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Les diagrammas suivants illustrent la mAthode. errata to pelure, on A 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 1: J ^ V >rOKTH ' ^\,Ameiiica. / V //////Cliarls ////*/ -■'\ i5 /^7 fWM^^WJl .0 r^ *\^ :/ fi /i.^m/i/f /r ^-om A<^fit/r'i *> X/: 7*, '•li'iuia <•!''.'. f^fV^- k4'^' A* F ^^•i"^ tV4 ..>* "^^5 P'A sS^pT \ ^"' ^- of A'^ 5^ fl^ ,,-••' \ .Ji^ .^f >^^ C*^*^>* f T**' ''?anuu«'»' '^"- ^\^, ^ :ijr '"'* scZ-^nt u^y^'i'ov )S OtJTItAK eI Jt I* 1 1 PREFACE. fuited rather to the ancient than to the pre^ fentjiate of affairs in that part of the world: his remarks have rarely this fault ; and where J differ from him in any refpeB^ it is with deference to the judgment of a writer to whom this nation is much obliged^ for endeavouring every where with fo much good fenfe andelo^ quence to roufe thatfpirit of generous enter^ prize J that can alone make any nation power-' ful or glorious^ ' -, -.(^jiitV^ x\ .^.o-'^\ -^mrsAl A. D; 1 76 1, -"i iN^\\\\\\ AVr**,-* \ ., •'" •- :,^':\\ -^-^r-'' i ^:.:---)..\^Yx.^ ,. ' ■ ' ' . '"^^ y^ CON- m s * .C t'V ^ T *. CON TENTS v.s\v..i(3 Of the First Volume. ■ •t"A\; ,« A" ■ ■ • ; .■ ■■'•■ ■ .) ^ PART I. Tthe difcovery of America^ and the re* duEiion of Mexico and Peru, ■" C H A p. I. THE ^^/^ o/* Europe before the dtfcovery of America, The proje£i of Qohimbus, His application to feveral courts. His fuccejf- , ful application to that of Spain, His: .voyage, The dtfcovery of the Bahamas, and. Greater Antilles. ...V..V. ,vv.i,,v page 3 A\«V>ii.V» ciWUi C. CHAP. It: \ X.*.'i\\'i'\'<^\ \*\. T^he dtfcovery of the Car'ibbees, Columbus re- turns to Europe. His behaviour at Lijbon. Jlis reception at Barcelona by^ Ferdinand cmd Ifabelta. Second voyage of Columbus. T'he ^). condition of the Spaniards in Hifpamola. The city of Ifabella built t and a Spanijh colony fettled, A voyage J or better difcovering the (oaji of Cuba, 14 Yql. I, b The ■I 1 ' ■ i' ■• :| 1 '14 ■ ih Hi: » CONTENTS. Tilje difficuit'tes attending the voyage, ^amaioct d'lfcovered. ^ Columbus returns to Hifpaniota. The Spaniards rebel, A war with the Indians of that country, T^ hey are conquer id, Iheir Jcheme Jor Jlarving the Spaniards, 2j CHAP. IV. Complantts againji Columbus, Aperfon is fent to enquire into his conduCi, He returns to Spain. He is acquitted. He Jets out on his third voyage, . He djcovers the continent of ^ ^ South. America, HefailstoHijpanlola, 33 -%.a-.'a\.. i^Vi CHAP. V. ':^^'- ' Coliimbus finds the Spaniards of Hifpaniota in rebellion. His meajures tofupprefs It . complaints againfi him in Spain. • He is fu- perfededin the government t and fent to Spain in irons, jj^q CHAP. VI. .-..A''- A-O ^^Be^difcoveries ofAmericus Fejputius, affd other '■ '■ adventurers. What caufed thejpirit of dif- •"*'*< covery, ' •. ; 46 C HAP. S ^ CONTENTS. fe ■*'.,• '■ . - ■ ■ ■» ■■ CHAP. VII. . -^ '} Columbus again acquitted. Undertakes a fourth voyage. Difcovers the coaji nfTcrra Firma nndthe ifihmus of Darien. Returns to Hif" pa7iioia. His reception there. Purfues bis {iifcoveries to the coaji of Terra Firma. He is driven to fanmicay andfiipwrecked on that ijland. His dijlrejjes there. The rebellion of his men, lohich he fuppreffes. He leaves the ijland and returns to Spain. His receptiofi there. He dies. ca CHAP. VIII. *f « ^, •vtt . ^ The charaBer of Columbus. Some reflexions on thi^ conduH of the court of Spain, 6 1 >-M'v ' ■ ^ . ^«- ■■ • -. C II A P. IX.» vvAi^x^^U The difcaveries andconquefts of "Balboa, Vclaf quez fends Cortes on the Mexican expedition. The Jlate of the Mexican empire. Cortes makes an alliance with the Tlafcalans, C H A P, X, Cortes builds "La Vera Cruz, He marches t9 Mexico. His reception by Montezuma. Cer^ tes imprifons Monte^um^i, That prince' sjlra^ b ^ tavern /- '■' 1 I i; a iv e O N T e N T S; ^ /^^^/« ifd? i^^/y? /fis liberty ; />6f confequenCi of it. ; . : A i: : 75 O^V;V C H A P, . XI. ^^-^^0 > ^^he attempts of Montezuma to make the Spani- ards leave Mexico, ^he arrival of Narvaez to take the command Jrom Cortes. Cortes >n/ leaves Mexico. Defeats and takes Narvaez fr if oner. The Spaniards in Mexico, bejieged, Cortes raifes the fi^ge. Montezuma is hilled. nV\ .v H 1. 1 CHAP. XII. '\V .. ^ Cuatimozin chofen emperor by the Mexicans, . . Jle bejieges t^e Spaniards in their quarters. ;.. Obliges Cortes to retire out of the city, Dif trejjes him in his retreat. The battle of Qtumba, Corles retr^ts to Tlafcala, 96 5,V; .... . C H.A„P..,XIII., .r:v.vv...^. ' Ppani^rds fent againfi Cortes join him. He marches again td Mexico, A cqnfpiracy a- gainji his life baffled. 105 chap" XIV, jfhefege of Mexico-^ ^erms of\'acccmmodation ^',r;ejujed by tJfr'^exJf^fis, ''ihe Spaffiards re- li^UvA 1' " "' - o . .- . pulfed C O N T E N T S. ,-t pulfed by aflratagem of Guatimozin* A new liratagemof Guatimbzin, He is taken, The city fur renders, Guatimozin tortured. Cor-- tes fuperfeded in his government , Refexions on the Spanijh cruelties, J '>i. '. -. 114 v^\ \ i^VW-'V C H A P. XV. He acy ^- ^hefcheme ofPizarro and Almagrofor the con- queji of Peru, Their char aSiers, The fate ' of the empire of Peru at that time. The tak^ ing of the ynca Atabalipa, 129 CHAP. XVI. The murder of the ynca, A dijpute between Pizarro and Almagro, They are reconciled^ Almagrds expedition to Chili, The Peruvi^ ans renew the war,, and befiege Cufco, Al^ magro returns and defeats them, Almagro renews the quarrel with Pizarro^ but is de^ feated and put to death, li^z C H A p.' XVII. The final difperfion of the Peruvian army. The (onjpiracy agaiji Pizarro, He is murdered, 154 }dation 'ds re- pulj'ed '^■. ^i CHAP. I!':' 01 CONTENTS. ,r:a* .v^^- CHAP. XVIII. • 2'(^fmg Almagro made governor* *The new vice- X r roy Vac a di Cafirojirrives. Puts to death young Almagro. Puts an end to the factions ^ and fettles the province. He is recalled. Gon- zalo Pizarro raifes a rebellion, and ufurps the government. Peter de la Gajia made viceroy. Defeats the troops of PizarrQi ^fid puts him ., to death, . „.; . . i^S o--* ^VX . .1, A li O v.\ •• -3 PART C O N T E NTS. n va .'J. A. P A R T II. V The Manners of the Amerkanu C IJ A P, I. 'The perfons of the Americans . Their drefs and <. way of living. Their manner of converfng, ' Their hofpitality. Their temper. Their re~ Hgion andfuperjlitions. Their medicine, 167 .'(."^AuVnK CHAP. II, ,WUV'^^*\' The government of th^ Americans, Their coun^ ci/s. Their tf rat ors. Their feafis. Their mau" . ner of adminijieringjujiice, ij^ '.\ CHAP. III. Their mournings for their dead. The feaft of fouls. The American wpment their occupa- tions ^ Their marriages and divorces •_ 18^ CHAP. IV, ^^^^^AO The Indian manner of preparing for war. The », fongs and dances, 'I heir taking the field. Their method of difcpvering and attacking the ^, enemy. Their cruel treatment of their prifon- tn of war^ ^<* ' ' -* . ..^y: 188 PART lilt m \kl yjii CON T E NT S. ti A rr PART iir. ^•T^ S P AN"! S H AM E R I C A. C H A p. I. - •i- -. ^Av^^ -v. a;^ / . vf general ^efci'tpflon of America, ^..^./..^^S 7'i^^ climate and foil of New Sfain, Animals^ Its vegetable produce, 2oS C H A P, III, V: .^i\^^ ^be gold and fiver minei, '^e manner ofpuri^ fying tbofe mtals. Somf thoughts on the ge^ neration of metals. Of the quantity of tbofe •\ metals produced in the Spaniftf JVeJi-lndies^ >' ' "■:■"'. ... 213 s . • Of cocbinenj; end caca9* ' ^ "^ ^23 v.; v .■ .h'i? •• C -fl A- P» . V, ^ ^,,;^Vv.l ^^:? fhe'trad^jf Mexico, Some accottnf of that . city, ¥he fairs of Jcapuka and' La Vera J Cruz, i'h pta and regilierfiips, . 228 c- '^ C H A Pi Ill !il!i' \. 203 irnalso 20» fpurt- be ge- iftbofe dksn 213 223 •.•T» of that id Vera 228 A P. CONTENTS* CHAP. VI; tx ^bree forts of people in New. Spain, The Whites^ Jttdtans, and Negroes ^ the cbaraBers ofthofe. 1 ^be clergy t tbeir cbaraSiers. . l^k( civil go- c mernment, its charaBer*' . Z^^ C HAP. VII. Ne^ M^xiCit. Its difiovery, Cliffiafv, Pro" \i Ju^Si %be Englifi claim to California, 243 CHAP. VIII. Tbe climate and foil of Peru. Its produce. The . \ min^s, the coca and herb of Paraguay, 245 ^\' CHAP. IX. 4*a« tV-<\tr. «» The wines of Peru. The wool. The lamas and ^ vicunnas,y fheep&f Peru, Jefuits bark, Gui" ^nea pepper. The dungof Iquiqua,. ^ickfiher . mines. 251 C H A P. X. ft k The charaSier of the Peruvians, Their divi/ions. The Indian fejiitsal,' Honours f aid to a de^ fcendant of the ynca. ^^ -s:^:^. 25^ ■fri » <\'> \ CHAP. i t CONTENT.^. CHAP. XL 7'J^e cities of PerUfLimat Cufco, and Sluitoi . a defcription of them. Cailao, its trade and - defiruSiion, ^he viceroy of Peru, His ju» £. rifdidlion, and revenues, ,„,.„,.. 260 CHAP. xir. ^be temperature of the air in Chili, I'hefoiL Its fertility. A defcription of the principal towns, the trade of Chili, 268 CHAP. XIII. ^'r^ l!be Spaniards in this province but few. The Americans, their charaSier, Some free, 271 CHAP. XIV. The climate of Paraguay, Its rivers. The pro* ^ vinceofLaPlata, T he town of Buenos- Ayr es, \ Its trade, - 274 » CHAP. XV. -^ The territory ofthejefuits in Paraguay. Their manner of fettling and governing it. The obedience of the people. Some rejiexions on the late tranJa£lions there, 278 . ;; ' c A A p. C O N T E N T S, ^i CHAP. XVI. 7erra Firma, Its extent and produce. Thi cities of Panama, Carthagena, and PortO" bello. The galleons. The tjle of Cuba, Tht Havanna. Hifpaniola, Porto Rico, Rc" flexions on the policy of Spain with regard t9 the colonies, 2 1 8 Vi P A R T IV. 77je Portugiiefe Settleme?2t5^ CHAP. I. >T Art account of the difcovery of Brazil, The method of fettling it. Conquered by the Dutch. Reconquered by the Portuguefe, 300 CHAP. II. The climate of Brazil. Of the Brazilwood. 360 CHAP. ' I ^u CON TE NT S. fJ>e trade of Brazil. Its inter courfe with Afri- , ca, ^be fettlement of the river Amazons ,^ and Rio Janeiro, "The gold mines.^ ^he commonwealth of the Paulijis. Jhediamnd ^ mmes.^ ^^,.^ . . :...... ^08 CHAP. IV. Regulation of the Porfuguefe trade. The de- fcriptton of St. Salvador, the capital of Bra- zil. "Thefeets for that city. Rio Janeiro and Fernamhucca. ' nie ,X{1^^V- CHAP. V. i \"w I'he cbaraSler of the American Portuguefe. The Jateof the Negroes. The government. 32 £ 00? , ' ,.-A ^^::^^\ .v.;.-;. ji /I A n * \ . .. A'Tj >^>w::^\^::^^ -^.V'^^O ' Sxj:^:<^ \. ^^yMf^^-^ O'^l i-i ^ . i 4L V « A «-» A N * '."' C"> PART I. 7^^ difcovery of America^ and the reduEiion of Mexico and Peru, • \ CHAP. I. ^he ft ate of "Europe before the difcovery of America. T^heprojeSi of Columbus. His application to feveral courts. Hisfuccejf- . ful application to that of Spain, His voyage, 'The difcovery of the Bahamas, and Greater Antilles. HERE was an extraordinary coincidence of events at the time that the difcovery of A- merica made one of the prin- cipal; the invention of print- ing, the making of gunpow- der, the improvement of navigation, the re- vival of ancient learning, and the reformation; all of thefe confpired to change the face of Europe entirely. At this time the principal monarchies began to knit, and to acquire the flrength, and take the form, they have B 2 at M 4 j^ln Account of t/je European at this day. Before this period, the manners of Europe were wholly barbarous; even in Italy, where the natural mildnefs of the climate and the dawning of literature had a little foftened the minds of the people, and introduced fomething approaching towards politenefs, the hiftory preceding this aera, and indeed for fome time after it, is nothing but one ferics of treafons, ufurpations, murders, and mad'acres : nothing of a manly courage, nothing of a folid and rational policy. Scarce any ftatc had then very extenlive views, or looked much further than to the prefent ad- vantage. They did not well comprehend the complicated fyftem of interefts that Europe formed even long before this. Lewis the eleventh, who was looked upon as one of the wifed princes in his time, and one who facrificed everything to his ambition, facri- ficed one of the faireft objeds of that am- bition to a pique, which fmce his time could have little influence on the counfels of any prince. Plis fon, C^ arles the eighth, as he won Italy without either courage or condudt, fo he loft it by a chain of falfe meafures, fuch as we may venture to fay has no par- allel in later times. A wild romantic courage in the Northern and VVeftern parts of Europe, and a wicked policy in the Ita- lian ftates, was the character of that age. If we look into the manners of the courts, there ./I • ii W. Settlements tn America. 5 there appear but very faint marks of cultiva- tion and politcnefs. The interview between our Edward the fourth and his brother of France, wherein they were both caged up like wild beafts, ihews difpofitions very re- mote from a true fenfe of honour, from the dignity of their ftations, or any juft ideas of politenefs and humanity. All the anecdotes which remain of thefe and other courts, are in the fame fpirit. If the courts had made fuch poor ad- vances in policy and politenefs, which might feem the natural growth of courts at any time, both the courts and the people were yet lefs advanced in ufeful knowledge. The little learning which then fubfifted, was only the dotage of the fcholaftic philofophy of words ; together with the infancy of po- liter learning, which only concerned words too, though in another way. The elegance and purity of the Latin tongue was then the higheft, and almoft the only point of a fcholar's ambition. Mathematical learning was little valued or cultivated. The true fy- Item of the heavens was not dreamed of. There was no knowledge at all of the real form of the earth; and in general the ideas of mankind were not extended beyond their fenfible horizon. In this ftate of affairs Chriftopher Co- lumbus, a native of Genoa, undertook to B 3 extend .1 6 ^/2 Account of the European extend the boundaries which ignorance had given to the world. This man's defign arofe from the jufl idea he had formed of the figure of the earth ; tho' the maps, more erroneous than his conjectures, made him miftake the objed:. His defign was to find a pailhge to China and India by the Wellern ocean. It is not improbable,", tb.at befides the glory attend- ing fuch a difcovcry, and the private advan- tages of fortune he miglit propofe to derive from it, Columbus had a furihcr incentive from national jealoufy and rclcntmcnt. Ve- nice and Genoa were then almoll: the onlv trading powers in Europe i and they had no other Uipportof their pov/er but their com- merce. This bred a rivalihip, a jealoufy, and frequent wars between them i but in trafiick Venice v/as much fuperior; flie ]>ad drawn to herfelf almofi the whole commerce of India, always one of the moft valuable in the world, and then carried on only by the way of Egypt and the Red Sea. An emulation of this kind might probably haveputCulumbusonfinding another and more diredf palfage to the Eall- Indies, and by that means transfering this profitable trade to his ow?i country. But nei- ther that which he fought, nor that which he found, was delHned for his country. However, he performed the duty of a good citizen, and made his firfl propofal at home j at home it was rejeded. Difcharged of this obligation, he ( IM /I I e had ai'oie figure >neou9 ke the hge to ,:,Itis .ttcnd- ad van- derive ccntivc :. Ve- be only had no Ir com- ply, and I trafiick rawn to f India, e world, )f Egypt ;his kind n finding le Ealt- ring this But nei- Ivvhich he lowever, izen, and : home it bUgation, he I SETTLEMEf^Td in AMERICA. ^ he applied to the court of France, andmecting no better fucccfs there, he offered next his fervices to our Henry the feventh. This prince was rather a prudent ftfiward and ma- nager of a kingdotti than a great king, and one of thofe defenfive geniufes who are tho laft in the world to relifh a great but proble- matical defign. It is therefore no wonder that his brother, whom Goruttibus bad employed to follicit in England, after fcveral years fpent here, had little fuccefsin his negotiation. But in Portugal, where he applied himfelf after his failure here, his offers were not only rejedted but he was infulted and ridiculed ; he found, however, in thefe infults, and this ridicule, a new incitement to purfue his fcheme, urged forward by the flings of anger and refentment. Laft of all he exercifed his intereft and his patience for eight years together at the courtof Ferdinand and Ifabella. There is a fort of en- thufiafmin all projectors, abfolutely necelTary for their affairs, which makes them proof againft the moft fatiguing delays, the moft mortifying difappointments, the moft /hock- ing infults; and, what is feverer than all, the prefumptuousjudgmentsof theignorantupon their defigns. Columbus had a fufficient fhare of this quality. He had every day, during this long fpace, to combat with every objection that want of knowledge, or that a falfe knowledge, could propofe. Some held B 4 that I!: # ^« Account of f he Evro?e ah that the known world, which they thought was all that could be known, floated like a vafl: fcum upon the ocean; that the ocean itfelf was infinite. Others, who entertained more juft notions, and believed that the whole of the earth and waters compofcd one vaft glooc, drew a confequence from :t as abfurd as the former opinion. For they argued, that if Columbus fhould fail beyond a certain point, the convexity of this globe would prevent his return. As is ufual in fuch cafes, every one abounded with objedtions. His whole time was fpent in fruitlefs endeavours to enlighten ignorance, to remove prejudice, and to vah- quifh that obftinate incredulity, which is of all others the greateft enemy to improvement, rejedting every thing as falfe and abfurd, which is ever fo little out of the track of common ex- perience; and it is of the more dangerous con- fequence, as itcarries a delufiveair of coolnefs, of temper and wifdom. With all this, he had yet greater difficulties from the interefts of mankind, than from their malignity and ig- norance. The expence of the undertaking, in- confiderable as this expence was, was at the bottom the chief fupport of the other objec- tions, and had more weight than all' the reft together. However, with an afliduity and firmnefs of mind, neverenough to be admired and applauded, he at length overcame all diffi- culties; and, to his inexpreffible joy, with a fleet ■■,4.V Settlements in America. 9 jBeet of three fhips, and the title and com- mand of an admiral, fet fail on the third of Auguft, 1492, on a voyage the moft daring and grand in the defign, and in the event of which the w^orld was the moft concerned, of any that ever yet was undertaken. It muft not be omitted here, in honour to the fex, a^d in juftice to Ifabella, that this fcheme was firft countenanced, and the equip- ment made by the queen only ; the king had no fharein it; flieeven raifed the money necef- fary for the defign upon her own jewels. I do not propofe to relate all the particulars of Columbus's voyage in a track now fo well known, and fo much frequented; but then there was no chart to direct him, no lights from former, navigators, no experience of the winds and currents particular to thofe feas. He had no guide but his own genius, nor any thing to comfort and appeafe his companions, difcouraged and mutinous with the length and hopelefsnefs of the voyage, but fome indica- tions which he drew from the cafual appear- ances of land birds and floating fea- weeds, ' moft of them little to be depended upon, but which this wife commander, well acquainted with the human heart, always knew how to turn to the beft advantage. It was in this ex- pedition that the variation of the compafs was firft obferved; an appearance which has ever iince puzzled all philofophers, and which at this '-'"'ll Ij III i lo ^/2 Account of the European this time made a great impreflion upon Co- lumbus's pilots; whrii in an unknown and boundlefs ocean, far from the road of former navigation, nature itfelffeemed altered, and the only guide they had left, appeared to be upon the point of TDrfaking them. But Co- lumbus, with a wounderful quicknefs and fa- gacity, pretended to difcover a phyfical caufe for this appearance, which, tho' it did not fatisfy himfelf, was plaufible enough to re- move fomethingof the terrors of his mariners. Expedients of this kind were daily wanting, and the fertile genius of this difcoverer in- vented them daily. However, by frequent ufe, they began to lofe their efFed:; the crew infilled on his returning, and grew loud and infolent in their demand. Some even talked of throwing the admiral overboard. His in- vention, andalmoflhis hopes were near ex- haufted, when the only thing which could appcafe them happened; the clear dilcovery of land, after a voyage of thirty-three days, , the longeft ever any man was known to be from fight of fliore before that time. They landed on one of the iflands now call- edLucayos, or Bahamas, which is remarkable for nothing but this event; and here it was, that the two worlds, if I may ufe the expref- • fion, were firfl introduced to one another; a meeting of an cxtrordinary nature, and which produced great changes in both. The firft II •Settlements in America. firft thing Columbus did, after thanking God for thelucceisof liis important voyage, vva:;t:> takepoflcflionof thcilbiid in the name of their Catholic majefties, by fettin^^ up acrofs upon thefliore; great multitudes of the inhabitants lookingon, ignorantand unconcerned at a ce- remony which was to deprive them of their natural liberty. The flay of the Spaniards in this ifland was but (hort; they found,from the extreme poverty of the people, that thcfewerc by no means the Indies, which they fought for. . Columbus at his departure very prudently took with him fome of the natives, that they might learn the Spanifli tongue, and be his guides and interpreters in this new fcene of affairs; nor were tliey unwilling to accom- paay him. He touched on feveral of the illands in the fame clufter, enquiring every where for gold, which was the only object of commercehe thought worth his care, becaufe the only thing that could give the court of Spain an high opinion of his difcoveries. All diredted him to a great iQand called Bohio, of which they fpoke extraordinary things, and principally that it abounded in gold. They told him it lay to the Southward. To the Southward he fleered his courfe, and found the ifland, which he called Hifpaniola, no ways inferior to the reports 3 commodioushar- bours, an agreeable climate, a good foil, and, what was of moft confequence, a coun try that pro- •lit I :. Ill ly I ■Ii; m I il 12 -r^// AccoO^JT o/*//6^ European promifed from feme famplcs a great abun- dance of gold; inhabited by an humane and hofpitable people, in a ftate of fimplicity fit to be worked upon. Thefe circumftances determined Columbus to make this ifland the center of his defigns, to plant a colony there, and to eftablifh things in fome permanent order before he proceeded to further difcoveries. But to carry his defigns of a fettlement here, and his fchemes of future difcoveries into ex- ecution, itwas neceflary that he (hould return toSpainandequiphimfelfwithaproperforce. He had now colled:ed a fufficient quantity of gold to give credit to his voyage at court, and fuch a number of curioiities of all kinds as might ftrike the imaginations, and engage the attention of the people. Before he parted, he took care to fecure the frienddiip of the principal king of the idand by carelTes and prefents^ and cnder pretence of leaving him a force fuflicien. lO aflift him againft his ene- mies, he laid the ground-work of a colony. He built a fort, and put a fmall garrifon of Spaniards into it, with fuch directions for their condudt as might have enfured their fafety and the good offices of the inhabitants, if the men had not been of that kind, who ^re incapable of adting prudently either from thei/ own or other people's wifdom. He did every thing to gain the elleem of the natives, by the juftice, and even generofity of hisdeal- 4 i"oS> ''M'i 'iii'i'l Settlements in America. 13 ings, and the politenefs and humanity with which he behaved upon every occafion. He (hewed them too, that tho' it was not in his will, it was not the lefs in his power to do them mifchief, if they aded foas to force him uponharrtiermeafurcs. ThefurprizingcfFedts of his cannon, and the fliarpnefs of the Spanifli fwords, of which he made an innocentoflen- tation, convinced them of this. When the Spaniards firft arrived in that country, they were taken for men come from heaven; and it was no wonder, confidering the extreme novelty of their appearance, and the prodigious fuperiority they had in every refpedt over a people in all the nakednefs or uncultivated nature. Whatever therefore the Indiansgotfrom them, they valued in an high degree, not only as curious and ufeful, but even as things facred. Theperfonsof the Spaniards were refpeded in the fame light. Columbus, who knew the value of opinion, did all he could to keep them in their error; ai.d indeed no adtion of his, either of weak- nefs or cruelty, could furnifh matter to un- deceive them. For which reafon, on his de- parture, he left the people with the beft in- clinations imaginable to nurfe his infant co- lony. And when he delired fome of the in- habitants to carry into Spain, he was more at a lofs whom he fhould accept, than how he fliould prevail upon them to go. CHAP. V.'L 14 ^^2 Account of the European 4 \\ \' : V . I ( ilitf ! ' '^ f I _- m 'II I;i 1 i ii( CHAP. II. The difcovcry of the Carihbees. Columbus re^ turns to 'Europe. His behaviour at Lijbon. His reception at Barcelona by Ferdinand and Ifabella, Second voyage of Columbus. The condition of the Spaniards in Hifpaniola, The city of Ifabeila built, and a Spanijh co- lony fettled. A voyage for better dif cover ^ • ing the coaji of Cuba, • ■.» -- - . ;••''': 1 • > j ■ ,• .■■■ ON his return homewards, ftill attentive to his delign, he aimed at luch difcoveries as could beprofecuted without deviating con- fiderably from his courfe. He touched upon feveral iilands to the Southward, and difco- vered the Carihbees, of the barbarity of whofe inhabitants he had heard terrible accounts in Hifpaniola. Hehad before landed upon Cuba in his paffage from the Bahamas. So that in thishii; firil voyage, he gained a general know- ledge of all the idands, which lie in fuch an aftoniiliing number in that great fea which divides North and South America. But hi- therto he neither knew nor fufpecTied any continent between him and China. He returned to Europe sfter an abfenceof abo/efix niontlij^, and was driven by a great ftoruii intothebarbourof LifDon. This he did not look upon as a misfortune j lince here, i, i\ i\ J .. he .0' ilMiii fll 'ft jH: r^ Settlements tn America. 15 he had the fatisfadtion of convincing the Por- tuguefedcmonftratively of whatan error they were guilty in rejecting his propofals. It was now his turn to triumph. Thofewho want fagacity to difcern the advantages of an offer, when it is made to themfelves, and treat it with thegreateil: fcorn, are always moft ftung with envy when they adluaDy fee thefe advan- tages in the hands of another. The Portu- guefe had fome time before this begun to make a figure : their {hips had coafted Africa for a greater length than any had done before them, which opened to them a profitable trade to Guinea. This gave them a reputation. They confidereddifcovery astheirproper pro- vince; and they were enraged to fee that the Caftilians were now let into the fame path, in confequence of an offer vvhich they had re- jedted. Some propofed to murder the admi- rah but all were agreed to treat him in the moft unworthy manner. However, their de- fignofinfultinghimgaveColumbusan oppor- tunity at once of gratifyi: g his refentment, maintaininghis own dignity, andafferting the honour of the flag of Caflile. He fent to the king at his firfl entering the harbour, to de- firea liberty to come up toLifbon and refrefh, as he had his mafler's orders not to avoid his ports; adding, that he was not from Guinea, but the Indies. Anofficeroftheking of Por- tugal came aboard him with an armed force, 5 and I'f t\: 16 An Account of the European and ordered him to come afliore, and give an accountofhimfelf to the king's officers. Co- lumbus told him he had the honour of ferving the king of Caftile, and would own himfelf accountable to no other. The Portugefe then defired him to fend the mafter of his (hip j this he like wife refufed, faying, that the admirals of Caflile always chofe rather to die than deliver up themfelves, or even the meaneft of their men ; and if violence was intended, he was prepared to meet force with force. A fpirited behaviour, in almoll any circumftance of ftrength, is the moft politic as well as the moll honourable courfe; we prefervea relJDedt at leaft by it, and with that we generally preferve every thing ; but when we lofe re- fped, every thing is loft. We invite rather than fufFer infults, and the £rft is the only one we can relift with prudence. Columbus found this j the officer did not purfue his de- mand ', the admiral had all the refrefhments he wanted; and was even received at court with particular marks of diftindlion. From Lifbon he proceeded to Seville; the court was then at Barcelona. But before he went to give an account of his voyage, he took all the care he could to provide for ano- ther. He wrote an abftradtof his proceedings, and fent with it a memorial of all fuch things %as were neceffary for the eftablifhment of a co- lony, and for further difcoveries. Soon after he .;- begaa ean Co- ving nfelf then this ■alsof eliver their lewas )irited ice of as the refpeft nerally ofe re- rather le only umbus his de- ments tt court ile; the jfore he |age, he for ano- jedings, things of aco- afterhe began Settlements in America. 17 began his journey to Barcelona, every where followed by the admiration and applauff^s of the people, who crouded ro fee him from all parts. He entered the city in a fort of triumph. And certainly there never was a more innocent triumph, nor one that formed a more new and plealing fpedtacle. He had not deftroyed, but difcovered nations. The Americans he brought with him appeared in all the uncouth finery of their own country, wondered at by every body, and themfelves admiring every thing they faw. The feveral animals, many highly beautiful, and all ftrangers to this part of the world, were fo difpofed as to be fcen without difficulty J the other curiofities of the new world were difplayed in the moft advantage- ous manner ; the utenfils, the arms, and the ornaments of a people fo remote from us in fituation and manners; fome valuable for the materials; even the rudenefs of the workman- fliip in many made them but the more curious^ when it was confidered by whom, and with what inftruments they were wrought. The gold was not forgot. The admiral himfelf clofcd the proceffion. He was recei. ed by the king and queen with all imaginable marks of efteem and regard, and they ordered a magnifi- cent throne to be eredled in publick to do him the greater honour. A chair was prepared for him, in which he fat, and gave^ in prefence of the whole court, a full and circumftantial ac- VoL. I. C count ■.i)l., , 'it • ■ :4^:. |8 ^« Account ^/y&t' European count of allhisdifcoveries, with that compofcd- nefs and gravity, which is fo extremely a- greeable to the Spanifh humour, and with the modefty of a man who knows he has done things which do not need to he proclaimed by himfelf. The fuctefsful merit of Columbus v/as underflood by every body -, and when the king and queen led the way, all the grandees and nobility of the court vied with each other in their civilities and carefles. Thefe honours did not fatisfy Columbus. He prepared with all expedition for a fecond voyage. The difficulties attending the firft were all vaniflied. The importance of the object appeared every day more clearly, and the court was willing to lecond the vivacity of his defires to the full. But before his departure there was one thing which they judged wanting to give them a clear and unqueftionable right to the countries, which fhould be difcovered. This was a grant of them from the pope. The Portugucfefome time before had a grantof fuch lands as they llioulddifcover within certain latitudes ; and this grant made a limilar one to the Spaniards appear the more necefTary. The pope accordingly gave a very ample TduU in their favour, very liberally conceding countries, of which he was fo far from hav- ino' any pofTeffion, that he had no knowledge of them. The limits of this grant was a line drawn from pole to pole, an hundred . .leagues ,« ►fed- y a- 1 the done edby mbus n the .ndees other mbus. fecond le firft of the Y' and icity of parture granting le right :overed. ; pope, grantof n certain lar one eceffary. ample mceding rom hav- lowledge It was a hundred leagues Settlements in America. 19 leagues to the Weftward of the Azores. On the other fide no bounds at all were fet. This was afterwards a fubjedl of much con- troverfy between the crowns of Spain and Portugal, the latter having got a grant of all that fhould be difcovered to the Eaft, as the former had of all to the Weftward; thofe who drew the bulls not having kncvvn enough of the figure of the earth to fee, that thefe grants muft neceffarily clafli j and the powers which defired them, were perhaps not forry to find their pretenfions fuch as they might extend or contradt at pleafure. Whatever the validity of this ample grant might be, Columbus was made governor with the higheft authority over all that it contained. But he had fomewhat with him more material for his pofleffion than any charters. This was a fleet of feventeen fail of fhips, with all man- ner of necellaries for fettlement or conqueft, and fifteen hundred men on board, fome of them of the beft families in Spain. With this fleet he fet fail on his fecond voyage the 2 5th of September, 1493. -^^ g^^^ t2^Q\\ of the captains inftrucftions for their courfe fealed, with ordersnot to open them, unlefsin diftrefs, and feparated from the fleet, that he might create fuch an abfolute dependence of all upon himfelf, as fhould prefervc an uniformity in their defigns. On the fecond of November they made land, which is the illand now called C 2 ' Dominica. If t '[ nil '' : 'liJ' i': 'i; 20 j^n Account 0/ t/je European Dominica. But his delign was firfl: to fettle his colony before he attempted any new difco- very, therefore he made no ftay here, nor at feveral other iilands at which he touched before he could make Hifpaniola. On his arrival he found the fort he had built utterly demolifhed, and all his men killed. The Spaniards had firfl: fallen out amongft themfelves, upon the ufual fubjeds of ilrife, wom^n and gold , and afterwards preferving as little harmony with the natives, and obferving no decency in their behaviour, of juflice in their dealings, they quickly loll their efteem> and were every man murdered, after having been difperfed into different parts of the ifland. The prince, whom they were left to defend, was himfelf wounded in their defence, and bore this mark of his affedlion and good faith, when Columbus returned to the ifland. The admiral very wifely forbore to make any nice enquiry into the affair, or to commence hofti- lities in revenge for the lofs of his foldiersj but he took the moft effedual meafures to prevent fuch an evil for the future ; he chofe a more commodious ftation for his colony, on the North-eaft part of the ifland, which had a good port, great conveniency of water, and a good foil, and lay near that where he was informed the richefl; mines of the coun- try were found : in gratitude to his royal pa- tronefs, he called it Ifabella, He engaged 1 . in Settlements m America. 21 in the fcttlement with great warmth, and never allowed himfelf a moment's rcpofe from Superintending the fortifications, the pri- vate houfen, and the works of agriculture ; in all which the fatigue was infinite j for he had not only the natural difficulties at- tending all fuch undertakings, but he had the infupcrable lazinefs of the Spaniards to contend with. So that, fpent with the fitigues of fo long a voyage, and the greater fatigues he had endured fince he came on fhore, he fell into a dangerous illncfs. Of this acci- dent fcveral of his men took the advantage to begin a rebellion, to undo all he had done, and to throw every thing into the moft terrible confufion. Thefe people, on their leaving Spain, had fancied to themfelves that gold was to be found every where in this country, and that there required nothing further to make ample eftates, than to be tranfported into it; but, finding their miftake, and that, inftead of receiving thefe golden Ihowers without any pains, they fared ill, laboured hard, and that their profpeds of a fortune, if any at all, were remote icd uncertain, their difcontent became general; and the mutinous difpofition incrcafed lb faft, and was carried to fuch extremities, that if the admiral had not recovered at a very criti- cal time, and on his recovery had not adled in the moft refolute and effedlual manner, all his hopes of a fettlement in Hifpaniola had been C 3 m li ''"I'll! ! Ill i ,i\.» 22 -^;? Account o/'//^^' European at an end. He was fatisfied with imprifonlng fome of the chiefs. This was neither a time noraplacefor very extenfiveorrigorous juftice. He quelled this fedition, but he faw at the fame time that his work was not yet done; he faw another danger, againft which he was to provide with equal diligence. He had good reafons to apprehend, that the Americans were not well afleded to their new guefts, and mig!it probably meditate to cut them off, whilft they law them divided amongft themfelves. To prevent this, as w^ell as to banifli idlenefs from amongft his men, and to revive military difci- pline, he marched into the heart of the coun- try, through the moft frequented parts of it, in order of battle, colours iiying, and trumpets founding, with the flower of his troops, to the mountains ofCibaoj where lay the richeft mines then difcovered in the ifland. Here he built a fort to fecure this advantageous poft, and overawe the country; and then he returned in the fame pomp and order, to the inexprelii- b^; ^rror of the inhabitants, who had now no prolpedt of withftanding a force, which to them feemed more than human. In this expedition Columbus made great oflentation of his cavalry. This was the firft time the Ind ans of America had ever feen horfcs. Their dread of thefe animals and their riders were extreme; they thought'both formed but one animal, and the impetuofity of their ..4 ' ^,'> ' charge ■" . i ■ ■ M^^ i jning time ftice. at the ' e; he vas to I good s were mig!it ft they . To s from r difci- coun- ff it, in jmpets Dps, to licheft lere he s poft, ^turned xpreiii- [low no to them great the firft 'er feen nd their I formed of their charge ■ V Settlements m America. 23 charge appeared irrefiftible to thefe naked and ill-armed people. Wherever they appeared, thofe Indians, who intended any hoftility, im- mediately fled J nor did they think the inter- vention of the deepeft and mofl rapid rivers any fecurity; they believed that the horfes could fly, and that no ,g was impoflible to creatures fo extrordiiiury. But Columbus did not rely upon thofe prejudices, though he made all imaginable ufe of them; knowing that thofe things which appear mort: terrible at firft, become every day lefs afi:e6tingby ufe, and that they even grow contemptible, when their real power is once well known. For which rca- fon, he negledted none of his former methods of cultivating the afl'edions of the native"? ; he ftill fliewed them all manner of refpedt, and when he had taken two perfons of their na- tion, who had committed fome ads of hofti- lity, and was at the point of putting them to death, he pardoned and fet them free at the interceflion of a prince of the country, with whom he was in alliance. On the other hand, he faw how necefl^ary it was to preferve a ftri(5t difcipline amongft the Spaniards, to keep them from that idlenefs to which they had fuch a propenfity, and which naturally retarded the growth of the colony, at the fame time that it nourifhed difcontent and fedition. He em- ployed them in cutting roads through the country, a work which the natives never at- C 4 tempted IS J*' Hi 24 ^// Account o/"/^ Settlements in Ameripa. ?7 ever oblige him to engage again in Uich an en- terprife. They were at laft relieved by tlit- ap- pearance of Jamaica, where they were hoi f)i- tably received, and fupplicd v/ith CallUva bread and' water. From thence they proceeded, mortified and difappoin ted, to liiipaniola, not being able to come to any certainty concern- ing Cuba, other than that they underlVjod from fome of the inhabitants that it was an ifland. This difappointment, and the infinite fatigue and difHculty of the voyage, threw Columbus into a lethargy, which was near being fatal to him, and of which he was fearccly recovered when they arrived at the harbour of Ifabella. Here they found all things in confufion, and the colony in the utmoft danger of being a fe- cond time utterly deftroyedi as if its profperity or deftrudtion depended upon the prefence or abfence of Columbus. For no fooner was he failed, than the Spaniards, who were very difficultly retained in their duty by all his ftea- dinefs and wifdom, broke through all regu- lations, laughed at government and difcipline, and fpread thenifclves over the illand, com- mitting a thoufand diforders, and living at free quarter upon the inhabitants, whofe hatred to them was worked up to fuch a point, that they wanted only the word from their princes to fall on and mafifacre the whole colony j a thing by no means impracticable, in its prefeiu diforde". ' 'II :ii "i.J. 28 An Account of the European diforder. Four of the principal fovereigns of the ifland took advantage of this difpofition, and united to drive out thofc imperious in- truders. None adhered to them but one called Gunacagarry, the fame prince whom Colum- bus from the firft had taken fo much pains to oblige. In his dominions fome of the Spaniards found protection. The other princes had already commenced hoftilities, and one of them killed fixteen of the Spaniards, , ho were taking no uniiorm mcafures to oppofe them j neither in their prefent anarchy could it be well expedcd. In this condition was the ifland on the arri- val of Columbus, whofe firft bufinefs was to collect ihe fcattcred fragments of the colony, and to form them into a body. This he was the better able to accomplish, becaufe the pre- fent danger added a weight to his authority ; but it was neceflary that he fliould lofe no time. He was refolved to act with what force he had, rather than wait until the union of the iflanders might be better cemented againft him, and they might find fomelcfler matters in their favour to raife their courage, and abate their terrorof the Spanilh arms. He therefore firft marched a- gainft the king, who hid killed the fixteen Spaniards; as it was an enterprife coloured with an appearance of juftice, and becaufe that prince happened to be the worft prepared to receive him. He was eafily fubdued, and fe- " ' veral .