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                            SOUTH AMERICA.


         “Fall’n nations gaze on Spain; if freed, she frees
          More than her fell Pizarros once enchain’d;
          Strange retribution! now Columbia’s ease
          Repairs the wrongs that Quito’s sons sustain’d.”
                      --_Childe Harold._




                        SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE

                             SOUTH AMERICA

                                DURING

                         THE COLONIAL PERIOD.

                                  BY
                         ROBERT GRANT WATSON,
    EDITOR OF “MURRAY’S HANDBOOK OF GREECE,” FOURTH EDITION, 1872.

                           _IN TWO VOLUMES._

                               VOL. II.

                                LONDON:
                     TRÜBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL.
                                 1884.

                       [_All rights reserved._]

                           Ballantyne Press
                      BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
                         EDINBURGH AND LONDON




CONTENTS OF VOL. II.


                                                                    PAGE

CHAPTER I.

BRAZIL; THE DUTCH WAR: 1623-1637                                       1

CHAPTER II.

BRAZIL; THE DUTCH WAR. GOVERNMENT OF COUNT
MAURICE OF NASSAU: 1638-1644                                          22

CHAPTER III.

BRAZIL; THE DUTCH WAR; RISING OF THE PORTUGUESE: 1644-1645            42

CHAPTER IV.

BRAZIL; CONCLUSION OF THE DUTCH WAR: 1646-1661                        53

CHAPTER V.

JESUIT MISSIONS IN NORTHERN BRAZIL: 1652-1662                         76

CHAPTER VI.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN SOUTH AMERICA: 1657-1696               95

CHAPTER VII.

BRAZIL; ITS PROGRESS DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: 1600-1700       112

CHAPTER VIII.

PERU; PROGRESS OF THE VICEROYALTY: 1551-1774                         126

CHAPTER IX.

VICEROYALTY OF NEW GRANADA: 1535-179O                                146

CHAPTER X.

CHILI; PROGRESS OF THE COLONY: 1604-1792                             159

CHAPTER XI.

BRAZIL; DISCOVERY OF THE MINES; ATTEMPT OF THE
FRENCH ON RIO DE JANEIRO: 1702-1720                                  169

CHAPTER XII.

BRAZIL; DISCOVERY OF THE DIAMOND DISTRICT:
1724-1749                                                            186

CHAPTER XIII.

PROGRESS OF BUENOS AYRES: 1580-1800                                  203

CHAPTER XIV.

BRAZIL; THE WAR OF THE SEVEN REDUCTIONS:
1750-1761                                                            218

CHAPTER XV.

EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM PORTUGAL AND BRAZIL: 1759-1767         232

CHAPTER XVI.

EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM BUENOS AYRES AND
PARAGUAY: 1749-1805                                                  247

CHAPTER XVII.

BRAZIL IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY; ARRIVAL OF THE
BRAGANZAS: 1776-1806                                                 256

CHAPTER XVIII.

ENGLISH EXPEDITIONS TO LA PLATA, UNDER BERESFORD,
AUCHMUTY, AND WHITELOCKE: 1806-1807                                  271

APPENDIX                                                             295




SOUTH AMERICA.

Book II.




CHAPTER I.

_BRAZIL; THE DUTCH WAR._

1623-1637.


The appearance of the Dutch as actors on the Brazilian stage arose, as
might be expected, from the connection of the Low Countries with Spain
and from that of Spain with Portugal. Their success in attacking the
sources of their enemy’s supplies in the East led to the establishment
of a West Indian Company, the chief object of which was to make
conquests in _Brazil_. A fleet was fitted out under the command of
Willekens, who had under him the celebrated Peter Heyne. The religious
intolerance from which the Dutch had themselves so terribly suffered at
the hands of their Spanish rulers had taught them to be tolerant in such
matters towards others, and to this circumstance they were now indebted
for much valuable information respecting _Brazil_, which they received
from the Jews who had taken refuge amongst them.

The Dutch fleet sailed at the close of 1623, and when they had crossed
the line, the commander found that his sealed instructions directed him
to attack _S. Salvador_. A storm, however, interrupted this programme;
and Willekens, on reaching the neighbourhood of _Bahia_, was compelled
to delay for some days, awaiting his comrades. On the news of his
approach being communicated to the governor, it was received at first
with Brazilian apathy, which, however, was succeeded by alarm on his
strength being correctly reported. The colonial forces were mustered for
the defence of their possessions; but, as no immediate attack was made,
alarm in time again gave way to apathy, and the colonists dispersed to
attend to their individual concerns. When Willekens had collected his
fleet, he found _S. Salvador_ undefended; and on the following day he
took possession of the place without opposition. In this easy manner the
Dutch, without having had to strike a blow, became masters of the
capital of _Brazil_.

Willekens had with him a soldier of experience, Van Dort, who now took
the command on shore. The fortifications were repaired, and
proclamations were issued offering full possession of their property and
freedom of worship to all such as would submit. Amongst those who were
thus brought under Dutch rule were two hundred Jews. The Brazilian
authorities, who imagined that this was merely a predatory expedition on
the part of the Dutch, such as they had become more or less accustomed
to on the part of Englishmen or Frenchmen, were astonished to find that
the Hollanders meant to keep possession of what they had taken. Their
national spirit revived with the realization of this fact; and as a
consequence measures were concerted to recover their honour and their
property. The governor having been taken prisoner, the bishop and other
chief persons opened his succession papers, by which they found that
their obedience was now due to the governor of _Pernambuco_. Messengers
were accordingly sent to advise him of his new position, and meanwhile
the command was vested in the bishop Teixeira. His force consisted of
fourteen hundred Portuguese and two hundred and fifty natives, with
which he established a fortified camp about a league from the city,
procuring three guns from a vessel which had taken refuge in one of the
rivers of the _Reconcave_.

The bishop, who was at least energetic, if not otherwise qualified for a
military command, was so fortunate at the outset as that the Dutch
general, Van Dort, fell at the hands of one of his skirmishing parties,
while the officer who succeeded him was shot. In the midst of this
undecided situation it seems strange indeed that the invaders should
have been so confident as to admit of Willekens sailing for Holland with
eleven vessels. A few days after his departure, his next in command,
Admiral Heyne, sailed in turn with the remaining vessels for _Angola_,
his object being to secure a supply of negroes for the Dutch colony in
_Brazil_. The admiral was, however, baffled in this object; and,
returning to South America, he met with no more good fortune in an
attempt upon _Espirito Santo_. Proceeding from there to _Bahia_, he
found the Spanish and Portuguese fleets in possession, and, being unable
to oppose them, made sail for Europe.

The loss of _Bahia_ had fallen like a thunderbolt on the court of
Madrid; and orders were given to have a great fleet equipped for the
purpose of recovering that city, whilst immediate succours were sent to
such other ports as were supposed to be most in danger, namely, to
_Pernambuco_, _Rio de Janeiro_, and _Angola_. The Spanish Government
showed on this occasion the spirit by which it was chiefly animated, by
ordering all sorts of religious exercises to be undertaken in connection
with the recent calamity. The authorities of Portugal were instructed to
inquire into and punish the crimes which had drawn down so marked a
manifestation of the Divine vengeance as the delivery of the capital of
_Brazil_ into the hands of heretics. Special prayers, to be repeated
during nine successive days, were ordered throughout the kingdom, whilst
a litany was composed for use at daily mass. In addition to this, a
solemn religious procession was ordered in every town and village. The
Portuguese, to whom the loss of their chief Brazilian town came more
immediately home, showed their concern at the intelligence in a more
worldly fashion; the city of Lisbon giving a donation of one hundred
thousand crowns to the Government towards its recovery, and the Dukes of
Braganza and Caminha twenty and sixteen thousand, respectively. The
nobles generally offered their persons and property in the public
service, whilst men of the highest rank embarked as volunteers,--amongst
them Noronha, who had been Portuguese Viceroy in India. The armament now
sent out to _Brazil_ was so thoroughly a national one on the part of
Portugal that it is said there was not one noble family in the country
which was not represented in it. It consisted of six-and-twenty vessels,
bearing four thousand men, and they were to join the Spanish fleet at
the Cape _de Verds_. The latter fleet, however, had not been equipped
with the breathless haste displayed in the case of that of Portugal; and
the Portuguese had thus to wait during nine weary weeks at the place of
rendezvous for the arrival of the Spaniards. Of the proportions of the
Spanish fleet, however, nothing could be said, since it consisted of
forty sail, bearing eight thousand men.

[Sidenote: 1625.]

Albuquerque, the governor of _Pernambuco_, and who was now governor of
_Brazil_, being unable to muster a sufficient force to cope with the
Dutch, contented himself with harassing them by attacking their outposts
and cutting off their supplies. In March 1625 the united fleets of Spain
and Portugal appeared off _Bahia_, and so intoxicated were the
Brazilians at the sight that they forthwith made an attack on the Dutch
entrenchments. The attack, however, was premature, and they were
repulsed with loss. The city had been fortified with careful science,
and was defended by ninety-two pieces of artillery. The Spanish
commander, _Don_ Fadrique de Toledo, who knew that reinforcements were
expected from Holland, proposed to land three thousand men leaving the
rest on board to intercept the enemy’s succours. It was resolved,
however, to land half of the army; whilst the fleet, by stretching
across the entrance to the bay, should, at the same time, blockade the
ships in port and cut off supplies.

The besieged Hollanders first made a bold attempt with six hundred men
to surprise the camp, by which they effected considerable slaughter; and
next, by means of two fire-ships, to burn the blockading fleet. The
latter attempt, however, recoiled upon themselves, for the Spanish were
so alarmed at the possibility of danger such as that which they had
escaped, that they resolved without loss of time to destroy the Dutch
ships. The Dutch drew their vessels under the forts; but a way was hewn
through the rocks which exposed them to artillery fire, and the greater
number were sunk. Meanwhile a portion of the garrison became mutinous;
the French and English mercenaries, who were sure of quarter, refused
any longer to fight, and nothing was left for the Dutch commander but to
capitulate. He and his men were to receive shipping and stores to convey
them to Holland, and sufficient arms for their defence by the way; but
the city of _Bahia_, which was given up on the 1st of May, suffered
considerably at the hands of those who had come to expel the invaders.
There was, however, some difficulty in executing the terms of
capitulation, for the country round _Bahia_, having been taxed beyond
its resources, was now destitute of provisions, and before these could
be procured from the neighbouring captaincies the state of affairs had
assumed altogether a new aspect.

Tidings at length arrived that the long-expected Dutch fleet, with
reinforcements, had passed the _Canaries_; and a Portuguese prisoner who
had escaped brought intelligence of its approach. Thereupon the two
thousand prisoners were placed on board of dismantled ships, which were
drawn under the guns of the fortress; and it was determined to await
the enemy’s approach within the harbour. On the 22nd of May the Dutch
fleet of thirty-four sail stood into the bay, under the delusion that
_S. Salvador_ was still held by their countrymen. The admiral, Henrik,
however, was soon undeceived; but in his confusion he lost the
opportunity of attacking the Spaniards and Portuguese with advantage. He
stood off to the north and passed _Olinda_ during a gale which carried
him on to the Bay of _Traiçam_, where the natives were disposed to
welcome any one who might deliver them from the hands of the Portuguese.
Here he landed his sick and fortified himself; but he was disturbed by
an expedition from _Pernambuco_ and _Paraïba_, upon which he thought it
better to re-embark his men and depart. Henrik’s fleet met with no
further success. He himself died, and the remains of his unfortunate
expedition found their way back to Holland.

The Spanish general, leaving a sufficient garrison in _Bahia_, now
sailed for Europe, taking the Dutch troops with him. The fleet
encountered storms, and three Spanish and nine Portuguese vessels
foundered; another sank on reaching the island of St. George; whilst two
were taken by a Dutch squadron. Another vessel caught fire from a
captured Dutch ship, together with which it was burned. In short,
Menezes, who had sailed out of the Tagus with six-and-twenty vessels,
returned to that river with his own alone. The Dutch prisoners had
parted from the fleet early enough to escape its disasters.

[Sidenote: 1627.]

In Holland, the recovery of _S. Salvador_ by Spain and Portugal, and the
bad fortune which had attended the expedition of Henrik, had naturally
the effect of considerably damping the public ardour on behalf of the
West India Company; but, the Prince of Orange steadily adhering to a war
policy, his views prevailed. The Spanish Government, warned by their
repeated losses at sea, resolved at length to keep up a strong naval
force in America; but, as was usual with them in all questions great or
small, lost a considerable amount of valuable time discussing whether it
would be better to equip the intended fleet in Europe or in _Brazil_.
Whilst this point was being decided on, the Dutch admiral, Heyne, in
1627, once more entered _Bahia_. As it was known that he was off the
coast, the governor, Oliveira, had made every preparation for its
defence. In particular, two-and-forty large pieces of cannon were placed
so as to bear upon the Dutch should they attempt to enter. In beating up
against the wind, Heyne was so unfortunate as to run his own vessel
between the two largest of the enemy’s floating batteries. But, on the
other hand, he was so placed that the Portuguese could not fire upon him
without endangering their countrymen; and in the course of half an hour
he had sent one of the batteries to the bottom; whereupon the others
struck. The Dutch, coming in boats, cut the cables of the smaller
vessels and carried them out, blowing up Heyne’s ship and another. The
admiral now sent four of his largest prizes to Holland, adding four
others to his own fleet, and destroying the rest.

Heyne, indeed, was as fortunate as Henrik had been the reverse. After a
cruise to the southward he returned to _Bahia_, when he undertook a most
perilous enterprise in attempting to cut out four ships from one of the
rivers of the _Reconcave_. They were some miles up the river, and
although preparations had been made to intercept his return, he brought
one vessel back with him and the lading of the other three. After this
exploit, Heyne, having taken his departure, fell in with and captured
the Spanish fleet from _Mexico_, thereby securing the greatest prize
which has ever been made at sea, and by which the West India Company
were amply reimbursed for all their former losses. As might be expected,
their schemes of conquest now revived. One of their captains took
possession of the island of _Fernando Noronha_, near _Pernambuco_; but
before it was effectually fortified, the Portuguese took the alarm and
sent a sufficient force to crush the new settlement.

[Sidenote: 1629.]

The West India Company lost no time in preparing fresh enterprises
against _Brazil_. This time their efforts were directed on _Pernambuco_,
from which province they estimated that one hundred and fifty vessels
might annually be freighted with sugar; whilst its harbours were
conveniently situated as points of departure whence their cruisers might
sail to intercept more rich prizes from the Spanish Main. In order to
ensure secrecy as far as possible, the preparations for their fleet were
distributed over several ports, and the ships were to rendezvous at the
_Cape de Verds_. Nevertheless, information of what was going on was
brought to Lisbon, and the court of Madrid was duly warned. The governor
of _Brazil_ was accordingly instructed to place both _Bahia_ and
_Olinda_ in a state of defence; whilst Mathias de Albuquerque was sent
out from Madrid, with some men and stores, to the assistance of his
brother, the captain of _Pernambuco_.

[Sidenote: 1630.]

On his arrival at _Olinda_, Mathias found the place almost utterly
undefended; nor did he himself do much to make things better. He had
brought out the news of the birth of a prince and heir of Spain; and
whilst _Olinda_ was occupied in merry-making over this joyous event, a
pinnace arrived from the _Cape de Verds_ announcing the assemblage there
of the Dutch fleet and its departure for _Brazil_. That fleet consisted
of fifty sail, under Henrik Loncq as general and Peter Adrian as
admiral. Eight of these had driven off the Spanish fleet near
_Teneriffe_. On the 15th of February they appeared before _Olinda_,
having on board about seven thousand men. The whole force of the town,
such as it was, was collected to oppose them, and the summons which
Loncq sent in was answered by a discharge of musketry. The entrance to
the harbour had been blocked by sunken vessels, and the sea was so rough
that the Dutch could not use their guns with effect.

But whilst a harmless cannonade was being carried on, Colonel
Wardenburg, taking sixteen ships some miles to the north of the town,
was able to land without opposition. Retaining only a few gunboats with
eleven pieces of artillery, he divided his troops into three divisions,
and on the following morning began his march towards _Olinda_. The news
of his landing had already produced a panic, and all were anxious that
their families and portable property should be placed in security in the
country. Under these circumstances, Wardenburg advanced without any
serious opposition, although it would have been easy in a wooded country
to impede his progress. Indeed, the river _Doce_ was itself an obstacle,
and the Dutch had to delay its passage until low tide, when they forded
it breast-high. At this point some shots from the gunboats caused a
general stampede. The redoubt at the entrance of _Olinda_ checked the
invaders for a moment; but it was soon overcome, and the town was given
up to be plundered.

The Portuguese governor had retreated to _Recife_, which place, however,
he had now not sufficient men to defend. As there was no hope of
preserving it, he set fire to the ships and warehouses, which contained
much valuable property; and there remained only for the invaders to
reduce the two forts of _St. Francisco_ and _St. George_, which
commanded the entrance to the harbour. Five days were suffered to elapse
before the latter was attacked. It was defended by Vieira and a band of
young men who had volunteered with him, with a courage and pertinacity
which formed a bright contrast to the confusion and pusillanimity
displayed by their countrymen. The two forts, however, could not hold
out long, and the Dutch fleet entered the harbour in triumph. Their hold
upon _Pernambuco_ was still further confirmed by the arrival, nine days
later, of another fleet with reinforcements.

When the fugitive inhabitants of _Olinda_, relieved from the actual
presence of the invader, found themselves unpursued in the country, they
began to collect their reason and to recover their composure. Their
general now pointed out to them that the object of the Dutch was gain
rather than glory; that they coveted the sugar and tobacco which
_Pernambuco_ could produce, and that the surest way to frustrate their
plans was to prevent them from cultivating these articles. Works were
accordingly begun at a distance of three miles from _Olinda_ and
_Recife_, and were prosecuted with the utmost alacrity by the population
in general, whilst four pieces of cannon were procured from the wreck of
a Dutch ship. Indeed such was the speed with which the camp was
constructed that it was already in a state of defence when the knowledge
of its existence first came to the ears of the invaders; and an attempt
to gain it by surprise was frustrated by the vigilance of Mathias de
Albuquerque. On this occasion the Dutch fled, leaving forty slain.

Emboldened by this success, the Portuguese now assumed the offensive and
laid an ambush for the Dutch general, who with six hundred men was
proceeding from _Recife_ to _Olinda_. He was taken by surprise, and owed
his safety to the flight of his horse. The danger of passing from one of
these towns to the other was so considerable, and afforded so good an
opportunity for Portuguese attack, that it gave rise amongst these to
the enrolment of a force who from the nature of their duties were called
bush-rangers. They consisted, for the most part, of peasants, who came
to the camp when they could spare time from their proper occupations.
These men, who were only occasional visitors to the camp, were well off;
but the fugitives from _Olinda_, some fifteen thousand in number, who
dwelt at _Bom Jesus_, as the camp was called, suffered excessively from
lack of provisions.

In the above respect the Dutch were no better off, for they could only
hope for relief from the sea, whilst the only water to be found at
_Recife_ was collected from pits dug in the beach, and was scarcely fit
for use. And although forests were before them, these were so well
guarded by the Portuguese that their only fuel was that which they had
brought with them. So pressing were the necessities of the Dutch, that
the high prices which it was worth their while to offer were sure to
tempt some of their mongrel opponents, three of whom were hanged by
Mathias after having been detected in a forbidden traffic with the
invader. The Dutch had nothing better to do but to endeavour to extend
their conquests by sea. Their first expedition was against the island of
_Itamaraca_, which contained twenty-three sugar-works, and was situated
eight leagues to the south of _Olinda_. They did not succeed, however,
in conquering it, and contented themselves with building a fort opposite
the neighbouring shore commanding the entrance of a port. In Fort
_Orange_ they left eighty men with twelve guns before returning to
_Recife_.

Whilst these events were passing, information of which was, of course,
conveyed to the court of Madrid, that Government was not wholly idle.
Nine vessels were despatched for the relief of the camp of _Bom Jesus_,
some of which fell into the hands of the enemy’s cruisers, so that but
little good resulted from their expedition. The inhabitants of the
province of _Pernambuco_ were on the whole left to defend their own
interests, it being hoped that the harassing warfare which they were
prosecuting would prove the best means of inducing the Dutch to withdraw
from the country. When it appeared, however, that the Low Countries were
fitting out a strong fleet to be sent to _Pernambuco_ under the command
of Admiral Hadrian Patry, who was to take out with him many Dutch
families as settlers, the Fabian policy of the court of Madrid was no
longer pursued. Again a fleet was equipped at Lisbon, the command of
which was given to _Don_ Antonio Oquendo. Of this force, which was
ultimately to proceed to Spanish America, ten vessels, with one thousand
men and twelve pieces of cannon, were destined for _Pernambuco_.

The fleet which sailed under Oquendo’s flag, besides the ten vessels
with troops for _Pernambuco_, consisted of twenty ships of war; whilst
four-and-twenty merchantmen, laden with sugar, joined him for the sake
of his convoy at _Bahia_, at which port he had been instructed to call.
This latter instruction gave the Dutch admiral time to reach _Recife_;
and, having landed his troops, he sailed out again, with sixteen ships,
in quest of the enemy. When the fleets came in sight of one another
Oquendo ordered his transports and merchant vessels to fall to leeward.
His own ship then engaged in a desperate struggle with that of his
opponent, whose vessel it grappled. Ere long the Dutch vessel was on
fire, and that of Oquendo narrowly escaped the same fate. It was,
however, towed away in time. The renowned admiral Patry, disdaining to
attempt to save his life, determined at least to preserve his colours
from falling into the hands of the enemy, and plunged with them into the
sea. In this fierce action, which was splendidly fought on both sides,
about three thousand men fell, the loss being pretty equally
distributed. On the morrow, Oquendo, having given orders to the Count of
Bagnuolo to take the succours into _Pernambuco_, proceeded on his way to
the Spanish Main to convoy the homeward-bound galleons.

Bagnuolo gained the port of _Barra Grande_, thirty leagues from the camp
of _Bom Jesus_. The troops were safely landed, and after a difficult
march joined Mathias de Albuquerque. The Dutch commander, knowing that
the Portuguese had received reinforcements, thought it necessary to
concentrate his troops at _Recife_, upon which he set fire to _Olinda_,
the entire city being consumed. But it was not long before the Dutch
discovered the impolicy of this latter measure, for, being concentrated
at _Recife_, the whole Portuguese force was brought to bear on that one
point. In order to make a diversion, three thousand men were despatched
to attack _Paraïba_. This place was defended by a fort which commanded
the bar, and the Dutch therefore determined to attack by land rather
than to enter the river. There was some severe fighting; but _Paraïba_
being reinforced from the camp, the invaders were at length constrained
to retire, leaving their stores behind them. The next attempt of the
Dutch was upon _Rio Grande_, at the entrance of the river _Potengi_; but
here too they were unsuccessful.

Whilst _Olinda_ remained closed, the trade between the province of
_Pernambuco_ and Portugal passed for the most part through a port, about
seven leagues to the north of _Recife_, called _Pontal de Nazareth_, so
named from a celebrated church on a mountain, possessing a
miracle-working image of the Virgin. It was fortified with four guns,
and had a garrison of nearly two hundred men. On this place the Dutch
directed their next attempt; but, not liking its appearance, they
coasted along, meaning to land in a creek some distance beyond. It so
happened that they were received by a sharp fire from a party of
soldiers who were escorting some treasure, and whose numbers were
concealed by the thicket. Thinking that a strong party had been sent
thither from _Nazareth_, the Dutch commander now doubled back on that
place. He was, however, mistaken, and his attack on it was repulsed with
a loss of seventy men.

[Sidenote: 1632.]

The Dutch had now been for two years at _Recife_; but their conquests
were confined to the possession of that place and to a fort on the
island of _Itamaraca_. A gleam of good fortune, however, now awaited
them. A mulatto named Calabar, a native of _Pernambuco_, for some reason
not known, deserted to the invaders. He was possessed of such sagacity
and enterprise, and moreover was so well acquainted with the country,
that his assistance was invaluable. Although he had been the first to
desert, he was soon the means of inducing others to follow his example.
His earliest exploit was to lead the Dutch on an expedition to
_Garrasu_, which place he surprised whilst the inhabitants were at mass.
They plundered and burnt the town, treating the people with much
cruelty.

Before the alarm occasioned by the fate of _Garrasu_ had cooled down,
Calabar next led the Dutch on a second expedition to the south, where
they destroyed another settlement. He then guided them to the river
_Fermoso_, and surprised five ships nearly laden. On the Portuguese
building a little fort here to prevent the recurrence of a similar
disaster, Calabar once more attacked the place, when the commander and
nineteen out of the twenty men of the garrison fell in its defence.
Indeed, Calabar completely embarrassed his late commander, whose every
plan was thwarted, and who was utterly at a loss what to do. His
measures were so uniformly unsuccessful that he did not escape from his
countrymen the suspicion of treachery, though he may be acquitted of
anything further than incapacity.

The results of this warfare were so meagre and its progress so slow,
that the West India Company now resolved upon the step of sending out
two commissioners with full powers to decide as to its continuance or
otherwise. They brought with them fresh stores and three thousand men.
As the chances of the war were now in their favour, they resolved to
pursue it. They did so with vigour; and, having gained some successes,
determined to attack the camp. The attempt was made on Good Friday, when
it was supposed that the Portuguese would be employed in religious
ceremonies. Three thousand men advanced under the Dutch commander
Rimbach; but they were received by a hot fire, by which Rimbach himself
fell, and were forced to retreat in great disorder. The next attempt of
the invaders was upon the island of _Itamaraca_, in which they were this
time successful. The loss which the Portuguese thus repeatedly
sustained was not made up to them by reinforcements, and their whole
force had now dwindled to twelve hundred men. This state of things
suggested to the Dutch commissioners the idea of winning the camp by
siege. The natural difficulties of the country, however, put an end to
this plan so soon as it was attempted to put it into execution.

The indefatigable Calabar next projected an expedition to a greater
distance, namely, to some lagoons forty-six leagues to the south of
_Recife_. The object appears to have been merely to create terror
amongst the inhabitants; and the Dutch ere long perceived the impolicy
of ravaging a country which it was their object to possess. It was their
good fortune to intercept a small squadron and a supply of stores, sent
from Lisbon to the relief of the Portuguese. After a struggle, one of
the Portuguese men-of-war was driven on shore, the men, the guns, and
part of the cargo being saved; but the other man-of-war was sunk. The
commander of the first Portuguese vessel received orders to embark his
men at _Cunhau_, where four vessels would be ready to receive them.
These, however, had scarcely got under weigh when the Dutch were upon
them. Three were burnt; the fourth was taken. This affair proved one of
the greatest losses which the Portuguese suffered during the entire
expedition. Of the six hundred men sent out, but one hundred and eighty
reached the camp.

The next attempt made by the Dutch was against _Rio Grande_, their
guide, as usual, being Calabar. The fortress was defended by thirteen
guns; but it was commanded by a sand-hill, to which Calabar led the
besiegers. _Rio Grande_ fell almost immediately; and five hundred men,
who arrived from _Paraïba_ to its assistance, had the mortification of
seeing the Dutch flag flying over its walls. Indeed, the Dutch were now
victorious on all sides; for they had, by means of emissaries, been
able to rouse against the Portuguese the _Tapuyas_, a barbarous tribe
who had been driven by the latter into the interior, and who now took a
merciless vengeance upon their women and children; and the Portuguese
were still further harassed by a collection of negroes, who had from
time to time escaped from slavery, and who had settled in a tract of
country called the _Palmares_.

[Sidenote: 1634.]

In February 1634 the Dutch commander quitted _Recife_, leaving that
place with so diminished a force that Albuquerque determined to attempt
to surprise it--an attempt which only failed owing to the lukewarmness
with which it was carried out. The Dutch had gone in force to _Paraïba_,
their object being to get possession of _St. Augustines_, the point at
which stores and troops for _Brazil_ usually landed, and whence much of
the produce of _Pernambuco_ was shipped. Having thrown the Portuguese
off their guard by a feint, the Dutch proceeded along the coast to a
place called _Pedras_. Eleven of their vessels ran in across the bar,
whilst they were followed through an opening in the reef by the launches
with Calabar and a thousand men on board. The port of _Pontal_ was now
in the possession of the Dutch, but as the bar was still commanded by
the Portuguese, the former could only communicate with their main force
outside by means of the opening in the reef by which Calabar had
entered.

Albuquerque and his general arrived ere long from the camp with three
hundred men, and, having collected a force of eight hundred, proceeded
to attack the Dutch in the town. The latter were thrown into confusion,
and the Portuguese would have easily regained _Pontal_ but for a party
of their own men who were sent to surprise the Dutch by attacking them
on the flank, but who surprised their comrades instead. The Portuguese,
however, were in such strength that their opponents could not push their
advantage against them. Indeed, the Portuguese general felt confident
that the Dutch ships in port must fall into his hands; but he had not
realized the resources of their ingenuity. Although it was impossible
for them to escape without loss over the bar as they had entered, they
were yet enabled to enlarge the opening in the reef sufficiently to
admit of the egress of their vessels. They, however, left a garrison of
two thousand men to defend the town of _Pontal_.

The Dutch at this time were still further reinforced by three thousand
five hundred men, the first use made of which was to make a renewed
attack upon _Paraïba_, a flourishing town of about a thousand
inhabitants, and having twenty sugar-works in its neighbourhood.
_Paraïba_ is situated some three miles up the river of the same name,
the entrance of which was commanded by Fort _Cabedello_. Before this
place the Dutch appeared with two thousand four hundred men, and
effected their landing without loss. As they were vastly superior to the
Portuguese in numbers, they carried all before them, although much
bravery and devotion was shown on the side of their opponents. Fort
_Cabedello_ fell, and with it Fort _St. Antonio_ on the other side of
the river. The inhabitants of _Paraïba_ were now advised to lose no time
in retiring with their families. Some of them did so, but the greater
number remained, willing to submit to any authority that could protect
them, and thus the province of _Paraïba_ fell into the hands of the
invaders.

Following up this success, the Dutch commander next reduced the
captaincy of _Itamaraca_, lying between _Paraïba_ and _Pernambuco_. Both
the camp of _Bom Jesus_ and the port of _Nazareth_ were now
simultaneously attacked. The former, being inland and cut off from
communication with the latter, suffered greatly from want of provisions.
After a three months’ siege the camp surrendered, on the condition that
the garrison should march out with the honours of war and have a free
passage to the Spanish Indies. No terms were granted to the provincial
force, who now became Dutch subjects, and whose first experience of
their new rule was that they were shamefully ill-used until they paid
the life-ransom which their conquerors demanded. The fortifications of
the camp were razed.

The siege of _Nazareth_ was now pressed. The place was so closely beset
that no supplies could be introduced into it excepting by sea. The Dutch
scoured the country in all directions; but Albuquerque was enabled to
introduce some provisions by means of three dismantled barques. These
stores, however, could only put off the evil day for a time, and the
garrison were reduced to great distress. Many died at their posts from
want of food, and at length Albuquerque, who had taken up his post at
_Villa Fermosa_, about six leagues to the south, determined to give up
the fort, which accordingly capitulated upon the same terms as had been
granted to the camp.

Notice was now given to the inhabitants of _Pernambuco_ of the intention
on the part of the Portuguese authorities to evacuate the portion of the
captaincy which was situated round the capital. Such of the people as
might choose to emigrate were offered protection; but the greater number
preferred to submit to the Dutch. About eight thousand persons
emigrated, not including Indians or slaves. Their way led past _Porto
Calvo_, which was in the hands of the Hollanders. Albuquerque took
precautions against an attack, and a native of the place, who had
submitted to the Dutch, was allowed to go out to reconnoitre. He
contrived to drop a letter in the sight of the sentinels. This was
conveyed to Albuquerque, and informed him that the dreaded Calabar had
entered _Porto Calvo_ on the previous evening with two hundred men. On
the report of the same informer the Dutch commander was easily persuaded
to attack the Portuguese. He fell into an ambuscade, and had to retreat,
leaving fifty men on the field. The victors pursuing, entered the
fortified place and won it after a desperate struggle, more than half
of the garrison being slain. The Portuguese, too, lost heavily; they
were not, however, discouraged, and secured every pass by which the
enemy might send for succours. The Dutch were now deprived of water, and
were closely besieged. After six days they were forced to surrender, and
were offered good terms, namely, to be sent by way of Spain to Holland.
_Porto Calvo_ was the native place of Calabar, and here he ended his
career by being hanged.

Albuquerque now razed the fortifications of _Porto Calvo_ and buried the
guns which he had taken. He then conducted the emigrants to the
_Lagoas_, where they dispersed, some going to _Bahia_ and others to _Rio
de Janeiro_. The Portuguese military force now left at the _Lagoas_
consisted of four hundred men, besides Indians, and it was determined to
fortify the southern settlement.

The Dutch meanwhile were giving the court of Madrid serious cause for
alarm, by building naval arsenals at _Recife_, such as made them no
longer dependent on Europe for the repairs of their fleet. Cornelis Jub,
with fourteen vessels, took possession of _Fernando Noronha_. He thence
sailed to intercept the Mexican fleet, and came up with it at the
_Bahamas_. Owing to the misconduct of some of his captains, he failed to
capture it; but the danger to which it had been exposed caused the king
of Spain to give orders that no efforts should be spared for the
recovery of _Pernambuco_. A force was accordingly prepared for this
purpose, and seventeen hundred men were sent forward in advance under
_Don_ Luiz de Roxas, who was to supersede Albuquerque. Roxas was landed
at the _Lagoas_ with his stores and men.

[Sidenote: 1635.]

[Sidenote: 1636.]

The new Spanish commander displayed no small amount of self-sufficiency,
choosing to disregard the advice given him by those who were acquainted
with the country. The Dutch, finding great inconvenience from the
communication, which it was impossible to prevent, between the
Brazilians who had submitted and the Portuguese authorities, now
ordered all who dwelt in the district of _Porto Calvo_ to move towards
the north. Leaving seven hundred men at _Lagoa_ under the Count of
Bagnuolo, Roxas at the beginning of the year began his march northwards
with twice that number. He was no sooner on the move than information
reached him that the Dutch general had retaken _Porto Calvo_. Upon this,
Rebello was sent forward with two companies to occupy the enemy until
the whole should come up. Schoppe, however, did not wait for their
appearance, but retreated to _Barra Grande_. Roxas then learned that
another Dutch general was advancing to Schoppe’s assistance, and, having
weakened himself by leaving five hundred men at _Porto Calvo_, he set
out in quest of him. The two forces were not long in meeting, but they
had to lie on their arms for the night. In the morning, Roxas, who had
meanwhile sent for his troops from _Porto Calvo_, did not wait for their
arrival, and in the fight which immediately ensued he was himself slain.
The Dutch commander did not pursue his success, but returned to
_Peripueira_.

The command now devolved upon the Count of Bagnuolo. He advanced to
_Porto Calvo_, where eighteen hundred men were collected, and from which
place the portion of the country in the hands of the Dutch was now
molested. The condition of the inhabitants was indeed deplorable, for
they were called upon to serve two masters, whose service was as
difficult to reconcile as that of God and Mammon. They were not even
allowed to practise their religion in peace, for the Dutch did their
best to bring them over to the reformed faith. The conquerors are stated
to have treated the colonists with inexcusable cruelty. They were not
only liable to death on the slightest suspicion of communicating with
the enemy, but were not unfrequently tortured to make them discover
their wealth.

Nor was the position of the Dutch a very happy one. They had won three
captaincies; but it was their object to develop the resources of these,
and as the Portuguese were now in sufficient strength to assume the
offensive in a harassing predatory warfare, this was not very easily
effected. It is not to be wondered at that the inhabitants of Pernambuco
should desire to emigrate, and that four thousand of them should put
themselves, with this end in view, under the convoy of the native chief
Cameram. They were conducted in safety over seventy leagues of a country
subject to the Dutch. Many more, who were unable to join this convoy,
attempted to follow and were cut off in so doing.

It being now evident that it was impossible to develop the resources of
the country until it should be completely subjected, representations
were addressed to Holland with this object in view. The fame and fortune
of the war had for the moment turned in favour of the Portuguese. It is
interesting to know that up to this date the expenses of the Dutch West
India Company amounted to forty-five millions of _florins_. They had
taken from the enemy no fewer than five hundred and forty-seven vessels.
More than thirty million _florins_ of prize-money had gone into the
public stock; and they had brought home from Africa merchandise to the
amount of almost fifteen millions more. Their receipts thus balanced
their expenditure, not to mention, their colonial possessions, and the
fact that they estimated that they had put the Spaniards to an outlay of
nearly two hundred millions. They now resolved to send out Jan Maurice,
Count of Nassau, as a general with unlimited powers, and with a force
sufficient to complete and secure their conquests. He reached _Recife_
in January 1637.




CHAPTER II.

_BRAZIL; THE DUTCH WAR; GOVERNMENT OF THE COUNT OF NASSAU._

1638-1644.


The Count of Nassau arrived in _Brazil_ at a critical moment, for the
Portuguese were so emboldened by success that even the road between
_Recife_ and _Olinda_ was not safe, and the sugar-works, whose existence
was of such vital importance, were placed in danger. The tenths of these
were at this time farmed for no less a sum than two hundred and eighty
thousand _florins_. Nassau distributed two thousand six hundred men
among the garrisons; whilst he formed an army of three thousand, and
assigned six hundred for predatory warfare. The stores had run so short
that it was difficult to supply the garrisons and at the same time to
provide the troops with provisions for a two months’ expedition.
Dutchmen, like Englishmen, fight well when well fed, but grumble sadly
when put on reduced rations. Such, however, was now their fate.

After a day of general prayer, Nassau began his march. The Dutch had
advanced unmolested to within two leagues of _Porto Calvo_ before the
Portuguese were informed of their movements. A sally was then made, but
without effect, and the same evening Nassau pitched his camp under the
fort. The Portuguese general, Bagnuolo, had retreated during the night,
and the Dutch could now communicate with their fleet at the mouth of the
river of _Pedras_ on which _Porto Calvo_ is situated. After fifteen
days, the fort, which had suffered greatly, surrendered on honourable
terms, the garrison being promised a passage to the Spanish Indies.
Bagnuolo retreated to the town of _San Francisco_, on the river of the
same name. His force, however, was totally disorganized, and had lost
all confidence in its general. Without waiting for the Dutch, he quitted
this position and fell back on _Seregipe_.

Having secured _Porto Calvo_, the Count of Nassau lost no time in
pursuing. He crossed the _Piagui_ river upon rafts, a passage of much
danger. He, however, did not think fit to pursue Bagnuolo beyond the
_San Francisco_. The Portuguese were now driven out of the province of
_Pernambuco_, and his object was to secure this river against them. The
town of _San Francisco_ having yielded, Nassau there built a fort, which
he called after his own name, Mauritz; and having crossed the river, he
made the inhabitants of the further shore, with their effects, pass over
to the northern bank. He then explored the river for about fifty leagues
upwards, finding magnificent pasturage with countless herds of cattle.
Delighted with the land, he wrote to his relative the Prince of Orange,
urging him to use his influence with the Company to induce them to send
over German colonists; he would even be glad of convicts, to develop by
their labour the resources of this region of plenty. He likewise asked
for more soldiers, and for provisions fitted for storing a fleet.

Whilst Nassau was occupied at the south, his countrymen were busily
engaged in the re-organization of _Olinda_ and _Recife_. All persons
there engaged in trade were formed into companies; the Jews were
permitted to observe their own Sabbath day; measures were taken to
convert the natives, and schools were opened for their children. The
rebuilding of _Olinda_ was encouraged in every way. Search was made for
mines, but for the most part in vain. At the commencement of the rainy
season, Nassau, leaving Schoppe with sixteen hundred men at Fort
_Mauritz_, returned to _Recife_, where his presence was much needed. The
weight of his position and authority, together with his strict justice,
overawed his countrymen, who had given a-loose to every kind of
lawlessness. Great irregularities, which had hitherto prevailed, were
now put a stop to; and from the tenths of the sugar, the flour, and
other duties, the government began to derive a considerable revenue. The
sugar-works which had been deserted were sold for the public benefit;
and some idea of their importance may be gathered from the fact that
they produced no less a sum to the West India Company than two million
_florins_.

Nor did Count Nassau overlook the advisability of inducing the
Portuguese to return to their possessions in the province, but on such
terms as might render them safe subjects. They were to be under the
Dutch laws and taxes; they were to possess entire liberty of conscience,
their churches being kept in repair by the state; but they were not to
receive any visitors from _Bahia_, nor were any fresh monks to be
admitted so long as a sufficiency should remain for the service of
religion. Two days of each week were to be set apart by the supreme
council for the administration of justice amongst them.

On these terms it was permitted to the exiles to re-enter into
possession of their property; and they were considered so fair, whilst
Nassau’s treatment of his prisoners was so generous, that the odium
against the Dutch was thereby sensibly diminished. Nassau also
established a beneficent system to be observed by his countrymen towards
the indigenous Brazilians.

The Count of Bagnuolo had established himself at _Seregipe_ or _St.
Christovam_. This small captaincy, which extends only for forty-five
leagues of coast, separates _Bahia_ from _Pernambuco_, being bounded on
the south by the _Tapicuru_, and by the _San Francisco_ on the north.
Thence Bagnuolo sent advices of his situation to all quarters; and
thence he renewed his system of predatory warfare. Three times did the
adventurer Souto, who had betrayed Calabar, cross the _San Francisco_ on
rafts and harass the unguarded Dutch, carrying devastation almost as
far as to _Recife_. To such an extent were these incursions carried,
that Nassau, who was at this time disabled by illness, had to send
Giesselin with two thousand men to strengthen Schoppe, with a view to
driving Bagnuolo out of _Seregipe_.

It was now a question with the Portuguese of making a stand at the
last-named place; but the arguments of prudence or of timidity
prevailed, and Bagnuolo once more retreated, having first sent a party
to lay waste the country behind him. The unhappy fugitives were dogged
by the revengeful natives, who had such long arrears of wrongs to repay.
In their misery many resolved to submit to their pursuers; but the
greater number still held on their melancholy way. In the meantime,
Schoppe advanced to _Seregipe_, which province he laid bare before his
return to Fort _Mauritz_, thus counteracting the prudent policy of
Nassau in respect to conciliating the Portuguese, who were now driven
onwards by despair towards _Bahia_.

The course of the war between Spain and Holland now takes us for a
moment from _Brazil_ to the coast of Africa; for, since the operations
on the latter continent were conducted under the orders of the Count of
Nassau, they must be connected with Brazilian history. Information was
sent to the Count by the commander of the Dutch fort of _Mouree_ on the
Gold Coast, that a well-directed attack on the important Portuguese
settlement of _St. Jorge da Mina_ would probably lead to the capture of
that place. Details as to its condition had been communicated to the
governor, who had further tampered with the garrison. The place had once
before been unsuccessfully attacked by the Dutch, and on this occasion
the remembrance of their former defeat called for the greater caution.
Eight hundred men were sent in a squadron of nine vessels under the
command of one of the Supreme Council. After a brief siege of four days,
and without the death of a single Portuguese, the place fell into the
hands of the Dutch. The invaders had, however, suffered considerably at
the hands of the negro allies of Portugal. Having left a garrison in
_St. Jorge_, the Dutch commander returned to _Recife_.

In the meantime Nassau was not idle in _Brazil_. The province of _Ceará_
fell into his hands; and he himself made a journey through the
captaincies of _Paraïba_ and _Potengi_, with the object of putting such
places as had suffered into due repair. He now received intelligence
from Lisbon that another large fleet was being equipped for _Brazil_,
and he took the precaution of soliciting reinforcements from the West
India Company. On his return from _Paraïba_, although he had only
received an addition of two hundred troops, he resolved to undertake an
expedition against _San Salvador_. The people of _Bahia_ were far from
expecting any such attack, but, fortunately for them, Bagnuolo, who had
been made wary by disasters, took precautions for them. By means of
spies he was made aware of the movements of Nassau, and took up his
quarters at _Villa Velha_, close to _San Salvador_. The chief of the
Portuguese intelligence-department--the active Souto, who had betrayed
Calabar--was despatched to _Pernambuco_ to gain more precise
information. He was not long in obtaining it; for, after having
gallantly attacked a Dutch force superior in numbers to his own, a
letter fell into his hands detailing the intentions of Nassau.

[Sidenote: 1638.]

The people of _Bahia_ were now awake to their danger; and, after a
hurried preparation of five days, the Dutch appeared off the bay. Having
landed in the afternoon at _Tapagipe_, they advanced on the following
morning against the city, which was defended by a garrison of fifteen
hundred men, in addition to a thousand or more from _Pernambuco_. The
first day the forces on either side faced each other in the open without
advancing to the attack; but, as these prudent tactics on the part of
their defenders did not suit the taste of the townspeople, Bagnuolo on
the following morning marched out to give the Dutch battle. The enemy
had, however, altered their position, and he had nothing better to do
than to return.

Nassau now commenced to attack the forts and to take possession of the
heights around the city; and the Portuguese in their hour of danger had
the good sense to concentrate the military command in one person,
Bagnuolo, whose zeal and activity at this critical moment justified the
confidence reposed in him. An attack made on the trenches of _San
Antonio_ by fifteen hundred Dutch was repulsed with the loss of two
hundred. The Dutch general was thwarted in his efforts, mainly through
want of local knowledge respecting the country in which these operations
took place. The intelligence-department of the Portuguese, on the other
hand, was admirably served, and the besieged were amply provided with
provisions, whilst there was a scarcity in the Dutch camp.

On the 1st of May the Dutch batteries were opened; but as fast as the
walls of the town disappeared before them, fresh works arose within.
Days and weeks went on, and Nassau began to experience much
inconvenience from the scarcity of provisions, an evil which his
foraging-parties were unable to remedy. He now resolved to carry the
trenches by storm, and on the evening of the 18th three thousand men
were ordered to the assault. The ditch was easily won; but a fierce
fight took place at the gate. All the forces were brought up to this
spot on either side. At length the Dutch gave way, notwithstanding all
the efforts of their general, and when darkness came on the knowledge of
the locality which the Portuguese possessed gave them a still further
advantage. Next morning Nassau asked for a truce for the purpose of
burying the dead. The Dutch had lost five hundred men slain, whilst
fifty others were made prisoners. The loss on the side of the Portuguese
was less than half the above number, but it included the indefatigable
Souto. For another week the besiegers continued a useless fire upon the
city, at the end of which time they abandoned their enterprise, having
suffered much from sickness during the six weeks’ siege. The Dutch
returned their prisoners, leaving sixty of their own, but they carried
away with them four hundred negroes.

Notwithstanding his repulse, Count Nassau did not abandon the hope of
taking _San Salvador_ at a more convenient season, and with this object
he now reiterated his request to the Company for reinforcements. That
body, after much deliberation, now resolved to throw open the trade with
_Brazil_, which had hitherto been their monopoly. Nassau, whose opinion
was asked, gave his advice in favour of this measure. He urged that the
only hope of creating a successful colony was by offering inducements to
Dutchmen to emigrate to _Brazil_, and that, were the trade not thrown
open, such inducements could not exist. His word carried the day; and
the monopoly of the Company was for the future confined to the traffic
in slaves, in implements of war, and in Brazilian woods.

The remembrance of the capture of the Mexican fleet by Heyne now induced
the Company to send out a large squadron, under the experienced Jol, to
attempt a similar feat. The old captain set out from _Recife_ in great
hopes, which were, however, doomed soon to disappointment. He indeed met
the Mexican fleet, which he resolutely engaged; but his captains did not
support him, and so the Spaniards escaped. This futile attempt, by
drawing away men at a moment when Nassau was sorely in want of succours,
was the cause of much embarrassment to that general in the execution of
his plans. Early in the following year [1639], Artisjoski brought out a
small reinforcement; but he himself soon returned to Holland, after
having brought some absurd charges against Count Nassau, which were at
once refuted.

At this period the West India Company were in possession of six
provinces in _Brazil_, extending from _Seregipe_ in the south to
_Ceará_ in the north. Of these the first had been laid waste, whilst
their hold on the last-named was confined to one small fort.
Nevertheless the natives were friendly allies of the Dutch. The
important captaincy of _Pernambuco_ contained five towns,
namely--_Garassú_, _Olinda_, _Recife_, _Bella Pojuca_, and _Serinhaem_;
it likewise possessed several considerable villages. Previously to the
Dutch invasion there had been one hundred and twenty-one sugar-works, of
which thirty-four were now deserted. In _Itamaraca_ fourteen works still
survived, of three-and-twenty which had existed before the conquest.
_Paraïba_ still possessed eighteen works out of twenty; whilst _Rio
Grande_ had one out of two. In the whole Dutch dominion one hundred and
twenty survived. The tenths of their produce were leased--in
_Pernambuco_ for 148,500 _florins_; in _Itamaraca_ and _Gojana_ for
19,000; and in _Paraïba_ for 54,000. With other items, the whole tenths
amounted to 280,900 _florins_.

Whilst the country had suffered severely from the Dutch invasion, the
city of _Recife_, being the seat of government and of commerce, had
thriven. Colonists were greatly wanted; more especially there was a
constant demand for skilled labour,--three, four, and six _florins_ a
day being given as wages to builders and carpenters. The Portuguese
inhabitants of these provinces were held in subjection only by fear,
with the exception of the Jews, who were excellent subjects. With the
native Brazilians the Dutch had considerable trouble; whilst negroes
were more scarce, and consequently more dear than before, some having
followed their Portuguese masters in their emigration, and others having
joined the black community at the _Palmares_. The military force of the
Dutch amounted to rather more than six thousand men, and they reckoned
on a thousand native auxiliaries; but all this force was required for
garrisons. On the whole, the colony could scarcely be pronounced
flourishing. Without supplies from Holland it could hardly furnish its
own food, since so many cultivators had been driven away. All possessors
of land were compelled under heavy penalties to devote a certain portion
of it to the cultivation of mandioc.

Count Nassau, who took a large-minded view of the future of his
countrymen in _Brazil_, now set about building himself a palace, which
he called _Friburg_, on an island near _Recife_; and to his gardens on
this spot he transplanted seven hundred full-grown cocoa-trees, as well
as lemons, citrons, and pomegranates. In order to relieve the crowded
state of _Recife_, he proposed to build another city on this island; the
marshy ground was soon drained by canals; streets were laid out, and
houses rapidly arose in _Mauritias_, which was to be connected by a
bridge with _Recife_. After the expenditure of a hundred thousand
_florins_, the contractor gave up the attempt in despair; but what could
not be effected by means of stone pillars was possible with the aid of
wood, and in two months the bridge was completed by Count Maurice
himself. On the success of this undertaking, Nassau next built another
bridge over the _Capivaribi_; thus connecting _Recife_ with the opposite
country through _Mauritias_. It is remarkable, if it be the case, as
stated, that these should be the first bridges erected in a region so
well watered as Portuguese America.

Nassau’s measures, showing as they did that the Dutch fully believed in
their power to retain what they had taken, were not a little calculated
to dishearten the Portuguese. But all hope was not lost at Lisbon. One
of the ministers obtaining an audience of the king, so forcibly
represented the ruinous consequences of the manner in which Brazilian
interests were treated, that the favourite, Olivares, found himself
compelled to make an effort for their relief. A grand fleet was
equipped, the command being given to the Count Datorre, who was named
governor of _Brazil_. This fleet, like so many others coming from the
same country, was destined to misfortune, its first calamity being to be
sent to the _Cape de Verds_, there to await its Spanish consorts, and
where it endured a terrible mortality, more than a third of the men
being cut off. When it had reached _Recife_, instead of being in a
condition to blockade that place, and so to reduce it by famine, its
commander was compelled by the numbers of sick on board to proceed to
_San Salvador_ [_Bahia_] as to a sanatorium. In this healthy climate his
men recovered, but a whole year elapsed before he was again in a
position to put to sea.

Meanwhile, before starting, the governor sent forward troops divided
into small parties, who were to carry fire and sword into the enemy’s
provinces, and finally to unite in one body and join operations with the
fleet when it should appear in sight. Nassau, however, had time to
prepare, and the opposing forces met at sea on the 12th of January 1639
near _Itamaraca_, when the Dutch admiral fell. Three more naval actions
ensued,--the last off the _Potengi_, so far had the Portuguese been
driven by the winds and currents beyond their destination. Thus by
superior manœuvering and by the advantages of weather, was a very
inferior force enabled to baffle a fleet consisting of no less than
eighty-seven vessels, and carrying two thousand four hundred pieces of
cannon. Once beyond _Recife_ at that season, that place was perfectly
secure for the meantime; for it was hopeless for the fleet to attempt to
retrace its way against the currents and the prevalent winds.

Under these circumstances the military force of thirteen hundred men,
together with the native allies, landed north of the _Potengi_. These
troops had before them the terrible task of finding their way by land to
_Bahia_ over a distance of three hundred leagues, through such a country
as is _Brazil_, and without any stores beyond what each man could carry.
After this the Count Datorre went before the wind to the West Indies
and thence to Europe. We are not surprised to learn that on reaching
Lisbon he was thrown into prison. His subordinate, Vidal, who was at the
head of the land forces, had no choice but again to break them up into
small parties. These being joined by the troops from the north, made
their way back, as well as was possible, to _Bahia_, which place the
fugitives reached in safety, having meanwhile subsisted, as it is said,
mainly upon sugar.

Nassau was not slow in pursuing the work of retaliation for the havoc
committed by the Portuguese. Two thousand _Tapuyas_, in alliance with
the Dutch, were let loose upon _Bahia_, their families being meanwhile
kept as hostages in the island of _Itamaraca_. Admiral Jol was next sent
to the _Reconcave_ to lay it waste with fire and sword. The whole of the
sugar-works in that extensive bay were destroyed. But ere long both
parties saw the folly of this desolating warfare, and the new Viceroy,
the Marquis of Monte Alvam, entered into negotiations with the Dutch for
suppressing it; but these bore no fruit until the province of
_Pernambuco_ had been by his secret orders in turn laid waste. His
predatory bands, however, were so well acquainted with the country that
they eluded the vigilance of the Dutch, and their proceedings were
publicly disowned by the Viceroy.

An important change in Europe at this time altered the face of affairs
in _Brazil_. In 1640 the Duke of Braganza recovered the throne of
Portugal. On information of this event reaching the Viceroy, measures
were at once taken for disarming the Spanish portion of the garrison;
after which King John was proclaimed. This news was received with
enthusiasm throughout _Brazil_, as it had been throughout Portugal. It
had an important bearing on the relations between Portugal and Holland,
inasmuch as either country was now at enmity with Spain, and it was
accordingly duly communicated to Nassau. A strange turn now took place
in the fortunes of the Viceroy himself. Two of his sons, it appeared,
had deserted the cause of their country and fled to Madrid, with the
result that Vilhena, a Jesuit, was sent to _Bahia_ with conditional
instructions to depose the Viceroy, in case he too should have followed
the same party. Although he had behaved most loyally to Portugal, he was
now improperly and outrageously superseded and sent a prisoner to
Lisbon.

[Sidenote: 1641.]

Meanwhile the news of the revolution in Portugal had been received with
great joy at _Recife_, as well by the Pernambucans as by the Dutch,
though for very different reasons. The inhabitants of _Pernambuco_, who
were anxious to shake off the foreign control, expected to receive more
effective aid in doing so than they had met with from Spain; whilst the
Dutch looked forward to securing their own conquests during a period
when their enemies were divided against themselves. Nor were the latter
mistaken in their calculation. Whilst general rejoicings were in
progress, a ship arrived from Holland announcing that a truce for ten
years had been agreed upon between the States and Portugal. Owing to
circumstances, however, which it requires some little attention fully to
appreciate, this truce proved wholly illusory.

Immediately after the revolution, the King of Portugal found himself in
a position demanding the utmost circumspection. His first object was to
secure the allegiance of the powers at enmity with Spain; that is to
say, of England, France, and Holland. His next object was to procure for
Portugal a supply of arms and ammunition, of which he had been in great
measure deprived by Madrid. With these objects in view, ambassadors were
at once despatched from Lisbon to the three countries above-named. The
Portuguese court contended that as their country had merely become
involved in hostilities with Holland as being an appendage of Spain,
they were, on becoming again independent, entitled to regain the
possessions which had been taken from them. The Dutch, on the other
hand, argued, with better reason, that as the resources of Portugal had
been employed against them, they were fully entitled to retain the
possessions which it had cost them so much to conquer and to hold. These
questions were for the meantime set at rest by the conclusion of a ten
years’ truce.

But the Dutch negotiators showed a Machiavellian spirit. A year’s time
was given for notifying the truce to the Dutch authorities in the
Indies, and with this proviso arms and ammunition were supplied to
Portugal, whilst troops and ships were sent to Lisbon to be employed
against the common enemy. The Dutch meanwhile treacherously required
Nassau, who had requested to be recalled, to seize the opportunity of
extending their conquests, more especially in reference to _Bahia_. The
only excuse which is put forward for this conduct on the part of
Holland, is that they did not believe that the separation between Spain
and Portugal would be lasting, and that in despoiling the latter country
they thought they were merely injuring their sworn enemy.

On the departure of the Viceroy from _Brazil_ the government had fallen
into the hands of a commission of three persons, who now sent Vilhena
the Jesuit, with another, to _Recife_ to establish a friendly
intercourse between the two colonies. Vilhena took advantage of the
opportunity to recover a considerable quantity of plate and other
treasure, which had been buried by the brethren of his order and by the
Albuquerques. Laden with this he sailed from _Brazil_ in a small vessel,
in which he duly reached _Madeira_. There, however, he became oppressed
with the apprehension of trusting his wealth once more to the small ship
which had carried him safely so far. It accordingly sailed without him,
and duly reached its destination. He himself was not so fortunate.
Thinking to provide himself the better against attack, he transferred
his person and his riches on board a large Levant ship bound for Lisbon.
It was taken by Algerian pirates, who fell heirs to the treasures of the
Jesuits and of the Albuquerques, and who sold Vilhena into slavery.

The orders of the temporary government at _Bahia_ to the Portuguese
freebooters to withdraw their forces within the Portuguese territories
were now obeyed, and the leaders were invited to _Recife_. During their
stay there, the Portuguese commissioners saw grounds for suspicion in
the attitude of Count Nassau, and they warned their superiors
accordingly. It is scarcely to be believed by those accustomed to our
modern ideas of international good faith, that Count Maurice of Nassau,
after his public professions, and after having entertained not only the
emissaries of the Brazilian Government, but likewise the commanders who
had recently been in arms against him, should now have acted as he did.
But it is nevertheless the case that he prepared to extend his conquests
on all sides, even venturing, on the strength of the confidence which
the government of _Bahia_ placed in his good faith, to withdraw the
larger portion of his garrisons for the purpose of attack. The
inhabitants of _Seregipe_ were surprised by a squadron carrying a flag
of truce, and _St. Christovam_ was thus taken possession of.

[Sidenote: 1641.]

Another of the results of the cessation of Portuguese hostilities was
that Nassau now sent Admiral Jol, with two thousand troops, against _St.
Paul de Loanda_, the most important Portuguese possession in Africa. It
fell into the hands of the Dutch without much opposition, thus causing a
grievous loss to the Brazilians, whose entire supply of negro slaves
came from this source. It was not solely a loss to them as
slave-traders; but without a supply of slaves their Brazilian
possessions were almost worthless. The Dutch Company established a
government in _Angola_ independent of that of _Recife_. From _Loanda_
Admiral Jol proceeded against the island of _St. Thomas_, which place,
after a siege of fourteen days, surrendered. The climate, however, made
the Dutch pay a severe penalty. It is said that but a tenth of the
invading force escaped death or disease, Admiral Jol himself being one
of the victims.

[Sidenote: 1637, 1648.]

It is now necessary to revert to the northern portion of Brazil, which,
being separated by the scene of the Dutch conquests from the seat of
government at _San Salvador_, had hitherto remained unaffected by the
war. In this part of the world some English adventurers endeavoured
unsuccessfully to obtain a footing; but the chief incidents to be
related are an endeavour to discover the sources of the _Amazons_, and a
slave-hunting expedition of the younger Maciel, as great a villain as
his father, and who was now governor of _Pará_. The origin of the former
expedition was a voyage of some missionaries who had been sent to the
natives from _Quito_, and who had been taken to the river _Napo_. Down
this stream they were, like Orellana, carried to the _Amazons_, and like
him they were borne on that river to the ocean. Soon after their arrival
at _Belem_, an expedition was concerted to explore the river upwards,
taking the missionaries as guides. Of this exploring party Teixeira took
the command, with seventy soldiers and twelve hundred natives, and in
due time he arrived at _Quito_, where he was received with great
rejoicings.

The _Conde_ de Chinchon, who was at this time Viceroy of _Peru_, thought
this expedition of so much consequence that he ordered Teixeira to
return by the same route, taking with him two persons who should proceed
to lay his report and surveys before the court of Madrid. Christoval
d´Acuña was chosen as the chief of these. On their way downwards,
amongst many discoveries, the chief of which are to be found on the
early maps of _Brazil_, they made one of an object which is to us in
Europe of familiar acquaintance from our boyhood upwards, namely, the
_Caoutchouc_ or India-rubber plant. It is stated that the Portuguese of
_Pará_ were in the habit of employing it for shoes, hats, and garments,
its impenetrability by water making it invaluable. When the Portuguese,
on their downward voyage, came into familiar regions, their slave-taking
instincts came strongly upon them. They were restrained for some time by
their commander, Teixeira, and by the Jesuits who accompanied him.

Further on their course, however, Teixeira and Acuña had the
mortification to find the Portuguese established in a fort collecting
for a slave-hunting expedition. These were headed by young Maciel, who
by treachery and great excesses contrived to procure a booty of two
hundred slaves. The consequence of this and other such like barbarous
practices was that the natives along the banks of the _Amazons_ became
so hostile to the Portuguese that the latter, even up to the middle of
the eighteenth century, had not been enabled to explore that river
thoroughly farther than to the first falls. It was not until the 12th of
December 1639 that Teixeira and his party arrived at _Belem_ or _Pará_.

