on, whaling traps were established on the Santa Catarina coast: Armação de Itapocorói (Penha), Armação de Nossa Senhora da Piedade (Gov. Celso Ramos), Armação da Lagoinha (Florianópolis), Armação da Garopaba (Garopaba). After 1807, with the creation of the general captaincy of São Pedro do Rio Grande (future Rio Grande do Sul), its borders comprised: To the north, the Saí Guaçu river (Joinville), to the south the Mampituba river (Torres), to the west the Serra Geral, which runs from north to south, closer to the coast and the east of the Atlantic Ocean. Azorean Colonization The islands of the Azores archipelago, suffering from seismic tremors, stimulated emigration. Allied to this factor would be the precarious economic development of the region, the desire to put out to sea, but mainly the excess population which, as a result, caused food shortages at certain times. From 1748 to 1756, in successive waves, about five thousand Azoreans arrived, most of whom settled along the coast. The new settlers received land grants on the island and the mainland. There were many difficulties, from the terrible conditions of the journey to the adaptation to the land where they were to settle. Colonization of the Santa Catarina Plateau Luís António de Sousa Botelho Mourão, the Morgado de Mateus, governor of the São Paulo captaincy, interested in guaranteeing the Portuguese dominion over the current Santa Catarina plateau region and the flow of cattle from Rio Grande do Sul to São Paulo, commissioned a wealthy Paulistan, Antônio Correia Pinto, to establish a settlement at the Lages stop, then under São Paulo's jurisdiction. In 1775 the village of Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres de Lages was founded, which in 1820 was incorporated into Santa Catarina. Spanish Domain When war broke out between Portugal and Spain, the island of Santa Catarina was poorly defended despite its strategic importance and abandoned by the Portuguese fleet, which did not want to endanger its ships. The place was taken in 1777 by Pedro de Ceballos, without the invader firing a single shot or losing a single man. From there, the conquest extended from village to village, except for Laguna, which offered resistance. One year later, the island returned to Portuguese hands through the Treaty of Santo Ildefonso. Governors References Further reading Captaincies of Brazil Santa Catarina (state)