280' 



PROVINCE OF MINAS GERAES. 



On the left margin of the river St. Francisco, almost at an equal distance 

 between the mouths of the Urucuya and Paracatu, is the considerable arraial 

 and parish of St. Romao, with a church dedicated to St. Antonio da Manga, a 

 chapel of Our Lady of Rozario, and another of St. Francisco. It is the head 

 of the julgado, with much commerce, being the depositary of various produc- 

 tions of the country, and of a large quantity of salt, which is conveyed by 

 barks and canoes from the salterns of Pilao Arcado and its vicinity. The river 

 at its greatest floods enters the streets of this place. Its inhabitants, even the 

 females, are passionately fond of gambling. Melons and water-melons are very 

 abundant. 



The other parishes of the district of Paracatu are St. Anna dos Alegres, near 

 the mouth of the river Catinga, a little above the river Somno ; the Lady of 

 Penha, near the Urucuya, a day's voyage from the St. Francisco ; Carynhenha, 

 Andayha, and the Lady of Amparo do Salgado, with a chapel of Our Lady of 

 Rozario, which is a flourishing arraial, and promising a considerable increase. 

 It is five miles from the St. Francisco. The inhabitants raise cattle, sugar cane, 

 and the cotton tree. 



The district of Paracatu makes a part of the bishopric of Pernambuco. 



There is yet within this comarca the arraial and julgado of St. Antonio do 

 Curvello, otherwise Papagayo, well situated in a plain, refreshed with salubrious 

 breezes, and near a small stream, which falls into the Velhas on the left. This is 

 almost eighty miles from Sahara. The inhabitants of the julgado, amounting 

 to eleven thousand five hundred and thirteen, are agriculturists and cattle 

 breeders, 



In June, 1815, the comarca of Sahara was divided into two, the St. Francisco 

 serving as a medium limit to them. The northern, western, and southern limits 

 of the new comarca are the same which till then constituted the circuit of the 

 district of Paracatu, the head and only town of the newly created comarca, 

 which took its name. At the same time was abolished the office of the Juiz 

 de Fora, which had existed since it was created a town in 1798, the new ouvidor 

 becoming the intendant of gold. By another law of the 4th of April, 1816, the 

 julgados of Desemboque and Araxa were separated from the onvidoria or 

 district of Goyaz, and annexed to the ouvidoria of Paracatu. 



Comarca of Serro Frio. 

 The comarca of Serro Frio takes its name from a mountain, which of all 

 others is the most celebrated for the riches which it contains. It is limited on the 