[Sidenote: 1642.]

The Dutch Company had sent Count Nassau directions to take possession of
the island and province of _Maranham_; being masters of which they could
at their ease prey upon the Spanish Main. Of the island in question the
elder Maciel was now governor, and although he was warned to beware of
Dutch aggression, he remained in a state of blind confidence until a
Dutch squadron of fourteen guns appeared in the channel which separates
the island from the mainland. Maciel, after having protested that his
government was at peace with Holland, came to terms with the Dutch
commander. It was agreed between them that Maciel should continue in his
government until the arrival of instructions from the Netherlands, and
that meanwhile the Dutch should be quartered in the city. They, however,
were not acting in good faith. Owing to Maciel’s cowardice, rather than
to anything else, they obtained possession of the place and made the
governor a prisoner. He was shortly afterwards removed to _Recife_ and
sent a prisoner to the fort of _Rio Grande_, where he died at the age of
seventy-five years.

The court of Lisbon naturally protested to the Hague against the conduct
of Nassau, whose proceedings against their colonial possessions were in
direct contrast to the assistance which Portugal was meanwhile receiving
from Holland against Spain. The only satisfaction, however, which they
received, was an evasive and untrue reply to the effect that Nassau had
acted as he did in ignorance of the ratification of the truce. The Dutch
were determined to retain what they had won, and the Portuguese were
equally determined to recover what they had lost. A new governor was
appointed to _Brazil_, with orders to proceed against the commission of
three who had wrongly superseded the Marquis of Monte Alvam. Two of them
were sent home as prisoners, one of them being allowed for years to
remain in the jail of Lisbon; the bishop, who was the third member, was
compelled to refund the emoluments which he had received during his
co-administration.

The new governor of _Brazil_ now imitated the insincere conduct of which
Nassau had set him the bad example. He professed to be friendly with the
Dutch, but awaited the first opportunity to act against them. Nassau was
not allowed to enjoy at peace the possessions which he had gained. An
unusually wet season caused the rivers to overflow, sweeping away men
and cattle, and destroying much vegetation; in addition to this, great
ravages were produced by the small-pox. The people were unable for these
reasons to pay the usual taxes; and yet the Dutch Company, in reliance
on the truce which they had so disregarded, instructed the Viceroy to
reduce his military expenditure, a measure against which he strongly
protested. He naturally pointed out that the Portuguese would await an
opportunity to recover their losses.

Count Nassau was at this time meditating extensive plans of conquest. He
intended an expedition against _Buenos Ayres_; but the force reserved
for this service was now needed for the protection of _Maranham_ and
_St. Thomas_. Indeed so great was the risk of insurrection as well in
these places as in _Angola_ and _Seregipe_, that, in order to have a
force at hand, Nassau was compelled to defer an expedition against the
negroes in the _Palmares_. Before this necessity occurred a squadron had
sailed, which was destined to act against _Chili_. It was commanded by
Brouwer, whose name is remarkable as being one of the earliest
navigators who doubled Cape _Horn_. He had intended to pass through the
Straits of _Magellan_, but was driven southward by storms. He reached
_Chiloë_, and stormed some Spanish forts. But intelligence of his coming
had been received at _Lima_, and the Spaniards were prepared to resist
his further progress. Brouwer died at _Castro_. His successor,
Herckmann, reached _Valdivia_; but, being unable to establish himself
there for want of supplies he returned to _Pernambuco_.

[Sidenote: 1643.]

The ambition of the Dutch was out of proportion to their population and
their resources; whilst their system of government was far from being a
conciliatory one. In _Maranham_, as in _Bahia_ and _Pernambuco_, the
people now began to work for their own deliverance. In _Maranham_ a
conspiracy was formed to free the place from foreign rule. The
sugar-works on the river _Itapicuru_, where there were collected three
hundred Dutch, were the object of attack. The first one assailed was
easily carried, and the Dutch found in it were slain. In the second the
Dutch were likewise either cut down or shot, or consumed in the flames.
In like manner fell the other three, and it was only at the last that
any quarter was given. Fort _Calvary_ next fell, which was garrisoned by
seventy Dutchmen. Moniz Barreiros, the leader of the insurrection, now
crossed over to the island of _Maranham_. Here the Dutch were no more
fortunate than they had been on the mainland. After an engagement in
which they were totally defeated, Moniz and his adherents attacked the
fort of _St. Luiz_. The Dutch garrison despatched vessels to _Recife_
for assistance, whilst Moniz applied to his countrymen at _Pará_.

Such are the immense distances between different localities in _Brazil_
that a considerable time elapsed before either party had received the
reinforcements asked for. On their arrival hostilities were forthwith
resumed, to the disadvantage of the Dutch, who were repelled with loss.
After this success Moniz died, being succeeded by Teixeira, who, after
having waited for months in the hope of receiving succour and
ammunition, abandoned his present position and recrossed to the
mainland. He was reduced to great straits, being deserted by his allies,
who returned to _Pará_. He had still, however, with him sixty Portuguese
and two hundred natives, and he was opportunely aided by the arrival of
some ammunition from _Belem_. The Dutch likewise at this time received
reinforcements, which made them superior to any force that could be
brought against them in the field; but they were disheartened by the
general feeling against them.

[Sidenote: 1643.]

They were now confined to the fort of _St. Luiz_; whilst the island,
outside the fort, was held by the Portuguese. On one occasion the
garrison sallied out with the hope of surprising the Portuguese whilst
dispersed at their harvest operations. In this they were successful; but
they were in the end utterly defeated. Of all who had quitted _St.
Luiz_, ten French mercenaries alone re-entered, and these were hanged as
traitors. After a time Teixeira was about to be reinforced by the
arrival from Portugal of one hundred men with stores, under Pedro de
Albuquerque, who was appointed governor of _Maranham_. Albuquerque,
however, not knowing the state of things on the island, and having no
pilot on board, fired his guns off to announce his presence. His signals
not being answered, he proceeded to _Pará_, where the ship struck on a
sandbank, the greater part of those on board being lost, including Luiz
Figueira, the Jesuit, with eight of his brethren. Notwithstanding the
loss of this expected succour, Teixeira held his own in _Maranham_ so
effectually that the Dutch found it necessary to evacuate _St. Luiz_ by
sea. Including their native allies, they had still nearly five hundred
men. They made for the island of _St. Christopher_.

[Sidenote: 1644.]

The latter period of Count Nassau’s eight years’ residence in _Brazil_
was clouded by misfortunes, the direct result of the treacherous policy
which he had been instructed to pursue on the acceptance of the ten
years’ truce. The Dutch had not only been driven out of _Maranham_, but
had further been cut off in _Ceará_, where the natives had risen as one
man against them, surprising them at their different posts. The fort of
_Ceará_ was now again in the hands of the Portuguese. At _St. Thomas_
too the people were in arms, the Dutch being confined to the citadel. It
was at this time that Nassau again sought his recall, which was now
granted. He made over the military command to Henrik Haus, and the civil
government to the Great Council, with much apprehension for the future
which awaited the transatlantic dominions of Holland. For the guidance
of his successors he left elaborate and judicious instructions; but, so
confident did the Dutch in general appear to be in the continuance of
the truce which they themselves had so wantonly violated, that the fleet
which bore Nassau to Europe took likewise away no fewer than fourteen
hundred of his countrymen.




CHAPTER III.

_BRAZIL; THE DUTCH WAR; RISING OF THE PORTUGUESE._

1644-1645.


It is satisfactory to know that the treacherous policy which the Dutch
had thought themselves strong enough to pursue toward Portugal in her
hour of weakness, was followed with the worst possible results to
themselves. They had at no time been so completely masters of
_Pernambuco_ as to be able to supply _Recife_ with provisions for the
country; and, when an honestly-observed truce might have enabled them to
consolidate their conquests, they set the Portuguese an example of
practices which speedily recoiled on their own head. The pecuniary
resources of the Company were exhausted by the various expeditions to
_Seregipe_, _Maranham_, _Angola_, and _Chili_. Money became scarce at
_Recife_. Hitherto all transactions had been carried on on credit; but
now credit was stopped, and money had to be borrowed at the ruinous rate
of 3 or 4 per cent. interest per month. Many of the planters were ruined
by the floods and the subsequent ravages of the worm; whilst the
small-pox committed great havoc amongst the valuable negroes imported
from _Angola_. So great was the pecuniary distress that the most
desperate measures were resorted to, and which only made matters worse.
Some creditors endeavoured to procure payment of their debts by means of
large abatements; others threw their debtors into prison; whilst the
government felt itself compelled to exact its dues by seizing the sugar
produce at harvest time. Thus a conflict arose between the government
and the public as to the priority of their respective claims, and the
result was embarrassing and ruinous.

In this state of things it was suggested that the Company should
contract with the owners of the sugar-works for a certain number of
years, receiving the whole products of the works and satisfying the
demands on the estate. The plan was approved by the Home Government; but
it only proved a partial remedy to the disorder. Many of the Portuguese
in _Pernambuco_, being now deeply indebted to the Dutch, had a greater
interest than ever in inciting insurrection. They had further cause of
complaint in the insolence and brutality of their conquerors. An edict
was passed inviting slaves by the promise of reward to give notice if
any of their Portuguese masters should have concealed arms. This
measure, as may be believed, led to intolerable abuses, certain Dutchmen
going to the length of tampering with slaves to hide arms, in order to
have their masters condemned. On one occasion two Dutchmen were informed
upon by a slave upon whom they had thus practised, and having confessed
their guilt, were deservedly put to death.

The departure of Count Maurice of Nassau was a real loss as well to the
Portuguese as to his own countrymen. He had systematically endeavoured
to repress the excesses of the latter, and had so far won the affections
of the former that they looked upon him as their special protector. They
respected his high birth and his princely manner of life, which stood
out in contrast to that of his countrymen about him. His successors sent
deputies to _Bahia_ to compliment the new governor on his arrival. They
were charged, ostensibly, with certain proposals respecting extradition,
and, secretly, with instructions to espy the condition of the Portuguese
at that place. They learned that the number of troops at and near _San
Salvador_ was about two thousand five hundred. A new system had been
adopted of sending out men-of-war from Portugal to convoy the Brazilian
merchantmen home; and the deputies concluded that the price of
Portuguese imports into Europe would be thereby so increased that
Holland could undersell them.

This report of their deputies had the effect of making the Dutch more
suspicious than before of the Pernambucans, and, as it shortly proved,
not without reason. They were not fortunate, however, in the measures
they adopted to allay discontent. The Portuguese inhabitants of
_Pernambuco_ had petitioned for the intercession of the King of Portugal
towards securing them freedom of religious worship. This step was so
highly resented by their Dutch governors that the public funds which had
hitherto been appropriated to religious purposes were now declared
government property, to be applied to the support of schools, churches,
and hospitals. All priests were imprisoned who entered the conquered
provinces without a safe-conduct; and such of them as chose to reside
there were required to take the oath of fidelity, and were prohibited
from receiving ordination from the bishop of _Bahia_. It was discovered
that some of the priests with the Dutch and French Catholics had refused
to give these absolution whilst serving against Christians, that is to
say, Portuguese; and, in retaliation, the Dutch now ordered all priests
and monks to quit their dominions within a month. They were shipped from
the island of _Itamaraca_ and landed on the Spanish Main.

We now come to a remarkable epoch in the history of _Brazil_. Joam
Fernandes Vieira has already been mentioned as having distinguished
himself in the defence of Fort _St. George_ after the loss of _Olinda_.
He was a native of _Funchal_ in _Madeira_, and at a very early age
sought his fortune in _Brazil_. He was found to be so able and honest
that he was soon put in the way of setting up in trade for himself. In
the course of some years he became one of the wealthiest men in the
country; and, as he had so much to lose in case of troubles, the Dutch
looked upon his fidelity as assured. He was noted for his liberality and
his fair dealings. Whether his patriotism alone would have led him to
risk all his worldly possessions by taking the lead in a revolt can only
be conjectured; but the main principle of his life was devotion to the
Catholic faith, and his main object was to do what he could towards the
suppression of heresy.

So long as Count Maurice of Nassau remained in South America Joam
Fernandes took no step which could place him in danger; but the
vexatious system of government which ensued ripened his designs. Taking
counsel with Vidal, who had been appointed to the captaincy of
_Maranham_, he addressed a memorial to the Governor of _Brazil_,
pointing out that the Dutch were weak and were off their guard, that the
fortifications were neglected, and that many of the best officers had
departed with Nassau. He did not ask for advice, for the die he said was
cast; he merely prayed the governor for assistance. The grievances and
outrages which he and his compatriots had to endure were such as to
force them to take up arms in self-defence, despite of any truce or
treaty. Open assistance the governor could not, of course, give; but he
now took advantage of the lesson which the Dutch had taught him. Sixty
chosen men were placed under the orders of Antonio Cardozo, who was to
act under the instructions of Fernandes. In order to avoid suspicion
they made their way, unarmed, and in small parties, to _Recife_, near
which place they were quartered in the woods, on the estates of
Fernandes, and supplied with arms and food. At the same time the native
chief, Camaram, and Henrique Diaz, the two partisan chiefs, set out by
land to join in the enterprise.

Joam Fernandes now determined to open his designs to his kinsmen and
friends, whom he assembled at a banquet for this purpose. In reply to
his inspiriting harangue there was apparently an unanimous consent on
the part of his hearers; but there were traitors amongst them, who, on
reflection, did all they could to discourage his patriotic scheme, and
who even went the length of secretly denouncing him to the Dutch. Such,
however, was the credit which Fernandes enjoyed, that, calling all those
in whom he had confided together, he defied the traitors and bade them
beware of themselves or he would denounce _them_ in turn to the Dutch as
impostors. Cardozo likewise declared, that were he taken he would
denounce the traitors as having invited him, and affirm the innocence of
Fernandes. Cardozo, however, was not taken, although the Dutch had full
information of his presence and that of his men in the country.

The Dutch Council was now considerably embarrassed as to the course of
action which it should pursue. They had information of an intended
Portuguese revolt, which they were aware their system of government was
only too likely to bring about; and likewise, that Joam Fernandes and
his father-in-law were the heads of the conspiracy; but, as they stated
in their despatches to the Company, they had not sufficient evidence to
warrant the committal of these to prison. They did not venture on a
search and on disarming the Portuguese, lest it should provoke the
insurrection which they dreaded, and against which they were so
ill-prepared. Their magazines and store-houses were ill-secured; and, as
they could not withdraw from the garrisons a force sufficient to protect
the open country, the Dutch living outside the forts would certainly be
cut off.

Joam Fernandes conducted the revolution of which he was the moving
spirit with all the foresight and precaution which he would have
employed in conducting a great commercial enterprise. In his capacity of
president of many religious fraternities he had ventured, openly, on the
purchase at _Recife_ of considerable quantities of powder, under the
pretext of using it for fireworks on saints’ days; and he had procured
more powder by land from _Bahia_. This was carefully concealed in his
woods, where he had likewise collected stores, of various descriptions.
He had sent off the greater part of his herds to his grazing farms,
under the pretence that in the plain near _Recife_ many animals had been
stolen by negroes, and that many more had died from eating a plant
called _fava_. At length, however, the time came when his practices
could no longer be ignored by the government, who were set on their
guard against him chiefly by the Jews. These are certainly not to be
blamed for wishing a continuance of the _status quo_; since, in the
event of an outbreak, they were certain to be plundered by both parties
with complete impartiality; whilst, in the event of a victory on the
part of the Portuguese, they had before them the image of the fiendish
agents of the Inquisition.

The Government at last resolved to seize Fernandes; but it was
considerably easier to resolve to do this than it was to execute the
resolution. As he was engaged in a contract with them, they sent to
desire his presence, on the pretext of concluding the contract in
question. But the wary and wealthy conspirator was well informed by his
spies of what passed, and, when the Government’s broker arrived at his
_fazenda_, he pleaded that urgent business prevented his repairing in
person to _Recife_, but that he had given full powers to his man of
business to execute the contract, on his behalf. His house was
surrounded by sentries, who kept a constant look-out; his servants were
prepared for resistance or for flight; one hundred armed negro slaves
guarded his person, whilst a secret mode of escape from his house was
ready in case of emergency. His horse was kept always saddled, and each
night he retired to sleep in the woods.

When news reached _Recife_ that Camaram and Enrique Diaz had passed the
_San Francisco_, both parties felt that the time for action had arrived.
An attempt made by Dutch troops on the eve of St. Antonio’s Day, to
surprise Fernandes in his house failed. They found the place deserted.
Nor were the Dutch more successful in their endeavours to secure the
other leaders of the conspiracy. Fernandes took up his position on an
eminence in the woods from which a good look-out could be observed, and
he was there joined by his retainers and by slaves from his various
estates. Thence he issued a proclamation to the people, summoning them
to arms, and offering pay and freedom to all slaves who should join in
the cause. Many obeyed the call, and fell upon such Dutchmen and Jews as
happened to be within their reach. But it is not to be supposed that the
spirit of patriotism pervaded the whole population. Many persons looked
upon the insurgents’ cause as hopeless, and, wishing to be allowed
merely to live in peace, only prayed for its speedy collapse.

The measures which the Dutch Council at this time adopted served only to
extend the limits of the insurrection. Not being able to lay hands on
the actual rebels, they commenced a system of general arrests amongst
the inhabitants of the provinces who had stayed at home. These had given
the best possible proof of their being peaceable and inoffensive
subjects; but it suited the authorities--or at least their
subordinates--to pretend to suspect them; and, in order to obtain their
liberty, they were required to pay for it. Another source of extortion
was found in compelling all Portuguese to take the oath of allegiance
and to provide themselves with a pass; for which, of course, fees were
exacted. The authorities, after having in vain tried, by means of an
enormous bribe, to induce Fernandes to return into the paths of peace,
now offered the sum of four thousand _florins_ for his person, dead or
alive,--a compliment which was reciprocated on his part by an offer of
twice that amount for the head of any member of the Council.

Hostilities first broke out at _Ipojuca_, a small town near Cape _St.
Augustine_. A free mulatto, named Fagundes, took advantage of a passing
affray to fall upon the Dutch; their garrison took to flight, leaving
their arms to the insurgents. Fagundes next attacked three vessels laden
with sugar, and massacred the Dutch on board. On this the whole
neighbourhood took to arms, and the land communication between the Dutch
at Cape _St. Augustine_ and all to the south was cut off. This news
arrived at _Recife_, together with the intelligence that _St. Antonio_,
a town to the north-west of _Ipojuca_, was besieged, and that Camaram
and Diaz were devastating the neighbourhood of the _Lagoas_, the
garrison of which place had now to be withdrawn. On the appearance of a
force of two hundred Dutch and four hundred natives at _Ipojuca_,
Fagundes and his men retreated to the woods.

The Dutch now prepared to attack Joam Fernandes, whose small force
consisted of not more than four hundred men. A call, however, was made
in the name of religion upon the inhabitants for assistance from
themselves and their slaves, with the result that in five days eight
hundred volunteers flocked to the meeting-place. They were but
indifferently off for arms; but their leader had the good fortune to
capture a quantity of flour which was being conveyed under an escort to
_Recife_. The country was flooded; but this was a disadvantage which
told equally against the operations of either party. In point of
intelligence, however, the Portuguese had a great advantage. It was the
object of Fernandes to delay fighting as long as possible, in
expectation of the arrival of Diaz and of Camaram. With this view he
crossed the _Capivaribi_ and proceeded to the _Tapicura_, over which
latter river his men were ferried, eight at a time, on a small raft.

The chief of the Portuguese forces had now to deal with considerable
discontent amongst his own men, who, as was natural, felt the depressing
influence of the weather, and of the hardships they were enduring,
without the excitement of being brought into contact with the enemy. He
showed considerable prudence in dealing with the dangerous spirit which
had arisen; and ere long he was joined by the insurgents from _Maribeca_
and elsewhere,--a force of four hundred men. Some Indians sent in
advance likewise brought him the glad tidings of the approach of Camaram
and Diaz. The Dutch Council now issued a proclamation requiring the
families of all such persons as were with the insurgents to leave their
homes within six days, under pain of being declared rebels. The fate of
these poor people, who had to take to the woods at such a season and
under such circumstances, was indeed pitiable; and the reasons assigned
for this cruel measure, namely, that the women supplied the insurgents
with information, and that the latter would be embarrassed by their
presence with them, cannot justify so inhuman a proceeding.

Joam Fernandes again retorted by a counter-proclamation, which he
contrived to have posted in all the most frequented parts of _Recife_.
The Dutch, he said, had, contrary to the law of nations, made war upon
that sex which was exempted from all acts of hostility; and he, as
general of the Portuguese, ordered all his countrywomen to remain in
their houses, under his protection, adding that he would exact rigorous
vengeance for any injury offered to them. On this, the Council forbore
to repeat the proclamation or to enforce it; and such persons as had not
already fled were no further molested. But at this time a massacre of
about seventy Portuguese occurred at _Cunhau_, at the hands of the
_Pitagoares_ and _Tapuyas_ from the _Pontengi_. This measure, doubtless,
arose from the instincts of the savages; but it was represented as
having taken place by order of the Council, and it inflamed the
insurgents to fury.

The Dutch general, Haus, having ascertained the locality where Fernandes
and his men were concealed, now advanced against them. They removed to
the _Monte das Tabocas_, about nine leagues to the westward of _Recife_.
The Dutch commander had with him fifteen hundred well-armed European
troops; he had likewise a considerable native force. An engagement was
soon brought on. Failing to surprise the enemy, Haus, in his
disappointment, set fire to a sugar-factory, the smoke of which gave
Fernandes the alarm. The Portuguese outposts were soon in conflict with
their opponents, and, by their knowledge of the country, were able to
hold their own, notwithstanding their inferior numbers. Cardozo had cut
three openings in the cane-wood which surrounded the position on the
_Monte_, and when the outposts were driven in a number of his men were
posted in ambush hard by. Fagundes and his followers were ordered to
dispute the passage of the _Tapicura_, a small stream which the Dutch
must pass; and when he could no longer withstand them, he was to fall
back in such a manner as to decoy them towards the ambuscades.

Before commencing the passage of the _Tapicura_, Haus directed a heavy
fire into the wood on the further side, and then immediately advanced
under cover of the smoke. As was foreseen, the Dutch were led on, step
by step, into the cane-wood. They were received at the first ambush with
a discharge, every shot of which took effect. They pushed on to the
second; but at the third their loss was so great that they were
compelled to fall back. They were not, however, disheartened, and,
having reformed into three bodies, they again advanced through the
canes. They were visibly gaining ground, when, in a panic caused by the
fear of another ambuscade, they were a second time repulsed.

The engagement now lasted for several hours; but the Dutch had not yet
brought their entire force into action. After a short breathing-time
they returned with fresh troops to the attack. It was now that the
exhausted Portuguese were indebted to the priests amongst them for
enthusiasm which supplied the place of strength. They were exhorted not
to give way to heretics; and many were the vows offered to Christ and
the Virgin by those who besought their help in this their hour of need.
Fernandes in particular promised a church to the latter; whilst he
appealed to his slaves to distinguish themselves, by the promise of
immediate freedom. His guard rushed down the hill, blowing their horns,
and charged the heretics with such spirit that the latter were driven
back through the canes. Haus made one more attack; but this, too, was in
vain, and the Portuguese remained masters of the field.

[Sidenote: 1645.]

The fight had lasted the entire day [August 3rd]. On the stormy night
which followed, the Dutch, under cover of darkness, recrossed the
_Tapicura_. The Portuguese passed the night in preparations for a
renewal of the attack on the morrow; but daylight showed them the extent
of their victory. A messenger arrived from Haus, requesting quarter for
the wounded, when Fernandes, according to his promise, immediately
emancipated fifty slaves. Three hundred and seventy Dutch were found
dead upon the field; whilst about four hundred wounded had been carried
away. Of the Portuguese the loss is said to have been under forty, not,
however, including the negroes or natives. So important a success, and
one obtained at so small a cost, was, of course, ascribed to
supernatural assistance; many persons affirmed, and perhaps believed,
that in the hottest hour of the battle a woman and a venerable man were
seen amongst the combatants distributing powder and bullets, and
dazzling the eyes of the heretics. These were the Mother of Mercies,
whom they had invoked, and the good St. Anthony, the hermit, the
favourite protector of the Portuguese.




CHAPTER IV.

_BRAZIL; CONCLUSION OF THE DUTCH WAR._

1646-1661.


Haus, with the wreck of his army, continued his retreat throughout the
night, never halting until seven leagues’ distance lay between him and
the scene of his defeat. He then awaited his wounded and stragglers,
whilst he sent to _Recife_ for immediate assistance. Succours reached
him the same day, sufficient to secure his further retreat, but not to
enable him to resume offensive operations. The Council now distinctly
perceived their danger; and they had reasons to distrust the professions
of the governor of _Bahia_. Three weeks before the battle Hogstraten and
another deputy had been sent to _Bahia_ to express the belief of the
Dutch Government that Camaram and Diaz were not authorized in their
proceedings by the Portuguese governor, and to request that they might
be recalled, or, in the event of their disobedience, be declared enemies
of the Portuguese Crown. Telles persevered in his previous line of
conduct, putting off the Dutch with vague professions. He taunted them
in turn with their acts of aggression at _Angola_, at _St. Thomas_, and
at _Maranham_. He further indicated that Camaran and Diaz were not men
to be restrained by any words of his; and he pleaded that the Portuguese
had been driven into insurrection by false accusations on the part of
untrustworthy persons. Finally, he offered to act as mediator.

Hogstraten now repeated his offer to deliver _Nazareth_ into the power
of the governor, a proposal which he said he had already imparted to
Joam Fernandes. His offer was accepted; and as he was somewhat afraid
lest his conference with the Portuguese authorities might excite
suspicion in the breast of his fellow-deputy, he had the audacity to
tell him that they were tampering with him for the betrayal of his fort,
and that he pretended to listen to them in order the better to thwart
them. On his return to _Recife_ he repeated the same tale, adding that
the governor merely awaited some ships from _Rio de Janeiro_ before
attacking the Dutch possessions. Two regiments were now embarked at
_Bahia_, and were to be landed at _Tamandare_. They were to be escorted
by the homeward-bound fleet of thirty-seven ships.

It was arranged that, on the two regiments being landed at _Tamandare_,
their commander, _Payva_, should proceed to _Recife_ with letters for
the Council, in which the Governor-General should state that he had sent
two officers to remonstrate with the insurgents, and that, should
remonstrances fail, he would compel them to return to their duty. Whilst
this farce was being enacted, the Dutch commandant at _Serinhaem_ had
received instructions to disarm the Portuguese in that district. The
Portuguese, however, declined to be disarmed, and the fort being
surrounded and its water cut off, was compelled to surrender, the Indian
allies of the Dutch being given up to the Portuguese.

Joam Fernandes had remained for seven days upon the scene of his victory
at the _Monte das Tabocas_, when he was informed of the arrival of the
troops from _Bahia_. Camaran and Diaz, the two partisan leaders,
likewise reached the _Monte das Tabocas_ about the same time. On meeting
the troops from _Bahia_, after some formal words, Fernandes was joined
by the whole Portuguese force; after which his first act was to send a
detachment to reduce the fort of _Nazareth_.

Blaar was now sent to take possession of all the Portuguese women who
might be found in the _Varzea_ or open country behind _Olinda_, to hold
as hostages. A number were taken, and were conveyed to the headquarters
of Haus. This intelligence was speedily conveyed by a chaplain to
Fernandes, and the army, being naturally roused by a desire to rescue
the women, was put in motion for this purpose. By midnight they reached
some sugar-works. Remaining there for three hours, they were roused by
Fernandes, who announced that the wonderful _St. Anthony_ had appeared
to him, and had reproved him for his ill-timed delay. Once more being
put in motion, the troops at daybreak reached the _Capivaribe_, which
they crossed with considerable difficulty.

Having accomplished this passage without opposition from the enemy, they
ere long came in sight of the headquarters of Haus, when they sent
forward a party who succeeded in capturing some Dutch sentinels. From
those they learned that the officers were at their morning meal, on the
conclusion of which they were to march off with their prisoners. They
were roused by the dread signal by which Camaram summoned his Indians.
Their men were driven in, and no way of retreat was left to them, whilst
the Portuguese poured in a steady fire upon them from their shelter. In
this emergency the Dutch brought out the Portuguese women, and exposed
them at the windows to receive the fire. This artifice brought a flag of
truce from the assailants; but the besieged were so confident in their
newly-found resource that they fired upon the flag, killing the ensign
who bore it; they at the same time took aim at the Portuguese general,
Vidal, who had approached under the protection of the flag. Enraged at
this conduct, the Portuguese forgot the women, and proceeded to set the
whole place on fire; which brought the enemy to their senses. It
required all the authority of Vidal to induce his soldiers to spare the
cowards who had so nearly taken his life.

The enemy now surrendered on the bare condition that their lives should
be spared; they were not, however, able to procure the same terms for
their Indian allies. More than two hundred Dutch were made prisoners in
this affair, which, according to the Portuguese writers, was, of course,
not accomplished without the aid of miracles. Joam Fernandes was now
master of the field; and he conducted a triumphal procession to one of
his own chapels to return thanks to his patron saint. The prisoners were
sent to _Bahia_, Blaar being assassinated on the way. About the same
time _Olinda_ fell into the hands of a party of Pernambucan youths;
whilst the traitor, Hogstraten, was as good as his word in delivering
_Nazareth_ to the patriots. The Dutch regiment which had garrisoned it
entered the service of the Portuguese.

Whilst the troops sent from _Bahia_, nominally to aid in suppressing the
insurrection, were thus taking an active part in extending it, the farce
which the governor had commenced to play was continued by the Admiral
Correa, who, according to his instructions, proceeded to _Recife_ with
the homeward-bound fleet. The Dutch authorities at that place, who may
be excused for preferring to judge of the Governor-General’s intentions
by acts rather than by words, were naturally not a little alarmed at the
arrival of a fleet of such formidable dimensions. Correa, however, who
was unaware of the recent occurrences on land, proceeded to execute the
instructions which had been given him at _Bahia_, and with the utmost
courtesy not only placed his own services at the disposal of the
Council, but likewise offered them those of Vidal and his troops, which
were at that moment most actively employed against them.

The Council, naturally enraged at this transparent duplicity, at first
proposed to arrest the messengers of Correa; but, on the reflection that
their own fleet was not in a condition to meet that of the enemy, they
wisely sent a courteous reply, declining the services of the Admiral; on
receiving which Correa, still wholly unaware of what was passing on
shore, immediately set sail for Europe. Relieved from this danger, the
Council lost no time in ordering Lichthart to get his ships ready with
all speed, and to do the utmost damage to the Portuguese, an order which
he obeyed to the letter.

Meanwhile Payva was with his two regiments on board of eight ships in
the Bay of _Tamandare_. Letters had been written to advise him to put
into the port of _Nazareth_, since it was known that the Dutch fleet was
in search of him; but these warning despatches were intercepted, and he
fell an easy prey to the squadron of Lichthart. Of his eight vessels one
reached _Bahia_; two were abandoned and set on fire; two others ran
aground, whilst three were taken by the enemy. The Portuguese are said
to have lost seven hundred men in the action.

Whilst these events were passing in _Pernambuco_, the Portuguese were
not less active in the other ceded provinces. Fernandes and Vidal sent
officers to _Paraïba_ to head the insurgents; whilst the Indians and
Negroes were headed by officers sent respectively from the regiments of
Camaram and Henrique Diaz, the result being that the Portuguese were
soon masters of the captaincy. The Dutch were likewise in turn compelled
to abandon Fort _Mauritz_ on the _San Francisco_. It was soon razed to
the ground, there being then no obstacle to prevent the free passage of
the Portuguese from _Bahia_ into the province of _Pernambuco_.

Fernandes now pitched his camp upon the neck of sand which divides the
river from the sea about a league from _Recife_, commanding the
communication of that place with _Olinda_, and on this locality he
erected a fort to secure his ammunition and stores. To this fort was
given the name which had been applied to the camp, _Bom Jesus_, and a
small town soon grew up under its shelter.

The Dutch beheld with consternation the near approach of the enemy; and
the splendid out-houses and gardens, which had been laid out by Nassau,
as well as the bridge of _Boavista_, were destroyed by the people of
_Recife_, in order to facilitate the defence of that town. The new town
of _Mauritias_ was likewise demolished. So great was the anxiety of the
people that the Council found it advisable to communicate to them the
contents of their latest despatches to Amsterdam, in order to convince
them that their critical situation had been duly represented.

On the advice of Hogstraten an expedition was now organized against the
island of _Itamaraca_, on which the enemy had to rely for grain. After
three attacks, the assailants, under Fernandes and Vidal, forced their
way into the town, and had actually secured their victory, when it was
lost through their rapacity and cruelty. The troops from _Bahia_ showed
an example of plundering which was not thrown away upon the Dutch
deserters of Hogstraten’s regiment; and Cardozo had given orders to put
all the Indians to the sword, the result being that the Portuguese had
to retire with loss and disgrace. They, however, fortified _Garassu_,
and secured all the roads by which the enemy from _Itamaraca_ could
molest them.

For some time after this expedition the Portuguese were kept inactive by
a strange infectious disease, which seemed only to yield to the
treatment of bleeding, and which filled the hospitals, until Joam
Fernandes hit upon the expedient of setting up certain images of saints,
before whom mass was daily performed. To their intercession the
cessation of the scourge was ascribed. At the same time that the main
body of the Portuguese insurgents were suffering from this cause, their
countrymen in _Rio Grande_ were massacred by the _Tapuyas_, in revenge
for the execution of the Indians at _Serinhaem_. This slaughter had,
however, the effect of convincing the Portuguese who had not yet taken
up arms of the uselessness of neutrality.

Meanwhile the action of the two forces at _Recife_ was confined to
isolated attacks, the besiegers not being provided with the means either
of properly besieging the place or of blockading it. Every day or night
witnessed some sally or skirmish, and many dashing but unimportant deeds
are recorded. The general conviction, however, gained ground that the
Portuguese would eventually win the day; and many slaves deserted to
them whilst there was still some merit to be gained by doing so.

The Dutch at this time hoped to effect a diversion in their favour by
means of Hogstraten’s regiment of deserters. Although he himself was a
traitor beyond redemption, it was rightly believed that most, if not
all, of his men had taken service with the Portuguese on compulsion, and
would be glad of an opportunity to return to their natural service. In
this belief, communication was opened with the regiment; and it was
arranged that a sally was to be made from the city in order to
facilitate their desertion. This measure was only thwarted by a chance
movement of the Portuguese commander. The backwardness of the would-be
deserters, however, could not escape notice. Their captain, named
Nicholson, demanded an opportunity of clearing their fame, which, being
granted, he and seventy of his men succeeded in effecting their purpose,
and reached _Recife_ in safety. After this, the remaining Dutch were
disarmed and sent to _Bahia_.

Meanwhile massacre and counter-massacre, on the part of the respective
Indian allies on either side, took place in the captaincy of _Paraïba_;
and the Dutch became seriously alarmed for their supplies. They
resolved, in desperation, to make a vigorous attack against Camaran.
They were no match, however, for that active and able leader; and the
Dutch commander was compelled to retreat, with the loss of many men,
besides the whole of his baggage. The Portuguese cause at this time
suffered a serious loss, in consequence of an ill-timed order from
_Bahia_ that the sugar-plantations of _Pernambuco_ should be destroyed.
The Governor-General, when issuing this edict, was not aware that these
plantations were now in the hands of his countrymen. The unhappy
Fernandes, while protesting against this measure, had to destroy his own
canes to the value of two hundred thousand _cruzados_.[1]

[Sidenote: 1646.]

The Dutch now became so greatly distressed for provisions that the
Indians were only kept in their service by the opinion which was
propagated, that every deserter to the enemy met with torture and death.
The besiegers, too, began to suffer from want of provisions; but the
form which discontent took in this case was desertion to _Bahia_, and
severe measures had to be adopted by the Governor-General to put a stop
to this practice. The Dutch, having made an attempt in force to
intercept a convoy of cattle from _Paraïba_, were defeated with
considerable loss at _S. Lourenço_.

Shortly after the above-mentioned event, there arrived at the camp two
Jesuits, sent by the Governor-General, and who were the bearers of an
astounding mandate from the King of Portugal, to the effect that his
generals, Vidal and Martim Soares, should retire forthwith to _Bahia_,
leaving _Pernambuco_ in the possession of the Dutch. The reason of this
order will presently be explained. In the meantime it is to be shown in
what manner it was received. The two generals, or camp-masters as they
were called, were at first so taken aback that they knew not how to
reply. To yield up the country which they had won step by step with such
difficulty, and to leave in possession a heretical enemy whom they
detested, was naturally abhorrent to their feelings as soldiers, as
patriots, and as Catholics. On Joam Fernandes, who had risked all on the
insurrection, the blow fell yet more heavily. He was, however, the first
to rally; when he declared that the King’s orders, having been issued in
ignorance of the actual situation, ought not to be obeyed without a
further reference to his Majesty.

This opinion prevailed, and was accordingly referred to the
Governor-General at _Bahia_. He, however, having received positive
orders, declined to take any responsibility upon himself should they be
disobeyed. Upon this Martim Soares gave up his command, and sailed soon
afterwards for Lisbon. Vidal and Joam Fernandes, however, remained true
to their first resolution.

The orders from Lisbon had not been issued without great reluctance. The
Duke of Braganza did not feel secure of his throne, and was apprehensive
lest Holland should ally herself with Spain against him. He was at this
time represented at The Hague by Francisco de Sousa Coutinho, an
ambassador of great ability, which was in no small degree essential to
his country, seeing the difficult part he had to play. De Sousa saw from
the first that the West India Company were not equal to carrying on the
expensive war in which they were embarked; and he accordingly advised
his master to give the insurgents effective though unavowed assistance.
When it became evident in Holland that the Portuguese authorities of
_Bahia_ put forth no effort to suppress the insurrection, the States
retaliated by giving orders to seize all vessels coming from
_Pernambuco_, a measure which was made a pretext for seizing Portuguese
shipping in general. In short, Holland and Portugal were gradually
drifting into open war; and, as has been said, the fear of an alliance
being formed between the States and Spain had weighed with the King to
send orders for the evacuation of _Pernambuco_.

It will be remembered that at the commencement of the insurrection there
were many murmurs and menaces directed against Joam Fernandes; it had
been even necessary to take special precautions against his being
assassinated. In face of his brilliant successes, all murmurs against
him had been silenced, and he was rightly regarded as the hero of a
successful revolution for the liberation of his province. Now, however,
that he was known to be acting in contravention of the express orders of
his sovereign, the clamour against him recommenced. He was repeatedly
warned that his life was in danger, and he received the names of
nineteen persons who were engaged in a conspiracy against him. These
communications producing no effect, the writer called upon Fernandes,
and remonstrated with him; but he had the mortification of finding
himself looked upon as a calumniator. With Vidal, however, he had more
success; in so far that his story was at least believed, and an attempt
was made to bring the conspirators to reason.

Not long afterwards, however, Fernandes, in coming from one of his
sugar-works, having outridden his bodyguard, was attacked by three
_Mamelucos_, one of whom shot him through the shoulder. One of the
assassins was cut to pieces by his guard; the other two escaped through
the canes. Fernandes, although he was aware of the conspirator who had
set on the assassins, was magnanimous enough not to denounce him.

After this escape, Fernandes and Vidal organized a daring expedition
against the island of _Itamaraca_. It was not successful in winning Fort
_Orange_; but the rest of the island fell into the hands of the
Portuguese, the Dutch having previously expelled from it their Indian
allies.

The distress in _Recife_ now reached the length of famine. The city was
searched for food, and all that could be found was put into a common
stock, one pound of bread per week being allowed for each soldier and
citizen. But even this scanty allowance had soon to be withheld from the
townspeople, in order that that of the soldiers might be doubled; for
the latter now began to listen to the suggestions of the enemy. Horses,
dogs, cats, and rats were greedily devoured; and many slaves died of
inanition. Neither courage nor ingenuity could avail to procure food;
whilst to venture beyond the works was certain death at the hands of
Diaz and his negroes.

Months had elapsed since the dangerous position of the city had been
known in Holland, but still no reinforcements arrived. Things had now
come to such a pass that a capitulation or a complete surrender could no
longer be delayed; for there was but food left for two days more. It is
strange that at this critical moment the stoutest defenders of _Recife_
should have been the Jews. Were the place rendered up to the Portuguese,
they could hope to avoid death by apostasy alone; they had resolved,
therefore, to perish by the sword rather than to surrender, and they had
even induced the Council seriously to consider a plan for a general
sally of the whole besieged population. Such was the result of the
intolerant bigotry of the Portuguese.

At this supreme moment what were the feelings of the starving crowd when
they beheld two vessels bearing towards the port under full sail, and
carrying the Dutch colours? Casting anchor, they saluted with three
guns, thus denoting that they were from Holland. They were the advanced
guard of a convoy which might hourly be expected. It is here necessary
to state the circumstances under which this fleet sailed, and also those
which led to its tardy arrival.

It has been mentioned above that the interests of Portugal were at this
time watched over at the Hague by a most astute diplomatist. The
professional morality of European diplomacy has become considerably
stricter in the course of late years than it was in the year of which we
write, namely, 1646. Francisco de Sousa must be judged, therefore, as to
his diplomatic conduct, by the ethics of his own age rather than by
those of the present time. He had a most difficult part to play; and,
being a thorough patriot as well as doubtless a devout Catholic, he held
that the interests of his country, if not those of his faith, justified
him in any amount of dissimulation, in order to secure them. His
judgment both as to the importance of the Portuguese settlements in
Northern _Brazil_ to his country and as to the practicability of
recovering them, was sound, as was proved by the event; but, as has
been said, there were imperious reasons to make the court of Lisbon
dread an open rupture with Holland. Under the circumstances the
ambassador had the courage to take upon himself the entire
responsibility of negotiating with the Dutch, leaving it to his master
to disavow his proceedings should it prove necessary for the public
well-being so to do. He was well aware that he was fully trusted; but he
could not foresee all the possibilities of the future.

The Dutch statesmen, although they were slow at arriving at conclusions,
could not but perceive that the Portuguese diplomatist had been merely
seeking to gain time. They therefore called upon him to give a
categorical statement of the intentions of his government with reference
to _Brazil_. He replied in a note, in which he asserted that he had
instructions to treat with them respecting the affairs of _Pernambuco_;
and he requested that a conference might take place in time to save them
the expense of fitting out an unnecessary armament. The Dutch
Government, perceiving that he was only renewing his former practices,
declined his proposal; whereupon De Sousa, being hard pressed, offered
to communicate the instructions on which he was to act. This was a bold
step; for it required the exercise of some creative genius on his part.
He had, however, with him some blank despatches from his Government
already signed, and one of these he filled up so as to suit the moment.
The result was that the Dutch, being deceived, suspended their naval
preparations.

The ambassador, however, although he had tricked the States, was
perfectly open in his communications with his own Government; and he
suggested to his sovereign to order his own disgrace or punishment
should it be necessary to disavow the act which, according to his
knowledge of the existing circumstances, he had judged best for the
public interests. His action was secretly approved; but the Portuguese
Government had sufficient decency to refrain from any open commendation
of the ambassador’s conduct, nor did they confer upon him any reward.
The King now assured the States that the insurgents in _Pernambuco_
disregarded his authority, and that, therefore, they were justified in
making war upon them. The Dutch naval preparations were therefore
resumed; but they had been delayed for several months. It was November
1645 before the fleet was ready to sail; the frost delayed it at
Flushing three months longer, and six months were consumed upon the
voyage. Had the insurgents possessed the means of pressing the siege of
_Recife_ with vigour, the convoy would have arrived to find that place
in the possession of the Portuguese.

As it was, the arrival of the fleet had the effect of prolonging this
lingering war for years still to come. With the fleet arrived five new
members of the Council, with six thousand troops, besides seamen and
volunteers, all under the command of the experienced Schoppe. The first
attempt of the new general was to regain possession of _Olinda_; but in
this he was defeated. As, however, he had now a superior force in the
field, the insurgents thought it advisable to evacuate _Paraïba_, and
accordingly sent orders to Camaram to withdraw from that captaincy.

The Dutch leader next made a descent upon the northern captaincies, in
which he made preparations for the future supplies of provisions for
_Recife_. He sent also a considerable force to the river _San Francisco_
for the purpose of cutting off the source from which the Portuguese were
nourished; but in this latter attempt he was not so successful, and lost
a hundred and fifty men. He next secretly fitted out a naval expedition
with which he set sail to surprise _Bahia_. Landing upon the island of
_Itaparica_, he established himself upon a commanding position, which he
fortified. The Governor-General, being taken completely unawares,
thought only of protecting the city; and meanwhile the invaders
devastated the _Reconcave_ unopposed. On this the Governor-General
determined to attack the Dutch position--an unsuccessful enterprise--in
which six hundred men were sacrificed. After this, Schoppe, who had only
meant to effect a diversion in favour of _Recife_, returned to that
place.

The Portuguese were now, in turn, considerably straitened for supplies;
and Vidal had to proceed on foraging expeditions to _Paraïba_ and to the
_Potengi_. The insurgent leaders, however, were buoyed up by the hope
which they entertained of assistance from Portugal. So strongly indeed
did they entertain this hope that they concerted measures for the
co-operation with them of the fleet which was to arrive; and a battery
which was now erected caused much trouble to _Recife_. As it commanded
the harbour as well as the streets, the Dutch were compelled to remove
their vessels. In one of the sallies made by the Portuguese, the palace
built by Count Nassau was sacked.

[Sidenote: 1647.]

The convenient pretence that Portugal and the States were still at peace
was abandoned, in so far as South America was concerned, after the
attack by the Dutch on _Bahia_. The order of the Jesuits in _Rio de
Janeiro_ contributed to the insurgent cause a ship-load of supplies. A
new Governor-General now arrived at _Bahia_ in the person of the Count
of Villa Pouca, who brought out with him reinforcements in twelve ships,
three of which were unsuccessful in a conflict with the Dutch. The
arrival of this fleet without any considerable succours for _Pernambuco_
was a sore trial to the patriots of that province. The fleet brought
them, however, a new commander, Francisco Barreto, with the rank of
Campmaster-General. He had with him an escort of three hundred men,
together with arms and ammunition. The Dutch, having information of his
sailing, intercepted his ships off _Paraïba_, and Barreto was carried
prisoner into _Recife_. After nine months’ captivity he effected his
escape and joined the insurgents.

It certainly seemed a measure little calculated for insuring success to
supersede at this juncture two such capable and efficient commanders as
Fernandes and Vidal, who had hitherto headed the insurrection with such
vigour, and who were so thoroughly acquainted with the country in which
they had to operate. Such, however, was their thorough loyalty, and such
the good sense of Barreto in conforming to their advice, that no ill
effects resulted from this change in the command. In the course of the
insurrection, Vidal and Vernandes had overrun one hundred and eighty
leagues of country, from _Ceará_ to the _San Francisco_; they had
captured eighty pieces of cannon; and they now delivered up to the new
commander two months’ provisions for the army, twenty-four _contos_[2]
in specie, and the value of eighteen thousand _cruzados_.[3]

[Sidenote: 1648.]

Soon after this event a fresh fleet arrived from Holland, bringing out
six thousand men, which placed the Dutch at an unmistakable advantage in
the field, compelling the Portuguese to contract the limits of their
operations. The insurgent leaders, with this view, called in their
troops from various out-stations, and evacuated _Olinda_, confining
themselves between _Serinhaem_ and _Moribeca_. All of the inhabitants of
the _Varzea_, capable of bearing arms, were ordered to repair to the
camp. Upon a muster being taken, the entire insurgent force was found to
number only three thousand two hundred men. Its quality, however, made
up for its deficiency in quantity.

In describing the details of this long and tedious colonial war, one is
glad to arrive at a point which, though it did not mark its conclusion,
was nevertheless decisive as to its result. Such a point is the first
battle of _Guararapes_. The Dutch commander had determined to take
possession of the small town of _Moribeca_, from which place he could
co-operate with the fleet destined for _Nazareth_. With this view he
attacked the _estancia_ of _Barreta_, making prisoner of Soares, the
officer in command. A range of hills, called the _Guararapes_, rises
between three or four leagues south of _Recife_, its skirts extending to
within three miles of the sea, the intervening space being swampy. Where
the range most nearly approaches the ocean there is only a narrow slip
of land between the hills and the swamp--the entrance to the pass being
between a lake and a thicket. Of this pass the Portuguese took
possession, being protected by the wood from the view of an approaching
enemy.

On the morning on which the Dutch were to enter the pass, the officer
above-named, who had been captured at _Barreta_, contrived to make his
escape, and his countrymen were thus well informed as to the disposition
and strength of the enemy. A skirmishing party was sent out to decoy
them onwards; and the Dutch thus suddenly found themselves in a position
where their numbers were of little avail. After the first discharge of
firearms the fight was hand to hand. It was well contested. Vidal had
two horses killed under him; whilst the charger which Joam Fernandes
rode on this decisive day had one of his ears perforated by a bullet. A
Dutch soldier, who aimed a blow at the rider, lost his arm by a stroke
from the sabre of Fernandes. As was to be expected, in spite of their
inferiority of numbers, the patriots won the fight. The enemy left
twelve hundred dead upon the field, of whom it is said one hundred and
eighty were officers. Amongst the fallen was Haus, who had returned to
_Brazil_; amongst the wounded was Schoppe.

After this victory the insurgents once more took possession of _Olinda_;
but their joy was somewhat damped by the loss of their fortified
battery, called the _Asseca_, which had so long annoyed _Recife_, and
which, during the absence of the commanders, had been yielded without a
struggle. At this time they likewise sustained a severe loss by the
death of their Indian ally, Camaram. He was a man of much ability, and
although a typical Indian warrior, was of such dignified and courteous
manners that he obtained the love and respect of all. We are somewhat
surprised, however, that he is claimed by the Church as a model convert,
who every day heard mass and repeated the office. He invariably bore
upon his breast a crucifix and an image of the Virgin. The Dutch were
still masters of the sea; and in consequence the Portuguese suffered
much damage. By means of cruisers the Dutch carried on a tolerably
lucrative war; whilst _Recife_ offered a ready market for produce, and a
ready means of sending remittances to Europe.

Meanwhile a blow was struck at the supremacy of the States in a quarter
in which it was little expected. A member of the family of Correa de Sa,
by whose means the French had been expelled from _Rio de Janeiro_, now
projected an expedition for the recovery of _Angola_. Under pretext of
erecting a fort on that coast to secure a supply of negroes, he set out
from _Brazil_, having obtained a large amount subscribed for the
purpose. Arrived on the coast of Africa, he set sail for _Loanda_, and
was there informed that a detachment of Dutch was acting against the
Portuguese at _Massangano_. On this information, he sent a flag to the
governor, stating that, although he had not come with a hostile purpose,
he felt it his duty to defend his oppressed countrymen, and he allowed
the Dutch two days in which to surrender. The latter, at the end of this
time, made a show of resistance, but soon fled; after which, by great
address, Correa de Sa effected the relief of _Massangano_, taking
prisoners the entire Dutch force of over two thousand men, whom he
caused immediately to embark for Europe. The city of _St. Thomas_ was
likewise abandoned. The tidings of this success reaching Portugal about
the same time as those of the battle of _Guararapes_, had no small share
in deciding the government of King Joam to take the course which, after
long hesitation, they ultimately adopted in their negotiations with the
Dutch respecting _Pernambuco_.

The councils of King Joam were now not a little distracted. The Dutch
were fully aware of the value of the possession which was the subject of
contention between them and Portugal; and they were fully determined not
to yield _Pernambuco_. Their demands were that Portugal should cede to
them the whole of the provinces which they had occupied at the
conclusion of the truce, with the third part of _Seregipe_ in addition;
that the island and port of the _Morro_ of _St. Paulo_, opposite
_Bahia_, should be given to them, likewise, for twenty years, until the
terms of the treaty should be fulfilled; that they were to receive
100,000 _florins_, yearly, for twenty years; and likewise one thousand
oxen, one thousand cows, four hundred horses, and one thousand sheep,
yearly, for ten years, and a thousand chests of sugar, yearly, for
twenty years. All their slaves were also to be restored.

Although these exorbitant terms were subsequently somewhat lowered, the
Portuguese nation had still sufficient pride not to submit to them. The
King placed the matter before the members of his Council, from each
individual of whom he required a separate written opinion. The result
was that a memorial was laid before His Majesty, stating that however
desirable might be a peace with Holland, yet that religion and honour
alike necessitated the rejection of the terms proposed. The King had,
however, one adviser who took an opposite view. This was Vieyra, the
Jesuit, who proceeded to expose the weakness of the several arguments
which were adduced by the Council. This able statesman looked not to the
Portuguese possessions in _Brazil_ alone, but to the imperial position
which Portugal occupied in the world. He met the religious objection by
the argument that there was nothing to prevent the Portuguese of
_Pernambuco_ from emigrating elsewhere. Since the very existence of
Portugal was at stake, it was before all things the King’s duty as a
Catholic sovereign to look to the safety of that stronghold of the
faith. The captaincies which the Dutch required, were after all only
about a tenth part of the country.

Sixty ships, he pointed out, had been captured during that year. The
Dutch, he declared, possessed fourteen thousand vessels against one
hundred and fifty belonging to Portugal. They had in India more than a
hundred ships of war, and more than sixty in _Brazil_. But it was on the
state of India that Vieyra rested his main argument, and on the
certainty of the Portuguese losing their possessions on that continent
should they persist in war with the States. Thus was the King left in as
great perplexity as ever, since his Council advised him in one sense,
whilst the statesman whom he most trusted took an opposite view of the
situation. One suggestion of Vieyra’s was, however, complied with,
namely, a Portuguese _Brazil_ Company was established, and this had a
notable effect in bringing the war to a conclusion.

[Sidenote: 1649.]

The necessity for the above-named measure had long been represented to
the King by this sagacious Churchman. It was indeed an imitation of the
Dutch East and West India Companies. Individual interest, he argued,
would create exertion and enterprise; whilst foreign capital would be
attracted by so promising an adventure. There was one condition
absolutely needed, however, to insure its success, namely, that all
capital embarked in this adventure should be free from confiscation. It
is necessary to explain that this _proviso_ referred to the Inquisition,
the political evils of which institution had been ably exposed by
Vieyra. Were the property of merchants engaged in this Company liable to
be seized at the instance of the Holy Office, the Company would, of
course, cease to command public confidence. As a matter of course the
Holy Office denounced the proposed measure. They objected even to the
use of money belonging to suspected persons. It required the losses of
eight successive years and the threatened ruin of the trade of Portugal
to induce the Government to put down this obstacle raised by interested
bigotry. But at length the Company was formed, and the King’s eldest son
became Prince of _Brazil_.

To return to _Pernambuco_. The _Guararape_ hills were once more the
scene of a battle between the parties who contended for the mastery of
this fertile province. On this occasion the relative position of the
combatants was reversed, the Dutch being the defendants and the
Portuguese the assailants. The former had sallied from _Recife_ with a
force of some five thousand men, and had taken possession of the pass
between the sea and the hills of the above name. Here they were attacked
by the Portuguese, and, after a struggle of six hours, were routed with
a loss of eleven hundred men, nineteen stands of colours, with the whole
of their artillery and ammunition. Prink, the Dutch commander, fell, as
did the chief of the naval forces which assisted him. Joam Fernandes,
the hero of the insurrection, had, as usual, several narrow escapes with
his life. On the side of the victors fell Paulo da Cunha, who had taken
a prominent part in the war.

Shortly after this battle the first fleet sent out by the new Company
arrived at _Brazil_, the Dutch being unable to oppose it. There is not
much, however, to record respecting the proceedings of the contending
parties during the next three years. Holland, being engaged in war with
the Protector of England, left the West Indian Company to provide for
_Pernambuco_ as best it could; but the means of the Company were
exhausted, and their naval force at _Recife_ became unfit to go to sea.
Schoppe, indeed, made one attempt to intercept the homeward bound fleet
of 1652; but he was beaten off with loss.

[Sidenote: 1653.]

The conclusion of the struggle for the independence of _Pernambuco_ was
due, as had been its commencement, to the initiative of Joam Fernandes.
To his intelligent and patriotic mind two considerations presented
themselves, namely, that the Pernambucans must rely for their freedom on
themselves alone; and that the expulsion of the Dutch could never be
secured while _Recife_ remained open to their ships. Taking these as his
principles, it occurred to him that although there was no hope of
obtaining direct succour from Portugal, yet that the Company’s fleet
might be made use of to obtain the desired end. His commander, Barreto,
entering into his views, the camp-masters met in council in _San
Gonzalo’s_ chapel, and agreed to endeavour to carry out the scheme.

The annual fleet was to sail from Lisbon early in October, with Pedro de
Magalhaens as general and Brito Freire as admiral, the latter being the
well-known historian. Barreto had been desired to have the ships in the
ports of _Pernambuco_ ready to join the fleet on its way to _Bahia_. The
advice was received on the 7th of December, and on the 20th the convoy
came in sight of _Recife_. After beating off some Dutch frigates, the
general and the admiral landed at the _Rio Doce_. This scheme was then
opened up to them, and they were requested to block up the harbour
whilst the insurgents should make a last and desperate attempt to effect
the capture of _Recife_.

As was to be expected, the commanders were not a little startled at the
part which had been assigned to them. Magalhaens represented that his
instructions from the King did not authorize him to engage in any act of
hostility; nor had he permission from the Company to divert the fleet
from its destination. He further intimated that were he to involve his
country in war with Holland, the penalty would be his head. To this
Fernandes replied by the argument once used by John Knox, that all
temporal penalties, which at least ended with this world, could not
outweigh in the scale the value of a soul which was to exist to all
eternity; and that were the general to fail in carrying out the part
which Providence now assigned to him, the souls of all those who would
be thus exposed to renunciation of the faith would be required at his
hands. It was an age of deep religious conviction, and both Magalhaens
and Freire yielded to the arguments of Fernandes.

The result is soon told. The Dutch fleet, perceiving the intentions of
the Portuguese, stood out to sea whilst they were able to do so. Their
disappearance set at liberty the merchant ships along the coast, which
were employed under the orders of Barreto. A line was drawn across the
harbour of _Recife_, and strict precautions were taken that no relief
should reach the city by sea or by land. The besieging force consisted
of three thousand five hundred men. The indefatigable Fernandes led the
first assault; and he was good enough to promise a separate mass for the
soul of each of his men who should fall. On the morning of the 15th of
January, the besieged were astonished to find themselves cannonaded by a
battery of twenty-four pounders, and the fort of _Salinas_ surrendered
on the same night. One post gave in after another, and at length the
inhabitants compelled the General to treat for a capitulation. The
Dutch, having surrendered their arms, might remain for three months at
_Recife_ to settle their affairs; but all their possessions on the coast
of _Brazil_, without exception, were to be surrendered to the
Portuguese.

[Sidenote: 1654.]

Fernandez entered the city and received the keys of the magazines and
forts, seventy-three in number, which he proudly delivered to Barreto.
Twelve hundred regular troops laid down their arms at _Recife_. The
Portuguese likewise gained possession of two hundred and seventy-three
guns; the Indians had retired toward _Ceará_. Some of the distant
garrisons, having received timely warning of the loss of _Recife_,
succeeded in effecting their escape; but at _Itamaraca_ four hundred men
were taken. The General and the Admiral now proceeded with the convoy to
_Bahia_; whilst Vidal set out to announce the glad tidings in Portugal.
But in this intention the commander was anticipated by a Benedictine
priest, who, arriving at Lisbon on the same evening, proceeded at once
to communicate the information to the King.

[Sidenote: 1661.]

The news of this event reached Holland at a time when the Dutch, however
much they might feel disposed to do so, were by no means in a position
to take revenge. Their arms were not just then successful against
England. But they succeeded in recompensing themselves for the loss of
_Pernambuco_ by wresting Ceylon from the Portuguese. They did not,
however, immediately resign the hope of recovering their possessions in
_Brazil_. Although Louis XIV. was accepted as mediator between Holland
and Portugal, the States nevertheless sent a fleet under De Ruiter to
the Tagus and attempted some reprisals. In the end, Holland yielded to
circumstances. Charles II. of England, while treating for his marriage
with the Portuguese princess, intimated to the Dutch that if they should
persevere in the contest he would become a party to it. France likewise
interfered energetically on behalf of Portugal; and at length the
negotiations were concluded, the latter country consenting to pay a
certain amount in money and commodities to Holland, and to restore her
captured cannon.




CHAPTER V.

_BRAZIL; JESUIT MISSIONS IN NORTHERN BRAZIL._

1652-1662.


Mention has more than once been made in the preceding chapter of Antonio
Vieyra, the Jesuit, a man of singular ability, who was destined to play
a distinguished part in the history of his time, both as a statesman and
as an ecclesiastic, and who has left behind him one of the foremost
names in the splendid literature of his country. Before proceeding to
relate the part which he took in the affairs of _Brazil_, it may be well
to give a sketch of his remarkable career up to this time.

Vieyra was born at Lisbon in the year 1608, but when in his eighth year
he emigrated with his parents to _Bahia_, where he was brought up at the
Jesuits’ school. In his early youth it is said that his intellect was
clouded. Being aware of this fact, he earnestly prayed to the Virgin to
remove the cause, and he himself records that something seemed to give
way in his head, causing him violent pain, from which hour his intellect
shone out in all its exceptional clearness. When in his fifteenth year,
a sermon which he heard on the glory of the Beatific Vision determined
him to select a religious life. The provincial of the Jesuits in
_Brazil_ was a frequent visitor at his father’s house; and the youth,
knowing it to be in vain to seek his parents’ consent, fled to the
Jesuits’ College, the doors of which were gladly opened to receive him.
His parents remonstrated, but without effect; and, at the age of sixteen
he was permitted to take the vows which bound him to the Order for
life. A year later he was employed to write the yearly letter from the
province to the general at Rome, and in the following year he lectured
on rhetoric at _Olinda_.

