CHAPTER XXIV.

NICARAGUA AND COSTA RICA.

1551-1600.

REVOLT OF JUAN GAITAN—HIS DEFEAT BY THE LICENTIATE JUAN DE CABALLON—EXPEDITION OF CABALLON AND JUAN DE ESTRADA RÁBAGO TO COSTA RICA—SETTLEMENTS FOUNDED—DISTRESS OF THE SPANIARDS—JUAN VAZQUEZ CORONADO COMES TO THEIR RELIEF—FURTHER EXPEDITIONS—FLIGHT OF THE NATIVES—CAPTURE OF THE STRONGHOLD OF COTU—ADMINISTRATION OF DIEGO DE ARTIEGO CHERINO—THE FRANCISCANS IN COSTA RICA—MARTYRDOM OF JUAN PIZARRO—THE ECCLESIASTICS IN NICARAGUA—FRAY JUAN DE TORRES—CONDITION OF THE SETTLEMENTS—SLOW GROWTH OF TRADE.

The revolt of the Contreras brothers served at least one good purpose. It rid Nicaragua of swarms of vagabonds and dissatisfied adventurers, most of whom found a grave, as we have seen, during their raid on the Isthmus. Still there remained in the province a residuum of floating ruffianism, the very sweepings of all the provinces, and four years after the events described in a preceding chapter a fresh disturbance broke out. A band of disaffected soldiers and runaways from Nicaragua and Honduras, joining with themselves a number of negroes, rose in rebellion under the leadership of Juan Gaitan, a criminal banished from Nicaragua by order of the licentiate Juan de Caballon, then in charge at Leon.

The rebels began by sacking the village of San Miguel,[XXIV‑1] and thence proceeding to the mines of Chuluteca captured them after a stout resistance[XXIV‑2] and despoiled the adjacent village. They then entered Nicaragua and marched directly on the capital, but when within five leagues of it, Gaitan, who was a firm believer in astrology, was drawn into a controversy with his maestre de campo, Tarragona, a dabbler in the occult art. The latter predicted that they would certainly be hanged should they then continue their march on Leon, and advised that they repair first to Realejo and seize the vessels lying there. But revenge got the better of Gaitan's superstition, and he proceeded on his way to the capital, resolved to take the life of the licentiate.

Meanwhile news of the outbreak had reached Caballon. Assistance had been summoned from Realejo and Granada; the ships at the former port were ordered to put out to sea to avoid capture;[XXIV‑3] and entering Leon on the last day of pentecost 1554, Gaitan found the licentiate's forces drawn up in the public square well posted for defence. A stubborn conflict ensued; but, the powder of the rebels having become damp from the rains, they fought at a disadvantage and were finally routed. Gaitan took refuge in a convent belonging to the order of Merced, where his brother was one of the friars, but this asylum availed him nothing. The licentiate Sotomayor, an exile from New Spain, who was also an inmate, seized him and delivered him to the authorities. Next day the insurgent leader was beheaded, and that the prophecy of the maestro de campo might be fulfilled, Tarragona and others were hanged, the rest being sent into exile.

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[Sidenote: CABALLON AND RÁBAGO.]

While fiscal of Guatemala, Caballon had been requested by the audiencia to undertake the pacification of Costa Rica, conjointly with a wealthy ecclesiastic, named Juan de Estrada Rábago, and it was for this purpose that he had originally proceeded to Nicaragua. In 1560 an expedition was organized, Rábago furnishing the necessary funds, for Caballon had none. Each one was to found his own settlements, but to render aid and advice to the other. The former with four vessels sailed up the Desaguadero, while Caballon journeyed by land and explored the southern coast. Whether they ever met according to their original plan is doubtful, and their lack of coöperation may partly explain the failure of the enterprise.

