_Proceedings at St Catharines, and a Description of that Place, with a
short Account of Brazil._
Our first care after mooring the ships was to get our sick men on
shore; preparatory for which each ship was ordered by the commodore to
erect two tents, one for the reception of the sick, and the other for
the surgeon and his assistants. We sent eighty sick on shore from the
Centurion, and I believe the other ships sent as many in proportion
to the number of their hands. As soon as this necessary duty was
performed, we scraped our decks, and gave our ship a thorough
cleansing, then smoaked it between decks, and lastly washed every part
with vinegar. These operations were extremely necessary for correcting
the noisome stench on board, and destroying the vermin; for, from the
number of our men and the heat of the climate, both these nuisances
had increased upon us to a very loathsome degree, and, besides being
most intolerably offensive, were doubtless in some sort productive of
the sickness we had laboured under for a considerable time before our
arrival at this island.[3]
[Footnote 3: This matter is now infinitely better regulated in
the British navy, and with most admirable and infinitely important
advantages. By the most minute, sedulous, and perpetual attention to
cleanliness, all noisome stench and all vermin are prevented, by which
doubtless diseases are in a great measure lessened.--E.]
Our next employment was wooding and watering the squadron, caulking
the sides and decks of the ships, overhawling the rigging, and
securing our masts against the tempestuous weather we were, in all
probability, to meet with in going round Cape Horn at so advanced
and inconvenient a season. Before proceeding in the narrative of our
voyage, it may be proper to give some account of the present state of
the island of St Catharines and the neighbouring country; both because
the circumstances of the place have materially changed from what they
were in the time of former writers, and as these changes laid us under
many more difficulties and perplexities than we had reason to expect,
or than other British ships, bound hereafter to the South Sea, may
perhaps think it prudent to struggle with.
This island is nine leagues from N. to S. and two from E. to W. It
extends from lat. 27° 35' to 28° both S. and is in long. 49° 45'
W. from London.[4] Although of considerable height, it is scarcely
discernible at the distance of ten leagues, being obscured under the
continent of Brazil, the mountains of which are exceedingly high; but
on a nearer approach is easily distinguished, and may be readily known
by having a number of small islands at each end.[5] Frezier has given
a draught of the island of St Catharines and the neighbouring coast,
with the smaller adjacent isles; but has, by mistake, called the
island of Alvoredo St Gal; whereas the true island of St Gal is seven
or eight miles northward of Alvoredo, and much smaller. He has also
called an island to the southward of St Catharines Alvoredo, and
has omitted the island of Masaquara. In other respects his plan is
sufficiently exact. The best entrance to the harbour is between the
N.E. point of the island of St Catharines and the island of Alvoredo,
where ships may pass under the guidance of the lead, without the least
apprehensions of danger. The north entrance is about five miles broad,
the distance from thence to the island of St Antonio is eight miles,
and the coarse to that island is S.S.W. 1/2 W. About the middle of the
island the harbour is contracted to a narrow channel by two points of
land, not more than a quarter of a mile separate, and at this time a
battery was erecting on the point on the island side to defend this
passage. This seemed, however, a very useless work, as this channel
had only two fathoms water, and is consequently only navigable for
barks and boats, wherefore an enemy could have no inducement to
attempt this passage, more especially as the northern one is so broad
and safe that no squadron can be prevented from coming in by any
fortifications whatever, when the sea-breeze makes. The brigadier Don
Jose Sylva de Paz, who is governor of this settlement, has a different
opinion; for, besides the above-mentioned battery, there were three
other forts carrying on for the defence of the harbour, none of which
were completed when we were there. The first of these, called St Joam,
was building on a point of the island of St Catharines, near Parrot
Island. The second, in form of a half-moon, was on the island of
St Antonio; and the third, which seemed the chief, and had some
appearance of a regular fortification, is on an island near the
continent, where the governor resides. Don Jose Sylva de Paz was
esteemed an expert engineer; and he doubtless understood one branch of
his business very well, which is the advantages which new works bring
to those who have charge of their erection.
[Footnote 4: This account of the matter is very erroneous. The
latitudes are between 28° 5' and 28° 30' both S. and the longitude is
49° 10' W. from Greenwich.--E.]
