Bound manuscript volume. The volume registers letters, official letters (ofícios), and proclamations (bandos) sent to and produced by the governors of Paraiba, Jerônimo José de Mello e Castro and Fernando Delgado Freire de Castilho, between 1794 and 1798. Reports on the Terço dos Pardos, a military unit in the Captaincy of Paraiba (1794); the representation (representação) of sugar-mill estate (engenho) owners and the difficulties that they face owing to a lack of African slaves; logging; declaration (informação) that forests and woodlands on the coast and bordering rivers are royal property and a royal entreaty (solicitação) seeking the return to the Crown of land grants (sesmarias) conceded in the aforementioned locations; the obligation of propertyowners to conserve woodlands; the danger posed to the local economy by the shipment of foodstuffs to Pernambuco; the droughts that occurred between 1791 and 1793, causing the death of cattle and slaves; and the donation of sesmarias in Paraíba (1798).
Extent and format of original material: 1 volume of 54 folios, in addition to front and back covers. Manuscript book; contains non-original cover; folios damaged by insects and iron gall ink.
Creator (Author): Paraíba's captain-mayor, Jerônimo José de Mello e Castro; Paraíba's governor, Fernando Delgado Freire de Castilho.
