Both the Indian and negro population are care fully imbued with the doctrines of the Catholic religion. The missionaries are numerous, sober, and diligent ; and, if the ceremonies of the church have no great tendency to enlighten the minds, or amend the morals, of these casts, it cannot be doubted that, by the example of more clean liness, industry, and freedom, they must produce some good ; and, perhaps the practice of auricular confession,' which, in polished society, and with civi lized people, begets either hypocrisy or inental debi lity, may, with those rude people, be made the instru ment of correcting some of their gross& vices. Though the missions are scattered over the whole country, the number of priests, including both regu lar and secular, is far less than in the Catholic coun tries of Europe. The best benefices are generally filled by European Spaniards ; though there have been instances of Creoles and Indians being pro moted to the Episcopal chair. A great degree of animosity and jealousy subsists between the Indian and the Negro races. The latter, but more especi ally their descendants, the Mulattoes, view the former with contempt and disdain ; and the poor timid In dians hate, but cannot despise, the Negroes and Mulattoes, whose activity and exertion is greater, and who appear to have naturally minds less de graded.
Within the kingdom of New Granada there are several tribes of Indians who are in a state of savage barbarity, or at least who have never yet been sub dued by the Spaniards, among whom they are known by the description of Indio: bravos. In the moun tainous parts of the province of Santa Marta, one na tion subsists called Goahiros. Their stations are be. tween the entrance to the Gulf of Maracaybo and Rio de la Hacha, and extend near one hundred miles on the coast of the Carribean Sea. Their numbers have bed calculated at thirty thousand souls. Their chief resides in a fortified town, on a hill called La Teta, some miles from the shore. They are con stantly at war with the Spaniards, and are reported to receive muskets and ammunition from contraband traders who approach to their coasts from Jamaica and Camps, and trade with them under the se verest caution, from the apprehension of becoming the victims of their treachery, whilst engaged in this commerce. They sometimes traffic with the Span. iards of Rio de la Hacha, principally for spirituous li quors, in exchange for which they give dye-woods, horses, oxen, and mules, and sometimes pearls. It is said that this nation has subdued another tribe of Indians in their vicinity, called the Cocinas ; and, after the conquest, distributed the prisoners among their own nation, where they have since continued in the condition of slaves.
In reciting the territorial divisions of the kingdom of New Granada, it will be better to take them ac cording to their local position than to their import ance ; and therefore we begin with the northern provinces. Three provinces in the isthmus of Darien form part of the viceroyalty of New Granada ; and are generally distinguished by the name of the pro vinces of Terra Firma. One of these, though sub
ject to the viceroy of New Granada, is not in South but in North America; and therefore, in strictness, ought to form a part of the Presidency of Gatlin*• la. Veragua, the northernmost part of New Gra. nada, and the southernmost province of North Ame.
rice, was first attempted to be settled by Columbus, in 1503 ; but the hostility of the natives prevented his accomplishing his design. Several successive at-. tempts were subsequently made, and even as late as the year 1760, the whole of the mountainous district, which is by far the largest part of the province, was not subdued. The towns, or, as they designate them, the cities, built by the Spaniards, are, St Jago de Vera gun, Neustro Senora de los Remedios, and Santiago de Angel. These are all in a warm, moist, and un healthy climate, and the inhabitants are mostly Creoles or Indians. Having no sea-port, and no river navigable for any but the smallest boats, they have little commerce. The roads, too, through the whole province, are so bad as to forbid much inter course. The industry of the inhabitants is principal ly applied to the production of articles for their home consumption ; and these are easily procured in that fruitful soil. Maize, rice, sugar, and all tropical fruits, are abundant ; and black cattle and horses are to be found in great numbers, with scarcely any who think them worth owning. Gold and silver mines ex ist in this province ; but they are very worked. They are situate on mountains, from whence there being no roads, and having no water, the ore must be brought on men's backs, by which the ex pence becomes so great, that they scarcely can ob tain their expences.
Panama is a province on a well known isthmus of that name, and has been long considered the most important province of Spain. A branch of the Andes runs through its whole length, the higher summits of which are cold and barren, but the in tervening valleys, as well as the low ground., on the Carribean and Pacific seas, are rich and fertile, but on the eastern side generally unhealthy. From the centre of the ridge of the mountains of Panama the Southern or Pacific Ocean was first discovered by Balboa in 1513, and the province still continues the most easy point of communication between Eu rope and Peru. This route is accomplished by as cending the river Chagre from its mouth, near which is fort San Lorenzo, to the small town of Cruces, where the river ceases to be navigable. There is then an ascent by a road, practicable only for horses and mules, to the top of the Andes; an ascent so difficult that some cannon designed for Panama having been carried there, were found impossible to be removed. The distance from Cruces to the city of Panama is only five leagues, but from the acclivities, and the badness of the road, it requires twelve hours to per fbrm it. The rapidity of the river Chagre is also a serious impediment, when it is full of water, so that this short journey frequently occupies five or six days.