-mentioned decree of 1809 ordered the town of St. Joam das Duas Barras to be founded, for the head of the comarca of that name. It is said, however, that this project, so well conceived, was not effected, in consequence of the reefs with which this situation is encompassed, and which impeded the access of canoes. This probably was the reason of two places being founded, one upon each river, higher up.

In the year 1775 were reduced the two savage nations of _Carajas_ and _Javahes_, who possessed the island of St. Anna, or Bannanal. The first were established in six aldeias, and the other in three, nearly the whole with names of places in Portugal; namely, Angeja and Seabra, both for the Carajas, near the southern extremity of the island; the first near the eastern arm, and the other near the western; Cunha, for the Javahes, thirty-five miles to the north of Angeja, and some distance from the river; Annadia, for the Carajas, twenty-eight miles to the north of Seabra, and near the river; St. Pedro, for the same, and eighteen miles to the north-east of Cunha, near the margin of the river; Ponte de Lima, for the Javahes, in the centre of the island; Lavradio, fifty miles to the north of Annadia; Lamacaes, forty to the north; both for the Carajas, in the vicinity of the river; and Mello, for the Javahes, some distance from the eastern arm. At this period the name of Nova Beira was given to the neighbouring territory.

_District of_ TUCANTINES.

It is the most northern of the eastern districts, and borrows its name from the river which bounds it on the west, separating it from Nova Beira. On the east it is bounded by the cordillera which constitutes the limit between this province and that of Pernambuco. The two rivers of Manuel Alvez did bound it, one on the north, and the other on the south; but, as it has increased towards the north, the limit on that side is not at present quite determinable. This district is computed to be two hundred and eighty miles long from north to south, and one hundred and forty of medium width.

The two rivers Manuel Alvez and Somno are the principal of those which water this comarca. The latter, it is said, rises in the serra of Figuras, a continuation of the cordillera before alluded to, from whose sides others issue that augment its waters at the commencement. All three are navigable, and afford the same fish as the Tucantines.

It is a country mountainous in great part, and yet occupied at its northern extremity by various barbarous nations, who follow hunting, damage the farms of cattle breeders, and advance occasionally in squadrons of canoes by the rivers that approximate to the Portuguese establishments. They are of the _Xerente_, _Chavante_, and _Tapacoa_ tribes. Woods exist almost only upon the margins of the rivers, the principal portion consisting of sandy sterile lands, in part appropriated for breeding cattle. Calcareous stone abounds in some places. Gold gave origin to its establishments, and, while obtained without much ingenuity and labour, rendered many persons rich.

The principal povoaçoes are, Natividade, Chapada, and Carmo.

Six miles distant from the right margin of the southern river of Manuel Alvez, and little less than thirty-five from the Tucantines, in the proximity of the morro of Olhos d’Agua, (so called from various rills thence emanating,) where there is gold, and near the small river St. Antonio, is the arraial of Natividade. It is the head of the julgado, with the condition of a town, and the residence at present of the ouvidor of the comarca. It was founded in 1739, and has a church, where the festival of the Nativity of our Lord is held with much solemnity. It has also two chapels dedicated to Rozario and Terco, and another of St. Benedicto. The culture of the cane, the cotton tree, tobacco, Indian corn, mandioca, and legumes, occupy the greater part of the population. Miners are few; as the produce (from not adopting a new mode) of the mines affords them no encouragement. Cattle are bred. Oranges and citrons are excellent.

Near seven miles to the north of Natividade is the small and agreeably situated arraial of Chapada, with a chapel of St. Anna. The people who inhabit it cultivate the same productions as those of the former place, and are miners.

Fifty miles to the north-north-west of the preceding, and twenty from the Tucantines, at the angle of the confluence of the small river Sucuriu and the Matança, is the pleasant arraial of Carmo. It was founded in 1741, in the proximity of a serra, ornamented with a mother church dedicated to St. Manuel, and a chapel of the Lady of Rozario. The houses are built of _adobe_, a sort of brick dried in the sun. Its inhabitants drink the waters of the Sucuriu, which are excellent. They are miners and agriculturists, and cultivate Indian corn, tobacco, cotton, sugar, mandioca, and legumes, with various hortulans and fruits.

Seventy miles to the east of Natividade is the arraial of Almas, a little distance from the river Manuel Alvez and near the road of Duro. Its inhabitants cultivate the necessaries of life and cotton.

Forty miles to the east of the preceding, is the aldeia of Duro, upon the boundary of the province, with a register for preventing the embezzlement of gold. The major part of its dwellers are Christianized Indians, poor and content with their condition, cultivating and collecting only what is absolutely necessary to preserve life.

A few leagues to the north of the aldeia of Duro is that of Formiga, also peopled with Christianized Indians, who are equally indolent, are hunters, and more contented with gathering fruits from the wild trees, than planting others of greater utility.

Between the mouth of the northern river Manuel Alvez and the first peninsula, is the new arraial of St. Pedro d’Alcantara, upon the margin of the Tucantines.

_District of_ PARANNAN.

