Abrantes
Aguafria
Itapicuru
Pombal
Soyre
Mirandella
Abbadia
Inhambupe
Villa do Conde
St. Francisco
Santo Amaro
Maragogype
Cachoeira
Jaguarype
Joam Amaro
Pedra Branca
St. Salvador, or Bahia.
Abrantes, situated a mile from the left margin of the Joannes, three
from the sea, and twenty north-east of the capital, is a small town,
with a church of Espirito Santo. The inhabitants, chiefly Indians, for
whose ancestors it was founded, are cultivators of mandioca and other
necessaries of life, and follow their ancient habits of hunting and
fishing.
Aguafria, a small town, ninety miles north of Bahia, has its church
dedicated to St. Joam Baptista. Within its district are various
hermitages; and tobacco, mandioca, the cane, and cattle are raised.
Itapicuru, a small town, seventy-five miles from the coast, and within
a mile of the left bank of the Itapicuru, has a church of Our Lady of
Nazareth. Cattle forms the only wealth of its inhabitants; and the
river not being navigable, added to the sterility of the land, there is
no probability of its augmentation.
Itapicuru Grande is a considerable and flourishing arraial, with a
church of Our Lady of Rozario, situated upon the right bank, and
thirty-five miles above the mouth of the river of the same name. Cattle
and cotton are its only branches of commerce.
Pombal, originally Cannabraba, and founded by the Jesuits for the
habitation of Christianized Indians, is eighteen miles from the river
Itapicuru, in a district adapted to a diversity of productions. Santa
Thereza is the patroness of its church.
Soyre, formerly Natuba, is eight miles from the right bank of the
Itapicuru, and thirty west of the town of that name. It has a church
of Our Lady of Conceiçao, and the inhabitants, composed of whites and
Indians, cultivate the necessaries of life and cotton.
Further into the interior is the considerable arraial of St. Antonio
das Queimadas, situated along the margin of the Itapicuru, with a
chapel of the same name. Its inhabitants are breeders of cattle.
Tucano, a parish and julgado, with a church of St. Anna, is eight miles
from the river Itapicuru.
Mirandella, formerly called Saccodos Morcegos, is eighteen miles from
Pombal, and has a church dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord. Its
inhabitants produce a sufficiency of the necessaries of life.
Abbadia, a middling town upon the margin of the Ariquitiba, the last
tributary of the Rio Real, is eighteen miles distant from the sea, has
a good port where sumacas arrive, that export sugar, cotton, tobacco,
and much farinha. The inhabitants are whites and Indians.
Inhambupe is forty miles above the embouchure, and a short way from the
right margin of the river of that name, with a church of Espirito Santo
upon a steep, having an extensive view; within its precincts there
is a chapel of St. Antonio, and two of Our Lady, with the titles of
Conceiçao, and Prazeres. Its inhabitants exhibit a great diversity of
complexion, and cultivate a very considerable quantity of good tobacco,
and the provisions of life.
Villa do Conde, situated at the mouth of the river Inhambupe, has a
church of Our Lady of the Mount. The inhabitants, consisting of all
colours, cultivate mandioca, &c. with some sugar. Tobacco is the
principal production; and fishing is here a general pursuit.
St. Francisco is one of the most ancient towns of the province,
although yet small, with many edifices of stone, and has a church of
St. Gonçalo d’Amarante, also a convent of Franciscans. It is about
thirty miles north-west of Bahia, near the mouth of the river Serigy,
in a gently rising situation, enjoying an extensive view of the sea.
The inhabitants are much incommoded by musquitos, and its vast district
has many sugar works, with extensive plantations of cane, to which the
soil is propitious.
Santo Amaro, a large and flourishing town, situated along the right
bank of the river Serigy, twelve miles above its embouchure, two below
the mouth of the Subahe, and forty north-west of Bahia, has a church
of Our Lady of Purificaçao, a hermitage of St. Braz, another of St.
Gonçalo, four of Our Lady, namely, Amparo, Conceiçao, Rozario, and
Humildes; good buildings, and a great number of alembics. The streets
are principally paved, and there is a wooden bridge over the river.
It is surrounded by small hills. The senate is presided by a Juiz de
Fora, whose jurisdiction extends to the town of St. Francisco. For the
instruction of youth, there are masters of the primitive letters and
Latin, with royal honours. The tide does not ascend higher than the
town, and the port is at its commencement, from whence are exported
large quantities of sugar, tobacco, spirits, and some cotton. Its
district has many sugar works. The communication from hence with Bahia
is short and easy, and the same tide which conveys barks from St.
Amaro, will often conduct them to the capital.
Eight miles to the north-north-west is the parish of St. Gonçalo dos
Campos, whose inhabitants are generally cultivators of the tobacco
plant.
