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Rh Avendaño Explains the Prophecies. "The said cacique pretended ignorance, answering me that he did not understand these computations, but I, in case what he said was true, in order that he might understand them, explained them very minutely; and in order that he, if he did understand them, should not twist their meaning (as they are accustomed to do) with some of their superstitions, undertook with much pleasure the work of sitting down at length with them, the King having come at this time, (for he is the chief priest and master of them) with other priests and leaders who were there, before all of whom I carried on the said work, with the greatest pleasure and earnestness, so that there we might discuss in the sight of all, how the time had already expired (according to their prophets) in which they should begin to become Christians. I also made a computation of these accounts (the King and some of the priests aiding with their opinion) so that, confessing that they were convinced, we agreed that four months thereafter was the time wanting to fill out the said period when all the older

counts: 'It would be far better in every way if the Indians did not learn and know of the ancient peoples, because they have been found still at their idolatries, and those who were converted to our Holy Catholic Faith still perform the rites, adoring the Demon through thousands of Idols which have been found in this Province.'... "They counted their eras and ages which they put in their books by groups of twenty years and by lustra of four years. The first year they fixed in the East, calling it Cuchhaab; the second in the West, calling it Hijx; the third in the South, Cavac; the fourth in the North, called Muluc." These refer to the four dominical days, which he has given incorrectly. They should be Kan, Muluc, Ix (Hijx), and Cauac. (See Bowditch, 1910, p. 278.) "When these lustra reached five, which is exactly twenty years, rhey called it a Katun and placed a carved stone upon another, fixing them with lime and sand in the walls of their Temples and the houses of their Priests, as is to be seen today in the edifices which have been spoken of and in certain ancient walls of our Convent in Merida, over which there are cells. In a village called Tixualabtun, which signifies Place-where-a-carved-stone-is-placed-upon-another, it is said that there were Archives where were preserved all the events, as is done in Spain at the Archive de Simancas. "The common way of counting their age was hy these periods or Katuns, as, for instance, to say 'I have sixty years' Oxppelvabil- 'I have three eras of age,' that is, three stones; for seventy it is three and a half. Wherever it was known that there were not too many barbarians, they continued to live by this count, and it was said to be very accurate, so much so that not only did they know with certainty of an event, but also of the day and month on which it took place.


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144 men would receive baptism. … And so (they said) that this was the reply which they gave to my message, with which I could go back to the Governor who sent me, until the said four months had passed. At the end of which time they expected me, in order to carry out the agreement we had made, notifying me that I should not come back by Cha Kan Ytza, through which I had come there, since those Indians were their enemies and might kill me, but that I should go by Tipu (the road through which lies in the opposite direction) where he [Canek], knowing that I had arrived would come forward with all his people to receive me, informing me that from the Peten Ytza (which is the court of the said King) to Tipu, which they told me about, there were twelve days of travel, by which they left me to understand the love with which they received my message and the pleasure and good will which they had in becoming Christians.

Objection of Covoh. "The devil, envious of the results which were being gained and which would be gained by their and my fulfilling the agreement which I had made to return there in the said four months, without putting himself forward, took possession anew of the heart of that old cacique called Covoh, as he did with the heart of Judas. As Covoh found himself among his enemies (as are the King and the larger part of Peten) and seeing that that which his wicked heart intended was contrary to the agreement made in his presence, therefore he, as did the rest of the caciques and captains, said they were convinced; notwithstanding what had been said, the said Cacique Covoh burst forth in great anger in the following words:- 'What matters it that the time has come when we are to become Christians, if this slender point of my flint lance has not been worn out?' To this I answered him with the special favor and the special courage of God, 'You must know, Cacique Covoh, that he who permits me to come and argue with you (who is the true God of the Heavens) alone can give you this pleasure, if, for his greater glory, he allows me to die; and if he does not allow it, in vain do you show this arrogance of yours, since, just as there is a time

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Rh marked out and determined for you to become Christians, so also are the times determined for me to die for love of him; and if it were left in your hands, as you think, and say such things, you would have carried it out, or the devil Pakoc (this is an idol who speaks to them very frequently) whom you adore and who dictates such things to you; but here you shall know how slight is his strength in my presence, since he only dares to speak of it to you and not to come and execute it upon me. And I do not know (notwithstanding the great arrogance you show) what victory there can be in so many of your armed men here, killing so unjustly and without notice a few men like us, who, moved solely by love of you, intend without any arms, but for your own good, to take you out of the slavery in which you stand. In short here I am; I know not what prevents you from carrying out what you say.' With this, since it was late at night, they withdrew, and I with the King and the rest of the priests remained discussing the agreement which we had made.

Discussion with Canek and Others. “On the next day, after performing baptisms on some who came to me, talking with the King and some of the caciques of the other Petens or islands and other priests, who stayed with us continually, we discussed at our leisure various matters which came up. I asked them what products they had for their food and clothing, and they told me that they had a great deal of maize, beans, seeds, peppers, and that they sowed all this two or three times in the year; also many plantains and chunes, which are like the chayotes, though without thorns; some cacao (though but little), vanilla, and in some orchards enclosed with stakes in their homes, some wild cabbage. I did not see these nor the onions, which, however, the singers who accompanied me told me that they had seen; there is a great deal of cotton, cochineal, and indigo, which accounts for the abundance of clothing which they have and give to the Cehaches Indians, and those from Tipu in barter for hatchets and machetes; and all this woven very neatly, in a variety of colors of cotton thread; the said clothing is very durable, since it is like felt, although the colors


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146 of their cloth are not very permanent, from their not knowing how to give it the finishing touch....

Friendliness of Canek. "Because from the time that I had convinced them by their own ancient computations,- a thing that they considered impossible for any other man except their priests to learn,-they began to love and fear me at the same time; saying that I was undoubtedly a great personage in the service of my Gods, since I had succeeded in learning the language of their ancestors and their own, for from no one else of all these neighboring natives had they heard it, nor did they have any information that the Spaniards who subjugated their lands knew it.... On which account they called me Chomachahan, which means among them, 'Great Lord, worthy of reverence,' and Citcaan, which means 'Father of Heaven.'...

Demonstrations against Canek. "Suddenly a disturbance arose without any cause, among the crowd of Indians, together with their head men and captains and some priests, in which in my presence they said to the King many discourteous things, after which they went on to say,- 'What good was the friendship of the Spaniards and their law to be to them? If it was to get hatchets and machetes for cultivating, means had never failed them to till their soil up to that time; if it was for the stuffs and cloths of Castile for clothing them, when did they need any of this, since theirs was very good; if it was that the Spaniards should defend them, when was the Ytzalana nation cowardly or when did it humiliate itself to any one, since they had so many warriors for their own defense and for the destruction of as many as ventured against them? It was a very bad thing to receive them.' The King also opposed them in my presence with wisdom enough, defending in every point what they and he had agreed on with me; and with more severity reproved the arrogant mention of arms, in that they had said it before me. They grew more disturbed with the reproof and the contestants increased, and many, who up to that time had not spoken, then declared themselves as opposed to him, all the said men bursting out against him with words of great anger and exceeding boldness; all this discord was


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Rh caused by the said Cacique Covoh, who had not yet gone to his own town. I, who was paying attention to everything, seeing that all that great crowd was already excited and not paying attention to one another, since all were talking at the same time, rising by the side of the King and standing in the midst of them, said to them with some anger and effect:-'What is this? What disturbance and tumult is this, so entirely without foundation? Is it by chance because you have made an agreement with me to accept the friendship of the Spaniards and to trade with them in peace and kindness? Well then, what dagger did I press against your breast in order to make these friendships and to agree upon this peace with you, other than the good-will with which you have joined hands with me, knowing that already the time has come for you and the Spaniards to eat together in one plate and to drink together from one cup in token that you are our brothers? It is without doubt because you have remembered at this moment that you Indians are fickle in everything. Go, shame on you, and remember that you are Ytzalanos, respected by everyone as people of intelligence and consideration. Bear in mind that the agreement which you have made with me to be friends of the Spaniards is an intelligent act, by which you show that you are not ignorant of your prophecies, and your executing it will do you much honor, since our King and Lord is the greatest monarch that is found today in the world, to whom not only a few poor men isolated as you are, but very extensive kingdoms and empires consider themselves very fortunate in rendering and paying homage to him. And besides, notice how your great Montezuma, as soon as they informed him that my King was such a great Lord and that his empire was so extensive, offered him not only his crown, but also his person and kingdom, going as he did personally to offer it to him.

Leniency Promised by the Padres.; " 'But the Governor, who sends me, does not intend to take anything from you nor from the King any part of his command, but instead, he wishes that all this should remain with him, as is evident from this clothing which I have placed upon him and by that baton which I have placed in his hand. This among the Spaniards is a sign


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148 of command and rule.... All this being so, why do you raise this disturbance? Go, Ytzalanos, be ashamed of yourselves, since the agreement which you and your King have made with me is a very good one.'

"With this I sat down again and they stood still without knowing what had happened to them; and changing at once the conversation they indulged in much noisy mirth and laughter, playing jokes on each other, without thinking of the passed disturbance, as if it had not happened....

