chapter xxiii

. 123, he corrects himself in regard to El Retrete and Nombre de Dios being the same place:—'Por esto parece que el puerto del Retrete no es el que agora llamamos del Nombre de Dios, como arriba dijimos por relacion de otros, sino más adelante, hácia el Oriente.' Speaking of El Retrete, Diego de Porras, _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, i. 285, remarks:—'En algunas cartas de navegar de algunos de los marineros juntaba esta tierra con la que habian descubierto Hojeda y Bastidas.' Navarrete himself, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 26, says of Bastidas, 'terminó su descubrimiento por los diez grados de altura en el puerto del Retrete ó de Escribanos y del nombre de Dios;' and again in a note concerning Nombre de Dios:—'En este puerto entró posteriormente el Almirante Colon el dia 26 de Noviembre de 1502 con noticia que ya tenia de los descubrimientos de Bastidas.' Gomara, _Hist. Ind._, 67, accredits Bastidas with the new discovery of 170 leagues of coast, 'que ay del cabo de la Vela al golfo de Vraua, y Farallones del Darien,' resting with Oviedo at that point. From the evidence Humboldt, _Exam. Crit._, i. 360, infers that Bastidas continued 'vers l'ouest jusqu'au Puerto de Retrete.' Loose statements are quite the habit now as of old; instance that of Lerdo de Tejada, who says, _Apuntes Hist._, 89, referring to Bastidas, 'Y siguió hasta el puerto llamado despues el _Retiro_, donde se fundó posteriormente el del _Nombre de Dios_.'

[IV-19] That is to say, Bethlehem. Porras enters it _Y. n. ebra_; Herrera, _Yebra_; and Fernando Colon, _Kiebra_. On Ribero's map the name _bele_ is given to a lagoon; Vaz Dourado writes _belen_; and Jacob Colom, _Belem_.

[IV-20] Although used by most Spanish and English writers as a proper name, the word _quibian_ is an appellative, and signifies the chief of a nation, or the ruler of a dynasty, as the _cacique_ of the Cubans, the _inca_ of the Peruvians, the _ahau_ of the Quichés, etc. Columbus, writing from Jamaica, employs the term _el Quibian de Veragua_; and again, _Carta de Colon_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, i. 302, 'Asenté pueblo, y dí muchas dádivas al _Quibian_, que así llaman al Señor de la tierra.' Napione and De Conti write _il Quibio o cacico di Beragua_. See their _Biog. di Colombo_, 388:—"Il Prefetto andò colle barche al mare per entrare nel fiume e portarsi alla popolazione del Quibio, cosi chiamato da quei popoli il loro Re.'

[IV-21] Rio de la Concepcion.

[IV-22] Irving, _Columbus_, ii. 402, carelessly calls him 'the chief notary,' confounding him with Diego de Porras, who was notary of the expedition. The notary was not a fighting man, but rather must withhold himself from action that he might write down what was done by others.

[IV-23] 'Y como luego mandó prender al Cacique do se le fizo mucho daño que le quemaron su poblacion, que era la mejor que habia en la costa é de mejores casas, de muy buena madera, todas cubiertas de fojas de palmas, é prendieron á sus fijos, é aquí traen algunos dellos de que quedó toda aquella tierra escandalizada, desto no sé dar cuenta sino que lo mandó facer é aun apregonar escala franca.' _Diego de Porras_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, i. 286-7.

[IV-24] There are two accounts of this affair; one by Fernando Colon, and one by Diego Mendez. Both are biased; the former in favor of Bartolomé, the latter in favor of the writer. Fernando tells how, when the settlement was taken by surprise, his uncle seized a lance, and supported by seven men fought with desperate valor until the main body of the Spaniards came to his relief, when the enemy was routed. The other states, _Relacion hecha por Diego Mendez_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, i. 317, that the admiral had just left the harbor, accompanied by the larger part of the Spaniards, who had gone to say farewell. Mendez, newly appointed contador, held the town of Belen with twenty men. Suddenly four hundred Indians appeared on the hill above, and sent upon the Spaniards a shower of darts and arrows. Fortunately the yells were in advance of the weapons, and thus time was given Mendez to arm. The fight was desperate, and lasted three hours. Ten natives who ventured to close with their war clubs were slain by the sword. Seven of the twenty Christians were killed; but a miracle at last gave victory to the remainder. During the next four days, by the ingenuity of Mendez, and under his direction, the effects of the colony were placed on shipboard, and in return for his invaluable services he was made captain of Tristan's ship.

[IV-25] The final burial-place, not only of Columbus, but of his son Diego, and of his grandson Luis, was the cathedral of Santo Domingo. For seven years after his death the remains of Columbus lay in the convent of San Francisco at Valladolid. Then they were removed to Seville and placed in the monastery of Las Cuevas; and in 1536 were transferred to Santo Domingo. When Española was ceded to France in 1795, the Spanish naval commander asked permission to remove the remains to Cuba, which was granted; and what were supposed to be the remains were so removed midst pomp and ceremony in December-January following. But later investigations, the result of long-standing suspicions, satisfied many that a blunder had been committed; and that the bones of Columbus still rest at Santo Domingo. This has been proved beyond a doubt by the recent researches of the distinguished French savant and Americaniste A. Pinart.

[IV-26] I have remarked at some length on Fernando Colon's life of his father, and on the letters of the admiral, and other documents in Navarrete, Salvá and Baranda, Pacheco and Cárdenas, and Mendoza, and elsewhere. The standard historians, Las Casas, Oviedo, Peter Martyr, Gomara, and Herrera, I will pass for the present, only remarking that each in his own way tells the story of the admiral, and all must be carefully considered in a study of his life and achievements. Other early or important authorities are _Zorzi_, _Paesi Nouamente retrouati_, Vicentia, 1507; _Ruchamer_, _Newe unbekanthe landte_, Nuremberg, 1508; _Stamler_, _Dyalogvs_, Augsburg, 1508; _Marineo_, _Obra Compuesta de las Cosas Memorables e Claros Varones de España_, Alcala, 1530; _Geraldini_, _Itinerarivm ad Regiones svb Æqvinoctiali_, Rome, 1631; _Grynævs_, _Novvs Orbis Regionvm ac Insularvm veteribvs incognitarvm_, Basle, 1532; _Maffei_, _Historiarum indicarum_, Florence, 1588; _Gambaræ_, _De navigatione Christophori Columbi_, Rome, 1585; _Charlevoix_, _Histoire de l'Isle-Espagnole_, Paris, 1730; _Cladera_, _Investigaciones historicas_, Madrid, 1794; _Bossi_, _Vita di Colombo_, Milan, 1818. _Die vierdte Reise so vollenbracht hat Christoffel Columb_, at page 6 of _Löw_, _Meer oder Seehanen Buch_, Cologne, 1598, should be read in reference with the maps, to be appreciated. See also _Ramusio_, _Viaggi_, iii. 16-18 and 98-9; _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 27-30; _Galvano's Discov._, 100-1; _Humboldt_, _Exam. Crit._, passim; _Major's Select Letters of Columbus_, _Hakluyt Soc._, London, 1847; _Castellanos_, _Elegías de Varones ilustres de Indias_, 42-3; _Acosta_, _Compend. Hist Nueva Granada_, 1-17; _Repertorio Americano_, iii. 186-225; _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, 3-6 and 101-6; _Lerdo de Tejada_, _Apuntes Hist._, 77-80; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 162-3; _Gordon's Hist. Am._, i. 247-64; _Lardner's Hist. Discov._, ii. 16; _Payno_, _Cronología Mex._, in _Soc. Mex. Geog._; _Robertson's Hist. Am._, i. 59-175; _Corradi_, _Descub. de la Am._, i. 6-312; _Simon_, _Conq. tierra firme_, 44-50; _Mesa y Leompart_, _Hist. Am._, i. 1-64; _Torquemada_, i. 20-1, and iii. 283-94; _Vega_, _Comentarios Reales_, ii. 7; _Acosta_, _Hist. Ind._, passim; _Villagvtierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, 5-19; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, 13-39; _Cavanilles_, _Hist. España_, v. 27-55 and 104-9; _Nueva España, Breve Resumen_, MS., i. 1-14; _Maglianos_, _St Francis and Franciscans_, 521-32; _Aa_, _Naaukeurige Versameling_, ii. and iii. passim; _Holmes' Annals Am._, i. 1-16; _Puga_, _Cedulario_, 4-5; _Gonzalez Dávila_, _Teatro Ecles._, i. 255-6; _Burke's Europ. Set._, i. 1-45; _Major's Prince Henry_, 347-67; _Help's Span. Conq._, passim; _Heylyn's Cosmog._, 1083; _Ogilby's Am._, 55-6; _Ens_, _West- und Ost-Indischer Lustgart_, 178-84 and 408-9; _Campe_, _Hist. Descub. Am._, 1-133; _Poussin_, _De la Puissance Américaine_, passim; _Hist. Mag._, Aug. and Sept. 1864, and Feb. 1868; _Mariana_, _Hist. España_, vi. 307 etc. and vii. 80; _Muñoz_, _Hist. Nuevo Mundo_, i. 27-312; _Morelli_, _Fasti Novi Orbis_, 11-12; _Purchas_, _His Pilgrimes_, v. 801-4; _Pizarro y Orellana_, _Varones Ilvstres del Nvevo Mvndo_, 1-53; _Montanus_, _De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld_, 1-43; and _Laet_, _Nov. Orb._, 345-6. The first work to throw a clear light on the question of birthplace was the _Della patria di Cristoforo Colombo_, by Conte Napione di Coconato, Florence, 1808, a dissertation published by the Academy of Sciences, of Turin. In this and supplementary works the ability and zeal of the author are manifest. In 1853, at Rome, was issued a new edition of Napione and de Conti, entitled _Patria e Biografia Del Grande Ammíraglio D. Cristóforo Colombo ... rischiarita e comprovata dai celebri scrittori Gio. Francesco Conte Napione di Coconato e Vincenzo de Conti_, the latter author of _Storia del Monferrato_, in which appears a wealth of new information second only to the original narratives and documents themselves. The _Dissertazioni epistolari bibliografiche_, Rome, 1809, of Francesco Cancellieri, which Leclerc calls 'savante et fort curieuse,' should not be overlooked. John S. C. Abbott throws together a _Life of Christopher Columbus_, New York, 1875, in popular form, in which extracts are conspicuous, the author having made quite free with the writings of his predecessors.

[V-1] Chief judge, or highest judicial officer in the colony, to take the place of Roldan, who was to be returned to Spain. Irving, _Columbus_, ii. 331, writes erroneously _alguazil mayor_, evidently confounding the two offices. For Las Casas, _Hist. Ind._, iii. 18, says plainly enough:—'Trujo consigo por Alcalde mayor un caballero de Salamanca y licenciado, llamado Alonso Maldonado.' An alguacil mayor was a chief constable, or high sheriff, a very different person from a chief judge. These terms, and the offices represented by them, will be fully explained in another place.

