August 19, 2025 • 26 mins
Embark on an enlightening journey through Brazil in this captivating first-hand account by an Englishman exploring the vibrant coastal regions of the Northeast just before Brazils independence from Portugal. Kosters travels, which also lead him to the northern port city of Maranh√£o, reveal the rich cultural practices and everyday life of the Brazilian people through a refreshingly objective lens. More than a mere travelogue, this work serves as a compelling ethnographic study that immerses readers in the essence of Brazilian society. (Summary by KevinS)
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Section thirteen of Travels in Brazil, Volume one by Henry Coster.
This librovox recording is in the public domain. Chapter nine,
Part two. I was introduced to several of the first
merchants and planters, and particularly to the Colonel's Jose Gonzalves
da Silva and Simplicio Dias da Silva. The latter is
(00:25):
the sub governor of Parnaiba, a small port situated about
three degrees to the eastward of Saint Louis. They are
both of them men of great wealth and of independent spirit.
The former is an elderly man who has made a
large fortune in trade, and latterly has increased it by
planting cotton. He possesses between one thousand and fifteen hundred slaves.
(00:49):
On one occasion, a Mulatto driver of his carriage, though
ordered by his master to stop that the governor might pass,
refuse so to do. The following day, an officer came
to the old gentleman's house with orders to arrest the man.
The colonel sent for him and said, go and I'll
take care of you, adding to the officer tell his excellency,
(01:11):
I have still several other drivers. To the surprise of
every person about the prison. Two servants made their appearance
in the evening, with the trade covered with a cloth
which was handsomely embroidered and filled with the best kind
of victuals, sweetmeats, etc. Were not forgotten. All this was
for the driver, and was repeated three times every day
(01:33):
until the man received an order for his release. The
Colonel Simplicio had been sent for by the Governor of
Saint Louis. Had it not been for the circumstances in
which he was placed, I should have gone down to
his residence at Parnaiba. He has there a most notable establishment,
part of which consists of a band of musicians who
(01:54):
are his own slaves. Some of them have been instructed
at Lisbon and at Healed de je Airo. It is
through such men as these that improvements are to be expected.
I likewise became acquainted with a gentleman who had been
imprisoned for a trifling breach of some new Port regulation.
And of its friends were allowed free ingress to see him,
(02:16):
and I passed some pleasant evenings with him and other
persons who were in the habit of assembling there. He
was allowed two small rooms in the prison and was
confined in this manner for several months. The ovidor of
the province was also suspended from exercising the functions of
his office, removed from Saint Louis, and imprisoned in one
(02:37):
of the forts. The Jewish Geoffora, the second judicial officer,
performed for the time the duties of the situation. He
was a Brazilian and a man of independent character, who
spoke and acted freely, notwithstanding the ostensible place he held
and the danger of it under such a government. The
(02:59):
master of an English merchant ship, I was told, had
been arrested for some breach of port regulation and was
confined in a miserable dungeon for three days. I heard
many more stories of the same nature, but these will,
I think suffice to show the state of the city
of Saint Louis at the time, and just before I
(03:19):
visited the place. The governor was a very young man
and a member of one of the first noble families
of Portugal. Footnote he has been removed, was ordered to Lisbon,
and ultimately, on his return to Hio de Jeneiro was
refused admittance for a short time to the prince region
(03:39):
and footnote there are few situations in which it is
so greatly in a man's power to be much beloved
or much disliked, as that of governor of a province
in Brazil, in which a man may be either the
benefactor or the scourge of the people over whom he
is sent to rule. My friend's residence, in which I
(03:59):
stayed during my visit to Margnan, was situated by the
water side and almost within hail of the ships at
anchor in the harbor. I was amused sometimes at the
rapidity with which the fishermen paddled their canoes. These are
long and of just with sufficient to allow two men
sitting abreast. I've seen in one of them as many
(04:20):
as sixteen men and two rows, with each a paddle,
which they move with quickness and great regularity. The last
man upon the bench steers the canoe when necessary, placing
the paddle so as to answer the purpose of a rudder,
one or other of the two men steering according to
the direction which the vessel is to take. These fellows
(04:40):
are mostly dark colored mulattoes and blacks, and entirely naked,
excepting the hats which they wear upon their heads. But
when they come on shore they partially clothe themselves. The
nakedness of the Negro slaves is not sufficiently concealed. Neither
males nor females have any covering from the west upward,
except on Sundays and holidays, though the climate may not
(05:03):
require any more clothing. Decency certainly does I speak here
of slaves who are at work in the streets. For
the household servants are at least tolerably covered, and some
of them are neatly and even gaudily dressed. At Pernambuco,
the slaves are always decently clothed. The criminals, who are
to be seen chained together, as at Pernambuco, are here
(05:26):
more numerous, and in walking the streets, the clanking of
the chains is continually striking the year, reminding every man
of the state of the government under which he resides.
Such is the power of a governor that a respectable
person might be sentenced to this dreadful punishment, at least
until redress could be obtained from the seat of the
(05:47):
Supreme Government at Hio de Janeiro a period of four
months or more. Intervening, I brought with me the horse
which had carried me as far as Hiu Granji. On
my journey to Sierra, took several rides in the neighborhood
of the city with an English gentleman who is residing there.
