Alcantara
Guimarens
St. Joam de Cortes
Vianna
Moncao
Hycatu
Cachias
Tury
Vinhaes
Passo do Lumiar
Maranham.
Alcantara, about ten miles north-west of the capital is a large
town, with good houses, and agreeably situated upon elevated ground,
having four hermitages, a convent of slippered Carmalites, another
of Mercenaries, and a fort, seated upon the site where a Jesuitical
hospicio existed. It was for some time the capital of the capitania of
Cuma, which terminated in the bay of Turyvassu, and its port is capable
of receiving sumacas. The cotton raised in its district is esteemed the
best of the province. This article and rice constitute the principal
productions of the inhabitants. The salterns, three miles north of it,
are capable of furnishing excellent salt to many provinces, if they
were administered, as in the time of the Jesuits, to whom they belonged.
Guimarens is a flourishing town, situated upon the northern side of
the bay of Cuma, thirty miles north-north-west of Alcantara, with a
church of St. Joze. From its port are exported cotton, rice, and a
considerable quantity of farinha.
St. Joam de Cortes is a small and insignificant town, eighteen miles
south of Guimarens, on the southern margin of the bay of Cuma,
producing farinha, with some cotton and rice.
Vianna is a middling town, and well situated upon the margin of the
Maracu, a branch of the Pinnare, in the vicinity of a large lake,
about one hundred miles from the capital. The church is dedicated to
Our Lady of Conceiçao; and its inhabitants raise cotton, mandioca, and
other necessaries of life common to the country. They breed cattle and
collect timber. In its district there is one of the best sugar works of
the province, and formerly belonging to the Jesuits.
Moncao, eighteen miles south of Vianna, is a small Indian town, with
a church, upon the banks of the Pinnare. Its inhabitants raise the
provisions of life, some cotton, and follow fishing and hunting.
Hycatu, (good water,) an ancient town, and formerly considerable and
flourishing, is situated near the confluence of the Hyguara with
the Mony, and has a church of Our Lady of Conceiçao. It was the
first residence of the governors of the province, and conceded many
privileges to its senate. An excellent quality of cotton constitutes
the chief production of its inhabitants.
Cachias, a considerable and flourishing town upon the eastern margin
of the Itapicuru, is two hundred miles south-east of the capital, and
nearly the same distance north-north-west of Oeyras. It has a church
of Our Lady of Conceiçao, and a hermitage of Razario; Aldeias Altas
was its primitive name. A Juiz de Fora has presided over its senate
since the year 1809. The propensity to gambling amongst its inhabitants
has occasioned the ruin of many merchants of the capital. Within its
extensive district a very great quantity of cotton and rice is grown,
for whose transmission to the parish of Rozario barks of considerable
burden are constructed for navigating in shoal water.
Upon the other side of the river is the parish of Trezidellas, whose
parishioners are descended from the Aborigines. They have a church of
Our Lady of Razario.
One hundred miles above Cachias, and upon the margin of the Itapicuru,
is the small arraial of Principe Regente, commenced in June, 1807.
The fertility of its surrounding country and the advantage arising
from canoes of considerable burden being able to navigate hither augur
favourably for the future prosperity of this new colony, where a
hermitage already exists.
In the district of Balsas is the parish of St. Felis, whose inhabitants
are farmers of cotton and common necessaries.
Thirty miles south-south-west of Principe Regente is the arraial of
St. Bento Pastos Bons, situated amongst small hills, ten miles from
the Parnahyba, and twenty-eight from the Itapicuru. Cattle and cotton
constitute the main property of its inhabitants.
Three miles north of Pastos Bons is the aldeia of St. Antonio, whose
dwellers are a tribe of Christianized Manago Indians, who live by
hunting, and some agriculture.
Thirty-five miles from the sea, upon the margin of the Itapicuru, is
the parish of Rozario, better known by the name of Itapicuru Grande,
whose inhabitants raise cattle and a considerable quantity of rice.
