Chapter I (2)

During a residence of six months in this remote district, as a prisoner at large, or in fact as a welcome guest at the house of a most hospitable man, my life passed away in an equable tenor, uninterrupted by those vicissitudes that elsewhere befel me, and therefore a narrative of it is little calculated to interest the reader. Rather than occupy his attention by relating my various hopes and disappointments, as the prospect of liberation became more or less favorable, I have chosen to present him with the result of some general observations on the country, made during the daily excursions which I enjoyed through the liberality of my friend. The longer I resided in his house, the greater was his kindness to me in allowing me those indulgences, and the more did he and his family strive to render my exile agreeable. An event at length occurred which at once delighted and distressed me; because while it afforded me hopes of immediate deliverance, it destroyed for a time the harmony which had so long subsisted between me and my protector. I allude to the taking of Monte Video by the British troops under Sir Samuel Auchmuty.

On hearing of the surrender of the place, I solicited Mr. Martinez to liberate me, as I thought myself no longer a prisoner. He seemed much astonished at this, and gave me to understand that I continued a prisoner, because, not being actually at Monte Video, I was still in the power and under the jurisdiction of the Viceroy of Buenos Ayres. This worthy man’s mind was so distracted by the fall of the town, and by the disgrace of the Spanish arms, that he secluded himself from society, and avoided all communication with me. In these circumstances I was advised to attempt my escape, but I felt great repugnance at the idea of thus wounding the feelings of a man who had humanely released me from confinement, and had ever treated me as a brother. Averse to such an act of ingratitude, I intreated his amiable wife to intercede for me, and to suggest that, on returning to Monte Video, it might be in my power to be of service to him. But he rejected the proposal in the most vehement manner, and forbade any one to talk to him on the subject. I now thought that my liberty was unreasonably denied me, and as I saw no probability of obtaining it but through my own exertions, I determined at all events to make the attempt. After deliberating for some days, and consulting with two men who had frequently mentioned the subject to me, I decided on my plan of escape, and gave them six ounces of gold to provide horses and every thing necessary. On the appointed night, all was in readiness, the horses were saddled, and the men waiting to escort me. This moment was one of the most melancholy in my life; I reflected with compunction, that, while striving to regain my freedom, I was apparently abusing the confidence of a man of honor, who had done all in his power to merit my friendship. Agitated by these emotions, and oppressed by a sadness which the thick gloom of the night rendered more heavy, I was walking to and fro in the neighbourhood, on the spot appointed for my guides to meet me, when a voice, with which I was familiar, accosted me. The person was very near me, but owing to the extreme darkness I could not see him. He asked me what I was doing there. I replied, “only walking about.” “Don Juan,” said he “you are going to escape to-night.” I answered, “indeed I am not.” He replied, “you are; and the men whom you have chosen for your guides are to murder you, to seize your money, and to bury you in a ravine about a league distant. The man in whom you have most confided has a knife concealed in his saddle, with which he is to give you the fatal blow.” This so staggered me, that I was unable, at the moment, to make any answer. I felt confident that no one knew of my intended departure, except the two men and myself. On asking, “how do you know this?” he replied, “I overheard them talking of it.” He added, “you know they are both gamblers, and one of them killed two men last year.” Ere I had recovered my surprise, so as to speak again, the man went away. While meditating on the choice of evils, namely, whether to run the risk of being murdered and thrown into a ravine, or to abandon my design and remain a prisoner, one of my hired Peons came to inform me that the horses were waiting. I told him I had a violent pressure at my stomach and could not ride. He treated this very lightly, and urged me with great earnestness to mount at all events. Considering at this moment that money was of little value in comparison with my life and liberty, I offered to give him two ounces of gold if he would perform a piece of service for me, which I would explain to him through my room-window at midnight. He still used every argument to persuade me immediately to set out, but finding that I persisted in alleging my indisposition as an excuse, he at length acceded to my proposal. Having reached my chamber, I wrote to a magistrate at Monte Video, who, I knew, would, if he had survived the assault of the town, send an order for my liberation. When I had finished writing, the man appeared at the window according to agreement; I gave him the letter, charged him to convey it to Monte Video, and presenting him with two ounces of gold, promised him another ounce if he should bring me an answer. He departed unknown to any of our good family, and on the fifth day following, in the forenoon, returned, to my inexpressible joy, with a paper signed by Don Francisco Juanico, the magistrate to whom I had written, stating that I was free, and ought immediately to proceed thither. On receiving this welcome intelligence, I hastened to Mr. Martinez, and joyfully embracing him, gave him the paper to read; after examining its contents, he observed, that it was nothing official, but would avail me as a reasonable pretext for going away, to which he cordially acquiesced. He immediately ordered three Peons and a trusty old Creole to accompany me, with twenty-five horses, that we might perform the journey with greater expedition. The best dinner was provided which the time would allow, and while partaking of it I received the sincerest congratulations on my liberation from my worthy host and his amiable lady. I then took an affectionate leave of every branch of this good family, expressing my warm acknowledgments of the many obligations they had conferred on me. Having joined my guides, we each mounted a horse, and, at three in the afternoon, set off at full speed, driving the rest of the cattle before us. My first horse bore me forty miles, and I changed him at ten o’clock. The night was fine, and after a rapid but pleasant journey, we forded the river St. Lucia and halted at two in the morning, half way on the route to Monte Video. At the house, into the _corral_ of which our horses were driven for the purpose of changing them, I procured a slight repast of dried figs, after which we again mounted and travelled tolerably fresh until six in the morning, when we were again obliged to change, having proceeded about one hundred English miles. Our horses now began to lose their generous spirit, and were much distressed. As our progress became slower and our changes more frequent, my anxiety increased, because I was aware there were Spanish parties scouring the country about Monte Video, and stopping the passage of all provisions from the interior. To avoid suspicion, I rode in the dress of a Peon, with the lazo coiled up and hung at my saddle. At eleven o’clock the heat of the day became oppressive, and our horses flagged exceedingly. To add to my distress I had a violent hæmorrhage from the nose, and could obtain no water to drink or wash with, so that, through thirst and the coagulation of the blood, I was nearly suffocated. On arriving within six miles of Monte Video, our horses were nearly worn out; but no rest could be allowed for either them or the men. At noon we reached an English piquet-guard on the out-posts; after the usual questions I was conducted by a soldier to the officer on guard, and having explained some particulars to him, I rode to General Lumley’s tent, and afterwards into the town.

