or fourtie other menne into a temple thereby which was as good vnto them as a forte whiche they call in their language qewe and there be defended him selfe a good part of the day But the Spaniards whose handes nothing can escape specially armed for the warre cast fire on the temple and burned all those which were within Who cast out these voyces and cries O yee euill men O ye euill men What displeasure haue wee done you why doe yee slay vs Goe Goe you shall come at Mexico where our Soueraigne Lorde Mortensuma shall take vengeance of you It is reported that as the Spaniardes played this gay play in the base court putting to the edge of the sword a fiue or sixe thousand men their captaine hauing his heart all in a Iollitie sang Mira Nero de Tarpeya à Roma como seardias Gritos dan ninos y vieâ—os y el de nada se dolia That is to say Fro Tarpey top dan Nero gan see Roome all flaming brenne Both young and old cry out the whiles his heart did neuer yerne THey made also another great butcherie in the Citie of Tapeaca whiche was greater and of more number of householdes and more people inhabiting then in the citie afore sorâ—e They siue here with the sharpe of the sword an infinite number of people with great circuÌ„stances particularties of cruelties From Cholula they went to Mexico The king Motensuma sent to meete them a thousande of presentes and Lordes and people making ioy and mirth by the way And at the entry of the cawsie of Mexico whiche reacheth two leagues in length he sent also his brother accompanied with a great number of honorable Lordes bearing with them rich presents gold siluer apparell at the barres of the citie the king in person with all his great court came to receiue them beeing carried in a lighter of golde and them accompanied vnto the palace which hee had caused to bee made ready for them The selfe same very day as some haue tolde me the which were then and there present they tooke by a certayne dissimulation the great king Moteusuma as he mistrusted nothing and ordained fourescore men to keepe him Afterwardes they put giues on his feete But letting all this passe in the which there were notable poyntes to speake of I will onely rehearse one which was singuler wrought by thâ—se tirantes The Captaine general of the Spanishe was gone to theÌ„ sea porte to take another Spanishe Captayne which came against in warre and hauing lefte another vnder captayne in his roome with a fewe more then an hundreth men to keepe the sayde king Motensuma these same aduised with them selues to doe another thing woorthy the note to the ende to encrease and augment more and more in all those regions the awe which they had of them a practise and stratageme which as I sayde before they haue often vsed All this meane while the Indians the common people and the Lordes of the whole Citie sought none other thing saue onely to shewe pleasure and pastime to their Lorde which was deteyned prisoner And amongest other sportes which they made him were their friskes and daunces whiche they made in the euening thorowe out all the high streetes and markette places which daunces they call Mitotes as in the iles they call them Areytos The do weare in these friskes all their riche furniture their best gorgious attyre and their iewels despising them selues to liking in all thinges for these are the greatest signes of ioy and festiuitie that they doe vse Nowe at this time the nobilitis also and princes of the blood royall eche one after his degree kept their reuels and feastes at the neerest vnto the house where was deceyned prisoner their soueraigne Ioyning vnto the walles of the saide palace were there more then two thousande youthes Lordes children which were the flower of the nobilitie of all the state of Morensuma Against those made out the captayne of the Spaniardes with a troupe of souldiers sending the others vnto other places of the citie where the frisks and daunces were kept and all making wise onely to go see them The captayne had giuen in charge that at a certayne appointed houre they should all cast them vpon those dauncers and hee himselfe for his own part casting himselfe into the thronge the Indians mistrusting nothing but onely intending their disport hee saith Saynttiago let vs amongst them vpon theÌ„ sirs And thus their arming swords in their fistes they began to rip these bodies naked and delicate and to shed that blood gentle and noble in such sort as that they left not a man aliue The others performed the like in other places a thing which set all those realmes and nations in a fright extreme desperation and whereof as long as the world shall last they will neuer lin if themselues do not decay to lament and recorde in their Areytos solemne meetings as in rime these calamities and the spoile of the spring of their ancient nobilitie of the which they are wont to vaunt theÌ„selues glory very much The Indians seeing so great an iniquitie and a crueltie neuer heard of the like made against so many innocentes without any cause specially hauing put vp quietly the imprisonment that no lesse wrongfull of their soueraigne Lorde who also had commaunded them not to make warre vpon the Spaniardes all the citie put them selues in armes whervpon the Spaniards being assaulted and many of them hurt with much a do might they escape but set a dagger on the chest of the brest of the prisoner Motensuma to kill him if he laied not him selfe out at a gallery or winddowe to coÌ„mand the Indians that they should not beset the house they should keepe theÌ„ quiet The Indians taking no care as then of obeying aduised theÌ„ to chuse a L. captayn from amongst them selues to conduct their battals And for as much as the Captayn which was gone to the hauen was returned victorious leading with him more Spaniardes then he had carried foorth and for that hee was nowe neere at hande the combate ceased about a three or foure dayes vntill such time as hee was entred the towne Then the Indians assembled an infinite number of people out of all the countrey and skirmished in such wise and so long a season that the Spanish thought they should al die on the place wherefore they deliberated to abandon the citie for one night That which their disseighu being knowen to the Indians they slewe of them a great number vppon the bridges of the Marshes in a warre most rightfull and most lawfull for the causes most righteous which they had as hath been saide the whiche euery reasonable and true dealing man will mayneteyne for good Soone after the Spanishe hauing realied themselues the combat with the Citie renewed where the Spaniardes made an horrible and ghastly butcherie of the Indians and slue an infinite of people and
practised vpon them during the tune that they trauayled of a trueth they can not bee recounted in a long season nor written in a great deale of paper and they shoulde bee euen to affright men withall It is to be noted that the destruction of these iles and lands beganne after the decease of the most gracious Queene daâ—e Isabell which was the yeere a thousande fiue hundreth and foure For before there were layed waste in this ile but certayne Prouinces by vniust warre and that not wholly altogether these for y e more part or in a maner al were coÌ„cealed froÌ„ the knowledge of y e Q. vnto whoÌ„ it may please god to giue his holy glory forasmuch as she had a great desire a zeale admirable y t those people might be saued prosper as we do know good examples the w c we haue seen w t our eies felt with our hands Further note here y t in what part of y e Indies y e Spanishe haue come they haue euermore exercised against y e IndiaÌ„s these innoceÌ„t peoples y e cruelties aforesaid oppressioÌ„s abominable inueÌ„ted day by day new tormeÌ„ts huger monstrouser becoÌ„ming euery day more cruel wherfore god also gaue theÌ„ ouer to fal headlong down with a more extreme downfal into a reprobate sense Of the two Iles S. Iohn and Iamayca THe Spanish passed ouer to y e Ile of S. Iohn to y t of Iamayca w c were like gardens for bees 1509. setting before-theÌ„ y e same end which they had in the Ile Hispaniola committing the robberies crimes aforesaid adioyning therunto many great notable cruelties killing burning rosting casting theÌ„ to y e dogs farthermore afterwards oppressing vexing them in their minerals other trauel vnto y e rotting out of those pore innoceÌ„ts w c were in these two Iles by supputatioÌ„ 6. C. M. soules yea I beleue y t they were more theÌ„ a milioÌ„ although there be not at this day in either Ile 200. persons and all perished without faith and without Sacramentes Of the Ile of Cuba IN the year 1511 they passed to y e Ile of Cuba which is as I haue said as long as there is distaÌ„ce froÌ„ Vallâ—dâ—lâ—â— to Rome where were great prouinces great multitudes of people they both begaÌ„ 〈…〉 in theÌ„ after y e 〈…〉 far more cruelly There came to passe in this IlaÌ„d matters worth y e noting A Câ—cique named Hathuey which had coâ—â—eyed himselfe froÌ„ y e Ile Hispaniola to Cuba w t many of his people to auoid the calamities 〈…〉 so vnnatural of y e spanish when 〈◊〉 certain Indians had told him 〈…〉 the Spaniards were coÌ„ming towards Cuba he 〈…〉 Nowe you know that the Spaniards 〈…〉 this 〈…〉 ye knowe also by experience how they 〈…〉 such the people of 〈◊〉 meaning 〈…〉 〈◊〉 they come to do y e like here Wot ye why they do it they answered no vnlesse 〈…〉 they are by nature void of humanitie He replied They do it not onely for y t but because they haue a god whom they honoâ— do demand very much to y t end to haue froÌ„ vs as wel as others to honor him w tall they do their vttermost to subdue vs. He had theÌ„ by him a litle chestful of gold Iewels said Behold here the God of the Spaniards let vs do to him if it so seeme you good Aâ—â—â—os which are windlesseâ— daunces thus doing we shall please him he wil command y e Spaniards y t they shal do vs no harme They answerd all with a loud voyce Wel said sir wel said Thus then they dauÌ„sed before it vntil they were wery theÌ„ quoth the L. Hathuey Take we heed howeuer y â— world go if we keep him to y e end y t he be takeÌ„ away froÌ„ vs in the end they wil kill vs wherfore let vs cast him into y e riuer whervnto they all agreed and so they cast it into a great riuer there This L. 