Sun _Araci_ _A’liga_
Moon _Jaci_ {_Pannay_ (used by
{ the men only)
{_Epannay_ (women)
White _Tinga_ _Lapaca_
Black _Una_ _Nabidre_
Great _Guassu_ _Elodo_
Brother _Enduva_ _Nixo_
Salt _Juki_ _Juki_
Ostrich {_Ema_ } _Apacanigo_
{_Guaripe_}
Crocodile _Jacare_ _Nioxe_
Horse _Cavaru_ _Apolicano_
Pig _Taycu_ _Nigda_
Dog _Jaguara_ _Niknik_
Wolf _Guara_ _Tiglicon_
Cat _Bracaya_ _Perixene_
Man _Apuaba_ _Hulegre_
Demon, or Evil Spirit _Anhanga_ _Nanigogigo_
Diviner _Page_ _Unigenito_
The territory through which the Igatimy, Escopil, and Miammaya flow
is inhabited by the Cahans, (people of the wood,) so denominated from
their always living within the precincts of woods, in consequence of
their dread of the Guaycurus, who alone proceed along the plains and
open country, to facilitate the march of their horses.
The Cabans live in aldeias: not more than thirty years ago they had
fifteen of those villages. They paint themselves with the dye of the
_urucu_, perforate the under lip, and insert a cylinder of resin,
transparent as crystal, secured by a small wooden pin at the upper
extremity. The bow and arrow are their arms, made with instruments of
flint and the sharpened teeth of the boar. They cultivate the cotton
tree, the wool of which they spin and weave by a method peculiar to
themselves. Their vesture consists of a sort of _ponche_, in the
form of a sack, made of a piece of cotton cloth of good width, doubled
and sewed in part at the corners, with an opening to introduce the head
and neck through, also two apertures for the arms, and terminating
in two aprons, with a cord round the waist. In the morning they sing
hymns to the Creator, accompanied with extravagant movements; one of
them, with the hands clasped and the body bent, making a circular
movement around the others for a considerable time. Amongst them are
men who are, or pretend to be, at the same time, surgeons, doctors,
diviners, and priests, and, like the latter, carry in their hands a
cross, which custom they have unquestionably derived from the first
Jesuitical missionaries who penetrated into the country, and who used a
_bordāo_, or staff, (perhaps also as an instrument of defence,) in
the shape of a cross. In their district there are woods of wild orange
trees, and prodigious quantities of bees, which do not produce good
honey, but the wax is better than that of the northern provinces.
In the middle of the last century, when the plenipotentiaries of Spain
and Portugal established a boundary-mark upon the Jauru, there lived
in the vicinity of the Fecho dos Morros, a nation of Indians, called
_Bayas_, of which, at the present day, there is no intelligence.
The povoaçoes in this district are the fazenda of Camapuan, with a
hermitage, situated in 19° 36′ south latitude, and Miranda, a prezidio,
founded in 1797, about five hundred yards from the right margin of the
river Aranhahy, near a serra, in a land abounding with game. Upon the
track to Camapuan there is a large lake.
With the foundation of Nova Coimbra the Spaniards commenced in this
province the towns of Villa Real, near the tropic, St. Carlos, on the
margin of the river Appa, and St. Joze, which was demolished by the
Portuguese about twenty years ago.
Near the heads of the Aranhahy there yet appears some vestiges of the
before-mentioned city of Xerez.
_District of_ MATTO GROSSO.
This district, which is two hundred and forty miles from north to
south, and two hundred and seventy from east to west on the northern
part, is bounded on the south by the Spanish possessions, on the east
by the Paraguay, on the north by the district of Juruenna, and on the
west by the Guapore. It extends between 13° and 16° 20′ of southern
latitude. The face of the country is undulated with serras of no great
elevation, which, however, attract the sight at a great distance,
with plains more or less extensive, woods, and intermixtures of
_charnecas_, (barren tracts,) and is watered by a great number of
rivers, tributary to the two largest of South America.
The most considerable mountains are on the northern part, and are
branches of the serra of Paricis.
MINERALOGY.--Gold, diamonds, crystals, granite, minerals of iron,
potters’ earth, calcareous stone.
PHYTOLOGY.--The _opuncia_ is common in various situations; in others
the ipecacuanha; indigo grows spontaneously in humid lands; jalap is
well known; also the trees of cupahiba, _almecega_, or gum-mastich,
manna, and dragons’ blood. There is a diversity of excellent timber for
building, and abundance of oranges, _goyabas_, _aracas_, _mangabas_,
pine-apples, water-melons, and bananas, generally of good quality.
The objects of cultivation are Indian corn, mandioca, rice, legumes,
tobacco, cotton, and the sugar cane, as far as it is required for the
consumption of the population.
European merchandise and some Asiatic productions arrive here at an
exorbitant price, and are only procured in exchange for gold.
ZOOLOGY.--All the species of wild quadrupeds which are encountered in
the maritime provinces are here common; of domestic animals cattle only
are numerous; sheep are rare; and, hitherto, there are no breeders of
mules. Here are common the emu ostrich, _sereima_, _mutun_, _jacu_,
_tucano_, parrot, partridge, heron, _guiraponga_, and _jaburu_.
