St. PauloSantosSt. VincenteItanhaenSt. SebastianVilla da PrincessaUbatubaParnahibaMugi das CruzesJacarehiSt. JozeThaubatePindamonhangabaGuaratinguetaLorenaCunhaParahitingaJundiahyTibayaBragancaMugi-Mirim
In the comarca of Hitu:
SorocabaItapitiningaItapevaAppiahyHituPorto FelizSt. Carlos
St. Paulo is a city in a state of mediocrity, but agreeably seated upon land somewhat elevated at the angle of the confluence of the Tamandatahi, with the Hynhangabahu, which washes it on the western side, and the former on the eastern. It is nearly two miles from the Tiete, which passes to the north, forty miles north-west from Santos, which is its port; seven miles to the south of the Tropic; and three hundred and fifty fathoms above the level of the ocean. It is ornamented with a house of Misericordia, various hermitages, and three hospitals; a convent of Benedictines, another of Franciscans, a third of slippered Carmelites, two recolhimentos for women, a house of permutation, various open spaces or squares, three good bridges of stone, with others of wood, and divers fountains; however, the best water is afforded by the rivers. Some streets are well paved. The edifices are generally formed of what is termedtaipa, which consists of twofold wooden planks, constituting the frame, filled in with earth,and white-washed. This city is the residence of the governor of the province, and the ouvidor of the comarca, or district, who fulfils also the duties of crown judge, &c. There is a Juiz de Fora, who also executes the functions of an Attorney General, auditor of the military, and deputy to the junta of the treasury. It has some masters, who have the high-sounding denomination of royal professors of the primitive letters, Latin, rhetoric, philosophy, dogmatical theology, and morality. The inhabitants, in number from thirty-five to forty thousand, are divided between two parishes, one being of the cathedral, the chapter of which consists of fourteen canons, including four dignitaries of archdeacon, archpriest, chanter, and treasurer-mor. The other has a church called Santa Efigenia. The Jesuits commenced this city, in the year 1552, with the foundation of a college, in which they celebrated the first mass on the day of the conversion of the apostle with whose name it was consecrated in 1554, and which afforded the subsequent name of St. Paulo to the town and province. This structure now constitutes the palace of the governor. Senhor Joao Carlos de Oainansen at present fills that situation. Six years after the first establishment of the Jesuits here, St. Paulo acquired the denomination of a town. Its first inhabitants were a horde of Guayana Indians, with their cacique or chief called Tebireca, who lived in the aldeia of Piratinin, near the small river of the same name, not far from the new colony, which, in consequence, took the appellation of St. Paulo de Piratininga, and retained it till the year 1712, when it was dignified with the title of city, and in 1746 was further honoured by being made the seat of a bishopric. The Indians were soon augmented by a great number of Europeans, whom they calledEmboabas, in consequence of their legs being covered, and which conveyed to the minds of the Indians a resemblance of certain birds with feathered legs so called by them. The alliances of the new settlers, with the Indians, soon produced a third class of people, to whom they gave the name ofMamelucos, with which the establishment received a considerable increase; and the city at this day comprises upwards of four thousand houses, with the number of inhabitants previously mentioned, one half of which are computed to be whites. The salubrity of the climate, and the abundance and moderate value of all the necessaries of life, give it the decided preference for the foundation of an university, if the views of the government become enlightened enough to promote such an establishment in the Brazil. The body, and consequently the mind, of the student would here have more vigour for literary application, than in the warmer or more northern climates of this region, and books or libraries wouldreceive less damage from the destructive prey of insects. St. Paulo is considered a most healthy situation; and I have known the valetudinarian of Rio de Janeiro, contemplate a change to its moderate and invigorating climate, as exceedingly desirable. There are a great number of quintas or shacaras in its suburbs. Among the fruit trees which embellish them, thejabuticabais not rare, affording a fine and excellent fruit. The oranges are not of good quality, and the tree sustains considerable injury in years of much frost. The same may be said of the coffee and banana trees, as well as of mandioca and the sugar cane.
Santos, considerable, populous, commercial, and advantageously situated upon the northern side of the island of St. Vincente, was erected into a town in 1545, and possesses a house of Misericordia, which is the most ancient of the Brazil, a Franciscan convent, an hospicio (or entertaining house) of Bentos, another of slippered Carmelites, and various chapels; the ex-Jesuitical college of St. Miguel, after being much dilapidated, was renovated for the military hospital. A Juiz de Fora presides over the senate. The houses are solid and of stone; and the female part of their inmates are celebrated for making excellent lace. This town was sacked by the Dutch, and upon another occasion by the English. Its port, the entrance to which is defended by various forts, is capable of receiving large ships, and it is the depositary of much sugar, rum, coarse cottons, coffee, hides, and bacon, which articles constitute its exports. The produce of rice and coffee are alone abundant. The winter is always a very rainy season.
