WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 43 



appoints in this district 15 Royal Officials; of these, 2 are the Pay- 

 master (Contador) and the Treasurer of this city of Santo Domingo ; 

 the others are the Paymasters and Treasurers of Puerto Rico, 

 Havana, Florida, Venezuela, Cumana, and Margarita, and the Trea- 

 surer of Rio de la Hacha. 



Chapter IV ( !) 



Continuing the Description of the City of Santo Domingo and 

 the Court District on the Ecclesiastical Side, and of the Cities and 

 Towns Established on This Island. 



107. This city of Santo Domingo has a garrison of 200 Spaniards, 

 with a fort, on whose platforms (and in another small fort) there 

 are 40 pieces of artillery for the protection and defense of the harbor 

 and the city, which contains, besides the residents and the soldiers, a 

 great number of Negro and mulatto servants ; and inland on the 

 island, engaged in the care of the livestock and in service on the 

 plantations, in the sugar mills, and in handling produce, there are 

 over 4,000 Negroes and mulattoes, both free and slaves, dependent 

 on residents of the city. The latter has a broad and noble situation ; 

 the whole fabric of its architecture is substantial and sightly. Its 

 church is the Archiepiscopal Metropolitan Cathedral, Primate of the 

 Indies, mother of all those existing in them ; it was from here that 

 they set forth on all their conquests and discoveries ; it was the sta- 

 tion from which the Gospel was preached and spread over all those 

 remote and far-flung territories of New Spain and Peru, with all 

 their dependencies ; from which, by the goodness of God, so many 

 savage and heathen nations have been converted and have come to 

 the knowledge of His Most Holy Name, There are Dominican, 

 Franciscan, and Mercedarian convents ; two very strict nunneries ; 

 a hospital for the indigent sick; a college of university type, where 

 they lecture and teach the sciences to the young men of the country ; 

 and other churches and pilgrimage shrines. 



108. In the early days of discovery, the island, with its great size 

 and fertility, was thickly settled with cities and towns with Spanish 

 residents. Those that are left today are : the village of Tucui, 18 

 leagues from Santo Domingo ; Concepcion de la Vega, 25 leagues 

 out, where there came to light that most precious relic of the Indies, 

 a most holy cross ; the city of Santiago de los Caballeros, 30 leagues 

 from Santo Domingo, and built on the banks of the River Yaque ; 

 here resides an Alcalde Mayor, entitled "Of the Inland," and ap- 

 pointed by His Majesty in consultation with his Royal Council. 



