56 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



take and buy Indians held by the caciques as slaves, 

 under the regulations of the council of the Indies. 

 The tithes or tenth parts were granted to be expend- 

 ed in churches and ornaments, and things necessary 

 for divine worship. 



The last provision, which may seem rather illib- 

 eral, if not libellous, was, that no lawyers or attorneys 

 should go into those lands from the kingdom of Spain, 

 nor from any other part, on account of the litigation 

 and controversies that would follow them. 



Don Francisco Montejo, now adelantado, is de- 

 scribed as " of the middle stature, of a cheerful coun- 

 tenance, and gay disposition. At the time of his ar- 

 rival here (in Mexico) he was about thirty-five years 

 of age. He was fitter for business than war, and of 

 a liberal turn, expending more than he received f 

 in which latter qualification for a great enterprise 

 he could perhaps find his match at the present day. 



The adelantado incurred great expenses in the 

 purchase of arms, ammunition, horses, and provi- 

 sions ; and, selling an estate, which yielded him 

 two thousand ducats of rent, he fitted out four ves- 

 sels at his own expense, and embarked in them four 

 hundred Spaniards, under an agreement for a cer- 

 tain share of the advantages of the expedition. 



In the year 1527 (the month is not known) the 

 armament sailed from Seville, and, touching at the 

 islands for supplies, it was remarked, as a circum- 

 stance of bad omen, that the adelantado had not on 

 board two priests, which, under a general provision, 