[V-2] As this word will often occur in these pages, and as neither the term nor the institution it symbolizes has any equivalent in English, I will enter here a full explanation. _Residencia_ was the examination or account taken of the official acts of an executive or judicial officer during the term of his _residence_ within the province of his jurisdiction, and while in the exercise of the functions of his office. This was done at the expiration of the term of office, or at stated periods, or in case of malefeasance at any time. The person making the examination was appointed by the king, or in New World affairs by the _Consejo de Indias_, or by a viceroy, and was called a _juez de residencia_. Before this judge, within a given time, any one might appear and make complaint, and offer evidence against the retiring or suspended official, who might refute and rebut as in an ordinary tribunal. The residencia of any officer appointed by the crown must be taken by a judge appointed by the crown; the residencia of officers appointed in the Indies by viceroys, audiencias, or president-governors, was taken by a judge appointed by the same authority. Following are some of the changes rung upon the subject by royal decrees, the better to make it fit the government of the Indies. The 10th of June, 1523, and again the 17th of November, 1526, Charles V. decreed that appeal might be made from the judge of residencia to the Council of the Indies, except in private demands not exceeding 600 pesos de oro, when appeal was to the audiencia. In 1530 viceroys and president-governors were directed to take the residencia of _visitadores de Indios_ that wrong-doing to the natives might not escape punishment; and by a later law proclamations of residencias must be made in such manner that the Indians might know thereof. The _Ordenanzas de Audiencias_ of Philip II. of 1563 and 1567, state that in some cities of the Indies it was customary to appoint at certain seasons two regidores, who, with an alcalde, acted as _fieles ejecutores_. At the beginning of every year the viceroy, or the president, in a city which was the residence of an audiencia, had to appoint an _oidor_ to take the residencia of the fieles ejecutores of the previous year. The same was to be done if those offices had been sold to the city, _villa_, or _lugar_; but in such cases it was left to the discretion of the viceroy or president to cause them to be taken when necessary, not allowing them to become too commonplace. Philip II. in 1573, and his successors as late as 1680, directed that in residencias of governors and their subordinates, when the fine did not exceed 20,000 maravedís, execution should issue immediately; in damages granted from private demands to the amount of 200 ducats, the condemned was to give bonds to respond. While an official was undergoing his residencia it was equivalent to his being under arrest, as he could neither exercise office nor, except in certain cases specified, leave the place. Thus the law of 1530, reiterated in 1581, stated that from the time of the proclamation of a residencia till its conclusion _alguaciles mayores_ and their _tenientes_ should be suspended from carrying the _varas_, or from exercising any of the functions of office. In 1583, in 1620, and in 1680, it was ordered that such judges of residencia as were appointed in the Indies should be selected by a viceroy and audiencia, or by a president and audiencia,

## acting in accord. Salaries of jueces de residencia were

ordered by Felipe III. in 1618 to be paid by the official tried if found guilty, if not by the audiencia appointing. Before this, in 1610, the same sovereign had ordered notaries employed in residencias taken by _corregidores_ to be paid in like manner. The next monarch directed that ships' officers should be subject to residencia in the form of a _visita_; and in visitas to _galeones_ and _flotas_ none but common sailors, artillerymen, and soldiers should be exempt. Cárlos II. in 1667 decreed that the residencia of a viceroy must be terminated within six months from the publication of the notice of the judge taking it. Felipe III. in 1619, and Cárlos II. in 1680, ordered that viceroys and presidents should send annually to the crown lists of persons suitable for conducting residencias, so that no one might be chosen to act upon the official under whose jurisdiction he resided. See _Recop. de Indias_, ii. 176-89. Of the report of the residencia the original was sent to the Council of the Indies, and a copy deposited in the archives of the audiencia. So burdensome were these trials, so corrupt became the judges, that later, in America, the residencia seemed rather to defeat than to promote justice, and in 1799 it was abolished so far as the subordinate officers were concerned.

[V-3] Originally written _fijodalgo_, son of something. Later applied to gentlemen, country gentlemen perhaps more

## particularly. Oviedo, ii. 466, calls Diego de Nicuesa 'hombre

de limpia sangre de hijosdalgo,' a man of pure gentle blood. Concerning the origin of the word _hidalgo_, Juan de la Puente states that during the Moorish wars, whenever a large town was captured the king kept it; the villages he gave to captains who had distinguished themselves, and who were called at first _ricos homes_, and afterward _grandes_. To minor meritorious persons something less was given, a portion of the spoils or a grant of land, but always something; hence their descendants were called _fijosdalgos_, _hijosdalgos_, or _hidalgos_, sons of something. In the _Dic. Univ._ authorities are quoted showing that the word _hidalgo_ originated with the Roman colonists of Spain, called _Itálicos_, who were exempt from imposts. Hence those enjoying similar benefits were called _Itálicos_, which word in lapse of time became _hidalgo_.

[V-4] 'Por justas causas, y consideraciones conviene, que en todas las capitulaciones que se hicieron para nuevos descubrimientos, se excuse esta palabra conquista, y en su lugar se use de las de pacificacion y poblacion, pues habiéndose de hacer con toda paz y caridad, es nuestra voluntad, que aun este nombre interpretado contra nuestra intencion, no ocasione, ni dé color á lo capitulado, para que se pueda hacer fuerza ni agravio á los Indios.' _Recop. de Indias_, ii. 2.

[V-5] The best proof of the policy of Spain in regard to the natives of the New World is found in her laws upon the subject. Writers may possibly color their assertions, but by following the royal decrees through successive reigns we have what cannot be controverted. The subject of the treatment of the Indians occupies no inconsiderable space in the _Recopilacion de Leyes de las Indias_. At the beginning of tit. x. lib. vi. is placed a clause of Isabella's will, solemnly enjoining her successors to see that the Indians were always equitably and kindly treated; and this was the text for future legislation. And now let us glance at the laws; I cannot give them all; but I can assure the reader they are of one tenor. First of all the natives were to be protected by the ecclesiastical and civil authorities. They might marry freely, but always in accordance with Christian usage; must not be taken to Spain; must be civilized, Christianized, taught to speak Spanish, and to love labor, if possible; they might sow seed, breed stock, keep their ancient market-days, buy and sell at pleasure, and even dispose of their lands, only the Spaniards were not allowed to sell them arms or alcoholic liquors. The Inquisition could not touch them, for in religious matters they were subject to the bishop's jurisdiction, and in cases of witchcraft to the civil power. They might have their municipal organizations in imitation of the Spanish town government, with their alcaldes, fiscales, and regidores, elected from among themselves to serve for one year, elections to be held in the presence of the priest. It was made the duty of priests, prelates, all officers of the government, and in fact every Spanish subject, to watch over and protect the Indians. Governors and judges were charged under the severest penalties to see justice done them. Two officers were created at an early day for this purpose, those of _protector_ and _defensor_, the former having general oversight of the natives and their interests, and the latter appearing in their behalf in court. After a time, when it was thought the aborigines could stand alone, the offices were abolished. But the action was premature, and in 1589 Philip II. ordered them revived. These officers were appointed by the viceroys and president-governors. Indians might appear in courts of law and have counsel assigned them free of any cost; and even in suits between the natives themselves there was to be no expense, the fiscal appearing on one side, and the protector on the other. Philip also gave notice in 1593 that Spaniards who maltreated Indians were to be punished with greater rigor than for badly treating a Spaniard. This was a remarkable law; it is a pity the Puritans and their descendants lacked such a one. Indians might be hired, but they must be paid promptly. They might work in the mines, or carry burdens if they chose, but it must be done voluntarily. Enforced personal service, or any approach to it, was jealously and repeatedly prohibited. Indians under eighteen must not be employed to carry burdens. Let those who sneer at Philip and Spain remember that two centuries after this England could calmly look on and see her own little children, six years of age, working with their mothers in coal-pits. There were many ways the Spaniards had of evading the just and humane laws of their monarchs—instance the trick of employers of getting miners or other laborers in debt to them, and keeping them so, and if they attempted to run away interpose the law for their restraint. It was equivalent to slavery. A native might even sell his labor for an indefinite time, until Felipe III. in 1618 decreed that no Indian could bind himself to work for more than one year. The law endeavored to throw all severe labor upon the negro, who was supposed to be better able to endure it. The black man was likewise placed far below the red in the social scale. It was criminal for a negro or mixed-breed to have an Indian work for him, although voluntarily and for pay; nor might an African even go to the house of an American. The law endeavored to guard the Indian in his privacy, as well as in his rights. It studied to make the lot of the aboriginal as peaceful and comfortable under Christian civilization as under heathen barbarism. More it could not do; it could not do this much; after the pacifying raid through the primeval garden, all Europe could not restore it. But Spain's monarchs did their best to mitigate the sufferings caused by Spain's unruly sons. The cacique might hold his place among his people, and follow ancient usage in regard to his succession, but he must not enslave them, or inflict upon them the ancient cruel customs, such as giving Indian girls in lieu of tribute, or burying servants with their dead masters. And these petty rulers must stay at home and attend to their affairs; Indians could not leave one pueblo to take up their residence in another, and caciques could not go to Spain without special license from the king. The natives were ordered to live in communities, and have a fixed residence, and their lands were not in consequence to be taken from them. They must not ride on horseback, for that would make them too nearly equal to the cavalier in battle; they must not hold dances without permission, for then they might plot conspiracies, or give themselves up to serve heathen gods as of old; they must not work in gold or silver, an illiberal restriction which lost to the world the finest of America's arts. Spaniards could not place a cattle rancho within 1½ leagues of a native pueblo; or swine, sheep, or goats within half a league; the Indians might lawfully kill cattle trespassing on their lands. In a pueblo of Indians neither Spaniard, nor mulatto, nor negro should live. No traveller might spend the night at the house of a native if an inn was at hand. No Spanish or mestizo merchant might remain in an Indian pueblo more than three days, nor another white man more than two days. Beside the property of individuals each Indian pueblo had some common property, and a strong-box in which the community money and title-deeds were kept. Caciques must not call themselves lords of pueblos, as that detracted from royal preëminence; they must be called caciques simply. The cacique must not attempt feudal fashions; he must not oppress his people, or take more than the stipulated tribute; and he who worked for the cacique must be paid by the cacique. In criminal matters the jurisdiction of caciques over their people could not extend to death or mutilation. On the other hand a cacique could not be tried by the ordinary Spanish justice of the peace, but only by the judge of a district. The last four laws were made by Charles V. in 1538. And beside these were many other edicts promulgated by the Spanish monarchs during two and a half centuries, notable for their wisdom, energy, and humanity. By the continued outrages and excesses of their subjects in the New World the temper of the crown was often severely tried. Thus was found written by Felipe IV. with his own hand, on a decree of the council ordering the immediate suppression of all those infamous evils practised in spite of laws against them, a sentiment which was fully reiterated by his son Cárlos II. in 1680:—'I will that you give satisfaction to me and to the world concerning the manner of treating those my vassals,' so reads the writing; 'and if this be not done, so that as in response to this letter I may see exemplary punishment meted offenders, I shall hold myself disobeyed; and be assured that if you do not remedy it, I will. The least omissions I shall consider grave crimes against God and against me; the evil conduct tending as it does to the total ruin and destruction of those realms whose natives I hold in estimation; and I will that they be treated as is merited by vassals who serve the monarchy so well, and have so contributed to its grandeur and enlightenment.' See further, _Tapia_, _Hist. Civ. Española_, passim; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yucathan_, 71-3; _Ramirez_, _Vida Motolinia_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. Doc._, i. lxvi.; _Las Casas_, _Carta_, in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, vii. 290-338.

[V-6] Twenty-five pounds. The Spanish pound is a little more than the English pound. There are four arrobas in a quintal.

