Kitabı oku: «Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 1», sayfa 17

CHAPTER XV.
BRAZIL

1570-1622

1578.

The growth of the colony of Brazil had been so rapid during the fourteen years’ able administration of Mem de Sa that it was now thought advisable to divide its territory into two governments, S. Sebastian, or Rio de Janeiro, being the capital of the second government, which was to include all the settlements to the south of that place. This subdivision, however, was not found convenient, and at the end of two years the southern government was made subordinate to the northern. At this precise period the succession to the crown of Portugal was in dispute; and Philip II. of Spain, one of the claimants, offered the entire Brazilian colonies, with the title of King, to the Duke of Braganza, which offer, however, was not accepted.

It may be of interest here to give a brief account of this splendid colonial empire, as it was represented, for the information of the Portuguese Government, by one who had resided seventeen years in the country. In the year 1581 the city of S. Salvador, now Bahia, contained eight hundred inhabitants, and the whole Reconcave, or the coast-line of the surrounding bay, about two thousand, exclusive of negroes and native Indians. Five hundred horse and two thousand foot could be brought into the field; whilst three caravels and fourteen hundred boats were available for the king’s service. The cathedral church could boast five dignitaries, six canons, two minor canons, four chaplains, and one curé and his coadjutor. There were no less than sixty-two churches in the city, together with three monasteries. In this respect S. Salvador had certainly no cause of complaint. The country for two miles round was covered with plantations. In the Reconcave there were fifty-seven sugar-works, the quantity annually exported amounting to about two thousand four hundred hogsheads. Cattle and horses, which had been imported from the Cape de Verdes, increased in prodigious numbers. There were persons who possessed forty or fifty brood mares, which might sell at Pernambuco for thirty ducats a-piece; sheep and goats likewise flourished, having been imported from Europe.

Oranges and lemons, which the settlers had introduced, had become plentiful. The palm-tree was grown, and likewise the cocoa plant; the melon, the pomegranate, and the vine were not cultivated with such success, being unable to withstand the ravages of the ant. The tea plant had been discovered at Bahia, where coffee likewise was grown. Ginger throve so well that in one year four thousand arrobas were preserved. The sugar-cane is indigenous in Brazil, and was found in plenty near Rio de Janeiro. The parasites which fill up the interstices of the Brazilian forests were put to various uses; their juice was applied for the purpose of tanning, and their branches were woven into wicker-work or beaten into tow. These plants form a remarkable feature in Brazilian scenery. They encircle the trees up which they climb only to regain the ground; the same plant there takes root again, crossing from bough to bough and from tree to tree, wherever they may be carried by such breezes as may pierce the almost impermeable jungle.

In some portions of the Reconcave saltpetre was to be found; but for lime the colonists were dependent on oyster shells, which, however, were at some points procurable in great abundance. Fish of various kinds abounded, and oil was extracted from the liver of the shark. At one or two places ambergris was found. The rumours of wealth in the precious metals and stones which were then in circulation have since been amply confirmed.

1582.

In Bahia there were then said to be more than a hundred persons enjoying an income of five thousand cruzados, or two thousand five hundred ducats; whilst some settlers possessed plate and gold to a great value. They were supplied with wine from Madeira and the Canaries. The settlement of Pernambuco was not less flourishing; there were fifty sugar-works, the tenths of which were leased for nineteen thousand cruzados, or half that number of ducats. Olinda might contain seven hundred inhabitants, not including those who dwelt in the villas and works in the gardens of its vicinity. Three thousand men could be brought into the field; and it may be noted that as early as 1582 between four and five thousand African slaves were employed in the Captaincy. About five-and-forty ships came annually for sugar and brazil-wood.

S. Vicente likewise flourished. This Captaincy was situated sufficiently far to the south to admit of the cultivation of wheat and barley. It might also produce wine. Espirito Santo and other portions of Brazil did not fare so well as those above mentioned. The early settlers in the colony are said to have suffered much from the jiggers and other insects of the country, and it was only with time that they learned the remedies which the natives were accustomed to apply to the attacks of these tormentors. The fleets which had formerly been sent out each year with a reinforcement of young settlers now no longer arrived; and, wholesome as the air of Brazil for the most part is, it proved hurtful to many Europeans. The admixture, too, of the three different races, European, Brazilian, and Negro, was said to have generated certain new diseases, or at least new constitutions, in which old diseases took a new form. Complaints of the liver were prevalent, as were those of the eye. But on the whole it was said that in no instance have Europeans suffered so little by transplantation from their own country into one of a very different climate as did the Portuguese in Brazil. It may be remarked, however, that the term Brazil is a very wide word indeed, comprising as that empire does a space equal to about two-thirds of Europe, and that there are probably far greater variations of climate between its northern and its southern portions, as well as between its highlands and lowlands, than exist between the climate of Lisbon and that of its southern provinces. As to the moral quality of the early settlers, seeing that they comprised a considerable portion of the banished criminal population of the mother country, it is not surprising that the average of crime should for some time have been greater in the colony than in Portugal. The energy of the race, however, at this its heroic period, found ample scope, and as years rolled on the resources of the magnificent territory which had fallen under the Portuguese sceptre were gradually unfolded.

