Revue française d'histoire d'outre-

mer

The Brazilian connection. A look at the origin of French techniques

for trading with Amerindians
Olive Patricia Dickason

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

Dickason Olive Patricia. The Brazilian connection. A look at the origin of French techniques for trading with Amerindians. In:
Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer, tome 71, n°264-265, 3e et 4e trimestres 1984. pp. 129-146;

doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/outre.1984.2435

https://www.persee.fr/doc/outre_0300-9513_1984_num_71_264_2435

Fichier pdf généré le 06/01/2019

Abstract
It is widely believed that it was in the North American fur trade that the French learned their techniques
for dealing with Amerindians, a type of diplomacy in which they excelled. An examination of the record,
however, reveals that the French had the benefit of considérable expérience gained in South America,
where they had also pioneered commercial relations with Amerindian, trading for brazilwood and other
tropical products. This Franco-Brazilian trade lasted throughout the sixteenth century, beginning much
earlier and peaking sooner than the northern fur trade. While it lasted, it was France's major
commercial enterprise in the New World, as long as brazilwood was a major source for the red dye in
high demand for the burgeoning textile trade. This Brazilian experience does much to explain why the
French were able to seize the initiative and maintain their dominance in the fur trade for as long as they
where a colonial présence in North America.

Résumé
On pense en général que c'est par le commerce des fourrures en Amérique du Nord que les Français
ont appris leurs techniques pour trafiquer avec les Amérindiens, un genre de diplomatie où ils
excellèrent. Cependant l'examen des archives révèle que les Français bénéficièrent d'une grande
expérience acquise en Amérique du Sud, où ils furent aussi à l'origine de relations commerciales avec
les Amérindiens concernant le bois de brésil et autres produits tropicaux. Ce commerce franco-
brésilien dura pendant tout le XVIe siècle, débutant plus tôt et croissant plus vite que le trafic des
fourrures dans le Nord. Ce fut la principale entreprise commerciale française dans le Nouveau Monde,
aussi longtemps que le brésil fut la source essentielle de la teinture rouge demandée sur le marché
textile en expansion. Cette expérience brésilienne explique largement pourquoi les Français furent
capables de prendre l'initiative et de conserver leur prééminence dans le trafic des fourrures aussi
longtemps qu'ils eurent une présence coloniale en Amérique du Nord.
 113

72e ANNÉE 1984

THE BRAZILI AN CONNECTION :

A LOOK AT THE ORIGIN

OF FRENCH TECHNIQUES
FOR TRADING WITH AMERINDIANS1

by
OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

The fur trade in North America, as it evolved during the sixteenth

century and into the seventeenth, was developed by the French on the
one hand and the aboriginal peoples of the Northeastern forests on the
other. It is widely believed that it was in the northern trade that the
French learned their techniques for dealing with Amerindians, a type of
diplomacy in which they excelled throughout their présence on the
as a colonizing power. There is certainly no doubt that the
north presented particular challenges which demanded créative respon-
ses on the part of the French. But the fact that they rosé to those
challenges as successfuUy as they did was due to more than the natural
aptitude or brotherly sentiments to which they are so often attributed.
The French had the benefit of considérable expérience, gained in South
America where they had also pioneered commercial relations with
trafficking for such exotic items as parrots, monkeys and fea-
thers, but more importantly for cotton and various types of woods,
particularly those which produced dye, of which brazilwood (pau-brasil)
was the most important. While concomitant for part of the sixteenth
century with the fur trade of the north, this Franco-Brazilian trade had
started earlier and peaked much scooner. It declined toward the end
of the century as its northern counterpart gained momentum after a
hésitant start about the third or fourth décade.
Hardly had Pedro Cabrai stumbled onto Brazil on his way to India
in 1500 than the French had launched trading activities in the région,
pursuing them successfuUy enough to bring considérable prosperity to
their Atlantic port cities such as Rouen 2. Something of the
of the brazilwood trade can be gauged from the fact that the new

Rev. franc. d'Hist. d'Outre-Mer, t. LXXI (1984), nos 264-265, p. 129-146.

130 OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

land became known as Brazil despite strong officiai support for

Cabral's désignation, Terra de Santa Cruz 3. The term brazil, of unk-
nown origin but referring to the color red, long antedated the discovery
of the New World. Among the other names by which the new land
was also known was Terra de Papagois, because of the brilliantly plu-
med birds, particularly parrots 4.
The parallels between the dyewood trade in Brazil and that for furs
in Terra Nova (as the northern région was originally referred to), are
striking. In both cases, the French sought a natural product most
easily obtainable through trade with Amerindians. The products invol-
ved were luxury items, catering to the tastes of the rising European
bourgeoisie 5. Furs were a status symbol in themselves as well as the
basic ingrédient for felt used in the manufacture of those dashing hats
so essential to the dress of gentlemen and ladies ; and dyewood was the
principal source for the color red, another indication of status in the
dress of the period (we see a vestige of this today in the garb of the
justices of the Suprême Court of Canada, and of Roman Catholic car-
dinals). The color red was also much in demand by the burgeoning
tapestry industry of Flanders and France. Both furs and dye were in
short supply in Europe ; in the case of the dye, before the discovery of
vast stands of the tree Caesalpinia echinata and related varieties along
the Brazilian coast 6, the principal source had been another relative
found in India and the Orient, Caesalpinia sappan ; as for furs, rising
demand had led to exhaustion of European sources, encouraging the
search for new ones 7.
The simplest way of acquiring both of thèse items was through trade
with Stone Age hunters and horticulturalists in whose territories they
were found. In the case of Brazil's dyewood, the comparatively dense
and stable indigenous farming population meant there was sufficient
manpower available on the spot to eut and prépare the wood (not easily
worked, being both dense and heavy), piling it at locations suitable for
loading on ships. Fortuitously enough, in Terra Nova where
were for the most part nomadic and so much more dispersed, the
fur trade called for more expertise than manpower. This the
provided as well. In those northern régions as in Brazil, they
brought the products of their efforts to the coast to trade with visiting
ships. A favorite rendez- vous during the sixteenth century was
Tadoussac near the mouth of the St. Lawrence at the head of the Gulf,
a traditional trading place before the arrivai of Europeans. In Brazil,
the rendez-vous points were principally in the régions of Pernambuco
and Rio de Janeiro (including Cape Frio). In neither country did
Europeans at first generally stay throughout the year, but came on a
seasonal basis 8.
In both cases, the French encouraged trade by adapting to Amerin-
dian customs and practices. Facilitating such a course of action was
the similarity in the level of social intégration achieved by the peoples
of both north and south, despite wide différences in cultural particulari-
ties. This was probably what had struck Jacques Cartier in 1535 ; he
reported Canadians (as they were called) " living much like Brazi-
 ORIGIN OF FRENCH TRADING WITH AMERINDIANS 131

lians ". André Thevet, cosmographer to the King of France, was more
catégorie when he wrote that their customs were just about the same 9.
In Brazil, adaptation to Amerindian customs was given added impetus
because the French operated in régions claimed by the Portuguese, and
the principal way of circumventing this was by means of native

