CHAP. XX.PROVINCE OF SIARA.
Colonization—Boundaries—Indians—Taken by the Dutch—Restored—Mountains—Mineralogy—Zoology—Phytology—Rivers and Lakes—Povoaçoes.
Colonization—Boundaries—Indians—Taken by the Dutch—Restored—Mountains—Mineralogy—Zoology—Phytology—Rivers and Lakes—Povoaçoes.
It is not recorded whether the territory of this province had any other donatories besides the unfortunate Joam de Barros and Luis de Mello, nor is the precise epoch known of the foundation of the prezidios, or garrisons, from which commenced the colonization that existed upon the coast in 1603, when Captain Pedro Coelho de Souza, arrived there by orders of the governor of the state, with eighty Portuguese and eight hundred Indians, in various caravels, for the purpose of destroying the alliance Mons. Bombille, a Frenchman, had formed with the celebrated Mel Redondo, principal chief of the Serra Hibiapaba, from which considerable injury resulted to the prezidios. He received some people from them to enable him the better to execute the project, which he accomplished by subjecting this Indian to the Portuguese crown. On his return, Pedro Coelho entered the river Jaguaribe, merely with the intention of making some observations; but discovering a great number of advantages which it presented, he determined to commence a city there with his party: and having ordered his family to join him from Parahiba, he continued occupied in the foundation of the colony with the name of Nova Lisboa, (New Lisbon;) but shortly afterwards he was obliged by the Indians to desist from the undertaking, and returned to Parahiba.
Duarthe d’Albuquerque Coelho, writer of the war of Pernambuco, where he was donatory, affirms from ocular testimony, that Martim Soares Moreno, who belonged to the principalprezidioof Siara, came in the year 1631, to succour him against the Dutch, with an auxiliary force of Indians, in whose language he was well versed, and was named the first governor of that prezidio by the King: it being also certain that he commanded it in 1613, when, leaving in his place Estevam de Campos, he accompanied Jeronymo d’Albuquerque in the first attempt against the French who were established in the island of Maranham;but it does not appear whether he was the commandant or not at the period when Capt. Pedro Coelho arrived there. The district, however, was colonized very slowly, in consequence of the deficiency of good ports, and those advantages calculated to attract a numerous colony.
This province, which took the name of one of its small rivers, in consequence of the first establishment being founded near its embouchure, is confined on the north by the ocean, on the south by the cordillera of Ararippe or Cayriris, which divides it from that of Pernambuco, on the east by the provinces of Rio Grande and Parahiba, and on the west by that of Piauhy, from which it is separated by the Hibiapaba serra. It is computed to be about three hundred miles at its greatest length and width.
The whole was principally in the power of the numerous nation ofPotiguaras, (although there were theGuanacasandJaguaruannas,) divided into various hordes. The main part of them were Christianized by the exertions of the Jesuits, for which purpose they had an hospicio in Aquiraz, whose ruins are now called Collegio. The first catechists of this people were two Capuchin missionaries left here by Frey Christovam, from Lisbon, the first friar of Para, at the entreaties of Martim Soares Moreno.
The face of the country is almost generally uneven, without any deep valleys, and with few mountains of considerable elevation, if we except the branches of the Great Cordillera, with which it is in great part surrounded. The territory principally consists of a sandy, arid, and sterile soil, partially wooded. Upon the serras alone are to be discovered extensive woods, the soil being substantial and fertile, and there the best plantations of produce are formed, the remainder of the country serving as pasturage for large quantities of cattle bred there.
The winters are irregular, and commonly dry, some years passing without any rain, the consequences of which are many fatalities. This scourge upon the country is said to be repeated about every ten years, with some exceptions. The heat is intense in the flat parts of the central districts. In 1792, a drought commenced, which lasted four years, during which time all domestic animals perished, and many people. Honey was for a long time the only aliment, which produced various epidemics, and swept off many thousand persons throughout the province. Seven parishes were completely deserted, without there remaining a single soul.
