Part 15

The names by which this capitania was sometimes, although seldom, designated, of D’El Rey and St. Pedro, are supposed to have been given when it was first annexed to the crown lands.

About the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century, some Vincentistas removed their establishments to the vicinity of lake Dos Patos, and their descendants extended themselves to the south and west, as the Indians gradually relinquished the country.

The capitanias of the brothers Souzas, could not be enlarged beyond their prescribed limits, although the adjoining districts of land were _devoluta_, or without donatories; yet the first settlers there from these capitanias were always considered their people, and known as Vincentistas and Paulistas, until those districts were erected into this province. It is the most southern one in the Brazil, very extensive and important, lying between twenty-eight and thirty-five degrees of south latitude, and is bounded on the north by the province of St. Catharina (from which it is separated by the river Manbituba) and the province of St. Paulo; on the west it is skirted by the river Uruguay and the province of that name; on the south by the river Plate; and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; being upwards of five hundred miles long and four hundred wide.

The climate is temperate, participating almost equally of heat and cold, and the air is pure and healthy. Winter begins in May and lasts till October. The prevailing wind is from the south-east. The longest day of the year, in the most southern part of the province, is about fourteen hours, or rather more. Frost occasionally prevails from the month of July till September. The greatest part of this province is flat, having extensive plains, watered with numerous torrents, or rapid streams, and with lakes. No other district possesses such abundant pastures. In its southern parts the soil is well adapted to a profitable diversity of productions; to wheat, rye, barley, Indian corn, rice, peas, beans, water-melons, melons, onions, as well as to all that arises from Spanish horticulture; also, some cotton, mandioca, and the sugar-cane. Hemp and different qualities of flax grow in great abundance. Fruit-trees of the south of Europe prosper here better than between the tropics, and none multiply so prodigiously as the peach. The vine flourishes in profusion and perfection; but the absence of a spirit of industry and improvement still retards the manufacture of wine, of which the grape here would afford an excellent quality.

D. Peter de Mendonça, sent by Charles V. with eight hundred men, in order to form a colony in the river Plate, in 1535, established himself in the place where the city of Buenos Ayres now stands, in the country of the _Maracotos_, by whose hands he lost his life, and a great part of his followers, in 1539. The rest had, in the preceding year, advanced up the Paraguay, and already begun the city of Assumption. D. Pedro Ortez de Zarate, governor of that city, re-established the colony of Mendonça at Buenos Ayres, and took up his residence there in 1580, in order to supply the want of a port to the city of Assumption, which they could not obtain on the opposite margin of the Plate.

The Vincentistas would not consent to any Spanish establishment on the northern margin of this river, from Cape St. Mary to the embouchure of the river Paraguay, and from whence they were repulsed every time they attempted to gain a footing. The settlers from St. Paulo, in the years 1536, 1538, and 1540, expelled some priests of the orders of St. Cosme, St. Damiao, St. Anna, &c. who had settled in the land of St. Gabriel, from the upper to the eastern part of the river, and effectually drove them into the province of Paraguay.

In the sixty years that Portugal was subject to the court of Castile, various Spanish colonies established themselves in the vicinity of the river Uruguay; and, in order to prevent a continuation of these establishments towards the east, D. Manuel Lobo, governor of Rio de Janeiro, founded Colonia do Sacramento, at the request of the infant Don Pedro, in 1680.

