An account of the first voyages and discoveries made by the Spaniards in America containing the most exact relation hitherto publish'd, of their unparallel'd cruelties on the Indians, in the destruction of above forty millions of people : with the propositions offer'd to the King of Spain to prevent the further ruin of the West-Indies / by Don Bartholomew de las Casas, Bishop of Chiapa, who was an eye-witness of their cruelties ; illustrated with cuts ; to which is added, The art of travelling, shewing how a man may dispose his travels to the best advantage.

Of the new Kingdom of Grenada.

A Great number of Spaniards went from Vene∣çuela, the Isle of St. Martha, and Carthagena in the year 1536, to make a Discovery of Peru: Di∣vers others went up higher, three hundred Leagues beyond St. Martha and Carthagena, to discover those excellent Countries that were very fertile, and full of People of a mild and sociable Temper; where is abundance of Gold and precious Stones found, especially Emeralds: they gave this King∣dom the name of New Grenada, because the Cap∣tain that first set his foot in it was born at Grenada. They that accompanied him were very profligate Men, and extremely cruel; they shed human Blood without any scruple or remorse, for they had been long accustom'd to all sorts of Wickedness, and therefore 'tis the less to be wonder'd at that they have committed so many Crimes in this New Grenada, where they abandon'd themselves to all manner of Abominations. I shall only mention some Instances of 'em, because an exact recital of their Cruelties would fill the Minds of all that read this History with too much Horror.

A certain Governor that could not get his share of the Booty another had got before him in ra∣vaging this new Kingdom of Grenada at his pleasure, tho he could have seconded him with all his heart

in the Cruelties and Robberies he committed here; yet being enrag'd to see such a valuable Prey escape him, thought meet to appease his Trouble after a sort, and to revenge himself on the other by making authentick Informations confirm'd by the concur∣rent Testimony of many Witnesses, which expos'd to light all the Vexations, Murders and Cruelties which this Tyrant had been guilty of in New Gre∣nada. The said Informations were read in the Coun∣cil of the Indies, where they have been hitherto pre∣serv'd, and are yet to be seen.

In these Informations the Witnesses depose, that this new Kingdom enjoy'd a settled Peace before the Spaniards came thither; that the People shew'd 'em all the kindness imaginable as soon as they came a∣mong 'em; that they maintain'd the Spaniards with their Labour, and the Fruit of the Ground which they manur'd; that they gave 'em prodigious quan∣tities of Gold, and abundance of precious Stones, amongst others a great many Emeralds; that they freely brought 'em whatever was most valuable in their Cities, the Government of which the Spa∣niards divided among themselves when they had can∣ton'd 'em into several parts: for this they counted a proper method, the better to compass their design of heaping together all the Gold they could possibly find.

When the Indians were first subjugated to the Tyranny of the Spaniards, the chief Captain, who was General of the rest, took possession of the King's Person as well as of the Country, and kept him Prisoner for five or six Months, without any reason in the World, demanding Gold and Emeralds of him continually. This King, whose name was Bogata, in the midst of his fears, promis'd the Spanish Ge∣neral to deliver up all the Gold-plate he had, hoping by this means to get out of the hands of this Tyrant:

he sent a great many Indians to his House to fetch these precious Goods; and at the several turns they made he gave the Spaniard a great quantity of Gold and Emeralds; who was not content with all this, but threaten'd to kill him. Accordingly he commanded this unfortunate King to be brought be∣fore him to receive his Sentence. This is the Treat∣ment these Tyrants give the most illustrious Persons of the new World: This haughty General pro∣nounc'd a fatal Sentence against this Prince, by which he was condemn'd to most horrible Torments if he did not immediately send for all the Gold he had: Accordingly this Tyrant's Executioners laid hold of the King, stretch'd him out at length upon the ground naked, and pour'd boiling Rosin upon his Belly; besides this, they put his feet into a Fire, hav∣ing fasten'd his Neck to a Stake fix'd in the ground, while two of these Hangmen held him by the Arms. The cruel General came from time to time to look upon him while this Torture continued, threatning to take away his Life if he did not speedily deliver up his Gold. God seem'd by his Providence to sig∣nify his Displeasure against these Cruelties, in suf∣fering the City where they were committed to be consum'd with Fire in a moment. The rest of the Spaniards took pattern by their General, and fill'd up his steps: And having no other trade than that of tormenting the Indians, and cutting 'em in pieces, they practised the same Villanies in divers parts of this Kingdom: They inflicted terrible Punishments on several Caciques, and all their Subjects, who too imprudently depended on the good words and pro∣mises the Spaniards made 'em: And this after they had given 'em incredible Sums of Gold, and many Emeralds. These Presents, tho so valuable, could not soften their obdurate Hearts, and render 'em civil to their Benefactors▪ The Tortures to which

