JOURNEY TO GOIANA.—JOURNEY FROM GOIANA TO PARAIBA, AND BACK TO GOIANA.

I HAD much desired to perform some considerable journey into the less populous and less cultivated part of the country. The chief engineer officer of Pernambuco had intended to visit all the fortresses within his extensive district, and had kindly promised to permit me to accompany him, but unfortunately his projected journey was delayed from some cause connected with his place, until the following season. As I did not know how soon I might be under the necessity of returning to England, I could not postpone my views for this length of time, and therefore made enquiries among my friends and acquaintance, and discovered that the brother of a gentleman resident at Goiana, was about to set off for that place, and would, probably, from thence proceed further into the country, with some object in view connected with trade. It was my intention to advance as far as Seara. I applied to the governor for a passport, which was immediately granted without any difficulty.

On the afternoon of the 19th October, 1810, some of my English friends accompanied me to my cottage at the Cruz das Almas, that they might be present at my departure, in the course of the ensuing night. Senhor Feliz, my companion, arrived in the evening, bringing with him his black guide, a freeman. Preparations were made for proceeding upon our journey, and about one o’clock, as the moon rose, we sallied forth. Senhor Feliz, myself, and my English servant John on horseback, armed with swords and pistols; the black guide also on horseback, without saddle or bridle, carrying a blunderbuss, and driving on before him a baggage-horse, with a little mulatto boy mounted between the panniers. My English friends cheered us as we left the Cruz, and remained in my quarters, the command of which I had given up to one of them during my absence. That part of the road which we traversed by moon-light I had already passed over a short time before, and subsequently from frequent travelling, my acquaintance with it was such, that I might have become a guide upon it.

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We rode along a sandy path for three quarters of a league, until we began to ascend a steep hill, of which the sides and the flat summit are covered with large trees, and thick brushwood growing beneath them. The hamlet of Beberibe stands at the foot of the corresponding declivity; to this place several families resort in the summer, and a small rivulet runs through it, of which the water is most beautifully clear. Half a league beyond Beberibe we crossed another rivulet, and immediately afterwards commenced our ascent of the hill of Quebracu, which is in most parts very steep and very narrow, being inclosed on one side by a precipice, and on the other by sloping ground covered with wood. This ridge of hill is quite flat along the top, and the path continues for half a league, between lofty trees and impenetrable brushwood. We descended into the long and narrow valley of Merueira, through which a rivulet runs, of which the water never fails. The hills on each side are thickly cloathed with wood, and in the valley are scattered several cottages, banana gardens, and mandioc lands, with a large inclosed piece of ground in which cattle graze. The ascent, on the opposite side of this beautiful vale, is very steep; the path along the summit of the ridge is similar to that over which we had travelled; we soon again descended, and on our arrival at the bottom, entered the long, straggling village of Paratibe, with mandioc lands and plaintain and tobacco gardens intermixed with the houses. The inhabitants are mostly labouring free persons, white, mulatto, and black. The houses are built on each side of the road at intervals, for the distance of one mile. A rivulet runs through it, which in the rainy season often overflows its banks to a considerable distance on each side. Beyond this village the road is comparatively flat, but is still diversified by unequal small elevations; several sugar-works are seen, and great numbers of small cottages; the passing of the country people with loaded horses, carrying cotton, hides, and other articles, the produce of the country, and returning with many kinds of wares, salt meat and fish from Recife, may almost be called continual.

The town of IguaraÇu, which we now entered, has been already mentioned in a former chapter; it is one of the oldest settlements upon this part of the coast, and stands at the distance of two leagues from the sea upon the banks of a creek. The woods, that border the paths or roads, are in parts so thick and close as to be impassable even to a man on foot, unless he carries in his hand a bill-hook or hatchet to assist in breaking through the numberless obstacles which oppose his progress. Of these the most formidable is the cipo; a plant consisting of long and flexible shoots which twist themselves around the trees, and as some of the sprouts, which have not yet fixed upon any branch, are moved to and fro by the wind, they catch upon a neighbouring tree, and as the operation continues for many years undisturbed, a kind of net-work is made of irregular form, but difficult to pass through. Of this plant there are several varieties; that which bears the name of cipo cururu is in the highest estimation, from its superior size and strength, and likewise from its great flexibility. Several kinds of cipo are used as cordage in making fences, and for many other purposes.

