In the eastern part there are the following towns:—

In the western part:—Villa Nova da Princesa, Portalegre, and Villa Nova do Principe.

Natal, which has been sometimes called Cidade dos Reys, (City of the Kings,) with a church dedicated to the Lady of Apresentaçao, and the capital, does not surpass any of the largest towns of the province: it consists of a square; the streets are of deep sand; and it is dignified with the title of a city, which it received at its foundation by the Philips. It has, as usual, various places of worship, a palace for the governors, a town-house, and a prison. It is advantageously situated upon the right margin of the Rio Grande, near two miles above its mouth, which is defended by the fort of Reys Majos, seated upon the southern point, and becoming an island with the high tides. The Dutch possessed themselves of this city in 1633, and gave it an ostrich for arms, in allusion to the multiplicity of those birds with which the province at that time abounded. In its environs cotton, Indian corn, feijao, and mandioca are cultivated, with some rice and sugar.

Arez, originally Groahyras, is a small town, with a church dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and about thirty-five miles south of the capital, near a lake of its primitive name, and twenty miles distant from the sea. The inhabitants are almost all fishermen and respire a salubrious air. The channel which the Dutch projected opening from this lake to the beach of Tibau, only distant two miles, and which would save a navigation of fifteen or eighteen miles by the Tareyry, is yet unexecuted. In the district of Arez is the povoaçao of Goyaninha, (Little Goyanna,) larger than the town, from which it is distant ten miles. It is inhabited by whites, and has a church of Nossa Senhora of Prazeres.

Villaflor, at first called Grammacio, is an indifferent town, inhabited by agricultural Indians and whites, with a church of the Lady of Desterro. It is forty miles to the south of the capital and three from the sea, near the river Cunhau, which supplies it with water.

Estremoz, formerly Guajiru, is a town of the same class as the preceding, well situated near a lake ten miles long and two wide. It is ten miles from the sea and as far north-west of the capital, with a mother church, having for patrons St. Michael and the Lady of Pleasures. The inhabitants are composed of whites, Indians, and mesticos. In the district of Estremoz, upon the northern coast, near the mouth of a small river, is the flourishing povoaçao of Toiros, occupied by whites, and ornamented with a chapel of Lord Jesus of the Navigators. From its port, where small vessels arrive, cotton is exported.

Villa Nova da Princeza, primarily Assu, is well situated on the left bank of the river Parinhas, twenty-five miles above its mouth, and is the most considerable and trading town of the western part; hyates frequent its port. Besides a church dedicated to St. John the Baptist there is a hermitage of the Lady of Rozario. The inhabitants breed cattle, and cultivate the same productions as are raised in the vicinity of the capital. The salt-pits employ many people, and their proceeds form a considerable branch of commerce. Villa Nova do Principe, formerly Cayco, is a middling town, and well situated upon the river Serido, twenty-five miles above its mouth. St. Anna is patroness of the church, and the inhabitants of various complexions drink the water of the river, upon the margins of which feijao, hortulans, Indian corn, and tobacco are cultivated. In its district there are the hermitages of St. Anna do Pe da Serra, of St. Anna do Campo Grande, and of St. Luzia, which are expected to become parishes with the increase of population.

Portalegre is a considerable town, situated upon the serra of its name, near seventy miles from the sea and eight to the west of the Appody. St. Joam Baptista is the nominal patron of its church, and its inhabitants, composed of Europeans, whites of the country, and Indians, respire fresh and salubrious air, and derive excellent water from two perennial founts. The Indians, whose numbers are much inferior to the whites, are descendants principally of three colonies, which their conquerors established here, namely the Payacus, who possessed the margins of the Appody, the Icos, who were masters of those of the river Peixe, and the Pannaties, who inhabited the serra of their name. Cotton and mandioca are its exports.

The eastern limits of the district of this town are common with those of the parish of St. John the Baptist of Appody. In its vicinity, near a stream, below a tree, there is a small spring of tepid water, called Agua do Milho, It is necessary to draw it out with a small vessel into a larger one, when any person wishes to bathe.