THE GOVERNOR'S RESIDENCIA.
The struggle which Contreras had so long maintained against the machinations of his foes was now drawing to an end. In the beginning of the year 1548, the licentiate Alonso Lopez de Cerrato, formerly president of the audiencia in Española, and now appointed to that of the Confines, arrived at Gracias á Dios. One of his first acts was to take the residencia of the governor, whereupon finding that the transfer of his encomiendas had been made after the passage of the new code, though before its publication in the province,[X‑40] he declared them confiscated. Contreras at once repaired to Spain to seek redress, and for some time after his departure his enemies were in constant dread lest he should regain his authority and return to take vengeance on his accusers. The alcaldes and regidores of Leon, having now made peace with the bishop, ordered their secretary to prepare a list of accusations against the departed governor,[X‑41] but only one of their number had the courage to sign it, each official fearing that his signature might afterward cost him his life. It was even requested that the entire family of the fallen ruler be recalled to Spain, for of his sons Hernando and Pedro it was stated that they had committed many excesses, and of his son-in-law, Arias Gonzalo, the alguacil mayor, that he kept a public gambling-house. Finally the decision of the oidor was confirmed by the council of the Indies, and Rodrigo de Contreras returned no more to Nicaragua.[X‑42] His children, however, still remained in the province, soon to figure as the leaders of a revolt which threatened, for a time, the very existence of Spain's dominion in the western world.
Although the ecclesiastics were held in little respect by a majority of the Spaniards, there is sufficient evidence that they labored faithfully in their calling. When Fray Toribio de Motolinia came from Guatemala, in the year 1528, to join certain Flemish friars then resident in Nicaragua, he founded at Granada the convent of Concepcion,[X‑43] and having a knowledge of the native language, was successful in his efforts, giving special care to the baptism and conversion of children. His stay was of short duration; but by others the work of christianizing the natives was continued with vigor. Gil Gonzalez is said to have baptized thirty-two thousand.[X‑44] Hernandez and Salcedo also baptized large numbers. Pedrarias, inasmuch as this great work had been accomplished without his intervention, affected contempt for such summary methods of conversion, and ordered an investigation to be made by Francisco de Bobadilla, a friar provincial of the order of Mercy, and by the public notary Bartolomé Perez. Diligent search was made by these officials, but it was found that the barbarians had either forgotten or never understood the truths of Christianity, and Bobadilla was obliged to perform this holy work anew. This friar baptized twenty-nine thousand and sixty-three persons in the province of Nicaragua, during a space of nine days,[X‑45] and later, between the 1st of September 1538 and the 5th of March 1539, fifty-two thousand five hundred and fifty-eight were baptized, though, as Oviedo says, "by no means could they be called converted."
On the 29th of August 1540, Hernando de Alvarado and Fray Juan de Padilla started from Granada toward the South Sea by way of Coiba,[X‑46] and were everywhere well received. When crosses were erected the natives adorned them with roses, and brought offerings of whatever they valued most. Some years later Fray Lorenzo de Bienvenida and thirty others left Yucatan for the province of Costa Rica[X‑47] to continue the work of conversion in those parts, and many may have fallen victims to their pious zeal. I may mention the sad fate of the martyr Fray Juan Pizarro. While laboring in one of the most remote districts of Nicaragua, he was seized by drunken savages during the celebration of one of their feasts, dragged over the rocks, beaten till he was almost lifeless, and then hanged; his murderers completing their work by burning down a church which he had erected at his own expense.
INDIAN BORDER TROUBLES.
During the internal dissensions which have just been related, bands of hostile Indians taking advantage of the opportunity were continually committing depredations on the borders, robbing and slaughtering those of the natives who were at peace with the Spaniards, the cacique Lacandon being especially troublesome and refusing all overtures of peace. No progress could be made in forming new settlements or improving the condition of those already established. After the explorations conducted by Captain Machuca, we read of no important enterprise until the year of the governor's departure. In 1548 the contador Diego de Castañeda organized an expedition for the conquest of the district of Tegucigalpa.[X‑48] Through the treachery of the guides, his men were led into marshy and difficult ground, where they soon found themselves surrounded by hordes of savages. Repelling their attacks with much difficulty they made their way to the Desaguadero, and passing down that channel in barges landed on the shores of Costa Rica, where they founded the settlement of Nueva Jaen.[X‑49]
CHAPTER XI.
EXPEDITION OF DIEGO GUTIERREZ TO COSTA RICA.
1540-1545.
Diego Gutierrez Appointed Governor—Desertion of his Soldiers—He Proceeds to Nicaragua—The Advice of Contreras—The Expedition Sails for the Rio San Juan—Friendly Reception by the Natives—His Men Desert a Second Time—Reënforcements from Nicaragua and Nombre de Dios—The Historian Benzoni Joins the Party—Gutierrez as an Evangelist—He Inveigles Camachire and Cocori into his Camp—He Demands Gold under Pain of Death—Noble Conduct of the Cacique Cocori—The Spaniards March into the Interior—Their Sufferings from Hunger—They are Attacked and Massacred—Benzoni and Five Other Survivors Rescued by Alonso de Pisa.
Between the Rio San Juan and the province of Veragua lay a territory whose rugged and densely wooded surface had hitherto proved a barrier to Spanish conquest and colonization. Costa Rica, or Nueva Cartago, by both of which names this region was known,[XI‑1] yet remained almost a terra incognita to Europeans. During his last voyage, in the year 1502, Columbus had touched at several points on its northern shore. At the Golfo Dulce, on its southern coast, it will be remembered that Gil Gonzalez and his band were glad to find shelter in the trees from storm and flood.[XI‑2] Vague reports of a settlement named Cartago, founded early in the sixteenth century by some band of roaming adventurers, are mentioned in several of the early chroniclers; but when and by whom it was established, is a question[XI‑3] on which there is no conclusive evidence.
