Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 2

Antonio de Albuquerque, who was the bearer of the reply from Belem, was refused permission to address himself to the people. It is to be remarked that this insurrection at St. Luiz was kept to a certain extent within bounds; two vessels belonging to the monopolist company arrived at this time with goods and negroes, the sale of which was conducted on behalf of the Company by its agents. The governor now thought fit to offer a full pardon to all persons concerned in the insurrection, together with a large gratuity to Beckman; the latter, however, rejected the offer, whilst professing his readiness to submit to the orders of his sovereign when they should arrive; and the Governor’s agents returned to Belem to report the fruitless result of their errand.

Beckman, however, was by no means in an enviable position. He was compelled by the wish of the people to send his brother to Lisbon as their representative; and as those who had flocked to his help gradually broke away from him to attend to their own affairs, he saw himself without the means of supporting his usurped authority. In fact he only maintained his position in virtue of the weakness of Francisco de Sa. Beckman had grievances of his own to complain of against the local authority, which, perhaps, originally urged him to make himself the mouthpiece of the legitimate public outcry against the monopoly. He may also have been stimulated by the impunity which had attended the proceedings of the people of Maranham, on the occasion of the expulsion of the Jesuits. It is rash, however, for any one heading a revolt against constituted authorities to found himself upon precedent. In this instance, the insurgent leader soon went beyond the limits which had been reached in the preceding case. Indeed he commenced by imprisoning the Capitam Mor and deposing the Governor. He may likewise not have foreseen that as the previous insurrection had been allowed to pass with impunity to its leaders and had been followed by another, the court of Lisbon would consider it the more necessary to be severe on this occasion.

The leader of the revolt took a singular course with the object of making his position more secure. This was to ally himself with Joam de Lima, a well-born Portuguese, who commanded a piratical squadron. This buccaneer now received the offer, on the part of the insurgents, of the port of Maranham as a harbour of refuge from which he and they might defy the Portuguese authority.

Meanwhile the news of the insurrection had been received with concern at Lisbon. In the case of the former outbreak, the Portuguese Government had perceived how difficult it would be for them to re-establish royal authority in so distant and extensive a province as Maranham by force of arms, and had therefore had recourse to policy. They likewise feared lest the French from Cayenne should renew their attempts at making a settlement on the Amazons and revive their claims on Maranham. It was of the utmost importance that a suitable man should be found for the purpose of suppressing the insurrection in Maranham, and the royal choice fell upon Gomes Freyre, an officer whose qualities eminently fitted him for the task before him.

1685.

After having encountered not a few difficulties in the way of making preparation for a successful discharge of his mission, Gomes Freyre set out on his voyage, the King accompanying him on board ship to take leave, and, on the 15th of May, he arrived on the coast of Brazil. Thomas Beckman, who had been sent to Portugal, was sent back to Maranham a prisoner. The new Governor was received with due submission on the part of the Senate and the people. Beckman, indeed, endeavoured to induce the people to oppose his landing; but the measures of Freyre were so decided that there was no time to carry his evil intentions into effect. Having taken possession of the government without opposition, he issued a proclamation granting pardon to all persons, excepting such as had instigated, or had taken a leading part in, the rebellion. Beckman took refuge on his estate sixty leagues distant, whilst his brother was lodged in prison. The reward offered for the former tempted a young man to effect his capture, and he was treacherously apprehended.

By the capture of the ringleader the revolt was at an end; but it was with the utmost reluctance that the Governor could bring himself to condemn him to the penalty which he had incurred. His reluctance was no doubt increased owing to the circumstances of Beckman’s base betrayal by a youth whom he had befriended; and it was only upon an attempt being discovered to escape from prison that Gomes Freyre yielded to the representations which were made to him that it was his duty to the public to sign his death-warrant. In doing so, together with that of another ringleader, he at the same time took upon himself the charge of providing for his two unmarried daughters. Beckman’s brother received the milder punishment of banishment for ten years; whilst the friar who had incited the people to insurrection was sentenced to be imprisoned in his convent.

The first measure of Gomes Freyre, after seizing the ringleaders of the rebellion, had been to restore all such persons as had been deprived of their offices. He likewise temporarily re-established the monopoly, whilst he recalled the exiled Jesuits. Having convened the Chambers of Belem and St. Luiz, and received their representations upon the state of the country, he came to the conclusion that the monopoly must be abolished. In his reports to Portugal he found great fault with the conduct of a portion of the clergy who had betaken themselves to trade, and were foremost in inciting discontent. The condition of the people he represented as deplorable; and he advocated, on the plea of necessity, the introduction of negroes for agricultural labour. The Indians he desired to be domesticated as far as might be possible, in order that they might afford to their countrymen an example of submission. But at the same time he pointed out that the same principle which authorized the Portuguese to purchase negroes in Africa was applicable to the savage Tapuyas, who granted no quarter in war.