Rábago with a party of sixty Spaniards founded the "Villa del Castillo de Austria" on the bay of San Gerónimo.[XXIV‑4] He also speaks of three other towns which he founded, and of churches which he built and furnished, but fails to name or locate them. Caballon established the Villa de Landecho, on the coast near the southern border of the province, and three days' journey thence the settlement of Castillo de García Muñoz. The reasons that induced him to select the former site were known only to himself, and are not recorded by the chroniclers. There were no Indians in its neighborhood to be enslaved; most of the land was marshy, and the high ground sterile and consisting mainly of bare rock. Caballon was soon afterward appointed fiscal of the audiencia of Mexico, and Rábago, being now left in sole charge, was ordered by the emperor not to abandon the undertaking, though the Spaniards were in sore distress. "It is now two years and more," write the members of the cabildo from Cartago, in December 1562, "since we entered this province in company with the licentiate Juan de Caballon, and it is with great difficulty that we have held out against the rebellious natives, who could not be converted and brought to obedience by peaceable means."[XXIV‑5]

After the departure of Caballon for Mexico the audiencia of the Confines perceived that a man of means and capacity was needed for the occasion, and their choice fell on Juan Vazquez Coronado, who was appointed alcalde mayor of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. On him the emperor afterward conferred the title of adelantado and captain general. Coronado at once despatched a ship with reënforcements and provisions for the relief of the needy colonists, and sent by land a train of cattle laden with material for clothing, and with blankets, boots, saddles, harness, hardware, and other stores. At the head of a powerful and well equipped force he soon afterward proceeded to Nicoya, an Indian town then claimed both by Nicaragua and Costa Rica.[XXIV‑6] Here he awaited the arrival of a vessel. The rainy season had now set in, and it was impossible to reach by land the Villa de Landecho, whither he was bound; but a vessel soon afterward arriving, the alcalde mayor reached that settlement with his command, and relieving the need of the colonists, sent the ship back to Panamá, for fresh supplies and proceeded to Cartago where the royal standard was delivered to him. Rábago meanwhile had set forth for Spain and appears no more in connection with the history of the New World.

[Sidenote: THE CACIQUE GARABITO.]

Coronado distributed his supplies bountifully, and when his own means were exhausted[XXIV‑7] contracted heavy debts in order to relieve the necessities of his countrymen. He then sent expeditions in various directions to explore and subdue the territory. The principal cacique, one named Garabito, was believed to have large forces at his command, and a company of forty soldiers under Francisco de Marmolejo was sent against him to the province of Los Botos,[XXIV‑8] reputed to be a rich and populous district, and whither it was supposed that Garabito had retired. The country was found almost deserted, there being but two houses, and those inhabited by some ninety half-starved Indians. To Garabito's own province Captain Juan de Illanes de Castro was despatched, but the natives had fled; and after a fruitless search he returned with only a few women and boys, from whom it was learned that the number of the cacique's followers had been greatly exaggerated. It was ascertained, however, that four of Garabito's chiefs were at the foot of a mountain many leagues distant, and Dávila, who became the narrator of many of these expeditions, was ordered to go in search of them and bring them peaceably to head-quarters. They were found in company with about twenty men, thirty women, and a few children, all living in two houses, and declared that Garabito had gone to Los Botos,[XXIV‑9] and that it would be difficult to find him, for he never spent two nights in the same place. His subjects, they said, might number from five hundred to six hundred.

Coronado sent these chiefs to inform the natives of his arrival, promising them kind treatment; and in a few days ten or twelve others came to his head-quarters. One of them, the cacique of the province of Anzarri,[XXIV‑10] promised to guide an expedition to the most thickly populated part of the country; but when asked for four hundred carriers, he answered that even Garabito could not furnish so many. The alcalde mayor then started with seventy soldiers and about a hundred Indians for Anzarri, taking with him the cacique. Arrived there, the chieftain collected a few natives, and said they were all that he had, and that together with himself they were at the service of the Spaniards. Coronado, much incensed, placed him under arrest, telling him he must make up the required number or forfeit his life. To this the cacique only replied: "Do your pleasure; other people I have not." A day or two afterward thirty more carriers were procured. Coronado now resolved to continue his march, shaping his course for the province of Quepo, where, as he was assured, was the cacique with an abundance of Indians.

On entering the territory he obtained the services of one hundred and thirty additional carriers, and was informed that if he was in search of gold he would find all he wanted at the stronghold of Cotu, a few days' journey thence. The fort was reached after a toilsome march, and Marmolejo with thirty men was ordered to surprise it by night and capture all the caciques there stationed. The Spaniards, expecting no resistance, incautiously handed their weapons to the attendant natives, and on entering the place were themselves surprised, twenty of them being wounded before they could seize their arms. Assistance soon arrived from Coronado, whereupon the Indians abandoned the fort and fled, first setting fire to all the houses, some sixty-five in number. Messengers were then sent to the caciques, asking them to tender their allegiance, and promising kind treatment. One of them returned, bringing a golden patena as a token of peace, and was followed next day by the chieftains, who also brought with them some small offerings of gold.[XXIV‑11]

[Sidenote: HOW THE KING'S COMMANDS WERE KEPT.]

