EMPIRE OF BRAZIL.
Rather prefatory and not very particular, though somewhat
personal.—Books on Brazil should be in _Mediam Viam_ for the
present route, avoiding the Scylla of extreme succinctness
and the Charybdis of needless diffuseness.—Object of the
Author to attain the golden medium.—With what success, gentle
reader, say?—Discovery of the country by the Portuguese.
Their subsequent disputes with, and final expulsion of
the Dutch.—Extent and Population; variety of soil and
produce.—Difficulty of communication between the provinces
and the capital, in consequence of extreme distance and
imperfect means of travelling.—Extraordinary instance of
the roundabout nature of news circulating in Brazil some
time ago.—Steam corrective of such sluggishness.—A glance
at the Brazilian littoral, beginning with the Amazon, and
ending with Rio Grande do Sul.—Pará and its productions.—Rio
Negro, and its recent political elevation.—Maranham and its
Mercantile importance.—Laird’s steam leveller, on the singular
stream of the Itapecuru.—Justice for England by Maranham
Magistrates.—Piauhy and its products; also Ceara, Rio Grande
do Norte, and Paraiba.—Pernambuco revisited by the writer, and
welcomed with a rhythmetical sentimental something concerning
‘Long, long, ago!’
Let not the reader suppose, from the heading of this chapter, ‘Empire
of Brazil,’ that he is going to encounter either a dilution or a
condensation of Southey, Kidder, Weech, Mawe, Prince Adalbert, St.
Hilaire, and others, who have written at great length and in many
languages, on so fertile and so expansive a theme. The object of the
author in this portion of the volume is merely, by presenting at a glance
the position and condition of Brazil generally, to enable those who
accompany him in these pages the more readily to recognize the points
he is about to put hereafter as the result of his own experience, more
especially with reference to the machinery of commercial matters in
Brazil. It is often the fault of men very full of a particular subject
themselves to take for granted that the public either know a very great
deal, or wish to know everything about it. Brazil has suffered much from
both these causes in European, and especially in English estimation.
Those familiar with and competent to write about it, have either presumed
that the public were nearly as wise as themselves, and have passed over
matters of great interest, believing them to be stale and exhausted,
and dwelling upon the trivialities of personal travel by way of varying
a beaten track:—or, on the other hand, the exhaustive process has been
applied, and historic and topographic disquisition have been employed
with a minuteness that would be only tolerated in English county
gazetteers or family chronicles. The consequence is that all but the
student or the virtuoso in such matters have been repelled from their
perusal. When the idea of writing this book occurred to the author—an
idea suggested by frequent inquiries for works that should, in a brief
compass, give a tolerable notion of things to be met with and that ought
to be known in a route of yearly increasing importance between two
quarters of the globe—it was suggested that he should steer between the
two extremes just indicated. He has endeavoured to do so; and without
further circumlocution, he places before the reader the means of deciding
with what success.
Brazil,[38] as already noticed, was discovered by Cabral on his way to
India in 1500 (although it has been asserted that the coast was visited
by Martin Belem in 1484) who at first supposed it to be a large island
on the coast of Africa.[39] The reports as to her mineral wealth not
being at that time encouraging, little progress was made in colonizing
Brazil until 1542, when the Portuguese rulers sent out Thomas de Souza
as first governor, who built San Salvador, (or Bahia, as it is now
called, capital of the province of the same name,) and materially aided
the mission of the Jesuits in civilizing the Indian population. This
Portuguese possession was afterwards disputed both by the Spaniards
and the Dutch, and the latter succeeded in appropriating several of
the northern provinces, viz.:—Ceara, Seregipe, Pernambuco, and Bahia,
which they held for a considerable time during the 17th century, and
did much towards the permanent prosperity of the country, by building
forts, enlarging towns, and carrying out a number of useful public works,
which remain as monuments of their laboriousness and perseverance to
this day, especially in the capitals of the two last-named provinces.
Much gallantry and patriotism were shown by the native Brazilian and
Portuguese residents in their conflict with the Hollanders, ending in
the final expulsion of the latter from the entire coast, although this
event may be considered a misfortune to the country itself, in losing so
industrious and painstaking a race.
The Brazilian empire extends from about 4 degrees north, to 33 degrees
south, latitude; its extreme length is from 2,500 to 2,600 miles, and
breadth above 2,000 at the widest part; it contains some 2,500,000 square
miles of territory, comprising every variety of soil and culture, and
is possessed of considerable variety of climate. Its population has
been variously estimated at from six to seven millions; but no data
exist from which one can form more than an approximate calculation.
