CANARY ISLES. 



that island, were justly merited by his perfidy at Pal- 



Hi- l.mdeil at tlu- port of Santa Cm/, on the 

 , and no sooner had he encamped in 

 tin- plain of Laguna, than he was visited in a friendly 

 manner by several of the petty king* of the island, 

 who then happened to be at war with Ventomo king 

 ot Taora. Ventomo was the most powerful and in- 

 ilt/prndent prince of Teneriffe, and when invited to 

 a conference, and requested by Alonzo to embrace 

 Christianity, and become a vassal of the king of Spain, 

 lie replied : that as to embracing Christianity, he 

 knew not what he meant ; and as to his becoming a 

 ! of the king of Spain, he never would, for as he 

 was born tree, and had all his lifetime continued so, 

 so he intended to die. Alonzo, relying upon the 

 trength and valour of his forces, and the friendship 

 of the other chiefs, who seem to have remained quiet 

 spectators of the contest, advanced fearlessly into the 

 country. Having made a great booty of cattle, he 

 was returning back, but was intercepted in a narrow 

 defile by the brother of Ventomo, at the head of 

 800 Guanches, who fell upon the Spaniards with 

 such fury, that these being unable, from the nature 

 of the place, to avail themselves of their cavalry 

 and superiority of numbers, were completely routed, 

 and pursued with dreadful slaughter. When Ven- 

 tomo came up with fresh troops, he found his bro- 

 ther resting himself upon a stone by the wayside, 

 being much fatigued, and reprimanding him severely 

 for not joining in the pursuit, the other coolly re- 

 plied ; *' I have done my part in vanquishing the ene- 

 my, now the butchers are doing theirs in killing 

 them.'' In this battle the greatest part of the Spa-, 

 nish army perished, and Alonzo himself narrowly 

 escaped. This was the severest defeat the Spaniards 

 had ever experienced in these islands, and the place 

 where the action was fought is, to this day, called 

 La Mantansa de Centejo, " the slaughter of Cente- 

 jo." Alonzo, quite dispirited by this disaster, re- 

 embarked the remains of his troops, and returned to 

 Grand Canary. But having received considerable rein- 

 forcements from Spain and Lancerota, and, after re- 

 cruiting his own forces, he found himself at the head, 

 of 1000 foot and 70 horse completely armed. Not. 

 discouraged by his late failure, he again proceeded, 

 to Teneriffe, but found the whole island now united 

 against him. He, however, advanced to the plain of 

 Laguna, avoiding in his march all ambuscades and 

 difficult passes. The natives, astonished at his speedy 

 return, after such a defeat, with so large an arma- 

 ment, and finding, from the good order and precau- 

 tions with which he advanced,, that, in their several 

 encounters, they could make no impression upon the 

 Spaniards, thought seriously of coming to some 

 agreement. Having requested a conference, they- 

 demanded of the general, why he invaded their island 

 in that hostile manner, without any provocation, dis- 

 turbing the repose of the inhabitants, plundering 

 them of their cattle, and carrying th e people into 

 captivity? To this Alonzo replied, that he had no 

 i.-s:^n than to make them become Christians, 

 which if tiiey consented to do, they should remain 

 in qu,> i po.^sessiou of their land ai. To this 



proposalthe Guaachet, after borne deliberation, agreed; 

 and all who were then present wtre immediately bap- 



tised. Having thus peaceably secured the lubmu- 

 bion of the island, Alonzo founded a hermitage on 

 the spot where the treaty was concluded, which he 

 called Nucstra Senora de la Victoria, our Lady of 

 Victory ; and after nettling the government on a re- 

 gular plan, he laid the foundation of the city of La- 

 guna, on the '25th of July 14-95. This conquest com- 

 pleted tlu- reduction of the Canaries, which were 

 immediately annexed to the crown of Spain, and they 

 still constitute a part of the dominions of that king- 

 dom. 



The Canary Islands, before they were subdued by- 

 Europeans, were divided into several small states, 

 each governed by its respective Guanarteme or prit ce, 

 and separated from one another by a wall of loose 

 stones, frequently crossing from sea to sea. A whole 

 island was sometimes under the dominion of tie 

 prince, as was the case with Ferro, and also with, 

 Teneriffe, a few years before its conquest ; though 

 at that time it was divided into nine different king. 

 doms. The royal dignity in this island was elective ; 

 and the king was always obliged to marry a person 

 of his own rank. If such a one, however, could not 

 be found, he took his own sister, not being permuted 

 to debase his family by a mixture of plebeian blood. 

 Besides these chiefs, they had also in Grand Canary 

 a race of nobility, who were distinguished from the 

 vulgar by the peculiar cut of their hair and beards. 

 This rank, however, was not altogether hereditary ; 

 for, before the son of a nobleman could be consider- 

 ed as noble, he must have bteu formally declared so 

 by the Faycag, an officer of great rank, and next in 

 dignity to the Guanarteme, whose business it was to 

 regulate the ceremonies of religion, and to act as 

 judge in civil affairs. The ceremony of conferring. 

 this dignity was performed with great solemnity. The 

 young man claiming the honour of nobility was pre 

 sented before the assembled nobles, and inhabitants 

 of the town or district to which he belonged. These- 

 were required to declare upon oath whether they had 

 ever seen the youth demean himself by submitting to 

 any mean occupation ; whether he had ever forcibly, 

 or by stealth, taken away any of his neighbours' cat- 

 tle ; and whether he was in any way discourteous, 

 ill-tongued, or guilty of any indecent behaviour. If 

 even one of these charges were brought against him 

 by any of the assembly, and sufficiently substantia- 

 ted, the Faycag shaved his head, and dismissed him 

 with disgrace, by which he was rendered incapable 

 of nobility, and remained ever after a plebeian. If, 

 on the contrary, however, he was declared tree from 

 every sucii imputation, the Faycag cut his hair in a 

 round form, and so short a& not to hang beneath his 

 ears ; then putting into his hand a staff or pole, cal- 

 led inagade, declared him noble. In Teneriffe, the 

 inhabitants were divided into three classes, the no- 

 bles, the yeomen, and the peasants. From the va- 

 riety of interests in these islands, frequent disputes 

 arose concerning their flocks and pastures, ai;d the 

 boundaries of their respective districts. Thtse dis- 

 putes often ended in wars which overspread the face 

 of the country with blood and carnage. Their prin- 

 cipal weapons were wooden spears and darts, sharpen- 

 ed at the point, and hardened in the fire. They also 

 threw stones with great force and dexterity, either 