[V-7] _Repartimiento_, a distribution; _repartir_, to divide; _encomienda_, a charge, a commandery; _encomendar_, to give in charge; _encomendero_, he who holds an encomienda. In Spain an encomienda, as here understood, was a dignity in the four military orders, endowed with a rental, and held by certain members of the order. It was acquired through the liberality of the crown as a reward for services in the wars against the Moors. The lands taken from the Infidels were divided among Christian commanders; the inhabitants of those lands were crown tenants, and life-rights to their services were given these commanders. In the legislation of the Indies, encomienda was the patronage conferred by royal favor over a portion of the natives, coupled with the obligation to teach them the doctrines of the Church, and to defend their persons and property. It was originally intended that the recipients of these favors were to be the discoverers, conquerors, meritorious settlers, and their descendants; but in this as in many other respects the wishes of the monarchs and their advisers did not always reach the mark. The system begun in the New World by Columbus, Bobadilla, and Ovando was continued by Vasco Nuñez, Pedrarias, Cortés, and Pizarro, and finally became general. Royal decrees upon the subject, which seemed to grow more and more intricate as new possessions were pacified, began with a law by Ferdinand the Catholic in 1509, reiterated by Philip II. in 1580, to the effect that immediately upon the pacification of a province the governor should divide the natives among the settlers. The natives thus distributed were held for a term of years, or during the life of the holder, or for two or more lives—that is, during the life of the first holder, and that of his heir, and perhaps that of his heir's heir, or until the king should otherwise decree. _Solorzano_, _De Indiarum Jure_, ii. lib. ii. cap. i.; _Acosta_, _De Procur. Ind._, iii. cap. x. When by this course three fourths of certain populations had been 'recommended' to their death, at the representation of Las Casas, the king in 1523 decreed that 'as God our lord had made the Indians free,' they must not be enslaved on this or any other pretext; 'and therefore we command that it be done no more, and that those already distributed be set at liberty.' _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 10. But by this abolition the destruction of the colonies was threatened. Petition followed petition for the restoration of the system, until the king finally yielded. _Solorzano_, _Política Indiana_, i. 225. In 1542 encomiendas were again abolished, and again the king was obliged to restore them. Meanwhile every effort possible was made by the crown to prevent abuses. The encomendero must fulfil in person the intention of the law. He must not leave without permission from the governor, and then his duties must be delegated to a responsible agent. If away for four months without permission, his encomienda was to be declared vacant. The encomendero must not hire out any natives, or pledge them to creditors, under penalty of loss of Indians and a fine of 50,000 maravedís. No one could appropriate any natives except those legally assigned. When it was seen how those in office misused their power, in 1530, in 1532, in 1542, in 1551, and in 1563 all civil and ecclesiastical functionaries were forbidden to hold encomiendas; but in 1544 Philip II. excepted from this prohibition _tenientes de gobernadores_, _corregidores_, and _alcaldes mayores de pueblos_. Indians should not be given in encomienda to the daughters of royal officials, or to sons unless married. It was just and reasonable that the savages should pay the Spaniards tribute, for so God had appointed, so the pope had ordained, and the king had commanded; but it was the collection of this tribute only, and not the deprivation of liberty, or of any personal rights, that the encomienda was intended to cover. And for this tax, which whosoever enjoys the boon of civilization must surely pay, the vassal was to receive protection, and the still more blessed boon of Christianity. Nor must this impost under any consideration be made burdensome.

The manner of making assessments was minutely defined by edicts of Charles V. at divers dates from 1528 to 1555, and of Philip II. from the beginning to the end of his reign. In substance they were as follows. The king made responsible to him the viceroys, and the presidents and audiencias, who, by the aid of a commissioner and assessors, fixed the rates in their respective districts. The assessors having first heard a solemn mass of the Holy Ghost, in order to enlighten their understanding that they might justly regard the value of the rental and equitably determine the rate, they were to swear with all solemnity before the priest this to do without bias. They were personally to inspect all the pueblos of the province, noting the number of settlers and natives in each pueblo, and the quality of the land. They were to ascertain what the natives had originally paid to their caciques as tribute, and never make the new rate higher, but always lower, than the old one. For surely they should not be worse off in serving Spain than in serving their heathen lords. After thus carefully examining the resources and capabilities of the tributaries, and never infringing on the comfort of the women and children, the assessors should fix the rate according to God and their conscience. The natives might pay in money if they preferred, but payment should be required only in kind, in whatever produce grew on their lands. They must not be required to raise anything specially for this purpose; and from not over two or three kinds of produce should tribute be taken; a few chickens, or a pig or two, need not be counted at all. It was the intention of the monarchs that from a tenth to a fifth might in this way be taken, though the encomendero too often managed to get twice or thrice as much, or all the natives had. The Indians must be made to understand how the appraisement was made, and that it was not done in the interests of the Spaniards alone. Then the assessor must put in writing what each had to pay, and leave the original with the cacique, giving one copy to the encomendero, and sending one to the Council of the Indies, or to the viceroy, or to the audiencia. For the encomendero to practise extortion, or demand more than the schedule called for, there were pronounced the severest penalties, even to the loss of the encomienda and half his goods. Natives voluntarily coming forward and entering in encomienda were excused from paying tribute for ten years; and, in any event, for the first two years after congregating in pueblos but one half the usual tribute could be legally exacted. Males were taxed after the eighteenth year; caciques, elder sons, women, and alcaldes in office were exempt. After the gift, the encomienda was the property of the encomendero, not to be taken from him before the expiration of his term without cause. In every encomienda there must be a church, and where there was none, the natives must be stimulated to build one, the priest to be paid out of the rental. In every pueblo of 100 or more natives, two or three must be taught to sing, so that they might act as choristers; also a native sacristan—these to be exempt from tribute. In 1568 Philip II. ordered that no encomendero should receive a rental of over 2000 pesos; any excess was to be returned to the crown and employed as pensions. The same monarch directed in 1573 that when an encomienda fell vacant, a viceroy or governor might, if he deemed best, appropriate the rental to benevolent objects, and defer granting it again till the king's pleasure should be known. And again, in 1583, that the encomendero must have a house of his own, built of stone for purposes of defence, in the city of his residence; and he must keep his family there. He should maintain no house in the town of the Indians, nor should he have any building there except a granary. In 1592 it was decreed that Indians in encomienda could be given to none but residents in the Indies. When an encomienda became vacant, so it was decreed in 1594 and subsequently, the fact was advertised for from twenty to thirty days, during which time applicants might prefer their respective claims, and recite services rendered the crown by themselves or their ancestors. Preference was always to be given to the descendants of discoverers and settlers. Two or three small encomiendas might sometimes be joined in one. And never might religious training be forgotten; when the rental was not sufficient for the support of the encomendero and the instructor, the latter must have the revenue. Felipe III. in 1602, 1611, 1616, 1618, and 1620, decreed that as a rule but one encomienda could be held by one person; still more seldom could one be given up and another taken. There was to be no such thing as commerce in them. They were a trust. Much evil had arisen from dividing encomiendas, and it should be done no more. Felipe IV. in 1655 ordered that governors under royal commission and those named by the viceroy _ad interim_ might give Indians in encomienda, but _alcaldes ordinarios_ holding temporarily the office of governor were not allowed this privilege. _Recop. de Indias_, ii. 249-284 and passim. Finally, toward the close of the seventeenth century, the monarchs, becoming more and more straitened in their need of money, ordered that encomenderos should pay a portion of their revenue to the crown; then a larger portion was demanded; and then the whole of it. In 1721 the system came to an end. But after endeavoring for two hundred years to get back what they had given away, the monarchs found there was nothing left of it, the natives having by this time merged with sometimes slightly whitened skins into the civilized pueblos.

[V-8] It was decreed by the emperor in 1555 that the _Casa de Contratacion_ should have an _arca de tres llaves_, a chest of three keys; after which the government strong-box became common in Spanish America. It was usually in the form of a sailor's chest, of heavy wood bound with brass or iron, and having three locks fastening the lid by hasps. The strong-box of the India House, the law goes on to say, must remain in the custody of the treasurer, who was responsible for its safe keeping. One of the keys was held by the _tesorero_, one by the _contador_, and one by the _factor_. Out of the hand of any one of these three royal officers his key could not lawfully go; and no one but they might put into the chest or take out of it any thing, under penalty, on the official permitting it, of four times the value of the things so handled. In this box were kept, temporarily, all gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones that came from the Indies on the king's account, or were recovered for him by suits at law brought before the India House in Spain. _Recop. de Indias_, iii. 17.

[V-9] Oviedo, i. 103, says that when the Jeronimite friars arrived a few days before Christmas, 1516, the _jueces de apelacion_ 'ya se llamaban oydores, é su auditorio ya se deçia audiençia Real.' Herrera, ii. ii. iv., treating of the instructions given the Jeronimites remarks, that it was ordered also that the jueces de apelacion should be submitted to residencia. After that he writes jueces de apelacion, and audiencia indifferently. Las Casas, _Hist. Ind._, v. 45, treating of events in 1518-20, says 'jueces de apelacion;' relating the occurrences of 1521, 165, 177, he writes 'audiencia,' and 'cuatro oidores.' Writing the king August 30, 1520, _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, xiii. 332-48, the court styles itself _Real Audiencia_, the members signing the communication. In _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, xiv. 568, the presidents of this audiencia are given as Luis de Figueroa, 1523; Sebastian Ramirez in 1527; Fuente Mayor in 1533; Maldonado in 1552; Alonso Arias de Herrera in 1560; and in 1566 Diego de Vera, who was sent to Panamá as president when he was succeeded by Doctor Mejía.

[V-10] The word _audiencia_, from _audire_, to hear, has a variety of significations in Spanish; meaning, namely, the act of hearing, the tribunal, the courtroom and building, and finally, jurisdiction. _Oidor_, he who hears, comes from the same root, but is now applied only to the magistrate of an audiencia. The more important general laws governing audiencias in the New World were the following. In 1528 the emperor ordered, and the decree was reiterated in 1548, 1569, 1575, and 1589, that each audiencia should make a tariff of fees of notaries and other officers, which must not exceed five times those in Spain. In 1530 the mandates of this tribunal were made of equal force with those of the king himself. Should any one demand it, decisions in civil suits were to be rendered in one case before another was begun; suits of poor persons always to have preference in time of hearing. Even dissenting judges must sign the decision, making it unanimous. On the first business day of each year, all the members and officers being present, the laws governing audiencias should be read. In 1541 the emperor ordered that in 'first instance' alcaldes, regidores, alguaciles mayores, and escribanos should not be brought before the audiencia; in each pueblo one alcalde should have cognizance of what affected the other, and both of matters concerning its other officers. In 1540, and many times thereafter, the audiencia was charged to look to the welfare of the natives, to watch narrowly the conduct of governors and other officials, and to punish excesses. While in October, 1545, the emperor was at Malines, hence known as the law of Malinas, directions were given for procedure in cases of claims of Indians. _Menor cuantía_ in suits was fixed at 300,000 maravedís; not exceeding this amount two oidores might decide; also in suits of _mayor cuantía_, except at Lima and Mexico where three votes were necessary as in Spanish law. It was ordered in 1548 that audiencias must not meddle with questions of rank and precedence. In 1551, Saturdays and two other days in the week were set aside, there being no suits of poor persons, for hearing disputes between Indians, and between Indians and Spaniards. More _casos de corte_, that is important suits taken from lower courts, were not to be admitted by an audiencia of the Indies than was customary in Spain. This was in 1552, and repeated in 1572. In 1553 it was ordered that any person having a grievance against a president or viceroy might appeal to the audiencia, the accused officer being forbidden to preside at such times. If the president was a bishop he was not permitted to adjudicate in matters ecclesiastic. Six years later all petitions presented were to be admitted. Philip II. in 1561 ordered that suits of the royal treasury should have precedence over all others. The year 1563 was prolific in regulations for the audiencia. Where the president of an audiencia was governor and captain-general, the tribunal should not meddle in matters of war, unless the president was absent, or unless specially directed by the crown. In the city where the audiencia is held there must be an Audiencia House, and the president must live there, and keep there the royal seal, the registry, the jail, and the mint; in this house must be a striking clock; and if there be no such building provided, the residence of the president shall in the mean time be so used. On every day not a feast-day the audiencia must sit at least three hours, beginning at 7 A. M. in summer, and 8 A. M. in winter, and at least three oidores must be present. Audiencias must not annul sentences of exile; or, unless bonds for payment are given, grant letters of delay to condemned treasury debtors. The majority decide. The governor, alcalde mayor, or other person refusing obedience to any mandate of the tribunal must be visited by a judge and punished. In exceptional cases only the audiencia might touch the royal treasury. Each audiencia must keep a book in which was to be recorded—where the amount in question was over 100,000 maravedís, or, in other important cases—the verdict of each oidor; and the president must swear to keep secret the contents of this book unless ordered by the king to divulge the same. A book should also be kept in which was to be entered anything affecting the treasury; and another the fines imposed. Audiencias could appoint only to certain offices. Philip II. further ordered during the subsequent years of his reign, that audiencias must keep secret the instructions from the crown; that they must not interfere with the lower courts, or with the courts of ecclesiastics, except in cases provided by law, but rather aid them; that they should register the names of persons coming from Spain, with their New World address; that with such matters as residencias, compelling married men to live with their wives, and the estates of deceased persons, presidents and viceroys should not intermeddle, but leave them to the other members; that they should use no funds resulting from their judgments, but draw on the treasury for expenses; that when an audiencia was to be closed, a governor should be appointed with power to continue and determine pending suits, but he should institute no new suits, and appeals lie to the nearest audiencia; that they should not make public the frailties of ecclesiastics, but examine charges against them in secret; that royal despatches for the audiencia must not be opened by the president alone, but at an _acuerdo_, and in presence of the oidores and fiscal, and if thought necessary the _escribano de cámara_ must be present; and that they must not remit to the Council of the Indies trivial matters for decision. In subsequent reigns during the seventeenth century it was at various times decreed that a president might impeach an oidor before the Council of the Indies, though he could not send him to Spain, but no oidor might impeach his president except by royal command; that audiencias should exercise their functions in love and temperance, especially during a vacancy in the office of president or viceroy; that in their visits to the jail the oidores should not entertain petitions of those condemned to death by the ordinary justices in consultation with the criminal section of the audiencia, nor should they on such visits take cognizance of anything not specially confided to them; that they should not legitimize natural children, but refer such cases to the Council of the Indies; that each year the president should designate an oidor to oversee the officers and attachés and punish their faults; that no favoritism should be shown appointees of viceroys or presidents; one oidor might transact business, if the audiencia were reduced to that extremity; in arriving at a decision the junior member should vote first, then the next youngest, and so on up to the senior member. This from the _Recopilacion de las Indias_, i. 323-70. In the _Politica Indiana_ of Solorzano, ii. 271-82, may be found how the audiencias of America differed from those of Spain. Larger powers were given the former by reason of their distance from the throne. They were given jurisdiction in the residencias of the inferior judiciary; they could commission _pesquisidores_, or special judges, and order execution to issue where an inferior judge had neglected to do so. They had cognizance in matters of tithes, of royal patronage, patrimony, treasury matters, and jurisdiction; they could even fix the fee-bill of the ecclesiastical tribunals, settle the estates of bishops, retain apostolic bulls which they deemed prejudicial to the royal patronage, and they could watch and regulate the conduct of all ecclesiastical officials. In making appointments the viceroy was obliged to take the opinion of the audiencia. Persons aggrieved might appeal from the viceroy to the audiencia. On the death, absence, or inability of the viceroy the senior oidor stood in his place. None of these powers were given audiencias in Spain. This and kindred subjects are treated at great length by Solórzano y Pereira, who was a noted Spanish jurist, born at Madrid in 1575. He studied at Salamanca, and in 1609 was appointed by Felipe III. oidor of the audiencia of Lima. Later he became fiscal and councillor in the _Consejo de Hacienda_, the _Consejo de Indias_, and the _Consejo de Castilla_. He published several works on jurisprudence, the most conspicuous being _Disquisitiones de Indiarum jure_, 2 vols, folio, Madrid, 1629-39. It was reprinted in 1777, an edition meanwhile appearing in Lyons in 1672. A Spanish translation by Valenzuela was published at Madrid in 1648, and reprinted in 1776. I have used both the Latin edition and the Spanish, but the latter is preferable.

