The currents we found setting in towards the coast much stronger and
to a more considerable degree, than any of the charts extant account
for. In the course of the 3d of December we indistinctly perceived some
catamarans near the beach, and at dusk discovered Cape St. Augustine,
affording us the hope of reaching Pernambuco next morning. At day-break
on the 4th, Cape St. Augustine, Pernambuco, and Ollinda, were in view,
with the land of the Cape elevated and jutting out into the sea, but
presenting nothing remarkable. The coast near Pernambuco is flat,
except some elevations in the distant back ground, and Ollinda situated
upon an accumulation of rising eminences. On viewing it we could
not but acquiesce in the exclamation of the first donatory of this
province, “_O que linda situacam para fundar huma villa_.”[34]
The whole country from the sea appeared richly wooded and interspersed
with the cocoa-nut tree, and impressed the idea of fertility and
cultivation. The jangadas, or catamarans, now passed near us on all
sides, with their triangular sails, producing no inconsiderable
surprise amongst the whole party. They are constructed of eight, ten,
and some of twelve trunks of the buoyant _jangada_ tree, rudely
secured together by wooden bolts passing horizontally through the
whole, and with cross-bars at the top, attaching the rafts more firmly
together. The trunks are not of uniform length, and, being almost hid
amongst the waves, would not be discovered at all without the sail and
the two men who navigate them. The waves pass through the apertures
between each trunk, and the men are constantly standing in water, one
of whom steers with a large paddle passed indiscriminately between the
ends of two of the rafts. Thus cotton and sugar from the places upon
the coast and from the rivers are conveyed to the capital. Voyages of
several hundred miles are performed by jangadas. An English gentleman
proceeded to sea in one of them from Parahiba to Pernambuco, a small
table was attached to the rafts upon which he slept, and although the
sea is generally washing over them they are never known to upset.
Our voyage had been an extremely pleasant one, and each individual
had expressed the highest gratification not only at the mutual good
humour that had prevailed, but the very great attention of the
captain. The party frequently met on shore afterwards, and I received
many civilities from Colonel Cotter and his lady during my stay at
Pernambuco. The Colonel, before my departure, was appointed to the
command of the militia regiments formed by the population of the town.
We will defer speaking of the city of Pernambuco, or Recife, till we
have concluded the description of the province.
This province was presented as a captaincy, with less extent of
territory than it now contains, to Duarthe Coelho Pereyra, in reward
for having repulsed the French from the river St. Cruz, re-establishing
the factory which had been destroyed by them, and rendering other
important services to the Portuguese government. The letter of donation
was granted to him in 1534; and in the following year he set sail from
Portugal, accompanied by his wife and some other families, who joined
him for the purpose of colonization.[35]
The small village of Hyguarassu, which had its origin about four years
before, was for some time the place of his residence, till Ollinda was
begun, which he made his capital soon after its foundation. He was
engaged in continued wars with the _Cahetes_, who were the former
inhabitants of the country. He died in the year 1554, leaving his wife,
D. Brittes d’Albuquerque, in trust of the government of the captaincy
till the arrival of his hereditary son Duarthe Coelho d’Albuquerque,
who was pursuing his studies in Portugal, and which he left in 1560 by
orders of Queen Catharine, to protect the colony from the danger with
which it was threatened by the revolt of some tribes of Indians whom
his father had reduced to obedience.
The new donatory took with him his brother Jorge d’Albuquerque Coelho,
and was accompanied by many friends and hired attendants to his new
settlement, and had the promise of others to follow him for the purpose
of augmenting the colony. He subjugated the whole nation of the Cahetes
and divided them into hordes; and after a residence of many years
returned to Europe, in order to accompany D. Sebastiano in his voyage
to Africa, leaving his brother administrator of the captaincy, which
progressively improved under his management.
