Islands.—The only considerable islands are that which gives the name to the province and that of St. Francisco. The island of St. Catharina, upwards of thirty miles long from north to south, and from four to eight in width, is mountainous, abounding with water, yet in parts covered with woods, and does not want for stone or potters’ earth. Between its mountains there are some cultivated plains, of greater or less extent, and also many marshy situations. There are many bays, and they abound with shells. On the eastern side there is a lake two leagues long from north to south, deep in some places, and at a certain part so contracted that it appears like two, united by a neck fifty fathoms wide, having a large bridge. When in the winter it begins to inundate the adjacent low grounds, the inhabitants in the vicinity open a channel to discharge the overflowing water into a bay, situated at a little distance, and which is immediately filled up again by the flowing of the tide, when the current ceases, during which a great quantity of fish enter from the ocean. It consequently affords at all times an abundant supply. At its northern extremity, there is a small river called Vermelho, near which the best water-melons of the province are produced. To the south of the preceding, there are three other lakes: the Lagoinha Grande, the Pantano, and the Lagoinha de Leste. The whole are stored with the same fish as the first. Mandioca and flax are the principal articles of agriculture, which is generally exercised by white men, who also cultivate Indian corn, rice, coffee, vegetables, sugar, and some cotton, which is not of good quality. Some fruit trees from the south of Europe are here naturalized. Water-melons, pine-apples, and oranges are very abundant. The principal streams in this island are the Vermelho, the Ratones, which enters the sea two leagues north of the capital, and the Tavares, three miles south-east of the capital. The country, watered by the last river, produces the best melons in the province.
The channel which separates this island from the continent is far from being of uniform width, forming two large ports, almost equal in size, and separated by a straight of two hundred fathoms between two points. The northern and larger port, ten miles wide, having depth for ships of war, is one of the best in South America, and the key to the southern ocean. The wind prevails from the south during the winter, which commences generally in May and ends in October. Thunder-storms are frequent in the summer; all the afternoons here are refreshed by strong sea breezes, rendering the climate of this island equal to any in the world.
Near to the southern point of St. Catharina are six small islands. The three western ones are called the Papagúos, and the eastern the Tres Ismaos. The islands of Moleques, Campeche, Xavier, Aranhas, and Badejo are situated upon the eastern coast of the island of St. Catharina. Near its northern point are three, called the Moleques. Five miles north of the same point are the islands of Arvoredo and Galle. Within the principal port, amongst others, are the islands of Tomarim, near the coast of the continent, and the Ratones, almost in front of the river of the same name, both fortified. In the southern port are the islands of Cardos and Maruhy.
The town of Nosso Senhora do Desterro, the capital of the province, is considerable, populous, and situated on the western side of the island of St. Catharina, upon a bay a little to the east-south-east of the straight, on unequal land between two rocks, traversed by three small rivers, which are passed by various stone bridges. The streets are almost generally irregular, and the houses either of stone or wood. Besides a church, it has the chapels of Menino Deos, Our Lady of Rozario, a Terceira order of St. Francisco d’Assis, and a hospital of charity. The quarters of the troops are good. The senate is presided by a Juiz de Fora, and the youth are instructed by royal masters in the primitive letters and Latin, for whose benefit there is a tribute in rum. Potteries afford a branch of industry and commerce. Coarse cloths of linen and cotton, also a mixture of both, are manufactured.
The parish of Nosso Senhora das Necessidades, better known by the name of St. Antonio, is five miles north of the capital, and small, but its situation is particularly pleasant. The inhabitants cultivate sugar, mandioca, Indian corn, some flax, and various hortulans. A little more than three miles to the north is the bay Das Canavieiras (of canes or reeds.) Here the Spaniards disembarked in 1777, and took possession of the island without the least resistance.
The parish of Nosso Senhora da Conceiçao is situated about a league to the east of the capital, upon a steep, a little distant from the large lake, enjoying an extensive view of the ocean. Its parishioners cultivate sugar and mandioca, with the other provisions of the country. In this district there is an establishment for whale fishing.
Two leagues to the south of the capital is the parish of Nosso Senhora da Lapa, situated near the mouth of a small river, in the recess of a semicircular bay, and in front of an island. It is commonly called Robeira, has abundance of fish, and the provisions of the country.
Laguna is a middling town, advantageously situated upon the eastern margin of the lake from which it derives the name. It is two miles from the bar, near a small hill, from whence descend excellent waters. The form of this place is quadrilateral, with three parallel streets, crossed by others, and a square at one side, in which the municipal house is situated. It has only one church, dedicated to St. Antonio dos Anjos, and a great part of the houses are of stone, some one story high, and whitened with the lime of shells. The inhabitants cultivate the usual productions of the country. The lake is stored with fish, and in the months of November and December a prodigious quantity of bagre (a long fish with a forked tail) enter it, supplying a lucrative branch of commerce. This town is sixty miles south of the capital. From its port, which receives coasting vessels, is exported farinha, rice, Indian corn, timber, and salt fish.
About fifteen miles north of Laguna, and near fifty south of the capital, is the parish of St. Anna, commonly known by the name of Villa Nova, a small place, pleasantly situated upon an elevation near the northern extremity of the same lake, with two ports, one called Porto da Embituba, sheltered on the south and east by a headland of the same name, where there is a small whale fishery, subject to the administration of that of Garopaba. The houses are generally of wood, although there is abundance of stone. Its inhabitants, amongst whom there are many macilentos, (meagre or spare,) cultivate the productions common to the country, and a large quantity of flax, having, consequently, more weavers of that article than any other place in the province. Onions are of an extraordinary size, and other hortulans of a fine quality.
The parish of Nosso Senhora do Rozario, which is upon the bay of Brito, between two small brooks, thirty-five miles north of St. Anna, and ten south of the capital, is yet small, and its parishioners cultivate mandioca, Indian corn, and sugar, and also are fishermen. In its district there are hot springs.