directions broken down, so as to present the most abrupt and picturesque
rock-scenery. These are embosomed in dark woods that seem coeval with
the land itself: tufts of slender palms, here and there the broad head
of an ancient mango, or the gigantic arms of the wide spreading
silk-cotton tree, rise from out the rest in the near ground, and break
the line of forest: amidst these, the convents, the cathedral, the
bishop's palace, and the churches of noble, though not elegant
architecture, are placed in stations which a Claude or a Poussin might
have chosen for them; some stand on the steep sides of rocks, some on
lawns that slope gently to the sea-shore: their colour is grey or pale
yellow, with reddish tiles, except here and there where a dome is
adorned with porcelain tiles of white and blue. Just as we reached the
highest point of the town, looking across the woody bason round which
the hills are grouped, the smoke from one of the out-posts caught our
sight. The soldiers were standing or lying around, and their arms piled
by them: they were just shadowed by tall trees behind, between whose
trunks the scattered rays of the setting sun shed such a partial light
as Salvator Rosa himself would not have disdained. These same soldiers,
however, circumscribed our ride: we had intended to return by the inland
road, but were not allowed to pass into it, as part, at least, lies
without the posts, therefore we were obliged to return by the way we
came.
At the spot where the present guard is placed, and where indeed a strong
guard is peculiarly necessary, the river Bibiriba falls into the
æstuary, which was formerly the port of Olinda. A dam is built across
with flood-gates which are occasionally opened; and on the dam there is
a very pretty open arcade, where the neighbouring inhabitants were
accustomed in peaceable times to go in the evening, and eat, drink, and
dance. It is from this dam that all the good water used in Recife is
daily conveyed in water-canoes, which come under the dam called the
Varadouro, and are filled from twenty-three pipes, led so as to fill the
canoes at once, without farther trouble. We saw seven-and-twenty of
these little boats laden, paddle down the creek with the tide towards
the town. A single oar used rather as rudder than paddle guides the tank
to the middle of the stream, where it floats to its destination.
The sun was low, long before we reached even the first of the two
castles on our way back to the fort. The dogs had already begun their
work of abomination. I saw one drag the arm of a negro from beneath the
few inches of sand, which his master had caused to be thrown over his
remains. It is on this beach that the measure of the insults dealt to
the poor negroes is filled. When the negro dies, his fellow-slaves lay
him on a plank, carry him to the beach, where beneath high-water mark
they hoe a little sand over him; but to the new negro even this mark of
humanity is denied. He is tied to a pole, carried out in the evening and
dropped upon the beach, where it is just possible the surf may bear him
away. These things sent us home sad and spiritless, notwithstanding the
agreeable scenes we had been riding among.
_29th_. The feast of St. Michael's has drawn out the Portuguese
gentlewomen, of whom we had not yet seen one walking in the streets. The
favourite dress seems to be black, with white shoes and white or
coloured ribbons and flowers in the hair, with a mantle of lace or
gauze, either black or white. We have seen a few priests too for the
first time. I think the edict desiring them to keep within their convent
walls, is in consequence of their being among the fomentors of the
spirit of independence. The appropriation of so much of the church
revenue by the court of Lisbon is of course unpopular among the clergy
of the country; and it is not difficult for them to represent, what
indeed is truth, to the people, that the drawing of so much treasure
from the country to support Lisbon, which can neither govern nor protect
them now, is a rational ground of complaint. It is said, that the morals
of the clergy here are most depraved. This is probably true. Men cut off
by vows like those of the Roman clergy, from the active charities of
social life, have only the resources of science and literature against
their passions and vices. But here the very names of literature and
science are almost unknown. The college and library of Olinda are in
decay. There is not one bookseller in Pernambuco, and the population of
its different parishes amounts to 70,000 souls! A tolerably well written
newspaper, of which I have not been able to procure the first number,
was set up in March, under the title of "Aurora Pernambucana," with the
following motto from Camoens:
Depois da procellosa tempestade,
Nocturna sombra e sibilante vento,
Tras a manha serena e claridade,
Esperança de porto e salvamiente:
alluding to the arrival of the news of the revolution in Portugal, on
the 26th of that month, and the swearing of the governor, magistrates,
&c. to adhere to the constitution as established by the Cortes. I am
sorry to say that this only paper has been discontinued for the two last
months, the editor having, as it seems, become a secretary of
government, and having no longer time to superintend the press.[50]
[Note 50: Not only has this paper been continued since, but others
are now published in Recife.]
