No. 447.

to me, disputing my powers, and making objections, which the wise penetration of your Excellency will estimate at their right value.

In the nomina which they presented on the 30th April of the past year, [17]87, at the chapter which took place for the election of the Prefect and Assistants, which accompanied No. 5, the existence of Tumeremo appears, under the name of a cattle farm, and its President, Father Fray Mariano de Perafita [sic]. In the report which I requested, and which the Prefect forwarded to me, on the 31st May of the present year, of the number of Missions, and foundation of each, there appears Tumeremo under the title of Nuestra Señora de Belen, as your Excellency will find in the copy No. 6.

As to its beginnings not even now has there been sent any account of the number of souls it has, nor still less does there appear any such village in the Registers which have been delivered to me, up to the present date. But I am fully aware that for this foundation Indians were taken from other villages as happened in the case of Angel Custodio, and from which in my last journey to the town of Upata various families, fugitives, had come to the Missions of Cupapuy and Alta Gracia, from where they had been taken.

In the said nomina No. 5 the village of Angel Custodio was suppressed, and in the statement No. 6 it again revives; and according to the register of the President, Father Fray Mariano de Perafita [sic.], the same is the case with Tumeremo without my being able to comprehend in what these mistakes consist. I only know that from them originated the dissensions of these Religious of which your Excellency is fully informed, having given an account to the King thereof.

I cannot know what hope there may be of the permanency of this village. As to the information I have of that part and its local situation, the copy of the Confidential letter No. 7 will explain it to you, and the other documents which accompanied this when the King was informed, and which I addressed under cover to your Excellency, and the Intendant, your predecessor, lately.

And although with a view to this and other objects of greater importance to the service of the King I dispatched in commission the AdjutantMajor of the force of this garrison, Don Antonio Lopez de la Puente; this official was unable, in conformity with the instructions I gave him, to fulfil it, for the reasons he gives in his journal, of which I transmit to you a copy, No. 8.

In consequence of all which your Excellency will determine whatever may appear to you most convenient, forwarding to me your commands to punctually obey them.

God preserve you, &c.

(Signed)

MIGUEL MARMION.

No. 448.

Letter from Buenaventura de San Celonio, Prefect of Missions, to Governor Miguel Marmion, dated May 31, 1788, relating to selection of Sites for Missions.

[Reprinted from Blue Book, No. 3, pp. 332–333.]

In reply to your Excellency's communication of the 20th instant, I have to state as follows: By virtue of an Ordinance approved by the King, our Sovereign (whom God preserve), we have received commands that, among other things, the Prefect and Assistants are to assemble for the purpose of deliberating upon the sites for new reductions. This has always been done whenever it has been considered necessary to found any village of Indians. Precisely as ordered, and in the manner proscribed, those sites have been sought which would most conduce to the well-being of the Indians and the service of our Sovereign. And this appears to us to be quite in conformity with the laws relating to the foundation of village of Indians. From which it will clearly be seen that, once we comply with the foregoing, we adequately fulfil the obligations of founders of Indian villages, which we enjoy through His Majesty the King.

Not, however, on this account does it follow that we deem it superfluous to request the approbation of your Excellency of any village that is being founded.

First, because, granting that we should through inadvertence not select a proper site, your Excellency has always the liberty of informing us that such a site is not adapted for settling.

Secondly, because to obtain the grant, which the piety of His Majesty, our Catholic Monarch, has assigned for the establishing of any such village, it is always necessary that the approbation of the Chief of the province be first obtained. Otherwise, we cannot see how we could demand the grant from the Treasurer at Carácas without first producing the approbation of your Excellency.

Thirdly, it is clear that we do not act superfluously in requesting your approvol, for by this means, when it becomes necessary to apply to the Court for Religious your Excellency is aware of the increase of villages, and in proportion to that increase a greater or less number of Religious is applied for.

Fourthly, it is not superfluous to request the approval of new foundations, for it concerns their stability and permanency and affects both the founder and him who approves, for, once duly approved, there is no power or liberty to destroy or change it. And if, for slight reasons, it may be possible to destroy it when not approved, there must be grave reasons for so doing when it is duly approved.

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Lastly, although it may be true that in the choosing of any site, we may make a mistake, experience has shown that the same has happened to others. This, of course, arises from the fact that in the circumstances of the moment a site appeared to them very convenient, which afterwards, on account of other new circumstances having arisen, has turned out less suitable than it had seemed at first.

What is quite certain is that we do all in our power to carry out and fulfil the laws and "Cedulas" laid down for us by His Majesty (whom God preserve), and nobody can with just reason say the contrary.

We are not ignorant of the rumors that some person or persons have spread abroad. But, in truth, we well know they proceed solely from the effect of malice. They have no true foundation, but are false and destitute of all justification, as we can fully prove whenever it shall be necessary, not only to your Excellency but to anyone else in the world.

From all that has been said, it appears to us that by this communication we have clearly shown your Excellency how advantageous it is that you should, without scruple, be assured, whenever occasion requires, of our upright proceeding in the matter of the foundation of villages, and that in that respect we work in conformity with the laws, so as to be able to grant the necessary approbation when right.

