Sobral
Villa Viçosa
Villa Nova d’el Rey.
Nossa Senhora d’Assumpçao, otherwise Villa do Forte, so named in
consequence of a fort which defended it, but more commonly called
Siara, is a very middling town, and the residence of the governor;
the chapel, dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady, was the origin
of its present name. It is the capital of the province, and has a
church of St. Joze de Ribamar. It is situated near the beach, is
surrounded with a sandy soil, and about seven miles to the north-west
of the embouchure of the river Siara, where it was first commenced
at the place now called Villavelha. It is the most ancient town in
the province, and the reputed city of Siara of Vosgien, possessing
however no advantages that would warrant the expectation of any great
improvement of its present condition. The pine, or atta, is here very
large, and its fruit delicious. In 1808 it received a Juiz de Fora,
who is judge of all civil and criminal causes, also auditor of war,
judge of the custom-house, attorney-general, and deputy of the junta
of the treasury, which does not differ in its jurisdiction from any of
the others. The governor of this province touched at Pernambuco during
my stay there; the term of his government had expired, and he was on
his way to Rio de Janeiro. This province cannot boast of any foreign
commerce; the principal part of its produce has hitherto been sent
by coasting vessels principally to Maranham; and in like manner its
internal demands have been supplied. A respectable house of London have
it in contemplation to form an establishment here: this house has had
for many years establishments at Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco.
To the west of this town is the parish of Conceiçao d’Almofalla,
whose parishioners are whites, with some Tramembe Indians; the whole
cultivating mandioca, legumes, and rice. In its district there are
salt-pits.
To the south of the preceding is the parish of Conceiçao d’Amontada,
the population of which, for the main part whites, cultivate the same
productions, and breed cattle.
Aricaty, the largest, most populous, commercial, and flourishing town
and frequented port of the province, was created by John V. in 1723,
and is situated on the eastern margin, eight miles above the mouth of
the Jaguaribe, the large floods of which river incommode a portion of
its inhabitants. It has a church dedicated to the Lady of Rozario,
and four hermitages, with the titles of Lord Jesus of Bom Fim, of
Navigators, of the Lady of Livramento, and of St. Gonçalo; a professor
of Latin; good streets; and many houses of one story, with a great
portion of them built of brick. Cotton and hides are its principal
exportations.
Icco stands along the right margin of the river Salgado, a few leagues
above its mouth, one hundred miles north of Cratto, and near one
hundred and eighty south of Aricaty, is a considerable town, with a
church dedicated to the Lady of Expectaçao, a hermitage of Rozario,
another of the Lord Bom Fim, and a royal master of Latin. Its edifices
are chiefly of wood, and its inhabitants are much incommoded by the
heat, reflected from a morro, or rock, near it, and from whence a vast
extent of the environs are viewed, abounding with cattle. The river
is well stored with fish, and is subject to floods, which inundate
a considerable space of territory, that produces rice, Indian corn,
feijao, water-melons, and excellent melons; but neither the plantain,
nor any fruit trees prosper in its vicinity. Farinha and sugar are
brought here from Cratto, and salt from Assu.
Lavras da Mangabeira, a parish created in 1813, is thirty-five
miles above Icco, of which it is a dismembered portion, and is upon
the margin of the Salgado. Its church is dedicated to St. Vincente
Ferreyra, and its inhabitants raise various necessaries of life,
cotton, and cattle.
Cratto, a town in a state of mediocrity, situated in a plain near
a small stream, that takes its name, being one of the heads of the
Salgado, has a church of the Lady of Penha, and is the most abundant
town of the province. Every fruit tree of the South American continent
prospers in its fertile district, and it has the advantage of running
streams to irrigate the plantations, not excepting those of mandioca,
when the rains fail, and to which may be attributed the superabundance
of the necessaries of life it always enjoys. The neighbouring districts
have recourse to them when they experience years of drought, and the
consequent deficiency of vegetation. Limes, citrons, bananas, and
cabbages, are of an uncommon size. Diseases of the eyes and legs are
here endemical. Thunder showers commence in its vast district, which
is a portion of the Cayriris Novas, in October, and last till May. In
certain months cold nights are experienced.
Thirty miles to the east-south-east is the parish of St. Joze, yet
known by the name of Missao Velha, (Old Mission.) Its numerous
parishioners, generally whites, cultivate mandioca, Indian corn, and
the sugar cane.
Bom Jardim was created a town by a law of the 30th of August, 1814, and
is a dismemberment of Missao Velha, made two years previously, which
was then the most populous parish of the province. It is fifty miles
distant from Cratto, and has a church of Bom Jesus. Sugar and cattle
form the riches of the inhabitants.
The town of St. Bernardo, yet small, is situated near a small river,
which two miles lower joins the Jaguaribe on the western margin,
thirty-five miles above Aricaty, and one hundred and forty miles below
Icco. Its church is dedicated to the Lady of Rozario, and cattle and
cotton constitute the means of subsistence for the inhabitants.
