Paulo; Johann Potucek,
Austro-Hungarian Consul in Curityba; J.B. Hafkemeyer, S.J., of the
"Collegio Anchieta," Porto Alegre; G.A. Buechler of the "Neue Schule,"
Blumenau; Cleto Espey, O.F.M., of the "Collegio St. Antonio," Blumenau;
E. Bloch, _Engenheiro Chefe da Estrada de Ferro Santa Catharina,_
Itajahy; Nikolaus Dechent, _Direktor_ of the "Deutsche Schule,"
Joinville; Petrus Sinzig, O.F.M., of the "Convento dos Franciscanos,"
Petropolis; Edmondo Hees, Editor of the "Nachrichten," Petropolis;
Pastor Fr. L. Hoepffner of the "Deutsch-Evangelische Gemeinde," Rio de
Janeiro; W. Muenzenthaler, _Kaiserlicher General-Konsul,_ Rio de Janeiro;
and Heinrich Lotz, _Kgl. Bezirksgeologe a.D._, Berlin.

Special thanks are also due to Professor D.B. Shumway, of the
University of Pennsylvania, for valuable suggestions and assistance in
the final arrangement of the manuscript.

The above-mentioned persons are in no wise responsible for any errors
which may appear in the text.

=CHAPTER I.=

THE COLONIES. HISTORY AND LOCATION.

THE FIRST SETTLERS.

The first reference to German settlers in Brazil we have from the pen of
Hans Stade of Homberg in Hessen. Stade made two trips to Brazil; one in
1547 and one in 1549. In the latter instance he was shipwrecked but
succeeded in landing safely near the present port of Santos in the state
of Sao Paulo. As he was a skilled artillerist the Portuguese made him
commander of the fort Bertioga, the ruins of which are an interesting
landmark to this day. Later Stade spent several most trying years as the
captive of a cannibalistic tribe.

After his return to Germany, Stade published an account of his
experiences. The first edition entitled "_Wahrhafftige Historia unnd
beschreibung einer landschafft der Wilden, Nacketen, Grimmigen,
Menschfresser Leuthen in der Newen Welt America gelegen, ..._" appeared
at Marburg in 1557.[1] In this work Stade refers to two of his
fellow-countrymen located in Brazil; the one Heliodorus Eoban of Hessen,
who had charge of a sugar-refinery on the island of Sao Vicente (near
Santos); the other Peter Roesel, who was located in Rio de Janeiro as the
representative for a business firm of Antdorff.[2]

Next we come to Manuel Beckmann, the son of a German who had located in
Lisbon. He is known in history as Manoel Bequimao and was the leader in
the Maranhao revolution of 1684. This uprising, altho it came to grief,
may be regarded as the first of a long seri