Journal Of A Voyage To Brazil Part 20

There is besides one fire-ship and one gun-boat.

Note: *(Now _Nitherohy_.)

_Ships of the Portuguese Squadron_.

Guns.

Line-of-battle ship D. Joao 6 74 {Commandante Capitao de Fragata {Joaquin Jose da Cunha

Frigate Const.i.tuicao 50 {Capitao de Fragata Joaquim Maria {Bruno de Moraes.

Dita Perola 44 Capitao de Fragata Jose Joaquim d'Amorim.

Corvette Princeza Real 28 Capitao Tenente Francis...o...b..rja Pereira de Sa.

Dita Calypso 22 Capitao Tenente Joaquim Antonio de Castro.

Dita Regeneracao 26 Capitao de Fragata Joao Ignacio da Silveira e Motta.

Dita Dez de Fevereiro 26 Capitao de Fragata Miguel Gil de Noronha.

Dita Activa 22 Capitao Lieut. Isidoro Francisco Guimaraes.

Brig Audaz 20 Capitao Tenente Joao da Costa Carvalho.

Corvette S. Gaulter 26 1 Lieut. Graduado Manoel de Jesus.

Corvette Principe do Brazil 26 Lieut. Antonio Feliciano Rodrigues.

Dita Restauracao 26 1 Tenente Graduado Flores.

Sumaca Conceicao 8 2 Tenente Carvalho.

---- Total 398 guns.

These measures were adopted, in consequence of the news of Lord Cochrane's arrival in Brazil having been conveyed to General Madeira by His Britannic Majesty's ship Tartar, the only vessel that sailed from Rio during the time of the embargo. We are becoming very anxious indeed for news from His Lordship: many rumours are afloat; but as there has been no direct communication from the squadron, they only increase the general anxiety.

_May 17th_.--Soon after I arrived here, in March, or rather as soon as my patient Glennie left me, I felt that, as a stranger here, and situated as I am, I was peculiarly unprotected, and therefore I spoke to the minister Jose Bonifacio, telling him my feelings; and saying, that from the amiable character of the Empress, I should wish to be allowed to wait on her, and to consider her as protecting me while I remain in the empire. She accordingly promised to fix a day for me to see her; but a severe indisposition has. .h.i.therto confined her to her room. Now, Lady Amherst having requested to see Her Imperial Majesty, the day after to-morrow is fixed on for the purpose; and I have an intimation that I shall be received on the same day, as the Empress wishes not to receive any other foreigner before me. This is polite, or rather it is more; it is really kind.

_19th_.--Though I was suffering exceedingly this morning, I resolved nevertheless to attend the Empress at noon, at San Cristovao. I was obliged to take a quant.i.ty of opium, to enable me to do so. However, I arrived at the appointed time; and, as I had been desired to do, asked for the _camarista mor_, Jose Bonifacio's sister, and was shown into the presence-chamber, where I found that lady and Lady Amherst, Miss Amherst, and Mrs. Chamberlain. The Empress entered shortly after, in a handsome morning dress of purple satin, with white ornaments, and looking extremely well. Mrs. Chamberlain presented Lady and Miss Amherst; and Her Imperial Majesty spoke for some minutes with Her Ladyship. After which she motioned to me to go to her, which I did. She spoke to me most kindly; and said, in a very flattering way, that she had long known me by name, and several other things that persons in her rank can make so agreeable by voice and manner; and I left her with the most agreeable impressions. She is extremely like several persons whom I have seen of the Austrian Imperial family, and has a remarkably sweet expression.

The corridor through which I pa.s.sed from the palace steps, and the presence-room, are both plain and handsome. As it might be called a private audience, there were neither guards, officers, nor attendants, excepting the camarista mor.

The Emperor is at present at his country-house of Santa Cruz; so that San Cristovao appeared like a private gentleman's seat, it was so still.

_Sat.u.r.day, June 7th_.--Since the day I was at San Cristovao, I have been confined to my room, and totally unable to exert myself, either mind or body, from severe indisposition. The Creole is come in from Bahia, to get provisions, preparatory to going home. The Commodore has offered me a pa.s.sage in her, and has written to that purpose; but I am in no state to embark for a long voyage. The accounts from Bahia are sadder than ever: as to the Bahians, though favourable to the Imperial cause the misery, of the poor inhabitants is great indeed.

_12th._--We have been for three days kept in a state of agitation, by reports that Bahia has fallen, and various rumours attending those reports: they all turn out to have arisen from a _russe de guerre_ of Madeira, who contrived to despatch a small vessel to a port on the coast for flour, pretending that it was for Lord Cochrane, and spreading that report to cover its real purpose.

_23d._--A brig, prize to the squadron, arrived, and also the Sesostris, a merchant ship bound to Valparaiso, on board of which were Lady Cochrane and her family going to Chile. Thank G.o.d, by putting in here, she has learned where Lord Cochrane is, and is thus spared the tedious voyage, and her excellent husband much anxiety on her account.

