CHAP. XV.PROVINCE OF BAHIA.
Boundaries—Caramuru—First Donatory—Cruel War of the Indians—The Capitania forsaken—Return of the Donatory—Shipwreck—Slaughter of all but Caramuru—Governor General—Foundation of St. Salvador.—Comarca of the Ilheos—Originally a Capitania—Extent—Fertility—Mountains—Mineralogy—Phytology—Zoology—Rivers and Lakes—Povoaçoes—Comarca of Jacobina—Extent—Mineralogy—Mountains—Rivers—Phytology—Zoology—Povoaçoes—Comarca of Bahia—Extent—Mountains—Mineralogy—Phytology—Zoology—Islands—Rivers—Povoaçoes—St. Salvador—Churches and Convents—Public Buildings—Sepulchre of Caramuru’s Wife—Negroes—Commerce—Produce—Exports in 1817 and 1818—State of Society—Adoption of a new Constitution.
Boundaries—Caramuru—First Donatory—Cruel War of the Indians—The Capitania forsaken—Return of the Donatory—Shipwreck—Slaughter of all but Caramuru—Governor General—Foundation of St. Salvador.—Comarca of the Ilheos—Originally a Capitania—Extent—Fertility—Mountains—Mineralogy—Phytology—Zoology—Rivers and Lakes—Povoaçoes—Comarca of Jacobina—Extent—Mineralogy—Mountains—Rivers—Phytology—Zoology—Povoaçoes—Comarca of Bahia—Extent—Mountains—Mineralogy—Phytology—Zoology—Islands—Rivers—Povoaçoes—St. Salvador—Churches and Convents—Public Buildings—Sepulchre of Caramuru’s Wife—Negroes—Commerce—Produce—Exports in 1817 and 1818—State of Society—Adoption of a new Constitution.
This province, which comprehends almost all the territory of the ancient capitania of its name, with that of the Ilheos, is bounded on the north by the provinces of Seregippe d’el Rey and Pernambuco; on the south, by those of Porto Seguro and Minas Geraes; on the west, by the province of Pernambuco, from which it is separated by the St. Francisco; and on the east, by the Atlantic Ocean. It extends from 10° to 16° south latitude, comprising three hundred and fifty miles from north to south, and about two hundred and forty miles in width from the coast to the town of Urubu, situated upon the margin of the St. Francisco.
Tradition and history announce four remarkable events anterior to the foundation of the capital, from which the colonization of the province commenced:—the shipwreck of Diogo Alvez Correa, that of a Castilian ship, the disembarkation of its only donatory, Francisco Peyreyra Coutinho, and his unfortunate end. None of the writers on this subject have assigned any distinct epoch to those circumstances, and the discordancy which obtains amongst them veils their relations in obscurity. The Jesuit Vasconcellos was the first who published, one hundred and fifty years after their occurrence, the adventuresof Diogo Alvez Correa, theCaramuru,[26]almost in the shape of a novel, and which subjects this portion of the early history of this province to incoherencies and doubts. The said Jesuit who asserted that he wrote from circumstantial documents, says he does not know whether the vessel of the shipwreckedCaramuruwas proceeding to India or the capitania of St. Vincente, as he pretends that the latter was then in progress of colonization, by Martim Affonso de Souza, which, from concurring testimony, is an affirmation not founded in truth; Correa’s shipwreck having occurred in 1510, upwards of twenty years previous to that event; and the vessel was unquestionably either one of those included in the contract for Brazil wood, or in the progress of an exploration of the coast, and did not belong to any of the armaments destined for India.
The epoch of Correa’s shipwreck, who was a person of noble birth, and his being the first European settler at Bahia, is confirmed by the evidence of Herrera, who, in describing the misfortunes that attended the St. Pitta, one of two Spanish ships that sailed from St. Lucar, in September, 1534, (from which it would appear also, the shipwreck of the Spanish vessel before alluded to, happened in the year 1535,) says, “onde hallaron un Portuguez, que dixo, que avia veynte y cinco ãnos, que estava entre los Indios.”[27]A person now living at Porto Seguro has in his possession an ancient manuscript, which affirms that Gaspar de Lemos, on proceeding to Lisbon with despatches of Cabral’s new discovery, entered the river Ilheos and the Bay of All Saints; where some sailors went on shore, and were suddenly attacked by the Indians; that Diogo Alvez Correa, not having time to embark with his companions, fled to a place where he was soon found by those savages. This would make Correa the Caramuru’s residence near Bahia, to have commenced in 1500; but, as this circumstance is not alluded to in the authentic statements of Cabral’s expedition, it would still appear more probable that Correa was thrown amongst the Indians, in consequence of the shipwreck alluded to in 1510.
At the period when King John III. divided the Brazil into capitanias, Francisco Peyreyra Coutinho was in Portugal, having recently returned from India, where he had rendered important services to the state, in remuneration for which, the said King granted him a capitania of all the country which laybetween the point of Padrao, (now denominated St. Antonio,) and the St. Francisco, giving him afterwards the reconcave of the bay of All Saints. He proceeded in person to colonize this donation, with an armament fitted out at his own cost, and disembarked at the point of Padrao. He fortified himself on the site where the mother church of Our Lady of Victory is situated, and preserved a state of amity with the Indians for some years. Cultivation began to extend, and the more opulent and powerful settlers had already established sugar works, when the Tupinamba Indians commenced an inveterate and unceasing warfare for the period of seven or eight years against them, carrying destruction and famine amongst the sugar works and new establishments. Coutinho, with the small force which now remained, discovered the impossibility of repairing the evils his colony had sustained, and, consequently, determined to withdraw from the increasing enmity and attacks of the Indians, which he accomplished in one caravel, conducting the remains of the colony to the capitania of Ilheos, where the Portuguese settlers were living in a state of profound peace with the Tupininquin Indians.
