542 



the allurement of gain, made military incursions 

 (entradas) into the lands of the independant 

 Indians. They killed all those who dared to 

 make any resistance, burnt their huts, destroyed 

 the plantations, and carried away the old men, 

 women, and children, as prisoners. These pri- 

 soners were divided among the missions of the 

 Meta, the Rio Negro, and the Upper Oroonoko. 

 The most distant places were chosen, that they 

 might not be tempted to return to their native 

 country. This violent manner of conquering 

 souls, though prohibited by the Spanish laws, 

 was tolerated by the civil governors, and boasted 

 of by the superiors of the society, as beneficial 

 to religion, and the aggrandizement of the mis- 

 sions. " The voice of the Gospel is heard only," 

 said a Jesuit of the Oroonoko * with simplicity, 

 in the Lettres Edifiantes, " where the Indians 

 have heard also the voice of arms ; el ecco de la 

 polvera. Mildness is a very slow measure. By 

 chastising the natives, we facilitate their con- 

 version." These principles, which degrade hu- 

 manity, were certainly not common to all the 

 members of a society, which in the New World, 

 and wherever education has remained exclusively 

 in the hands of monks, has rendered service to 

 letters and civilization. But the entradas, the 



* Cartas edificantes de la Compania de Jesus, 1757, vol. xvi, 

 p, 92. 



