A cathedral, but no priests,
     Handsome women, but not elegant,
     Greed and envy are indigenous. 
     Plenty of heat and palm-tree shade,
     And best of all a refreshing breeze.

Of the moral defects of the people it would be invidious to speak.  The lower classes are not remarkable for their respect for the property of others.  On the subject of morality among the rural population we may cite Count de Caspe, the governor’s report to the king:  " ...  Destitute as they are of religious instruction and moral restraint, their unions are without the sanction of religious or civil law, and last just as long as their sensual appetites last; it may therefore be truly said, that in the rural districts of Puerto Rico the family, morally constituted, does not exist.”

Colonel Flinter’s account of the people and social conditions of Puerto Rico in 1834 is a rather flattering one, though he acknowledges that the island had a bad reputation on account of the lawless character of the lower class of inhabitants.

All this has greatly changed for the better, but much remains to be done in the way of moral improvement.

FOOTNOTES: 

[Footnote 64:  Abbad points out that in 1710-’20 there were still two Indian settlements in the neighborhood of Anasco and San German.]

[Footnote 65:  Puerto Rico y su historia, p. 369.]

CHAPTER XXXI

NEGRO SLAVERY IN PUERTO RICO

From the early days of the conquest the black race appeared side by side with the white race.  Both supplanted the native race, and both have marched parallel ever since, sometimes separately, sometimes mixing their blood.

The introduction of African negroes into Puerto Rico made the institution of slavery permanent.  It is true that King Ferdinand ordered the reduction to slavery of all rebellious Indians in 1511, but he revoked the order the next year.  The negro was and remained a slave.  For centuries he had been looked upon as a special creation for the purpose of servitude, and the Spaniards were accustomed to see him daily offered for sale in the markets of Andalusia.

Notwithstanding the practical reduction to slavery of the Indians of la Espanola by Columbus, under the title of “repartimientos,” negro slaves were introduced into that island as early as 1502, when a certain Juan Sanchez and Alfonso Bravo received royal permission to carry five caravels of slaves to the newly discovered island.  Ovando, who was governor at the time, protested strongly on the ground that the negroes escaped to the forests and mountains, where they joined the rebellious or fugitive Indians and made their subjugation much more difficult.  The same thing happened later in San Juan.

In this island special permission was necessary to introduce negroes.  Sedeno and the smelter of ores, Giron, who came here in 1510, made oath that the two slaves each brought with them were for their personal service only.  In 1513 their general introduction was authorized by royal schedule on payment of two ducats per head.