Page:Englishhistorica36londuoft.djvu/82

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74 EARLY HISTORY OF JAMAICA (1511-1536) January Jamaica, 1 at the port of Seville, on 15 May 1515, with the title of governor's lieutenant from the admiral, and, from the king, those of captain, ' allid ', and ' repartidor ' (assigner) of natives ; but in certain of these capacities he was empowered jointly with Pedro de Macuelo, royal treasurer for Jamaica, who had preceded him by six months in arriving, and would seem to have employed that time well in making his own position strong. He had put the admiral's lieutenant out of office, and taken in hand the matter of reassigning the natives, naming two ' visitadores ', who were more than inspectors, to take a census of the island. The governor found him installed in the best house in Seville, and also in command of the fort, advantages he was loath to relinquish. Friction immediately developed between these two men. 2 Eventually Macuelo succeeded in the governorship, 3 in which Garay had doubtless lost interest, since before 1522 he had abandoned Jamaica to play a part in the conquest of Mexico. 4 Garay removed the settlement of Seville from its first site to a second, 5 and built a second fort, 6 of which the Crown on 19 June 1519 appointed him warden on a salary of twenty thousand ' maravedis ' a year, to be paid him by Gonzalo de Guzman, treasurer of the newly discovered Yucatan. 7 Garay's son, Antonio de Garay, succeeded him as warden of this fort, which, in 1527, was described 8 as being so badly in need of repair that it threatened to fall in upon its garrison, which, the Crown was informed, should consist of at least two men. 9 This fort seems to have been more than one story high, built of brick and mortar by Indian labour. 10 Friars went early to Jamaica. 11 Before 1526 there was a Franciscan house in the island. 12 The abbacy of Jamaica had been created. On 29 January 1515 Don Geronimo Vichy, Spanish ambassador at Rome, was instructed 13 to negotiate for it, and he and Garcia de Gibraleon, apostolic secretary, procured 14 the papal approval for Ferdinand's chaplain, Doctor Sancho de Matienco, treasurer of the house of trade at Seville and canon of the cathedral, whom the Crown presented as first abbot of 1 No. xvi, below. Garay brought with him horned cattle, sheep, agricultural implements, artisans, &c. 2 Nos. xv, xvi, xvii, below.

  • Arch, de Ind. 139, 1, 17, ii, fo. 164 v .

4 Ibid. 139, 1, 16, viii, fo. 357. Garay was made ' adelantado ', and governor and captain-general of Panuco. 5 No. xviii, below. 6 Nos. xvi, xviii, below. 7 Arch, de Ind. 139, 1, 16, viii, fo. 76 v . 8 Ibid. 139, 1, 7, xii, fo. 112 v . 9 Ibid. fo. 118 v . 10 Ibid. fo. 112 ; 79, 4, 1, Y T, fo. 129 v . u No. vii, below. 12 Arch, de Ind. 139, 1, 5, ix, fo. 29; 139, 1, 7, xi, fo. 231. 13 Ibid. 139, 1, 5, v, fo. 145-6. " Ibid. fo. U6