One of the pontiffs who succeeded as prince and lord of the world, to the chair and dignity aforesaid, made a donation of these isles and firm land of the ocean sea to the said King and Queen, our sovereigns, and to their successors, with all therein contained, as it appears in certain writings made therefor, which you can see if desirable. So that by virtue of said donation their highnesses are kings and lords of these isles and firm land, and as such have been recognized, and obeyed, and served by the inhabitants of almost all the islands to whom notification has been made, who still obey and serve them as subjects should; and of their free will, without resistance, immediately, without delay, as soon as informed of the aforesaid, they obeyed and recognized the learned men and friars who were sent by their highnesses to preach and teach our holy Catholic faith; doing this of their free and spontaneous will, without pressure or condition of any kind; and they became Christians and are now, and their highnesses received them gladly and benignantly, and ordered that they should be treated in every respect as their own subjects and vassals; and you are held and obliged to do likewise. Therefore, as best I may, I pray and require you well to understand what I have told you; to take the time which may be necessary to comprehend it and to deliberate upon it; and to recognize the Church as Supreme Mistress of the Universe, and the Supreme Pontiff, called Pope, and the King and Queen in his place as monarchs and supreme sovereigns of these isles and firm land, by virtue of the donation aforesaid, and to consent and allow these religious fathers to explain and preach to you as aforesaid. If thus you do, you will do well, and do that which you are held and bound to do, and their highnesses, and I in their name, will receive you with all love and charity; and your wives, and children, and property will be freely left to you without lien, that you may do with them and with yourselves, whatever you may please. You will not be compelled to turn Christians, except when informed of the truth you desire to be converted to our holy Catholic faith, like almost all the inhabitants of the other isles. And besides this their highnesses will grant you many privileges and exemptions, and do you many favors. But if you do not thus, or maliciously delay to do it, I certify to you that with the help of God I will invade your lands with a powerful force, and will make war upon you in all parts, and in every manner in my power, and will subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and their highnesses; and I will take your persons, and those of your wives and children, and will make them slaves, and as such will sell them and dispose of them as their highnesses shall order; and I will take your property, and I will do you all possible harm and evil, as to vassals who do not obey or recognize their lord, but who resist and oppose him. And I protest that the deaths and damage which from such conduct may result will be at your charge and not at that of their highnesses, nor at mine, nor at that of the gentlemen who come with me. And now to that which I have said I require the notary here present to give me a certificate. Episcopus Palentinus, comes; F. Bernardus, Trinopolitanus episcopus; F. Thomas de Matienzo; F. Al. Bustillo, magister; Licenciatus de Sanctiago; El Doctor Palacios Rubios; Licenciatus de Sosa; Gregorius, licenciatus. The original in Oviedo, iii. 28-9. To the astute Enciso belongs the honor of first reading this requerimiento to the savages in America. The place was the port of Cenú; and when the lawyer had finished, the chief, whose name was Catarapa, and his people laughed at him; these benighted barbarians laughed at the learned bachiller, and said that the Pope must have been drunk when he did it, for he was giving what was not his; and that the King who asked and took such a grant must be a crazy one, since he asked for what was another's. 'Dixeron q̃ el papa deuiera estar borracho quãdo lo hizo; pues daualo q̃ no era suyo, y q̃ el rey q̃ pedia & tomaua tal merced deuia ser algun loco pues pedia lo que era & de otros.' Enciso, Suma de Geografia, 56. A copy of this precious document was filed in the Casa de Contratacion, at Seville. Memorial que dió el bachiller Enciso, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 442-7. Herrera, i. vii. xiv., gives the text of the requerimiento made for Ojeda and others in 1508. See also Real Cédula, in Doc. Inéd., i. 111-2; Zamora y Coronado, Bib. Leg. Ult., iii. 21-31; Juan y Ulloa, Voy., i. 114-20; Acosta, Hist. Compend. Nueva Granada, 23-6, where is also given the text of Nicuesa's requisition; Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 154-6; Helps' Span. Conq., i. 242; Carta dirigida al Rey por Vasco Nuñez, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 375-86.
