PROVINCE OF ST. PAULO. 



163 



of ten leagues, computed from the river Curupace, now called Jiquiriquere, to 

 that of St. Vincente. The capitania of Pedro Lopez de Souza, which was de- 

 nominated St. Amaro, included the said ten leagues. That of St. Vincente had 

 scarcely existed forty years, when it was deprived of half its territory, for the 

 purpose of creating the new one of Rio de Janeiro. 



With the change of possessors, the southern limits of both capitanias disap- 

 peared, and the jurisdiction of the governors began to extend by degrees over 

 the countries which now constitute the provinces of Minas Geraes, Goyaz, 

 Matto Grosso, St. Catharina, and Rio Grande do Sul, where, through the ad- 

 ventures of the Paulistas, colonies were first planted. 



The authority of Herrera would warrant the conclusion that there was a 

 factory at St. Vincente in the year 1527. At all events, the licence which 

 Martim Affonso conceded to Pedro Goes, on the 3d of March, 1533, for the 

 purpose of exporting seventeen captive Indians, free of all duties which it was 

 customary to pay, amply demonstrates that such an establishment had existed 

 for some time previous to the latter year. Martim Affonso found here, as has 

 been already observed, two Europeans, Antonio Rodrigues, and John Ramalho, 

 "whom Herrera imagined had escaped from some shipwreck upon the coast ; but 

 it would seem improbable that they could of themselves have constituted a 

 factory ; as establishments of that kind, formed amongst barbarians, necessa- 

 rily require a considerable number of persons. 



Mountains. — This province is not mountainous, if we except the eastern 

 part, in the whole extent of which there is a general cordillera, running parallel 

 to the coast, which occasionally receives the name of Cubatam. This serra 

 is not universally of the same altitude, neither does it run uniformly at an equal 

 distance from the sea. It has many broken parts, by some of which torrents 

 descend to the ocean, and others wind into the interior. It abounds in verdant 

 woods, being generally high towards the sea, and is the most elevated land of 

 the province, with the exception of some dispersed mountains in the interior ; 

 besides, the largest rivers which irrigate this district have their origin in it, and 

 run westward. 



The serra Araassoiava, by corruption Guarassoiava, which signifies the 

 eclipsing of the sun, alluding to the great extent of land obscured by its shade, 

 previously to the sun's departure. This mountain, which is ten miles in length, 

 and of proportionate width, consists entirely of a pure mineral of iron, and is 

 situated in the district of the town of Sorocaba. 



The mount of Araquara, from which are frequent exhalations, and which 



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