This district derives its name from the river which traverses it diagonally. It is bounded on the north by the comarca of Tucantines, on the west by that of Goyaz, on the south by the Rio das Velhas, and on the east by the limits of the province. It is watered by a great number of rivers, interspersed with mountains, and better peopled than the others, although still infested by the barbarians, who advance up the principal rivers. In some districts there are many persons subject from their infancy to a disease in the throat, called _bronchocele_.

RIVERS.--Besides the Parannan and the Maranham, its western and southern limits, we may remark the river Trahiras of the south, the Preto, (both crossed by bridges), the Bagagem, the small Tucantines, the Palma, the St. Feliz, (with a large bridge,) the Trahiras of the north, and the small river Custodio, both of difficult passage even in dry weather; the Gamelleiro, near whose mouth there is a rock of remarkable form and height, and the Bacalhau of considerable width. The whole discharge into the Maranham, except the last, which unites itself with the Bagagem by the left margin, and the Palma which joins the Parannan.

The river Palma is formed by the Palmeiro, Mosquito, and Sobrado. The latter, which is the most northerly, rises in a plain upon the summit of the wide serra of Mangabeira, and a few fathoms it is said, from the origin of the river Ondas, (which runs to the St. Francisco) and seven miles below its source receives the Torno, a considerable stream which issues from among the roots of an over-spreading _gamelleira_ or _gamella_ tree, and has not a mile of course, being as voluminous at the commencement as at the embouchure.

The river Correntes, which is one of the first branches of the Parannan, flows from the serra of St. Domingos, and after some leagues conceals itself for three miles by a subterraneous passage through a mountain, where its waters lose their colour and good quality. The river Galheiro, which descends from the serra St. Domingos to the Parannan, receives a small river, (called the St. Domingos) which runs for a considerable space under ground, being only discoverable in some places through apertures. Amongst other serras may be noted the Viadeiros, which runs parallel with the river Parannan at the distance of eighteen miles. It is bare of vegetation or woods, and is the most elevated of the central ones. From it issues the river Tucantines and the Preto.

The principal povoaçoes of this district are--

Aguaquente
Trahiras
St. Joze
St. Feliz
Cavalcante
Conceiçao
Arrayas
St. Domingos
Flores.

Two miles distant from the confluence of the river Almas with the Maranham, and seventy miles to the north-east of Pilar, is the arraial of Aguaquente, (Warm Water) situated near a large and deep lake of brackish, fetid, and warm water, from which it derived the name. A church of St Sebastiao and a chapel of our Lady of Merces are its only places of worship. It was commenced about the year 1732, in the frontier situation, where some vestiges remain. An epidemical disease, produced by standing and putrid pools of water, occasioned by the floods of the Maranham, led those who wished to escape with life to the place where this arraial is now situated. It was not unusual for fifty to die in one day. A numerous herd of oxen arriving from St. Paulo, for the supply of this arraial, where they were collected at night, and pastured in its environs during the day, was the cause, it is stated, of this contagion ceasing. The gold, which was so abundant at first, induced an assemblage here of twelve thousand persons. Amongst other pieces of considerable size, one was found of forty-three pounds weight, which was transmitted to the court, in the same form that nature presented it. This rarity was placed in the Royal Museum of Lisbon; and became the booty of the French army when in that city. There are some frightful caverns upon the margins of this lake, the outlet from which is a small perennial stream, not experiencing any diminution during the droughts.

Fifteen miles to the east-north-east of Aguaquente is the arraial of Cocal, so called from its great number of cocoa trees, and situated near a small river which loses itself in the Maranham. Whilst gold was abundant this place flourished, but it is now very inconsiderable. The arraial of Trahiras, twenty miles to the north-east of Aguaquente, large and flourishing, is the head of the julgado; it was founded in 1735, upon the left margin, and twenty miles above the mouth of the river that gives it the name. It has a church of Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao, a hermitage of Bom Jesus, and another of Our Lady of Rozario. It is well supplied with meat, fish, and the agricultural productions of the country.

Five miles to the north-east of Trahiras, is the middling arraial of St. Joze de Tucantines, improperly so denominated, being nearly thirty miles distant from that river. It was founded in 1735, near the left margin of the river Bacalhau, and has two hermitages of Our Lady of Boa Morte and of Rozario, and another of St. Efigenia. Its church is the most magnificent temple in the province. There is a brotherhood of the Lord dos Passos[23] privileged by Pope Clement XIII.

About twelve miles to the east of the preceding is the small arraial of Cachoeira, to which a cataract furnished the name, Cachoeira being founded near it, upon the margin of the river, in the year 1736.

Ten miles to the north of Cachoeira is the small arraial of St. Ritta, founded in the same year as the preceding, and possessing a chapel. Twenty-eight miles to the east of St. Ritta is the small arraial of Moquem, near the river Peixe, which is a branch of the Bagagem, having a hermitage of the Lady of Abbadia.