*! llHl'li! Settlements in America. 29 veral of his fubjedts fent prifoners into Spain, The fecond whom Columbus deiigned to at- tack being better prepared again (l force, he was refolved to circumvent him by fraud, and got him into his power by a ftratagem, which did no honour to his iincerity, and rather fhew- ed great weaknefs in this unfortunate barba- rian, than any extraordinary contrivance in thofe who deceived him. The other princes were not terrified at thefe examples. Their hatred to the Spaniards in- creafedi and perceiving that all depended upon a fudden and vigorous exertion of their flrength , they brought an immenfe army, it is faid of one hundred thoufand men, into the field, which was arrayed in the largeft plain in that country. Columbus, though he had but a fmall force, did not fcruple to go out to meet them. His army confifted but of two hun- dred foot, twenty horft, and twenty wolf dogs. The latter part of this army has a ludicrous appearance ; but it was a very ferious matter amongft a people no better provided with arms ofFenfive or defenfive than the Indians. Neither was itrafli in Columbus to venture an engagement againft forces fo vaftly fuperior in numbers ; for when fuch numbers are no bet- ter Ikilled or armed than thefe were, their* multitude is in fadt no juft caufe of dread but to themfelves. The event was anfwerable j the victory was decifive for the Spaniards, in which ■a l; \ I. : I; 'i' j 30 ^n Account offA^ European which their horfes and dogs had a confiderable iharci the lofs on the lide of the Indians was very great. From that day forward they def- paired, and relinquifhed all thoughts of dif- iodging the Spaniards by force. Columbus had but little difficulty in reducing the whole ifland, which now became a province of Spain, had a tribute impofed, and forts built in feveral parts to enforce the le^^y'ng of it, and to take away from this unhap^^y people all profpedt of liberty. In this affeding lituation they often afked the Spaniards, when they intended to return to their own country. Small as the number of thefe ftrangers was, the inhabitants were ex- tremely burthened to fubfift them. One Spa- niard couxumed more than ten Indians ; a cir- cumftance which Ihews how little this people had advanced in the art of cultivating the earth, or how lazy they were in doing it, fmce their indigence reduced them to fuch an extreme frugality, that they found the Spaniards, who are fome of the moft abftemious people upon earth, exceffively voracious in the compari- fon. Their experience of this, joined to their defpair, put the Indians upon a projedt of starving out their invaders. In puriuance of this fcheme, they entirely abandoned the little agriculture which they praiSlifed, and unani- nioufly retired into the mod barren and im- pra(^icable parts of the iiland. This ill-ad- vifed lerable iis was ey def- of dif- umbus whole 'Spain, feveral to take fpedt of I afked ;turn to aber of ere ex- ile Spa- acir- people e earth, ce their extreme s, who le upon )mpari- to their ojedt of lance of he little unani- ind im- 3 ill-ad- vifed Settlements /« America. 31 vifed ftratagem conn pleated their ruin. A number of people crouded into the worft parts of the country, fublifting only upon its fpon- taneous productions, were foon reduced to the moft terrible famine. Its fure attendant epi- demical ficknefs purfued at its heels ; and this miferable people, half familhed a^ i lefTened a third of their numbers, were obliged to re- linquifti their fcheme, to come down into the open country, and to fubmit once more to bread and fetters. - This conqueft, and the fubfequent ones made by the feveral European nations, with as little colour of right as confcioufnefs of doing any thing wrong, gives one juft reafon to re- fled: on the notions entertained by mankind in all times concerning the right of dominion. At this period, few doubted of the power of the pope to convey a full right to any country he was pleafed to chalk out; amongft the faithful, becaufe they were fubject to the church ; and amongft infidels* becaufe it was meritorious to make them fubjed: to it. This notion began to lofe ground at the reformation, but another arofe of as bad a tendency j the idea of the dominion of grace, which prevailed with feveral, and the effeds of which we have felt amongft ourfclves. The Mahometan great merit is to fpread the empire and the faith; and none amongft them doubt the legality of fub- duing any nation for thefe goodpurpofes. The Greeks U' .!M 32 An Account of the European Greeks held, that the barbarians were natur- ally deligned to be their flaves, and this was (o general a notion, that Ariflotle himfelf, with all his penetration, gave into it very ferioufly. In truth, it has its principle in human nature, for the generality of mankind very readily Hide from what they conceive a fitnefs for govern- ment, to a right of governing; and they do not fo readily agree, that thofe who are fuperior in endowments (hould only be equal in condition. Thefe things partly palliate the guilt and horror of a conqueft, undertaken with fo little colour, over a people whofe chief offence was their credulity, and their confidence in men who did not deferve it. But the circumftances of Co- lumbus, the meafures he was obliged to pre- ferve with his court, and his humane and gen- tle treatment of this people, by which he mi- tigated the rigor of this conqueft, take off much of the blame from him, as the necefiity of taking up arms at all never arofe from his conduft, or from his orders. On the contrary, his whole behaviour both to the Spaniards and Indians, the care he took to eftablifh the one without injury to the other, and the conftant bent of his policy to work every thing by gen- tle methods, may well be an example to all perfons in the fame fituation< Since I have digreffed fo far, it will be the more excufable to mention a circumftance re- corded in the hiftory of this fettlesnent, Ame- rica ,'-^^ Euro 'E AN du<5t, and authorized, if he fhould find the ^ccufations proved, to fend him into Spain, and remain himfelf as governor in his room. They made it the judge's intereft to condemn him. The judge, w^ho was extremely poor, and had no other call but his indigence to un- dertake the office, no fooner landed in Hifpa- niola, than he took up his lodging in the adt miral's houfe, for he was then abfent. He next proceeded to feizc upon all his efFe• i:! 56 An Account oft&e European The natives grew exafperated at the delay of the Spaniards and the v/eight of fubfifting them, which was a heavy burthen on the poverty of the Indians. Provifions therefore came in very fparingly. Things even threat- ened to grow much worfe ; for the feamen, who are at beft unruly, but think that all dif- cipline ceafes the moment they fet foot on land, mutinied in great numbers. By this mutiny the admiral's authority and ftrength was conliderably weakened, whilft the na- tives were exafperated by the diforders of the mutineers ; but Columbus found means to re- cover his authority, at leaft among the Indians. Knowing there would fliortly be a vilible eclipfe of the moon, he fummoned the prin- cipal perfons in the ifland ; and by one who underftood their language told them, that the God whom he ferved, and who created and preferves all things in heaven and earth, provoked at their refuiing to fupport his fer- vants, intended a fpeedy and fevere judgment upon them, of which they fhould fhortly fee manifeft tokens in the heavens, for that the moon would, on the night he marked, r^p- pearof a bloody hue, an emblem of the de- firudtion that was preparing for them. His predidlion, which was ridiculed for the time, when it came to be accompliflied Ilruck the baibarians with great terror. They brought Jiim plenty of proviftons ; they fell at his feet, , ^^' ■ and Settlements in America. 57 afld befought him in the moft fupplicating ftile to deprecate the evils which threatened them. He took their provifions, comforted them, and charged them to attone for their paft fm by their future generofity. He had a temporary relief by this ftrata- gem, but he faw no profpedt of getting out of the ifland, and purfuing thofe great pur^ pofes to which he had devoted his life. The mutiny of his men was in danger of growing general, when every thing feemed to be fet- tled by the fight of a fhip in the harbour, fent by Obando, the governor of Hifpaniola. The governor refolved not only to abandon, but to infult this great man in his misfortunes. The captain of the veflel was a mortal enemy to the admiral, and one of the perfons prin- cipally concerned in thofe rebellions, which had formerly given him fo much trouble. The defign of this captain was only to be a witnefs of the diftrefs of his affairs j for he came afhore, forbidding his crew all manner of communication with the admiral or hisj men; and after delivering to Columbus an empty letter of compliment, embarked with- out even flattering him with the leaft hope of relief. Thus abandoned, his firmnefs and prefencc of mind alone did not forfake him. The ar- rival of this fhip for a moment reconciled his men to obedience ; but when they faw it de- { part. 'i ii i t itii 58 ^f2 Account oft^e European part, they were almoft unanimoufly on the point of Ihaking off all authority, and aban-*- doning themfelves to the moft defperate cour- fes. The admiral, without betraying the lealt fign of difappointment or grief, told them in ja chearful manner, that he had a promife of an immediate fupply : that he did not depart ^nthis {hip, becaufe flie was too fmall to carry off all the Spaniards who were with him ; and that he was refolved not to leave tlie ifland until every man of them might enjoy the fame conveniency. The eafy and compofed air of the admiral himfelf, and the care he manifefted for his people, fuperior to his own prefervation, reconciled their minds, and made them attend their fate with pati- ence. But he knew his delay might be very tedious in this ifland, and that as long as there remained a receptacle to which every ill hu- mour among his men might gather, his af- fairs v/ould grow worfe every day. He found thofe that ftill adhered to him firmly attached to his caufe ; he therefore came to a refolu- taon oi' taking vigorous meafures with the reft. He lent his brother, a fenfible and rcr folute man, with a proper force, and well a'-mc(^, to treat with them; and in cafe of ob- /Vinacy to compel them to obedience. They met, and the captain of the mutineers, grown iftfolent with a long courle of licentioufnefs and rapine, not only rejected the admiral's propofal. Settlements in America. 59 propofal, but offered violence to his brother i who ufing this as a fignal to his men, prepared for fuch an accident j they fell upon the rebels with fo much refolution, that ten lay dead in a moment with their chief j difordered by the unexpected attack, the reft fled, and foon af- ter were obliged to fubmit. Thus the admiral pacified every thing with equal fpirit and addrefs, fometimes giving way to the Aorm, and temporizing when he doubt- ed his ftrength -, but when he was aflured of it, always employing it with refolution and efteft; turning every incident, even the moft unfavourable, to his advantage ; and watch- ing every change of nature, and every mo- tion of the human mind, to employ them in his purpofes. It is the principal thing which forms the charadler of a great man, to be rich in expedients ; the ufe Columbus made of the eclipfe was truely ingenious. It may be faid, that fuch a thing cannot be imitated amongft a civilized people. I grant it. But the way to imitate great men is not to tread in their ftcps, but to walk in their manner. There is no people who have not fome points of ignor- ance, weaknefs, or prejudice, which a pene- trating rnind may difcover, and ufe as the moft powerful inftruments in the execution of his defigns. Such a knowledge as this, is the only thing which gives one man a real fuperio- fity over another; and he who underftands the paffions l; 'I % " ■'ii pi mt 60 -^« Account o/'//5^ European paflions of men, and can entirely command his own, has the principal means of fubduing them in his hands. The admiral might have fpenthis whole life in this miferable exile, if a private man, moved with efteem for his merit, and compaflion to his misfortunes, had not fitted out a iliip for his relief. This brought him to Hifpaniola. The governor, \vho refufed to contnbutc any thing to his coming, when he came received him with that overaded complaifai:ccam3 (hew of friendfliip, which fo often (ncc( cJs the greateft infolence in bafe minds,, a'ii which theypradtife with fo little ihame an " remorfe to the perfons they have before lor d with the greateft injuries. The ainiral ?)cre ibis like every thing elfe; and, convinced that a difputewid' i' governor in his ownjyrifdidtion ■would bring him li.tle advantage or honour, haftencd evtty '^bi ig for his departure to Spain, where he arrived after a voyage in "which he was tolTed by moft terrible ftorms, and failed feven hundred leagues after he had loft his main-maft. He was now grown old, and feverely af- flifted with the gout. The queen his pa- tronefs was dead ; and the king, of a clofe and diirembling difpofition, and a narrow mind, was the only perfon he had to footh his misfortunes, or pay the reward which was dup to his labours. But he received neither comfort ■>. -i^ Settlements in America. 6'i comfort nor reward. The performance of his contradl was deferred upon frivolous pre- tences ; and he employed the clofe of his life, as he had done the adive part of it, in a court follicitation ; the moft grievous of all employ- ments to any man, the moft hopelefs to an old man. Vanquifhed at laft by years, fa- tigues, and difappointmfents, he died with thofe fentim^nts of piety, whicii fupported him through the misfortunes of his life, and added a finifliing, which nothing elfe could give to his greatnefs of mind, and all his other virtues. CHAP. VIII. \-% !'''t; I'he charaSier of Columbus. Some reflexions on the conduB of the court of Spain, HEnceforward, in treating of the pro- grefs of the SpaniQi difcovf^ries and arms, inftead of defigns laid in f( ,ice, and purfued with a benevolent heart ad gentle meafures; we are but too often '^o fhcw an enthufiaftic avarice, urging men xorward to every adt of cruelty and horro- , The cha- radter of this firft difcoverer \,as extremely different from that of all with whom he dealt, and from that of moft of thofe who purfued his difcoveries and conquefts ; fome with a vigour and conduct equal, but all with virtues M 62 -^« Account o//^r European virtues very much inferior. In his charafter hardly is any one of the components of a truly great man wanting. For to the ideas of the moft penetrating philofopher, and a fcheme built upon them worthy of a great king, he joined a conftancy and patience, which alone could carry it into execution, with the for- tune of a private man. Continual florms at fea, continual rebellions of a turbulent people Oil Ihore, vexations, difappointments, and ca- bals at court, were his lot all his life ; and thefe were the only reward of forvices which' no favours could have rewarded fufficiently. His magnanimity was proof againft all thefe, and his genius iarmounted all the difficultici they threw in his way, except that of his pay- ment, the point in which iiich men ever meet with the word fuccefs, and urge with the leaft ability. That furprizlng art, pofTefled by fo few, of mailing every accident an inflrument in his defigns ; his nice adjullment of his be- haviour to his circumllanccs, temporising, or adling vigoroufly as the occafion required, and never letting the occafion itfelf pafs by him ; the happy talcntofconcealing and governing his owii paiiions, and managing thole of others; all thefe conrpirc to give us the higheft idea of his capacity. And as for his virtues, his difinter- efted behaviour, his immoveable fidelity to the ungrateful crown he lerved, the juft policy of his dealing with the Indians, his caution c againft Settlements in America. 6^ agalnfi: giving them any offence, and his ten- der behaviour to them when conquered, vv^bich merited him the glorious title of their father, together u^ith his zeal to have them inftruded in the truths of religion, raife him to the ele- vated rank of thofe few men whom we ought to conlider as examples to mankind, and orna- ments to human nature. I hope it will be forgiven me if I add a re- mark upon the condudt of the court of Spain with regard to this great man. Though, as w^e faw all along, this condudt was equally un- juft and impolitic, forry I ^m, that no lefibn of inllrud:ion can be dravv r. from the event, which was in all refpecfts as fori unate, as the meafures purfued were ungrateful and impru- dent. But there was a coincidence of events at that time, which dees not always happen fo opportunely to juftify an ungrateful and nar- row policy. It is certain that fome men are fo poffeffed with their defigns, that, when once engaged, nothing can difcourage them in the purfuit. But great and frequent difcourage- ments are examples to others, which will at leaft certainly have an effedt, and will terrify men from forming fuch deligns at all. Then the fpirit of invention and enterprize dies away; then things begin to flagnate and to cor- rupt; for it is a rule as invariable in politics as it is in nature, that a want of proper motion does not breed reft and ftability, but a motion '• of iHi 'I ^i <{ ilt I'r I ;'[ 64 ^« Account o/fhe European of another kind; a motion unfeen and intef- tine, which does not preferve but deftroy. The beft form and fettlement of a ftate, and every regulation within it, obeys the fame univerfal law ; and the only way to prevent all things from going to decay, is by continually aiming to better them in fome refpedt or other (lince if they are not better, they will furely be worfe), and to afford an attentive ear to every projedt for this purpofe. I am fenfible that it muft frequently happen, that many of thefe projects will be chimerical in themfelves, and oiFered by people of an appearance and manner not very prejudicing in their favour. But then I am fatisfied too, that thefe men muft in the nature of things have fomcthing odd and fingular in their character, who ex- pofe themfelves, and defert the common and certain roads of gain, in purfuit of advantages not certain to the public, and extremely doubt- ful to themfelves. It is equally true, that, if fuch people are ciiLuuiugcd, a number of vilionary fchemes will be offered. But it is the character of pride and lazinefs to rejed all offers, becaufe Jbiiie are idle, as it is a weaknefs ai\d cretlu- lity to liften to all without diilindion. But furely, if judgment is to have any fliare in our condud, it is the province of judgment to lift, to examine, to diftingui(h the ufeful from the foolifh, the feafible from the impradi- cable. Settlements In America* 6^ cable, and even in the midil of the vifions of a fruitiul and difoixlcrcd brain, to pick out mat- ter which a wife man will know how to qua- lify and turn to ufc, though the inventor did not. Cromwell, partly from his circum- flanccs, but more from his genius and diipo- lition, recei\'ed daily a number of propofils of this kind, which always apnroached him in a fanatical drefs, and were mixed frequently with matters the moft remote from probability and good fenfe j and we know that he made a fignal - ufeof many things of this kind. Colbert fpent much of his time in hearing every fcheme for the extending of comniercc, the improvement of manufadlurcs, and the advancement of arts; fpared no pains or ex- pence to put them in execution, and bounti'- fully rewarded and encouraged the authors cf them. By thefe means France advanced du- ring the reign of Le\"\'is tlie fourteenth, and under this minifler, more t'iian it had done in many reigns before; and by thefe means, in the midit of wars winch hrou<}ht that kins;- dom and all Europe to the brink of dedrudlion, amidd; many deiauUs in the royal character '»\nd many errors in his government, a feed of liuluilry and enterprise was fown, v.'hich, on the firi't refpite of the public ci.lamities, and even while ihcy oppelied that nation, rofe to produce that fiounlhing internal and external commerce and power, that diilinguiibes Vol. I. ' F France, / \ I' i 66" An ArcoiJNT of the European France, and forms its ftrcngth at this day, thougli a Ids adive reign and minillers of a different charadler have fiicccedcd. On the contrary, it was always the character of the court of Spain to proceed very flowly, if at all, in any improvement; and to receive fchcmes for that purpofe with coldnefs and dif- dain. The effedts upon the power of that mo- narchy were at laft anfwerahle. With regard to America, the conquefl: as well as the dif- covery was owing wholly to private men ; the court contributed nothing but pretenfions and patents. CHAP. IX. The difcoverks and conqucfts of Balhoa, Velaf * quez fends Cortes on the Mexican expedition. The fate of the Mexican empire. Cortes ■ makes an alliance with the Tlafcalans. • AN ancient painter drew a fatyrical pidlurc of Cimon the Athenian. He repre- fented this commander afleep, and Fortune drawing a net over cities to put them into his poflcffion. There never were princes to whom this reprefentation could be applied with more juflice, than to king Ferdinand and his fuc- ceilor the emperor Charles. Without form- ing any plan in the cabinet, without iiTu- ing a penny out of their treafury, without fend- ing I Settlements in America. 67 ing a regiment from llieir troops, private ad- venturers atnonp;(l: their fubjcOs put them into pofTefiion of a (t; re .iter, and i more wealthy ter- ritory, than ever the moil celebrated conquer- ors had acquired by their valour, or their wifdoni. Nor was this conqueft more extra- ordinary for the trivial means by which it was accompliflied, than for the fliOitnefs of the time in which it was effedVed ; for from the departure of Columbus, which was in the year 1492, to the entire redu61ion of Chili, which was in 1541, (even great kingdoms, inhabited by a vaft number of warlike and wealthy nations, were made to bow under the ^ Spanifh yoke. After the difcoveries of Co- lumbus had enlarged the fphcrc of induflry to adivc minds, fuch a fpirit of enterprize went abroad, that not only thofe pcrlons v/hofe indigence might have driven them from their native country, but pcrfons of the firfl rank went over to fettle in America. Gold was the fpur to all thofe adventurers, of whatever rank; and this, with a romantic fpirit of chi- valry, made the greatefl hazards appear but common matters in their eyes. And indeed in a country v.'holly uncivilized, under the burning zone, and in many places extremely unhealthy, the temperance of the Spaniards, their hardinefs under fatigue, and the pati- ence and perfeverancc whick make' the mofl fhining part of their character, enabled them F 2 to m 11 t :i V m I m IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I 12.8 1 2.5 Ui U^ 1 2.2 us u 2.0 m 1.25 ||U 1.6 ^ 6" ► ^J / '>:} 1' % A^./ > Hiotographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 (716)872-4503 ■^ if 4 L6> E 68 An Account of the European to engage in enterprizes, and to furmount difficulties, to which any other people had cer- tainly been unequal. Vafco Nunez de Balboa made a confider- able figure amongft thefe adventurers; he was a man of a graceful prefence, a liberal education, a hardy conftitution, and that kind of popular bravery, which recommends a man who engages in defperate expeditions, where he mufl have more authority from his perfon than his place. This man firft fur- rounded Cuba, conquered, and left it. He did not there find the treafures which he ex- pected. He therefore relinquiflied the glean- ings of this field to thofe who had a more mo'^eratc ambition, and a more faving induf- try. He fought new ground, he followed the tracks of Columbus to Darien, gained the friendfliip of fome of the Caziques, and conquered others. He was the firft who dif- covered the South -Sea. He fettled a colony upon that coaft, and built the city of Panama. But according to the fate of all the firft ad- venturers in this hew world, indeed according to the fate of moft v/ho engage in new un- dertakings,^ he never lived to reap the fruit of his labours. He found himfelf fuperfeded by one who had only difcernment enough of his merit to raife his jealoufy and ^xwy^ and who could make no other ufc of the difcoveries of this great man, than to increafe his own private V « Settlements in America. 69 private fortune. This man was a politi- cian and a courtier, and having in feveral in- ftances bafely injured Balboa, he was too wife to ftop there, but under a pretended form of juftice cut off his^ head, and confifcated his ellatc. Some time after the fettlement of Cuba, Don James Velafquez obtained the govern- ment; a man of good fenfe in common affairs, but fo much miftaken, as to imagine he could adt a great part by deputy; and that too in cir- cumftances, wherein a man who had but little capacity could do him but little fervice, and he that could do much would certainly do it for himfelf. The continent of America was now very well known, and the fame of the greatnefs and wealth of the Mexican empire fpread every where. This infpired Velafquez with a fcheme of reducing fome part of this opulent country under his obedience. He pitched upon Hernando Cortes to command in this expedition, in which he certainly made a very right judgment. There was no man amongil the Spaniards, who to an adventur- ous difpofition, then common to them all, knew fo well to join a cool and fteady con- dudl, to gain love whilflhe prcfervcd refpecSt ;- not to (hiFt his fchemes according to cccalions, but perfifting uniformly in a well-judged de- lign, to make every inferior adtion and event fubfervient to it; to urge Rill forward ; to ex- F 3 tricate llii n. I 1;1 m 1 70 -^/2 Account 0/'/^^ European tricate himfclf out of difficulties into which he was brought by bold adtions, not by mean fubterfuges, but by adions yet bolder. This was the character of the man already in high reputation, whom Velafquez chofe to conquer for him. The embarkment was made at St. Jago de Cuba, and Cortes was to take in fome rein- forcements at the Havanna. But he was hardly departed, when Velafquez grew jealous of him J aAd, without conlidering that Cortes was of that heroic difpofition in which a blind obedience is rarely a principal ingredient, he took the iil-judged ftep of removing him fronfx the command of an army, which in fome fort might be coniidercd as his own, fmce he had much influence on the foldiers, and a con- iiderable part of the expence of the armament had been fupplied by himfclf. When this or- der, which was to deprive him of his com- mand, arrived to Cortes, he was not long be- fore he came to a refolution. He explained the whole matter to hisibldiersj he fliewed them how uncertain tiie intentions of Velafquez were, and how much all their hopes were li':e to be fruftrated by the incondancy of his difpofition. The event was prepared. The foldiers declared to a man, that they were fub- jeds only to the king of Spain, and knew no commander but Cortes. The army and the general. M Sei'Tlements in America. 71 general, thus bound to each other by their mu- tual difobeciience, iailed for Mexico. The empire of Mexico was at that time governed by a prince called Montezuma, the eleventii who reigned from the firfl monarch who had conquered the country. The em- pire was elective, and the merit of Montczmn.i had procured him the election. A prince of capacity and courage, but artful, hypocritical, and cruel. This empire, founded on conquell", was increafed by his vidories. .By himfelf, or by his generals, he had abfolutely fubdued le- veral kingdoms and provinces; feveral were made tributary, and others, which were not abfolutely fubdued, were influenced by his power to an entire obedience to his will. His armies were the bed in that part of the world, and prodigioufly numerous. In this fituation, and fo headed,was the empire of the Mexican?, when Cortes came to prove its flrength, with an army of no m^ore than five hundred foot, and not quite fixty horfe. He did not come a itranger into the country, to encounter a force which he dared to engage only becc ufe he vvas ignorant of it. He had long made every pof- fible enquiry from the Spaniards and Indians in every circumftance of its internal v/eaknefs or power; its allies, its enemies, and the in- terells which determined them to be allies or enemies. Weighing all thefe, and knowing that,alongwith great hopes, great dangers like- F 4 wife :':iB ^ I 72 A/2 Account of the European wife lay before Iiim, he made his retreat yet more dangerous by difobedicnceto the governor of Cuba; and when he landed on the conti- nent, he made it impofiible, for he burned his fliips. But tliough he had m-ade a retreat im- poffible, he had fomething more to encourage him to go forward, than the impolTibility of retiring. lie had great liopes that many of thofe llatcs, who were kept in a forced fub- jedion or aflaviflidrcadof IVlontezuma, would gladly turn this new and alarming appearance from thcmfelvcs againft that monarch, and, un- der the banner of thefe formidable ftrangers, arm thcmfclvesto fliake ofFthe ancient tyran- ny, which always appears the worfl", without forefeeingccnfcquences, to which moreciviliz- ed nations have frequently been as blind as they. It happened according to his expedations. The Zempoallans, a nation tributary to Montezuma, as foon as they had fufiicient proofs of the power of the Spaniards, at the expence of feveral of their neighbours, who attempted to oppofe their progrcfs, threw off the Mexican yoke, gladly put themfelves un- der the protection of Cortes, and earned it by the large reinforcements which they added to his army. Montezuma was foon made ac- quainted with thefe meafures. For, according to the cuftom of that well-regulated kingdom, he had pofis. fo Rationed, th;:t in a little time Jic had notice of whatever happened in the 4 remotQ Settlements in America. 73 remote parts of his empire. The difpatches which were fent him, were painted cloaths, exadlly reprcfenting every circumftance of the bufinefs of which he was to be informed ; the figures were interperfed with charadters to explain what muft neceflarily be wanting in the pidure. So far, but no farther, had this people advanced in the art of writing. As well informed as the emperor was of every particu- lar of this invafion, and of the dcfed:ion of his tributaries, he adted not at all conforma- bly to the greatnefs of his former exploits. He took the worll: method which a great prince ever did upon fuch an occafion, which was, to temporize. He let the Spaniards fee, by fome trifling arts which he ufcd to oppofe them, that he did not look upon them as his friends, and at the fame time neglected to adt againft them as fo formidable an enemy re- quired. They made daily advances in the country. His enemies were encouraged, his tributaries made infolent, and his fubjeds and allies utterly difpirited; whilft the Spa- niards, in a variety of engagements which they had with the petty princes of the coun- try, raifed their reputation by a train of vic- tories, and began to be confidered as invinci- ble. Cortes, like the great commander he was, took advantage of this irrefolute difpoli- tion in Montezuma, and ufed every poffible rncans to cherilh it He always fent back wh4t ■!| ill 'K'l "n ' '1* ■ 1* I i:l hi I: i i! f^ -^« Account o/"//^^ European what prilbners his new allies had taken, with prefents, and every profeffion of efteem and re- gard to their mafler, and with the ftrongefl: af- furance of a defire of preferving peace ; re- queuing to fee Montezuma, and to confer with him upon fume matters which he faid he had in charge to deliver to him from his mailer the emperor of the Romans. There was at that time a celebrated republic on the coaft of Mexico, towards the gulph, called Tlafcla. This people were faid to be fo powerful, as to be able to arm four hundred thoufand men. Powerful as they were, tho' not fubdued, they were yet awed by the great- nefs of the Mexicans. This awe, or perhaps a better policy, induced them to give a check to the Spaniards. But, in the manner of Mon- tezuma's proceedings, they would not oppofe them publicly, and therefore could not oppofe them eitedually. Some nations, on whom they had prevailed to fall upon the Spaniards, were over and over again defeated, together with thofe troops the Tlafcalans had fent clandeftinely to their afliftancc. At laft, by degrees, declaring themfclves more openly, as the danger preffed them, they drew a large army into the field, which was routed by the troops of Cortes ; few indeed in number, but infinitely fuperior in arms, and now grown fa- miliar with vidory. The confequencc of this battle was the alliance of the Tlrfcalans with their Settlements /;/ America. 75 their conqueror, which they entered into with thelefs ditiiculty, as they were to fervc againfl: the Mexicans, and might now hope to lerve with fuccefs. Cortes, however, did not chufe to trufl this untried and forced alliance too far, nor at the (lunc time to deprive himfelf entirely of the fuccourit produced. He there- fore took a middle courfe, and, accepting three thouland of dieir men, he held on his rout to Mexico, C H A P. X. 1 Cortes builds La Vera Cruz, He marches to Mexico, His reception by Montezuma. Cor^ tes imprifons Montezuma, That prince' sjira- tagem to gain his liberty j the confequence of it. BEFORE Cortes began his expedition to Mexico, he had built a fttong fortrefs at the principal port on the coaft, to open a paf- fage for fuccours, whenever his fuccefs fhould make intereft enough to procure them. This he called La Vera Cruz, and it has iince be- come a city, remarkable for the great tratfic carried on between thefe opulent countries and Old Spain. During the Tlafcalan war, in which the Spaniards lutFered fomethmg and had every thing to apprehend, Montezuma took npfleps, but ! i\ '■■M Vi if] m :l 76 y/// Account of t/je European but lay by, watching the event, in hopes that the Tlalcalans might defeat the troops of Cor- tes at their own expencej or, if the Spaniards proved vidorious, he might then have the meritof nothavingufcdhoflilities againft them. He loft both parties by this double conduft ; fuch an infidious neutrality betrays nothing but the weak policy of him who ufes it. How- ever, as a fair correfpondence ftill fubfifted be- tween them, he ufed every means he could to difl'uade Cortes from his propofed journey to Mexico. At laft he took a ftep, worfe judged than all the bad ones he had hitherto taken. . He fent to the Spaniards a very large and mag- nificent prefent, of every thing his dominions afforded valuable, but principally avaft quan- tity of gold and precious ftones ; offering at the fame time yet more, and perfuading them to return to their own country. If any per- fon in the army was unwilling before this to proceed, he now changed his mind. All were convinced that they ought to advance with fpeed to pofTefs the fountain of that wealth, of which this rich donation was but an inconfiderable rivulet. Montezuma, baffled in all his fchemes to keep the Spaniards at a diftance, having ufed himfelf to lliifting meafures until they were in a degree grown habitual, found Cortes at the gates of Mexico before he was refolved how he (hould receive him. It was now al- moft !ii: Settlements in America. yy mod too late for force. He threfore diflein- bled his concern with the beft grace he could, and received him with all the honours a mon- arch can beftow, when he would difplay his own magnificence and (hew his fenfe of ex- traordinary merit. Cortes was lodged in a pa- lace fpacious and grand, after the manner of the country. All his Spaniards were lodged with him j but he took care to place a train of artillery at his gate. Thus ported without a blow in the heart of this great city, the capital of the new world, he was for a while at a lols what meafures to purfue, for.fecuring himfelf in a conqueft of fuch importance. Having received more than he could rcafonably have alked, there was no caufe of complaint, and confequently no ad- vantage to be colourably taken. He had only to wait for feme of thofe critical incidents, upon whofe ufe all great matters depend, and without v/hich the greatefl genius muft be at a ftand. It was not long before one of thefe occurred. Two Tlafcalans arrived in difguife at Mexi- co, who brought him nn account that a ge- neral of Montezuma had attacked fome of his confederate Indians i that the garrifon of Vera Cruz had gone out to their defence ; and that, though the Mexicans were repulfed with lofs, the Spaniards were greatly endan- gered, many wounded, and one killed, whofe head. ^ii i{ ; ,'■ «v 78 An Account of the European head, by the order of Montezuma, was carried througli all the cities and villages of their country, to dcftroy the reverence in which they held the Spaniards, and to undeceive them in a notion they had conceived, that thefe Grangers were immortal. This intel- ligence alarmed Cortes. He knew that opi- nion was one of the ftrongeft fupporters of his little force ; that things of this kind never flop at their beginnings; that Montezuma, while he carelTed him in his city, was disjoin- ing his allies, and diftreffing his garrifon abroad ; and that no time was to be loft in dilatory counfels; that he muft keep alive the memory of his former explots. He therefore took a refolution worthy of a brave man, in a difficulty made for his capacity. He armed himfelf in the heft manner, and with five of the moft faithful and heft refol- ved of his officers, wentdiredly to the palace of Montezuma. Thirty of his men attend- ed at fome diftance. Guards of Spaniards were placed at the principal avenues to the palace. It was ufual for Montezuma's guards to withdraw, out of refpedt, when he had any conference with Cortes. On this occafion, as foon as he was admitted to audience, he charged the emperor with the outrages com- mitted by his orders, in terms of great refent- ment. The emperor difavows them. But Cortes, Sfttlemf.nts in America. 79' Cortes, after having paid him the compli- ment of not fuppofing him capable of fo mean a diHlmulation, alTiircd him, that he was himfelf entirely fatisfied of his inno- cence ; but that others Jiad fears which were not eafily removed : that, to faticfy th*^ Spani- ards, he muft give fomc folid proof of his confidence in them ; which he could effec- tually do no otherwife than by his removing without delay to their quarters. A requcft of this nature ftartled Montezuma, who never was ufed to any voice but that of the humblell fubmiflion. However, he law plainly that Cortes did not make fo extraordinary a requeft but with a refolution of making it be com- plied with. He faw the neceflity, and he yielded to it. Thus was the metropolis of a vaft and powerful empire, inhabited by an innumer- able multiude of warlike people, entered without refiftance by an handful of men, who came to overturn its liberty. And thus was one of the greatefl: princes on earth, re- nowned for his wifdom and valour, feized in his palace, in the midft of his capital, at noon- day, and carried prifoner, wit! out noife or vio- lence, by fix perfoiis, to be difpofed of at their pleafurc. . The people, confounded and enraged to find one whom they always ufed to revere as a god, treated in this unworthy manner, 5 liirrounded 1 I 11 1 80 -^« Account <5,^//6^ European - furrounded the quarters of the Spaniards to punifh this facrilege, and refcue their captive prince. But Cortes, who well underilood the confequence of the fteps he had taken, was not alarmed. He knew that he had now in his hands an engine, which was capable of doing any thing. Montezuma went out to appeafe the people, aiTured them that he was there cf choice, and (which was true) that the Spaniards were wanting in no inftance of refpcd: due to his character and dignity. This appeafed and difperfed the people. But Montezuma, whofe unfortunate cir- cumiliances obliged him to ad: as an inftru- msnt to his own captivity, could e^joy no reft, though allowed the attendance of the pricipal oiiicers of his court, and indulged by the Spaniards in every thing but his li- berty. Long revolving, he at laft contrived a fcheme, 'which he judged, without his appearing to occur with them, migiit alarm his fubjects with a fenfe of- their danger, or oblige the Spaniards to depart b-^ the reafon- ablencfs of his propofals. He had always liberty of going abroad with a guard of Spa- niards under pretence cf doing him honour. He now delired to hold a council of the ftates of his empire, that in concurrence they might faiisfy Cortes and his ailbciates in the ampleft manner. This council was conve- ned. Settlements m America. 