The Tupinambas were a powerful tribe, and other hordes of Indians who previously occupied the territory around Bahia, had been compelled to give way to them. They affected to feel the circumstances attending the departure and absence of the Portuguese, to whom they proposed terms of friendship, which were acceded to. Coutinho lost no time in re-embarking for the bay of All Saints, where, on arriving at the entrance of the harbour, they were assailed by a tremendous gale of wind, which drove them on the shoals off the island of Itaparica, and all those who escaped on shore from the wreck were devoured by the cannibal Indians, (also of the Tupinamba tribe,) excepting Diogo Alvez Correa, who had accompanied Coutinho in his flight. Caramuru saved his life from the circumstance of speaking the Tupinamba language. He acquired considerable consequence amongst the Indians, and was elevated to the rank of a prince. The chiefs offered him their daughters in marriage, and his distinction was marked by the grant of a plurality of wives. His offspring was numerous, and even at this day some of the inhabitants of Bahia trace their origin to him.
In consequence of Coutinho’s misfortunes, the territory of Bahia becamedevoluto, unoccupied; and the same monarch being informed of the beauties and advantages of this fine bay, and the fertility of its adjacent country, determined to found a city there, which should become the capital of all the colonies, in order to afford them every necessary succour against the Indians, who wereat this period making universal progress in their attempts against the new settlers. An armament was accordingly prepared, of five ships, with six hundred volunteers, four hundreddegradados, (criminals,) an abundant provision of every thing requisite for the foundation and defence of the colony, some Jesuitical priests, in order to catholicize the Indians, and many other sacerdotals for the administration of that faith. This important enterprise was intrusted to an illustrious individual named Thome de Souza, who had distinguished himself in Africa and India, and the jurisdiction of the Brazilian state, or New Lusitania, was conferred upon him under the title of governor general. By this measure the sovereign suspended and limited the power which had been given to the donatories of the different capitanias. Doctor Pedro Borges was appointed ouvidor general, to register the proceedings of all the capitanias. Antonio Cardozo de Barros, procurador of the royal treasury, (or attorney general,) and some servants of the king were to receive situations in the public offices.
The squadron left Lisbon on the 2d of February, 1549, and on the 29th of March, arrived in the port where the unfortunate donatory had been established, and a short distance from the place then occupied by Correa. The situation of Coutinho’s establishment did not appear to Thome de Souza to be well selected; and he commenced the projected city in the place where the chapel of Our Lady d’ Ajuda is situated, about a mile further to the north, against the votes of some individuals who preferred the site of Montserrat.
In the following year a galliot was ordered out, laden with European animals, commanded by Simon da Gama; and in the year 1551, the same succour was furnished by a squadron, of which Antonio d’ Oliveira was commander: he brought some young females of noble extraction, from the orphan establishment, strongly recommended by Queen Donna Catharina to the governor, in order that they might be betrothed in marriage, with certain portions, to the principal persons of the state. Similar assistance was annually continued, during the quadrennial government of the first governor and of his successor Duarthe de Costa. The Jesuits, at the head of whom was the celebrated P. M. Nobrega, pursued their purpose of civilizing and introducing Christianity amongst the Indians, through the imposing medium of ceremonies, parade, and pomp, with remarkable and continued success, up to the period of the general expulsion of their sect: and the colonists of Brazil, particularly those of this province, are indebted most materially for the reduction of many of the hordes of Indians who occupied the coast, to the great influence which the Jesuits acquired over them.Duarthe da Costa was succeeded in 1558, by Mendo de Sa, who obtained the government for fourteen years, during which period this province advanced considerably. He also afforded assistance to all the capitanias whose colonization was opposed by the Indians. This province is divided into three comarcas—Ilheos, Jacobina, and Bahia.
This comarca, which extends from the river Jiquirica to the Belmonte or Jiquitinhonha, occupies the territory of the suppressed capitania of the same name, which at first took in an extent of fifty leagues of coast, from the embouchure of the Jaguaripe opposite the southern point of the island of Itaparica (afterwards from the island of Tinhare,) to the commencement of the capitania of Pedro do C. Tourinho. Its first donatory was George de Figueyredo Correa, a fidalgo of the King, and escrivam of the treasury (or chancellor of the exchequer.) The public situation which he held prevented his going personally to colonize it; he therefore nominated a Spanish cavalier, Francisco Rameiro, and intrusted him with the command of an armament equipped with every thing requisite for the purpose, and which arrived safe in the port of the island of Tinhare. Here Rameiro founded a town upon the morro of St. Paulo; but, becoming disgusted with the situation he had chosen, the colony was removed to the river of Ilheos, where a new town was commenced, and received the name of St. George, in honour of the proprietor. War was maintained against the Indians for a few years, but being a tribe of the Tupininquins, who possessed much more docility of character than any of the others, friendship was at last established with them; and the harmony which afterwards prevailed tended greatly to the augmentation of the capitania, and many rich men of Lisbon ordered sugar-works to be erected, which produced a rapid increase of population and commerce.
Jeronimo Alarcao succeeded his father, Figueyredo Correa, and shortly afterwards, by royal consent, he sold this capitania to Lucas Giraldes, who expended a considerable capital in its improvement, which was, however, rendered futile in consequence of the destruction occasioned by the Aimbores, who fell upon his people, killed a great many, and compelled the rest to retire to Bahia. Mendo de Sa went personally to succour the unfortunate colonists, and carried havoc amongst the Indians, about the year 1570.
One of the successors of Lucas Geraldes transferred this capitania to D. Ellena de Castro, for the payment of a debt; in the possession of which illustriousfamily it remained till the year 1771, when Joseph I. incorporated it with the crown lands, giving to Don Antonio de Castro, the last donatory, the countship of Rezende, and an admiralship, with a revenue of five thousand crusades. It is a mountainous country, almost universally covered with wild woods and forests, which produce a diversity of timber for building, cabinet work, and dye-woods. The frequent rains contribute much to the growth of the woods, which preserve the soil in a state of moisture. There is scarcely any situation where mandioca, the coffee tree, rice, Indian corn, the sugar cane, and cotton tree do not prosper. They are the principal articles of cultivation. The culture of indigo might be rendered lucrative, as well as cocoa andpechurim. Although the country produces them spontaneously, the latter is not so full grown as that of Para.
Mountains.—The serra of Aimores originates in this comarca, where it commonly receives the name of Itaraca, and sometimes Goytaracas, or Baytaracas; in many parts it is uneven and broken, in some it approaches the sea, and in others stretches far into the interior. Between the rivers Ilheos and Contas it is parallel with and very near to the beach. All the other mountains are ramifications of this; and almost all parts, particularly the Beira-mar, or sea-coast, are dressed in verdant woods.
