_Jurisdiction--Origin of its Name--Boundaries and Extent--
Partially known--Division into Six Districts--Rivers--Various
Indians--Customs--Povoaçoes._
The province of Solimoes, and the western part of Guianna, with the
western portion of Mundrucania, form a government, subordinate to Grand
Para. The eastern part of Guianna is immediately under the jurisdiction
of Para. The first Portuguese who proceeded up the Amazons, from the
mouth of Rio Negro, gave it the name of Solimoes, by which it is yet
designated; not in allusion to the venoms with which the Indians of
these latitudes, as well as those of the low Amazons, infected their
arrows, nor to the tribes inhabiting the banks of Rio Negro, who
used the same weapon, but to the nation denominated Soriman, and, by
corruption, Solimao and Solimoes.
The province of Solimoes is bounded on the north by the river of the
same name, or rather the Amazons; on the west by the Hyabary, which
separates it from the Spanish dominions; on the south by the same
dominions, the divisionary line between the two territories having been
adjusted by the Portuguese and Spanish commissioners in the year 1751,
and ratified in 1757; and on the east by the Madeira.
It is two hundred and fifty miles on the eastern side, from north to
south, nearly six hundred miles from east to west, and lies between
3° 23′ and 7° 30′ south latitude. It is a country but little known
excepting along the Madeira, and in the vicinity of the Amazons:
it is occupied by numerous Indian nations, speaking divers idioms,
and watered by many large and navigable rivers. It produces all the
quadrupeds, reptiles, and birds of the provinces, eastward of the
river Madeira; a vast variety of plants and trees known to be of great
utility, amongst which are the clove, cupahyba, or capivi, cocoa,
elastic gum, puchery, and cotton. It is well known also that the soil
is highly adapted to the culture of Indian corn, rice, legumes, the
cane, tobacco, mandioco, coffee, bahunilha, or vanilla, inhumes,
(growing like potatoes,) potatoes, and a variety of fruits: however,
these articles will not prosper equally in all parts. Domestic cattle
are universally in small numbers, and their augmentation depends
upon the Christian portion of population, which, at present, is very
inconsiderable. Nothing satisfactory is known of the mineralogy of the
province; but it appears natural that the minerals peculiar to the
adjoining provinces should also be found here.
The five following large rivers, Hyutahy, Hyurba, Teffe, Coary, and
Puru, which traverse the province from south to north, with the Madeira
and Hyabary, divide it into six districts of unequal size, and almost
of the same length from north to south: each one takes the name of the
river that serves for its western limit. We will describe the above
districts according to the following order:--
Puru
Coary
Teffe
Hyurba
Hyutahy
Hyabary.
The principal povoaçoes, or towns, of these districts, four having
only one each, another two, and the last three, were founded by the
Slippered Carmalites. Condamine, the French writer, says, “_Toute
la partie découverte des bords de Rio Negro est peuple de missions
Portugaises, des mêmes religieux du Mont Carmel que nous avions
rencontres en descendant l’Amazone, depuis que nous avions laisse les
missions Espagnoles_.”
_District of_ PURU.
Puru, which lies between the Madeira, and the river from which it
derives its name, has been more explored than any of the contiguous
districts, and enjoys the best situation for commerce. From its centre
various other considerable rivers flow into the three which form its
confines. The Capanna and the Uhautas are the largest amongst those
which run to the Madeira.
The Capanna empties itself one hundred and forty miles above the town
of Borba, after having traversed a considerable lake, which receives
divers small streams, and from whence there is also an outlet to the
river Puru. Its environs are inhabited by the Catauixi and Itatapriya
Indians, who are great hunters and fishers.
The Uhautas, which has a course of fifty miles, discharges itself
fifteen miles from Borba, and originates in a lake of the same name,
which is vast and studded with islands that are overspread with the
clove-tree.
From this lake, which is the receptacle of various small streams,
two other rivers issue and flow to the Amazons; one of them enters
it eight miles above the mouth of the Madeira, and the other, called
Paratary, one hundred miles further to the west. Eighteen miles below
the principal mouth of the Rio Negro is the lake d’El Rey, near the
southern margin of the Amazons. The Purupuru Indians, who inhabit the
central part of the country, give their chief the name of Maranuxauha.
