The animals are chiefly opossums, monkeys, and armadillas; there are various serpents, among which is the beautiful coral snake. Of birds, there are cranes, hawks, parrots, of various species, 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 do Desterro; 2d, St. Antonio; 3d, Laguna; and 4th, Ribeiraõ. 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 certain cases, to the captaincy of S. Paulo, and in others to the government of Rio de Janeiro. These divisions, are 1st, St. José; 2d, St. Miguel; and 3d, Nossa Senhora do Rosario; the entire population 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, Ratoé, Estreito, and Conceição. Off the former there is safe anchorage for a fleet of men of war, and the harbour which it protects 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 inaccessible 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 continent, opposite the town of St. Catherine’s, stands the pleasant village of St. José, 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 the necessaries of life are cheap, and they have few incentives to curtail their present enjoyments for the sake of improving their future fortunes. Near this village is a lovely vale called Picada, thickly studded with white cottages, embosomed in orange-groves and plantations of coffee. The gently-sloping hills which enclose this spot, give a picturesque effect to the bold rugged scenery beyond them. This valley, and others contiguous to it, form the extremities of the territory habitable by the Portuguese, for on the land to the westward, though at a considerable distance, dwell the Anthropophagi, here called Bugres. These savages live entirely in the woods, in wretched sheds made of palm-branches, interwoven with bananas. Their occupation is chiefly hunting with bows and arrows, but they frequently employ these weapons in hostilities against their neighbours. A party of them will sometimes way-lay a Portuguese[11], whose residence is solitary; they have even been known to attack and destroy whole families. No regard to humanity seems indeed to be paid by either party in their encounters; they are mutually bent on a war of extermination.