An exploration of women's involvement in the Latin American Wars of Independence

Author: Mary (Maria) Dundas de Graham

Type of publication: Book

Title: Journal of a Voyage to Brazil and Residence There, During Part of the Years 1821,1822,1823

Year of publication: 1823

Publisher: Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, New York, Washington, London, 1969.

Place created: Rio de Janeiro

Language: English

Location of text: Maria Dundas Graham (Lady Maria Calcott), Journal of a Voyage to Brazil and Residence There, During Part of the Years 1821,1822,1823, Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, New York, Washington, London, 1969. in University Library, Cambridge

Abstract: Extracts from her book.

Content:
p.49
December 19th 1821 [Catete, suburb of Rio] I walked by the side of Langford's horse up one of the little valleys at the foot of the Corcorado. It is called the Laranjeiros, from the numerous orange trees which grow on each side of the little stream that beautifies and fertilizes it. just at the entrance to that valley, a little green plain stretches itself on either hand, through which the rivulet runs over its stony bed, and affords a tempting spot to groups of washerwomen of all (p.50) hues, though the greater number are black, and they add not a little to the picturesque effect of the scene. They generally wear a red or white handkerchief round the head, and a full plaited mantle tied over one shoulder, and passed under the opposite arm, with a full petticoat, is a favourite dress. Some wrap a long cloth round them, like the Hindoos, and some wear an ugly European frock, with a most ungraceful sort of bib tied before them.

Round the washerwoman's plain, hedges of acacia and mimosa fence the gardens of plantains, oranges, and other fruits which surround every villa, and beyond these, the coffee plantations extend far up the mountain, whose picturesque head closes the scene....

Friday, December 21st Mr Hayne, one of the commissioners of the slave trade commission, and his sister, having proposed a party to see the botanic gardens, we set off soon after day light and drove to their house on the bay of Boto Fogo, perhaps the most beautiful spot in the neighbourhood of Rio, rich as it is in natural beauty, and its beauty is increased by the numerous and pretty country houses which now surround it. These have all grown up since the arrival of the court from Lisbon....

The stream that waters the garden flows through a lovely valley, where the royal powder mills are situated, but being fearful of too much exertion for Langford we put off visiting them to another day, and returned to the garden gate to breakfast.

His Majesty John VI built a small house there, with three or four rooms, to accommodate the royal party, when they visited the gardens. Our breakfast was prepared in the veranda of that house, from whence we had a charming view of the lake, with the mountains and woods, the ocean, with three little islands that lie off the lake, and in the foreground a small chapel and village, at the extremity of a little smooth green plain.

After waiting with our agreeable and well informed friends till the sea breeze set in, we returned part of the way along the lake, and then ascended to the parsonage of Nossa Señhora da Cabeca, where we were joined by several other persons who had come to dine there with us. The Padre Manoel Gomez received us very kindly, and our pic nic was spread in the ample veranda of his parsonage....

To judge by the materials of the feast, so blended were the productions of every climate that we could scarcely have (p.51) pronounced in what part of the world we were, had not the Profusion of ananas and plantains, compared with the small quantity of apples and peaches, reminded us of it. As is usual on such occasions, the oldest inhabitants of Brazil raised most what came from afar, while we all gave the preference to the productions of the country.

I was soon drawn away from the table by the beauty of the prospect, which I endeavoured to sketch....

As every body was determined to be pleased, we all felt sorry when it was time to separate.... We walked down to the foot of the hill, and each took his or her several conveyance; Colonel and Mrs Cunningham their comfortable English chariot, Mr and Miss Hayne their pretty curricle, and I my Rio caleche or sege, a commodious but ugly carriage, very heavy, but well enough adapted to the rough roads between the garden and the town.

The gentlemen all rode, and most of us carried home something. Fruit and flowers attracted some, Langford got a number of diamond beetles, and a magnificent butterfly, and I a most inadequate sketch of the scene from the Padre's house.

December 27th Since the jaunt to the botanical gardens, some of our invalids have been gaining ground, others who were well have become invalids, and I have done nothing but ride about or talk with them, and look at the beautiful views of the neighbourhood, and get a little better acquainted with the inhabitants, of whom the most amusing, so far as I have yet seen, are certainly the negroes, who carry about the fruit and vegetables for sale.

The midshipmen have made friends with some of them. One of them has become quite a friend in the house, and after he has sold his master's fruit, earns a small gratuity for himself, by his tales, his dances, and his songs.

His tribe, it seems, was at war with a neighbouring king, and he went out to fight when quite a boy, was taken prisoner, and sold.

