This chapter was inspired in no small part by a thread posted by
@Viriato a few years ago.
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Part 7: Ouro Marinho
While Spain was busy engorging itself on the vast riches of the Caribbean, another, much smaller country was trying to do the same thousands of kilometers to the north, in the distant coasts of Terra Nova. Though the land itself was harsh, with winters that were exceptionally long and cold by European standards, its waters were (and still are) some of the richest fishing grounds in the entire world, with enormous stocks of seals, whales, seabirds, shellfish and especially cod, the last of whom formed shoals so thick it was supposedly "almost impossible to row a boat through them" according to some accounts. Because of this, fishermen from France, Spain, England and Portugal, all competing for the best places to fish in, became a common sight in Terra Nova's shores from the early 1500s onward (perhaps earlier).
The Portuguese king, Manuel I, sponsored three exploratory voyages (led by João Fernandes Lavrador and the brothers Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real, respectively) into the region at the turn of the century in the hopes of cementing his country's presence there and, through it, acquire a new source of revenue that would boost its already formidable economy even further. A permanent base was necessary to accomplish this, and the task of creating said settlement was given to João Álvares Fagundes, a wealthy ship owner and trader from Viana do Castelo, who was given a royal charter awarding him the governorship of all lands he discovered in March 13 1521. After recruiting around fifty families willing to leave their homes and make a new life for themselves in the New World for multiple reasons, he set sail from Aveiro and reached North America sometime in May, briefly stopping in the Azores to rest and stock up extra supplies.
The Portuguese fleet approaching its destination.
The next few days were spent searching for a good place to land, and the expedition made landfall on a spot that possessed a natural harbor so good Fagundes named the settlement "Porto Seguro" (literally "safe harbor" in Portuguese) after its foundation (1). After a few weeks, during which the colonists built houses, established a handful of farms, celebrated the first mass in North America outside of Spanish territory and erected a wooden palisade, Fagundes departed with some of his men to explore the new colony's surroundings. It was during this trip that the Portuguese established formal diplomatic and trade relations with the Mi'kmaq people. He left Terra Nova for good in October, having mapped its southern coast all the way to Cape Bacalhau ("Cape Cod") before doing so. He had good news to report to his king: although fishing operations hadn't started yet due to the need to make sure the colonists' needs were met, they would surely do so next year, as long as they were properly supported by the metropole.
Unfortunately for him and the colony, said support wouldn't come anytime soon: Lisbon was struck by a plague in December, with king Manuel himself almost dying from it, and, as if that weren't enough, the news of Ferdinand Magellan's success the following year forced the crown to focus its efforts on ensuring Spain didn't grab too many territories in the East Indies, leaving Terra Nova in the backburner for now. In spite of his constant lobbying, Fagundes had no choice but to stay in Portugal until 1523, since setting up a colony was too expensive a task to do without the help of the government, even for someone as wealthy as him (2).
Needless to say, Porto Seguro's inhabitants were not prepared to be left to their own devices for so long. Winter set in shortly after Fagundes' departure from the colony, much earlier than expected, and temperatures plummeted in a matter of days. Farming was impossible now, and the settlers, who until then believed the weather would be similar to that of their homeland since were just a little bit north of Viana, didn't have enough heavy clothes for everyone, and soon enough people began to die from the cold, disease and starvation, since there was only so much game they could hunt and that itself was an incredibly difficult task to do. Indeed, the situation became so bad it is quite likely the colony would've been abandoned were it not for the assistance of the Mi'kmaq, who offered them food and furs that put the colonists' outfits to shame (3).
Spring came in March 1522, and by that time the number of settlers was reduced by at least one third. Though they could finally cultivate some crops now, something they did with the utmost haste with varying levels of success, by this time the foreign fishermen who Porto Seguro was supposed to displace got word of the colony's existence. They did their best to sabotage its operations in any way they could, such as stealing fishing boats, depriving the colonists of a valuable source of food in the process, or outright attacking the settlement on one occasion, an assault which was repelled thanks, in no small part, to the help of the Mi'kmaq. Winter came once again, but this time the colonists fared better since they now knew the kind of weather they were dealing with. Even so, however, their population continued to dwindle, and it was clear the settlement would be abandoned if help didn't come soon (4).
Thankfully, that help did come, in May 1523. Having finally gathered enough resources for a new expedition and convinced to crown to support him a second time, Fagundes returned to Terra Nova almost exactly two years after his first arrival, and this time he came not only with new settlers and supplies (including livestock), but also soldiers and orders from the government to build a fort in a suitable location. Porto Seguro's existence, and that of the Captaincy of Terra Nova, were now assured.
A sketch of Porto Seguro in its early days.
The colony's prosperity grew as the years passed, mostly due to growing value of cod (prices more than quadrupled in the period between 1520 and 1550, and they kept rising afterwards) and the fish's seemingly endless stocks in the Grand Banks. Thousands of settlers poured in from all over Portugal in the hopes of either making money from fishing or getting a few acres of land to farm in, with most people coming from the Azores (which were particularly poor and overpopulated) and often bringing their entire families along with them. This demographic growth inevitably led to the foundation of more settlements in Terra Nova, such as Dom Afonso in 1534 (5) and São João in 1547 (6), and the very gradual diversification of its economy, with activities like farming and especially the fur trade slowly gaining prominence.
It wouldn't take long for the Portuguese to extend their influence further inland.
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Notes:
(1) OTL Halifax. Fagundes established the colony on Cape Breton Island IOTL, so I figured the weather would be a little nicer a few kilometers to the south.
(2) These are the big PODs. IOTL king Manuel died from the plague, and Fagundes also passed away a year later. Manuel's successor, João III, had no interest in sending settlers to North America (Brazil was a much bigger prize, after all), and the colony was so completely forgotten we don't even know its name.
(3) According to the frustratingly brief Wikipedia entry on Fagundes, the Portuguese probably had good relations with the Mi'kmaq IOTL.
(4) Needless to say, this baptism by fire (or ice, in this case) will leave quite a mark on the Terranovans' psyche, especially the descendants of those first settlers.
(5) OTL Moncton, New Brunswick.
(6) OTL St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