[Footnote 5: The more elaborate nautical description of this island
is necessarily omitted, as referring to two extensive views, without
which the description would be unintelligible.--E.]
The soil of this island is truly luxuriant, producing many kinds of
fruits spontaneously, and is covered over with one continued forest of
trees, in perpetual verdure, and which, from the exuberant fertility
of the soil, are so entangled with thorns, briars, and underwood,
as to form an absolutely impenetrable thicket, except by some narrow
paths which the inhabitants have opened for their own convenience; and
these, with a few spots cleared for plantations, along that side of
the island which faces the continent, are the only uncovered parts of
the island. The woods are extremely fragrant, from the many aromatic
trees and shrubs with which they abound, and here the fruits and
vegetables of all climates thrive, almost without culture, and are
to be had in great plenty, so that there is no want of pine-apples,
peaches, grapes, oranges, lemons, citrons, melons, apricots, and
plantains; there is also abundance of onions and potatoes, two
productions of no small consideration for sea-stores. The flesh
provisions are, however, much inferior to the vegetables. There are,
indeed, small wild cattle to be purchased, something like buffaloes,
but these are very indifferent food, their flesh being of a loose
texture, and generally of a disagreeable flavour, probably owing to
their feeding on wild calabash. There are also abundance of pheasants,
but they are not to be compared in taste to those we have in England.
The other provisions of the place are monkeys, parrots, and, above
all, fish of various sorts: These abound in the harbour, and are both
exceedingly good and easily caught, as there are numerous sandy bays,
very convenient for haling the seyne.
The water, both on the island and the opposite continent, is
excellent, and preserves at sea as well as that of the Thames. After
it has been a day or two in the cask, it begins to purge itself,
stinks most abominably, and is soon covered over with a green
scum, which subsides in a few days to the bottom, leaving the water
perfectly sweet, and as clear as crystal. The French first brought
this place into repute during their South-Sea trade in the reign
of Queen Anne, and usually wooded and watered in Bon-port, on the
continental side of the harbour, where they anchored in great safety
in six fathoms, and this is doubtless the most commodious station
for ships that are meant only for a short stay. We watered on the
St Catharine's side, at a plantation opposite to the island of St
Antonio.
Such are the advantages of this island; but it has its inconveniences
also, partly proceeding from its climate, but more particularly
from its new regulations and the form of its government, as lately
established. In regard to the climate, it must be remembered that the
woods and hills which surround the harbour prevent a free circulation
of air, and the continual vigorous vegetation furnishes such a
prodigious quantity of vapour, that a thick fog covers the whole
country all night, and a great part of the morning, continuing till
either the sun gathers strength to dissipate it, or it is dispersed
by a brisk sea-breeze. This renders the place close and humid, and
probably occasioned the many fevers and fluxes we were there afflicted
with. I must not omit to add, that we were pestered all day by vast
numbers of mosquetoes, which are not much unlike the gnats in England,
but much more venomous in their stings. At sunset, when the musquetoes
retired, they were succeeded by an infinity of sand-flies, which
made a mighty buzzing, though scarcely discernable by the naked eye;
wherever these bite, they raise a small lump attended by painful
itching, like that arising from the bite of an English harvest bug.
The only light in which this place deserves our consideration is its
favourable situation for supplying and refreshing our cruizers bound
for the South Sea, and in this view its greatest inconveniences remain
to be related, to do which more distinctly, it may not be amiss
to consider the changes which it has lately undergone, both in its
inhabitants, its police, and its governor.
In the time of Frazier and Shelvocke, this place served only as a
retreat to vagabonds and outlaws, who fled hither from all parts of
Brazil. It is true, that they acknowledged their subjection to the
crown of Portugal, and had a person among them whom they called their
captain, and who was considered as a kind of governor; but both their
allegiance to their king, and their obedience to the captain, were
merely verbal; for, as they had plenty of provisions and no money,
they were in a condition to support themselves without aid from any
neighbouring settlements, and had nothing among them to tempt any
neighbouring governor to interpose his authority among them. In this
situation they were extremely hospitable and friendly to such foreign
ships as came among them; for, as these ships wanted only provisions,
of which the natives had great store, while the natives wanted
clothes, for they often despised money, and refused to take it, the
ships furnished them with apparel in exchange for their provisions,
both sides finding their account in this traffic, and their captain
had neither interest nor power to tax or restrain it.