Industry is very limited; and the weaving of coarse cottons, for
labourers, and curing of hides, which exceed the demand, are its
principal objects up to this period.
RIVERS.--The Guapore originates nearly one hundred miles to
the north-east of Villa Bella, and, after eighty miles of southern
course, and nearly the same distance of western, curves towards the
north-west, and afterwards to the west-north-west. Two miles above the
said town it receives by the left the Alegre, which coming from the
east, and rising in the serra of Aguapehy, is joined on the left by
the Barbados, ten miles from its mouth. Ten miles below the capital
the Guapore is united on the right by the river Sarere, which has its
source thirty miles to the west of it; and fifty miles lower, on the
same side, by the Galera, which forms itself to the north-west of
the Sarere. Twenty-four miles further the important river Verde is
incorporated with it; and upwards of one hundred miles in advance, the
river Paragau; after two hundred more, the Baurus or Baure; and twelve
or fifteen further, the Tunama; all four by the left margin, after
having watered a great portion of the province of the Moghos, or Moxos.
Upwards of fifty miles below the mouth of the last river, it is joined
also on the left side by the voluminous river Ubay, or Ubahy, which the
Spaniards formerly denominated the Chiquitos, as it traversed the lands
of the Indians so called, and subsequently the Magdalena, named St.
Miguel, after they had founded in its vicinity the parishes of those
names. To the river Guapore the people of Matto Grosso give the name of
Mamore, as far as its junction with the large one of that name, which
they call Madeira and the Spaniards Mamore. This confluence is one
hundred and ten miles lower down, and one hundred and fifty by water.
The Spaniards commonly give to the Guapore the name of Itenez, which
they continue to it till its confluence with the real Mamore, where
both lose their names, and form the majestic Madeira, which flows
northward till it incorporates with the mighty Amazons. The margins of
the Guapore, or Itenez, are principally swampy, and, with the rivers
which run into it, uncongenial to European constitutions. The rivers
which join it by the right margin, the largest not exceeding one
hundred miles in course, issue from the western side of a continuation
of the serra of Paricis, which prolongs itself with the same river. The
Cabixy, Piolho, Corumbyara, Mequen, St. Simam, and Cautario, follow the
aforesaid Galera.
There are five falls in the Guapore, from the mouth of the Ubahy to
the confluence where its name is lost. Guajuru-mirim, Guajuru-grande,
Bannaneira, Paugrande, and Lages, descending, are the names by which
they are distinguished.
The Jauru, which forms itself in the campos of the Paricis, thirty
miles east of the Guapore, after flowing a long way southward, gathers,
by the right bank, the Bahia and the Aguapehy, inclines to the
east-south-east, and unites itself with the Paraguay, in the latitude
of 16° 24′. It is navigable for a great distance, and runs principally
through a flat country covered with woods. At a short distance from its
margin, there is a nitrous lake, which furnishes a great quantity of
salt.
At the confluence of the Jauru, which is one hundred and seventy
miles south-east of Villa Bella, a magnificent stone of European
marble was erected in 1754, as a boundary mark between the Spaniards
and Portuguese; the arms of each power being turned towards their
respective possessions. This pillar is regarded by the Indians with
admiration. The following is the inscription upon it.
Sub Joanne Quinto Lusitanorum
Rege Fidelissimo
Sub Ferdinando Sexto Hispaniæ
Rege Catholico
Justitia et Pax osculatæ sunt
Ex Pactis Finium Regundorum
Conventis. Madriti Idib. Januar.
M.DCC.L.
The river Sepetiva, or Sipotuba, which rises fifty miles to the
north-east of the Jauru, runs far along the serra of Tapirapuan, and
unites itself with the Paraguay, after having gathered by the right the
small rivers Juva and Jaraubahiba.
The river Cabacal, much inferior to the preceding, falls into the
Paraguay, a few leagues below the Sipotuba.
The Preto, which is the first considerable river that swells the waters
of the Paraguay, is formed by the St. Anna, and St. Francisco Xavier,
which emanate from the eastern brows of the Tapirapuan Serra, and join
their copious streams at the bottom of a mount, each presenting here
the interesting spectacle of a large cataract. These barriers prevent
the advance of various species of fish, large shoals of which are
observed in the water at their base.
The Barbados, which is extensive, issues also from the serra
Tapirapuan, and enters the Paraguay, a considerable way below the Preto.
The Pary, which took the name of a nation now extinct, originates in
the serra of Tapirapuan, and falls into the Paraguay, between the
Barbados and Sipotuba.
All the rivers of this comarca are of pure, fresh, and crystalline
water.
Villa Bella, the capital of this rich and extended province, is already
in a state of mediocrity, abounding with meat and fish, and is
situated in a champaign country, near the margin of the Guapore. It is
ornamented with a parochial church, Santissima Trinidade, a hermitage
of Nossa Senhora of Carmo, another of St. Antonio, and a permutation,
or smelting house. It is the residence of the governor, and this vast
and very partially cultivated province is now under the jurisdiction
of Senhor Majesse. It is also the residence of the ouvidor, who is
likewise crown judge. The senate is presided by a Juiz de Fora, who
is also procurator of the crown, inspector of the smelting house, and
deputy of the juntas of the administration of the treasury and of
justice. All the houses are constructed of earth, and white-washed. It
is the only parish of the comarca, and in its wide district are the
chapels of St. Anna, of St. Francisco Xavier, of the Lady of Pilar, of
St. Vicente Ferreyra, and of Oiro Fino.