Vieyra’s tastes inclined him to abandon his studies and to devote
himself entirely to the Indians; but his far-seeing superiors discerned
too well his remarkable talents to permit them to be devoted entirely to
such a purpose. After some years spent in ministering amongst Indians
and negroes, and in the acquisition of the _Tupi_ language, for the
benefit of the former, and of that of _Angola_, for the benefit of the
latter, he was, in 1635, ordained a priest. He now lectured on theology
at _Bahia_, and, sometime later, he accompanied the agent sent to
Portugal to congratulate the King on the recovery of his rights.
Arriving at Peniche in company of _Dom_ Fernando Mascarenhas, whose
brother had adhered to the king of Castile, he was arrested by the
people and narrowly escaped being put to death. The populace were,
however, persuaded to deliver him over to justice. Reaching Lisbon as a
supposed criminal, he obtained an audience of the King, upon whom his
remarkable talents produced an instant effect. He was appointed preacher
to Joam IV., who continued ever afterwards to regard him with the
affection of a father to a son. In his sermons he expressed himself with
such freedom as well as eloquence that he was at one time brought under
the notice of the Inquisition.

[Sidenote: 1652.]

The favour which Vieyra enjoyed at court created the jealousy even of
his own order, and it was once feared that they were about to expel him.
In anticipation of this, he was offered by the King a bishopric, which
offer, however, was declined. The jealousy of Vieyra’s superiors was at
length, happily, removed, and he was employed during several years in
the most important diplomatic service, including a mission to the Hague
at a critical period. About the year 1652, after the _Brazil_ Company
had been established owing to his representations, the fleet of which
Company was the means used by Fernandes to complete the reduction of
_Recife_, the thoughts of the Jesuit Father began to be powerfully
attracted towards the land of his early education. From the possession
of his special gifts, more particularly his knowledge of the Indian and
_Angola_ languages, he probably felt that there was work to be done
which he was likely to perform better than any living man. But there was
a strong obstacle in the way. This was the favour with which he was
regarded both by King Joam and by his son, Prince Theodosio, from both
of whom he felt it would be useless to solicit permission to depart on
his proposed voyage.

This being the case, as it was a matter of conscience, Vieyra determined
to set out clandestinely, that is to say, without the royal permission.
A strong succession of circumstances now occurred. Vieyra had made up
his mind to set out for _Maranham_, and there was but one vessel in the
_Brazil_ fleet which was bound for that State. It was arranged that
Vieyra and his companion, Ribeiro, should accompany the last Jesuits on
board, as if to take leave of them. As they were on the way, they
learned that the ship was detained for a royal officer. Vieyra therefore
returned to the King, and obtained permission for the vessel to depart
without this person. But now the captain was compelled to wait for the
morning tide, and Vieyra and his companion returned on shore for the
night. Their purpose being now suspected, the captain of the ship
received notice that he would be hanged were he to convey Vieyra away;
and notice was likewise given to the masters of all the other ships in
the river forbidding them to give the two Jesuits a passage, Vieyra
being at the same time summoned to the palace.

Upon this Vieyra went to the Prince, and told him that he must go to
_Maranham_; but he was answered that nothing would induce the King to
consent to his going. The Jesuit then endeavoured to escape in a vessel
bound to _Madeira_, from which place he hoped eventually to be able to
proceed to _Brazil_; but this vessel, too, lost the tide, and as Vieyra
had been seen to go on board, he was again commanded to return. He was
cordially received by the King and Prince, with whom, however, he argued
as to the superior authority under which he was prompted to proceed to
South America. The Prince was in ill-health, and it was probably owing
to this circumstance that the royal consent to Vieyra’s departure was
now obtained. The King having once yielded, now entrusted Vieyra, as
Superior of the Mission, to found such churches and missions in the
interior as he might think fit, and enjoining all persons in authority
to render him every assistance for this purpose.

It was arranged that Vieyra and a brother missionary should proceed in a
_caravel_ to their destination; but whilst they were waiting the King
and the Prince, with whom Vieyra was now living in daily intercourse,
repented of the permission which they had given. Vieyra, too, felt more
than ever reluctant to quit his royal master, to whom he was bound not
alone by ties of the deepest loyalty, but likewise by those of the
utmost personal affection. The services, too, which he might render to
his country in Europe at that critical time were suggested to him; and
the result was that his missionary projects were abandoned. So much
publicity had, however, been given to them, that both the King and
Vieyra were somewhat afraid of ridicule on the announcement of their
relinquishment. It was therefore determined for the present that nothing
should be given out on the subject, and that when the time should come
for his departure he should be summoned back from on board ship as if on
a sudden impulse from the King. When the time came, however, for the
Jesuit’s departure, and he had gone through the form of going on board
ship, owing to some accident the royal mandate for his return never
reached him; and thus it happened that after all he unintentionally
sailed, and touched at the _Cape de Verde_ Islands, where his vessel
remained for four days.

Vieyra must have been a very Chrysostom; for we read that he preached
twice at _Porto Praya_ with such effect that the people first petitioned
him and his companions to remain with them, and then offered a large
bribe to the master of the vessel to sail without them. At _Maranham_
Vieyra was welcomed by his brother, when he lost no time in setting
about the duties of his mission. It is almost needless to say that he
was greatly shocked at the low moral and religious condition in which he
found the community. It was in fact Christian in name alone, and was
destitute even of the elements by which Christian instruction might be
imparted. The zealous missionary lost no time in communicating his
impressions to the King and to the Prince, whom he implored to send out
suitable assistance. The harvest he said was great, but the labourers
were few.

_Maranham_ was in truth in a far worse condition than that of the older
captaincies, the inhabitants of which had by this time acquired the
customs of civilized life. In them had long been established the forms
of municipal government. They were likewise communities which subsisted
by regularly-established commerce; whilst they enjoyed regular
intercourse with the mother country, and were presided over by men of
position and character. But _Maranham_ and _Pará_ were, so to speak,
back-settlements. It was exile for a governor of position to go to them,
and they were consequently ruled either by men who went thither for a
short time on promotion or who accepted the post of governor in order to
make money in the only way by which it could be made--that is to say, by
slave-dealing. It is to be remembered, too, that at this period
_Maranham_ and _Pará_ were separated from the Portuguese settlements in
Southern _Brazil_ by the presence of the Dutch in the intervening
provinces adjoining _Pernambuco_.

In the older presidencies the supply of Indians available for slaves was
by this time so exhausted that the slave market had to be stocked from
_Angola_; but at _Maranham_ the native population, being newly brought
into contact with the Portuguese, afforded an ample field for the energy
of the slave-hunter and those who were interested in his operations, in
which latter category were included officials of every rank. In fact,
Vieyra found _Maranham_ a huge Augean-stable, the proportions of which
would have made a man of less energy stand aghast in despair.

The Portuguese race has unquestionably filled a most distinguished part
in the world. At the period of which we write it had gloriously
recovered its national independence, and was renowned alike for its
splendid literature, its famous geographical discoveries,--more
especially those of Bartholomew Diaz, Vasco de Gama, Cabral, and
Magalhaens,--and its magnificent colonial possessions in the east as
well as in the west; and that the race has not lost all its energy is
proved by such exploits of the present day as those of Serpa Pinto and
others. But in two respects, as well to-day as two centuries ago, the
same race is less honourably remarkable, namely, in addiction to the
more superstitious adjuncts of Catholicism, such as worship of images,
belief in everyday miracles, etc., and in addiction to every form of the
slave-trade. The former may be considered an indication of puerile
ignorance; the latter is a national disgrace.

There seems indeed something peculiarly ingrained in the Portuguese race
which makes them take to slave-dealing and slave-hunting as naturally as
greyhounds take to chasing hares; and this observation applies not to
one section of the race alone, but to Portuguese wherever they are to be
found beyond the reach of European law. No modern race can be cited as
slave-hunters within measurable distance of the Portuguese. Their
exploits in this respect are written in the annals not only of the whole
coast of _Brazil_ from _Pará_ to _Uruguay_ and along the _Misiones_ of
_Paraguay_, not only on the coast of _Angola_, but throughout the
interior of Africa. We may take up the journals of one traveller after
another, of Burton, of Livingstone, of Stanley, or of Cameron, and, in
whatever respect their accounts and opinions may differ, on one point
they are one and all entirely agreed, namely, as to the pestilent and
remorseless activity of the ubiquitous Portuguese slave-catcher.

Nor does the eminence of the Portuguese race as purveyors to the
slave-market end at the dark continent. In India, it is true, their
activity in this respect is restrained by the presence of a paramount
power; but further east their national character has found ample scope
for its development. In the nineteenth century a Christian country of
Europe has shown an example to such nations as China and Japan by
maintaining at _Macao_ an emporium of coolies destined for _Peru_ and
elsewhere, and sent out under conditions differing from those of slavery
in name alone, and the records of which traffic are a _pendant_ to those
of “the middle passage.” Finally, a branch of the Portuguese race has at
this moment the unenviable distinction of possessing the only civilized
country in which slavery is acknowledged by law.

To return to _Brazil_: the kings of Portugal had, it is true, been
individually ever desirous of mitigating the conditions of slavery to
which their Indian subjects in South America were subjected; but
circumstances were ever too strong for them. The wealth of _Brazil_ was
only to be obtained by agricultural labour; and so long as Indians were
to be captured or reared for the purpose, the cupidity of the colonists
devoted their Indian fellow-subjects to this end. The native races,
however, were not used to such hard labour as was imposed upon them, and
they gradually sank and died away beneath it. They were then replaced by
Africans, whose descendants are now the means of producing the
sugar-wealth, coffee-wealth, and tobacco-wealth of _Brazil_. Various
enactments were from time to time passed by the Government at Lisbon to
restrain their colonial subjects in their dealings with the natives;
but all were of no avail. In the first instance the colonists were
permitted to enslave them without control; but a law was passed by King
Sebastian, declaring that no Indians should be considered slaves,
excepting such as should be taken in war made by command of the King or
Governor, or such as were aggressive cannibals; but this regulation was
invariably made to suit every individual occasion.

By a second law, it was provided that the Indians who worked for the
Portuguese should not be regarded as slaves, but as free labourers. King
Phillip II. decreed that none should be considered slaves excepting
those taken in hostilities for which he should have issued orders.
Philip III. forbade that any Indians should be made slaves; but the evil
had gone too far for his edict to be attended with any good result, and
he was induced to revoke it, and to permit the enslavement of Indians
taken in war. In short, so general was the interest amongst all classes
of the Portuguese in _Brazil_ in encouraging slavery, that every
well-meant edict and regulation of the Portuguese Crown was evaded. The
same law provided that in each village of the “reduced” Indians there
was to be a captain, who should hold office for three years. The Indians
were to be settled in villages of about three hundred houses. Lands were
to be allotted for their use and a church built in each village. These
Indians were to be considered free, and were paid for their labour.

Joam IV. renewed the law of Philip III., and Sousa Pereira, going out as
governor of _Maranham_, took with him orders emancipating all Indians
then enslaved. These orders produced an insurrection, which was only
quelled by a promise of the Governor that the law should not be
enforced, pending an appeal to the King. The same occurrence took place
likewise at _Pará_ when the law was announced at that place. Such was
the state of things in Northern _Brazil_ at the date of Vieyra’s coming.

Much as the Jesuit Father had been shocked on his arrival at _Maranham_
by the low religious and moral condition of that dependency, his
convictions on the subject were much intensified as his opportunities of
observation increased. Many of the colonists troubled themselves neither
with mass nor with church throughout the year, and it was a common thing
amongst them to die without confession. In the whole captaincy there
were but two churches with resident priests; the one on the island, the
other on the mainland. The Portuguese of _Maranham_ and _Pará_ were
pursuing the same course towards the Indians which had resulted in their
extermination along the sea-coast of the other captaincies. The law
permitted that Indians taken in war should be made slaves, and likewise
that such prisoners as were rescued by the Portuguese from other tribes,
and who were thus saved from being eaten, should be devoted to slavery.
These two regulations were made to cover the most iniquitous
transactions. Every captain of a fort could at any time provoke his
Indian neighbours into war; whilst Indian captives were habitually
threatened or tortured into the confession that they had been rescued or
purchased by the Portuguese from other Indians.

In the general system of oppression the Indians who had voluntarily
submitted to the Portuguese bore their full share. Indeed they were
perhaps, if possible, in a worse position than their brethren. The
captain for the time being, holding his office merely for three years,
looked upon them in the light of so many animals out of whom he was to
extract as much benefit for himself as he could during that period. They
were chiefly employed in raising and preparing tobacco; whilst their
families were left to starve. Some Indians thought it better to quit
this “free” condition and voluntarily to become domestic slaves. Others
preferred to die.

It is not surprising that such a state of things should have worked up
Vieyra’s indignation to the boiling point. He had soon an opportunity of
venting his most righteous wrath from the pulpit. It was the season of
Lent, and as his reputation for eloquence had preceded him, the church
was, for once at least, filled to overflowing. In a discourse which has
been preserved, he acted on the command given to the Prophet Isaiah,
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my
people their transgressions.” In a passage which might perhaps be
addressed from the pulpit to the Brazilians of to-day, he observes, “But
you will say to me this State cannot be supported without Indians. Who
is to plant our mandioc? Must our wives do it? Must our children do it?
If necessity and conscience require it, I reply, ‘Yes;’ for better it is
to be supported by the sweat of one’s own brow than by another’s blood.”
He had no difficulty in touching by his impassioned eloquence the
consciences, if not the hearts, even of the hardened congregation whom
he addressed; and on the same afternoon a meeting was held, in which it
was agreed to go into the history of each individual Indian who was
detained in a state of slavery, and to leave each case to be decided by
the Senate. A deed expressing the consent of the people to this
arrangement was immediately drawn up and signed by all the chief persons
of the place.

Vieyra now undertook the task of instructing the Indians each Sunday;
and after a time he made plans for a missionary expedition amongst the
tribes. In this project, however, he had to encounter the selfishness of
the governor, who could not spare from his own plantations the Indians
whom Vieyra required to accompany him. Disappointed in this quarter he
turned to another, only to meet with a like repulse. The results of his
efforts convinced him that it was impossible to proceed with the
conversion and civilization of the Indians, so long as the civil
authorities should have any power over them. He accordingly wrote to the
King his opinion that the governors and chief-captains should possess no
authority over the Indians excepting in time of war, when a certain
number should be allotted for military service; that the Indians should
have an advocate in each captaincy, annually elected, and independent of
the governor; that the natives should be governed by religioners; that
at the beginning of each year lists should be made of the Indians in
each captaincy, and likewise of the settlers, and that the former should
then be divided amongst the latter by their own advocate and by the
superior of the religious order; that no Indian should work for a
settler for more than four months in a year, in terms of two months,
their wages being deposited in advance. He added other excellent
suggestions; but so urgent was the case that it was thought better that
he should himself proceed to Europe vividly in order to plead in person.

On his homeward voyage Vieyra encountered a tempest near the _Azores_,
from which he owed his deliverance to the crew of a Dutch privateer, who
took him from his ship after its masts had been cut away. He and his
companions, after having been plundered of all they possessed, were
landed on the island of _Graciosa_. Vieyra’s credit, however, was
sufficient to procure for himself and his forty companions the means of
subsistence during two months, and likewise a passage to Lisbon, which
he thus vividly describes:--

“The ship belonged to heretic owners, and the pilot and the sailors were
heretics; we passengers were some religioners of different orders, and a
great quantity of those musical islanders who come here to compose a
choir of four voices with their nightingales and goldfinches,
canary-birds and blackbirds. The weather was worse than ordinary, and
the effects which I observed in it were truly admirable. We religioners
were all employed in prayers and litanies, making vows to Heaven and
exorcisms to the waves, throwing relics into the sea, and above all in
acts of contrition, confessing many times, as if at the point of death.
The sailors, like the heretics, when the hatches were lying at the feet
of the masts, ate and drank more merrily than ever, and mocked at what
they called our ceremonies. The little birds at the same time, at the
sound which the wind made in the rigging, as if those cords had been the
string of some musical instrument, exerted their strength in singing.
God, help me! if labour and fear had not taken off all attention, who
would not in this situation have admired effects so various and so
opposite, the cause being the same? What, ... all in the same ship, all
in the same storm, all in the same danger, and some singing, some
mocking, some praying and lamenting?” It is interesting to see this
great man, who in following his duty shrank neither from labour nor from
any kind of danger, ingenuously confessing the effect which a storm at
sea had upon him in common with other bad sailors.

It is needless to add that the Portuguese Government were now faithfully
and fully informed of the condition of things in the northern provinces
of _Brazil_; but although the King was most desirous to do what was
right and just, his power in the matter was limited. Deputies from
_Maranham_ and _Pará_ were in Lisbon, and neither gold nor falsehood was
spared on behalf of the slaveholders.

The King ordered that a _junta_ should be convened of theologians and
lawyers under the guidance of the President of the Palace. After eight
days’ discussion, Vieyra having pleaded his own cause, the _junta_ gave
their opinion in favour of his system being adopted. This step was
followed by a direction from the heads of the other orders established
in _Maranham_ and _Pará_ that the members of their respective
communities should act in conformity with the decisions of the _junta_.
Vieyra’s next object was to establish a missionary board, which should
at all times supervise the interests of the missions. A decree was
issued declaring that all the Indian settlements in the State of
_Maranham_ should be under the direction of the Jesuits; that Vieyra,
as superior of the mission, should direct all expeditions into the
interior, and settle the “reduced” Indians as he might think fit; that
the chief of every ransoming party should be approved by the Jesuits,
who should have a vote upon the examination of the ransomed Indians; and
that these should not be slaves for longer than five years. The free
Indians were not to work for the Portuguese for more than six months in
the year.

[Sidenote: 1655.]

_Recife_ being now once more in the hands of the Portuguese, the
services of Vidal were at the disposal of the King, and were suitably
employed in the government of _Maranham_. His Majesty would have
prevented Vieyra from returning; but, as he was unwilling to decide so
important a point on his own judgment, he referred to the triennial
meeting of the Jesuits of the province the question whether a man whose
services were so important at home ought to be sent as a missionary
among savages. Vieyra demanded to be heard before them. It may well be
conceived that he had many reasons to urge why he should not abandon the
mission he had chosen. He pointed out the scoffs that would be uttered
were he who had incited others to go to _Maranham_ to prefer for himself
the rest of Europe. What would the Indians say as to his having left
them to seek relief, and forgetting his promise of speedily returning?
What an example would his turning aside from the path of difficulty
present to the youth now growing up in the colonies? Some of the
Fathers, being in despair that the Company should lose the advantage of
Vieyra’s talents at headquarters, nobly kneeling at the Provincial’s
feet, offered to take Vieyra’s place abroad, provided he might remain at
home. The votes were given secretly; but the majority agreed that Vieyra
ought to go upon the mission. The King submitted to this decision; and,
after a residence of only four months in Portugal, Vieyra again embarked
for _Maranham_.

When the terms of the new law became known, such discontent was
occasioned that a popular tumult sprung up; but it was sternly repressed
by Vidal. The new governor soon afterwards proceeded to _Belem_,
accompanied by Vieyra, in order to give effect to the King’s decrees in
the province of _Pará_. The utter contempt of law displayed by the
condition of that province was startling. It was known that the
slave-dealers had brought down with them not less than sixteen hundred
Indians; yet, after every person had made oath that he had presented all
whom he had brought or received, the whole number fell short of eight
hundred, the rest having been concealed. One man presented
eight-and-twenty Indians, who, being examined, replied individually that
they had been rescued from other tribes. They were accordingly passed as
lawful slaves. A week later, the chiefs of some allied Indians arrived
at _Belem_ to request that the governor would release some of their
people, whom the Portuguese had stolen. On being told to point them out,
they selected the twenty-eight above-mentioned. The poor wretches, who
were subjects of the King of Portugal, had been threatened to be flogged
to death, unless they should answer that they were rescued prisoners of
war. The above are mere samples of the wholesale villany which was
practised.

The ecclesiastics who were members of the board upon whom it devolved to
determine the lawfulness of the capture of Indians, were too anxious on
all occasions to bring them by any means within the pale of Christianity
to be at all scrupulous in deciding in favour of the slave-dealers when
there was the least opening for doing so. Vieyra, too, was most anxious
to bring within the King’s protection, and within the fold of the
Church, as many Indians as might be induced by fair means to come, but
this without violence or injustice. He insisted that, before Indians
were brought from their own country, provision should be made that they
might not perish from want, as so many had already perished. One
governor coolly replied, when the probability of a great mortality was
pointed out to him, that the death of such people was of no consequence;
but it was better for them to die amongst the Portuguese, as they would
then be baptized.

Wherever Vidal had the power to do so he acted in the spirit as well as
according to the letter of the King’s instructions; and under his
protection Vieyra diligently pursued his schemes. The chief settlements
of the “reduced” Indians were to the north of _Maranham_, where fifty
villages were established along the coast. Vieyra’s desire was to form a
line of stations in like manner towards the south, as far as _Ceará_,
thus connecting the Jesuit stations of _Maranham_ with those of Southern
_Brazil_. He desired likewise to continue the same connecting system up
the great rivers. With the latter object in view, two Jesuits, with a
Portuguese surgeon and a hundred Indian boatmen, went for a distance of
three hundred leagues up the river to the _Tocantins_. The Fathers were
successful in persuading about a thousand persons to follow them on
their return down to _Belem_, where they were received by Vidal and
Vieyra. Many Indians were likewise brought from other quarters, and for
some time the success of the missionary work, aided as it was by the
strong arm of the civil authority, was all that could be desired.

[Sidenote: 1657.]

But a period came to this prosperity. In the year 1657, Vidal was
promoted to be Governor of _Pernambuco_. About the same time, Vieyra
sustained a severe, and indeed an irreparable, loss by the death of the
Prince of _Brazil_, which was soon followed by that of King Joam. He had
still, however, a powerful and steady friend in the Bishop of _Japan_,
who was the Queen’s confessor; and he was appointed Visitor and Superior
in that part of America. The new Governor, _Don_ Pedro de Mello,
however, who succeeded Vidal, displayed a great falling-off from his
predecessor. He lost no time in engaging in a serious war with the
inhabitants of the islands at the mouth of the _Amazons_. He had brought
out with him the news that Holland and Portugal were then at war; and it
was apprehended that the Dutch might renew their operations in this
quarter. The new Governor, therefore, was urged to attack the Indians
with all his force before the Dutch could arrive to help them. Vieyra
alone advised that conciliatory measures should at first be used; and he
offered to undertake the task of negotiating. Being permitted to try
what he could do, he wrote to the tribes, informing them that the new
laws which he had gone to Portugal to procure had put an end to the
wrongs and grievances of which they complained. He pledged his word that
the old unjust system was prohibited, and said that he was ready either
to receive them or to go amongst them. His messengers could give them
full information of the actual state of things.

The messengers departed, fearing the worst, and telling Vieyra that
should they not return by the next moon he might give them up as being
dead or in slavery. The next moon came, and all had given them up for
lost; but, to the surprise of every one, the messengers returned,
bringing with them a party of Indians with seven chiefs. They said that
they had come simply on the faith of the paper from the Great Father,
who for their sakes had crossed the deep and obtained for them so many
benefits. Vieyra would have returned with them to the island; but they
preferred that they should first have an opportunity of making
preparations for his reception, when they should come for him with a
larger escort. They accordingly came at the date appointed, arriving in
seventeen canoes. They found Vieyra so ill that he was then unable to
accompany them; but he followed them as soon afterwards as his health
permitted, taking with him another Father, the chiefs of all the
“reduced” Indians, and only ten Portuguese.

On the fifth day of their voyage they were met by the chiefs of a tribe
who had promised to make a settlement, and the Fathers were led to a
church which had been constructed in anticipation of their visit. A
house had likewise been prepared for them close by. The neighbouring
hordes had been summoned by their chiefs to assemble, when they took the
oath of obedience, which was administered by the missionaries with much
ceremony. On the right of the church stood the chiefs of the converted
Indians, in their best attire. On the left were the savage chiefs, naked
and feather-adorned, and with bows in hand. Vieyra performed mass, after
which he addressed them through an interpreter; when they submitted
themselves to the King of Portugal, and accepted the true faith. The
chiefs approached the altar one by one, laid down their weapons, and
took an oath of obedience. It is estimated that the number of islanders
who submitted to the Portuguese on this occasion was not less than forty
thousand.

Vieyra’s next task was to regulate the mission amongst the tribes of
_Ibiapaba_, which place he reached, footsore and weary, after a painful
journey of three weeks from _Maranham_. Having arranged the affairs of
this mission, he returned to _Belem_ by sea.

Hitherto no open opposition had been attempted to the laws under which
the missions were making such progress; but the jealousy of the settlers
against the Jesuits was gaining head. The Chamber of _Belem_ now wrote
to that of _St. Luiz_, proposing that they should unite with the object
of depriving the Jesuits of their temporal power over the Indians; and,
the proposal having been acceded to, the Chamber actually addressed a
remonstrance to Vieyra, representing the distress to which the State was
subjected in consequence of the restrictions on slavery. The King’s
tenths, they said, were so diminished that no person would farm them.
Men of noble lineage could not bring their children to the city,
because they had no slaves to row their canoes; their daughters could
not appear at mass for want of fit clothing; many persons in _Belem_ had
no one to fetch them wood or water, and were perishing for want of
slaves to cultivate their land. In his reply, Vieyra observed that the
evils imputed to the want of slaves arose from other causes,--from the
nature of the country, from the scarcity of grain, and from the want of
combination amongst the people. As for slaves, he said, experience had
shown that however great was the supply, the mortality was in excess
thereof.

The discontented party received encouragement from _Don_ Pedro de Mallo,
the governor of _Maranham_, to whom they sent deputies with copies of
the correspondence. That functionary, being afraid of the people, had
secretly fomented their feeling against the Jesuits. He had, however,
been kept in restraint, as were the colonists, by the consideration that
Vieyra’s patron, the Bishop of _Japan_, possessed supreme influence with
the Queen-Regent. This restraining motive was removed by the news which
now arrived of the bishop’s death. Some letters, which had been written
by Vieyra to the bishop, had fallen into the hands of the mendicant
friars, who now gratified their jealousy of Vieyra by making them
public. Not being meant for publicity, they were in Vieyra’s usual
graphic style; and the picture which they exhibited of colonial morality
now raised a storm against him and his order. A tumult occurred. The mob
dragged the Jesuits from their cells, and compelled their superior to
resign his authority over the Indians into the hands of the Chamber. He
and his brethren were then forced on board ship, there to await the
arrival of the Jesuits from other quarters, prior to their all being
deported.

Vieyra was at this time on his way from _Belem_ to _Maranham_. On
hearing of the tumult, he returned to the former place, when he
addressed a memorial to the Chamber, requiring them to continue in
obedience to the laws, reminding them of the services which the Jesuits
had recently rendered to the State, and pointing out the evils which
would ensue were public faith broken with the Indians. His reasoning,
however, produced no effect. When the news of the insurrection at _St.
Luiz_ was made public, the people of _Belem_ arose and surrounded the
college. Vieyra himself was seized and insulted, and was imprisoned in
the chapel of St. John the Baptist, where he was supplied with food by
the devotion of an Indian woman. He was sent to _St. Luiz_, where he was
closely confined, his despatches to Lisbon being taken possession of.
The dwelling-house and church of the Jesuits were destroyed, and their
property sequestrated. Of the two vessels in which the Jesuits were
deported, one was seized by a privateer; the other, with Vieyra on
board, reached Lisbon in safety.

[Sidenote: 1662.]

The Queen-Regent received the news of the rising with indignation. A new
Governor was on the point of setting out for _Maranham_, who was
directed to restore, if possible, the authority which had been set
aside, without an appeal to force. Sequeira ably fulfilled his
instructions. He first exerted himself to re-establish municipal
government and to win the soldiers to his confidence. When he felt his
power sufficiently firm, he prohibited all persons from having Indians
of the villages in their service. He gradually influenced the minds of
the people in favour of the Jesuits, and at length he called a meeting
to take into consideration the question of their being restored. Strange
to say, a large majority voted in the affirmative; upon which Sequeira
gave orders to ring the bells and fire a salute; after which the
Governor proclaimed a general pardon.




CHAPTER VI.

_BRAZIL; ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN SOUTH AMERICA._

1657-1696.


[Sidenote: 1657.]

On the termination of the war which liberated _Pernambuco_, Barreto, who
it will be remembered shared with Fernandes and Vidal the command of the
Portuguese troops, was rewarded with the post of Governor-General of
_Brazil_; and upon him fell the task of raising the proportion of the
annual sum which, according to the treaty, was to be paid to the Dutch.
The amount which was to be levied on _Brazil_ for this purpose was
120,000 _cruzados_[4] yearly, for sixteen years, being nearly half of
the whole contribution. For this purpose Barreto convoked the Senators,
who replied that they would propose the matter to the Chamber, which
body readily consented to the assessment. Of the amount to be raised,
the province of _Bahia_ took more than one-half upon itself.

[Sidenote: 1660.]

About this time _Rio de Janeiro_, together with the provinces to the
south of that city, was separated, as was _Maranham_, from the general
government, and was confided to Salvador Correa, who had recovered
_Angola_ from the Dutch. He was member of the distinguished family
through whose means the French had been expelled from the city which is
now the capital of _Brazil_. Correa was, from family associations,
attached to the Jesuits, and thus became an object of dislike to the
inhabitants of _Santos_ and of _St. Paulo_, from which communities the
Jesuit Fathers were expelled. Having exerted himself successfully in
re-establishing them, his conduct was so strongly resented by the
_Paulistas_ that, when he had set out on an expedition in search of
mines, an insurrection was raised during his absence.

Correa received whilst at _Santos_ the news of the arbitrary proceedings
of his enemies; whereupon he issued a proclamation, containing offers of
pardon on the one hand, and threats of punishment on the other. He then
proceeded to _St. Paulo_, where in a short time he so won the good-will
of the people that he had soon sufficient force at his command to enable
him to regain his government.

[Sidenote: 1665.]

After a term of office of six years, Barreto was succeeded by the Count
of Obedos, in whose time the Carmelites of S^{ta.} Teresa came to
establish themselves in _Brazil_, where, in the province of _Bahia_,
they ere long erected one of the most sumptuous convents in the
possession of their order. The term of office of the same Governor was
likewise noted for the occurrence of a dreadful outbreak of small-pox
along the coast, from _Pernambuco_ to _Rio de Janeiro_, which gave
occasion for the display of the most heroic devotion on the part of the
members of the Church of Rome, amongst whom are especially mentioned the
Brethren of the _Misericordia_. So dire was the mortality that there
were not sufficient hands left for agriculture; and thus the pestilence
was followed by famine.

It has been mentioned that Vidal, formerly the colleague of Joam
Fernandes, had been promoted from the government of _Maranham_ to that
of _Pernambuco_; in which post, however, he had the disadvantage of not
being independent, being under the orders of the Governor-General at
_Bahia_. His straightforward, impartial conduct procured him many
enemies, who were not unsuccessful in prejudicing the mind of Barreto
against him. He was thus placed under arrest, but was subsequently
permitted to retain his government until its expiry. The inhabitants of
_Pernambuco_, however, had no reason to congratulate themselves upon the
governor who was sent to replace him, and whose grasping disposition
made him so intolerable that he was at length seized by stratagem and
sent prisoner to Lisbon, where, on his arrival, he was condemned to
perpetual imprisonment in a fortress in India.

[Sidenote: 1668.]

[Sidenote: 1673.]

The struggle with Spain was now terminated by a treaty which recognised
the independence of Portugal; but _Brazil_, though having nothing to
fear from external enemies, was troubled with foes from within its own
borders, who attacked the interior settlements of _Bahia_ and the
islands. Whole families were cut off before succour could reach them;
whilst many slaves were killed at their field-work. As a remedy, guards
of troops were assigned to the outlying colonists; but, whilst the
soldiers were often transfixed by arrows coming from invisible enemies,
they for years never once had an opportunity of returning the injury.
Such settlers as did not take refuge in the islands were compelled to
convert their settlements into small forts. At length the death at the
hands of the savages of Manoel Barbosa, who was in command of the
garrison at _Cayru_, induced the governor of _Bahia_ to complete the
conquest of the country in the interior, a task which was confided to a
body of _Paulistas_ under Joam Amaro.

This war having been pronounced just and lawful, all prisoners taken in
its course became slaves. The expedition under Amaro is said to have
been composed of such a body of experienced man-hunters as, happily, no
other locality in the world could supply, many of his men being trained
Indians. They proceeded westward to the _San Francisco_ river, turning
then to the northward. The prisoners captured were sent to the capital
in such numbers that their price fell to twenty _cruzados_ each;[5] but
the greater number were so short-lived that they were considered dear
even at that price. Amaro did his work thoroughly, exploring the country
in all parts, and so clearing it of savages that they were not again
heard of for many years. He was rewarded with the lordship of a town
which he founded, and which took his name.

It was at this time that the fertile province of _Piauhi_ first became
known. Its discovery was due to the possessor of a grazing estate to the
north of the _San Francisco_, called after Domingos Affonso. As the
interior of _Pernambuco_ is subject to droughts, this settler sent out
his people to explore more desirable grazing regions inland. In _Piauhi_
he found a territory abounding in the richest pasture, and not subject
to a like visitation. Whilst exploring the interior, Affonso met with a
party of _Paulistas_, who engaged with him in completing the conquest of
the country, which was of so inviting a nature that it was soon covered
with settlers.

[Sidenote: 16676.]

The growing importance of _Brazil_ was now shown by the elevation of
_Bahia_ to the rank of a Metropolitan See, which should comprise the
three bishoprics of _Pernambuco_, _Rio de Janeiro_, and _Maranham_. A
Franciscan convent was, in the following year, established at _Bahia_, a
movement which did not fail to elicit the disapprobation of the thinking
portion of the community; since it is evident that in a new country of
such immense extent any institution calculated to diminish the spread of
the ruling race was opposed to the first principles of political
economy. An establishment of Italian Capuchin monks at _Bahia_ likewise
dates from this period.

[Sidenote: 1682.]

The city of _Bahia_ was in the year 1682 thrown into a violent state of
commotion by the assassination of Francisco Telles de Menezes, the
_Alcaide Mar_, who had used his position in so tyrannical a manner as to
incur general odium. The assassin, Brito de Castro, who had to avenge an
attempt upon his own life, took refuge in the Jesuits’ College. The
governor, enraged at what had occurred, ordered the Secretary of State,
Bernardo de Vieyra, brother to the celebrated missionary, to be thrown
into prison. In vain his venerable relative pleaded for his release. The
Jesuits’ College was, by the governor’s orders, surrounded by a _cordon_
of soldiers; and so intolerable was the state of things that one of the
chief inhabitants of _Bahia_ was deputed to proceed to Portugal to make
representations to the Crown, the result of which was that the _Marquez_
Das Minas was sent out to supersede the aged governor. The Secretary of
State was declared innocent, and his brother, who was now between
seventy and eighty years of age, was appointed Visitor of the province.

[Sidenote: 1686.]

Bahia was in this year visited by a fearful pestilence, of so virulent a
nature that of two hundred persons attacked in one day only two
recovered. It is remarked that the ravages of this disease were
exclusively amongst the Portuguese, the natives escaping unharmed. It
gave an opportunity for the display of much benevolence, one opulent
widow, _Donna_ Francisca de Saude, opening her house as a hospital when
the _Misericordia_ could no longer contain the sick, and providing for
the patients at her own expense. All medicine having proved unavailing,
recourse was had to the mediation of a saint, and to _Francis Xavier_ is
ascribed the staying of the plague.

To turn to the north:--The Jesuits had indeed been once more admitted to
_Maranham_, but merely to the performance of their spiritual functions.
The slave-party and the clergy who sided with them had influence enough
to cause the Jesuits to be deprived of temporal authority over the
Indians, whilst their spiritual management was to be divided amongst the
different orders. Vieyra was expressly prohibited from residing in the
province. Slave-hunting again ran riot, and was even carried on under
the auspices of the governor, under the disguise of missionary
expeditions. The _Paulistas_ being at this time unable to pursue their
attacks on the “Reductions” in _Paraguay_, in consequence of the latter
being in a state of defence, turned their attention to the north,
obliging the tribes upon the _Tocantins_ to apply to _Belem_ for
protection. The officer sent for this purpose received from the
_Paulista_ leader a reply stating that, if any one should oppose him in
his plans, he would meet with armed resistance, upon which the officer
thought it better to return to _Belem_.

The proportions to which the slave-trade became developed, and the utter
disregard which was paid to the restrictions on the subject, did not
escape notice at Lisbon; and in the year 1680 some new edicts were
promulgated on the subject. By one of these, governors were prohibited
from engaging in trade, and from raising produce; nor were their
servants to be permitted to do so. Another decree abolished Indian
slavery, which experience had proved could not be modified or restricted
by regulations, and the cruelties connected with which were so
notorious. It was enacted that any person thenceforward transgressing
this law should be sent home by the first vessel, thrown into prison,
and proceeded against. The superintendence of the _Aldeas_, or Indian
communities, should be again transferred to the Jesuits.

These laws, it is needless to say, were most unpopular. It was
represented that the term of labour of the free Indians in the _Aldeas_,
which was to be restricted to two months at a time, was so short as to
be useless; and the Chamber of _Belem_ sent a procurator to Lisbon to
solicit an amendment of this law in particular, and to do his best to
procure the repeal of the others. The Portuguese Ministry had granted to
some merchants of Lisbon the exclusive privilege of trading with
_Maranham_ and _Pará_ for a term of twenty years--a measure which was
strongly resented by the inhabitants of _Belem_. Amongst the
stipulations to which the contractors were bound was one requiring them
to import five hundred negroes yearly; but during the first year no
negroes were imported. Great discontent resulted both at _Belem_ and at
_Maranham_.

[Sidenote: 1684.]

The Portuguese in _Brazil_, although they preferred to depute their
labour to slaves, showed themselves eager to engage in the pursuits of
trade--the governors of provinces, and even many of the clergy,
embarking in such operations. It naturally followed that there was a
great outcry against the monopoly which had been issued, all parties
being interested in fanning the flame. The malcontents found a leader
and exponent of their wrongs in one Manoel Beckman, a native of Lisbon,
but of foreign extraction. The cry was against the monopoly and against
the Jesuits, whose restoration had coincided with it in point of time.
Beckman, inviting some kindred spirits to his _Engenho_, pointed out to
them that, if they would obtain their rights, they must act in defiance
of the Governor. A conspiracy was formed, of which Beckman was appointed
chief, and he was aided by a friar who preached in the cathedral against
the monopoly. The conspirators soon numbered sixty, and the people were
summoned to a secret meeting within the premises of the Franciscan
convent at _S. Luiz_. They were harangued by Beckman, who pointed out
that two things were necessary for the good of the State--namely, the
abolition of the monopoly and the expulsion of the Jesuits, and he
added, that if those present would consult their own safety, not to
mention their interests, they would carry out those measures forthwith.

One of the leading conspirators drew his sword and convinced his
audience that their only safety was to proceed in their enterprise. The
assembly accordingly hastened to the town, where some murders and other
outrages were naturally committed, the authorities being unable to stem
the torrent of violence. The _Capitam Mor_ was told to consider himself
a prisoner in his house; whilst the soldiers submitted themselves to the
orders of Beckman, who thereupon convoked a _junta_ of the three
estates, namely, clergy, nobles, and people. Resolutions were passed
deposing the Governor and the _Capitam Mor_, abolishing the monopoly,
and expelling the Jesuits. The Chamber ratified the resolutions which
had been taken. The late authorities having been confined, Beckman now
notified to the Jesuits their banishment from the State, and that until
means for transporting them were provided they must remain prisoners in
their college. The multitude, under their self-constituted leader, next
proceeded to the cathedral, where _Te Deum_ was performed in honour of
their exploits.

Three persons were appointed to administer the government, pending a
reference to Lisbon. The next step was to despatch agents to _Belem_, to
invite the people of that place to join the insurrectionary movement;
but the only person who could be induced to accept this service was a
friar. He was received at _Belem_ in a manner which fully justified the
reluctance of his colleagues to accompany him. The Chamber carried his
papers to the governor, offering their service to inflict chastisement
upon the rebels. Francisco de Sa was at a loss how to act, not knowing
how far he might depend upon his own people, and yet feeling it
incumbent upon him to take some measures for suppressing the
insurrection. Meanwhile, the Chamber of _Belem_ sent a reply to the
insurrectionary leaders, exhorting them to submission. Beckman, however,
showed no inclination to recede from the position he had taken; and Palm
Sunday was distinguished by the expulsion of the Jesuits from their
college; each of them, bearing the emblem of the festival, embarked
under a guard in two vessels. One of the two reached _Pernambuco_; the
other fell into the hands of pirates.

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.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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_.

[Sidenote: 1656.]

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 1688.]

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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.

Slave-hunting in _Brazil_, independently of the miserable lot of the
captured victims, was attended by an enormous waste of life. Almost all
slaves were kidnapped; and great numbers perished before reaching the
Portuguese settlements. On their capture they were penned like cattle
until a sufficient number were collected, being shut up for months
together and exposed to the varying action of the elements. Such being
the case, it is not surprising that often but half their number arrived
at their destination. The Indians likewise who took part in the hunt, in
the service of the slave-dealers, suffered greatly in the expeditions;
while the Portuguese themselves returned in a wretched condition, after
having penetrated more than two thousand miles into the interior,
carrying devastation before them. The object of all this inhuman
exertion was, of course, gain--gain to be derived in the first instance
from the sale of the slaves, who were to become the means of gain to
others. The sole pretext which could be urged on behalf of the
slave-hunting was that it was a necessary evil, if such an expression
may be used with reference to what may be avoided, since it was
impossible for Europeans to perform the work of tilling the earth in
such a climate; but, as Southey very justly remarks, that men of
European stock are perfectly capable of all the labour which in such
climates is required for the well-being of man is abundantly proved by
the prodigious fatigues which the Portuguese underwent in seeking slaves
to do this “necessary” labour for them.

In _Maranham_ and _Pará_ the colonists occupied one of the numerous
islands per family, the country being so intersected by streams of all
descriptions that these became natural and convenient landmarks.
Inter-communication was carried on by water; and each family relied on
its own means for subsistence. Vegetation being too luxuriant to admit
of land for pasturage, game became the only animal food within reach of
the colonists, and this, as well as fish, was procured by means of their
Indians. This, however, formed but the smallest part of the slaves’
occupation, and it is stated that at this period the slaves in
_Maranham_ and _Pará_ were, literally, worked to death,--a statement
which is borne out by the fact of depopulation.

In addition to slave-hunting, there were other inducements for traders
in the interior. Sarsaparilla and other drugs were found in abundance,
as were cinnamon and nutmeg, the vanilla and indigo. Cacao grew in
plenty. Of the cultivated produce, cotton was the most important; the
cotton of _Maranham_ was at this time accounted the best in America.
Mandioc supplied the inhabitants with a satisfactory substitute for
wheat-flour. Tobacco was one of the branches of agriculture chiefly
cultivated in _Brazil_ from the first. At the time in question this
industry had grown into disuse in _Maranham_ from want of hands. As such
persons as were without a trade could only procure subsistence by means
of slaves, many families in _Maranham_ fell into distress owing to their
not being able to procure the latter. The Portuguese had grown so
accustomed to depend on slave-labour, that they allowed themselves to
fall into destitution rather than work for their families; it was
thought dishonourable for free men to cultivate the soil.

In strange contradistinction to the apathy of the Portuguese with
respect to engaging in agriculture, was the eagerness with which they
embarked in commerce. It was found necessary to restrain the civil and
judicial officers by means of statute; whilst the clergy showed equal
readiness to join in speculations. Still, in spite of every
disadvantage, the provinces of _Pará_ and _Maranham_ gradually, though
slowly, acquired population and importance. Such, however, could not be
said of the adjoining captaincy of _Ceará_, which possesses neither
river nor harbour, and is the least fertile portion of _Brazil_, being
subject to fatal droughts. Owing, nevertheless, to the disadvantages
which this captaincy possessed for colonization, its native inhabitants
were free from the molestations which beset those of _Maranham_ and
_Pará_.

The settlement of the neighbouring captaincy of _Rio Grande do Norte_
dates from the commencement of the seventeenth century. In this
province, whilst it was under the Dutch, great efforts were made for
exploring the country, civilizing the _Tapuyas_, and improving the
general condition of the people. The palace of Maurice of Nassau,
together with the buildings and public works erected under his auspices,
are solid mementoes of his administration, which is still further
commemorated in the history of _Barlæus_. During the government of this
Viceroy an attempt was undertaken to discover the vestiges of some
people who had possessed the country before the race of savages then
existing, an attempt which has left the race in question a subject of
curious speculation to the learned in such matters.[8]

Great efforts were made during the administration of Count Maurice to
promote the reformed religion throughout the territories under his
government. The Protestant missionaries were, it is said, regarded with
much jealousy by Vieyra and his brethren. They are reputed to have
succeeded to a considerable extent in imparting to the Indians the arts
of civilization; but the efforts of the Dutch towards civilizing and
humanizing the natives and negroes was confined entirely to the
government and the clergy. Nothing could exceed the barbarity of these
invaders, on the whole, towards both races. Their privateers freely
seized such Indians as they could entrap on the rivers or on the coasts,
and sold them as slaves; whilst of their imported negroes the excessive
mortality was imputed by Nassau himself to unwholesome food and physical
suffering. It was no unusual thing for these slaves to commit suicide
after attempting in vain to kill their masters.

The Dutch conquerors introduced into their Brazilian provinces that
almost excessive domestic cleanliness for which their country is
remarkable; whilst they increased the pleasures of life by the attention
which they, in accordance with their national habits, did not fail to
bestow upon horticulture. They reared vines with great success, and from
which a wine was made that was much esteemed. Being accustomed to plains
and swamps, they did not take advantage of the higher lands in forming
their settlements; but the malaria and damp had less evil consequences
than might have been anticipated, from the fact of the men being
addicted to the free use of wine and tobacco. The Dutch women, however,
who were without these counteractants, suffered much from the climate.
The country possessed by Holland was only cultivated to an extent of
some twelve or fifteen miles inland from the shore. The native industry
of the Dutch had not sufficient time to display itself; and the almost
continuous hostilities prevented the development of the fisheries.
Although the invaders from Holland were in _Brazil_ for five-and-twenty
years there was very little mixture of races between them and the
Portuguese; the difference of religion was an almost insuperable
barrier; and when they departed they left little or no trace behind them
either in religion, language, or manners.

The population of _Bahia_ and the surrounding coast is said to have
numbered, in the middle of the seventeenth century, some three thousand
five hundred souls, not including a garrison of two thousand five
hundred. A few years later, however, _Bahia_ is described as having fine
streets, grand squares, well-built houses, and splendid churches. At the
close of the century it is said to have possessed two thousand houses,
built of stone. It owed its prosperity, amongst other causes, to its
being a place of safety for the new-Christians, who were persecuted with
such cruelty in Portugal and Spain. Superstitious as were the
Brazilians, even they successfully resisted the establishment of the
Inquisition amongst them. If the new Christians were, in _Brazil_, a
despised race, they could at any rate count on opportunities of gaining
wealth and of retaining it when gained. _Bahia_ possessed abundant
sources of riches; amongst others its whale fishery, which at one time
was considered the most important in the world. At the close of the
century it was rented by the Crown for thirty thousand dollars. The
staple commodity was sugar.

In general, a scanty population was scattered along the shores and in
the islands; and here and there we read of a place, such as _Porto
Seguro_, possessing a population of fifty inhabitants. The numbers, on
the whole, are so scanty that it seems strange that the Portuguese could
have at the same time contended successfully with a foreign invader and
with hostile tribes in the interior. _Espirito Santo_ had five hundred
Portuguese in its district; whilst the population of _Rio de Janeiro_
was estimated at five times that number, exclusive of a garrison of six
hundred. As a city it was inferior to _Bahia_; it was, however,
advancing rapidly in wealth. It owed the eminence which it soon
attained, and which it retains amongst the cities of _Brazil_, to its
situation relatively to the mines which were soon to be discovered.

_Ilha Grande_ and the island of _S. Sebastian_ possessed, in the middle
of the century, no more than one hundred and fifty inhabitants each; the
population of _Santos_ was rather greater. _S. Paulo_ boasted some seven
hundred inhabitants; its neighbourhood, however, must have contained a
considerable number, amongst whom were enlisted the terrible bands of
freebooters, who carried desolation and destruction to the frontiers of
_Paraguay_, and one band of whom penetrated as far as to the province of
_Quito_, where, having encountered the Spaniards, they escaped down the
_Amazons_ on rafts. The earliest gold found in _Brazil_ was gathered at
_S. Vicente_ in 1655, where it was coined. _S. Vicente_, at this time,
had two thousand inhabitants. To the south of this place there was a
small settlement at _Cananea_, and a still smaller one at _Santa
Catalina_.

It was commonly reported that Indian spices were indigenous in _Brazil_,
and that their culture had been prohibited by the Government, lest it
should interfere with the Indian trade. Whether this were so or not, an
order was given by Joam IV. that every ship touching at _Brazil_ on its
way from India should bring with it spice plants. These were placed in
the garden of the Jesuits at _Bahia_, and two persons were brought from
_Goa_ who understood the management of cinnamon and pepper plants. But,
although the attempt promised success, it was not persevered in; and the
subsequent discovery of mines diverted attention from this possible
source of wealth. Previously to the finding of the precious metals, the
production of sugar was the main object of the inhabitants of the coast.

A sugar-producing _engenho_ implied the presence of various artisans,
necessary for the continuous work of the machinery belonging to it. That
is to say, it was a village-community in itself, more populous than many
of the towns so-called then existing. It comprised in general an area of
some eight square miles, the condition attached to the holding of this
land being settlement and the cultivation of the necessary canes, which
were to be sold at a fair price. From fifty to a hundred negroes were
employed in each _engenho_; a circumstance which, owing to the great
cultivation of sugar in the province, had a marked influence on the
population of _Bahia_. A French traveller[9] estimated the proportion of
negroes to the white population as twenty to one; but this is probably
the highest proportion which it assumed in _Brazil_. The negroes,
according to his account, were exposed to purchase, exactly like beasts
at our own cattle fairs, being entirely naked, being handled, as animals
are, to test their muscle, and being obliged to show their paces.

The costume of the inhabitants of _civilized Brazil_ during the period
of which we treat comprised every conceivable variety, from that of the
almost entirely nude slave to that of the lady dressed according to the
latest fashion from Lisbon. In the more flourishing settlements, such as
_Olinda_ and _Bahia_, nothing could exceed the luxury of the female
costume, the wives of the planters being attired in silks and satins
covered with the richest embroidery, with pearls, rubies, and emeralds.
Black was the prevailing colour, and the use of gold and silver lace was
forbidden by a sumptuary law. In describing the results of holding
slaves, it is necessary for the historian to state, with whatsoever
reluctance, that the ladies of _Bahia_, even those the most
distinguished amongst them, and who passed for being the most virtuous,
did not, according to the direct statement of the French traveller above
referred to, scruple to adorn their female slaves to the utmost extent,
with the object of participating with them in the profits of their
prostitution. This particular form of highborn depravity is, in so far
as I am aware, peculiar to _Brazil_ in the annals of history. The ladies
of _Bahia_ were so indolent of habit that on going abroad they had to
lean on their pages lest they should fall. Even the men,--if men they
might be called,--were unable to descend the declivity on which _Bahia_
stands, and were carried down on a contrivance called the serpentine,
that is to say, a hammock suspended from a pole, a slave attending
meanwhile with a parasol. Each lady on going from home was attended by
two negresses.

The Portuguese in _Brazil_ were exceedingly prone to jealousy, and it
has been concluded that, as the punishment for convicted unfaithfulness
was assured death, it is impossible to believe the often-repeated
statement that connubial infidelity on the part of women was remarkably
common; but the experience of many countries has shown that neither
certainty of punishment nor the probability of detection can be relied
upon as preventives of a breach of the marriage law; whilst it is
likewise not the less certain that the risk incurred may add to the zest
of the crime.

As might be anticipated from the fact that criminals were, from an early
period, sent to _Brazil_ to swell the ranks of the settlers, the police
records of the various settlements are not gratifying reading. In the
first place, the courts of justice were, in certain quarters,
notoriously corrupt; robberies were committed in open day; whilst
quarrels not unfrequently terminated in death. In short, the lives of
the Christian settlers were certainly, as a whole, the reverse of being
calculated to serve as examples to the heathen whom their missionaries
were employed in converting. The very ships which brought out the
Fathers too often carried out a supply of criminals whose lives serve as
a practical antidote to their doctrines.

Much has been written, and probably with justice, concerning the apathy,
the corruption, the extreme superstition, and the dissolute nature of
the lives of the clergy in _Brazil_; but, taking them as they were, it
is somewhat difficult to realize the picture of what the Portuguese
transatlantic possessions would have become had they possessed no Church
establishment. From the King down to the lowest peasant, the Portuguese
of that age were deeply imbued with faith in the doctrines of
Christianity; and, however much they might, in their practice, diverge
from its precepts, they were ever ready to compound for their sins by
liberal donations to the Church and to charitable establishments. The
Church, on its side, however irregular might be the lives of the clergy
in general, was bound to keep up a certain degree of outward discipline
and of attention to the good works for which it sought donations;
whilst, from time to time, a luminary, such as Nobrega and Vieyra, arose
in its ranks, stimulating to good works.

We have endeavoured in the preceding pages faithfully to record in so
far as our limits permitted, the devotion and extraordinary achievements
of such men as Nobrega, Anchieta, and Vieyra: it is but fitting to
complete the picture of the remarkable ecclesiastics of the century by
taking one from an opposite category. The Father Joam de Almeida, who
had sat at the feet of Anchieta, is said originally to have been called
John Martin, and to have been a subject of Queen Elizabeth; but, in the
seventeenth year of his age, he found himself under the care of the
Jesuits in _Brazil_. We are told of an Indian captive, who not only
showed no impatience under the torments inflicted upon him by his
captors, but who, when offered to be relieved of them, replied that he
wished they were greater, in order that his enemies might see how
thoroughly he despised them. In somewhat of a similar spirit John
Martin, or Almeida, seemed not only to be indifferent to pain, but
almost to revel in it. Such a character is not unfamiliar to Portuguese
ecclesiastical annals. Those who have visited Cintra will remember the
cave of the hermit Honorius, in which he dwelt for fourteen years, and
which was of such dimensions as not to admit of his standing
upright.[10] The unfortunate person of Almeida was regarded by him, in
his mental capacity, as a natural enemy, which was only to be kept in
subjection by perpetual scourgings, which were inflicted by a liberal
assortment of implements; but notwithstanding which, he survived to the
age of eighty-two. From this fact it must not be inferred that there was
anything of evasiveness in his self-inflicted castigations. His
constitution had grown accustomed to a form of suffering which his
abstemious manner of living rendered possible, and which won for him the
reverence of the superstitious population amongst whom he dwelt. On his
demise, everything in any way connected with him became inordinately
precious. The possession of portions of his autograph was almost too
much good fortune to befall any one; but the porter of his convent was
enabled to benefit himself and others by distributing drops of his blood
and such articles as might have come in contact with the body of the
dying saint. Nobrega and Vieyra, having done their work, had been
allowed to sink into their rest, comparatively unobserved; but the death
of the ascetic Martin created as much agitation as would have been
produced by an earthquake. His funeral was attended by the whole
population, from the governor downwards, and the multitude would not be
persuaded to disperse until each one of them had kissed and embraced the
corpse. Here it might have been thought his adoration might have been
allowed to end; but it was even found necessary to set a guard over him
at night, in order to protect his remains from the depredation of his
pious votaries. The guard, however, would seem to have been insufficient
for the purpose; since it was ascertained in the morning that one of the
shoes of the anchorite was no longer to be found, whilst his pillow had
likewise disappeared.

When the corpse of Martin had been committed to its coffin and confined
to the grave, it might have been reasonably hoped that it would be
allowed to rest in peace, or at least that the devotion of his admirers
would cease to be expressed by aggressive acts. Such an idea, however,
would betray ignorance of the inventiveness of superstition; since by
night the grave was opened, and, the body having been removed, the
precious hair was shaved off by a razor, whilst the remaining shoe and
stockings were secured.




CHAPTER VIII.

_PERU; PROGRESS OF THE VICEROYALTY._

1551-1774.


Notwithstanding Gasca’s wise regulations, the tranquillity of _Peru_ was
not of long continuance. It was impossible that a country where anarchy
had so long prevailed, and which contained so many discontented
adventurers, should quietly settle down at once in the ways of peace.
Several successive insurrections desolated the land for some years.
These fierce but transient storms, however, excited by individual
ambition, need not occupy attention. It is sufficient to say that in
these contests a number of the early invaders perished. Indeed, as has
been already said, of the men whose names are most conspicuous in this
nefarious conquest, scarcely one seems to have ended his days in peace.

The Spanish authority being at length consolidated in _Peru_, it is
desirable to show, in so far as may be possible, the nature of the
government which succeeded to that of the _Incas_. The first visible
consequence of the Spanish domination was the diminution in number of
the _Peruvians_, to a degree more deplorable than astonishing. However
great may have been the mortality caused among them by war, it was
slight in comparison to that which resulted when tranquillity had been
restored. All were now compelled to labour, their tasks bearing no
proportion to their strength, but being exacted, nevertheless, with
undeviating severity. Many of them were driven by despair to put an end
to their own lives; whilst fatigue and famine destroyed many more. When
_Peru_ was divided amongst the conquerors, each of the latter was eager
to obtain an instantaneous recompense for his services. Men accustomed
to the carelessness of a military life had neither industry to carry on
any plan of regular cultivation nor patience to wait for its slow
returns. Disdaining to profit by the certain results of agriculture in
the fertile valleys, they selected for their habitations the mountainous
regions, which abounded in the precious mines. In order to develop
these, many hands were wanted; and the natives were accordingly driven
in crowds to the mountains. The sudden transition from the sultry
valleys to the penetrating air of the higher altitudes combined with
inordinate labour and scanty nourishment to produce an unwonted
despondency, under which they rapidly melted away. In addition to this,
large numbers were carried off by that scourge of the New World, the
small-pox. These united causes were more than sufficient to thwart such
well-meant regulations for the protection of the Indians as were
promulgated by the Spanish Government, and as were invariably seconded,
if not initiated, by the Church.

Nevertheless, a considerable number of the native race remained in
_Peru_, more especially in the more remote regions. The fundamental
maxim of Spanish jurisprudence with respect to her colonies was to
consider these acquisitions as being vested in the Crown rather than in
the State. By the celebrated Bull of Alexander VI., on which Spain
founded its rights in the New World, the regions that had been or should
be discovered were bestowed as a free gift upon Ferdinand and Isabella.
Hence their successors were held to be the proprietors of the
territories conquered by the arms of their subjects. All grants
proceeded from them, and from them only all power issued,--with the
exception, that is to say, of local municipal authority.

On the completion of the Spanish conquests in America, these were
divided into two vast governments; the northern one being subject to the
Viceroy of _New Spain_ [_Mexico_]; the southern to the Viceroy of
_Peru_. The former, with which this work has no concern, comprised all
the provinces to the north of the Isthmus of _Panamá_. Under the latter
were comprehended all the Spanish dominions in South America. It was so
inconveniently extensive that some of its districts were separated by
more than two thousand miles from _Lima_. Owing to the distance from
Spain at which these respective governments lay and the difficulties of
communication within them, it was inevitable that much inconvenience
should arise. This inconvenience, however, became intolerable as time
advanced. The population in the provinces remote from the seat of
government complained with reason of their being subjected to a ruler
whose residence was placed so far away as for practical purposes to be
inaccessible; whilst the authority of the Viceroy over such districts
was necessarily feeble and ill-directed.

As a partial remedy for these evils, a third Viceroyalty was later
established, in the year 1718, at _Santa Fè de Bogotá_, the capital of
_New Granada_, the jurisdiction attached to which included that over the
provinces of _Quito_, _Popayan_, _Choco_, and the region called _Tierra
Firma_. The Viceroys not only represented the person of the Sovereign,
but likewise possessed the full regal prerogatives within the precincts
of their respective governments. The external pomp with which they were
surrounded was suited to their real dignity and power, their courts
being formed upon the model of that of Madrid. The Viceroy had his
horse-guards and his foot-guards; his household regularly established; a
large number of attendants; and altogether such magnificence as hardly
to retain the appearance of delegated authority.

The Viceroys were aided in the discharge of the functions appertaining
to their rank by officers and tribunals similar to those in Spain, some
of whom were appointed by the King, and others by the Viceroy, but all
subject to the latter and amenable to his jurisdiction. The
administration of justice was vested in tribunals called _Audiences_,
formed on the model of the Court of Chancery in Spain. In the entire
Spanish dominions of America there were eleven _Audiences_,
of which seven were established in the southern division of the
continent,--namely, at _Lima_, _Panamá_, _Santa Fé de Bogotá_, _La
Plata_ or _Charcas_, _Quito_, _St. Iago de Chili_, and _Buenos Ayres_.
The number of judges in each Court of Audience varied according to
circumstances. The station was no less honourable than lucrative, and
was, for the most part, filled by persons whose merit and ability
invested the tribunal with much respect. Both civil and criminal causes
came under its cognizance; and for each peculiar judges were set apart.

