In the collection of Rio de Janeiro National Library,
there is a map with no indication of author and date that, by
its characteristics, seems to refer to the seventeenth century.
After examining it, is possible to have the impression that it was
drawn by someone with information provided by others, as an
eyewitness sketch. Very imprecise for the cartography of that
time, this map shows the Paraíba do Sul River bifurcated in two
courses upstream its mouth, red barriers to its north (perhaps
cliffs, which should abound more at that time), a coastal lake
named Paraíba (it looks like Feia lagoon displaced to the coast),
the Cape of São Tomé and the island of Santana.
The large panel drawn by the Jesuit Simão de Vascon-
celos in the seventeenth century, focus on the alluvial plain, Feia
lagoon and the indigenous people(13,17). A succinct document
dated from 1657 and written by André Martins da Palma reports
the importance of erecting a village and builds a fortress at the
mouth of the Paraiba do Sul River to protect this strategic point
from the foreign enemy(14).
Plants and animals. Among the three dense documents
written about the northern Fluminense region – by Maldona-
do and Pinto, by Vasconcellos and that by Palma, only the first
one provides us with information for a more detailed knowledge
about the native plant ecosystems of that region. In this docu-
ment we find a clear distinction between restinga sandy soils
with dense forests not far from the sea and herbaceous vege-
tation near the coastal lagoons (quite likely to be southern cat-
tail, Typha domingensis), and the native fields of alluvial plain,
covered with herbaceous plants excellent for the cattle and with
tufts of hygrophilous forests in the highest points. The mention
of a tree named quiriba suggests siriba or cereíba, plant of the
genus Avicennia, exclusive of mangroves. There is still the men-
tion of the palm tree daiiá, possibly indaiá palm tree or simply
indaiá (Attalea dubia) and raraí, whose species we could not
identify until the moment. The fauna is also described in that
document, where is recorded the abundance of fish, however,
without giving them common names, except for the piabanha
(characin), the existence of many large and small birds, deer,
capybaras and monkeys. The text reading brings the idea of the
existence of a great biological diversity and of an extraordinary
biomass(10). On the other hand, Simão de Vasconcelos, replicat-
ing Gabriel Soares de Sousa, only refers to the fauna indirectly,
when reporting extractivism and subsistence economy of the
native people. According to him, the Goitacás fed on fish and
wild animals.
They were so remarkable in their
fishing skills that is said about them
(if it is possible to give any credit) that
they gathered together in certain shal-low places of the sea holding sticks in
their hands, short and sharp on both
sides. They surrounded the sharks and
attacked them and when the fish opened
their mouths, the Indians put their hands
inside the sharks’ mouth holding the
stick, bringing the choked sharks to the
land(13).Restingas in the eighteenth century
Lands and waters. In the first and second editions of the
classic Man and the Marsh, Alberto Ribeiro Lamego stamps a
map of 1747 that depicts Baixada of Rio de Janeiro captaincy,
not showing the author ́s name(15,16). The highlands were then
virgins or almost virgins, surrounded by the wonderful and dan-
gerous, land of fierce Indians. This map, whose whereabouts is
unknown, shows Macaé River, a body of water that resembles
Carapebus lagoon, Feia lagoon and its effluents and a mighty
Paraíba do Sul River.By order of Count de Cunha, captain general and viceroy
of Brazil, Manuel Vieira Leão, sergeant-general and governor of
the fortress of São Sebastião Castle of the city of Rio de Janei-
ro, draws, in 1767, a topographic chart of the Captaincy of the
Rio de Janeiro. This iconographic document describes well the
state of knowledge of the captaincy regions at that time. There
is much information about the coast, while the interior only
Paraíba do Sul River and the road to Minas Gerais is shown. On
the left bank of Paraíba do Sul, part of the map shows Mantique-
ira Hill. On the right bank, along all the chart length, Serra do Mar
is registered; and there is a large void in the middle marked as
hinterland occupied by wild Indians. The cartographer pointed
out several geographical features related to the coast between
the Macaé and Itabapoana rivers, with the precision of that time.
In the southern restinga is shown the lagoons Comprida, Je-
rubatiba, Carapibus Grande, Carapibus Pequena, Paulista, Pires,
Jagroaba, Ubataba, as well as Campo dos Sabões. In the north-
ern restinga, between Cape of São Tomé and Manguinhos, it is
possible to see all the complex network of effluents of Feia la-
goon converging into the Iguaçu River (presently Açu lagoon),
the lagoons Quivary (Iquipari), Arasari (Grussaí), Taí Grande and
Taí Pequeno, Jacaré, Bananeiras and, on the left bank of Paraíba
do Sul, the large Campelo`s lagoon.The first Brazil Viceroy that wrote an activity report to
render account to his successor was the Marquis of Lavra-
dio. By passing the government of the colony of Brazil to Luiz
de Vasconcellos and Sousa in 1779, Lavradio annexed to the
report a list of information collected from his representatives
from various administrative divisions of the colony, rendering