i:he DISCOrERY and CO N^ESY 'Book h 
I have taken as much Care as it was poffible to inform 
myfelf fully as to thefe Particulars, and have reprefented 
this whole Tranfaclion to the Reader exactly in the Light 
it appeared to me, and I flatter myfelf it will give him 
as great Satisfaflion as I have felt in writing it ; by fhew- 
ing him how the moft dangerous Miflakes arife from 
Narrownefs of Thinking, how eafily the beft Deflgns of 
the very beft Men may be mifreprefented, and with what 
an Appearance of Wifdom, Difintereftednefs, and public 
Spirit, fuch Meafures may be cloathed, as in reality are 
big with public Ruin. 
After Count Maurice’s' Return, the Government of 
Brazil was put into the Hands of fuch great and able Men 
as the Wejl India Company could confide in ; for that, at 
this Time, was the Phrafe in more Parts of the World 
than one ; and perhaps it will not difpleafe the inquifitive 
Perufer to have a fhort Account of the Illuftrious Per- 
fons who were the Succeffors of the great Count Maurice 
of liaffau, one of the ableft, braveft, and moft worthy 
Men of that Family, fo famous for producing Heroes : 
The Chief of them then were, Mr. Hamel^ a Merchant 
of Amfierda?n Mr. de BaJJis, a Goldfmith of Haerlem \ 
and Mr. Bullefiraat, a Carpenter of Middleburgh \ all 
Men of very good Senfe, and great Fidelity to the Com- 
pany •, whofe Diligence and Activity in its Service, we 
find greatly commended by fome Dutch Writers, who 
certainly meant as honeftly as they did but unfortunately 
for the Service of the Republic, as well as of their Mafters, 
they miftook their Talents, and by wading out of their 
Depth became the Authors of a thoufand Mifehiefs, 
which to be fure they never intended. 
They were bred to Trade, and underftood it thoroughly, 
but this kind of Underftanding did not fo well anfwer the 
Purpofe as a Governor’s. They forced the Portugueze 
that lived under them, to pay what they owed the Com- 
pany in a fhort time •, but by the Methods they took to do 
this they loft their Hearts for ever. They furnifhed thefe 
very Portugueze with Fire-arms and Powder, but they 
fold both very dear •, fo that the Company were great 
Gainers by the Bargain. They fent over to Holland the 
Produce of thofe Lands which Count Maurice had af- 
figned for maintaining the Fortifications, which in the mean 
time ran to ruin. They gave Licences upon very eafy 
Terms to the Soldiers to return home ; which leffened the 
Expence of the Army. In fhort, they brought the whole 
Charges of the Government into a narrower Compafs than 
could be expedfed *, but by doing this they brought the 
Government itfelf into fuch a Degree of Danger, as in- 
vited thofe to rebel, who by this very Management were 
oppreffed in their Perfons, and the Proprietors of moft 
of their Plantations fo intangled by their Debts to the 
Company, that very few of them were worth a Groat. 
A very fober Dutch Writer, who was there upon the Spot, 
tells us. That in 1645 there was a greater Quantity of 
Sugar fent to Holland than at any time before, which he 
attributes to this wife and frugal Adminiftration, and 
which, to fpeak the Truth fairly and in plain Englifih^ 
was not either more or lefs than felling all Dutch Brazil 
for one Year’s Purchafe. 
1 5. The PortuguezeYictxoy at that Time was Don Antonio 
Tellez de Silva^ a Man who feem’d formed by Nature for 
the Execution of that Employment at this Jundlure : Lie 
had great Parts, but greater Prudence ; much Penetration, 
more Sagacity •, but excelled moft in diffembling to Per- 
fedlion. In private Life, and in all common Occurrences, 
a Man of ftrift Honour, humane, eafy of Accefs, fami- 
liar with all forts of People, but without lofing his Dig- 
nity. As foon as he was informed that Count Maurice 
■was gone, and had carried with him two Thirds of the 
Force of Brazil^ he formed a Defign of getting rid of the 
Dutch intirely ; but this he never communicated to his 
Friends, to the Enemy he always denied it. 