No language can describe my emotions on beholding an English flag on that tower in which I had been so often confined, and, on seeing English soldiers in possession of a place where I had experienced so much injustice and oppression. The joy I felt made me forget my fatigue and the dangers I had passed through. I rode up to my friend’s house; all was barricadoed, and I feared the worst might have happened; but, on advancing to the window, I observed one of the ladies, who instantly recognized me. All the family welcomed me most cordially, and invited me to dinner, after which I went, in my Peon’s disguise, to visit some of my friends. On taking possession of Mr. Martinez’s house, I found my chests, &c. undisturbed, (although the town was taken by storm), and in the same condition as when I left them on going into the country.

CHAP. III.

_Expedition against Buenos Ayres.—Account of the Population of the Country, and of the various Classes which compose it._

WHEN the expedition against Buenos Ayres was ready to sail, I obtained General Whitelocke’s permission to go with the army, under the hope of recovering the property I had in that city, and offered my service to the commissary-general, whom I accompanied. As the details of that disastrous enterprise have been long before the public in an official form, and as my own observations on the occasion are of no general interest, the reader will excuse me if I forbear all mention of them, and confine myself to some general remarks on the colony.

The population of Buenos Ayres and its immediate suburbs, exclusive of the country in its vicinity, has been ascertained to amount to upwards of sixty thousand souls. The proportion of females to males is said to be as four to one, but if we take into consideration that many men are almost daily arriving from Europe, as well as from the South American provinces, and that under the old government neither the militia nor the marine was recruited from the mass of the population, we shall find reason to conclude that the proportion of the sexes is not so unequal. In the interior, the excess of males is very great, for as the lands are granted in large tracts only, and but poorly cultivated, there is no encouragement for the laboring classes to marry and settle upon them. The poor are compelled to remain single, from the very bare resources on which they depend for subsistence, and are accustomed to consider the married state as fraught with heavy burthens and inevitable misfortunes. It is not uncommon to find estates, larger than an English county, with hardly more than an hundred laborers upon them, who subsist upon the sale of a little corn, which each is permitted to grow for himself, but only to such an extent as a single man can plough.

The various races which compose the population are as follow:

1. Legitimate Spaniards or Europeans. In Buenos Ayres there are about three thousand; in the interior the number is very trifling, except in Potosi, which, being a mining country, contains many.

2. Creoles; legitimate descendants from Spaniards or Europeans.

3. Mestizos, the offspring of European and Indian parents.

4. Indians, almost all of whom have some mixture of Spanish blood.

5. Brown mixtures of Africans and Europeans.

6. Mulattos of various degrees.

All these races intermix without restraint, so that it is difficult to define the minor gradations, or to assign limits to the ever-multiplying varieties. Few families are entirely exempt from characteristics of Indian origin, physical as well as moral. It is well known that in the Spanish colonies little regard is now paid to purity of blood; the various regulations for preserving the races distinct have gradually become obsolete. This may be regarded as a momentary evil; but may it not be conducive in the long-run to the good of society, by concentrating the interests of the various classes, which, in remaining separate, might one day endanger the stability of the government, as has been the case in the French colony of St. Domingo?

In describing the orders of society in Buenos Ayres, it is necessary to premise that I mean to class them, not by degrees of birth, rank, or profession, but by the relative estimation in which they stand in point of property or public usefulness.

