HELIGIOU8 WARS. 219 



the incursions of the Caribs : it was employed also m an 

 offensive war, or, as they say here, in the conquest of souls 

 (conquista de almas). The soldiers, excited by the allure- 

 ment of gain, made military incursions (entradas) into the 

 lands of the independent Indians. They killed all those 

 who dared to make any resistance, burnt their huts, de- 

 stroyed their plantations, and carried away the women, 

 children, and old men, as prisoners. These prisoners were 

 divided among the Missions of the Meta, the Bio Negro, 

 and the Upper Orinoco. The most distant places were 

 chosen, that they might not be tempted to return to their 

 native country. This violent manner of conquering souls, 

 though prohibited by the Spanish laws, was tolerated by the 

 civil governors, and vaunted by the superiors of the society, 

 as beneficial to religion, and the aggrandizement of the 

 Missions. "The voice of the Gospel is heard only," said 

 a Jesuit of the Orinoco, very candidly, in the ' Cartas 

 Edifiantes,' " where the Indians have heard also the sound 

 of fire-arms (el eco de la polvora). Mildness is a very slow 

 measure. By chastising the natives, we facilitate their con- 

 version." These principles, which degrade humanity, were 

 certainly not common to all the members of a society which, 

 in the New World, and wherever education has remained 

 exclusively in the hands of monks, has rendered service to 

 letters and civilization. But the entradas, the spiritual con 

 quests with the assistance of bayonets, was an inherent vice 

 in a system, that tended to the rapid aggrandizement of the 

 Missions. It is pleasing to find that the same system is not 

 followed by the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian 

 monks who now govern a vast portion of South America ; and 

 who, by the mildness or harshness of their manners, exert a 

 powerful influence over the fate of so many thousands of 

 natives. Military incursions are almost entirely abolished ; 

 and when they do take place, they are disavowed by the 

 superiors of the orders. We will not decide at present, 

 whether this amelioration of the monachal system be owing 

 to want of activity and cold indolence ; or whether it must be 

 attributed, as we would wish to believe, to the progress of 

 knowledge, and to feelings more elevated, and more conform- 

 able to the true spirit of Christianity. 



Beyond the mouth of the Rio Paruasi, the Orinoco agaia 





