TO THE RIO GRANDE DE 



BELMONTE. 



261 



Trancozo is an Indian villa, built in a long square. In the middle 

 is the town-house, and at the end, towards the sea, stands the church, 

 which was formerly a convent of the Jesuits. Since the dissolution 

 of the order, the convent has been demohshed, and the library de- 

 stroyed or dispersed. The town had, in the year 1813, about 50 houses, 

 and 500 inhabitants, who are all Indians, many of them of a very dark 

 brown complexion ; very few Portuguese families reside here, and to 

 these belong the priest, the escrivam, and a shopkeeper. Most of the 

 houses were at this time empty, because the inhabitants live on their 

 plantations, and merely come to church on holidays. They export 

 about 1000 alquieres of mandiocca flour, some cotton, and various 

 productions of the forests ; among the latter, are principally boards, 

 gamellas (wooden dishes), and canoes, besides some embira and es- 

 toppa, (bast of two different species of trees). In the year 1813, the 

 produce of these various commodities, was 539,520 reas. The plan- 

 tations of the Indians are in pretty good order ; they cultivate various 

 edible roots, such as batatas, (Spanish potatoes,) mangaranitos, ( arum 

 esculentum,) card, aypi, or sweet mandiocca, &c., and sometimes sell 

 these articles. Fishing is also a main employment of the Indians ; in 

 calm weather they go far out to sea, in their canoes, to fish. On this 

 coast too, they also make corale or camboas, which have been spoken 

 of before. 



On the eminences at Trancozo some cattle are kept, and the escri- 

 vam, in particular, has a considerable herd ; but the breeding of these 

 animals is attended with very great inconveniences. The campo here 

 affords dry nutritious pasturage, on which the cattle soon grow fat ; 

 but if they are not immediately afterwards put into a cool damp pas- 

 ture, they all die. In order to avoid this danger, the herd is sent 

 from time to time to the Rio do Frade. This change of pasture 

 must be made several times in the year, and is probably the reason 

 that the cows give but a very small quantity of milk. When I visit- 



