The parts in print until recently were three parts of the _Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias_ and the _Historia_. The first part treats of the discovery of the New World, together with the conquest of certain islands and a part of Tierra Firme. The second part has for its subject events connected with the exploration of Venezuela and the settlement of Cabo de la Vela and Santa Marta; while the third part narrates the happenings in the provinces of Popayán and Cartagena from their discovery to the time of the author’s writing. The fourth part is the history of New Granada from the time when the Spaniards first set foot on the soil. In determining the form, in so far as the verses are arranged into rhymed octaves, there appears to be no doubt that the poem of Ercilla exerted a powerful influence; for in the preface to the _Historia_ Castellanos refers to the persons who, “enamoured of the sweetness of the verse with which Don Alonso de Ercilla celebrated the Chilean wars, wished those of the north might be sung in the same measure.” Castellanos’ determination to act in accordance with these wishes was unfortunate. The verses are, indeed, in some cases felicitous, but the author was clearly competent to write well in prose, and, if this form of expression had been employed, he would have given a more satisfactory contribution to historical knowledge: it is affirmed, in fact, that he first composed his work in prose, and spent ten years in turning it into verse. If the purpose in this undertaking was to rival successfully Ercilla’s literary effort, this also was unfortunate, for neither the excellence nor the fame of the _Elegías_ ever attained the standard of _La Araucana_. [Sidenote: Views of critics] The opinion of the enthusiastic Colombian historian, Vergara y Vergara, does not coincide with this view; he was disposed to think of Castellanos as “a great poet,” and to regard him as superior to Ercilla. This is, however, the view of an indulgent and patriotic critic. Moreover, Acosta, also a Colombian, found that no other chronicler exceeded him “in descriptions of the country, or of skirmishes and encounters with the Indians, and particularly in picturing the impressions which traversing the land and going among the people they had to subdue made on the hardy and courageous conquistadores.”[87] [Sidenote: Acosta and Menéndez y Pelayo]