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

by Robert Grant Watson

The discovery of mining districts in the interior of Brazil caused both Spanish and Portuguese statesmen to perceive that the period had arrived when it was desirable, in the interests of both countries and of their respective colonies, to establish a boundary-line between their several possessions in South America. The famous Bull of Pope Alexander VI. had long become a dead letter. The fact of the Spanish Queen of Ferdinand VI. being a Portuguese princess, and having great influence over her husband, tended in no small degree to bringing about an amicable and equitable settlement of the territorial question existing between the two nations in South America.

All pretensions on either side founded upon the Bull of Alexander having been formally annulled, the demarcation between the two territories began on the south, at the mouth of a small stream which rises at the foot of the Monte de Castilhaos Grande, whence it proceeded in a straight line to the mountains, following their summits to the sources of the Rio Negro and continued to those of the Ybicuy; it then followed the course of that river to its junction with the Uruguay, skirting the Uruguay upwards until it reached the Pepiri, and then the latter river to its chief source; there it left the rivers and took the line of highest ground until it came to the head of the first stream which flows into the Yguazu; the boundary then first followed this stream, and then the Yguazu to its junction with the Paraná; it went up the Paraná to the Igurey, and then up the Igurey to its source; there it once more took the highest ground as far as to the first stream that runs into the Paraguay; the water then became the line to the mouth of the Jauru, whence the line was to be drawn straight to the south bank of the Guapore, opposite to the mouth of the Sarare. Wherever the line reached the Guapore it was to follow that stream to the Mamore, and then the Mamore to the Madeira, and the Madeira to a point half-way between its mouth and the mouth of the Mamore; it then struck east and west until it touched the Yavari, when it followed that river to the Amazons, and went down this great stream to the western mouth of the Japura. It ascended this river until it reached the summits of the Cordillera, between the Amazons and the Orinoco, when it was to go eastward along those summits, as far as the territories of the contracting parties extended.

The commissioners were to be careful to trace the demarcation from the westerly mouth of the Japura, so as not to touch the Portuguese settlements on that river and on the Rio Negro. The Spaniards were to avoid this part, whilst the Portuguese, on their side, were to abstain from ascending the Orinoco, and from spreading towards the Spanish territory. The line was to be drawn, without regard to extent of territory, with the object of tracing a distinct boundary. As the limits of the vast territories which were here for the first time separated were imperfectly known to the negotiators on either side, considerable latitude was given to the commissioners at several points. They were to design a map as they traced the limits, and jointly to name all unnamed rivers and mountains; these maps were, respectively, to be signed in duplicate by both commissioners, and were to serve as authorities in case of disputes.

By this treaty Portugal expressly ceded Colonia to Spain, together with all the territory on the northern shore of the Plata as far as the point where it was now determined the line of demarcation should begin. Portugal likewise renounced all right to the navigation of the Plata, which thenceforward was to belong exclusively to Spain. The Spanish king, in turn, made certain concessions to Portugal on the eastern side of the Uruguay. It was provided that the inhabitants of Colonia might remain there or remove at their option; but the missionaries were to migrate from the settlements ceded by Spain, and the “Reductions” were to be delivered up to the Crown of Portugal. All trade between the two nations was forbidden; nor might the subjects of one power enter the territories of the other without previous permission from the governor of the district to which he was proceeding, unless he were going on public business and provided with passports. In case of any future war between the two contracting powers, the sovereigns desired that their respective subjects in America might continue in peace, without committing acts of hostility. Neither power should permit the use of its ports to the enemy of the other; nor should such enemy be permitted a passage through the dominions of either. Several minor stipulations followed.

This memorable treaty bears witness to the sincerity and good sense of the parties by whom it was contracted; but it is not surprising that in undertaking to decide so vast a line of demarcation, some considerations should have been overlooked on either side which were nevertheless of vast importance. In view of the distance at which the treaty was drawn up from the districts and territories to which it referred and the imperfect information possessed concerning them, it was perhaps not possible that it should have been otherwise. As it was, the treaty contained one fatal clause which not only frustrated the good intentions of the sovereigns and led to immediate war, but was productive of consequences the baneful effects of which a century has not effaced.

