WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 179 



506. The river running through this city drops underground 

 opposite Zimatlan and comes out again 2 leagues away near the 

 Sierras de Coatlan ; 2 leagues farther from the city and half a league 

 opposite a sierra lying to the N., there is another low ridge, beyond 

 which stretches the famous Oaxaca Valley, over an expanse of 16 

 leagues, all level land, with great ranches raising cattle, sheep, hogs, 

 mules, and some of the best horses [raised] in that kingdom. 



507. In the district of this diocese there are rich silver and gold 

 mines, for all the rivers carry metal ; there are mines of very remark- 

 able stones of different colors and virtues in affections of the side, 

 the milk glands, and the blood ; the deer produce bczoar stones ; they 

 gather mechoacan (bindweed) and cassia. This diocese is over 120 

 leagues long, from the Atlantic in the Province of Guasacualco, the 

 boundary point with that of Tabasco in the Diocese of Yucatan, 

 over to the Pacific ; and it extends along the Pacific coast for over 

 100 leagues, as far as the extreme tip of the Province of Tehuantepec, 

 where the district of the Circuit Court of Mexico ends, and that 

 of the Circuit Court of Guatemala and the Diocese of Chiapas, begins ; 

 and it runs over 40 leagues along the Atlantic coast, with many 

 fertile provinces thickly populated with different tribes. 



Chapter XXVIII 



Continuing the Description of the District of the Diocese of Oaxaca, 

 and of the Alcaldias Mayores and Corregimientos to Which the 

 Viceroy Appoints. 



508. There are in the district of this diocese five Spanish settle- 

 ments : the city of Antequera or Oaxaca ; the town of Espiritu Santo, 

 3 leagues from the Atlantic on the Rio de Guasacualco, which was 

 settled by Capt. Gonzalo de Sandoval, a native of Medellin, in the 

 year 1523 ; it has on its territory the villages of Guechollan, Ciuatlan, 

 Quetzaltepec, and others ; it is 90 leagues from Oaxaca. The Rio de 

 Guasacualco, along which it is built, rises in the Sierras of the 

 Mixes and Chontales near Tehuantepec and Chiapas. 



509. The town of San Ildefonso was settled by Treasurer Alonso 

 de Estrada when he was Governor of New Spain in the year 1526, 

 in the Province of Zapotecas, which he subdued together with that 

 of Xaltepeque ; it lies 20 leagues NE. of Oaxaca. This country is 

 much cut up by high mountain ridges, and has large settlements with 

 more than 40,000 Indians living in them. These provinces abound 

 in corn, cotton, cochineal, gold, and other precious metals ; they 

 produce many medicinal roots, fruits, gums, and extracts ; there is 



