“All were slain save one,—­Diego Alvarez Carreo, the captain of the ship.  Before grasping the rope by which he reached the shore, he thrust several cartridges into his bosom and caught up a loaded musket.  Wrapping the lock in several folds of cloth to keep it dry, he slid along the rope and gained the beach in safety.  Here he was seized by the natives, and would no doubt have been barbarously slain with his unfortunate companions; but, being a very powerful man, he dashed aside the foremost, and, breaking through their ranks, rushed towards the wood.  The fleet savages, however, overtook him in an instant, and were about to seize him when a young Indian woman interposed between them and their victim.  This girl was the chiefs daughter, and respect for her rank induced them to hesitate for a moment; but in another instant the Portuguese captain was surrounded.  In the scuffle that ensued his musket exploded, but fortunately wounded no one.  Instantly the horrified savages fled in all directions leaving Carreo alone!

“The captain was quick-witted.  He knew that among hundreds of savages it was madness to attempt either to fight or fly, and the happy effect of the musket explosion induced him to adopt another course of action.  He drew himself up proudly to his full height, and beckoned the savages to return.  This they did, casting many glances of fear at the dreaded musket.  Going up to one who, from his bearing and ornaments, seemed to be a chief, Carreo laid his musket on the sand, and, stepping over it so that he left it behind him, held out his hand frankly to the chief.  The savage looked at him in surprise, and suffered the captain to take his hand and pat it; after which he began to examine the stranger’s dress with much curiosity.  Seeing that their chief was friendly to the white man, the other savages hurried him to the campfire, where he soon stripped off his wet clothes and ate the food which they put before him.  Thus Diego Carreo was spared.

“Next day, the Indians lined the beach and collected the stores of the wrecked vessel.  While thus employed, Carreo shot a gull with his musket; which so astonished the natives that they regarded him with fear and respect amounting almost to veneration.  A considerable quantity of powder and shot was saved from the wreck, so that the captain was enabled to keep his ascendency over the ignorant natives; and at length he became a man of great importance in the tribe, and married the daughter of the chief.  He went by the name of Caramuru,—­’The man of fire.’  This man founded the city of Bahia.

“The coasts of Brazil began soon after this to be settled in various places by the Portuguese; who, however, were much annoyed by the Spaniards, who claimed a share in the rich prize.  The Dutch and English also formed settlements; but the Portuguese still retained possession of the country, and continued to prosper.  Meanwhile Diego Caramuru, ’the man of fire,’ had a son who in course of time became a prosperous settler; and as his sons grew up he trained them to become cultivators of the soil and traders in the valuable products of the New World.  He took a piece of ground, far removed from the spot where his father had been cast ashore, and a short distance in the interior of the country.  Here the eldest sons of the family dwelt, laboured, and died, for many generations.