The roads are extremely bad even in the immediate vicinity
(06:09):
of Saint Luis, and our usual practice was to ride
several times round the open piece of ground upon which
the barracks stand. Modagnaw is again, in this respect, far
behind the place I had lately left. The number of
country houses is small, the paths are few, and no
care is taken of them. Notwithstanding this, several persons have
(06:31):
carriages which are of a form similar to those used
in Lisbon, and not unlike the cabriolets drawn by a
pair of horses which are to be seen in France
and Flanders. The horses that may be purchased at Saint
Luis are small, and few of them are well formed.
Grass is scarce, and the inducements to take exercise on
(06:52):
horseback are so few that the number of these animals
upon the island is not considerable. This too, may be
one cause why fine horses are not to be met
with there, For if a ready sail was found for
the beasts of this description, some would doubtless be carried
from Piaui to Marignan, which might be done with almost
(07:13):
as little difficulty as is experienced in conveying many of
them from the interior of Pernambuco to Hessife. An English
gentleman with whom I was acquainted, arrived at Margnon a
short time after the opening of the trade to British shipping.
He was riding in the vicinity of the city one
afternoon when he was accosted by an old woman who
(07:35):
said that she had heard of the arrival of an
Englishman and wished to know if it was true, as
she was going to Saint Louis and much desired to
see this bichiu or animal. After some further conversation upon
the subject, he told her that the bichio she was
speaking to was the Englishman himself. Of the truth of this,
(07:56):
some difficulty was found in persuading her, but when she
confident that it was so, she cried out, I don't benito,
oh how handsome. She expected to have been shown some
horridly ugly beast which it was dangerous to approach, and
was consequently agreeably surprised to find that she was mistaken,
(08:17):
and to see flesh and blood and human form handsomely
put together. I nearly lost a number of books which
I had brought with me. The box containing them was
carried to the custom house. They were taken out, and
I was desired to translate each title page, which I did.
Though the works were chiefly historical, still I found that
(08:38):
the officer who looked over them was not inclined to
let me have them, and a hint was given to
me by one of my acquaintance that they might be
considered as irrecoverable. However, I made immediately a petition to
the governor to be allowed to send them on board again.
This was granted. Thus I regained possession. If I had delayed,
I am almost certain that I should not have seen
(08:59):
them again. Such are the difficulties which are experienced with
books in the parts of Brazil which I have visited,
that the only resource which remains is that of smuggling
them into the country. Footnote. It is not perhaps generally
known that they are published in London. Three or four
Portuguese periodical works. One of them is prohibited in Brazil,
(09:23):
and I have heard it said that all of them
are so situated. But they are principally intended for Brazilian readers,
and they find their way all over the country, notwithstanding
the prohibition. I've seen them in the hands of civil,
military and ecclesiastical officers, and have heard them publicly spoken
of by them. It is said that the Regent reads
(09:44):
them and is occasionally pleased with the invectives against some
of the men in power. End footnote. I hope, however,
that the enlightened minister, who is now at the head
of affairs at Hio de Janeiro, will put an end
to this dreadf bar to improvement. I brought a letter
from one of my acquaintance at Pernambuco to a gentleman
(10:06):
who resided at Alcntre, a town on the opposite side
of the bay. At Saint Marcos. My friend at Saint Luis,
and other young Portuguese and myself, accompanied by two servants,
agreed to hire a vessel and go over for the
purpose of making him a visit and of seeing the place.
We hired a small barque and set sail one morning
(10:27):
early with a fair but light wind. The beauties of
the bay are only to be seen, and crossing it,
the number of islands diversify the view every five minutes,
from the discovery of some hidden point, or from a
change in the form of the land owing to the
progress of the boat. The entrance into the harbor of
Al Cantera. The town itself, in the size of the
(10:49):
vessel in which we were reminded me much of the
models of these realities. The place, the port, and our
boat were all small in the proportionate dimensions, having much
the appearance of playthings. It was not like a small
vessel entering a large harbor, for in our case, as
there was but little water upon the bar, as much
(11:10):
pilotage was necessary as with a large ship, and coming
to anchor at Saint Louis, we were about five hours
in reaching the end of our voyage. The boatmen obtained
for us a small cottage near to the beach. We
intended to be independent and have our victuals cooked by
our own servants. But soon after we were settled in
(11:31):
our new habitation, the gentleman introduced himself, to whom we
were furnished, with a letter. He said that he had
heard of our arrival, and he insisted upon our removal
to his house. The town is built upon a semicircular hill,
and at first sight from the port is very pretty,
but it fall short of its promise on a nearer examination.
(11:52):
The houses are, many of them of one story in
height and are built of stone, but the major part
have only the ground floor. The town extends back to
some distance in a straggling manner, with gardens in large
spaces between each house, and many of the habitations in
that situation are thatched, and some of them are out
of repair. As the hill which rises from the water
(12:15):
side is not high, and the land beyond rather declines
in a contrary direction, the meaner part of the town
is not to be seen at the first few Alcntara is, however,
a thriving place, and its importance increases rapidly as the
lands in the neighborhood are in request for cotton plantations.