In Terra Nova what had to be circumvented were the very conditions

which made the région so rich in fur s. Once again, but this time
because of difficulties of survival in the unfamiliar northern climate
rather than because of national rivalries, the French had recourse to
techniques they had learned in Brazil, such as ritual exchanges of gifts
and " hostages ". French lads went to live with Amerindians to learn
their ways and often intermarry in order to serve as " interpreters "
(" truchements " in sixteenth-century French) ; go-betweens who in the
north were be known as " coureurs-de-bois " I0. One historian has
gone so far as to refer to the latter as northern replicas of Portuguese-
Brazilian mamelukes n. From the Amerindian aspect in both régions,
the influx of trade goods, while much desired and at first encouraging a
flowering of native cultures, inevitably changed patterns as they caused
traditional skills to become irrelevant and fostered new ones, such as
those relating to the horse and silversmithing. Coastal Brazilians, who
did not hâve dogs before Europeans came, quickly adopted them for
use in hunting. As horticulturalists, they also found Éuropean bar-
nyard fowl eminently acceptable. Although the northern and south-
ern reactions to such developments differed in détail, they were funda-
mentally similar enough to allow for a continuum as far as the
of trade practices was concerned 12.
Commerce with the New World began during Columbus's epoch-
making voyages. Red-painted Amerindians in the West Indies and
along the Caribbean coast willingly showed Europeans the sources of
their dye 13. Later, Thevet described a similar occurrence on the Brazi-
lian coast :
The people of the country shewed them the Brasille tree, which they do name
in their language Oraboutan, and is very fayre to looke on, the barke thereof is
of gray colour withoute, and the woode is red within, and chiefly the harte, the
whyche is more excellente than the reste... u

This new source for red dye aroused immédiate interest, as it was so
much closer than India (40 sailing days as compared to four months),
from where Europe had been importing it at least since the thirteenth
century 15. On the third voyage a better quality brazilwood was repor-
ted along the coast of Paria ; Columbus shipped 1,440 kilograms of
thèse logs to Spain 16. But it was Cabrai' s landfall that revealed the
best stands, as sample logs brought back indicated ; in 1503, Amerigo
Vespucci took on a load at Bahia de Todos Santos I7. In the words of
Thevet,
..; the Portingales brought home their shyps laden therewyth. And since that
we hâve hadde knowledge of yt, therof is made a verie great trade l8.
132 OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

The speed with which this happened indicates the demand for this
commodity. In France, it was a continuation part of the commercial
" take off " which had occurred during the last quarter of the fifteenth
century. In Normandy, for example, the number of trading licenses
granted between 1475 and 1533 by La Compagnie de Marchands had
jumped from 78 to 226 19. This activity centered in Rouen, which
Louis XI, who reigned on the eve of the discovery of the New World
(1461-1483), hoped would eventually be able to rival Bruges 20. The
scramble for commercial prééminence was concomitant with Renaissance
technological advances. As luxuries such as cloth became more readily
available, Europe went ona " spree of ostentation " 21 ; sumptuous-
ness was the order of the day. In textiles, this expressed itself in a
préférence for satins and velvets (the silk industry of Lyons was foun-
ded in 1536), particularly if they were in red.
Portugal' s claims to the rigths of discovery in Brazil did not deter
France from almost immediately dominating the exploitation of this
new source of dye ". The Portuguese, supporting their case with the
Papal bulls of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, never regar-
ded the French as anything other than interlopers. The French for
their part, while claiming prior discovery, which they were never able to
substantiate satisfactorily, set about entrenching themselves in the new
trade by the most practical means immediately available : that of deve-
loping alliances with the indigenous people who were in any event
partners in the next new trade. They found their principal
allies in the Tupinambâ, Tamoio and Potiguar ; the latters' enemies,
the Tobajara and Tupinikin, gravitated to the Portuguese. Ail of thèse
peoples as well as others were included among the Tupi-Guarani, who
at that time effectively occupied the whole Brazilian coast.
Allies as well as enemies quickly distinguished between Europeans,
and specifically between French and Portuguese. A gênerai distinction
was indicated by the color of their beards — the French were included
with the " blond beards " along with Dutch and other northern
and the Portuguese were " black beards ". Tupinambâ called
their French allies " Mair " (possibly from a word meaning ancestor or
perhaps stranger, but with connotations of the divine or at least of
superiority), and the Portuguese " Pero " (apparently the Portuguese
name) 2\ Jean de Léry attributes the application of the latter term to
the allies of the Portuguese 24. Hans Staden, a German mercenary ser-
ving with the Portuguese who had been taken prisoner by the
reported that Portuguese captured by Brazilians usually tried to
claim they were French in order to avoid being eaten. He stated that
Konyan Bebe, a Tupinambâ known to the French as Quoniambec and
to the Portuguese as Cumhambeba, boasted that he had helped to
five Portuguese " who had ail said they were Frenchmen " 25.
While this argues for a certain success for French tactics, they were not
sufficient to win for France the hoped-for political advantage in Brazil,
even though they did bring considérable commercial benefits 26. In the
meantime, the Dutch were sufficiently impressed to carrefully cultivate
Amerindian alliances when they in turn sought to displate the Portu-
 ORIGIN OF FRENCH TRADING WITH AMERINDIANS 133

guese and to establish themselves in Brazil, 1624-1654. Although they,

too, were eventually driven out, they left behind a réputation for
enlightened dealings with Amerindians that was at least as good as that
of the French 27. This contrasts with their record on the Hudson
River, where the political situation had not been so demanding in this
regard.
French initiative forced Portugal's hand, and King Don Manuel
moved to protect his claims by establishing a royal monopoly and then
contracting out commercial privilèges. He even agreed to forbid
importation of dyewood from India in favor of that from Brazil 28.
Portuguese merchants worked from permanent posts called " facto-
ries ", established at stratégie points 29. The earliest of thèse mer-
chants to dominate this commerce was Fernâo de Noronha, who with a
group of associâtes obtained the first of a séries of licenses in 1502 30.
Despite the importance of dyewood, Portugal's Brazilian trade never
did rival that of the Orient in either scale or wealth. According to
Capistrano de Abreu, its operative words were " pau-brasil, parrots,
slaves and métis " 31.
Slaves were not a factor in the French-Brazilian trade, as France 's
position was too dubious politically to allow for such a development.
She could not even afford the convenience of permanent factories ;
those she did seek to establish were soon destroyed by the
32. Far more effective, in her particular position, were the
" interpreters ", who did most of the trading, and who arranged for
native produce to be picked up by visiting ships ".
The first French Brazilian trading voyage for which there is a reaso-
nably certain record is that of L'Espoir in 1503-1505, captained by
Binot Paulmier de Gonneville of Honfleur, who may hâve been associa-
ted with ship owner Jean Ango of Dieppe 34. Upon her return,
L'Espoir was twice attacked by pirates ; however, de Gonneville mana-
ged to get back to France along with a Brazilian he had with him,
Essomericq. Apparently Essomericq was never able to return to his
own country, but remained in France, marrying a member of de Gon-
neville's family. In 1663, a descendant, great-grandson Abbé Jean
Paulmier de Courtonne, Canon of Lisieux, applied for permission to go
and evangelize in the New World, for which he felt he was particularly
qualified because of his antécédents 35. He appears to hâve been
unsuccessful. Another early visit of which an even sketchier record
survives was that of seven Brazilians who came to Rouen in 1509 with
Captain Thomas Aubert, another of Jean Ango 's pilots 36. Already at
that early date Louis XII of France was complaining to Don Joâo III
that the Portuguese had taken a Breton ship in Brazilian waters, and
each monarch was accusing the other of piracy 37.
It was in large measure due to the enterprise of Dieppe 's two Jean
Angos, father and son, but particularly the son, that the French became
such an important factor in the brazilwood trade during the first half
of the sixteenth century 38. French ships frequented the Brazil coast in
such numbers that the mouth of the San Francisco River was called
Porto dos Francezes by the Portuguese 39. In 1522, Joâo III sent a
134 OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