In order to relieve the distress at St. Luiz, he took from its population the materials for a new settlement between the rivers Itacú and Mony. The two streams in question approach each other so nearly at one point in the interior that it was thought that two forts might suffice for the protection of the delta thus formed against the Indians. In furtherance of this plan, an expedition was despatched against the savages of the Meary, who had destroyed the engenhos formerly existing in this district. The Governor, having accordingly erected a fort upon the Meary, saw the importance of establishing communication overland with Bahia; and an enterprising Portuguese, named Joam do Valle, boldly undertook to proceed thither by land. He succeeded in the attempt; but the fatigues which he had undergone proved fatal to his life.

Gomes Freyre found it necessary to despatch another expedition, under Sousa, against the savages of the Amazons. After a severe campaign, which lasted over six months, this officer effected the object entrusted to him. The lower valley of the great river was pacified; a number of dangerous chiefs, together with more than a thousand Indians, had fallen; whilst half of that number were brought back in chains.

1687.

At this period the position of the French in the north of Brazil became a subject of disquietude to the authorities at Pará. Although, in virtue of the line of demarcation by Pope Alexander VI., Portugal claimed the entire Brazilian coast, from the Plata in the south to the Oyapok in the north, the maritime powers declined to admit her title. As early as the year 1608, the country between the Amazons and the Orinoco had been taken possession of by Robert Harcourt in the name of James I. for England, and that King had made him a grant of the territory lying between the former river and the Essequibo, which falls into the sea about the centre of what is now British Guayana. The scheme, however, was frustrated, as were all attempts on the part of adventurers of different nations to establish themselves about the Cabo do Norte and up the Amazons. It was during one of the expeditions of Raleigh that the harbour of Cayenne had first been noticed, and it subsequently attracted the attention of Harcourt. Some French adventurers settled at this locality about the year 1631. They had no commission from the Crown nor from any company; and, being left to their own resources, such of them as survived the hostilities between the native tribes in which they took part, gradually became mixed with the savages.

A few, however, had escaped to France; and it was on their representations that an expedition was sent out under Charles Poncet, who was appointed Lieutenant-General of the country of the Cabo do Norte, a district which was not too minutely defined, and which he interpreted generally to include the whole coast between the Amazons and the Orinoco. This officer took out with him some four hundred men, with whom he attempted to form settlements at Cayenne, Surinam, and Berbice, which three places now form settlements in French, Dutch, and British Guayana respectively. Owing to his cruelty, however, he himself fell a victim to the vengeance of the savages, whilst the various settlements were attacked and cut up. About forty survivors made their escape to St. Kitts.

The disasters, however, of M. Poncet de Bretigny did not deter the company at Rouen from pursuing the enterprise in which they had embarked; and they continued for eight years after his death to maintain a fort at Cayenne. At this date a new company was formed, on the plea that the previous one had failed in fulfilling its conditions to the Crown. The chief of the next expedition, which consisted of seven hundred men, was the Sieur de Royville. But De Royville was no more fortunate than his predecessor, being murdered on the outward voyage. The twelve associates who had accompanied him lost no time upon their arrival in quarrelling amongst themselves and in beheading one of their number, whilst three others were deported to an island, where they soon fell victims to the savages. The colony was not successful; some of its members perished from disease, and others from hunger; whilst others again were brought to the boucan.6 The survivors were glad to seek the protection of the English, who were by this time established at Surinam.

1656.

1676.

A few years after this occurrence, the Dutch, finding Cayenne forsaken, occupied it in the name of the West India Company. This settlement promised favourably; its commander, named Guerin Spranger, fulfilled all the conditions required for forming a profitable colony; but Louis XIV., at this period, gave to a new French company the country between the two great rivers, appointing M. le Hevre de la Barre governor of Cayenne. Five vessels were sent out, having on board a thousand persons, and Spranger had no alternative but to submit. His country was not then at war with France, but high-handed proceedings were the order of the day. The French were so fortunate as to find themselves in possession of a ready-made colony. Two years later it was laid waste by the English; but it was immediately re-occupied by the French. In the war which succeeded the peace of Breda, Cayenne was again taken by the Dutch; but in 1676 it was once more captured by the French under the Comte d’Estrees.

Cayenne once more a French settlement, its guiding spirits lost no time in directing their attention towards the possessions of their neighbours. Their attempt to enter the Amazons was forbidden by the captain of Curupá, whilst five Frenchmen were found by the Jesuits trading for slaves in the interior.

1687.

