ΜATTO-GROSSO, or Great Thicket, is a province of Brazil. It is bounded on the north by Para, and on the south by Paraguay, extending in this direction about nine hundred miles. The rivers Araguaya and Parana separate it on the east from the provinces of Goyaz and San Paulo; and on the west the rivers Madera, Guapore, Jauru, and Paraguay, divide it from Peru and La Plata. Its greatest breadth, which is in the upper part, where it borders on Para, is about 950 miles, and it continues so for 240 miles, when it rapidly narrows till it joins Paraguay. This is one of those Brazilian provinces the greater part of which still remains in the hands of the unsubdued Indians, the Portuguese having only effected partial settlements in the country. It comprises nearly four climates, and is naturally partitioned into three grand districts, of which two are divided into six smaller ones. These seven divisions are Camapuania on the south; Matto-Grosso proper, Cuyaba, and Bororonia in the centre; and Juruenna, Arinos, and Tippiraquia on the north. Tippiraquia, so called from the Tippiraquia Indians, lying between the rivers Araguaya and Xingu, is altogether unknown, except along its eastern boundary. Arinos and Juruenna, named from the rivers which intersect them, must also still be considered as terra incognita. The rivers Arinos and Juruenna unite to form the great Tapajos. Bororonia, which takes its name from the Bororo Indians, is situated between Goyaz and Cuyaba, and is watered by the San Lourenço. It is destitute of any settlement, except an arraial and register on the Cuyaba road.

Camapuania, the southern division of the province, takes its name from the river Camapuan. Except in its northern limits, it is nearly a uniform level; and a great part of its western half is annually submerged by the inundations of the Paraguay, which is said to cover in some parts more than seventy miles of plain. In the north it is intersected by a chain of mountains stretching from east to west, and here the Paraguay and its branches have their origin, flowing to the southward, and the heads of the Tapajos and the Xingu, which take a northerly course. This canton is divided into east and west by a cordillera of inconsiderable elevation, called the Serra Amambahy. From this chain of hills numerous other rivers have their origin, so that the whole is in every part well watered, and might be rendered a valuable country in the hands of civilized men. The only povoaçoes in this district are the fazenda of Camapuan, situated in latitude 19. 36. S.; and Miranda, a prezidio on the river Aranhary or Mondego, founded in 1797. Attempts have been made by the Spaniards to establish themselves at several points in this district, but without success.

Of the savage nations who retain undisputed possession of this country we can afford but a brief account. The most formidable are the Guaycurues, who are still a populous nation, divided into various hordes, and dwelling chiefly on the eastern side of the Paraguay, from 19. 28. to 23. 36. south latitude. Those who inhabit the western side of this river hold no alliance with other nations. Indeed the various tribes are declared enemies to each other, although no difference of origin, idiom, or usage has been observed amongst them. They recognise three degrees of rank; the first, called captains, seems to be equivalent to noblesse or lords of the soil√the second, denominated soldiers, are a species of hereditary vassals, whose military servitude descends[7:14:326] from sire to son; and the third are captives or slaves, being the prisoners of war and their descendants. The Guaycurues are of medium stature, well made, healthy, robust, and capable of executing painful and laborious undertakings. The men are diligent in hunting, fishing, gathering honey, and wild fruits, and in the manufacture of arms and canoes. The women spin, manufacture clothes and girdles of cotton, and make cords, mats, and other articles. They rear all the species of domestic birds and quadrupeds introduced into the country, but agriculture they hold in contempt. They are excellent horsemen, being almost constantly on horseback, so that they constitute a very formidable cavalry in their cruel wars, and are in consequence much dreaded by the surrounding nations. Like the Arabs, they have no permanent dwelling-places, shifting their residences according to circumstances, but always encamping near some river or lake. The woods which border on the Igatimy, the Miamaya, and the Esco-pil, streams flowing from the Serro Amambahy into the Parana, are inhabited by the Cahans, or people of the wood, so called to distinguish them from their enemies the Guaycurues, who keep the open country. From the accounts which we have of this semi-civilized tribe, they appear to be descendants of some of the Indians civilized by the Jesuits of Paraguay. They cultivate the cotton-tree, the produce of which they spin and weave in a manner peculiar to themselves. They live in villages, and have amongst them men who pretend to be at once surgeons, doctors, divines, and priests. They carry in their hands a cross; and, in their religious observances, solemnity is strongly blended with the wildest extravagance.

