CHAPTER VI

.—Discovery of Nicaragua in 1522; Gil Gonzales de Avila,

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

##