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

by Robert Grant Watson

The salary of the superintendent was fixed at three thousand five hundred cruzados;[13] that of the chief guardian at two thousand; whilst the subordinate guardians received one thousand each. The treasurer likewise received three thousand cruzados. There were also deputy-treasurers, receiving each five hundred cruzados. The above salaries were paid on taxes levied upon those who profited by the mines. Various other regulations were likewise made with a view to meeting fresh cases as they arose. The civil and military authority was vested in the superintendent. It was not permitted to bring slaves to the mines from any other locality than Rio de Janeiro; but it was allowed to import cattle from Bahia. All commodities were to be sent from Rio, by way either of Taboate or of St. Paulo; these restrictions being in order to prevent the clandestine exportation of gold-dust.

The passion of gambling is nowhere more consuming than in a mining district; and such did not fail to be the case in Brazil. Even the governor of Rio de Janeiro so far forgot his official character as to set out for the mining district and eagerly engage in the pursuit. It was, therefore, not without reason that in the new laws it was laid down that the governor was forbidden to visit the district unless by express orders from Lisbon, or unless in the case of some unforeseen emergency. The attraction of the mines soon told upon Bahia, from which captaincy many prosperous settlers betook themselves to the golden region, leaving their farms to run waste. The cultivator who was sure of wealth by a little patience could not lose the chance of winning it by a possible piece of luck. As negroes were in great demand, the owners of sugar-plantations could not stand the competition with mining adventurers. This state of things proved most injurious to Brazil; for the price of sugar naturally rose in proportion to the cost of producing it, many works being abandoned and their owners ruined. Hitherto Europe had been supplied with this article almost exclusively from the Brazilian provinces; but, as exportation rapidly diminished, the French and the English, who were at this time learning to cultivate the sugar-cane in their respective islands, took advantage of the opportunity to occupy the markets. The staple commodity being thus reduced, the general trade was diminished to a corresponding extent.

The alarming consequences of the depopulation of the interior induced the Government to prohibit the passage of slaves from Bahia to the mines. Troops were employed to intercept them, and many seizures were made. But in spite of all efforts the illicit importation was carried on; and at length the Government revoked the prohibition and allowed enterprise to take its spontaneous course. The court of Lisbon was even converted to the opinion of the Brazilian colonists that mining was more profitable than sugar-raising. Brazil had become the most important portion of the Portuguese dominions. Its Church had hitherto been governed by the Constitution of that of Lisbon; but a synod was now convened at Bahia, and a constitution suited to the circumstances of the country was drawn up for the Colonial Church.

1707.

It was not to be expected that the motley crowd of adventurers of all classes which thronged to the mines should long continue to live together with the same harmony that might be expected from a more settled community; and Minas Geraes soon acquired the unenviable notoriety, which had hitherto belonged to Maranham, of being the most turbulent settlement in Brazil. Its people were divided into two classes, called, respectively, Paulistas and Florasteiros or strangers. Before very long the ill-feeling between these culminated in their taking up arms. A report arose that the Paulistas had combined for the purpose of exterminating all strangers at the mines, and a civil war broke out, which was of so serious a nature as to call forth the presence of the governor with troops from Rio de Janeiro. The Florasteiros had, however, been fortunate in their choice of a commander, named Manoel Muñes, through whose prudence some degree of order was ere long restored; and, on the arrival of a new governor, a general amnesty was proclaimed.

1708.

The governor, having left things in a most satisfactory condition at the mines, set out to restore good government in the district of St. Paulo, where he found the people in a violent state of agitation. The Paulistas who had returned home from Minas Geraes were violently taunted by their wives with pusillanimity in having failed to avenge their comrades who had fallen; and the result was the formation of a strong force, which set out for the scene of struggle, and which declined to listen to the remonstrances of the governor. Albuquerque, having learned that there was an intention to seize his person, consulted his safety by escaping to Rio, whence he lost no time in sending messengers to the Florasteiros to warn them of their danger. The latter, in turn, made hasty preparations to resist an attack, which was wholly unexpected. After withstanding a siege for several days, they were relieved from danger by the news of an approaching force to their assistance, the Paulistas at the same time retreating in haste. Albuquerque took steps to ensure the tranquillity of the district, and was himself soon afterwards appointed governor of St. Paulo and of the mining country, which was now separated from the captaincy of Rio de Janeiro.

1710.

To turn to a more northerly region:—after the protracted war which had for so many years desolated the province of Pernambuco, it will readily be conceived that it was by no means an easy task to restore the order which had existed previous to the arrival of the Dutch; and it is said that much latitude was allowed to the inhabitants on account of the devoted patriotism which they had shown during the struggle, and the sacrifices to which they had so cheerfully submitted. Two generations had now passed away since the expulsion of the Dutch, and Recife had become an important entrepôt of trade, its influence being regarded with jealousy by the landed proprietors of Pernambuco. In Olinda and the surrounding district the descendants of the heroes of the war now constituted an aristocracy, who prided themselves, with justice, on the fact that it was to the exertions of their ancestors that Portugal owed the province. The people of Recife, not unreasonably, demanded that that important place should be granted the privileges of a town; but this request was long resisted by the jealousy of Olinda. The name of S. Antonio do Recife, or St. Anthony of the Reef, was, however, at length conferred upon a place which had become the third, or perhaps the second, port of greatest importance in Brazil.

The state of public security in the province left, certainly at this time, much to be desired. Murder was so common an occurrence that it was thought an act of oppression upon the part of the governor to arrest two persons for having murdered a gentleman in his house at night. The sympathies of the people were not with the victim, or with the law, but with the offenders; and a conspiracy was entered into to assassinate the unreasonable governor. That functionary, having ordered the people to deposit their arms in the arsenal, was shortly afterwards attacked by three armed men wearing masks, and was wounded in four places. This incident was merely the prelude to a general insurrection; and the governor consulted his own safety by taking refuge in a vessel which was ready to set out to sea. He took with him to Bahia those persons who were reputed to be marked for popular vengeance, they being some of the principal inhabitants of Recife.