Chapter XXVII: Revolt of the Cakchiquels (6)

[XI-1] Peter Martyr, dec. iii. cap. x., says he set out in May
with 80 men, and was afterward joined by Mercado with 50 men.

[XI-2] On Mercator's atlas there is a town and river
south-west from Panamá named _Nata_. Hondius, Dampier,
Jefferys, and De Laet give _Nata_; _West-Indische Spieghel_,
_Nato_; _Kiepert_, _Nata de los Caballeros_, and thence
eastward, _R. Aguablanca_, and opposite this river, _I Chiru_.

[XI-3] Nearly all the gold found here was wrought into plates
and various kinds of utensils.

[XI-4] It is groundless speculation on the part of Herrera
to find in this word, as many do in others, the origin of
the term Peru. 'Y prosiguiendo su descubrimiento hàzia el
Ocidente, llegaron a la tierra del Cazique dicho Birùquete,
de quien se dize que ha deriuado el nombre de Piru.' _Hist.
Ind._, ii. i. xiv.

[XI-5] Paris was an Indian province and gulf twelve leagues
from Natá. Oviedo authorizes us to write, _Pariza_ or
_Parita_. The large square peninsula which forms the western
bound to the gulf of Panamá, is sometimes called by modern
writers _Parita_, and the gulf which cuts into the peninsula
_Gulfo de Parita_. See Humboldt's _Atlas of New Spain_.
Ribero gives _G. de Paris_, Vaz Dourado, _G∴ de Paris naca_
and _b∴ de Paris naqua_; De Laet, _Golfo de Parita_, as well
as the city Parita, south of which is _Iubraua_, and north,
_Escoria_.

[XI-6] Town and province, beside being the name of the first
prominent point west of Panamá. Colon and Ribero have it, _p
de Chame_; Vaz Dourado writes it the same once, and again,
_p∴ de Cane_; Colom gives _P de Chane_; De Laet, and others
after him, _Chame_, with _Otoque_ east of it.

[XI-7] 'Donde despues Pedrarias pobló un pueblo de cristianos
que se dice Acla, y antes que hobiese esta batalla tenia otro
nombre, porque Acla en la lengua de aquella tierra quiere
decir huesos de hombres ó canillas de hombres.' _Andagoya_,
_Relacion_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 397.
See also _Carta de Alonso de la Puente y Diego Marquez_, in
_Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, ii. 538-49; Robert
FitzRoy, in _London Geog. Soc., Jour._, xxiii. 179, gives
us a fair specimen of historical writing by an intelligent
gentleman, who knows nothing of what he is saying when he
describes 'Acla, or Agla,' as settled 'in 1514, a few miles
inland from that port or bay now famed in history and romance,
called by Patterson Caledonian Harbour.' Acla was on the
coast, three or four leagues north of Caledonian Bay, as we
find in _Purchas_, _His Pilgrimes_, iv. 883, 'right against
the Iland of _Pinos_, whereof at this present there is no more
memory than that there was the death of that famous Captaine,
whose name will last eternally, the President _Basco Nunnez_
of _Balnoa_, and of his company.' Fernando Colon, 1527, calls
the town _ocara_; Diego de Ribero, _acra_; Vaz Dourado, 1571,
_Munich Atlas_, No. x., _axca_, and on No. xi., _azca_; De
Laet, Colom, and others, _Acla_.

[XI-8] _Relacion hecha por Gaspar de Espinosa, alcalde mayor
de Castilla del Oro, dada á Pedrarias de Avila, lugar teniente
general de aquellas provincias, de todo lo que le sucedió
en la entrada que hizo en ellas, de órden de Pedrarias_,
in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, ii. 467-522. The
licentiate begins his verbose narrative with a flourish of
trumpets before the king and queen, in a lengthy saying of
Quintilian, and an apology, saying that had he sufficient
time he would give the particulars of his raid. The document
is signed, El Licenciado Espinosa; Gerónimo Valenzuela; Pablo
Mexia; Pedro de Gamez; Bartolomé Hurtado, capitan; Gabriel
de Roxas; Por su mandado, Martin Salcedo. The editors of the
collection in which the paper appears complain of its errors
in regard to places, which they have endeavored to rectify
whenever possible. The truth of its incidents they of course
could not dispute.

[XI-9] Probably the Rio Chepo, or Bayano.

[XI-10] The licentiate's narrative here becomes as confused
as his sense of justice. The names of towns, provinces, and
chiefs are now brought together and then scattered as if flung
at random from the hand, making it in no wise difficult to
imagine either that the licentiate never made the journey,
or that he did not write the relation. There is no doubt,
however, on either of these points. There is this to say;
language was not then what it is now, and there were men who
knew how best to use it even in those days.

[XI-11] Named by Espinosa, Puerto de las Agujas.

[XI-12] Colon and Ribero both write _ya de Cebaco_; Mercator
places a town on the mainland opposite, _Sebaco_; Ogilby, _I. de
S. Maria_; De Laet, _Isles del Zebaco_; Colom and Jefferys,
_Zebaco_; Kiepert, _I. Cebaco_, and near it _I. del Gobernador_.

[XI-13] If Coiba was meant we find connected the ancient
name of _Gatos_, _ya gatos_, _y de gatos_, etc. Then the
name changes, and we have by Vaz Dourado _I∴ de quofõque_;
Mercator, _Quicare_; Dampier, _Keys of Quicara_ or _Quibo_;
I. de Laet gives, _Cobaya_, _Quicaro_, and _La Montuosa_;
Colom, _Coyba_, _Quicaro_, and _Lamatuosa_; Jefferys, _Coyba_,
_Quicaro_, and opposite Coiba, _Pt. Bianco_, and west _Coco_,
and _Honda_. Herrera calls the island _Cobayos_.

[XI-14] Not so called at the time, however. According to
Herrera the native name was Chira. The gulf was first known
to civilization as San Lúcar, and San Lázaro; before this,
even, we have by Colon, _G. de S. Vicenite_. Vaz Dourado
gives _Sao llucar_; Mercator, in 1574, places in the interior
the town _Nicoia_, and on the eastern shore of the gulf the
town _Pari_. Ogilby gives on the _Golfo de Salinas_, as well
as on the land, perhaps town and province, _Nicoya_, and a
little to the west, _Paro_. Dampier gives _G. of Nicoya_, and
the town of _nicoya_. De Laet locates the town of _Nicoya_,
east of which is _Paro_. _West-Indische Spieghel_, _G. Goca_;
and Jefferys, _Nicova_, and near it emptying into the gulf,
_R. Dispensa_, _R. Taminsco_, _R. de Costarica_, _R. de las
Canas_, and _R. Solano_.

