[XXVII‑16] The office of corredor de lonja was farmed out for 1,000 pesos, those of corredor devinos and auctioneer for 75 pesos each per annum. Panamá, Descrip., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ix. 90. In fact the king prohibited monopolies in which he did not participate. On the 29th of March 1621, Felipe III. decreed that as flour must be brought from Peru, and the corregidores had a monopoly of the trade, the viceroys must abolish that system so that dealers might purchase without restriction for the Panamá market. Recop. de Ind., ii. 64.
[XXVII‑17] In 1605, appropriations include 6,000 ducats for the governor, 2,000 pesos each for four oidores and a fiscal, and 400,000 maravedís each for the tesorero, contador, and factor. Others were in proportion. See Panamá, Descrip., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ix. 105-7.
[XXVII‑18] 'Por este camino se podrá poner freno á la entrada de los enemigos.' Panamá, Reales Cédulas, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xvii. 214.
[XXVII‑19] 'Advirtiendo que todo este se a de hacer sin que dello se siga ninguna costa a mi hacienda.' Id., xvii. 213-14.
[XXVII‑20] Forced loans were frequently extorted by Felipe III., and merchants resorted to all sorts of devices to conceal their specie. Commerce suffered great depression, and on April 10, 1643, Felipe IV., in a letter to the governor, says that under no circumstances would any further exaction be made, but that he would be satisfied with the stipulated dues. Panamá, Reales Cédulas, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xvii. 249-52.
[XXVII‑21] Id., xvii. 249-52. Alcedo, who is by no means reliable either as to names or dates, says that Don Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco, a native of Lima, succeeded Don Diego de Orozco. He adds that during Velasco's administration the subjugation and spiritual conquest of the Guaimi Indians in Veragua was effected, and that his rule ended in 1624. Dic., iv. 41. Diego de Haya in his Datos para la Historia del Istmo makes no mention of either of the Velascos.
[XXVII‑22] In 1651 it was common to ship bullion from Peru as though destined for Panamá, and thence have it smuggled into Spain. This gave rise to several decrees. Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xvii. 194-5. Another device was to ship silver in bale goods. Dampier's Voy., i. 185. A common method of collusion between Spanish and English contrabandists was for an English vessel to coast off Portobello until visited from the shore by those prepared to trade. Having marked selections of goods the latter returned with their money when ready to purchase, often under the disguise of peasants. Univ. Col. Voy., ii. 373-4. The king on Sept. 23, 1652, says that frauds were committed in 1651, in deducting from the schedule of Callao, lots and parcels, under pretence that they were for residents of Panamá and Portobello; and that there was a dispensation to the merchants in 'el mero que hauian de hazer, supliendos por imaginaria en el registro los 600,000 pesos que se obligaron á mi Virrey del Peru.' He also demands a report of the reasons why 'no hicesteis enterar la suma que el Consulado, y comercio de Lima se obligo a suplir por ynmaxinaria, a lo efectibo del rexistro que salió de aquella ciudad.' Panamá, Real Cédula, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xvii. 194-5.
[XXVII‑23] Provincia del Sto Evangelio MS., No. 16. See also Torquemada, iii. 280; and Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., iv. 32.
[XXVII‑24] Gonzalez Dávila, Teatro Ecles., ii. 58, states that he held office for 15 years, and Alcedo, Dic., iv. 34, repeats the statement; and yet both are evidently mistaken. Chroniclers of the seventeenth century leave the order of succession to the see of Panamá in doubt, though they are agreed as to the date of Ábrego's death. Dávila mentions the elevation of Fray Pablo de Torres as the seventh bishop probably in 1559, and that he certainly entered upon the duties in the following year. In this Alcedo concurs. Both speak of his successor Fray Juan Vaca, but without giving the date of the decease of the former or of the appointment of the later. Vaca died on the voyage out, and the vacant see was not filled until Ábrego's appointment.
[XXVII‑25] Alcedo says that his full name was Bartolomé Martinez Menacho. Previous to his appointment the bishopric had been offered to and declined by Fray Pedro de Pravia, a distinguished theologian. Dávila Padilla, Fvnd. Santiago de Mex., 595.