_BRAZIL: DISCOVERY OF THE DIAMOND DISTRICT._
1724-1749.
[Sidenote: 1724.]
The mining districts had on several occasions been the scene of serious
and prolonged resistance against the constituted authorities, in
consequence of the regulations respecting the mode of levying the royal
share which were introduced with a view to prevent smuggling. It had
been found necessary to make a severe example of the ringleaders of an
insurrection; and the mining population were thenceforward amenable to
law. It was established that all gold was to pass through the royal
smelting-house before paying the royal fifths which were now
re-established. The people of the mines had, by a timely discovery,
escaped the danger of a negro insurrection; and in consequence so many
negroes took to the woods that the same evil was apprehended as in the
case of the _Palmares_. In order to avert such a contingency,
Bush-captains were established, whose business it was to apprehend
wandering negroes, for whom they received head-money from their masters.
In many cases it was alleged that the Bush-captains, in order to receive
the reward, made a practice of arresting negroes who were not runaways,
and that this institution was only one degree less troublesome to the
community than the evil which it was appointed to suppress--these
individuals being likewise in the habit of detaining negroes and
profiting by their labour.
The great importation of negroes into _Minas Geraes_ gave occasion to
fears which were not entertained elsewhere in _Brazil_, and in
consequence an order was issued forbidding the formation of free blacks
into separate companies, and requiring that they should be mixed with
white soldiers. No person who was a mulatto within the fourth degree
might be an ordinary judge or hold any municipal office in _Minas
Geraes_. The mode of mining had now undergone a considerable alteration.
Instead of opening cuttings and carrying the produce in bulk to be
washed, water was conveyed to the mining ground, and, washing away the
mould, broke up the blocks in pits or wooden troughs, thus saving a
great expenditure of labour. As water-power thus became a valuable
property, those in possession of water-courses derived great advantages
therefrom. Their pretensions were, however, so extravagant that it was
found necessary to establish a set of laws respecting the distribution
of the water.
The discovery of the mines had brought about so great an increase of
wealth that the jealous restrictions against the immigration of
foreigners into _Brazil_ were rendered more stringent than ever. Not
only were they forbidden to enter the country, but no person might
embark for it unless he were appointed to an office there, or unless he
were a servant of Portuguese birth accompanying his master. Even
Portuguese must be provided with passports; and the clergy were likewise
under restrictions.
The _Paulistas_, being greatly outnumbered by strangers in _Minas
Geraes_, sought and found a new field for their energies. It was to the
enterprise of one of this class of men, named Pascoal Cabral, that was
due the discovery of the mines of _Cuyabá_ in the centre of the
Continent,--mines which should more naturally have fallen to the lot of
the Spaniards from _Paraguay_ or from _Santa Cruz de la Sierra_. The
journey thither from _S. Paulo_ was long and arduous, and was further
attended with no slight risk, leading the traveller through the native
country of the fierce _Puayaguas_. These people rendered the journey to
_Cuyabá_ so dangerous that, when a colony had been established there, a
strongly-armed vessel was sent thence to await the annual caravan of
traders at the _Paraguay_ river.
So soon as the richness of the locality became known, cattle and
supplies were forwarded to _Cuyabá_, but with infinite difficulty and at
proportionate cost. Mining at _Cuyabá_ was attended with a danger from
which _Minas Geraes_ was free, namely, the presence of hostile and
resolute Indians. Military discipline was found necessary for
self-preservation; but the attitude of the savages was at least attended
with the good result of compelling the settlers to sink their own
jealousies and differences in making common cause against them. Thus the
settlement of _Cuyabá_ soon began to flourish as much as had those of
_Minas Geraes_. As the way thither by water was so circuitous and
difficult, the governor of _S. Paulo_ offered a reward for the opening
up of a communication by land; and this object was effected by Manoel de
Lara, a house being established at the point where the _Paraná_ was
crossed, in order that the gold might be registered and the royal fifths
collected. But such a mode of levying the dues proved ineffectual in a
country where smuggling was so easy; and it was judged expedient to have
recourse to a poll-tax upon the slaves.