The distance by which they were separated from the mother country not
unfrequently tempted the Spanish Viceroys to arrogate to themselves a
power to which even their Master was a stranger, namely, that of
intruding themselves into the seat of justice. In order to check such
usurpation, laws were repeatedly enacted prohibiting the Viceroys, in
the most explicit terms, from interfering in the judicial proceedings of
the Courts of Audience, or from delivering an opinion or giving a voice
with respect to any point in litigation before them. In some particular
cases, in which any question of civil right was involved, even the
political regulations of the Viceroy might be brought under the review
of the Court of Audience, which, in those instances, might be deemed an
intermediate power placed between him and the people, as a
constitutional barrier to circumscribe his jurisdiction. Such restraint,
however, as the Court might exercise over the person of the Viceroy was
limited to advice and remonstrance; in the event of a direct collision
between their opinion and his will, what he determined must be carried
into execution; they could but lay the matter before the King and the
Council of the Indies. The mere permission, however, to remonstrate and
to report upon one who represented the sovereign, gave great dignity to
the persons composing the _Audience_. Further than this, upon the death
of a Viceroy, without provision for a successor, the supreme power
devolved upon the _Audience_ residing in the capital of the Viceroyalty.
The decisions of these courts, in cases affecting sums exceeding six
thousand _pesos_, might be carried by appeal before the Council of the
Indies.

This supreme Council was established by King Ferdinand in 1511, and
perfected by Charles V., thirteen years later. Its jurisdiction extended
to every department, whether ecclesiastical, civil, military, or
commercial. With it originated all laws and ordinances relative to the
government and police of the colonies. By it were conferred all offices,
the nomination to which was reserved to the Crown; and to it was
accountable every _employé_ in America, from Viceroys downwards. It took
cognizance of all intelligence arriving from the American colonies, and
of every scheme for the improvement of their administration. It was the
invariable object of the kings of Spain to maintain the authority of
this great Council, whose measures and inspection were, as a rule, wise
and watchful. The meetings of the Council of the Indies were held in the
place of residence of the Monarch. This body, in fact, more or less
corresponded with our own Secretary of State for India in Council. There
was, besides, a tribunal or board for the special regulation of
commercial matters. This was called _Casa de la Contratacion_, or the
House of Trade, and was established in Seville, which port absorbed the
commerce with the New World as early as 1501. It took cognizance of all
matters appertaining to the annual fleets to and from Spanish America,
and its decisions were subject alone to revision by the Council of the
Indies.

The policy of Spain, with respect to her colonies in relation to other
nationalities, was one of jealousy and exclusion, which augmented in
proportion to their increased extent. In forming their American
settlements, says the historian Robertson, the Spanish monarchs adopted
a system taken partly from the colonizing principle of Greece and partly
from that of Rome. The early Hellenic migrations served to enable a
state to get rid of its superfluous citizens; the Roman colonies, on the
other hand, were military detachments stationed as garrisons in a
conquered province. The Spanish settlements in America partook of the
nature of both. Whilst they soon became semi-independent, their
connection with the mother country was retained by means of the rights
of legislation and of the power of nominating the persons who should
fill every department of the executive government.

The Spanish adventurers, who laid the foundations of the republics of
South America, were much more successful in the work of destruction than
in that of creation. Owing to a variety of causes, amongst them being
disease, war, famine, the imposition of impossible tasks, the burden of
oppressive taxes, transportation from the valleys to the mountains,
labour in the mines, and being employed in the place of beasts of burden
in expeditions--owing to these, the native population decreased with
immense rapidity. On the other hand, owing to the jealously-restrictive
policy of Spain in compelling her subjects in the New World to have
recourse to the mother country for many of the necessities of life, and
which could only be purchased at excessive cost, the numbers of the
Spaniards did not increase in the _ratio_ that might have been expected.
Other reasons contributed to this, the chief one of which was the tenure
of land, which was extremely unfavourable to the increase of population.
Many of the conquerors obtained permission to convert their
_encomiendas_, or estates with serfs attached to them, into
_mayorasgos_, a species of fief, which can neither be divided nor
alienated. Thus a great portion of landed property, under this rigid
form of entail, was withheld from circulation, and descended from father
to son unimproved, and of little value either to the proprietor or to
the community. In some instances enormous tracts of country were held by
one person, the reason being that only extensive districts could afford
the number of labourers requisite for the working of mines with any
prospect of gain. The evil effects arising from these causes were very
apparent; but we must hesitate to accept the computation of Benzoni[11]
that in the year 1550 the entire Spanish population in the New World did
not exceed fifteen thousand.

It is estimated, likewise, that the enormously expensive ecclesiastical
establishment in the Spanish colonies greatly retarded their progress.
The payment of tithes was enforced to the full extent, even in the case
of articles requiring artificial production. Such fertile and wealthy
regions, however, as had fallen to the lot of Spain in the New World
through the enterprise of her sons, could not fail in the long run
successfully to emerge from the mass of trammels which had been imposed
upon them by the ignorance of legislators, the force of circumstances,
and the power of superstition. Gradually a new society arose, the
component elements of which may be classified as follows:--

In the first place came the _Chapetones_, being the Spaniards who
arrived from Europe. The Court of Spain, jealously anxious to ensure the
dependence of the colonies on the mother country, made it a rule to fill
all departments of the state by Spaniards born. Each _employé_ was
required to furnish proof of a clear descent from a family of old
Christians, untainted by Hebrew or Moorish blood, and uncontaminated by
having appeared in the records of the Inquisition.

Next in order come the _Creoles_, or the descendants of Europeans
settled in America. This class very soon began to exhibit the degeneracy
which has invariably resulted wherever a portion of a vigorous race
inhabiting an invigorating climate has migrated to an enervating one. It
resulted, for example, in a marked degree with the Portuguese in India;
and if it has not the same result with the English, this is to be
attributed entirely to the fact that in almost all instances
Anglo-Indians send their children, at an early age, to be brought up and
educated in Europe, and that they themselves are being continually
recruited from the mother country. In the instance of such English as
are born and brought up in India, who are fortunately too few in number
to require to be classified like _Creoles_, the invariable rule of
nature holds good, as it does amongst the Italians and French who, ever
since the Crusades, have lived in greater or less numbers in the Levant,
the word “Levantine” being a synonym for moral and physical degeneracy.

Thus the _Creoles_, though many of them were descended from the
conquerors of the New World; though others could trace their pedigree to
the noblest families of Spain; though some possessed the advantage of
great patrimonial wealth, yet, owing to moral and physical causes, as
well as to special legislation, sank naturally into a second-class
position. Their mental vigour was in a marked degree lost, and such of
it as remained was devoted to the indulgences of pleasure and
superstition. Even the operations of commerce, in addition to the
functions of government, fell to the lot of the _Chapetones_ or natives
of Spain.

The third class in the Spanish colonists arose from the offspring,
either of Europeans with negroes, or of Europeans with original natives
of America. These were called, respectively, _Mulattoes_ and _Mestizas_,
and they multiplied so greatly as to constitute a very considerable
portion of the population throughout the transatlantic dominions of
Spain. The several stages of descent in this race were distinguished by
a peculiar name. In the third generation the hue of the Indian
disappeared, and in the fifth the blood of the _Mulatto_ became so
undistinguishable that his offspring obtained all the privileges of the
European. This robust and hardy race were invaluable in the Spanish
settlements in practising the mechanical arts.

Amongst the inhabitants of the Spanish colonies, the fourth rank was
assigned to the _negroes_ pure and simple. They were in several
settlements employed chiefly in domestic service. Their superior
physical strength, as well as their favour with their masters, gave them
an ascendancy over the natives, whom they were wont to treat with such
insolence and scorn, that an implacable antipathy arose between the two
races. This antipathy, which originated from accidental causes, was no
sooner perceived than it was sedulously fomented, great precautions
being taken to prevent anything which might form a bond of union between
the two races.

Last of all, in the order of society, came the unfortunate native
Indians, who had been so ruthlessly dispossessed of all their natural
rights. Due regulations determined the nature and extent of the services
which these were required to perform, and likewise the amount of the
annual tax imposed upon all males between the ages of fifteen and fifty.
When the native was an immediate vassal of the Crown, three-fourths of
the tax, which may have been on an average about four shillings a head,
were paid into the royal treasury. When he formed part of an
_encomienda_, a like proportion belonged to the holder of the grant. As
the original _encomiendas_ were only granted for two lives, they then
reverted to the sovereign. The benefit of the labour of the natives in
like manner belonged either to the Crown or to the holder of the grant.
They were compelled to assist in works of necessity, such as the culture
of corn, tending cattle, forming roads, bridges, &c.; but they could
not be constrained to labour for the furtherance of objects of personal
gratification or commercial profit. For the purpose of service in the
mines they were called out in successive divisions, called _mitas_, in
which each person took his turn. In _Peru_ each _mita_ could not exceed
a seventh part of any inhabitants of a district, and was detained at
service in the mines for six months at a time. Whilst engaged in this
service, however, each labourer was duly paid, receiving from two to
four shillings a day; and, after a time, a humane regulation was
introduced, forbidding the deportation of the natives of the plains to
the elevated regions. No Indian residing more than thirty miles from the
mine might be assigned to the _mita_ employed in it.

The natives living in town were subject to the Spanish laws and
magistrates; but those inhabiting their own villages were left in charge
of their _caciques_, by whom their affairs were regulated according to
traditional usage. This dignity was in many cases permitted to continue
by hereditary descent; and, for the further protection of the natives,
the Spanish Court appointed, in the course of time, an officer in each
district, who was styled “Protector of the Indians.” It was the duty of
this functionary to assert their rights and to represent them in courts
of justice. Of the reserved fourth of the Indians’ tribute a portion was
assigned as the salaries for the protector and the _cacique_, the
remainder being given for the purpose of their religious requirements,
or for their own support in years of famine or other such calamity.
Where so much has to be recorded of cruelty and misgovernment on the
part of the Spaniards towards the natives of South America, it is
gratifying to be enabled to state that hospitals were erected for the
benefit of indigent and infirm in _Lima_, _Cuzco_, and elsewhere, where
the natives were treated with all humanity.

On a general review of Spanish legislation with respect to the
treatment of the natives of the New World, it is admitted on all sides
that, granted that Spain possessed any rights over them at all, her
government, from the time of Isabella onwards, was most solicitous for
their spiritual and material well-being. Several causes, however, as has
been already observed, contributed to thwart the wise and humane
legislation on the part of the mother country. Chief amongst these were
the distance of the colonies from Spain, and the self-interest of those
persons whose duty it was to see the laws and regulations enacted. In
_Peru_ more especially the Indians are stated to have been much
oppressed, the law forbidding their employment at more than thirty miles
from their homes being often broken. In several provinces, however, the
natives were permitted to enjoy not only ease but affluence--possessing
well-stocked farms, and being supplied with all the necessaries and many
of the luxuries of life.

An important feature in the history of the Spanish colonies is the
condition of the Church in the latter, and its connection with the
State. Ferdinand “the Catholic” was likewise Ferdinand the politic; and
in his transactions with the Holy See he had a vigilant eye for the
interests of his Crown. With an early precaution against the
introduction of Papal dominion in America, he solicited and obtained
from the Pope, Alexander VI., a grant to his Crown of the tithes in all
the newly-discovered countries, upon the condition of making provision
for the religious instruction of the natives. Julius II. likewise
conferred upon him and his successors the right of ecclesiastical
patronage and the disposal of all benefices in the colonies. It is true
that these pontiffs were entirely in the dark as to the value of that
which was demanded; and when this fact became better known, their
successors had occasion to lament their inconsiderate liberality. But
the grants were beyond recall, and their consequence was to make the
Spanish monarchs the heads of the American Church. In them the
administration of its revenues was vested, and their nominations to
benefices were at once confirmed by the Pope. Thus was avoided all
collision between spiritual and temporal jurisdiction. This limitation
of the Papal authority is the more singular when we consider the
character of the nation and that of the monarch by whom it was devised.

The hierarchy of Spanish America was constituted similarly to that of
Spain. The inferior clergy were divided into three classes, _Curas_,
_Doctrineros_, and _Misioneros_. Of these, the first were parish
priests; the second had charge of districts inhabited by subjected
Indians; the third were employed in converting and instructing
independent tribes. The revenues of the Church were immense; its
edifices and convents were magnificent, and its display of wealth
ostentatious. Nothing could be less suitable for establishments so
situated as were the Spanish colonies in South America than the
introduction of the monastic system; yet that system was soon to be
found there to a most flourishing extent. In a new settlement, where
there is room to spread, the main object should be to encourage
population; but the Spaniards, with their usual blindness, began from
the first to erect convents, where persons of either sex were shut up in
large numbers under a vow of celibacy. The numbers who crowded into
those abodes of superstition and of listless ease were utterly lost to
society; and the consequence of this was the more serious, inasmuch as
none but persons of Spanish extraction were admitted into the
monasteries.

A considerable proportion of the secular clergy in America were natives
of Spain, being for the most part such as had little prospect of
advancement in their own country. They were, as a body, not remarkable
for their attainments either in science or in literature. But the
greater part of the ecclesiastics in Spanish America were regulars. The
missionaries of the four mendicant orders had permission from the Pope
to accept parochial charges in America, without being subject to the
jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese. It is to these alone amongst
Spanish ecclesiastics that we are indebted for our accounts of the civil
and natural history of the various provinces. Amongst them may be
mentioned the history of the New World by the Jesuit Acosta, and
likewise the natural and civil history of _Chili_ by the Abbé Molina,
from whose work I have quoted, and who, although a Chilian, is so
singularly fair towards the sworn foes of his country, the Araucanians.
The general purport of Catholic testimony gives but a poor report of the
moral character of the South American regular clergy, many of whom are
said to have been not only destitute of the virtues to the observance of
which they were sworn, but even of ordinary decorum. The vow of poverty
was treated with contempt, some of the ecclesiastics becoming amongst
the chief oppressors of the natives whom it was their duty to protect.
The vow of chastity received as little regard.

[Sidenote: 1757.]

These irregularities did not escape the notice of the authorities, and
one Viceroy of _Peru_ took effective measures for restraining the
regulars. They had recourse, however, to such influences at Madrid that
their ancient practices were soon again tolerated. Being thus exempt
from all restraints, they at length excited such scandal and disgust
that Ferdinand VI. was constrained to issue an edict prohibiting
regulars of any denomination from taking charge of parishes; and
declaring that, on the demise of the present incumbents, none but
secular priests, under due jurisdiction, should be presented to vacant
benefices.

The early missionaries admitted natives of America into the Church with
such haste that it was utterly impossible for them to comprehend the
doctrines which they professed to receive; if for no other reason than
that neither priests nor converts were more than superficially
acquainted with the other’s language. It sometimes happened that from a
desire to please their conquerors, or for some other reason altogether
apart from conviction, there was a sudden rush to obtain admission into
the Church. On the whole, however, it is to be feared that the Spanish
ecclesiastics made but small progress in instilling into the natives the
real doctrines of Christianity. Even after two centuries had passed, but
few natives possessed such spiritual discernment as to be admitted to
the Holy Communion. When the Inquisition was established by Philip II.
in his transatlantic dominions, in 1570, the natives were exempted from
the jurisdiction of that tribunal.

[Sidenote: 1545.]

A fresh impulse was given to emigration to _Peru_ by the accidental
discovery by an Indian, as he was climbing the mountain in pursuit of a
_llama_, of the silver mines of _Potosí_, which poured forth their
treasures in such profusion as to astonish mankind. Some idea of the
mineral wealth of the Spanish possessions in the New World may be
obtained from the computation that, from the year 1492, gold and silver
annually entered Spain to the value of four millions sterling. In this
figure, which was regularly accounted for, is not included the treasure
fraudulently imported free of duty, and which might perhaps amount to
nearly as much more. These mines were not worked by the Crown, but by
private adventurers, with the natural result that a spirit of gambling
was very soon produced, which had a most debasing effect upon the
colonial character.

But although the mines of _Peru_ were the great attraction of the
country, they were fortunately not the only source of wealth. To that
country the world owes many products of at least as much value to it as
silver and gold. It has been already mentioned that the earliest notice
which we have of the potato occurs in Pizarro’s first exploring
expedition. That adventurer would have smiled had any one suggested to
him that the root to which his starving followers had recourse in order
to satisfy their hunger might be a greater boon to mankind than even
the _Inca’s_ ransom. To _Peru_ we likewise owe, exclusively, the
_Quinquina_, or Jesuits’ bark, which has perhaps allayed more misery
than even Pizarro caused. _Cacao_, and various other products of value,
quicksilver being amongst them, likewise come from the same quarter.

[Sidenote: 1568.]

_Don_ Francisco de Toledo came out to _Peru_ as Viceroy in the year
1568. He was a man well advanced in life and of much experience, but of
a political morality which is not to be defended according to our
ethics; although it might claim numerous precedents in Roman history.
With the sole object of increasing public security, and without the
least pretence of any crime on the part of the illustrious victim save
that of being a living political danger, he put to death the last of the
_Incas_, the young Tupac Amaru.

This Viceroy, however, was most conscientious in his desire for the
well-being of the people committed to his charge. He was indefatigable
as well as prudent in legislating; and he devoted five years to making a
journey throughout every district of his Viceroyalty, with such success
that the Peruvians admitted that their country had not been so well
administered since the time of the good Tupac Yupanqui. It is to this
governor that the University of St. Mark at _Lima_ mainly owes its
existence; and he had the advanced judgment to perceive that the two
main sources of Peruvian wealth were corn and wool, rather than silver
and gold. It was to the fact that _Don_ Francisco de Toledo, who
remained in _Peru_ till 1579, was accompanied in his journeys by the
Jesuit D’Acosta that we owe the valuable natural history of _Peru_,
composed by that writer, the results of fifteen years of literary
labour.

[Sidenote: 1611.]

The commercial policy of Spain in forbidding all trade between her
colonies and other nations had, in the course of time, a singularly
retributive effect upon herself. Owing to various causes, amongst which
was the expulsion by Philip III. of the Moors, her industrial population
became so reduced that that country was at once obliged to contract her
operations of war and of peace. From want of men her fleets were ruined,
and from the same cause her manufactures had sunk into decay; even her
agriculture was insufficient for the national consumption. The law
respecting colonial trade was still enforced, and the mineral wealth of
the _Andes_ still flowed into Spain; but the necessities of demand and
supply were above law, and her merchants had to look to other countries
for the supplies which were to be sent to America in return, and thus
the gold and silver merely passed through Spain on its way to England or
to Holland, to France and Italy. In the name of Spanish firms those of
the above nations sent their goods to America, and at length it was
computed that, of the European goods supplied to the Spanish American
provinces, not more than a twentieth part were of Spanish growth or
fabric. The climax of this state of things was arrived at when the lord
of the mines of _Potosí_ was constrained to issue an edict raising
copper money to a value in currency nearly equal to that of silver.

The fleets, which supplied the transatlantic colonies, were
distinguished by the name of _Galleons_ and _Flotas_, respectively, and
were equipped annually, taking their departure from Seville and latterly
from Cadiz. The galleons touched first at _Carthagena_ and then at
_Porto-Bello_. To the former port resorted the merchants of _Santa
Martha_, _Caraccas_, _New Granada_, and other provinces; the latter port
was the emporium which supplied _Peru_ and _Chili_. At the right season
of the year the product of these countries was transported by sea to
_Panamá_; whence, as soon as the appearance of the fleet was announced,
it was conveyed across the isthmus, on mules, and down the river
_Chagre_ to _Porto-Bello_, the noxious climate of which village gave it
the unenviable distinction of being the most unhealthy spot in the
world. For the greater part of the year it was the residence of negroes
and mulattoes, but during the six weeks of the fair it was a
_Nigni-Novgorod_, in which was transacted the richest traffic of two
hemispheres. The _Flota_ proceeded to _Vera-Cruz_, for the supply of
_Mexico_.

The restrictive regulation of Spain, by which her enormous colonial
trade was confined to a single port, had, of course, the effect of
throwing the commerce into the hands of a few houses, who could regulate
their own prices, with the result of checking enterprise and diminishing
production. The object of the monopolists was, not to supply the
colonies with as much goods as the latter could consume and could afford
to purchase at prices remunerative both to producers and to merchants;
but to throw upon the markets such a moderate amount of goods as might
secure exorbitant prices. There were not wanting Spanish statesmen and
political-economists who could discern the ruinous effects of such a
state of things; and the most extravagant measures were suggested with a
view to check them. It required, however, the convulsion produced by
civil war, and the contact into which Spain was thus thrown with foreign
nations, to rouse her into vigorous action.

The monarchs of the Bourbon line took measures to suppress a state of
things which had overturned the system of Spanish trade with America.
The trade with _Peru_ was now thrown open to the French, whose King
granted the privilege to the merchants of St. Malo, who, unlike their
grasping competitors of Cadiz, furnished the Pacific Viceroyalty with
European goods in liberal quantity and at a moderate price. The result
was that the trade of Spain with her own chief colony was on the point
of being extinguished. Peremptory instructions had accordingly once more
to be issued, forbidding the admission of foreign vessels into any port
of _Chili_ or _Peru_.

But on her escape from this danger Spain found that she had incurred
another. The treaty of Utrecht conveyed to Great Britain the _Asiento_
for supplying Spanish colonies with negroes, and further granted to that
country the privilege of sending annually to the Fair of _Porto-Bello_ a
vessel of five hundred tons with European commodities. British factories
soon arose at _Carthagena_ and _Panamá_; and the agents had ample means
of becoming acquainted with the condition of the American provinces,
with the result that contraband trade greatly flourished. Thus, by the
aid of a system of wholesale bribery of the revenue officers, nearly the
entire commerce of Spanish America fell into the hands of foreigners.
The squadron of _galleons_ was reduced from fifteen thousand to two
thousand tons.

[Sidenote: 1739.]

It was not to be expected that Spain should tamely submit to such a
state of things. Her first measure, undertaken with the view of
improving matters, was to establish along her colonial coasts a system
of guardships, with the object of preventing smuggling. The British
colonial commerce, with the Spanish settlements, was, however, so firmly
established that it would not be put down; and the Spanish coasts were
so extensive that no system of guardships could exercise a sufficiently
vigilant watch. The consequence was, in the first place, complaints, and
then, acts of violence; which brought on another war between Great
Britain and Spain, the consequence being that the latter country was
released from the terms of the _Asiento_ granted by the treaty of
Utrecht.

Left at liberty to regulate her own colonial trade, Spain now profited
by experience in so far that she was induced to permit a considerable
part of her commerce with America to be carried in _register_ ships;
which were fitted out during the intervals between the stated periods
for the sailing of the _galleons_ and the _flota_, by merchants at
Seville and Cadiz, who obtained a license for this purpose. The
advantage of thus regularly supplying the demand in the colonies was
soon perceived to be so great that, in 1748, the _galleons_, which had
been an institution during two centuries, were abolished; whilst the
single vessels no longer proceeded to _Porto-Bello_; but, sailing round
_Cape Horn_, conveyed directly the productions of Europe to the Chilian
and Peruvian ports.

[Sidenote: 1764.]

It may seem strange to a generation accustomed to read day by day the
notice of events occurring in the most remote parts of the globe almost
as soon as they happen, that a nation such as Spain, possessing as it
did enormous foreign possessions, could have been contented with
receiving news concerning their progress once only in the course of each
year. Such, however, was nearly always the case, until about the year
1740, when register ships were permitted. Previously to that date the
annual fleet of _galleons_ was the sole means of postal communication
between the mother country and her South American possessions. It is
true that news of passing transatlantic events occasionally reached
Spain through other nations, whose intercourse with her colonies it was
her constant object to repress. It was not until the year 1764 that
packet-boats were appointed to be despatched on the first day of each
month from Coruña to _Havana_ or _Porto Rico_; whence letters were
conveyed in smaller vessels to _Vera Cruz_ and _Porto-Bello_, to be
forwarded from there to the north or to the south, as the case might be.
A packet-boat sailed once in each two months for the river _Plata_, to
supply the districts on the eastern side of the _Andes_. As these
packet-boats were permitted to take out and to bring home a stated
amount of produce, Coruña, from this time forward, shared with Cadiz the
profits of the colonial trade.

[Sidenote: 1774.]

The year 1774 marks a further advance in Spanish liberal colonial
legislation, the Viceroyalty or provinces of _New Spain_, _Guatemala_,
_Peru_, and _New Granada_, respectively, being permitted the privilege
of free-trade with each other. This was followed, four years later, by
the promulgation of an entirely new commercial code for the Indies, the
consideration of which more naturally falls within the chapter relating
to the Viceroyalty of _Buenos Ayres_. I may conclude this _resumé_ of
the Viceroyalty of _Peru_ by a statement of the actual profit in specie,
which the mother country is estimated to have derived from that
possession.

The best Spanish authorities are agreed in considering that the
Sovereign, owing to various causes, the chief being peculation and
smuggling, was defrauded of about one half of the colonial revenue which
legitimately belonged to him. But, notwithstanding corruption and
illicit importation, the revenue derived by the Spanish monarch from his
American possessions was still very considerable. It arose from taxes,
which may be divided into three branches. The first includes what was
paid to the King as Lord Superior of the New World, namely, the duty on
the produce of the mines and the tribute exacted from the natives. The
second branch comprehended the duties upon commerce. The third included
such dues as came to the King in his capacity as temporal head of the
colonial Church and as administrator of its funds. It is estimated that
_Peru_ yielded to the Crown a revenue of about a million sterling, one
half of which may have been consumed in the expense of the provincial
establishments. This amount, or whatever it may have been, it is to be
remembered, accrued to the Spanish Crown from this important colony, _in
addition_ to the wealth derived from it by the parent state by means of
its exclusive trade.




CHAPTER IX.

_VICEROYALTY OF NEW GRANADA; CAPTAIN-GENERALSHIP OF VENEZUELA._

1535-1790.


For some time after the disastrous failure of the attempt of Las Casas
to found a colony on the _Pearl Coast_ of _Cumaná_, the northern portion
of Spanish South America, from the _Orinoco_ westwards, is almost lost
to history. The powers working for good had signally failed, and the
powers of evil seemed to have it almost all their own way. The regions
discovered by the Spaniards were so vast, in proportion to the numbers
of the discoverers, that many of them were long lost to view, and
probably to memory. Such was the fate of the territory which borders the
_Orinoco_, a great river flowing from the _Cordilleras_, and which
throws itself and its many tributaries by forty outlets into the ocean.

It was in the year 1535 that the Spaniards first attempted to ascend
this stream; but, not finding the mines they sought, they looked on it
with indifference. Nevertheless, the few Europeans there sown applied
themselves with such energy to the culture of tobacco that they were
enabled to supply, yearly, some cargoes of this plant to the foreign
vessels which came to purchase it. But this traffic was forbidden by the
mother-country; whilst some enterprising corsairs twice pillaged this
establishment, which could not defend itself. These disasters caused it
to be forgotten.

Lying behind these extensive coasts to the westward in the interior, is
the region to which the Spaniards gave the name of the kingdom of _New
Granada_, the name being applied in consequence of a resemblance which
was detected between the plain around _Santa Fè de Bogotá_ and the royal
_Vega_ which adjoins the historical Moorish capital. _New Granada_ was a
most extensive region, comprising as it did the entire country from sea
to sea in the north, lying between 60° and 78° longitude, and from 6° to
15° of latitude.

[Sidenote: 1526.]

_Bogotá_ was attacked, from the south, by Benalcazar, the governor of
_Quito_; whilst Ximenes de Quesada, who had disembarked at _Santa
Marta_, marched against it from the north. They did not fail to meet
resistance, which, however, was no match for Spanish discipline, arms,
and valour; and the above-named leaders had the renown of adding another
grand possession to the South-American dominions of their sovereigns. In
the course of time the more distant provinces, of which _Bogotá_ was the
centre, became subject to its government. There were, however, a number
of the inhabitants of this vast and varied mountainous region who either
retained, throughout, their barbarous independence or who regained it
from time to time.

[Sidenote: 1535.]

Ximenes de Quesada came to America about the year 1535, in the suite of
the Governor of _Santa Marta_, by whom he was selected to lead an
expedition against the _Chibchas_, who dwelt on the plain of _Bogotá_
and around the head waters of the _Magdalena_. Setting out in April 1536
with eight hundred men, he succeeded in pushing his way through the
forest and across innumerable streams. He contrived to subsist for eight
months, during which he traversed four hundred and fifty miles, enduring
meanwhile the very utmost exertions and privations that human nature
could support. It was not given to this leader to meet with an adversary
sufficiently powerful or wealthy to confer upon him by his capture the
splendour which has attached itself to the names of the conquerors of
_Montazuma_ and of _Atahualpa_; but it may be doubted whether, in so far
as may be judged by reading the accounts of their several exploits, one
or the other of those adventurers had more difficulties to surmount than
had Ximenes de Quesada.

When he and his men had at length reached _Barranca_, they were arrested
by a downpour of rain, which literally covered the country; but, in face
of such discouraging circumstances, Ximenes persisted in proceeding.
Sending on a party of twelve men, under Captain San Martin, he remained
with the rest of his detachment, sleeping at night in the tops of trees,
and subsisting on a small allowance of maize and horse-flesh daily.

On the return of San Martin with a favourable report of a cultivated
country beyond, Ximenes boldly determined to pass over the mountains of
_Opon_, in which attempt he lost twenty-one men in gaining a height of
five thousand five hundred feet above the sea. He had recourse to ropes
for pulling his horses up. On the summit a land of abundance awaited
him; and as, like other Spanish conquerors of the New World, he held the
convenient creed that the heathen had been given to him for his
inheritance, he felt no scruple at all from the fact that the region
which he and his followers meant to appropriate afforded the means of
subsistence to a numerous population, which it would be necessary to
dispossess.

When he had surmounted the natural difficulties in his path, his
remaining force consisted of but one hundred and sixty-six men, with
sixty horses. On March 2nd, 1537, he resumed his advance; and, as
usually happened, the mere sight of his horsemen terrified the Indians
into submission. At _Tunja_, according to the Spanish historians, he was
treacherously attacked whilst resting in the palace of one of his
chiefs. That he may have been so is of course possible; but the fact
would commend itself the more readily to our belief had it been narrated
by a _Chibcha_ writer. In any case, the chief was taken, and, after
much slaughter, Ximenes found himself the absolute possessor of immense
riches, one golden lantern alone being valued at six thousand _ducats_.

From _Tunja_ Ximenes marched upon the sacred city of _Iraca_, where two
Spanish soldiers accidentally set fire to the great Temple of the Sun.
The result was that, after a conflagration which lasted for several
days, both the city and the temple were utterly destroyed.

But the inhabitants of this new region of the votaries of the Sun were
not yet fully subdued; and, on his return towards _Tunja_, Ximenes had
to encounter the force of twelve thousand desperate natives. His arms
and his horses were again successful; and, after his victory at _Borja_,
he received the submission of several _caciques_, and was enabled to
divide among his soldiers no less a booty than forty thousand pounds in
gold and eighteen hundred emeralds.

Ximenes de Quesada was neither more nor less particular than was Cortez
or Pizarro in the means which he employed in order to gain his end. His
object at present was to obtain information as to the retreat of a
chief, whose property it was his intention to appropriate. With this
view he seized upon two youths, whom he ordered to be tortured. One of
them died under the operation; but by the other, who was either stronger
or less courageous, Ximenes was conducted to the retreat of the chief,
who was killed in the skirmish which ensued. His people fought
desperately for their independence, but were overcome by the invaders,
by the aid of an alliance with a pretender to the succession.

This traitor to his country’s and his race’s cause soon met the fate
which he deserved. Imitating the Roman policy of sparing the weak and
battling the powerful, the Spaniards in America were ever on the watch
to take advantage of local jealousies; to which cause they owed their
conquest of _Mexico_ and many of their successes in the southern
continent from _Peru_ to _Araucania_. On this occasion the aspirant to
the _Chibcha_ crown swore allegiance to the King of Spain, the proof
required of his sincerity being that he should deliver up the treasures
of his predecessors. In the usual vaunting style of a barbarian king, he
undertook to fill, within six weeks, a whole room with gold and
emeralds. That he should have failed to do so was probably inevitable;
but that his failure was owing to bad faith to the Spaniards was
obviously an absurd imputation. He had, however, aroused their lust for
plunder, and his fault was not to be forgiven. He was accordingly put to
death with those refinements of cruelty of which the Spaniards were such
masters.

On the 9th of August, 1538, was founded the city of _Bogotá_. Ximenes
was soon here joined by Frederman, a subject of the Emperor Charles V.,
with one hundred and sixty soldiers, with whom he had been engaged in
conquering _Venezuela_; and likewise by Benalcazar, the conqueror of
_Quito_. This latter warrior had crossed the continent in triumph at the
head of a hundred and fifty Spaniards, together with a multitude of
native followers.

In such a wholly-unprecedented state of affairs, it is not to be
wondered at that these Spanish captains, elevated severally from a
humble condition to the rank of independent generals and governors,
should have departed from all subordination, and should have taken for
their principle that might makes right. Accordingly, it was the first
idea of Benalcazar to combine with Frederman in order to expel Ximenes
from his conquests. But, as he might perhaps have foreseen, the same
idea had already occurred to the other, and the adventurers from
_Venezuela_ were, in consideration of the payment of ten thousand
_dollars_ to Frederman, enrolled amongst the forces of Quesada.

Benalcazar, in turn, entered into an arrangement with the two others to
appoint a governor of all their territories during their absence from
America, for the purpose of laying their claims before Charles V. In
this representation they were not all equally successful. Benalcazar was
declared independent of _Pizarro_, and was made governor of _Popayan_;
Ximenes de Quesada was fined to the amount of one thousand _ducats_; was
banished for one year, and was suspended for five years from office;
whilst Frederman was judged to be an interloper, and obtained nothing.
Shortly afterwards, however, the Emperor remitted the punishment against
Ximenes, and appointed him marshal of the kingdom of _New Granada_. On
his return to _Bogotá_ in 1551, he, to his credit, exhibited an energy
in protecting the people of the country against their invaders, equal to
that which he had displayed in effecting their conquest.

Ten years later he commanded a force, organized to repel an attack from
the ruler of _Venezuela_; shortly after which he was appointed
_Adelantado_ of the kingdom of _New Granada_. He devoted three years,
and an enormous amount of toil and money, to an absurd expedition in
quest of the fabled _El Dorado_. To the search of this myth were devoted
three hundred Spaniards, two thousand Indians, and twelve hundred
horses; of which martial array only twenty-four men and thirty-two
quadrupeds returned, mutely to tell the tale of the supreme folly of
their leader.

Of the life of a man who had shown himself possessed of such great
qualities, in whatsoever way they had been applied, as had Ximenes de
Quesada, all prominent details are interesting. It may therefore be
noted that, after having founded in 1572 the city of _Santa Agueda_,
this conqueror and knight-errant died of leprosy, leaving behind him
debts to the amount of sixty thousand _ducats_, which circumstance would
seem to have rendered it somewhat unnecessary for him to insert in his
will his desire that no expensive monument should be erected over his
grave. His body was transferred to _Bogotá_.

The importance of _New Granada_ in the eyes of the Spaniards lay in its
being the source whence the best emeralds were procured. Many of these
had found their way into _Peru_; but the rude conquerors, who were under
the impression that emeralds were as hard as diamonds, having submitted
them to the test of the hammer, came to the conclusion that they were
valueless. In this manner many were destroyed; and the loss became the
greater owing to the fact that it was impossible to discover the mine
whence the _Incas_ had procured them. The discovery of _New Granada_
luckily supplied this important want. The provinces of _Popayan_ and
_Choco_ had the further merit of supplying gold; which was found on the
surface of the earth, and which could therefore easily be gathered by
the simple means of washing.

[Sidenote: 1718.]

The court of Madrid was dissatisfied that a region which had been lauded
as possessing great natural advantages should furnish it with such few
commodities, and those in so small quantities. It drew therefrom the
conclusion that the country under the superintendence of the Viceroy of
_Peru_ was too vast for all parts of it to receive due attention, and
that the development of the northern region would be better assured
under a separate government. Accordingly, in the year 1718, the
Viceroyalty of _Peru_ was divided into two portions, the northern
region, from the frontiers of _Mexico_ as far as to the _Orinoco_, and
on the Southern Sea from _Veragua_ to _Tumbez_, forming the Viceroyalty
of _New Granada_, of which the capital was _Bogotá_. To this region,
likewise, was assigned the inland province of _Quito_. The Viceroyalty
of _New Granada_, in fact, comprised what now forms the Republic of
_Venezuela_, the United States of _Columbia_, and the Republic of
_Ecuador_.

Although this was undoubtedly a step in the right direction, its good
results were not at once apparent. It might have been foreseen that it
would take some time as well to form capable administrators as to call
order out of confusion, and to instil the habits of industry into
people long used to idleness and free-living. Nevertheless, the change
of things was not without effect, and the good results became by degrees
apparent in Spain. Here, as elsewhere in those imperfectly-controlled
regions, smuggling was the rule; and it is said that half of the gold
amassed by the colony was fraudulently sent abroad, chiefly by way of
the rivers _Atrato_ and _Hache_. With a view to stopping this traffic,
forts were erected on these streams; which, however, were ineffectual in
securing the end in view.

Communication between one province and another, even between one town or
village and another, was difficult or impracticable. Every traveller was
more or less exposed to be robbed or to be killed by the independent
Indians; but these enemies, formerly fierce and implacable, yielded by
degrees to the efforts of the missionaries, and to the acts of good-will
on the part of the strangers, which replaced the barbarities of a more
savage age. Notwithstanding the bounties of nature in this region, many
of its provinces drew their subsistence from Europe or from North
America. The cost of transport from place to place forbade the culture
of grain in the interior beyond the amount requisite for each individual
locality.

[Sidenote: 1774.]

The town of _Santa Fè de Bogotá_ is situated at the foot of a height at
the entrance to a vast plain. In 1774 it possessed three thousand two
hundred and fifty families, or about sixteen thousand inhabitants. It
was the residence of an Archbishop, holding a jurisdiction of immense
extent, and who, as Metropolitan, was inspector of the dioceses of
_Quito_, _Panamá_, _Caracas_, _Santa Marta_, and _Carthagena_. It was by
way of the last-named place, although it was distant three hundred
miles, and by the river _Magdalena_, that _Santa Fè de Bogotá_
communicated with Europe; whilst the same route led to _Quito_.

The province of _Quito_ was likewise of immense extent, but was for the
most part covered with forests, or composed of marshes or deserts,
inhabited here and there by wandering savages. Spaniards can only be
properly said to have occupied and governed a valley of some eighty
leagues in length and fifteen in breadth, formed by two branches of the
_Cordilleras_.

_Quito_ is one of the most lovely regions which the world possesses.
Being in the centre of the Torrid Zone, it enjoys a perpetual spring.
Nature has here gathered together all the influences which can modify
the heat of the tropics, the neighbouring mountains being covered in
their vast extent by snow; whilst constant breezes refresh the plains
throughout the year. But, as might be expected, so elevated a region,
and one having an atmosphere so charged with electricity, is often the
scene of the most violent tropical thunder-storms, the terrors of which
are not unfrequently added to by earthquakes. The excessive humidity at
one time is often fatal to the cultivation of grain; whilst, on the
other hand, contrasting seasons of heat produce dangerous maladies.
Nevertheless, on the whole, the climate is a very healthy one. The air
is perfectly pure, and is free from the presence of the disagreeable
insects so prevalent in other parts of the continent.

The humidity of the atmosphere, and the action of the sun, succeeding
each other in constant alternation, and being always sufficient for the
development of plants, an almost perpetual succession of vegetation
ensues; for no sooner is one plant gone than another begins to arise in
its place. The trees are covered perpetually with green leaves, and
adorned with sweet-smelling flowers, or laden with tropical fruits in
every stage of development. This province was said to be the most
populous in America. It possessed a number of towns with populations
varying from ten to thirty thousand. The people of _Quito_ had,
fortunately for themselves, escaped the lot of labouring in the mines;
since those which this district possessed were too poor to pay the
expenses of working them. They must have been poor indeed, since the
Spaniards consented to relinquish a mode of acquiring riches which cost
them nothing but the blood of their slaves. Freed from this source of
labour, the inhabitants of _Quito_ were more usefully employed in
manufactures, the produce of which was exchanged for wine and oil, and
other commodities which were foreign to this elevated region.
Notwithstanding, however, its natural advantages, _Quito_, in the latter
part of last century, had sunk into an extreme degree of poverty.

This province possessed, in quinine, one production which has been ever
since its discovery of the highest value to the human race, and which
formed, in the colonial period, the sole article of export. The only
precious portion of the _quinquina_ tree is its bark, which requires no
other preparation for its use than being dried. At one time the
_quinquina_ was supposed to be peculiar to the territory of _Loxa_, the
finest quality being produced on the mountain of _Caganuma_. Later
researches, however, prove that the same tree exists at _Riobamba_, at
_Cuenca_, and at _Bogotá_. Europe is indebted for the introduction of
this most precious article to the Jesuits, who made its invaluable
qualities known at Rome in the year 1639. In the following year its use
was established in Spain by Juan de Vega, physician to the Vice-Queen of
_Peru_, its price being a hundred crowns a pound. The price which the
invaluable article commanded and deserved, led, as a matter of course,
to adulteration; and even the distant inhabitants of _Loxa_, being
unable to supply the demand for genuine _quinquina_, filled up the void
by a mixture of the bark of other trees. This proceeding, however,
rebounded on themselves, since it deprived their special product of its
unique reputation; whilst, at the same time, it led to a more diligent
search for the same plant elsewhere. The natives of the region which
furnished _quinquina_ were in the habit of using a simple infusion of
the bark in cases of fever, before they were taught by M. Joseph _de_
Jussieu to produce the extract.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: 1728.]

[Sidenote: 1731.]

In the year 1728 a body of merchants of _Guipuscoa_ received an
exclusive right to the commerce with _Caracas_ and _Cumaná_, on
condition of their clearing these coasts of interlopers--that is to say,
of the Dutch, who, from their island of _Curaçao_, monopolized the
lucrative trade in the nuts of the cacao-tree, thus compelling the
Spaniards to receive from abroad the produce of one of their own
colonies. The new company, which was under the necessity of landing its
cargoes at Cadiz, conducted its operations with such success that the
above-mentioned reproach was soon removed; whilst the inhabitants of
_Caracas_ received such an impetus to their industrial life that, ere
the company had been three years in existence, it was deemed expedient
to detach from the Viceroyalty of _New Granada_ the provinces of
_Venezuela_, _Maracaibo_, _Varinas_, _Cumaná_, and Spanish _Guyana_, and
to form them into a separate Captain-Generalship, the residence of the
ruler being fixed at _Caracas_ in _Venezuela_.

[Sidenote: 1771.]

In the year 1771 there were scattered on the banks of the _Orinoco_
thirteen villages, which numbered amongst them four thousand two hundred
Spaniards, half-castes or negroes, who possessed considerable property
inland, besides twelve or thirteen thousand cattle, mules or horses. At
the same period the Indians who had been detached from savage life were
distributed in forty-nine hamlets. In all there were sixty-two centres
of population, containing sixteen thousand six hundred people, three
thousand one hundred and forty properties, and seventy-two thousand head
of cattle.

Up to this period the Dutch from _Curaçao_ monopolized the trade with
this establishment. In return for the goods which they supplied, they
received payment in tobacco, hides, and herds; all the affairs being
concluded at _St. Thomas_. The Europeans and the negroes carried out
their transactions themselves, but those affecting the Indians were
conducted by the missionaries.

The province of _Venezuela_ does not bear a high name for government,
even amongst the States of South America; but, in estimating Spanish
civilization in this quarter, it is only right to consider the state of
things which it displaced. The tyranny, we are told, which was exercised
by the savages along the banks of the _Orinoco_ towards their women was
such that infanticide of their female children became a common practice
on the part of the latter; in order that their offspring might be spared
a repetition of their own dreadful lot, which is thus described to a
missionary by one of themselves:--

“Would that my mother had suffocated me at my birth! I should then be
dead, but I should not have felt death, and I should have escaped the
most miserable of lots. How much have I undergone, and who knows what
sufferings are reserved for me! Figure to yourself, Father, the miseries
which an Indian woman has to undergo amongst Indians. They accompany us
to the fields with their bows and arrows: we go there bearing one infant
which we carry in a basket and another at the breast. They go to hunt or
to fish, whilst we dig the earth; and, after having undergone all the
fatigue of culture, we have to undertake that of the harvest. They
return in the evening unburdened: we bring, back roots for their food
and maize for their drink. Once at home, they make themselves happy with
their friends; whilst we go to gather wood and to bring water to cook
their supper. When they have eaten, they go to sleep: we pass the
greater part of the night grinding the maize and making their _chica_.
And what is our reward for our vigils? They drink, and whilst they are
in their cups they drag us by the hair and kick us about.

“You know, Father, if our complaints are well founded. What I tell you,
you yourself see every day; but our greatest misfortune of all is one
unknown to you. It’s a sad lot for a poor Indian woman to serve her
husband like a slave, sweating with labour in the fields and deprived of
repose at home. But it is still worse to see him, at the end of twenty
years, take another wife, young, and without sense. He becomes attached
to her, and she beats our children, orders us about, and treats us like
servants; and if we make the slightest murmur of complaint we are beaten
with the branch of a tree.... What has an Indian woman better to do than
to withdraw her child from a servitude a thousand times worse than
death! I repeat, Father, would to God my mother had loved me enough to
bury me at my birth!”

       *       *       *       *       *

In the year 1670 a party of buccaneers under Morgan reduced the castle
of _San Lorenzo_ at _Chagres_, and captured and burned the town of
_Panamá_; for which reason the site of that settlement was transferred
to the position it at present holds, being six miles distant from old
_Panamá_. In the year 1680 the same Filibusters, under other leaders,
having crossed the isthmus, took the city of _Santa Maria_; which
proceeding led, five years later, to the closing of the mines of _Cana_.
In the year 1698 one William Paterson undertook to establish a Scotch
colony at _Puerto Escaces_ on _Caledonia Bay_. Early last century
several towns were established on the Atlantic Coast by Catholic
missionaries, and likewise on the rivers flowing into the Gulf of _San
Miguel_; but unfortunately all these were destroyed by the Indians, with
whom, in 1790, a treaty of peace was concluded, in virtue of the terms
of which the Spaniards abandoned all their forts in _Darien_.

     NOTE.--Chapter IX. is chiefly founded on “_Historia del
     descubrimiento y colonizacion de la Nueva Granada_” (Paris, 1849),
     by J. Acosta; and “_Memorias para la historia de la Nueva Granada_”
     (Bogotá, 1850), by Antonio de Plaza.




CHAPTER X.

_PROGRESS OF THE COLONY._

1604-1792.


[Sidenote: 1604.]

_Don_ Garcia Raymon was once more appointed to the government of
_Chili_, and received one thousand soldiers from Europe and a fourth of
that number from _Mexico_. He thus found himself at the head of three
thousand regular troops, besides auxiliaries. With such a force at his
disposal, it was natural that he should once more invade _Arauco_, in
which territory he erected a fort; the existence of which, however, was
of short duration, it being abandoned to the Araucanians. Raymond
divided his force into two parts, both of which were successively
attacked and defeated by the new _Toqui_, Huenecura, so complete being
the rout that every single person was killed or taken. Such was the
dread entertained of the Araucanians that, in 1608, orders were issued
from Spain that a force of two thousand regular troops should constantly
be maintained on the frontier. For this purpose a sum of about three
hundred thousand _dollars_ was to be paid annually from the treasury of
_Peru_.

[Sidenote: 1610.]

In the following year the Court of Royal Audience was re-established at
_St. Iago_. The Captain-General, Raymon, who once more took the field,
ended his days at _Conception_, greatly regretted, not only by those
whom he had commanded and governed, but likewise by the Araucanians,
whom, when prisoners, he invariably treated with humanity. In
consequence of the representations of a Jesuit missionary, named Louis
Valdivia, respecting the injurious influence exercised by the
long-continued struggle on the progress of conversion, the pious Philip
III. sent orders to the government of _Chili_ to discontinue the war and
to establish peace, taking the _Bio-bio_ as a frontier. Louis Valdivia
returned to _Chili_ in 1612, the bearer of a letter from the King to the
Araucanian congress, with which he hastened to the frontier. In the
presence of fifty chiefs he made known the object of his errand. He was
thanked for his exertions, and received the promise of a favourable
report to the _Toqui_.

So zealous was King Philip in the object of converting the Araucanians
that, with the view the better to carry it out, he proposed not only to
raise the missionary Valdivia to the episcopal dignity, but further to
appoint him governor of _Chili_. But Valdivia’s was not a worldly
ambition. He declined the King’s offers; whilst he obtained the
nomination of a governor who was likely to carry out his views. This was
no other than Rivera, who had been removed from _St. Iago_ to _Tucuman_.
Rivera now besought the _Toqui_ to meet him at _Paicavi_ in order to
confer respecting peace. The _Toqui_ brought with him to the appointed
place a number of his Spanish prisoners, whom he released without
ransom: his conditions were accepted by the governor, and all promised a
speedy result; when the negotiations were interrupted by an unlooked-for
accident.

Ancanamon was compelled, before concluding peace, to consult four of his
chiefs. He was on his way to seek them, when he learned that his Spanish
wife had taken the opportunity of his departure to make her escape and
to take refuge with the governor with her two children. She brought with
her two others, his wives, and likewise his two daughters, three out of
the four having become Christians. This incident naturally changed the
purpose of the _Toqui_, who at once returned to the Spanish quarters to
seek the restoration of his family. This was, however, refused to him,
on the ground of concern for their religious welfare, although, by the
refusal, the object of the King of Spain in the negotiation with the
Araucanians was imperilled. All that Ancanamon could obtain was the
restoration of one of his daughters, who had not yet been baptized.

A new actor now appeared upon the scene in the person of the
_arch-Ulmen_, _Utiflami_, who, out of gratitude to Valdivia for the
release of one of his sons, undertook to manage the negotiation. He
proceeded, with this object, to the quarters of the _Toqui_, taking with
him three missionaries. On their appearance, however, Ancanamon was so
exasperated that, without listening to their arguments, he ordered them
to be put to death, together with Antiflami. Thus, out of care for the
souls of the refugees, the negotiations for peace and proselytizing were
brought to an end, and the war recommenced, with greater fury than ever.
Ancanamon, desirous of avenging the affront he had received, never
ceased to harass the Spanish provinces; and Rivera, up till his death in
1617, had no other opportunity of carrying out the special object with
which he had been reappointed governor of _Chili_.

[Sidenote: 1618.]

Rivera’s successor, Lope de Ulloa, had to encounter a daring adversary
in the _Toqui_ Lientur, who was invariably successful in his encounters
with the Spaniards, till, worn out by age and fatigues, he resigned his
command, in 1625, to Putapichion, who pursued a like daring course. The
war continued, with occasional successes on either side, for many years
longer. A new governor was appointed to _Chili_ in the person of _Don_
Francisco Laso, who, having failed to obtain peace, carried on
hostilities continuously, until at length, in 1632, Putapichion was
slain in battle.

Laso had greatly at heart the fulfilment of the promise which he had
made to his King of putting an end to the war. From his talents and
experience no one was more capable of doing so; but he had to do with
an invincible people. Their love of their country has probably never
been exceeded, and was so strong that life had no charm for them beyond
the limits of _Araucania_. All prisoners were after a time deported by
Laso to _Peru_. When they came in sight of land they threw themselves
overboard, in the hope of swimming ashore, and many succeeded in this
manner in effecting their escape. Even from _Callao_ many escaped,
following, with incredible fatigue, the immense line of coast which
separated them from their native country.

[Sidenote: 1641.]

The court of Spain, owing to the long duration of the war and the great
losses on their side, declined to retain Laso any longer in command, and
appointed as his successor _Don_ Francisco Zuniga, to whom was reserved
the honour of concluding peace. Zuniga arrived in _Chili_ in 1630, and
sought a personal conference with Lincopichion, the _Toqui_ of the
Araucanians. On the 6th of January of the following year a solemn treaty
was concluded, putting a period to a war which had lasted for ninety
years. The Marquis de Baydes was attended by ten thousand persons to the
village of _Quillin_ in _Puren_, the place fixed for the ratification;
whilst Lincopichion came at the head of four hereditary _Toquis_ and a
large number of _Ulmenes_. The ratification was celebrated by a three
days’ festival on either side, all prisoners being released.

[Sidenote: 1643.]

Amongst the clauses of the treaty was one by which the Araucanians
engaged not to permit the landing of any strangers upon their coast, nor
to furnish such with supplies, and the prudence of this clause was not
long in being made apparent. Three years previously the Dutch had made a
second fruitless attempt to form an alliance with the Araucanians. Their
squadron, consisting of four ships, was dispersed by a storm; and two
boats’ crews were put to death. In 1643 the Dutch made a last attempt to
possess themselves of _Chili_. Having set out from _Brazil_ with a
numerous fleet, they took possession of the deserted harbour of
_Valdivia_, and began to fortify the entrance to the river. The
Araucanians were invited to an alliance; but they honourably adhered to
the terms of their treaty with the Spaniards, thus forcing the Dutch to
retire in consequence of hunger. On their retreat a fleet under the
command of the Marquis de Mancura, son of the Viceroy of _Peru_, arrived
with ten ships of war, and fortified the harbour and the island which
bears his family name.

[Sidenote: 1665.]

From some cause which is not recorded hostilities once more broke out,
after an interval of fifteen years, between the Chilians and their
neighbours. They were continued with great violence for ten years, but
were terminated, in 1665, by a more permanent peace; and from this time
the records of this portion of South America are of a less stirring
nature. In consequence of the war of the Spanish succession the French
obtained, for a time, all the external commerce of _Chili_, its ports
having been crowded with their vessels between the years 1707 and 1717.
At this period many of this nation settled in the country, which
possesses, in consequence, a portion of French blood.

[Sidenote: 1722.]

A peace of upwards of fifty years’ duration had naturally given room for
the development of a country possessed of such abundant natural
advantages as is _Chili_. Its interruption was owing to the missionaries
who were sent amongst the Araucanians, and to the officers who were
appointed to protect them, whose presence and pretensions the
Araucanians resented; and, in 1722, it was determined to have recourse
to arms. The _Toqui_, Vilumilla, even at this late date adopted so vast
a project as that of the expulsion of the Spaniards from _Chili_. Having
killed three or four of the missionaries’ protectors, he despatched
messengers to the Chilians in the Spanish provinces, inviting them to
rise on the appearance of signal-fires. The native Chilians, however,
declined to respond to the _Toqui’s_ invitation. The _Toqui_, nothing
daunted, set out at the head of his troops to attack the Spanish
settlements; but he was careful to give information to the missionaries,
in order that, by retiring from the country, they might avoid
ill-treatment. It is unnecessary to give the details of this short war,
which was terminated by the peace of _Negrete_, where the treaty of
_Quillin_ was once more confirmed, and the title of Captain of Friends
or protector of missionaries abolished.

[Sidenote: 1742.]

_Chili_ was ruled over for fifteen years with wisdom and humanity by
_Don_ Gabriel Cano; and his successor received instructions to gather
the Spanish inhabitants into more compact societies. For this purpose he
founded, in 1742, the cities of _Copiapo_, _Aconcagua_, _Melipilla_,
_Rancagua_, _St. Fernando_, _Curico_, _Talca_, _Tutuben_, and _Angeles_,
and was rewarded by the dignity of Viceroy of _Peru_. From 1753 date
_Santa Rosa_, _Guasco-alto_, _Casablanca_, _Bella-Isla_, _Florida_,
_Coulemu_, and _Quirigua_; whilst at the same time a settlement was
formed on the island of _Juan Fernandez_, which till then had been the
retreat of pirates.

[Sidenote: 1773.]

_Don_ Antonio Gonzaga, whilst governor of _Chili_, undertook to bring
the Araucanians to live in cities, with the only result, however, of
forcing that brave people to take up arms once more in defence of their
liberties. An accommodation was at length arrived at, by which things
reverted to their previous state, the Araucanians, in acknowledgment of
their autonomy, being conceded the right of keeping a minister-resident
in _St. Iago_. Thus has this brave people, although inconsiderable in
point of numbers, succeeded in maintaining its independence, after
having cost Spain a greater sacrifice of blood and treasure than
sufficed for all her conquests in the New World.

[Sidenote: 1792.]

The Spaniards in _Chili_ now confined their views to consolidating their
settlements in the region lying between the southern frontiers of _Peru_
and the _Bio-bio_, a sufficiently extensive area, since it occupied the
space between degrees 24 and 36½ of southern latitude. This territory
was divided into thirteen provinces. The Captaincy-General of _Chili_
likewise included the fortress of _Valdivia_, the archipelago of
_Chiloë_, and the island of _Juan Fernandez_. The Captain-General[12]
was responsible to the King alone, unless in case of war, when he had to
act in subordination to the Viceroy of _Peru_. The provinces were
respectively governed by prefects, who possessed jurisdiction over both
civil and military affairs. In each provincial capital there existed a
municipal magistracy called the _Cabildo_. The inhabitants were divided
into regiments, which were obliged to march to the frontier or to the
sea-coast in case of war. In the year 1792 there were in the royal
service fifteen thousand eight hundred and fifty militia troops; and
besides this regular force there were likewise city bands of militia;
and in addition to both there was a sufficient force of imperial troops
to provide for the defence of the country.

_Chili_ was divided into the two dioceses of _St. Iago_ and
_Conception_, the bishops resident in these cities, respectively, being
suffragans to the Archbishop of _Lima_. The Court of Inquisition of
_Lima_ had a commissioner at _St. Iago_. The first ecclesiastics in
_Chili_ were the monks of the Order of Mercy, who were soon followed by
Dominicans and Franciscans, and later by Augustins and Hospitalers of
St. John of God. The Jesuits who were introduced in 1593, with the
nephew of their founder, were expelled in 1767. _St. Iago_ and
_Conception_ were the only cities which, in the colonial period,
contained convents of nuns. The churches were more remarkable for the
wealth which they displayed than for their architecture.

The population of _Chili_ presented the usual mixture of Europeans,
_Creoles_, Natives, Negroes, and _Mustees_, or half-castes. The
_Creoles_, or colonial Spaniards, displayed a laudable desire for
education, to complete which they, in many instances, proceeded to
_Lima_. The peasantry, though for the greater part of Spanish origin,
wore the Araucanian costume. Their lot was a happy one. Possessed of
perfect liberty, and dwelling in a delightful climate, they lived on the
produce of a fertile soil, and were robust, healthy, and lively. The
language of the country was Spanish, excepting on the frontiers, when
Araucanian or Chilian was likewise spoken. _Lima_ was the Paris of South
America, and prescribed the fashions for _Chili_. It may be added that
_Chili_ alone, of all the American provinces, could boast of two of its
citizens being exalted to the dignity of _Grandee_ of Spain.

The Chilians had the reputation of being exceedingly hospitable to
strangers, and of having been such good masters to their negro slaves
that the greatest punishment which could be inflicted on these latter
was to lose their protection; and it is stated that in many instances
they refused to avail themselves of the liberty afforded to them. The
masters exercised over them an authority similar to that of the Roman
_pater-familias_ over his _familia_. In correcting their faults the
degree of punishment was left to the master, unless in cases of capital
crime. The word slavery, so repugnant to our ears, may imply widely
different conditions of existence. Domestic slavery amongst the Turks,
for instance, may mean that the slaves are treated merely as
children--that is to say, that although a certain restriction is placed
upon their movements, they receive every kindness and care, whilst as
Moslem they may appeal to the laws of the _Koran_, &c. Very different,
however, was the lot of the field labourer in the transatlantic colonies
or of the mines in _Peru_. By all accounts the lot of the Chilian slave
was of the former character, and affords a pleasing contrast to that of
the natives of _Mexico_ in the hands of the conquerors.

This chapter may conclude with some notice of the native tribes which
have been repeatedly alluded to as taking part in the war between the
Spaniards and the Araucanians. The _Pehuenches_ inhabit that part of the
Chilian _Andes_ lying between the 34th and 37th degrees of south
latitude, to the east of the Spanish provinces of _Calchagua_, _Maúle_,
_Chillan_, and _Huilquilemu_. The dress is very similar to that of the
Araucanians, except that instead of breeches they wear round the waist a
piece of cloth after the fashion of the Japanese. Their boots, or shoes,
are all of one piece, and made from the skin of an ox. These
mountaineers, although having occasionally shown themselves to be
valiant soldiers, are nevertheless fond of decorating themselves like
women. They wear ornaments of glass beads upon their arms and amongst
their hair, and suspend around their heads little bells. Although
possessing herds of cattle and sheep, they prefer, like the Tartars,
horseflesh to any other, but, more delicate than that people, will only
eat it when cooked. They dwell in tents made of skins, disposed in a
circular form, leaving in the centre a spacious field in which the
cattle graze during the continuance of the herbage. When that begins to
fail they remove to another situation, and in this manner they traverse
the valleys of the _Cordilleras_.

Each village or encampment is governed by an _Ulmen_. In their language
and religion they differ not from the Araucanians. They are fond of
hunting, and often, in pursuit of game, traverse the vast plains lying
between the river _Plate_ and the Straits of _Magellan_. In these
excursions, which sometimes extend as far as to _Buenos Ayres_, they
plunder the country in that vicinity, and frequently attack the caravans
of merchandise going thence to _Chili_, with such success that commerce
is said to have suffered severely thereby. Their favourite weapon is the
_laque_ or _lasso_, which they carry fastened to their girdles. Although
of a wandering and restless disposition, the _Pehuenches_ are the most
industrious and commercial of any savages. The women work cloths of
various colours; the men occupy themselves in making baskets and a
variety of beautiful articles of wood, feathers, or skins, which are
highly prized by their neighbours. Assembling every year on the Spanish
frontier, they hold a kind of fair, that usually continues for fifteen
or twenty days, when, in exchange for fossil salt, gypsum, pitch,
bed-coverings, _ponchos_, skins, wool, bridle-reins beautifully wrought
of plaited leather, baskets, wooden vessels, feathers, ostrich eggs,
horses and cattle, &c., they receive wheat, wine, and the manufactures
of Europe. Being very skilful in traffic, they can with difficulty be
overreached; and when indulging in the pleasures of wine, a portion of
them is set apart to guard their property from plunder. They are
generally humane, complacent, lovers of justice, and possess all those
good qualities that are produced or perfected by commerce.

