been created, or several corregimientos have been united. At one period, there were as many as thirtytwo provinces, of which four were distinguished as governments, viz. Comayagua, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Soconusco; nine were alcaldias mayor, viz. San Salvador, Ciudad Real, Tegucigalpa, Zonzonate, Verapaz, Suchiltepec, Nicoya, Amatique, and the real of San Andres de Zaragoza; and eighteen were corregimientos, the corregidors of which were nominated by the audiencia. Such was the distribution of the kingdom in the seventeenth century; but, about the year 1660, the population of the province of Costa Rica being greatly diminished, four of the corregimientos were extinguished, and the divisions were annexed to that government: at the same time, four other corregimientos were shared between the governments of Comayagua and Nicaragua. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, the alcaldias mayor of Amatique and San Andres were suppressed, and several new ones were created. By these and other changes, the thirty-two provinces were reduced to fifteen, one of which is styled a government, four are intendancies, eight are alcaldias mayor, and two are corregidorships. Five of the provinces are situated on the shores of the Pacific; five on the Atlantic coast; and five are inland. They are as follow:

MARITIME PROVINCES ON THE COAST OF THE
PACIFIC.

1. Intendancy of Ciudad Real, or Chiapa.
including (1) District of Ciudad Real.

(2) (3)

Tuxtla.

Soconusco.

6. Alcaldia-mayor of Vera Paz.

7. Corregimiento of Chiquimula.

8. Intendancy of Comayagua, or Honduras.
including (1) District of Comayagua.
Tegucigalpa.

(2)

9. Intendancy of Nicaragua, or Leon.

including (1) District of Leon.

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Matagalpa.

Realejo.

Subtiava.

Nicoya.

10. Government of Costa Rica.

INTERIOR PROVINCES.

11. Alcaldia-mayor of Totonicapan and Gueguetenango. 12. Corregimiento of Quezaltenango.

13. Alcaldia-mayor of Solola and Atitan.

14. 15.

Chimaltenango.
Sacatepec.

Between the intendancies of Nicaragua and Comayagua, lie two provinces peopled by uncivilised Indians of various nations, who are called indiscriminately Xicacs, Moscos, and Sambos. These provinces, which extend along the Atlantic coast from the river Aguan to the San Juan, are called by Juarros, the Provinces of Taguzgalpa and Tologalpa. They form part of the tract better known under the name of the Mosquito Shore. The Mosquito Indians, as they are generally called, have always borne an inveterate dislike to the Spaniards. The Duke of Albemarle, when governor of Jamaica, fostered this dislike, and he invested one

of the Indians with the office of chief of the Mosquitoes, under the protection of England. But, by a convention between Great Britain and Spain, signed in London on the 14th of July, 1786, it was agreed on the part of his Britannic Majesty, that his subjects and other colonists who had hitherto enjoyed the protection of England, should evacuate the country of the Mosquitos, as well as the continent in general, and the islands adjacent, without exception; his Catholic Majesty pledging himself not to exercise any act of severity against the Mosquitos, on account of the connexions which may have subsisted between the said Indians and the English. The town and territory of Poyais, where, a few years ago, some adventurers from this country attempted to establish an independent colony, are situated on the river Tinto, or Black river, which discharges itself into the Atlantic near Cape Camaron: they are included in Taguzgalpa, which, though nominally a part of Guatimala, has never actually been appropriated. So far his highness Gregor Macgregor, the self-styled cazique of Foyais, had some plea in justification of his trespassing on these shores. Poyais town is a paltry village of huts and log-houses, on the west side of Black river, about sixty miles inland. The river Aguan, which divides Taguzgalpa from Honduras, discharges itself about sixty miles to the westward of Cape Camaran: eastward, the province extends to Cape Gracias a Dios. Beyond that point, the tract of coast extending southward to the river Chagres, and including the province of Tologalpa, now belongs to the republic of Colombia; and a decree of that goyernment, dated Santa Fé de Bogota, July 5, 1824, declares all persons attempting to colonise that part of the coast liable to penal severities.*

The decree is as follows: "Francisco de Paula Santander, General of Division of the Armies of Colombia, Vice-President

The ecclesiastical government of the kingdom of Guatimala consists of an archbishop and three suffragans. The immediate diocese of the archbishop of Guatimala, extending 214 leagues from west to east, comprises 108 curacies, besides others under the charge of the monastic orders, and 424 parochial

of the Republic, &c.-Inasmuch as it has come to the knowledge of the Government of the Republic of Colombia, that various individuals, resident in foreign countries, have projected the foundation of establishments in a certain territory called Poyais, situate on the coasts of Mosquito; and considering that similar enterprises of unauthorized adventurers may be prejudicial to the interests of the Republic and to themselves, in virtue of the provisions of the 5th Article of the Fundamental, it is decreed as follows:

"Art. 1. Is declared illegal every undertaking which has for its object the colonisation of any point of that part of the coast of Mosquito, from the Cape Gracias a Dios inclusive to the river Chagres, which belongs, in dominion and property, to the Republic of Colombia, in virtue of the formal declaration, made in San Lorenzo on the 30th of November, 1803, by which the said part of the coast of Mosquito is definitely adjoined to the ancient vice-royalty of Nueva-Granada, and separated from the jurisdiction of the captain-generalship of Guatimala, to which it previously belonged.

"Art. 2. It is declared also to all person or persons who, in contravention of the former article, intend to found colonies or foreign establishments on the above-mentioned coast of Mosquito, up to Cape Gracias a Dios inclusive, that they incur the penalties to which those persons are subjected who violently usurp national property, and disturb internal peace and tranquillity, unless they have previously obtained the approbation and consent of the government, conformably to the laws.

"Art. 3. It is also declared, that the necessary approbation and consent to colonise the coast of Mosquito, which is under the immediate jurisdiction of the Republic, or part of it, not having been granted to any person within or out of the territory of the Republic, whatever person or persons, citizens or foreigners, attempt to affect it, will, ipso facto, be subject to the consequences to which such illegal and unauthorized conduct exposes them."

churches: it was created an episcopal see by Pope Paul III. in 1534. The bishop of Leon has jurisdiction over the intendancy of Nicaragua and the government of Costa Rica: in his diocese are 39 curacies and 88 parochial churches. The bishop of Ciudad Real has under his jurisdiction the whole of Chiapa, containing 38 curacies and 102 parish churches. The fourth bishopric is that of Comayagua, comprising the intendancy of Honduras: it contains 35 curacies and 145 parish churches. The small district of Peten in Vera Paz, belongs to the diocese of the bishop of Yucatan. Both the ecclesiastical and the civil distribution of the country, however, will probably undergo considerable modifications under the new order of things. The greater part of the bishopric and intendancy of Chiapa has become united to Mexico; part of Vera Paz is ecclesiastically annexed to Yucatan; and Colombia has obtained, by the cession of Tologalpa, a large portion of Nicaragua and of the bishopric of Leon, including 180 leagues of coast, the importance of which, in connexion with the projected communication between the two oceans by means of the river San Juan and the lake of Nicaragua, will be incalculable. Eventually, Guatimala will probably be divided between Mexico and Colombia. The remainder of Nicaragua and Costa Rica will naturally fall to the share of the latter power, while the provinces to the northward and west of Cape Camaron, will more conveniently unite themselves to the Mexican States. We shall now proceed to give some further topographical details respecting this almost unknown portion of the New World.

PROVINCES ON THE COAST OF THE PACIFIC.

The intendancy of Ciudad Real has been described in the account of the Mexican States, with the excep

VOL II.

16*