Mineralogy.—Granite, limestone, potters’ earth, crystals, and gold in the western district of the province.
Phytology.—Amongst medicinal plants are found ipecacuanha,alcacuz,contrayerva, (used against poisons,)butua, jesuits’ bark, jalap, tamarind,milhomens, or basil root,curucu,barbatimao,curcuma, or turmerick, betony. The gum trees are gum-copal, dragons’ blood, angelem, and mastick. Amongst the trees of good timber for building aremacaranduba,tapinhuan,vinhatica,loiro,jinipapo,itapicuru, cedar,pilia,hybicuhyba, sassafras,angico,gonsalo-alves, bow wood, oil wood, iron wood, violet wood,sucupira,sapucaya,caixete,coroçao de negro, (negro’s heart,) and Brazil wood. There are also trees ofcupahiba,suma-uma, cajue-nut,jabuticaha,mangaba, thegoyaba,araticu, and a diversity of palms. The Asiatic cocoa-nut tree is very abundant in the proximity of the shore. Thepiassabatree, common in the woods, furnishes a lucrative branch of commerce in its flax for cables; of its nut various turnery articles are made. Thenayhatree, as large as the first, grows in the interior, and sustains with its nuts a variety of birds, principally thearrara, and quadrupeds; they are little inferior to the cocoa, the inside being very sweet.
Zoology.—All parts of the comarca are generally deficient in domesticanimals; hogs, which are the most numerous, fly to the mountains, in certain moons, and do not re-appear till after some days. In the woods are the deer,anta, boar, and other game. The wild dog has been known in this district only a few years. Themutun,jacu, macuco partridge, andtucanoare common; as well as thearraponga, and various sorts of the turtle-dove. Thecayruais of the size of a blackbird, blue on the back, with the breast purple, the wings and tail black, the beak short and broad; the feathers of the breast, when placed before the heat of a fire, assume the colour of gold; but the Author of Nature has not destined this bird, so esteemed for its plumage, to delight the ear. Various species of bees produce honey spontaneously, some in the cavities of the trunks of trees, others in little hives of wax which they form in the twigs.
The Tupininquin tribe, who possessed the sea-coast when the colonists established themselves in this comarca, (ci-devant capitania,) have been partially Christianized for many years; and, having intermarried with the Europeans, a portion of the population exhibit a mixture of the Tupininquin physiognomy.
In the certam there existed for some ages two nations, denominatedPatachos, orCotochos, andMongoyos; the former is at present unknown.
The Mongoyos, reduced in the year 1806, are divided into six or seven aldeias, thinly peopled in their vicinity, and to the north of the river Patype. Each family lives in its cabana. They cultivate various sorts of roots, besides excellent mandioca, and water-melons. They are very extravagant of honey in their method of taking it from the hives. They clear away all the wax, as well as the bees, which they find in the cells, and strain the whole through a sort of sifter; the wax and bees are subsequently distilled in a certain portion of water, which ferments and produces a beverage, which when taken copiously leads them on from intoxication to fury. They make even a more spirituous drink from a sort of potato, and the root of mandioca pounded, and infused to the point of fermentation. The fathers give names to their new-born sons without any ceremony whatever. They weep over the dead, and inter them seated in a naked state. They dance and sing to the sound of an instrument as simple as inharmonious, and in the form of a bow with a slender cord. The women wear a well made cotton fringe, which reaches almost to the knees; the men a girdle made of palm leaves, and have no other covering upon their well proportioned bodies. They spend a great portion of their time wandering in the woods, hunting, and gathering fruits. The manufacture of earthen vessels is the only handicraft which they exercise. They use the skins of deer for bags. The dog is the most useful domestic animal in their estimation, andthe only one which they breed for the purpose of hunting. They covet nothing so much of the Christians as instruments of iron. Their medicine consists in plasters of pounded herbs, baths, and beverages of others boiled; all derived from the experience or tradition of their ancestors. The bow and arrow are their only arms, both for war and hunting; those who have been catechised prefer the gun.
Rivers and Lakes.—The most considerable is the river Contas, primarily called Jussiappe. It originates and receives its first confluents in the comarca of Jacobina. The streams that incorporate with it in this comarca, by the northern margin, are the Preto, Pedras, Manageru, the small Area, Pires, Agua Branca, (White Water,) and the Orico Guassu, which generally traverse extensive forests, exhibiting few signs of colonization or cultivation. It receives by the southern bank the Grugungy, little inferior to it, the principal branch of which is the Salina. The Patacho Indians are masters of its adjacent territory. Below this confluence is the situation called Funis, where the river runs with divided rapidity, almost hid amongst stones, and discharges itself thirty-five miles south of Point Mutta, and about the same distance north of the Ilheos. Sumacas proceed fifteen miles up it to the first fall, where there is a populous aldeia, with a hermitage.
The Patype, which has its source in the comarca of Serro Frio, and there has the name of Pardo, runs through a stony bed, with numerous falls, which renders it unnavigable. Its mouth is ten miles to the north of the river Belmonte, with which it communicates in two places by the channels of Jundiahy and of Salsa, which latter, about twenty-eight miles from the sea, divides its waters between the Patype and the Belmonte.
About five miles from the Salsa is the deep and circular lake of Antimucuy, abounding with fish, and having two outlets into the Belmonte.
Ten miles north of the Patype is the Poxim, and about the same distance from the latter the Commandatuba.
Fifteen miles north of the Commandatuba is emptied the Una, which rises in the Aimore mountains, and gathers by its right bank the Braco do Sul, that flows also from the same serra. Sumacas advance nearly ten miles above this confluence, which is about three miles distant from the sea.
The river Ilheos is the entrance of a fine bay, into which various streams flow, navigable with the tide for a greater or less distance; but the only considerable one is the Cachoeira, along the banks of which is a fine flat roadway, nearly half the distance of its extent. The Engenho is navigable for the spaceof eight miles to the base of a beautiful cascade. The others are all small. The bar of the Ilheos is pointed out by four islands; three are very rocky, the other is robed in verdant woods, and the whole are of moderate elevation.