Of this comarca, is the arraial Diamantino, advantageously situated
at the angle of the confluence of the river of the same name, with
the Oiro, ten miles above its entrance into the Paraguay. It has a
hermitage of the Lady of Conceiçao, filial of the mother church of
Cuiaba, from which it is distant one hundred miles to the north-west.
The gold and diamonds in its environs were the cause of its origin a
few years ago. Its inhabitants are miners, breeders of cattle, and
agriculturists.
About ten miles distant is the serra of Mangabeira, partly occupied by
various farmers of Indian corn, mandioca, and legumes.
The northern portion of this comarca is yet possessed by various
aboriginal nations, such as the _Cabyxys_, the _Cautaros_, (which
give their names to two confluents of the Guapore,) the _Ababas_, the
_Lambys_, and the _Urucurunys_, with others approximating to the serra
Paricis, which is an elevated range, with extensive sandy campos, or
plains, upon its widely spreading summit.
_District of_ CUIABA.
This district, which takes the name of the river that traverses it
from north to south, is confined on the north by the district of
Arinos, on the west by that of Matto Grosso, on the east by that of
Bororonia, from which it is separated by the river St. Lourenço, which
also limits it on the south, where it terminates in an angle formed by
the confluence of the said river and the Paraguay. It comprises three
hundred and fifty miles from north to south, and little less than two
hundred and fifty at its utmost width from east to west. It has an
agreeable aspect, delightfully varied with spacious plains, superb
woods, extensive _charnecas_, and gently undulating eminences,
often rising to the grandeur of mountain scenery. The greater portion
is fertilized by numerous rivers. The prevailing thunder showers of the
winter season commence in September and terminate in April.
MINERALOGY.--The same minerals are met with here which are found in the
district of Matto Grosso.
PHYTOLOGY.--There are a diversity of trees of excellent timber. Amongst
other medicinal plants, is one called _espigelia_, the _herva de
cobra_, (serpent herb) the _jarrinha_, and various qualities of the
real _quina_, or Jesuits’ bark.
Amongst other fruits of the wood, the quince is well known, the
_jabuticaba_, the _ambuzo_, the _araticumo_, the _guabiraba_, and the
_goyaba_.
Cotton, sugar, Indian corn, mandioca, rice, and legumes, are objects of
agriculture proportioned to the population.
From no part of this district can the superfluity that is produced be
exported with advantage, in consequence of its present tedious and
intricate communication with the maritime provinces.
ZOOLOGY.--Large herds of cattle are bred, as well as horses, some
mules, hogs, sheep, and a very few goats, which hitherto are deemed
useless.
RIVERS.--The most celebrated is the Paraguay, which rises in a plain
upon the serra of Pary, otherwise Lage, (a portion of the extensive
Paricis,) at the situation of the Sete Lagoas, so called from an
assemblage of seven lakes, generally small, a short space intervening
between them, and communicating by narrow outlets. A little below
the last, this river flows through a swampy country in a northerly
direction for a short space, when it winds round by the west and
takes a southern course. The first stream which it receives is the
Diamantino, (Diamond River,) which comes from a distant source, and
brings with it the Corrego Rico, (Rich Channel,) otherwise Rio do Oiro,
(Gold River.) The first large river which joins it is the Jauru. Along
its eastern margin, and in nearly the whole of this great extent, is a
range of elevated lands, which continue twenty-five miles beyond this
confluence, and terminate at the point called Escalvada, where both
margins begin to be flat, and interspersed with lakes. Seventy miles
below the Escalvada point, the western margin begins to be bordered by
a serra of the like number of miles in length, but narrow, and broken
in various parts to admit of the ingress of the waters of three lakes
lying behind it, the outlets of which, thus formed, appear like large
rivers, when the Paraguay at its overflowings makes them a part of its
expanded channel. The northern portion of this serra is called Insua:
the southern, Chaynez; and the central, Doirados. The names of the
lakes are Oberaba, Gahiba, and Mandiore. The first on the north is ten
miles in diameter, and its outlet contiguous to the extremity of the
serra Insua, behind which it communicates with the Gahiba lake, which
is a little larger and ten miles distant to the south, with its outlet,
the same number of miles below the first, dividing the serra of Insua
from that of Doirados.
The Mandiore lake is fifteen miles in extent, and has more than one
channel to the Paraguay, the northernmost of which separates the serra
of Doirados from that of Chaynez, and is twenty miles south of Gahiba,
in front of which the river St. Lourenço discharges its abundant
waters, in the latitude of 18° 45´.
The serra of Chaynez, inhabited at times by the Guanan Indians, is
followed by that of Albuquerque, which is a square mass of an elevated
range from thirty-five to forty miles. On its southern side is situated
the prezidio from which its name is derived. In front of this serra is
the principal embouchure of the Tocoary in 19° 15´.
