District of Juruenna.
This comarca is bounded on the north by Mundrucania, on the west by the rivers Guapore and Madeira, on the south by the comarca of Matto Grosso, and on the east by the river which affords its name, comprising nearly four hundred miles from north to south, and much more from east to west. Between the Pederneiras and Araras falls, in the latitude of 9° 45′, where the river Madeira curves to the west, there is a point on its eastern margin, in front of the mouth of the river Abuna, from which it takes the name, and is the most western land of the Brazil.
This comarca is very little known by the Portuguese, and is in the power of various barbarous nations. The Pammas, who possess a considerable portion upon the Madeira, are of a white complexion. The Tamares are masters of the adjacencies of the river Juyna, the first notable branch of those which enlarge the Juruenna by the western bank. The Paccahas live to the north of the latter. The Sarummas farther to the north, along the margins of the said Juruenna. And, lower down, the Uhaihas.
The Juruenna, which is said to take the name of a nation, has its origin a little to the north of the Jauru. Its course is directed to the north, and it incorporates by two mouths with the Arinos, between the parallel of 9° and 10°. Its large volume of water, more considerable than the river which receives it, shows that it is joined by numerous other streams in its course. Hitherto, it has not been navigated by Christians; those who have examined it at the mouths state, that its waters are particularly clear, and that various islands are situated in that portion of its bed within view. It is discharged between two serrotes, or hills, of trifling elevation. The island separating its two mouths is of medium size and moderate altitude.
The Jamari, and the Giparanna, are the largest rivers flowing from this comarca into the Madeira. The first rises on the northern skirts of the serra Paricis, in the territory of the Guaritere Indians, where it is called the Candeas, waters the lands of the Camarares, who afford their name to one of its principal arms, and discharges fifty miles below the fall of St. Antonio. It is said to have a cataract two days’ voyage above its mouth, and to flow through auriferous lands.
The Giparanna, also called Machado, has its source to the east of the Jamari, also in the skirt of a branch of the same serra, and soon begins to be enlarged by small streams, that irrigate the territories of savage tribes, and falls into the Madeira, nearly thirty miles below the preceding. In its vicinity there is sarsaparilla, and the cocoa tree, from which chocolate is made. Eight miles below the mouth of the Jamari is an outlet of the lake Tucunare, little removed from the margin of the Madeira. The river Soteiro and the Pacanova descend from the southern side of the said serra Paricis, and fall into the Guapore, the Soteiro forty miles below the Ubahi, and the Pacanova seventy miles further.
Along the banks of the Madeira and the Itenez, the only parts of this comarca that are well known, abundance of all kinds of game are met with. Amongst other notable trees that are seen in the large woods here adjacent to those rivers, is a species of palm, called ubussu, the flower of which supplies an elastic fibrous peel, so interwoven, that it appears like the production of the loom, and serves as a cap to the Indian. The curagiru affords a fine scarlet dye. The cedar is common and very thick, but, like a great many other trees of excellent timber, of no use, from the almost total want of population capable of appreciating their value.
In this comarca is situated the fort of Principe da Beira, erected in the year 1776, upon the right margin of the Guapore, one league below the mouth of the Tunama, in 12° 20′ south latitude, and one mile above the situation where the first governor of the province established the fort of Conceiçao. The land upon which it stands is never inundated by the river, which rises here at the period of the floods near thirty feet, and covers with lakes a great portion of the frontier lands, thus subjecting the garrison to fevers. Three hundred and fifty miles is computed from this fort to the capital; and by the river, upwards of six hundred, so considerable are its windings.
Near this fort there is a populous aldeia of Christian Indians; and at a short distance higher up another, called Leonil, similarly inhabited. The whole cultivate a diversity of the necessaries of life. They also hunt and fish.
Five miles below the confluence of the Guapore with the Mamore, upon the margin of the river Madeira, near the fall of Ribeiram, is the new parish of St. Joze. The inhabitants are composed of various nations, with some whites, and are abundantly supplied with fish, game, and the necessaries of life peculiar to the country.