According to this scale, the first which comes under consideration is the commercial class. Every person belonging to it, from the huckster at the corner of the street, to the opulent trader in his warehouse, is dignified by the appellation of merchant; yet few individuals among them can lay just claim to that title, as they are wanting in that practical knowledge so essential in commercial dealings. They are averse to all speculation and enterprise; the common routine of their business is to send orders to Spain for the articles they need, and to sell by retail, at an exorbitant profit; beyond this they have hardly a single idea, and it has been said that their great reason for opposing a free trade with foreign nations, is a consciousness of their own mercantile inexperience. The more considerable houses are almost all branches of some European establishment; few of the Creoles have any regular trade. Those among them, however, who engage in it, are much more liberal in their transactions than the old Spaniards, and are observed to make less rapid fortunes, for their manly and independent character makes them spurn a miserable economy, and disdain to assume that church-going hypocrisy which must be practised twice or thrice a-day by those who would enrich themselves through the patronage of the opulent families. Among the inferior tradesmen, those who gain most are the _pulperos_, the warehousemen, and the shopkeepers. The _pulperos_ retail wine, brandy, candles, sausages, salt, bread, spices, wood, grease, brimstone, &c. Their shops (_pulperias_) are generally lounging-places for the idle and dissipated of the community. In Buenos Ayres there are about seven hundred of them, each more or less in the interest of some richer individual. The warehousemen sell earthen and glass ware, drugs, various articles of consumption, and some goods of home-manufacture, wholesale and retail. The shopkeepers amount to nearly six hundred in number; they sell woollen cloths, silks, cotton goods of all sorts, hats, and various other articles of wearing apparel. Many of them make considerable fortunes, those especially who trade to Lima, Peru, Chili, or Paraguay, by means of young men whom they send as agents or factors. There is another description of merchants, if such they may be called, who keep in the back-ground, and enrich themselves by monopolizing victuals, and by forestalling the grain brought to market from the interior, much to the injury of the agricultural interest.

The second class of inhabitants consists of the proprietors of estates and houses. They are in general Creoles, for few Europeans employ their funds in building, or in the purchase of land, until they have realised a fortune to live upon, which commonly takes place when they are far advanced in life, so that their establishments pass immediately into the hands of their successors. The simple landholders derive so little revenue from their possessions, that they are generally in debt to their tradesmen; their gains are but too commonly engrossed by the monopolists, and having no magistrate to represent them, they find themselves destitute of effectual resources against wrong and extortion. So defective and ill-regulated are the concerns of agriculture in this country, that the proprietor of an estate really worth 20,000 dollars can scarcely subsist upon it.

Under the class of landed proprietors, I may reckon the cultivators, here called _quinteros_ or _chacareros_, who grow wheat, maize, and other grain. These men are so depressed and impoverished, that, notwithstanding the importance of their calling, and the public usefulness of their labors, they are ranked among the people of least consequence in society.

The third class is composed of handicraftsmen, such as masons, carpenters, tailors, and shoe-makers, who, although they work hard and receive great wages, seldom realize property. The journeymen are usually people of color; the masters for the most part Genoese, and universally foreigners, for the Spaniards despise these trades, and cannot stoop to work along with negroes or mulattos. Many of the lower orders derive subsistence from these and other employments of a similar nature; here are lime-burners, wood-cutters, tanners, curriers, &c. The free porters constitute a numerous body of men; they ply about the streets to load and unload carts, and carry burdens, but they are so idle and dissolute, that no man can depend on their services for a week together; when they have a little money, they drink and gamble, and when pennyless, they sometimes betake themselves to pilfering. These habits have long rendered them a public nuisance, but no corrective measures have hitherto been taken, nor does there appear, on the part of the higher orders, any disposition to reform them.

Persons employed in public offices may be comprehended under the fourth class. The best situations under Government are held by native Spaniards; those of less emolument by Creoles; the former are regarded as mere sinecures, and the persons enjoying them, are considered as in no way serviceable to the community, except by spending their large salaries within it.

The fifth class is the militia or soldiery. Previous to the invasion of the English, the officers were not much noted for military science, or for that ardor which leads to the acquisition of it; their chief ambition was to obtain commands in towns and villages, especially those on the Portuguese frontier, where they might enrich themselves by smuggling. The privates were ill-disciplined, badly dressed, and badly paid. The effective force which the crown of Spain maintained in these possessions, was one regiment of the line, which was to consist of 1200 men, but was reduced to less than half; one regiment of dragoons, amounting to 600, two of cavalry called _blandengues_, 600 each, and one or two companies of artillery. With the exception of the _blandengues_, all the troops were originally sent from the Peninsula, but not having for the last twenty years been recruited from thence, their ranks were gradually filled by natives. By eminence they were called veterans, but they have been of late disbanded, and their officers have passed to the command of the new corps which were formed on the English invasion. The force of these corps may be estimated at nine thousand men.

The sixth class is the clergy, in number about a thousand. The seculars are distinguished by their learning, honor, and probity from the friars, who are in general so grossly ignorant and superstitious, that they render no real service to the public in any way, but rather tend to disturb the minds of the honest and well-disposed.