Here large canoes arrive from the capital, and are laden with the
productions of this district, and those that descend from the High
Itapicuru and Balsas.
Twenty-eight miles further, and upon the margin of the same river, is
the considerable povoaçao of Itapicuru Mirim, with a church of Our Lady
of Griefs, its inhabitants producing large quantities of cotton, and
the necessaries of life. Between the two preceding parishes is that of
Lapa, in the site of St. Miguel.
Upon the margin of the Mearim, fifty miles from the sea, is the parish
of N. Senhora of Nazareth, whose inhabitants raise cattle, cotton,
rice, &c. without gaining much wealth.
Tury is a villota, or small town, with only the appearance of an
aldeia, but which may become more considerable from its situation upon
the large bay of the same name, and the fertility of its adjacent
territory, particularly after the pacification of the central Indians.
The church is dedicated to St. Francisco Xavier.
Near the mouth of the Tutoya, in an advantageous situation, is the
parish of Conceiçao, well supplied with fish and the necessaries of
life, having a port capable of receiving sumacas, and possessing
greater depth than any other of the Parnahyba.
Considerably to the southward, and two miles from the Parnahyba, is the
parish of St. Bernardo d’ Annapuru, cotton being the production of its
diversified population.
Vinhaes is a small town, three miles to the east of the capital,
situated in the same island, upon a stream of its name, with a church
dedicated to St. Joam Baptista. The houses are constructed of wood,
and covered with straw, and its inhabitants are Indians, who fish, and
cultivate various necessaries of life; they also make mats of miassava
for trimming ships and cords of imbe.
Passo do Lumiar is the most populous town of Indians in the whole
province, and is in the centre of the island, upon the river St.
Joam. The church is of stone, dedicated to Our Lady of Luz, and its
inhabitants are of divers nations, cultivating excellent tobacco, rice,
mandioca, &c.; they are also woodcutters and fishermen.
In the eastern extremity of the island there is a considerable aldeia,
pleasantly situated, with a hermitage of St. Joze, from which the bay
already mentioned takes the name.
This island is of medium altitude, the soil in general fertile, and
appropriated to different branches of agriculture.
MARANHAM, or St. Luiz, the capital of the province, is a
city advanced to rather more than a state of mediocrity, having about
thirty thousand inhabitants; and, although it may be said to rank
the lowest among four great commercial cities of the Brazil, yet its
amount of commerce is not far short of Pernambuco, and it certainly has
maintained a progression of improvement with the latter city, as well
as Bahia, since the removal of the Royal Family to this region. It is
situated upon the western part of the island of the same name, between
the mouth of two streams, rendered important rivers by the addition
of the tide, which advances nearly to their origins, and swells them
considerably. The one north of the city is called the St. Francisco,
as far as the confluence of the Anil with that of Vinhaes, neither
of which are more than six miles in extent. The other, on the south,
denominated the Maranham, is a handsome current, and receives by its
northern margin the Baccanga.
