and windiness in the stomach whereas the effects of Chocolatte well tempered and moderately taken are said to be that it fortifyeth and comforts the stomach which at the West-Indies in many persons is frequently subject to a Cachexia or fainting some hours after meale whether it be from any peculiar indisposition of the Aire or Climate or from som natural weaknes and insolidity in the food or dyet of the Countrie which though it be for the most part luscious toothsome and pleasing in the palate in what kinde soever it be whether of flesh fish or fruits yet is it not held to be of so strong and solid nutriment as the dyet of Europe generally is It is said likewise to revive and exhilerate the spirits very much to help concoction to make lusty and corpulent and may be well taken three times a day in the morning a little before dinner and some three or four hours after but very moderately and never exceeding one reasonable draught at a time and a if man hath occasion to watch or sit up late it will help him very much to take one cup of it more about eight or nine a clock at night 3. Now as for Atolle of which I spake even now it is a drink of it self very delicious made of the juyce of the young Maiz or Indian Wheat much like unto Almond milke but somwhat thicker and so confectioned with Sugar Spices Musk and other ingredients of the Countrie that it is not onely of Admirable sweetness both for the taste and smell but much more nutritive and comfortable to the stomach and would doubtless be accounted a rare dtink in Europe if it would endure the Sea or could be transported thence but that it will not whereas Chocolatte or Cacao made up in boxes as we said is sent abroad into Spain Flanders Italy and many other parts of the World The Commoner sort of Indians have another kinde of drink which they call Chica a hellish slap and such as if it had but some good quantity of Hen-bane added to the Toade which they commonly put into it and steep him there till he be dead and quite consumed would be a draught fitter for the Devill than a Christian They take a great Jarre or vessel of the sort of those which usually they have from Spain and put in some certain quantity of water filling up the rest with Melassos or the juyce of Sugar Canes and sometimes a little Honey And beside these to give it a strength agreeable to their Palats that drink it they put in good store of the roots and leaves of Tobacco and of severall other roots of the Countrie of strong and violent operation adding to all the biggest and blackest toad they can finde and having so done they close up the Jarre and let it stand for the space of three weeks or a moneth till all the ingredients be throughly steeped and consumed after which they drink it And though for the most part at the first opening of the Jarre it gives a sent that a stranger hath much adoe to indure yet the Indians love it and drink it excessively having many great meetings onely to drink Chica and most commonly they carowse so long at it that they are all of them not onely drunk which is usual with them but even raging mad with it insomuch that the Spanish Officers and Magistrates among them labor what they can to prohibit such meetings but all in vain custome and the naturall inclination of the Americans to drink and swill very much hitherto prevailing against their endeavors I am not ignorant that some Authors give a better character of a certain drink at the West-Indies under the name of Chica nor can I say which of them it is that hath mistaken the name This I am sure the Author whom I follow pretends to be an eye witness and to have seen with his eyes that which he reports of the thing it self viz. the quality of the drink and manner of drinking it by the Indians which in truth seems to me to be but a relique of their old barbarity and savageness and therefore I shall speak no more of it CHAP. IX Of the aboundance of Cattel at the West-Indies and of several sorts of Beasts and other Creatures both of Land and Water proper to the New World 1. I Must for brevities sake and to comply with the intentions of my friend who calls for these imperfect Notes with some importunity pass by many particular things otherwise not unworthy to be known in the rank of Trees Plants and Fruits and onely refer the reader desirous of further satisfaction herein to the elaborate and choise History of American Plants and rarities above mentioned written by Franciscus Hernandez a Spanish Doctor of Physick augmented and accurately commented upon by Nardus Antonius Recchus and Italian Joannes Terrentius and others proceeding my self to give some briefe account concerning the Cattel and such other Beasts of America as may seem most worthy of our knowledge We have said before that the Cattel of Europe which have been transported thither have thriven aboundantly and multiplyed into such incredible numbers as well Kine or great Cattle as those of the lesser sort viz. Sheep Hoggs Goats c. that Swine and also great Cattel in the Islands especially of Hispaniola and in many parts of the Continent beside live wilde in heards upon the Mountains and may be killed by any body that will take the pains to doe it Yea they say that the very doggs which the Spaniards carried over and which did them not a little service when time was against the naked Indians have multiplyed so exceedingly that they goe also in companies like other wilde Beasts up and down the Countrie and are one of the greatest inconveniencies to which the Countrie of America is subject for the mischief that they doe to their Sheep and other small Cattel being become almost as ravenous and bad as so many Wolves and seem to be little less than metamorphiz'd into Wolves by their wild and mountainous breeding and by reason of a strange fierceness which they have contracted by such breeding and living So as the Spaniards that brought them thither are forced to keep guard and to maintain as it were a defensive warre against their own Creatures Nevertheless in the most inland Countries of America where the Spaniards live and many hundreds of leagues from the Sea or any part of the Islands there is so great plenty of flesh-meat that for a Ryall of plate which is but six pence English money a man may buy thirteen or fourteen pound weight of the best Beef Mutton or Pork in the Market of an Obligado as they call him or some of his Deputies who are men appointed and bound as we said before to serve such a Citie Town or Place with flesh meat at a certain rate all the year long So that omitting to speak any thing more concerning forein or European
much given to quarrelling and contentions among themselves but by this time 't is supposed are reasonably well reclaimed both from the one and the other In this Countrie beside many other goodly streams is the great and famous River Barania on the banks whereof are seated most of their principall Towns viz. Xalisco which gives name to the whole Province and to a large Promontory or Foreland on the Western coasts which shoots it self out into the Bay of Califormia right over against certain Islands which the Spaniards call the Three Maries This was an ancient Cittie or Town of the Natives but sacked and taken from them by Nunnez de Gusman in the year 1530. 2. Compostella now the chief City of the Province and a Bishops Sea 3. La Purification a small Town on the Sea side towards the confines of New-Spain 4. St. Sebastians in Chiametla so called from the River upon which it is built having rich Mines of silver round about it and therefore made a Colony by Franciscus de Tharra above mentioned in the year 1554. 5. Guadalaiara is bounded on the West with Xalisco on the South and South-west with New-Spain on the North with Zacatecas A Countrie exceeding pleasant and rich in all kinde of Commodities but especially in its Mines of silver Well watered with the River Barania which runneth through the midst of it and with divers other streams Yeelding aboundantly both Wheat Maiz and some other grain In a word there is nothing said of the properties of New-Gallicia in generall either for Soile Climate or People but is peculiarly verified of this Province The chief Towns whereof are 1. Guadalaiara which gives name to the whole Province about it It is seated on the banks of the River Barania in a most delectable and sweet Aire and a rich Soil by advantage whereof it is become the Metropolis of New-Gallicia honoured with an Episcopall Sea which was translated thither from Compostella in the year 1570 with the Courts of Judicature and with the Residence of the Kings Treasurers for that Province 2. St. Maria de los lagos a town thirty leagues Eastward of Guadalaiara being a Frontier place and built on purpose to secure the Countrie against the Chichemecae which are a barbarous and unreduced People of the North-East parts of this Country who harbouring themselves in Caves under ground in the thickest of huge Woods and Forests doe oftentimes issue out and make foul spoil in the Countrie where they come and would doe much more harme if it were not for this Garrison 3. Del Spiritu Santo built by the Founder of the other two viz. Nunnez de Gusman aforesaid in a part of the Countrie which they call Tepeque 6. The Zacatecas as they call them are bounded on the South with Guadalaiara on the North with New-Biscay on the West with Couliacan and some part of Xalisco and on the East with New-Span The Countrie especially the more Western part of it very rich in silver Mines no Province of this part of America richer but not so apt either for Wheat or Maiz. 'T is a Countrie that would please some rich Miser well that could live only with the sight of his money But the Eastern parts of it aboundantly stored with all sorts of Fruits the Woods every where replenished with Deer the Fields no less with Corn and every tree almost giving entertainment to some Bird or other The towns are 1. Las Zacatecas fourty leagues distant from Guadalaiara and four-score from Mexico but neighboured with most rich Mines and therefore both Garrison'd and also well peopled by the Spaniards 'T is supposed there are no less then five hundred Families of them in the Town and about the Mines 2. St. Martins twenty seven leagues distant from Zacatecas and as rich a place having a Colony of four hundred Spaniards at least 3. St. Lucas de Avinno 4. Erena lesser towns but both of them rich and seated in the midst of excellent Mines 6. Nombre de Dios in the most Northerly part of all this Countrie sixty eight leagues distant from Guadalaiara and founded by the aforesaid Francisco de Tharra who having subdued and quieted the Natives and thereby gained to himself the Government of these Countries granted the propriety of some silver Mines both to the Spaniards and Natives and by that means drew so many of them thither that in a short time it became the chiefest and best Peopled town of the whole Province 7. Durango in the Valley of Guadiana eight leagues distant from Nombre de Dios. 8. Xeres de Frontera a place built on purpose for the repressing of the Chichemecae aforesaid and other Savages that infested the borders of Guadalaiara in the regencie of the Marquis of Villa Manrique And lastly St. Lewis built by Alonso Pacheco in that part of the Countrie which is called Vxitipa and Peopled by him with a Colonie of Spaniards being distant about twenty leagues from Panuco in New-Spain to which the whole Countrie of Vxitipa once belonged 7. New-Biscay hath on the South the Zacatecas on the West the Countrie of Cinoloa Northward it is bounded with New-Mexico the Eastern borders of it looking towards Florida not yet well discovered so called by the Spaniards only from its neighbourhood to New-Gallicia It is as the other Provinces exceedingly rich in silver Mines and hath some also of lead which serve principally as some say for the refining or purging of the other Metal The people generally of a stout and resolute disposition and with much difficulty submitting to the yoake yea the Spaniards â—hemselves confess there remain yet to this day four great Towns unreduced though they lye as it were in the middle way betwixt the Zacatecas aforesaid and the Mines and Town of St. Barbara of this Province The Spaniards call them Las quatro Ceinegas or the four Quagmires as lying perhaps in the Marishes or in some fenny and lower parts of the Countrie The towns which themselves hold are 1. St. Barbara famous for the rich Mines about it 2. St. Johns equall to the other and not above three or four leagues distant from it 3. Ende the most Northerly town which the Spaniards have in this Countrie distant about twenty leagues from the other These be all Colonies of the Spaniards and built on purpose for securing the Mines 7. New-Mexico as 't is called for distinction sake is bounded on the South-west with New-Biscay more directly Westward with some parts of Quivira the Countries Northward of it not yet discovered Eastward it extends it self as far as Florida This is without comparison the largest Province of all New-Gallicia having been searched and discovered by the Spaniards above one hundred some say above two hundred leagues directly Eastward and to the North-East and they report wonders of it if we may beleeve them at least in respect of what was generally found in these Northern parts of America at their first discovery as namely that they have