The margins of the Amazons and the Rio Negro, upwards, are infested
with a small musquito, called _pium_, whose painful sting leaves
a red mark, accompanied with insufferable itching and a disposition
to ulcerate. One hundred and sixty miles is about the width of this
district on the northern side.
Cratto, yet a small town, but well situated upon the margin of the
Madeira, a considerable distance above Borba, has a church dedicated
to St. Joam Baptista, and its inhabitants are generally Indians and
Mesticoes, who collect some cocoa, cloves, and sarsaparilla, with
provisions of the first necessity. They catch great numbers of the
tortoise at the beach of Tamandoa, which they keep in an enclosure in
the water. It is one of the ports for canoes coming from Matto-Grosso,
and many circumstances concur in warranting the prediction that it will
become one of the principal towns of Solimoes.
_District of_ COARY.
This district extends between the river from which it takes its name
and the principal arm of the Puru, with one hundred and twenty miles
of width on the northern part. The Muras possess the environs of the
Amazons; the Purupurus, and the Catauixis, the centre of the country,
with other uncivilized nations. Three channels from the Puru irrigate
a portion of the eastern part of this comarca in the proximity of the
Amazons;--the Cochiuara which discharges itself twenty-five miles
from the mouth of its superior; the Coyuanna, twenty miles above the
preceding; and the Arupanna, more to the westward. The first gives also
its name to this portion of the district; the margins of the whole
afford cocoa, sarsaparilla, and the oil of capivi.
Alvellos, a small town, is situated upon a large bay, fifteen miles
above the mouth of the Coary, of which it formerly had the name. Its
inhabitants, for the main part descendants of the Uamanys, Sorimoes,
Catauyseys, Jumas, Irijus, Cuchiuaras, and Uayupes, collect cloves,
cocoa, capivi, and sarsaparilla, and make butter from the eggs of the
Tortoise, which are very numerous; and they are also employed in making
earthenware, mats, and in weaving cotton cloth. The ants are here
particularly destructive.
This town was commenced upon the eastern margin and twenty-five miles
above the month of the river Paratary, from whence the Padre, Frey Joze
da Magdalena, removed it to the same side of the Guanama, which enters
the northern side of the Amazons, below the eastern arm of the Hyapura:
from hence the Padre, Frey Antonio de Miranda, removed it to the site
of Guarayatyba, more to the eastward upon the margin of the Amazons,
eight miles below the Puru, from whence it was finally removed by Frey
Mauricio Moreyra to its present situation.
The islands with which the Amazons in this part is studded, were
for some time inhabited by Cambeva, otherwise Omagoa Indians--names
which signify flat heads, from the custom which the mothers had
of compressing their children’s heads between two boards, thus
distinguishing them from other nations. This custom ceasing, their
descendants are at the present day unknown.
_District of_ TEFFE.
This comarca, situated between the river from which it is named,
and the Coary, that separates it from the preceding one, is nearly
ninety miles in width along the Amazons. The two first rivers are
very considerable; but their origins are not yet ascertained, nor the
number and names of their principal confluents, which issue from the
centre of the district. All accounts are equally silent as to any
mountains existing in the interior, while the lands in the vicinity of
the Amazons, although flat, are never inundated by the floods, which
overflow a considerable portion of its northern margin, in consequence
of being lower.
The Coary discharges itself into a bay of the Amazons, almost seven
miles in width, and near it the Urucuparana, and the Urauba, or Cuanu,
both of short navigation.
Forty miles above, the river Catua enters the Amazons, and twenty more,
westward, the Cayama, its margins abounding with sarsaparilla; and,
further on, the small river Giticaparana, a name implying the river of
potatoes. Its mouth is fifteen miles below the Teffe. From the number
of Christians being so small, and the only persons who clear away any
of the woods for the purposes of agriculture, the country exhibits
the same aspect to the navigators of the Amazons at this day that was
presented to its first discoverers. The majestic size of various kinds
of trees demonstrates the fecundity and substantial nature of the soil.
Ega, a middling town, well situated upon the right bank of the
Teffe, is eight miles from the Amazons, with a church dedicated
to St. Thereza de Jezus. Almost all its inhabitants are pure
Indians, descended from the Uayupys, Sorimoes, Coretus, Cocurunas,
Jumas, Hyupiuhas, Tamuanas, and Achouaris, and cultivate mandioca,
_feijao_, rice, Indian corn, hortulans, and fruits, in sufficient
quantities for their subsistence; they gather honey, and collect some
cocoa, cloves, and pechurim, from the proceeds of which they supply
themselves with iron tools, baize, and other manufactures for dresses.
