CHAP. XVII.PROVINCE OF PERNAMBUCO.
Voyage from Rio de Janeiro—First Donatories—Taken by the Dutch—Restoration—Reversion to the Crown—Indians—Boundaries—Mountains—Colony of Negroes—Mineralogy—Zoology—Phytology—Rivers—Islands—Comarcas of Ollinda, Recife, Alagoas—Povoações—Ouvidoria of the Certam of Pernambuco—Rivers—Towns—Recife, or Pernambuco—Ollinda—Mattutos—State of Society—Apathy—Environs—Revolution in 1817—Military Government—Adoption of a New Constitution—Holidays—Produce—Inspection—Sugar Engenho—Contribution Fund—Population—Fribourg House.
Voyage from Rio de Janeiro—First Donatories—Taken by the Dutch—Restoration—Reversion to the Crown—Indians—Boundaries—Mountains—Colony of Negroes—Mineralogy—Zoology—Phytology—Rivers—Islands—Comarcas of Ollinda, Recife, Alagoas—Povoações—Ouvidoria of the Certam of Pernambuco—Rivers—Towns—Recife, or Pernambuco—Ollinda—Mattutos—State of Society—Apathy—Environs—Revolution in 1817—Military Government—Adoption of a New Constitution—Holidays—Produce—Inspection—Sugar Engenho—Contribution Fund—Population—Fribourg House.
On the 14th of November, I proceeded on board the brig Columbine, Captain Thomson, lying in the bay of Rio de Janeiro, for the purpose of visiting Pernambuco. A contrary wind prevented our departure for five days. The party on board consisted of Colonel Cotter, his lady and children, Captain Rezende, and Mons. Garay. By way of rendering our detention less tedious, we made two or three excursions to the eastern side of the bay. Our first visit was to the small rocky island with the church of Boa Viagem situated on its summit. We were denied access, from the orders of government, that strangers were not to be admitted up the steep, in consequence of a new fort then erecting upon it. We were therefore excluded from the blessing usually granted at this church to persons upon the point of undertaking a voyage. It was formerly the general custom, and is at present not uncommon, for navigators and others previously to embarking upon the ocean, to present offerings here, receiving in return the prayers of the padre for a good voyage; and hence the place is called Boa Viagem.
The boat proceeded round this island into the bay of Jurufuba, for the purpose of obtaining an additional supply of water. We walked round the back of the hills that edge this bay to the fountain, where the water-casks were filled. Our road led by a delightful pathway embowered by verdant trees intermixed with orange, banana, and other fruits. Here and there a house of goodexternal appearance was seen, and cultivation appeared to be making some progress. We purchased a rich supply of fruits from a widow whose shacara was well stored, and her daughter gratuitously presented us with large bouquets of flowers, whose aromatic scents were gratefully diffused in our cabin for some days. In the common apartment of the widow’s dwelling, secluded in a profusion of trees, was the figure of our Saviour, enclosed in a case with opened doors, illumined by a lighted taper.
Our next excursion was to a small opening between two headlands, not far from the fort of St. Cruz, containing a solitary white cottage, exhibiting much neatness at a distance: we soon, however, discovered that, like most Brazilian residences, its external appearance was not a proof of its internal comfort. There was only one pathway, conducting from this littlepraya, up a steep rocky mountain, on the summit of which we found a grey-headed old man, seated, with his black boy, and enjoying the varied scenery around. He said, that he frequently came from the city across the bay in a canoe to this retired situation. We descended the opposite side of the mountain, by a narrow and damp avenue, obscured by the meeting of rocks high above our heads, on emerging from which we found our progress stopped by two distinct precipices of granite; it was necessary to cross the first in an oblique direction to arrive at the second, an unlucky slip from which would have precipitated the passenger one hundred feet into the sea. We observed a rope hanging over its side, but could not imagine that it was the only descent into the valley below, until we returned to the old man, who informed us that there was no other way, and sent his boy to show us the mode of descending: with both hands he laid hold of the rope, which was imperfectly secured to a bush, and traversed the first precipice, stepping backwards and allowing the rope gradually to pass through his hands. Arrived at the second precipice, which was to be descended perpendicularly, he took hold firmly of a stronger rope, attached to a hanging tree, growing out of the interstices of the two rocks; he proceeded backwards, moving one foot after the other, horizontally placed against the side of the precipice, till he reached the bottom. Colonel Cotter, Captain Thomson, and myself, took off our shoes and proceeded in the same way, but the Colonel declined accompanying us further than the first precipice, in consequence of a wound received in his hand at the battle of Victoria. The valley we found to be thinly planted with mandioca, which, with a few solitary blacks and some miserable huts, was all that it presented to our observation. We ascended the precipices by placing ourselves in the same posture in which we had descended,and then returned with the rest of the party, who were waiting for us, to the vessel, our surprise being mutually excited at the extraordinary and intricate mode of communication between the two prayinhas. Whilst we lay at anchor, four Russian frigates entered the bay, in very fine order, and took their stations not far from the British ships of war, the Superb and Vengeur, then in the bay. The Russian frigates were proceeding upon a voyage of discovery to the South Seas. On our departure from the bay of Rio de Janeiro we had a favourable breeze, and in five days were in the latitude of Bahia, having run upwards of ten degrees of latitude, and seven of longitude. The wind now became adverse; but in five days afterwards we passed Cabo Calor, Rio Real, and Seregipe d’ el Rey, and on the following day were close in with land, northward of the St. Francisco. The coast was flat and covered with woods, a few huts being all that we could occasionally discover.
On Stone by C. Shoosmith from a Sketch by Jas. Henderson.Printed by C. Hullmandel.A JANGADA OR CATAMARAN NEAR PERNAMBUCO.
On Stone by C. Shoosmith from a Sketch by Jas. Henderson.
Printed by C. Hullmandel.
A JANGADA OR CATAMARAN NEAR PERNAMBUCO.
