PIAUHY, a large province of Brazil, is bounded on the east by the Serra Hibiappaba, which separates it from the province of Seara; on the south by the Serra of Piauhy, which separates it from Pernambuco; on the north by the Atlantic Ocean; and on the west it is separated from Maranham by the river Parnahiba. Although classed amongst the inland provinces, it has about eighteen leagues of coast, its form being almost triangular, whilst on the southern side, where it borders on Pernambuco and Goyaz, it expands to upwards of one hundred leagues in width. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean inland, that is, from north to south, about one hundred and twenty leagues; so that if we estimate its average breadth at fifty leagues, its area will be equal to that of England and Wales. Originally it formed a comarca of Maranham; but in the year 1718 it was erected into a separate province, although it did not receive resident governors until forty years after that period. Originally Piauhy was explored and subdued on account its pastures, and not for the sake of slaves or from its possessing mines of the precious minerals or metals, for in these it appears to be deficient. Domingos Affbnso, its conqueror, was the most extensive grazier in Pernambuco, and at his death bequeathed thirty of his large fazendas to the Jesuits, in trust for specified objects of charity; but on the expulsion of the order the trust fell into the hands of the crown. These estates, with three others added by the Jesuits, continue to be administered by government for the purpose intended by the original donor. The number of fazendas in the province is very great; as early as the year 1724 they amounted to no less than four hundred. It is to Piauhy that the neighbouring provinces of Pernambuco, Maranham, Bahia, and Minas Geraes look chiefly for their supply of cattle. A flourishing fazenda produces annually nearly one thousand calves; but after deductions for tithes and herdsmen, it is only able to export from two hundred and fifty to three hundred oxen. The cows are always reserved for breeding and home consumption; the rest are accounted for by the plague of flies, vampire-bats (from which the folds afford no security), jaguars, snakes, poisonous herbs (of which there are many kinds), and, above all, by drought, which frequently converts all the grass in the country into standing hay; and when that is consumed, the cattle perish by thousands.

Piauhy occasionally suffers greatly from drought, but the evils consequent thereupon are much ameliorated by the presence of several trees which yield abundance of grateful and wholesome juices. Travellers have sometimes owed their lives to the imbuzeiro i a remarkable tree, which is found in the most arid regions of Brazil. “Bulbs,” says Southey, “about a palm in diameter, and full of water, are attached to its shallow roots. Arruda names this tree spondia tuberosa. Its fruit is smaller than a hen’s e gg> an d, under a tough skin, contains a succulent pulp of a grateful flavour, at once acid and sweet. The Brazilians make a dainty of its juice with curds and sugar. The people of Piauhy make a beverage from the bwriti, one of the loftiest and most beautiful of the palm tribe, but which grows only in moist or swampy places. Its fruit is about the size and shape of a hen’s egg, covered with red scales arranged spirally; under these is an oily pulp of the same vermilion colour. The liquor which they prepare from it is said to be nutritious and palatable; but if drunk in excess it has the singular property of tinging the skin and the white of the eyes, without appearing to affect the general health.” Another tree of great importance to a country like Piauhy, where drought is the great evil, is the piqui i which prospers in a dry and sandy soil, and produces abundantly a wholesome oily fruit, the size of an orange, to which the inhabitants are very partial. It grows to the height of fifty feet, having a proportional girth; and the timber is useful for ship-building. Some parts of the country have been redeemed from a desert state by tanks being formed on the rivers which dry up in summer. By thus laying in a store of water during the season when the streams are at the fullest, the herdsmen were enabled to establish fazendas, where otherwise it would have been certain destruction to the cattle to allow them to range.

The capital of this province, which, till the year 1762, bore the name of Mocha, received from king Joze, along with the title of city, the appellation of Oeyras, in honour of the great minister, the first count of that name. It is situated on a small stream, which, three miles lower down, falls into the Caninde, a confluent of the great Parnahiba, with which it unites twenty miles below. The town is small, and only remarkable from its being the capital of the province. It contains a church and two chapels; and the houses, although not numerous, are said to be commodiously and even elegantly constructed. The greater part of the inhabitants are Europeans, and, including the surrounding district, amount to fourteen or fifteen thousand.

A larger and much more important town than the capital, is St Joam da Barra da Parnahiba, situated seventy-five leagues north of Oeyras. It is built on sandy ground, five leagues from the sea, on the right bank of the eastern and largest branch of the river from which it takes its name. This is the seaport of the province, but the river, although navigable for barks of considerable tonnage more than a hundred leagues up, has diminished in depth so much near its embouchure, that vessels which used to ascend to the town are now under the necessity of mooring two leagues below it. The entrance is besides rendered dangerous by shoals and a heavy surf. Parnahiba contains some houses of one story above the ground floor, which are not seen in any other town in the province. This place is badly supplied with water, and fevers prevail to some extent; but its advantageous position on the great stream which traverses the western limits of the province, as well as its being the only seaport, secures it a considerable trade, and it is a great dépôt for cotton and hides. The surrounding country produces also excellent melons, and the tobacco raised in the south-western part of the province is prefeired even to that of Bahia. There are several other towns, the principal of which is Piracuruca, situated on a river of the same name, and lying on the line of road from Villa Vicoza to Pernambuco. It carries on a considerable trade in cotton, and mandioc is cultivated to some extent. The river Piauhy, from which the province derives its name, originates in the southern frontier, and, running northward through pasture lands, enters the Caninde fifty miles below [7:17:735]the capital, after a course of 140 miles. There are no serras of any consequence, nor any large forests, in this province. It consists, indeed, of vast grassy plains, little wooded, but in which numerous tall herbs attest the bounty of the sun. The population maybe estimated at 50,000. (r r.r.)