PROVINCE OF ST. CATHARINA. 



151 



CHAP. VIII. 



PROVINCE OF ST. CATHARINA. 



Boundaries — Colonization — Productions — Mountains — Mineralogy —-Phytology 

 — Zoology — Rivers, Lakes, and Ports — Towns, Parishes, Sfc. — Agricidtm^al 

 Establishments — Population — Islands — Delightful Climate. 



This province, which is a dismemberment of that of St. Paulo, subsequent to 

 the latter receiving the addition of a part of St. Amaro and of St. Vincente, 

 comprehends the island which gives it the name, and a territory of sixty leagues 

 from north to south on the neighbouring continent, reckoning from the Sahy, 

 which separates it from St. Paulo on the north, to the Mampituba, which 

 divides it from the province of Rio Grande on the south ; on the west it has 

 the same provinces, the heads of the cordillera, running parallel with the sea, 

 constituting a boundary on that side. Its greatest width does not exceed 

 twenty leagues, occupying the Beira-Mar, or sea-coast, of the greatest portion 

 of the ci-devant capitania of St. Amaro ; and lying between 25° 50', and 29° 20' 

 south latitude. 



A period of one hundred and twenty years elapsed without the donatories 

 establishing any colonists in the island of St. Catharina, which, for some time 

 had the name of Isle of Patos. King John IV. gave it, in the year 1654, 

 to Francisco Dias Velho, who was assassinated by an English pirate at the 

 time the establishment began. In consequence of this disaster, the island 

 long remained in its primitive state. Eventually, various colonists from the 

 Azores were established in it, at the cost of the crown. 



The climate is delightfully temperate and salubrious, with the exception of 

 certain marshy situations. The face of the country is mountainous, watered by 

 numerous rivers, and overspread with woods. The soil is fertile and well 

 adapted to the culture of mandioca, Indian corn, rice, sugar, coffee, flax, 

 and vegetables. Wheat and barley are likewise grown in some districts. 

 Ml tne hortulans of the south of Europe prosper here, particularly onions. 



Mountains. — Camberella, which is upon the southern entrance of the port 



