Barra, where, again, their feet touch sandy soil. They crossed
the Paraíba do Sul River delta with their own two arms, amidst
mangroves, islands and beaches. On the walk up to Manguin-
hos beach, Maximilian notices a wide sandy soil constantly
wet by waves, stones pierced by the sea in an extraordinary
way (probably tablelands reefs, which, at this point, confine di-
rectly to the beach). The journey through the northern restinga
of the region is approaching the end. The prince and his com-
panions still try to quench their thirst in a coastal lagoon of
brackish waters(22).
In 1817, the Corografia Brasílica, by Manuel Aires de
Casal, comes to light, with few references to the restingas of
the northern Fluminense. In his description he mentions the
Paraíba River; Macaé River, whose mouth is opposite to the ar-
chipelago of Santana; Hinterland of Cacimbas, on the left bank
of Paraíba River, near its delta, a hilly terrain, partly wild and
not suitable for agriculture. The author must be reproducing
the previous knowledge about this region, between the table-
land and restinga, which was covered with compact woods.
Regarding the Feia lagoon, until the nineteenth century, the
scholars considered that it was part of the Ribeira lagoon, a
great interior coastal lagoon embedded in the southern restin-
ga of the northern Fluminense. Hence, the description of Aires
de Casal, which fits to other chroniclers and travelers:Feia lagoon is formed of two unequal
ones, and joined by a narrow throat,
one to the North with little less than six
leagues of east-west length, and little
more than four leagues width; another
to the South with almost five leagues
length, and half width (23)...He still adds that the great lagoon ecosystem flows
through several channels that do not reach the sea because
they run into a high and extensive Dune formed by thick and
firm sand. He explains, nevertheless, that these sewers meet in
a very elongated lagoon with a river shape that overcomes the
dune annually with the human force, which digs up a spillway
in it with hoe, allowing the waters to flow to the sea through
Furado River, easy and quickly flooded by the action of waves.
Another spillway is the Castanheta or Iguaçu River. In the list of
Aires de Casal, there are also the Carapebus lagoons, two ones
from Taí, Saquarema and Campelo(23).One of the most remarkable naturalists to pass through
the northern Fluminense restingas was Auguste de Saint-
Hilaire. From Macaé to Campos, the botanist crosses, in 1818,
sandy plains between the sea and hills, with marshy parts.
Saint-Hilaire’s description corresponds perfectly to the south-
ern restinga of the northern Fluminense. Without naming the
geographic features, he refers to a large lake separated from
the sea by a narrow strip of sand without vegetation. It was
recorded:The color of the sea sadly contrasted
with the brown lake; the whole region
presented the austere appearance of
aridity and solitude; the only movement
seen there was that of the waves, re-
peated, monotonous(24).This melancholic view of restinga as a poor and unin-
teresting environment will also follow Saint-Hilaire when con-
sidering the flora. The Carapeboi lagoon is mentioned by the in-
defatigable traveler, a word according to him derived from Tupi,