Part 7

However, the viceroy’s civilities towards us continued for several days: he even told us his intention of giving us a _petit souper_, or collation, by the water-side, in bowers of jasmine and orange-trees; and he ordered a box to be prepared for us at the opera. We saw, in a tolerable handsome hall, the best works of Metastasio represented by a band of mulattoes; and heard the divine composition of the great Italian masters, executed by an orchestra, which was under the direction of a hump-backed priest, in his canonicals.

The favour which we enjoyed, occasioned great matter of astonishment to the Spaniards, and even to the people of the country; who told us, that their governor’s proceedings would not be the same for a long time. Indeed, whether the assistance we gave the Spaniards, and our own connections with them displeased him, or whether he could no longer feign a conduct, so diametrically opposite to his natural temper, he soon became, in regard to us, what he had been to every body else.

[Sidenote: Hostilities of the Portugueze against the Spaniards.]

The 28th of June, we heard that the Portuguese had surprised and attacked the Spaniards at Rio-Grande; that they had driven them from a station which they occupied on the left shore of that river; and that a Spanish ship, touching at the isle of St. Catherine, had been detained there. They fitted out here, with great expedition, the San Sebastiano, of sixty-four guns, built here; and a frigate, mounting forty guns, called Nossa Senhora da Gracia. This last was destined, it was said, to escort a convoy of troops and ammunition to Rio-Grande, and to the colony of Santo Sacramento. These hostilities and preparations gave us reason to apprehend that the viceroy intended to stop the Diligent; which was careening upon the isle das Cobras, and we accelerated her refitment as much as possible. [Sidenote: 1767. July.] She really was ready on the last day of June, and began to take in the skins, which were part of her lading; but on the sixth of July, when she wanted to take back her cannon, which, during the repair, had been deposited on the isle das Cobras, the viceroy forbade their being delivered; and declared, that he arrested the ship, till he had received the orders of his court, on the subject of the hostilities committed at Rio-Grande. In vain did Don Medina take all the necessary steps on this occasion; count d’Acunha would not so much as receive the letter, which the Spanish commander sent him by an officer, from on board his ship.

[Sidenote: Bad proceedings of the viceroy towards us.]

We partook of the disgrace of our allies. Having, upon the repeated leave of the viceroy, concluded the bargain for buying a snow, his excellency forbade the seller to deliver it to me. He likewise gave orders, that we should not be allowed the necessary timber out of the royal dock-yards, for which we had already agreed: he then refused me the permission of lodging with my officers, (during the time that the frigate underwent some essential repairs) in a house near the town, offered me by its proprietor: and which commodore Byron had occupied in 1765, when he touched at this port. On this account, and likewise upon his refusing me the snow and the timber, I wanted to make some remonstrances to him. He did not give me time to do it; and, at the first words I uttered, he rose in a furious passion, and ordered me to go out; and being certainly piqued, that, in spite of his anger, I remained sitting with two officers, who accompanied me, he called his guards; but they, wiser than himself, did not come, and we retired; so that nobody seemed to have been disturbed. We were hardly gone, when the guards of his palace were doubled, and orders given to arrest all the French that should be found in the streets after sun-setting. He likewise sent word to the captain of the French ship of four guns, to go and anchor under the fort of Villagahon; and the next morning I got her towed there by my boats.

[Sidenote: They determine us to leave Rio-Janeiro.]

From hence forward, I was intent upon my departure; especially as the inhabitants, with whom we had any intercourse of trade, must fear every thing from the viceroy. Two Portuguese officers became the victims of the civility they shewed us; the one was imprisoned in the citadel; the other exiled to Santa, a small town between St. Catherine and Rio-Grande. I made haste to take in our water, to get the most necessary provisions out of the Etoile, and to embark refreshments. I had been forced to enlarge our tops; and the Spanish captain furnished me with the necessary timber for that purpose, which had been refused us out of the docks. I likewise got some planks, which we could not do without; and which were sold to us secretly.