Towns fairly and well built of Lime and Stone houses of four stories high and most of them provided with stoves for the winter season as well as any in Europe The streets fair and broad and the People as curious and expert in divers Arts and Manufactures as any of theirs More particularly they tell us of a town called Chia of the Province of Cuames so big that it is said to contain eight several Market-places Another called Acoma a great Town but seated on the top of an high Rock without any ordinary way of access to it but by a pair of staires hewn out of the hard stone or else by certain ladders which the Inhabitants let down and take up as they please And likewise of a third which they call Conibas containing as they say no less than seven leagues in length about half as much in breadth seated upon a Lake but scatteringly built and much of the space taken up with mountains and many fair Gardens in the midst of which the Town standeth This is certain that the Countrie to which they give the general name of New-Mexico is of a vast extent reaching from the Mines of St. Barbara in New-Biscay Eastward and to the North-East above two hundred leagues already discovered but doubtless taking up no small part of those Countries which are sometimes assigned to Florida if not of the confines of Virginia also The first discoverer of this Countrie was one Augustino Royaz a Franciscan Frier about the year 1580 by whose report and incouragement Antonio de Espeio a Native of Corduba but then dwelling at Mexico raised at his own charges a Band of an 150 Horsemen and with a competent number of Slaves Beasts of carriage and other necessaries undertook the business and discovered many Nations as the Conchi Tobosi Passaguates Tepoames Quires and divers others still marching on till he arrived at a great River which he named Rio del Nordt Here he made some stay and caused the Countrie on each side of the River to be called Nova-Mexicana and a City to be built which he likewise named New-Mexico It is seated in the 37 degree of Northern latitude and distant from Old-Mexico four hundred leagues The name whereof is since changed into that of St. Foy but the dignity of the place improved being at present the Metropolis of that Province a Bishops Sea the ordinary Residence of the Governour and hath a Garrison of about two hundred and fifty Souldiers in it which both commands the Countrie and secures their Mines of which they have some in the towns hereabouts the chief of which towns are 1. S. Antonio de Senecu the first Town which they have upon the Nordt River 2. Socorro so named by the Spaniards from the releefe which they found there both for themselves and Horses being almost starved with a long march 3. Pilabo 4. Siviletta all of them old towns but new named by the Spaniards 5. St. Johns built some yeers after the first discovery of the Countrie by John D' Ognate a Spaniard who in the year 1599 or thereabouts over-ran the Countrie a second time with a greater Army yet pursuing the tract of d' Espeio by which means having gathered together an infinite mass of treasure he found no better way to secure it than by building this town CHAP. VIII Of New-Spain and its Provinces 1. THe Kingdom of Mexico or New-Spain was formerly that is before the Spaniards conquer'd and dismembred it much larger than now it is for as much as it comprehended the whole Province of New-Gallicia and reached from the furthest point of the Peninsula of Jucatan Southward as far as New-Biscay and the confines of Califormia Northward containing in length seven hundred leagues or more and about half as much in breadth But since the conquest by Hernando Cortez and his followers the whole Countrie of New-Gallicia is taken from it and made a distinct Government or Audiencia as the Spaniards call it of it self The Natives of the Countrie are of the race of the Chichimecae a savage and wilde sort of People of the Province of New-Gallicia especially in the parts of New-Biscay living in Forests and in deep caves under ground whose posterity doe still at this day much trouble and annoy the Countrie thereabouts notwithstanding all the endeavours of the Spaniards and the Garrisons which they keep in those parts on purpose to destroy them About five hundred years agoe or more according to the account of the Mexican Annals divers Hoards or Swarms of these Chichimecae weary it seems of their Woods and subterraneous dwellings issued out into the more open Aire and fell down in huge multitudes into these Southerly parts of America which are now called Mexico and New-Spain not all at once but at several times and under several names viz. of the Suchimilci Chalcae Tepanecae Tlascaltecae and others who subduing or driving out the People they found in those parts seated themselves in their room And though at first every Nation or Company of them as they came seized upon some Province apart by themselves and held it as it were in Soveraignty to themselves without acknowledgement of any dependance or subjection to their Neighbours or those that were there before them yet in tract of time and by fortune of the Warrs which they made one upon another they all fell under the Government of one King viz. the King of Mexico which was the chief City of the Province This Kingdome at the time that the Spaniards first discovered the Countrie was governed by a Prince named Motezuma one who by his valour and good success in the warres had in a few years of his reign before the Spaniards came thither subdued the better part of a hundred Cities and great Towns to his Dominion and held in actual submission to his Government and tributary to him no less than thirty several Casiques or petty Princes every one of which pay'd him Tribute and were able upon occasion to bring into the field an hundred thousand men He is said to have been for his person a wise and good Prince just affable and tender of his Subjects good but by reason of some heavy exactions which his own power and the practise of his Ancestors before him gave him the confidence to impose upon the conquered People a great part of his Subjects lived but unwillingly under his obedience and rather by constraint than otherwise being also further exasperated against him by one barbarous custome which the Mexicans frequently used viz. the Sacrificing of men Their manner was whensoever they had any solemn occasion of doing honour to their Devil-god Vitzilopuchtli as they called him to send out an Army of men from Mexico into some of the subdued Provinces in case they had no enemies neerer hand and to fetch in as many men as they thought good to be sacrificed whose flesh likewise afterwards they did eate in a solemn Banquet This being a business of their
and in the midst of a fair Plain or Champaign Country containing likewise as some say not less than sixty or seventy leagues in compass and environed with mountains of so great height that the tops of them are said to be continually covered with snow At present it is thought to be one of the richest Cities of the World abounding if reports be true in all kinde of voluptuous gallantry and bravery even to excess It is supposed to contain about six or seven miles in compass and to consist of above an hundred thousand Houses or Families whereof not the tenth part Spaniards but those that are be all Gentlemen I mean as to their garb and manner of living for they live most splendidly in all respects both for dyet and apparel For the first we have spoken so much already of the general plenty of all things in the Kingdom of New-Spain that pertain to this part of pleasure that it is not to be doubted and for the second this may be some instance viz. that it is no extraordinary matter to see an Hat-band and Role all of Diamonds in some ordinary Gentlemans Hat and of Pearl among the common Citizens and Tradesmen The Coaches which most Gentlemen keep almost covered with gold and silver richly beset with precious stones and within ordinarily lined with cloth of gold or the best China silk that can be gotten of which Coaches in time of year at the Alameda as they call it which is as it were the Hide Park of Mexico and a place made of purpose for recreation and delight a man shall observe not seldome above a thousand or two thousand Coaches full of Ladies and Gallants coming thither only to take the aire and their pleasure both the one and the other attended with a numerous train of servants and Mulattos of both sexes In la Plateria which is but one only street in Mexico nigh to the Vice-Roys Palace in less than half an hours space with the turn of an eye you may see millions of wealth in Gold Silver and precious Stones in the Gold-smiths and Jewellers shops thereabouts In a word there is nothing hinders Mexico from being the most absolute Citie in the World for delight and bravery but only two inconvinces to which it is subject The one is the danger of the Lake with the Infalls whereof it may seem to be almost continually threatned and in the year 1629 did actually suffer a very great calamity the waters breaking through the banks and drowning a great part of the City with the destruction of much People and the loss of all their goods intirely through the avarice as is supposed of the Vice-Roy that then was and some other of the Kings Officers who diverted the money that should have been imployed for the fortifying and repairing of the banks to their proper uses The other is from the Nature of the Soil and ground it self on which the City standeth which is found to have a tincture of of salt-Nitre in it somewhat strong and the windes partly from the Lake it self and partly from the Hills about it raising the dust of this earth constantly every evening for many moneths of the year together so violently that the Aire is even darkned therewith for some time the Inhabitants are much annoyed by it and made subject to divers Hypocondriacall pains and infirmities and sometimes killed with it especially such as either cannot or care not much to avoid it The Citie lyeth about 60 leagues or one hundred and fifty miles distant from the Atlantick or North Sea from whence by the Port of St. John D'Vllua or Vera Crux which are the usuall landing places there is a fair and easie march to Mexico by the Cities of Xalapa Perotta Puebla de los Angelos and Tlascalla all of them open and unfortified places as likewise Mexico it self is and the Country round about very rich and well accommodated with all things The second town of this Province is Tescuco an ancient and fair Citie seated upon the same Lake six or seven leagues distant from Mexico to which it yeeldeth not much either for beau-or bravery 3. Quitlavaca a Citie built wholly upon certain Islets within the Lake and therefore called sometimes by the Spaniards Venezuela or Little-Venice having one only passage by Land to it over a Causey of flint-stone half a league or more in length and about sixteen or twenty foot broad 4. Vztacpalapa a City of ten thousand Housholds or thereabnuts six leagues distant from Tescuco and about twenty from Mexico 5. Mexicaltzingo a Burrough of four thousand Housholds 6. Cuyacan of six thousand All these are seated upon the Lake Further from the Lake there is Chololla a great Citie and a rich place not much inferiour-to Mexico Anciently this City was as it were the Sanctuary of the Mexican Kings and the chief place of their barbarous and inhumane Superstitions where yearly not less than five or six thousand Indian Children of both sexes were sacrificed to Vitzilopuchtli that is to the Devil It was likewise the chief burying place of all the Mexican Nobility whose Tombs and Monuments there afforded the Spaniards at their first rifling of them an infinite mass of Treasure and yet not half so much as by report they both desired and expected 2. Mastitlan a Town pleasantly seated upon the top of an huge mountain in the midst of most delicate Groves and shady Woods round about it and reckoned to contain not less than thirty thousand Inhabitants in all dwelling either in the Citie or upon the sides of the Mountain 3. Autepecque this is a Town belonging to the Marquiss de Valle who is of the Posterity of Cortez and said to be seated in the most delicious place of all New-Spain 4. Acapulco a Town seated upon the South-Sea or Mare del Zur yet belonging to this Province It is a Haven Town and one of the most frequented upon the South Sea situate upon a large and capacious Bay of about a league broad at the entrance and affording many convenient stations and Docks for shipping At the bottome of the Bay Westward lyeth the Town with a strong Castle very opportunely built both for the command and security of the Port well walled and fortifyed with Bulwarks and having a constant Garrison of four hundred Souldiers in it or thereabouts The reason whereof I suppose may be chiefly this viz. that from this Port there is the greatest traffique and entercourse held betwixt the East and West-Indies together with the Philippine Islands The Country hath many rich Mines of silver in it and some of Gold the chief of which first are by Herera reported to be these viz. 1. those of Puchuca fourteen leagues distant from Mexico 2. Of Tasco twenty four leagues distant 3. Talpuiana 4. Cultepeque 5. Zacualpa 6. Zupanguo and divers others 10. Tlascalla is a Province of New-Spain which extendeth it self entirely from one Sea to another viz. from the Atlantick to Mare