Maragogype, a considerable town, and advantageously situated near
the left margin of the Guahy, a mile above its confluence with the
Paraguassu, is ornamented, with a church of St. Bartholomew and four
chapels dedicated to Our Lady, with the titles of Nazareth, Mares,
Lapa do Saboeiro, and Lapa do Monte. It has royal professors of the
primitive letters and Latin, a Juiz de Fora, a fountain of good water,
tolerable houses, is encircled with hills and exports farinha, sugar,
and tobacco. In the vicinity of this town there is armenian bole, and
antimony.
The river Guahy, which brings the waters of the Capanema, is navigable
for the space of ten miles.
The Paraguassu at this place is near two in width, and from it a branch
runs north-east to the centre of the celebrated valley of Iguape, which
is about five miles long, and of varied width; it is covered with
plantations of the sugar-cane, for the growth of which it is deemed
the best land that is known, being what is termed _massapé_,
or a black and strong soil, which is, unquestionably, the most
congenial to the cane. There are nearly twenty sugar-works within
its narrow precincts, the proprietors of which are parishioners of
Santiago, the church of which is a short way from the left bank of the
Paraguassu, upon whose margin, not far distant, is also a convent, and
novitiate-house of Franciscans.
Cachoeira, a flourishing and commercial town, is divided into two
parts by the river Paraguassu; the largest, which is along the left
or eastern bank, has the church of Our Lady of Rozario, a convent of
slippered Carmelites, with a Terceira order subordinate to them, a
chapel of Our Lady of Conceiçao, another of St. Pedro, a hospital of
St. Joam de Deos, a fountain, and three small bridges of stone over
two small rivers, the Pitanga, and Caquende, or Falleira, each of
which has its sugar-works, but neither have a course of three miles.
The municipal house is situated in the portion of the town, which has
nearly ten thousand inhabitants. The western part, upon the right
bank of the river, is traversed by two brooks, and has two churches,
the one dedicated to Menino Deos, the other to St. Feliz, from which
latter it takes the name, and contains about two thousand inhabitants.
Both portions are increasing; their edifices are of stone, and the
streets paved. Here is collected and embarked the greatest portion of
tobacco and cotton that is exported from the capital. It has a Juiz
de Fora, and royal masters of the description so often mentioned, in
which appointments there is not much advantage beyond the sound. The
main part of its inhabitants are much incommoded at the period of the
highest floods. The tide advances nearly two miles above the town, at
whose extremity the river, eighty fathoms wide, with a wooden bridge
over it, begins to have reefs, which form currents of little depth, and
impede navigation. It is fifteen miles above Maragogipe, and something
more to the west-south-west of St. Amaro. About two miles to the east
of this town was found a piece of native copper, which weighed one
thousand six hundred and sixty-six pounds, and is now in the royal
museum, at Lisbon.
Three miles to the north-north-east of Cachoeira is the aldeia of
Belem, so called from a chapel, which is the remains of a seminary
there established by the Jesuits. Five miles to the south-west of the
same town is the arraial and parish of Murityba, in an agreeable though
flat situation, refreshed with salubrious air, and possessing good
water. The soil is fertile, and well adapted to the tobacco plant,
coffee, orange, and jaca trees, which are abundant. It was formerly a
flourishing povoaçao. Besides the church, dedicated to the Chief of the
Apostles, there is another of Our Lady of Rozario, both of stone: the
houses are built of a sun-dried brick.
The _jarrinha_, or basil root, is very common, and indigo, known
here only by the name of _lingua de gallinha_, (the tongue of a
fowl,) grows spontaneously amongst other wild plants to the height of
two feet. All the inhabitants of this parish are tobacco planters.
Eighteen miles to the west of Murityba is the serra of Apora, a
mountain of considerable elevation, more than twelve miles in circuit,
and near the road of the certam: in its vicinity is a hermitage of St.
Joze. Fifteen miles to the westward is the small arraial of Ginipapo,
with a chapel of stone dedicated to St. Joze, upon the border of the
same road. A lake supplies water to all the living creatures of its
district.
Jaguaripe is a middling town, pleasantly situated upon the right, and
seven miles above the mouth of the river of its name, and two miles
above the confluence of the Cahype, which passes it at a short distance
to the southward. It has a church of the Lady of Ajuda, houses of
earth, streets paved with bricks, royal masters, and a Juiz de Fora,
who is the same individual holding that situation at Maragogipe. The
inhabitants are generally manufacturers of earthenware.
Fifteen miles above the Jaguaripe, along the left margin of the same
river, is the large and flourishing parish of Our Lady of Nazareth.
Large barks arrive here with the tide, and export farinha and other
necessaries to the capital. The margins of the Jaguaripe in all
this interval, have potteries for earthenware, which constitutes a
considerable branch of commerce.
Joam Amaro, called a town, does not surpass a small aldeia, with houses
of wood covered with straw, but well situated near the margin of the
Paraguassu, upon the road to the interior, about one hundred and forty
miles to the west of Murityba. It has a chapel of St. Antonio, built
of stone, and covered with tiles, which served as a mother church to
the first inhabitants, whilst the fevers did not compel them to retire.
