CHAP. XXIII.PROVINCE OF PARA.
First Settlement—Contests with Indians—Slavery of the Indians—Their Liberation—Boundaries—Mineralogy—Phytology—Zoology—Ports and Rivers—Igaruana Indians.—District of Para-Proper—Capital—Buildings—Exports—English Establishments—Adoption of a New Constitution—Towns.—District of Xingutania—Limits—In Possession of Indians—Rivers—Towns.—District of Tapajonia—Limits—Rivers—Indians—Towns.—District of Mundrucania—Rivers—Principally possessed by the Indians—Their different Customs—Towns.
First Settlement—Contests with Indians—Slavery of the Indians—Their Liberation—Boundaries—Mineralogy—Phytology—Zoology—Ports and Rivers—Igaruana Indians.—District of Para-Proper—Capital—Buildings—Exports—English Establishments—Adoption of a New Constitution—Towns.—District of Xingutania—Limits—In Possession of Indians—Rivers—Towns.—District of Tapajonia—Limits—Rivers—Indians—Towns.—District of Mundrucania—Rivers—Principally possessed by the Indians—Their different Customs—Towns.
Subsequent to the restoration of the island of Maranham, Francisco Caldeyra sailed from that port with two hundred soldiers, in three caravels, at the end of the year 1615, to him being confided the important project of selecting an eligible situation for the establishment of another colony, more immediately in the vicinity of the Amazons; equally with a view of promoting the navigation of that great river, and of frustrating the attempts of any other nation, that might be made in prejudice to the rights assumed by the Lusitanian crown to its adjacent territory.
After various observations on different parts of the coast, he anchored in the port near which now stands the city of Belem, commonly called Para, to which he immediately gave a commencement, by the erection of a wooden fort, in the beginning of the year 1616, denominating the territory Gram-Para, and imagining that he was founding his colony upon the margin of the great river.
This archipelago soon presented, and was for many years the theatre of a cruel and inveterate warfare. Various Indian nations opposed the establishment of this colony, principally the Tupinambazes, the remains and descendants of various hordes of the numerous Tupinamba tribe, under whose dominion the sertams of Pernambuco were, when the Portuguese extended their conquests into the interior of that province. Not being able to resist the progressof their invaders, they fled from them to the margins of the Tucantins and the Amazons.
The attacks of the Indians upon the new settlers increased with the pretensions of the Dutch to the country, who inspired them with enthusiasm for conquest; the ardour of which was augmented, by the attempts of some small parties of English and French upon the Amazons. Caldeira was regarded by the Portuguese as an intrepid commander, but was wanting in equity, and the necessary qualifications to found a colony amongst these savage tribes.
The barbarous assassination, by a near relation of his, of a Captain esteemed by the whole colony, led to the termination of his government. He pretended to expiate the atrocity of his relative by a few days imprisonment; and rigorously treated two honourable men who boldly required from him a punishment adequate to the crime of the murderer. The circumstances attending it produced a considerable tumult, from which resulted his imprisonment in 1618.
In the intermediate short government of Captain Balthazar Rodrigues de Mello, the colony was assaulted with such intrepidity, by the Tupinambazes, that the issue would have been doubtful, if the chief of the Indians, denominated by the Portuguese, Cabello da Velha, had not fallen dead soon after the commencement of the attack.
In the year 1619, shortly after the Indians had retired, Jeronimo Fragozo d’Albuquerque arrived from Pernambuco, being appointed by Don Luiz de Souza to transmit the prisoner Caldeira to the Court, and to succeed him in the government, which he commenced with various success, by means of an armament, of which he took the direction, having for his Admiral the celebrated Pedro Teyxeyra. At the moment of exultation after these advantages, Captain Bento Maciel arrived, from Pernambuco, with an auxiliary force of eighty Portuguese, and four hundred disciplined Indians, to assist in the prosecution of the war against the Tupinambazes.
In the same year, the death of the governor occurred, which was followed by the installation of Mathias d’Albuquerque, who was deposed, under some pretext, in the course of twenty days. He was succeeded by Captain Custodio Valente, Frey Antonio, guardian of the Capuchins, and Captain Pedro Teyxeyra, who governed alone after the departure of the first for Lisbon, and the resignation of the second.
His government was short, the before-mentioned Bento Maciel succeeding him in the year 1621. He expelled the Dutch, already established upon both margins of the Amazons; destroyed some hordes of the most courageous savages,obliged others to fly, and induced many to come and offer peace and sincere friendship to the colony; thereby acquiring the title of the conqueror of Maranham, by which name the river Amazons was also designated. In his government the Jesuitical Missionaries made great progress.
In 1624, Manuel de Souza d’Eca succeeded him, by royal patent, an honour which was not conferred upon any of those who followed him, in the course of a century. By the active and diligent operations of the Missionaries the population became more numerous than that of the eastern province.
After this, some governors had the title of Captain Genera! of the State of Maranham, as were Joam d’Abreu Castello Branco, who governed in 1743, and Francisco Xavier de Mendonca, who arrived here in 1751, also appointed Plenipotentiary of Demarcation of the high Amazons.
The captivity of the Indians, customary in almost all the other provinces, and adopted in this since its first foundation, was continued. All labour was performed by the hands of the captive Indians, of which each colony prided itself in possessing the greatest number: riches were calculated by the quantity of these unfortunates. The injustice which was practised in this pretend right over their lives and liberty, the consequent prevailing disposition to indolence, avarice, and an indifference to vicious practices, engendered crimes amongst the colonists, tending to destroy every good and moral sentiment. The laws of the state and the sacred obligations of religion became odious to them, as restraints upon their vicious propensities. The Jesuit Antonio Viegra was the first, who, in the new state, declaimed with energy against the captivity of the aboriginal natives, and repaired to the metropolis expressly to solicit the adoption of more effectual measures for their liberty; and his colleagues, who entertained the same sentiments, were expelled at all points from both provinces in 1671.
The colonists of Para and Maranham were turbulent, and afforded considerable difficulties to the governors on this subject, until King Joseph issued a salutary law in 1755, which compelled them to observe the numerous edicts his ancestors had promulgated without effect in favour of the freedom of the Indians. The liberated Indians now passed under the inspection of administrators, who made them work generally on certain lands, the produce of which they were paid for out of the treasury, until the whole, in the regency of his present Majesty, were left to their free will. It is, however, to be remarked that many have since resumed the original state of nature, and the others have not advanced a step beyond their Indian brethren. The traders of Matto-Grosso and the high Maranham experience frequent injuries from the non-performance of contractsthey make with them, finding themselves frequently abandoned in situations of intricate navigation, where they are, in consequence, subjected to great difficulties.
In 1755 the Portuguese language began to be generally used here with the introduction of negroes, the freedom of the Indians, and the creation of the company already alluded to, up to which period the Tupinamba language was universally spoken; even the orators in the pulpit did not use any other.
