. History of the discovery and conquest of Costa Rica . 63: ^ And for the pacificationof this country your Royal Audiencia installed agentleman from Guatemala who calls himselfJohán Vázquez de Coronado, a native of Sala-manca. I had thought the method of conquestadopted by him and his soldiers was that wliichhad prevailed in the past—by kiUing and rob-bing these poor people—and with this in mind,I hastened my coming in order to interpose intheir behalf. I found, however, that he wasconsiderate and that his scheme of conquest wasas beneficial as that of the religious orders, whohave more consid
. History of the discovery and conquest of Costa Rica . 63: ^ And for the pacificationof this country your Royal Audiencia installed agentleman from Guatemala who calls himselfJohán Vázquez de Coronado, a native of Sala-manca. I had thought the method of conquestadopted by him and his soldiers was that wliichhad prevailed in the past—by kiUing and rob-bing these poor people—and with this in mind,I hastened my coming in order to interpose intheir behalf. I found, however, that he wasconsiderate and that his scheme of conquest wasas beneficial as that of the religious orders, whohave more consideration for these natives. YourMajesty ought to know, and give thanks there-for to Our Lord, that in all the Indies no con- ^León Fernández—Documentos, Vol. VII, p. 10. 260 HISTORY OF DISCOVERY AND quest has been more blameless or cast less of aburden of remorse upon the royal conscience ofyour Majesty than this. On his arrival the Alcalde mayor found atCartago another Franciscan whose name to-dayenjoys universal fame—Fray Lorenzo de Bien-. venida who, in company with Fraj- Diego deSalinas and Fray Melchor de Salazar, had comefrom Guatemala. The work accomplished by Vázquez de Coro-nado merits the high praise, not alone for theboldness and energy displayed by that leader,able as he was to overcome obstacles, which evenwith the greater facilities of the present day ap- CONQUEST OF COSTA RICA 261 pear insurmountable, but also because of themanner in which he brought that work to a con-clusion. His policy, always friendly and pru-dent, proved to be his best auxihary, and he wasthus enabled to overrun great stretches of ter-ritory, peopled by hostile tribes accustomed foryears to triumph over the Spaniards, withoutthe loss of a single man—proof positive that, inthe majority of cases, the Indians only took uparms to defend their lives and property, andthat their submission was obtained more effect-ively by kindness and justice than by swords andlances. The fidelity an
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