The _Chiquillanians_, whom some have erroneously supposed to be a part
of the _Pehuenches_, live to the north-east of them, on the eastern
border of the _Andes_, and are the most savage and least numerous of any
of the Chilians. They go almost naked, merely wrapping around them the
skin of the _guanaco_. It is observable that all the Chilians who
inhabit the eastern valleys of the _Andes_, namely, the _Pehuenches_,
the _Puelches_, the _Huilliches_, and the _Chiquillanians_, are much
redder than their countrymen dwelling westward of those mountains. All
the mountaineers dress themselves in skins and paint their faces; and,
living in general by hunting, lead a wandering and unsettled life. They
are, generally speaking, of a lofty stature and of great strength.




CHAPTER XI.

_BRAZIL: DISCOVERY OF THE MINES; ATTEMPT OF THE FRENCH ON RIO DE
JANEIRO._

1702-1720.


The search for the precious metals had long shared with slave-hunting
the efforts of the _Paulistas_ and others. Rumours of the existence of
silver and gold had long excited the hopes of the Portuguese Government,
and from time to time a stray specimen was procured from some unknown
spot in the interior. But up to the close of the seventeenth century
nothing was actually known as to the localities where the precious
minerals were concealed. With the opening of the eighteenth century,
however, a new era dawned upon _Brazil_; and the discoveries which were
now about to be made were destined to determine the site of her future
capital.

In anticipation of the finding of gold and silver, a code of regulations
had long since been issued relative to mines. Of the regulations in
question, one provided that all persons in authority were bound to
afford discoverers the necessary assistance; but when, about the middle
of the seventeenth century, Marcos de Azevedo and a companion brought
back from the _Rio Doce_ samples of silver and emeralds, the only result
to the discoverers was that they were thrown into prison at _Bahia_ and
detained there for life, because they obstinately refused to communicate
the scene of their discovery to the Government. On their death renewed
search was made for these mines, but in vain. A veteran, named Fernando
Diaz, however, at the age of eighty, obtained permission to undertake a
fresh search; and he explored the entire country now included in the
captaincy of _Minas Geraes_, where he formed a number of settlements.

The court of Lisbon had so often been excited by hopes which proved
delusive, and so many searching expeditions had failed, that its
patience was now exhausted. The old man, during four years, underwent a
series of privations and hardships such as wore out his more youthful
companions; but he was at length rewarded by his being shown by a young
Indian the spot where emeralds were found. The explorer, however, did
not live to return to _St. Paulo_, having been overtaken by a fever,
which cost him his life. The first gold known to have been produced from
this district was found about the year 1691, and in the following year
an expedition was formed to explore the district (now called _Villa
Rica_) where it had been found. Some further specimens having been
obtained, they were exhibited at _Rio de Janeiro_ in 1693, in which year
a commission was granted to one Carlos Silveria as _Capitam Mor_ of
_Taboate_ and _Provedor_ of the royal fifths, with orders to establish a
smelting-house in that town.

Happily for the natives of _Brazil_, the discovery of the precious
metals had been deferred until an age somewhat more humane than that
which had witnessed the occupation of _Hayti_ and the conquest of
_Peru_. The preaching of humanitarians, from Las Casas down to Vieyra,
had not been in vain; and when at length the day came when _Minas
Geraes_ was first to yield its treasures, the effect, as regarded the
condition of the Brazilian Indians, was, contrary to expectation, rather
beneficial than otherwise. The lust for gold superseded the lust for
slaves.

The Brazilian explorers had expended unbounded energy throughout long
years in searching for the mines; but the work of procuring their
contents was far less toilsome. It was for the most part sand-washing
taken from rivers, or surface mining; the soil containing the ore was
broken up by pick-axes and exposed to the action of running water. In
the natural course of things a large concourse of adventurers soon
gathered from far and near; a road was opened to _Rio de Janeiro_, and
at this time the foundations were laid of many considerable
towns--amongst them the city of _Mariana_. At a few miles’ distance
stands _Villa Rica_, the capital of the captaincy. In another direction
were found the mines of _Sabara_; and their discovery led to the first
colonization towards the sources of the _San Francisco_. In short, the
presence of gold lent its invariable allurement to the large proportion
of human beings who dream that they may be amongst the exceptional
persons who obtain wealth without undergoing the slow process of long
labour; and thus one of the least-inviting portions of _Brazil_ was
rapidly colonized. The town which for so many years has so largely
supplied the Bank of England with its staple owes its foundation to
Thomé Cortes d’El Rei.

[Sidenote: 1702.]

It was soon found necessary to alter the laws then in existence as
regards mining. On the discovery of gold, persons of influence had lost
no time in securing grants of land. These they were in many cases unable
to work; and thus they either disposed of them to others or left them
unused. It was therefore enacted that no second grant should be made to
any person until he should have worked the first; and if ground were
remaining after all applicants had received allotments, it should be
divided amongst such as possessed more than twelve slaves. On the other
hand, when there were more claimants than there were shares upon the
prescribed scale, the proportions were to be lessened in order that all
might be satisfied. Besides its fifths, the Crown kept for itself an
allotment, to be marked out after the discoverer had taken his first
grant. If within forty days an explorer had not begun to work his
ground, a third of it, on information being given, was assigned to the
informer, the remaining two-thirds falling to the Crown,--unless
sufficient reasons were to be pleaded for delay. The Crown allotments
were let by auction; but if the biddings were not thought high enough,
the superintendent was to see them worked for the Treasury by Indians.
No officer of the Treasury or of justice might possess or share in a
grant, either directly or indirectly.

The salary of the superintendent was fixed at three thousand five
hundred _cruzados_;[13] that of the chief guardian at two thousand;
whilst the subordinate guardians received one thousand each. The
treasurer likewise received three thousand _cruzados_. There were also
deputy-treasurers, receiving each five hundred _cruzados_. The above
salaries were paid on taxes levied upon those who profited by the mines.
Various other regulations were likewise made with a view to meeting
fresh cases as they arose. The civil and military authority was vested
in the superintendent. It was not permitted to bring slaves to the mines
from any other locality than _Rio de Janeiro_; but it was allowed to
import cattle from _Bahia_. All commodities were to be sent from _Rio_,
by way either of _Taboate_ or of _St. Paulo_; these restrictions being
in order to prevent the clandestine exportation of gold-dust.

The passion of gambling is nowhere more consuming than in a mining
district; and such did not fail to be the case in _Brazil_. Even the
governor of _Rio de Janeiro_ so far forgot his official character as to
set out for the mining district and eagerly engage in the pursuit. It
was, therefore, not without reason that in the new laws it was laid down
that the governor was forbidden to visit the district unless by express
orders from Lisbon, or unless in the case of some unforeseen emergency.
The attraction of the mines soon told upon _Bahia_, from which captaincy
many prosperous settlers betook themselves to the golden region, leaving
their farms to run waste. The cultivator who was sure of wealth by a
little patience could not lose the chance of winning it by a possible
piece of luck. As negroes were in great demand, the owners of
sugar-plantations could not stand the competition with mining
adventurers. This state of things proved most injurious to _Brazil_; for
the price of sugar naturally rose in proportion to the cost of producing
it, many works being abandoned and their owners ruined. Hitherto Europe
had been supplied with this article almost exclusively from the
Brazilian provinces; but, as exportation rapidly diminished, the French
and the English, who were at this time learning to cultivate the
sugar-cane in their respective islands, took advantage of the
opportunity to occupy the markets. The staple commodity being thus
reduced, the general trade was diminished to a corresponding extent.

The alarming consequences of the depopulation of the interior induced
the Government to prohibit the passage of slaves from _Bahia_ to the
mines. Troops were employed to intercept them, and many seizures were
made. But in spite of all efforts the illicit importation was carried
on; and at length the Government revoked the prohibition and allowed
enterprise to take its spontaneous course. The court of Lisbon was even
converted to the opinion of the Brazilian colonists that mining was more
profitable than sugar-raising. _Brazil_ had become the most important
portion of the Portuguese dominions. Its Church had hitherto been
governed by the Constitution of that of Lisbon; but a synod was now
convened at _Bahia_, and a constitution suited to the circumstances of
the country was drawn up for the Colonial Church.

[Sidenote: 1707.]

It was not to be expected that the motley crowd of adventurers of all
classes which thronged to the mines should long continue to live
together with the same harmony that might be expected from a more
settled community; and _Minas Geraes_ soon acquired the unenviable
notoriety, which had hitherto belonged to _Maranham_, of being the most
turbulent settlement in _Brazil_. Its people were divided into two
classes, called, respectively, _Paulistas_ and _Florasteiros_ or
strangers. Before very long the ill-feeling between these culminated in
their taking up arms. A report arose that the _Paulistas_ had combined
for the purpose of exterminating all strangers at the mines, and a civil
war broke out, which was of so serious a nature as to call forth the
presence of the governor with troops from _Rio de Janeiro_. The
_Florasteiros_ had, however, been fortunate in their choice of a
commander, named Manoel Muñes, through whose prudence some degree of
order was ere long restored; and, on the arrival of a new governor, a
general amnesty was proclaimed.

[Sidenote: 1708.]

The governor, having left things in a most satisfactory condition at the
mines, set out to restore good government in the district of _St.
Paulo_, where he found the people in a violent state of agitation. The
_Paulistas_ who had returned home from _Minas Geraes_ were violently
taunted by their wives with pusillanimity in having failed to avenge
their comrades who had fallen; and the result was the formation of a
strong force, which set out for the scene of struggle, and which
declined to listen to the remonstrances of the governor. Albuquerque,
having learned that there was an intention to seize his person,
consulted his safety by escaping to _Rio_, whence he lost no time in
sending messengers to the _Florasteiros_ to warn them of their danger.
The latter, in turn, made hasty preparations to resist an attack, which
was wholly unexpected. After withstanding a siege for several days, they
were relieved from danger by the news of an approaching force to their
assistance, the _Paulistas_ at the same time retreating in haste.
Albuquerque took steps to ensure the tranquillity of the district, and
was himself soon afterwards appointed governor of _St. Paulo_ and of the
mining country, which was now separated from the captaincy of _Rio de
Janeiro_.

[Sidenote: 1710.]

To turn to a more northerly region:--after the protracted war which had
for so many years desolated the province of _Pernambuco_, it will
readily be conceived that it was by no means an easy task to restore the
order which had existed previous to the arrival of the Dutch; and it is
said that much latitude was allowed to the inhabitants on account of the
devoted patriotism which they had shown during the struggle, and the
sacrifices to which they had so cheerfully submitted. Two generations
had now passed away since the expulsion of the Dutch, and _Recife_ had
become an important entrepôt of trade, its influence being regarded with
jealousy by the landed proprietors of _Pernambuco_. In _Olinda_ and the
surrounding district the descendants of the heroes of the war now
constituted an aristocracy, who prided themselves, with justice, on the
fact that it was to the exertions of their ancestors that Portugal owed
the province. The people of _Recife_, not unreasonably, demanded that
that important place should be granted the privileges of a town; but
this request was long resisted by the jealousy of _Olinda_. The name of
_S. Antonio do Recife_, or St. Anthony of the Reef, was, however, at
length conferred upon a place which had become the third, or perhaps the
second, port of greatest importance in _Brazil_.

The state of public security in the province left, certainly at this
time, much to be desired. Murder was so common an occurrence that it was
thought an act of oppression upon the part of the governor to arrest two
persons for having murdered a gentleman in his house at night. The
sympathies of the people were not with the victim, or with the law, but
with the offenders; and a conspiracy was entered into to assassinate the
unreasonable governor. That functionary, having ordered the people to
deposit their arms in the arsenal, was shortly afterwards attacked by
three armed men wearing masks, and was wounded in four places. This
incident was merely the prelude to a general insurrection; and the
governor consulted his own safety by taking refuge in a vessel which
was ready to set out to sea. He took with him to _Bahia_ those persons
who were reputed to be marked for popular vengeance, they being some of
the principal inhabitants of _Recife_.

Two days after his departure that town was entered by the insurgents,
when its recently-acquired privileges were declared to be annulled.
After having broken open the prison at _Olinda_ and released the
prisoners, they proceeded to deliberate as to what steps should next be
taken; when it was determined to summon the bishop, who was named
Provisional-Governor. His first act was to proclaim a full and general
pardon in the name of the King, after which processes were made out, and
depositions sent to Lisbon. It is scarcely necessary to add that
meanwhile public security was not greatly increased. The streets of
_Recife_ became so unsafe that the inhabitants found it necessary to
shut up their houses at the hour of the _Ave Maria_ bell.

Vieyra de Mello, who had commanded the expedition against the negroes of
the _Palmares_, at this time appeared upon the scene; and an instance
which occurred in his family will show the shocking state of manners
then prevailing in the province. His son, rightly or wrongly, suspected
the fidelity of his wife, who resided at a sugar plantation in the
interior. To this place the husband repaired with a numerous following.
He lost no time in putting to death the man whom he accused. As,
however, the lady was at the time _enceinte_, she was sent to be placed
under the care of his mother until her child should be born, when she
was to share the fate of her lover. Thus a whole family became
participators in the cold-blooded affair. The younger Vieyra appeared
openly in _Recife_, not only avowing the crime which he had committed,
but announcing that his vengeance was not yet completed. As the matter
was notorious, a worthy friar called upon the bishop-governor to beg him
to prevent the intended crime; but the cautious prelate declined to
interfere in the private affairs of noblemen, who ought not to live, he
said, under disgrace.

The object of Vieyra’s arrival at this juncture was to become the leader
of the republican party, which was numerous in the province. He proposed
to gain possession of the forts; and if the new governor, who was daily
expected, should fail to bring out a full pardon, to refuse him
admittance, and proclaim a republic. The inhabitants of _Recife_,
however, were loyal subjects. Suspecting the intentions of Bernardo
Vieyra, they apprised the governor of _Paraïba_ of his designs, and of
their readiness to help in the King’s service. The governor of _Paraïba_
wrote to the bishop, putting him on his guard. The prelate appears to
have been not unfavourably disposed towards him; but, as his designs
were notorious, he was obliged to request that he would depart from
_Recife_--a request which was met by evasion.

[Sidenote: 1711.]

A quarrel which arose between some soldiers of the _Recife_ regiment and
a party of Bernardo Vieyra’s men was the means of bringing affairs to a
climax. The _Recife_ soldiers, sallying from the church in which they
had taken sanctuary, caused the drummer to beat the rendezvous, while
they raised the cry of “Down with the traitors!” The officers putting
themselves at their head, the bishop retired to the Jesuits’ college,
and Bernardo Vieyra was speedily arrested. The forts were now secured by
trustworthy men. A proclamation was issued by the troops, vindicating
their own conduct and their loyalty to the King. But, meanwhile, the
opposite party gathered their forces at _Olinda_; and the land-holders,
who were joined by the bishop, prepared to besiege _Recife_,
intercepting the supplies of food for that town. In this critical state
of affairs the prudent bishop thought fit to resign the government.

A civil war thereupon commenced. The independent party hoped to reduce
_Recife_ by famine; but the Royalists, like the Dutch before them, had
command of the port. The insurgents had the superiority in the field;
and the garrison of _Recife_ had to despatch a vessel to _Bahia_ to
represent their danger and to request the aid of the Governor-General.
After the siege had continued for three months, the Portuguese fleet
fortunately made its appearance, having on board the new governor. The
authorities of _Olinda_ lost no time in sending on board to inform him
that _Recife_ was in the hands of mutineers; but the commandant of that
place had been beforehand with them in going on board in person. Machado
entered _Recife_, and on the following day took possession of his
government at _Olinda_. He then proceeded to institute a fair inquiry
into past circumstances, listening impartially to all parties. The
principal offenders were then arrested and sent to Lisbon, where two of
them received the sentence of banishment for life to India, the others
being permitted to return to _Brazil_. The consequences of this civil
war were severely felt by many of the chief families of _Pernambuco_.

[Sidenote: 1710.]

Hitherto _Rio de Janeiro_ had for many years escaped its share of the
troubles with which the other chief centres of Brazilian colonization
were visited in turn. In the year, however, preceding that which
witnessed the above-mentioned events at _Recife_, the future capital of
_Brazil_ had been the scene of war. Five large ships were reported as
being seen off Cape _Frio_. As they approached the shore the customary
signals were given, but were left unanswered; and all doubts as to their
nature were removed upon the capture by them of a small vessel, within
sight of the forts. They indeed proved to be a French squadron under the
command of _M. du Clerc_, the object of which was to plunder the city
which had at one time seemed destined to belong to France, and which was
now supposed to contain much of the produce of the recently-found mines.

There was at this time at _Rio de Janeiro_ a force of no less than eight
thousand troops, not including five thousand armed negroes and
mulattoes and six hundred Indians. Yet no attempt was made to prevent
the French from landing at a spot about forty miles from that city,
although their force consisted of only about twelve hundred and fifty
marines. They were permitted to march leisurely through the woods, the
governor contenting himself with taking up an entrenched position near
the hill of _S. Antonio_. His proceedings had the effect of giving the
French a false confidence. They were, however, attacked by one scouting
party and lost a few men. On arriving near the city, they were allowed
to pass the night undisturbed at the plantation of the Jesuits. Next
morning, however, they met with a resolute resistance from a detachment
headed by a Friar named Menezes, who greatly distinguished himself on
this occasion.

On entering the city, the French force was divided into two parties, the
smaller of which was cut off, the men being quickly dispersed and
yielding to panic. The governor’s palace was defended by a number of
students, and was vigorously attacked by the main body of the French, in
the hope of capturing the governor. A sharp conflict ensued, and the
French leader was glad to retire with the remainder of his men into a
large warehouse on the quay. He was under the belief that his other
detachment had gained the city, being deluded by the ringing of the
bells on account of its defeat. In this condition he had no alternative
but to surrender at discretion. The success of the Portuguese was soiled
by much cruelty towards their prisoners. A number of men who asked for
quarter were killed by the rabble; whilst about a hundred and fifty were
massacred in the streets. In all, about four hundred of the French were
killed; two hundred and fifty were wounded; and six hundred were made
prisoners. Of the Portuguese, one hundred and twenty fell; many, it is
said, at the hands of their own countrymen in the confusion.

The whole history of this affair reflects very little credit either on
the Portuguese governor or on the inhabitants of _Rio de Janeiro_. With
so large a force at his disposal, it should have been easy for the
former to bring the invaders to account in a much shorter time and with
far less loss to himself; as regards the populace, they are even charged
by the French with having murdered the surgeons who were sent on shore
from the French ships, by permission of the governor, to attend their
wounded countrymen; whilst, some months later, _M. du_ Clerc himself was
found murdered in his house. The latter act was probably the result of
private vengeance; but much blame was attached to the Portuguese
authorities for having failed to institute any inquiry into the matter.

[Sidenote: 1711.]

The inhumanity with which the prisoners had been treated, together with
the supineness of the provincial authorities in the matter of _M. du_
Clerc’s death, roused, as might have been expected, much indignation in
France. The celebrated Du Guay-Trouin proposed to undertake an
expedition to _Brazil_, to assert the national honour. The force placed
at his disposal consisted of fifteen vessels in all, the two largest
carrying seventy-four guns each. The French admiral set sail from _La
Rochelle_ on the 9th of June 1711; but he did not arrive off _Bahia_
until the 27th of the following August, and it was the 11th of September
before he reached his destination.

The preparation of so extensive a naval force, although it was got ready
with as much secrecy as possible, could not be unknown to the Portuguese
Government; and accordingly the departure of the Brazilian fleet had
been expedited, under a strong convoy. The fleet had reached _Rio_ early
in September; and thus the arrival of the French might have been looked
for. Yet, after the lapse of some days, the Portuguese admiral, Da
Costa, concluding that he had received a false alarm, relanded the men
whom he had placed on board of the ships for the protection of the city,
and relapsed into a false security. On the 10th, it was known that the
enemy’s fleet had passed Cape _Frio_; and on the morning of the 12th, in
the midst of a thick fog, their artillery was heard at the bar of the
magnificent bay. The French, who were led by an officer acquainted with
the port, passed the forts with the loss of three hundred men, and by
noon were off the city. The incapable admiral, who had not had
sufficient patience to persevere in the measures necessary to withstand
an invasion of which he had ample warning, now lost his presence of
mind. The commanders of his vessels received orders to cut their cables
and to set fire to their ships when they had run them on shore.

The French commander took advantage of the ensuing night to make his
preparations; and on the following morning he took possession of the
island of _Cobras_, which the Portuguese were preparing to abandon. On
the 14th he landed his troops, three thousand three hundred in number,
not including five hundred suffering from scurvy, who were soon able to
resume their duties. The governor renewed his tactics of the preceding
year. Although his force was double that of the French, he allowed the
latter to pursue their measures without the slightest opposition. He
probably looked for a similar result, should the French admiral follow
the example of Du Clerc in allowing his men to engage in a street fight;
but the latter was warned by the fate of his countrymen.

Having erected one battery on shore, and another on the island of
_Cobras_, Du Guay-Trouin summoned the governor to surrender at
discretion, stating that he had been sent by his master to exact
vengeance for the cruelties committed by the Portuguese in the preceding
year. To this De Castro replied that the preceding expedition had been
treated according to the laws of war, to which they had no claim,
seeing that they had invaded _Brazil_ as pirates, and without the King’s
commission. He had saved six hundred lives from the fury of the people;
nor had he been wanting in any respect towards his prisoners. It had, he
said, been impossible to discover the murderer of _M. du_ Clerc. To the
summons to surrender he made answer that he was ready to defend to the
last the city which had been entrusted to him by his King.

On the day after the receipt of this reply, the French admiral bombarded
the Portuguese intrenchments, and prepared to assault them on the
following morning. An accidental discovery of his movements during the
night, which was due to the vivid lightning, induced him to anticipate
his plan; and the cannonade continued throughout the entire night. The
inhabitants, notwithstanding the fury of a violent tropical
thunderstorm, preferred to seek refuge in the country. The whole
population fled, the troops likewise being seized with panic; and in the
morning _Rio de Janeiro_ fell without resistance into the hands of the
French, five hundred of their lately-imprisoned countrymen being now
engaged in pillaging the city, which was given up to a general sack.
Notwithstanding all the efforts of the commander, three-fourths of the
houses and magazines were broken open in the first twenty-four hours. So
great was the confusion, that the Portuguese, had they taken advantage
of the opportunity, might have a second time made a good account of
their invaders; but no such effort was made on their part, and the forts
were surrendered with disgraceful readiness.

The governor meanwhile intrenched himself about a league from the city,
sending for assistance to the governor of _Minas_. The French commander,
however, who had come for the sake of reprisals and of plunder, was only
anxious to depart. Perceiving the difficulty of obtaining a store of
provisions, he sent to inform the governor that unless the city were
immediately ransomed he would burn it to the ground. As there was
nothing to prevent the French admiral from carrying his threat into
execution, De Castro offered to ransom the city for six hundred thousand
_cruzados_. This proposal was at first rejected, but was ultimately
accepted, with the additional condition of supplying a large number of
cattle; the whole to be paid within fifteen days. De Castro had shown,
as might have been expected from him, but little discretion in the
matter; for on the day following the signature of the agreement,
Albuquerque arrived from _Minas_ with one thousand five hundred
horsemen, and as many foot-soldiers carried behind them; they were
followed at a day or two’s distance by six thousand negroes. It is
somewhat surprising that this able and independent officer, commanding a
force double that of the French in number, should not have attacked them
on his own account. The terms of the agreement, however, were punctually
observed; and, on the 4th of November, the French re-embarked.

It may be of interest to recount the subsequent fate of this expedition,
which, it should be remarked, was fitted out, not at the expense of the
Crown of France, but at that of six persons who entered into it as a
speculation; five of them being merchants of St. Malo, and the sixth the
Comptroller of the King’s Household. The expenses of the outfit had been
calculated at 1,200,000 _livres_. The project had been duly approved by
the Government, whose ships and troops were placed at the commander’s
disposal. This officer was so elated with his success at _Rio de
Janeiro_, that he set sail for _Bahia_, with the intention of laying
that place likewise under requisition. It was saved by the contrary
winds against which Du Guay-Trouin had to struggle for six weeks, when,
on account of the state of his provisions, he found it necessary to make
for France. In the tempestuous weather which they encountered on the
homeward voyage, two vessels of the squadron foundered, one of them
being the finest ship of the fleet, and commanded by _M. de_ Courserac,
who had led the way into the harbour of _Rio_, and whose vessel
contained a very large amount of treasure. A third vessel was driven to
_Cayenne_, and there sank. There remained, however, to the partners a
profit of ninety-two per cent. on their capital.

Francisco de Castro, the governor of _Rio de Janeiro_, was not at the
end of his troubles with the departure of the French. The people, who
had lost so much property as well as honour owing to his ill-fortune or
mismanagement, declined to be any longer ruled by him, and insisted that
Albuquerque should assume the authority until the King’s pleasure should
be known. The King’s pleasure was, that De Castro should be superseded
and placed upon his trial; he was degraded, and sentenced to perpetual
imprisonment in a fort in India. Two other officers were likewise
severely punished.

[Sidenote: 1713.]

The success of the squadron under Du Guay-Trouin had been so marked that
a second armament was equipped at the cost of private individuals, but
with the assistance of the Government. Its objective point was _Bahia_;
but its commander was of another stamp from that in which Du Guay-Trouin
was cast. _Bahia_ was spared; and he contented himself with a descent
upon some of the smaller sugar-islands. The Portuguese colonies were,
however, about to be relieved from further alarms by the Peace of
Utrecht, by which they obtained the full sovereignty over both banks of
the _Amazons_, France ceding, with much reluctance, all pretensions to
the country between that river and the _Oyapok_. It was likewise
stipulated that the French should not trade with _Maranham_.

[Sidenote: 1720.]

The people of the Mines were thanked for the promptitude with which they
had brought assistance for the deliverance of _Rio_; and _S. Paulo_, as
being the capital of a captaincy, obtained the rank of a city. Some idea
may be formed of the value of the yield of the mines at this time from
the fact that, in the year 1714, the Government fifths were commuted for
the equivalent of about £50,400 sterling. The commutation was, however,
raised, three years later, by one-fourth. In the year 1720, the country
of _Minas Geraes_ was detached from _S. Paulo_ and declared a separate
captaincy.

     NOTE.--The reader will, I fear, observe a want in this work, which
     has not by any means escaped the notice of the writer, but which he
     has found it impossible fully to supply. In almost every chapter
     there occur notices of large transactions in money, the coins
     quoted being those then current in Spain and Portugal,
     respectively. It would, of course, be possible to state
     approximately the relative value to a given standard of those
     various coins, respectively, at any one period; but the value of
     gold and silver coins of the same name varied so constantly and so
     considerably that it is impossible to lay down a definite standard
     of value throughout the whole area of which this work treats for
     any considerable part of the period to which it is devoted. As an
     instance of the tendency to mislead in taking any fixed coin as a
     standard in reference to South American monetary transactions, I
     may mention that, in _Buenos Ayres_, in the year 1866, I found the
     Argentine _dollar_, a coin which most English readers would
     naturally estimate as the equivalent of four shillings, to be worth
     exactly twopence. This, of course, applies to the paper _dollar_;
     but this would be the legal tender in payment of amounts stated in
     _dollars_, unless otherwise specified.




CHAPTER XII.

_BRAZIL: DISCOVERY OF THE DIAMOND DISTRICT._

1724-1749.


[Sidenote: 1724.]

The mining districts had on several occasions been the scene of serious
and prolonged resistance against the constituted authorities, in
consequence of the regulations respecting the mode of levying the royal
share which were introduced with a view to prevent smuggling. It had
been found necessary to make a severe example of the ringleaders of an
insurrection; and the mining population were thenceforward amenable to
law. It was established that all gold was to pass through the royal
smelting-house before paying the royal fifths which were now
re-established. The people of the mines had, by a timely discovery,
escaped the danger of a negro insurrection; and in consequence so many
negroes took to the woods that the same evil was apprehended as in the
case of the _Palmares_. In order to avert such a contingency,
Bush-captains were established, whose business it was to apprehend
wandering negroes, for whom they received head-money from their masters.
In many cases it was alleged that the Bush-captains, in order to receive
the reward, made a practice of arresting negroes who were not runaways,
and that this institution was only one degree less troublesome to the
community than the evil which it was appointed to suppress--these
individuals being likewise in the habit of detaining negroes and
profiting by their labour.

The great importation of negroes into _Minas Geraes_ gave occasion to
fears which were not entertained elsewhere in _Brazil_, and in
consequence an order was issued forbidding the formation of free blacks
into separate companies, and requiring that they should be mixed with
white soldiers. No person who was a mulatto within the fourth degree
might be an ordinary judge or hold any municipal office in _Minas
Geraes_. The mode of mining had now undergone a considerable alteration.
Instead of opening cuttings and carrying the produce in bulk to be
washed, water was conveyed to the mining ground, and, washing away the
mould, broke up the blocks in pits or wooden troughs, thus saving a
great expenditure of labour. As water-power thus became a valuable
property, those in possession of water-courses derived great advantages
therefrom. Their pretensions were, however, so extravagant that it was
found necessary to establish a set of laws respecting the distribution
of the water.

The discovery of the mines had brought about so great an increase of
wealth that the jealous restrictions against the immigration of
foreigners into _Brazil_ were rendered more stringent than ever. Not
only were they forbidden to enter the country, but no person might
embark for it unless he were appointed to an office there, or unless he
were a servant of Portuguese birth accompanying his master. Even
Portuguese must be provided with passports; and the clergy were likewise
under restrictions.

The _Paulistas_, being greatly outnumbered by strangers in _Minas
Geraes_, sought and found a new field for their energies. It was to the
enterprise of one of this class of men, named Pascoal Cabral, that was
due the discovery of the mines of _Cuyabá_ in the centre of the
Continent,--mines which should more naturally have fallen to the lot of
the Spaniards from _Paraguay_ or from _Santa Cruz de la Sierra_. The
journey thither from _S. Paulo_ was long and arduous, and was further
attended with no slight risk, leading the traveller through the native
country of the fierce _Puayaguas_. These people rendered the journey to
_Cuyabá_ so dangerous that, when a colony had been established there, a
strongly-armed vessel was sent thence to await the annual caravan of
traders at the _Paraguay_ river.

So soon as the richness of the locality became known, cattle and
supplies were forwarded to _Cuyabá_, but with infinite difficulty and at
proportionate cost. Mining at _Cuyabá_ was attended with a danger from
which _Minas Geraes_ was free, namely, the presence of hostile and
resolute Indians. Military discipline was found necessary for
self-preservation; but the attitude of the savages was at least attended
with the good result of compelling the settlers to sink their own
jealousies and differences in making common cause against them. Thus the
settlement of _Cuyabá_ soon began to flourish as much as had those of
_Minas Geraes_. As the way thither by water was so circuitous and
difficult, the governor of _S. Paulo_ offered a reward for the opening
up of a communication by land; and this object was effected by Manoel de
Lara, a house being established at the point where the _Paraná_ was
crossed, in order that the gold might be registered and the royal fifths
collected. But such a mode of levying the dues proved ineffectual in a
country where smuggling was so easy; and it was judged expedient to have
recourse to a poll-tax upon the slaves.

A like measure was, after long hesitation, determined upon in respect to
the taxation of _Minas Geraes_, where almost every conceivable
contrivance had been resorted to in order to defraud the Crown of the
royal fifths,--such measures, for instance, as corrupting the goldsmiths
and employing coins. It was therefore strongly recommended to raise the
royal proportion by means of taxing the produce according to the number
of slaves employed; and the task of introducing this measure devolved
upon the new governor, Gomes Freyre de Andrade, the son of the
distinguished Gomes Freyre, who had restored order in _Maranham_.

When the edict for the capitation was posted in the public places
throughout the captaincy, the inhabitants of two districts tore down the
proclamation and prepared to resist the levying of the tax; but so
conciliatory was the new governor that this threatened disturbance was
quieted down; and the peace of the province was happily insured by the
discovery, at this time, of several fresh mines, which promoted a
general prosperity extending to the entire population.

But it was not to gold alone that _Brazil_ was to owe the sudden
increase of its prosperity which occurred during the early part of the
eighteenth century. A rumour had long been current of the existence of
diamonds; and one Bernardino da Fonseca Lobo had found specimens of
these precious stones in the _Serro do Frio_, which he sent home to
Portugal, and which procured him the title of _Capitam Mor of Villa do
Principe_ for life. Diamonds were declared to be royalties, and subject
to the same duties as gold. It was difficult, however, to collect these
duties in the same manner; since neither by number, weight, nor measure
could any equitable plan of taking the royal fifths be devised. A
capitation tax upon the slaves employed was therefore decided upon. The
diamonds were to be remitted, as was gold, only in the King’s ships, one
per cent. on their value being charged for freight. The result of this
last discovery of the produce of _Brazil_ was such that, in the course
of two years, the price of diamonds in Europe went down seventy-five per
cent. The property of individuals was so seriously threatened that it
was found necessary, without delay, to take measures for limiting the
number of diamonds extracted.

In order to arrive at this end, by which the price of diamonds was to be
kept up artificially, several measures were proposed, and were referred
to commercial men for their opinion. The advice of Dr. Joam Mendes was
to the effect that the diamond country should be reserved for the King’s
use; that it should be placed under special laws; and that the diamonds
should be extracted for the King’s account slowly. After due
deliberation, the Court resolved to adopt the counsel thus given, in so
far as to reserve the diamond country and to limit the extraction; but
not to undertake it on its own account. An officer was therefore charged
to mark out the limits of the forbidden district, and so heavy a
capitation was imposed as to prevent all but a few persons from
searching for the precious stones. It was thought that they could only
be offered for sale at a heavy price.

Under the government of Gomes Freyre, a contract was made for employing
six hundred slaves in the work of extracting diamonds, an annual
poll-tax to be paid upon the slaves of two hundred and thirty _milreis_.
The Crown was to have the option of purchasing stones above a certain
size. When, at the end of four years, this contract expired, it had
proved so profitable that the capitation was raised to two hundred and
seventy _milreis_; whilst the Treasury should each year give the
contractor credit for sixty thousand _milreis_ of the two hundred and
sixty-two thousand for which he stood engaged. This arrangement fell in
with the views of all parties. The European lapidaries kept back their
stock until time should have effaced the effects of the sudden glut; and
whilst they gave out that the Brazilian diamonds were inferior to the
Oriental, they did not fail to pass off the former as the latter. They
are even asserted to have sent Brazilian stones to _Goa_ to find thence
their way back to Europe, until the equal value of the Brazilian
diamonds with those of India was established.

The _Serro do Frio_, in which these diamonds were found, had been first
explored by two Brazilians probably from the town of _Villa do
Principe_, which dates from the beginning of the century. The boundaries
of _Minas Geraes_, to the east, lay along the adjacent captaincies of
_Rio de Janeiro_, _Bahia_, and _Pernambuco_. Towards the north and west
there lay an undefined extent of unappropriated territory. To the south
the province is bounded by the captaincies of _S. Paulo_ and _Rio de
Janeiro_. The whole captaincy is a portion of an immense mountain-range.
A winter of two months’ duration commences in May, when the average
temperature is about 50° _Fahrenheit_; in the hot season the heat never
exceeds 80°. The rainy season lasts from October till May, the rain
sometimes continuing for days together. The captaincy of _Minas Geraes_
was divided into four districts, of which that of _Serro do Frio_,
called also the forbidden district, contained the diamond fields.

This district boasts innumerable peaks, some of enormous height, which
present a scene of alpine grandeur and desolation--a grandeur which is
added to by the magnificent cataracts into which the waters of the
region are in many places gathered before they fall into the rivers
which drain the district.

The Portuguese were now advancing in several directions into the
interior of _Brazil_; more especially up the _Amazons_ and the numerous
tributaries of that stream. The _Paulistas_ and the people of _Minas
Geraes_ spread themselves across the extensive region lying behind the
captaincies of _Bahia_ and _Piauhy_, which now forms the province of
_Goyaz_; whilst from _Cuyabá_ the settlers continued to advance towards
the _Chiquito_ and _Moxo_ missions, and likewise in the direction of the
western branch of the _Tocantins_. They thus secured for Portugal a
country containing two hundred thousand square miles, which now forms
the province of _Matto-Grosso_.

The name _Goyaz_ is derived from the _Goya_ tribe. The first discoverer
of its mineral wealth was a _Paulista_, named Manoel Correa, who, in the
seventeenth century, made his way thither at the head of a party of
slave-hunters. He brought back some specimens of gold, which induced
another adventurer to follow in his footsteps. He too found gold upon
one of the rivers flowing into the _Amazons_. This second adventurer,
called Bueno, was accompanied in another expedition by his son, then
only twelve years old. They found the _Goya_ women wearing pieces of
gold picked up from the beds of the torrents. This was in 1670, before
the age of Brazilian mining had arrived. Fifty years later Bueno’s son
proposed to the Governor of _S. Paulo_ to go in search of the spot which
he had visited in his boyhood, and which, after three years’ searching,
he once more found. He collected gold from five different streams, where
he was appointed to establish a colony with the rank of _Capitam Mor_.

The mines of _Goyaz_ soon rivalled those of _Cuyabá_, and had the
advantage of a shorter and safer communication with the older
settlements. Provisions came regularly from _S. Paulo_, but not in
sufficient quantities to keep pace with the increasing population. The
demand for food induced a portion of the community to devote themselves
to rearing cattle and cultivating the ground, occupations which were
soon found to be even more profitable than mining. In ten years the
colony, requiring a separate jurisdiction, was made a province of _S.
Paulo_; twelve years later it was declared a captaincy. Its capital,
_Villa Boa_, was chartered in 1739.

[Sidenote: 1734.]

Mines were first discovered in _Matto-Grosso_ in 1734, upon the banks of
the river _Sarare_. These, too, were found by a _Paulista_. Gold was
found during the first years in greater abundance than in any other
quarter; but the earlier adventurers suffered the greatest hardships
from want of provisions. Even the necessaries of life rose to famine
prices. The gold was not enough to prevent many from starving from want
of food. The settlement was at length relieved by the arrival of a
supply of cattle from _Cuyabá_; but not until the original discoverer,
who was at the time rolling in wealth, had fallen a victim to disease.

[Sidenote: 1742.]

The undoubted riches of the region, however, did not fail to insure a
due proportion of settlers; and a road was opened to _Cuyabá_ from
_Goyaz_ by which a due supply of cattle was introduced. Amongst the few
survivors of the first miserable year was Manoel Felix de Lima, who was
destined to accomplish a remarkable geographical feat, by finding his
way from the mines of _Francisco Xavier_ in _Matto-Grosso_ to the
Spanish settlements at _Santa Maria Magdalena_. A short sketch of this
journey may be given here as illustrating the enormous natural and other
difficulties with which the first explorers of the interior of _Brazil_
had to contend.

Manoel de Lima, who was a native of Portugal, had failed to enrich
himself in the pursuit of gold; prices were very high; and, being
wearied of a settled life, he induced some companions to join him in an
adventure down the rivers. The party made up the number of fifty,
including slaves and Indians. They were all either penniless or deeply
in debt, and were glad of any excuse for escaping from their creditors.
Falling down the _Sarare_ in canoes, they found themselves upon the
_Guapore_, when they laid in stores for the voyage before them down the
river which now forms for a considerable distance the frontier between
_Brazil_ and _Bolivia_.

On the tenth day of the voyage the adventurers landed on the right bank,
at the mouth of a stream, where they found marks of a recent encampment
made by a party under one Almeida, who had set out from the settlement
six months before them upon a slave-hunting expedition, and who soon
joined them here. Almeida had been informed that it would be dangerous
to proceed down the stream, on account of the character of the natives;
he therefore proposed to ascend the smaller river, where he might pursue
his object with greater safety. The intelligence discouraged the greater
number of Manoel’s party, but not the leader himself; he determined to
pursue his course, notwithstanding the defection of fourteen of his
number.

Going down the _Guapore_, they found, next day, a village, from which
the Indians fled at their approach. The course of the stream led them
into a vast lake where crocodiles were numerous, and near which they
captured an Indian, and had some communication, not altogether friendly,
with others. Renewing their voyage, they came to a part of the stream
lined with habitations, and having many canoes; but as soon as any
people saw them, they set up a cry and ran away. A pilot went in front
with two negroes in a small canoe, and these, on one occasion, attacked
some Indians, who, however, succeeded in escaping. Next morning, as was
to be expected, a number of canoes came in pursuit of the aggressors,
the leader of the party being a young man attacked on the previous day.
The affair, however, ended peacefully, the Indians receiving gifts. A
day or two later, they shot an antelope on the river, and, landing,
found a piece of cloth and a cross, which were evident signs of
converted Indians, some of whom they next day encountered.

Following the side of the broad stream, Manoel was so fortunate as to
meet another canoe full of converted Indians, one of whom undertook to
guide his party. This native now entered a stream which joined the
_Guapore_ on the left, and on which they were before long accosted from
a canoe in Spanish. The adventurers were now amidst a labyrinth of
islands and channels, where they might have wandered indefinitely had
they not had a guide. They were about, however, to lose him; but, before
his departure, he assured them that they would reach _San Miguel_ on the
following evening. To their surprise, their guide reappeared next
morning, and conducted them amidst an infinity of intricate channels.

When near _San Miguel_, the guide was sent forward with a letter to the
missionary; and when the adventurers followed, their appearance excited
so much curiosity that the people even clustered on the trees to behold
them. At this point the companions of Manoel were seized with
apprehensions of danger, from the reflection that _Paulistas_ could not
expect good treatment either at the hands of the Jesuits or at those of
their disciples. Manoel undertook the perilous task of first presenting
himself. As soon as he landed, he was met by a number of old men, who,
much to his surprise, mistook him for a bishop, and, kneeling down,
besought his blessing. The missionary of _San Miguel_ turned out to be a
German of nearly fourscore years. This “Reduction” was situated upon the
river _Baures_, twenty miles from its junction with the _Guapore_; it
was one of the _Moxo_ missions. The missionary had charge of about four
thousand Indians, who had killed some of his predecessors.

From _San Miguel_ Manoel de Lima descended the stream to the _Guapore_,
and came to the second river, called the _Magdalena_, on which was
situated the mission of that name. Ascending it, he and his companions
arrived, on the tenth day, at cultivated fields; and they learned from
an Indian that the German missionary had sent news of their coming
overland. At nightfall a canoe arrived from the “Reduction,” bringing
the travellers a welcome present of two dozen fowls and some other
provisions. Next day, Manoel, having attired himself in a startling
costume, proceeded to pay his visit to the two missionaries, a Hungarian
and an Italian, who received him courteously, and entertained him and
his companions at a plentiful repast.

The _Magdalena_ mission was a flourishing one; the church was a spacious
building, having three aisles; the columns being each composed of a tall
tree. Some Indian carvers astonished the Portuguese by the beauty of the
work with which they were embellishing the pulpit. The golden pyx, which
had been sent from _Lima_, was valued at three thousand five hundred
pieces of silver; and the Jesuits showed the traveller thirty hangings
of tissue and brocade which had been sent from _Lima_ and _Potosí_. The
settlement was enclosed by a square wall, within which was a
considerable space, so as to afford room for folds and gardens. There
were shops for weavers, carpenters, and carvers; an _engenho_, for the
fabrication of rum and sugar; public kitchens, and likewise stocks. The
plantations attached to the settlement extended for leagues along the
river; and the horses and cattle were very numerous.

But, although the Portuguese received every hospitality and attention,
they were not allowed to depart without receiving a hint that the
“reduction” was sufficiently strong to be capable of self-defence in the
case of too frequent or unwelcome visits from their countrymen. On the
second morning, after breakfast, fourscore horsemen were exercised in
the great square. When they had concluded their manœuvres, both sides
of the square were filled with archers, who discharged their arrows in
the air so that they should fall into the intervening space. They became
so heated in their exercise that Manoel de Lima became somewhat alarmed,
and took the precaution of firing his pistol in the air, upon which the
archers thought proper to disperse. The Jesuits stated that the
missionaries could bring into the field forty thousand of these Indians.

Some of the Portuguese were now of opinion that they had proceeded far
enough; and they proposed to purchase from the missionaries seven
hundred and fifty cattle, with which to return to the mines. The
missionaries, however, not having power to dispose of any property, the
Portuguese were referred to the Provincial, who was then at _Exaltacion_
upon the _Mamore_, to which point the travellers now determined to
proceed, partly perhaps with the object of exploring this borderland.
Manoel and three Europeans determined to set out by land, whilst the
others preferred their canoes.

Before Manoel had departed, an incident occurred which somewhat changed
the situation. This was the arrival of a messenger with a letter from
the Provincial, in which the Father was reprimanded for having
entertained the Portuguese, by doing which he had incurred the
displeasure of the governor of _Santa Cruz_, and he was commanded to
dismiss them without delay. At the end of three days, therefore, Manoel
de Lima and his three companions were compelled to quit the society of
the Jesuits, and to proceed on their voyage in canoes. They parted with
many tears on both sides. Soon after they had reached the _Guapore_,
they met a canoe bearing a cross; but they received no tidings of their
former companions, all hope of rejoining whom was soon at an end.

At the junction of the _Mamore_ with the _Guapore_ the two rivers
combine to form the _Madeira_, so called from the large quantities of
wood which, after the rainy seasons, it bears into the _Amazons_. The
last great river received by the _Madeira_ before the point at which it
turns to the north-west is the _Beni_. Very soon after passing the point
of their junction, Manoel and his companions came upon the falls of the
_Madeira_, and rapids more formidable than any which they had yet
passed. Going down the stream they were much molested by the insects;
whilst they had several narrow escapes from being swamped or upset by
whirlpools or rocks. On one occasion the canoe was carried by a current
against a rock, with such force that the men were thrown out; whilst the
canoe was borne down the stream, and was soon out of sight.

The position of the travellers was now distressing. They had advanced so
far down the stream that they could not think of returning; whilst they
had no means of ascertaining their distance from the nearest settlement
in the direction of _Pará_, the intervening country being possessed by
wild animals or savages. Fortunately their arms and ammunition were
remaining, and they were thus enabled to procure the means of
subsistence. They had nothing for it but to follow the course of the
river by land, when to their great joy they suddenly found themselves at
the end of the rapids, and discovered their canoe caught between two
large stones near an island. The canoe was regained by a slave.

On leaving behind them the last rapid and the last fall, where the river
leaves the mountains, they saw on their right ground which had been
cleared for a settlement by the people of _Pará_, who had come up the
_Madeira_ so far to seek for cinnamon, sarsaparilla, cacao, and
tortoises. The settlers had been cut off by the _Muras_, from which
people the travellers had a narrow escape. They likewise suffered from
want of food; but after some days they came upon a Jesuit mission, where
they were hospitably entertained. Here, leaving their canoe, they
re-embarked in a larger vessel given them by the Jesuits, and proceeded
down the stream to two other establishments of the same order, below the
last of which they entered the _Amazons_.

Manoel de Lima, although he had not been the first to descend the
_Madeira_, had performed a remarkable journey, having been the earliest
European to proceed from _Matto-Grosso_ to _Pará_, and to prove that a
communication by water might be established. He was, therefore, sent to
Lisbon to give an account of his proceedings. He expected great rewards
for his services, and was consulted by the Portuguese ministers as to
the steps which should be taken in consequence of his discoveries. But
his pretensions were extravagant. Not contented with the offer of the
repayment of the expenses of his expedition, he insisted on being
appointed governor of the countries which he had discovered; and, as
this was inadmissible, since they already belonged to Spain, he passed
the remaining sixteen years of his life as a disappointed suitor at the
court of Portugal. Those of his companions with whom he had parted at
_Magdalena_ made their way back to _Matto-Grosso_.

[Sidenote: 1749.]

In the year 1749, a voyage was made from _Pará_ to _Matto-Grosso_,
inverting the route which had been followed by Manoel de Lima. It was
undertaken by order of the Portuguese Government, and by a strong party,
provided with instruments for laying down their course. The expedition
had to overcome considerable difficulties, and did not reach its
destination before nine months had been passed on the voyage. The voyage
down the stream can be performed in one-sixth of the time. Since the
above date the water communication between _Matto-Grosso_ and _Pará_ has
been continuous; and it was by this route that the former place was
supplied with European goods, this way being both cheaper and less
perilous than that from _S. Paulo_.

The new provinces rapidly increased in population and prosperity, which
was temporarily interrupted by a drought between the years 1744 and
1749. During this period the streams dried up, and in consequence of the
severe heat the woods caught fire. A great mortality ensued; whilst the
people were alarmed at mid-day by a sound as if of thunder beneath their
feet, which was followed by several shocks of earthquake. This
disturbance, however, was merely temporary; and in one year more than
fifteen hundred persons passed from _Goyaz_ to _Matto-Grosso_, bringing
droves of cattle and horses. A salt lake was opportunely discovered, to
remedy the distress which had been occasioned from the want of that
article.

The Portuguese in _Brazil_ had shown exemplary enterprise in pushing
forward their settlement along the various streams which form the
tributaries of the _Amazons_; and there were in consequence some
disputes with Spain concerning the boundaries. They had even occasioned
some fears in the minds of the Spanish authorities as to the safety of
_Peru_. They had likewise, by their inland explorations by water,
ascertained that there was a communication by water between the
_Amazons_ and the Orinoco, they having from the former reached the
Spanish missions on the latter river.

By the middle of the eighteenth century no hostile tribes remained on
the banks of the _Amazons_ throughout the entire course of that stream;
such as had not submitted to the missionaries had retired into the
interior. Some Indians, being terrified of pursuit, did not feel
themselves in safety until they had reached the French territory of
_Guayana_, where they were well received and encouraged to settle.

It is stated that the Portuguese missions on the _Amazons_ were in a
more flourishing condition than were those of the Spaniards on the upper
part of the same river or its tributaries. The reason is to be found in
the fact that whereas the former depended for their communications and
supplies upon the flourishing settlement of _Belem_ or _Pará_, the
latter were forbidden to hold any communication with their Portuguese
neighbours, and had to be supplied by the long and difficult overland
route from _Quito_, which place was itself a six days’ mountainous
journey from the sea-coast. The city of _Pará_ itself is stated by a
French traveller[14] to have presented at this period the aspect of an
European town, with regular streets of well-built stone houses and with
magnificent churches. During thirty years it had been gradually rebuilt;
whilst by clearing the country and converting woodland into pasture the
healthiness of the city had been made to undergo a corresponding
improvement. It should be remarked that about the year 1730 the plague
of small-pox was here stayed amongst the Indians by the introduction of
inoculation at the hands of a Carmelite missionary.

The system of the Jesuits in _Maranham_ and _Pará_ differed considerably
from that of their brethren in _Paraguay_. In the latter country they
are the proprietors of the missions, and were enabled to make their own
laws within their territory. In the _Chiquito_ and _Moxo_ missions,
though they had not adopted the principle of community of goods, they
were equally unrestrained. But in _Maranham_ they were obliged to base
their institutions on the principle of rendering their Indians
serviceable to the Portuguese settlers. Registers were kept at _S.
Luiz_ and at _Pará_ containing the names of all Indians in their
villages, from the age of thirteen to fifty, who were capable of
service. These registers had to be attested upon oath by the
missionaries every second year; and according to them the governor
allotted the Indians for terms of six months, issuing written orders to
the missionary to deliver them. It was optional for the Indians to serve
during the remaining six months, and many preferred to do so.

In consequence of the divided allegiance which the Indians in these
missions owed to the Jesuits and to the civil authority, respectively,
they did not regard the former with the same absolute devotion which the
Jesuits received from the Indians in _Paraguay_. Whereas the _Guaranís_
were ever ready to devote their lives in defence of their teachers, the
Indians of _Brazil_ would forsake their masters upon the first alarm or
on the slightest displeasure. As the kings of Portugal did not allow an
annual salary to the Jesuits, such as they received from Spain, the
Fathers in _Maranham_, since the colleges were too poor to support them,
were permitted to employ five-and-twenty Indians for the same time and
at the same rate of wages as any other Portuguese. They profited by
their labour in collecting cacao and other indigenous produce, which was
exported in a large canoe, one of which belonged to each of the
twenty-eight _Aldeas_.

By the laws of Pedro II. of Portugal, no Portuguese were permitted to
dwell in the _Aldeas_, in order to avert the evil influence of the bad
example which they were sure to set. But the Portuguese received free
permission to visit the settlements for the purpose of hiring Indians,
and they were hospitably and gratuitously entertained by the
missionaries. These Fathers did much to introduce civilization amongst
their charges; a task in which they persevered in the face of much
calumny. It was found more practicable for themselves to learn the
_Tupi_ language than to instruct the natives in Portuguese. As _Tupi_
was likewise used by traders, it so completely gained the ascendancy
throughout _Pará_ that it was used exclusively in the pulpits.

At this period a missionary net was spread over the South-American
Continent, its meshes extending in every direction. From _Quito_ the
Spanish missionaries, as we have seen, encountered those of _Maranham_
on the upper tributaries of the _Amazons_. Those on the _Rio Negro_,
another tributary of that great river, met the missions on the
_Orinoco_; whilst the _Moxo_ and _Madeira_ settlements, in Upper _Peru_
and Western _Brazil_, respectively, continued the connection. The _Moxo_
missions adjoined those of the _Chiquitos_, which again communicated
with the “Reductions” in _Paraguay_, whence the Jesuits extended the net
to the _Gran Chaco_ and the _Pampas_. It seemed as if the whole of South
America were on the way to become Christian and civilized; but an
unexpected check occurred to the activity of the Jesuits, and South
America was thrown back into a state of confusion and barbarism from
which many portions of the continent have not yet emerged.




CHAPTER XIII.

_FOUNDATION AND PROGRESS OF BUENOS AYRES._

1580-1800.


[Sidenote: 1580.]

In the year 1580 the foundations of a lasting city were laid at _Buenos
Ayres_ by De Garay on the same situation as had twice previously been
chosen--namely, by Mendoza, and by Cabeza de Vaca, respectively. The
same leader had before this founded the settlement of _Santa Fè_ on the
_Paraná_. The site selected for the future capital of the _Pampas_ is
probably one of the worst ever chosen for a city--a fact which is at
once palpable to every one who has visited the place. That the same site
should have been selected three times in succession is only to be
accounted for by the tendency which exists in human nature to follow
precedent, whether it be good or whether it be bad. “With a perversity
of judgment,” says Mr. Washburn, in a passage in which there is not a
word to alter, “which seemed to characterize all his acts, Mendoza moved
up the broad and noble estuary, passing by the most suitable places for
a town site, until he came to a place that combined all the
inconveniences that could possibly exist, on the banks of a large
navigable river. The point thus selected, and where now stands the
principal city of the _Plata_, has probably the worst harbour in the
world for a large commercial town. Large vessels must always lie off
some two or three leagues from the shore, and those of lighter draft
that venture within the inner roads are liable to be left high and dry
on the hard bottom, or _tosca_, when a _pampero_, or strong wind, from
the west sets in. But if the wind blows strongly from the south-east,
then they are liable to drag their anchors, and be carried up so high
inland that, when the wind veers again, they are left many rods from the
water, and can only be broken up for firewood. The cost of lightening a
vessel of her cargo is much more than the freight of it from New York or
Liverpool. The country in the vicinity, for as far as the eye could
reach, was a dead-level plain, without bush or tree; the air in the hot,
dry season being frequently so full of dust as to be almost
insupportable, and the soil of that sticky, clayey character that a
slight rain would render it almost impassable for man or animal. And
this place was selected by Mendoza as the site of the first Spanish
settlement in South America.”

Notwithstanding the inconvenience of its harbour, _Buenos Ayres_ soon
became the chief commercial _entrepôt_ of the valley of the _Plata_. The
settlement was not effected without some severe fighting between De
Garay’s force and the _Querandis_. The latter, however, were effectually
quelled; the proof of it being their submission, without further
resistance, to be parcelled out amongst the conquerors in
_repartimientos_. “The registers are still preserved of De Garay’s
followers by name, amongst sixty-five of whom he divided in lots the
lands extending along the river-side from _Buenos Ayres_ to _Baradero_
on the _Paraná_, as well as the Indian inhabitants of the adjoining
territories under their respective _caciques_.” The lines of the new
city were laid out about a league higher up the river than the site of
Mendoza’s settlement. Under De Garay’s superintendence it was soon
sufficiently fortified to ensure protection. It is remarkable that it
was not till about three years after the foundation of this settlement
that the first vessel was despatched to Spain laden with the produce of
_La Plata_--namely, hides and sugar from _Paraguay_, the former being
evidence of the increase of horned cattle from the original stock
imported from Europe thirty years before.

[Sidenote: 1620.]

The Spaniards were now nominally masters of the _Rio de La Plata_, but
they had still to apprehend hostilities on the part of the natives
between their few and far-distant settlements. Of this liability De
Garay himself was to form a lamentable example. On his passage back to
_Asuncion_, having incautiously landed to sleep near the ruins of the
old fort of _San Espiritu_, he was surprised by a party of natives, and
murdered with all his companions. The death of this brave Biscayan was
mourned as a great loss by the entire colony. The importance of the
cities founded by him was soon apparent; and in 1620 all of the
settlements south of the confluence of the rivers _Paraná_ and
_Paraguay_ were formed into a separate, independent government, under
the name of _Rio de La Plata_, of which _Buenos Ayres_ was declared the
capital. This city likewise became the seat of a bishopric.

[Sidenote: 1658.]

An English traveller, whose name is lost, has left a description of
_Buenos Ayres_ as it was in the year 1658. At that time only Spaniards
might proceed in Spanish ships to their Indian possessions. Other
nations of Europe, however, were occasionally permitted to trade with
the cities on the river Plate; and at _Buenos Ayres_, in the
above-mentioned year, our countryman found twenty Dutch and two English
ships preparing to proceed homewards, laden with bull-hides, plate, and
vigonia wool, which they had obtained in exchange for other commodities.
At that time the military resources of the city of _Buenos Ayres_ were
not great; for we read that, on the alarm of an attack by a French
squadron, they had to send for aid to the Viceroy at _Lima_, who caused
to be levied, with much difficulty and by the exercise of force, a
hundred men, who did not reach the eastern coast until eight or nine
months after they had been sent for.

The town of _Buenos Ayres_ contained four hundred houses, and was not
enclosed, either by wall or ditch. Its fortifications consisted in a
bastion at the mouth of the rivulet, with two small iron guns, and in a
small earthwork surrounded by a ditch, commanding the river, and on
which were mounted ten iron guns. This fort contained the house of the
governor of the place, who had under him a garrison of one hundred and
fifty men, formed into three companies, the captains of which were
appointed or removed at his will. The soldiers received pay at the rate
of four _reals_ a day. But the governor had further at his disposal the
additional means of defence of twelve hundred horses, upon which, in
case of necessity, he mounted as many citizens as could be collected
together, to act as cavalry. The houses of the town were then built of
sun-dried bricks. They were of one storey, and were thatched with canes
and straw. They contained spacious rooms, and had large court-yards and
adjoining gardens full of orange, lemon, and fig trees, of pear and of
apple trees; of numerous kinds of vegetables; and of excellent melons.
Wine, then as now, was almost the only article of diet which was sold at
a high price; and the markets of the town were supplied abundantly with
beef, mutton, venison, poultry, and game of various sorts. A partridge
might be purchased for a penny. Ostriches were to be found in the
neighbourhood in great numbers; and the traveller, whose description I
quote from, makes a remark from general observation which indicates more
subtle instinct on the part of those birds than they usually obtain
credit for. “I saw one thing of these creatures very remarkable, and
that is, while the hen sits upon the eggs, they have the instinct or
forethought to provide for their young; so five or six days before they
come out of the shell they set an egg in each of the four corners of the
place where they sit; these eggs they break, and when they rot, worms
and maggots breed in them in prodigious numbers; which serve to nourish
the young ostriches from the time they are hatched until they are able
to go farther for their sustenance.”

The better houses of _Buenos Ayres_ were at that time adorned with
hangings, pictures, and ornaments. The wealthier inhabitants were served
from plate, and their establishments contained many servants or slaves,
who were employed also in the cultivation of their grounds or to take
care of their horses and mules. The wealth of the inhabitants at the
period referred to consisted mainly in cattle, the numbers of which
increased on the vast plains with wonderful rapidity. At that time hides
were to be bought in the city at the rate of seven or eight _reals_
each, or at less than an English crown, and the same were sold in Europe
for at least four times as much money. Cattle were used for a singular
purpose in the prosecution of war, being driven to the river-side in
such numbers as to defy the efforts of the enemy to penetrate through
them.

The merchants of _Buenos Ayres_ of the seventeenth century had the
reputation of possessing considerable wealth, the fortunes of many
amongst them being estimated at from two to three hundred thousand
crowns. They were reputed to love their ease, and to be blessed with
wives who had the credit of being as virtuous as they were lovely. For
their fidelity, however, they demanded a strict return, being ready to
punish by the bowl or the dagger any breach of the marriage vow on the
part of the husband.

Besides the Spanish population, there were in the seventeenth century in
_Buenos Ayres_ a few Frenchmen, some Dutch, and some Genoese, but all
these passed themselves off as being Spanish, the more surely to escape
the dangers of the Inquisition.

The chief edifices and institutions of the town at that period were the
cathedral, the college of the Jesuits, and the convents of the
Dominicans, the Recollects, and of the Order of Mercy.