Every observation I was able to make, gave me a favorable idea of the general character of the people; they are tractable, prudent, and generous; and doubtless, had they been under a milder and more beneficent government than that of the Spaniards, they might have become a model to other colonies; but it is lamentable to add, that, in points of morality, they cannot be considered as much superior to the other inhabitants of America. This is attributable to the want of a proper system of education for youth, to the pernicious example afforded by the vices of the Europeans, and, in a word, to the prevalence of an intolerant system, which, by aiming to make men what they cannot be, causes them to become what they ought not to be. The intolerant rigor exercised by the ministers of worship as well as by the government, for the suppression of immorality, defeats its own end; it is like the unskilful practice of a physician, which, directed solely against the external symptoms, aggravates instead of removing the disease. Thus, while open profligacy is discountenanced in Buenos Ayres, libertinism of a more dangerous kind is connived at, if not tolerated; the peace of the most respectable private families is liable to be destroyed by votaries of seduction, who respect neither the purity of female virtue, nor the sacred rights of matrimony. This evil pervades all classes of society, and is the source of domestic disputes, which often lead to serious consequences.

In thus attempting to describe the state of Buenos Ayres, as I found it in the year 1807, I have purposely avoided all discussions of a political nature, and have declined entering into a detail of the events which led to the present struggles of the people for independence.

CHAP. IV.

_Voyage to St. Catherine’s.—Description of that Island, and of the Coast in its Vicinity.—Arrival at Santos, and Journey thence to S. Paulo._

ON my return to Monte Video, I lost no time in putting in execution my purposed voyage to Rio de Janeiro; and as advices had arrived, stating that considerable difficulty might attend the entrance of an English ship into that port, I bottomried a Portuguese vessel, called the Vencedor, and was joined by a party of gentlemen, whose business required them to visit the capital of Brazil.

In the beginning of September 1807, we had just embarked our stock for this voyage, when an order for the immediate evacuation of Monte Video by our troops was unexpectedly issued. As it had been generally believed that a prolongation of the time for giving up the place had been agreed on, the greatest hurry and confusion prevailed in embarking the troops and stores, as well as the baggage of individuals. About mid-day the whole was on board; a signal-gun was then fired for the Spanish troops to enter, and about three in the afternoon we had the mortification to behold their flag hoisted on the ramparts of this important military post and commercial depôt, which the British forces had, a short period before, so bravely and so dearly won.

Having still some purchases to make, I returned on shore, with two of my friends, about four o’clock, but we had soon reason to repent of our temerity, for on passing the mole we were noticed as enemies and threatened severely, so that we found it necessary to pass into the more private streets, in order to avoid the malignant and hostile taunts of those very men who had of late expressed themselves our friends and well-wishers. Desirous of expediting our several affairs as much as possible, we separated, and I was not able to rejoin my companions until eight in the evening. I found them in great anxiety for my safety; the Spaniards had fired a feu-de-joie from the citadel and fort St. Joseph, and were now preparing for bonfires[9] and illuminations, and my friends, though they did their utmost to avoid the riotous crowds that paraded the town, had several narrow escapes from being plundered and stripped by the soldiery. We all got safely on board by ten o’clock, congratulating each other on having happily avoided the dangers to which our rash confidence in the amicable disposition of the inhabitants had exposed us.

On the 11th of September we sailed from the Rio de la Plata; the vessels bound for the Cape of Good Hope were then nearly out of sight, and as we beheld them we felt a melancholy but proud delight in reflecting that, after such grievous and unexpected reverses, our brave countrymen were once more within their wide undisputed empire, the ocean. After a voyage, in which nothing worth relation occurred, we made the island of St. Catherine’s, on the 29th, at sun-rise, and we were delighted with a grand and picturesque view of its conical rocks rising abruptly from the sea, embellished with the lofty mountains of Brazil, covered with wood, in the back-ground. This sublime scenery interested us the more from the contrast it formed with the extensive and woodless plains of Buenos Ayres. This island is situated in 27° 29′ south latitude, and is separated from the continent by a strait, in some places not half a league wide.

Entering the port of St. Catherine’s by the north, we passed several islands, on one of which, westward of the entrance, stood the respectable fort of Santa Cruz. After running a few miles in shoal water, we sailed into a narrow passage, guarded by two forts, which forms the harbour. From the anchorage, and more particularly from the landing-place, which is at the bottom of a verdant slope of about five hundred yards, the town has a most beautiful appearance, and the perspective is nobly crowned by its fine cathedral. The green is interspersed with orange-trees, and forms an agreeable parade. Immediately on entering the town, we discerned in its general appearance, and in the manners of its inhabitants, a striking superiority over those which we had of late visited. The houses are well built, have two or three stories, with boarded floors, and are provided with neat gardens, well stocked with excellent vegetables and flowers. The town consists of several streets, and may contain from five thousand to six thousand inhabitants. It is a free port. The produce of the island consists in rice, maize, mandioca, coffee of excellent quality, oranges, perhaps the finest in the world, and a variety of other fruits. Sugar and indigo are likewise produced, but in small quantities. A profusion of the finest flowers indicates the genial nature of its climate; the rose and the jessamin are in bloom all the year round.

