Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 2 of 2

by Robert Grant Watson

By the capture of the ringleader the revolt was at an end; but it was with the utmost reluctance that the Governor could bring himself to condemn him to the penalty which he had incurred. His reluctance was no doubt increased owing to the circumstances of Beckman’s base betrayal by a youth whom he had befriended; and it was only upon an attempt being discovered to escape from prison that Gomes Freyre yielded to the representations which were made to him that it was his duty to the public to sign his death-warrant. In doing so, together with that of another ringleader, he at the same time took upon himself the charge of providing for his two unmarried daughters. Beckman’s brother received the milder punishment of banishment for ten years; whilst the friar who had incited the people to insurrection was sentenced to be imprisoned in his convent.

The first measure of Gomes Freyre, after seizing the ringleaders of the rebellion, had been to restore all such persons as had been deprived of their offices. He likewise temporarily re-established the monopoly, whilst he recalled the exiled Jesuits. Having convened the Chambers of Belem and St. Luiz, and received their representations upon the state of the country, he came to the conclusion that the monopoly must be abolished. In his reports to Portugal he found great fault with the conduct of a portion of the clergy who had betaken themselves to trade, and were foremost in inciting discontent. The condition of the people he represented as deplorable; and he advocated, on the plea of necessity, the introduction of negroes for agricultural labour. The Indians he desired to be domesticated as far as might be possible, in order that they might afford to their countrymen an example of submission. But at the same time he pointed out that the same principle which authorized the Portuguese to purchase negroes in Africa was applicable to the savage Tapuyas, who granted no quarter in war.

In order to relieve the distress at St. Luiz, he took from its population the materials for a new settlement between the rivers Itacú and Mony. The two streams in question approach each other so nearly at one point in the interior that it was thought that two forts might suffice for the protection of the delta thus formed against the Indians. In furtherance of this plan, an expedition was despatched against the savages of the Meary, who had destroyed the engenhos formerly existing in this district. The Governor, having accordingly erected a fort upon the Meary, saw the importance of establishing communication overland with Bahia; and an enterprising Portuguese, named Joam do Valle, boldly undertook to proceed thither by land. He succeeded in the attempt; but the fatigues which he had undergone proved fatal to his life.

Gomes Freyre found it necessary to despatch another expedition, under Sousa, against the savages of the Amazons. After a severe campaign, which lasted over six months, this officer effected the object entrusted to him. The lower valley of the great river was pacified; a number of dangerous chiefs, together with more than a thousand Indians, had fallen; whilst half of that number were brought back in chains.

1687.

At this period the position of the French in the north of Brazil became a subject of disquietude to the authorities at Pará. Although, in virtue of the line of demarcation by Pope Alexander VI., Portugal claimed the entire Brazilian coast, from the Plata in the south to the Oyapok in the north, the maritime powers declined to admit her title. As early as the year 1608, the country between the Amazons and the Orinoco had been taken possession of by Robert Harcourt in the name of James I. for England, and that King had made him a grant of the territory lying between the former river and the Essequibo, which falls into the sea about the centre of what is now British Guayana. The scheme, however, was frustrated, as were all attempts on the part of adventurers of different nations to establish themselves about the Cabo do Norte and up the Amazons. It was during one of the expeditions of Raleigh that the harbour of Cayenne had first been noticed, and it subsequently attracted the attention of Harcourt. Some French adventurers settled at this locality about the year 1631. They had no commission from the Crown nor from any company; and, being left to their own resources, such of them as survived the hostilities between the native tribes in which they took part, gradually became mixed with the savages.

A few, however, had escaped to France; and it was on their representations that an expedition was sent out under Charles Poncet, who was appointed Lieutenant-General of the country of the Cabo do Norte, a district which was not too minutely defined, and which he interpreted generally to include the whole coast between the Amazons and the Orinoco. This officer took out with him some four hundred men, with whom he attempted to form settlements at Cayenne, Surinam, and Berbice, which three places now form settlements in French, Dutch, and British Guayana respectively. Owing to his cruelty, however, he himself fell a victim to the vengeance of the savages, whilst the various settlements were attacked and cut up. About forty survivors made their escape to St. Kitts.

The disasters, however, of M. Poncet de Bretigny did not deter the company at Rouen from pursuing the enterprise in which they had embarked; and they continued for eight years after his death to maintain a fort at Cayenne. At this date a new company was formed, on the plea that the previous one had failed in fulfilling its conditions to the Crown. The chief of the next expedition, which consisted of seven hundred men, was the Sieur de Royville. But De Royville was no more fortunate than his predecessor, being murdered on the outward voyage. The twelve associates who had accompanied him lost no time upon their arrival in quarrelling amongst themselves and in beheading one of their number, whilst three others were deported to an island, where they soon fell victims to the savages. The colony was not successful; some of its members perished from disease, and others from hunger; whilst others again were brought to the boucan.[6] The survivors were glad to seek the protection of the English, who were by this time established at Surinam.

1656.

1676.