The work is a commentary on the laws of the Indies, wonderfully concise for a Spanish lawyer of that period, and was of great utility at a time when those laws were in chaotic condition.

To conclude my remarks on audiencias in America I will only say that ultimately their number was eleven; and one at Manila, which, like that of Santo Domingo, had a president, oidores, and a fiscal, and exercised executive as well as judicial functions. The eleven, including that of Santo Domingo, were those of Mexico and Lima, each being presided over by a viceroy, and having 8 oidores, 4 alcaldes del crímen, and 2 fiscales; and those of Guatemala, Guadalajara, Panamá, Chile, La Plata, Quito, Santa Fé, and Buenos Ayres. These several audiencias were formed at different times soon after the establishing of government in the respective places. See further, _Montemayor_, _Svmarios_, 110-11; _Revue Américaine_, i. 3-32; _Zamora y Coronado_, _Biblioteca de Legislacion Ultramarina_, passim.

[V-11] Irving says 1510. I cannot undertake to correct all the minor errors of popular writers, having neither the space nor the inclination. It would seem that in the present, and like instances, of which there are many, the mistake springs from an easy carelessness which regards the difference of a year or two in the date of the settlement of an island as of no consequence; for Las Casas, and other authorities who agree better than usual in this case, were before Mr Irving at the time he entered in his manuscript the wrong date. Important and sometimes even unimportant discrepancies of original or standard authorities will always be carefully noted in these pages. What I shall endeavor to avoid is captious criticism, and the pointing out of insignificant errors merely for the satisfaction of proving others in the wrong.

[V-12] Maria, widow of Diego, demanded of the audiencia of Santo Domingo for her son Luis, then six years of age, the viceroyalty of Veragua, which was refused. She then carried her claim to Spain, where the title of admiral was conferred on Luis, and many other benefits were extended by the emperor to the family, but the title of viceroy was withheld. Subsequently Luis, having instituted court proceedings which were referred to an arbitration, succeeded in having himself declared captain-general of Española. Shortly before his death he relinquished the claim to the viceroyalty of the New World for the titles of duke of Veraguas and marquis of Jamaica, and gave his right to a tenth of the produce of the Indies for a pension of a thousand doubloons. Luis was succeeded by a nephew, Diego, by whose death the legitimate male line was extinguished. Then followed more litigation, female claimants now being conspicuous, until in the beginning of the seventeenth century we find in the Portuguese house of Braganza the titles the discoverer once so coveted, they being then conferred on Nuño Gelves, grandson of the third daughter of Diego, son of Christopher Columbus, and who then might write his name De Portugallo Colon, duque de Veraguas, marqués de la Jamaica, y almirante de las Indias.

[V-13] The _Consejo Supremo de Indias_, Supreme Council of the Indies, sometimes termed the _Consejo de Indias_, or India Council, was a body possessing executive as well as judicial powers, in permanent session at Madrid, and having the same jurisdiction over Spanish colonies in America that was held in Spain by the other supreme councils, especially the _Consejo de Castilla_. Immediately after its discovery the American portion of the Spanish realm was superintended by the Council of Castile, or by councillors selected therefrom. But with the constantly increasing burden of business the creation of a separate supreme tribunal became necessary. Thus the machinery set in motion by Ferdinand was augmented by Charles, and further improved by Philip, until these vast western interests were watched over with undeviating care. Thence all measures for the government and commerce of Spanish America issued; it was the tribunal likewise of ultimate resort where all questions relating thereto were adjudicated. For many years, however, the India Council had no formal existence. Fonseca; Hernando de Vega, _comendador mayor_ of Leon; Mercurino Gatinara, afterward superintendent of all the councils; a gentleman of the emperor's bedchamber called De Lassao; Francisco de Vargas, treasurer-general of Castile, and others, acted specially at the request of their sovereign. This fact gave rise to errors of date into which several historians fell. Thus Prescott, _Ferd. and Isabella_, iii. 452, says, copying Robertson, _Hist. Am._, ii. 358, that the Council of the Indies was first established by Ferdinand in 1511. Helps, _Span. Conq._, ii. 28—drawing a false inference from a false inference drawn by Herrera, ii. ii. xx., who makes the date 1517—goes on to describe a council for Indian affairs, dating its organization 1518, and of which Fonseca was president, and Vega, Zapata, Peter Martyr, and Padilla were members.

It was the first of August, 1524, that the office proper of the Council of the Indies was created. See _Solorzano_, _Politica Indiana_, ii. 394. The decree of final organization may be found in the _Recop. de Indias_, i. 228. It sets forth that in view of the great benefits, under divine favor, the crown daily receives by the enlargement of the realm, the monarch by the grace of God feeling his obligation to govern these kingdoms well, for the better service of God and the well-being of those lands, it was ordered that there should always reside at court this tribunal. It should have a president; the grand chancellor of the Indies should also be a councillor; its members, whose number must be eight, should be _letrados_, men learned in the law. There were to be a fiscal, two secretaries, and a deputy grand chancellor, all of noble birth, upright in morals, prudent, and God-fearing men. There must be, also, three _relatores_, or readers, and a notary, all of experience, diligence, and fidelity; four expert _contadores de cuentas_, accountants and auditors; a treasurer-general; two _solicitadores fiscales_, crown attorneys; a chief chronicler and cosmographer; a professor of mathematics; a _tasador_ to tax costs of suits; a lawyer and a _procurador_ for poor suitors; a chaplain to say mass on council days; four door-keepers, and a bailiff, all taking oath on assuming duty to keep secret the acts of the council. The first president appointed was Fray García de Loaysa, at the time general of the Dominicans, confessor of the emperor, and bishop of Osma, and later cardinal and archbishop of Seville. The first councillors were Luis Vaca, bishop of the Canary Islands; Gonzalo Maldonado, later bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo; Diego Beltran; the prothonotary, Pedro Martyr de Anglería, abbot of Jamaica, and Lorenzo Galindez de Carbajal. Prado was the first fiscal. A list of the earlier presidents, councillors, and officials may be found at the end of _Descripcion de las Indias Occidentales_, in vol. i. Barcia's edition of Herrera.

The jurisdiction of the council extended to every department, civil, military, ecclesiastical, and commercial, and no other council in Spain might have cognizance of any affairs appertaining to the New World. Two thirds of the members must approve of any law or ordinance before it was presented to the king for his signature. In the _Recopilacion de las Indias_, i. 228-323, is given the legislation on the council to 1680. Philip II. ordered the council to be obeyed equally in Spain and in the Indies. Three members were to constitute a quorum, and sit from three to five hours every day except holidays. For purposes of temporal government the New World was to be divided into viceroyalties, provinces of audiencias, and _chancillerías reales_, or sovereign tribunals of lesser weight than audiencias, and provinces of the officials of the royal exchequer, _adelantamientos_, or the government of an adelantado, _gobernaciones_, or governmentships, _alcaldías mayores_, _corregimientos_, _alcaldías ordinarias_, and of the _hermandad_, _concejos de Españoles y de Indios_; and for spiritual government into archbishoprics and suffragan bishoprics, abbeys, parishes, and _diezmerías_, or tithing districts, and provinces of the religious orders. The division for temporal matters was to conform as nearly as possible to that for spiritual affairs. The council was commanded to have for its chief care the conversion and good treatment of the Indians. The laws made by the Council for the Indies should conform as nearly as possible to the existing laws of Spain. In selecting ecclesiastics and civil officers for the Indies, the greatest care should be exercised that none but good men were sent, and their final nomination must rest with the king. Nepotism was strictly prohibited, and offices were not to be sold. In 1600 Felipe III. ordered that twice a week should be held a council of war, composed of eight members, four of whom were councillors of the Indies, and four specially selected by the king. It was decreed in 1584 that the offices of governors, corregidores, and alcaldes mayores of the Indies, when bestowed on persons residing in Spain, should be for five years; when residents in the Indies were appointed, it should be for three years. Felipe IV. in 1636 ordered that in the archives of the council, beside records, should be kept manuscripts and printed books treating on matters moral, religious, historical, political, and scientific, touching the Indies, all that had been or should be issued; and publishers of books of this class were required by law to deposit one copy each in these archives. Two keys were ordered kept, one by the councillor appointed by the president, and the other by the senior secretary. And when the archives of the council became too full, a portion might be sent to Simancas. It was early ordered that the chronicler of the council should write a history, natural and political, of the Indies, every facility being afforded him; and before drawing his last quarter's salary each year, he must present what he had written. So it was with the cosmographer, who was to calculate eclipses, compile guide-books, prepare tables and descriptions, and give an annual lecture. The regulations governing this august body were most wise, and it was the constant aim of the Spanish monarchs to increase its power and sustain its authority. Its jurisdiction extended over half the world, being absolute on sea and land. By it viceroys were made and unmade, also presidents and governors; and, in ecclesiastical rule, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and lesser spiritual dignitaries. His Holiness himself was second here. All bulls or briefs of indulgences issued by the pope must be laid before the _Consejo de Cruzada_, and pass through the Council of the Indies. The Consejo de Indias continued in Spain till by a law of the Cortes, March 24, 1834, it was abolished, as indeed was the _Consejo de Castilla_. The judicial functions of the two were vested in the _Tribunal Supremo de España é Indias_; their executive powers in the _Consejo Real de España é Indias_, both being created by the same law.

