PROVINCE OF BAHIA. 



327 



the same river, at a considerable distance from it, is the Camizao, covered 

 with extensive woods, where cotton plantations and other objects of agricul- 

 ture flourish. 



•5 Mineralogy.-- Granite, argils of different colours, gold, andiron, but only in 

 small quantities. 



Phytology. — Of European trees, the fig only flourishes. The mango tree is 

 very numerous in some situations, and produces fruit in perfection and abund- 

 ance; the jam is very common; the mangaba tree is universally known; the 

 jabuticaha prospers only in the woods, and the amhuzo in the catingas. 

 Water-melons are generally very large and good, but melons are bad. There 

 are various sorts of oranges, the best are the embigos, which have no seed,- and 

 those called seccas. There are a variety of indigenous spices and peppers, as 

 well as those from Malabar ; also ginger, jalap, urucu, angelim, and the opuncia, 

 of which there are various species and names, some are almost of the form of a 

 tree, and produce a fruit resembling a large pear, with a smooth thin skin of a 

 reddish hue, and a white, soft, and cooling pulp, containing seed. 



There is a variety of fine timber, such as the jacaranda, vinhatica, masaranduba, 

 piquia, sucupira, sapucaya, paroba, itapicuru, sebastiao d' arruda, gonsalo alves, 

 bow wood, Brazil wood, brauna, mulberry, whose trunk is u^ed in dying, and the 

 leaves nourish a species of indigenous bombice, or silk worm, the cultivation of 

 which might be rendered lucrative. Amongst various sorts of palm trees, the 

 one best known by that name is the handsomest ; its trunk is high and of great 

 thickness, very smooth and straight, with branches of prodigious size, and grow- 

 ing only in the humid soil of the woods. There are also the cupahyba and giim- 

 mastick trees. The cajue-nut tree is very abundant. The cane, mandioca, 

 tobacco, and cotton, are the principal branches of agriculture, which have pro- 

 duced a considerable diminution of the largest forests and woods, particularly in 

 the environs of the Reconcave ; the growth of coffee is pretty extensive. 



Zoology. — All the wild quadrupeds of the adjoining provinces are known 

 here : sheep and goats are far from being numerous. Cattle, which are bred 

 generally in all parts beyond the Reconcave, are not, even with the addition of 

 those from the comarca of Jacobina, adequate to the supply of the engenhos, the 

 usual consumption, and the furnishing of ships, in consequence of the pastures 

 being generally bad, and the frequent want of water. The deficiency is supplied 

 from the provinces of Piauhy and Goyaz. 



The ancient Quinnimura Indians were the first memorable possessors of the 

 Reconcave, or country surrounding the bay of All Saints. They were succeeded 



