of the same year, the Cortes of Lisbon had recalled Luiz do Rego and all
the European troops; had repented of that recal, and had countermanded
it, and sent reinforcements. But by the time they arrived, the
captain-general had embarked on board a French ship for Europe; and the
junta, after provisioning the ships with the troops, forbid them to
land, and sent them towards Rio Janeiro.]
_Sunday, Oct. 14th._--We got under weigh after breakfast, and soon lost
sight of Pernambuco. All Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, we coasted along
within sight of the shores of Brazil. They are hilly and very woody, the
green of the sloping banks being often interrupted by bright white
patches, which seem to be of sand. In the evening of Tuesday the 16th,
we anchored in the bay of All Saints, opposite to the town of St.
Salvador, commonly called Bahia. It was quite dark before we got in, so
that we lost the first entrance-view of that magnificent harbour; but
the scattered lights show us the great extent and high situation of the
town.
_Wednesday, 17th._--This morning, at day-break, my eyes opened on one of
the finest scenes they ever beheld. A city, magnificent in appearance
from the sea, is placed along the ridge and on the declivity of a very
high and steep hill: the richest vegetation breaks through the white
houses at intervals, and beyond the city, reaches along to the outer
point of land on which the picturesque church and convent of Sant
Antonio da Barre is placed. Here and there the bright red soil shows
itself in harmony with the tiling of the houses. The _tracery_ of forts,
the bustle of shipping, hills melting in the distance, and the very form
of the bay, with its promontories and islands, altogether finish this
charming picture; then the fresh sea-breeze gives spirit to enjoy it,
notwithstanding its tropical climate.
Early in the day we moved our anchorage closer in-shore; and then, on
the invitation of Mr. Pennell, the British consul, we went ashore to
spend the day with him. We landed at the arsenal, or rather dock-yard,
where there is nothing of the neatness observable in such establishments
at home. The first object we saw, however, was a fine 58-gun frigate on
the stocks, the model of which I hear connoisseurs praise as beautiful.
There is nothing besides the new ship, and some handsome pieces of old
brass cannon, worth looking at. Every thing is visibly either suspended
or on the decline, and there will probably be no improvement, until the
political state of Brazil is a little more settled. We find things here,
though not quite so unquiet as at Pernambuco, yet tending the same way.
The street into which we proceeded through the arsenal gate, forms, at
this place, the breadth of the whole lower town of Bahia, and is,
without any exception, the filthiest place I ever was in. It is
extremely narrow, yet all the working artificers bring their benches,
and tools into the street: in the interstices between them, along the
walls, are fruit-sellers, venders of sausages, black-puddings, fried
fish, oil and sugar cakes, negroes plaiting hats or mats, caderas, (a
kind of sedan chair,) with their bearers, dogs, pigs, and poultry,
without partition or distinction; and as the gutter runs in the middle
of the street, every thing is thrown there from the different stalls, as
well as from the windows; and there the animals live and feed! In this
street are the warehouses and counting-houses of the merchants, both
native and foreign. The buildings are high, but neither so handsome nor
so airy as those of Pernambuco.
It was raining when we landed; therefore, as the streets leading out of
the filthy lower town do not admit of the use of wheeled carriages, on
account of the steepness of the ascent, we hired caderas, and found
them, if not comfortable, at least commodious. They consist of a cane
arm-chair, with a foot-board and a canopy covered with leather;
curtains, generally of moreen, with gilt bordering and lined with cotton
or linen, are contrived to draw round, or open at pleasure; and the
whole is slung by the top to a single pole, by which two negroes carry
it at a quick pace upon their shoulders, changing occasionally from
right to left.[63]
[Illustration]
[Note 63: When Frezier travelled, a cotton hammock with a canopy was
used.]