A handsome stone quay was building upon the inside of
(12:37):
a neck of land round which the harbor extends for
small craft. The place contains a town hall and prison,
and several churches. The evening we passed with our new
friend and his partner, both of whom were pleasant men.
The latter took us to a neighboring church to hear
a famous preacher, and to see all the fashion and
(12:57):
beauty of the place. It was much crowded, and therefore
we saw little or nothing of the congregation. But the preacher,
a large, handsome Franciscan Friar, with a fine tone and
clear voice, delivered a very florid discourse with much energy
and animation. This man and one other were the only
persons of those I heard preach in Brazil who deviated
(13:19):
from the common praises usually given to the Virgin and
to the saints. It was a good practical sermon, inculcating
moral duties, but by way of conformity to established custom,
he now and then mentioned the worthy in whose honor
the festival was given footnote. About twelve months afterward, I
(13:39):
had an opportunity of being personally known to this man,
and found him to be very superior to any individual
of his or any other order of friars with whom
I have been acquainted and footnote. The next day was
agreeably passed in conversation, and in the evening two guitars
were introduced in some of the young men of the
(14:00):
place came in and added to the amusement of the party.
They sang and played, and there was much sport. There
was no ceremony, but the behavior of these people was gentlemanly,
and their conversation entertaining. I heard here of a certain estate,
of which the slaves were numerous, but they had become rebellious.
More than one steward had been killed by them, and
(14:23):
for some time they remained without any person to direct them.
But still they did not leave the place. When things
had gone on in this manner for some time, a
native of Portugal presented himself to the proprietor of the
estate and offered to take charge of it if he
would allow him a salary of one comto of hayes,
about two hundred and fifty percent annually, which is an
(14:47):
enormous stipend, and if he would sign an agreement by
which he should not become responsible for any slaves who
might be killed in reducing the remainder to obedience. To
all this, no object was made, and the man set off,
accompanied by two other persons, his friends, and a guide,
all of them being well provided with firearms and ammunition.
(15:11):
They arrived upon the scene of action one evening, and
finding the door of the principal house open took up
their lodgings in it. In the morning, several of the negroes,
on discovering the intentions of the persons who were in
possession of the house, assembled in the area in front
of it, but at some little distance. The new steward
soon came to the door, unarmed, not permitting his companions
(15:33):
to appear, and called to one of the ringleaders by name,
as if nothing was amiss. The man answered and came
out of the group, but said that he would not
approach any nearer than the spot to which he had advanced.
The steward made no reply, but quickly took a loaded musket,
which stood immediately within the door, fired and brought the
(15:54):
man to the ground, and without delay called to another
of the slaves, also by name, no answer being given,
his companions came forward, and all of them fired in
among the slaves. Such was the effect of this summary
manner of proceeding, that in two or three days all
was quiet and went on smoothly as had formerly been
(16:14):
the case. A few only of the slaves abscounting. On
our return from Alcntre, we had a disagreeable passage, as
the wind blew hard and some heavy rain fell, which
made us apprehensive of not being able to reach the
harbor of Saint Luis. Our vessel had no cabin, but
she was decked, and therefore as a matter of necessity,
(16:36):
we crept into the hold, and which we could not
stand upright in the village. Water occasionally reached our feet,
but this produced much laughter, and we ultimately arrived in safety.
Not far from the mouth of the Port of al
Contre stands an island of three miles in length and
about one in breath, called Ilya do Livramento. It is
(16:58):
inhabited by one man woman, who have under their care
a chapel dedicated to our Lady of Deliverance, which is
visited by the inhabitants of the neighboring shores once every
year for the purpose of celebrating by a festival this
invocation of the Virgin. My departure from Mariagnan, sooner than
I had purposed at first, prevented the fulfillment of my
(17:21):
intention of landing and spending a day upon this spot.
I know not what idea I might have formed of
the island if I had more narrowly examined it, But
the view I had of it at a distance was
extremely beautiful. From what I heard of it, I think
that if anyone was about to settle at Modagnan here
it is that he should try to fix his residence.
(17:43):
I was introduced by my friend to a respectable family
of Saint Louis. We made them a visit one evening
without invitation, as is the custom, and were ushered into
a tolerably sized room, furnished with a large bed and
three handsomely worked hammocks, which were swung across in different directions.
There were likewise in the apartment a chest of drawers
(18:06):
in several chairs. The mistress of the house, an elderly lady,
was seated in a hammock, and a female visitor in another,
but her two daughters and some male relations sat upon chairs.
The company, which consisted of two or three men besides ourselves,
formed a semicircle towards the hammocks. There was much ceremony,
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and the conversation was carried on chiefly by the men,
and an occasional remark was made by one or other
of the old ladies. An answer was given by the
daughters to a question asked, but no more, and some
of the subjects touched upon what would not have been
tolerated in mixed society in England. A part of the
formality might perhaps have worn off on further acquaintance. The education, however,
(18:52):
of women, is not attended to which of necessity curtails
the possibility of their entering into conversation upon many so objects,
even if so to do was accounted proper. Still, the
ladies of Saint Luis cannot be said to be generally
thus preserved, for gaming among both sexes is much practice
and is carried to great excess. A young lady, in
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one instance, when going out with her mother to some
evening company, passed through the apartment in which her father
was at play with several of his acquaintance. He spoke
to his daughter and asked her to take a card,
which she did. She went on play until she had
lost three hundred mil hayes about eighty pounds, and then
said she had no more money. A fresh supply was
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afforded to her, and she accompanied her mother to their party,
where most probably play was Likewise, the entertainment of the
evening dancing is an amusement much too violent for the climate,
and is only resorted to on some grand occasion. The
love of gaming may be easily accounted for. Where there
is little or no taste for reading, and great sums
(19:58):
of money are amassed with any means of expending them,
living is cheap. A fine house, a carriage, and a
number of servants may be had for a small sum.
