No. 394.

from contributing, as explained, owing to the recent date of their foundation, to the fact that the Indians who have settled in them are not as yet fully accustomed to work, to the great distance which separates them from the Presidio, which, together with the difficulty of communication, increases the cost of transportation, and deters the Presidio from looking to them for its supplies, except in cases of extreme necessity.

8. The Missions in the neighborhood of the Orinoco can not furnish anything to the Presidio, owing to their being located on sandy ground, of no fertility at all, and to the fact that their inhabitants, as I have said in note No. 10, above cited, are rather fishermen than agriculturists.

3. I said then: that the defences (Presidio) and City of Santo Thomé are situated at eight degrees seventeen minutes north latitude and three hundred and fourteen degrees seventeen minutes and a half longitude. I have nothing to add on this point. I said likewise that it was the capital and only settlement of this unknown Province; not considering as cities those of Real Corona and Ciudad Real, for the reasons I exposed in the last chapters of the ninth and tenth notes, and here I will show likewise that after said visit, and without any cost to the King, the new population of San Antonio of Upata has been founded, being situated inland, at a distance of eight leagues from the fortress and between the Missions of Alta Gracia and Copapui, as shown by the general map, that I will explain in due time.

1. The more or less estimation of a settled place is regulated by the commerce and wealth it contains, its strength, extent, and usefulness of the territory defended. Those are the reasons that recommend Havana and Vera Cruz, without controversy, the most important held by the King in America.

2. The fortress of Guayana has no claim to any estimation by its contents, as they are miserable, as shown by the exposition of the preceding chapters, being of considerable more value in this respect the fortresses of Carthagena, Panama, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, Buenos Aires, and all the rest held by His Majesty, with the exception of Puerto Bello, with which Guayana may be compared.

3. The stronghold of the garrison can not be taken into consideration at present, although the castle of San Francisco, in point of situation, resistance of its walls, difficulty for an attack and other circumstances explained in the foregoing chapter is a somewhat regular fortification, becomes useless by the want of defence of the Padrastro, from where a dozen muskets may surrender it, as has been already stated.

No. 394.

4. On account of the extent and value defended by the fortress, no other of the many held by the King, except Vera Cruz, can compete with it, because all the other fortresses protect ports, but do not prevent the landing on the coast nor the entrance of the enemies, introducing their commerce in diverse Provinces more or less indefensible. On the contrary, the fortress of Guayana is the key to the defence of its own Province and those of Cumana, Barcelona, Caracas, Barinas, Santa Fe, Popayan and Quito, countries under the control and traffic facilities of the grand Orinoco River, having no other defended or fortified place so advantageously situated as this fortress is to-day. If it is abandoned or lost, the nation holding it might control freely said Provinces and that of Guayana. The enemy could never succeed in doing so while the fortress is held and well fortified.

30. And in reference to the greater utility and preference which I give to the fortress of Guayana over all the other fortresses kept by the King in America, I do not say so without being well posted, for I have seen at the South Pacific those of Valdivia, Conception and Valparaiso in Chile, and those of Callao, and I have a sufficient notice of what are those of Panama, Acapulco and Sonsonate. On the Atlantic I have seen those of Buenos Ayres, Montevideo, Carthagena, La Havana and Cumana, at present in my charge, and I have a fair knowledge of those of La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, Maracaibo, Puerto Bello and the Windward Islands, and taking all in all, I have come to the conclusion that none could bring as great loss as that of the fortress of Guayana, and that if the enemies would take it, their possession would be far more valuable than that of Sacramento, held by the Portuguese on the La Plata River, which I have likewise seen, and I know in what its commerce consists.

8. The situation of the city of Guayana is in the best place, and as well ventilated as that place permits.

9. The population has not only 450 persons, including the troops, as they have informed His Majesty, but 535, as shown in my first part, Chapter 9, No. 91.

12. His Majesty has not been informed with more accuracy in regard to the garrison of said castle, as it does not consist of one Castillian captain, one lieutenant, two standard bearers, and 100 men, but one Castillian captain, one lieutenant, two standard bearers, one constable, one chaplain, two sergeants of fusileers, two corporals, 12 artillery men, one

No. 394.

drummer, and 77 soldiers, making in all 100 men, who receive salaries and are employed, according to my exposition, in the first part of Chapter 9, No. 89.

27. In the year 1541, according to Father Gumilla, folio 8 of the "Orinoco Illustrado," the first Spaniards were located in the Orinoco River. For their first establishment the Angostura was not selected nor the Island of Fajardo, nor Guayana, it was the mouth of the Caroni River, marked in the accompanying map, undoubtedly for the want of knowledge of the river and its more advantageous grounds. They subsisted in their first settlement until the year 1579, when the Hollanders destroyed it by fire, its inhabitants already familiar with the Orinoco, setting aside Angostura and the Island of Fajardo, were located 7 leagues below, from there, in that gorge of said river, where for the second time the breadth of the water is reduced to 1,400 or 1,500 yards, and there they founded the city of Santo Thomé of the Guayana, and as they found it possible, they fortified the rock that forms to-day the Castle of San Francisco, the ground of which is so hard, and they kept it, until the year 1720, with constance, exposed to destitution, as shown in Chapter 6, No. 1.

