No. 396.

the others reached the dwellings they did not find anyone, and consequently they only remained a short time in order to take on board the said implements and to set fire to the houses, and directly they had done it they turned and went out of the said Barima into the Orinoco and came to the fortified settlement of old Guayana. And this is all that happened, and that he can declare under obligation of the oath which he has made, wherein it is affirmed and ratified, and if necessary he promises to repeat it, and he is about 25 years of age, and has not signed it because he said that he did not know how to do so; we, the said Commandant-General and Accountant, have signed this, together with the witnesses, with whom we are acting in default of a Notary, whereunto we thus certify.

Declaration of Fourth Witness, Joseph Gregorio Gomes.

And on the same day [Apr. 18, 1768], We, the said CommandantGeneral and Accountant, did, for the same purpose, cause to appear Joseph Gregorio Gomes, one of the crew of the Coastguard Vessel of this Province, who was admitted upon oath which he made by God our Lord and a sign of the cross, under obligation whereof he promised to tell the truth in whatsoever he might know and might be asked, and having been questioned according to the foregoing" Auto," he said: That having gone in the cruiser of this Province under Captain Don Francisco Cierto without knowing whither they were bound, as soon as they approached the mouth of the Creek of Barima, which falls into the River Orinoco, the said Captain ordered them to stop, and making a long speech to the Declarant and the others, told them that, by special command of the Commandant-General present he was to give warning once, twice, and thrice to the foreigners settled within the said Creek of Barima, to quit the whole of that territory; and during this speech they saw a canoe rowed by Carib Indians, which was going up at full speed to give them intelligence, and in consequence of this intimation they all took to flight without leaving a single person; for when they arrived at the dwellings they only found the cabins deserted and the implements left behind, which implements they brougt back, as shown in their inventory inserted in these "Autos"; wherefore they only stayed for the short time necessary to burn the said houses and to put the implements on board, and having performed this duty they returned to the fortified settlement of Guayana. And this is all that occurred, and that he can declare under obligation of the oath which he made, wherein it is affirmed and ratified, and if necessary he promises to repeat it; and he is about 21 years of age, and has not signed it, because he said he did not know how; we, the said Commandant-General and Accountant, have signed it, together with the witnesses with whom we are acting in default of a Notary, on ordinary paper, because stamped paper is not current, whereunto we certify.

No. 396.

"Auto."

In this City of Guayana on the 19th April, 1768, We: Don Manuel Centurion Guerrero de Torres, Captain of the Royal Artillary Corps and Commandant-General of this Province, and Don Andres de Oleaga, sole Royal Officer therein, proprietor having seen these "Autos" and the result of the four Declarations therein, and whereas the Dutch have unwarrantably sought to take possession of the Territory of Barima, Juris diction of this Province, where they had established farms and houses to carry on the exportation of woods and other products in a clandestine manner, for which purpose, according to information received, they had likewise gathered together certain runaway slaves, fugitives from the Provinces of Cumaná and Carácas, to act as pilots, and point out the lawless Spanish subjects who only occupy themselves in carrying on clandestine exportation along the creeks and landing-places which are out of the way and unknown; Wherefore, and also seeing that by various laws, and the most recent "Cedulas" issued by His Majesty, it is forbidden under any pretext whatsoever to suffer or permit foreigners to exercise the freedom of establishing themselves in these dominions by establishing new colonies, considering the importance thereof, and the repeated pragmatic Cedulas which prohibit it, we have had to declare and do declare that the said Dutch by the crime they have committed, and the penalty they have incurred, must forfeit the implements and other things which they were found to possess, and which were brought by the Captain of the Coastguard Vessels, and that they be devoted to the Royal Treasury; therefore we order that their amount of 386 dollars, after deducting the costs, the assessment of which is entrusted to Don Diego Azero, a Resident of this city, be distributed according to Laws No. 11 of Book 8, Title 17, and in view of the Royal Cedula dated in Aranjuez on the 14th June of the year 1764, with the instructions ("demostracion practica") issued out in the year [17]62; and by this "Auto" which we have drawn up, we thus declare and pronounce definitely, signing it together with the witnesses present, on ordinary paper, because stamped paper is not currrent, whereunto we certify.

