58 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



of Trinidad and do much barm there and round about ; but in 1606 

 the Spanish settlers in Trinidad, unable to tolerate such dangerous 

 neighbors any longer, waged war on them till they exterminated and 

 destroyed them, killing all the rebels who resisted them, and depopu- 

 lating the island ; the women and children they carried off to Trinidad 

 to be their servants, and they catechized them and taught them 

 Christian doctrine. 



150. There are woods of valuable timber on this island of Tobago, 

 including trees of very handsome and elegant appearance, with the 

 taste and aroma characteristic of cinnamon, and some of the people 

 there utilize them. The woods furnish much honeycomb and honey ; 

 there are also other aromatic trees, and medicinal fruits and roots. 



Chapter XI 



Of the Provinces of Guiana and the City of St. Thomas (Santo 

 Tome) Established There. 



151. From the island of Trinidad to Santo Tome in the Province 

 of Guiana will be a matter of 60 leagues by various routes, all by 

 sea up one or other of the mouths of the great River Orinoco, sail- 

 ing up which you seem to pass through a bit of earthly Paradise, 

 along the luxuriant forests of gay and beautiful aspect which line all 

 the river banks and shores, with a thousand sorts of handsome and 

 brilliantly colored birds, sweet songsters, and among them the stone- 

 bird, which has great curative virtues for that malady ; it is black, 

 the size of a turkey, and with a crest of long elegant plumes adorn- 

 ing its head. The banks and shores of these mighty rivers are covered 

 with countless turtles and tortoises ; in fact, merely to describe the 

 rivers and the remarkable things living there would fill many books. 



152. While it is possible to reach Santo Tome by any of the mouths 

 or channels of the Orinoco, the main route passes by Amacuro and 

 is navigable for ocean vessels, not merely to the city but for over 

 250 leagues upriver, up to the union of the Meta and the Casanare in 

 the New Kingdom of Granada, 60 leagues from Tunja ; from the 

 port of Casanare it is 20 leagues to Tamara, and 20 more from there 

 to Chita, over a wretched trail badly blocked by high ridges and 

 mountains ; and it is 20 leagues more from Chita to Tunja. The Rio 

 Meta rises 2 leagues from Tunja, on the Santa Fe trail ; the Casanare, 

 3 leagues from Chita, in the territory of Tunja ; both are in the New 

 Kingdom of Granada. They run from W. to E. and empty into the 

 great River Orinoco, making it a mighty stream ; it runs through the 

 Province of Guiana, in which the city of Santo Tome was founded, 