_30th._--Last night the patriot troops attacked the line of defence at
Olinda for four hours, but I do not believe there was any loss on either
side. This morning a Portuguese frigate, the Don Pedro, with troops from
Bahia, arrived. The reinforcement of 350 men, partly European, partly
Bahian, has put the inhabitants, from the governor downwards, into the
highest spirits; so that for once we see Pernambuco active, and
cheerful, and alive. Men and women are out in their gayest habits, and
the military are running and riding in all directions, not a little
pleased to have some to relieve them in their constant watch and ward.
Among other things which I learned by looking on, while the elders of
families were engaged in the streets with the new-comers, was that the
young Pernambucans are as dexterous in the use of signs as the Turkish
lovers themselves, and that often a courtship is carried on in this way,
and a marriage settled, without the parties having ever heard each
other's voices. However, the general mode is for parents to settle their
children's nuptials, without consulting any thing but pecuniary
convenience.
This day several of the officers and midshipmen of the Doris accompanied
us to dine at the governor's, at half-past four o'clock. Our welcome
was most cordial. His excellency took one end of the table, and an
aide-de-camp the other: I was seated between M. and Madame do Rego. He
seemed happy to talk of his old English friends of the Peninsula, with
many of whom I am acquainted; and she had a thousand enquiries to make
about England, whither she is very anxious to go. They apologised for
having so little plate, but their handsome services were packed up in an
English store-house, together with her excellency's jewels and other
precious things. The cookery was a mixture of Portuguese and French.
After the soup, a dish was handed round of boiled lean beef, slices of
fat salt pork, and sausages, and with this dish, rice boiled with oil
and sweet herbs. Roast beef was presented, in compliment to the English,
very little roasted. Salads, and fish of various kinds, were dressed in
a peculiar manner; poultry and other things in the French fashion.
The dessert was served on another table. Besides our European dessert of
fruit, cakes, and wine, all the puddings, pies, and tarts, formed part
of it. It was decorated with flowers, and there was a profusion of
sugar-plums of every kind. The company rose from the dining-table, and
adjourned to the other, which Madame do Rego told me should have been
spread in a separate apartment; but they have so recently taken
possession of their house, that they have not one yet fitted up for the
purpose. The governor and his guests proposed many toasts
alternately--The King of England, the King of Portugal, the navy of
England, the King of France[51], Luis do Rego, and the captaincy of
Pernambuco, &c.--When we all rose at once from table; some of the
company went on board ship, but most adjourned to the drawing-room, a
comfortable apartment, furnished with blue satin damask, where we were
joined by the French naval officers of His Most Christian Majesty's ship
Sappho, and several ladies and gentlemen of the city. We had some
excellent music. Madame do Rego has an admirable voice, and there were
several good singers and players on the piano. It was a more pleasant,
polished evening than I had expected to pass in Pernambuco, especially
now in a state of siege.
[Note 51: Mr. Lainé, the very pleasing and gentlemanlike French
consul, was present.]
_Wednesday, 3d October._--I went on board on Monday, and, provokingly
enough, the patriots chose that very night to make an attack upon the
out-post of the Affogadas, so I did not see the governor, at the head of
his troops, march out to meet them; nor did I hear the national hymn
sung by the regiments as they filed along on their return from a
successful sally.[52] Yesterday, nothing occurred worth noting; we had
the consul and British merchants on board to dinner, and the day passed
as such days usually do.
[Note 52: Since writing my Journal, I have seen the official account
of this attack on the Villa of the Affagados. It was a well planned
expedition; but the raw troops were easily driven out of the villa of
which they had already possessed themselves, by throwing a bridge over a
branch of the Capabaribe, by the veteran soldiers of Do Rego.
