Читать книгу Brazil, the River Plate, and the Falkland Islands - Hadfield William - Страница 15

Table of Contents

Bahia, its old name retained in a new place: the province and the city; present condition and splendid prospect of both.—Intra-mural peculiarities and Extra-mural properties.—Prolific sugar produce.—Historic, artistic, and archæological attractions of Bahia.—Souvenirs of the Jesuits.—Relics of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Francis Xavier.—A Bahian church built in Europe.—British Bahian clergyman and local railways.—Health of the city.—A Brazilian poet warbling native wood-notes very wild.—Necessity for keeping a nautical eye in fine frenzy rolling towards the Abrolhos.—Departure from Bahia.—Approach to the Brazilian capital, and untoward preliminary to the Argentina’s acquaintance therewith.—Stray notes on Bahia, containing memoranda on Brazilian matters in general.

Note to the Illustrations.—Both the illustrations in this chapter are copied from ‘Sketches in South America,’ by Sir W. Gore Ouseley, who, in a letter-press ‘Key’ to his beautiful portfolio of drawings, affords some interesting particulars, of which the annexed is an abridgment:—The first remarkable object in approaching the harbour of Bahia is the Fort of St. Antonio, situated on the point of a rock, forming the extremity of the Cape called after that saint. It is not large, but it is a fair specimen of the numerous solidly-constructed stone forts that have been scattered by the Portuguese (and Spaniards) throughout their colonial possessions, wherever deemed necessary for purposes of defence or aggression, and which bear witness, in their well-built walls, and often handsome details, to the ample means, military skill, and power, that backed the zeal of the first settlers in South America, and founded the Brazilian empire. Fort St. Antonio has on its highest part a light-house, of great service to mariners in making the port at night, as there are shoals off the point. Opposite to Cape St. Antonio is a long low island, called Itaparicá, between which and the port is the channel for large vessels. The scenery near Bahia does not present the striking features that distinguish Rio de Janeiro; it has neither the well-wooded hills nor the lofty precipitous rocks that environ the capital of Brazil. It is, however, very pretty, varied by small hills and acclivities, and ornamented by the tall, graceful cocoa-nut and the usual luxuriant vegetation of Brazil. The Cape, like the coast generally of the province of Bahia, is surrounded by coral rocks; and a reef of coral extends to a considerable distance from and along the shore. The beach is sandy, with large stones strewed on it by the action of the waves. After passing the Cape and Fort St. Antonio, which are on the right on entering the harbour of Bahia, the next prominent objects are the church and villas on the high land, called Victoria, overlooking the harbour. It is a favourite and picturesque suburb of Bahia, and is the chosen site of several ‘chacras’ or quasi country residences. The elevation is sufficient to avoid the extreme heat of the lower town and to get the benefit of the sea-breeze. It is considered a healthy situation, and a tolerable carriage-road leads to the English cemetery, marked by a cross in the foreground, and to the point of St. Antonio, as well as along the coast. On the beach are several ‘Armaçaos,’ or places where whale-boats are kept, and whales cut up. They are provided with capstans and tackle, for hauling up the carcase and blubber to be reduced to food by the poor, the flesh looking like coarse beef. The whale on this coast is pursued in large sailing-boats, and harpooned while the boat is under sail. In the inner harbour are situated most of the wharves, quays, and warehouses along the beach and projecting into the water; and here numerous vessels lie in perfect safety; the foreign men-of-war generally near a round castellated tower or fort, not far from the entrance. Bahia is divided into two towns, the upper and the lower, the former of which being more modern, is built with greater regularity than the latter; and contains many handsome buildings, including a rich cathedral, the palaces of the archbishop and governor, a court of appeal, theatre, hospitals, a library of from 60,000 to 70,000 volumes, and many other edifices, chiefly of an ecclesiastical character. The lower town, San Salvador, or Bahia, is dirty and badly laid out, but in it are to be found the exchange, arsenal, and imperial dockyard. About three miles north-east are yards for the construction of merchant shipping. The houses are mostly of stone, and often lofty. The Dutch have left traces of former possession in the brick paving of some of the streets. At the foot of the steep height, covered with foliage, and crowned by the ‘Paseo Publico,’ or public promenade, is a small landing-place for boats, conveniently situated for those who prefer a steep but clambering ascent to the upper town, to being first taken round the point into the interior basin and landed in the lower town, to be thence carried up by negroes in a sort of palanquin. Those in use here consist merely of a chair on a platform of boards, suspended from the centre of an arched pole or beam, the projecting swan-necked ends of which are born on the shoulders of two men, who relieve themselves by the occasional use of a stick as a lever applied under the pole as it rests under the opposite shoulder. The motion is neither pleasant nor the position seemingly secure. Yet not only ladies, but men, and of no light calibre, invariably use them for transport to the upper town and in visiting. The chairs are sheltered by curtains from the sun, and the woodwork as well as curtains are often gilt and showily and expensively ornamented. The steepness of the streets prevents the use of wheel-carriages, except in a few directions, and causes the substitution of these palanquins. Bahia, founded in 1549 by Thomas de Souza, first captain-general of Brazil, is one of the most important commercial cities in America; and prior to the transfer of the vice-royalty in 1763 to Rio, was the capital of Brazil. It is defended by several forts, some of great strength. It was stated some years ago to contain above 150,000 inhabitants, among whom are many very wealthy proprietors and merchants. This population is divided pretty equally into whites, mulattoes, and blacks. A few miles from Bahia, on the Atlantic coast near Rio Vermelho, is a small ruined chapel, dedicated to St. Gonçalo, said to be the first building devoted to Christian worship constructed in Brazil, or, as some say, in America.

