General Observations on the Trade from England to Brazil.

HAVING, in a preceding part of this work, stated the importance of Rio de Janeiro as a port which, from its locality, appears destined by nature to become the metropolis of a vast empire, and the centre of an extensive commerce, it may not be improper in this place to treat more at large on this interesting subject.

The ships best calculated for trade from England are those which carry about four hundred tons, and sail well: it is particularly necessary that they should have the latter quality; for, if they have not, the voyage from thence to England is frequently rendered very tedious by their being driven too far to the westward by the north-east trade-wind. Owing to this circumstance, it is not uncommon for a packet, or fast-sailing ship, to make a passage from the coast of Brazil to England in five or six weeks, when a heavy-sailing vessel is double that time in arriving at her destination. The best season for sailing from England, and that which affords the greatest probability of making a short passage, is the month of February or March, because then the north-east winds prevail. I should advise crossing the line in not less than 22°, nor more than 25° west longitude, if the destination be the Plata or Rio de Janeiro, as I have twice experienced very long calms in crossing the line between 19° and 20°. Ships bound to Bahia, Pernambuco, and ports more northerly, will of course cross the line more to the westward, as they will have nothing to fear: but the south-west trade-wind would generally cause ships going farther south to fall in with the land too soon. Should that be the case, I would advise them, if they make the land to the north of the Abrolhos[79], to keep in-shore, as the land-breeze is frequently from the northward until mid-day. The ports on this coast are in general good and secure, nevertheless it is highly desirable to be provided with good anchors and cables, particularly in the Rio de la Plata. In the Portuguese territories the port-charges are not so expensive as formerly; a dollar per day is exacted for anchorage, which forms the principal charge. I particularly recommend that all homeward-bound ships should lay in a sufficiency of necessary stores, especially of water, so as to make the passage without being obliged to go into the Western Isles, as there the port-charges and attendant expenses are very exorbitant, though the only articles wanted may be a few casks of water, and a hundred weight or two of bread.

Ships are loaded in Rio de Janeiro, and other ports of Brazil, as well as in the Plata, by lighters, which are very expensive, and difficult to be procured when many ships are receiving their cargoes; good boats are extremely useful and necessary.

When a vessel enters any of the ports, the health-boat and custom-boat make a visit before she anchors, and their report is immediately made; after which, proper officers, called guardas, are sent on board. These men in general are not very liberally provided for; they are extremely civil and accommodating, and ought to be treated with respect. Since the establishment of the treaty of commerce between this government and that of Brazil the contraband trade has been almost done away; for the duties are now much reduced, and the accommodation which the judge and subordinate officers of the custom-house are disposed to allow, is such, as to render that nefarious practice unnecessary.

It may not be improper in this place to describe the consequences produced in Rio de Janeiro by the excessive commercial speculations into which our merchants entered, immediately after the emigration of the Court of Portugal, and which could only be equalled by those which followed our expeditions to the Rio de la Plata.

Owing to the incredible competition or struggle among our merchants, who should send most ships and cargoes to a country, whose civilized population, exclusive of slaves, did not exceed eight hundred thousand souls, (one-third, at least, of whom may be said to make use only of what their land produces), it is natural to suppose that the market would be almost instantly overstocked. So great and so unexpected was the influx of English manufactures into Rio de Janeiro, within a few days after the arrival of the Prince, that the rent of houses to put them into became enormously dear. The bay was covered with ships, and the custom-house soon overflowed with goods: even salt, casks of ironmongery, and nails, salt-fish, hogsheads of cheese, hats, together with an immense quantity of crates and hogsheads of earthen and glass ware, cordage, bottled and barrelled porter, paints, gums, resin, tar, &c. were exposed, not only to the sun and rain, but general depredation. The inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro, and more particularly some of the Creolians and strangers from the interior, thought that these goods were placed there for their benefit, and extolled the goodness and generosity of the English, who strewed the beach to a great extent with articles for which their own countrymen had heretofore charged them such high prices! It is true that the gentlemen entrusted with these valuable consignments did apply for sentinels to be placed to guard the articles thus exposed, and their request was immediately complied with. The result was such as might easily have been anticipated from such watchmen, many of whom did not fail to profit largely by the appointment. In the course of some weeks the beach began to assume a less crowded appearance; some few of the goods were taken to the residences of their owners, others were removed; but to what place, or by whom, there was no way of ascertaining; and a very great proportion was sold at the custom-house for the benefit of the underwriters. This stratagem, then so frequently practised, (and certainly deserving of the severest reprehension), afterwards operated as a very serious injury to the regular sale of articles; for, as the market was so overstocked, scarcely any one would offer money for goods, except at the custom-house sales. As the depreciation continued, numberless packages were there exposed for sale, in part damaged, or apparently so. Indeed, little more than the mark of a cord on the outside of a single article, or a corner discolored, in a package however large, was a sufficient pretext for presuming and pronouncing the whole to be damaged. Great quantities of goods were brought to the hammer in the custom-house warehouses, under every disadvantage; thus the owners recovered the amount insured for, and the insurers lost the difference between that sum and the price they were sold at, also the attendant expenses. Many of the underwriters will, it is to be feared, retain a lasting remembrance of the sales which took place at Rio de Janeiro, and other parts of South America, for their benefit.

