Cordova, who, in 1522, founded the city of Granada upon the Lake of Nicaragua, and subsequently, in the same year, the city of Leon, upon the Lake of Leon, or Managua. Cordova erected a fort at Granada for its protection, but it is hardly to be supposed that the ruined works on the shore of the lake are the remains of this structure. ----- Footnote 13: Peter Martyr tells us that the Indians were not less afraid of men with beards than of the horses, and that therefore, to produce the greatest possible effect, Gonzales made artificial beards “from the powlinges of their heads, for twenty-five beardless youths which he had with him, to the end that the number of bearded men might appear the more, and be the more terrible to the barbarians.”—“_De Novo Orbe_,” _Decade_ vi. p. 240. ----- Gonzales, who had gone to Spain soon after his discovery, to procure the means of conquering and settling the country, finding himself anticipated by Cordova, raised a force and entering Honduras by the valley of Olancho, from the Bay of Honduras, marched upon the towns established by the latter. The consequences were many battles, and much disturbance and turmoil, exceeding anything which had previously resulted from the jealousies and rivalries of the conquerors, in America. Very little regard was paid to the mother country or its directions; in fact, after the death of Pedro Arias de Avila, who was the first governor of the country, Rodrigo de Contreras, his son-in-law, who succeeded him, openly disregarded the order of the crown, which prohibited its officers from holding the Indians as property. For this charges were preferred against him, and he went to Spain to vindicate himself in the “Audiencia Real.” In his absence, his son, Hernández de Contreras, resenting his father’s treatment, openly revolted. Their first victim was Antonio de Valdivieso, the bishop of Nicaragua, whose portrait is still preserved in the great cathedral at Leon. The insurgents were successful in gaining complete possession of the country; but not satisfied with this, they seized some vessels in the port of Realejo, and embarked for Panama, with a view of extending their conquests in that direction, and ultimately of seizing upon Peru. Hernández, in short, conceived the idea of becoming king of the continent, and ruler of the South Sea. He attacked and captured Panama; but on his way to reduce Nombre de Dios, encountered misfortunes which ended in his death. Thus terminated this bold and magnificent design; the magnitude of which appalled the King of Spain, and which, at one moment, seemed on the eve of a successful consummation. The anniversary of Hernández’s death, on the 23d of April, 1549, was celebrated with great solemnity in the Cathedral of Panama, until the period of the independence from Spain.