At last, on the 12th, every thing being ready, I sent an officer to let the viceroy know, I should weigh with the first fair wind. I advised M. d’Etcheveri, who commanded l’Etoile du Matin, (the Morning-Star) to stop at Rio-Janeiro as little as he could; and rather to employ the time that remained, till the favourable season for doubling the Cape of Good Hope came on, in going to survey the isles of Tristan d’Acunha, where he would find wood, water, and abundance of fish; and I gave him some memoirs I had concerning these isles. I have since heard, that he has followed my advice.

During our stay at Rio-Janeiro, we enjoyed one of the springs, which are obvious in poetical descriptions; and the inhabitants testified, in the most genteel manner, the displeasure which their viceroy’s bad proceedings against us, gave them. We were sorry, that it was not in our power to stay any longer with them. The Brasils, and the capital in it, have been described by so many authors, that I could mention nothing, without tediously repeating what has been said before. Rio-Janeiro has once been conquered by France; and is, of course, well known there. I will confine myself to give an account of the riches, of which that city is the staple[49]; and of the revenues which the king of Portugal gets from thence. I must previously mention, that M. de Commerçon, an able naturalist, who came with us on board the Etoile, in order to go on the expedition, assured me, that this was the richest country in plants he had ever met with; and that it had supplied him with whole treasures in botany.

[Sidenote: Account of the riches of Rio-Janeiro.]

Rio-Janeiro is the emporium and principal staple of the rich produce of the Brasils. The mines, which are called _general_, are the nearest to the city; being about seventy-five leagues distant. They annually bring in to the king, for his fifth part, at least one hundred and twelve arobas of gold; in 1762 they brought in a hundred and nineteen. Under the government of the general mines, are comprehended those of Rio das Mortes, of Sabara, and of Sero-frio. The last place, besides gold, produces all the diamonds that come from the Brasils. They are in the bed of a river; which is led aside, in order afterwards to separate the diamonds, topazes, chrysolites, and other stones of inferior goodness, from the pebbles, among which they ly.

[Sidenote: Regulations for examining the mines.]

All these stones, diamonds excepted, are not contraband: they belong to the possessors of the mines; but they are obliged to give a very exact account of the diamonds they find; and to put them into the hands of a surveyor[50], whom the king appoints for this purpose. [Sidenote: Mines of diamonds.] The surveyor immediately deposits them in a little casket, covered with plates of iron, and locked up by three locks. He has one of the keys, the viceroy the other, and the _Provador de Hazienda Reale_ the third. This casket is inclosed in another, on which are the seals of the three persons above mentioned, and which contains the three keys to the first. The viceroy is not allowed to visit its contents; he only places the whole in a third coffer, which he sends to Lisbon, after putting his seal on it. It is opened in the king’s presence; he chooses the diamonds which he likes out of it; and pays their price to the possessors of the mines, according to a tariff settled in their charter.

The possessors of the mines pay the value of a Spanish piastre or dollar per day to his Most Faithful Majesty, for every slave sent out to seek diamonds; the number of these slaves amounts to eight hundred. Of all the contraband trades, that of diamonds is most severely punished. If the smuggler is poor, he loses his life; if his riches are sufficient to satisfy what the law exacts, besides the confiscation of the diamonds, he is condemned to pay double their value, to be imprisoned for one year, and then exiled for life to the coast of Africa. Notwithstanding this severity, the smuggling trade with diamonds, even of the most beautiful kind, is very extensive; so great is the hope and facility of hiding them, on account of the little room they take up.

[Sidenote: Gold-mines.]

All the gold which is got out of the mines cannot be sent to Rio Janeiro, without being previously brought into the houses, established in each district, where the part belonging to the crown is taken. What belongs to private persons is returned to them in wedges, with their weight, their number, and the king’s arms stamped upon them. All this gold is assayed by a person appointed for that purpose, and on each wedge or ingot, the alloy of the gold is marked, that it may afterwards be easy to bring them all to the same alloy for the coinage.

