CHAPTER XIV.

THREATENED DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIES.

1526-1543.

DECREASE OF INDIAN POPULATION AT THE ISTHMUS AND IN HONDURAS

TREATMENT OF SPANISH ALLIES IN GUATEMALA TORTURE AND BUTCHERY
OF HOSTILE NATIVES TERROR INSPIRED BY ALVARADO EARLY LEGISLA
TION ITS NON-OBSERVANCE THE NEW LAWS THE AUDIENCIA OF PA
NAMA ABOLISHED THE AUDIENCIAS OF Los REYES AND Los CONFINES
ESTABLISHED DISGUST CAUSED BY THE NEW CODE THE FIRST VICE
ROY OF PERU ARRIVES AT THE ISTHMUS HE TAKES CHARGE OF TREASURE
ACQUIRED BY SLAVE LABOR AND LIBERATES A NUMBER OF INDIANS.

THE old Milanese chronicler, Girolamo Benzoni,

mentions that during a journey from Acla 1 to Nombre
de Dios about the year 1541, his party entered some
Indian huts to obtain a supply of provisions. The
inmates thinking they were about to be enslaved
attacked them savagely with hands and teeth, tearing
their clothes, spitting in their faces, uttering doleful
cries, and exclaiming guacci! guacci! which Benzoni
translates as the name of a quadruped that prowls
"

1
Benzoni spells the word Aclila and states that the town was situated at
a distance of about two bow-shots from the shore. Hondo Nuovo, 77. For a
description of its site see Jlist. Cent. Am., i. 418, this series. Girolamo Beii-
zoni, in 1541, joined the Spaniards in their forays for gold and slaves, and
traversed the Central American provinces. Regarded doubtless as an inter
loper he does not appear to have met with the success he expected, and in
1556 returned to Italy determined to vent his spite by an expos6 of Spanish
greed and cruelty. In 1565 he published the work entitled La Historia del
Mondo Nvovo, dedicated to Pius IV., and containing 18 wood-cuts, withliis
own portrait on the frontispiece. The second edition, somewhat amplified,
appeared in 1572, followed by quite a number of reprints and translations,
particularly in German and Latin. The well known version by Chauvet on,
doctor and protestant preacher at Geneva, the Novce Novi Orbts Historice,
Geneva, 1578, was frequently reissued. The dedication praises Benzoni for
exactitude and impartiality, and notes by other writers are added to confirm
and explain the text. De Bry gave further value to this version by means of
maps and fancy plates. Purchas, among others, treated it with less respect
in offering merely Brief e extracts translated out of lerom Benzo. Amends
(232)
 I) IN!

,t in

h fond, and f ll,

nting to a med tl
that (liciv \\ ere DO -
-\ b< r Indian La! -n th -ir

lin<- "!
route, Sp.-nr !<>r 1
liad c-illiur killed <>r

slaves of the entire

In Honduras slaves w< ill

kidnapped, and
M-ht in ls.-,7, wlu-u t!ir i

.nly full I
was i-
Iniiral Smyth, uml
] <

S..IHCU h;it l ;n:l-.

li:. i| t \ t.
I

lflitly
\v World, tli. thvindK-d int
at Hi"

..r to 1

he all
.
.-nt.s 01 int iKi,

d rumors current jimon^ gossips. lh:

ho tr. iiato
il suo li
j.iu
i
hi., iii. I .il. ]_ >.

a-liilad. .n juit ;

Ollt hi
the \v.ik, mu.-ii f . i s facts
r by llu- rhronidcrs, ;i: s of a mail
not iml)!i. d ui;h :

II naturally
nnl th :in.
hrnan
And .
. u ii.. .

and things, and who is .

him i

eras st-

i ad 1

.
234 THREATENED DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIES.

by ship-loads among the islands or in Nicaragua, so

that in the vicinity of Trujillo, where formerly were
native towns with from six hundred to three thousand
houses, there were in 1547 not more than a hundred
and eighty Indians left, the remainder having fled to
the mountains to avoid capture. At Naco, which a
few years before contained a population of ten thou
sand souls, there were, in 1536, only forty-five remain
ing. At a coast town named La Haga, nine leagues
from Trujillo, and containing nine hundred houses,
there was but one inhabitant left, all having been sold
into bondage save the young daughter of the cacique,
who had contrived to elude the slave-hunters. 3
Cruel as was the treatment of the natives in every
part of the Spanish provinces, nowhere was oppres
sion carried to such an extreme as in Guatemala.
Here little distinction w as made between the allies
T