In 1632, two Dutch vessels of war arrived upon the coast with the intention of making an easy conquest of it, through the medium of an intrigue with the Indians; and, for the accomplishment of this project, four Indians wereordered to penetrate into the interior, who, with many others, had been taken in the bay of Trahicao, and sent to Amsterdam, where they learned the Batavian language. Two of them being discovered, through the activity of Domingos da Veyga, commandant of the presidio, were immediately executed as an example to the others; and the Dutch, despairing, in consequence, of succeeding in their undertaking, set sail again for Pernambuco.
Five years afterwards, the Indians of this country, hearing of the great successes of the Dutch, on the arrival of Count Nassau at Pernambuco, deputed two messengers to offer submission and obedience to them in case they wished to make themselves masters of the presidio, the commandant of which had concluded his days, and the soldiery were in a sufficiently diminutive state. Four vessels were immediately despatched, with two hundred soldiers, and the Dutch, without difficulty, possessed themselves of this province in the year 1637, which they retained without any considerable advantage for some years, and, on giving it up, did not leave, as in some other places, any public works of utility. The Indians, who spontaneously united with them, undoubtedly expected to have met with that in the new conquerors which they could not find in the first; but it does not appear that they were quite so satisfied, as they retired to the southern lands in the vicinity of the cordillera. The missionaries of the Protestant religion, it would appear, did not please them so well as the spells, rosaries, ceremonies, and parade, accompanied with music, all so imposing on the imagination, and with which the Jesuits allured them from the savage life.
Mountains.—The serra of Jaguaribe, with many spiral heads, is to the east of the river of that name. The serra of Guammame, which commences near the Jaguaribe, ranges for thirty miles to the west, at a distance of about eighteen from the coast; that of Siara, with four heads, is between the river of its name on the east, and the Cahohyppe on the west. The serra of Mandahu is between the river of the same name on the west, and the bay of Curu on the east; that of Caracu, having the river of that name on the west, and the Aracaty-mirim on the east.
The serra Borytamma is behind the morro of Jericoacoara, situated at the bottom of the bay of this name. The whole serve for land-marks to the navigators coasting along these shores.
There is also the serra Uruburetama, running north and south between the rivers Curu and Acaracu; that of Botarite, in the centre of the province; and that of Merooca, seventy miles distant from the sea.
The serra of Hibiapaba, far from being a single cordon, is formed of various mountains, which succeed each other, and is in parts bare and stony; but the main portion is covered with forests of superb timber, nourished by a soil of much substantiality and fecundity. TheTabbajaraIndians possess the greatest part of it.
Mineralogy.—Gold in small quantity; minerals of silver and iron, more or less; crystals, chrysolites, pumice stone, amethysts, magnet, calcareous stone, granite, saltpetre, white lead, potters’ earth, and stones of St. Anna, which are applied to females at child-birth.
Zoology.—There are the ferret, hedge-hog, here calledquandu, as at Pernambuco,praguica, or sloth, ounce, deer,coelho,guaxinin,quaty,pacca, the wild boar,capivara, otter, and all other wild quadrupeds, peculiar to the neighbouring provinces. Theguaribamonkeys assemble in large bands upon the thickest trees of the woods, and make a babbling noise like the loud grating of the Brazilian waggon. Among other species of birds are common the emu ostrich,seriema,jaburu,colhereira,tucano,mutun,jacu, torquaze pigeon,guiraponga,nhambu,zabele, parrot,urubu,sabia. In the lakes there are a diversity of ducks, geese,galeiro, a diving bird; and near their margins, thesaracura,macarico, andsocco. Bats are very numerous, particularly in years of great drought, and more fatal to the cattle than the wild beasts collectively, actually reducing rich farmers to indigence, extensive plains covered with many thousand head of cattle becoming totally deserted. This animal, worse than a pestilence, destroys most in the fazendas that have rocks, in whose caverns they breed, where they cluster together during the day in large piles, and where also they are better killed, either with fire or with the gun. Goats and sheep are sufficiently numerous, though not so much so as they were previously to the fatal drought alluded to; the latter resist the rainy seasons the best, and are more prolific, generally having two at a birth, many three, few one, and some four: goats commonly have two also, many one, but rarely afford three at a birth. In the vicinity of the river Jaguaribe, the most numerous flocks of both species are met with. Neither the flesh nor milk of those animals are held in much repute, and, what is equally singular, the people are imperfectly acquainted with the art of rendering their skins a branch of commerce.
