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PROVINCE OF MINAS GERAES. 



Eighteen miles below, the considerable Abayte discharges itself on the same 

 side, and is formed by two streams of the same name, that unite much above 

 its mouth, whose origins are more than one hundred miles distant from each 

 other; one comes from the south-west, the other from the north-west, and 

 brings the waters of the small river Chumbo, that passes the base of a 

 raorro where there is a rich mine of lead, from which it takes the name. The 

 intervening territory of the origins of the Abaytes is a wood, denominated the 

 Matta a Corda, which invites the agriculturist, having various intervals of 

 campinhas, where numerous herds of cattle graze, their owners living at a great 

 distance. 



Fifty miles further is the grand cataract of Pirapora, and fifteen beyond it 

 the confluence of the large river Das Velhas, (Old Women,) originally Guaycuhy, 

 which in the language of the aborigines signifies the same, and whose origin 

 is in the vicinity of St. Bartholomew, six miles to the west of Villa Rica. It 

 has a great number of falls, windings, and more than two hundred miles of 

 course. The Parauna, the Pardo, and the Curmatahy, which unite with it on 

 the right, and the Bicudo on the left, are its largest tributaries. 



A little lower, the St. Francisco receives on the right the Jequetahy and the 

 Pacuhy. Their adjacent lands are pastured by large cattle. Further on, the 

 large Paracatu enters it on the left, the principal heads of which are the Escuro 

 and the Prata, incorporated with the Arrependidos, which limits for some 

 distance the two provinces. These rivers unite themselves a few leagues above 

 the Corrego Rico, (Rich Channel) that passes near the town of Paracatu. 

 Here it takes this name. Its largest tributary is the Preto, which issues from 

 lake Feia, near the arraial of Coiros, in the province of Goyaz, and after having 

 gathered a great number of small streams, joins the Paracatu on the left, almost 

 at an equal distance from the confluence where it takes and that where it 

 loses the name. A little below the Preto, on the opposite side, the Paracatu 

 receives the Sonno, rich in precious stones, which brings the waters of the 

 Almas, that joins it on the left. The Paracatu is navigable to a little below 

 the Corrego Rico, and its crystalline waters are so light, that they float a 

 considerable way above those of the river which receives them. Its lateral 

 lands are abundant in cattle. 



Twenty miles to the north, the St. Francisco receives, on the same side, the 

 large XJrucuya, navigable for a considerable distance. It originates on the 

 boundary of Goyaz, is narrow and deep, having clear waters, which flow with 



