WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 233 



fruit are abundant ; there are great numbers of deer, rabbits, turkeys, 

 and pheasants, and on the slopes of the volcano, royal eagles, tigers, 

 lions, bears, tapirs, ounces, monkeys, squirrels, and many other kinds 

 of animals. 



667. Thirty-six leagues beyond the city of San Miguel is the town 

 of Jerez de la Frontera, lying in the Choluteca Valley ; this will 

 count some 60 Spanish residents, though the majority live most of 

 the year on their farms, and usually not over 30 in the town itself. 

 It has a parish church and a Mercedarian convent. In its district 

 and province it contains some Indian villages ; it is a country of large 

 cattle and mule ranches, with a few indigo laboratories ; they raise 

 good tobacco in this district. This town and its district belong ecclesi- 

 astically to the Diocese of Guatemala, on which it borders ; its farthest 

 territory to the E. borders on the Diocese of Nicaragua ; this will 

 be 120 leagues from Guatemala. On the temporal side it comes under 

 the jurisdiction of the Alcaldia Mayor of the mines of Tegucigalpa, 

 which are in the northern part of the district of the Diocese of Hon- 

 duras. In this district there are tigers, lions, deer, and many other 

 kinds of animals and birds, and in its rivers many alligators, excellent 

 fish, crayfish, and swordfish, which it caused me great surprise to 

 see in the rivers. 



Chapter XVII 



Continuing the Description of the District of the Diocese of Guate- 

 mala, and in Especial, of the Corregimientos of Chiquimula and 

 Casabastran. 



668. Returning to Guatemala : the territory which borders on the 

 N, the district of the Alcaldia Mayor of San Salvador, is the 

 Province and Corregimiento of Chiquimula de la Sierra, which 

 contains in its district over 30 Indian villages. It is very rich in 

 cacao, with large harvests of the best and biggest beans to be found 

 in the whole district of Guatemala. There are many cattle and mule 

 ranches in the district ; the country enjoys a lively trade and is fertile 

 and prolific in corn, kidney beans, and other cereals, with many kinds 

 of native fruit and medicinal extracts and roots. Many Spaniards 

 live in Chiquimula, for the country is rich and well supplied with 

 everything. 



669. Bordering on this province and Corregimiento is that of Casa- 

 bastran, rich cacao country. This province and Corregimiento has 

 16 Indian villages under its jurisdiction. It lies on the road from 

 the Golfo Dulce, the chief point of importation into Guatemala of 

 the commodities which the ships bring from Spain for those provinces, 