The next most important agency in the management of New World affairs was the _Casa de Contratacion_, house or board of trade, supreme in commercial matters, save only in its subordination to the Consejo de Indias, in common with every other power below absolute royalty. As before stated, on the return of Columbus from his first voyage, Fonseca, with two or three assistants, was appointed to take charge of the business appertaining to the discovery, the nature or importance of which was then but faintly conceived. This Indian office or agency was established at Seville, with a branch office in the form of a custom-house at Cádiz. But before the expiration of the first decade the New World business had so increased, and the New World dimensions were so rapidly expanding, that it was found necessary to enlarge the capabilities and powers of the India Office; hence by decrees of January 20, and June 5, 1503, was ordered established at Seville the _Casa de Contratacion de las Indias_, or India house of trade, that commerce between the mother country and the Indian colonies might be promoted. The first cédula ordered the office placed in the arsenal, the second in a building known as the _alcazar viejo_, and in that part of it called the _cuarto de los almirantes_, or admirals' quarters. The board consisted of a president, three royal officers, or judges, to wit, treasurer, auditor, and factor; also three judges bred to the law; one fiscal, and other lesser officers and attendants. Among the first to serve, beside Fonseca, were Sancho de Matienzo, a canon of Seville, treasurer; Francisco Pinelo, factor, or general agent; and Jimeno de Berviesca, contador, or auditor. By law those three officers were to reside in the building; and were to despatch all ships going to the Indies, and receive all merchandise coming thence. In all which they were scrupulously to respect the agreement made with Columbus by the sovereigns. They were, moreover, to proclaim that licenses for discovery and trade would be given, under just conditions, to all seeking them and filing commensurate bonds. See _Nueva España_, _Brev. Res._ MS.; _Veitia Linage_, _Norte de la Contratacion_; _Recop. de Indias_; _Solorzano_, _Pol. Ind._; _Zamora y Coronado_, _Bib. Leg. Ult._; _Young's Hist. Mex._, 40-6; _Democratic Review_, i. 264-9; _Walton's Exposé_, 24; _Niles' S. Am. and Mex._, 65-8; _Revolution in Sp. Am._, 5-6; _Purchas_, _His Pilgrimes_, iv. 916-17. An officer appointed by the king resided at Cádiz to despatch vessels under the supervision of the Casa de Contratacion. The India House was a court of judicature no less than a board of trade; it had cognizance in all civil, criminal, and commercial questions arising from the traffic of Spain with the Indies, appeal being to the Council of the Indies. I will mention a few only of the more important of the many minor orders regulating this board. The volume and variety of its business rapidly increased from year to year. In 1510 Diego Colon was instructed to inform its officers concerning all that he should write to the king. The board was obliged to possess itself of the minutest knowledge concerning New World affairs, and of persons asking permission to go thither, and in the execution of its duties it was not to be interfered with even by royal officers of high rank. The actual powers conferred on the three officials first named by Queen Juana are not given by any of the chronicles, or collections of laws, which I have examined. Indeed, the powers and jurisdiction of the board were never clearly defined until the issuing of the ordinances of the 23d of August, 1543, known as the _ordenanzas de la casa_, and which should not be confounded with the _ordenanzas_ of other years. Every day but feast-days the board should meet for business, and remain in session for three hours in the forenoon, and on the afternoons of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for the despatch of ships. Absence involved primarily loss of pay, and finally loss of office. If this be not time sufficient for the business, they must take more time. The president and judges together should transact the business; a judge might not act singly except upon a matter referred to him by all. The notary should keep in his book an account of the hours of absence among the officers. Before the platform on which sat the judges, benches were ordered placed for the convenience of the _visitadores_, or inspectors of ships, and such other honorable persons having business there as should be invited by the tribunal to sit. The authorities of Seville should not interfere in the trial and punishment of crimes committed on board ships sailing to and from the Indies. If the penalty was death or mutilation, the offender was to be tried by the three judges, members of the board, learned in the law. In the civil suits of private persons, appertaining to the Indies, litigants were given the option of bringing their disputes before the judges of the India House, or before the ordinary justice of Seville. Disputes arising from shipwreck, loss of cargo, and frauds connected therewith, were all brought before the India House. Traders to the Indies residing in Seville were authorized to meet and elect a prior and consul, or consuls, which consulate should be called the _Universidad de los Cargadores á las Indias_, and hold their meetings in the Casa de Contratacion. No foreigner, his son or grandson could so hold office. This consulate had cognizance in disputes between these merchants and factors in matters relative to purchases, sales, freights, insurance, and bankruptcy, all being subordinate to the regular tribunal of the India House. Appeals were from the consulate to one of the regular judges selected annually to that duty. The consulate could address the king only through the Casa de Contratacion, and government despatches from the Indies must be forwarded by the board. As justice alone was the object of these merchants, and not chicanery, or the distortion of evidence, parties to suits before the consulate were not allowed lawyers. That harmony might be maintained, the Casa de Contratacion should carry out the orders of the _audiencia de grados_ of Seville, if deemed conformable to law, and to existing regulations of the board. Communications from the board to the king must be signed by the president and judges conjointly, and no letter must treat of more than a single subject. All gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones coming from the Indies were first to be deposited in the India House, and thence distributed to the owners. The king's share was to be placed in a safe with three keys, or if this was too small, then in a room having three keys. Other safes were to be kept, one for each kind of property. Accounts of receipts at the India House were to be rendered the king every year. The board must render an annual statement of its expenditures on _religiosos_ sent to the Indies. Felipe IV. ordered that the board should collect from all ships and merchandise, including a _pro rata_ on the king's share, the cost for convoying them forth and back. Such was the famous India House at Seville, modest in its beginning, mighty in its accomplishments, through which passed into Spain the almost fabulous wealth of Spanish America.

[V-14] _Recopilacion de Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias_, of which I make general use in referring to the laws passed in Spain for the regulation of the affairs of the New World, is the result of several previous efforts in the direction of compilation. It was published at Madrid, the first edition in four volumes, by order of Cárlos II. in 1681, and the fourth edition in three volumes, under the direction of the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies, in 1791. The work aimed to embody all laws in force at the date of the respective editions relative to the Spanish American colonies. The three volumes are divided into nine books, and each book into from eight to forty-six titles. The first title of the first book is _De la Santa Fe Católica_, a subject then second to none in grave importance. In fact the whole of the first book is devoted to ecclesiastical and kindred matters. The second book refers in the main to tribunals and officials; the third in a great measure to the army; the fourth to discoveries and settlements; the fifth to executive and judicial offices; the sixth to Indians, including treatment, repartimientos and encomiendas; the seventh to crimes and punishments; the eighth to the management of the royal treasury; and the ninth to the India House and the commerce of the Indies. By a decree of the emperor in 1550, which was embodied in the ordinances of audiencias in 1563, by Philip II., it was ordered that all _cédulas_ and _provisiones_ should be copied _in extenso_ in a book set apart for that service, and of which great care should be taken, and that the said documents were to be filed chronologically in the archives of each audiencia. In 1571, by Philip II., it was decreed, and the decree embodied in the _Recopilacion_ of 1680, that cédulas and provisiones concerning the royal treasury should be kept in a separate book.

The earliest printed collection of laws relating solely to the Indies is that of the _ordenanzas_ for the government of the audiencia of Mexico. This was issued in 1548. In 1552 a similar collection was made by order of the viceroy of Peru, Antonio de Mendoza, for the government of the audiencia of Lima, but was not printed at that time. Later the fiscal of Mexico, Antonio Maldonado, began a compilation to which he gave the name _Repertorio de las Cedulas, Provisiones, i Ordenanzas Reales_, but it does not appear that he ever completed his task, although a royal cédula in 1556 authorized him to do so. Upon the representation in 1552 by Francisco Hernandez de Liébana, fiscal of the Council of the Indies, of the urgent necessity of such a work, a royal cédula was issued in 1560, directing the viceroy of New Spain, Luis de Velasco, to have prepared and printed such regulations as were in force within the jurisdiction of the audiencia of Mexico, which was done in 1563 under the direction of Vasco de Puga, oidor of the audiencia. Francisco de Toledo, sent from Spain in 1569 as viceroy of Peru, was ordered to make a similar compilation covering the limits of his viceroyalty, but it was afterward thought better the work should be done in Spain. Hence in 1570 Philip II. ordered made a general compilation of laws and provisions for the government of the Indies, which was intended as a code, obsolete laws being omitted, new ones provided where necessary, and those in conflict reconciled. Of this work, from some cause not satisfactorily explained, probably from the death of the author, only the title relating to the Consejo de Indias and its ordenanzas was printed, although the whole of the first book had been prepared.

In 1581 some ordinances relative to the Casa de Contratacion and its judges were printed at Madrid; and more of a similar nature in 1585, beside the _Leyes y Ordenanzas_ for the government of the Indies, and the ordinances of 1582 concerning the despatch of fleets for New Spain and Tierra Firme, printed at Madrid; and in Guatemala the _ordenanzas_ of July 14, 1556, relating to the _Universidad de los Mercaderes de Sevilla_. In 1594 the marqués de Cañete, viceroy of Peru, published at Lima a small volume of ordinances relative to the good treatment of the Indians. But the want of a general compilation becoming more and more apparent, Diego de Encinas, a clerk in the office of the king's secretary, was ordered to prepare a copy of all _provisiones_, _cédulas_, _cartas_, _ordenanzas_, and _instrucciones_ despatched prior to 1596, which work was printed at Madrid, in four folio volumes, the same year. Harrisse is mistaken when he says these volumes were suppressed, not having been authorized; for not only is their authorization distinctly stated over the king's own hand in the enacting clause of the _Recopilacion de las Indias_, May 18, 1680, where it says that Philip II. ordered Encinas to do this work, but that owing to their faulty arrangement the volumes 'aun no han satisfecho el intento de recopilar en forma conveniente,' which clearly shows them to have been in use up to that time. Shortly after this, Alvar Gomez de Abaunza, oidor of the audiencia of Guatemala, and subsequently _alcalde del crímen_ of the audiencia of Mexico, compiled two large volumes under the title of _Repertorio de Cedulas Reales_, which were not printed. And in Spain, Diego de Zorrilla made an attempt to revive the project of the _recopilacion de leyes_, by making extracts from Encinas and adding laws of later date; but having received an appointment as oidor of the audiencia of Quito, he left the work incomplete and in manuscript. Others made similar attempts; I shall not be able to enumerate them all, or give a full list even of the printed collections. For example, in 1603 was published at Valladolid a folio entitled _Ordenanças Reales del Consejo de Indias_, and another thin folio called _Leyes y Ordenanças Nuevamente hechas por su Magestad, para la gouernaciõ de las Indias_; later appeared a folio entitled _Ordenanças de la Casa de la Contratacion de Sevilla_, and another, _Ordenanças Reales para el gobierno de los Tribunales de Contaduría Mayor en los Reynos de las Indias_. In 1606 Hernando de Villagomez began to arrange cédulas and other laws relating to the Indies; and two years after, the celebrated conde de Lémos being president of the Council, Villagomez, and Rodrigo de Aguiar y Acuña, member of the Council of the Indies, were appointed a committee to compile the laws; but nothing came of it, even Fernando Carrillo failing to complete their unfinished task. Juan de Solórzano y Pereira, oidor of the audiencia of Lima, also began a collection of cédulas, and sent to the Council of the Indies the first book of his contemplated work, with the titles of the other five books which he intended to compile. In a _carta real_ he was thanked for what he had done, and charged to continue his labors, sending each book as prepared to the Council. I have no evidence that he did so.