Out of this number, one half may be set down as slaves, and the other
half mixed races, from the native-born Portuguese downwards to the pure
Indian. One of the great draw-backs hitherto experienced in administering
the government of the Brazils has been the distance of the towns and
provinces from the metropolis, Rio Janeiro; and this has more especially
applied to the northern provinces, from Pará to Pernambuco, where, owing
to the almost constant prevalence of a northerly current, sailing-vessels
took a very long time in getting down the coast; so that, in the absence
of communication by land, the intelligence of disturbances or temporary
rebellion only reached the seat of government a considerable period after
the first outbreak. An extraordinary and almost incredible instance of
this occurred on the occasion of the formidable revolt of the province
of Pará, the first news of which was received at Rio Janeiro by way
of England, sixty days after a British sailing ship had left Pará,
and another recrossed the Atlantic, and anchored in the port of the
Brazilian capital, no ship, within all that period, having been able to
make way from Pará to Rio against the monsoon and current and wind that
prevails for a great part of the year, blowing from the antarctic circle
towards the equator. Perhaps the astonishment created by this state of
things will, however, be triflingly mitigated if the reader will bear
in mind that Brazil is as large as nearly a dozen Great Britains; and
will also recollect what vagueness, incertitude, and delay characterise
the receipt of intelligence in London from Constantinople and St.
Petersburgh, notwithstanding special steamers, express trains, electric
telegraphs, government couriers, and time-and-space-annihilating editors
of innumerable newspapers, at both ends and all along the whole line of
operations. Steam navigation has however in a great measure remedied
this evil, as it has done so many others; and news is now regularly
transmitted between Rio Janeiro and Pará by a steam company, liberally
subsidized by the government, the former being bound to dispatch a
vessel once a fortnight, calling at all the ports. In the absence
of internal roads or communications along the coast, steam must very
properly be regarded as the main-stay of the executive, at the same time
that it offers the needful facility for provincial deputies attending
the sittings of the Rio chambers. Steam, valuable everywhere, is
invaluable here, and may, indeed, be looked upon as the great civilizer
and regenerator of a country like Brazil, with a sea-coast extending
nearly 4,000 miles from north to south; while other tributary lines of
steamers are being established in the innumerable bays and rivers. The
northernmost point is the mighty Amazon, which is being explored and
opened to general traffic by another steam company, established at Rio
Janeiro, and likewise aided with an ample subsidy from the government;
though from the terms in which certain North American and other writers,
to some of whom we shall have to allude hereafter, speak of the Brazilian
authorities, it might be inferred that not a particle of enterprise of
this kind is tolerated, much less encouraged. Considering that it is
only 20 years since the first funnel darkened the Brazilian waters,
this wonder-working agent of steam may fairly be said to be only in its
infancy, and its progeny will no doubt ere long be greatly multiplied
on the coast and up the vast fluvial arteries of the empire. A brief
glance along the littoral boundaries of this almost boundless dominion
will soon shew the transcendent importance of steam to such a region. The
northernmost province of the Brazils is
_Pará_, with a capital of the same name, otherwise called Belem, situated
on the north-eastern bank of the Amazon, 80 miles from its entrance.
From the cause already assigned (distance from the seat of government)
the progress of this important province, containing upwards of a million
square miles, much of which is yet unknown, has been greatly retarded
by civil wars and an unruly population. Its chief productions are corn,
caoutchouc (or gum elastic), ipecacuanha, nuts, &c.; but there is no
doubt that the navigation of the Amazon will lead to great additional
sources of export, and soon render this province one of the most
flourishing in the empire, as its immense fertility, miscellaneous
produce, and the incalculable advantages of having the greatest river
in the world traversing its entire length, so well entitle it to be.
The population, of whom some ten thousand are probably Indians, amounts
to about 350,000. Of their condition, and that of the province and its
capital, we shall speak in detail under the head of the Amazon; as also of
_Rio Negro_, an internal province situated on the Amazon, and
communicating with the seaport of Pará. It has only lately been raised to
the dignity of a province.