They all pursue hunting and fishing. The women spin cotton, of which
they manufacture nets and coarse cloths. This town was begun in the
island of Veados, which is below the mouth of the river Hyurba, from
whence Frey Andre da Costa removed it to the situation where it now
exists.
_District of_ HYURBA.
This district is confined on the north by the Amazons; on the west by
the river from which it derives its name; on the south by the Spanish
dominions; and on the east by the river Teffe, which separates it from
the comarca of that name. It has eighty miles of width on the northern
part, and abounds in timber. The rivers are stored with the same fish
as the Amazons, and the woods with a great variety of birds and game,
as well as formidable wild beasts, that wage war with the central
Indians, of whom little more is known than the names.
Nogueyra, a middling town, pleasantly situated upon the left of the
river Teffe, almost in front of Ega, is ten miles from the Amazons
and ornamented with a church of Nossa Senhora do Rozario. The houses
are intermixed with orange trees, and the streets, being full of
them, have the appearance of groves. Its inhabitants are principally
Indians of divers nations, and Mesticos, respiring a fresh and
salubrious atmosphere. They are fond of fishing, collect abundance
of the necessaries of life peculiar to the country, some articles of
exportation, and possess cattle. The first site of this town was more
to the west, on the southern bank of the Amazons, for the habitation
of a numerous assemblage of Indians, namely, Jumas, Ambuas, Cirus,
Catauixis, Uayupes, Hyauhauhays, and Mariaranas, brought together by
the Carmalite priests. From that situation it was removed to Point
Parauary, five miles higher upon the same side of the river, where
Condamine found it with the name of that point in 1743, and from whence
the priest, Frey Joze de Santa Thereza Ribeyro removed it, in the year
1753, to the place where we have stated it to be situated.
Alvarens, originally and at times yet called Cahissara, is a small
town, situated upon a lake, near the margin of the Amazons, eighteen
miles above the river Teffe. Its church is dedicated to St. Joaquim.
The population is an accumulation of various tribes of Indians, with
many Mesticos, who, besides absolute necessaries, cultivate some
cocoa and sarsaparilla, but are much incommoded by the pium musquito,
and alike annoyed by the voracity of the ants. Its first situation
was upon the channel connecting the Hyapura with the lake Amana, two
days’ voyage from the Amazons. The Ambuas and Uaruecocas were then its
inhabitants; it was removed from thence to its present site, by one
Giraldo Gonsalves, in 1758. In Nogueyra there is a creek or outlet,
opened by nature, by which canoes, &c. proceed to Alvarens when the
rivers are overflowed.
_District of_ HYUTAHY.
This district is confined by the Amazons on the north; by the river
of its name on the west; by the Spanish possessions on the south; and
by the district of Hyurba on the east: its width along the Amazons is
about sixty miles. The middle and southern parts are not better known
than the same portions of the surrounding districts, in consequence
of being in the power of various untamed Indian tribes, such as the
Marauhas, Catuquinas, Urubus, Cauaxis, Uacarauhas, Gemias, Toquedas,
Maturuas, Chibaras, Buges, and Apenaris, with some others, who pass the
rivers into the adjoining districts, and use the _esgaravatana_,
bow and arrow, and envenomed lance, when they go to war.
It remains in a state of uncertainty whether the rivers Hyurba, upwards
of six hundred yards in width at its mouth, the Hyutahy, still more
spacious, and the before-mentioned Teffe and Puru, the largest of
all, have their origins in the serras of Peru or issue from the lake
of Rogagualo; their sources have been attributed to both, without
any exploration of their courses or any satisfactory evidence being
adduced in support of those statements. The extensive volume of water
which each brings to the Amazons indicates a very considerable course
from remote origins. It will be interesting to the future traveller to
explore their unknown sources and extending margins. The Portuguese
do not carry their researches amongst the central Indians; and, when
they advance up the rivers any distance, they never proceed beyond the
limits of the pacific Indians, with whom they have some commerce.
Fonteboa, a middling povoaçao, is situated on the eastern margin of
the small river Cayarahy, two miles above its mouth, twenty miles
from the embouchure of the Hyurba, and thirty-five below that of the
Hyutahy. It has a church dedicated to Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe.