In failure of male issue he was succeeded by his brother Jorge
d’Albuquerque Coelho, father of Duarthe d’Albuquerque Coelho, who in
the second year after the Dutch had possession of the captaincy arrived
there with the Count Banholo, where he remained till the end of 1638,
when he returned to Portugal. During his residence he kept a diary of
the first eight years of the war.[36]
Duarthe d’Albuquerque Coelho had an only daughter, married to the Count
de Vimiozi D. Miguel de Portugal, but neither he nor his heirs received
any revenue from the captaincy, the dominion of which was disputed;
for King John IV. who had expended large sums in its restoration,
finding that the donatory had not forces sufficient to prevent the
invasion of the enemy, should they make a second attempt, annexed the
captaincy to the crown in the first year of its restoration. This the
donatory opposed, and his heirs sustained an obstinate suit at law
for many years, obtaining various sentences in their favour, which
were always abrogated, till finally they desisted from the contest,
surrendering whatever right they had to the province; and, in 1717, by
the intervention and consent of John V. a convention was made between
the Count de Vimiozi D. Francisco de Portugal and the attorney-general,
in which it was agreed that the Count should receive in exchange for
the captaincy the marquisate of Vallenca for himself and his son,
the countship to pass to his son and grandson, and eighty thousand
crusades, to be paid from the revenues of the province in ten years at
equal payments.
The new colonists, who were sent to it immediately after the
restoration of the province, gave it a rapid improvement. The Indians
living towards the interior, the principal of whom were Tupinambas,
and divided into numerous tribes, were by degrees surrendering the
country and allying themselves to the conquerors, or retiring to the
western districts. The latter were reduced about the years 1802 and
1803.
These Indians were divided into four nations, who have always exhibited
the most irreconcileable hatred to each other, and to this day preserve
their ancient animosity undiminished. They were distinguished by the
appellations of _Pipipan_, _Choco_, _Uman_, and _Vouvé_. The language
of each differed in idiom, but the general resemblance between them
sufficiently demonstrated that they sprung from the same origin. They
occupied a wild and uncultivated tract of country, of thirty square
leagues, between the rivers Moxoto and Pajehu, near to the serra of
Ararippa, a country sterile and deficient in water. All are wandering
tribes, ignorant of any kind of agriculture, and support themselves on
wild fruits, honey, and game; a hog, a deer, or a bird are all dressed
with the hair, feathers, and intestines. The arms of the men are a bow
and arrow, and they go perfectly naked. The women cover themselves with
a small and elastic net, or with a deep fringe of thick thread much
twisted, and made with considerable ingenuity. They inter their dead
in a bent posture, having no instruments to make a grave sufficiently
large to admit of the body lying at full length. They always bury under
the most shady tree, preferring the _ambuzo_, if it be found near the
spot. Of all savage nations they are perhaps the most remarkable for
conjugal fidelity; polygamy and adultery are unknown among them, and
the latter crime they abominate in their conquerors.
All these savages received baptism; and, after being formed into
villages and rendered rather more civilized, they began to cultivate
the most necessary provisions of life, as mandioca, Indian corn,
gourds, and vegetables. But, notwithstanding their apparent
improvement, they still retained their wild and savage propensities for
hunting and general depredation: early accustomed to live on plunder,
they conceived they had a natural right to the property of each other,
and they frequently drove off and appropriated the sheep and oxen of
the neighbouring farmers. Independently of these savage propensities to
a wild and predatory life, their religious instructors gave them a very
good character for innocence of general manners, in which they were
said to resemble the primitive Christians.
They suppose, from the above circumstances, that the present race of
these Indians are descendants of some who, after having settled in the
villages and become Christians, had again returned to their native
wilds; and, from a rooted propensity, which no art could remove,
preferred the savage to the civilized state. Indeed, the opinion is
supported by a fact, already alleged in this work, as well as by recent
occurrences, in which individuals who have been civilized, on entering
their native wilds, have again adopted their former rude habits.
