that the English packet might put into Lisbon with the Government
despatches. We felt glad that the strict rules of service prevented the
captain from giving any such order to the master of the packet. It would
be at once a breach of that neutrality we profess to observe, and, in my
opinion, an aiding of the worst cause. The colonel, adverting to the
town being in a state of siege, and the uncertainty of the next attack
as to time and place, advised me strongly to stay altogether on board;
but I had never seen a town in a state of siege, and therefore resolved
to go ashore. Accordingly, Mr. Dance, being the only officer on board
who speaks either Portuguese or French, was commissioned to accompany
me; and I took two midshipmen, Grey and Langford, also to call on Madame
do Rego.
The name of Pernambuco, which is that of the captainship, is now
generally applied to the capital, which consists of two parts; 1st, the
city of Olinda, which was founded by the Portuguese, under Duarte Coelho
Pedreiro, about 1530 or 1540, and, as its name implies, on a beautiful
spot, where moderate, but abrupt hills, a fine river, and thick wood,
combine to charm the eye; but the approach to it by sea must always have
been difficult, if not dangerous: and, 2nd, the town of Recife de
Pernambuco, or the Reef of Pernambuco, built by the Dutch, under Maurice
of Nassau, and by them called Maurice Town. It is a singular spot, well
fitted for trade; it is situated upon several sand banks, divided by
salt water creeks and the mouth of two fresh water rivers, connected by
three bridges, and divided into as many parts; Recife, properly so
called, where are the castles of defence, and the dock-yard, and the
traders; Sant Antonio, where are the government house, the two principal
churches, one for the white and one for the black population; and Boa
Vista, where the richer merchants, or more idle inhabitants, live among
their gardens, and where convents, churches, and the bishop's palace,
give an air of importance to the very neat town around them.
All this I knew before I landed, and thought I was pretty well prepared
for Pernambuco. But no previous knowledge could do away the wonder with
which one must enter that very extraordinary port. From the ship, which
is anchored three miles from the town, we see that vessels lie within a
reef on which the sea is perpetually breaking, but till I was actually
within that reef, I had not the least idea of the nature of the harbour:
the swell going ashore would have seemed tremendous, had we not been
prepared for it, and made our passage of three miles a very long one. We
approached the sandy beach between Recife and Olinda so nearly, that I
thought we were going to land there; when coming abreast of a tower on a
rock, where the sea was breaking violently, we turned short round, and
found ourselves within a marvellous natural break-water, heard the surf
dashing without, and saw the spray, but we ourselves were sailing along
smoothly and calmly, as if in a mill-pond. The rock of which the reef is
formed, is said to be coral; but it is so coated with barnacle and
limpet above barnacle and limpet, that I can see nothing but the
remainder of these shells for many feet down, and as deep into the rock
as our hammers will break. It extends from a good way to the northward
of Paraiba to Olinda, where it sinks under water, and then rises
abruptly at Recife, and runs on to Cape St. Augustine, where it is
interrupted by the bold granite head, that shoots through it into the
ocean: it then reappears, and continues, interruptedly, towards the
south. The breadth of the harbour here between the reef and the main
land varies from a few fathoms to three quarters of a mile; the water is
deep close to the rock, and there the vessels often moor. There is a bar
at the entrance of the harbour, over which there is, in ordinary tides,
sixteen feet water, so that ships of considerable burden lie here.[43]
His Majesty's brig Alacrity lay some time within the reef; and two feet
more water on the bar, would have enabled the Doris to have entered,
though, as far as I have seen, there would be no room to turn about if
she wished to go out again. The reef is certainly one of the wonders of
the world; it is scarcely sixteen feet broad at top. It slopes off more
rapidly than the Plymouth break-water, to a great depth on the outside,
and is perpendicular within, to many fathoms. Here and there, a few
inequalities at the top must formerly have annoyed the harbour in high
tides or strong winds, but Count Maurice remedied this, by laying huge
blocks of granite into the faulty places, and has thus rendered the top