The opening of the trade has, however, given to these
people a new turn of expenditure in the facility of
obtaining articles of dress and furniture. Two English merchants only
(20:19):
were established at Saint Luis. The commercial transactions of British
houses of trade were entrusted chiefly to Portuguese merchants of
the place. Footnote. A British council has since been appointed
to Modaignan and footnote. Many of these were accustomed to
little ceremony, and walk the streets and short jackets, some
(20:41):
of them without neckcloths and a few without stockings, but
others dress according to the manner of persons in Europe.
Was with much difficulty that I could persuade the generality
of those with whom I conversed that I had no
business to transact. They could not comprehend the motive by
which a man could be active stud who was putting
himself by traveling to certain inconveniences for the sake of amusement. Indeed,
(21:06):
many persons would not be convinced and thought that in
so saying I had some sinister views. I not many
opportunities of gaining information respecting the interior, but I will
mention what I heard. The banks of the river Ita Picaru,
of which I have already spoken, though they are much
cultivated compared to what they were a few years ago,
(21:28):
are yet very wild, and there is space incalculable for
a new colonists. The captaincy of pia Oui and the
interior of the state of Marignan abound in cattle, and
these parts of the country are not subject to droughts.
The town of Aldaeus Altas footnote and Ovidor has been
(21:49):
appointed to Aldayas Altas, and pia Oui has been raised
to the rank of an independent provincial government. These are
improvements which show the regular government is gaining ground end footnote.
Which is situated in the latter in the city of
Oeiras in the former and further inland, are said to
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be flourishing places. Great numbers of cattle are annually driven
from these quarters of the cer towns to Bayella and Pernambuco.
The proprietors of the estates, which are situated in districts
so far removed from the seat of government, are at
times unruly, and a party of soldiers which was sent
up to arrest one of these men some time before
(22:32):
I arrived at Saint Luis, returned without effecting its purpose.
Among other anecdotes, I heard of a mulatto slave who
ran away from his master, and in the course of
years had become a wealthy man by the purchase of
lands which were overrun with cattle. He had, on one
occasion collected and pens great numbers of oxen, which he
(22:53):
was arranging with his herdsmen to dispatch to different parts
for sale, when a stranger, who came quite alone, made
his appearance and wrote up and spoke to him, saying
that he wished to have some private conversation with him.
After a little time they retired together, and when they
were alone, the owner of the estate said, I thank
you for not mentioning the connection between us whilst my
(23:15):
people were present. It was his master who had fallen
into distressed circumstances and had now made this visit in
hopes of obtaining some trifle from him. He said that
he should be grateful for anything his slave chose to
give him. To reclaim him, he well knew was out
of the question. He was in the man's power who
might order him to be assassinated. Immediately, the slave gave
(23:39):
his master several hundred oxen and directed some of his
men to accompany him with them to a market, giving
out among his herdsmen that he had thus paid a
debt of old standing, for which he had only now
been called upon. A man who could act in this
manner well deserved the freedom which he had resolved to obtain.
(24:00):
As it was my intention to pass the ensuing summer
in England, and no ships arrived from thence, I was
afraid of being delayed some months for a conveyance. Therefore,
I thought it better to take my passage in one
of the ships which were about to sail. I preferred
the Brutus, as I was intimate with the supercargo, a
young Portuguese. We set sail from Saint Luis on the
(24:22):
eighth of April in company of another British ship, but
we were soon out of sight of each other owing
to one vessel holding a better wind. On the eighteenth
we reached variable winds and latitude twenty degrees north longitude
fifty degrees west. It is not usual to find them
so far to the southward. Therefore we might consider ourselves
(24:45):
remarkably fortunate. We passed our time pleasantly as the weather
was fine and the wind favorable. On the seventh of May,
the wind freshened, but we had a good ship and
plenty of sea room. A wave struck the stern and
entered the cabin on the eighth in the morning, setting
everything afloat. This occurred soon after we had risen. On
(25:07):
the ninth we discovered two vessels at a great distance
ahead and rather to windward. Both of them were laying two,
but soon each appeared to stand on different tacks. One
proved to be an English brig loaded with timber. She
was water logged and about to sink, and the latter
was an American ship, which had lain two and was
(25:27):
in the act of assisting the people and leaving her.
If the brig had not been loaded with timber, she
must have gone down long before. As the American ship
was bound to her own country. We took the crew
on board the Brutus nine persons. They were in most
woeful plight, some lay mothers, nearly naked, and all of
them half starved with cold and hunger. The vessel had
(25:50):
sprung the leak, which increased so rapidly as to oblige
them to retreat from the deck into the fore top,
where they had been for three days and two nights,
Almost destitute of provisions, We arrived safe off Falmouth on
the twentieth of May. Here the supercargo and myself landed
and proceeded to London, and at Section thirteen
Section thirteen of Travels in Brazil, Volume one by Henry Coster.
