the French entered that capital, and indeed every other town and
fortress in the kingdom; whilst the provinces of Portugal were
dismembered by the same usurping hand which had disposed not only of the
country, but of the crown of Spain, and whilst every thing seemed to
announce to the Portugueze that they must no longer look up to the same
masters, submit to the same laws, or form a separate state; at such a
moment, I say, the victorious British arms came to their aid, changed
their destiny, and opened a new field of glory to the descendants of
Viriatus, and the fellow-soldiers of Sertorious; and who can doubt that
success must attend their arms, if constantly faithful to their generous
allies, they never cease to remember, that it was in the plains of
Lusitania, where the first standard of a free people was displayed
against the masters of the universe; that they, in their turn, and in
the same country, planted the last colours of their expiring liberty,
and that one and both fell a sacrifice to perfidy,[50] but never were
conquered by the force of arms!
DESCRIPTION OF BRAZIL.
Nos patriæ fines et dulcia linquimus arva,
Nos patriam fugimus....
_Virg._ I. _Eclog._
Brazil, which from a variety of circumstances, has ever been regarded an
interesting country, is now become doubly so, from being the present
residence of the court of Portugal; and as such, we are induced to give
a description of it, which, from the nature and size of this work, must
necessarily be a short one.
_Cabral_, in the year 1500, first landed on the coast of Brazil, and
immediately gave notice to the court of Lisbon of the discovery he had
made. The Portugueze, however, were for a length of time very
indifferent to the acquisition of so fine a country. This negligence may
in a great degree be attributed to the want of civilized inhabitants,
and opulent towns, which the Portugueze had been accustomed to meet with
in Africa and Asia; whilst the natives of Brazil consisted of different
colonies of savages, dwelling in miserable huts, situated either in
forests, on the banks of rivers, or on the sea-coast; and subsisting
entirely on the produce of the chace, or on fish caught by themselves.
The heat of the climate made cloathing not only unnecessary, but
absolutely superfluous. The men and women equally painted their bodies,
ornamented their necks and arms with necklaces and bracelets of white
bones, and adorned their heads with feathers. The Brazilians are nearly
of the same stature as the Europeans, but in general not so robust.
Their principal arms consisted of clubs and arrows; their wars were not
frequent, but cruel; and dreadful was the fate of those prisoners who
fell into their hands without being wounded, since they constantly
served as a repast to their merciless conquerors.
The French, Dutch, and Portugueze successively formed settlements on the
coast; but, in the end, the latter became masters not only of the coast,
but of the interior of the country. Let us now take a cursory view of
the manner in which the inhabitants have been treated, and the laws by
which they have been governed.
The Brazilians have not always experienced the same fate; and several
years elapsed, and many contests took place before the rigour of their
situation was in the smallest degree softened. King Sebastian was the
first who bestowed a thought on mitigating the sufferings of so
interesting a part of his subjects. He prohibited their being publicly
sold in the markets, and sent as slaves to the plantations. Prisoners of
war were indeed excepted, but not unless the war in which they were
taken was proved to be a just one.
Philip the IId published different ordinances in the years 1595, 1605,
and 1606, by which he declared Indians of every description perfectly
free; but this sovereign being informed that his statutes had been of no
avail, confirmed and strengthened them by a new one in 1611, whereby he
decreed that the severest punishments should be inflicted on whosoever
should presume to infringe them. This edict, unhappily, was equally
ineffectual with the former ones; as was also another, given by the
court of Lisbon in 1647, at the repeated and pressing solicitations of
the Jesuit missionaries at Brazil, by which the prohibition of enslaving
the Brazilians was again formally renewed; but that people never were
really emancipated till the year 1755, when the Portugueze government
publicly declared them _citizens_, invested with the same rights and
privileges as their conquerors, capable of aspiring to the same
distinctions, allowed to be educated at the same schools, and even to
the university of Coimbra.