Extracts from Report to the Council of the Indies on the State of the Government of Cumana and of the Province of Guayana (circa 1769). [Translated from Copy printed in Strickland (Rev. Joseph, S. J.). The Boundary Question Be tween British Guayana and Venezuela, fol. Rome, 1896; Appendix 1, pp. 17-19 ]

The Province of Guayana is situated on the other side of the River

No. 397.

Orinoco. Its boundaries are: On the east all the coast on which are the Dutch Colonies of Esquibon, Berbis, Mesari, Carenten and Surinama; and more to the windward the Cayanne belonging to the French; on the north the banks of the Orinoco, which, dividing the Provinces of Cumaná, Barcelona, Santa Fe, Caracas, Barinas and Popayan, describes a semicircle, returning to the east in the direction of its headwaters in the Lake of Parimas; on the south the dominions of Brazil; the boundaries between these and said Province of Guayana being unknown, as also what the latter contains in the interior.

This Province has for its Capital Santo Thomé de Guayana. Its climate is warm. It is situated on the margin of the Orinoco at the narrowest part of this river, whose width here is a quarter of a league, its depth being from 70 to 80 fathoms. The soil is not very fertile. It has several fortresses, namely, the Castle of San Diego and San Francisco, and a neighboring hill fort Padastro, and opposite that of San Fernando which is not yet finished. In this city and its fortifications the King maintains a Captain Commandant, a Lieutenant, 2 subaltern officers, a Chaplain and a Surgeon, and 77 soldiers; and the expense made by the King every year with these troops amounts to 13,994 pesetas which sum is remitted by the Royal Houses of Santa Fe. There is in addition a company of militia, consisting of 58 men, who receive no pay except when they are on active duty.

The population of this city, including the troops, is 540 souls. For their supply of victuals they have 20 plantations under cultivation which provides the requisite food.

The Rear Admiral Don Joseph Iturriaga, founded two cities further up than Guayana; of these one is called Real Corona and the other Cindad Real. He settled these cities with poor people from the Viceroyship of Santa Fe and Province of Caracas; and his Majesty endowed them with horned cattle, mares, horses and implements for tilling the field. Their condition is not known since the death of their founder.

The principal villages in this Province are those founded by the Catalonian Capuchin Fathers who are established in that part of Guayana entitled to have Missions, and they have 16 important villages with abundance of provisions, due to the fertility of the soil and the great number of streams that wash them.

There are 15 Friars who are assisted by the King with a yearly contribution of 150 pesetas, paid them through the Royal Houses of Caracas. These Missions own a ranch having from 15 to 16,000 head of cattle from which they supply the Friars and Indians every week with the meat required for their subsistence. The cattle in this part of the country are generally the largest in all the Orinoco, and their hides are as heavy and large as those of Buenos Ayres, and some of them even larger. The

No. 397.

Indians raise cotton, sugar-cane and other products with which they supply some villages on the other side of the Orinoco.

The way the Missionaries have for gathering the heathen, is to arm their lay brothers, who, led by the Captain of the squad and the Missionary, march to the place where the Cacique or Chief of the savages, is to be found. Upon meeting him, the Missionary has a parley with him, and offers to give him lands wherein to establish a village, together with implements for cultivating the soil, and also to teach them the use of hooks and fishing tackle, and to supply them with cattle for a ranch. As a rule the Indians are satisfied, and being brought to the villages already subdued, they are instructed in the Christian religion and how to take out from the earth everything that is necessary to support life.

In this manner all the large Provinces of America have been formed, and the Indians in care of these Friars are the best for cultivating the fields, the products of which command suitable prices.