The currents we found setting in towards the coast much stronger and to a more considerable degree, than any of the charts extant account for. In the course of the 3d of December we indistinctly perceived some catamarans near the beach, and at dusk discovered Cape St. Augustine, affording us the hope of reaching Pernambuco next morning. At day-break on the 4th, Cape St. Augustine, Pernambuco, and Ollinda, were in view, with the land of the Cape elevated and jutting out into the sea, but presenting nothing remarkable. The coast near Pernambuco is flat, except some elevations in the distant back ground, and Ollinda situated upon an accumulation of rising eminences. On viewing it we could not but acquiesce in the exclamation of the first donatory of this province, “O que linda situacam para fundar huma villa.”[34]The whole country from the sea appeared richly wooded and interspersed with the cocoa-nut tree, and impressed the idea of fertility and cultivation. The jangadas, or catamarans, now passed near us on all sides, with their triangular sails, producing no inconsiderable surprise amongst the whole party. They are constructed of eight, ten, and some of twelve trunks of the buoyantjangadatree, rudely secured together by wooden bolts passing horizontally through the whole, and with cross-bars at the top, attaching the rafts more firmly together. The trunks are not of uniform length, and, being almost hid amongst the waves, would not be discovered at all without the sail and the two men who navigate them. The waves pass through the apertures between each trunk, and the men are constantlystanding in water, one of whom steers with a large paddle passed indiscriminately between the ends of two of the rafts. Thus cotton and sugar from the places upon the coast and from the rivers are conveyed to the capital. Voyages of several hundred miles are performed by jangadas. An English gentleman proceeded to sea in one of them from Parahiba to Pernambuco, a small table was attached to the rafts upon which he slept, and although the sea is generally washing over them they are never known to upset. Our voyage had been an extremely pleasant one, and each individual had expressed the highest gratification not only at the mutual good humour that had prevailed, but the very great attention of the captain. The party frequently met on shore afterwards, and I received many civilities from Colonel Cotter and his lady during my stay at Pernambuco. The Colonel, before my departure, was appointed to the command of the militia regiments formed by the population of the town. We will defer speaking of the city of Pernambuco, or Recife, till we have concluded the description of the province.
This province was presented as a captaincy, with less extent of territory than it now contains, to Duarthe Coelho Pereyra, in reward for having repulsed the French from the river St. Cruz, re-establishing the factory which had been destroyed by them, and rendering other important services to the Portuguese government. The letter of donation was granted to him in 1534; and in the following year he set sail from Portugal, accompanied by his wife and some other families, who joined him for the purpose of colonization.[35]
The small village of Hyguarassu, which had its origin about four years before, was for some time the place of his residence, till Ollinda was begun, which he made his capital soon after its foundation. He was engaged in continued wars with theCahetes, who were the former inhabitants of the country. He died in the year 1554, leaving his wife, D. Brittes d’Albuquerque, in trust of the government of the captaincy till the arrival of his hereditary son Duarthe Coelho d’Albuquerque, who was pursuing his studies in Portugal, and which he left in 1560 by orders of Queen Catharine, to protect the colony from the danger with which it was threatened by the revolt of some tribes of Indians whom his father had reduced to obedience.
The new donatory took with him his brother Jorge d’Albuquerque Coelho, and was accompanied by many friends and hired attendants to his new settlement, and had the promise of others to follow him for the purpose of augmenting the colony. He subjugated the whole nation of the Cahetes and divided them into hordes; and after a residence of many years returned to Europe, in order to accompany D. Sebastiano in his voyage to Africa, leaving his brother administrator of the captaincy, which progressively improved under his management.
In failure of male issue he was succeeded by his brother Jorge d’Albuquerque Coelho, father of Duarthe d’Albuquerque Coelho, who in the second year after the Dutch had possession of the captaincy arrived there with the Count Banholo, where he remained till the end of 1638, when he returned to Portugal. During his residence he kept a diary of the first eight years of the war.[36]
Duarthe d’Albuquerque Coelho had an only daughter, married to the Count de Vimiozi D. Miguel de Portugal, but neither he nor his heirs received any revenue from the captaincy, the dominion of which was disputed; for King John IV. who had expended large sums in its restoration, finding that the donatory had not forces sufficient to prevent the invasion of the enemy, should they make a second attempt, annexed the captaincy to the crown in the first year of its restoration. This the donatory opposed, and his heirs sustained an obstinate suit at law for many years, obtaining various sentences in their favour, which were always abrogated, till finally they desisted from the contest, surrendering whatever right they had to the province; and, in 1717, by the intervention and consent of John V. a convention was made between the Count de Vimiozi D. Francisco de Portugal and the attorney-general, in which it was agreed that the Count should receive in exchange for the captaincy the marquisate of Vallenca for himself and his son, the countship to pass to his son and grandson, and eighty thousand crusades, to be paid from the revenues of the province in ten years at equal payments.
The new colonists, who were sent to it immediately after the restoration of the province, gave it a rapid improvement. The Indians living towards the interior,the principal of whom were Tupinambas, and divided into numerous tribes, were by degrees surrendering the country and allying themselves to the conquerors, or retiring to the western districts. The latter were reduced about the years 1802 and 1803.
These Indians were divided into four nations, who have always exhibited the most irreconcileable hatred to each other, and to this day preserve their ancient animosity undiminished. They were distinguished by the appellations ofPipipan,Choco,Uman, andVouvé. The language of each differed in idiom, but the general resemblance between them sufficiently demonstrated that they sprung from the same origin. They occupied a wild and uncultivated tract of country, of thirty square leagues, between the rivers Moxoto and Pajehu, near to the serra of Ararippa, a country sterile and deficient in water. All are wandering tribes, ignorant of any kind of agriculture, and support themselves on wild fruits, honey, and game; a hog, a deer, or a bird are all dressed with the hair, feathers, and intestines. The arms of the men are a bow and arrow, and they go perfectly naked. The women cover themselves with a small and elastic net, or with a deep fringe of thick thread much twisted, and made with considerable ingenuity. They inter their dead in a bent posture, having no instruments to make a grave sufficiently large to admit of the body lying at full length. They always bury under the most shady tree, preferring theambuzo, if it be found near the spot. Of all savage nations they are perhaps the most remarkable for conjugal fidelity; polygamy and adultery are unknown among them, and the latter crime they abominate in their conquerors.