The surface of the island is varied with mountains, plains, and in some places swamps; here is found a stratum of excellent red clay, which is manufactured into jars, culinary vessels, large water-pots, &c. which are exported in considerable quantities to the Plata and to Rio de Janeiro. The lands capable of cultivation are under considerable improvement; a great extent of them was formerly covered with large trees, but as great quantities have of late years been cut down and used for ship-building, good timber may now be considered scarce. They grow flax here of a very fair quality, of which the fishermen make their lines, nets, and cordage. The sea hereabouts produces an abundant variety of excellent fish, and some fine prawns; so large is the supply to the market, that a quantity of fish[10], sufficient to dine twelve persons, may be had for a shilling. Meat is much the same in quality as at Monte Video, being rather hard and lean; its general price is about three halfpence per pound. Pigs, turkies, ducks, poultry, and eggs, as well as fine vegetables and excellent potatoes, are plentiful and cheap.

The trade of this place is inconsiderable, as the produce does not much exceed the consumption of the inhabitants, who are in general far from rich. It affords an agreeable retirement to merchants who have discontinued business, masters of ships who have left off going to sea, and other persons, who, having secured an independence, seek only leisure to enjoy it. Few places are better calculated for such a purpose than this; it is enlivened by the numerous coasting-vessels from Bahia, Pernambuco, and other ports, bound for the Plata, which frequently touch here; and it is amply provided with artisans of all descriptions, such as tailors, shoe-makers, tin-workers, joiners, and smiths. The inhabitants in general are very civil and courteous to strangers; the ladies are handsome and very lively, their chief employment is making of lace, in which they display great ingenuity and taste.

The mountains of the interior, and the rocks on the coast, are of granite. Close to the fort, on the left hand of the entrance to the harbour, is a vein of green-stone in various states of decomposition, which ultimately migrates into clay of a superior quality to that generally found in the valleys. The soil in the interior, being rather humid, is surprisingly fertile. It consists principally of a rich vegetable decomposition, on which shrubs and plants grow in great luxuriance. Myrtles appear in all parts, and a most beautiful variety of the passion-flower is found in equal abundance. Here is also a profusion of roses, pinks, rosemary, &c.

The animals are chiefly opossums, monkeys, and armadillas; there are various serpents, among which is the beautiful coral snake. Of birds, there are cranes, hawks, parrots, of various species, humming birds and toucans, the latter of every variety in great numbers.

The climate is serene and wholesome, its solstitial heats being moderated constantly by fine breezes from the south-west and north-east, which are the winds that generally blow here; the latter prevails from September to March, and the former from April to August, so that a voyage to the north, during one half of the year, is slow and tedious.

The island is divided into four parishes: 1st, Nossa Senhora do Desterro; 2d, St. Antonio; 3d, Laguna; and 4th, Ribeiraõ. The divisions of the opposite part of the continent are likewise under the jurisdiction of the governor of St. Catherine’s, who is subject, in certain cases, to the captaincy of S. Paulo, and in others to the government of Rio de Janeiro. These divisions, are 1st, St. José; 2d, St. Miguel; and 3d, Nossa Senhora do Rosario; the entire population of the island and its dependencies amounts to about 30,000 souls.

Of the fortresses which defend this island, the most considerable is Santa Cruz before mentioned; there are four others, Porto Groed, Ratoé, Estreito, and Conceição. Off the former there is safe anchorage for a fleet of men of war, and the harbour which it protects may be entered by ships of 300 tons, if not of a heavy draught of water. Ships passing the channel are required to send a boat on shore at Santa Cruz before they proceed.

To the west of the island, on the opposite coast, is an almost inaccessible barrier of lofty mountains, thickly covered with trees and underwood. At a small port in the vicinity, called Piripi, which has a very pretty river, an immense quantity of fish is caught, dried, and exported. They are extremely fat, and very soon become rancid.

On the continent, opposite the town of St. Catherine’s, stands the pleasant village of St. José, the inhabitants of which are principally occupied in sawing timber into planks, making bricks, and growing rice. The net gains of a poor family here are incredibly small, but the necessaries of life are cheap, and they have few incentives to curtail their present enjoyments for the sake of improving their future fortunes. Near this village is a lovely vale called Picada, thickly studded with white cottages, embosomed in orange-groves and plantations of coffee. The gently-sloping hills which enclose this spot, give a picturesque effect to the bold rugged scenery beyond them. This valley, and others contiguous to it, form the extremities of the territory habitable by the Portuguese, for on the land to the westward, though at a considerable distance, dwell the Anthropophagi, here called Bugres. These savages live entirely in the woods, in wretched sheds made of palm-branches, interwoven with bananas. Their occupation is chiefly hunting with bows and arrows, but they frequently employ these weapons in hostilities against their neighbours. A party of them will sometimes way-lay a Portuguese[11], whose residence is solitary; they have even been known to attack and destroy whole families. No regard to humanity seems indeed to be paid by either party in their encounters; they are mutually bent on a war of extermination.