[XI-15] Called the bay of _Osa_ by Herrera; _baia de oqua_ by
Vaz Dourado; _Munich Atlas_, no. xi., b∴ _deoqua_; De Laet,
_Golfo de Salinas_; and by Dampier, and Jefferys, _G. Dulce_,
and _Gulfe Dulce_.

[XI-16] With singular fidelity to its original, this name has
retained its proper orthography without regard to time or
place. The chart-makers of every name and nation give only
_Panamá_. Fernando Colon applies the word as to a province,
but usually it is given as to a town. Dampier gives the _Bay
of Panama_ as well as the city. De Laet sends flowing into
this bay _R. Chiepo_, _R. Pacora_, _R. Tubanama_, _R. de la
balsa_, while to the north are _R. Pequi_, _Venta de Cruzes_,
and _Limaret_.

[XI-17] Herrera, dec. ii. lib. ii. cap. x., places Ponce
at Panamá in 1516. Although the chronicles and relations
are all exceedingly confused, yet I am satisfied that the
establishment of a post at Panamá was not effected before
January, 1517, since Espinosa was hunting for Paris in
January, during the absence of Hurtado and Ponce upon the
coast toward the north-west.

[XII-1] Authorities thus far for this chapter are for the
most part the same as those last quoted. _Las Casas_, _Hist.
Ind._, iv. 169-248, who, I think, gives the best account of
any by contemporary writers; _Herrera_, dec. ii. lib. i. cap.
iii.; _Oviedo_, iii. 6-8; _Peter Martyr_, dec. iii. cap. iii.
and dec. iv. cap. ix.; _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 50.
For Balboa's complaints to the king, see _Carta dirigida al
Rey_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 375. Brief or
extended general accounts may be found in _Voyages, Curious
and Entertaining_, 470-1; _Panamá, Descr._, in _Pacheco_
and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, ix. 80; _Morelli_, _Fasti Novi
Orbis_, 16; _Andagoya's Nar._, ii.-iii.; _Galvano's Discov._,
125-8; _Ovalle_, _Hist. Rel. Chile_, in _Pinkerton's Voy._,
xiv. 151; _Acosta_, _Hist. Compend. Nuevo Granada_, 62; _March
y Labores_, _Marina Española_, i. 400, portrait; _Du Perier_,
_Gen. Hist. Voy._, 166; _Martire_, _Summario_, in _Ramusio_,
_Viaggi_, iii. 349; _Dic. Enc. de la Lengua Esp._, i. 308;
_Carta_, in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, iii. 526;
_Puente_, _Carta_, in _id._, 538-49; _Maglianos_, _St. Francis
and Franciscans_, 537-8; _Pedrarias_, _Reys-Togten_, 3-175,
and _Cordua_, _Scheeps-Togt_, 26-35, in _Aa_, vii.; _Hesperian
Mag._, ii. 32-3; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, 83-5; _Irving's
Columbus_, iii. 232-86; _Uitvoerige Reys-Togten_, 33-50, in
_Gottfried_, _Reysen_, iii.; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 163;
_Gonzalez Dávila_, _Carta al Rey_, _Squier's MS._, i. 16.

[XII-2] 'La llegada del obispo á Castilla no se verificó
hasta en 1518; y por cierto que no guardó aquí á su amigo los
respetos y consecuencia que le debia. En su disputa con Casas
delante del emperador aseguró que el primer gobernador del
Darien habia sido malo, y el segundo muy peor.' _Quintana_,
_Vidas_, 'Balboa,' 35. In the matter of definite dates for the
events of this chapter, authorities differ. All are more or
less vague. Most of them end the career of Vasco Nuñez with
the end of 1517; which, if correct, would fix the time of his
departure from Antigua about May, 1516, for in his agreement
with Pedrarias it was arranged that the time of absence on the
South Sea expedition should be limited to eighteen months, and
one of the principal charges of the governor was that Balboa
had failed in this. Among the collection of documents in the
royal archives of the Indies appears a petition presented by
Fernando de Argüello to Pedrarias and his council, in behalf
of Vasco Nuñez, requesting an extension of the time. At the
foot of the petition is a decree, dated January 13, 1518,
granting an extension of four months. Either the document is
fictitious, or its date erroneous, or contemporary writers
are in error. I am quite sure that Pedrarias never gave any
extension, since the authorities are clear and positive on
that point, and the incidents of the narrative hinge upon it.
Compare copy of this document in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_,
_Col. Doc._, ii. 556-8; _Carta de Alonso de la Puente y
Diego de Marquez_, in _id._, 538-49; Moreri and Miravel y
Casadevante in _El Gran. Dic._; _Burney's Discov. South Sea_,
i. 12; _Naharro_, _Relacion_, in _Doc. Inéd. para Hist. Esp._,
xxvi. 232. As to the date of Quevedo's leaving Darien and his
arrival in Spain there are grave differences. Herrera sends
the bishop to Spain in 1518, to report the misgovernment of
Pedrarias. Oviedo states that Quevedo left Darien soon after
the reconciliation of Vasco Nuñez and Pedrarias, and yet does
not speak of his being in Spain until 1519, 'era llegado.' It
is known that Quevedo spent some time in Cuba, urging Diego
Velazquez to apply for the governorship of Castilla del Oro.
The petition of Argüello for the extension of the time of
absence of Vasco Nuñez, before mentioned, contains the name of
Quevedo as one of those who acted upon it, which only the more
conclusively proves that document fictitious. Stranger than
all this, however, is the statement in the royal cédula, dated
June 18, 1519, ordering the ships of Balboa to be delivered
to Gil Gonzalez, that Vasco Nuñez was then a prisoner. So
singular is this culpable ignorance, or carelessness, or
deception, regarding the death of Vasco Nuñez, on the part
of the royal officials, as at first to raise grave doubts
regarding the date of his death, were it not proved by many
collateral incidents.

[XII-3] There are several streams of this name between the
Atrato and the Colorado, but none of them suit the occasion.
Modern maps give a Rio Balsas flowing into the gulf of San
Miguel from the south, its source turned the farthest possible
away from Acla. On a map of Joannis de Laet, 1633, _Nov.
Orb._, 347, midway between the gulf of San Miguel and Panamá,
are the words _R de la balsa_. They are placed opposite Acla;
the mouth of a river only is given, the stream not being
laid down. The same may be said of the _R. de la balse_ of
Montanus, _Nieuwe Weereld_, 1671, which is in about the same
locality. The Rio Chepo is the only stream approaching the
description in that vicinity. In my opinion both of these
map-makers were wrong; neither the Rio Chepo nor any other
stream in that neighborhood was the Rio Balsas of Vasco Nuñez.
The head-waters of the Rio Chucunaque are nearer the old site
of Acla than those of the Rio Chepo, or of any other southward
flowing stream; and yet I do not think the Chucunaque the
Balsas of Vasco Nuñez. Says Pascual de Andagoya, _Navarrete_,
_Col. de Viages_, iii. 404, 'Le envió á la provincia de Acla á
poblar un pueblo, que es el que agora está que se dice Acla, y
de allí le dió gente que fuese al rio de la Balsa, y hiciese
dos navíos para bajar por él á la mar del sur ... y bajados
al golfo de S. Miguel se anegaban,' etc.; from which, and
from the objects and incidents of the enterprise, as given
by various authors, I am inclined to believe the Rio de las
Balsas of Vasco Nuñez to be the stream now known as the Rio
Sabana. The fact of distance alone, commonly estimated at 22
leagues, but which Las Casas makes '24 y 25 leguas de sierras
altísimas,' inclines me to this opinion, not to mention
several others pointing in the same direction, which will
clearly appear in the text.

