Moreover, we decree that in whatever is not here stated or directed our said Presidents and Judges of our said Audiencias shall be obliged to observe, and let them observe, the ordinances issued to them by Us and the Rules of Court made for our Audiencias established at the City of Grenada and the Town of Valladolid, and the several benches of Corregidores and Judges of Residencia, and the laws of these our kingdoms and the commentaries and procedure relating to them.
Moreover, we decree that the appeals which are referred from Governors, where there is no Royal Audiencia, shall go before the Audiencia of that district and jurisdiction, and in such cases we decree that the laws of these kingdoms which do not permit of a second appeal be observed.
X. We decree and order that our said Presidents and Judges be empowered to send and do send to take residencias of our Governors who are subject to our said Audiencias, and of their Officials and our other Magistrates, how and when it may seem to them proper, according to the suits that may arise. For this purpose they shall send trustworthy and prudent persons who know how to conduct them and do justice to those who have made complaints against them [these officials]—in conformity with the laws of our kingdoms and the rules for Corregidores. The reports of residencias which may be taken as aforesaid of our Governors of Islands and Provinces are to be sent with all despatch to our Council of the Indies that they may be considered and decided by it. But all other residencias which may be taken of our other Magistrates, we will and command that they be examined and adjudged upon, by our Presidents and Judges of our said Audiencias and be not sent or brought to our said Council; it is not to be understood from this that the members of our Council may not send and take the residencia of the said Governors when it may appear to be necessary.
As one of the principal things in which the said Audiencias are to serve us is to take very special care about the good treatment and preservation of the Indians, we command that they shall always keep themselves informed of excesses or bad treatment which are or may be committed by Governors or by private persons, and of how these have observed the Ordinances and instructions that have been given them, which have been made to ensure the good treatment of the Indians; and in so far as such excesses have been or may in future be committed, let the said [Audiencias] take care to remedy it, by punishing the offenders with rigour in conformity with justice; and in suits between Indians or against Indians, let them not permit ordinary procedure to be followed, nor allow the hearing to be protracted, as sometimes happens through the jobbery of some advocates and attorneys, but let them be settled summarily, allowing weight to their usages and customs, if they be not clearly unjust; and let the said Audiencias take care that this is observed by the other lesser Judges.
XI. We decree and command that from now onward, neither because of war, even though under the category of rebellion, nor by barter, nor for any other cause in any other way, may any Indian be made a slave; and we wish them to be treated as our subjects of the Crown of Spain, for that they are.
No persons may make the Indians serve by way of "naboria" or "tapia,"[166] nor in any other way against their wills.
As we have decreed a provision that from now henceforward no Indians shall be made slaves, both with regard to those who up to this time have been made so against justice and right, and against enactments and instructions issued, we direct and command that the Audiencias summoning the parties shall summarily and briefly, merely ascertaining the truth, without legal quibble, place the enslaved at liberty, unless the persons holding them as slaves can show a title that they hold and own them legally. And in order that Indians should not be held unjustly as slaves for lack of persons to urge the aforesaid, we command the Audiencias to appoint persons to manage such suits on behalf of the Indians, and to remunerate them from fines of the Court; and let them be men of integrity and diligence.
XII. We order that, for the protection of the Indians, the Audiencias are to take special care that these do not carry loads; or, if in some parts it cannot be avoided, that it be done in such a way that the load be not so heavy as to endanger the life, health or preservation of the said Indians, nor be done against their wills, nor unless they are paid. In no circumstances is such work to be forced on them; let those who act otherwise be very severely punished. In this no exception is to be made for any person whatever.
As we have been informed that the pearl fishery has not been conducted with the good order that is desirable, and that it has resulted in the deaths of many Indians and Negroes, we order that no free Indian shall be taken to the said fishery against his will, under pain of death; and let the Bishop and the Judge who may go to Venezuela direct what may appear to them just in order that the slaves employed in the same fishery—Indians as well as Negroes—be protected, and deaths cease. And if it should appear to them that the risk of death cannot be avoided by the said Indians and Negroes, then let the pearl fishery cease; for, as is reasonable, we value much more highly the preservation of lives than the profit which may come to us from the pearls.
As the viceroys, governors and their lieutenants, and our officers, prelates, monasteries, hospitals, religious houses, mints, as well as officers of our revenue, and other persons favoured as officials hold Indians in encomienda, and as disorders have arisen in the treatment of those Indians, it is our will and we command that all the Indians they hold and possess shall be promptly placed under [the protection of] our Royal Crown, by whatever title they may have been held by those who are or were viceroys, governors or their lieutenants, or any of our officials of justice, of revenue, of hospitals, confraternities, and other similar bodies. Although the Indians may not have been placed in encomienda by virtue of the said offices, and though the said officials and governors should say they would rather resign their official positions and keep the Indians, they are not thereby excused from compliance.