They began to form regular troops; but though they were abundantly supplied with beef and other provisions, they were in want of arms and ammunition, and sent to Rio de Janeiro to represent their situation to the Prince, and request assistance. They were also in great distress for salt to preserve their provisions; and as to accoutrements, raw hides supplied the place of almost every thing. An apothecary, in Cachoeira, shortly began to boil sea-water in sugar-coppers, to make salt, and soon reduced the price of that article, so that the quantity at first sold for ten pataccas (eighteen shillings) fell to seven vintems (seven pence). The same apothecary, collecting all the salt-petre in the neighbourhood, applied himself to making of gunpowder, and a fortunate discovery of some hundred barrels smuggled into Itaparica by some English, was of essential use to them. But they had no cannon, no lead for ball for their muskets and matchlocks; the lead, indeed, and a quantity of gun-locks, their friends within the city contrived to smuggle to them; and their guns were supplied in the following manner. In each engenho, there was an old gun or two for the purpose of balancing some part of the machinery; these were at once sent to Cachoeira, where, being cleaned and bushed by an ingenious blacksmith, they were rendered serviceable; and the patriots ventured to take the field against Madeira's parties, even before the arrival of any assistance from Rio.
Meantime, news of these transactions arrived at Rio, as well as notice of the decrees of the Cortes at Lisbon. The Prince and people no longer hesitated. His Royal Highness, together with the senate, issued proclamations on the 3d of June, calling together a representative and legislative assembly, to be composed of members from every province and town, to meet in the city of Rio; and on the first of August he published that noble manifesto, by which the independence of Brazil was openly asserted, the grounds of its claims clearly stated, and the people exhorted to let no voice but that of honour be heard among them, and to let the shores, from the Amazons to the Plata, resound with no cry but that of independence. On the same day, a decree was put forth to resist the hostilities of Portugal, containing the following articles:—1st, All troops sent by any country whatever, without leave obtained from the Prince, shall be accounted enemies: 2d, If they come in peace, they shall remain on board their ships, and shall not communicate with the shore; but, having received supplies, shall depart: 3d, That in case of disobedience, they shall be repulsed by force: 4th, If they force a landing in any weak point, the inhabitants shall retire to the interior, with all their moveables, and the militia shall make war as guerillas against the strangers: 5th, That all governors, &c. shall fortify their ports, &c.: 6th, Reports to be forthwith made of the state of the ports in Brazil, for that end.
This last decree had been anticipated by the Pernambucans, who had marched a body of troops to the assistance of the patriots of Cachoeira, and a most harassing warfare was commenced against the Portuguese in St. Salvador: these last had received a reinforcement of seven hundred men on the 8th of August; but they had hardly had time to exult in their arrival, when a squadron from Rio Janeiro disembarked at Alagoas 5000 guns, six field-pieces, 270,000 cartridges, 2000 pikes, 500 carbines, 500 pistols, 500 cutlasses, and 260 men, chiefly officers, under Brigadier-general Lebatu[96], who soon joined the patriots, and fixed his head-quarters at Cachoeira, having stretched a line of troops across the peninsula on which the town is placed, and thus cut it off from provisions on that side; but the sea being still open, supplies were abundant, not only from abroad, but from the opposite island of Itaparica. That fertile district, however, was soon occupied by the Brazilians; and Madeira had only his supplies from seaward, unless he could by force dislodge the Brazilians from their quarters on that island.
The cabinet of Rio became sensible that it was necessary to provide a naval force, if they wished to preserve the kingdom from the farther attacks of Portugal, or to dislodge the enemy from his strong-hold in Bahia. Accordingly, the agents of the government in England were employed to engage officers and men: some were collected on the spot; others, such as Captain David Jewet, from Buenos Ayres and America, were instantly employed; and all exertions were made to repair such of the ships left behind by King John as would bear the repairs.