This province is bounded on the north by the ocean and the river Maranham, or Amazons, which separates it from Guianna; on the west by the river Madeira; on the south by the provinces of Goyaz and Matto-Grosso; and on the east by that of Maranham. It extends from the equator to seven degrees of south latitude, with near eight hundred miles in length from east to west, and upwards of four hundred miles in its greatest width. The climate is invariably hot, even when it rains; the days and nights are nearly equal all the year, and the seasons almost prevail together. At the same time that some trees announce the autumn, by a profuse exhibition of fruits in a state of maturity, others are flourishing in their primitive bloom. The face of the country is generally flat, almost universally presenting an agreeable aspect, covered with extensive woods, where trees grow of a considerable height and prodigious girth. The soil in most parts is humid, substantial, and of great fertility, affording an abundance of various productions, which, in the other provinces, either do not exist or but in very small quantities. It also far surpasses all the others in the number and consequence of its rivers.
Mineralogy.—Crystals, emeralds, granite, silver, but not yet found in any quantity, argils, red lead, yellow ochre, from which is extracted ochre tinged with green.
Phytology.—In no other province are trees of such size produced; many of the most excellent building timber, some for cabinet work, various kinds affording tow for caulking, or flax for cordage; and the great Author of Nature has created others whose alimentary fruits afford sustenance to the living creature, the superabundance of which, for the most part, is of no utility, in consequence of the diminutive state of population. Amongst the oil and balsamic trees are to be noted thecumaruandcupahyba, orcapiri, those of gum-storax are known here only by the name ofomiry. The satin-wood is very valuable; themerapinimais compact and heavy, appearing like tortoiseshell when polished; there is the violet wood, thesucuba, which distils by incision a liquor, and takenin certain doses, is an efficacious remedy against the maw-worm; themassarandubadistils another liquor, which occasionally makes fine gum; the juice of theassacuis one of the most subtle venoms; the resin of thegetaicicais applied to the varnishing of earthern ware; the ashes of thechiriubaare esteemed the best known for the manufacture of soap. Among fruit trees are the orange,mangaba,saracaza,cajue-nut; theatta, or pine, is common, and the fruit very fine; the fig and vine are rare and do not fructify well; there are, also, the fruits ofabiu,inga,assiahy,bacaba,inaja,cotitiriba,cupuassu,aguru. The cocoa-nut trees are seen only in the neighbourhood of the sea; the cedar is very large and numerous, also thesapucaya; the plants ofvanillaand indigo grow spontaneously. The chesnut, that is the tree to whose fruit is commonly given the name ofcastanha do Maranham, differs from thesapucaya, with which it is sometimes confounded. Thecautecucpasses, and with justice, for one of the most useful trees of this province, where it is common; it is of theeuphorbiumspecies, and from its trunk is extracted, by incision, a liquid, which condenses and turns into an elastic gum, with which, through the medium of moulds, are made seringes of various kinds, and when its juice is applied to dress renders it impenetrable to water. The cocoa shrub, or tree, are of two kinds, one produced by nature, the other by cultivation. Here is, likewise, sarsaparilla, ipecacuenha,butua, jallap,ginger; also, thepechurum-tree and that affording the clove, denominatedcravo do Maranhamandcucheriamong the Indians.
The cultivation has here commenced of the laurel, or bay-tree, similar to that of theMollucas. The latter is an aromatic drug of such particular flavour that nothing could be substituted for it, until the seventeenth century, when that of Maranham was discovered, which, though different in the form, is otherwise so similar and so adapted to all the uses of the first that it has caused not only a considerable reduction in the price, but in the consumption of it among European nations. The trees that produce it the best, grow in the same latitudes of Gram Para as the others do in the Mollucca islands, and there is no doubt that the soil and climate of this province is capable, with proper management, of producing any thing that any other part of the world can afford. The bread fruit tree has been recently introduced and prospers as in its native soil. The very small portion, indeed, of this part of the Brazil that is cultivated is appropriated to the culture of mandioca, Indian corn, legumes, coffee, cotton, the sugar cane, of which the engenhos at present are not numerous, and rice, which is very abundant; these, with cocoa and other minorproductions, principally engage the attention of agriculturists, who, with the population and industry, are at a very low ebb, compared to the advantages so pre-eminently offered by a country of such unexampled fertility.
Zoology.—All the species of domestic and wild quadrupeds peculiar to the surrounding provinces are common here, as likewise the most remarkable birds, such as the parrot,arrara,tucano,jacu, emu-ostrich,soco,araponga,mutun,troquazepigeon, partridge,jaburu, divers sorts of geese,macaricos,colhereiras,sabias, andcolibris; theguara, only met with in the vicinity of salt water, is very numerous. Various species of small birds, with a variety of beautiful plumage, are observed here, totally unknown in the other provinces; also, all the kinds of bees common to the Brazil, affording a profusion of honey, in the extensive woods, for the supply of the Indian.
Ports and Rivers.—Between the bay of Turyuassu and Point Tigioca there are upwards of twenty abundant rivers, each with its anchorage place for vessels of small burden, more or less commodious, either within or near their embouchures, the main part being within bays or spacious gulfs, commonly surrounded with mangroves, abounding in theguara,macarico, and other birds that exist upon shell-fish.
As almost all the rivers in this province run into the Amazons, we will speak of them in the order in which they enter that great recipient.
The river of the Amazons, also called Maranham by the Portuguese, and Guienna by some Indians, was discovered, after Pinson had passed its spacious outlet, in the interior of the continent, by his countryman Francisco Orellana, who descended by it from the mouth of the Napo to the ocean, in the year 1539, and, like the wondrous and fabulous statements of some of the first discoverers of new countries, he promulgated a story, that its margins were inhabited by warlike women, armed with bows, from which it improperly acquired the name by which it is universally known. In the year 1637, the Portuguese Captain Pedro Teyxeyra before mentioned, conducted a fleet of forty-seven canoes from Para up the Amazons, to the mouth of the Napo, and advanced up the latter as far as it was navigable. On his return, in the following year, he gave a circumstantial relation of both rivers, as did the Jesuit Christoval da Cunha, who returned with Teyxeyra from Quito, but neither of them met with any of the Amazons Orellana pretended to have seen. This river is, without exception, the largest in the world, having a course of upwards of four thousand miles. It is not designated in the whole of its extent by the names alreadymentioned. The Portuguese more frequently call it the Amazons as far as the embouchure of Rio Negro; from thence upwards the Solimoes, and, at the famous confluence of the Ucayale with the Tanguragua, it takes the appellation of Maranham. It was doubtful for some time which of these was its principal head. The first, unquestionably, has the more extensive course, and is wider at their union than the latter.
The Tanguragua issues from lake Hyauricocha, situated in ten and a half degrees of south latitude, in the district of Huanaco, about one hundred miles north-north-east of Lima. It runs north-north-west for the space of three hundred and fifty miles between the two cordilleiras of the Andes as far as the town of Jaen de Bracamoras, commencing with the name of the lake in which it originates. At Bracamoras, where it begins to be navigable, it receives the Chinchipe on the left, which comes from the north-west; and on the right the Chachapoyas, which flows from the south-east, both navigable. Here it inclines to the north-east till it receives the Santiago, formed by various torrents, precipitated from the mountains of Loxa. In this interval of one hundred and forty miles, nearly midway, the Tanguragua receives the Chuchunga on the right, navigable for ten miles. It should have been observed, that the port of Bracamoras is on its left bank, and that immediately below the town its waters are contracted between two mountains, and, running furiously, descend by various falls. Below the Chuchunga it flows through the narrow strait of Cumbinama, and afterwards by that of Escorregabragas, neither of which are very dangerous.
