BARBARITY OF SALOMON. 347 



bello, where the remnant of the Spanish 

 troops also took refuge. 



To Salomon, who had taken the com- 

 mand of the royalist troops, in consequence 

 of Monteverde being disabled by his wounds, 

 Bolivar made a similar proposal for an ex- 

 change of prisoners. Salomon, however, 

 determined to outdo his predecessor in in- 

 humanity and barbarity, seized the bearer 

 of the flag of truce, a priest, named Salva- 

 dor Garcia, and loading him with fetters,; 

 imprisoned him in the fortress of Puerto 

 Cabello. Salomon was succeeded by Is- 

 tueta, who, proceeding still further in the 

 career of atrocity, in order to prevent the 

 besiegers from firing upon his line, placed 

 the patriot prisoners so as to be exposed 

 to the discharges from their batteries ; at 

 night these unfortunate men were thrown 

 into pontoons, where, at one time, nearly 

 fifty died from suffocation. The patriot 