St. Joam do Principe, originally Thauha, is a small town near the
Jaguaribe, a few leagues below its source, in a fine and fertile
district, enjoying salubrious air. The inhabitants are breeders of
cattle, and produce cotton and the necessaries of life. In its environs
there is an abundant mine of pumice stone.
Sobral, formerly Caracu, situated in a plain upon the margin of the
river from which it derived its primitive name, is the second town in
the province in point of size, commerce, and population. It is seventy
miles distant from the sea, and ten from the serra of Merooca. Besides
a parish church, dedicated to the Lady of Conceiçao, it has a chapel
of Rozario; and within its district the chapels of St. Joze, St. Cruz,
St. Anna, St. Quiteria, Rozario, upon the small stream of Guimareas,
and Conceiçao, upon the serra of Merooca, where cultivation partially
appears.
Granja stands in a plain upon the left bank of the Camucim, twenty
miles from the sea. It is a middling and flourishing town, promising
from its advantageous situation future augmentation. St. Joze is the
nominal patron of its church. In its district there are the hermitages
of St. Antonio do Olho d’Agua, St. Antonio d’Hyboassu, and Livramento.
From its port, which is frequented, cotton and hides are exported.
Villa Viçosa is a large town, and well situated upon the serra of
Hibiapaba, on land selected by the Jesuits for the establishment of
a colony of Indians, the descendants of whom constitute at this time
the principal portion of its numerous population. It is near a lake,
and forty miles to the south-south-west of Granja; the houses are of
wood or bricks. The church, dedicated to the Lady of Assumpçao, is the
ci-devant Jesuitical hospicio, and the residence at present of the
vicars, who are administrators of a fazenda for breeding cattle, in the
situation of Thyaya, established as a patrimony for the said church.
The nights of summer are cooler here than those of winter. Amongst
other springs of good water is to be remarked that which is denominated
Agua do Inferno, (Infernal Water,) in consequence of being in a craggy
and rugged place, the water of which is particularly excellent. The
great fertility within its vast circumference, covered with handsome
woods, where plantations of cotton and the various necessaries of
life prosper, united with the salubrity of the air which refreshes
it, attracts here numerous Europeans, who give a stimulus to its
agriculture. The Indians of the town, with those who are distributed
through its district, form eighteen companies of militia.
At a distance of about thirty miles is the parish of St. Pedro de
Bayapinna, upon the same serra. Its inhabitants are whites and Indians,
whose productions are the same as the preceding.
Villa Nova d’el Rey, (New Town of the King,) formerly Campo Grande, is
situated upon the serra Cocos, which is a portion of the Hibiapaba,
and near the origin of the small river Macambyra, and was founded for
the habitation of a horde of Christianized Indians, of which there are
few remaining. In consequence of the fertility of the country, the
excellence of the waters, and the salubrity of the air, many whites are
attracted here. It is seventy miles to the south-east of Villa Viçosa,
has a church of the Lady of Prazeres, with environs rich in plantations
of mandioca, the cane, and cotton. About twenty-five miles from it is
the church of St. Gonçalo, whose parishioners live dispersed upon the
same serra, and cultivate the same productions.
Campo Maior de Quixeramoby is a considerable and abundant town, with
a handsome church of St. Antonio, and situated one hundred and thirty
miles to the south of Aricaty, on the margin of the river which affords
its name, with large numbers of cattle in its vicinity, constituting
the principal property of the inhabitants.
Aquiraz, which is about four miles distant from the sea, and eighteen
from the capital to the south-east, upon the eastern margin of the
Pacoty, and a mile from the lake which affords it the name, is a
middling town with some commerce, and a church dedicated to St. Joze.
Montemor o Novo is situated upon the serra of Botarite, having a church
of the Lady of Palma, and is about one hundred and thirty miles to the
south of the capital. The inhabitants respire a salubrious air, have
the advantage of good water, and form plantations of the mandioca and
the cane. A few leagues north of the preceding is the parish of the
Lady of Conceiçao of Montemor o Velho, the inhabitants of which are
whites and Indians, which latter are diminishing, as in other places,
with the augmentation of the first.
Mecejanna is ten miles to the south-east of the capital, near a lake,
having a church of the Lady of Conceiçao.
Soure, situated near the eastern margin of the river Siara, fifteen
miles from the sea, and the same distance from the capital, has a
church dedicated to May de Deos.
Arronches, which has for titular patroness the Lady of Humildes, is
distant seven miles from the capital, towards the south.
The three last are Indian towns, with some whites and mesticos, who
cultivate mandioca, cotton, rice, legumes, &c. The whole were founded
in places selected for the establishments of Christianized Indians.
They are all small but capable of becoming considerable, if their
inhabitants were possessed of more activity and intelligence.
In the vicinity of the sources of the river Jaguaribe, are the parishes
of St. Mattheus, in the district of Inhamuz; of the Lady of Paz, in the
district of Arneyros, formerly a Christianized Indian town. Cattle and
the necessaries of life are their principal productions.