_14th._--At length we have true news both from and of Lord Cochrane. I wrote to Lady Cochrane, excusing myself on account of illness from going to her, and she kindly called on me as she landed; and a few minutes afterwards I received letters from the Admiral, and from some others in the squadron.

As might have been expected, from the haste in which the squadron was equipped, the ships had to encounter some difficulties at first. Some of the sails and cordage, which had been seventeen years in store, were found almost unserviceable; the guns of some of the ships were without locks, as the Portuguese had not adopted them: the cartridges were mostly made up in canva.s.s: but the real evil was the number of Portuguese, both men and officers, among the crews, which kept them in a continual state of discontent, if not mutiny.

Lord Cochrane had chosen as head-quarters for the squadron, the harbour behind the Moro of San Paulo, about thirty miles south of Bahia, and commanding the channel behind Itaparica; a country well watered and wooded, and in the neighbourhood of all supplies of fresh necessaries.

There is good and sheltered anchorage in from seven to twenty fathoms water, and on the whole it was well adapted for its purpose. As soon as it was known that His Lordship was off Bahia, the Portuguese squadron came out, and spread itself along the sh.o.r.e north of the bay. Lord Cochrane, who had waited in vain at the place of rendezvous at sea for the two fire-ships, which he expected from Rio, had fitted one of his small vessels, the schooner Real, as a fire-ship, and had intended to run into Bahia on the 4th of May; when he fell in with the Portuguese fleet, in number thirteen[109], he having with him five ships, a brig, and the fire vessel. He instantly ran through their line, cutting off the four sternmost ships; and had the men done their duty, nothing could have saved the ship they were first alongside of: but they fired too soon; and though the fire did great execution, wounding and killing many, both on board that ship and the Joam VI., which was immediately to the windward of the Pedro, yet the Admiral was disappointed. The slow sailing of the Piranga and Netherohy kept them farther behind the Pedro than their brave commanders wished; the others were forced to keep aloof, it is said, by the conviction that their crews could not be trusted against the Portuguese. As to the crew of the Admiral's ship, two of the Portuguese marines went into the magazine pa.s.sage, and with their drawn swords impeded the handing up the powder. The squadrons separated after this. Lord Cochrane determined to attack the Portuguese again next day. Captain Crosbie, Lieutenant Shepherd, and eleven others were wounded; but no other damage was sustained by the Imperial squadron, while that of the Europeans had suffered much both in crews and rigging.

[Note 109: One ship of the line, five frigates, five corvettes, a brig, and a schooner.]

On the morning of the 5th, Lord Cochrane looked in vain for the enemy.

He had apparently been satisfied with the skirmish of the 4th, and had taken refuge in the harbour; so that His Lordship returned to the Moro de San Paulo, with only the satisfaction of having driven the enemy from the open sea.

Meantime the Brazilian Imperial force that was posted behind the city, taking advantage of the absence of the fleet, and consequently of the two thousand seamen who served the artillery ash.o.r.e, advanced from the sitio of Brotas, where their centre was quartered, towards the town.

Madeira marched out to meet them, and an action took place entirely in favour of the Imperialists; and it is said that the King's fleet was recalled in consequence of this disaster.

Lord Cochrane had no sooner returned to San Paulo than he made such provisions with regard to his squadron, as he judged most prudent for the public service. The vessel that has arrived here has brought down some of the ill-affected Portuguese. All, I believe, from the report of the officer who arrived in the prize, have been dismissed from the Pedro Primero.

Lord Cochrane has taken the officers and English seamen of the Piranga and Nitherohy on board the Pedro, so that now he has one ship he may depend on: he has exchanged the eighteen-pound guns of the main-deck, for the twenty-four pounders of the Piranga, and has placed guns along his gang-ways; and we trust the next news we have from him, we shall learn something favourable to the cause of independence.

As far as the government here could supply every thing to the squadron to insure its success, it was done in the most liberal manner; and the failures, where they occurred, were owing to the peculiar circ.u.mstances of the times and country, which admitted of no controul. That some things should have been imperfect was to be expected: that so much should have been done, and well done, excites admiration. But the Emperor appreciates the brave man who commands his fleet; and while that is the case, a difficulty as soon as felt will be obviated.

_19th_.--My health grows worse and worse. The Creole sailed to-day. I have amused myself for two days with some English newspapers. If any thing can rouse me to health it surely ought to be news from England.

Lord Althorp has, I see, made a spirited but ineffectual effort for the repeal of the foreign enlistment bill; a most interesting subject in this country: and I see with pleasure a virtual acknowledgment from the English ministers of the independence of Spanish America.