It was long before the French could be persuaded to give up the hope of establishing themselves somewhere in Brazil. They made the Paraïba their favourite port of trade, where they allied themselves with some savage neighbouring tribes, and caused such trouble to the Portuguese that they themselves resolved to establish fortified settlements on the above-named river. The governor of San Salvador deputed this task to Flores de Valdes, who had been sent by Philip II. of Spain, with a fleet of twenty-three vessels, to secure the Straits of Magellan when Drake had alarmed him for the safety of his possessions on the Pacific. Valdes had been foiled in his attempts to reach the Straits, and had been driven back to Bahia with only six ships. With these and two others he sailed to Pernambuco. There were four French vessels in the Paraïba. The French themselves, however, set fire to them, and then joined the savages on shore. The Spanish and Portuguese troops landed without opposition and constructed a fortress; but its commander could not long maintain it against the Pitagoares, and made a hasty retreat to Itamaraca. It was, however, again recovered by means of a fresh reinforcement from Pernambuco.

The name of England is at this period for the first time brought into prominent notice in connection with Brazil, which, being a colony of a country now under the Spanish crown, was subject to the warlike operations of the enemies of Spain. In 1582 an English expedition, destined for the East, and commanded by Admiral Fenton, reached the coast of Brazil and anchored off San Vicente, where an English vessel had previously come to trade. Indeed a trade had some time since sprung up between Plymouth and Southern Brazil, the first merchant navigator mentioned being the father of Sir John Hawkins, who made two voyages, in 1530 and 1532, respectively. The expedition under Fenton merely called for peaceful objects, and did not commit any act of hostility; but the proceedings of Drake had already drawn down the hatred of all Spaniards on his countrymen; and Flores, having been informed of the presence of English vessels at San Vicente, made for that place and prepared to attack them. The action began in the evening and was fought by moonlight. One of the Spanish ships was sunk, and in the course of the following day the English vessels put to sea. It is recorded to the credit of their humane commander that he refrained from sinking another of the Spanish vessels, not wishing to cause a needless loss of life.

1586.

Four years later another English expedition sailed for the South Sea, but of a less pacific nature. Lord Cumberland was at its head, but Withrington was in active command, and of two privateers which accompanied it, one had been fitted out by Raleigh. From information which they obtained from Portuguese vessels which they had captured, they resolved to attack San Salvador, and accordingly made for Bahia. The safety of that place is said to have been due to the presence of converted Indians, who had been gathered together there, and who constituted a formidable force of archers; but the English remained six weeks in the bay, doing much damage to the neighbouring country.

The next English privateer of whom we read in connection with Brazil is Cavendish, who sent two of his vessels to attack the town of Santos. The inhabitants were surprised at mass, and the one man who resisted was slain, the rest being detained prisoners in church. They contrived to escape, however, at night, and took good care to make away with all their portable property; so that when Cavendish arrived some days later he found neither inhabitants nor provisions. The result was that after remaining several weeks the fleet had to depart worse provisioned than when it had arrived. The next exploit of Cavendish was to burn San Vicente on his way to the Straits, which, however, he failed to pass. His ships being dispersed in a storm, he put back alone to the coast of Brazil, and landed twenty-five men near Santos, with instructions to seize provisions and return forthwith. But of this party not a man returned. They were seized by the natives, and only two were spared to be carried prisoners to Santos.

Cavendish was now joined by another vessel of his squadron, and made for Espirito Santo. It not being deemed prudent for the ships to attempt to cross the bar, a party of eighty men were sent over it in boats, the orders of their commander, Captain Morgan, being to discover a good landing-place near the town. Disobeying the positive commands of his superior, he landed with a number of his men, with the result that he was himself killed, together with a large proportion of his force, upon which Cavendish left the coast of Brazil in despair, and died, it is said, of grief on his homeward voyage.