This librovox recording is in the public domain. Chapter nine,
Part two. I was introduced to several of the first
merchants and planters, and particularly to the Colonel's Jose Gonzalves
da Silva and Simplicio Dias da Silva. The latter is
(00:25):
the sub governor of Parnaiba, a small port situated about
three degrees to the eastward of Saint Louis. They are
both of them men of great wealth and of independent spirit.
The former is an elderly man who has made a
large fortune in trade, and latterly has increased it by
planting cotton. He possesses between one thousand and fifteen hundred slaves.
(00:49):
On one occasion, a Mulatto driver of his carriage, though
ordered by his master to stop that the governor might pass,
refuse so to do. The following day, an officer came
to the old gentleman's house with orders to arrest the man.
The colonel sent for him and said, go and I'll
take care of you, adding to the officer tell his excellency,
(01:11):
I have still several other drivers. To the surprise of
every person about the prison. Two servants made their appearance
in the evening, with the trade covered with a cloth
which was handsomely embroidered and filled with the best kind
of victuals, sweetmeats, etc. Were not forgotten. All this was
for the driver, and was repeated three times every day
(01:33):
until the man received an order for his release. The
Colonel Simplicio had been sent for by the Governor of
Saint Louis. Had it not been for the circumstances in
which he was placed, I should have gone down to
his residence at Parnaiba. He has there a most notable establishment,
part of which consists of a band of musicians who
(01:54):
are his own slaves. Some of them have been instructed
at Lisbon and at Healed de je Airo. It is
through such men as these that improvements are to be expected.
I likewise became acquainted with a gentleman who had been
imprisoned for a trifling breach of some new Port regulation.
And of its friends were allowed free ingress to see him,
(02:16):
and I passed some pleasant evenings with him and other
persons who were in the habit of assembling there. He
was allowed two small rooms in the prison and was
confined in this manner for several months. The ovidor of
the province was also suspended from exercising the functions of
his office, removed from Saint Louis, and imprisoned in one
(02:37):
of the forts. The Jewish Geoffora, the second judicial officer,
performed for the time the duties of the situation. He
was a Brazilian and a man of independent character, who
spoke and acted freely, notwithstanding the ostensible place he held
and the danger of it under such a government. The
(02:59):
master of an English merchant ship, I was told, had
been arrested for some breach of port regulation and was
confined in a miserable dungeon for three days. I heard
many more stories of the same nature, but these will,
I think suffice to show the state of the city
of Saint Louis at the time, and just before I
(03:19):
visited the place. The governor was a very young man
and a member of one of the first noble families
of Portugal. Footnote he has been removed, was ordered to Lisbon,
and ultimately, on his return to Hio de Jeneiro was
refused admittance for a short time to the prince region
(03:39):
and footnote there are few situations in which it is
so greatly in a man's power to be much beloved
or much disliked, as that of governor of a province
in Brazil, in which a man may be either the
benefactor or the scourge of the people over whom he
is sent to rule. My friend's residence, in which I
(03:59):
stayed during my visit to Margnan, was situated by the
water side and almost within hail of the ships at
anchor in the harbor. I was amused sometimes at the
rapidity with which the fishermen paddled their canoes. These are
long and of just with sufficient to allow two men
sitting abreast. I've seen in one of them as many
(04:20):
as sixteen men and two rows, with each a paddle,
which they move with quickness and great regularity. The last
man upon the bench steers the canoe when necessary, placing
the paddle so as to answer the purpose of a rudder,
one or other of the two men steering according to
the direction which the vessel is to take. These fellows
(04:40):
are mostly dark colored mulattoes and blacks, and entirely naked,
excepting the hats which they wear upon their heads. But
when they come on shore they partially clothe themselves. The
nakedness of the Negro slaves is not sufficiently concealed. Neither
males nor females have any covering from the west upward,
except on Sundays and holidays, though the climate may not
(05:03):
require any more clothing. Decency certainly does I speak here
of slaves who are at work in the streets. For
the household servants are at least tolerably covered, and some
of them are neatly and even gaudily dressed. At Pernambuco,
the slaves are always decently clothed. The criminals, who are
to be seen chained together, as at Pernambuco, are here
(05:26):
more numerous, and in walking the streets, the clanking of
the chains is continually striking the year, reminding every man
of the state of the government under which he resides.
Such is the power of a governor that a respectable
person might be sentenced to this dreadful punishment, at least
until redress could be obtained from the seat of the
(05:47):
Supreme Government at Hio de Janeiro a period of four
months or more. Intervening, I brought with me the horse
which had carried me as far as Hiu Granji. On
my journey to Sierra, took several rides in the neighborhood
of the city with an English gentleman who is residing there.
