Chapter 5 - Life In Brazil

Summary

TRAVEL TO AND ARRIVING IN BRAZIL

In the beginning of January 1638, MARGGRAFE set sail for Brazil, for a crossing of the Atlantic that would last some two months. During the crossing he prepared for what was to come. The Leiden manuscripts show that on board he made numerous calculations about, among others, the height of the Sun during the entire year 1638; various aspects of the planets during that year; the position of the vernal equinox; and in a small pocket book he made daily notes about the Moon and the planet Mercury. Before he left Leiden, he had been so clever as to ask DE LAET for a letter of recommendation for Count JOHAN MAURITS VAN NASSAU, in which his capacities as a mathematician and astronomer were elucidated. So, already before he had started his job, MARGGRAFE made sure that his employment in the service of PISO would not last forever. Indeed, soon after his arrival MARGGRAFE contacted JOHAN MAURITS. By means of a short letter, he fashioned himself as a person with various capacities (fig. 30). In this letter, MARGGRAFE showed his courtesy, by praising his new home country guided under the count’s care; he demonstrated his drawing skills by attaching to his letter some drawings he made during his voyage to Brazil. By writing in Portuguese, he also showed his command of the Portuguese language, a tongue he seems to have acquired during his passage to Brazil.

THE SIEGE OF SÃO SALVADOR IN BAHIA

Whether the count paid any attention MARGGRAFE’s letter is questionable. JOHAN MAURITS really had something else on his mind, being in the midst of a siege of the Portuguese-controlled city of São Salvador, the centre of the area around the Bay of All Saints (Bahia). On 5 April 1638 the count had set sail for Bahia with a force of ,300 men (including MARGGRAFE), distributed over thirty ships. The aim was to conquer São Salvador to prevent any further attacks on the Dutch Brazilian territories. If this pivotal city would fall into Dutch hands, it would surely result in the collapse of Portuguese Brazil. There would be no stronghold for the Portuguese from where such hostile operations could be undertaken.