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PROVINCE OF SEREGIPE D EL REY. 



The Agrestes, if we except some portions, principally in the proximity of the 

 river St. Francisco, even where there are only small aldeias, besides the town 

 of Propiha, and the parish of St. Pedro, is almost generally uncultivated, af- 

 fording only scanty pasturage for cattle, a great part of which perish from hunger 

 and thirst when the winter season passes over without much rain, as in the 

 summer season scarcely the smallest rivulet or perennial fount is met with. In 

 the eastern part or Mattas, where the rains are more frequent, the soil is substan- 

 tial and fertile, and the country presents a more agreeable aspect of woods 

 and partially cultivated lands. 



Mountains. — The face of this province is generally flat, and, although 

 uneven, there is scarcely one small hill or mountain of any considerable eleva- 

 tion ; that of Itabayanna is the only remarkable one between the Rio Real and 

 the Vazabarris, and, although thirty miles from the coast, is discovered at a great 

 distance from the sea. Upon its summit there is a lake that is never dry, and 

 from this mountain, which is affirmed to be rich in gold, various pure streams 

 descend, forming a handsome river. 



In the western part is the Serra Negra, little higher than its surrounding 

 plains, and the Serra Tabanga, whose base is bathed by the St. Francisco, with 

 which it is prolonged. 



Rivers and Lakes. — The Rio Real, which has about one hundred and 

 forty miles of course, is precipitated by various falls, and only affords naviga- 

 tion to the first, thirty miles from the sea ; from this fall, downwards, to which 

 the tide advances, the river is wide and deep, but above it is small, and its 

 tributary heads are frequently dried up. It enters the sea twenty-five miles 

 north-east of the Itapicuru, and receives, in the vicinity of its embouchure, the 

 rivers Saguim, Guararema, and Piauhy, all by the left margin. 



The Cotindiba is considerable only for the space of eighteen miles, which 

 the tide advances up, affords sufficient depth for sumacas, is of great width, 

 has its margins covered with mangroves, and, in the vicinity of the sea, with 

 white sand, adorned in parts with very fine cocoa-nut trees. The greatest part 

 of the sugar of this province is exported by the dangerous embouchure of this 

 river, about eighteen miles to the north-east of Vazabarris, the shoals in front of 

 which occasion a furious agitation of the sea, and it is only experienced navi- 

 gators that can conduct sumacas with safety over the bar. 



The Seregipe, which gives the name to this province, is larger and navigable 

 for a greater space than the Cotindiba, with which it runs almost parallel, until 

 united with it by the left margin, eight miles from the sea. In the interior of the 