A like measure was, after long hesitation, determined upon in respect to
the taxation of _Minas Geraes_, where almost every conceivable
contrivance had been resorted to in order to defraud the Crown of the
royal fifths,--such measures, for instance, as corrupting the goldsmiths
and employing coins. It was therefore strongly recommended to raise the
royal proportion by means of taxing the produce according to the number
of slaves employed; and the task of introducing this measure devolved
upon the new governor, Gomes Freyre de Andrade, the son of the
distinguished Gomes Freyre, who had restored order in _Maranham_.
When the edict for the capitation was posted in the public places
throughout the captaincy, the inhabitants of two districts tore down the
proclamation and prepared to resist the levying of the tax; but so
conciliatory was the new governor that this threatened disturbance was
quieted down; and the peace of the province was happily insured by the
discovery, at this time, of several fresh mines, which promoted a
general prosperity extending to the entire population.
But it was not to gold alone that _Brazil_ was to owe the sudden
increase of its prosperity which occurred during the early part of the
eighteenth century. A rumour had long been current of the existence of
diamonds; and one Bernardino da Fonseca Lobo had found specimens of
these precious stones in the _Serro do Frio_, which he sent home to
Portugal, and which procured him the title of _Capitam Mor of Villa do
Principe_ for life. Diamonds were declared to be royalties, and subject
to the same duties as gold. It was difficult, however, to collect these
duties in the same manner; since neither by number, weight, nor measure
could any equitable plan of taking the royal fifths be devised. A
capitation tax upon the slaves employed was therefore decided upon. The
diamonds were to be remitted, as was gold, only in the King’s ships, one
per cent. on their value being charged for freight. The result of this
last discovery of the produce of _Brazil_ was such that, in the course
of two years, the price of diamonds in Europe went down seventy-five per
cent. The property of individuals was so seriously threatened that it
was found necessary, without delay, to take measures for limiting the
number of diamonds extracted.
In order to arrive at this end, by which the price of diamonds was to be
kept up artificially, several measures were proposed, and were referred
to commercial men for their opinion. The advice of Dr. Joam Mendes was
to the effect that the diamond country should be reserved for the King’s
use; that it should be placed under special laws; and that the diamonds
should be extracted for the King’s account slowly. After due
deliberation, the Court resolved to adopt the counsel thus given, in so
far as to reserve the diamond country and to limit the extraction; but
not to undertake it on its own account. An officer was therefore charged
to mark out the limits of the forbidden district, and so heavy a
capitation was imposed as to prevent all but a few persons from
searching for the precious stones. It was thought that they could only
be offered for sale at a heavy price.
Under the government of Gomes Freyre, a contract was made for employing
six hundred slaves in the work of extracting diamonds, an annual
poll-tax to be paid upon the slaves of two hundred and thirty _milreis_.
The Crown was to have the option of purchasing stones above a certain
size. When, at the end of four years, this contract expired, it had
proved so profitable that the capitation was raised to two hundred and
seventy _milreis_; whilst the Treasury should each year give the
contractor credit for sixty thousand _milreis_ of the two hundred and
sixty-two thousand for which he stood engaged. This arrangement fell in
with the views of all parties. The European lapidaries kept back their
stock until time should have effaced the effects of the sudden glut; and
whilst they gave out that the Brazilian diamonds were inferior to the
Oriental, they did not fail to pass off the former as the latter. They
are even asserted to have sent Brazilian stones to _Goa_ to find thence
their way back to Europe, until the equal value of the Brazilian
diamonds with those of India was established.
