1808: The Flight of the Emperor (30 page)

4
Oliveira Martins,
História de Portugal,
p. 516.

5
The number of individuals who accompanied D. João also remains a matter of dispute. Some historians speak of up to 15,000 people. Carioca architect Nireu Cavalcanti, author of
O Rio de Janeiro setecentista,
considers this figure an exaggeration. Based on the list of passengers who disembarked in the port of Rio de Janeiro between 1808 and 1809, he calculates that there were only 444. Historian Kenneth Light disagrees. In his calculations, the
Príncipe Real
alone carried 1,054 individuals. In his opinion, it would be reasonable to estimate a total between 10,000 and 15,000 people. The problem is that, since there was no official list of passengers, it's practically impossible to know how many people actually made the journey. Moreover, not all of them disembarked in Rio de Janeiro. Some ships docked in Paraíba, Recife, Salvador, and other coastal cities. The comparison between the number of passengers and the population of Lisbon comes from Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 30.

6
Lília Schwarcz,
A longa viagem da biblioteca,
p. 217.

7
This information comes from Robert Hughes,
The Fatal Shore,
cited in Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 266.

8
Alan Manchester,
British Preeminence in Brazil,
p. 65.

9
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 21.

10
Thomas O'Neill,
A concise and accurate account,
p. 10.

11
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 14.

12
Ibid, p. 23.

13
Oliveira Lima,
D. João VI no Brasil,
p. 53.

14
Cited in Francisca L. Nogueira de Azevedo,
Carlota Joaquina,
p. 60.

15
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
pp. 26–27.

16
Lília Schwarcz,
A longa viagem da biblioteca,
pp. 213, 451.

17
This report comes from the duchess of Abrantes, the wife of General Junot, whom the Pernambucan historian considers not an entirely trustworthy source. Cited in Manuel de Oliveira Lima,
D. João VI no Brasil,
p. 53.

18
Luiz Norton,
A Corte de Portugal no Brasil,
p. 35.

19
Maximilien Foy,
Junot's Invasion of Portugal,
p. 47.

20
Ibid, p. 46; and Melo Moraes,
História da transladação,
pp. 55–56.

21
Oliveira Martins,
História de Portugal,
p. 517.

22
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 25.

23
Francisca L. Nogueira de Azevedo,
Carlota Joaquina,
p. 65.

24
Jurandir Malerba,
A Corte no exílio,
pp. 20, 224. Tobias Monteiro, in
História do Império,
note 13 to chapter 3, p. 65, cites the US envoy in Lisbon, who reports that the diamonds taken by the court were worth $100 million and the money and silver $30 million.

25
Manuel de Oliveira Lima,
D. João VI no Brasil,
p. 16.

26
Kirsten Schultz,
Tropical Versailles,
p. 69.

27
Melo Moraes,
História da transladação,
p. 62.

28
Richard Bentley,
Memoirs of Admiral Sidney Smith,
cited in Francisca L. Nogueira de Azevedo,
Carlota Joaquina,
p. 65.

29
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 10.

30
Ibid, p. 28.

31
Kenneth Light,
The Migration of the Royal Family
(no page numbers).

32
Kenneth Light, “Com os pés no mar,” pp. 48–53.

33
The data on the reduction of Portugual's population during the Peninsular War, described in more detail in chapter 25 of this book, comes from Oliveira Martins,
História de Portugal,
p. 527.

 

VI

THE ROYAL ARCHIVIST

 

1
The library contained just three thousand volumes in August 1814, when British troops burned the US capitol during the War of 1812. Jefferson offered his personal library, containing some six thousand titles, to replace it. The comparison between the two libraries comes from Robert Stevenson, “A Neglected Johannes de Garlandia Manuscript (1486) in South America,” at JSTOR.org.

2
Information about the life of Luiz dos Santos Marrocos in Portugal and his work at the Royal Library derive from Rodolfo Garcia's introduction to
Cartas de Luiz Joaquim dos Santos Marrocos.

3
Luiz dos Santos Marrocos,
Cartas,
p. 78.

4
The book by Fernão Lopez de Castanheda can be found in the online catalog of the library of the University of Navarra, Humanities, Fondo Antiguo, at www .unav.es/biblioteca.

5
Besides the work of F. E. Foderé, Marrocos translated the two volumes of Barbier's
Tratado de higiene aplicada à terapia
from the French. Later, while in Brazil, he translated Foderé's
Tratado da polícia de saúde, terrestre e marítima, ou Higiene militar e naval.

6
Rodolfo Garcia in Luiz dos Santos Marrocos,
Cartas,
pp. 7–8.

7
Oliveira Martins,
História de Portugal,
p. 498.

8
Cited in Jurandir Malerba,
A Corte no exílio,
p. 130.

9
O comentário de Ratton é de 1755,
cited in Lília Schwarcz,
A longa viagem da biblioteca,
p. 45.

10
Cited in Lília Schwarcz,
A longa viagem da biblioteca,
p. 165.

11
Ângelo Pereira,
D João VI, Príncipe e Rei,
p. 48.

12
Alan Manchester,
British Preeminence in Brazil,
p. 54.

13
Pedro Calmon,
O rei do Brasil,
p. 8.

14
Oliveira Martins,
História de Portugal,
p. 494.

15
Dicionário Histórico de Portugal,
at www.arqnet.pt/dicionario.

16
Oliveira Martins,
História de Portugal,
p. 514.

17
For detailed information on the origins of the Royal Library and its symbolic character for the Portuguese monarchy, see Lília Schwarcz,
A longa viagem da biblioteca,
chapters 1 and 2.

18
Rodolfo Garcia in Luiz dos Santos Marrocos,
Cartas,
p. 7.

 

VII

THE VOYAGE

 

1
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 39.