This town was created a bishopric in the year 1676, and is ornamented
with a house of Misericordia, convents of slippered Carmelites, of
Mercenarios, and of Franciscans; a recolhimento for women, and a
hospital. The ci-devant Jesuitical college is converted into the
episcopal palace, and its church into the cathedral. The houses
have verandas and do not differ from the general style of Portuguese
buildings. The streets are paved, and disagreeably crowded with
slaves, producing the same ungracious feelings in this respect as are
peculiar to all towns of the Brazil. It is divided into two parishes,
one of them being attached to the cathedral dedicated to Nossa Senhora
of Victoria, and the other to Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao. It has a
court of Relacam, which Pernambuco does not yet possess, created in
the year 1812, and having a jurisdiction over an extensive district,
comprehending not only the comarcas of Maranham, Piauhy, Para, and
Rio Negro, but also of Siara, as well as all the other comarcas and
judicatures, which, in the provinces referred to, may be created _de
novo_. The members of this Relacam are composed of the governor,
the chancellor, and at most of nine dezembargadors, which latter is
a title given to those eligible to or holding posts of judicature,
ouvidorships, &c. Here is also a tribunal of the Real Fazenda, a
Port Admiral, and Royal Professors of the Primitive Letters, Latin,
Rhetorick, and Philosophy, similar in their import and effect to
those of other places. It is scarcely necessary to observe, after the
description of the province, that cotton and rice are the principal
exportations from this city. Its cotton has required the repute of
being next in quality to that of Pernambuco, and obtains in the British
market a price within 1½d per lb. of that cotton, and 1d. per lb. above
that of Bahia. The export of cotton from Maranham, the year after the
arrival of the Royal Family in the Brazil, was upwards of seventy
thousand bags; it fell the two following years to fifty thousand, and
the next year to forty thousand, but rose again to sixty thousand in
the year 1813, from which period to 1817 its average may be estimated
at sixty thousand bags. The following is a correct statement of the
exports in 1818 and 1819.
For the year 1818.
=========+==============+===============+===============+======+
Number of|Destination. | Cotton. | Rice. |Hides.|
vessels. | | | | |
| | | | |
---------+--------------+------+--------+------+--------+------+
| | Bags.|Arrobas.| Bags.|Arrobas.| No.|
25 |Lisbon |16,294| 88,488|43,212| 224,263| 5131|
16 |Oporto | 3,251| 18,595|25,037| 132,167| 1027|
1 |Cape de Verds | 14| 73| ----| ----| ----|
1 |Antwerp | 500| 3,040| 305| 1,666| 418|
1 |Surinam | 25| 157| ----| ----| 712|
1 |Boston | 8| 48| ----| ----| 1659|
1 |Gibraltar | 156| 780| ----| ----| ----|
2 |St. Maloes | 511| 2,976| ----| ----| 420|
5 |Havre de Grace| 3,888| 21,472| 372| 1,997| 30|
2 |London | 1,687| 8,835| ----| ----| ----|
49 |Liverpool |47,396| 258,329| ----| ----| ----|
---------+ +------+--------+------+--------+------+
104 | |73,730| 402,793|68,926| 360,095| 9433|
=========+==============+===============+===============+======+
=========+==============+========+====+===========+======+
Number of|Destination. | Tanned |Gum.| Farhina, |Indian|
vessels. | |Leather.| |or Flour of| Corn.|
| | | | Mandioca. | |
---------+--------------+--------+----+-----------+------+
| | Pieces.|lbs.| Sacks. |Sacks.|
25 |Lisbon | 32,503|1501| 250 | ----|
16 |Oporto | 6,116| 202| -- | 1389|
1 |Cape de Verds | ----|----| -- | ----|
1 |Antwerp | ----|----| -- | ----|
1 |Surinam | ----|----| -- | ----|
1 |Boston | ----|----| -- | ----|
1 |Gibraltar | ----|----| -- | ----|
2 |St. Maloes | ----|----| -- | ----|
5 |Havre de Grace| ----|----| -- | ----|
2 |London | ----|----| -- | ----|
49 |Liverpool | ----|----| -- | ----|
---------+ +--------+----+-----------+------+
104 | | 38,619|1703| 250 | 1389|
=========+==============+========+====+===========+======+
=========+==============+=============+==============+
Number of|Destination. |Total freight|Total value |
vessels. | |to each Port.|at each Port. |
| | | |
---------+--------------+-------------+--------------+
| | |Milreas. Reas.|
25 |Lisbon | 137,692 250|1,092,498 151 |
16 |Oporto | 65,281 854| 319,697 590 |
1 |Cape de Verds | ---- | 500 400 |
1 |Antwerp | 4,062 800| 28,653 200 |
1 |Surinam | 441 800| 1,936 600 |
1 |Boston | 435 800| 2,013 400 |
1 |Gibraltar | 780 000| 6,084 000 |
2 |St. Maloes | 2,823 200| 24,236 200 |
5 |Havre de Grace| 21,438 200| 167,402 100 |
2 |London | 5,985 200| 70,046 300 |
49 |Liverpool | 220,576 200|2,069,903 000 |
---------+ +-------------+--------------+
104 | | 459,517 304|3,783,020 941 |
=========+==============+=============+==============+
Total value, 3,783,020 941, at 5s. the Milrea, is £945,755 4s. 2d.
sterling; one-third deducted will be about the present value.