level, and the harbour safe at all times. The Count had intended to
build warehouses along the reef, but his removal from the government
prevented his doing so. A small fort near the entrance defends it, and
indeed always must, so narrow and sudden is the passage. Near it, a
light-house is in a fair way of being soon finished, at the very
extremity of the reef, and these are the only two buildings on this
extraordinary line of rock. We rowed up the harbour among vessels of all
nations, with the town on one side, and the reef on the other, until we
came to one of the wide creeks, over which the Dutch built a fine stone
bridge, now in decay. We were a a good deal struck with the beauty of
the scene; the buildings are pretty large, and white; the land low and
sandy, spotted with bright green tufts of grass, and adorned with
palm-trees. A few years ago a violent flood nearly destroyed the greater
part of the centre of the bridge, yet the arches still serve to support
light wooden galleries on each side of it, and the houses and gateways
are still standing at either end. We landed pretty near the bridge, and
were received by Colonel Patronhe, who apologised for the governor, who
could not come to receive us, as he was in the council room.[44] The
colonel conducted us to the government house, a very handsome building,
with a square in front, and a tower, and we entered what had evidently
been a splendid hall. The gilding and painting still remained on some
parts of the ceiling and walls; but now it is occupied by horses
standing ready saddled; soldiers armed, and ready to mount at a moment's
warning; every thing on the alert; guns in front with lighted matches by
them, and an air of bustle and importance among the soldiers, that
excites a sort of sympathetic curiosity as to their possible and
immediate destination. On going up stairs we found almost as much
confusion: for the governor has hitherto lived in the very out-skirts of
the town, and has but just come to the house in Sant Antonio, which was
formerly the Jesuits' college, partly to be in the centre of business,
and partly to secure his family, in case of accident, as the besiegers'
out-posts are very near his former residence. I found Madame do Rego an
agreeable, rather pretty woman, and speaking English like a native: for
this she accounted, by informing me that her mother, the Viscondeça do
Rio Seco, was an Irish woman. Nothing could be kinder and more
flattering than her manner, and that of General do Rego's two daughters,
whose air and manner are those of really well-bred women, and one of
them is very handsome. After sitting some little time, refreshments were
brought in, and shortly after, the governor himself appeared; a fine
military-looking man. He appeared ill, being still suffering from the
effects of a wound, he received some months ago, while walking through
the town with a friend. It has since been ascertained, that the
instigator of the crime was a certain Ouvidor (judge) whom he had
displaced shortly after he assumed the government. The assassin fired
twice; Luiz do Rego received several shots and slugs in his body, but
the most severe wound was in his left arm. His friend's life was for
some time despaired of, but both are now nearly well. At the time the
crime was committed, the perpetrator was seized more than once by some
of the bye-standers; but as often, a baker's basket was pushed in
between him and whoever seized him; he threw away his pistols and
escaped.[45]
[Note 43: In 1816, under the governor, Monte Negro, the harbour was
cleared and deepened, and particularly the bar.]
[Note 44: The council or junta of provisional government consisted
of ten members, of which Luiz do Rego was the head; they were drawing up
an address to the inhabitants of Recife, assuring them of safety and
protection; exulting in the advantage gained in the night, and asserting
that there were plenty of provisions within the town; and encouraging
them in the name of the king and cortes, to defend the city against the
insurgents, who were of course branded with the names of enemies to the
king and country.]
[Note 45: Luiz do Rego was not the first governor of Pernambuco who
had been shot at. In 1710, when Sebastian de Castro, in conformity to
his orders from Lisbon, had erected a pillar, and declared Recife a
town, San Antonio da Recife, the Olindrians shot him on his walk to Boa
Vista, in four places. The Ouvidor was one of the conspirators. The
bishop had a share in this unchristian action. The object of the people
of Olinda and of the assassin's party was, to confine Recife to its own
parish, extending only to the Affogados on one side, and Fort Brun on
the other.]
