[X‑23] Two unsuccessful attempts were made before this date, and some of the friar's associates, terrified by their first glimpse of the burning lake, abandoned the enterprise. Oviedo, iv. 78.
[X‑24] In 1529, during his residence in Nicaragua, Oviedo was the guest of Machuca, and speaks favorably of his conduct. In company with his host and the cacique Lenderi the chronicler explored a volcano, near the Masaya, in the crater of which was a warm-water lake, at about the same level as the lava which excited the cupidity of Fray Blas. The descent was difficult, but Indian women managed to pass up and down in obtaining water. With regard to the depth of the lake Oviedo remarks: 'Este lago, á mi paresçer (é assi lo juzgan otros) está en el pesso é hondura que está el fuego que dixe en el poço del monte de Massaya ... no le hallan suelo por su mucha hondura.' Machuca, assisted by his friends, furnished the funds needed for exploring the Desaguadero.
[X‑25] The principal rapids in the stream still bear the name of Machuca. Squier's Nicaragua (ed. 1856), i. 82.
[X‑26] Mention is made of this expedition by Estrada Rávago, whose narrative of the affairs of the province, written in 1572, appears in Squier's MSS., xiii. 4.
[X‑27] According to Oviedo, Garavito must have made friends with Contreras, for speaking of the former he says that one day, while engaged in a game of 'cañas' in the city of Leon, he suddenly fell dead from his horse. He was one of those who took part in the enterprise which cost Vasco Nuñez de Balboa his life, and betrayed him to Pedrarias, for which act of treachery his own life was spared. Oviedo, iv. 58-9. According to Rávago, Garavito's men, after the death of their commander, sailed for Peru on their own responsibility.
[X‑28] He held office for eleven years as treasurer, and during all that time it is said that he put nothing into the treasury. Squier's MSS., xxii. 144, 149. It may be remarked, on the other hand, that the affairs of the province were in such a condition that little or no revenue could be collected. There is no evidence that Rios was related to his namesake, the former governor of Castilla del Oro.
[X‑29] It is somewhat remarkable that the dean of a church could imprison a royal treasurer, but such is the fact. 'Le vino a prender ... pidió favor a la Ciudad de Granada donde el estava (Rios), lo prendió i metió en el monasterio de la Merced por ser casa de piedra.' ... Squier's MSS., xxii. 144.
[X‑30] On May 20, 1545, he wrote from his prison to the emperor: 'Dos años que estoi preso, i mis bienes sin cuenta en manos de mis adversarios. Ha 6 meses que me pusieron en esta carcel arzobispal,' and asked to be tried at once, and punished or acquitted as the case might be. Squier's MSS., xxii. 148.
[X‑31] It is probable that Rios continued to govern until the return of Contreras. Soon after the events just described he lost his life, probably during some expedition into the interior, as nothing is said of him until July 15, 1545, when bishop Valdivieso in one of his letters to the king, says: 'I asi han muerto Po. de los Rios, Luis de Guevara, i otros de menos cuenta.' In a subsequent report this prelate again refers to 'al difto. Teso. Po. de los Rios,' stating that the tithes collected, and still due by him at his death, had not been recovered. Squier's MSS., xxii. 109-10.
[X‑32] One Pedro García, in a communication to the emperor, dated Leon, January 10, 1545, complains that 'la ra de Contreras, Rios i su teniente Luis de Guevara hecha por el Lic. Herrera, ha sido sepultada i sin fruto.' Squier's MSS., xxii. 145; and when certain malecontents afterward demanded that Herrera be sent back to Leon to finish his investigation, the answer came from the audiencia 'que no habia lugar quel dicho Licenciado volviese á esta tierra.' Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., vii. 571.