This event, however, was far from inspiring those sentiments of joy and
gratitude, which might naturally have been expected from a people thus
raised from the degrading state of servitude, to all the advantages of
freedom: this may probably be, in a great measure, attributed to their
expectations having been so frequently raised and disappointed, that
they could not yet place any confidence in the declarations of the
Portugueze. It was therefore necessary, to complete so great a
revolutionary operation, that the captainships, and the extensive
domains in possession of different individuals, who were in fact so many
petty sovereigns, should be taken out of their hands, and placed in
those of government. This being effected, a new partition took place. A
particular governor was appointed for every captainship or government;
and the whole of the Brazils was under the command of a lord lieutenant,
or viceroy. Though these different governors are obliged to submit to
the general laws enacted by the viceroy; there are some amongst them,
particularly those whose governments are situated near the gold and
diamond mines, who receive their orders immediately from Lisbon. These
appointments are only for three years, but they are seldom changed in
less than six; and during that time, they are not allowed to marry in
the country, to enter into any branch of commerce, or to accept presents
on any pretence whatsoever; their salary being from twelve to twenty
thousand crusadoes, which are thought sufficient to answer every
possible expense. On quitting their employments, commissaries appointed
by the mother country examine into their administration; and colonists,
with citizens of every description, are allowed to carry in their
complaints, and bring forward their accusations against them. If it so
happens, that they die during their office, their governments are
committed to the joint care of the bishop, the officer who holds the
highest rank in the army, and the first magistrate. It may indeed be
said, with the greatest truth, that such is the vigilance with which the
administration of men in power in Brazil is observed at present, that
few, if any, succeed in making great fortunes.
The jurisprudence of this country is precisely the same as in Portugal.
Each district has its separate judge; from whose sentence appeals may be
made to the tribunals of Bahia, Rio Janeiro, or even to that of Lisbon.
The provinces of Para and Maragnhon are the only ones not subject to the
jurisdictions of Bahia and Rio Janeiro; their causes being submitted on
appeal to the tribunal of Lisbon: in criminal cases, indeed, the process
is rather different.
Trifling offences are punished, without appeal, by the judges of each
captainship; but crimes of a deeper dye come under the cognizance of the
governor, who is assisted by assessors nominated by legal authority. A
particular tribunal is appointed to receive and take charge of the
property of all deceased persons, whose heirs may be _beyond seas_ at
the time of their death; for which they receive five per cent. of the
said property. This establishment, though an excellent one, is subject
to a great inconvenience; since creditors in Brazil can only be paid in
Europe, which not only occasions delay, but is frequently very
prejudicial to the affairs of the parties concerned.
Every town, and indeed every large village, has a municipality, which
attends to the small concerns entrusted to its care, and regulates
(under the inspection of the governor, indeed) the trifling taxes
necessary to be laid on. This municipality has the very essential
privilege of complaining to the king himself against the conduct of the
chief of the colony, the governor, and the four magistrates appointed to
manage the finances in each government. The accounts are given in every
year to the royal treasury at Lisbon, where they undergo a very strict
examination.
The army is on the same footing in Brazil as in Portugal. The mulattoes
and negroes are distinguished by particular standards; but the native
Indians serve in battle with the whites. In the year 1780, the forces
consisted of 15,899 regular troops, and 21,850 militia. On the late
arrival of the queen, she found the regulars augmented to 20,000, and
the militia might very easily be raised to 40,000.
The colonists have, equally with the Portugueze, preserved the privilege
of having slaves on their estates; but the masters are enjoined by the
law to find them in provisions; this, however, is attended by very
little expense; a small portion of land being consigned to them, which
they cultivate themselves, and which not only supplies them with
necessaries, but very frequently with conveniences. The laws in favour
of slaves have been carried still farther; since those possessed of a
certain sum of money are allowed to purchase their liberty; and in this
case they can oblige their masters to accept the proffered sum; but they
are seldom forced to proceed to such lengths, since nothing can be more
rare than a master's refusing to comply with the terms prescribed by the
law. There cannot be a stronger proof of the present mild treatment of
slaves in Brazil, treatment so different from what they experience in
the other European colonies, than the very few who think of escaping
from that immense country. The blacks, when once freed from slavery, are
allowed the rights of citizens, in the same manner as the mulattoes;
neither the one nor the other can enter the order of priesthood, or
municipality: if they become soldiers, they cannot rise to the rank of
officers, unless in their own particular batallions. They have, however,
the privilege of intermarrying with white women.
