Aguaquente
Trahiras
St. Joze
St. Feliz
Cavalcante
Conceiçao
Arrayas
St. Domingos
Flores.
Two miles distant from the confluence of the river Almas with the
Maranham, and seventy miles to the north-east of Pilar, is the arraial
of Aguaquente, (Warm Water) situated near a large and deep lake of
brackish, fetid, and warm water, from which it derived the name. A
church of St Sebastiao and a chapel of our Lady of Merces are its
only places of worship. It was commenced about the year 1732, in the
frontier situation, where some vestiges remain. An epidemical disease,
produced by standing and putrid pools of water, occasioned by the
floods of the Maranham, led those who wished to escape with life to
the place where this arraial is now situated. It was not unusual for
fifty to die in one day. A numerous herd of oxen arriving from St.
Paulo, for the supply of this arraial, where they were collected at
night, and pastured in its environs during the day, was the cause, it
is stated, of this contagion ceasing. The gold, which was so abundant
at first, induced an assemblage here of twelve thousand persons.
Amongst other pieces of considerable size, one was found of forty-three
pounds weight, which was transmitted to the court, in the same form
that nature presented it. This rarity was placed in the Royal Museum
of Lisbon; and became the booty of the French army when in that city.
There are some frightful caverns upon the margins of this lake, the
outlet from which is a small perennial stream, not experiencing any
diminution during the droughts.
Fifteen miles to the east-north-east of Aguaquente is the arraial of
Cocal, so called from its great number of cocoa trees, and situated
near a small river which loses itself in the Maranham. Whilst gold was
abundant this place flourished, but it is now very inconsiderable. The
arraial of Trahiras, twenty miles to the north-east of Aguaquente,
large and flourishing, is the head of the julgado; it was founded
in 1735, upon the left margin, and twenty miles above the mouth of
the river that gives it the name. It has a church of Nossa Senhora
da Conceiçao, a hermitage of Bom Jesus, and another of Our Lady of
Rozario. It is well supplied with meat, fish, and the agricultural
productions of the country.
Five miles to the north-east of Trahiras, is the middling arraial of
St. Joze de Tucantines, improperly so denominated, being nearly thirty
miles distant from that river. It was founded in 1735, near the left
margin of the river Bacalhau, and has two hermitages of Our Lady of Boa
Morte and of Rozario, and another of St. Efigenia. Its church is the
most magnificent temple in the province. There is a brotherhood of the
Lord dos Passos[23] privileged by Pope Clement XIII.
About twelve miles to the east of the preceding is the small arraial
of Cachoeira, to which a cataract furnished the name, Cachoeira being
founded near it, upon the margin of the river, in the year 1736.
Ten miles to the north of Cachoeira is the small arraial of St. Ritta,
founded in the same year as the preceding, and possessing a chapel.
Twenty-eight miles to the east of St. Ritta is the small arraial of
Moquem, near the river Peixe, which is a branch of the Bagagem, having
a hermitage of the Lady of Abbadia.
St. Feliz, a well supplied arraial, in a state of mediocrity, and about
seventy miles north of St. Joze, is situated near the right bank of
the small river of the same name, and less than three miles from the
Maranham. It was founded in the year 1736, and has a church called
after the same saint, a hermida, or hermitage, of the Lady of Rozario,
and one of St. Anna. It is the head of the julgado, and possessed for
a considerable time a smelting house for gold. Some of its inhabitants
are yet miners; the rest breeders of cattle and cultivators of the
necessaries of life.
The Caldas of St. Feliz, (the hot baths or waters of St. Feliz,)
otherwise called Frey Raynaldo, are thirty-five miles further to the
south, consisting of four springs of tepid, and one of very hot water.
Seven miles to the north of St. Feliz, near the road, there is a mass
of black stone, with so frightful and profound a cavern, that no one
has yet dared to examine it. Three miles more to the north is situated
an aldeia, with a hermida of Our Lady of Carmo, from which it takes the
name.
