In February 1529 Salcedo returned to Trujillo. Before his departure from Nicaragua he had sent his nephew to Spain, to justify before the emperor his conduct in the dispute with Pedrarias, but was answered only by a severe reprimand for his cruel treatment of the natives.[IX‑2] Shattered in health and broken in spirit, he did not venture to depose the usurper from office, and contented himself with merely ordering the release of Diego Mendez, who at once lodged a criminal complaint against Herrera and his accomplices. Salcedo endeavoring to please both parties pronounced the arrest of the former illegal, but inflicted no punishment on the wrong-doers. Herrera thereupon appealed to the audiencia of Panamá, and Diego Mendez awaited an opportunity for revenge, declaring himself meanwhile to be hugely disgusted with the governor's pusillanimity.
To appease the popular discontent the governor promised to conduct the settlers to the Naco Valley, where rich gold-mines were believed to exist. The expedition was delayed as long as possible, for he had nothing to gain by such an undertaking; but at length moved by the clamor of the colonists and the warning of his spies, who informed him that the people were again ripe for revolt, he ordered preparations to be made. One hundred and twenty foot and sixty horse with a number of natives sufficient for working the mines were soon in readiness to embark, with instructions to sail for Puerto de Caballos, and thence proceed inland a distance of twenty leagues to their destination. The journey was to be accomplished as far as possible by sea in order that the natives might be spared the fatigue of a long overland march, and, to create the impression that they were no longer to be maltreated, orders were given that the branding-irons be destroyed. But before Salcedo had time to give further proof of his humane intentions, his death occurred at Trujillo on the 3d of January 1530,[IX‑3] and the proposed expedition was deferred.
There were now three rival claimants for the governorship—the treasurer Andrés de Cereceda, who a few months before the governor's decease had been nominated as his successor, and also appointed guardian to his infant son; Herrera, who, though he held no valid claim to the office,[IX‑4] had the support of the regidores; and finally Diego Mendez, who urged that the authority conferred on him by Salcedo at Leon had never yet been legally revoked. Cereceda, knowing that he had the good wishes of all peaceably disposed colonists, demanded his recognition from the cabildo, but was strenuously opposed by Herrera and his faction. After much wrangling it was finally agreed to submit the matter to arbitration; and it was decided that the two should rule conjointly, with the condition that the latter should hold the keys of the royal treasury. Arrangements were also made for a partition of the late governor's property; and each bound himself by oath not to lay his cause before the authorities in Spain. Meanwhile Diego Mendez was silenced with threats of death and confiscation of property.[IX‑5]
Thus for a time a truce was declared between the rival factions; but Cereceda had neither the firmness nor the capacity to oppose his colleague, and soon submitted in all things to his will. Even in the distribution of the slaves which belonged of right to Salcedo's son,[IX‑6] Herrera demanded for himself the lion's share, and compelled the child's guardian not only to consent, but to take oath that he would not report the matter to the emperor.[IX‑7] Each, however, feared that the other might secretly despatch letters to Spain. A ship then happened to be lying at Trujillo ready for sea, and Cereceda, suspecting that his rival would send despatches, ordered all her canvas to be withdrawn. He was outwitted, however, by his more astute colleague, for a caravel which arrived in port during the same night was seized by unknown persons, and her sails transferred to the other vessel, which immediately set sail for Spain. Cereceda, openly charged the trick upon Herrera, who of course indignantly denied it. The event proved that the ship carried letters from the cabildo, recommending Herrera's appointment as sole ruler, together with a missive from Herrera himself, in which he claimed that he had rendered good service to the crown and had only admitted a colleague in order to prevent discord and riot. Moreover he represented the affairs of the province in a most favorable light, stating that the mines were exceedingly rich and asking for ships and supplies with which to complete the exploration of the territory and more fully develop its resources.
ENCARNACION FOUNDED.
The proposed expedition had meanwhile been despatched to the Naco Valley, and a settlement founded there named Nuestra Señora de la Encarnacion. A party of sixty men, under the command of Captain Alonso Ortiz, had also taken possession of the valley of Jutigalpa, some twelve leagues distant from Trujillo, a region of which the governor remarks in his letter that "there is no river or ravine where gold does not abound."[IX‑8] The natives of the latter district gathered their crops, and removing all their provisions fled to the mountains, there to await the effect of starvation on the Spaniards. Ortiz, however, sent messengers assuring them that he came not to make war but to settle peaceably in their midst, and by kind treatment induced them to return to their habitations, thus affording one of those rare instances where the commander of a military expedition forbore to enslave or plunder the natives who fell into his power.
Honduras.
BLOODY FACTIONS.
Although Herrera and his partisans now held almost undisputed control at Trujillo, they were far from being satisfied with the situation. They well knew that their old enemy, Diego Mendez, was awaiting revenge; while Cereceda, though quietly watching the course of events, was ready for action when the proper moment should arrive. Their greed for wealth and lust of power had brought them into disrepute among all the colonists, except those of their own faction, and even certain members of the cabildo were numbered among their enemies. Fearing that the settlers would break out into open revolt, Herrera proposed to abandon Trujillo and establish elsewhere in the province a new and independent colony. Cereceda, knowing that such a measure would be fatal to the prosperity of the settlement, strove to prevent it by encouraging intermarriage between the families of the rival cliques and dividing among them a portion of the slaves which had fallen to his share at the division of Salcedo's property.[IX‑9]