A history of the Brazil

by James Henderson

A league to the south-east of the port of Estrella is situated the parish of Our Lady of Pilar, upon the left bank of the river from which it derives its name, producing mandioca, Indian corn, rice, and vegetables, for which the soil is well adapted.

St. Maria of Marica was created a town by a law of the 26th May, 1814, with a civil jurisdiction, administered by two ordinary judges, (juizes ordinarios,) one of orphans, three magistrates, (vereadores,) an alcayde, a procurator of council, and two almotaces, or regulators of the market. It is small, but well situated, near the mouth of the little river Itapitiu, upon the margin of the lake from which it is named, and which well supplies it with fish. The church here, of Our Lady of Amparo, is the best in the province, with the exception of some in the metropolis, from whence it is distant about twenty-five miles to the eastward, and near thirty west of Cape Frio. The inhabitants cultivate sugar, mandioca, feijao, Indian corn, and some coffee.

The district of Cape Frio, named from the promontory where the coast changes its direction, is limited on the north, by the river Maccahé, which separates it from the district of Goytacazes, is washed on the east and south by the ocean, and comprises twelve leagues of territory, from north to south, and ten in the widest part from east to west. The country is generally uneven, and the valleys and plains, situated between mountains more or less elevated, are extremely deficient in good water. It produces mandioca, Indian corn, rice, vegetables, and sugar. Cattle, inconsiderable in number, are of a small size. Banana and orange trees, so abundant in various parts of the province, are here exceedingly rare, owing to the negligence of the inhabitants. The produce of indigo, which was formerly considerable, is at present trifling, although this district is well adapted for it. Cochineal was once an important branch of commerce; but the avaricious propensity of several individuals induced them to adulterate it by the addition of farinha. The government took a certain quantity of it, and paid the best price: but, discovering the fraud, declined having any more of it. The merchants of the capital followed this example, and at last the cultivation of it was totally abandoned. To the productions of the district already mentioned must be added, that of timber, which, with management and industry, would form one of the most lucrative and important. The woods are very extensive, abounding in an innumerable variety of trees, well adapted for the purposes of building, cabinet work, &c. Three qualities of the Brazil wood are met with here, of which that denominated mirim is esteemed the best. The rivers St. Joao and Maccahé afford navigation for conveying those fine timbers to the coast. Besides the two last-mentioned rivers, there is the Una, which enters the ocean seven miles south of the first. In front of its embouchure is situated the small island of Branca.

The principal lakes in this district are the Araruama and the Sequarema; the first, twenty miles long, and eight at the widest part, is separated from the ocean by a bank in many parts of small elevation, and empties itself at the eastern extremity, by a channel, which at the mouth is fifty yards in width. Notwithstanding its waters are supplied by various rivers, they have a saline flavour, in consequence of its communication with the sea. It abounds with a variety of fish, and in some situations is many fathoms in depth, in others quite shallow. Various small bays on the southern side are formed by headlands, in which the operations of nature furnish considerable quantities of salt, almost without human aid. Nine places may be reckoned which are apparently destined by Providence for the production of this indispensable article; the whole is not however formed by the sea water, but by the aqueous flow of rain through the saltpetre or saline particles with which the earth is impregnated, subsequently acquiring the consistency of marine water, and which arrives at its ultimate crystalization, by the influential rays of the sun. The largest of the rivers which the lake Araruama receives are the Francisco Leite, which enters it at the western extremity, and the Mataruna, which is crossed by a bridge, and disembogues about four miles to the east of the other; between those streams, and at a short distance from the lake, is situated the parish of St. Sebastian, whose inhabitants are cultivators of mandioca, rice, feijao, a little sugar, and derive some profit from fishing.

The lake Sequarema, in the vicinity of Ponta Negra, is six miles long from east to west, and three at the widest part; the water is salt, abounding with fish, and separated from the sea by a narrow tract of land. During the rainy season, when it inundates the adjacent country, in consequence of the superabundance of waters brought by the small streams, the dwellers near it open a channel to the ocean from its eastern extremity, which is soon filled up again, on the return of dry weather, by the flowing of the sea. The river Tinguy, which runs into its most northern bay, is the principal one that it receives. Upon the neck of land which divides it from the ocean, a parish has originated, called Our Lady of Nazareth, whose parishioners grow Indian corn, mandioca, and feijao, and are fishermen, which occupation constitutes their chief gain.

Between the lake Sequarema, and the Cururupina, is situated the Jacuné, which is near three miles in length, and of proportionable width.

The lake Jacarépua lies between the Sequarema and Araruama, comprising two miles of length, and something less in width. The lake Vermelha, about the same size, is near the western extremity of the Araruama, and although it has no communication with the sea, its waters are saline.

The lake Boacica, situated two leagues to the south of the river Maccahé, and approximating the ocean, is about three miles long, and half a mile at the greatest width, has not much depth, is impregnated with salt, and abounds with fish, which enter it from the sea by the channel formed for the egress of its waters at the period of the floods. It is the receptacle of the river from which it derives its name; also, of the Serraria, the Mutum, the Riacho d’Alagoa, and the Riachinho.

The lake of Juthurnuahibi, two miles in diameter, and one to seven fathoms in depth, receives the rivers Bucasca and Capibary; has an outlet into the ocean, which is winding, deep, navigable, and taking the name of the first river, is seven leagues distant, and only three in a direct line from the lake.

Cape Frio, called a city, although not so large as a moderate town, is divided into two parts, by an interval of half a mile, both being without regularity, and situated upon the southern margin of the eastern extremity of the lake Araruama. The principal portion has a church of Our Lady of Assumption, a hermitage of St. Bento, and a Franciscan monastery. The chapel of Our Lady of Cuia crowns the summit of a rock, from whence is beheld a great extent of sea and land. The smaller portion of the city, denominated Passagem, defended by the fort of St. Mattheus, has another hermitage of St. Benedicto. This city has royal masters of the primitive letters and Latin. The inhabitants eagerly follow the pursuit of fishing, their principal and most lucrative occupation; fish being their common diet and their chief exportation. It was taken in the year 1615, when Portugal was under the dominion of Philip II.; and when, like many other places, it took the title of city, upon the occasion of some Rotterdam pirates being repulsed, who wished to establish themselves there, for the purpose of exporting dye-wood. Here is a Juiz de Fora, whose power extends to the town of Maccahé. Fevers are the prevailing disease of the country.