To the serious losses thus occasioned by an overstocked market, and by the sacrifice of goods at whatever price could be obtained, may be added another, which originated in the ignorance of many persons who sent out articles to a considerable amount not at all suited to the country; one speculator, of wonderful foresight, sent large invoices of various sorts of stays for ladies who never heard of such armour; another sent skates, for the use of a people who are totally uninformed that water can become ice; a third sent out a considerable assortment of the most elegant coffin-furniture, not knowing that coffins are never used by the Brazilians, or in the Plata. To these absurd speculations may be added iron-stoves and fire-irons, candles, and numerous others, particularly in articles of taste: elegant services of cut glass were little appreciated by men accustomed to drink out of a horn or a cocoa-nut-shell; and brilliant chandeliers were still less valued in a country where only lamps that afforded a gloomy light, were used. Superfine woollen cloths were equally ill-suited to the market; no one thought them sufficiently strong. An immense quantity of high-priced saddles, and thousands of whips[80], were sent out to a people as incapable of adopting them as they were of knowing their convenience. They were astonished to see Englishmen ride on such saddles; nor could they imagine any thing more insecure. Of the bridles scarcely any use could be made, as the bit was not calculated to keep the horse or mule in subordination: these articles were of course sacrificed. Great quantities of the nails and ironmongery were useless, as they were not calculated for the general purposes of the people. Large cargoes of Manchester goods were sent; and, in a few months, more arrived than had been consumed in the course of twenty years preceding. No discrimination was used in the assortment of these articles, with respect either to quantity or fineness, so that common prints were disposed of at less than a shilling a yard, and frequently in barter. Fish from Newfoundland met with a similar fate; also porter, large quantities of which, in barrels, arrived among a people, of whom a few only had tasted that article as a luxury. How the shippers in London, and other British ports, could imagine that porter, would at once become a general beverage, it is difficult to conceive, especially when sent in barrels. These cargoes, being unsaleable, were of course warehoused, and of course spoiled. Newfoundland fish, that was generally sold at from twelve to twenty dollars per quintal, was now unsaleable at four, and in many instances did not pay warehouse-room. Earthenware was perhaps rather more favorably received than many of the former articles, for plates, &c. soon came into general use. Having enumerated various commodities which suffered a general depreciation, it may be sufficient to add that many invoices of fancy goods, and such as do not constitute a staple trade, were sold at from sixty to seventy per cent. under costs and charges, and others were totally lost. To enter more into detail would be unnecessary: it is hoped that the trade will in time find its regular course, and that the adventurers will derive from it some compensation for their former losses, though no possible change can repair the total ruin which numbers have incurred. Experience will now have fully shown the fallacy of those golden hopes which some persons conceived from the reputed wealth of South America, and we shall no longer hear of those absurdities which characterised the first commercial speculations to the river Plata. What must have been the delusions of those traders who sent out tools, formed with a hatchet on one side and a hammer on the other, for the conveniency of breaking the rocks, and cutting the precious metals from them, as if they imagined that a man had only to go into the mountains, and cut out as much gold as would pay for the articles he wanted!

