A history of the Brazil

by James Henderson

Gold and cattle are the only objects of exportation, which introduce into the country what little may be found of luxury, and the necessaries of life required from without. If a little cotton wool, or coarse cotton cloth, with some hides, are conveyed to the eastern ports, it is only that the troops of animals may not proceed unladen on their journeys to bring back the necessary dry goods, salt, iron, &c.; these articles would not otherwise pay one-half of the expense of conveyance. At present, the breeders of cattle and senhors d’engenhos are the only individuals who live constantly independent; the same may be said of miners and traders, when they are favoured by fortune in their operations. None, however, experience want; and agriculture is proportioned to the population. The present king has been solicitous to increase both in this fine and fertile province; and, when Prince Regent, he afforded his countenance and support, in September, 1812, to a plan for establishing a commercial company between this province and Para, the funds of which were not to be less than one hundred thousand crusades. The establishment of warehouses and prezidios, in situations best adapted to promote the navigation of the Maranham, and Tucantines, from Arroios to Porto Real, where almost all the obstacles terminate which impede the navigation upwards, cannot fail with the requisite attention and wisdom to effect this desirable project. All members who entered this society with ten thousand crusades, besides other favours, were to obtain what is termed a sesmaria of land, extending five miles in front and five miles in depth, upon the margin of the Maranham, the Tucantines, and the Araguaya; and those who established themselves either upon the margins or in the certams of those rivers, were to be exempt from the payment of tenths upon their productions, and to be free from the duties of entrance upon the articles of commerce navigated by the said rivers.

Rivers.—The Tucantines, the Araguaya, the Corumba, the Parannan, and the Parannahiba, are the principal rivers, and receive all the others which to a considerable number water this province.

The principal head of the Tucantines is the river Urubu, which originates in the southern skirt of the serra Doirada, a short distance southward from the capital, and after seventy miles of course towards the north-east, loses the name, confounding itself with the river Almas, which is not inferior to it; and from its origin, near the base of the Montes Pyreneos, flows north-west, about an equal number of miles. After ninety miles of further extent to the north-east, it loses also the name, uniting itself with the Maranham, which is little inferior to it in volume and in length of course. The principal head of the Maranham is the lake Formosa, which is fifteen miles in extent, and two in width. It flows to the north-west, and three miles previous to uniting with the Almas, at the passage to the arraial of Aguaquentes, is one hundred and sixty fathoms in width; a little above, it runs through a bed of rock so contracted that its width is only fifty feet. At this confluence, where it becomes very considerable, it flows northward, describing gentle windings, and augmenting by the many streams which unite themselves with it, especially by the eastern side.

A little below the confluence of the Almas with the Maranham, when the latter traverses a range of small hills, is the cataract of Facao, which prevents the progress of canoes in either direction.

One hundred and forty miles below the said confluence the large river Paranatinga falls into it on the right margin, which takes this name nearly thirty miles above its embouchure, at the junction of the Parannan and the Palma, the latter flowing westward, and the other, which is much larger, north-west from its origin in the General Serra; traversing an unwholesome country, abounding with pasturage, where a prodigious number of cattle and mules are bred.

At the confluence of the Paranatinga, which is said to be in 12° 20′ latitude, the Maranham takes the name of Tucantines, which it preserves until its large volume of water is mingled with the ocean below the city of Para. Nearly seventy miles north of the last confluence the large river Cannabrava discharges itself into the Tucantines by the left margin, and a little lower by the right the considerable river Manuel Alvez, which issues from the Duro Serra, a portion of the cordillera which bounds the province, bringing the waters of many small streams that unite themselves with it on both sides in the space of one hundred and fifty miles, the extent of its course.

A little further to the north, the abundant river Tabocas disembogues by the left, having its heads near the serra of Estrondo. One hundred and forty miles to the north of the said river Manuel Alvez, also by the eastern margin, the Somno (Sleep) adds its abundant waters; and, after a little farther distance, the other Manuel Alvez discharges itself, being larger than the first, and serves, up to the present period, as the northern limit of the eastern portion of the province. Both those rivers flow from the boundary, traversing a territory inhabited by malevolent Indians. A party proceeded up the first, with the intention of exploring its margins and extent, under the influence of such an unpropitious star that they were never more heard of; from which circumstance the river received the name by which it is designated.

A few miles below the Manuel Alvez (the northern) the Tucantines describes a considerable winding towards the east, almost circular, again approximating very near to the place where it had on a sudden changed its direction, and immediately describing another contrary winding to the west, forming two peninsulas, the first of a circular figure, and the other in the form of an oval.

About one hundred miles further, in the latitude of six degrees, the Araguaya incorporates itself with the Tucantines on the left, rendering it exceedingly voluminous and grand, still continuing to flow northward, describing fewer windings and becoming gradually larger. When it passes the town of Cameta, in about 3° latitude, its width is already more than ten miles. The tide flows up this river more than two hundred miles, nearly to the situation denominated Itaboca, which literally means “perforated stone,” where the river is precipitated, in a short space, over three falls, which compel the navigator to unload his canoes. One hundred miles is computed between the mouths of the Araguaya and Itaboca, and from thence to Cameta one hundred and twenty. The paratinga, not less than eight feet in length, with proportionate circumference, and the jahu, are the largest fish of the High Tucantines, which is not considered to abound in any species of fish.

The Araguaya, almost as extensive as the province, forms its western boundary from its embouchure to the origin of its principal head, which is in the vicinity of that of the Hipiaughuhi, there flows under the name of the Bonito, which, after gathering by the western bank the river Barreiros and by the eastern the Caiapo, takes the name of Rio Grande, by which it is designated when it traverses the road of Cuiaba. The first considerable river that unites itself with it after passing this road is the Rio Claro, which comes from the south-east, and brings with it the Fartura, that originates in the proximity of the Uruhu. One hundred miles to the north it receives by the same margin the Vermelho, which is inconsiderable when it passes the capital; a few leagues lower it gathers the Tizoiras, of little less volume and extent than the preceding; and nearly thirty miles further it is united by the Crixa, which is something larger than the others. All three flow from the south-east, and none of them with less than two hundred miles of course. Navigation has been conducted, by the central one, up to this day, from the capital to the city of Para.