All this time our book was a-building, and indeed for 170 years more. A complete history of this one work would fill a volume; obviously in a bibliographical note, even of undue length, only the more prominent agencies and incidents of its being can be touched upon.

We come now to the time when Antonio de Leon Pinelo, judge in the India House, presented to the Council of the Indies the first and second books, nearly complete, of his _Discurso sobre la importancia, forma, y disposicion de la Recopilacion de Leies de Indias_, which was printed in one volume, folio, in 1623. This was in reality Encinas' work with some cédulas added. Meanwhile it appears that some direct official work was done on a compilation, for in 1624 we find the Council instructing Pinelo to enter into relations with the custodian of the material for the compilation. Pinelo was likewise authorized to examine the archives of the Council; and for two years he employed himself continuously in examining some 500 MS. volumes of cédulas, containing over 300,000 documents. In the law authorizing the _Recopilacion de las Indias_ of 1680, it is said that in 1622 the task had been entrusted to Rodrigo de Aguiar y Acuña, probably the custodian referred to. In 1628 it was thought best to print for the use of the Council an epitome of the part completed; hence appeared the _Sumarios de la Recopilacion General de las Leies de las Indias_. Aguiar y Acuña dying, Pinelo worked on alone until 1634, when the Council approved of what had been done; and in the year following this indefatigable and learned man had the satisfaction of presenting the completed _Recopilacion de las Indias_. To one of the members, Juan de Solórzano y Pereira, the work was referred, and received his approbation in 1636. More than half a million of cédulas had been examined and classified during the progress of this compilation. And yet it was not published; and during the delay it was becoming obsolete, and new material and partial compilations were being made both in Spain and in America, some of which were printed in separate pieces. In 1634 the _Ordenanzas de la Junta de Guerra de Indias_ were published; in 1646 Juan Diez de la Calle compiled and published for the Council of the Indies in small quarto a memorial containing some of the cédulas of the _Recopilacion_. A useful aid for the study of statistic geography in America is to be found in the exceedingly rare _Memorial y Noticias Sacras y Reales del Imperio de las Indias Occidentales_. By Iuan Diez de la Calle, 1646, sm. 4to, 183 folios. A register for the Spanish colonies, chiefly of state and church officials, of towns, their wealth and notable objects. Folios 41-132 refer to the jurisdictions of the audiencias of Mexico, Guadalajara, and Guatemala. Calle had in the previous year, as assistant chief clerk to the secretary of the Royal Council of the Indies, presented the work to the king as _Memorial Informatorio al Rey_, and in accordance with his approval it had been reprinted with additions as above. Encouraged hereby he wrote at greater length the _Noticias Sacras i Reales_ in twelve libros, the publication of which was begun, but never finished. Puga's work was continued in the form of an _Inventario_ of the cédulas relating to New Spain issued from 1567-1620, the manuscript being presented to the secretary of the New Spain department of the Council of the Indies by Francisco de Párraga, afterward forming part of the Barcia collection. In 1647 appeared at Seville the _Ordenanças Reales, para la Casa de Contratacion de Sevilla, y para otras cosas de las Indias_; in 1658 Pinelo published at Madrid the _Autos, acuerdos y decretos de gobierno del real y supremo consejo de las Indias_. In 1661 there was printed at Madrid a folio entitled _Ordenanzas para remedio de los daños, é inconvenientes que se siguen de los descaminos i arribadas maliciosas de los Navios que navegan de las Indias Occidentales_; and in 1672 the _Norte de la Contratacion de las Indias Occidentales_ of Ioseph de Veitia Linage was published at Seville. J. Stevens translated this last work into English and published it in London in 1702.

The many and long periods of suspended animation of the _Recopilacion de Indias_, between its inception and its birth, is no less remarkable a feature in the history of the work than its multiplicity of origins and collateral affluents. In 1660 the case was brought before the king, and then referred to successive committees, in each of which were several members of the Council, the whole being under the supervision of their successive presidents, until finally, on the 18th of May, 1680, a royal decree made the _Recopilacion de Indias_ law, and all ordinances conflicting therewith null. Even now printing did not seem to be at first thought of. Two authenticated copies were ordered made, one to be kept in the archives of the Council, and the other at Simancas. It was soon seen, however, that this was not sufficient, and in 1681 the king ordered the book printed under the superintendence of the Council of the Indies, which was done. Although the _Recopilacion de Indias_ was several times revised, and well fulfilled its mission for over a hundred years, in fact to the end of Spain's dominion in America, several partial collections appeared from time to time in Spain and in America. Among these were _Sumarios de las Cédulas ... que se han despachado ... desde el año 1628 ... hasta ... 1677_, printed in Mexico in 1678; _Ordenanzas del Perù_, Lima, 1685; also the _Ordenanhas de Cruçada, para los Subdelegados del Perù_; _Reglamento y Aranceles Reales para el Comercio Libre de España à Indias_, 1778; _Teatro de la legislacion universal de España e Indias_, by Antonio Javier Perez y Lopez, 28 vols. 4to, Madrid, 1791-8. In the various public and private archives of Spain and Spanish America are manuscript collections of cédulas and compilations on special subjects.

[VI-1] The world was at a loss at first what to call the newly found region to the westward. It was easy enough to name the islands, one after another, as they were discovered, but when the Spaniards reached the continent they were backward about giving it a general name. Everything was so dark and uncertain; islands were mistaken for continent, and continent for islands. The simple expression New World that fell with the first exclamations of wonder from the lips of Europeans on learning of the success of Columbus sufficed for a time as a general appellation. More general and more permanent was the name India, arising from the mistake that this was the farther side or eastern shore of India, applied at first to the continent as well as to the islands, and which fastened itself permanently on the people as well as on the country. 'Segun la opinion mas probable, que penetró hasta aquellos parages, y tambien mas comunmente se da à este nuevo mundo descubierto, el nombre de Indias Occidentales, para distinguirlas de las verdaderas que están situadas en la Asia à nuestro Oriente entre el Indo, y el Ganges.' _Nueva España, Brev. Res._, MS. i. 3. As the coast line of the continent extended itself and became known as such it was very naturally called by navigators _tierra firme_, firm land, in contradistinction to the islands which were supposed to be less firm. And, indeed, not the islands only, but the people of the islands are inconstant, the moon being mistress of the waters. As Las Casas, _Hist. Indias_, iii. 395, puts it, 'La naturaleza dellos no les consiente tener perseverancia en la virtud, quier por ser insulares, que naturalmente tienen ménos constancia, por ser la luna señora de las aguas.' The name Tierra Firme, thus general at first, in time became

## particular. As a designation for an unknown shore it at first

implied only the Continent. As discovery unfolded, and the magnitude of this Firm Land became better known, new parts of it were designated by new names, and Tierra Firme became a local appellation in place of a general term. Paria being first discovered, it fastened itself there; also along the shore to Darien, Veragua, and on to Costa Rica, where at no well defined point it stopped, so far as the northern seaboard was concerned, and in due time struck across to the South Sea, where the name marked off an equivalent coast line. Lopez Vaz, in _Purchas_, _His Pilgrimes_, iv. 1433, says, 'From this Land of Veragua vnto the Iland of Margereta, the Coast along is called the _firme Land_, not for that the other places are not of the firme Land, but because it was the first firme Land that the Spaniards did conquer after they had past the Ilands.' In the _Recop. de Indias_, i. 324, is a law dated 1535, and repeated 1537, 1538, 1563, 1570, 1571, and 1588, which places within the limits of the kingdom of Tierra Firme the province of Castilla del Oro. As a political division Tierra Firme had existence for a long time. It comprised the provinces of Darien, Veragua, and Panamá, which last bore also the name of Tierra Firme as a province. The extent of the kingdom was 65 leagues in length by 18 at its greatest breadth, and nine leagues at its smallest width. It was bounded on the east by Cartagena, and the gulf of Urabá and its river; on the west by Costa Rica, including a portion of what is now Costa Rica; and on the north and south by the two seas. On the maps of _Novvs Orbis seu descriptionis Indiæ Occidentalis_ by De Laet, 1633, and of _Ogilby's America_, 1671, the Isthmus is called Tierra Firme. Villagutierre writes in 1701, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, 12, 'Tierra-Firme de la Costa de Paria, ò Provincia, que llamò de Veragua; principio de los dilatados Reynos de aquel Nuevo, y Grande Emisferio.' Neither Guatemala, Mexico, nor any of the lands to the north were ever included in Tierra Firme. English authors often apply the Latin form, Terra Firma, to this division, which is misleading.

The early Spanish writers were filled with disgust by the misnomer America. Pizarro y Orellana, _Varones Ilvstres_, in his preface speaks of the 'Nueva, y riquissima Parte del Mundo, que se llama vulgarmẽte _America_, y nosotros llamamos _Fer-Isabelica_;' and throughout his book the author persists, where 'Nuovo Mundo' is not employed, in calling America Fer-Isabelica, that is to say Ferdinand and Isabella, an attempt at name-changing no less futile than bungling. This was in 1639. If with these seventeenth-century writers the name Columbia, the only appropriate one for the New World, smacked too strongly of Genoa, they might have called it Pinzonia, which would have been in better taste, at least, than in bestowing the honor on the cold and haggling sovereigns. Jules Marcou, like thousands of his class who seek fame through foolishness, writes in the _Atlantic Monthly_, March, 1875, to prove that the name America came from a mountain range in Nicaragua, called by the natives Americ, which became a synonym for the golden mainland, first at the islands and then in Europe, until it finally reached the foot of the Vosges, where Waldsee-Müller, or Hylacomylus of Saint Dié, confuses it with the name of Vespucci, and is led to print in the preface of Vespucci's Voyages:—'And the fourth part of the world having been discovered by Americus may well be called Amerige, which is as much as to say, the land of Americus, or America.' Had the name been so early and so commonly applied to Tierra Firme, it is strange that some one of the many Spanish writers in the Indies or in Spain had not employed it or mentioned it. Villagutierre in 1701 endorses the effort made by Pizarro y Orellana in 1639, saying, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, 13, that the New World should have been called after the Catholic sovereigns, 'de cuya orden, y à cuyas expensas se descubrian.' He states further, on the authority of Simon, that the Council of the Indies as late as 1620 talked of changing the name, but were deterred by the inconvenience involved. Likewise Vetancurt, _Teatro Mex._, 13-15, in 1698 says that the name America should be erased from history, calling attention to the bull of partition issued by Pope Adrian VI., which alludes to the new lands as the Western Part—only it was not Adrian but Alexander VI. who perpetrated the bull, in which moreover there is no such term as Western Part used—arguing therefrom that Indias Occidentales was the most proper term. On the application and origin of the name America see cap. i. p. 123-5 of this volume.

[VI-2] Now gulf of Darién. The name Urabá was first applied to the gulf by Bastidas, or by navigators immediately following him. Subsequently the territory on the eastern side of the gulf was called Urabá, and that on the western side Darien. On Peter Martyr's map, _India beyond the Ganges_, 1510, is the word _vraba_; on the globe of Orontius, 1531, _Sinus vraba_ is applied to the gulf, and _vrabe_ to the river Atrato. Pilestrina, _Munich Atlas_, no. iv., 1515, places _G: d epimeg_ at the southern end of the gulf, which is represented as very wide. Maiollo, _Munich Atlas_, no. v., 1519, writes _Vraba_ in small letters at the southern end; also the words _aldea_, _tera plana_, and _Rio basso_.