This is probably the story of many, but our friend tells it with action and emphasis, and shows his wounds, and dances his war dance, and shouts his wild song, till the savage slave becomes almost a sublime object.

I have been for an hour to night at a very different scene, a ball given by Mr B. a respectable English merchant. The Portuguese and Brazilian ladies are decidedly superior in appearance to those (p.52) of Bahia. They look of higher caste, perhaps the residence of the court for so many years has polished them.

I cannot say the men partake of the advantage, but I cannot yet speak Portuguese well enough to dare to pronounce what either men or women really are. As to the English, what can I say? They are very like all one sees at home, in their rank of life, and the ladies, very good persons doubtless, would require Miss Austen's pen to make them interesting. However, as they appear to make no pretensions to any thing but what they are, to me they are good-humoured, hospitable, and therefore pleasing.

Monday, 31st Dec. 1821

I went to town for the first time; our road lay through the suburb of the Catete for about half a mile. Some handsome houses are situated on either hand, and the spaces between are filled with shops, and small houses inhabited by the families of the shopkeepers in town....

There is in the city an air of bustle and activity quite agreeable to our European eyes, yet the Portuguese all take their siesta after dinner.

The negroes, whether free blacks or slaves, look cheerful and happy at their labour. There is such a demand for them, that they find full employment, and of course good pay, and remind one here as little as possible of their sad condition, unless, indeed, one passes the street of the Vallongo, then the slave trade comes in all its horrors before one's eyes. On either hand are magazines of new slaves, called here peices, and there the wretched creatures are subject to all the miseries of a new negro's life, scanty diet, brutal examination, and the lash.

Tuesday, January 1st, 1822
I went to pay a second visit to an illustrious exile, Count Hogendorp, one of the Emperor Napoleon's generals. My first had been accidental.

One morning last week, riding with two of our young midshipmen, we came to a pleasant looking cottage, high on the side of the Corcovado, and at the door we saw a very striking figure, to whom I instantly apologized for intruding on his grounds, saying that we were strangers, and had come there accidentally. He instantly, with a manner that showed him to be no common person. welcomed us, asked our names, and on being told them, said he (p.53) had heard of us, and, but for his infirmities, would have called on us. He insisted on our dismounting, as a shower was coming on, and taking shelter with him.

By this time I perceived it was Count Hogendorp, and asked him if I had guessed rightly. He answered, yes; and added a few words, signifying that his master's servants, even in exile, carried that with them which distinguished them from other men.

The Count is the wreck of a once handsome man. He has not lost his martial air, he is tall, but not too thin, his grey eyes sparkle with intelligence, and his pure and forcible language is still conveyed in a clear well toned voice, though a little the worse for age.

He ushered us into a spacious veranda, where he passes most of the day, and which is furnished with sofas, chairs, and tables. He then ordered his servant to bring breakfast. We had coffee, milk, and fresh butter, all the produce of his own farm, and as we sat, we saw the showers passing by and under us across the valley, which leads the eye to the bay below. The General entered frankly into conversation, and during breakfast, and while the shower lasted, spoke almost incessantly of his imperial master.

On the annexation of Holland to France, he entered the French service with the rank of full colonel. He was always a great favourite with Napoleon, to whom his honesty and disinterestedness in money matters seem to have been valuable, in proportion as these qualities were scarce among his followers.

The Count's affection for him is excessive, I should have said unaccountable, had he not shown me a letter written to him by the Emperor's own hand, on the death of his child, in which, besides much general kindness, there is even a touch of tenderness I had not looked for.

During the disastrous expedition to Russia, Hogendorp was entrusted with the government of Poland, and kept his court at Wilna. His last public service was performed in the defence of Hamburgh, where he was lieutenant governor. He would fain have attended the Emperor into exile, but that not being allowed, he came hither, where, with the greatest economy, and I believe, some assistance from the Prince (Dom Pedro, Brazil) who has great respect for him, he lives chiefly on the produce of his little farm.

Most of these particulars I learnt from himself, while resting and sheltered from the rain, which lasted nearly an hour.

He then showed me his house, which is small indeed, consisting of only three rooms, besides the veranda; his study where a few (p.54) books, two or three casts from antique bas reliefs, and some maps and prints, indicate the retirement of a gentleman; his bedroom, the walls of which, with a capricious taste, are painted black, and on that sombre ground, skeletons of the natural size, in every attitude of glee, remind one of Holbein's Dance of Death; and a third room occupied by barrels of orange wine, and jars of liqueur made of the grumaxama (at least as agreeable as cherry brandy which it resembles), the produce of his farm; and the sale of which, together with his coffee, helps out his slender income.