Three miles north of the bar of Ilheos is that of the Itahype, which is narrow and deep, not having more than twenty-five miles of extent, being the outlet of a deep lake of the same name. It is seven miles in circumference, and three in width, with a small island, and is bordered with woods and forests, from whence issue several small streams into this fine receptacle. The spontaneous woody productions of the banks of this lake might be conveyed with much facility to the bay of Ilheos, by opening a canal from the Itahype to the Fundao, and which undertaking had, in fact, at some former period been commenced.
In the northern part of this comarca are to be observed the rivers Marahu and Acarahy, which flow into the bay of Camamu; the Serenheham, which empties itself in front of the island of Boypeba; the Jiquie, which enters by two unequal mouths into the channel that separates the isle of Tinhare from the continent; the Una, which originates in the serra of Pedra Branca, (White Stone,) and runs into the sea a few leagues to the north of the Jiquie; and the Jiquirica, which descends from the serra Giboya, having its mouth a few miles to the north of the Una. The whole afford only a very short navigation, and the largest have not a course exceeding sixty miles, their waters being precipitated by numerous falls, and flowing through a country of a mountainous aspect, possessing fertile soil and forests of fine timber.
Ports and Islands.—The bay of Camamu, at the southern entrance of which is Point Mutta, with a fort, is the only port of the comarca capable of receiving large vessels. It is beautified with several islands, and has numerous streams navigable only as far as the tide advances.
From the bay of Camamu, nearly to the Una, the coast is bordered with islands; three of which, only, are of any considerable size, the Tinhare, the Boypeba, and the Tupiassu.
The island of Tinhare, better known by the name of Morro, in consequence of having a rock called the morro of St. Paulo, is eighteen miles long from north to south, of proportionable width, with a fort at its northern extremity, and near it a povoaçao, and hermitage of Our Lady da Luz.
The island of Boypeba, south of Tinhare, from which it is separated by a channel, is six miles square, and has a town on its eastern shore.
The island of Tupiassu, ten miles long from east to west, and half the width,is between Tinhare and the continent, and the two branches of the river Jiquie.
Fifteen miles to the south of Boypeba is the small island of Quieppe, formerly fortified, and forming two unequal bars to the bay of Camamu.
Seven miles west of Quieppe, and almost in the centre of the bay, is the island of Camamu, elevated and of a circular form, two miles in diameter, and with some dwellers. It is now generally denominated the island Das Pedras, or Stones, which are found upon it in great quantities. They are of a ferruginous colour, and as heavy as lead; some have veins of silver, but not sufficient to repay the labour of its extraction. The fishermen of the southern coast make leads from it for their nets and lines.
Near ten miles north-north-east of Quieppe is the island of Tubaroes, larger than Camamu, well provided with water, possessing cocoa groves, and some inhabitants.
The towns of this comarca are—-
IlheosOlivençaRio de ContasCamamuMarahuBarcellosSerinhehemCayruIgrapiunaBoypebaValença.
Ilheos, or St. George, now decayed, and formerly a considerable place, is on a plain upon the northern bank of the bay of the same name, between the two small hills of St. Antonio and Our Lady of Victory, which latter is the most distant from the sea. It has a church dedicated to the Invençao da Vera Cruz, a hermitage of Our Lady of St. Sebastian, near the beach, and one of Our Lady of Victory, upon the hill of that name. It is well supplied with fish, and the necessaries of life. The Jesuits had a college here, which serves for the municipal house. The suburbs are agreeable, and the port, which can receive large sumacas, is defended by various small forts. From hence is exported farinha, rice, coffee, spirits, timber, and some cocoa. There are two roads or tracks from this town, one already mentioned along the river Cachoeira to the comarca of Serro Frio, the other to Villa Nova do Principe, in the southern district of the comarca of Jacobina.
Olivença, nine miles to the south of Ilheos, is a large and populous Indian town, delightfully situated upon a small eminence, enjoying salubrious air, and an extensive view of the sea, between the mouths of two small rivers of unequal size. All the houses are covered with straw, and its inhabitants are generally occupied in works of turnery, by which they obtain nearly a thousand crusades annually. The church is a handsome stone building, denominated Our Ladyda Escada, and a bridge is over the larger stream, which washes the northern side of the town.
Rio de Contas is a middling town, well situated a little within the mouth and upon the southern margin of the river from which its name is derived, and that forms a very good port for the reception of sumacas between two rivers of very unequal magnitude, the waters of which are excellent for tempering iron. It has a church dedicated to St. Miguel, and a stone bridge over the larger river. The inhabitants are obliged by the camara to cultivate, under certain penalties, so many feet of mandioca, proportioned to the number of slaves which each farmer possesses. This arrangement produces considerable exportation of farinha to the capital.
Camamu is a town in a state of mediocrity, possessing some commerce, and agreeably situated upon the left bank of the Acarahy, ten miles above its embouchure, and opposite the mouth of the Cachoeira, which joins the former on the right. It possesses a church of Our Lady of Assumpçao, a hermitage of Our Lady of Desterro, and royal professors of Latin and the primitive letters. The exports are considerable in coffee, farinha, spirits, timber, rice, and cocoa. At this town a road terminates from the central part of the district of the town of Rio de Contas, from whence proceed numerous droves of oxen.
Marahu is a small town, well situated upon the margin and about twenty miles distant from the mouth of the river from which it derives the name, and by which small craft proceed up to its port. It has a church dedicated to St. Sebastian. The inhabitants produce much mandioca, and collect some timber. In its district are portions of soil particularly adapted to the produce of water-melons and pine-apples, which are very large and excellent, and are sent in considerable abundance to the capital.
Barcellos is also a small town, advantageously standing at the angle of the confluence of the small river Paratigy, with the Marahu, ten miles below the town of the same name. The inhabitants are Indians, cultivate mandioca and other necessaries of life peculiar to the country, and dress the flax ofticum. The church is entitled Our Lady of Candeias.
Serinhehem, commonly called Santarem, is a very small town, near the mouth of the stream of that name, and peopled with Indians, who are fishermen, agriculturists, and cutters of wood. St. Andre is the titular patron of its church.