All these savages received baptism; and, after being formed into villages and rendered rather more civilized, they began to cultivate the most necessary provisions of life, as mandioca, Indian corn, gourds, and vegetables. But, notwithstanding their apparent improvement, they still retained their wild and savage propensities for hunting and general depredation: early accustomed to live on plunder, they conceived they had a natural right to the property of each other, and they frequently drove off and appropriated the sheep and oxen of the neighbouring farmers. Independently of these savage propensities to a wild and predatory life, their religious instructors gave them a very good character for innocence of general manners, in which they were said to resemble the primitive Christians.
They suppose, from the above circumstances, that the present race of these Indians are descendants of some who, after having settled in the villages and become Christians, had again returned to their native wilds; and,from a rooted propensity, which no art could remove, preferred the savage to the civilized state. Indeed, the opinion is supported by a fact, already alleged in this work, as well as by recent occurrences, in which individuals who have been civilized, on entering their native wilds, have again adopted their former rude habits.
This province of Pernambuco, which had formerly the title of countship, is bounded on the north by the provinces of Parahiba, Siara, and Piauhy; on the south by the river St. Francisco, which separates it from Seregipe and Bahia, and by the Carinhenha, which divides it from Minas Geraes; on the west by the province of Goyaz; and on the east by the ocean, with seventy leagues of coast from the river St. Francisco to the river Goyanna.
The river Pajehu, which rises in the serra of the Cayriris, and empties itself into the St. Francisco thirty leagues above the fall of Paulo Affonso, divides it into two parts—eastern and western; the latter forming an ouvidoria, which comprehends a great portion of the eastern, the sea-coast of which is divided into three comarcas, Northern or Olinda, Central or Recife, Southern or the Alagoas, whose common limits are in the vicinity of Rio Una, which enters the sea forty miles south of Cape St. Augustine.
This province lies between 7° and 15° south latitude, having a warm climate and pure air. The lands upon the whole extent of the sea-coast are low, with considerable portions of fruitful soil, and although it has many rivers, which are perennial and abundant, yet the inhabitants in many parts suffer from want of water. In the interior of the province the face of the country is very unequal, being in some places mountainous, and very deficient in water, and that which is met with, besides being extremely scarce, is never pure, being of the colour of milk, and drawn from wells where all kinds of animals go to drink, or else from pits dug in the sand. From the town of Penedo to the bar of Rio Grande, which travellers by the windings of the river compute at five hundred miles, there does not run towards the river St. Francisco a single stream in the dry season.
Mountains.—The serra of Borborema, which is the most majestic in the Brazil, has its commencement near the sea, in the province of Rio Grande, and, after having traversed that of Parahiba from north-east to south-west, turns to the west, separating the western part of Pernambuco from the preceding, and from Siara for a considerable space. It then inclines to the north, dividing the last from the province of Piauhy, varying frequently in altitude and name to its termination, where it is denominated Hibiapaba, in view of the coast between the rivers Camucim and Paranahiba. In some parts it is rocky, in others bareand barren, but the principal part is covered with beautiful woods, nourished by strong and fertile soils. In some places it has two or three leagues of luxuriant herbage on its summit.
The mountain Araripe, which is a portion of it, commands a view of the river St. Francisco, at a distance of more than thirty leagues. In this mountain the rivers Jaguariba and Piranhas have their origin, and run to the north. It also gives birth to the rivers Parahiba and Capibaribe, which flow eastward, and likewise to the Moxoto and the Pajehu, which direct their course to the south.
About seven leagues distant from the fall of Paulo Affonso, in the parish of Tarcaratu, is the mountain of Agua-Branca, with its numerous branches, in great part covered with wild and luxuriant woods. Here is a chapel of Our Lady of Conceiçao, and many families of different shades of complexion, equally if not more barbarous than the ancient possessors of the country.
In the vicinity of the river Pajehu, about fifteen leagues from that which absorbs it, is the serra Negra, which is about a league long, and proportionably wide, and covered with thick woods, that are often violently agitated by strong winds. Near it is the site of Jacare, where the Choco Indians lived for some time; but since they have been subjugated, like their neighbours, there is little mention made of them.
At a short distance from the source of the river Una, is the serra Garanhuns. It is covered with woods, where they are introducing plantations of cotton, Indian corn, mandioca, vegetables, and fruits. From this mountain descend many clear streams of water, which vanish on entering the sandy plains that encompass it below. Among other useful plants may be remarked theterminalia, orstyraxof Linnæus, which produces the gum-resinous drug called benzoin.
The serra of Russas, two leagues long, and of small width, is situated about sixteen leagues distant from the Recife, in the road which leads towards the certam of the river St. Francisco.
The serra Sellada is four leagues to the south-west of Cape St. Augustine, and little more than two from the sea; and, although of trifling height, is the best land-mark for sailors in these latitudes.
Four leagues to the north-west of Caninde, an insignificant and ill-situated village, on the left bank of the St. Francisco, is the serra of Olho d’Agua, with a circuit of two leagues, and of considerable height. From its summit is discovered a vast chain of inferior mountains on all sides, and at a distance ofabout six leagues to the west-north-west is seen a column of vapour rising from the cataract of Paulo Affonso, similar to the smoke of a conflagration. Formerly this mountain abounded with numerous tigers, in consequence of the multitude of caverns within the jetting rocks and frowning crags that compose it. Even at present they are the retreats of a formidable species of bat, which proves very destructive to cattle.
The serra of Priaca is about eight leagues to the north-west of the town of Penedo. That of Pao d’Assucar is within sight of the former, and near the river St. Francisco. On the southern skirts of the serra of Pao d’Assucar there is a lake, where bones of an enormous size have been found; and on its northern side there is a most terrific cavern.
The serra of Poco, situated fifteen leagues distant from the last, towards the interior of the province, is covered with woods where trees of the finest timber are produced, some of whose trunks exude precious resins, and oily or balsamic liquors, while the hollow trunks of others serve for the hives of various kinds of bees.
Comenaty is one of the largest mountains in the interior. It abounds with extensive woods in many parts, where the Indians and other inhabitants of the parish of Aguas Bellas have introduced large plantations of cotton and mandioca.