St. Feliz, a well supplied arraial, in a state of mediocrity, and about seventy miles north of St. Joze, is situated near the right bank of the small river of the same name, and less than three miles from the Maranham. It was founded in the year 1736, and has a church called after the same saint, a hermida, or hermitage, of the Lady of Rozario, and one of St. Anna. It is the head of the julgado, and possessed for a considerable time a smelting house for gold. Some of its inhabitants are yet miners; the rest breeders of cattle and cultivators of the necessaries of life.

The Caldas of St. Feliz, (the hot baths or waters of St. Feliz,) otherwise called Frey Raynaldo, are thirty-five miles further to the south, consisting of four springs of tepid, and one of very hot water.

Seven miles to the north of St. Feliz, near the road, there is a mass of black stone, with so frightful and profound a cavern, that no one has yet dared to examine it. Three miles more to the north is situated an aldeia, with a hermida of Our Lady of Carmo, from which it takes the name.

Cavalcante, a flourishing arraial, founded in 1740, has a church of St. Anna, two hermidas of the Lady of Rozario and Boa Morte, and is seventy miles to the east of St. Feliz, near a small river which runs to the Parannan, under the name of Rio das Almas. It is the head of the julgado, well provided with water, and has a smelting house transferred from St. Feliz. Its inhabitants form five companies of militia. It has a rich quarry, but deep and difficult to work. It would become important in the hands of an opulent company, and directed by intelligent persons. Cattle are bred within its district. Mandioca, Indian corn, some wheat, and cotton, are the articles of cultivation.

Seventy miles to the north of St. Feliz, and not far removed from the mouth of the river Palma, is the arraial of Conceiçao, with a church of the same name. It is the head of the julgado: the people who inhabit it are miners, breeders of cattle, farmers of such necessaries of life as prosper best in the country, and form four companies of militia. It is very deficient in good water. Within its district is the small arraial of Principe, with a hermitage.

Arrayas is an arraial in a state of mediocrity, head of the julgado, has a church of Our Lady of Remedios, was founded in the year 1740, and is fifty miles to the north-east of Cavalcante, near the origin of the river from which it derives the name. Its environs are in great part mountainous, and abound with cattle, which constitute the wealth of the inhabitants, who are formed into four companies of militia.

Twenty-five miles to the south-east of Arrayas, near a small river which runs into the Parannan, is the small arraial of Morro do Chapeo, founded in 1779. A neighbouring mount, similar in appearance to a hat, (chapeo,) and from which gold is extracted, was the origin of its name. Cattle constitute the riches of the inhabitants.

Forty miles to the east of Morro do Chapeo, and in the skirts of the serra of its name, is the arraial and freguezia of St. Domingos, in the vicinity of which there is a rock of remarkable height and appearance. Its inhabitants breed cattle, and cultivate a variety of the necessaries of life.

A little to the east, upon the limits of the province, there is a detachment to prevent the embezzlement of gold.

Flores is a middling and well supplied arraial, and head of the julgado, has a church of Our Lady of Conceiçao, and a hermida of Rozario, with a brotherhood of blacks. It is seventy miles to the south-east of Cavalcante, near the right margin of the river Parannan, in a fertile situation. Cattle and horses are the principal riches of its inhabitants.

Within its extensive bounds is situated the aldeia of Matto Grosso, with a hermitage of the Lady of Piedade; and the small arraial of St. Roza, with another hermitage of that saint; and in whose district is a remarkable cavern, with many stalactites, or crystallizations of different forms.

Ninety miles to the south of Flores, and two miles from a lake denominated Lagoa Feia, is the arraial of Coiros, formerly the head of the julgado, which pre-eminence, in 1774, was transferred to Cavalcante. It has a church dedicated to St. Luzia, and a hermida, where the blacks celebrate the festival of Our Lady of Rozario. Within its extensive limits, large herds of cattle are bred.

A law emanated on the 25th February, 1814, for the foundation of a town to be called St. Joam da Palma, in a situation determined upon at the embouchure of the river of the same name, to become the head of the comarca of St. Joam das Duas Barras. In order to give it an immediate commencement, and to accelerate its augmentation, all individuals were exempted from payment of the dizimos for the space of ten years who erected a house for their own habitation in this town, or within the circle marked for its limits. By the same law, the town of St. Joam das Duas Barras, ordered to be founded by a decree in 1809, was to become subject to this town.

The major part of the cattle bred in this district are consumed in the reconcave of Bahia, and in the comarca of the Ilheos.

_District of_ RIO DAS VELHAS.

This district, to which one of the rivers that traverse it lends the name, is bounded on the north by the district of Parannan, on the south by the province of St. Paulo, on the east by that of Minas Geraes, and on the west by the districts of Goyaz and Cayaponia. It is three hundred and fifty miles from north to south, and one hundred and seventy of medium width.