About the year 1687 the province of Ceará was so infested by the neighbouring savages that it was declared lawful and necessary to make war against them; and the hostilities were prosecuted with such vigour as to free the province from their presence for the future.

1688.

1694.

In proof that the trade of Brazil was steadily increasing, it is stated that, in 1688, the fleet which sailed from Bahia was the largest which had ever left that port, and yet that it did not contain tonnage sufficient for the produce. A trade had sprung up between Buenos Ayres and Brazil, and when it was prohibited, alike by the Spanish and by the Portuguese Governments, goods to the amount of three hundred thousand cruzados were left on the merchants’ hands at Nova Colonia, and of double that amount at Rio de Janeiro. The Government showed their appreciation of the importance of Bahia by putting its forts in a proper state of defence. Three additional settlements in the Reconcave were now large enough to be formed into towns; and the currency in Brazil was now put upon a proper footing by a regulation which permitted only milled pieces to pass, the practice of clipping having been hitherto prevalent.

The escaped negroes who had taken refuge in the Palmares or palm forests, in the interior of Pernambuco, have already been mentioned. In the course of threescore years they had acquired strength and daring. Not contented with being left unmolested, they infested several Portuguese settlements; one of their chief reasons being to carry off women. They were under the government of a chief who was elected, and who listened to such whose experience gave them the right to counsel him. He was obeyed implicitly. His people did not abandon the sign of the cross. They had their officers and magistrates; and the greater crimes were punished with death. As they carried on a regular intercourse with the Portuguese settlements by means of their slaves, the evil arising from them as a place of refuge became so great that it was necessary to make an effort to put an end to it.

The negro settlement in the Palmares was reputed to be so strong that the authorities of Pernambuco long hesitated to attack it; but at length Caetano de Mello determined to make a vigorous effort with the object of exterminating this formidable organization. With this end he solicited from the Governor-General the aid of the camp-master of a regiment of Paulistas, and that officer was accordingly directed to proceed to join him. On his way, however, at the head of a thousand men, he unwarily resolved to reconnoitre the Palmares, and found himself in front of a double palisade of hard wood, enclosing a circle four or five miles in extent, and within which were some twenty thousand persons. The enclosure contained a rock which served as a look-out station; and it was surrounded by a number of smaller settlements, in which were stationed selected men.

1665.

In front of this strong position the Paulista leader pitched his camp. On the third day the negroes sallied forth; and so fierce a conflict ensued that more than eight hundred persons were killed or wounded, with the result that the assailants were glad to retreat to Porto Calvo. At that point a force of six thousand men was assembled, which had been gathered from Olinda, Recife, and elsewhere. The retreat gave the negroes time to prepare for the attack which they awaited. Their fighting strength is said to have amounted to ten thousand men. The Portuguese army advanced without delay, and encamped in front of the fortifications. The negroes, not having anticipated an attack of this nature, were unprovided with sufficient powder. On the other hand, the Portuguese had neglected to bring artillery.

Under these circumstances, the struggle between the two parties became one of endurance. Any attempt to cut a way through the palisade was easily foiled; but the negroes not only felt the want of weapons, but likewise that of provisions. The Portuguese, too, were for some time on short allowance; but they were reinforced by large convoys of cattle from the San Francisco, and the despair which this sight occasioned to the besieged deprived them of the courage to withstand the attack which was simultaneously made. The gates were hewn down; and the chief and some of his followers, preferring death to renewed slavery, threw themselves down from the rock. The survivors of all ages were brought away as slaves.

About this time the question was formally raised as to the limits of the territory claimed by the French and by the Portuguese, respectively, M. de Ferrol, the Governor of Cayenne, claiming for France the whole to the north of the Amazons. He received for reply that it was the duty of the Portuguese governor to maintain possession of that which had been entrusted to his predecessors and to himself, and which included both sides of the river, together with the whole of the interior. M. de Ferrol, after some time, sent an expedition against the fort of Macapá, which had lately been erected at the Cabo do Norte, and which surrendered to him. In writing to the governor of Maranham, M. de Ferrol justified this expedition on the ground that the place was within the limits of the French colony. Three hundred men were at once sent to recover the fort, which was thereupon put into a state of defence, pending a reference to Europe; but, owing to complications in European policies, it was allowed to remain in the hands of Portugal without further demur on the part of France.

1696.

Meanwhile the condition of the Indians throughout Brazil had gradually improved. For this they were indebted chiefly to the importation of negroes, but partly also to legislation. Throughout all the old captaincies, with the exception of St. Paulo, a pure Indian—that is to say one without negro blood—was declared free on demanding his freedom. This consummation must have gladdened the closing days of Vieyra’s life. His memorable existence was prolonged to the age of ninety; he having been for seventy-five years a member of the Order of Jesus. His brother Gonçalo survived him by one day.