This province of Pernambuco, which had formerly the title of countship,
is bounded on the north by the provinces of Parahiba, Siara, and
Piauhy; on the south by the river St. Francisco, which separates it
from Seregipe and Bahia, and by the Carinhenha, which divides it from
Minas Geraes; on the west by the province of Goyaz; and on the east by
the ocean, with seventy leagues of coast from the river St. Francisco
to the river Goyanna.
The river Pajehu, which rises in the serra of the Cayriris, and empties
itself into the St. Francisco thirty leagues above the fall of Paulo
Affonso, divides it into two parts--eastern and western; the latter
forming an ouvidoria, which comprehends a great portion of the eastern,
the sea-coast of which is divided into three comarcas, Northern or
Olinda, Central or Recife, Southern or the Alagoas, whose common limits
are in the vicinity of Rio Una, which enters the sea forty miles south
of Cape St. Augustine.
This province lies between 7° and 15° south latitude, having a warm
climate and pure air. The lands upon the whole extent of the sea-coast
are low, with considerable portions of fruitful soil, and although it
has many rivers, which are perennial and abundant, yet the inhabitants
in many parts suffer from want of water. In the interior of the
province the face of the country is very unequal, being in some places
mountainous, and very deficient in water, and that which is met with,
besides being extremely scarce, is never pure, being of the colour of
milk, and drawn from wells where all kinds of animals go to drink, or
else from pits dug in the sand. From the town of Penedo to the bar of
Rio Grande, which travellers by the windings of the river compute at
five hundred miles, there does not run towards the river St. Francisco
a single stream in the dry season.
MOUNTAINS.--The serra of Borborema, which is the most majestic in the
Brazil, has its commencement near the sea, in the province of Rio
Grande, and, after having traversed that of Parahiba from north-east
to south-west, turns to the west, separating the western part of
Pernambuco from the preceding, and from Siara for a considerable space.
It then inclines to the north, dividing the last from the province of
Piauhy, varying frequently in altitude and name to its termination,
where it is denominated Hibiapaba, in view of the coast between the
rivers Camucim and Paranahiba. In some parts it is rocky, in others
bare and barren, but the principal part is covered with beautiful
woods, nourished by strong and fertile soils. In some places it has two
or three leagues of luxuriant herbage on its summit.
The mountain Araripe, which is a portion of it, commands a view of
the river St. Francisco, at a distance of more than thirty leagues.
In this mountain the rivers Jaguariba and Piranhas have their origin,
and run to the north. It also gives birth to the rivers Parahiba and
Capibaribe, which flow eastward, and likewise to the Moxoto and the
Pajehu, which direct their course to the south.
About seven leagues distant from the fall of Paulo Affonso, in the
parish of Tarcaratu, is the mountain of Agua-Branca, with its numerous
branches, in great part covered with wild and luxuriant woods. Here
is a chapel of Our Lady of Conceiçao, and many families of different
shades of complexion, equally if not more barbarous than the ancient
possessors of the country.
In the vicinity of the river Pajehu, about fifteen leagues from that
which absorbs it, is the serra Negra, which is about a league long,
and proportionably wide, and covered with thick woods, that are often
violently agitated by strong winds. Near it is the site of Jacare,
where the Choco Indians lived for some time; but since they have been
subjugated, like their neighbours, there is little mention made of them.
At a short distance from the source of the river Una, is the serra
Garanhuns. It is covered with woods, where they are introducing
plantations of cotton, Indian corn, mandioca, vegetables, and fruits.
From this mountain descend many clear streams of water, which vanish on
entering the sandy plains that encompass it below. Among other useful
plants may be remarked the _terminalia_, or _styrax_ of Linnæus, which
produces the gum-resinous drug called benzoin.
The serra of Russas, two leagues long, and of small width, is situated
about sixteen leagues distant from the Recife, in the road which leads
towards the certam of the river St. Francisco.
The serra Sellada is four leagues to the south-west of Cape St.
Augustine, and little more than two from the sea; and, although of
trifling height, is the best land-mark for sailors in these latitudes.
