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humming birds and toucans, the latter of every variety in great 

 numbers. 



The climate is serene and wholesome, its solstitial heats being 

 moderated constantly by fine breezes from the south-west and north- 

 east, which are the winds that generally blow here ; the latter prevails 

 from September to March, and the former from April to August, so 

 that a voyage to the north, during one half of the year is slow and 

 tedious. 



The island is divided into four parishes : 1st, Nossa Senhora de 

 Dereito ; 2d, St. Antonio ; 3d, Laguno ; and 4th, Riberon. The 

 divisions of the opposite part of the continent are likewise under the 

 jurisdiction of the governor of St. Catherine's, who is subject, in cer- 

 tain cases, to the captaincy of St. Paul's, and in others to the Go- 

 vernment of Rio de Janeiro. These divisions, are 1st, St. Jose ; 

 2d, St. Miguel ; and 3d, Nossa Senhora de Rosario ; the entire po- 

 pulation of the island and its dependencies amounts to about 

 30,000 souls. 



Of the fortresses which defend this island the most considerable 

 is Santa Cruz before-mentioned ; there are four others, Porto Groed, 

 Ratones, Estreito, and Conceppao. Off the former there is safe 

 anchorage for a fleet of men of war, and the harbour which it pro- 

 tects may be entered by ships of 300 tons, if not of a heavy draught 

 of water. Ships passing the channel are required to send a boat on 

 shore at Santa Cruz before they proceed. 



To the west of the island, on the opposite coast, is an almost in- 

 accessible barrier of lofty mountains, thickly covered with trees and 

 underwood. At a small port in the vicinity, called Piripi, which 

 has a very pretty river, an immense quantity of fish is caught, dried, 

 and exported. They are extremely fat, and very soon become ranCid. 



On the coritinent, opposite the town of St. Catherine's, stands the 

 pleasant village of St. Jose, the inhabitants of which are principally 

 occupied in sawing timber into planks, making bricks, and growing 

 rice. The net gains of a poor family here are incredibly small, but 



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