Cayru, a town of medium size, pleasantly situated upon a small island of the same name, between those of Tinhare, Tupiassu, and the continent, has onegood paved street, with many houses of one story. At its extremity is a convent of St. Franciscans; also a church dedicated to Our Lady of Rozario, a hermitage of the Lady of Lapa, and royal schools of the primitive letters and Latin. Some ouvidors select this place for their residence; those now holding this appointment are also judges, conservators of the woods, and preside at a junta denominated Conservatoria.
Igrapiuna is an insignificant maritime town, at the mouth of the small river of the same name, between Santarem and Cayru. Its inhabitants are white, cultivators of rice, and other necessaries. It has a church of Our Lady of Griefs.
Boypeba, an old town upon the island from which it takes the name, is peopled by whites, who cultivate very little beyond the provisions of life. The church is dedicated to the Holy Spirit.
Valença is an increasing town, upon the northern margin of the Una, a little above its mouth. The church is dedicated to the Holy Heart of Jesus, and its inhabitants are Indians and European descendants. Coffee and timber are their productions.
About two miles from the lake of Itahype, and very agreeably situated, is the povoaçao of Almador, with a church of Our Lady of Conceiçao. The inhabitants are composed of whites and Indians, for the latter of whom the establishment was founded; they produce farinha and other necessaries, and are cutters of timber.
In a peninsula formed by the river Patype, near its mouth, and on the most fruitful soil, is the large parish of St. Boaventura. The inhabitants, who are also whites and Indians, grow abundance of rice, mandioca, feijao, and Indian corn; cut wood, possess some cattle, and are great fishers and hunters. The water-melons and pine-apples are here very excellent and large.
The comarca of Jacobina takes its name from the head town, and comprehends all the western part of the province, a considerable portion of which consists of catingas that are not susceptible of agriculture, but are appropriated alone to breeding cattle. Mountains of any considerable elevation are rare, and woods are seen only where the soil possesses some degree of substance, portions of which are cultivated with mandioca, Indian com, sugar, legumes, hortulans, and cotton. It is probable, from the considerable extent of this district, and the system which the government is now adopting, of forming theprovinces into comarcas, that it will be divided into two, in which event the town of Rio de Contas would be well suited for the head of the future comarca. And for the better delineation of the topography of the country, we will already consider it as divided into two equal parts, or districts, that of Jacobina to the north, and Rio de Contas to the south.
Mineralogy.—It possesses gold, brass, iron, and silver; saltpetre, mineral salt, potters’ earth, crystals, limestone, grindstone, and granite.
Mountains.—The serra of Almas for a considerable space divides the province from that of Minas Geraes.
The serra of Villavelha, near the town of Rio de Contas and the Pinga, a few leagues to the west of the latter, the highest portion of which, denominated the Morro das Almas, is seen from a considerable distance, and is frequently covered with fogs. Various torrents, which take different courses, have their origin in it.
The serra of Catulez, commencing a few leagues to the north of the Pinga, extends forty miles to the north-west, and terminates within twenty of the town of Urubu.
The serra of Montes Altos, (High Mountains,) which abounds with saltpetre, is prolonged from north to south, at a distance of about thirty-five miles from the river St. Francisco.
The serra of Cincura, which is a branch of the Aimores, extends almost to the northern extremity of the province, discontinuing entirely in various parts, and serving as a limit to the winter of the sea-coast, when it is there rainy.
In the district of Jacobina, is the Morro do Chapéo, (or Hat Rock,) so called from its similitude to a hat.
The serra of Thiuba, which possesses gold, and upon whose summit cold is sensibly felt, is in some parts covered with rocks, in others with woods; has many dwellers, and a hermitage of St. Gonçalo d’Amarante.
The serra of Paulista commands the view of a plain extending far to the eastward.
The serra of Borracha, otherwise Muribeca, is said to have abundance of brass, also some silver, and is not far distant from the celebrated fall of Paulo Affonso.
The serra of Riachinho is a portion of that of Cincura; those who come from the river St. Francisco, by the road of Joazeiro in the summer, passing this mountain soon find pasturage for their animals, on its eastern side.
Monte Santo, (Holy Mount,) so called from a hermitage upon it, has calcareous stone; and in its vicinity, nearly sixty miles north-west of Villa Nova, there is a large rock, or stone, almost all iron.
The serra Branca has a spring on the summit; that of Gado Brabo, (Wild Cattle,) has small streams, woods, and gold, and is partially inhabited. There are also the serras of Orobo, of Piedade, of Mangabeira, with large woods and plantations, and that of Boqueirao, in the vicinity of the river Verde.
Rivers.—The Paramirim is neither considerable nor perennial, descends from the Morro das Almas, runs north-west, and enters the St. Francisco above thirty miles below the arraial of Bomjardim, near a mountain, where there is grindstone. A little below the origin, it passes near a large and deep lake with which it communicates, and during the period of the inundations supplies it with much fish.
The Rans originates in the Montes Altos, and flows into the St. Francisco thirty miles above the chapel of Good Jesus of Lapa.
The Rio de Contas springs in the serra of Tromba, above twenty-eight miles north-west of the town of its name, and passing it at the distance of about eighteen miles, takes a course with little variation eastward; and, after flowing a considerable space, receives on the right the Brumado, also called Rio Contas Pequena, (the Little Contas,) which issues from the Morro das Almas, runs near the same town, and two miles below it forms a fine cascade. Twenty miles below this confluence, the Gaviao joins it on the same margin, and flows from the Morro do Chapeo, a portion of the afore-mentioned Serra das Almas, bringing with it the waters of the Antonio. Twenty miles lower, it receives, on the left, the considerable Cincura, which originates in the serra of the same name. We have already mentioned those rivers that join it on traversing the comarca of Ilheos, where it enters the ocean. The Paraguassuzinho, the Una, and the Andrahy, confluents of the Paraguassu, which latter flows into the bay of All Saints, originate in this district.
In the district of Jacobina, besides the three rivers of the same name, which form the Itapicuru, discharged into the sea on the coast of Bahia, is to be remarked the Jacuhype, which rises near the Morro do Chapeo, and runs into the Paraguassu, twelve miles above the town of Cachoeira. In its adjacent territory many cattle are bred, and lower down provisions and tobacco are cultivated.