Seven miles to the south-west, on the southern coast of the same island, upon the entrance of the bar of its name, is situated St. Vincente, the most ancient town of the province, in former times flourishing and famous, but now sunk into insignificance, in consequence of Santos being better adapted for commerce, to which it has removed from this town. Its inhabitants are mostly fishermen.
Fifteen miles to the west of Santos is the small arraial of Cubatam, upon the northern margin of the river which affords its name, and from which it sustains great damage at the period of the greatest floods. Every thing that descends from the serra above, and destined for the town, is here embarked. A project of uniting this island with the terra-firma has been proposed by means of a calcada, or paved way, across the channel of St. Vincente, which, if carried into effect, will prevent many shipwrecks. At the bar of Bertioga there is an armaçao, or establishment for whale fishing.
Itanhaen, a small place, erected into a town in 1561, possesses a Franciscan convent, and is situated near a mount, upon the northern margin of thebay from which it borrows its name, and which it frequently exchanges for that of the Lady of Conceiçao, the patroness of its church. Farinha, rice, and timber are exported from hence.
The town of St. Sebastian, so called from the patron of its church, is yet inconsiderable, with indifferent houses, and streets of sand. It is seated upon the straight of Toque-Toque, in front of the island of its name, near the embouchure of a small river, and at the commencement of a fertile plain, where agriculture might be rendered flourishing in all its branches, and which was for many years almost abandoned, in consequence of the farmers being prohibited from exporting their productions to those places where they would have derived the greatest advantage from them. About three miles to the east, in an agreeable situation, there is a Franciscan convent, and near to it an arraial, denominated Bairro. The women are occupied in potteries, the men in fishing, and in the culture of various necessaries of life.
Villa da Princeza, so created in 1809, is situated upon the northern coast of the island of St. Sebastian, near the chapel of Nossa Senhora of Luz, which for the present serves as its mother church, as well as for all the inhabitants of the island. This island is appropriated to the culture of the sugar-cane and tobacco, which are esteemed the best of the province, and their exportation is considerable. On the eastern part of the island there is an armaçao for whale fishing.
Ubatuba, a small town, with a church, and a chapel of the Lady of Conceiçao, is situated near the mouth of an inconsiderable stream, on the verge of a fertile plain, irrigated by various torrents. Its inhabitants are fishermen, and cultivators of mandioca, rice, and coffee. It is nearly thirty miles to the north-east of the town of St. Sebastian, and near the boundary of the province. Between this town and the afore-mentioned arraial of Bairro, is the bay of Flamengos, also that of Inquiriquere, both of which are capable of receiving many ships. Into the latter, which is the most westerly, the river of the same name discharges itself, and affords a disembarrassed navigation for only three miles.
Paranahiba, an inconsiderable town, is situated upon the left margin of the river Tiete, about twenty miles distant in a westerly direction from St. Paulo. It has a church, and an hospicio of Bento Friars; and its inhabitants, with those of the adjacent districts, breed large cattle, and raise a diversity of the necessaries of life.
Mugi das Cruzes is a considerable town, abundantly supplied with the necessaries of life, and enjoys a good situation, about two miles from the Tiete,thirty-five east-north-east of St. Paulo, and forty north of Santos. It has a church, dedicated to St. Anna, a convent of shod Carmelites, a hermitage of Bom Jesus, and a Terceira order of Carmo. The houses are of taipa. The inhabitants breed cattle, and form extensive plantations of the coffee tree, the produce of which, with some rum, constitutes their wealth.
Near thirty miles to the north-east of Mugi das Cruzes, the small town of Jacarehi is situated, upon the right margin of the river Parahiba, with a church. The passage across the river here is much frequented.
The town of St. Joze is ten miles to the north of Jacarehi, takes the name of the patron of its church, and is situated near the Parahiba, upon land which constituted part of a fazenda of the Jesuits, its founders.
