In your letter to Manuel I of Portugal, Pêro Vaz de Caminha gives what is now considered one of the most accurate accounts of what Brazil looked like in 1500. “This vast expanse of huge tree line, with abundant foliage, which is incalculable”, is one of Pêro's most famous descriptions. He describes in a diary since Portugal's first trip to Brazil and his arrival in this country. This letter is considered the first document in Brazilian history as well as its first literary text. The original of this 27-page document can be found in the National Archives of Torre do Tombo, in Lisbon.
This is the first document that describes the land and people of what Brazil became. It was written at the exact moment of the first contact with this new world. Pêro Vaz de Caminha was an officer in charge of reporting on the voyage of the Indian fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral. The Charter is a unique document because of the facts it narrates, the quality of its description of the people and territory, and its account of cultural dialogue with a people unknown in Europe until that time. It's rich in details and astute observations that make us feel like we're eyewitnesses to the encounter. Pêro Vaz de Caminha began his letter on April 24th and ended on May 1st, when one of the fleet's ships left for Lisbon to announce the good news to the king.
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Manuel I took the throne at a time when Portugal was discovering wealth in Africa and the Orient; he wanted to ensure that Portugal maintained the dominance of trade with the Orient. Portugal established its presence with enclaves, forts and fortified trading posts.
Pedro Álvares Cabral led the largest fleet of the Portuguese fleet on a mission to Calicut, India, where Vasco da Gama opened a sea route for two years before. Many historians debated the authenticity of this discovery; some have reason to believe that Portugal had prior knowledge of Brazil's existence. Pero Vaz de Caminha was the secretary of this fleet; he had been appointed to be the manager of a trading post to be created in Calicut. Once Cabral had gathered the basic facts and found the native people, he took that information and Caminha's letter on a smaller ship back to Lisbon.
| “Their appearance is that they are brown, somewhat reddish, with good faces and good noses, well made. They walk around naked, without any cover. They don't even bother to cover up or fail to cover up their shame than to show their face. About this they are of great innocence.” |
| “… they are well healed, and very clean. And in that, I am even more convinced that they are like birds, or mounded birds, which the air makes better feathers and better hair than the smooth ones, because their bodies are so clean and so fat and so beautiful that it can't be more!“ |
| “And they eat nothing but this yam, of which there is a lot here, and these seeds and fruits that the earth and the trees pour from them. And with this they go so and so tough and so fit that we are not so much, with how much wheat and vegetables we eat. |
| “There walked among them three or four girls, very young and gentle, with very black hair and long down their backs; and their shame, so high and so tight and so clean of their hair that, if we looked at them very well, they weren't ashamed." |
| "And one of those girls was all dyed from the bottom to the top, that dye and sure it was so well made and so round, and its shame so gracious that many women of our land, seeing such features, shamed, for not having theirs as Is it over there." |
The admiral of the ship that sailed to Brazil sent Nicolau Coelho out to interact with the natives. The people they encountered when they arrived in Brazil lived from a mixture of hunting and agriculture. They were brown and reddish and completely naked. Their languages have been divided into four large families with many isolates, and even related languages and dialects. were probably not mutually intelligible, so they had to communicate through actions and languages of signals. They tried to give the natives things to eat, like bread, fish, cakes, honey and even wine. The natives got a taste of things and then spit it out. They also tried to give them just water, but the natives just slapped the water into their mouths, then spat it out. The only thing they consented to was a robe they could use to cover themselves while they slept.
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In addition to being the first literary description of Brazil, which differentiates Caminha's letter from other documents, such as his writing style. While writing this letter, Caminha was not trying to create a literary work, but trying to report exactly what he found; it was a detailed commentary on the "customs, religion, and physical characteristics of native peoples." He is devoid of hyperbole and does not use excessive metaphors to validate descriptions. He claims things for what they are, not what he thinks they represent. Other early accounts from the New World emphasized the idea of prosperity and use adjectives and hyperbole to describe the quantity and quality of your reward. There is a general tone of optimism that Brazil will provide spiritual and material gifts. He emphasizes the “simplicity and good nature” of indigenous peoples.
Caminha did not describe native Brazilians as bestial and less human, as is common with other ancient Brazilian narratives. He doesn't describe them as more or less attractive than they are and seems to be particularly fascinated by their nudity and body painting. He shows "feelings of wonder, enchantment and protectionism". He believes they are part of God's creation; he's respectful and understanding and that's why he calls for syncretism rather than slavery. During the first mass, the native Brazilians reacted favorably and, thus, for Caminha, it is worth saving because “they have no apparent trace of spiritual corruption”. There is an assumption that it will be easy to convert indigenous peoples to Christianity.
Pero Vaz de Caminha he was a Portuguese writer and participated in the squad, commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral, which arrived in Brazil in 1500. His job was to be a police clerk.
He was born in the city of Porto (Portugal) in 1450 (day and month unknown) and died in the city of Calicut (India) on December 15, 1500.
One of his main achievements was his participation in the Portuguese squadron that arrived in Brazil in 1500 and of course the letter that became an important document in the beginning of Brazilian History.
“There you would see gallants, painted black and red, and quartered, as well by the bodies as by the legs, which, of course, so looked good. Also walking among them were four or five women, young, who thus naked did not look bad. Between them walked one, with a thigh, from knee to hip and buttock, all dyed with that black dye; and everything else in its natural color. Another had both knees with the curves painted like this, and also the laps of the feet; and her shames so bare, and with such innocence thus uncovered, that there was no shame in it."
“Everyone walks shaved over their ears; even so for eyebrows and eyelashes. All the foreheads, from source to source, have black dye inks, which looks like a black ribbon two fingers' width. "
“They were shown a brown parrot that the Captain carries with him; they immediately took it in their hand and waved to the land, as if it were there.
They showed them a ram; they ignored him.
They showed them a chicken; they were almost afraid of her, and didn't want to touch her. Then they caught him, but as if they were amazed.
They were given to eat there: bread and boiled fish, confectionery, fartéis, honey, stale figs. They didn't want to eat almost nothing of it; and if they proved anything, they threw it away.
Wine was brought to them in a cup; as soon as they put his mouth to it; they didn't like him at all, nor did they want any more.
They brought water to them in a barrage, each tasted his mouthwash, but did not drink; they just rinsed their mouths and threw it out.
One of them saw white rosary beads; he motioned for them to be given to him, and played with them very much, and threw them about his neck; and then he took them off and put them around his arm, and waved to the earth and again to the Captain's beads and necklace, as they would give gold for that.”
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