The Verde, whose wholesome waters flow northward through an extensivecountry, partially abounding with cattle, finally enters the St. Francisco near the passage from Pilao Arcado.
Phytology.—Where there are woods a variety of timber for building is met with, but in this district hitherto little used, in consequence of the great deficiency of population. The wood calledsebastiao d’arrudais common in many places. Of wild fruits, thejabuticabawhich is found in the woods only, and theambuzo, alone met with in the catingas, are the most esteemed.
Zoology.—Amongst wild animals, theanta, the ounce, the boar, and the deer, are the most numerous species, and most hunted. Cattle are universally bred in this district, and would be more than adequate to the supply of the whole province, if winter weather prevailed here, or the thunder showers were regular in summer. It has been already observed that the winters of the Beira-mar, or sea-coast, do not extend more than ninety or one hundred miles into the interior of the continent, where it rains proportionably only with the thunder, which is generally not frequent, and at times almost fails in parts of the north. The sun is vertical twice a year throughout the province, and leaves the earth in a state of calcination: a few salutary showers animate the soil in two or three weeks to abundant production, and the cattle become fat; but the approach of dry weather as quickly dissipates all herbage, and the animals exist upon the branches of trees and shrubs, if they can obtain water; but if the tanks, which the thunder showers supply, and the torrents are dried up, a mortality necessarily prevails, and large numbers are swept off. Sheep and goats are not numerous, in consequence of being almost universally deemed animals of no utility.
In various parts of the district of Rio de Contas, the first discoverers found bones of an immense size, belonging to a class of animals that no longer existed.
The towns of this comarca are,
JacobinaVilla Nova da RainhaRio de ContasVilla Nova do PrincipeUrubu.
Jacobina is a considerable town, and the ordinary residence of the ouvidor of the comarca. It is situated near the left bank of the southern Itapicuru, three miles below a lake, whose superfluous waters enlarge the river. It was created a town in 1723, by King John V. and consists of one large and good street, and other smaller ones. The houses are mostly of stone, and white-washed with a species of potters’ earth, found in the vicinity. It is traversed by the small stream Rio do Oiro, (Gold River,) which is passed by a bridge.The nominal patron of the church is St. Antonio, there are also two hermitages, one dedicated to Good Jesus, the other to Our Lady of Rozario. It has a royal master of Latin, and had a smelting house whilst the mines were productive. In the adjacent country are bred cattle, good horses, hogs, sheep, and goats. The articles cultivated are sugar, cotton, tobacco of an excellent quality, wheat, Indian corn, and legumes. There are oranges, grapes, and small quinces, which latter are made into marmalade, and exported in small cases. Some of the inhabitants manufacture earthenware.
Villa Nova da Rainha, yet small, and possessing no advantages to warrant the expectation of its increase, is sixty miles north of Jacobina, and three from the Itapicuru Mirim. The houses are of earth and wood, and tiled. The church is of brick, and dedicated to the Senhor of Bom Fim. Cattle and cotton are the wealth of its inhabitants, who also cultivate Indian corn, rice, feijao, mandioca, and distil some spirits from the cane. The orange, lime,jaca, mango, banana, and pine trees are common, as are themangaba, and pine-apple. In its district there are many crystals and saltpetre. Ten miles from it is the arraial of Matriz Velha, whose church is dedicated to St. Antonio, and is the most ancient in the comarca. The vicar resides at Villa Nova, and has a coadjutor here. About five miles from Villa Nova is the parish of the mission of Sahy, abounding with water. Its inhabitants are principally Indians. Our Lady of Neves is its titular patroness. In the district of Jacobina are yet the arraial of Figuras, formerly flourishing, but at present of little note; that of Saude; of Gamelleira, with a hermitage of Our Lady of Graça, near the river Jacuhype; of Joazeiro, more distinguished than extensive and upon the St. Francisco, in one of the most frequented tracks from Bahia to the province of Piauhy, with a chapel of Our Lady of Grotas. Higher up, and also upon the same river, is the parish of St. Joam Baptista, near Centoce, where much salt is made; St. Antonio de Pambu is much below Joazeiro; in its district is the magnificent fall of Paulo Affonso, and the Primerios Campos, (First Fields,) where there are rich mines of copper. The parish of Bom Jesus, or de Xique-xique, is also upon the banks of the St. Francisco, about fifty miles above the mouth of the river Verde.
Rio de Contas, a considerable town, upon the road from the capital to the province of Goyaz, was created by John V. in the year 1724, in consequence of the augmentation given to it by the discovery of gold mines, which some Paulistas made in the year 1718. It is in a plain, refreshed with salubrious air, upon the left margin of the Brumado. The houses are mostly constructed withearth and adobe, or wood, are white-washed, and without regularity. The church is dedicated to the Holy Sacramento: it is the residence of a Juiz de Fora, also a royal master of Latin, and was commenced two leagues higher up upon the same river, where there yet exists a chapel of Our Lady of Livramento. The inhabitants, and those of its vast district, cultivate mandioca, Indian corn, rice, feijao, and tobacco, for the consumption of the country, also the cane, for which there are some engenhos and alembics. Little wealth exists in this district; those that in any degree possess it are traders, breeders of cattle, and cultivators of the cotton tree, which is here of excellent quality. The only European fruit is a small and insipid quince, from which is made a great quantity of marmalade. The nearest track or road from the town of Rio de Contas to Jacobina, not more than one hundred and thirty miles, is little frequented, in consequence of the catingas being uninhabited for want of water, which is not met with for several days’ journey. The travellers carry it inborrachas(leathern bottles.) The way usually frequented exceeds two hundred and thirty miles. In the district of this town are dispersed various chapels or hermitages, which in the course of time will become parochials, namely, in the serra of Montes Altos, in the arraials of Morro do Fogo, (Rock of Fire,) Furna, Bom Jesus, Catulez, and one of St. Antonio of Matto Grosso, six miles distant from the town of Rio de Contas, which is constructed of stone and served as a parochial for some years previous to the erection of the before-mentioned one of Our Lady of Livramento.