8i ned> in which Montezuma, in a premedita- ted fpeech, fet forth the origin of his nation ; the prophecies extant among them, that a people of the fame race fliould arrive, \o whom this empire fhould be fubjed; that the people were now arrived who were the obje(S of thofe prophecies,. and fprung from this origin, to whom the gods had deftined univerfal empire, and who, by their great accomplifhments and furprizing bravery, me- rited their high deflination : then he fo- lemnly declared himfelf tributary to the em- peror of the Romans ; he exhorted his people on their part to a due obedience ; and ended by telling them, that, as he had himfelf pre- pared a prefent from his treafures worthy of this emperor, he expected that every one of them, in proportion to his ability, would teftify his loyalty to their new mafter, and his regard to the merit of his general and thofe brave men that attended him, that they might be .<^nabled to depart fpeedily to their own country, with that opinion of their bre- thren the Mexicans, which their affection to them, and their obedience to their common mafter, defer ved. At firft a dead lilcnce fucceedcd this ha- rangue -y the whole aircinbly were confounded and Ilruck dumb with grief, indignation and furprife. Then followed a mixed cry, as each perfon' was afFed:ed by feme particular part Vol. I. G of I f fl'i 1 -;' ii il 1 82 Au Account of the European of the gen ^ral calamity. The luftre of their empire was tarniflied, their religion to be pro- fained, their freedom furrendered, their empe- ror degraded ; what was worfe, degraded by himfelf ; could they believe their ears ? Was it Montezuma who had fpoken in fuch a manner ? ; The defign of Montezuma was until this moment a lecret to Cortes; he was furprifed and fomething chagrined at an artifice., the invention of which he now penetrated very clearly. But his furprife did not confound or perplex him in the part he faw it was proper for him to ad:. Without any embarralT- ment, he feconded the harangue of Monte- zuma by a fpeech, which was well inter- preted, wherein he ftrongly urged the propri- ety, and infinuated the neceflity, of an entire obedience to their prince and an imitation of his condumG m « i lA Dili m I H ^4 An Account of tJoe Europeam fome words had dropt from a Mexican con- cerning the practicability of deftroying one of thefe caufeways. From this word (for he heard no more) this watchful and fagacious commander judged of the whole contrivance. Without however taking notice of it pub- licly, he immediately orders two brigantines to be built to fecure his retreat, if a retreat fhould prove the wifefl meafure. In the mean lime he kept a ftrid: difcipline in his army ; and to prcferve reverence from the Indians, he prohibited their approaching his quarters when his men were afleep, and feverely pu- nifhed thofe of his foldiers who flept out of the times and places appointed for that pur- pofe. All this while no preparations for his departure. C H A P. XI. ^he attempts of Montezuma to make the Spani^ ards leave Mexico', The arrival of Narvaez to take the command from Cortes, Cortes leaves Mexico, Defeats and takes Narvaez prifoner, The Spaniards in Mexico bejieged. ' Cortes raifes thejicge, Montezuma is killed. MONTEZUMA, fick with impatience of his confinement, and feeing that he daily loft his authority amongft the peo- ple by the pufillanimous appearance of his 4 conduct. Settlements in America. 85 condudt, as foon as he perceived that any fpirited adion on his fide would be feconded with equal fpirit by his fubjedts, roufed his dormant magnanimity, and, in fpite of the condition he was in, fent for Cortes, and addrefled him in this manner : " Cortes, the defires of my fubjedVs, my own dignity, and the commands of my gods, require that you fhould depart my empire. You are fenfible how much I valued your friendfhip, and how effedlually I have lliewn that I valued it. But, after fo many profeffions of good-will upon your fide, and fo many proofs of it up- on mine, after every pretence of bufinefs is over, wherefore do yon delay your return ? 1 have yielded homage to your mafter, I am ready to obey him ; I have fent him prefents • (or fhall I call it a tribute ?) worthy of myfelf and of him : your whole army is loaded, even to an inconvenience, with their darling gold. Would they have more ? they (hall have more. But then, when they (hall have fpoken tneir largeft wi(hes, and fatisfied their moft eager defires, I infifl: upon it that they depart im- mediately ; or they may find, in fpite of the condition I am in, of which condition, for your fake and for my own, I (hall fpe'-.k but little, that Montezuma has yet courage enough to vindicate his honour, and friends in Mexico who will not fail to revenge the wrongs he fliall fufFer." G 3 Cortes * i:fi % '4 li t# ^« Account ^ if/^^ European Cortes perceived fomething of an unufual' refolution and fternnefs in the emperor's countenance whilft he fpoke. He therefore fcnt orders, before the interpreter began to » explain his fpeech, that the Spaniards Should iland to their arms, and wait his commands. His anfwer v/as refolute, but not fuch as to drive the emperor ' to defpair. He lamented the jealoufy which their common enemies had occafioned; that, for his part, he was fe- curcd from dl fear, by his own courage and the bravery of his own troops; but, fince he was b unfortunate as to find he could not longer enjoy the honour of a convcrfation he had fuch reafon to efteem, conlitlentiy with the emperor's repofe, he would depart as foon » r.s fhips could be built, for on landing he had been obliged to burn his own. I'his anfwer foothed Montezuma i he rcfumed his good iiumour, he promifed to load his army with gold at his departure, and gave immediate orders that every thing fliould be prepared for fitting out the fhips in the fpeedieft and am- pleftmanne.. But Cortes gave orders, which were full as well obeyed, to the perfon he appointed for the equipment, to delay it upon every poiiible pretence. He expctted daily the return of the mellengers he had lent into Spain, to follicit his pardon and fuccours, with the continuance of the command . ''■■ • ., Whilil ii ' nil ill 1 1 Settlements in America. 9>y *^ Whilft he was entertained with thefe ex-' pedtations, and with finding out pretences to defer his departure, an exprefs arrived from Sandoval, his governor at I..a Vera Cruz, in- forming him of the arrival of eighteen fl^ips, in which was an army of eight hurulred foot, and two hundred horfe, under the command of one Narvaez, who was fent hy his old enemy Velafquez, the goverroi* of Cuba, to fuperfede him in the command, to treat him as a rebel, and fend him in chains to Cuba. The povernor fcized the meiTenf-ers, who were lent by Narvaez to require' him to furrcnder, and fent them prifoners with this account to Cortes. There never was a time wherein the firmnefs and capacity of this commander in chief were put fo (Irongly to the proof. On one hand, here was an army in weapons and courage equal to his own, in numbers vaflly fuperior, and aboyp all, ftrength- ened with the name o^ royal authority. The Mexicans, ill-atredled before, would rejoice in this opportunity to fall upon him. On the , other hand, mrfl he refign the conquells he had made with fuch infinite toils and hazards into the hands of his mortal enemy, and in return to bear the name and receive the pu- nilhment of a traitor ? There was little room, to hope for an accommodation. The thoughts of a furrender were intolerable. One way only remained, to conquer Narvaez. His own G 4 courage III I i!' 88 jIn Account of tie European courage and condud; his foldiers, habituated to vidtory; and endeared to him by common dangers and triumphs; his reputation, and the fignal providence which always attended him, would coiiibat upon his fide. Above all, no time was to be loft in fruitlefs counfels. He fcnt anexprefs to Sandoval, his governor in La Vera Cruz, to evacuate that place, and join him in his route with what men he had. He aflembled his forces, and found them to a man attached to his interefts, and ready to hazard every thing in fupport of them. He left eiglity men in Mexico, picked from his troops, recommending them to Montezuma, and him to them. With this fmall garrifon he dared to entruft Mexico and all his vaft hopes there ; but the imprifoned emperor was himfelf a garrifon, from the reverence his fub-. jeds bore him. Before he fet out, he releafed the prifoners which Sandoval had fent him, ufing the feverity of his officer to difplay his own clemency. He carefied them extremely^ loaded them with prefents for themfelves and the principal officers of Narvaez's army, and did every thing to create himfelf a party there by his generofity. He fent at the fame time very advantageous terms of accommo- dation to the general himfelf, but took care to follow and fecond his ambaffadors with all the power he could raife. This, with San- doval's reinforcement, did not amount to. three \ Settlements in America. 89 three hundred men; but with thcfe, and fome confederate Indians, he marched with all imaginable diligence to Narvaez's quarters. Narvaez, elated with the fuperiority of his army, would hearken t*^ no terms, though he was much preffed to it by his principal officers, who difcovered plainly that this quarrel could only end in the ruin of their party, or that of the Spanifh intereft in Mexico. Mean time Cortes, little incumbered with baggage, and Icfs with a dilatory genius, advanced by forced marches. He was but a fmall diftance from the enemy's quarters, when the rains came on, and, as ufual in that country, fell very heavily. Cortes, knowing that the ill difpofitions of the iky were circumflances favourable to afurprize, inviting to defperate enterprizes, and that they are always leaft prejudicial to thofe in mo- tion, having perfedt intelligence oJ^' the dif- pofition of Narvaez's army, andhav^jgdifpofed his troops in fuch a manner as not to fall upon one another, and to adt in concert, he ordered them, when they fhould enter the town where the enemy was pofted, to keep in clofe to the houfes, that they might not fuffer by the ar- tillery, which was fo placed as to play upon the middle of the ftreet. Having made this difpofition, he marched to attack the camp, on one of thofe gloomy and tempeftuous nights. Though he directed every thing with the ut- moll m I ■f I 90 -^;7 Account ^//^^ European 1110(1 fecrccy, Narvaez had intelligence of his approach, but he laughed at it j and, notun- dei (landing the nature of a prudent raftinefs, could nc t believe that Cortes would make fuch an attempt in fuch a feafon, but went to lleep, without taking fufficient care that it fhouldnot be difturbed. Security in the general is ea- iily followed by that of every one elfe. Cor- tes afl'aulted the town in three bodies, and' whilft every one in the adverfe party ran in . confufion to his arms, and oppofed without command or uniformity as each man was at- tacked, the vvhole army was routed. The quarters of Narvaez were attacked by Cortcs's divifion, and the men routed there as elfe- where. Narvaez himfelf, fliamefully taken ia bed, fell into his hands. *' Value yourlelf, faid he, my lord Cortes, on your fortune in making me your prilbner!" But Cortes, with a fmile of indignation, anfwered, ** That he thou^i;ht this by far the leaftadtion he had per- formed, fince he came into the new world." When the morning came on, the difperfed army of Narvaez began to form into bodies, and to difcover the inconfiderable force which the night before had defeated them. Their jfirft motion, diftradted with Ihame and anger, was to fall upon the conquerors, and recover the honour they had loft. But, when they found that their general was a prifoncr, their artillery feized, and the advantageous poft 5 they Settlements m America. gr they had occupied in the enemy's polVeflion, and numbers amonr-ilthemlclves v/cll affc(5ted to Cortes, they Hikned at lait to his propofals, rcccomended as they were by tlie pohte and infinuating behaviour of which he was maftcr, and that open and unbouudcd frcncrolity he /hewed to every one. They all eiilillcd under his banner, and agreed to Ihare his fortune. Thus did this accident, which leemcd to threaten inevitable dellrudion to the affairs of Cortes, prove the mod: effectual method ot re- floring them to an excellent condition, wholly by means of the wifdom of his meafurcs, and of that vigour and adivity with which he pur- fued them. His army now confifled of above athoufand men, after replacing his garrifon at La Vera Cruz, in which fortrefs he left Nar** vaez a prifoner. t This vidlory, and the reinforcement it pro- cured, cams at a moft: critical time; for hardly had he begun to adjull: matters for his return to Mexico, when an exprcfs arrived that his affairs there were in a moil dangerous condi- tion. Alvarado, whom he had left to com- mand at his departure, though a brave and able man, had too great a contempt for the Indians, and too little a difcernment for the nice circumffances he was in, to manage with that juft mixture of iirmnefa and yielding, by which Cortes had hitherto fo balianced the hopes and fears of the Mexicans, that he ne- v' -. vcr 1 1 ^!f . 1 rill I y 92 An Account of the European vcr gave them an entire opportunity of know- ing their own ilrength. This man, either difcovering, or pretending at lead to difcover, that fome of the chief men in the city, who were met in the great temple, were affcmbled to confult how to expel the Spaniards, fud- denly furrounded the place, and murdered all the perfons of rank who compofed the afTembly. This cruel and precipitate adlion fired the whole people. Enraged at what they had al- ready fuftered, and what they faw plainly they were yet to expedt, their late ignominious patience, the fear of the Spanifh arms, their inbred rcfpe<^ for Montezuma, were all loft in their fury. Should they ftay, until on va- rious pretences they were all butchered ? Mon- tezuma, either forgetful of his office and dignity, or unable to exert it, could protect them no longer. Gods and men allowed them to defend themfelves, and arms were in their hands. The flame, fo furious in the capital, fpread itfelf with equal fvt^iftnefs and rage over all the country, and all were vowed and hearty for the deftru(^ion of the Spa- niards. In this extremity, Alvarado (hewed as much bravery as he had done imprudence in bringing it on. He redoubled his watch on the emperor j he obliged him to exert the remains of his authority in his favour, and, fortifying his quarters in the beft manner the . . time Settlements tn America. 93 time would admit, he Aood out the florm and repulfed the Mexicans in feveral attacks. But their fury, far from relenting at the fre- quent and bloody repulfes they met, redoub- led by their loflcs. They exercifed the be- fieged, day and night, with the mod: vigorous affaults ; and to cut off their retreat, found means to burn the brjgantines which Cortes had built. Cortes, who was obliged to make fo rapid a march from Mexico, to defend himfelf againft Narvaez, was compelled by an equal neceffity to march from Zempoalla to Mexico, to re- lieve his forces and preferve his moft eflcntial interefts there. The Mexicans, like all peo- ple who have not reduced the art of war to fome rule, fuffered their eagernefs in purfuing one advantage to let another material one lie negledled. For, whilft they puflicd on the fiege of the Spanirti quarters with great vigour and diligence, they took no effectual care of the avenues to the city, or to cut off all fuc- cours from the befieged. Cortes entered the city without refiftancc. He foon routed thofe who inverted the poft of the Spaniards, and brought them a relief of which they flood in the greateft need. The arrival of Co formidable a body of troops held the Mexicans fome time in fuf- pencej but, in fpiteof the fatal error of ad- mitting them into their city, which had now inex- m ■i 'Hi 'h ill; ! 94 -^«Accoui^T o/" //6ncans in the promilcuous and undiltinguiilied carnage of the preced- ing night. For fome time they were con- H 3 founded rejoming ^m :■ vii ■•:|i "I «' ':a V ! I I 102 yl/i Account off/je European founded and Anick dumb with horror at this fight; their fentiments of loyalty returned; their monarch, almoil their god, lately pro- faned by their own violence ! now their hands imbrued in the blcod of his children ! A general deadnefs and conflcrnation enfued, I'hey muil not add to their impiety by ne- gledting the obfequies due to the deceafed. In the mean time the Spaniards, favoured by this circumflance, purfucd their retreat with- out moleftation. But this lecurity lafted a fliort time: all the allies of the Mexicans, al- ready in arms and divided into feveral flying parties, hung over tiic iirmy <'f Cmtes, and narrafled it without intcrmiihon ; they attack- ed him in front, in rear, in ihmk, by open force, by ambufcade, by furprize. Provilion grew extremely fcarcc on his march ; and now it was that Cortes Ihewcd a ill mneis un- der his lolles, a vit^ilance a[>-ain(l inceffant at- tacks fo various in time and manrtcr, a. id a courage which enabled him to repulfe them, wdiich have been exceeded by nothing in hiftory. The principal army of the Mexicans, whilft he contended W'ith inch diiFicuUics irom the Hying parties, took another route, and pour- ina; in three columns niLo a nlain, where their number might be of mull avail, they covered the whole of an extended valley, vvhicli lay dirc'^lly in his road to TLifcala ; this was called i ■ ■ ■ the Settlements in America. 103 the valley of Otumha. They concealed their purpofes with all imaginable care. To blind the Spaniards, they ordered feveral villages to give them a friendly reception. But Cortes did not fuffer this to relax his vigilance, not allowing himielf tc be deceived by any ap- pearances of friendfliip ihewn by men, whofe intercfl: it was not to be his friends j convinced, as he was, that a furprize of all tilings was indeed very prejudicial to the affairs of a ge- neral, but that it was mortal to his reputa- tion. He drew indications of their fenti- ments towards him, from the manners, the geftures, and the countenances of thofe he treated with in his march ; and, perceiving that many ihewed unufual (igns of content and ex- ultation, he judged, not without reafon, that it could not be favourable to him. He therefore difpofed every thing in fuch a manner as that his troops were neither difordered, nor his courage abated, when from an eminence they difcovered the extended plains of Otumba darkened as far as the eye could reach with the myriads of their enemies. The Spaniards, animated by their fuperiority in arms and their former vid:ories, and the Tlafcalans, by the prefence of fuch allies and their hatred of the Mexican name, behaved with great bravery and fuccefs ; neither v/ere the Mexi- cans inferior in animofity and courage. But it was Cortes himfelf who determined the H 4 fortune I f^ ':! I* 104 -^// Account ^/'//^f EuRopi AN fortune of the day. Nothing he ever heard 'Was either forgot, or fufi'ercd to be an ufelefs burthen upon his memory. lie remembered to have heard from the Mcxicanb, that the fortune of the field with them ever followed that of the royal fiandard. Tiiis was a net of gold, elevated on a r>ilded Half, and Ipl.n- did With plumes of a thouiand colours. Great exigencies alone brought it into the field, and it was entrulled to Done but the care of the general, who fat on a chair fumptucAilly a- dorncd, and fupported on men's Ihouldiirs in the center- of the armies, to view the whole •-battle, to be a v/itnefsof the behaviour of all his roops, and to give orders as the occafion required. Cortes, pretending to make his principal effort in a quarter remote from tlie llandard, employed all his foot in that fervice j" but, heading ihehorie Limfclf with fome of his braved officers, informina: them of his defign, and animating them with the hopes of a fpeedy decifion, he flung himfelf with fury againll the part that feemed leafi: dillant from the center. After difperfing and over- turning whole battalions, they penetrated to the chofen body of nobles, who guarded the general and fraridard. Here the reiiiiance was greater, out it was foon overcome, and Cor- tes's own lance met the general, who was overthrown, and the Ifandard taken. All the other itandar4s were llruck diredlly, and the Mexicans Y ' Settj.fments /;/ America. 105 Mexicans fled every way which their fear and confuiion hurried them. They loft twenty thouland men in this battle, and a Ipoil infi- nite. This vidory gaves Cortes an undiliurb- ed paflage to Thilcala, and a welcome recep- tion amongft: his allies there. , .. . • •:■.■ . ■/ CHAP. XIII. Spaniards fent agahijl Cortes join htm. He marches again to Mexico. A conf piracy a- gainjl his lije baffled. LET us now turn our eyes to Mexico. No Iboner were the Spaniards departed, than Guatimozin ordered the city to beforti- lied in Tuch a manner as as to fecure himfclf againfl their entrance a third time. He found th^t a thoufand Tlafcaians were killed irl this retreat, upwards of two hundred Spaniards (the grcatell lofs they had yet in America), and a great number of horfes. He cut off the heads of the Spaniards, and of their horfes, no lefs dreaded, and fcntthem to all the neigh- bouring nations, as an infallible token of his vicloryj as a fure proof that he was refolved to keep no meafures with the enemy, and to ilir them up to iheir utter deflrudion. He fuccecded fo well, that numberlefs petty na- tions, well inclined to the Spaniards, fell off, and ■ 1^ i If I io6 y^/i Account of tie European and many that were wavering were confirmed in the Mexican intcrcft. By this means feve- ral adventurers, that from the fame of Cortes had landed to join him, were cut to pieces be- fore they gained his army. But the negotia- tion to which Guatimozin bent all his force, was that with Tlafcala, becaufe this was Cor- tcs's chief ftrength. He fent large prefents, and ambaffadors of ability, with excellent in- llrudtions, to detach them from the Spaniih intcrcft; who executed their commiflion fo well, that they caufed a great divifion in their favour in the councils of that republic. But Cortes,making his military exploits fubfervicnt to his negotiations and his ikill in negotiation affiliant to his exploits, bafHed them at length with great addrefs, but not without great dif- ficulty ; and the Tlafcalans wer^ confirmed in •his friendfliip. Whilft a general has an obedient and well- united army, he has an engine in proper order to work in his defigns, and he can then exe- cute them with eale ; but the greateft trial of his capacity is to defend himfelf againft a fo- reign enemy and wreftle with a domeftic fe- dition at the fame time. The foldiers of Nar- vaez, fince Cortes's return from Mexico, where they were obliged to leave fo confiderable a part of their booty, now hopelefs of the expe- dition, began to mutiny, and demanded to be fent home diredly to Cuba; nor were his other 4 troops Settlements in America. 107 troops free from fomc part of the inri:(flion. Whatever could be done by prcfcrving them in adtion, witiiout too great a fatigue j what- ever a fcafonablc yielding, without iorfeiting authority; in fliort, whatever an able com- mander could do in fuch circumllancesi was done by Cortes, without any other Qii' and drench it in the blood of Its unfortunate inhabitants j and, confidering what fuoernatural exertions of flren<^th had been frequently flicwn by a dcipairing people, in the laft convulfive flrus(^le for their reli- gion, life, and property, he made ufe of the advantages he had gained to recommend the terms of accommodation, which he refolved to fend into the befieged. He required no more than the acknowledgment of the em- peror of the Romans, and the conlirmation of his right of fucceeding ceded to him by Montezuma, and long acknowledged by the moil: authentic prophecies of the nation, and fuch a fecurity as might fettle the performance of this. Guatimozin, who had done all that bravery and military Hull could perform to fave his country, finding the means moil fuited to his years and inclinations unfaccefsful, though full of that noble pride which bccomec and fup- ports the royal character, was liow as willing .,-..,. I 2 'to m II 1 1 ' l('M: ill.!. ii6 -<^;; Account o/"/^^ European to fave it by the milder and fiirer way of accommodation. But the priefts, who had much influence in the council, either fearful of lofing their power, or through an honefV, though blind, zeal, denounced vengeance from their gods upon all who could think of fub- miflion, and promifed a certain fuccefs to thofe who flood up in defence of their religion. They had great weight j and the whole coun- cil, contrary to the opinion of the emperor, became unanimous in refufing all terms. Gua- timozin, who yielded to the general fenti- ment with regret, and faw the unhappy con- fequence but too clearly, refolved to fall with the fame fpirit that he had lived. " Then, faid he, fincc you are determined to hazard every thing, prepare to adt in a manner wor- thy of that refolution. Me, you fhall never find wanting to you, or to myfelf. Thefe are the laft good terms you are to expe the :i I ll In I'U. I l.i I!!' III 126 -^« Account o/"/^^ European the bafe ufage he received, either endeavoured to ftir up commotions, or was fufpeded of fuch a defign -, and Cortes, being obliged to fubmit the humanity of his nature to the cruel neceffity of politics, ordered him to be executed. As for Cortes himfelf, neither his great fuccefs, nor the vaft treafures which he fent into Spain, could fecure him from his ene- mies } by whofe unwearied zeal for his ruin, he faw himfelf fuperfeded in the government of a country, conquered by himfelf with fo much toil and danger, and which in any other hands had never been effeded. He died in Spain, having received a title and fome other rewards from Charles the Vth, for whom he had acquired an empire ; but by his own de- fire he was carried to Mexico, and buried there. It was the policy of Spain at that time to give great encouragement, and extenfive grants, to all adventurers} but when any great difcovery was made, orccnquellatchieved, they always fent another to reap the benefit of the firft adventurer's labours. This was a policy un- doubtedly good with regard to one object, the fecurity of the conquered country; but, like all unjuft policy, it had altogether as ill an effe(5t another way; the new governors, hun- gry and rapacious, and fcarce confidering the Indians as human creatures, murdered vaft numbers of them; and, exhaufiing them by 4 an m Settlements /« America. 127 an intolerable flavery, in hopes of a fudden gain, they depopulated the country in fuch a manner, as to abate very much the advantages which Spain might have derived from fo ex- tenfive a conqueft. Cortes himfelf v^ras not free from the imputation of cruelty ; the bi- ihop of Chiapa. a good man, who was Cent purpofely to m-uKe an enquiry into complaints of this kind, gives a very unfavourable repre- fentation of his conduit. He accufes him of having deflroyed four millions of people in New Spain. It is certain, whether by his connivance or not, but partly by the neceflity of war and partly by the avarice and info- lence of the conquerors, vaft numbers of the Indians perished : but, on the other hand, it appears that the biihop of Chiapa was an ene- my to Cortes; which, though a good man otherwife, muft detradi: from his credit not a little, efpecially as other hiftorians differ from, him in this point. Bcfides, 1 am well fatis- fied, that great allowance muft be made for exaggerations in the number of inhabitants thefe countries are faid to have contained. More populous, I believe, they were than the entirely uncivilized parts of North or South America ; but it can hardly be thought they were fo full of people as they are reprcr- fented to have been, if wc can truft to any of the rules by which we ufually judge in this matter, nor confcqucntly could they have fuf- .?/^vu, , . fered «'■ (' >M M m 1'^ i r I 'li 128 An Account of the European fered fuch lofles in fo fliort a time, without being utterly depopulated, which certainly they were not. Since I am on the fubjedt of thefe cruelties, and lince they are things fo frequently men- tioned, I cannot help obferving, that the ac- counts are by no mTians founded upon any to- lerable methods of calculation, but thrown down at random in a declamatory way, with a defign yet further to blacken the Spanifh ad- venturers ', men certainly wicked enough, though reprcfented without any heightening colours. The truth is, that great numbers, perhaps almoft as great as are charged, have really perifhed ; but then it was in a feries of years, by being reduced to flavery in the mines, and other laborious occupations, to which the Americans are of all people by their confti- tutions the moft unequal, and by being dif- heartened by a ftate of unpolitical and defpe- rate flavery, the greateft enemy in the world to an increafe. There is a notion likewife pretty common, that thefe cruelties were committed partly, if not wholly, upon a religious account, and at the inftigation of the priefts ; but in reality it was quite otherwife. This unfortunate peo- ple found their only refuge in the humanity which yet remained in the clergy, and the influence they had on the Spaniards; though the clergy, who went on thefe adventures, were I i- li 'i m 'Settlements m AMERicA. 129 were generally not the moll zealous for religi- on, and were, as the Spanifh clergy commonly are, ignorant enough, and fo little principled in the fpirit of the religion they profefled, or indeed in the nature of the human mind, that they could boaft, as a very f;lorious thing, that one of them had baptized leveral thoufands of Indians in one day, without the help of any miracle for their converlion, and with a degree of good life, which, to fay the beft, was no- thing more' than common^ But of any mur- ders committed by them, or at their inftiga- tioji, I find little or no proof at all. ; ■>ms[K.. CHAP. XV. muv:>-^ .hL:i ■ ■ ' f, ThefchemeofPizarro and Almagrofor the con^ qiiejl of FefUi Their char adders. The ft ate of the empire of Peru at that time. The tak^ ' ing of the yncii Atabalipa. i. r BESIDES Mexico, there was but one country in America which in any fort deferved the name of a civilized kingdom, and that was Peru. During the latter part of the Mexican war, the Spaniards became ac- quairitfd with the fame and wealth of this Country.' After Pedraria was appointed go- vernor over the conquefts of Balboa, his lieu- tenants reduced all that large tract which is - Vol. I. K now \-m ■i'''i I Pi 130 yift Account qft^e European now called Tcrra-firrna, committing barbari- ties worthy the man under whofe authority they afted. . Jh mongft all the adventurers who aidled ujider his commifiion, none have made themfelves fo famous as thofe of whom we are going to fpeak. As if (it wcjfe deftined that every thing in this new sJ^orld fliould be carried on in a new iind extraordinary manner, three citizens of Panama,, p-ivate men, and advanced in years, -undertook the conqueft of Peru, a country kQ,owTi :to them only by report, but by the fame report faid to be rich, extenfive, popu- lous, and powerful. The names of thefe ad- venturers were, Francis Pizarro, Almagro, and Ferdinand Lucque^, a priefl, and a man of confiderable fortune. They entered into •this engagement in the moft folemn manner. Lucques faid mafs, an oath of mPlual fidelity was plighted, the facramcnt was divided into "three parts, Lucques took one, and delivered the other two to his confederates. The firft expedition, in confequence of this confede- racy, was made under extraordinary difficul- ties and with very little fuccefs. Pizarro, who commanded, fpent two years in the ftiort navigation between Panama and the Northern extremity of Peru, a voyage now made frequently in two weeks, frnce the winds and currents are known. He landed, and found that the wealth of the country was a as ^I Settlements in America. 131 as great as he imagined; and that the refift- ance he was like to meet in endeavouring to polTefs himfelf of it, would be full as confi- derable. This he put to the proof very ear- ly, by taking the rafh ftep of attacking the inhabitants at his firft landing; and thus let- ting them fee all at once the worft of his in- tentions. The difficulties he met with, and the refinance his ill condud: occaiioned in the countryj obliged him to return without effed:- ing any thing cohfiderable. But neither he jior his aflbciates, after fuch a length of time or fuch greatnefs of expence, were deterred from the profecution of their fcheme. It was agreed that Pizarro fhould go into Spain, to obtain an exemption from the government of Pedraria, and to get for themfelves the grant of whatever they fhould conquer. Pizarro (who, though not the monied man, was the foul of the enterprize) was to be chief go- vernor, with the property of two hundred leagues along the fea-coaft. Almagro they agreed fhould be adelantado, or king's lieu- tenant; and Lucques, who was a prieft, was to be firft bifliop and protedtor of the In- dians. The other profits of tlie enterprize were to be equally divided. But as this was an enterprize of ambitious avarice, there was little faith obferved. Pizarro follicited only his own fuit in Spain, and obtained for him- felf alone the property of the lapd, the go- K 2 vernment. ■\ iIbH P:"^ "J! ■ .J M 'i¥ns^':i m r i iwm 1 f- : ,1 J •' r ' )l! »' ■ ij' ■ ^iJ # ■; ill l.i. 132 vf/2 AcccuN r ^/'/>6^ European vernment, the lieutenancy, every thing which he was capablt as a layman of taking ; A]lma- gro was forgot, and to Lucquez was left his eventual bifhoprick. On his return, this too early difcovery of breach of faith was like to ruin all j but Pi- zarro, who knew how to retreat as well as to advance, yielded up to Almagro every thing he could reafonably deiire ; and nothing now ob- ftruded the embarkation, which, after all, did not exceed one hundred and eighty men. Before we proceed, it may not be unnccef- fary to fay fomething of the perfons who had the condudt of this great undertaking. Francis Pizarro was the baftard fon of a gentleman of good family. His education was as irregular as his birth, he could not even read ; but then he had a grei^t deal of that capacity and fit- nefs for the w orld, which is obtained by much ftruggling in it, and by being early made de- pendent on a man's own induftry. Hardened to life, dextrous in affairs, never fetting his heart upon a part of his defigns whilft the to- tal was at flake, of a penetrating fagacity into the nature of man, artful, bold, diflembling, tand cruel. Almagro had likewife enough of ; tiiat defperate bravery and toughnefs of body ;and mind, fo ncceilary in a defign of this vfort. in their birth there was no confiderable -iditFerence. Pizarro was a baftard, Almagro -a ibuadling, Pizarro owed nothing to edu- ttar/aiffi!)'/' cation i \ % Mil' Settlements /V? America. 133: cation j Aim agro depended wholly upon his. natural parts. But Almagro, bicd from his , infancy in the camp, had all the foldierly qualities, patient, laborious, and temperate j far from the craft and dirfimuiation of Pi- zarro, he was all openncfs and generofity, knew not what avarice was, and his cruelty, the common deftemper of all the adventurers in this part of the world, was mujh mitigated by the intcrcourfe he had v/ith an liidian woman, who, by degrees, foftencd the rigour of a veteran feafoned to blood, into fome compafliop to her unhappy countrymen. The empire of Peru was governed by a race of kings, which they called yncas. The twelfth in fucceUion was then upon the throne. The firll of this race, named Mango Capac, was a prince of great genius, with that mix- ture of enthufialnirf which fits a man to make great changes, and to be the legillator of a forming nation. He obferved that the peo- ple of Peru were naturally fuperiiitious, and had principally a veneration for the fun. He therefore pretended that he was defcended from that luminary, whofe authority he was deligned to bear, and whofe worihip he was by that authority to enforce. By this per- fuafion, eafily received by a credulous peo- ple, he brought a large territory under his jurifdidionj a larger was fubdued by his arms ; but he made ufe both of the deceit K 3 and :XM 134 '^^ Account of the European and the force for the moft laudable pitr- pofes. He united and civilized the difperfed and barbarous people ; he bent them to laws and arts j he foftened them by the inftitu- tions of a benevolent religion; in (hort, there was no part of America in which agri- culture and the arts were fo muv h and fo well cultivated, nor where the people were of a milder nature, and more ingenuous man- ners. The yncas, defcended as they ima- gined, from fo facred an original, were them- felves refpedted as divinities. In none, even of the Afiatic countries, was there fo entire an obedience to the royal authority. But here it was rather filial than flavifh. As to the charader of the Peruvians themfelves, they feem to have had a ftrong refemblancfi to the ancient Egyptians : like them, under a fky conftantly ferene, they were a people induftri- ous and ingenious ; cultivating the arts, but "without bringing them to perfedtiou; in- clined to fuperftition, and of a foft unwar- like temper. The ynca Guaiana Capac having conquered the province of Quito, which now makes a part of Spanifh Peru, to fecure himfelf in the pofleflion, married the daughter of the natural prince of the country. By her he had a fon called Atahualp?., or Atabalipa. By a former tnarriage he had a fon named Huefcar, heir of his other dominions. On his death Huefcar, his li y y Settlements /;/ Amkrica. 135' liis cldcfl fon, claims his wliolc dominions,' both hereditary and Jicqui red. Atabiilipa, the youngeft, without preicndiiif^ to the reft, • would keep Quito as his right by the double title of ion to the conqueror, and to her whole inheritance that kiiuloni w.is, I'ortificd bcfidcs by the will which the dying ynca had made in his favour. This difputc kindled a civil war, which, after fevcral turns of fortune, ended ac • lad in favour of Atabalipa j he not only rout(^d his brother's armies and over-run his domi- nions, but adlually held him a prifoner in the tower of Cufco. Such was the face of affliirs when the Spa- niards arrived in Peru, whofc remarkable ap- pearance and furprizing feats of arms were every where fpread about the cQuntry, and caufeda general alarm. As ufual in frightful rumours, new fuperftitions begin, or old ones^ are revived, to incrcafe the confuliofi. Theref fubfiftcd a tradition amongil the Pcrpvrans,*^ that one of their ancient princes had'Udi'fe-ctm' which he ordered carefully to be iecioniedi' He imagined that he favra mari cBkithied'' all' over, even to his feet, with along bearti, and leading in his hand an animal, fuch ashehad never {cen before ; and that at the fantie time he was clearly informed of the vnW of the gods, thatfucha man fhould rule that coun- try. A Spaniard, whom Pizarro had fent upon an cmbafly to Atabalipa, as foon as he K 4 was ^ •« • --im 136 An Account of the European was difcovered leading his horfe upon fomeoc- calion that made him difmount, agreed fo well with this dream, that it is incredible how foon itfpread into the remoteft parts of the coun- try, and with how great a terror it ftruck the whole nation. Atabalipa, newly feated upon a precarious throne, was not the leaft alarmed at this event ; for a new-eredted power has every thing to fear from whatever fets the people's minds, flill unfettled, upon a new motion. He re- folved, if poflible^ that his enemies fliould take no advantage of the arrival of thof^ llrangers, by engaging them by all means to his own intereft. He therefore received the cmbaiTadors, which Pizarro had fent, with the greatefi marks of honour, though their dif- cpurfe, confining itfelf of very impertinent matter, vyas very ill interpreted to him, as ^was his to them. He even went out to meet Pizarro with a vaft number of attendants, to whom he gave the ftridteft charge upon no account to offer the leaft injury to the ftran- gers, as they were thofe of whom his prede- Kreflbr tad foretold, and of the fame divine original, children of the fun. But Pizarro, who advanced with other notions to the inter- view, foion convinced him that a contrary ^aution was more neceflary. They met near a celebrated temple, the Spaniards drawn up ambufcade. \^ party JX this ■■ Settlements in America. 