CHAP. XIII.PROVINCE OF ESPIRITO SANTO.
Extent—Boundaries—Misfortunes of its Donatories—Spirited Resistance of the Indians—Partial Cultivation—Principally possessed by Indians—Mountains—Mineralogy—Zoology—Descents of Indians to the Coast—Phytology—Rivers and Ports—Povoações—Island of Ascension.
Extent—Boundaries—Misfortunes of its Donatories—Spirited Resistance of the Indians—Partial Cultivation—Principally possessed by Indians—Mountains—Mineralogy—Zoology—Descents of Indians to the Coast—Phytology—Rivers and Ports—Povoações—Island of Ascension.
This province comprehends three-fourths of the capitania of the same name, given in the year 1534 to Vasco Fernandez Coutinho, as a remuneration for the services he had rendered in Asia to the Portuguese crown. It extends one hundred and thirty miles from south to north, between the river Cabapuana and the river Doce, its northern limit; the width from east to west hitherto remains, in great part, undetermined, in consequence of a considerable portion of this territory yet remaining in the power of the aboriginal natives. It is bounded on the north by the province of Porto Seguro, on the west by that of Minas Geraes, on the south by that of Rio de Janeiro, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean.
Authentic documents, as to the precise epoch of its colonization, are not discovered; the foundation of the town of Espirito Santo, and from which the capitania derived its name, may however be regarded as its commencement. This town (now called Villa Velha, or Old Town,) was the capital until Victoria acquired the pre-eminence.
It is asserted, by the author of the Geographical Description of Portuguese America, that Coutinho only took sixty persons with him to form the first establishment in his capitania, in which number were included twodegradados, or degraded fidalgos, Don Gorge de Menezes and Don Simao de Castello Branco. With this small number he engaged and put the Indians to flight; founded the primitive capital; constructed a fort; and established an engenho.
Animated with a desire of affording his colony the means of a rapid improvement, he returned to Portugal, to procure what appeared to him requisite for the accomplishment of this praiseworthy object, leaving in his stead Gorge de Menezes, who was killed in combat with the natives. CastelloBranco succeeded him in the government, and the Goytacaze tribe, having formed a confederacy with the Tupininquins, they attacked the colony under his temporary jurisdiction with so much fury and effect as to destroy every edifice and to counteract all the efforts of the Portuguese to retain the footing they had made, so that the remains of the colony, finding that the Indians gave no quarter to any individual, were compelled to seek refuge upon the margins of the river Cricare.
Coutinho returned from Portugal soon after this event, with all the assistance he could collect, and finding his capitania deserted, he solicited succours from Mendo de Sa, the governor-general at Bahia, which were promptly despatched under the command of his excellency’s son, Fernando de Sa, who uniting his force to the fugitives, near the Cricare, an assault was made upon the Indians with considerable advantage, but a body of the enemy fell upon them in turn, and did not allow time for the whole to save themselves by flight to the ships; Fernando de Sa, the commander was amongst the number that perished.
Ultimately, sixty-eight Europeans, the remains of so many people who had in the course of thirty years repaired to this capitania to establish themselves, attacked the Indians with desperate bravery, and gained a complete victory. This fortunate circumstance, aided by the religious instruction with which the Jesuits enlightened and made friends of a considerable portion of those savages, who served to reinforce the small number of whites, enabled the donatory to restore the capitania to the state in which he had left it.
The padre, Affonso Braz, who founded the college of the town of Victoria, in 1551, was the first missionary who arrived in this province.
The Indians did not supply the want of Europeans, who were prevented from coming here by hearing of the calamities of their countrymen.
Reverses of fortune reduced Coutinho to a state which precluded all possibility of deriving any advantage from the capitania; and one of his descendants, being equally unfortunate, sold it, for forty thousand crusades, to Francisco Gil d’Araujo, who established himself in it, animated with various projects, but which he soon abandoned in despair. One of his heirs, after using every endeavour, relinquished it under similar circumstances, and sold it to the crown in the reign of John V. for the sum which it cost. This province cannot be said to have experienced any considerable amelioration since the period of its reversion to the crown, nor does the dominion of the Indians reach to a much less extensive tract of territory, which may be attributed to the present scanty population, and the want of energy on the part of the government; it mayhowever be observed, that the reduction of the Indians is rendered more difficult by the numerous serras and extensive woods which cover this district, demonstrating at the same time the fertility of the soil and its susceptibility of numerous branches of agriculture. The river Doce, which bounds it on the north, would render it still more valuable from the communication which might be opened by water from the mining districts to the ocean; and there is little doubt but that part of this district, in the power of the Indians, through which it runs is auriferous; at least it is fair to draw such an inference from the pieces of gold which are in the possession of the Indians who come in contact with the Portuguese parties of soldiers stationed upon its banks. An ouvidor assured me that the captain-mors, who commanded advanced stations upon this river, had seen pieces of gold in the possession of the Indians which they did not appear to value, but willingly exchanged them, at favourable opportunities, for knives or other iron instruments.
