EXPEDITION OF SOLANO.
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1 7 5 6 , u n d e r the order o f Solano, awakened suspicion in this chief o f t h e G u a y p u n a v e s . H e was on the p o i n t o f a t t e m p t i n g a c o n t e s t with t h e m , w h e n the Jesuits made him sensible that it w o u l d be his interest t o remain at peace with the Christians. Whilst dining at the table o f the Spanish general, C u s e r u was allured by promises, and t h e prediction o f the approaching fall o f his enemies. From b e i n g a king he b e c a m e the m a y o r o f a v i l l a g e ; and c o n sented t o settle with his p e o p l e at the n e w mission o f San F e r n a n d o de A t a b a p o . Such is m o s t frequently the end o f those chiefs w h o m travellers and missionaries stylo Indian princes. " I n m y m i s s i o n , " says the honest father Gili, "I had five reyecillos, o r p e t t y kings, those o f the Tamanacs, the A v a r i g o t e s , t h e Parecas, t h e Quaquas, a n d the M a y p u r e s . A t church I placed them in file o n t h e same b e n c h ; but I t o o k care t o give the first place t o M o n a i t i , k i n g o f the Tamanacs, because he had helped m e t o f o u n d the v i l l a g e ; and ho seemed quite p r o u d o f this p r e c e dency. W h e n C u s e r u , t h e c h i e f o f t h e G u a y p u n a v e s , saw the Spanish t r o o p s pass the cataracts, he advised D o n J o s o Solano to wait a whole year before he formed a settlement o n the A t a b a p o ; predicting the misfortunes which were n o t slow to arrive. " L e t me labour with m y p e o p l e in clearing the g r o u n d , " said Cuseru t o the Jesuits ;' I will plant cassava, and y o u will find hereafter wherewith t o feed all these men." Solano, impatient t o advance, refused t o listen t o the counsel o f the Indian chief, and the n o w inhabitants o f San F e r n a n d o had to suffer all the evils o f scarcity. Canoes w e r e sent at a great expense t o N e w G r e n a d a , b y the M e t a and the Vichada, in search o f Hour. T h e provision arrived t o o late, and many Spaniards and Indians perished o f those diseases which are p r o d u c e d in every climate by want and moral dejection. S o m e traces o f cultivation are still found at San F e r n a n d o . Every Indian has a small plantation o f cacao-trees, which p r o d u c e abundantly in the fifth y e a r ; but they cease t o bear fruit sooner than in the valleys o f A r a g u a . T h e r e are s o m e savannahs and g o o d pasturage r o u n d San F e r n a n d o , b u t hardly seven or eight c o w s are to be found, the remains o f a considerable herd which was b r o u g h t into these countries at