216 



PROVINCE OF MATTO GROSSO. 



tance, and runs principally through a flat country covered with woods. At a 

 short distance from its margin, there is a nitrous lake, which furnishes a great 

 quantity of salt. 



At the confluence of the Jauru, which is one hundred and seventy miles south 

 east of Villa Bella, a magnificent stone of European marble was erected in 

 1754, as a boundary mark between the Spaniards and Portuguese ; the arms 

 of each power being turned towards their respective possessions. This pillar is 

 regarded by the Indians with admiration. The following is the inscription 

 upon it. 



Sub Joanne Quinto Lusitanoruiu 



Rege Fidelissimo 

 Sub Feidinando Sexto Hispanize 

 Rege Catholico 

 Justitia et Pax osculalae sunt 

 Ex Pactis Finium Regundorum 

 Conventis. Madriti Idib, Januar. 

 M.DCC.L. 



The river Sepetiva, or Sipotuba, which rises fifty miles to the north-east of 

 the Jauru, runs far along the serra of Tapirapuan, and unites itself with the 

 Paraguay, after having gathered by the right the small rivers Juva and Jarau- 

 bahiba. 



The river Cabacal, much inferior to the preceding, falls into the Paraguay, 

 a few leagues below the Sipotuba. 



The Preto, which is the first considerable river that swells the waters of the 

 Paraguay, is formed by the St. Anna, and St. Francisco Xavier, which ema- 

 nate from the eastern brows of the Tapirapuan Serra, and join their copious 

 streams at the bottom of a mount, each presenting here the interesting spectacle 

 of a large cataract. These barriers prevent the advance of various species of 

 fish, large shoals of which are observed in the water at their base. 



The Barbados, which is extensive, issues also from the serra Tapirapuan, 

 and enters the Paraguay, a considerable way below the Preto. 



The Pary, which took the name of a nation now extinct, originates in the 

 serra of Tapirapuan, and falls into the Paraguay, between the Barbados and 

 Sipotuba. 



All the rivers of this comarca are of pure, fresh, and crystalline water. 

 Villa Bella, the capital of this rich and extended province, is already in a 