The serra of Barriga is about four leagues distant from the town of Anadia, and twenty from the sea, and is subject to frequent thunderstorms. The occasional and loud noises from its cavities terrify the people of the circumjacent country, and indicate that it has minerals. On its extreme skirts was the fatal band of Africans, called theQuilombo dos Palmares, commenced by three hundred and forty negroes of Guinea, on the occasion of the Dutch disembarking at Pernambuco. They were joined by many others from the neighbouring provinces, and founded the above village, which took the name of Palmares from the number of palm trees which the negroes had planted around it. The village, which was more than a league in extent, was encompassed by a square, consisting of two orders or rows of enclosures of palisadoes, formed of large high trunks of the strongest and most durable wood the country afforded. At equal distances were three strong doors, each having its platform above, and defended by two hundred men in times of assault; the whole flanked by various bulwarks of the same fabric as the walls. Its population amounted to twenty thousand, one-half of whom were capable of taking up arms. They had established an elective and monarchical form of government. The chiefwas entitled Zumbe, and had his palace more distinguished than the houses of his vassals, which were erected according to the African mode. The most valorous and wise were always selected for this important office. Besides the superior, they had subordinate officers for the administration of justice, which was punctually executed against adulterers, homicides, and thieves.
The slaves who voluntarily came and associated with them had their liberty immediately granted, but those taken by force remained captives. The first incurred the penalty of death if they fled and were taken, a punishment which deserters from the latter class did not experience. Independently of a slight covering the whole were in a state of nudity, except the superiors, who wore such clothes for dresses as the neighbouring people of Quilombo sold to them, together with arms and ammunition, in exchange for provisions. Those only who had been baptized assumed the name of Christians.
Within the square was a vast basin or tank of soft water, well stored with fish, and a high rock, which served them for a watch-tower, from whence they could discover the country all round to a great extent, and could observe the approach of the enemy. The suburbs were covered with plantations of necessary provisions, to protect which there were various hamlets, called mocambos, governed by veteran soldiers.
It is extraordinary that this colony gave much anxiety to the crown, existed for the space of sixty years, and cost much labour to an army of eight thousand men for many months to accomplish its extinction in 1697.
Mineralogy.—Gold, amianthus, stone for water-filters, limestone and grindstone,terra de cores, a sort of plaster for figures, also two or three species of rude marble, and potters’ earth.
Zoology.—All the domestic animals of Spain are bred here. Goats and sheep are less profitable than in the country in which they are natives. The woods abound with all the species of wild animals described in the preceding provinces, excepting the wild dog, in place of which there is the ferret. The hedge-hog has here the name ofquandu. Theguariba, a species of monkey generally of a red colour, from the river St. Francisco towards the south, is black in this province, and its skin on this account is more esteemed. Thetatubola, or armadillo, and the land-tortoise are numerous, as well as themoco, in rocks and stony grounds. Rabbits are very rare. In the open country are the emu-ostrich and theseriema. In the lakes are thecolhereira,jaburu, goose, grey and white heron, wild duck,soco,macarico, water hen. In the woods and plains are thejacu,mutun,zabele,enapupe,racuan,arara, parrot, theuruwhich is a species of small partridge, going always in bands and upon the ground. The bird here calledrouxinol, or the nightingale, is very different in its song and plumage from that of Europe. Thearapongapours its simple and tender song from the summit of the highest trees. The white-winged dove always avoids strange birds, like other species of its kind. Various sorts of kites and hawks make war upon the other birds. Thejacurutu, which is of a large size, has two great horns of feathers, and kills the largest snakes with caution and much dexterity in order to avoid being stung by them. In almost all the rivers there are otters, and no lake is without the alligator.
Phytology.—The cedar, bow-wood,vinhatica, of various colours, the yellow and dark are the most esteemed; theconduru, which is red;barabu, male and female, more or less of a violet or purple colour;pau santo, waved with violet;sucupiraandbrahuna, both of a blackish colour. Thesapucayaaffords good masts of a small size, and its towy rind is used by the caulkers. The redcamacary,pau d’alho,maçaranduba,angico,coraçao de negro, the pith or heart of which is black and hard: there are many others of fine timber for building. The Brazil wood comes thirty leagues from the interior of the country; here is also the cassia, thecarahiba, whose flower is yellow and rather large, constituting delicious food for the deer. This animal, generally feeding beneath the tree upon them, thus becomes an easy prey to the hunter. Amongst the fruit trees and shrubs of the woods are theambuzo, thecajue, thearaçaza, thejabuticaba, themandupussa, the fruit of which is yellow and grows also round the trunk, like the preceding; themuricy; thecambuhyis a large tree and its fruit about the size of a sour cherry, either red or purple; thepikyaffords a fruit, from the stone of which is extracted a kind of hard tallow that is used for making imitation candles; theissicariba, which produces gum-mastick, ipecacuanha, and some species of inferiorquina, or Jesuit’s bark, to which they give this name; the real one is to be found in the serra Cayriris. Themaçanzeirais common in some districts of this province, where it has the improper name ofmurta.
The comarca of the Alagoas produces great abundance of the best timber in the province; there the canoes are made in which the St. Francisco is navigated. Cocoa-nut tree groves abound in the vicinity of the sea. Themamonais carefully cultivated in some districts, and its oil affords an article of exportation. Theopuncia, orpalmatoria, is here very common; and the cochineal insect might be cultivated with advantage.
The cotton tree and sugar cane are the principal branches of agriculture, andtheir productions are the most lucrative. The desire every where of the gain which these two articles afford, unwisely prevents the cultivation of provisions of the first necessity in sufficient quantity for the subsistence of the population. The flour of mandioca is generally scarce and dear, arising in part from the lands in the vicinity of the sea (which alone are fertile) having been given in such liberal portions; so that at the present day they are under the dominion of so few persons that it is calculated that for every two hundred families there are only eight or ten proprietors, orsenhores d’engenho, and who generally permit their tenants only to plant the cane. Thejangada, a peculiar tree, and one of the most useful in the province, has a trunk commonly straight and scarcely ever attaining a thickness that a man cannot encompass with his arms: it is extremely porous and light. The trunks attached, as already described, constitute the only small craft of the country; fishermen proceed with them to sea out of sight of land, and travellers transport themselves, with their moveables, from one port to another. It is necessary to drag them on the beach at the end of each voyage to dry, in order that the wood may not decay so quickly. The trees which produce the oil ofcupahybaare met with in all the woods; also those which produce the gum-copal, the drug benzoin, and the sweet gum storax. The latter is here called the balsam tree; and the honey which the bees make from the sweets of its flower has the smell of cinnamon. Amongst other exotic trees which have been naturalized the precioussandaltree, it is affirmed, would prosper here almost as well as in the island of Timor, and would save to the state many arrobas of gold annually expended in bringing it from India.
