358 TlMEHRI. 



pany, landed at three different places in the island. Ac- 

 cording to Navarrete the natives were Caribs, or 

 cannibals, of fine presence and stature, of great vigour, 

 and very expert in the use of bows and arrows, and 

 shields, which were their proper arms. After becoming 

 satisfied that the Spaniards were friendly, the Indians 

 bartered with them. OjEDA found traces of COLUMBUS'S 

 visit, near the Dragon's mouth. OjEDA may have met 

 Caribs in Trinidad, or he may have said in his haste that 

 the natives were Caribs ; but the evidence seems to 

 favour the view that the Arrawacks were the aboriginal 

 tribe, who were subsequently invaded by Caribs. ROD- 

 RIGO DE FiGUEROA had a special commission in 1520 to 

 ascertain which were the places inhabited by Caribs, who 

 might be warred against and enslaved. He reported 

 that the islanders of Trinidad were not cannibals, but 

 very quiet people. All the same, these poor Indians 

 were from time to time brutally raided by Spaniards, and 

 were carried off into slavery in other colonies.* 



4. In 1541, a sorry sort of craft entered the Gulf of 

 Paria, by the Serpent's mouth, and, after labouring for 

 several days off the island, at last got out by the Dragon's 

 mouth. Its ropes were made of grass, and its sails of 

 blankets. On board of it was FRANCISCO Orellana, 

 who, after deserting GONZALO PiZARRO, had made a 

 voyage of 2,500 miles down the Amazon to the sea. 

 The brigantine had brought him from the mouth of 

 that great river. He subsequently fetched the island 

 of Cubagua, where, with gold and emeralds picked up 



• See the French edition of the Works of Bartholemew de lasCasas. 

 Paris 1882. In Vol. I, Article XIII treats De Vile de la Trmite et 

 des cites de Paria et de las Perlas. 



