foretaste of much of the active and aggressive competition in matters of
colonization from which the Portuguese were destined to suffer.

Before arriving at the subject of the predatory expeditions of the
various nations in South America, it would be as well to consider the
initial methods taken by the early Portuguese settlers. In the first
instance the partition of so vast an extent of territory among so small
a number of colonists was necessarily effected in a crude and tentative
fashion. The great colony was divided into _capitaneas_, or counties,
each of which possessed a coast-line of 150 miles. A Governor was
appointed to each _capitanea_. As was perhaps natural, the powers of
each of these officials, more or less isolated as each was, grew
rapidly--to such an extent, indeed, that the home authorities in
Portugal became anxious to curb the occasional eccentricities of some of
the more despotic of these. In order to effect this, Thomé de Souza was
made Captain-General of Brazil, and was sent out to that country
provided with numerous officials and troops. He established his
headquarters at Bahia, and the size of the town increased in
consequence. In 1572 Brazil was divided into two governmental areas,
Bahia being recognized as the capital of the north, and Rio de Janeiro
as the capital of the southern portion. This division, however, only
lasted for five years. Brazil in the meanwhile was becoming populous,
and had taken its place as the largest among the regular Portuguese
colonies throughout the world.

It was not long before the jealousies between the Spanish and Portuguese
led to various outbreaks and to troubles on the frontiers. From a purely
practical point of view, there is no doubt whatever that such
bickerings were a sheer absurdity, since the territories at the disposal
of both nations were far too great to be effectively dealt with by any