The date at which the first Portuguese settler established himself in Bahia was about 1510. The name of this pioneer was Diogo Alvarez, the sole survivor of a crew wrecked to the north of that beautiful bay. He made himself useful to the natives, and being the fortunate possessor of a musket and some gunpowder, he so impressed their imaginations that they presently made him their chief. After a time, taking advantage of the visit of a French vessel, he was enabled to return to Europe and to initiate a trade between France and the region in which his lot was cast. He likewise desired that his countrymen should colonize the province; but the Portuguese Government were disposed rather to lend assistance towards establishing a trade between their own and distant countries than to encourage agricultural settlements abroad. For this reason, Brazil, which, from the nature of its population, offered but scanty inducements to traders, was neglected for many years after its discovery. At length, however, it became of sufficient importance to attract attention, and the system was adopted, which had succeeded in other Portuguese settlements, of apportioning it out into captaincies, extending, as a rule, each for fifty leagues along the coast.
The first person who took possession of one of these captaincies was Martim Affonso de Sousa, afterwards governor of the Portuguese possessions in India, and who had the distinction of carrying St. Francis Xavier to the East. He has the honour of having discovered the bay on which was to rise the future capital of Brazil, and which, under the belief that it was the estuary of a river, he named Rio de Janeiro, having discovered it on the first of January.
Having surveyed the coast southward to the Plata, he selected as a spot for a settlement an island in the twenty-fourth degree of southern latitude, and was fortunate enough to conciliate the good-will of the neighbouring population through the medium of a ship-wrecked Portuguese sailor whom he found amongst them. This colony soon removed to the island of S. Vicente, from which the captaincy was named. Here Martim Affonso introduced the sugar-cane, and reared the first cattle known to that region.
Amongst the other captaincies founded about this period were those of S. Amaro, which adjoined S. Vicente, and Espirito Santo to the north. Next came the captaincy of Porto Seguro, where Cabral had landed on first taking possession of Brazil. Here sugar-works were established with considerable success. Beyond came the captaincy of the Ilheos or Isles, so called from a river with three islands near its bar. The town of old S. Paulo was soon afterwards founded.
The coast from the San Francisco river to the point of Padram de Bahia was granted to Francisco Coutinho, a distinguished Fidalgo, to whom was likewise assigned that beautiful bay with its surrounding creeks and hundred islands. It may be mentioned, as showing the mixture of Portuguese and native blood which from the earliest settlement existed in the Brazilian race, that two of Coutinho’s followers married daughters of the first Portuguese settler, Diogo Alvarez, the mothers of whom were native women. A son of one of the neighbouring chiefs having been killed by the Portuguese, the savages attacked Coutinho, and after seven years of hostilities compelled him to abandon his settlement and retreat to the adjoining captaincy of the Isles. He was afterwards treacherously slain.
One other captaincy was established about this time—that of Pernambuco, the chief town of which, from its lovely situation, received the suggestive name of Olinda. The tribe occupying the vicinity were called Cahetes, and have handed down to this day the remarkable wicker-work catamarans, which those who have landed at Pernambuco are not likely to forget. From this savage tribe, Coelho, to whom the grant was assigned, had to conquer by inches what had been granted to him by leagues; he was even attacked and besieged in his town. By degrees, however, and by the aid of an alliance with another tribe, he at length established himself in his captaincy.
The captaincy of Maraham was assigned to John de Barros, the historian, who, dividing his grant with two others, undertook a scheme of conquest as well as of colonization, sending out from Portugal an expedition of nine hundred men. Fortune, however, did not smile upon the enterprise. The fleet was wrecked on some shoals, and the survivors escaped to the island which bears the above-mentioned name.
It does not lie within the compass of this work to go into the condition of the native tribes in any part of South America previously to the arrival of the Spaniards and Portuguese. It will be sufficient to indicate the materials, whether European, native, mixed, or African, of which the several States of South America were composed at the period of their declaring themselves independent of Spain and Portugal, respectively. We therefore pass over much that is interesting, as told by the early writers, of the condition of the tribes as they were found by the settlers in Brazil, a résumé of which may be found in the pages of Southey. There is not much of an active nature to relate in the history of the several captaincies at this period beyond a tale of successive little wars, in which the Portuguese were for the most part allied with some one native tribe against another.
It was not until the lapse of half a century after the discovery of Brazil that the Portuguese possessions in that region came to be looked upon as being of real importance to the mother country. It then began to be perceived that the system of having so many captaincies or separate governments, under no supreme authority nearer than Lisbon, was one likely to be productive of considerable inconvenience and confusion. The lives and property of the colonists were at the mercy of the several governors, and serious complaints of this state of things reached the king of Portugal. It was resolved, therefore, to revoke the powers of the captains, whilst leaving them their grants, and to appoint over them a governor-general. The person chosen for this high office was De Sousa, who was instructed to establish himself at Bahia, which place he was to put into a state of defence against all enemies. He took with him the great Nobrega and some other Jesuit Fathers, the first of their order who proceeded to South America. A new town was now built at Bahia. A hundred houses arose within four months, and De Sousa’s fleet was followed at no great distance of time by another, bearing a number of maidens of noble family, who were to be given in marriage to the officers and to receive dowries from the royal property. Young orphans were likewise sent out year by year to be educated by the Jesuits, who at once began the system of beneficence towards the natives from which they never deviated; but they could not here, as they had done elsewhere, engraft the principles of Christianity upon the existing religion and manners of the country. It was impossible to come to any compromise with cannibalism, and almost impossible to wean the natives from this custom. The Jesuits, however, persevered in the face of all difficulties; they built churches; they established schools for children; they taught these to read and to write; and they made themselves acquainted with the native tongues, into which they translated the prayers of the Church. They had considerable difficulties, however, to encounter in reconciling their teaching with the practice of their fellow-countrymen; for it must be remembered that, during the half century that elapsed between the discovery of Brazil and the arrival of the Fathers, the colonists had been without religious guides. In one respect the Jesuits’ work was easy. The youthful Brazilians showed themselves passionately fond of music, and were in this branch of education eager and apt pupils.