Thaubate is one of the most considerable and best situated towns of the province. It is upwards of one hundred miles to the north-east of St. Paulo, seventy from Mugi das Cruzes, forty from Jacarehi, and three from the Parahiba, near a small stream. Besides the church dedicated to St. Francisco, it has a convent of the same saint, a Terceira order, and the chapels of the Lady of Pilar and Rosario. Almost all the houses are of taipa, and few with one story. Its inhabitants, whose ancestors were antagonists of the Piratiningans of St. Paulo, cultivate the necessaries of life and tobacco, raise pigs and poultry in considerable quantities, and sugar cane in small plantations. They manufacture handsome mats and hand-baskets, which are sent to different parts. Near the embouchure of a small river, and close upon the margin of the Parahiba, is the inconsiderable arraial of Tremembe, with a chapel of Bom Jesus. At the distance of from ten to fourteen miles is the parish of Cassapaba, a new dismemberment of the preceding town.
Pindamonhangaba, a town in a state of mediocrity, is well supplied, particularly with fish, and advantageously situated in a plain, on the right margin of the Parahiba. It possesses a church of the Lady of Bom Successo, and a hermitage of St. Joze. It is more than ten miles to the north-north-east of Thaubate; and its inhabitants, who are considered prudent and industrious, cultivate every article of subsistence peculiar to the country, and breed large cattle.
Guaratingueta, situated upon the right bank of the Parahiba, which affords it an ample supply of fish, is a considerable town, about twenty-five miles to the east of Pindamonhangaba, embellished with a large church, dedicated to St. Antonio, a chapel of the Lady of Rosario, and another of St. Gonçalo. The houses, similar to those of St. Paulo and other places, are constructed oftaipa. Its inhabitants cultivate much tobacco, and breed hogs and large cattle. Cotton cloths and sugar are the principal branches of commerce. About two miles distant from it is the famous and much visited chapel of the Lady of Apparecida.
Lorena, a middling town, upon the right margin of the Parahiba, ten miles east of Guaratingueta and seven above the mouths of the Imbauhi, which flows from the Mantiqueira mountains, and of the Bocaina, which comes from the south, is situated at the passage to Minas Geraes denominated Porto do Meyra, and has a church called Piedade: Guaipicure was its primitive name.
In the district of Lorena, where legumes and rice grow abundantly, and large quantities of hogs and poultry are bred, the parish of St. Anna das Areas is situated. It has been recently dismembered of that portion of territory now constituting the parish of Bannanal.
A league below Lorena there is another passage to the province of Minas Geraes, called Porto da Cachoeira.
Cunha, formerly Facao, is yet an inconsiderable town; but, from its advantageous situation upon a serra in the vicinity of the Jacuhy, and about twenty-five miles north of Parati, is susceptible of much improvement. It has a church, of which the Lady of Conceiçao is the patroness. The climate is salubrious, and the nights of June and July are fresh, and even the natives feel them cold. Hitherto the flowers and fruit trees of Europe have prospered better here than in any other situation of the torrid zone. In its environs there are extensive groves of majestic pines, and the inhabitants raise the common productions of the country, abundance of Indian corn, and large quantities of poultry and pigs. An indifferent road or track connects this town with Parati, and would, if made equally easy and secure with those of the arraial of Cubatao, for the transport of its productions to St. Paulo and Santos, become a flourishing district.
Parahitinga, a medium town, and well situated upon the left bank of the river which affords it the name, is seven miles above the embouchure of the Parahibuna and forty north of the town of Ubatuba. St. Luiz is the patron of its church, which, with an extensive bridge over the river that bathes it, are the only objects worthy the observation of the traveller. The inhabitants breed a great number of hogs, which constitute the principal branch of their commerce.
Jundiahi is a middling and flourishing town, one mile distant from the left bank of the river from which its name is borrowed, thirty-five miles to the northnorth-westof St. Paulo, and the same distance to the east-north-east of Hitu. It has a good church of Our Lady of Desterro, anhospicioof Benedictines, and a bridge over the river, which is stocked, amongst other fish, with those calledjundias, from which it derived the name. Its inhabitants raise cattle, mules, horses, and large quantities of the sugar cane, and have for the extraction of its juice variousengenhos, or works; also abundance of legumes and Indian corn, with which they furnish the caravans passing from Goyaz.
Tibaya, or Atibaya, situated near the river of the same name, has a church called St. Joam, is yet small, and is thirty-five miles north-north-east of St. Paulo, an equal distance east of Jundiahi, and as far west of St. Joze. The inhabitants raise feijao, Indian corn, wheat, and hogs.
Bragança, which is ten miles to the north-east of Tibaya, is yet inconsiderable, but the inhabitants are said to live in abundance, raise pigs in large quantities, wheat, Indian corn, and legumes.