137 This circumftance leaves us in no doubt as to the defign of Pizarro. The firft perfon who addrelTedhimfelftotheynca, was father Vin- cent, a friar, who was" not afliamed to make his charader the inftrument of fo bafea crime. He advanced with a crofs in his hand, and began a moft unfeafonable difcourfe upon the birth and miracles of.Chrift, exhorting him to become a chriftian, on the pain of eter- nal punifliment. Then he fpoke with equal eloquence of the emperor of the Romans, prefling him with the fame ftrength of ar- gument to become a fubjedl to that emperor ; threatening him, in cafe of obftinacy, that God would harden his heart as he did Pha- raoh's, and then punilh him with the plagues of Egypt; with other miferable fluff, worfe interpreted. The ynca, though utterly afto- nifhed at a matter fo unaccountable, behaved with decency and gravity, telling him, that he believed that he and his companions were children of the fun ; recommended himfelf and his fubjedsto their prote(Stionj and made no doubt but they would behave to them in a manner worthy the offspring of fo beneficent a deity. Whilfl thefe difcourfes continued, the Spa- nifh foldiers, whofe leafl bufinefs to Peru was to liflen to fermons, obferving a confiderable quantity of gold in the neighbouring temple, had their zeal immediately ftirred up, and a •jflT ' ' party m \'> f.i I: I i 138 jitt Account of the European party of them began to pillage it. The priefts made fome oppolition. A difturbance enfu- ed, and a great noife, which fo alarmed our adventuring apoftle, that he let fall his crofs and breviary in his fright, and turned his back upon his intended proielyte. Thofe Spaniards who were not concerned in the pillage feeing him fly, either that they judged the heathens had offered their priefl fome violence, or that Pizarro made ufe of this fignal to them to fall on, immediately drew their fwords, at- tacked the guards and attendants of the ynca, defencelefs through a religious obedience to their fovereign's command, and with every circumftance of the moft deliberate and (hock- ing barbarity flaughtered five thoufand, which was near the whole number of the In- dians, who fell without any anxiety for their own lives, prefling forward with all the zeal and officioulnefs of a moft heroic loyalty to the chair of their prince, to expire at his feet; and as faft as one fet of his fupporters were ilain, the others fucceeded with eagernefs to fupply their places, and fliare their fate. The ynca at laft was dragged down, and made a prifoner, by an ad of the moft unparalleled treachery, executed with a cruelty that has hardly an example and can admit of no ex- cufe. The plunder of his camp, rich beyond the idea of any European of that time, was their reward. The < ;* Settlements /;/ America. 139 The unfortunate prince was not wanting to himfelf in his captivity. Seeing that his li- berty had fallen afacrifice to their avarice, he hoped to i»elieve himfelf by working upon the fame difpofition. He began to treat of his ranfom, and promifed fuch fums as aftoni(hed the Spaniards into an agreement j nor was the performance unequal. On this occafion, not only the ancient ornaments and valuable fur- niture, amafled by a long line of magnificent kings, v/ere brought out; but the hallowed treafures of the moft venerated temples were given without fcruple, to fave him who was the fupport of the kingdom and the reli- gion. Whilft thefe were preparing, three Spaniards, who were fent to Cufco to fuper- intcnd in the work, had means of conferring with Huefcar, who, quickly finding their foi- ble and the ufe his brother had made of it, complained bitterly of the injuries he had fuffercd; begging the Spaniards, as the patrons of the oppreifed, to embrace his caufe, pro- mifing threefold the treafure for their aflift- ance, which Alabalipa was to pay for his ran- fom. He received a very favourable anfwer. Mean time the Spaniards treated the ynca with all manner of civility, admitted his at- tendants to him, but no talk of his liberty. As foon as he had been apprifed of Huefcar's negotiation with the Spaniards and Almagro's arrival with an additional force, he began to be I f' 140 -^^/ Account ^/>^/f European be under great apprehenfions. To eafe him- felf upon one fide, he fent immediate orders to have Huefcar put to death. The arrival of Almagro, on the other hand, caufed fome embarrafiment in Pizarro's affairs. This commander, finding that Pi- zarro had feized the ynca with immenfe trea- fures, and having already experienced his ill faith, confulted with his principal officers about leaving Pizarro's part to himfelf and feeking their fortune elfewhere. Whilft this was in agitation, his fecretary, moved by fome refentment to his mafter, gave Pizar- ro notice of the defign. In an inilant Pi- zarro faw how difadvantageous fuch a ftep muft prove to him, with fo fmall a force, all refources at a diftance, and the country ex- afperated by the deteftable adtion he had lately committed. He faw that all depended upon removing every fufpicion from the breaft of Almagro. For this purpofe, and as fomething of an ill mind appeared in his moll mafterly adtions, he began by facrific- ing the fecretary. He informed Almagro of his treachery. Next, though gold was the great object of his undertakings, yet he knew how to relinquifh fome part to fecure the reft. He agreed to divide the fpoil equally between Almagro and himfelf, and to make no diftindtion between the foldiers of either in the diftribution. This made an h Mill Settlements /« America. 141 entire and hearty reconciliation j which was no fooner concluded than the ynea's ranfom came in. But this vaft trcafure, the capital objedt of all their labours and villainies, no fooner came into their pofleffion, but in its confequences it was very near being the utter ruin of their affairs. It is faid, and not iiiiprobably, that the whole exceeded the fum of one million five hundred thoufand pounds fterling, a fum vaft at the prefent time ; then it was a pro- digy. On the dividend, after deducting a fifth for the emperor, and the fharesof the chief commanders and officers, each private foldier had above two thoufand pounds Eng- lifli money. They had now made a fortune even beyond their imaginations ; but the fol- diery was ruined, the greateft part of the army infifted upon being difcharged, that they might enjoy their fortunes in quiet. This propofal ill fuited with the ambitious views of the commanders. Almagro was for proceed- ing in the ufual way, to enforce obedience by the feverity of military difcipline j but Pizarro appofed him. ** Let them go, fays he, they cannot do us better fervice; here we Ihall have them mutinous and cowardly foldiers, at home they will adl for us as recruiting officers with great fuccefs ; for when it fhall be feen that common foldiers, of fo little merit as they, have made fuch large fortunes, we (hall not long I) ;.] I M i' > ■11 i ' 142 An Account of the European long want better men to fupply their places." The delire of the foldiers was complied with, and as many as chofe to go, who were no in- confiderable number, departed. In due time, the fagacious prophecy of Pizarro was ac- complifhed, and tneir army never wanted re- inforcements. , . C H A P. XVL ^he murder of the ynca, A difpute between pizarro and Almagro. They were reconciled. Almagros expedition to Chili, The Peruvi^ iins renew the war, and bejiege Ctfco, Al" magro returns and defeats them, Almagro renews the quarrel with Pizarro, but is de^ feated and put to death, IN the mean time the unfortunate Atabalipa, the greatnefs of whofe ranfom only con- vinced the Spaniards of the neceffity of never relealing him, endeavoured to take advantage pf his captivity, to know the genius and man- ners of this people. Amongft all their ac- complishments, there was nothing he fo much admired as the art of reading and writing. This appeared almoft incomprehenfible to him, though he faw clearly the ufe of it , He was at a lofs to know whether he fhould con- fider it as a natural endowment, or as an ac- quifition of art. To difcover this, he one day defired I Settlements in America. 143 defired a foidier to write the name of God upon his na 1 : he carried this about the army, deliring fcveral to explain it, which they all did, to his wonder and fatisfadtion. At laj[l he (hewed it to Pizarrc, but Pizarro blufhed, and could make nothing of it. The ynca then perceived it was no natural gift, but ow- ing to education j the want of which he thus dilcovered in Pizarro, and flighted him for it. This mortified the general, and his difguil, joined to his natural cruelty and a policy he thought he faw in the proceeding, made him haften the fate he had fome time before de- termined for his unhappy prifoner. That no- thing might be wanting to the boldnefs and atrocioufnefs of their barbarity, they proceeded f»gainft him by way of trial and by the forms of law. A charge was exhibited, digefted under fe- veral heads, i ft. For being an idolater. 2dly, For having many concubines. 3dly, For waft- ing the treafures of the kingdom, and railing taxes fmce the coming in of the Spaniards. And laftly. For the murder of his brother Huefcar. An attorney-general was appointed to manage the accufation, and an advocate ap- pointed from amongft themfelves affigned for his defence. In vain did the more numerous and better part of the army proteft againft this proceeding, and lodge an appeal to Spain; in vain did they alledge their want of power to li JiU I:. ; ; :fi i% ■ m I-- I' r %: 144 ^// Account o/'Z/^^ European to judge a foreign prince for any crimes, and theabfurdity of the crimes with which this princ war arged. Before fach judges, and with i-idi 'H advocate to defend him, the ynca wis cor Jemned to be burned alive. To com pleat this elation and mockery of all laws, human and divine, the fame father Vin- cent, who had fo fignalized himfelf upon a former occafion, was fent to comfort and in- flru(5t him in his laft moments. The chief argument which he ufed to convert him to chriftianity wa.^, that, on his embracing the faith, inftead of being burned, hi§ fentence fhould be mitigated to ftrangling. This prince fubmitted to baptifm, and was immediately flrangled in prifon. Pizarro gave the final llroke to his hardened and fhamelefs villainy, by giving him a magnificent funeral, and go- ing into mourning. The death of the ynca was no fooner fpread abroad, than the principal nobility at Cufco fet up the brother of Huefcarj Pizarro fet up a fon of Atabalipa; and two generals of the Peruvians fet up for themfelves. Thus was this wretched country torn to pieces at once by foreigners and by a domeftic war amongll themlelves. Yet fuch is the prefer- ence of any fort of fpirit rouftd within a nation, to a lethargic inactivity, that the Pe- ruvians gained fome confiderable advantages over the Spaniards, even in this diflra^^d con- ^^^i dition. Settlements in America. 145 ditlon, and took feveral prifoners, nmongft which was the attorney- general, whom they put to the death he delerved without any great formahty. The reft of the prilbnery, aslboii as they were informed of their having pror- tefted agai nft the emperor's death, they gener- oufiy relealed. Thefe advantages gained by the Peruvians made the Spaniards liften to a treaty ; for Pizarro was equally ready at v:X times to make a peace, or to break it, as ': 's affairs required. He made ufe of this interval to fettle the Spaniards in the country. It 'as now that he laid the foundations of the fam^a^ city of Lima. But as foon as he judged hirn- felf in a condition to profecute it, he renewed the war with the Indians, and, after many dif- ficulties, made himfelf mafter of Cufco, then the capital of the empire. But, whilft he was thus by force and fraud eftabliiliing himfelf every where, the whole fabric of his defigns was (haken by a freih difpute between him and his collegue Almagro. Thefe commanders had little mutual affedticn, and lefs confidence in each other's honour and integrity; for fimilarity of manners is no ground of friendftiip, but w here the manners are good in themfelves. Their common ne- ceffities, it is true, obliged them for a time, to keep a fair appearance; but each, fatisfied of the other's ill intentions, watched an op- portunity of being before-hand in fome finiftcr Vol. I. I* advan- (if li; ji •II in ! ,m 146 j^n AccovjiT of tbe'EvRovEAU advantage. New grants and fupplies had lately arrived from Spain. Pizarro obtained two hundred leagues along the fea-coaft, to the Southward of his former government. Ahnagro had a grant of two hundred more to the Southward of Pizarro's. Judging, or pretending he judged, that the wealthy and important city of Cufco was not included with- in Pizarro's grant, he immediately ceafed to aft in fubordination to him, and claimed this city as his property. Pizarro's brother, who commanded for him, abfolutely refufed to de- liver up the place. Almagro infifted on it with equal oblHnacy j and they were on the point of deciding the difpute by the fword, when Pizarro, the moment he had notice of the quarrel, f«.t out from Lima, where he was at that time indifpofed, and, notwithftanding his infirmity, with incredible expedition ar- rived at Cufco, He told his collegue, that he was not unable nor afraid to fupport the juftice of his claim by arms ; but he chofe rather to convince him by reaicn j that the ties; which fubfiftcd between them, and their common neceffities, would always touch him with concern when he (hould be compelled to vio- Jentcourfes; which, hov/ever they might end with regard to the competitors, would certainly be much more in favour of the common ene- my. He demonftrated to him that Cufco was indubitably within bis (Pizarro's) govern- ment 'Ml Settlements in America. 147 went, and ended in afTuring him, that, as he would defend his own right with all his force, fo he was equally willing to employ all that force, with all his treafure, and all his coun- fcl, and whatever afliftance he could give, to put Almagro into pofl'eflion of whatever was really his right ; that this lay yet more to the Southward than Cufco, and was a country no way inferior in its riches, and the eafinefs of its conqueft. This timely appearance of Pizarro, his dex- terous management, and judicious mixture of firmnefs and flexibility, made fuch an impref- lion upon Almagro, that he was once more re- conciled ', and, adding as many of Pizarro's troops to his own as he judged necefiary, he penetrated with great danger and difficulty into Chili, lofing many of his men whiift he palled over mountains of an immenfe height, and al- ways covered with fnow. He fucceeded not- withftanding in a good meafure in his defigns, for he reduced a valuable and confiderable part of that country. There was undoubtedly in the four hundred leagues which Pizarro had folicited for him- felf, enough of land to fupply any reafonable ambition, and fomething to fpare, to fecure the quiet poflelTion of the reflj but his eagcr- nefs after a large territory made him blind to the folly of dividing his troops, and fending .Almagro upon avyild diftant expedition; and L 2 yes 'I 148 u^n Account offbe European yet he confidered this as a mafler-piccc of policy. A h'ttle time, however, convinced him to the contrary. No fooner did the ynca perceive this diviljon of the Spanifli troops, than he delired lc:;ive from l*izarro's brother, who maniiged affi:irs for him at Cufco, tu alTill at a folemn feftival of his nation, which was to be held at fome diftpnce. This feafl was in reality a fort of an alTcmhly of the rtates of the kingdom. The yncn, having obtained permiflion to aflift at it, made ufe of this op- portunity to reprefent to his fubjedts, in the moll pathetic manner, the mifery to which the nation was reduced; the fettlement of the Spaniards, the cities they had built, the gar- riibn they kept at Cufco, and the guard they had on his own perfon. That, for theirfakes, he was now refolved to hazard that perfon and every thing that was dear to him ; that now was the time to make an effort with fuc- cefs, when their enemies, divided amongft themfclves, had feparated in fearch of other kingdoms, to fatisfy an ambition that nothing could fatiatc. The whole affembly united in thele fen timents j they roufed the country eve- ry where, and the Spaniards who remained in Peru were not able to prevent the ynca from laying liege to Cufco, with an army of two hundred thoufa^nd men. Though the garrifon under Ferdinand Pizarro confided of no more than feventy men, yet, with their artil- i./ V \ery, Settlements m AMr:uit:A. 149 Ktv, the fallics mule vviili tlioir Iiorll*, an-l afliiled by the i^noiMncc of x\v'. Pciu>'I.iiis in carryini^ o\\ a licgc, their detcnce was as lucccitlul us it was hravc. News was brou;i:bt to Ahnar^ro cf the dan- gcrs tt^ vv'hich CAiico \\7is c,N:;')ored, and the uiiivcrf;'.! infurrcCtion of tlic i'cruvian.. Tic- linquiihinghisiicv/concnicdti, he hallencd b.ick to prclerve iiiii old with gr('A»- expediti;;n ; tho' on hiis return he fufu red n.s : ach frotn drought and heut, as- in his pro^^;ltl.' he had endured from cold. At his approach tiie indi.iiis r.uf- ed the liege, and he was joyfully received iiuo Cufeo by rerdinaiul I'iiiurro, -xv-'S the i».uri- fon, ahnoil exhaultcd by tlie length of tiie defence. After all thefe long and laborious m irclies, Almao;ro was extremely fuiLj^ied, ',n\A thouiiht it hard, that now in the wane of his hfc he fliould be driven with inlinite toil unon new conquefis, while Pizarro fit down at eale to enjoy alone the fruits of their common la- bours. He rcfolved to renew his claim to Cufco; he had now ii fort of right to it by having raifed the fiege, and he had a llrength futHcient to fupport that right. Ferdinand sand Gon ^-alo, the two brothers of Pizarro, making fomeoppodtion, were thrown iaio pri- son, aiid their little army either joined him, or ihi^red the fame Otc, ^ L 3 . Pizarro, '% I, m •< [' i ijo An Account ofi/je European Pizarro, unacquainted with the arrival of Almagro or the ftep he had taken, had got together an army for the relief of Cufco, who were near the town before they found they had an enemy of any other fort than the Indians to contend with. Almagro, after having tried in vain to feduce their fidelity, engaged and routed them. On this advantage, his friends reprefentcd to h'm, that now was the happy hour of his fortune, and that he ought to employ it to eftablifli himfelf beyond all pof- iibility of being removed. That he ought to put the Pizarros, his prifoners, to death, and march directly to Lima, to feize upon his ri- val, who never could be heartily reconciled to him, and whilfl he remained in pofTeflion of thefea-coaft, could never want means of mak- ing his enmity terrible. Almagro had huma- nity enough to rejedl the firfl part of this counCel, andweaknefs enough not to hearken to the laft. If he marched into another's go- vernment, he trembled at the name of a rebel ; and, for fear of the name, expofed himfelf to fuffer the punilhmentof the things not con- fix .jig that, having once embrued his hands in civil blood, he ought never to flop till his end was gained j that conqueft alone could decide the queflion of their right; and that he who had the greater force would have the befl means of protedtion, if he was in the Whilit he deliberated what courfe . to wrong. Settlements /« America. 151 to take, Gonzalo Pizarro iHLide his efcspe with an hundred of thoie who were aifeded to his caufe. It was the interefl of Pizarro, who found himfelf in no immediate condition to carry on the war, yet pofl'effed all the means of be- ing reinforced, to keep matters from coming to an extremity; it was Ahuagro's to bring them to a iJDeedy iifnc; and, in this knowledge of the management of time, when to he by to gain it and when to ufe the prefent mo- ment, the great fkiil in bulinefs, fo little un- derftood, depends almoft entirely. Pizarro had recourfe to the old way of treaty ; he promifed largely, he offered a fea-port, and agreed to fubmit the. decifion of all their dif- putes to the royal audience ; but, as a prelimi- nary, he infifted on the releafe of his brother Ferdinand. Experienced as Almagro was in Pizarro's faith, he gave up the only pledge that could fecure it. The moment Ferainand was releafed, he was put at the head of the rein- forcements Pizarro had long expecfled, and now received j and, as he was a man of capacity, he prepared to ad; with vigour. The treaty was forge ' The country which held for Almagro was feparated from that wliich Pizarro polfefied, by vaft mountains paifable only in fome fteep and dangerous defiles. Almagro's counfellors advifed him by all means to poll his troops in • L 4 ' fuch 1 'iV i ■4 i ■ fi 41 I ' i ; 1; hi i I ' it 152 A» Account off/:)e Eu?.opean fuch a manner as to oppofe his enemies in thofe pallesi but fo infatuated was he with a falfe fecurity, that he refufed to fend any troops to occupy thofe important pofts, which were feized by the enemy without the leaft oppofition. He had, however, one refource left/ and that a good one. The town of Cufco was well fortified, had a good garrifon, and the entmy was ill provided for carrying on the fiege. But, as he had prejudiced iiis affairs before by dilatory meafures, he now com- pieatly ruined them by precipitation and teme- rity. He turned his back upon the advan- tages of his fituation, and refolved, contrary to ihe opinion of all his oiticer&, to hazard liis fortune in the field j .confident of his own fuperiority, and full of cpntempt of the ene- my, whom he believed to be raw troops. But he found too late, that they were veterans of great bravery, and exadt difcipline. The en- gagement was v/arm ; in which Almagro and his troops behaved in fuch a manner as not to difgrace their iormer exploits; but, after a gal- lant ftruggle, they were in the end entirely defeated. Almagro himfelf was taken pri- foner, ..nd fell, ac the age of feventy-three years, a victim to a raflinefs fcarce excufeable in a young foldier; but to the laft degree blameable in sn experienced commander, who, being fupp^fjd to have long eflablifhed his re- putation for courage beyond ail doubt, ought tr. . • ; to m Settlements m AmePvICA. 153 to model his condudlonly by his own experi- ence, and the circumilanccs of the afFair in which he is engaged. Pizarro, liavinggot the rival whohadcauf- ed him fo many apprehenlions into his hands, rcfoh. d to ftiew him no mercy. In fpite of Almagro's age, which, as it might remove his fears, ouglit to have given room for pity j in fpite of their common v^arfare, their dangers and triumphs ; in fpite of every fentiment of gratitude for what this unfortunate man had contributed to his greatnefs, and in fpite of his late mercy to his brother; all which were pa- thetically and ftrongiy urged by Almagro, to fu tier an old man, and a prifoner too, after fo many fruitlefs toils, to die quietly in his bed; Pizarro was deaf to every thing but a barbar- ous policy, which made him fubmit every vir- tue tofecuring the meanell part of his defigns. Almagro was formally tried, fentenced, and then Itrangied in prifon. His body was after- wards beheaded publickly on a fcaftbld, and for a, long time denied burial. A negro Have in- terred it by ileal th. Am.idil the pity which this barbarous execution caufed, people could not forbear recollefting the unhappy fate of Atahualpa, and the fliare which Ahnagro had in it. CHAP. 154 ^n Account of tfjc EuKOPEAH C H A P. XVII. Ill '^ II '■if Thejinal dijpcrjion of the Penrcian army. H^hg c 01 f piracy cgaljl Pizarro. He is murdered, WHILST this civil war raged, the ynca took a very extraordinary refolution. He difbanded his troops and retired to the nxotintains; ** Becaufc, ilivs he> whilflweare ill arms, their fear of us v^ill be a means of uniting the Spaniards; but, if we difpcjfc^ the'- will certainly deftroy each other." A re- foIuUon this, wliich at firft view has fomt - thing maflerly, but it is only when xuewer' \\\ one light. When their natural prince i^ ded, the people who muiP be governed may give the reins of governmciii. i'-^ic the hands of the enemy. An army once difper' ;d is got toge- ther again with great auiivuity j and, on tJie other hand, a civil war is by no means a certain deftrudlion to thofe who are engaged in it: and indeed, by the reafon of the thing and by the event, it was an ill-judged ftep, the fcheme of a barbarous prince, who was far from being a tonfummate politician. It was very ruinous to the Peruvians, that, happening to be divided amongfl themfelves when the Spaniards came in, they fuffered them to interfere in their parties ; but it was of yet v'^rfe conf^jquence that, when the Spaniards were ■■; tn P Settlements m America. 155 were afterwards divided, they hilerfcred tbem- ielves in the Spanifh parties. Alnjagro and Pizarro had armies of Indians, Sy which thofe people were habituated to obey them, and to be intereiled in their fuccefs j this, joined to the wantof any regular plan of defence on the part of their king and commanders, fubdued. that empire to Pizarro with fmall trouble, i*^ we conlider the greatnefs of the objedt. But having atchieved fo great a conqued, it only made Pizarro acquainted with othergreat trads which were rich, and mitrht be added to them. He followed the tracks of Almagro into Chili, and reduced a conliderable part of the country. Orellana, one of his commanders, pafled the Andes, and failed down to the mouth of the river of Amazons; an immenfe navigation, which difcovered a rich and delightful country; but, as it is moftly ilat, and therefore not abounding in minerals, the Spaniards then, and ever fince, ncgledcd it. The death of Almagro, and the influence it had upon the condudt of Pizarro, is aftriking example how necelTary it is for a great man to have an awe upon him from fome oppofition, that may keep his prudence alive, and te ch him to have a watch upon his paflions. Not content with a territory upwards of eight hun- dred leagues long, and of a prodigious breadth, riches fuch as none of the kings of his country had ever poffelled, a jurifdidon little lefs than royal. ! I I ;i, ii! l!^ ii id ii'i I SI [5 I !'■ 'i 156 -^// Account ^/"/i^^ European royal, and an abfolute fecurity for the extinc- tion of tlie only perfon who had any preten- lions againft him, either through a jealoufy which often haunts the happieft fortune, or through a pride which cannot bear even the appearance of any who had once withftood his power, he took a refolution entirely to cut off all that had ever adhered to his rival ; he did net know when the UTue of blood ought to be Hopped j nor that examples of feverity on a few create terror and fubmiffion, but that threats of general dcftrudion produce nothing butdefpair anddefperatc rcfokitions. He was »ot fatished with putting iv any to death, but illued a proclamation, inliibiting, under the fame penalty, that any perfon flKudd harbour, or even relieve an Almugrian with the necef- faries of life. This party was yet numerous, though .I'fporfed and lurking ahoai. the coun- try. 'J 'he heads of them, tandiiig Pizarro im- placable, entered into a conspiracy to murder him. They did not want adherents in the city, fo that they found means of concealing them- felves until their plot ihould be ripe for exe- cution ; but by fome means Pizarro dikovered their defigns, and iufrercd them to know he had difcovered them. Alarmed at this infor- mation, they faw nothing could happen but death atany fide. Twelve of the chiefs march- ed into the ftreets at noon-day, with their fword'^ drawn, crying out, ♦• Long live the king! Settlements in America. 157 king ! but let the traitor die;" and, croiring the great fquare of Lima, made directly to Pi- zarro's palace ; the reft followed in different parties. The people all the while fufpended, and in that inadtive amazement which the ex- ecution of a bold and fudden ^nterprize gene- rally infpires, made no oppoiition. The con- fpirators fecured the avcnuipsj and Pizarro, not alarmed until he was furrounded by his enemies, fell under their fwords after having fold his life dearly. Thus died Pizarro, by an event extremely memorable. A great conqueror, in t): . city he had himfelf built, in his own palace, a- midft his guards, murdered at noon-day by the hands of a fmall number of fugitives. The Pe- ruvians had the fatisfadlion to fee the fecond of their conquerors cut off by the fame fword that had affliittcd themfelves. ■ 1-, I ! 1/ .: CHAP- s ill u fi' 1.' n If 158 j^n Account o/'/^^ European CHAP. XVIII. Toung Almagro made governor, 'The new vice- roy Vaca di Cajiro arrives. Pu^s to death . young Almagro, Puts an end to the factions, and Jetties the province. He is recalled, Gon- zalo Pizarro raifes a rebellion^ and ufurps the government. Peter de la Gafca made viceroy. Defeats the troops of Pizarro, and puts him to death. . i WHEN Pizarro had fallen in confe- quence of thofe cruel and ill-judged fteps which he took for his fecurity, the Al- magrians, elate with their fuccefs, and grow- ing into a formidable body, fcized upon the city, and proclaimed the natural fon of old Almagro governor} a youth not twenty years of age, but of a courage and capacity notab- lolutely unequal to a charge of Tuch impor- tance, undertaken in circumftances fo critical. Tlwl though the Almagrians fucceeded beyond their hopes, by the conllernation cauled by the fuddennefsof the attempt, and the general diflike to the cruel procedure of Pizarro j the major part of the Spaniards were far from ac- quiefcing in this in egular nomination of a go- vernor. A confiderable number, and thofe of the beft men, declared, that, without interft- ing themleives in the auarrel of either party, - they Settlements hi America. 159 tlicy would wait for the cmpv ror's determina- tion, which they expelled hourly, and to whi<:h alone they were refolvcd to conform themfelves. In this ftate of things the new governor Vaca di Caftro arrived. This man was of a good family, and by profeffion a lawyer ; but, through a more rigid adherence to the llridcft idea of right and juftice than is fuitable to the coarfenefs of prai^icc, he did not make that figure in his profcflion to which his great ca- pacity entitled him. But what kept him back- ward at the bar, recommended him firft to the knowledge, and afterwards to the efteem, of his mafler the emperor Charles theVth, who was a man of too much difcernment not to be Ih-uck with a character fo fingular as was that of one who was a lawver without exercifini^ the trade of law, and lived at court without being a courtier. Therefore, without any folicitation of his own, without any recom- mendation from a miniftcr or favourite, this man's plain unofUntatious virtue placed him in an employment of fo great a trulh When he arrived in the Indies, he llill prelerved his charadti3r. Headed like one who came nei- ther to acquire friends nor fortune, but folely to do his duty J and he {hewed favour or dif- approbation to all in proportion as they per- formed tlieir's. Indian or Spaniard was en- tirely alike to the equality of his juitice. He blattered :1:: I i6o An Account of the European flattered nobody, he threatened nobody ; and, whilft he hved with all the rnodefty of a pri- vate man, he fupported all the dignity of a governor. He was hardly landed, when young Alma- gro fent him an embafTy, explaining, the rea- fons of his conduct, and propofing terms; but Caftro anlweretl him, that he was come under the emperor's authority, foiely to do him and every body juftice, of which, if a good fubjedt, he could have no room to com- plain; if a bad one, he muil prepare to feel it: he knew no other terms. This was new langungc to governors in this part of the world, who almoll forgot tiicv had a hiperior. Al- magro therefore was refolvcd to abide the for- tune of war, rather than fubmit without fuch tenn-^ as might enfure him the government of his father's province at lealf. On the other hand, Caftro would hear of no terms between a king and his fubjeds, and therefore fet himfelf at the head of his troops, which were compofcd of thofe who had refufed to obey Almagrc, and gave him battle. The victory was on his fide,, but not without a bloody difpute. Seve'ral of Almagro's officers, ia hopes of procuring favour for themfelves, betrayed his caule in the battle ; but Caftro was far from thinking their treachery to their leader could be reckoned a fervice to the crown, and there- fore Settlements in America. i6r fore fpared none of them in the numerous exe- cutions he found it necclTary to make on this occafion. None of the fuft'crcrs was more pitied than Almagro, who behaved with the utmort: gallantry in the engagement, as he had done with much humanity and honour upon moft occafions. He was taken and be- headed. The feverity of this procedure, whilft It terrified every body, drew no odium upon the governor, who a(!ted clearly without prejudice or felf-intereft. They looked on thefe exe- cutions like judgments from heaven, which afflicft us bitterly, but leave no room for mur- mur or complaint againft the hand thatinflids them. To the followers of Pizarro, who valued themfelves on their late fervice, and murmured that they were not rewarded better than he thought they deferved, he (hewed lit- tle favour. He told them he could well dif- tinguifli between what was done out of a fpirit of party, and what proceeded from a princi- ple of loyalty to theirfovereign; that they might look upon themfelves as very happy that he fuffered their laft adion to obliterate the me- mory of all their others. In fliort, he pro- ceeded with l\ich conftancy, that the Spani- ards were reduced to an entire fubjedlion, and the Indians treated by them as fellow-fubjeds and fellow-creatures. The clergy he made to attend diligently to the duty of their fundion. Vol. I. M and IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I 11.25 us us UUi. iiiiim U III 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0 (716)873-4303 1:1 fft. !' 162 yl;i Account of'i/jeEuRovE A^ and to the converfion of the Indians, rather than to the acquifition of their gold. He mo- delled the adminillration of juflice in the ex- adeft manner. He founded feveral towns, and eil:abliilied fchools and colleges in them, and placed the royal revenues on fuch a foot- ing, that the conqucft of Peru became im- mediately a great public advantage, which for- merly was little more than an objecfl of private plunder. But, whild he remained himfelf poor among Tome of the richell: confifcations that ever were made, and whilll: he enriched the royal treafury with moft prodigious remit- tances, the great men at court received no pre- fents. This induced them to get a number of judges appointed, whofe authority over- ruled thatof Caftro. The end was anfwered. Dis- putes arofe j the colony was unfettled ; ap- peals and complaints innumerable came home, and prefents from all fides. But whiit an- fwered the prefent end of the courtiers, was near flopping up the fpring of bribery for the future. In the confufion that arofe, from fuch claftnng jurifdidions and the fchemes of men intent upon their own interefts, it was not hard for Gonzalo, the brother of the famous Pi- zarro, to avail himfelf of the general difcontent, and to fet himfelf at the head of a party. It was now no longer a difpute between go- vernors about the bounds of their jurifdidionsj Gonzalo Pizarro only paid a nominal fubmif- fion Settlements /;/ America. 163 lion to the emperor. He flrengthened daily, and even went fo far as to behead a viceroy who was fent to curb him. vThere was a fleet at this time in the South-Seas, and he^had ad- drefs enough to gain the admiral to his interefts; by which means he was able to over-awe the coaft of Mexico, and prevent any force coming againft him from that part. He even enter- tained hopes of gaining the Spaniards in that kingdom to join in his revolt. - The court, juftly alarmed at this progrefs, having felt the ill effedt of fending men who were recommended to their pofts by impor- tunity and cabal, as they had experienced the beneficial confequences of employing perfons whofe charadter only pleaded for them, fent a licentiate in divinity, called Peter de la Gafca, a man differing only from Caftro, by being of a milder and more infinuating be- haviour ; but with thcfime love of juilice, the fame greatnefs of foul, and the fame dif- interefted fpirit. This mildnefs of charader fuited the circumftances of the times, as well as the rigid juftice of Caftro did thofe in which he was appointed ; for, as the revolt was now almoft general, he could find no friends but fuchas he could make; becaufe, though he was inverted with the ampleft authority from Spain, he neither carried men to enforce it, nor mo- ney i and the whole fuccefs of the expedition refted folely in his own capacity. . M 2 When ^^■: ■■;M '^i ■;,S,1 '■.'M ■M •- ''kl m 164 An Account 0^/^^ European When he arrived in Mexico, he declared that his was a peaceable profeffion ; that he came not to exercife feverities, but to heal by gentle meafuresthe efFe^j?v^^^.^r'^3ei^^ PART n. It! l%e Manners of the A7?ierkans, -' C H A P. I. : I'/je pcrfofis of the Americans. Their drcfs a?id way of living. Their mariner of conijcrjing. Their hofpitality. Their temper. Their re- ligion andfuperjlitions. Their medicine, THE Aborigines of America, throughr out the whole extent of the two vaft continents v/hich they inhabit, and amongft the infinite number of nations and tribes into which they are divided, differ very little frora each other in their manners and curtomsi and they all form a very ftriking pidure of the moft diflant antiquity. Whoever confiders the Arnericans of this day, not only ftudies the manners of a remote prefent nation, but he ftudies, in fome meafure, the antiquities M 4 ;,^ of 1 ■■•mi ■??i. ■ I i68 ^// Account o/*//5f European of all nations; from which no mean light^i may be thrown upon many parts of the an- cient authors, both facred and profane. The learned Lafitau has laboured this point with great fuccefs, in a work which deferves to be read amongft us much more than I find it is. The people of America are tall, and ftrait in their limbs beyond the proportion of mod rations: their bodies are ftrong; but of a fpe- cies of ftrcngth rather fitted to endure much hardHiip, than to continue long at any fervile work, by which they are quickly confumed; it is the Itrength of a iDeafl of prey, rather than that of a beaft of burthen. Their bodies and heads are flattifh, the eftedt of art; their fea- tures are regular, but their countenances fierce; their hair long, black, lank, and as llrong as that of a horfe. No beards. The colour of their fkin a reddifh brown, admired amongft them, and improved by the conftant ufe of bear's fat and paint. When the Europeans firft came into Ame- rica, they found the people quite naked, ex- cept thofe parts, which it is common for the moft uncultivated people to conceal. Since that time they have generally a coarfe blanket to cover them, which they buy xirom us. The whole fafhion of their lives is of a piece; hardy, poor, andfqualid; and their education iVom thuir infancy is folely direded to fit their '' '" - . bodies H Settlements in America. 169 ' bodies for this mode of life, and to form their minds to inflidt and to endure the greatefl: evils. Their only occupations are hunting and war. Agriculture is left to the women. Merchan- dize they contemn. When their hunting feafon is paft, which they go through with much patience, and in which they exert great ingenuity, they pafs the reft of their time inan entire indolence. They fleephalf the day in their huts, they loiter and jcfl: among their friends, and they obferve no bounds or de- cency in their eating and drinking. Before we difcovered them, they had no fpirituous liquors; but now, the acquirement of thefe is what gives a fpur to their induftry, and enjoyment to their repofe. This is the prin- cipal end they purfue in their treaties with us J and from this they fuffer inexpreflible calamities ; for, having once begun to drink, they can preferve no meafures, but continue a fucceflion of drunkennefs as long as their means of procuring liquor lafts. Jn this con- dition they lie expofed on the earth to all the inclemency of the feafons, which wafles them by a train of the moft fatal diforders -, they perifli in rivers and marflies; they tumble into the fire ; tljey quarrel, and very fre- quently murder each other; and, in (hort, ex- cefs in drinking, which with us is rather im- moral than very dellructive, amongft this un- pvilized people, who have not art enough to ' « ^ guard t ■w . ''f.i m 1 n |ii> HH % H 1 170 An Account of the European guard againfl: the confequence of their vices, is a public calamity. The few amongil them, who live free from this evil, enjoy the reward of their temperance in a robuft and healthy old age. The diforders which a complicated lux- ury has introduced, and fupports in Europe, are Grangers here. The character of the Indians is ftriking. They are grave even to fadneO in their deport- ment upon any ferious occafion j obfervant of thofe in company ; refpe<5tful to the old; of a temper cool and deliberate j by which they are never in hafte to fpeak before they have thought well upon the matter, and are fure the perfon who fpoke before them has finiflied all he had to fay. They have therefore the greateft contempt for the vivacity of the Eu- ropeans, who interrupt each other, and fre- quently fpeak all together. Nothing is more edifying than their behaviour in their public councils and aflcmblies. Every man there is lieard in his turn, according as his years, his wifdom, or his fervices to his country, have ranked him. Not a word, not a whifper, not a murmur, is heard from the reft while he ipeaks. No indecent condemnation, no ill- timed applaufe. The younger fort attend for their inftrudion. Here they learn the hiftory of their nation; here they are inflamed with the fongs of thofe who celebrate the warlike action of their anceftors; and here they are • taught Settlements in America. 