The number of Jesuits soon increased, and in the year 1552 Nobrega received the title of Vice-Provincial of Brazil. Two years later that government became the seat of a bishop, to whose arrival Nobrega anxiously looked forward for support against the easy-going priests, who, far from being imbued with the zeal of the Jesuits, connived at their countrymen enslaving the Brazilians and making their women their concubines. A Jesuit College was established in the plains of Riatininga, about thirteen leagues from S. Vicente, to which thirteen of the company were sent, and which received the name of S. Paulo, a name shared by the town which arose adjoining it. The chief of this establishment, the celebrated Anchieta, devoted himself by day and by night to the instruction of the numerous pupils who came to him from the neighbouring settlements, whilst at the same time he did his best to acquaint them with the arts of civilization.
From the time of the discovery of Brazil the French had occasionally visited that coast, and about the year 1558 they attempted to establish themselves at Rio de Janeiro under Villegagnon, the same who had conveyed Mary Queen of Scots from Scotland to Brittany, eluding the vigilance of the English. He had obtained the permission of his sovereign to undertake an expedition to America, having given his assurances to Coligny that he would protect Protestants in the new colony. He received two large vessels and a store-ship, together with all that was necessary for the furtherance of his project. Being well received by the natives at Rio de Janeiro, who were hostile to the Portuguese, he took up his position on an island in the noble bay, not far from the entrance. Here he erected a small fortification, to which he gave the name of Coligny; in choosing a spot for a settlement, however, he had overlooked one great disadvantage, the absence of water. His expedition had been badly provided with stores; in consequence, his men were immediately on their arrival made to subsist upon the food of the country, and the result was a conspiracy against him. It was, however, thwarted by the fidelity of three Scotchmen whom Villegagnon reserved as his guard. Coligny was indefatigable in supplying the wants of the colony, but he had been deceived by Villegagnon’s protestations of zeal for the reformed religion, which had been feigned for the purpose of gaining the admiral’s influence. In Brazil he threw off the mask, and those who had joined his settlement for the sake of liberty of conscience found themselves even worse off than they had been in France.
The Portuguese permitted the French colony to remain for four years unmolested, and had it not been for the treachery and double-dealing of Villegagnon, Rio de Janeiro might have remained a permanent French settlement. Some ten thousand Huguenots were ready to emigrate, with their arts, had they been sure of meeting with toleration; but the governor’s arbitrary proceedings ruined the project. The court of Lisbon was at length aroused by Nobrega to the dangerous rivalry of the French, and orders were issued to destroy their fortifications at Rio de Janeiro, two ships of war and a number of merchantmen being fitted out for the purpose. Two days and nights were expended in battering the fortresses. The Portuguese, after much waste of their resources, at length succeeded in carrying the largest of the outworks, and likewise the rock on which the magazine was situated. During the ensuing night the French and their native allies fled, either to the ships or to the mainland. The Portuguese, not being in sufficient strength to enable them to retain the island, demolished the works, and sailed for Santos, carrying off the artillery and stores. The credit of this successful expedition is entirely due to the indefatigable Nobrega.
During this decisive affair Villegagnon was absent in France, where he proposed to raise a fleet for the purpose of destroying the Portuguese settlements in Brazil; but his previous treachery stood in the way of his effecting his purpose.
The history of the early Portuguese in Brazil is in some respects far more satisfactory, if it be less exciting, than that of the Spaniards in Peru. They were there for the legitimate purpose of colonizing and cultivating a portion of a vast region where there was ample room at the same time for them and for the tribes in their neighbourhood; and if the colonists, on the one hand, were ever ready to enslave the natives, the Churchmen who followed in their wake were, on the other hand, as ready to denounce the practice, and to sow the seeds of real Christianity amongst the savages. The foremost name in the records of this good work is that of Nobrega, than whom a more sincere, self-denying, and enlightened missionary was never sent forth by any branch of the Christian Church.
The Jesuits in Brazil began their efforts where all missionary efforts that are to succeed must begin, with children. Their unprejudiced minds were open to teaching, and they were at an age to acquire the Portuguese language, and thus to become interpreters for the Fathers. The sick were visited, and the death-bed was soothed. Nobrega and his companions commenced their work with the tribes near San Salvador or Bahia. These they tried their best to persuade to live in peace and to be reconciled to their enemies. It may seem to us somewhat strange that while the Fathers are recorded to have succeeded in inducing their converts to abstain from excessive drinking, and to take to one wife alone, they should still have found it impossible to induce them to abandon the supreme luxury of feeding on the flesh of their enemies. In one instance a missionary is said to have succeeded where others failed, by flagellating himself before the doors of the cannibals until he was covered with blood, telling them that he thus punished himself to avert the punishment of God upon them for their sins.