Scarcely had seven months elapsed, when it was surprised and taken, by Don Joze Garro, governor of Buenos Ayres, accompanied with circumstances of much barbarity. It was restored at the end of three years, and placed in its former state, by Duarthe Teixeira Chaves. It however returned under the dominion of Buenos Ayres, being abandoned by the governor, Sebastian da Veiga, in 1703, who, after a long and valorous resistance, retired with all his people and property, in ships, to Rio de Janeiro, not having sufficient forces any longer to resist the power of Don Alonso Valdez. By the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, it was restored to the crown of Portugal, but was attacked afresh in 1735, by Don Miguel de Salcedo, governor of Buenos Ayres, and defended by Antonio Pedro, with much courage, till he could receive aid, during which period, his brave garrison were reduced to the necessity of eating dogs, cats, and rats. On the arrival of the expected succour, Salcedo raised the siege, an auxiliary force of some thousand Tappes, brought by the Jesuit, Thomas Berley, availing him nothing. In 1750, when Don Joseph ascended the throne, the two courts agreed to a treaty of limits between their respective possessions, the one giving up Colonia, and the other the seven missions to the east of the Uruguay. The line of division commenced at the mouth of the little river nearest the hill of Castilhos Grandes, and continued along the highest range of land, in which the various rivers originate that run into the lakes Mirim and Patos, to the source of the river Ibicuí, and along its channel to its entrance into the Uruguay; by the latter, upwards to the mouth of the Piquiri, which joins it by the right bank, above the great fall, and by that river to its origin; from thence, by the top of the nearest mountains, to the source of the first river met with that runs into the river Iguacu, proceeding downwards by the latter, to its entrance into the Parana, and continued thence to the mouth of the Gatimim, and by that river upwards to its origin; from which point, to the source of the nearest river that runs into the Paraguay: from this confluence, continuing upwards by the last great river to the mouth of the Jauru, and from thence by a line to the left bank of the Guapore; and by it downwards, to a latitude at an equal distance between its confluence with the Mamore and the entrance of the Madeira into the Maranham; and from that latitude, by a line from east to west, as far as the Hyabary, the bed of which river to complete the line as far as the Maranham. The commissioners sent by the two courts, in 1752, to arrange this demarcation, having arrived at the source of the Rio Negro, were obliged to return, from the opposition of the Indians of the missions, they being advised secretly by the Jesuits not to consent to the proposed exchange. On learning which, the two Sovereigns determined to compel the Indians to obedience by force of arms. For this purpose, Gomez Freyre d’Andrade, governor of Rio de Janeiro, marched with more than one thousand troops; and the governor of Buenos Ayres with double the number. When the combined armies were marching through the territories lying between the source of the Caziquey, and the Vaccahy-guaçu, they were met by more than twelve thousand Tappes, determined to frustrate their project. On the 10th of February, 1756, a battle took place, in which the Indians were routed with the loss of fifteen hundred, leaving on the field some pieces of artillery, and a great number of other arms, the major part retiring to the missions, where shortly after the conquerors arrived. The Indians were immediately reduced to subjection; and, according to the treaty, they passed over to the other side of the Paraguay. Gomez Freyre d’Andrade took possession of the country, but, before delivering up Colonia, received advices that his presence was indispensable at Rio, for which place he immediately set out. The army remained some months behind, seizing the produce of the labour of the Indians, and at length retired, many returning to their homes. Bougainville, (say the Portuguese,) out of revenge for not having been treated at Rio de Janeiro, by C. da Cunha, as he wished, gives a different account of this expedition.

The commissioners, in 1759, while completing this demarcation, found in the field of battle, in latitude 30° south, a wooden cross set upright, with the following inscription, in the Guarani language.

Anuo de 1756 Omnium S^{to} rum A 7 O ch^{to} Jesus^{tuo} Pa^e tie cr^e de Febrero pipe omanò C^r J. b. Tiarayu Guarani pipe Sabado ramo A 10 de Febrero p^e oico Guarini guaçú Martes p^e 9 Taba Uruguay rebe gua 1500 Soldados rebe hae beiaere Mburubichare ta omanô onga ape. A 4 de Marzo p^e oya pou ca Angaco Cruz mtu D^n Miguel Moyri sold^e repa upe

A little to the southward, in the plains of the Yapóguaçú, the commissioners met with a field or space enclosed with wood capable of containing forty thousand oxen.

The certainty of war breaking out in 1762, having been received at Buenos Ayres, the governor, Don Pedro Cevalhos, unexpectedly ordered a furious attack upon Colonia. Vincente da Fonseca, its governor, after a vigorous resistance of twenty-five days, seeing the horrible devastation which a prodigious discharge of artillery had caused, capitulated, and marched out with his garrison on the 29th October. Two ships of war, with other smaller vessels were sent from Rio de Janeiro, to reinforce the place; and, on finding that it had surrendered, they unavailingly endeavoured to regain it; and, in the ardour of battle, one of their ships of war was burned. Cevalhos now proceeded against the forts of St. Miguel, St. Theresa, and Rio Grande de St. Pedro, which surrendered in consequence of not having adequate force for their protection. Little care had been taken for the security of this fine country by the inhabitants. After reducing also a fortification on the southern part of the peninsula, the Spaniards marched sixteen hundred men to the west of the lake of Patos, against the fort of Rio Pardo. This corps fortified itself with seven pieces of artillery by the side of a wood, in the vicinity of the pass of Jacuhy, and waited for reinforcements. Intelligence being received of this circumstance at the fort of Rio Pardo, a company of dragoons, with all the Paulistas that could be assembled, making in all twelve hundred and thirty men, left the fort with a view of cutting off the march of the Spaniards. Finding, however, that their only mode of attack was from that side of the wood which did not afford any transit for cavalry, they spent several days in opening a narrow pathway through it. A passage being opened, and favoured by the light of the moon, they fell unexpectedly upon the encampment, and threw it into disorder. The Spaniards retired precipitately, with much loss in ammunition, killed, and prisoners.