The _Serro do Frio_, in which these diamonds were found, had been first
explored by two Brazilians probably from the town of _Villa do
Principe_, which dates from the beginning of the century. The boundaries
of _Minas Geraes_, to the east, lay along the adjacent captaincies of
_Rio de Janeiro_, _Bahia_, and _Pernambuco_. Towards the north and west
there lay an undefined extent of unappropriated territory. To the south
the province is bounded by the captaincies of _S. Paulo_ and _Rio de
Janeiro_. The whole captaincy is a portion of an immense mountain-range.
A winter of two months’ duration commences in May, when the average
temperature is about 50° _Fahrenheit_; in the hot season the heat never
exceeds 80°. The rainy season lasts from October till May, the rain
sometimes continuing for days together. The captaincy of _Minas Geraes_
was divided into four districts, of which that of _Serro do Frio_,
called also the forbidden district, contained the diamond fields.
This district boasts innumerable peaks, some of enormous height, which
present a scene of alpine grandeur and desolation--a grandeur which is
added to by the magnificent cataracts into which the waters of the
region are in many places gathered before they fall into the rivers
which drain the district.
The Portuguese were now advancing in several directions into the
interior of _Brazil_; more especially up the _Amazons_ and the numerous
tributaries of that stream. The _Paulistas_ and the people of _Minas
Geraes_ spread themselves across the extensive region lying behind the
captaincies of _Bahia_ and _Piauhy_, which now forms the province of
_Goyaz_; whilst from _Cuyabá_ the settlers continued to advance towards
the _Chiquito_ and _Moxo_ missions, and likewise in the direction of the
western branch of the _Tocantins_. They thus secured for Portugal a
country containing two hundred thousand square miles, which now forms
the province of _Matto-Grosso_.
The name _Goyaz_ is derived from the _Goya_ tribe. The first discoverer
of its mineral wealth was a _Paulista_, named Manoel Correa, who, in the
seventeenth century, made his way thither at the head of a party of
slave-hunters. He brought back some specimens of gold, which induced
another adventurer to follow in his footsteps. He too found gold upon
one of the rivers flowing into the _Amazons_. This second adventurer,
called Bueno, was accompanied in another expedition by his son, then
only twelve years old. They found the _Goya_ women wearing pieces of
gold picked up from the beds of the torrents. This was in 1670, before
the age of Brazilian mining had arrived. Fifty years later Bueno’s son
proposed to the Governor of _S. Paulo_ to go in search of the spot which
he had visited in his boyhood, and which, after three years’ searching,
he once more found. He collected gold from five different streams, where
he was appointed to establish a colony with the rank of _Capitam Mor_.
The mines of _Goyaz_ soon rivalled those of _Cuyabá_, and had the
advantage of a shorter and safer communication with the older
settlements. Provisions came regularly from _S. Paulo_, but not in
sufficient quantities to keep pace with the increasing population. The
demand for food induced a portion of the community to devote themselves
to rearing cattle and cultivating the ground, occupations which were
soon found to be even more profitable than mining. In ten years the
colony, requiring a separate jurisdiction, was made a province of _S.
Paulo_; twelve years later it was declared a captaincy. Its capital,
_Villa Boa_, was chartered in 1739.
[Sidenote: 1734.]
Mines were first discovered in _Matto-Grosso_ in 1734, upon the banks of
the river _Sarare_. These, too, were found by a _Paulista_. Gold was
found during the first years in greater abundance than in any other
quarter; but the earlier adventurers suffered the greatest hardships
from want of provisions. Even the necessaries of life rose to famine
prices. The gold was not enough to prevent many from starving from want
of food. The settlement was at length relieved by the arrival of a
supply of cattle from _Cuyabá_; but not until the original discoverer,
who was at the time rolling in wealth, had fallen a victim to disease.
[Sidenote: 1742.]
The undoubted riches of the region, however, did not fail to insure a
due proportion of settlers; and a road was opened to _Cuyabá_ from
_Goyaz_ by which a due supply of cattle was introduced. Amongst the few
survivors of the first miserable year was Manoel Felix de Lima, who was
destined to accomplish a remarkable geographical feat, by finding his
way from the mines of _Francisco Xavier_ in _Matto-Grosso_ to the
Spanish settlements at _Santa Maria Magdalena_. A short sketch of this
journey may be given here as illustrating the enormous natural and other
difficulties with which the first explorers of the interior of _Brazil_
had to contend.
