A history of the Brazil

by James Henderson

District of Bororonia.

This comarca, which borrows its name from the Bororo Indians, who yet have dominion over the principal part of it, is bounded on the north by the district of Tapiraquia, on the west by that of Cuiaba, on the south by Camapuania, and on the east by the province of Goyaz, from which it is divided by the river Araguaya. It is upwards of four hundred miles in length from north to south, and of proportionate width, although very irregular.

The Bororos, the Guatos, and the Baccahiris are its actual possessors. The Bororos are the most numerous, although greatly diminished in comparison with what they were at the commencement of the conquest; they are divided into various tribes, under different appellations. The Guatos, who possess the southern part, and are friendly to the Portuguese, are extraordinary swimmers, fish with the arrow, and have a great number of canoes, in which they advance to the Portuguese establishments. The bow, arrow, and a large lance are their arms; a wide cinta, or girdle, manufactured from the fibres of the tucum palm, is the common vesture of both sexes. The skin of the ounce generally constitutes their bed, and they are a people exceedingly indolent. Honey and game form a main part of their subsistence. The Baccahiris, who occupy the lands in the vicinity of the river Das Mortes, wage a continued warfare against all kinds of quadrupeds and birds, their principal aliment. Up to the present time this horde has never acted with hostility towards the Christians. They are said to be of a white complexion and docile, from which they are supposed to be a tribe of Paricis.

Rivers and Lakes.—The river St. Lourenço, which originates in the latitude of about 15°, is already considerable when it traverses the road of Goyaz; afterwards, it gathers by the left the Parannahiba, which brings with it the Sucuri, the sources of which are also a great distance to the north of the said road. A little below this confluence, where it becomes large, there is a fall, which is the last, and from hence it continues to the south-west, through a flat country, augmenting greatly until its incorporation by two mouths with the Paraguay, which is not superior to it. The eastern embouchure is distinguished by the name of Rio Chaynez.

Forty miles above the mouth of the Cuiaba the St. Lourenço is joined by the Piquiri, which is larger, has its heads near the boundary of Cayaponia, not far from those of the Sucuriu, and receives on the right the Piaughuhi, which originates in the same parts; on the left, the Itaquira, which has its source in the proximity of that of the Jauri-Guassu, a branch of the Tocoary, already mentioned.

A few years only have elapsed since an explorer navigated up the Piquiri seven days, and did not encounter a cataract. Ancient certanistas have asserted that the navigation from Porto Feliz to Cuiaba may be accomplished by the Sucuriu and Piquiri. It is, however, certain that the voyage from the mouth of the Tiete to the Cuiaba is more than one-third shorter than by that of Camapuan.

The Rio das Mortes, (River of the Dead,) which took this name in consequence of many people of the first bandeira dying upon its margins from fevers, has its numerous heads to the south of the Cuiaba road. It runs to the north-east and discharges its considerable volume into the western arm of the Araguaya, where it forms the island of St. Anna. It affords extensive navigation into the interior of the province. The Roncador and the great and small Sangradores are the most remote origins of this river. The first is the most western, and flows a short distance from an arm of the aforesaid Sucuriu. Between the two Sangradores there is a spacious lake, called Logoa Grande.

The Rio do Peixe, (River of Fish,) formed by the Raizama and Tacoaral, which also cross the Cuiaba road, there insignificant, flows northwards, and ultimately enters the Rio das Mortes.

Twenty-five miles from the Araguaya, near a small stream and the said road, is situated the aldeia of Insua, with a register.

There existed upon the left margin of the Rio das Mortes, an aldeia, named Amaro Leite after its founder, which disappeared when the road was carried in a more direct line further to the south.