B I* A S I L. 



their ammunition, and they began to fee! all the hor- 

 rors of famine ; yet they were still supported by the 

 hope that the enemy, equally destitute, would soon 

 be compelled to desist. But when the reinforcement 

 appeared, their courage entirely sunk ; they saw the 

 inevitable fate which impended ; and their arms dropt 

 from their hands. A general storm soon took place, 

 and the resistance of the dispirited defenders being 

 feeble, the place was soon carried. The prince, pre- 

 ferring death to captivity, threw himself down the 

 rocky side of the fort, and was killed on the spot. 

 Almost all the rest were taken prisoners, and sold as 

 slaves. 



very This event was immediately followed by a brilliant 

 d rera in the history of Brasil. Her wealth had hither- 

 to been derived exclusively from the productions of 

 the soil, which, however valuable, could not vie in 

 the estimation of Europeans, with the more splendid 

 objects which the Spanish part of the new world 

 presented. Yet, even in the sixteenth century, the 

 Paulists had discovered gold in the heart of their 

 mountains ; and a report on this subject was made to 

 Philip II. ; but that monarch, governed by the base 

 policy of depressing, as much as possible, his new 

 subjects, either evaded the applications, or seconded 

 them so coldly, that no result followed. After the 

 separation of the kingdoms, the long struggle which 

 Portugal had to maintain, for her own independence 

 and the recovery of Brasil, engrossed almost entirely 

 her attention ; and she had little leisure to prosecute 

 discoveries and improvements. In 1699, however, 

 the neglect of government was compensated by the 

 activity of some enterprising individuals, who disco- 

 vered and began to work several gold mines in the 

 back settlements. The metal was found abundant, 

 and of easy extraction ; and it soon appeared, that a 

 vast source of treasure had been opened to the nation. 

 The governments of Europe were not accustomed to 

 look with indifference upon such operations ; and the 

 court a( Lisbon took immediate cognizance of those 

 which were going on in its colony. It ordained, 

 that, on the discovery of a mine, immediate notice 

 should be given to government ; and that a fifth part 

 of the produce should always be paid into the trea- 

 sury. Other mines were soon discovered ; and the 

 produce was so copious, that the king's fifth amount- 

 ed to 480,000 /. and consequently the whole produce 

 to more than two millions. At this rate, it continued 

 from 1728 to 173t. It then began gradually to di- 

 minish, till the whole produce sunk to 1,030,000 /. 

 and, consequently, the royal fifth to 257,500 /. Be- 

 sides this original tax, however, the government im- 

 posed a duty of 2 per cent, on its conveyance to Eu- 

 rope, which yielded nearly 16,000 /. to which might 

 be added the seignorage on the coinage of gold, a- 

 mounting to nearly 80,000 /. which raised the whole 

 revenue derived from this source to 353,5007. 



This discovery wan, thirty years after, followed by 

 another, still more unexpected. The workmen em- 

 ployed in the mines met often with little shining 

 stones, which they threw away, as useless, with the 

 sand and gravel. One of the overseers began to sus 

 pect that these might be of some value, and trans- 

 mitted a specimen to the governor. They were im- 

 mediately sent to Lisbon ; and that court directed 



d'Aciinha, its ainbas'tador in Holland, to make them Brail. 

 be examined by the jewellers of that country, who * ""v^" 

 were reputed the 1 most skilful of any. After repeat- 

 ed examinations, they wen- pronomici <! to be genuine 

 and valuable tKainondt. As soon as this important 

 intelligence reached Bra/.il, the stone', were imme- 

 diately collected and sent over to Europe in such 

 quantities, as greatly to lower their value. The 

 court of Lisbon, which was exceedingly dissatisfied 

 with this effect, adopted, in order to prevent it, a 

 system of the most rigorous monopoly. They vest- 

 ed the trade in an exclusive company, and even this 

 body they restricted from employing more than six 

 hundred slaves in the employment. This lestriclion 

 was afterwards taken oil", anil its place supplied by 

 a moderate tax on every slave so employed. At 

 length the government, envying the profits of the 

 company, took the trade into its own hand. All re- 

 strictions upon the collection of the diamonds were 

 then removed ; but it was enacted, that every person 

 who found one should deliver it to one of the crown 

 agents at a fixt-d price ; out of which, too, was de- 

 ducted, as in the case of gold, the tax of a fifth. A 

 series of the most rigorous precautions were employ- 

 ed, to prevent unlawful trade and embezzlement, 

 both in the colonists employed in collecting the dia- 

 monds, and in the officers of the crown. 



The whole sum produced to government by the 

 mines of Brasil is, on an average, estimated at 

 ;! 48,500. The diamonds are purchased by British 

 and Dutch lapidaries, who cut and bring them into 

 a state proper for sale. 



After having acquired the entire possession of Bra- Disputes 

 ail, the Portuguese began to form schemes for ex- between 

 tending its boundaries. Their settlements bordering ^fj^ 

 on those of the Spaniards, and both these nations i or tn- 

 bcing ambitious and enterprising, it was to be ex- gucse. 

 pected that limitary disputes should arise between 

 them. The Rio de la Plata early appeared to the 

 Portuguese to form a natural and convenient boun- 

 dary to their territory. Soon after the era of the 

 first discovery of these countries, they had sailed up 

 that river, and occupied its northern bank. They 

 did not, however, form any permanent settlement 

 there ; and as their attention was withdrawn by sub- 

 sequent events, the Spaniards considered that side of 

 the river as annexed to their territory of Buenos 

 Ayres. In 1680, however, the court of Lisbon, re- 

 viving their ancient claim, caused an establishment to 

 be formed at Santo Sacramento, near the mouth of the 

 La Plata. The Spaniards appealed to the authority 

 of the pope, who, happening to be in the interest of 

 the Portuguese, admitted, .indeed, that the original 

 line of demarcation had assigned that district to 

 Spain ; but insisted, that subsequent proceedings had 

 tranferred the right to Portugal. Meantime the 

 Spanish governor of Buenos Ayres adopted a more 

 vigorous method of determining the controversy. He 

 equipped a formidable armament, and, finding no 

 force sufficient to resist him, soon levelled with the 

 ground the walls of the rising colony. The Portu- 

 guese court remonstrated loudly against this pro- 

 ceeding : and being supported by the authority of 

 the pope, obtained an agreement, by which Santo 

 Sacramento was restored to them, and the two na- 

 3 



