"This is certain that at this time I was going on, falling and getting up again, on account of my needs, but my faith was always strong and firm that our Lady of the Apparition was going to bring us out safely. At the end of the said four days of following the Batche or broken branches, in such different directions, for sometimes they went to the East, at other times to the North, and at others to the South, we finally came across a path, broad and good, on which it was evident that a little while before Indians had passed and that there was frequent passing. The Indians wished to follow it towards the East, in case there were (as there were, from what I knew afterwards) any farms there, in which they might find something to sustain ourselves. But I did not let them go, since the sure thing was to follow it to the West, where either a settlement or the road from Guatemala, which we were searching for, could not fail us. At this time we were going on with a strong desire to reach it, but with little courage; wherefore we stopped to sleep on the road."
They Climb Some High Hills. "On the next day we went on over some high hills, difficult to climb; then, on passing over one which is ascended on the bank of a stream with but little water in it, one of the two Indians who accompanied me carried me, so that I could pass over it or climb it. There was no need for the hill to be very high (and it was not) for me not to be able to climb it, since now there was left to me in all my body only the bones and the skin and the spirit which animated them. In a little while I gave up at once, without being able to take a step forward, although my wish was to go on and the Indians encouraged me. This was a thing which gave them great trouble, for they also now were reeling from weakness. I, seeing that they would be missed more, if they died than if I did, since they had families of wife, children, mother and brother, and that I had only God, to whom I had delivered my soul and life, I made an agreement with them, that they should leave me there under a tree, and that they should try to save their lives, with the understanding that, if they got out in a short time to a settlement, they should come back to see me in a few days and to bring me some aid, for if I did not follow them, it was not from want of wish or spirit to do so, but from want of strength. They grieved much over this resolution of mine, on account of the love which they had come to have for me, and so they replied to me that they were not going to leave me, but that where I should die, they were going to die also. I (perhaps by divine inspiration) insisted that they should go on and leave me, to the point of commanding them with firmness to do so, provided that they should come to see me, whenever they found supplies, for I trusted in God that they would find me alive. With this determination of mine, they obeyed me, cutting off as they could leaves or branches of palms, and they made me a little hut in which to remain at rest."
Avendaño Left Alone. "At the same time they left me a fire lighted, and it was a prodigy for them to have lighted it, since on other occasions they had not been able to make a fire, because they lacked strength in their hands to prepare or bore the said sticks with which fire is made. They also left me half a gourd of water to cool my throat, so that it might not be closed up. Having done all this with great tenderness and with tears, they took leave of me, and I, giving them my benediction, and showing them a like tenderness, embraced them also and sent them away, asking my most holy Mother of the Apparition to take them shortly and safely.
"I then as one who remained to die, without knowing whether the Indians would come back or not, endeavored to prepare myself with a santo christo which I had with me, consoling myself with it, as one who had no other company and needed the santo christo so much in that time of trial. With it I conversed and I accused myself of all my faults before it, as one who could pardon them. Having finished reciting the divine service, I got ready to bless a little roll of paper which I had, so as, on seeing that I was failing, to burn it; in the fire, which was at my side. At once I read the prayers for the dying with the litanies, etc., after which I returned to my conversations with the santo christo, which finished, I recited a vigil, celebrating my burial."
The Miracle of the Sapote. "I was engaged in these exercises, when suddenly, though there were no sapote trees where I was, there came a squirrel down a low tree, with a sapote in his little paws, and giving two jumps in my presence, it showed its little teeth and went away. I was not able to stir, but with a little stick which was at my side, I drew this sapote to me and ate it, for it was as ripe and sweet as honey. The wonder is that in thousands of sapotes which we found in these forests, we did not come across a single good piece of one; and here without there being a tree, that little animal brought a ripe one. I knew then that God sent me that aid, like another Saint Paul, although I was very far from imitating him in his virtues, but rather that God might show his greater mercy to such a great sinner as I. I gave him thanks with some tenderness for such a kindness, hoping with more confidence now that I should not die of hunger. In doing this and saying my prayers, I passed the whole day and night, awaiting every moment the hour of dawn."