Four leagues to the north-west of Caninde, an insignificant and
ill-situated village, on the left bank of the St. Francisco, is
the serra of Olho d’Agua, with a circuit of two leagues, and of
considerable height. From its summit is discovered a vast chain of
inferior mountains on all sides, and at a distance of about six
leagues to the west-north-west is seen a column of vapour rising from
the cataract of Paulo Affonso, similar to the smoke of a conflagration.
Formerly this mountain abounded with numerous tigers, in consequence of
the multitude of caverns within the jetting rocks and frowning crags
that compose it. Even at present they are the retreats of a formidable
species of bat, which proves very destructive to cattle.
The serra of Priaca is about eight leagues to the north-west of the
town of Penedo. That of Pao d’Assucar is within sight of the former,
and near the river St. Francisco. On the southern skirts of the serra
of Pao d’Assucar there is a lake, where bones of an enormous size have
been found; and on its northern side there is a most terrific cavern.
The serra of Poco, situated fifteen leagues distant from the last,
towards the interior of the province, is covered with woods where trees
of the finest timber are produced, some of whose trunks exude precious
resins, and oily or balsamic liquors, while the hollow trunks of others
serve for the hives of various kinds of bees.
Comenaty is one of the largest mountains in the interior. It abounds
with extensive woods in many parts, where the Indians and other
inhabitants of the parish of Aguas Bellas have introduced large
plantations of cotton and mandioca.
The serra of Barriga is about four leagues distant from the town
of Anadia, and twenty from the sea, and is subject to frequent
thunderstorms. The occasional and loud noises from its cavities
terrify the people of the circumjacent country, and indicate that it
has minerals. On its extreme skirts was the fatal band of Africans,
called the _Quilombo dos Palmares_, commenced by three hundred
and forty negroes of Guinea, on the occasion of the Dutch disembarking
at Pernambuco. They were joined by many others from the neighbouring
provinces, and founded the above village, which took the name of
Palmares from the number of palm trees which the negroes had planted
around it. The village, which was more than a league in extent, was
encompassed by a square, consisting of two orders or rows of enclosures
of palisadoes, formed of large high trunks of the strongest and most
durable wood the country afforded. At equal distances were three strong
doors, each having its platform above, and defended by two hundred
men in times of assault; the whole flanked by various bulwarks of the
same fabric as the walls. Its population amounted to twenty thousand,
one-half of whom were capable of taking up arms. They had established
an elective and monarchical form of government. The chief was
entitled Zumbe, and had his palace more distinguished than the houses
of his vassals, which were erected according to the African mode.
The most valorous and wise were always selected for this important
office. Besides the superior, they had subordinate officers for the
administration of justice, which was punctually executed against
adulterers, homicides, and thieves.
The slaves who voluntarily came and associated with them had their
liberty immediately granted, but those taken by force remained
captives. The first incurred the penalty of death if they fled and
were taken, a punishment which deserters from the latter class did
not experience. Independently of a slight covering the whole were in
a state of nudity, except the superiors, who wore such clothes for
dresses as the neighbouring people of Quilombo sold to them, together
with arms and ammunition, in exchange for provisions. Those only who
had been baptized assumed the name of Christians.
Within the square was a vast basin or tank of soft water, well stored
with fish, and a high rock, which served them for a watch-tower, from
whence they could discover the country all round to a great extent,
and could observe the approach of the enemy. The suburbs were covered
with plantations of necessary provisions, to protect which there were
various hamlets, called mocambos, governed by veteran soldiers.
It is extraordinary that this colony gave much anxiety to the crown,
existed for the space of sixty years, and cost much labour to an army
of eight thousand men for many months to accomplish its extinction in
1697.
MINERALOGY.--Gold, amianthus, stone for water-filters, limestone and
grindstone, _terra de cores_, a sort of plaster for figures, also two
or three species of rude marble, and potters’ earth.
