r in
their letter--perhaps it did exist in one of the earlier ones--that
there should be as many women as men sent over, or more.

The suggestion of Las Casas was approved of by the Chancellor; and,
indeed, it is probable there was hardly a man of that time who would
have seen further than the excellent clerigo did. Las Casas was asked
what number of negroes would suffice? He replied that he did not know;
upon which a letter was sent to the officers of the India House at
Seville to ascertain the fit number in their opinion. They said that
four thousand at present would suffice, being one thousand for each of
the islands, Espanola, Porto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica. Somebody now
suggested to the Governor, De Bresa, a Fleming of much influence and a
member of the council, that he should ask for this license to be given
to him. De Bresa accordingly asked the King for it, who granted his
request; and the Fleming sold this license to certain Genoese merchants
for twenty-five thousand ducats, having obtained from the King a pledge
that for eight years he should give no other license of this kind.

The consequence of this monopoly enjoyed by the Genoese merchants was
that negroes were sold at a great price, of which there are frequent
complaints. Both Las Casas and Pasamonte--rarely found in
accord--suggested to the King that it would be better to pay the
twenty-five thousand ducats and resume the license, or to abridge its
term. Figueroa, writing to the Emperor from Santo Domingo in July, 1500,
says: "Negroes are very much in request; none have come for about a
year. It would have been better to have given De Bresa the customs
duties--_i.e._, the duties that had been usually paid on the importation
of slaves--than to have placed a prohibition." I have scarcely a doubt
that the immediate effect of the measure adopted in consequence of the
clerigo's suggestion was greatly to check that importation of negro
slaves which otherwise, had the license been general, would have been
very abundant.

Before quitting this part of the subject, something must be said for Las
Casas which he does not allege for himself. This suggestion of his about
the negroes was not an isolated one. Had all his suggestions been
carried out, and the Indians thereby been preserved, as I firmly believe
they might have been, these negroes might have remained a very
insignificant number in the general population. By the destruction of
Indians a void in the labori