The same morning, i.e. that of the 1st of October, the provisional junta
of Pernambuco had addressed that of the patriots of Goyana, offering
peace, saying, that as their avowed object was the dismissal of L. do
Rego, he was ready to withdraw himself; that he had twice offered the
council of Recife to do so, and had besides sent to the Cortes to beg
they would appoint a successor, and allow him to retire; that his motive
for this was the desire of peace, and of procuring the tranquillity of
the province, so disturbed by these civil broils. They tell the patriots
also, that the Don Pedro is arrived, and assure them that the troops
brought by the frigate shall be employed only in the defence of Recife.
They also intimate, that they are sure of assistance from the French and
English frigates then there, such assistance having been offered, on the
ground of the English and French property in the place. Now I know that
no such assistance was offered by the English frigate. It was asked; but
a strict neutrality had been enjoined by the government, all
interference was refused, and no more was offered than _personal_
protection to either English, French, or Portuguese; and of course
protection for English property being the purpose for which the frigate
was there, was understood by all parties.]
Having learned that the patriots have refused to allow the linen
belonging to the ship, which had been sent to the country to be washed,
to return to the town, it was determined that we should send to their
head-quarters, and remonstrate against this very inconvenient mode of
annoying the port. I obtained leave to accompany the messengers, and
accordingly we all went on shore immediately after breakfast. Our first
business was to procure passports, and to learn the countersigns; after
which Capt. Graham, with Col. Cottar, the governor's principal
aide-de-camp, rode with us to the out-posts, where we left them, with an
intention of returning to dine at Mr. Stewart's, to meet Luis do Rego's
family. Our party consisted of M. Caumont, to act as interpreter, Mr.
Dance, bearing the letter, my cousin Mr. Glennie as my cavalier, and
myself. It was the first time we had had an opportunity of passing the
lines, and we felt like school-boys who had stolen beyond bounds, and
well we might; the scenery was fresh and lovely, and the day as fine as
possible.
Pernambuco is not a walled town, but broad rapid rivers and æstuaries
surround it, and it is only approachable by the roads and causeways; the
banks thrown up across these, for present defence, are such as might
stop the Brazilian cavalry for a few minutes, or afford cover for
musketry; but their best defence is the swamp at the mouth of the
Capabaribe, which is flooded at high water, and which extends nearly to
the Bibiribi. At the edge of the swamp there is a wooden palisade, where
we left the last post of the royalists, and took leave of our friends,
who had accompanied us so far. After riding across the marsh, which by
the by is very fit for rice ground, and is surrounded by cocoa-nut and
tamarind trees, we came to the main stream of the Capabaribe, a deep,
broad, and very rapid river; its sides are steep, and the water
beautifully clear[53]: its banks are studded with country-houses, and
adorned with groves and gardens, for the present abandoned by their
owners, who have taken refuge in Recife.
[Note 53: The Capabaribe has a course of about fifty leagues, but is
only navigable to about six miles from the sea, on account of rapids and
falls in the upper part; it has two mouths, one at Recife, and the other
at Os Affogados. Chor. Braz.]
The hedges on each side of the road are woven of palm-leaves, and where
not quite new, are covered with all splendid creeping plants; the common
and winged passion-flower, white, blue, and yellow clematis, jasmine,
china-rose, and many others, both gay and sweet. The ditches, too, were
full of colour, but we rode too fast to stay to collect plants; and I
could only promise myself, at some future time, to gather one that
appeared like a bog bean, but its colour bright purple.
About two miles from Do Rego's last out-post, we came to the first post
of the patriots, at a country-house on a rising ground, where arms piled
at the door, and a sort of ragged guard, consisting of a merry-looking
negro with a fowling-piece, a Brazilian with a blunderbuss, and two or
three of doubtful colour with sticks, swords pistols, &c., told us an
officer was to be found. After a few minutes parley, we found he was not
authorised to receive our letter, so we rode on under the direction of
the old Brazilian with his blunderbuss, who, being on foot, threatened
to shoot us if we attempted to ride faster than he walked. The slow pace
at which we advanced gave us leisure to remark the beauties of a
Brazilian spring. Gay plants, with birds still gayer hovering over them,
sweet smelling flowers, and ripe oranges and citrons, formed a beautiful
fore-ground to the very fine forest-trees that cover the plains, and
clothe the sides of the low hills in the neighbourhood of Pernambuco.