they put the Indians were to make 'em bring yet more Gold and precious Stones; and the same motive has induc'd 'em to burn all the great Lords of the Country with a slow fire. A great multitude of Indians one day came to meet the Spaniards with a great deal of humility and simplicity (as their man∣ner is) to offer 'em their service, supposing them∣selves safe; but while they were sleeping without any apprehension of danger, being faint and weary, a Spanish Captain commanded his men to massacre 'em all, which was accordingly executed. This was done to strike the whole Country with terror and consternation, and to fright the Inhabitants out of their Gold by the horror of so tragical a Spectacle. The General made his Souldiers swear how many Caciques and Indians each of 'em had kill'd, and how many they had reserv'd alive for their Slaves; these he immediately order'd 'em to bring out into the most publick place of their City, and made 'em there cut off the heads of 4 or 500 of these poor Creatures. Divers Witnesses have depos'd that this Captain order'd the hands and no∣ses of many Indians both Men and Women to be cut off, and exercis'd other unheard of Cruelties among 'em. He sent into Bogata's Province to enquire who had succeeded that Prince, whom he had so inhu∣manly put to death: The Men he sent to make this Discovery took as many Indians as they could; such of 'em as could not tell the name of their late Prin∣ce's Successor, were barbarously abus'd, some of 'em had their Arms and Legs cut off; others were ex∣pos'd to the fury of greedy Dogs, and soon torn in pieces by 'em.

They fell upon a great number of Caciques and Indian Noblemen by a treacherous surprize in the middle of the Night, after they had assur'd 'em they need not fear any affront or abuse from them. The

innocent Indians confiding in these fair promises, were come down out of the Mountains where they had hid themselves, to lodg in the Cities, not sus∣pecting the ill design the Spaniards had against 'em: However these perfidious men surpriz'd 'em, and cut off the Hands and Arms of all they took, let∣ting 'em know they were chastiz'd after this severe manner for not telling the name of their late King's Successor. Another time the General sent a great par∣ty of Soldiers into a City to make war with the In∣habitants, because they sent him not a basket of Gold which he had demanded: they made these poor people suffer a thousand Outrages, and massacred vast numbers of 'em. They inhumanly cut off the no∣ses and hands both of Men and Women, and gave others to be devour'd by their Dogs, which were wont to be fed with human flesh.

The people of one of these Provinces, seeing 5 or 6 of their Chiefs burnt to death with a slow fire, were frighted by this horrible sight into the mountains to shelter themselves from the Spaniards; they were about 5 or 6000: hereupon the Spanish Commander sent a Company of Soldiers to pursue 'em, and treat 'em as Rebels. 'Tis hard to imagine by what right they assum'd an Authority to punish people as rebels, that were free-born, and did not in the least depend on 'em. When the Spanish Soldiers were got into this Mountain, they fell on the poor Indians, who were naked and disarm'd, with a fury like that of Wolves and Lions, when they set upon a flock of Sheep to devour 'em; till at length they were so spent and fatigu'd meerly with slaughtering these poor Creatures, that they were forc'd to give over a while to take breath; after which they renew'd this Massacre with more vigour. And to cut short their bloody work, they threw down the greatest part of these Indians headlong

from the top of the Mountain, which was very high. It has been depos'd by those that were Eye-witnesses of this Tragedy, that they forc'd above 700 of these poor Indians all together down this Precipice, so that they look'd like a Cloud as they fell; they were all dash'd in pieces by this dreadful fall, and died miserably.