At the confluence of the Santiago, the Tanguragua is five hundred yards in width, and three miles further, running eastward, it begins to straighten, traversing the interior cordilleira of the Andes, and is reduced in the narrowest part to fifty yards. The current descends this contracted channel of six miles, denominated Pongo, in the space of one hour. At its termination is situated the city of Borja.
Seventy miles below Borja it receives on the left the Marona, which is not inferior to the Santiago, descending from the volcano of Sangay, and forty miles further, on the same side, the considerable Pastaca, which originates also in the cordillera.
Thirty-five miles below, the large Guallaga enters it, originating a little to the north of lake Chiquiacoba in 11° of latitude, in the district of Huanaco, which name it takes for a considerable space, describing numeroussmall windings. After it follows the river Chambyra, and then the Tigre, both flowing from the north-west, the latter having a course of three hundred miles.
Sixty miles below the embouchure of the Tigre, is the magnificent confluence of the Tanguragua, with the Ucayale. The Ucayale originates in the latitude of 18° south-east of the large lake Chucuito, otherwise Titicaca, and one hundred and twenty miles east-north-east of the city of Arica. It runs to the north and north-west, under the name of Benni, to its junction with the Apurimaco, in the latitude of 11°, where both their names are lost in that of the Ucayale.
The Apurimaco rises a few leagues north of the city of Arequipa, between the lake Chucuito and the Pacific Ocean, from which it is only distant about fifty miles; and runs northward, describing considerable windings, and gathering various other streams, amongst which the most important are the Pampas, on the left, in 13° 10′; the Urubamba, on the right, in 12° 15′; and the Montaro in 12° 6′, where it changes the direction towards the north-east. Previously to mingling its waters with the Benni it receives on the left the Perene, and on the right, ten miles above its mouth, the Pancartamba.
The Montaro issues from the lake Chinchayocha, in the district of Huanaco, in 11°, and flows for a considerable space to the south-east along the cordillera, describing extensive windings to its embouchure.
The largest tributary of the Ucayale, after it takes this name, is the Pachitea, which joins it on the left, in the latitude of 8° 30′, being more handsome in its appearance than considerable, its course not exceeding two hundred miles.
The Maranham, at the confluence where it takes this name, directs its course to the north-east for one hundred miles, receiving, on the left, the Napo, which originates in divers parts of the interior cordillera of the Andes, in the vicinity of Quito, from whence it flows to the south-east, collecting various others, and, after a course of five hundred and fifty miles, discharges itself by different channels, formed by several islands, above which it is twelve hundred yards in width.
With this river the Maranham becomes eighteen hundred yards wide, yet having acquired only a small portion of the volume of water with which it enters the ocean, from whence it is here distant thirteen hundred miles in a direct line. At this part it inclines to the east, and, after fifty miles of course, receives by the right the Cassiquin, which comes from the south, with three hundred and fifty miles of extent.
Seventy miles lower the Hyabary enters, which has its source in the territories of the Torromonas in 11° 30′.
Upwards of one hundred miles further is the mouth of the large Iça, which originates in the skirts of the said cordillera to the north-east of the Napo, and in the vicinity of St. Joam de Pasto, with the name of Putumajo.
The Hyutahy and the Hyurba follow; they are less than the preceding, being about three hundred and sixty fathoms in width, and next to the Teffe, the Coary, and the Purus, which are discharged by many mouths.
On the northern margin it receives the great river Hyapura, after an extensive course from the province of Popayan. This river runs parallel with the Maranham for a considerable distance, discharging itself in that space by nine channels, the mouth of the first being three hundred miles to the west of the last. Auatiparana, Euiratyba, Manhana, Uaranapu, Hyapura, Unana, Copeya, Hyucara, and Cadaya, are the names of the channels, and the order by which the Hyapura enters the Maranham. The Maranham is estimated to be nearly a mile and a half in width, at a certain part, free from islands, about twenty miles below the Purus, where the bottom, it is said, could not be found with a cord of one hundred and three fathoms.
After the Hyapura, its waters are swelled by the entrance, also on the northern side of the Rio Negro, almost equalling it in width and volume; and sixty miles lower, on the right, by the river Madeira, nearly two miles in width, being the most considerable of all the subordinate torrents that fill up the vast space between the receding margins of this wonderful river. The river Madeira was designated Cayary, until the Portuguese gave it the former denomination, in consequence of the large trunks of trees, some of cedar, of an extraordinary size, that floated down at the period of the floods, Madeira being the Portuguese word for wood or timber. It takes this name at the confluence of the Guapore with the Mam ore, which latter has its source in the province of Potoze, traversing that of Santa Cruz, and describing a vast semicircle by the east towards the north, being enlarged by numerous other currents, which join it on both sides to the said confluence, in latitude 10° 22′. One hundred and forty miles above this point, in the parallel of 13°, it communicates with the Benni, by the river Exaltacao, issuing from the lake Rogagualo, from which another of short extent flows to the Mamore.
In front of the angle of the confluence of the Mamore with the Guapore, there is an island of rock, well adapted for the site of a fort, which would command the entrance of both rivers. Upwards of nine hundred miles is computedfrom this situation to the mouth of the Madeira. In the space of the first two hundred the traveller encounters twelve cataracts, equally astonishing for their grandeur and extent. The attention is first arrested by that which has the same denomination as the river, and not far below the island of rock alluded to. Three of the falls are within the space of a mile and a half. The canoes advancing up the river are unloaded and conveyed in this state, including the different points, for half a mile. The Misericordia next follows, about two miles lower down, and the danger and labour of passing it depends upon the height or diminution of the waters of the river. Proceeding along another interval of the same space, the four cataracts of Reibeirao meet the astonished eye within the distance of four miles. Canoes are here for a considerable way dragged over land.
Twelve miles further is the Figueira, otherwise Araras, formed by small islands and large stones, but of no considerable extent.
Upwards of twenty miles further is the Pederneiras, where the river is thickly overspread with immense stones, obliging the cargoes of the canoes to be carried on men’s shoulders for nearly half a mile.
Descending ten miles more the Paredao is met with, where the course of the river is contracted, and its waters precipitated among rocks for a short space.
The Ties Irmaos (Three Brothers) is the next, about twenty miles further, formed by various falls, generally small, for the distance of near a mile.
Twenty-five miles lower is the Girau, where the river flows with great rapidity, separated among rocks and precipitated over five falls in a short distance. The canoes are here also carried over land.
Five miles further is the Caldeirao de Inferno, (the Infernal Cauldron,) three miles in extent, forming, in a certain situation, a most perilous whirlpool, which requires much vigilance and labour to the navigator.
Eighteen miles beyond the preceding is the fall of Morinhos, so called from three small morros, or rocks, a short distance from the western margin, covered with sarsaparilla.
Passing an interval of twelve miles the interesting fall, denominated the Salto do Theotonio is next presented for contemplation, being an accumulation of rugged rock, twenty-six feet in height, broken into four parts, dividing the waters of the Madeira into as many channels, each having the appearance of a large river. Parallel with this majestic sluice a reef of rock extends from the eastern margin almost to the western, impelling the volume of waters of threechannels into the fourth, the whole flowing with immense profundity and greater rapidity by this strait between the extremity of the reef and the river’s left bank. The canoes are dragged over land, with much difficulty and labour, nearly half a mile.