Of late, for reasons which will afterwards appear, these honest
vagabonds have been obliged to receive a new colony among them, and
to submit to new laws and a new form of government. Instead of their
former ragged and bare-legged captain, whom they took care, however,
to keep innocent, they have now the honour of being governed by Don
Jose Sylva de Paz, a brigadier of the armies of Portugal, who is
accompanied by a garrison of soldiers, and has consequently a more
extensive and better supported power than any of his predecessors:
And as he wears better cloaths, lives more splendidly, and has a much
better knowledge of the importance of money than any of them could
ever pretend to, so he puts in practice certain methods for procuring
it with which they were utterly unacquainted; yet it may be much
doubted if the inhabitants consider these methods as tending to
promote either their interests, or that of their sovereign, the king
of Portugal. This much is certain, that his behaviour cannot but be
extremely embarrassing to such British ships as touch here in their
way to the South Seas.
One of his practices was, that he placed centinels at all the avenues,
to prevent the people from selling us any refreshments, except at such
exorbitant rates as we could not afford to give. His pretence for this
extraordinary stretch of power was, that he was obliged to preserve
their provisions for upwards of an hundred families, which were daily
expected as a reinforcement to the colony. Thus he seems no novice in
his profession, by his readiness at inventing a plausible pretence
for his interested management. This circumstance, however, though
sufficiently provoking, was far from being the most exceptionable
part of his conduct; for, as by the neighbourhood of the Rio Plata, a
considerable smuggling trade is carried on between the Portuguese and
Spaniards, especially in exchanging gold for silver, by which both
princes are defrauded of their fifths; and as Don Jose was deeply
engaged in this prohibited commerce, in order to ingratiate himself
with his Spanish correspondents, he treacherously dispatched an
express to Buenos Ayres, where Pizarro then lay, with an account of
our arrival, our strength, the number, of our ships, guns, men,
and every circumstance he could suppose our enemy desirous of being
acquainted with.
This much, and what we shall have to relate in the course of our own
proceedings, may suffice as to the present state of St Catharines and
the character of its governor. But as the reader may wish to know
the reasons for the late new modelling of this settlement, it will
require, to explain this circumstance, to give a short account of the
adjacent continent of Brazil, and of the wonderful discoveries which
have been made within the last forty years, which, from a country of
but mean estimation, has rendered it now perhaps the most considerable
colony on the face of the earth.
This country was first discovered by Americus Vesputio, a Florentine,
who had the good fortune to be honoured by giving his name to the
immense continent found out some time before by Columbus. As Vesputio
was in the service of Portugal, this discovery was settled and planned
by that nation, and afterwards devolved to the crown of Spain along
with the rest of the Portuguese dominions. During the long war between
Spain and the states of Holland, the Dutch possessed themselves of the
northermost parts of Brazil, and kept it for some years; but, when
the Portuguese revolted from the Spanish government, this country
took part in the revolt, and the Dutch were soon driven out of their
acquisitions; since which time it has continued without interruption
under the crown of Portugal. Till the beginning of the present
century, it was only productive of sugar and tobacco, and a few other
commodities of very little importance; but has been lately discovered
to abound in the two mineral productions, gold and diamonds, which
mankind hold in the highest estimation, and which they exercise their
utmost art and industry in acquiring.
Gold was first found in the mountains adjacent to the city of Rio
Janeiro. The occasion of its discovery is variously related, but the
most common account is, that the Indians dwelling on the back of the
Portuguese settlements were observed, by the soldiers employed in an
expedition against them, to use this metal for fish-hooks; and,
on enquiry into their manner of procuring this precious metal, it
appeared that great quantities of it were annually washed from the
hills, and left among the sand and gravel which remained in the
vallies after the running off or evaporation of the water. It is now
[in 1740] little more than forty years since any quantities of gold,
worth notice, have been imported from Brazil to Europe; but, since
that time, the annual imports have been continually augmented by the
discovery of places in other provinces, where it is to be met with
as plentifully as at first about Rio Janeiro. It is alleged that a
_slender vein_[3] of gold spread through all the country, at about
twenty-four feet below the surface, but that this vein is too thin and
poor to answer the expence of digging.[4] However, where the rivers
or rains have had any course for a considerable time, there gold is
always to be collected, the water having separated the metal from the
earth, and deposited it in the sands, thereby saving the expence of
digging; hence it is esteemed an infallible gain to be able to divert
a stream from its channel, and ransack its bed. From this account of
the manner of gathering gold, it should follow that there are no mines
of this metal in Brazil, and this the governor of Rio Grande, who
happened to be at St Catharines, and frequently visited Mr Anson, did
most confidently affirm, assuring us that all the gold was collected
from rivers, or from the beds of torrents after floods. It is indeed
asserted that large rocks are found in the mountains abounding in
gold, and I have seen a fragment of one of these rocks having a
considerable lump of gold entangled in it; but, even in this case, the
workmen only break off the rocks, and do not properly mine into them;
and the great expence of subsisting among these mountains, and in
afterwards separating the metal from the stone, occasions this method
of procuring gold to be but rarely put in practice.
