46 



PROVINCE OF RIO DE JANEIRO. 



the chapels of Lapa, and St. Luzia; a convent of Franciscans, and one of slippered 

 Carmelites. The extensive domains of the former have not ceased to increase. Its 

 inhabitants enjoy a salubrious air ; and vessels of the largest size can come to anchor 

 in the port. It has a Juiz de Fora, who is the same person that fills that situation at 

 Parati, from whence it is distant twenty miles, and also has professors of the same 

 kind. Its commerce is pretty considerable ; the fig- and vine trees prosper in its 

 vicinity, and it is the most ancient town of the province. In the adjacent 

 countries of Mambucaba, rice commonly renders one hundred for one ; feijao, 

 twenty ; Indian corn, forty and fifty ; a fertility that has induced many families 

 to move to this district, which, since the year 1811, has been formed into a 

 parish, with the church of Our Lady of Rozario, situated near the emboucheur 

 of the river, upon its eastern bank. A few leagues to the north, and in the 

 vicinity of the same margin of the river, is the picturesque mountain of Taypicu, 

 having the form of a sugar-loaf; and at a moderate distance from the origin of 

 the Mambucaba is the celebrated pinnacle denominated the Friar, from its 

 similitude to a Franciscan with the cawl upon his head. 



The district of Parahiba Nova is confined on the south by that of Ilha 

 Grande ; on the west, by the province of St. Paulo ; on the north, by that of 

 Minas Geraes, from which it is separated by the serra of Mantiqueira. Its 

 territory is generally mountainous, abounding with woods and water. Its 

 produce is rice, Indian corn, feijao, and tobacco ; but coffee and sugar are the 

 principal riches of the district. It is alleged, that the frosts, that are consequent 

 on the high elevation of the country, are an obstacle to the culture of cotton and 

 wheat, which flourish only in few situations. It has been demonstrated, that 

 the soil of this district is well adapted for flax ; but, as the cultivation of it does 

 not require less labour than in Europe, the apathy of the inhabitants, in a great 

 measure induced by the causes just now glanced at, is the only obstacle to its 

 general production. The orange, pine-apple, bananas, and some other Brazilian 

 fruits, are not abundant. Cattle and horses arebred in very small numbers ; pigs and 

 poultry are plentiful. The river Parahiba traverses this district, to which it gives 

 the name, describing innumerable windings, and collecting a great many streams, 

 amongst which may be noted the Barramansa, Bannanal, and Barreiros. The 

 Pirahi is navigable for seven leagues to the church of St. Anna, erected in 1812. 



Rezende, created a town during the government of a count of the same 

 name, is situated in an elevated country, upon the right bank of the river Parahiba, 

 which supplies it with fish, and has a parochial church called Our Lady of Con- 

 cei^ao. Its primitive name was Campoalegre. Coffee and sugar are its exports, 

 and it is distant about sixteen leagues north of Angra. 