Phytology.—There are a diversity of trees which afford excellent timber for building, others for cabinet work, and dyes; also those which produce benzoin, gum copal and gum mastick; likewise various species of the palm, of which thecarnahubais the most common and useful tree in the country; of it houses areformed without any other ingredient than clay, the trunk serving for the substantial part, and the leaves in the shape of a fan for the covering; the latter are also used for mats, hand-baskets, hats, and little panniers. They afford, besides, sustenance for cattle at the period of great droughts, for, whilst new, the pith of the trunk is soft, and given to animals in default of other aliment: a sort of farinha, or flour, is also made from it, which is a resource in times of famine. In the centre of the foliage there is a glutinous pod, which, when applied to the fire, acquires the consistency of wax, of which it has the smell. Its fruit, which is a bunch of a black colour, supplies sustenance to all living creatures; and beautiful walking canes are made of its timber, which become speckled on being polished.
Theoiticicais the largest, and has the most abundant foliage of any tree of the certam. Its cool shade is grateful to man, as well as all animals of the country, but only grows where its roots can find water. In the woods thejabuticabais common, and in the catingas theambuzo.
The culture of cotton is in the progress of augmentation, and its produce is the principal branch of commerce, and introduces into the country the greatest part of foreign commodities, which the necessities of life or luxury may require. The cane prospers in many districts, but its juice is almost all distilled into spirit, or reduced into what are termedrapaduras, which are portions of muscovado sugar, in the form of a brick, which it receives after being put into wooden moulds. The produce of coffee, which with industry might become prodigious, is yet insignificant. The same may be said of the cocoa shrub. Indian corn is the only grain which prospers in the country.
Theatta, which is the pine of the southern provinces, is here abundant, and the best of all in the Brazil, and perhaps in America. Melons, and water-melons are excellent in many situations, also the pine-apple. Orange trees are almost useless in some places, and the banana, or plantain, is rare in consequence of the occasional deficiency of rain. Themangabaandaracaare common in all the districts, as well as the cajue-nut and the tobacco plant. Cattle, hides, cotton, and salt, are almost the only articles of exportation.
Formerly a considerable quantity of amber was collected, which the high tides deposited upon the beach. The bees produce a great abundance of honey in the cavities of trees.Quinaquina, or Jesuits’ bark, is rarely seen.
Rivers and Lakes.—Of the great number of rivers in this province the only large one is the Jaguaribe, which, in the idiom of the Indians, means the “river of ounces.” It has its origin in the serra of Boavista, which is a portion of theCayriris, in the district of Inhamu, and runs, like all the others, to the north, passes the towns of St. Joam do Principe, St. Bernardo, and Aricaty, and discharges itself into the ocean fifty miles west of the Appody. Its course through the cattle plains is handsome and interesting; the tide runs thirty miles, and gives it a majestic appearance. It has a diversity of fish, a considerable part of which enter with the inundations into the adjacent lakes, where they are greatly diminished by thejaburuand other ichthyophagous birds. Its principal tributaries are the river Salgado, which flows from the same cordillera, breaks through a mountain which it encounters, passes by the parishes of Lavras and Icco, and enters its superior by the right margin, having traversed the district of Mangabeira, where there is gold, the extraction of which was forbidden. The Banabuyhu, little inferior to the preceding, comes from the vicinity of the before-mentioned cordillera, joining its waters to the Jaguaribe a few leagues below the last confluence, having received, amongst other smaller streams, the Quixeramuby.
The river Caracu has its heads in the centre of the province, waters the town of Sobral, and is discharged by two mouths near forty miles to the east of the bay of Jericoacoara. The tide runs up some leagues, rendering it navigable for a considerable space.
