240 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



piety at the Mass ; they sing vespers to organ music, and celebrate 

 saints' days much better than Spaniards do. Every day they repair 

 with as much exactitude as if they were monks or canons, to their 

 choir in the church to repeat the office of Our Lady, and they never 

 fail to do this every day with great solicitude and devotion. 



690. They are very active and ingenious in the decoratien of their 

 churches, for which they use many flowers and unusual ornaments; 

 in this they much excel us and leave us far behind their good example. 

 They show great charity to those in need, and particularly to their 

 priests, whom they respect and reverence as ministers of Christ. 

 Most of them embrace the truths of our Holy Faith with such fervor 

 that only the bad example we set them is responsible for the fact that 

 there are no great saints among them ; I convinced myself of this 

 while I was in those kingdoms. When the priest arrives at their 

 villages, they receive him with music and celebrations, with flower 

 arches and the ringing of bells. The Indian women come out with 

 their children in their arms for the priest to bestow his benediction 

 upon them ; if it is a religious festival, the leading Indians come 

 out with bouquets of flowers in their hands and present them to the 

 friar or priest whom they are receiving ; wherever he goes, they 

 strew rushes and flowers before him — all this for the glory of God. 



691. These countries of the Indies are strange in every respect. 

 When it is the wet season and it usually rains, the traveler can get 

 up early and do a day's journey before noon with the certainty that 

 it will not rain, for in the Indies it is a miracle if it rains mornings ; 

 but after midday rain is certain ; clouds cover the sky in the direction 

 of the breeze and the heavens open to pour down water without 

 respite. 



Chapter XXI 



Of the Diocese of Comayagua and the Foundation of the City of 

 Valladolid. 



692. The Province and Diocese of Honduras lies loo leagues to 

 the ENE. of the city of Guatemala. It was conquered by Capt. Alonso 

 de Caceres at the instance of Commander Don Pedro de Alvarado in 

 the year 1526; and in its famous valley of Comayagua, which is 

 16° N. or more, he founded in that same year the city of Valladolid, 

 on a level site under bright skies and wholesome breezes ; the Governor 

 and the Bishop of these provinces have their residence here. The 

 city has more than 200 Spanish residents, plus the mestizos, i.e., 

 the children of Spaniards and Indian women, and many Negroes, 

 mulattoes, and Indians of the serving class. It has a Cathedral, which 