Having paid our visit, we proceeded to walk about the town. The streets
are paved partly with blueish pebbles from the beach, partly with red or
grey granite. The houses are three or four stories high, built of a
whitish stone, and all are white-washed, with door-posts and
window-frames of brown stone. The ground floor consists of shops, or
lodging for the negroes, and stables: the floor above is generally
appropriated to counting-houses and ware-rooms; and the dwelling-house
still higher, the kitchen being universally at the top, by which means
the lower part of the house is kept cool, I was surprised to find it so
possible to walk out without inconvenience from the heat, so near the
equator; but the constant sea-breeze, which sets in here every day at
ten o'clock, preserves a temperature, under which it is at all times
possible to take exercise. The hot time of day is from eight, when the
land breeze fails, to ten. As we were to pass the stone bridge on our
way back to the boat, which was ordered to meet us at the point of
Recife, because the receding tide would have left it dry in the creek
where we landed; we left it on one hand, and walked through Sant Antonio
towards Boa Vista. When we came to the wooden bridge, 350 paces long,
connecting it with Sant Antonio, we found that it had been cut through
the middle, and is only now passable by means of two planks easily
withdrawn, in case the besiegers should get possession of Boa Vista.
Nothing can be prettier of its kind than the fresh green landscape, with
its broad river winding through it, which is seen on each hand from the
bridge, and the white buildings of the treasury and mint, the convents,
and private houses, most of which have gardens. The verdure is
delightful to an English eye; and I doubt not that the flat meadows, and
slowly-flowing water, were particularly attractive to the Dutch founders
of Recife. We walked back by the stone bridge, 280 paces long, as we
intended; in vain did we look for shops; not one was open, the
shopkeepers being all on military duty. They form the militia, and, as
many of them are from Europe, and as they all expect to be plundered
should the country Brazilians take the town by force, they are most
zealous in their attendance as soldiers.
At each end of every street we found a light gun, and at the heads of
the bridges two, with lighted matches by them, and at each post we were
challenged by the guard. At the end of the stone bridge, at the ponte
dos tres pontes[46], next to Recife, the guards are more numerous and
strict. In this quarter, the chief riches of the place are lodged, and
that is the point most easily defended. It is very nearly surrounded
with water, the houses are high, strongly built, and close together, the
streets being very narrow, and the strong gateways at each end of the
bridge might secure time to demolish it entirely, and thus render that
part of the town secure, except by the sand bank communicating with
Olinda, and that is guarded by two considerable forts.
[Note 46: A little fort which defends the entrance to Recife.]
We had hardly gone fifty paces into Recife, when we were absolutely
sickened by the first sight of a slave-market. It was the first time
either the boys or I had been in a slave-country; and, however strong
and poignant the feelings may be at home, when imagination pictures
slavery, they are nothing compared to the staggering sight of a
slave-market. It was thinly stocked, owing to the circumstances of the
town; which cause most of the owners of new slaves to keep them closely
shut up in the depôts. Yet about fifty young creatures, boys and girls,
with all the appearance of disease and famine consequent upon scanty
food and long confinement in unwholesome places, were sitting and lying
about among the filthiest animals in the streets. The sight sent us home
to the ship with the heart-ache: and resolution, "not loud but deep,"
that nothing in our power should be considered too little, or too great,
that can tend to abolish or to alleviate slavery.
