Concerning the subsequent fortune of Villegagnon, who appears to have been so ill qualified for the task which he had undertaken, we have few details. After having thus preposterously reduced his strength, h'e found himself unable to contend with the Portuguese, who at length bestirred themselves in order to expel this heretical colony from their settlements.
non evacuated the fort on their approach, abandoning the cannon which he had placed on it. The Portuguese thus reaped all the fruits of the French attempts to colonize Brasil ; and found established for them a settlement, which they have sine,: erected into the capital of this flourishing colony.
Brasil, however, was too valuable to be left in the un disturbed possession of any one nation. The Portu guese had soon a more formidable and persevering ene my to encounter. In consequence of the rash and fatal expedition of Sebastian into Africa, the immediate heirs to the throne of Portugal failed ; and several claimants having started up, Philip II. of Spain, through the great superiority of his power and influence, easily secured the preponderance. Portugal was thus annexed to his dominions. The intolerance and cruelty of Philip, mean while, had involved him in a long and cruel war with P Holland and the neighbouring provinces; while the ef forts to which the latter had been impelled by their zeal in the cause of civil and religious liberty, had raised them to the first rank among maritime powers. The foreign possessions of the crown of Spain were then con sidered of course as their lawful prey ; and the convenient situation and other advantages of Brazil, naturally attract ed their attention towards that settlement. In 1621, they had formed a West India company, invested, like all the commercial bodies established at that period, for these distant undertakings, with exclusive privileges. In consideration of this boon, the company undertook to carry on the concerns of war, as well as of trade, in these remote regions. In 1624, they fitted out a considerable armament, which they entrusted to Willekens, one of their most esteemed naval commanders. The success of the expedition was prompt and complete. They land ed at St Salvador, the governor of which (lid not even at tempt resistance ; all the inhabitants either fled or sub mitted, and the accumulated wealth of ages fell at once into the greedy hands of the commercial invaders. The whole province followed the example of the capital.
The Portuguese were struck with the deepest con sternation, when they learned the disaster which had be fallen their country. Their grief was augmented by the
strong suspicion which they entertained, that it would be a subject of gratification at the Spanish court ; that the humiliation of a people, who submitted with evident reluctance to the Spanish yoke, would, in its eyes, more than counterbalance the loss which had been. sustained. If, however, Philip secretly indulged these sentiments, he did not allow them to influence his outward conduct. He sent letters to all the principal Portuguese nobility, urging them to exert themselves in order to retrieve this disaster ; and he ordered a Spanish armament to be prepared for the purpose of co-operation. The Por tuguese exerted themselves with remarkable zeal, at once to support the honour of their nation, and to dis appoint the malignant hopes which they imputed to Spain. In less than three months they had equipped a fleet of twenty-six vessels, with a large force on board, both naval and military; but the tardiness of the Spanish preparations delayed their sailing till the month of Fe bruary 1626. The whole was commanded by Osorio, Marquis of Valduesa ; and the number embarked, in • including soldiers and sailors, amounted to upwards of twelve thousand.
Meanwhile events in the colony had prepared the way :nor their success. After the governor and regular force had yielded without any resistance, the archbishop, Mi . hael Texeira, animated by an heroic spirit, rallied ..ound him his clergy and the persons attached to him. With these he retired and fortified himself in a neigh bouring post ; multitudes flocked to his standard ; his strength augmented daily ; and from defending himself, be was soon enabled to became the assailant. He began by cutting off the Dutch parties and detachments . he intercepted their supplies of provisions ; and he at length i succeeded in placing the city under a complete state of blockade. His death, which unfortunately occurred, did not prevent his successors from persevering in the same system. By the time, therefore, that the Portuguese fleet arrived off St Salvador, the place was reduced to considerable straits ; and when Osorio had landed 4000 men to co-operate with those already in arms, its situa tion became entirely desperate. The governor made some attempts at resistance ; but these were rendered ineffectual by the inhabitants, who loudly demanded an immediate surrender. The fleet returned in triumph to Europe.