Manoel de Lima, who was a native of Portugal, had failed to enrich
himself in the pursuit of gold; prices were very high; and, being
wearied of a settled life, he induced some companions to join him in an
adventure down the rivers. The party made up the number of fifty,
including slaves and Indians. They were all either penniless or deeply
in debt, and were glad of any excuse for escaping from their creditors.
Falling down the _Sarare_ in canoes, they found themselves upon the
_Guapore_, when they laid in stores for the voyage before them down the
river which now forms for a considerable distance the frontier between
_Brazil_ and _Bolivia_.
On the tenth day of the voyage the adventurers landed on the right bank,
at the mouth of a stream, where they found marks of a recent encampment
made by a party under one Almeida, who had set out from the settlement
six months before them upon a slave-hunting expedition, and who soon
joined them here. Almeida had been informed that it would be dangerous
to proceed down the stream, on account of the character of the natives;
he therefore proposed to ascend the smaller river, where he might pursue
his object with greater safety. The intelligence discouraged the greater
number of Manoel’s party, but not the leader himself; he determined to
pursue his course, notwithstanding the defection of fourteen of his
number.
Going down the _Guapore_, they found, next day, a village, from which
the Indians fled at their approach. The course of the stream led them
into a vast lake where crocodiles were numerous, and near which they
captured an Indian, and had some communication, not altogether friendly,
with others. Renewing their voyage, they came to a part of the stream
lined with habitations, and having many canoes; but as soon as any
people saw them, they set up a cry and ran away. A pilot went in front
with two negroes in a small canoe, and these, on one occasion, attacked
some Indians, who, however, succeeded in escaping. Next morning, as was
to be expected, a number of canoes came in pursuit of the aggressors,
the leader of the party being a young man attacked on the previous day.
The affair, however, ended peacefully, the Indians receiving gifts. A
day or two later, they shot an antelope on the river, and, landing,
found a piece of cloth and a cross, which were evident signs of
converted Indians, some of whom they next day encountered.
Following the side of the broad stream, Manoel was so fortunate as to
meet another canoe full of converted Indians, one of whom undertook to
guide his party. This native now entered a stream which joined the
_Guapore_ on the left, and on which they were before long accosted from
a canoe in Spanish. The adventurers were now amidst a labyrinth of
islands and channels, where they might have wandered indefinitely had
they not had a guide. They were about, however, to lose him; but, before
his departure, he assured them that they would reach _San Miguel_ on the
following evening. To their surprise, their guide reappeared next
morning, and conducted them amidst an infinity of intricate channels.
When near _San Miguel_, the guide was sent forward with a letter to the
missionary; and when the adventurers followed, their appearance excited
so much curiosity that the people even clustered on the trees to behold
them. At this point the companions of Manoel were seized with
apprehensions of danger, from the reflection that _Paulistas_ could not
expect good treatment either at the hands of the Jesuits or at those of
their disciples. Manoel undertook the perilous task of first presenting
himself. As soon as he landed, he was met by a number of old men, who,
much to his surprise, mistook him for a bishop, and, kneeling down,
besought his blessing. The missionary of _San Miguel_ turned out to be a
German of nearly fourscore years. This “Reduction” was situated upon the
river _Baures_, twenty miles from its junction with the _Guapore_; it
was one of the _Moxo_ missions. The missionary had charge of about four
thousand Indians, who had killed some of his predecessors.
