PROVINCE OF BAHIA. 



325 



earth and adobe, or wood, are whitewashed, and without regularity. The 

 church is dedicated to the Holy Sacramento : it is the residence of a Juiz de 

 Fora, also a royal master of Latin, and was commenced two leagues higher 

 up upon the same river, where there yet exists a chapel of Our Lady of Livra- 

 mento. The inhabitants, and those of its vast district, cultivate mandioca, Indian 

 corn, rice, feijao, and tobacco, for the consumption of the country, also the cane, 

 for which there are some engenhos and alembics. Little wealth exists in this 

 district ; those that in any degree possess it are traders, breeders of cattle, and 

 cultivators of the cotton tree, which is here of excellent quality. The only 

 European fruit is a small and insipid quince, from which is made a great quan- 

 tity of marmalade. The nearest track or road from the town of Rio de Contas 

 to Jacobina, not more than one hundred and thirty miles, is little frequented, in 

 consequence of- the catingas being uninhabited for want of water, which is not 

 met with for several days' journey. The travellers carry it in Jonac^a* (leathern 

 bottles.) The way usually frequented exceeds two hundred and thirty miles. 

 In the district of this town are dispersed various chapels or hermitages, 

 which in the course of time will become parochials, namely, in the serra of 

 Montes Altos, in the arraials of Morro do Fogo, (Rock of Fire,) Furna, Bom 

 Jesus, Catulez, and one of St. Antonio of Matto Grosso, six miles distant from 

 the town of Rio de Contas, which is constructed of stone and served as a paro- 

 chial for some years previous to the erection of the before-mentioned one of 

 Our Lady of Livramento. 



Villa Nova do Principe, antecedently Caytete, was created a town in the year 

 1810, and is in a situation refreshed with breezes, near a small stream which 

 flows into the Antonio. It is nearly fifty miles to the west-south-west of Rio 

 de Contas. The church is dedicated to St. Anna. In the adjacent territory 

 many cattle are bred, and there are more extensive plantations of cotton than 

 in any other part of the province. Within its district is the chapel of Our Lady 

 of Boa Viagem. 



Urubu, yet a small town, in an advantageous situation upon the St. Fran- 

 cisco, is ornamented with a stone church of St. Antonio and a hermitage of Our 

 Lady of Rozario. The inhabitants, having no fountains, use the water of the 

 river, which also supplies them with fish ; they breed catde, and have some 

 plantations of cane, and raise th6 necessaries of life in such parts of its vicinity 

 as are not deficient in water. It is about seventy miles north-west of Rio de 

 Contas. 