As we ascended from the street, every step brought us in sight of some
beautiful scene, generally terminated by the bay and shipping. There is
something in the landscape here peculiarly agreeable. The verdure, the
wood, the steep banks, and gently sloping lawns, generally opening to
the sea or the lake behind the town, have a freshness and amenity that I
scarcely remember seeing before. We saw but little of the upper city,
but that little was handsome, in our way to the consul's. His house,
like those of all the British merchants, is a little way out of town,
and is in the suburb Vittoria, which occupies the greater part of a long
narrow ridge extending from the town towards Sant Antonio: between it
and the town is Fort Pedro, built, I think, originally of mud, by the
Dutch. It was faced with stone, on the recovery of Bahia from the Dutch,
about the beginning of the last century. We found the Consul and his
daughter ready to receive us at their very pleasant garden-house, which
literally overhangs the bay,--flowers and fruits mingle their sweets
even down to the water's edge,--while
"Seaborn gales their gelid wings expand,
To winnow fragrance round the smiling land."
Eager to seize the opportunity of walking out after our voyage, we
accepted Miss Pennell's kind offer, to show us some of the surrounding
country before dinner, and accompanied her as far as the church
dedicated to N.S. da Graça. It was the first offering of piety, I
believe, to Christian worship by a native Brazilian.
When the famous Caramuru was wrecked, together with the Donatory
Coutinho, on Itaparica, Coutinho was put to death; but, Caramuru, being
beloved by the natives, was spared, and he returned to his old
settlement of Villa Velha. His wife, Catherine Paraguaza, who had
accompanied him to France, saw an apparition in the camp of the Indians,
and believing it to be a real European female, Caramuru followed in the
direction his wife pointed out: he discovered, accordingly, in one of
the huts, an image of N.S. da Graça; and according to the directions his
wife had received from the vision, built and dedicated the church, and
bestowed it, and a house by it, on the Benedictines. It was at first
of mud, but soon after was built of stone.
[Illustration]
_Thursday, 18th._--We rode out before breakfast, through landscape so
fine, that I wished for a poet or a painter at every step. Sometimes we
went through thick wild wood into bushy hollows; then emerged on clear
lawns, sprinkled with palm trees, through which country-houses, farms,
and gardens were seen; and from every eminence, the bay, the sea, or the
lake, formed part of the scene. Here and there the huge gamela tree[64]
stands like a tower, adorned, besides its own leaves, with numberless
parasite plants, from the stiff cactus, to the swinging air plant[65];
and the frequent tower of church and monastery soften and improve the
features of the country.
[Note 64: The gamela, like the banyan, easily takes root in other
trees, and its branches meet together in the same manner. It is the tree
of which the canoes of Brazil are made, and serves besides for troughs
of various kinds.]
[Note 65: Air-plant or Tillandsia, of which there are several sorts.
The Tillandsia Lingulata is the largest, and agrees with Jaquin's plate;
the others are different from those described by him, and are much more
beautiful.].
Mr. Pennell has most kindly given our young men a general invitation to
his house; and accordingly, to-day several of them dined with him, and
we had a party in the evening, when some of the ladies played
quadrilles, while others danced.
_Friday, 19th._--I accompanied Miss Pennell in a tour of visits to her
Portuguese friends. As it is not their custom to visit or be visited in
the forenoon, it was hardly fair to take a stranger to see them.
However, my curiosity, at least, was gratified. In the first place, the
houses, for the most part, are disgustingly dirty: the lower story
usually consists of cells for the slaves, stabling &c.; the staircases
are narrow and dark; and, at more than one house, we waited in a passage
while the servants ran to open the doors and windows of the
sitting-rooms, and to call their mistresses, who were enjoying their
undress in their own apartments. When they appeared, I could scarcely
believe that one half were gentlewomen. As they wear neither stay nor
bodice, the figure becomes almost indecently slovenly, after very early
youth; and this is the more disgusting, as they are very thinly clad,
wear no neck-handkerchiefs, and scarcely any sleeves. Then, in this hot
climate, it is unpleasant to see dark cottons and stuffs, without any
white linen, near the skin. Hair black, ill combed, and dishevelled, or
knotted unbecomingly, or still worse, _en papillote_, and the whole
person having an unwashed appearance. When at any of the houses the
bustle of opening the cobwebbed windows, and assembling the family was
over, in two or three instances, the servants had to remove dishes of
sugar, mandioc, and other provisions, which had been left in the best
rooms to dry. There is usually a sofa at each end of the room, and to
the right and left a long file of chairs, which look as if they never
could be moved out of their place. Between the two sets of seats is a
space, which, I am told, is often used for dancing; and, in every house,
I saw either a guitar or piano, and generally both. Prints and pictures,
the latter the worst daubs I ever saw, decorate the walls pretty
generally; and there are, besides, crucifixes and other things of the
kind. Some houses, however, are more neatly arranged; one, I think
belonging to a captain of the navy, was papered, the floors laid with
mat, and the tables ornamented with pretty porcelain, Indian and French:
the lady too was neatly dressed in a French wrapper. Another house
belonging to one of the judges was also clean, and of a more stately
appearance than the rest, though the inhabitant was neither richer nor
of higher rank. Glass chandeliers were suspended from the roof; handsome
mirrors were intermixed with the prints and pictures. A good deal of
handsome china was displayed round the room; but the jars, as well as
the chairs and tables, seemed to form an inseparable part of the walls.