Avendaño Takes Steps to Protect the Itzas from Further Molestation. "Suspecting that in my absence some Spaniards might come either from this Province or that of Guatemala to make war on them, from their being around there in opening the road, they therefore asked me, in order to calm their hearts and as a token of peace, to give them some sure signs or well understood token, so that (in case any Spaniards should come to their lands from this Province of Yucathan or from the other one of Guatemala) they should do them no harm nor make war on them, when they showed them the said sign and well known token, which I should leave them.

The Letter of Counsel. "Then I left them the following letter: "Captains of whichever of the two Poles, North or South. My dear Lords. Our Lord was pleased to communicate to us his divine favor, in order to succeed in obtaining that which for many ages no one has been able to obtain. (But nothing is impossible to the divine power, to whom may the glory be ascribed.) Because for his glory he has given opportunity to humble the neck of this unconquerable Ytzalana nation, humbling itself at the first suggestion of the ministers of the gospel, and sons of my holy Padre, San Francisco, by promptly offering their children to the most pure washing of baptism, I having baptized up to this time many of them, with the sure hope of baptizing them all in a short time; though the fathers and mothers, although gentle and peaceable with us, are nevertheless slow in giving up their idolatry; and for this reason especially it is necessary to show moderation with great patience, so as to bear many such vexing acts as are due to the darkness


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Rh in which they have lived; on this account I beg your Graces to act with much prudence (if by chance you should come to this nation of the Ytzaes, whose patron is Saint Paul) so as not to lose in a short time what is so much desired and has been attained, thanks be to God! They are inclined to receive you in peace when your Graces appear and to give you what supplies, etc., that may be needed by you, in barter for hatchets, machetes and other merchandise of Castile, which they wish for exceedingly, but I do not know whether you will be well paid. This is as much as occurs to me now. After expressing my joy for the good health of your Graces, to whose service I offer humbly my own health, asking our Lord to keep you many years, as I wish. In the Town of Great Saint Paul of Peten Ytza, on the sixteenth of January, 1696. I kiss the hand of your Graces. Your most humble servant and chaplain,- Fray Andrés de Avendaño, Apostolic Missionary Commissioner...." There follows the certification of this letter by the Apostolic Notary.

"...With this I delivered the letter to the King in the presence of many chiefs and the greater part of the common people, so that all were satisfied with such an agreement, and agreeing moreover, they with me and I with them, that within the said four months, I should come back to see them.

Before Leaving Tayasal, Avendaño Shames Covoh. "Finding ourselves now very near our departure, I notice how, after the last disturbance above referred to, although it is true that the sermon that I preached to them calmed their spirits, nevertheless the devil did not fail to sow tares in the hearts of the Cacique Covoh, whom I have spoken of many times, and in another cacique named Ahcan, a relation of the King of Peten, and in the Captain Covoh, with all his followers, all of whom are Cha Kan Ytzaes, noting here that the first settlement which I met with on my entering the land of the said Cha Kan Ytzaes, was that of the said Cacique Ahcan and his Captain Covoh, to whom I showed (as I said at the beginning of my said entrance) what I was bringing for the King of Peten Itza; and these were the men who took away from us all that we carried at the time of our embarking on the lake. These


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150 men I did not fail to put to shame in Peten, before the King and the rest of the chiefs, not complaining of what they had taken from us, from the poor supply of the priests and of the four Indian singers, who carried their change of clothes with them, but my regret was that they had stolen the entire suit of clothes, with its sombrero and baton which the Governor had given me to give to the King in his name. This I scolded them for in earnest, asking them: 'What sort of way that was to receive a messenger, taking away from him all that he had brought, instead of giving a very kind reception?' This, with other effective reasons, I repeated on various occasions, until the clothes appeared, so that I myself clothed the King with them.

The Hatred of the Chakan Itzas for the Padres Increases. "The said Chakanytzaes then, abashed that the said clothes had been found in their possession, conceived a hatred against me.... They made a plan among themselves to kill us, when we passed through their territories, without the King and the others in Peten knowing it. On account of this, the said Cacique Can came with his Captain Covoh, with a great gourd full of posole, and with it entering the house of the King, in which I was at the time stopping, he told me to drink what he had brought me. I drank it without suspicion, for always had I trusted in that text of the Evangelist ' si morfirum quid biberibit, non eis nosevit. ' And scarcely had I drank it, when they told me that they had come to ask me for two of the four Indians whom I brought with me, who were the fattest, so that the next day when I should pass by their house on my return, they should have made me something good to eat; for the Indians would know how to prepare food for us in the way to which we were accustomed. I, who recognized the wicked intention of the said invitation, said to them, 'I cannot go without them, nor can they stay here without me. When I go, they will go.' Then they replied, 'Tomorrow, when the sun is up, we will all come for you, to accompany you as we accompanied you hither.' 'Well and good,' I answered them. With this they went off to their town very well satisfied, to prepare, without doubt, the pib or fire where the two fat Indians, whom


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Rh they asked me for, were to be cooked, and the stakes on which we were to be spitted, as we found out later.

Canek Helps the Padres to Escape. "As soon as these men had gone, the King said to me, -'You have done well in not giving them your servants, nor is it best for you to go back by their house nor by the road by which you came, but by the opposite road, which is that of Tipu, to which place I will accompany you; since you must know that this invitation is to kill you, in order that the Spaniards may not know the road by which you came. And they say that they are going to follow the Cehaches Indians who guided you, as far as their houses in order to kill them; and so you must go tonight and when they come tomorrow they will find that they have been tricked.' The Queen and her daughters confirmed the truth of this, for, when the time came to embark, they said to us, 'They say that they are not going to kill you in any other way than by cutting you in little pieces,' and they made gestures with one hand over the other, to show that they were going to make mince meat of us and eat us. We started that night, as I have said, and I will tell about it more fully farther on. So that, when they came for me, they found themselves tricked.

"In a rage at seeing their purposes frustrated, the said Cacique Can and his Captain Covoh and the other Cacique Covoh returned to their homes with sixty Indian warriors of their followers.... The said Chakanytzaes Indians came painted red and ready for war to the camp of the General Alonso Garcia de Paredes, saying that I had sent them for the ornaments and the rest of the baggage which I had left in the deserted town of Chuntucí, a land adjoining the nation of the Cehaches, and that they came for the Padre who was taking care of these things.... On their saying to the General that they came for the ornaments, being sent by me, the said General said to them, 'Nor does his servant come with you?' 'Neither does he come,' they replied, 'so he merely sends us in this way.' Then he brought out wine to give them and sent them with the Padre Apostolic Notary to the said town of Chuntucí, which was distant some few leagues from the camp, that he might deliver to them the baggage and sacred vessels.


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152 Paredes' Stupidity; the Plot of the Chakan Itzas. "Cursed be the ignorance which causes so great losses in this way! Of how great importance is knowledge and experience for the proper despatch of things! This General has no more knowledge or experience, except for cutting wild trees in the forest where he has always been placed, cutting timber for building the ships which sail from the port of Campeche. And so he missed at the present time the greatest victory which could be gained in this kingdom of Yucatan.... Is it possible that reason did not tell him, even if he was ignorant of the said points and of the military laws, that a priest and minister of God was not going to send sixty Indians for the sacred vessels and the Padre who guarded them, without sending him a message in writing (as I promised to do when I took my leave) or without writing to the said Padre my companion to come with them? Is it possible that, on seeing that neither had I sent even one of the four Indians who accompanied me, even if I was not able to write, so that they could deliver the sacred things to him, he was not surprised enough to infer from that, either that what the sixty Indians said was false, or that they had killed us,- especially as he saw them come painted red and in warlike array and had entered impudently into the camp? Spare me from such an act, for in this case (although I do not understand military laws) reason dictates that he ought to have imprisoned them and disarmed them until he had satisfied himself whether what they said was true, taking two of them as guides, and sending an officer with the necessary people behind them, to investigate the truth of what had happened, and according to the result, to act in the following way,- if it was true that I sent them without a letter or sure token, he should have laid the blame on me and should have honored the prisoners by accompanying them with all his people to take possession of their lands in the name of the King our Lord, since then he would know that this was the sign which I gave him when I took my leave of him, that the said Ytzaes wished to become Christians and accepted the friendship of the Spaniards; and if it was not true, he should then have made use of severity and the military laws. For, if the story that I sent them was


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Rh false, as it was, and if he had used military severity with their three principal chiefs, who were the Cacique Covoh and the Cacique Can and the Captain Covoh, all of whom the King of Peten, in his answer to the message, told me were his enemies, and said that if the Governor executed them, he (the King) would deliver over all the Petens, then all the nations of the Ytzaes would have been conquered and delivered to the King our Lord, and at this moment they would all have been Christians without the said victory costing a shot of powder.... And he ought not to have allowed them to go behind the said Padre, my companion, some leagues away, with the risk that the said heathen might kill the priest without the merit of being in the service of God; and with the risk of their stealing and misusing the sacred vessels.