del Zur with which it is bounded on the East and West parts lying otherwise and for the most part betwixt the Provinces of Mexicana last spoken of and that of Guaxata which followeth containing in length viz. from one Sea to the other not much less than an hundred leagues and in some places fourscore in bredth but towards the South-Sea growing much narrower It is a Country exceedingly plentifull both of Corn and Cattel full of rich pasturage and so plentifully stored with Maiz some Wheat and other Grain that it is counted as it were the Granary of America The People of this Country when the Spaniards first landed among them lived in the form of a Common-wealth or Free State refusing to be subject to the King of Mexico with whom they had almost continuall Warre and upon that account as hath been said assisted Cortez in the Conquest of the Kingdom and without whose help 't is most certain he had never been able to doe any thing They enjoy therefore many speciall Priviledges and Immunities more than other Americans doe They pay no tribute but only an handfull of Wheat yearly for every person in way of acknowledgement and otherwise living under the protection of the Spaniards wholly in the form of their ancient Government The whole Province is said to contain two hundred good Towns and Burroughs and more than one thousand Villages all of them exceedingly populous and supposed to contain in the whole above a million and half of Natives beside Spaniards who have some few Colonies in the Country for securing of it The chief Towns of the Province are 1. Tlascalla it self which denominates the whole Country as the Metropolis of it It is a fair town and commodiously seated in the midst of a large and fertil Campaign of threescore miles in compass It consisteth of four large and beautifull streets or quarters and in the midest of them where they all meet hath a Piazza or Market place equall to that of Mexico and able to receive twenty or thirty thousand persons conveniently to buy and sell in it 2. Puebla de los Angeles or the Citie of Angels a town built by Sebastian Ramirez a Church-man and he that was the first president or chief Governour of Mexico under the Crown of Castile It was built in the year 1531 almost in the road way from Vera Crux to Mexico and seated in a very delicate and fertil Country and of a good Aire It is a Bishops Sea and valued at twenty thousand Duckets of yearly Rent the Citie it self supposed to contain about fifteen hundred Families where there is aboundance of excellent cloath made and for fineness not yeelding to the best of Spain 3. Zempoallan seated upon a River of the same name 4. Napaluca 5. Guaxacingo all of them great and ancient towns of the Natives 6. Segura de la Frontera a Spanish town built by Cortez presently upon the Conquest of Mexico for the securing of the confines as the name importeth 7. Vera Crux a town built by Cortez and his Companions at their first landing and where afterward by a stratagem and out of a resolution either to Conquer or dye in the Country he caused all his ships to be burnt that his Souldiers might not so much as think of returning back from whence they came The town was at first built five or six leagues up within land but the place being found not to be so healthfull the Inhabitants in a short time deserted it and seated themselves upon a Bay of the Sea right over against St. John D'ullua 8. Medellin another Spanish town built likewise by Cortez in memory of his own birth place which was Medellin a small town of Estramedura a Province of Spain Lastly St. John D'ullua a noted and the most usuall Port to all this Province and likewise to the City of Mexico it self from the North Sea but of difficult entrance especially to such as are not well acquainted with the passage or want Guides by reason of certain Rocks and quick-sands wherewith the mouth of the Haven is said to be barred but within the station is more safe It hath likewise two strong Bullwarks or Forts raised on either side of the entrance one to defend the passage 11. Guaxata hath on the North the Bay of Mexico on the South Mare del Zur on the East Jucatan and Chiapa which is one of the Provinces of Guatimala on the West Tlascalla The Country extendeth it self upon the South Sea about an hundred leagues in length but from the Sea to the borders of Tlascalla one hundred and twenty Eastward not above half so much having a good Aire and a Soil no less fruitfull especially in Mulberry trees and a great aboundance of Silks which the Country affordeth more than any other Province of America beside Nor is it less rich in Mines of gold and silver there being scarse a River in the whole Country but the sands of it are said to be tinctured more or less with that yellow Metal It yeeldeth likewise great plenty of Cassia and Cocchinele two rich Commodities and the People generally if they would takes pains might be the wealthiest 't is thought of any other in America but whether it be through any voluntary contempt of Riches or through any naturall sloathfullness as yet they seem to pine in the midst of plenty living for the most part of them little better than from hand to mouth nevertheless exceeding liberall of what they have especially to such as bear the habit of Religion and attend the service of their Souls maintaining in a plentifull and good manner as 't is said no less than one hundred and twenty Convents of Religious Men of several Orders in this only Province besides Hospitals Schools for the training up of Youth and other places of publique Charity It is subdivided into many particular Provinces which because they are many and but small in comparison of some other we may call Wapentakes or Hundreds rather than Provinces the principall whereof are these that follow viz. 1. Misteca 2. Tutepecque 3. Zapoteca 4. Guazacoalco 5. Gueztaxatla and 6. the Vally of Guaxata from whence Cortez after the Conquest of Mexico had his title given him by the Emperor Marquess of the Valley It is the richest and most pleasant part of the whole Province extended in a continued tract together full sixteen leagues or more lying about fourscore Southward of Mexico and wanting neither Mines of gold and silver nor any other of the prime and best Commodities of the New-World The towns of principall note inhabited by the Spaniards in this Province are first Antequera in the Valley aforesaid a stately Citie and beautified with a fair Cathedrall Church built with pillars of the finest Marble of great height and bigness 2. St. Ildephonso 3. St. Jago commonly called St. Jago of the Valley Nexatapa yet is it self a City fairly seated upon a Hill 4. Del Spirito Santo a town built
brawn and of above a span in length and to have had growing in it above a thousand grains A Raddish root hath been likewise seen there of the same bigness and length viz. of a mans arme very tender of substance and of a pleasant taste And 't is commonly observ'd that for Wheat and other grain of Europe they choose out a less lusty and colder soile because otherwise to sow it in the fattest and richer ground it would run all out into stalk of a huge height indeed but without earing or ever bearing of Corn. There be whole Woods and Forests as it were of Oranges Lymons Quinces and other such fruit both for bigness and beauty far exceeding the common ones of Spain of the same kinde At the Cittie of Cusco which is the Metropolis of Peru they have ripe Grapes all the year long and in diverse parts of the Countrie there be trees that bear fruit one half of the year on one side and the other half year on the other as Acosta reporteth of his own experience of a Fig-tree in Malla nigh the Citie of Kings and others speak as much of other fruits in other parts of the Countrie And so it is likewise for Cattel I mean such as have been brought thither out of Europe whether great or smal Cattel as Kine Sheep Hogs Goats c. the increase that hath been of them would seem to be beyond beliefe but that all Authors affirm it In the Island of Hispaniola and 't is likewise the same in many parts of the Continent and other Islands beside there are many thousands of Cattel that live wilde in Heards upon the mountains having no certain owner so as it is free for any man to kill them that will and thousands of them are every yeer killed onely for their Hides and the Tallow And yet 't is strange to consider what great multitudes of them are in privat mens possession The Bishop of Venezuela onely is said to have had at one time 16000. head of great Cattel feeding upon his own Pastures Another to have had of one Cow which he kept twenty six years for breed to have had an increase of eight hundred head of Cattel and 't is not counted any unusual thing for the Farmours of America especially such as are professed Grasiers and doe undertake as it is the custom there to serve such a Town Citie or Place with flesh meat at a certain rate by the year to have the like numbers viz. ten or twenty thousand head of Cattel of their own and feeding onely upon their own grounds being also men of great estates and reckoned commonly at one hundred two hundred and three hundred thousand Duckets a man and upwards living splendidly in their Estancias as they call them or Farme-houses in the Countrie and maintaining a Table both for dyet and ornament not inferiour to most Knights or the best Gentlemen in Europe which doubtless is an evidence beyond all dispute of the goodness and fertility of the 〈◊〉 where they live that such men as these can both live so gallantly and thrive so well CHAP. VI. Of the principal Commodities of America both Naturall and Mercantile and first of Maiz of Cassavi Jucca and other roots there of which they make bread 1. BUt to give some further assurance of the general richness and fertility of the Countrie at the West-Indies it is requisite that we speak somthing more in particular of the several Commodities and Fruits which America yeeldeth These I distinguish into two sorts viz. Commodities Natural and Mercantile I call those commodities Natural which are so proper to the Place and Countrie of America that as they grow there so are they at least for the most part there likewise consumed and spent as not being so fit or not so much used to be transported thence into any other parts by way of Merchandise of which kinde I suppose the most part of their Grain Fruit and Cattle may be reckoned to be I call those Commodities Mercantile which are generally brought from thence and in so great aboundance by the Merchants that trade in those parts of which sort are chiefly the Metals of America viz. Gold and Silver to which must be added the great quantity of