the Quilenes; the districts of Tacheapa, Cinacatan and Papanachasta. All
these districts were divided among the inhabitants of the new town, and
as far as regards myself I should have been perfectly contented if I
could have kept what I obtained on this occasion; but the country was of
itself not very productive, and then we were led into ruinous lawsuits
with three towns, which had by degrees sprung up in these parts; for
instance, the town of Vera Cruz laid claim to Guazpaltepec, Chinanta,
and Tepeca; Tabasco to the province of the Quilenes and Zogues; and,
lastly, the town of Santo Ildefonso to the province of the Tzapotecs. If
we had been allowed to retain our original boundaries we should have
been rich men, but when his majesty issued an order that the boundaries
of every Indian township and of all the Spanish towns should be
accurately defined, our possessions became so terribly curtailed on
every side, that at last we had nothing but a blank remaining, which is
the reason why Guacasualco, which was at first the most beautiful and
most thriving settlement of all, and where the most noble of the
conquistadores of all New Spain had settled, fell to nothing again, and
is at present a mere village, with a scanty population. While Sandoval
was busily occupied with the founding of this town and in subduing other
provinces, intelligence arrived that a vessel had run into the river
Aguayalco, which forms a very bad harbour, and lies about sixty miles
from Guacasualco. The passengers on board this vessel were Donna
Catalina, the wife of Cortes; her brother Juan Juarez, who subsequently
settled in Mexico; the lady Gambrana, with her sons; Villegas, with his
daughters; and even their grandmother, besides several other married
ladies. If I am not mistaken there was also Elvira Lopez, the tall, the
wife of Juan Palma, who came with us to New Spain, but was subsequently
condemned to the gallows; after which his widow married a certain
Argueta. Of the number of gentlemen who came on this occasion, I
remember a certain Antonio Diosdato, who settled in Guatimala.

On the first intelligence of their arrival, Sandoval left with most of
the officers and several of the soldiers to pay his respects to these
ladies, and to those by whom they were accompanied. I still remember how
heavily it rained at the time, and the difficulty we experienced in
crossing the rivers, which had all overflowed their banks; heavy gales
were blowing from t