[X-17] I follow the Novus Orbis of De Laet, who places Pocorosa and S. X. (Santa Cruz) north and west of Comagre; although Oviedo, iii. 37, says, 'el puerto de Sancta Cruz que es en tierra del caçique Comogre.' It is often impossible to reconcile the self-contradictions of a writer, to say nothing of the conflicting statements of the several chroniclers. Oviedo usually places the native towns and provinces where most convenient for his narrative.
[X-18] I do not know that it is necessary here to catalogue Ayora's crimes. One which the Licenciado Zuazo mentions, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 315-16, if sufficiently pluralized, will answer for all. Met one day, on approaching a village, by natives bearing presents of venison, fowl and fish, wine and maize, who thought the white tiba to be their friend, Vasco Nuñez, Ayora seized the cacique and his chief men, tortured them with fire and dogs until all their gold was given up, and then burned them alive. 'This infernal hunt lasted several months,' says Oviedo.
[X-19] 'Los quales luego fueron vendidos en almoneda é herrados, é los mas dellos se sacaron de la tierra por mar, é los llevaron á otras partes.' Oviedo, iii. 39. 'Poi mandò ancora lui altri Capitani per quella Costa, come fu Bartolomeo Vrtado in Achla, e saltato in terra, sotto colore di pace, pigliò tutti gl'Indiani, che potè, e gli vendè per ischiaui.' Benzoni, Hist. Nvovo Mondo, 49.
[X-20] Carta al Rey, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, iii. 376. Oviedo states that Pedrarias sent a ship after Ayora to Santo Domingo, but before it reached that port Ayora had sailed for Spain, where, soon afterward, he died, leaving the bishop, the alcalde mayor, and the governor responsible for his crimes. Even if this were true, these functionaries may have winked at Ayora's escape.
[X-21] Theodore de Bry and Benzoni give graphic engravings of the cutting and roasting and eating of Spaniards. Says the latter, 'Quegli, che pigliauano vini, spetialmente il Capitani, legategli le mani e i piedi, gettatigli in terra, colauano loro dell'oro in bocca, dicendo, mangia, mangia oro Cristiano.' Hist. Nvovo Mondo, 49. Nor has Las Casas failed to improve the subject, as may be seen in the curious illustrations and extreme denunciations of his Regionvm Indicarum devastatorum, 18-22 et seq.
[X-22] Herrera, ii. i. ii.; Peter Martyr, iii. 6. Oviedo, iii. 46, asserts that Panciaco joined Pocorosa in the attack on Santa Cruz, and that not a single Spaniard escaped. Andagoya, in Nar., 12, says that all were killed save one woman, whom Pocorosa kept several years as his wife. She was finally killed through jealousy by an Indian woman who reported her to have been eaten by a crocodile while bathing.
[X-23] Oviedo calls this place Tamao.
[X-24] This was the site of old Panamá. Aboriginally fish in large quantities were dried there. 'Que es provincia adonde los ayres son buenos quando vienen dela mar,' says Herrera, ii. ii. x., 'y malos quando procedẽ de tierra.' In Purchas, His Pilgrimes, iv. 883, is written, 'It might haue had a better seate, and more wholesome, and to the purpose for the trafficke of the South Sea, not going very farre from whence the Citie now stands.' See Juan and Ulloa, Voy., i. 99; Heylyn's Cosmog., 1085; Lloyd, in London Geog. Soc., Jour., i. 85; Findlay's Direct., i. 213; Griswold's Panama, 11; Viagero Univ., xii. 303-30; Andagoya's Nar., 23. Ambiguously Gomara writes, Hist. Ind., 254, 'Deste golfo a Panama ay mas de cinquenta, que descubrio Gaspar de Morales Capitan de Pedrarias de Auila.' Still more indefinite is Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nvovo, 81, 'Questa prouincia di Panama soleua essere habitata da molti popoli Indiani, e per tutti quei siu mi v'era abbondanza d'oro; ma gli Spagnuoli hanno consumato ogni cosa.'
[X-25] It may be the same as Poncra; from the authorities it is impossible with certainty to determine.