The roads are extremely bad even in the immediate vicinity
(06:09):
of Saint Luis, and our usual practice was to ride
several times round the open piece of ground upon which
the barracks stand. Modagnaw is again, in this respect, far
behind the place I had lately left. The number of
country houses is small, the paths are few, and no
care is taken of them. Notwithstanding this, several persons have
(06:31):
carriages which are of a form similar to those used
in Lisbon, and not unlike the cabriolets drawn by a
pair of horses which are to be seen in France
and Flanders. The horses that may be purchased at Saint
Luis are small, and few of them are well formed.
Grass is scarce, and the inducements to take exercise on
(06:52):
horseback are so few that the number of these animals
upon the island is not considerable. This too, may be
one cause why fine horses are not to be met
with there, For if a ready sail was found for
the beasts of this description, some would doubtless be carried
from Piaui to Marignan, which might be done with almost
(07:13):
as little difficulty as is experienced in conveying many of
them from the interior of Pernambuco to Hessife. An English
gentleman with whom I was acquainted, arrived at Margnon a
short time after the opening of the trade to British shipping.
He was riding in the vicinity of the city one
afternoon when he was accosted by an old woman who
(07:35):
said that she had heard of the arrival of an
Englishman and wished to know if it was true, as
she was going to Saint Louis and much desired to
see this bichiu or animal. After some further conversation upon
the subject, he told her that the bichio she was
speaking to was the Englishman himself. Of the truth of this,
(07:56):
some difficulty was found in persuading her, but when she
confident that it was so, she cried out, I don't benito,
oh how handsome. She expected to have been shown some
horridly ugly beast which it was dangerous to approach, and
was consequently agreeably surprised to find that she was mistaken,
(08:17):
and to see flesh and blood and human form handsomely
put together. I nearly lost a number of books which
I had brought with me. The box containing them was
carried to the custom house. They were taken out, and
I was desired to translate each title page, which I did.
Though the works were chiefly historical, still I found that
(08:38):
the officer who looked over them was not inclined to
let me have them, and a hint was given to
me by one of my acquaintance that they might be
considered as irrecoverable. However, I made immediately a petition to
the governor to be allowed to send them on board again.
This was granted. Thus I regained possession. If I had delayed,
I am almost certain that I should not have seen
(08:59):
them again. Such are the difficulties which are experienced with
books in the parts of Brazil which I have visited,
that the only resource which remains is that of smuggling
them into the country. Footnote. It is not perhaps generally
known that they are published in London. Three or four
Portuguese periodical works. One of them is prohibited in Brazil,
(09:23):
and I have heard it said that all of them
are so situated. But they are principally intended for Brazilian readers,
and they find their way all over the country, notwithstanding
the prohibition. I've seen them in the hands of civil,
military and ecclesiastical officers, and have heard them publicly spoken
of by them. It is said that the Regent reads
(09:44):
them and is occasionally pleased with the invectives against some
of the men in power. End footnote. I hope, however,
that the enlightened minister, who is now at the head
of affairs at Hio de Janeiro, will put an end
to this dreadf bar to improvement. I brought a letter
from one of my acquaintance at Pernambuco to a gentleman
(10:06):
who resided at Alcntre, a town on the opposite side
of the bay. At Saint Marcos. My friend at Saint Luis,
and other young Portuguese and myself, accompanied by two servants,
agreed to hire a vessel and go over for the
purpose of making him a visit and of seeing the place.
We hired a small barque and set sail one morning
(10:27):
early with a fair but light wind. The beauties of
the bay are only to be seen, and crossing it,
the number of islands diversify the view every five minutes,
from the discovery of some hidden point, or from a
change in the form of the land owing to the
progress of the boat. The entrance into the harbor of
Al Cantera. The town itself, in the size of the
(10:49):
vessel in which we were reminded me much of the
models of these realities. The place, the port, and our
boat were all small in the proportionate dimensions, having much
the appearance of playthings. It was not like a small
vessel entering a large harbor, for in our case, as
there was but little water upon the bar, as much
(11:10):
pilotage was necessary as with a large ship, and coming
to anchor at Saint Louis, we were about five hours
in reaching the end of our voyage. The boatmen obtained
for us a small cottage near to the beach. We
intended to be independent and have our victuals cooked by
our own servants. But soon after we were settled in
(11:31):
our new habitation, the gentleman introduced himself, to whom we
were furnished, with a letter. He said that he had
heard of our arrival, and he insisted upon our removal
to his house. The town is built upon a semicircular hill,
and at first sight from the port is very pretty,
but it fall short of its promise on a nearer examination.
(11:52):
The houses are, many of them of one story in
height and are built of stone, but the major part
have only the ground floor. The town extends back to
some distance in a straggling manner, with gardens in large
spaces between each house, and many of the habitations in
that situation are thatched, and some of them are out
of repair. As the hill which rises from the water
(12:15):
side is not high, and the land beyond rather declines
in a contrary direction, the meaner part of the town
is not to be seen at the first few Alcntara is, however,
a thriving place, and its importance increases rapidly as the
lands in the neighborhood are in request for cotton plantations.
A handsome stone quay was building upon the inside of
(12:37):
a neck of land round which the harbor extends for
small craft. The place contains a town hall and prison,
and several churches. The evening we passed with our new
friend and his partner, both of whom were pleasant men.
