[XVII‑4] Herrera, dec. vi. lib. iii. cap. xix. The historian is of opinion that the Spaniards would have been compelled to abandon the siege had they not resorted to this or some similar artifice, and in that case it is not improbable that Lempira would have found himself powerful enough to drive them from the province or perhaps to exterminate them.
[XVII‑5] On the 10th of December 1537 the viceroy of New Spain reports to the king that he has received advices from the adelantado Montejo and the licentiate Maldonado, stating that the province was at peace and making fair progress.
[XVII‑6] [Hist. Cent. Amer., i. 570], this series.
[XVII‑7] Montejo, writing from Gracias á Dios on June 1, 1539, reports to the emperor concerning the settlement at Comayagua and the appointment of alcaldes and regidores. The town had at that time 35 vecinos, most of them owning but few Indians. Juarros, Guat., i. 41-2, gives 1540 as the year of its foundation, as do Conder and Squier, while Remesal says the town was founded in 1542. It is certain, however, that it was built before Alvarado's return to Honduras, in 1539. Herrera, dec. vi. lib. vii. cap. iv.; Conder's Mexico and Guatemala, ii. 296: Squier's Notes, Cent. Amer., 129.
[XVII‑8] In December 1557.
[XVII‑9] These were Trujillo, Gracias á Dios, Comayagua, San Pedro del Puerto de Caballos, San Jorge de Olancho, Buena Esperanza, and San Juan del Puerto de Caballos. Pedraza, in a dispatch to the audiencia dated December 30, 1545, quoted in Squier's MSS., xxii. 133, states that one of Montejo's captains sent to examine the territory lying between Trujillo and the Olancho valley extended his explorations to the mouth of the Desaguadero and founded in that neighborhood the town of Nueva Salamanca, but the prelate's ideas of the geographical limits of the province were evidently somewhat vague. Possibly he may have had in mind a settlement of that name previously founded in Yucatan.
[XVII‑10] Pedraza, in describing the difficulties of travel and the condition of the roads, states that from Trujillo to Puerto de Caballos the distance by sea was 40 leagues, the journey being a very dangerous one. Thence to San Pedro it was 14 leagues, over a difficult road—especially bad in the rainy season—now in the mud (hasta la barriga), now climbing steep rocks; thence to Gracias á Dios 25 leagues, three or four native settlements intervening; from Gracias á Dios to Comayagua 25 leagues more, with three settlements between; thence to San Jorge in the Olancho valley between 20 and 30 leagues, no settlements between; thence to Nueva Salamanca 30 leagues, without any settlements intervening. Of the plague of mosquitoes on this portion of the route he remarks: 'Que nos comian vivos de noche i de dia, i nos sacaban los ojos que no havia tiempo que pudiese dormir.' From Nueva Salamanca to Trujillo, he says: 'Hai cerca de 40 leguas infernales, que ni á pie ni á caballo se pueden andar, sino la mas parte rodando con el lodo á los medios muslos i descalzos, i muchas veces subiendo hasta el cielo, i otras veces bajando hasta los abismos.' Id., 17.
[XVII‑11] Oviedo was then writing of what occurred in 1538; but it is probable that the 100,000 pesos de oro of which he speaks included the amount obtained in several preceding years. In 1539 Montejo reports that there are in Comayagua very rich mines, both of gold and silver, but as he would not allow the natives to be employed in them against their will they were worked only on a small scale. Montejo, Carta, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 221-22, 233, 251. This consideration for the welfare of the Indians no doubt hastened his downfall.
[XVII‑12] See Hist. Cent. Amer., ii., and Hist. Mex., ii. passim, this series.
[XVII‑13] By a royal cédula dated May 25, 1538, the viceroy of Mexico was instructed to allow Francisco de Montejo and Alvarado of Guatemala to exchange portions of their respective provinces, Puerto de Caballos and Ciudad Real de Chiapas being particularly mentioned. Puga, Cedulario, 116. It would appear that Montejo did not give his consent to this proposition.