Until the year 1530, Brazil (or as it was called among the Portuguese, “the Land of Brazil”) had not yet been the target of a systematic process of colonization. In the first years following the discovery, some adventurers and explorers managed to establish lucrative businesses, as was the case of Fernando de Noronha, who monopolized the exploitation of brazilwood during a time. However, the assembly of the colonial system and the insertion of Brazil into mercantilism only began with the expedition of martimAlphonsusinSousa and, a posteriori, with the institution of the General Government in 1548.
The expedition by Martim Afonso de Sousa was one of the decisive events in the beginning of Brazilian history. From that moment on, land exploration by settlers began to be regularized through the granting of land grants and the institution of Hereditary Captaincies. This whole enterprise was done under the king's yoke SunJoãoIII. This initial process, articulated by the administrative skill of Martim Afonso de Sousa, would later enable the configuration of the colonial economy based on the
Sugar Mills.Well then, the great importance of Martim Afonso's expedition can only be glimpsed by historians today, due to the richest document from the beginning of the Brazilian colonial period: the Navy Navigation Diary, which went to the Land of Brazil, in 1530, written by Pero Lopes de Sousa. O Pero Lopes de Sousa's diary, brother of Martim, to this day constitutes one of the most important documents in our history. Its importance, however, was only recognized in the 19th century by the historian Francisco Adolfo deVarnish, who transcribed and published in a book the Diary.
Unlike a contemporary diary, travelers' diaries from the era of the great overseas navigations did not contain reports sentimental or something similar, but had the function of recording as much as possible the details of the expedition, from departure to the return. Right at the opening of the diary by Pero Lopes, we can see this care: "In the period of fifteen hundred and thirty, on Saturday three days of the month of December, part of this city of Lisbon, under the captaincy of Martim Afonso de Sousa, my brother, who was captain of a fleet and governor of the land of Brazil with an east wind, leaves outside the bar, making his way south-west" (P. 3)
It can be seen that the author of the diary tries to bear witness to everything: the place, the leader of the expedition, the person of the narrator, the type of wind that guides the vessel and the fate of the crew. In another stretch, on the coast of the “Land of Brazil”, says Pero Lopes: “Friday morning we went sailing; the sea was so thick that we went astern with all the sails, and could not break it. We went with this wind until noon, which gave us the southeast wind, with which we were running along the coast tonight. In the bedroom of slumber we appeared at the mouth of Bahia de Todos os Santos.” (p.26)
It is clear that Pero Lopes is describing the contour that his brother's vessel made around Bahia de Todos. Santos, on the coast of the current state of Bahia, which was one of the main centers of population in Brazil in that era. In another moment, already on dry land, Pero Lopes is dazzled by nature and the mighty rivers of Brazil: “[...] The land is the most beautiful and pleasant that I have ever thought to see: there was no man who was tired of looking at the fields and their beauty. Here I found a big river; all along it all wooded, the most beautiful I have ever seen: and before it reached the sea a crossbow shot was gone.” (p.47).
Much of the paradisiacal vision that was drawn from Brazil in this period came from descriptions like this. The abundance of natural resources was one of the findings that most impressed European seafarers.
O diary by Pero Lopes, along with other documents, such as the Letter from Pero Vaz de Caminha, is of crucial importance for the understanding of how Brazil was viewed in the 16th century. This vision, when contrasted with the visions of later centuries, helps us to understand how historical transformations occur.
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/diario-navegacao-pero-lopes-sousa.htm