Five miles lower is the fall of St. Antonio, which the river passes by three currents, formed by two small stony islands. This is the first which interrupts the navigation of the canoes proceeding upwards, and is situated in the latitude of 8° 48′.
Three months is generally consumed by the navigators of this river in advancing up from this fall to that of Guajirumirim in the Guapore.
From the fall of St. Antonio to the embouchure of the Madeira there are more than thirty islands, from three to ten miles in length, almost all of them covered with superb timber; those of a smaller size are much more numerous, the largest is called Minas, which is ten miles long and three in width, and is sixty miles below the mouth of the river Marmellos.
The waters of Rio Negro and the Madeira increase the width of the Maranham to nearly four miles, and when there are parallel islands it is at some places eight, and at others much more.
About two hundred miles in a direct line, or three hundred by the course of the river, below the Madeira, is the mouth of the large river Tapajos; and two hundred miles further to the east that of the river Xingu, equal if not superior to the preceding; both coming from the district of Cuiaba, and neither with less than eight hundred miles of course.
At the confluence of the latter the Amazons inclines to the north-east for the distance of one hundred and forty miles, augmenting sensibly in width as it approaches the equator, where it discharges itself into the ocean by a mouth of from twenty-five to thirty miles.
Eighty miles below the mouth of the Xingu there is a channel called Tagypuru, in certain parts very narrow, and running towards the south-east as far as the mouth of the river Annapu, where it becomes upwards of fifteen miles in width, with many islands, and flows to the east until it enters the river Tucantins, which comes from the centre of the province of Goyaz, and at this part inclines to the north-east, increasing considerably in width, and entering the ocean by an embouchure equal to that of the Amazons, with this difference, that for some leagues up it is impregnated with salt water, whilst the other carries its volume of pure waters many leagues into the sea, perfectly fresh,having acquired, by its rapidity and prodigious body, a preponderating power over the first essays of its saline opponent till the ocean buries it in fathomless depths.
On the northern margin of the Amazons, below the Rio Negro, are discharged, among other smaller streams, the Matary, which flows from some handsome lakes; the Urubu, otherwise Barururu; the Aniba, denominated sometimes Saraca; the Trombetas; the Gurupatuba; and the Annarapucu.
The lateral lands of the Amazons from Borja, where the falls and currents terminate, are flat and covered with woods. The current is always rapid, even at its greatest diminution, and the waters when drawn are of an orange colour, and at the floods are never muddy. Its bed is an archipelago, leaving, in the space of above one thousand miles, few places where the navigator can distinctly see both sides of the continent. These islands increase and decrease annually, not only in number but in size at the period of the floods, which, in parts, divide one into two, and in others accumulate many into one by filling up the channels which separated them. Here portions of land are violently torn away from the continent, there from the islands, with which either the existing ones are augmented or new ones formed. Some are of great extent, and usually covered with large trees.
The vessels which are navigated to the high Amazons are formed of trunks of trees of from forty to sixty feet in length; they are excavated into the form of canoes, with the power of fire and water, and the greatest width is given that they are susceptible of; being preserved in this state with knees, to which are nailed planks to make them higher, having around prow, and a poop with a cabin, and a rudder. They always retain the appellation of canoes, and have two masts, with round sails, in order to proceed up before an easterly wind, and descend by the impulse of the current. It is dangerous to navigate near the margins, where frequently large trees fall into the river without any wind, the current having excavated the ground upon which they stood.
The tide advances to the town of Obydos, more than five hundred miles above Macappa, computing by the bed of the river. With a strong wind it swells like the sea, but immediately the wind subsides it becomes tranquil by the power of the current, which dissipates the advancing waves in a moment.
Amongst other species of fish with which it is stored are thegorujuba, the largeperahyba,doirado,pescada, andpuraquez, which possesses the property of benumbing the arm of the fisherman. A species of seal, denominated by the Indiansmanahy, and by the Portuguesepeixe-boy, (ox fish, or sea calf,) in consequenceof the similarity of its snout or head to that animal, is the largest, and feeds upon herbs which grow upon the margins, without going out of the river. It is viviparous and gives milk to its young like the whale, and has extremely small eyes; the flesh is like veal and of a good flavour, of which is also made sausages, calledmixiras; the oil extracted from it not only serves for lights but for seasoning various eatables. The Dutch, when they had a footing in these parts, derived a lucrative branch of commerce from this fish. Thepirarucuis large, and esteemed good; its tongue serves the Indians for a rasp to grate the guarana fruit; the internal parts, after being dried in the sun, form a good glue, and when reduced to powder exceed every thing for clarifying coffee. Alligators are numerous and very large; and the tortoise is very bulky and abundant, but its shell is of no value: it is amphibious, and deposits at one time more than a hundred eggs in holes which it makes in the sand at a short distance from the water, covering them over; the heat of the sun hatches them, and the young, disengaging themselves from the sand, immediately proceed to the river; many, however, in this short march, are devoured by the hawk.
The river Moju, which is spacious and deep, even as far as the tide reaches, originates in the territory of the Camecran Indians beyond the woods, which it afterwards traverses northward until it enters the bay of Guajara. In the forests or woods above mentioned, consisting of most excellent timber, and where the chestnut-tree of the country abounds, there is a great scarcity of game, caused, no doubt, by the continued huntings of the Ammanius, Pochetys, Appinages, and Norogages, tribes of Indians who dwell in the circumjacent country. The want of this resource is the alleged reason for establishments not having been formed in the fertile territory watered by this river, navigable to its centre.
The Camecran Indians are divided into five hordes, distinguished by as many pre-names, namely, Ma-camecran, Crore-camecran, Pore-camecran, Cha-camecran, and Pio-camecran, the whole being very similar in their language and customs. The Ma-camecrans live at present in a state of pacific intermixture with the inhabitants of the new arraial of St. Pedro d’Alcantara, belonging to the jurisdiction of Goyaz.
Forty miles above the mouth of the Moju there is a narrow, winding, and extensive strait, denominated Iguarapemirim, which is a channel of communication between this river and the Tucantins, thus forming an island of thirty-five miles from north to south, and twenty at its greatest width. The Acara, also considerable, affords navigation to the agriculturists upon its adjacent lands, divided into various parishes, and loses its name on entering the Moju by theright, fifteen miles south of the capital. Six miles below this confluence the Moju is nearly a mile in width.
The river Guama, likewise considerable, comes from the east, traversing a fertile country partially inhabited to its source, and is discharged into the bay of Guajara, near the Moju, having received, near forty miles above, the Capim on the left.
The largest island of this province is the Joannes, otherwise Marajo, situated between the Tucantins and the Amazons, with the ocean on the north, and the strait of Tagypuru on the south. It extends ninety miles from north to south, and one hundred and twenty from east to west, is inhabited and watered by various rivers; abounding in cattle, and formerly had the title of a barony.
Its principal rivers are the Anajaz, which issues from a lake, and has a course, to the west, of fifty miles in a direct line. The Arary, something larger, flows from another lake, and discharges itself by two mouths on the eastern side the Mondin, which also runs to the east, and the Atua to the south-east: the whole are navigable with the aid of the tide.
