entioned) in exchange for the three Moors, yet
that he should take them; for whatever number he should get, he would
gain souls, because the negroes might be converted to the faith, which
could not be managed with the Moors." Goncalvez obtained ten black
slaves, some gold-dust, a target of buffalo-hide, and some ostrich eggs
in exchange for two of the Moors, and, returning with his cargo, excited
general wonderment on account of the color of the slaves. These, then,
we may presume, were the first black slaves that had made their
appearance in the peninsula since the extinction of the old slavery.

I am not ignorant that there are reasons for alleging that negroes had
before this era been seized and carried to Seville. The _Ecclesiastical
and Secular Annals_ of that city, under the date 1474, record that negro
slaves abounded there, and that the fifths levied on them produced
considerable gains to the royal revenue; it is also mentioned that there
had been traffic of this kind in the days of Don Enrique III, about
1399, but that it had since then fallen into the hands of the
Portuguese. The chronicler states that the negroes of Seville were
treated very kindly from the time of King Enrique, being allowed to keep
their dances and festivals; and that one of them was named _mayoral_ of
the rest, who protected them against their masters and before the courts
of law, and also settled their own private quarrels. There is a letter
from Ferdinand and Isabella in the year 1474 to a celebrated negro, Juan
de Valladolid, commonly called the "Negro Count," nominating him to this
office of mayoral of the negroes, which runs thus: "For the many good,
loyal, and signal services which you have done us, and do each day, and
because we know your sufficiency, ability, and good disposition, we
constitute you mayoral and judge of all the negroes and mulattoes, free
or slaves, which are in the very loyal and noble city of Seville, and
throughout the whole archbishopric thereof, and that the said negroes
and mulattoes may not hold any festivals nor pleadings among themselves,
except before you, Juan de Valladolid, negro, our judge and mayoral of
the said negroes and mulattoes; and we command that you, and you only,
should take cognizance of the disputes, pleadings, marriages, and other
things which may take place among them, forasmuch as you are a person
sufficient for that office, and deserving of your power, and you know
the laws and ordinanc