171 taught what are the intcrefts of their country, and how to purfuc tliem. Tliere is no people amongft whom the laws of hofpitality are more facred, or executed with more generofity and good-will. Their houfes, their provilion, even their young wo- men, are not enough to oblige a guelt. 7'o thofe of their own nation they are likewife ve- ry humane and beneficent. Has any one of them fucceeded ill in his hunting ? has his harveft failed ? or is his houfe burned ? He feels no other effedt of his misfori me, than that it gives him an opportunity to experience the benevolence and regard of his fellow-citizens, who for that purpofe have all things almoll in common. But to the enemies of his country, or to thofe who have privately offended, the American is implacable. He conceals his fentiments, he appears reconciled, until by Jfome treachery or furprize he has an opportu- nity of executing an horrible revenge. No length of time is fufficient to allay his rcfent- ment; no diftance of place great enough to protedt the obje<^j he crolies the fteepeft mountains, he pierces the moll impracticable forefts, and traverfes the moft hideous bogs and deferts for feveral hundreds of miles, bear- ing the inclemency of the feafons, the fatigue of the expedition, the extremes of hunger and thirlt, with patience and chearfulnefs, in hopes of furprizing his enemy, on whom he !! Mil ■ fl ■I I I ■M ' ;• •': ,^72 -^// Account ^//6 174 ^« Account ^V^^ European origin, though they perform them as things handed down to them from their anceftors, without knowing or enquiring about the rea- fon. Though without religion, they abound in fuperftitionsj as it is common for thofe to do, whofe f ibfiftence depends, like theirs, upon fortune. Great observers of omens and dreams, and pryers into uturity with great cagernefs, they abound in diviners, augurs* and magicians, whom they rely much upon in all affau's that concern tliem, whether of health, war, or hunting. Their phyfic, which may rather be called magic, is en- tirely in the hands of the prieiLs. The fick are naturally prone to fuperftition, and hu- man help in fuch cafes is generally found fo v/eak, that it is no wonder that, in all coun- tries and ages, people have amufed them- fclves, in that difmal circumftance of human nature, with the hope of fupernatural aflift- ance. Their phyficians generally treat them, in whatever diforder, in the fame way. That is, they firft enclofe them in a narrox/ cabbin, in the midil: of v hich is a ftone red hot; on this they throw water, until the patient is well ibaked with the warm vapour and his own fweatj then they hurry him from the bagnio, and plunge him fuddenly into the next river. This is repeated as often as they judge necef- faryj and by this method extraordinary cures are ' 1 H Settlements in America. 175 are ibmetlmes performed. But it frequently happens too, that this rude method kills the patient in the very operation, efpecially in the new diforders brought to them from Europe; and it is partly owing to this manner of pro*- ceeding, that the fmall-pox has proved fo much more fatal to them than to us. It muft not be denied that they have the ufe of fome fpecifics of wonderful efKcacyi thepowerof which they however attribute to the magical ceremouies with which they are conftantly adminiftered. And it is remarkable, that purely by an ap- plication of herbs they frequently cure wounds, which with us refufe to yield to the moft judi- cious methods. CHAP. ir. The government of the Atncncans . Their conn- ctls. Their orators. Their feafts. Their 7nan- ner ofadminijieringjtijiice. LIBERTY, in its fuUeft extent, is the darling pafTion of the Americans. To this they facrifife every thing. This is what makes a life of uncertainty and want fupport- able to them ; and their educanon is directed in fuch a manner as to cherifh this difpolition to the utmoft. They are indulged in all man- ner of liberty; they are never upon any ac- count chaftifed v/ith blows ; they are rarely evea ;■)! 176 -^« Account 0/*/-^^ European even chidden. Reafon, they fay, will guide their chilaren when they come to the ufe of it ', and before that time their faults cannot be very great : but blows might abate the free and martial fpirit which makes the glory of their people, and might render the fenfe of honour duller, by the habit of a Havilh motive to action. When they are grown up, they experience nothinglike command, dependence, or fubordination; even ftrong perfualion is in- duftrioufly forborn by thofe who have influ- ence amongft them, as what may look too like command, and appear a fort of violence offered to their will. / On the lame principle, they know no pu- nishment but death. They lay no lines, be- caufe they have no way of exadling them from free men; and the death, which they fometimes inflid:, is rather a confequence of a fort of war declared againft a public enemy, than an adl of judicial power executed on a citizen or fubje(5l. This free difpofition is general; and, though fome tribes are found in America with an head whom, we call a king, his power is rather perfuafive than coercive, and he is reverenced as a father, more :han feared as a monarch. He has no guards, no prifons, no officers of juftice. The other forms, which may be confidered as a fort of ariftocracy, have no more power. This latter is the more common in North America. .Settlements /« America. 177 In fome tribes there are a kind of nobility, who, when they come to years of difcretion, are entitled to a place and vote in the councils of their nation : the reft are excluded. But amongft the Five nations, or Iroquois, the moft celebrated commonwealth of North- America, and in fome other nations, there is no other qualification abfolutely neceffary for their head men, but age, with experience and ability in their affairs. However, there is generally in every tribe fome particular ftocks which they refpedt, and who are confidered in I'ome fort as their chiefs, unlefs they fhew themfelves unworthy of that rank ; as among the tribes themfelves there are fome, who, on account of their number or bravery, have a pre-eminence over the reft ; which, as it is not exa<5led with pride and infolence, nor maintained by tyranny on one hand, fo it is never diiputed on the other when it is due. ' Their great council is compofed of thele heads of tribes and families, with fuch whofe capacity has elevated them to the fame degree of confideration. They meet in a houfe, which they have in each of their towns foi the pur- pofe, upon every folenin occafion, to receive ambaftadors, to deliver them an anfwer,«to ling their traditionary war fongs, or to com- memorate their dead. Thele councils are public. Here they propofe all fuch matters concerning the ftatc, as have already been . Vol. I, N digefted 4 -ff 'i ! \.l 178 ^« Account ^/i5^ European digefted in the fecret councils, at which none but the head men aflift. Here it is that their orators are employed, and difplay thofe ta- lents which diftinguifli them for eloquence and knowledge of public bufinefs ; in both of which fome of them are admirable. None elfe fpeak in their public councils ; thefe are their ambafladors, and thefe are the commif- lioners who are appointed to treat of peace or alliance with other nations. The chief fkill of thefe orators confifts in giving an artful turn to affairs, and in expreffing their thoughts in a bold iBgurative manner, much ftronger than we could bear in this part of the world, and with geftures equally violent, but often extremely natural and expreflive. When any bufinefs of confequence is tranf^ adted, they appoint a feaft upon the occafion, of which almoft the whole nation partakes. There are lefler feafts upon matters of lefs general concern, to which none are invited but they who are engaged in that particular bufinefs. At thefe fearts it is againft all rule to leave any thing; fo that if they cannot confume all, what remains is thrown into the fir^j for they look upon fire as a thing facred, and in all probability thefe feafts were an- ciently facrifices. Before the entertainment is ready, the principal peyfon begins a fong» the fubjedt of which is the fabulous or real hiftory of their nation, the remarkable events - which Settlements in AivtERicAi 179 which have happened, and whatever matters may make for their honour or inftrudlion. The others fing in their turn. They havp dances too, with which they accompany their fongs, chiefly of a martial kind ; and no fo-^ lemnity or public bufinefs is carried on with- out fuch fongs and dances. Every thing is tranfadted amongft them with much cere- mony ', which in a barbarous people is necef- faryj for nothing elfe could hinder all their affairs from going to confufion j befides that the ceremonies contribute to fix all tranfadti- ons the better in their memory. To help their memory, they have bits of fmall Ihells or beads of different colours, which have all a different meaning, according to their colour or arrangement. At the end of every matter they difcourfe upon, when they treat with a foreign ftate, they deliver one of thefe belts. If they fhould omit this ceremony, what they fay paifes for nothing. Thefe belts are carefully treafured up in each town, and they ferve for the public records of the nation ; and to thefe they occafionally have recourfe, when any contells happen between, them and their neighbours. Of late, as the matter of which thefe belts is made is grown fcarce, they often give fome fkin in the place of the wampum, for fo they call thele beads in their language, and receive in return pre- fents of a more valuable nature j for neither N 2 Will 1^ M ,i •'( i8o An AccovuT of t^eEv ROT tAU will they confider what our commiffioners fay to be of any weight, unlefs fome prefent ac- companies each propofal. The fame council of their elders which regulates whatever regards the external poli- cy of the ftate, has the charge likewifc of its internal peace and order. Their fuits are few and quickly decided, having neither property nor art enough to render them perplexed or tedious. Criminal matters come before the fame jurifdidion, when they are fo flagrant as to become a national concern. In ordinary cafesj the crime is either revenged or com- promifed by the parties concerned. If a mur- der is committed, the family which has loft a relation prepares to retaliate on that of the offender. They often kill the murderer, and when this happens, the kindred of the laft perfon flain look upon themfelves to be as much injured, and think themfelves as much juftified in taking vengeance, as if the violence had not begun amongft themfelves. But, in general, things are determined in a more ami- cable manner. The offender abfents himfelf ; his friends fend a compliment of condolancc to thofe of the party murdered ; prefents are offered, which are rarely refufed : the head of the family appears, who in a formal fpeech delivers the prefents, which confift often of above lixty articles, every one of which is given to cancel fome part of the offence and to i Settlements in America. i8i to afluage the grief of the fuffering party. With the firft he fays, ** By this I remove the hatchet from the wound, and make it fall out of the hands of him that is prepared to revenge the injury :" with the fecond, " I dry up the blood of that wound i" and fo on, in apt figures, taking away one by one all the ill confequences of the murder. As ufual, the whole ends in mutual feafting, fongs, and dances. If the murder is committed by one of the fame family, or cabbin, that cabbin has the full right of judgment, without ap- peal, within itfelf, either to punifli the guilty with death, or to pardon him, or to force him to give fome recompence to the wife or children of the llain. AH this while the fu- preme authority of the nation looks on un- concerned, and never roiifes its ftrength, nor exerts the fulnefs of a power more revered than felt, but upon fome fignal occafion. Then the power feems equal to the occafion.- Every one haftens to execute the orders of their fenate ; nor ever was any inftance of dif- loyalty or rebellion known amongft this peo- ple. Governed as they are by manners, not by laws 5 example, education, and the con- ftant practice of their ceremonies, give them the moft tender afFedlion for their country, and infpire them with a moft religious regard for their conftitution, and the cuftoms of jheir anceftors. The want of laws, and of N ^ m I ' I if 182 An Account of the European an univerfal ftrong coercive power, is not per- ceived in a narrovv^ fociety, where every man has his eye upon his neighbour, and where the whole bent of every thing they do is to flrengthen thofe natural ties by which fociety is principally cemented. Family love, rare amongft us, is a national virtue amongft them, of which all partake. Friendfliips there are amongft them, fit to vie with thofe of fabulous antiquity j and where fuch friend- ihips are feen to grow, the families concerned congratulate themfelves as upon an acquifition, that promifes to them a mutual ftrength, and to their nation the greateft honour and ad-' vantage, CHAP. Ill, '^heir mournings for their dead. The feajl of ■ fouls. The American women^ their occupa^ tions. Their marriages and divorces, TH E lofs of any one of their people, whether by a natural death, or by war, .is lamented by the whole town he belongs to *'. In fuch circumftances no bufinefs is taken in hand, however important, nor any rejoicing permitted, however interefting the • The towns are fmall, and, exccp»: the affairs of war or Hate, they have no bufinefs to employ them, for thq greatell pare of (hi' year, after the hunting (calon is over. A «- occafionjj Settlements in America. 183 occaHon, until all the pious ceremonies due to the dead are performed. Thefe are always difcharged with the greateft folemnity. The dead body is wafhed, anointed, and painted, fo as in fome meafure to abate the horrors of death. Then the w men lament the lofs with the moll bitter cries, and the moft hide- ous bowlings, intermixed with fongs, which celebrate the great adions of the dcceafed, and thofe of his anceftors. The men mourn in a lefs extravagant manner. The whole village attends the body to the grave, which is interred, habited in their moft fumptuous ornaments. With the body of the deceafed are placed his bow and arrows, with what he valued moft in his life, and proviiions for the long journey he is to take : for they hold the immortality of the foul univerfally, but their idea is grofs. Feafting attends this, as it does every folemnity. After the funeral, they who are nearly allied to the deceafed con- ceal themfeives in their huts for a conlider- able time, to indulge their grief. The com- pliments of condolance are never omitted, nor are prefents wanting upon this occafion. After fome time, they revilitthe grave; they renew their forrow ; they new cloath the re- mains of the body, and adt over again the folemnities of the firft funeral. Of all their inftances of regard to their dc- ceafed friends, none is fo ftriking as what N 4 they ;' {A I! I? I 1' 184 ^/i Account 0/*/^^ European they call the feaft of the dead, or the feaft of fouls. The day of this cerembny is appoint- ed in the council of their chiefs, who give orders for every thing which may enable them to celebrate it with pomp and magni- ficence. The riches of the nation are exhaufted on this occafion, and all their ingenuity dif- played. The neighbouring people are invited to partake of the feaft, and to be witnefles of the folemnity. At this time, all who have died fince the laft folemn feaft of that kind are taken out of their graves. Thofe who have been interred at the greateft diftance from the villages are diligently fought for, and brought to this great rendezvous of car- cafl'es. It is not difficult to conceive the hor- ror of this general dif-interment. I cannot paint it in a more lively manner than it is done by Lafitau. • - ** Without queftion, fays he, the opening of thefe tombs difplay one of the moft ftrik - ing fcenes that can be conceived ; this hum- bling pourtrait of human mifery, in fo many images of death, wherein ftie feems to take a pleafure to paint herfelf in a thoufand va- rious fliapes of horror, in the feveral carcaf- fes, according to the degree in which corrup- tion has prevailed over them, or the manner in which it has attacked them. Some appear dry and withered j others have a fort of parch- ment uppn their bones -, fome look as if they were i 'I Settlements m America. 185 were baked and fmoaked, without any ap- pearance of rottennefs; feme are juft turning towards the point of putrefadtion j whilft others are all fwarming with worms, and drowned in corruption. I know not which ought to ftrike us mod, the horror of fo fhocking a fight, or the tender piety and af- feclion of thefe poor people towards their de- parted friends ; for nothing deferves our ad- miration more, than that eager diligence and attention with which they difcharge this me- lancholy duty of their tendernefs ; gathering up carefully even the fmalleft bones j hand- ling the carcalTes, difguftful as they are, with every thing loathfome ; cleanfing them from the worms, and carrying them upon their flioulder^ through tirefome journeys of feveral days, without being difcouraged by their in- fupportable ftench, and without fufteringany other emotions to arife, than thofe of regret, for having loft perfons who were fo dear to them in their lives, and fo lamented in their death." This ftrange feftlval is the moft magnificent and folemn which they have : not only on ac- count of the great concourfe of natives and flrangers, and of the pompous re- interment they give to their dead, whom they drefs in the fineft fkins they can get, after having ex- pofcd them fome time in this pomp j but for jhe games of all kinds whigh they (jelebratc upon r I i86 An Account of the European upon the occafion, in the fpiritof thofc which the ancient Greeks and Romans celebrated up* on nmilar occafions. In this manner do they endeavour to footh the calamities of life, by the honours they pay their dead; honours, which are the more chearfuUy bellowed, becaufe in his turn each man experts to receive them himfelf. Though amongft thefe favagc nations this cuftom is imprefled with ftrong marks of the ferocity of their na- ture 5 an honour for the dead, a tender feeling of their abfence, and a revival of their meniory, are fome of the moft excellent inftruments for fmoothing our rugged nature into humanity. In civilizeu nations ceremonies are lefs prac- tifed, becaufe other inftruments for the fame purpofes are lefs wanted ; but it is certain a regard for the dead is ancient and univerfal. Though the women. in America have gene- rally the laborious part of the ceconomy upon themfelves, yet they are far from being the /laves they appear, and are not at all fubjedt to the great Subordination in which they are placed in countries where they feem to be more re- fpe£ted« On the contrary, all the honours of the nation are on the fide of the woman. They even hold their councils, and have their (hare in all deliberations which concern the flate; nor are they found inferior to the part they adt. Polygamy is pradtifed by fome nations, but it js not general. In mofl they content themfelves with y! Settlemfnts in America. 187 with one wife ; but a divorce is admitted, and for the fame caufes that it was allowed amongd the Jews, Greeks, and Romans. No nation of the Americans is without a regular marriage, in which there are many ceremonies; the prin- cipal of which is, the bride's prefenting the bridegroom with a plate of their corn. Incontinent before v/edlock, after marriage the chaftity of their women is remarkable. The punifhment of the adulterefs, as well as thatof the adulterer, is in the hands of the huf- band himfelf ; and it is often fevere, as inHidled by one who is at once the party and the judge. Their marriages are not fruitfwl, feldom pro- ducing above two or three children, but they are brought forth with Icfs pain than our wo- men fuffer upon fuch occafions, and with little confequent wcaknefs. Probably, that fevere life, which both fexcs lead, is not favourable to procreation. And the habit unmarried women have of procuring abortions, in which they rarely fail, makes them the more uniit for bear- ing children afterwards. This isone of the rea- fons of the depopulation of America; for what- ever lofles they fuffer, either by epidemical difeafes or by war, are repaired flowly. CHAP. io8 ^n Account of the European ■ i.n.?. ?!:/:»■•„ CHAP. IV. V \ The Indian manner of preparing for war. The fongs and dances. Their taking the field. Their method of difcovering and attacking the enemy . Their cruel treatment of their prifon- '■ ers of war, ALMOST the fole occupation of the American is war, or fuch an exe^cife as qualifies him for it. His whole glory con- iifts in this j and no man is at all confidered until he has increafed the ftrength of his country with a captive, or adorned his houfe with a fcalp of one of its enemies. When the .Ancients refolve upon war, they do not always declare what nation it is they are de- termined to attack j that the enemy, upon whom they really intend to fall, may be off his guard. Nay, they even fometiines let years pafs over without committing any ad: of hoftility, that the vigilance of all may be unbent by the long continuance of the watch, and the uncertainty of the danger. In the mean time they are not idle at home. The principal captain fummons the youth of the town to which he belongs; the war kettle is fet on the fire ; the war fongs and dances commence j the hatchet is fent to all the vil- lages of the li\me nation, and to all its allies ^ 'i K ' : • ' the Settlements w America* 189 the fire catches ; the war fongs are heard in all parts ; and the moft hideous howlings co.i- tinue without intermiflion day and night over that whole tradt of country. The women add their cries to thofe of the men, lamenting thofe whom they have either loft in war or b/ a natural death, and demanding their places to be fupplied from their enemies ; ftimulat- ing the young men by a fenfe of fliame, which women know how to excite in the ftrongeft manner, and can take the beft advantage of when excited. When by thefe, and every other means, the fury of the nation is raifed to the greateft height, and all long to embrew their hands in blood, the war captain prepares the feaft, which confifts of dogs flelh. All that par- take of this feaft receive little billets, which are fo many engagements which they take to be faithful to each other, and obedient to their commander. None are forced to the war; but when they have accepted this billet, they are looked upon as lifted, and it is then death to recede. All the warriors in this af- fcmbly have their faces blackened with char- coal, intermixed with daflies and ftreaks of vermilion, which give them a moft horrid appearance. Their hair is drefted up in an odd manner, with feathers of various kinds. In this aftembly, which is preparatory to their iriilitary expedition, the chief begins the war fong; ■M "I I: 1 190 An Account of the European fong ; which having continued for fome tlmtf^ he raifes his voice to the higheft pitch, and^ turning off fuddenly to a fort of prayer^ addreifes himfelf to the god of war, whom they call Arefkoni : ** I invoke thee, fays he, to be favourable to my enterprize ! I in- voke thy care upon me and my family ! I in- voke ye likewife, all ye fpirits and demons good and evil ! All ye that are in the Ikies, or on the earth, or under the earth, to pour deftrudlion upon our enemies, and to return me aiid my companions fafely to our country." All the warriors join him in this prayer with fhouts and acclamations. The captain renews his fong, ftrikes his club againft the ftakes of his cottage, an4 begins the war dance, accom- panied with the (houts of all his companions, which continue as long as he dances. The day appointed for their departure be- ing arrived, they take leave of their friends) they change their cloaths, or whatever move- ables they have, in token of mutual friend- (hip; their wives and female relations go out before them, and attend at fome diftance from the town. The warriors march out all dreft in their iineft apparel and mofl fhowy orna- ments, regularly one after another, for they never march in rank. The chief walks flowly before them, finging the death fongi on whilft the rell obfcrve the moil profound fi- lence. Whv^n they come up to their women, they !: i Settlements in America. 191 they deliver up to them all their finery, put on their worft cloaths, and then proceed as their commander thinks fit. Their motives for engaging in a war are rarely thofe views which excite us to it. They have no other end but the glory of the vidory, or the benefit of the Haves which it enables them to add to their nation, or facrifife to their brutal fury; and* it is rare that they take any pains to give their wars even a colour of juftice. It is no way uncommon among them for the young men to make feafts of dogs flefli, and dances, in fmall parties, in the midft of the moil profound peace. They fall fometimes on one nation, and fometimes on another, and furprize fome of their hunters, whom they fcalp and bring hgme as prifoners- Their fenators wink at this, or rather encou- rage it, as it tends to keep up the martial fpi- rit of their people, inures them to watchfulnefs and hardfliip, and gives them an early tafte for blood. The qualities in an Indian war ore vigi- lance and attention, to give and to avoid a furprize; and patience and ftrength, to en- dure the intolerable fatigues and hardships which always attend it. The nations of Ame- rica are at an immenfe diftance from each other, with a vaft defart frontier, and hid in the bofom of hideous, and almoft boundlefs iforefts. Thefe murt be traverfed before they meet ■JM I! 192 ^/2 Account g/"^^^ European meef an enemy, who is often at fuch a dif-* tance as might be fuppofed to prevent either quarrel or danger. But, notwithftanding the fecrccy of the deftination of the party that firft moves, the enemy has frequent notice of it, is prepared for the attack, and ready to take advantage in the fame manner of the leaft want of vigilance in the aggreflbrs. Their whole art of war conlift^s in this : they hever fight in the open field, but upon fome very extraordinary occafions; not from cowardice, for they are brave ; but they defpife this me- thod, as unworthy an able warrior, and as an aftair in which fortune governs more than prudence. The principal things which help them to find out their enemies, are the fmoak of their fires, which they fmell at a diftance almoft incredible; and their tracks* in the difcovery and diftinguifliing of which, they are poflefledof g fagacity equally aftonifbingj for they will tell in the footfteps, which to us would feem moll: confufed, the nnmber of men that have palled, and the length of time lince they have palled; they even go fo far as to diftinguifli the feveral nations by the dif- ferent marks of their feet, and to perceive footfteps, where we could diftinguilli nothing lefs. A mind diligently intent upon one thing, and exercifed by long experience, will go lengths at firft view fcarcely credible. But I \'< Settlements in America. 193 But as they who are attacked have the fame knowledge, and know how to draw the fame advantages from it, their great addrefs is to baffle each other in thefe points. On the ex- pedition they h'ght no fire to warm themfeh'es, or prepare their vidtual, but i'ubfif]; merely 011 the miferable pittnceof fome of their meal mixed with watery they lie clofe to the ground all day, and march only in night. As they march in their ufual order in files, he that clofes the rear diligently covers his own tracks, and thofe of all who preceded him, with leaves. If any flream occurs in their route, they march in it for a confiderable way to foil their purfuers. When they halt to rell and refrefh themfelves, fcouts are fent out on every fide to reconnoitre the country, and beat up every place where they fufpedt an enemy may lie perdue. In this manner they often enter a village, whilft the flrength of the nation is employed in hunting, and mafl'acre all the helplels old men, women, and children, or make prilbners as many as they can manage, or have flrength enough to be ufeful to their nation. They often cut off fmall parties of men \x\ their huntings; but when they difcover an ar- my of their enemies, their way is to throw themfelves flat on their faces amongft the with- ered leaves, the colour of which their bodies are painted to refemble exactly. They gene- \oL, I. p rally I i Hi m ■HlfllK! Ifflffli ^^n 1 1 m lln i| 1 d! 9 p= !- ^k.' Ik lirl 194 ^n Account of the European rally let a pnrt pafs unmolefted \ and then, rifing a little:, they take aim, for they are excellent marklrncn, and fetting up a moft tremendous il)oar, which they call the v/ar-cr,', they pour a ftorm of rnufquet-bullcts upon the enemy i for they hnve long fince laid afide the ufe of i^rrows : the party attacked returns the fame cry. Fvery man in halle covers himfelf with a tree, and returns the fire of the adverfe party, as foon as they raife themfelves from the ground to give the fecond fire. After fighting fometime in this manner, the party which thinks it has the advantage ruHies out of its cover, with fmall axes in their hands, which they dart with great addrefs and dexte- rity ; they redouble their cries, intimidating their enemies with menaces, and encouraging each other with a boaftful difplay of their own brave adions. Thus being come hand to hand, the contelt is foon decided ; and the conquer- ors fitiate their favage fury with the moft Ihocking infults and barbarities to the dead, biting their lielh, tearing the fcalp from their heads, and wallowing in their blood like wild hearts. The fate of their prifoners is the moft fe- vere of all. During the greateft part of their journey homewards they fuffer no injury. But when they arrive at the territories of the conquering ftate, or at thofe of their allies, the people from every village meet them, and think fill 1)^ Settlements in America. 19- thlnk they (hew their attachment to their friends by their barbarous treatment of the unhappy prifoners j fo that, when they come to their ftation, they are wounded and bruifed in a terrible manner. The conquerors enter the town in triumph. The war captain waits upon the head men, and in a low voice gives them a circumftantial account of every parti- cular of the expedition, of the damage the enemy has fuffered, and his own lofles in it. This done, the public orator relates the whole to the people. Before they yield to the joy which the vi(5tory occalions, they lament the friends which they have loft in the purfuit of it. The parties moft nearly concerned are afflicted apparently with a deep and real forrow. But, by one of thofe ftrange turns of the human mind, fafliioned to any thing by cuftom, as if they were difciplined in their grief, upon the lignal for rejoicing, in a moment all tears are wiped from their eyes, and they ruQi intoan extravagance andphrenzy of joy for their vidory. In the mean time the fate of the prifoners remains undecided, until the old men meet, and determine concerning the diftribution. It is ufual to offer a flave to each houfe that has loft a friend ; giving the preference according to the greatnels of the lofs. The perfon who has taken the captive attends him to the door of the cottage to which he is delivered, and . O « with m ■i? » ^1 J • [ r » i. II! I' ''■ I 'i . 196 An AccouKT of the European with him gives a belt of wampum, to ihew that he has fulfilled the purpofe of the expe- dition, in fupplying the lols of a citizen. They view the prefent which is made them for fome time; and, according as they think him or her, for it is the fame, proprior improper for the bufmefs of the family, or as they take a capricious liking or difplealare to the coun- tenance of the vidiim, or in proportion to their natural barbarity or their refentment for their lofTes, they deftine concerning him, to receive him into the family, or fentence him to death. If the latter, they throw away the belt with indignation. Then it is no longer in the power of any one to fave him. The nation is alfembled as upon fome great folem- nity. A fcaffold is raifed, and the prifoner tied to the ftake. Inftantly he opens his death fong, and prepares for the enfuing fcene of cruelty with the moft undaunted courage. On the other fide, they prepare to put it to the utmofl proof, with every torment, which the mind of man ingenious in mifchief can in- vent. They begin at the extremities of his body, and gradually approach the trunk. One plucks out his nails by the roots, one by one; another takes a finger into his mouth, and tears off the fiefli with his teeth; a third thrufts the finger, mangled as it is, into the bole of a pipe made red hot, which he fmoaks like tobacco. Then they pound his . . ■ ; toes i Settlements w America. 197 toes and fingers to pieces between two ftones ; they cut circles about his joints, luid g:i(bes in the flefhy parts of his limbs, wiiich they irar immediately with red-hot irons, cutting and fearing alternately; tliey pul^ oft' thi-; ^e(h thus mangled and rcafled, bit by bit, devour- ing it with greedineis, and Ime.iring their faces with the blood, in an cnthufiafm of hor- ror and fury. When they have thus torn oA' the flefli, they twifl the bare nerves and ten- dons about an iron, tearing and fnapping them; whilft others arc employed in pulling and ex- tending the lirnbs themfelves, in every way that can increafe the torment. This continues often five or fix hours together. Then they frequently unbind him, to give a breathing to their fury, to think what new torments they fhall inflidl, and to refredi the llrength of the fufferer, who, wearied out with fuch a variety of unheard-of torments, often falls immedi- ately into fo profound a fieep, that they are ob- liged to apply the fire to awaken him, and renew his fufferings. He is again faftened to the flake, and again they renew their cruelty ; they fUck him all over with fmall matches of wood that ealWy takes fire, but burns (lowly j they continu- ally run iharp reeds into every part of his body; they drag out his teeth with pincers, and thruft out his eyes ; andlaftly, aftter hav- ing burned his flclli from the bones with flow O 1 fires J il • ',<,: m m :' I 198 An Account of the Euroi'ean iires ; after having fo mangled the body that it is all but one wound j after having mutilated his face in fuch a manner as to carry nothing human in it ; after having peeled the fkin from the he id, and poured a heap of red-hot coals or boiling w^ater on the naked fkull ; they once more unbind the wretch, who, blind and ftaggering with pain and weaknefs, alTaulted and pelted upon every fide with clubs and ftones, now up, now down, fall- ing into their fires at every flep, runs hither aiKl thither, until one of the chiefs, whe- ther out of compalTion or weary of cruelty, puts an end to his life with a club or a dagger, '^he body is then put into the kettle, and this barbarous employment is fucceeded by a feaft as barbarous. The women, forgetting the human as well as the female nature, and transformed into fomething worfe than furiesi ad: their parts, and even outdo the men, in this fcene of hor- ror. The principal perfons of the country iit round the (lake fmoaking and looking on without the leaft emotion- What is molt ex- traordinary, the fufferer himfelf, in the little intervals of his torments, fmoaks too, appears unconcerned, and converfes with his tortur- ers about indifferent matters. Indeed, during the whole time of his execution, there feems a contefl between him and them which fhall exceed, they in infliding the moll horrid v 2 pains. Settlements in America. 1^9 pains, or he in enduring thcni with a firm- nefs and conftancy almoil above huivan. Not a groan, not a figh, not a diilortion of coun- tenance, elcapes liim ; he poilcircs his mind entirely in the midft of his torments; he re- counts his own exploits, he informs them what cruehics he has inHicled upon their countrymen, and threatei.s them with the revenge that will attend his death ; and, iho' his reproaches exafpcrate them to a perfeVI«««'ST.'a".T(i«.'atJ»««t;«t;aK«Wi!W CHAP. I. yf genera/ defcriptio7i of America. HAVING defcribed, with as much con- cifenefs as the fubjedt would bear, the manners of the original inhabitants of Ame- rica, as we had before that related the moft remarkable adventures of its difcoverers and conquerors j it will be neceffary to view more minutely, what and how advantageous a country thefe conquefts and difcoveries have added to the world j and what are the views, intercfts, and characters of thofe, who at prefent pofTefs the greateft part of that exten- sive region. America extends from the North pole to the iifty-feventh degree of South latitude i it . ...,.., . . - is (hi ill it'll II i »| .1 'Em 1 H f i9K Ini' \ I^Bb 1 1 1 ■1 11^1 ij ■ ( 11 I'H 204 -^/2 Account (9/'/^t? European is upwards of eight thoufand miles in length; it fees both hemifpheres j it has two fummers and a double winter ; it enjoys all the variety of climates which the earth afibrds ; it is wafhed by the two greal oceans. To the Eaflv/ard it has the Atlantic ocean, which divides it from Europe and Africa. To the V/eft it has another ocean, the great South- Sea, by which it is disjoined from Afia. By thefe feas it may, and does, carry on a dired: commerce with the other three parts of the world. It is compofed of two vaft continents, one on the North, the other upon the South, which are joined by the great kingdom of Mexico, which forms a fort of ifthmus fif- teen hundred miles long, and in one part, at Darien, fo extremely narrow, as to make the communication between the two oceans by no means difficult. In the great gulph, which is formed between this ifthmus and the North- ern and Southern continents, lie an infinite multitude of iflands, many of them large, moft of them fertile, and capable of being cultivated to very great advantage. ' America in general is not a mountainous country, yet it has the greateft mountains in the world. The Andes, or Cordilleras, run from North to South along the coaft of the Pacific ocean. Though for the moft part within the torrid zone, they are perpetually covered with fnow, and in their bowels con- tain Settlements in America. 205 tain inexhauftible treafures. In the province of St. Martha in South America are likewile very greai mountains, which communicate with the former. In North America we know of none confiderable, but that long ridge which lies to the back of our fettle- ments, which we call the Apalachian, or Al- legeney, mountains; if that may be at all con- Udered as a mountain, which upon one fide indeed has a very great declivity, but upon the other is nearly on a level with the reli of the country. Without comparlfon, America is that part of the world which is the bell; watered; and that not only for the fupport of life, but for the convenience of trade, and the intercourfc of each part with the others. In North America the great river MilTiIippi, riling from iinknown fources, runs an immenfe couric from North to South, and receives the vaft tribute of the Ohio, the Ouabache, and other immenfe rivers, fcarcely to be poilponed to the Rhine or the Danube, navioraule almofl: to their very fources, and laying open the in- moft recefles of this continent. Near the b«":^.ds of thele are five great lakes, or ratncr feas of frefh water, communicating with each other, and all with the main ocean, by the river St. Laurence, which palTes through them. Thefc afford fuch an inlet for com- merce as mujft produce the greateft advan- . •. - tages. ■ jj^lll « ' 1 i 1 1 1 1 i 1 H 'II :( I ■1 206 -^« Account f?/"^^^ European tages, whenever the country adjacent (hall come to be fully inhabited, and by an in- duftrious and civilized people. The Eaftern lide of North America, which is our portion, befides the noble rivers Hudfon, Delaware, Sufquehanna, Patowmack, fupplies feveral others of great depth, length, and commo- dious navigation. Many parts of our fettle- ments are fo interfeded v/ith navigable rivers and creeks,, that the planters may be faid, without exaggeration, to have each a harbour at his own door. South America is, if poflible, in this re- fpedt, even more fortunate. It fupplies much the two largelt rivers in the world, the river of Amazons, and the Rio de la Plata. The firft, rifing in Peru, not far from the South- Sea, palfes from Weft to Eaft, almoft quite through the continent of South America, na- vigable for fome fort or other of veflels all the way, and receiving into its bofom a prodigi- ous number of rivers, all navigable in the fame manner, and fo great, that Monfieur Condamine found it often almoft impoffible to determine which was the main channel. The Rio de la Plata, riling in the heart of the country, (hapes its courfe to the South-Eaft, and pours fuch an immenfe flood into the fea, that it makes it tafte frefti a great many leagues from the fliore j to fay nothing of the Oronoquo, which might rank the foremoll amongft Settlements /« America. 