A history of the Brazil

by James Henderson

The comarca of Rio das Mortes, so called from the river which washes it, and equally known by the name of its head town, St. Joao d’el Rey, is bounded on the east by the comarca of Villa Rica; on the north by that of Sabara, from which it is separated by the serra Negra, and by the rivers Lambary and Andayha; on the west by the provinces of Goyaz and St. Paulo; and on the south by the latter and that of Rio de Janeiro. It is computed to comprise one hundred and seventy square miles. This comarca has many portions of land appropriated to the culture of mandioca, Indian corn, and legumes; likewise to plantations of sugar and tobacco, which are the most lucrative articles of exportation; in some places the cotton tree prospers, and in some of the southern districts considerable quantities of rye and wheat are raised. Cows are generally abundant, also sheep and hogs. Pork and cheese are important branches of export. There are auriferous grounds, which occupy a great many people in the working of them.

Mountains.—The principal are the serra of Lenheiro, in the vicinity of the town of St. Joao d’el Rey; of St. Joze, near the town of that name; of Lopo, not far from Cabo Verde; of Assumpçao, on the western part, between the Rio Grande and the Pardo; of Parida, which serves as a limit on the same side from the Rio Grande northward. In the southern part there is the extensive Mantiqueira, in parts bare and rocky, in others covered with wood. It contains the Cachineze Indians, who are inconsiderable in number, stinted in growth, and timorous, and confine their hostility to robbing the neighbouring parishes of some cattle. The serra of Juruoca, which is a branch of the preceding, takes the name of a stone called ayuru, “parrot,” and oca, “stone,” and which stands upon it where there is a cataract seventy yards in height. The serra of Carrancas is situated between the Rio Grande and Verde. The serra of Letras, (or Letters,) a branch of the preceding, derives its name from a species of hieroglyphic, a natural curiosity, which is observed in the interior of a vast and curious cave, formed of divers eruptions or projections of a sandy stone, some of considerable elasticity with various kinds of plants which grow there. The pretended letters, owing their origin to ferruginous particles, are rude and illegible, and no more than a superstitious hierography, arising in the ignorance of the people, who attribute them to the hand of the apostle St. Thomas. Near it there is a hermitage dedicated to the same apostle. The serra of Vigia, so called from having served for a long time as a watch-tower to the sentinels of a band of runaway negroes, who had established themselves in that district, is twenty miles distant from St. Joao d’el Rey. The serra Cachambu is between the river Jacare and the Rio Grande.

Rivers.—The Rio Grande, the largest of the comarca, dividing it into southern and northern, and having its origin upon the serra Juruoca, after gathering many small streams, flows at first northward, then north-west for a considerable space, and receives the large river Das Mortes, which rises in the serra of Oiro Branco, from whence it runs west, becoming large with the currents that join it by both margins. From this confluence, which is about seventy miles west of the town of St. Joao d’el Rey, the Rio Grande continues its course westward, increasing much to the boundary of the province, where it begins to serve as a limit between the provinces of Goyaz and St. Paulo; it is stored with a variety of fish.

The Sapucahy flows from the serra Mantiqueira, has numerous windings, and is enlarged by many other rivers, the largest of which is the Verde, that rises near the source of the Rio Grande, and, after having watered an extensive territory, pastured by large herds of cattle, runs north-west, and irrigates a similarly stocked and larger country in the province of St. Paulo, where it has its junction with the preceding.

Near the margin, and not far from the origin of the Mozambo, a branch of the Sapucahy, there are several wells of sulphureous water, some warmer than others, which have been found beneficial in certain diseases; and between the plains of the river Verde and Baepondy, near a rivulet which falls into the Verde, there are various mineral and vitriolic waters.

In this comarca originate the Pardo and Jaguary, which wash the northern part of the province of St. Paulo, the Paraupeba, Para, Lambary, Bambuhy, and the St. Francisco, which receives them: these are the principal rivers in the northern part.

The Camanducaya is a branch of the Sapucahy. The Jacuhy, Jacare, and Capivary are discharged into the Rio Grande, below the confluence of Das Mortes. The Peixe and the small Das Mortes enter the large Das Mortes; the latter twenty miles below St. Joao d’el Rey, and the other still further. The doirado, mandin, and pracanjuba are the best fish in those rivers.

St. Joao d’el Rey, antecedently Rio das Mortes, is the head town of the comarca, and the residence of its ouvidor, who acts in other situations, and is also crown judge. It is one of the largest, and the most abundant places in the province, and is agreeably seated in a flat country, about two miles from the river that gave it the primitive name till 1712, when John V. gave it the present name and the title of a town. It has a church of the Lady of Pilar; two chapels dedicated to the Lady of Dores and Mercez; one to St. Pedro; others to St. Antonio, St. Caetano, St. Francisco, administered by the blacks; two Terceira orders of the Lady of Carmo and St. Francisco. The chapel of the latter is the finest in the whole province, and stands upon a large praca, or square. It has also an hospital, and two bridges of stone over the small channel of Tijuco, which divides the town into two portions; a Juiz de Fora, who is also head of the orphan establishment; an attorney general; a royal professor of Latin; a vicar-foraneo; and a smelting-house, with the same appointments as that of Villa Rica, excepting the abridor dos cunhos, (engraver of coins.) The judicial appointments are also the same.

This town has tolerably good houses, with paved streets. All the necessaries of life of the country are cheap. There are here white tangerina oranges, which are not met with in any other part. The road, which leads to the Rio das Mortes, upon which there is another large bridge of wood, is bordered by quintas, or country houses. About the middle of this interval is the arraial of Matozinhos, with a chapel of Espirito Santo. In its suburbs are cultivated the cane, much Indian corn, some rye, a little mandioca, and cotton; and at a greater distance cattle are bred. Mining is the general occupation.

There are twelve chapels in its extensive environs, generally provided with chaplains, who are, with as many more coadjutors of the vicar, privileged to administer the sacraments in his jurisdiction. This town is nearly eighty miles to the south-west of Villa Rica, about the same distance south-south-west from Sabara, and upwards of two hundred north-west of Rio de Janeiro.