1594.

The next English expedition to Brazil was better designed. Three ships, the largest of them being of about two hundred and forty tons, were fitted out by certain citizens of London, and sailed under the command of James Lancaster, who was well acquainted with the Portuguese, having lived amongst them. Pernambuco was his point of attack, and for this purpose he secured two Frenchmen as interpreters in the language of the neighbouring natives. One of his vessels, commanded by Barker, had to put back to refit, but this officer rejoined him off Cape Blanco, having already captured four-and-twenty Spanish and Portuguese sail. They then made for Pernambuco, and on the way fell in with another English squadron under Captain Venner, consisting of four vessels. Venner readily agreed to assist Lancaster in securing a rich prize from a ship from India which had been wrecked near Olinda, at the port of which place her cargo was stowed. Venner was to receive a fourth of the value of the prize.

They arrived off Recife towards the end of March, 1595, where they discovered three large Dutch ships lying at the entrance. Lancaster manned five of his prizes, with orders to board the Dutch vessels should they offer opposition. His men were embarked in boats, and he himself took command of the galley, rowed by eighty of his ship’s company. This happened at night, and when morning came they found that the boats had drifted half a mile to the north. It was now ebb-tide, and they were forced to remain off the port in full sight of the place; but they had the satisfaction of seeing the Dutch vessels move away from the entrance. About noon, Lancaster received a message from the governor, requesting to know his object. The reply, given in curt seaman’s terms, was that he wanted the Indian prize, and that he meant to have it. On this declaration the Portuguese manned the small work at the mouth of the harbour and collected their entire force of six hundred men. At two o’clock the tide turned, when Lancaster led the way, running his boat on shore immediately under the battery, the other boat’s crew following his example. The place was then gallantly stormed; upon which Lancaster made signal for his ships to enter the harbour. He left a garrison in the fort and planted its guns against Olinda; after this he marched on Recife, which place he found abandoned, and where he obtained the sought-for prize.

The admiral now displayed much prudence. As his booty could not readily be removed, he put the Isthmus of Recife in a state of defence. This done, he opened communication with the Dutch vessels, which he chartered to take cargoes to England. He likewise obtained assistance from some French vessels which soon afterwards arrived, and to which he parted with valuable stores that were in excess of his own requirements. He obstinately refused to enter into parley with the authorities of Olinda, going on board ship when their envoys came to seek him. Meanwhile the work of lading went on; and in repulsing an attack which was made upon his force he was so fortunate as to secure some small carts, which were invaluable for transporting his spoil. He likewise captured a Portuguese ship with forty hands, whom he employed to relieve his own men in the work of carrying.

The Portuguese, however, were not idle meanwhile. During three weeks they made repeated attacks on the English, who were always compelled to fight for their supply of water. They next set five small vessels on fire, and let them float down the stream; but for this attempt Lancaster was prepared, and the fire-ships were stopped by grappling-irons and chains. A week later, at midnight, three blazing rafts came down the stream, having long poles attached to their sides to prevent their being grappled, and likewise having sparkling fireworks. The English, however, laid wet cloths on their powder, flasks, and oars, and, seeing the necessity of stopping them at all hazards, succeeded in doing so. The attempts of the Portuguese to cut the cables of the enemy’s ships were likewise baffled. Whilst they were preparing a third attempt to fire the ships, Lancaster, having now got his booty on board, was ready to depart. On the day of departure, however, in consequence of the state of the tide, it was necessary to delay till the evening; and in the attempt to destroy a battery which was being prepared by the Portuguese, some three hundred French and English were led into an ambuscade, losing thirty-five of their number, amongst them the vice-admiral, Barker. The same evening eleven richly-laden vessels set sail, and all safely reached their destination.

. . . . . . . .

So well had Nobrega’s system been followed by his successors that, in the course of half a century, all the natives along the coast of Brazil, where Portuguese settlements extended, were collected in villages under their superintendence; whilst, on the other hand, so successfully had the slave-hunters practised their arts in setting one tribe of natives against another that the number of the latter was very greatly reduced. It thus happened that both missionaries and slave-hunters had now to penetrate much farther into the interior than heretofore, in search either of converts or of captives; and in this way fresh portions of the vast territory were from time to time discovered. About the year 1594, Rifault, a French adventurer, who had previously visited the coast of Brazil, returned to that country with three vessels, one of which he lost near Maranham, on which island he took refuge. Having returned to Europe, his people were now headed by the Sieur des Vaux, who persuaded the islanders to own the rule of the French. With this concession he too returned to France, and submitted to Henri IV. a project for taking possession of the considerable island of Maranham. The king listened with satisfaction, and sent back Des Vaux, accompanied by a commissioner of rank, by whose report he was to be guided; but before the report could be made Henri had been assassinated.

1612.

Permission was, however, granted to form a company for the purpose of colonizing Maranham, and certain gentlemen were appointed lieutenants-general in the West Indies and Brazil. The expedition was fitted out in Brittany, and sailed in March 1612; and, after a severe voyage, it reached the island of Fernando Noronha, whence it proceeded to Maranham. The islanders put themselves, as had been expected, under the protection of France, and their example was followed by two tribes on the mainland. The Cross and the French flag were planted side by side. Unfortunately, however, for the French, the Brazilian Government had just at this time turned its attention in the same direction; and before any tidings of the above proceedings had reached Madrid, orders had been sent out to prosecute the discovery and conquest of the river Amazons and the adjoining regions. The governor was ordered to fix his residence at Olinda in order to push on the expedition, to the command of which Geronymo de Albuquerque was appointed. He was later joined by Compos Moreno. Their progress, however, was slow, and in due time they came into collision with the French, of whose presence in that region the Brazilian authorities now for the first time became aware. It so happened that the officer who made the discovery was prevented by contrary winds from returning from Maranham to Pernambuco. He was driven to the Spanish Main, whence he set sail for Spain. On his arrival there he immediately despatched his pilot to Brazil to warn the authorities, whilst he himself proceeded for the same purpose to Madrid. In this way the colonial government heard of the French occupation of Mararnham not from Brazil, but from Europe.

Fresh instructions were now sent out to the governor, with stringent orders to direct his whole attention towards the island of Maranham. The preparations for that object were accordingly pushed forward with renewed vigour; and in course of time the expedition reached the port of Peria, in the vicinity of Maranham, to examine which a reconnoitering party was now sent out. From a deserter the Portuguese commander learned that the French meant to attack his vessels. He, however, contented himself with drawing them up on shore, and the French victory was confined to securing three of his six ships. The Portuguese, meanwhile, endured such sufferings that a conspiracy was formed amongst the soldiers to blow up the powder-magazine, and thus compel a retreat to Pernambuco by land. The question was, however, settled by the arrival of the French commander Rivardiere, with seven ships and many canoes, containing four hundred Frenchmen and four hundred natives. He forthwith ordered half his force to take possession of a hill which commanded the Portuguese encampment, whilst his native allies proceeded to entrench themselves by means of fascines which they had carried with them, and by means of which they kept themselves in communication with the fleet. Albuquerque, seeing that he was thus cut off from the hope of obtaining fresh water, had no alternative but to fight, although his force both of Portuguese and of natives bore a very small proportion to that opposed to him.

Of the two Portuguese chiefs, the one attacked the enemy on the beach; the other undertook to dislodge him from the hill, each having a force of seventy Portuguese and forty natives, whilst a small body was kept in reserve. The Portuguese attack was so well planned that the French on the hill, not perceiving their own danger, descended to the help of their countrymen, and were unexpectedly charged on the flank. After a short but severe struggle one of their commanders fell, and they retired to their entrenchments on the hill; but the Portuguese, following them, stormed these works likewise and put their defenders to the rout. Rivardiere was so confident in his superiority of numbers that he did not think it necessary to succour his men engaged until the moment had passed for doing so. The tide having now fallen, his canoes were left high and dry on the beach. He attempted to attack the fort, but the muddy shore kept his launches at a distance, and the invalids kept up a brisk fire upon him. One hundred and fifteen of his men were left dead on the field, whilst nine were taken prisoners.

A correspondence now took place between the commanders on either side, as a result of which the following terms were proposed namely, that there should be a truce till the end of the following year, whilst meanwhile two cavaliers, the one French, the other Portuguese, should proceed to France, and likewise two to Spain, to lay the matter before their sovereigns; and that when the determination of the two courts should arrive, the party which should receive orders to remove should evacuate the country, the prisoners meanwhile being released. Rivardiere further bound himself to withdraw his ship and allow free ingress to the supplies which the Portuguese expected. These articles were duly signed, and accordingly two vessels were sent with commissioners to France and Spain respectively.