Eighteen miles further to the south are the mouths of the Mondego. The
Paraguay flows in these parts divided into two channels, formed by a
narrow island seventy miles long; the eastern channel is denominated
Paraguay Mirim.
Thirty-five miles to the south of the Mondego are two high mounts,
one in front of the other, upon the margins of the Paraguay. Upon the
southern skirt of the western mount is situated the before-mentioned
fort of Nova Coimbra.
Thirty-five miles below Coimbra, on the same margin, is the mouth
of the outlet from Bahia Negra, (Black Bay,) which is twenty miles
inland, and comprises eighteen in length from north to south, being the
receptacle of the lakes, and of the aqueous effusions of the plains
lying to the west and south of the Albuquerque mountains. Sixty miles
further the Paraguay receives on the eastern bank the Queyma, which is
said to be the Terrery of the first certanistas.
Eight miles lower, in the latitude of 21°, upon the western margin, is
the morro which the ancient Paulistas called the Mount of Miguel Joze,
upon whose skirt is situated Fort Bourbon. Twenty-five miles by water,
to the south of the mount of Miguel Joze, in the latitude 21° 20´, a
chain of small mountains prolong themselves with the Paraguay, where
its waters are contracted into a narrower space, flowing rapidly in two
channels, separated by a rocky island of considerable length. In this
situation, denominated the Fecho dos Morros, (the Barricado of Rocks,)
and which is the limit between the High and Low Paraguay, terminate
the laky and swampy margins of this majestic river, which commence, as
has been previously noticed, at Escalvada Point, near three hundred
and fifty miles to the north. The width of the river within this
space, during the inundations, which begin in April and continue till
September, is from seventy to one hundred and fifty miles, and forms
an internal sea, which the ancient Vincentistas denominated the Sea or
Lake Xarays, from a nation so called, now not existing, or, at least,
not known by such an appellation. At the time of these awful floods, a
great part of the beds of the rivers of St. Lourenço, Tocoary, Mondego,
and others on the eastern side, as well as the aforesaid lakes on the
western, and the adjacent woods, become portions of this periodical
Caspian, where the elevated lands assume the appearance of islands,
inhabited by an accumulation of birds and wild animals.
At the said Fecho, both margins of the Paraguay begin to acquire
a solid terra firma, particularly the eastern. By this bank are
discharged the small Tipoty, the Correntes, the Rio Branco, (which
appears to be the said Correntes,) the Appa, (which is thought to be
the Pirahy of the ancient Paulistas,) the Guidava, the Ippanne Guassu,
the Ippanne Mirim, and the Chichuhi, where the rugged margin called
Huguruguita commences, and is prolonged for the space of thirty-five
miles to the mouth of the small Suobogo, where begins the bank or coast
of Pataque, of short extent, terminating at the embouchure of the
Tabixu, which, as well as the preceding, enters the Paraguay on the
left.
In the latitude of 25° 22´ is situated the city of Assumption; and
eighteen miles to the south of it, the first arm of the large river
Pilco Mayo is discovered, which originates in the cordillera of the
Andes, in the district of Potoze, whither it affords navigation. Forty
miles lower down is the mouth of the second arm, and fifteen further,
the most southern arm. The course of the Pilco Mayo is not much less
than seven hundred miles.
On the eastern margin, the Piraju, the Cannabe, and the Tibicoary enter
the Paraguay.
In the latitude of 26° 50´, the Rio Verde, or Parsa, otherwise
Colorado, discharges itself, after a course of more than seven hundred
miles from the vicinity of the Andes.
Forty miles further to the south, the grand confluence of the Paranna,
little inferior to the Paraguay, augments the wonder which is excited
by so vast a mass of water. About one hundred miles lower is the
northern branch of the river Salado; and upwards of one hundred and
seventy miles further the southern, better known by the name of
Xalupoi. On the southern angle of this confluence is situated the city
of Santa Fe, in the latitude of 31° 35′. A little further it receives
also by the right bank, the Terceiro, or Carcapal, which exceeds three
hundred and fifty miles in its course.
The Paraguay, which from the parallel of 20° inclines a little to the
south-south-west, here changes its direction to the east-south-east for
the space of one hundred and forty miles, gathering by both margins
various rivers, none of them considerable, to the latitude of 34°,
where it is united on the left by the river Uruguay, its last important
tributary.
This river, which the Spaniards generally call Rio da Plata, after it
receives the Pilco Mayo, becomes many leagues in width, and contains
a great number of islands, which vary greatly in extent, principally
of a flat aspect, and denominated the Parannas. The left margin, from
the last confluence, runs to the east as far as Cape St. Mary, and
this part of it, at least, is universally known as the river Plate,
the right margin of which takes a south-east direction, from the same
longitude, for more than one hundred miles to the point of Carretas,
where its embouchure is upwards of fifty miles in width.
The Paraguay has no more falls after it receives the Sipotuba, and is
generally of great depth.
The river Cuiaba has its origin in the same latitude as the Paraguay.
The first current which unites itself with it by the western margin
is the Cuiaba Mirim, and by the eastern the Casca; these are followed
by many others of a smaller class, which render it navigable for more
than seventy miles above the capital, although with much labour, in
consequence of many falls, which do not extend below Villa Real, where
it begins to be wide and rapid in its current, flowing almost generally
through a champaign country, which is submerged during the periodical
inundations. Its waters are excellent, well stored with fish, and in
the latitude of 17° 20′ it falls into the St. Lourenço.
