[XXXII‑42] 'During my sojourn, 1752, two notorious prisoners, after sending threats of punishment to their captors, freed themselves and disappeared. No steps were taken for their recapture, even the governor expressing relief when no more mischief was done.' Morel de Sta. Cruz. See also Nic. and Costa Rica, MS., 3-4.
[XXXII‑43] He is referred to in the Cuaderno Historial de Misiones. Pelaez, Mem. Hist. Guat., ii. 173. According to the same authority Navarro was governor in 1748, but according to Lynch, Relacion Punctual (1757), MS., 3, Pastora was governor until he lost his life in 1756, being slain by Mosquito Indians at the mouth of the river Maya. In the reports on missions in Talamanca, brigadier Luis Diez Navarro is mentioned as the governor of Costa Rica in 1748 and Manuel Soler in 1759.
[XXXIII‑1] An account of the abandonment of this town has been given in Hist. Mex., this series.
[XXXIII‑2] Peniche, Belice, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da ép., i. 217-9; Pelaez, Mem. Hist. Guat., iii. 136, 140; Stout's Nic., 258. Squier, Stat. Cent. Am., 575-6, states that the name was also said to be derived 'from the French balise, a beacon.' This he is disposed to accept as correct, 'since no doubt some signal or beacon was raised here to guide the freebooters to the common rendezvous.'
[XXXIII‑3] Peniche, Belice, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da ép., i. 220-2. According to Martin, Hist. West Indies, i. 138, and Pelaez, Mem. Hist. Guat., ii. 140, a large force from Peten attempted to dispossess the wood-cutters of the Belize River, but intimidated by the bold front of the English, they contented themselves with building a fort on its north-west branch, which, however, was abandoned after four years' possession.
[XXXIII‑4] A portion of the colony had already arrived in 1736. Salcedo, Carta, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da ép., i. 225.
[XXXIII‑5] The date of this expedition is uncertain. Sierra, Ojeada sobre Belice, places it in 1727, but cites no document in support of his assertion. Ancona, Hist. Yuc., ii. 416, who follows him closely, is doubtful as to its correctness, although this latter's opinion that it occurred before the visit of Figueroa to Bacalar and caused the occupation of this place is apparently founded on conjecture.
[XXXIII‑6] Sierra, Efemérides, says Belize was attacked February 22, 1733, and in his Ojeada sobre Belice the same author states that the expedition was formed and carried out between 1726 and 1730. Lara, Apuntes Históricos, gives no date. Peniche, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da ép., i. 223-5, follows Sierra, but gives a copy of a letter from Governor Salcedo to the king of August 7, 1736, in which 1733 is given as the date of Figueroa's expedition. Ancona, Hist. Yuc., has accepted the date given by this letter.
[XXXIII‑7] Sierra, Ojeada Sobre Belice; Lara, Apuntes Históricos, and Peniche, cited above, say that on his way to Bacalar Figueroa was joined by the colonists from the Canary Islands; in which statement they are followed by Ancona, Hist. Yuc., ii. 415-17. This is evidently a mistake, as the letter of Salcedo already cited shows that even in 1736 but a portion of them had arrived.
[XXXIII‑8] Pelaez, Mem. Hist. Guat., ii. 140-1.