The territory to the east of the Uruguay, which had been ceded by the boundary treaty to the Portuguese, contained seven “Reductions,” inhabited by about thirty thousand Guaranís, who had been bred up to servitude and domestic life. According to the terms of the treaty, these people, with all belonging to them, were to migrate into the Spanish territory. The Spanish King and his ministers had inserted this clause, or had agreed to it, in ignorance of the circumstances in which these Indians were placed. They were actuated, moreover, by feelings of regard to the Indians who were thereby affected. These had suffered much from the ravages of the Paulistas, and they had good reason to detest the Portuguese. To have left them, therefore, as subjects of the Crown of Portugal would have been ungenerous and offensive. It would likewise cut them off from the people of their own race. The negotiators were thus reduced to a choice of evils; but it had been decided that the exodus of these Indians was to take place within a year.

The commissioner sent on the part of Spain to see the treaty carried into effect was the Marquis of Valdelirios; the Portuguese commissioner was Gomes Freyre, the governor of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes, who had himself experienced the inconvenience of an undefined boundary-line, and who is credited with having been the projector of the Treaty of Limits. The stipulation regarding the evacuation of the Misiones within a year was necessarily unaccomplished, owing to the fact that the Spanish commissioners did not reach the Plata until two years after the treaty had been signed. In the meantime, the Jesuits of Paraguay had addressed a remonstrance on the subject to the Royal Audience of Charcas, and had obtained from that tribunal a statement in their favour. They next applied to the Audience of Lima, and the Viceroy forwarded one copy of their memorial to the court of Spain and another to the governor of Buenos Ayres. The governor was requested to deliver it to the commissioners on their arrival.

The Jesuits, although relying on the effects of these memorials, were prepared to act in obedience to the terms of the treaty. The Provincial assembled the senior missionaries, who declared, almost unanimously, that it would not be possible to carry out the stipulations of the decree. He, nevertheless, instructed the Jesuits in the seven “Reductions” to endeavour to persuade the people to obedience; whilst at the same time he wrote to the King, pointing out the extreme difficulty of carrying the order into effect. The Superior went through the missions, making known the King’s pleasure. All appeared to acquiesce, with the exception of one cacique, who replied, that they had inherited from their forefathers the land of which they were now to be dispossessed. In transmitting to the Provincial the promise of the Guaranís to obey, the Superior added, that he feared that the temper of the people would render the removal impossible.

The intention of the Government was that the dispossessed Guaranís should occupy the territory which had been ceded to Spain south of the Ybicuy. It was desirable to people the ceded territory; but the Jesuits were not anxious to be too near neighbours to the Spanish regular settlements, whose vicinity would render more difficult the task of restraining their disciples. Reconnoitering parties were sent out to search for situations suitable for the settlement of large numbers of people with their flocks and herds; but such were not readily found. It was finally agreed that the missionaries should take refuge with their brethren in the land of the “Reductions” between the Uruguay and the Paraná, and this project was accordingly carried into execution.

When affairs were in this state, the Marquis of Valdelirios arrived in the Plata. He was met by Father Luiz, Altamirano having full powers from the General of the Jesuits over his brethren in South America. The commissioner was at once confronted by a whole load of arguments against the project of migration; and even the Jesuits in whose college he lodged urged the necessity of employing an armed force to clear the country on the Rio Negro from the Charruas before the emigrants should remove; they likewise represented that time should be given to erect places of shelter for the people when they should arrive in their new quarters; they also begged for a delay of three years in order that crops might meanwhile be raised at the new settlements to support the emigrants on their arrival. Their demands, though so far reasonable, were excessive; and all they could extort from Valdelirios was a delay of three months.