délégation to François I of France in protest. No results ; in fact, Por-

tuguese reported more French ships than ever in Brazilian waters bet-
ween 1526 and 1528 40. Portuguese attempts to stop this by formally
launching colonization in 1532 did not at first hâve the desired effect,
despite such successes as the expulsion of the French from the island of
Itamaracâ 4I.
Surviving records provide some détails of this trade. In 1529, for
instance, 200 tons of brazilwood were unloaded at Honfleur. The next
year, 1530, four French ships were taken by the Portuguese in Brazilian
waters ; one of them, La Pensée, belonging to Jean Ango, was loaded
with brazilwood, among other items. The Portuguese were able to
bring enough pressure on the French Court that in 1531, five ships out-
fitted for Brazil were prevented from leaving Honfleur. However,
François I' actions reflect a favorite royal style of the day, rather than
a change of policy, for not only had he already issued a letter of
to Ango 42, but a company was formed in Marseille to send two
ships annually to Brazil. The first of thèse was the much-noted La
Pèlerine, captured in 1532 on her return from Pernambuco. Her
cargo, valued at 62,000 ducats, consisted of 3,000 " léopard " (pro-
bably jaguar) skins, 300 monkeys of différent varieties, 600 parrots lis-
ted as knowing French, cotton, and, finally, 5,000 quintals of
43. The very fact that such losses continued to be reported
throughout this period indicates persistent French présence 44 ; for
that same year, 1532, saw Ango sending out three large ships to
Brazil, two of which survived a Portuguese attack to return with
cargo. This was only part of the picture 45.
A few years later, in 1537 and 1538, François I took disciplinary
action against three members of the Normandy Parliament for breaking
the treaty with Portugal 46. Such measures were the work of Admirai
Philippe de Chabot, who favored the Portuguese position. It was not
until after Chabot's fall from royal favor in 1541 that French activity
once more intensified, and trading trips again became annual events 47.
A Spanish report that year from Rio de la Plata, concerning the aban-
donment of Buenos Aires because of Amerindian hostility, noted that
at least 30 French ships were in South American waters ; later that
same year, seven ships left Rouen to return the following year loaded
with dyewood. In 1546, 28 ships left Le Havre for Terra de Santa
Cruz 48. In 1549, nine ships registered for departure for Brazil from
Rouen 49. In the midst of this Henry II moved to curb the activities of
Ango, who by this time was in effect waging his own private war with
Portugal, complicating relations with France. The shipowner found
himself facing restrictions to his commercial activities, as well as
of crimes at sea. This, along with his personal extravagances, led
to his ruin.
Such commerce would not hâve been possible without coopération
between Amerindian and European. Human labor was an essential ;
there were no draft animais indigenous to Brazil 50. The first ox-drawn
carts were introduced in 1545 in response to the needs of the newly-
established sugar plantations 51. Even then, brazilwood gathering con-
 ORIGIN OF FRENCH TRADING WITH AMERINDIANS 135

tinued to dépend on human labor, which for the most part meant that
of Amerindians. In the words of Thevet :
" When that the Christians are there for to laade Brasill, the wylde men of
the countrey eut it them selves, and sometimes they bring or carie it three or
foure leagues to the shippes. I leave to youre judgement their paine and travel,
and al for to get some poore or course weede and shirt " 52.
Ail the early pictorializations of this aspect of the Brazil trade show
Amerindians doing the work ; this was as true at first for the Portu-
guese as for the French. The richest single source for this information
is found in maps : for one outstanding example, the much-reproduced
illustration from the Reinal map, 1519 ". A French map, believed to
hâve been executed about 1542, shows the work of preparing brazil-
wood going on around a cannibal feast. The greyish bark and red
heart of the tree are carefully illustrated 54. A Dieppe map, dated
1579, not only gives détails as to where brazilwood is to be found, but
also the manpower available from nearby villages ". Carrying the
heavy logs (each weighing about 24 kilograms) on bare shoulders resul-
ted in bruised and torn flesh, yet the Amerindians were reported to
hâve been willing to do this for those whom they considered friends
and allies, and who also brought them trade goods 56.
The interpreters who did the liaison between French and Amerindian
were commonly referred to as " Normans ", indicating the origin of
many of them ". It was in Rouen, a Norman city, that Jean Cordier
in 1547 published a list of French-Tupinambâ words and phrases for
use by traders in Brazil as a sort of appendix to his navigation
manual 58. It was also in Rouen that a résidence was maintained-at
17 rue Malpalu for visiting Brazilians ; such résidences may hâve been
found in other Atlantic port cities as well. Although the Rouen house
was demolished in 1837, some items from it were saved. Among thèse
were two oak panels carved with scènes of Brazilians cutting and
brazilwood and carrying it to waiting ships. The sculptor repre-
sented the Brazilians in the idealized tradition commonly reserved by
Europeans for men of classical antiquity, complète with beards and
moustaches.
In 1550, about the time thèse panels were carved, Rouen staged one
of the most spectacular of the royal civic entries which enlivened the
contemporary French political scène. Apparently the port city was
expressing its gratitude for the favored position it had obtained in the
Brazilian trade ; Henry II had granted it a monopoly of 208 listed
the previous year 59. Included in its séries of astonishingly elabo-
rate tableaux was a récréation of two villages set in a Brazilian forest
which had been concocted on the banks of the Seine. In this setting,
50 Brazilians and 150 sailors impersonating Brazilians enacted village
life and the routines of brazilwood gathering, up to and including loa-
ding on a sailing ship waiting in the river. The climax of the tableau
was a fight between the two villages, in which the temple of the van-
quished was burned. The spectacle so pleased Henry' s queen,
de Medici, that she came back to see it a second time60.
136 OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

A significant aspect of this " happening " was the scale on which it
was presented. Apparently, even plants and shrubs were brought in
from Brazil and installed on the river bank ; naively enough, brazil-
wood trees were indicated by being painted red. Monkeys, birds and
other Brazilian fauna were let loose in the area. Most striking of ail
was the fact that 150 sailors had been found who were not only fami-
liar enough with Brazilian ways and languages to participate, but who
were also available to do so 61.
This tableau succeeded in impressing Henry II with the importance of
the Brazil trade. The folio wing year he sent Geographer Guillaume Le
Testu and Cosmographer André Thevet to map the country and to
report on its inhabitants 62. Among the créatures illustrating thèse
maps, such as a cynecephale (dog-headed man), an anecephale (man
with head in his chest), and two unipeds, as well as a unicorn peeping
from behind a bush, there is a scène showing pale Brazilians carrying
logs 63. Within a few years the king encouraged the first of the two
major French attempts to establish colonies in Brazil : that of Nicholas
Durand de Villegaignon in 1555-1560. The second attempt, supported
by Louis XIII, was at Maragnan (today's Maranhào) in 1612-1614 ; in
both cases the sites were chosen because of their stratégie location for
trade. Both attempts failed ; the Portuguese were more successful in
curtailing French settlement than they were in keeping out French
However, France's national pride had been soothed in the mean-
time, during the reign of Henry IV, with the successful establishment of
Québec in 1608.
While" went
we hâve
to Brazil
no wayto live
of with
knowing
the natives,
how many références
Frenchto" them in
contemporary accounts give the impression that they were familiar
in the trade. Léry, for instance, was horrified at the extent to
which thèse représentatives of " civilized " France adapted to Brazilian
ways, up to and including cannibalism. In his view, thèse men surpas-
sed Amerindians in " inhumanity " 64. Staden corroborâtes this indi-
rectly when he tells of a French interpréter who came to the Tupinambâ
village where the German mercenary was being held. After speaking
with the captive, the Frenchman advised the Brazilians that he believed
Staden to be Portuguese, knowing full well that by doing so he was
condemning the unhappy prisoner to being eaten 65. Another example
of such behavior involves the crew of the Marie Belette of Dieppe, who
were reported to hâve given up a prisoner to be eaten by the
66. It was the crew of another French ship, the Catherine de
Watteville, who eventually ransomed Staden after going through an ela-
borate charade to convince his captors that they were relatives of the
prisoner. This was done to avoid upsetting the ail-important French
alliance with the Tupinambâ 67.
The skill with which the French fostered their relationship is attested
to by the length of their stay in Brazil, effectively the whole of the six-
teenth century, despite the best efforts of the Portuguese to root them
out. Perhaps the most celebrated of Portuguese actions against the
French were carried out by Cristôvâo Jaques, both for the extent of the
 ORIGIN OF FRENCH TRADING WITH AMERINDIANS 137

