TOPOGRAPHY OF MATTO GROSSO. 



261 



century, and in 1820 this mining town supplanted Villa Bella (ilatto Grosso) as 

 the administrative centre. It owed this distinction to the salubrity of its climate, 

 thanks to which it continues to increase, although it has scarcely any trade or 

 industry, and has long ceased to work the exhausted gold mines of the district. 



In the neighbourhood of Cuyaba a few settlements have sprung up, amongst 

 others Romrio in the north, Sanf Antonio in the south, Poconé on a lateral affluent 

 in the south-west, while the fazendeiros (cattle ranches) are defended from the 

 predatory Indians by a military colony on the S. Lourenço in the south-east. 



Fig-. 113. — Cuyaba and the Paeagfay. 

 Scale 1 ; 5,500,000. 



90 Miles. 



Corumba, founded in 1788, under the name of Albuquerque, a name since trans- 

 ferred to a station established lower down below the Rio Mirando confluence, stands 

 on a high limestone cliff, dominating the right bank of the Paraguay at the junction 

 of the Caceres lagoon. Recognising the importance of its strategical position, the 

 Brazilian government has strongly fortified Corumba, and has established an arsenal 

 at Ladario, a little lower down, on such a vast scale, that after twenty-five years it 

 still remains unfinished. Corumba is the chief port of southern Matto Grosso, and 

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