Pearle precious stones and Jewels yearly brought from thence their Sugars diverse sorts of Spicery and Druggs aboundance of Cotton wooll and Cloath Hides many kindes of wood as well Medicinal as other of all which my purpose is to speak something before I come to the particular description of the several Provinces in which they are found but yet briefly according as I am oblieged and referring the Reader for more full satisfaction upon this subject in case he desire it to Acosta his Historie of the Indies and to Oviedo his general Historie whom I chiefly follow and who treat of these things more at large And first I shall begin with those Commodities which I call Naturall and amongst them with such as are of most general necessity and use for the sustenance of mans life viz. with that famous plant called Maiz and some other plants and roots of which at the West-Indies they commonly make their bread as we in Europe doe of Wheat and other grain 2. Maiz the common bread corn of America is a Plant which groweth plentifully at the West-Indies in most parts of the Continent upon a moist and hot ground as that generally is It groweth upon a certain cane or reed of good bigness and about two cubits high from the ground it groweth grape-wise that is the grain or fruit thereof not covered nor inclosed in any husk or cod as other grains of corn most commonly are but open and in clusters onely fenced on each side with a large and broad leafe growing upwards by it to the full height of the Maiz. The cluster or bunch of grains is commonly a span and half long sometimes more rending sharp up towards the top in the fashion of a Sugar-loaf and of the bigness ordinarily of a mans arme having upon the top of the cluster a certain tuft or bunch of long hairy fillets which as the grain comes to maturity doe likewise grow long and bend downwards on one side of the bunch not much unlike to the fore-top of Time and Opportunitie as they commonly picture it The grains of this Maiz are round like unto pease but bigger yet commonly six or seven hundred of them are contained in one cluster and for the most part two or three clusters upon every cane or reed They are white till they come to be ripe and then they turn outwardly black but the flower of them or substance within is still as white as snow and maketh a kinde of bread for strength or nourishment nothing inferiour to wheat It naturally ingendreth much blood so that strangers not used to it if they eate overmuch of it at first are subject to swel upon it to become scabbie and obnoxious to such other
may throw down stones of which there is alwaies good store ready or what else they have to annoy the assaylants It hath one only Gate for entrance and that likewise well fortified after their manner There are said to be in it fifty or threescore great houses built as the manner of the Americans generally is that use houses in a square figure each side being about fiftie foot long or more and sixteen or twenty broad but not many stories high and in the midest of the Court or void space a place to make their fire and doe other necessary work about it The Countrie round about this Town pleasant and good 2. Stadac or as some call it Stadacone another Town of the Natives not far from the Isle d' Orleance Westward 3. Quebeque another old Town which the French having first expelled the Natives and made it a Colonie of their own have since named St. Croix 4. Tadousac a Town lying at the mouth of the River Saguenay having a small Haven but very safe and capable of ten or twenty good ships 5. France-Roy This is little more than a Castle and Fort built by Mounsieur Robeval a French man at his first landing there about the yeer 1540. And lastly St. Lewis a place which the French designed for a Colonie in the year 1611 under the command of Monsieur Champlain but it came not to effect by reason of the Iroquois a Savage and war-like People on the South-side of the River Canada who doe often trouble and alarme the French in their Quarters and particularly hindred this Plantation 3. Nova-Scotia or New-Scotland is a part of this Province of America so named by Sir William Alexander a Scottish Gentleman to whom King James gave it by Letters Patents in the year 1621 being made afterwards Secretary of State for Scotland and after that by King Charles Earl of Sterling It containeth all that part of the Province of Canada or New-France which the French call Accadie or sometimes Cadia which properly is only a Peninsula or half Island lying thereabouts together with so much of the main Land as lyeth between the River Canada and the Bay Francoise that is reaching from the River of St. Croix upon the West to the Isle of Assumption in the East This was done presently after that Sir Samuell Argall Governour of Virginia had outed the French of all their possessions on the South-side of Canada that is such as lay within the bounds of Virginia and New-England where they had not any thing to doe much less to molest and make-warre upon such people as lived quietly under the protection of the English But the Patentee after sometime finding that to plant and maintain Colonies was no business to be undertaken by a single person sold Port-royall which was the principall place he had there to the French and wholly discontinued his endeavours in the rest which the French therefore have since possessed The places of chief importance in this Country are 1. Port-royall above mentioned This was first a Colony of French planted there by Monsieur de Montz about the yeare 1604. but being destroyed by the English from Virginia about the yeare 1613. it was granted to Sir William Alexander who as we heard sold it back again to the French and they took possession of it the second time and upon another account Howbeit if report speak true as the affaires of the world are alwais uncertain it is now again very lately taken from them by some English commanded by Major Sedgwick It hath a reasonable good Haven belonging to it of a mile broad and more within and two miles in length the mouth or entrance being somewhat narrower but neere upon a mile over 2. St. Lukes Bay so named by the Colony which Sir William Alexander sent thither but by the French Port au Mouton or Sheeps Bay 3. Gaspe or Gachepe another fair Port right over against the Isle of Assumption 4. To the Southwest of Nova Scotia and Nothward of Virginia lieth the Country of Norim begua so generally called and as it hath been thought from a great City or Town in this Province or from a River bearing the same name But as for the first later discoveries finde none such and as for the River that should be called Norimbegua it is likewise swallowed up in that which is more truely called Pemtegovet which is indeed a fair River running many miles together in this Tract but not well navigable above twenty or thirty at the most by reason of the Cataracts or great falls of water which it hath and which are an inconvenience incident unto many other Rivers of the New World and doth make them at severall places unpassable The mouth of this River is said to be eight or nine miles broad having many little mountainous Islands lying before and about it one whereof the French call La Isle haute from the great height which it seemeth to beare to them at Sea Westward of this River Pemtegovet at a distance of twenty or thirty miles there emptyeth it self another great River into the Sea which they call Quinnebequi but the English as Laet reporteth Sagadahoc betwixt and about which two Rivers the cheif and most known parts of this Country of Norimbegua lyeth saving only a small Southerly Tract upon another River which they call Chovacovet The aire of this whole Country is found to be of a very good temperature and the soil if it were used supposed to be no less fruitfull especially towards the Rivers and where it is not mountainous or overgrown with Woods as it is in some parts where yet it affords much good Timber abundance of Walnut trees and of other Nuts Firre-trees Beech with much other necessary and usefull wood elsewhere there is as much good pasturage and very fair plains only the Sea Coasts are said to be shallow and full of sands so that the sailing neer is generally accounted but dangerous and which I suppose may be some reason why there occurres not upon these Coasts any particular Ports or havens which as yet Authors seem to have thought worthy of their report 5. There are adjoyning to these parts of Canada or New-France cerain Islands which although they come not under any one cōmon name yet it seemes most fit that we should take notice of them as Appurtenances to this Country The Principall of these are 1. Natiscotec or the Isle of Assumption situate in the very mouth of the great River of Canada It was discovered first in the yeare 1534. by Jaques Cartier a French man and contains in length thirty leagues or more but in breadth not much above seven or eight The Island is for the most part very plain and level and of a soil fruitfull enough if it had Inhabitants plentifully stored both with fowl and fish having convenient roades but no very good harbours for Ships to stand and abide in 2. Rameae These are as it were a Fry of Islets or
Inhabitants are since removed to Porto Bello or St. Philip aforesaid as to a more fortified and securer place 3. Acla a Town upon the same Coast but lying South-East of Nombre de Dios. 4. Nata commonly called St. Jago de Nata situated on the West side of this Province upon Mare del Zur or the South Sea about thirty leagues distance from Panama towards the borders of Veragua 5. Panama the chief City of the Province being also a Bishops Sea who is Suffragan to the Archbishop of Lima and the ordinary residence of the Governour and Courts of Justice for these parts It is seated likewise upon the South Sea and so neer that at high water the ships are said to ride even under the walls Through this town the wealth both of Peru and Spain passeth once every yeer from Spain by Nombre de Dios and Porto Bello from whence whatsoever Merchandise or other Commodities come from Spain are transported to Panama by Land and from thence by Sea to all the parts of Peru and by Panama whatsoever comes from Peru to be sent into Spain It hath commonly a strong Garrison of Souldiers in it and is doubtless a place otherwise well fortified being of so great importance Lastly La Crux Real a few leagues distant from Panama and for the most part inhabited by Negros 3. Darien hath on the North the District or Circle of Panama on the South the new Kingdome of Granada Eastward it is bounded with the Gulf of Vrraba abovesaid and some part of the River Darien which giveth name to the Province and to the West with the South Sea of a more temperate Aire by farre than that of Panama and a Soil so admirably fruitfull and lusty that they say Melons Cucumers and generally all other Fruits of the Garden are ripe and fit to gather within twenty dayes or less after their first sowing The chief and indeed only Town of this tract is Darien called anciently by the first Founders of it St. Maria Antiqua and by others the Antique of Darien being one of the first Towns that were built by the Spaniards on the firm Land 4. Eastward of Darien and the Gulf of Vrraba lyeth the Countrie of New-Andaluzia as some call it though that name be likewise and perhaps more truly attributed to the Province of Paria hereafter to be spoken of on the East it hath the Countrie called St. Martha on the North the main Ocean and New-Granada towards the South It is for the most part a Mountainous Countrie and full of Woods which they say yeeld aboundance of Rosin Gumms and some very good Balsams But the Plains by reason of much rain to which the Countrie is subject especially for some times of the year of but a spewy and cold Soil The Spaniards at their first comming found it a rich Country not so much from the nature and profits of the Soil though it be said to have some Mines in it and those of Gold but by reason of a certain opinion and respect which the Americans of these parts are generally said to have born towards this Country insomuch that they would be brought and buryed therein from other places very remote and according to the custome of the Country not without good store of Gold and other Jewels according to the quality and condition of the Person that was buried of which the Spaniards soon gained intelligence and in ransacking the Graves and Monuments of the Dead are supposed to