Besides the river which affords it the name, and those which serve for its western and southern limits, it contains numerous others. Upon the road of Meia Ponte to St. Paulo, amongst other small ones, are the Capivary, which is forded with difficulty even in dry weather, the Pyracanjuba, the Peixe, (both with bridges,) all three discharging themselves into the Corumba by the right bank; the Braco do Verissimo; the Verissimo, which receives the former; the Parannahiba; and the small stream of Furnas, that flows through a plain, and on a sudden is precipitated twenty fathoms into a profound abyss. A variety of birds build their nests in the cavities of the rock, and rear their young, in sight, and amidst the murmuring sounds of this fine cataract. The Furnas discharges itself soon afterwards into the Rio das Velhas. The two Uberavas, _verdadeiro_, (the real one,) which runs into the preceding, and the _falso_, (or false,) that enters the Rio Grande. The small river Inferno which issues from the serra of Canastra, and enters the Rio das Velhas by the left; the river Quebra Anzoes, that originates on the confines of Minas Geraes, and also unites itself with the Rio das Velhas by the right margin; but none of them reach the road, near which the river Prata and the Tijuco rise, and, after uniting, enter the river Parannahiba a considerable distance below the confluence of the Rio das Velhas.

On the road of Paracatu is met with (besides the afore-mentioned Corumba) the river Areas, the Montes Claros, the Pont’ Alta, (all with bridges,) and the St. Bartholomew. The whole are stored with a diversity of fish, and flow southward.

In the most northern part of the district is the river Almas, the Peixe, which unites with the first by the right, and the Patos, that flows along and to the east of the serra Negra, and afterwards joins the Maranham a few leagues above the arraial of Aguaquente. These rivers possess the same fish as the Tucantines.

The territory lying between the two Uberavas is a plain of thirty-five miles in width, without the least elevation above the horizon, and absolutely destitute of wood; but supplying the deer and the emu ostrich.

In the middle of the last century there lived, between the Parannahiba and the Rio Grande, a horde of Bororos, whose cacique was then a Paulista, called Antonio Pirez de Campos, a youth of much subtilty, and well adapted for the management of those savages amongst whom he sought refuge, being driven from civilized society by the extent of his crimes. He died, between the years 1750 and 1760, of a wound which he received in the arm, in an encounter with the Cayapos. His comrades applied medicinally, for many days, hot broiled bacon to the wound, until they conveyed him to a Christianized establishment in Minas Geraes, to try if he could be there cured. They lamented for a month over him as a common father.

Amongst other serras in the northern part is that of Caldas, four leagues square, and flat upon the summit, where there are some lakes and deer.

The principal povoaçoes are Meia Ponte, Santa Luzia, Santa Cruz, St. Domingos, and Desemboque.

Meia Ponte is the largest, most flourishing, and commercial povoaçao in the province, with the exception of the capital, from which it is ninety miles distant to the east, and is situated near the Almas, which there is only an inconsiderable stream. It has a church of Nossa Senhora of Rozario, four hermidas, three dedicated to Our Lady, with the titles of Carmo, Lapa, and Rozario, of the blacks, another of the Lord of Bom Fim, and an Hospicio d’Esmoleres (an alms-house for the entertainment of the travelling brotherhood) of Terra Santa. It was founded in the year 1731, is the head of the julgado, well supplied with meat and fish, and has a royal professor of Latin. Its inhabitants, and those of the environs, cultivate Indian corn, wheat, mandioca, tobacco, cotton, sugar, some coffee, and breed cattle; likewise many hogs. They manufacture certain descriptions of cloth, both of wool and cotton; and hence this place is considered the cradle and centre of the agriculture and industry of the province. The caravans from the capital and from Cuiaba, proceeding to the metropolis, to St. Paulo, or Bahia, pass this way.

About eighteen miles to the east-north-east is the cordillera called Montes Pyreneos, (the Pyrenees.) From its sides flow torrents to the four cardinal points.

Nearly fifty miles to the east of Meia Ponte, in the vicinity of some fine hills, denominated Montes Claros, there is a hermida of St. Luzia, which ornamented the decayed arraial of St. Antonio.

St. Luzia, a middling and well supplied arraial, which derives its name from the patroness of the church, is seven miles from the road of Paracatu, and almost at an equal distance from the rivers Pont’ Alta and St. Bartholomew, being eighteen miles, with little difference, from each, in a pleasant and wholesome situation, abounding with water. It is the head of the julgado, has a hermitage of Our Lady of Rozario, produces good cheese and marmalade, and is seventy miles east-south-east of Meia Ponte. In its environs cattle are exceedingly abundant, constituting the wealth of its inhabitants.

St. Cruz, a small arraial, with a church of the Lady of Conceiçao, is the most ancient of the province, and head of the julgado. It is one hundred miles to the south-south-east of Meia Ponte, upon the road of St. Paulo, a little removed from the left margin of the river Pary, and about one mile from the morro of Clemente, abounding with gold, which has not yet been worked for the want of water; because, according to the saying of the miners here, “a mountain of gold is worth nothing, if it has not water.” Its inhabitants are agriculturists and cattle breeders. In its district are the _caldas_, or hot springs of the same name, consisting of various fountains, differing in the degree of heat, and little distant from each other. Their waters, which have been efficacious in many diseases, form the small river Caldas.

Almost in the middle of the interval from St. Cruz to Meia Ponte, and also upon the road, is the small arraial of Bom Fim, with a hermitage of that name. The inhabitants are gold miners, breed cattle, and cultivate the necessaries of life.

