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PROVINCE OF PORTO SEGURO. 



Rivers, Lakes, and Ports. — The river Doce has its heads in the centre 

 of Minas Geraes, and, flowing through part of that province, leaves it, al- 

 ready accumulated by its tributary streams into a considerable river, under the 

 name by which it is here known. After it begins to divide this province from 

 that of Espirito Santo, it is precipitated in the space of one league over three 

 falls, denominated the Escadinhas. From hence to the ocean it is large, ser- 

 pentine, and handsome, and has many flat islands. Its waters are muddy in 

 the summer seasori, in consequence of the minerals of Minas Geraes with 

 which it is impregnated ; and this appearance is partly caused, it may be inferred, 

 by the auriferous bed through which there cannot be a doubt, from what has 

 been already observed, the latter part of its course is impelled. Its waters are 

 discharged between two points of flat sand of considerable extent ; and this 

 aqueous volume preserves its freshness for a considerable distance into the 

 ocean, from which circumstance its primitive name was changed to that of Doce 

 (Soft, or Fresh.) 



The St. Mattheus, originally the Cricare, has its source in Minas Geraes. Soon 

 after entering this province, it runs for the space of many miles with great 

 violence, occasioned by the impulse it acquires in descending various falls. A 

 little below this current, which is supposed to be in the meridian of the Escadin- 

 has, it receives by the left the large river Cotache, which traverses extensive 

 woods, inhabited by Indians and wild beasts. It irrigates one of the most 

 fertile countries of the state, and discharges itself into the sea thirty-five miles 

 north of the Doce. A little above its embouchure it receives by the northern 

 margin the St. Anna, which is navigable with the tide. 



The Mucury, which is considerable as far as the tide advances, originates in 

 Minas Geraes, and with a rapid current enters the sea near thirty miles to the 

 north of the St. Mattheus. In the vicinity of the ocean it traverses a most fertile 

 district, covered with fine woods, occupied by wild quadrupeds, beyond which 

 it passes through lands rich in gold and precious stones. This river commu- 

 nicktes with the Peruhype. 



The Peruhype, whose mouth is fifteen miles north of the Mucury, originates 

 in the centre of the province, and is apparently considerable, with a tide running 

 many leagues up. 



Ten miles north of the preceding is the mouth of the channel called the river 

 Caravellas, but which is only an arm that the sea extends ten miles to the west, 

 of considerable width, very deep, and beautifully bordered with mangroves. 