The Chakan Itzas are Foiled by God. "But God, who looks after his affairs, arranged that on the said Chakanytzaes coming near the ornaments, they, pretending a need, told the Padre to await them there, and they went into the woods and went to their town without having accomplished any of the many purposes for which they came; the first, to see if they had got ahead of me and my companions (understanding that we had passed through their territories by night) so as to carry out their intention of killing us; the second, to see if they could catch the three Cehaches Indians, our guides, who returned to their homes by that road, so as to kill them; the third to see how many Spanish people were in the camp for working on the road which they were opening, so as to flee if they were many and to resist them if they were few; the fourth to satisfy their greed by stealing the sacred vessels with the rest of the wares of Castile which they thought I brought with me. But they found it all in vain, thanks be given to God, who thus looked after his priests and the materials for celebrating mass; and not to the inconsiderate action of the said principal head, by which he showed so little regard for looking after the things of God and his ministers; but thus God has brought out all things well, according to the purposes for which he has worked....

The Departure of the Padres from Tayasal. "Let us turn from this digression to the departure from Peten. In order to


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154 frustrate the pretended invitation which the Chakanytzaes gave us, we left with grief and tears enough on the part of the family of the King and his friends, at about nine o'clock at night in the company of the King, his son and his son-in-law,—all three rowing in the canoe at a good speed. We came to the other part of the lake in the direction of the East, which is the road to Tipu, at between three and four o'clock of the next morning. When we landed here, on renewing our signs of affection with the King and he with us, he again recalled to me the past agreement, saying 'See that you do not forget to tell your Governor that I love him much and wish to be his friend and that of the Spaniards, and not to fail to kill my said rivals, the Chakanytzaes, for I am sure that I shall deliver to him the Petens which I rule. And do not fail to come to see us, as you say, and let it be by this road of Tipu, so that I with all my people may come out to receive you.' All these words did the King say to me, holding me in a loving embrace.

"He remained alone on the canoe to return before they should miss him, and to us he gave his son and son-in-law as guides, with their bows and arrows to defend us from anyone who might wish to do us harm. They guided us through some very large plains or meadows, though afterwards there were some very good bits of hills, with some bad stretches of mud and water, and larger hills, so that, considering that it rained every day, wetting us very thoroughly, since we did not have any place or wherewithal to shelter us, the journey was the more troublesome and dangerous.

Avendaño Goes Eastward to Yalain. "In this way we came to the first settlement of Peten Ytza, on the main land, in an easterly direction, which is called Yalain, which is distant from Peten Ytza to that place, ten very long leagues,- six on the water and four on land up to said town. This town consists of very few houses close together, but also of many farms well peopled, at a distance in a circle of one or two leagues. All are Indians of Peten Ytza, who came there to farm, although there are also some from Tipu, and all are dwellers in the said town, in which are found many Indians called Canekes, like the King of Peten, but they are not relations of his, but are


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Rh natives of his district, which (as I have said) take their names from those who rule the said districts, although they may have, as they do, their own surnames, each one from the father and mother. A priest more than fifty-four years old, according to his appearance, called Chomachculu, rules this town, a great comrade and confidant of the King Canek, to whom the said King sent us, well recommended, so that he might give us as good reception and attention as he would to himself. And this they did, for, as soon as we came, they gave us very good things to eat and took us to a new house, which was only thatched, but they had not put down the floor. This house, they told us was for us,... and (they told us) how in the month of September of the past year of ninety-five, there had gone to Merida, four Indians who said that they were from Tipu, with whom I had intercourse, and I gave them something to eat in our cell.... I heard that the said Indians asked for ministers of the gospel so that they should administer to them the divine word and the holy sacraments.... So when we came to this town of Yalain, its inhabitants began to ask us about these four Indians who went to Merida in the said month of September, (who had not yet come back).... In reply I asked them if the men were one Achan with his younger brother, and another called Ahtec, and another Anu, and they said 'Yes.' To this I replied that I did not know why they had not come to their town, as they had started so long before I did.... We stopped in that town two days, its inhabitants treating us very well. From there they were to give us a guide to pass on to Tipu, as the priest Chomachculu promised us in compliance with the request which the King of Peten made of him, and on this supposition the son and son-in-law of the King, who had guided us up to that time, returned home. But they said that this guide was to be an Indian of Tipu, who came to Peten while we were there, and, though the said Indian saw us leave Peten, he never came at all, but rather stayed there.

Trouble with Soldiers. "We were staying on in hopes that this man would come, when we saw coming six or eight Indians from Peten, who (as they told us) were coming to their farms


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156 These brought the news that there had been a disturbance in Peten, on account of there having come in the part where we had entered Indians from this side of the Province, and that they had heard musket shots, with a rumor of Spaniards. I do not know if this was true, but what we experienced from this time on from the Indians of that town where we were staying was that they cooled off entirely in that affection with which up to that time they had regarded us, showing us a thousand slights without paying any attention to giving us the guide which we asked for. The change in their hearts came to such an extreme that they called a meeting (drinking a great deal of their drink, with which not only they get drunk, as they were then, but with which they worship). We came then to a time when on that night the taking of our lives had been determined on, had not God wished that I should learn about the matter; and so I taking from them the implements of their feast, and reproving them for the little firmness of their hearts, they came to understand that we knew the wickedness of their actions. Then they all gathered together around us, and without any more noise or disturbance, they kept us company all night. Scarcely had the dawn come when (perhaps in remorse for their sin) they began to treat us with the same affection as at the beginning and to give us an Indian who guided us to the other farms, half a league from there, which, from the abundance of the fruit, appeared an orchard. There was another priest called Chomach punab, who received us with very great kindness, giving orders to call all the Indians, men and women, in the vicinity, so that they might see us, and asking us to stop and have something to eat. We yielded to his importunity in order, by showing ourselves pleased, to reciprocate so much kindness as they showed us. The wife of one of the four Indians who I said before came to Merida, named Ahtec, spoke to me. Hardly had we accepted the invitation, when all the Indian women went to their houses, to make something for us to eat; and in a short time they came back, each one of them with her bowl of meat, according to what they had, with many tortillas, so that we, with the Indians who accompanied us, should eat; the Indians promising us that some of them would accompany


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Rh us. And, scarcely had we eaten and told them to come to guide us, when suddenly they turned back, without our being able to get anything from them, except that an Indian came about half a mile, to set us upon that obscure path, which led towards the direction of Tipu, telling us that up to that place, we had to speed on the way twelve days, from sunrise to sunset; and that, two leagues before that, we should come across a great river, which we had to pass, but he did not tell us how nor where.

The Padres Suffer Hardships and Lose their Way. "With this he returned to his house and we went on with twenty maize tortillas which we had kept, of those which they had brought us to eat. With these we sustained ourselves, seven people of us, for five days, at the end of which we came across a great river, having before this met with many and very large aguadas and having passed many ridges and hills, with so many other evident dangers that some fatality might happen to us. Notwithstanding this, we took some pleasure at having found this great river,—first, because we thought that we had not lost ourselves, since we had found the river with signs which they gave us; and second, because we found ourselves (as it appeared to us) near Tipu, where we could remedy the want of supplies from which we were suffering. But our pleasure was marred, since, following the footsteps or obscure path, along the banks of this river, on the fifth day of our following them, and on the tenth day of the want of supplies from which we suffered, we found ourselves entirely lost, in a greater perplexity than any human being could find himself;-that is, surrounded on one side by the great full and broad river and surrounded on the other sides by another multitude of little streams with great density of low trees, so that it did not appear possible that we could pass through them; and on another side were some cliffs and very high ridges so that we were not able, by making use of the trees, to climb up the heights. In the midst of this struggle determined to follow the direction to the Northwest, so as to reach the deserted town of Chanchanha, and to cross the head streams of the great rivers and aguadas which surround it, since in this direction it was not possible for us to


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158 fail in finding it. We went three days in this direction, and from thinking that, if we missed the convent of Chanchanha, in this direction, there was afterwards no place to have recourse to, on account of the great distance that we were from a town on all sides, a great sadness came over my companion Padres, so that they told me that we should change our direction, since, if we did not, it was certain that we should perish in these forests, and that the best thing was to try to strike the road which was being opened from this Province to that of Guatemala, which runs from North to South. To please them I yielded the opinion which I had determined on. From there we took the direction to the West, although the distance in leagues and forests which we intended to traverse was more than sixty or seventy. This distance was a great one, for us to be able, breaking through such bad thickets and suffering from hunger for thirteen days, to come through alive, without exaggeration.

Hard Travel in the Wilderness for Fifteen Days. "In those fifteen days that we traveled in a northwesterly direction, we met with many akalchees, or swamps, which consist of very bad passages through water and low and thorny shrubs with a kind of square grass, which, if it caught our clothes, held us by the multitude of thorns, which grow on the four corners from top to bottom; and if it caught our face, hands or legs, it cut them like a small saw; so that as most of the woods are akalchees, which consist of this grass, except on the high places, we were always walking with our feet, hands or faces wounded, so that we did not know what to do. Thus wounded, we went through some very long akalchees, when we directed one of the Indians whom we brought, to climb a tree so as to look out and see where we could make a short cut through the said akalche, for we were not able to suffer any longer on account of the many sores which the said grass caused us. This said Indian climbed the tree, and gave us the news that he had discovered a great meadow or plain towards the northwest. Some instinct made me believe it, but to see whether imagination and the wish we had to find it, had this effect, we took that direction, so that in a little while we came upon the said meadow; but as we entered it, at the beginning it had half a


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Rh yard of water; we went ploughing through it and at each step there was more water, and it took a long time to cross it, causing us pain enough in our wounds. But with the care that we took not to get submerged, we forgot that feeling, since the earth of the said marsh was so spongy that though we doubled up the reeds which grew there in large number, so as to step over it, so that the water might hold us up, yet if we stopped a moment, the overflowed earth drew and sucked us in in such a way, that if we should fall, we could not help one another, since he who should stop to help the other, would be submerged with him.