have found an infinite Mass of Treasure But those Mines are long since exhausted The places of chief impotance here are 1. Carthagena situate upon the North Sea in a sandy Peninsula or half Island well built and for the bigness of it of good wealth and riches as the English well found under Sir Francis Drake in the yeare 1585 when they took the place and having pillaged it carried away beside aboundance of Treasure no less than two hundred and fourty brass peices of Ordinance It is counted one of the best Havens belonging to the firme land of America 2. Tolu by the Spaniards now called St. Jago twelve leagues distant from Cartagena a place memorable for the excellent Balsam which is brought from thence commonly called the Balsam of Tolu 3. St. Crux de Mopox a neate Town seated a little above the confluence of the two Rivers St. Martha and Magdalene which water this Province 4. Baranca de Nolambo a place of great Traffique especially for all Commodities of the new Kingdome of Granada it standeth upon the banks of the Magdelene River and about six leagues distant from the Sea 5. Buena Vista otherwise called St. Sabastian de Buena Vista a Town commodiously seated upon a rising ground not far from the Gulf of Vrraba or the Sound of Darien about a league and half from the Sea and lastly Villa de St. Maria thirty leagues southward of Cartagena 5. St. Martha so called from the cheif City of the Province is bordered on the West with New-Andaluzia on the East with Rio de la Hacha on the North with the Ocean and on the South with New-Granada It is about threescore and ten leagues in length and not much less in breadth a mountainous Country likewise for the most part and the ground not much commended but only for some fruits of the Ordinary growth of Spain viz. Oranges Limons c. which thrive here very well The aire upon the Coasts very hot but more within land as extremely cold viz. upon the Mountaines The Country is well watered with Rivers the chief whereof is Rio Grande as they call it or the great River of Magdalene which rising in the Mountains of New-Granada falleth down into this province empties it self into the Sea betwixt the Cities of St. Martha and Cartegena though at a distance of ten or twenty leagues from either with a double stream and such a violent course that as Acosta testifies it is counted not a little dangerous to attempt the entrance of it sometimes viz. when the Tyde and the stream are contrary The chief Towns are 1. St. Martha seated upon the Sea coast having a safe and very convenient Haven belonging to it and well defended from the windes by the advantage of an high Mountain lying almost right over against it It is no great Town but rich for the bigness at least it was found so when Sir Francis Drake surprised it in the year 1595. What it was the year following when Sir Anthony Shirly called there and in the yeare 1630 when the Dutch took it I cannot say 2. Tenariffe on the banks of the Magdalene fourty leagues distant from St. Martha 3. Villa de las Palmas twenty leagues southward of Tenariff 4. Ciudad de los Reyes in the Valley of Vpar and upon the banks of a large River called Guataporta which a little below this Town falleth into the Magdalene It is a Frontire place and but ill neighboured by reason of certain
likewise the Metropolis or head town of the Natives before the Spaniards burnt and destroyed it 3. St. Jago de los Valles This is a Frontier place and enjoyeth certain speciar Immunities and some fair possessions also fo defense of the Country against the Savages It is twenty five leagues distant from St. Steven del Puerto lying in an open or Champain Country and is fenced about with a wall of Earth 8. Mechoacan hath on the North-East Panuco on the East Mexicana properly so called on the South part of Tlascalla on the West the main Ocean or Mare del Zur and last of all more directly Northward Xalisco which is a Province of New Gallicia The name signifieth in the American language as much as a Fish Country so it is having many fair Lakes and Rivers in it aboundantly well stored with good Fish The Country so exceedingly pleasant and healthfull that 't is usuall for sick persons of other Provinces to come hither to recover their health only by the benefit of a good Aire The Soil so aboundantly fertil of all sorts of grain that of four measures of seed it hath been often observed they have reaped the next harvest more than so many hundred measures of the same grain Very well wooded and by reason of its many Rivers and fresh springs equally rich in good pasture and beside great plenty of Medicinall Hearbs and Plants It affordeth good store of Amber nigh the Sea Coasts Mulberry-trees consequently Silks much Honey wax and divers other Commodities both for necessity and pleasure The People of the Country are generally tall of a strong active body and a good wit especially in comparison of other Natives not unskilfull in divers curious Manufactures and the most excellent Feather-Picturers aforementioned are said to be found in this Province They seem more generally inclined to the humors and customes of the Spaniards than many other Americans and received the preaching of Christian Religion when time was with much willingness so that the Country is now entirely Christian and divided into several Parishes There are said to be in it one hundred and fifty Towns or Burroughs beside many scattered Villages most of which have free Schools erected in them for the training up of youth in Christian Religion good literature and Arts and few of them without an Hospitall for the sick of which towns the principall are such as follow viz. Zinzoutza the seat of the ancient Kings of Mechoacan 2. Pascuar a City fourty seven leagues distant from Mexico once a Bishops Sea but now removed to Valladolit 3. Valladolit the Metropolis or chief City of the Province since the Episcopall chair was removed from Pascuar thither It lyeth upon a great Lake equall almost for bigness to that of Mexico and is about seven leagues distant from Pascuar towards the East 4 St. Michaels a good town fourty leagues Westward of Mexico and in the way to the Zacatecas but lying in a road that is somewhat dangerous being not a little infested with Savages on both sides of it 5. St. Philips 6. La Conception de Salaya 17 leagues distant from Valladolid and a convenient stage for Travellers being indeed with the two last mentioned built chiefly for the defence and securing of the Country against the Savages 7. Guaxanato a Town on the borders of Panuco where there are very rich Mines of silver 8. Leon another Town likewise of very rich Mines twenty four leagues distant from Valladolid and threescore from Mexico 9. Zamorra 10. Villa de los Lagos and others Towards the Sea there is 1. Acatlan but two miles distant from the Coast and a small town yet by reason of a safe and very good Harbour which it hath for shipping a place of no little trading 2. Natividad another well known and convenient Haven upon Mare del Zur pertaining to this Province and from whence they usually set sail for the Philippine Islands 3. St. Jago de buena Speranza so called by the Spaniards perhaps from the aboundance of good Pearls they found upon this Coast 4. Colyma 5. Zacatula and some others This Province as we said was at first a distinct Kingdome of it self yet subordinate and tributary to that of Mexico the King whereof named Tamgaivan Bimbicha as Laet reporteth at the first coming of the Spaniards thither after the conquest of Mexico voluntarily submitted himself to them and was baptized Nevertheless afterwards upon a pretence of I know not what Treason intended by him against them and which the Spanish Writers themselves professedly think to have been feigned by command of Nunnez de Gusman President of the Chancery of Mexico he was most inhumanely burnt alive and the Spaniards seized upon his Kingdome 9. Mexicana specially so called is bounded on the East with the Gulf of Mexico on the West with Mechoacan on the North with Panuco and some parts of New-Gallicia and on the South with Tlascalla so called from Mexico which is the chief City of the Province and of all America beside A large and rich Country containing not much less than one hundred and thirty leagues both in length and bredth and if it yeelds any thing to Peru in the plenty of gold and silver 't is certain it much excells it in many other commodities as namely in all sorts of Fruits aboundance of Cattel plenty of Corn and Grain in all which the advantage which this Country hath not only of Peru but of all the other Provinces of America beside is well known not to speak any thing of the great plenty and variety of good Fish which both the Rivers and Lakes of this Country afford which is very great insomuch that the very tribute of the one Lake of Mexico is said to yeeld an Income of above twenty thousand Crowns yearly one with another The People of the Country are generally industrious and active especially since the Spaniards came among them rich Merchants if they apply themselves to it and they say likewise good Souldiers when they are trained and imployed that way The chief towns and places of the Province are 1. Mexico both anciently and at present the Metropolis and Capitall City being the seat of an Archbishop and the ordinary Residence of the Vice-Roy and chief Governours of New-Spain Formerly it stood like another Venice upon the water being built upon certain Islands within the Lake and interlaced in all the quarters of it with divers pleasant Currents both of fresh and salt water But the old City being destroyed by Cortez as we said it was rebuilt by him more upon the firm Land almost upon the banks of the great Lake for there are two of them the one of salt-water the other of fresh which continually ebbe and flow into one another contain in the compass of the whole about thirty leagues or more upon which there are thought to be not less than fourty or fifty thousand Canoas or little Boats continually plying from one Town to another
the Mines The only inconvenience which the Countrie seemeth to lye under is the aboundance of Serpents or Snakes which it breedeth there are some of them said to be twenty foot long or more and doe not a little infest the Natives who yet are not without a general Antidote or Remedy which the Countrie likewise naturally affordeth which is nothing else but the leaves of some of their trees dryed to powder of which they make a plaister of soveraign efficacie as 't is said against their venome and otherwise generally good for any old and inveterate sores The places of more principall note in this Countrie inhabited by the Spaniards are 1. Ciudad Real pleasantly seated in the midst of a round Vale or Plain and almost encompassed with Hills round about it in form of an Amphitheatre at the foot of one of which standing in the midst of the rest the City is built It is a Citie specially priviledged by the Kings of Spain of a pure and temperate Aire and the Country about plentifully abounding both in Corn and Fruit. 