and the conquered races; even the faithful Tlascaltecs,

who, after the conquest, had settled with the Mexi
can and Cholultec auxiliaries at Almolonga, being
enslaved, overworked, and otherwise maltreated, until
4
in 1547 there were barely a hundred survivors. The
natives of Atitlan, who had never swerved in their
allegiance to the Spaniards, were treated with equal
severity. After sharing the hardships of their mili
tary campaigns, they were compelled to supply every
year four or five hundred male and female slaves and
every fifteen days a number of tributary laborers,
3
For the condition of the native settlements in Honduras, see Montejo,
Carta*, in Pacheco and Cardenas, Col. Doc., ii. 223-4, 228, 240-1; and
Squier s MSS., xxii. 24-6.
4
By dated July 20, 1532, they were exempted from other than a
c<5dula,

nominal tribute of two reals, Juarros, Gtiat., i. 74; ii. 343; but this order
was unheeded. In 1547 the survivors drew up a memorial to the emperor
representing their past services and sufferings, and petitioning for their rights.
The document was written by a friar and referred .to the licentiate Cerrato,
who was instructed to see that justice was done to them. Memorial, 15J+7,
MS., in Centro America, Extractos Sudtos, 41-2. An attempt was made at a
later date to impose tribute upon their descendants; but the Mexican govern
ment confirmed them in their rights in 1504: Fueron amparados en posesion
de su libertad, y se Iibr6 en Tenuctitlan & 6 de noviembre de 15G4 real pro
vision, que conservan los naturales de Almolonga en folios de pergamino
encuadernados en forma de libro, empastado con tab las fiuas, y forrado en
terciopelo carmesi, etc. Pelaez, Mem. Guat., i. 167.
 D DEAT

Mini fr->m 1 and pri".

!i. They \\
^mvd to furnish, l><--id

(|(l;i!l!
[
cloth, id
poult n
grievous were upon t!i -en fche burdens laid tJH in
the caciques were impoverished, and their \vivt- eom-
of bur* lull a lid the till< .
!

il.

Midi was the tr to which the most "lit faith-

ful allie^ of tli-
Spaniards were subjected, I fell

err nay we n .pect to iind in(lirt-d on I

who, undeterred by <! . du and

their OppreSSOl No words can depict tli>

of il, haploss rac> ^ holrsale ^lau^htrr, ha;

, and burning, torturing, mutilatin
d brand!
l il]. the suppression of a n-volt.
.\vcd Starv,-r ion,
liai i, blows, iainting- uinlur intolerable lun
18 of air, and untimely death, were their !<>t

in time of peace. During Alva: hue th

of life ^ aton and in ickenii In th tield 1

ing auxiliaries were on human I -d llesh

belli"- but d ami
ibr food; childl ell Were 7
kill*

even where there was no want f p

d: nay, <

were slain ineivly .r the i l

hands, which Were by the anth este< ( <lelica-i -<

races. Xor were tin- marital relal of3

tin-
my mere considered than it they had
i: b<

nat.uix? the brutes \vhieh the Spaniards ii of

i in ])ra<-iic
JI holds wnv rendci des .-d

iVuni husbands and dan-lit

>rn

]>areiii
d among th<

n. while the children \ WO1 k at .

. and t here pTi>!n-d !<y

t mds.
Tim.- the \\
-juilation |>i 38ed, and it is

by Las Casas that during the lirst ti. or

!i \ t the eon<|iie-t
the d ;ieti"ii of

5
Iu tli<> tim- trilnto of o;i. 1 . 400 xi.j\iipi!^, ;r
W8 ].;ii.l until l->\ 2. /,

\. *_ _ .

I WllS tilt !
1, Jl H.
236 THREATENED DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIES.

