Note XX‑38 — Chapter XX · MARROQUIN AND LAS CASAS IN GUATEMALA AND VERA PAZ. 1541-1550.

Squier's MSS., xiv. 1-2. Miranda in 1575 reported to the oidor Palacio of the Guatemala audiencia that the river Zacapulas separated Vera Paz from the province of Guatemala, and that the distance thence to the gulf of Dulce was about 48 leagues, its greatest width being 27 leagues. The inhabited portion was only one third or one fourth of its surface, for the friars had collected the Indians into towns, and established a system of commerce. Squier's MSS., xv. 3. At the time of these reports the northern part, a wild and heavily wooded country, was—and still is—inhabited by wild tribes, being then a refuge for fugitive Indians from Yucatan.