The salubrity of the climate, the existing state of this province, and the advantages which it presents, loudly call upon the present king and government to adopt measures for clearing the margins of the river Doce of the tribes of Indians that infest it, and to render this river navigable from the ocean to the province of Minas Geraes. The only natural difficulties of the river which present any impediment to its free navigation are the Escadinha falls, met with in its course between the latter province and that of Porto Seguro; they are three in number, are highly interesting, and do not extend more than three miles, being nearly together, so that the construction of a railway, or any other and less excellent expedient which the government might be induced to adopt, for the space only of three miles, would connect a conveyance by water to the coast of the produce of the interior districts, which at present is sent on the backs of mules, two and three months being consumed on the journey, and the same period with the return cargoes.
Mountains.—The most remarkable mountains in the vicinity of the sea are, the serra Guarapary, upon the river of the same name; that of Pero-cao, further to the north; Monte Moreno, near the entrance of the bay of Espirito Santo, and Mestre-Alvaro, which is a mountain almost circular, enjoying extensive views, and is the highest upon the coast. It is about three miles from the beach, in parts bare and rocky, in others covered with wood, having some fertile portions, the cultivators of which are generally within the parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao of the serra. The best balsamic trees of the province are produced here; it is situated between the rivers Carahype, and Reis Magos,and formerly had a volcano. Five miles to the south of the river Piuma is Mount Agha, from whence issue excellent waters. It is a land-mark to navigators.
Mineralogy.—It produces gold, magnet, crystals, amethysts, and potters and other earths; the mountains in great part consist of granite.
Zoology.—ThePuritribes of Indians possess the western and central parts of the province, and yet make descents upon the sea-coast, generally doing considerable injury to the Christians who reside contiguous to the shore. They are rather meagre in person, but are courageous and perfidious. Some hordes are already domiciliated in aldeias, and live in peace with the conquerors, in the vicinity of the river Parahiba; but the greater portion wander about, not deviating from the habits of their ancestors. It is said their numbers have diminished, in consequence of the fatal rencounters they have had with theAimboretribe. They do not exercise any branch of agriculture; and as the soil, though fertile, cannot gratuitously supply a sufficient maintenance, there is a perpetual attack on all kinds of game. They are formidable enemies of theCorados; they use the bow and barbed arrow, and hold in high esteem all instruments of iron, and above all the axe. The skins of animals are not used for the covering of their naked bodies, nor for any other purpose. Amongst other wild quadrupeds, the deer, boar, monkey, ounce, and anta, are well known, against which a continual warfare is carried on, in which the gun is used as well as the bow. A kind of monkey (Sahium) is frequently met with, of an ash colour, with the face white. Thecolhereira,mutun,jacutingaparrot,arrara,inhuma,tucano,macucopartridge, and other birds of beautiful plumage, are generally seen, on proceeding beyond the cultivated grounds, which consist only of certain portions running parallel with, and not extending far from the coast; domestic animals are consequently not very numerous.
Phytology.—In the woods which cover a considerable portion of the country there is a great diversity of trees of excellent timber for building and other purposes; the Brazil wood, the sassafras, and the cedar, are well known; besides other resinous trees are those which afford gum-mastick, gum-copal, and the cajue-nut tree; those which produce the cupahiba oil are common. No other province possesses such an abundance of the tree that supplies the Peruvian balsam. The sipo clove is met with, the leaves of which exhale an aromatic, similar to the East Indian clove. Thepiquiaproduces a fruit of the size of an orange, full of a fine flavoured juice, with a great number of seeds. Thegoytyis a fruit of the size of a lemon, oblong, with little pulp, yellow, of a fine flavour,and filled with fibres attached to a large stone; there are two sorts similar in taste, and denominatedmirim. Thepitomais larger than themangaba, oblong, with a smooth rind, savory pulp, and a stone. Amongst the species of fruit trees which the Portuguese have here naturalized, the most useful are the orange and cocoa-nut; amongst other native trees are thejabuticaba, theubaya, whose fruit is similar to the first, of excellent quality, and also grows upon the trunk, and even upon the roots that appear. Thearassanhunais also a fruit very much like thejabuticaba, but not of so much flavour, and grows at the point of the branches. The fig-tree fructifies in perfection.