These ingots belonging to private persons are registered in the office of _Praybuna_, thirty leagues from Rio Janeiro. At this place is a captain, a lieutenant, and fifty men: there the tax of one fifth part is paid, and further, a poll-tax of a _real_ and a half per head, of men, cattle, and beasts of burden. One half of the produce of this tax goes to the king, and the other is divided among the detachment, according to the rank. As it is impossible to come back from the mines without passing by this station, the soldiers always stop the passengers, and search them with the utmost rigour.

The private people are then obliged to bring all the ingots of gold which fall to their share, to the mint at Rio Janeiro, where they get the value of it in cash: this commonly consists of demi-doubloons, worth eight Spanish dollars. Upon each demi-doubloon, the king gets a piastre or dollar for the alloy, and for the coinage. The mint at Rio Janeiro is one of the finest buildings existing. It is furnished with all the conveniences necessary towards working with the greatest expedition. As the gold comes from the mines at the same time that the fleets come from Portugal, the coinage must be accelerated, and indeed they coin there with amazing quickness.

The arrival of these fleets, and especially of that from Lisbon, renders the commerce of Rio Janeiro very flourishing. The fleet from Porto is laden only with wines, brandy, vinegar, victuals, and some coarse cloths, manufactured in and about that town. As soon as the fleets arrive, all the goods they bring are conveyed to the custom-house, where they pay a duty of ten per cent to the king. It must be observed that the communication between the colony of Santo Sacramento and Buenos Ayres being entirely cut off at present, that duty must be considerably lessened; for the greater part of the most precious merchandizes which arrived from Europe were sent from Rio Janeiro to that colony, from whence they were smuggled through Buenos Ayres to Peru and Chili; and this contraband trade was worth a million and a half of piastres or dollars annually to the Portuguese. In short, the mines of the Brasils produce no silver, and all that which the Portuguese got, came from this smuggling trade. The negro trade was another immense object. The loss which the almost entire suppression of this branch of contraband trade occasions, cannot be calculated. This branch alone employed at least thirty coasting vessels between the Brasils and Rio de la Plata.

[Sidenote: Revenues of the king of Portugal from Rio Janeiro.]

Besides the old duty of ten per cent which is paid at the royal custom-house, there is another duty of two and a half per cent, laid on the goods as a free gift, on account of the unfortunate event which happened at Lisbon in 1755. This duty must be paid down at the custom-house immediately, whereas for the tenth, you may have a respite of six months, on giving good security.

The mines of S. Paolo and Parnagua pay the king four arrobas as his fifth, in common years. The most distant mines, which are those of Pracaton and Quiaba, depend upon the government[51] of Maragrosso. The fifth of these mines is not received at Rio Janeiro, but that of the mines of Goyas is. This government has likewise mines of diamonds, but it is forbidden to search in them.

All the expences of the king of Portugal at Rio Janeiro, for the payment of the troops and civil officers, the carrying on of the mines, keeping the public buildings in repair, and refitting of ships, amount to about six hundred thousand piastres. I do not speak of the expence he may be at in constructing ships of the line and frigates, which he has lately begun to do here.

A summary account, and the amount of the separate articles of the king’s revenue, taken at a medium in Spanish dollars.

Dollars. One hundred and fifty arrobas of gold, of which in common years all the fifths amount to 1,125,000 The duty on diamonds 240,000 The duty on the coinage 400,000 Ten per cent. of the custom-house 350,000 Two and a half per cent. free gift 87,000 Poll tax, sale of employs, offices, and other products of the mines 225,000 The duty on negroes 110,000 The duty on train-oil, salt, soap, and the tenth on the victuals of the country 130,000 ————- Total in dollars or piasters 2,667,000 ————-

From whence, if you deduct the expences above mention ed, it will appear that the king of Portugal’s revenues from Rio Janeiro, amount to upwards of ten millions of our money (livres[52]).