losses he inflicted as well as because of his atrocities. Thèse were par-

ticularly painful to the French in 1516-1519. Their complaints at such
treatment drew the retort that French corsairs during the previous few
years had cost Portugal 300 sailors and 500,000 cruzados in cash 68.
Losses on both sides during this trade war seem to hâve been substan-
tial ; in the case of the French, they apparently contributed to shortages
of pilots and sailors experienced by both merchant marine and navy
toward the end of the sixteenth century 69. The period of greatest
French trade in Brazil was toward mid-century during the 40s and the
first part of the 50s. However, surviving French harbor records indi-
cate there was still activity toward the end of the century. For
in 1574 Le Coq of Dieppe arrived at Livorno with a cargo that
included 20,882 logs of brazilwood ; and four years later, in 1578, the
cargo listed at the same port for the Saint-Paul included 4,700 such
logs 70. But the Portuguese had steadily restricted their sphère of ope-
rations, so that by that time they were confined to the région of Rio
Grande do Norte 7I. The French, for their part, had every reason to
want to continue in Brazil ; in the words of one writer, " It is not
the extent of the benefits we hâve drawn from the New World ",
adding that France' s standard of living would not hâve been possible
without New World trade 72. While the extent of the Brazilian compo-
nent will never be exactly known, it must hâve been substantial.
It was the establishment of sugar plantations, beginning during the
century' s second décade, which heralded the eventual décline of the
French trade. The sugar industry, being labor-intensive, needed a
more secure arrangement than the voluntary service of the Amerindians
which had more or less sufficed for the collection of brazilwood. Nei-
ther was the enslavement of Amerindians a satisfactory answer, as they
tended to.die under such conditions, or to disappear into the forest 73.
The importation of blacks from Africa as a solution to that need also
provided an alternative source of labor for obtaining brazilwood, parti-
cularly as the best season for cutting was during the off-periods for the
plantations 74. By about 1570, colonists were thus producing as much
as 2,000 quintals of brazilwood a year. This plus the establishment of
the plantations themselves resulted in the depletion of the coastal mata
(forest), where the wood was most easily found, a band about 50 miles
wide extending from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Norte. Despite
such difficulties, the trade remained profitable enough to be exploited
even after the development of chemical dyes during the eighteenth
75. But the French grip on it had been loosened long since, and
eventually gave way as the Portuguese became more solidly esta-
blished 76.
As her Brazilian activities declined, France became more involved in
the fur trade in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and along the northern
Coast. Some of those who had been active in exploring and trading
in North America had also been similarly occupied in Brazil. This was
particularly true in the days of Jean Ango, whose commercial network
had included both continents, as well as other parts of the world.
Jean Parmentier and his brother Raoul were among thèse seamen, as
138 OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

was Thomas Aubert. Jacques Cartier, who led three trips to Canada
1534-1542, had been recommended for the appointment by virtue of
previous voyages he had made to North and South America 77. He not
only spoke Portuguese well enough to act as an interpréter, but had
also brought a Brazilian girl to France in 1527, for whom his wife
stood as godmother the following year 78. As we hâve already seen, he
gave évidence of familiarity with Brazil in his reports of his Canadian
voyages 79. Jean Fonteneau dit Alfonce, Roberval's celebrated pilot on
the latter's 1542 colonization voyage to Canada, had spent most of his
sea life in the service of Portugal, and was particularly known for his
expertise on the Brazilian route. Author of the first published
manual to include Newfoundland waters (Les Voyages Avantureux
du capitaine Ian Alfonce, 1559), he was also co-author of a
that demonstrated this familiarity 80. An expédition to coast
America from Labrador to Brazil sailed in 1583-1587 under Guillaume
Le Héricy, with Jacques de Vaulx of Le Havre as chief pilot. Isaac de
Razilly, lieutenanr-general of New France, 1632-1635, was the brother
of François, one of the leaders of the French attempt to establish the
Maragnan colony in northern Brazil twenty years earlier. Sometimes
the process worked in reverse, and Canadian expérience preceded
in Brazilian waters. For example, Pierre Chauvin de la Pierre,
who was temporary head of Québec 1609-1610, during one of Cham-
plain's many absences, was serving in Brazil in 1612 8I.
Despite their successes in trade, the record of the French for establis-
hing good relations with Amerindians was not always consistent. For
instance, Cartier was following accepted European practice when, on
his first voyage in 1534, he took the two sons of the Stadacona chief,
Donnacona, to France for présentation to the French court and to train
as interpreters. However, by in effect kidnapping them, he displayed a
high-handedness which the French at that very time were being careful
to avoid in Brazil. He may hâve been influenced by the absence of
European rivais on the Canadian scène into believing that it was not so
important to cultivate the friendship of the Amerindians on the St.
as it was that of the Brazilians. In any event, on his second
voyage, 1535-1536, he returned the two captives, thus partially regai-
ning the goodwill of the Stadaconans. But he immediately proceeded
to lose it again. He overrode what Stadaconans considered to be their
rights to control upriver traffic by announcing he was going to sail up
the St. Lawrence, whether they wanted him to or not. They tried to
get around the awkward situation by presenting children to Cartier,
which in their eyes was establishing an alliance which would hâve invol-
ved respecting their river rights. Cartier accepted the children but nor
the terms, and sailed up the river to discover Hochelay (today's Port-
neuf) and further on, Hochelaga (today's Montréal). At Hochelay he
was given an eight-year-old girl, a gesture which he reciprocated on his
third voyage, 1541, with the présentation of two French boys. There is
no record that Cartier made any such gesture to the Stadaconans ; one
can only assume that he did not consider their friendship as important
as that of the upriver Laurentian Iroquois. The fallacy of that posi-
 ORIGIN OF FRENCH TRADING WITH AMERINDIANS 139

tion was revealed when the Stadaconans successfully resisted his attempt
to establish a colony near their village in 1541-1542, France's first such
initiative in the New World. The following year, Jean-François La
Rocque de Roberval compounded Cartier' s errors, resulting in another
failure. The French Court lost interest in the St. Lawrence, and con-
centrated instead on its flourishing Brazilian trade 82. The accepted
version that Cartier fell from royal favor because he brought back a
cargo of fool's gold tells only part of the story.
During the hiatus that followed, trade continued desultorily along the
Atlantic coast, at Tadoussac, and even to some extent down the
St. Lawrence, particularly after about 1580. The custom, developed in
Brazil, of bringing natives to France for indoctrination in French ways
and to learn the French language, was continued in Canada. But
where Rouen had been the centre of his activity for Brazilians, in the
case of Canadians it was St. Malo and Dieppe. Thus Dieppe, which
had lost out to Rouen in earlier trade, had at least partly recouped by
the end of the sixteenth century. A nephew of Cartier, Jacques Noël
of St. Malo, présent ed his activities in this regard as support for his
application in 1587 for a trade monopoly on the St. Lawrence.
among thèse visitors was the young son of Begourat, a Montagnais
chief, who allowed the lad to go on the basis of favorable reports from
fellow tribesmen who had already made the trip 83. In 1603, François
Gravé du Pont, a naval captain turned merchant, accompanied by
Samuel de Champlain, the geographer who would eventually
establish New France, led an officiai voyage to assess trading and
colonization prospects along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. One of their
first acts upon reaching Tadoussac was to prépare the way for their
Project by solemnizing an alliance with the Montagnais at a
" tabagie " 84 ; a similar type of feast had been an indispensable fea-
ture of the Brazilian trade. In this case, the procédure was given a fil-
lip because French inexpérience with the difficulties of Canadian inland
travel ensured that the natives at first had for ail practical purposes a
monopoly of fur production. In other words the French had found a
new set of reasons for continuing practices they had developed in
That this was a matter of established policy rather than a sponta-
neous expression of brotherly love is clear from the record. Le
François, a journal backed by Cardinal Richelieu, reported the
qualities needed for getting along with Amerindians, and was careful to
announce the good intentions of the French 8S. As we hâve seen, such
attitudes often came across more clearly in officiai statements than they
did in actual practice in the field. For instance, Champlain, while
more successful than Cartier in Amerindian relations, never learned to
speak an Amerindian language. That mutual understanding was far
from always prevailing during his period of leadership at Québec is
indicated by the murders of two Frenchmen by Montagnais, and
s attempts to handle the matter by means of French justice 86.
But the fur trade was profitable, and the best way of exploiting it
was by proven techniques. Where in the south the stimulus to develop
140 OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

