Revolt at Para and Dreadf...
The Times, 1824-02-02T00:00:00

*- tFrom the Lt,YcfPro MIcrerear'.l we- are indebted to a gentlemna, Of our acquaintance here for the perusal of a letter receved by him from his brother at Para, con. taining a detailed narrative of ar 0n5,s-rection amongst the soldiery there, to expel or murder the Portugnes.`and of a consequent de. plorable chtalstropbe by which w;nliards . h 200 beings ca me to 3 horrabledeath The, b iy da td 20th of November, and was received by the Unity, arrived here on Wedn" -iy.R From the lath of the tnonth to the 20th (it e.ateof de etter) the inbabitanta of Para had been held in the most u npleasant appre hesision and alarm, owing to insobordination zmoba't the troops who, on the night of tbe former day, beat to arms, a; dee their determination to turn out or murder every ?ortugue..e it x t1ie place. They commenced by taklng sossession of the forts, bas2'acq , 3nd dp0oto wies of arms and artillery, anned all se jolne them, and broke open thetaverns ad shops ef the Europeane, *hieh becasme scenes of drtnkenness, roobery, and general :lestsucticr, They after'wards marched -trough the town with' fixed bayo'tis, &c., calling out, iDeath tO theEuropeans! Long live independ.. ence and the Emperor Pelro !" until they reached the Palace of' Government, vvhere they deposed the Pres.dent, and elected another. of their own choice-a priest, then a member of Government, and: well known forhis hatred to the Portuguese. They then demanded the proscription of nearly all the Government ofEcers, and the confis. cation of tteir property; the whole of which was promised them. They continied all night and next dayriot-ingand drinking, and the utmost confusion prevailed throughout the town. Families fled toy the country or on board ship; the houses and shops were sbut up., and no persons swere seen in the streets but these ruffians, with blud, geons, swords, &c., in small gangs, pillaging, tighting arnongst them-a selves, stabbing cach other, and knocking down every Portaguose ther met. They thus kept possession of the town till thel15th, when Capt. Grenfell, of a brig of war of Cochrane's squadron,landte1with 40 or SIX seamen, and after one gallant but unsuccessful attempt, got posses- sion of the train, or repository of arms, by surprise; anm thence despatched a detahrnent of English sailors agasnst a strorg body- of the rioters, who were robbing two large stores. After a sharp. contest, the sailors obliged them to fly, having lT.llle,VJsia; and wounding 16 or ll. They also took abott ibrtr or fiftyt p. .--ners . The greater partof the soldiers then retired; and early nes t morn. ing (the 16th) Captain Grenfeli sent round to invite the inh abiranr to meet at the Train, where they all received arms and ammunition and, when formed, jointlv with the militia, and siglht piec as of a . tiDlery, maimed by Englishrnen, the soldiers were ordered to lay down their aims in their quarters, atd surrcnder tliemselves pri- soners ; which, contrary to general expectation, they immnediatelI did, and were marched between two columns of volunteers to the Palace.square, headed and flanked by volunteers, artillery, and mi- litia. They were ranged in a column witlh the militia in front ot them, and the loaded artillery bearing tipon them, to fire instantly ihould they resist the sentences about to be passed. Soon after, na body of cavalry, 40 to .'iO strong, who hid not yet surrendered, gal.. loped up wvith an intenion to charge and throw the infantry into confusion, that their comrades might escape; but seeing ait unex- pected fote opposeel to them (Captain (renfell having ihad two. pieces of arillery pointed against them ) they drew up, aid surren. dered. Thnere were then S00) unarmed men on the ground.. and the orders to the witer, who was Captain of a gun, were, if they stirred from their ranks, to fire upon them. Every tbing was as still as death. A esunil of swr was held before the Palace, and iC was determined that five of the ringleaders should guffer instant military execation. The lirgeaet wiho commanded the cavalry, a notorious character, one of thehearLs of the rebellion, and a reputed murderer, was selected as the first t4 suffer. He, at first, conceived thie whole was a joke, hut finding the case dLIsperate, he only begged to be confessed, and was all*oed fue minutes. He knelt dewn&at the mouth of a gun, with a priest at hie side. The moment tbe time had expired,he was taken to the front,andt shot by afile of soldiers. I The writer here makes some tfelingren.e ar wlhich a&-e highly honourable to his feelings on the horriMsesensations produced by this summar- execution.] lbe four others were then brt.ught nut and despatched in the samne way.The whole five werenoto. riously wicked and murderouscharacters.A:bouc 10oftheknowntriottis were then picked from the ranks, and sent to prison, whenct, with about 100 others of all sons, taken robbing or receivingstolen goods, they were next day sent on boasd a prize-ship, in the harbourl. The rernainderof the troops were, after a severe reprimand, ordesetl to their quarters. The writer then proceeds to relate a most horrible occurrerice on board of the prison-ship, which containeA about 256 indiv iduals. About nine, on the night of the 19th, thesentinels on deck h eard a great noise below. and repeatedly ordered quietness, without efeTct. ln a short time, they found the prisoners w ere forcing the h.atches, and they immediatelv fired one or two volleys among them, after which, every thing was quiet. In the moni g ties took 'f. the hatches, to remove the dead, if any, when they islund'only Jous' ourt of the 256 alive! The place presented a most appalling spe etacle of lacerated and mangled bodies. Some had tlieit eyes thrust; out: the tongues of some hung out of their mouths: others had their ribs stove in: mouths torn fromi ear to ear. Some were hau3gintn by their hammock-strings by the neck; others by their middle., with their heads down; and some had undergone mutilation too ho rrible tobe described. The writer had this account, at which hunman rtattre shudders, fror. an eye-witness, thefirstLieutenant ofthebrig,wllo au-S' first on board in the morning. It appears the carntage commenced aby party of themn wv ishing to murder all the Eturopeans who were their fellow-prisoners (about, perhapi, 10 or 12 in number), but that being in the clark, they despatched many who were not, which excitud ill. blood.' They didnot, moreover, all agree upon escaping by force, which incrased the animosity amongst themn, and augtUal inas. sacre of the rmost savage nature commenced ; for ther had no edged weapons, nor any thing but their hands and their hammock-ropes. They were all naked, their clothes being torn from. their backs. T hey had piled up the dead bodies under the hatches to form a kind of platform to enable them to reach the grat- ings, and most of these bodies were of Europeans. About 20 ivere killed by the discharges of acusketrv. The foutr who were found alive had hidden themselves under the water.casks at the comnience_ ment of the frav, acid had not, it appeared. suffered in health. One man was fbund nearly strangled, but still alive; o,ut he died on the way to the hospital, from a slight falL It is the writer's opinion, that, shocking as this catastrophe was, it was probably fortunate for the friends of order, as it appeared that these wretches had formed the most diabolical plans of massacre and plunder. [The bther ac- count to which we have alluded, states that the English, too, were marked out amongst their victims. * The other account au osea they bad destroyed each other In a at of in.lsanity or desperson1. REVOLTat PARd a,id DREADFUL CATASTROPHE.