[XII-4] 'Yo ví firmado de su nombre del mismo Obispo, en una
relacion que hizo al Emperador en Barcelona el año de 1519,
cuando él de la tierra firme vino, como más largo adelante,
placiendo á Dios, será referido, que habia muerto el Vasco
Nuñez, por hacer los bergantines, 500 indios, y el secretario
del mismo Obispo me dijo que no quiso poner más número
porque no pareciese cosa increible, pero que la verdad era
que llegaban ó pasaban de 2,000.' _Las Casas_, _Hist. Ind._,
iv. 233-4. 'No se hallo que Castellano ninguno muriesse, ni
negro, aunque de los Indios fueron muchos los que perecieron.'
_Herrera_, dec. ii. lib. ii. cap. xi.

[XII-5] Pascual de Andagoya asserts that the worm-eaten timber
was put together on the Balsas and navigated, though with
great difficulty, to the gulf of San Miguel, and thence to the
Pearl Islands; and that there they soon foundered. _Relacion
de los sucesos de Pedrarias Dávila_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de
Viages_, iii. 404. This statement, though entitled to great
weight, is not sustained by the other authorities.

[XII-6] If I have applied strong terms of denunciation to
Pedrarias Dávila, it is because he unquestionably deserves
it. He is by far the worst man who came officially to the New
World during its early government. In this all authorities
agree. And all agree that Vasco Nuñez was not deserving
of death. Andagoya, _Relacion_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de
Viages_, iii. 403-5, is an excellent authority. Says Las
Casas, _Hist. Ind._, iv. 240, 'Dijeron que esta falsedad
ó testimonio falso, ó quizá verdad, escribió Garabito á
Pedrarias porque Vasco Nuñez, por una india que tenia por
amiga, le habia de palabra maltratado.' Some of the more
knowing among the chroniclers say that God punished Vasco
Nuñez with this death for his treatment of Nicuesa. Will they
at the same time tell us for what God permitted Pedrarias to
live? 'Desta manera acabó el adelantamiento de Vasco Nuñez,
descubridor de la mar del Sur, é pagó la muerte del capitan
Diego de Nicuesa; por la qual é por otras culpas permitió
Dios que oviesse tal muerte, é no por lo quel pregon deçia,
porque la que llamaban traycion, ninguno la tuvo por tal.'
_Oviedo_, iii. 60. Herrera everywhere speaks in the highest
terms of Vasco Nuñez, and pronounces the character and conduct
of Pedrarias detestable. Says Gomara, _Hist. Ind._, 85,
'Ni pareciera delante del gouernador, aunque mas su suegro
fuera. Juntosele con esto, la muerte de Diego de Nicuesa,
y sus sesenta compañeros. La prision del bachiller Enciso,
y que era vãdolero reboltoso, cruel, y malo para Indios.'
Of Balboa's denial of guilt, in _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, i. 51,
Benzoni writes, 'Valboa con giuramento negò, dicendo, che in
quanto toccaua alla informatione che contra lui s'era fatta
di solleuargli la gente che l'era à torto, e falsamente
accusato, e che considerasse bene quello che faceua, e se
lui hauesse tal cosa tentata, non saria venuto alla presentia
sua, e similmente del resto, si difese il meglio che puote ma
dove regnano le forze, poco gioua defendersi con la ragione.'
And Peter Martyr, dec. iv. cap. ix., testifies, 'Vaschum ab
Austro accersit Petrus Arias: paret dicto Vaschus, in catenas
conjicitur. Negat Vaschus tale consilium cogitasse. Testes
quæruntur malefactorum, quæ patraverat: ab initio dicta
colliguntur, morte dignus censetur, perimitur.' And 'what
stomach' he further adds, 'Pedrarias Dávila may have, should
he ever return to Spain, let good men judge.'

[XIII-1] The city or town council, composed of the alcalde,
regidores, and other officers having the administration or
economical and political management of municipal affairs.
The word _cabildo_ has essentially the same signification as
_ayuntamiento_, _regimiento_, _consejo_, _municipalidad_, and
_consejo municipal_. A _cabildo eclesiástico_ is a bishop's
council or chapter. The authority invested in this body at
Antigua at this time, to check Pedrarias, was wholly unusual
and extraordinary.

[XIII-2] First by the hand of Pedrarias de Ávila, the
governor's nephew, February 16, 1515, and again January 28,
1516. See _Puente_, _Carta_, in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_,
_Col. Doc._, 541-8; _Gonzalez Dávila_, _Teatro Ecles._, ii.
57.

[XIII-3] Juan de Quevedo was a friar of the order of St
Francis, a native of Bejori in Old Castile; was consecrated
bishop by Leo X., and died December 24, 1519. He was a
double-faced divine, mercenary, but with good-natured
proclivities. Gonzalez Dávila who gives his biography, _Teatro
Ecles._, ii. 58, says that he was defeated in the discussions
with Las Casas. See also _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 73-6.

[XIII-4] Herrera, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii. lib. iii. cap.
iii., gives the erroneous impression that, when Pedrarias
retired to Panamá, Espinosa was left to govern at Antigua as
captain-general. Acosta, _Compend. Hist. Nueva Granada_, 75-6,
copies the error.

[XIII-5] In fact, neither Nombre de Dios nor Panamá, as
at this time located, remained; the former, by order of
Philip II., being removed five leagues to the westward,
to Portobello, and the city of Panamá being refounded two
leagues west of the original site, each port, at the time of
its depopulation, claiming over 40,000 Spaniards as victims
to the unwholesomeness of the climate, during a period of
twenty-eight years. It was not until after these places had
become the entrepôts for a large traffic with Peru and the
north-western coast that the changes were made.

[XIII-6] It was in the former instance that Pedrarias sought
to pluralize his ownership by taking possession, quasi
possession, and repossession, as fully related in that
curious document by Mozolay, _Testimonio_, in _Pacheco_ and
_Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, ii. 549-56, of which I have made an
abstract in a previous chapter.

