770 



As the tree which yields the real cortex Angos- 

 turas does not grow in great abundance, it is to 

 be wished, that plantations of it were formed. 

 The Catalonian monks are well fitted to spread 

 this kind of cultivation ; they are more economi- 

 cal, industrious, and active, than the other mis- 

 sionaries. They have already established tan- 

 yards and cotton spinning in a few villages* ; and 

 if they suffer the Indians henceforth to enjoy the 

 fruit of their labors, they will find great resources 

 in the native population. Concentred on a small 

 space of land, these monks have the consciousness 

 of their political importance, and have from time 

 to time resisted the civil authority, and that of 

 their bishop. The governors who reside at An- 

 gostura have struggled against them with very 

 unequal success, according as the ministry of 

 Madrid showed a complaisant deference for the 

 ecclesiastical hierarchy, or sought to limit it's 

 power. In 1768 don Manuel Centurion carried 

 off twenty thousand head of cattle from the 

 missionaries, in order to distribute them among 

 the indigent inhabitants. This liberality, ex- 

 erted in a manner not very legal, produced 

 very serious consequences. The governor was 

 disgraced on the complaint of the Catalonian 

 monks, though he had considerably extended 



rious, on account of the superabundance of tannin and acrid 

 matter contained in the false cascarillas. 



* At Miamo, Tumeremo, &c. 