Rescued. "Much neglected by human aid (and even forgotten) was I, when it dawned the next day, since in six or eight days at the least, I did not expect any result from the two Indians whom I had sent off. I rested in this supposition as soon as it dawned and I gave thanks to God for having brought me safely through that night, etc. I set about reciting the divine service, which I never failed to recite in these forests, nor was it ever absent from my mind, when suddenly I heard a noise of people, and on turning my eyes, I saw some ten Indians of the town of Mani and its suburbs, who came to get me. I did not take them for men, but for angels, and as such they acted in my case in everything. Scarcely had they come to where I was, when with great affection they ran to embrace me, shedding plenty of tears, and at the same time, saying a thousand tender words to me. I could not restrain myself at this kindness, when I thought also of such an unexpected blessing as God had shown me. On the other hand it caused me to feel more kindly, when I saw that a people as impious as the Indians naturally are, should be so merciful to me, as never have I seen such a thing in them.
"They brought me a little meal that they eat, and in a moment they warmed it so that I could drink it, they supporting me, one on one side and one on the other, so that I might keep seated. They revived the fire which was there, and warming up six cloaks very nicely, they wrapped me up in them, and warmed my extremities, that is, my feet and hands, since they were numb from weakness and cold air; I recovered by means of that warmth and food which I drank, and in order to raise me, they held aloft my whole body, stiff as if it was a sculptured statue. They brought a hammock in which they took me to the town of Chuntucí, from which I set out when I went among the said Ytzaes, and to which the said Indians who carried me were loading up to go."
What had Happened to the Indians whom Avendaño Sent off. "Portentous surely was the present event, if all the circumstances are considered. The two Indians left my presence, whom I sent off against their will, so as to save their lives, forcing them to leave me alone. Everything happened through a higher direction,--first since the said Indians went on falling and getting up again, from their want of strength, and in spite of all this, they followed the path which led from where they left me up to the town of Chuntucí, which they reached in an hour and a half, for they only stopped long enough to take some refreshment with the said carriers, and to tell them how I was left to die in the forest. Scarcely had they heard this, when without any delay, they started out to come and get me, and the distance which it took my two Indians to go in an hour and a half, the said carriers had to take a day and a half in finding me, without their losing their road, by which the miracle can easily be understood. Secondly, that my Indians, coming to Chuntucí, and meeting these carriers loading, was all one (i.e., simultaneous), so that if they had stopped even a little, they would not have met them, and consequently would not have found supplies to bring to me, and even less should I have been able to start out for a settlement. Therefore the hurry which I showed in sending them away was by divine direction. They took me in the said hammock, and though it was a convenience on account of the rest that it gave, it was also some affliction to me, since, although they wrapped me up very well in their cloaks, every little while it gave me cramps in all my body, I being stiff and cold from head to foot. At which they warmed the cloaks again, and rubbing my hands and feet with them all warm, the muscles again were stretched, although it lasted but a short time. At last I reached the town of Chuntucí, on the Sunday of Septuagesima, which was on the 19th of February, in this year of sixteen hundred and ninety-six, about three o'clock in the afternoon,--a result surely very different from what I thought,--that I should ever be in the said town again, after the extremity to which I had come. All that afternoon I stayed looking at this town, and I did not believe yet that I was really there. Blessed be the mercy of God, who showed it thus in my case. For his divine Majesty alone, of his own accord, could show such compassion on this miserable sinner. Infinite thanks be given for so great blessings as he gave me, and may his divine Majesty so will, that it redound to his honor and glory through infinite centuries of centuries. Amen. The Indian carriers continued in their pious work of conveying me and of caring for my Indian singers, so that both in them and in me, a great change of condition resulted from the fresh food, which put us on the road to life."
Avendaño set out shortly afterwards for Merida.
The Messenger from Tayasal. When he and his companions reached Merida they were told of the arrival of a messenger from Canek of Tayasal. This messenger had reached Merida considerably before the time at which the Padres left Tayasal. He had been received by the Governor and society of Merida with great rejoicings because of the fact that he announced that his errand was to proffer the allegiance of Canek and all his subjects, some eighty thousand Indians in all.