207 amongft any but the American rivers. The foil and products, in fuch a variety of climates, cannot fatisfadorily be treated of in a general defcription j we {hall, in their places, confider them particularly. All America is in the hands of four na- tions. The Spaniards, who, as they firft diC" covered it, have the largeft and richeft (hare. All that part of North America, which com- pofes the ifthmus of Mexico, and what lies beyond that towards the river Miffifippi on the Eaft, the Pacific ocean to the Weft and North-weft ; and they poflefs all South Ame- rica, excepting Bra^l, which lies between the mouth of the river of Amazons and that of Plata along the Atlantic ocean ; this be- longs to Portugal, That part of North Ame- rica which the Spaniards have not, is divided between the Enelifti and French. The En- glifh have all the countries which incirclc Hudfon's Bay, and thence in a line all along the Eaftern fhore to the thirtieth degree of North latitude. Fiance claims the country which lies between this and the Spanifh fet- tlements to the Weft, and fecures an inter- courfe with them by the mouths of the Mif- fifippi, the Mobile, and of the river St. Lau- rence, which are the only avenues of navi- gation to this very extenfive country. The multitude of Iflands, which lie between the two continents, are divided amongft the Spa- niards, /ite). 1 H i 'Ps'li 1 ill 1 mi : 1 m fn Wm ' m VEf 1 III 2o8 An Account of the European niards, French, and Englifli. The Dutch poflefs three or four fmall iilands, which, in any other hands, would be of no confequence. The Danes have one or two j but they hardly dcferve to be named amongft the proprietors of America. CHAP. II. ^he climate and foil of New Spain, Animals, Its vegetable produce. TH E order which I intend to obferve in treating of the Spaniih colonies is, after having fet forth their fituation, their cli- mate, and the nature of the foil, to defcribe thofe commodities in which they trade ; to give a clear and concife account of their me- thod of manufacturing them ; and then to lay open the maaner of their dealing in them, as well as that by which they carry on their foreign commerce. Lafl of all, 1 ihall fay fomething of the genius and temper of the inhabitants j of fuch cuftoms of theirs as are remarkable, and of their civil policy, and of their military, fo far as they are come to my knowledge, or as they are worthy the atten- tion of the reader. The exadt divifion of the provinces, the courfes of the rivers, the di- ftances of places, the dimenfions of harbours and their foundings ; all thefe, as they are in- finitely Settlemknts in America, 20< finitely better known from maps and clinrts, fo it\^'ould be impertinent and tedious to fill up this fliort work with them, which propoles to give, even ihortas it is, a dcfcription of every- thing that may tend to a juft notion of Ame- rica; and therefore cannot facrififc matters of more moment to the defcription of things, of whicli a far better idea may be acquired by other means to thofe wliom they concern ; and to tlicfe whom they do not interefl, who are far the majority, muft be tedious and un- infcructive. '^Ihe firlt country wliich the Spaniards fet- tled upon the continent of America was Mex- ico; and it lliil continues tl\eir principal fet- tlcment, whctlier we confider its ni'.mber of inhabitants, its natural we.^'ltii, or its extended traffic. As it lies for tlie moil pare within the torrid zone, it is exccfliv. ly hot ; and on the Eafcern coall, where the land is low, marfliy, and confiantly flooded in the rainy feafons, it is liivcwife extremely unwholefome; neither is that coaft pleafint in any reipctit; incum- bered for the miOU p:.rt with ah-noil; impene- trable woods of Uiangrcve trees, of a bare and difagrceable afpecc, and v/hicli extend into the water for a coniiderable way. The inland country aifumes a n">ore agreeable af- peft, and the air is of a better temperamerit ; here the tropical fruits grow in great abund- ance; the land is of a good variety, and would Vol. I, /" P not \ i III 210 An Account of the European not rcfufe any fort of grain, if the number err induftry of the inhabitants were any way pro- portioned to the goodnefs of the foil. But on the Weftern fide the land is not fo low as on the Eaftern, much better in quality, and full of plantations. It is probable the Spaniards chufe to leave the Ealtern coaft in its prefent ftate of rude- nefs and defolation, judging that a rugged and unwholcfome frontier is a better defence againll an European enemy, than fortifications and armies, to be maintained at a vaft expence; or than the ftrength of the inhabitants, made by the climate effeminate and pufillanimous, and kept (o by policy : and indeed it would be next to impoltible to make any confiderable eftablifhmcnt on that coaft, that could effec- tually anfwer the purpofes of any power in Europe, without ftruggling with the greateft difficulties ; and as for a fudden invafion, the nature of the country itfelf is a good fortifi- cation. In general, few countries, under the fame afped o^ *^ heavens, enjoy more of the benefits of nature and the neccffaries of life; but, like all the tropical countries, it rather is more abundant in fruits than- in grain. Pine apples, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, cit- rons, figs, and cocoa l' ts, are here in the greateft plenty and perfection. Vines and ap- ples require temperate climates. The Settlements //i America. 2it ^he number of their horned cattle is in a manner infinite ; fome private perfons are faid to have poilefled forty thoufand herd ; many are wild, and a very confiderable trade is dri- ven in their hides and tallow, but the extreme heat prevents their turning the i\''^' to any ac- count in commerce. Swine equally nu- merous, and their lard is much in requeft all over this country, where it is ufed inftead of butter. Sheep are numerou'^ in Mexico, but I do not find that wool is an article of any great confideration in their trade j nor is it probable that it is of a good kind, as it is fcarce ever found ufeful between the tropics, where it is hairy and lliort, except only in Peru; and that is the produce of fheep of a fpecics very different from that in the reft of America; as Peru is itfelf remarkably different in climate from all other countries under the torrid zone. But cotton is here very good, and in great plenty. It is manufadured largely, for, as it is very light and fuitable to the climate, and all other cloathing being extravagantly dear, it is the general wear of the inhabitants; the wool- lens and linens of Europe being rather luxu- ries, and worn only by perfons of fome con- dition. Some provinces produce filk, but not in that abundance or perfectiou to make a re- markable part of their export ; pot but that the country is very fit for that, and many other things valuable, which are but little cultivat- P 2 edj '1 Ml VM II 212 yf« Account o/*/^^ European cd; for the gold and filver, which make the glory of this country, and in the abundant treal'ures of which it exceeds all the world, cngnge almoft the whole attention of the in- habitants, as theyarealmoft the only things for which the Spaniards value their colonies, and what alone receive the encouragement of the court i therefore I lliall infill moft largely upon thefc articles. After that, I fhall fpeak of thofe commodities, which are produced here of moft importance in foreign commerce, and rell upon them in proportion to their importance. Thefe are cochineal, indigo, and cacao, of which chocolate is made. As for fugar, and tobacco, and indigo, though no part of the world produces better than Mexico; and as for logwood, though it be in a manner peculiar to this country ; yet, as the firft is largely raifed and manufadUired ellewhere, and as our own commerce in the two lafl is what chiefly in- terefts an Engliih. reader, I fhall rcferve them to be treated of in the divifion I allot to the Englilh colonies. CHAP. Settlements in America. 213 " C II A P. III. The gold and fiher mines. The manner of purl- Jying tboje metals. Some tbougbis on the ge- neration of metals. Of the quantity of thoje metals produced in tbe Spanijl^ JJ^'eJl-Indies. IT is not known with certainty, whether all or feme provinces only ot New Spain produce mines of gold and lilver. It is, how- ever, allowed that the cliief mines of gold are in Veraguaand Nev/ Granada, confining upon Darien and Terra Firma. Thofe of filver, which arc much more rich as well as numer- ous, are found in fevcral parts, but in none fo much as in the province of iMcxico. But all the mines, whether of gold or filver, are ge- nerally found in the mount.iinous and barren parts; nature often making amends one way ior her failures in another. Gold is found either in the fand of rivers, native, and in Imall grains, or it is dug out of the earth in the fame condition in fmall bits, almod wholly metallic, and of a tolerable pu- rity ; or it isfound, like the oie of otherinetals, in an aggregate o|.)aque mafs, in a mixture of earth, llone, ful|:hur, and other metals. In this ftate it is of all colours, red, white, black- i(h, and making little or no oilentation of the riches it contains. Sometimes it forms part ' P 3 @l^ t'JCl ' I 'ii IC I 214 An Account o/'/^t' Europe am of the ornament of fomc beautiful ftones, which arc of various lively colours, interfered with filaments of this metal, quite native. Lapis lazuli is one of thcfe, which has always fome fmall_ portions of gold j but this golden llreaking is often extremely fallacious, and has betrayed many into ruinous expences; for in fcveral ftones thcfe fine veins have been no- thing more than marcafite : however, fuch marcafites or fire-ftones are found in mines, which contain real gold. But gold, how- ioever found, whether native or in what is called the ore, is feldom or never without a mixture of other metals, generally filver or copper. The gold mines, though they contain the richefl of all metals, it is remarkable, moft frequently difappoint the hopes, and ruin the fortunes, of thofe who engage in them; tho* neither the labouring of the mine, nor the purifying the of metal, is attended with fuch an expence as what thofe are obliged to, who work mines of the inferior metals. For the vein is, of all others, the moft unequal j fometimes very large, full, and rich; then it often decays by a quick gradation, and is fometimes fuddenly loil. But the ends of the veins are, on the other hand, often extremely rich; they arc called the purfe of the vein; gild when the miner is fo happy as to light SF.TTI.FMrNTS /// AmFRICA. 21 5 on one of thcfc purfes, his fortune is made immediately. When the ore is dug out, the moft ufual method is to break it to pieces in a mill, ex- actly rcfembling thofe large ones we ufe for grinding apples, wherein a mill-ftone fet on end is made to turn in a circular channel of jflone. When the ore is thus broke, and the gold fomewhat feparated from the impure mafs, they add to the whole a quantity of quickfilver. Qiiickfilver has, of all other bo- dies, the greateft aUracftion with gold, which therefore immediately breaks the links which held it to the former earth, and clings clofe to this congenial fubftance. Then a rapid ftream of water is let into the channel, which, fcour- ing away (through a hole made for the purpofe) the lighter earth, by the brifknefs of its cur- rent, leaves the gold and mercury precipitated by its weight at the bottom. This amalgama, or parte, is put into a linen cloth, and fqueezed fo as to make the quickfilver feparate and run out. To compleat this feparation, it is necef- lary to fufe the metal, and then all the mer- cury flies off in fumes. But in many parts of Spanifli America, ano- ther way of getting and purifying gold is prac- tifed. When by fure tokens they know tiiat gold lies in the bed of a rivulet, they turn the current into the inward angles, which time and the flream have formed -, whilft; tliis runs, '.' V P 4 they 'I ■hi }*.■ '■'Jr. Im^: mm \ Wt -i; wv \\ II :i |- ft 11- r !' ^20 ^/i Account of t/je Europe AfJ ever come to form a plant like the original, or any thing like a plant at all, becaule the le- minal virtue is wanting -, nor is it perhaps difcovcrable. And as for the other matters, they are the inert parts of the plant ; with- out power themfelves, they are the materials with which, and on which, the feminal virtue ads, to organize the mafs, to fpread the bran- ches, to Ihoot out the gems, to mature the fruit, and in fliort to perform all the func- tions of a complete plant. The fame may be faid of animals. And why not of minerals, though of a lefs nice organization ? Why Ihould they not have the feminal principle too, which, operating, by its own power and in a way of its own, upon the elements of air, earth, water, oil, and fait, is capable of pro- ducing iron, copper, gold, filver, and other metals. The want of this will always hin- der us from being able to produce any metal from other than metalline ingredients, though we (liould take fuch things as refemble the ingredients they yield upon an cnalyfis, and in the fame quantities in which we iind them. This I do not fay as favouring the notion that ilones and metaLs vegetate exactly like plants. That thefe are often lound where they had formerly been exhaufted, and that they are known to extend their dimenfions, is pretty certain i but that they allimilate the hetero- geneous matter which increafcs their bulk, ' in Settlements in America. 221 in a manner analogous to plants, I cannot venture to propofe. It muft be allowed that filver has been found, and I have fo feen it, extending itfelf among the interftices of ftones, not unlike ivy and other parafite plants j yet, as a metal no way differing from it, or at all inferior, is extracted from ores, which have an appearance altogether different, and which too is the ufual way, it is probable the manner in which they grow is not the fmie. What I had to fay of gold and filver, as both are found, and the latter in vaft quanti- ties, in Mexico, I thought proper, for the fake of avoiding repetitions, to bring under this head, though all the rell of the Spanilh territories produce largely of both. Of the plenty of gold and filver, which the mines of Mexico atford, great things have been faid, and with jnftice; as this, with the other Spanilh colonies in America, in a manner furnifli the whole world with filver -, and bear a great proportion in gold to the whole of what the world produces. A late very judicious colledlor of voyages fays, that the revenues of Mexico can hardly fall fhort of twenty-ibur millions of our money. He founds this upon a return made by the bifhops of their tenths, which, witiiout doubt, were not over-rated ; and tliat thefe amounted to one million and a half ilerling ; that thefe are about a fourth of the revenues of the clergy ; .4 and ; xii iilM ■ .m\ m 222 An AccouMT of the Europea!ii and that the eftates of the clergy are about the fourth part of the whole revenues of the king- dom, which at this rate amount to twenty- four milUons Enghfh. He takes another me- thod of computing the wealth of this pro- vince, which is, by the fifth paid to the king of the gold and filver dug out of their mines. This, heobferves, in theyear 1730, amounted to one million of marks in filver, each mark equivalent to eight ounces 5 fo that if we compute this filver at five (hillings per ounce, then the inhabitants receive from their mines ten millions in money. What a prodigious idea muft this calculation give us of the united produtSt of all the American mines ! How much muft be allowed in this account for the exaggeration of travellers, and the oftentation of Spaniards, I will not pretend to determine. The plate circulated in trade, or lying dead as the ornaments of churches and houfes, though a great deal is undoubtedly employed in all thefe ways, did not feem to me to juf- tify fo vaft a cornputation; but, as the gentle- man who has confidered this point with un- common attention is of another opinion, I wave any further obfervation upon it. CHAP. Settlements in America. 223 CHAP. IV. Of cochineal and cacao, COCHINEAL, the next commodity for value which the - export, is ufed in dye- ing all the feveral kinds of the fineft fcarlet, crimfon, and purple. After much difpute about the nature of this curious drug, it feems at laft agreed, that it is of the animal kind ; an infed: of the fpecies of the gall-infe(5ls. This animal is found adhering to various plants, but there is only one which commu- nicates to it the qualities which make it va- luable in medicine and manbfadlures. This plant is called Opuntia by the botanifts. It confifts wholly of ihick fucculent oval leaves, joined end to end, and fpreading out on the Udes in various ramifications. The flower is large, and the fruit in fhape refembling a fig ; this fruit is full of a crimfon juice, and to this juice it is that the cochineal infedt owes its colour. When the rainy feafons come on, they who cultivate this plant, cut off thofe heads which abound moft with fuch infedts, as are not yet at their full growth -, and preferve them very carefully from the. weather and all other in- juries. Thefe branches, though feparated from iheir parent flocks, preferve their frefli- nels El) I 11 i 1 WKU 1 m !l 1 i 1 i w n '1! ill li 224 u^n Account ofdw European nefs and juices a long time; and this enables the infcd not only to live out the rains, but to grow to it'., full fize, and be in readinefs to bring forth its young, as foon as the incle- mency of the feafon is over. When this time comes on, they are brought out, and placed upon the proper plants, difpofed in little nefts of fome m.olfy fubflance. As foon as they feel the enlivening influence of the frelh air, they bring forth in three or four days from their cxpofure at f^utheft. The young, fcarce bigger than a mite, runs about with wonderful celerity, and the whole plan- tation is immediately peopled ; yet, what is fomevvhat lingular, this animal, fo lively in its infancy, quickly lofcs all its aftivity, and, attaching itleif to fome of the leall expoled and moll fucculent part of the leaf, it clings there for life, without ever moving, not wound- ing the leaf for its fuflenance, but fucking with a probofcis, with which it is furniflied for this purpofe. What is not lefs remarkable than the way of life of this animal, is the nature of the male, which has no appearance of belonging to the fame fpecies ; far from being fixed to a fpot, he has wings, and is, like the butterfly, continually in motion ; they are fmalier than the cochineal, and conflantly fecn amongft them, and walking over them without being fufpeded by thofe who take care of the infedr, ' of SETTLEMENTS hi AmF.RICA. 22 t)f being a creature of the fame kind, though they believe that the cochineals are impreg- nated by them. But it is the female cochi- neal only which is gathered for ufc. They make four gatherings in a year, which are fo many generations of this animal. When they are futhciently careful, they bruih off the infects one by one with a fort of hair pencils, and take them as they fall ; but they often brufli the whole plant in a carclefs manner, fo that fragments of it are mixed with the cochineals, and themfelves mixed, the old and young together, which carelciTnefs abates much of the value; but what chiefly makes the goodncls of this commodity is, the man- ner oi* killing and drying the cochineals, which is performed three ways j the firft is by dip- ping the balket in which it is gathered into boiling water, and afterwards drying them in the fun ; this the Spaniards call renegrida. The fecond method is by drying them in ovens made for the purpofe ', this, from its grey colour, veined with purple, is called jafpeade. The third manner is, when the Indians dry them on their cakes of maize which are baked on flat ftones 3 this laft is the worfl: kind, as it is generally overbaked, and fomething burned. They call it negra. This drug has a very uncommon good quality, and the more extraordinary as it be- longs to the animal kingdom, and to the moil Vol. 1. Q^ pcridi-' *;'! '. m ' JmI' fill 226 . ./In Account of the European perin^ahlc of that kind, that it iv-'vcr decays. Without uny other care than Iiaving heen put by in a l)ox, fome have been known to keep iixty, ibme even upwards oF a hundred years, and as fit for the purpcics of medicine, or manufadure, as ever it was. It is ufed in medicine as a cordii^l i.nd fudorific, in which intentions few things anfwer better. And indeed, as it anfwers fnch good purpofes in medicine, is fo ellential in trade, and pro- duced only in this country, it may he confi- dercd in all markets as equivalent to gold or filvcr, by the certainty and quicknefs of the fale. It is computed they annually export no lefs than nine hundred thoufand pound weight of this commodity. The cocao, or cacao, of which chocolate is made, is a conliderable article in the natural hillory and commerce of New Spain. It grows upon a tree of a middling lize ; the wood is fpungy and porouf, the bark fmooth, and of a cinamon colour : the flower grows in bunches between theflalks and the wood, of the form of rofes, but fmall, and without any fcent. The fruit is a fort of pod, which contains the cacao, much about the lize and Iliape of a cucumber. Within there is a pulp of a moil refrefliing acid tafte, which fills up the intcrftices between the nuts before they are ripe ; but, when they fully ripen, thefe liuts are packed up wonderfully clofe, and in a mod Settlkments in Amfj^icA. 227* & moil: regular nnd elccjant order j they have a pretty tough fliell, and within this is the oily rich fuhftancc, of which chocolate is made. This fruit grows differently fl'om our Euro- pean fruits, which always hang upon the fmall branches ; but this [■rows along the body of the great ones, principally at the joints. None are found upon the fmall, which, though it is a manner of vegetation unknown here, prevails in feveral other plants withiii the tropics. This cacao is a very tender tree, equally impatient of the wind, heat or cold, and will flourifh only in the Ihade; for which rcafon, in the cacao walks, they always plant a palm-tree for every one of jacao. I need ^Ay little of the ufe of this fruit ; it is gene- ral amonsffl: ourfelves, and its virtues well known ; but, however the great external call for it may be, the internal confumj^tion is much greater : fo that in Mexico and Terra Firma, in fome provinces of which latter it is found in the greateft perfection, their fo- reign and domeflic commerce in this article is immenfe, and the profits fo great, that a •fmall garden of the cacao's is fud to proflucc twenty thoufand crowns a year ; though I believe this to be exan:a;erated: it fliews, how-^ ever, in what a light of profit this commo- dity is confidered. At hon^e it makes the principal part of their diet, and ii; found whok;- Ibme, nutritious, and fuitablc to the climate. 0^2 This , i 228 An Account of the European This fruit is often confounded with the cocoa nut, which is a fpccics wholly different, CHAP. V. ^Thc trade of Mexico, Some account of that . city. Tie fairs of Aca^'^ulca and La Vera Cruz. The f Ota and rcgijler Jhips, TH E trade of Mexico may be confidered as confiiling of three great branches by which it communicates with the whole world ', the trade with Europe by La Vera Cruz J the trade with the Eafl-Indies by Aca- pulco i and the commerce of the South-Sea by the fame port. The places in New Spain, which can intereft a ftranger, ?.re therefore three only. La Vera Cruz, Acapulco, and Mexico. Mexico, the capital of the kingdom, the refidence of the viceroy, the feat, of the firft audience or chamber of juftice, and an arch- bilhopric, is certainly one of the richeft and moft fplcndid citiesj. not only in America, but in the whole world. Though no fea-port town, nor communicating with the fea by any navigable river, it has a prodigious com- merce, and is itfelf the center of all that is carried on between America and Europe on one hand, and between America and the Eaft-Indies on the other i for here the prin- cipal Settlements in America. 229 •cipal merchants refide, the greatefl part of the bufinefs is negotiated ; and the goods fent from Acapulco to La Vera Cruz, or from La Vera Cruz to Acapulco, for the ufc of the Philippines, and in a great meafure for the ufe of Peru and Lima, all pafs through this city, and employ an incredible number of horfes and mules in the carriage. Hither all the cold and filver come to be coined, here the king's fifth is depofited, and here is wrought all that immenfc quantity of utenfils and ornaments in plate, which is every year fent into Europe. Every thing here has the grcateft air of magnificence and wealth ; the Ihops glitter upon all fides with the expofure of gold, filver, and jewels, and furprize yet more by the work of the imagination upon the treafures which fill great chefts piled up to the cielings, whiUt they wait the time of being fent to Old Spain. It is faid that the negro wenches, who run by the coaches of the ladies there, wear bracelets of gold, pearl necklaces, and jewels in their ears, whilfl the black foot-boys are all over covered with lace and embroidery. It cannot exactly be afcertained what number of people are in this city. It is certainly very confiderable, by many not made lefs than feventy or eighty thoufand. This city itfelf is well and regu- larly built, though the houlbs are not lotty ; the mojiafteries are numerous, and richly cn- , , 0^3 dowed. tu 230 y^/i Account oftL' European dowed, and the churches extravagantly rich in their ornaments, though comparatively poor in the tatle of their architedure. The port neareft to this citv is Acapulco, upon the South-Sea, upwards of two hundred miles didant from the capital. Acapulco it- felf has one of the deeped, fccureil:, and moft commodious harbours in the South-Sea, and indeed almoll the only one which is good upon the Wetlern coaft of New Spain. The entrance of the harbour is defended by acaftle of tolerable flreneth ; the tov/n itfelf is but ill built, and makes every way a miferable figure, except at the time of the fairs, when it intirely changes its appearance, and becomes one of the moft confiderable marts in the world. About the month of December, the great palleon, which makes the whole communica- tion that is between America and the Philip- pines, after a voyage of five months, and fail- ing three thoufand leagues without feeing any other land than the Little Ladrones, arrives here loaded with all the rich commodities of the eaft j cloves, pepper, cinamon, nut- megs, mace, china, japan wares, callicoes plain and painted, chints, muilins of every fort, fdks, precious ftcnes, rich drugs, and gold duft. At the fame time the annual ihip from Lima comes in, and is not com- puted to bring lefs than two millions of pieces {4' eight in filv^r, befides quickfilver, cacao, drues, '^"t Set TLEMENTs in America. 231 dmgs, and other valuable commodities, to be laid out in the purchafe of the commodities of the Eaft-Indies. Several other fhips from different parts of Chili and Peru meet upon the fame occafion ; and, bclides the tratiic for the Philippine com.moditics', this caufes a very large dealing for every thing thofc coun- tries have to exchange with one another, as well as for the purchafe of all forts of Euro- pean goods. The fair lafts fometimes for thirty days. As foon as the goods are difpofed of, the galleon prepares to fet out on her voyage to the Philippines with her returns, chiefly in filver, but with fome European goods too, and fome other com.modities of America. I fpeak here, as though there were but one veffel on the trade v/ith the Philippines j and in fa6l there is only nominally one trading vef- fel, the galleon itfelf, of about twelve hun- dred tuns ; but another attends her commonly as a fort of convoy, which generally carries fuch a quantity of goods as pretty much dif- ables her from performing that office. The galleon has often above a thoufand people on boards either interefted in the cargo, or mere- ly paflengers ; and there is no trade in which fo large profits are made; the captain of the veffel, the pilots, their mates, and even the common lailors, making in one voyage, what in their feveral ranks may be confidered as cafy fortunes. It is fiid, by th ; writer of Lord 0^4 Anfon's 'r^. \ 232 ^/2 Account (5/ //6i? European Anfon's voyage, that the jefuits have the pro- fits of thivS fliip to fupport their miffions; and if fo, their gains mull: be extremely great, and muft add much to the confequence of a fociety which has as great a reputation for its riches as its wifdom. This commerce to fo vaO: a value, though carried on diredly between the king of Spain's own dominions, enriches them in proportion but very little ; the far greater part of every thing that comes from the Philippines being the produce, or the fabric, of other countries ; the Spaniards add none of the artificial value of labour to any thing. The Chinefe are largely interefted in this cargo, and it is to them they are indebted for the manufafturing of fuch of their plate, as is wrought into any better fafliion than rude ingots or inelegant coins. When this fair is over, the town is comparatively deferted ; however, it remains for the whole year the moft confiderable port in Mexico, for the trade with Peru and Chili, which is not very great. The Eaft-India goods brought hither are carried on mules to Mexico, from whence what exceeds their own confumption is fent by land carriage to La Vera Cruz, to pafs over the Terra Firma, to the illands^ and fome even to Old Spain, though in no great quantity. From the port Of La Vera Cruz it is that the great weall;h of Mexico is poured out Settlements in America. 233" upon all the old world; and it is from this port alone, that they receive the numberlefs luxuries and necsflaries that the old world yields them in return. To this port the an- nual fleet from Cadiz, called the flota, arrives about the latter end of November, after a paflage of nine weeks. This fleet, which fails only from Cadiz, confifts of about three men of war as a convoy, and fourteen or fif- teen large merchant fhips, from four hundred to one thoufand tuns burthen. They are load- ed almoft with every fort of goods which Europe produces for export ; all forts of woollens, linens, filks, velvets, laces, glafs, paper, cutlery, all forts of wrought iron, watches, clocks, quickfilver, horfe furniture, ihoes, {lockings, books, pidlures, military ftores, wines, and fruits j fo that all the trading* parts of Europe are highly interefted in the cargo of this fleet. Spain itfelf fends out little more than the --vine and fruit. This, with the freight and commiiiigns to the merchant and the duty to the king, is almoft all the ad- vantage which that kingdom derives from her commerce with the Indies. It is ftriclly pro- hibited to load any commodities on board this fleet without entering the goods, the value, and the owner's name, in the India-houie at Seville; and when they return, they mult bring a certificate, from the proper officer there, that the goods werfc duly landed, and in '■*.i h ir •iii I" ! i 1 4 234 v:/« Account ^//^^ European in the proper port. They are not permitted to break bulk upon any account until they arrive at La Vera Cruz, nor are they fuffered to take in any other than Spanifh paiTengers, nor them without a licence firll obtained at the India-houfe. Jealoufy is the glaring charader of the court of Spain, in whatever regards their American empire; and they often facrifife the profperlty to an exceffive regard to the fecu- rity of their poffeflions. They attend ii: this trade principally to two objects ; the exclu- iion of all Itrangers from any fhare in it, and the keeping up of the market for fuch goods as they fend j and they think both thefe ends belt anfwered by fending out only one annual fleet, and that from one only port in Spain, and to one port only in MexicQ. Thefe views, which would be impolitic in any power in Europe befides, are judicious enough in Spain; becaufe, the goods they fend belong- ing moftly to llrangers, and the profits upon the fale in the Indies being the only thing that really accrues to themfelves, it is cer^ tainly right to confult primarily how they {hall get the greateft returns upon the fmalleft quantity ot goods. It would be quite other- wife, it all, or mod of what they fend abroad, were their own produce or manufacture. They are undoubtedly right too in keeping the trade very carefully to themfelvec, though perhaps Settlements in America. 235 perhaps the means taken to attain this end will not be thought (o rational. By fuffering all the trade to be carried on only between two ports, they difcourage in the old world all their towns from that emulation, which would not only enable them to traffic in fo- reign commodities, but in time to fct up fa- brics of their ownj whereas now, with re- gard to the export of their commodities, they fland upon the level of flrangers j they can- not carry their produce diredtly to the bell market; and it is very certain, that even tri- fling difcouragements operate very powerfully where the commercial fpirit is weak, and the trade in its infancy. Again ; in the new world, this confinement of the trade encourages in- terlopers, and an illicit commerce, too gainful for any regulation to prevent, and which may afford fuch bribes as will difarm the moll ri- gid juflice and lull the moil attentive vigi- lance. So tliat in reality it may greatly be doubted, v^-hether the precautions, lofyllema- tlcally purfued, and improved from time to time with fo much care and foreiight, are at bottom of molt advantage or prejudice to thac nation. It was probably fome conlideratioii of this kind, that firfl gave rife to the cuftom of regifter Ihips : it was found that this con- fined commerce fupplied its extenlive object very imperfedlly; and that thofe who were $it watch to pour in contraband goods would take 'il '!f-'!l 236 -^wAccouNT o/"/;^^' European take advantage of this want of a regular fup- ply from Spain. When therefore a company of merchants of Cddiz or Seville judge that goods muft be wanting at any certain port in the Weft-Indies, the courfe is, to petition the council of the Indies for licence to fend a Ihip of three hundred tuns, or under, to that port. They pay for this licence forty or fifty thoufand dollars, befides prefents to the of- ficers, in proportion to the connivance necef- fary to their defign ; for, though the licence runs to three hundred tuns at the utmoft, the veffel fitted out is feldom really lefs than fix hundred. This (hip and cargo is regiftered at the pretended burthen. It is required too, that a certificate be brought from the king's officer at the port to which the regifter (hip is bound, that Ihe does not exceed the fize at which (lie is regiftered; all this pafies of courfe ; thefe are what they call regifter (hips, and by thefe the trade of Spanifti America has been carried on principally for fome years paft, fome think, as much to the prejudice of their trade, as contrary to all their former maxims in carrying it on. But to return to the flora. When all the goods are landed and dif- pofed of at La Vera Cruz, the feet takes in the plate, precious ftones, cochine.il, indigo, cacao, tobacco, fugar, and hides, which are their returns for Old Spain. Sometimes in . :. ■.:^ May, ^ Settlements in America. I'i^y May, but more frequently in Auguft, they are ready to depart. From La Vera Cruz they fail to the Havanna in the ifle of Cuba, which is the place of rendezvous where they meet the galleons; another fleet, which carries on all the trade of Terra Firma by Cartha- gena, and of Peru by Panama and Porto-bello, in the fame manner that the flota ferves for that of New Spain. When they arrive at this port, and join the galleons and the regifter fhips that colled at the fame port from all quarters, fome of the cleaned: and bed failing of their vell'els are difpatched to Spain, with advice of the contents of thcfe feveral fleets, as well as with treafure and goods of their own, that the court may judge what indulto or duty is proper to be laid on them, and what; convoy is necefiary for their fafety. Thefe fleets generally make fome flay at the Havanna before all t'le fliips that compofe them are collected and ready to fail. As fcon as this happens, they quit the Havanna, and beat through the gulph of Florida, and, pafling between the Bahama iflands, hold their courfe to the North-Eaft, until they come to the height of St. Auguftin, and then fteer away to Old Spain. When the flota has left La Vera Cruz, it has no longer the appear- ance of a place of confequence ; it is a town in a very unhealthy iituation, inhabited fcarcely by any but Indians, Meztezes, or Negroes. All ^« Account ^/i^^ European jefuit, about the year 1650. Hence it had its name of jefuit's bark. It is faid to have been difcovered by the accident of an Indian'sdrink- ing in a fever of the water of a lake into which fome of thefe trees had fallen, and by which he was cured. This medicine, as ufual, was held in defiance for a good while by the fa- culty ; but, after an obftinate defence, they have thought proper at lafl to furrender. Not- withftanding all the mifchiefs at firfl forefeen in its ufe, every body knows that it is at this day innocently and efficacloufly prefcribed in a great variety of cafes; for which reafcn it makes a confiderable and valuable part of the cargo of the galleons. Guinea pepper, Agi, or, as it is called by us, Cayenne pepper, is a very great article in the trade of Peru, as it is ufed allover Spa- nilh America in almoft every thing they eat. This is produced in the greatefl quantity in the vale of Arica, a diftridt in the Southern parts of Peru, from whence they export it to the annual value of fix hundred thoufand crowns. The diftrid: which produces this pepper in fuch abundance is but fmall, and naturally barren j its fertility in pepper, as well as in grain and fruits, is owing to the advantage of a fpeciesof a very extraordinary manure, brought from an ifland called Iqui- qua. This is a fort of yellowiili earth, of a fetid fmell. It is generally thought to be dung of Settlements in America. 255 of birds, becaufe of the fimilitude of the fcent; feathers having been found very deep in it, and vaft numbers of fea fowls appearing upon that and all the adjacent coafls. But, on tne other hand, whether we look upon this fubftance as the dung of thefe fea fowls or a particular fpecies of earth, it is almoft equally- difficult to conceive how the fmall ifland of Iquiqua, not above two miles in circumfer- ence, could fupply fuch immenfe quantities ; and yet,after fupplying upwards of twelve fliip loads annually for a century together for the diftant parts, and a vaAly larger quantity for the ufe of the neighbourhood, it cannot be obferved that it is in the lead diminished, or that the height of the ifland is at all lelTened. But thefe are matters, which, to handle pro- perly, require a more exadt knowledge of all the circumftances relating to them, than can be gathered from travellers. Quickfilver is a remarkable article in their trade, becaufe the purification of their gold and filver depends upon it. I do not find that any other part of the Spanifli America pro- duces it ; fo that Mexico and Terra Firma are fupplied from Old Spain with all they want of that mineral, which is brought them on the king's account only j except that fome ar- rives from Peru in a contraband manner. In Peru likcwife it is monopolized by the crown. The principal mine of this extraordinary fub- itance 't,i iii IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.! UiK" Urn ■56 1^ 2.5 iiiiiZ 1.8 s 1125 16 6" - ► ^ V] <^ /2 ^l / ^^ r% >> '/ s Photographic Sdences Corporation 4% \ \\ % V 1^\ 6^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 "^ ^5^ ^n Accovar of fife Utmost AH ftance is at a place called Guancavelica, whef6 it is found in a whitilh mafs, refembling brick ill burned } this they pound, and put into £i furnace vaulted at the top ; it is laid upon an iron grate covered with earth. Through this the fire paffes j and, volatilizing the mineralj it is raifcd in a fmoke, which, finding no paf- fage but through a little hole contrived for that purpofe, rufhes through into a fuccef- iion of little round vefTels, united to each other by the necks j here the fmoak circu- lates, and it condenfes by means of a little water at the bottom of each vcffel, into which the quickfilver falls in a pure heavy liquid* The men who work in the mines of this mi- neral are yet more fubjedt to difeafes than thofe who toil in the others j and they make ufe of the fame prefervatives of Paraguay, tea and coca. C H A P. X. ^he character of the Terumans. Their dhifons, The Indian feJiivaL Honours paid to a de^ fcendant of the ynca, TH E manners of the Spaniards and Creolians of Peru refemble, with little difference, thofe of the Spaniards and Creo- Jians of MexicO;, other than that the natives of Peru feem to be of a more liberal turn, . . ' 4 , and Settlements /;; America. 