ADMINISTRATION OF PEDRO DE LOS RIOS—HE IS SUPERSEDED BY THE LICENTIATE ANTONIO DE LA GAMA—BARRIONUEVO'S REIGN—A PROVINCE IN NUEVA ANDALUCÍA GRANTED TO PEDRO DE HEREDIA—HE SAILS FOR CARTAGENA—CONFLICTS WITH THE NATIVES—TREASURE UNEARTHED—THE DEVIL'S BOHÍO—PROSPERITY OF THE SETTLEMENT—ALONSO HEREDIA SENT TO REBUILD SAN SEBASTIAN—IS OPPOSED BY JULIAN GUTIERREZ—CAPTURE OF GUTIERREZ—THE GOLDEN TEMPLE OF DABAIBA ONCE MORE—EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH OF THE GLITTERING PHANTOM, FRANCISCO CÉSAR AND OTHERS—AUDIENCIA ESTABLISHED AT PANAMÁ—MALEADMINISTRATION—COMPLAINTS OF THE COLONISTS—DESTITUTION IN THE PROVINCE—BISHOPS OF CASTILLA DEL ORO—MIRACULOUS IMAGE OF THE VIRGIN—BIBLIOGRAPHICAL. [Sidenote: PEDRO DE LOS RIOS.] Mention has already been made of the appointment of Pedro de los Rios as governor of Castilla del Oro in place of Pedrarias Dávila, of the arrival of his fleet at Nombre de Dios in 1526, and of the death of Pedrarias at Leon in 1530. The new governor was instructed that the conversion of the natives rather than their conquest should be his main purpose; they were to be treated indeed as vassals of the crown but not as slaves; and his Majesty the emperor Charles V. was pleased to declare that in the foundation of new colonies he had less regard for his own aggrandizement than for the spread of the holy Catholic faith. Pedro de los Rios was a man unfit to govern a community of wild and turbulent adventurers in a strange and half-settled territory. Instead of pursuing the right course at the right moment, he seemed to go out of his way to commit blunders. As occurred at his meeting with Salcedo in Nicaragua, when the mere threat of a fine made him beat a hasty retreat to Panamá, he was often found wanting in the hour of trial. His lack of ambition and ever-present regard for his own personal ease and safety, caused his administration to prove tame and uneventful. The _auri sacra fames_ was a vice so prevalent among the rulers of Castilla del Oro that it is but a tiresome iteration again to allude to it; but Rios' thirst for riches far surpassed the greed of all his predecessors. His avarice was only exceeded by that of his wife, who, as Oviedo tells us, held him under complete control and governed the province through the governor. He appropriated all that he could lay hands on, whether public or private property, and his malefeasance in office soon became so notorious as to attract the attention of the emperor. He was enjoined from crossing the boundaries of his province, ordered to surrender to the royal treasurer the Pearl Islands, the revenues of which, it will be remembered, were placed under his control by the crown, and to give all needful aid to Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro in the prosecution of their exploring expeditions.