Tlee Narvaez Expedition, 1526-1536
41
of Cuba, attests to his bravery and courage. He had been a lieutenant of Diego Velazquez, whom he joined in Cuba. The success of Cortes in Mexico and the glowing accounts of the natural resources and numerous pueblos of the Rio de las Palmas with which Garay had regaled him, had fired the ambition of Narvaez and filled him with a determination to emulate the exploits of his successful rival. 6 Terms of tlee g1·ant. Upon the recommendation of the Council of the Indies, the king issued a charter to Narvaez on November 17, 1526, which was amended on December 11 of the same year, by a clause fixing heavy responsibilities on the grantee for failure to fulfill its provisions. Accord- ing to the terms of the grant Pamfilo de Narvaez was authorized to explore, conquer, and settle all the lands between the Rio de las Palmas and the Cape of Florida. For this purpose he was told to select such men as he might need in Spain, exercising care that only those were enlisted who were allowed to go to the Indies by royal decree. He was directed to found at least two Spanish towns within the limits of his jurisdiction, for which he was required to take not less than one hundred persons for each one of them. Three strongholds or forts were ordered to be erected also at his own cost. The entire expedition must be financed by Narvaez, who was commanded to take not less than two hundred men and to start not later than a year from the date of the grant. In recognition of his past services and those he was asked to render, the king made him governor and captain general for life of all the lands he might discover and occupy, with a salary of 150,000 maravedis (a maravedi is equivalent to about one-sixth of a cent). He was further- more granted the title of A delantado. He was commissioned to receive, in addition to his salary, four per cent of all the revenues that might accrue to the king, and he was not required to pay export duties on any of the provisions, supplies, arms, and horses taken for the expedition from Spain. In conjunction with the royal officers he was ordered to select a tract of land ten leagues square for himself, neither of the best nor of the worst. He was allowed to secure horses, mares, and cattle for his province in either Santo Domingo, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, or Cuba. To the first settlers, the king graciously granted the privilege of paying only one-tenth of all the gold they might secure from mines in the new settlements during the first three years, one-ninth during the fourth, and 6 Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Hirtoria Verdadera (Genaro Garcia edition, 1904), pp. 471-472; Las Casas, Hirtoria, Lib. iii, Cap. xxvi, p. 5, (first edition, 1876); Oviedo, III, 580.
Powered by FlippingBook