One hundred and forty miles to the south of St. Cruz is the arraial of St. Anna, two miles distant from the northern margin of the river Velhas, in an agreeable situation, and is the parochial of all the Christianized Indians, who live in those parts, near the road of St. Paulo. It was founded in the year 1741, for the habitation of five hundred Bororo Indians, who came from Cuiaba to succour the Christians against the Cayapos, who carried devastation amongst the Portuguese establishments. They lived here till the year 1775, when they were removed to the arraial of Lanhozo, a horde of _Chacriaba_ Indians remaining in their stead, who were brought from the margins of Rio Preto, in the province of Pernambuco, and who are at present the inhabitants of the place, with some of other nations. They cultivate mandioca, Indian corn, and legumes.

Twenty miles to the north of the parish of St. Anna, and also near the same road, upon the northern margin of the small river Pedras, is situated the aldeia of that name, formerly inhabited by Bororos, but now almost depopulated, in consequence of that horde being removed in 1811 to the new prezidios of Nova Beira. The arraial of Lanhozo above mentioned, founded near the Uberava Falso, no longer exists, its people having united themselves with those of the river Pedras.

The arraial of St. Domingos do Araxa, in a state of mediocrity, modernly erected into the head of the julgado, is situated in a plain traversed by a small stream, and is thirty miles distant from the boundary, and twenty from the river Quebr’ Anzoes, (Hook Breaker.) The wells of excellent water, which save the breeders from the expense of purchasing salt for the cattle, and the considerable portions of fertile land in which various branches of agriculture will flourish, have already invited many hundred families to remove their establishments here, and which will probably in a few years render this parish the most populous one in the province. They already manufacture cotton cloth, and are commencing upon woollens. Large quantities of hogs and cattle are bred.

The arraial of Desemboque, head of the julgado, has a church of Our Lady of Desterro, and is situated upon the left margin of the river Velhas, about thirty-five miles distant from the boundary of Minas Geraes. Its inhabitants breed cattle, and cultivate an abundance of the necessaries of life.

In the year 1812, the arraial of St. Antonio and St. Sebastiao were commenced, with a hermitage dedicated to those saints, near the channel of the Lage, two miles distant from the road of St. Paulo to the east, and one from the left margin of the Uberava Falso. The people who inhabit it cultivate feijao, Indian corn, rice, and cotton, with the fruits and hortulans of the country, and breed cattle.

CHAP. XII.

PROVINCE OF MINAS GERAES.

_Boundaries--Extent--Climate--Discoverers of its
Mines--Mountains--Rivers--Mineralogy--Zoology--Phytology--
Exports--Comarcas and Towns.--Comarca of Villa
Rica--Limits--Mountains--Rivers--Capital--Povoações.--Comarca of
Rio das Mortes--Limits--Mountains--Rivers--Povoações.--Comarca
of Sabara--Limits--Mountains--Rivers--Lakes--Povoações.--Comarca
of Serro Frio--Limits--Rich in Diamonds--Mountains--Rivers--
Povoações--Diamond District--Tijuco--Seat of Diamond Junta._

This province, created in the year 1720, being until that period a portion of that of St. Paulo, is bounded on the north by the province of Bahia, from which it is separated by the river Verde, and by that of Pernambuco, from which it is divided by the river Carynhenha; on the south by the serra of Mantiqueira, which separates it from that of St. Paulo, and the rivers Preto, Parahibuna, and Parahiba, which divide it from the province of Rio de Janeiro; on the west by the province of Goyaz; and on the east by that of Espirito Santo, Porto Seguro, and a part of Bahia. It is nearly four hundred miles long from north to south, and two hundred and eighty of medium width, extending from 15° 30′ to 21° 40′. The climate is temperate compared with others of the torrid zone, arising from the elevated and mountainous nature of this province. The winter commences in October, always with thunder. Some years, in the months of June and July, towards the southern part, cold and frost are prevalent, and water congeals in vessels exposed to the night air.

Gold, which is found in all the districts of this province, was the origin of its name, (General Mines,) and which becomes still more appropriate, since all other metals are ascertained to exist here.

The discovery of this country is owing to the intrepidity of S. F. Tourinho, an inhabitant of Porto Seguro, who, proceeding up the river Doce, in 1573, traversed it as far as the Jequitinhonha, by which he descended.

A few years afterwards A. D. Adorno, with a view of profiting by the mines of emeralds discovered by Tourinho, advanced, with one hundred and fifty whites and four hundred Indians, up the Cricare, and came back by the same river as his precursor.

Many years had elapsed when, with the same project, M. d’Azevedo penetrated into this country as far as the lake Vupabussu.

In 1793, a Thaubateno, A. Rodriguez, entered the certam of Cuyate, accompanied by fifty men; but discord interrupted their proceedings, and Rodriguez returned by the capitania of Espirito Santo, where he exhibited three oitavas (a drachm each) of gold, to demonstrate that he had traversed auriferous lands. Proceeding to Rio de Janeiro, and thence to Thaubate, he soon expired, in consequence of the exhausted state he was reduced to by the fatigues and privations of the enterprise, previously recommending his brother-in-law, Bartholomew Bueno, to persevere in this project.