〈◊〉 weÌ„t alwaies fleeing y e spanish incontinent as they were arriued at y e ile of Cuba as he w c knew theÌ„ but too wel defeÌ„ded himself wheÌ„ as he met theÌ„ In y e end he was takeÌ„ only for because that he fled froÌ„ a nation so vniust eâ—uel that he defended himself froÌ„ such as would kil him oppresse him euen vnto y e death w t all his folk he was burned aliue Now as he was fastned to the stake a religious maÌ„ of S. FraÌ„cis order a deuout persoÌ„ spoke to him somwhat of God of our faith which thinâ—â— this said L. had neuer heard of yet might be sufficieÌ„t for the time which y e hutchers gaue him that if he would beleue those things which were spokeÌ„ to him he should go to heauen where is glory rest euerlasting y t if he did not beleue he should go to hel there to be tormeÌ„ted perpetually The L. after hauing a litle paused to think of y e matter demanded of the religious man whether y t the spaniards went to heauen who answered yea such of them that were good The Cacik answered againe immediatly w tout any further deliberation that he would not go to heauen but that hee would go to hell to the ende not to come in the place where such people should be and to the end not so see a nation so cruell Lâ—â— here the praises and honour which God and our faith haue receiued of the Spaniardes which haue gone to the Iudes One tyme the Indians came to meete vs and to receiue vs with victualles and delicate cheere and with all entertaynmene ten leagues of a great city and beeing come at the place they presented vs with a great quantitie of 〈◊〉 and of bread and other meate together with all that they coulde doe for vs to the vttermost See incontinent the diuell whiche put him selfe into the Spaniardes to put them all to the edge of the sworde in my presence without any cause whatsoeuer more then three thousande soules which were set before vs men women and children I saw there so great cruelties that neuer my man liuing eyther haue or shall see the like Another tyme but a fewe dayes after the premisses I sente messengers vnto all the Lordes of the prouince of Hauana assuring them that they shoulde not neede to see are for they had hearde of my credite and that without withdrawing themselues they shoulde come to receiue vs and that there shoulde bee done vnto them no displeasure for all the countrey was afraide by reason of the mischiefes and murderings passed and this did I by the aduice of the Captayne him selfe After that wee were come into the Prouince one and twentie Lordes and Cacikes came to receiue vs whome the Captayne apprehended incontinent breaking the safe conduite whiche I had made them and intended the day next following to burne them aliue saying that it was expedient so to
THE Spanish Colonie OR Briefe Chronicle of the Acts and gestes of the Spaniardes in the West Indies called the newe World for the space of xl yeeres written in the Castilian tongue by the reuerend Bishop Bartholomew de las Casas or Casaus a Friar of the order of S. Dominicke And nowe first translated into english by M. M. S. ¶ Imprinted at London for William Brome 1583. To the Reader Spanish cruelties and tyrannies perpetrated in the West Indies commonly termed The newe found worlde Briefly described in the Castilian language by the Bishop Tryer Bartholomew de las Casas or Casaus a Spaniarde of the order of Saint Dominick faithfully translated by Iames Aliggrodo to serue as a President and warning to the xij Prouinces of the lowe Countries Happie is hee whome other mens harmes doe make to beware GOds iudgementes are so profound as mans wisdome no not the power of Angels is able to enter into their depth Thou shalt frendly Reader in this discourse beholde so many millions of meÌ„ put to death as hardly there haue been so many spaniardes procreated into this worlde since their firste fathers the Gothes inhabited their Countries either since their second progenitors the Sarazens expelled and murdered the most part of the Gothes as it seemeth that the Spaniardes haue murdered and put to death in the Westerne Indies by all such meanes as barbarousnesse it selfe coulde imagine or forge vpon the anueld of crueltie They haue destroyed thrise so much lande as christendome doth comprehende such torments haue they inuented yea so great and excessiue haue their trecherie been that the posteritie shall hardly thinke that euer so barbarous or cruell a nation haue bin in the worlde if as you woulde say we had not with our eyes seene it and with our hands felt it I confesse that I neuer loued that nation generally by reason of their intollerable pride notwithstanding I can not but coÌ„mend loue sundry excellent persons that are among theÌ„ Howbeit God is my witnes hatred procureth me not to write those things as also the authour of the booke is by nation a Spaniard and besides writeth farre more bitterly then my selfe But two reasons haue moued me to publishe this preface which I do dedicate to all the prouinces of the Lowe countreys The one to the end awaking theÌ„selus out of their sleep may begin to thinke vpon Gods iudgements and refraine from their wickednes and vice The other that they may also consider with what enemie they are to deale and so to beholde as it were in a picture or table what stay they are like to bee at when through their rechlesnesse quarrels controuersies and partialities themselues haue opened the way to such an enemie and what they may looke for Most meÌ„ do ground their opinion vpon the goodnesse of their cause concluding that in as much as God is iust he will graunt victorie to the right and will ouerthrowe the wicked This was Iobes friendes disputation where they concluded that for that Iob was afflicted vndoubtedly he was wicked Which reason is drawen out of a certaine rule which it seemeth that nature hath printed in our hartes that is that God punisheth the euill and in mercie rewardeth the good deedes There vpon did the inhabitants of Malta report that Gods vengeance would not permit S. Paul to liue when after he had escaped so dangerous shipwracke the Viper leaped vpon his hande Howebeit notwithstanding this rule be certaine and true yet do manie therein diuersely deceiue them selues concluding thereby that GOD sendeth no affliction but to the wicked as if hee laide not his crosse also vpon the good As Iob the Prophetes and Martyres yea his owne sonne Iesus Christ and that for the mortifiyng of the fleshe and more and more to quicken man in good liuing and for his sonne to the ende in him to punish our sinne which hee tooke vpon him Others doe beleeue that God wil neuer suffer sinne to bee long vnpunished notwithstaÌ„ding y t hauing long waited patieÌ„tly for our repentaÌ„ce his clemencie is at length conuerted into iustice Some againe that it is vnpossible for the wicked to gette the vpper hande in an euill cause notwithstanding wee dayly see it fall out contrary vndoubtedly the Turkes victories conquestes in Christendome haue no foundation but consist vpon meere tyrannie and vsurpation For although Christians sinnes especially the great abuse in Gods seruice haue bin the causes of our punishment yet must we confesse that the christians what errors soeuer some of them do in their doctrine maintain are not neuertheles so farre deuoid of the truth as are the Turkes and yet do we see howe mightily in few yeres they haue coÌ„quered encroched vpoÌ„ christendom Also before the comming of the Turkes namely soone after the time of Mahamet there came such a flock of Sarazins that they deuoured first Egypt then all Affrick rooting out Christianitie out of the said countries seazed vpon al Spaine yea proceeding forward they camped in Aquitain vpon the riuer of Toyre insomuch that it was to be doubted y t they might soone haue caught hold vpon France so vpon the rest of christeÌ„dom had not God raised vp that mightie Duke of Brubant Charles Martel who defeating them driue them beyond the Pirenean mountaines But if we list to consider the examples contained in the holy Bible whose reasons are more exactly expounded by the prophets we do find that in the time of K. Hezechias although the head citie namely Hierusalem was not forced yet the lesser townes being taken by the enemie the flatte countrey spoyled the K. and the princes of Iuda had no more left them but the bare walles of Hierusalem Also albeit God did marueilously strike the armie of Senacherib and that his own children flew him in his gods temples yet were not gods people free from suffering much and from seeing the enemie enioy the most part of their law their coÌ„mons did beare that which nowe we know more then we would that is what an enemy entring by force of armes into a land is able to do But Nabuchadnezers victories were far others wheÌ„ he tooke burned sacked eueÌ„ the head citie together with y e very temple of HierusaleÌ„ took their K. P. hie P. prisoners â—lu pulled out y e eies fettered some of theÌ„ forcing the coÌ„mons during the siege to eate their own dong Who is hee therefore that dare accuse God of wrong sith such tyrants be called the Axe in the Lordes hands as the executioners of his iustice Further wee see that those that haue the most right are by the wicked robbed slaine murdered which is neuerthelesse Gods doing For it is said Cursed be he that doth the Lordes worke negligently in which place the holy scriptures do speake of such ministers and instruments of God In this discourse of Don Bartholomew de las Casas wee do finde a manifest example For I pray you
