Ecuador - Request for an expedition to seize and return fugitive slaves and convicted felons.

Request made by the provincial mayor of Guayaquil to the government asking to be provided with the necessary items for an expedition into the mountains of Zapotal, to bring back fugitive criminals and slaves who had taken refuge in the mountains.

Heritage document, in the Series Government, box 40, file 8, and number of pages 18.

In the coastal region, there is an area called Zapotal, a rural parish in the province of Los Ríos, jurisdiction of the Ventanas canton. This is an interesting document indicating the sites to which the slaves fled. However, during the colonial period there was another settlement also called Zapotal which was part of Guayaquil and currently is a commune in the parish of Chanduy, on the Ecuadorian coastal area in the province of Santa Elena  (at about 100 Km from the city of Guayaquil).