Porto Seguro
Villaverde
Trancozo
Prado
Alcobaca
Caravellas
Villaviçoza
Portalegre
St. Mattheus
Belmonte.
Porto Seguro, a considerable town, and capital of the province, is
situated at the mouth of the river Buranhen, upon an elevation on the
northern side, with an agreeable aspect, enjoying salubrious air, and
provided with good water. It has a church of Nossa Senhora da Penna, a
house of misericordia, and an ex-Jesuitical hospicio, at present the
residence of the ouvidors. The houses are of brick or wood, and the
streets unpaved. The main part of its inhabitants frequent the fishing
of _garoupas_, which form an important branch of their commerce.
It has, as is usual, a royal professor of Latin. Its surrounding lands
are appropriated to divers productions, none of which are superabundant
except fruits. Porto Seguro, it is said, was once larger, but upon the
occasion previously referred to was nearly dismantled by the Abatyras,
and being rebuilt, again suffered much from the invasions of the
_Guerens_, who, perhaps, would have annihilated it altogether if
the celebrated Tateno, a cacique or chief from the river St. Antonio,
who was a scourge to the other savages and a friend of the Christians,
had not succoured them, in spite of the diseases under which he
laboured at the time, and which did not permit him to move, except in
a net or rede, carried upon the shoulders of his most robust comrades.
The small povoaçoes of Pontinha, Marcos, and Pacatta, the whole
upon the northern margin of the river, scarcely separated by small
intervals, are so many other parts of this town.
Villaverde, originally Patatiba, is small but well situated, has a
church dedicated to Espirito Santo, (Holy Spirit,) and a municipal
house. It is eighteen miles above the capital, upon the southern margin
of the same river, near a large lake. It has a profusion of fruits, and
abundance of water from fountains. The soil is of great fertility, but
is entirely left to the indolence of the Christianized Indians, amongst
whom a white is scarcely seen. They export some timber and a little
cotton.
Eighteen miles north of the capital, near the mouth of the St. Cruz,
the parish of this name, formerly considerable, has decayed, in
consequence of the invasions of the Guerens. It has a church, dedicated
to Nossa Senhora of Conceiçao; and in the vicinity a tree is common,
the fruit of which is called the quince. The proximity of Cabralia
Bay, and the roads which are expected to be opened from divers points
of Minas Geraes, will probably render this povoaçao a flourishing and
considerable place.
Trancozo is an inconsiderable town, well situated, near the mouth of
a small river; the church is dedicated to St. John Baptista, and its
inhabitants, almost generally Indians, cultivate cotton and mandioca,
and are also fishermen. It is fifteen miles south of Porto Seguro.
Prado, situated at the mouth of the Jucurucu, which was its primitive
name, is forty miles to the south of Trancozo. A considerable quantity
of farinha (flour of mandioca) is exported from hence, at present
the only riches of its inhabitants. Its church is dedicated to the
Purificaçao de Nossa Senhora.
Alcobaça, another small town, near the mouth of the Itanhen, of which
it originally had the name, has a church dedicated to St. Bernardo. The
population, generally Indian, and the agriculture, begin to increase,
by the establishments of various farmers, who removed hither from
Caravellas, in consequence of the woods or mattas remaining uncut in
the immediate vicinity of the town.
Caravellas is a considerable town, upon the northern margin of the
river of the same name, about five miles from the sea, and almost in
front of the channel which communicates with the Peruhype. It consists
of three streets parallel with the river, which forms a good port,
capable even of receiving large vessels, if the bar were accessible. It
is the most frequented of any other town in the province; has a church
called St. Antonio, and royal masters of the primitive letters and
Latin. Almost all its inhabitants cultivate mandioca, which is nearly
three years in the ground before it reaches maturity; they can scarcely
make two plantations of it, as already in the second the ants have
accumulated upon it to a destructive extent. The lands overgrow with
brushwood immediately the woods are cleared away. The water-melons,
_aboboras_, bananas, and oranges, are very fine. There are places
covered entirely with the _jabuticaba_ tree. A great quantity of
farinha is exported from hence. Various families, who escaped from
the catastrophe which attended the destruction of the towns in the
vicinity of the capital by the Indians, commenced this town, upon the
right bank of the river, near the bar, from whence it was shortly
afterwards removed to the situation which it now occupies. They are now
labouring in the opening of a road or track, to communicate with that
of Portalegre, which leads to Minas Geraes.