The people of the certam catch large quantities of turtle and ring doves with themanicoba-brava, an infusion of which is put into vessels half buried in the sand, in those places where some little water remains after the streams are dried up, and to which those birds are attracted for the purpose of drinking. On taking the infusion, if they do not immediately vomit, they cannot again take wing, but quickly begin to tremble, and expire in a few moments.
Rivers.—The most considerable are in the western part of the province; but we shall defer speaking of them till we come to finish the description of the river St. Francisco, into which they discharge themselves.
The principal ones in the eastern part of the province are the Capibaribe, the Ipojuca, the Una, the Tracunhaen, or Goyanna, and the Serenhen.
The Capibaribe, or river of the Capibaras,[37]has its origin in the district ofCayriris Velhos, about fifty leagues distant from the sea. Its source is brackish; the channel very stony, with many falls, and navigable only for about eight miles. It is discharged by two mouths, one within the Recife, and the other near four miles to the south, at the arraial of Affogados, where there is a wooden bridge two hundred and sixty paces in length. Topacora and Goyta are its principal confluents, both of which join it by the right bank, with an interval of four or five miles. The latter runs from a lake, denominated Lagoa Grande.
The Ipojuca rises in the Cayriris Velhos, near the Capibaribe, and runs through countries appropriated to the culture of cotton and sugar, which productions have been extremely advantageous to the agriculturist. It disembogues between Cape St. Augustine and the island of St. Aleixo, forming a port for the small vessels by which it is frequented.
The Serenhen, which is considerable and advantageous to the cultivator, empties itself almost in front of the isle of St. Aleixo. One of its largest confluents is the Ceribo, which meets it on the left bank, not far from the sea.
The Una comes from the district of Garanhuns, with a course of nearly forty leagues, and in the vicinity of the ocean receives on the right the Jacuipe, which is inferior, and runs into the sea through large woods. Both serve for the conveyance of timber, that is laden in the port at its mouth, which is about seven leagues to the south-west of the island of St. Aleixo.
The Goyanna, which is handsome and considerable, runs into the sea nine miles to the north of Itamaraca, between the point of Pedras and the Cocoa-Tree Point. It takes this name at the confluence of the Tracunhaen, which has a considerable course, with the Capibari-mirim, much inferior, about three leagues from the sea, to which place smacks and small craft ascend. The water of the first is only good at the source.
The other rivers upon the coast are the Cururippe, which discharges itself twenty-eight miles north-east of the St. Francisco; the St. Miguel, twenty-five miles further; the Alagoas, so called from being the mouth of two large lakes; the St. Antonio Mirim; the St. Antonio Grande; the Cammaragibe; the Manguape; the Rio Grande; the Formozo; the Maracahippe, which runs into the sea between the Serenhen and the Ipojuca; the Jaboatao, which receives near the coast the Parapamba by the right bank, their common mouth being designated Barra da Jangada, and is two leagues to the north of Cape St. Augustine; the Iguarassu, which discharges itself with considerable width five or six leagues north of Olinda, and is formed by several small rivers, that uniteabout seven miles from the ocean. All these rivers admit of the entrance of boats and small vessels. The Moxoto, after a considerable course, empties itself eight miles above the fall of Paulo Alfonso. It is only a current during the rainy season. The delicatemandinfish, which proceed up whilst it is full, as soon as the river ceases to run, and the water begins to grow warm in the wells, pines away, and soon dies. The Pajehu is only a current whilst the thunder showers prevail.
Promontories.—Cape St. Augustine, the only one upon the coast, is the most famous in the new world, and the most eastern land of South America, in the latitude 8° 20’. Here is a religious hospicio of slippered Carmelites, dedicated to Our Lady of Nazareth, which many captains formerly honoured with a salute on passing. It has two forts, each of which defends a small port, where vessels of an inferior class can come to anchor.
Islands.—Itamaraca, for a considerable time called Cosmos, is three leagues long from north to south, and one in the widest part; it is mountainous and inhabited. Its principal place is the parish of Our Lady of Conceiçao, situated on the southern side, about half a league above the mouth of the Iguarassu. This was formerly a town, the prerogative of which was transferred to Goyanna, whose senate goes annually to assist at the festival of its patroness. The mangoes and grapes of this island are highly praised. There are also several very fine salt-pits. The channel which separates it from the continent is narrow and deep. At the northern entrance, called Catuama, there is commodious anchorage for ships in front of the mouth of the river Massaranduba.
The island of St. Aleixo, which is about four miles in circuit, with portions of ground appropriated to the production of various necessaries of life, is five leagues to the south-west of Cape St. Augustine, and a mile distant from the continent.
Ports.—No province has so great a number of ports, though the generality of them are only capable of receiving smacks and small craft. The principal ones are the before-mentioned Catuama; the Recife, which will be described jointly with the town of that name; the Tamandare, which is the best of the whole, in the form of a bay within the river so called. It is securely defended by a large fort, and capable of receiving a fleet, being four and five fathoms deep at the entrance, and six within. It lies ten leagues south-west of Cape St. Augustine.
Jaragua and Pajussara are separated by a point which gives name to the first, where vessels anchor in the summer. The latter one can only be used inwinter. They are two leagues north-east of the river Alagoas, and in them people disembark to go to the town of this name, because the river, which formerly afforded passage for smacks, at present will not admit of canoes. It is therefore necessary to go a league by land, and re-embark on the lake.
Cururippe is a beautiful bay, capable of receiving large ships. It is sheltered by a reef, which breaks the fury of the sea. It has two entrances, one to the south and the other to the north; but the anchorage is not generally good. The bay receives the river from which it derives the name. It is a deep and quiet stream of black water, and navigable for canoes some leagues; the least depth is at the mouth. Its banks are covered with mangroves, reeds, and divers trees.