Bahia, or San Salvador da Bahia, is commonly called by the former name, which is only the abbreviation of the title given by the first settlers to the bay, at the head whereof stands the capital, viz., ‘Bahia de todos os Santos,’ or ‘All Saints’ Bay,’ as already stated; but some geographers of the present day retain the old nomenclature; and in so recent and authoritative a work as the eighth edition of the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica,’ now in course of publication, the reader is referred, for the province and city of Bahia, to the article San Salvador, which may be expected to make its appearance somewhere towards the end of 1856, by which time, it is to be hoped, the subject will have expanded to dimensions corresponding with such procrastination in its treatment by such means.

ENTRANCE TO THE PORT OF BAHIA.

This province contains within itself the germs of enduring prosperity: a splendid bay many miles in extent, where countless ships can ride close to the shore, with lakes and rivers branching from it, form so many natural harbours, docks, and canals; whilst it abounds with sugar plantations, forests of timber fit for shipbuilding and other purposes, precious stones, and many tropical productions, the latter of which can be all procured in a degree only limited by the amount of labour and the facility of bringing things down to the ports for shipment.

Everything at Bahia bespeaks the former head-quarter of an important government. The removal of the latter to Rio was of course a great disadvantage to this place, which has since had to work its way up as a commercial entrepot, with frequent interruptions from political disturbances, the last in 1837 amounting to a positive civil war, when a most lawless band obtained possession of the city, which they held for several months, and were only driven out, with much slaughter, after having attempted to fire it, in which they partially succeeded. Since that time things have been tolerably quiet, the discovery of large deposits of diamonds in a district called the Chapada having given an impetus to business, and taken away many restless spirits, there being now a population of some 40,000, collected there in pursuit of gems here found in considerable abundance—some of extraordinary value. It is 50 to 60 leagues distant from the town of Cachoeira at the head of a river of that name, which is navigable for steam-boats and a source of considerable traffic, there joining the Paraguassa, into which sundry small tributaries, of more or less importance, flow.

The production of sugar, for the fine quality of which the province is greatly celebrated, as also for that of its tobacco, so highly praised in Portugal and Spain, has latterly revived, amounting for the crop just finished, to 80,000 tons. As already observed in the case of Pernambuco, this increase has not originated from any fiscal changes in England, but simply from the cessation of civil discord, enabling the planters to devote their entire energies to the culture of their estates. It is true that large importations of slaves have aided this movement, and that Bahia has been the great focus of this detestable traffic; but the stimulus cannot be traced in any way to our treatment of the West India Colonies, however disposed interested parties may be to ascribe it to this circumstance. The Brazilians had begun to find out the advantages attendant on peace and tranquillity, and that the greater the quantity of produce they could export the larger would be the means at their disposal for the purchase of the necessaries and luxuries of life, which they now began to look upon as desirable to possess. Improved machinery for the making of sugar was brought into operation, as well as additional capital for the development of that product, and likewise of cotton; in the export of which latter commodity Bahia now nearly equals Pernambuco, exceeding that port and province, and all the rest of Brazil put together, in the quantity of its sugar. The natural consequence of such application of skill and means has been a largely extended production from almost virgin soil.

THE CHAPEL OF SAN GONCALO, AT BAHIA.

