HISTORY OF NICARAGUA. IIJ 



CHAPTER XI. 



HISTORY OF NICARAGUA. 



Histor}' of Nicaragua — Its Discovery by the Spaniards — Their Expe- 

 ditions — Gonzalez de Avila — Hernandez de Contreras — Whole- 

 sale Slaughter of the Natives — Oviedo — Pedro de Alvarado — 

 History of the Independence of Central America — -Morazan — 

 Presidents of Nicaragua — Civil Wars — Expedition of Walker — 

 Walker — His Fall and Execution in Honduras— The Mosquito 

 Kingdom. 





r is quite impossible to say, with any degree of certainty, 



which were the first inhabitants of that country, but 

 there is no doubt that the Toltecs invaded that country in the 

 sixth century, headed by their Cazic, Niinaquiché, and were 

 probably the first who civilized the inhabitants of the 

 western and southern parts of that territory. Afterwards the 

 Aztecs replaced the Toltecs, and maintained communications 

 with that country up to the time of the Conquest. 



Before the invasion of that country, it is probable that 

 several different nations inhabited Nicaragua, the principal 

 being the Caribs, who certainly occupied, and still occupy, the 

 coasts of the x\tlantic Ocean. Nothing whatever was known 

 of these people until the magnificent discoveries of Christopher 

 Colombus. 



The discovery of Nicaragua is attributed to Christopher 

 Colombus, on his fourth and last voyage to America in the 

 year 1503, and that he passed the place known now-a-days as 

 San yuan del Norte^ when he discovered the Cape named by 

 him, Gracias à Dios, which name it bears to this day, and 

 then coasted south to Nombre de Dios, the actual Chagres, 

 north of Colon. 



But there are some probabilities that Pedro Alfonso Niîio 

 had already visited that coast during his voyage to Curiana 

 and Paria in 1500. 



It is also probable that about the year 15 14, Vasco Nuiiez 

 landed in that country, when Chief Governor of Uraba or 

 Darien. 



