PROVINCE OF MATTO GROSSO. 



217 



state of mediocrity, abounding with meat and fish, and is situated in a cham- 

 paign country, near the margin of the Guapore. It is ornamented with a 

 parochial church, Santissima Trinidade, a hermitage of Nossa Senhora of 

 Carmo, another of St. Antonio, and a permutation, or smelting house. It is the 

 residence of the governor, and this vast and very partially cultivated province 

 is now under the jurisdiction of Senhor Majesse. It is also the residence of the 

 ouvidor, who is likewise crown judge. The senate is presided by a Juiz de 

 Fora, who is also procurator of the crown, inspector of the smelting house, and 

 deputy of the juntas of the administration of the treasury and of justice. All 

 the houses are constructed of earth, and white-washed. It is the only parish 

 of the comarca, and in its wide district are the chapels of St. Anna, of St. Fran- 

 cisco Xavier, of the Lady of Pilar, of St. Vicente Ferreyra, and of Oiro 

 Fino. 



Of this comarca, is the arraial Diamantino, advantageously situated at the 

 angle of the confluence of the river of the same name, with the Oiro, ten miles 

 above its entrance into the Paraguay. It has a hermitage of the Lady of Con- 

 cei^ao, filial of the mother church of Cuiaba, from which it is distant one hun- 

 dred miles to the north-west. The gold and diamonds in its environs were 

 the cause of its origin a few years ago. Its inhabitants are miners, breeders 

 of cattle, and agriculturists. 



About ten miles distant is the serra of Mangabeira, partly occupied by vari- 

 ous farmers of Indian corn, mandioca, and legumes. 



The northern portion of this comarca is yet possessed by various aboriginal 

 nations, such as the Cabyxys, the Cautaros, (which give their names to two 

 confluents of the Guapore,) the Abahas, the Lamhys, and the Urucurunys, 

 with others approximating to the serra Paricis, which is an elevated range, 

 with extensive sandy campos, or plains, upon its widely spreading summit. 



District of Cuiaba. 

 This district, which takes the name of the river that traverses it from north to 

 south, is confined on the north by the district of Arinos, on the west by that of 

 Matto Grosso, on the east by that of Bororonia, from which it is separated by 

 the river St. Louren(^o, which also limits it on the south, where it terminates in 

 an angle formed by the confluence of the said river and the Paraguay. It 

 comprises three hundred and fifty miles from north to south, and little less than 

 two hundred and fifty at its utmost width from east to west. It has an agree- 

 able aspect, delightfully varied with spacious plains, superb woods, extensive 



F F 



