Meantime Martin Ursua, the prospective governor of Yucatan, had in 1692 proposed to the crown to undertake the reduction of the Itzas and the Lacandones, and suggested that the opening of a highway through their country between Yucatan and Guatemala would contribute greatly to the success of the undertaking. This road he offered to construct at his own cost. His proposal was accepted; various cédulas were issued containing instructions relative to the method of conducting the campaign,[XXXVI‑23] and directing Ursua to act in unison with three expeditions which had been already ordered to advance into the country.
Early in 1695 preparations were completed, and a general enthusiasm prevailed, for predatory inroads had been made in different parts by the Itzas during the previous year. President Barrios himself took the command,[XXXVI‑24] and arranged that with his division he should enter the hostile territory from Chiapas, while Melchor Rodriguez Mazariegos and Juan Diaz de Velasco, at the head of the two other divisions, should march from Cajabon and Huehuetenango respectively.[XXXVI‑25] Several ecclesiastics accompanied each command, among whom may be mentioned fathers Rivas, Cano, Margil, and Pedro de la Concepcion.
BARRIOS IN THE FIELD.
Proceeding to Huehuetenango, the president sent Guzman in advance, with a detachment of his troops, to Comitán, in Chiapas, and followed in person a few days afterward. Here he decided to make the invasion by way of Ococingo, and having appointed the 28th of February for a concerted movement, arrived on the following day at what was supposed to be the intended site of the city of El Próspero, selected by the unfortunate Villaquiran. The ruined dwellings were repaired, a hermitage erected, and the place named Santa Cruz del Próspero.[XXXVI‑26] From this point Barrios advanced into the interior, encountering innumerable difficulties and dangers in the wild trackless region. Despite dense forests, precipitous gulches, and mephitic swamps, the country was scoured day after day in many directions; but no Indian town or village was discovered. On the 12th of March the different detachments reunited in a spacious dell named San Juan de Dios, situated in one of the mountain fastnesses. Here the exhausted troops rested for eight days, waiting for provisions to be forwarded from Ococingo. Barrios then pushed forward under the same difficulties in an easterly direction until the end of March,[XXXVI‑27] when he again encamped during easter week at the foot of a mountain to which the name of Monte Santo was given. For the next fourteen days the expedition slowly and laboriously advanced till further progress was barred by a wide lake. On its margin, while searching for a route, a troop of soldiers captured an Indian, who was pressed into service as a guide. Under his direction they reached on the 19th of April a rapid stream over which was stretched a solitary beam of wood,[XXXVI‑28] and while making preparations to cross it Mazariegos and his troops arrived upon the spot. The joy at this meeting was great on both sides. Mazariegos in fact had been somewhat more successful than his superior. On the appointed day he had left San Mateo de Istatan, where he had been stationed, and after discovering vestiges of ancient buildings reached the village of Labconop.[XXXVI‑29]
Proceeding thence under difficulties similar to those encountered by Barrios, he arrived on the 10th of March at the river called San Ramon, along the banks of which he held his course, though frequently compelled to ford the stream. It was not, however, until the 6th of April that any success rewarded the toils of the invaders. On that day footprints were discovered by Fray Pedro de la Concepcion, who with four Indians was in advance of the army. These eventually led them into a path which brought them in sight of an Indian town. Sending back the natives the friar entered it alone; but though he plainly perceived that he was no welcome visitor, he was not molested. Meanwhile Mazariegos rapidly advanced on the town; and meeting Fray Pedro on the way, was informed by him that the inhabitants were preparing to depart, and when the Spaniards entered not a person was to be seen. The Spanish leader tried to persuade the people to return; he also instituted a search for the president, his meeting with whom has already been narrated.
Meanwhile Velasco and Father Cano had induced five hundred families of the Choles to settle in villages, and explored the country as far as the River Mopan. Meeting everywhere with a friendly reception, Velasco recommended that in this neighborhood a Spanish settlement be established as a base, having to the south the Choles, to the east and north the Itzas, and on the west the Lacandones, which was done. A wooden fort was erected, and to the settlement here founded was given the name of Los Dolores. A fence of palisades was built, and thirty Spanish soldiers with a force of natives were left to garrison the fort under Captain Solis, Father Rivas with his companions remaining with them. Meanwhile the rainy season had set in, and Mazariegos and Barrios with the main body returned to Guatemala. Velasco continued his progress toward Lake Peten, and on the 1st of April was within a few leagues of the place, when the expedition was met by a hunting party of Itzas, who rushed upon them with loud outcries. The Mopanes attempted to parley, but the answer was a flight of arrows. Exasperated, though unhurt, the Spaniards discharged their arquebuses at the natives, who thereupon took to flight. The reconnoitring party now fell back, and to escape pursuit set fire to the grass and retreated to an encampment which had been formed on the bank of the Chajal, about ten leagues from Lake Peten. Several chance encounters proved the Itzas no contemptible foe; and as nothing was heard from the president or Mazariegos, Velasco led his command back to the Mopan. On his return, while Barrios was making preparations for another expedition, he fell sick and died. Scals, upon whom the government devolved, entered heartily into his predecessor's designs. A council of war approved the outline of the campaign already formed, the general features of which were the same as those of the one preceding. Jacobo de Alzayaga, regidor of Guatemala, was to lead the party from Huehuetenango to Los Dolores, and deal chiefly with the Lacandones; while the oidor, Bartolomé de Amézqueta,[XXXVI‑30] was to conduct a force through Vera Paz, and march against the Itzas by way of Mopan.
THE TWO EXPEDITIONS.
About the middle of January 1696 the troops left Guatemala; Alzayaga, on arriving with his division at Los Dolores, found the village thriving, more than five hundred native converts being settled there. He then proceeded in search of the Lacandon towns and eventually discovered two, Peta and Mop, each containing more than a hundred families. The people readily received the faith. And Alzayaga, concluding that he had found all the Lacandon villages, went in quest of the Itzas by way of the Lacandon River.
After descending some thirty-two leagues the expedition came to another and larger river, which they ascended for many leagues,[XXXVI‑31] making inquiries whenever possible for a road to the Itza capital; but all in vain; and finally, after fifty-seven days of search they returned to Los Dolores,[XXXVI‑32] where they arrived the 29th of April 1696. A report was sent to the president, Berrospe, and from him orders were received to leave a company of soldiers with some priests at Los Dolores and return to Guatemala, as no further expeditions would be undertaken in that direction, unless so ordered by the king.
The expedition under Amézqueta encountered a more tragic fate. Reaching Mopan about the last day of February, and taking Velasco into his confidence, Amézqueta intrusted him with the command of a company of twenty-five Spanish soldiers, which was increased at San Pedro by a similar number sent in advance, together with thirty-six Zalamá archers. Velasco was to proceed to his former camping-ground on the Chajal, and there, or in that neighborhood, to open communication with the Itzas by means of the cacique Quijan, who had been detained as a prisoner since the occupation of Los Dolores. Disregarding these instructions Velasco, without waiting for the main body, pushed on. The subsequent fate of his command and of the priests was never ascertained with certainty, as none of them were ever seen afterward.