Whilst the floods continue it is customary to navigate over the plains,
where the current is less rapid, traversing prodigious plantations of
rice, annually reproduced by nature, without any human assistance, or
sustaining any damage from the waters, because it grows as the waters
increase, always having more than a yard above water, and affording
supplies to the passing canoes, into which the ears are bent, and then
shook with a pole.
The _piranna_ fish, commonly called _tezoira_, (scissors,)
and sometimes _lanceta_, (lancet,) and the _arraya_, are
equally terrible here; the first in consequence of its formidable
teeth, the other from a sting which it has in the tail.
From the capital downwards, the most notable streams which fall into
the Cuiaba, are the Tutez on the right; the large and small Caranda on
the left.
Villa Real de Cuiaba, capital of the comarca, considerable, populous,
flourishing, and abounding with meat, fish, and fruits, contains a
church of Senhor Bom Jesus, three chapels dedicated, two also to the
Redeemer, with the titles of Bom Despacho and Passos, and one to
Nossa Senhora of Rozario, and is the residence of a prelate, bishop
_in partibus_, also of a Juiz de Fora, and royal professors of
philosophy and Latin. It is situated near a small river, one mile
distant from the eastern bank of the river from which it derives its
name. All the edifices are of taipa, similar to those of St. Paulo, and
the streets are mostly paved.
The dealers of Cuiaba proceed to barter their bars of precious metal at
Bahia, by the road of Goyaz, or at the metropolis, by the same track,
or by Camapuan; but their trade might more conveniently be carried
on by the river Tapajos, and others of Gram Para, to its capital.
Various ways, in fact, remain to be opened to the transit of the
productions of these fertile districts; two to Para,--one by the river
Xingu, the other by the Mortes and the Araguaya; the same number to
St. Paulo and Rio de Janeiro,--the first by the rivers St. Lourenço,
Piquiry, Sucuriu, and Tiete,--the second always by land, traversing
the districts of Bororonia and Cayaponia, crossing the Paranna between
the confluence of the Parannahiba and the cataract of Urubupunga. The
latter, it is credibly affirmed, would be near three hundred miles
shorter than the route actually frequented by Villaboa.
At Cuiaba, the orange tree is exceedingly abundant, and fructifies with
excellence the whole year. The water-melon, melon, and pine-apple,
are here very good. The principal productions are mandioca, Indian
com, feijao, some cotton, and the sugar cane, the juice of which is
principally distilled into spirit.
Thirty-five miles to the east of Cuiaba is the small arraial and parish
of St. Anna, situated on a plain, upon the serra St. Jeronimo. Every
way that it is approached the ascent is steep and of considerable
length. Its inhabitants rear cattle, cultivate mandioca, Indian corn,
legumes, the sugar cane, and some cotton, which is occasionally injured
by the cold, here sensibly experienced in the nights of July. The
soil has been found well adapted to the growth of wheat, but want of
industry precludes its cultivation.
Fifty miles to the south-west of Cuiaba is the small arraial of
St. Pedro d’el Rey, formerly Poconna, situated upon the verge of a
vast lake, with a hermitage, one league distant from the extensive
swamp of Pirannema, which becomes dry in the hot season, and affords
pasturage for cattle. The houses are of taipa, or _adobe_, (a
species of large brick dried in the sun,) and are white-washed. The
soil in its environs is green. The people who inhabit it, and form a
_julgado_, or village, are miners, are supplied with water from
_cacimbas_, or pits, for want of fountains, cultivate the common
necessaries of life, and breed cattle. They also make salt, by the
filtering of water through a portion of earth put into _bangues_,
which are made of hides, and subsequently dried by a strong heat.
Villa Maria, situated upon the eastern bank of the Paraguay,
twenty-five miles from the confluence of the Jauru, has a church of St.
Luiz; and is abundantly supplied with meat and fish. The situation of
this town upon the noble Paraguay, and other circumstances, promise it
a future augmentation and splendour, which will perhaps not be equalled
by any other internal town of South America. Its inhabitants, at
present consisting principally of Indians of various nations, cultivate
Indian corn, mandioca, legumes, rice, cotton, and breed cattle. There
is already one engenho, or sugar-work. The lights universally used are
made of the oil of _mamona_, and of the _piquira_, a species
of fish exceedingly numerous, and caught with great facility. The fish
called _paraputanga_ and _pacu_, are esteemed the best of the
Paraguay and of its first confluents.
In front of this town is situated the royal fazenda of Cahyssara, where
numerous droves of cattle and horses are bred, and where a great many
tigers have been destroyed.
The hermitages of Nossa Senhora of Livramento, upon the road of
Matto-Grosso, of Nossa Senhora of Prazeres, near the heads of the
Cuiaba, of St. Antonio, below the capital, near the same river, and
others, are the places of worship of the people who inhabit those
districts. Near to the port of the capital, on the eastern bank of the
Cuiaba, is a hermitage of St. Gonçalo d’Amarante.