We were every where invited, after sitting a few moments on the sofa, to
go to the balconies of the windows and enjoy the view and the breeze, or
at least amuse ourselves with what was passing in the street. And yet
they did not lack conversation: the principal topic, however, was praise
of the beauty of Bahia; dress, children, and diseases, I think, made up
the rest; and, to say the truth, their manner of talking on the latter
subject is as disgusting as their dress, that is, in a morning: I am
told they are different after dinner. They marry very early, and soon
lose their bloom. I did not see one tolerably pretty woman to-day. But
then who is there that can bear so total a disguise as filth and
untidiness spread over a woman?
_Saturday, 20th._--As the charts of this coast hitherto published are
very incorrect, the captain asked permission from government to sound
and survey the bay: it is refused on the ground of policy; as if it
could be policy to keep hidden rocks and shoals, for one's own as well
as other people's ships.
I walked through the greater part of the town. The lower part extends
much farther than I could see the day I landed; it contains a few
churches, one of which, belonging to the monastery of _A concepçaô_, is
very handsome, but the smell within is disgusting; the flooring is laid
in squares with stone, and within each square there is a panelling of
wood of about nine feet by six; under each panel is a vault, into which
the dead are thrown naked, until they reach a certain number, when with
a little quick-lime thrown in, the wood is fastened down, and then
another square is opened, and so on in rotation. From that church,
passing the arsenal gate, we went along the low street, and found it
widen considerably at three quarters of a mile beyond: there are the
markets, which seem to be admirably supplied, especially with fish.
There also is the slave market, a sight I have not yet learned to see
without shame and indignation[66]: beyond are a set of arcades, where
goldsmiths, jewellers, and haberdashers display their small wares, and
there are the best-looking shops; but there is a want of neatness, of
that art of making things look well, that invites a buyer in England and
France. One bookseller's shop, where books are extravagantly dear,
exists in the low town, and one other in the ascent to the upper.
[Note 66: Frezier says of Bahia, "Who would believe it? there are
shops full of those poor wretches, who are exposed there stark naked and
bought like cattle, over whom the buyers have the same power; so that
upon slight disgust they may kill them, almost without fear of
punishment, or at least treat them as cruelly as they please. I know not
how such barbarity can be reconciled to the maxims of religion, which
makes them members of the same body with the whites, when they have been
baptized, and raises them to the dignity of the sons of God--_all sons
of the Most High_.
"I here make this comparison, because the Portuguese are Christians who
make a great outward show of religion."--_Voyage to the South Sea_.]
The upper town is most beautifully situated on the ridge between the sea
and the fresh water lake, and from its height, and the great slope of
most of the streets, it is incomparably cleaner than the port. The
cathedral dedicated to St. Salvador is a handsome building, and stands
on one side of a square, where the palace, prison, and other public
buildings are placed. The finest of these, the Jesuits' college, the
marble columns of which came from Europe ready cut, is now converted
into a barrack. The most useful is the hospital of Nossa Senhora da
Misericordia[67], founded by Juan de Matinhos, whose statue in white
marble, with a wig like Sir Cloudesley Shovel's in Westminster Abbey,
stands at the first landing-place, and is the ugliest piece of carving I
ever saw.
[Note 67: Part of the funds for supporting this and other hospitals
is derived from lotteries. See advertisements in the different Bahia
newspapers.]
