1. Aguirre had brought Father Pedro Contreras, the priest of Margarita, with him to Valencia, who had often begged to be allowed to return to his flock. In the end this was conceded, but he was made to take his oath that he would cause a letter written by the traitor to be sent to the king of Castille, and, if the letter could not be forwarded at once from Margarita, to send it to the Royal Audience of Santo Domingo, or by any other channel, provided it reached the hands of the king. The priest at first objected to take the oath, but seeing how important it was for him to escape from the traitor, and thus save his life, he did so. He returned to the port, and thence to the island of Margarita, and did his best to forward the letter to the king, although it was a most audacious piece of composition, and as full of absurdities as the individual who had written it, for in it he showed his little talent and sense, but the cruelty of his disposition was most apparent. The letter began thus: “King Philip, a Spaniard, son of Charles the invincible, etc.”; but we will not extract more, as its extravagancies are not worth printing: however, many copies of the said letter are to be found in these countries of the Indies and other parts, some of which I have seen.