those techniques had been largely political, in the north they were
largely because of geography and climate. In both cases, Stone
Age hunters and horticulturalists interacted peacefully and with mutual
profit with Iron Age mercantilists. Stone Age technology had long
since passed its megalithic peaks and was on the road to disappea-
rance ; Iron Age technology was poised on the edge of innovation and
expansion and was about to begin a transformation that would lead to
today's gigantic industrial complexities. For more than two centuries
the two civilizations met and interacted in a trade that was important
for a comparatively short time in Brazil and for considerably longer in
North America. In both cases the French were a factor in developing
the human terms of that interaction. Their Canadian expérience was
to become the more consequential in a political sensé, but it was in
Brazil they first formulated their version of " le bon sauvage ", which
was to become such an important concept during the eighteenth cen-
tury 87. Their Brazilian expérience does much to explain why the
French were able to seize the initiative and maintain their dominance in
the fur trade for as long as they were a colonial présence in North
America.
Olive Patricia DICKASON
(Univ. of Alberta)

NOTES

1. I would like to thank Dr. J. F. Bergmann and Dr. C. R. Wilson, both of the Uni-
versity of Alberta, for their perceptive and helpful comments.
2. For gênerai accounts of early contact in Brazil, see : Joào CAPISTRANO de
ABREU, O Descubrimento do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro, Edicào de Sociedade Capistrano de
Abreu, 1929) ; Francisco Alphonse de VARNHAGEN, Histôria Gérai do Brazil, 5 vol.
(Sào Paulo, s.d., 3rd éd.), I, p. 100-103 ; Helio VIANNA, Histôria do Brasil (Sào Paulo,
Educôes Melhoramentos, 1977), p. 53-115 ; Robert SOUTHEY, History of Brazil, 3 vol.
(London, Longmans, 1810-1819) ; Georg THOMAS, Die portugiesische Indianerpolitik in
Brasilien 1500-1640 (Berlin, Colloquium Verlag, 1968). An excellent annotated biblio-
graphy is that of Rubens BORBA de MORAES, Bibliographia Brasiliana, 2 vol.
and Rio de Janeiro, Colibris, 1958).
3. Pero de MAGALHÂES de GANDAVO, Histôria de la Provincia de Santa Cruz
(Lisbon, Antonio Gonsalvez, 1576). Translated into French by Henry TERNAUX in
Voyages, relations et mémoires originaux "pour servir à l'histoire de la découverte de
l'Amérique, 7 vol. (Paris, Arthur Bertrand, 1837-1841), I, p. 20 ; SOUTHEY, History, I,
p. 21. According to Joào do Barros (1496-1570) : " ... tanto que daquella terra come-
cou de vir o pâo vermelho chamado Brazil, trabalhou que este nome ficasse na boca de
povo, e que se perdesse o de Santa Cruz, como que importava mais o nome de hum pao,
que tinge pannos, que daquelle pâo, que deo tintura a todos los Sacramentos per que
somos salvos, por o sangue de Christo Jesu... " (Da Asia, 24 vol. (Lisbon, 1777-1778), I,
p. 389-392.
4. William BROOKS GREENLEE, trans. and éd., The Voyage of Pedro Alvares
Cabrai to Brazil and India from contemporary documents and narratives (London, 1938),
p. 7. A listing of early names is in Bernardino JOSÉ de SOUZA, O paû-Brasil na
Nacional (Sào Paulo, 1939), p. 97-101.
5. Fernand BRAUDEL and Ernest LABROUSSE, Histoire économique et sociale de
la France, 4 vol. (Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1977-1979), I, p. 248-254 ;
BRAUDEL, La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen' (Paris, Armand Colin, 1949),
p. 167.
 ORIGIN OF FRENCH TRADING WITH AMERINDIANS 141

6. A botanical description of Caesalpinia echinata is in JOSÉ de SOUZA, O pâu-

Brasil, p. 33-80. The only variety of this family that is exclusive to Brazil is the prized
Caesalpinia brasiliensis of the Pernambuco région. See also Frédéric MAURO, Le Brésil
du XVe à la fin du XVIIIe siècle (Paris, Société d'Édition d'Enseignement Supérieur,
1977), p. 38-40 ; MAURO, Le Portugal et l'Atlantique au XVIIe siècle (1570-1670),
(Paris, S.E.V.P.E.N., 1960), p. 117-120 ; John HEMMING, Red Gold (London, Macmil-
lan, 1978), p. 8-9 ; Roberto C. SIMONSEN, Histôria Econômica do Brasil (1500-1820),
(Sào Paulo, Companhia Editora Nacional, 1967), p. 53. A description of the types of
dyewood to be found in Brazil is in Manoel AIRES de CASAL, Corografia Brazilica, ou
relacâo histôrico-geografico do Reino de Brazil..., 2 vol. (Rio de Janeiro, 1817). I
would also like to thank Dr. Walter Moser, University of Alberta, for supplying
information.
7. Raymond FISHER, The Russian Fur Trade 1500-1700 (Berkeley and Los Angeles,
1943), p. 20-23.
8. For some early descriptions of the dyewood trade, see André THEVET, Les Singu-
laritez de la France Antarctique, éd. Paul Gaffarel (Paris, Maisonneuve, 1878), p. 308-
310 ; Jean de LÉRY, Histoire d'un voyage fait en la terre du Brésil (Geneva, Antoine
Chuppin, 1580. Facsimile, Librairie Droz, 1975), p. 173-176 ; Jean Hugues VAN LINS-
CHOT, Histoire de la navigation de Ian Hugues de Linschot, Hollandais, aux Indes
(Amsterdam, Cloppenburgh, 1638), p. 42 ; Le Mercure François, ou suitte de
l'histoire de la paix, 25 vol., Paris, 1611-1644), I, p. 294-297 ; II, p. 164-175 ; Girolamo
BENZONI, Histoire nouvelle du Nouveau Monde... (Geneva, Eustace Vignon, 1579),
p. 213-215. An early German account is that of Ulrich Schmidel, " Histoire véritable
d'un voyage curieux ", in TERNAUX, Voyages, II, tome 5 ; Pero de MAGALHÂES de
GANDAVO, Historiés of Brazil (1576), in Documents and Narratives concerning the Dis-
covery and Conquest of Latin America, 2 vol. (New York, The Cortés Society,
1922. Reprint, Kraus, 1969).
9. Henry Percival BIGGAR, The Voyages of Jacques Cartier (Ottawa, Aclaad, 1924),
p. 181 ; THEVET, Singularitez, p. 419. The name Canada was used early to designate
the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, and the inhabitants of this spécifie région
where the first to be called Canadians. Similarly, the indigenous peoples of Brazil were
the original Brazilians just as those of America, south of Canada, were contempora-
neously referred to as Americans. Interestingly enough, the Amerindians of both Brazil
and Canada were reported to be lacking the letters " f, 1, r ", which was taken to mean
that they had neither faith (foi, fe), law (loi, ley) nor king (roi, rey). Concerning
Canada, see Archives des Colonies, CIID 10, Mémoire d'Antoine Laumet dit Lamothe
Cadillac, 1693 ; no pagination. Also, Marc LESCARBOT, The History of New France,
3 vol. (Toronto, Champlain Society, 1914), III, p. 113-127. Concerning Brazil, see the
account of the officiai cosmographer for trie Indies, 1571-1591, Juan LÔPEZ de
VELASCO, Geografia y descripciôn universal de las Indias (Madrid, 1894), p. 566.
10. Pierre CHAUNU,L'Amérique et les Amériques (Paris, Armand Colin, 1964),
p. 240 ; Paul GAFFAREL, Histoire du Brésil français (Paris, Maisonneuve, 1878), p. 72.
11. Sérgio BUARQUE de HOLANDA, éd., Histôria Gérai Da Civilizaçào brasileira, 2
vol. (Sào Paulo, Difusâo Européia de Livio, 1960), I, p. 194. He referred to coureurs-
de-bois as an " especie de réplica sententrional dos mamelucos luso-brasileiros e que tive-
ram, como estes, papel decisivo na expensâo geografica de sua métropole européia no
Novo Mundo ". Trade, whether for brazilwood or furs, gave rise to métis
populations. Concerning Brazil, see Darcy RIBEIRO, The Americas and Civilization
(New York, Dutton, 1973), p. 190-191. Also, Florestan FERNANDES, A Organizacâo
Social dos Tupinambâ (Sâo Paulo, 1949).
12. For observations along similar Unes concerning latter-day trade, see Julian H.
Evolution and Ecology (Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1977), p.
151-179. Charles-André JULIEN also briefly noted the similarity between the two trades
in Les voyages de découverte et les premiers établissements (XVe-XVIe siècles) (Paris,
Presses Universitaires de France, 1948), p. 182.
13. Pietro MARTIRE d'ANGHIERA, De Orbe Novo, 2 vol., éd., Francis Augustus
MacNutt (New York and London, Knickerbocker Press, 1912), I, p. 110. Other sources
of red dye included achote seeds (Bixa orellana), also known as roucou, anatta, arnotto,
urucum and cochineal. See Stuart RQBINSON, A History of Dyed Textiles (London,
Studio Vista, 1969). Brazilwood, because of its hardness and attractive grain and color,
was also used for furniture and interior finishing. Today, no longer needed as a source
142 OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