He infmuated to the Portugueze that were Subjedls to 
the Dutch, that they were only labouring for Strangers, 
and Strangers of another P.eligion ; whereas they might 
be Mafters of all they now farmed at a high Rent, and en- 
joy good Employments befides, if their King was re- 
ft ored to his juft Rights. Thefe Suggeftions had their 
Effeff, and thofe who heard them could- not avoid being- 
moved by them. i 
But the Perfon who undertook to manage this whole 
Affair was one John Fernandez Viera, a very extraordinary 
Man, and of whom I lhall give a very fhort Account : 
He was originally a Butcher’s Boy, from whence he was 
raifed to the Rank of a Page to one of the Ma- 
giftrates of Olinda, while in the Hands of the Portugueze. 
He became a kind of Fadlor, or Manager for the Dutch, 
and by his Induftry and Art grew exceffively rich, being 
Mafter of four Sugar Plantations, and intrufted with the 
Management of many more. 
He had an excellent Head, laid the Whole of the Con- 
fpiracy himfelf, and fent it over to Portugal hy a Perfbn 
who was not at all acquainted vdth the Defign ; after which 
he fent a Relation of his to Court, with a Letter recom- 
mending him to the King of Portugal, by which he got a 
Troop of Horfe, and afted there as Agent for the Con- 
fpirators. He forefaw that this muft reach the Ears of 
the Dutch ; and when it did lb, he went direbtly to the 
Council, owned the Thing, produced his Letter, and 
offered to give Security for his good Behaviour, which he 
did without much Trouble •, two of the richeft Portugueze 
in the Dutch Territories becoming bound for him, who 
were as deep in the Confpiracy as himfelf. 
It may be juftly wondered that, in fuch Circumftances, 
this was accepted j but the Wonder will ceafewhen it is 
known that he owed the chief Perfons in the Admini- 
ftration upwards of two hundred thoufand Florins, which 
rendered it advifeable for them not to fee him ruined. 
By this adroit Contrivance he moft effedtually fecured his 
Liberty, which he made Ufe of to carry on this great 
Defign with all the Dexterity imaginable ; in which he 
was aflifted by two Perfons, who made a great Figure in 
the Province, Antonio Cavalcante, and Amador Argoufa, 
equally deep in the Management of the Dutch Affairs ; 
and determined, like him, to raife their Fortune upon the 
DeftruClion of thofe who trufted them. 
The Day fixed for the Execution of this Plot was, the 
24th of June, 1645; when one of the Daughters of 
Antonio Cavalcante was to be married, and a great Feaft 
given at theHoufe of Viera, to which moft of the Officers 
and principal Perfons in the Company’s Service were in- 
vited, and where, without doubt, they would have been 
all feized, if not murdered, if the Defign had not been 
difeovered the very Evening before it was executed. A 
Ship that arrived from Amficrdam, brought Letters from 
the Diredlors of the fVeJi India Company •, with an Ac- 
count, that the Minifter from the States General at the 
Court of Portugal had difeovered, that a great Confpiracy 
was carrying on in Brazil ; and that they would do well 
to enquire what Supplies had been lately fent from Lijhon 
to the Portugueze in thofe Parts. 
This Enquiry produced fuch Difeoveries as ftruck the 
Dutch with univerfal Confternation *, which gave Viera 
and his Affociates time to make their Efcape into the 
neighbouring Woods, where they took up Arms. There 
John FernandezViera affumed the Charadler of General and 
Commander in chief, aflifted by Colonel Diaz, with a few 
Portugueze Troops, and Colonel Cameron at the Head of 
a much more numerous Body of Brazilians. With this 
fmall Army he fixed his Head Quarters at Pojug, a Town 
between the Receif and Cape St. AuguJHne ; fo that the 
Dutch had the Misfortune of feeing the War break out, 
not only unexpeftedly, but in the very Heart of their 
Dominions. At the fame time Antonio Cavalcante raifed 
another Part of the Country •, and Amador Aragoufia, at 
the Plead of a flying Party, was burning and deftroying 
all the Dutch Plantations without Mercy. In this dread- 
ful Situation the Council affembled all the Troops they 
could •, and, at the fame time, publifhed a Proclamation, 
whereby they promifed Pardon and Peace to all who 
fliould fubmit and return to their Duty, excepting only 
Viera, Cavalcante, and Aragoufia. The Perfon they made 
Choice of to command their Forces, was Lieutenant- Co- 
lonel Buys, to whom they gave the Title of General ; but 
it would have been better if they could have given him an 
Army, fince the Troops he got together were few in 
Number and very ill provided. 
But befides this, the Council had a mind to negociate, 
. and therefore they fent two Captains, Vandor Voord, and 
Dircb 
