The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Vol 2 Part 38

[61] Respecting this celebrated artist, see a former note. (p. 391.)

[62] The inland trade of New Spain was considerable as early as in the year 1531. In the market of Tlascalla alone there were annually slaughtered from 14,000 to 15,000 sheep, 4000 oxen, and 2000 pigs. See Herrera.

The Spaniards must have been remarkably active in those days, for Cortes first arrived at San Juan de Ulloa in the year 1519; in August, 1521, he took the city of Mexico, which was converted into a heap of ruins by the siege; in the month of June, 1526, he returned from the Honduras, and there stood a new city, with many churches, cloisters, palaces, fortifications, and most probably also an amphitheatre for bull-fights.

(p. 393.)

[63] Bernal Diaz had good reasons for his fears. The three volcanoes which lay in the vicinity, termed volcan de Agua, volcan de Fuego, and volcan de Pacaya, rendered the ground very unsafe, and the metropolis of this province was several times removed by the Spaniards. The present town of Guatimala, called La Nueva Guatemala de la Asuncion, lies in the plain of Mixco. For a further account of this town and the eruptions of the above-mentioned volcanoes, we must refer the reader to the work of Domingo Juarros, ent.i.tled, 'Compendio de la Historia de la Ciudad de Guatemala,' published at the latter place, 1809-1818. (p. 409.)