IguaraÇu is partly situated upon a hill and partly in the plain below, where a rivulet runs, and a stone bridge has been built, as the tide reaches this spot, and would render the communication difficult[27]. The place plainly denotes that it has enjoyed greater prosperity than it at present has to boast of; many of the houses are of two stories, but they are neglected, and some of the small cottages are in decay and ruin. The streets are paved, but are much out of repair, and grass grows in many of them. It contains several churches, one convent, and a recolhimento or retreat for females, a town hall, and prison. Its affluence proceeded formerly from the weekly cattle fair, which was held upon a plain in the vicinity, but this has now for some years past been removed to the neighbourhood of Goiana. IguaraÇu has many white inhabitants, several shops, a good surgeon, who was educated in Lisbon, and it is the resort of the plantations, to the distance of several leagues, for the embarkation of their sugar chests, and for the purchase of some articles of necessity. The town contains about eight hundred inhabitants reckoning the scattered cottages in the outskirts. The view from the tower of the principal church is said to be extensive and grand. The only regular inn of which the country has to boast is established here, for the convenience of passengers between Recife and Goiana, and at this we intended to have stopped had not the early hour at which we reached it, tempted us to push forwards before the sun became more powerful.[28]

The road continues flat and sandy, and two leagues beyond IguaraÇu we entered the village of Pasmado, which is built in the form of a square; it consists of a church and a number of cottages, most of them of mean appearance, containing from 300 to 400 inhabitants. We proceeded through it, crossed the most considerable stream we had yet seen this day, called Araripe, and entered the inclosed field attached to the engenho, or sugar-works, of Araripe de Baixo, belonging to a Portugueze. We expected to have obtained a dinner from this good man, but after considerable delay, to the great discomfort of our stomachs, we understood from our host, that his intended hospitality would not be in readiness, until the day would have been too much broken into by the additional delay; therefore we again mounted our horses about two o’clock, with a broiling sun, ascended another steep hill, passed several sugar-works and cottages, and crossed several rivulets, traversing a most delightful country. We rode through the hamlets of BÛ and Fontainhas, at the former of which there is a chapel. From the latter the road is chiefly over a sandy plain, almost without wood, until the engenho of Bujiri is discovered with its field of grass and woods around. Immediately beyond it is to be forded the river of Goiana, influenced by the tide as far as this spot. The wooden bridge which formerly existed was now fast decaying and dangerous for horses; we gave ours to the guide, who led them through the water, riding upon his own, whilst we found our way across some loose beams. This operation did not delay us long; we received our steeds from the guide, with their saddles wet and themselves all dripping, and in a few minutes more entered the town of Goiana, between four and five o’clock in the afternoon. The distance from Recife to Goiana is fifteen leagues.

The road we had travelled over is the highway from the Sertam[29], by which the cattle descend from the estates upon the river AÇu, and from the plains of this portion of the interior to the markets of Recife; therefore the continued passing of large droves of cattle has beat down the underwood and made a broad sandy road; the large trees still remain, if it has so happened that any grew upon the track; these, if of any size, brave the crowd of animals, and will remain either until they decay from age and fall, or till regular roads begin to be constructed in Brazil. Thus, if the ground is flat, the road is not bad; but upon the sides of hills, instead of being carried round the steepest ascents, the track has been made straight up and down or nearly so, and the winter torrents form deep caverns and ravines, the sides of which sometimes fall in and make the roads very dangerous; so that, unless well acquainted with a hill, it is by no means safe to ascend or descend by night, as one or two days of the usual rain of Brazil may have made a great difference, and have rendered the road impassable. In the course of this day we saw four or five large and rudely constructed crosses erected by the road side, pointing out the situations upon which murder had been committed.

I was received most kindly by Senhor Joaquim, whom I had before had the pleasure of meeting at Recife, and he was not a man to be long in becoming acquainted with. We sat down to dinner about five o’clock, when his lady and two little girls, his daughters, made their appearance. We had dishes cooked in Portugueze, Brazilian, and English style.

