The Fate of Diaz de Velasco; Amezquita Follows him. The reason for this cessation of communication was briefly as follows: Captain Diaz de Velasco sent Cuixam ahead, as had been planned, to Tayasal. Cuixam reported that two Franciscans were on the island. The Captain would not believe this. Still, he was so bold as to embark in a canoe rowed by natives, who, as soon as the vessel was clear of the shore, began a sharp struggle which resulted in the death of all the Spaniards in the party. In due course Amezquita followed in the footsteps of the ill-fated Captain. On arriving at the shores of the lake he learned the fate that had befallen Diaz de Velasco. Seeing that there was nothing he could do with so small a force as that which he had at his disposal, Amezquita withdrew to Chacal, and later on, by the order of Don Gabriel Sanchez de Berrospe, the new President of the Audiencia of Guatemala, he withdrew to Guatemala City.
Conclusion of the Subjection of the Itzas Begun. After the series of events which we have just studied came to an end there was, for a time, a lull in the war. Our knowledge of the incidents which followed the break is derived from Villagutierre y Sotomayor. (Lib. v, caps. 7, 8, etc.) According to this authority, events occurred in the following order.
Parades is Ordered to March to Los Dolores. Ursua determined to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion by means of another expedition into the Itza country. Accordingly he sent his orders to Alonso Garcia de Paredes, who, with the soldiers of that unsuccessful expedition on which Avendaño had gone, was still in Tzucthok. In substance Paredes was ordered to go and place himself and his men under the orders of the President of Guatemala or his successor. To this end he was to go south from Tzucthok, and always "trying to incline his route a little toward the left hand, or towards the east, was to place himself in sight of the town of Lacandones, which the President had discovered and named Nuestra Señora de los Dolores."[10.1] Paredes was to fortify himself there about five leagues from the town of Lacandon, and he was to stay there without molesting the surrounding settlements. From the time of receiving these instructions to the time when he built his stockaded redoubt he was to take especial care to inform himself concerning the people round about, and especially those along the road which was being built. On arriving in the neighborhood of Lacandon and after the founding of the redoubt, Paredes was to go to the President so as to hand over to him the various letters that he bore and so as to place himself under his orders. Thereafter, if circumstances permitted, he was to go as soon as possible to the Itzas, together with a suitable number of Padres and soldiers. He; was ordered to subject and catechize the natives.
Paredes appointed as officers Don Joseph de Estenoz, Pedro de Zuviaur, Joseph Laynez, and Mateo Hidalgo, who had been picked out by Ursua for their various posts. From this point on we have the account of Avendaño to rely upon until after the Padre's withdrawal to Merida. An uprising on the part of the Cacique Covoh, as we know, was the immediate cause of the retirement. It did not have, however, a permanently discouraging effect.
Canek's Ambassador, Can, Arrives at Merida. In the last third of December, 1695, while Avendaño was still in the wilderness, an ambassador named Can arrived at Merida from Canek.[10.2] He was accompanied by three kinsmen of his, together with some Muzules Indians. Ursua himself came out to meet him with a great following. The parties met at the convent of the Mejorada; thence the embassy was taken to the cathedral and to the palace. Can then said that his uncle, Canek, asked for Padres so that Christianity might be introduced among the Itzas. A suitable reply was given, and the ambassador was baptized. (Villagutierre, lib. vi, caps. 3-5.) Can told Ursua that his uncle, Canek, had four Kings under him who were his vassals. They were Citcan, Ahamatan, Ahkin, and Ahitcan, as well as Ahatsi. Can was baptized Martin Francisco Can and his brother Miguel Can. Finally, after many ceremonies and solemn masses, Ursua sent them home with much good feeling. An escort headed by Captain Francisco de Hariza or Ariza of Bacalar set forth for the Itzas. Ursua sent word of all these developments to Paredes, ordering him, as well as Hariza, to do all that was necessary for the winning or conquering of Canek and his vassals.
Meanwhile the new President of Guatemala, Escals, was taking all possible precautions for the furtherance of the design. His division of the expedition, of which Fray Agustín Cano was a part, left Guatemala in January, 1696. There is no need to tell again what happened, as Cano has already told us all up to a certain point.
Zuviaur Goes to the Lake. The early weeks of 1696, then, were spent by Avendaño and the men of Yucatan in Peten and in the wilderness between it and Tipu, to which the Padres were enabled to flee by Canek, who knew well the plots that were being hatched against them by Covoh and by Canek's wife.
Shortly after Avendaño reached Merida and made his report, Ursua dispatched Captain Don Pedro de Zuviaur with seventy men, enough Indians, and Padre Juan San Buenaventura to the lake by way of the route so lately followed by Avendaño. The Itzas received them armed for war. Padre San Buenaventura, however, partly calmed them by smooth words; fighting did not, however, entirely cease, and before long Zuviaur returned to the royal camp. At about the same time an Indian messenger arrived from Hariza, who was in the neighborhood of Tipu, with the information that the Franciscans who were administering the villages along the road were meeting with a fair measure of success, and that the Itzas were the only remaining obstacle to the completion of the undertaking. Hourly they became more threatening and more dangerous. Several skirmishes took place between them and the men of Paredes. Finally, forced by lack of supplies, Paredes withdrew with all his men into the province.
Ursua Determines to Take Vigorous Measures. Clearly enough, in Ursua's opinion, things were far from being in a satisfactory condition. He made up his mind that a stop must be put to the menace of the Itzas at all costs, and he determined to go in person upon this definitive expedition. He made especially elaborate and adequate preparations, doing things which should have been done long before. He assembled a sufficient number of carpenters to build brigantines and pyraguas on the shore of the lake, and he got together ample stores. Nothing was said of all this to the King of Castile, as it was notorious that he would have frowned upon such military preparations.
Lawsuits between Soberanis and Ursua. At this time the old enmity between Soberanis and Ursua reawakened. Soberanis was at the viceregal court, where, during the reign of the Conde de Galve, he opposed Ursua's interests and plans with some success. Galve was succeeded, however, by Don Juan de Ortega Montañes, Bishop of Michoacan, who was appointed Viceroy ad interim of Mexico. Ortega, being a broad-minded man, could see the good of the wishes of both sides, and he determined that the whole matter should be laid before the Council of the Indies. The result was a long lawsuit, during which it became clear that Soberanis wished for more territory for his King, while Ursua wanted more vassals. A series of lawsuits, stained by false charges, perjury, and petty recriminations (mostly on the part of Soberanis and his party), followed. It is a matter which is very involved and for us unimportant, as it did not alter the current of events in the region of Tayasal.