The General, as he loves to be called, led us round his garden, and displayed with even fondness, his fruits and his flowers, extolled the climate, and only blamed the people, for the neglect and want of industry, which wastes half the advantages God has given them.

On returning to the house, he introduced to me his old Prussian servant (who has seen many a campaign with him) and his negroes, whom he freed on purchasing them. He has induced the women to wear a nose jewel, after the fashion of Java, which he seems to remember with particular pleasure. I was sorry to leave the Count, but was afraid some alarm might be felt at home concerning us, and therefore bade him adieu....

January 8th, 1822
To day we left the house on shore, and are again at home on board the Doris, with all our invalids much better....

Wednesday, January 9th
To day is expected to be a day of much importance to the future fate of Brazil. But I must go back to the arrival of a message from the Cortes at Lisbon, intimating to the Prince their pleasure, that he should forthwith repair to Europe, and begin his education, and proceed to travel incognito through Spain, France, and England.

This message excited the most lively indignation not only in His Royal Highness, but in the Brazilians from one end of the Kingdom to the other. The Prince is willing to obey the orders of his father and the Cortes, at the same time he cannot but feel as a man the want of decency of the message, and being thus bid to go home, and especially forbidden to carry any guards with him, as it should seem, lest they might have contracted too much attachment for his person.

The Brazilians regard this step as preliminary to removing from (p.55) this country the courts of justice, which have for fourteen years been held here, and so removing causes to Lisbon, by which means, Brazil would be again reduced to the condition of a dependent colony instead of enjoying equal rights and privileges with the mother country, a degradation they are by no means inclined to submit to.

10th
Yesterday there was a meeting of the camara (legislative chamber) of Rio, and after a short consultation the members went in procession, accompanied by a great concourse of people, to the Prince, with a strong remonstrance against his leaving the country. and an earnest entreaty that he would remain among his faithful people. His Royal Highness received them graciously, and replied, that since it appeared to be the wish of all, and for the good of all, he would remain. This declaration was received with shouts of enthusiasm, which were answered by the discharge of artillery, and every mark of public rejoicing...

p.56
January 10th 1822 To day our friends the merchants are under fresh alarm, and have made a formal request to the captain to stay. With that petty spirit which passes for diplomatic, the deputy consul and merchants, instead of saying what they are afraid of, only say, 'Sir, we are afraid, circumstances make us so, and we hope you will stay till,' &c. &c.; as much as to say, 'You are answerable for evil, if it happens,' although they are too much afraid of committing themselves to say why.

I do not trouble myself now about their official reports, which I perceive are large sheets of paper, and large seals, without one word that might not be published on every church wall, for their milk and water tenor, but which I consider as absurd and mischievous, because they tend to excite distrust and alarm where no danger is.

The truth is now, that there might be some cause of fear, if they would openly express it. The language of the Portuguese officers is most violent. They talk of carrying the Prince by main force to Lisbon, and so making him obey the Cortes in spite of the Brazilians, and both parties are so violent, that they will probably fight. In that fight there will doubtless be danger to foreign property; but why not say so? why not say such is the case? ....

11th
There is a great deal of uneasiness to day. The Portuguese commander in chief of the troops, General Avilez, has demanded and received his discharge.

It is said, perhaps untruly, that his remonstrance to the Prince against his remaining here has been ungentlemanlike and indecent. I hear the troops will not consent to his removal, and they are particularly incensed that the choice of a successor should fall on General Curado, a Brazilian, who, it is said, will be called from St Paul's to succeed Avilez. He is a veteran, who has commanded with distinction in all the campaigns on the southern frontier, and his actions are better (p.57) known among his countrymen than those distant battles in Europe, on which the Portuguese officers of every rank are apt to pride themselves here, however slight the share they had in them, to the annoyance of the Brazilians.

12th
Yesterday the military commission for the government of the army here was broke up, and Curado appointed commander in chief, and minister of war.

The Portuguese General Avilez made his appearance at the barracks of the European soldiers to take leave of them. They were under arms to receive him, and vowed not to part with him, or to obey another commander, and were with difficulty reduced to such order as to promise tolerable tranquillity for the day at least.

It is said, that as it had been understood that they had expressed some jealousy, because the guard of honour at the opera house had been for the two last evenings composed of Brazilians, the Prince sent to the Portuguese barracks for the guard of last night, but that they refused to go, saying, that as His Royal Highness was so partial to the Brazilians, he had better continue to be guarded by them. I am not sure this is true, but from the circumstances of the day it is not improbable.

