Bartolomé de las Casas participated in and later described the Higüey massacre in which the Spanish slaughtered natives who surrendered after a short but heroic resistance. Men, women, and children were disemboweled alive; many were tortured by having hands and feet cut off as the Spaniards taunted, while others were hanged or knifed to death. This records outraged the people back at the Metropoli in the Peninsula, with Kings, Queens and other officials trying to regulate the behaviour of Colonist on the Island issuing the Laws of Burgos of 1512. However, the law arrived late and by 1519 the Taíno of the Higüey region were already for the most part enslaved, and their numbers had declined to only 1,189 individuals. The Spanish then brought in African slaves to replace the natives. Nevertheless, the Laws of Burgos will prove key to prevent such behaviour to happen again on the future territories yet to be conquered.