Miracle of the Bent Branch. "At the end of a long stretch of this trouble, we reached some little woods, with trees of considerable height, which were as much, or more, covered with water as what we had passed through. We passed through these as well as we could, having in mind that that was now coming to an end, when suddenly we came across a very large aguada of the kind they call Kaxek, in which no bottom is found. Armed with patience, although with some trouble from the fact that the sun was about to set, considering that we had to stay there that night, I made an Indian climb one of the said trees, so as to see where the aguada ended, or where we could make a short cut through the said aguada; and the said Indian not discovering a passage in any part to our great sorrow, we, looking towards one side, saw a branch of a tree broken, like those which the Indians break so as not to lose themselves in the woods. We attributed this sign to a miracle, as it was not probable that a human being could place that sign in that place. We followed that sign in an easterly direction, which was that towards which the said branch was bent, until, when, at a little distance, we came upon another branch bent in the same way and very recently. At this we were consoled by the miracle which God kept continuing. We went on with sticks in our hands, trying the shallow places, because, when we least expected it, we came on many holes of alligators (since they are found in abundance in the said overflowed woods) and then we were submerged almost to our heads. We discovered a piece of level ground, about as large as the ante-room of a cell, and thinking that it was solid, we started to pass over it,


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160 but on its bearing the weight of the body, not only did all the ground shake, but the part where we pressed on it, sinking, submerged us also with it; many alligators starting from under it and fleeing from their holes, so that we went on with great misgiving - one, so as not to sink in, the other, for fear that some of these alligators would cut off a leg of ours at a mouthful. This was all a pure miracle, since there also we came across the third branch close by a ridge, where we went to sleep that night very well contented, although so wet, because God had freed us from that trouble in which we were.

An Uncomfortable Night. "We came out of that place about sunset, and climbing the high ridge which we met with, we went to rest there, cold enough from being drenched with water, even to the lint which we had for striking fire, unable to get comfort by warming ourselves. We offered to God the trouble we had passed and even with more fervor the trouble which follows from sleeping in wet clothes. But remembering that the Indians are accustomed to make fire with two dry sticks, and having no other than the staff which I carried, we broke it, and with this God willed that we should obtain fire. We made a great fire, with which we not only dried our garments and underclothes, but warmed ourselves very well. In the vicinity of the fire we went to sleep.

"On the next day when we left this place, we discovered a large plain or meadow, which horrified us just to see it, on account of what had happened on the preceding afternoon, but as it was free from woods, we were happy in passing over it, and more so as we had seen in the distance many pine trees all about it, so that, thinking of their fruits, we had hopes of getting something to eat; but our hope was in vain, since, when we came to see whether they had cones, they had them, but without seeds. We had recourse to other trees, which appeared to be evergreen oaks, with the acorns of which, if there were any, we might give our bodies some sustenance; but they were nothing but oak trees which had nothing but leaves. Crossing this field, we came upon a path well frequented by animals, and as the grass was tall, their tracks were not seen; notwithstanding which, in some marshes, where there was no


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Rh grass and the soil was only damp, we saw that the tracks were like those of an ox or bull. We wondered at this, from there not being seen in a long distance from there any herd of cattle, so that for the time being we suspended judgment.... But when in the Province I told this to people who go through forests, they told me that those tracks were of deer, for there are such in this Province. I offer no objection to there being as many wild animals as can be imagined, since the woods are very well fitted for them.

Great Want of Food. "At the end of the said three days in which we passed through these troubles, taking a westerly direction, we again began to break through woods and with greater difficulty (than before), since hunger kept wearing out our strength and the ridges which we met in the space of three days were so high in all four directions, that it seemed impossible that men could cross them, on account of the great height of their summits and the depth and shallowness of their ravines. The trees of these hills of which we availed ourselves so as not to fall, are some palms which are called Cumes, covered with thorns whose sharp points are very long and cover the tree from top to bottom as far as the roots; so that all our bodies were wounded by the said thorns from head to foot, particularly our feet, since we went barefoot. At this time came the day of Purification of Our Lady, when we prepared in spirit for celebrating that day, all of us confessing one another, as men who at every moment had death before their eyes, on account of the great want of food. And in order to obtain the holy indulgences of that day, we had anticipated it by finding on the preceding days some date palms, with the fruit in season, of which we made use for eating on those days, as well as some sapote mameys, which, though they were as hard as stone, from their not being in season, we cooked for eating.

The Situation Grows Still Worse. "All this appeared to us now very hard, to have to live only on these dates without any food. But in two or three days after we found the dates and sapotes, the situation became more serious (and much worse after many days); for not having found anything to eat for three days, nor even to drink, as my mind turned more and


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162 more to spiritual things, since it was not hindered by any bodily functions, which would prevent its reasoning powers, so great was the occurrence of texts of scripture, examples of saints, and incidents which it remembered, that I recalled very readily everything that I had read; so that sometimes the said conditions brought about greater resignation to God, knowing that it was then that he was of more assistance to his creature, when he purified him more in the crucible of affliction; and at other times such memories served as a greater encouragement; (although my resignation never failed). Then remembering that there was no bird nor animal among the forest trees of which divine Providence does not take care, as well in the adornment of clothing as in giving his daily sustenance, and that to us, who were rational beings, created in his image and likeness, the contrary happened, without our having, not only anything to eat, but not even water to drink, this was an intellectual argument which we kept meditating on, as we went along the road without stopping.

"But this meditation of mine beginning to search the recesses of my conscience in my past life, scarcely had it come to the threshold of this argument, when, knowing that its faults deserved much greater punishment, it bore the present ones with patience and prepared itself for greater ones in the future; but as the disordered appetite of this unrestrained body called out each day for our daily food, remembering that God himself had taught us to ask for it, though I knew that its not being found was a chastisement of my sins, not on this account did I fail to continue the petition every day, particularly at the hour when I knew that my brothers were eating in the refectories, with such pleasure and tranquillity, without perhaps remembering us....

"When the hour of noon was passing, on which at the accustomed hour of eating we remembered said pleadings, there passed also our desire for the said meal, considering that, since God did not give it, it was not suitable for us, and thus that his most holy will should be done in everything, and that if it was best for us to suffer more, his holy Majesty sent it. Here the soul ruled, but it could not fail that the body also asked for


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Rh an offering which would preserve our lives, which it brought forward by continually asking for it, as one who needed it so much. I then, leaning on the faith which I had in my Father, San Diego, on the one side, and on the great need which I suffered on the other, seeing that in reply to my prayers, San Diego had accomplished nothing as it appeared to me, in my mind I directed the said Saint, in holy obedience, now that my prayers were not accepted for my many sins, that he should go, moved by his great charity, to the gates of Heaven to ask alms in the name of his brothers who were lost in these parts and perishing from want,- an extraordinary thing truly. A wonderful event which I relate for the greater confusion of me and my audacity and for the greater glory of the humility and prompt obedience of my Father, San Diego.

They Find Some Miraculous Honey. "Scarcely had we gone twenty steps from where I bade him for obedience sake, when we met with a sapote tree, rotten and fallen on the ground, in which we found a bee-hive, and the occurrence is the more wonderful in that, having no implement for cutting or taking out the said bee-hive, other than the pike or point of my staff, the said trunk happened to be rotten; so that with the said spike, we took the bee-hive out; besides the fact that the tree had laid fallen for many years, the hive was freshly occupied, so that there is no doubt that, while there were so many trees standing strong and sound, they went to swarm in a trunk, rotten and fallen to the ground; so that it is an evident miracle which my Glorious Father, San Diego, prepared for me. So when we came across the bee-hive, with great tenderness and to my greater confusion, I began to weep, confessing my sin to my companions, the Padres, which only my great faith and the want from which we were suffering could excuse. We ate that honey with its embryos and its excrement, without in our great hunger reserving any part of it; and though the honey which fell to our share was not much, since there were seven portions which were made of it, nevertheless it caused great thirst, as we had brought no water with us, and did not find any for a long time afterwards. This happened to us the day of the Purification of Our Lady, as I said before.


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164 Two Padres Go Ahead. "On this day, it appearing to my two Padre companions, either that hunger and want were lasting a long time, since fifteen days of it were already passing or that we now found ourselves near the road which we sought; guided as much by the law of nature which obliged them to save their lives, as by the love with which they loved me, seeing also that I was overcome as well by my needs as by the continual attacks of stomach troubles from which I suffered, and that they, by being younger, could walk more leagues than the three leagues which I walked each day, by which speed, if they reached safety first, not only would they save their lives, but also would aid me with some assistance, so that I should not perish in the woods, they said to me, 'Father our Commissioner, we wish to go forward with the benediction and permission of your Reverence, to see if we can make greater progress each day by some leagues, so as by this means to reach some settlement, from which to send you some assistance, to aid your Reverence; and if we should be delayed in getting out of the woods, and should meet with the soldiers, we would send some of them whenever we met them, so that they may extricate your Reverence and that you may not perish in these forests. We are of no importance, and as such, we shall not be missed. But as for your Reverence, on whose shoulders so much depends, such as giving an account to our Prelate and to our Lord the Governor of everything that has happened, your loss would be of importance. Therefore we beg your Reverence to give us your blessing in carrying out what has been said, giving us one of these Indians to accompany us, and one of the two needles which you have, so as to follow the direction to the west which we are taking.' I, that I might never be held responsible for any loss or harm that might come to them, granted them the Indian they picked out, the needle, blessing and permission, although I knew we were yet very far off from arriving in the four days that they thought.