Other evils resulted from these ill-judged and excessive speculations to South America, which might naturally have been anticipated. The first was, that the produce was bought up with such avidity that many articles were soon double their ordinary value, and continued to rise as our manufactures lowered. But this was not all: the purchasers suffered equally from their ignorance of the quality of the articles, as from their eagerness in purchasing them. For instance; any kind of sebaceous matter was greedily bought for tallow; and numberless hides, spoiled in the drying and eaten by the grub, met with ready sale. Little attention was paid to the state they were in; and thus it frequently happened that lots and cargoes of those articles, instead of reimbursing the adventurer to whom they were consigned, scarcely paid freight and charge. This was also the case with coffee and other staple articles. Many gentlemen, more knowing than others, sent home lots of curious wood, and even entered into the illicit trade of shipping the dye-wood, which generally proved very disadvantageous, as the wood of that species grown in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro is very inferior in quality to that of Pernambuco, from whence that trade is carried on for account of the Crown. The folly of speculation did not stop here: precious stones appeared to offer the most abundant source of riches; the general calculation was made upon the price at which they sold in London: but every trader bought them, more or less, at the price at which they were offered; invoices of goods were bartered for some, which in London would sell for, comparatively, a trifle, as they were taken without discrimination as to quality or perfection; green tourmalines were sold for emeralds, crystals for topazes, and both common stones and glass have been bought as diamonds to a considerable amount. Gold and diamonds were well known to be produced in Brazil; and their being by law contraband, was a sufficient temptation to eager speculators who had never before seen either in their native state. False diamonds were weighed with scrupulousness, and bought with avidity, to sell by the rules stated by Jefferies. Gold-dust, as it is commonly called, appeared in no inconsiderable quantity, and, after being weighed with equal exactness, was bought or bartered for. But previous to this many samples underwent the following easy and ingenious process:—The brass pans purchased at the stores were filed, and mixed with the gold in the proportion of from ten to twenty per cent. according to the opinion which the seller formed of the sagacity of the person with whom he had to deal: and thus, by a simple contrivance, some of our countrymen re-purchased at three or four guineas per ounce the very article which they had before sold at 2s. 6d. per pound!!!

In enumerating the losses occasioned by the depreciation of goods, I have omitted to notice the heavy expenses upon them after the purchase, as packing, shipping, convoy-duty, freight, insurance, commission, and other incidental charges. Then suppose any staple article to be bought; there are the expenses of commission for buying of warehouse-room, shipping and the attendant fees, freight, and insurance; and, on the arrival of the merchandize in England, there are duties, dockage, warehouse-room, and many other items which leave no small interest in the hands of those who do the business.

It is scarcely possible to imagine, much less to describe, the disappointment which prevailed among the young supercargoes a few months after their arrival in South America, particularly among those who had orders not to sell the goods entrusted to them lower than the prices specified in their invoices.

They could scarcely awaken themselves from the chimerical delusion that their mind was filled with; they disbelieved every thing, and continued to write to their employers to send out more goods, thinking the riches they had so fondly anticipated must yet roll down in torrents from the interior. The heart-breaking letters of those who sent them out, expressing the most poignant distress for want of remittances, at length awakened them, and their sanguine expectations of incalculable riches, heaps of dollars, or bars of gold, began to vanish. Many of the inhabitants came to look at their stores, but few offered to buy; and, incredible as it may appear, yet it is true, that when goods were offered to them at half the original cost, they invariably exclaimed, “Very dear.” Scenes of this kind I have repeatedly witnessed, and could scarcely suppress my indignation at seeing goods thus depreciated, which a few months before were so eagerly sought after, and bought at ten times the amount. Gentlemen consignees so situated were at a loss how to act: the duties, rents, charges, and other expenses were high, and must peremptorily be paid; their only resource was to open a shop or room for the purpose of selling their goods by retail, as the inhabitants wanted them.

These young men most unfortunately had calculated upon doing business only in the large way, similar to our most opulent mercantile establishments: on their arrival they took the best houses, set apart their hours for morning rides and attending to business, for going to their country seats[81], and dinner-parties. The idea of vending by retail was a bitter which destroyed all their pleasing anticipations of doing business in style: they thought themselves merchants, expecting to sell at any price they pleased to ask, and to buy at what they thought proper to offer! and could not stoop to be shopkeepers; many of them, rather than yield to that, sent goods to auctions, and sold them at what they would fetch, thus rendering a ruinous account to their employers. Others with more prudence accommodated themselves to circumstances, and were not offended at being asked for a pair of boots or a hat. These persons reaped all the advantage of the trade, as they got their price by selling to those whose necessities prompted them to purchase, and were ever ready to sell by the package when opportunity offered. Many of these young men, it is true, have been deservedly much blamed by the consignors, who have expressed great dissatisfaction at their extravagant mode of living, and at their proceedings, both in the disposal of the property sent to them, and in the purchase of merchandize to return; these complaints were justly founded, though something may be said in extenuation of the former, not only on the ground of their want of knowledge, but the unexampled situation of affairs; for a respectable and useful clerk, however capable of copying an invoice, or attending his employer’s counting-house, must make a very poor figure so situated, being very incapable of ascertaining or stating the merits of manufactured goods, and still less qualified to purchase the staple articles and general produce of the country. These severe and grievous disadvantages frequently gave the Brazilians the double advantage of buying below the market-price, and of selling above it.