The peace of 1763 put an end to the campaign. Cevalhos, in pursuance of orders he received, was to deliver Colonia to Pedro de Sarmento, now appointed its governor. Rio Grande and other garrisons (unjustly, say the Portuguese) remained under the dominion of the crown of Spain until the year 1776, when they were restored by General Bohemi. In this interval, the Spaniards extended their possessions into the interior, and constructed the fort of St. Tecla, which was demolished at the restoration of Rio Grande.

In 1774, Don John Joze Vertis, having with sinister views taken his station with eight hundred troops, on a plain near the pass of Taquatinguay, was attacked and destroyed by two companies of Paulistas, commanded by captains Bandeiro and Carneiro. During the tranquillity of peace, an armament, commanded by Cevalhos, for the purpose of seizing the island of St. Catharina, anchored in front of the colony, who were unprovided with sufficient provisions, the people having been sustained by the stores of the royal magazines, which it was alleged would only last five days. Assigning as a reason the impossibility of receiving succours, the governor, with a probable want of courage, offered to capitulate, which offer being rejected, he surrendered at discretion, with the exception of some officers, their families, and a few inhabitants, who, by paying a sum of money, obtained permission to go to Rio de Janeiro. The greater part of the colony were conducted at their own expense to Mendonça and Cordova, in order to augment the population and agriculture of those districts. Cevalhos was cruel enough not to exempt the women from this march, some of whose husbands were sent dangerously ill to the hospital of Buenos Ayres; others were seen carrying in their arms their infants dying with the small pox.

The loss of the island of St. Catharina, then more considerable for its ultimate advantages, than for its present value, produced a treaty of peace between the two nations, in the same year, 1777, with an article to establish a new line of division in the southern part only, one surrendering the aforesaid island, the other Colonia; and in the province of Uruguay, a greater portion of neutral territory to remain between the small rivers Chuy, the ancient limit, and Thahim. The demarcation was to proceed in a direct line by the source of the river Arica, northward to the mouth of the Peperi-guaçu; and passing the Setequeades (Seven Falls) to continue up the Igurey to the Paraguay.

The certainty of war between his Catholic Majesty and Portugal, being received at Rio Grande St. Pedro, in June, 1801, the governor immediately ordered a proclamation to be issued to the corps de guard, to regard the Spanish nation as enemies; and, in the expectation of an order coming from the capital to make a formal declaration, he pardoned all deserters who were willing to take up arms. An official letter now arriving from his excellency the Viceroy, the campaign commenced by the marching of troops in two bodies to the frontier of Rio Pardo and Rio Grande. By the narrow land between the lake Mirim and the ocean, S. Soares and J. Antunes marched with one hundred and fifty men against the camp of Chuy, which was surprised, sacked, and abandoned, without any loss on the part of the assailants. This corps passed to the other side of Rio de St. Gonçalo, and halted at Herval, in front of some advanced posts established on the north of the Jaguaron, which the Spaniards abandoning, the Portuguese demolished. The same misfortune befel all the other Spanish detachments, as far as the vicinity of the Jacuhy, without excepting fort St. Teela. On the Spanish guards retiring towards the post of Cerro-largo, twelve leagues to the south of the Jaguaron, on the Batuvi, they had a re-encounter with a party of Portuguese, who put them to flight, took six waggons with ammunition, provisions, and mathematical instruments. A small party of the Portuguese and Spaniards engaged each other on the Jaguaron, when the former were successful, returning with fifty prisoners, having lost only two men.

Shortly after, a colonel passed to the other side of the river with twelve hundred Portuguese, and marched to the attack of the Spanish fort at Cerro-largo. Before the Portuguese had fired many guns, some cartridges of powder took fire, and a horse taking fright threw the cavalry into disorder, which spread through the whole detachment. Animated by this event, and wishing to take advantage of it, a sortie was made by a squadron of Spanish cavalry; but the Portuguese forming again, they were obliged to retreat. This trifling reverse, and the smallness of the garrison, induced the commandant to capitulate. The Portuguese apprehending, however, the arrival of some Spanish reinforcements from Monte Video, dismantled the fort and returned to their former position. Shortly afterwards, the large reinforcement which left Monte Video in order to succour the pass of Cerro-largo, arrived at the opposite banks of the river. The Portuguese showing at the same time a resolute determination to oppose their passage. In this state of things, the news of peace arrived and terminated the campaign.