Indians in Guatemala alone amounted to four or five

6
million souls.
None of the conquerors of the New World, not even
Pedrarias DaVila, were held in such dread as Pedro
de Alvarado. When the news of his landing at Puerto
de Caballos was noised abroad the natives abandoned
their dwellings and fled to the forests. In a few days
towns, villages, and farms were deserted, and it seemed
as if the whole province of Guatemala had been de
7
populated by enchantment. The plantations were
destroyed by cattle; the cattle were torn by wild
beasts; and the sheep and lambs served as food for
the blood-hounds, which had been trained to regard
the Indians as their natural prey, but now found
none to devour,

6
Regio, Ind. Devastat., 38-40. How populous the country was may be
imagined from the fact that Alvarado represented it as exceeding Mexico in
the number of its inhabitants. Et ipsemet tyrannus scripsit majorem esse
in hac provincia populi frequentiam, quam in Hegno Mexico, quod & verum
est. Id. Las Casas also states that, when the Spaniards first entered the
country, the towns and villages were so many and large and so densely popu
lated that those who marched in advance not infrequently returned to the
captain demanding a reward for having discovered another city equal in. size
to Mexico. Hist. Apolog., MS., 28.
7
It will be remembered, however, that Alvarade procured relays of Indians
from Guatemala to pack his material and supplies from Trujillo to Iztapa.
Enough were left, remarks Remesal, upon whom to wreak his vengeance, and
the Cakchiquel and Quich6 princes, who appeared before him to do him hom
age, became the first victims. They were reproached with the reforms brought
about in their favor, during his absence, as of crimes worthy of capital pun
ishment; for daring to complain to the governor they were accused of rebellion.
Nameless adventurers, who had been unable to extort enough gold from them,
or take from them their vassals to work in their fields and houses, pretended
that the ill-will of these chiefs had caused their ruin, and loudly demanded
that the adelantado should grant new repartimientos according to their ser
vices. Alvarado, who was wounded to the quick by the appointment of
Maldonado, listened to all these complaints, and now displayed his usual bru
tality. Prince Cook, Ahtzib of the Cakchiquel crown, he ran through with
a sword. Tepepul, king of Gumarcaah, or Utatlan, and the Ahpozotzil Cahi
Lnox, together with a large number of lords, were cast into a prison on some
frivolous pretext. When on the point of sailing from Iztapa, Alvarado being
requested by the municipal council to determine their fate, settled the matter
by hanging the latter and putting the former together with a number of the
leading caciques on board his fleet. All of them perished miserably on the
coast of Jalisco. Among his other victims was a lord called Chuwi-Tziquinu
and 17 other Cakchiquel princes, whom he took with him from Santiago under
pretence of conducting them to Mexico. When a short distance from the city
he caused them all to be strangled. Remesal, Hist. Chj/apa, lib. iv. cap. iv.
v. xx.; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 797-801; Pelaez, Mem.
Guat., i. 77.
 LAWS OF UTTLi; AVAIL.

\ 525 intelligence of he ii-n-iMr

}\- as l t i

with depopulation was

\vliich j

iperor, and on the 17th of Xovemher he issued a,

lula for of the in^ fa>t <

i
protection
Jn .) In- ordered the council of the Indies to draw
I .) I

up regulations for the rmncnt of the provin.

,-ind that issued decree
Ixxly a
regarding the treatment
of nati\ -vhich, although the protection of tin.- in-
of tlu. throne may he a so;ii \vhat ])roinincnt
consideration, exhihhs sympathy and enjoins ra i

tion toward the Other ce*dula oppr<

I ra<-

at brief intervals, hut that all were inoperative

1

*J >
>>

A .--,-. /. :>:,
in 8oc. M >rj.
t Doling v. .

In t mible to this !mt it <lt

re toil in mines and at other labor and the want of ami fo"<l
]>!

clot hi m.; hail caused the ;it h of such numbers that sonic
parts of the country d>

hail In-come depopulated, while whole ili-tri abaiuloiie-l by the n;.l!

A ho had
, the mountains ami forests
;
ill-tiv.am This t
j><-

,-ipply to the!. dominions in the. west n mi ;inam;i t l

iorida. inquiry to be made relative to the killing, robb.

and i!l -L;d lu-amliii;. 1 that the ] .tors shoul 1 be de-
r to the council of the Indies. Otl.er pi-ovisos were that si
should I-- d to their native, country, and if this were not p
be placed in ,able liberty, nor were be t

heavily worked or made to labor in the mines or cl inst

ill. In future expeditions of d:
:th him tv, who v. dil-

kindly tn-atment the Indians. Natives wh ir

!y incl at the same time t:.e pr ;

moi-ality and Lf>od customs left out of si^ ht, and

\ >t i

M lic: :.d
by the priest they mi.MiL i

Oni>:ian J-iui-i
:ly no discov-
of thei it nd on any of
Indians to act : lib. iii. c:ip. lii.. that
6 brai. vin^ been HP
:md that, you; and tend. | \vns
by hmi they j
from hui 1

p.
/ :. M /<.
/ "
.. i. brandin : 1m:
vhoh.-id peaceably sabtnitled, ofthena;
i

>y
\\\:
tlie mamlati s of tin ul;i,and in addit
d the -
| the branding of Indians as
1

>. U; them a-; vas.- any on .111-

d to u ] !.
mal>. not
to b !y of governi:
i of the _ rs of proviib -. N
d in p>ld-mi: ]>ayn.

