Communications between the home government and its transatlantic subjects involved vexatious delays; such negotiations were always slow, and at this time there was some temporary disorganization of the council of the Indies to complicate matters. The subject would seem to have been ignored until quickened anew by an address of Felipe de Aniñon, who had lived many years in the Indies, "on the utility and advantages which would result from changing the route of transit between the seas from Nombre de Dios and Panamá to Puerto de Caballos and Fonseca."[XXII‑27] The memorial, without presenting any new arguments, recapitulates with considerable force those which had been previously advanced, urging that immunity would thus be secured from the raids of corsairs, and that even though Panamá and Nombre de Dios were abandoned, a dozen cities would spring up to take their place in a region whose mines were so rich and whose soil was so fertile. At Nombre de Dios even Indian women, elsewhere so prolific, became barren; fruits refused to grow, children could not be reared, and men lived not out the usual span of life. Their gold and silver were as nothing to the treasures that could be extracted from the mines of Honduras, for when these latter should be worked by imported negroes with the aid of quicksilver, his Majesty would have there a kingdom thrice as rich as Spain. The memorialist concludes by stating that even though eight hundred thousand pesos were expended in opening roads the outlay was justifiable, for it would be offset by the yield of an additional million to the annual revenue of the king. The question of establishing elsewhere the port of entry was finally decided by the report of Jean Baptiste Antonelli, the royal surveyor, which showed that while a removal was necessary a desirable site existed close by. [Sidenote: PORTOBELLO.] Five leagues to the west of Nombre de Dios was the village of Portobello, containing, in 1585, not more than ten houses but possessing a commodious harbor, with good anchorage, easy of access, and one where laborers could unload vessels without the necessity of wading up to the arm-pits, as was the case at Nombre de Dios. Timber and pasture were abundant, the soil was fertile, and fresh water could be had throughout the year. Moreover it could easily be fortified against attack from corsairs and privateersmen, who, under Drake and others, had already committed depredations on the Isthmus as will be hereafter related. "If it might please your Majesty," reports the surveyor, "it were good that the city of Nombre de Dios be brought and builded in this harbor." On the 20th of March 1597 the change was made under charge of the factor Francisco de Valverde y Mercado and a settlement was founded which soon became one of the most important cities in Central America.[XXII‑28]