From these and many other unfortunate and disastrous circumstances, the trade could not fail to become gradually worse and worse; hence it is very natural to imagine that necessitous consignors, eager to see the riches which they had so long and so vainly anticipated, became more pressing for remittances. One disappointment succeeded another; remonstrances were made; and powers of attorney were at length sent out almost by cargoes; property was removed from one consignee to another, at great expense, but to no purpose. At home the greatest confusion prevailed for want of money, until that lamentable and unfortunate epoch, when the columns of the Gazette were filled with the names of those very respectable merchants, who, before those ruinous speculations, were in a state of affluence. Many of those to whom immense sums were entrusted, have not even yet returned to their native country.

Misunderstandings frequently arose between the English and the Portuguese, either in making contracts, or in not complying with them; and they were continually prosecuting each other for injuries which both parties professed to have sustained. These litigations might have terminated very expensively, if not otherwise seriously, had not the wise measures of the Juiz Conservador prevented the perplexities of legal proceedings. The appeals of the English were always heard; they were strangers whom His Royal Highness protected, and they ever found in the Conde de Linhares a firm and powerful friend.

In the Plata, the monied men bought very largely of the cargoes which first arrived, and were afterwards considerable losers by the overflow which took place, when men of less capital bought for ten thousand dollars, what a few weeks before sold for fifteen or twenty. In Rio de Janeiro the case was somewhat different; for the monied men thought the English manufactures inexhaustible, and therefore kept back their gold, leaving the trade principally to men of a secondary class, who bought with great caution, and sold very promptly, for fear of a further depreciation.

Having stated the ruinous consequences of sending out goods not saleable, it may be proper to point out the articles in general consumption, though even these may be sold at great loss, if the markets be overstocked, for trade must depend on the wants and necessities of the consumer. If an individual possesses seven or eight hats, as many coats, &c. it is unreasonable to suppose that he can want more, though he may be tempted to purchase, if offered at very reduced prices: but even that must have an end, and a trade must soon expire where one party is constantly the loser. This has been too generally the result of our late speculations in South America, into which people hurried without calculation or foresight.

Iron and steel are articles for which there is a general and constant demand. The smiths prefer Swedish iron, as they have been always accustomed to it, and do not know how to heat and work the English. The next article to be mentioned is salt, in which the Brazilians are by no means nice. It is made and loaded at one or two places on the coast, but that which is most esteemed comes from the Cape de Verde islands; that brought from Liverpool is generally used in the sea-ports. Common woollens, baizes, and some stout fine cloths, particularly blue and black, are generally worn; also kerseymeres. Cotton goods of almost every description, especially if low priced, meet with ready sale, as do German linens. Hats of all sorts, (particularly dress-hats), and boots and shoes of English manufacture, have of late been sold in great quantities; the leather is much preferable to that made in Brazil. Common and finer earthenware, and glass; some sorts of fine and coarse hardware, and some plated goods, as candles now begin to be used instead of lamps. Bottled porter, Cheshire cheese, butter, cheap furniture, tin-plate, brass, lead in various shapes, shot of all sizes, gunpowder, drugs, some philosophical instruments, books, low-priced paper, watches, telescopes, salt provisions, as hams, tongues, and barrelled pork, low-priced saddlery, and most of all, India and other goods fit for the African coast. Marble mortars, mirrors, and many fancy articles of less note. Silk and cotton hosiery, fashionable dresses for ladies, particularly fine stockings and shoes.

It is to be observed that the mother-country still continues to send oil, wine, brandy, linens, cottons, some silks, and a variety of articles of inferior consequence. India goods, consisting chiefly of cottons, are sent from the Malabar coast, and China goods are in great plenty. From North America are imported flour, salt provisions, turpentine, tar, staves, household furniture, &c.

Naval stores, clothing for sailors, arms, &c. may be said to be generally in demand.

The staple articles of trade from Brazil and the river Plate which are most in demand in this country, when its markets are not overstocked, are cotton, sugar, coffee, hides, tallow of good quality, horns, horse and cow hair, fur-skins, and feathers. Brazil is well calculated for growing sugar, having every convenience of situation, and all the materials requisite for machinery. To the above may be added some peculiar woods; that beautiful species, called jacarandÁ, in England denominated rose-wood, is generally in demand. I do not say any thing of indigo, as it is of inferior quality. Rice is cultivated to great extent. Tobacco, it is to be hoped, will be better cured, to suit the English market; for no where can a soil and climate be found more favorable to the production of that plant than in Brazil.

