From this place it is twenty leagues to the resting-place of Allegre, in lat. 18° 12′, and this space contains, on both banks of the Taquari, many entrances into the paths, which lead in time of the floods to various distant places on the Paraguay, Porrudos, and Cuiaba. From this resting-place there are thirty leagues of navigation, on the course of the river east to the fall of Barra, where it is impeded and unnavigable above a mile, though a part of it may be passed in half-loaded and part of it in empty canoes. At the head of this fall the river Cochim enters the Taquari, and the navigation here quits the latter for the Cochim. At its mouth it is twenty fathoms broad, and a league upwards receives on its south bank the Taquari-mirim, a river nearly as broad as itself. A little above this confluence is situated its first fall, which is called da Ilha, and may be passed in empty canoes. A league above is the fall of Giquitaya, passed with half cargoes, and a league and a quarter farther, that of the Choradeira, the current of which is very rapid. Beyond this is the fall of Avanhandava-uassu, where the cargoes are carried over-land for half a mile, and the canoes are conducted through a difficult channel of three fathoms, at the end of which they are pushed over the rocks in order to pass the head or cataract. Half a league above is the fall do Jauru, so called from a river of that name, which enters the Cochim above it, on the north side. From this confluence upwards there occur seven falls in the course of five leagues and a half, in the midst of which distance the river cuts and is enchannelled in a mountain, through which it runs smoothly, although scarcely five fathoms broad, and receives on its south side the stream of the Paredão, which is said to be auriferous. Half a league above the last of the seven falls before-mentioned are three successive ones, called Tres Irmãos, and at an equal distance above them, that of Das Furnas, which is passed laboriously with canoes unloaded. From this place the navigation continues on the Cochim through a succession of falls, until that river is joined by the Camapuão, eight yards in breadth at its mouth. From this point to its junction with the Taquari, the course of the Cochim is thirty leagues.

The river Camapuã, along which the navigation is continued, becomes narrower on passing some rivulets that flow into it, and so shallow, as to be in general scarcely two feet deep, and the canoes are rather dragged than navigated along its sandy bed. After two leagues of this labor, they quit the Camapuão-uassu, leaving it on the right hand, choked with fallen trees, &c., and enter into the Camapuão-mirim, up which they proceed one league, when they reach the fazenda, or estate, of the same name. This is an important establishment, belonging to the Portuguese, in the centre of those vast and desert regions that intervene between the great rivers Paraguay and Parana, ninety leagues south-south-west, in a direct line from the town of Cuiaba. The place seems very proper for a Register, to prevent the smuggling of gold in this route, and to fix the duties on goods passing to Cuiaba and Matto Grosso. The canoes and cargoes are transported from the Fazenda de Campauão by land about a mile to the river Sanguixuga, the principal source of the Rio Pardo. From the end of the land-passages the navigation continues down the Sanguixuga, and, in the interval of three leagues, they pass four falls to the Rio Vermelho (so called from the color of its waters), which enters the Pardo. Half a league from the mouth of the Vermelho, the Pardo has the fall of the Pedras de Amolar, and a league below receives on its south side the river Claro, from which, after proceeding two leagues of level stream, there occur nine falls in the space of two leagues more. The passage of them occupies twelve or fourteen days in going up the river, though only one in returning. Below the last of these, called the Bangue, the river Sucuriu enters the Pardo on its south side. Three leagues below the mouth of the Sucuriu is the cataract of Curare, about eight yards high, to avoid which the canoes are hauled over land, through a passage of a hundred yards. From this cataract, in the space of ten leagues, there occur ten falls, which occupy fifteen or twenty days in ascending the river, though only one in descending. The breadth of the Rio Pardo in this part is twenty-two fathoms. Two leagues below the last of these falls is a deep inlet of three hundred and ninety fathoms; half a league lower the canoes are hauled over a space of land of a hundred and fifty yards. Half a league further is the fall of Sirga Negra; one league further, that of Sirga Matto; and a little more than a league from thence, the great cataract, or Salto da Cajuru, ten yards in height, to avoid which, the canoes are hauled through a narrow channel here formed by the river. At a distance equal to the preceding is the Cajuru-mirim, and immediately after is found the fall of da Ilha, the thirty-third and last on this river. Six leagues below this fall, the Rio Pardo receives on its north side the river Orelha da Anta;[A] and four leagues lower down, on the same side, the Orelha da Onça[73], from the mouth of which, after eleven leagues of navigation, is found the junction which the river Anhandery-uassu makes from the south with the Pardo, which, from the passage of Camapuão to this point, completes a south-east course of forty-five leagues in extent. The Anhandery and the Pardo, from their confluence, run sixteen leagues of navigation westward, in one channel, and disembogue in the west bank of the Parana in lat. about 21°. The velocity of the current of the Rio Pardo is very irregular: it may be navigated downward in five or six days, but cannot be ascended in less than twenty or thirty, and that by hauling, for the force of the stream in some places is too great for oars.