"We took leave of each other with the mutual love and tenderness, which the loving companionship of those who had followed me faithfully through so great hardships required. We charged each other to remember one another in our poor


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Rh and humble prayers. With this they went off with the benediction of God and of myself, I remaining with the three Indians, though one was dying (and he died later) and the rest with their strength exhausted as mine was.

"The departure of the Padres, my companions, and my beginning to undergo new calamities, was all at the same time; for on those first three days it was all passing through akalchees, or overflowed lands, although they were dry but very much obstructed and closed up with low and thorny trees which grew there, and with those cutting grasses which I spoke of above, so that we were in constant trouble in passing through them, reopening once more all the wounds which we had on our legs. And at that time we found ourselves with bare feet and legs, and with our clothes in pieces, without getting any more comfort from them than to cover myself with them at night; also a steel for striking fire, which by a miracle we saved among the heathen Ytzaes, belonged to my companions, so that they took it with them, and I remained without any human comfort, nor did they take anything except the said steel.

A Desperate Situation. "In this final and extreme need we remained so absolutely destitute of everything, that only by some angel bringing us food and placing it in our mouths, could we nourish this living body; because, even if we should find anything, either animals or birds of the forest, we had nothing to kill them with, and, even if they put themselves into our hands for killing, we had no knife nor machete to skin them with, if they were animals, nor anything to cook them with for want of a steel for striking fire. From this it can be inferred that, being wet every day, at least with the dew, besides the showers which caught us, and having to sleep on the bare earth, wherever night came upon us, whether it was wet or dry, we were unable to get any comfort, besides not having any means of making fire.

They Find Some Edible Thistles. "Notwithstanding, the said akalchees were not what exhausted us most, nor were they so unkind to us that amongst them we did not find something to eat and drink; since on some trees there were Chuis, which are like large edible thistles, the leaves of which preserve the


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166 water from the dew and rains for a long time, and by tapping them in the stem, the water which they have preserved comes out, although it is dirty and bad smelling; but the thirst we felt was more so. These same plants served us for food, by eating the stems of each leaf; something like two fingers of white that they have, since that part is the most tender, and the rest is very bitter and hard. In the same way we used to find in the said akalchees some roots of trees to gnaw, so that, as the proverb says, 'Afflictions with bread are of less account,' we did not feel the sores which those cutting grasses had caused us, as I have said, in exchange for what we found there of food and drink.

Some Hills are Reached. "These three days of akalchees having passed, there followed three other days of hills and very high ridges, so that we inevitably had to pass them, since they lay in all four directions. These followed one after the other in such a way that, having finished climbing one, we went down it again, without finding an eighth of a mile level below. Upon which we again ascended the next one, for all of these were so high that their heights cannot be told except to say that in their deep valleys the rays of the sun do not penetrate. So weak did we become from ascending these hills on account of the fatigue, as well as by going down, because of the stony ground, or for both reasons, it was necessary to make use of the trees, which cover the hills, the most of which are the said palms called Cumes, full of penetrating thorns, which injured our feet, hands and bodies, since falling from weariness, we were wont to strike against them.

"On the top, then, of one of these hills, we found a broad aguada,-a thing which surprised us much, since there were not any other high places around it, from which the water could come. There were there very many flint stones which caused injury enough to our feet on account of our going barefoot. I do not know to what to attribute that water on that high hill top, since in the preceding ravines, which, for the most part, were rivers, although now dry, water was not found, except to a miracle, by which God gave us to understand that he had not forgotten our needs, since with so much climbing


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Rh up and down as we had been through, we were thirsty enough, so that God furnished this aguada, from which we had a very good drink. In about an eighth of a mile we came to the descent from this height, after which we passed two days of woods, some that were somewhat level, without so many or so high hills, but it is wonderful that though these forests in which we traveled for two days and the three preceding ones, consist of an infinite number of sapote and ramon trees, we did not find in them all a bit to eat,- a thing which happens in these woods as in the rest that I saw. Seeing their sterility, I said, 'They appeared in every respect like those of Gilboa.'

Deserted Buildings. "With so few comforts and so great affliction, our strength went on diminishing very quickly, knowing for truth the proverb which the Biscayans, my fellow countrymen, say: 'It is the guts which carry and support the legs and not the legs, the guts.' Among these high hills which we passed over, there is a variety of old buildings, excepting some in which I recognized apartments, and though they were very high and my strength was little, I climbed up them (though with trouble). They were in the form of a convent, with the small cloisters and many living rooms all roofed over, and arched like a wagon and whitened inside with plaster, which is very abundant through that region, since all the ridges are composed of it. So that these buildings do not resemble those which are here in this Province, for the latter are of pure worked stone, laid without mortar, particularly the part which relates to arches; but the former are of rough stone and mortar, covered with plaster.

False Hopes; Further Hardships. "It seemed to us that these buildings stood near a settlement, from the information which the soldiers had given us, when we were going on the new road to Guatemala, but it turned out to be the dream of a blind man, since we found ourselves, as we saw afterwards, very far from a settlement. We traveled through these woods when we came upon a dry river, which we followed a long while to see if we found water, which we came across, though late, which is better than never. Before that, God willed that we should meet a Kamas, or a great mound of earth, which the ants


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168 build, in which we found a little honey to eat, and, as every sweet thing at once calls for water, and we were late in finding it, it did not fail to give us trouble. By following the above mentioned river, we came to the said aguada, which was quite large, similar to those which they call Petens. This made us go around through plenty of woods and affliction, so as to get past it.

They Face Starvation. "We passed the said aguada and afterwards some hills, with other rivers, although they were dry, though the hollows in them were a proof of their being very full in the rainy season. The signs were not deceptive, for at a little distance we fell in with a great cibal or pond full of those grasses with broad and cutting leaves, of which I spoke before. This was, according to its distance which was lost to sight, more than two leagues long and half a league broad. Into this discharged the currents of the rivers of which I spoke, and it cost us much trouble to go around it, so as to pass it, changing our course in this, as in the other cases, which I have spoken of, always to the North. In all this time we had nothing to eat, except the little honey that I spoke of, so that the animated mass of bones, owing to the continued troubles of traveling every day and not eating, now kept growing weaker and weaker. In such a great extremity of a man's dying without sickness or infirmity, being in his perfect senses, one can well understand what cries he would utter to God and to his most holy mother, and to all the saints of his prayers, not only intended for his bodily comfort, but in order that he should not die among beasts without the sacraments and in order that God should bring him to die among brothers as a Catholic, and receive the holy sacraments.

A Sign from our Lady of the Apparition. "The affliction which my dying without them among those wild trees caused me, God, on whom my heart called, alone knows. In like manner, there was not a saint of my prayers to whom I did not pray, and even lovingly complained that they should leave me in this way to die in these woods; yet my thinking that, if this should happen, it would probably be the will of God, was what mitigated all my sulferings. Nevertheless among all the Saints


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Rh I called upon to bring me out to die in a settlement, was our Lady who appeared at Campeche, and scarcely did I call upon her in my mind (for thus were all my pleas) to come to my aid, when at once we saw bent branches of trees, a proof that people had come through those places. From then on I put away the needle in the sleeve of my habit, without taking it out, following the said track wherever it went. I kept on following it for four days through paths as clear as they were different from those we had found. The Indians were troubled when they saw that I was going in a contrary direction and advised me to leave such trails and to go in a westerly direction. I, who alone knew how the said Batche signs appeared on my invoking our Lady of the Apparition, replied to them that they should come along since whoever had showed me that Batche or broken branches (which is a road for Indians) would bring us out to a settlement.

"This is certain that at this time I was going on, falling and getting up again, on account of my needs, but my faith was always strong and firm that our Lady of the Apparition was going to bring us out safely. At the end of the said four days of following the Batche or broken branches, in such different directions, for sometimes they went to the East, at other times to the North, and at others to the South, we finally came across a path, broad and good, on which it was evident that a little while before Indians had passed and that there was frequent passing. The Indians wished to follow it towards the East, in case there were (as there were, from what I knew afterwards) any farms there, in which they might find something to sustain ourselves. But I did not let them go, since the sure thing was to follow it to the West, where either a settlement or the road from Guatemala, which we were searching for, could not fail us. At this time we were going on with a strong desire to reach it, but with little courage; wherefore we stopped to sleep on the road.