2. Chiapa which giveth name to the Valley aforesaid it is a Bishops Sea and famous if but for one of its Prelates viz. Bartholomaeus de las Casas of the Order of Preachers who was Bishop of this Citie and his memory justly precious among the poor Americans at this day for his Charity towards them and for the stout and zealous opposition which he made against the Spaniards cruel and inhumane dealings with the Natives at the beginning of their Conquests by which at last notwithstanding much difficulty and resistance made by interessed persons of the other side he procured them liberty and an Edict from the Emperor in favour of them whereby they were declared to be Free People and not Slaves and the Spaniards forbidden to use them any longer as such or to force them to any kinde of labour against their wills or otherwise than by agreement with them which liberty they enjoy to this day and though the Spaniaiards are said to give them very small wages in some places and for their work in their Sugar Mills which is no small labor not above five Royalls or two Shillings six Pence a week for the maintenance of themselves their Wives and Children yet by reason it is with their consent and in a Country where all things are plentifull and cheap their condition is much better than it was and the favour which that good Bishop did them never to be forgotten It is at present a great City and populous and lyeth almost in the middle way betwixt the Cities of Mexico and Guatimala 3. St. Bartholomews 4. Tecpatlan and some others belonging to the Natives 3. Vera paz or the Country of True peace was so named by the Spaniards as they say because it was never conquered by the Sword but reduced to obedience only by the preaching of the Dominican Friers It is bounded on the West and South-west with Chiapa on the East with some part of Guatimala and Honduras and on the North with Jucatan It Containes about thirty leagues length and almost as much in breadth being a woody and mountainous Country for the most part yet well distingushed with Valleys and lower grownd It is thought to be a little too much subject to rain which 't is said to have for nine moneths of the year almost continually by reason whereof the Country being otherwise hot is much anoyed with a kind of Mosquit or great sort of Gnatts which spoyle the fruit very much and are otherwise not a little troublsome to the people The chief Commodities of this Country are first a kinde of Amber which some call liquid Amber which drops from divers of their trees and is said to be a Commodity very precious and of much use Mastick Sazaparilla China wood and divers other Medicinall woods which it affordeth in great plenty But as for any Towns or places of much Traffique or note inhabited by the Spaniards I finde not any named save only St. Augustines neer unto which there is said to be a Cave and Fountain within ground which converts the water that falleth into it out of several lesser Springs into a kinde of Alablaster or stone perfectly white and fashions it likewise into pillars statues and other artificiall formes very curiously as Laet reporteth 4. Guatimala specially so called hath on the West the river Xicalapa which divides it from Vera paz On the East it is bounded with the Country of Nicaragua on the North with Honduras and on the South with Mare del Zur The Country by reason of its Neighbourhood with Vera paz not altogether clear of Mountains but otherwise well watered with Rivers and enriched with fair and fruitfull Valleyes which afford not only good pasturage and many great heards of Cattel but likewise good store of Wheate Maiz and other fruits of the Earth Great plenty of Cotton-Wooll generally both here and in the other Provinces viz. of Vera paz Chiapa c. some medicinall woods likewise and liquors and absolutely the best Sulfur of America The people generally tractable and well dispoed both in poynt of Religion and Civill Government The Towns of cheif note are 1. Guatimala otherwise called St. Jago de Guatimala the cheif City of the Province situate upon the banks of a pleasant River and in all respects convenient but for the Neighbourhood of two Vulcans as they call them at the West-Indies that is of certain Mountains which cast fire and smoak out of them more or less continually and with which about the year 1586. it was almost buried with ashes and burnt Earth which the one of them for the space of six moneths together continualled belched out in such fearfull quantity that many people were slain and the City received much damage by it There are many of these Vulcans in severall parts of America as namely at Arequipa in the Kingdome of Peru at Puebla de los Angeles in the Province of Tlascalla abovesaid a Mountain of so great height that they are said to goe little less than thirty leagues turning and winding before they can reach the top of it and others in severall other places They are generally Mountains of great height and running sharp upwards but at the top containing some quantity of plain and level grownd in the midst whereof is the pit or hole out of which aboundance of smoak and fiery ashes are vomited almost continually and so deep that they are supposed for the most part to reach to the very bottom of the Mountain Some of these Vulcans cast forth neither fire nor smoak yet are clearly seen to burn at the bottom with a quick fire and which is so extremely hot that it instantly melteth Iron or any other Metall that is cast into it as by experience hath been found For some conceiving that the matter which maintains these fires within the bowells of the Earth so long together can be nothing els but melted Gold have
unreduced Savages inhabiting the Mountain Tayrone and those other Mountains of this Province which the Spaniards call las Sierras Nievadas because their tops are perpetually covered with Snow 5. New-Salamanca in the same Valley of Vpar famous for its Brass Mines 6. Ocanna and others 6. Rio de la Hacha is the name of a little Province lyinging on the North-East of St. Martha washed on all other parts with the waters of the main Ocean or with the Gulf or Bay of Venezuela It taketh its name from a small Town called de la Hacha about a mile distant from the Sea having no convenient Haven but otherwise seated in a soile very rich and fertill not only of all sorts of Fruits and and Plants especially such as are brought from Spain but likewise in many Mines of Gold Gemmes of great size and value and many excellent Salt Wiches as they call them It is eight leagues distant from Salamanca aforesaid and eighteen from Cape Vela the most westerly Point or Foreland of the Bay of Venuezuela and with the rest had the hard hap to be surprised and pillaged by the English with Sir Francis Drake in the year 1595. 2. Rancheria six leagues Eastward of la Hacha inhabited cheifly by Pearl-fishers or such as get their living for the most part by fishing for Pearle which was wont to be good on these Coasts 3. Tapia and some others CHAP. XII Of New-Granada 1. THe new Kingdome of Granada as 't is commonly called was for the most part both discovered and conquered by Gonsalvo Ximenes about the yeare 1536 and with so good success that in less than a years space the whole Country was quietly setled under the Spaniards government and the Captain with his Small Company had made shift to gather together such a mass of Treasure as may seem almost incredible viz. from the Reguli or petty Princes of those Countries whom he had either destroyed or made Tributary Laet casteth up the summe thus one hundred ninty one thousand two hundred ninty four Pezos of absolute fine Gold thirty seven thousand of Gold less fine and eighteen thousand of the coursest sort of all Of Emralds great and small eighteeen hundred besides aboundance of other rich booty The Country is bounded on the North with Castella aurea aforesaid on the West with Mare del Zur on the East with Venezuela the Southern parts of it being not yet well discovered by reason of certain huge and unpassable Mountains which block it up wholly on that side save only where a passage is kept open into the Province of Peru specially so called It containeth in length about one hundred and thirty leagues and not much less in breadth being for the most part a very healthfull Country and abounding in Mines of the best sort of Metal beside others of Brass and Iron It is subdivided into these two Provinces viz. Granada specially so caland 2. Popayana 2. Granada specially so called is a Country of a very temperate and good aire neither subject to much heat nor to extremity of cold the reason of this may seem to be its neerness to the Line from which it is distant Northward but a very few degrees The Country exceeding fruitfull both of Corn and Cattel affording rich pasturage and many great heards of Cattel many good Mines as well of Gold as other Metals and in that part of it which is called Tunia as great plenty of the fairest sort of Emralds Some parts of it are woody and among other sorts very good both for Timber and Feuel there is one which the Natives call Guaiacum a medicinable wood and of soveraign use they say for those that are subject to the Lues Venerea and such like Maladies The People of the Country generally tall of stature and of a strong constitution but much more given to sport and pastime than to any kinde of labor or industry The Towns and places of cheif importance are 1. St. Foy commonly called St. Foy de Bagota which was the old name of this Province and to distinguish it from another St. Foy in the Country of New-Mexico as was said It is the Metropolis and Capitall City of this Province an Arcbishops sea and the ordinary residence of the Governor built by Gonsalvo Ximenes a Spaniard Native of Granada in Old-Spain upon the Lake called Guatavita and is inhabited at this present by above six hundred Families of Spaniards 2. St. Michael twelve leagues Northward of St. Foy and a well traded Town 3. Tocayma situate in the territory of the Panches which are a certain barbarous People of this Country not yet perfectly reduced and possessing not the worst part of it It is fifteen leagues distant from St. Foy towards the North-East being situate on the banks of Pati a small River a little above its confluence into the Magdalene 4 Trinidad seated on the banks of another River called Zarbi in a convenient place and good Soil and the Country about it richly abounding in Veins of Christall Emralds Adamants Chalcedonies and other Gemmes of good account 5. Tunia a strong Town built very advantagiously for defence on the top of an hill is both a Garrison and place of retreat against the Savages which somtimes infest this Tract and also well traded Empory 6. Pampelona 60 leagues from St. Foy to the North-east a rich place both for Mines of gold which it affordeth and also for great heards of Cattel which the Country breeds and maintains 7. La Palma 8. Merida the furthest Town of this Province North-eastward towards Venezuela On the South-east there is only St. Juan de los Lanos or St. John of the Plaines fitfy leagues distant from St. Foy but seated in a rich Angle of the Country and where there are good Veins of gold 3. Popayana the other part of this New-Kingdome is bordered on the West with part of Granada last spoken of from which the River St. Martha divides it for the most part On the North it hath Nova-Andalusia or Cartagena on the West Mare del Zur and on the South Quito or rather some unreduced Countries lying betwixt them both It extends in length above one hundred leagues from North to South but in breadth viz betwixt the River St. Martha and the South Sea not much above fourty or fifty The Country is said to be a little too much subject to rain yet not so but that the fertility of the soil answers the industry of the Inhabitants in most parts very well The places of chief note in it are 1. Popayan situate on the banks of a fair River but not named and in the midst of a Plain in a place of great wealth and enjoying a good aire It is a Bishops Sea and the ordinary Residence of the Governour of the Province 2. Antiochia otherwise called St. Fide s de Antiochia on the borders of New-Andaluzia and about one hundred leagues from Popayan 3. Caramanta seated likewise on the banks of the
