Diego de Ibarra , 1582 
113 
There is news of the discovery of many other mines by assays made, 
and I am giving orders that as fast as time allows they shall be opened. 
Our Lord will be pleased to help it along in order that the natives may be 
converted and your Majesty receive great profit. 
In other letters I have informed your Majesty how on account of my 
poor health I came to the City of Mexico to recover, appointing as my 
deputies persons competent for it; and now that I am somewhat better, 
I am on the road to the said district of Nueva Vizcaya, where I will inform 
your Majesty of anything else that may occur. May our Lord guard your 
Sacred Catholic Royal Majesty and grant you increase of many kingdoms 
and principalities, as is desired by this servant of your royal Majesty. 
Mexico, October 14,1582. Sacred Catholic Royal Majesty, I, the meanest 
servant and vassal of your Majesty, kiss your royal feet and hands. 
Diego de Ibarra. 
[Diego de Ibarra to the king. Mexico , November 10, 1582.] 
Sacred Catholic Royal Majesty: By the fleet which left this country 
in the month of May of this year, Don Alvaro Manrique commanding, I 
wrote to your Majesty giving an account of the state in which the affairs 
of the district of Nueva Vizcaya then were, and I spoke of the silver which 
was being sent by it to your Majesty from your royal tithes, and how 
there had been certain discoveries made of rich mines. These are now 
settled by a number of Spaniards, and, although the ores are not at present 
of such high grade as they at first appeared, yet, from the great profit that 
is being drawn from them I hope in our Lord that there will be sent to 
your Majesty a greater sum than has hitherto gone, and that the affairs 
of that province will make such daily advancement that the subjects of 
your Majesty who are there will be very useful to the royal service. 
Within a month after the departure of the fleet, I had news of how 
three religious of the Order of Saint Francis, accompanied by nine sol¬ 
diers, 4 discovered, five hundred leagues north of this City of Mexico, a 
certain settlement containing many people who wore clothing and had 
some sort of government; they have houses of three and four stories and 
more, and plenty of provisions. They agreed among themselves that the 
religious should remain in that country, and that the soldiers should come 
to give information to the viceroy of this New Spain of what they had 
found in it. A few days afterwards news was received by means of 
friendly Indians who had gone with the said religious that the Indians 
of the province where they had remained had killed them; but, as the 
viceroy will give an account of all this to your Majesty, I omit giving it 
in detail. I only wish to inform your Majesty that, according to the terri¬ 
tory that the district of Nueva Vizcaya is known to cover, the jurisdiction 