They Climb Some High Hills. "On the next day we went on over some high hills, difficult to climb; then, on passing over one which is ascended on the bank of a stream with but little water in it, one of the two Indians who accompanied me carried


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170 me, so that I could pass over it or climb it. There was no need for the hill to be very high (and it was not) for me not to be able to climb it, since now there was left to me in all my body only the bones and the skin and the spirit which animated them. In a little while I gave up at once, without being able to take a step forward, although my wish was to go on and the Indians encouraged me. This was a thing which gave them great trouble, for they also now were reeling from weakness. I, seeing that they would be missed mote, if they died than if I did, since they had families of wife, children, mother and brother, and that I had only God, to whom I had delivered my soul and life, I made an agreement with them, that they should leave me there under a tree, and that they should try to save their lives, with the understanding that, if they got out in a short time to a settlement, they should come back to see me in a few days and to bring me some aid, for if I did not follow them, it was not from want of wish or spirit to do so, but from want of strength. They grieved much over this resolution of mine, on account of the love which they had come to have for me, and so they replied to me that they were not going to leave me, but that where I should die, they were going to die also. I (perhaps by divine inspiration) insisted that they should go on and leave me, to the point of commanding them with firmness to do so, provided that they should come to see me, whenever they found supplies, for I trusted in God that they would find me alive. With this determination of mine, they obeyed me, cutting off as they could leaves or branches of palms, and they made me a little hut in which to remain at rest.

Avendaño Left Alone. "At the same time they left me a fire lighted, and it was a prodigy for them to have lighted it, since on other occasions they had not been able to make a fire, because they lacked strength in their hands to prepare or bore the said sticks with which fire is made. They also left me half a gourd of water to cool my throat, so that it might not be closed up. Having done all this with great tenderness and with tears, they took leave of me, and I, giving them my benediction, and showing them a like tenderness, embraced them also and


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Rh sent them away, asking my most holy Mother of the Apparition to take them shortly and safely.

"I then as one who remained to die, without knowing whether the Indians would come back or not, endeavored to prepare myself with a santo christo which I had with me, consoling myself with it, as one who had no other company and needed the santo christo so much in that time of trial. With it I conversed and I accused myself of all my faults before it, as one who could pardon them. Having finished reciting the divine service, I got ready to bless a little roll of paper which I had, so as, on seeing that I was failing, to burn it in the fire, which was at my side. At once I read the prayers for the dying with the litanies, etc., after which I returned to my conversations with the santo christo, which finished, I recited a vigil, celebrating my burial.

The Miracle of the Sapote. "I was engaged in these exercises, when suddenly, though there were no sapote trees where I was, there came a squirrel down a low tree, with a sapote in his little paws, and giving two jumps in my presence, it showed its little teeth and went away. I was not able to stir, but with a little stick which was at my side, I drew this sapote to me and ate it, for it was as ripe and sweet as honey. The wonder is that in thousands of sapotes which we found in these forests, we did not come across a single good piece of one; and here without there being a tree, that little animal brought a ripe one. I knew then that God sent me that aid, like another Saint Paul, although I was very far from imitating him in his virtues, but rather that God might show his greater mercy to such a great sinner as I. I gave him thanks with some tenderness for such a kindness, hoping with more confidence now that I should not die of hunger. In doing this and saying my prayers, I passed the whole day and night, awaiting every moment the hour of dawn.

Rescued. "Much neglected by human aid (and even forgotten) was I, when it dawned the next day, since in six or eight days at the least, I did not expect any result from the two Indians whom I had sent off. I rested in this supposition as soon as it dawned and I gave thanks to God for having


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172 brought me safely through that night, etc. I set about reciting the divine service, which I never failed to recite in these forests, nor was it ever absent from my mind, when suddenly I heard a noise of people, and on turning my eyes, I saw some ten Indians of the town of Mani and its suburbs, who came to get me. I did not take them for men, but for angels, and an such they acted in my case in everything. Scarcely had they come to where I was, when with great affection they ran to embrace me, shedding plenty of tears, and at the same time, saying a thousand tender words to me. I could not restrain myself at this kindness, when I thought also of such an unexpected blessing as God had shown me. On the other hand it caused me to feel more kindly, when I saw that a people as impious as the Indians naturally are, should be so merciful to me, as never have I seen such a thing in them.

"They brought me a little meal that they eat, and in a moment they warmed it so that I could drink it, they supporting me, one on one side and one on the other, so that I might keep seated. They revived the fire which was there, and warming up six cloaks very nicely, they wrapped me up in them, and warmed my extremities, that is, my feet and hands, since they were numb from weakness and cold air; I recovered by means of that warmth and food which I drank, and in order to raise me, they held aloft my whole body, stiff as if it was a sculptured statue. They brought a hammock in which they took me to the town of Chuntucí, from which I set out when I went among the said Ytzaes, and to which the said Indians who carried me were loading up to go.

What had Happened to the Indians whom Avendaño Sent off. "Portentous surely was the present event, if all the circumstances are considered. The two Indians left my presence, whom I sent off against their will, so as to save their lives, forcing them to leave me alone. Everything happened through a higher direction,- first since the said Indians went on falling and getting up again, from their want of strength, and in spite of all this, they followed the path which led from where they left me up to the town of Chuntucí, which they reached in an hour and a half, for they only stopped long enough to take some


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Rh refreshment with the said carriers, and to tell them how I was left to die in the forest. Scarcely had they heard this, when without any delay, they started out to come and get me, and the distance which it took my two Indians to go in an hour and a half, the said carriers had to take a day and a half in finding me, without their losing their road, by which the miracle can easily be understood. Secondly, that my Indians, coming to Chuntucí, and meeting these carriers loading, was all one (i.e., simultaneous), so that if they had stopped even a little, they would not have met them, and consequently would not have found supplies to bring to me, and even less should I have been able to start out for a settlement. Therefore the hurry which I showed in sending them away was by divine direction. They took me in the said hammock, and though it was a convenience on account of the rest that it gave, it was also some affliction to me, since, although they wrapped me up very well in their cloaks, every little while it gave me cramps in all my body, I being stiff and cold from head to foot. At which they warmed the cloaks again, and rubbing my hands and feet with them all warm, the muscles again were stretched, although it lasted but a short time. At last I reached the town of Chuntucí, on the Sunday of Septuagesima, which was on the 19th of February, in this year of sixteen hundred and ninety-six, about three o'clock in the afternoon,- a result surely very different from what I thought,- that I should ever be in the said town again, after the extremity to which I had come. All that afternoon I stayed looking at this town, and I did not believe yet that I was really there. Blessed be the mercy of God, who showed it thus in my case. For his divine Majesty alone, of his own accord, could show such compassion on this miserable sinner. Infinite thanks be given for so great blessings as he gave me, and may his divine Majesty so will, that it redound to his honor and glory through infinite centuries of centuries. Amen. The Indian carriers continued in their pious work of conveying me and of caring for my Indian singers, so that both in them and in me, a great change of condition resulted from the fresh food, which put us on the road to life."

Avendaño set out shortly afterwards for Merida.


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174 The Messenger from Tayasal. When he and his companions reached Merida they were told of the arrival of a messenger from Canek of Tayasal. This messenger had reached Merida considerably before the time at which the Padres left Tayasal. He had been received by the Governor and society of Merida with great rejoicings because of the fact that he announced that his errand was to proffer the allegiance of Canek and all his subjects, some eighty thousand Indians in all.

Reasons for Avendaño's Distrust. Avendaño found it difficult to credit this news for several reasons, the chief of which were:

First. The obvious fact that, at the time he (Avendaño) was last at Tayasal, Canek was unable to force his subjects to adopt Christianity on account of the hostility of Covoh and others.

Second. That, in spite of the intimacy that had existed between Canek and Avendaño, the latter had never received the slightest hint of Canek's intention of sending any such messenger.

Third. That Canek, had such a messenger really been sent while the Padres were with him, would most certainly have detained them as hostages until the safe return of the messenger.

Avendaño (p. 66 recto) closes his narrative thus:

"I omit, so as not to cause annoyance, many other effective reasons, which I could give, but I leave it to the consideration of any one who should reflect on this matter, better than I. As for me, who saw and was in touch with it all, I am satisfied with what I have said. And, in reference to the common opinion of all the Province, I say that the large page of it is of the opinion that the said message was false...."


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HE Expedition from Guatemala Reaches Cahabon. It will be remembered that Fray Alonso Cano, the Augustine friar who had accompanied the first, and unsuccessful, entrada from Guatemala, had returned to that city in the autumn of 1695. He remained there until December of that same year, when he set out once more for the north, reaching Cahabon in January, 1696. There Cano and his companions awaited the arrival of Doctor Don Bartholomé de Amezquita, who, in his capacity of Oidor and Alcalde Ordinario of the Audiencia of Guatemala, was to lead the expedition. Amezquita arrived early in February, and with him came Captain Juan Diaz de Velasco. They found Cahabon in a bad condition on account of the lack of preparations and because of the heavy rains.

Preliminary Movements and Plans. In order to appease the zeal of those who were urging that the expedition proceed with all speed, it was decided that Captain Diaz de Velasco should go ahead of the main body of troops. He took with him seventy soldiers and thirty Indians; Cano went with him. Guided by the Itza named Cuixam or Cuixan, Diaz de Velasco set forth from Mopan (whither the force had moved) on March 7. It was arranged that, from a place called Yxbol, near Tayasal, Cuixam was to be sent on to ascertain Canek's attitude, and that the Captain, Diaz de Velasco, and his men were to wait for him. On the tenth of March, Amezquita and Cano left Mopan. They kept receiving letters and messages from those ahead until they reached the Chacal River, where all traces of their vanguard completely vanished.