It is impossible to take a view of the situation of Brazil, its extent,
climate and production, without perceiving that no colony ever merited
more particularly the attention and protection of the mother country.
Brazil, thus happily situated, is 875 leagues in length, from north to
south, and 425 broad, from east to west. The Portugueze settlements are
scattered on the coast, and extend in a circuit of nearly 1500 leagues;
they seldom penetrate more than 50 or 66 leagues into the interior of
the country; except, indeed, down some rivers, on the banks of which
they sometimes advance more than 400 leagues from the sea shore.
The limits of this Work will not permit us to enter into a minute
description of the various productions of so extensive a country, and so
fertile a soil; nor, indeed, of the different settlements successively
formed by the Portugueze, we must therefore refer the curious reader to
the adjoining account, which we flatter ourselves will not be thought
uninteresting, and as such meet with the approbation of an indulgent
public.
NAMES
OF THE DIFFERENT
GOVERNMENTS IN BRAZIL,
WITH THEIR
_Boundaries, Population, and Commerce_.
I. PARA.
The most northern government in Brazil, comprising that part of Guiana
which belongs to Portugal, together with that course of the river of the
Amazons from confluence of the two rivers Madera and Mamora; it also
contains to the east the whole of the country which extends to the river
Tocantin. This province is the most barren and the most unwholesome of
any in that part of the world.
POPULATION.
4,108 Whites;--9,919 Blacks and Mulattoes:--34,844 Indians.
PRINCIPAL TOWNS.
Belem, on the banks of the Amazon, is twenty leagues from the main
ocean. The port is called Para, and is of difficult access. The vessels,
on entering the harbour, anchor in a muddy bottom, where the water is
four, five, or six fathoms deep. This town is situated thirteen feet
above the level of the sea; and was founded by Caldeira in 1615: it is
defended by a strong fort, named Notre Dame de las Merces, erected at
the mouth of the Muja river. The town contains near ten thousand
inhabitants, besides the garrison, consisting of about eight hundred
men. On descending the river of the Amazones, at forty leagues from
Para, there is a large neck of land, which advances into the water and
forms several islands, the most considerable of which is Joannes; it is
defended by a small fort, and is very populous. The town of St. Georges
dos Alamos is situated in the same government, and has a regular
fortress.
COMMERCE.
In 1755, thirteen or fourteen vessels arrived in this government from
Lisbon, but since that time their number has been diminished to four or
five. The usual exportation from Para does not consist of articles
amounting to more than six hundred thousand French livres (25,000l.
sterling), such as wild cocoa, vinilla, tortoise and crab-shells,
sarsaparilla, different kinds of balsams, cotton, &c. The district of
Para, properly so called, produces but a very small quantity of cotton,
and some sugar canes, but so few in number that they are converted into
brandy. The inhabitants cultivate rice, cocoa, and coffee, for
exportation.
The cattle bred in the island of Marajo used formerly to be exported;
but at present the quantity of these animals is scarcely sufficient for
home consumption.
II. MARANHAO.
This government is separated from Para towards the north by the river
Tocantin; from Gojas towards the south by the cordillera called
Guacucaguia; and from Fernambuca towards the east by the Ypiapaba
mountains.
POPULATION.
8,993 Whites;--17,843 Blacks and Mulattoes, freedmen and
slaves;--38,937 Indians, either dispersed about the country or
inhabiting the ten different hamlets.
PRINCIPAL TOWNS.
St. Louis is the principal town in Maranhao; all commercial business is
transacted in this place, which is situated in an island of the same
name, and was built by the French in 1612. It is defended by a citadel
and several forts, and has an excellent port.
The island of St. Louis is very fertile, and is twenty-six leagues in
circumference.
