_Colonization--Boundaries--Climate--Aspect and Productions--
Contests between Spaniards and Portuguese--Divisionary Line
between these two Powers--Opposition by the Indians of the Seven
Missions--Their Defeat--Revived Contests between Spaniards
and Portuguese--Mountains--Rivers--Lakes--Capes and
Ports--Islands--Mineralogy--Phytology--Zoology--Large Fazendas
for breeding Cattle--Mode of Management--Sheep-Flocks--Use of
the Laço and Balls--Towns, Nature of Exports, Villages, &c.
including those of the District of Monte Video._
This province, which includes the major part of the territory to the
south of the capitania of St. Amaro, either had no donatories when John
III. divided the coast, or from some other cause it was not colonized.
Neither was its colonization accomplished by Viscount D’Asseca, nor his
brother, John Correa de Sa, at the period of the great distributions of
land which Peter II. granted to them in the territory denominated St.
Gabriel, adjacent to the river Plate.
The names by which this capitania was sometimes, although seldom,
designated, of D’El Rey and St. Pedro, are supposed to have been given
when it was first annexed to the crown lands.
About the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth
century, some Vincentistas removed their establishments to the vicinity
of lake Dos Patos, and their descendants extended themselves to the
south and west, as the Indians gradually relinquished the country.
The capitanias of the brothers Souzas, could not be enlarged beyond
their prescribed limits, although the adjoining districts of land were
_devoluta_, or without donatories; yet the first settlers there
from these capitanias were always considered their people, and known
as Vincentistas and Paulistas, until those districts were erected
into this province. It is the most southern one in the Brazil, very
extensive and important, lying between twenty-eight and thirty-five
degrees of south latitude, and is bounded on the north by the province
of St. Catharina (from which it is separated by the river Manbituba)
and the province of St. Paulo; on the west it is skirted by the river
Uruguay and the province of that name; on the south by the river Plate;
and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; being upwards of five hundred
miles long and four hundred wide.
The climate is temperate, participating almost equally of heat and
cold, and the air is pure and healthy. Winter begins in May and lasts
till October. The prevailing wind is from the south-east. The longest
day of the year, in the most southern part of the province, is about
fourteen hours, or rather more. Frost occasionally prevails from the
month of July till September. The greatest part of this province
is flat, having extensive plains, watered with numerous torrents,
or rapid streams, and with lakes. No other district possesses such
abundant pastures. In its southern parts the soil is well adapted to
a profitable diversity of productions; to wheat, rye, barley, Indian
corn, rice, peas, beans, water-melons, melons, onions, as well as to
all that arises from Spanish horticulture; also, some cotton, mandioca,
and the sugar-cane. Hemp and different qualities of flax grow in great
abundance. Fruit-trees of the south of Europe prosper here better than
between the tropics, and none multiply so prodigiously as the peach.
The vine flourishes in profusion and perfection; but the absence of a
spirit of industry and improvement still retards the manufacture of
wine, of which the grape here would afford an excellent quality.
D. Peter de Mendonça, sent by Charles V. with eight hundred men, in
order to form a colony in the river Plate, in 1535, established himself
in the place where the city of Buenos Ayres now stands, in the country
of the _Maracotos_, by whose hands he lost his life, and a great
part of his followers, in 1539. The rest had, in the preceding year,
advanced up the Paraguay, and already begun the city of Assumption. D.
Pedro Ortez de Zarate, governor of that city, re-established the colony
of Mendonça at Buenos Ayres, and took up his residence there in 1580,
in order to supply the want of a port to the city of Assumption, which
they could not obtain on the opposite margin of the Plate.
The Vincentistas would not consent to any Spanish establishment on the
northern margin of this river, from Cape St. Mary to the embouchure of
the river Paraguay, and from whence they were repulsed every time they
attempted to gain a footing. The settlers from St. Paulo, in the years
1536, 1538, and 1540, expelled some priests of the orders of St. Cosme,
St. Damiao, St. Anna, &c. who had settled in the land of St. Gabriel,
from the upper to the eastern part of the river, and effectually drove
them into the province of Paraguay.
