Note XXXV‑31 — Chapter XXXV · GUATEMALA AND CHIAPAS. 1601-1700.
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Caldas in his letter to the king suggests that his Majesty should order the viceroy of Mexico and the governor of Campeche to gather together all vagabonds and evil-doers, and send them to Caldas, as also the lesser criminals, that they might serve in the conquest; moreover, negro slaves and mulattoes, whose owners desired it, would be enrolled. He also states that Guatemala and Campeche are the most directly interested, as their commerce could be conducted by a direct road of 80 leagues instead of 600, the length of the existing route. Caldas, Carta sobre el Lacandon, 5-6. Briefly confirmed by Pelaez, Mem. Guat., i. 297; Ximenes, lib. v. cap. xx.