Being aided by a zealous governor in the person of Mem de Sa, the Jesuits carried on their labours with considerable success, forming a number of settlements of converted natives. But the character of their progress was not unvaried. They had to contend with hostilities, which, though originating in the proceedings of their countrymen, and in nowise in their own conduct, still recoiled upon them. The small-pox, too, which spread from island to coast, is said, though perhaps with some exaggeration, to have carried off thirty thousand of the Indians who had been their converts.
In the face of these disasters, Nobrega proclaimed aloud that the Portuguese were but suffering the righteous judgment of Heaven. They had broken treaties; they had enslaved prisoners; they had connived at cannibalism on the part of their allies. He was no mere eloquent declaimer. His words were followed by the most signal and heroic proof that they came from his innermost soul. He himself, with his colleague Anchieta, resolved to put themselves into the hands of the natives in order to obtain peace; and it speaks volumes for the character of the Fathers that, in the face of Portuguese treachery, the habit of their order was a safe passport amongst the savages.
It is true that twelve native youths were sent to S. Vicente as hostages; but in face of the excitement and prejudice which prevailed, it is probable that the two Fathers, who really deserved the name of holy men, owed their safety, and what they valued infinitely more, the success of their mission, rather to their own saintly and irreproachable conduct than to the guarantee of hostages. They nobly refused to accept peace on the condition of recommending their governor to give up three native chiefs who had allied themselves with the Portuguese, and who had accepted Christianity: their countrymen’s first duty, they said, was to keep faith inviolate, and if they should betray their allies, how could they now be trusted? The reply of the chief with whom they parleyed was, that if the Portuguese should decline to give up these men whom, according to their code of honour, it was incumbent they should receive, there should be no peace. A reference to the governor was agreed upon on both sides; but Nobrega, with a patriotic spirit which recalls that of the Roman Regulus, warned him emphatically against concluding peace on disgraceful terms under the apprehension of what might befall himself and his colleague. For two months the missionaries remained in this position. At the end of that time Nobrega was permitted to return, to consult with the governor, whilst Anchieta remained as a hostage; but after three months thus passed by the latter, he too for the time failed to win the crown of martyrdom; and a reconciliation was effected, chiefly through the efforts of Nobrega.
The small-pox about this period seems to have produced enormous havoc in certain of the Portuguese settlements in Brazil, where some three-fourths of the natives were carried away by it, or by the pestilence which followed in its wake. Six of the settlements which had been founded by the Jesuits had to be abandoned; and the Portuguese, we are told, profiting by the misery of their neighbours, gave food in exchange for slaves. Certain starving individuals sold their own persons, whilst others parted with their children. But although the lawfulness of these purchases was not questioned, the consciences of the purchasers were somewhat ill-at-ease in the matter. They, it seems, really thought it unfair and unchristian-like to claim men as their slaves, over whom they had no other right save that acquired by giving them food to save their lives. Yet they were unwilling to let them go free, if for no other reason than that their souls would be no longer in the way of salvation. In this dilemma a compromise was hit upon between God and Mammon; the slaves were told they were no longer slaves; but still, that they must continue to serve their possessors for life, to receive yearly wages. Should they escape, they would be pursued and punished; but the masters were not to sell or otherwise part with them.
The Portuguese Government were not satisfied that the possession of Villegagnon’s island at Rio de Janeiro should not have been retained; and a good opportunity of regaining it seemed to offer on the peace with the Tamoyos, which had been procured by Nobrega and his companion. Accordingly, the nephew of the Portuguese governor was sent to Bahia with two vessels, and with orders for his uncle to supply him with the force requisite for this purpose. Estacio de Sa reached his destination in February 1564, and in accordance with the advice of his uncle, before commencing operations, summoned Nobrega to his councils. They learned from a Frenchman that the tribe of Tamoyos had already broken the recent peace, and were the allies of his countrymen. This unexpected news completely upset the plans of the Portuguese commander, for the French vessels were protected by the Tamoyos at every point where an attack was possible. They declined to put out to sea, and, for want of small craft, he could not attack them at close quarters. Under these circumstances, and having learned that S. Vicente was beset by the savages, he thought it prudent to proceed to the latter place; he was, however, driven back by a storm to Rio de Janeiro.
It was now resolved by Estacio de Sa, in consultation with Nobrega, to proceed to Santos, where they found to their relief that those natives with whom the latter had been a hostage remained true to their engagements; and his presence and influence materially contributed to strengthen the force. These preparations, however, consumed the remainder of the year, and it was not until the following January (1565) that the expedition, consisting of six ships of war with a proportionate number of smaller craft, was ready to put to sea. But so unfavourable were the winds that, although they sailed from Bertioga on the 20th of January, it was the beginning of March when they reached Rio de Janeiro.
