PROVINCE OF PIAUHY. 



427 



thirty miles, the mouth of the river Longa is met with, a little lower tlian which 

 a small arm issues from the Parnahiba to the east, which traverses a larg6 lake 

 called Encantada, and forms an island of about five miles in length, of propor- 

 tionate width, flat, and in the form of half a circle. Twenty miles further, this 

 river divides itself into two rather unequal currents, and ultimately enters the 

 ocean by six mouths, formed by five islands of various sizes, which are never sub- 

 merged, and some of them afford pasture for cattle. The eastern branch and 

 the most considerable is denominated Hyguarassu, the next Barravelha, that 

 which follows is called Barra do Meio ; the fourth^ Barra do Caju ; the fifth, 

 Barra das Cannarias, the most western Tutoya, by which the small river of the 

 same name is discharged. Thirty miles is reckoned between the two extreme 

 embouchures. This river, by which barks of considerable burden proceed up 

 to the confluence of the Balsas, affords navigation very nearly to its origin to 

 canoes, which use the sail for eight days, the remainder always the oar and the 

 vara, rendering the voyage long and tedious. This river has no falls, only cur- 

 rents, the largest of which render it necessary to relieve the barks of half their 

 cargoes. Its bed is winding, and generally wide and handsome. Amongst 

 many other fish which it affords the most esteemed are the sorubin, camurupin, 

 piratinga, fidalgo^ mandm, pirapemba, piranha, and trahira. 



The river Poty, to which was given the name of the people who inhabited the 

 country through which it flows at its commencement, originates on the western 

 side of the mountain from whence the Jaguaribe before described issues, in the 

 district of St. Joze. After a course of about fifty miles, traversing plains which 

 abound with cattle, and fifteen miles below the arraial of the Piranhas, where 

 there is a hermitage of the Lord Bom Jesus, it opens a narrow passage across the 

 Cordillera, forming various interesting cascades. Issuing from thence, it receives 

 by the right margin the considerable stream Macambira, that flows from the 

 Serra Cocos. Thirty-five miles below this confluence, it is united on the left by 

 the small river Marvao ; and about the same distance further, it receives by the 

 same side the river St. Victor, which comes from the plains of Lagoa, with more 

 than seventy miles of course, and brings with it the small rivers St. Nicolau 

 and Berlengas. Upwards of seventy miles below this point, it discharges 

 itself into the ocean. Its bed is for the most part wide, and its current tranquil. 

 Canoes advance up some leagues; and upon its margins is cultivated good 

 tobacco. 



The river Gurguea issues from a stony part of the skirts of the serra of its 

 name, which is a portion of that before mentioned, where the river Urussuhy 