The soil is particularly well adapted to the cane, of which there are many engenhos. Legumes, coffee, cocoa, bananas, water-melons, and mandioca, which latter is not grown in sufficient quantity for the consumption of the population, the inhabitants preferring the culture of the cotton tree, of which they make large plantations. Its produce constitutes their principal branch of commerce and wealth; they export a considerable quantity, partly in the wool, and partly in coarse cloth. A sort of narrow sail-cloth is likewise manufactured with it, calledtracado, to which a preference is given to that of flax, for forming the sails of some of the coasting vessels. The production of rice and Indian corn is considerable.
Rivers and Ports.—The river Camapuan, commonly Cabapuanna, and which the Indians call Reritigba, originates in the serra of Pico, not far distant from the source of the Muryahe, runs between mountains augmented by various others which join it, and enters the ocean fifteen miles to the north of the Parahiba. It is navigable for large canoes for a considerable space, to a certain situation, where its current begins to be more violent and its bed less disembarrassed.
Ten miles to the north of the Camapuan, the Itapemirim empties itself, after a considerable course, and is already large on crossing the cordillera. It is said that one of its branches originates in the mines of Castello, which were abandoned in consequence of the invasions of the Puris and Aimbores. Sumacas advance some miles up it, and canoes much further.
The Piuma, which rises in an auriferous country to the west of the cordillera, discharges itself fourteen miles to the north of the Itapemirim, and affords navigation to canoes for a considerable space.
Twenty miles to the north of the Piuma is the Benevente, which is only considerable as far as the tide advances; it is supposed to descend from the cordillera.
The Guarapary, which discharges itself ten miles to the north of Benevente,is narrow and deep in the proximity of the sea, where it traverses the cordillera, beyond which it is unknown, as well as the country through which it flows.
The river Jecu enters the ocean ten miles to the north of the Guarapary, and three to the south of the entrance to the bay of Espirito Santo. The Jesuits who possessed the adjacent lands, formed a navigable communication from this river to the bay, by an extensive valley, in order to avoid the dangers of the ocean, passing round mount Moreno to enter the port. It yet remains, presenting the same advantage to the present agriculturists of the country.
The bay of Espirito Santo is spacious, with secure anchorage. Amongst the various streams which lose themselves in it, the Santa Maria is the only considerable one. It is navigable for the space of forty miles to the first fall. The tide runs up this river about twelve miles to the mouth of the river Serra, which unites it on the left bank; by the same side it receives another, which affords navigation to the centre of the district, which indicates much fecundity. By the southern margin it is joined by the small river Crubixa, where the stones met with in its bed afford a sort of coral, with which the Indians ornament themselves. In the vicinity of this river is cultivated mandioca, rice, bananas, and canes, the sugar of which is deemed the best in the province. Seven miles from the northern bar of Espirito Santo is the small river Carahype, which becomes a current only when the rains produce an overflowing of the lake Jucunen, which is well stored with fish, about three miles in length, and near the sea. A little to the north of the mount of Mestre Alvaro, the Reys Majos, originally Apyaputang, is discharged, having a small port at its embouchure.
The Mandu comes from the interior of the country, running north-north-east between woods, enters the river Doce two miles below the Escadinha Falls, and is navigable for canoes.
The towns of this province are—
Villa da VictoriaVilla VelhaBeneventeAlmeydaGuaraparyItapemirim.
The villa or town of Nossa Senhora of Victoria, the capital of the province, is situated on an amphitheatrical site on the western side of an island, fifteen miles in circumference, in the bay of Espirito Santo, which is capable of receiving frigates, and its entrance is defended by five small forts. The town is well provided with water, has tolerable houses, paved streets, and a church, which when complete will be handsome. There is a house of misericordia, convents of Franciscans and slippered Carmelites, two Terceira orders belonging tothose corporations, a chapel of St. Luzia, three of Nossa Senhora of Boa Morte, Conceiçao, and Rozario. The ex-Jesuitical college is a fine edifice, and now serves for the palace of the governors. The ouvidor of the comarca has his ordinary residence here. It has also a royal professor of Latin, and a junta da real fazenda, or the treasury. The island is elevated, and the greatest part in a state of cultivation. Its eastern side lies in a direct line with the coast of the continent.