of dye, its principal use is for making violin bows. (Personal communicarion,
Dr. Moser).
14. Andrewe THEVET, The New Found Worlde, or Antarctike (London, 1568. Fac-
similé, Amsterdam, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1971), p. 94.
15. GAFFAREL, Brésil, p. 26 ; BAILEY W.DIFFIE, Latin-American Civilization.
Colonial Period (Harrisburg, Pa., Strackpole, 1947), p. 636-637 ; SIMONSEN, Historia
Econômica, p. 48 ; Janet D. HENSHALL and R. P. MOMSEN, Jr. The Geography of
Brazilian Development (London, Bell, 1974), p. 34.
16. Anghiera reported Spanish criticism of Columbus for shipping brazilwood rather
than gold. (MACNUTT, De Orbe Novo, I, p. 110).
17. Martin WALDSEEMULLER, Cosmographiae Introductio (n.p., 1507. Reprint,
U.S. A. Readex Microprint Corporation, 1966), p. 149-150.
18. THEVET, New Found Worlde, p. 94. See also THEVET's, Le Brésil et les
in Les Français en Amérique pendant la deuxième moitié du XVIe siècle,
by Ch. André Julien (Paris, Presses Universitaires, 1953), p. 216-223 ; and François
DESERPZ, Recueil de la diversité des habits qui sont a présent en usaige tant es pays
d'Europe, Asie, Affrique et Illes sauvages ; le tout fait après le naturel (Paris, R. Breton,
1567), p. 394-395. Another cosmographer, in the section of his work on Brazil, did not
report on the brazilwood trade, explaining that " everyone was involved in it and had
gênerai knowledge of it ". (François de Belleforest and Sébastian Munster, Cosmographie
Universelle, 2 vol., Paris, M. Sonnius, 1575), II, p. 2112.
19. BRAUDEL and LABROUSSE, Histoire Économique, I, p. 246.
20. Ibid., I, p. 246-247 ; GAFFAREL, Brésil, p. 3 ; Augusto Tasso FRAGOSO, Os
Franceses no Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Biblioteca do Exercito, 1965), p. 29-30.
21. BRAUDEL and LABROUSSE, Histoire Économique, I, p. 248-249. Sidelights on
the importance of red as a status symbol can be found in J. J. JUSSERAND, English
Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages (London, Fisher Unwin, 1901). Red cloth and han-
gings were also valued for médical purposes, such as the treatment of smallpox. (Ibid.,
p. 180). This référence was brought to my attention by Jeanne Phelps Wilson.
22. FRAGOSO, Os Franceses, passim ; Roberto C. SIMONSEN, Histôria Econômica
do Brasil (1500-1800) (Sào Paulo, Companhia Editora Nacional, 1967), p. 55-56 ; Hans
STADEN, The Captivity of Hans Stade of Hesse in A.D. 1547-1555, Among the Wild
Tribes of Eastern Brazil, éd. Richard F. Burton (London, Hakluyt, 1874. Reprint, Burt
Franklin, New York, n.d.), p. 65 ; JOSÉ de SOUZA, O pâu- Brasil, p. 119-132.
23. DIFFIE, Latin-American Civilization, p. 640 ; SIMONSEN, Histôria Econômica,
p. 56 ; STADEN, Captivity, p. 52-53, n. 2 ; Candido MENDES de ALMEIDA, " Por-
que razâo os indigenas do nosso littoral chamavam aos francezes ' Mair ' e aos portugue-
zes " Pero " ? ", Revista Trimensal do Instituto Historico Geographico e Ethnographico
do Brazil, XLI, parte II (1878), p. 71-141. Mendes de Almeida includes among his
the. possibility that ' Mair ' derived from ' Maire-Monan ', a divine ancestor
(76). The term that designated Europeans, " Caraibas ", also had connotations of supe-
riority — the hero, or prophet. See also HEMMING, Red Gold p. 57.
24. LÉRY, Histoire d'un voyage, p. 195. Léry was a Calvinist minister with the Ville-
gaignon colony.
25. Ferdinand- Jean DENIS, Brésil (Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1837), p. 41 ; STADEN,
p. 70-73.
26. According to Joào Capistrano de Abreu, non-Portuguese traders had the advan-
tage, not being hampered by Portugal's régulations or the necessity of paying the royal
fifth (Capitulos de histôria colonial, 1500-1800, 4th édition, éd. José Honorario Rodri-
guez, Rio de Janeiro, 1954, p. 83). The Portuguese Crown's willingness to grant licenses
to ail corners, irrespective of nationality, and even to grant the protection of the royal
fleets as long as the cargoes were brought to Portugal for sale, would hâve reinforced
such advantages (Alexander MARCHANT, From Barter to Slavery, Baltimore, John
Hopkins Press, 1942, p. 135-137).
27. Charles R. BOXER, The Dutch in Brazil 1624-1654, Oxford, Clarendon Press,
1957, p. 135-137.
28. BUARQUE de HOLANDA, Histôria Gérai, I, p. 390 ; CAPISTRANO de
ABREU, O Descubrimento, p. 262-267.
29. MARCHANT, Barter, p. 18-19 ; Frédéric MAURO, Études économiques sur
l'expansion portugaise, 1500-1900 (Paris, Centro Cultural Portugues, 1970), p. 209-211 ;
 ORIGIN OF FRENCH TRADING WITH AMERINDIANS 143