Villa Nova do Principe, antecedently Caytete, was created a town in the year 1810, and is in a situation refreshed with breezes, near a small stream which flows into the Antonio. It is nearly fifty miles to the west-south-west of Rio de Contas. The church is dedicated to St. Anna. In the adjacent territory many cattle are bred, and there are more extensive plantations of cotton than in any other part of the province. Within its district is the chapel of Our Lady of Boa Viagem.
Urubu, yet a small town, in an advantageous situation upon the St. Francisco, is ornamented with a stone church of St. Antonio and a hermitage of Our Lady of Rozario. The inhabitants, having no fountains, use the water of the river, which also supplies them with fish; they breed cattle, and have some plantations of cane, and raise the necessaries of life in such parts of its vicinity as are not deficient in water. It is about seventy miles north-west of Rio de Contas.
Thirty-five miles to the north, upon the same river, is the small arraial of Bom Jardim, with a hermitage of Our Lady of Bom Successo. The people who inhabit it breed cattle, are agriculturists and fishermen. Fifty miles from the town of Urubu is the celebrated chapel of Bom Jesus da Lapa, but which does not correspond with the description given of it by the exaggerating pen of Rocha Pitta. It is a vast cavern, and one of the many curious operations which Nature has displayed in this region, having some similitude to the form of a temple, into which it was converted, being interestingly situated in the skirts of a mount of rock, about a mile in circumference, upon the margin of the St. Francisco. It has an effective chaplain and a good patrimony. Not far from it there is a small povoaçao.
The comarca of Bahia comprises upwards of one hundred and forty miles of coast, computing from the river Jiquirica, which empties itself ten miles west-south-west of Barra-Falsa, to the Rio Real, the northern limit of the province, and one hundred and twenty miles in width, being bounded on the west by the comarca of Jacobina. The face of the country is varied by woods, small hills, a few serras, and catingas, or charnecas, which occupy more than one half of it, and where cattle alone are raised. It is not however without tracts of substantial soil, upon the summits principally of the serras, in the profoundest valleys, and in the vicinity of rivers, where fine trees grow, and where (after they are cleared away) plantations are formed of mandioca, tobacco, cotton, and millet.
The best land of the comarca is that called the Reconcave, from twenty to thirty-five miles in width, immediately surrounding the fine and picturesque bay of All Saints, (the harbour of its capital,) where considerable estates are appropriated to the culture principally of the sugar-cane and tobacco, productions which in no other province of the state are afforded in such quantity; the soil calledmassapé, black and strong, is deemed the best for the growth of the cane. The winter, or rainy season, commences about the end of March and continues till August, with considerable intervals of summer weather, and never extends to the western extremity, where it rains only with thunder, which is pretty general, and continues whilst the sun is southward of the equator.
Mountains.—The principal serras are from the river Paraguassu southward; the most remarkable are the Giboya, the Itapera, the Mangabeira, the Bocetas, the Gayru, the Pedra Branca, and the Cupioba. On the left ofthe same river, at a considerable distance from it, is the Camizao, covered with extensive woods, where cotton plantations and other objects of agriculture flourish.
Mineralogy.—Granite, argils of different colours, gold, and iron, but only in small quantities.
Phytology.—Of European trees, the fig only flourishes. The mango tree is very numerous in some situations, and produces fruit in perfection and abundance; thejacais very common; themangabatree is universally known; thejabuticabaprospers only in the woods, and theambuzoin the catingas. Water-melons are generally very large and good, but melons are bad. There are various sorts of oranges, the best are theembigos, which have no seed, and those calledseccas. There are a variety of indigenous spices and peppers, as well as those from Malabar; also ginger, jalap,urucu,angelim, and theopuncia, of which there are various species and names, some are almost of the form of a tree, and produce a fruit resembling a large pear, with a smooth thin skin of a reddish hue, and a white, soft, and cooling pulp, containing seed.
There is a variety of fine timber, such as thejacaranda,vinhatica,masaranduba,piquia,sucupira,sapucaya,paroba,itapicuru,sebastiao d’ arruda,gonsalo alves, bow wood, Brazil wood,brauna, mulberry, whose trunk is used in dying, and the leaves nourish a species of indigenousbombice, or silk worm, the cultivation of which might be rendered lucrative. Amongst various sorts of palm trees, the one best known by that name is the handsomest; its trunk is high and of great thickness, very smooth and straight, with branches of prodigious size, and growing only in the humid soil of the woods. There are also thecupahybaand gum-mastick trees. The cajue-nut tree is very abundant. The cane, mandioca, tobacco, and cotton, are the principal branches of agriculture, which have produced a considerable diminution of the largest forests and woods, particularly in the environs of the Reconcave; the growth of coffee is pretty extensive.
Zoology.—All the wild quadrupeds of the adjoining provinces are known here: sheep and goats are far from being numerous. Cattle, which are bred generally in all parts beyond the Reconcave, are not, even with the addition of those from the comarca of Jacobina, adequate to the supply of the engenhos, the usual consumption, and the furnishing of ships, in consequence of the pastures being generally bad, and the frequent want of water. The deficiency is supplied from the provinces of Piauhy and Goyaz.
The ancientQuinnimuraIndians were the first memorable possessors of the Reconcave, or country surrounding the bay of All Saints. They were succeededby theTappuyas, which tribe was soon afterwards expelled by theTuppinas, who came from the certams, whither the others retired; but they never ceased to annoy and to afford great inquietude to their conquerors. TheTupinambas, who were masters of both banks of the St. Francisco, being at war with the neighbouring Tuppinas, dispersed them, and marching forward expelled the last conquerors of the Reconcave, and compelled them to fly in their turn to the certams. The Tappuyas and the Tuppinas uniting, marched upon the Tupinamba tribe, but were effectually repulsed; and from that period to the arrival of the Portuguese in the bay of All Saints, and their final establishment at Bahia, the Reconcave remained in the possession of the Tupinambas. They were divided into various independent hordes and declared enemies on all occasions to the injurers of any one of them. The same idiom prevailed amongst them, and each elected the most powerful individual for its war captain, who in peace received no superior distinction. They were a race of anthropophagi.