Coronado then set his face toward Garci Muñoz, where he soon afterward organized a second expedition, during which, journeying far inland, he discovered a large river which he named the Rio de la Estrella. In that neighborhood he found a large amount of gold. Returning thence to the coast he took ship for Spain,[XXIV‑12] and shortly after his arrival a royal cédula was issued, ordering that testimony be taken at Santiago as to whether he had actually effected the pacification of Costa Rica and was entitled to the governorship of that province. The evidence was extremely favorable, and in April 1565 he was appointed governor of Costa Rica for life, with an annual salary of two thousand pesos,[XXIV‑13] and also governor of Nicaragua for a term of three years.

Of the subsequent career of Coronado little is known, but he does not appear to have continued long in office, for in 1573 Diego de Artieda Cherino[XXIV‑14] entered into a contract with the crown to pacify and further colonize the provinces of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Nicoya, and was appointed governor and captain general of those territories. According to the terms of his contract the natives were to be taught the arts of peace, and those who should be christianized were to be exempt from tribute for ten years; commerce with the Indians was to be encouraged; agriculture, mining, and other industries were to be developed; no hostilities with the natives were to be permitted until overtures of peace had been thrice rejected; settlements were not to be founded in districts reserved for the use of Indians; the principal towns were to revert to the emperor; four ecclesiastics must accompany the expedition, two of them at least to be Jesuits. Finally, full reports of all important proceedings were to be forwarded from time to time to the crown.[XXIV‑15]

[Sidenote: BUCCANEERS.]

Cherino soon levied a force of two hundred men, but on account of the difficulty in procuring vessels, his Majesty having secured every available ship for a naval expedition to Flanders, it was not until the 15th of April 1575 that he took his departure, setting sail from the port of San Lúcar.[XXIV‑16] He was directed first to cruise off the coast in search of English buccaneers, who were then infesting those parts; but finding no sign of their presence he landed on the shore of Costa Rica near the mouth of a river to which he gave the name of Rio de Nuestra Señora del Valle del Guaini. Sailing up the stream for two or three leagues, he founded on its banks two settlements, to one of which he gave the name of Ciudad de Artieda del Nuevo Reyno de Navarra. In the presence of most of his men he took formal possession of the site; on a tree standing on the spot selected for the plaza he marked with a cutlass the sign of the cross "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;" he then addressed his followers,[XXIV‑17] telling them that all who desired might select town lots and secure all the privileges granted to settlers by the emperor. Captain Francisco Paron was then ordered by the governor to make further explorations, and ascending the river for a distance of nine leagues he discovered a fertile valley, and finding the natives tractable and well disposed, took possession with the usual formalities, naming it Valle de los Pufibais y del Valderroncal. Cherino does not appear to have been successful in founding any permanent settlements in Costa Rica; for we learn that in 1586 Cartago and Esparza were the only towns in the province inhabited by Spaniards,[XXIV‑18] and that they were constantly at war with the Indians.

Thus the efforts of the Spaniards to subjugate the natives of Costa Rica were but partially successful; but meanwhile great progress had been made in the pacification of the province by the efforts of the Franciscan friars. About the year 1555 Fray Pedro Alonso de Betanzos laid there the foundation of the province of San Jorge de Nicaragua.[XXIV‑19] Betanzos came to New Spain in 1542, being one of the two hundred friars who formed the mission of Jacobo de Testera, and was assigned to Guatemala. He had labored there with great zeal and success, translating the catechism into the Indian vernacular, converting many, and inducing others to quit their nomadic life and form regular settlements. Four friars, among whom were Juan Pizarro from Guatemala and Lorenzo de Bienvenida from Guatemala, the latter having previously labored in company with Testera in Yucatan,[XXIV‑20] accompanied Betanzos to Costa Rica.[XXIV‑21] Bienvenida soon afterward departed for Spain, and bringing thence thirty ecclesiastics returned to Costa Rica. The bishop of Nicaragua furnished a like number, and when all were assembled the province was founded in 1575, and four years later its establishment was confirmed by a general chapter of the order held in Paris in 1579, the number of convents assigned being twelve.[XXIV‑22]

