ABSTRACT
A number of parish registers listing baptisms, marriages, and burials do exist for some parishes in Honduras towards the end of the eighteenth century, but the coverage is patchy. As such, estimates of the Indian population during the colonial period have to rely on lists of Indians drawn up for the purposes of tribute assessment. The most detailed and comprehensive accounts of the Indian population for the end of the sixteenth century are contained in the treasury accounts for that period. It is clear from missionary accounts that substantial numbers of Indians, who were to attract more attention in the eighteenth century, existed outside Spanish control. The list of tributary Indians drawn up in 1806 and based on counts made by parish priests, shows that within two years the number of tributary Indians had declined dramatically by an average of 13.0 percent, with the decline being most marked in the western and central regions.