Nevertheless, although it be our practice to settle Religious (if there are any), when once we are sure of the site being fit and suitable and possessing all other necessary conditions and being profitable to the Indians as well as the King, our Sovereign, you have still the liberty of proving the site unsuitable, if it be so, for the Indians, or disadvantageous, it might be, for the King, our Sovereign. It appears to us that we work very uprightly, for your Excellency must presume that we are not so inconsiderate as to wish to carry out the matter without carefully weighing it, and without prudence. Nor are we so rash that we carry out matters of such consequence boldly and arbitrarily. It is certain that nobody more than we ought to reflect, and we do reflect long, and we even endeavor to procure the profit, advantage, and convenience as well of the Indians as of the King, our Sovereign, in the matter of the foundations and reductions of the Indians, on account of the very special manner our pious and Catholic Monarch has charged us in this respect.

I do, indeed, confess to your Excellency that I have not been able to understand the object with which you put these difficulties in the way, when none of your predecessors ever had any difficulties in this matter, as they knew the sound method and practice which the reverend Fathers, Capuchin missionaries of Catalonia, had employed from the beginning in regard to the foundations of Indian villages; if any difficulty has now presented itself to your Excellency on account of our having formed the cattle ranch in the Savannahs of Tumeremo, owing to the Savannahs of the old cattle farm having become nearly all exhausted of pasture, it

No. 448.

appears to us to be a very poor motive for your Excellency's objection; for that site being so distant from the River Cuyuni, as is notorious to all, the occasion of all difficulty arising therefrom is at once set aside. It is quite certain that your Excellency's predecessor made no difficulty in allowing the site of Cura to be settled, although it be much less distant from the River Cuyuni than that of Tumeremo. Also the site of Curumo was less distant, and, nevertheless, there was no difficulty made by one of your predecessors in allowing it to be founded, although, on account of the Caribs having risen, who were dwelling in that place, it has not been again founded. Finally, your Excellency does not carefully reflect, in putting before us all the observations which the AdjutantMajor Don Antonio Lopez de la Puente had made, that we are ready to give a full account, as we do not make any concealment of our mode of working, which is quite public; we have nothing to fear on that account, for our conscience accuses us of nothing.

I shall say no more at present on this matter, so as not to trouble your Excellency. And as you request me to furnish a circumstantial account of all the villages, stating the year of the foundation of each of them, I send it to your Excellency, herewith, for whatever purpose you may wish to use it.

God preserve your Excellency, &c.
(Signed)

FRAY BUENAVENTURA DE SAN CELONIO,

No. 449.

Prefect.

Extract from the Order, dated January 30, 1789, of the Prefect and Council of the Capuchin Missions, as to the establishment of a new Mission in the Plains of Cura.

[Translated from Copy printed in STRICKLAND (Rev. Joseph 8. J.), the Boundary Question between British Guayana and Venezuela, fol. Rome, 1896, Appendix 1, p. 44]

On the tenth of August of the present year 1784, in session held by the Reverend Fathers the Prefect and Assistant Judges, for the purpose of discussing the affairs of the Ato and the increase thereof, and at the same time as Father Bernardino de Verdu, in his letter of June 22nd of same year, has asked to be discharged of the Presidency and relieved of the care of said village, and said Father Bernardino having requested, in his letter of July 18th, to be allowed to dwell in said village of Ato, the Reverend Fathers decided as follows: That in view of the age and infirmities of said Father, and that he may enjoy some rest, hereafter the majordomo (steward) shall report to Father Juan de Livia, and Father Benardino shall only have charge of the Indians left him, and

No. 449.

take care of the plains of the territory appertaining to the village of Ato Viejo, and he shall maintain the dairy there, and see that no more than three or four bullocks are killed every week. 2nd. That the establishment of Ato Nuevo, called Angel Custodio, be continued and finished. 3rd. That twenty families shall be taken from Ato Viejo for the settlement of the new plantation, with fifteen from Altagracia and ten from Cupapuy. 4th. That it shall be the duty of Father Juan de Livia to go out with the majordomo to look after the works of the plain, and every year he shall submit a statement, signed by both, of the cattle gelded and branded. 5th. That the Reverend Fathers Presidents of the villages of Altagracia, Cupapuy, Sta. Maria and Sn. Antonio shall furnish (upon notification of the majordomo) all the Indians they can afford, with their horses, to go out to the plain to hock bulls. Signed in this village of Caroni, on this day ut supra, Fr. Hermenegildo de Vich, Prefect; Fr. Buenaventura de S. Celonio, Assistant Judge; Fr. Thomas de Mataró, Assistant Judge.

Journal kept by Antonio Lopez de la Puente on a Journey from Santo Thomé to and down the Cuyuni River and back again, November 7, 1788–February 5, 1789.

[Reprinted from Blue Book, No. 3, pp. 337-339.]

On the 7th November, 1788, 1 left the capital with Corporal Antonio Mora, and I arrived at the town of Upata, from where I set out for the village Topuquen on the 15th with four militiamen, and the meat, cassava bread, rowers, and boats that could be found in Cura and Topuquen having been got ready with despatch, I departed for Cura with seven militiamen, where we arrived on the 28th.

And as the boats were not sufficient, I dispatched two of the militiamen to the town, and proceeded on my voyage the following day.

On the 29th I left the port of Cura with four boats and five militiamen, having formed at Topuquen the beginning of the map ("plano"), on which it will be noted that the day's voyages down stream are marked with two strokes from one side of the river to the other, and in respect to the return up stream with four strokes, the rapids with the letter R, the creeks with C, the islands with I, and the dotted lines (.. .) are roads.

On the 30th we left the rapid of Aguaraya and encamped at the Rapid Curigua. On the 31st we left Curigua, and at 8 in the morning reached the River Yuruan, and at 11 forenoon we entered the River