36 



was arbitrarily declared of Caribbee race. The 

 inhabitants of Uriapari (of the peninsula of Pa- 

 ria) were named Caribbees ; thellrinacoes (settled 

 on the banks of the Lower Oroonoko, or Uri- 

 nucu), Guatiaos. All the tribes designated by 

 Figueroa as Caribbees were condemned to sla- 

 very ; and might at will be sold, or exterminat- 

 ed by war. In these bloody struggles, the Ca- 

 ribbee women, after the death of their hus* 

 bands, defended themselves with such despe- 

 ration, that, Anghiera says # , they were taken for 

 tribes of Amazons. The odious declamations of 

 a Dominican monk (Thomas Hortiz) contribut- 

 ed to prolong the misfortunes, that weighed on 

 whole nations. However, amid the cruelties 

 exercised toward the Caribbees, it is consoling 

 to find, that there existed some courageous men, 

 who caused the voice of humanity and justice 

 to be heard. Some of the monks embraced an 

 opinion different from that which they had at 

 first adopted*^. In an age when there could be 

 no hopes of founding public liberty on civil 

 institutions, an attempt was made to defend 

 at least individual liberty. "That is a law most 

 holy {ley sanctissima)" says Gomara, in 1551, 

 u by which our emperor has prohibited the 

 reducing of the Indians to slavery. It is just, 



• Ocean., Dee. 3, lib, ix, p. 63, D. See also above, vol. v, 

 p. 394. 



t Gomara, Hist, de Ind., fol. xix. 



