Quarrels among the Soldiers and the Officials. The entrada from Guatemala came to a close to the accompaniment of incessant and petty wrangling on the part of the soldiery and of the officials.
The Writers of the Decree Punished. It is good to know, however, that the writers of the decree were punished by a sound reprimand. Cano was reinstated in the respect of all. He tells the plans for future work in these words: "... He [President Barrios] intended going again the following year by the Province of Vera Paz.... For this purpose I proposed to the said President that it was necessary that those roads should be constructed in such a way that the supplies could be carried in mule packs and not on the shoulders of Indians; and that the tools should be provided for building canoes and boats,--also officers and seamen who should know how to manage them, since in no other way was it possible to enter the Island or Peten of Ahiza. All this was ordered to be provided and carried out; but it was not carried out fully on account of the protracted and distressing illness of the said President, which grew worse and worse every day. So that God permitted that from this storm should result one calm death, and that, through antagonistic means, there should be added new delays to this conversion.
"Meanwhile there were not wanting priests of good courage who wished to take part in the conversion of these souls, and Fray Diego Palomino having died in the highlands of Chol from illness which attacked him there, God moved the Reverend Reader, Fray Christobal de Prada, with such powerful inclinations, that while he was giving a course in philosophy in this convent of Guatemala with great credit and esteem, and without being detained by the love of his scholars or the arguments of his friends, he gave up his chair and went to the wilderness, where he devoted himself with so much fervor and zeal to the education of those heathen that in a short time he perfected himself in the language of Chol, of which he had already learned the rudiments; and he went ahead of every one in the Mopan or Ahiza languages, without a master or grammar of the said language, but only with what help he was able to get from the Mopan and Chol Indians, of whom he brought together many who had fled before he went into the wilderness."
The outcome of the events described in this chapter resulted in the subjection of the Itzas, but not, however, through the agency of the people of Guatemala. We shall learn from the account of Fray Andrés de Avendaño y Loyola all that occurred in the year 1695-1696.
[CHAPTER VIII]
THE FIRST AND UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT MADE BY
FRAY ANDRÉS DE AVENDAÑO Y LOYOLA TO REACH
THE ITZAS OF TAYASAL, 1695-1696
It has been pointed out in the Introduction that Avendaño's Relacion is of very great value as a first-hand account of the conquest of the Itzas. But we must not lose sight of the fact that that same Relación is also a wonderful, though unconscious, testimony to the piety, unselfishness, and bravery of him who wrote it. Undoubtedly the priests of the Roman Catholic Church did many unjust things during the period of Spanish domination in the New World, but the number of good and noble deeds done by them (deeds the bulk of which is unrecorded) completely dwarfs the evil. Avendaño was a type of the best sort of priest in the New World. Impelled by no other motive than sheer faith and an ardent desire to do the duty of his office, he went through the events which we will leave him to relate.
Preamble. "I, Fray Andrés de Avendaño y Loyola, ... accompanied by my Padres and Preachers Fray Antonio Perez de San Roman, Apostolic notary of the first trip; Fray Joseph de Jesus Maria, Apostolic notary of the second trip, and Fray Diego de Echebarria, ... made this first trip [beginning] on the 3d of June of the past year of 1695, and the second, on which we entered the nation of the Ytzaex, began on the 13th of December of the said year, and we returned to this city of Merida on the 6th of April of this year of 1696...."
Preparations for the Journey. "... Here begins the historical account, which, with the divine aid, I am attempting to tell of the casualties and events which happened in this journey for the conversion of souls, while opening a road from this Province to that of Guatemala, taking as my sure loadstar the honor and glory of God and the well-being of souls, which, at the cost of unextinguishable fervor, Señor Don Martin de Urssua y Arismendi[8.1] Provisional Governor and Captain-General of these provinces for his Majesty, is attempting to bring about; with none the less support of the Señor Oidor Don Francisco de Saraza, who at the present time resides in the city of Merida de Yucatan. Today, the 2d of June of this present year 1695 ... I, then, armed with so strong an armor of faith, say that God, our Lord, having moved the hearts of these two above-mentioned gentlemen, so that, besides their undertaking other enterprises of his Majesty (whom may God guard), the fervent zeal of the said Don Martin de Urssua y Arismendi found an opportunity, the Señor Oidor (as has been said) favoring it, for carrying out a journey,--two messengers these, both as acceptable to God as deserving in the service of the royal crown, since in fulfilling the duty of his office of Provisional Governor, [Ursua] did not waste at all the precious jewel of time, but put into execution, in addition to the difficult work of government, this most difficult and special work which his Majesty granted to him of opening the wild road from this province to that of Guatemala, without satisfying the eagerness of his zeal, in spite of the excessive cost of the undertaking; for he gave all the supplies necessary for one hundred and fifteen Spaniards and one hundred and fifty-six Indian musketeers, for which he, jointly with the Municipality of Campeche and other special friends, paid, joining mutually not only in the payment of wages, but also sharing the expense of provisions.... Among those who joined in this mission were the Padre Preacher, Fray Juan de San Buena Ventura, and the Padre Preacher, Fray Joseph de Jesus Maria, both living in the convent of the Santa Recolección of this city of Merida, and Brother Fray Tomás de Alcoser, lay friar, and Brother Lucas, lay Brother of the said convent. All of these composed or established one mission. And the Padre Preacher, Fray Antonio Perez de San Roman, holding the office of apostolic notary, with the lay Brother, Alonso de Vargas, and I, the most unworthy of all, who went as their delegate apostolic missionary....
"The aforesaid Provisional Governor [Ursua] was not satisfied with this enterprise alone, and, without considering the greatness of the cost, as his fidelity to His Majesty developed, he disposed of his services so that at one and the same time to drive out some Englishmen (as he did with glory enough of his own) who inhabited the lands of Zacatone, adjoining this province, and who lived there on account of their large profits in logwood. He gave the assistance needed for this duty to Captain Bernardo de Lizarraga, and he executed it with double victories; and then, not sparing the ploughing of the foaming waves, he made four captures in his first victory, in order to gain his second. As a skillful man he went with all his men into the wild woods of pathless thickets, where, though with great risk, falling upon the enemy in the rear, he made his second attack, again gaining as spoils of his second victory, other prizes, and driving out from there the said English enemies. I speak no more of this, as it does not belong in this place."