Lakes.—The considerable lakes are the Jiquiba, five leagues long and one wide, brackish, containing fish, and is discharged twelve miles to the north-east of Cururippe; and the Manguaba, ten leagues long and one at the greatest width, is salt, and abounds with fish. It is divided by a straight into two portions, one called Lagoa do Norte, the other Lagoa do Sul, which is the largest. Its channel of discharge is the before-mentioned river of the Alagoas, about a cannon-shot across. Various small rivers here empty themselves. Its banks are cultivated in parts; in others covered with mangoes. In its neighbourhood are various sugar works, the produce of which is transported, with cotton and other articles, in large canoes, to a northern part of the lake, from whence they are carried in carts for the space of three miles to the ports of Jaragua and Pajussara, where the smacks are laden with them for the Recife, or Bahia.
The following are the towns in the three comarcas into which this province is divided.
Goyanna, situated in low ground between the rivers Capibari-mirim, which washes it on the north, and Tracunhaen on the south, a little more than a league above their confluence, is a large, populous, and flourishing town, well supplied with meat, fish, and fruits. It has a church of Our Lady of Rozario, a hermitage of the same name, others of Amparo, Conceiçao, and the Senhor dos Martyrios, a house of misericordia, a convent of slippered Carmelites, a Magdalen, two bridges, and a Juiz de Fora; there is a royal professor of Latin. It has a fair for cattle on Thursdays. A large quantity of cotton is exported; the principal productions of the farmers of its extensive district, where there are above twenty hermitages almost all with chapels. It is sixty miles north-west of Ollinda, and fifteen from the sea. In 1810 it had four thousand four hundred inhabitants, including its district; but the town itself now contains near five thousand.
Seven miles south of the mouth of the river Goyanna, and near the beach, is the parish of St. Lourenço de Tijucopabo, which is augmenting. Thirty-five miles west of Goyanna is the parish of St. Antonio de Tracunhaen, near to this river: its inhabitants cultivate cotton.
Iguarassu is considerable, and the most ancient town of the province. It is honoured with the title of loyal, and has a church dedicated to the companion Saints of Cosme and Damiao, a house of misericordia, a convent of Franciscans, a Magdalen, four hermitages, and is well supplied with fish, meat, and fruits. It is five or six leagues north of Ollinda, and two from the sea, upon the right bank of the river that gives it the name, and which is formed by the small rivers Ottinga, Pittanga, and Taype, that unite themselves above. There is a bridge over it, and canoes arrive here with the tide, but smacks remain two miles lower down. Sugar and cotton are the articles of exportation.
Two leagues north of Iguarassu, on the Goyanna road, is the considerable village of Pasmado, inhabited by whites, in great part locksmiths.
Pau d’Alho, situated upon the right bank of the Capibaribe, and thirty-five miles from the capital, was created a town in 1812, has a church dedicated to the Holy Spirit, a hermitage of Our Lady of Rozario, and a market every eight days.
Limoeiro, also created a town in 1812, is upon the margin of the Capibaribe, about thirty miles above Pau d’Alho, and has a church, dedicated to Our Lady of Expectaçao, and a market every week. Cotton constitutes the wealth of its inhabitants. Whilst I remained at Pernambuco, an English gentleman proceeded to this town for the purpose of establishing a machine for dressing cotton, in which, I understand, he has been very successful.
Serenhen, founded in 1627 with the name of Villa Formoza, situated on an eminence upon the margin and seven miles above the mouth of the river from which it borrows the name, is small, and has a church, dedicated to Our Lady of Conceiçao, two hermitages, and a convent of Franciscans. Its environs are remarkable for fertility, abounding with water and rich plantations of cane.
St. Antonio, so called after the patron of its church, is nine miles north-west of Cape St. Augustin, near the margin of the Parapamba, and has two hermitages, one of St. Braz, the other of Our Lady of Rozario. It was erected into a town in 1812.
St. Antao, situated near the small river Tapacora, and created a town in 1812, has a church dedicated to the same saint, and two chapels of Rozario and Livramento, and a market every week. It produces much cotton.
Amongst other places and considerable parishes in this comarca, is to be remarked the Ipojuca, upon the margin of the river from which it derives its name, two leagues distant from the sea, with a church of St. Miguel, and a convent of Franciscans.
Muribeca, with a church of Nossa Senhora of Rozario, a hermitage of the same name, and another of Livramento, is situated between the Recife and Cape St. Augustin, about three miles from the sea. Sugar is the produce of both these places.
Porto Calvo, a middling town with some commerce, and a church of Our Lady of Aprezentaçao, is situated upon the margin of the river, from which it takes the name, and twenty miles from the sea. Bom Successo was its first name; to its haven formerly smacks arrived with the tide. It is the native place of the mulatto Calabar, who, passing over to the Dutch in 1632, was to them a great acquisition, and to the Pernambucans a great injury; until he wasdelivered to the latter, as a reward for their services, in order that he might receive the chastisement due to his perfidy. At the taking of this town, a nephew of the Dutch general, Count Nassau lost his life, and the celebrated Preto Henrique Dias part of an arm. The latter afterwards distinguished himself in the battle of the mountains of Gararappes.
Alagoas, so called from having its site upon a southern portion of the lake Manguaba, created with the name of Magdalen, is considerable, head of the comarca of its name, and the ordinary residence of the ouvidor, who is also inspector of the woods of the royal marine. It has a church of Nossa Senhora of Conceiçao, a convent of Franciscans, another of slippered Carmelites, two orders of devout women, three chapels, with the titles of Amparo, Rozario, and Bom Fim, and a royal professorship of Latin. At all times it is well supplied with fish; and abounds in the jaca and orange tree. In the beginning of last century was exported from the district of this town, two thousand five hundred rolls of tobacco, of eight arrobas each, and of such good quality, that it was bought at fifty per cent. dearer than the same article from Bahia. Sugar is at the present day the riches of its inhabitants. A custom-house has been recently established within its jurisdiction, in consequence of the considerable increase in the commerce of this comarca.
Atalaya, six leagues distant from the preceding place, three by water, and the rest by land, is in a fertile and wholesome country, possessing excellent water, and having a church of Nossa Senhora das Brotas. Its neighbourhood abounds with ipecacuanha, and cotton is cultivated with the common provisions of the country. The number of its inhabitants, including those of its district, amount to nearly two thousand; part of them areCaboclos,[39]white, and with more regular features than any other known tribe of Indians.