From _San Miguel_ Manoel de Lima descended the stream to the _Guapore_,
and came to the second river, called the _Magdalena_, on which was
situated the mission of that name. Ascending it, he and his companions
arrived, on the tenth day, at cultivated fields; and they learned from
an Indian that the German missionary had sent news of their coming
overland. At nightfall a canoe arrived from the “Reduction,” bringing
the travellers a welcome present of two dozen fowls and some other
provisions. Next day, Manoel, having attired himself in a startling
costume, proceeded to pay his visit to the two missionaries, a Hungarian
and an Italian, who received him courteously, and entertained him and
his companions at a plentiful repast.
The _Magdalena_ mission was a flourishing one; the church was a spacious
building, having three aisles; the columns being each composed of a tall
tree. Some Indian carvers astonished the Portuguese by the beauty of the
work with which they were embellishing the pulpit. The golden pyx, which
had been sent from _Lima_, was valued at three thousand five hundred
pieces of silver; and the Jesuits showed the traveller thirty hangings
of tissue and brocade which had been sent from _Lima_ and _Potosí_. The
settlement was enclosed by a square wall, within which was a
considerable space, so as to afford room for folds and gardens. There
were shops for weavers, carpenters, and carvers; an _engenho_, for the
fabrication of rum and sugar; public kitchens, and likewise stocks. The
plantations attached to the settlement extended for leagues along the
river; and the horses and cattle were very numerous.
But, although the Portuguese received every hospitality and attention,
they were not allowed to depart without receiving a hint that the
“reduction” was sufficiently strong to be capable of self-defence in the
case of too frequent or unwelcome visits from their countrymen. On the
second morning, after breakfast, fourscore horsemen were exercised in
the great square. When they had concluded their manœuvres, both sides
of the square were filled with archers, who discharged their arrows in
the air so that they should fall into the intervening space. They became
so heated in their exercise that Manoel de Lima became somewhat alarmed,
and took the precaution of firing his pistol in the air, upon which the
archers thought proper to disperse. The Jesuits stated that the
missionaries could bring into the field forty thousand of these Indians.
Some of the Portuguese were now of opinion that they had proceeded far
enough; and they proposed to purchase from the missionaries seven
hundred and fifty cattle, with which to return to the mines. The
missionaries, however, not having power to dispose of any property, the
Portuguese were referred to the Provincial, who was then at _Exaltacion_
upon the _Mamore_, to which point the travellers now determined to
proceed, partly perhaps with the object of exploring this borderland.
Manoel and three Europeans determined to set out by land, whilst the
others preferred their canoes.
Before Manoel had departed, an incident occurred which somewhat changed
the situation. This was the arrival of a messenger with a letter from
the Provincial, in which the Father was reprimanded for having
entertained the Portuguese, by doing which he had incurred the
displeasure of the governor of _Santa Cruz_, and he was commanded to
dismiss them without delay. At the end of three days, therefore, Manoel
de Lima and his three companions were compelled to quit the society of
the Jesuits, and to proceed on their voyage in canoes. They parted with
many tears on both sides. Soon after they had reached the _Guapore_,
they met a canoe bearing a cross; but they received no tidings of their
former companions, all hope of rejoining whom was soon at an end.
At the junction of the _Mamore_ with the _Guapore_ the two rivers
combine to form the _Madeira_, so called from the large quantities of
wood which, after the rainy seasons, it bears into the _Amazons_. The
last great river received by the _Madeira_ before the point at which it
turns to the north-west is the _Beni_. Very soon after passing the point
of their junction, Manoel and his companions came upon the falls of the
_Madeira_, and rapids more formidable than any which they had yet
passed. Going down the stream they were much molested by the insects;
whilst they had several narrow escapes from being swamped or upset by
whirlpools or rocks. On one occasion the canoe was carried by a current
against a rock, with such force that the men were thrown out; whilst the
canoe was borne down the stream, and was soon out of sight.
The position of the travellers was now distressing. They had advanced so
far down the stream that they could not think of returning; whilst they
had no means of ascertaining their distance from the nearest settlement
in the direction of _Pará_, the intervening country being possessed by
wild animals or savages. Fortunately their arms and ammunition were
remaining, and they were thus enabled to procure the means of
subsistence. They had nothing for it but to follow the course of the
river by land, when to their great joy they suddenly found themselves at
the end of the rapids, and discovered their canoe caught between two
large stones near an island. The canoe was regained by a slave.
