130 Françoise Latour da Veiga Pinto,
A. Carreira
Angola that supplied the bulk of them. The mine-owners needed strong men,
and the yellow metal allowed them to pay higher prices for them than the plan-
ters did. There was thus more incentive to import slaves through Rio de Janeiro
—for Minas Gérais—than through Bahia, and this led to conflict between the
two towns. To end the dispute, the crown eventually had to introduce an import
quota system as between Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Recife and Paraiba. Thus
Angola, forsaken by the mother country, and with a population made up of
slave traders, convicts, adventurers and slaves, was nevertheless, as C. R. Boxer
has pointed out, 'the corner-stone of the Portuguese Empire'. For Brazil's
prosperity depended on Angolan manpower, and Portugal's prosperity
depended on Brazilian sugar, tobacco, gold and diamonds.
However, foreign competition and the extent of smuggling led the Portu-
guese crown to attempt some reforms. Following the example of its competi-
tors, Lisbon was to set up large companies to counter the decline of the Guinea
trade and to make good the military forces, which were inadequate to protect
the slave trade. None of these companies was ever as successful as their foreign
counterparts, but they are still worth mentioning. The oldest, the Guinea Coast
or Port Palmida Company, was founded on 1 September 1664; little is known
about its activities, which were of no great importance. The same applies to the
Companhia de Cacheu, Rios e Costa da Guiñé, set up in 1676, which was
granted a six-year monopoly of the transport of slaves from this area for
Brazil. But the people of Säo Tiago viewed the setting up of this enterprise
with deep mistrust, thinking (no doubt rightly) that it was directed against them
and would deprive them of their freedom of action. On 12 February 1682 it
was succeeded by the Companhia do Estanco do Maranhao e Para, with a
twenty-year concession: it undertook in that space of time to introduce 10,000
slaves (i.e. an average of 500 a year) into that part of Brazil. It also had a
monopoly of trade in that province. Produce for export was exempt from duty
for ten years. The purchase of slaves had to be carried out in Angola. This
enterprise aroused such hostility among the settlers that it was disbanded after
three years of operation and its property was confiscated.
On 14 January 1690 the Companhia de Cacheu e Cabo Verde was set up,
with a lifespan until December 1696: a clause was included in the contract
forbidding the sale of slaves to ' heretics '. Its powers were limited, and conse-
quently its activities were of no great importance. When the contract expired,
the crown negotiated with Spain the transfer of the company's powers and
part of its property to the (Spanish) Royal Commission for India, which on
12 July 1699 obtained the asiento, for a period of six years and eight months,
for the following ports: Cumana, Caracas, Havana, Cartagena, Puertovelo,
Honduras and Vera Cruz. Purchasing had to be carried out on the Guinea
Coast to a total of 10,000 tons (of slaves), each estimated at three 'India pieces'
(i.e. a strong full-grown man) of uniform seven-foot stature, the old and those