In the sixty years that Portugal was subject to the court of Castile,
various Spanish colonies established themselves in the vicinity of
the river Uruguay; and, in order to prevent a continuation of these
establishments towards the east, D. Manuel Lobo, governor of Rio de
Janeiro, founded Colonia do Sacramento, at the request of the infant
Don Pedro, in 1680.
Scarcely had seven months elapsed, when it was surprised and taken,
by Don Joze Garro, governor of Buenos Ayres, accompanied with
circumstances of much barbarity. It was restored at the end of three
years, and placed in its former state, by Duarthe Teixeira Chaves. It
however returned under the dominion of Buenos Ayres, being abandoned
by the governor, Sebastian da Veiga, in 1703, who, after a long and
valorous resistance, retired with all his people and property, in
ships, to Rio de Janeiro, not having sufficient forces any longer
to resist the power of Don Alonso Valdez. By the treaty of Utrecht,
in 1713, it was restored to the crown of Portugal, but was attacked
afresh in 1735, by Don Miguel de Salcedo, governor of Buenos Ayres,
and defended by Antonio Pedro, with much courage, till he could
receive aid, during which period, his brave garrison were reduced to
the necessity of eating dogs, cats, and rats. On the arrival of the
expected succour, Salcedo raised the siege, an auxiliary force of some
thousand Tappes, brought by the Jesuit, Thomas Berley, availing him
nothing. In 1750, when Don Joseph ascended the throne, the two courts
agreed to a treaty of limits between their respective possessions, the
one giving up Colonia, and the other the seven missions to the east of
the Uruguay. The line of division commenced at the mouth of the little
river nearest the hill of Castilhos Grandes, and continued along the
highest range of land, in which the various rivers originate that run
into the lakes Mirim and Patos, to the source of the river Ibicuí, and
along its channel to its entrance into the Uruguay; by the latter,
upwards to the mouth of the Piquiri, which joins it by the right bank,
above the great fall, and by that river to its origin; from thence,
by the top of the nearest mountains, to the source of the first river
met with that runs into the river Iguacu, proceeding downwards by the
latter, to its entrance into the Parana, and continued thence to the
mouth of the Gatimim, and by that river upwards to its origin; from
which point, to the source of the nearest river that runs into the
Paraguay: from this confluence, continuing upwards by the last great
river to the mouth of the Jauru, and from thence by a line to the left
bank of the Guapore; and by it downwards, to a latitude at an equal
distance between its confluence with the Mamore and the entrance of the
Madeira into the Maranham; and from that latitude, by a line from east
to west, as far as the Hyabary, the bed of which river to complete
the line as far as the Maranham. The commissioners sent by the two
courts, in 1752, to arrange this demarcation, having arrived at the
source of the Rio Negro, were obliged to return, from the opposition
of the Indians of the missions, they being advised secretly by the
Jesuits not to consent to the proposed exchange. On learning which,
the two Sovereigns determined to compel the Indians to obedience by
force of arms. For this purpose, Gomez Freyre d’Andrade, governor of
Rio de Janeiro, marched with more than one thousand troops; and the
governor of Buenos Ayres with double the number. When the combined
armies were marching through the territories lying between the source
of the Caziquey, and the Vaccahy-guaçu, they were met by more than
twelve thousand Tappes, determined to frustrate their project. On the
10th of February, 1756, a battle took place, in which the Indians were
routed with the loss of fifteen hundred, leaving on the field some
pieces of artillery, and a great number of other arms, the major part
retiring to the missions, where shortly after the conquerors arrived.
The Indians were immediately reduced to subjection; and, according to
the treaty, they passed over to the other side of the Paraguay. Gomez
Freyre d’Andrade took possession of the country, but, before delivering
up Colonia, received advices that his presence was indispensable at
Rio, for which place he immediately set out. The army remained some
months behind, seizing the produce of the labour of the Indians, and
at length retired, many returning to their homes. Bougainville, (say
the Portuguese,) out of revenge for not having been treated at Rio de
Janeiro, by C. da Cunha, as he wished, gives a different account of
this expedition.
