The district or comarca of Para is confined on the north by the ocean, on the south by the province of Goyaz, on the east by that of Maranham, and on the west by the district of Xingutania, from which it is separated by the river Tucantins. It is four hundred and fifty miles from north to south, and two hundred from east to west, the country being flat, watered with many rivers, and possessing immense woods, demonstrating the fertility of the soil.
The before-described rivers Guama, Acara, and Maju, are the principal ones of this district, well enough provided with ports, and exceeding the others in population and agriculture. The southern part is yet occupied by wild Indians. The tribe Taramambazes, who were masters of the sea coast from the bay of Turyassu to that of Cahete, excelled all others in the art of swimming. They could swim leagues, and frequently proceeded by night to cut the cables of ships anchored at a distance, remaining an extraordinary time under water.
Belem, more generally called Para, is the capital of the province, situated upon the eastern margin of the river Tucantins in the bay of Guajara, at the northern angle of the embouchure of the Guama, fronting the island of Oncas, and in a plain eighty miles from the ocean. It is an episcopal city, in a state of mediocrity, with a population now only of about twenty thousand, many having been recently swept off by the small-pox. If the access to it was better it would become more rapidly commercial. It is ornamented with many chapels, a convent of Capuchins, another of slippered Carmelites, a misericordia, and a hospital. The cathedral and the palace of the governors are handsome edifices. The streets are straight, the principal ones paved, and the houses mainly of stone. The convent of Mercenarios, who are extinct, is at present the quarters of a regiment. The ci-devant Jesuitical college is converted into a seminary, and the episcopal palace and the church serve for the misericordia. It has a tribunal da Fazenda-real, similar to the other capitals of provinces, a port admiral, an ouvidor, a Juiz do Fora, and royal professors of Latin, rhetoric, and philosophy. Since the arrival of the Royal Family in the Brazil, botanical gardens have been established in the vicinity of the few maritime towns of note; and this city can boast of one, having a variety of the most useful and best trees of the province, likewise some European trees. There is an arsenal with its chapel, and many engenhos for rice.
At the request of John V. Pope Clement XI. despatched a Bull for the creation of this bishopric in 1719, and none of the Brazilian cathedrals originated with so much splendour, and attendants of archdeacons, canons, deacons, &c. &c. It is divided into two parishes, St. Maria da Graca, and St. Anna, amongst whose inhabitants there are comparatively few negroes.
The port in which the tide rises eleven feet is considered to be diminishing in depth. Thunder is very frequent, but not diurnal, as has been stated; the showers which accompany it mitigate, in some degree, the ardent heat which universally prevails. The land breezes, as well as those from the sea, generally every evening moderate the burning rays of the sun, which may be said to be almost vertical, and refresh the atmosphere; thereby rendering this place very healthy, and tolerably free from the endemical diseases which many regions are subject to in a similar latitude. There are few insects that introduce themselves into the human frame, or that are so troublesome as in some of the other provinces. The days and nights are equal nearly the whole year. The environs of this city were formerly very unwholesome, but an evident improvement took place after the colonists began to clear away the woods, and cattle to increase.
The exportations from hence are cocoa, coffee, rice, cotton, sarsaparilla, the Maranham and Molluca clove, raw and tanned hides, pechurim or pucheri, cupahyba or capivi, tapioca, gum, the urucu die, molasses, Indian rubber, castanhas, or chestnuts of Maranham, timber, &c. These articles were formerly sent to Maranham, and the trade with this place was carried on through the medium of coasting vessels; but the honourable ambition and activity of the English merchant, which lead him to every corner of the globe for the purposes of commerce, did not allow this place long to escape his observation, and one or two establishments were formed here soon after the arrival of the Royal Family, which have increased to five or six. The Confiance British sloop of war first navigated up to the town, demonstrating that vessels, not drawing more water, might accomplish the same object; and a house at Glasgow subsequently employed two vessels of much larger burthen in the trade of this city, for whose present commerce, however, vessels of a smaller class are better adapted. The spontaneous productions, abundant fertility, and extent of the province, fully justify the expectation of its becoming a very considerable place; and more particularly so from the probability of its being, at no distant period, the only mart for the increasing productions of the provinces of Goyaz and Matto-grosso.
Its cottons have some time held a rank in the British market and obtained a price not far short of the Bahia cottons; the communication is principally with Liverpool, and from ten to fifteen small brigs proceed from thence to Para annually with English manufactures, and return with produce. One or two vessels also from London have recently maintained with it a regular intercourse.
The great extent of country comprising the province of Para, as well as the tributary provinces of Solimoes and Guianna, coming mainly under the jurisdiction of its governors, have induced the government generally to appoint individuals of distinguished families and noble birth to this situation. The present governor of this very important district, extending almost to the Oronocos, is the Conde de Villa Flora. Two miles to the north-east is situated a chapel of Our Lady of Nazareth, frequently visited by the inhabitants of this city.
Para was the first town in the Brazil that adopted the new constitution of Portugal, which event, highly to its honour, was brought about without any bloodshed, in the beginning of January, 1821.
Braganca, formerly Cayte, and the capital of a small capitania so called, is one of the best and most ancient towns of the province, and is ornamented with some hermitages. It is well situated on the left margin of the river from which it derived its primitive name, and is about twenty miles from the ocean, and near one hundred to the east-north-east of the capital, and seventy to the east-south-east of Point Tigioca. An extensive bridge traverses a swamp, or marsh, and divides it into two parts; the northern division was at first only inhabited by Indians. It is a port or calling place for the coasting-vessels that navigate from Maranham to Para. Its church is dedicated to St. Joam Baptista.