PROVINCE OF SIARA. 



421 



above Aricaty, and one hundred and forty miles below Icco. Its church is 

 dedicated to the Lady of Rozario, and cattle and cotton constitute the means 

 of subsistence for the inhabitants. 



St. Joam do Principe, originally Thauha, is a small town near the Jaguaribe, 

 a few leagues below its source, in a fine and fertile district, enjoying salubrious 

 air. The inhabitants are breeders of cattle, and produce cotton and the neces- 

 saries of life. In its environs there is an abundant mine of pumice stone, 



Sobral, formerly Caracu, situated in a plain upon the margin of the river 

 from which it derived its primitive name, is the second town in the province in 

 point of size, commerce, and population. It is seventy miles distant from the 

 sea, and ten from the serra of Merooca. Besides a parish church, dedicated 

 to the Lady of Concei<jao, it has a chapel of Rozario ; and within its district 

 the chapels of St. Joze, St. Cruz, St. Anna, St. Quiteria, Rozario, upon the 

 small stream of Guimareas, and Concei9ao, upon the serra of Merooca, where 

 cultivation partially appears. 



Granja stands in a plain upon the left bank of the Camucim, twenty miles 

 from the sea. It is a middling and flourishing town, promising from its advan- 

 tageous situation future augmentation. St. Joze is the nominal patron of its 

 church. In its district there are the hermitages of St. Antonio do Olho d'Agua, 

 St. Antonio d' Hyboassu, and Livramento. From its port, which is frequented, 

 cotton and hides are exported. 



Villa Vi(josa is a large town, and well situated upon the serra of Hibiapaba, 

 on land selected by the Jesuits for the establishment of a colony of Indians, 

 the descendants of whom constitute at this time the principal portion of its 

 numerous population. It is near a lake, and forty miles to the south-south- 

 west of Granja ; the houses are of wood or bricks. The church, dedicated to 

 the Lady of Assump^ao, is the ci-devant Jesuitical hospicio, and the residence 

 at present of the vicars, who are administrators of a fazenda for breeding cat- 

 tle, in the situation of Thyaya, established as a patrimony for the said church. 

 The nights of summer are cooler here than those of winter. Amongst other 

 springs of good water is to be remarked that which is denominated Agua do 

 Inferno, (Infernal Water,) in consequence of being in a craggy and rugged 

 place, the water of which is particularly excellent. The great fertility within 

 its vast circumference, covered with handsome woods, where plantations of 

 cotton and the various necessaries of life prosper, united with the salubrity of 

 the air which refreshes it, attracts here numerous Europeans, who give a 



