268

AMEZQUITA WITHDRAWS FROM ITZA.

CHAP. XVII.

quita began also to entertain the idea that it was perhaps in this manner the party of Velasco had been made away with, and the conjecture appears a very probable one. He was confirmed in his suspicions of foul play by receiving no intelligence from the island, and became lost in perplexity as to what steps should now be taken, for, in addition to his anxiety respecting the fate of Velasco and his men, he had to consider the dangerous position of those whom he had brought with him. To advance in an enemy's country without supplies, and with so small a force, was out of the question; to remain was equally hazardous; to cross over to the island was an impossibility, having no means of constructing rafts for the passage. With deep grief, therefore, after having waited on the shores of the lake from eleven in the morning till six in the evening, without obtaining any tidings of Velasco's party, he found himself compelled to relinquish the hope of rescuing them; and giving them up for dead he passed the word for returning to the entrenchment at the Chaxál. As a last experiment he caused all the bugles to sound; innumerable canoes came off from the island, but evidently with only a hostile intention, and slowly and sadly the Spaniards turned their faces to the south, and commenced their retreat.

When Amezquita mustered his forces at the Chaxál, now greatly diminished from what they had been at Mopan, he felt convinced that his position was not tenable with such formidable and numerous enemies in front of him as occupied the islands of the lake. This was not merely matter of opinion, for while encamped on the river, the Itzalans came out in great force and repeatedly attacked him by night, till at length, defence being no longer possible, he evacuated the entrenchment, and

made good his retreat to the Savannah of San Pedro Martyr, where he proposed to construct a fort and wait the course of events. He wrote an account of all that had happened to the Vice-President Escals, and a similar communication was also made by Father Augustin Cano, with such statements in addition of the danger of continuing to occupy a place so remote as San Pedro,-the distance being sixty leagues from Vera Paz, and only thirty-two from the Lake of Itza,-that Don Gabriel Sanchez de Berospe, who had in the meanwhile arrived as President at Guatemala, thought it advisable to issue orders for the complete withdrawal of the troops, not only from the country of the Itzaex, but also from Mopan. And as, at the same time, the President learnt of the failure of Alçayaga in Lacandon, he too received instructions to return to Guatemala; and the summer of the year 1696 witnessed the abandonment of all the expeditions from the south.

CHAPTER XVIII.

APPOINTMENT

AMBASSADOR

AFTER

OF URSUA AS INTERIM GOVERNOR OF YUCATAN.-HE BEGINS TO CONSTRUCT THE GREAT MILITARY ROAD.-ITS OPENING ENTRUSTED TO PAREDES, WHO CLEARS THE GROUND BEYOND THE LAKE OF CHUTUNQUI.-NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE CANEK OF ITZA. -PACIFIC ASSURANCES OF THE CANEK.-URSUA'S LETTER.-AN EMFROM BASSY SENT TAYASAL.-ITS RECEPTION AT MERIDA. THE BEING BAPTIZED RETURNS ΤΟ THE GREAT PETEN.-ORDERS SENT TO PAREDES TO OCCUPY ITZA.-VISIT OF THE MISSIONARIES то TAYASAL.-DOUBTFUL WELCOME. THEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT.-REMARKABLE SPEECH OF THE CACIQUE CABOXH.FATHER AVENDAÑO'S INTREPIDITY. THE CANEK OFFERS ANEW TO SUBJECT HIS COUNTRY TO SPAIN.-AVENDAÑO'S CIRCULAR LETTER.THE MISSIONARIES LEAVE TAYASAL, ARE LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS, BUT EVENTUALLY RESCUED.-REPORT OF THE MISSIONARIES.

WHILE the attempts were being made which have just been narrated, Don Martin de Ursua was no less actively employed on the side of Yucatan.

It has been shown that the proposition for connecting the two provinces by means of a high road from Merida to Santiago de Guatemala originated with Ursua; and it fortunately fell to his lot to carry it into execution.

Previous to the commencement of the general undertaking, the President of Guatemala had written to Don Roque de Soberanis, the Governor of Yucatan, requesting his co-operation, which the latter very readily promised as soon as he was freed from certain embarrass

ments which clogged his free agency. The difficulty of Soberanis arose from various causes: in the first instance, from a dispute which had arisen between himself and the Bishop of Yucatan on points of jurisdiction, the result of which was that the Bishop had placed him under ecclesiastical censure, and during his continuance he was unable to attend, as he desired, to the affairs of the province; and, in the second place, from the proceedings of some of the citizens of Merida, who were discontented with the acts of his government, and had brought a lawsuit against him before the Royal Audiencia of Mexico. The complaints of the citizens having been laid before the Viceroy of New Spain, one of the Ministers of the Audiencia was appointed to examine into them, and his decision was so unfavourable to Soberanis, that he gave a sentence depriving him of the government of Yucatan. Against this decision Soberanis appealed to the higher tribunals of Mexico; but to make his appeal effectual it was necessary he should appear in person, and for this purpose he left Merida for the capital of New Spain, the Viceroy appointing Don Martin de Ursua to act as interim Governor of Yucatan during the absence of Soberanis.

The moment Ursua was installed in office he addressed himself to the subject which had so long occupied his thoughts, and, that no time might be lost, began to take such measures as were necessary to enforce the success of the enterprise. His first care was to collect a force of fifty Spaniards and a great number of Indian pioneers, and to purchase a large quantity of provisions, ammunition, and stores; his next object was to place the men whom he had raised under an efficient commander, and he made choice of Alonso Garcia de Pa

272

MARCH OF PAREDES.

CHAP. XVIII.

redes, the Regidor of Campeachy, and captain of the district of Sabachan. Paredes was a man of courage and enterprise, but his first attempt was unsuccessful. He set out from Sacabchen, and when he had reached the frontier, where the old road terminated, proceeded to reconnoitre the mountains before he began the new one. He here fell in with a numerous party of Quecheaches, whom he could not restrain from attacking him; a sharp encounter accordingly took place, and, though the Indians were defeated, and several of them made prisoners, the soldiers of Paredes became disheartened at this unexpected opposition, and, sorely against his will, he decided on returning to Campeachy, and carried his purpose into execution at once.

It was with great dissatisfaction that Ursua learnt the step which Paredes had taken; but believing that his failure arose from the want of a sufficient force, and that personally he was not to blame, he resolved to continue him in the command, and strengthen the expeditionary army by all the reinforcements he could obtain. Voluntary assistance came from all quarters, the number of troops was greatly augmented; they were well supplied with necessaries, and in the beginning of June, 1695, the second expedition set out. Paredes pursued his march in good order through the populated districts of Yucatan, and arrived on the 11th of June at Chavich, "the boundary and frontier of Christianity in that direction." The pioneers now led the way, making a passage for the army to advance, and, except the obstacles which the country itself offered, nothing impeded their progress, not a single Indian being encountered between Chavich and Zucthoc, a place which they did not reach till the middle of July. In the neighbourhood of Zucthoc,