EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

River and planted in and along the flood plain. Shortly after the crop was planted there
was a raging flood, which destroyed the crops that had been planted.
The reaction of the colonists was predictable. A fairly large group of colonists,
perhaps one quarter to one third of the settlement, chose to return to Belgium. On July
28, 1845 the Brazilian Parliament approved the grant. However, it had several changes,
one of which proved ended Van Lede’s interest. The House of Deputies had removed
the mineral rights in the grant; they remained with the government. Van Lede, along
with his wife, returned to Belgium, stating that he would try to have the matter resolved.
It is hard to see what returning to Belgium would have accomplished since it was the
Brazilian government that had changed the terms, not the Belgian. Before leaving Van
Lede had put Phillipe Fontaine in charge of the colony, a move that would prove quite
destructive to the fledging colony.
Van Lede never returned to Brazil. In 1848 he was appointed to the Provincial
Council and for all practical purposes this was the end of Van Lede’s interest in the
colony and the Compagnie belge-brésilienne de Colonisation.
Again, the issue of Van Lede’s dedication seems to be highlighted by his failure
to return. The only really significant change made by the Brazilian legislature was the
elimination of mineral rights. Van Lede’s background was in engineering, and he had
previously been appointed as an engineer for the Chilean Department of Roads,
Bridges, and Harbors. Early interest in the colony did seem to be centered on the issue
of mineral wealth. There is no plausible explanation other than he could no longer attain
his primary objective.
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