The commissioners, in 1759, while completing this demarcation, found in
the field of battle, in latitude 30° south, a wooden cross set upright,
with the following inscription, in the Guarani language.
Anuo de 1756
Omnium S^{to} rum A 7 O ch^{to} Jesus^{tuo} Pa^e tie cr^e
de Febrero pipe
omanò C^r J. b.
Tiarayu Guarani
pipe Sabado ramo
A 10
de Febrero p^e oico
Guarini guaçú Martes p^e
9 Taba Uruguay rebe
gua 1500 Soldados rebe
hae beiaere Mburubichare
ta omanô onga ape.
A 4 de
Marzo p^e oya pou ca
Angaco Cruz mtu D^n
Miguel Moyri sold^e
repa upe
A little to the southward, in the plains of the Yapóguaçú, the
commissioners met with a field or space enclosed with wood capable of
containing forty thousand oxen.
The certainty of war breaking out in 1762, having been received at
Buenos Ayres, the governor, Don Pedro Cevalhos, unexpectedly ordered
a furious attack upon Colonia. Vincente da Fonseca, its governor,
after a vigorous resistance of twenty-five days, seeing the horrible
devastation which a prodigious discharge of artillery had caused,
capitulated, and marched out with his garrison on the 29th October. Two
ships of war, with other smaller vessels were sent from Rio de Janeiro,
to reinforce the place; and, on finding that it had surrendered, they
unavailingly endeavoured to regain it; and, in the ardour of battle,
one of their ships of war was burned. Cevalhos now proceeded against
the forts of St. Miguel, St. Theresa, and Rio Grande de St. Pedro,
which surrendered in consequence of not having adequate force for
their protection. Little care had been taken for the security of this
fine country by the inhabitants. After reducing also a fortification
on the southern part of the peninsula, the Spaniards marched sixteen
hundred men to the west of the lake of Patos, against the fort of Rio
Pardo. This corps fortified itself with seven pieces of artillery by
the side of a wood, in the vicinity of the pass of Jacuhy, and waited
for reinforcements. Intelligence being received of this circumstance at
the fort of Rio Pardo, a company of dragoons, with all the Paulistas
that could be assembled, making in all twelve hundred and thirty men,
left the fort with a view of cutting off the march of the Spaniards.
Finding, however, that their only mode of attack was from that side
of the wood which did not afford any transit for cavalry, they spent
several days in opening a narrow pathway through it. A passage being
opened, and favoured by the light of the moon, they fell unexpectedly
upon the encampment, and threw it into disorder. The Spaniards retired
precipitately, with much loss in ammunition, killed, and prisoners.
The peace of 1763 put an end to the campaign. Cevalhos, in pursuance
of orders he received, was to deliver Colonia to Pedro de Sarmento,
now appointed its governor. Rio Grande and other garrisons (unjustly,
say the Portuguese) remained under the dominion of the crown of Spain
until the year 1776, when they were restored by General Bohemi. In this
interval, the Spaniards extended their possessions into the interior,
and constructed the fort of St. Tecla, which was demolished at the
restoration of Rio Grande.
In 1774, Don John Joze Vertis, having with sinister views taken
his station with eight hundred troops, on a plain near the pass of
Taquatinguay, was attacked and destroyed by two companies of Paulistas,
commanded by captains Bandeiro and Carneiro. During the tranquillity
of peace, an armament, commanded by Cevalhos, for the purpose of
seizing the island of St. Catharina, anchored in front of the colony,
who were unprovided with sufficient provisions, the people having been
sustained by the stores of the royal magazines, which it was alleged
would only last five days. Assigning as a reason the impossibility of
receiving succours, the governor, with a probable want of courage,
offered to capitulate, which offer being rejected, he surrendered at
discretion, with the exception of some officers, their families, and
a few inhabitants, who, by paying a sum of money, obtained permission
to go to Rio de Janeiro. The greater part of the colony were conducted
at their own expense to Mendonça and Cordova, in order to augment the
population and agriculture of those districts. Cevalhos was cruel
enough not to exempt the women from this march, some of whose husbands
were sent dangerously ill to the hospital of Buenos Ayres; others were
seen carrying in their arms their infants dying with the small pox.
