Quick Conversion Tables for Basic Colonial Measures

The tables below are provided as quick-references for converting selected colonial measures (distance and weight/volume) into modern-day miles and kilometers, with values ranging from 1-100. Spanish Leagues The two most commonly-employed league distances used for terrestrial measurements in Spanish Florida were the legua legal, which measured 3 Spanish millas, or 5,000 varas (equaling 0.8359 meters) of 3 Spanish pies (equaling 0.2786 meters), and the legua común, which measured 4 Spanish millas, or 4,000 pasos of 5 Spanish pies. The longer legua común seems to have been used principally during the 16th century, while the shorter legua legal seems to have been in nearly universal usage in Florida during 17th and 18th centuries. For more in-depth discussion of the variability in the Spanish league measurements during this period, see the following sources… Statute Leagues (legua legal) Miles Kilometers 1 2.6 4.18 2 5.2 8.37 3 7.8 12.55 4 10.4 16.73 5 13 20.92 6 15.6 25.10 7 18.2 29.28 8 20.8 33.47 9 23.4 37.65 10 26 41.83 11 28.6 46.02 12 31.2 50.20 13 33.8 54.38 14 36.4 58.57 15 39 62.75 16 41.6 66.93 17 44.2 71.12 18 46.8 75.30 19 49.4 79.48 20 52 83.67 30 78 125.50 40 104 167.34 50 130 209.17 60 156 251.00 70 182 292.84 80 208 334.67 90 234 376.51 100 260 418.34 Common Leagues (legua común) Miles Kilometers 1 3.46 5.57 2 6.92 11.13 3 10.38 16.70 4 13.84 22.27 5 17.3 27.84 6 20.76 33.40 7 24.22 38.97 8 27.68 44.54 9 31.14 50.10 10 34.6 55.67 11 38.06 61.24 12 41.52 66.81 13 44.98 72.37 14 48.44 77.94 15 51.9 83.51 16 55.36 89.07 17 58.82 94.64 18 62.28 100.21 19 65.74 105.78 20 69.2 111.34 30 103.8 167.01 40 138.4 222.69 50 173 278.36 60 207.6 334.03 70 242.2 389.70 80 276.8 445.37 90 311.4 501.04 100 346 556.71 Spanish Varas The Spanish vara was comprised of 3 Spanish pies, or feet, and was established as equivalent to 0.8359 meters upon the transition to the metric system during the 19th century. The vara de Burgos upon which this measurement was based was only one of several in usage during the colonial era, however, and so a certain amount of variability is to be expected both regionally and chronologically. Varas Feet Meters 1 2.74 0.836 2 5.49 1.672 3 8.23 2.508 4 10.97 3.344 5 13.71 4.180 6 16.46 5.015 7 19.20 5.851 8 21.94 6.687 9 24.68 7.523 10 27.43 8.359 11 30.17 9.195 12 32.91 10.031 13 35.65 10.867 14 38.40 11.703 15 41.14 12.539 16 43.88 13.374 17 46.62 14.210 18 49.37 15.046 19 52.11 15.882 20 54.85 16.718 30 82.28 25.077 40 109.70 33.436 50 137.13 41.795 60 164.56 50.154 70 191.98 58.513 80 219.41 66.872 90 246.83 75.231 100 274.26 83.590 Spanish Arrobas The Spanish arroba was used both as a measure of dry weight and separately as a measure of liquid volume, as indicated below in a single chart. All liquids but olive oil were measured using a larger arroba, while olive oil was measured using a smaller arroba (because of its greater density). Dry Weight Liquid Volume Olive Oil Volume arrobas Pounds Kilograms Gallons Liters Gallons Liters 1 25.36 11.50 4.26 16.13 3.32 12.56 2 50.73 23.00 8.52 32.27 6.64 25.13 3 76.09 34.51 12.79 48.40 9.96 37.69 4 101.45 46.01 17.05 64.53 13.28 50.25 5 126.81 57.51 21.31 80.67 16.60 62.82 6 152.18 69.01 25.57 96.80 19.91 75.38 7 177.54 80.52 29.84 112.93 23.23 87.94 8 202.90 92.02 34.10 129.06 26.55 100.50 9 228.26 103.52 38.36 145.20 29.87 113.07 10 253.63 115.02 42.62 161.33 33.19 125.63 11 278.99 126.53 46.89 177.46 36.51 138.19 12 304.35 138.03 51.15 193.60 39.83 150.76 13 329.71 149.53 55.41 209.73 43.15 163.32 14 355.08 161.03 59.67 225.86 46.47 175.88 15 380.44 172.53 63.94 242.00 49.79 188.45 16 405.80 184.04 68.20 258.13 53.11 201.01 17 431.16 195.54 72.46 274.26 56.43 213.57 18 456.53 207.04 76.72 290.39 59.74 226.13 19 481.89 218.54 80.98 306.53 63.06 238.70 20 507.25 230.05 85.25 322.66 66.38 251.26