PROVINCE OF PERNAMBUCO. 



381 



It is the site of the custom-house, which of itself is an indifferent edifice. The 

 Rua das Cruzes is the best street, and although short is wide and neat ; the 

 others are mostly paved, but are narrow and inelegant. Its church, which is 

 handsome, and commonly designated Corpo Santo, has for its nominal patron 

 St. Pedro Gonsalvez. 



The second portion of the town, called St. Antonio, occupies another penin- 

 sula, which is the northern extremity of the island, formed by two arms of the 

 Capibaribe. It was first planted with cocoa-nut trees by Prince Nassau, the 

 Dutch governor, who erected Fribourg House for his own residence, and 

 founded the town of Mauritius upon it. It has better streets than the Recife, 

 although generally sandy, and not paved, with high footways laid with bricks. 

 Here is a small square, surrounded with neat houses, having only a ground 

 floor, with a piazza to the interior front, and may be denominated a species 

 of bazar, consisting solely of shops, where a variety of articles are sold. The 

 mother church is dedicated to SS. Sacramento. The treasury and the governor's 

 palace are situated here. The latter is not the residence of the governor, but 

 contains various public offices, and is used for a sort of levee, held upon occa- 

 sions of the birthday of any of the royal family. 



The third part of the town, called Boavista, is the only portion susceptible of 

 any considerable increase, being situated on the continent. It has advanced 

 in magnitude with the others, but is destitute of regularity, which may be attri- 

 buted to the negligence of the senate in not having marked out the streets in 

 right lines at its commencement. Its church is also dedicated to SS. Sacra- 

 mento. Here also the Dutch governor built the first house, which he called 

 Boavista, and, being a Portuguese name, the place has retained it. These three 

 portions, running in a line from east to west, form this large and flourishing 

 town, which, besides the governor, has an ouvidor, a port admiral, a Juiz de 

 Fora, each of them having various inspections, and three royal professors of 

 Latin, one of philosophy, and another of eloquence and poetry. The usual 

 junta, or council da fazenda real, to decide upon all matters relative to the 

 province, is composed of the governor, the ouvidor, the Juiz de Fora, the 

 attorney-general, the port admiral, the chief of the treasury, and the judge or 

 comptroller of the custom-house, who hold their sittings at the treasury. The 

 suburbs are an extensive plain, with handsome cocoa-nut tree groves, inter- 

 spersed with sitios, or country-houses. The inhabitants drink the water prin- 

 cipally of the Biberibe, collected into a reservoir at Ollinda, formed by a sort 