[XIII-7] A better anchorage, owing to the wide stretch of
shelving beach at Panamá, which was uncovered at low tide.
Herrera says that in his day vessels in summer rode in the
strand, and in the winter in the haven of Perico, two leagues
from the port of Panamá.

[XIII-8] As Pascual de Andagoya, _Relacion_, in _Navarrete_,
_Col. de Viages_, iii. 406, says, 'Panamá se fundó el año de
19, dia de Ntra. Sra. de Agosto, y en fin de aquel año pobló
al Nombre de Dios un capitan Diego Alvites por mandado de
Pedrarias.' And Herrera writes, dec. ii. lib. iii. cap. iii.,
'Concordandose todos en esto, llamò Pedrarias a un escrivano,
y le pidio por testimonio como alli de positiva una villa q̃
se llamasse Panamá en nõbre de Dios y de la Reyna doña Iuana,
y don Carlos su hijo, y protestava dela defender en el dicho
nombres a qualesquier cõtrarios.' See further _Las Casas_,
_Hist. Ind._, v. 200-20; _Morelli_, _Fasti Novi Orbis_, 17;
_Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, iii. 61-4; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, 85;
_Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 51; _Du Perier_, _Gen. Hist.
Voy._, 167; _Panamá, Descrip._ in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_,
_Col. Doc._, ix. 89-90; _Zuazo_, _Carta_, in _id._, xi.
312-19; _Gonzalez Dávila_, _Teatro Ecles._, ii. 56; _Purchas_,
_His Pilgrimes_, iv. 882.

[XIII-9] Morelli, _Fasti Novi Orbis_, 16, states that Albites
entered the Rio Chagre in 1515. 'Didacus Albitez itidem
Hispanus Chagre fluvium subiit.' In 1516 were put forward
his pretensions to conquest in the direction of Veragua.
_Herrera_, dec. ii. lib. ii. cap. xi.; _Andagoya's Nar._, 23;
_Oviedo_, iii. 61-71; _Galvano's Discov._, 31.

[XIII-10] Peter Martyr says the road was wide enough to give
passage for two carts side by side, 'to the intent that they
might passe ouer with ease to search ye secrets of either
spacious Sea;' but at the writing of his sixth decade the road
was not completed.

[XIII-11] Lying north of Nicoya, and so called to-day, that is
to say Puerto de Culebra. South of Lake Nicaragua, on Colon's
and Ribero's maps we find _G. de S. tiago_; Vaz Dourado, _b∴
de Samtiago_. By some chart-makers the results and names of
one discovery were known, by others, those of another; the
final appellation depended on circumstances.

[XIII-12] Oviedo's statements concerning himself during this
period of angry excitement must be taken with due allowance.
The chronicler gives himself and his affairs at great length;
but I will endeavor, in my curtailment of his account, not
to forget that there were at this time, and before and after,
twenty equally important issues of which there are less full
records. See _Oviedo_, iii. 41-56 and 72-88; _José Amador
de los Rios_, _Vida y Escritos de Oviedo_, in _id._, i. pp.
ix.-cvii.; _Herrera_, dec. ii. lib. ii. cap. x.

[XIII-13] 'From which it may be seen,' says Oviedo, 'with what
justice Vasco Nuñez was condemned, when his chief accomplice
comes back not only acquitted but with honors.'

[XIV-1] There were three of this name whom we shall encounter,
the contador of Española; the licenciado, who was alcalde
mayor of the Spanish main under Diego de Ordaz, in 1530;
_Simon_, _Conq. Tierra Firme_, 106-27; and the clergyman
and chief chronicler, in 1655, of the Indies, and of both
Castiles.

[XIV-2] The royal agreement was made specially with Niño,
'piloto de su magestad para el descubrimiento,' Gil Gonzalez
being named captain-general. Niño was to explore 1,000 leagues
to the westward for spices, gold, silver, pearls, and precious
stones, in three ships, furnished half by the crown and half
by the explorers, who were to receive for the purpose 4,000
castellanos de oro, from the sums to the credit of the crown
in the hands of the factor of Castilla del Oro. One twentieth
of what God might thus give them, after the king should have
received his fifth, was to be devoted to pious purposes. The
net proceeds to be divided equally between the crown and the
discoverers, according to the amount contributed by each.
Wages paid the crew to be counted in the costs; or if they
went on shares, two thirds should go to the king and Niño, and
one third to the captain, officers, and men. Supplies were to
be exempt from duty, and the explorers should have an interest
in the lands discovered by them. The crown agreed to furnish
at Jamaica 2,000 loads of cassava-root, and 500 hogs; also ten
negro slaves, the explorer to pay the owners for ten Indian
slaves to serve as interpreters. For the faithful performance
of these and other obligations, the explorer was required to
give bonds in the sum of 2,000 ducats. Herrera, dec. ii. lib.
iv. cap. i., gives only a part of the contract; in _Squier's
MSS._, i. 12-14, is the document in full.

[XIV-3] A copy of this cédula may be found in _Squier's MSS._,
i.

[XIV-4] In the Expediente sobre el Cumplimiento de la
Cédula—see _Los Navíos de Vasco Nuñez_, in _Squier's MSS._—is
given at wearisome length the ceremony and sayings at this
delivery and the results. Briefly, on the 4th of February,
1520, Pedrarias humbled himself to the dust before the sacred
cédula; February 5th, he talked much, saying that he had
finished the ships begun by Vasco Nuñez; that they had cost
more than 50,000 ducados, beside sweat and blood; that with
them the great city of Panamá—'la cibdad de Panamá'—with its
gold mines on one side and pearl fisheries on the other, had
been founded and the country thereabout pacified, and that
if the king knew all this he would not take the ships from
those who had built them and give them to another; February
7th, Juan del Sauce declared that, unless the ships were
surrendered, all the gold, pearls, or other property taken in
them would belong, under the king's order, to the fleet of
Gil Gonzalez; February 8th, Pedrarias replied that without
the ships the city could neither be sustained nor labor
be continued, and he called on the royal officers present,
Puente, the treasurer, Marquez, the contador, and Juan de
Rivas, factor, to say that these things were so; but the
royal officers answered that Pedrarias must obey the king's
command and give Gil Gonzalez the ships, keeping one, perhaps,
with which to protect the city, and selling the others to Gil
Gonzalez on such terms as he and the owners might arrange. In
regard to withholding the ships Pedrarias was certainly in the
right, though it was dangerous, and he claimed that he would
obey and was obeying the king; but when, on February 9th, he
demanded that Gil Gonzalez should appear in person and lay
before him the instructions and plans of the expedition, he
became most coolly impudent.

[XIV-5] Squier, _Dis. Nic._, MSS., 13, says the worms
destroyed them, but Gil Gonzalez himself only remarks, _Carta
al Rey_, MSS., 1, 'Despues de hechos otros navios en la Ysla
de las perlas porque los 4 primeros que se hizieron en la
tierra firme se perdieron.'