The troops were landed at Villa Velha, beneath the “Sugar Loaf.” Hardly had they intrenched themselves when they were attacked by the Tamoyos, who, however, were routed. The war was carried on with dilatoriness, a quality which has not unfrequently distinguished the military operations of Portugal and of Brazil. More than a year was wasted in petty skirmishes; at the end of this time the governor, Mem de Sa, appeared in person on the scene, exactly two years after the expedition had sailed from S. Vicente. On St. Sebastian’s day the French stronghold was assaulted: not one of their native allies escaped; two Frenchmen were killed, and five, who were made prisoners, were hanged. The victors then proceeded to another fortress of the enemy on Cat Island. After a bombardment this too was carried, but in the assault Estacio de Sa received a mortal wound. Most of the French escaped, and having with their allies been totally defeated, sailed in their four vessels to the province of Pernambuco, where they took possession of Recife. They were, however, attacked by the Portuguese governor of Olinda, and were compelled again to have recourse to their ships. Thus was Rio de Janeiro finally lost to the French. Those of the sons of France who should have formed the enduring colony marked out by Coligny were, through the treachery of Villegagnon, employed in bearing arms against their countrymen in France.
According to his instructions, the governor’s first act was to lay the foundations of a city, which, in honour of the Portuguese monarch and of the saint on whose day the victory had been won, was called S. Sebastian. The fortifications commanding the entrance to the harbour were completed by the natives, under the eye of the Jesuits, without any cost to the state; and it was but fair that the company should have assigned to it the space within the city for a college, together with a donation sufficient for the support of fifty brethren.
The French soon afterwards made an attempt to establish themselves at Paraïba, where for some time they carried on a profitable trade, and where they became allied with the natives; but they were not more successful in maintaining themselves here than they had been at Rio de Janeiro, and Paraïba too became a Portuguese settlement.
The Order of the Jesuits was at this time all-powerful in Brazil, where they had indeed rendered great services to the crown as well as to the Church; and a fresh accession to their strength was despatched with the new governor, Luiz de Vasconcellos, who, in 1570, was appointed to relieve Mem de Sa. The reinforcement which he brought with him was headed by Azevedo, who was appointed Provincial. Nine and thirty brethren embarked with Azevedo in the “St. Iago,” half of which vessel was freighted for them, the other half bearing cargo for the island of Palma in the Canaries. The vessel had halted at Madeira, and as the passage to Palma was considered to be dangerous on account of French pirates, Azevedo was entreated not to expose himself unnecessarily. For himself he declined to take the advice given him, but he permitted his comrades to exchange into another vessel. Only four novices, whose places were quickly supplied by others, thought fit to do so; for the rest, the near probability of the crown of martyrdom had an irresistible charm. On the day after their departure five French ships appeared. Vasconcellos at once put to sea; but the Frenchmen declined action, and stood off towards the Canaries. The squadron was from La Rochelle, and was commanded by a Huguenot. After seven days, Azevedo reached the island of Palma, at three leagues’ distance from the town, to which he was urged to proceed by land. The advice was disregarded, with the result that, when he and his friends were off Palma, the French appeared in sight. The Portuguese mariners made unavailing resistance, and one alone of the Jesuits, being in lay costume, escaped the death which for them had not only no terror, but seemed to be an object of desire.
This catastrophe has been quoted with unlimited admiration, and the martyrs have received all due posthumous honour; but if we look at the circumstances from any point of view save that of a fanatic, our admiration must be considerably qualified. Azevedo and his companions were doubtless brave men; but they had been educated and sent out from their country with the express purpose of converting the heathen; and it was surely not their duty in any sense wantonly and recklessly to go out of their way to seek premature death. If the crown of martyrdom was so dear to them—if, in the language of certain writers, they were swallowed up by other-worldliness—the prize might surely have been gained more honourably amongst the savages of Brazil than at the hands of French corsairs. Of the eight-and-thirty foolhardy men whose blood so uselessly stained the waters of Palma, one might have proved a second Nobrega. To an unprejudiced person it seems that, so far from acting for “the greater glory of God” by provoking wholesale massacre, they were deliberately doing the contrary, since they were thus cutting themselves off from a sphere of vast usefulness. Nor can we greatly blame the commander of the French squadron for his conduct on the occasion. It was but one scene in a fierce religious war, in which the priests, not the Huguenots, were the aggressors.
Vasconcellos set sail with the remainder of his fleet. When, after a long and miserable voyage, he sighted the coast of Brazil, his vessels were driven far to the north and were dispersed. At length his followers were so reduced in numbers that one vessel might contain them all; yet not even this one vessel was destined to reach its destination in safety. It was attacked by a French squadron, and, after a hopeless resistance, the governor fell; whilst fourteen remaining Jesuits shared the fate of the martyrs of Palma. Of sixty-nine Jesuit missionaries who had set out with Azevedo, one alone reached Brazil.
The conspirators who had assassinated Pizarro succeeded in securing possession of Lima, and their next step was at once to send to the different cities proclaiming the revolution and claiming the recognition of the son of Almagro as governor of Peru. At Truxillo and Arequipa, where it was emphasized by the presence of a military force, the summons was obeyed; but in other cities it was received with merely nominal assent, whilst in some it was disregarded. At Cuzco, where the Almagro faction prevailed, the dissenting magistrates were summarily ejected from office; but they were soon after reinstated by means of a neighbouring military force commanded by one of Pizarro’s captains. The conspirators had most to dread from the Licentiate Vaca de Castro, whose commission to assume the post of governor in case of the death of Pizarro had now come into force. De Castro was still in the north, but on being advised of Pizarro’s death he quickened his steps southwards. He was in a difficult position, having a very imperfect acquaintance with the political state of the country, and he was neither a soldier himself nor supported by a military force. He was, however, a man of courage, and had confidence in his own resources, besides relying on the habitual loyalty of Spaniards to the crown.
