416 



B R A S I L. 



The outside was co- 



Brasil ments, irregularly disposed. 



' v vered with grass and shrubs. 



A traveller has given us some specimens of their 



Language. language, which, like all savage dialects, is extreme- 

 ly concise. The tenses of their verbs are as nume- 

 rous as those of most other languages ; and they 

 have even the optative mood, whk-h is wanting in 

 the Latin, and in the languages of modern Europe. 

 These tenses, however, are formed, not by inflexions 

 of the verb, but by particles added. Thus Aiont, 

 I come ; Aiont aquoeme, I came (veniebam) ; Aiont 

 aquotinene, I came (veni) ; Aiont vien, I will come; 

 Aiont women, would I could come. They had no 

 names for numbers above five ; if they wished to ex- 

 press any higher, they pointed to their fingers ; or, 

 if these were insufficient, collected the fingers of the 

 bystanders, till they amounted to the proposed 

 number. 



Names of The Brasilians were divided into an immense va- 



rribes. riety of tribes, many of which have been enumerated 



by different travellers. Our readers, however, would 

 not, we presume, think themselves obliged to us for 

 calling over a roll of barbarous appellations. There 

 were several races, however, which, while they re- 

 tained a common name, had branched out into a va- 

 riety of different tribes. Of these the most noted 

 were the Taperyas and Topinamboux. The former 

 were chit-fly found on the northern frontier, though 

 they had extended themselves along the whole coast 

 of Br.isil ; the latter had their chief settlements in the 

 bay of St Salvador. The Molopaguos and Motayes 

 hdd established themselves on the river Paraiba, in 

 the captainship of Spiritu Santo. There were mi- 

 nute shades of difference in the character and habits 

 of all those people ; but the general aspect which 

 they all presented was very nearly the same. 



Discovery. Brasil was not among the first discovered coun- 

 tries of the new world. Columbus, in his search af- 

 ter the East Indies, then accounted the gi.ind source 

 of wealth, landed first among the islands in the Gulf 

 of Mexico; and having or.ce formed an eitabliabroent 

 there, he made it the centre of his farther discoveries. 

 He contented himself therefore with exploring the 

 coasts of the continent around that gulf ; and when, 

 in his third voyage, he had proceeded as far as the 

 Oronooko, and had landed on the island of Trinity, 

 he immediately measured back his sleps. After the 

 golden treasures of Mexico and Peru had opened 

 themselves to Spanish avidity, the efforts of adven- 

 ture were entirely turned in that direction ; and it 

 was left to chance to discover all the other regions of 

 the new continent. Chance accordingly led Euro- 

 peans into Brasil. There are some intimations of 

 Vincent Yanec Pinzon, one of the companions of 

 Columbus, having touched on the coast in 1499 ; 

 where, however, he was prevented from landing by 

 the ferocity of the inhabitants. The solid discovery 

 of Brasil, however, was made in the following year 

 by Pierre Alvarez Cabral, a Portuguese navigator. 

 Vasco de Gama having, by doubling the Cape of 

 Good Hope, opened a new way to the East Indies, 

 Cabral was dispatched with a considerable squadron 

 to improve this discovery, and to form a settlement 

 in these celebrated regions. The discovery of the 

 ompass bad now emboldened navigators to venture 



far into the open sea ; and Cabral wishing to avoid Bra 

 the calms which reign along the coast of Africa, 

 steered so far west, that on the 24th April 1500, he 

 came in sight of an unknown coast ; am! after sailing 

 a'ong it fcr a considerable space, reached a harbour, 

 the commodious appearance of which tempted him 

 to land. He called the country Santa Cruz, (the 

 Holy Cross), and the harbour Porto Seguro ; and 

 then, according to that ill authorised right which 

 Europeans had assumed to themselves, he took pos- 

 session of the whole in the name of his master. The 

 natives were at first alarmed, and fled to their hilk; 

 but the Portuguese, having secured two, presented 

 these with mirrors, brass rings, and bells, which were 

 found to be the ornaments most agreeable to them. 

 Cabral then allowed them to rejoin their country- 

 men, whose fears were immediately dissipated by this 

 friendly behaviour, and who flocked to the vessel 

 with as much delight and confidence, as they had 

 formerly testified suspicion and aversion. They ap- 

 proached singing and dancing, with all the uncouth 

 gesticulations of savage joy ; and an intercourse was 

 immediately opened between them and the Portu- 

 guese. Clothes, however ornamental, were found to 

 be of no value in treating with a people who consi- 

 dered the wearing of them as an intolerable hardship; 

 but every article which was capable of being con- 

 verted into bracelets, necklaces, and other fantastic 

 ornaments, in whieh they delighted to array them- 

 selves, was eagerly prized. In return, the Portuguese 

 received cotton, maize, ornamental woods, and a va- 

 riety of rare and beautiful birds. Although there 

 was yet no appearance of those treasures which were 

 chiefly prized by European cupidity, and which 

 Brasil was afterwards found to produce in such abun- 

 dance, yet the extent of the country, its beauty and 

 evident fertility, gave it such importance in the eyes 

 of the Portuguese commander, that he immediately 

 sent back one of his vessels to Europe, to give a re- 

 port of his new discovery. Emanuel, the most illus- 

 trious and renowned ol the Portuguese monarchs, 

 was then seated on the throne ; and though his views 

 were chu fly directed towards conquest in the East, 

 yet the addition of so extensive and fine a country to 

 his dominions, could not fail to excite his ambition. 

 Navigators were therefore sent to explore its coasts ; Sett 

 and settlements were formed on different parts of meD 

 their wide extent. It was soon discovc red, however, 

 that the sanguine hopes of wealth, which the first 

 settlers carried out with them, were little likely to 

 be realized. Gold and silver were nowhere to be 

 seen : and though the land was profusely fertile, it 

 was tot.illy uncultivated ; nor could it be cleared and 

 brought under cultivation, without enormous labour. 

 Parrots indeed and coloured woods might be had 

 unbought, and yielded a considerable profit in Eu- 

 rope, where they were yet rare ; but these articles 

 could not be made the foundation of any extensive 

 commerce. What completed the disgust of Euro- 

 peans at this new territory was, that their slender 

 profits could be earned only by encountering the 

 most formidable dangers. The harmony which had 

 reigned at the first interview between the natives and 

 Portuguese was soon interrupted. The former, we 

 may well believe, found httie reason to congratulate 