This hospital, besides its use as a refuge for the sick, of whom there
are generally about 120, maintains 50 young girls of decent parentage,
to whom a suitable education is given, and a dowry of 200 crowns
bestowed on them when they marry.[68] The building of the Misericordia
is a fair specimen of the style of the convents, public buildings, and
more noble houses,--rather handsome than elegant. It surrounds a large
area, subdivided into smaller courts; the staircase is of marble, inlaid
with coloured stucco, and the sides are lined with tiles of porcelain,
so as to form arabesques, often of very pretty design. This is both a
cool and a cleanly lining to a wall, particularly for an hospital. The
principal rooms are also decorated in the same manner; and many of the
fronts and cupolas of the churches are covered with similar tiles, the
effect of which is often exceedingly agreeable, when seen among the
trees and plainer buildings of the city. The chapel belonging to the
hospital is handsome, a little gaudy, however. The ceiling is
respectably painted, and was probably the work of an amateur monk of
the seventeenth century. The treatment of the sick is humane, and they
are well provided with food and other necessaries; but the medical
practice, though much improved of late years, is not the most
enlightened.
[Note 68: Joaõ de Matos Aguiar, commonly called Joaõ de Matinhos,
from his diminutive size, was the founder of this Recolhimento. He
bequeathed 800,000 crusadoes for the retired women, 400,000 for the
patients, one to each on leaving the hospital, and 400,000, dowry to 38
girls every year, at the period of the foundation, 1716.]
There is a great deal of jealousy of foreigners in the present
government, hence I was not able to enter many of the public buildings.
The government treasury was one I was desirous to see, but there were
objections. The treasury here was formerly considered as subordinate to
that of Rio de Janeiro, and accordingly paid a portion of its receipts
to bills drawn monthly by the treasurer in the capital, upon this, and
those of the other provinces. But since the revolution of the 10th of
February, the provisional government has taken upon itself to refuse
payment, on the grounds that it is entirely independent of Rio, until
the pleasure of the cortes at Lisbon shall be known. The revenue is
derived from direct taxes on land and provisions, excise upon exports
and imports, and harbour dues. Land is subject to a tax of one-tenth of
the whole of its produce, and since the revolution, church lands are
under the same law, and the clergy are paid by the government.
The taxes on provisions are annually farmed out to the highest bidder:
they are imposed on beef, fresh fish, farinha, and vegetables. Each
parish has its separate farmer, who pays the amount of his contract into
the treasury, and then makes the most he can of his dues.
The import and export duties are paid at the custom-house, between which
and the treasury a monthly settlement takes place.
The port dues for foreign ships are 2000 reals per day, a trifle for the
light house, and rather heavy charges for entering, clearing, &c.
Portuguese and Brazilian ships pay no anchorage, but are subject to a
tonnage.
We ended our perambulation of the town, by going to the opera at night.
The theatre[69] is placed on the highest part of the city, and the
platform before it commands the finest view imaginable. It is a handsome
building, and very commodious, both to spectators and actors. Within it
is very large and well laid out, but dirty and in great want of fresh
painting. The actors are very bad as such, and little better as singers;
but the orchestra is very tolerable. The piece was a very ill-acted
tragedy, founded on Voltaire's Mahomed. During the representation, the
Portuguese ladies and gentlemen seemed determined to forget the stage
altogether, and to laugh, eat sweetmeats, and drink coffee, as if at
home. When the musicians, however, began to play the overture to the
ballet, every eye and voice was directed to the stage, and a loud call
for the national hymn followed, and not till it had been played again
and again, was the ballet suffered to proceed. During the bustle
occasioned by this, a captain in the army was arrested and hurried out
of the pit; some say for picking pockets, others for using intemperate
language on politics, when the national hymn was called for. Meantime
one of the midshipmen of our party had his sword stolen, adroitly
enough, from the corner of the box, yet we perceived nobody enter; so
that we conclude a gentleman in regimentals in the next box thought it
would suit him, and so buckled it on to go home with.
[Note 69: It was begun by the Conde da Ponte, and finished by the
Conde dos Arcos after the arrival of the king in Brazil. It was opened
May 13th, 1812.]