Without delay, therefore, he pursued his march towards Quito, where he was well received by the officer who had charge of that place during the absence of Gonzalo Pizarro on the Amazons. At Quito he displayed the royal commission empowering him to assume the government, and thence he sent emissaries to the principal places requiring obedience to himself as the representative of the crown. But meanwhile the faction of the young Almagro was gaining strength at Lima. His forces were commanded by Rada, who obtained the necessary funds for preparing his soldiers for service. Such of Pizarro’s followers as declined to be reconciled to the ruling faction were permitted to depart from Lima, amongst these being the Bishop Valverde, who, however, almost immediately afterwards fell into the hands of the hostile natives of Puná, from whom he received the violent death which was in harmony with the lawless scenes in which he had taken part. As the young Almagro’s power was founded solely on usurpation, it was of course a mere trial of strength between his rebel bands and such loyal forces as might rally round the governor. His policy was to defeat these in detail before they had time to effect a junction under De Castro. He, however, sustained a severe loss in the death from fever of his Lieutenant, Rada, which occasioned an ill-timed jealousy between his next principal officers, and which thwarted his well-conceived plans. The result was that the two chief bodies of the opposite faction succeeded in effecting a junction, and he was compelled to fall back on Cuzco, in which city he found no opposition.
At Cuzco, however, the rivalry of his two chief officers again broke out, with the result that they were each in turn assassinated. Almagro then lost no time in providing for his men against the inevitable approaching campaign; in which effort he was aided by the Inca Manco, whose friendship was probably heightened by the circumstance that Almagro’s mother was a Peruvian princess. The Inca likewise promised to support him with a detachment of native troops. Before the final appeal to arms, however, each side was willing to try the effect of negotiation, each being aware that the result of the struggle was doubtful. The governor was prepared to grant Almagro pardon, in consideration of his youth and inexperience, provided that he should give up the leaders of the conspiracy who had taken part in the death of Pizarro. To this proposition Almagro could not with honour assent, and nothing was left but to await the ordeal of battle. Meanwhile De Castro continued to advance southwards, and was well received at S. Miguel and Truxillo. It was not till the early part of 1542 that he reached the scene where the contest was to be decided, and where he showed remarkable skill in asserting his own supreme authority, notwithstanding the pretensions of the two ambitious officers who commanded the royal troops, and each of whom aspired to the chief military authority. Having entered Lima, he was received with demonstrations of joy, and obtained the necessary funds for the prosecution of his enterprise.
The contest was decided on the plains of Xauxa, where the governor’s forces amounted to no more than seven hundred men, being more or less equally matched by those of the enemy. It was late in the afternoon of the 16th September when the hostile forces met. The combat was terrible, for quarter was neither asked for nor given. Night had fallen on the combatants long before the struggle was decided; but the victory at length declared itself in favour of the royalists. From three to five hundred—an enormous proportion—are said to have fallen on either side, and at least one-half of the survivors of Almagro’s party were made prisoners. Their young commander, who had performed prodigies of valour, escaped unhurt to Cuzco, where, however, he was at once arrested, and where, having been tried by a council of war, he soon shared the fate which had befallen his father, meeting his death with the utmost courage.
The governor’s next care was called for by the proceedings of Gonzalo Pizarro, who had arrived at Lima, where he loudly complained that the government of the country had not been placed in his hands on his brother’s death. It was reported that he now meditated seizing the capital; but against this De Castro took the prudent precaution of detaching a force in that direction, whilst at the same time he required Pizarro’s presence at Cuzco. Such was his tact and conciliatory demeanour that the aggrieved chief found no opportunity for quarrelling, and he thought it prudent to comply with the governor’s advice that he should retire to his possessions in La Plata, where he occupied himself to some purpose in working its mines of silver.
The authority of the crown being thus fully re-established, there was no lack of subjects to occupy the governor’s attention. As was natural, many of the cavaliers who had assisted him in the struggle now demanded their reward. He was happy to rid himself of their importunities by sending them on distant expeditions, some being in the direction of the Rio de la Plata. But his chief concern was to establish laws for the better government of the colony. He did not neglect the Indian population, and established schools for Christian education. He invited the natives to reside within the Spanish communities, and required the caciques to provide supplies for the wayside houses for travellers, thus facilitating intercourse and removing pretexts for plundering. He braved considerable odium by reducing the proportions of the repartimientos of Indians amongst the conquerors; but as his measures were manifestly dictated by motives of justice, he was supported by the general opinion of the community. Indeed, Vaca de Castro stands out in most pleasing contrast to the military adventurers by whom he had been preceded in Peru. With the disadvantage of being a civilian, unused to arms or to military command, and being, further, on his arrival without funds or troops, with the country before him in a state of anarchy, he yet never quailed or shrank from his duty. He displayed not only the tact and conciliatory disposition which might have been expected from the circumstances of his selection, but further, high moral and personal courage; and whilst he spared no pains to secure the interests of his government and of his countrymen beneath his rule, it was his especial honour to make the professions of his superiors in favour of the natives not merely a declaration in words, but a reality in deed.
