Continual Misfortunes. In the events which follow one note, misfortune, makes itself heard above the confusion. Battles, skirmishes, and murders filled the lives of Dávila and his men. Their wanderings lay mainly in the region of the province of Bakhalal. (Cogolludo, lib. ii, cap. viii.) Chablé and Villa Real de Chetemal were the places they most often visited. In many cases villages were found to be deserted. All through the discouraging period Dávila was seeking for some means of letting Montejo know the straits he was in. Once more he found Indians whom he believed to be willing to act as messengers, and once again he was tricked. Worse even than this was the unmistakable evidence that the Indians were making elaborate preparations to attack Villa Real. The fact that one of their own chiefs was being held as a hostage for the safe delivery of the letters did not seem to deter them in the least. One fortunate circumstance, however, does appear in this mass of misfortunes: Dávila was forewarned of his danger, for he sent out Francisco Vazquez with ten men in seven canoes to get supplies. Two of the party were killed by Indians; the remainder returned to Villa Real with at least a small amount of supplies.
If Dávila and his men were badly off in Villa Real, Montejo and his party at Chichen Itza were equally if not more precariously situated. The chief causes of their misfortunes were the lack of men, and of the most common necessities, the want of certainty as to the best course to be followed, and the knowledge on the part of the Indians that the number of the Spaniards was daily growing less on account of the ceaseless skirmishes. Food was so scarce that parties had to be formed on purpose to make sallies from the fortifications in search of it. As Cogolludo (p. 86) graphically puts it, "Their dinners now cost them their life-blood."
Although, as we have already seen, centralized power was at an end long since in the peninsula, a revival of the old-time feeling of unity is to be seen in the determination the Mayas had to get rid of the Spaniards. Cogolludo (p. 87) says, "For this purpose almost all the people of that land had made an agreement, so that the multitude [of Indians] was very great. The Indians who led the attack were of a vigorous and proud nature, and so, confident in their great number, they surrounded the Spaniards, who, in no direction, could be reached by help." At length, seeing themselves faced with the choice of dying by inches from starvation or of being put to death fighting their enemies bravely, the Spaniards determined to make a sally when as good an opportunity as possible should present itself. Both sides were desperate: the invaders were fighting for their lives; the Indians for their liberty. The havoc wrought by the superior arms of the Spaniards was, however, more than counterbalanced by the overwhelming numbers of the Indians. At last, seeing the utter hopelessness of further efforts, Montejo gave the signal to retreat. One hundred and fifty soldiers died at the hands of the Indians in this engagement. An anecdote which Cogolludo tells as an explanation of the unity and determination of the Indians is a possible light upon the cause of their resistance. A cacique named Cupul, in the early days of the Spanish occupation of Chichen Itza, feigned friendliness toward the invaders and went about freely among them. One day, when Montejo was off his guard, Cupul went up behind him, snatched his sword away, and tried to kill him. Fortunately a Spaniard, one Bias Gonzalez, cut off Cupul's arm just in time to prevent the blow. It was to avenge the injury thus done to a chief that the Indians shut off the Spaniards' food supply.
Chichen Itza and Villa Real both Deserted. For our purpose it is unnecessary to give further details of the first expedition of Montejo. We need only say that both the settlements made by the Spaniards, Chichen Itza and Villa Real de Chetemal, were deserted for the time being. Cogolludo, after reviewing the various accounts of the further wanderings of Montejo and his son, Francisco Montejo the Younger, comes to the conclusion that the son remained at a port called Zilam, while his father went by sea to Campeche (Kin Pech), where he remained till 1534 without entirely deserting Yucatan. He did go, however, to New Spain in an effort to get more men so that he might continue the conquest. Those whom he already had remained at Campeche. Cogolludo's authority for these statements are the depositions written by Gonzalo Nieto and Bias Gonzalez, who were two soldiers of the Adelantado's forces.
Dávila Goes to Honduras. Captain Alonso Dávila stayed in Villa Real de Chetemal until 1532, constantly suffering from hunger and his struggles with the natives. His efforts to communicate with the Adelantado were constant. Finally it was decided to move to some place nearer Honduras. As no suitable place for a settlement was found, Dávila and his followers went to the town of Trujillo in Honduras. On the journey they lacked for every comfort and even for proper food. When they reached Trujillo they found the people there little better off than they. Dávila agreed with Andrés de Zerezeda, who was governing Trujillo, that a vessel should be built to be sent out in search of the Adelantado and also for things from Spain. At about this time two ships from Cuba brought news of the discovery of Peru, and in one of these ships Dávila and his men went off. Ultimately they rejoined the Adelantado at Campeche.
Even after he was rejoined by Dávila and his followers at Campeche, Montejo still had plenty of trouble with the natives. Like all the rest, the Indians of Campeche were bitterly opposed to the Spaniards and gave them much trouble. It is pleasant to know that Queen Juana recognized the sacrifices made by Montejo in a cedula given at Ocaña on April 24, 1534.
The Elder Montejo Goes to Tabasco in 1535. Nothing daunted by all his misfortunes, the Adelantado bought some ships and gathered some soldiers to continue his conquest. In New Spain, also, he obtained new supplies of munitions and other necessary things. Apparently Montejo the Elder was ordered to pacify the province of Tabasco, which was in revolt. As a result of this Tabasco became, and for a long time remained, a part of the province of Yucatan. The ships, under Gonzalo Nieto, went on to Campeche to get all the Spaniards there were in Yucatan and bring them to Tabasco, for the subjugating of that province was found to be more difficult than had at first been thought. The motive which led Montejo thus to make sure of his grasp on Tabasco speaks well for his generalship: he knew only too well how few were the men available as fighters, and so he wished to make sure that there were no revolted provinces in his rear at the time when he should begin again his attack on Yucatan.
In the year 1535 the Spaniards deserted Yucatan proper, retiring to Champoton[4.4]] and to Tabasco.
The Franciscans Enter Yucatan, 1535. At this juncture a very important incident took place: the Religious of the Order of San Francisco entered Yucatan. (Cogolludo, lib. ii, cap. 12.) At that time, 1534-1535, Antonio de Mendoza[4.5] was in possession of the post of Viceroy of New Spain, and he had long before received orders from Queen Juana signed at Madrid, September 22, 1530, to the effect that Religious must at once be sent to Yucatan to fulfill the conditions under which that province had been granted to Francisco de Montejo. As there were no Religious in Yucatan there was nothing for Mendoza to do but send some from his own dominions. When the project was made known it was answered by Fray Jacobo de Testera, who, although he was the occupant of a high post in Mexico, offered to go to Yucatan to evangelize the country. In 1531 he, with Fray Lorencio de Bienvenida and two others, went to Tabasco. On March 18 of the same year they reached Champoton. Having asked leave of the natives to enter, the Mexican Indians in the party were welcomed by those of Champoton. The beginning was fortunate enough; the end of the mission was unfortunate. The cause of the change was the resentment the Indians felt against the Padres, who burned up their idols. Campeche was the farthest point from Mexico that they reached. (Remesal, lib. v, cap. 6.) Disgruntled by their failure, the Padres finally returned to Mexico. Cogolludo is very explicit as regards the exaggeration of Spanish cruelty by some writers, notably Remesal, Las Casas, and others.
In 1536 another band of friars, led by Fray Antonio de Ciudad-Rodrigo, preached in Coazacoalco, Santa Maria de la Victoria de Tabasco, Xicalango, Champoton, and Campeche, returning to New Spain two years later.