The town of Goiana, one of the largest and most flourishing in the captaincy of Pernambuco, is situated upon the banks of a river of the same name, which at this spot bends so considerably, that the town is almost surrounded by it. The dwellings, with one or two exceptions, have only the ground-floor; the streets are not paved, but are broad, and of these the principal one is of sufficient breadth to admit of a large church at one extremity, and the continuation of a street of considerable width on each side of the church. The town contains a Carmelite convent, and several other places of worship. The inhabitants are in number between four and five thousand, and it is an increasing place. Several shops are established here, and the commerce with the interior is considerable. In the streets are always to be seen numbers of the matutos[30], countrymen, either selling produce or purchasing manufactured goods and other articles of consumption. In the vicinity are many fine sugar plantations. I suppose that some of the best lands in the province are in this neighbourhood. The proprietors of these occasionally reside in the town, and as daily intercourse often creates rivalry among wealthy families, this necessarily increases expenditure, and the town is in consequence much benefited by the augmented consumption of luxuries. The planters have the advantage of water carriage from hence to Recife for their sugar-chests, as this river is one of the largest for many leagues to the north or to the south, and is influenced by the tide even to a short distance above the town. Goiana stands four leagues distant from the sea in a direct line, but by the river it is reckoned to be seven. Above the town in the rainy season the river overflows its banks to a great extent.

Goiana and its extensive district is subject in military affairs to the governor of Pernambuco, but its civil concerns are directed by a Juiz de Fora, a judicial officer appointed by the supreme government for the term of three years, who resides in the town, and from his decisions appeal may be made to the Ouvidor of Paraiba.

We dined on one occasion with the proprietor of the Musumbu estate; this gentleman and a few others, besides ourselves, dined in one apartment, whilst the ladies, of whom we were not permitted even to have a transient view, were in another adjoining. Two young men, sons of the proprietor, assisted their father’s slaves in waiting upon us at dinner, and did not sit down themselves until we rose from table. The owner of the place is a Portugueze—it is among this portion of the population, who have left their own country to accumulate fortunes in Brazil, that the introduction of improvement is almost impossible. Many Brazilians likewise, even of the higher class, follow the Moorish customs of subjection and seclusion, but these soon see the preference which ought to be given to more civilized manners and easily enter into more polished habits, if they have any communication with the towns.

On the 24th of October, I delivered a letter of introduction which I had obtained at Recife, to the Dr. Manuel Arruda da Camara. This interesting person then lay at Goiana very ill of dropsy, brought on by residing in aguish districts. He was an enterprising man, and had always been an enthusiast in botany. His superior abilities would have caused him to be caressed by a provident Government, when one of this description is establishing itself in an uncultivated but improving country. He shewed me some of his drawings, which I thought well executed. I never again had an opportunity of seeing him; for when I returned from Seara, I had not time to enquire and seek for him, and he died before my second voyage to Pernambuco. He was forming a Flora Pernambucana, which he did not live to complete.

Senhor Joaquim had business at Paraiba, which he intended to have sent his brother Feliz to transact; but as I offered to accompany him, he thought it would be pleasant to go with me, and show the lions of that city. We sent off his black guide and my servant with a loaded horse before us, and followed the next day with his black boy. We crossed the Campinas de Goiana Grande about sunrise, and passed the sugar plantation of that name, belonging to Senhor Giram, standing at the foot of the hill, which carries you to the Dous Rios. The road I afterwards followed to Rio Grande, is through Dous Rios, but the road to Paraiba strikes off just before you reach it, to the right. The road between Goiana and Paraiba presents nothing particularly interesting,—the hills are steep but not high, and woods, plantations, and cottages are, as usual, the objects to be seen. The distance is thirteen leagues. We entered the city of Paraiba at twelve o’clock, and rode to the house of the colonel Mattias da Gama, a man of property, and a colonel of militia. He was an acquaintance of Senhor Joaquim, and was about to leave the place for one of his sugar plantations, which he did, giving us entire possession of his house, and a servant to attend upon us.

The city of Paraiba, (for much smaller places even than this bear the rank of city in these yet thinly peopled regions) contains from two to three thousand inhabitants, including the lower town. It bears strong marks of having been a place of more importance than it is now, and though some improvements were going on, they were conducted entirely through the means which Government supplied for them, or rather, the Governor wished to leave some memorial of his administration of the province. The principal street is broad, and paved with large stones, but is somewhat out of repair. The houses are mostly of one story, with the ground floors as shops, and a few of them have glass windows; an improvement which has been only lately introduced into Recife. The Jesuit’s convent is employed as the governor’s palace, and the Ouvidor’s office and residence also; the church of the convent stands in the centre, and these are the two wings. The convents of the Franciscan, Carmelite, and Benedictine Orders are very large buildings, and are almost uninhabited; the first contains four or five friars, the second two, and the third only one. Besides these, the city has to boast of six churches. The public fountains at Paraiba are the only works of the kind I met with any where on the part of the coast which I visited. One was built, I believe, by Amaro Joaquim, the former governor,—it is handsome, and has several spouts; the other, which was only then building, is much larger, and the superintendance of the workmen was the chief amusement of the governor.