There is much low swampy land in the island, over which causeways, supported by piles, are made to a considerable extent. These lands, on account of their humidity, are very favorable to the growth of rice. The palm-trees, seen at intervals in every direction, have a very pleasing effect. The whole coast may be said to be almost uninhabited. There are, indeed, some few settlements; but families scattered at the distance of ten or fifteen miles from each other can scarcely be called a population.

Our stay at St. Catherine’s was prolonged by some unforeseen circumstances, and we had time to make various excursions into the interior of the island and to the adjacent continent. On one of these occasions I happened to be absent, but the adventures which attended it being rather amusing, I am tempted to relate them in the words of one of my friends who formed the party. “Having hired horses and negroes we set out early in the morning for the river Tavarinha. The road for three leagues lay through thick woods, along which we passed without any material accident, and arrived at the end of our journey about two in the afternoon. We dined with Captain Leaõ, who entertained us very hospitably, and would have persuaded us to prolong our visit, but we determined to return that evening over the mountains. We travelled for a league through a level, well-cultivated country, clothed with orange-groves and coffee-plantations, and tolerably populous. At sun-set we arrived at the foot of the mountains, and began to ascend a steep and dangerous road, in the intricacies of which we were soon bewildered, and had great difficulty to regain the most beaten path, which led homewards. Night suddenly overtook us, and we had still three hours’ journey over the mountains, without guide or attendant, along a perfectly alpine road, winding on the edge of horrible precipices. In this part of the journey two of us, having advanced a little, the rest of the party were suddenly alarmed by a dreadful shriek, which excited great apprehension lest some one should have been precipitated down the gulph, but we were agreeably undeceived soon after by the whole of the party joining us. We now heard a noise like hammers, which proceeded from persons beating cotton, and in a little time arrived at a house, where, on enquiry, we were informed that the town was ten miles distant. We were proceeding, when a voice cried out in English, ‘but will not you stop and have some grog?’ It may be easily imagined that to be thus suddenly hailed with one of the most familiar phrases of our native English, while benighted in a strange land, operated like an electric shock upon us; we immediately alighted at the house whence the voice seemed to proceed, and found a Mr. Nunney, the English interpreter, who furnished us with a guide; we now continued our way with greater confidence, and reached the town about midnight. This Mr. Nunney, as we afterwards learnt, receives a dollar _per diem_ during the stay of every English or American ship that touches at this port, whether his services are wanted or not, and by these means, with the profits of the sales of provisions which he makes to such ships, he has acquired a little fortune and a pretty estate. His profits, indeed, are exorbitant, for he charges the articles 100 per cent. higher than they can be procured at from any other dealer in the place.”

While at the town of St. Catherine’s, we visited some of the gardens with which its vicinity is embellished. They are laid out with great taste, particularly one belonging to the vicar, another in the estate of the late excellent and able General Soares Coimbra, and a third the property of Colonel Gama. At Barragros, near the village of St. José, we visited a gentleman of the name of Caldwin, who collects and preserves insects. He showed us his grounds, which occupy a space of eighty-five fathoms along the beach, and extend a mile inland, containing orangeries, coffee, rice, and mandioca, in a fine state of culture. These well-watered plantations, together with a neat house and garden, he offered to sell for a thousand crusados (about £125 sterling).

This was not the only instance we remarked of the low value of landed property here. About two miles from the town of St. Catherine’s, a neat house, a small orangery and ground clear of brush wood, capable of forming a pretty plantation, was offered at 100 dollars. An excellent house, in one of the best situations in the environs of this town, with a garden of about two acres well and tastefully planted, was offered to be sold for £400 sterling. The building of the house must alone have cost that sum and it was in perfect condition. In short, money appeared so valuable, that a large landed estate might be purchased for a mere trifle.

On contemplating the many natural advantages of this island, I could not but be struck with its importance, and was tempted to wish that it were annexed by treaty to the dominions of Great Britain. Emigrants might subsist here at a very cheap rate; and the isle is tenable against any force so long as we remain masters of the sea. Ships would trade to it from the western coast of America, and from the eastern coast of Africa, and in our hands it would soon become an emporium of commerce. It is adapted to almost every variety of produce; the highlands are capable of cultivation, and the plains and valleys are fertile even to luxuriance. The climate is humid, but its general temperature is moderate and salubrious. If colonized by English, the isle might be made a perfect paradise. Though not situated within the tropics, it produces indico, rice, sugar-cane, pulse, and the finest oranges in the world.

