and mainland; and that you shall
write to us giving information concerning everything that may be done or
should be done in the said islands; and that you shall do everything
required for our Lord's service; for all of which we give you full power,
with all its casualties, dependencies, emergencies, annexes, and connexes;
and we command our Admiral and appellate judges and all other justices
whatsoever of the said Islands and Tierrafirma that they protect you and
cause this power to be protected and that they shall not oppose or go
contrary to its form and tenor nor consent that such be done at any time
or in any way under pain of our displeasure and of 10,000 maravedis for
each person who may act to the contrary."

"Done at Madrid the 17th day of September in the year 1516 F. Cardinalis,
Adrianus Ambasiator--By command of the Queen and the King her son, our
sovereigns, the governors in their name. George de Baracaldo."

In addition to this full power, Las Casas was given the title of
Protector-General (or Procurator-General) of all the Indians, to which
office an annual salary of one hundred dollars was attached, an amount
which, for the times, was a considerable one.

Though everything now seemed ready for the departure of the Jeronymites
and Las Casas, the members of the Council still advanced objections to the
instructions which Palacios Rubios had drawn up for the licentiate Zuazo,
who had been deputed to take the residencia of the colonial judges; it was
feared that some severe decisions might be given on acts which these
latter had performed in the interests of the members of the India Council,
whose tools they were. Las Casas employed his usual direct tactics to
overcome these delays and brought the matter to the Cardinal's notice.
His Eminence summoned the licentiate Zapata and Dr. Carbajal into his
presence and ordered them to sign Zuazo's papers; they obeyed, but
contrived to affix a mark in cipher to their signatures which would enable
them later to complain to the King that the regent had forced them to
sign.

In taking leave of the Cardinal, Las Casas frankly declared that he feared
the Jeronymites had been so tampered with and influenced before starting
on their mission, that more evil than good was to be apprehended from
their action. The Cardinal, nonplussed for an instant by these
forebodings, exclaimed, "Whom then can we trust?" quickly adding, "Go on
and do you look out for everything."

Thi