14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 92 



reception from the Bay Islanders that they " lost the major part [of the 

 attacking force] by the impetus and destruction of their slings and 

 arrows." (Alcedo y Herrera, 1883, pp. VIII-IX.) 



It was Hernando Cortez, the iron-handed conqueror of Mexico, 

 who brought to an end the enslavement of the surviving Bay Islanders. 

 During his brief stay at Trujillo (1525-1526) he despatched one or 

 two armed expeditions to drive ofif slave hunters from the islands. 

 He states that the Indians were peaceably disposed and that he de- 

 sired by mild treatment to reduce them to the service of the crown. 

 In a letter to Charles V, dated September 3, 1526, he states that owing 

 to these slave-hunting expeditions, some of the Bay Islands had become 

 entirely depopulated." From this time until 1530, when the enslave- 

 ment of Indians was prohibited throughout the Spanish Dominions, 

 the Bay Islands were not further molested. 



Cortez had undoubtedly brought blood and iron to the peoples of 

 the valley of Mexico, but to the harried Bay Islanders he brought 

 peace and comparative safety. Their chiefs sent in their allegiance 

 and received letters of protection and, in return for their abundant 

 fish, Cortez gave them some sows and a boar, whose wild progeny 

 soon overran the islands. From this time on, the Bay Islands were 

 governed from Trujillo, the newly founded capital of Honduras, and 

 the Indians supplied the town with fish, cassava, and maize. They 

 were employed in public works and, besides fishing, transported pas- 

 sengers and freight by sea. The Spaniards regarded them as very 

 ingenious, stating that they made excellent cordage and cables as well 

 as providing pitch, tar, and lime." 



Close as the contact between the Islanders and the Spaniards ap- 

 pears to have been during this brief halcyon period, there seems to be 

 very little on record concerning the customs of the Indians. When 

 Lopez de Salcedo was appointed Governor of Honduras in 1527, he 

 attempted to learn what he could concerning the religion and customs 

 of the Indians of that province. Herrera's summary of the results 

 of this inquiry are tantalizingly brief. He states that there were 

 three principal idols near Trujillo which were worshipped in temples. 

 One of these was located on an island about 15 Spanish leagues from 

 Trujillo. Possibly this was at Plan Grande on Bonacca, but at any 

 rate it would seem to have been on the Bay Islands. The idols were 

 all of female shape and of a green marblelike stone. They were 

 attended by a priest with long hair, who was forbidden to marry and 



^ See Conzemius, 1928, pp. 61-62, for references to the original sources. 

 " Conzemius, 1928, pp. 62-63, and D. Francisco de Avila y Lugo, cited by 

 Squier, 1858, p. 610. 