The loss of the island of St. Catharina, then more considerable for
its ultimate advantages, than for its present value, produced a treaty
of peace between the two nations, in the same year, 1777, with an
article to establish a new line of division in the southern part only,
one surrendering the aforesaid island, the other Colonia; and in the
province of Uruguay, a greater portion of neutral territory to remain
between the small rivers Chuy, the ancient limit, and Thahim. The
demarcation was to proceed in a direct line by the source of the river
Arica, northward to the mouth of the Peperi-guaçu; and passing the
Setequeades (Seven Falls) to continue up the Igurey to the Paraguay.
The certainty of war between his Catholic Majesty and Portugal,
being received at Rio Grande St. Pedro, in June, 1801, the governor
immediately ordered a proclamation to be issued to the corps de guard,
to regard the Spanish nation as enemies; and, in the expectation of an
order coming from the capital to make a formal declaration, he pardoned
all deserters who were willing to take up arms. An official letter now
arriving from his excellency the Viceroy, the campaign commenced by
the marching of troops in two bodies to the frontier of Rio Pardo and
Rio Grande. By the narrow land between the lake Mirim and the ocean, S.
Soares and J. Antunes marched with one hundred and fifty men against
the camp of Chuy, which was surprised, sacked, and abandoned, without
any loss on the part of the assailants. This corps passed to the other
side of Rio de St. Gonçalo, and halted at Herval, in front of some
advanced posts established on the north of the Jaguaron, which the
Spaniards abandoning, the Portuguese demolished. The same misfortune
befel all the other Spanish detachments, as far as the vicinity of
the Jacuhy, without excepting fort St. Teela. On the Spanish guards
retiring towards the post of Cerro-largo, twelve leagues to the
south of the Jaguaron, on the Batuvi, they had a re-encounter with a
party of Portuguese, who put them to flight, took six waggons with
ammunition, provisions, and mathematical instruments. A small party of
the Portuguese and Spaniards engaged each other on the Jaguaron, when
the former were successful, returning with fifty prisoners, having lost
only two men.
Shortly after, a colonel passed to the other side of the river with
twelve hundred Portuguese, and marched to the attack of the Spanish
fort at Cerro-largo. Before the Portuguese had fired many guns, some
cartridges of powder took fire, and a horse taking fright threw the
cavalry into disorder, which spread through the whole detachment.
Animated by this event, and wishing to take advantage of it, a sortie
was made by a squadron of Spanish cavalry; but the Portuguese forming
again, they were obliged to retreat. This trifling reverse, and the
smallness of the garrison, induced the commandant to capitulate.
The Portuguese apprehending, however, the arrival of some Spanish
reinforcements from Monte Video, dismantled the fort and returned to
their former position. Shortly afterwards, the large reinforcement
which left Monte Video in order to succour the pass of Cerro-largo,
arrived at the opposite banks of the river. The Portuguese showing at
the same time a resolute determination to oppose their passage. In this
state of things, the news of peace arrived and terminated the campaign.
MOUNTAINS.--This province has no very considerable mountains,
excepting the cordillera called the General Serra, which runs from
the north, near the sea, and in the parallel of 29° 30′ turns to the
west, and then north-west with some windings, breaking in many parts to
afford a passage to various rivers, amongst others, the Paranna. The
mountain of St. Martinho, or Monte Grande, is a portion of that serra,
where it divides this province from that of Uruguay. Monte Vidio, or
Video, situated on the west side of the bay to which it gives the name,
is pleasing to the view, and high only in the vicinity of the sea.
The Castilhos Grandes is a hill near to the point of the same name,
and crowned with stones, that appear like towers.
[Illustration:
_On Stone by C. Shoosmith from a Sketch by Jas. Henderson._
_Printed by C. Hullmandel._