[VI-3] Castilla del Oro was for the time but another name for this part of Tierra Firme. Then Castilla del Oro became a province of Tierra Firme; for in the _Recop. de Indias_, ii. 110, we find ordered by the emperor in 1550, 'que la Provincia de Tierrafirme, llamada Castilla del Oro, sea de las Provincial del Perú, y no de las de Nueva España.' The province of Veragua, and the territory 'back of the gulf of Urabá, where dwelt the cacique Cimaco,' were declared within the limits of the government of Tierra Firme. Helps, _Span. Conq._, i. 400, calls a map of that portion of South America extending from the gulf of Maracaibo to the gulf of Urabá by the name Castilla del Oro. I have noticed in several of the early maps the same mistake. Colon and Ribero call only the Pearl Coast Castilla del Oro. In _West-Indische Spieghel_, 1624, 64, the country between the Atrato and a river flowing into the gulf of Venezuela is called Castilla del Oro. Humboldt, _Exam. Crit._, i. 320, erroneously narrows the limits of Nicuesa's government to that 'partie de la Terre-Ferme placée entre le Veragua et le golfe d'Uraba, où commençait la governacion de Hojeda;' for Navarrete says distinctly in his _Noticias biográficas del capitan Alonso Hojeda_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 170, 'Los límites de la gobernacion de Hojeda eran desde el cabo de la Vela hasta la mitad del golfo de Urabá, que llamaron _nueva Andalucía_; y los de la gobernacion de Diego de Nicuesa, que se le concedió al mismo tiempo, desde la otra mitad del golfo hasta el cabo de _Gracias á Dios_, que se denominó _Castilla del Oro_.' He who some time after drew the commission of Pedrarias Dávila as 'Gobernador de la provincia de Castilla del Oro en el Darien,' is sadly confused in his New World geography when he writes, _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 337, 'Una muy grand parte de tierra que fasta aquí se ha llamado Tierra-firme, é agora mandamos que se llame Castilla del Oro, y en ella ha hecho nuestra gente un asiento en el golfo de Urabá, que es en la provincia del Darien, que al presente se llama la provincia de Andalucía la Nueva, é el pueblo se dice Santa Maria del Antigua del Darien;' and again on the following page:—'Castilla del Oro, con tanto que no se entienda ni comprenda en ella la provincia de Verágua, cuya gobernacion pertenece al Almirante D. Diego Colon por le haber descubierto el Almirante su padre por su persona, ni la tierra que descubrieron Vicente Yañez Pinzon é Juan Diaz de Solis, ni la provincia de Pária.' Oviedo marks the limits plainly enough, iv. 116, 'Por la costa del Norte tiene hasta Veragua, que lo que con aquel corresponde en la costa del Sur puede ser la punta de Chame, que está quince leguas al Poniente de Panamá, é desde allí para arriba seria Castilla del Oro hasta lo que respondiesse ó responde de Norte á Sur.' The _Descripcion Panamá_, in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, ix. 82, says the official name was _Provincia de Castilla del Oro y reino de Tierra Firme_, and so remained till the beginning of the 17th century, and afterward _Bética áurea_, or _Castilla del oro_, is written in _Décadas_, _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, viii. 14.

[VI-4] And no wonder misunderstandings should arise over a cédula dividing territory in such words as, 'á vos el dicho Diego de Nicuesa en el parte de Veragua y el dicho Alonso de Hojeda en el parte de Urabá.' _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 116.

[VI-5] Peter Martyr, dec. ii. cap. i., gives Nicuesa 795, and Ojeda 300 men. Herrera, dec. i. lib. vii. cap. xi., says that 700 sailed from Española with Nicuesa and 300 with Ojeda. 'No pudiendo Hojeda por su pobreza aprestar la expedicion, la Cosa y otros amigos le fletaron una nao, y uno ó dos bergantines, que con doscientos hombres.' _Noticias biográficas del capitan Alonso Hojeda_, _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 170. Benzoni, who pays little heed to numbers or dates, says, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 37, 'Hoieda comprò quattro naui e fece più di quattrocento soldati alle fue spese, e cosi partì san Domenico.'

[VI-6] 'Bachiller,' says the English translator of Benzoni, 'has a wider meaning than our word bachelor, signifying also an inferior order of knighthood.' This is a mistake. The word has the same corresponding significance in both languages. It is true that the degree exempts the possessor from certain obligations, such as personal service, military and municipal, imprisonment for debt, etc., and grants him certain privileges enjoyed by noblemen. But this does not make him noble. The next degree, which is that of licentiate, carries with it still further privileges, but even this does not constitute knighthood. The degree of doctor, which follows that of licentiate and is the highest conferred by the university, gives the possessor the right to prefix Don to his name, and places him in nearly every respect on a par with noblemen.

[VI-7] The word _alcalde_ is from the Arabic _al cadi_, the judge or governor. _Alcalde ordinario_ used formerly to designate the officer having the immediate superintendency of a town or city, with cognizance of judicial matters except those of persons enjoying some privilege (_fuero_). _Alcalde mayor_ signifies a judge, learned in the law, who exercises ordinary jurisdiction, civil and criminal, in a town or district. The office is equivalent to that of district judge in the United States, the audiencia standing for the supreme court. There were, however, in the early years, alcaldes mayores who were not law judges, or men learned in the law; they governed for the king a town or city not the capital of a province.

_Corregidor_, a magistrate having civil and criminal jurisdiction in the first instance (_nisi prius_) and gubernatorial inspection in the political and economical government in all the towns of the district assigned to him. There were _corregidores letrados_ (learned in the law), _políticos_ (political), _de capa y espada_ (cloak and sword), and _políticos y militares_ (holding civil and military authority). All had equal jurisdiction. When the corregidor or mayor was not by profession a lawyer, unless he had an _asesor_ of his own, the alcalde mayor, if possessed of legal knowledge, became his adviser, which greatly increased the importance of the latter. The alcalde mayor was appointed by the king. He must be by profession a lawyer, twenty-six years of age, and of good character. He could neither be a native of the district in which he was to exercise his functions, nor could he marry a wife in his district. _Recop. de Indias_, ii. 113-27 and note. So much for the law. Practically in cases of this kind, where the governor was not learned in the law, civil, criminal, and some phases even of military authority devolved on the alcalde mayor, the two first _ex officio_, and the last as the legal adviser of the military chief. In new colonies this officer was invested with powers almost equal to those of the governor, though of a different kind.

[VI-8] A document prepared by the united wisdom of church and state, for general use in the Indies, setting forth the obligations of all good savages to their dual head of Spain and Rome, with a list of punishments which were to follow disobedience. Of which more hereafter.

[VI-9] To this day there are tribes in the vicinity of the Atrato River which have never been subjugated.

[VI-10] I am unable to find this place on any map. Gomara, _Hist. Ind._, 68, says: 'Començo luego vna fortaleza, y pueblo, donde se recoger, y assegurar en el mismo lugar que quatro años antes lo auia comẽçado Iuan dela Cosa. Este fue el primer pueblo de Españoles en la tierra firme de Indias.' If the author refers his first town to the former visit of Juan de la Cosa four years before, I should say that could scarcely be called an attempted settlement, still less an established town. If he intimates that this fort of Ojeda's was the first settlement, then is he wrong, for Belen, in Veragua, was before this. Whatever he means, and that often is impossible to determine, in this instance it is safe to say that he is in error, as San Sebastian can by no possibility have been the first settlement in Tierra Firme. Herrera writes, i. vii. xvi.: 'Entrò en el golfo de Vrabà, y buscò el rio del Darien, que entre los Indios era muy celebrado de oro, y de gente belicosa, y no le hallando, sobre vnos cerros assentó vn pueblo, al qual llamò la villa de san Sebastian, tomandole por abogado contra las flechas de la yerua mortifera: y esta fue la segunda villa de Castellanos que se poblò, en todo la tierra firme, auiendo sido la primera la que començò a poblar el Almirante viejo, en Veragua.' Words to the same effect are in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 172. It seems rather premature to call these futile attempts establishing towns.

[VI-11] The first in Tierra Firme, Oviedo says, but he forgets the landing, for the same purpose, of Bartolomé Colon at Cape Honduras, Sunday, August 14, 1502.

[VI-12] When Oviedo gravely asserts that Ribero intended desertion, and was stealing by Belen when he was captured by Olano, he goes out of his way to make palpable nonsense appear as truth. Admit them inhuman monsters, which they were not, whither would four starved helpless wretches desert on this deadly shore?

[VI-13] Chagre, not Chagres, was the name of the native province through which this river flows. Near its mouth empty several small streams, and it was only below the confluence of these that the term Lagartos for any length of time applied. Says Alcedo, _Dic._, i., of the River Chagre:—'Lo descubrió el de 1527 Hernando de la Serna llamándole rio de Lagartos, y antes su boca Lope de Olano el de 1510.' Oviedo remarks upon it:—'Algunos han querido deçir que los de aquesta armada le dieron este nombre, porque ninguna cosa viva saltaba de los navíos que en pressençia de la gente no se la comiessen luego muy grandes lagartos, lo qual se experimentó en algunos perros. Este rio es la boca del rio Chagre.' _Hist. Gen._, ii. 467. Acosta is somewhat loose in the statement, _Compend. Hist. Nueva Granada_, 34, 'En la boca del rio Chagres, que entonces llamaban de los Lagartos por la multitud de caimanes que Colon habia visto en él.' Vaz Dourado places, on _Munich Atlas_, no. x., 1571, in this vicinity a river with the word _chi_. _Munich Atlas_ no. ix. has it _Chiche_. De Laet writes _R. de Chagre_; Dampier, _R. Chagre_; Jefferys, _R. Chagre_ and _Ft. Chagre_.

[VI-14] The name familiar to cartographers often assumed in those days peculiar orthography on the maps. Thus Fernando Colon writes this name _nõbre_; Ribero, _nõb_; Agnese, _nõmbre de dio_; Vaz Dourado, _nöbre de dios_; Ramusio, _Nome de dio_; Hondius, in Purchas, _Nom de Dios_; Mercator, Dampier, Ogilby, the author of _West-Indische Spieghel_, Jefferys, and their successors, contrary to their frequent custom, all write the words correctly. This place, as we shall hereafter see, was for a long time famous as the chief post on the northern coast of Tierra Firme through which passed the merchandise from Spain and the gold from Peru. Says Benzoni, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 79: 'Questa Città stà situata nel mare di Tramontana. Sogliono adunque communemente ogn'anno andare di Spagna al Nome di Dio, da quattordici, ò quindici naui, fra piccole, e grande, e la maggior porterà mille, e ottocento salme; cariche di robbe diuerse.' Dampier about a century later found the spot where the city had stood overgrown with trees. Its abandonment was owing to poisoned air, the same unwholesome climate that broke up all the early settlements on this coast, the last being always regarded as the worst.

[VI-15] The original authorities for this chapter are: _Real Cédula_, etc., in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 116; _Memorial presentado al Rey por Rodrigo de Colmenares_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 387; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Ind._, ii. 61; _Oviedo_, ii. 465-78; _Noticias biográficas del capitan Alonso Hojeda_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 163; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, 69; _Peter Martyr_, dec. ii. 2; _Herrera_, dec. i. lib. vii. cap. vii. Reference, mostly unimportant, to the doings of Ojeda and Nicuesa may be found in _Ramusio_, _Viaggi_, iii. 18-22; _Roberts' Nar. Voy._, xviii.-xix.; _Dalton's Conq. Mex. and Peru_, 37-38; _Montanus_, _Nieuwe Weereld_, 62-65; _Morelet_, _Voy. dans l'Amérique Cent._, ii. 300-1; _Laharpe_, _Abrégé_, ix. 160-84; _Ogilby's Am._, 66-67, 397; _March y Labores_, _Marina Española_, i. 391-402; _Juan_ and _Ulloa_, _Voy._, i. 94; _Acosta_, _Compend. Hist. Nueva Granada_, 26-36; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, 163; _Andagoya_, _Nar._, 4-5; _Nouvelle An. des Voy._, cxlviii. 7-10; _Dufey_, _Résumé Hist. Am._, i. 66-71, 371-75; _Helps' Span. Conq._, i. 295-334; _Gordon's Hist. Am._, ii. 62-72; _Holmes' Annals Am._, i. 29-30; _Lardner's Hist. Discov._, ii. 37-40; _Gonzalez Dávila_, _Teatro Ecles._, ii. 57; _Quintana_, _Vidas_, 'Vasco Nuñez,' 1-10, and 'Pizarro,' 42-43; _Robinson's Acct. Discov. in West_, 171-95; _S. Am. and Mex._, i. 12-14; _Snowden's Am._, 70-1; _Robertson's Hist. Am._, i. 191-95; _Irving's Col._, iii. 66-31; _Russell's Hist. Am._, i. 43-8; _Drake's Voy._, 155-58; _London Geog. Soc., Jour._, xxiii. 179; _Du Perier_, _Gen. Hist. Voy._, 110-13; _Pizarro y Orellana_, _Varones Ilvstres_, 53-61; _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 36-47; _Morelli_, _Fasti Novi Orbis_, 14; _Bastidas_, _Informacion_, in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, ii. 439; _Décadas_, in _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, viii. 14; _Mesa y Leompart_, _Hist. Am._, i. 85-86; _Touron_, _Hist. Gen. Am._, i. 275-87; _Lallement_, _Geschichte_, i. 22.