The merchants of Seville, who had obtained a monopoly of the supply of
_Mexico_ and _Peru_, regarded with much jealousy the prospect of a new
opening for the South-American trade by way of _La Plata_, and exerted
their interest successfully to obtain prohibitory enactments against all
trade with _Buenos Ayres_, lest it should interfere with the sale of
their periodical shipments for _Panamá_. In vain the inhabitants of the
former city petitioned and remonstrated; for some years the only boon
they could obtain was the permission to export yearly to _Brazil_ or to
the coast of _Guinea_ a small quantity of wheat, jerked beef, and
tallow. In 1618 this was extended to a permission to send two vessels of
a hundred tons burthen each year to Spain; but a custom-house was
established at _Cordova_ to levy a duty of fifty per cent. on goods
carried by that way. All commercial intercourse with other Spanish
colonies in America was prohibited under severe penalties. Under this
miserable commercial legislation _Buenos Ayres_ continued to languish
for the first century of its existence.

[Sidenote: 1715.]

[Sidenote: 1739.]

In 1715, after the treaty of Utrecht, the English, as has been said,
obtained the _asiento_ or contract for supplying Spanish colonies in
America with African slaves, in virtue of which they had permission to
form an establishment at _Buenos Ayres_, and to send thither annually
four ships with twelve hundred negroes, the value of which they might
export in produce of the country. They were strictly forbidden to
introduce other goods than those necessary for their own establishments;
but under the temptation of gain on the one side and of demand on the
other, the _asiento_ ships naturally became the means of transacting a
considerable contraband trade. One vessel is mentioned by Dean Funes,
the historian, as being well known to have carried away from the _Plata_
for London two millions of dollars in specie and seventy thousand
dollars’ worth of hides in return for European goods clandestinely
introduced. This trade was carried on till 1739, when Spain attempted
to stop it by means of guardships. As the English resented this measure,
the two powers became involved in hostilities, with the result that the
_asiento_ ceased.

The English were not the only smugglers in the river Plate. By the
treaty of Utrecht the Portuguese had obtained the important settlement
of _Colonia_ directly facing _Buenos Ayres_. It is to be remembered,
however, that the majestic stream has here a breadth of about thirty
miles, or more than that which separates England from France. By the
same treaty the Crown of Portugal solemnly engaged to prohibit
smuggling; but, notwithstanding this clause, the provinces of _Buenos
Ayres_, _Paraguay_, and _Tucuman_ were thenceforward abundantly supplied
through this channel with European goods. Thus by the imbecile
commercial policy of Spain, that country was not only superseded by
foreign traders in the markets of her own colonies, but further lost the
duties upon their produce. The yearly freight of the galleons, which a
century before had been estimated at fifteen thousand tons, fell to two
thousand. The Viceroy of _Peru_ had even to write to the governor of
_Buenos Ayres_, requiring him to punish his officers for their
negligence or connivance, since it appeared that the Peruvians no longer
repaired to _Lima_ as a market for European goods, their wants being
amply supplied from the _Plata_.

To this remonstrance Zavala was constrained to reply that he found all
measures vain to repress smuggling whilst such facilities existed for
carrying it on and such gains were its result. He was sufficiently
advanced to perceive, and sufficiently bold and honest to express his
opinion, that a trade so demoralizing to the colonists was only to be
stopped in one of two ways; either by throwing open the markets to
legitimate trade, whereby the Government would secure the duties, or by
driving the Portuguese out of the _Banda Oriental_, or _Uruguay_. Of the
two alternatives, the latter best suited the views of the Spanish
Government. The Portuguese indeed, not contented with the possession of
_Colonia_, had commenced a more important settlement near _Monte Video_.
From this place, however, they were dislodged by Zavala, who, by order
of his Government, proceeded to establish settlements at that place and
at _Maldonado_.

[Sidenote: 1726.]

Under the above-detailed circumstances of contention between the Crowns
of Spain and Portugal, represented by their respective establishments at
_Buenos Ayres_ and in _Brazil_, and which were so typical of its future
history, was founded the healthy and agreeable city of _Monte Video_.
Some families were transported thither from the _Canaries_, whilst
others removed to there from _Buenos Ayres_. Large sums of money from
the mines of _Potosí_ were sent by the Viceroy to carry on the works;
whilst the _Guaranís_ were despatched in numbers from _Paraguay_ to lend
their labour to the fortifications. The Portuguese, however, were not
dismayed, and laboured, on the other hand, to increase their own
establishments, fixing themselves permanently on the _Rio Grande_, from
which they carried on the contraband trade with more impunity than ever.
The value of this trade is estimated by Dean Funes at two millions of
_dollars_ yearly to the Portuguese, being so much loss to Spain.

[Sidenote: 1750.]

The inevitable consequence of this state of things was fresh antagonism
between the two countries, which it was sought to put an end to by a
treaty between the two nations concluded in 1750. One of the articles
stipulated that Portugal should cede to Spain all of her establishments
on the eastern bank of the _Plata_; in return for which she was to
receive the seven missionary towns on the _Uruguay_. But, as is told in
another chapter of this work, the inhabitants of the _Misiones_
naturally rebelled against the idea of being handed over to a people
known to them only by their slave-dealing atrocities; and they made a
gallant resistance against the united forces of the two powers, which
appeared to enforce the conditions of the treaty. The result was that
when two thousand natives had been slaughtered and their settlements
reduced to ruins, the Portuguese repudiated the compact, as they could
no longer receive their equivalent, and they still therefore retained
_Colonia_.

[Sidenote: 1776.]

When hostilities were renewed in 1762, the governor of _Buenos Ayres_
succeeded in possessing himself of _Colonia_; but in the following year
it was restored to the Portuguese, who continued in possession until
1777, when it was definitively ceded to Spain. The continual
encroachments to the Portuguese in the _Rio de La Plata_, and the
impunity with which the contraband trade was carried on, together with
the questions to which it constantly gave rise with foreign governments,
had long shown the necessity for a change in the government of that
colony; for it was still under the superintendence of the Viceroy of
_Peru_, residing at _Lima_, three thousand miles distant. The Spanish
authorities accordingly resolved to give fresh force to their
representatives in the _Rio de La Plata_; and in 1776 they took the
important resolution to sever the connection between the provinces of
_La Plata_ and the Viceroyalty of _Peru_. The former were now erected
into a new Viceroyalty, the capital of which was _Buenos Ayres_. It
comprised the province of its own name, together with those of
_Paraguay_, _Cordova_, _Salta_, _Potosí_, _La Plata_, _Santa Cruz de la
Sierra_, or _Cochabamba_, _La Paz_, and _Puno_, besides the subordinate
governments of _Monte Video_, _Moxos_, and _Chiquitos_, and the Missions
on the Rivers _Uruguay_ and _Paraná_.

To this Viceroyalty was appointed _Don_ Pedro Cevallos, a former
governor of _Buenos Ayres_. A formidable armament was placed under his
command; twelve men-of-war escorting a numerous fleet of transports,
sailed from Spain, with ten thousand men. The first act of Cevallos was
to take possession of the island of _St. Katherine_, the most important
Portuguese possession on the coast of _Brazil_. Proceeding thence to the
_Plate_, he razed the fortifications of _Colonia_ to the ground, and
drove the Portuguese from the neighbourhood. In October of the
following year, 1777, a treaty of peace was signed at St. Ildefonso,
between Queen Maria of Portugal and Charles III. of Spain, by virtue of
which _St. Katherine’s_ was restored to the latter country, whilst
Portugal withdrew from the _Banda Oriental_ or Uruguay, and relinquished
all pretensions to the right of navigating the _Rio de La Plata_ and its
affluents beyond its own frontier line.

About the same time some important changes took place in the commercial
regulations affecting the Spanish colonies. Various relaxations had from
time to time been made of the old system by which the entire trade of
Spain was left almost as a monopoly to the merchants of Seville and of
Cadiz. Periodical packets had been established between Coruña and the
principal colonial ports, with permission to export and to import
Spanish and colonial goods. Direct intercourse was also permitted
between _Cuba_ and the other West Indian Islands; and, in 1774, the
several colonies were allowed to open up a trade with each other. The
above measures originated with the enlightened minister for the
department of the Indies, De Galvez, who had himself passed many years
in America, and who had personally witnessed to how great an extent
Spain was a loser by her former system. They were followed in 1778 by
the promulgation of an entirely new commercial code. The trade was still
exclusively to belong to Spain and to Spanish shipping, and the tariff
was based upon the principle of protection to native industry and of
furthering the sale of Spanish productions. Nine ports of Spain and
twenty-four in the colonies were declared ports of entry.

By these regulations it was likewise provided that for ten years Spanish
manufactures of wool, cotton, linen, steel, glass, &c., should be
shipped, duty free, for the colonies, which might export in return their
principal articles of raw produce, such as cotton, coffee, sugar,
cochineal, indigo, bark, and copper. The duty on the import of gold was
reduced from 5 to 2 per cent.; that on the import of silver from 10 to
5½ per cent.; whilst vessels laden solely with natural produce were
exempted from one-third of the duties. The shipment of certain articles
of foreign production, such as cottons, stuffs, oil, wines, and
brandies, which might interfere with those of Spain, were totally
prohibited. These regulations contained, however, certain clauses framed
in the old restrictive spirit. Some obsolete edicts were renewed
restricting the cultivation of certain colonial productions--such as the
vine and olive, hemp and flax--lest they should compete with the growth
of the same articles in the mother country. The South Americans were not
allowed to make their own cloth, and were debarred from the use of the
wool of the _vicuña_, which was to be collected for the King’s account.

Under the administration of the above-named minister the _Creoles_ had
to complain of the great partiality shown to Spaniards over themselves
in the distribution of appointments, both civil and military, in the
colonies--a mistake on the part of the Spanish Government all the
greater on account of the period at which it took place, namely, whilst
a struggle arising in the question of colonial rights was pending
between Great Britain and her North-American possessions. It is
certainly singular--indeed, it seems inexplicable--that Spain, of all
countries, should have determined at this time to join with France in
espousing the cause of the North Americans against England, whilst she
herself was pursuing in her own colonies the very policy complained of.
It was not long before the Spanish Crown was reminded by the South
Americans that it had itself sanctioned the principle of the subject’s
right to resistance against his sovereign on the plea of wrongs
unredressed.

[Sidenote: 1778.]

The new commercial regulations, however, as a whole, were extremely
advantageous to the colonies as well as to the mother country. _Buenos
Ayres_, in particular, from being a nest of smugglers, soon rose to be
one of the most important commercial cities of the New World. To take
one example. Before the new regulations of 1778, the export of hides to
Spain averaged about 150,000 yearly. It soon rose to between 700,000 and
800,000, whilst in one year [1783], on the conclusion of peace with
England, the export attained to 1,400,000. Instead of the former two or
three ships, there now sailed annually from seventy to eighty from the
river _Plate_ to Spain. The population of the province of _Buenos
Ayres_, under these altered circumstances, was doubled in twenty years,
rising from 38,000 in 1778 to 72,000 in 1800.

Until the latter part of the eighteenth century the inhabitants of the
province of _Buenos Ayres_, possessing ample lands safe from incursions
of the Indians, had no particular object in extending their possessions
further south than the river _Salado_. The further region was left to
the Indians, and was a _terra incognita_ until the publication in
England, in the year 1774, of an account of _Patagonia_ by Father
Falkner.

Falkner was an English Jesuit who had been devoted to travelling as a
missionary amongst the Indians, in which duty he had passed forty years.
He pointed out how vulnerable by any naval power were the Spanish
possessions in that region; and, on the publication of his book, the
Spanish Government lost no time in instructing the Viceroy of _Buenos
Ayres_ to have the coast of _Patagonia_ surveyed, with a view to the
formation of fresh settlements. The command of the surveying expedition
was given to an officer named Piedra, who sailed from _Monte Video_ at
the close of 1778, and passed three months in examining the shores of
the gulf of _St. Antonio_, where he left an officer and some men to
build a fort, conveniently situated for exploring the rivers _Negro_ and
_Colorado_, and for securing the entrance of those streams against
invasion. A further inducement for making a settlement here was the
number of whales and seals in the neighbourhood, which likewise
contained extensive salt deposits.

In April 1779 a settlement was formed on the river _Negro_, and in the
following year the whole of the southern part of the coast of
_Patagonia_ was surveyed. The only spot which seemed to afford a
promising site for a settlement was _St. Julians_, which had the
advantage of a constant supply of water some three or four miles inland.
The Indians in the neighbourhood were friendly and ready to offer
assistance, which was of great consequence to the first Spanish settlers
in the cold months of June, July, and August. This colony, however, was
destined to be short-lived, as the Spanish Government, in 1783, resolved
to break up the Patagonian settlements, which were the occasion of great
expense to _Buenos Ayres_, and the preservation of which seemed of
doubtful utility. The settlement upon the _Rio Negro_ was alone
preserved.

The missionary Falkner had supposed that a hostile naval power might, by
ascending the _Rio Negro_, surprise the Spanish territories in the
interior and even in _Chili_. In order to determine this important
point, and to survey the river and its affluents, an expedition was
despatched from the _Rio Negro_. Starting from the settlement of
_Carmen_ in 1782, it was absent for eight months. It proved the
possibility of ascending the river to the foot of the _Andes_. One
surprising fact was brought to light, namely, that the Indians of the
_Pampas_ had not to drive their stolen cattle for more than three days’
journey over the _Cordillera_, from the lake of the boundary mentioned
by Falkner, before reaching the fort of _Valdivia_, where they found a
ready market. The party of Indians from whom the explorers learned this
circumstance consisted of about three hundred people, who had left their
country more than a year before for the purpose of collecting cattle for
the Valdivians. They were now on their way homewards with about eight
hundred head, each one of which bore the _Buenos Ayres_ mark. Their
return voyage down the stream was accomplished in three weeks.

In a work of this description I find considerable difficulty in giving
due regard to the unities of time, &c. My object is to place before the
reader, as well as I can, the general condition of South America at any
one period; but the progress of events on that continent during the
colonial administration was so irregular that it is scarcely possible to
avoid appearing to give undue prominence to one particular region at a
time, overlooking others which in these days may seem of equal or even
greater importance. Thus whilst the province of _Buenos Ayres_ was still
a vast plain overrun by savages, _Peru_, subsequent to the Spanish
invasion, had a long and interesting history. In deferring to so late a
date in this volume any account of _Buenos Ayres_, which is to-day a
place of the first importance in South America, I may seem to be wanting
in a sense of comparative fitness. But on reflection the reader will
perceive that for the first two hundred years of its existence _Buenos
Ayres_ possessed no history beyond that of its foundation. Its records
during those years, in so far as the world in general is interested, may
be comprised in a single sentence. It was on the collapse of the narrow,
repressive policy of Spain, and the erection of _Buenos Ayres_ into a
Viceroyalty, that the history of that city and province may be said to
commence. Notwithstanding its natural resources and its geographical
importance, it was until that date, like _Tucuman_, merely the seat of a
local government, one amongst several, dependent on the Viceroyalty of
_Peru_. In the last quarter of a century, however, of its colonial
existence it made colossal strides. The new prospects of commercial
wealth absorbed the interests and thoughts of all; and whilst Europe was
waving with the commotion caused by the French Revolution, this
far-distant province of Spain, so favoured by nature and position, was
steadily laying the foundations of its future importance and
prosperity.

The Viceroyalty of _Buenos Ayres_ was subdivided into the provinces of--

(1.) _Buenos Ayres_, the capital of which was the city of that name, and
which comprised the Spanish possessions that now form the Republic of
_Uruguay_, as well as the Argentine Provinces of _Buenos Ayres_, _Santa
Fè_, _Entre Rios_, and _Corrientes_;

(2.) _Paraguay_, the capital of which was _Asunsion_, and which
comprised what is now the Republic of _Paraguay_;

(3.) _Tucuman_, the capital of which was _St. Iago del Estero_, and
which included what are to-day the Argentine provinces of _Cordova_,
_Tucuman_, _St. Iago_, _Salta_, _Catamarca_, _Rioja_, and _Jujuy_;

(4). _Las Charcas_ or _Potosí_, the capital of which was _La Plata_, and
which now forms the Republic of _Bolivia_; and

(5.) _Chiquito_ or _Cuyo_, the capital of which was _Mendoza_, and in
which were comprehended the present Argentine provinces of _St. Luiz_,
_Mendoza_, and _St. Juan_.

     NOTE.--This chapter is founded on “Buenos Ayres and the Provinces
     of the _Rio de La Plata_,” by Sir Woodbine Parish, 1839;

     Falkner’s “_Patagonia_” (Latin); England, 1774;

     “_Rio de La Plata_” by Felix Azaro; Paris, 1809;

     Dean Funes’s “History of _Paraguay_,” &c.; _Buenos Ayres_, 1816.




CHAPTER XIV.

_BRAZIL; THE WAR OF THE SEVEN REDUCTIONS._

1750-1761.


[Sidenote: 1750.]

The discovery of mining districts in the interior of _Brazil_ caused
both Spanish and Portuguese statesmen to perceive that the period had
arrived when it was desirable, in the interests of both countries and of
their respective colonies, to establish a boundary-line between their
several possessions in South America. The famous Bull of Pope Alexander
VI. had long become a dead letter. The fact of the Spanish Queen of
Ferdinand VI. being a Portuguese princess, and having great influence
over her husband, tended in no small degree to bringing about an
amicable and equitable settlement of the territorial question existing
between the two nations in South America.

All pretensions on either side founded upon the Bull of Alexander having
been formally annulled, the demarcation between the two territories
began on the south, at the mouth of a small stream which rises at the
foot of the _Monte de Castilhaos Grande_, whence it proceeded in a
straight line to the mountains, following their summits to the sources
of the _Rio Negro_ and continued to those of the _Ybicuy_; it then
followed the course of that river to its junction with the _Uruguay_,
skirting the _Uruguay_ upwards until it reached the _Pepiri_, and then
the latter river to its chief source; there it left the rivers and took
the line of highest ground until it came to the head of the first stream
which flows into the _Yguazu_; the boundary then first followed this
stream, and then the _Yguazu_ to its junction with the _Paraná_; it went
up the _Paraná_ to the _Igurey_, and then up the _Igurey_ to its source;
there it once more took the highest ground as far as to the first stream
that runs into the _Paraguay_; the water then became the line to the
mouth of the _Jauru_, whence the line was to be drawn straight to the
south bank of the _Guapore_, opposite to the mouth of the _Sarare_.
Wherever the line reached the _Guapore_ it was to follow that stream to
the _Mamore_, and then the _Mamore_ to the _Madeira_, and the _Madeira_
to a point half-way between its mouth and the mouth of the _Mamore_; it
then struck east and west until it touched the _Yavari_, when it
followed that river to the _Amazons_, and went down this great stream to
the western mouth of the _Japura_. It ascended this river until it
reached the summits of the _Cordillera_, between the _Amazons_ and the
_Orinoco_, when it was to go eastward along those summits, as far as the
territories of the contracting parties extended.

The commissioners were to be careful to trace the demarcation from the
westerly mouth of the _Japura_, so as not to touch the Portuguese
settlements on that river and on the _Rio Negro_. The Spaniards were to
avoid this part, whilst the Portuguese, on their side, were to abstain
from ascending the _Orinoco_, and from spreading towards the Spanish
territory. The line was to be drawn, without regard to extent of
territory, with the object of tracing a distinct boundary. As the limits
of the vast territories which were here for the first time separated
were imperfectly known to the negotiators on either side, considerable
latitude was given to the commissioners at several points. They were to
design a map as they traced the limits, and jointly to name all unnamed
rivers and mountains; these maps were, respectively, to be signed in
duplicate by both commissioners, and were to serve as authorities in
case of disputes.

By this treaty Portugal expressly ceded _Colonia_ to Spain, together
with all the territory on the northern shore of the _Plata_ as far as
the point where it was now determined the line of demarcation should
begin. Portugal likewise renounced all right to the navigation of the
_Plata_, which thenceforward was to belong exclusively to Spain. The
Spanish king, in turn, made certain concessions to Portugal on the
eastern side of the _Uruguay_. It was provided that the inhabitants of
_Colonia_ might remain there or remove at their option; but the
missionaries were to migrate from the settlements ceded by Spain, and
the “Reductions” were to be delivered up to the Crown of Portugal. All
trade between the two nations was forbidden; nor might the subjects of
one power enter the territories of the other without previous permission
from the governor of the district to which he was proceeding, unless he
were going on public business and provided with passports. In case of
any future war between the two contracting powers, the sovereigns
desired that their respective subjects in America might continue in
peace, without committing acts of hostility. Neither power should permit
the use of its ports to the enemy of the other; nor should such enemy be
permitted a passage through the dominions of either. Several minor
stipulations followed.

This memorable treaty bears witness to the sincerity and good sense of
the parties by whom it was contracted; but it is not surprising that in
undertaking to decide so vast a line of demarcation, some considerations
should have been overlooked on either side which were nevertheless of
vast importance. In view of the distance at which the treaty was drawn
up from the districts and territories to which it referred and the
imperfect information possessed concerning them, it was perhaps not
possible that it should have been otherwise. As it was, the treaty
contained one fatal clause which not only frustrated the good intentions
of the sovereigns and led to immediate war, but was productive of
consequences the baneful effects of which a century has not effaced.

The territory to the east of the _Uruguay_, which had been ceded by the
boundary treaty to the Portuguese, contained seven “Reductions,”
inhabited by about thirty thousand _Guaranís_, who had been bred up to
servitude and domestic life. According to the terms of the treaty, these
people, with all belonging to them, were to migrate into the Spanish
territory. The Spanish King and his ministers had inserted this clause,
or had agreed to it, in ignorance of the circumstances in which these
Indians were placed. They were actuated, moreover, by feelings of regard
to the Indians who were thereby affected. These had suffered much from
the ravages of the _Paulistas_, and they had good reason to detest the
Portuguese. To have left them, therefore, as subjects of the Crown of
Portugal would have been ungenerous and offensive. It would likewise cut
them off from the people of their own race. The negotiators were thus
reduced to a choice of evils; but it had been decided that the exodus of
these Indians was to take place within a year.

The commissioner sent on the part of Spain to see the treaty carried
into effect was the Marquis of Valdelirios; the Portuguese commissioner
was Gomes Freyre, the governor of _Rio de Janeiro_ and _Minas Geraes_,
who had himself experienced the inconvenience of an undefined
boundary-line, and who is credited with having been the projector of the
Treaty of Limits. The stipulation regarding the evacuation of the
_Misiones_ within a year was necessarily unaccomplished, owing to the
fact that the Spanish commissioners did not reach the _Plata_ until two
years after the treaty had been signed. In the meantime, the Jesuits of
_Paraguay_ had addressed a remonstrance on the subject to the Royal
Audience of _Charcas_, and had obtained from that tribunal a statement
in their favour. They next applied to the Audience of _Lima_, and the
Viceroy forwarded one copy of their memorial to the court of Spain and
another to the governor of _Buenos Ayres_. The governor was requested to
deliver it to the commissioners on their arrival.

The Jesuits, although relying on the effects of these memorials, were
prepared to act in obedience to the terms of the treaty. The Provincial
assembled the senior missionaries, who declared, almost unanimously,
that it would not be possible to carry out the stipulations of the
decree. He, nevertheless, instructed the Jesuits in the seven
“Reductions” to endeavour to persuade the people to obedience; whilst at
the same time he wrote to the King, pointing out the extreme difficulty
of carrying the order into effect. The Superior went through the
missions, making known the King’s pleasure. All appeared to acquiesce,
with the exception of one _cacique_, who replied, that they had
inherited from their forefathers the land of which they were now to be
dispossessed. In transmitting to the Provincial the promise of the
_Guaranís_ to obey, the Superior added, that he feared that the temper
of the people would render the removal impossible.

The intention of the Government was that the dispossessed _Guaranís_
should occupy the territory which had been ceded to Spain south of the
_Ybicuy_. It was desirable to people the ceded territory; but the
Jesuits were not anxious to be too near neighbours to the Spanish
regular settlements, whose vicinity would render more difficult the task
of restraining their disciples. Reconnoitering parties were sent out to
search for situations suitable for the settlement of large numbers of
people with their flocks and herds; but such were not readily found. It
was finally agreed that the missionaries should take refuge with their
brethren in the land of the “Reductions” between the _Uruguay_ and the
_Paraná_, and this project was accordingly carried into execution.

When affairs were in this state, the Marquis of Valdelirios arrived in
the _Plata_. He was met by Father Luiz, Altamirano having full powers
from the General of the Jesuits over his brethren in South America. The
commissioner was at once confronted by a whole load of arguments against
the project of migration; and even the Jesuits in whose college he
lodged urged the necessity of employing an armed force to clear the
country on the _Rio Negro_ from the _Charruas_ before the emigrants
should remove; they likewise represented that time should be given to
erect places of shelter for the people when they should arrive in their
new quarters; they also begged for a delay of three years in order that
crops might meanwhile be raised at the new settlements to support the
emigrants on their arrival. Their demands, though so far reasonable,
were excessive; and all they could extort from Valdelirios was a delay
of three months.

The Marquis, however, could perceive that the execution of the treaty
was not altogether an easy matter; and he repaired to _Castilhos
Grande_, in order to confer with Gomes Freyre, sending, at the same
time, Altamirano to the “Reductions,” in order that his authority might
be more readily available. When that Father had reached the “Reduction”
of _Yapayu_, he found that the spirit of resistance had already
displayed itself. There was, it appeared, a point at which even these
_Guaranís_, brought up as they had been from generation to generation in
implicit obedience, could turn; and when a community is in a state of
smothered discontent there is never wanting a person to urge them on to
deeds. Such a person now appeared in this “Reduction” in the person of a
traveller recently arrived from _Brazil_, and who pointed out to the
_Guaranís_ that they were being sacrificed not by the Portuguese but by
the Spaniards. The discontent now assumed a more solid form, the
magistrates being deposed, and persons elected in their stead who were
pledged to defend the people’s rights.

[Sidenote: 1752.]

As might be supposed, this news occasioned alarm at _S. Miguel_, where
preparations had been made for the emigration, and whence the first
division of four hundred families had actually set out. The first
emigrants were unfortunately met by a succession of heavy rains; and the
people, declaring that if they went farther they should all perish,
refused to proceed; in which resolution they were strengthened by the
arrival of a messenger stating that their fellow-settlers now declined
to quit their birthplace. Thereupon they returned immediately; when
their insurrection assumed a more aggressive form, two of their
office-bearers narrowly escaping with their lives, whilst the Indian
servant of one was slain.

The inhabitants of another “Reduction” had reached their appointed place
and begun to build; but, at the end of six months, wearied with labour
and with the task of repelling the Indians, they returned to their
former abode. With other settlements similar experiences took place. The
Jesuits had in all cases shown their willingness on all occasions to
obey the loyal orders; time had likewise proved the wisdom of the
measures of precaution suggested to the Marquis of Valdelirios upon his
arrival in the _Plata_. To that commissioner, therefore, must be
ascribed the chief of the evils which arose from the precipitancy which
he showed in carrying the emigration into effect. In his hasty measures,
however, he was supported both by Altamirano and by the bishop of
_Buenos Ayres_. The result was that the seven “Reductions” which were to
be removed were now in a state of declared resistance to the treaty;
whilst the other twenty-four showed that they not only sympathized with
them, but were even inclined to support them. The Jesuits became the
scapegoats; for whilst it was on them that the authorities depended for
the measure being effected, the _Guaranís_ of the “Reductions,” on the
other hand, publicly declared that the Jesuits had sold their towns and
possessions to the Portuguese; and the magistrates forbade all persons,
on pain of death, either to obey or listen to them upon any other than
religious matters. A resolution was even arrived at to assassinate
Altamirano; but he was enabled by a timely warning to effect his escape
to _Buenos Ayres_.

Fifty Portuguese and fifty Spanish troops, with a number of surveyors
and other officers attached to the commission, and with a convoy of
waggons and animals conveying stores, had by this time arrived at the
territory of the missions, for the purpose of marking out the line of
demarcation. They were to commence at _Castilhos_, on the coast, and to
survey to the mouth of the _Ybicuy_. They reached an _estancia_
belonging to the “Reduction” of _S. Miguel_. The men of that place, who
had been in pursuit of Altamirano, turned aside on hearing of the new
arrival, and the leader of the detachment informed the officer of the
Spaniards that the Portuguese troops could not be permitted to enter the
country. The officer, having proceeded to _Buenos Ayres_, added his
testimony to that already in the possession of the authorities, to the
effect that the _Guaranís_ would not yield their territory excepting to
force. Valdelirios had by this time returned from his conference with
Gomes Freyre; and the commissioners, without referring the matter to
their respective Governments, now declared war upon the people of the
seven “Reductions.”

When the above important decision was arrived at, Altamirano addressed
an instruction to the Jesuits, requiring them to destroy all gunpowder
within the disturbed districts, and to prevent the manufacture of
implements of war; after which, in case they should not be able to
persuade the _Guaranís_ to yield obedience to the treaty, they were to
quit their charges and repair to _Buenos Ayres_. The Provincial of the
Jesuits now addressed, in the name of the Company, a resignation of
their charges, not in the proclaimed districts alone, but in all the
_Guaraní_ “Reductions.” But the governor and the bishop, to whom the
resignation was addressed, declined to accept it; whilst Valdelirios
insisted that the Jesuits should not be ordered to withdraw.

The first hostilities occurred upon the river _Pardo_, between a
detachment of Portuguese and the _Guaranís_ of _S. Luiz_. Of the latter,
fifty were made prisoners, and they caused much prejudice against the
Jesuits by stating, in reply to questions, that there were Jesuits
amongst them, and that the latter had incited them to cut off the heads
of the Portuguese who fell into their hands,--statements which were
probably invented as being agreeable to their questioners. More serious
operations soon followed. It had been arranged between the commissioners
that whilst the Spaniards should advance against the _Guaranís_ from
_Buenos Ayres_, the Portuguese should attack them from _Rio Grande_. The
Spaniards set forth in May, proceeding upon the left bank of the
_Uruguay_; but they had advanced no further than the river _Igarapuy_
when want of stores and pasture compelled them to retire. They had not
retreated, however, without a collision with the people of one of the
“Reductions” outside of the ceded territory, and several skirmishes took
place, in one of which a number of Jesuits were slain.

In the meanwhile, Gomes Freyre had advanced from the coast towards
_Ybicuy_, where he determined to watch the _Guaranís_ until he should
receive some information respecting the proceedings of the Spaniards. He
was short of provisions, and when the rainy season commenced his men
were exposed to excessive hardships, being compelled to betake
themselves to the trees, and the communication being carried on by means
of canoes. It is said that they were quartered in this singular fashion
for two months, but that they were prevented from deserting owing to the
vigilance of the _Guaraní_ archers. At the end of this time, Gomes
Freyre thought it expedient to treat with the _Guaranís_, who permitted
him to retire without molestation. They then returned to their
“Reductions,” thinking, like children, that the affair was at an end,
and that all danger was over.

[Sidenote: 1755.]

The Jesuits took advantage of the interval between hostilities to
endeavour to procure a revocation of the clause in the Treaty
respecting the cession of the “Reductions.” But their hopes for a
favourable change in the Spanish councils were doomed to disappointment.
Their enemies were now numerous and powerful; and amongst the calumnies
revived or invented against them was one to the effect that they desired
to set up a _Guaraní_ kingdom, under a king of their own, named Nicolas,
such being the name of a _Guaraní_ chief. Valdelirios was advised that
his Government had ascertained that the Jesuits were the sole cause of
the _Guaraní_ rebellion; and that if the Fathers should not deliver up
the “Reductions” without further resistance, they should be held guilty
of high treason. Seeing that the Jesuits’ Superior had resigned on their
behalf their charge in the “Reductions,” and that the resignation had
not been accepted by Valdelirios, the treatment of the Fathers was more
high-handed than logical.

[Sidenote: 1756.]

The Spanish and Portuguese commissioners now prepared for a second
campaign, and decided that they should form a junction at _S. Antonio ó
Velho_, and enter the _Guaraní_ country at _Sta. Thecla_. Accordingly
Gomes Freyre set out from _Rio Grande_ with fifteen hundred men, with
artillery and baggage train; but before they arrived at the place of
rendezvous with the Spaniards, the whole force had narrowly escaped
being consumed by an accidental fire. The junction, however, was
effected in the month of January, the Spaniards bringing with them a
proportionate force.

_S. Antonio_, where the two expeditions met, was in the territory of _S.
Miguel_, and about ninety leagues from the “Reductions.” The forward
march was under the most difficult circumstances, and occupied more than
four months; as it was, they had to thank the remissness of their
enemies for having accomplished it in that time. From the fact that no
skill was shown by the _Guaranís_, it may safely be inferred that their
defence was not directed by the Jesuits. The Indians appear to have
relied entirely upon their numbers, and they were unfortunate enough to
lose, at an early stage in the campaign, their only competent leader,
Sepé. His death was followed by a great slaughter of his countrymen,
who, however, were not thereby induced to submission. Indeed, this war,
like most wars in South America, was of a protracted character, arising
chiefly from the nature of the country.

So long as the _Guaranís_ should keep the field, it was inevitable that
the communications of the invaders should be exposed to much risk. It
was therefore determined to fortify a position upon the _Jacuy_, by
which stores might be received from the river _Pardo_. When the allied
forces had continued their march to the plain of the _Vacacay_, they
found themselves in face of a considerable number of Indians, who,
however, continued to retreat so soon as the invaders prepared to
attack.

The troops had now to attempt the passage of _Monte Grande_, a range of
hills which forms the watershed in this direction. It was now the month
of March (corresponding to October in the northern hemisphere), and the
troops began to suffer from the cold, being badly provided with
clothing; they also found the labour of surmounting the pass excessive.
At this juncture their commander received the welcome news from the
Rector of _S. Luiz_ that he had at length succeeded in persuading the
people of his “Reduction” to obey; they lamented their error, and
besought pardon for their offence, entreating that their countrymen who
had been taken prisoners might be released. The Spanish officer replied
that the Father and the magistrates of the settlement should set the
example of absolute submission.

At length, after three weeks of exertion, the troops succeeded in
effecting the passage of _Monte Grande_; but they were still about two
hundred miles’ distance from the “Reductions.” On the 3rd of May a
considerable _Guaraní_ force made its appearance; but a few cannon-shots
put them to flight. On reaching the river _Chiriaby_ they found the
_Guaranís_ skilfully entrenched, whilst they had taken measures to
obstruct the passage of the stream. But the _Guaranís_, who were in an
excellent position for defence, found their courage fail them at the
last moment, and ran away, abandoning everything.

Two days later the army came in sight of _S. Miguel_, which place
contained seven thousand inhabitants, and which struck them much by the
regularity and neatness of its buildings, and the imposing appearance of
its church. A considerable number of _Guaranís_ appeared in front and on
the flanks; but, as usual, they kept at a respectful distance. In
attempting to overtake them, the general left his baggage behind him;
which the enemy perceiving, they detached a large body of horsemen to
cut it off. A guard, however, had been left, and they were easily beaten
off. The troops then halted for two days, when they learned from a
prisoner that the Jesuits, with the women and children, and many of the
men, had forsaken the town, leaving orders to set it on fire.

On the following day the troops reached the plantations of _S. Miguel_,
and two days later they took possession of the place. With the exception
of the church, however, the place was now a ruin, every man, on sending
away his family, having set fire to his own house. They had also burned
the public stores and buildings, and the Jesuits’ houses.
Notwithstanding the heavy rains which had fallen, the place had been
burning for several days. Had the dilatory Spanish general pushed
forward a few horsemen on learning that it was intended to fire _S.
Miguel_, he might have easily saved that settlement.

Warned by his error, Andoanegui, on the same day, despatched the
governor of _Monte Video_ to take possession of _S. Lorenzo_, distant
two leagues. The inhabitants were surprised, and three Jesuits were
arrested. On the ensuing day a letter was received from the Rector of
_S. Juan_ stating that he had succeeded in persuading his people to
submit. The other “Reductions” followed their example; but the greater
part of the inhabitants took refuge in the woods. As so many of the
people had provided for themselves, there was little difficulty in
organizing the emigration of the remainder, who were admitted into the
“Reductions” on the _Paraná_.

Both the Portuguese and Spanish commanders were strongly prepossessed
against the Jesuits; but when they had become acquainted with the
Fathers personally, and had listened to their statements of facts, the
feeling against them seemed at once to disappear. Gomes Freyre, in
particular, the Portuguese Commissioner, on seeing the state of things,
declined to take possession of the evacuated territory, which could not
be said to have been handed over to him in peace, for the former
inhabitants still thronged the neighbouring woods. He likewise,
meanwhile, deferred the cession of _Colonia_. Nor was the Spanish
general more desirous of completing a transfer of which he disapproved.
Both armies, therefore, remained in the “Reductions,” whilst the Jesuits
endeavoured to reclaim their scattered flocks. Both generals, at this
late hour, endeavoured to procure an alteration of the treaty.

The Spanish Government, alarmed at the failure of the first campaign,
had sent out some reinforcements under _Don_ Pedro Zeballos, who, on
arriving at _Buenos Ayres_, proceeded at once to the missions,
accompanied by Valdelirios. Zeballos was requested by the Superior of
the Jesuits to institute a judicial inquiry into the accusation against
himself and his brethren. The result of this inquiry was to dispel all
charges against these Fathers, which for the rest were utterly
improbable. The Jesuits of _Paraguay_ were, like those of other
provinces, supplied and recruited from Europe. It is not credible that
their general should have encouraged or connived at a scheme on the part
of a portion of his subordinates, the success of which would have
separated them from his control; nor is it any more likely that they
should have engaged in such an undertaking without his sanction.

[Sidenote: 1757.]

Four years had now elapsed since Valdelirios had come upon his mission,
but its business was yet far from having been brought to a conclusion;
and so many difficulties had attended every stage of its progress that
there was now no great disposition shown on either side to obviate minor
obstructions. The presence of Gomes Freyre was required in _Brazil_; and
thus the commission separated without having effected anything but a
very large outlay of money and an immense amount of misery to the
_Guaranís_, which race had been settled for one hundred and twenty-four
years in the “Reductions.”

[Sidenote: 1761.]

Events in Europe produced yet further delays in the settlement of this
question, so important to the portion of South America which was
concerned in its solution. By the death of the Spanish King and Queen,
the friendly feeling which had united the two courts of Spain and
Portugal was at an end, and it was succeeded by one of mistrust. Both
courts, however, and both Governments, were heartily weary of the
question of demarcation; and, in order to put an end to it, at any rate
for the meantime, they agreed to annul the Treaty of Limits--the
treaties which had been superseded by it again coming into force. The
Portuguese were, on the whole, satisfied with this result, because they
believed that _Colonia_, which they now retained, was of greater
importance to them than the proposed increase of territory in the
interior. The Spaniards were likewise pleased, because they imagined
that their neighbours had stolen a march upon them in the Treaty of
Limits, through the influence of their Portuguese Queen.

The actual result of the inglorious and wasteful war of the Seven
Reductions was that the Jesuits, who had been falsely accused of
fomenting the resistance of the _Guaranís_, had now imposed upon them
the task of collecting the scattered remnants of that people, and of
encouraging them to repair their ruined towns and recultivate their
devastated country.




CHAPTER XV.

_BRAZIL; EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM PORTUGAL AND BRAZIL._

1759-1767.


The reign of Jesuitism in Europe was drawing towards its close. For two
hundred years the Society had exercised unbounded influence over kings
and courts. Its machinery for governing was so perfect, and its system
was so subtle that it began to appear to statesmen that unless this
ambitious order were speedily and effectually opposed, it must soon
dominate Christendom. The alternative to its suppression was that
European civilization must be assimilated to that which the Jesuits had
introduced in _China_ and in _Paraguay_. The doctrines of Ignatius
Loyola admitted of nothing short of an absolute obedience of Papal
authority. Kings were afraid to act without the approbation of an Order
whose system of _espionage_ was so complete as even to baffle all secret
confidential intercourse between sovereigns and statesmen.

No one Catholic monarch felt himself strong enough single-handed to
throw off the humiliating yoke; and, on the other hand, a combination of
powers, with this object in view, was rendered doubly difficult by the
fact that whatever instructions should be issued and whatever
negotiations should take place, were sure to be known to the ubiquitous
Order, so soon as issued or held. But the yoke was so galling that a
remedy was sure to be found; and at length a man arose whose qualities
fitted him for the occasion. This was _Senhor_ Carvalho, afterwards the
Marquis of Pombal, destined to hold the place in history as the most
prominent statesman of his time. Pombal had represented his country in
London and at Vienna, two diplomatic centres where he could not but
become acquainted with the spirit then prevailing in Europe in respect
to the all-powerful Order. He had altogether resided ten years in
England in a diplomatic capacity.

The object of Pombal’s worthy ambition was to restore his country to the
former state of plenty and prosperity from which it had fallen. With
this view the statesman sought to combat ignorance, superstition, and
intolerance, whose main support was the clergy. He had, therefore, to
count upon clerical opposition to his measures. But he took action with
a full view of this fact, and availed himself of the situation of his
opponents. There still existed the old jealousy between the regulars and
the seculars; but on one point, if on no other, all Orders but one were
agreed. That one point was envy and hatred of the Jesuits. In this
feeling they had a powerful ally in Pombal. Should he succeed in
crushing that one Order, he need not fear any other obstacle in the way
of the realization of his views.

Pombal had himself been brought up in the school of the Jesuits, who had
recognized in him great talent and force of character, and had urged for
him promotion under a Government over which they ruled. In the early
part of his career they had no cause to regret this course; but,
unfortunately for them, their _protegé_, when in England, began to see
things through his own eyes rather than through Jesuitical spectacles.
Afterwards, comparing England with countries to which he was
subsequently sent in the course of his diplomatic career, he made the
observation that the prosperity and intelligence of the people seemed to
be in inverse _ratio_ to the influence exercised by the Jesuits. On his
return to Portugal he found his own country, where they ruled supreme,
the poorest and most backward of all. From these facts his powerful and
intelligent mind drew the unavoidable inference that the way to elevate
Portugal was to crush and expel the Jesuits.

The Portuguese minister was well aware that in dealing with such subtle
opponents half measures would be worse than useless; he therefore
awaited his opportunity when he might deal them a crushing blow with
decisive effect. The opportunity now seemed to be afforded by the
question of the Jesuit missions with reference to the Treaty of Limits.
Pombal was at this time more than fifty years of age. Circumstances soon
afforded an opportunity for the development of his extraordinary
talents, and he obtained over the King an influence which enabled him to
carry into effect with absolute authority his schemes for the renovation
of the kingdom. Seeing the miserable condition into which Portugal had
sunk, he felt the necessity of great changes; whilst his temper led him
to bold and sweeping measures--measures for the justification of which
must be pleaded his zeal for the service of his King and his intense
love of his country.

[Sidenote: 1759.]

The first step taken by the statesman in declaring war against the
Jesuits was a letter addressed by his master to Pope Clement XIII. in
1759, in which he informed His Holiness that his Government had
determined to make over to his care all the Jesuits in Portugal. Without
waiting for a reply, and before time had elapsed to admit of hurling the
thunderbolts of Rome, Pombal ordered all the Jesuits to be seized and
shipped for the States of the Church. His next step was to endeavour to
induce other Catholic governments to follow his example; and the Jesuits
were soon afterwards expelled from France through the influence of
_Madame de_ Pompadour.

In Spain the Jesuits had a firmer hold, but there too they had ere long
to give way. A royal decree was issued banishing them from all the
Spanish dominions, and forbidding them to return or to hold any
intercourse with Spanish subjects. The issue of this order was followed
by instant measures to put it into execution. The colleges were
surrounded and the bells taken possession of; whilst the Fathers were
escorted to the sea-coast and placed on board of ships for Italy. But by
this time the Pope had on his hands more than a sufficient number of
Jesuit refugees from Portugal and from France; he determined, therefore,
to refuse permission to land at Civita Vecchia to those coming from
Spain. From Civita Vecchia the unhappy Jesuits proceeded in turn to
Leghorn and Genoa, but at each place they were refused permission to
disembark. They were, however, at last received at Corsica.

A month after the Jesuits had left Spain the King wrote to the Pope in
justification of their expulsion, stating that it was the first duty of
a sovereign to watch over the peace and good government of his subjects,
and that the step he had taken had been one dictated by imperious
necessity. The Pope, however, was greatly affected; and he addressed to
the King a severe remonstrance in reply. The decision, however, of the
Spanish Government had been taken and was not to be altered.

The brother of the Marquis of Pombal, who had been sent out as
Captain-General of _Maranham_ and _Pará_, was no less hostile to the
Jesuits than was that minister himself. He either could not see their
proceedings fairly, or he was determined to misconstrue their acts. The
Fathers were accordingly accused of obstructing the settlement of the
border-line in the north as they had been in the south. In consequence
of the reports of the governor, two regiments were sent out from
Portugal, and the feeling against the Order ran very high; all the old
grievances against them being now revived, since it was known that they
had such a powerful enemy as well at _Pará_ as at Lisbon. Orders were
sent to the governor to deprive all the missionaries of their temporal
authority, and to form the most flourishing _Aldeas_ into towns and the
smaller ones into villages.

It was the desire of Pombal to emancipate the Indians and to blend them
with the Portuguese of _Brazil_. With this view, a law was promulgated,
abrogating all edicts whatsoever which permitted Indian slavery under
any plea, and declaring all Indians in _Pará_ and _Maranham_ to be free,
and that henceforth the price of labour should be regulated by the
governor and the judicial authorities of _Pará_ and _S. Luiz_. At the
date of these edicts there were within the State of _Maranham_ and
_Pará_ threescore Indian _Aldeas_, of which five were administered by
the _Mercenarios_, twelve by the Carmelites, fifteen by the Capuchins,
and twenty-eight by the Jesuits.

Not content with seeing the Jesuits deprived of their temporal power in
Northern _Brazil_, the Captain-General played into the hands of his
brother by stirring up, or listening to, a series of charges against
them, to answer which a number of the most able of the Fathers were sent
home as State prisoners. The whole body, as indeed were likewise the
other Orders interested, were reduced almost to penury by the edict
which deprived them of their means of support; and the governor of
_Pará_ turned a deaf ear to their reasonable application for assistance
from the Treasury. Nothing therefore remained for them but to depart,
their places being supplied by secular clergy. With a view the more
thoroughly to blend the Indians with the Brazilians, the Captain-General
was required to appoint a director for each Indian settlement, taking
care that he was versed in the Indian tongue. This director was to act
independently as a government agent to see that the authorities carried
out the laws, and he was to report to the governor and the Minister of
Justice. The King’s chief desire was to Christianize and civilize the
people, and to effect this must be the main object of the directors, who
were especially charged to establish the use of the Portuguese
language. It may be added that in this last respect they were
successful, the _Tupi_ language being suppressed.

The same decree in accordance with which the Jesuits had been expelled
from Portugal affected in like manner their brethren in _Brazil_. The
order for their expulsion is said to have been carried out with much
brutality. One hundred and fifteen Jesuits were deported in one vessel
from _S. Luiz_, being confined like slaves between decks; four of them
died on the voyage to Lisbon. The brethren from _Ceará_ and _Paraïba_
were conveyed to _Recife_, and were embarked with the Pernambucan
Jesuits, fifty-three in number. Of these, five died during the passage.

It should be stated, however, that while for the most part all those
employed in the service of the Government made themselves too willing
instruments to carry out the wishes of the all-powerful minister, and to
strike the fallen when they were powerless to resist, yet there were
some honourable exceptions to this rule. For instance, the Archbishop of
_Bahia_, D. Jose de Mattos, in reporting his visitation of the Jesuits,
sent home an attestation that he had found them blameless on the point
of which they were accused, of carrying on an extensive commerce
contrary to the canons, and in all other points highly useful and
meritorious. This attestation was subscribed by eighty of the most
respectable persons in _Bahia_. The aged archbishop had to pay the
penalty of being fearless and upright. Five years before this time he
had requested permission to resign the primacy, begging that half of his
appointments might be continued to him. This request had not been
acceded to; but, on the receipt of his report, he was relieved of the
primacy, without any pension being granted to him. One hundred and
sixty-eight Jesuits were deported from _Bahia_; whilst one hundred and
forty-five from the southern provinces of _Brazil_ were embarked at _Rio
de Janeiro_, stowed in one vessel, below decks. The unfortunate Jesuits
of the north on reaching Lisbon were cast into prison for no other
crime than that of belonging to their Order; and it was not until after
the lapse of eighteen years that the King’s death and the disgrace of
Pombal restored to them their liberty. Those from the south were not
permitted to set foot in Portugal, but were conveyed to the Papal
States.

Amongst the measures inaugurated by the Marquis of Pombal was the
establishment of an exclusive company for the trade of _Maranham_ and
_Pará_, and of another for that of _Pernambuco_ and _Paraïba_. The
_Brazil_ company, which had been promoted by Vieyra, and which had
rendered such essential service in the Dutch war, had been abolished
after an existence of seventy years. The establishment of a new company
was now protested against by the Board of Public Good; but in forwarding
this protest to the King, that body unsuspectingly signed its own
death-warrant, for it was immediately thereafter abolished, and its
members were banished for different terms of years.

These new institutions materially affected the British Factory at
Lisbon. At that period _Brazil_ was supplied, almost exclusively, with
English manufactures through the Portuguese merchants of the capital,
who obtained long credit from the Factory in consequence of the length
of time which they took to obtain returns, there being but one fleet
sent to _Brazil_ each year. Thus the Brazilian trade was carried on by
means of English capital, the sudden stagnation of which would be
seriously felt. Great Britain had at the time the right by treaty of
trading directly with _Brazil_; but her ambassador at Lisbon was of
opinion that it would be inexpedient to assert the right in question, as
he considered that the newly-established monopoly, being erroneous in
principle, would shortly be abandoned.

Pombal was too despotic in his views to be much concerned as to the
degree in which his measures might affect individual interests; and it
is but right to add that his grant of a monopoly to companies for the
trade with _Maranham_ and _Pernambuco_ were productive of considerable
good to those provinces, since the employment of so large a capital gave
an impulse both to agriculture and to commerce. In particular, many
negroes were imported into _Maranham_, and their labour made it more
easy to carry out the laws in respect to the Indians, one species of
slavery being exchanged for another. It is stated, however, that the
impulse now given to industry and trade in _Maranham_ soon produced a
most civilizing effect upon the people of that province. Another measure
of the same minister was the establishment of a company with the
exclusive right to the whale-fishing, and which likewise obtained a
contract for supplying the greater part of _Brazil_ with salt--a
monopoly which was attended with disastrous results to the country.

But it was not by such measures as the grants of monopolies, whether
their results were good or the reverse, that Pombal obtained his
reputation as a statesman. He did not scruple to attack prejudices,
however rooted; whilst he made the law respected amongst populations
who, before his time, had been notoriously lawless. In short, his system
was that of a benevolent despotism; for no one denies his enlarged views
and good intentions. At a period long gone by, when _Brazil_ was a wide
and unexplored world, it had been found convenient to make vast grants
to such persons as should undertake the settlement of different
captaincies. As, however, colonization advanced, the claims of the
representatives of the donatories were found to be not unfrequently
antagonistic with the public good, and the Government had, from time to
time, purchased them in exchange for the grant of honours and wealth. It
being represented to the Minister at Lisbon that the existing system was
productive of much evil in _Brazil_, he, by one somewhat arbitrary but
beneficial act, extinguished the remaining donatories, and purchased
their rights for the Crown.

[Sidenote: 1762.]

Pombal, too, made his absolute power felt where a display of it was most
needed, namely, in the lawless captaincy of _Goyaz_. As usual in all
newly-formed settlements, more especially where there are mines, there
were there in large numbers the dregs of other populations. And it was
the same recurrence of crime which had previously existed in _S. Paulo_,
_Minas Geraes_, and _Cuyabá_. In some instances the inhabitants even
thought it advisable to go armed to mass; and it is said that the
priests were in no way behind the rest of the people in profligacy and
contempt of authority. By the orders of the Minister a Board of Justice
was now created, from whose authority there was no appeal. Examples were
from this time regularly made of criminals, with the result that there
was a speedy amendment in public manners.

The Portuguese Minister had, however, now to provide for more important
interests than the police of a province; he had to take measures for the
protection of the whole colonial empire of Portugal from foreign
aggression. France and Spain were at this time engaged in an alliance
against England; and as Portugal sided with her ancient ally, it was
agreed between her two powerful neighbours that the nearest should annex
the mother country, whilst France should possess herself of _Brazil_.
Pombal, however, relying upon England, was not alarmed for the safety of
Portugal; nor, indeed, did he much fear the execution of the wholesale
project as regarded _Brazil_. The result of the Pernambucan war was
still sufficiently recent to prevent alarm on this account. He thought,
however, that there might probably be an attempt on the provinces north
of the _Amazons_ from the direction of _Cayenne_. He was not prepared
for the blow which actually fell from a wholly unexpected quarter.

The Governor of _Buenos Ayres_, who had foreseen the rupture between
Spain and Portugal, was prepared to take advantage of it so soon as it
occurred. Zeballos, having raised a force of militia, and brought
_Guaranís_ from the “Reductions,” declared war before _Colonia_, and
immediately laid siege to that settlement. On the second day a breach
was made; but it was not until after a siege of four weeks that the
garrison capitulated. The Spanish commander was ere long roused by the
arrival of an English squadron of eleven sail, bent upon recovering
_Colonia_. But the waters of the Plate have not been fortunate for
English arms. After a close fight of four hours, the “Lord Clive” took
fire, and was quickly enveloped in flames; the other ships were obliged
to get off with all haste, and many men were drowned in endeavouring to
reach the shore. Some eighty prisoners were sent to _Cordova_, where
they settled, and where they are said to have introduced improvements in
agriculture and in arts. The remains of the squadron, having partially
refitted, effected their passage to _Rio de Janeiro_.

Cheered by this event, Zeballos lost no time in pursuing his success,
and marched with a thousand men against Fort _Sta. Teresa_, which place
capitulated; whereupon the Spanish general pushed forward his troops to
_Rio Grande_, the short passage by which the waters of the _Lagoa dos
Patos_--the largest lake in _Brazil_--discharge themselves into the sea.
It may be of interest to observe that the great lake in question, which
is one hundred and eighty miles in length, owes its name of “lake of
ducks” to the fact of some Spanish vessels being driven into the _Rio
Grande_ by stress of weather in 1554, and leaving there some ducks,
which spread in enormous numbers. Zeballos directed his arms against the
town of _S. Pedro_, the inhabitants and garrison of which place fled
with precipitation.

[Sidenote: 1763.]

When the news of these proceedings reached Portugal, the far-seeing
Pombal became alarmed for the safety of _Minas Geraes_. As his
imagination was filled, day and night, with the thought of the Jesuits,
he conjured up the notion that by their aid the enterprising Zeballos
might obtain a powerful army from the “Reductions.” Had time permitted,
there is no doubt that such a force would have been brought into the
field. Indeed the Jesuits on the _Moxo_ frontier were now in arms, and
the Spaniards and Portuguese were in conflict in the very centre of the
continent. As, however, the operations which they undertook resulted in
the _status quo ante_ being reverted to by the Peace of Paris, it is
unnecessary to recount them in detail. By this treaty, however, the
question of demarcation was left in the same condition. Zeballos was
required to restore _Colonia_, but he did not think it necessary to give
up _Rio Grande_.

At this period the important step was taken of transferring the capital
of _Brazil_ to _Rio de Janeiro_, the chief reasons of this decision
being its vicinity to the mines and likewise to the _Plata_, the
importance of which latter region was daily becoming more manifest. _Rio
de Janeiro_ likewise presented greater facilities for being fortified
than did _Bahia_. The vigour which Pombal had infused into the
administration at Lisbon was extended to the colonies; and _Brazil_ felt
the benefit of his enlarged views. One of his prudent measures in regard
to this country was to put a stop to the highly unsuitable institution
of nunneries. It had not been possible for ministers entirely to put
down silly prejudices which were the growth of centuries; and we are
told of a wealthy inhabitant of _Bahia_ who, there being no more
nunneries in _Brazil_, thought fit to send over his six daughters, each
with a portion of six thousand _cruzados_, to be incarcerated for life
in the convent of _Esperanza_, where none but persons of the first
condition were admitted. Under Pombal the Brazilians were prohibited
from sending their children to Portugal for such a purpose without the
special permission of the King,--a measure so evidently beneficial that
it won for the minister the approbation even of his enemies.

Another measure of the same statesman was even more to be commended.
Happily for _Brazil_, that country never boasted an establishment of
the Inquisition. Nevertheless, some of the agents of the Holy Office had
found a field for their energies on the other side of the Atlantic.
These agents had arrested and sent to Lisbon a large number of new
Christians,--persons fulfilling every duty of citizenship, but whose
crime it was to be wealthy. These unfortunate people, having confessed
to being Jews, escaped with their lives at the expense of all their
property, which of course went to the informers. In consequence of this
profitable practice many _engenhos_ had to be stopped, and widespread
ruin ensued. Even Pombal did not venture to proclaim toleration for the
Jewish faith, but he made it penal for any person to reproach another
for his Jewish origin, whilst he removed all disabilities attaching to
Jewish blood, even if their ancestors had suffered at the hands of the
Inquisition. He likewise published an edict decreeing severe
chastisement against such persons as should retain lists of persons of
Jewish origin.

[Sidenote: 1765.]

At this period Portugal was deprived by the Moors of the last remnant of
her possessions on the Mediterranean. The inhabitants of _Mazagam_, who
had defended their city in a manner not unworthy of their race, were
transported to the province of _Pará_, where, in honour of their gallant
defence, the name of _Mazagam_ was given to the place where they
settled, on the western bank of the _Matuaca_, a tributary of the
_Amazons_. These eighteen hundred colonists, though adding to the
military strength of the empire, were but ill-fitted for purposes of
colonizing. The situation chosen for their settlement was unfavourable,
and many of them perished from the climate. Near this position a strong
fort was erected at _Macapá_. In his desire to strengthen _Brazil_, the
minister despatched many families from the Western Islands to be settled
at _Macapá_ and _Mazagam_. He likewise did something to foment the trade
of _Brazil_ by withdrawing the prohibition which had hitherto prevailed
against single trading ships, apart from the annual fleet.

As the Portuguese islands could not afford colonists in sufficient
number to satisfy the aspirations of the minister, their complement was
made up from the dregs of the mother country. But this measure was not
followed by the good results for which no doubt its originator looked.
Crime became so frequent in _Matto-Grosso_, _Minas Geraes_, and
elsewhere, that orders had to be sent out from Portugal, compelling all
persons without any settled abode to live in civilized communities, and
to divide amongst them the surrounding lands. All persons who should
evade this regulation, with the exception of three classes, were to be
proceeded against as robbers,--the classes exempted from this rule being
agriculturists with their slaves and servants on isolated farms;
_rancheros_, or persons established on the public roads to facilitate
communication or to entertain travellers; and _bandeiras_, that is to
say, bands of respectable persons employed in making discoveries. The
above three classes of citizens were empowered to arrest and imprison
vagrants.

It is now necessary to review what had been going on during the last few
years in the mining districts. The experience of fifteen years having
according to general opinion proved the injurious nature of the
capitation tax, the offer was accepted of the people of _Minas Geraes_
to make up the annual assessment to one hundred _arrobas_, should the
royal fifths be less than that amount. In the year 1753, the fleet from
_Rio de Janeiro_ was believed to bring home gold, silver, and goods to
the amount of three millions sterling. In that year the fifths from
_Minas Geraes_ amounted to nearly £400,000. The bullion and jewels which
were sent to Lisbon in the following year were estimated at a million
_moidores_. On an average of sixteen years the royal fifths exceeded one
hundred _arrobas_; but when the trade had been opened to single ships,
the average production of gold was found to decrease,--probably from the
conviction or experience that trade was on the whole more profitable
than mining.

The temptation to evade the payment of the royal proportion was so
strong that not even the severe laws in force were sufficient to
overcome it. Gold might circulate within the captaincy before it had
been stamped and before the royal fifth had been taken; but it was
unlawful to carry it beyond the border until it should have paid the
duty and passed through the mint. Gold-dust, which was the only
circulating medium in _Minas Geraes_, was found to be so debased by the
traders before it reached the mint that there was usually a loss upon it
of 10 or 12 _per cent._ in addition to the 20 _per cent._ duty, a desire
to avoid which loss, even more than to avoid the duty, led to the
frequent practice of endeavouring to smuggle it across the frontier.
When it had once reached the cities, goldsmiths were readily found
either to convert it into bars or to work it into jewellery. The
knowledge of these practices naturally led to a law against jewellers,
whose presence had long been forbidden in _Minas Geraes_, and was now no
longer tolerated in the sea-ports.

The less productive province of _Goyaz_ yielded in some years a
capitation tax of forty _arrobas_. This advanced province had to bear
the burden of a war with a brave tribe, called the _Cayapos_. The
province of _Minas Geraes_ was likewise exposed to incursions from other
native tribes; but, notwithstanding occasional disturbances, the
interior of _Brazil_ continued on the whole to make steady progress
towards civilization.

[Sidenote: 1767.]

The government, however, was still disturbed by the retention by Spain
of her conquests in the province of _Rio Grande_. Portugal appealed to
Great Britain to procure the execution of the Treaty of Paris in
accordance with the intentions of the contracting parties, of which
England had been one. It had certainly not been her intention that the
Spaniards should retain their conquests in _Brazil_. It was to the
Brazilians themselves, however, that they were to owe the recovery of
the Spanish posts in _Rio Grande_. Aware that the Spaniards of the
_Plata_ were sufficiently occupied elsewhere, they secretly collected a
force of eight hundred men, with which they took their enemies by
surprise, thus regaining by arms that which Great Britain was engaged in
endeavouring to obtain for them by diplomatic means.




CHAPTER XVI.

_PARAGUAY; EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM BUENOS AYRES AND PARAGUAY._

1649-1805.


