[XXIII-9] 'La mucha sangre de Indios que avia corrido en Rios en Xequikel (que por esso se llamó assi).' Vazquez, Chronica de Gvat., 524. 'Xequiqel, que quiere decir rio de sangre.' Juarros, Guat., ii. 250. This last author states that from the river Zamalá to the Olintepec six battles were fought, but that this was the most strongly contested and the most bloody. Compare Alvarado, Relacion, in Barcia, 158; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 174; Fuentes y Guzman, Recordacion Florida, MS., 3-4; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 229.
[XXIII-10] 'Murió vn señor de quatro que son en Vtatlan.' Gomara, Hist. Mex., 229. Besides Prince Ahzumanche, two principal lords of Utatlan were slain in the battles of the pass—the one Ahzol, a great captain, and a relative of the king, and the other Ahpocoh, his shield-bearer, whose office in the army was of the highest. Juarros, Guat., ii. 250; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 174. The words Ahzol and Ahpocoh are not, however, patronymics, but titles.
[XXIII-11] The district is called El Pinar by Juarros, Guat., ii. 248; and El Pinal by Vazquez, Chronica de Gvat., 524.
[XXIII-12] 'Corriendo la Tierra, que es tan gran Poblacion como Tascalteque, i en las Labranças, ni mas, ni menos, i friisima en demasia.' Alvarado, Relacion, in Barcia, i. 158.
[XXIII-13] Vazquez visited this hermitage at Zacaha in 1690, and there saw a picture of the virgin, which had been brought by the conquerors, and was known as La Conquistadora, for a description of which the reader can consult Chronica de Gvat., 9. In his time the shrine was a place greatly revered. It was a current belief that some member of the priestly order, the object of devotion, was interred there, a strong supposition prevailing that the remains were those of the first bishop of Guatemala; but this is wrong, for Bishop Marroquin died in the Episcopal palace at Guatemala. The remains were probably those of the priest Pontaza. Chronica de Gvat., 8-10, 526.
[XXIII-14] The descendants of this conquistador were still living in the same locality in the time of Vazquez, who describes them as raisers of small stock, as poverty-stricken as the descendants of the conquered natives. Id., 8-9.
[XXIII-15] Four years later the town was removed to the present site. Id., 7-8; Juarros, Guat., ii. 241. The meaning of the term Quezaltenango is the 'place of the quetzal,' the American bird of paradise, called 'trogon' by the naturalists. The name was of Mexican origin, and was probably applied not only to the district but to the city of Xelahuh.
[XXIII-16] During a stay of two to three days. Fuentes y Guzman, Recordacion Florida, MS.
[XXIII-17] Four years later the inhabitants were removed to the new town of Quezaltenango, which the Indian population still call Xelahuh.
[XXIII-18] On the authority of a manuscript of sixteen leaves found at San Andrés Xecul, a town not far from Quezaltenango, Juarros states that on the second day four caciques humbly surrendered themselves, and owing to their influence the inhabitants peaceably returned and tendered allegiance. Guat., ii. 240-1. No mention of such an event is made by Alvarado, Bernal Diaz, or Herrera; and Vazquez distinctly states that these four chiefs were won over, with some difficulty, after the final battle and the death of Tecum. Though Brasseur de Bourbourg follows Juarros, I incline to the opinion that the pacification of Xelahuh was subsequent to the battle which is yet to follow.