At length, on the 12th of October, the birth-day of the Prince, the troops being, as usual, assembled in the great square of Santa Anna, and a great concourse of people attending, the Prince was suddenly hailed Emperor of Brazil, and the kingdom changed in style and title, and all dependence on, or connection with Portugal, for ever abjured.
This event seemed to give new spirit to the war of Bahia: as it exasperated the Portuguese, so it encouraged the Brazilians, now assured of independence. Madeira, resolved, if possible, to gain a communication with Nazareth on one of the rivers of the Reconcave, which is most fertile, and furnishes abundance of farinha, sent one hundred men of the Caçadores, under Colonel Russel, to attempt to gain possession of the Ulha do Medo, which commands the Funil, or passage between the mainland and Itaparica leading to Nazareth; but their boats grounded, and they were obliged to wait for the tide, while the Brazilians, who are excellent marksmen, and were concealed among the bushes ashore, picked them off at leisure. Another expedition, equally unfortunate, was sent with a large gun-vessel to Cachoeira, and arrived off the public square, just as it was filled with people proclaiming the Emperor. The guns began to play on the mob; but the tide was low, and the shot, instead of reaching the people, only struck the quays, and did little damage. The Brazilian soldiers now crowded to the wharfs, and thence commenced so brisk a fire on the enemy, that the commander of the vessel retreated hastily without killing a man, though he lost many. In this action Dona Maria de Jesus distinguished herself; for the spirit of patriotism had not confined itself to the men.[97]
The most considerable expedition sent by Madeira from Bahia was to the Punto de Itaparica, the possession of which was becoming daily more important, as the provisions in the town diminished. For this purpose 1500 men were embarked on board the Promtadao, and two other brigs of war; they were to land half on one side and half on the other of the little peninsula forming the Punto, on which there is a small fort and town, which the troops were to attack while the brigs fired on the fort. The passage from Bahia to this point is usually of six or seven hours at most, allowing for a contrary wind; but these vessels were two days in reaching it, by which time the Brazilians had thrown up heaps of sand; behind which they lay concealed, and deliberately fired on the Lusitanians as they passed, and committed great slaughter, without the loss of a man, though they had several wounded. This action, if it may be called so, took place on the 2d of January, 1823, and lasted from noon till sunset.
Meantime the land side of the city had been harassed by continual attacks, and the troops worn out with constant watching; for the Brazilians were continually riding about in the woods, and beating marches, and causing their trumpets to sound to charge in the night, and by the time the enemy could reach the spot they were fled. On the 18th of November, 1822, however, Madeira made a sortie, and was met by the Brazilians at Piraja, between two and three leagues from the city, when a severe action took place, with some loss on both sides, and both claimed the victory; but as the Lusitanians retired to the town, and the Brazilians took up new positions close to the city gates, the advantage must undoubtedly have been on the side of the latter. Meantime the scarcity of fresh provisions was such, that all the foreign merchants who had families, and who could by any means remove, did so. All the country-houses were abandoned, and the people crowded into the town. The heaviest contributions were levied on all natives and foreigners, and the misery of a siege was coming upon the city.
Rio de Janeiro presented a very different spectacle. The inhabitants were decorating their town with triumphal arches for the coronation of their Emperor, who, on the 1st of December, was solemnly crowned in the chapel of the palace, which serves as the cathedral; and it is no exaggeration to say, that the whole of southern Brazil presented one scene of joy.
The ministers, no less than the monarch, were beloved. The finances began to assume a flourishing aspect: large subscriptions flowed in from all quarters for the equipment of a fleet; and an invitation had been sent to Lord Cochrane to command it. The Emperor had accepted the most moderate income that ever crowned head was contented withal[98], in order to spare his people. He visited his dock-yards and arsenals himself; attended business of every kind; encouraged improvements in every department, and Brazil had begun to assume a most flourishing aspect. Such was the state of things when I arrived for the second time in Brazil, along with Lord Cochrane, on the 13th of March, 1823.