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long delay in their conversions, and if Your Honor follows this plan think it will be a great service to God and to the King.

God preserve Your Honor many years.

I remain Your Honor's most obedient servant.

TO DON FELIX FERRERAS,

FRAY BENITO DE LA GARIGA.

Infantry Ensign of His Majesty and Commander ad interim of this station and the Province of Guayana.

SUAY, June 9, 1758.

No. 361.

Order, dated July 27, 1758, by Felix Ferreras for Arrest of the Dutch slave trader, Jacob, in the Cuyuni river.

[Reprinted from Ven. Sp. Docs., Vol. 2, pp. 10–11.]

Ruling-Whereas I have received news from the island of Caramacuro, in the river Cuyuny, in the interior of this Province, stating that there is there a Hollander by the name of Jacob, and a colored man of the same nation, living in permanent houses and making the inhuman trade of Indians enslaved, purchased from the Caribs in exchange for coarse cloths, hatchets, knives, ammunitions of war, and other kinds of ransoms; whereas such a commerce is forbidden by law and repeated cedules, for the enforcement of which fortresses have been erected and kept under proper custody of a detachment of troops, so as to protect the Missions of the Reverend Capuchin Fathers, who have sustained, and are in fear of sustaining the total loss of their settlement through such an obnoxious traffic kept up and maintained by the Hollanders and other foreigners, who incite the gentile Indians against the establishment of those settlements-the result being that the Gospel is not more extended in this Province. Therefore in order to stop these injurious difficulties, and carry out the good intentions of His Majesty and prevent the Hollanders from encroaching every day, more and more, upon this part of His Majesty's dominions, I ordain and command, Don Santiago Bonalde, in the first place, and in the second place, Don Luis Lopez de la Puente, to depart to-day for the interior, in the direction of the settlement of Yuruari, and embark there on the vessels found in said river with their crews, provisions, ammunitions of war, and the soldiers which will be enlisted and placed under them, with the ablest and most trustworthy pilot. They will march towards the said island of Caramacuro and apprehend said Hollander and all those persons besides, who may be found with them, whether Caribs or from any other nation; and bring

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them as prisoners well secured to this garrison, leaving in the hands of, and under the Reverend Father Prefect, all the Indians that they may have found enslaved.

In order to succeed in the object of this expedition on the part of the King our Lord, I pray and commend the Reverend Father Prefect, and the other Fathers of his Holy Community, to give all the necessary aid to the above-mentioned Don Santiago Bonalde and Don Luis Lopez de la Puente, as they have been accustomed to do, with a holy zeal on every occasion; and I order and command that the soldiers and the other people who are going in the same vessel, keep themselves under the orders and pleasure of the above-mentioned chieftans, alternately, and it will be the same with all the Indians through the settlements they visit, being well aware if they fail to obey their orders that they will receive the corresponding punishment. Wishing the best success to this expedition, under the arrangements made by said Don Santiago Bonalde and Don Luis Lopez de la Puente, with the instructions that will be furnished them, expecting, from their well-known love of the Royal service, that they will acquit themselves with the present commission, I grant them every power necessary for their full discharge.

Dated in this garrison of La Guayana, on the 27th day of the month of July, in the year 1758.

No. 382.

Juan Valdes Appoints Luis de Aleman and Francisco Xavier Filgueyra, as Witnesses, in proceedings following the Arrest of the Dutchmen on the Cuyuni, 1758.

[Reprinted from Ven. Sp. Docs., Vol. 2, pp. 13-14.]

In the city of Santo Thomé de Guayana, on the 27th day of the month of October, in the year 1758, Señor Juan de Dios Valdes, Castillian captain of the fortresses of His Majesty and Commander-in-Chief, said: That in order to make and institute a summary information, according to the chapter of instructions from his Honor, the Captain General and Governor of these Provinces, upon the secret expedition and the result of the apprehension of two Hollanders, with their wives and a negro slave, in the river Cuyuni, and as one of the Chiefs in command of the expedition is the Notary Public of this city, Don Luis Lopez de la Puente, not able to act as such in this matter, it has become necessary to appoint two satisfactory persons highly trustworthy, so as to make them witnesses in all the acts corresponding to this subject, and these circumstances concurring in the persons of the Ensign of Infantry, Don Luis de Aleman and the Cadet, Don Francisco Xavier Filgueyra, I

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ought to appoint, and do appoint the same, so as to act as witnesses, after having been notified for their acceptance and the oath of office; first, and before everything else, they must faithfully attest to all the acts that will be performed in their presence, and then it will follow every other act in the same manner.

It was so ruled and signed.

No. 363.

Instructions of Felix Ferreras to Santiago Bonalde and Luis Lopez de la Puente for their guidance in Arresting the Dutch Slave Trader in the Cuyuni River, July 27, 1758.

[Reprinted (with correction) from Ven. Sp. Docs., Vol. 2, pp. 11-13.]

Instructions to be observed in the first place by Don Santiago Bonalde, and in the second by Don Luis Lopez de la Puente, in the entrance to the island of Caramucuro to the station occupied by the Hollanders therein established, making the trade of ransoms in Indians, which they enslave.