The only port of this comarca is the famous bay of All Saints, which is twenty-three miles long from north to south, computing from the point of St. Antonio, to the mouth of the river Pitanga, and near thirty wide from east to west. The island of Itaparica forms two entrances, open to the south, the eastern is about eight miles wide, and the western, called Barra-Falsa (False Bar,) is under two at the narrowest part. The margins of the bay are flat, and beautified in most parts with groves of cocoa-nut trees; the most elevated portion of it presents the site of the capital, St. Salvador, commonly called Bahia.
Islands.—All the islands of this comarca are within the bay of All Saints; that of Itaparica is the largest, being twenty-three miles long from north to south, and ten in the widest part. It is of an irregular form, having a bay on the western side, and a large curving projection on the eastern, with considerable inequality of surface. Its soil in great part is adapted for various branches of agriculture. The cocoa-nut, the mango, thejaca, and orange trees, are abundant; the vine produces in perfection. It is divided into the two parishes of St. Amaro, on the southern side, and Santissimo Sacramento, at the northern extremity; the latter is a considerable povoaçao, the only one in the island, and yet without the title of town, also without regularity, but with a handsome church, a hermitage of St. Gonçalo, a fort, a good anchorage place for small vessels, sheltered from the east winds, and at a short distance an abundant fountain of excellent water. It has also a whale fishery, cord manufactories of thepiassaba, (a sort of black rush,) and some alembics. For the instructionof youth there are royal professors of the primitive letters and Latin. This island, which belongs to the Marquis de Niza, and in whose territory the first annual payments in the state began, was given by Thome de Souza to Don Antonio d’ Athayde, Count of Castanheira, and afterwards made part of the capitania, which the King gave to him, comprehending the territory between the rivers Paraguassu and Jaguarype, with thirty-five miles of certam. About two miles distant from the povoaçao there is a chapel called Vera Cruz, which was formerly the mother church.
About three miles north of Itaparica is the island Dos Frades, which is mountainous, and four miles in length; a little to the north of it is the island of Bom Jesus, with a chapel of the same name, and another of Our Lady of Loreto. Further north is the island Das Vaccas, two miles long; to the east of it is that of Menino Deos, which is small. North of Vaccas is the island of Bimbarra, and further in the same direction that of Fontes.
The island of Mare, whose soil is mainly appropriated to the culture of bananas, the support of its inhabitants, is five miles long, little less in width, having its eastern extremity near the main land. The isle of Cajahyba, three miles long, low, and cultivated, is situated at the western extremity of the bay.
The island of Medo, which is very small, flat, and covered with cocoa-nut trees, lies west of the northern end of Itaparica.
Between the western side of Itaparica and the continent there are many islands, mostly small, flat, and uninhabited, in the proximity of the bar. Those of Cal and Cannas are the largest.
Rivers.—About three or four miles to the north-east of the point of St. Antonio is discharged the Vermelho, which does not exceed a rivulet, and is of very little extent. The road from the capital to Itapuan crosses it by a stone bridge.
Eight miles to the north-east of the river Vermelho is the bay of Itapuan, with a whale fishery. Between this bay and the said river there are fisheries which furnish the capital with fish.
Ten miles onward to the north-east is the mouth of the river Joannes, which originates in the district of the town of St. Francisco.
About ten miles further is the embouchure of the Jacuhype, which comes from a great distance, as also the Pojuca, which follows it.
The Itapicuru is formed in the comarca of Jacobina, by three streams of the same name. The southern one is called Guassu, or Large, and the northern Mirim, or Small. It flows uniformly towards the east, passes the arraial of St. Antonio of the Queimadas, by the town and arraial of its name, and dischargesitself into the ocean ten or twelve miles to the south-west of Rio Real. Within its dangerous bar there is a bay; the navigation is short, and only for small craft. Its adjacent country is mostly of the catinga kind, serving only for breeding cattle.
The Jaguaripe, originating on the borders of the road to the mines, about forty miles west of the town of Cachoeira, in the situation of Curralinho, flows into the bay at Barra Falsa, affording navigation to large barks, for the space of twenty miles.
The river Paraguassu rises in the vicinity of the serra Chapada, about the centre of the district of the town of Rio de Contas. The small streams Cocho and Encantada, (Enchanted,) which flow from a lake of the latter name, so called from having a floating island, are the first confluents which it receives on the left; the Paraguassusinho (the Little Paraguassu) is the first on the right. The largest of the rivers that join it on the left is the Andrahy, which flows from the vicinity of the serra of Orobo. Not far from the mouth of this river a small stream enters the Paraguassu, which a little above re-appears, having flowed for some miles hid under solid ground. About twenty miles below the large cascade formed by its waters traversing the serra of Cincura, the Una joins it on the right, being the only abundant stream that enters on that side, and whose black waters change the crystalline Paraguassu to a yellowish colour. The Capibary and the Peixe enter it on the left, also the Jacuhype, which rises in the district of Jacobina. Twelve miles above the last confluence is the fall of Timbora, less than that of Cincura. This river passes the towns of Cachoeira and Maragogype, and discharges by a large mouth into the western side of the bay of All Saints. The water is excellent; but ought not to be drank till kept twenty-four hours. The occupiers of the central part of its banks are frequently attacked with fevers, which are often fatal.
The Serigy, or Serzipe, originates in the plains of Cachoeira, receives the Subahe, which is equal to it, on the left, and, after ten or twelve miles more, runs into the bay of All Saints, opposite the island of Cajahyba.
A few miles to the west of the Serigy is the mouth of the Sararahy, also called Assu, or Acupe, which becomes a small stream where the tide terminates. The Piraja empties itself almost in the middle of the eastern side of the bay.
Near the extremity of the same side, the Matuin flows into the bay in front of the Island of Mare, and has a fine bay within its bar.
The Pitanga and the Paranna Mirim also add their might to the waters of thebay of All Saints, the first in front of the island of Mare, and the other opposite that of Fontes. Rocha Pitta represents them as large rivers, but they are small streams, and alone assume the appearance of rivers for the short space that the tide advances. Barks enter the whole, and convey from them sugar in cases, &c. to Bahia.
The towns of this comarca are—