On leaving behind them the last rapid and the last fall, where the river
leaves the mountains, they saw on their right ground which had been
cleared for a settlement by the people of _Pará_, who had come up the
_Madeira_ so far to seek for cinnamon, sarsaparilla, cacao, and
tortoises. The settlers had been cut off by the _Muras_, from which
people the travellers had a narrow escape. They likewise suffered from
want of food; but after some days they came upon a Jesuit mission, where
they were hospitably entertained. Here, leaving their canoe, they
re-embarked in a larger vessel given them by the Jesuits, and proceeded
down the stream to two other establishments of the same order, below the
last of which they entered the _Amazons_.
Manoel de Lima, although he had not been the first to descend the
_Madeira_, had performed a remarkable journey, having been the earliest
European to proceed from _Matto-Grosso_ to _Pará_, and to prove that a
communication by water might be established. He was, therefore, sent to
Lisbon to give an account of his proceedings. He expected great rewards
for his services, and was consulted by the Portuguese ministers as to
the steps which should be taken in consequence of his discoveries. But
his pretensions were extravagant. Not contented with the offer of the
repayment of the expenses of his expedition, he insisted on being
appointed governor of the countries which he had discovered; and, as
this was inadmissible, since they already belonged to Spain, he passed
the remaining sixteen years of his life as a disappointed suitor at the
court of Portugal. Those of his companions with whom he had parted at
_Magdalena_ made their way back to _Matto-Grosso_.
[Sidenote: 1749.]
In the year 1749, a voyage was made from _Pará_ to _Matto-Grosso_,
inverting the route which had been followed by Manoel de Lima. It was
undertaken by order of the Portuguese Government, and by a strong party,
provided with instruments for laying down their course. The expedition
had to overcome considerable difficulties, and did not reach its
destination before nine months had been passed on the voyage. The voyage
down the stream can be performed in one-sixth of the time. Since the
above date the water communication between _Matto-Grosso_ and _Pará_ has
been continuous; and it was by this route that the former place was
supplied with European goods, this way being both cheaper and less
perilous than that from _S. Paulo_.
The new provinces rapidly increased in population and prosperity, which
was temporarily interrupted by a drought between the years 1744 and
1749. During this period the streams dried up, and in consequence of the
severe heat the woods caught fire. A great mortality ensued; whilst the
people were alarmed at mid-day by a sound as if of thunder beneath their
feet, which was followed by several shocks of earthquake. This
disturbance, however, was merely temporary; and in one year more than
fifteen hundred persons passed from _Goyaz_ to _Matto-Grosso_, bringing
droves of cattle and horses. A salt lake was opportunely discovered, to
remedy the distress which had been occasioned from the want of that
article.
The Portuguese in _Brazil_ had shown exemplary enterprise in pushing
forward their settlement along the various streams which form the
tributaries of the _Amazons_; and there were in consequence some
disputes with Spain concerning the boundaries. They had even occasioned
some fears in the minds of the Spanish authorities as to the safety of
_Peru_. They had likewise, by their inland explorations by water,
ascertained that there was a communication by water between the
_Amazons_ and the Orinoco, they having from the former reached the
Spanish missions on the latter river.
By the middle of the eighteenth century no hostile tribes remained on
the banks of the _Amazons_ throughout the entire course of that stream;
such as had not submitted to the missionaries had retired into the
interior. Some Indians, being terrified of pursuit, did not feel
themselves in safety until they had reached the French territory of
_Guayana_, where they were well received and encouraged to settle.