The river Parana is of great breadth and weight of water, and is navigated against its current up to the mouth of the fine river Tieté. In the first three leagues occurs the island of Manoel Homem. Five leagues above this island the Rio Verde falls into the Parana, by a mouth of forty-two fathoms, on its western bank, and at an equal distance above, on the opposite eastern side, the river Aguapehy enters, by a mouth apparently above twenty yards wide. Eight leagues above this river, and on the west side of the Parana, the large river Sucuriu has its mouth, at least fifty fathoms wide, and, after four leagues of navigation further, on the same side of the Parana, is found the mouth of the large and interesting river, the Tieté[74]. The distance between the rivers Tieté and Pardo, according to the windings of the Parana, may be estimated at thirty-five leagues; the direction north, inclining to the east. Passing up the Tieté, in the first three leagues is found the great Salto de Itapura (a great cascade) to avoid which, the canoes are dragged sixty fathoms over-land. A league above is the difficult fall of Itapura-mirim; another league upwards are the three falls, called Tres Irmaos, and little more than that distance onward, that of Itupiru, half a league long; two leagues further is the fall of Uaicurituba-mirim, and in the upper part of it the small river Sucury enters the Tieté upon its north bank. One league above it is the fall of Utupiba, a quarter of a league in length. The same distance above is the fall of Araracangua-uassu, which is passed with unloaded canoes. Five leagues above this is found the Araracangua-mirim; one league further, the Arassatuba, and at the same distance, Uaicurituba, from which, in the space of nine leagues, occur seven falls. Three and a half leagues above the last of them is that of the Escaramunca, so called from the abrupt windings of the river among a thousand rocks and stoppages. Two leagues above this is the large fall of Avanhandava, where the canoes are unloaded, and their cargoes carried half a mile over-land[75], and the canoes hauled the greatest part of the way, to avoid a cataract sixteen yards perpendicular. A league and a half above this is the fall of Avanhandava-mirim, and very near it, that of the Campo, from which there are fourteen leagues of clear navigation to those of the Camboyu-voca, and next to the Tambau-mirim and Uassu, both within the compass of two leagues. One league further is the fall of Tambitiririca; three leagues from thence, the Uamicanga, and a little more than two leagues upwards, the Jacuripipira enters the Tieté on the north side, and has a mouth fifteen fathoms broad. A league and a half above this is the Jacuripipira-mirim, six leagues from whence is the fall of Congouha, a league in length. For the space of eight leagues from this there are six falls, of which the last is Banharem. From this it is three leagues and a half to the mouth of the Paraniaba, thirty-eight fathoms broad: it enters the Tieté on the north; and the latter river from this point immediately narrows itself to forty fathoms wide. From the mouth of the Paraniaba there is a navigation of four leagues to the small fall of Ilha, and fourteen leagues more, with frequent windings to that of Itahy, near a populous village, called Jundahy. Six leagues from this is the fall of Pedrenegoa, which is a quarter of a league long; and half a league above it, the river Sorecaba, which comes from the town of the same name, in lat. 23° 31′, empties itself on the south into the Tieté. Near this town are several mountains, called Guaraceaba, some of which abound with rich oxide of iron, which on smelting, has proved very good. Upon them grows fine timber for machinery, and wood of every size, fit for reducing into charcoal. Numerous streams flow from them, which may be employed to great advantage, and their base is washed by the river Campanhes, near the Capivara, both of which empty themselves into the Tieté at a short distance. From the river Sorecaba it is only six leagues to Porto Felix, where all the embarkation is now made to Matto Grosso from S. Paulo, the distance being about twenty-three leagues from that city. Through this conveyance, salt, iron, ammunition, clothing for the troops, &c. are sent annually by Government.—Trading parties frequently arrive at S. Paulo from Cuiaba in the month of February, and return in April or May.

