he remarks, “we shall have great credit from them, seeing that we can capture and make slaves of these cannibals, of whom they (the peaceable Indians) entertain so great a fear.”  Such arguments must be allowed to have much force in them; and it may be questioned whether many of those persons who, in these days, are the strongest opponents of slavery, would then have had that perception of the impending danger of its introduction which the sovereigns appear to have entertained, from their answer to this part of the document.  “This is very well, and so it must be done; but let the admiral see whether it could not be managed there” (i.e. in the Cannibal Islands) “that they should be brought to our Holy Catholic Faith, and the same thing with the Indians of those islands where he is.”

  Slavery proposed.

The admiral’s despatch goes much further:  in the next paragraph he boldly suggests that, for the advantage of the souls of these cannibal Indians, the more of them that could be taken the better; and that, considering what quantities of live-stock and other things are required for the maintenance of the colony, a certain number of caravels should be sent each year with these necessary things, and the cargoes be paid for in slaves taken from amongst the cannibals.  He touches again on the good that will be done to the cannibals themselves; alludes to the customs duties that their Highnesses may levy upon them; and concludes by desiring Antonio de Torres to send, or bring, an answer, “because the preparations here (for capturing these cannibals) may be carried on with more confidence, if the scheme seem good to their Highnesses.”

  The proposal rejected.

At the same time that we must do Columbus the justice to believe that his motives were right in his own eyes, it must be admitted that a more distinct suggestion for the establishment of a slave-trade was never proposed.  To their honour, Ferdinand and Isabella thus replied:  “As regards this matter, it is suspended for the present, until there come some other way of doing it there, and let the admiral write what he thinks of this.”

This is rather a confused answer, as often happens, when a proposition from a valued friend or servant is disapproved of, but has to be rejected kindly.  The Catholic sovereigns would have been very glad to have received some money from the Indies:  money was always welcome to King Ferdinand; the purchase of wine, seeds, and cattle for the colonists had hitherto proved anything but a profitable outlay; the prospect of conversion was probably dear to the hearts of both these princes, certainly to one of them:  but still this proposition for the establishment of slavery was wisely and magnanimously set aside.

  Fort st. Thomas founded.