50. Evident as it is by the contents of Chapters 2 and 7 that the tranquility of said Provinces, most of them inhabited by Indians, except the unknown parts of the Guayana, has been secured, and the Caribs are bringing no more trouble, except once, and then on account of intoxication. From said Caribs several settlements have been established in the Province of Barcelona under the Father Observants of Piritu. The same thing has been done in the Province of Guayana, under the Catalan Capuchins, where the gentiles and inhabitants are in the vicinity of the Dutch Colonies, shown in the general map, and in fear, and discouraged from entering into the Orinoco, nor in the Province of Guayana, but very seldom and with the utmost precautions. The care taken with them leads to their withdrawal, and facilitates the work of the Catalan Capuchin Missioners, as shown in Chapter 8, followed likewise by the establishment of the new settlement of San Antonio de Upata, as shown in Chapter 9, Nos. 101 to 105.

51. That in none of said Provinces are noticed at present any foreigners going around as enemies, nor inducing the Carib Indians to hostilities, except the Hollanders, their allies, who purchase from them all the Indians that are not Caribs. There are no foreigners navigating the Orinoco, that is above Guayana, for at their mouth and in the neighborhood of said fortress they do so freely, but without being able to land, in any

No. 394.

of the above quoted Provinces, nor do any more trade than the fortress allows, and within the terms exposed in my note 13, of my memorandum of news, and without said condescendance, nothing at all can be done, as the remedy to this short and despicable injury will be exposed on the third part. There is no case of foreigners travelling through the Orinoco since 1746, except the case of a Frenchman, called Ignace, a great expert, who navigated the Orinoco in the year 1752, up to the mouth of the Apure River, where he took a stand, as shown on the back of folios 84 to 86 of the accompanying proceedings, but his vessels were seized then, and on two other occasions in which he tried to do the same; and being thus undeceived and rich in troubles and misfortunes, he desisted from undertaking similar enterprizes, and no other persons have been willing to try the experiment of like misfortunes, imitating said Frenchman Ignace. All these facts are true, and subject to no contradiction. It is likewise a fact that, during the tranquility of these Provinces, several settlements of Spaniards and natives have been established in the plains of Caracas and Barcelona, and the fields contain now large herds of cattle, yielding positive advantages and profits to all the inhabitants, as shown by Chapter 2, Nos. 11 to 14.

52. The pacification and settlements of the Indians of this Province is due to my predecessors and to the bodies of Missioners spreading the Gospel throughout, as stated in all of the Chapters 3 to 8.

126. The Mission of Suay is situated 23 leagues to the south of the Guayana fortress, has no cattle, and, as the rest of them, in charge of the Catalan Capuchins, is supplied from the cattle estate known as the property of the Mission, situated 50 leagues inland, as I have already stated. It draws its subsistence from their farms in poor lands, such as those of Piacoa, Aripuco, Caroni, and Aguacagua, that do not render any help in the way of provisions to the fortress. It is the oldest settlement, and was founded in the year 1724, as shown by Chapter 8, No. 2. Their natives are smart and well educated. It is one of the three Missions where to the present time they have not been able to build a church. Their municipal house is held by the community, with a library and the archives. They have a good jail and hospitium for the inland Indians bringing provisions to Guayana by way of said Mission. From there they go to the city and leave their loads in the hands of the Syndic, returning on the same day to Suay. If this settlement is removed the communication and commerce with the inland Missions will suffer a seri ous interruption, as the nearest stopping place at the south, through which the city is supplied, is that of Alta Gracia at a distance of 10 leagues from the fortress.

No. 394.

[Pp. 198-199.]

1. I have shown in Chapter 3 of part first, that although the bodies of Missions spreading the Gospel through the Provinces of Cumana and Barcelona have been always in want of more Missioners to make up their corresponding numbers, and deprived of sufficient alms for their subsistence and ornaments, images and bells for their Churches in their new settlements, without sufficient escorts to keep and improve them, it is due to them the pacification of these vast Provinces and the establishment of sixty-nine townships, containing from 26,000 to 27,000 Indians; and the village of Aragua, the settlement of Pao, Rio Caribe and Carupano of the Spaniards, besides other improvements known and already explained, that without these bodies of Missioners should have rendered useless all the measures of the Governors on the subject.

In Chapter 8, I have explained that to the Mission of the Catalan Capuchins, spreading the Gospel in the Province of Guayana, is due the establishment of 24 settlements, although only 16 are now in existence. The fortress of Guayana has been formed and brought up to its present condition, which could never have been obtained or subsisted without the help of the Missions, and lately the establishment of San Antonio de Upata is due to said Mission. In consequence of my general visit, I submitted to His Majesty the condition of these bodies of Missions, their wants, and the abuses introduced, making impossible the collection of the alms assigned to them; the necessity of more Missioners as well as ornaments, images and bells for the new settlements, and sufficient escorts for the protection of those established already and the future settlements. The great convenience to the Royal service for the safety of those extensive dominions and the spiritual benefit of so many poor Indians spread throughout them, require the support of these bodies of Missions and their progress, going farther inland through the extensive Province of Guayana, as shown by the copies of said communications and other documents therein quoted at folio 247 of the proceedings accompanying the present report.

* * * *

No. 395.

Extract from letter from Fray Joseph de Guardia, Prefect of the Capuchin Missions in Guayana, to Fray Estevan de Olod, Provincial of the Capuchins, on the State of the Mission of Guayana; June 20, 1765.

[Translated from copy printed in Strickland (Rev. Joseph S. J.). The Boundary Question between British Guayana and Venezuela. fol. Rome, 1896, Appendix 1, pp. 9-10.]

We shall not be long in having again to ask for Friars, as those who