Primary sources that have been edited, reprinted in facsimiles, or translated into English can be searched inTripod. Use subject terms like these in this search brazil* [Keyword] AND (sources OR letters OR diaries OR memoirs OR autobiograph* OR correspondence*) [Subject] produces results including:
Early Brazil: A Documentary History to 1700. Edited by Sturat B. Schwartz. Cambridge, 2012.
Memoirs of a Militia Sergeant: A Novel. By Manuel de Antonio Almeida. Oxford, 1999; first published 1854-55
This novel had a popular success in the 1850s and is rich in detail about the lives of the free poor in Rio de Janeiro.
Some online collections are available through Tripod. See the History Primary Sources Page for a full listing.