Wrm 



10 



ITAMARACA. 



of which Recife cannot boast. The port of 

 Itamaraca may not admit of vessels of so much 

 burthen as the P090 harbour of Recife, but the 

 former is much more safe even than the Mos- 

 quiero port. If Brazil was to be at war with 

 any naval power, Recife might be destroyed 

 with ease, whereas if a town had been erected 

 upon the main land, opposite to the island, or 

 upon the inside of the island, it could not be 

 molested by shipping, for it would be necessary 

 that a vessel should enter the channel before 

 she could bring her guns to bear. Besides this 

 advantage, Itamaraca and the neighbouring 

 shores of the main land, enjoy those of wood 

 and water in abundance, in the latter of which 

 Recife is particularly deficient. In 1645, Joam 

 Fernandes Vieira, the principal hero of the 

 Pernambucan war, attacked the island, but did 

 not succeed in dislodging the Dutch. * The 

 Portuguese again attempted to regain possession 

 of it in 1646 ; they crossed over at a place 

 called Os Marcos *, which is now a coco- tree- 

 plantation, and a large house is built upon it ; the 

 property belongs to a Portuguese cattle-dealer, 

 who resides chiefly at Iguarac^u. Opposite to 

 Os Marcos is the shallowest part of the channel. 

 The Portuguese did not gain their point en- 

 tirely, " but the Dutch abandoned all their 



* History of Brazil, vol. ii. p. H3. 176. 



