After travelling about four miles, we arrived at the village. It being Sunday, numbers of people had come from various parts in the neighbourhood to attend divine service, and, after it was over, flocked in crowds to the place where we alighted. It appeared as if the whole population of the village, men, women, and children, were possessed with the same spirit of curiosity, so great was their eagerness to get a sight of us. We dined in a mixed company of ladies and gentlemen, at the house of the worthy vicar, who kept a very hospitable table, and paid us the most flattering attention. A military officer and a judge, who were of the party, entered into conversation with us; and it was difficult to decide who were the most inquisitive, they, respecting the motives and objects of our journey, or we, respecting the state of the country, the Aborigines, &c.
We learnt that the village was founded about twenty-three years ago by a number of Portuguese, who were tempted to settle, in a spot thus exposed to the depredations of the Buticudos, by the gold with which it abounded. At the present day, I was informed that it contains about four hundred inhabitants, and that the vicinity is well peopled, so that a sufficient force is always at hand to repel the savages; who, no longer daring to attack openly, now have often recourse to stratagem. When they have marked out a house, and ascertained its strength, they set fire to it by shooting arrows with fire-brands into the roof, and fall on the unfortunate inhabitants as they are attempting to escape. These savages, accustomed to live in the woods, and well practised in all the arts requisite for catching the wild animals on which they subsist, have a thousand stratagems for way-laying the settlers. Sometimes they render themselves invisible by tying branches and young trees about them, and fix their bows imperceptibly, so that, when a poor negro or white happens to pass near them, they seldom miss their aim. At other times they rub themselves with ashes and lie on the ground, or make pit-falls, in which they place pointed stakes, and cover them with twigs and leaves. They have a great dread of fire-arms, and betake themselves to flight whenever they hear them: but these weapons are by no means so general among the settlers as they ought to be, and the few they have are of very indifferent make, and frequently altogether useless. It sometimes, though rarely, happens, that the soldiers surprise the aborigines, in which case no combat takes place; the latter run away as speedily as possible; and their pursuers, taking vengeance for injuries sustained, seldom give quarter. Those whom they make prisoners they are obliged to tie hand and foot, and carry on a pole to a place of security: if any one of them be loosed but for a moment, he bursts away, and flees into the woods like a tiger, leaving his pursuers behind. They are untameable, either by stripes or kindness; and, if they find no means of escaping from confinement, they commonly refuse sustenance, and die of hunger.
The injuries occasionally done to settlers by these savages have excited the attention of Government, who have passed a decisive law against them. A proclamation has been issued by the Prince Regent, in which they are invited to live in villages, and become Christians, under a promise that, if they come to terms of peace and amity with the Portuguese, their rights shall be acknowledged, and they shall enjoy, in common with other subjects, the protection of the state; but, if they persist in their barbarous and inhuman practices, the soldiers of His Royal Highness are ordered to carry on a war of extermination against them. Those who are taken prisoners are at the disposal of their captors as slaves, for the space of ten years. It is doubtful whether the offers of conciliation contained in this proclamation will produce in any degree the desired effect; for the Buticudos have an unconquerable aversion to a settled way of life, and a rooted antipathy to every other nation; nor have they intelligence enough to appreciate the benefits of civilized society; so that there appears no hope of reducing them but by the dreadful alternative proposed in the latter part of the decree. One reason for having recourse to this summary mode of dealing with them, which will probably outweigh any arguments in favor of gentler proceedings, is, that the country they inhabit contains gold, and the settlers and adventurers are desirous to obtain speedy possession of it. Some officers, well acquainted with the locality of the territory, and skilled in the art of conducting an Indian war, are already employed in this difficult enterprise. About two leagues from this village is another, called Piranga, situated near the margin of a river of that name, which at a distance of four leagues joins the San Jose, and with it forms the Rio Dôce. This river runs through a fine country, in a northerly and afterwards an easterly direction, discharging itself into the sea in lat. 19° 30′ south. There are three islands at its mouth, called Os Tres Irmâos, (the Three Brothers).