Near the left margin of the Jatuba, an arm of the St. Lourenço, upon
the Goyaz road, is the aldeia of Boavista, so called from its fine
situation upon a height.
There still exist various hordes of Indians, (all said to be of the
Bororo nation,) dispersed within the limits of this comarca and
the preceding one. One is designated _Coroados_, the other
_Barbados_, (bearded,) so called from feigning mustachios or
beards with a certain dye.
Of the Indian nations here found by the conquerors, the only one worthy
of remembrance was the _Paricis_, who were well formed, affable,
and much pleased with the Christians. From their alliances with the
whites and Africans are descended a great part of the _Mamalucos_
and _Curibocas_, who constitute the gross of the population. They
are usually of good morals, and much respected.
_District of_ BORORONIA.
This comarca, which borrows its name from the Bororo Indians, who yet
have dominion over the principal part of it, is bounded on the north by
the district of Tapiraquia, on the west by that of Cuiaba, on the south
by Camapuania, and on the east by the province of Goyaz, from which it
is divided by the river Araguaya. It is upwards of four hundred miles
in length from north to south, and of proportionate width, although
very irregular.
The _Bororos_, the _Guatos_, and the _Baccahiris_ are its actual
possessors. The Bororos are the most numerous, although greatly
diminished in comparison with what they were at the commencement of
the conquest; they are divided into various tribes, under different
appellations. The Guatos, who possess the southern part, and are
friendly to the Portuguese, are extraordinary swimmers, fish with
the arrow, and have a great number of canoes, in which they advance
to the Portuguese establishments. The bow, arrow, and a large lance
are their arms; a wide _cinta_, or girdle, manufactured from the
fibres of the _tucum_ palm, is the common vesture of both sexes. The
skin of the ounce generally constitutes their bed, and they are a
people exceedingly indolent. Honey and game form a main part of their
subsistence. The Baccahiris, who occupy the lands in the vicinity of
the river Das Mortes, wage a continued warfare against all kinds of
quadrupeds and birds, their principal aliment. Up to the present time
this horde has never acted with hostility towards the Christians. They
are said to be of a white complexion and docile, from which they are
supposed to be a tribe of Paricis.
RIVERS AND LAKES.--The river St. Lourenço, which originates in
the latitude of about 15°, is already considerable when it traverses
the road of Goyaz; afterwards, it gathers by the left the Parannahiba,
which brings with it the Sucuri, the sources of which are also a
great distance to the north of the said road. A little below this
confluence, where it becomes large, there is a fall, which is the
last, and from hence it continues to the south-west, through a flat
country, augmenting greatly until its incorporation by two mouths with
the Paraguay, which is not superior to it. The eastern embouchure is
distinguished by the name of Rio Chaynez.
Forty miles above the mouth of the Cuiaba the St. Lourenço is joined
by the Piquiri, which is larger, has its heads near the boundary of
Cayaponia, not far from those of the Sucuriu, and receives on the
right the Piaughuhi, which originates in the same parts; on the left,
the Itaquira, which has its source in the proximity of that of the
Jauri-Guassu, a branch of the Tocoary, already mentioned.
A few years only have elapsed since an explorer navigated up the
Piquiri seven days, and did not encounter a cataract. Ancient
certanistas have asserted that the navigation from Porto Feliz to
Cuiaba may be accomplished by the Sucuriu and Piquiri. It is, however,
certain that the voyage from the mouth of the Tiete to the Cuiaba is
more than one-third shorter than by that of Camapuan.
The Rio das Mortes, (River of the Dead,) which took this name in
consequence of many people of the first bandeira dying upon its margins
from fevers, has its numerous heads to the south of the Cuiaba road.
It runs to the north-east and discharges its considerable volume into
the western arm of the Araguaya, where it forms the island of St. Anna.
It affords extensive navigation into the interior of the province.
The Roncador and the great and small Sangradores are the most remote
origins of this river. The first is the most western, and flows a
short distance from an arm of the aforesaid Sucuriu. Between the two
Sangradores there is a spacious lake, called Logoa Grande.
The Rio do Peixe, (River of Fish,) formed by the Raizama and Tacoaral,
which also cross the Cuiaba road, there insignificant, flows
northwards, and ultimately enters the Rio das Mortes.
Twenty-five miles from the Araguaya, near a small stream and the said
road, is situated the aldeia of Insua, with a register.
There existed upon the left margin of the Rio das Mortes, an aldeia,
named Amaro Leite after its founder, which disappeared when the road
was carried in a more direct line further to the south.
_District of_ JURUENNA.
This comarca is bounded on the north by Mundrucania, on the west by
the rivers Guapore and Madeira, on the south by the comarca of Matto
Grosso, and on the east by the river which affords its name, comprising
nearly four hundred miles from north to south, and much more from east
to west. Between the Pederneiras and Araras falls, in the latitude of
9° 45′, where the river Madeira curves to the west, there is a point
on its eastern margin, in front of the mouth of the river Abuna, from
which it takes the name, and is the most western land of the Brazil.
This comarca is very little known by the Portuguese, and is in the
power of various barbarous nations. The _Pammas_, who possess
a considerable portion upon the Madeira, are of a white complexion.