Impelled by the poverty to which extravagancies had reduced him, Bueno set out, in 1694, upon the enterprise, accompanied by Captain M. d’Almeida and other persons, directing their course by the heads of the serras pointed out in the diary of the late Rodriguez.

Captain M. Garcia, accompanied by Colonel S. Fernandez and other adventurers, actuated by similar motives, took their departure in the following year; met with Bueno at the serra of Itaberava, near thirty miles to the south of Villa Rica, and returned the first with twelve oitavas of gold, which led to the establishment of a melting house in the town of Thaubate.

This circumstance caused a great many Paulistas to undertake various other voyages, in spite of the fatigues and dangers with which they were beset; not as hitherto in capturing savages, but in the animating pursuit of gold. With this view numbers formed establishments in the province. Hence arose the envy which subsisted between the Thaubatenos and Piratininganos, who never associated in their mining expeditions.

With the project of finding gold F. D. Paes penetrated the certams of Serro Frio, and arriving at the situation of Anhonhecanhuva, (which in the Indian idiom signifies “water that hides itself,”) at present called Sumidoiro, (“to swallow up,”) he dwelt there more than three years, undertaking various journeys during the time into Sabara Bussu, where he found, in the serra Negra, precious stones; which not satisfying him he retroceded as far as the serra Tucambira, (the crop or maw of the Tucano,) and from thence to the river Itamarindiba, (a small rolling stone,) where, from its having fish, he remained for some time. Although his party was diminished by the desertion of the major part in the serra Negra, impatient at their long stay there, he determined to visit the lake Vupabussu, (Large Lake,) which he ultimately found, after a laborious search; and was also directed, by an Indian which he had taken, to the emerald mines. On the return of this certanista towards St. Paulo, he died near the river Velhas, where he fortunately met with, amongst other countrymen, Manuel de Borba Gato, his son-in-law, to whom he left the golden fruits of all his labours.

In the mean time D. Rodrigo de Castello Branco entered the country, with the appointment of superintendent of the mines, and wishing also to participate in the credit of discovering the emerald mines, on his arrival at the river Velhas sent to beg of M. de Borba Gato a part of the equipment and provisions left him by Paez. His refusal to comply with this request occasioned some menacing words to escape from Branco, which were sufficient to cause his assassination basely by a servant of Gato, to whom General A. de Sa offered a pardon, in the name of the King, on condition of his pointing out the copious mines of Sabara, discovered by him. Those conditions being fulfilled, the rank of lieutenant-general was unwisely and undeservedly granted to this instigator of murder.

The abundance of gold attracted a great number of Paulistas and Europeans to this province, between whom obstinate disputes arose, and a prolonged civil war.

M. N. Vianna, a native of the town of Vianna, was chief of the European party, who had appointed him governor of the new mines, when A. d’Albuquerque Coelho, the first general of the province of St. Paulo, with prudence and power, terminated, in 1710, the sanguinary dissensions between the disputants.

This province, whilst a comarca of that of St. Paulo, and before it had generals for governors, was various times visited by those of Rio de Janeiro, not only at the period of the disorders caused by the Paulistas and Europeans but anterior to the conclusion of the strifes that existed among the Piratininganos and Thaubatenos.

D. Lourenço d’Almeyda was the first general of the province, which appointment was bestowed upon him with much splendour in the church of Our Lady of Pilar, of Villa Rica, on the 18th of August, 1720. This province is now, comparatively speaking, tolerably populous, and divided into four comarcas.

MOUNTAINS.--It is the most mountainous country in the Brazil. The serra Mantiqueira, which is the most celebrated in the province, commences in the northern part of that of St. Paulo; from thence, running almost north-east, not without many windings, as far as the town of Barbacena, where it inclines northward to the extremity of the province, varying its direction, elevation, and name, and extending many branches from both sides of greater or less extent and height. It bounds in part all the comarcas.

RIVERS.--None of the other provinces are so abundant in water, and the greater part of its rivers have their origin in the Mantiqueira Serra, and their egress in general by four channels; two flowing eastward, namely the Doce and the Jequitinhonha; the St. Francisco northward; and the Rio Grande westward. The first irrigates the comarca of Villa Rica, the second that of Serro Frio, the third that of Sabara, and the last that of St. Joao d’el Rey.

MINERALOGY.--Gold, platina, silver, and brass, iron, pewter, lead, mercury, antimony, bismuth, amianthus, talk, calcareous stone, granite, black jasper marked with white; _amolar_, or grindstone, fossil-coal, saltpetre; white, red, yellow, grey, and black argils; diamonds, rubies, emeralds, chrysolites, topazes, sapphires, _aqua-marinas_, agates, amethysts, petrifactions, (_pingos d’agua_,) crystals, flintstone, and _pedra sabao_, of a pearl colour, very compact and heavy, but easily worked; images, candlesticks, and vessels by the turner are made of this stone. It affords excellent chalk, and its very fine dust is sought after by travellers. Many profound caverns and excavations are met with, from whence immense quantities of gold have been extracted. Some rocks are perforated from one side to the other; others have disappeared entirely, in the course of withdrawing their rich contents. Many mountains frequently reverberate, demonstrating that they are fully charged with minerals. A great number of torrents have been diverted, for a greater or less space, from their natural beds, to facilitate the extraction of gold and diamonds.