_Maranhao_, or _Maranham_, or _San Luiz_, follows on the line of
sea-coast, with a large, well-built capital, similarly named, but is
not very densely populated, containing probably not more than a quarter
of a million inhabitants to an area of nearly 70,000 square miles, the
soil being well watered and fertile, and, like nearly the whole of the
Brazilian empire, producing wood of the finest kind for almost every
purpose. It has always been looked upon as a steady-going place, although
its progress has not kept pace with other more favoured provinces to
the southward. Its chief production is cotton, of which the export
is considerable, averaging about 30,000 bags per annum, and rice and
sarsaparilla also form considerable items. The town is situated on an
island, some 30 miles from the coast, with rather a dangerous navigation
to it, though of easy access for small vessels, a couple of forts
defending the entrance. It is said to contain a population of 30,000,
which is probably an exaggeration. Its buildings, however, are on a
scale not unworthy of such numbers, and consist of a theatre, hospital,
several convents, and schools of a very superior order. About 200 miles
up the River Itapicuru is the important town of Caxias, formerly Aldeas
Altas, and which, though suffering itself considerably in the civil wars
of 1838-40, has nearly double the population of Maranham. Its connection
with the latter has been greatly accelerated by means of a small steamer
running between the two places, and called the Caxiense, built by the
constructor of the Argentina, Mr. John Laird, of Birkenhead, under
peculiar reservation as to her draught of water; which was not to be
more than three feet, and even this appears too much for the shallow
places in the river during the dry season, though she seems to have
been eminently successful in other respects, and of great utility, not
only in going up and down the river with freight and passengers, but
also in towing vessels and small craft. The scenery on the Itapicuru is
described as most romantic, the banks being high, and lined with towering
trees, in many places almost meeting across. The navigation however is
very uncertain and irregular, as will have been inferred from what we
have said of the necessity of exceedingly shallow-bottomed steamers, in
the dry season, when there is not more than from two to three feet of
water in some places, whilst in the rainy season it will rise to 20 or
30 feet, inundating, or rather irrigating, the country round to some
extent, and rendering it, like the Delta of the Nile, and for the same
reason, uncommonly fertile, so much so, indeed, as to leave little scope
for industry; for, by merely striking a few plants in the mud, two or
three crops a-year can be obtained, more than sufficient for the wants of
the inhabitants. On the banks of the river are many large fazendas, or
estates, where cotton only was formerly grown, but they are now trying
sugar likewise, and with encouraging assurance of remunerative results.
Ascending the river, the first important place arrived at is the Villa
de Rosario, situated in a fertile district, and where many influential
planters reside. Next in rotation are Paioul and St. Nicholas;
afterwards, there comes Itapicuru-Merim, where vessels, drawing 4 feet
of water can go in the driest season; but beyond the latter-named place,
not more than two feet and a half. Nearly all the produce shipped at
Maranham comes down this river in canoes, of about 40 tons register,
carrying 300 bags of cotton; and in the dry season this voyage will take
three months to perform what the steamer does now in less than four days!
In the rainy season these river craft will come down much more quickly;
but the average time then occupied in going up is still greater, owing
to the strength of the freshes in the river, the vessel having to be
hauled up by bodily force, ropes being taken from tree to tree, and
requiring a crew for the purpose. This slight sketch of the difficulties
attending the navigation of one of the internal rivers of the Brazils by
native craft, will show what may be effected by steam, even under the
most unfavourable circumstances of a very shallow stream; and what may we
not expect from such a communication being established along the mighty
Amazon?
Maranham was a short time back the scene of a most brutal murder of an
English resident; and, to the credit of the local government, four of the
miscreants concerned in it were hanged, the force of which observation
will be understood by those who know the difficulty of administering
justice in a country like Brazil, where, owing to the vast distance of
one town from another, and the consequent difficulty of sustaining the
vigilance of pursuit, and the facilities for baffling it, crimes of
this nature may be expected to go long unpunished, if the perpetrators
be not caught almost red-handed in the very deed of blood. The acting
President of Maranham is represented as most energetic and efficient,
having done much to improve the town and maintain civil order in his
district. His official residence is a very fine one, and should have been
mentioned among the imposing structures of the town, or rather city, for
such Maranham is, at least in the English sense of the term, being the
residence of a bishop, and containing an episcopal palace of considerable
dimensions, and of striking architectural appearance. The place, and some
of its people, still retain slight traces of its French origin, having
been founded by that nation, as late as the end of the 17th century; and,
it is said, that that language is better spoken in Maranham than in any
other part of Brazil, the capital itself not excepted.