The Nhengahybas, principally masters of this island, and Christianized in part by the Jesuit Antonio Vieyra, were expert mariners, as well as others living upon the adjacent rivers, and possessed a great number of canoes, denominated in their own languageigaras, from which they derived the appellation of Igaruanas; and always proceeding in canoes, were distinguished by this name from tribes who lived in woods distant from the water. Under the denomination of Igaruanas were also comprehended the Tupinambas, the Mammayamas, the Guayanas, the Juruanas, the Pacayas, and others. They had smalligarasfor fishing and proceeding from one neighbouring place to another; but their warigaraswere forty and fifty feet long, of one trunk, excavated with stone axes and fire, and were calledmaracatims, frommaraca, the name of a certain instrument made of a gourd, with stones or dried legumes within; andtim, which properly signifies the nose, but translated to imply the beak of a bird, and even the prow of the vessel, in consequence of these canoes having at the head a largevara, or pole, in the form of a bowsprit, to which themaracaswere suspended with small cords, clashing together with a loud rattling noise equally warlike and terrific. Their battles were fatal, and decided with the arrow, spear, and club.
The Igaruanas of the lower Amazons were esteemed the very best of rowers, when they were habituated to it from their infancy. It was they who, by the force of the oar, conducted the fleet of Captain Pedro Teyxeira from the bay of Guajara to the sight of the Andes.
With four very large rivers, the Tucantins, the Zingu, the Tapajos, and the Madeira, nature has partitioned this province into as many districts, which it is probable in a short period will form an equal number of comarcas; and, for the disembarrassment of their history and geography, we will describe them as so divided, namely:
The district or comarca of Para is confined on the north by the ocean, on the south by the province of Goyaz, on the east by that of Maranham, and on the west by the district of Xingutania, from which it is separated by the river Tucantins. It is four hundred and fifty miles from north to south, and two hundred from east to west, the country being flat, watered with many rivers, and possessing immense woods, demonstrating the fertility of the soil.
The before-described rivers Guama, Acara, and Maju, are the principal ones of this district, well enough provided with ports, and exceeding the others in population and agriculture. The southern part is yet occupied by wild Indians. The tribe Taramambazes, who were masters of the sea coast from the bay of Turyassu to that of Cahete, excelled all others in the art of swimming. They could swim leagues, and frequently proceeded by night to cut the cables of ships anchored at a distance, remaining an extraordinary time under water.
Belem, more generally calledPara, is the capital of the province, situated upon the eastern margin of the river Tucantins in the bay of Guajara, at thenorthern angle of the embouchure of the Guama, fronting the island of Oncas, and in a plain eighty miles from the ocean. It is an episcopal city, in a state of mediocrity, with a population now only of about twenty thousand, many having been recently swept off by the small-pox. If the access to it was better it would become more rapidly commercial. It is ornamented with many chapels, a convent of Capuchins, another of slippered Carmelites, a misericordia, and a hospital. The cathedral and the palace of the governors are handsome edifices. The streets are straight, the principal ones paved, and the houses mainly of stone. The convent of Mercenarios, who are extinct, is at present the quarters of a regiment. The ci-devant Jesuitical college is converted into a seminary, and the episcopal palace and the church serve for the misericordia. It has a tribunal da Fazenda-real, similar to the other capitals of provinces, a port admiral, an ouvidor, a Juiz do Fora, and royal professors of Latin, rhetoric, and philosophy. Since the arrival of the Royal Family in the Brazil, botanical gardens have been established in the vicinity of the few maritime towns of note; and this city can boast of one, having a variety of the most useful and best trees of the province, likewise some European trees. There is an arsenal with its chapel, and many engenhos for rice.
At the request of John V. Pope Clement XI. despatched a Bull for the creation of this bishopric in 1719, and none of the Brazilian cathedrals originated with so much splendour, and attendants of archdeacons, canons, deacons, &c. &c. It is divided into two parishes, St. Maria da Graca, and St. Anna, amongst whose inhabitants there are comparatively few negroes.
The port in which the tide rises eleven feet is considered to be diminishing in depth. Thunder is very frequent, but not diurnal, as has been stated; the showers which accompany it mitigate, in some degree, the ardent heat which universally prevails. The land breezes, as well as those from the sea, generally every evening moderate the burning rays of the sun, which may be said to be almost vertical, and refresh the atmosphere; thereby rendering this place very healthy, and tolerably free from the endemical diseases which many regions are subject to in a similar latitude. There are few insects that introduce themselves into the human frame, or that are so troublesome as in some of the other provinces. The days and nights are equal nearly the whole year. The environs of this city were formerly very unwholesome, but an evident improvement took place after the colonists began to clear away the woods, and cattle to increase.
The exportations from hence are cocoa, coffee, rice, cotton, sarsaparilla, the Maranham and Molluca clove, raw and tanned hides,pechurimorpucheri,cupahybaorcapivi,tapioca, gum, the urucu die, molasses, Indian rubber, castanhas, or chestnuts of Maranham, timber, &c. These articles were formerly sent to Maranham, and the trade with this place was carried on through the medium of coasting vessels; but the honourable ambition and activity of the English merchant, which lead him to every corner of the globe for the purposes of commerce, did not allow this place long to escape his observation, and one or two establishments were formed here soon after the arrival of the Royal Family, which have increased to five or six. The Confiance British sloop of war first navigated up to the town, demonstrating that vessels, not drawing more water, might accomplish the same object; and a house at Glasgow subsequently employed two vessels of much larger burthen in the trade of this city, for whose present commerce, however, vessels of a smaller class are better adapted. The spontaneous productions, abundant fertility, and extent of the province, fully justify the expectation of its becoming a very considerable place; and more particularly so from the probability of its being, at no distant period, the only mart for the increasing productions of the provinces of Goyaz and Matto-grosso.
Its cottons have some time held a rank in the British market and obtained a price not far short of the Bahia cottons; the communication is principally with Liverpool, and from ten to fifteen small brigs proceed from thence to Para annually with English manufactures, and return with produce. One or two vessels also from London have recently maintained with it a regular intercourse.
The great extent of country comprising the province of Para, as well as the tributary provinces of Solimoes and Guianna, coming mainly under the jurisdiction of its governors, have induced the government generally to appoint individuals of distinguished families and noble birth to this situation. The present governor of this very important district, extending almost to the Oronocos, is the Conde de Villa Flora. Two miles to the north-east is situated a chapel of Our Lady of Nazareth, frequently visited by the inhabitants of this city.
Para was the first town in the Brazil that adopted the new constitution of Portugal, which event, highly to its honour, was brought about without any bloodshed, in the beginning of January, 1821.
Braganca, formerly Cayte, and the capital of a small capitania so called, is one of the best and most ancient towns of the province, and is ornamented with some hermitages. It is well situated on the left margin of the river from which it derived its primitive name, and is about twenty miles from the ocean, and near one hundred to the east-north-east of the capital, and seventy to the east-south-east of Point Tigioca. An extensive bridge traverses a swamp, or marsh, anddivides it into two parts; the northern division was at first only inhabited by Indians. It is a port or calling place for the coasting-vessels that navigate from Maranham to Para. Its church is dedicated to St. Joam Baptista.
Twenty-five miles to the east-south-east of Braganca, and the same distance from the sea, is the parish of St. Joze de Cerzedello, upon the right margin of a small river. Thirty miles to the south-south-west of Braganca, and eighty to the east of the capital, is the small town of Ourem, upon the right bank of the Guama. It is ornamented with a church dedicated to the Espirito Santo, and its inhabitants cultivate the necessaries of life.