257 and of greater ingenuity ; but they are for the greater part equally deftitute of all cultivation. The llavery of the Indians is here yet more fevere. The magiftrate and the pried devour their v^rhole fubftance; and every Spaniard, as fome authors report, infults them with impunity. The traveller takes as much of their provilion as he pleafes, and decides for himfelf what he (hall pay, or whether he ihall pay any thing at all. Complaints are anfwered with new indignities, and with blows, which it is a crime to return. This cruel irregular bondage contributes to difpeo- ple this country even more than the metho- dical tyranny of the government. To avoid the plunder he is hourly fubjedt to, the maf- ter of the family often railes no more grain than what juft fuffices for the fuflenance of his family ; this he buries, and keeps the fecret of his hoard to himfelf, only drawing out daily juft: fo much as ferves for the ufe of the day. If he chances to die fuddenly, the family ftarves; if a bad feafon comes, the calculated produce falls fliort, and they are all reduced to beggary. Yet worfe, they are even the flaves of flaves ; for the Spaniards encourage their Negroes to treat them with the greateft: infolence ; and they politically keep up a rancour, now grown inveterate, be- tween thefe two races of people. They are forbidden, under the fcverell penalties, ta Vol. I. ' • § • marry plti ktj [•'. ^i; .: ' , ■''•(IV r'* ■hm 258 -^« Account o/'f/^t' European marry, or to have an unlawful intercourfe to- gether. Divifion is the great inftrument in which the Spaniards truft for the prefervation of their colonies. The native Spaniard has alone all the lucrative offices, civil, ecclefiaf- tical, and military. He defpifes the Creolian. The Creolian hates and envies him. Both contemn and maltreat the Indians, who, on their fide, are not infenfible of the indignities they fuFer. The Blacks arc encouraged to trample on the Indians, and to confider their interefts as altogether oppofite ; whilft the In- dians in their nominal freedom look with an envious difdain upon the ilavery of the Ne- groes, which makes them their mafters. What is extraordinary, the Spaniards, not content with reducing this unhappy nation under fo cruel a yoke, as if they thought it nothing unlefs they were thoroughly fenfi- ble of its weight, fuffer the Indians to cele- brate an annual feftival, in which plays are reprefented, commemorating the overthrow of their own flate. Thefe are adted with all the horrid and aggravating circumftances which attended this event ; and the people are at this time fo enraged, that the Spaniards find it dangerous to go abroad. In the city of Lima, there is annually celebrated a fefti- val of this kind, with a grand proceflion, wherein they carry ir a fort of triumph the remaining defcendant of the yncas of Peru* and ind Settlements in America. 259 and his wife j who at that time receive all imaginable honours in the moft melancholy pomp, from a race bowed down with the fenfe of the common bondage of prince and peo- ple. This throws the moft affed:ing gloom over the feftival that renews the image of their former freedom. To this remaining ynca the viceroy of Peru does homage when he enters upon his government. The ynca fits upon a lofty ftage, and the viceroy makes his obei- fance upon a horfe, who is taught to kneel upon the occafion. This manner of proceed- ing may be thought of the moft refined ftrain of infolent tyranny, and to be as unpolitic as it is infaltingi but it is not impofiible that thofe vents, which they fufi'er the indignation of the people to take, may carry off a fpirit, that might otherwife break out in a much more fatal manner. Whether by the divifion they keep up, or by thefe vents, or by the management of the clergy, or by whatever means, the Spaniards preferve their conquefts with very little force ; the Indians are even armed, and make a confidcrable part of their militia ; it is true, they are interdidted the ufe of weapons without licence j but licence is procured without much difliculty. They have likevy'lfe a large number of free blacks, and they too are formed into companies in their militia. Certain it is, that, both in the Spanilh and Portuguefe colonies, they find S 2 llavery m m M w^ m 26o An AccouNt of the European flavery compatible enough with great licence in fome refpects, and both with the fecurity of the mafters. Things deferving our con- fideration j as we do not feem to excel in the conciliating arts of government in our colo- nies, nor to think that any thing is to be ef- feded by other inftruments than thofe of ter- ror and rude force. -1. CHAP. XI. H'he cities of Peru, Lima, Cufco, and ^ito ; . a defcription of them, Callao, its trade and dejirudlion. The viceroy of Peru. Hisju- rifdiSiion, and revenues. «-5-t1 THERE are three cities in Peru famous for their opulence and trade; Lima, Cufco, and Quito. Lima lies in the Northern part of Peru, in the latitude of 12 South, and 299 longitude from TenerifFe. It flands about two leagues from the fea, upon a river called Rimac, fmall and unnavigable. This city is the capital of Peru, and of all South America -, it extends in length about two miles, and in breadth about one and a quar- ter ; its diftant appearance, from the multitude of fpires and domes, is extremely majeftic ; vxnd when you enter it you fee the ftreets laid out with the greateft regularity, cutting each other at equal diftances and right angles j the 4 : ..; houfes. Settlements in America. 261 houfes, on account of the equality of the climate, are (lightly roofed, as they are built low and of light materials, to avoid the con- fequences of earthquakes, frequent and dread- ful in this country. But they are elegantly plaiftered and painted on the outlide, fo as to have all the appearance of free-ftone. To add to the beauty and convenience of this city, moft houfes have a garden, watered by cuts drawn from the river ; each man commands a little running ftream for his own ufe j in a hot and dry country as this is, no fmall mat- ter of convenience and delight. Here is a grand walk by the river-fide two hundred fa- thom long, confiding of five rows of fine orange trees. To this the company reforts at five in the evening drawn in their coaches and cala(hes *. Such is the opulence of this city, that, exclufive of coaches, there are kept in it upwards of five thoufand of thefe carriages. Lima has fifty-four churches, taking in the cathedral, the parochial, and conventual; thirteen monafteries of men (befides fix col- leges of jefuits), one of which contains (even hundred, and another five hundred friars and fervants ; twelve nunneries, the principal of • The calafli refembles that fort of coach which is called a Vis a Vis, but is drawn only by a fingle horle or mule, and goes on a fingle pair of wheels ; yet fometimcs by the gilding a*id other deco- rations the price of a caJafli amounis to a thoufand crowns. S 3 which M>^' r^, 1 ^ Uifh ' 1:1 1 1 mm \ ! iji , ■ i ■' ■# ■ 1 m it f fv/ S4 IS (111 I 164 -«4« Account o/'/i6^ European is remarkable too in this affair, Mr. Frezler, who was in Peru in the year 1714 and from whom I have part of my materials, on con- fidering the fituation of this town and the na- ture of the country, ventured to prophefy for it the deflrudion, which we have feen ac- complilhed in our days. Whilft this town fubfifted, it contained about 3000 inhabitants of all kinds, had five convents, and pofleffed the fined: port in all Peru. Here were the rich warehoufes furnifhed with all the goods of Europe, which being landed by the gal- leons at Porto-bcUo were brought over land to Panama, and thence tranfported hither by the armadilla, or fleet, with a convoy of three men of war referved for this purpofe. To this port arrived the annual fliip from Aca- pulco loaden with all the products of the Eaft ; from Chili it received vaft: quantities of corn, dried beef and pork, leather, tallow, plank,, and feveral forts of woollen goods, particularly carpets like thofe of Turkey. From the Southern ports of Peru were brought fugars, wine, and brandy, naval ftores, cacao, Vigonia wool, and tobacco. From Mexico it had pitch and tar, woods for dying, and that balfam, which we improperly call of Peru, iince it comes from Guatimala. As the port of Callao is fo excellent, and as it is that by which the trade of Lima wholly, and that of all Peru in a great meafure, mull be carried r: • .s. « on. Settlements in America. 265 on, we cannot doubt but that a new city is already built therci and that Lima is reftored to its former luftre ; efpecially as this latter is the center of fo vaft a trade, and the feat of fo great a government. For to the viceroy of Peru, both Chili and Terra Firma are fubjedl. His fettled falary is 40,000 pieces of eight yearly; his perquifites are great; as often as he goes to Callao, he is intitled to 3000 pieces of eight for that little airing; he has 10,000 forevery progrefs into more diftant parts; he has the fole difpofal ot above a hundred great magiftracies; and, in fhort, the granting of all triennial employments both civil and military throughout the extent of his ample jurifdic- tion. It cannot therefore be doubted that his perquifites, even his lavtrful ones (for there are many others), at lead double the value of his falary. And certainly, whatever the king of Spain may lofe by the bad oeconomy in his affairs, no prince in the world has fuch means of rewarding the fervices of his fubjedts, without any immediate burden upon his own revenues. Cufco, the capital of the ancient empire, is ftill a very conliderable city; it is at a good dif- tance from the fea, and lituatedin the moun- tainous part of the country ; it has not lefs than forty thoufand inhabitants, three parts Indian.s, who are very induftrious and ingenious. 7'iio' little inftruded in the art, a tafte for paint- p iil ii m i; ■ \ 1 1 v4'' :¥ 'm •;. . ■■( 1 '■! y 266 -/^« Account o/'/i^^ European ing prevails, and fome performances of the Indians of Cufco and Qiiito have met with applaufe in Italy. An incredible quantity of pidturcs are painted here, and are difperfed all over Peru and Chili, Th«y have here like- wife manufadures of bays and cotton, and they work largely in leather in mod of the ways in which it is ufed. Quito is likewife an inland town fituated in the moll Northern part of Peru ; it is a very confiderable place, and equal to any in Peru for the number of inhabitants, which are be- tween fifty and fixty thoufand ; and it carries on a very extenfive trade with Lima, in ma- nufactures of wool, cotton, and flax, which are wrought in the city and its diftridt, and fupply the greater part of the confumption of the poorer fort all over this kingdom. Few mines are worked in this diftrid:, tho' thought to abound in minerals; they receive plate in return for their own manufadures, and fend it toCarthagena in return for thofe of Europe. It is not eafy to calculate the number of in- habitants in Peru, becaufe we have none of thofe data which are ncceflary to ground fuch a calculation. There are feveral very large and populous towns difperfed through that country^; but in many places it is little better than a de- fart j partly for want of water, but much more generally through the pride of one part of the people, themiferable fubje(Sion of the other. Settlements in America. 267 other, and the floth of all. The mines un- doubtedly contribute largely to depopulate the country, by turning the inhabitants from agri- culture and manufactures, employments that prolong life and provide for it, to the working of metals extremely pernicious to health, and which makes them depend upon others for their neceffary fuftenancc. The nations which are poor in refpedt of gold, and induftrious from that poverty, have not the leafl: reafon to envy the wealth of the Peruvians; who, amidfl all that extravagant glare that dazzles the eye, live penurioufly and fordidly j and are often in extreme want in a country, which in many places is one of the mort: fertile in the world. In fafl, the countries which employ their men in arts and in agriculture, and receive their re- turn in gold and filver, from the countries which abound in thofe metals, may be confi- dered as the real proprietors of the mines; the immediate poiTeliors, only as their llewards to manage, or as their flaves to work them ; whilft they are employed themfelves at an eaiy labour, friendly to life, and neceflary to their well-bein?. n h'i It* I M >.-{: CHAP. 268 -^Vi Account 0/*/;$^ European CHAP. XII. TJiie temperature of the air in Chili. The foil. Its fertility, A defer iption of the principal towns, ihe trade of Chili, ^ IMmediately :o the Southward of Peru lies Chili, cxcending itfelf in a long narrow flip, along the coaft of the South-Sea, in the South temperate zone. The air here is re- markably clear and ferene. Scarce any changes happen for three parts of the year. Very little rain fiills during that period. But the benign dews every night, and the many rivu- lets which the neighbourhood of the Andes fupplies them, fertilize the plain country, and make it produce as much corn, wine, oil, and fruits, as the number of the inhabitants, which is very fmall, oi their induftry, which is but moderate, will fuffer them to cultivate. If it were under a more favcural le government, and better peopled, there is hardly any part of the world which could enter into competition with this. For at the fame time that it enjoys a very healthful air, and is warmed by an heat no way oppreflivc, it bears many of the tro- pical fruits that would thrive no where elfe out of the torrid zoiie. It is luxuriant on the furface with every thing for profit and delight; and beneath it is rich to profufion with veins of Settlements /« America. 269 of gold, filver, copper, lead, quickfilver, and iron. Thofe of gold are the mofl wrought; and indeed there is fcarce a rivulet in the country in which gold is nor found in fmaller or greater plenty ; but want of people, which is here more felt than in the other Spa- ni{h fettlements, hinders them from working all their mines ; and, what is worfe, from im- proving the furface of their country to any thing like the degree of perfedtion to which it might be brought. For in this whole extent of country, upwards of twelve hundred miles in length, and from three hundred to five hun- dred miles in breadth, it is not reckoned they have much above twenty thoufand whites fit to bear arms, and about three times that num- ber of Indians, Blacks, and Mulattoes. Yet, with fo few hands, and thofe not the mofl induftrious, they export annually from the ports of Chili, to Callao, and other parts of Peru, corn enough to fnpport fixty thoufand men, for no country in the world is more prolific ingrain of every fpecies; they export befides great quantities of wine, hemp (which is raifed in no other part on the South-Seas), hides, tallow, and fp'ted provifions; to fay nothing of the gcJd, and other minerals, which form their principal wealth. The peo- ple are much employed in paluirage j and cat- tle are here in fiich plenty, that an ox fatted may be had for four dollars; a great proof of the I.' ■|i 11,1 i St I ■'•if! !1 270 An Account of the Europiean the fertility of a country where there is no fc.?rcity of money. But as they have a con- liderable trade in dried and falted beef, hides, and tallow, they conftantly drive great num- bers of horned cattle from the other fide of the Andes, from the province of Tucuman in Paragua. Chili has but a very few hearts of prey, and thofe timorous; and although toads fnakes, and fcorpions, are here as numerous as in other hot countries, they are found entirely harmlefs. There are in Chili four towns of fome note, either on the fea, or near it ; St. Jago which is the capital, and contains about 4000 fami- lies. La Conception, Coquimbo or La Serena, and Baldivia. The three firft of thefe towns are laid out in a manner exactly refembling each other, the ftreets, like thofe of Lima, cutting one another fo as to form fquares like thofe of a draft board. They have all gar- dens between the houfes, and running waters drawn from the neighbouring rivers to ferti- lize them; but the houfes are fo low and meanly built (mud walls, and thatch in fome) that they rather refemble agreeable country villages than cities of bufinefs and grandeur. However, fome of the houfes are well furniflied, and it is faid, that in St. Jago there are many, which have the meaneft uten- fils of the kitchen, of gold and lilver. As for Baldivia, it is not more remarkable for being Settlements in America. 271 being the ftrongcft fortrefs in the South-Seas, than for the manner in which it is peopled ; for hither the criminals from Peru and the other parts of Chili are tranfported, either for a time or for life, and obliged to labour up- on the fortifications and other public works. What is Angular ; thefe criminals are at once the prifbners and the jailors; for the garrifon of the place, the whole corps, foldiers and officers, is formed of no other. The town contains about two thoufand fouls, and all of them baniflied people, or the defcendants of fuch. The maritime trade of Chili is entirely con- fined to what they carry on with Peru, one or twoportsof New Spain, and Panama. Their Ihips rarely penetrate the ftraits of Magellan, or pafs Cape Horn. But they have a confider- able inland commerce with Tucuinan, Bue- nos- Ayres, and other parts of Paragua, from which they get the herb of Paragua, bees- wax, and cattle. . . ■ , .1 ! 1. ■ 1:1, flF*^. CHAP. XIII. Ti'he Spaniards in this province but few. The Americans^ their chara^er. So?nefree, AS in Chili they are weak in men, have a large body of independent Indians, ill- affeded to them on their borders ; as the Dutch I* ll ( I i }\l 272 u4n Accoi/NT of t6e Europe Ait Dutch once aitempted an eftabli(hment here, and as other people havenouri(hedproje6lsof the fame nature 5 they are extremely cautious and watchful on the coaft, and the country is immediately in arms upon every alarm, which is given when any fliip appears off the coaft that is not Spani(h built : yet, notwithftand- ing all their caution, their fecurity is rather owing to the fyftem of Europe, of which it is a part to keep the Spanifh pofTenions in the hand of the prefent proprietors, and to the difficult and dangerous palTage of the ftraits of Magellan or Cape Home, for any European armament of force, than cither to their own ftrength or vigilance. The Indian inhabitants of Chili are a brave and warlike people, who defended their liber- ties vigoroully, made feveral fuccefsful infur- redions, killed Peter Baldivia the conqueror of the country, and maintained a war againft the whole Spanifli power in that part of the world for feveral years j which was only ter- minated, on the part of feveral of the nations near the mountains, by an honourable peace, which is prefervcd to this day. None can be more jealoufly watchful than this people of their freedom. They traffic indeed with the Spaniards, but with fo much caution, and un- der limitations fo ftritft, that they can take very little advantage of this communication. As for thofe who are obliged to fubmit, it is r • .to Settlements m America. 273 to a yoke nothing near fo heavy as that which opprefTcs the people who inhabit the other Spanifli provinces ; partly from the better terms v/hich were procured *, and partly from the fear of a nation, whom they have expe- rienced to be brave, and know to be furround- ed with many, who are of the fame blood> and have defended their freedom with better fuccefs. A good example, even in the un- fortunate, how much a brave defence of li- berty may contribute to procure, if nothing elfe, yet a more tolerable fervitude. The In- dians of this country have more refemblr- ,/ tothofeof North America, though more V.; mane and civilized in their manners, than • / the Peruvians and Mexicans. Here they ha . •" lefs fuperftition naturally 5 and, far from having that excefTive veneration which thofe nations had for their kings, they have no kings at all, and very little form of government ; each fa- mily being fovereign within itfelf, and inde- pendent. Thebulinefs which concerns them all, is tranfadled in the alTemblies of all j and the plurality of voices decides. They are rr, uc 1 given to liquor ; and they pradtife polygamy, which in America is not common. How- ever, the Spani{h miflionaries have now made a confiderable progrefs amongft thefe free na- tions; they have a college for the education of the Indian youth; and their influence is a great means of preferving peace between the Spanifh Vol. 1. T fettle- m m * 274 ^// Account o///6f European fettleinents and the free Indians on their bor- ders, wh.ich, without their afllftance, would be diilicult. For, though they lillen to the Spanifh priefts, they prelcrve a very jufl; terror of fidiing under their government, and no fmall hatred to the people. CHAP. XIV. , The climate of Paraguay. Its rivers. The pro'vince of La Plata. The towti of Buenos- Ayr es. Its trade. LaPh THE country of Paraguay, Ihuts up the Eaftern iide of aconfider- able part of Chili and Peru; whence extend- ing over a tradt of country, above a thoufand miles broad, it bounds Brazil upon the Weft, and upon the South butts upon the Atlantic ocean j being fifteen hundred miles at leaft in length, from the mouth of the great river Plata to its Northern boundary the country of the Amazons. This vail: territory is far from be- ing wholly fubdued or planted by the Spaniards. There are many parts in a great degree un- knovv'n to them, or to any other people of Eu- rope. In fuch a vaft country, and lying in climates fo different, for it lies on the North- ern frontier under the equino<5tial line, and on the South advances to the thirty feventh degree of latitude, far into the South temper- 2 I- ' . ate .*.'l ate Settlements in America. 275 ate zone,' we muft expeft to meet great di- verfity of foil and produdl. However, in ge- neral, this great country is fertile; the paftures particularly are {o rich that they are covered with innumerable herds of black cattle, horfes, and mules ; in which hardly any body thinks it worth his while to claim a property. Any perfon takes and breaks them according to his occafions. This country, befides an infinite number of fmaller rivers, is watered by three principal ones, which unite near the fea, to form the famous Rio de la Plata. The firft is Paraguay, from whence the country is denominated; this forms the main channel. It has its origin from a great lake in the center of South America, called the lake of Xarayes, and runs in a courfe nearly North and South. Parana, which rifes amongft the mountains on the frontiers of Brazil, runs a floping courfe to the South - Weft, until it joins the Paraguay, at a great diftance from the ocean, about the twenty- feventh degree of South latitude. Uraguay rifes likewife upon the fame fide, and runs al- moft an equal courfe before it meets thofe united rivers at no great diftance from the ocean, with which it mixes, along with them. The principal province which concerns us, in this vaft tradt, is that which is called Rio de la Plata, towards the mouth of the above-men- tioned rivers. This province, with all the ad- ^ . . T 2 jacent 1' X. '■ 1; ,fc If m I* 1, |M i t- m i 276 y^n Account oft/je European jacent parts, isone continued level, interrupted by not the Icaft hill for feveral hundreds of miles every way ; extremely fertile in moft things ; but, contrary to the general nature of America, deftitute of woods; this want they endeavour to fupply by plantations of every kind of fruit trees; all which thrive here to admiration. The air is remarkably fweet and ferene, and the waters of the great river are equally pure and wholcfome; they annually overflow their banks ; and, on their recefs, leave them enriched with a ilime, which pro- duces the greatcil plenty of whatever is com- mitted to it. The principal town is Buenos-Ayres, on the South fide of the river j it was lb called upon account of the excellence of the air. This town is the only place of traffic to the South- ward of Brazil ; yet its trade, confidering the rich and extenfive country to which it is the avenue, isvcry conliderable. No regular fleet comes here, as to the other parts of Spanifh America ; two, or at tnoii three, rcgiflier (hips make the whole of their regular intercourfe with Europe. Their returns are very valuable, conliiling chiefly of gold, filver, fugar, and hides. I cannot learn that they have opened any confiderable mines in this province; but it is probable there are rich ones in the provinces which lie to the Eaftward of the Andesj be- fidesj it is certain that a good deal of gold is returned Settlements in America. 277 returned from Chili, for the mules, cattle, and tea, which arefent thither; and that filver from the province of Los Charcas in Peru is fent upon the fame account, for the moft part by land carriage. There is befides a tolerable water carriage ; for a large river, called Pilco- mayo, rifes not far from the mines of Potofi, which, winding amongfl: the openings of the Cordillera, difcharges itfelf at laft into the Pa- raguay ; and this river is navigable to the very fource, allowing for the interruption of fome falls, which is the cafe of the river of Plata itfelf. By this way it is, I judge, that a great quantity of filver comes to Buenos-Ayres. Indeed it is in great plenty in that province ; and thofe who have now and then carried on a contraband trade to this country, have found it far more advantageous tharj any other what- foever. The benefit of this contraband is now wholly in the hands of the Portugucfe, who keep magazines for that purpofe ia the adjacent parts of Brazil. 'li.' I f' Hi,; ' 1; I yi' i 3 CHAP, 278 y^// Account ©/"//^^ European t C H A P. XV. ^he territory ofthejcfuits in Paraguay. Their manner of fettling and governing it, The obedience of the people. Some reflexions on the late tranfaclions there. THE trade of Paraguay, and the manners of the people, are fo much the fame with thofe of the rert of the Spanifh colonies in South America, that nothing further can be faid on thofe articles 5 but it would be incx- cufable to quit the country without faying fomething of that extraordinary fpecics of commonwealth which the jefuits have eredted in the interior parts. '* • About the middle of the laft century thofe fathers reprefented to the court of Madrid, that their want of fuccefs in their miflions was owing tothefcandal which the immorality of the Spaniards never failed to give, and to the hatred which their infolenf behaviour caufed in the Indians wherever they came. They infinuated, that, if it v/ere not for that impediment, the empire of the gofpel might, by their labours, have been extended into the moft unknown parts of America; and that all thofe countries might be fubdued to his ca- tholic majefty's obedience, without cxpence and without force. This remonftrance was liftened Settlements in America. 279 liftened to with attention j the fphere^of their labours was marked out; an uncontroulcd liberty was given to the jefuits within thcfc limits; and the governors of the adjacent provinces had orders not to interfere, nor to fufter any Spaniard to enter into this pale, without licence from the fathers. They on their part agreed, to pay a certain capitation tax in proportion to their flock j and to fund a certain number to the king's works when- ever they (hould be demanded, and the mif- (ions fhould become populous enough to fup- ply them. On thefe terms, the jefuits entered upon the fcene of adion, and opened their ipiritual campaign. They began by gathering toge- ther about fifty wandering families, whom they perfuaded to fettle j and they united them into a little townfhip. This was the flight foundation upon which they have built a fuperftrudure, which has amazed the world, and added fo much power, at? the fame time that it has brought on fo much envy and jealoufy, to their fociety. For when 'they had made this beginning, they laboured with fuch inde- fatigable pains, and with fuch mafterly policy, that, by degrees, they mollified the minds of the moft favage nations; fixed the mofl ram- bling; and fubdued the mod averfe to govern- ment. They prevailed upon thoufands of va- rious difperfed tribes of people to emorace T 4 their ; ll'l i| Si: \ f H (:l I! 280 ^/z Account o/'/^f European their religion, and to fubmit to their govern- ment; and when they had fubmitted, the jcfuits left nothing undone, that could con- duce to their remaining in this fubjedtion, or that could tend to increafe their number to the degree requifite for a well-ordered and potent foclety J and their labours were attended with fuccefs. It is faid, that, from fuch inconfiderate be- ginnings, feveral years ago, their fubjedts a- mounted to three hundred thoufand families. They lived in towns; they were regularly clad ; they laboured in agriculture ; they ex- crcifed manufadlures. Some even afpired to the "legant arts. They v/ere inflrudted in the military with the moit exadt difcipline ; and could raife lixty thoufand men well armed. To efFedt thefe purpofes, from time to time, they brought over from Europe feveral han- dicraftmen, muficians, and painters. Thefe, I am told, were principally from Germany and Italy. We are far from being able to trace, with the exadtnefs they deferve, all thefteps which were taken in the accomplifliment of fo ex- traordinary a conqueft over the bodies and minds of fo many people, without arms or violence; and differently from the methods of all other conquefts ; not by cutting off a large part of the inhabitants to fecure the reft, but by n7^ultiplying their people, whilft they ex- ' ' tended a- Skttlemf.nts in America. 2S1 tended their territory. Their own accounts are not very ample, and they are partial to thcmli Ives without doubt. What Tome others have written is with a glaring prejudice againlt them. The particulars which feem bell a- greed upon by both fides are the only ones to be mentioned. It is agreed then, that in each miflion or diflrift (the country is divided into forty-leven diftricts) a jefuit prefidcs in chief. But ma- giftratts arci fettled in every town, anfwcrahlc to thole in the Spanilh cities ; thefe arc al- ways Indians, ele<^ted by the people, and ap- proved by the prefiding jefuit : on folemn oc- cafionsjthey appear in rich robes of ceremony, attended ^ith a fuitable retinue, and every- thing which may make for tie dignity of their government. The people which com- pofe this commonwealth are compofed chiefly of two nations or tribes, one called Garanies, the other Chiquitos. The latter are a^ivc, lively and ingenious, therefore their ceconomy is more left to themfeivesj and they have fomc- thing of property, but there is fomething too in common. Amongft the Garanies there is no property j every thing is done under the pub- lic eye, and for the public; for otherwile this people, naturally lazy and ftupid to the lall degree, would be in perpetual want. Each man's labour is allotted him in proportion to Jiis ftrength, or to his ikill in the profeffion which il4 M \ mi i '>&■ I I 2S2 j^n Account oftlie European which he exercifes. The prodiidt is brought faithfully into the public magazines ; Loin whence he is again fupplied with all things which the managers judge to be expedient for the fuftenance of himfelf or his family^. All necefl'aries are diftributed regularly twice a week ; and the magazines always contain fuch aftock of provilions and goods of every kind, as to anfwer not only the ordinary exigencies, but to provide againft a time of fcarcity, or for thofe whom accidents, age, or infirmities, have difqualified for labour. Thus want is never known amongft them ; their villages are cleanly and decnt, greatly exceeding thofe of the Spaniards in their neighbourhood. Their churches are particularly grand and richly ad- orned ; and fervice is in them performed with all the folemnity and magnificence of ca- thedrals; nor are good voices and initruments Vv'anting. They provide early for the marriage of t'neir young people, as well to prevent diibrders, as to multiply their fubjedts. Here, as intereft can be no motive to the union, there are few diinculties attending it. The young man ap- plies to the governing jefuit, informs him of his defire of marriage, and names the party : ihe is confulted, and, if there is no objedlion .upon her part, they are immediately married. They are fupplied with all neceflaries for their cftablifliment from the public ftores, and they have Settlemf?:i? in America. 283 have at the fame time their ta/k allotted them, by which they are to make amends for what they have received, and to provide for others in their turn. The Indian magiflrate is obliged continually to watch over the minuted adlions of his peo- ple, and to give the jefuit an exafl account of theftate of his diftrid, and the merit and de- merit of the people which it contains. They are rewarded or puniflied according to this re- port. The punilhment for fmaller crimes is by imprifonment, for greater by whipping, from which it is faid not even the principal magiilrates are exempted. Capital punilh- ments they do not inflid, as indeed crimes deferving fuch punishment are rarely commit- ted amongft them. The corredlon is received by all, not only with patience, but acknow- ledgement. The rewards are feldom more than benedidions, and fome flight marks of thejefuits favour, which make thofe men en- tirely happy. Nothing can equal the obedience of the peo- ple of thefe miflions, except their content- inent under it. Far from murmuring, that they have only neceflaries of life, by z labour which might in fome degree procure them the conveniencies of it, they think themfelves a diliinguilhed and favc-jred people in wanting them ; and they believe their obedience a duty, iliat not only fecures their order and repofe in this m it: % Hi':.] -!f''!i'"'i' 1 if' •', m < , • Iff '.■:'. V-y, rl 2S4 An Account ^/i&^ European this world, but the very heft means of infur- ing their happinefs in the next. This is care- fully inculcated j and indeed, befides their attention to the government, the jefuits are indefatigable in their inftruitions in the doc- trines of religion, the regularity of life, and the contempt of this world. And, by what I can find, the Indians under their jurifdidion are an innocent people, civilized without be- ing corrupted. The jefuits, who govern them, are faid to be extremt;lyftrid in preferving their privilege in keeping all ftrangers from amongfl them. If any fuch Ihould, by accident or in his jour- ney, arrive in the country of the miffions, he is immediately carried to the prefby tery, where he is treated for a day, or two at moft, with great hofpitality, but regarded with no lefs circumfpedion. The curiofities of the place are fliewed him in company with the jefuit, and he can have no private converfation with any of the natives. In a reafonable time, he is civilly difmifled, with a guard to condudthim to the next diftridt, without expen.ce, where he is treated in the fame manner, until he is out of the country of the miflions. Cautions altogether as ftridt, and in the fame fpirit, are obferved, when the natives are obliged to go out of their own territory to ferve in the king's works, or when any part of their troops are called out for his fervice. They ihun all man- ner 'ill Settlements in America. 28^ nerofconverfationwith ftrangers, upon whom they look with a fort of horror ; and fo return, uninformed and untainted, into their own country as they left it. I am fenfible, that many have reprefented the condudt of the jefuits in this milTion in a very bad light ; but their reflexions appear to me not at all fupported by the fa<5ts upon which they build them. To judge perfedly of the fervice they have done their people, we muft not confider them in a parallel with the flourilhing nations of Europe, but as com- pared with their neighbours, the favages of South America, or with the ftate of thofe In- dians who groan under the Spanifh yoke. Confidering it in this, which is the true light, it will appear, that human fociety is infinitely obliged to them for adding to it three hundred thoufand families in a well-regulated com- munity, in the room of a few vagabond un- taught favages. And indeed, it can fcarce be conceived, that the government has not fome extraordinary perfedtion, which has a princi- ple of increafe within it, which draws others to unite themfclves to the old ftock, and flioots out itfelf a luxuriance of new branches. Neither can we, by any means, blame a fyflem which produces fuch falutary efFedls; and which has found that difficult, but happy way, that grand defideratum in politics, of uniting a perfecSt fubje(5tion to an entire con- tent ^:i' It |H 286 An Account of the European tent and fatisfadion of the people. Matters, which, it were to be --/viQied, were ftudied with more attention by us, who content our- felves with railing at the diligence of an ad- verfary, which we fliould rather praife and imitate j and who, in our affairs, feldom think of uiing any other inftruments than force or money. This commonwealth is now become a fubjedt of much converfation, upon account of the cefllon which has lately been made of part of that territory to the crown of Portu- gal. It is well known, that the inhabitants of i^vtxi of the miflions refufed to comply with this divifion, or to fuffer themfelves to be transferred from one hand to another, like tattle, without their own confent *. We are informed, by the authority of the Gazette, that the Indians actually took up arms ; but, notwithftanding the exadnefs of their difci- pline, they were eafily, and with a confi- derable Daughter, defeated by the European troops, who were fent to 'j^uell them. It feems to have been ill-judged in this people, who had never feen any real fervice, nor were headed by otiicers who had i^^xi any, with- out which the befh difcipline is but a fort of play, to have hazarded a battle with troops . . : from * The jefuits have been entirely diigrac;d at the court of Portugal, tor the- Ihare they are laid to have had in this re- It le, re 1- of of re- Settlements in America. 287 from Europe. They ought rather^o have firll habituated themfelves to adtion by attacking fmall parties, by cutting off convoys, by ht- tle furpiizes, until, by ufe and fuccels in fmaller matters, they were intitled to hazard the fum of their affairs in the open field. However, it is not improbable, that this oppofition will roufe the indolence of the Spaniards, and make them take the government of the coun- try out of the hands it is in at prefcnt. If they do, it is not difficult to forefee, that the fame depopulation, the fame diftrefs, and the fame difcontent, which diftinguifli the In- dians in the reft of the Spanifli provinces, will be foon equally vifible in this. It will not be difficult for them tocffedl the redudion of this country; for thejefuits have too large and valuable an intereft in Old Spain, as well as in the new world, to difpute it with the court, whenever they fliall demand in good earneft to have this country furrendered; if it be true, that the jefuits have really fuch influence on the inhabitants as is attributed to them. It was not originally fuch bad policy, as it may feem, to have intrufted the jefuits with fo great a power ; fince a little time will fliew, that they have given them a territory un- known, unpeopled, and uncultivated, which they have the certain means of repoffeffmg when they pleafe, fubdued, peopled, and cul- tivated. I ill nil m 1 i. ! ■ • * * 1 illu i '\\'- iji , i 'A 1 : iii "1 '!!^-' I! 2^8 An AccovnT of f&eEu HOVE AH tivated. As to its wealth, it is hard to fay any thing certain; the jefuits deny it. And truly, if they adled with a perfcdl: policy, they would never have fuffered any mines of gold or lilver to be opened in that country. Of this matter I have no information upon which I can depend. CHAP. XVI. Terra Firma. Its extent and produce, The cities of Panama, Carthagena, and Porto- hello. The galleons. The ijle of Cuba. The Havanna. Hifpaniola. Porto Rico. Re- flexions on the policy of Spain with regard to the colonies. THE Spaniards have not made any fet- tlements in the other divilions of South- America, which they claim to the Southward of Buenos-Ayres, nor to the Northward, ex- cept in Terra Firma, of which we (hall fay fomething. The country of the Amazons, though prodigioully large, wonderfully fer- tile, and watered by fo noble a river, is al- mofl entirely negleftcd. The river of Ama- zons, called alio Maranon and Orellana, which waters and gives its name to this coun- try, arifing from the union of feveral ftreams that fall from the Cordillera, runs a courfe of nokfs than iioo leagues; it flows for the . greater Settlements in America. 