until some agreement should be reached. Gonzalo Dovalle excused himself, assuring Alvarado that he had been misinformed as to what had happened, but accepted the conditions which were imposed; thus the two troops were united, the men living and eating together without any dissension. As soon as the alcalde mayor learned this, he ordered one of my secretaries, Francisco de Orduña, who had gone with him, to go to the captains, Pedro de Alvarado and Dovalle, taking an order to return the arms and horses to their owners, and to tell them it was my intention to aid and favour them in everything they might require, but that they should not make trouble in the country; he further counselled Alvarado to come to a good understanding with Dovalle and not to mix in any way in his affairs; and this was done.
At the same time, Most Powerful Lord, it happened that the ships of the said adelantado, which were lying at the mouth of the River Panuco were a menace
Events at
Santistevan
to the inhabitants of the town of Santistevan, which I had founded three leagues up the river where all the ships which arrived at that port anchored. Seeing this, my lieutenant in that town, Pedro de Vallejo, wishing to forestall any danger arising from possible troubles with those ships, required the captains and masters of them to go up the river peacefully without disturbing the country, and he also required them that, if they had any authority from Your Majesty to settle or land in that country or for any other purpose, they should exhibit it, protesting that it would be complied with in every respect as Your Majesty commanded. The captains and masters answered these requirements, refusing everything the lieutenant commanded, which obliged the latter to issue a second order to them, insisting anew on all that he had ordered in the first requirement under certain penalties; to this mandate they replied as before. Seeing there-