[VII-1] So named by the early settlers of Antigua, probably because of its being on the other side of the gulf from them, toward the Carib country. It is now known as Punta Arenas. Some maps make two points, and give one of the names to each.

[VII-2] Oviedo, ii. 426, says that, with the assistance of one Hurtado, Vasco Nuñez was hidden in a ship's sail.

[VII-3] 'Der Name _Darien_ (_Dariena_, oder _Tarena_) scheint zunächst mit dem indianischen Namen des grossen Flusses Atrato, welcher sich in den Golf von Uraba ausgiesst, seinen Anfang genommen zu haben. Der erste Eroberer, der in diesen Golf einsegelte, war Bastidas 1501. Ob er schon den Fluss Darien gesehen und den Namen nach Europa gebracht hat, ist ungewiss. Gewiss ist es, das der Name des Flusses Darien bereits in den Dokumenten und Theilungspakten zwischen Nicuesa und Ojeda in Jahre 1509 genannt wird.' _Kohl_, _Die Beiden ältesten General-karten von Amerika_, 116. On Peter Martyr's map, _India beyond the Ganges_, 1510, is _tariene_; on the globe of Orontius, 1531, the gulf is called _Sinus vraba_, the river _vrabe_, and the Isthmus _furna dariena_. Salvat de Pilestrina, _Munich Atlas_, no. iv., 1515, places on the west side of the gulf of Urabá the word _dariem_. Maiollo, _Munich Atlas_, no. v., 1519, calls the place _daryen_; Fernando Colon, 1527, writes _darien_; Diego de Ribero, 1529, _dariẽ_; _Munich Atlas_, no. vi., 1532-40, _dariem_; Vaz Dourado, 1571, _dariem_; Robert Thorne, in _Hakluyt's Voy._, _Darion_; _Mercator's Atlas_, 1569; _West-Indische Spieghel_, 1624; _Ogilby's Map of America_, 1671; Dampier, 1699, and subsequent cartographers give the present form.

[VII-4] Ogilby, _Am._, 66, entertains a dim conception of the fact when he says, 'Ancisus pursuing, found in a Thicket of Canes, or Reeds a great Treasure of Gold.'

[VII-5] 'De que hoy no quedan ni vestigios,' says Acosta. Nor do I find laid down on any map in my possession the town of Santa María, or Antigua, or Darien, by which names this place has been severally designated. Puerto Hermoso, placed by Colon at the south-western extremity of the gulf of Urabá, _p: hermosso_, and also by Ribero, _po hmoso_, is supposed to have been the anchorage of Enciso and the harbor of Antigua. Oviedo, i. 4, in endeavoring to fasten upon the place the name _La Guardia_, confuses himself beyond extrication. 'En la cibdad del Darien (que tambien se llamó antes la Guardia) é despues santa Maria del Antigua.'

[VII-6] _Carta dirigida al Rey por Vasco Nuñez de Balboa desde Santa María del Darien, 20 de Enero de 1513_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viages_, iii. 358. That Enciso has been properly represented as a vain and shallow man is proved by a reference to his book, _Suma de Geographia_, 2, wherein he does not hesitate to patronize the boy-emperor 'whose youth had not permitted him to read much of geography.' 'Por tanto yo Martin Fernandez de Enciso alguazil mayor dela tierra firme delas Indias ocidentales llamada castilla dl oro. Desseando hazer algun seruicio a vuestra. s. c. c. m. que le fuesse agradable y no menos prouechoso, cõsiderando que la poca edad de vuestra real alteza no ha dado lugar a que pudiesse leer los libros que dela geographia hablan.' And that he was as beastly in his bigotry and cruelty as his less learned companions we may know from what he himself wrote the king, _Pacheco_ and _Cárdenas_, _Col. Doc._, i. 449, about the caciques who kept men dressed as women, and used as such, 'and when I took Darien, we seized and burned them, and when the women saw them burning they manifested joy.' Compare _Oviedo_, ii. 425-27, 472-76; and iii. 7; _Herrera_, dec. i. lib. viii. cap. v.-vii.; and lib. ix. cap. l; or, if one will have it in Dutch, _Ezquebel_, _Aankomst_, 30-8, in _Gottfried_, _Reysen_, i.; _Acosta_, _Compend. Hist. Nueva Granada_, 33-8; _Drake's Voy._, 157-58; _Norman's Hist. Cal._, 10; _Patton's Hist. U. S._, 11; _Ogilby's Am._, 399; _March y Labores_, _Marina Española_, i. 413-23; _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, 41-5; _Harper's Mag._, xviii. 468; _Bidwell's Panamá_, 27-28; and _Heylyn's Cosmog._, 1087.

[VII-7] As I have before observed, there were alcaldes of various denominations, duties, and jurisdictions. In new discoveries, when the chief of the expedition had not contracted with the king for the appointing of authorities, the settlers met and elected one or more alcaldes and regidores. The alcalde, in the absence of the governor or military chief, presided over the municipal council, composed of regidores who governed the municipality, or _regimiento_, as it was then called. The alcalde was also the executive power, exercising the functions of judge, with original jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal, those relating to the natives excepted. In the absence of the adelantado he was therefore chief in authority, and when the governor was present, the alcalde was second. Alcaldes in new settlements, and in early times, were different from those created later. Their duties covered the emergency. In the present instance, had Enciso continued to exercise the office of alcalde mayor, regidores might still have been elected to attend to the affairs of the municipality, in which case no alcaldes would have been elected, for Enciso himself would have presided.

[VII-8] Regidores, or members of the municipal council, were elected by the residents of a ward or district. Cities were entitled to twelve, towns to six, and villages or small settlements were limited to three or even less.

[VII-9] The name of a Spanish settlement midway between Cape de la Vela and Cartagena, and sometimes applied to the territory in that vicinity.

[VII-10] The _procurador de la ciudad_, called afterward _síndico procurador_, and later still _síndico_, was an officer of the municipal council, whose duty it was to see the city ordinances enforced, bring suit for and defend the city in any suit, performing the functions of city attorney, beside having a seat in the common council of the city.

[VII-11] Benzoni asserts that after leaving Antigua, Nicuesa followed the coast for some distance, but landing one day for water, he was seized by cannibals, who captured the vessel and devoured the men. 'E cosi Niquesa molto dolente se ne

## parti, e per quella costa andando salto in terra per piglior

acqua, e su da paesani ucciso, e poi mangiato con tutti i suoi compagni, e questo su la fine della vita di Diego di Niquesa, con la sua armata di Veragua.' _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, i. 47. A story was current for a time that they had been thrown on Cuba, where all perished, leaving inscribed upon a tree, 'Here ended the unfortunate Nicuesa.' Las Casas and Herrera, however, are of opinion that his vessel foundered at sea. 'Algunos imaginaron que aportò a Cuba, y que los Indios le mataron, porque andando ciertos Castellanos por la isla hallarõ escrito en un arbol: Aqui feneciò el desdichado Nicuesa: pero esto se tuvo por los hombres mas verdaderos, por falso, porque los primeros que entraron en Cuba, afermaron nunca aver oydo tal nueva. Lo que se tuvo por mas cierto, es, que como llenava tan mal navio, y las mares de aquellas partes son ton bravas, y vehementes, la mesma mar lo tragara facilmente, o que pereceria de hãbre, y de sed.' _Herrera_, i. viii. viii. But his fate must forever remain a mystery; and he one among the many whose visionary hopes have been buried beneath these waters; one among the many who, having left home with sanguine expectations, sailed over these seas in quest of gold or adventure, never again to be heard from! It is easy, after a failure, to find the mistake. Many of Nicuesa's misfortunes sprang not from any fault, and yet faults, in place of nobler qualities, were developed by his misfortunes.

[VIII-1] Oviedo, ii. 477, is obviously wrong in saying over six hundred.

[VIII-2] 'Il Baccelliero non poteva mostrare le Reali sue prouisioni per bauerle per dute nella naue, che si ruppe nel Golfo d'Vraua.' _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nvovo_, i. 47. There were those who told Peter Martyr that Enciso was thus punished by providence for having advised the expulsion of Nicuesa.

[VIII-3] Martin Fernandez de Enciso first came to the Indies with Bastidas. After practising law for a time successfully at Santo Domingo, he was tempted to this expedition, as we have seen, by Ojeda, upon the promise of the office of alcalde mayor. Though a pettifogger in his profession, he was nevertheless possessed of worth and ability in other directions. In Darien, while in the main well meaning, he was unable to cope successfully with shrewder intellects sharpened by New World experiences. After his return to Spain he published a work, entitled _Suma de geografiã q̃ trata de todas las partidas & prouincias del mundo: en especial de las indias, y trata largamẽte del arte del marear: Juntamete con la esphera en romãce: con el regimiento del Sol & del norte: nueuamente hecha_. As the title indicates, the book purports to be a compendium of universal geography, treating of all parts of the world, but including the little that was then known of the Indies. That part relating to the New World was made up in a great measure from his own observations. And yet it resembles too nearly the usual summaries of the period to be of much value. The first third of the work is devoted to the science of geography, with astronomical tables and a résumé of early Spanish history. Then the physical features of Spain, and Europe generally, are given, and finally a rambling account of Asia, Africa, and America. It was printed at Seville by a German, Jakob Cromberger, in 1519. Other editions appeared in 1530 and 1546. My edition is dated 1530, the part relating to America occupying the last eight folios of the book. Bibliographers believe this the first book relative to the New World printed in the Spanish language. 'Livre curieux, parce qu'il est le premièr traité de géographie impr. en Espagne, où l'on trouve des détails sur l'Amérique.' _Brunet_, _Manuel du Libraire_. 'Apparently the first book printed in Spanish relating to America.' _Rich_, _Bibliotheca Americana Vetus_. 'L'ouvrage rare et très remarquable.' _Humboldt_, _Examen Critique_, iv. 306. 'A great hydrographer and explorer, his work is invaluable for the early geographical history of the continent.' _Harrisse_, _Bibliotheca Americana Vetustissima_. Navarrete says: 'Escribió Enciso un papel muy curioso sobre si los conquistadores españoles podian tener y poseer indios encomendados, contra los frailes dominicos que decian que no, y se opusieron al despacho de la expedicion de Pedrarias Dávila, so pretexto de que el Rey no podia enviar á hacer tales conquistas.' And in his _Epitome_, Pinelo remarks: 'Trata en su _Suma Geografia_ del Arte de Navegar, de la Esfera, y de las quatro partes del Mundo, especialmente de las Indias, i es el primero que imprimió _Obra Geografica_ de ellas.' Indeed, this last was said in 1738, and subsequent bibliographers have repeated it.

[VIII-4] For definition see