Betanzos was a man of ability and tireless industry. In a short time he had made himself master of twelve Indian dialects, speaking them as fluently as did the natives themselves.[XXIV‑23] "When first he went to Costa Rica," says Vazquez, "he would not allow soldiers to enter the territory. He travelled barefoot and accompanied only by a little boy. In two or three months he returned with many natives, all baptized and converted, bringing great store of provisions for the Spaniards. This he did many times, until by the word of God alone he pacified great multitudes. During the sixteen years which he thus labored, there remained not a palm of territory in the province which he did not traverse in search of souls." After laboring for thirty years he was attacked by fever and died near the town of Chomez in 1570, his remains being interred in a convent which he himself had founded at Cartago.[XXIV‑24]

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[Sidenote: ANOTHER MARTYR.]

The year 1586 was made memorable by the martyrdom of Juan Pizarro, an aged and venerable friar of the Merced order, friend and associate of Betanzos, and one who first established the Mercenarios in Costa Rica. On the day of the immaculate conception he was preaching in one of the Indian towns, when a band of natives rushed upon him, disrobed him, bound him naked to a post, and flogged him unmercifully. Not satisfied with this, they fastened a rope round his neck, beat him senseless, hanged the bruised and bleeding body to a tree, and when life had fled flung the corpse down a neighboring chasm.

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The dissensions which the new code of laws had occasioned in Nicaragua were not yet at an end. Cerrato, who was still president of the audiencia, of the Confines,[XXIV‑25] was harassed on all sides. The ecclesiastics contended that the natives should be taken from the encomenderos and placed under the crown, which virtually meant the church, and that their owners be recompensed directly from the royal treasury. The conquerors, however, would listen to no such proposition, but tenaciously held to their possessions.

The number of Indian towns subject to the crown in Nicaragua about the year 1555 was twenty-seven.[XXIV‑26] Nicoya, the largest, contained five hundred families; there was no other with more than one hundred, and most of them had but ten or twenty families. The extreme poverty of the natives had rendered necessary a reduction of their tribute,[XXIV‑27] and hence the salaries of civil officers and of the clergy were on a reduced scale. The aggregate tithes of the church in the province amounted in 1555 but to sixteen hundred pesos, and were decreasing from year to year. The bishop's portion was three hundred and eighty pesos, a sum insufficient for his maintenance, and he was compelled to petition the king to increase his income. Priests laboring in native villages received two hundred pesos, and in one instance the stipend was only eighty pesos.

[Sidenote: ECCLESIASTICAL SUCCESSION.]

After the death of Valdivieso, the friar Alonso de la Vera Cruz, who had for many years filled the chair of theology in the university of Mexico, and during a quarter of a century had preached to the natives in their own tongue, was nominated as his successor, but declined the preferment.[XXIV‑28] The see was then offered to the licentiate Carrasco, who took charge of the diocese, but never proceeded to consecration.[XXIV‑29] As bishop-elect he made himself familiar with the affairs of the province, instituted numerous inquiries, and as the result made various suggestions to the civil authorities. He declared that the decrease in population and revenue was caused by the conduct of the alcaldes mayores, most of whom were either fools or knaves. Within three years five or six had been sent to Nicaragua by appointment of the audiencia, and the natives had been compelled each time to erect gala arches to welcome them, and to fatten fowl and prepare delicacies for their entertainment. The officers of the crown gave Carrasco but little satisfaction, and even went so far as to deny his right to demand an account of tithes received for ecclesiastical purposes, although through their peculations the amount had fallen so low as to be inadequate for the support of the bishopric. Little wonder that he soon had enough of so uninviting a field of labor.

To Carrasco succeeded Fray Gomez Fernandez de Córdoba. This princely ecclesiastic was a native of the city whose name he bore, and belonged to the highest nobility of Spain, being grandson of the great captain.[XXIV‑30] He was consecrated in Spain and took charge of the bishopric in 1553.[XXIV‑31] During his tenure of office the cathedral was completed, and a migration of Dominicans took place.