On these margins of the Orinoco there are four other Missions, namely, Encaramada, Vruana, Carichana and Raudal with from 1,400 to 1,500 souls. The King maintains there a Captain with a salary of 995 pesetas, and 48 soldiers each of whom receives the pay of 132 pesetas. Since this post was established the Carib Indians have been restrained, who formerly were wont to insult the villages situated on the banks of that River.

Certificate by Andres de Oleaga, Royal Accountant in Guayana, of Seizures, 1767–1769, by Spanish Officials, January 28, 1769.

[Reprinted from Ven. Sp. Docs., Vol. 3, pp. 205–207.]

Don Andres de Oleaga, Official Royal Accountant of this city of Guayana and its Province for His Majesty (whom God preserve), etc.

I certify in the best manner I can, for whatever purpose, and before the Señores that may see it, how, after the arrival of Señor Don Manuel Centurion, Captain of the Royal Corps of Artillery, and Commandant General of this said Province, pursuant to his great energy and zeal in the Royal service, the following confiscations and seizures were made: On the twenty-seventh of January of the past year of seventeen hundred and sixty-seven, in a closed port of the Presidio of old Guayana, a launch coming from Esquivo, Dutch Colony, with two slaves and cargo of Taphia rum and merchandise, from Don Vicente Franco. On the sixth of March of said year, at the same Presidio, various goods from Bernardo

No. 398.

Montes, who was coming from the same Colony in a felucca. On the eleventh of April of the said year, on the land within the said Presidio, four mules loaded with different kinds of foreign clothing, without permit or license. On the twenty-second of said month and year, above the port of this city, different articles, without permit or license, from Lorenzo Yeguas. On June sixteenth of the said year, at the Presidio aforesaid of old Guayana, sixteen kegs of brandy, from Master Gaspar Vidal, who was introducing them clandestinely and left them buried on an islet in the Orinoco. On September twenty-eighth of the same year, at the port of Piacoa, below the aforesaid Presidio, a canoe laden with Dutch goods from Esquibo, from Pedro Sanchez.

And by the Sergeant of the Company of Pioneers, Ciprian Maiorga, with the pirogue he commanded, one of the Orinoco canoes from the aliens engaged in the clandestine extraction of mules, horses, cattle and other products, through the Guarapiche and Theresen rivers, which empty in the interior of the Golpho Triste de la Paria. An English sloop named the Sevillana; a Spanish schooner, the Esperanza; two launches, also Spanish; an English boat with four lately-imported negroes, some animals, and different foreign articles, besides (in the same campaign and before returning to this city) a French schooner named Maria Louisa, with two newly-imported negroes; two barrels, one of claret and the other of Taphia rum, and ten arrobas (250 lbs.) of chinchorro thread; and, also, on the same occasion, in company with the cruiser armed at the Island of Trinidad, a French sloop and schooner with various goods and newly-imported negroes, of which, after deducting all expenses and the sixth part, which the officials retained, they delivered to him the half, which amounts to seventeen hundred and ninety-two pesos, twenty-four maravedis, which brought in this place two-thousand and eighty-five pesos, three reals, one and two-fourths maravedis. Which seizures were declared to be legal and belonging to His Majesty on March twenty-sixth, April thirtieth, and July twenty-ninth of last year-seventeen hundred and sixty-eight.

And besides the confiscations and seizures mentioned, I also declare that the Captain of the Company of Orinoco Pioneers, Don Francisco Cierto, with the two cruising launches of this river, sent by the said Señor Don Manuel Centurion, arrested the foreigners that were established on the Barima Channel, jurisdiction of the same Province, two boats and several tools and agricultural implements, which, in an edict issued on the nineteenth of April of the said last year, sixty-eight, were also declared confiscated, and all are recorded in this Royal Accountant's office in ten edicts, and therein the total value of seven thousand pesos, one real, five and two-fourths maravedis, of which, in the way of Royal duties, His Majesty received two thousand seven hundred and ninety-five pesos, seven reals, thirty-three maravedis. And, lastly, the