XCI. BOOK been completely subdued. The Guaycoros make excursions into the neighbouring countries for the purpose of procuring horses in exchange for coarse cotton goods, which they themselves manufacture. The inhabitants of many countries in South America form a remarkable exception to the famous system of the influence of climate on the physical character of man. A feeble and peaceful people dwell on the cold mountains of Peru; a hardy and warlike race wanBravery of der under the burning sun of Brazil. Their enemies, notthe Brazi- withstanding the great advantage which they have derived lians. from the use of fire-arms, cannot boast of having subdued them. They have never been vanquished by raw or undisciplined troops, and the cause of their defeat has been attributed to dissensions amongst themselves, and to their ignorance of European warfare.* "The province St. Vincent," say the Portuguese writers, "was conquered by the famous Tebireza, that of Buja by the valiant Toebira, and Pernambuco by Stagiba, whose name in the Indian language signifies an arm of iron. We have gained Para and Maranhao by the efforts of the famous Tomagia and the invincible Camarao, who immortalized himself at the retaking of Pernambuco in the war against the Dutch." The Brazilian Indians are chiefly distinguished for their bravery and bodily strength; when suffering excruciating pain, they brave their tormentors, and boast that they may take away their lives, but that they never can deprive them of their courage. Lery and his companions could not stretch the bows used by the Indians of Tamoy, in the neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, and the same writer confesses that he was obliged to use all his strength in stretching a bow which belonged to a boy about ten years of age. The inhabitants of Ouctacazes, one of the most fertile districts in the government of Rio de Janeiro, are so valiant that, according to * J. Stadius, Hist. Braz, Part I. Chap. 19. + Vasconcellos' History of Brazil, Book I. p. 101. Lery, Chap. 23. XCI. the statement of a Portuguese writer, they suffer death rather BOOK than endure the disgrace of being vanquished; they have never been defeated by the Brazilians, or any European nation, they consider slavery an intolerable evil. The savages, at one time formidable enemies of the colonists, have proved themselves of late years faithful allies to the settlers on the Campos de Ouctocazes, in Minas Geraes. The natives have resisted the arms, but submitted to the mild and generous policy of the Portuguese. The Guarini, or, as Language. many writers term it, the Brazilian language, is the one most generally known by the natives. Its different dialects are spoken by different tribes; and its primitives are unlike any of Asiatic origin. Some have affirmed that there is a resemblance between it and certain dialects spoken by the South Sea islanders; but it is agreed on all hands that no American language has so little analogy with any other known tongue. The syntax of its particles, moods, and tenses, is very different from that of European languages. It has two affirmative and two negative conjugations, and its active and neuter verbs are not conjugated in the same manner. A great number of adverbs, or rather syllables placed at the end of words, serve to mark different shades of meauing. Many substantives express the definition or sense attached to them, thus, Tupa, or God, signifies literally, Who is he? The word couna, or woman, resembles the kona of the Scandinavians; but this analogy is of no consequence, for the proper meaning of couna is a nimble tongue. Different However widely diffused this language may be, it does not extend over the whole of Brazil; the learned Hervas has proved, from the manuscripts of the Portuguese jesuits, that there were fifty-one tribes in the central and northern parts of that country, whose dialects were not formed from the Guarini language, and he has likewise traced a resemblance between some of these dialects, and those spoken by the Caribee islanders.† Arte da Grammatica da lingua do Brasil, composta pelo P. Figuero, fourth Edition, Lisbon. Hervas, Catalogo delle lingue, p. 22. dialects. BOOK Actual state of Brazil. We should wish to close our imperfect description of Brazil, a country so little known, with some accurate statements concerning the political resources of this new empire; but the materials requisite for such a task are still incomplete, and likely to remain so under the present government; the Portuguese monarchy in Europe has been changed into a despotism in Brazil. The power of the crown is not balanced by any other authority, and as the influence of public opinion does not exist, the acts of government are for the most part unknown. It is supposed Total Po- that Brazil contains three millions eight hundred thousand pulation. inhabitants; and that the European settlers amount to one million. The Portuguese possessions in the East Indies, (Goa and Macao,) those on the eastern and western coasts of Africa, on the gulf of Guinea, the Cape Verd islands, Madeira, and the Azores, may contain at most about six hundred thousand souls. The population of Portugal amounts to three millions and a half, to which, if we add that of the other states, it will make it nearly equal to eight millions; the inhabitants of that extensive empire are dispersed and weakened by the influence of a feudal nobility, and an ignorant priesthood. The merchants of Lisbon, Oporto, Bahia, and Rio Janeiro, from their frequent intercourse with foreigners, are better informed than the other classes of society; they enjoy besides the protection of a government, whose policy does not consist in oppressing those that enrich it. But the Portuguese in Europe and Brazil entertain very different notions concerning the The Court. future fate of their monarchy; the court deprived of its palaces, theatres and all the pleasures of European refinement, is i lodged in convents or country houses, and longs for its residence on the banks of the Tagus. The project, which appeared practicable to some speculative philosophers after the transatlantic emigration of the house of Braganza, has been abandoned; and the court is regardless of founding an empire, or civilizing a hemisphere. A few enlightened Brazilians wish that the prince may reside in their country, but they are more anxious that the influence of XCI. public opinion may have its due weight, that, for this pur- BOOK pose a national assembly be established, and that all the monopolies which check the industry of their countrymen may be abolished. Government, on the other hand, opposes all measures tending to benefit the people, if it imagine that its revenues are likely to be injured by them. In the hope of increasing its wealth, emigration has been encouraged and different sects have been tolerated; but we are assured by many well-informed emigrants, that the constitution affords them little protection, and that their wrongs are not redressed by the judicial authorities. Science, literature, and the fine arts are unknown; commerce and agriculture are the only roads to wealth. The administration of justice is imperfect and complicated; laws yield to the power of the nobles, and the vassals of an absolute prince rule the people as despotically as their sovereign. Baronial rights entitle certain classes to many privileges, which the rest of the community do not possess. It appears, from the most accurate statements, that the total revenue of the Portuguese monarchy amounts to Revenue. £3,800,000, and the half of this sum is obtained from Brazil by means of royal fifths, tithes, and custom-house duties. The mulattoes are placed nearly on the same foot- Mulattoes ing with the European settlers; they are eligible to groes. civil and ecclesiastical preferments, and their number is rapidly increasing. The condition of the negroes has been improved, but these slaves, so far from adding to the political strength of the monarchy, tend rather to weaken it; many of them are employed as sailors, but this practice is dangerous, they are apt to mutiny, the air of the ocean inspires them with a love of liberty. The numerous trading vessels are protected by Marine a fleet of about twelve ships of war, and by thirty or and milita forty frigates. The Portuguese army consists of seven-blishments. ty thousand men, and thirty thousand are stationed in widely distant garrisons, to guard the extensive frontiers of Brazil. The troops in Europe served under the and Ne ry esta XCI. BOOK Duke of Wellington and Marshal Beresford; but it is doubtful if they have been improved by such advantages; it is fortunate for mankind, that the strength of armies varies so much in despotic governments. This country, independently of its military resources, might be a great state, both on account of its maritime position and the extent and fertility of its soil; its population, like that of Russia or the United States, might be doubled in a few years; but before this can be effected Brazil must have a Czar Peter or a free constitution. |