The spoils of the Peruvian empire, which had been so easily won by a mere handful of Spaniards, were as easily dissipated in riotous living. The provident arrangements of the Incas on behalf of their subjects were suffered to fall into decay. The granaries were emptied; the flocks of llamas were wantonly slaughtered; whilst the lives of the Indians themselves were held so cheap that they were not only systematically worked beyond their strength until they died, but were even occasionally hunted by blood-hounds for the mere amusement of their conquerors. It is almost unnecessary to add that for the young women of the country, from the Virgins of the Sun downwards, there was no protection whatsoever. The poor natives, destitute of food, and no longer warmed by the produce of the fleece of the llama, wandered naked over the plains.
Yet fortunately there were not wanting in the colonies men who from time to time raised their voices against the abuses and enormities of which their countrymen were guilty, and made themselves heard even at the foot of the throne. Nor must it be supposed that the enormities which have been alluded to were in any way sanctioned by the emperor. It must be remembered that the Spanish possessions in the New World were at an immense distance from home, and that in those days the means of communication were slow and irregular. It would therefore no more be fair to charge upon the Spanish crown the responsibility for encouraging or approving the caprices or pastimes of a set probably of the greatest ruffians in the emperor’s dominions, than it would have been, in the days before communication by steam and telegraph, to hold Her Majesty’s Government responsible for the deeds of certain of Her subjects who were early settlers in South Africa or Australia. The Government of Spain was ever desirous to obtain information respecting the state of their transatlantic dominions, and for this end relied not only on the regular colonial officers of the crown, but from time to time deputed special commissioners for the purpose of making inquiries. Yet even when impartial inquiries were made and full reports written, all was not done; for the Spanish Government was essentially a personal one, and the emperor was very frequently absent from that kingdom.
Fortunately, however, for the credit of his reign and for the existence of his transatlantic subjects, he visited his ancestral dominions in the Peninsula in the year 1542, when the condition of the colonies was strongly pressed upon his conscience. In the same year a council of jurists and theologians was convened at Valladolid to devise a system of laws for the American colonies. Las Casas, who had emerged from his cell, appeared before it, when he powerfully pleaded the cause of the oppressed. He showed that, putting aside natural rights, unless the Government should interfere, the native races must be gradually exterminated by the systematic oppression of the Spaniards, and he maintained that it was against the will of God to inflict evil on the plea that good might come of it. His arguments, as might be expected, were met by much opposition, some even of those who sympathized with him deeming that his views were Utopian and impracticable. His eloquence, however, dictated by the best of motives and based upon the foundation of facts, in the end prevailed, and the result was a code of ordinances for all the American colonies, some provisions of which had immediate reference to Peru.
The natives of Peru were declared vassals of the crown, and their freedom as such was recognised; yet those of the conquerors who might have become lawfully possessed of slaves might still retain them, though at the death of their present proprietors they were to revert to the crown. All slaves, however, should be forfeited by those who had shown themselves, by neglect or ill-usage, unworthy to hold them. Those likewise were to be free who were held by public functionaries, present or past, by ecclesiastics and religious corporations, and by all who had taken a criminal part in the feuds of Almagro and Pizarro. It was further ordered that the Indians should be moderately taxed; that they should not be compelled to labour where they did not choose to, or that, if this were necessary, they should receive fair compensation. The repartimientos of land which were excessive should be reduced; and where proprietors had notoriously been guilty of abuse of their slaves, their estates were to be forfeited.
Taking into consideration the past troubles in Peru, and the necessity for the crown being adequately represented there, it was resolved to send a Viceroy to rule over that province. He was to be accompanied by a royal audience, consisting of four judges, who should constitute a council to the Viceroy, whose residence was to be at Lima. But it was not foreseen that this sweeping legislation, which struck at the very foundations of colonial society and property, might not be quietly acquiesced in by the colonists. It raised, in point of fact, one of those sudden storms which we have in our own time seen more than once break over our Indian Empire on the announcement of some legislative measure affecting the relations between Anglo-Indians and Asiatics which was not to the taste of the former, and its results were such as fortunately we have been so far spared in our own experience. When the tidings reached the New World men were astounded, and saw before them only the prospect of uncertainty or ruin. In Peru in particular scarcely one single person could escape being involved in the provisions of some clauses of the new laws, if for no other reason than that the whole Spanish population had on the one side or on the other taken part in the struggle for mastery between the factions of Pizarro and Almagro. The whole country was thrown into confusion; and loud were the denunciations against the Government which had thus deprived at one stroke the freebooters of so much of their ill-gotten spoil.
Nor did they stop at reproaches. There was but one step to menace. The colonists had won their possessions with their swords, and they now declared that by the same means they knew how to retain them. The governor, Vaca de Castro, who had so admirably acquitted himself of his duties hitherto, was now indeed placed in a trying situation. He was at Cuzco, in the midst of a mixed population, and separated from Lima and from the sea. He was appealed to by the colonists to protect them against the tyranny of the court; but he did his best to dissuade them from violent measures, prudently suggesting that they should send deputies to lay their pleas respectfully before the crown. In his present trying position, as in his previous conduct, he proved himself an able and judicious man; but it was beyond his power to allay the storm that had been raised, even although he suggested that the Viceroy on his arrival might take it upon himself to postpone the execution of the ordinances until after the receipt of further advices from Castile.