289 greater part through a level countrj^ covered with the fairefl and loftiefl forells in the world, in which it forms an innumerable multitude of delightful iflands ; and receiving on both lides the copious tribute of feveral rivers almoft equal to itfelf in greatnefs, increafing in breadth to a fort of fea, and to a depth which in fome parts has been in vain fearched with a line of upwards an hundred fathoms, it rullies j^t length into the Atlantic ocean by two mouths of an aftonilhing widenefs, the prin- cipal being 45 leagues broad, the fmaller not lefs than twelve. The country on this fine river has no other inhabitants than Indians, fome favage, fome united under Spaniih and Portuguefe milTionaries. The country of Patagonia is likewife of a vaft ftretch to the Southward of Buenos- Ayres, all in the temperate zone, and extend- ed all along the Atlantic ocean. It is a plain country without trees ; but this is the cafe of the delightful and fertile country of Buenos- Ayres. It is faid likewife to be barren and defert ; but, what is certain, it is unfettled by any European nation, and little known, tho' it lies open for any power that can avail itfelf of a favourable opportunity to eftablidi acolony there. The laft province, according to the order I have obferved, though not of the leail: confe- c[uence in the Spaniih American dominions, h Vol. I. JU Terra ir: fi j I • M' ii! ii' i'-JWi w I'v 250 ^71 ACCOUKT of t/je EUROPKAU Terra Firmaj a vaft country, above 2000 miles in length, and 500 broad. Bordering on Mex- ico, Peru, aijd Amazonia, itftrctches all ^long the North fea, from the Pacific ocean to the mouth of the river of Amazons upon the Atlantic. It is divided ijto tv/elve large pro- vinces. They all cont iin a vaft deal of high and mountainous country, particulirly the province of St. Martha, where there are faid to be hills furpaffingTenerift'e itfclf in height. Thefe hills communicate with the Andes. The valleys are deep and narrow, and for a great part of the year flooded; but though Terra Firma is on the coaft, the moft un- pleafant and moft unhealthful country in the torrid zone, the plain grounds are extremely fertile; produce corn enough, when culti- vated, all kinds of the tropical fruits ; rich drugs; cacao, vanilla, indigo, piemento, gua- iacunV, farfaparilla, and balfam of Peru. No country abounds more in rich and luxuriant pafturage, or has a greater ftock of black cattle. Their rivers have rich golden finds ; their coafts have good pearl fiftieries; and their mines formerly yielded great quantities of gold ; but at prelent they are neglected or exhaulled ; fo that the principal wealth of this kingdom arifes from the commerce of Carthugena; and what treafure is feen there is moftiy th« return for European commodi-- ties which are fent from that port to Santafe, '2 ' ■ Popayan, ..'*« SETTi.r.MrNTs in America, •9» Popnyan, and Quito : and rubies and eme- ralds are here found in plenty; but, the value of precious Itones depending more on fancy tliaii that of gold or filver, this trade has confider- ably declined. This province has a very confiderablc (liare of the trade of Europe; not only on account of its own produce and demand, but bccaulc all the intercourfe of Peru and Chili with Old Spain is carried on through tiiis country, for, as we have mentioned, C'arthagena fupplies. Its capital city Panama is the great barcadier of the South-Sea. Hither is brought all the trea- fure v/hich the rich mines of Peiu and Chili pay to the kino;, or produce P upon a private account. The city of Panama is fituated upon one of the beft harbours, in all refpeds, of the South- Seas. Ships of burden lie lafe at P.>me dillance from the town ; but fmaller veflels co!ne up to the walls. In this bay is a pearl filhery of great value. The town, one of the largcil in America, is faid to contjin five thoufand houfes, elegantly built of brick and flone, dif- pofed in a femicircular form, and enlivened with the fpires and domes of leveral churches and monafteries. It is covered on the land {^diO. with an agreeable country, diverfified with hills, valleys, and v/oods. The town Hands upon a dry and toleral^ly healt'ilul ^.round, and has a great and profitable trade with Pci u, ■ III i'.( §^ U 2 Chili i 292 u4n Account of the European Chili, and the Weftern coaft of Mexico, chiefly for provifions of every fort both of the finimaland vegetable kinds; corn, wine, fugar, oil, with tallow, leather, and jefuits bark. Ill the neighbourhood of this city they raifc nothing; and yet, by traffic and their conve- nient fituation, there are few cities niore abun- dantly fupplied with all things for necefTity, convenience, or luxury. Their trade with th^ Terra Firma and with Europe is carried on o- ver the ifthmus of Darien, and by the river Chagra. The fecond town of confideration in Terra Firma, is Carthagena, which ftands upon a peninfula, that enclofes one of the fafefl and beft defended harbours in all the Spani(h Ame- rica. The town itfelf is well fortified, and built after the elegant falhion of mod of the Spanidi American towns, with a fquare in the middle, and ftreets running every way regu- larly from it, and others cutting thefe at right angles. This town has many rich churches and convents , that of the jefuits is particu- larly magnificent. Here it is that the galleons on their voyage from Spain put in firft, and difpofe of a confiderable part of their cargo i which from hence is diftributed to St. Mar- tha, the Caraccas, Venezuela, and moft of the other provinces and towns in the Terra Firma. ' • The Settlements /// America. 293 The fleet which is called the galleons con- iifts of about eight men of war, of about fifty guns each, defigned principally to fupply Peru with military ftores ; but in reality, laden not only with tnefe, but with every other kind of merchandize on a private account; fo as to be in bad condition for defending themfelves, or protecting others. Under the convoy of thefe fail about twelve merchant fliips, not inferior in burden. This fleet of the galleons is re- gulated in much the fame manner with the flotas, and it is deftined for theexclufive com- merce of Terra Firma and the South-Sea, as the flota is for that of Mexico. No fooner is this fleet arrived in the haven of Carthagena, than cxpreffes are immediatly dif- patched to Porto-bello, and to all the adjacent towns, but principally to Panama ; that they may get ready all the treafure which is depo- fited there, to meet the galleons at Porto-bello; hi which town, (remarkable for the goodnefs of its harbour, which brings fuch a furprifmg concourfe here at the time of the fair, and the unwholfomcnefs of the air, which makes it a dcfart at all other time) all the perfons con- cerned in the various branches of this exten- live traffic aflTemble ; and there is certainly no part of the world where bufinefs of fuch great importance is negociated in fo (hort a time. For in about a fortnight the fair is over -, dur- ing which the difplay of the gold, filver, and •'-";. U 3 precious iihi 1 1 294 -^^' Account of the European precious ftones, on the one hand, and of all the curiofity and variety of the ingenious fa- brics of Europe on the otlier, is aftonifliing. Heaps of wcd:ics and ingots of filver are tum- bled about on t !ic wharls like common things. At this time an hundred crowns are given for a poor lodging, a thoufand for a fliop, and provifion of every kind is proportionably dear; which may help us to fome idea of the profits made in this trade. The trcafure is brought hither from Panama, by a very dangerous road, upon mules. The other goods, fugar« tobacco, and drugs, are tranfportcd on the river Chagra. i When the galleons have taken in their re- turns, they fteer together to the Havanna, which is the place of rendezvous of all the fhips concerned in the Spanifli American trade. The Havanna is t-ie capital city of the iiland of Cuba, it is fituated upon an excellent harbour upon the Weftern extremity of the ifland. This city is large, containing not lefs than two thoufand houles, with a number of churches and convents; but then it is the only place of confequence upon the noble iiland of Cuba, which lies in the latitude 20, and ex- tends from Eaft to Weft near feven hundred miles in length, though in breadth it is dif- proportioned, being but from one hundred and twenty to feventy miles. However, it ^ ' yields f If- :d lit Is Settlements /// America. ^55 yields to no part of the Wcft-Indits in the fertility of its foil, or in excellence of evf:ry thing which is produced in that dim tc. But the tipiiniards, hy a feries of the nioit inhu- man and impolitic barharities, havin(.>; exter- minated the original inhabitants, and not find- ing the quantities of gold in theiilands which the continent aftbrded, they have left this, as well as Hifpaniola, of which the French now poffefs the greater part, and Porto Rico, a large, excellent, and fertile ifland, compara- tively fo many defarts. The commerce be- tween thefe iflands and the Spanilh continent, is carried on by the Barlevento fleet, confining of fix fhips of good burthen and force, who an- nually make the tour of all thefe iflands, and the coaft of Terra Firma, not only 10 carry on the commerce between thofe places, but to clear the fea of pirates and illicit traders. Now and then a regifler (hip from Old Spain is bound to one or other of thefe illands. Hi- therto the Spaniards feemed rather to keep them, to prevent any other nation from grow- ing too powerful in thofe feas, than for any profit they expected to derive from them. And it is certain, that if other nations (hould come entirely to pofl'efs the whole of the illands, the trade of the American continent, and perhaps the continent itfelf, would be entirely ^t their mercy. However, of late, the Spa- niards have taken fome fteps towards the bet- i -! u tef 296 y^; AccouNT^/^ i ' '«■'; '.■30 r - 'M -'■■■ ' > f* • , '■\i ■-■ i - ■ \ 1 • PART ■) .ir) i !! I ill 11 'i''\ "■1 I :l'Kli: HI i| m ! 30Q An Account g/'/^^ Europe ajt ,i i^f'^^^if'^s^'^^i^'^'^-^'^^^ t; mP art IV. • - r- ■ • ■ ■ • ; ; ^e portuguefe Settlements* * : CHAP. L ot Jj-^ ^« account of the difcovery of Brazil. The method of fettling it. Conquered by the Dutch, "Reconquered by the Portuguefe, T T is very rare that any material difcovery, i whether in the arts, in philofophy, or in navigation, has been owing to efforts made diredly for that particular purpofe, and deter- mined by the the force of reafonings a priori. The firft hints are owing to accident; and dif- coveries in one kind prefent themfelves volun- tarily to us, whilft we are in fearch of what flies from us in Ibme other. The difcovery of America by Columbus was owing originally to a juft reafoning on the figure of the earth, tho* the particular land he difcovered was far enough Settlements /» America. 3oj[ CJiongh from that which he fought. Here was a mixture of wife delign and fortunate ac- cidenti but the Portuguefe difcovery of Brazil may be confidered as merely accidental. For failing with a confiderable armament to India, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, but ilanding out to fea to avoid the calms upon the coafl of Africa, the Portuguefe fleet fell in upon the continent of South America. Upon their return jhey made fo favourable a report of the land they had difcoyefed, that the court refolved to fend a colony thither. And accord- ingly made their firft eftablifliment ; but in a very bad method, in which it were to be wiihed they had never been imitated. This was by banifhing thither a number of criminals of all kinds. This blended an evil difpofition with the firft principles of the colony, and made the fettlement infinitely diflicult by the difor- 4ers infeparable from fuch people, and the of- fence which they gave the original inhabitants. This fettlement met with fome interruption too from the court of Spain, who confidered the country as within their dominions. How- ever, matters were accommodated by a treaty, in which it was agreed, that the Portuguefe {hould poflefs all that trad: of land that lies between the river Maranon, or of the Ama- zons, and the river Plate. When their right was thus confirmed, the Portuguefe purfued the fettlement with great . viijour* i ;IJ ' M ; ■)■ ] ' ilt \H I' VI m 5 1 ;■ ■ \m 302 ^« Account o/"/^^ European vigour. Large grants were made to thofc who were inclined to become adventurers ; and almoft all the nobility of Portugal procured interefts in a country which promifed fuch great advantages. The natives were in mod parts fubdued, and the improvement of the colony advanced apace. The crown in a little time became attentive to fo valuable an acqui- sition j the government was new modelled, many of the cxorbitants recalled, and all things fettled upon fo advantageous a footing, that the whole fea coaft, upwards of two thoufand miles, was in feme meafure fettled, to the honour of the induflry and courage of the firft planters, and infinitely to the benefit of the mother-country. The Portuguefe con- quefts on the coaft of Africa forwarded this eftablifliment, by the number of Negroes it afforded them for their works ; and this was the firft introdudion of Negroes into America, of which at prefent they form a large part of the inhabitants. In the very meridian of their profperity, when the Portuguefe were in poffeflion of fo extenfive an empire, and fo flourifliing a trade in Africa, in Arabia, in India, in the iHes of Afia, and in one of the moft valuable parts of America, they were ft ruck down by one of thofe incidents, that by one blow, in a critical time, decides the fjite of kingdoms. Don Sebaftian, one of their greateft princes. in 9 SETTLrMFNTS /'// AMERICA. 3O3 in an expedition he had undertaken agaiiift the Moors, loft his life ; and by that accident the Portuguefe loft their liberty, being abibrbed into the Spanifh dominions. Soon after this misfortune, the fame yoke that galled the Portuguefe, grew fo intolerable to the inhabitants of the Netherlands, that they threw it oft' with great fury and indigna- tion. Not fatisfied with eredting themfelves into an independent ftate, and fupporting their independency by a fuccefsful defenfive war, fluQied with the juvenile ardor of a growing commonwealth, they purfued the Spaniards into the remoteft recefles of their extenfive territories, and grew rich, powerful, and ter- rible, by the fpoils of their former mafters. Principally, they fell upon the pofteflions of the Poi tuguefe J they took almoft all their fortreffes in the Eaft- Indies, not fufficiently defended by the inert policy of the court of Spain; and then turned their arms upon Bra- zil, unprotected from Europe, and betrayed by the cowardice of the governor of the then principal city. And they would have overrun the whole, if Don Michael de Texeira, the archbiihop, delcended from one of the no- bleft families in Portugal, and of a fpirit fu- perior to his birth, had not believed, that in fuch an emergency, the danger of his coun- try fuperfeded the common obligations of his profeliion. He took arms, and at th^i head of '. , his 1. I ■■ I t / H 304 An Account of the European his monks, and a few fcattered forces, put a flop to the torent of the Dutch conqueft. He made a gallant iland until fuccours arrivcii ; and then rcligned the commiflion with which the public neccfiity and his own virtue had armed him, into the hands of a perfon appoint- ed by authority. By this ftajid he faved {Qvtn of thccaptainlhips, or provinces, out of four- teen, into which Brazil is divided; the rcilfell into the hands of the Dutch, who conquered and kept them with a bravery and condudt, which would deferve more applaufe, if it had been governed by humanity. The famous captain, prince Maurice of Naffau, was the perfon to whom the Dutch owed this conqucll, the eftabli(hment oftlieir colony there, and that advantageous peace ■which fecured them in it. But as it is the genius of all mercantile people to defire a fudden profit in all their defigns; and as this colony was not under the immediate infpeci- tion of the States, but fubjedt to the company called iii^ Weft-India company, from prin- ciples narrowed up by avarice and mean no-r tions, they grudged that the prefent profits of the^ colony Ihould be facrififed to its future fecurity. They found, that the prince kept ^p more troops, a:">v ' ereded more fortrefles, than they thought neceflary to their fafety ; and that he lived in a grander manner than they thought became one in their fervice, I Tb':'y 1:! I Settlements /» America. 305 They imagined that a little official ceconomy was the principal quality neceflary to form a great conqueror and politician ; and therefore they were highly difpleafedwith their governor prince Maurice, whom tb'^v treated in fuch a manner as obliged him .cfign. Now their own fchcmes took place. A re- duction of the troops; the expence of fortifi- cations favcd; tht, charge of a court retrenched; the debts of the company ftridly exacted j their gains increafed cent per cent, and every thing £ourifliing according to their beft: ideas of a flouriihing ftate. But then, all this fine fyftem in a (hort time ended in the total lofs of all their capital, and the entire ruin of the W.:ft- India company. The hearts of fubjedts were loft, by their penurious way of dealing and the feverity of their proceedings. The ene- my in their neighbourhood was encouraged, by the defencelefs ftate of their frontiers; and both operated in- fuch a manner, that Brazil was reconquered by the Portuguefe j though after a ftruggie, in which the States exerted themfelves vigoroufly; but with that aggravated expence, and that ill fuccefs, which always attends a late wifdom, and the patching up of a blundering fyftem of con^udt. A ftanding leftbn to thofe people who have the folly to imagine they confult thehappinefs of a nation, when, by a pretended tendernefs for fome of its advantages, they neglect the only things Vol, I, X that Sill |i: H^i 306 -^« Account ^/"M^ European that can fupport it, the cultivating of the goocl opinion of the people, and tlie keeping up of a proper force. CHAP. II. ir I • T/je climate of BraxIL Of the Brazil wood. TH E name of Brazil was given to this country i» becaufc it was obferved to abound with a wood of that name. It ex- tends all along a tradt of fine fea coaft upon the Atlantic ocean upwards of two thoufand miles, between the river of Amazons on the North, and that of Plate on the South. To the Northward, the climate is uncertain, hot, boifterous, and unwholfome. The country, both there and even in more temperate parts, is annually overflowed. But to the South- ward, beyond the tropic of Capricorn, and indeed a good way beyond it, there is no part of the world that enjoys a more ferene and wholfomeair; refrefhed with the foft breezes of the ocean on one hand, and the cool breath of the mountains on the other. Hither feve- ral aged people from Portugal retire for their health, and protradt their lives to a long and eafy age. In general', the foil is extremely fruitful, and was found very fufficient for the comfort- able fubfiftence of the inhabitants, until the I mines ■ Settlements /;/ America. 307 mines of gold and diamonds were difcovered. Thefe, with the fugar plantations, occupy fo many hands, that agriculture lies negledted 1 and, in confequence, Brazil depends upon Eu- rope for its daily bread. The chief commodities which this country yields for a foreign market are, fugar, tobacco, hides, indigo, ipecacuanha, balfam of Copaibo, and brazil wood. As this laft article in a more particular manner belongs to this coun- try, to which it gives its name, and which produces it in the greateft perfedlion, it is not amifs to allow a very little room to the defcrip- tion of it. This tree generally flourilhes in rocky and barren grounds, in which it grows to a great height and confiderable thicknefs. But a man who judges of the quantity of the timber, by the thicknefs of the tree, will be much deceived; for,!ipon Gripping off the bark, which makes a very large part of the plant, he will find, from a tree as thick as his body, a log no more in compafs than his leg. This tree is generally crooked, and knotty like the haw- thorn, with long branches, and a fmooth green leaf, hard, dry, and brittle. Thrice a year, bunches of fmall flowers Ihoot out at the extremities of the branches, and between the leaves. Thefe flowers are of a bright red, and of a ftrong aromatic and refrefhing fmell. The wood of this tree is of a red colour, hard and dry. It is ufed chiefly in dying red, but X 3 not ! \ :\\\ c' ll HI ■■■•!•( II '!'f. J * !l1 V 3o8 ^/i Account o/"/^^ European not a red of the heft kind ; and it has Ton^ place in medicine as a ftomachic and reftrin'* gent. • ''■ • :^ CHAP. III. :, :. t/jc trade of Brazil. Its hitcrcourfc ivlth ^^fri^ • ca, 'The Jcttlemcnt of the rhcr Amazous '^'Cnd Rio Janeiro. Tbc gold mines. Uf:e '■ commotiwealth of thcVaidifis, J he diamond ■ wines. , . , THE trade of Brazil Is very great, and it incrcaks every year. Nor is this a ■\vonderi fincethey have opportunities of fup- plying thcmfelves with Haves for their feveral works, at a much eaficr and cheaper rate than any other European power, which has fett';- ments in America. For they are the only European nation which has taken the pains to cftablifh colonies in Africa. Thofe of the Portuguefe are very confiderable, both for their extent and the numbers of their inhabi- tants ; and of courfe they have advantages in that trade which no other nation can have.. For, befides their large cilablilhment on the Weftern {hore of Africa, they clatm the whsole coaft of Zanguebar on the Eaftern fide, which in part they pofTefs j befides feveral other large territories, toth on the coaft and in the coun- try; where feveral numerous nations acknow- ledge >■ * t ,<- Settlements in America. 309 ledge thcmfelves their dependents or riibic(5Vs, This is not only of great advantage to them, as it increafcs their ihipping^nd fcamen and ftrengthcns their commercial reputation, but as it leaves them a large field for their flavc trade; without which, they could hardly ever fupply, upon any tolerable terms, their fcttle- ments in Brazil, which carry off fuch num- bers, by the feverity of the works and the un- wholfomenefs of fome part of the climate ; nor could they otherwife extend their planta- tions, and ( 'pen fo many new mines as they do, to a degree which is ailonifhing. I own, I have often been furprized, that our African traders (hould chufe fo contracted an objedt for their Have trade, which extends to little more than fome part of the Gold coafl, to Sierra Leone, and Gambia, and fome other inconfiderable ports; by which they have de- preciated their own commodities, and raifed the price of flaves within thefefcwyears above thirty per cent. Nor is it to be wondered ; as in the trad^, in which they tr.ide, they have many rivals ; the people are grown too expert, by the conftant habit of European commerce ; and the Haves in that part are in a gof)d mea- ibre exhaufted i whereas, if fome of our vef-r fels palled the Cape of Good Hope, and tried what might be done in Madagafcar, or on thofe coafts which indeed the Portuguefe claim, but do not nor cannot hold, there h * ■ X J n» 1 1 310 An Account cf the European no doubt but that they would find the greater expence and length of time in pafling the Cape^ or the charge of licences which might be pro^ cured from the Eaft-India company, amply compcnfated. Our African trade might then be confiderably enlarged, our own manufac- tures extended, and our colonies fupplied at an euficr rate than they are at prefent, or are likely to be for the future, whilft we confine our- felves to two or three places, which we exh. uft^ and where we fhall find the market dearer every day. The Portuguefe, from thefc fettle- ments and this extenfivc range, draw every year into Brazil between forty and fifty thou- jfand flixves. On this tr^^de all their other de- pends, and therefore ihey take great care to have it well fupplied, for which purpofe the fituationof Brazil, nearer the coaft of Africa than any other part of America, is very con- venient y and it co-operates with the great ad- vantages they derive from having colonies in both places. Hence it is principally, that Brazil is the rlcheft, moft flourifhing, and moft growing ell abli (lament in all America. Their export of fugar within forty years is grown much greater than it was, though anciently it made almofl the whole of their exportable produce, and they were without rivals in the trade. It is finer in kind than what any of ours, the French, or Spanifli fugar plantations fend ujII :r" '' ■ ' ' Their ■/ % %. Settlements /;/ America. 311 Their tobacco too is remarkably good ; and they trade very largely in this commodity to the coaft of Africa, where they not only fell it diredly to the natives, but fupply the fhips of other nations, who find it a neceffary ar- ticle to enable them to carry on the flave and gold dufl trade to advantage. The Northern and Southern parts of Brazil abound in horned cattle; thefe are hunted for their hides, of which no lefs than twenty thoufand are fent annually into Europe. The Portuguefe were a confiderable time pofl'effed of their American empire, before they difcovered the treafures of gold and dia- monds, which Lave fince made it fo confider- able. After the explolion of the Dutch, the colony remained without much attention from the court of Portugal; until in 1 685, a minifter of great fagacity advifed the then monarch to turn his thoughts to fo valuable and confider- able a part of his territories. He reprefented to him, that the climate in the bay of All-Saints, where the capital flood, was of fuch a nature as to deaden the adlivity and induftry of the people ; but that the Northern and Southern extremities of Brazil, in a more temperate cli- mate, invited them to the cultivation of the country. The advice was taken. But, becaufe it was found that the infolence and tyranny of the native Portuguefe always excited the ha- t*ld of the native Brazilians, and confequently X 4 obftrudled ,iii . t 312 ^« Account ^//^(f European obflrud:cd the fcttlements, they were refolved to people the countries, which were now the objedt of their care, with thofe who are called Meftizesi that is, a race fprung from a n^JXr . ture of Europeans and Indians, who they , judged would behave better; and who, oii account of their connexion in blood, would be more acceptable to the Brazilians on the bor- ders, who were not yet reduced. To com-r pleat this delign, they vefted h.2 government in the hands of priefts, who a(5t:ed each as go-!- vernor in his own parifli or diftrift. And hey had the prudence to chufe with great care fuch men as were proper for the work. The confequence of thefe wife regulations was loon apparent; for, without noife or force, in fifteen years, they not only fettled the fea . coaft, but, drawmg in vaft numbers of the natives, they fpread themfelves above an hun- dred miles more to the Weft ward than the Portuguefe fettlements had ever extended. They opened fcveral mines, which improved the revenues ; the planters were eafy, and fe- veral of the priefts made no inconiiderable fortunes. The fame of thefe new piines drew toge- ther a number of defperadpes and adventurers of all nations and colours j who, not agreeing with the moderate and fimple manners of the inhabitants of the new fettlements, nor readily fubmitting to any order or reftraint elfewheije, - retired ;r ^■m^ M:i0lifi M 4^ V.'J V Settlements in America. 313 retired into a mountainous part of the coun- try, but fertile enough, and rich in gold j where, by the acceflion of others in their own cir- cumftances, they foon became a formidable and independent body, and for a long time defended the privileges they had aflumed with great courage and policy. They were called Paulifts, from the town and diftridl called St. Paul, which was their head quarters. But, as this odd commonwealth grew up in fo unac- countable a manner, fo it perifhed in a man- ner altogether unknown in this part of the world. It is now heard of no longer. The king of Portugal is in full polTeflion of the whole country J and the mines are worked by his fubjedts and their flaves, paying him a fifth. Thefe mines have poured almoft as much gold into Europe as the Spanifli Ame- rica had of lilver. Not many years after the difcovery of the gold mines, Brazil, which for a century had been given up as a place incapable of yielding the metals for which America was chiefly va- luedi was now found to produce diamonds too ; but at firft of fo unpromiiing a nature, that the working of the mines was forbidden by the court of Portugal, left, without making any compenfation by their number, they might depreciate the trade which was carried on in thofe ftones from Goa. But, in fpite of this prohibition, a number were from time to . time II ■lii t 314 -^/2 Account ^//^^ European time fmugglcd from Brazil; and feme too of fuch great weight, and high luftre and tranlparency, that they yielded very little to the fineft brought from India. The court now perceived the importance of the trade, and accordingly refolved to permit it, but un- der fuch reftridions as might be fufficiently benericial to the crown and fubjedl ; and at the lame time preferve the jewels in that icarcity which makes the principal part of their value. In 1740, the diamond mines were farmed at one hundred and thirty-eight thoufand crufadoes, or about twenty-fix thou-^ fand pounds fterling annually, with a prohi- bition againft employing more than fix hun- dred flaves at a time in the works. It is pro- bable that this regulation is not very ftridtly complied with; the quantity of diamonds be- ing much increafed, and their yalue of courfo funk, iince that time. It is true, that diamonds of the very firft rank are nearly as dear as ever. None of the diamonds of Brazil have fo high a luftre as the firft rate of Golconda j gnd they have generally fomething of a dufky yellowifti caft ; but they have been found of a prodigious fize. Some years ago we had an account in the news papers of one fent to the king of Portugal, of a fize and weight almoft beyond the bounds of credibility j for it was faid to weigh fixteen hundred carats, or fix thoufand feven hundred and twenty •„.u: ^ grainsi Ti i Settlements in America. 315 grains; and confequently mijft be worth feve- lal millions. C H A P. IV, - Regulation of the Portuguefe trade. The de- Jcription of St. Salvador, the capital of Bra^ zil. The fleets for that city, Rio Janeiro and Fcrnambuccdi THE trade of Portugal is carried on upon the fame exclufive plan, on which the feveral nations of Edrope trade with their colonies of America; and it more particularly refembles the Spanifli method, by fending out not lingle fliips, as the conveni- ency of the feveral places and the ideas of the European merchants may dired j but by annual fleets, which fail at llated times from Portugal and compofe three flotas bound to as many ports in Brazil; to Fernambucca, in the Northern part; Rio Janeiro, at the Southern extremity; and the bay of All- Saints, in the middle. In this laft is the ca- pital, which is called St. Salvador, where all the fleets rendezvous on their return to Por- tugal. This city commands a noble, Ipacious, and commodious harbour. It is built upon an high and fl:eep rock, having the fea upon one fide, and a lake forming a crefcent, in- yefting it almoft wholly, fo as nearly to join the 3^^ An AccouwT of the European the fea on the other. This fituation makes it in a manner impregnable by nature ; but they have befides added to it very ftrong fortifica- tions. All thefe make it the ftrongeft place in America. It is divided into an upper and lower town. The lovirer confifts only of a ilreetortwo, immediately upon the harbour, for the convenience of lading and unlading goods, which are drawn up to the higher town by machines. The ftreets in the upper town are laid out as regularly as the ground will admit, and are handlbmely built. They had forty years ago in this city above two thoufand houfes, and inhabitants proportion-- able ; a fumptuous cathedral ; leveral magni- ficent churches, and many convents, well built and endowed. The Portuguefe fleet fets out from Lifbon in its voyage hither in the month of February, I can get no accounts, precife enough to be depended upon, of the towns of Fernambucca or Parayba, and the capital of the Rio de Ja- neiro, to enable me to be particular about them. Let it fuffice that the fleet for the for- mer of thefe fets out in March ; and for the latter in the month of January ; but they all rendezvous in the bay of All-Saints, to the number of an hundred fail of large fhips, about the month of May or June, and carry to Europe a cargo little inferior in value to the treafures of the flota and galleons. The gold alonq Settlements in America. '317 alone amounts to near four millions fterling. This is not all extradted from the mines of Brazil ; but, as they carry on a large dired: trade with Africa, they bring, efpecially from their fettlement at Mozambique, on the Eaft- ern (ide of that continent, belidcs their llaves, vaft quantities of gold, ebony, and ivory, which goes into the amount of the cargo 0/ the Brazil fleets for Europe. Thofe parts of Brazil which yield gold, are the middle and Northern parts on the Rio'Janeiuand Bay of All-Saints. They coin a great deal of gold in America; that which is coined at Rio Janeiro bears an R, that which is llruck at the Bay is marked with a B. To judge the better of the riches of this Brazil fleet, tl:e diamonds it contains mull not be forgot. For if the mines rented to the crown in the year 1740, at twenty-fix thoufand pounds a year, it will be a very fmall allowance to fay, that at lead five times more is made out of them ; and that there is re- turned to Europe in diamonds to at le?ft the value of one hundred and thirty thoufand pounds. This, with the fugar, which is principally the cargo of the Fernambucca fleet, the tobacco, the hides, the valuable drugs for medicine and manufadures, may give fome idea of the importance of this trade, not only to Portugal, but to all the trading powers of Europe. The returns are not the fiftieth 3i8 y^» Account ^/^^ European fiftieth part of the produce of Portugal, They confift of the woollen goods, of all .cinds, of England, France, and Holland; the linens and laces of Holland, France, and Germany; the filks of France and Italy ; lead, tin, iron, copper, and all forts of utenlils wrought in thefe metals, from England j as well as falt- li(h, beef, flour, and chcefe. Oil they have from Spain. Wine, with fome fruits, is nearly all with which they are fupplied from Portugal. Though the profits in this trade are great, very few Portuguefe merchants trade upon their own ftocks ; they arc generally credited by the foreign merchants, whofe commodities they vend, efpecially the Englifh. In fliort, though in Portugal, as in Spain, all trade with their plantations is firidly interdidted to flrangers ; yet, like all regulations that con- tradid the very nature of the objedl they re- gard, they are here as little attended to as in Spain. The Portuguefe is only the truftee and fadtor; but his fidelity is equal to that of the Spanifli merchant; and that has fcarce ever been fhaken by any public or private caufe whatfoever. A thing furprifingjin the Portu- guefe ; and a flriking inllaiice amongft a peo- ple fo far from remarkable for their integrity, of what a cuftom originally built upon a few examples, and a confequent reputation built upon' that, will be able to effect in afuccefiion of 'I Settlements tn America. 319 of men of very different natural charadters and morals. And fo different is the fpirit of commercial honefly from that of juftice, as it is an independent virtue, and influences the heart. The Englifh at prefcnt are the moft inter- efled, both in the trade of Portugal for home confumption and of u^hat they virant for the ufe of the Brazils. And they deferve to be moft favoured, as vi^ell from the fervices they have always done that crown and from the ftipulations of treaties, as from the confideratiort that no other people confumes fo much of the products of Portugal. However, partly from our own fupinencfs, partly from the policy and adlivity of France, and partly from the fault of the Portuguefe themfclves, the French have become very dangerous rivals to us in this, as in moft other branches of our trade. It is true, though the French have advanced fo pro- digioufly, and there is a fpirit of induftry and commerce raifed in moft countries in Eu- rope, our exports of manufactures or natural produds have by no means leifened within thefe laft forty years ; which can only be ex- plained by the extending of our own, and the Spanifh and Portuguefe colonies, which in- creafes the general demand. But, though it be true, that we have rather advanced than de- clined in our commerce upon the whole, yet we ought to take great care not to be deceived by fl It: irp It iii ^._ Ai-» -4^ 320 -^« Account o/'//6^ European by this appearjincc. For if we have not like- wife advanced in as grcaf a proportion to what we were before that period, and to our means iince then, as our neigh boujs have done in proportion to theirs, as I apprehend we have not, then, 1 fay, v/e have comparatively de- clined ; and fhall never be able to prefervc that diftinguiflied rark of the firll commercial and maritime power in Europe, time muft be ef- fential to preferve us in any degree, either of commerce or power. For if any other power, of a more extenfive and populous territory than ourSjfhouldcometo rival us in trade and wealth, he mull come of neceffity to give law to us in whatever relates either to trade or policy. Notwithftanding that the want of capacity in the miniflers of fuch a power, or the indo- lence of the fovereign, may protract the evil for a time, it will certainly be felt in the end, and will (hew us demon ftratively, though too late, that we muft have a great fuperiority in trade, not only to ourfelves formerly, but to our neighbours at prefent, to have any at all which is likely to continue with us for a long time. CHAP. Settlements in America. 321 I I » C H A P.* V. ^he charaBer of the American Portugttefe» The fiate of the Negroes, Thego'vernment, THE pourtrait which the mod judici- ous travellers give us of the manners and cuftoms of the Portuguefe in America, is very far from being favour?Hle to that peo- ple. They are reprefented as a people at once funk in the moft effeminate luxury, and pradtifing the moft defperate crimes. Of a diffembling hypocritical temper; of little ho- nefty in dealing, or fincerity in converfation ; lazy, proud, and cruel. They are poor and penurious in their diet, not more through neceflity than inclination. For, like the in« habitants of moft Southern climates, they are much more fond of fliow, ftate, and at- tendance, than of the joys of free fociety and the fatisfadtion of a good table. Yet their feafts, feldom made, are fumptuous to extravagance. The luxury, indolence, pride, and cruelty of the mafters has, amongft other caufes, been very juftly attributed to their bein? bred up amongft flaves, having every bufineS entirely done by fuch ; and to their being permitted to keep a prodigious number of N^grdes, not for their field work, nor for »' Vql. I. Y domeftic 322 w^;; Account ^//'f European domeftic employnients, but merely to wait upon them, and to form their train. Thele become more corrupted than their mafters, who make them the inftruments of their crimes; and, giving them an unbounded and fcandalous licence, employ them, whenever they want to terrify or revenge, as bullies and aflaflins. And indeed nothing can be conceived more fit to create the worfl dikr- ders^ than the unnatural junction of flaver/ to idlenefs and a licentious way of living. They are all fufFered to go armed, and there are vaft numbers who have merited or bought their freedom; and this is fuffered in a country where the Negroes are ten to one. But this piZlure, perhaps too highly co- loured for thofe whom it is intended to repre- fent, is by no means applicable to all the Por- tuguefe of Brazil. Thofe by the Rio Janeiro, and in the Northern captainlhips, are not near fo effeminate and corrupted as thofe of the Bay of All-Saints, which,being in a climate favour- able to indolence and debauchery, the capital city, one of the oldeft fettlements, is in all re- fpedls worfe than any of the others. The governraent of Brazil is in the vice- roy, who refides at St. Salvador. He has two councils, one for criminal, the other for civil affairs ; in both which he prefides. But, to the infinite prejudice of the fettle- ment, all the delay, chicanery, multiplied ^^ cxpcnces 323 Settlements in America, cxpcnces incident to the word part of the law, and pradlifed by the mod: corrupted lawyers, flourilh here; nt the lame time that juftice is fo lax that the grcarefl: crimes often pafs with impunity. Formerly the judges could not legally puniili any Portuguelc with death. And it is not diHicult -to imagine, how much a licence in fuch a country muft have contributed to a corruption, that it may be the buliners of lucceliions of good magiftratcs, and ages of good difcipKne, to reftore to foundncfs. Upon the river of Ama- zons, the people, who are moftly Indians and reduced by the priefts fent thither, arc Itill under the government of thefe paftors. The feveral divilions of this country are called millions. As the Portuguefe have been once difpof- felled of this country by the Dutch, and once endangered by the French, their mif- fortunes and dangers have made them wife enough to take very effedual meafures for their future fecurlty. St. Salvador is a very flrong fortification ; they have others that are not contemptible ; befides a good number of European regular troops, of which there arc two regiments in St. Salvador. The militia too is regimented, amongft whom they reckon fome bodies of Indians, and free Negroes j and indeed at prefent Brazil feems to be in as little danger a? the fettlements of any power Y 2 of 324 -An Account, &c* : "! of America, not onlf from th^ir own internal ftrength, their remotenefs, and the intolerable heat and unhealthinefs of a great purt of the climate, but from the interefl that mofl of the flates in Europe, who are concerned in that trade, have to keep it in the hands of the Portuguefe. . .' ■ i» J j. Ii ».(i; tf '5 I1 lit' End of the First Volume. 10 •!■ ■JU \hAt :fK hi: 101 ,u: iiU i'^ i:*...tl:' ;jt o(c;i: ..>OG ?m^ ' tr«4A>/