At the entrance of the bar, near the before-mentioned Moreno Mount, is another, also a land-mark to sailors, and is in the form of a sugar-loaf. On its summit is a convent of Franciscans, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Penha, of which it takes the name, not unfrequently sustaining damage by the winds. The inhabitants of this sanctuary enjoy delightful prospects of the vast ocean, and the varied scenery of mountains of a diversity of elevation and aspect, with valleys of different width and profundity.
In the skirts of this mount, at the entrance of the bay, is Villa Velha, (Old Town,) originally the town of Espirito Santo, and for some time capital of the capitania, which, however, never became considerable, and is now of little consequence. Our Lady of Rozario is the patroness of the church, whose parishioners are fishermen. Fish are abundant and cheap upon all this part of the coast.
Benevente is at present a small town; but it unquestionably enjoys an advantageous situation for becoming more considerable, at the mouth of the river which takes its name, having a commodious anchorage place, and great fertility of surrounding soil. The inhabitants are mostly Indians, for whose reception it first began. The Jesuits, its founders, had a hospicio, or entertaining house here, which is now divided into three portions; one is the residence of the vicar, another is appropriated to the municipal house, and the third for the use of the ouvidor. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of Assumpçao. In the adjacencies of the river, cotton, sugar, rice, Indian corn, &c. are cultivated. The canoes which convey those productions to the port can advance up the river with the tide for a considerable distance.
Guarapary is a villota, or small place, situated near the embouchure of the river Guarapary, upon a small bay. The church is dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao. Its inhabitants, principally Indians, cultivate cotton and the necessaries of life. Here is collected the greatest portion of the Peruvian balsam, which takes the name of the province.
Almeyda, situated on elevated ground, near the embouchure of the ReysMagos, from whence a great extent of ocean is discovered, was founded by the Jesuits, who had a hospicio here, whither they repaired from the college of the capital to learn the Tupininquin language. This edifice has been for a long time the residence of the vicars, and its handsome chapel, dedicated to Reys Magos, has always served for the mother church. It has a considerable piece of ground attached to it, in the form of a square. In no other parish of the bishopric have the number of native Indians increased so much as here; with them are intermixed some whites and mesticos. The whole pursue fishing, and are farmers of the first necessaries. They export some earthenware and timber.
Five miles to the north of Almeyda is the Aldeia Velha, (the Old Aldeia,) inhabited by Christianized Indians. It has commodious anchorage for sumacas at the mouth of a small river.
Further on there is another aldeia of Goytacaze Indians, also Christians. The whole cultivate the necessaries of life, practise fishing, and many pursue the manufacture of earthenware. Orange trees are remarkably abundant, and the fruit excellent. A considerable quantity of gamellas (wooden bowls) are exported.
Itapemirim stands on the southern margin, and two miles above the mouth of the river of the same name. It has a parish church of Our Lady of Amparo. A considerable augmentation of this place is anticipated. Its inhabitants drink the waters of the river, cultivate plantations of the sugar cane, and the cotton tree, rice, Indian corn, &c. and cut timber; all these are articles of exportation.
On the margin of the river Piuma there is an aldeia of the same name, whose inhabitants cultivate the necessaries of life peculiar to the country, and cut much timber from the neighbouring woods. Vessels of a small size can be constructed here.
On the margin of the river Doce, two miles below the mouth of the Mandu, there is a prezidio, with the name of Souza, in order to impede the smuggling of gold from Minas Geraes, and which may become in time a considerable povoaçao. The surrounding territory is highly fertile. One quart of the seed of feijao will generally produce ninety Winchester bushels; and lower down, upon an island in the same river, the same quantity of seed has rendered one hundred and fifteen Winchester bushels, which is nearly four hundred for one. A quart of Indian corn commonly produces one hundred and fifteen bushels. A shrub grows here, the bruised leaves of which afford a liquor by infusion, which will dye a fast purple colour.
Near the river Jecu, at a great distance above its mouth, in a fertile district, is beginning to flourish the arraial of the same name, inhabited by white agriculturists, and abounding with game.
In the latitude of 20°, and upwards of five hundred miles distant from the coast of this province, is the small and rocky island of Ascension, also called Trinidade. It has good water; but having no good anchorage place, and little of its surface being susceptible of cultivation, it is uninhabited.