PROVINCE OF RIO DE JANEIRO. 



97 



is to be made, through the medium of the Hon. Mr. Thornton, to the King upon 

 the subject. 



Macacu, which has a church dedicated to St. Antonio, and a convent of lazy 

 Franciscans, is pretty considerable, and was created a town by King Peter II. 

 in 1697. It is situated upon elevated ground, on the left margin of the river 

 of the same name, a little above the embouchure of the Guapiassu, and is about 

 three leagues distant, in a direct line from the bay, and almost ten by the course 

 of the river. Since the year 1808, this place has been the residence of a Juiz de 

 Foia, whose jurisdiction also extends to the town of Mage. The population 

 of Macacu, including its district, amounts to nine thousand souls. 



Villa Nova, (de St. Joze d' el Rey,) created a town in 1772, is two leagues 

 to the south-west of Macacu, and a mile distant from the same river. St. Bar- 

 nabe was its original name when a village, and its first inhabitants were Indians, 

 with whose descendants a great many Portuguese are now intermixed. Those 

 Indians are celebrated for making mats ; a contiguous piece of ground supply- 

 ing them with abundant materials. 



About four miles to the eastward, is the parish of St. Joao d'ltaborahy, in a 

 situation something elevated, with a fine aspect, and near the right bank of the 

 river Varge, which here takes the name of this parish, more commonly de- 

 signated by the appellation of Tapacora. Mandioca, feijao, and sugar, are the 

 principal productions, besides a small portion of rice, Indian-corn, and coffee. 



The parish of Our Lady of Concei^ao* is six leagues east from Macacu, ap- 

 proximating the left margin of the small river Bonito ; and the inhabitants are 

 farmers of mandioca, feijao, Indian corn, sugar, and some rice. 



Two leagues to the north-east of Macacu, betwixt the two small rivers of 

 Pinto and Entulho, is situated the parish of Santissima Trinidade, (Holy Tri- 

 nity,) in a fertile country, the productions of which are, notwithstanding, con- 

 fined to the necessaries of life. 



The parish of Taraby occupies an open country, near the left bank of the 

 river Aldeia, about two miles south of Macacu, with a church of Our Lady of 

 Desterro. About a mile to the east of the parish of Tamby, and within its dis- 

 trict, is situated the port of Caixas, with a hermitage of Our Lady of Concei^ao, 

 upon the right bank of the Aldeia not far from its confluence with the Macacu. 

 This is the grand point from whence all the productions of the district of Tapa- 



* These parishes in the Brazil are considerable districts of country, and take their names generally 

 from the chief or mother church. 



