Sailing in Brazilian waters: the information from French Pyrard of Laval on the Brazilian colony (1610-1611)

The presence of travelers/sailors in American lands after the conquest contributed to the circulation of useful information about the potential of these regions. The natural resources that the new lands had aroused the interest of Europeans in these products targeting the trade. The official (or unofficial) visit of travelers to these lands resulted in records of the conditions of the earth, and their habits of obedience towards the laws enacted by cities to control their colonies. Our purpose in these notes is to identify the narrative of Pyrard de Laval, written in the early seventeenth century, the habits, the customs, the laws, the organization of cities, and finally the social behavior and relations between State and society in the Portuguese colony of America. In this sense, we understand, from the contribution of the author on the exploitation of natural resources and agricultural practices in the vicinity of the Baía de Todos os Santos, licit and illicit relations of this social dynamic.