Such being the state of things, the discontented Peruvian colonists not unnaturally turned their attention to Gonzalo Pizarro, the representative of the conqueror under whose banner the country had been won. Gonzalo was at this time at Charcas, the modern Chuquisaca, and was busily engaged in exploring the silver mines of Potosí. He was not discontented at the turn which things had taken, but was sufficiently prudent to provide the means of warfare before rushing into action; and while he did not discourage the malcontents, he was careful not to commit himself. In the latter course he was confirmed by letters from Vaca de Castro, whose prudent measures served at least to lull for a time the troubled waters.
The new Viceroy at length arrived. Blasco Nuñez Vela was a handsome cavalier of the years of discretion; but unfortunately he proved wholly unequal to cope with the difficult situation before him. It was not owing to any disapproval of the measures or proceedings of Vaca de Castro that that officer now found himself superseded; but intelligence of events travelled so slowly that the full success of his policy was not at once apparent, and the Government of Spain thought they were acting for the best in sending out as Viceroy a person unconnected with the events that had passed. The Emperor at the same time wrote an autograph letter to the ex-governor, in which he thanked him for his services, and directed him, after having given his successor the benefit of his experience, to return homewards to sit in the royal council.
In January 1544 the Viceroy reached the Isthmus. Finding at Nombre de Dios a vessel laden with silver from Peru, and which was about to depart for Spain, he lost no time in putting his new edict into execution by laying an embargo on the ship as containing the product of slave labour. He then crossed to Panamá, where he caused some three hundred Peruvians to be liberated and sent back to their own country. This proceeding, dictated though it was by a desire to put the new laws into execution without a moment’s delay, was obviously calculated to unsettle the colonial society to the last degree; nor would the Viceroy listen to remonstrances on the subject even from the most experienced persons. All this augured badly for the prospect of peace, and the Viceroy’s progress to the seat of his government only brought matters from worse to worse. On the 4th of March he arrived at Tumbez, where his authority was proclaimed, the inhabitants being overawed by the magnificence of his surroundings. Still continuing to exhibit the policy which he had been sent out to initiate, and which with Castilian pride he disdained to veil, he here liberated a number of Peruvian slaves. From Tumbez he proceeded by land towards the south, causing his baggage to be carried by mules when practicable, or, if the services of Peruvians were necessary for this purpose, he took care that they should be duly paid.
It is not surprising that the whole country should have been thrown into a state of consternation by the proceedings of the Viceroy. “Indignation” meetings were called in the cities; and it was even urged that the gates of Lima should be closed against him, a course of proceeding which was obviated by the remonstrances of Vaca de Castro. The colonists now more than ever turned towards Gonzalo Pizarro, who was, as time passed, ever in a better position to assume a leading part. That chief had indeed much to render him discontented. His brother, the first governor, had been assassinated at his post, and two others of the five brethren had met a violent death in Peru. The fourth brother, Hernando, was now a prisoner in Spain; whilst the new ordinances sacrificed Gonzalo’s own position, since he had taken a leading part against Almagro. From the previous proceeding of the Viceroy, since the moment of his arrival on American soil, it was evident that he was a man who marched straight towards the end he had in view, and that he would no more spare Pizarro than he would any other of the offending conquerors.
The unfortunate Gonzalo, who had so much to lose, and who had so relentless a judge, was thus almost forced into rebellion. With a small number of cavaliers, and well provided with silver, he repaired to Cuzco, where he was saluted as the spokesman of Peru. The title of Procurator-General was confirmed to him by the municipality, and he was invited to proceed at the head of a deputation to Lima to lay the colonial grievances before the Viceroy. Pizarro, however, aimed at playing more than a subordinate part. He demanded permission to raise an armed force, in order that he might thus be in a position to urge his views with greater weight. The municipality of Cuzco at first hesitated, but at length consented, and Gonzalo had conferred upon him the title of Captain-General.
The Viceroy, as was to be anticipated, met with but a cold reception at Lima, as he had along the route thither from the coast. At the capital his first act was again to proclaim his determination to carry out the new royal ordinances. He had no warrant to suspend their execution, but he would join the colonists in a memorial to the Emperor asking the repeal of a code in the advisability of which he no longer believed. At this juncture Blasco Nuñez, however high may have been his intentions and however good his principles, showed himself to be a man unfitted for holding the extremely responsible position in which he was placed. All right-minded persons will agree with him in the abstract justice of the ordinances which he had been commanded to enforce; and we may still further allow him time to arrive at the conclusion that the state of things being such as it was, it was not expedient to carry the new ordinances forthwith into application. Under these circumstances, a great man, placed in the position of Viceroy, would certainly have taken it upon himself to suspend the execution of the ordinances pending a reference to the imperial authority: to act as did the Viceroy was to give the moral weight of his judgment to the colonists, and to withdraw it from the crown, whose representative he was.
