- end_line
- 4935
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T07:57:55.409Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 4877
- text
- I, DON JOSE DE ABOS AND PADILLA, His Majesty’s Notary for the Royal
Revenue, and Register of this Province, and Notary Public of the Holy
Crusade of this Bishopric, etc.
Do certify and declare, as much as is requisite in law, that, in the
criminal cause commenced the twenty-fourth of the month of September,
in the year seventeen hundred and ninety-nine, against the negroes of
the ship San Dominick, the following declaration before me was made:
_Declaration of the first witness_, DON BENITO CERENO.
The same day, and month, and year, His Honor, Doctor Juan Martinez de
Rozas, Councilor of the Royal Audience of this Kingdom, and learned in
the law of this Intendency, ordered the captain of the ship San
Dominick, Don Benito Cereno, to appear; which he did, in his litter,
attended by the monk Infelez; of whom he received the oath, which he
took by God, our Lord, and a sign of the Cross; under which he promised
to tell the truth of whatever he should know and should be asked;—and
being interrogated agreeably to the tenor of the act commencing the
process, he said, that on the twentieth of May last, he set sail with
his ship from the port of Valparaiso, bound to that of Callao; loaded
with the produce of the country beside thirty cases of hardware and one
hundred and sixty blacks, of both sexes, mostly belonging to Don
Alexandro Aranda, gentleman, of the city of Mendoza; that the crew of
the ship consisted of thirty-six men, beside the persons who went as
passengers; that the negroes were in part as follows:
[_Here, in the original, follows a list of some fifty names,
descriptions, and ages, compiled from certain recovered documents of
Aranda’s, and also from recollections of the deponent, from which
portions only are extracted._]
—One, from about eighteen to nineteen years, named José, and this was
the man that waited upon his master, Don Alexandro, and who speaks well
the Spanish, having served him four or five years; * * * a mulatto,
named Francesco, the cabin steward, of a good person and voice, having
sung in the Valparaiso churches, native of the province of Buenos
Ayres, aged about thirty-five years. * * * A smart negro, named Dago,
who had been for many years a grave-digger among the Spaniards, aged
forty-six years. * * * Four old negroes, born in Africa, from sixty to
seventy, but sound, calkers by trade, whose names are as follows:—the
first was named Muri, and he was killed (as was also his son named
Diamelo); the second, Nacta; the third, Yola, likewise killed; the
fourth, Ghofan; and six full-grown negroes, aged from thirty to
forty-five, all raw, and born among the Ashantees—Matiluqui, Yan,
Leche, Mapenda, Yambaio, Akim; four of whom were killed; * * * a
powerful negro named Atufal, who being supposed to have been a chief in
Africa, his owner set great store by him. * * * And a small negro of
Senegal, but some years among the Spaniards, aged about thirty, which
negro’s name was Babo; * * * that he does not remember the names of the
others, but that still expecting the residue of Don Alexandra’s papers
will be found, will then take due account of them all, and remit to the
court; * * * and thirty-nine women and children of all ages.
[_The catalogue over, the deposition goes on_]
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