54 To the River Plate and Back 



Cabral on March 9, 1500, although Pinzon in January 

 of the same year had sighted land in the neighborhood 

 of Cape St. Roque. Cabral made his landfall at a 

 point which is now included in the southern part of the 

 Province of Bahia. He thought the land to be an 

 island and called it the Island of the True Cross, a name 

 which did not stick. Cabral' s discovery was quickly 

 followed by the sending of fleets to possess the country, 

 but, as no gold was found, there ensued disappointment. 

 The only thing of apparent value which was discovered 

 was dye-wood, known then and now as "brazil-wood, ' 

 and this wood gave its name to the country. Vessels 

 were sent out to get brazil-wood and the 'Brazil- 

 coast' soon became known. The first European 

 settler was Diego Alvarez, who was a deserter from one 

 of the ships which had gone out to get dye-wood. He 

 established himself in 1509 at Bahia, and saved him- 

 self from being eaten by the cannibal Indians by the use 

 of his musket. The Indians nicknamed him 'Cara- 

 muru " or " the lightning man. ' Eventually he married 

 the daughter of a chief and had a brood of mestizos by 

 her. Forty years afterwards the first real colonists 

 of Bahia appeared and the half-breed descendants of 

 Alvarez were of great service to them in dealing with 

 the Indians. 



Founded in 1549, until 1763 Bahia was the capital 

 of Brazil. Not long ago it was regarded as the second 

 city of the country in commercial importance; but 

 during the past three decades it has been outstripped 

 by Sao Paulo. The population of Bahia has more 

 than doubled since 1890 and is said to exceed two hun- 

 dred thousand ; but that of Sao Paulo in the same time 

 has quintupled and is now over four hundred thousand. 

 The growth of these South American cities in recent 