The latter took us to a neighboring church to hear
a famous preacher, and to see all the fashion and
(12:57):
beauty of the place. It was much crowded, and therefore
we saw little or nothing of the congregation. But the preacher,
a large, handsome Franciscan Friar, with a fine tone and
clear voice, delivered a very florid discourse with much energy
and animation. This man and one other were the only
persons of those I heard preach in Brazil who deviated
(13:19):
from the common praises usually given to the Virgin and
to the saints. It was a good practical sermon, inculcating
moral duties, but by way of conformity to established custom,
he now and then mentioned the worthy in whose honor
the festival was given footnote. About twelve months afterward, I
(13:39):
had an opportunity of being personally known to this man,
and found him to be very superior to any individual
of his or any other order of friars with whom
I have been acquainted and footnote. The next day was
agreeably passed in conversation, and in the evening two guitars
were introduced in some of the young men of the
(14:00):
place came in and added to the amusement of the party.
They sang and played, and there was much sport. There
was no ceremony, but the behavior of these people was gentlemanly,
and their conversation entertaining. I heard here of a certain estate,
of which the slaves were numerous, but they had become rebellious.
More than one steward had been killed by them, and
(14:23):
for some time they remained without any person to direct them.
But still they did not leave the place. When things
had gone on in this manner for some time, a
native of Portugal presented himself to the proprietor of the
estate and offered to take charge of it if he
would allow him a salary of one comto of hayes,
about two hundred and fifty percent annually, which is an
(14:47):
enormous stipend, and if he would sign an agreement by
which he should not become responsible for any slaves who
might be killed in reducing the remainder to obedience. To
all this, no object was made, and the man set off,
accompanied by two other persons, his friends, and a guide,
all of them being well provided with firearms and ammunition.
(15:11):
They arrived upon the scene of action one evening, and
finding the door of the principal house open took up
their lodgings in it. In the morning, several of the negroes,
on discovering the intentions of the persons who were in
possession of the house, assembled in the area in front
of it, but at some little distance. The new steward
soon came to the door, unarmed, not permitting his companions
(15:33):
to appear, and called to one of the ringleaders by name,
as if nothing was amiss. The man answered and came
out of the group, but said that he would not
approach any nearer than the spot to which he had advanced.
The steward made no reply, but quickly took a loaded musket,
which stood immediately within the door, fired and brought the
(15:54):
man to the ground, and without delay called to another
of the slaves, also by name, no answer being given,
his companions came forward, and all of them fired in
among the slaves. Such was the effect of this summary
manner of proceeding, that in two or three days all
was quiet and went on smoothly as had formerly been
(16:14):
the case. A few only of the slaves abscounting. On
our return from Alcntre, we had a disagreeable passage, as
the wind blew hard and some heavy rain fell, which
made us apprehensive of not being able to reach the
harbor of Saint Luis. Our vessel had no cabin, but
she was decked, and therefore as a matter of necessity,
(16:36):
we crept into the hold, and which we could not
stand upright in the village. Water occasionally reached our feet,
but this produced much laughter, and we ultimately arrived in safety.
Not far from the mouth of the Port of al
Contre stands an island of three miles in length and
about one in breath, called Ilya do Livramento. It is
(16:58):
inhabited by one man woman, who have under their care
a chapel dedicated to our Lady of Deliverance, which is
visited by the inhabitants of the neighboring shores once every
year for the purpose of celebrating by a festival this
invocation of the Virgin. My departure from Mariagnan, sooner than
I had purposed at first, prevented the fulfillment of my
(17:21):
intention of landing and spending a day upon this spot.
I know not what idea I might have formed of
the island if I had more narrowly examined it, But
the view I had of it at a distance was
extremely beautiful. From what I heard of it, I think
that if anyone was about to settle at Modagnan here
it is that he should try to fix his residence.
(17:43):
I was introduced by my friend to a respectable family
of Saint Louis. We made them a visit one evening
without invitation, as is the custom, and were ushered into
a tolerably sized room, furnished with a large bed and
three handsomely worked hammocks, which were swung across in different directions.
There were likewise in the apartment a chest of drawers
(18:06):
in several chairs. The mistress of the house, an elderly lady,
was seated in a hammock, and a female visitor in another,
but her two daughters and some male relations sat upon chairs.
The company, which consisted of two or three men besides ourselves,
formed a semicircle towards the hammocks. There was much ceremony,
(18:27):
and the conversation was carried on chiefly by the men,
and an occasional remark was made by one or other
of the old ladies. An answer was given by the
daughters to a question asked, but no more, and some
of the subjects touched upon what would not have been
tolerated in mixed society in England. A part of the
formality might perhaps have worn off on further acquaintance. The education, however,
(18:52):
of women, is not attended to which of necessity curtails
the possibility of their entering into conversation upon many so objects,
even if so to do was accounted proper. Still, the
ladies of Saint Luis cannot be said to be generally
thus preserved, for gaming among both sexes is much practice
and is carried to great excess. A young lady, in
(19:14):
one instance, when going out with her mother to some
evening company, passed through the apartment in which her father
was at play with several of his acquaintance. He spoke
to his daughter and asked her to take a card,
which she did. She went on play until she had
lost three hundred mil hayes about eighty pounds, and then
said she had no more money. A fresh supply was
(19:37):
afforded to her, and she accompanied her mother to their party,
where most probably play was Likewise, the entertainment of the
evening dancing is an amusement much too violent for the climate,
and is only resorted to on some grand occasion. The
love of gaming may be easily accounted for. Where there
is little or no taste for reading, and great sums
(19:58):
of money are amassed with any means of expending them,
living is cheap. A fine house, a carriage, and a
number of servants may be had for a small sum.