The river Camucim, which in the interior of the country flows under the name of Croaihu, and which has one hundred miles of course, originates in the serra of Hibiapaba, refreshes the town of Granja, and empties itself twenty-five miles to the east of the last-mentioned bay. It is navigable for a considerable distance, and has at its embouchure a commodious anchorage for sumacas, which export from thence a large quantity of cotton, principally to Maranham.
The river Aricaty is extensive, and enters the sea by two unequal mouths, denominated Aricaty-Assu and Aricaty-Mirim; the first is the eastern. The intervening island is four miles in diameter and about twenty-five east of the Caracu.
The Cahohyppe, which flows into the ocean, fifteen miles to the west of the capital; the Cioppe, eighteen miles more to the west; the Curu, which discharges itself twenty miles further in the same direction; and the Mandahu, nearly fifty miles more, and eighteen to the east of Aricaty-Assu, are the only others worthy of notice.
In all the rivers of this province there is a species of fish resembling a skate, with a spur upon the tail, the painful sting of which, when it does not producedeath, leaves the patient with a terrible wound: the only remedy known is burning with a hot iron or caustic, when the artery is not affected. The Author of Nature has beneficently ordained that they confine themselves to the bottom of dead water, and do no harm to those who bathe in running streams.
The lake of Velho is to the right of the Jaguaribe, with which it communicates by two channels in the parish of St. Joam, many leagues distant from the town of Aricaty. The lake of Jaguaracu lies between the rivers Cioppe and Siara, thirty-five miles from the sea, and the lake Camurupim, a short way from the eastern margin of the river Camucim, are the most considerable. Other periodical lakes are to be remarked, of little depth and considerable diameter, which only exist whilst it rains, and whose waters, on the return of heat and dry winds, crystallize into a white and excellent salt.
Islands, Capes, and Ports.—On the extensive coast of this province there are no promontories or remarkable capes, no ports for the reception of large vessels, nor islands, except in the embouchures or beds of the rivers. The shore in some parts is steep, in others flat and sandy, covered with mangroves, and having in some situations fine cocoa-nut trees.
The bay of Titoya, with seven miles of mouth and two of depth, is surrounded by handsome mangroves, full of divers species of crab-fish, and is situated between the mouth of the Camucim and the limit of the province. The bay of Jericoacoara, considerable, and pointed out by the morro of the same name, and the bay of Iguape, surrounded by high barriers, contracted into a point by a mount on the eastern side, are the only openings in the land meriting that denomination.
A line drawn north and south, from the river Curu to the southern limit, divides this province into two parts almost equal.
In the eastern part are the following towns:—
Nossa Senhora d’AssumpçaoAricatyIccoCrattoBom JardimSt. BernardoSt. Joam do PrincipeCampo MaiorAquirazMontemor o NovoMecejannaSoureArronches.
In the western division:—
SobralVilla ViçosaVilla Nova d’el Rey.
Nossa Senhora d’Assumpçao, otherwise Villa do Forte, so named in consequence of a fort which defended it, but more commonly called Siara, is a verymiddling town, and the residence of the governor; the chapel, dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady, was the origin of its present name. It is the capital of the province, and has a church of St. Joze de Ribamar. It is situated near the beach, is surrounded with a sandy soil, and about seven miles to the north-west of the embouchure of the river Siara, where it was first commenced at the place now called Villavelha. It is the most ancient town in the province, and the reputed city of Siara of Vosgien, possessing however no advantages that would warrant the expectation of any great improvement of its present condition. The pine, or atta, is here very large, and its fruit delicious. In 1808 it received a Juiz de Fora, who is judge of all civil and criminal causes, also auditor of war, judge of the custom-house, attorney-general, and deputy of the junta of the treasury, which does not differ in its jurisdiction from any of the others. The governor of this province touched at Pernambuco during my stay there; the term of his government had expired, and he was on his way to Rio de Janeiro. This province cannot boast of any foreign commerce; the principal part of its produce has hitherto been sent by coasting vessels principally to Maranham; and in like manner its internal demands have been supplied. A respectable house of London have it in contemplation to form an establishment here: this house has had for many years establishments at Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco.
To the west of this town is the parish of Conceiçao d’Almofalla, whose parishioners are whites, with some Tramembe Indians; the whole cultivating mandioca, legumes, and rice. In its district there are salt-pits.
