Chapter VI: Discovery of Nicaragua in 1522; Gil Gonzales de Avila,

and his march into the Country; Lands at Nicoya; Reaches Nicaragua
and has an Interview with its Cazique; Is closely questioned;
Marches to Dirianga, where he is at first received, but afterwards
attacked and forced to retreat; Peculiarities of the Aborigines;
Their wealth; Arrival of Francisco Hernandez de Cordova; He
subdues the country, and founds the cities of Granada and Leon;
Return of Gonzales; Quarrels between the Conquerors; Pedro Arias
de Avila, the first Governor of Nicaragua; His death; Is succeeded
by Roderigo de Contreras; His son, Hernandez de Contreras, rebels
against Spain; Meditates the entire independence of all Spanish
America on the Pacific; Succeeds in carrying Nicaragua; Sails for
Panama; Captures it; Marches on Nombre de Dios, but dies on the
way; Failure of his daring and gigantic Project; Subsequent
Incorporation of Nicaragua in the Vice-Royalty of Guatemala—The
City of Granada in 1665, by Thomas Gage, an English Monk;
Nicaragua called “Mahomet’s Paradise;” The Importance of Granada
at that Period; Subsequent Attack by the Pirates, in 1668; Is
Burnt; Their Account of it; The Site of Granada; Eligibility of
its Position; Population; Commerce; Foreign Merchants; Prospective
Importance—Lake Nicaragua; Its Discovery and Exploration;
Interesting Account of it by the Chronicler Oviedo, written in
1541; Its Outlet Discovered by Captain Diego Machuca; The wild
beasts on its Shores; The Laguna of Songozona; Sharks in the Lake,
their Rapacity; Supposed Tides in the Lake; Explanation of the
Phenomenon, 157