Between Fonteboa and the Hyurba the Annamapiu is discharged; and, in the interval, between that town and the Hyutahy, five rivers more—the Campina, Gurumaty, Puruini, Mannarua, and Icapo, which afford so many sheltering places for the canoes at the periods of tempests in the Amazons.
District of Hyabary.
This district, which is the most westerly, is confined on the north by the Amazons, as the others are on the west by the river from which it takes its name, separating it from the Spanish dominions; on the south by the line of demarcation between the two countries, common to the other districts; and on the east by the Hyutahy, from whose mouth to that of the Hyabary may be computed one hundred and seventy miles. Both these boundary rivers produce the same fish as the Amazons, and both afford extensive navigation for the exportation of such productions as may be collected upon their respective margins. In the vicinity of both there is sarsaparilla, and also cocoa. Their confluents are totally unknown.
Their extensive woods, which produce in vain, for the benefit of man, the most precious timber, are occupied by the wild boar, anta, deer, and other quadrupeds and bipeds, which are pursued as game by the hitherto savage nations of Marauhas, Uaraycus, and the Tapaxanas, who inhabit the lower part of the country in the vicinity of the Amazons. At a greater distance are the Panos and the Mayurunas, who make a crown upon the top of the head, and allow the hair to grow to the utmost length. They have perforations in the nose and lips, into which they introduce long thorns; in the corners of the mouth they carry feathers of the macaw; from the lower lip and the extremity of the nose and ears strings of shells are pendant. They are cannibals, and, when any are seriously ill, their relations kill and eat them, before the disease can cut the thread of life. The Chimanos and the Culinos are well known, amongst other tribes, from having the face very round and the eyes extremely large.
Castro d’ Avelaens is inhabited by Indians of different nations, with a church dedicated to St. Christovam, on the margin of the Amazons, twenty miles above the mouth of the Ica. It was first established lower down, between the small rivers Aruty and Matura, in the territory of the Cambevas, and experienced four other changes, similar to the preceding povoaçoes, before it was finally fixed in its present situation. In the interval from this town to the river Hyutahy, the small rivers Capatana, Aruty, Matura, Maturacupa, and the Patia enter the Amazons.
Ollivença, ci-devant St. Paulo, by which name it is yet occasionally called, is a small place, well situated upon the margin of the Amazons, forty miles above Castro d’Avaleans. It has had several removals, and was incorporated with the aldeia of St. Pedro, about one mile above the place where it now stands. Its first inhabitants were Cambeva, Tecuna, Juri, and Passe Indians. In the interval between Castro d’Avaleans and Ollivença the small rivers Acuruhy and Jandiatiba discharge themselves.
The town of St. Joze, situated upon the Amazons, thirty-five miles from Ollivença and ten below the Hyabary, is occupied by Tacuna Indians, who cultivate the necessaries of life and pursue hunting and fishing. Between this town and Ollivença are the rivers Acuty, Camatia, Pacuty, Macapuana, and Hyuruparitapera, and between the same town and the Hyabary is the lake Maracanatyba.
Near the embouchure of the Hyabary is the prezidio of Tabatinga, dedicated to St. Francisco Xavier. Upwards of sixteen hundred miles are computed by the canoe-men from Para to this place, and they consume eighty-seven days in the voyage.
CHAP. XXV.
PROVINCE OF GUIANNA.
Boundaries—Islands—Rivers—Towns—Indians.