Mugi-Mirim, situated on the road of Goyaz, upon the river of the same name, which a little below unites itself with the Mugi-Guassu, is in a state of mediocrity, and well supplied with the necessaries of life, particularly fish and meat. It has engenhos of sugar, farms of cattle, and only one church, dedicated to St. Joze. Upon the northern bank of the Mugi-Guassu, where this river traverses the road to the town of Mugi-Mirim, is the arraial and parish which takes its name, with a church of the Lady of Conceiçao. Its inhabitants are farmers of mandioca, feijao, and Indian corn, and breeders of cattle and hogs. The parish of Franca is the most northern of the province; the inhabitants extend themselves to the margin of the Grande, breed cattle, and cultivate those necessaries which the territory best affords. The church is dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao.
Sorocaba is situated where the river of its name traverses the royal road of Curytiba to the capital, from which it is distant sixty miles to the west. It is a flourishing and considerable town, ornamented with a church of the Lady of Ponte, a recolhimento of women, an hospicio of Bentos, and a hermitage of St. Antonio. Its actual population is composed of seventeen hundred and seventy-seven families, of which two-thirds are whites; they breed cattle and horses, and cultivate cotton, sugar, and Indian corn, with the most common necessaries of the country, but their principal profits arise from trafficking in cattle, which come from the southern districts. In its environs there are calcareous stone and good flint stone. The royal fabric of Hipannema, distant about seven miles, and established near a small stream of the same name, for the reception of theproduce of rich mines of iron in the serra Guarassoiava, will tend to render this town still more considerable. Many years ago a mine of silver was discovered in the district of Guarassoiava, which was abandoned, in consequence of its poverty and difficult extraction.
Itapitininga, yet an inconsiderable town, and well situated in a vast and delightful plain near the royal road, is two miles from the right bank of the river from which it has the name. It is embellished with a church of the Lady of Merces, is well provided with water, and is about forty miles to the south of Sorocaba. The people who inhabit it cultivate wheat, legumes, and abundance of Indian corn. The peach and grape are plentiful and of good flavour, and, as in most other cultivated districts of this province, the breed of cattle is numerous.
Itapeva, situated near the royal road, orestrada real, as it is denominated, in the vicinity of the Verde, is at present inconsiderable; it has a church, dedicated to St. Anna.
Appiahi, a town of the same class as the preceding, is at a great distance from the road, near the source of the river from which it derives its name, and in the vicinity of a morro, from whence, at its origin, much gold was extracted. It has one church.
Hitu, a large and flourishing town, is the head of the comarca of its name, having a church of the Lady of Candellaria, a Franciscan convent, an hospicio of slippered Carmelites, an hospital of Lazars, with its hermitage, others of Bom Jezus, the Lady of Patrocinio, and Santa Rita. All its buildings are oftaipa, and some streets are paved. It has the usual royal professors, and is situated twenty-five miles to the north-north-east of Sorocaba, sixty to the west-north-west of St. Paulo, and two from the left margin of the Tiete, which forms at this situation a large and interesting fall, by the name of which this town is designated. Excessive heat is experienced here in the summer months. The soil in the environs is peculiarly adapted to the culture of the sugar cane, of which there are extensive plantations, constituting the riches of its inhabitants, who also raise cattle and divers necessaries of life.
Porto Feliz, formerly called Araritaguaba, is a moderate town, with houses of wood, seated upon the left margin of the Tiete. It has a church of the Lady May dos Homens, (Mother of Men,) is nearly eighteen miles to the west of Hitu, and twenty-five to the north-north-west of Sorocaba, and is the port of the navigators to Cuiaba. The inhabitants are cattle-breeders, and cultivate the cane, feijao, and Indian corn.
St. Carlos, now so named from its church, but originally called Campinas, is situated near a small stream, something more than a league from the Tibaia, and six to the north of Hitu, and does not at present surpass mediocrity, but is well supplied and enjoys facilities for becoming more considerable. It is a land abounding with waters and wood, consequently well adapted for the culture of the cane, of which there are at present some rich plantations, also of wheat, feijao, and Indian corn. It is upon the road from Jundiahi to Mugi-Mirim; from the latter it is eight leagues distant in a direct line. Its district is bounded on the west by the new parish of Percicaba, whose church is situated in a delightful plain that terminates in a small hill upon the southern margin of the river that affords it the name, and near a beautiful cascade of great height, which presents a barrier to further navigation. Rich in majestic woods, and of great fertility, it is favourable to various branches of agriculture, particularly the cane, of which there are plantations and engenhos.