WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 21 5 



from Ezatlan. His wife Dofia Beatriz de la Cueva manifested extreme 

 grief over the tragic death of her husband, the Commander ; she 

 draped her whole house in black, refused consolation from everyone 

 who came to condole with her, and kept saying that there was no 

 greater evil that God could now inflict upon her, and making other 

 crazy statements, like a woman who had lost her mind. Thereupon 

 on Our Lady's Day in September it began to rain steadily in torrents, 

 and for the 2 days following, as had never been seen in that country ; 

 and it brought on such a flood that 2 hours after midnight following 

 the day of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, a wall of water rushed down 

 from that high volcano, so huge and so furious that it carried great 

 rocks along with it and devastated almost all the city, in which the 

 first house was the Commander's. At the noise of the torrent, Dofia 

 Beatriz de la Cueva got up in fear and trembling and went into the 

 chapel with her ii servingmaids, embracing an image which was 

 there and recommending her soul to God. At that moment the furious 

 force of the deluge coming down from the volcano struck the chapel 

 full and drowned them all — a just judgment of God, for if she had 

 not left her bedchamber where she was sleeping, she would not have 

 perished, for that room alone was left standing by the flood. Much 

 else happened on this occasion, as is stated by Gomara on folio 282 

 and by Antonio de Herrera in his "Decades", where they may be seen. 



606. That is the reason why this tall and handsome volcano is 

 named the Water Volcano. It is shaped like a sugar loaf ; the circuit 

 of its slopes covers more than 12 leagues, with many Indian villages. 

 It is more than 2 leagues to the top, thickly covered with forests 

 containing much valuable and highly prized timber, which I cannot 

 enumerate here. The Indians climb halfway up to make clearings 

 for their farms and plantations, for the soil is very rich and fertile. 

 Right after the devastation of the Old City by the flood just described, 

 those who were left alive at the end of this year of 1541, came back 

 again and built the city where it is at present, in that same valley 

 I league from where it was originally founded, at a bend in the 

 valley, on an excellent site, healthy and with bright skies and whole- 

 some air. 



Chapter VII 



Of the City of Santiago de Guatemala, Its Size, Its Convents and 

 the Other Churches It Contains. 



607. The city of Guatemala is built in this valley 10 leagues from 

 the Pacific, at 14° N. It has a marvelous springlike climate the whole 

 year through, and is abundantly and cheaply supplied with all 