From the date of the removal of Bishop Cárdenas as governor of
_Paraguay_ [1648], that province had enjoyed freedom from internal
dissensions; until, in 1717, _Don_ Diego Balmaceda was named governor by
the Viceroy of _Peru_. His nomination was unpopular, and, after two
years, serious charges were preferred against him before the Audience of
_Charcas_, which that body were occupied during the three succeeding
years in investigating. Meanwhile _Don_ Jose de Antiquera had obtained
the provisional succession to the post of governor; and he hastened to
_Paraguay_ to assume power. Balmaceda was, however, reinstated in
authority, and he ordered the usurper to resign his pretensions. But
meanwhile Antiquera had organized a considerable force, and he refused
to submit to the orders of the Viceroy, and sent a party to
_Corrientes_, who brought Balmaceda a prisoner to _Asuncion_.

On learning this rebellion against the Crown, the Viceroy sent
instructions to the military commander of _La Plata_ to dispossess
Antiquera of his authority, and to reinstate Balmaceda. On reaching the
river _Tebicuari_, General Garcia de Ros found Antiquera too strong to
be opposed. On his retiring, Antiquera, with a view to conciliating
Zavala, the governor of _Buenos Ayres_, sent six hundred troops to
assist him in the defence of _Monte Video_ against the Portuguese. This
manœuvre, however, did not avail him, and Ros was sent a second time
to assert the royal authority, with two hundred Spanish troops, backed
by the forces of the Jesuit missions. The Jesuits had been expelled by
Antiquera from _Asuncion_. On reaching the _Tebicuari_, Ros was
encountered by Antiquera, with a force of three thousand men, and, being
defeated, was compelled to return to _Buenos Ayres_.

[Sidenote: 1724.]

The rebellion had now assumed such proportions that it could no longer
be trifled with, and Zavala received peremptory orders from the Viceroy
to hasten to _Paraguay_ in person, and to send Antiquera to _Lima_ for
trial. The latter, now aware of his desperate situation, prepared to
defend himself. His followers, however, began to desert him, and in
March 1725 he fled from _Paraguay_, and took refuge in a convent at
_Cordova_. Thence he proceeded to _Bolivia_, intending to throw himself
on the protection of the Audience of _Charcas_. But he was looked upon
as a public enemy, and was arrested at _Chaquisaca_, and sent to be
tried at _Lima_. He was brought before the Audience, but, although his
guilt was patent from the first, it was not until the trial had lasted
for several years that he was condemned to be executed. The 5th of July
1731 was the day fixed for his execution. By this time the public
feeling had completely veered round in his favour, and, as it was feared
a rescue would be attempted, the Viceroy gave orders to fire upon the
prisoner. The order was answered by a volley of musketry, and the
condemned man and two friars near him fell dead from their horses.

After the flight of Antiquera from _Paraguay_, the Jesuits had been
permitted to return to _Asuncion_. They were met at the distance of
twelve miles from the capital by a procession headed by the governor,
the bishop, and the chief civil and military functionaries. But the
return of the Jesuits was displeasing to many, more especially to those
who had been the partisans of Antiquera. When the governor resigned, the
people claimed the right of choosing his successor--a right which in
certain emergencies had been granted them by Charles V. When the news of
Antiquera’s execution reached _Asuncion_, the indignation of the people
manifested itself by their falling on the Jesuits, and expelling them
from the city.

[Sidenote: 1733.]

There were now two declared parties in _Paraguay_. That which was
against longer submission to royal authority took the name of
_Comuneros_; whilst those who were for the King were called
_Contrabandistas_. On the resignation of Governor Barua, the _Comuneros_
improvised a government composed of a _junta_, with a president as the
executive head. A hostile collision was now to be feared between the
dominant party at _Asuncion_ and the nearest Jesuit “Reductions.” It was
averted by the arrival of a new governor, _Don_ Manoel de Ruiloba.
Reaching the missions, he sent forward overtures to the insurgents,
which so far satisfied them that he was permitted to take possession of
the government. One of his first acts was to attempt to disband the
_Comuneros_; but this was vehemently resisted; and he found himself in
open opposition to the most numerous party in the state. The rebels
defied him, and civil war was commenced. In the first action the
governor fell.

The Bishop of _Buenos Ayres_, who happened to be at that time at
_Asuncion_, was now elected governor; but he was a mere instrument in
the hands of the _junta_, and was compelled to sign sweeping acts of
confiscation against the Jesuits and the Royalists. Realizing his false
position, he thought fit to embark for _Buenos Ayres_ to resume his
episcopal duties. The rebels in _Paraguay_ had again to deal with
Zavala, who had recently been appointed President of the Audience of
_Charcas_, and who now blockaded _Paraguay_ on all sides. Taking with
him six thousand trained troops from the missions, he advanced to the
_Tebicuri_, and, meeting with no opposition, proceeded to _Asuncion_,
where he was received with acclamations.

As Zavala’s rapid success had been gained by means of the Jesuits’
troops, it was but natural that the Fathers should follow in their wake.
They were now more powerful and arrogant than ever, and it became pretty
clear that it was their intention to reduce _Asuncion_ and all
_Paraguay_ to the same state of blind obedience to their sway in which
they held their missions. To contend against them so long as they
retained the ear of the King was hopeless; and the Spanish colonists now
undertook to enlighten their sovereign by exposing the false pretensions
of the Fathers. The Jesuits were accused of a design of founding an
empire, and they were shown to have created in South America a more
absolute despotism than Europe had ever known.

The reign of the Jesuits, however, was then drawing to its close. Their
expulsion from the Portuguese dominions has already been recorded, and
it was not long before the Jesuits of Spain shared the fate which had
befallen their brethren of Portugal and of France. We have here to
review the circumstances of their expulsion from South America. Zeballas
had been recalled from his high post on account of his sympathies with
the devoted order.

[Sidenote: 1767.]

However strong may have been the reasons for the expulsion of the
Jesuits from Spain, their suppression in South America, although it may
have been a necessary sequence of the first measure, had certainly an
air of gross ingratitude, and seemed likely considerably to diminish the
Spanish power in its colonies. The Jesuits had been the means of greatly
extending the Spanish territories in the interior, and had thereby
prevented the Portuguese from securing to themselves a still larger
portion of the centre of the continent. They had raised many thousands
of native troops who had often done good service in _Paraguay_, and who
had fought successfully against the Portuguese both on the _Guaypore_
and at _Colonia_. They had likewise delivered the Spaniards of _La
Plata_, _Paraguay_, and _Tucuman_ from their formidable native enemies,
whom they had been able to conciliate. The very latest Spanish successes
in _Rio Grande_ had been due in a great measure to their assistance.

But the expulsion of the Jesuits from their headquarters of _Paraguay_
had been included in the plan of the King of Spain and his counsellors,
and four days after the issue of the royal decree banishing the order
from the mother country, a ship of war was despatched to the _Plata_,
with orders to the Viceroy to take immediate measures for the
simultaneous seizure of all the Jesuits within his jurisdiction. The
Viceroy, Bucareli, who received his orders on the 7th of June 1767, lost
no time in carrying them into execution. Without delay he despatched
sealed instructions to the governors and local authorities within his
Viceroyalty, which were not to be opened until the 21st of July. On the
following day all Jesuits were to be seized in the name of the King and
sent to _Buenos Ayres_.

It may here be of interest to give a short account of the condition in
which the royal order found the “Reductions.” They were now beginning to
recover from the evils which had fallen upon them owing to the Treaty of
Limits. But on account of that blind measure, together with illness and
a subsequent war, their numbers were now reduced from one hundred and
forty-four thousand to one hundred thousand. The Fathers possessed large
estates and many negro slaves, who are said to have been treated with
every consideration. Whatever civilization penetrated into the interior
of the country was through the Jesuits. For example, one Father Schmid
instructed the _Chiquitos_ not only in the common arts of life, but in
working metals and making clocks. It is said that the _Moxo_ and _Paure_
missions displayed more civilization than did the important Spanish city
of _Santa Cruz de la Sierra_; whilst to the Jesuits _Cordova_ owes its
press. The Jesuits of the _Guaranís_ printed books in one of the
“Reductions” before there was any printing press either in _Cordova_ or
in _Buenos Ayres_.

The news of the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain became public in
_Buenos Ayres_ on the 3rd of July, being eighteen days before the time
fixed upon for their arrest. Orders were therefore sent to the provinces
to anticipate this measure; whilst the Fathers in the college at
_Buenos_ were made prisoners on the same night. Those nearest to that
city soon shared the same fate; and in the following month the college
at _Cordova_ was likewise taken possession of, and its inmates sent to
the capital, whilst their invaluable library was destroyed. Nowhere did
the Viceroy’s troops meet with any resistance; and the captured Jesuits
were transmitted to Spain in groups of some forty individuals, being
thence sent on to the Papal States.

The Fathers of the Paraguayan missions, however, had still to be dealt
with. Their first move was to cause an address to be signed by their
_Guaraní_ foremen, and to present it to the governor, praying that the
Jesuits might continue to live with them. That this petition came from
the Jesuits themselves, and not from the Indians, was apparent.
Bucareli, accordingly, taking it as an indication that they did not mean
to surrender without a struggle, took energetic measures to compel them
to submit. Occupying the pass of _Tebicuari_, and sending a force to _S.
Miguel_, he ascended the _Uruguay_ at the head of a further force. By
way of proving the worthlessness of the _Guaraní_ petition on behalf of
the Jesuits, he caused another document to be prepared and signed by the
Indian judges and _caciques_ of some thirty towns, expressing
thankfulness to the King for having relieved them from their former
arduous life. Whatever else these respective petitions may show, they
certainly prove how thoroughly the _Guaranís_ had learnt the lesson of
implicit obedience to whatsoever instructions they might receive,
irrespective of their convictions, if they had sufficient individuality
left to possess any.

But by this time it was evident that resistance was hopeless. Many of
the missions had fallen into the hands of the governor, and the Fathers
did not venture to bring their disciples into the field. They were sent
to _Buenos Ayres_, and shared the fate of their brethren who had
preceded them. There was indeed no discretion left to the authorities in
executing the measures for the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish
dominions. One of the most able and conscientious of the number, the
aged Father Chomé, being confined to his bed by illness, was carried
from the _Chiquito_ missions in a hammock to _Oruro_, where he died from
the effects of the journey. Another missionary, Father Mesner, an old
and infirm man, who had laboured for thirty years in the _Chiquito_
“Reductions,” was sent on a journey of four hundred and fifty miles to
_Santa Cruz_. After remaining there for five months, until the season
for crossing the _Andes_ had come, he was placed upon a mule, whilst
riding upon which he died. It is right to add that the Spanish Minister,
on learning these facts and others of a similar nature, indignantly
reproved the South-American authorities for their inhumanity. In all one
hundred and fifty-five Jesuits were expelled from _La Plata_, _Tucuman_,
and _Paraguay_.

The suffering in the “Reductions” did not fall alone or chiefly on the
Jesuits. Their system of government had been so absolute, and their
disciples had been reduced to such a condition of being merely
thoughtless animals or machines, that, when the guidance of the Fathers
was withdrawn, the whole system established by them suddenly and
absolutely collapsed. No plan of government suitable to the altered
condition of affairs was devised by the Spanish authorities. Priests of
the mendicant orders replaced the missionaries, but without their
temporal authority. The missions were formed provisionally into two
governments, and an administrator was appointed to superintend each
“Reduction,” with which last measure the prosperity of these communities
ceased. The administrators, ignorant of the _Guaraní_ tongue, made their
commands obeyed by the lash; and before a year had elapsed the Viceroy
had the mortification to learn that the _Guaranís_, in order to escape
from the intolerable oppression of their new masters, were making their
escape in numbers to seek the protection of their old enemies, the
Portuguese.

On learning this unexpected occurrence, Bucareli displaced the
administrators and appointed others in their stead, but with no better
result as regarded the _Guaranís_. As the governor and the priests
disputed regarding their respective powers, the Viceroy decreed that the
former was to reside at _Candelaria_, where he was to be assisted by a
staff of administrators, under whom the _Guaranís_ were to labour as of
old for the benefit of the community. The end was that cruel and
compulsory work made the Indians miserable or drove them into the woods.
The arts introduced by the Jesuits were neglected; their gardens and
fields lay uncultivated, and their once flourishing villages, which had
contained the evidences of a civilization of a century and a half, were
almost deserted.

[Sidenote: 1803.]

From the date of the rebellion of the _Comuneros_ in 1735 until the
close of last century, _Paraguay_ enjoyed uninterrupted peace and quiet.
In the year 1796, Ribera Espinosa was appointed governor, who, by the
aid of his agents, constituted himself a general exporter, monopolizing
the whole trade of the country; so that the producers realized for their
goods about a tenth of what these were worth in the markets of _Buenos
Ayres_. This state of things naturally produced such grave complaints
against Ribera’s government as to provoke the intervention of the Crown.
He was recalled, and was replaced by a man of a very different
character, _Don_ Bernardo Velasco, who was destined to be the last
Spanish governor of _Paraguay_.

In the year 1803 the King of Spain issued a decree constituting the
country lying between the _Paraná_ and the _Uruguay_, which included all
the missions, a separate province, which was called _Misiones_, of which
Velasco was appointed governor. In 1805, the same officer was appointed
governor of _Paraguay_, another of the same name being instructed by him
as his lieutenant in _Misiones_.




CHAPTER XVII.

_BRAZIL IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY; ARRIVAL OF THE BRAGANZAS._

1776-1806.


[Sidenote: 1776.]

In tracing the course of the progress of _Brazil_ it should be mentioned
that in the year 1776 the fort of _Nova Coïmbra_ was founded on the
Upper _Paraguay_, in the province of _Matto-Grosso_, as a protection
against the formidable tribe of the _Guaycurús_, which people, it is
estimated, inflicted upon the Portuguese the loss of four thousand lives
and three millions of _cruzados_. It should also be mentioned that about
the same time the Academy of Sciences and Natural History was founded at
_Rio de Janeiro_. One of the first meetings of this body was made
remarkable by the statement of an army surgeon who had served in the war
of the Seven Reductions, that a Spaniard who had been in _Mexico_ had
pointed out to him the _cochineal_ upon several varieties of the cactus
in _Rio Grande_. It was found soon afterwards in the island of _S.
Catherine_, and plants with the insects were brought to the botanic
garden of the Academy.

[Sidenote: 1777.]

The attention of the Brazilian Government was, however, soon turned from
this discovery to cares of a different description. _Don_ Joseph Moniño,
subsequently Count Florida Blanca, had recently been appointed Minister
of Spain; and he sought the opportunity of distinguishing his
administration in the pending disputes with Portugal concerning the
limits of _Brazil_. He was urged on by Zeballos, now appointed the first
Viceroy of _La Plata_ and sent thither with a force of nine thousand
men, with twelve ships of war and a transport. The first object of the
expedition, which reached the coast of _Brazil_ in February 1777, was
the possession of _Sta. Catherina_, an island about thirty-six miles in
length and from four to ten in breadth. The Portuguese had several times
endeavoured to establish themselves on this island, but in vain. They,
however, considered it as belonging to _Brazil_; and at length some
families were transported thither from the _Azores_. At the date of the
expedition it was defended by a fort and garrison, represented by the
Spaniards as strong and numerous.

The enemy landed about nine miles from the capital of the island; but no
resistance was made, and every fort and battery was deserted without
firing, or even spiking, a gun. The governor fled to the mainland, his
timorous example being followed by the garrison; and although he was now
safe he, for unexplicable reasons, thought fit to capitulate and
surrender to the King of Spain not the island of _St. Catherine_ alone,
but likewise all its dependencies upon the mainland. After this
capitulation, Zeballos despatched orders to the governor of _Buenos
Ayres_ to march against _Rio Grande_ with all the force he could
collect. _Don_ Juan de Vertiz accordingly set out for _Sta. Teresa_ with
two thousand troops and some cavalry; but the Viceroy, owing to contrary
winds, was unable to enter _Rio Grande_, and therefore made for _Monte
Video_, whence he proceeded without delay against _Colonia_.

The commandant of the latter place had long been aware of his risk, and
had applied to _Rio de Janeiro_ for reinforcements and provisions; but
these had not reached him, having fallen into the hands of the enemy’s
cruisers. Nor was this the only misfortune which befell him, for one of
his despatches had likewise been captured, in which it was stated that
his garrison could not hold out longer than the 20th of May. Zeballos
reached _Colonia_ two days after this date, when the Portuguese had
only five days’ supply of food left them. Resistance seemed useless;
and, at the recommendation of a council of war, an officer was sent to
propose terms of capitulation. He was detained the entire day, and at
nightfall sent back by Zeballos with the reply that when his works were
finished he would communicate the orders of his sovereign. When his
batteries were in order, he informed the Portuguese that he had been
sent to punish the insult which they had committed by invading _Rio
Grande_ in time of peace; and they were required to surrender at
discretion. They had no choice but to submit, and were treated with much
inhumanity.

After this second success Zeballos was preparing to advance on _Rio
Grande_ when he received official information that a preliminary treaty
of limits had been signed at Madrid. By it Portugal ceded _Colonia_ with
all its claims upon the northern bank of the _Plata_, and acknowledged
the exclusive right of the Spaniards to the navigation of that stream
and likewise of the _Uruguay_ as far as to the mouth of the _Pepiri
Guazú_. The Spanish line of frontier was to begin at the mouth of the
_Chui_, where fort _S. Miguel_ stood. Thence it went to the sources of
the _Rio Negro_, which, with all other rivers flowing into the _Plata_
or into the _Uruguay_ below the mouth of the _Pepiri Guazú_, now
belonged to Spain. The _Rio Grande_ was assigned to Portugal. The
_Uruguay_ missions were to remain as they were, and a line was drawn
fixing the frontier so as to protect them, the commissioners being
instructed to follow the line of the tops of the mountains and so to
arrange the boundary that the rivers from their source should flow
always within the same demarcation. The lakes _Mirim_ and _Manqueira_
and the land between them, and the narrow strip between the latter and
the sea, became neutral territory, which was not to be occupied by
either people. The Portuguese were not to go further south than the
river _Tahim_, nor the Spaniards further north than the _Chui_. The
artillery taken at _Rio Grande_ was to be restored, as was _Sta.
Catherina_.

This treaty was looked upon with much pride by Florida Blanca as having
settled a dispute which had lasted for two centuries and a half. The
demarcation between the two territories from the mouth of the _Pepiri_
northwards was in every respect the same as in the former Treaty of
Limits which had been cancelled. It should be stated that by this time
Pombal had fallen into disgrace, on the death of King Jozé. Many of the
measures of that minister were now annulled, amongst them the companies
of _Maranham_ and _Pernambuco_. These had, however, done their work by
the increased impulse which they had given to commerce, more especially
to the growth of cotton, which they had promoted at _Maranham_, and
which was extended to _Pernambuco_.

It is scarcely necessary to refer to the hostilities which,
simultaneously with those of _Colonia_, had broken out between the
Portuguese and the Spaniards on the _Matto-Grosso_ frontier, and in
which the _Guaycurús_ were involved. This powerful tribe, however, soon
made peace with the Spaniards, and at a later period this peace was
extended to the Portuguese.

[Sidenote: 1789.]

In another quarter of _Brazil_ we find the first dawn of rebellion in
the province of _Minas Geraes_, where in the year 1789 a conspiracy
broke out with the view of declaring that captaincy a separate
commonwealth. Fortunately, however, this plot was nipped in the bud, the
chief conspirators, including the prime mover, being condemned to be
hanged. The latter, however, was the only one upon whom the capital
sentence was executed.

[Sidenote: 1801.]

When the governor of _Rio Grande_ had received advice of the war which
had broken out in Europe, he did not wait for instructions from the
Viceroy, but issued a declaration against the Spaniards, who were
attacked both on the western frontier and towards the south. The fort
of _Chui_ was surprised and sacked, as were the Spanish forts upon the
_Gaguaron_ and their establishments towards the _Jacuy_, whilst at the
same time a movement was made upon the seven “Reductions.” The
Portuguese, who were formerly the objects of hatred, were received as
liberators by the _Guaranís_, so effectually had the Jesuits’ successors
done their work of estranging them from Spain. The commander was
permitted by the Portuguese leader to retire with his men, but he and
they were made prisoners by another band whom they met on their march.

But these colonial hostilities were of short duration, peace having been
concluded between Portugal and Spain before they were effected. The
Portuguese, however, insisted on retaining the seven “Reductions,” on
the ground that they were not specified in the Treaty of Badajoz; and
they accordingly remained a portion of _Brazil_. At the time of these
last-mentioned hostilities, the Spaniards and Portuguese likewise
appeared in arms against each other on the upper waters of the
_Paraguay_, where _Nova Coïmbra_ was besieged by the former and the fort
of _S. Jozé_ destroyed by the latter.

By the Treaty of Madrid, which followed that of Badajoz, France obtained
from Portugal a cession of territory on the side of _Guyana_. As the
limits of this cession were subsequently annulled, the frontier
reverting to the _Oyapok_, no advantage would be gained by detailing
them. _Brazil_ fortunately remained at peace when the revolutionary war
was renewed: but that war was to have a momentous influence on the
destinies of the great Lusitanian colony, bringing about as it did the
removal of the Braganzas from Portugal to _Rio de Janeiro_. By this
event the last-named city became the seat of government of the
Portuguese dominions; and there can be no doubt that it was owing mainly
to the presence of the royal family that, whilst the Spanish dominions
in South America, on their separation from the mother-country, became
divided into as many as nine separate states, the empire of _Brazil_ has
remained one and undivided to the present day.

That vast empire had continued to make marked progress during the
eighteenth century. Amongst the old captaincies none, it is said, had
undergone greater change than had _Pará_, where the people had been
reclaimed from their former chronic state of turbulence and
insubordination. The slavery of the Indians was at an end, which was one
great step in advance, although it was reserved for another century to
witness, as it may be hoped, the extinction of negro slavery. As regards
the Indians, however, the regulations decreed by Pombal for their
protection had been disregarded. That statesman had wished that the
aborigines should be placed on a position of equality with the
Brazilians of Portuguese race--a measure which might possibly have been
carried out by the aid of the Jesuits, but which with their expulsion
became impossible. As it was, the Indians were governed with a high hand
by the directors, who had been appointed with the view simply of guiding
them.

The _aldeas_ or settlements established by the Jesuits had undergone
great depopulation, owing to the marking out of the limits as laid down
in the treaty. In so vast a country, and with such imperfect means of
transport, it was inevitable that the work of marking out the borders
should be a tedious one, and many natives, who were required for the
service of the commissioners, sank in the course of years from the
labours imposed upon them or from the fevers to which they were exposed.
On the departure of the Jesuits the Indians found themselves emancipated
from all moral restraint. The directors did not care to exercise any,
nor did they show them an example, whilst the new priests were without
power. The bishop of _Pará_, who between the years 1784 and 1788 went
over his extensive diocese, laments the decay of the _aldeas_ and the
degraded condition of the Indians.

There were twelve towns at the close of last century on the left bank of
the _Amazons_ under the government of _Pará_, amongst them being _Faro_
to the far west, _Obidos_, _Alemquer_, _Montalegre_, _Outeiro_,
_Almerin_, _Mazagam_, _Villa Vistoza_, and _Macapa_. The settlements on
the southern side of the great river were more numerous and more
important. They included _Samtarem_, which in 1788 contained 1300
inhabitants, and _Villa Franca_, which contained a similar number; also
_Mundrucus_, so called from the tribe of that name who had begun to
cultivate the arts of civilization. Towns and settlements were likewise
increasing upon the river _Zingu_. _Vieiros_, _Souzel_, and _Pombal_
contained in 1788 about 800 inhabitants each; whilst _Gurupa_, which was
considered the key of the _Amazons_, contained 400 of European blood.
_Melgaço_, _Oeyras_, and _Portel_ were likewise considerable settlements
inhabited by Indians in the same captaincy. Cameta was, with the
exception of _Pará_, the largest town in the State, containing about
6000 white inhabitants. The communication between this place and _Pará_
was carried on by one of those natural canals which are so narrow as
only to afford a passage for canoes.

The province of _Rio Negro_, after the edict by which the Jesuits were
removed, seems to have suffered no detriment from that measure. Its most
remote establishment was distant from _Pará_ four hundred and
eighty-five leagues, which, in ascending the river, was accounted a
journey of nearly three months.

_Pará_ itself had become a populous and flourishing city, the cathedral
and the palace being built on a grand scale. The Jesuits’ College had
been converted into an episcopal palace and a seminary, which boasted
professors of Latin rhetoric and philosophy. The city possessed a
judicial establishment, a theatre, a hospital, a convent of Capuchins
and likewise one of Carmelites. Ships for the navy were constructed at
_Pará_, and timber was exported to Lisbon for the use of the arsenals.
Amongst its exports were Oriental and other spices, cacao, coffee, rice,
cotton, sarsaparilla, copaiba, tapioca, gum, India-rubber, chestnuts,
hides, and molasses.

It unfortunately happened that the Portuguese sent to this magnificent
province were of the lowest description, and who, on finding themselves
in so luxuriant a locality, gave way forthwith to incurable indolence.
Bishop Brandam draws a dark picture of their mode of life, and a still
darker one of that of their slaves. There was a brighter side, however,
to the picture of society as it existed at this time at _Pará_. The
establishment of a wealthy colonist was so extensive as often to exceed
in number the population of a town. For instance, that of Joam de Mores
included more than three hundred persons, thirty sons or daughters, with
their children, sitting down every day at the family dinner-table. The
estate contained a pottery, a sugar-plantation, and several nurseries of
cacao. The negroes were treated like children, and were well looked
after. Such treatment of slaves, however, in this province, was the
exception.

Passing to the adjoining captaincy of _Maranham_, _S. Luiz_ was
accounted the fourth city of _Brazil_ in commercial importance, the
number of ships leaving it annually towards the close of the century
being nearly thirty, the result of the cultivation of rice and cotton.
The population of the city was estimated at twelve thousand. The
Carmelites, the Mercenarios, and the Franciscans had each a convent
here. The opulent merchants possessed large estates and numerous slaves,
some of them having as many as a thousand or fifteen hundred.
_Alcantara_, on the opposite side of the bay, was a large and prosperous
town, as was _Guimaraens_, ten leagues to the north. The interior of the
province was ill peopled.

Many rivers enter the sea in this captaincy, some of which are
navigable for a considerable way, and the banks of all of which are more
or less peopled. The most important of these is the _Itapacura_, the
territory between which and the _Paraïba_ was in great part peopled by a
population of European blood or by domesticated Indians, by means of
whom large quantities of rice and cotton were raised.

Although the course of the _Tocantins_ was well known in _Goyaz_ and
_Pará_, it was not until the year 1798 that an attempt was made to trace
its connection to _Maranham_, for the purpose of opening up a
communication by water between the two provinces in which it
respectively rises and ends. But although the effort of the Government
failed, the communication was established by means of a runaway Indian,
who had made his way in a canoe bound for _Goyaz_. A settler named
Barros, into whose territory the Indian penetrated, then built a canoe
on which he embarked with the Indian and three slaves upon the river
_Manoel Alves Grande_; this stream in a day and a half carried them into
the _Tocantins_, on which in due time they met a vessel from _Pará_.
After this successful expedition, Barros was employed in opening up a
communication along this important route. Throughout _Maranham_ the
cultivation of cotton had, for the most part, superseded that of the
sugar-cane. The captaincy produces an abundance of fruit of the finest
quality. The navigation of the coast of _Brazil_ is so difficult, on
account of both wind and current setting in at certain seasons from the
south, that it was easier for _Pará_ and _Maranham_ to communicate with
Portugal than with _Bahia_ or _Rio de Janeiro_; for which reason the
bishops of _Pará_ and _S. Luiz_ were suffragans of the Patriarch of
Lisbon.

_Maranham_, _Pernambuco_, _Bahia_, and _Minas Geraes_ all looked chiefly
to _Piauhy_ for their cattle. That country was explored and conquered,
not for the sake of its mines and slaves, but on account of its
pastures, on which cattle increased to an enormous extent, the mode of
life being similar to that on the _Pampas_ of the _Plata_. The
difficulty of utilizing these herds lay in transporting them to the
market over the waterless tracts that intervened. By means, however, of
tanks this difficulty was overcome.

It is unnecessary to go over the whole extent of _Brazil_, but one or
two instances may be given, showing the progress which it had already
made at the beginning of this century. When the Dutch possessed
_Paraïba_, that captaincy contained seven hundred families and twenty
_engenhos_; in the year 1775 its population was estimated at fifty-two
thousand--a population which was more than doubled in the course of
another quarter of a century.

_Pernambuco_ was, in the early part of this century, one of the most
nourishing parts of this great colonial empire; and its chief port,
_Recife_, was only inferior in importance to _Bahia_ and _Rio de
Janeiro_. It contained about twenty-five thousand inhabitants. No other
city had derived such benefit from the growth of the cotton trade. It
seems to have been a favourite place of resort with the religious
Orders; the Fathers of the Oratory, the Franciscans, and the Carmelites
had each a convent; whilst the Italian Capuchins and the Almoners of the
Holy Land had each a _hospice_. There was likewise a _Recolimento_ and a
hospital for lepers. The Governor resided in what had been the Jesuits’
College. Although people of Portuguese race are perhaps the most
temperate in the world, excepting Mahommedans and some other Asiatics,
the water-drinkers of _Recife_ were dependent for that element on
canoes, by which it was conveyed from the _Capivaribe_ or the
_Beberibe_--there being no aqueduct. The neighbouring city of _Olinda_
well maintained the reputation from which it takes its name.

In the agricultural or cattle-breeding districts in the interior of
_Brazil_ the mode of life was primitive; but, owing to the influence of
commerce at the ports, it was somewhat more civilized than in _La Plata_
or _Paraguay_ at the same period. Water was served in houses of all
classes for ablution before and after meals. It was the general custom
to sit on the ground. Knives and forks were superfluities, as were beds,
which were replaced by hammocks. The dress of the drover when away from
home was somewhat elaborate, as is that of the _Pampas gaucho_. The home
dress of the women was exceedingly simple; nor was their costume
luxurious abroad. The cattle were so numerous that the population ate
animal food three times a day, taking with it a cake made of mandioc or
of rice. Wild fruits were so abundant that none were cultivated save
water-melons. It is stated that the scattered population, in these
thinly-peopled districts, were indebted for their civilization to a
considerable extent to pedlars. These itinerant dealers supplied the
farmers and their families with almost every imaginable commodity,
including calico, earthenware, rum, tobacco, horsegear, and Irish
butter. They usually received payment in the shape of some other
commodity.

In the thinly-peopled districts parishes were of enormous extent.
Sometimes one could not find a church within eighty or one hundred
miles; and this state of things gave rise to a class of itinerant
priests, who travelled about carrying a portable altar and its
appurtenances in a pack-saddle. These travelling ecclesiastics were
furnished with licenses from a bishop, and were assisted at mass by the
boy who drove the pack-horse. As laws were but indifferently observed in
the _Sertam_, and murders were frequent, the services of the priest were
often required for absolution. Wherever a customer willing to pay could
be found, the altar was erected, and the service took place. These
priests could likewise perform the ceremonies of marriage and of
baptism.

Although rural crime was still frequent, it had decreased towards the
end of last century. There had existed a set of _bravos_ who used to
frequent fairs for the purpose of provoking quarrels, and who were a
constant source of very real danger; but so many of these gentry had
come to their deserved end that bucolic life was now much more secure.
There was at one time, likewise, a custom to parade certain towns at
night, the strollers being cloaked and masked, and in this guise
committing any pranks which occurred to them. This habit, too, was put
down.

The large number of ports in _Pernambuco_ gave that province the
inestimable advantage of a ready means of export for the produce of the
interior. Its richest and most influential inhabitants, whether
agricultural or commercial, were those most interested in the
preservation of order. They were the great promoters of civilization,
exercising a liberal hospitality. The long-continued Dutch war had left
the Pernambucans proud memories. Many of the chief inhabitants looked
upon themselves not only as being the landed aristocracy, but also as
being the descendants of the military aristocracy of _Brazil_. They had
indeed about them many of the distinguishing characteristics of a
nobility. Their estates went from father to son, and none of their
slaves were ever sold. The latter thus enjoyed the comforts and
advantages of a permanent residence, and they were, like the adherents
of an old Scottish chieftain, permitted to adopt the family name, of
which they were not a little proud.

The estates belonging to the monastic orders might boast of a similar
stability. Their slaves, likewise, were never parted with; and the
treatment of these was so paternal that corporal punishment was neither
needed nor thought of. Amongst the smaller proprietors, most of which
class were of mixed blood, the condition of slavery was alleviated by
the fact that master and slave were employed in the same work, and
partook of the same food. That food consisted in the last century, as it
does to-day, of jerked beef, salt fish, and mandioc flour. It was
further alleviated by the nature of the religious services in which the
half-coloured masters and their slaves took part, both worshipping at
the shrine of the same Virgin Mary, who was depicted as a negress.

In _Pernambuco_ there were two regiments of pure blacks, entitled,
respectively, the Old and New Henriques, in honour of Henrique Diaz,
whose services will be remembered in the Pernambucan War; there were
likewise mulatto regiments. It is remarkable that the gipsies should
have found their way into this province, where they preserve themselves
intact from other parts of the population. The wild Indians of this
province were, at the close of the century, well-nigh extinct.

The population of _Bahia_ was estimated, at the close of last century,
at one hundred thousand souls, two-thirds of whom were mulattoes or
negroes. It abounded in convents, nunneries, and other religious
establishments; but it likewise possessed public tribunals, and
professors of the liberal languages and sciences, as well as a theatre
and a mint. It is singular that this city should have been without a
single inn; but this circumstance becomes the less remarkable when it is
considered that its communication lay wholly with Portugal and with
Portuguese, who must have come to it provided with letters of
introduction. There were empty lodgings to be hired, as well as
eating-houses and coffee-shops.

The chief port of this magnificent bay presented a constant scene of
animation, eight hundred launches and boats of different sizes arriving
daily. Most of these, it is said, were laden with fruits and flowers.
But the port was the centre of trades of various descriptions. There was
in the neighbourhood a whale-fishery; there was a sugar-plantation in
the interior, which, in the _Reconcave_, contained the richest and most
populous portion of _Brazil_. This term included the whole sweep of this
bay, varying in breadth from twelve to forty miles. One of its largest
towns contained, at the beginning of this century, one thousand and
eighty-eight families. Its neighbourhood produced copper, and likewise
a plant that supplied the place of hemp or flax.

At the time of the capital of _Brazil_ being removed to _Rio de
Janeiro_, that city was estimated to contain a population of one hundred
thousand souls. At a time when the communication between Europe and
India was round the Cape of Good Hope, the position of this city gave it
great commercial advantages. Its harbour, beyond question the most
beautiful, was likewise one of the most capacious and commodious in the
world. The translation of the court from Lisbon to _Brazil_ gave it
freedom of trade and increase of capital. It must always occupy an
important position; but a full description of this incomparable place
must be deferred for the present.

The lately established captaincy of _Minas Geraes_ had made very
considerable strides. In the year 1776 the province contained about
three hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants. The whole sum of gold
extracted was estimated at forty-five millions sterling, which was
probably rather under than over the amount. If it effected no other
good, it certainly encouraged the spirit of discovery, and led to the
population of vast territories which would otherwise have remained
unexplored; whilst by its means Portugal was enabled to pay the balance
of trade against her. It is needless to observe that in _Minas Geraes_,
as in all other mining districts throughout the world, whether in
California, Australia, or Africa, the proportion of crime was enormous.

The captaincy of _S. Paulo_ is one of the greatest provinces of all
those of _Brazil_. The elevation of the capital makes it in point of
climate more desirable than that of any other city in the empire. It
contained at the time of the removal of the royal family about
twenty-four thousand inhabitants, one-half of them being European. Like
all other places in this country, it possessed almost a superabundance
of religious establishments; but it was likewise well provided with
places of education. The name of _Paulista_, which is synonymous with
that of an inveterate slave-stealer, has given a reputation to the
inhabitants of this province in general which certainly many of them did
not deserve.

It has been remarked as singular that so immense a country as _Brazil_,
formed as it was by an invading European race, should have maintained
its cohesion as it has done; but when the circumstances of the country
are considered, the wonder ceases; for in such a vast extent the scanty
population were so scattered that combination on any formidable scale
became almost impossible. As has been already said, the connecting tie
between the various units which form _Brazil_ became doubly knit by the
arrival of the family of Braganza, there to make their home.

     NOTE.--This and the preceding Chapters of Vol. II. relating to
     _Brazil_ are founded on

     “History of _Brazil_;” by Robert Southey;

     “_Barlæi_ (Casp.) _Rerum per octennium in Brazilia_,” 1680;

     “History of _Brazil_;” J. Henderson, 1821;

     “_Reise nach Brazilien, durch die Provinzen von Rio de Janeiro und
     Minas Geraes_;” Burmeister, Berlin, 1853;

     “Purchas,” iv.;

     “Travels in _Brazil_,” Koster (H.); 1817;

     Conder (Josiah), “_Brazil and Buenos Ayres_,” 1830;

     “_Relation d’un Voyage dans l’Interieur de l’Amérique Meridionale
     aux cotes du Brazil_;” Maest, 1778; and

     “Duguay-Trouin, _Mémoires de_;” Petitot, _2nde ser._, lxxv.




CHAPTER XVIII.

_REPULSE OF GENERAL WHITELOCKE AT BUENOS AYRES._

1806-1807.


[Sidenote: 1805.]

Spain having taken part with Napoleon against the English, by granting
the former a monthly subsidy, gave the latter power to make reprisals on
the Spanish colonies. The first act of war was the seizure of four
transports coming from _La Plata_--an act which decided Charles IV. to
declare himself openly the ally of Napoleon in the war, which
declaration was followed by the destruction of the Spanish fleet by
Nelson at Trafalgar. To this disaster may in a great measure be traced
the facility with which the Spanish possessions in South America were
subsequently enabled to throw off the yoke of Spain.

At the time when Nelson and the waves were accomplishing their work of
destruction the English Government despatched to the Southern Atlantic a
force of six thousand six hundred and fifty men, under the orders of Sir
David Baird. The destination of this expedition was kept a secret, but
it took the direction of _Brazil_, then in alliance with England.

Sobremonte, the ninth Viceroy of _La Plata_, when he heard of the
arrival of this force at _Rio de Janeiro_, became alarmed for the safety
of the provinces under his charge, and judged it probable that the
English would in the first instance attack _Monte Video_. He therefore
transported thither all his available troops, abandoning _Buenos Ayres_
to the care of the local militia of that place; but scarcely had he
completed his preparations for the defence of the Uruguayan capital,
when he learnt that the English had turned their prows in the direction
of the Cape of Good Hope, which important position they wrested from
Holland. The Viceroy breathed again, and returned to _Buenos Ayres_.

It was at that time the prevailing opinion in England that the Spanish
colonies in the southern continent of America were as anxious to throw
off the yoke of the mother country as had been her own colonies on the
northern continent to free themselves from their connection with Great
Britain; and this opinion was confirmed by General Miranda, a native of
_New Granada_, who had been long resident in England. This officer, who
had been banished from France, succeeded in persuading the English
Government that they had only to show themselves on the Southern
Atlantic and Pacific to be hailed as liberators. The assurance was the
more welcome in that the spoil was tempting, for South America was still
the land of gold and silver.

From the Cape of Good Hope it seemed feasible enough to make a dash on
_La Plata_. Even should it not be successful, it would at any rate
create alarm in Spain, and compel that country to weaken its strength at
home by sending out reinforcements to its transatlantic dominions.
Accordingly Sir David Baird and Admiral Popham, who commanded the fleet,
resolved to send a limited force to _Buenos Ayres_, which place they
were assured by an American officer recently arrived from there was not
in a condition to offer resistance, since Sobremonte had removed the
garrison to _Monte Video_. Sir Home Popham took the command of the
flotilla, on which were embarked one thousand six hundred and
thirty-five men under the orders of General Beresford.

[Sidenote: 1806.]

On the 6th of June 1806, the squadron arrived at the mouth of the
_Plata_, which stream the vessels had some difficulty in ascending; and
it was only on the 25th that they were able to come to anchor near the
village of _Quilmes_, at a distance of fifteen miles to the south of
_Buenos Ayres_. The Viceroy had, on the 17th of the month, learned of
the presence of the fleet in the river, and he had forthwith commenced
his preparations for defence; but, owing to the impossibility of
communicating with _Monte Video_,--since the English were masters of the
river,--he could do no more than muster the militia and transport the
contents of the treasury to _Lujan_, a small town at some miles’
distance in the interior.

On the 25th, the English disembarked without resistance, and throughout
that night the alarm-bell at _Buenos Ayres_ sounded unceasingly. The
Viceroy, realizing the uselessness of resistance, now thought only of
preparing to depart; but at daybreak a body of seven hundred horsemen
with six pieces of artillery, hastily gathered together and badly armed,
advanced towards the hostile force. This demonstration, however, did not
survive the first fire of the English skirmishers; the seven hundred
horsemen dispersed, leaving half of their artillery behind them, and
Beresford met with no further resistance on his march to the suburb of
_Barracas_, where he encamped on the evening of the 26th.

On the same night the Viceroy abandoned the city and set out with his
family for the interior; when the remaining Spanish authorities thought
only of capitulating. General Quintana, who commanded the militia, drew
up some conditions which he sent to Beresford, whose troops were already
in movement, and who, without halting, replied verbally that he would
grant what was required of him after he had taken possession of the
town. At three o’clock in the afternoon his force occupied the principal
square and the fort, on which the English flag now replaced that of
Spain.

Next day the municipality received orders to hand over to the English
the public treasury as well as the money which the Viceroy had sent to
_Lujan_, the commander giving it to be understood that this treasure was
the price exacted for exempting _Buenos Ayres_ from pillage. With this
possibility before them, the municipality hastened to beg Sobremonte not
to prolong a useless resistance and to accept the terms offered. The
terms were accepted, and an English officer was sent with an escort to
_Lujan_, whence, on the 5th of July, he returned with four cars, bearing
half a million of silver pieces, which treasure was forthwith
transported on board the “Narcissus,” the flag-ship of Sir Home Popham.
This ransom money, together with all that found in the public offices,
was sent to London, and deposited with great ceremony in the Bank of
England.

The English general now announced the conditions to be granted to the
conquered, who were required, in the first instance, to swear allegiance
to George III. The Catholic religion might be freely professed; private
property would be respected; all merchant-ships taken in the port would
be restored; commerce would be free as in English colonies; and civil
and judicial authorities who should swear allegiance to England should
be permitted to retain their functions.

But, notwithstanding the seemingly complete submission, the great
majority of the people of _Buenos Ayres_ were not the mere passive
spectators which they appeared. The greater proportion of the public
_employés_ took the required oath of allegiance; the colonial society
opened its _salons_ to the English officers, and the _Porteña_ beauties
were not displeased to number them amongst their admirers; but the
townspeople in general could not tamely reconcile themselves to see
their city, with its seventy-two thousand inhabitants, at the mercy of a
paltry force of sixteen hundred men.

The Viceroy, Sobremonte, having tried in vain to assemble the militia,
set out for _Cordova_, to which place he announced he had transferred
the capital. General Beresford, on his part, was so sensible of the
weakness of his position that he lost no time in begging Sir David Baird
to send a reinforcement to enable him to retain his conquest. He
likewise thought of seizing _Monte Video_; but, as this place was
garrisoned by regular troops, he did not flatter himself with the idea
that it would fall into his hands as easily as had _Buenos Ayres_, the
malcontents of which latter place had a round-about means of
communication with the royal troops by way of _S. Fernando_, the islands
and the _Uruguay_.

The Spanish colonies of South America had been so treated throughout by
the mother country as mere political children, that the people of
_Buenos Ayres_, although they saw the disgrace of the position in which
they were placed, were almost incapable of the political vigour
necessary for the effort to escape from it. What they wanted above all
was a leader; and had they depended solely on colonial genius at this
juncture it is very unlikely that General Beresford would have been
disturbed in his possession, or at least that any local leader would
have been found with the necessary qualities to effect a successful
revolt. But the needful leading spirit was found in the person of a
Frenchman.

Jacques Liniers had been thirty years in the service of Spain. He had
for some time occupied the post of governor of _Misiones_, and at the
time of the English invasion was captain of the small port of
_Enseñada_. He was brave, active, and enterprising, but somewhat apt to
be carried away, and without much solidity of character. On learning the
triumph of the English, he had asked and had obtained permission to
visit his family at _Buenos Ayres_, but had declined to take the oath of
allegiance. It was easy for him to perceive that the common people did
not accept the foreign domination with the same resignation which was
displayed by the wealthier colonists, who had much to lose in the case
of a continuance of military operations; he likewise realized the fact
that the _gauchos_ of the surrounding _pampas_ might materially aid a
movement which should take the shape of partisan warfare in which they
might fight after their own loose fashion. By good luck and a little
daring he might easily get the better of an enemy so inconsiderable in
number.

Having arranged his plan of action, and acting in accord with _Señor_
Puirredon and other _Creole_ patriots, Liniers quietly quitted _Buenos
Ayres_ and made the journey to _Monte Video_, where he communicated his
project to General Huïdobro, who commanded there, and from whom he asked
some troops, by whose aid he assured him he would compel the English to
re-embark. Huïdobro was willing to aid these patriots with all the
resources in his power; and Puirredon and two others were sent into the
country in different directions to arrange for a rising. At the same
time a small force of regular soldiers, placed under the orders of
Liniers, marched for _Colonia_, opposite to _Buenos Ayres_, where it was
awaited by a flotilla of light boats such as might easily evade the
English vessels in the shallow waters of the _Plata_. Under a thick fog
the flotilla crossed to the right bank, and the men disembarked at
twenty-one miles to the north of the capital.

Meanwhile Puirredon with some raw forces had encountered the English. A
small column of five hundred men and three guns had been sent by
Beresford to drive the insurgents from _Moron_ and other small villages
where they had assembled. At the first fire the untrained levies were
scattered; but the practised horsemen merely continued to circle round
the enemy, and in this manner accidentally arrived near one of the
field-pieces, of which by a sudden charge they were able to obtain
possession. The English column returned to _Buenos Ayres_ much
chagrined at this misfortune at the hands of an enemy which they had no
means of overtaking.

When Liniers arrived at _San Fernando_ he found the _gauchos_ all
excitement at the piece of luck which had befallen them, and which
revealed to them their own value in partisan warfare against the
English. His small force was composed of sixty-six grenadiers, two
hundred and twenty-seven dragoons, a hundred and fifty-eight volunteers,
a hundred and forty Catalonians, a hundred artillerymen, three hundred
Spanish seamen, sixty seamen from the islands, and seventy-three men
belonging to a French privateer, who wished to take part in the affair;
in all, of eleven hundred and twenty-four men, with two large guns and
four small pieces. After the _gaucho_ success, however, he had good
reason to believe that he would be joined by numerous recruits, and he
therefore boldly marched on _Buenos Ayres_.

On the afternoon of the 10th of August he reached the northern suburb,
and with such despatch had his operations been conducted that up till
now the English had had no notice of his proceedings. His
prognostication had been correct as to his receiving recruits, for his
little army was already nearly tripled in number; but unfortunately most
of the new arrivals were without arms. Such volunteers, however, besides
giving his force the appearance of being more formidable than it really
was, were of use in the way of contributing to the transport.

On the morning of the 11th, Liniers sent a flag of truce to Beresford,
requiring him to surrender. On receiving his reply in the negative, the
colonists resolutely entered the town, and took possession of an edifice
in which they established their headquarters; and the English, beset on
all sides, were obliged to concentrate their defence in the central
square and the neighbouring streets. On the morning of the 12th the
Catalonian sharp-shooters, together with the men of the French
privateer, penetrated as far as the cathedral, the front of which looked
on the square. Then commenced a general street-fight, in which regular
troops are under many disadvantages. From the balconies and the
flat-roofs of the houses there rained on the English a shower of
missiles of all sorts. They were driven back into the square and were
forced to abandon the neighbouring streets.

Having thus cleared his way, Liniers was enabled to bring up his
artillery and to pour small shot into the English as they were packed
round the fort. It was then that Captain Kennet of the Engineers,
General Beresford’s secretary, fell at the side of his chief. The noise
of the firing and the cries of some fifteen thousand men who took part
in the struggle were so deafening as to prevent the orders of the
officers from being heard; and Beresford perceived that it was necessary
to retreat within the fort, which he was the last of his force to enter.

A well-sustained fusillade proved fatal to all such as showed themselves
above the ramparts, which in addition were commanded by the flat roofs
of the houses, whose inmates might fire in perfect safety on the devoted
English. Thus, seeing resistance useless, Beresford ordered a flag of
truce to be hoisted; but this signal not being understood or regarded by
the assailants, and the fire continuing, the Spanish flag was raised and
the future victor of Albuera, showing himself upon the rampart, flung
his sword into the ditch, whereupon the firing ceased.

Liniers readily granted his brave adversary all the honours of war. An
hour later the English general and his staff, together with the 71st
regiment, whose colours bore the names of various actions in the United
States and also of _Saint Jean d’Acre_, had to lay down their arms and
standards before the raw forces of the Gascon, by which they were
marched in line, and whose prisoners of war they remained. The English
occupation of _Buenos Ayres_ had lasted forty-seven days. Its abrupt
termination was chiefly due to the utter absence of any
intelligence-department in the occupying force. It is difficult to
attach blame to General Beresford in this or indeed in any other
respect. He had, in obedience to superior orders, undertaken an
enterprise for which the force at his disposal was utterly inadequate,
and so rapid were the movements of Liniers that he could not possibly
anticipate his coming at the head of an expedition capable of opposing
him. Even had he anticipated his arrival it is not easy to see what he
could have done, quartered as he was in a little fort commanded on three
sides by the houses of a hostile town, which had so well disguised its
hostility as to afford him no pretext for treating it in an unfriendly
manner. Had he adopted the alternative course of destroying all the
houses whose vicinity to the fort endangered his position, he would
have, doubtless, raised the population against him, and would have found
it impossible to obtain provisions for his troops. As it was, he saw the
insecurity of his position and had demanded succours from the Cape of
Good Hope; but the intelligence and activity of Liniers anticipated
their arrival.

This victory on the part of the inhabitants of a province, unaided by
Spain, had immense results, since it showed the colonists at the same
time their own strength and the inability of the mother country to
defend them. Liniers had in fact, to use the words of Mr. Canning,
called a new world into existence.

       *       *       *       *       *

After the surrender of Beresford the city of _Buenos Ayres_ assumed
control of its own destinies. The fugitive Viceroy, Sobremonte, who, had
he acted from the first with decision, would have placed himself at the
head of the armed forces at _Monte Video_, and there raised the national
standard, had at length succeeded in assembling a militia force with
which he advanced to the capital. But his evident incapacity had made
him odious to the people of _Buenos Ayres_; and these, elated by their
triumph, resolved no longer to submit to his authority. The municipality
summoned the principal inhabitants for the purpose of choosing a new
government. On the 14th of August, two days after the surrender of
Beresford, the meeting took place. But the citizens had scarcely
assembled when the hall was crowded by the people, who with one voice
demanded the election of Liniers. This selection made, a commission was
appointed to notify to Sobremonte that he was no longer chief of the
provinces of _La Plata_.

Sobremonte, on receiving this information, had nothing better to do than
to betake himself to _Monte Video_, where his militia forces might be of
use in defending that place, which was still menaced by the fleet of
Admiral Popham. The representatives of _Buenos Ayres_, foreseeing the
probability of a future visit from the English, now decided that their
town should be put in a state of defence forthwith. The people had
already grasped the idea that they could govern themselves better than
could Spain, and likewise that they were better qualified to select a
suitable governor than was the court of Madrid. Nevertheless, as yet no
one thought of raising his voice in favour of a separation from the
mother country.

But Liniers was not long in realizing the fact that, although he had
been elected Viceroy, the people who had elected him were nevertheless
his masters; and he was compelled to withdraw the concessions which in a
spirit of soldier-like generosity he had granted to Beresford and his
men. When things had calmed down a little, the municipality had leisure
to reflect that it might be well to send some explanation to Spain
regarding the events which had occurred; and the envoy chosen for this
purpose was Puirredon, who could claim the honour of having captured
the first English piece of artillery taken. There were indeed already
two parties in _Buenos Ayres_; the one that of Liniers, who as Viceroy
represented the Spanish Government, and the other that of Puirredon, who
represented the colonial democracy; and this rivalry was sedulously
taken advantage of by those who aimed at the independence of the colony,
and whose spokesman was Moreno. These men suggested that the new
battalions to be enrolled for the defence of _Buenos Ayres_ should be
pledged to that province as a nationality. Four battalions of infantry
were formed, and amongst the local militia was a corps of mulattoes and
negroes, whilst there were six squadrons of _gaucho_ cavalry.

[Sidenote: 1806.]

Whilst thus in the lower Platine provinces all was preparation for the
struggle which every one foresaw, in England bright hopes were built on
the capture of the South-American city whose loss was not yet known. Sir
David Baird, who was still at the Cape of Good Hope, received orders to
reinforce Beresford with fourteen hundred men; and on the 11th of
October, 1806, a squadron, commanded by Admiral Sterling, and carrying
four thousand three hundred and fifty soldiers, under the orders of Sir
Samuel Auchmuty, set sail for the _Plata_. On the 12th of November,
another expedition of four thousand three hundred and ninety-one men,
under the command of General Crawford, set out for _Chili_. The fourteen
hundred men from the Cape of Good Hope reached the River _Plate_ after
the surrender of Beresford, and when Admiral Popham had realized that it
was of no use to think of retaking that town. Even _Monte Video_ was by
this time so well prepared that it was impossible for him to reduce that
place with the insufficient forces at his disposal. He therefore thought
fit to land at _Maldonado_, a small harbour on the left side of the
river, where he disembarked his men, and awaited an addition to his
strength.

No sooner was the defeat of Beresford known in England than the ministry
despatched a fast vessel from Portsmouth with orders to General Crawford
to join Sir Samuel Auchmuty; whilst, shortly afterwards, a third body,
consisting of sixteen hundred and thirty picked troops, set out under
the orders of Lieutenant-General John Whitelocke, who was to assume the
command-in-chief of the united English forces in _La Plata_, whose
number would amount to twelve thousand men, supported by a fleet of
eighteen men-of-war, together with eighty transports.

[Sidenote: 1807.]

General Auchmuty was the first to arrive. Taking with him the fourteen
hundred men whom Popham had landed at _Maldonado_, and likewise three
hundred men from the fleet, he invested _Monte Video_ on the 28th of
January. He was attacked by Sobremonte, with some mounted militia, but
who were quickly dispersed, and who retired to _Colonia_. Auchmuty then
established his batteries, and commenced to bombard _Monte Video_ from
the south. On the 2d of February the breach was declared practicable,
and at daylight on the 3d the general ordered an assault.

An English writer, who as a youth was present at the assault on _Monte
Video_, gives a vivid picture of the scene. Arriving with high hopes in
the river _Plata_, in December 1806, the author of “Letters on
_Paraguay_,” and his fellow-travellers, learned to their dismay that
_Buenos Ayres_ had been retaken by the Spaniards, and that General
Beresford and his army were prisoners. Sir Samuel Auchmuty was now
investing _Monte Video_, and, with the exception of the country
immediately around that town, there was no footing for Englishmen in
Spanish America. The “Enterprise” was ordered to proceed to the
roadstead, there, together with hundreds of other ships similarly
situated, to be under the orders of the English admiral.

_Monte Video_ was strongly and regularly fortified. Its harbour
presented a scene of the greatest animation; brigs-of-war were running
close under the walls, and bombarding the citadel from the sea, whilst
thousands of spectators on board ship were tracing, in breathless
suspense, the impression made by every shell upon the town, and by every
ball upon the breach. The frequent _sorties_ made by the Spanish troops,
and the repulses which they sustained, were watched with painful
interest.

At length, one morning before dawn, the breach was enveloped in one
mighty spread of conflagration. The roar of cannon was incessant, and
the atmosphere was one dense mass of smoke, impregnated with the smell
of gunpowder. By the aid of the night-glass, and by the flashes from the
guns, it might be seen that a deadly struggle was going forward on the
walls. It was succeeded by an awful pause; and presently the dawn of day
revealed the British ensign floating from the battlements. The sight was
received by a shout of triumph from the fleet.

That day the travellers might land, and might view the scene of the
terrible carnage which had ensued. The grenadier company of the 40th
regiment, missing the breach, had been annihilated. Colonel Vassall, of
the 38th regiment, had been the first to mount, and whilst waving his
sword had fallen, shot through the heart. The breach had been barricaded
again and again with piles of tallow in skins, and with bullocks’ hides,
which as they gave way carried the assailants with them on to the points
of the enemy’s bayonets. The carnage on both sides was dreadful and was
long uninterrupted; and piles of wounded, or of dead and dying, were to
be seen on every side, whilst sufferers were being conveyed on litters
to the hospitals and churches.

This writer bears the highest testimony to the discipline of the British
troops as well as to the energy and philanthropy of their general, owing
to which a speedy stop was put to the scenes of pillage which
invariably accompany the capture of a fortified city. But to those who
have witnessed the terrible effects produced by a bombardment, it is
astonishing how quickly its results may be made to disappear, and such
was now the case at _Monte Video_. In a week or two, says Mr. Robertson,
the more prominent ravages of war disappeared, and in a month after the
capture the inhabitants were getting as much confidence in their
invaders as could possibly be expected. This early confidence was mainly
attributable to the mild and equitable government of the
commander-in-chief, Sir Samuel Auchmuty, who permitted the civil
institutions of the country to remain unchanged, and who showed the
greatest affability to all classes. The hundreds of vessels in the
harbour now discharged their human freight, who were able somehow to
procure accommodation on shore; and _Monte Video_ soon began to have the
appearance of being an English town, since to its mixed population of
Spaniards, _Creoles_, and Mulattoes were added some four thousand
English soldiers, together with two thousand merchants, traders, and
adventurers of the same nation.

The loss of the Spaniards in the assault had been seven hundred men. The
garrison, together with its commander General Huïdobro, became
prisoners, six hundred of whom were despatched to England. The news of
the capture of _Monte Video_ produced such commotion in _Buenos Ayres_,
that the people who could not yet readily believe that they were not
invincible, chose to impute the blame to Sobremonte. He was accordingly
solemnly deposed by a popular vote, the chief authority being vested in
the High Court of Justice, pending the receipt of orders from Spain,
whither Sobremonte was sent. Thus the province of _Buenos Ayres_ was in
full course of revolution. It was the people who had taken the lead in
every movement which had followed the attack on Beresford; but as they
were acting against the enemies of the King of Spain, everything was
done in the name of that monarch, even to the degradation and dismissal
of his Viceroy. The High Court of Justice, to which was temporarily
confided the executive power, was composed exclusively of Spaniards. The
magistrates, though they did not fail to perceive the revolutionary
tendency of events, were yet aware that the _Creoles_ alone were in a
position to withstand the English; they therefore yielded to the
current. The leaders of the revolutionary party took advantage of the
complaisance of the Spanish authorities; and the municipality, who were
greatly influenced by popular meetings, assumed every day greater
importance.

On the capture of _Monte Video_ the English established themselves in
that most desirable place in a manner which showed that they had every
intention of retaining possession of it. Whilst General Auchmuty
occupied the chief city and likewise _Maldonado_, Colonel Pack had
driven the Spaniards from _Colonia_, and the side of the river _Plata_,
which to-day belongs to the Republic of _Uruguay_, was then in full
English possession. Already the merchant ships thronged the river-side,
carrying more goods than the people could afford to buy. In _Monte
Video_ goods were sold at a hundred per cent. less than the prices
which, owing to Custom-House exactions, they had hitherto commanded.
Even a half-English, half-Spanish journal, called the “The Southern
Star,” was set on foot under English auspices, with a view of
proclaiming the downfall of Spain.

General Whitelocke did not reach the _Plata_ until three months after
the capture of _Monte Video_. He was promptly joined by General
Crawford, who had been overtaken on the Atlantic by the despatch-boat
sent after him. With the united force at his disposal the reconquest of
_Buenos Ayres_ and its territory seemed to the commander-in-chief, as to
everybody else, a very simple affair, as indeed it was. It was
impossible to conceive that where a force of sixteen hundred men had in
the first instance succeeded, one of ten thousand of the same army
should fail. The reason, however, is not far to seek. It lay in the
difference between Beresford and Whitelocke.

The English force was divided into four brigades. The first, composed of
a battalion of rifles and one of infantry of the line, was commanded by
General Crawford; the second, composed of three battalions, was led by
Sir Samuel Auchmuty; the third, of two battalions and a regiment of
dismounted dragoons, was under General Lumley; the fourth, likewise of
two battalions and a regiment of dismounted dragoons, was under Colonel
Mahon. The mounted batteries were kept in reserve, under the immediate
orders of the commander-in-chief. The entire effective force amounted to
nearly ten thousand men, some two thousand having been left for the
defence of Monte Video, together with a small body of militia composed
of all the English residents.

The expedition set out amidst the cheers of the fleet, and on Sunday,
the 28th of June, the troops disembarked at the small port of
_Enseñada_, forty-eight miles south of _Buenos Ayres_. Why a spot so
distant from the city should have been selected it is not easy to
imagine; but this was in accordance with all the subsequent proceedings
of the general. Their landing was unopposed by the Spaniards, who, of
course, anticipated that it would be effected nearer the town, probably
at _Quilmes_, where Beresford had set foot. Without loss of time the
advanced guard, under General Levison Gower, the second in command, was
_en route_, and it was followed by the main body of the army, which
marched without opposition to _Quilmes_. So far, notwithstanding the low
marshy ground and the immense bogs and lakes which intervene between
_Enseñada_ and _Buenos Ayres_, all went well, and it seemed scarcely
possible to anticipate any but a favourable result of the enterprise. As
no communication could be kept between the naval and land forces, the
army had to encumber itself with the immense load of provisions
necessary for the subsistence of ten thousand men during one week. For
hours together the men were up to their middle in water, their artillery
being often swamped in the marshes. Their provisions were scanty and
wet; nor was there any shelter from the intense cold, even the supply of
wine and spirits running short. The troops marched through a desert, the
inhabitants having vanished, together with their horses and cattle.