Villaviçoza, at first called Campinho, upon the southern margin, and
four miles above the mouth of the river Peruhype, is yet small, with
a church of N. Senhora da Conceiçao. Its inhabitants produce much
farinha, and the vessels by which the superfluity is exported navigate
commonly by the river Caravellas, and the channel before mentioned, in
consequence of the little depth which the Peruhype has at the bar.
Portalegre, at the mouth of the river Mucury, of which it originally
had the name, is a small town, without any thing remarkable; but the
extensive navigation of the river and the fertility of its surrounding
lands promise it future augmentation. Its church is dedicated to St.
Joze; and its inhabitants, besides other necessaries, produce and
export a considerable quantity of farinha, with some flax of ticum, and
timber. In its district there are minerals of iron. From this town, a
road runs to Villa do Principe in Minas Geraes.
The town of St. Mattheus, without regularity, upon gently elevated
ground, on the right margin, and fifteen miles above the bar of the
river so called, does not yet exceed mediocrity, but is well supplied
with fish and good water. Many circumstances, however, concur to
warrant the expectation of its becoming flourishing, when the Indians
are reduced. Its inhabitants hitherto respire air infected by the
neighbouring swamps, which occasionally produce fevers, terminating
sometimes in death. They cultivate feijao, rice, Indian corn,
cotton, the sugar cane, and above all mandioca, the farinha of which
is exported to a great extent. Many other branches of agriculture
would flourish in this district, the fertility of which is perhaps
unequalled, and not materially infested with ants. The water-melon is
here excellent, and oranges and lemons are abundant.
Belmonte is a town situated in the angle of the mouth of the river,
which took its name, and which injures it occasionally, at the period
of the greatest floods. It was first an aldeia of Christian Indians,
and consists of three streets, in a line, with houses generally of
earth. The church is called Our Lady of Carmo, and the people are of
all complexions.
On the margin of the river Doce, near the outlet of the lake Juparana,
is the increasing aldeia of Linhares, to which a vicar was appointed
in 1815, in consequence of its inhabitants becoming numerous. With the
view of impeding the invasions of the savages, as well as commencing
new povoaçoes, were recently established the detachments of Arcos,
near the margin of the river Belmonte, above the great fall; Aveiro,
upon the river St. Cruz; Aquiar, in the district of Villaverde;
Linhares, on the river Frade; Cunha, on the Cramimuan; Vimieyro, on the
Jucurucu; Obidos, in the district of Alcobaca; Caparica, upon the river
Peruhype; Araujo, upon the Mucury; Itahunas, upon the Guaxindiba, which
discharges itself four miles north of the St. Mattheus; and Galveas,
above the town of St. Mattheus, upon the margin of the river of that
name. All the parochials of this province are in the jurisdiction of
the bishopric of Rio de Janeiro.
In front of the bar of the river Caravellas, and forty miles from the
coast, are the islands of St. Barbara, generally known by the name
of Abrolhos, four in number, and a short distance from each other;
the largest and most easterly is two miles in length, and has some
vegetation. Portions of a large shoal, which extends two hundred miles
from east to west, in consequence of the dangers which they present to
navigators, were called _Abrolhos_ (“open the eyes.”) There is no
water found upon these islands, and they are generally covered with
marine birds. Upon these shoals the fishing of the _garoupas_ is
pursued, producing the next branch of exportation to farinha; this is
a fish which does not exceed two palms in length, is very thick, of a
green colour, without scales, has little bone, is very white, and is
esteemed savory when fresh.