Vigia, an ancient town, and for some time considerable and flourishing whilst the depository of a great quantity of cocoa and coffee, brought thither from the adjacent country, is fifty miles north-north-east of the capital, upon the margin of the Para or Tucantins. The Jesuits had a college here, and the Mercenaries an entertaining-house. Its primitive and proper name is St. Jorge dos Alamos. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of Nazareth, and the inhabitants are agriculturists and fishermen.
Cintra is a small town, fifty miles west-north-west of Braganca, seventy north-east of Para, and fifteen east of Villa Nova, pleasantly situated at the mouth of the river Maracana, of which it formerly had the name. Its surrounding country is appropriated to various branches of agriculture; the church is dedicated to the Archangel St. Miguel, and its inhabitants, who are diminishing, cultivate little more than the necessaries of life.
In the vicinity, and north-east of Cintra, is the aldeia of Salinas, with some regularity, and in a very agreeable district, having a place of worship dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Socorro.
Collares, formerly a middling town, and well supplied, is forty miles north-north-east of the capital, upon an island six miles in length from north to south, with proportionable width, and separated from the continent by a narrow strait. It has only one church of the Lady of Rozario, and its environs are partially appropriated to the production of coffee, cocoa, and the necessaries of life common to the country.
Twelve miles south-south-east of Point Tigioca, and sixty north-east of the capital, is Villa Nova d’el Rey, upon the margin, and a very little above the embouchure of the Curuca, at the bottom of a bay. Its inhabitants, for the main part Indians, are fishermen, and cultivators of mandioca, Indian corn, rice, cocoa, and coffee, which do not remove them from a state of poverty,although the soil is of great fertility, and worthy of a more active and industrious population. It has a church of Our Lady of Rozario.
Gurupy, advantageously situated upon the banks of the bay of the same name, was created a town in 1671, and became for some time rather flourishing, whilst the capital of a small Capitania, and visited by the coasting-vessels from Maranham to Para. Its anchorage-place has diminished in depth, and agriculture is declining from the want of whites as well as Africans.
Bayao, a small Indian town, with some whites on the eastern margin of the Tucantins, and thirty-five miles above Cameta, is well supplied with fish, and the rendezvous of canoes from Goyaz. It has a church of St. Antonio, and the inhabitants cultivate cocoa, coffee, cotton, rice, mandioca, divers fruits, and hortulans. Its very advantageous situation, and the wide field for agricultural improvement, promise it a considerable augmentation.
Thirty-five miles further, upon the same margin of the Tucantins, and eighteen below the fort of Alcobaca, is the aldeia of Pederneira, inhabited by christianized Indians, who cultivate the same articles as the preceding town. Here the river begins to be thickly strewed with islands to the capital. In this district there is yet the small town of Conde upon the margin of the Tucantins, twenty miles to the south-west of Para; also Beja, a place of the same order, and seven miles south of Conde; and Abayte, an insignificant place, eight miles south of Beja; all three are upon an island formed by the rivers Tucantins, Muju, and Igarape Mirim, whose territory is appropriated to several branches of agriculture.
Arcos, situated upon the great bay of Turyvassu, is an aboriginal town, and the insufficiency of its inhabitants retards the progress of agriculture, to which its fertile soil is so favourable. Upon this coast, also, are the parishes of St. Joze de Piria, and Vizeu, inhabited by Indians; and in the adjacent lands of the river Guamma are those of Caraparu, Bujaru, Anhangapy, Irituya, St. Miguel da Cachoeira, and St. Domingos, in the angle of the mouth of the river Capim.
This district is of a quadrangular form, and is bounded on the north by the river Amazons, on the west by the river Xingu, which affords it the name, and separates it from Tapajonia; on the south by the district of Tapiraquia, and on the east by the Tucantins. It is a portion of the province yet little known, andalmost wholly inhabited by the posterity of the Aborigines, divided into various nations. The most northern tribes have some intercourse with the Christians of the povaoçoes, situated upon the margins of the rivers which limit the district, and various individuals of them have embraced Christianity. The lands which have been cultivated are fertile, and appropriated to a great variety of hortulans, edible roots, Indian corn, rice,feijao, tobacco, cotton, the sugar cane, and all the fruit trees of the climate.
The cocoa shrub, or tree, grows spontaneously in various situations. In the vicinities of the rivers the aspect of the woods is rendered agreeable by the diversity and thickness of the trees. They are stored with birds and game, which are alike the resource of the indolent savages and the Christians, who hitherto have not introduced the breed of cattle.
Little is yet known relative to the mineralogy of this province, nor of the genius or customs of the central and southern hordes of the natives. A great number of rivers, many of crystaline waters, flow from the centre of this comarca into those which mainly surround it.
The Annapu traverses the country from south to north, and discharges itself in front of the island of Marajo by various mouths; the principal one is spacious, and forms a great bay within. After many days’ voyage up this river, falls are met with, and its bed is strewed with large stones. In the woods which border it there are abundance of clove-trees of the country.
The Pacajaz, properly Pacaya, has an extensive course through a stony bed, and over many considerable falls, at certain distances. Four days’ voyage is required to arrive at the bar of the great river Iriuanna, which unites it on the eastern bank, and a few leagues above the embouchure is the entrance of the channel, which connects it with the Annapu. It runs east of the Annapu, and takes the name of a nation which occupies its adjacent territory, where there is great abundance of clove-trees.
The river Jacundaz, or Hyacunda, is very large, affording an extensive navigation, and discharges itself east of the Pacaya. The Araticu empties itself east of the Hyacunda by a wide channel, which bathes the island of Marago, on the south.
The Areas, which runs into the Amazons, near the northern entrance of the Tagypuru Strait, is navigable for a considerable distance, traversing woods, growing upon extensive plains, and abounding with a variety of game.
The Tacanhunas, so denominated from the tribe of Indians whose territory it irrigates, enters the Tucantins, near the Itaboca.
Villa Vicoza, originally called Cameta, and one of the most ancient towns of the province, is flourishing, and well situated upon the left margin of the Tucantins, ninety miles south-west of the capital, and is a port for the canoes navigating towards Goyaz and the High Maranham, as well as a depository for various productions cultivated within its fertile district. It has a church dedicated to St. Joam Baptista, and was for some time the capital of a small capitania known by the same name. The Tucantins is here ten miles in width, being an archipelago. Fifteen miles to the north-east, which is the direction it takes from this town to the ocean, is the island of Ararahy, or Aragacy, ten miles in length, narrow and flat, dividing the river into two currents, the eastern one improperly called the bay of Marapata, and the western the bay of Limoeira.
A short distance from the southern point of the island of Ararahy, on the eastern bank of the Tucantins, is the southern entrance of the before-mentioned Igarape Mirim, (Narrow Strait,) and in front of it, on the opposite margin, another, called the Furo do Japim, which is extensive, and flows into the large channel that waters the southern coast of Marajo.
Eighty miles, by water, above Villavicoza, upon the same margin of the Tucantins, is the fort of Alcobaca, for the purpose of registering the canoes from Goyaz; and three miles further there is another, denominated Arroyos, for the same object: here the tide is occasionally perceptible.