generally are covered with thick Woods and wild Forests the Hill-Country for a great part naked and open the Plains in many places sandy and dry and would be much more scorched with heat then they are but for the neighbourhood of the Sea which affords them many cooling gales from the South and South-west windes whose property although it be naturally in other parts to be tempestuous to bring rain and foul weather yet here there is nothing but Serenity and fair Sun-shine dayes all the year long although these windes blow almost without ceasing upon the Country and no other at any time whereas the Sierra or Hill countrys have winde from every coast and such as bringeth all sorts of weather with it Rain Hail Frost Snow great claps of Thunder c. The Countrie affordeth not so much Cattel of the breed of Europe as some other Provinces of America but instead of these both the Woods and Pastures are replenished with great multitudes of the Vicugnes and Pacos above mentioned which are of no less profit service The Pacos here are said to be as big as some young Heifer of two yeers old bearing a fleece like Sheep and their flesh no less pleasant than the Mutton of Europe But the great wealth of this Countrie lyes out of sight in the bowels of the Earth viz. in those rich and as they may seem inexhaustible Mines both of gold and silver which as 't is well known this Countrie of Peru affordeth more than any other Province of America beside The People are said to be at least exteriorly of greater simplicity than some other Americans both in point of behavior and judgement yet of good courage in the warrs and fearless of death They are noted also to be dissemblers and not alwaies to declare their mindes truly and plainly and which is worse than all to have bin given over to that foul sin of Sodomy in so much that their Women were generally found to be of small esteem with them to be used no better than slaves and most cruelly beaten by them upon every light occasion For both which their unnatural filthiness and inhumaninity if it pleased the Divine Justice to deliver them into the hands of those who used them likewise cruelly who can deny but that the Judgements of God were just and that they received such recompence for their works as the Apostle saith Rom. 1.13 was meet The Countrie is generally divided into three Juridicall Resorts as they call them or Courts of Appeal which are Quito Lima and Charcas but the particular Provinces as they are commonly observed by Geographers said to be six viz. 1. Quito 2. Los Quixos 3. Lima. 4. Cusco 5. Charcas And 6. Collao 3. Quito is the first Province of Peru towards the North or the new Kingdome of Granada with which on that side it is bounded having on the West Mare del Zur on the South Lima and on the East Los Quixos It lyeth in a manner right under the Line the Soil reasonably fertill and well stored with Cattel especially with the Pacos or Peruvian Sheep having plenty also of Fish and Fowl good store of Cotton-woll in which the People of the Countrie are especially industrious make a Cloath or Stuff thereof equall almost to silk for fineness Much Tobacco Guaiacum Sarzaparilla and other medicinall Plants The chief Towns are 1. Caranguez anciently a Royall Citie where stood a sumptuous and stately Palace of the Kings of Peru now almost deserted 2. Ottavallu another place of the same dignitie and the same condition at present with Carangues 3. Quito commonly called S. Francisco de Quito It is a Citie built by the Spaniards at the foot of a certain ridg of Mountains which it hath on the North and North-West side of it and are said by Laet to cross the whole Countrie of Peru quite over from the South to the North Sea It is inhabited by five hundred Families of Spaniards at least beside Natives and well fortified and might be thought a town very well seated in all respects but for the neighbourhood of a Vulcan which at times annoyeth it very much as namely in the year 1560 when it vomited out such aboundance of flaming cinders and other sulphurous matter as had it not been for a showre of rain unexpectedly falling would have much damnified if not destroyed the place 4. Tacunga fifteen leagues distant from Cusco 5. Rhiobamba fourty leagues distant from that 6. Thomebamba 7. Cuenza threescore and four leagues from Quito on another roade but environned on all sides with Mines both of gold and silver brass iron and likewise some veins of sulphur 8. Loxa sixteen leagues Southward of Cuenza and seated pleasantly betwixt two Rivers in the midst of the rich Valley or Plain called Guixibamba 9. Zamorra twently leagues Eastward of Loxa These are all Towns inhabited by Spaniards and lye more within land Towards the Sea and upon the Sea coasts there is first Puerto Vieio so called because it was the first Town the Spaniards possessed on this Continent a place of no very good Aire and therefore not much frequented 2. Mantu another Sea Town and of good resort by reason of the Trade which is here chiefly driven betwixt Panama and Peru. 3. Guaiaquil or St. Jago de Guaiaquil a famous and well frequented Empory seated upon an arme of the Sea not far from the mouth of the said River Guaiaquil 4. Castro a Colonie of Spaniards towards that part of this Province which some call Provincia de las Esmauldas or the Land of Emralds 5. St. Michaels the first Colonie which the Spaniards built in this Countrie called by the Natives Piura 6. Payta a small Town yet neighboured by a safe and well frequented Haven guarded against the windes by the point St. Helena on the North and on the South with Punta Piura yet burnt by Captain Cavendish in the year 1587 and the rich Island Puna neer adjoyning ransacked and pillaged 4. Los Quixos lyeth South and to the South-East of Quito being bordered more directly Eastward with a part of the Province of Guiana called by some El dorada or the golden Countrie on the South it hath Lima and Cusco Of the Countrie it self there is not my thing observed that may seem peculiar The chief Towns are 1. Baeza built in the year 1559 by Ramirez de Avila eighteen leagues from Cusco 2. Archidona twenty leagues to the South-East of Baeza 3. Avila 4. Sevilla del Oro. All of them Colonies of Spaniards Then is there in the Sierra or hilly part of the Countrie more towards the Andes 1. Valladolidt 2. Loyola 3. St. Jago de las Montannas all Colonies likewise that you may know the Countrie hath something in it worth the looking after 5. Lima called also Los Reyes hath on the East Collao and some part of Cusco on the North Los Quixos on the West Mare del Zur and on the South Charcas The Countrie extendeth it self in length upon
the Coasts of the South Sea two hundred and fifty some say full three hundred leagues in length viz. from the Cape del Aguia Northward on the borders of Quito as far as Arequipa towards the South the soil reasonably fertil in all things as being much more equally divided into Hill and Plain Countrie and much better Peopled than some other Provinces The places most observable and important in it are 1. Miraflores as the Spaniards call it a well seated and wealthy Town in the Valley of Zanu five leagues distant from the Sea where it hath likewise a good Haven or Port. 2. Truxillo two or three leagues distant from the Sea the Haven whereof is said to be large but not so safe The Town it self is seated upon the banks of a pleasant River in the Valley of Chicama consisting of five hundred Families or more the Aire very healthfull and the Countrie thereabouts as fruitfull and good as any of these parts of America especially abounding in Corn Sugar-Canes and Cattel 3. La Parilla twenty leagues Southward of Truxillo in the Valley called Santa and well neighboured with rich Mines of silver lately discovered 4. Arnedo seated among the Vineyards of the Valley of Changay ten leagues from Lima northward 5. Lima by the Spaniards commonly called la Ciudad de los Reyes or the City of Kings so named because Pizarro who built it layd the first stone on Twelfth day 1553 which they call The Feast of the Kings It is seated in the Valley of Lima one of the fruitfullest parts of all Peru and so neatly built that all the chief streets of the Citie open upon a fair Market-place or Piazza of such a large square that upon the sides thereof are built in a stately and convenient manner the Cathedral Church and Palace of the Archbishop the Vice-Roys Palace and Courts of Justice with the Exchequer or publique Treasury the Town-House or place where the Citie Magistrates meet and hold their Courts the publique Armory or Magazine and divers other fair buildings of the Nobility and better sort of Citizens The whole City is environed round about with most delicate fields and pleasant gardens and scarse a Citizens house within but by the oportunity of a River which runneth by it is well supplyed with water Briefly as it is the Metropolis of Peru that is the chief and principall Citie for Authority and Dignity so is it likewise the chiefest for delight and wealth 6. Cullao this is the Haven or Port Town to Lima and but two leagues distant from it A Town of six or seven hundred Families all or most of them Sea-men and not a house in it but is well provided of Cellar-room and Stowage for Merchandise which is there received from all parts both coming from and going to the Sea It was with Lima it self surprized by Sir Francis Drake in the year 1579 and their Cellars searched as well as could be done in so short a time whereupon since it is said to be fortified with two strong Bulwarks a wall of earth and about thirty piece of Ordinance planted on the Works 7 Pachacama four leagues Southward of Lima memorable chiefly for Pizarros good fortune here who is reported to have found in one only old Temple of the Natives the quantity of nine hundred thousand Duckets of gold and silver beside what his Souldiers are supposed to have seiz'd on and conveighed away before he came 8. Guarco a Colony of three hundred Spaniards sixteen leagues to the Southward of Pachacama rounded with the best fields for Wheat in all Peru. 9. Valverde a great Town inhabited by five hundred Spaniards and though at sixteen leagues distance from the Sea yet well traded and rich The Valley wherein it lyeth and from which it taketh its name affording the best Vines of America 10. Castro-Verreina threescore leagues distant from Lima to the South East It lyeth in the Valley of Chocolocha and is a rich place by reason of the good Mines of silver which are about it and the aboundance of the best sort of Tobacco 11. Arequipa a pleasant and delightsome town in the Valley of Quilca one hundred and twenty leagues distant from Lima Southward of a temperate and fresh Aire a flourishing Soile and the Town very rich and frequented by reason that through it much of the silver of Potozi and divers other Mines thereabouts that is designed for Spain passeth yearly to be shipped for Panama at a Haven belonging to this Town though at a distance as som say of 10. or 21. leagues 12 Caxamalca more within land towards the North a place chiefly memorable for the imprisonment murder of Atabalipa the last King of Peru whom the Spaniards overthrew and took prisoner neer to this place and afterwards used as hath been said Lastly 13. Leon de Guanuco so called from the Territory wherein it standeth a rich and pleasant place being anciently a Palace of the Kings of Peru very magnificent and stately now likewise much beautified with Houses both of the Spanish and Peruvian Nobility some Convents of Religious men and a Colledge of Jesuites 6. Cusco is the farre greater part of the Province of Peru containing generally all the Sierra or Hill Countries and those parts of the Andes likewise which lye Southward of the little Province or Cantred of Guanuco being coasted Westward and to the North-west with Lima Eastward with Los Quixos and some part of Guiana and on the South with Charcas enjoying for the most part a temperate and good Aire neither over-heated with the scorching Sun in the day nor damped with any cold mists or dews in the Evening as some parts of the Plains of Peru are but well watered with many fresh Rivers which make the Valleys and lower grounds of it good pasturage and to maintain great Heards of Cattel The Woods especially stored with the Coca whose leafe is counted so restorative as we said Chap. 7. and with much excellent Venison The principall Towns and places of Trade in it are first Bombon situate upon a Lake called Chinchacocha said to be ten leagues in compass begirt round about almost with hills and neighboured with many other lesser but pleasant Villages 2. Parcos once a Palace Royall of the Inca's seated on the top of a little hill encompassed with other Rocky and higher Mountains on all sides 3. Guamanga called by the Spaniards St. Juan de la Vittoria a fair and well built City and an Episcopall Sea threescore and ten leagues distant from Lima Eastward 4. Bilcas another Palace of the Inca's now a good Town of the Natives and situate as is supposed in the very midst of the Countrie of Peru. 5. Guancavelica a new Town raised from the condition of a very poor Village to a place of very great importance and traffique only by the Mines of Quick-silver of which we spake Chap. 11. and which were first discovered there in the year 1566. It is now inhabited by two thousand
