he would distribute copies of it everywhere amongst his countrymen, the contents of which were as follows:

:

"Gentlemen Captains, belonging to either Pole, North or South: Dear Sirs.-Our Lord has been pleased to give us his Divine Grace, to enable us to accomplish what has not been done in many ages; but nothing is impossible to the Divine power. With it, he has made this

invincible Itzalan nation bow down its head and humble itself at the first effort of the Evangelical ministers and sons of our Seraphic Father Saint Francis, and bring their children to the pure washing of baptism; having up to this hour baptized many, and hoping to a certainty baptize the whole shortly. But although their fathers and mothers are friendly and well disposed towards us, they are still very slow in renouncing their idolatry. To succeed in making them do so, it will be necessary to use them kindly, to have a great deal of patience, and put up with many troublesome and disagreeable acts, the result of the dark ignorance they have lived in. Wherefore I beg of you all to behave with great forbearance if you should reach this nation of the Itzaex, whose patron is St. Paul, in order not to lose in a short time what has been so long sought, and, thanks be to God, obtained. They are instructed on your arrival to receive you in a friendly manner, and to supply you with necessary provisions, in exchange for axes and hatchets and other goods from Castile, which they ardently long for; but," concludes Avendaño, with commendable caution, "I know not if they will pay well for them."

After writing this letter the Father Commissary and his companions took leave of the Canek, who gave them for a short distance the escort of his son and son-in-law

284

AVENDAÑO'S RETURN TO MERIDA.

CHAP. XVIII.

as a protection; but after the Itzaex had left them they lost their way amongst the mountains, and wandered about for nearly a month, being at last reduced to such sore extremity, the fruits and herbs which they found being their only sustenance, that they nearly died of famine and fatigue. Providentially however the Yucatan Indians, who had accompanied the embassy, succeeded at last in falling in with some muleteers, who were carrying provisions to the camp of Paredes, and the Franciscans, nearly at their last gasp, were saved and safely carried to Zucthoc. From thence, when they had sufficiently recovered, they proceeded in safety to Merida, and gave the Governor a full account of what had befallen them since their departure, together with the result of their observations and what they had learnt from the inhabitants of Tayasal.

The sum and substance of this information was to the following effect.

That, as well as they could ascertain, the number of people living on the Great Peten and the four smaller islands amounted to about five-and-twenty thousand of all ages and sexes, but the Itzalan population surrounding the lake was infinitely greater, and could not be calculated. That to reach the Petenes no reliance could be placed on any native means of transport, but that a Spanish force once arrived on the borders of the lake must construct their own vessels. The Great Peten, or city of Tayasal, contained, they said, nineteen temples for idol-worship, four of which they had themselves seen; these buildings were low, but built with great solidity, and were thatched in the same manner as the churches of Yucatan. The dress of the natives consisted of a sort of sack without sleeves, of cotton woven with various

colours, and their cloaks, or mantas, were also variegated and of the same material. They were well limbed, and of a clearer colour than the Indians of Yucatan; many had their faces marked with stripes, and their ears and noses bored; in the former they had rings, and in the latter they used to wear vanilla. The soil was very rich and fertile, and, they added, some of the rings which they wore were of silver and others of gold, which led them to believe that there must be mines of those metals in that country. In answer to the questions of Ursua as to whether any mention had been made of the embassy of Don Martin Cán, the Fathers said that neither the Canek nor any of the people of Itza had even spoken of the embassy, nor had they heard of it themselves in any shape till informed of the fact at the camp of Paredes.

CHAPTER XIX.

MILITARY

EXPEDITION TO THE LAKE OF ITZA.-ZUBIAUR APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND.-HE REACHES THE LAKE, AND MEETS WITH A HOSTILE RECEPTION. A BATTLE FOUGHT.-DIFFICULTIES IN COMPLETING THE GREAT ROAD.-DOUBTS ENTERTAINED OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE ITZALAN EMBASSY.-ITS TRUTH ESTABLISHED AT THE EXPENSE OF THE CANEK'S REPUTATION.-THE FATE OF VELASCO'S PARTY ASCERTAINED.-ROYAL CEDULA EXTENDING THE AUTHORITY OF URSUA.-HE SETS OUT IN PERSON FROM CAMPEACHY, AND REACHES THE GREAT LAKE.-A FLAG OF TRUCE FROM THE ITZAEX.-INTERVIEW BETWEEN URSUA AND THE HIGH PRIEST QUINCANEK. A COUNCIL OF WAR, AND PREPARATIONS MADE FOR CROSSING OVER TO TAYASAL.

It was after the departure of the Franciscans on their embassy to Itza, that Paredes received his instructions from Don Martin de Ursua to advance upon that place, and take possession of the country in the name of the King of Spain. Being an invalid at the time, and unable to carry them out in person, he gave the command of the expedition to Pedro de Zubiaur, who took with him sixty men-at-arms, some more Indians and other servants, Father Juan de San Buenaventura, and a lay brother who accompanied him. The troops left the camp at Zucthoc during the time that Avendaño and his companions were wandering about the mountains on their return from Tayasal, and performed their march

2

to the lake without difficulty. As they relied upon a friendly reception, no apprehension was felt at the appearance of vast numbers of armed Itzaex, who, on the approach of the Spaniards, rowed swiftly over from the Great Peten and landed on the shore. But Zubiaur was speedily undeceived, for the Itzaex first seized upon some of the Indians who were carrying the provisions, and on the expostulation of Father Buenaventura, who explained to them the reason of their coming, they seized him too, together with the lay brother and another Spaniard, and hurrying them prisoners into a canoe, rowed off with them so swiftly that it was impossible to rescue them. Nor did the Itzaex stop here, but, without any provocation given, laid hold of two Indian carriers and beat them to death with their clubs. They also seized a Spanish soldier, and cut his throat before the eyes of his countrymen. It was time therefore for Zubiaur to assume an attitude of defence; but scarcely had he done so before his men were assailed with showers of arrows, as well from the Itzaex on the lake as from those who had gathered on the shore, who numbered altogether more than ten thousand. The battle then began in earnest, and the first discharge of musketry brought down full forty of the enemy; but Zubiaur, perceiving that it would be vain to contend against such a vast disparity of numbers, gradually withdrew his men and retreated into the mountains, making the best of his way back to the camp, from whence information of what had taken place was forwarded to Ursua.

On the eastern side of the province the expedition ordered to proceed under Hariza had, in the meantime, been stationary, in consequence of intelligence having been received at Tipu, first, of the sailing of Avendaño's