Note X-9 — Chapter X · PEDRARIAS DÁVILA ASSUMES THE GOVERNMENT OF DARIEN. 1514-1515.
Reading edition
Gonzalo Fernandez writing from Santo Domingo the 25th of October, 1537, to the Council of the Indies, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., i. 522-9, says that this order proved inoperative, 'pues que los que lo habian de ejecutar lo disimulaban,' since those who should have executed it dissembled. For a time, however, no lawyer was allowed to plead in the Indies, the alcalde mayor speaking on both sides, and finally deciding according to the evidence; 'sentenciaba por aquel por quien en el pleito habia mejor hablado.'