The royal treasury of St. Augustine differed from the ones elsewhere mainly in that it had fewer revenues. For various reasons, the economy of Florida never approached that of a settled, populous, or productive region. European settlement there, however early by North American standards, had gotten a late start in Spanish terms. In the rest of the Indies, debate had been going on for years about Indian rationality, just wars and slavery, forced conversions, encomiendas (allotments of tribute or service), and the alienation of native lands—and while theologians and lawyers argued, soldiers and settlers exploited. By the time the Florida conquest began, these questions were more or less settled. Although not advanced enough to be subject to the Inquisition, the Indian had been determined a rational being. He could not be held in servitude or have his lands taken. It was forbidden to enter his territory with arms and banners or to resettle him anywhere against his will. [Note 28: Cedula to Bartolome de Arguelles 8/18/1593.] Florida was to be conquered through the Gospel—not the fastest way. (Bushnell KC)