_22d_.--This is the eve of St. John's, whereon the maidens of Brazil practise some of the same rites as those of Scotland do at Hallowe'en, to ascertain the fate of their loves. They burn nuts together; they put their hands, blindfold, on a table, with the letters of the alphabet; and practise many a simple conjuration. I think I recollect long ago, to have seen the maid-servants of a house in Berkshire place an herb, I think a kind of stone-crop, behind the door, calling it Midsummer men, that was to chain the favoured youth as he entered. For me I only wish for the _nucca_ drop of the Arab to fall this night, so I might catch it, and be relieved from my weary sickness.

_June 26th_.--My friend, Dr. d.i.c.kson, who has attended me all this time with unvarying kindness, having advised change of air for me, he and Mr.

May have pitched on a small house on Botafogo beach, having an upper story, which is considered as an advantage here, the ground-floor houses being often a little damp; and to-day Captain Willis of the Brazen brought me in his boat to my new dwelling. My good neighbours, Colonel and Mrs. Cunningham, try by their hospitality to prevent my feeling so much the loss of my friends Mr. and Mrs. May, who were every thing kind to me while at the Gloria.

Botafogo bay is certainly one of the most beautiful scenes in the world; but, till of late years, its sh.o.r.es were little inhabited by the higher cla.s.ses of society. At the farthest end there is a gorge between the Corcovado mountain and the rocks belonging to what may be called the Sugar-loaf group, which leads to the Lagoa of Rodrigo Freites, through which gorge a small rivulet of fine fresh water runs to the sea. Just at its mouth, there has long been a village inhabited by gipsies, who have found their way hither, and preserve much of their peculiarity of appearance and character in this their trans-atlantic home. They conform to the religion of the country in all outward things, and belong to the parish of which the curate of Nossa Senhora da Monte is pastor; but their conformity does not appear to have influenced their moral habits.

They employ their slaves in fishing, and part of their families is generally resident at their settlements; but the men rove about the country, and are the great horse-jockies of this part of Brazil. Some of them engage in trade, and many are very rich, but still they are reputed thieves and cheats; and to call a man _Zingara_ (gipsy) is as much as to call him knave. They retain their peculiar dialect; but I have not been able, personally, to get sufficiently acquainted with them to form any judgment of the degree in which their change of country and climate may have affected their original habits.

His Majesty's ship Beaver arrived, two days since from Bahia. It seems that Madeira, unable to hold the place any longer, is resolved to leave it. He is pressed to the utmost by Lord Cochrane's squadron, which cuts off his provisions, and by continual alarms kept up on the coast, by His Lordship's own appearance from sea, and by the preparations he is making in the Reconcave for an attack with fire-ships and gun-boats on the town. It is expected, therefore, that Madeira will abandon the place as soon as he can get shipping together to embark the troops. It is a.s.serted even that he has fixed the day, that of San Pedro, for evacuating the place. The following proclamation is certainly preparatory to his doing so; but as the time must depend on contingencies, it cannot be so certain:--

"Inhabitants of Bahia!

"The crisis in which we find ourselves is perilous, because the means of subsistence fail us, and we cannot secure the entrance of any provisions. My duty as a soldier, and as governor, is to make every sacrifice in order to save the city; but it is equally my duty to prevent in an extreme case the sacrifice of the troops that I command, of the squadron, and of yourselves. I shall employ every means to fulfil both these duties. Do not suffer yourselves to be persuaded that measures of foresight are always followed by disasters. You have already seen me take such once before: they alarmed you; but you were afterwards convinced that they portended nothing extraordinary. Even in the midst of formidable armies, measures of precaution are daily used; because victory is not constant, and reverses should be provided against. You may a.s.sure yourselves, that the measures I am now taking are purely precautionary: but it is necessary to communicate them to you, because if it happens that we must abandon the city, many of you will leave it also; and I should be responsible to the nation and to the King, if I had not forewarned you. (Signed)

"IGNACIO LUIZ MADEIRA DE MELLO.

Head-quarters, Bahia, May 28. 1823."

This proclamation increased the general alarm to the highest pitch. The editors of even the Portuguese newspapers use the strongest language.

One of them says, "The few last days, we have witnessed in this city a most doleful spectacle, that must touch the heart even of the most insensible: a panic terror has seized on all men's minds," &c.[110] And then goes on to antic.i.p.ate the horrors of a city left without protectors, and of families, whose fathers being obliged to fly, should be left like orphans, with their property, a prey to the invaders. These fears abated a little on the 2d of June, when a vessel entered Bahia, having on board 3000 alquieres of farinha; and the spirits of the troops were raised by a slight advantage obtained on the 3d over the patriots.

But the relief was of short duration. On a rigorous search there were found in the city no more than six weeks' provisions besides those necessary for the ships, and the General proceeded in his preparations for quitting Brazil. He now allowed the magistrates to resume their functions suspended by the declaration of martial-law, and produced a letter from the King, naming five persons to form a provisional government; and though some of them were unwilling to accept of the office, he caused them to take the oaths, and enter directly on their functions.