[Footnote 3: The author ought here to have said, _a thin layer_, or
_stratum_, to express the obvious meaning intended in the text.--E.]
[Footnote 4: The editor was informed, many years ago, by an
intelligent native of Rio Janeiro, that the search for gold is
confined by law to certain districts, on purpose to secure the royal
fifth; and that all over the country round Rio Janeiro, where the
search is prohibited, gold, emeralds, and aqua-marines are found in
small quantities, on every occasion of digging to any depth into the
earth, as for the purpose of a pit-well.--E.]
The examining the bottom of rivers and beds of torrents, and the
washing the gold there found, from the sand and dirt with which it is
always mixed, are performed by slaves, who are principally negroes,
kept in great numbers by the Portuguese for this purpose. The
regulation of the duty of these slaves is singular, as they are each
of them obliged to furnish their master with the eighth part of an
ounce of gold daily.[5] If they are either so fortunate or industrious
as to collect a greater quantity, the surplus becomes their own
property, and they may dispose of it as they think fit; so that some
negroes, who have accidentally fallen upon rich washing-places, are
said to have themselves purchased slaves, and to have lived afterwards
in great splendour, their original master having no other demand upon
them than the daily supply of the before-mentioned eighths; which,
as the Portuguese ounce is somewhat lighter than our troy ounce, may
amount to about nine shillings sterling.
[Footnote 5: On the data of the text, and allowing sixty-five days
in the year for Sundays and high festivals, the yearly profit of one
slave to his master would be L. 135 sterling.--E.]
The quantity of gold thus collected in the Brazils and returned
annually to Lisbon, may be estimated, in some degree, from the amount
of the royal fifth. This has been of late computed, one year with
another, at one hundred and fifty _aroues_, of thirty-two Portuguese
pounds each, which, valued at L. 4 sterling the troy ounce, make very
nearly three hundred thousand pounds sterling; and consequently the
capital, of which this is the fifth, is about a million and a half
sterling. It is obvious that the annual return of gold to Lisbon
cannot be less than this, though it may be difficult to guess how much
more it may be. Perhaps we may not be much mistaken in conjecturing
that the gold exchanged with the Spaniards at Buenos Ayres for silver,
and what is privately brought to Europe without paying the duty, may
amount to near half a million more, which will make the entire yearly
produce of Brazilian gold nearly two millions sterling; a prodigious
sum to be found in a country which only a few years since was not
known to furnish a single grain.
Besides gold, this country also affords diamonds, as already
mentioned. The discovery of these valuable stones is much more recent
even than that of gold, as it is scarcely twenty years since the first
were brought to Europe.[6] They are found in the same manner as gold,
in the gullies of torrents and beds of rivers, but only in particular
places, and by no means so universally spread throughout the country.