as afore time neither are they sory for the contrition of Ioseph The other is that in maner euery man generally hath an eye to his owne priuat affaires no 〈…〉 the common vnlesse it bee to reproove but not to help â—atrâ—â— possesseth many of their heartes and which is more strange although there bee many in these Countries that haue heretofore felt the manifest iniuries of the spaniards yet as if their memoâ—y wholy failed them they be redy to compound with the 〈◊〉 they suppose to the destruction of their confederates 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 to the generall subuersion of the whole countrie To the end therfore they may at the least 〈◊〉 in a â—able behold the nature of their enimie his purpose intent here â—asueth a true history written by one of their owne nation wherein they may learne not that which is yet fully executed in these low countries but which had not god stopped their course they had long since put in execution and hereby I hope al good men wil 〈◊〉 to be resolute and â—mending their liues 〈◊〉 ioyâ—◠〈◊〉 not in wordes only but in deedes also to repell so arrogant and 〈◊〉 an enemie But there needeth no other admonitioÌ„ then the same which the authour hath set down and therefore I pray you reade him as diligently as he 〈…〉 graue and worthy 〈…〉 himselfe to his owne so cruell and barbarous nation and let vs render thanks to god for sending vs so good maisters to instructe vs in our dueties in this so miserable and wretched time in hope â—hat we not quailing in our office he will also finally graunt vs happie deliuerance The Argument of this present Summarie THe state of thinges happened in the Indies euen from the time they were most wonderfully discouered also since the Spaniards for a while began to enhabite those places and afterward successiuely vnto these daies haue in all degrees bin so maruailous incredible vnto such as haue not seen theÌ„ that they may seeme sufficient to darken and burie in obliuion and silence whatsoeuer els haue passed in all former ages throughout the world howe great so euer is hath been amongst which the slaughters and murders of these innocent people together with the spoiles of townes prouinces kingdomes which in those parts haue bin perpretated as also diuers others no lesse terrible matters are not the least These things wheÌ„ doÌ„ Bartâ—â—â—w de las Casaâ—s being made of a monke a bishop at his comming to the court there to enforme our â— M. the Emperor as hauing 〈◊〉 an eiewitnes of the same had rehearsed to sundry persons who as yet were ignorant thereof thereby hauing driuen the hearers into a kind of extasie maze he was importunately requested briefly to set down in writing some of them 〈◊〉 of y e last which he did But afterward seeing sundry persons who deuoyd of remorse and compassion being through auarice ambition degenerate froÌ„ all humanitie and who by their execrable deedes were grown into a reprobate sence not being satisfied with such fellonies mischiefs as they had committed in destroying such a part of y e world by all straÌ„ge kinds of cruelties were now again importunate vppon the King to the ende vnder his authoritie and consent they might once more returne to committe the like or worse if worse might be he determined to exhibite the saide Summarie which he had in writing and record vnto our Lorde the prince to the ende his highnesse might finde meanes that they shoulde be denied which he thought best to put in print to the ende his highnesse might with more ease reade the same This therefore was the cause of this present Summarie or briefe information The Prologue of the Bishop Frier Bartholomewe de las Casas or Casaus to the most high and mightie prince Our Lord Don Philip Prince of Spaine MOst high and mightie Lorde as god by his prouidente hath for the guiding and commoditie of mankinde in this world in Realmes and Prouinces appointed kings to bee as fathers and as Homer nameth them shepheardes and so consequently the most noble principall meÌ„bers of coÌ„mon weales so can we not iustly doubt by reason of the good willes that kings and princes haue to minister iustice but that if there be any thinges amisse either any violences or iniuries committed the only cause that they are not redressed is for y t princes haue no notice of the same For certainely if they knew of them they would imploy all diligence and indeuour in the remedie thereof Whereof it seemeth that mention is made in the holy Scripture in the Prouerbes of Salomon where it is said Rex qui sedet in solio Iudicii dissipat omne malum intuitu suo For it is sufficiently to be presupposed euen of the kindly and natural vertue of a king that the only notice that he taketh of any mischiefe tormenting his kingdome is sufficient to procure him if it bee possible to roote out the same as being a thing that hee cannot tollerate euen one only moment of time Considering therefore with my selfe most mightie Lord the great mischiefes dammages and losses the like wherof it is not to be thoght were euer coÌ„mitted by mankind of so large and great kingdoms or to speake more truely of this so large new world of the Indies which God and holy Churche haue coÌ„mitted coÌ„meÌ„ded vnto the K. of castile to the end they might gouern coÌ„uert procure their prosperitie as well temporally as spiritually I therefore I say being a man of experience and filtie yeeres of age or more considering these euils as hauing seene them committed at my being in those countreys Also that your highnes hauing information of some notable particularities might be mooued most earnestly to desire his Maiestie not to graunt or permit to those tyrantes such conquestes as they haue found out and which they do so name whereinto if they might be suffered they would returne seeing that of themselues being made against this Indian peaceable lowly milde nation which offendeth none they be wicked tyrannous and by all lawes either naturall humaine or diuine vtterly condemned detested and accursed I thought it best least my selfe might become also guiltie by concealing the losse of an infinite number both of soules bodies whiche are so coÌ„mitted to cause a few of their dealinges which of late I had selected froÌ„ amoÌ„g infinit others and that might truely bee reported to bee printed to the ende your highnes might with more ease peruse and reade them ouer Also whereas your highnes maister the Archbishop of Toleto when hee was bishop of Carthagena required them at my handes and then presented them to your highnes peraduenture by reason of such great voiages as your highnes tooke vpon you both by sea and by land for matters of estate wherein you haue bin busied it may be you haue not perused either haue forgotten them and in the meane time the rash and