The Fate of Diaz de Velasco; Amezquita Follows him. The reason for this cessation of communication was briefly as follows: Captain Diaz de Velasco sent Cuixam ahead, as had


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176 been planned, to Tayasal. Cuixam reported that two Franciscans were on the island. The Captain would not believe this. Still, he was so bold as to embark in a canoe rowed by natives, who, as soon as the vessel was clear of the shore, began a sharp struggle which resulted in the death of all the Spaniards in the party. In due course Amezquita followed in the footsteps of the ill-fated Captain. On arriving at the shores of the lake he learned the fate that had befallen Diaz de Velasco, Seeing that there was nothing he could do with so small a force as that which he had at his disposal, Amezquita withdrew to Chacal, and later on, by the order of Don Gabriel Sanchez de Berrospe, the new President of the Audiencia of Guatemala, he withdrew to Guatemala City.

Conclusion of the Subjection of the Itzas Begun. After the series of events which we have just studied came to an end there was, for a time, a lull in the war. Our knowledge of the incidents which followed the break is derived from Villagutierre y Sotomayor. (Lib. v, caps. 7, 8, etc.) According to this authority, events occurred in the following order.

Paredes is Ordered to March to Los Dolores. Ursua determined to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion by means of another expedition into the Itza country. Accordingly he sent his orders to Alonso Garcia de Paredes, who, with the soldiers of that unsuccessful expedition on which Avendaño had gone, was still in Tzucthok. In substance Paredes was ordered to go and place himself and his men under the orders of the President of Guatemala or his successor. To this end he was to go south from Tzucthok, and always "trying to incline his route a little toward the left hand, or towards the east, was to place himself in sight of the town of Lacandones, which the President had discovered and named Nuestra Señora de los Dolores." Paredes was to fortify himself there about five leagues from the town of Lacandon, and he was to stay


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Rh there without molesting the surrounding settlements. From the time of receiving these instructions to the time when he built his stockaded redoubt he was to take especial care to inform himself concerning the people round about, and especially those along the road which was being built. On arriving in the neighborhood of Lacandon and after the founding of the redoubt, Paredes was to go to the President so as to hand over to him the various letters that he bore and so as to place himself under his orders. Thereafter, if circumstances permitted, he was to go as soon as possible to the Itzas, together with a suitable number of Padres and soldiers. He was ordered to subject and catechize the natives.

Paredes appointed as officers Don Joseph de Estenoz, Pedro de Zuviaur, Joseph Laynez, and Mateo Hidalgo, who had been picked out by Ursua for their various posts. From this point on we have the account of Avendaño to rely upon until after the Padre's withdrawal to Merida. An uprising on the part of the Cacique Covoh, as we know, was the immediate cause of the retirement. It did not have, however, a permanently discouraging effect.

Canek's Ambassador, Can, Arrives at Merida. In the last third of December, 1695, while Avendaño was still in the wilderness, an ambassador named Can arrived at Merida from Canek. He was accompanied by three kinsmen of his, together


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178 with some Muzules Indians. Ursua himself came out to meet him with a great following. The parties met at the convent of the Mejorada; thence the embassy was taken to the cathedral and to the palace. Can then said that his uncle, Canek, asked for Padres so that Christianity might be introduced among the Itzas. A suitable reply was given, and the ambassador was baptized. (Villagutierre, lib. vi, caps. 3-5.) Can told Ursua that his uncle, Canek, had four Kings under him who were his vassals. They were Citcan, Ahamatan, Ahkin, and Ahitcan, as well as Ahatsi. Can was baptized Martin Francisco Can and his brother Miguel Can. Finally, after many ceremonies and solemn masses, Ursua sent them home with much good feeling. An escort headed by Captain Francisco de Hariza or Ariza of Bacalar set forth for the Itzas. Ursua sent word of all these developments to Paredes, ordering him, as well as Hariza, to do all that was necessary for the winning or conquering of Canek and his vassals.

Grande, whose King was Canek. His father was Can, a native of Tipu; his mother was Cante. sister of Canek. His father, stung by a serpent, had long been dead; his mother, of whom he had heard it said that she came from Chichen Itza, had also been dead a long time. He was baptized Martin a year before in Merida, and, though he did not know exactly, he thought he was about thirty years old. He was married to an Indian girl named Coboh, who lived in Alain. Canek had sent him and three other Indians of Alain to Merida with an embassy ana with a crown of plumes as homage, to ask for Padres to come and enlighten the Indians as to the True God. Having passed from Alain he had arrived at Tipu, where the Muzules Indians had wished to join him, and although he knew them to be mere savages, he took them with him. All sorts of food and drink, as well as a house, had been made ready for the Padres who should go to Alain. He had then gone to Merida and had been most cordially received by Ursua. His baptism had taken place and he had delivered his message, receiving in return many presents for Canek and for himself. After taking leave of Don Martin de Ursua, Can and his companions, together with Hariza and the Padres, had returned to Tipu, where they stayed two weeks until, on account of the opposition of the Cacique Zima, Can fled to Alain, leaving the present for Canek in the hands of Hariza. Arrived in Alain, Can was told by Chamaxculu, the Cacique, that many of the Indians had rebelled against Canek, killing many of the Spaniards. He himself was the object of the Indians' hatred on account of his conversion. He took refuge in the small Peten of Motzkal until he was sent for by Canek, his uncle. He told how trenches and walls of stones had been built at Peten Grande. Both the King Canek and the chief priest Kincanek were now in Peten ready to defend it against the Spaniards who had injured them. The Cacique of Alain, Chamaxculu, wished, with his people, to be Christianized.


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Rh Meanwhile the new President of Guatemala, Escals, was taking all possible precautions for the furtherance of the design. His division of the expedition, of which Fray Agustín Cano was a part, left Guatemala in January, 1696. There is no need to tell again what happened, as Cano has already told us all up to a certain point.

Zuviaur Goes to the Lake. The early weeks of 1696, then, were spent by Avendaño and the men of Yucatan in Peten and in the wilderness between it and Tipu, to which the Padres were enabled to flee by Canek, who knew well the plots that were being hatched against them by Covoh and by Canek's wife.

Shortly after Avendaño reached Merida and made his report, Ursua dispatched Captain Don Pedro de Zuviaur with seventy men, enough Indians, and Padre Juan San Buenaventura to the lake by way of the route so lately followed by Avendaño. The Itzas received them armed for war. Padre San Buenaventura, however, partly calmed them by smooth words; fighting did not, however, entirely cease, and before long Zuviaur returned to the royal camp. At about the same time an Indian messenger arrived from Hariza, who was in the neighborhood of Tipu, with the information that the Franciscans who were administering the villages along the road were meeting with a fair measure of success, and that the Itzas were the only remaining obstacle to the completion of the undertaking. Hourly they became more threatening and more dangerous. Several skirmishes took place between them and the men of Paredes. Finally, forced by lack of supplies, Paredes withdrew with all his men into the province.

Ursua Determines to Take Vigorous Measures. Clearly enough, in Ursua's opinion, things were far from being in a satisfactory condition. He made up his mind that a stop must be put to the menace of the Itzas at all costs, and he determined to go in person upon this definitive expedition. He made especially elaborate and adequate preparations, doing things which should have been done long before. He assembled a sufficient number of carpenters to build brigantines and pyraguas on the shore of the lake, and he got together ample stores. Nothing was said of all this to the King of Castile, as


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180 it was notorious that he would have frowned upon such military preparations.

Lawsuits between Soberanis and Ursua. At this time the old enmity between Soberanis and Ursua reawakened. Soberanis was at the viceregal court, where, during the reign of the Conde de Galve, he opposed Ursua's interests and plans with some success. Galve was succeeded, however, by Don Juan de Ortega Montañes, Bishop of Michoacan, who was appointed Viceroy ad interim of Mexico. Ortega, being a broad-minded man, could see the good of the wishes of both sides, and he determined that the whole matter should be laid before the Council of the Indies. The result was a long lawsuit, during which it became clear that Soberanis wished for more territory for his King, while Ursua wanted more vassals. A series of lawsuits, stained by false charges, perjury, and petty recriminations (mostly on the part of Soberanis and his party), followed. It is a matter which is very involved and for us unimportant, as it did not alter the current of events in the region of Tayasal.

Captain Paredes at Tzucthok. While these lawsuits were dragging on, Captain Alonso Garcia de Paredes arrived at the bank of the large river (Nohukum?). After building a pyragua he and twenty men embarked on it and went up the river to its source, where they captured ten canoes. Soon after they returned to Tzucthok on account of the rainy season.

Captain Hariza at Tipu. Meanwhile Can, with Captain Francisco de Hariza and an escort of thirty soldiers, had returned to Tipu from Merida. At the former place they learned how Paredes had sent soldiers to the lake under Zuviaur, how some had been taken prisoners there and put to death, and how the Gran Cayo and its islands was destroyed because the Indians had wished to kill their King Canek on account of his friendly attitude toward the Spaniards. In the trial of one Pablo Gil of Salamanca, who at this time was accused of conspiracy, it came out that this revolution at Peten had occurred soon after the departure of Can for Merida. The zamaguales or common people were incensed with Canek because he had sent his nephew to Yucatan. When Can returned to Peten he found that his uncle was still in power but not entirely


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Rh secure. Can was unable to return to his own village eight leagues away because it was subject to Cintanek, who was at war with Canek.