Cavalcante, a flourishing arraial, founded in 1740, has a church of
St. Anna, two hermidas of the Lady of Rozario and Boa Morte, and is
seventy miles to the east of St. Feliz, near a small river which runs
to the Parannan, under the name of Rio das Almas. It is the head
of the julgado, well provided with water, and has a smelting house
transferred from St. Feliz. Its inhabitants form five companies of
militia. It has a rich quarry, but deep and difficult to work. It would
become important in the hands of an opulent company, and directed by
intelligent persons. Cattle are bred within its district. Mandioca,
Indian corn, some wheat, and cotton, are the articles of cultivation.
Seventy miles to the north of St. Feliz, and not far removed from the
mouth of the river Palma, is the arraial of Conceiçao, with a church of
the same name. It is the head of the julgado: the people who inhabit it
are miners, breeders of cattle, farmers of such necessaries of life as
prosper best in the country, and form four companies of militia. It is
very deficient in good water. Within its district is the small arraial
of Principe, with a hermitage.
Arrayas is an arraial in a state of mediocrity, head of the julgado,
has a church of Our Lady of Remedios, was founded in the year 1740, and
is fifty miles to the north-east of Cavalcante, near the origin of the
river from which it derives the name. Its environs are in great part
mountainous, and abound with cattle, which constitute the wealth of the
inhabitants, who are formed into four companies of militia.
Twenty-five miles to the south-east of Arrayas, near a small river
which runs into the Parannan, is the small arraial of Morro do Chapeo,
founded in 1779. A neighbouring mount, similar in appearance to a hat,
(chapeo,) and from which gold is extracted, was the origin of its name.
Cattle constitute the riches of the inhabitants.
Forty miles to the east of Morro do Chapeo, and in the skirts of the
serra of its name, is the arraial and freguezia of St. Domingos,
in the vicinity of which there is a rock of remarkable height and
appearance. Its inhabitants breed cattle, and cultivate a variety of
the necessaries of life.
A little to the east, upon the limits of the province, there is a
detachment to prevent the embezzlement of gold.
Flores is a middling and well supplied arraial, and head of the
julgado, has a church of Our Lady of Conceiçao, and a hermida of
Rozario, with a brotherhood of blacks. It is seventy miles to the
south-east of Cavalcante, near the right margin of the river Parannan,
in a fertile situation. Cattle and horses are the principal riches of
its inhabitants.
Within its extensive bounds is situated the aldeia of Matto Grosso,
with a hermitage of the Lady of Piedade; and the small arraial of St.
Roza, with another hermitage of that saint; and in whose district is
a remarkable cavern, with many stalactites, or crystallizations of
different forms.
Ninety miles to the south of Flores, and two miles from a lake
denominated Lagoa Feia, is the arraial of Coiros, formerly the head
of the julgado, which pre-eminence, in 1774, was transferred to
Cavalcante. It has a church dedicated to St. Luzia, and a hermida,
where the blacks celebrate the festival of Our Lady of Rozario. Within
its extensive limits, large herds of cattle are bred.
A law emanated on the 25th February, 1814, for the foundation of a town
to be called St. Joam da Palma, in a situation determined upon at the
embouchure of the river of the same name, to become the head of the
comarca of St. Joam das Duas Barras. In order to give it an immediate
commencement, and to accelerate its augmentation, all individuals were
exempted from payment of the dizimos for the space of ten years who
erected a house for their own habitation in this town, or within the
circle marked for its limits. By the same law, the town of St. Joam
das Duas Barras, ordered to be founded by a decree in 1809, was to
become subject to this town.
The major part of the cattle bred in this district are consumed in the
reconcave of Bahia, and in the comarca of the Ilheos.
_District of_ RIO DAS VELHAS.
This district, to which one of the rivers that traverse it lends the
name, is bounded on the north by the district of Parannan, on the south
by the province of St. Paulo, on the east by that of Minas Geraes,
and on the west by the districts of Goyaz and Cayaponia. It is three
hundred and fifty miles from north to south, and one hundred and
seventy of medium width.