We waited upon this gentleman the day after our arrival; my companion had been acquainted with him in Lisbon, when he was an ensign. His parents were respectable people in one of the northern provinces of Portugal; he was placed at some seminary for the purpose of being educated for the church, but he escaped from thence, and enlisted as a private soldier in Lisbon. One of the officers of the regiment in which he was enrolled, soon found out that he was a man of education,—having learnt his story, he was made a cadet, as being of good family. He came over in the same ship with the Princess of Brazil, a captain of infantry; married one of the maids of honour on their arrival at Rio de Janeiro, and in about eighteen months, had advanced from a captaincy to the government of Paraiba, and a commandery of the Order of Christ. We next crossed to the other wing of the building, and paid a visit to the Ouvidor, a very affable and good-humoured old gentleman. His chaplain, a jolly little friar, and an old acquaintance of Senhor Joaquim, made his appearance, and was afterwards very civil to us during our stay. The prospect from the windows presents Brazil scenery of the best kind; extensive and evergreen woods, bounded by a range of hills, and watered by several branches of the river, with here and there a white washed cottage, placed upon their banks, and these, though they were situated on higher spots of land, were still half concealed by the lofty trees. The cultivated specks were so small, as to be scarcely perceptible.

The lower town consists of small houses, and is situated upon the borders of a spacious basin or lake, formed by the junction of three rivers, which from hence discharge their waters into the sea, by one considerable stream. The banks of the basin are covered with mangroves, as in all the salt water rivers of this country; and they are so close and thick, that there seems to be no outlet. I did not follow the river down to the sea, but I understand that there are in it some fine islands, with good land, quite uncultivated[31]. Paraiba was the scene of much fighting during the Dutch war, and I now regret not having proceeded down the river, to the famous Fort of Cabedello. This war was conducted upon a small scale, but the deeds which were performed by the brave defenders of their country, may rank with those which any other people have displayed in a cause of equal import to the actors.

The trade of Paraiba is inconsiderable, though the river admits of vessels of 150 tons upon the bar; and when in the basin, opposite to the lower town, a rope yarn would keep them still, as no harm could reach them. It contains a regular custom-house, which is seldom opened. Paraiba lies out of the road from the Sertam[32] to Recife, that is, out of the direct way from the towns upon the coast further north. The inhabitants of the Sertam of the interior, will make for Recife rather than Paraiba, as the more extensive market for their produce. The port of Recife admits of larger vessels, and has more conveniences for the landing and shipment of goods, consequently it obtains the preference. The houses of this place, which may be reckoned handsome from a general comparison of the country, have been built by the great landholders in the neighbourhood, as a residence during the depth of the winter, or rainy season. The lands of the captaincy are, generally speaking, rich and fertile, but so great a preference is given to plantations nearer to Recife, that those of Paraiba are to be purchased at a much less price. The sugar of this province is reckoned equal to that of any part of Brazil.

I soon saw what was to be seen, and we had no society; time, however, did not appear to hang heavy, for Senhor Joaquim was a man of inexhaustible good humour and hilarity. We lived by magic, as the colonel had ordered his servant to supply every thing for us.

The late governor, Amaro Joaquim, brought the captaincy into great order, by his necessary severity. A custom prevailed, of persons walking about the town at night in large cloaks, and crape over their faces; thus concealed, to carry on their irregular practices. The governor, not being able to discover who these persons were, gave orders one night for the patrole to take into custody all who were so dressed; this was done, and some of the principal inhabitants were found the next morning in the guard-house. A man of the name of Nogueira, the son of a black or mulatto woman, and of one of the first men in the captaincy, had made himself much dreaded by his outrageous proceedings; he had carried from their parents’ houses, the daughters of some persons of respectability in the captaincy, murdering the friends and relatives who opposed his entrance. The man was at last taken; Amaro Joaquim would have had him executed, but he found this was not to be done, from the interest which the family made for him, and therefore ordered him to be flogged. Nogueira said, that being half a fidalgo, a nobleman, this mode of punishment could not be practised upon him. The governor then ordered that he should be flogged upon only one side of his body, that his fidalgo side might not suffer, desiring Nogueira to say which was his fidalgo side. He was accordingly punished in this manner, and after remaining some time in prison, was sent to Angola for life. The city of Paraiba still enjoyed the good effects of Amaro Joaquim’s strict government.

