Pedro Ponce de León, 1596 
319 
And for the naming of the maestre de campo and now and later the 
other captains and necessary military officials, from the greatest to the 
least, I shall shortly order that you be given my decree and that the jus¬ 
tices shall not only not place any impediment or interference in the way of 
your officials, but rather shall assist and favor them in the recruiting; that 
they shall not prevent the people who have enlisted to go with them from 
going on the expedition; and that you shall cause them to be given the 
necessary provisions and equipment at just and moderate prices, according 
to what they are worth among them. 
50. I shall likewise give you my decree that those who have once en¬ 
listed for this expedition shall obey you and not break away or go with 
any other without your permission, under pain of death. 
51. Item: I shall give you my decree that the president and official 
judges of the Casa de Contratación of Seville shall give you all the aid 
and assistance necessary and shall help to facilitate your embarkation and 
that of the said hundred and thirty persons, and that they shall not ask 
for any report from either you or them, provided that those who are 
married do not go without their wives and that none shall be of those who 
are prohibited from going to those parts. 
52. I shall likewise order that if you be required to render an account 
at the proper time consideration shall be had for your person, character, 
and services. 
53. And in order that they shall be disposed to follow you on this 
expedition with more spirit and better will, I grant to those who go upon 
it and make settlements and aid in carrying out what is here agreed upon, 
in honor to their persons and their descendants as first settlers of praise¬ 
worthy memory, that they shall be hidalgos of recognized estate—they 
and their descendants—and that in the towns which they may settle in all 
those provinces they shall be known and held as hidalgos and persons of 
noble lineage, and shall enjoy all the privileges and honors of such persons 
and be permitted to do all the things that all the hidalgos and caballeros of 
these kingdoms, according to the statutes, laws, and customs of Spain, 
can and have the right to do, provided that they are not to enjoy the said 
privileges of nobility if they or their descendants leave the said province. 
54. Item: I grant to you and give you license and power to name the 
alguacil mayor and all the other officers of administration of the cities 
and towns in the jurisdiction of these provinces, for such time as I may 
will, charging you to see that the persons whom you name shall have the 
abilities required. 
55. Item: I will give you my decree that no judge or justice of those 
parts shall interfere with those who may wish to go on the expedition, 
even though they may have committed crimes, provided that there is no 
party to prosecute them, according to what is ordered in article 67 of the 
said ordinances of discoveries. 
56. Item: I will give you a decree giving you the power to place all 
the Indians of the said provinces in encomienda, except, as has been said, 
the ports and capital cities, and to fix the tributes that the Indians are to 
pay, charging you to see that the tributes are moderate. 