Footnote 49:

Debouché.

Footnote 50:

Intendant.

Footnote 51:

Capitainie.

Footnote 52:

Upwards of 450,000 pounds sterling; at 4 s. and 6 d. per dollar.

_CHAP. VI._

_Departure from Rio Janeiro: second voyage to Montevideo: damage which the Etoile receives there._

The 14th of July we weighed from Rio Janeiro, but for want of wind we were obliged to come to an anchor again in the road. [Sidenote: 1767. July.] We sailed on the 15th, and two days after, the frigate being a much better sailer than the Etoile, I was obliged to unrig my top-gallant masts, as our lower masts required a careful management. [Sidenote: Departure from Rio Janeiro.] The winds were variable, but brisk, and the sea very high. In the night between the 19th and 20th, we lost our main-top-sail, which was carried away on its clue-lines. [Sidenote: Eclipse of the sun.] The 25th there was an eclipse of the sun, visible to us. I had on board my ship M. Verron, a young astronomer, who came from France in the Etoile, with a view to try, during the voyage, some methods towards finding the longitude at sea.

According to our estimation of the ship’s place, the moment of immersion, as calculated by the astronomer, was to be on the 25th, at four hours nineteen minutes in the evening. At four hours and six minutes, a cloud prevented our seeing the sun, and when we got sight of him again, at four hours thirty-one minutes, about an inch and a half was already eclipsed. Clouds successively passed over the sun’s disk, and let us see him only at very short intervals, so that we were not able to observe any of the phases of the eclipse, and consequently could not conclude our longitude from it. The sun set to us before the moment of apparent conjunction, and we reckoned that that of immersion had been at four hours twenty-three minutes.

[Sidenote: Entrance into Rio de la Plata.]

On the 26th we came into soundings; the 28th in the morning we discovered the Castilles. This part of the coast is pretty high, and is to be seen at ten or twelve leagues distance. We discovered the entrance to a bay, which probably is the harbour where the Spaniards have a fort, and where I have been told there is very bad anchorage. The 29th we entered Rio de la Plata, and saw the Maldonados. We advanced but little this day and the following. Almost the whole night between the 30th and 31st we were becalmed, and sounded constantly. The current set to the north-westward, which was pretty near the situation of the isle of Lobos. At half an hour past one after midnight, having sounded, thirty-three fathoms, I thought I was very near the isle, and gave the signal for casting anchor. At half past three we weighed, and saw the isle of Lobos in N. E. about a league and a half distant. The wind was S. and S. E. weak at first, but blew more fresh towards sun-rising, and we anchored in the bay of Montevideo the 31st in the afternoon. We had lost much time on account of the Etoile; because, besides the advantage of our being better sailers, that store-ship, which at leaving Rio Janeiro made four inches of water every hour, after a few days sail made seven inches in the same space of time, which did not allow her to crowd her sails.

[Sidenote: Second time of touching at Montevideo.]

[Sidenote: News which we hear at this place.]

We were hardly moored, when an officer came on board, being sent by the governor of Montevideo, to compliment us on our arrival, and informed us that orders had been received from Spain to arrest all the Jesuits, and to seize their effects: that the ship which brought these dispatches had carried away forty fathers of that community, destined for the missions: that the order had already been executed in the principal houses without any difficulty or resistance; and that, on the contrary, these fathers bore their disgrace with resignation and moderation. I shall soon enter into a more circumstantial account of this great transaction, of which I have been able to obtain full information, by my long stay at Buenos Ayres, and the confidence with which the governor-general Don Francisco Bukarely[53] honoured me.

[Sidenote: 1767. August.]

