in Costa Rica). There he established a base of operations, and the indigenous inhabitants received him in peace; from these Dávila learned that Hernández de Córdoba had evacuated Bruselas a few days previously. Dávila waited in Chira for reinforcements led by Hernando de Soto, who marched overland from Panama with two units of infantry and cavalry. Dávila subsequently arrested his wayward lieutenant Hernández de Córdoba and ordered his execution. In 1526, Pedrarias Dávila was replaced as governor of Castilla del Oro; Diego López de Salcedo, governor of Honduras, took advantage of the change in leadership to extend his jurisdiction to include Nicaragua. He marched to Nicaragua with 150 men to impose his authority. He arrived in León in spring of 1527, and was accepted as governor by Martín de Estete, Pedraria Dávila's lieutenant there. His poor government soured relations with the colonists, and provoked the restless natives of northern Nicaragua into open revolt against Spanish authority. Pedro de los Ríos, the new governor in Panama, moved into Nicaragua to challenge López de Salcedo, but was rejected by the colonists and was ordered back to Panama by the governor of Honduras. Meanwhile, Dávila had vociferously protested to the Spanish crown over his loss of governorship of Castilla del Oro, and in recompense was given the governorship of Nicaragua. López de Salcedo prepared to retreat back to Honduras, but was prevented by Martín de Estete and the Nicaraguan colonists, who now pledged their allegiance to Pedrarias Dávila. López de Salcedo's officials were arrested. León became the capital of the Nicaraguan colony, and Dávila transferred there as governor of the province in 1527. He arrived in León in March 1528, and was accepted everywhere as the rightful governor. He immediately imprisoned López de Salcedo and held him for almost a year, refusing to allow him to return to Honduras. Eventually his release was negotiated by intermediaries, and he renounced all claims to territory beyond a line from Cape Gracias a Dios to León and the Gulf of Fonseca. López de Salcedo returned to Honduras as a broken man early in 1529. This agreement settled the jurisdictional disputes between Nicaragua and Honduras. Pedrarias Dávila introduced European farming methods and became infamous for his harsh treatment of the natives. In 1528 to 1529, friar Francisco de Bobadilla of the Mercedarian Order was very active, and baptised over 50,000 natives among the Subtiaba, Diriá (a tribe