Santa Cruz, around 1815, had already developed into a beautiful city, all but in name. But, as the old ecclesiastical ouvidor José António Camões observed, its principal roadways ("Rua das Poças", "Rua do Rego", "Rua de Santa Catarina", "Rua do Porto", "Rua Nova" and "Rua de São Sebastião do Moio") and various lanes were irregular, as too were its buildings. Of the 429 buildings registered by the local administration, only 113 were covered by standard shingles of the period. Of the 419 people that inhabited the areas of Ribeira dos Barqueiros, Vales, Pampilhal, Fazenda and Além da Ribeira (there were no records for the centre of town), no one person used footwear. Poverty was a general condition, and the Donatários of the island (first the Fonsecas, later the Counts of Santa Cruz and finally Pedro José Caupers) subjugated the populous as serfs. The Crown had bestowed the lands, politico-military institutions and clergy for the islanders, but neglected the socio-political institutions that relegated, as Father Camões described: "...the inhabitants of the island of Flores the...most poor and miserable of the universe (except for the Corvinos)."