MOUNTAINS.--This province has no very considerable mountains, excepting the cordillera called the General Serra, which runs from the north, near the sea, and in the parallel of 29° 30′ turns to the west, and then north-west with some windings, breaking in many parts to afford a passage to various rivers, amongst others, the Paranna. The mountain of St. Martinho, or Monte Grande, is a portion of that serra, where it divides this province from that of Uruguay. Monte Vidio, or Video, situated on the west side of the bay to which it gives the name, is pleasing to the view, and high only in the vicinity of the sea. The Castilhos Grandes is a hill near to the point of the same name, and crowned with stones, that appear like towers.

[Illustration:

_On Stone by C. Shoosmith from a Sketch by Jas. Henderson._ _Printed by C. Hullmandel._

CAPTAIN OF MILITIA IN THE PROVINCE OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL.]

The Pao d’Assucar (Sugar-Loaf) is upon the shore four or five leagues to the west of Maldonado, and the hill of St. Luzia a little to the east of the river of the same name. The Serra dos Tappes, which is of very small elevation, runs parallel with the lake of Patos at a distance of from four to seven leagues, being fifteen leagues long from north to south, and five broad. That of Herval is further to the north, behind the Tappes.

The extensive chains of small hills, without trees, and forming pasturage for flocks of cattle, are called _cochilhas_.

The before-mentioned Pao d’Assucar is at the southern extremity of the chain called the Great Cochilha, which extends itself to the north as far as the source of the river Arica. In many parts, its elevation is imperceptible, appearing like a plain, and from both sides other mountains branch off, as do some rivers which have their origin in it. The hills ranging to the west of it are not well known; the largest on the east are the Herval, the Piratinim, approximating the rivers of the same names, and the Babiragua, in the vicinity of the Camacuan. The highest points of the hills and cochilhas, and destitute of vegetation, are called _serros_, their summits serving on occasions of war for watchtowers, which are numerous, and some of them are seen from others at a distance of twenty leagues.

RIVERS.--The numerous streams of this province almost all issue by two channels, viz. the Rio Grande de St. Pedro, which empties itself about the middle of the eastern coast, and the Rio Uruguay, which runs into the Paraguay. The Great Cochilha divides the tributary streams of those two rivers. The Uruguay originates in the lower parts of the mountains which stretch along the ocean, and runs for a considerable distance under the name of Pellotas to the westward, between margins principally of pointed and massy rocks, gathering in its course the rivers Caveiras, Caroas, Chorros, and the Correntes, which issue either from the skirts or the vicinity of the same cordillera, and water the most southern portion of the province of St. Paulo, designated by the name of Campos da Vaccaria. It here takes the name with which it terminates, and, already assuming the appearance of a large river, bends its course towards the south-west, still accumulating by other streams. In latitude 29½°, it receives the considerable river Ibicui by the left, afterwards the Mirinay by the right, then flowing southward, and ultimately the Negro by its eastern margin; has many windings and islands, and affords navigation for large boats to the first great fall, which is ten leagues below the confluence of the Ibicui. Canoes advance as far up as the centre of the vaccarias, or cattle-plains, not, however, without immense labour, occasioned by the many cataracts and rapid currents.

The river Ibicui rises in the plains of Japóguassu, and, after running many leagues to the west, turns northward for a space of twenty-five leagues, augmenting considerably by the junction of many rivers, one of them being the river Caziquey; a little below which confluence the Toropy joins it, which is larger, and comes from the cattle plains, flowing south-west, and bringing with it the river Ibicui-Mirim, that joins it on the left a little higher up. At this confluence, called Forquilha, (Three-pronged,) where the Ibicui becomes considerable, it turns to the west, and gradually augments in importance, so that much above its embouchure it is four hundred fathoms wide; a little below the Forquilha it is joined on the right by the Jaguari, a considerable stream, which also comes from the before-mentioned vaccarias. Its banks are covered with wild shrubs and trees; the tortuous channel has many islands, the current almost always tranquil, and navigable nearly to the heads of those rivers which form it.

The river Negro has its origin very near to that of the Ibicui, runs always to the south-west, is enlarged by the receipt of a number of streams, and incorporates itself with the Uruguay five leagues before that river enters the Paraguay, or Plate, after having watered eighty leagues of country, abounding, for the major part, in cattle: its largest confluent is the Hy, which it receives nearly twenty leagues above its mouth, after a course of thirty-six leagues, from east to west, through a country rich in pasturage and cattle.

The river St. Luzia takes a course, for nearly forty leagues, through a country similarly abundant, and disembogues four leagues to the west of Monte Video, having received by the right bank, a little higher up, the St. Joze, with which it becomes wide, deep, and navigable, with a good port at its mouth.