Were this river rendered navigable, what benefits might accrue to the fine country through which it flows! Large quantities of sugar, cotton, and other produce, which the soil is capable of growing, besides excellent timber for exportation, would then form the basis of an extensive commerce, by stimulating the industry of the planters, who are at present averse from cultivating beyond the extent of their own consumption, on account of the heavy expense attendant on a land-carriage of above five hundred miles to the nearest sea-port.
Piranga is perhaps more exposed to the attacks of the Indians than the village of San Jose, but there are some gold-washings in its neighbourhood which tempt the inhabitants to brave that danger. A small band of horse-soldiers is stationed here to parade the confines, enter the woods, and go in quest of the natives whenever information is given. Yet, notwithstanding these precautions, the village is never in perfect security; a house in its immediate vicinity was surprised a few months previous to our visit to this district.
We now took leave of the vicar and his guests, and, I may add, of all the villagers, who came out to salute us as we passed. Returning to Castro, I remained the whole of the next day to examine the establishment. It is built, like that at Barro, in the form of a square, the dwellings of the negroes forming three sides, and the mansion the fourth, the entrance being in front through a pair of gates, which, when shut, secure the whole. The rooms in the mansion were like ancient halls, adorned with carvings, and fitted up and furnished after the old fashion. Here were blunderbusses, swords, and other weapons for defence, used in former days, when the house was liable to the continual attacks of the Buticudos. The stairs, gallery, and floors, were of fine wood, of a quality which time had not in any degree perceptibly injured. Attached to the house were the remains of a sugar-mill, distil-house, corn-mill, and a machine, worked by a strap and spindles, for spinning cotton, all in a state of neglect. The whole establishment bore marks of former opulence and grandeur, from which it appeared to have gradually declined as the gold-washings at the confluence of the rivers and in other parts had become exhausted. The negroes were now all removed to Castro, except a few infirm and sick, who were stationed here to keep the mansion in order, (this being considered as a light employment for them), until such time as their convalescence should fit them for resuming their labors along with their brethren at the other estate.
Having made a sketch of the house, and visited every part which interested me, I returned by the same road to Barro, where I employed myself in making a topographical map of the river, distinguishing by different colors the places already washed for gold, those which were then washing, and the yet unworked grounds. This sort of map might be made on a large scale, so as to include a whole district or parish, where the several mines, or gold-beds, in their different stages, might be exhibited at one view.
On this estate are employed one hundred and fifty-six negroes, of all descriptions, who, on such excellent land, producing every necessary for food and clothing, might be expected to earn considerably more than their own maintenance; yet a former steward managed so ill for twenty successive years, that, although he had nothing to purchase but a little iron, and though the gold-mines were then more productive than at present, he ran the establishment annually into debt to the shopkeepers of Villa Rica. A single circumstance may account for this mismanagement; the noble proprietor resided in Portugal. At present the estate is in a much more prosperous way, being entrusted to the care of another steward, and three overseers, all Creolians. The latter receive a salary of thirty milrees (about nine pounds sterling) per annum, besides their maintenance; their business is to execute the orders of the steward, and to superintend the labor of the negroes committed to their charge. They lead a life of extreme indolence, never putting their hands to any species of work.
The general diet of the country-people in this land of Canaan is somewhat similar to that of the miners in the vicinity of S. Paulo, already described. The master, his steward, and the overseers, sit down to a breakfast of kidney-beans of a black color, boiled, which they mix with the flour of Indian corn, and eat with a little dry pork fried or boiled. The dinner generally consists, also, of a bit of pork or bacon boiled, the water from which is poured upon a dish of the flour above mentioned, thus forming a stiff pudding. A large quantity (about half a peck) of this food is poured in a heap in the middle of the table, and a great dish of boiled beans is set upon it: each person helps himself in the readiest way, there being only one knife, which is very often dispensed with. A plate or two of colewort or cabbage-leaves complete the repast. The food is commonly served up in the earthen vessels used for cooking it; sometimes on pewter dishes. The general beverage is water. At supper nothing is seen but large quantities of boiled greens, with a little bit of poor bacon to flavor them. On any festival occasion, or when strangers appear, the dinner or supper is improved by the addition of a stewed fowl.