It is stated that the Portuguese missions on the _Amazons_ were in a
more flourishing condition than were those of the Spaniards on the upper
part of the same river or its tributaries. The reason is to be found in
the fact that whereas the former depended for their communications and
supplies upon the flourishing settlement of _Belem_ or _Pará_, the
latter were forbidden to hold any communication with their Portuguese
neighbours, and had to be supplied by the long and difficult overland
route from _Quito_, which place was itself a six days’ mountainous
journey from the sea-coast. The city of _Pará_ itself is stated by a
French traveller[14] to have presented at this period the aspect of an
European town, with regular streets of well-built stone houses and with
magnificent churches. During thirty years it had been gradually rebuilt;
whilst by clearing the country and converting woodland into pasture the
healthiness of the city had been made to undergo a corresponding
improvement. It should be remarked that about the year 1730 the plague
of small-pox was here stayed amongst the Indians by the introduction of
inoculation at the hands of a Carmelite missionary.
The system of the Jesuits in _Maranham_ and _Pará_ differed considerably
from that of their brethren in _Paraguay_. In the latter country they
are the proprietors of the missions, and were enabled to make their own
laws within their territory. In the _Chiquito_ and _Moxo_ missions,
though they had not adopted the principle of community of goods, they
were equally unrestrained. But in _Maranham_ they were obliged to base
their institutions on the principle of rendering their Indians
serviceable to the Portuguese settlers. Registers were kept at _S.
Luiz_ and at _Pará_ containing the names of all Indians in their
villages, from the age of thirteen to fifty, who were capable of
service. These registers had to be attested upon oath by the
missionaries every second year; and according to them the governor
allotted the Indians for terms of six months, issuing written orders to
the missionary to deliver them. It was optional for the Indians to serve
during the remaining six months, and many preferred to do so.
In consequence of the divided allegiance which the Indians in these
missions owed to the Jesuits and to the civil authority, respectively,
they did not regard the former with the same absolute devotion which the
Jesuits received from the Indians in _Paraguay_. Whereas the _Guaranís_
were ever ready to devote their lives in defence of their teachers, the
Indians of _Brazil_ would forsake their masters upon the first alarm or
on the slightest displeasure. As the kings of Portugal did not allow an
annual salary to the Jesuits, such as they received from Spain, the
Fathers in _Maranham_, since the colleges were too poor to support them,
were permitted to employ five-and-twenty Indians for the same time and
at the same rate of wages as any other Portuguese. They profited by
their labour in collecting cacao and other indigenous produce, which was
exported in a large canoe, one of which belonged to each of the
twenty-eight _Aldeas_.
By the laws of Pedro II. of Portugal, no Portuguese were permitted to
dwell in the _Aldeas_, in order to avert the evil influence of the bad
example which they were sure to set. But the Portuguese received free
permission to visit the settlements for the purpose of hiring Indians,
and they were hospitably and gratuitously entertained by the
missionaries. These Fathers did much to introduce civilization amongst
their charges; a task in which they persevered in the face of much
calumny. It was found more practicable for themselves to learn the
_Tupi_ language than to instruct the natives in Portuguese. As _Tupi_
was likewise used by traders, it so completely gained the ascendancy
throughout _Pará_ that it was used exclusively in the pulpits.
At this period a missionary net was spread over the South-American
Continent, its meshes extending in every direction. From _Quito_ the
Spanish missionaries, as we have seen, encountered those of _Maranham_
on the upper tributaries of the _Amazons_. Those on the _Rio Negro_,
another tributary of that great river, met the missions on the
_Orinoco_; whilst the _Moxo_ and _Madeira_ settlements, in Upper _Peru_
and Western _Brazil_, respectively, continued the connection. The _Moxo_
missions adjoined those of the _Chiquitos_, which again communicated
with the “Reductions” in _Paraguay_, whence the Jesuits extended the net
to the _Gran Chaco_ and the _Pampas_. It seemed as if the whole of South
America were on the way to become Christian and civilized; but an
unexpected check occurred to the activity of the Jesuits, and South
America was thrown back into a state of confusion and barbarism from
which many portions of the continent have not yet emerged.