The Spaniards push'd on this barbarous Expedition to the utmost; for they made a diligent search in all the remote Corners of the Mountain, and gave no quarter to any they found; those they could catch were either cut to pieces, or after many wounds cast down from the top of the Mountain. Nor did these Cruelties satisfy 'em, but they shut up divers Indi∣ans both Men and Women, whom they had reserv'd for Slaves, in a house cover'd with straw, which they set on fire and so consum'd 'em. They likewise went to the City of Cola, where they took abun∣dance of People, with about 15 or 20 of their Great Men; they expos'd these to the fury of their Dogs, which devour'd 'em, having first cut off the hands and feet both of Men and Women; and fix'd these sad Spoils on Poles, that they might be obvious to the view of all, and that the dreadful sight might cast terror and amazement in the minds of all that surviv'd.

The Ravage and Cruelties these bloody-minded Men exercised in this new Kingdom of Grenada are so great, that if the King of Spain dos not apply a spee∣dy remedy, and set bounds to their excessive Avarice and insatiable thirst of Gold, that whole Kingdom will soon be destroy'd, and the Land lie unculti∣vated and unimprov'd, for want of Inhabitants.

In the space of 2 or 3 years, since this Kingdom has been discover'd, they have without the fear of God or Man put the Inhabitants to death, without any emotion or pity to see so much human blood

pour'd out. There are now scarce any People to be found there after all these Massacres. There are divers fine large Provinces near New Grenada; this Country is called Popoyan and Cali, and is above 50 leagues in extent, which they also have ruined, and made as desolate as the former. Here they have so slaughter'd the people, that this once po∣pulous Country is now quite destitute of Inhabitants. Those that come from thence relate such terrible things of the Spaniards proceedings there, that one can't hear their sad Stories, without being pierc'd with trouble and compassion in a very sensible man∣ner. In these Provinces they have ruin'd many fine Cities from one end to t'other; so that they now lie buried in their own Ashes: there are scarce any of the ruins of those Cities to be seen, which once contain'd above 2000 Houses. In a word, this Coun∣try which was full of Villages, Towns, and Cities for the space of 50 leagues, is now so bare, that there's scarce any token remaining to signifie there ever were any such buildings.

Some of the Spaniards came from Peru into New Grenada and Popoyan through the Province of Qui∣tonia; others of 'em came to Cali by the way of Carthagena and Vraba, but all join'd together to car∣ry on the same design, spoiling a Country of 600 leagues in extent of all its Riches, and extirpating all the Inhabitants after they had plunder'd 'em. When this cruel War was ended, the Spaniards took some of the Indians, whom they had reserved for Slaves, into their service, and caus'd the heads of se∣veral of their Companions to be cut off in their sight to terrify 'em; telling 'em they must all expect to undergo the same fate, if they did not serve 'em faithfully. By the recital of such barbarous Actions as these, the Reader may easily imagin how the Spa∣niards behave themselves towards the Indians in the

several parts of America. They feed their fierce Dogs with human flesh, on purpose to accustom 'em to tear Men in pieces, and devour 'em. They car∣ry these Dogs with 'em wherever they go, and barbarously murder the poor Indians, to feed these savage Curs with their flesh. They'l say one to ano∣ther, Give me a quarter of that Indian to make my Dog a feast; and when I kill one, I'll pay you again. They commonly hunt in the morning with these Dogs; and when ask'd by their fellows what luck they have had, they answer according to their success. Sometimes one will say, I am content, my Dogs have kill'd about a score of 'em; so that one would think they were speaking of Wolves or wild Boars. Can any thing be imagin'd that exceeds such horrible Cruelty as this? And all these Barbarities have been prov'd and averred by strict Examinations made and produc'd before the Council of the Indies.