They were often found while washing for gold, before they were known
to be diamonds, and were consequently thrown away along with the
sand and gravel; and it is well remembered that numbers of very large
stones, which would have made the fortunes of the possessors, have
passed unregarded through the hands of those who now impatiently
support the mortifying reflection. However, about twenty years since,
[that is, in 1720,] a person acquainted with the appearance of rough
diamonds, conceived that these pebbles, as they were then called, were
of the same kind; yet it is said there was a considerable interval
between the first stating of this opinion and its confirmation, by
proper examination, as it was difficult to persuade the inhabitants
that what they had been long accustomed to despise, could be of such
amazing importance; and in this interval, as I was told, a governor of
one of these places procured a good number of these stones, which
he pretended to make use of as markers at cards. The truth of the
discovery was at last confirmed by skilful jewellers in Europe, who
were consulted on the occasion, and who declared that these Brazilian
pebbles were true diamonds, many of which were not inferior in lustre,
or other qualities, to those of the East Indies. On this being made
known, the Portuguese in the neighbourhood of the places where these
had been first discovered, set themselves to search for diamonds with
great assiduity, and were hopeful of discovering them in considerable
quantities, as they found large rocks of crystal in many of the
mountains whence the streams proceeded that washed down the diamonds.
[Footnote 6: The author writes as of the year 1740.--E.]
Soon after this discovery, it was represented to the king of Portugal,
that if diamonds should be met with in such abundance as their
sanguine expectations seemed to indicate, their value and estimation
would be so debased as to ruin all the Europeans who had any quantity
of East India diamonds in their possession, and would even render
the discovery itself of no importance, and prevent his majesty from
deriving any advantages from it. On these considerations, his majesty
thought proper to restrain the general search for diamonds, and
erected a diamond company, with an exclusive charter for this purpose;
in which company, in consideration of a sum of money paid to the king,
the property of all diamonds found in Brazil is vested: But, to hinder
them from collecting too large quantities, and thereby reducing their
value in the market, they are prohibited from employing above eight
hundred slaves in this search. To prevent any of his other subjects
from continuing the search, and to secure the company against
interlopers, a large town, and considerable surrounding district, has
been depopulated; and all the inhabitants, said to have amounted
to six thousand, have been obliged to remove to another part of the
country: For as this town and district were in the neighbourhood of
the diamonds, it was thought impossible to prevent such a number of
people from frequently smuggling, if allowed to reside on the spot.
In consequence of these important discoveries in Brazil, new laws, new
governments, and new regulations, have been established in many parts
of the country. Not long ago there was a considerable track of country
possessed by a set of inhabitants called Paulists, from the name of
their principal settlement, who were almost independent of the
crown of Portugal, to which it scarcely ever acknowledged a nominal
allegiance. These Paulists are said to be descendants from the
Portuguese who retired from the northern part of Brazil when it was
invaded and possessed by the Dutch. Being long neglected by their
superiors, owing to the confusions of the times, and obliged to
provide for their own security and defence, the necessity of their
affairs produced a kind of government among themselves, which sufficed
for their mode of life. Thus habituated to their own regulations, they
became fond of independence, so that, rejecting the mandates of the
court of Lisbon, they were often engaged in a state of downright
rebellion; and, owing to the mountains surrounding their country, and
the difficulty of clearing the few passes leading towards it, they
were generally able to make their own terms before they submitted. But
as gold was found in this country of the Paulists, the present king of
Portugal, in whose reign almost all these great discoveries have been
made, thought it necessary to reduce this province, now become of
great importance, under the same dependence and obedience with the
rest of the country, which was at length effected, though, as I was
informed, with great difficulty.
The same motives which induced his majesty to reduce the Paulists,
have also occasioned the changes which I have mentioned as having
taken place at the island of St Catharines: For, as we were assured
by the governor of Rio Grande, there are considerable rivers in this
neighbourhood that are found to be extremely rich in gold, for which
reason a military governor with a garrison have been placed here,
along with a new colony; and, as the harbour at this island is by much
the largest and most secure of any on the coast, it is not improbable,
if the riches of the neighbourhood answer their present expectation,
that it may become in time the principal settlement in Brazil, and the
most considerable port in all South America.
This much I thought necessary to insert, in relation to the present
state of Brazil and of the island of St Catharines; for, as this last
place has been generally recommended as the most eligible place for
our cruizers to refresh at when bound to the South Sea, I believed it
to be my duty to instruct my countrymen in the hitherto unsuspected
inconveniences which attend that place. And, as the Brazilian gold and
diamonds are subjects of novelty, of which very few particulars have
hitherto been published, I considered that the account I have been
able to collect respecting them might not be regarded either a
trifling or useless digression.