The building of the cathedral had been long retarded by misappropriation of the funds set apart for the purpose, the treasurer having invested large sums at different times in speculations and in the purchase of lands in Peru. The audiencia at length took action and ordered its completion; the means to be raised in equal proportion from the treasury, the colonists, and the natives. When it was finished there remained a surplus of more than two thousand pesos, which was returned to the treasury.

Among the Dominicans discipline was somewhat lax about this period, and their mode of life such as to cause scandal throughout the province. In 1554 Fray Juan de Torres, a resident of Guatemala, was appointed the Dominican vicar provincial of Nicaragua, with orders to visit the convents in Leon and Granada and restore the ecclesiastics to becoming austerity. Failing in this, he was to give them permission to leave for Spain or elsewhere as they pleased, and bring back with him all the jewels and ornaments belonging to the order.[XXIV‑32] Arriving in Nicaragua, the vicar provincial at once imposed such severe ordinances that the friars became disgusted and resolved to return to Spain. Nothing could be more agreeable to Fray Juan, who thereupon stealthily collected all the jewels and ornaments according to his instructions and returned to Guatemala.[XXIV‑33]

This proceeding was censured even by the vicar's superiors. The general of the order, Estéfano Ususmaris, disapproved of it, and instead of lauding him for his zeal, blamed him for his indiscretion.[XXIV‑34] From Peru came a protest; and the president and oidores of the audiencia of the Confines felt aggrieved that such an important measure should be taken without consulting them. A few years later Padre Torres was ordered to Spain, that the king, council, and the general of his order might be informed on matters pertaining to the election of Father Angulo to the see of Vera Cruz. His ship was captured by French corsairs when in sight of Cádiz, and all on board were made prisoners; but so elated was the ecclesiastic by the glory of thus falling into the hands of heretics, that his captors, regarding his high and holy zeal as a kind of insanity, set him ashore without ransom.

After his arrival at court, the subject of his having dismembered the convents of Nicaragua was revived, and it was decided that he should reëstablish them in person. In consideration, however, of the fact that in this matter he had merely acted according to the orders of his superiors, he was exonerated from all blame and appointed vicar general of the province of Nicaragua, which was at the same time segregated from that of San Vicente de Chiapas. He was then ordered to collect a number of friars and return to Leon, the king bearing the expenses of the expedition and providing everything necessary to refit the convents. He was heartily welcomed by the bishop, settlers, and natives, and together with his colleagues renewed his labors throughout the province; but toil and advancing years had sapped his strength, and about the year 1562 Fray Juan de Torres sickened and died at an Indian village on the Desaguadero.

After his decease the Dominicans became disconsolate and all left the province, some for Santo Domingo, others for Peru, and the rest for Spain. The ornaments and properties donated by the king to the convents were left in charge of lay brothers, but subsequently the Dominicans of San Vicente de Chiapas appropriated them as belonging to the order. They were obliged, however, by a judicial decision to return them, after which they were distributed by royal order among other churches.

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[Sidenote: COMMERCIAL RELATIONS.]

At the close of the sixteenth century the chief towns in Nicaragua were Leon the capital, Realejo, and Granada. In 1586 the former was in a dilapidated condition, the houses that fell into decay being never rebuilt. Realejo had but thirty settlers and its chief industry was the building and repairing of ships. Granada had two hundred vecinos and at a short distance from it were many tributary Indians. The walls of the buildings were of mud, buttressed with a few bricks and stones, the roofs being of tiles. The population included encomenderos, merchants, traders, and a few mechanics and stock-raisers. Vessels traded thence with Nombre de Dios, passing down the Desaguadero to the North Sea, though with some difficulty during the dry season.[XXIV‑35]

Notwithstanding the commercial relations thus opened with the province of Panamá, no trade of importance had yet been developed in Nicaragua. There was little money in circulation,[XXIV‑36] and the prices of all imported articles were extremely high. An arroba of wine was worth twelve pesos; cloth could not be bought for less than ten pesos, nor linen for less than fifteen reales a yard. Other commodities sold in the same proportion, and were beyond the means of all but the wealthiest settlers. This condition of affairs may be attributed in part to a clique of merchants in Seville, who had already monopolized the commerce of the New World, who shipped their goods in such small quantities as always to keep the market bare of supplies and insure extravagant prices for their merchandise, and who by their grasping policy gave rise, as we shall see later, to contraband trading.