689 / 1060
r
BooK
IV.
Royal
Commentaries.
.
Countrey afforded ; he failed into
Spain
;
and
demanded~
of the Rmperaur
he
G-0vernmenr of
Cumana,
promifing to improve and increafe tb.e Royal
Revenue,
which
was
much
abated
by
the frauds and
abufes
of
thof~
Officers who had
it
in
managemet.
But
[ohn
Rod~guez ~e F_onfe~a
and
Dr.
Lewu
C1tpaton,
•
~~d
Secre..
cary
upez
J.e
Cm1chillos
contra
dieted him.m his
r~port
nnd reprefenred him as
a
per•
fan uocapable of
Cuch
office and
en:pl01men~,
m regard he was
not
onely
a Pnelt1
but a perfon of
ill
fame and reputauon, and ignorant of the Gountrey,
and
df
the
ftate of
chofe
affairs which he pretended to
declare.
Howfoever,
upoh
the
pre·
tence of being a
good
Chrill:ian, and of a
new 1!1ethocl
he Pt?pofed
by.
a tpore
ready
way
to convert the
Indians
,
$nd upon
pro~tfes
of
advantmg
the King s re.
~
enue
and
fending·them fiore of Pearls, he obtamed the
favour of
Monfieur
Llf•
..
~ao
Lord Cbamberlain to the
Etnperour,
and of feveral
Plemi11s
and
BHrgundia111
ho
were men of power and authority
in
that Courr. At
tha~
time
great
qtUmti-–
ties of Pearls were imported into
Spain
,
fo
that the Wife of
Xeure~
begged
t
70
*
Marks of them which came on accou1.1t of the King's fifchs, and
many
P!emlnJ
~s
Ryalls
.
and others begged great quantities from the King. He defired to have Workmen
~:,~!
0
every
and Artificers
to
be fent with him, rather than Souldiers who were
fit
for no-
•
thing but to plunder and pillage ,
and
to
be
mutinous
and difobedient to Com–
mands : He aefired alfo to be accompanied with a new order of Knights, who
fhould wear a golden Spur and carry a red Crofs of different iliape
and
fafhioa
to the order of
Calatrava;
which dill:in6tion,
as
it
ennobled
them,
fo
alfo
'it
was
a
reftimony, that chey
went
voluntarily,
and
of
their own
accord.
Moreover,
0r~
ders were Cent to
Seville
to provide him with
Ships
and
Seamen at the
charge
of
the King: and with
this
equipage he arrived at
Cll'l>'M1Ja
in
the
year
1520,
with
about
30G
Artificers,
all wearing Croffes; at which time
Gonf4lo
de
Ocampo
re-
fided
ac
New Toledo
;
who was
much
troubled to fee
fo
many
Spaniards
under the
command of a perfon of that
ill
charatterA
~nd
tranfported thither by grder
of
the
Admiralry
:ind
Council1
becaufo the
~untrey
was.
of a
different
nacnte
to
what
it
was
reported
ro
be
it1
the Court. Howfoevet'
Bttrth11!ri11JetP
prefented
and
fuewed his Comniiffion,
r€fquirittg
that,
aceotdhig
thereunto
they
iliotlld
quit
the
Countrey,
and
leave
it
free
for
him
to
platit
his
Peo~le,
and
to govern
the
pface
•
Whereunto
Gonpilo de Ocampo
made
anC
wer
that with
all
ready
obedience
.he
did
fnbmic thereunto; but how(oever he
could not
put thofe matters into exetutiOll
without firfr receiving ·diteeti6ns from the
Gdvernoors
and
the
Judges
of
SI.
bo–
mingo,
by whofe
Commiffion
he
was
placed
in that
ftation.
And
in
cbe tne-an
time he paffed many a jell: upon the Prielt
011
certain occafions
which
had
fotmer-
ly
happened ,
for
he
was well acquainted
with
him , and
knew
hlS
humour and
his converfation:
fo~times
he jeered his new
Knighcs
and their
Croff
es
,
all
which che Prieft
would
put off with a Jeft, though he was inwardly tronbled co
be taxed with
fo
many Truths which he could not deny: And in
regard
they
would not
give
him
admittance into the Town of
Toledo,
he built hitnfelfa f!oufe
of W
cod
and
Motter ,
near
tp
the Monafiery of
St.
Francu
,
which
f
erved hint
for a
Magazine
wherein
to
loage
his
provifions,
O:ores and inftrumencs, during the
time that he went
to
St.
Domingo
to make known
his
Complaints
and feek
a Rc:-
drefs.
Gonp:tlo
de
Ocampo
went alfo, I know not
for
what caufe
or
reafon,
whether
on
chis
occafiod,
or for fame Lliw.fait he had with the People of
that
place"
but
certain ic is,
chat
all the Inhabitants
followed
him;
fo
that the
Town
was
~ba~
dbned by all excepting the Artifans and
Mechanicks
which he brought with him
:
The
hdi~nf ,
•
who were glad to
make
their
advantages
of thefe
dllferertces
and
quarrels amongfi the
Spaniards
, .
rook
this
opponunity
to
demo1Hh
their
Honfus
~nd
to
kill
all
rhe
golden
Knights
and others
which
remained there, excepting
forne few
who
made their
efca~
in a
fmall veffel,
Co
that there
remained not
one
Spaniard
ali e
ii.\
all the
Coatl: where
the Pearl
is
taken.
So
foon as
Far holomew
de
ll:IJ
CafM
was informed of the death
of
his friends and
th~
lofs
~f
the King's T reafuty, he entred himfelf a Frier amongfi
the
1Jomi
11
ican.J" ..
w
~ th ,
\\·hich
an
end
was
put ro all his great Aetions ;
fo
he neither advanced
th~
Kings
revenue ,. nor ennobled his Artifans, nor fent
his
Pearls
to
the
Plemin1
and
BurgJtndia"1u,
as he had
ptom.ifed :
And thtls far are the words of
Gom11r11.
This
and much
more,
tC5'
the prejudice and difparagement of
Bartholomew
de
lM
CafM?
was reported by thofe who found chemfelves aggrieved
by
the late new re-·
gulauons:
though
GOmAra
endeavours to mince and difguife much th€ matter :
buc: