No. 348. dians engaged in fishing, and one among them, called Antonio, told him that some Frenchmen who passed that coast in a bilandra, told him that they wished to make a settlement in the Island of Tabaco, where they had already established themselves on the northern side, with their plantations, without possessing any slaves; that Monsieur Cornete, an inhabitant of Martinique, was already named Governor, and they were awaiting the result of an application to the Court of France to introduce settlers. Not being satisfied with this report, the said Alcaldes resolved to send Juan Miguel Hernandez to the said Province of Guayana to verify the statement, and give the necessary orders. On his return he reported that he had put to sea by the principal river of the Orinoco, and entered the creek called Barima, where, according to the Caribs, the Swedes were established. They said they had seen a number of white men seeking a place for their settlement, and they had presented the Caribs with beads, knives, cutlasses, hatchets, and spirits, and left them much pleased and expecting their return the summer following, according to the account of the said Caribs, who also declared that two long boats came to the creek full of Frenchmen and negroes, fugitives on their way to the city of Guayana, who were all slain by the said Indians, who took their boats and all they had with them. That in the creek there was a Carib Chief, son of the Chief Taguaria, who had more than two hundred Indians, with arrows, guns, and broad swords, which force he kept, said the Indian, for the whites of Guayana, because they hindered him taking the Indians of the nations of the Orinoco and selling them to the Dutch. That these latter told the aforesaid Indians not to show the Swedes a good place for their settlement, and they themselves would give them all they required. Having considered this matter in my Council of the Indies, and taken the advice of my Attorney-General, and deliberated thereupon, seeing that the information sent by the aforesaid Alcaldes, though not to be despised, is not full enough to warrant my making any order in the matter, I have resolved to command, and hereby do command, that so soon as you receive these despatches you do forthwith verify the facts of the matter, and, in case any orders should be necessary, you do forthwith make such orders as you think advisable, giving me an account of your proceedings in this matter with all dispatch, remembering that I have also instructed the Governors of Caracas and Margarita by despatches sent this day. No. 349. Order of King of Spain to Governor of Cumana to prevent Swedes from settling at Barima, December 16, 1734. [Reprinted from Blue Book, No. 3, pp. 224-225. ] To Don Carlos Sucre, Governor and Captain-General of the Province of Cumaná.—In a letter of the 18th of July of the year before last Don Rafael No. 349. de Eslaba, President of my Royal Court of the City of Santa Fé in the new Kingdom of Grenada, having communicated the representation made by Father Joseph Gumilla, Superior of the Missions of the Orinoco, with respect to the settlement which the Swedes were attempting to make in River Barima, for whose suppression the Court of that kingdom had previously taken measures; and as soon as the said President entered on his office, he requested the said Father Joseph Gumilla to repeat his former information that he might take the necessary steps; but thinking this a matter of considerable gravity he sends an account of it for his reassurance. Having considered the matter in my Council of the Indies, and taken the advice of my Attorney-General thereupon, I hereby command that with what people you have and with the Capuchin Missions, you take all proper measures to prevent the settlement attempted by the Swedish nation from being established, and that you give me an account of your proceedings herein at the first opportunity. No. 350. Extract from Precis of Despatch, dated August 13, 1737, from Governor of Cumana, to King of Spain, asking help to prevent Foreign Settle. ments at Barima. [Reprinted from Blue Book, No. 3, p. 225.] [Under date] Cumaná, August 13, 1737, the Governor, Don Carlos Sucre: Represents to Your Majesty that as soon as he went from this city to the River Orinoco, to carry out the operations for which he was appointed, he reported to Your Majesty the condition of that fortress and dependency, and also of the war which the Carib Indians, with other allies, are making, causing death and torture among the Missionaries, and other Spaniards; and that he was without adequate forces and means to remedy such losses, and that not having had any reply or decision on the important matters in these reports, he finds himself again compelled to have recourse to Your Majesty on the same matter, pointing out the weighty reasons which press for a speedy decision, especially as the Northern nations have begun to settle at the mouth of the river, and sundry families of Swedes are expected to come and settle in the Cañon of Barima within the river of that name. This may result in the loss of those Provinces and of that of Carácas and in the ultimate blocking of the road to Santa Fé de Bogotá. No. 351. Extract from Memorials of the Marquis de Torrenueva, as to the Spanish and English Commission in Seville, 1737 to 1743. · And it merits equal attention the object with which the Dutch established themselves to the windward of the River Orinoco, in 5° north latitude, and 325° nearly of longitude, according to Delisle, and from the Island of Cayenne, and in 6° north latitude, and 320° 40′ longitude, with the two forts with the name Zelandeses,' between the rivers named Surinam and Cupenam. And this could be no other than to get nearer to the mouth and banks of the said river, and to found thereon plantations, which might facilitate their traffic with the new kingdom, and enable them to penetrate, by that part, to those territories and places which their avarice might dictate, until they made themselves masters of the mouth of the Orinoco, and the nations that dwell there in a vast extent of 260 leagues, from there to the villa' of San Juan de los Llanos, of which mention has already been made. For from what Delisle shows, it is considered navigable for small craft throughout its course. And it being very necessary to preserve this mouth, as a safeguard of that kingdom, it is no less necessary to restrain the Dutch from approaching its banks either by land or water, by means of the Vth and VIth Articles of the Treaty of Peace with that nation in 1648, and as the mouth of the River Essequibo