The Cacique Cintanek's Villages. The five villages of Cintanek were Chaltuna, Sac peten, Maconche, Saca, and Coba. The nine villages subject, at this time, to Canek were Oraptun, Zacpui, Chee, Chacha, Sacfinil, Linil, Oboncox, Chulul, and Eckixil. (Cf. Villagutierre, p. 435.) The people in these villages were very numerous; they knew nothing of the Kingdom of Guatemala beyond the fact that some five leagues away was a place called Mopan.

Can's Report. The Indians, Can and others, related how fifteen Spanish men came to the Indians of the Gran Cayo and asked for provisions, which were brought to them. (These Spaniards were, no doubt, a party sent out by Paredes just before he withdrew.) Even as they were eating, musket shots were heard on the shore. At once those who were eating on the island judged their companions were in danger and hastily armed themselves. A fight quickly took place, and the Spaniards even attacked the person of Canek himself. At length, however, the Spaniards fled.

The Commands of King Charles II. At last the letters and reports which, at the insistence of Ortega Montañes, the Viceroy Bishop, had been sent to the court of Spain earlier in the year, bore fruit, for the King sent new dispatches ordering Don Martin thus: acknowledgment was made of the good work done by Sargento Mayor, Don Martin de Ursua y Arizmendi, as well as of that done by Captain Alonso Garcia de Paredes, Captain Joseph Fernandez de Estenoz, and others. Don Roque de Soberanis y Centeno was ordered to give all possible assistance to Ursua and to refrain from hindering him in any way. The cedulas were signed at Buen Retiro on May 29, 1696. These dispatches, together with a commendatory letter from the Conde de Adanero, President of the Council of the Indies, arrived in Yucatan late in 1696. Fortunately Ursua had already made all his preparations for the next campaign. Don Martin sent copies of the cedulas and letter to the newly arrived Viceroy of Mexico, the Conde de Montezuma, to the


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182 Audience of Guatemala, and to the Reverendissimo Don Fray Antonio de Arriaga, Bishop of Yucatan.

Before setting out there was one more formality to go through. Ursua therefore sent the orders of the King to Don Roque, asking him at the same time for certain aid. (Villagutierre, lib. viii, cap. 2.) Straightaway, Don Roque sent Don Juan Geronimo de Abad to Campeche to inform Ursua that Soberanis would give him all necessary aid for the fulfillment of the royal will. He also ordered Ursua to pick out those persons whom he thought ought to be captains, and Don Roque promised to confirm the appointments.

Soberanis and Ursua in Agreement at Last. Abad executed his errand and Don Martin replied that only the very numerous infidel Indians of the Laguna del Itza stood between him and the successful completion of the road, which was already open on the north almost as far as the lake and on the south as far as Cahabon. The intervening region contained the Itzas, whom Ursua purposed to conquer. He had already chosen as captains Alonso Garcia de Paredes, Joseph Fernandez de Estenoz, Pedro de Zuviaur, and Roque Gutierrez. At the same time Don Martin informed Abad that he had prepared all sorts of supplies and munitions, and he begged Don Roque de Soberanis to furnish him with advice as to the proper payment for various things. Don Roque approved of everything that Don Martin proposed, and he ordered that Abad, together with a scrivener and an interpreter, should see to the proper financial arrangements.

The Part to be Taken by Indian Villages. Ursua then asked that the mountain villages of Tecax and Oxcuscab should be made to supply service Indians. These, if granted, were to be under the orders of the captain of Tecax; but Soberanis pointed out that those villages had already done their share, and so he ordered that the Caciques of Zotuta, Yaxcava, Tixcacal, and Peto should furnish the needed labor. The part each was to take was as follows:


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Rh All these Indians were to be in charge of Don Juan del Castillo, captain of Tecax. Indians from Mani were to carry the supplies.

On January 23, 1697, Don Martin de Ursua set forth from Campeche after giving thanks for aid received. On arriving at Tzucthok they took the same road as on previous occasions. They camped at length two leagues from the lake, having passed through Batcab. On the way south they learned that the cacique of Tzucthok and some of the Indians of that village had retired to such places as Apelchen, Bolonchen, Chabuhic, and Sacauchen. Some of the Chanes, however, remained faithful, for which Ursua rewarded them with presents. At about this time also, although Ursua probably did not know of it, Berrospe had ordered the troops of Guatemala to withdraw definitely from Mopan and other places.

The Road Completed as Far as the Lake. At the end of February and in early March the two leagues of road between the camp and the lake were completed. Pyraguas had already been built and were finished by the time the army encamped on the lake shore. Seeing such a display of power, the Indians tried to rival it, but when they saw the galley and pyraguas they retired to their island. There were sundry attempts to make friends with the Indians, but they showed themselves utterly undeserving of confidence. On March 10, 1697, Don Martin Can, he who had gone to Merida as ambassador for his uncle Canek and who was godson of Ursua, hearing of the latter's arrival, came to him joyfully. As a result of this the murmurs to the effect that he was a myth entirely vanished.

Some squads of Indians approached the camp by land with arms. The general soon saw it was but a pugnacious attempt to force the Spaniards into a skirmish. At the same moment a large canoe beached on the shore where the camp was. Can said that those in it were Chamaxculu and other important Indians from Alain. They were received with all possible cordiality, and some of the Indians were found to be those who had been in Merida with Can. Chamaxculu was an old man of seventy years.

Quincanek Feigns Friendliness. Very soon after that Quincanek visited the camp. He was cordially welcomed and


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184 in conversation he promised to aid the opening of the road. Ursua discreetly decided it would be superfluous to make any allusion at that time to the idolatry, treachery, and other foibles of the Itzas. Everything seemed serene and amicable. The chiefs promised to return for dinner later.

They remained where they were from March 10 to 12, 1697. During those three days many Indian women came in canoes and unattended from Peten to the camp. Whether their purpose was to get themselves violated and thereby furnish an excuse to the lurking squads of Indians to attack the Spaniards, or whether they were led by mere curiosity, is not absolutely certain; but it is probable that the former was the case, for when, through good discipline, Ursua managed to restrain his men, the women made all sorts of obscene gestures to attract the soldiers, but to no purpose.

The Hostilities Begin. Finally the day arrived on which, according to his promise, Quincanek, was to bring Canek to dinner with Ursua. But instead of a peaceful Canek and Quincanek coming to have dinner with them, the Spaniards saw a huge fleet of canoes all decked out in warlike array approaching them. This, however, did not greatly dismay the Spaniards, as they knew that their own galley and pyraguas, which were all in readiness, would give them an immense advantage.

The Captains Urge Ursua to Fight; the Battle. Ursua called a council of war in which Paredes, Estenoz, Zuviaur, and all the other captains urged him to use force and thereby to conquer the Itzas finally. Ursua was still determined, however, to maintain peace as long as possible, being mindful of the King's wish.

On the following day, March 13, 1697, Ursua determined to go to the Peten Grande, which lay two leagues from his camp. Leaving a good garrison in the camp, he took two hundred men and Don Martin Can in the boats and sailed for Peten. Before long the Spaniards, who were under the strictest orders not to fire, were surrounded by a large fleet of canoes filled with Itzas, who shot arrows at the invaders. As one would naturally expect, all attempts to reason with the outraged Itzas proved futile. Finally one Bartolomé Duran, maddened


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Rh by an arrow wound, fired off his gun. This precipitated a hot skirmish in which everyone took part. At the end of it the Spaniards got upon the shore, and by means of the artillery at length put the Itzas to flight. The latter fled away as fast as they could by swimming, and when in due time Ursua and his men got to Peten Grande, they found nothing but old women and little children there. All who could had fled into and across the lake rather than face the vengeance of the Spaniards.

Tayasal Becomes a Spanish Possession. The battle was over by eight in the morning. The standard of Jesus Christ was set up; the royal arms were engraved over the door of what had been the principal temple; and thanks were given to God for the victory. A church was founded and the houses of the idols were cleaned out. Oddly enough the temple where Canek and his idolatrous priests had once torn out human hearts was chosen as the Christians' place of worship.

Thus ends the history of the long, brave but fruitless struggle of the Itzas against the Spanish conquerors. After so many romantic interests it is but natural that any account of subsequent events should be an anti-climax. The later history of the Itza country can be dismissed in a word.

Later History of Tayasal. Since the conquest, Tayasal has been a mere Spanish provincial village with nothing to distinguish it from scores of others. In the first half of the nineteenth century serious insurrections took place in the region. At about the same period the name Tayasal was taken away and Flores was substituted, in honor of one Cyrilo Flores, a local patriot. It is a pity that the old, unusual, and euphonious name was not kept. At present Flores (Pl. III) is the capital of the Department of Peten, Guatemala.


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 OSSIBLY the reader has noted in these pages a tendency toward inconsistency in the matter of spelling proper names. I do not deny that I have failed to avoid such inconsistency, but at the outset, after due thought on the matter, I decided that it is most difficult to try and lay down any hard and fast rule for the spelling of the proper names used in this book. In many cases it is utterly impossible to say “This is the correct spelling of this name.” To show just the nature of the sort of orthographical variations encountered in this work I give here most of the variants of the name Itza.

Many of the other proper names have variations just as confusing as these.