[XX‑46] These were respectively dated November 17, 1539, and April 20, 1540. In the first of these he is charged with insisting upon the liberation of certain slaves under penalty of their owners being refused the sacraments. Gavarrete, Cop. Doc., 41-2. In the second one it is asserted that he was travelling about rather than looking after the Indians 'que estàn de guerra' and 'nunca los vió. Ni creemos que tuvo inteligencia ninguna con ellos.' Arévalo, Col. Doc. Antig., 15-16.
[XX‑47] Copy of this decree which was dated January 9, 1540, can be found in Gonzalez Dávila, Teatro Ecles., i. 146-7; and Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 152.
[XX‑48] This decree was issued on October 17, 1540. It also provided that in the event of the collection of tribute being decided upon by Las Casas the governor or bishop should appoint a proper person. Id., 153, et seq; Real Cédula, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., vii. 146-9.
[XX‑49] This decree, however, was not issued until January 28, 1541. Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 155-6.
[XX‑50] My authority for giving this date is a passage from a letter addressed by Cancer from Seville to Las Casas at the court of Spain. It is as follows: 'Contéles luego el fundamento, que fue todo el suceso de las provincias de la Verapaz, y como S. M., á instancia de vuestra Señoría, me envió allá agora siete años y lo que se hizo con solo dos religiosos.' Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., vii. 185. This letter was doubtless written in 1548, shortly before Cancer's departure on his ill-fated expedition to Florida, which will presently be narrated. See copy of royal order dated December 28, 1547, extending permission, also assistance to the expedition. Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 114-15.
[XX‑51] Bishop Marroquin states that nearly the whole of this region to the northern sea was conquered by Diego de Alvarado, and that a hundred Spaniards settled therein. They afterward abandoned it to go to Peru, and in the more important affairs which occupied the colonists this rugged province was forgotten. Las Casas, in Quintana, Vidas, 238.
[XX‑52] Among the places visited may be mentioned Zacapula, 'uno de los pueblos de paz que sirven á los españoles en la ciudad de Guatemala,' at which place four caciques of Tezulutlan met the bishop. Then he proceeded to Patal and Jatic, Coban, and Tezulutlan. Informacion, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., vii. 216. From the same document it may be gathered that at the time of the visit the friars in the country were: Pedro de Angulo, Luis Cancer, Juan de Sant Lúcas, Fray Gabriel, Domingo de Vico, Domingo de Azcona, and two others whose names are not mentioned.
[XX‑53] Marroquin reporting this visit indulges in unfriendly and ungenerous remarks against Las Casas: 'yo sé que él ha de escribir invenciones é imaginaciones, que ni él las entiende ni entenderá en mi conciencia: porque todo su edificio y fundamento va fabricado sobre hipocresía y avaria, y asi lo mostró luego que le fue dada la mitra.' But I do not find that the bishop of Guatemala differs in any material point from the bishop of Chiapas in his account. He says, 'y media legua ántes que llegase salió todo el pueblo hombres y mugeres á me recibir con muchas danzas y bailes ... y alabé mucho á Dios en ver tan buena voluntad y tan buen principio,' and admits further on that the friendly reception was due to the method adopted by the friars. He describes the land as 'la mas fragosa que hay acá, no es para que pueblen españoles en ella por ser tan fragosa y pobre.' Las Casas, in Quintana, Vidas, 238-9. See also Marroquin, Carta, in Squier's MSS., xxii. 139-40. Motolinia also states that Las Casas represented Vera Paz as of great extent and densely populated, but that it was not one tenth as large as represented by him. Las Casas, in Quintana, Vidas, 243.
[XX‑54] 'El tributo que tienen agora es intolerable, cada ochenta dias doscientas y cincuenta mantas, cuarenta y dos ziquipiles de cacao, y lo de la sementera, y creo que se la comen en las minas los oficiales.' He states, too, that with warriors taken from Tuzulutlan a town double its size had been founded near Guatemala. With regard to the tribute he hoped that it would at any rate be reduced to two payments a year, one on St John's day and the other at christmas. Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., vii. 231-6. Nevertheless immoderate tribute was complained of for many years afterward. In 1551 a royal decree was issued for the purpose of lessening the burden. In 1568 the audiencia of Guatemala was ordered to moderate the tribute paid by the Indians of Vera Paz, the caciques having forwarded a petition to the crown; and in 1577 the audiencia is again ordered to reduce the tribute. Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 702-3.
[XX‑55] The crown furnished Cancer with 800 ducados, with which ten tons of goods were purchased for the purpose of trading with the Indians. The friar addressed three letters to Las Casas previous to his departure, the first being dated February 9th, and the second February 14th. None of them give the year, but there is little doubt that they were written in 1548. Copies of these letters are to be found in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., vii. 184-201.