204 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 102 



found the country occupied, he returned to Guatemala. So Captains 

 Mazariegos and Solorzano, who had conquered the territory and 

 pacified it with their own soldiers and many of those who had come 

 with Don Pedro Portocarrero, allotted it among them all. 



571. In that same year they founded the royal city of Chiapa in 

 a circular valley which is shut in on every side by ridges and moun- 

 tains. This valley is a league long and in its center there is a high 

 bluff on whose eastern slopes they built their city, which is lOO 

 leagues E. of Oaxaca, and 80 from Guatemala City, which lies to 

 its ESE. ; it is in i8°3o' N. The valley in which the city lies has 

 a cool climate, and is rich in excellent and refreshing water from its 

 handsome fountains; besides these there are two streams whose 

 waters flow southward through the valley and unite at the foot of 

 a high mountain, dropping into a basin or gully at its foot. 



572. This city was colonized a second time and embellished by 

 the Treasurer Alonso de Estrada 2 years later, in 1526, when he 

 was Governor and Captain General of New Spain, and he was a 

 blessing to this country, as befitted a son of King Ferdinand the 

 Catholic, as he was said to be by many authors, and his deeds 

 indicate it, for with his intrepidity and excellent administration all 

 those provinces stayed quiet and tranquil, after having been sorely 

 tried. 



573. This city contains over 250 Spanish residents, the great 

 majority of noble rank. It has a Cathedral with a Bishop and 

 Prebendaries in residence and attendance, with Dominican, Fran- 

 ciscan, and Mercedarian convents, a hospital in which they care for 

 the indigent sick, and other churches and shrines. An Alcalde Mayor 

 resides here, appointed by His Majesty in consultation with the 

 Supreme Council of the Indies for its good government and the 

 administration of justice in the city and all the many provinces in 

 its district. 



574. The royal city of Chiapa is over 60 leagues distant from the 

 Atlantic, and in that direction there are many heathen Indians to 

 be Christianized, like the tribes of the Lacandones and the Manches, 

 who do great harm to their neighbors the Zoque Indians, and the 

 others in that region ; but they could easily be pacified and brought 

 to the knowledge of our Holy Faith, since a beginning was made 

 by Dr. Alonso Criado de Castilla when he was President of Guate- 

 mala ; but since his death, all those provinces have been far from 

 peaceful. 



575. The city is also 60 leagues distant from the Pacific, so that 

 it is equidistant from the two seas. On that side it has many provinces 