[XIV-6] Some say from 200 to 80. Both numbers, however,
should be larger; for the expedition gained men at Acla, and
100 are mentioned as constituting one land party during the
expedition. _Gil Gonzalez_, _Carta al Rey_, MSS., 3.

[XIV-7] Tararequi Island, Galvano, _Discov._, 148, calls it;
others, Terequeri Islands. Gil Gonzalez writes plainly enough,
_Carta al Rey_, MS., 2, 'Me bolbí á la dicha Ysla de las
Perlas ... i de aí me partí a hazer el descubrimiento que V
M me mando hazer.' The same authority states that the second
four vessels were built at the Pearl Islands, the others
having been 'lost in the river 40 leagues distant.'

[XIV-8] For conflicting statements concerning this, compare
_Gil Gonzalez_, _Carta al Rey_, MS., 16, 36; _Andagoya's
Nar._, 31-2; _Niño_, _Asiento_, MS., in _Squier's MSS._, i.
14, and in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, xiv. 5-19;
_Oviedo_, iii. 65-71; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Ind._, v. 200-4;
_Herrera_, dec. ii. lib. iii. cap. xv.; dec. ii. lib. iv. cap.
i.; dec. iii. i. cap. xvi.; _Helps' Span. Conq._, iii. 69, 70,
74-6; _Gordon's Anc. Mex._, ii. 204-8; _Squier's Dis. Nic._,
MSS., 7-10.

[XIV-9] I follow the commander's own statement, made to the
royal authorities from Santo Domingo, March 6, 1524. Of this,
which I quote as _Carta de Gil Gonzalez Dávila al Rey_, I
have several copies in manuscript, the best being a part of
the first volume of the Squier Collection. This collection,
consisting of twenty-three volumes of manuscripts, beside
separate pieces on various early affairs in Central America
and Mexico, fell into my hands at the sale of the library
of the late E. G. Squier, so widely known as an antiquarian
and historical writer, a review of whose works will appear
in a subsequent volume. The opportunities afforded Mr Squier
by his official position as _chargé d'affaires_ to Central
America, in 1849, and by his researches, combined with a
natural bent as student and author, prompted the collection
of books and manuscripts relative to Central America, a large
proportion of which I found useful in filling gaps in my own
sixteenth-century material. It seems that Mr Squier intended
the publication of a series of documents for history, of
which the _Carta de Palacio_ was printed at Albany, 1859,
and numbered I. The first volume of the Squier Collection of
Manuscripts contains, beside the _Carta de Gil Gonzalez_,
several documents on Nicaraguan discovery certified by
Navarrete, Buckingham Smith, and Squier, as true copies of the
originals in the archives at Seville and in the Hydrographic
Collection, notable among which are _Real Cedula de S. M.
expedida en 18 de Junio de 1519, á Pedrarias Dávila, para que
entregase los Navios de Basco Nuñez a Gil Gonzales de Avila y
los requerimientos que pasaron sobre ello_; and _Relacion Del
Asiento y Capitulacion que se tomó con Andres Niño, Piloto
de su Magestad para el descubrimiento que prometió hazer en
el Mar del Sur con 3 Navios, y por Capitan de ellos á Gil
Gonzales Dávila_.

[XIV-10] Peter Martyr states that they passed over a body of
water to get to it; Herrera and Oviedo both testify to a large
island, which we might believe were any such island there.
The truth is, parts of the land were inundated at this time
by the heavy rains, so that the peninsula being cut off from
the mainland by the water made it appear an island.

[XIV-11] Later called Nicoya, from the cacique of that
country, which name it bears to-day. This was the San Lúcar
of Hurtado. See chap. xi., note 11, this volume. Kohl thinks
it may have been the 5th of April, the day of San Vicente
Ferrer, that the Spaniards arrived here. Gomara states that
in early times it was also called Golfo de Ortiña, and Golfo
de Guetares; _Goldschmidt's Cartography of the Pacific Coast_,
MS., ii. 111-13.

[XIV-12] Which was received by 9,017 natives, large and small,
in one day, and with such enthusiasm that the Spaniards even
wept. This is as much as one having only ordinary faith can be
expected to believe at once, yet the strain on one's credulity
becomes more severe when the right honorable Gil Gonzalez
calls heaven to witness that he told each man and woman, apart
from the others, that God did not want unwilling service, and
that each for himself expressed a desire for it. If we allow
him 15 hours for his day's work, it makes 61 persons an hour,
or one a minute, who were examined and baptized.

[XIV-13] The Spaniards were at this time ignorant of the use
to which these mounds were put. Had they known them to be
great altars upon which were sacrificed human beings, the mild
and philosophic Nicaragua might have had occasion to prove
the valor of his warriors.

[XIV-14] 'I digo mar,' says Gil Gonzalez, _Carta al Rey_, MS.,
'porque creze i mengua.'

[XIV-15] 'Los pilotos qve conmigo llebaba certifican qve
sale a la mar del norte; i si asi es, es mui grand nueba,
porqve abra de vna mar a otra 2 o 3 legvas de camino mui
llano.' Thus it will be seen that the question of interoceanic
communication attracted the attention of the first Europeans
who saw Lake Nicaragua, and this very naturally; for it must
be remembered that Gil Gonzalez was in search of a strait or
passage through the continent, and if perchance he should find
the Moluccas thereabout, his whole object would be attained.

[XIV-16] The word Nicaragua was first heard spoken by
Europeans at Nicoya, where Gil Gonzalez had been notified
of the country and its ruler. In the earliest reports it is
found written _Nicaragua_, _Micaragua_, _Nicorragua_, and
_Nicarao_. Upon the return of Gil Gonzalez the name Nicaragua
became famous, and beside being applied to the cacique and his
town, was gradually given to the surrounding country, and to
the lake. It was by some vaguely used to designate the whole
region behind and between Hibueras and Veragua. Later there
was the Provincia de Nicaragua, beside El Nuevo Reyno de Leon.
Herrera and many others mention the Indian pueblo by the lake.
For a time the lake was known as the _Mar Dulce_. Thus Colon
lays it down on his map, in 1527, as the _mar duce_, and the
town or province _micaragua_. Ribero, 1529, calls the lake
_mar dulce_ and the town _nicaragua_. Munich Atlas, No. vi.,
gives only _micaragua_, which No. vii. makes _nicaragua_.
Ramusio, _Viaggi_, iii. 455, gives _Nicaragva_ as a province.
Mercator, in his Atlas of 1574, gives the town of _Nicaragua_.
Iudocus Hondius, in _Drake's World Encomp._, applies the term
_Nicaragva_ to a province or large extent of country. Ogilby,
Dampier, De Laet, and other contemporary and later authorities
extend the name to the lake.