The cantons of Cuyaba and Matto-Grosso are, properly speaking, the only districts of the province which have been colonized. The latter contains the official capital, Villa Bella, which is situated in a champaign country, near the margin of the Gnapore. It is a neat small city, and contains, besides the residence of the governor and the ouvidor, a smelting-house, the parochial church, and two hermitages. The Guapore, which the Spaniards call Itenez, whilst it sometimes goes by the name of the Mamore, originates nearly one hundred miles north-east of the capital. After flowing eighty miles in a southerly course, it runs nearly the same distance in a westerly direction; it then curves towards the north-west and westnorth-west, and ultimately joins the Mamore, forming the majestic Madera. The banks of this stream are for the most part swampy and unhealthy. From the western side of a continuation of the Serra Paricis, issue a number of rivers, which join it by the right margin; but the largest does not exceed one hundred miles in length. Thirty miles to the east of the Guapore, the Jauru originates, in the campos of the Serra Paricis, and, after a lengthened southerly course, bends to the east-south-east, and falls into the Paraguay in lat. 16. 24. south. At this confluence, one hundred and seventy miles south-east of Villa Bella, a stone with an inscription was erected in 1754, as a boundary mark between the Spanish and Portuguese territories. The northern portion of the canton is occupied by the Serra Paricis, an elevated range, with extensive sandy campos on its summits, inhabited by various aboriginal tribes.

To the cast of Matto-Grosso is the canton of Cuyaba, probably the most valuable, as it is the most richly diversified part of the province. It is said to abound with spacious plains, superb woods, and gently undulating elevations, which occasionally assume the aspect of mountains, and the greater portion is irrigated by numerous rivers. The Cuyaba, from which the district derives its name, traverses it from north to south, and falls into the Lourenço in lat. 17. 20. The latter river separates it from Bororonia, on the east and south, whilst the Paraguay bounds it on the west. Villa Real de Cuyaba, the capital, is a larger and more flourishing place than Villa Bella. It is situated near a small river, at one mile’s distance from the Cuyaba. The streets are mostly paved, and the houses, as well as a church and three chapels which it contains, arc built of taipé. The population amounts to about 30,000. The orange-tree grows here luxuriantly, and the melon, water-melon, and pine-apple also flourish; as well as mandioc, maize, cotton, and sugar, which are cultivated by the inhabitants. Villa Maria, which is situated on the eastern bank of the Paraguay, twenty-five miles from the mouth of the Jauru, is the only other place of any consideration in the canton. Its inhabitants are chiefly Indian, but its position is excellent, and it may probably yet become an important commercial town. The adventurous Paulistas, who first formed settlements in this remote district, were attracted thither by the gold which the country afforded. The early explorers found it in great quantities, and a vast number of persons belonging to San Paulo were induced to undertake long and laborious voyages in search of the precious metal. Several of these expeditions proving fatal to those who embarked in them, it was deemed necessary to despatch a strong armament to subdue the native Indians. A desperate conflict took place in 1735, which at last terminated in favour of the Paulistas. A road having been opened to Goyaz, and intelligence brought of new gold mines in Matto-Grosso, almost the whole population of Cuyaba left that town for the west. There still exist, however, as well in this canton as in that of Matto∙Grosso, various hordes of Bororo Indians; but the greater part of the population is stated to consist of Mamalucoes, descended from the alliance of the Paulistas with the Paricis Indians. With regard to the gross number of inhabitants in the province of Matto-Grosso, no idea can be formed. Dr Von Martius enumerates no less than thirty-five native tribes as peopling this vast tract of country.

{On the State of Civil and Natural Rights among the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Brazil ; an Essay, by Dr C. F. Ph. Von Martius, Munich, 1832. See an abstract of the work in The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, volume second.) (k. r. n. )