Monte Santo, (Holy Mount,) so called from a hermitage upon it, has calcareous stone; and in its vicinity, nearly sixty miles north-west of Villa Nova, there is a large rock, or stone, almost all iron.
The serra Branca has a spring on the summit; that of Gado Brabo, (Wild Cattle,) has small streams, woods, and gold, and is partially inhabited. There are also the serras of Orobo, of Piedade, of Mangabeira, with large woods and plantations, and that of Boqueirao, in the vicinity of the river Verde.
Rivers.—The Paramirim is neither considerable nor perennial, descends from the Morro das Almas, runs north-west, and enters the St. Francisco above thirty miles below the arraial of Bomjardim, near a mountain, where there is grindstone. A little below the origin, it passes near a large and deep lake with which it communicates, and during the period of the inundations supplies it with much fish.
The Rans originates in the Montes Altos, and flows into the St. Francisco thirty miles above the chapel of Good Jesus of Lapa.
The Rio de Contas springs in the serra of Tromba, above twenty-eight miles north-west of the town of its name, and passing it at the distance of about eighteen miles, takes a course with little variation eastward; and, after flowing a considerable space, receives on the right the Brumado, also called Rio Contas Pequena, (the Little Contas,) which issues from the Morro das Almas, runs near the same town, and two miles below it forms a fine cascade. Twenty miles below this confluence, the Gaviao joins it on the same margin, and flows from the Morro do Chapeo, a portion of the afore-mentioned Serra das Almas, bringing with it the waters of the Antonio. Twenty miles lower, it receives, on the left, the considerable Cincura, which originates in the serra of the same name. We have already mentioned those rivers that join it on traversing the comarca of Ilheos, where it enters the ocean. The Paraguassuzinho, the Una, and the Andrahy, confluents of the Paraguassu, which latter flows into the bay of All Saints, originate in this district.
In the district of Jacobina, besides the three rivers of the same name, which form the Itapicuru, discharged into the sea on the coast of Bahia, is to be remarked the Jacuhype, which rises near the Morro do Chapeo, and runs into the Paraguassu, twelve miles above the town of Cachoeira. In its adjacent territory many cattle are bred, and lower down provisions and tobacco are cultivated.
The Verde, whose wholesome waters flow northward through an extensive country, partially abounding with cattle, finally enters the St. Francisco near the passage from Pilao Arcado.
Phytology.—Where there are woods a variety of timber for building is met with, but in this district hitherto little used, in consequence of the great deficiency of population. The wood called sebastiao d’arruda is common in many places. Of wild fruits, the jabuticaba which is found in the woods only, and the ambuzo, alone met with in the catingas, are the most esteemed.
Zoology.—Amongst wild animals, the anta, the ounce, the boar, and the deer, are the most numerous species, and most hunted. Cattle are universally bred in this district, and would be more than adequate to the supply of the whole province, if winter weather prevailed here, or the thunder showers were regular in summer. It has been already observed that the winters of the Beira-mar, or sea-coast, do not extend more than ninety or one hundred miles into the interior of the continent, where it rains proportionably only with the thunder, which is generally not frequent, and at times almost fails in parts of the north. The sun is vertical twice a year throughout the province, and leaves the earth in a state of calcination: a few salutary showers animate the soil in two or three weeks to abundant production, and the cattle become fat; but the approach of dry weather as quickly dissipates all herbage, and the animals exist upon the branches of trees and shrubs, if they can obtain water; but if the tanks, which the thunder showers supply, and the torrents are dried up, a mortality necessarily prevails, and large numbers are swept off. Sheep and goats are not numerous, in consequence of being almost universally deemed animals of no utility.
In various parts of the district of Rio de Contas, the first discoverers found bones of an immense size, belonging to a class of animals that no longer existed.