[XIV-17] The narrative says 3,000 or 4,000; I name the lowest
number, giving the reader the right of reducing at pleasure.

[XIV-18] The name of the bay remains; that of the island is
lost. The early names of the islands in this bay were _S.
Miguel la Possession_, _La Possession_, and _Esposescion_;
_Amapalla_, _Amapala_, or _I del Tigre_; _y. de flecheros_,
_Mangera_, or _Manguera_. Jefferys calls the bay _Fonseca_
or _Amapalla_. East of _b: de fomsequa_ Vaz Dourado places
the wood _monic_. Mercator locates the town _Canicol_ on
the southern shore. Ogilby places the town _Xeres_, De Laet
_Xerez_, near _B. de Fonseca_. On one map there is _Xeres_ or
_Chuluteca_, on the eastern shore, and _El viejo las Salinas_
river flowing into the bay.

[XIV-19] Further references to this voyage, unimportant,
however, are made in _Galvano's Discov._, 148-9, where it
is stated that 'Nigno' reached 'Tecoantepec'; _Pacheco_ and
_Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, i. 440; _Ogilby's Am._, 238; _Crowe's
Cent. Am._, 58; _Gordon's Anc. Mex._, ii. 204-8; _Peter
Martyr_, dec. vi. cap. ii.-v.; _Conder's Mex. and Guat._, ii.
301; _Juarros_, _Guat._, passim; _Pim's Gate of Pacific_, 34;
_Morelli_, _Fasti Novi Orbis_, 18; _Andagoya's Nar._, 31-2.

[XV-1]

In making settlements, as in all things relating to the New
World, it was the aim of the Spanish government to reduce
details to law. At p. 19, vol. ii. et seq., _Recop. de
Indias_, we find the ordenanzas de la poblacion de ciudades y
villas begun by Charles V., in 1523, and continued by Philip
II., Felipe III., and Felipe IV., down to 1656. Therein it was
ordered that in choosing a site for settlement, which always
implied the building of a town or city, care must be taken
that the place be suitable in every respect. It should be
ascertained if it was a healthy locality, if the young natives
were well and strong, if many of the people attained old age,
if the country was favorable to agriculture or mining, and
of easy access by land and sea; if by the sea, there should
be a good harbor, and, if possible, the town must be placed
by a river. Open pueblos must not be built on the seashore
because of corsairs. The site being chosen, a plan of the
place must be made, the squares formed, and the streets and
lots laid out, and measured by cord and rule. The location
of the plaza, or public and official square, was of primary
import, since from it to the principal entrances ran the most
important streets. After the land had been set apart for town
lots and ejidos, or commons, the country adjacent was to be
divided into four parts, one of them for the person making
the settlement, and the remainder to be assigned by lot to the
settlers. In inland settlements, the church should be located
at a distance from the plaza, and on the street running
from the plaza to the church were to be placed the _casas
reales_, or offices and dwelling of the crown officials,
the _cabildo_, _consejo_, or the city-hall, the _aduana_,
or custom-house, and the _atarazana_, or arsenal. Or the
church was placed on one side of the plaza; the royal houses
and the municipal house on another; the custom-house on the
third; while the remaining side might be devoted to business
houses or dwellings. Thus a stranger entering any Spanish
town could find without direction all the principal places.
Marketing-stalls, usually with an awning, were admitted in the
plaza. If a seaboard town, the church must be so placed that
it could be seen on entering the harbor, and so constructed
as to serve for purposes of defence. In this case the plaza
must be at the landing; if inland, in the centre of the town.
In form it must be a parallelogram, the length to be at least
one and a half times the width, as the best shape for feats
of horsemanship; its size should be, according to population,
not less than 200 by 300 feet, nor more than 800 by 532 feet,
a good size being 600 by 400 feet. From the plaza, whose
corners stood toward the four cardinal points, issued four
principal streets, one from the middle of each side, and
two smaller streets from each corner. In cold countries the
streets had to be wide; in hot countries, narrow. Houses not
to be built within 300 _pasos_ or 750 feet, of the walls or
stockade. Town lots and lands not distributed to settlers
belonged to the king, and were reserved for future settlers.
Then the law states how first settlers must hasten with their
house-building, after having planted and assured themselves
of food for the season, building with economy and strength,
and throwing round the town palisades and intrenchments.
The houses must be uniform, and with good accommodations for
horses.

Any ten or more married men might unite to form a new
settlement, and might elect annually from among themselves
_alcaldes ordinarios_ and other municipal officers. When
it was possible to establish a _villa de Españoles_ with
a council of alcaldes ordinarios and regidores, and there
was a responsible person with whom to make an agreement for
settlement, the agreement was to be as follows: Within a time
specified there must be from ten to thirty settlers, each
with one horse, ten milch cows, four oxen, one brood mare,
one sow, twenty ewes of Castile, six hens, and a cock. A
clergyman must be provided, the first incumbent to be named
by the chief of the colony, and his successors in accordance
with the royal right of patronage. A church must be built,
which the founder of the settlement supplied with ornaments,
and to which were granted lands. Any one agreeing to form a
settlement, and conforming to the regulations, had given him
land equivalent to four square leagues, distant at least five
leagues from any other Spanish settlement; and he was himself
to enter into agreement with each enrolled settler to give
a town lot, lands for pasturage and cultivation, and as many
_peonías_, or shares of foot-soldiers, and _caballerías_, or
shares of cavalrymen, as each would obligate himself to work,
provided that to no one was to be given more than five peonías
or three caballerías. The principal with whom an agreement for
settling was made, to hold civil and criminal jurisdiction
in first instance, during life, and for that of one son or
heir, and from him appeal might lie to the alcalde mayor
or the audiencia of the district. He might appoint alcaldes
ordinarios, regidores, and other municipal officers. Those
going from Spain as first settlers were exempted from the
payment of _almojarifazgo_, or export duty, or other crown
dues, on what they took for their household and maintenance
during the first voyage to the Indies. Bachelors should be
persuaded to marry.

When a colony was about to leave a city to make a settlement,
the _justicia_ and _regimiento_ should file with the
_escribano del consejo_ a list of the persons migrating;
and lest the mother city should be depopulated, those only
were eligible who had no town lots or agricultural lands.
The number of colonists being complete, they were to elect
officers, and each colonist to register the sum he intended
to employ in the enterprise. And even after the settlement
had been begun, whether as _colonia_, that is, colonists
in voluntary association, or _adelantamiento_, _alcaldía
mayor_, _corregimiento_, enterprises headed respectively by
an adelantado, alcalde mayor, or corregidor, or _villa_, or
_lugar_, the fathers of it were forbidden to wholly leave the
people to themselves.