_Buenos Ayres_ was no longer the timid colonial city which Beresford had
found it. The president of the municipality was _Señor_ Alzaga, an
energetic partisan of the King, and who carried great authority in the
city, where his fortune placed him in the front rank. The people were
armed. The national battalions were animated by the best spirit.
Liniers, always brave, had now to sustain his high reputation and to win
from the Crown the confirmation of the title which he had received from
the people. Their past success gave both chief and soldiers confidence.
They had seen what street-fighting was, and Whitelocke and his men would
have to run the gauntlet of armed streets before reaching the fort.

Such was the spirit by which the colonial forces were animated, when, on
the 1st of July, General Whitelocke reached the village of _Quilmes_,
fifteen miles to the south of the town. A force of six thousand eight
hundred and fifty men, with fifty-three guns, marched out of the town to
defend the passage of the _Riochuelo_. On the succeeding night the two
armies were encamped, respectively, on either bank of the stream which
separated them. Next morning at daybreak the Spaniards were drawn up in
battle order, anticipating an attack from the enemy; but General Gower,
after having exchanged some shots, moved his troops to the left, with
the intention of passing the _Riochuelo_, three miles higher up. Liniers
followed his movement, but he did not arrive in time to interfere with
his effecting the passage. He, however, succeeded in placing himself
between the enemy and the town, near the _Miserere_, on the south-west
of the city.

A combat now took place between the _Creole_ militia and the brigade of
General Crawford; but the discipline of the English troops and their
great superiority in artillery quickly decided the day in their favour.
The _Creoles_ abandoned the field, leaving the whole of their artillery
behind. The colonial force then became divided into two bodies. The
cavalry, passing the English left, gained the plains. Liniers, who now
gave up the town for lost, following the horsemen, gave them orders to
rendezvous at _Chacharita_, a well-known farm three miles to the English
rear. This was a wise measure on the part of the general; for had these
fugitives entered the town they would doubtless have added to the dismay
of the citizens, whilst from this position he could still annoy the
English. The infantry took refuge in _Buenos Ayres_, where the general
feeling had now undergone considerable revulsion. The night was cold and
wet; the fugitives, worn out by the fatigues of the preceding day, were
exhausted and beaten; the general was absent, no one knew where.

And here was renewed the series of infatuated mistakes committed by
General Whitelocke. Instead of pursuing the broken enemy and taking
advantage of their panic, he allowed them a night of repose, during
which the energy of Alzaga was able in a great measure to repair the
disastrous effects of the rout of _Miserere_. The chief of the
municipality had not allowed himself to be carried away by the despair
of the troops in the absence of the governor; he rather felt stimulated
to increased energy. By his orders the soldiers were carefully tended in
the municipality and in the barracks, and were cheered with the hope of
better fortune in the future. Alzaga likewise caused ditches to be dug
in the streets round the principal parade, facing the fort. He also sent
messengers to Liniers, who, making a long detour,

[Illustration: BUENOS-AYRES

1807.]

succeeded in throwing himself into the town together with his horsemen.

On the morning of the 2nd of July, _Buenos Ayres_ was already in a state
of defence. The troops were distributed on the roofs of the churches, on
the terraces of the houses, and on the balconies; whilst some pieces of
artillery were put in position behind the ditches and behind the
barricades which had been erected round the parade and round an open
space called the _Retiro_. Thus when General Gower, who led the advanced
guard, summoned the town to surrender, the aspect of affairs was
entirely changed from that of the preceding evening; confidence had
succeeded discouragement, and good hopes were entertained of yet saving
the town. Alzaga replied, that he would not listen to any proposition
for the surrender of the garrison.

Under these circumstances the English had to consider their mode of
attack, and they employed the following day in making their
preparations. On the 4th, the garrison made a _sortie_, and compelled
their assailants to abandon some houses in the suburbs where they had
taken shelter. There was also a slight encounter between the 88th
regiment and one of mulattoes. The result of these two slight affairs
did not fail to encourage the Spaniards.

_Buenos Ayres_, according to a plan before me, at that time consisted of
twenty-four square blocks of buildings of a hundred and fifty yards on
every side, to the east of the centre parade facing the fort, and of six
complete blocks of the same dimensions, together with a number of
incomplete ones, lying in the opposite direction. The back of the fort
faced the river, having six square blocks to the east and four to the
west. The city being laid out on a perfectly regular plan, was divided
by parallel streets cutting each other in prolonged lines between the
various square blocks of buildings. The central space in front of the
fort would have held four blocks; that is to say, it was about three
hundred and fifteen yards square. The city was entirely blockaded from
the side of the river, and General Whitelocke had the means at his
disposal of blockading it in like manner on the other three sides, and
thus of very quickly starving it into submission without striking a
blow. Since he had failed to take it by a _coup de main_ after the fight
of _Miserere_, this would have been his simplest plan, more especially
in view of Beresford’s disastrous experience of street-fighting. It
would likewise have had the advantage of being unattended by any
appreciable loss of life. He might, on the other hand, have bombarded
the town, since its garrison refused to surrender; or, he might have
advanced by degrees, clearing out each square block of houses as he
proceeded, and making each a ground from which to operate on the next.

But General Whitelocke seemed infatuated, and left no one thing undone
to play into the enemy’s hands. Having given orders that his troops
should not load their pieces, lest they might be tempted to delay for
the purpose of returning the enemy’s fire, he divided his entire force
into eight bodies, who should penetrate simultaneously into the town,
and, disregarding the street-fire which was sure to be poured upon them
from the tops of the flat-roofed houses, should make straight for the
river, whence, turning to the right and to the left, respectively, they
should make for the central parade and occupy the highest buildings.

In accordance with the above plan, the 45th regiment, which was on the
right, penetrated without difficulty to the _Residencia_, of which it
took possession. The light division, composed of rifles and light
infantry, notwithstanding a hail of balls which fell on it from the
balconies, windows and roofs, was able to arrive in front of the
Dominicans’ convent; and, breaking open the gates, the men penetrated
into the church, where they found the flags which had been taken from
the 71st in the previous year. Ascending the turrets, the rifles there
hoisted the same flags, and from this commanding position they directed
a very effective fire on the citizens who occupied the terraces of the
neighbouring houses. But the fort, perceiving the English flag on the
towers of the convent, directed towards it such a cannonade that the
English who were there shut up and who had been meanwhile cut off there
by the militia, were forced to surrender at discretion. One of the
prisoners was Colonel Pack, who had already been made prisoner with
Beresford, and who, having escaped, had joined in the attack on the
convent of _San Domingo_.

Another English column, under the orders of Colonel Cadogan, after
having lost a fourth of its number, was obliged to lay down its arms,
being enclosed in a circle of fire near the Jesuits’ college. A like
fate befell the 88th regiment under Duff, after it had penetrated by the
central streets to the parade. The 36th regiment, which had entered by
the streets of _Corrientes_ and of _Tucuman_, was compelled to fall back
on the _Retiro_, in spite of the heroic efforts of General Lumley. The
5th regiment, having suffered less, arrived at the convent of _St.
Catherine_, where it took up its quarters, to the scandal and terror of
the nuns.

The 87th regiment, under the orders of Auchmuty, had attacked the
_Retiro_ and had been cut up by the fire of the troops shut up in the
_Plaza de Tauros_; but Colonel Nugent, having seized a battery which
defended the approaches on this side, turned the guns against the
edifice occupied by the Spaniards, and the six hundred men who had
resisted the attack of Auchmuty, being crushed by the fire of Nugent,
were obliged to surrender.

Night put an end to the dismal combat. The 5th regiment remained in the
convent. Auchmuty and Whitelocke were besieged in the _Retiro_. The
greater part of the 45th occupied the _Residencia_ together with a
German battalion which had been left as a reserve. This fatal day had
cost the English 1130 men killed and wounded, amongst whom were seventy
officers. There were likewise made prisoners and shut up in the convents
and barracks, a hundred and twenty officers and fifteen hundred
soldiers, after having surrendered their arms and ammunition to the
local militia or the citizens.

On the morning of the 6th General Whitelocke had still at his disposal
some five thousand effective men. He placed himself in communication
with the fleet, from which he could receive provisions and
reinforcements, as well as big guns to use against the town.

Liniers seeing that it was still possible for either side to fight, and
wishing to avoid an unnecessary effusion of blood, took the bold step of
sending a flag of truce to the English general, with the proposal to
surrender all his prisoners, including those taken with Beresford,
providing he should consent to at once embark with all his forces, and
depart.

And now occurred an incident which, but for its grave consequences,
would border on the ludicrous. In drawing up his communication to the
English general, Liniers had merely stipulated that in return for his
prisoners, the latter should evacuate the territory of _Buenos Ayres_.
Being a brave officer himself, it never occurred to him that General
Whitelocke, who was still in possession of _Monte Video_, and at the
head of an army of seven thousand effective men, not to speak of the
fleet, could be asked to surrender his hold on _Uruguay_. But Alzaga
thought otherwise. He insisted that the terms of convention should
include the surrender of _Monte Video_. Liniers remonstrated that they
had not taken _Monte Video_, and that they might be quite satisfied by
obtaining the relief of _Buenos Ayres_. To this Alzaga replied that
there could be no harm in inserting a clause demanding the restoration
of _Monte Video_, since, at the worst, it could only be objected to. The
clause was accordingly inserted--and complied with without remonstrance.

When Whitelocke received the above proposals he at first rejected them;
but he nevertheless demanded an armistice of twenty-four hours to carry
away the wounded. Liniers, whose wounded were safely housed, replied by
reopening a fire on the _Retiro_. The English made a _sortie_, in which
they are said to have suffered even more than on the day preceding. The
Buenos Ayrian writers admit that the English troops, officers and
soldiers alike, penetrated through the deadly streets with the utmost
intrepidity; but their confidence was entirely broken, as well it might
be, when they saw themselves the victims of such a general. They fought
as it was their duty to fight, but not with the least hope of
conquering. The colonists, on the other hand, were full of confidence;
and Alzaga was more than ever determined that the terms of capitulation
should include _Monte Video_.

In the course of the afternoon General Gower presented himself at the
fort under a flag of truce. He was the bearer of propositions from
General Whitelocke almost identical with those that had been drawn up by
Liniers under the advice of Alzaga. The English plenipotentiary was
received by Liniers, by Generals Balbiana and Velasco, and by the Mayor
Alzaga. The proposals of General Whitelocke were accepted; forty-eight
hours were accorded to the English in which to evacuate _Buenos Ayres_,
and the term of two months for embarking from _Monte Video_, and
quitting every part of the _Plata_. The capitulation was ratified next
day (the 7th of July) by the English general, and the city of _Buenos
Ayres_ not unnaturally gave itself over to triumph when, on the
following day, it saw the English ships weigh anchor previous to their
departure.

In reviewing the series of events which sprang from the same cause that
produced the victory of Trafalgar, and which ended so ignominiously for
England, the result is to be traced wholly to the personal character of
three individuals--Liniers, Whitelocke, and Alzaga. But for the
sparkling Frenchman, who was in effect the father of the South-American
republics, it is probable that General Beresford would not have been
disturbed in his possession of _Buenos Ayres_ until he had been placed
in a position of security by the arrival of reinforcements from the Cape
of Good Hope, and that, therefore, the expedition of Whitelocke would
never have had its part to play. Next, but for the pitiable character of
that officer,[15] to which, rather than either to Liniers or to Alzaga,
was due the repulse of the English, it seemed scarcely possible that so
mighty a force should have failed to reduce a city defended only by a
single fort, and by troops that had been already vanquished. Lastly, but
for the pertinacity of Alzaga, _Monte Video_ and its charming
territories would in all probability have, like the Cape of Good Hope,
belonged to England at the present day. The latter result is especially
to be deplored; since _Uruguay_, which under English administration
might have proved an earthly paradise, and a pattern to other States on
the same continent, has been foremost amongst the South-American
republics as a standing piece of irony on the famous phrase of Canning.

As the further fate of General Whitelocke and his luckless command,
although interesting to Englishmen, does not properly belong to
South-American history, I reserve it for an appendix.

     NOTE.--Chapter XVIII. is founded on “_La Plata_,” _par_ Santiago
     Arcos; Paris: Michel Lévy Frères, 1865;

     “Letters on _Paraguay_,” by J. P. and W. P. Robertson. John Murray,
     London, 1839;

     “Trial of General Whitelocke;” London, 1808;

     “Whitelocke’s Expedition.” By an Officer. London, 1808.




APPENDIX.




I.


     A general court-martial was held at Chelsea Hospital, on
     Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, on January 28, 1808. Its members
     included the conqueror of Agra and Lasswarree, and the future hero
     of Coruña. They were General the Right Hon. Sir W. Medows, General
     the Hon. Chapel Norton, General Viscount Lake, General Hulse,
     General Ogilvie, General Cuyler, Lieutenant-General the Right Hon.
     H. E. Fox, Lieutenant-General Sir James Duff, Knight;
     Lieutenant-General Harris, Lieutenant-General Viscount Cathcart,
     Lieutenant-General Dundas, Lieutenant-General Ross,
     Lieutenant-General Pigot, Lieutenant-General Sir George Nugent,
     Bart.; Lieutenant-General Loftus, Lieutenant-General Wilford,
     Lieutenant-General Garth, Lieutenant-General Lloyd,
     Lieutenant-General Stavely, Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, K.B.

     _First Charge._--That Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, having
     received instructions from his Majesty’s Principal Secretary of
     State to proceed for the reduction of the province of _Buenos
     Ayres_, pursued measures ill calculated to facilitate that
     conquest; that when the Spanish Commander had shown such symptoms
     of a disposition to treat, as to express a desire to communicate
     with Major-General Gower, the second in command, upon the subject
     of terms, the said Lieutenant-General Whitelocke did return a
     message, in which he demanded, amongst other articles, the
     surrender of all persons holding civil offices in the government of
     _Buenos Ayres_, as prisoners of war: that the said
     Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, in making such an offensive and
     unusual demand, tending to exasperate the inhabitants of _Buenos
     Ayres_, to produce and encourage a spirit of resistance to his
     Majesty’s arms, to exclude the hope of amicable accommodation, and
     to increase the difficulties of the service with which he was
     intrusted, acted in a manner unbecoming his duty as an officer,
     prejudicial to military discipline, and contrary to the articles of
     war.

     _Second Charge._--That the said Lieutenant-General Whitelocke,
     after the landing of the troops at _Enseñada_, and during the march
     from thence to the town of _Buenos Ayres_, did not make the
     military arrangements best calculated to ensure the success of his
     operations against the town, and that having known, previously to
     his attack upon the town of _Buenos Ayres_ upon the 5th July 1807,
     as appears from his public despatch of the 10th of July, that the
     enemy meant to occupy the flat roofs of the houses, he did
     nevertheless, in the said attack, divide his forces into several
     brigades and parts, and ordered the whole to be unloaded, and no
     firing to be permitted on any account; and, under this order, to
     march into the principal streets of the town unprovided with proper
     and sufficient means for forcing the barricadoes, whereby the
     troops were unnecessarily exposed to destruction, without the
     possibility of making effectual opposition such conduct betraying
     great professional incapacity on the part of the said
     Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, tending to lessen the confidence of
     the troops in the judgment of their officers, being derogatory to
     the honour of His Majesty’s arms, contrary to his duty as an
     officer, prejudicial to good order and military discipline, and
     contrary to the articles of war.

     _Third Charge._--That the said Lieutenant-General did not make,
     although it was in his power, any effectual attempt by his own
     personal exertion or otherwise, to co-operate with, or support, the
     different divisions of the army under his command, when engaged
     with the enemy in the streets of _Buenos Ayres_ on the 5th of July
     1807; whereby those troops, after having encountered and surmounted
     a constant and well-directed fire, and having effected the purport
     of their orders, were left without aid and support, or further
     orders, and considerable detachments under Lieutenant-Colonel Duff
     and Brigadier-General Craufurd were thereby compelled to surrender;
     such conduct on the part of the said Lieutenant-General Whitelocke
     tending to the defeat and dishonour of his Majesty’s arms, to
     lessen the confidence of the troops in the skill and courage of
     their officers, being unbecoming and disgraceful to his character
     as an officer, prejudicial to good order and military discipline,
     and contrary to the articles of war.

     _Fourth Charge._--That the said Lieutenant-General Whitelocke,
     subsequent to the attack upon the town of _Buenos Ayres_, and at a
     time when the troops under his command were in possession of posts
     on each flank of the town, and of the principal arsenal, with a
     communication open to the fleet, and having an effective force of
     upwards of 5000 men, did enter into, and finally conclude a treaty
     with the enemy, whereby he acknowledges in the public despatch of
     the 10th of July 1807--“That he resolved to forego the advantages
     which the bravery of his troops had obtained, and which advantages
     had cost him about 2500 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners;” and
     by such treaty he unnecessarily and shamefully surrendered all such
     advantages, totally evacuated the town of _Buenos Ayres_, and
     consented to deliver, and did shamefully abandon and deliver up to
     the enemy the strong fortress of _Monte Video_, which had been
     committed to his charge, and which, at the period of the treaty and
     abandonment, was well and sufficiently garrisoned and provided
     against attack, and which was not, at such period, in a state of
     blockade or siege; such conduct on the part of the said
     Lieutenant-General Whitelocke tending to the dishonour of his
     Majesty’s arms, and being contrary to his duty as an officer,
     prejudicial to good order and military discipline, and contrary to
     the articles of war.

       *       *       *       *       *

The proceedings of the court-martial on Lieutenant-General Whitelocke
fill a volume of 671 pages, from which I give the following extracts:--

     In opening the case the Judge-Advocate described it as being “the
     most important occasion, in the military history of the country,
     that ever called for inquiry of a nature like the present.” The
     expedition, he said, had not only totally failed, with the
     lamentable loss of a great proportion of the gallant army engaged
     in it, but it ended in the absolute surrender of those valuable
     advantages which the valour of British troops under another
     commander had previously acquired in the important post of _Monte
     Video_. “By this most unfortunate event,” he said, “all the hopes
     have been defeated which had been justly and generally entertained,
     of discovering new markets for our manufactures, of giving a wider
     scope to the spirit and enterprise of our merchants, of opening new
     sources of treasure, and new fields for exertion in supplying
     either the rude wants of countries emerging from barbarism, or the
     artificial and increasing demands of luxury and refinement, in
     those remote quarters of the globe. Important as these objects must
     be at all times to this country, the state of Europe, and the
     attempts that have been daily making to exclude us from our
     accustomed intercourse with the Continent, have added to the
     importance of these objects, and to the disappointment of these
     hopes.

     “The disappointment has been cruelly embittered by the disgrace
     which such a failure, under all the circumstances, has attached to
     the British arms. The diminution of our military fame must be felt
     at all times as a great national calamity, but at no period so
     severely as in this crisis of the world, when our military
     character has become more essential than ever, not merely for our
     honour or our glory, but for the independence, the liberties, the
     existence of Great Britain. It is, however, a great consolation,
     that whatever may have been the stain which our military renown has
     received, the conduct of the troops has had no share in producing
     it. I believe, the more this attack of the 5th of July is examined,
     the more clearly it will be found that no troops ever showed more
     courage; that no officers (with the exception of whatever may turn
     out to be connected with the subject of these charges, and I hope
     the result of this inquiry may prove the exception to be
     undeserved), but, with that exception, that no officers ever
     displayed more zeal, more conduct, more devotion of themselves to
     the common cause in the course of the most triumphant engagement,
     than was displayed by the British officers through the whole of
     that destructive day.... But it is not upon reports that these
     charges are founded; they rest upon better evidence. They are
     taken, not from idle talk or vain rumour, but the orders and
     despatches of General Whitelocke himself. There is not a fact
     alleged against him which is not derived from his authority. The
     character assigned to these facts does, indeed, invoke imputations
     of the most grave and serious nature; but the facts themselves are
     founded upon his own account of his own conduct; so much so, that I
     might be well warranted in contenting myself, on the part of the
     public, with laying the orders and the despatches of General
     Whitelocke before you as documents, of themselves, and without any
     other evidence, abundantly sufficient to call upon him for his
     defence. He is his own accuser: he has furnished the strongest
     testimony against himself.”

     Copy of a letter from Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, to the Right
     Honourable William Windham, dated Buenos Ayres, July 10th, 1807.

BUENOS AYRES, _July 10th, 1807_.

     SIR,--I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of his
     Majesty, that upon being joined at Mount Video, on the 15th of
     June, by the corps under Brigadier-General Craufurd, not one moment
     was lost by Rear-Admiral Murray and myself, in making every
     necessary arrangement for the attack of _Buenos Ayres_. After many
     delays, occasioned by foul winds, a landing was effected, without
     opposition, on the 28th of the same month, at the _Enseñada de
     Barragon_, a small bay about 30 miles to the eastward of the town.
     The corps employed on this expedition were--three brigades of light
     artillery, under Captain Fraser; the 5th, 38th, and 87th regiments
     of foot, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Achmuty; the 17th light
     dragoons, 36th and 38th regiments, under Brigadier-General the
     Honourable William Lumley; eight companies of the 95th regiment,
     and nine light infantry companies, under Brigadier-General
     Craufurd; four troops of the 6th dragoon guards; the 9th light
     dragoons; 40th and 45th regiments of foot, under Colonel the
     Honourable T. Mahon; all the dragoons being dismounted, except four
     troops of the 17th, under Lieutenant-Colonel Lloyd.

     After some fatiguing marches through a country much intersected by
     swamps and deep muddy rivulets, the army reached _Reduction_, a
     village about nine miles distant from the bridge over the _Rio
     Chuello_, on the opposite bank of which the enemy had constructed
     batteries, and established a formidable line of defence. I
     resolved, therefore, to turn the position, by marching in two
     columns from my left, and crossing the river higher up, where it
     was represented fordable, to unite my force in the suburbs of
     _Buenos Ayres_. I sent directions at the same time to Colonel
     Mahon, who was bringing up the greater part of the artillery, under
     the protection of the 17th light dragoons and 40th regiment, to
     wait for further orders at _Reduction_. Major-General Levison Gower
     having the command of the right column, crossed the river at a pass
     called the _Passo Chico_, and falling in with a corps of the enemy,
     gallantly attacked and defeated it; for the particulars of which
     action I beg to refer you to the annexed report. Owing to the
     ignorance of my guide, it was not until next day that I joined with
     the main body of the army, when I formed my line by placing
     Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Achmuty’s brigade upon the left,
     extending it towards the convent of the _Recolleta_, from which it
     was distant two miles, the 36th and 88th regiments being on its
     right, Brigadier-General Craufurd’s brigade, occupying the central
     and principal avenues of the town, being distant about three miles
     from the great square and fort; and the 6th dragoon guards, 9th
     light dragoons, and 45th regiment being upon his right, and
     extending towards the _Residencia_. The town was thus nearly
     invested; and this disposition of the army, and the circumstances
     of the town and suburbs being divided into squares of 140 yards
     each side, together with the knowledge that the enemy meant to
     occupy the flat roofs of the houses, gave rise to the following
     plan of attack:--Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Achmuty was directed
     to detach the 38th regiment to possess itself of the _Plaza de
     Tauros_ and the adjacent strong ground, and there take post. The
     87th, 5th, 36th, and 88th regiments were each divided into wings,
     and each wing ordered to penetrate into the street directly in its
     front. The light battalion divided into wings, and each followed by
     a wing of the 95th regiment and a 3-pounder, was ordered to proceed
     down the two streets on the right of the central one, and the 45th
     regiment down the two adjoining, and after clearing the streets of
     the enemy, this latter regiment was to take post at the
     _Residencia_. Two 6-pounders were ordered along the central street,
     covered by the carabineers and three troops of the 9th light
     dragoons, the remainder of which was posted as a reserve in the
     centre. Each division was ordered to proceed along the street
     directly in its front, till it arrived at the last square of
     houses next the river _Plata_, of which it was to possess itself,
     forming on the flat roofs, and there wait for further orders. The
     95th regiment was to occupy two of the most commanding situations,
     from which it could annoy the enemy. Two corporals, with tools,
     were ordered to march at the head of each column, for the purpose
     of breaking open the doors. The whole were unloaded, and no firing
     was to be permitted until the columns had reached their final
     points, and formed. A cannonade in the central streets was the
     signal for the whole to move forward.

     In conformity to this arrangement, at half-past six o’clock of the
     morning of the 5th instant, the 38th regiment moving towards its
     left, and the 87th straight to its front, approached the strong
     post of the _Retiro_ and _Plaza de Tauros_; and, after a most
     vigorous and spirited attack, in which these regiments suffered
     much from grape-shot and musketry, their gallant commander,
     Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Achmuty, possessed himself of the
     post, taking 32 pieces of cannon, an immense quantity of
     ammunition, and 600 prisoners. The 5th regiment, meeting with but
     little opposition, proceeded to the river, and took possession of
     the church and convent of Saint _Catalina_. The 36th and 88th
     regiments, under Brigadier-General Lumley, moving in the appointed
     order, were soon opposed by a heavy and continued fire of musketry
     from the tops and windows of the houses, the doors of which were
     barricaded in so strong a manner as to render them almost
     impossible to force: the streets were intersected by deep ditches,
     on the inside of which were planted cannon, pouring showers of
     grape on the advancing columns. In defiance, however, of this
     opposition, the 36th regiment, headed by the gallant general,
     reached its final destination; but the 88th, being nearer to the
     fort and principal defences of the enemy, were so weakened by his
     fire as to be totally overpowered and taken. The flank of the 36th
     being thus exposed, this regiment, together with the 5th, retired
     upon Sir Samuel Achmuty’s post, at the _Plaza de Tauros_, not,
     however, before Lieutenant-Colonel Burne, and the grenadier company
     of the 36th regiment, had an opportunity of distinguishing
     themselves, by charging about 500 of the enemy, and taking and
     spiking two guns. The two 6-pounders moving up the central streets,
     meeting with a very superior fire, the four troops of the
     carabineers, led on by Lieutenant-Colonel Kington, advanced to
     take the battery opposed to them; but this gallant officer being
     unfortunately wounded, as well as Captain Burrell, next in command,
     and the fire, both from the battery and houses, proving very
     destructive, they retreated to a short distance, but continued to
     occupy a position in the front of the enemy’s principal defences,
     and considerably in advance of that which they had taken in the
     morning.

     The left division of Brigadier-General Craufurd’s brigade, under
     Lieutenant-Colonel Pack, passed on nearly to the river, and,
     turning to the left, approached the great square, with the
     intention of possessing itself of the Jesuits’ college, a situation
     which commanded the enemy’s principal line of defence; but, from
     the very destructive nature of his fire, this was found
     impracticable; and after sustaining a heavy loss, one part of the
     division throwing itself into a house, which was afterwards not
     found tenable, was shortly obliged to surrender, whilst the
     remaining part, after enduring a dreadful fire with the greatest
     intrepidity, Lieutenant-Colonel Pack, its commander, being wounded,
     retired upon the right division, commanded by Brigadier-General
     Craufurd himself. This division having passed quite through to the
     river _Plata_, turned also to the left, to approach the great
     square and fort, from the north-east bastion of which it was
     distant about 400 yards, when Brigadier-General Craufurd, learning
     the fate of his left division, thought it most advisable to take
     possession of the convent of _Saint Domingo_, near which he then
     was, intending to proceed onwards to the Franciscan church, which
     lay still nearer the fort, if the attack or success of any other of
     our columns should free him, in some measure, from the host of
     enemies which surrounded him. The 45th regiment, being further from
     the enemy’s centre, had gained the _Residencia_ without much
     opposition; and Lieutenant-Colonel Guard, leaving it in possession
     of his battalion companies, moved down with the grenadier company
     towards the centre of the town, and joined Brigadier-General
     Craufurd. The enemy, who now surrounded the convent on all sides,
     attempting to take a 3-pounder which lay in the street, the
     Lieutenant-Colonel with his company, and a few light infantry under
     Major Trotter, charged them with great spirit: in an instant the
     greater part of his company and Major Trotter were killed, but the
     gun was saved. The Brigadier-General was now obliged to confine
     himself to the defence of the convent, from which the riflemen
     kept up a well-directed fire upon such of the enemy as approached
     the post; but the quantity of round shot, grape, and musketry to
     which they were exposed, at last obliged them to quit the top of
     the building; and the enemy, to the number of 6000, bringing up
     cannon to force the wooden gates which fronted the fort, the
     Brigadier-General having no communication with any other columns,
     and judging from the cessation of firing that those next him had
     not been successful, surrendered at four o’clock in the afternoon.
     The result of this day’s action had left me in possession of the
     _Plaza de Tauros_, a strong post on the enemy’s right, and the
     _Residencia_, another strong post, on his left, whilst I occupied
     an advanced position opposite his centre. But these advantages had
     cost about 2500 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The nature
     of the fire to which the troops were exposed was violent in the
     extreme. Grape-shot at the corners of all the streets, musketry,
     hand-grenades, bricks and stones from the tops of all the houses.
     Every householder, with his negroes, defended his dwelling, each of
     which was in itself a fortress: and it is perhaps not too much to
     say, that the whole male population of Buenos Ayres was employed in
     its defence. This was the situation of the army on the morning of
     the 6th instant, when General Liniers addressed a letter to me,
     offering to give up all his prisoners taken in the late affair,
     together with the 71st regiment, and others taken with
     Brigadier-General Beresford, if I desisted from any further attack
     on the town, and withdraw his Majesty’s forces from the river
     _Plata_; intimating at the same time, that from the exasperated
     state of the populace, he could not answer for the safety of the
     prisoners, if I persisted in offensive measures. Influenced by this
     consideration (which I knew, from better authority, to be founded
     in fact), and reflecting of how little advantage would be the
     possession of a country, the inhabitants of which were so
     absolutely hostile, I resolved to forego the advantages which the
     bravery of the troops had obtained, and acceded to the annexed
     treaty, which I trust will meet the approbation of his Majesty.

     I have nothing further to add, except to mention, in terms of the
     highest praise, the conduct of Rear-Admiral Murray, whose cordial
     co-operation has never been wanting whenever the army could be
     benefited by his exertions; Captain Rowley, of the royal navy,
     commanding the seamen on shore; Captain Bayntun, of his Majesty’s
     ship “Africa,” who superintended the disembarkation; and Captain
     Thomson, of the “Fly,” who had the direction of the gun-boats, and
     had previously rendered me much service, by reconnoitering the
     river, are all entitled to my best thanks.

     As his character already stands so high, it is almost unnecessary
     to state, that from my second in command, Major-General Levison
     Gower, I have experienced every zealous and useful assistance. My
     thanks are likewise due to Brigadier-Generals Sir Samuel Achmuty
     and Lumley, and to Colonel Mahon, and to Brigadier-General
     Craufurd, commanding brigades. I cannot sufficiently bring to
     notice the uncommon exertions of Captain Fraser, commanding the
     royal artillery, the fertility of whose mind, zeal and animation in
     all cases, left difficulties behind. Captain Squire, of the royal
     engineers, is also entitled to my best thanks. Nor should I omit
     the gallant conduct of Major Nichols, of the 45th regiment, who, on
     the morning of the 6th instant, being pressed by the enemy, near
     the _Residencia_, charged them with great spirit, and took two
     howitzers and many prisoners. Lieutenant-Colonel Bradford, Deputy
     Adjutant-General, has likewise a great claim to my approbation, as
     a gallant and promising officer. The officers of my personal staff,
     Lieutenant-Colonel Torrens, military secretary, Captains Brown,
     Foster, Douglas, and Whittingham, aides-de-camp, must also be
     mentioned by me in terms of just regard. The knowledge which the
     latter possesses of the Spanish language has been eminently useful
     to me.

     This despatch will be delivered to you by Lieutenant-Colonel
     Bourke, Deputy-Quartermaster-General, who has afforded me that
     assistance which might be looked for from an officer of his
     military talents and attachment to the service; to whom I beg to
     refer you for any further particulars respecting the military
     operations in this part of the world.--I have the honour to be, &c.

(Signed)      JOHN WHITELOCKE,
Lieutenant-General.

The Right Hon. W. Windham,
&c. &c. &c.



     Copy of Letter from Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, to the Right
     Honourable William Windham, dated July 10th, 1807.--Private.

BUENOS AYRES, _July 10th, 1807_.

     SIR,--I have the honour to inform you, that immediately after my
     arrival at _Monte Video_, on the 10th of May, I began to make every
     possible preparation for the attack of this place, as the first and
     most essential step towards the reduction of the province. For this
     purpose sloops of war and other light vessels were sent to
     reconnoitre the southern bank of the river, in order to fix upon
     the precise point of debarkation. It was found that the water was
     too shallow to admit of a landing, under cover of the ships of war,
     anywhere to the westward of the town of _Buenos Ayres_, nor nearer
     to it on the eastward than the _Enseñada_ of _Barragon_. This bay
     was, therefore, fixed upon as the point of debarkation, and every
     arrangement that could previously be made was pressed forward with
     expedition, whilst I waited anxiously for the arrival of
     Brigadier-General Craufurd’s corps, and the fleet with which I had
     sailed from England.

     On the 27th of May, Rear-Admiral Murray and Brigadier-General
     Craufurd arrived at the mouth of the river; but owing to a
     prevalence of contrary winds, the expedition did not reach Monte
     Video until the 14th of June. I immediately determined not to wait
     the arrival of the convoy from England, as by the general voice of
     the inhabitants, and of those officers who had passed the winter in
     the province, the months of July and August were represented as
     most unfavourable to military operations, on account of the heavy
     and continual rains which prevail at that season. Having fixed upon
     _Colonia_ as the place of assembly from which the expedition was to
     proceed, I sent the troops upwards, in small divisions, on account
     of the intricate navigation, leaving at _Monte Video_ the 47th
     regiment, the detachments of the 20th and 21st light dragoons, two
     companies of the 38th regiment, and a corps of militia, formed by
     the British merchants, in all composing a garrison of about 1300
     men, under the command of Colonel Browne, of the 40th regiment; and
     after much delay, caused by contrary winds, Rear-Admiral Murray and
     myself arrived opposite the point of debarkation on the 28th
     ultimo.

     In the morning the fleet stood into the bay, and before night the
     whole army, consisting as per margin,[16] was landed, without
     opposition, on the enemy’s coast. The greater part of the next day
     was occupied in landing artillery, horses, and stores. Immediately
     on the landing of Brigadier-General Craufurd’s brigade, and the
     38th and 87th regiments, I detached Major-General L. Gower with
     this force and two 3-pounders, to occupy the heights in my front,
     about five miles distant; and the next morning I proceeded to join
     him with the rest of the army, four 6-pounders, and two 3-pounders,
     the remainder of the artillery not being landed. The same day I
     directed Major-General L. Gower to precede my march with his
     advanced corps, substituting the 36th and 88th regiments, under
     Brigadier-General Lumley, for the 38th and 87th regiments; and I
     left Colonel Mahon, with four troops of the 17th light dragoons,
     and the 40th regiment, to protect the guns when they should come
     up, and cover the rear of the army, being principally induced to
     break my force into these divisions, for the purpose of more
     readily procuring cover and fuel. On the 1st of July the advanced
     corps drove a small party of the enemy from the village of
     _Reduction_, and took post about two miles beyond it, whilst I
     occupied the village with the main body. I was now distant about
     nine miles from the bridge over the _Rio Chuello_, on the opposite
     bank of which I understood the enemy had constructed batteries, and
     intended to make a stand. I determined, therefore, instead of
     forcing the bridge, to turn the enemy’s line of defence, by
     marching from our left, and crossing the river in two columns
     higher up, where it was represented fordable, and continuing to
     march until I should have got completely to the westward and
     northward of the town, appuyed my left on the river _La Plata_, and
     opened a communication with the fleet. On the 2nd instant, at nine
     o’clock, Major-General L. Gower marched with his corps, which
     should now be considered as the right column, and I marched myself
     at ten, with the intention of uniting our forces that evening in
     the suburbs of the town. Major-General L. Gower having crossed the
     river, his leading brigade fell in with a considerable corps of the
     enemy, under General Liniers himself, which he attacked with great
     vivacity, completely overthrew it, taking ten pieces of cannon and
     some prisoners. The Major-General halted on the ground from which
     he had driven the enemy, waiting my arrival, and sending, at the
     same time, a summons to General Liniers (No. 1), which was refused
     on this occasion, as well as the following day, when I sent to him
     myself (as per No. 2). Owing to the ignorance of my guide, who
     conducted me by a considerable detour, I did not reach the
     Major-General until the next day, when I formed my line by placing
     one of my brigades under Sir Samuel Achmuty, on the left of
     Brigadier-General Lumley’s, extending it towards the convent of the
     _Recolleta_, distant about two miles; and another under
     Lieutenant-Colonel Guard, on the right, towards the _Residencia_,
     whilst Brigadier-General Craufurd’s brigade occupied the central
     and principal avenues into the town, being distant about three
     miles from the great square and the fort of _Buenos Ayres_. In
     pursuance of my original design, I intended to march the next
     morning by my left to the convent of _Recolleta_, which standing on
     high ground immediately over the river, I could have communicated
     with the fleet, and landed heavy guns for a vigorous attack of the
     town, should General Liniers obstinately refuse to surrender it.
     Upon consulting, however, with Major-General L. Gower, he submitted
     to me another plan of attack, which as it promised a more
     expeditious issue, inasmuch as it obviated the necessity of
     marching to the left, and the delay which would be occasioned by
     landing heavy guns and erecting batteries, a delay which I the more
     dreaded on account of the rains having, to all appearance, set in,
     and the men being in a great degree exposed to the severity of the
     weather, from the impossibility of conveying camp equipage. I
     consented, for these reasons, to change my plan, and adopt what
     seemed to be generally approved by the general officers under me.
     Besides, the measure of bombardment, or any other measure which
     might occasion an indiscriminate loss of life, ruin the town, and
     irritate the people, appeared to me, upon reflection, contrary both
     to the letter and spirit of my instructions. I hoped also, by this
     plan, to be able to dislodge those who opposed the progress of his
     Majesty’s arms, and by driving them to the bottom of the town,
     there make a number of prisoners, which might be, in our hands, so
     many pledges for the return of the 71st regiment and the other
     troops captured with Brigadier-General Beresford, whilst the
     peaceable inhabitants, and those best disposed towards us, by
     remaining quietly in their houses, might escape the danger of the
     attack. The nature of this attack can be best explained by annexing
     the General Order (No. 3). The result was successful in the
     principal points, as I obtained possession of the _Plaza de
     Tauros_, a strong post on the enemy’s right flank, 32 pieces of
     ordnance, and a large depôt of ammunition and provisions, as well
     as the _Residencia_, another strong post on the enemy’s left, and
     four pieces of cannon which defended it. But these conquests were
     purchased with the loss of 2500 men killed, wounded, and prisoners,
     and amongst the latter Brigadier-General Craufurd and other
     officers of rank. The conduct of both officers and men in this
     action has been gallant in the highest degree, and the severity of
     the loss occasioned solely by the obstinacy of the defence. The
     enemy had dug ditches across the principal streets, and placed
     cannon within them: he occupied the flat roofs of all the houses in
     commanding situations, and from thence, and the windows, poured a
     destructive fire of musketry, hand-grenades, fire-pots, &c. upon
     the columns as they advanced; having likewise had the precaution to
     barricade the doors in so strong a manner as to render them very
     difficult to force, though the troops had been provided with
     instruments for that purpose. Every householder, with his negroes,
     defended his dwelling; and it is, perhaps, not too much to say,
     that the whole male population of _Buenos Ayres_ was employed in
     its defence, which very population in the field would probably not
     have withstood the attack of two British regiments.

     On the morning succeeding the attack I received a letter from
     General Liniers, offering to give up all prisoners taken in the
     late affair, as well as those taken with Major-General Beresford,
     if I condescend to relinquish the attack, and withdraw his
     Majesty’s forces from the province. A correspondence upon this took
     place, which ended in the treaty I have the honour to transmit.

     My reasons for acceding to this negotiation were briefly these:--I
     had lost in the preceding attack ---- men, although I had gained a
     strong post on the enemy’s right flank, from which I communicated
     with the fleet, and from which it might be possible to fire heavy
     cannon on the town, and otherwise annoy it. Yet the enemy’s chief
     defences were too remote from this point, and too much covered by
     houses to allow me to hope that I could, in any given time, destroy
     them by cannon alone, even if the nature of my instructions had not
     militated against such a measure. General Liniers had likewise
     acquainted me in his letter, that he could not answer for the lives
     of his prisoners, if the attack was persisted in; and from
     everything I have since heard from the officers themselves, I have
     reason to believe they would all have been sacrificed to the fury
     of an exasperated rabble. Nothing, therefore, remained to be done
     offensively, but another attack on the town, conducted in a manner
     similar to the last; the event of which must have been doubtful, as
     my force, when collected, did not reach 5000 men; and, if even
     successful, my loss would probably have rendered that force
     insufficient to keep the place when taken. If it was deemed
     fruitless to attempt another attack, there yet remained two modes
     of retreat, either by treaty, or re-embarking in the face of the
     enemy. The latter measure would certainly have been attended with
     additional loss, and the wounded and prisoners of the late affair,
     as well as the 71st regiment, in all 4000 men, lost for ever to
     Great Britain. In return for which I should have possessed but a
     nominal command at _Monte Video_, a post which can never be
     considered of any advantage whilst the capital of the province and
     the great entrepôt of commerce remained in the hands of the enemy.

     I determined, therefore, to accede to this treaty, by which I shall
     be enabled to bring off my own army almost entire, and recover the
     71st regiment, a point which my instructions has taught me to
     consider as of the first importance; and I shall evacuate a
     province which the force I was authorised to calculate upon could
     never maintain, and which, from the very hostile disposition of its
     inhabitants, was in truth not worth maintaining.

     I shall dispose of the army in the manner pointed out in my
     instructions, the particulars of which I shall detail to you from
     _Monte Video_, by another man-of-war that will sail from thence
     with duplicates of these despatches. Trusting that the conduct I
     have pursued in this difficult situation may meet with the
     gracious approval of his Majesty,--I have the honour to be, &c.

(Signed)      JOHN WHITELOCKE,
Lieutenant-General.

     This will be delivered to you by Lieutenant-Colonel Bourke, to
     whom, as well as Sir Samuel Achmuty, I refer you for further
     particulars.

(A true copy)      E. COOKE.

Right Honourable William Windham,
&c. &c. &c.


TREATY.

     A Definitive Treaty between the Generals in Chief of his Brittanic
     Majesty and of his Catholic Majesty, as per the following articles:

     1st. There shall be, from this time, a cessation of hostilities on
     both sides of the river _Plate_.

     2d. The troops of his Brittanic Majesty shall retain, for the
     period of two months, the fortress and place of _Monte Video_; and,
     as a neutral country: there shall be considered a line drawn from
     _San Carlos_ on the west, to _Pando_ on the east, and there shall
     not be on any part of that line hostilities committed on any side,
     the neutrality being understood, only that the individuals of both
     nations may live freely under their respective laws--the Spanish
     subjects being judged by theirs, as the English by those of their
     nation.

     3d. There shall be on both sides a mutual restitution of prisoners,
     including not only those which have been taken since the arrival of
     the troops under Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, but also all those
     his Britannic Majesty’s subjects captured in South America since
     the commencement of the war.

     4th. That, for the prompt despatch of the vessels and troops of his
     Brittanic Majesty, there shall be no impediment thrown in the way
     of the supplies of provision which may be requested for _Monte
     Video_.

     5th. A period of ten days, from this time, is given for the
     re-embarkation of his Britannic Majesty’s troops, to pass to the
     north side of the river _La Plata_, with the arms which may
     actually be in their power, stores and equipage, at the most
     convenient points which may be selected, and during this time
     provisions may be sold to them.

     6th. That at the time of the delivery of the place and fortress of
     _Monte Video_, which shall take place at the end of the two months
     fixed in the second article, the delivery will be made in the terms
     it was found, and with the artillery it had when it was taken.

     7th. Three officers of rank shall be delivered for and until the
     fulfilment of the above articles by both parties; being well
     understood, that his Britannic Majesty’s officers who have been on
     their parole, cannot serve against South America until their
     arrival in Europe.

     Done at the Fort of _Buenos Ayres_, the seventh day of July, one
     thousand eight hundred and seven, signing two of one tenor.

  SANTIAGO LINIERS,
  CASER BALBIANI,
  BERNARDO VELASCOS,
  JN. WHITELOCKE, Lieut.-Gen. Comm^g.
  GEO. MURRAY, Rear-Admiral Comm^g.

  (A True Copy)      E. COOKE.



Major-General Gower to General Liniers, July 3.

CORAL DE MISERALA, BEFORE BUENOS AYRES,
_July 3, 1807_.

     SIR,--Captain Roache, of the 17th dragoons, whom I had the honour
     of sending unto you this morning, having informed me that you
     wished to communicate with me on the subject of terms, I beg to
     acquaint you, that his Excellency Lieutenant-General Whitelocke has
     ordered me (from his sincere wish to spare an unnecessary effusion
     of human blood) to intimate to you, that in the present situation
     of affairs, if they do not proceed to further hostilities, he will
     grant terms to the town of _Buenos Ayres_: that the following must
     be the basis on which they are to be granted; but that any trifling
     alteration which may make them more favourable, without altering
     their original fundamental stipulations, may possibly be agreed
     to:

     1st. All British subjects detained in South America must be
     delivered up, and sufficient hostages placed in the power of the
     British Commander till their arrival at _Buenos Ayres_.

     2d. That all persons holding civil offices dependent on the
     government of _Buenos Ayres_, and all military officers and
     soldiers, become prisoners of war.

     3d. That all cannon, stores, arms, and ammunition, be delivered up
     uninjured.

     4th. That all public property, of every description, be delivered
     up to the British Commanders.

     5th. That the free and unrestrained exercise of the Roman Catholic
     religion be granted to the inhabitants of _Buenos Ayres_.

     6th. That all private property on shore shall be respected, and
     secured to its owners.

     Our force is so considerable that I believe, in candour, you cannot
     doubt of the ultimate result. I trust you will believe me when I
     assure you that a wish to avoid so dreadful a scene as that which a
     town taken by assault always presents is the only thing which has
     induced his Excellency Lieutenant-General Whitelocke to permit me
     to address you.

(Signed)      J. L. GOWER,
Major-General.

His Excellency Gen. Liniers,
&c. &c. &c.

(A true Copy)      E. COOKE.




Major-General ELLIO’S Answer to Major-General GOWER.

_July 3, 1807._

     SIR,--By orders of the Spanish General, _Don_ Santiago Liniers, I
     answer to the letter brought by your flag of truce respecting the
     surrender of this capital, by saying that nothing relative to
     laying down our arms will be attended to--that the Spanish General
     has a sufficient number of brave troops, commanded by brave chiefs,
     full of desire to die in defence of their country, and that this is
     the moment to show their patriotism.--I remain, &c.

(Signed)      Major-General CALL. ELLIO.

Major-Gen. Levison Gower.




Plan of Attack.--Circular.

HEADQUARTERS, CAMP BEFORE BUENOS
AYRES, _July 4, 1807_.

     SIR,--Herewith I have the honour to enclose instructions for the
     attack of Buenos Ayres. The refusal of the Spanish General to
     listen to terms, and the state of the army from fatigue and bad
     weather, leaves but little choice as to the mode of accomplishing
     our purpose; otherwise I should assuredly be disposed to adopt one
     _equally calculated_[17] to secure to us possession of the place
     without the probable chance of so much blood being spilt.

     I therefore have to desire that you will impress upon the minds of
     all officers acting under your immediate orders, the necessity of
     preventing, in as great a degree as possible under such
     circumstances, acts of violence on the persons of those who do not
     carry arms, as well as women and children.--I have the honour to
     be, &c.

(Signed)      JOHN WHITELOCKE.

To Brigadiers.




COPY OF GENERAL ORDERS,

_4th July, 1807_.

     Sir Samuel Achmuty to detach the 38th regiment, to possess itself
     of the _Plaza de Tauros_ and the adjacent strong grounds, and there
     post itself.

     The 87th, 5th, 36th, and 88th regiments to be divided into wings,
     and each wing is to penetrate into the street directly in its
     front, in a column of sections right in front.

     The light battalion to penetrate by wings into the second street,
     on the right of that leading up from Mr. White’s house, and the
     next to it, followed by the 95th regiment.

     The left division of the 95th is to receive its orders from Colonel
     Park, the right division from General Craufurd; two 3-pounders to
     follow these columns, one each. The 45th to advance by wings, left
     in front, up to the two next streets beyond the light battalion.
     The carabineers to move up with the cover two 6-pounders, which
     will be advanced up the street from Mr. White’s, and remain with
     them.

     The 9th light dragoons to move to the left, and take the ground of
     the light battalion, at five o’clock, where they will receive
     further orders.

     Each officer commanding a division of the left wing, which is from
     the 88th to 87th inclusively, to take care that he does not incline
     to his right of the right wing, that is, light brigade and 45th
     regiment to the left.

     The cannonade in the centre to be the signal for the whole to rush
     forward; and each division to go, if possible, straight down the
     street before it, till it arrives at the last square of houses near
     to the river _Plate_, of which they are to possess themselves, and
     on the tops of which they are to form: if they find that they
     suffer by any interior defences, to lodge themselves as far in
     advance as they can. Two corporals, with tools, to be attached to
     the head of each column. The whole to be unloaded, and no firing to
     be allowed on any account.

     When the business is over, the utmost exertion to be used to keep
     the men collected and formed.

     The regiments may leave their packs in their present cantonments,
     with a subaltern’s guard, if they wish.

     The cannonade will commence at 30 minutes past six o’clock
     precisely.

(A true copy)      E. COOKE.




Major-General Gower’s Orders.

     Major-General Levison Gower, as second in command, will be occupied
     in making the necessary arrangements relative to the executive
     duties and localities of the situation, aided by Brigadier-General
     Sir Samuel Achmuty; whose able assistance will also be brought in
     aid of what may appertain to the many other points to which the
     attention of the Commander of the forces must of course be
     directed, in a command in its nature new and intricate.

     The other appointments to the Staff will be communicated to the
     army on the arrival of the additional force.

     The 9th light dragoons to march to the left, and take the ground of
     the light battalion at five o’clock, where they will remain till
     further orders.


Lieutenant-General Whitelocke to General Liniers.

HEADQUARTERS BEFORE BUENOS AYRES,

_July 4, 1807_.

     I beg you will do me the justice to impute to the principles of
     humanity only, the information I give you of my arrival, having
     joined the troops under the command of Major-General Levison Gower
     with the principal column of the army. I dare say it is not unknown
     to you that another column awaits my orders within little more than
     a league from your capital.

     I beg, therefore, only to be informed, if, after this faithful
     communication, you still adhere to the answer given to the
     Major-General in your letter of yesterday, who was authorized to
     address you on this subject, in the event of his arrival before me.

     The bearer, Captain Whittingham, has my orders to deliver this, and
     to wait half an hour from that time for your answer, yes or no.

J. WHITELOCKE.

To General Liniers, &c.




General Liniers to Major-General Whitelocke.

     SIR,--I have just received your Excellency’s letter of this date,
     to the contents of which I have the honour to reply, that whilst I
     have ammunition, and whilst the same spirit which now animates this
     garrison and people shall continue to exist, I shall never think of
     delivering up the post which has been confided to me: and I am
     perfectly convinced, that I have more than sufficient means to
     resist all the efforts which your Excellency can make to conquer
     me.

     The duties of humanity of which your Excellency speaks, will, I
     conceive, be more wounded by your Excellency, who is the aggressor,
     than by me. I merely do that duty which is prescribed to me by
     honour and the just right of retaliation.--I have the honour to be,
     &c.

(Signed)      SANTIAGO LINIERS.

_July 4, 1807._


RIGHT
(A true Copy)      E. COOKE.

CORAL OF MISERALA, _July 3, 1807_.

     SIR,--I have the honour to report to you, for the information of
     the Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, that the advanced corps under my
     command, consisting of three companies of the 95th light battalion,
     36th and 38th regiments, with two 3 and two 6-pounders, advanced
     from the position I had taken up in front of the village of
     Reduction; and, after making a considerable detour from the badness
     of the roads, I crossed the _Chuello_ at the _Chico_ Pass; from
     thence I continued my route, though very strongly enclosed, and
     difficult ground, till the head of the column arrived at the
     junction of two roads, about 500 yards from the Canal of
     _Miserala_. At the same moment that we discovered the enemy, they
     commenced a heavy, though, after the first round, not well-directed
     fire of shot and shells, my artillery having been left in the rear,
     under the protection of three companies of Brigadier-General
     Lumley’s brigade, owing to the inability of the horses to bring it
     up at the same rate at which the infantry marched. I directed an
     immediate attack to be made on their left flank with the bayonet,
     which was executed by Brigadier-General Craufurd in the most
     perfect manner, with his brigade, and he was so well seconded by
     the gallantry of Lieutenant-Colonel Pack and Major Travers, the
     officers and men of the 95th, and light battalion, that in five
     minutes the enemy’s force, though strongly posted behind hedges and
     embankments, gave way, leaving about 60 killed and 70 prisoners,
     with all their artillery, consisting of nine guns, one howitzer,
     three tumbrels with limbers complete.

     I beg to state that the conduct of every officer and soldier
     engaged was admirable; and that I am also under great obligation to
     Brigadier-General Lumley, for his exertions to take a share in the
     action, but which alone the very exhausted state of his regiments,
     from the severity of the march, prevented. Immediately after I
     formed, I found that he had taken a good position on the right of
     the light brigade, to support it in case of re-attack.

     I am happy to add our loss has been but trifling, not exceeding 14
     rank and file killed, 5 officers, and 25 rank and file wounded. The
     exact returns I have not been able to obtain.--I have the honour to
     be, &c.

(Signed)      J. LEVISON GOWER,
Major-General.

Lieutenant-Colonel Torrens,
Military Secretary.






II.


Extract of a Letter from Sir S. Achmuty to Mr. Wyndham.

     The escape of General Beresford, an event as pleasing and important
     as it was unexpected, has put us in full possession of the views of
     the leading men, and the real state of the country. He had been
     ordered, immediately after the fall of _Monte Video_, to a town 300
     leagues inland, and was already between forty and fifty leagues
     from _Buenos Ayres_, when two Spanish officers, in the family of
     the Governor, who had been endeavouring to enter into some
     political negotiation with him, proposed to assist and accompany
     him in making his escape, which, with great difficulty, was
     effected; and the General, after being three successive days
     secreted in _Buenos Ayres_, fortunately reached the ship with our
     despatches.


Letter from General Liniers to Admiral Stirling and Sir Samuel Achmuty.

BUENOS AYRES, _March 2d, 1807_.

     SIRS,--I am very sorry that the first time I have the honour to
     write to your Excellencies, is on the unpleasant subject of
     complaining of proceedings of officers of your nation.
     Major-General Beresford and Lieutenant-Colonel Pack, of the 71st
     regiment, forgetting every sentiment of honour, and in violation of
     their word, and the oath which they had taken on the 6th of
     September last, have absconded, and the first with the infamy of
     having fomented an insurrection in this county, where the greatest
     part of his vile accomplices, now under the lash of the law, will
     soon pay for their horrid crime.

     This violation of public faith and the law of nations, has,
     however, only increased the enthusiasm of all the inhabitants of
     this city, ever ready and disposed to bury themselves under the
     ruins of their edifices sooner than give themselves up to any other
     dominion than that of their lawful sovereign.

     The pretext which Mr. Beresford makes use of, in alleging that
     there was a pretended capitulation, your Excellencies will see by
     the enclosed prints is without foundation, and it only remains with
     me, conformably to the laws of war, to reclaim those two prisoners;
     and I trust to your integrity that you will order them to be given
     up: at all events I fulfil my duty in reclaiming them, and the
     military world will decide on which side justice is.

     I do not answer Mr. Beresford, not having anything to add to what I
     now express to your Excellencies; and I have only further to
     observe, that the determination of the people, as has been
     represented by their magistrates, is irrevocable: they are resolved
     to defend themselves to the last extremity, and prepared to make
     their defence memorable.

     Your Excellencies will, therefore, avoid making any further offers;
     for be assured, that no answer will be returned, and that nothing
     but force can decide our fate.

     God preserve your Excellencies many years.

(Signed)      SANTIAGO LINIERS.

To their Excellencies Sir C. Stirling
and Sir S. Achmuty.



CORAL DE MISERALA, _July 2, 1807_.

     SIR,--I had the honour to report to you, for the information of the
     Commander of the forces, that the advanced corps of the army now
     occupy a position, the centre of which is across the prolongation
     of the centre street of _Buenos Ayres_. I have taken most of the
     cattle intended for the consumption of the city for this day, and
     occupy the principal _coral_. I have secured 20,000 lbs. of
     biscuit, and my corps is fully supplied with it; spirits I am
     searching for, and I have hopes that I shall be able to secure
     some; to what extent I do not yet know. I sent to report to you,
     yesterday evening, immediately after the action, in which I stated
     we had taken eight pieces of cannon, I now find it increased to
     ten, many prisoners, and a great quantity of arms and ammunition.
     General Liniers and Colonel Ellio were both present. Supposing that
     a considerable impression may have been made by so complete a
     defeat as this considerable portion of their force has sustained, I
     have sent in a summons to General Liniers, at first verbally only,
     to discover how they appeared to feel in the town. Colonel Ellio
     met Brigade-Major Roache who went with the flag, and requested
     that they might receive a written proposal. I have now, therefore,
     sent one, founded on the instructions I received yesterday by
     Colonel Bourke.

     I believe it will not be difficult to, nearly if not entirely,
     invest the town by placing about 1000 on my right towards the
     _Chuello_, and all the rest on my left towards the Recollata,
     having that in the rear. The centre of the town makes a salient
     angle; it appears to me, therefore, that our centre should be a
     little refused, and our flanks thrown forward, as the right will be
     rested on the _Chuello_, and the left secured by the _Plata_; but
     this of course must be regulated by the better judgment of the
     Commander of the forces.--I have the honour to be, &c.

J. LEVISON GOWER,
Major-General.

Lieutenant-Colonel Torrens,
&c. &c. &c.




_Sentence._

     The court-martial having duly considered the evidence given in
     support of the charges against the prisoner, Lieutenant-General
     Whitelocke, his defence, and the evidence he has adduced, are of
     opinion that he is guilty of the whole of the said charges, with
     the exception of that part of the second charge which relates to
     the order that “the columns should be unloaded, and that no firing
     should be permitted on any account.”

     The court are anxious that it may be distinctly understood that
     they attach no censure whatever to the precautions taken to prevent
     unnecessary firing during the advance of the troops to the proposed
     points of attack, and do therefore acquit Lieutenant-General
     Whitelocke of that part of the said charge.

     The court adjudge that the said Lieutenant-General Whitelocke be
     cashiered, and declared totally unfit and unworthy to serve his
     Majesty in any military capacity whatever.


                 PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
                         EDINBURGH AND LONDON.


FOOTNOTES:

 [1] About £50,000.

 [2] = £240,000.

 [3] = £4500.

 [4] A _cruzado_ = nearly five shillings.

 [5] Under £5.

 [6] The _boucan_ was a wooden instrument used by Brazilian cannibals
 for roasting their victims. Hence the word _buccaneer_.

 [7] £1200.

 [8] _Vide_ _Humboldt’s_ Researches.

 [9] Frezier.

 [10]

    “And lo! deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell,
     In hopes to merit heaven by making earth a hell.”
                --_Childe Harold._


 [11] Hist. Novi Orbis, lib. III. c. 21.

 [12] It is interesting to English readers to know that the high post
 of Captain-General of _Chili_ was, in November 1787, confided to
 _Don_ Ambrose Higgins, a native of Ireland, who was, two years later,
 appointed Field Marshal of the Royal Armies.

 [13] A cruzado = nearly five shillings.

 [14] Condamine.

 [15] The following was told me by a lady now in her eighty-first year,
 as having been current in her youth:

    “My first is an emblem of purity,
     My second’s a thing of security;
     My whole is a name, which if yours were the same,
     You would blush to hand down to futurity.”


 [16]

  3 brigades artillery.

   5th }
  38th } Brigadier-General Sir S. Achmuty.
  87th }

  17th dragoons.

  36th }
       } Brigadier-General Lumley
  88th }

  95th            }
                  } Brigadier-General Craufurd.
  Light battalion }

  4 troops 6th dragoon guards.

  9th light dragoons.

  40th }
       } Colonel Mahon.
  45th }


 [17] The _Italics_ are the author’s.

       *       *       *       *       *

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

Count Daborre went before the wind=> Count Datorre went before the wind
{pg 31}

[Sidenote: 1776.]=> [Sidenote: 1676.] {pg 98}

Beckham, however, showed=> Beckman, however, showed {pg 102}

also to legislatiou=> also to legislation {pg 111}

_Curaçoa_=> _Curaçao_ {pg 156}

Bogota, 1850=> Bogotá, 1850 {pg 158}

_Don_ Antonia Gonzaga=> _Don_ Antonio Gonzaga {pg 164}

new governor, Gomes Freyre de Andrada=> new governor, Gomes Freyre de
Andrade {pg 188}

and of encourging them=> and of encouraging them {pg 231}

removal of Bishop Gardenas=> removal of Bishop Cárdenas {pg 247}

durch die Provinzeu von Rio=> durch die Provinzen von Rio {pg 270}

A well-sustained fusilade=> A well-sustained fusillade {pg 278}

up to there middle in water=> up to their middle in water {pg 287}

offensive and unusal demand=> offensive and unusual demand {pg 297}


estimated by Dean Fuñes=> estimated by Dean Funes {pg 210}