WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 535 



the original grant of this encomienda. There were in this province 

 535 tribute-paying Indians. Each pays a tribute of five 8-real pesos 

 in ropa de abasca (Basque cloth?), hogs, sheep, corn, potatoes, and 

 cotton cloth ; the name of the enconiendero is Don Juan Fernandez 

 de Cordoba. 



One piece of ropa de abasca is worth 2 assay pesos and 4 tomines. 



Each hog, i assay peso and 4 tomines. 



Sheep, the same. 



The fanega of corn, i assay peso and i tomin. 



The fanega of potatoes, -j assay peso. 



One piece of cotton cloth, i assay peso and 6 tomines. 



1456. All this converted into terms of cash means that each Indian 

 pays five 8-real pesos. There are 2 clans (parcialidades) in this 

 province, governed by 2 principal caciques and their subordinates ; 

 one clan contains 445 tributary Indians, and the other 290. There 

 are also foremen (mandones) who collect the taxes. There were 645 

 married persons ; 90 unmarried ; old men and women exempt, 666 ; 

 widows, and unmarried women 50 years old or more, 180; children 

 and boys up to 14, 939. It is 9 leagues from these villages to the 

 Corregidor's residence. This province contains community property 

 of 30,000 sheep, and the community receives a tax laid in lea on 

 the Villacuri sinks, i.e., vineyards, with an annual income from it 

 of 172 9-real pesos; the whole community income will amount to 

 from 4,000 to 5,000 8-real pesos. 



1457. In this province there are two community treasuries, each 

 clan having its own, with three keys to each ; one is kept by the 

 Corregidor or his representative, one by the principal cacique, and 

 the other by an Indian Alcalde. The community money is deposited 

 here, and this money is paid out in the salaries of the curates and 

 the Corregidor, by whose hand it is distributed, and in fines for 

 Indians who have run away or have died, and in the salaries of the 

 caciques and in payment of the tribute and the encomenderos, and 

 in payments to the miches, who are the shepherds of the community 

 flocks. 



1458. The jurisdiction of the caciques over the Indians consists in 

 making them present themselves for their mita, and pay their tribute. 

 The Indians occupy themselves in cultivating their crops, breeding 

 cattle, and weaving cloth for their garments. The village of Santiago 

 is the capital of the Province of Los Chocorvos ; it lies in 14°/' S., 

 and is 14 leagues from Castrovirreina. This province is all rough 

 country but without forests, except that there are a few trees in the 