The captainship of Siara is annexed to the government of Maranhao; the
principal town bears the same name as the captainship, and contains
about ten thousand inhabitants. It is defended by a small fort, and the
port, which is likewise small, will only admit very little vessels.
COMMERCE.
The exportation of this government is not answerable to the number of
its inhabitants, amounting only on an average to six or seven hundred
thousand French livres (25,000 or 29,166l. 13s. 4d.) The finest Brazil
amotto grows in Maranhao, which also produces the best cotton in
America. Rice succeeds very well in this soil; but all endeavours have
been fruitless to naturalize silk-worms.
There is a great breed of horses and horned cattle in Pauchy, a country
annexed to this government, in which, however, the sheep degenerate as
well as in the rest of Brazil, except, indeed, in the Coritibe. Mines of
sulphur, alum, copperas, iron, lead, and antimony are very common in the
mountains; but though they are not deep, they have never yet been
opened. There are likewise silvermines, which, in 1752 the court had
given permission to be worked; this permission was, however, soon after
retracted, but for what reason was never yet known.
III. FERNAMBUCA,
Is at this present bounded by the river St. Francesco, and different
chains of cordilleras. The coast of this government towards the sea
extends sixty-five leagues.
POPULATION.
19,665 Whites;--39,132 Negroes and Mulattoes;--83,728 Indians.
The island of Fernando de Norronha is in the dependance of the
above-mentioned government.
PRINCIPAL TOWNS.
Olinda, the capital of Fernambuca is built upon an eminence on the
sea-shore; it contains several fine fountains, and is situated in a
beautiful country. The inhabitants are computed at twelve thousand.
There is a manufactory of sword blades in this town, which, equally with
St. Antoine de Receif, has a good port, and is defended by several
fortresses. The island of Fernando de Norronha has two good open
harbours, in which ships of the greatest burthen may ride in safety,
unless the wind blows from the north or west.
COMMERCE.
The coast of Fernambuca, in an extent of sixty-five leagues, produces a
small quantity of cotton. The plains are filled with plantations of fine
sugar canes, and the mountains are covered with broods of horned cattle,
the hides of which are very productive. The principal branch of commerce
in this government is that fine sort of Brazil wood employed in dyeing
red. This wood is of so superior a quality that it is not necessary to
employ half the quantity which would be required of campeche wood for
the same purpose. The annual consumption of this excellent wood in
Europe, amounted during a long time to from twenty to thirty thousand
quintals. In 1783, two English merchants contracted with the Portugueze
government for the exclusive sale of this wood, on condition that the
said government was at the expence of felling it. These merchants
purchased the wood for eight hundred thousand French livres (33,333l.
6s. 8d.), sold it at Lisbon for a million (41,666l. 13s. 4d.); their
expenses amounted to a hundred and twenty-eight thousand livres (5,333l.
6s. 8d.); consequently they made a profit of seventy-two thousand French
livres (3,000l.).
IV. BAHIA, or TODOS SANTOS,
Is bounded on the north by the river St. Francesco, on the south by the
river Dolce, and on the east by the river Preto, one of the branches of
the river Verde.
POPULATION.
39,784 Whites;--49,693 Indians;--68,024 Negroes.
PRINCIPAL TOWN.
The capital of Bahia is St. Salvador; the entrance to which is through
the bay of Todos Santos: this bay is two leagues and a half wide. There
is a fort on each side of the entrance, intended rather to prevent
landing on the coast, than to impede the passage through the bay, which
is thirteen or fourteen leagues in length, and full of little islands,
containing cotton-trees. The bay is narrow towards the town, which
overlooks it, and is built on the side of a steep hill; it is, however,
a very good port, safe, and capable of containing a great fleet. St.
Salvador contains more than two thousand houses, the greatest part of
which are magnificent buildings.
COMMERCE.