As might have been expected, there was much murmuring at Lima, and much communication was held between the different towns. Yet the Viceroy never dreamed of flinching from his course, and even when informed of the preparations of Gonzalo Pizarro, calmly relying on his authority, sent him orders to disband his forces. The latter, however, continued busily engaged in gathering together his army. He spared no efforts to procure men and materials, employing natives both for forced labour and for tributary levies. He not only expended his own resources, but acting, as he said, in the public interest, did not scruple to appropriate the funds in the royal treasury of Cuzco. By these means he found himself at the head of a well-equipped force; but he was at the same time disheartened by the desertion of some cavaliers of Cuzco, who at the eleventh hour seemed to realize that they were on the path of rebellion. At the same time he received intelligence of the assassination of the Inca Manco, who, in the coming struggle, might have played the part of umpire.
The Viceroy now at length began to realize the gravity of his situation. One after another of the officers whom he had despatched to arrest Pizarro’s progress augmented the forces of that leader. Being thus betrayed, he is not perhaps to be very much blamed if he now suspected every one around him; but he should have acted on better grounds than mere suspicion before he gave orders for the arrest of his predecessor, Vaca de Castro. He had now recourse to negotiation, and despatched the bishop of Lima to Gonzalo’s camp. This measure not meeting with success, the Viceroy prepared for war. He put the capital in a state of defence, and gave orders for a general enrolment of the citizens. In the meantime the judges of Audience, who had been left behind, arrived at Lima. They had not given their consent to his action in Panamá, and on arriving at the capital they recorded their disapproval of his subsequent proceedings in every particular,—going even to the length of discharging many persons who had been placed in prison by his orders. Thus was the government no less in disagreement with its own component parts than it was with the country under its rule.
What brought things to a climax was the violence of the Viceroy himself. He had summoned to his palace late at night a cavalier of Lima, named Carbajal, whom he suspected of conniving at the treason of certain of his relatives. This imputation the cavalier indignantly repelled, and high words ensued; the Viceroy struck him with his dagger, and the attendants rushed in and despatched him. It was an unpremeditated outburst and was quickly repented of; but no repentance could ward off the detestation which it drew down upon the Viceroy. It was clear enough that the people needed some other protector than the head of the government, for none knew who might be the next victim to his temper. Some were for trusting for protection to the Audience; but most men were inclined to place themselves under Gonzalo Pizarro, who was now slowly advancing towards Lima. The Viceroy felt the bitter consequences of the position to which his rashness had reduced him. He had placed the town in a state of defence, but he could no longer rely on his troops to defend it. In this dilemma it occurred to him to quit the capital and withdraw to Truxillo, about eighty leagues distant, sending the women and the effects of the citizens thither by water. But the Audience here interposed. Both he and they appealed to force. The judges and their followers took the initiative; the Viceroy’s palace was entered; his person was taken and placed in strict confinement.
The first act of the judges on assuming power was to declare the ordinances suspended until instructions should be received from Spain. It was likewise determined that one of their own body should return thither, in charge of the captive Viceroy. But a more formidable enemy yet remained to be encountered in Gonzalo Pizarro. He halted at Xauxa, about ninety miles from Lima, where he was joined by numbers of the citizens. The judges sent him an envoy to announce the revolution that had taken place and the suspension of the ordinances. They pointed out that since the object of his mission had thus been effected and a new government appointed, it was for him to show a good example by submitting to it, by disbanding his troops, and by withdrawing to his estates. The envoy, however, was sent back to the judges with the answer that Gonzalo Pizarro had been called to the government by the people, and that should the Audience hesitate to deliver it to him, Lima would be given up to pillage.
After a little delay the judges saw that they had no alternative but to yield where resistance was unavailing, and thus in October 1544 Gonzalo Pizarro entered Lima at the head of twelve hundred Spaniards and several thousand Indians; and amidst the discharge of cannon and the peals of bells he was proclaimed Governor and Captain-General of Peru until his Majesty’s pleasure should be known—the judges administering the oaths of office. Gonzalo’s first act was to secure the persons of those who had taken an active part against him. They were sent into banishment, and their estates were confiscated. He filled the government of Lima with his partisans, and sent adherents to the principal towns. He caused vessels to be built, and brought his forces into the best condition. The Audience existed now only in name. One judge had departed with the Viceroy; another had become a tool in the hands of Pizarro; a third was confined to his house by illness; and the fourth Gonzalo proposed to send back to Castile, to place before the Emperor a statement of what had occurred; but this last measure was not carried out, owing to the vessel in which it was proposed that he should leave having been otherwise employed.
The ex-governor, Vaca de Castro, having no mind to fall into the hands of Pizarro, had bribed or otherwise persuaded the captain of the vessel on board of which he was confined to set sail for Panamá. Thence he in due course found his way to Spain. He had been previously recognized by the Government as having done his duty zealously and ably; but meanwhile he had fallen under the evil eye of his suspicious and autocratic successor, and complaints against his conduct had preceded him. These were ultimately declared groundless and futile; but in the meantime, whilst his conduct was being investigated, he was detained during twelve years a state prisoner—a strange manner of encouraging future Spanish governors to do their duty! After this lengthy period of probation or purgatory, it is satisfactory to read that the honours originally destined for Vaca de Castro were at length conferred upon him. He took his seat in the royal council, and during the remainder of his days enjoyed the public consideration to which he was so well entitled.