Peter II. (then Regent,) gave to the Paulista, Joam Amaro, licence
to found it, together with the senhorio, or lordship, as a premium
for having conquered the neighbouring Indians, who at that time had
descended to the coast, and destroyed the crops of the inhabitants of
Cayru.
The town of Pedra Branca is an Indian aldeia, situated in a flat
portion of territory, upon the serra of the same name, and is eighteen
miles west-south-west of the arraial of Ginipapo. The houses are of
wood, covered with palms, and the church, dedicated to the Lady of
Nazareth, is built of _adobe_, and roofed with tiles. The origin
of it was about the year 1740, for the habitation of two tribes of
Indians, one of them being Cayrirys. It is surrounded with large woods.
Ants, many of a very large size, are numerous, and do much injury.
ST. SALVADOR, better known by the name of BAHIA, situated upon the
eastern side, and near to the entrance of the bay, (or Bahia de
Todos os Santos,[28]) is an archiepiscopal city, and the largest,
most commercial, and flourishing in the Brazil, (now excepting Rio
de Janeiro,) and is celebrated for having been for more than two
centuries the residence of the governors general of this state; but
the government, with the title of a vice-royalty, was transferred to
the governors of Rio de Janeiro in the year 1763. This city is the
grand emporium of all the produce of its partially populated comarcas,
already described, as well as the medium through which a portion of the
productions of the circumjacent provinces are exported. Its situation,
embracing all the commercial advantages of its rival port of Rio de
Janeiro, will enable it, in the desirable march of improvement and
civilization, of which this great country is yet so susceptible, to
preserve its rank, at least of the second city in the Brazil.
It is nearly four miles long from north to south, including the
suburb of Victoria in the southern extremity, and that of Bom Fim in
the northern, and divided into two unequal parts, high and low; the
higher and larger one situated upon an agreeable eminence, and the
other at its western base, both without any regularity. The latter is
denominated the Praya, in consequence of extending along the beach, and
has not more than one street nearly the whole of its length, almost in
the central part of which there are five that do not exceed two hundred
and fifty paces in extent. Here is the seat of commerce, containing the
stores of the merchants, and many capacious warehouses, denominated
_trapiches_, for the reception of sugar, tobacco, cotton, and
other exports; also a general deposit for farinha, grain, and legumes,
called _tulhas_, where they are distributed to the people.
The lower town is divided into two parishes, the churches of which
are both dedicated to Nossa Senhora, with the titles of Pilar and
Conceiçao. The latter is a fine edifice with its front of European
stone, and is richly decorated within. Near to it is the dock-yard and
the marine arsenal.
The Cidade Alta, or High City, stands on elevated and uneven ground,
the approaches to it, from the lower part, being exceedingly steep.
The situation is commanding. The valleys and _hortas_, or country
houses, in its vicinity, as well as the various trees of eternal
verdure, give animation to the native beauty of its surrounding
scenery. The houses are built with latticed windows and balconies.
Sedans, of various forms, with canopies and embroidered curtains,
are very numerous and convenient in ascending the steep streets, but
attended with great labour to the slaves. These chairs are considered
the most elegant in the Brazil. A better quality of meat is met with
here than at Rio; and the fruits are very delicious, particularly
the oranges, water-melons, and pine-apples, which are exposed to
sale by black female slaves, who are also occupied in the disposal
of _doces_, or sweetmeats, which are made in great perfection.
This part of the city is divided into six parishes, with the churches
of Nossa Senhora, of Victoria, St. Pedro, St. Anna, St. Antonio, SS.
Sacramento, or Passo, and St. Salvador, which is the cathedral. There
is a house of misericordia, with its hospital for the cure of the
poor, a recolhimento for white orphans, and a great number of chapels,
many of which, as well as the churches, are splendid; they appear
every where to be the only public objects which engross the peculiar
consideration of the government and the people; and here, as in all
other places, the respectable parishioners go in short cloaks of
crimson and other colours about the streets uncovered, begging for the
churches, with a long wand and an embroidered bag, with the figure of
our Saviour upon it, in their hands. Churches and convents are nearly
the only public establishments in all towns that are at all worthy of
description, of which latter this city also has a numerous catalogue;
namely, the monasteries of the slippered and unslippered Carmelites,
of the Benedictines, and the Franciscans, which is the most sumptuous
edifice of the whole; the alms and entertaining houses of Terra
Santa, unslippered Agostinhos, slippered Carmelites, Benedictines,
Franciscans, and Italian Barbadinhos; also four convents of nuns, two
recolhimentos more; and four Terceira orders of St. Domingos, St.
Francisco, Carmo, and SS. Trinidade.
[Illustration:
_On Stone by C. Shoosmith from a Sketch by Ja^s. Henderson._
_Printed by C. Hullmandel._