Anadia, a middling sized town, with a church of the Lady of Piety, is fourteen leagues from Alagoas. Its inhabitants are Indians, Europeans, whites of the country, and Mestiços, in number about ten thousand, including those of the district; almost all are cultivators or purchasers of cotton, its principal produce. By the same law, of 15th December, 1815, which gave to the town of Penedo a Juiz de Fora, were created the towns of Maceyo and Porto de Pedras.
Maceyo is a dismemberment of the Alagoas, having a district of more than seven leagues of coast, computing from the river Alagoas to the St. AntonioGrande. In this interval the following rivers run into the sea:—The Doce, which is short, and comes from a small lake; the Paratiji, the St. Antonio Mirim, and the Paripueira, which receives the Cabuçu on the right, near its mouth. Maceyo is becoming a place of some commerce, and will be the emporium of the trade of the comarca of Alagoas. One English establishment already exists here, and shipments are made direct from hence to Great Britain. An European first settling in any of the towns of Brazil, and particularly in places of this class, makes a sacrifice of all the comforts common to well regulated society.
Porto de Pedras is a dismemberment of Porto Calvo; its district embraces nearly nine leagues of coast, occupying the interval from the aforesaid river St. Antonio Grande to the Manguape. The Cumuriji and the Tatuamuhy are the principal rivers that empty themselves upon its shores. The two last towns have each two ordinary judges, and one of orphans; threeveradores, or species of aldermen, a procurador of the council, a treasurer, two clerks of the market, an alcaide, with a scrivener of his office, two public scriveners, judicial and notarial, the first of which holds that office in the council, also in the customs, and is market clerk; the second also belongs to the office of scrivener of the orphans.
Poxim, a small town upon the margin of the river of the same name, which enters the sea three leagues to the north-east of Cururippe, has a large bridge, and a church dedicated to Our Lady of Madre de Deos. It is two miles from the ocean, is well supplied with fish, and has in its district the new and yet small aldeia of Our Lady of Conceiçao, so called after the patroness of the chapel which ornaments it; and where upon festival days are assembled six hundred families, dispersed around its neighbourhood. It is situated near the river Cururippe, four miles from the sea; and its good port, where at present is only laden some timber and oil of themamona, with the fertility of the interior territory, will contribute to render this a considerable place at some future day. The land in the proximity of the shore is sandy, and well adapted to the cajue-nut tree, which, in a short time grows to a large size, and its fruit would furnish a branch of commerce.
Penedo, a considerable, populous, and commercial town, is situated partly in a plain along the bank of the river St. Francisco, and occasionally suffering by its inundations, and partly upon a height at the extremity of a range, which is the first elevated land met with on the northern margin, on ascending this river. Besides the church dedicated to Nossa Senhora of Rozario, there is ahermitage with the same title; another of the Lady of Corrente; others of St. Gonçalo d’Amarante, St. Gonçalo Garcia, and a convent of Franciscans, whose ill appropriated grounds occupy a situation the best suited for the improvement of the povoaçao. It has a royal Latin master, and a good house for the ouvidor. The houses were, till lately, miserable buildings of wood; there are now many of stone, with two or three stories, having portals of a species of grindstone. The river is here near a mile in width, and the highest tide is three feet. The greatest height of the river, that can be remembered, reached twenty feet. It is about twenty-five miles from hence to the mouth of the river. The confessional roll, which is a tolerably correct one, estimates the population at eleven thousand five hundred and four, including that of the district. By a law of the 15th of December, 1805, a Juiz de Fora was granted to this town.
About twenty-five miles higher up, on the margin of the St. Francisco, in a delightful situation, is the parish of Collegio, whose dwellers only amount to ninety families, and are mostly Indians, of three different nations. The Acconans who lived in the district of Logoa Comprida, a few miles higher up the river: the Carapotos, who inhabited the serra of Cuminaty: and the Cayriris, who dwelt in the vicinity of the serra which takes from them its name. The main part of this colony wander about when not occupied in fishing, according to the custom of their ancestors, through a country six miles along the river, and three broad, which was given to them for the purposes of agriculture. The wives of these lazy poltroons work daily in making earthenware, seated on the ground. They begin to make an earthen vessel by working the clay on a banana leaf, placed upon their knees; afterwards it is put upon a large dish, with pulverized ashes, when it receives the form and last finish. Without any assistance from the men, they procure and work up the clay, proceed to fetch the wood in order to set up large fires every Saturday night for hardening the vessels made during the week. The church was a Jesuitical chapel, which the district already possessed.
In this comarca is the considerable arraial of St. Miguel, upon the margin and seven leagues above the mouth of the river of the same name. It has a church of Nossa Senhora of O, whose parishioners amount to fifteen hundred, the main part dispersed.
The western portion of the province is much more extensive than the preceding, but is very thinly inhabited, being a sterile and parched up country, without other rains than those afforded by thunder showers. In all parts,however, are met with portions of ground more or less fertile, which would produce mandioca, Indian corn, feijao, hortulans, cottons, fruits, and the sugar cane. Cattle are generally bred in this vast district, and game abounds in great variety. It was included in the jurisdiction of the ouvidor of Jacobina until 1810, when it became a comarca, receiving the interior portion of that of Recife. It is at present called the ouvidorship of the certam of Pernambuco, the magistrate not having chosen the town for its head, by which it ought to be designated. Cattle, hides, cotton, salt, and gold, are the articles of its exportation.
Rivers.—The Rio Grande and the Correntes are the only considerable rivers.
The river St. Francisco, whose description we left off at the confluence of the Carinhenha, only receives from thence to its entrance into the ocean, five streams of any importance, namely, the Rans, the Parimirim, the Verde, on the right, the Correntes, one hundred miles below the first, and the Rio Grande, one hundred and forty lower on the left, continuing from thence northward, with many small windings, being of considerable width, and having many islands and some currents which do not impede navigation. Its margins are flat, and in some parts so low, that at the inundations, they are submerged for more than seven miles. Below the confluence of Rio Grande, its course bends towards the east, and then to the east-south-east, preserving the same width for a long way, to the aldeia of Vargem Redonda, where the navigation terminates from above, and the lateral lands begin to rise. Its channel gradually becomes narrower, and the current is rapidly impelled between blue and black rocks, to the small aldeia of Caninde, (the boundary of the navigation from the ocean,) which is seventy miles below the other. In this interval there are various large falls, of which the most interesting and famous is that of Paulo Affonso. Between these falls canoes navigate during the summer season. Through Caninde it continues to run between stony banks, thinly covered with soil and an impoverished vegetation, being one hundred fathoms in height, the width of the river not exceeding a sling’s throw for the distance of ten miles, to the mouth of the Jacare, where its elevated and rugged banks terminate. Its bed in this part is overspread with cleft reefs, appearing like the relics of a majestic sluice or dock.