Besides the river which affords it the name, and those which serve for
its western and southern limits, it contains numerous others. Upon the
road of Meia Ponte to St. Paulo, amongst other small ones, are the
Capivary, which is forded with difficulty even in dry weather, the
Pyracanjuba, the Peixe, (both with bridges,) all three discharging
themselves into the Corumba by the right bank; the Braco do Verissimo;
the Verissimo, which receives the former; the Parannahiba; and the
small stream of Furnas, that flows through a plain, and on a sudden is
precipitated twenty fathoms into a profound abyss. A variety of birds
build their nests in the cavities of the rock, and rear their young,
in sight, and amidst the murmuring sounds of this fine cataract. The
Furnas discharges itself soon afterwards into the Rio das Velhas.
The two Uberavas, _verdadeiro_, (the real one,) which runs into
the preceding, and the _falso_, (or false,) that enters the
Rio Grande. The small river Inferno which issues from the serra of
Canastra, and enters the Rio das Velhas by the left; the river Quebra
Anzoes, that originates on the confines of Minas Geraes, and also
unites itself with the Rio das Velhas by the right margin; but none of
them reach the road, near which the river Prata and the Tijuco rise,
and, after uniting, enter the river Parannahiba a considerable distance
below the confluence of the Rio das Velhas.
On the road of Paracatu is met with (besides the afore-mentioned
Corumba) the river Areas, the Montes Claros, the Pont’ Alta, (all
with bridges,) and the St. Bartholomew. The whole are stored with a
diversity of fish, and flow southward.
In the most northern part of the district is the river Almas, the
Peixe, which unites with the first by the right, and the Patos, that
flows along and to the east of the serra Negra, and afterwards joins
the Maranham a few leagues above the arraial of Aguaquente. These
rivers possess the same fish as the Tucantines.
The territory lying between the two Uberavas is a plain of thirty-five
miles in width, without the least elevation above the horizon, and
absolutely destitute of wood; but supplying the deer and the emu
ostrich.
In the middle of the last century there lived, between the Parannahiba
and the Rio Grande, a horde of Bororos, whose cacique was then a
Paulista, called Antonio Pirez de Campos, a youth of much subtilty,
and well adapted for the management of those savages amongst whom he
sought refuge, being driven from civilized society by the extent of
his crimes. He died, between the years 1750 and 1760, of a wound which
he received in the arm, in an encounter with the Cayapos. His comrades
applied medicinally, for many days, hot broiled bacon to the wound,
until they conveyed him to a Christianized establishment in Minas
Geraes, to try if he could be there cured. They lamented for a month
over him as a common father.
Amongst other serras in the northern part is that of Caldas, four
leagues square, and flat upon the summit, where there are some lakes
and deer.
The principal povoaçoes are Meia Ponte, Santa Luzia, Santa Cruz, St.
Domingos, and Desemboque.
Meia Ponte is the largest, most flourishing, and commercial povoaçao
in the province, with the exception of the capital, from which it is
ninety miles distant to the east, and is situated near the Almas,
which there is only an inconsiderable stream. It has a church of
Nossa Senhora of Rozario, four hermidas, three dedicated to Our Lady,
with the titles of Carmo, Lapa, and Rozario, of the blacks, another
of the Lord of Bom Fim, and an Hospicio d’Esmoleres (an alms-house
for the entertainment of the travelling brotherhood) of Terra Santa.
It was founded in the year 1731, is the head of the julgado, well
supplied with meat and fish, and has a royal professor of Latin. Its
inhabitants, and those of the environs, cultivate Indian corn, wheat,
mandioca, tobacco, cotton, sugar, some coffee, and breed cattle;
likewise many hogs. They manufacture certain descriptions of cloth,
both of wool and cotton; and hence this place is considered the
cradle and centre of the agriculture and industry of the province.
The caravans from the capital and from Cuiaba, proceeding to the
metropolis, to St. Paulo, or Bahia, pass this way.
About eighteen miles to the east-north-east is the cordillera called
Montes Pyreneos, (the Pyrenees.) From its sides flow torrents to the
four cardinal points.
Nearly fifty miles to the east of Meia Ponte, in the vicinity of some
fine hills, denominated Montes Claros, there is a hermida of St.