The _Tamares_ are masters of the adjacencies of the river Juyna,
the first notable branch of those which enlarge the Juruenna by the
western bank. The _Paccahas_ live to the north of the latter. The
_Sarummas_ farther to the north, along the margins of the said
Juruenna. And, lower down, the _Uhaihas_.
The Juruenna, which is said to take the name of a nation, has its
origin a little to the north of the Jauru. Its course is directed
to the north, and it incorporates by two mouths with the Arinos,
between the parallel of 9° and 10°. Its large volume of water, more
considerable than the river which receives it, shows that it is joined
by numerous other streams in its course. Hitherto, it has not been
navigated by Christians; those who have examined it at the mouths
state, that its waters are particularly clear, and that various islands
are situated in that portion of its bed within view. It is discharged
between two _serrotes_, or hills, of trifling elevation. The
island separating its two mouths is of medium size and moderate
altitude.
The Jamari, and the Giparanna, are the largest rivers flowing from this
comarca into the Madeira. The first rises on the northern skirts of the
serra Paricis, in the territory of the Guaritere Indians, where it is
called the Candeas, waters the lands of the Camarares, who afford their
name to one of its principal arms, and discharges fifty miles below the
fall of St. Antonio. It is said to have a cataract two days’ voyage
above its mouth, and to flow through auriferous lands.
The Giparanna, also called Machado, has its source to the east of the
Jamari, also in the skirt of a branch of the same serra, and soon
begins to be enlarged by small streams, that irrigate the territories
of savage tribes, and falls into the Madeira, nearly thirty miles below
the preceding. In its vicinity there is sarsaparilla, and the cocoa
tree, from which chocolate is made. Eight miles below the mouth of
the Jamari is an outlet of the lake Tucunare, little removed from the
margin of the Madeira. The river Soteiro and the Pacanova descend from
the southern side of the said serra Paricis, and fall into the Guapore,
the Soteiro forty miles below the Ubahi, and the Pacanova seventy miles
further.
Along the banks of the Madeira and the Itenez, the only parts of this
comarca that are well known, abundance of all kinds of game are met
with. Amongst other notable trees that are seen in the large woods here
adjacent to those rivers, is a species of palm, called _ubussu_,
the flower of which supplies an elastic fibrous peel, so interwoven,
that it appears like the production of the loom, and serves as a cap
to the Indian. The _curagiru_ affords a fine scarlet dye. The
cedar is common and very thick, but, like a great many other trees of
excellent timber, of no use, from the almost total want of population
capable of appreciating their value.
In this comarca is situated the fort of Principe da Beira, erected in
the year 1776, upon the right margin of the Guapore, one league below
the mouth of the Tunama, in 12° 20′ south latitude, and one mile above
the situation where the first governor of the province established the
fort of Conceiçao. The land upon which it stands is never inundated by
the river, which rises here at the period of the floods near thirty
feet, and covers with lakes a great portion of the frontier lands, thus
subjecting the garrison to fevers. Three hundred and fifty miles is
computed from this fort to the capital; and by the river, upwards of
six hundred, so considerable are its windings.
Near this fort there is a populous aldeia of Christian Indians; and at
a short distance higher up another, called Leonil, similarly inhabited.
The whole cultivate a diversity of the necessaries of life. They also
hunt and fish.
Five miles below the confluence of the Guapore with the Mamore, upon
the margin of the river Madeira, near the fall of Ribeiram, is the new
parish of St. Joze. The inhabitants are composed of various nations,
with some whites, and are abundantly supplied with fish, game, and the
necessaries of life peculiar to the country.
_District of_ ARINOS.
This comarca, which receives its name from the river that waters it
and divides it into two unequal portions, is confined on the north by
Tapajonia, on the west by Juruenna, on the south by Cuiaba, and on
the east by Tappiraquia. Its length is equal to that of the preceding
district, and its width, from east to west, is nearly three hundred
miles. A portion of the most southern part of it is commonly called
Varges, or Vargeria, where, many years ago, a colony of adventurers
settled, but soon afterwards abandoned it, in consequence of the
annoyance they experienced from the Indians, and the want of success
attending their partial operations in mining.
It is a district very little known, although ascertained to be
auriferous. Those who have navigated by the Arinos and Tapajos,
state, that it is washed by numerous rivers, almost the whole of which
contribute their waters to the enlargement of the two preceding. Its
aspect is varied by mountains, and, as far as the eye of the explorer
has extended, contains luxuriant and noble woods.
Amongst the nations under whose dominion it hitherto has remained,
the _Baccuris_ are well known, who possess the first territory
irrigated by the Arinos; also the _Manbares_, who are wanderers
in the land traversed by the river Taburuhina, the first remarkable
confluent of the Juruenna on the eastern bank. The _Appiacas_
occupy the centre of the comarca, and have an aldeia with high houses
upon the right border of the river Arinos. They are a ferocious people,
live by hunting and fishing, and with axes of stone they prepare the
timber for the construction of their houses and their canoes. Northward
of the last dwell the _Cabahibas_, who speak the same idiom. It
is to be hoped that these tribes, when they begin to experience the
advantage of iron instruments and clothing, which they can derive alone
from the navigators of this river, will become more civilized, and
contribute to the cultivation of those neglected districts.