To the south of the preceding is the parish of Conceiçao d’Amontada, the population of which, for the main part whites, cultivate the same productions, and breed cattle.
Aricaty, the largest, most populous, commercial, and flourishing town and frequented port of the province, was created by John V. in 1723, and is situated on the eastern margin, eight miles above the mouth of the Jaguaribe, the large floods of which river incommode a portion of its inhabitants. It has a church dedicated to the Lady of Rozario, and four hermitages, with the titles of Lord Jesus of Bom Fim, of Navigators, of the Lady of Livramento, and of St. Gonçalo; a professor of Latin; good streets; and many houses of one story, with a great portion of them built of brick. Cotton and hides are its principal exportations.
Icco stands along the right margin of the river Salgado, a few leagues above its mouth, one hundred miles north of Cratto, and near one hundred and eightysouth of Aricaty, is a considerable town, with a church dedicated to the Lady of Expectaçao, a hermitage of Rozario, another of the Lord Bom Fim, and a royal master of Latin. Its edifices are chiefly of wood, and its inhabitants are much incommoded by the heat, reflected from a morro, or rock, near it, and from whence a vast extent of the environs are viewed, abounding with cattle. The river is well stored with fish, and is subject to floods, which inundate a considerable space of territory, that produces rice, Indian corn, feijao, water-melons, and excellent melons; but neither the plantain, nor any fruit trees prosper in its vicinity. Farinha and sugar are brought here from Cratto, and salt from Assu.
Lavras da Mangabeira, a parish created in 1813, is thirty-five miles above Icco, of which it is a dismembered portion, and is upon the margin of the Salgado. Its church is dedicated to St. Vincente Ferreyra, and its inhabitants raise various necessaries of life, cotton, and cattle.
Cratto, a town in a state of mediocrity, situated in a plain near a small stream, that takes its name, being one of the heads of the Salgado, has a church of the Lady of Penha, and is the most abundant town of the province. Every fruit tree of the South American continent prospers in its fertile district, and it has the advantage of running streams to irrigate the plantations, not excepting those of mandioca, when the rains fail, and to which may be attributed the superabundance of the necessaries of life it always enjoys. The neighbouring districts have recourse to them when they experience years of drought, and the consequent deficiency of vegetation. Limes, citrons, bananas, and cabbages, are of an uncommon size. Diseases of the eyes and legs are here endemical. Thunder showers commence in its vast district, which is a portion of the Cayriris Novas, in October, and last till May. In certain months cold nights are experienced.
Thirty miles to the east-south-east is the parish of St. Joze, yet known by the name of Missao Velha, (Old Mission.) Its numerous parishioners, generally whites, cultivate mandioca, Indian corn, and the sugar cane.
Bom Jardim was created a town by a law of the 30th of August, 1814, and is a dismemberment of Missao Velha, made two years previously, which was then the most populous parish of the province. It is fifty miles distant from Cratto, and has a church of Bom Jesus. Sugar and cattle form the riches of the inhabitants.
The town of St. Bernardo, yet small, is situated near a small river, which two miles lower joins the Jaguaribe on the western margin, thirty-five milesabove Aricaty, and one hundred and forty miles below Icco. Its church is dedicated to the Lady of Rozario, and cattle and cotton constitute the means of subsistence for the inhabitants.
St. Joam do Principe, originally Thauha, is a small town near the Jaguaribe, a few leagues below its source, in a fine and fertile district, enjoying salubrious air. The inhabitants are breeders of cattle, and produce cotton and the necessaries of life. In its environs there is an abundant mine of pumice stone.
Sobral, formerly Caracu, situated in a plain upon the margin of the river from which it derived its primitive name, is the second town in the province in point of size, commerce, and population. It is seventy miles distant from the sea, and ten from the serra of Merooca. Besides a parish church, dedicated to the Lady of Conceiçao, it has a chapel of Rozario; and within its district the chapels of St. Joze, St. Cruz, St. Anna, St. Quiteria, Rozario, upon the small stream of Guimareas, and Conceiçao, upon the serra of Merooca, where cultivation partially appears.