The opening of the trade has, however, given to these
people a new turn of expenditure in the facility of
obtaining articles of dress and furniture. Two English merchants only
(20:19):
were established at Saint Luis. The commercial transactions of British
houses of trade were entrusted chiefly to Portuguese merchants of
the place. Footnote. A British council has since been appointed
to Modaignan and footnote. Many of these were accustomed to
little ceremony, and walk the streets and short jackets, some
(20:41):
of them without neckcloths and a few without stockings, but
others dress according to the manner of persons in Europe.
Was with much difficulty that I could persuade the generality
of those with whom I conversed that I had no
business to transact. They could not comprehend the motive by
which a man could be active stud who was putting
himself by traveling to certain inconveniences for the sake of amusement. Indeed,
(21:06):
many persons would not be convinced and thought that in
so saying I had some sinister views. I not many
opportunities of gaining information respecting the interior, but I will
mention what I heard. The banks of the river Ita Picaru,
of which I have already spoken, though they are much
cultivated compared to what they were a few years ago,
(21:28):
are yet very wild, and there is space incalculable for
a new colonists. The captaincy of pia Oui and the
interior of the state of Marignan abound in cattle, and
these parts of the country are not subject to droughts.
The town of Aldaeus Altas footnote and Ovidor has been
(21:49):
appointed to Aldayas Altas, and pia Oui has been raised
to the rank of an independent provincial government. These are
improvements which show the regular government is gaining ground end footnote.
Which is situated in the latter in the city of
Oeiras in the former and further inland, are said to
(22:10):
be flourishing places. Great numbers of cattle are annually driven
from these quarters of the cer towns to Bayella and Pernambuco.
The proprietors of the estates, which are situated in districts
so far removed from the seat of government, are at
times unruly, and a party of soldiers which was sent
up to arrest one of these men some time before
(22:32):
I arrived at Saint Luis, returned without effecting its purpose.
Among other anecdotes, I heard of a mulatto slave who
ran away from his master, and in the course of
years had become a wealthy man by the purchase of
lands which were overrun with cattle. He had, on one
occasion collected and pens great numbers of oxen, which he
(22:53):
was arranging with his herdsmen to dispatch to different parts
for sale, when a stranger, who came quite alone, made
his appearance and wrote up and spoke to him, saying
that he wished to have some private conversation with him.
After a little time they retired together, and when they
were alone, the owner of the estate said, I thank
you for not mentioning the connection between us whilst my
(23:15):
people were present. It was his master who had fallen
into distressed circumstances and had now made this visit in
hopes of obtaining some trifle from him. He said that
he should be grateful for anything his slave chose to
give him. To reclaim him, he well knew was out
of the question. He was in the man's power who
might order him to be assassinated. Immediately, the slave gave
(23:39):
his master several hundred oxen and directed some of his
men to accompany him with them to a market, giving
out among his herdsmen that he had thus paid a
debt of old standing, for which he had only now
been called upon. A man who could act in this
manner well deserved the freedom which he had resolved to obtain.
(24:00):
As it was my intention to pass the ensuing summer
in England, and no ships arrived from thence, I was
afraid of being delayed some months for a conveyance. Therefore,
I thought it better to take my passage in one
of the ships which were about to sail. I preferred
the Brutus, as I was intimate with the supercargo, a
young Portuguese. We set sail from Saint Luis on the
(24:22):
eighth of April in company of another British ship, but
we were soon out of sight of each other owing
to one vessel holding a better wind. On the eighteenth
we reached variable winds and latitude twenty degrees north longitude
fifty degrees west. It is not usual to find them
so far to the southward. Therefore we might consider ourselves
(24:45):
remarkably fortunate. We passed our time pleasantly as the weather
was fine and the wind favorable. On the seventh of May,
the wind freshened, but we had a good ship and
plenty of sea room. A wave struck the stern and
entered the cabin on the eighth in the morning, setting
everything afloat. This occurred soon after we had risen. On
(25:07):
the ninth we discovered two vessels at a great distance
ahead and rather to windward. Both of them were laying two,
but soon each appeared to stand on different tacks. One
proved to be an English brig loaded with timber. She
was water logged and about to sink, and the latter
was an American ship, which had lain two and was
(25:27):
in the act of assisting the people and leaving her.
If the brig had not been loaded with timber, she
must have gone down long before. As the American ship
was bound to her own country. We took the crew
on board the Brutus nine persons. They were in most
woeful plight, some lay mothers, nearly naked, and all of
them half starved with cold and hunger. The vessel had
(25:50):
sprung the leak, which increased so rapidly as to oblige
them to retreat from the deck into the fore top,
where they had been for three days and two nights,
Almost destitute of provisions, We arrived safe off Falmouth on
the twentieth of May. Here the supercargo and myself landed
and proceeded to London, and at Section thirteen
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