COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION AT MADRID. 67 



of his life between the years 1426 and 1493, in which are confirmed the 

 agreements made with him and the privileges conceded him ; copies of 

 the Bull of Pope Alexander VI, granting to the King of Spain and his 

 successors all the lands discovered by Columbus; minutes of the royal 

 order, granting him and his successors 25 square leagues in the Dominion 

 of Veragua and several jurisdictions, from which grant his descendants 

 at the present day derive their title; documents relating to Luis Col 

 umbus, one of which gives him the authority to remove the bones of 

 his ancestor, the first admiral, and of his son, Diego, deposited in the 

 monastery of Las Cuevas, outside of the city of Seville, and to transport 

 them to the Cathedral of Santo Domingo: and a considerable number 

 of Governmental acts relating to the claims of Diego Columbus and 

 Luis Columbus and their successors in connection with the lands they 

 held from the Crown. 



Another series of documents related to Pinzon, principally referring 

 to the claims made by his descendants and heirs on account of the 

 services he had rendered the Crown in his expedition with the first 

 admiral. From the island of Santo Domingo were a considerable num 

 ber of documents, one of which, by an anonymous hand, described the 

 customs of the natives of the island and the use of tobacco; several 

 letters from missionaries who were at work among the native tribes; 

 an account of gold which was reduced in the island in the year 1715; 

 a letter urging Charles V to send negro slaves to the island; various 

 reports relating to the expeditions of Hernan Cortes, which was pre 

 paring in the island; a description of the services of Ponce de Leon, 

 and a number of legal documents. 



From the same source, the archives of the Indies, there was shown 

 a considerable mass of documents referring to the early history of 

 Mexico or New Spain. One of them, by an anonymous writer? 

 described the division of laud made by the Indians in the period 

 before the Conquest, and the order of their succession and their pos 

 sessions. This appears to be the same as that published in a French 

 translation by Ternaux Compans. Various documents are shown from 

 the pen of the first bishop of Mexico, the celebrated Juan de Zumar- 

 raga. Other papers of interest were a map of the ports visited by the 

 English corsair, Drake, made in a semicircular form and in colors; a 

 map of San Miguel de Teopa with inscriptions in the Mexican lan 

 guage ; a number of other early maps, various letters, and accounts of 

 explorations of New Spain carried out shortly after the Conquest; an 

 original letter of Francisco de Montejo, describing the country in the 

 vicinity of Vera Cruz; a royal grant giving to Cortes the control of 

 various towns in New Spain and vassals to the number of 23,000 as a 

 reward for his services; various papers referring to the services of the 

 well-known military author, Bernal Diaz, and the famous interpreter, 

 Dona Marina, who so greatly assisted Cortes in his Conquest, and 

 whose descendants appear to have been properly rewarded. One 