_27th._--I went on shore to-day to spend a few days with Miss S., the
only English lady in the town. She is now living in her brother's
town-house, where the office and warehouses are, because the
country-house is within reach of the patriots. I do long to walk or ride
out to the tempting green hills beyond the town; but as that cannot be,
I must content myself with what is within the lines. To-day, as we were
coming in from Boa Vista, we met a family of Certanejos, who had brought
provisions into the town some days ago, returning home to the Certam, or
wild country of the interior. These Certanejos are a hardy, active set
of men, mostly agriculturists. They bring corn and pulse, bacon and
sweetmeats, to the sea-coast, hides and tallow also at times. But the
sugar, cotton, and coffee, which form the staple exports of Pernambuco,
require the warmer, richer lands, nearer the coast. Cotton is, however,
brought from the Certam, but it is a precarious crop, depending entirely
on the quantity of rain in the season; and it sometimes does not rain in
the Certam for two years. The party we met formed a very picturesque
groupe, the men clad in leather from head to foot, of which their light
jerkin and close pantaloons are fitted as closely as the clothing on the
Egina marbles, and have something of the same effect: the small round
hat is in the form of Mercury's petasus; and the shoes and gaiters of
the greater number are excellently adapted to defend the legs and feet
in riding through the thickets. The colour of all this is a fine tan
brown. I was vexed that the woman of the party wore a dress evidently of
French fashion: it spoiled the unity of the groupe. She was mounted
behind the principal man, on one of the small active horses of the
country; several sumpter horses followed, laden with household goods and
other things in exchange for their provisions: cloths, both woollen and
cotton, coarse crockery, and other manufactured articles, especially
knives, are what they chiefly take in barter; though I saw some
furniture, with pretensions to elegance, among the stuff of the family I
met. After the horses came a groupe of men, some walking and keeping
pace with the amble of the beasts; others riding and carrying the
children; the procession being closed by a very stout good-looking man,
smoking as he went along, and distinguished by a pair of green baize
trowsers.
In the evening we rode out; whether it was because we had been so many
weeks on board ship, and without horse-exercise, or because of the
peculiar sweetness and freshness of evening after the sultry tropical
day we had just passed, I know not, but I never enjoyed an hour in the
open air so much. We rode out of the town by some pretty country-houses,
called _sitios_, to one of the out-posts at Mondego, which was formerly
the governor's residence. The tamarind, the silk-cotton tree[47], and
the palm, shaded us, and a thousand elegant shrubs adorned the garden
walls. It is impossible to describe the fresh delicious feel of such an
evening, giving repose and health after the fiery day. We were very
sorry when obliged to return home; but the sun was gone, there was no
moon, and we were afraid that the guards at the various posts of defence
might stop us. As we came back, we were challenged at every station; but
the words, _amigos ingresos_ were our passport, and we got to Recife
just as the evening hymn was singing, harshly and unmusically enough, by
the negroes and mulattoes in the streets; but yet every thing that
unites men in one common sentiment is interesting. The church doors were
open, the altars illuminated, and the very slave felt that he was
addressing the same Deity, by the same privilege with his master. It is
an evening I can never forget.
[Illustration]
[Note 47: Bombex pentandrium. _Jaquin._]
_28th._--This morning before breakfast, looking from the balcony of Mr.
S.'s house, I saw a white woman, or rather fiend, beating a young
negress, and twisting her arms cruelly while the poor creature screamed
in agony, till our gentlemen interfered. Good God! that such a traffic,
such a practice as that of slavery, should exist. Near the house there
are two or three depôts of slaves, all young; in one, I saw an infant of
about two years old, for sale. Provisions are now so scarce that no bit
of animal food ever seasons the paste of mandioc flour, which is the
sustenance of slaves: and even of this, these poor children, by their
projecting bones and hollow cheeks, show that they seldom get a
sufficiency. Now, money also is so scarce, that a purchaser is not
easily found, and one pang is added to slavery: the unavailing wish of
finding a master! Scores of these poor creatures are seen at different
corners of the streets, in all the listlessness of despair--and if an
infant attempts to crawl from among them, in search of infantile
amusement, a look of pity is all the sympathy he excites. Are the
patriots wrong? They have put arms into the hands of the _new_ negroes,
while the recollection of their own country, and of the slave-ship, and
of the slave-market, is fresh in their memory.