Luzia, which ornamented the decayed arraial of St. Antonio.
St. Luzia, a middling and well supplied arraial, which derives its
name from the patroness of the church, is seven miles from the road of
Paracatu, and almost at an equal distance from the rivers Pont’ Alta
and St. Bartholomew, being eighteen miles, with little difference,
from each, in a pleasant and wholesome situation, abounding with
water. It is the head of the julgado, has a hermitage of Our Lady of
Rozario, produces good cheese and marmalade, and is seventy miles
east-south-east of Meia Ponte. In its environs cattle are exceedingly
abundant, constituting the wealth of its inhabitants.
St. Cruz, a small arraial, with a church of the Lady of Conceiçao, is
the most ancient of the province, and head of the julgado. It is one
hundred miles to the south-south-east of Meia Ponte, upon the road of
St. Paulo, a little removed from the left margin of the river Pary, and
about one mile from the morro of Clemente, abounding with gold, which
has not yet been worked for the want of water; because, according to
the saying of the miners here, “a mountain of gold is worth nothing,
if it has not water.” Its inhabitants are agriculturists and cattle
breeders. In its district are the _caldas_, or hot springs of the
same name, consisting of various fountains, differing in the degree of
heat, and little distant from each other. Their waters, which have been
efficacious in many diseases, form the small river Caldas.
Almost in the middle of the interval from St. Cruz to Meia Ponte, and
also upon the road, is the small arraial of Bom Fim, with a hermitage
of that name. The inhabitants are gold miners, breed cattle, and
cultivate the necessaries of life.
One hundred and forty miles to the south of St. Cruz is the arraial
of St. Anna, two miles distant from the northern margin of the river
Velhas, in an agreeable situation, and is the parochial of all the
Christianized Indians, who live in those parts, near the road of St.
Paulo. It was founded in the year 1741, for the habitation of five
hundred Bororo Indians, who came from Cuiaba to succour the Christians
against the Cayapos, who carried devastation amongst the Portuguese
establishments. They lived here till the year 1775, when they were
removed to the arraial of Lanhozo, a horde of _Chacriaba_ Indians
remaining in their stead, who were brought from the margins of Rio
Preto, in the province of Pernambuco, and who are at present the
inhabitants of the place, with some of other nations. They cultivate
mandioca, Indian corn, and legumes.
Twenty miles to the north of the parish of St. Anna, and also near
the same road, upon the northern margin of the small river Pedras, is
situated the aldeia of that name, formerly inhabited by Bororos, but
now almost depopulated, in consequence of that horde being removed in
1811 to the new prezidios of Nova Beira. The arraial of Lanhozo above
mentioned, founded near the Uberava Falso, no longer exists, its people
having united themselves with those of the river Pedras.
The arraial of St. Domingos do Araxa, in a state of mediocrity,
modernly erected into the head of the julgado, is situated in a
plain traversed by a small stream, and is thirty miles distant
from the boundary, and twenty from the river Quebr’ Anzoes, (Hook
Breaker.) The wells of excellent water, which save the breeders from
the expense of purchasing salt for the cattle, and the considerable
portions of fertile land in which various branches of agriculture will
flourish, have already invited many hundred families to remove their
establishments here, and which will probably in a few years render this
parish the most populous one in the province. They already manufacture
cotton cloth, and are commencing upon woollens. Large quantities of
hogs and cattle are bred.
The arraial of Desemboque, head of the julgado, has a church of Our
Lady of Desterro, and is situated upon the left margin of the river
Velhas, about thirty-five miles distant from the boundary of Minas
Geraes. Its inhabitants breed cattle, and cultivate an abundance of the
necessaries of life.
In the year 1812, the arraial of St. Antonio and St. Sebastiao were
commenced, with a hermitage dedicated to those saints, near the channel
of the Lage, two miles distant from the road of St. Paulo to the east,
and one from the left margin of the Uberava Falso. The people who
inhabit it cultivate feijao, Indian corn, rice, and cotton, with the
fruits and hortulans of the country, and breed cattle.