CHAPTER VII.

BRAZIL; THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

1600-1700

At the close of the seventeenth century the Portuguese race had established themselves along the whole extent of the coasts of the vast region which now forms the Brazilian Empire,—from Pará in the north to Rio Grande Do Sul at the other extremity. Of the interior of these immense provinces, extensive spaces—equal, indeed, to the size of European kingdoms—were then, and are still, uninhabited. The clouds driven westward by the periodical winds which prevail at certain seasons on the Southern Atlantic, meeting the huge and unbroken barrier of the Andes, are forced to discharge their contents in continuous deluges over the entire area of Central Brazil, thus giving birth to the most voluminous water-systems which the world contains. But this is not the only result of the almost incessant downfall of waters which is witnessed on the eastern slopes of the Andes. Another result is that the superabundant moisture, falling upon a soil under the influence of a burning sun, produces an extent and luxuriance of tropical vegetation such as is nowhere else to be seen on the surface of the earth. This vegetation has hitherto, throughout all ages, baffled the efforts of man to contend with it; and ages will elapse ere the increase of the world’s population will force mankind to bend themselves to the huge effort of subduing this teeming virgin forest.

To give any clear idea of the mere extent of the region which now forms the Empire of Brazil is no trifling task. It is easy to say that it extends from the fourth degree of northern latitude to about the thirty-fourth degree of southern latitude, and that at its widest extent it covers the space between the thirty-fourth and the seventy-third degrees of western longitude. But it will give a far more accurate estimate of the superficies of Brazil if we compare its area with something which we can realize. Its area is estimated at 8,515,848 geographical square kilometres, or 3,275,326 English square miles,—the area of British India being 899,341 English square miles;—that is to say, Brazil has an extent equaling about three and two-thirds that of British India. The area of France is 208,865 English square miles, being considerably less than one-fifteenth of that of Brazil. But perhaps the best way of estimating the extent of the Brazilian provinces is to spread out a map of South America and compare their united bulk with that of one of the adjoining countries even of that colossal continent. The contiguous state of Uruguay, for instance, covers 73,500 English square miles, being double the area of Portugal; yet Uruguay would scarcely seem to add materially to the superficies of the adjoining empire, of which in extent it forms less than a forty-fourth part. Thus the little kingdom of Portugal annexed in America alone an empire almost ninety times larger than itself.

It may be of interest to give a general idea of the progress which the Portuguese race had made in effecting the conquest and civilization of the regions lying along the immense line of coast indicated above during the seventeenth century. Maranham had now been in their undisputed possession for seventy years, its seat of government being placed in the island of the same name. The capital boasted three churches and four convents; the European population of the State was estimated at the middle of the century at about four hundred, a number which in ten years had increased to seven hundred, whilst in 1685 there were more than a thousand Portuguese in the city of St. Luiz alone. The rank and privileges of nobles were conferred upon all who had held a commission even for a few months in the local militia; indeed at one place the brotherhood of the Misericordia, which consisted of men of inferior rank, could find no recruits, since, with their exception, the whole population had become ennobled.

In order to reward the services of the inhabitants of Maranham and Pará, it was decreed that none of them should be put to the torture, excepting in such cases as rendered torture applicable to Fidalgos; they were likewise not to be imprisoned; but to be held on parole. They received the privileges of the citizens of Lisbon, and were not liable to be impressed either for land-service or for sea-service.

The revenue consisted for the most part of the tenths, which, about the middle of the century, might average five thousand cruzados.7 There was a duty on wine; but little was imported, as the natives prepared a spirit extracted from maize and from the sugar-cane. A fifth of the slaves taken in lawful war belonged to the Crown. Some idea of the vastness of these provinces may be conceived from the fact that the voyage from S. Luiz to Belem occupied thirty days. In 1685 the latter city contained about five hundred inhabitants, with a clerical and monastic establishment out of all proportion to its numbers. The tenths of Pará and its subordinate captaincies amounted to about four thousand cruzados; whilst the saltworks produced two thousand more, and the fisheries an equal amount.

The salary of the Governor-General was three thousand cruzados; but on the whole the salaries to the various public officers were so small as almost to compel them to have recourse to other means of living. The priests were said to be of the very lowest order, being chiefly engaged in securing gain and in exciting discontent against the Jesuits, whose mental acquirements and whose manner of life were alike a reproach to their inferior brethren. The natives of Brazil held in the utmost horror and detestation the lot of slavery to which so many of them fell heirs. It is even said that many captives preferred death to being ransomed for the purpose of being thrown into perpetual captivity; and instances are on record when slave-hunters in vain set fire to the dwellings of Indians with a view to inducing them to come out and be captured.