so that the introduction of the hardier Africans was deemed necessary:
_they_ now people the Brazilian fields; and if here and there an Indian
aldea is to be found, the people are wretched, with less than Negro
comforts, and much less than Negro spirit or industry. Hence, while the
original Mexicans and Peruvians form a real and respectable part of the
assertors of the independance of their country, along with the Creole
Spaniards, the Indians are nothing in Brazil; even as a mixed race, they
have less part among the different casts than in the Spanish colonies;
and therefore jealousies among the Portuguese themselves could alone at
this period have brought affairs to their present crisis. These
jealousies have taken place, and though they did not arise principally
out of the causes of the emigration and return of the Royal family, they
were at least quickened and accelerated by them.

In 1499, Brazil was discovered by Vicente Yanez Pincon, a native of
Palos, and one of the companions of Columbus. He and his brothers were
in search of new countries, and after touching at the Cape de Verd
Islands, he steered to the south-west, till he came to the coast of
Brazil, near Cape St. Augustine, and coasted along as far as the river
Maranham, and thence to the mouth of the Oronoco. He carried home some
valuable drugs, precious stones, and Brazil wood; but had lost two of
his three ships on the voyage. He made no settlement, but had claimed
the country for Spain.

Meantime Pedro Alvarez Cabral was appointed by Emanuel, King of
Portugal, to the command of a large fleet, destined to follow the course
of Vasco de Gama in the east. Adverse winds, however, drove the
expedition so far to the westward, that it fell in with the coast of
Brazil, and the ships anchored in Porto Seguro on Good-Friday of the
year 1500. On Easter-day the first Christian altar was raised in the new
continent under a large tree, and mass was performed, at which the
innocent natives assisted with pleased attention: the country was taken
possession of for the crown of Portugal by the name of the land of the
Holy Cross, and a stone cross was erected to commemorate the event.
Cabral dispatched a small vessel to Lisbon to announce his discovery,
and then, without making any settlement, proceeded to India.

On the arrival of the news in Europe, the King of Portugal invited
Amerigo Vespucci from Seville, and sent him with three ships to explore
the country. After a