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9.
OhaDter 14
The Kingdom of the Sa&es. which begins at Cape Verga, in 9 40' and
stretches to the Shoals of St. Anne. in 70 z ther customs, trade.
wars and other matters.
1.       Beyond Cape Verga, further down the coast, lies another river
called the River of Stones, a large and beautiful river, which divides
up and splits into many channels, turning the mainland into islands
called the Islands of Cagacaes. At this point the kingdoms of the
Sapes begin, and the Bagas extend in fact to this river. And there is
another nation called Tagunchos, and (? another called) Sapes; all
understand each other and communicate. In these islands a large quantity
of ambergris is found; and much wax and ivory and many slaves are available
here, all of which the blacks of the land sell.
2.       Into one of these channels there happened to come a certain Bento
Correia da Silva, a native of Sao Tome, who, seeing the land good,
settled there with one of his brothers, and was joined by relatives and
friends. He built up a town in this district and is lord of it, being
obeyed by three thousand blacks, and he has his nieces there, the daughters
of his brother, Jordlo Correia da Silva, who died in this land; and these
nieces have married, as did his daughters, his nephews and his sons.
All told, there must be in this place nearly five hundred persons who
are deprived of the sacraments, and who die without them, because of
the failure to establish a convent of religious (that is, a centr. for
priests) on Santiago Island, from which place they could have gone out
to do such service for Our Lord and His Majesty. If it is desired to
coqlete the settlement of this land, or to form an (orderly) settlement
elsewhere, by moving these people to it, no more is necessary than the
provision of priests and a legal establishment.
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