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.