241 



activity. Macarapan, anciently called Amara- 

 capana, Cumana, Araya, and particularly New 

 Cadiz, built on the islet of Cubagua, might then 

 be considered as commercial establishments to 

 facilitate the trade. Girolamo Benzoni of Milan, 

 who at the age of twenty-two years, had gone 

 over to Terra Firma, took part in some expedi- 

 tions made in 1542 to the coasts of Bordones, 

 Cariaco, and Paria, to carry off the unfortunate 

 natives. He relates with simplicity, and often 

 with a sensibility not common in the historians 

 of that time, the examples of cruelty, of which 

 he was a witness. He saw the slaves dragged 

 to New Cadiz, to be marked on the forehead 

 and on the arms, and to pay the quint to the 

 officers of the crown. From this port the In- 

 dians were sent to the island of Hayti % or St. 



* " Noi pigliammo dugento e quaranta schiavi fra maschi 

 e femine, piccoli e grandi. Cosa veramente molto compas- 

 sionevole da vedera la condutta di quelle meschine creature, 

 nude, stanche, stropiate. Le infelici madri con due e tre 

 figliuoli su le spalle e in collo, colrae di pianto e di dolore* 

 afflitte, legati tutti da corde e di catene di ferro al collo, alle 

 braccia, e alle mani. Si conducono a Cubagua e tutti si 

 marchiano in faccia e su le braccia con ferro infocato, seg- 

 nato d'un C j poi gli capitaui ne fanno parte a soldati, che 

 gli vendono, e se gli giuocano 1'uno con altro. Se paga il 

 quinto delle perle, del oro e dei schiavi a gli ufficiali del Re.*' 

 Benzoni, Hist: del Mondo Nuovo, 1565, p. 4, 7, and 9. It 

 was thus that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians formerly 

 sought for slaves in Europe. Heyne, Opuscula, t. iii, p. 63. 



