Note XXXV‑62 — Chapter XXXV · GUATEMALA AND CHIAPAS. 1601-1700.

The poison was administered in a cup of chocolate or some sweetmeat; hence arose the proverb, 'Beware of Chocolatte of Chiapa.' While Gage was in Ciudad Real—called by him Chiapa Real—the bishop Bernardino de Salazar died with every symptom of having been poisoned. The ladies of the capital were accustomed to have chocolate served to them in the cathedral during mass. This habit the bishop attempted to suppress, and even proceeded to excommunication, but without effect. Then a disgraceful tumult occurred in the cathedral, and shortly afterward the bishop was taken ill, and the physicians agreed that he had been poisoned, which opinion he fully believed in at his death. Gage calls Ciudad Real 'that poisoning and wicked city.' Id., 229-33.