When we first arrived at St Catharines, we were employed in refreshing
our sick on shore, in wooding and watering the squadron, in cleaning
our ships, and in examining and securing our masts and rigging, as
formerly mentioned. At the same time Mr Anson gave orders that the
ships companies should be supplied with fresh meat, and have a full
allowance of all kinds of provisions. In consequence of these orders
we had fresh meat sent on board continually for our daily expenditure;
and every thing else that was wanting to make up our allowances, was
received from the Anna Pink, our victualler, in order to preserve the
provisions on board the ships of the squadron as entire as possible
for future service. As the season of the year grew every day less
favourable for our passage round Cape Horn, Mr Anson was very anxious
to leave St Catharines as soon as possible, and we were at first in
hopes that all our business would be concluded, and we should be in
readiness to sail, in about a fortnight from our arrival; but, on
examining the masts of the Tryal, we found, to our no small vexation,
inevitable employment for twice that time; for, on a survey, her
main-mast was sprung at the upper woulding, though that was thought
capable of being secured by means of two fishes; but the fore-mast was
reported entirely unfit for service, on which the carpenters were sent
into the woods in search of a stick proper for a new foremast. After
a search of four days, nothing could be found fit for the purpose;
wherefore, on a new consultation, it was agreed to endeavour to secure
the mast by three fishes, in which work the carpenters were employed
till within a day or two of our departure. In the meantime, thinking
it necessary to have a clean vessel, on our arrival in the South Sea,
the commodore ordered the Tryal to be hove down, which occasioned
no loss of time, as it might be completed while the carpenters were
refitting her masts on shore.
A sail being discovered in the offing on the 27th December, and not
knowing but she might be Spanish, the eighteen-oared boat was manned
and armed, and sent under the command of our second lieutenant, to
examine her before she got within the protection of the forts. She
proved to be a Portuguese brigantine from Rio Grande; and, though
our officer behaved with the utmost civility to the master, and even
refused to accept a calf which the master pressed him to accept, the
governor took great offence at the sending our boat, talking of it
in a high strain, as a violation of the peace subsisting between
the crowns of Great Britain and Portugal. We thus attributed this
blustering to no deeper cause than the natural insolence of Don Jose;
but when he charged our officer with behaving rudely, and attempting
to take by violence the calf which he had refused as a present, we had
reason to suspect that he purposely sought this quarrel, and had more
important objects in view than the mere captiousness of his temper.
What these motives might be we had then no means of determining, or
even guessing at; but we afterwards found, by letters which fell into
our hands when in the South-Seas, that he had dispatched an express to
Pizarro, who then lay in the Rio Plata, with an account of our arrival
at St Catharines, together with a most ample and circumstantial
account of our force and condition. We then conceived, that Don Jose
had raised this groundless clamour on purpose to prevent us from
visiting the brigantine when she should go away again, lest we might
have found proofs of his perfidy, and perhaps have discovered
the secret of his smuggling correspondence with his neighbouring
governors, and with the Spaniards at Buenos Ayres.
It was near a month before the Tryal was refitted; for not only were
her lower-masts defective, but her main-topmast and fore-yard were
likewise found rotten. While this work was going on, the other
ships of the squadron set up new standing-rigging, together with a
sufficient number of preventer shrowds to each mast, to secure them in
the most effectual manner. Also, in order to render the ships stiffer,
to enable them to carry more sail abroad, and to prevent them from
straining their upper works in hard gales of wind, the several
captains were ordered to put some of their great guns into their
holds. These precautions being complied with, and all the ships having
taken in as much wood and water as there was room for, the Tryal was
at last completed, and the whole squadron was ready for sea: On which
the tents on shore were struck, and all the sick removed on board. We
had here a melancholy proof how much the healthiness of this place
was over-rated by former writers; for, though the Centurion had alone
buried no less than twenty-eight of her men since our arrival, yet, in
the same interval, the number of her sick had increased from eighty to
ninety-six.
All being embarked, and every thing prepared for our departure, the
commodore made the signal for all captains, and delivered them their
orders, containing the successive places of rendezvous from hence to
the coast of Chili. Next day, being the 18th of January, 1741, the
signal was made for weighing, and the squadron put to sea; leaving
this island of St Catharines without regret, as we had been extremely
disappointed in our accommodations and expectatations of refreshment,
and in the humane and friendly offices we had been taught to look
for, in a place so much celebrated for its hospitality, freedom, and
convenience.