In offering, by way of conclusion, a more detailed account of the resources of this rich and extensive country, I shall for obvious reasons avoid all speculation on the political changes now operating in the mother country, as well as in her colonies, and direct my remarks solely to commercial matters. According to recent estimates the annual value of British goods imported into Brazil exceeds three millions sterling, one half of which may be assigned to Rio de Janeiro, from whence the returns are made generally in produce, consisting of gold, diamonds, and precious stones, sugars, cottons, hides, tobacco, tallow, wax, indigo, woods, and many other articles.

The commerce of Bahia ranks next in importance to that of Rio, and a considerable proportion of it is conducted by English merchants. The returns are principally made in produce, and this circumstance secures to the native cultivator an eminent advantage over the foreign trader. The main articles of produce are sugar, cotton, and tobacco. The annual exports of the cotton, may be stated at from 30,000 to 36,000 bags. Its quality varies according to the district in which it is produced; that which is brought hither from the southern parts of the province of Pernambuco, is called foras, in contradistinction with the cotton of Bahia, which is denominated dentros. The former is considered of superior staple, being stronger and more silky, but it seldom arrives in a clean state, or free from seeds and other substances negligently left by the planters. The dentros, though neither so strong nor so silky as the foras, are generally much better dressed, and hence they are considered of almost equal value. Much of this cotton is grown in the extensive plantations near Villa Nova do Principe. Eight ninths of the cotton shipped at Bahia is exported to England, and principally to the port of Liverpool.

The quantity of sugar annually exported from hence is very considerable, and in some years has exceeded a million of arrobas[82]. The growth of tobacco varies according to the season; an average crop has been estimated at 600,000 arrobas. One third, and frequently one half of a crop is rejected as unfit for shipment to Europe. The refuse is sent to the Portuguese possessions in Africa, but the demand for it has greatly diminished since the abolition of the slave trade in that continent, north of the equator, that being the quarter in which it was principally consumed. A great quantity is exported to the Plata, and from thence is sent to various parts of the interior.

Upwards of 150 sail of vessels have been dispatched from hence in the course of one year, of which number one third was destined for the ports of the mother country, and little short of one third for those of Great Britain; besides the staple articles of cotton, sugar, and tobacco, the exports include large quantities of hides, molasses, rum, and woods. Many large and most excellent ships have been built at this place, the timber of which is of a superior quality.

Pernambuco is celebrated for producing the best cotton in Brazil, and it owes this distinction to the careful scrutiny which that article undergoes. After inspection it is divided into three qualities; the second quality is allowed to pass with the first, and the purchaser receives for it an allowance of 500 reas per arroba from the planter; the third quality is wholly rejected[83]. The bags are then weighed, and the export duty charged on them. About eighty thousand bags are annually exported, of which sixty thousand may be considered as destined for Great Britain, and the residue principally to Lisbon. The annual export of sugar has been estimated at 25,000 cases, of which nearly one half goes to England, and the rest to the mother country. This product is considerably on the increase.

The principal exports from Maranham are cotton, rice, hides, and Indian corn. Its cotton ranks next in quality to that of Pernambuco, and obtains a price very little inferior. The quantity annually exported has been estimated at sixty thousand bags, of which more than three fourths may be considered as destined for the English market. The annual export of rice exceeds three hundred thousand arrobas. It is calculated that the trade of this port employs yearly upwards of one hundred sail, of which one half are destined for England. Sugar is beginning to form a considerable article of commerce at this port, many extensive plantations having been made. Sweetmeats and confectionery are cured here, and at the above mentioned places in great perfection, and are exported in quantities almost beyond credibility.

The foreign commerce of Para may be considered still in its infancy, as its principal city, Belem, is accessible only to vessels of small burthen. Its cottons are considered little inferior to those of Bahia. Its other exports consist of excellent cocoa, coffee, rice, in great quantities, sarsaparilla, raw and tanned hides, gums, various drugs, some sugar, molasses, timber, and curious woods. The vast territories of this capitania are but little known, and very thinly peopled.

In terminating the present work, the author cannot but express his earnest hope, that the new order of things now instituted in the mother country may tend to the permanent welfare of Brazil, to the developement of its rich and various resources, to the intellectual, moral, and social improvement of its people, to the extension of their commerce, and to the continuance of that connection with Great Britain, which has hitherto contributed, and may henceforth more largely contribute, to the prosperity of both nations.