Three leagues below is the small island of Ferro, where the margins begin to diminish in elevation, and the river to augment in width, exhibiting crowns of white sand, the resort of the ash-coloured and white heron, and where myriads of black diving birds assemble; forming themselves like a net, they encircle the fish in shoal places, not infested by the dreadedpiranhafish. Here thesea-mew, and other aquatic birds, make their nests in small holes, their young being hatched by the heat of the sun.
Six leagues below the island of Ferro, is that of Oiro, also small, high, and rocky, crowned with a hermitage of Nossa Senhora of Prazeres. These are the only islands met with in the space of one hundred miles from Caninde to the town of Penedo, where the small range of hills that borders the left bank of the river terminates. Two miles below Villa Nova, the elevation of the right margin also has its bounds, and the river begins to divide its course, forming a great number of islands, generally low, and abounding with woods, giving them an agreeable aspect. They possess portions of fertile soil, where some rice, maize, mandioca, sugar, and hortulans, are cultivated. Some are sandy, others are composed of grey clay, with a bed of black above, about a foot in depth and above this another, of yellow earth, from three to four spans in thickness. The whole are submerged at the period of the overflowings of this great river. The cassia tree is here numerous, and extremely beautiful while blooming with its rosy flowers. It affords a sort of husky fruit, two spans in length, and of proportionable thickness, and abounds on both margins of the river for about thirty-five miles above the town of Penedo. This river, so deep in the interior of the continent, disembogues by two mouths of very unequal size; the principal one is on the north, being near two miles wide, with so little depth that the smacks can enter it only at high water, and there wait for the full tides to get out. The navigation from the falls, upwards, is performed in barks andajojos, which are two or more canoes moored together with cross pieces of timber above. All produce descending the river below the falls is disembarked at Vargem Redonda, a district of the parish and julgado of Tacaratu, and transmitted on oxen to the port of Caninde, or Piranhas, which is two miles lower down. The navigation from hence to Penedo, is solely by the ajojos, and upwards always with a sail. The wind is favourable from eight o’clock of the day to the following morning’s dawn, but not without variation according to the age of the moon and the state of the weather; always increasing at evening, and frequently becoming quite calm before midnight. These craft descend always with a strong current, whilst there is no wind to produce an agitation of the water. When the breeze is high the current diminishes, and the river rises above a span. Fish is more abundant above the falls, which difference, the oldest men say originated in the extirpating system of fishing with what are calledtapagens, a mode of enclosing them, and which was unjustly countenanced by the chief magistrates, who drew from this abuse considerablerevenues, which disappeared without leaving to the public one signal of its expenditure. The most valuable fish of this river are thesorubin, which grows to the size of a man; themandin, four feet in length, and proportionably thick, with large beards; thepira, two feet long; and thepiranha, which is short and thick, with very sharp teeth, and fatal to all living creatures that come within its reach. None of these fish have scales. Thecamurin, with a white stripe on both sides; and thecamurupin, are both thick and scaly.
The dogs, as if by a natural instinct, do not approach the waters that are muddy, but drink only at those parts where there is a current, from an innate dread of thepiranhas, which lurk about with destructive intent in the dead waters.
The Correntes, which has a course of about one hundred and forty miles, issues from a lake, and runs first under the name of Formozo, receiving another river of the same name, and afterwards the Eguas, Guara, and Arrojado. It affords navigation for a considerable space, and disembogues into the St. Francisco ten miles below the chapel of Bom Jesus da Lappa. All the branches mentioned issue from the skirts or proximity of the serra of Paranan. Some run through auriferous countries, where mining has originated only a few years, and which has been the occasion of founding in the vicinity of the river Eguas a chapel of Our Lady of Glory, whose parish contained six hundred and eighty-four families, with one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight adults, in the year 1809; many being breeders of cattle, others agriculturists.
The Rio Grande, whose original name is not known, and for which the present one was substituted, in consequence of the ridiculous and prevailing custom in the Brazil of designating many large rivers, of various districts, by the term of Rio Grande, (Large River,) thereby creating a confusion of names, has fifty leagues of course, and originates in the serra of Paranan, near the register of St. Domingos, about five leagues from the source of the Guara, a branch of the Correntes. After flowing a considerable way, the Mosquito joins it, and five leagues lower the Femeas, which rises fifteen miles from Serra Tabatinga; twelve miles further it is entered by the Ondas, which originates eight miles from the preceding, and nearer the Sobrado, an arm of the Tucantines, and runs rapidly through a gold and diamond country. Fifteen miles below, it receives the Branco, navigable to the situation of Tres Barras, so called in consequence of the union with it of the Riachao and the Janeiro, which enter in front of each other; seventy miles lower also on the left, the Preto joins, which is one of its largesttributaries, and rises in the skirts of the Serra Figuras, which is a continuation of that of Mangabeiro, from whence issue the other branches mentioned, excepting the Riachao. Its first name is the river of Doirados, and its current of clear water is rapidly impelled through a winding bed, edged with steep margins. It passes near the village of Formoza, which has a hermitage of Senhor do Bom Fim, and by the parish of St. Ritta, which is forty miles below the other, and the same distance above the mouth of the river. The Rio Grande, which enters the St. Francisco fifty miles below the confluence of the Preto, is navigable to the mouth of the Ondas, and without falls to the Branco, passes the parish of St. Anna de Campo Largo, which is thirty-five miles above the embouchure of the Preto; it is well stored with thesorubin,crumatan, largedoirados, thepiranha,piau,martrinchan, and other sorts of fish. Its water has a very different colour from the river which receives it, and remains unchanged for a considerable distance after entering the St. Francisco.
The towns of this ouvidoria are,