have all imployment enough about the Cotton-wooll sugar-Canes and Tobacco which the Countrie is said to afford in good plenty CHAP. XVII Of the Country of Guiana 1. NExt to Brasil towards the North lyeth the pleasant and fruitfull Countrie of Guiana supposed not improbably to be so called from the River Wia one of the principall Rivers of the Province which yet is said to have more and fairer than any other part of America beside It is bounded on the East with the Atlantick Ocean or Mare del Nordt on the West with the Andes or rather some undiscovered Mountainous Countries which lye between the one and the other On the North it hath the great River Orenoque and on the South that of the Amazons of Orellana The Countrie lyeth on both sides of the Equator extended from the fourth degree of Southern latitude to the eighth degree of Northern yet enjoyeth a temperate and good Aire not oppressed with any excessive heat which is chiefly attributed to the Brises or Easterly windes almost perpetually every day about noon blowing upon it Towards the Sea side it is for the most part a flat and level Countrie in the more Inland parts Mountainous and swelled with Hills but in all generally of such a rich and fertil Soil that for Fâ—uits or any outward Commodities of the Earth it yeelds not to any other Province of the New-World but rather farre excelleth the most having as it were a continual Summer without Winter or Autumn the Trees never uncloathed or made bare Fruits alwaies ripe or growing to maturity the Meadows and Pastures alwaies Verdant and green and as we said so excellently well watered with Rivers that no Countrie in the World seems comparable to it in this respect And by the principall of them it is divided into four inferiour or lesser Provinces which are 1. Rio de las Amazones 2. Wiapoco or Guiana properly so called 3. Orenoque And 4. the Islands of Guiana 2. Rio de las Amazones or the Countrie of Amazons containeth all that part of Guiana which lyeth on both sides of the River Orellana of a rich and good Soil generally abounding with all sorts of Fruits and especially with those which the Americans call Totock and love extremely out of an opinion they say that it excites them to Venery whereunto they are of themselves but too much inclined and of another which they call Pita of a taste fâ—â—re more delicious and pleasing and not so hurtfull as the other The Countrie was first discovered by Francisco Orellana a Spaniard from Quito but it was only by the River Orellana and though he be credibly reported to have sailed no less than eighteen hundred leagues down the stream and to have discovered a rich and fair Countrie on both sides the River well peopled with Natives and giving in divers places no small arguments of greater wealth and riches more within Land yet such was the bad success of his second indeavors and likewise of those that followed him that as yet there seems no further report to be given at least not of any thing special concerning this part of the Countrie 3. Wiapoco or Guiana properly so called taketh up the middle part of this Province being divided as the other almost into two equall parts by the River Wiapoco which runs through the midst of it The Countrie on both sides of the River very rich and fertil and so naturally apt both for sugar-Canes Cotton-wooll and Tobacco that they are said to grow here all of them very good without planting or any Art of Husbandry In this Countrie is likewise the famous Dâ—rada as the Spaniards call it or Citie of Gold if it could be found with the reports and hopes whereof some of our own Nation seem to have been not a little possessed as well as the Spaniards Nor can I much blame them for if the stories of it had prov'd true it must have been one of the goodliest and fairest Cities of the World not to speak of the wealth Diego de Ordas the Spaniard who first brought news of it to his Countrimen being said to have travelled one whole day and half another in it before he could arrive at the Kings Palace which yet must be supposed to have stood but in the midst of the Citie But for ought appears if the indeavors of future times effect nothing more in the discovery of it than former have done it must pass for the Metropolis of Vtopia still as I think most men take it to be Places of less Magnificence but more Certainty are first Caripo This was once a Colony of English setled there by Captain Robert Harcourt in the year 1608 upon the banks of Wiapoco and not farre from the mouth of it being a place by advantage of a Rock which it hath on the one side of it of good strength and very difficult access the Aire about it sound and said to be very agreeable to English bodies 2. Gomaribo a Colony formerly of the Dutch on the North-west side of the Bay of Wiapoco but since deserted by them 3. Moyemon 4. Crewinay both of them Towns of the Natives not farre distant from the other 4. Orenoque or the third devision of this Province comprehendeth the most Northerly parts of Guiana lying upon or towards the banks of this famous River A Countrie likewise reported to be very rich and comparable to Peru it self for hidden Treasure which they say is not yet discovered only for want of diligent and industrious searching The places in it already known are only 1. Coniolaba as they call it which seems to be some Town of the Natives lying a few leagues distant from the Orenoque towards the South 2. Movequito a known Port or Haven Town upon a branch of the Orenoque much frequented and of great use to the English when they discovered those coasts 3. Wenicapora And lastly St. Thome the only Town which the Spaniards hold upon this part of the Continent situate upon the principall Channel of the Oâ—enoque and consisting of two hundred Families or thereabouts It is now a fortified place and was taken by Sir Walter Raleigh in that unfortunate Action of 1617 for which the year following though by vertue of an old attainder as some say he lost his head 5. The Islands that belong and are commonly reckoned as parts of Guiana are either such as lye scattered about the shore of the Province or such as are found at the mouth and sometimes farre within the Channel of those great Rivers which empty themselves at several parts out of this Countrie into the Sea viz. Orenoque Wiapoco Rio de las Amazones c. There are many of them but of any great name or esteem only two viz. Trinidado and Tabagâ— Trinidado lyeth at the mouth of the River Orenoque over against the Countrie of Paria from which it is separated by a Fryth or narrow Sea which Columbus at his first discovery of it and from the difficulty
by Gonsalvo Sandovall in the year 1526 distant not above three leagues from the Gulf or Bay of Honduras 5. Aguatulco otherwise called Guatulco a noted and convenient Haven or Port-town upon the South Sea yet pertaining to this Province A rich place by reason of the trade from Mexico to Peru and from Peru to Mexico which passeth all through this town There are reckoned of the Natives of this Province not less than six hundred and fifty Burroughs and Villages and in them above an hundred and fifty thousand persons that pay tribute beside Women and Children and Spaniards in great number 12. Jucatan is a Peninsula or half-Island encompassed for the most part with the Sea save only to the South-west where it is joyned to Guaxata it s farther and more Easterly point looking towards Cuba The whole Province contains in compass nine hundred miles or more the Aire somewhat hot and the Soil not altogether so fertil in all Commodities as some other parts of New-Spain are yet are the People therefore more industrious living for the most part by Handicrafts and Trades and much more willing to take pains than their Neigbours They report some speciall things of this Province of Jucatan as namely that the People of the Countrie used generally and long before the Spaniards came thither a certain Ceremony of Religion not much unlike to our Baptism and which they called by a name that in their language signified Regeneration or a second Birth that they observed it so diligently that few or none among them omitted to initiate themselves by it beleeving that thereby the Seeds and ground-work of all goodness was laid in them and that they were fortified by it against the assaults and molestations of evil-Spirits That after they were three or four yeers old till they came to twelve they usually thus washed and baptized themselves and that none were permitted among them to marry that were not first initiated after this manner That they chose likewise a solemn day upon which to doe this and fasted at least the Father and Mother of the party to be initiated alwaies three dayes before and that a great many of the Natives had a Tradition or general report among them that of ancient time this Province of Jucatan was possessed and cultivated by a certain People which came thither from the East after a tedious long wandering and many hardships endured at Sea having escaped the hands of their Enemies only through the power of God or the Deity they worshiped who helped them and made them to pass securely even through the waves of the Sea All which if true seems not a little to confirm the report which goeth for current in the Welch Chronicles of one Madoc ap Owen the sonne of Guineth a Prince of that Countrie who is said to have fallen upon a farre Countrie this way in his travels which he liked so well that having secured to his Companions their safe abode there during his absence he returned himself into Wales for more Men and that he transported thither as many as he could carry in ten Barks full laden This he is said to have done about the year of our Lord 1170. But neither he nor any of his Men were ever heard of since and the success of the expedition it seems little enquired after by the Welch However the relation seems not altogether incredible or beyond belief The chief towns of the Province are 1. Merida in the Navil of the Country and the seat of the Governor twelve leagues distant from the Sea on either side 2. Valladolidt thirty leagues distant from Merida 3. Campeche a great town consisting of about three thousand housholds or more when first conquered by the Spaniards who found such Monuments of Art and curious industrie in it as did cleerly argue that the place had been once possessed by some People that were not barbarous It is now called St. Francisco and was surprized in the year 1596 by Captain Parker an English man who took the Governor himself and some other persons of quality prisoners and carried them away with him together with a ship richly laden with gold and silver beside other Commodities of good value 4. Tabasco by the Spaniard now called Villa de Nuestra Sennara de Victoria and commonly Victoria only in memory as 't is thought of the first great victory which Cortez obtained over these People at the battel of Potonchan as hath been said 5. Cintla 6. Potonchan 7. Salamanca All along the Coast of this Country there lye certain Islands some within the Bay or Gulf called Honduras pertaining to the next Province as 1. La Zarza 2. La Desconescida 3. Vermeia 4. Los Negrillos and some without it as 1. Zaratan 2. Pantoia 3. De Mugeres or the Island of Women so named by the Spaniards who at their first discovery of these parts for a long time together could meet with none but Women The chief of them is called Acusamil commonly Cozamul and is fifteen leagues in length and about five broad and was as it were the thorough-fare or common road of the Spaniards when they first discovered the Countries of New-Spain For first here landed Ferdinando de Corduba after him John de Griialva and others and last of all the fortunate Cortez It is now called St. Crux CHAP. IX Of Guatimala 1. GVatimala is the last general Province of this Northern part of America and brings us down to the Isthmus or neck of Land which as we said joyneth the Northern and Southern parts of the New-World together This Countrie viz. Guatimala is bounded Northward with the Peninsula of Jucatan abovesaid and part of the Gulf or Bay of Honduras on the South wi h Mare del Zur on the East and South-East it hath Castella aurea and on the West New-Spain The length of it lyeth upon the coast of Mare del Zur and is said to be little less than three hundred leagues but the breadth not half so much in any place and in some very narrow It is generally a fertil and good Countrie in all respects but especially abounding in Cattel and good Pastures being subdivided into six inferiour Provinces or Countries which are 1. Chiapa 2. Verapaz 3. Guatimala specially so called 4. Honduras 5. Nicaragua And lastly 6. Veragua 2. Chiapa is bordered on the West with New-Spain on the East with Vera paz on the North with Jucatan and on the South with Mare del Zur It is a Countrie much shaded with Woods and those replenished with many fair and goodly trees of divers sorts and of the largest size as Oaks Pines Cedar and Cypress trees besides others which yeeld them a good kinde of Rosin precious Gumms c. It hath likewise good plenty of Cocchinele but as for Mines either of gold or silver I observe not much to be spoken the Countrie is supposed to afford some but hitherto no great search hath been made possibly for want of Labourers to work in