Our excursions to the main land were not confined to the districts immediately within the jurisdiction of St. Catherine’s. Proceeding northward from St. José, we entered some fine bays, the shores of which were studded with houses pleasantly situated amid bananerias, orangeries, and plantations of rice, coffee, and mandioca. After having passed several well-peopled parishes, we arrived at Armação, a village at the extremity of a bay about nine leagues distant from St. José, and four leagues north of Santa Cruz. This village is a fishing station for whales, which were formerly very numerous on that coast, and in the bays that indent it. The fishery is farmed by government to a company under the superintendance of a _Capitao Mor_, and a number of inferior officers. About 150 negroes are employed on this station, but the number of whales now caught is not so great as formerly, when the average was three or four hundred in a season[12]. Their conveniences for flinching or cutting up the fish are extensive and well-contrived[13]. Several fine piers project from the shore into eighteen to twenty feet depth of water, on which are erected capstans, cranes, and other requisite machinery. Hither all the fish caught on the coast are brought. The boiling-house, tanks, &c. are far superior to any thing of the kind at Greenland-dock, and indeed to all similar establishments in Europe. To give an idea of their magnitude, it is sufficient to say, that in one range there are twenty-seven very large boilers, and places for three more. Their tanks are vast vaults, on some of which a boat might be rowed with ease. We obtained a view of these great works through the civility of the commander of the place, Capitaõ Mor Jacinto Jorge dos Anjos, who lives here in a princely style, and possesses a very considerable property, which he diffuses with great public spirit and liberality. All who have visited Armação can bear witness to his, affability and urbanity to strangers.

We crossed this peninsula by a mountainous road of four leagues to the Bay of dos Ganchos, commonly known by the name of Tejuco. Here land is of little or no value; any one may take as much as he pleases of what is unappropriated, provided he make a proper application for it to the government. We passed two sugar plantations with conveniences for making rum; and observed numerous huts interspersed in the vicinity. The contrary side of this peninsula forms the bay before named. The poor cottages of the people here present a curious picture of rural irregularity; some are built on the summit of conical mountains, the passage to which is frequently obstructed by clouds; others stand on the sides of gentle acclivities; but the greater number of them is situated almost in contact with the ocean, which often flows to their very doors. The bay is from two to three leagues across, and extends about the same distance inland; it is well-sheltered, and affords good anchorage, and fine situations for loading timber, with which the mountainous country around is thickly clothed, and large quantities of which are felled and embarked for Rio de Janeiro and the Plata. Canoes are made here, at a cheaper rate and in greater numbers than in any other part of Brazil. The inhabitants grow rice in considerable quantities, as well as some coffee and sugar; but such is their indolence and poverty that they use only hand-mills, consisting of two horizontal rollers, in manufacturing the latter article.

Into this bay fall several streams formed by the mountain-torrents and springs, and two tolerable rivers, the less called Inferninho, and the larger Tigreno. They both flow through low swampy land, subject to inundation, and overgrown with mangroves and an immense variety of trees. The insalubrity of this tract might be corrected by clearing away the underwood and draining the soil, but the arduousness of such an undertaking might deter a more active and skilful people than this. In the rainy season it is inundated to a great extent, and in summer it is infested with terrible swarms of mosquitos and burachala flies, which render it almost uninhabitable. The bay of dos Ganchos is a most desirable place. The timber cut and shipped for Rio de Janeiro might form, together with some of the sugars and spirituous liquors made here, an advantageous article of export to the Cape of Good Hope; but unfortunately there exists no stimulus to this sort of commercial speculation. Here are no small vessels fitting out for cargoes, nor will any person risk the equipment of a vessel to a distant part, where there is so little certainty of returns. So common an enterprize as that practised by ship-owners, in England, of sending out vessels to wait for cargoes (up the Baltic for instance) is here unknown; and this is a sufficient proof of the low state of commerce and shipping.

Along the beach of this bay I found the shell of the murex genus, which produces that beautiful crimson dye, so valued by the ancients. It is here called _purpura_, and to my great surprise, its use is in some degree known to the natives, one of whom shewed me some cotton fringe, dyed with an extract of it, though ill-prepared. The shell is about the size of the common whelk, and contains a fish, on whose body appears a vesicle full of a pale yellow, viscid, purulent substance, which constitutes the dye. The mode of extracting it, is to break the shell carefully with a hammer, so as not to crush the fish, and then let out the liquor in the vesicle with a lancet or other sharp instrument. I, for greater convenience, used a pen, and immediately wrote my initials, &c. on a handkerchief; the marks in half an hour after were of a dirty green color, and on being exposed to the air a few hours longer, changed to a most rich crimson. The quantity produced by each is very small, but quite sufficient for such an experiment. The best time for making it, is when the animal is in an incipient state of putrescency. I have not a doubt that if a sufficient quantity of them were taken, and the dying matter, when extracted, were liquified in a small degree with gum-water, a valuable article of commerce might be produced. At least the trial is worth making. The liquid is a perfect substantive dye, and of course resists the action of alkalies.

On the rocks, and in greater abundance on the trunks of old trees, I observed a variety of lichens, some of which produced tints of several shades of colors. The continual decomposition of vegetables here adds greatly to the richness of the soil; it is not uncommon to find trees lying on the ground with their interior substance entirely decomposed, and a great diversity of plants growing on them in high luxuriance. Among the numerous tribes of birds that frequent this region, the aquatic afford good eating, as do also the smaller parrots. The woods are filled with monkeys; and on the banks of the rivers are found capivaras in considerable numbers.

In coasting along this shore, it is customary for strangers to visit the chief person in command at every station, whatever may be his degree or rank; he, on being requested, will furnish guides, and afford every assistance in his power. I always experienced the greatest attention and civility from these gentlemen, and have reason to believe that they uniformly pay the same regard to all who visit them for permission to see the country.