Discoverers, pacificators, first settlers and their immediate
descendants, possessed advantages over others. They were made
_hijosdalgo de solar conocido_, with all the honors, according
to law and custom, of hijosdalgo and gentlemen of Spain. They
might bear arms, by giving bonds, before any justice, that
they would use them solely in self-defence. And that it might
be known who were entitled to reward, viceroys and presidents
of audiencias were directed to examine into the merits of
cases, and see that a book was kept by the _escribano de
gobernacion_, in which were recorded the services and merits
of every person seeking preferment.

For the government of the settlement, the governor in whose
district it might be, had to declare whether it was to
be _ciudad_, _villa_, or _lugar_, that is to say, a town
less than a _villa_, and greater than _aldea_. A _ciudad
metropolitana_, or capital of the province, to have a _juez_
with the title of _adelantado_, that is to say, a military
and political governor of a province; or _alcalde mayor_,
governor of a pueblo not the capital of the province; or
_corregidor_, a magistrate with criminal jurisdiction only;
or _alcalde ordinario_, mayor with criminal jurisdiction. This
_juez_ was to have jurisdiction _in solidum_, and jointly with
the _regimiento_. The administration of public affairs was
vested in two or three treasury officials, twelve _regidores_,
or members of the town council, appointed, not elected; two
_fieles ejecutores_, or regidores having charge of weights;
in each parish two _jurados_, who saw that people were well
provided, especially with provisions; a _procurador general_,
attorney with general powers; a _mayordomo_, having charge
of public property; an _escribano de consejo_, notary of the
council; two _escribanos públicos_; one _escribano de minas
y registros_; a _pregonero mayor_, official vendue-master; a
_corredor de lonja_, merchants' broker, and two _porteros_,
or janitors of the town council. If the city was _diocesana_,
or _sufragánea_, it must have eight regidores, and the other
officers in perpetuity; villas and lugares only to have
an alcalde ordinario, say, four regidores, an alguacil, or
bailiff, an _escribano de consejo y público_, and a mayordomo.

[XV-2]

The title was 'Nueva Ciudad de Panamá.' _Décadas_, in
_Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, viii. 16. A second
decree, dated from Lisbon December 3, 1581, added to the
title 'muy noble y muy leal.' _Panamá_, _Descrip._, in _id._,
ix. 80. A half-page representation of the arms is given in
_Gonzalez Dávila_, _Teatro Ecles._, ii. 56—shield on golden
field divided; on the right a handful of gray arrows with blue
points and silvery feathers, and a yoke, the device of the
Catholic kings. On the left three caravels, significant of
Spice Island or other commerce, over which shines the north
star. Above the golden field a crown, and round the field a
border of castles and lions. 'Tambien le diò los Honores, y
Titulos de muy Noble, y muy Leal, y que sus Regidores gozen
del Titulo de Veintiquatros.'

[XV-3] The prior of Lora, chaplain of the king in 1522,
was proposed to the pope for the office of bishop of the
country lying between Nombre de Dios and Higueras. 'Siruenla
cinco Dignidades, y dos Canonigos, tres Capellanes: y ocho
Colegiales del Colegio. Tiene Sacristan Mayor con carga de
Sochantre en el Coro; y tiene vna sola Parroquia en ella,
y su comarca.' _Gonzalez Dávila_, _Teatro Ecles._, ii. 56.
This author, as well as Alcedo in _Dic. Univ._, iv. 33, gives
a list of bishops, but both are incorrect. It was somewhat
later, the time of which is written in _Purchas_, _His
Pilgrimes_, iv. 882. 'The limits of the Counsell of _Panama_,
which was first called _Castilla del Oro_, and afterwards
_Terra Firme_, are very small; for the Counsell is principally
resident there, for the dispatch of the Fleetes and Merchants,
which goe and come to _Peru_: it hath in length East and West
about ninetie leagues.' Further reference, _Morelli_, _Fasti
Novi Orbis_, 96; _Oviedo_, iii. 57-117; _Herrera_, dec. iii.
lib. i. cap. xvi.; _Carta de la Audiencia de Santo Domingo_,
in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, i. 413; _Enciso_,
_Suma de Geografia_, 57.

[XV-4] As a discoverer, his talents were unequal to the
attempt. As a writer, Andagoya figured with Oviedo, Enciso,
and other noted men in the retinue of the unscrupulous
Pedrarias. Born in Alava province, he came to the
Isthmus in 1514, and took an active part in the various
expeditions for its subjugation and settlement. Through
the favor of Pedrarias, whose wife's maid he married, he
rose to encomendero, to regidor of Panamá, and, in 1522,
to inspector-general of the Isthmus Indians. The present
expedition, which brought back wonderful reports of the Inca
empire, might have gained him the glories of that conquest,
or at least he might have shared them with Pizarro, had his
health not broken down. As it was, he merely acquired wealth
as agent for the Peruvian hero, and although he rose afterward
to adelantado and governor of New Castile, his integrity
and comparative want of audacity prevented him from reaping
the benefits within reach of less scrupulous rivals. The
original of his well-written narrative, relating the history
of the Isthmus and adjoining region in connection with his
career, was found by Navarrete in the Seville Archives, and
published in his _Col. de Viages_, iii. 393-459, from which
source Markham made the translation issued in 1865 by the
Hakluyt Society. Oviedo's account of Andagoya's career, from a
different source, iv. 126-32, confirms the general exactness
of his narrative, although Acosta, _Comp. Hist. Nueva
Granada_, 383, declares it colored with a view to advocate
his claim to the governorship of New Castile. _Helps' Span.
Conq._, iii. 426, and _March y Labores_, _Marina Española_,
ii. 121, give Andagoya's voyage.

[XVI-1]

Called by Herrera, Ymabite, and by Juarros, _Guat._, following
him, Imabite. 'Y poblò en medio de la provincia de Ymabite,
la ciudad de Leon, con templo, y fortaleza.' dec. iii. lib.
v. cap. xii. See also _Relacion de Andagoya_, in _Navarrete_,
_Col. de Viages_, iii. 413; _Exposicion á S. M. por la
justicia y regimiento de la ciudad de Granada_, in _Pacheco_
and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, vii. 555-6; _Relacion de lo que
escriben los oidores_, in _id._, xiv. 39; _Remesal_, _Hist.
Chyapa_, 164; _Oviedo_, iii. 113-14, 119, iv. 100-1. Fray
Gil Gonzalez Dávila, in _Teatro Ecles._, i. 233, gives a
representation of what he calls the 'armas de la civdad de
Nicaragva,' consisting of a shield bearing in its field a
rampant lion with the left paw resting on a globe. The shield
is surmounted by a crown. In view of the usual remoteness
of this writer from the truth, we may apply the term city of
Nicaragua to any city in Nicaragua, notwithstanding he affirms
it to be the place discovered by Gil Gonzalez in 1522, and
peopled by Hernandez and Pedrarias.

