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to the missionaries. "The frail vessels," he 

 added, " are those of the Catalans, when, pro- 

 vided with a licence from the Governor of Gua- 

 yana, and not with a permission from the presi- 

 dent of the missions, they endeavour to trade 

 beyond Atures and Maypures. After having 

 caused our boats to be wrecked in the raudales, 

 which are the key of the missions of the Upper 

 Oroonoko, the Cassiquiare, and the Rio Negro, 

 they make the Indians of Atures reconduct us 

 to Carichana, and oblige us to relinquish our 

 mercantile speculations." An impartial histo- 

 rian of the country through which I passed, I 

 do not adopt an opinion advanced perhaps too 

 lightly. The present missionary of the raudales 

 is incapable of exercising the vexations, of which 

 the little Catalan traders complain ; but it may 

 be asked, what is the source of this profound 

 hatred of the government of the missions, even 

 in the Spanish colonies? If the rich only were 

 calumniated, the missionaries of the Upper Oroo- 

 noko ought to escape the shafts of malignity. 

 They do not possess a house, a goat, scarcely 

 even a cow ; while their brethren, the Capuchins 

 of the missions of Carony, have herds of 40,000 

 cattle. It is not then against the wealth of the 

 Observantins, that the resentment of the indus- 

 trious class of the planters is directed ; but 

 against the exclusive principles of their govern- 

 ment, that obstinate tendency to shut their ter- 