Ten leagues north of this place is the fine and capacious harbour of Garoupas, with its handsome town; the anchorage is equally good as in that of dos Ganchos. The inhabitants here pursue the same mode of living as their neighbours in Tejuco. They have a fine climate, and a soil which yields a hundred-fold for whatever is sown or planted in it, and is noted for its delicious fruits. The cotton of which their common clothes are made, is grown, spun, and woven among them; they build their own houses, and form their own canoes, which they are dexterous in managing, and prefer to boats. It may indeed be said that every man is more or less an artisan; but I am sorry to observe that they prefer ease to care and industry, and are by no means so good husbandmen as those of Tejuco. This bay, as far as I could observe, during my short visit to it, presents to the view a greater diversity of hills, valleys, and plains, than the one before mentioned. Both are esteemed fine fishing-ground during the whale-season, which is from December to June.

From hence northward is the fine harbour of San Francisco, in the bay of the same name. It has three entrances defended by forts; that to the south is most frequented. The land here is very flat for several miles, and the rivers which intersect it are navigable for canoes as far as the base of the great chain of mountains, where a public road, begun at incredible labor and expense, leads over that almost impassable barrier. This road will soon be a work of national importance to Brazil, as through it the finest district in that country, and indeed one of the finest in the world in point of climate, the rich plain of Coritiva, will be connected with the ocean. The ridge of mountains is more than four thousand feet above the level of the sea, and there is a regular ascent for twenty leagues from their inland base, to Coritiva. On this fertile tract are fed large herds of cattle for the supply of Rio de Janeiro, S. Paulo, and other places; here are also bred mules in great numbers. Its soil and air are so genial, that olives, grapes, apples, peaches, and other fruits, grow to as rich a maturity as in Europe, though they are here almost in a wild state. It is divided into many parishes, but its population is small, compared with its extent; a circumstance rather surprising, since every necessary of life is here so cheap and in such great plenty. Its distance from the coast and from the chief towns, and the hitherto bad road, may have contributed to deter settlers; it is principally occupied as a breeding district, and supports no more inhabitants than what are barely competent to manage and tend the cattle, which are chiefly purchased by private dealers, and sometimes by commissioners from government, who come hither occasionally for the purpose. The road from hence to the city of S. Paulo, distant about 80 leagues, is tolerably inhabited, especially in the vicinity of Sorocaba, something more than half way, which is a great mart for mules and horses[14]. Near this place is a well-wooded country called Gorosuava, abounding with fine limestone, where a considerable quantity of rich iron ore is found. How deplorable is it that the people should yet have to learn the application of such valuable resources!

The neighbourhood of Coritiva is watered by fine rivers, which flow into the Paraná. Many of the streams produce gold, particularly the Rio Verde; and one called the Tibigi is rich in diamonds, as the few good families in its vicinity have reason to remember with gratitude. More to the westward it is dangerous to travel, since in that direction live the Anthropophagi, who were driven from these boundaries a few years ago. The country to the north is very full of wood.

From its great elevation above the level of the sea, the climate of Coritiva is peculiarly congenial to Europeans. Its soil is in general rich, and the hills are peculiarly well adapted for the grape, which here thrives as luxuriantly as in any part of Europe. On the low lands, particularly those bordering on rivers and rivulets, are woods of considerable extent, containing timber of enormous size, and fit for almost any purpose. This immense tract of land is thinly peopled; the few inhabitants that are scattered over it, occupy themselves chiefly in the rearing of cattle, which, as it requires little or no trouble, is almost the only business which is followed. At Sorocaba there are held various market days and fairs, for the sale of horses, mules, and horned cattle, which are attended by dealers from S. Paulo, Santos, and more distant parts of Brazil. From this market mules are sent to the Rio, and even to Villa Rica. Many smiths are employed at Sorocaba in making shoes for the cattle, and a considerable number of men gain a livelihood by training and domesticating these animals, for which recourse is had to very severe methods. A fine mule, which has been thus rendered tractable, will sell for four or five times the price of one not yet “civilized;” the cost of the latter, if the animal be full grown, and from two to three years old, will be about four dollars. The horses, which are usually of the same value, are in general handsome, with fine manes and tails, short necks, and in height about fourteen hands. They are trained solely to the saddle, and are not used as mere beasts of draught or burden.

At the Rio, a good pair of carriage-mules will often sell at the enormous price of 150 or 200 dollars; such is the difficulty of rendering these animals tractable. Horses alone are used for the saddle, the mares being reserved for breeding.

Coritiva is not reported to contain gold or diamonds, yet, both these valuable products are found in some parts of the district; a fact known to but a few persons, who have profited greatly by keeping it secret. This fine country, therefore, offers few attractions to the great mass of emigrants to Brazil, who are commonly tempted by the very name of the gold mines to settle in them, or are allured by the profits accruing from plantations of cotton, sugar, or coffee, and look with indifference on the pursuits of what is termed common agriculture.