Oeyras
Parnahiba
Marvao
Campo Maior
Vallenca
Jerumenha
Pernagua.
Oeyras, to which King Joseph gave the title of city, with this
appellation, in honour of his celebrated secretary, the first count of
that name, was denominated until then the town of Mocha, having been so
created in the reign of John V. about the year 1718; and, although it
has been from this period the capital of the province, it does not yet
surpass a small town; but is well enough supplied, and well situated
near the right margin of a stream, which, three miles lower, falls into
the Caninde. It is two hundred and fifty miles to the south of St. Joam
de Parnahiba, and upwards of three hundred to the south-south-east of
St. Luiz of Maranham; one hundred and forty in the same direction from
Cachias; and between six and seven hundred miles to the west of the
town of Pernambuco. The church is dedicated to the Lady of Victory, and
it has also the hermitages of Conceiçao and Rozario. The houses are
generally of clay and timber, whitened with potters’ earth; and the
greater part of its inhabitants are Europeans.
Parnahiba, a middling town, and the principal in the province, is
advantageously situated upon a point on the right margin of the eastern
branch of the river from which its name is borrowed, in sandy ground,
fifteen miles from the sea. It has some houses of one story, which
are not seen in any other towns of the province; and the streets are
generally unpaved. It is the deposit of a great quantity of cotton and
hides, and has a church dedicated to the Lady of Graca. The inhabitants
draw their water from the river or from cacimbas, and are frequently
attacked with fevers. In 1811, it became the residence of a Juiz de
Fora, and a custom-house was at the same time established. Within its
district large and excellent melons grow, also water-melons throughout
the year.
Campo Maior is a town in a state of mediocrity, well situated upon
the margin, and eight miles above the embouchure of the small river
Sorubim, of which it formerly had the name. It is thirty miles distant
from Parnahiba, near a profound lake, stored with fish and good water.
Besides the church dedicated to St. Antonio, it has a hermitage of the
Lady of Rozario. The small river Maratahoan washes its district, from
the bed of which are drawn excellent grindstones. The inhabitants breed
cattle, and cultivate cotton and the necessaries of life.
Vallenca, primitively Catinguinha, is a small town, situated upon an
insignificant stream, which fifteen miles lower enters the river St.
Victor. Its church is dedicated to the Lady of O. Within its district
there is saltpetre, and good pasturage, where many cattle are bred.
Twenty-five miles distant is the chapel of the Lady of Conceiçao, and
in its environs are cultivated the necessaries of life peculiar to the
country.
Marvao, whose first name was Rancho do Prato, is also a small place,
situated in a plain twenty miles above the mouth of the small river
so called, on the margin of which graze herds of large cattle,
constituting the wealth of its dwellers. The Lady of Desterro is the
patroness of its church, and within the district there is silver and
pumice-stone.
Jerumenha is an insignificant town, upon the margin and fifteen miles
above the embouchure of the Gurguea, of which it had originally the
name. It has a church dedicated to St. Antonio; and the inhabitants
breed cattle and cultivate the common necessaries of life. They are
frequently attacked with fevers.
Pernagua is a small town and well situated upon the western margin of
a lake fifteen miles in length, near eight in width, deep, well stored
with fish, and traversed by the river Pirahim. It has a fine church of
stone, dedicated to the Lady of Livramento; having flat environs, small
hills only being seen at a distance. The inhabitants, amongst whom are
some Europeans, raise cattle and horses; and besides other agricultural
productions, the sugar cane, of which is made rapaduras, and an ardent
spirit. It is above fifty miles distant from the southern limits of the
province, about the same from the river Preto, and above one hundred
and thirty miles from the town of St. Francisco das Chagas. In its
district there are portions of ground appropriated to the culture of
tobacco.
The lake of Pernagua which is reduced to eight miles of length, and
four in width, during the dry season, was formed, it is said, by an
extraordinary overflowing of the river, since the Portuguese were
masters of the country.
The considerable arraial of Piracruca, well situated near the small
river of its name, forty miles distant from the mouth of the Longa, has
the best church of the province. In its district there are copperas
and the real Jesuits’ bark. The inhabitants have large plantations of
cotton, mandioca, and sugar; from the latter rum and rapaduras are made.
The aldeia and Indian parish of St. Gonçalo d’Amarante, is in a well
selected and fertile district, where any other class of people would
ere this have rendered agriculture flourishing, lived in abundance,
and have become rich. It is eighteen miles from the mouth of the
Caninde, and seventy north of the capital; and was founded about the
year 1766, for the habitation of nine hundred _Guegues_, who
occupied the country about the heads of the Parnahiba, and sixteen
hundred _Acroas_, who lived more to the southward. Some time
having elapsed, the whole deserted: they were, however, subsequently
re-conquered, and re-established in the same place, which has ever
since been going into a state of decay.
The parish of the Lady of Merces, whose first inhabitants were mainly
Jahico Indians, lies between the Itahim, and the small river Guaribas.
All the parishioners live dispersed, the vicar being the only resident
near the church, which is about seventy miles from the capital.
The two last parishes were created a few years ago, and formerly
belonged to that of the capital; in whose extensive district there are
yet to be remarked the chapel of Our Lady of Humildes, not far removed
from the heads of the Caninde; that of St. Ignacio, near the same
river, and thirty-five miles from the capital; that of St. Joam, near
the origin of the Piauhy; and the Lady of Nazareth, upon the margin of
the said river, forty miles from Oeyras; also the Lady of Conceiçao, in
the situation of Bocayna, near the small river Guaribas.
The considerable arraial of Poti, advantageously situated near the
embouchure of the river which affords it the name, has already some
commerce, and might easily become a considerable povoaçao. All the
people are within the diocese of the bishop of Maranham, who has a
vicar-general at Oeyras. The literary subsidy, as it is denominated,
arising from an impost upon cattle in this province, is important
enough. But there was not till within this few years a single royal
professor, as they are so imposingly styled, in any part of it, for
either the primitive letters or Latin; but instead of any knowledge of
the classics being diffused amongst the population of the Brazil, by
these titled masters, it is altogether unlettered; in fact, I have seen
some of those royal preceptors unattended by a single pupil.