-
to belong tO
1 1-ivi-d nf t:ie km .
i
acquired by inln-ritance, if they \\ : .iti-

Id not
bas in weight. In 15oG it was ordered that I who hud Ix-en a
238 THREATENED DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIES.

is shown from many incidents .which have already

been related.
Distant legislation was of no avail. The branding-
iron seared
still the captive flesh, the pine-torch was
s
still applied to the rich victim s feet, and the lash
still fell on the toiler s uncovered back. The enco-
menderos, bent only on amassing wealth, worked their
Indians until they were on the verge of death, and
then cast them forth from their houses or left them
\vhere they fell dead in the streets, as food for prowl
ing dogs and carrion birds, until the odor of corrup
tion infected the settlements.
11
Nor did the homes
of the living escape destruction or their property
violent seizure. Their dwellings were pulled down to
supply building materials, and the produce and wares
which they brought each day to exchange in their
market at Santiago were taken from them by the
servants of the Spaniards, or by soldiers, w ho repaid r

them only with blows or stabs. 12

to move from place to place were not to be prevented from doing so. Other
laws passed the same year were to the effect that no Spaniard of any rank
could be carried about by Indians in hammock or palanquin. Negroes ill-
treating Indians were to receive 100 lashes, or if blood were shed, a punish
ment adequate to the severity of the wound. Native villages and settlements
were not to be inhabited by Spaniards, negroes, or mulattoes. A Spaniard
when travelling could only remain one night, and Spanish traders three days,
in an Indian village. In 1538 laws were made ordering that caciques were not
to sell or barter their subjects. This year also a modification of previous en
actments limited the use of natives as pack-animals to those under 18 years
of age. The Indians were, by all possible means other than coercion, to be
induced to live in communities. In 1541 viceroys, audiencias, and governors
were ordered to ascertain whether cncomenderos sold their slaves, and if any
such were discovered they were to be exemplarily punished and the bondsmen
thus sold restored to liberty. Kecop. de Indlas, ii. 192, 194, 201-2, 212, 277-8,
288-9. These laws were general and applied to all Spanish America. Vaz
quez states that, in the year 1714, there existed in the city archives of Guate
mala royal cedulas, issued in 1531, 1533, and 1534, authorizing the branding
of slaves taken in war or obtained by rescate. Chronica de Gvat., 37-8.
11
In December 1530 the cabildo of Santiago was compelled to pass a law
ordering the burial of the dead.
*
Los Indios que mueren en sus casas, no los
entierran, e los dexan comer de perros, y aues, e podrir dentro de la clicha
ciudad, de que suelen venir 6 recrecer muchas dolencias u los vezinos y hab-
5
itates. Itemesal, Hist. Ch?/apa, 30. Christianized Indians, whether servant
or slave, were to be buried in consecrated ground at the depth of the waist-
belt of a man of good stature. Others were to be buried an estado deep, out
of reach of dogs, under penalty of 20 pesos de oro. Id.
12
In 1529 laws were passed prohibiting such acts under a penalty of 25
pesos tie oro, the proprietor of the servant to forfeit his ownership. If the
person offending were an hidalgo the fine was 100 pesos de oro; if not he wa3
 l:AKTOLOM! :

; ]>]
230

us nofwr Midii)-- the ordinances enacted hy

tin- cm: r for tin- |
i
of the nati\
tli- i 1 hull i I in I ."):; I
hy his holi-
1 aul III. >

i lie Lid; liherty

the provi r
rapidly nun! <

and the condition of the survivors grew ^

arrived in the \--\v World.
1 :iof the poorer and none of tin.- wealthier
iiiiar .-.I to iind there an ahidh
p: Spain and reckless s
it holde-t nio>t 1< 1

ami voyaged westward with the placid sal

lion of ruilians ivl from law s control, and now 1

in the check of an ellectual executive

pov.
rded themselves as ma- of the

In Jlartolome do Las Casas placed in tl.

