e capital of the southern division, which included Porto
Seguro and every thing to the south of it; while Bahia remained the
capital of the northern districts. There Luiz de Brito fixed his
residence, and Doctor Antonio Salerna was appointed governor of the
south. But this division was soon found inconvenient, and the two parts
were re-united[14] about 1578, the year in which a new governor, Diego
Laurenco da Viega, arrived.
[Note 14: When the Historia da Provincia de Sancta Cruz, by Pero
Magalha[=e]s de Gadano, was printed, 1575, they were still separate; but
Southey's MS. of 1578 says they had been re-united.]
This was the year when the loss of Don Sebastian in Africa threw
Portugal into the hands of Spain. King Philip, eager to annex that
kingdom for ever to his crown, offered Brazil, with the title of King,
to Braganza if he would give up his claim to the crown of Portugal. But
it was reserved for his descendant to achieve the independence of
Brazil, and he refused it.
The colony was at this period most flourishing, though not altogether
able to do without occasional supplies from the mother country. But
already the original mud-cottages, supported by frame-work and thatched
with palm-leaves, of the first settlers, had given way to well built and
handsome houses of stone and brick, covered with tiles as in Europe. The
reconcave of Bahia had sixty-two churches, and upwards of seventy
sugar-works: the land was well stocked with cattle, all the kinds of
orange and lime trees introduced by Europeans had flourished. The
country abounded in excellent native fruits, and the mandioc furnished
never-failing stores of bread. Olinda partook of all these advantages,
and was itself the best built and most populous town in Brazil. Rio de
Janeiro had become a place only inferior in importance to the other two,
its natural advantages being still greater, and the climate milder; nor
were the other captaincies less prosperous.
But the transfer of the crown into foreign hands changed the aspect of
affairs in Brazil. Inferior to the Spanish American countries in mines,
it was considered only of consequence as being occupied by Spanish
subjects, and so forming a barrier against the intrusion of other
nations.
By this time the English had begun to trade on the coast of Brazil, and
in 1577 Drake had passed through the Straits of Magellan in his
memorable voyage round the world. His appearance in the southern seas
alarmed Philip
|