“And, having regard to the fatigues and dangers which you have exposed yourself to in our service, in going to discover and find out the said islands, and that which you now run in attempting to find out the other islands and continent, wherein we have been and hope to be by you well served; we, to requite and reward you, do by these presents confirm to you and your children, heirs, and successors, one after another, now and for ever, the said employments of admiral of the said ocean, and viceroy and governor of the said islands and continent, by you discovered and found out, and of the other islands and continent that shall be by you, or by your industry found or discovered in those parts of the Indies.  And it is our will, that you, and after you your children, heirs, and successors, one after the other, enjoy the said employment of admiral of the said ocean which is ours, and which commences at a line which we have caused to be drawn from the Azores islands to the islands of Cape Verd, and so from pole to pole north and south, so that all beyond the said line westwards is ours and belongs to us.  And we accordingly constitute you our admiral, and your sons and successors one after another, of all that part for ever.  And we appoint you, and your sons, heirs, and successors, one after another, viceroy and governor of the said islands and continent discovered, and to be discovered in the said ocean, and in those parts of the Indies aforesaid; and we grant you the possession of all the said employments of admiral, viceroy, and governor for ever, with full commission and authority to use and exercise in the said ocean the office of admiral in all things, and in the same manner and form, and with the rights and privileges, perquisites and salaries as our admirals of Castile and Leon now use, have, and enjoy, or have enjoyed, as well in the said islands and continent already discovered, as in those which shall hereafter be discovered in the said ocean, and in the said parts of the Indies, that the planters or colonists of the same may be the better governed.”

“And we grant you such power and authority, that you, as our viceroy and governor, and your lieutenants, commanders, and officers, by you created, may exercise the civil and criminal jurisdiction, the supreme and mean authority, and the absolute and mixed command.  And in those places you may remove, turn out, and put in others in their places, as often as you please, and may find convenient.  And they shall have power to hear, judge, and determine, all suits or causes, civil and criminal, that shall occur or arise in said islands and continent, and they shall have and receive the fees and salaries usually annexed and pertaining to those employments in our kingdoms of Castile and Leon.  And you our said viceroy and governor, may hear and determine all the said causes or any of them, whensoever you please, upon the first motion, or by way of appeal or complaint, and may examine, determine, and decide them as our viceroy and governor: