Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 1

1593.

The Araucanians next chose for Toqui an active veteran named Paillamachu, whose career was destined to be of more lasting service to his country than had been that of any of his distinguished predecessors, unless indeed it be said that his career was but the result of their example. Imitating the precedent of Antiguenu, he retreated to the marshes of Lumaco, there to train an army. Loyola having proceeded to Conception, was there met by an Araucanian officer who had been sent to compliment him, and on whose mind he endeavoured to impress an idea of the resources of his sovereign, and of the necessity of submission. He was, however, assured in reply that the Araucanians would never submit to foreign control whilst they had a drop of blood in their veins. Loyola could not but admire the sentiments of the noble Antipillan, whom he dismissed with every demonstration of esteem. He nevertheless was far from relinquishing the policy of his predecessors.

1594.

Passing the Bio-bio, he founded near it a new city, to which he gave the name of Coya, in honour of his wife; and he established two castles to protect it. This proceeding was the signal for attack on the part of Paillamachu, whose lieutenant assaulted Fort Jesus in 1595, but failed to reduce it. In the following year the Araucanian general felt himself in sufficient strength to make frequent incursions into the Spanish districts; but he carefully avoided an encounter with their troops. With the object of restraining him, Loyola erected two new forts, one at Puren and the other on the border of the marshes of Lumaco. In 1597 he also founded a settlement in the province of Cujo, to which he gave the name of St. Louis de Loyola.

1598.

Paillamachu soon took by storm the fort of Lumaco, and the governor prudently demolished that of Puren, to save it from a like fate. Having next repaired the fortifications of Imperial, Villarica, and Valdivia, he returned to the Bio-bio, retaining as an escort only sixty half-pay officers, when he was attacked by the Toqui in the valley of Caralava and put to death with all his retinue. In less than forty-eight hours after this event the whole Araucanian provinces were in arms, as were likewise the Cunchese and the Cuilliches, and the whole country as far as the archipelago of Chiloë. Every Spaniard outside the garrisons was put to death; whilst Osorno, Valdivia, Villarica, Imperial, Canete, Angol, Coya, and the fortress of Arauco, were all at once invested with a close siege. Paillamachu himself, crossing the Bio-bio, burned the cities of Conception and Chillan, laying waste the surrounding provinces.

1599.

The receipt of this alarming news so terrified the inhabitants of St. Iago that they made up their minds to quit the country and retire to Peru. They appointed, however, as temporary governor Pedro de Viscara, a veteran of seventy years, who set out for the frontier with such troops as he could raise. Crossing the Bio-bio in the face of the enemy, he withdrew the inhabitants of Angol and Coya, sending them to Conception and Chillan. At the end of six months he was relieved by Don Francisco Quinones, sent by the Viceroy of Peru to assume the government. Several actions took place to the north of the Bio-bio; the most important occurred on the plains of Yumbel. This battle, fought between nearly equal numbers, continued with incredible fury for nearly two hours, when night parted the combatants, and the Toqui repassed the Bio-bio. The Spanish governor ordered his prisoners to be hanged. After this engagement the fort of Arauco and the city of Canete were evacuated.

1600.

The active Paillamachu went from place to place. He stormed Valdivia, putting to death a great number of the inhabitants, and forcing the remainder to save themselves on board ships, which at once set sail. By this exploit he secured all the cannon of the place, two millions of dollars, and four hundred prisoners. To add to these misfortunes, five Dutch men-of-war now appeared on the coast of Chili, plundering the island of Chiloë and putting the garrison to the sword. A party having attacked the Araucanians on the island of Talca, or Santa Maria, under the belief that they were Spaniards, were repulsed with the loss of twenty-three men.

1602.

Quinones was succeeded in the government by Garcia Raymon, an officer of much experience in South America, and who in turn had shortly to give place to Rivera, a soldier who had fought in the Low Countries, and who was now sent out with a regiment of veterans. His coming encouraged his countrymen to abandon their idea of quitting Chili; it did not, however, retrieve the fortunes of the war. After a siege of three years, Villarica fell into the hands of the Araucanians: whilst a similar fate awaited Imperial, which place owed its protracted defence to a Spanish heroine, called Inez Agulera. When defence was no longer possible, this lady, who during the siege had lost her husband and her brothers, escaped by sea with a great part of the inhabitants. The city of Osorno was the next to give way to the besiegers, and thus was freed from the presence of the Spaniards the extensive country between the Bio-bio and the archipelago of Chiloë, and the work of Valdivia and his successors was undone.

The cities which fell into the enemy’s hands were destroyed, and their prisoners, who had been reduced to terrible straits, were so numerous that almost each Araucanian family had one to its share. As ransom was permitted, many escaped from captivity. Others, induced by the love of their mixed offspring, preferred to remain with their conquerors. The valiant Paillamachu only survived till the following year, 1603. The towns which he destroyed have never been rebuilt;18 their scanty ruins are his monument. Thus ended, as regarded its permanent results, the Araucanian War of Independence, exemplifying, if ever a war did, the sentiment contained in the lines:—

“Freedom’s battle once begun,Bequeath’d by bleeding sire to son,Though baffled oft, is ever won.”

Note.—Chapters VIII., XII., XIII., and XIV. of vol. I. are founded on—

“History of Chili;” by the Abbé Don J. Ignatius Molina. Longman. 1809.

On “Historia General y Natural de las Indias;” by Oviedo.

And on “Historical Relation of Chili;” by Ovalle.

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.