I walked to-day to the market-place, where there is but little;--beef
scarce and dear, no mutton, a little poultry, and a few pigs,
disgusting, because they feed in the streets where every thing is
thrown, and where they and the dogs are the only scavengers. The
blockade is so strict, that even the vegetables from the gentlemen's
private gardens, two miles from the out-posts, are detained. No milk is
to be had, bread of American flour is at least twice as dear as in
England, and the cakes of mandioc baked with cocoa nut juice, too dear
for the common people to afford a sufficiency even of them. Fire-wood
is extravagantly high, charcoal scarce. The negroes keep the markets: a
few on their own account, more on that of their masters. The dress of
the free negroes is like that of the creole Portuguese; a linen jacket
and trowsers, or on days of ceremony one of cloth, and a straw hat,
furnish forth either a black or a white gentleman. The women, in-doors,
wear a kind of frock which leaves the bosom much exposed. When they walk
out they wear either a cloak or mantle; this cloak is often of the
gayest colours; shoes also, which are the mark of freedom, are to be
seen of every hue, but black. Gold chains for the neck and arms, and
gold ear-rings, with a flower in the hair, complete a Pernambucan
woman's dress. The new negroes, men and women, have nothing but a cloth
round their loins. When they are bought, it is usual to give the women a
shift and petticoat, and the men at least trowsers, but this is very
often omitted.
Yesterday the motley head-dresses of the Portuguese inhabitants were
seen to great advantage, in a sally through the streets, made by a kind
of supplementary militia to enforce the closing of all shop-doors, and
the shutting up of all slaves, on an alarm that the enemy was attacking
the town to the southward. The officer leading the party was indeed
dressed _en militaire_, with a drawn sword in one hand, and a pistol in
the other. Then followed a company that Falstaff would hardly have
enlisted, armed in a suitable manner, with such caps and hats as became
the variety of trades to which the wearers belonged, the rear being
brought up by a most singular figure, with a small drum-shaped black cap
on the very top of a stiff pale head, a long oil-skin cloak, and in his
left hand a huge Toledo ready drawn, which he carried upright. The
militia are better dressed, and are now employed in regular turn of duty
with the royal troops, who are going over to the patriots daily.
Calling at the palace this forenoon, we learned that a hundred Indians
are expected in the town, by way of assistance to the garrison. They
wear their aboriginal dress, and are armed with slings, bows, and
arrows. We are told their ideas of government consist in believing that
implicit obedience is due both to king and priests. Brandy is the bribe
for which they will do any thing; a dram of that liquor and a handful of
mandioc flour being all the food they require when they come down to the
port.
This evening, as there are no horses to be hired here, we borrowed some
from our English and French friends, and rode to Olinda by the long
sandy isthmus, which connects it with Recife. This is the isthmus
fortified with a palisade, by Sir John Lancaster, during his stay at
Recife, which he plundered.[48] The beach is defended by two castles,
sufficiently strong when their situation is considered; on one side a
furious surf breaking at their base, on the other a deep estuary and
flat ground beyond, so that they cannot be commanded. The sand is
partially covered by shrubs; one is very splendid with thick leaves and
purple bell-shaped flowers; many are like those of the eastern world;
many are quite new to me. I was surprised at the extreme beauty of
Olinda, or rather of its remains, for it is now in a melancholy state of
ruin. All the richer inhabitants have long settled in the lower town.
The revenues of the bishopric being now claimed by the crown, and the
monasteries suppressed for the most part, even the factitious splendour
caused by the ecclesiastical courts and inhabitants is no more. The very
college where the youths received some sort of education, however
imperfect, is nearly ruined[49], and there is scarcely a house of any
size standing.
[Note 48: See Introduction, p. 20.]
[Note 49: This was the Jesuits' college founded under the
administration of the admirable father Nobrega, and his companion De
Gram. Here at eighteen years' old the celebrated Viera read lectures on
rhetoric, and composed those commentaries on some of the classics, which
were unfortunately lost in the course of the civil wars.]