GOLD-MINING.
The mines of Honduras had already begun to yield a moderate amount of treasure, and but for the wholesale destruction of the natives and the want of negro labor could have been made to produce far greater returns. As far back as the days of Pedrarias Dávila it was known that those in the Olancho valley were extremely rich, but for want of the necessary tools they could not be worked. With only their stirrup irons the Spaniards in two months scraped up gold to the value of sixteen thousand pesos de oro, and "with proper implements," Herrera states, "they might have taken out two hundred thousand pesos." The early prosperity of Gracias á Dios was due to the discovery of rich mines in its vicinity, and it soon became one of the most prosperous settlements in the province. The richest one was that of San Andrés de Nueva Zaragoza, in a mountain west of the town and east of the Copan valley. Gold could here be scratched out of the earth with a stick. In another mine, belonging to one Bartolomé Martin de Sanabria, more than a pound of gold was daily collected by himself and a single slave. Later the yield became so large that alcaldes mayores were appointed to collect the royal fifth, with power to compel one fourth of the Indians within a circuit of twelve miles to labor in them. "Near Comayagua," says Oviedo, "they took out and smelted ore which yielded sixty thousand pesos de oro, and forty thousand more were supposed to have been stolen."[XVII‑11]
While Montejo was engaged in various projects for promoting the welfare of the province, Pedro de Alvarado arrived at Puerto de Caballos in command of his powerful and well appointed force,[XVII‑12] and proceeding thence to San Pedro del Puerto de Caballos, soon afterward despatched a messenger to Gracias á Dios to notify the governor of his arrival. Montejo was at a loss how to conduct himself under this changed aspect of affairs. As ruler of Yucatan his career had been unsuccessful, and in Honduras he found himself unpopular. With his few and scattered followers ill-fed, ill-clad, and obliged to maintain a constant struggle with the natives, he was in no position to cope with a powerful rival. Although holding his authority by appointment from the crown, he was ignorant as to what extent the visit of Alvarado to Spain affected his government. He knew not what representations had been made to the emperor by his rival and had every reason to fear that the worst construction had been placed on his conduct. He had indeed never felt quite secure in his position. More than a year before it had been the intention of the crown, in answer to the petition sent from Trujillo, to place Honduras under the jurisdiction of the audiencia of Española. This measure had been abandoned only on account of the great distance and infrequency of communication; and now after some previous negotiation for an exchange of territory[XVII‑13] Alvarado had landed in person to demand the annexation of his province to Guatemala. He had long before expressed his opinion that Honduras could not stand alone, but that if joined to the adjacent province it would contribute to the emperor's treasury a hundred thousand castellaños yearly, whereas at that time it yielded almost nothing.[XVII‑14] Montejo on the other hand had ridiculed the other's views. "In the hour of trial," he said, "when the whole country was overrun by hostile natives, he sent many urgent requests to Guatemala for help, but aid was refused him, although he asked only for the assistance of two hundred friendly Indians, and he had to fight his battles as best he might." He declared his belief that if Honduras were annexed to Guatemala, not an Indian would be found in the province in a few months, and that in less than two years the territory would be beggared.
ALVARADO AND MONTEJO.
After more than a month had elapsed since the despatch of his message without any reply being received, Alvarado determined to set forth toward Gracias á Dios; and, collecting his forces, marched in the direction of the capital. Montejo meanwhile was ill at ease. He knew well that any attempt at intimidation would but work his own destruction, and yet was unwilling to throw himself on the generosity of his rival. Acting on the advice of his friends, however, he resolved to receive him courteously, and on his approach to the settlement went forth to meet him. At a spot distant about fifteen leagues from the city the rival governors met, and Montejo found that his worst fears were more than realized. "His Majesty had been informed," said the conqueror of Guatemala, "of the manner in which he had entered Honduras and of his subsequent career, and was further advised that Alvarado had at great cost and labor saved the province from destruction. It was therefore ordered that Montejo should immediately deliver up all the property which he had wrested from the people of the province and all revenues received by him since his assumption of office."
Among the ecclesiastics then resident in Honduras was one already mentioned whom Montejo styles "The padre Cristóbal de Pedraza, the protector of the Indians, and calling himself bishop." His official appointment to the see of Honduras Alvarado brought with him on his return from Spain. When Pedraza first arrived in the province, the governor received him cordially, placing at his disposal his own residence and a large number of slaves. To him he now appealed for aid in this his dire distress, and through the prelate's intercession[XVII‑15] with Doña Beatriz matters were adjusted without further dispute. The revenues derived from lands and mines during the governor's term of office were estimated at twenty-eight thousand ducats,[XVII‑16] and "of this sum," says Herrera, "Alvarado without solicitation immediately remitted a moiety, and two months later was easily persuaded to forgive the other half." It was agreed that Montejo should surrender to him all claim to the government of Honduras and Higueras, and that Alvarado should cede in return the Ciudad Real de Chiapas and the town of Suchimilco in Mexico, giving also a money compensation of two thousand castellanos.
ALONSO DE CÁCERES.
In a despatch to the emperor, written soon afterward, the ex-governor complains bitterly of the wrongs which he had suffered through the machinations of his enemies; but, as he himself remarks in his letter, "a little favor at court is of more avail than the most faithful service." The agreement was ratified by the crown, and about the close of 1539 Montejo departed from the province after a brief and somewhat inglorious career, while about the same time Alvarado returned to Guatemala, leaving Alonso de Cáceres as his representative in Honduras, and Pedraza a year or two later took ship for Spain where, after some delay, he received the papal bull of confirmation and was duly consecrated, occupying his time meanwhile by making contracts for negro slaves in the name of the crown, with a view of utilizing their labor in the development of the mines.[XVII‑17]
On his return to the province in 1545, the bishop[XVII‑18] undertook a pastoral tour through the province, lasting eighteen months. He complains bitterly of the hardships which he endured and of the demoralized and poverty-stricken condition of the colonists. "The natives," he says, "have nearly all fled to the mountains, being in terror of the Spaniards, who have continued to enslave them for so many years. Many Portuguese, Italians, and other foreigners have propagated disease and vice among them so that even Indian maidens of tender age are corrupted to a sad extent, while bigamy and polygamy are of frequent occurrence." Valdivieso, who was residing at the time at Gracias á Dios, awaiting consecration as bishop of Nicaragua, also relates that the church was held in contempt, that the Spaniards were as a rule extremely lax in their observance of all religious duties, and that they led a more vicious life than had ever been known among Christians.
Though Pedraza brought with him from Spain a number of friars, they do not seem to have been very zealous in the work of reforming the settlers or converting the natives. At times many days passed during which no divine service was held, and the cabildo attributed the omission to the neglect of the bishop, "who," they said, "was too busy with his worldly affairs to attend to his duties properly." The ecclesiastics appear, however, to have been very successful in selling papal bulls among the Indian villages, a practice which was continued till 1547, when a royal cédula put an end to this shameful traffic. Their charges for saying mass or for funeral services were exorbitant. To confess a person residing at a distance of one league cost thirty castellanos, and to watch for a single night by the bedside of a deceased cacique, one hundred and thirty xiquipilli of cacao. Desirous of making at least some show of missionary zeal the prelate recommended that a cathedral be erected and schools established in all Indian towns which were in the neighborhood of Spanish settlements. The former recommendation was adopted, and notwithstanding the protestations of the audiencia of the Confines, the site selected was at Trujillo,[XVII‑19] the bishop's salary being fixed at five hundred thousand maravedís, though soon afterward he petitioned that his stipend be increased to two thousand ducats.