Gurupu is a small town, with a church of St. Antonio upon the banks of the Amazons, twenty-five miles below the mouth of the Zingu. Some earthen ware is here made, and tiles and bricks are exported to different parts, constituting a branch of its commerce, besides cocoa and cloves. From hence is distinguished, far to the north, the serra of Velha, almost always enveloped in mist, and beyond it the serra of Paru, upon whose summits the electric fluid finds a vehicle in airy vapour, giving them additional grandeur by the vibrating thunder-peels that strike upon the distant ear. They are both of considerable altitude, and the only mountains which the navigator sees from Para to the city of Borja.
Melgaco, a town in a state of mediocrity, abounding with fish, is situated upon the western side of lake Annapu, and watered by the river of that name, fifteen miles above its embouchure. Its church is dedicated to St. Michael, and the inhabitants cultivate vegetables, grain, &c. peculiar to the country, and extract many articles of commerce from the woods.
Portel, a small town, is situated on the eastern side of the lake Annapu,near the embouchure of the channel that connects it with the river Pacaya, seven miles south of Melgaco. It has a church of St. Miguel, and the inhabitants, almost all Indians, are fishermen, hunters, and agriculturists.
Oeyras is a small town, in a sandy situation, upon the margin and five miles above the mouth of the Araticu, forty miles north east of Villavicoza and thirty-five east of Melgaco. It has a church of Assumpçao, and its people are composed of Indians of various nations, who cultivate the most common necessaries, and indulge in their favourite habits of hunting and fishing.
Between the last river and the Panauha originated the Aldeia dos Bocas, so denominated from the Combocas, who were its first inhabitants, and from whom also the Bahia dos Bocas derived its name, being a large bay, extending westward to the bar of the Panauha, that disembogues near the southern entrance of the Tagypuru Strait.
Porto de Moz is a middling and well supplied town, upon the eastern margin of the Xingu, (which is here very wide,) twelve miles from the Amazons and the port of canoes that navigate these rivers. It has a church dedicated to St. Braz, and the inhabitants are Indian farmers, and collect some exports.
Veyros is a small town, well situated upon the Xingu, fifty miles from Porto de Moz, near the mouth of a small current, having a church of St. John Baptista, and Indian inhabitants of various nations, who produce a sufficiency of common necessaries, and some articles of trade.
Pombal is another Indian town, and of the same class as the preceding, but only requiring the addition of a certain number of whites and negroes to render it considerable and flourishing, in consequence of the uncommon fertility of its soil, and the valuable productions with which nature has enriched it, having, besides, great facility of exportation. It is eighteen miles above Veyros, upon the Xingu, which supplies it abundantly with fish.
The island of Marajo, in consequence of its proximity, may be considered as forming a part of this district. Its principal povoaçoes are the following:—
Monforte,ci-devantVilla de Joannes, a middling town, and well situated upon the bay of Marajo, has a church of Nossa Senhora do Rozario, and is nearly fifty miles north of Para. A Juiz de Fora presides over the senate, and it may be regarded as the capital of the island.
Moncaraz, originally Cayha, is a small town, with a church of St. Francisco d’Assiz, and ten miles south of Monforte, at the embouchure of a small river in front of Collares.
Salvaterra is an insignificant place, but well situated upon the southern angleof the month of the Mondin, eight miles north of Monforte, and has a church of the Lady of Conceiçao.
Soyre, a villota, or small village, is situated upon the northern batik of the Mondin, a few miles above Salvaterra, with a church of Menino Deus.
Chaves is a small town upon the northern coast, fronting Robordello, and flourished whilst a fishery existed, which was there established by a company from Para.
To the west of Chaves is the parish of Condexa, also a maritime povoaçao, refreshed with fine breezes, but possessing nothing remarkable.
In this island are also the parishes of Porto Salvo, at the mouth of the river Marajo Assu, in front of the town of Conde, Ponte de Pedra, more to the north, and Villar, a little further in the same direction. They are inhabited by Indians, who cultivate the provisions of the climate, and practise hunting and fishing.
This district is confined on the north by the Amazons; on the south by the district of Arinos; on the west by that of Mundrucania, from which it is separated by the Tapajos, the river that affords the district its name; and on the east by Xingutania. It is three hundred and fifty miles in length from north to south, and about two hundred of medium width.
The Xingu being the only one of the larger class of rivers in the Brazil that has not been navigated to its heads, no authentic account is furnished of the aspect of the eastern part of this district from a certain situation upwards.
The navigators of the Tapagos have observed numerous small hills and some mountains at a considerable distance from the Amazons, in whose vicinity the lands are flat, and no considerable river flows from this district into the first, which is itself wide, and full of islands of various sizes, overspread with woods.
The river Zingu, forming the eastern limit of this district, is very wide, and is only found, after eight days’ voyage, to have any falls, demonstrating the gradual elevation of the country towards the interior. The first considerable confluent joining it on the Western side is the Guiriri, which rises in the centre of the district of Arinos: a good distance below this confluence it describes two large and opposite semicircular windings, flowing amongst small eminences.
No large river runs from this district to the Amazons, excepting the Curua, which has an extensive course, and passes the considerable lake of the same name, where it is augmented by the waters of several streams that are there discharged.Its mouth is thirty miles below the Tapajos, and canoes advance up as far as the said lake, whose margins abound in different sorts of birds, that subsist on shell fish. The Uruara, after a short course, is discharged by two mouths below the Curua.
The Guajara, also of short extent, traverses a very flat territory, where it is divided into various channels, emptying itself by six mouths, generally small, below the Uruara.
The Uraucu, otherwise Hyuraucu, having a communication with the Guajara, enters the Amazons above the Zingu, with which it also communicates in three places.
It is not ascertained yet whether there are mines of any ores in the southern part of this district.
Various aboriginal nations, it is much to be regretted, hitherto occupy this fine district, even to the immediate vicinity of the Portuguese establishments, which do not extend beyond the margins of the rivers that limit it, and whose adjacent territories are thickly covered with majestic woods of trees, whose stems are of immense span and height, the soil being of admirable substance and fertility, and well suited to every branch of agriculture. Nature here produces spontaneously the clove,cupahyba, (orcapivi,)pechurim, and cocoa trees, with sarsaparilla, ipecacuanha, jalap, and other medicinal drugs. Amongst other nations who possessed the adjacent lands of the Tapajos, and were dispersed by the Mundrucus, were the Hyauains, of whom nothing is known at the present day.
Souzel is a middling town, situated in the skirts of a mount, bordering the Zingu, which is the best supplier of water to its inhabitants, mostly Indians, who are occupied in hunting, fishing, and the cultivation of different articles. It is one hundred and ten miles distant from the Amazons, has an earthenware manufactory, and may become more considerable with the increase of whites, and when the navigation of the river is extended to the districts of Sappiraquia and Arinos.
Santarem, a large and flourishing town, situated within the embouchure of the river Tapajos, is the port or calling-place of canoes that navigate towards Matto-Grosso and the high Amazons, and also the depository of a great quantity of cocoa, whose trees have been carefully cultivated in the surrounding-country, the soil being well adapted for them.