Sugar and cotton make but a small part of the Bahia trade. Tobacco and
the whale-fishery are the principal. The annual product of the latter
amounted, twenty years since, to 3,530 pipes of oil; which, at the price
of a hundred and seventy-five French livres each (7l. 5s. 6d.), amounted
to six hundred and seventeen thousand seven hundred and fifty French
livres (25,739l. 11s. 8d.); and two thousand and ninety quintals of
whalebone, which, at a hundred and fifty livres (6l. 5s.) a quintal,
make three hundred and thirteen thousand five hundred livres (13,062l.
10s.). Total of the two sums, nine hundred and thirty-one thousand two
hundred and fifty French livres (38,802l. 1s. 8d.), of which the persons
employed in this commerce paid three hundred thousand livres (12,500l.)
to the government; the expenses did not exceed two hundred and
sixty-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty livres (11,197l. 18s. 4d.),
consequently they had a profit of three hundred and sixty-two thousand
five hundred livres (15,104l. 3s. 4d.). Tobacco, though cultivated
throughout the whole of Brazil, makes but a very unimportant object of
commerce any where but in Bahia. It succeeds extremely well in a spot of
ground extending 90 leagues, and is particularly fine in the district of
_Cachoeira_. Ten thousand quintals of an inferior kind of tobacco are
sent every year from Brazil to the coasts of Africa, which being sold
for eighteen French livres the hundred weight, amount to a hundred and
eighty thousand livres (7,500l.); fifty-eight thousand five hundred
quintals are also sent annually to Portugal, and sold, on entering that
country, at forty livres (1l. 13s. 4d.) the hundred weight, which amount
to two millions three hundred and forty thousand French livres
(97,500l.). Total of the two sums, two millions five hundred and twenty
thousand livres (105,000l.). The finest tobacco is exported to Genoa,
that of the second quality to Spain and Portugal, and a still inferior
sort to France and Hamburgh. The consumption of this Article at Madeira
and the Azores does not exceed 740,000 cwt. for smoaking; and 528,000
cwt. when made into snuff. The sale of these different kinds of tobacco
does not bring in more than five millions four hundred and eighty-one
thousand two hundred and fifty livres (228,383l. 18s. 4d.) to
government. The profit arising from the sale of snuff in the East Indies
and in Africa, belongs to the queen of Portugal. The quantity usually
sent to the abovementioned countries amounts to about a hundred and
fifty quintals, bringing in four hundred and fifty thousand livres
(18,750l.). The golden mines of Jacobina and Rio-das-Contas have been
worked, and are situated in Bahia.
V. RIO JANEIRO.
This government extends nearly the whole length of the coast from the
river Dolce to the river Rio Grande de San Pietro. The inland country is
bounded by the enormous chain of mountains which extend from Una to
Minas Geraes.
POPULATION.
46,290 Whites;--54,091 Negroes;--32,126 Indians.
PRINCIPAL TOWNS.
Rio Janeiro is the capital of Brazil, and the residence of the viceroy.
The plan of this city is well engraved in the quarto edition of Gai
Trouin's Memoirs. It is well known that this author captured Rio Janeiro
in 1711. Though the fortifications have been since greatly augmented,
the city is not more difficult to take, because the approach to it on
the other side is easy of access, and a landing soon effected. The
greater part of the houses consist of two stories, and are either of
free-stone or brick; the roofs are of fine tiles, and each house is
ornamented by a balcony, surrounded by a lattice. The streets are wide
and straight, and terminated by chapels. The mint, and the great
aqueduct which furnishes the city with water, are the only two public
edifices worthy of notice. The haven is one of the finest in the world;
it is narrow at the mouth, but becomes wider by degrees. Vessels of all
sizes enter this safe and spacious harbour without difficulty, from ten
or twelve o'clock at noon till the evening, by means of a regular and
moderate sea-breeze: they anchor in an excellent muddy bottom five or
six fathoms deep.
Cabo-Frio is a rich town, owing to its salt-trade. St. Catherine is an
island which is important from its situation: it enjoys a continual
spring, and the climate is very pure everywhere but in the port, which
being surrounded by hills, the circulation of air is not so free;
consequently it is damp and unwholesome.
COMMERCE.