instant those that seemed thē good those whō they took prisonners they caused thē cruelly to die vpō y e rack to make thē to tell in what places there were any more golde thē they found w t them and others which remayned aliue they made them slaues marking them with a hot iron so after the fire being out quenched they go seeke the golde in their houses This is then the deportement in these affayres of this mischieuous person with all the bond of his vngodly Christians which hee trayned from the fourteenth yeere vnto the one and twentie or two and twentieth yeere sending in these exploytes sixe or moe of his seruants or souldiers by whom he receiued as many shares ouer and beesides his Captaynes Generalles part which he leuied of all the golde of all the pearles and of all the iewels which they tooke of those whom they made their slaues The selfsame did y e kings officers euery one sending forth as many seruants as he coulde The Byshoppe also which was the chiefe in the Realme hee sent his seruauntes to haue his share in the bootie They spoyled more golde within the tyme and in this realme as farre foorth as I am able to recken then woulde amount to a million of Ducates yea I beleeue that I make my reckoning with the least Yet will it bee founde that of all this great thieuing they neuer sent to the king ought saue three thousande Castillans hauing there about killed and destroyed aboue eyght hundred thousande soules The other tyraunt gouernours which succeeded after vnto the yeere thirtie and three slue or at least wise consented for all those which remayned to slay them in that tyrannicall slauerie Amongst an infinite sorte of mischiefes which this gouernoure did or consented vnto the doing during the time of his gouernment this was one To witte that a Cacike or Lorde giuing him eyther of his good will or whiche is rather to bee thought for feare the weight of niene thousande Ducates the Spaniardes not content withall tooke the saide Lorde and tyed him to a stake setting him on the earth his feete stretched vp against the which they set fire to cause him to giue thē some more golde The Lorde sent to his house whence there were brought yet moreouer three thousand Castillans They goe a freshe to giue him newe tormentes And when the Lorde gaue them no more eyther because he had it not or because hee woulde giue them no more they bent his feete agaynst the fyre vntill that the very marrowe sprang out and trylled downe the sowles of his feete so as hee therewith died They haue oftentimes exercised these kinde of tormentes towardes the Lordes to make them giue them golde wherewith they haue also slayne them An other tyme a certayne companie of Spaniardes vsing their theftes and robberies came to a mountayne where were assembled and hid a number of people hauing shunned those men so pernicious and horrible whom incontinent entring vpon they tooke a three or fourescore as well women as mayds hauing killed as many as they could kill The morrowe after there assembled a great companie of Indians to pursue the Spaniardes warring against them for the great desire they had to recouer their wiues and daughters The Spaniards perceiuing the Indians to approche so neere vpon them would not so forgo their pray but stabd their swords thorowe the bellies of the wiues and wenches leauing but one alone aliue of all the fourescore The Indians felt their hearts to burst for sorrowe and griefe which they suffered yelling out in cries and speaking suche woordes O wicked men O yee the cruell Spaniardes doe yee kill Las Iras They terme Iras in that countrey the women as if they woulde say To kyll women those be actes of abhominable men and cruell as beastes There was a tenne or fifteene leagues from Ioanama a great Lorde named Paris which was very riche of golde The Spaniardes went thither whome this Lorde receiued as if they had been his own brethen and made a present vnto the Captaine of fiftie thousand Castillans of his own voluntarie accord It semed vnto the Captaine and the other Spaniardes that he which gaue such a great summe of his owne will shoulde haue a great treasure which shoulde be the ende and easing of their traueyles They make wise and pretende in wordes to depart but they returne at the fourth watch of the morning setting vpon the towne which mistrusted nothing set it on fire whereby was burnt and slayne a great number of people by this meanes they brought away in the spoyle fiftie or threescore thousand Castillans moe The Cacik or Lorde escaped without being slayne or taken and leuied incontinent as many of his as he coulde And at the ende of three or foure dayes ouertaketh the Spaniardes whiche had taken from him an hundreth and thirtie or fourtie thousande Castillans and set vppon them valiantly killing fiftie Spaniardes and recouering all the golde whiche they had taken from him The others saued them selues by running away beyng well charged with blowes and wounded Not long after diuers of the Spanishe returne against the saide Cacik and discomfite him with an infinite number of his people Those which were not slayne they put them to the ordiuarie bondage in such sort as that there is not at this day neyther track nor token that there hath bin liuing there eyther people or so much as one man alone borne of woman within thirtie leagues of the lande which was before notably peopled and gouerned by diuers Lordes There is no reconing able to be made of the murders which this caitiffe with his companie committed in these realmes which he so dispeopled Of the prouince of Nicaragua THe yeere a thousande fiue hundred twentie and two or twentie three this tyraunt went farder into the lande to bring vnder his yoke the most fertile prouince of Nicaragua so in thither hee entred in an euill houre There is no man which is able worthely and sufficiently to speake of the fertiltie healthsomenesse prosperitie and frequencie of those nations that there were It was a thing wonderfull to beholde howe well it was peopled hauing townes of three or foure leagues in length full of maruilous fruites which fruites were also the cause of the frequencie of the people These people for as muche as the countrey was flatte and leuell hauing no hilles where any might hide them and for that it was so pleasant and delectable that the natiue inhabitauntes coulde not abandon it but with great heart griefe and difficultie for which cause they the rather endured and suffered grieuons persecutions supporting as muche as they coulde the tyrannies and seruitudes inflicted by the Spanishe Also for that by their nature they were verye softe natured and peaceable people these I say this tyraunt with his mates made to endure that which hee had vsed also to doe to destroy likewise other realmes so many dammages so many murders
so many cruelties so many slaueries and iniquities that there is no humane tongue is able to discipher them He sent fiftie horsemen and caused to slay all the people of this prouince which is greater then the countye of Rossillon with the swoorde in such sort as that he left aliue nor man nor woman nor olde nor young for the least cause in the world as if they came not incontinent at his commaunde or if they did not bring him so many load of Mahis which signifieth in that country bread corne or if they did not bring him so many Indians to serue him and others of his company for the countrey lay leuell as was sayde and no creature coulde escape his horses and diuelishe rage He sent Spaniardes to make out rodes that is to say to go a thieuing into other prouinces and gaue leaue to those rouers to carrie with them as many Indians of this peaceable people as they listed and that they shoulde serue them whome they put to the chayne to the ende they shoulde not giue ouer the burdens of three or fourescore poundes weight wherewith they loded them whereof it came to passe oftentimes that of foure thousand Indians there returned not home to their housen sixe on liue but euen fell downe starke dead in the high way and when any were so wearie that they coulde march no farther for the lieaft of their burdens or that some of them fell sicke or fainted for hunger or thyrst because it should not neede to stande so long as to vnlocke the chaine and to make the speedier dispatch hee cut off the head from y e shoulders and so the head tumbled downe one way and the bodie another Now consider with your selues what the other pore soules might thinke the whiles Certainely whē as he vsed to speede out such voiages y e Indians knowing y t none in a maner euer returned home again at parting one frō another they would weep and sigh saying such waies are y e same where as we were wont to serue y e christians howbeit we traueiled sore there yet that notwithstanding we came home again to our housen our wiues and our children but nowe wee goe without hope euer to returne againe to see thē to liue together with them At a time when he woulde make a newe sharing forth of the Indians because his pleasure was such yea men say that it was in deede to ridde the Indians as those to whome hee meant no good at all but to giue them away to whome he sawe good hee was the cause that the Indians sowed not their groundes one whole yeeres continuance So as nowe when they wanted bread the Spaniards tooke away from the Indians their Mahis which they had in store for prouision to nourishe them and their children whereby there dyed of famine more then twentie or thirtie thousande soules And it came to passe that a woman fallen madde with the famin slue her sonne to eate him Forasmuch as euery towneshippe and all other places inhabited that the Spaniardes had in their subiection was none other then a very garden of pleasure as hath bin sayd they kept them selues euery one forsooth in the place escheated to him in partition or as they vse to speake giuen him in commaund and did their affayres nourishing themselues with the goods and prouisions of the poore Indians In this wise did they take the landes and inheritaunces perticuler wherewith they sustayned themselues so as the Spaniardes kept in their owne houses all the Indians Lords old men women and children causing them to serue them day and night without rest euen to the infantes as soone as they coulde but goe to put them to the greatest thing they were able to doe yea and to greater thinges then they were able to doe And thus haue they cousumed and abolished and doe yet euery day vnto this present consume and abolish the few remayning behind not permitting thē to retayn house nor ought els that is their owne Wherein they