The river Arinos, which took the name of a nation at present unknown,
rises near the origins of the Paraguay, and falls into the sublime
Amazon under the name of the Tapajos. In 1805, Joam Vieges accomplished
on this river almost the same voyage as its first discoverer, Captain
Joam de Souza e Azevedo; and in 1812, Antonio Thomé de Franca also
descended by it, and in the following year proceeded up with his fleet
of canoes, laden in the city of Para, being the first individual who
performed this voyage, unquestionably less laborious and much shorter
than that by the river Madeira.
The first considerable river united with the Arinos by the right border
is the Rio Preto, which rises between the Paraguay and the Cuiaba, and,
by the left, the Sumidor, which originates a little to the north of
the Sipotuba. This name is given to it in consequence of disappearing,
(after a course of many leagues,) beneath a rock, from whence it issues
at no great distance below. A canoe confided to the current at the
upper side soon appears at the other. Captain Joam de Souza descended
by the Sumidor, and others by the Rio Preto embarking upon it at a
situation about ten miles distant from the arraial of Diamantino.
It appears singular that none of these navigators descended by the
Arinos from its upper part, which, when it receives the Rio Petro, is
larger than that river. All the canoes with which those rivers have
been navigated were constructed of the trunks of trees produced upon
their margins, demonstrating sufficiently the substantial nature of the
soil, and its adaptation to all the purposes of agriculture.
In twenty-eight hours of navigation, (performed in the course of four
days,) from the bar of Rio Preto to that of the Sumidor, Viegas met
with nineteen rivers, yet nameless, and almost the whole entered the
Arinos by the right. The largest is a few leagues above the mouth of
the Sumidor, which latter is little inferior to the Arinos.
After an extensive course, the Arinos loses the name, upon
incorporating with the Juruenna, the united waters forming the Tapajos,
properly Tapayo, from a nation of this name, who inhabited its margins
further to the northward. The first considerable river united with
it by the right is the Azevedo, so denominated after its discoverer.
At a great distance lower down is the embouchure of another river
on the right, thirty fathoms in width. A little further two morros
approximate, and contract its bed, and an elevated island divides it
into two channels, through which its waters flow with equal rapidity.
From hence about three hours’ voyage is a cascade of considerable
altitude, the murmuring noise and evaporation arising from which
announce another of the wonders of nature long before it becomes
visible.
Beyond this interesting object is discovered the mouth of another
river, apparently at least equal to the Tapajos, which is here very
wide; but is however almost immediately reduced by two lateral morros
to a little more than one hundred fathoms of width, and after a short
space again presents a more than ordinary expansion, and receives also
by the right margin another river of thirty fathoms in width. It is
about three hours’ navigation from the mouth of one river to the other.
Upon the margin of the Rio Preto, at the place where the canoes
commence their voyage, a povoaçoe is now establishing for the
accommodation of the navigators of the Tapajos.
_District of_ TAPPIRAQUIA.
This comarca derives its name from one of its tribes of Indians,
and is limited on the north by Xingutania, on the west by the river
Xingu, which separates it from the preceding district, on the south by
Bororonia, and on the east by the river Araguaya, which divides it from
Nova Beira. It comprises the same length as the Arinos from north to
south, and upwards of two hundred miles from east to west.
With the exception of the eastern boundary, along the Araguaya, it is
unknown, for want of the relations of those who penetrated into it at
an earlier period. Amongst other nations who have this district under
their dominion, are the _Guapindaias_; the _Tappiraques_, who
afford it the name; the _Ximbiuas_, and the _Aracis_.
The southern part contains various rivers. The most remarkable are the
Boys, Barahu, Irahiras, and Xanacy, all arms of the great river Xingu,
but it is not known which is its principal head.
Those that originate more to the east form the river St. Joao, which
enters the Araguaya above fifty miles north of the river Mortes. To the
south of its embouchure there is a large lake which communicates with
it, as well as with the river that receives it, during the periodical
floods.
Seventy miles below the river St. Joao, the Vertentes falls also into
the Araguaya, after an extensive course. A little to the north of the
re-union of the two arms of the Araguaya, which form the large island
of St. Anna, is the mouth of the river Ponta, not very considerable;
and a short distance lower down that of the Tappiraques, so called from
its originating in the territory of the Indians of the same name.
To the north of the river Tappiraques, upon the margin of the
Araguaya, in the space of eighty miles, were founded the three aldeias
of Lappa, Almeida, and Semancelhe, for the habitation of various
families of the Ximbiua tribe, reduced to peace in the year 1775, who
soon afterwards adopted their former rude mode of living. They are
a people passionately fond of hunting and fishing, the produce of
which constitute their principal subsistence. The first certanistas
who penetrated into these districts, killing some partridges, found
in their crops granites with gold, a proof of the existence of that
precious metal here, and which may stimulate future exertions in the
desirable object of introducing cultivation and Christianity into
extensive territories yet uncolonized.
The great fertility of these lands, and the facility with which their
productions might be transported by their noble rivers, particularly
towards Gram Para, also concur in raising the expectation that some
effectual measures will be adopted to civilize the savage wanderers,
and convert the widely extending woods to the purposes of such culture
as the soil, now overshadowed with constant gloom, may be found to be
best adapted.