2
For more on the fight against scurvy and the precariousness of maritime travel in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, see Stephen R. Bown,
The Age of Scurvy.

3
Alan Manchester,
British Preeminence in Brazil,
p. 69.

4
Luiz dos Santos Marrocos,
Cartas,
p. 38.

5
On the history and organization of the British navy, see David Howarth,
British Sea Power;
Brian Lavery,
Nelson's Navy;
Niall Ferguson,
Empire.

6
Kenneth Light,
The Migration,
(no page numbers).

7
As with the majority of statistics from this era, the number of passengers on board each ship in the fleet poses some controversy. The number 1,054 comes from Kenneth Light, based on a letter that Captain James Walker, commander of the British
Bedford,
wrote from Salvador to William Wellesley-Pole, secretary of the Admiralty, in London, on January 31, 1808. According to Light, the handling of the ropes and anchors alone required a crew of 385 men.

8
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 50.

9
This inventory was made by Admiral Sidney Smith, commander of the English fleet, in a letter to the Admiralty in London written on December 1, 1807, and cited by Maria Graham in
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil.

10
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 35.

11
Melo Moraes,
História da transladação,
p. 59.

12
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 31.

13
Melo Moraes,
História da transladação,
p. 62.

14
Kenneth Light, “Com os pés no mar,” pp. 48–53.

15
Kenneth Light, “A viagem da família real para o Brasil.”

16
Letter from James Walker of January 6, 1808, to William Wellesley-Pole, secretary of the Admirality, transcribed in Kenneth Light,
The Migration
(no page numbers).

17
Kenneth Light, “A viagem da família real para o Brasil.”

18
Information about the scattering of the fleet during the storm and the accident involving George Green come from the onboard diaries of Captain James Walker, transcribed by Kenneth Light, in
The Migration
(no page numbers).

19
Letter to the prince regent, transcribed by Ângelo Pereira,
D. João VI,
pp. 183–185.

20
Kenneth Light,
The Migration
(no page numbers).

21
Kenneth Light, “A viagem da família real para o Brasil.”

22
Tobias Monteiro,
História do império,
p. 67.

23
J. J. Colledge,
Ships of the Royal Navy.

24
The original edition of Thomas O'Neill's book is one of the greatest rarities in the book world. One of the few copies can be found in the Mindlin Library in São Paulo.

25
Thomas O'Neill,
A concise and accurate account,
pp. 11–12.

26
Ibid, pp. 60–61.

27
Ibid, p. 14.

28
Ibid, pp. 17–20.

29
Ângelo Pereira,
Os filhos d'El-Rei D. João VI,
p. 113.

30
Historian Ângelo Pereira argues that, if the duke of Cadaval had not traveled to Brazil, he would have been appointed president of the regency, in charge of administrative affairs in Portugal and negotiations with French troops following the court's departure. The duke preferred to accompany João and hence embarked on the
D. João de Castro,
during which time he “suffered all of the deprivations imaginable of clothing and rations,” according to Pereira. “He spent the entire journey sick, and he perished in Bahia, thereby forever providing an example of solid character and devotion to his ruler” (
Os filhos d'El-Rei
p. 115).

 

VIII

SALVADOR

 

1
This is the version according to Melo Moraes,
História da transladação,
pp. 66–67.

2
Kenneth Light, “A viagem da família real para o Brasil.”

3
Brigantines were small, rapid ships used by the Portuguese for coastal reconnaisance and tactical transportations between docks and deep water ships anchored farther out. They had between ten and nineteen rowing benches and could be equipped with one or two masts. They were used also for ceremonial
transportation. One was used in just such a way during João's arrival in Brazil in 1808 and is on display today at the Maritime Museum in Rio de Janeiro. For more information about vessels used in the Portuguese colonial period, see Fernando Gomes Pedrosa (editor),
Navios, Marinheiros, e Arte de Navegar. 1139–1499,
pp. 63–65.

4
Ângelo Pereira,
D. João VI,
p. 113.

5
As the following chapter discusses, communication in the interior of the colony proved even slower and more unreliable. Information sent from Lisbon took months to reach São Paulo or Rio Grande do Sul.

6
Melo Moraes,
História da transladação,
p. 67.

7
For a detailed description of their arrival and reception in Salvador, see Melo Moraes,
História da transladação,
p. 67, and Pedro Calmon,
O rei do Brasil,
pp. 123–129.

8
That Dom João disembarked in the morning comes from Pedro Calmon. Melo Moraes argues that he disembarked between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

9
Maria Graham,
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil,
p. 132.

10
This data comes from Nireu Cavalcanti,
O Rio de Janeiro setecentista,
p. 258, based on a list of the thirty largest cities in the world at the beginning of the nineteenth century as compiled by historian A. H. Oliveira Marques.

11
For a description of Salvador and the strategic aspects of its location, see Charles Boxer,
The Golden Age of Brazil,
pp. 127–128.

12
Johann Moritz Rugendas,
Viagem pitoresca pelo Brasil,
p. 52.

13
Charles Boxer,
The Golden Age of Brazil,
p. 128.

14
Ibid, p. 130.

15
Ibid, p. 128.

16
Maria Graham,
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil,
pp. 132–133.

17
Ibid, p. 135.

18
Cited in Charles Boxer,
The Golden Age of Brazil,
p. 129.

19
Ibid, p. 140.

20
Ibid, p. 138.

21
Patrick Wilcken,
Empire Adrift,
p. 66.

22
Lília Schwarcz,
A longa viagem da biblioteca,
pp. 229–230.

23
Nelson Werneck Sodré,
As razões da Independência,
p. 139.