\~)\-2

liands of emperor the manuscript of his well known

:i the iiclion of the nd through .
Li<!

the exertions mainly of that never-tiring i; ;ry

a r
junta composed ofecclesiast ljui-i>ts
v.

hcl
previous year Yalladolid MJ- the a! I

;
of drawing up 1
e^ulal ions for the hetter gov-
f the provinc- The great aj>
of th--
ln! ;
led his favorite cau>e \vilh all the lire of

loquence, ur^in^ that the natives of the N

were th
rid law of nature l>v i

ace to the now somewhat trite maxim "Mod

allow evil tha may coin ;
>d

1 1

insular, to he least, to hear I

such from the li Dominican," while

100 lad !
!H-l.-. i

ui:<l m\i it
[>\\\t-

innni-
VIII. <
1 in ti. . u ua
d.
tliat tinu- in full M
M l>..iiiii,

as Gas,. junta .

that ii.
240 THREATENED DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIES.

r
3 et the dark looming cloud of the inquisition cast, as
from the wings of a fallen angel, the dun spectre of
its huge eclipse athwart the hemispheres.
The ordinances framed by the junta received the
emperor s approval, and after being somewhat ampli
fied were published in Madrid in 1543, and thence
forth known as the New Laws. 15 The code contains
a large number of articles, many of them relating
almost exclusively to the enslavement and treatment
of the natives. It wr as provided that all Indian slaves
should be set free, unless their owners could establish
a legal title to their possession. 16 None were thence
forth to be enslaved under any pretext.
Proprietors to whom the repartimientos had given
an excessive number must surrender a portion of them
to the crown. On the death of encomenderos 17 the
slaves were to revert to the crown. All ecclesiastics
and religious societies and all officers under the crown
must deliver up their bondsmen or bondswomen, not
being allowed to retain them even though resigning
office. Inspectors were appointed to watch over the
interests of the natives, and were paid out of the
fines levied on transgressors. Slaves were not to be
employed in the pearl-fisheries against their will under
penalty of death to the party so employing them, nor
when used as pack-animals was such a load to be laid
on their backs as might endanger their lives. Finally
they were to be converted to the Catholic faith, and
/

it was ordered that two priests should accompany

all exploring parties, to instruct the Americans that

15
The full text of them is given in Leyes y Ordenanzas, Icazbalceta, Col.
Doc., 204-27.
ii. There are extracts from them in Herrera, Remesal, Tor-
quemada, and other chroniclers. For further mention of the new code and
its workings see Hist. Mex., ii. 516, et seq. this series. Prescott says: The
provisions of this celebrated code are to be found, with more or less generally
le ss accuracy, in the various contemporary writers. Herrera gives them in
extenso. Peru, ii. 255. The historian is himself somewhat inaccurate on this
and other points.
10
Before the new laws were passed Indians captured in war or guilty of
certain crimes could be legally enslaved.
17
.For a description of the repartimiento and encomienda system, see Hist.
Cent. Am., i. 262-4, and Hist. Mex., ii. 145-52, this series.
 T!

1 the
Bul it liis Imlii.

;o\vled;_; liiin t!

wh doctri had in less tln-n half a century 1.

ailation o t,
portions
of ! 111.

the provisions of tlio new cod re otln

.r,l to many of the Spaniards
re t ichisement of i

audienciaof Panama was abolished and

Flu 1

\v tribunals were to bo established, one at

which now first be^an to bear the i

Lima, and was thenceforth the metropolis ho

itli American continent; the other termed 1
>

audh- los Confines, at

Comayagua, with juris-
n over Chiapa-. Yucatan, uia da, I londui (

Xi- iia, and tin-

province Ti- Firme, kni\vii >f

(!>] (): From tlie decision <-f th-

tri ^F MI tho-e of the audieiK -f

and Santo J ))min;_;-n, th- to be in criminal j

<

Ill civil suits the

d.
losing parly mi
;id a second trial, the I- it of which is i

ne\v evidence was admitted, a:id the

n<>

e was conducted by the oidores who i

first
judgment. If the amount !--d t-n thousand

do oro, there I;- ^ht of appeal to the council

I ^EoreoV
ndi<
w w- i w<

iiKjuire into the administration of tl.

lor and other civil functional and suspend t<>

tin-in iroin oiii ior1 1

uneil
Iinli. ;i.

