Note XVII‑11 — Chapter XVII · AFFAIRS IN HONDURAS. 1537-1549.

Oviedo was then writing of what occurred in 1538; but it is probable that the 100,000 pesos de oro of which he speaks included the amount obtained in several preceding years. In 1539 Montejo reports that there are in Comayagua very rich mines, both of gold and silver, but as he would not allow the natives to be employed in them against their will they were worked only on a small scale. Montejo, Carta, Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 221-22, 233, 251. This consideration for the welfare of the Indians no doubt hastened his downfall.