Resuming our account of the Paraguay, it is to be observed that the Embotetieu enters that river five leagues below the mouth of the Taquari, and on the same side. It is now called Mondego, and was formerly navigated by the traders from S. Paulo, who entered by the Anhandery-uassu, the south branch of the Pardo. On the north bank of the Mondego, twenty leagues above its mouth, the Spaniards founded the city of Xerez, which the Paulistas destroyed. Ten leagues above this place, in the mountains that form the upper part of the Embotetieu, there is a tradition that there are rich mines which were discovered fifty years ago. One league below the mouth of the Mondego there are two high insulated mounts fronting each other on the Paraguay: at the extremity of the southern declivity of the mount on the west side, near the bank of the river, is the garrison of New Coimbra, founded in 1775; it is the last and southermost Portuguese establishment on the great Paraguay. Eleven leagues to the south of Coimbra, on the west side of the Paraguay, is the mouth of Bahia Negra, a large sheet of water of six leagues in extent, being five leagues long from north to south: it receives the waters of the wide-flooded plains and lands to the south and west of the mountains of Albuquerque. At this bay the Portuguese possessions on both banks of the Paraguay terminate. From thence the river continues to lat. 21°, where, on its west bank, is situated a hill known to the Portuguese by the name of Miguel José, crowned with a Spanish fort with four pieces of artillery, called Bourbon. Three leagues above this the little river Guirino falls into the Paraguay on the east side. Nine leagues to the south of the above fort, and in lat. 21° 22´, are other mountains, on both sides the Paraguay, which command this river; for the eastern side is surmounted with a lofty chain extending to the interior of the country, near which is the sugar-loaf mount; the opposite side is equally mountainous, but not so high or extensive; and in the middle of the river there is a high rocky island, which, with the mountainous banks on each side, forms two channels of about a musket-shot across. This, in case of war between the neighbouring nations, would be a post of the highest importance, as it forms a natural barrier, which would require little fortification to render it an effectual obstacle to invasion. Here terminate those extensive inundations, to which both banks of the Paraguay are subject: they commence at the mouth of the Jauru, and to this point cover an extent of one hundred leagues from north to south, and forty in breadth, at their highest floods, forming an apparent lake, which geographers of former days, as well as some moderns have termed the Xarayes. This inundation confounds the channel of the great Paraguay with those of its various confluents, in such a manner that, from twenty to thirty leagues above their regular mouths, it is possible, in time of the floods, to navigate across from one to the other, always in deep water, without ever seeing or approaching the banks of the Paraguay. During this wonderful inundation, the high mountains and elevated land which it incloses appear like so many superb islands, and the lower grounds form a labyrinth of lakes, bays, and pools, many of which remain after the floods have subsided. From the intricacy of these inundated plains, the navigation is rendered impracticable to all who do not unite experience with skill. From this position, (the only barrier on the Paraguay), the banks downward are in general high and firm, particularly the eastern or Portuguese side. In lat. 22° 5′, a considerable river empties itself into it, which the Spaniards, at the demarcation in 1753, would have to be the Corrientes, whereas the heads of this river are twenty leagues north of the real Corrientes mentioned in the treaty.