The opera house was again brilliantly lighted. The Prince and Princess were there, and had been received as well as on the ninth, when, at about eleven o'clock, the Prince was called out of his box, and informed that bodies of from twenty to thirty of the Portuguese soldiers were parading the streets, breaking windows and insulting passengers in their way from barrack to barrack, where everything wore the appearance of determined mutiny.

At the same time, a report of these circumstances having reached the house, the spectators began to rise for the purpose of going home. The Prince, having given such orders as were necessary, returned to the box, and going with the Princess (then near her confinement) to the front, he addressed the people. He assured them that there was nothing serious, that he had already given orders to send the riotous soldiers, who had been quarrelling with the blacks, back to their barracks, and entreated them not to leave the theatre and increase the tumult, by their presence in the street, but remain till the end of the piece, as he meant to do, when he had no doubt all would be quiet.

The coolness and presence of mind of the Prince, no doubt, preserved the city from much confusion and misery. By the time (p.58) the opera was over the streets were sufficiently clear to permit every one to go home in safety.

Meantime the Portuguese troops, to the number of seven hundred, had marched up to the Castle hill, commanding the principal streets in the town, and had taken with them four pieces of artillery, and threatened to sack the town. The field pieces belonging to the Brazilians, which had remained in the town after the 26th of February, had been sent to the usual station of the artillery, at the botanical gardens, no longer ago than last week, so they entertained no fear of artillery. But they were disappointed in their expectation of being joined by that part of the Portuguese force which was stationed at San Cristovao. This amounted to about five hundred men, who said the King had left them to attend on the person of the Prince, and they had nothing to do with anything else. A declaration that was looked on with suspicion by the Brazilians.

While the Portuguese were taking up their new and threatening position, the Brazilians were not idle. Every horse and mule in the town was pressed, and expresses despatched to all the militia regiments, and other Brazilian troops, as well as to the headquarters of the artillery.

The Prince was most active, so that by four o'clock this morning (12th), he found himself at the head of a body of four thousand men, in the Campo de Santa Anna, not only ready, but eager for action; and though deficient in discipline, formidable from their numbers and determination....

I went ashore with an officer as early as I could, chiefly for the purpose of seeing the troops in the Campo de Santa Anna. In consequence, however, of the press of horses and mules. it was some time before I could get a chaise to convey me there, and it was much too hot to walk.

At length, however, I procured one, and determined to call on the Viscondeca of Rio Seco in my way, to offer her refuge in the frigate. We found her in a Brazilian dishabille, and looking harassed and anxious. She had remained in the theatre as long as the Prince last night, and had then hurried home to provide for the safety of her family and her jewels. Her family she had despatched to her estate in the country. For the jewels, she had them all packed in small parcels, intending to escape with them herself in disguise to us, in case of a serious attack on the city, and she had left a quantity of valuable plate exposed in different parts of the house to occupy the soldiers on their first entrance.

Everything, however, looks better now, and we assured her we (p.59) had seen the first part of one of the Lisbon regiments ready to embark1 as we landed. We promised her, that on her making a signal from her house, or sending a message, she should have protection. She appears very apprehensive of evil from the liberation of the prisoners by the Brazilians during the night, and says, that there are some fears that the Portuguese will seize the forts on the other side, and hold them till the arrival of the reinforcements daily expected from Lisbon. This would indeed, be disastrous; but I believe the apprehension to be ill founded....

On our return to the ship, we were stopped for some time in the palace square, by a great concourse of people assembled to witness the entrance of the first Brazilian guard into the palace, while the last Portuguese guard marched out, amid the loud huzzas of the people. And on reaching the stairs, where we were to embark, we found the last of one regiment, and the first of another, about to sail for the Praya Grande, so that the city may sleep in security tonight.

The inhabitants generally, but especially the foreign merchants, are well pleased to see the Lisbon troops dismissed, for they have long been most tyrannically brutal to strangers, to negroes, and not unfrequently to Brazilians. And, for many weeks past, their arrogance has been disgusting to both Prince and people.

The appearance of the city is melancholy enough, the shops are shut up, guards are parading the streets, and every body looks anxious. The shopkeepers are all employed as militia. They are walking about with bands and belts of raw hides over their ordinary clothes, but their arms and ammunition were all in good order, and excepting these and the English, I saw nobody at all out of doors.

