Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/354

334 already represented to the crown that unless a Spanish town was established in his diocese little progress could be made in the way of either spiritual or temporal improvement, and he applied for permission to found one. The necessity was, however, so evident that, confident of the approval of the king, the audiencia authorized the beginning of the work before the receipt of instructions from the crown. According to Motolinia, the work was begun on the 16th of April, and from Bishop Zumárraga's statements we learn that the site first selected was situated on low ground, and that it had been decided before he left New Spain, in 1582, to remove the town to a higher position.

Although great assistance had been given to the settlers by supplying them with native labor from the neighboring towns of Tlascala, Tepeaca, and others, during the first three years the colony did not make that progress which the promoters of it had hoped. The cause was the uncertainty as to the royal orders