Whilst the trade of Bahia has thus progressed, signs of local and municipal improvement are also visible. Short as is the time since the accomplished author of the note, page 123, wrote—viz., in 1845—the streets have been generally repaired, and the roads leading to the upper town put in an efficient state, so that carriages can now traverse them safely; new quays, extending along the margin of the bay, are in process of erection; also a new custom-house, together with many other much-needed improvements, chiefly owing to the personal activity of Sen. Gonsalvez Martins, formerly President of Bahia, and late Minister of the Empire, who is a native of the place, to which he has shown himself devotedly attached. Bahia possesses more attractions for the mere traveller, in search of curiosities, than probably any town in Brazil, or even in the whole of South America; formerly the capital of the empire, as we have just said, and still next in extent and importance to the metropolis, and as being also the chief seat of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, its religious structures are the most numerous, imposing, and unique, of any in all Brazil. The cathedral of San Salvador is a splendid monument of the architectural genius of the Jesuits, and its interior corresponds in magnificence with its external beauty, containing, among other remarkable mementos of those colonizers, a portrait, said to be taken from life, of their famous founder, Ignatius Loyola, and that of St. Francis Xavier. The ancient college of the order, now a military hospital, is also very fine. There are probably not less than 40 churches, one of them being situated in the principal street, the Praya, called the Church of the Conception, chiefly composed of blocks of marble which were forwarded from Europe already numbered, like the plates of an iron house in these days, and on their arrival they had merely to be put together, and the building was constructed at once, according to the precise design of the architect at home. This is the more singular as very excellent stone abounds on the spot, the theatre, for instance, being erected on a rock, and numbers of houses are built therewith from the same material, to the height of five stories, some having balconies and blinds, instead of windows—a most desirable arrangement in such a climate, and one which speaks much for the honesty of the lower classes in a town of great trade like Bahia, the extent of whose business may be surmised when it is stated that upwards of a million pounds’ sterling worth of English goods alone enter it annually. Mr. Borthwick, the engineer, sent from London to determine on the accuracy of Messrs. De Mornay’s survey of the Pernambuco railway, in his report, already referred to in the preceding chapter, speaking of the rival claims of Bahia to a railway of its own, and contrasting the condition of the two extraordinary nourishing provinces, says:—‘In 1851 the imperial revenue, from Bahia was 4,784,600 milreis, and from Pernambuco 4,639,427 milreis, irrespective of movements of funds, &c., which would reverse the comparison in that way.’ I have not the returns for the last two years before me, but believe that the general relative proposition is still about the same.

Here I saw the first practical adoption of the Brazilian railway system, in the working of a tram road, to level a large space of uneven ground called the Campo, on the Victoria Hill, by which means a large amount of work has been done in a very short time. For much of this the natives are considerably indebted to the English clergyman who officiates as chaplain to the British residents, and who, not satisfied with paving the road to heaven leading to the path he points out, and building a handsome new church in this locality, has been public-spirited enough to afford material assistance in the construction of highways, building of bridges, and other engineering works, thus clearly and beneficially proving his aptitude for business of this kind.

Bahia has suffered severely from that dreadful scourge the yellow fever; but we found it had in a great measure passed over; and it is to be hoped that it will gradually die away, though it appears that the chief medical men in the empire have decided that it will remain a permanent, or at least intermittent, visitant, something probably like the cholera amongst us, which has apparently become acclimated in England, continuing a steady course of mortality, without those sudden inroads whose speedy devastation so greatly shocked, because they so much surprised, us.

There is a romantic kind of history attached to the first settlement of this province, embodied in an attempt to copy Camoens in his splendid work, commemorative of the discovery of India by Vasco da Gama. (Vide introductory chapter.) It is called ‘Caramaru,’ and was written by José Basilio da Gama, a Brazilian, born in Minas Geres, about the year 1740, and is descriptive of the adventures of a Portuguese sailor, who was wrecked somewhere near Bahia, and rescued from the fate of his shipmates (who were sacrificed by the cannibals, then in possession of the coast) by an Indian princess, who became enamoured of and married him; he then figured in the wars of the Indians, by whom he was looked upon as a kind of demi-god, and afterwards made a trip to Europe with his wife. Some of the scenes in this poem are well and graphically depicted, giving a good insight into the state of the country at that period, and of the savage life existing; but after reading Camoens, it sinks immeasurably into the shade, and we have difficulty in believing it to be written in the same language.

Our stay at Bahia was limited to the day. We sailed again at night, and were obliged to pass outside the Abrolhos, it being night when we came up with them; otherwise there is a good channel for a steamer between these rocks and the main land, and it is a great saving in distance. The name of these crags is very appropriate (‘Open Your Eyes’) there being much need of it, and no light-house to warn the mariner, should he unfortunately be driven by the current or some other casualty near such perils at night-time. Few accidents, however, happen, because a wide berth is given to the Abrolhos. Off Cape Frio we were met by a stiff south-wester, which came down upon us with a freshness and determination worthy of St. George’s Channel; our little steamer went through it manfully, only sending the spray over us. We did not descry the light on Cape Frio owing to the mist and drizzling showers, but soon came up with that on the Island of Raza, opposite to Rio Harbour, which is a splendid light seen from a long distance, and it renders the entrance to Rio comparatively easy. We steamed on, and passed the fort of Santa Cruz, where vessels are hailed; but in running in to the anchorage ground we unfortunately came in contact with a small vessel, placed in the roads with chains and anchors to afford succour to vessels in distress, odd enough called the ‘Succorro,’ or ‘Succour.’ She had neglected the precaution of having a light up, so stringently enforced by the regulations of the port; and we could not see her till close upon her, doing some damage, but nothing very material, and came to anchor close to her for the night.

The following interesting ‘scraps,’ touching manners, customs, and things at Bahia, have been supplied by my valued relative, Mr. Wetherell, for some time British Vice-Consul there, who employs much of his leisure hours not merely in collecting information of this nature and placing it on record, but also in other useful pursuits connected with botany and natural history, of which he has sent home many interesting results.