ZOOLOGY.--All the domestic animals of Spain are bred here. Goats
and sheep are less profitable than in the country in which they
are natives. The woods abound with all the species of wild animals
described in the preceding provinces, excepting the wild dog, in
place of which there is the ferret. The hedge-hog has here the name
of _quandu_. The _guariba_, a species of monkey generally of a red
colour, from the river St. Francisco towards the south, is black in
this province, and its skin on this account is more esteemed. The
_tatubola_, or armadillo, and the land-tortoise are numerous, as well
as the _moco_, in rocks and stony grounds. Rabbits are very rare. In
the open country are the emu-ostrich and the _seriema_. In the lakes
are the _colhereira_, _jaburu_, goose, grey and white heron, wild
duck, _soco_, _macarico_, water hen. In the woods and plains are the
_jacu_, _mutun_, _zabele_, _enapupe_, _racuan_, _arara_, parrot, the
_uru_ which is a species of small partridge, going always in bands and
upon the ground. The bird here called _rouxinol_, or the nightingale,
is very different in its song and plumage from that of Europe. The
_araponga_ pours its simple and tender song from the summit of the
highest trees. The white-winged dove always avoids strange birds, like
other species of its kind. Various sorts of kites and hawks make war
upon the other birds. The _jacurutu_, which is of a large size, has two
great horns of feathers, and kills the largest snakes with caution and
much dexterity in order to avoid being stung by them. In almost all the
rivers there are otters, and no lake is without the alligator.
PHYTOLOGY.--The cedar, bow-wood, _vinhatica_, of various colours, the
yellow and dark are the most esteemed; the _conduru_, which is red;
_barabu_, male and female, more or less of a violet or purple colour;
_pau santo_, waved with violet; _sucupira_ and _brahuna_, both of a
blackish colour. The _sapucaya_ affords good masts of a small size,
and its towy rind is used by the caulkers. The red _camacary_, _pau
d’alho_, _maçaranduba_, _angico_, _coraçao de negro_, the pith or heart
of which is black and hard: there are many others of fine timber for
building. The Brazil wood comes thirty leagues from the interior of
the country; here is also the cassia, the _carahiba_, whose flower is
yellow and rather large, constituting delicious food for the deer. This
animal, generally feeding beneath the tree upon them, thus becomes an
easy prey to the hunter. Amongst the fruit trees and shrubs of the
woods are the _ambuzo_, the _cajue_, the _araçaza_, the _jabuticaba_,
the _mandupussa_, the fruit of which is yellow and grows also round the
trunk, like the preceding; the _muricy_; the _cambuhy_ is a large tree
and its fruit about the size of a sour cherry, either red or purple;
the _piky_ affords a fruit, from the stone of which is extracted a
kind of hard tallow that is used for making imitation candles; the
_issicariba_, which produces gum-mastick, ipecacuanha, and some species
of inferior _quina_, or Jesuit’s bark, to which they give this name;
the real one is to be found in the serra Cayriris. The _maçanzeira_ is
common in some districts of this province, where it has the improper
name of _murta_.
The comarca of the Alagoas produces great abundance of the best timber
in the province; there the canoes are made in which the St. Francisco
is navigated. Cocoa-nut tree groves abound in the vicinity of the
sea. The _mamona_ is carefully cultivated in some districts, and
its oil affords an article of exportation. The _opuncia_, or
_palmatoria_, is here very common; and the cochineal insect might
be cultivated with advantage.
The cotton tree and sugar cane are the principal branches of
agriculture, and their productions are the most lucrative. The desire
every where of the gain which these two articles afford, unwisely
prevents the cultivation of provisions of the first necessity in
sufficient quantity for the subsistence of the population. The flour
of mandioca is generally scarce and dear, arising in part from the
lands in the vicinity of the sea (which alone are fertile) having been
given in such liberal portions; so that at the present day they are
under the dominion of so few persons that it is calculated that for
every two hundred families there are only eight or ten proprietors,
or _senhores d’engenho_, and who generally permit their tenants
only to plant the cane. The _jangada_, a peculiar tree, and one
of the most useful in the province, has a trunk commonly straight and
scarcely ever attaining a thickness that a man cannot encompass with
his arms: it is extremely porous and light. The trunks attached, as
already described, constitute the only small craft of the country;
fishermen proceed with them to sea out of sight of land, and travellers
transport themselves, with their moveables, from one port to another.