Here and there a little space is cleared for the growth of mandioc,
which at this season is perfectly green: the wooden huts of the
cultivators are generally on the road-side, and, for the most part, each
has its little grove of mango and orange-trees. At one of these little
homesteads, we found a pretty large guard-house, established where four
roads meet, and there our foot guide left us, and a gentlemanlike young
officer, of the Brazilian Caçadores, rode with us, and entertained us by
calling Luis do Rego a tyrant, and attributing the siege of Pernambuco
entirely to the governor's obstinacy, in not joining the people of the
province in throwing off the dominion of his master. Round the
guard-house a number of negro girls, with broad flat baskets on their
heads, were selling fruit and cold water: they had decked their woolly
hair, and the edges of their baskets, with garlands of the scarlet
althaea; their light blue or white cloaks were thrown gracefully across
their dusky shoulders, and white jackets, so that it was such a picture
as the early Spaniards might have drawn of their Eldorado.
After riding a few miles, we came suddenly to the foot of an abrupt
hill, on whose sides there were scattered groups of the most magnificent
trees I ever beheld. There we were met by a small military party, which,
after a parley with our guide, rather ordered, than invited us to ride
up. In a few seconds, we came to a steep yellow sandstone bank, shaded
on one side by tall trees, and open on the other to a lake surrounded
by woody hills, on the most distant of which, the white buildings of
Olinda sparkled like snow. On the top of the bank, and in the act of
descending, was a group of forty horsemen, one of the foremost of whom
bore a white banner; several were dressed in splendid military habits,
others in the plain costume of the landed proprietors. These were
deputies from Paraiba on their way to propose terms to Luis do Rego;
they had just left the head-quarters of the besieging army, where the
provisional government of Goyana is stationed, and were accompanied by a
guard of honour: after exchanging civilities, part of the guard turned
back with us, and the deputies went on their way. Having reached the top
of the hill, we found about a hundred men, tolerably well armed, but
strangely dressed, awaiting us; and there we were detained till our
guide rode forward to ask leave to bring us to head-quarters. I was
sorry I had no means of sketching any part of the beautiful landscape,
which, besides the striking features I have mentioned before, now
displayed a broad river, over which there is a white stone bridge of
several arches; at one end, a large house, more like a palace, with its
arches and corridors, and the encampment of the army and the horse
picquets, and, in short, a bustle and animation that seldom happen to
adorn so fine a scene. Our guide soon returned with eighteen or twenty
mounted soldiers, whose appearance was rather wild than military: the
guard presented arms as we parted from them, and we soon cantered down
the hill towards the main body of the troops. Not above two hundred had
the arms or accoutrements of soldiers; but there were dresses and
weapons of every kind, leather, cloth, and linen; short jackets and long
Scotch plaids, and every tint of colour in their faces, from the sallow
European to the ebony African. Military honours were paid us by these
ragged regiments, and we were conducted to the palace square, where Mr.
Dance and Mr. Caumont dismounted, and I determined to await the issue of
their conference, with my cousin in the court.