Between the Paraguay and Parana there runs from north to south an extensive chain of mountains, which have the appellation of Amanbay; they terminate to the south of the river Iguatimy, forming a ridge running east and west, called Maracayer. From these mountains spring all the rivers which, from the Taquari southward, enter the Paraguay, and from the same chain, also, proceed many other rivers, which, taking a contrary direction, flow into the Parana, one of them, and the most southerly, being the Igoatimy, which has its mouth in lat. 23° 47′, a little above the seven falls, or the wonderful cataract of the Parana. This cataract is a most sublime spectacle, being distinguished to the eye of the spectator from below by the appearance of six rainbows, and emitting from its fall a constant cloud of vapors, which impregnates the air to a great distance. On the north side of the Igoatimy, twenty leagues from its mouth, the Portuguese had formerly the fortress of Bauris, which was abandoned in 1777. The Igoatimy has its sources ten leagues above this place, among high and rugged mountains. The river Xexuy enters the Paraguay on the east side in lat. 24° 11′, twenty leagues below the Ipane, another small river, called Ipanemirim, intervening.

This is a summary and highly interesting description of Portuguese Paraguay, to the point where the territory ought (as our Tourist observes) to extend! and such is the situation of this great river, that the above-mentioned rivers which concentrate toward the interior of Brazil, enter it on the eastern side; not one enters it on the western, from the Jauru to the parallel of the Ipane. Many parts of the banks of all those rivers are laid under water at the time of the floods, and the plains are covered to a considerable depth.

A river of such vast size as the Paraguay, in a temperate and salubrious climate, abounding with fish, bordered by extensive plains and high mountains, intersected by so many rivers, bays, lakes, and forests, must naturally have drawn many of the Indian nations to inhabit its banks: but, immediately after the discovery of the new continent, the incursions of the Paulistas and Spaniards seem to have dispersed and destroyed the numerous tribes: the Jesuits transplanted many thousands to their settlements on the Uruguay and Parana. Other nations fled from the avarice of the new settlers to countries less favored, but more secure by reason of their distance, and the difficulty of approach. This emigration of one nation to districts occupied by another, became the fruitful source of inveterate and sanguinary wars among them, which tended to reduce their numbers. There are, however, still some Indians left on the borders of the Paraguay, among whom the Guaycurus, or Cavalier Indians, are principally distinguished for valour. They occupy the lands from the river Taquari, extending southwards, along all the rivers that enter the Paraguay on the eastern side, as far as the river Ipane, and in like manner, on the opposite bank, from the mountains of Albuquerque downwards. They have made war repeatedly on the Spaniards and Portuguese, without ever being subdued. They are armed with lances of extraordinary length, bows, arrows, &c. They make long incursions on horseback into the neighbouring territories; they procure horses in exchange for stout cotton cloaks, called Ponches, which they manufacture. There are other Indian nations inhabiting these large tracts, some of whom have intermixed both with the Portuguese and Spaniards, there being few of the latter on any part of the confines without some traces of Indian physiognomy.

From the river Xexuy, downwards, the Paraguay takes its general course southwards for thirty-two leagues to the city of Assumpcion, the capital of Paraguay, and the residence of its governor. This city is situated on an obtuse angle made by the eastern bank of the river; the population is by no means trifling, and there are some Portuguese among the inhabitants. The government is of vast extent, and its total population is said to amount to near 120,000 souls. The land is fertile, and contains many rich farms: its principal produce is the matte, which is exported to Tucuman and Buenos Ayres, from whence it is sent to various parts of the Spanish dominions, along the coast of Chili and Peru, being a general article of consumption among all ranks of people. Its other products are hides, tobacco, and sugar. From Buenos Ayres large boats arrive at the city of Assumpcion, after two or three months’ passage; the only difficulty in navigating is the great weight of the waters of the Paraguay, which flow with great rapidity: but this disadvantage is lessened by favorable winds, which blow the greater part of the year from the south.

Six leagues below Assumpcion, on the western side of the Paraguay, the river Pilcomayo enters that river by its first mouth; its second is fourteen or sixteen leagues lower. In this space some other smaller rivers enter on the eastern side, and amongst them the Tibiquari, on an arm of which, twenty leagues south-east from Assumpcion, is Villa Rica, a large Spanish town, with much property in cattle on its extensive plains. The river Vermelho enters the west side of the Paraguay in lat. 26° 50′: on a remote upper branch of this river is the town of Salto, near an accessible fall; it is an important point to the Spaniards, who are transporting their goods from Buenos Ayres, Tucuman, &c. to Upper Peru.

The River Parana,