may vaunt to haue surmounted them selues in their owne iniquities and vnrighteousnesses by them wrought in Hispaniola They haue discomfited and oppressed in this prouince a great number of people and hastened their death in cawsing them to beare boordes and tymber vnto the hauen thirtie leagues distance to make shippes with and sent them to goe seeke honnie and waxe amiddest the mountaines where the Tigres deuoured them Yea they haue laden women with childe and women new deliuered or lying in with burdens enough for beasts The greatest plague whiche hath most dispeopled this prouince hath beene the licence which the gouernour gaue to the Spaniardes to demaunde or exact of the Cacikes and Lordes of the countrey slaues They did giue them euery foure or fiue moneths or as often times as euery one coulde obtayne licence of the gouernour fiftie slaues with threatninges that if they gaue them not they woulde burne them aliue or cause them to bee eaten with dogges Nowe ordinarily the Indians doe not keepe slaues and it is muche if one Cacike doe keepe two three or foure Wherefore to serue this turne they went to theyr subiectes and tooke first all the Orphelius and after wards they exacted of him that had two children one and of him that had three two and in this maner was the Carike fayne to furnishe still to the number that the tyrane imposed with the great weeping and crying of the people for they are people that doe loue as it seemeth tenderly their children And for because that this was done continually they dispeopled from the yeere 23. vnto the yeere 33. all this realme For there went for sixe or seuen yeeres space fiue or sixe shippes at a time carrying foorth great numbers of those Indians for to sell them for slaues at Ioanama and Peru where they all dyed not long after For it is a thing prooued and experimented a thousande times that when the Indians are transported from their naturall countrey they soone ende their liues besides that these giue them not their sustenance neyther yet dimmish they of their toyle as neyther doe they buy them for ought else but to toyle They haue by this maner of doing drawen out of this prouince of the Indies whome they haue made slaues being as free borne as I am more then siue hundreth thousande soules And by the diuelishe warres which the Spanishe haue made on them and the hidious thraledome that they haue laid vpon them they haue brought to their deaths other fiftie or threescore thousande persons and doe yet dayly make hauocke of them at this present Al these slaughters haue been accomplished within the space of fourteene yeeres There may be left at this day in all this prouinces of Nicaragua the number of a foure or fiue thousande persons whiche they also cause to die as yet euery day through bondages and oppressions ordinarily and personall hauing bin the countrey the most peopled in the worlde as I haue
brent aliue the great Lords After these great and abhominable tyrannies committed in the Citie of Mexico and in other cities and the countrey renne fifteene and twentie leagues compasse of Mexico this tyrannie and pestilence aduaunced it selfe forwarde to waste also infect and lay desolate the prouince of Panuco It was a thing to bee wondered at of the worlde of people that there were and the spoyles and slaughters there done Afterwarde they wasted also after the selfe maner all the prouince of Tuttepeke and the prouince of Ipelingo and the prouince of Columa eche prouince conteyning more grounde then the realme of Leon of Castile It shoulde bee a thing very difficulte yea impossible to speake or recount the discomfitures the slaughters and the cruelties which they there committed and woulde cause a great remorse vnto the hearers Here is to be noted that the title wherewith they entred and beganne to make hauocke of all these harmelesse and silly Indians and haue dispeopled that countrey which shoulde haue caused a great reioycing to all those which shoulde bee in trueth Christians beyng so peopled as they were was to say that they shoulde come and put them selues in subiection to serue the king of Spain otherwise that they woulde kill them or make them slaues And those which came not incontinent to satisfie their demaundes so vniust and did not put them selues into the handes of men so vniust cruell and beastly they called them rebelles as those which had lift vp them selues agaynst the kinges Maiestie and for such they accused them to the king our soueraigne Lorde the blinde vnderstandings of those which gouerned the Indians beeing not able to comprehende nor perceyue this much which in their lawes is more cleerely taught then any other principle of Lawe that is that none can bee reputed a rebell if first hee be not a subiect Nowe let Christians and those which haue any perceyuerance consider with them selues if suche cases can prepare and informe the mindes of any nations whatsoeuer liuing in their countrey in assurance and not thinking to owe any thing to any person hauing their owne naturall liege Lordes whom they serue and obey suddenly to come and tell them tydings Put you vnder the obeysance of a king a stranger whom ye neuer sawe nor neuer hearde of before otherwise knowe yee that wee will rent yee incontinent all to peeces specially when it is knowen by experience that they doe it in deede as soone as it is but sayde And that which is farre more frightfull they take those which doe yeelde them selues to obey to put them into a moste grieuous bondage in the whiche there are toyles incredible and tormentes greater and of longer continuance then those same of them which are excuted by the swoorde for in the ende they perishe they their wiues their children and their whole generation And put the case that through the threates and frightes aforesaide those peoples or any others whosoeuer doe come to obey and acknowledge the dominion of a straunger king doe not these blunderers see being altogether benummed with ambition and deuelish couetousnes that they winne not a mite of right forasmuche as so it is that it is caused vpon frightes and terrours which might bee able to slake men the constantest and the best aduised and that by the lawes of nature man and God it hath no more force then a handfull of winde to make any thing auaylable to any purpose whatsoeuer sauing the punishment and obligation which abideth them in the bottom of hel I passe ouer the losses and dammages which they doe to the king when as they spoyle his realmes and bring to nought as much as in them lyeth all the right which they haue in the Indies These are nowe the seruices whiche the Spaniardes haue done and as yet doe at this houre vnto the aforesaide kinges and soueraigne Lords vnder the colour of this gallant title so rightfull and so smoothly garnished This Captayne tyraunt with this gorgeous and pretended title dispatched two other Captaynes as very tyrauntes and farre more cruell and lesse pitifull then him selfe into greate realmes most flourishing and most fertile and full of people to witte the realme of Guatimala which lieth to the seawarde on the South side and the same of Naco and Honduras otherwise called Guaymura which coasteth on the sea on the North side confronting and confining the one with the other three hundred leagues distaunce from Mexico Hee sent the one by land and the other by sea both the one and the other carried with them a maynie of trowpes to serue on horse backe and a foote I say the trueth that of the mischieues which these two haue wrought and principally hee whiche went to Guatimala for that other dyed soone after of an euill death there might be made a great booke of so many villanies of so manie slaughters so many desolations and of so many outrages and brutishe vniustices as were able to affright the age present and to come For certayne this man surpassed all the others present and gone before in quantitie and in number as well for the abominations whiche hee committed as for the peoples and countreys whiche he layde waste and desert All the which thinges were infinite Hee which went by sea committed exceeding pillinges cruelties disorders amongst the people on the sea coast before whō some comming with presents from the realme of Yucatane whiche is the high way to y e aforesaid realme of Naro Guaimura towards the which they went when he came vnto them he sente captaynes a many of men of armes through all that land whiche went sacking slaughtering destroying as many people as there were to be foūd principally one who with three hundred more hauing mutined and rebelled and setting himselfe into the countrey towardes Guatimala went spoyling and burning all the towns that he found in killing and robbing the people inhabitants of them That which he did of a set purpose in more then an hundred and twentie leagues of the land to the end that if any had sent after him those which should come shoulde finde the countrey dispeopled and debelled and that they were so slain of the Indians in reuenge of the dammages and spoiles by them made After whome haue succeeded sundry others most cruell tyrantes the which with their slaughters and dreadful cruelties and by bringing the Indians into thraldrome whom afterwards they soulde vnto those who carried them with their shippings of wine garments and other things and by reason of the tyrannicall seruitude ordinary since the yeere a thousande fiue hundred twentie foure vntill the yeere 1535. haue layd waste those same prouinces and realmes of Naro and Honduras the which resēbled a paradise of pleasures and were more peopled frequented and inhabited then any countrey of the worlde and nowe of late we comming a long thereby haue seene them so dispeopled and destroied that who so should see them his heart
