A history of the Brazil

by James Henderson

In the district of Lorena, where legumes and rice grow abundantly, and large quantities of hogs and poultry are bred, the parish of St. Anna das Areas is situated. It has been recently dismembered of that portion of territory now constituting the parish of Bannanal.

A league below Lorena there is another passage to the province of Minas Geraes, called Porto da Cachoeira.

Cunha, formerly Facao, is yet an inconsiderable town; but, from its advantageous situation upon a serra in the vicinity of the Jacuhy, and about twenty-five miles north of Parati, is susceptible of much improvement. It has a church, of which the Lady of Conceiçao is the patroness. The climate is salubrious, and the nights of June and July are fresh, and even the natives feel them cold. Hitherto the flowers and fruit trees of Europe have prospered better here than in any other situation of the torrid zone. In its environs there are extensive groves of majestic pines, and the inhabitants raise the common productions of the country, abundance of Indian corn, and large quantities of poultry and pigs. An indifferent road or track connects this town with Parati, and would, if made equally easy and secure with those of the arraial of Cubatao, for the transport of its productions to St. Paulo and Santos, become a flourishing district.

Parahitinga, a medium town, and well situated upon the left bank of the river which affords it the name, is seven miles above the embouchure of the Parahibuna and forty north of the town of Ubatuba. St. Luiz is the patron of its church, which, with an extensive bridge over the river that bathes it, are the only objects worthy the observation of the traveller. The inhabitants breed a great number of hogs, which constitute the principal branch of their commerce.

Jundiahi is a middling and flourishing town, one mile distant from the left bank of the river from which its name is borrowed, thirty-five miles to the northnorth-west of St. Paulo, and the same distance to the east-north-east of Hitu. It has a good church of Our Lady of Desterro, an hospicio of Benedictines, and a bridge over the river, which is stocked, amongst other fish, with those called jundias, from which it derived the name. Its inhabitants raise cattle, mules, horses, and large quantities of the sugar cane, and have for the extraction of its juice various engenhos, or works; also abundance of legumes and Indian corn, with which they furnish the caravans passing from Goyaz.

Tibaya, or Atibaya, situated near the river of the same name, has a church called St. Joam, is yet small, and is thirty-five miles north-north-east of St. Paulo, an equal distance east of Jundiahi, and as far west of St. Joze. The inhabitants raise feijao, Indian corn, wheat, and hogs.

Bragança, which is ten miles to the north-east of Tibaya, is yet inconsiderable, but the inhabitants are said to live in abundance, raise pigs in large quantities, wheat, Indian corn, and legumes.

Mugi-Mirim, situated on the road of Goyaz, upon the river of the same name, which a little below unites itself with the Mugi-Guassu, is in a state of mediocrity, and well supplied with the necessaries of life, particularly fish and meat. It has engenhos of sugar, farms of cattle, and only one church, dedicated to St. Joze. Upon the northern bank of the Mugi-Guassu, where this river traverses the road to the town of Mugi-Mirim, is the arraial and parish which takes its name, with a church of the Lady of Conceiçao. Its inhabitants are farmers of mandioca, feijao, and Indian corn, and breeders of cattle and hogs. The parish of Franca is the most northern of the province; the inhabitants extend themselves to the margin of the Grande, breed cattle, and cultivate those necessaries which the territory best affords. The church is dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao.

Sorocaba is situated where the river of its name traverses the royal road of Curytiba to the capital, from which it is distant sixty miles to the west. It is a flourishing and considerable town, ornamented with a church of the Lady of Ponte, a recolhimento of women, an hospicio of Bentos, and a hermitage of St. Antonio. Its actual population is composed of seventeen hundred and seventy-seven families, of which two-thirds are whites; they breed cattle and horses, and cultivate cotton, sugar, and Indian corn, with the most common necessaries of the country, but their principal profits arise from trafficking in cattle, which come from the southern districts. In its environs there are calcareous stone and good flint stone. The royal fabric of Hipannema, distant about seven miles, and established near a small stream of the same name, for the reception of the produce of rich mines of iron in the serra Guarassoiava, will tend to render this town still more considerable. Many years ago a mine of silver was discovered in the district of Guarassoiava, which was abandoned, in consequence of its poverty and difficult extraction.

Itapitininga, yet an inconsiderable town, and well situated in a vast and delightful plain near the royal road, is two miles from the right bank of the river from which it has the name. It is embellished with a church of the Lady of Merces, is well provided with water, and is about forty miles to the south of Sorocaba. The people who inhabit it cultivate wheat, legumes, and abundance of Indian corn. The peach and grape are plentiful and of good flavour, and, as in most other cultivated districts of this province, the breed of cattle is numerous.