Such \\ the main features of the new code which

: from the family of man. Tidii

!
!
]
of

and o;

. *
\M., VOL. II. 10
242 THREATENED DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIES.

throughout the New World, and from Mexico to Los

Reyes the entire population was in a state of ferment
bordering revolution. To deprive the settlers of their
slaves was to reduce them to beggary. Slaves con
stituted the chief source of wealth throughout the
provinces. Without them the mines could not be
worked, towns could not be built, lands could not be
tilled. The soldier urged his right of conquest, and
many a scarred veteran, worn with toil and hardship,
threatened to defend by the sword which had helped
to win an empire for his sovereign the estates now
threatened by these vexatious regulations.
The colonists were soon to learn that the new laws
were not to remain a dead letter as had been the case
with the royal ordinances. In January 1544 Vasco
Nunez Vela, the first viceroy of Peru, arrived at
Nombre de Dios, and finding there some Spaniards
returning to their native country with stores of wealth
acquired by the sale of their Peruvian slaves, ordered
them to deliver up their treasure, 19 and but for some
doubt as to the legality of such a proceeding would
certainly have confiscated it.
After crossing the Isthmus the viceroy liberated and
sent back from Panama at the expense of their propri
etors, several hundred Indians who had been brought
from Peru or were unjustly held in bondage. Bitter
were the remonstrances against these high-handed
measures, but Vela merely answered, come not to "I

discuss the laws but to execute them." The condition

of the natives was not improved, however, by their
liberation, for we learn that numbers died on board
ship from starvation and ill-usage, while others, cast
ashore unarmed on a desolate coast, fell a prey to wild
beasts or otherwise perished miserably.
A committee of the most noble and influential of
the Spaniards waited on the new viceroy to gain from
19
The version given in Prescott s Peru, ii. 260-1, is that the viceroy found
a ship, laden with silver from the Peruvian mines, ready to sail for Spain, and
that he laid an embargo on the vessel as containing the proceeds of slave
labor. There is, however, no absolute prohibition in the new code against
 v
VA800 5 VELA. 213

him, if some concessions. They ur^-

pos>il>lc,

inasmuch as the [ndianshad IM-.-M converted to ( In

tianity, it would
he a great loss to the rhuivh fco
enfranchise them, and that if enfranchised they would
always he in danger of perishing Iron) stars at ion.
They daivd not ivturn to their own trihes, lor the
caciques inllicted the jx-nalty of death on all who had
ie Christians. These arguments served hut to
rouS the wrath of the vie- roy, who tin- di>mis>ed

"Were you under

deputation saying, my jurisdiction
I would hang you every or Them-, none !
,
>rth

dared oppose him further, liven the oidoivs the "f

newly established audiencia of Los E who had

accompanied him from Spain made no pr. and .

oil liis
departure, for Peru remained for some time at
Panama in-fore they could muster courage to follow.
In Tierra Firme and in the i-lands of the Spanish
West Indies the new laws were partially obeyed,
although complaints \\ still fr- ut of the ill-
of natives, of their hcing jumislied witli
atmeiit
stripes if they dared to complain, and of the arrival
in Panama, of cargoes of sla vesfrom Nicaragua. I !

pri arnest in their j)r- ations, and their

reports fco the
empei-or abounded in lofty expl -us
of concern for the cause of Chi ml of humanity.
Th ical and secular 3ts \\
lf>ia>i ever at ii i

Variance. Should the alcaldes i-nnler any di-cision

that threatened to work ad\vr>. 1\ against tin- author
ity of the church, they were eXCOmiQUnicated, and
thus ]< iid- j-ed
incapable, in the e\/s of tl. -pie, of
di^cliar- in^ th> lunrtions of tln-ir office. Tl rv-
emor and were continually at war, the
the l>isho[)

lat
leaking under his jn-rtendcd al for the- /.<
<<

Version of tin- Indians, and the former under the j..

t of
upholding the di-nit\ of the crown, the r<

tin 1
.
ill working the mint <.
al- ntionr
VJ. ]\}>. \. .

;i|,.
i

the substitution of a- for such

JMI1
244 THREATENED DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIES.

purpose for which each was too often striving- -that

of gathering into his coffers the gold of his Majesty s
20
vassals.

20
The emperor was memorialized by the clergy and by the civil authori
ties, each party sending its petition without the other s knowledge, each
slandering its adversary and. using such falsehoods as would be most likely
to injure the opposite cause. Abreo, in Cent. Am.; Extr. Sueltos, in S q
MSS., xxii. 48.