ZOOLOGY.--All the species of Spanish domestic animals are bred here; the oxen and hog are the most numerous; the savage quadrupeds and birds met with in the adjoining provinces are common in this. The population principally consists of negroes, the property of the miner and the agriculturist. Indians exist only upon the eastern boundaries of the province. Many persons of all complexions are met with of the age of one hundred years.

PHYTOLOGY.--The soil produces in abundance the first year; the second usually little, and in the third almost nothing; it is therefore requisite, according to the present mode of agriculture, to allow it to remain fallow for some years, until it is covered with a strong brushwood, which is then burnt down to form the first coat of manure.

Here are cultivated mandioca, tobacco, sugar, (the greater part of which is distilled into spirit,) cotton, (part of which is manufactured into cloth,) wheat, rye, and a great quantity of white Indian corn, the dry flour of which is the ordinary bread; this corn, after the skin is taken off, dressed, and sweetened with sugar, is a dainty introduced into every banquet, and is called _cangica_. Also are grown potatoes, legumes, hortulans, coffee, and indigo. Amongst other medicinal plants, there are ipecacuanha, columbo root, liquorice, jalap, a species of spikenard upon the serra Caraça; vanilla, and the _urucu_ dye tree. Amongst the resinous trees, are remarked the gum-copal, gum-mastick, benzoin, and _angico_. In some places are the storax, and the oil of cupahiba tree; in others the _barbatimoes_, its leaves nourishing the _cantharidas_, which is a lucrative branch of commerce. Some trees furnish fine bark, some ashes for the soap-house, others venom, with which fish are killed, and the upper bark of a tree which supplies the real _quina_, or Jesuit’s bark. There is a variety of the palm, and of trees affording fine timber for building. The cedar is common in some situations, and the Brazilian pine grows in the southern part, near the skirts of serras. There is a shrub differing from the _myrica cerifera_, the trunk and branches of which are always covered with a species of wax; also the _verniz_, or varnish tree, with which the Indians dye their _cuyas_ (clay cups.) Almost all the fruit trees of Portugal are naturalized here, but none of them improve; the peach and quince alone fructify abundantly; from the latter, a large quantity of sweetmeats are made. The _cajue_, the _jabuticaba_, the _araticu_, and the _mangaba_ fruits are common; also oranges, limes, bananas, pine-apples, and water-melons.

From this province are exported hides, skins of deer, and of other wild animals; coarse cotton and woollen cloth, tobacco, coffee, fruits, sugar, cheese, pork, _pedra sabao_, precious stones, saltpetre, marmalade, &c. The whole is conducted to the metropolis upon mules, which proceed in caravans of one hundred and more, divided into troops of seven, managed by one muleteer. Their return cargo consists of salt, and other dry and moist goods.

The treasury, besides the diamonds, fifths of gold, dizimos, duties upon negroes and goods introduced from the ports, of cattle, horses, and mules, entering from St. Paulo, receives a considerable revenue on the passage of rivers by bridges and barks, which are numerous.

In the year 1808, the circulation of gold dust, till then, the only circulating medium, was prohibited, and coins of the three current metals substituted.

In the year 1714, this province was divided into four comarcas; namely,

COMARCAS. TOWNS.

Villa Rica { Villa
{ Marianna

Rio das Mortes { St. Joam d’el Rey
{ St. Joze
{ Queluz
{ St. Carlos de Jacuhy
{ St. Maria de Baependy
{ Campanha
{ Barbacena
{ Tamandua

Sabara { Sabara
{ Caethe
{ Pitangui
{ Paracatu

Serro do Frio { Villa do Principe
{ Fanado

_Comarca of_ VILLA RICA.

The comarca of Villa Rica, otherwise Oiro Preto, (Black Gold,) which is the least extensive, and the main part yet uncultivated, is bounded on the north by that of Serro Frio, from which it is separated by the river Doce; on the west by that of Rio das Mortes; on the south by the province of Rio de Janeiro; and on the east by that of Espirito Santo. It comprises one hundred and forty miles from east to west, and one hundred and twenty from north to south.