_Piauhy._—Beyond Maranham lies the little province of this name, which
has no port or outlet; but in the district of Parahyba, 100 miles to the
eastward of Maranham, are extensive plains, extending over 6,000 square
miles, watered by numerous rivers and covered with cattle, which can be
bought exceedingly cheap. Much carne seca (dried beef) is cured here and
sent to Maranham, as well as cattle, in beautiful condition. It is easy
to imagine what an important element of supply this will be to other
parts of the empire not so well provided, so soon as better means of
transit exist. Unlike most other portions of Brazil, Piauhy is deficient
in wood; but, in addition to its fine pastures, it produces in great
abundance maize, millet, sugar, rice, cotton, jalap, ipecacuanha, and
some silver, iron, and lead, but none of these yield anything like what
may be expected when there is a population something better proportioned
to the area we have named, for at present the inhabitants do not exceed
70,000. Its capital, Oeyras, has but about 3,000 inhabitants, but
contains some remarkable ecclesiastical evidences of the former presence
of the Jesuits.
_Ceara_ is a very sandy district, but with a good back country where
many cattle are bred, but which suffers much from occasional drought.
Ceara exports a fair quantity of hides, some cotton, and fustic. The
town of Aracati is situated on a picturesque river, but with a very bad
bar entrance, on which several vessels have been lost; they, therefore,
now generally load outside, some miles higher up the coast, where an
indent admits of shelter, and to which the cotton is taken in jangadas
(native craft.) Though the heat in this province is excessive in summer,
the climate is nevertheless healthy. Its population is somewhat about
200,000; and gold, as well as copper, iron, and salt, is among its yet
very imperfectly ascertained mineral resources. The town of Ceara is
quite on the coast, and has no harbour, or protection, beyond a reef of
rocks that forms a kind of breakwater, within which vessels can ride at
anchor. It is a curious thing that the reef, of which this constitutes a
part, extends along nearly the whole coast of Brazil, from Cape St. Roque
to the Abrolhos, near Rio Janeiro, and is of the same hard coral nature.
In many places an entrance through, or a break in the reef, enables
vessels to get to small ports inside, and jangadas can sail along the
coast, within these reefs for hundreds of miles, entirely protected from
the sea, which rolls in and breaks upon them with a deafening noise.
_Rio Grande do Norte_, a name derived from the river which, after an
east course, enters the Atlantic at Natal, its capital, possesses a good
harbour, but has little direct trade, procuring its supplies chiefly from
Pernambuco. Compared with any of the provinces already spoken of, it is
well peopled, there being about 140,000 inhabitants to 32,000 square
miles. A few cargoes of Brazil wood were formerly shipped here, being
the best quality produced in the whole empire, and prized accordingly,
till it fell into disrepute from the causes we have already specified,
in speaking of that once-prized ingredient in the art of dyeing. Like
Piauhy, Rio Grande do Norte is favourable to cattle-rearing; but exports
of that kind, in the shape of hides, tallow, or jerked beef, are scanty,
because of the paucity of means of transport.
_Paraiba_ is a very fertile province, bordering on that of Pernambuco,
and vastly better peopled than the one last described, as it has a
population of 70,000 to an area of 9,000 square miles; and cattle of
European breeds are raised in considerable numbers with great facility.
There is a fine river, some 20 miles in length, leading up to the town,
of the same name as the province, where vessels can load alongside the
trapixes. The bar entrance is rather intricate, but there is very good
anchorage just inside. Paraiba exports largely of cotton, and also of
sugar and hides. The upper city is extensive, with large, well-built
houses; while the lower, or commercial part of the town, is also
extremely good, possessing a splendid Government warehouse, and the whole
indicating quondam prosperity, as well as affording additional proof
of the industry and perseverance of the Dutch, who formerly held this
province in conjunction with Pernambuco. The treasury, in particular,
is considered a very fine building; its educational establishments are
also excellent; and in the neighbourhood of the town are some of the
best-managed coffee plantations probably in the empire.
_Pernambuco._—We now approach the most flourishing and remarkable
province in the Brazils, upon which the writer hopes he may be pardoned
if he descant at some length, as a place intimately mixed up with
all his boyish ideas and first impressions; where he spent many happy
days, and always returned with considerable pleasure, although, on this
occasion, alas! very few of the old familiar faces he once knew any
longer arrested his vision, as he cast his eye along the well-known
mart and into the well-remembered homes of other days; for a quarter of
a century makes a terrible void indeed in the limited ranks of one’s
countrymen who take up their abode in such places.
Musical the rippling
Of the tardy current,
Musical the murmur
Of the wind-swept trees,
Musical the cadence
Of the friendly voices,
Laden with the sweetness
Of the songs of old.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO PERNAMBUCO HARBOUR.]
[Illustration: PART OF THE EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, _Shewing the Line of the_
Projected Railway & Navigable _Upper Level of the_ RIVER SAN FRANCISCO.
_S Straker lith. 80 Bishopsgate St. London._]