This, however, was not permitted. In a few minutes, a smart little man,
speaking tolerable French, came and told me the _government_ desired my
company. I suspected a mistake of the word government for governor, and
endeavoured to decline the honour; but no denial could be taken, and the
little man, who told me he was secretary to government, accordingly
assisted me to dismount, and showed me the way to the palace. The hall
was filled with men and horses, like a barrack stable, excepting a
corner which served as an hospital for those wounded in the late
skirmishes, the groans of the latter mingling uncouthly with the
soldiers' cheerful noisy voices. The stairs were so crowded, that we got
up with difficulty, and then I found that I was indeed to be confronted
with the whole strength of the provisional government. At the end of a
long dirty room, that had once been handsome, as the form of the windows
and carving of the panels on which there were traces of colour and
gilding, indicated, there was an old black hair sofa, on the centre of
which I was placed, with Mr. Dance on one side, and Mr. Glennie on the
other; by Mr. Dance sat the little secretary, and next to him our
interpreter, in old-fashioned high-backed chairs; the rest of the
furniture of the room consisted of nine seats of different sizes and
forms, placed in a semicircle fronting the sofa, and on each of these
sat one of the members of the junta of the provisional government, who
act the part of senators or generals, as the occasion may require. To
each of these I was introduced; the names of Albuquerque, Cavalcante,
and Broderod, struck me, but I heard imperfectly, and forget most of
them: some wore handsome military coats, others the humbler dress of
farmers. They politely told me they would not read the letter while I
was waiting below, but as soon as we were seated, the secretary read it
aloud. Instead of taking any notice of its contents, the secretary began
a long discourse, setting forth the injustice of the Portuguese governor
and government towards Brazil in general, and the Pernambucans in
particular; that in order to resist that injustice, they had formed the
present respectable government, pointing to the junta, without intending
the least detriment to the rights of the king. That surely they could
not be called rebels, as they marched under the royal flag of Portugal;
but Luis do Rego might be reasonably stigmatised as such, for he had
fired on that banner. He then went off into a long harangue upon the
general principles of government; but as I understood little of the
language, much of it was lost upon me, as well as on my companions; but
I have no doubt that it served to impress the respectable junta with a
higher idea of their secretary's understanding and eloquence:
altogether, the speech reminded me of some of the best written of the
Carbonari addresses of Italy; and there was something in the air,
manner, and scene, not unlike what one imagines of the Barraca meetings
of those ill-guided, misused people.[54] We then talked a great deal in
French to the secretary, who repeated every word to the respectable
junta, and at length got him to attend to a proposal for releasing our
linen, and another for supplying the ship with fresh provisions. We had
been paying forty dollars per bullock in the town; they agreed that
their price should not exceed ten, if we sent boats to the Rio Doce, or
Paratije[55] for them. This is the mouth of a small stream on the
northside of Olinda. And I must not omit to mention, that they offered
to allow us to take off fresh provisions for our English or French
friends in the town.
[Note 54: I regret exceedingly that I was then so ignorant of the
language. I have since learned that there were many causes of particular
grievance in this province. I do not mean to speak disrespectfully of
the popular meetings of Brazil; they had all in view the best objects,
national independence and civil liberty under reformed laws. The first
object has been secured to them by their constitutional emperor, the
last is growing up under his government; time only can perfect it. Happy
would it have been for Italy, if its popular meetings had possessed the
mild character of those of Brazil, and still happier, had they found in
their prince a defender and protector.]
[Note 55: At Rio Doce, Brito Freire and Pedro Jaques landed to
assist Vieyra in the recovery of Pernambuco. See p. 25. of the
Introduction.]
The junta was extremely anxious to learn if there was a probability of
England's acknowledging the independence of Brazil, or if she took part
at all in the struggle; and many were the questions, and very variously
were they shaped, which the secretary addressed to us on that head. They
are of course violent in their language concerning Luis do Rego, in
proportion as he has done his military duty, in keeping them at bay
with his handful of men: and like all oppositions they can afford to
reason upon general principles, because they have not to feel the
hindrances of action, and the jarring of private interests in the
disposal and fulfilment of office.
I was sitting opposite to one of the windows of the council-room, and
had been remarking for some time, that the sun was getting very low,
and, therefore, rose to go, having received a note from the secretary,
ordering the officers at their advanced posts to offer no hindrance to
the passing of any thing belonging to His British Majesty's frigate,
Doris. But we were not suffered to depart without a hearty invitation to
sup and spend the night: and a stirrup-cup (a huge glass) was brought,
and a bottle of wine, with about half as much water, poured into it; it
was then handed to me to begin, and all fourteen received it in turn. By
this time the guard was drawn out, the band played the national hymn, to
which we all listened bare-headed, and so we mounted among those
wild-looking men, in that strange, yet lovely landscape, just as the
evening mist began to veil the lower land, and the bright red evening
sun to gild the topmost branches of the forest.