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

by Robert Grant Watson

The Portuguese were now advancing in several directions into the interior of Brazil; more especially up the Amazons and the numerous tributaries of that stream. The Paulistas and the people of Minas Geraes spread themselves across the extensive region lying behind the captaincies of Bahia and Piauhy, which now forms the province of Goyaz; whilst from Cuyabá the settlers continued to advance towards the Chiquito and Moxo missions, and likewise in the direction of the western branch of the Tocantins. They thus secured for Portugal a country containing two hundred thousand square miles, which now forms the province of Matto-Grosso.

The name Goyaz is derived from the Goya tribe. The first discoverer of its mineral wealth was a Paulista, named Manoel Correa, who, in the seventeenth century, made his way thither at the head of a party of slave-hunters. He brought back some specimens of gold, which induced another adventurer to follow in his footsteps. He too found gold upon one of the rivers flowing into the Amazons. This second adventurer, called Bueno, was accompanied in another expedition by his son, then only twelve years old. They found the Goya women wearing pieces of gold picked up from the beds of the torrents. This was in 1670, before the age of Brazilian mining had arrived. Fifty years later Bueno’s son proposed to the Governor of S. Paulo to go in search of the spot which he had visited in his boyhood, and which, after three years’ searching, he once more found. He collected gold from five different streams, where he was appointed to establish a colony with the rank of Capitam Mor.

The mines of Goyaz soon rivalled those of Cuyabá, and had the advantage of a shorter and safer communication with the older settlements. Provisions came regularly from S. Paulo, but not in sufficient quantities to keep pace with the increasing population. The demand for food induced a portion of the community to devote themselves to rearing cattle and cultivating the ground, occupations which were soon found to be even more profitable than mining. In ten years the colony, requiring a separate jurisdiction, was made a province of S. Paulo; twelve years later it was declared a captaincy. Its capital, Villa Boa, was chartered in 1739.

1734.

Mines were first discovered in Matto-Grosso in 1734, upon the banks of the river Sarare. These, too, were found by a Paulista. Gold was found during the first years in greater abundance than in any other quarter; but the earlier adventurers suffered the greatest hardships from want of provisions. Even the necessaries of life rose to famine prices. The gold was not enough to prevent many from starving from want of food. The settlement was at length relieved by the arrival of a supply of cattle from Cuyabá; but not until the original discoverer, who was at the time rolling in wealth, had fallen a victim to disease.

1742.

The undoubted riches of the region, however, did not fail to insure a due proportion of settlers; and a road was opened to Cuyabá from Goyaz by which a due supply of cattle was introduced. Amongst the few survivors of the first miserable year was Manoel Felix de Lima, who was destined to accomplish a remarkable geographical feat, by finding his way from the mines of Francisco Xavier in Matto-Grosso to the Spanish settlements at Santa Maria Magdalena. A short sketch of this journey may be given here as illustrating the enormous natural and other difficulties with which the first explorers of the interior of Brazil had to contend.

Manoel de Lima, who was a native of Portugal, had failed to enrich himself in the pursuit of gold; prices were very high; and, being wearied of a settled life, he induced some companions to join him in an adventure down the rivers. The party made up the number of fifty, including slaves and Indians. They were all either penniless or deeply in debt, and were glad of any excuse for escaping from their creditors. Falling down the Sarare in canoes, they found themselves upon the Guapore, when they laid in stores for the voyage before them down the river which now forms for a considerable distance the frontier between Brazil and Bolivia.

On the tenth day of the voyage the adventurers landed on the right bank, at the mouth of a stream, where they found marks of a recent encampment made by a party under one Almeida, who had set out from the settlement six months before them upon a slave-hunting expedition, and who soon joined them here. Almeida had been informed that it would be dangerous to proceed down the stream, on account of the character of the natives; he therefore proposed to ascend the smaller river, where he might pursue his object with greater safety. The intelligence discouraged the greater number of Manoel’s party, but not the leader himself; he determined to pursue his course, notwithstanding the defection of fourteen of his number.

Going down the Guapore, they found, next day, a village, from which the Indians fled at their approach. The course of the stream led them into a vast lake where crocodiles were numerous, and near which they captured an Indian, and had some communication, not altogether friendly, with others. Renewing their voyage, they came to a part of the stream lined with habitations, and having many canoes; but as soon as any people saw them, they set up a cry and ran away. A pilot went in front with two negroes in a small canoe, and these, on one occasion, attacked some Indians, who, however, succeeded in escaping. Next morning, as was to be expected, a number of canoes came in pursuit of the aggressors, the leader of the party being a young man attacked on the previous day. The affair, however, ended peacefully, the Indians receiving gifts. A day or two later, they shot an antelope on the river, and, landing, found a piece of cloth and a cross, which were evident signs of converted Indians, some of whom they next day encountered.