The first site of this town was upon the small river Capury, which
empties itself into another called Moroentyba, and which latter
discharges itself below the Manhana, the third branch of the Hyapura.
From the Capury it was removed to the mouth of the Moroentyba, and
from thence to the situation of Taracoatyba, a short distance from the
Manhana, from whence it was removed seven miles below the mouth of
the Hyutahy, where Condamine says he saw it, and which situation was
changed for its present one. It is not known what nation were its first
inhabitants. When it was in the fourth station--the Padre, Frey Joam
St. Jeronymo, collected in it many Pacuna Indians, who were previously
living in aldeias upon the eastern margin of the river Icapo: these
were afterwards joined by the Araycas, Marauhas, and Momanas, and,
ultimately, by the Tacunas, Tumbiras, and Passes. The whole are now
agriculturists, fishermen, and hunters.
Between Fonteboa and the Hyurba the Annamapiu is discharged; and, in
the interval, between that town and the Hyutahy, five rivers more--the
Campina, Gurumaty, Puruini, Mannarua, and Icapo, which afford so many
sheltering places for the canoes at the periods of tempests in the
Amazons.
_District of_ HYABARY.
This district, which is the most westerly, is confined on the north by
the Amazons, as the others are on the west by the river from which it
takes its name, separating it from the Spanish dominions; on the south
by the line of demarcation between the two countries, common to the
other districts; and on the east by the Hyutahy, from whose mouth to
that of the Hyabary may be computed one hundred and seventy miles. Both
these boundary rivers produce the same fish as the Amazons, and both
afford extensive navigation for the exportation of such productions as
may be collected upon their respective margins. In the vicinity of both
there is sarsaparilla, and also cocoa. Their confluents are totally
unknown.
Their extensive woods, which produce in vain, for the benefit of man,
the most precious timber, are occupied by the wild boar, anta, deer,
and other quadrupeds and bipeds, which are pursued as game by the
hitherto savage nations of Marauhas, Uaraycus, and the Tapaxanas, who
inhabit the lower part of the country in the vicinity of the Amazons.
At a greater distance are the Panos and the Mayurunas, who make a crown
upon the top of the head, and allow the hair to grow to the utmost
length. They have perforations in the nose and lips, into which they
introduce long thorns; in the corners of the mouth they carry feathers
of the macaw; from the lower lip and the extremity of the nose and ears
strings of shells are pendant. They are cannibals, and, when any are
seriously ill, their relations kill and eat them, before the disease
can cut the thread of life. The Chimanos and the Culinos are well
known, amongst other tribes, from having the face very round and the
eyes extremely large.
Castro d’ Avelaens is inhabited by Indians of different nations, with
a church dedicated to St. Christovam, on the margin of the Amazons,
twenty miles above the mouth of the Ica. It was first established lower
down, between the small rivers Aruty and Matura, in the territory
of the Cambevas, and experienced four other changes, similar to the
preceding povoaçoes, before it was finally fixed in its present
situation. In the interval from this town to the river Hyutahy, the
small rivers Capatana, Aruty, Matura, Maturacupa, and the Patia enter
the Amazons.
Ollivença, _ci-devant_ St. Paulo, by which name it is yet
occasionally called, is a small place, well situated upon the margin of
the Amazons, forty miles above Castro d’Avaleans. It has had several
removals, and was incorporated with the aldeia of St. Pedro, about
one mile above the place where it now stands. Its first inhabitants
were Cambeva, Tecuna, Juri, and Passe Indians. In the interval between
Castro d’Avaleans and Ollivença the small rivers Acuruhy and Jandiatiba
discharge themselves.
The town of St. Joze, situated upon the Amazons, thirty-five miles from
Ollivença and ten below the Hyabary, is occupied by Tacuna Indians,
who cultivate the necessaries of life and pursue hunting and fishing.
Between this town and Ollivença are the rivers Acuty, Camatia, Pacuty,
Macapuana, and Hyuruparitapera, and between the same town and the
Hyabary is the lake Maracanatyba.
Near the embouchure of the Hyabary is the prezidio of Tabatinga,
dedicated to St. Francisco Xavier. Upwards of sixteen hundred miles are
computed by the canoe-men from Para to this place, and they consume
eighty-seven days in the voyage.