offers them facilities for carrying out those designs, being situated, according to this geographer, in 6° 40′ latitude, and 318° 10' longitude, and its source in 1° nearly of north latitude, and 316° of longitude, whose situation in its whole extent forms a large extent of country capable of having established in it a distinct province with a separate Government from that of Cumaná, for it contains. within its limits innumerable tribes of Indians, to be reduced, and who would then serve as a barrier so that the Dutch might not pass to the west of this river. Therefore, it would be convenient to occupy the mouth of this river with a fort; but with the object that the town that might be built there should serve as a capital for the new province, and the Caracas Company should be charged with the population, cultivation, and development of it and its resources And if this be not feasible, then it may be carried out by the settling therein of Cathalans. although the climate is considered very hot, the fact of the Dutch having overcome that difficulty proves that the climate is not unhealthy, and persuades one that the breezes from its mountain chains make it less felt, or that the advantages they derive from those places are so great as to counteract this inconvenience. For No. 352. Extracts from various Records of a Visit to the Province of Guayana by Governor Gregorio Espinosa de los Monteros in, 1743. [Reprinted from Ven. Sp. Docs., Vol. 3, pp. 64-68, 77-80, 97, 101, 106–107, 139–144.] In the city of Santo Thomé de la Guayana, on the 8th day of the month of February of the year seventeen hundred and forty-three, Señor Don Gregorio Espinosa de los Monteros, Brigadier of the Armies of H. M., Governor and Captain General of the Provinces of Nueva Andalucia, Nueva Barcelona, Guayana, their coasts and Presidios, for the King our Lord, said: That whereas, on this date his Honor has arrived at this city of Cumaná to make the visit thereto, its Royal fortress, and new conversions of Indians, in compliance with his duty, and in execution of the Royal Decrees. Therefore he should command and commanded that a review be held of the infantry company [paid from the allowance] which garrisons the Castle of San Francisco de Asis, and the new conversions of the Reverend Capuchin Fathers and Jesuits of the upper Orinoco. That the Captain commanding furnish a report as to the arms, military stores, munitions and articles existing in the arsenals for the reserve supply, and the sergeant of the artillery as to the cannons and swivel-guns with their carriages, mounted or unmounted, giving their caliber, and advices of the ready stores with which they are supplied, excluding the reserve supplies, which reports they shall frame with, &c. (Here follow the review of the military, their supplies, the examination of officers, the armament of the Presidios of San Francisco de Asis of Guayana, and of the Padrastro, reconnaissance of the Limones channel, measurement of the artillery range, &c.) "In the settlement of La Purisima Concepción de Suay, on the seventeenth day of the month of February of the year seventeen hundred and forty-three, his Honor, the said Governor and Captain General of these Provinces, said: That whereas in the prosecution of his visit he has arrived at this settlement, where he must investigate how the Indians are managed and governed, and whether they are aggrieved by some persons in power, military officers or ministers of justice, giving the Indians to understand the Royal recommendations to which they are entitled by the Royal laws, in order that justice may be administered to them; that they may be supported, defended, and receive satisfaction in cash indemnity for the grievances they may have suffered, and justice above all, without any delay, to which end this visit is made; and that No. 352. his Honor is ready to hear and protect them, and the form and policy under which they are to live, and the advisability thereof for their preservation. Their application to the tilling of the fields, for the increase of provisions in their settlements, so advantageous to their progress, and manufactures, which are commonly of hammocks; and fishing, in which they may engage for their profit; the obligation they have to attend church and learn the Christian doctrine, and be present at the holy sacrifice of mass, and aid in the repair and building of the material church of the settlement, the mission house, and that which it is customary to construct in all Indian settlements under the name of the Royal house, for the care of travellers; that each family shall live in a separate house; that they shall have a community farm of the most useful products for the common needs, and that these products, owing to the little capacity of the Indians, be distributed and sold with intervention of the Missionary of the settlements for the benefit of the Indians, since there are no councilmen in these settlements, as they are new settlements. And as the latter [the Indians] are under the charge of the Reverend Capuchin Fathers of the Province of Catalonia, appointed by H. M. for the conversion of the Indians of this Province, his Honor prays and charges the Very Reverend Father Prefect of the said sect to accompany him, and that he also be pleased to order the Teacher of this settlement, as well as of the others, to exhibit the rolls of the Indians of both sexes of these settlements, pursuant to which they will be reviewed at once, and that they be filed, and that he furnish a report of the number of houses composing it; whether its site and waters are healthy and its lands fertile; what products are cultivated there and the greatest yield that can be produced, and a list of the jewels and ornaments of the churches, for a better knowledge of everything, &c. (Here follow the returns and the presentation of the lists of enrolled Indians of the Mission of La Purísima Concepción de Nuestra Señora de Suay and of Santa María de los Angeles de Amaruca, Province of Guayana; the list and rolls of the Indians of the Mission San Antonio de Caroni; the visit to said settlement; the rolls of the Indians of Alta Gracia, of the Mission of the Capuchin Fathers of Orinoco, from the Province of Catalonia. Rolls of the Mission of Cupapuy. Same of the Mission of La Divina Pastora del Yacuri). "In the town of La Divina Pastora de Yacuri, on the twenty-second day of the month of February, of the year seventeen hundred and fortythree, Señor Don Gregorio Espinosa de los Monteros, Brigadier," etc. * * * * * * * said: That whereas before His Honor had appeared Don Juan |