History of Brazil

Brazil Tours / History - The German adventurer Hans Staden is one of the main sources of historical information, principally about the cultural habits, routes and encampments of the indigenous population during colonial Brazil.

He was a crew member of the Spanish naval expediton under the command of Dom Diego de Sanabriaque, which in April 1550 left Spain (Sevilla), in direction to Rio de la Plata. They shipwrecked close to the village of Itanhaém (south coast of the actual State of São Paulo) and had to continue on foot to nearby São Vicente.

For a period of four month, Hans Staden was hired as a watchman of the fortification of São Felipe, on the Island of Santo Amaro (see Bertioga). Upon a request of Tomé de Sousa, Brazil's first General Governor, Staden extended his stay for two more years.

On day, during the search for traps in the rainforest, Hans Staden was captured by an expedition of Tamoio / Tupinambá Indians and transferred to their village, somewhere in the bay of Ilha Grande.

He lived among the Indians for about nine month, before a french vessel which was doing trade with the natives, rescued him. Back to his native city of Homberg (state of Hessen, Germany), Hans Staden registered his adventure in the narration "A True Story", published in Marburg, in 1557.