COLOMBIA. 



317 



the pure Indians and negroes, however, are not af- 

 flicted with it. The negroes are found principally in 

 the maritime parts of the country. The new govern- 

 ment has decreed that from the year 1860 all slavery 

 shall cease in the republic. The principal towns be- 

 sides those already mentioned are, Bogota (the capi- 

 tal), Caracas, St Thomas, Quito, Popayan, Cuenga, 

 Riobambo, Otobalo, Merida, Cumana, Maracaibo, 

 Barcelona, Guanare, and Truxillo. All the Indians 

 have been declared free since the revolution. Many 

 of the Indian tribes have been brought into subjec- 

 tion to the whites, and have become partially civiliz- 

 ed by the labours of the Catholic missionaries. They 

 are allowed to live in villages by themselves, and to 

 be governed by magistrates of their own choice. The 

 principal Indians remaining unsubdued are the Coa- 

 hiros, who are about 30,000 in number, and occupy a 

 tract along the coast to the west of the gulf of Mara- 

 caibo. They often make inroads upon tile neighbour- 

 ing settlements. The Guaraunos, who inhabit the 

 islands formed by the mouths of the Orinoco, are 

 about 8000 in number. The Caribs occupy the coast 

 of Spanish Guiana, between the mouths of the Esse- 

 quibo and the Orinoco. Besides these tribes, all the 

 country on the Orinoco above the cataracts of Atures, 

 and indeed all the immense tract between the sources 

 of the Orinoco and those of the Amazon, are inha- 

 bited by nations of savages, who have hitherto resisted 

 all the efforts of the Spaniards to civilize and subdue 

 them. The Catholic religion has been declared the 

 established religion of the state ; but all others are 

 tolerated. The establishment is composed of two 

 archbishops and ten bishops : the clergy are rich and 

 powerful ; some of them distinguished themselves in 

 the revolution by their democratic principles. Co- 

 lombia has four universities at Quito, Bogota, Cara- 

 cas and Merida ; that of Bogota is merely a theolo- 

 gical seminary; the three others are intended for 

 students in the other branches. Provision has also 

 been made for the establishment of primary schools, 

 high schools, and provincial colleges ; but the unset- 

 tled state of die country allows out b'ttle to be ef- 

 fected. 



Historical Sketch. The republic of Colombia is of 

 very recent origin, although the history of the three 

 states, by the union of which it has been formed, is 

 coeval with the era of Columbus. Previously to the 

 period of the revolutions, they were known by the 

 names of the vice-royalty of New Grenada, the cap- 

 tain-generalship of Caracas, and the presidency of 

 Quito. Of their annals prior to the union, a brief 

 sketch will here be given. 



Quito. The provinces of Quito, having formed a 

 component part of the Peruvian empire at the time 

 of the Spanish conquest, continued to depend directly 

 on the government of Peru until Sept., 1564, when 

 they were erected into a separate presidency. In 

 1717, the government was suppressed, and the coun- 

 try incorporated into the vice-royalty of New Grena- 

 da. In 1722, it was again separated, and remained 

 so until it became a part of Colombia. The revolu- 

 tion commenced August 10, 1809, when the presi- 

 dent, count Ruiz de Castilla,. was deposed, and a 

 junta soberana appointed to administer the govern- 

 ment. He was reinstated the November following, 

 and a second revolution took place in September, 

 1810. But, in a few months afterwards, the Span- 

 iards, under Montes, regained Quito, and continued 

 to hold the presidency until May, 1822, when the 

 victory of Pichincha, gained by general Sucre, put 

 an end to their power. 



New Grenada. The coasts of New Grenada, 

 which border on the Caribbean sea, were first visited 

 by Columbus, during his fourth voyage. Ojeda and 

 Amerigo Vespucci followed Columbus in exploring 



parts of the coast, and Vespucci gave the first regu- 

 lar description of the people who inhabited its shores. 

 In the year 1508, Ojeda and Nicuessa obtained ex- 

 tensive grants in this and the adjoining country. 

 Ojeda liad the country from cape de la Vela to the 

 gulf of Darien, which was to be styled New Andalu- 

 sia and Nicuessa was appointed to govern from the 

 gulf of Darien to cape Gracias a Dios ; the territory 

 included within these points to be named Golden 

 Castile. The province of Terra Firma, including both 

 the grants of Nicuessa and Ojeda, was given by a 

 subsequent charter, in 1514, to Pedro Arias de Avila. 

 Under the orders of Avila, the western coast of Pa 

 nama, Veragua, and Darien was explored as far north 

 as cape Blanco, and the town of Panama was found- 

 ed. In 1536, Sebastian de Benalcazar, one of the 

 officers who accompanied Pizarro in the expedition to 

 Peru effected the conquest and colonization of the 

 southern internal provinces of New Grenada; whilst 

 Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada, who had been sent by 

 Lugo, the admiral of the Canaries, overran the 

 northern districts from Santa Martha. They met 

 with considerable opposition from the natives, but 

 finally succeeded in reducing the country, and the 

 whole was formed into one government, and put un- 

 der a captain-general, appointed in 1547 ; to check 

 whose power the royal audience was established, of 

 which he was, however, made president. In the 

 year 1718, New Grenada was formed into a vice- 

 royalty. This form of government continued until 

 1724, when the captain-generalship was restored ; 

 but, in 1740, the vice-royalty was re-established. 

 Under this system, the evils of which were of a very 

 grievous nature, the inhabitants of New Grenada 

 continued until the invasion of Spain by the French. 

 The desire of independence had long been preva- 

 lent ; but it was not until 1810, that it began to be 

 publicly avowed. The juntas then chosen were com- 

 posed of persons generally favourable to indepen- 

 dence. A congress from the different provinces or 

 departments of the vice-royalty soon afterwards as- 

 sembled, and, in 1811, a formal declaration of inde- 

 pendence was made. The country has, since that 

 period, passed through many vicissitudes of fortune. 

 The cause of freedom and that of the royalists have 

 been alternately triumphant, and many frightful 

 scenes of rapine and bloodshed have occurred. In 

 1816, a decisive action was fought between the inde- 

 pendents and a Spanish army under Morillo, which 

 ended in the total defeat of the former, and the dis- 

 persion of the congress. After remaining tinder the 

 dominion of the royalists for three years, Grenada 

 was again emancipated by the army of Bolivar, who 

 entered Santa Fe in August, 1819. In December, 

 1819, a union was effected with Venezuela into one 

 republic. 



Caracas, or Venezuela. The coast of this country 

 was originally discovered by Columbus, in 1498, 

 during nis third voyage. Several attempts being 

 made to colonize, the Spanish government came to 

 the determination of settling the country under its 

 own direction. These expeditions were managed by 

 priests, and generally ill conducted ; and it was 

 found necessary to subdue the inhabitants by force. 

 When this was partially effected, and the Spanisli 

 settlers were placed in some security, the proprietor- 

 ship was sold, by Charles V. to the Welsters, a Ger- 

 man mercantile company. Under then- management, 

 the Spaniards and the natives suffered the most griev- 

 ous tyranny. The abuses of their administration 

 becoming at last intolerable, they were dispossessed, 

 in 1550, and a supreme governor, with the title of 

 captain-general, was appointed. From this period 

 until the year 1806, Caracas remained hi quiet sub- 

 jection to the mother country. In 1806, a gallant but 



