ABSTRACT
I,DiegoRuizdeVallejo,yourmajesty'saccountantfor thisprovinceofVenezuela,kissyourmajesty'sroyalfeetand handsandstatethatinotherdespatcheswhichthetreasurer, GonzalodelosRios,andIhavewrittentoyourmajesty,we havereportedtrulyoneventsinthisjurisdictionsincethe corsairsJohnHawkins,English,andJeanBontemps,French, begantovisitit.Theirfirstvisitwasintheyearr565and JeanBontempshascomeeveryyearsince.Occurrencessince wewrotelastareasfollows:
GovernordonPedroPoncedeLeonarrivedinthisprovincein:\:JayofI566andinvestigatedtheadministrationof LicentiateAlonsoBernaldez,whomhefoundactingas governoroncommissionfromtheroyalAudienciaatSanto Domingo;andbecausethelicentiateissuedapermittotrade withthesaidEnglishmanhesentencedhimtobefinedto thevalueofthenegroesandothermerchandisewhichchanged hands,andforthisandotherreasonssenthiminpersonto yourmajesty,alongwiththerecordsofthecase2 ,aswill appearinsame....
