The towns of this comarca are,

Jacobina is a considerable town, and the ordinary residence of the ouvidor of the comarca. It is situated near the left bank of the southern Itapicuru, three miles below a lake, whose superfluous waters enlarge the river. It was created a town in 1723, by King John V. and consists of one large and good street, and other smaller ones. The houses are mostly of stone, and white-washed with a species of potters’ earth, found in the vicinity. It is traversed by the small stream Rio do Oiro, (Gold River,) which is passed by a bridge. The nominal patron of the church is St. Antonio, there are also two hermitages, one dedicated to Good Jesus, the other to Our Lady of Rozario. It has a royal master of Latin, and had a smelting house whilst the mines were productive. In the adjacent country are bred cattle, good horses, hogs, sheep, and goats. The articles cultivated are sugar, cotton, tobacco of an excellent quality, wheat, Indian corn, and legumes. There are oranges, grapes, and small quinces, which latter are made into marmalade, and exported in small cases. Some of the inhabitants manufacture earthenware.

Villa Nova da Rainha, yet small, and possessing no advantages to warrant the expectation of its increase, is sixty miles north of Jacobina, and three from the Itapicuru Mirim. The houses are of earth and wood, and tiled. The church is of brick, and dedicated to the Senhor of Bom Fim. Cattle and cotton are the wealth of its inhabitants, who also cultivate Indian corn, rice, feijao, mandioca, and distil some spirits from the cane. The orange, lime, jaca, mango, banana, and pine trees are common, as are the mangaba, and pine-apple. In its district there are many crystals and saltpetre. Ten miles from it is the arraial of Matriz Velha, whose church is dedicated to St. Antonio, and is the most ancient in the comarca. The vicar resides at Villa Nova, and has a coadjutor here. About five miles from Villa Nova is the parish of the mission of Sahy, abounding with water. Its inhabitants are principally Indians. Our Lady of Neves is its titular patroness. In the district of Jacobina are yet the arraial of Figuras, formerly flourishing, but at present of little note; that of Saude; of Gamelleira, with a hermitage of Our Lady of Graça, near the river Jacuhype; of Joazeiro, more distinguished than extensive and upon the St. Francisco, in one of the most frequented tracks from Bahia to the province of Piauhy, with a chapel of Our Lady of Grotas. Higher up, and also upon the same river, is the parish of St. Joam Baptista, near Centoce, where much salt is made; St. Antonio de Pambu is much below Joazeiro; in its district is the magnificent fall of Paulo Affonso, and the Primerios Campos, (First Fields,) where there are rich mines of copper. The parish of Bom Jesus, or de Xique-xique, is also upon the banks of the St. Francisco, about fifty miles above the mouth of the river Verde.

Rio de Contas, a considerable town, upon the road from the capital to the province of Goyaz, was created by John V. in the year 1724, in consequence of the augmentation given to it by the discovery of gold mines, which some Paulistas made in the year 1718. It is in a plain, refreshed with salubrious air, upon the left margin of the Brumado. The houses are mostly constructed with earth and adobe, or wood, are white-washed, and without regularity. The church is dedicated to the Holy Sacramento: it is the residence of a Juiz de Fora, also a royal master of Latin, and was commenced two leagues higher up upon the same river, where there yet exists a chapel of Our Lady of Livramento. The inhabitants, and those of its vast district, cultivate mandioca, Indian corn, rice, feijao, and tobacco, for the consumption of the country, also the cane, for which there are some engenhos and alembics. Little wealth exists in this district; those that in any degree possess it are traders, breeders of cattle, and cultivators of the cotton tree, which is here of excellent quality. The only European fruit is a small and insipid quince, from which is made a great quantity of marmalade. The nearest track or road from the town of Rio de Contas to Jacobina, not more than one hundred and thirty miles, is little frequented, in consequence of the catingas being uninhabited for want of water, which is not met with for several days’ journey. The travellers carry it in borrachas (leathern bottles.) The way usually frequented exceeds two hundred and thirty miles. In the district of this town are dispersed various chapels or hermitages, which in the course of time will become parochials, namely, in the serra of Montes Altos, in the arraials of Morro do Fogo, (Rock of Fire,) Furna, Bom Jesus, Catulez, and one of St. Antonio of Matto Grosso, six miles distant from the town of Rio de Contas, which is constructed of stone and served as a parochial for some years previous to the erection of the before-mentioned one of Our Lady of Livramento.

Villa Nova do Principe, antecedently Caytete, was created a town in the year 1810, and is in a situation refreshed with breezes, near a small stream which flows into the Antonio. It is nearly fifty miles to the west-south-west of Rio de Contas. The church is dedicated to St. Anna. In the adjacent territory many cattle are bred, and there are more extensive plantations of cotton than in any other part of the province. Within its district is the chapel of Our Lady of Boa Viagem.

Urubu, yet a small town, in an advantageous situation upon the St. Francisco, is ornamented with a stone church of St. Antonio and a hermitage of Our Lady of Rozario. The inhabitants, having no fountains, use the water of the river, which also supplies them with fish; they breed cattle, and have some plantations of cane, and raise the necessaries of life in such parts of its vicinity as are not deficient in water. It is about seventy miles north-west of Rio de Contas.

Thirty-five miles to the north, upon the same river, is the small arraial of Bom Jardim, with a hermitage of Our Lady of Bom Successo. The people who inhabit it breed cattle, are agriculturists and fishermen. Fifty miles from the town of Urubu is the celebrated chapel of Bom Jesus da Lapa, but which does not correspond with the description given of it by the exaggerating pen of Rocha Pitta. It is a vast cavern, and one of the many curious operations which Nature has displayed in this region, having some similitude to the form of a temple, into which it was converted, being interestingly situated in the skirts of a mount of rock, about a mile in circumference, upon the margin of the St. Francisco. It has an effective chaplain and a good patrimony. Not far from it there is a small povoaçao.

Comarca of Bahia.

The comarca of Bahia comprises upwards of one hundred and forty miles of coast, computing from the river Jiquirica, which empties itself ten miles west-south-west of Barra-Falsa, to the Rio Real, the northern limit of the province, and one hundred and twenty miles in width, being bounded on the west by the comarca of Jacobina. The face of the country is varied by woods, small hills, a few serras, and catingas, or charnecas, which occupy more than one half of it, and where cattle alone are raised. It is not however without tracts of substantial soil, upon the summits principally of the serras, in the profoundest valleys, and in the vicinity of rivers, where fine trees grow, and where (after they are cleared away) plantations are formed of mandioca, tobacco, cotton, and millet.