Granja stands in a plain upon the left bank of the Camucim, twenty miles from the sea. It is a middling and flourishing town, promising from its advantageous situation future augmentation. St. Joze is the nominal patron of its church. In its district there are the hermitages of St. Antonio do Olho d’Agua, St. Antonio d’Hyboassu, and Livramento. From its port, which is frequented, cotton and hides are exported.
Villa Viçosa is a large town, and well situated upon the serra of Hibiapaba, on land selected by the Jesuits for the establishment of a colony of Indians, the descendants of whom constitute at this time the principal portion of its numerous population. It is near a lake, and forty miles to the south-south-west of Granja; the houses are of wood or bricks. The church, dedicated to the Lady of Assumpçao, is the ci-devant Jesuitical hospicio, and the residence at present of the vicars, who are administrators of a fazenda for breeding cattle, in the situation of Thyaya, established as a patrimony for the said church. The nights of summer are cooler here than those of winter. Amongst other springs of good water is to be remarked that which is denominated Agua do Inferno, (Infernal Water,) in consequence of being in a craggy and rugged place, the water of which is particularly excellent. The great fertility within its vast circumference, covered with handsome woods, where plantations of cotton and the various necessaries of life prosper, united with the salubrity of the air which refreshes it, attracts here numerous Europeans, who give astimulus to its agriculture. The Indians of the town, with those who are distributed through its district, form eighteen companies of militia.
At a distance of about thirty miles is the parish of St. Pedro de Bayapinna, upon the same serra. Its inhabitants are whites and Indians, whose productions are the same as the preceding.
Villa Nova d’el Rey, (New Town of the King,) formerly Campo Grande, is situated upon the serra Cocos, which is a portion of the Hibiapaba, and near the origin of the small river Macambyra, and was founded for the habitation of a horde of Christianized Indians, of which there are few remaining. In consequence of the fertility of the country, the excellence of the waters, and the salubrity of the air, many whites are attracted here. It is seventy miles to the south-east of Villa Viçosa, has a church of the Lady of Prazeres, with environs rich in plantations of mandioca, the cane, and cotton. About twenty-five miles from it is the church of St. Gonçalo, whose parishioners live dispersed upon the same serra, and cultivate the same productions.
Campo Maior de Quixeramoby is a considerable and abundant town, with a handsome church of St. Antonio, and situated one hundred and thirty miles to the south of Aricaty, on the margin of the river which affords its name, with large numbers of cattle in its vicinity, constituting the principal property of the inhabitants.
Aquiraz, which is about four miles distant from the sea, and eighteen from the capital to the south-east, upon the eastern margin of the Pacoty, and a mile from the lake which affords it the name, is a middling town with some commerce, and a church dedicated to St. Joze.
Montemor o Novo is situated upon the serra of Botarite, having a church of the Lady of Palma, and is about one hundred and thirty miles to the south of the capital. The inhabitants respire a salubrious air, have the advantage of good water, and form plantations of the mandioca and the cane. A few leagues north of the preceding is the parish of the Lady of Conceiçao of Montemor o Velho, the inhabitants of which are whites and Indians, which latter are diminishing, as in other places, with the augmentation of the first.
Mecejanna is ten miles to the south-east of the capital, near a lake, having a church of the Lady of Conceiçao.
Soure, situated near the eastern margin of the river Siara, fifteen miles from the sea, and the same distance from the capital, has a church dedicated to May de Deos.
Arronches, which has for titular patroness the Lady of Humildes, is distant seven miles from the capital, towards the south.
The three last are Indian towns, with some whites and mesticos, who cultivate mandioca, cotton, rice, legumes, &c. The whole were founded in places selected for the establishments of Christianized Indians. They are all small but capable of becoming considerable, if their inhabitants were possessed of more activity and intelligence.
In the vicinity of the sources of the river Jaguaribe, are the parishes of St. Mattheus, in the district of Inhamuz; of the Lady of Paz, in the district of Arneyros, formerly a Christianized Indian town. Cattle and the necessaries of life are their principal productions.