1. The Prince had ordered them to embark for Portugal. They were to go to the Praya Grande until ships were available to take them to Lisbon.

13th
Every thing seems quiet to day. From the ship we see the rest of the troops going over to the Praya Grande. Yet there is necessarily a great deal of anxiety among all classes of persons.

Some persons have sent some of their valuables on board the frigate, for safety, and a message, I do not know on what authority, arrived to know if the Prince and Princess, and family, could be received and protected on board.

The answer, of course, is, that though the ship must observe the (p.60) strictest neutrality between the parties, yet that we are ready at once to receive and protect the Princess and children, and also, whenever he has reason to apprehend personal danger, the Prince himself. My cabin is therefore ready. I hope they will not be forced to come afloat. The more they can trust to the Brazilians the better for them, and for the cause of that independence which is now so inevitable, that the only question is whether it shall be obtained with or without bloodshed.

We have determined to have a ball on board, the day after tomorrow, that the people may get acquainted with us, and then if any thing occurs to render it advisable to take refuge with us, they will know who they are to come amongst....

15th
Our ball went off very well. We had more foreigners than English, and as there was excellent music from the opera orchestra, and a great deal of dancing, the young people enjoyed it much. I should have done so also, but that Captain Graham was suffering with the gout so severely, that I could have wished to put off the dance.

I had commissioned the Viscondeca do Rio Seco and some other ladies to bring their Portuguese friends, which they did, and we had a number of pretty and agreeable women, and several gentlemanlike men, in addition to our English friends.

A dance on ship board is always agreeable and picturesque. There is something in the very contrast afforded by the furniture of the deck of a ship of war to the company and occupation of a ball that is striking.

The little warlike world within,
The well reeved guns and netted canopy,

all dressed with evergreens and flowers, waving over the heads of gay girls and their smiling partners, furnish forth combinations in which poetry and romance delight, and which one must be stoical indeed to contemplate without emotion. I never loved dancing myself, perhaps because I never excelled in it, but yet, a ball room is to me a delightful place....

17th
Nothing remarkable yesterday or to day, but the perfect quiet of the town. The Prince goes on discharging the soldiers....

p.63 Sunday, 3d [March, 1822]
I went out before breakfast, with a negro carpenter for my guide. This man, with little instruction, has learned his art so as to be not only a good carpenter and joiner, but also a very tolerable cabinetmaker, and in other respects displays a quickness of understanding which gives no countenance to the pretended inferiority of negro intellect. I was much pleased with the observations he made on many things which I remarked as new, and with the perfect understanding he seemed to have of all country works.

p.64 After breakfast, I attended the weekly muster of all the negroes of the fazenda. Clean shirts and trowsers were given the men, and shifts and skirts to the women, of very coarse white cotton. Each, as he or she came in, kissed a hand, and then bowed to Mr P- saying either 'Father, give me blessing', or 'The names of Jesus and Mary be praised!' and were answered accordingly, either 'Bless you', or 'Be they praised'.

This is the custom in old establishments. It is repeated morning and evening, and seems to acknowledge a kind of relationship between master and slave. It must diminish the evils of slavery to one, the tyranny of mastership in the other, to acknowledge thus a common superior Master on whom they both depend.

As each slave passed in review, some questions were asked concerning himself, his family, if he had one, or his work, and each received a portion of snuff or tobacco, according to his taste.

Mr P is one of the few persons whom I have met conversant among slaves, who appears to have made them an object of rational and humane attention. He tells me that the creole negroes and mulattoes are far superior in industry to the Portuguese and Brazilians, who, from causes not difficult to be imagined, are far the most indolent and ignorant.

The negroes and mulattoes have strong motives to exertion of every kind, and succeed in what they undertake accordingly. They are the best artificers and artists. The orchestra of the opera house is composed of at least one third of mulattoes. All decorative painting, carving, and inlaying is done by them; in short, they excel in all ingenious mechanical arts....

4th
I was very sorry indeed this morning at sunrise, when I saw the boats ready to convey us from N. S. da Luz, where we had enjoyed our three days as much as possible.... We returned to the ship by a different way from that by which we went, through the archipelago of beautiful islands on the eastern side of the harbour; and I had the pleasure to find the Captain really better, though still with tender feet....

Texts written by Mary (Maria) Dundas de Graham:
1821 - The Captain's Wife. The South American Journals of Journals of Maria Graham, 1821-23,
1823 - Brazil Journal, Vol.2
1823 - Journal of a Voyage to Brazil and Residence There, During Part of the Years 1821,1822,1823