The City of the Saviour, 1549–1763

Abstract

The Bay of All Saints is on the Atlantic seaboard of Brazil, 13° south of the equator. A promontory separates the bay, a deep natural harbour twenty-eight miles wide and twenty-two miles long, from the ocean. Entrance to the bay is from the south. Although the mouth of the bay is some twenty-five miles wide, access is reduced to two channels, one on either side of the Island of Itaparica. This fertile and hilly island extends across much of the mouth of the bay and projects into the bay itself. In conjunction with the promontory to the east, it affords protection for ships within the bay from south-easterly gales. The passage for deep-water vessels is some five miles wide between Itaparica and the promontory on the eastern extremity of the bay. In colonial times considerable care was necessary because sandbanks reduced the width of this channel to some two miles. Visitors to colonial Bahia agreed unanimously that this ‘little Mediterranean’ was one of the best anchorages in the world, with a firm bottom and protection from the prevailing winds. The inner part of the bay is considerably shallower than the roadstead and there are numerous islands. The largest of these are the Ilha da Mare (‘ the Island of the Tide’), the Ilha dos Frades (‘ the Island of Friars’) and the Ilha da Madre de Deus (‘Island of the Mother of God’).