led by a guide or master of the ceremony, who gave the time, and all followed, repeating the history which he sang. While some thus danced others gave drink to the dancers, who, Fray Iñigo says, did not stop until they fell intoxicated, when their places were filled by others. The areito was concluded by all becoming intoxicated, with a drink made by the women of fruit, maize, and other ingredients, and with the smoke of tobacco which they imbibed by their nostrils.

"Besides the areito, the Indians had a game of ball, for which they had places set apart in the vicinity of the villages. Both men and women engaged in this game likewise; but when not engaged in one of the occupations or amusements mentioned, the Indians passed their days smoking in their hammocks and were generally silent.

"In bartering they little regarded the value of the object or that given in exchange for one they fancied. They had neither money, weights, nor measures of any kind. The crime which the Indians invariably punished most severely was theft. He who took the property of another was impaled alive and thus left to die. It was regarded as a bad action to intercede for a thief, even if the mediator were his father or a near relative; thus the crime of theft was very rare among them."

Having completed the subjugation of the Indians Juan Ponce de Leon proceeded to enslave them under the Spanish system of repartimientos and encomiendas,' as had already been done in Santo Domingo, Cuba, and other Spanish colonies. As the result of their battles with the Spaniards, of disease and emigration to other islands, of hard labor in the mines, and other unaccustomed drudgery, the native population rapidly disappeared, so that in 1543 it was reported to the King of Spain by the bishop of San Juan" that there were but 60 native Indians in the island. At this time there are few traces of them remaining, at least this census has not discovered any. Still, in such matters no census can vie with a trained observer, and therefore attention may be called to the following statements of Capt. W. S. Schuyler in a report of August 30, 1899: "While work was being done on the roads, I had occasion to watch crowds of 700 or 800 men gathered about the pay tables at Las Marias, La Vega, and Añasco. The frequency of the aboriginal type was very noticeable. While it is almost certain that there is to-day no single individual in Puerto Rico of pure aboriginal stock, it is equally sure that the type can be

1A repartimento was a grant of land, which carried with it the right to the labor of the Indians occupying it or living within a short distance of it, at first for cultivating the soil. This privilege was subsequently extended so that the Indians could be used in any kind of labor.

An encomienda was practically a grant of Indians, irrespective of the land. At first the grant expired with the grantee. It was subsequently extended through two or three lives, and in effect became perpetual. As a result the Indians were slaves. "The first bishopric was established in 1512, and the Inquisition in 1513.

seen everywhere in the mountain settlements. At San German I noticed a woman whose color, hair, and features were true Indian as seen in the southwest of the United States." (Report of Gen. George W. Davis, 1899, p. 312, f.)

NEGROES.

It is probable that a small number of negro slaves accompanied the earliest Spanish expeditions from Santo Domingo to Porto Rico, as slaves had been introduced into that island several years before. In consequence of the rapid disappearance of the native Indian population, the introduction of negro slaves into Porto Rico on payment of a tax amounting to 2 ducats per head was authorized as early as 1513. From the history of the island by Fray Iñigo Abbad, it appears that through various imperial authorizations negro slaves were introduced into Porto Rico as follows:

Thus, from 1530 to 1553, about 1,500 negroes were legallly imported. It is probable that a corresponding number were smuggled to avoid the per capita duty.

According to the same author, contracts for the importation of negro slaves continued throughout the seventeenth century, the privilege being held by the Genoese, Portuguese, and Dutch, sometimes Spaniards, and the French. Between the years of 1613 and 1621, during the government of Don Felipe de Beaumont y Navarra, 11 vessels laden with negroes entered Porto Rico. It is probable that during the seventeenth century other importations took place, legal and contraband, as, from a general study of Porto Rican history, it appears that during that century its black population increased greatly over the population at the end of the previous century.

A corresponding increase occurred during the eighteenth century, due to the commercial reforms which stimulated the progress of the island and gave an impetus to the slave trade.

In 1760 a contract was made with Miguel de Uriarte for the importation to several points of America-Porto Rico among others-of 15,000 negroes.

By a royal cedula of October 31, 1765, the Company of Caracas was authorized to introduce 2,000 negroes into that province and into that of Maracaibo, which had lost many of the natives by smallpox. As these negroes were taken to Porto Rico under a foreign flag, and thence to Caracas under the Spanish, the company was prohibited from exporting merchandise in the foreign vessels bringing the negroes or from transacting any business which might injure or affect the