As we were to stay in Rio de la Plata till after the equinox, we took lodgings at Montevideo, where we settled our workmen, and made an hospital. This having been our first care, I went to Buenos Ayres, on the 11th of August, to accelerate our being furnished with the necessary provisions, by the provider-general of the king of Spain; at the same price as he had agreed to deliver them to his Catholic Majesty. I likewise wanted to have a conference with M. de Buccarelli, on the subject of what had happened at Rio-Janeiro; though I had already, by express, sent him the dispatches from Don Francisco de Madina. I found he had prudently resolved to content himself with sending an account of the hostilities of the viceroy of the Brasils to Europe, and not to make any reprisals. It would have been easy to him, to have taken the colony of Santo Sacramento in a few days; especially as that place was in want of every necessary, and had not yet obtained, in November, the convoy of articles and ammunition that were preparing to be sent thither, when we left Rio-Janeiro.

The governor-general made every thing as convenient as possible, towards quickly making up our wants. At the end of August, two schooners, laden with biscuit and flour for us, sailed for Montevideo; whither I likewise went to celebrate the day of St. Louis. I left the chevalier du Bouchage, an under-lieutenant, at Buenos Ayres, in order to get the remainder of our provisions on board; and to take care of our affairs there till our departure; which, I hoped, would be towards the end of September. I could not foresee that an accident would detain us six weeks longer. [Sidenote: Damage which the Etoile receives.] In a hurricane, blowing hard at S. W. the San Fernando, a register-ship, which was at anchor near the Etoile, dragged her anchors, ran foul of the Etoile at night; and, at the first shock, broke her bowsprit level with the deck. Afterwards the knee and rails of her head were carried away; and it was lucky that they separated, notwithstanding the bad weather, and the obscurity of the night, without being more damaged.

[Sidenote: 1767. September.]

This accident greatly enlarged the leaks in the Etoile, which she had had from the beginning of her voyage. It now became absolutely necessary to unload this vessel, if not to heave her down[54], in order to discover and stop this leak, which seemed to lie very low, and very forward. This operation could not be performed at Montevideo; where, besides, there was not timber sufficient to repair the masts; I therefore wrote to the chevalier du Bouchage, to represent our situation to the marquis de Buccarelli; and to obtain, that by his leave the Etoile might be allowed to come up the river, and to go into the Encenada de Baragan; I likewise gave him orders to send timber and the other materials, which we should want thither. The governor-general consented to our demands; and, the 7th of September, not being able to find any pilot, [Sidenote: Navigation from Montevideo to Baragan.] I went on board the Etoile, with the carpenters and caulkers of the Boudeuse, in order to sail the next morning, and undertake in person a navigation, which we were told was very hazardous. Two register-ships; the San-Fernando and the Carmen, provided with a pilot, were ready the same day, to sail for Montevideo to Encenada; and I intended to follow them; but the San-Fernando, which had got the pilot, named Philip, on board, weighed in the night, between the seventh and eighth, purely with a view of hiding his track from us; and left her companion in the same distress. However, we sailed on the eighth in the morning, preceded by our canoes; the Carman remaining to wait for a schooner to direct her route. In the evening we reached the San-Fernando, passed by her; and, on the tenth in the afternoon, we came to an anchor in the road of the Encenada: Philip, who was a bad pilot, and a wicked fellow, always steering in our water.

In this road I found the Venus frigate of twenty-six guns, and some merchant-ships; which were bound, together with her, to sail directly for Europe. I likewise found there la Esmeralda, and la Liebre; who were preparing to return to the Malouines, with provisions and ammunitions of all sorts; from whence they were to sail for the South Seas, in order to take in the Jesuits of Chili and Peru. There was likewise the xebeck[55] el Andaluz; which arrived from Ferrol, at the end of July, in company with another xebeck, named el Aventurero; but the latter was lost on the point of what is called the English-Sand; and the crew had time to save their lives. The Andaluz was preparing to carry presents and missionaries to the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego; the king of Spain being desirous of testifying his gratitude to those people, for the services they rendered the Spaniards of the ship la Concepcion, which was lost on their coasts in 1765.

[Sidenote: The Etoile goes to be repaired there.]