For the year 1819.
==========================+===============+
Ports. | Cotton. | Cost. |
----------+------+--------+---------------+
| Bags.|Arrobas.| Milreas. Reas.|
Lisbon |16,625| 91,074| 517,821 500 |
Oporto | 2,629| 14,212| 81,745 500 |
Cape Verde| 8| 45| 238 833 |
Havre | 5,900| 31,326| 203,052 350 |
Liverpool |40,291| 222,623| 1,333,142 354 |
+------+--------+---------------+
Total |65,453| 359,280| 2,136,000 537 |
==========+======+========+===============+
============================+==============
Ports. | Rice. | Cost.
----------+-------+---------+--------------
| Bags.| Arrobas.|Milreas. Reas.
Lisbon | 41,993| 220,562 | 201,039 450
Oporto | 22,934| 116,184 | 104,074 950
Cape Verde| | |
Havre | | |
Liverpool | | |
+-------+---------+--------------
Total | 64,927| 336,746 | 305,114 400
==========+=======+=========+==============
It appears to be uncertain whether this city or Pernambuco will in
future take the lead in the exportation of cotton. Two-thirds of this
article from Maranham is sent principally to the port of Liverpool,
from whence the greatest portion of manufactured goods for the
consumption of the province are shipped, and our merchants labour
under the same disadvantage here as at Bahia and Pernambuco, in having
no alternative but taking produce for the whole of their importations,
which necessarily keeps up the price much above the proportionable
par of the British market. There is a singular coincidence in the
commercial intercourse of the two countries, relative to cotton.
Nearly the amount of the annual Brazilian exports to England of this
article is returned to that country in a manufactured state in the
course of the following year; and, notwithstanding all the ingenuity
of machinery, talent, and superior intelligence brought into the scale
on the part of the British manufacturer and merchant, the Brazilians
have decidedly the advantage over them in the progression of continued
gain and enrichment. The illiterate and uncultivated planter derives
his wealth from the refined state of British manufactures and commerce,
while their votaries have for sometime, and are yet sustaining serious
injury by this portion at least of their transatlantic intercourse.
It is probable that the exports from this city, as well as Pernambuco,
may be lessened so far as regards the Fora cottons, or those coming
from the adjoining provinces, which are acquiring by degrees a direct
intercourse with Europe, and not as hitherto through the medium of
those ports. In the provinces where establishments are forming, the
governors are desirous of concentrating the whole of its productions
through the medium of the head town, in order to increase the revenues
of their jurisdictions. It may be observed again, that it is English
establishments branching from this city and Pernambuco principally that
afford these advantages to the rising provinces of Para, Parahiba, Rio
Grande de Norte, and Siara.
This city is well supplied with fish, water, meat, and fine fruits.
Three fortifications defend its port, which is diminishing in depth
of water. The tide rises here twenty-eight palms, but there is
considerable intricacy, attended with danger, in vessels approaching
the anchorage place. Amongst the English merchants established here,
the Consul ranks as one. There is an English hospital amply provided
with means from the contribution fund. The governors of the provinces
are usually changed every three years. General Silveira is here the
present governor.
A provisional constitutional government was formed here in April, 1821,
to continue in force till the basis of the Portuguese constitution
should be fixed. The popular feeling was in favour of a government to
consist of five or six members; but, after some contention, the first
was adopted, General Silveira declining to remain at the head of the
council upon any other condition.