innermoste partes of the realme to search where hee might tyrannize at his ease and drewe by force out of the prouince of Mexico 15. or 20. Millions of men to the ende that they shoulde carrie the loades and carriages of the Spaniardes whiche went with him of whom there neuer returned agayne two hundred the others being dead on the high wayes Hee came at the prouince of Mechuacam which is distant from Mexico fourtie leagues a region as blissefull and full of inhabitauntes as is that of Mexico The king and Lorde of the countrey went to receiue him with an infinite companie of people which did vnto them a thousande seruices and curtisies Hee apprehended him by and by for that hee had the brute to be very rich of gold and siluer and to the ende that hee shoulde giue him great treasures hee beganne to giue him the torments and put him in a payre of stockes by the feete his body stretched out and his handes bounde to a stake hee maketh a flashing fire against his feete and there a boy with a basting sprinkle loked in oyle in his hande stoode and basted them a litle and a litle to the ende to well roaste the skynne There was in one side of him a cruell man the whiche with a crossebowe bente aymed ryght at his heart on the other side an other which helde a dogge snarling and leaping vp as to renne vppon him which in lesse then the tyme of a Credo had beene able to haue torne him in pieces and thus they tormented him to the ende hee shoulde discouer the treasures which they desired vntyll suche tyme as a religious man of Saint Frauncis order tooke him away from them notwithstanding that hee dyed of the same tormentes They tormented and slue of this fashion very many of the Lordes and Cacikes in these Prouinces to the ende that they shoulde giue them gold and siluer At the same time a certayne tyrant going in visitation to visite the powches and to robbe the godes of the Indians more then for any care hee had of theyr soules founde that certayne Indians had hid their Idolles as those which had neuer been better instructed by y e cursed Spaniards of any better god he apprehended and detayned prisoners the Lordes vntyll suche time as that they woulde giue them their Idolles Supposing all this while they had beene of golde or of siluer Howebeit they were not so wherefore hee chastised them cruelly and vniustly But to the ende hee woulde not remayne frustrate of his intent which was to spoyle hee constrayned the Cacikes to redeeme their sayde Idolles and they redeemed them for such gold siluer as they coulde find to the ende to worship them for Gods as they had bin wont to do aforetime These be the examples deedes which these cursed Spaniardes do and this is the honour which they purchase to God amongst the Indians This great tyraunt and Captayne passed farther from Mechuacham to the Prouince of Lalisco the which was all whole most full of people and most happie For it is one of the moste fertillest and most admirable countrey of the Indies whiche had borrowes coutaining in a maner seueÌ„ leagues As he entred this couÌ„trey the L. with y e inhabitants according as al y e Indians are accustomed to do weÌ„t to receiue him w t preseÌ„ts ioyfulnes Hee begaÌ„ to coÌ„mit his cruelties mischieuousnes w c he had learned all the rest had bin accustomed to practise w c is to heap vp gold w c is their god He burned townes he tooke y e Cacikes prisonners and gaue them torments Hee made slaues all that hee tooke Whereof there died an infinite number tyed in chaynes The women newe deliuered of childe byrth going laden with the sâ—uffe of euill Christianâ— and being not abie to beare their owne children because of trauell and hunger were fayne to cast them from them in the wayes whereof there dyed an infinite An euill Christian taking by force a young Damsell to abuse her the mother withstoode him and as shee woulde haue taken her away the Spaniarde drawing his dagger or rapier cutte off her hande and slue the young gyrle with flashes of his weapon because shee woulde not consent to his appetite Amongst manye other thinges hee caused vniustly to bee marked for slaues foure thousande fiue hundred soules as free as they men women and sucking babes from of a yere and a halfe olde vnto three or foure yeeres olde which notwithstanding had gone before them in peace to receiue them with an infinite number of other thinges that haue not beene set downe in writing Hauing atchieued the diuelishe warres innumerable and hauing in the same committed very many slaughters hee reduced all that countrey into the ordinary seruitude pestilential and tyrannicall into the which all the tyrant Spaniardes whiche are in the Indies are accustomed or pretende to cast those people In the which countrey hee consented also and permitted his Stewardes and all others to execute tormentes neuer hearde of before to the ende to drawe from the Indians golde and tribute His Stewardes slewe very many of the Indians hanging them and burning them aliue and casting some vnto the dogges cutting off their feete handes head and tongue they being in peace onely to bring them into a feare to the ende they shoulde serue him and giue him golde and tributes all this knowing and seeing this gentle tyrant euen to come to the whippes bast onads blowes with other sorts of cruelties wherewith hee vexed and oppressed them dayly It is sayde of him that hee hath destroyed and burned in this realme of Xalisco eyght hundred borroughes whiche was the cause that the Indians being fallen desperate and seeing those which remayned howe they perished thus cruelly they lift vp themselues and went into the mountaynes slaying certayne Spaniardes howe be it by good right And afterwardes because of the wickednesses and outrages of other tyrauntes now being which passed by that way to destroy other prouinces that which they call discouering many of the Indians assembled fortifying them selues vpon certayne rockes Vpon the whiche rockes the Spanishe haue made and yet at this present and a freshe doe make so many cruelties that they almost made an end of laying desolate all this great countrey slaying an infinite number of people And the wretched blinderers forsaken of God and giuen ouer into a reprodate sense not seeing the causes most iust which the Indians haue by the lawes of nature man and God to hewe them in peeces if they had strength and munimentes and so to cast them out of their countrey and not seeing the wickednes of their owne cause ouer and besids so many violents and tyrannies which they haue committed in that sort to mooue warre a newe they thinke speake and write of the victories which they haue ouer the poore Indians leauing them in desolation that it is GOD which giueth the same vnto them as though their warres
nights is to set them by the heeles their bodies requoyling on the coulde grounde in a payre of stockes for feare of running away Sometymes they are drowned in the sea and at their fishing and trauayle of piking of pearles and neuer rise vp agayne aboue the water because the Bunches and Whirlepooles they call them Tuberones and Maroxos two kinde of monsters of the sea most cruell which deuour a man all whole and those doe kill them and eate them Let it nowe here be considered whither in this purchase of Pearles the commaundements of God touching the loue of God and our neyghbours be kept or not when they throwe those people into daunger of bodyes and soules For they slay their neighbours by their couetousnesse without that they receiue or fayth or sacramentes or els they prolonge them in a state of life so horrible that they bring them to their ende and consume them in a few dayes For it is impossible that men should be able to liue any long seasoÌ„ vnder the water without taking breath the continuall cold percing them so they die commoÌ„ly parbraking of blood at y e mouth because of the kitting together of their chestes or bulke of the breast arising thereof that they are so continually without breathing vnder the water and of the blooddy fluxe caused by the cold Theyr haires which by nature are cole blacke alter and become after a branded russette like to the haires of the seawolues The salt peeter breaketh out of their shouldiers in such sort that they seeme to bee a kind of monsters in the shape of men or els some other kinde of men They dispatched in ridding about this insupportable trauayle or rather to speake rightly this diuelish torment all y e Lucayan Indians which were in the Iles hauing sauoured this gaynes and euery Indian was worth vnto them a fiftie or an hundred Castillans They made an open marte of them notwithstauding it were inhibited them by the magistrate otherwise vnmercifull for the Lucayens were good swimmers They also about these thinges haue slayne a number of the people of other