Its beginning was an aldeia with the name of the river, and founded by the Jesuits for the habitation of an Indian horde. It has a church of Nossa Senhorada Conceiçao, and many houses of one story. The fort, which first defended it against the Indians, is now occupied by a detachment for registering the canoes that ascend and descend both rivers. The inhabitants, principally whites, do not yet breed many cattle.
Alter do Cham, originally Hybirarybe, is yet a small town, but advantageously situated upon a lake, near the Tapajos, (with which it communicates,) almost in the skirts of a rock, rising pyramidically to a considerable height, and ten miles south of Santaram. Its inhabitants are principally Indians, and, besides the usual necessaries, cultivate some excellent cocoa; but hunting and fishing are their favourite pursuits.
Aveyro, situated upon the margin of the Tapajos, has the title of a town, but is only an inferior village, its houses being thatched with straw, and disposed without regularity, in a beautiful situation. The inhabitants are Indians, and incapable of improving it; consequently the advantages of being upon a navigable river, and in the midst of a rich and fertile soil, will not be available until it obtains a supply of white people. It is about sixty miles distant from Alter do Cham.
This district, limited on the south by that of Juruenna, has on the north the river Amazons, on the west the river Madeira, and on the east the river Tapajos. Its length from north to south, on the eastern side, is near three hundred miles, and its medium width two hundred. Along the banks of the rivers which limit it, the country is mainly swampy, with extensive morasses, inhabited by a profusion of birds, drawn thither by the shell fish. The intervals and the interior are covered with widely-extending woods, possessing trees of every magnitude. The banks of the rivers and lakes afford a species of cane, upon which the ox-fish and tortoise feed. In some parts the granite-stone is common; but there are no accounts of ore having been discovered any where in this district.
Amongst other small rivers which run into the Madeira, are the Anhangating, the mouth of which is in 5° 30′; the Mataura, which empties itself twenty miles lower down, and communicates with the Canoma in the interior of the district; and the Marmellos, originally Araxia, whose mouth is seven miles above the entrance to the lake Marucutuba.
The interior of the district is watered by the rivers Canoma, Abacachy, Apiuquiribo, Mauhe-Guassu, Mauhe-Mirim, Massary, Andira, Tuppynambarana, all of which run into a branch of the Madeira, which, under the name of Canoma,frequently denominated the Furo, or fury of the Tuppynambaranas, describes many windings, traversing some lakes until it enters the Amazons by a spacious embouchure, called the river Mauhes, which is one hundred and fifty miles below the principal mouth of the Madeira.
The Mauhes, so called from the Mauhe nation inhabiting its banks, has acquired also the appellation of the river of the Nambaranas, derived from a village or aldeia of the Tuppynambas, which existed near the eastern margins of the lake Uaycurapa, and thirty miles above its mouth.
In the space of forty miles from the Furo dos Tuppynambaranas to the town of Borbai there are the following lakes: Annamaha, Guarybas, Cauhintu, Taboca, Frechal, Macacos, and Jatuaranna, all in the proximity of the river, into which their superfluous waters are discharged. Forty miles above the said town is the entrance to the lake Mattary, and beyond it that of the lake Murucutuba.
Between the Furo dos Tuppynambaranas and the mouth of the Madeira, is the outlet of the lake Massurany. The domestic animals of this district are at present very inconsiderable; but the wild ones peculiar to the other comarcas are met with in much greater numbers, in consequence of the gun not having been yet so much introduced. With the exception of some portions of territory upon the banks of the rivers which encompass this district, the whole is in the power of various savage tribes, of whom, we are best acquainted with the Jummas, the Mauhes, the Pammas, the Parintintins, the Muras, the Andiras, the Araras, and the Mundrucus, from which latter the district borrows its name. Each has its peculiar idiom, and the whole are divided into hordes; of which some wander about the woods and forests without any fixed residence: others are established in aldeias, where they intermix with the Christians, and have learned to cultivate various necessaries of life. So far are some of them influenced by the power of example, that they begin to cover, in part, their naked bodies; and many demonstrate their knowledge of the advantage of friendship with the Christians, by subduing their native ferocity into a tractable observance of the rules of the white settlers.
The bow is the weapon common to the male sex, of whatever age they may be: many possess another still more fatal, denominatedesgaravatana; it is a reed of chosen wood, with ten to twelve palms of length, formed of two pieces glued together with wax, and firmly bound with thongs made of the bark of plants, whose perfect and equally round orifice has eight lines of diameter, and serves for the envenomed arrows, which are discharged by a puff of the breath.These arrows are not more than a span, and have at the posterior extremity a ball of cotton, equal to the eighth part of theesgaravatana. When they wish to discharge it, (which is said to be very certain, and as swift as the shot of a carbine,) the point is dipped in a thick fluid, composed of the juices of various poisonous plants. Some say that sugar is the only antidote, others that salt will destroy its fatal effects, and that the wound is not mortal if the poison was dry on contaminating the blood; and it is on this account that they carry the venom in a cocoa-nut shell, or gourd, in order to introduce the arrow into it at the moment of discharge. Condamine says, that on wounding a fowl with an arrow that had been envenomed twelve months previously with a composition made by the Ticunas of Peru, it only lived about eight minutes; but there was probably some ingredient in this poison that the Indians we have been speaking of are unacquainted with.
The Jummas also wield a club, barbed at the extremity.
The Araras, who are the most celebrated for making ornaments of feathers, form a black circle round the mouth, and perforate the cartilage of the nose, through which they put a small piece of wood, trimmed with plumes of various colours.
The Parintintins distend the ears very much with round targets, and blacken the upper lip into a half moon form, conceiving that their consequence is thus augmented.
The Muras, perhaps the most numerous among those who have had intercourse with the Portuguese, are the most backward in adopting any species of covering for their bodies, the main portion of both sexes yet appearing in a state of absolute nudity. The men not only ornament their arms and legs, but likewise perforate the nose, ears, and lips, and attach to them pendants of shells, the teeth of the boar, and of other wild quadrupeds. Many of them design various figures upon the skin, not without considerable suffering and much time; others disguise the body with dies, and even with clay and loam, adopting this mode of deforming themselves not so much perhaps with an idea of giving beauty to their persons as that they may thus assume an imposing air, in order to deter their enemies by their uncouth appearance. The women are much attached to their offspring whilst little, and row in the canoes equally with the men, of whom a great many have beards. The superiors have many wives; others but one: they separate from them, however, at their caprice or discretion, and take others.Tuxauhais the title given to the chiefs of the Mura tribe.
The Mundrucus, whose custom is to paint the body black with the die ofJenipapo, are numerous and powerful warriors, and the dread of all the other nations, who give them the appellation ofPayquice, which signifiescut off the head, in consequence of their savage custom of cutting off the heads of all their enemies who fall into their power; and they know how to embalm them in such a manner that they retain for many years the same aspect they had when severed from the body. They ornament their rude and miserable cabanas with these horrible trophies: he that can exhibit ten is eligible to the rank of chief of the horde. They are well acquainted with the virtues of various vegetables, with which they cure some dangerous diseases.
Almost all the Mundrucana tribes are at the present time allies of the Portuguese, and some are Christianized. The brutal inhumanity at present of those who rove in the woods, not giving quarter either to age or sex, has compelled the principal part of the other nations to seek for refuge near the povoaçoes of the Portuguese, under whose protection they live secure from the attacks of their ferocious enemy.