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I was acquainted with him at Pernambuco, before I set off on this journey; his appearance and his conversation both bespoke a man of superior abilities. When I saw him in Recife, he was on his way to Piauhi, of which captaincy he had been appointed governor. He died on board a coasting vessel, on the passage to Piauhi, of a fever.

Senhor Joaquim wished to return by the sea shore to Goiana, a distance of twenty-two leagues. We set off at the time the tide was flowing, and proceeded along the beach, until about eleven o’clock we reached the house of a Capitam-mor, quite a first rate man in this part of the world. It was a mud cottage, as bad or worse than that of any labourer in England, situated upon the burning sands, with a pool of salt water before the door, which is never quite dry, consequently, breeds insects of all kinds. We crossed two ferries in the course of the morning; the conveyances are small jangadas[33]; the saddle is placed upon it, and the horse swims by the side, whilst the rider stands upon the raft, and holds the reins. The ferryman either paddles across the stream, or poles, if it be not too deep. About three o’clock, we found that we had entered upon a considerable track of sand, inclosed by perpendicular rocks, against which the water mark was at some height, however, the tide was already on the ebb; we made our guide mount the horse, which until now he had driven before him, and keep pace with us, whilst we quickened ours. The tide was still very near to the rocks, and we found that the water still reached one which projected further than the rest, therefore as we were yet hemmed in, we left our horses, and climbed up this rock. The guide, in the mean time, drove the loose horses into the water, they fortunately leaned to the right, passed out far enough to see the land on the other side of the rock, and made for it. I was getting over the rock, missed my footing, and fell up to my arms into a hole between two pieces of it; however, I succeeded in raising myself, and leaped from it on to the sand on the other side, just at the return of a wave, by which means I had an unintentional cold bath up to my waist. We might certainly have waited to have allowed the tide to retreat, but were afraid of being benighted, which after all our exertions, did happen to us. The country, on the other side of the projecting rock, is low, and sandy uncultivated land. At dusk, we arrived upon the banks of a broad stream, so that by the light which then remained, we could not see the other side; after several calls, the ferryman did not make his appearance, and the night closed in. I advised sleeping under the tree which then sheltered us; to this my companion would not consent, but asked the distance to Abia, the nearest sugar plantation; the guide answered three leagues,—we must either sleep where we were, or go to Abia. We had already advanced sixteen leagues, and Senhor Joaquim’s horse, a fine highly fed animal, began to give way. The guide led, and we followed, through a narrow path, very little frequented, as the bushes oftentimes nearly took off our hats, and were continually brushing against us the whole way. On our arrival at Abia, the house was quite deserted, as the steward was from home, and we did not like to enter a cottage which stood near to the principal house, when we found that the party in it was larger than our own, and not likely to be of the best kind. We had now another half league to go to Senhor Leonardo’s, a friend of my fellow-traveller.

He gave us a good supper, and hammocks, took good care of our horses, and in the morning we set forth for Goiana, seven leagues. We passed through Alhandra, an Indian village, containing about six hundred inhabitants. This village is not so regularly built as many of the others which I have seen; instead of a square, with houses on each side, it is built in streets, and though the square is preserved, still it is not the principal feature of the place. The Indians of Alhandra, from their vicinity to Goiana, which is distant about three leagues, are not so pure as those further from a large town; they have admitted among them some mamalucos and mestizos.

Great part of this extent of coast was uninhabited, but wherever the land was low, and the surf not violent, there we found a few cottages; the banks of the rivers were also not entirely destitute of inhabitants. The two streams which we first crossed might be about eighty or one hundred yards in breadth; they are deep, but do not proceed far into the country. When the action of the tide ceases, all these lesser streams become insignificant, and most of them quite dry. The great river which we were to have crossed is the Goiana; it spreads very widely when the tide enters, but is easily passed at the ebb, and the channel becomes much contracted, and very shallow during the spring tides. It is judged to be about a league in breadth, at its mouth, and is much deeper immediately within the bar than upon it.