GOVERNOR WANTED.
Meanwhile the remnant of the Honduras colonists who remained at Trujillo also clamored for an increase of population, and for a governor. They claimed that the city possessed a good harbor, and a dry and wholesome situation; that rich mines lay undeveloped in its vicinity, and that the soil was fruitful and well watered.[IX‑23] They attributed their past misfortunes to bad government, and charged Cereceda with abandoning the settlement without sufficient cause. They were now so few in number, being reduced to thirty capable of bearing arms, that they were in constant fear of attack from the natives. Their stock of weapons consisted of but twenty swords and fifteen pikes, the governor having taken with him all the cross-bows and arquebuses. As they were not in communication with Mexico they requested to be placed under the jurisdiction of the audiencia of Española. They asked moreover for two brigantines for the purpose of trading with the Islands and also for one hundred negroes to work their mines, for all of which they promised to pay liberally. They promised that if a capable governor were sent out to them in command of two hundred men, they would establish a settlement near the Desaguadero and open the rich gold-mines which lay in that vicinity. Finally the municipal council declared that unless relieved within a year they would disorganize the government and give the people liberty to go whithersoever they might desire.
If the colonists of Honduras could barely sustain themselves when united and living at Trujillo, it was not to be expected that their condition would be improved when divided and scattered throughout the country. One good man, who could have held in check the spirit of lawlessness, and have ruled the factious populace with a determined hand; a man with the principles and temper even of a Pedrarias, would have given peace and prosperity to Honduras; but internal dissensions, and finally open disruption, had brought disaster upon all concerned, and had reduced the people, both of Trujillo and Buena Esperanza, to the verge of ruin and starvation.
APPEAL TO ALVARADO.
Humiliating as it must have been, Andrés de Cereceda was at last compelled to appeal for aid to Pedro de Alvarado. In the petition which he drew up, he craved protection from the natives, failing which, he feared the depopulation of the whole province. Dire indeed were the necessities of the people,[IX‑24] and the adelantado was besought "for the love of God and their Majesties," to come to their succor.[IX‑25] The royal treasurer, Diego García de Célis, was sent in company with Juan Ruano[IX‑26] to Santiago, where Alvarado then resided, and representing to him the deplorable condition of the people of Honduras, received assurance of relief. As soon as possible an armed force was assembled, consisting of Spaniards and friendly Indians, and with the adelantado at their head set forth to the relief of Cereceda.[IX‑27]
During the delay which occurred before the arrival of Alvarado in Honduras, the settlers who remained at Buena Esperanza, being unable or unwilling to bear their sufferings any longer, were on the point of abandoning the colony, and on the 5th of May 1536 a formal meeting was held before the notary Bernardino de Cabrenas,[IX‑28] to take the matter under consideration. Cereceda, addressing the alcalde and regidores, stated that they were aware of the condition of affairs in the province, and of the impracticability of holding it much longer, on account of the small number of the Spanish colonists and the want of supplies. He had therefore, he said, despatched Diego García de Célis, the royal treasurer, to solicit aid from the governor of Guatemala, and had also asked the assistance of the emperor and of the audiencia of Mexico. Seven months had elapsed since the departure of Célis, and nothing had been heard from him. He demanded therefore, in the name of the crown, their opinion as to what should be done. All present recommended that the country be abandoned, and the Spaniards allowed by the governor to proceed whithersoever they pleased. To this Cereceda assented, and orders were issued accordingly; the alcalde and regidores ratifying and confirming the governor's acts and their own, in the presence of the notary.[IX‑29]
CERECEDA'S COMPLAINTS.
The resolution was at once carried into effect; but within four days after leaving Buena Esperanza the colonists were met by Célis with a letter from Alvarado promising speedy relief. Had the envoy returned but a single day later it is not improbable that Cereceda would have lost his life, for he had become extremely unpopular among the men of Honduras. They had indeed gone so far as to drive him from his home, though through fear of the consequences they afterward recalled him.
His answer to the adelantado's despatch shows the detestation in which he was held by those whose duty it was to obey him. "They expelled me," he says, "from my house and from the settlement, although I was not in a condition to rise from my bed, to which I had been confined for days on account of a boil that prevented my sitting down, except in a chair which had been made specially for my use, and then only for a short time. In spite of all this, they hustled me out of my abode with the greatest coolness, ordering me to go, unattended as I was, in the direction of the coast, where they would provide me with an escort to Trujillo. This was, however, only a pretext in order to get rid of me, their object being to carry off as slaves all the Indians who had served in the district, which they had attempted to do before proceeding to expel me from the village. Fearing they might kill me, I made a virtue of necessity, and abandoning what few effects I had, proceeded to Naco. From this place they soon recalled me, and I returned on horseback, but with great difficulty, suffering so much from my enforced ride that it will, I fear, be at least three months before my health is reëstablished."
Cereceda and Célis were far from being on good terms. The treasurer was suspected by the former of a desire to supplant him, and perhaps not without reason, as he had been appointed by the emperor, and was next in rank to the governor. In his letter to Alvarado, Cereceda takes the opportunity of venting his spleen against the treasurer. He accuses him of endeavoring to produce the impression that he, and he alone, had it in his power to procure for the adelantado the governorship of Honduras, and of taking to himself the credit of being the only one having at heart the welfare of the country, and of being a faithful servitor of his Majesty. "But," he continues, "in order that you may see that there are others who desire the welfare of the province, I resign in your favor the governorship with which I have been intrusted, believing that, in so doing, I am performing a service to his Majesty."