prouinces Of the riuer Yuia Pari. THere runneth through the prouince of Paria a riuer named Yuia Pari more then two hundred leagues within land from the head There entred the same riuer an vnluckie tyraunt a great manie leagues vpwarde in the yeere one thousande fiue hundred twentie and niene with a foure hundred menne or more whiche there wroght greate slaughters burning aliue and putting to the edge of the swoorde an infinite sorte of Indians whiche were in their landes and houseâ— doing hurt to no creature and therefore secure and mistrusting nothing In the ende hee dyed an euill death and his Nauie was disperaged albeic that other tyraunts there were which succeeded him in his mischieuousnesses and tyrannies and yet at this day thither they goe destroying and staying and plunging into hell the soules for whom the sonne of God shed his blood Of the realme of Venesuela THe yeere 1526. the king our Soueraigne being iuduced by sinister informations and perswasions dammageable to the state as the Spaniardes haue alwayes payned them selues to conceale from his Maiestie the dammages and dishonours which GOD and the soules of men and his state doeth receiue in the Indies graunted and committed a great realme greater then all Spayne that Venesuela with the gouernement and entier iurisdiction vnto certayne Dutch Marchaunts with certayne capitulations and conuentions accorded beetweene them These same entring the countrey with three hundred men they found the people very amiable meeke as lambes as they are all in those parties of the Indies vntill the Spanish do outrage them These see vpon them w tout comparison a great deale more cruelly then any of the other tyrauntes of the whiche wee haue spoken before shewing them selues more vnnaturall and fierce then raging tygars or wolues or ramping Lions For they had the iurisdiction of the whole countrey possessing it with more freedom and vsing it with a greater care and starker blinde madnes of couetyse seruing their owne turnes with all practises and cheuisaunees to get and gather golde and siluer more then all they of whom hath bin spoken heretofore hauing wholly shaken off all feare of God and of the king yea hauing forgotten themselues to bee men These diuels incarnate haue saide desolate and destroyed more then foure hundred leagues of most fertill lande and therein of prouinces exceeding and wonderfull fayre vayles to the breadth of fourtie leagues and hournes verye great full of people and of golde They haue slayne and wholly discomfited great and diuers nations so farre foorth as to abolishe the languages wonted to bee spoken not leauing aliue that could skill of them vnlesse some one or other who had hid them selues in the caues and bowels of the earth flying the dint of the sworde so raging and plaging They haue slayne destroyed and sent to hell by diuers and strange maners of cruelties and vngodlynesses moe I supposse then foure or fiue millions of soules and yet at this present they cease not to doe the same by infinite outrages spoyles add slaughters which they haue committed and doe commit dayly vnto this present I will onely touch three or foure by the which it may bee iudged of others which they vsed to accomplish their destructions and disolations aboue mentioned They tooke the Lord soueraigne of all the prouince without all cause onely to bereeue him of his golde giuing him also the torture which Lorde vnbounde himselfe and escaped from them into the mountaynes wherefore also the subiectes rose and were in a mutinie hiding theÌ„ selues vpoÌ„ the mountaynes amongst the hedges and bushes The Spaniardes make after to chase them and hauing founde them commit cruell massacres and as many as they take aliue they sell them in port sale for slaues In diuers prouinces yea in all where they became before that they tooke the Soueraigne Lorde the Indies went to receyue them with songes and daunces and with presents of gold in great quantitie The payment made them was to bee put to the edge of the sworde and hewen in peeces One time as they went to receyue the Spanishe in the fashion abouesayde the Dutche Captayne tyraunt caused to bee put in a thatched house a greate number of people and hackled in peeces And beeing on high neere the top of the house certayne beames which diuers had got vpon auoyding the blooddy handes and swordes of those people O mercilesse beastes the diuelishe man sent to put to fire wherby as many as there were were burned aliue By this meanes the couÌ„trey remained very desert y e people flying into the mountaines where they hoped to saue theÌ„selues They came into another great prouince in the confines of the prouince and realme or Saint Martha where they found the Indians peaceable in their boroghs in thâ—ir houseÌ„ doing their busines they continued a long time with them eating their store and
to suffer much an other time Item I say that by the reporte of the Indians themselues there is yet more golde hidden then is come to light the whiche because of the vniustices and cruelties of the Spaniardes they woulde not discouer neyther euer will discouer so long as they shall bee so euyll entreated but will those rather to die with their fellowes Wherein GOD our Lorde hath been highly trespassed agayinst and the kinges Maiestie euill serued hauing beene defrauded in that that his highnesse hath loste suche a countrey as hath been able to yeelde sustenaunce to all Castile for the recouerie of which countrey it will be a matter of great difficulty dispence and charges All these hitherto are the formall woordes of the sayde religious person the which are also ratified by the Byshoppe of Mexico which witnesseth that the reuerende father hath to his knowledge affirmed all the aboue saide It is heere to bee considered that the good father sayeth that he sawe those thynges For that that hee hath beene fiftie or an hundred leagues vp into the conntrey for the space of niene or tenne yeeres and that at the very beginning when there were not as yet but very fewe of the Spaniardes but at the ringing of the golde there were quickly gathered and fleeked thither foure or fiue thousande which shedde themselues foorth ouer many great realmes and prouinces more then fiue hundred or sixe hundred leagues the whiche countrey hath beene throughly destroyed they executing still the selfe same practises and others more barbarous and cruell Of a veritie from that day vnto this presente there hath beene destroyed and brought to desolation moe soules then hee hath compted and they haue with lesse reuerence of GOD or the King and with lesse plttie then before abolished a great part of the linage of mankinde They haue slayne vnto this day in these same realmes and yet dayly they doe slay them moe then foure millions of soules Certayne dayes passed they pricked in shooting with dartes of reedes to death a mightie Queene wife of Eling who is yet King of that Realme whom the Spaniardes by laying handes vpon him compelled to rebell and in rebellion hee persisteth They tooke the Queene his wife and so as hath beene sayde slue her against all reason and iustice beeing greate with childe as shee was as it was said onely to vexe her husband withall If it shoulde bee expedient to recounte the particularities of the cruelties and slaughters that the Spanishe haue committed and yet dayly doe committe in Peru without all doubt they shoulde bee so frightfull and in so great number that all that wee haue hitherto saide of the other partes of the Indies woulde bee shadowed and it woulde seeme a small matter in the respecte of the grieuousnesse and greate number hereof Of the newe realme of Grenado VVIthin the yeere 1539. there tooke their flight together sundry tyrantes flocking from Venesuela from Saint Martha and from Carthagene to search for the Perous and there were also others which came downe from Peru it selfe to assay to make a glade farther into the countrey And they found from beyond S. Marthas and Carthagene 300. leagues vp into the countrey fertile landes and admirable prouinces full of infinite people kinde hearted like the rest and verye riche as well of golde as of precious stones which they call emeraldes Vnto the whiche Prouinces they gaue the name of Newe Grenado For because that the tyraunt whiche came first into this countrey was a grenado borne in our countrey And for because that diuers wicked men and cruell of those whiche roaued ouer this parte were not orious butchers making it as occupation to shedde mans blood hauing the practise and experience of the great fellonies aforementioned in moste part of the other regions of the Indies it is the cause why their diuelishe woorkes haue beene suche and in so great number whiche the circumstaunces doe make appeare so monstrous and odious that they haue farre exceeded the others yea all the gests that haue gone before done by others or by them selues in other Prouinces I will recounte some one or other of an infinite whereof they are giultie as doone by them within these three yeeres and whiche yet they cease not to committe That is that a Gouernour for as muche as hee whiche robbed and slewe in the newe Realme of Grenado woulde not admitte him for consorte with him to robbe and sley as did hee hee procured an enquirie and