It is necessary to drag them on the beach at the end of each voyage to
dry, in order that the wood may not decay so quickly. The trees which
produce the oil of _cupahyba_ are met with in all the woods; also
those which produce the gum-copal, the drug benzoin, and the sweet gum
storax. The latter is here called the balsam tree; and the honey which
the bees make from the sweets of its flower has the smell of cinnamon.
Amongst other exotic trees which have been naturalized the precious
_sandal_ tree, it is affirmed, would prosper here almost as well
as in the island of Timor, and would save to the state many arrobas of
gold annually expended in bringing it from India.
The people of the certam catch large quantities of turtle and ring
doves with the _manicoba-brava_, an infusion of which is put into
vessels half buried in the sand, in those places where some little
water remains after the streams are dried up, and to which those birds
are attracted for the purpose of drinking. On taking the infusion, if
they do not immediately vomit, they cannot again take wing, but quickly
begin to tremble, and expire in a few moments.
RIVERS.--The most considerable are in the western part of the
province; but we shall defer speaking of them till we come to finish
the description of the river St. Francisco, into which they discharge
themselves.
The principal ones in the eastern part of the province are the
Capibaribe, the Ipojuca, the Una, the Tracunhaen, or Goyanna, and the
Serenhen.
The Capibaribe, or river of the Capibaras,[37] has its origin in the
district of Cayriris Velhos, about fifty leagues distant from the
sea. Its source is brackish; the channel very stony, with many falls,
and navigable only for about eight miles. It is discharged by two
mouths, one within the Recife, and the other near four miles to the
south, at the arraial of Affogados, where there is a wooden bridge two
hundred and sixty paces in length. Topacora and Goyta are its principal
confluents, both of which join it by the right bank, with an interval
of four or five miles. The latter runs from a lake, denominated Lagoa
Grande.
The Ipojuca rises in the Cayriris Velhos, near the Capibaribe, and
runs through countries appropriated to the culture of cotton and
sugar, which productions have been extremely advantageous to the
agriculturist. It disembogues between Cape St. Augustine and the island
of St. Aleixo, forming a port for the small vessels by which it is
frequented.
The Serenhen, which is considerable and advantageous to the cultivator,
empties itself almost in front of the isle of St. Aleixo. One of its
largest confluents is the Ceribo, which meets it on the left bank, not
far from the sea.
The Una comes from the district of Garanhuns, with a course of nearly
forty leagues, and in the vicinity of the ocean receives on the right
the Jacuipe, which is inferior, and runs into the sea through large
woods. Both serve for the conveyance of timber, that is laden in the
port at its mouth, which is about seven leagues to the south-west of
the island of St. Aleixo.
The Goyanna, which is handsome and considerable, runs into the sea
nine miles to the north of Itamaraca, between the point of Pedras and
the Cocoa-Tree Point. It takes this name at the confluence of the
Tracunhaen, which has a considerable course, with the Capibari-mirim,
much inferior, about three leagues from the sea, to which place smacks
and small craft ascend. The water of the first is only good at the
source.
The other rivers upon the coast are the Cururippe, which discharges
itself twenty-eight miles north-east of the St. Francisco; the St.