1. They will set out to-day for the settlement of Yuruario, where they will find the necessary vessels, furnished with crews, stores, ammunitions of war and soldiers, and without detention they will pass in review everything, and if anything else is wanted they will ask for it from the Reverend Father President of the settlement, and they will continue their march towards said island, having all the vessels united, without advancing or going behind, giving to the cockswain of each the order which they have to carry out.

2. If on their way they meet Indian vessels they will seize and carry them along with them, finding out every particular upon the subject of their march which they can possibly acquire, keeping them as guides with all the necessary precautions, so as to avoid their desertion and secure the end of their journey.

3. They must employ the best means to ascertain how the Hollanders. keep their establishment; if they have their houses barricaded in the lower or higher part; if they have any cannons or light guns, or either class; under what kind of people; if the Indians accompany them under arms; in which way they may be reached without being perceived, so as to take them unawares by surprise; if they keep stakes around, and whether the ends of said stakes are poisoned; if they are disguised with false floors in the transit; if they keep lookouts, in which places, and how they can be caught.

4. When everything has been found out they will advance towards the houses of the Hollanders at daybreak, and not by night, to avoid the

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risk of offending one another, and the protection of the obscurity and the knowledge of the ground enabling the offenders to escape. But, in case that a night advance be required, to have every one of the party under a white device, covering their heads, so as to recognize each other.

5. The prisoners once well secured, if there is any information about other Dutch places on the lower or upper portion of said river Cuyuni, and if there is a certainty of their apprehension, they shall go after them, proceeding with the same precautions observed in regard to the others, and with the same security they shall be brought to this garrison, as well as the Carib Indians found with them, and the Poytos, which must be treated with love and charity, and delivered to the Reverend Father Prefect, Fray Benito de la Gariga.

6. As said Reverend Father Prefect has had the first information upon this painful subject and the serious injury done to the success of their holy administration, a conference must be had with said Reverend Father, so as not to make any mistake. The war instructions already mentioned will be carried out by said Bonalde and Puente as it may be found proper.

7. If the Carib Indian named Bumuro be found, he must be secured, as I am informed he controls all the Indian settlements of his tribe, and imprisons those of other tribes, to be sold to the Hollanders, as well as to other Indians employed in similar negotiations, taking from him all the slaves that he may have in his possession and delivering them to the order of the Reverend Father Prefect, for their Christian instruction and settlement.

8. If it happens that during the navigation they are attacked from the banks of the river by any enemy, embarrassing their way and destination, and that the same vessels are not suitable for returning the fire with advantage, they will leave them in custody, so as to be able to land and charge the enemy until every one be apprehended.

9. Everything will be carried out as directed by the above-mentioned Don Santiago Bonalde and Don Luis Lopez de la Puente, whose valor and zeal for the Royal service promise the best success under these instructions, to which they will adjust their conduct in everything connected with their orders, in virtue of the present commission intrusted to them.

Guayana, the 27th day of July, 1758.

FELIX FERRERAS.

The greatest care will be taken so as to secure the ransoms and all the articles of commerce which may be seized, making an inventory of everything, and not allowing anything to be taken out and kept in the vessels in which they make the commerce,

No. 364.

Deposition made October 1, 1758, by Juan José Fragas as to the Arrest of two Dutchmen on the Cuyuni.

[Reprinted from Ven. Sp. Docs., Vol. 2, pp. 21-22.]

On the same day, month and year, [Oct. 31, 1758,] in compliance with the preceding rule of his Honor, the Commander, there appeared before him and the witnesses of this act Juan José Fragas, a military man of this castle, who was duly sworn by his Honor in due form, and under the strength of his oath he promised to tell the truth of all that he might know and was interrogated, and having been questioned by his Honor, he answered about the time of departure following the expedition, the point of destination reached by his company and the events of the expedition, saying That he left the settlement of Yuruario under the command of Don Santiago Bonalde and Don Luis Lopez de la Puente, at the head of the party, and followed them down to a certain place (the name of which he does not recollect), where they met a white Hollander, who, without resistance or attempt to run away, let us apprehend him, and from thence they left, in company with some Indian Caribs, until they reached the ranch they had in said river Cuyuni; that before reaching there the chiefs in command stopped cautiously at a place, in the immediate neighborhood of said ranch, and there awaited until seven or eight o'clock of the evening, when they advanced toward said hut, where they met a white Hollander and a negro that seemingly was lying in a hammock, and at the rumor of the barking of a dog he rose, and having been assailed by all at once, so as to secure his person, I heard the firing of four musket shots without knowing then who fired them, and he could only understand (when he saw it) that one of the shots was fired by the military man Pedro de Rojas, outside of the house, aiming at a negro, who was found in company of the Hollander, because he ran away, and after they had all quieted from the first assault, he heard Don Santiago Bonalde say that when he left the boat he had cocked the two triggers, and one of them went off, in the act of apprehending the said Hollander, and that he did not know whether it had been himself the author of the death occurred; that in regard to whether there are or not other ranches, he does not know of any; and that from the Cuyuni river they returned to the Mission wherefrom they had departed, taking twenty-two days on their way back; that he has nothing else to say than what he has already answered under oath, and that he ratifies and will repeat it over if necessary; that he is twenty-four years old, and signs with his Honor and the witnesses who certify to this act.