Later--The present notary public went to the Monastery of San Francisco, of this city, read and showed the decree above disposed of by his Lordship the Governor and Captain-General Gonzalo Menendez Canso, to Fray Francisco Marron, custodian of the provinces, who said: that mindful that Fray Francisco de Avila was one of the friars sent out to teach and convert in the Peninsula of Guale, and as the Lord, Our God, had seen proper to deliver him from being killed by the Indians, as his companions had been, and as a person who knew the habits and manners of the Indians, and knew their language, he deemed it wise to give him freedom to say and declare all he considered would be to the service of God of the killing of his companions--except in cases and things criminal where his rights of priesthood prohibited, such as death by the cutting of members--and this I say and sign in his name--Fray Francisco Marron--in my presence. St. Augustine, Fla., July 20th, 1598. JUAN XIMENES. Gonzalo Menendez Canso, Governor and Captain-General for his Majesty in these Provinces, ordered to be called Fray Francisco de Avila that in virtue of the permission granted him by the Custodian Fray Francisco Marron, to say and declare all he knows concerning the killing of his companions by the Indians, and of his imprisonment and captivity--whether his person was badly treated, and all that had occurred worthy of relating--so as to punish such crime as it deserves to be. Fray Francisco de Avila said: Although it was true Fray Marron had granted him permission to speak, he could not make use of it, in cases so grave and criminal as the present--it was prohibited him by the sacred canons of priesthood, to attest in such crimes, because it would force him to say that which might condemn some, and so, he did not wish to speak or declare in this case, not to fall into any error. Besides being mindful that the Governor had brought seven Indians from the peninsula at the time of his ransom, to this city, he could know and understand from them all that they might claim. This he said, and I sign it in his name. FRAY FRANCISCO DE AVILA. In my presence-- JUAN XIMENES, Notary Public. Later--The Governor and Captain-General Gonzalo Menendez Canso, in order to investigate, had appeared before him Gaspar de Salas, an interpreter of the Indians of Guale who, having been sworn in the proper form, gave promise to tell the truth and nothing but the truth--and that he would declare all that he was ordered to say to the Indians who claim to give information; that he will say and declare all that said Indians say in reply, under the oath that he has taken.