PROVINCE OF ESPIRITO SANTO. 



291 



and formerly had a volcano. Five miles to the south of the river Piuma is 

 Mount Agha, from whence issue excellent waters. It is a land-mark to 

 navigators. 



Mineralogy. — It produces gold, magnet, crystals, amethysts, and potters 

 and other earths ; the mountains in great part consist of granite. 



Zoology. — The Puri tribes of Indians possess the western and central parts 

 of the province, and yet make descents upon the sea-coast, generally doing con- 

 siderable injury to the Christians who reside contiguous to the shore. They 

 are rather meagre in person, but are courageous and perfidious. Some hordes 

 are already domiciliated in aldeias, and live in peace with the conquerors, in the 

 vicinity of the river Parahiba; but the greater portion wander about, not 

 deviating from the habits of their ancestors. It is said their numbers have 

 diminished, in consequence of the fatal rencounters they have had with the 

 Aimbore tribe. They do not exercise any branch of agriculture; and as the 

 soil, though fertile, cannot gratuitously supply a sufficient maintenance, there is 

 a perpetual attack on all kinds of game. They are formidable enemies of the 

 Corados ; they use the bow and barbed arrow, and hold in high esteem all instru- 

 ments of iron, and above all the axe. The skins of animals are not used for the 

 covering of their naked bodies, nor for any other purpose. Amongst other wild 

 quadrupeds, the deer, boar, monkey, ounce, and anta, are well known, against 

 which a continual warfare is carried on, in which the gun is used as well as the 

 bow. A kind of monkey (Sahium) is frequently met with, of an ash colour, with 

 the face white. The colhereira, mutun, jacutinga parrot, arrara, inhuma, tucano, 

 macuco partridge, and other birds of beautiful plumage, are generally seen, on 

 proceeding beyond the cultivated grounds, which consist only of certain portions 

 running parallel with, and not extending far from the coast ; domestic animals 

 are consequently not very numerous. 



Phytology. — In the woods which cover a considerable portion of the 

 country there is a great diversity of trees of excellent timber for building and 

 other purposes ; the Brazil wood, the sassafras, and the cedar, are well known ; 

 besides other resinous trees are those which afford gum-mastick, gum-copal, and 

 the cajue-nut tree ; those which produce the cupahiba oil are common. No other 

 province possesses such an abundance of the tree that suppUes the Peruvian 

 balsam. The sipo clove is met with, the leaves of which exhale an aromatic, 

 similar to the East Indian clove. The piquia produces a fruit of the size of an 

 orange, full of a fine flavoured juice, with a great number of seeds. The goi/ti/ 

 is a fruit of the size of a lemon, oblong, with little pulp, yellow, of a fine flavour, 



p p 2 