But the terms of the convention were not long observed. After a while Albuquerque began to receive reinforcements; and finding himself in sufficient strength, he now informed Rivardiere that he had received instructions stating that these countries belonged to the Portuguese crown, and that he was therefore under the necessity of considering the treaty between them as annulled. The French commander now agreed to evacuate the island of Maranham within five months, on condition that the Portuguese should pay for the artillery to be left there, thus to enable him to pay for transports for his people. As security for his good faith he surrendered one of the forts, of which Albuquerque took possession; but from the length of time for which he stipulated before his withdrawal, it is probable that he calculated on something occurring meanwhile which might render that operation unnecessary.

1615.

Campos had meanwhile reached Lisbon, where he pressed upon the Government the necessity of sending out reinforcements without loss of time. He himself returned with adequate succours for that purpose to Pernambuco, where he found the governor busily employed towards the same end. Their united force amounted to nine hundred men, who were embarked in seven ships. Compos had left Maranham for Europe in January 1615, and he returned to that island early in October of the same year, the supreme command of the expedition being now given to De Moura, the late captain of Pernambuco. In flagrant breach of the second convention with Rivardiere, the French were now attacked in Fort St. Louis, whither they had retired. The French commander submitted unconditionally, and was allowed to sail for France with four hundred of his countrymen. By his incapacity in treating with the Portuguese when his superiority at sea put it within his power to cut off their provisions, the island of Maranham was lost to France.

The next enemy with whom the Portuguese had to contend were of a different race. The Dutch had begun to trade on the north of the Amazons, and had established factories on some of the numerous islands at its mouth. They had given out to the natives that a fleet would soon arrive to establish a colony, and when this intelligence reached Caldeira (a Portuguese officer who had been sent north from Maranham with two hundred men to establish a settlement on the Amazons), it was confirmed by the arrival of a large Dutch vessel. The ship was attacked by his orders, but the Dutchmen defended themselves so well that they could not be conquered save by setting fire to the vessel. This new Captaincy, which was called Pará, was disturbed with serious dissensions, which led to Caldeira, the governor, being put in chains by his mutinous garrison. The colony had likewise to encounter long-continued hostility on the part of the natives. A new governor was sent out from Lisbon, with orders to send home as prisoners both Caldeira and the officer who had accepted the government in his place from the mutineers. When this was done, the war against the natives was prosecuted, and they were successfully hunted down by a ruffian called Maciel, whose object seemed to be to exterminate them. If this were his purpose, it was still further assisted by the fearful havoc caused at this time amongst them by the small-pox.

1622.

In the year 1622 a new governor-general brought with him some Jesuits; but the appearance of these Fathers in Maranham excited a tumult against them; for, much to the credit of their order, it had set itself in systematic opposition to the iniquitous conduct of the Portuguese towards the natives. A compromise had to be arrived at, by which the Jesuits agreed, under pain of banishment and the confiscation of their property, not to interfere with the domesticated natives. As a wide belt of desolation had been placed round the Portuguese settlements by Maciel, it was somewhat difficult for the Fathers to find any other natives to exercise their influence upon. About this time much was done to explore the region of the Lower Amazons, in which service it is to be admitted that Maciel, who was now captain of Pará, was as energetic as he was ever savage in his bearing towards the Indians. At the river Curupá some of his people found Dutch, English, and French adventurers, who had made trenches for their defence, and had enlisted natives to assist them. From this post they were driven by Maciel, who destroyed their factories both on the Curupá and on the island of Tocujuz.

Having effected this congenial work, he returned to Belem, now called Parâ. His new conquests were considered at Madrid to be of such consequence as to deserve to be erected into a separate government, partly on account of the difficulty of communication between Maranham and Pernambuco. But the days were at hand when the natives were to be avenged by the arm of another European nation for the wrongs which they had suffered from Maciel and his like.

Note.—Chapters V., IX., XV. and XVI. of vol. I. are founded on “History of Brazil;” by Robert Southey. Longman. 1810.

On “The History of Paraguay;” Charles A. Washburn. Lee and Shepard. New York. 1871.

On “Noticia Biografica De Fernando de Magallanes;” by Navarrete.

On “Lettres Édifiautes et Curienses,;” écrites des Missions Étrangères. Nouv. edit.; par Querbeuf.

On “La Plata;” Etude Historique; par Santiego Arcos. Paris. 1865.

On “History of the Indies;” by J. de Acosta; Hakluyt Society. 1880.

On works previously referred to.

And on “Voyage dans l’Amérigue Méridionale;” par Don F. de Azara. 4 vols. 8vo. 1809.