302 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



are likewise Alcaldes de Corte, an Attorney and Secretaries, a Relator, 

 and the other necessary functionaries and officials. The district of 

 this Circuit Court, originally called Nueva Castilla del Oro del Reyno 

 de Tierra-Firme, is bounded on the E. by Darien ; in that quarter 

 it borders on the Dioceses of Cartagena and Popayan of the district 

 of the Circuit Court of the New Kingdom of Granada. From Darien 

 it runs along some narrow mountain ranges from E. to W. ; at their 

 widest it is not over 40 leagues across ; they are narrowest between 

 Panama and Puerto Bello. On that side this kingdom runs parallel 

 for some 360 leagues (up to its frontier against Costa Rica) with 

 the Diocese of Nicaragua and the Circuit Court of Guatemala. And 

 although it is true that the Emperor Charles V, of glorious memory, 

 assigned to this Circuit Court on the E. up to Buena Ventura, and 

 on the W., Nicaragua, these two territories are subject: Buena Ven- 

 tura, to the Circuit Court of Bogota, and Nicaragua to the Circuit 

 Court of Guatemala, both because they were closer to the courts 

 mentioned, and because it was more suitable from the nature of the 

 country. 



889. This city of Panama contains the Cathedral ; the Bishop and 

 Prebendaries who reside there and conduct its services, are suffragan 

 to the Archdiocese of Lima in Peru. The city has Dominican, Fran- 

 ciscan, Mercedarian, Augustinian Recollect, and Jesuit convents, a 

 nunnery called La Concepcion, and an excellent hospital for the care 

 of the indigent sick, with other churches and pilgrimage shrines. 

 It was from this city that valiant Don Francisco Pizarro sailed, 

 that glory and honor of our nation, to explore and conquer the rich 

 and opulent kingdoms of Peru. In this exploration he suffered great 

 hardships, as is told by the ancient historians, and among the moderns, 

 by Francisco Caro de Torres, of the Military Orders ; then he v^ent 

 to Spain, and in the year 1530, he returned to carry out his conquest, 

 bringing with him many cavaliers from his home region, and among 

 them, his brother Fernando Pizarro, who was of great aid to him 

 in the conquest, and in what happened later. 



890. The city has a lively trade with the kingdoms of Peru, 

 Nicaragua, and Guatemala; in fine, it is a market through which 

 everybody passes, and so its inhabitants are traders and merchants. 

 They have ships and frigates which are made and built on its coast 

 and in its district, and which they utilize in commerce to ship and 

 transport the products of the country, in which they make large 

 profits. The country has many woods and groves, so that it appears 

 like a bit of Paradise, except that its rivers produce the ferocious 

 alligators or Nile crocodiles. 