Miguel, twenty-five miles further; the Alagoas, so called from being
the mouth of two large lakes; the St. Antonio Mirim; the St. Antonio
Grande; the Cammaragibe; the Manguape; the Rio Grande; the Formozo;
the Maracahippe, which runs into the sea between the Serenhen and the
Ipojuca; the Jaboatao, which receives near the coast the Parapamba by
the right bank, their common mouth being designated Barra da Jangada,
and is two leagues to the north of Cape St. Augustine; the Iguarassu,
which discharges itself with considerable width five or six leagues
north of Olinda, and is formed by several small rivers, that unite
about seven miles from the ocean. All these rivers admit of the
entrance of boats and small vessels. The Moxoto, after a considerable
course, empties itself eight miles above the fall of Paulo Alfonso. It
is only a current during the rainy season. The delicate _mandin_
fish, which proceed up whilst it is full, as soon as the river ceases
to run, and the water begins to grow warm in the wells, pines away,
and soon dies. The Pajehu is only a current whilst the thunder showers
prevail.
PROMONTORIES.--Cape St. Augustine, the only one upon the
coast, is the most famous in the new world, and the most eastern land
of South America, in the latitude 8° 20’. Here is a religious hospicio
of slippered Carmelites, dedicated to Our Lady of Nazareth, which many
captains formerly honoured with a salute on passing. It has two forts,
each of which defends a small port, where vessels of an inferior class
can come to anchor.
ISLANDS.--Itamaraca, for a considerable time called Cosmos,
is three leagues long from north to south, and one in the widest part;
it is mountainous and inhabited. Its principal place is the parish
of Our Lady of Conceiçao, situated on the southern side, about half
a league above the mouth of the Iguarassu. This was formerly a town,
the prerogative of which was transferred to Goyanna, whose senate goes
annually to assist at the festival of its patroness. The mangoes and
grapes of this island are highly praised. There are also several very
fine salt-pits. The channel which separates it from the continent is
narrow and deep. At the northern entrance, called Catuama, there is
commodious anchorage for ships in front of the mouth of the river
Massaranduba.
The island of St. Aleixo, which is about four miles in circuit,
with portions of ground appropriated to the production of various
necessaries of life, is five leagues to the south-west of Cape St.
Augustine, and a mile distant from the continent.
PORTS.--No province has so great a number of ports, though
the generality of them are only capable of receiving smacks and small
craft. The principal ones are the before-mentioned Catuama; the Recife,
which will be described jointly with the town of that name; the
Tamandare, which is the best of the whole, in the form of a bay within
the river so called. It is securely defended by a large fort, and
capable of receiving a fleet, being four and five fathoms deep at the
entrance, and six within. It lies ten leagues south-west of Cape St.
Augustine.
Jaragua and Pajussara are separated by a point which gives name to the
first, where vessels anchor in the summer. The latter one can only be
used in winter. They are two leagues north-east of the river Alagoas,
and in them people disembark to go to the town of this name, because
the river, which formerly afforded passage for smacks, at present will
not admit of canoes. It is therefore necessary to go a league by land,
and re-embark on the lake.
Cururippe is a beautiful bay, capable of receiving large ships. It
is sheltered by a reef, which breaks the fury of the sea. It has
two entrances, one to the south and the other to the north; but the
anchorage is not generally good. The bay receives the river from which
it derives the name. It is a deep and quiet stream of black water, and
navigable for canoes some leagues; the least depth is at the mouth. Its
banks are covered with mangroves, reeds, and divers trees.
LAKES.--The considerable lakes are the Jiquiba, five leagues
long and one wide, brackish, containing fish, and is discharged twelve
miles to the north-east of Cururippe; and the Manguaba, ten leagues
long and one at the greatest width, is salt, and abounds with fish.
It is divided by a straight into two portions, one called Lagoa do
Norte, the other Lagoa do Sul, which is the largest. Its channel
of discharge is the before-mentioned river of the Alagoas, about a
cannon-shot across. Various small rivers here empty themselves. Its
banks are cultivated in parts; in others covered with mangoes. In
its neighbourhood are various sugar works, the produce of which is
transported, with cotton and other articles, in large canoes, to a
northern part of the lake, from whence they are carried in carts for
the space of three miles to the ports of Jaragua and Pajussara, where
the smacks are laden with them for the Recife, or Bahia.
The following are the towns in the three comarcas into which this
province is divided.