MOUNTAINS.--The serra of Oiro Preto, which is a portion of the Mantiqueira, its most elevated head, called Itaculume, (the Child of Stone,) is considered the highest in the province. The serra of Oiro Branco, (White Gold,) to the south of the preceding, the Serra Negra, with mines of iron, and the Serra Lappa are both to the north of the capital. Nearly thirty miles north of Marianna is the celebrated Serra Caraça, so called from having a portion similar to an enormous physiognomy. It is a dismemberment of the grand cordillera, with near fifty miles of circuit at its base, being steep and craggy all around. On a plain about three miles square, in a broken part of its summit, there is a species of monastery, where various hermits dwell, some drawn thither by devotion, and others from persecution; their habit is a black cassock. They sustain themselves upon charity, and the productions of the adjacent land, where they raise cattle and rye. The edifice is of stone; the church of elegant architecture, and dedicated to Our Lady May dos Homens (Mother of Men). In the garden there are various European fruit trees, such as the apple, pear, plum, cherry, quince, chestnut, olive, and walnut; also trees from the oak to the yellow broom and furze. The land is watered by various rivulets, which after uniting flow to the Percicaba. In its vicinity is the serra of Itaubira, which terminates in two rocky pyramids. Between the river Doce and the Parahiba, there is an extensive branch of the Mantiqueira serra, from whence emanate many torrents; the Serra Frecheira is the name of a portion.

RIVERS.--The Doce, which is the largest of the comarca, has its origin in the serra of Mantiqueira. After flowing for a considerable space to the north-north-east, under the name of Chopoto, it receives the Piranga, which runs from the serra of Oiro Branco; afterwards the Guallacho, formed by two streams of the same name distinguished by the appellations of north and south, and which issue from the serra of Oiro Preto. At this confluence it inclines to the east, and gathers the Bombaca and the Percicaba, which flow from the west, and have their sources in the Serra Lapa. Here it takes the name by which it enters the ocean. A little lower it is united also on the left, by the considerable river St. Antonio, which comes from the north-west, traversing an extensive territory, abounding mainly in cattle. Of the streams which form it, some descend from the Serra Lapa, others from Serro Frio. Ten miles further, it is joined on the same side by the Corrente, which flows from Serro Frio, with more than one hundred miles of course. Thirty miles lower, it receives the large Sassuhy, whose heads emanate from the serras of Serro Frio and Esmeraldas; its margins are thinly inhabited. After it follows the Laranjeiras, in the same direction, between woods abounding with wild beasts and savages. The Cuyate, which runs north-east, is the largest of those which enter it on the right; its mouth is a little below the preceding, and it gives the name to an interior district inhabited by Indians. The Manhuassu, (which some say is larger than Cuyate,) after flowing through large woods north-eastward, and bounding the certam of Cuyate, is lost in the Doce, a little above the Escadinhas.

Amongst others, the Doce has four remarkable falls: Escura, a little below the mouth of the Percicaba; Magoaris, a short way below the Corrente; Ibiturunas, a short distance above the Sassuhy; and Inferno, between the confluences of the Cuyate and the Manhuassu. The adjacent territory of this fine river is mostly of great fertility; in some places the root of the mandioca grows to a prodigious size. Independently of the above obstacles, the Doce is navigable for a great extent, and I was assured by an ouvidor, having a neighbouring jurisdiction, that no very great expenditure on the part of the government would render it the most important and certainly the best medium of transit for the produce of the interior districts of Brazil. The Maquipoo is one of its first tributaries received on the right, and enters a little above the mouth of the Bombaca.

The Preto originates in the serra Ititiaya, a branch of the Mantiqueira range, and runs eastward through the territory of the Ararys, bounding the province, until it enters the Parahibuna, which latter rises near the Chopoto, and flows into the Parahiba.

The Pomba, which as has been observed, is a tributary of the Parahiba, waters an extensive tract on the southern part of this comarca, and passes near the parish of St. Manuel, whose inhabitants are Coroado and Crapo Indians, with some whites, principally raising Indian corn, legumes, some sugar, and numerous hogs. The fertility of the country, with the navigation of the river, promises it a future increase. Its church is forty miles from the mouth of the river.

Villa Rica, antecedently Oiro Preto, was created a town in 1711, and is large, populous, abundant, and flourishing. It is the capital of the province, and the residence of the governor, at present Don Manuel de Portugal e Castro; likewise of the ouvidor of the comarca, who holds other offices, serving also as crown judge with jurisdiction over the whole province. It has a Juiz de Fora, who is also attorney-general; a vicar-general, and professors, I had almost forgot royal, of primitive letters, Latin, and philosophy. This town is ill situated at the southern base of the serra of Oiro Preto, amongst gloomy rocks, upon very uneven ground, and frequently covered with fogs, which are said to cause amongst the inhabitants continued colds or defluxions from the head. There is a house of misericordia, founded by G. F. d’Andrade, in virtue of a law of the 16th April, 1738; a smelting house; a junta of the treasury, composed of four deputies, the ouvidor of the comarca, the attorney-general, the general treasurer, and the auditor, with the governor as president. It has ten chapels, of the Lord Bom Fim, Almas, St. Anna, St. Joam, &c.; besides three Terceira orders of St. Francisco d’Assis, Carmo, and St. Francisco de Paula, almost all of which, with four bridges, are of stone. The palace, military quarters, and municipal house, are considered to be handsome; the latter has an annual revenue of about fifteen thousand crusades. It has a fort with some pieces of ordnance, which are fired occasionally on holidays; fourteen fountains of crystalline water, and a hospital. Its inhabitants, principally miners and dealers, live in two parishes, called Our Lady of Pilar and Conceiçao. This town is two hundred and thirty miles north-north-west of Rio de Janeiro.