MAURO, Le Portugal, p. 121-125 ; SIMONSEN, Histôria Econômica, P. 52-57 ; JOSÉ

de SOUZA, O pâu-Brasil, p. 106-118.
30. MARCHANT, Barter, p. 29 ; SIMONSEN, Histôria Econômica, p. 53-55 ; BUAR-
QUE de HOLANDA, Histôria Gérai, I, p. 90.
31. CAPISTRANO de ABREU, Capitulos, p. 80.
32. M. E. GOMES de CARVALHO, D. Joào III e os Francezes (Lisbon, Teixeira,
1909), p. 58-62 ; MARCHANT, Barter, p. 40, n. 60. See also Charles de LA RON-
CIÈRE, Histoire de la Marine française, 6 vol. (Paris, Pion, 1899-1932), III, p. 278-287.
33. MARCHANT, Barter, p. 40-41.
34. Armand d'AVEZAC, B. P. de Gonneville — Campagne du Navire L'Espoir de
Honfleur, 1503-1505 (Paris, 1869. Slatkine Reprints, Geneva, 1971), p. 12-18.
35. Charles-André JULIEN, René HERVAL, Théodore BEAUCHESNE, eds., Les
Français en Amérique pendant la première moitié du XVIe siècle (Paris, Presses
de France, 1946), p. 18-19 ; d'AVEZAC, B. P. de Gonneville, p. 15-22 ; GAFFA-
REL, Brésil, p. 31.
36. GAFFAREL, Brésil, p. 58 ; Reuben Gold THWAITES, Jesuit Relations and Allied
Documents, 73 vol. (Cleveland, Burrows Bros., 1896-1901), III, p. 39.
37. Antonio BAIÂO and C. MALHEIRO DIAS, " A expediçào do Cristôvam
Jaques ", Histôria la colonizaçëo portuguesa do Brasil : EdiçSo monumental commemo-
rativa do primeiro centenârio da independência do Brasil, éd. Carlos Malheiro Dias,
3 vol. (Porto, 1921-1924), III, p. 63.
38. Paul GAFFAREL, Jean Ango (Rouen, 1889) ; Eugène GUENIN, Ango et ses
(Paris, 1901). During this early period almost ail Portuguese accounts of voyages to
Brazil reported sighting French ships (MARCHANT, Barter, p. 40, n. 60). FRAGOSO,
Os Franceses, tells of French expéditions to Brazil. See also GOMES de CARLVAHO,
D. Joâo III e os francezes ; VARNHAGEN, Histôria Gérai, I, p. 189 ; and Brasil —
Histôria (Barcelona, Consulado General de Brasil, 1965). The Grande Encyclopédia
e Brasileira (Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, n.d.), goes so far as to describe early brazil-
wood trade as being entirely Fernch, although it later mentions Loronha's 1502 contract
to trade in " pau-brasil ". An account written by Gabriel SOARES de SOUSA in 1587,
Noticias do Brasil, makes only passing mention of " pau de tinta ", and then always in
connection with the French. Contemporary support for such French dominance is found
in Giovanni RAMUSIO, Délie Navigationi e Viaggi (Venetia, 1606), III, " Discorso d'un
gran capitano ", believed to be by Jean Parmentier, one of Ango's captains. The
account is preceded by an engraving of Brazil on pages 356-357, showing Amerindians
cutting and carrying brazilwood to the coast. Similar French enterprises in territories
claimed by the Spaniards do not appear to hâve been so successful, if we are to judge by
the références, which are few. One such was by Champlain, who observed that the
Amerindians of Santo Domingo " much " liked the French, " with whom they traffic as
often as they can, but this is without the knowledge of the Spaniards " (Samuel de
CHAMPLAIN, Narrative of a Voyage to the West Indies and Mexico in 1599-1602,
trans. and annotated by Alice Wilmeres (London, Hakluyt, 1859), p. 17.
39. GAFFAREL, Brésil, p. 129. According to Michel Mollat French-Brazilian trade
began to gain momentum in the days of Giovanni da Verrazano, whose aims complemen-
ted those of Ango {Le Commerce Maritime Normand à la fin du Moyen Age, Paris,
Pion, 1952, p. 256-258).
40. Helio VIANNA, Histôria do Brazil (Sào Paulo, Edicoes Melhoramentos, 1977),
p. 107-108. For a more gênerai listing, see GAFFAREL, Jean Ango, p. 27-28, as well
as GUENIN, Ango, passim.
41. JULIEN, Voyages, p. 180-181.
42. De LA RONCIÈRE, Marine française, III, p. 282-284 ; MOLLAT, Commerce,
p. 503. Later, Ango, finding his political position untenable, relinquished his letter to
the Portuguese king for 60,000 ducats.
43. Michel MOLLAT, Premières relations entre la France et le Brésil des Verrazani à
Villegaignon, Cahiers de l'Institut des Hautes Études de l'Amérique latine (Paris, 1964),
p. 69 ; MARCHANT, Barter, p. 38-39, n. 55 ; SIMONSEN, Histôria Econômica, p. 57-
58. A quintal is a little more than 57 1/2 kgs., about 120 lbs.
44. W. J. Eccles holds that most of the French traders were captured, effectively elimi-
nating them from Brazil {France in America, New York, Harper & Row,
p. 3). Although French activity may hâve been curtailed, such a view is not supported
either by Julien or contemporary accounts.
144 OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

45. MOLLAT, Commerce, p. 260-262.

46. Ibid., p. 66 ; Ernest de FRÉVILLE, Mémoire sur le commerce maritime de Rouen,
2 vol. (Rouen and Paris, 1857), I, p. 327.
47. STADEN, Captivity, p. 65.
48. MOLLAT, Premières relations, p. 67 ; FRAGOSO, Os Franceses, p. 29-30.
49. For some English intelligence reports on this trading activity, see Calendar for
State Papers. Foreign séries of the reign of Elizabeth, 1558-1559 (London, Longmans,
1863), p. 470-471 ; for 1560-1561, p. 148-149.
50. LÉRY, Histoire d'un voyage, p. 174 ; LINSCHOT, Histoire de la navigation,
p. 42.
51. Bernardino JOSÉ de SOUZA, Ciclo do Carro de Bois ne Brasil (Sâo Paulo, Com-
panhia Editora Nacional, 1958), p. 103.
52. THEVET, New Found Worlde, p. 95. In his Cosmographie universelle, published
in Paris by Guillaume Chaudière in 1575, Thevet wrote : " Les navires seront quelquefois
loing du lieu ou se fait la couppe, quatre ou cinq lieues, & tout le proffit que ces pauvres
gens ont de tant de peine, ce sera quelque meschant chemise, ou de la doublure de
accoustrement de peu de valeur " (950).
53. Reproduced in Portugaliae Monumenta Cartographica, eds. Armando Cortesâo and
Avelina Teixeira de Mota, 6 vol. (Lisbon, 1960), I, Plate 22. Also in America in Maps
Dating from 1500 to 1856, éd. Egon Klemp (New York and London, Holmes and Meier,
1976), Plate 66.
54. Edme François JOMARD, Les Monuments de la géographie ; ou Recueil
cartes (Paris, [1842-1862]), p. 29-30, Plate XIX #4.
55. Jacques VAN de CLAYE, Carte de la côte du Brésil, Dieppe, 1579, at the
Narionale, Paris.
56. THEVET, Cosmographie (Chaudière), p. 950, and Le Brésil et les Brésiliens,
p. 221-222 ; LÉRY, Histoire d'un voyage, p. 174-175.
57. Ibid., p. 223. Even though port records indicate that Bretons had been very active
in the trade from the beginning, most of the " truchements " appear to hâve been Nor-
mans.
58. MOLLAT, Premières relations, p. 7-73. The manuscript, dated 1544, along with
Cordier's French-Guinea word-list, is in La Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Français,
24269.
59. GAFFAREL, Brésil, p. 110.
60. JULIEN, Voyages, p. 183, n. 4.
61. For a listing of the literature arising out of this event, see Hugh HONOUR, The
European Vision of America (Cleveland, the Cleveland Muséum of Art, 1975), Section I,
#8. The lavishness of this period's court cérémonials is reported in détail by Denys
Godefroy in Le Cérémonial François, 2 vol., Paris, Cramoisy, 1649). Amerindians not
infrequently participated in pageants. For instance, Brazilians were among the
of captive nations who greeted Charles IX when he enterred Bordeaux, an Atlantic
port
" Thecity,
Mythin of1565
the (GAFFAREL,
Savage and theBrésil,
beginnings
p. 136).
of French
See also
Colonialism
Olive Patricia
in theDICKASON,
Americas "
(Ph. thesis, University of Ottawa, 1977), p. 266-267.
62. Material from this voyage is to be found in Guillaume LE TESTU, Cosmographie
universelle selon les navigateurs tant anciens que modernes... (Le Havre, 1555) ;
Singularitez and Le Brésil.
63. LE TESTU, Cosmographie, fol. xlvi.
64. LÉRY, Histoire d'un voyage, p. 223-224. See also Claude [d'Abbeville], Histoire
de la Mission des Pères Capucins en l'Isle de Maragnan et terres circonvoisins (Paris,
François Huey, 1614), 104v.
65. STADEN, Captivity, p. 67-69, 81-83. Much of Staden's account is concerned
with his ingenious and successful ruses to avoid being eaten.
66. GAFFAREL, Brésil, p. 128 ; STADEN, Captivity, p. 114.
67. GAFFAREL, Brésil, p. 128; STADEN, Captivity, p. 111-112.
68. BAIÂO and DIAS, Histôria da colonizaçâo, III, p. 59-94. See also HEMMING,
Red Gold, p. 34-35.
69. David ASSELINE, Les Antiquitez et Chroniques de la Ville de Dieppe, 2 vol.
(Paris, Maisonneuve, 1874), I, p. 348. See aldo De La RONCIÈRE, Marine Française,
IV, p. 1-9, 214-222.
70. BRAUDEL, La Méditerranée, p. 167, 478. According to Johannes de Laet, the
 ORIGIN OF FRENCH TRADING WITH AMERINDIANS 145

