a province of Brazil, comprehending the island of the same name, and a territory of sixty leagues in length from north to south on the neighbouring continent, reckoning from the Salty Grande, which separates it from St Paulo on the north, to the Mamputuba, which divides it from Rio Grande on the south. On the west, the heads of the Cordillera divide it from the same provinces, its greatest width not exceeding twenty leagues. The above limits include a territory extending from 25° 50' to 29° 20' of south latitude. On the continent, four miles south-east of the capital, stands the town of San Jose, the inhabitants of which are principally occupied in sawing timber into planks, making bricks, and growing rice. To the north of this town the shores are studded with houses, pleasantly situated amid bananas, orangeeries, and plantations of rice, coffee, and mandioca. Nine leagues from San Jose is the village of Armação, situated at the extremity of the Bay of St Miguel. It is a fishing station for whales, which were formerly very numerous on the coast, and in the bays that indent it. The conveniences for the manufacture of oil are extensive and well contrived, and all the fish on the coast are brought to this quarter. Beyond the point of Armação is that of Dos Ganchos, forming the southern extremity of the spacious Bay of Tejuco or Tejucos, into which a river of the same name, fifty fathoms wide, discharges itself. Ten leagues north of this place is the fine capacious harbour of Guanroupas, with its handsome town. Further northward is the Bay of St Francisco, in which there is an island with a town, both of the same name. The harbour is fine, and has three entrances, defended by forts. Ship-building is carried on at this place to some extent; the cutting of the fine timber in the neighbourhood, and other labours connected with this art, being the chief occupation of the inhabitants, who may amount to about two thousand. The largest continental town in the province is Laguna, prettily situated upon the eastern margin of the lake from which it derives its name, two miles from the bar, and sixty miles south of Desterro. In the months of November, and December particularly, a prodigious quantity of a long fish, with a forked tail, called bagre, enter the lake, supplying a lucrative branch of commerce. This place contains four thousand inhabitants. Fifteen miles north of Laguna is Villa Nova, or Santa Anna, situated on an elevation near the northern extremity of the same lake. More fish is ma-
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1 See also Mark, xiii. 9, xiv. 55, xv. 1; Luke, xxii. 52, 66; John, xi. 47; Acts, iv. 15, v. 21; where mention is made of the synedrion or sanhedrin. Cruz manufactured here than in any other part of the province.
The other towns or villages of Santa Catharina are small and of little importance. In 1812 the population, according to Cazal, was 31,530; but it has greatly increased. The province is divided into seven parishes, three of which are situated on the island of Santa Catharina, and four on the continent. The whole are included within the see of Rio de Janeiro. For a description of the island of Santa Catharina, see the article Catherine, St.