ships of Castilla may enter, sound reasoning might have some effect.[1] But these Indians first inquire if they must be Christians, pay money, forsake their wives, and other similar things. They kill the Spaniards so boldly, that without arquebuses we could do nothing. This was the reason that Magallanes, the discoverer of these islands, was killed; and that Villalobos and Sayavedra, and those who came afterward from Nueva España were maltreated. All those who have been killed since the coming of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi received their death through lack of arquebuses. The Indians have thousands of lances, daggers, shields, and other pieces of armor, with which they fight very well. They have no leaders to whom they look up. The havoc caused by the arquebuse, and their own lack of honor, make them seek refuge in flight, and give obedience to our orders.
After imprisoning a soldier, it is necessary to give him food while he is in jail, and also to care for him in sickness. In order to avoid the expense, he is finally set at liberty. I have exercised all possible
- ↑ In New Spain, the hot and fertile regions along the coast, having an elevation of seldom more than 1,000 feet, are called Tierras calientes ("regions of heat"). On the declivity of the Cordilleras, at an elevation of 4,000 to 5,000 feet, there reigns perpetually a soft spring temperature, which never varies more than 10° Fahr. The natives give to this region the name of Tierras templadas ("temperate country"), in which the mean heat of the whole year is about 70° Fahr. The plains elevated more than 7,000 feet above the sea level are called Tierras frias ("cold regions"), where the mean temperature is under 62° Fahr. See Humboldt's New Spain (Black's trans.), I, pp. 64–67.
The name Tierra Firme was applied not only to the northern part of the South American continent, but to a definite region which extended from the middle of the Gulf of Darien to Cape Gracias á Dios. It was at first called Darien, and Castilla del Oro.