[XVI-2] Consisting of gold from 12 to 18 carats by actual
assay, amounting to 17,000 pesos de oro; of an inferior
quality, known as _hachas_, 15,363 pesos; in rattle-shaped
pieces, said to be of no standard value, 6,182 pesos. _Gil
Gonzalez Dávila_, _Carta al Rey_, MS. There were likewise 145
pesos worth of pearls, of which 80 pesos' worth were obtained
from the Pearl Islands. _Relacion del viage que hizo Gil
Gonzalez Dávila_, in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._,
xiv. 20-24. This document gives in detail, beside the quantity
of pearls secured, the distance journeyed, the dimensions of
the islands, the names of the provinces through which they
passed, with their caciques, the gold taken from each, and
the souls baptized. There are also here given, 5-20, _id._,
_Andrés Niño_, _Relacion del asiento_, or agreement with the
king; _Relacion de lo que va en la armada_, with the cost of
outfit, etc.

[XVI-3] The 10th of March, 1524, the royal officers at
Española, Miguel de Pasamonte and Alonso Dávila, write the
king that Captain Gil Gonzalez Dávila is there about to embark
'to seek the strait from north to south'—'Torna agora á buscar
el Estrecho de Norte á Sur.' _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col.
Doc._, i. 440.

[XVI-4] 'El mal tiempo echo a la mar algunos de los cavallos
que llevava, de donde le quedó el nombre.' _Herrera_, dec.
iii. lib. v. cap. xii. Oviedo mentions the death of a horse
which was buried with great secrecy, lest the natives should
learn they were mortal. Fernando Colon, in 1527, writes _a:
de cauallos_; Ribero, in 1529, _C∴ de cauallos_; Vaz Dourado,
1571, _p∴ de caualos_, with the name _triqueste_ next west;
De Laet, 1633, _Po de Cavallos_; Ogilby, 1671, _Pta d.
Cavallos_; Jefferys, 1776, _Pto Cavallos_; and to-day as
in the text.

[XVI-5] Oviedo, iii. 114, says that two or three days
afterward Soto and his companions were released upon parole,
and their arms restored them.

[XVI-6] Town, port, and cape. Some English charts still retain
the name _Cape Triunfo_. Ribero writes _t'ũfo de la c̃z_; Vaz
Dourado, _triumfo dellai_, the next name west being _piita
de la call_, and next to this, _rio de pochi_, which Ribero
calls _R∴ d' pechi_. Next west of this name Ribero places
_p∴o de hellados_. Ogilby, De Laet, Jefferys, and others
give _Triumpho_ or _Triumfo de la Cruz_.

[XVII-1] See chapter iv., note 6, this volume.

[XVII-2] 'Una que llaman Hueitapalan y en otra lengua Xucutaco
... ocho ó diez jornadas de aquella villa de Trujillo.'
_Cortés_, _Cartas_, 469. 'Higueras y Hõduras, que tenian fama
de mucho oro y buena tierra.' _Gomara_, _Hist. Mex._, 233.

[XVII-3] _Cartas_, 315, letter of 13 Oct., 1524. The letter
of the emperor commanding him to search both coasts is dated
6 June, 1523.

[XVII-4] Soldiers, 370, including 100 archers and
arquebusiers, and 22 horses, says _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist.
Verdad._, 176. 'Por todos çinco navios gruessos ó caravelas
é un bergantin.' _Oviedo_, iii. 459.

[XVII-5] Also written Oli, Olit, Olite, Dolid, Dolit. A
hidalgo of Baeza. _Oviedo_, iii. 188. See chap. vi. vol. i.,
_Hist. Mexico_, this series.

[XVII-6] Bernal Diaz describes him as a well formed,
strong-limbed man, with wide shoulders and a somewhat fair
complexion. Despite the peculiarity of a groove in the lower
lip, which gave it the appearance of being split, the face
was most attractive. 'Era un Hector en el esfuerço, para
combatir.' He was married to a Portuguese, Felipa de Araujo,
by whom he had a daughter. _Hist. Verdad._, 176, 177, 240.
Further references in chap. vi. vol. i., _Hist. Mexico_, this
series.

[XVII-7] The lobes of his ears were shorn by captors, he
said, of a fortress which he had aided too obstinately in
defending. Bernal Diaz appears to doubt this explanation.
_Hist. Verdad._, 176, 177.

[XVII-8] The agent, Alonso de Contreras, had received 8,000
pesos de oro for the purpose, in order that the expedition
should not be hampered for want of means, nor be obliged to
prey at once upon the natives. _Oviedo_, iii. 459. Cortés
estimates the total cost of the expedition at over 50,000
ducats. _Mem._, in _Doc. Inéd._, iv. 227; _Instruc._, in
_Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, xiii. 5; _Gastos_,
in _id._, xii. 386, with details of expenses. The purchases
were made ere the presence of the fleet should raise prices
at Habana, and yet a fanega of maize cost two pesos de oro,
a sword eight pesos, a crossbow twenty, and a firelock one
hundred; while a shipmaster received eight hundred pesos a
month. _Gomara_, _Hist. Mex._, 243.

[XVII-9] 'Se habia confederado el tal Cristóbal Dolit con
Diego Velazquez, y que iba con voluntad de no me obedecer,
antes de le entregar la tierra al dicho Diego Velazquez
y juntarse con él contra mi.' _Cortés_, _Cartas_, 337.
'Cõcertarõ ... q̃ entre él, y Christoval de Oli, tuviesen
aquella tierra de Higueras ... y q̃ el Diego Velazquez le
proveeria de lo q̃ huviesse menester.' _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist.
Verdad._, 177; _Oviedo_, iii. 113; _Gomara_, _Hist. Mex._,
243.

[XVII-10] If not, he would return to Mexico to his wife and
estates, and affirm before Cortés that his agreement with
Velazquez was subterfuge on his part to obtain stores and men.
_Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Verdad._, 177.

[XVII-11] 'Con que començò a entender que se yua apartando de
la obediencia de Cortés.' _Herrera_, dec. iii. lib. v. cap.
xii.

[XVII-12] _Juarros_, _Guat._, 42-3. It was soon abandoned.
See chap. xvi., note 5, this volume.

[XVII-13] This according to _Gomara_, _Hist. Mex._, 269, and
_Cortés_, _Cartas_, 467, who do not, however, clearly indicate
that Valenzuela was one of Olid's officers. Informed of the
wreck, by Casas probably, Cortés sent a vessel for them, which
was also wrecked, on the Cuban coast. Bernal Diaz, _Hist.
Verdad._, 208, alludes to this party as twenty-five men sent
to kidnap Indians.

[XVII-14] 'Cum narium et venarum gutturis summo tumore præ
ira, sæpe dedit de tanta animi perturbatione signa, neque a
verbis id significantibus abstinuit.' _Peter Martyr_, dec.
viii. cap. x.