The police here is in a wretched state. The use of the dagger is so
frequent, that the secret murders generally average two hundred yearly,
between the upper and lower towns. To this evil the darkness and
steepness of the streets mainly contribute, by furnishing almost a
certainty of escape. The nominal _intendente da policia_ is also the
supreme judge in criminal cases. No law, however, has as yet determined
the limits or scope, either of his power, or that of the
lieutenant-colonel of police, who calls upon a few soldiers from any of
the garrisons whenever he has to act, and who appoints military patroles
also from among the soldiers on duty. It often happens that persons
accused before this formidable officer are seized and imprisoned for
years, without ever being brought to a trial; a malicious information,
whether true or false, subjects a man's private house to be broken open
by the colonel and his gang; and if the master escapes imprisonment it
is well, though the house scarcely ever escapes pillage. In cases of
riot and quarrels in the street, the colonel generally orders the
soldiers to fall on with canes, and beat people into their senses. Such
being the state of the police, it is, perhaps, more wonderful that
murders are so few, than that they are so many. Where there is little or
no public justice, private revenge will take its place.
_Sunday, 21st._--We went to the English chapel, and were well pleased
with the decent manner in which the service was performed. The Rev.
Robert Synge is chaplain, a man of cheerful convivial manners, yet
exceedingly attentive both as chaplain, and as guardian of his poorer
countrymen. The chapel and clergymen are supported by the contribution
fund, as are also the hospital for English sailors and others, and its
surgeon, Mr. Dundas: both the hospital and chapel are under the same
roof. I was surprised, perhaps unreasonably, to hear Mr. Synge pray for
"Don John of Portugal, Sovereign of these realms, by whose gracious
permission we are enabled to meet and worship God according to our
conscience," or words to that effect. We were not so polite in Rome, I
remember, as to pray for His Holiness, though it would have been but
reasonable.
Returning from chapel, we saw great part of the troops drawn up in
inspecting order, on the little green between _Buenos Ayres_ (the name
of the hospital) and Fort Pedro. Every Portuguese is, it seems, by birth
a soldier; and nothing exempts a man from military duty, but his holding
a place under government. There are six corps of militia in the city of
Bahia: 1st, one company of mounted gentlemen, forming the government
guard of honour; 2d, one squadron of flying artillery; 3d and 4th, two
regiments of whites, almost all tradespeople; 5th, one regiment of
mulatoes; and 6th, one of free blacks, amounting altogether to 4000 men,
well armed and equipped; but the black regiment is unquestionably the
best trained, and most serviceable, as a light infantry corps. The
regiments of country militia, as those of Cachoeira, Piraja, &c. are much
stronger, and with those of the city, amount to about 15,000 men. The
officers are chosen from among the most respectable families, and with
the exception of the majors and adjutants, who are of the line, receive
no pay.
The troops of the capital are generally reviewed or inspected on
Sundays, and sometimes the regular Portuguese are reviewed with them.
There is always something gay and inspiriting in martial sounds and
martial sights; and the fine weather, gay landscape, and above all, the
idea that in a day or two, nay, this very night, these same soldiers
might be called into action, did not render the scene less interesting.
The native artillery have long garrisoned some of the forts. It appears
that the royal troops of Portugal have claimed some superiority, and
above all, have demanded their guns and ammunition; and so there is a
dispute, in which the royalists and independents take part, and every
day hostilities are expected; but both parties seem so willing to be
peaceable, that I trust the matter will end without bloodshed.
_Monday, 22d._--This evening there was a large party, both Portuguese
and English, at the consul's. In the well-dressed women I saw to-night,
I had great difficulty in recognising the slatterns of the other
morning. The senhoras were all dressed after the French fashion: corset,
fichu, garniture, all was proper, and even elegant, and there was a
great display of jewels. Our English ladies, though quite of the second
rate of even colonial gentility, however, bore away the prize of beauty
and grace; for after all, the clothes, however elegant, that are not
worn habitually, can only embarrass and cramp the native movements; and,
as Mademoiselle Clairon remarks, "she who would _act_ a gentlewoman in
public, must _be_ one in private life."