Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 2. Robert Grant Watson
three or four leagues south of Recife, its skirts extending to within three miles of the sea, the intervening space being swampy. Where the range most nearly approaches the ocean there is only a narrow slip of land between the hills and the swamp—the entrance to the pass being between a lake and a thicket. Of this pass the Portuguese took possession, being protected by the wood from the view of an approaching enemy.
On the morning on which the Dutch were to enter the pass, the officer above-named, who had been captured at Barreta, contrived to make his escape, and his countrymen were thus well informed as to the disposition and strength of the enemy. A skirmishing party was sent out to decoy them onwards; and the Dutch thus suddenly found themselves in a position where their numbers were of little avail. After the first discharge of firearms the fight was hand to hand. It was well contested. Vidal had two horses killed under him; whilst the charger which Joam Fernandes rode on this decisive day had one of his ears perforated by a bullet. A Dutch soldier, who aimed a blow at the rider, lost his arm by a stroke from the sabre of Fernandes. As was to be expected, in spite of their inferiority of numbers, the patriots won the fight. The enemy left twelve hundred dead upon the field, of whom it is said one hundred and eighty were officers. Amongst the fallen was Haus, who had returned to Brazil; amongst the wounded was Schoppe.
After this victory the insurgents once more took possession of Olinda; but their joy was somewhat damped by the loss of their fortified battery, called the Asseca, which had so long annoyed Recife, and which, during the absence of the commanders, had been yielded without a struggle. At this time they likewise sustained a severe loss by the death of their Indian ally, Camaram. He was a man of much ability, and although a typical Indian warrior, was of such dignified and courteous manners that he obtained the love and respect of all. We are somewhat surprised, however, that he is claimed by the Church as a model convert, who every day heard mass and repeated the office. He invariably bore upon his breast a crucifix and an image of the Virgin. The Dutch were still masters of the sea; and in consequence the Portuguese suffered much damage. By means of cruisers the Dutch carried on a tolerably lucrative war; whilst Recife offered a ready market for produce, and a ready means of sending remittances to Europe.
Meanwhile a blow was struck at the supremacy of the States in a quarter in which it was little expected. A member of the family of Correa de Sa, by whose means the French had been expelled from Rio de Janeiro, now projected an expedition for the recovery of Angola. Under pretext of erecting a fort on that coast to secure a supply of negroes, he set out from Brazil, having obtained a large amount subscribed for the purpose. Arrived on the coast of Africa, he set sail for Loanda, and was there informed that a detachment of Dutch was acting against the Portuguese at Massangano. On this information, he sent a flag to the governor, stating that, although he had not come with a hostile purpose, he felt it his duty to defend his oppressed countrymen, and he allowed the Dutch two days in which to surrender. The latter, at the end of this time, made a show of resistance, but soon fled; after which, by great address, Correa de Sa effected the relief of Massangano, taking prisoners the entire Dutch force of over two thousand men, whom he caused immediately to embark for Europe. The city of St. Thomas was likewise abandoned. The tidings of this success reaching Portugal about the same time as those of the battle of Guararapes, had no small share in deciding the government of King Joam to take the course which, after long hesitation, they ultimately adopted in their negotiations with the Dutch respecting Pernambuco.
The councils of King Joam were now not a little distracted. The Dutch were fully aware of the value of the possession which was the subject of contention between them and Portugal; and they were fully determined not to yield Pernambuco. Their demands were that Portugal should cede to them the whole of the provinces which they had occupied at the conclusion of the truce, with the third part of Seregipe in addition; that the island and port of the Morro of St. Paulo, opposite Bahia, should be given to them, likewise, for twenty years, until the terms of the treaty should be fulfilled; that they were to receive 100,000 florins, yearly, for twenty years; and likewise one thousand oxen, one thousand cows, four hundred horses, and one thousand sheep, yearly, for ten years, and a thousand chests of sugar, yearly, for twenty years. All their slaves were also to be restored.
Although these exorbitant terms were subsequently somewhat lowered, the Portuguese nation had still sufficient pride not to submit to them. The King placed the matter before the members of his Council, from each individual of whom he required a separate written opinion. The result was that a memorial was laid before His Majesty, stating that however desirable might be a peace with Holland, yet that religion and honour alike necessitated the rejection of the terms proposed. The King had, however, one adviser who took an opposite view. This was Vieyra, the Jesuit, who proceeded to expose the weakness of the several arguments which were adduced by the Council. This able statesman looked not to the Portuguese possessions in Brazil alone, but to the imperial position which Portugal occupied in the world. He met the religious objection by the argument that there was nothing to prevent the Portuguese of Pernambuco from emigrating elsewhere. Since the very existence of Portugal was at stake, it was before all things the King’s duty as a Catholic sovereign to look to the safety of that stronghold of the faith. The captaincies which the Dutch required, were after all only about a tenth part of the country.
Sixty ships, he pointed out, had been captured during that year. The Dutch, he declared, possessed fourteen thousand vessels against one hundred and fifty belonging to Portugal. They had in India more than a hundred ships of war, and more than sixty in Brazil. But it was on the state of India that Vieyra rested his main argument, and on the certainty of the Portuguese losing their possessions on that continent should they persist in war with the States. Thus was the King left in as great perplexity as ever, since his Council advised him in one sense, whilst the statesman whom he most trusted took an opposite view of the situation. One suggestion of Vieyra’s was, however, complied with, namely, a Portuguese Brazil Company was established, and this had a notable effect in bringing the war to a conclusion.
1649.
The necessity for the above-named measure had long been represented to the King by this sagacious Churchman. It was indeed an imitation of the Dutch East and West India Companies. Individual interest, he argued, would create exertion and enterprise; whilst foreign capital would be attracted by so promising an adventure. There was one condition absolutely needed, however, to insure its success, namely, that all capital embarked in this adventure should be free from confiscation. It is necessary to explain that this proviso referred to the Inquisition, the political evils of which institution had been ably exposed by Vieyra. Were the property of merchants engaged in this Company liable to be seized at the instance of the Holy Office, the Company would, of course, cease to command public confidence. As a matter of course the Holy Office denounced the proposed measure. They objected even to the use of money belonging to suspected persons. It required the losses of eight successive years and the threatened ruin of the trade of Portugal to induce the Government to put down this obstacle raised by interested bigotry. But at length the Company was formed, and the King’s eldest son became Prince of Brazil.
To return to Pernambuco. The Guararape hills were once more the scene of a battle between the parties who contended for the mastery of this fertile province. On this occasion the relative position of the combatants was reversed, the Dutch being the defendants and the Portuguese the assailants. The former had sallied from Recife with a force of some five thousand men, and had taken possession of the pass between the sea and the hills of the above name. Here they were attacked by the Portuguese, and, after a struggle of six hours, were routed with a loss of eleven hundred men, nineteen stands of colours, with the whole of their artillery and ammunition. Prink, the Dutch commander, fell, as did the chief of the naval forces which assisted him. Joam Fernandes, the hero of the insurrection, had, as usual, several narrow escapes with his life. On the side of the victors fell Paulo da Cunha, who had taken a prominent part in the war.
Shortly after this battle the first fleet sent out by the new Company arrived at Brazil, the Dutch being unable to oppose it. There is not much, however, to record respecting the proceedings of the contending parties during the next three years. Holland, being engaged in war with the Protector of England, left the West Indian Company to provide