French were not driven out of Paraiba until 1584 {L'Histoire du Nouveau Monde ou
Description des Indes Occidentales..., Leyden, 1640), p. 478.
71. JULIEN, Voyages, p. 219-220.
72. CHAMBON, Traité Général du commerce de l'Amérique..., 2 vol. (Amsterdam,
Marc-Michel Rey, 1783), I, p. 16-17. " II n'esr pas croyable combien nous avons retiré
des secours de cette nouvelle partie du monde... dans l'état présent des choses, &
à notre manière de vivre, sans le commerce que nous faisons en Amérique, nous
serions privés de bien de denrées qui nous sont devenues nécessaires ".
73. A séminal study of the effects of European contact on the Tupi-Guarani is that of
Alfred MÉTRAUX, Migrations historiques des Tupi-Guarani (Paris, Maisonneuve, 1927).
74. On the seasonality of brazilwood cutting, see MAURO, Le Brésil, p. 40, and
AIRES de CASAL, Corografia, I, p. 105-106.
" vast
75. As
quantities
late as oftheBrazilwood,
early nineteenth
which iscentury,
so muchEurope
used inwasdyeing
reported
" (Thomas
to be ASHE,
importing
A
Commercial View and Geographical Sketch of the Brasils in South America and of the
Island of Madeira, London, Allen, 1812), p. 59.
76. See, for example, cargo statements in CHAMBON, Traité général, I, p. 264-268.
77 Jacques HABERT, La Vie et les Voyages de Jean de Verrazane (Paris, Cercle du
Livre, 1964), p. 206.
78. Henry Percival BIGGAR, A Collection of Documents Relating to Jacques Cartier
and the Sieur de Roberval (Ottawa, Public Archives, 1930), p. 476.
79. Supra, p. 5. He made several références to the corn of Canada being similar to
the millet of Brazil (BIGGAR, Voyages of Cartier, p. 153, 183).
80. Recueil de voyages et de documents pour servir à l'histoire de la géographie depuis
le XIIIe jusqu'à la fin du XVIe siècle, eds. Ch. Schefer and Henri Cordier, 24 vol. (Paris,
Ernest Leroux, 1882-1923). For détails concerning Fonteneau, see GAFFAREL, Brésil.
p. 113-122.
81. See biographical note, Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto, University of
Toronto Press, 1966), I, p. 208 (Hereinafter referred to as DCB). Another example may
be Giovanni da Verrazzano, who exploration of the North American coast, 1523-1524,
caused Portuguese to fear that France was planning to establish a colony in Brazil
C. WROTH, The Voyages of Giovanni da Verrazzano, New Haven, Yale
1970, p. 67). This strengthens spéculation that he had been earlier to the New
World, possibly to Brazil (ibid., p. 9 ; Richard HAKLUYT, Divers Voyages Touching the
Discovery of American, London, 1582. Facsimile, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1966, I, p. 2
recto). It was apparently in Brazil that Verrazzano met his death in 1528.
82. Pierre-François-Xavier CHARLEVOIX, Histoire et Description générale de la
France, 3 vol.; Paris, Nyon, 1744, I, p. 22.
83. A. -Léo LEYMARIE, " Le Canada pendant la jeunesse de Louis XIII ", Nova
Francia, I, #4 (24 février 1926), p. 168-169. French baptismal records also indicate this
type of activity. See Frédéric JOUON de LONGRAIS, éd., Jacques Cartier : documents
nouveaux (Paris, 1888), p. 76-77.
84. A similar feat was Samuel de CHAMPLAIN, Works, éd. Hanry Pervival Biggar,
6 vol. (Toronto, Champlain Society, 1922), I, p. 100-101.
85. See, for instance, the report on De Monts in Acadie, Le Mercure François ou
Suitte de l'Histoire de la Paix, I, p. 294-297 ; the account of the pétition of Ferdinand de
Queiros to the Spanish King, Le Mercure François, V, p. 163-171, and in the same
volume, the report on Champlain's establishment at Québec, p. 295-304. Letters from
Jesuit missionaries were also published, such as one by Charles Lalement in Le Mercure
François, XIII, p. 12-22.
86. Bruce TRIGGER, " Champlain judged by his Indian policy : A Différent View of
Early Canadian History ", Anthropologica, XIII (1971), p. 85-114. Also, the
of Cherououny, Chomina and Erouachy in DCB, I.
87. For a Portuguese view of the development of this French concept, see Alfonso
ARINOS de MELLO FRANCO, O India Brasileiro e a Revoluçâo Francesa (Rio de
Janeiro, Livraria José Olympio Editora, 1937).
146 OLIVE PATRICIA DICKASON

RÉSUMÉ

On pense en général que c'est par le commerce des fourrures en Amérique du

Nord que les Français ont appris leurs techniques pour trafiquer avec les
un genre de diplomatie où ils excellèrent. Cependant l'examen des
archives révèle que les Français bénéficièrent d'une grande expérience acquise en
Amérique du Sud, où ils furent aussi à l'origine de relations commerciales avec
les Amérindiens concernant le bois de brésil et autres produits tropicaux. Ce
commerce franco-brésilien dura pendant tout le xvie siècle, débutant plus tôt et
croissant plus vite que le trafic des fourrures dans le Nord. Ce fut la principale
entreprise commerciale française dans le Nouveau Monde, aussi longtemps que
le brésil fut la source essentielle de la teinture rouge demandée sur le marché
textile en expansion. Cette expérience brésilienne explique largement pourquoi
les Français furent capables de prendre l'initiative et de conserver leur
dans le trafic des fourrures aussi longtemps qu'ils eurent une présence
coloniale en Amérique du Nord.

RESUME
It is widely believed that it was in the North American fur trade that the
French learned their techniques for dealing with Amerindians, a type of diplo-
macy in which they excelled. An examination of the record, however, reveals
that the French had the benefit of considérable expérience gained in South
America, where they had also pioneered commercial relations with Amerindian,
trading for brazilwood and other tropical products. This Franco-Brazilian
trade lasted throughout the sixteenth century, beginning much earlier and pea-
king sooner than the northern fur trade. While it lasted, it was France's major
commercial enterprise in the New World, as long as brazilwood was a major
source for the red dye in high demand for the burgeoning textile trade. This
Brazilian expérience does much to explain why the French were able to seize the
initiative and maintain their dominance in the fur trade for as long as they
where a colonial présence in North America.