Natal
Arez
Estremoz
St. Joze
Villaflor.
In the western part:--Villa Nova da Princesa, Portalegre, and Villa
Nova do Principe.
Natal, which has been sometimes called Cidade dos Reys, (City of the
Kings,) with a church dedicated to the Lady of Apresentaçao, and the
capital, does not surpass any of the largest towns of the province:
it consists of a square; the streets are of deep sand; and it is
dignified with the title of a city, which it received at its foundation
by the Philips. It has, as usual, various places of worship, a palace
for the governors, a town-house, and a prison. It is advantageously
situated upon the right margin of the Rio Grande, near two miles above
its mouth, which is defended by the fort of Reys Majos, seated upon the
southern point, and becoming an island with the high tides. The Dutch
possessed themselves of this city in 1633, and gave it an ostrich for
arms, in allusion to the multiplicity of those birds with which the
province at that time abounded. In its environs cotton, Indian corn,
feijao, and mandioca are cultivated, with some rice and sugar.
Arez, originally Groahyras, is a small town, with a church dedicated
to St. John the Baptist, and about thirty-five miles south of the
capital, near a lake of its primitive name, and twenty miles distant
from the sea. The inhabitants are almost all fishermen and respire a
salubrious air. The channel which the Dutch projected opening from
this lake to the beach of Tibau, only distant two miles, and which
would save a navigation of fifteen or eighteen miles by the Tareyry, is
yet unexecuted. In the district of Arez is the povoaçao of Goyaninha,
(Little Goyanna,) larger than the town, from which it is distant ten
miles. It is inhabited by whites, and has a church of Nossa Senhora of
Prazeres.
Villaflor, at first called Grammacio, is an indifferent town, inhabited
by agricultural Indians and whites, with a church of the Lady of
Desterro. It is forty miles to the south of the capital and three from
the sea, near the river Cunhau, which supplies it with water.
Estremoz, formerly Guajiru, is a town of the same class as the
preceding, well situated near a lake ten miles long and two wide.
It is ten miles from the sea and as far north-west of the capital,
with a mother church, having for patrons St. Michael and the Lady
of Pleasures. The inhabitants are composed of whites, Indians, and
mesticos. In the district of Estremoz, upon the northern coast, near
the mouth of a small river, is the flourishing povoaçao of Toiros,
occupied by whites, and ornamented with a chapel of Lord Jesus of
the Navigators. From its port, where small vessels arrive, cotton is
exported.
Villa Nova da Princeza, primarily Assu, is well situated on the
left bank of the river Parinhas, twenty-five miles above its mouth,
and is the most considerable and trading town of the western part;
hyates frequent its port. Besides a church dedicated to St. John the
Baptist there is a hermitage of the Lady of Rozario. The inhabitants
breed cattle, and cultivate the same productions as are raised in
the vicinity of the capital. The salt-pits employ many people, and
their proceeds form a considerable branch of commerce. Villa Nova
do Principe, formerly Cayco, is a middling town, and well situated
upon the river Serido, twenty-five miles above its mouth. St. Anna is
patroness of the church, and the inhabitants of various complexions
drink the water of the river, upon the margins of which feijao,
hortulans, Indian corn, and tobacco are cultivated. In its district
there are the hermitages of St. Anna do Pe da Serra, of St. Anna do
Campo Grande, and of St. Luzia, which are expected to become parishes
with the increase of population.
Portalegre is a considerable town, situated upon the serra of its
name, near seventy miles from the sea and eight to the west of the
Appody. St. Joam Baptista is the nominal patron of its church, and its
inhabitants, composed of Europeans, whites of the country, and Indians,
respire fresh and salubrious air, and derive excellent water from two
perennial founts. The Indians, whose numbers are much inferior to the
whites, are descendants principally of three colonies, which their
conquerors established here, namely the _Payacus_, who possessed
the margins of the Appody, the _Icos_, who were masters of those
of the river Peixe, and the _Pannaties_, who inhabited the serra
of their name. Cotton and mandioca are its exports.
The eastern limits of the district of this town are common with those
of the parish of St. John the Baptist of Appody. In its vicinity, near
a stream, below a tree, there is a small spring of tepid water, called
Agua do Milho, It is necessary to draw it out with a small vessel into
a larger one, when any person wishes to bathe.
The town of St. Joze, which took the Lady of O. for its patroness, is
in a state of mediocrity, agreeably and well situated. Mipibu was its
first name, and it is nearly thirty miles south of the capital, fifteen
from the ocean, and three from the lake Groahyras. The inhabitants are
agricultural Indians and whites.
About four miles from it is the small povoaçao of Papary, near the lake
of Groahyras, with a chapel of Our Lady of O. and inhabited by whites,
who are employed in fishing.
About two hundred and fifty miles to the east-north-east of Cape St.
Roque is the island of Fernando de Noronha, discovered by a Portuguese
of that name, being ten miles long, of proportionate width, generally
mountainous and stony, with so few and such small portions of land
susceptible of cultivation, that it could not maintain a diminutive
colony. In order to impede a contraband trade with foreign nations,
a detachment is maintained here, supplied and annually exchanged from
Pernambuco. Some criminals are sent here to pass the period of their
degradation, who cultivate a small portion of mandioca, with some
fruits from the continent, and breed some cattle, sheep, and goats. The
rigid prohibition by the government of the entrance, till recently, of
any female to this island with the colony, is a circumstance highly
discreditable to their policy. A brother-in-law of General Rego
returned from the government of this island when I was at Pernambuco,
and from him I understood that females were now admitted into the
colony. Rats are here exceedingly numerous, also the rolla bird. There
are a great number of wild mountain cats, descended from those which
had fled from the houses; they carry on a continued warfare against the
rolla. It has good water, and eight or ten small forts, destined to
defend those places where a disembarkation might be effected. In the
year 1738 King John V. ordered these fortifications to be constructed,
after the expulsion of the pirates who had established themselves here.
Ships falling short of water occasionally visit this place for a supply.
To the north, and separated from it by a narrow channel, is the island
of Ratos, (Rats,) three miles long, less stony, and more woody than the
other, and where the degradados have formed plantations of the cotton
tree. It is remarked that the animals from which this island derives
its name did not exist here some few years ago. In the channel there is
a hollow stone, where the sea bursts forth with a loud noise.