A Voyage Round the World. Anson George
its police, and its governor.
In the time of Frezier and Shelvocke, this place served only as a retreat to vagabonds and outlaws, who fled thither from all parts of Brazil. They did indeed acknowledge a subjection to the crown of Portugal, and had a person among them whom they called their captain, who was considered in some sort as their governor; but both their allegiance to their king, and their obedience to their captain, seemed to be little more than verbal. For as they had plenty of provisions, but no money, they were in a condition to support themselves without the assistance of any neighbouring settlements, and had not amongst them the means of tempting any adjacent governor to busy his authority about them. In this situation they were extremely hospitable and friendly to such foreign ships as came amongst them. For these ships wanting only provisions, of which the natives had great store; and the natives wanting clothes (for they often despised money, and refused to take it), which the ships furnished them with in exchange for their provisions, both sides found their account in this traffick; and their captain or governor had neither power nor interest to restrain it, or to tax it. But of late (for reasons which shall be hereafter mentioned) these honest vagabonds have been obliged to receive amongst them a new colony, and to submit to new laws and new forms of government. Instead of their former ragged bare-legged captain (whom, however, they took care to keep innocent), they have now the honour to be governed by Don Jose Sylva de Paz, a brigadier of the armies of Portugal. This gentleman has with him a garrison of soldiers, and has consequently a more extensive and a better supported power than any of his predecessors; and as he wears better clothes, and lives more splendidly, and has besides a much better knowledge of the importance of money than they could ever pretend to, so he puts in practice certain methods of procuring it, with which they were utterly unacquainted. But it may be much doubted if the inhabitants consider these methods as tending to promote either their interests or that of their sovereign the King of Portugal. This is certain, that his behaviour cannot but be extremely embarrassing to such British ships as touch there in their way to the South Seas. For one of his practices was placing centinels at all the avenues, to prevent the people from selling us any refreshments, except at such exorbitant rates as we could not afford to give. His pretence for this extraordinary stretch of power was, that he was obliged to preserve their provisions for upwards of an hundred families, which they daily expected to reinforce their colony. Hence he appears to be no novice in his profession, by his readiness at inventing a plausible pretence for his interested management. However, this, though sufficiently provoking, was far from being the most exceptionable part of his conduct. For by the neighbourhood of the river Plate, a considerable smuggling traffick is carried on between the Portuguese and the Spaniards, especially in the exchanging gold for silver, by which both princes are defrauded of their fifths; and in this prohibited commerce, Don Jose was so deeply engaged, that in order to ingratiate himself with his Spanish correspondents (for no other reason can be given for his procedure) he treacherously dispatched an express to Buenos Ayres, in the river of Plate, where Pizarro then lay, with an account of our arrival, and of the strength of our squadron; particularly mentioning the number of ships, guns, and men, and every circumstance which he could suppose our enemy desirous of being acquainted with. And the same perfidy every British cruiser may expect who touches at St. Catherine's while it is under the government of Don Jose Sylva de Paz.
Thus much, with what we shall be necessitated to relate in the course of our own proceedings, may suffice as to the present state of St. Catherine's, and the character of its governor. But as the reader may be desirous of knowing to what causes the late new modelling of this settlement is owing; to satisfy him in this particular, it will be necessary to give a short account of the adjacent continent of Brazil, and of the wonderful discoveries which have been made there within these last forty years, which, from a country of but mean estimation, has rendered it now perhaps the most considerable colony on the face of the globe.
This country was first discovered by Americus Vesputio, a Florentine, who had the good fortune to be honoured with giving his name to the immense continent, some time before found out by Columbus. Vesputio being in the service of the Portuguese, it was settled and planted by that nation, and, with the other dominions of Portugal, devolved to the crown of Spain when that kingdom became subject to it. During the long war between Spain and the States of Holland, the Dutch possessed themselves of the northermost part of Brazil, and were masters of it for some years. But when the Portuguese revolted from the Spanish Government, this country took part in the revolt, and soon re-possessed themselves of the places the Dutch had taken; since which time it has continued without interruption under the crown of Portugal, being, till the beginning of the present century, only productive of sugar and tobacco, and a few other commodities of very little account.
But this country, which for many years was only considered for the produce of its plantations, has been lately discovered to abound with the two minerals which mankind hold in the greatest esteem, and which they exert their utmost art and industry in acquiring, I mean gold and diamonds. Gold was first found in the mountains which lie adjacent to the city of Rio Janeiro. The occasion of its discovery is variously related, but the most common account is, that the Indians lying on the back of the Portuguese settlements, were observed by the soldiers employed in an expedition against them, to make use of this metal for their fish-hooks, and their manner of procuring it being enquired into, it appeared that great quantities of it were annually washed from the hills, and left amongst the sand and gravel, which remained in the vallies after the running off, or evaporation of the water. It is now little more than forty years since any quantities of gold worth notice have been imported to Europe from Brazil, but since that time the annual imports from thence have been continually augmented by the discovery of places in other provinces, where it is to be met with as plentifully as at first about Rio Janeiro. And it is now said that there is a small slender vein of it spread through all the country at about twenty-four feet from the surface, but that this vein is too thin and poor to answer the expence of digging; however, where the rivers or rains have had any course for a considerable time, there gold is always to be collected, the water having separated the metal from the earth, and deposited it b the sands, thereby saving the expences of digging: so that it is esteemed an infallible gain to be able to divert a stream from its channel, and to ransack its bed. From this account of gathering this metal, it should follow that there are properly no gold mines in Brazil; and this the governor of Rio Grande (who being at St. Catherine's, frequently visited Mr. Anson) did most confidently affirm, assuring us that the gold was all collected either from rivers, or from the beds of torrents after floods. It is indeed asserted, that in the mountains large rocks are found abounding with this metal, and I myself have seen the fragment of one of these rocks, with a considerable lump of gold intangled in it; but even in this case the workmen break off the rocks, and do not properly mine into them, and the great expence in subsisting among these mountains, and afterwards in separating the metal from the stone, makes this method of procuring gold to be but rarely put in practice.
The examining the bottoms of rivers and the gullies of torrents, and the washing the gold found therein from the sand and dirt with which it is always mixed, are works performed by slaves, who are principally negroes, kept in great numbers by the Portuguese for these purposes. The regulation of the duty of these slaves is singular, for they are each of them obliged to furnish their master with the eighth part of an ounce of gold per diem; and if they are either so fortunate or industrious as to collect a greater quantity, the surplus is considered as their own property, and they have the liberty of disposing of it as they think fit. So that it is said, some negroes who have accidentally fallen upon rich washing places have themselves purchased slaves, and have lived afterwards in great splendour, their original master having no other demand on them than the daily supply of the forementioned eighth, which, as the Portuguese ounce is somewhat lighter than our troy ounce, may amount to about nine shillings sterling.
The quantity of gold thus collected in the Brazils, and returned annually to Lisbon, may be in some degree estimated from the amount of the king's fifth. This hath of late been esteemed, one year with another, to be one hundred and fifty arroves of 32 lb. Portuguese weight each, which at £4 the troy ounce, makes very near £300,000 sterling, and consequently the capital, of which this is the fifth, is about a million and a half sterling. It is obvious that the annual return of gold to Lisbon cannot be less than this, though it be difficult to determine how much it exceeds it; perhaps we may not be very much mistaken in our conjecture, if we suppose the gold exchanged