thereby euidence came in agaynst him with sundrie witnesses vpon the fact of his slaughters disorders and murders which hee had done and doeth as yet vnto this day the processe of which enquirie together with the euidences was read and is kept in the recordes of the counsell of the Indies The witnesses doe depose in the same enquirie that the saide whole realme was in peace the Indians seruing the Spaniards giuing them to eate of their laboure and labouring continually and manuring the grounde and bringing them muche golde and precious stones suche as are emerauldes and all that which they coulde and had the townes and the Lordeshippes and the people being distributed amongst the Spaniardes euery one his share which is all that they studie for for that that it is their meane way to attayne to their last end and scope to witte golde And all beeing subdued to their tyrannie and accustomed bondage the tyrant the principall Captayne which commaunded ouer that countrey tooke the Lorde and King of the countrey and detayned him prisoner sixe or seuen monethes exacting of him golde and emerauldes without cause or reason at all The sayde king who was named Bogata for feare which they put him in sayde that he woulde giue them an house full of gold hoping that hee shoulde escape out of the handes of him whiche tormented him And hee sent Indians which shoulde bringe him golde and by times one after an other they brought in a great quantitie of golde and precious stones But bec ause the king did not giue an whole house full of golde the Spaniardes did kill him sethence that hee did not accomplishe that which he had promised The tyraunt commaunding that this king shoulde bee arraigned before him selfe They sommon and accuse in this order the greatest king of all that countrey and the tyraunt giueth sentence condemning him to bee racked and tormented if hee doe not furnishe forth the house full of golde They giue him the torture and the strapado with cordes they flinge burnyng seweâ— vppon his naked belly they lay on boltes vpon his feete which were fastened to one stake and gyrd his neck fast vnto another stake two men holding both his handes and so they set fire vnto his feete and the tyrant comming vp and downe nowe and then willeth him to haue his death giuen him by little and little if hee made not readie the golde Thus they dispatched and did to death that noble Lord in those torments
shewed herselfe so vnthankfull in yeelding euill for so many benefites which shee had receiued And God ordinarily vseth this rule in executing his iustice punishment that is that he chastizeth sinne with the same or with that which is quite contrarie to that wherwith the sinne is committed The destructions griefes violences iniuries cruelties and murders done and committed against those people are so greate horrible publike euident that the teares lameÌ„tations blood of so many innocent persons doe ascende to the high throne of heauen doe not returne before they haue sounded in y t very eares of God from whence they after descend and straying ouer the face of the earth doe ring in the eares of al forraigne nations so horrible and inhumaine as may be wherupon ensueth among the hearers great offence horror abhomination hatred and infâ—mie toward the kinges and commons of Spaine whereof in time to come may ensue great damage Out of the said Bishop and authours protestation THose losses and detrimentes that by these occasions the crowne of Castile and Leon together with the rest of spain haue susteined as also such other spoyles and slaughters as hereafter will bee committed throughout the whole Indies both the blinde shall see the deafe heare the dumbe publishe and the wise shall iudge Further in as much as our life is short I doe take God to witnesse with all the Hierarchies and thrones of Angels all the saints of the heauenly court and all the men in the worlde yea euen those that shall hereafter bee borne of the certificate that here I doe exhibite also of this the discharge of my conscience namely that if his maiestie graunteth to the Spaniards the aforesaide diuelish and tyrannous partition notwithstanding whatsoeuer lawes or statutes shall bee deuised yet will the Indies in short space be laid desart and dispeopled euen as the Ile of Hispaniola is at this present which other wise would bee most fruitfull and fertile together with other the Iles lands aboue 3000. leagues about besides Hispaniola it self and other landes both farre and neere And for those sinnes as the holy scripture doth very well informe mee God will horribly chastize and peraduenture wholy subuert and root out all Spaine Anno 154â— The Prologue of Bishop Bortholomewe de las Casas or Casaus to the most mightie Lord and Prince of Spaine Don Philip our good Lorde MOst high and mightie Lorde of late I was moued and by the kings most vigilant counsaile for the Indies vpon their zeale and honour that they beare to our Lord God as also hartie loyalie wherwith they be adorned for his maiesties seruice forced in writing to set downe suche matter as to your person by mouth I haue heretofore reported namely what I thought touching the title and claime that the kings of Castile doe make to the soueraigne and vniuersall principalitie ouer the Indians notwithstanding some did arise who misliking that I dealt and trauailed with his maiestie and your highnes about the discomfitures and losses compassed and perfourmed against the people of those countries and reported that in as much as I did so far detest and with such bitternesse and sharpnes did abhorre them as also I will still doe so long as I liue I doe call in doubt and somewhat deminish the said royall title and right In which deede as a testimonie what I did think and in truth according to God and his holy lawe doe still hold I exhibited 30. propositions deuoid of all other proofe then what eache of them in it selfe did conteine the one of necessitie following the other because I was driuen to send them to his maiestie vnder pretence of the great counsaile that then was holden Afterward proceeding and persisting in desire to serue god by 〈◊〉 felling some mens slanders who either for want of comprehending the truth or els hauing some other purposes contrarie meanings do presume vnder a fained and counterfet kinde of seruice to the kings who of theÌ„selues naturally are endued with courteous simple mindes and hearts iudging measuring all other by themselues to present vnto them a poysoned bitter peraduenture a mortall drinke which doth not only waste kingdomes common wealthes in procuting their carefull calamities dolorous destruction but also doe bring euen the kinges owne persons to the pit of manifest danger irreparable detriments and losses With which frandulous counsails they doe infect so much as in theÌ„ lieth the good godly affections of kings and do subuert all the princes vertuous deuises studies Hereof did sometime that most mightie king Artaxerxes otherwise tearmed Assuerus complaine as appeareth in the booke of Hester I haue so indeuoured my selfe most mightie Lord that now I haue set in hand the proofe of the said 30. propositions some more comprehending the whole in this brief summarie which is taken out of a greater volume wherein euery article is more perticulerly expounded herein setting in sight only the 17. and 18. proposition because the whole substance of this matter may be reduced to these two propositions as to the principles ends The title here of should in my opinion haue been A probatorie tretise of the soueraigne Empire and vniuersal principalitie which the kings of Castile haue ouer the Indies As presupposing that it is manifest proued in that the Apostolike sea hath graunted it and that there needeth no other opening of the reasons whereupon the graunt of this empire consisteth I purpose in this treatise chiefly to discharge my conscience vsing that meane which it seemeth that Gods prouidence hath appointed me My great age for I am aboue 50. being the cause of my large knowledge and eye experience of the Indian affaires also to giue notice of that which passed in these partes as also what was to be done euer referring my self to the like desire that the disorders that I haue there seen practised might be redressed And the rather because those that hinder this redresse are most hurtful to those laÌ„ds are such as being deuoid of truth iustice do indeuout by counteseating and mingling that which is false vntrue and withall seeming to doe it for your maiesties seruice especially colouring your right to this new worlde are in trueth altogether withstanders of your seruice weale either spirituall or temporall as euery true christian wise man wil graunt The other benefite that I hope to obteine and reape by this treatise is that I shall detect and vnfold those mens errours who rashly dare affirme that the right and principalitie of the kinges of Castile ouer the Indians is or shoulde consist of armes and great force entring vpon them euen as Nemrod who was the first hunter and oppressour of mankinde did euer and establishe his principalitie as the holy scripture testifieth either as great Alexander and the Romans and all other cotable and famous tyrants doe lay the foundation of their Empires also as the