On January 26, 1688, President Barrios y Leal took the office.[XXXV‑36] His arrival was unattended by the usual display. He had experienced on his way from Golfo Dulce such hardships that he requested the cabildo to omit the ceremony of welcome and devote the funds appropriated for the purpose to improving the defences at Golfo Dulce.[XXXV‑37] His rule was no less troublesome to him than his journey had been. Differences had again arisen between the regular and the secular clergy.[XXXV‑38] Bishop Navas, then in charge of the diocese, was greatly excited, and addressed a memorial to the cabildo, soon after the arrival of Barrios, upon what he considered flagrant abuses, stating that in view of the many disasters which the country had experienced during the last six years from various causes, taxation was taking the life-blood of an already impoverished people. The bishop was one quick to discern evils which he was powerless to remove; apt at the formation of plans he lacked the perseverance to execute; and assumed the attitude of a partisan, where it especially behooved a prelate to be unbiassed. Thus he was incessantly interfering in political matters, and personal relations between him and the president were soon exceedingly unpleasant,[XXXV‑39] finally becoming a matter of inquiry at the Spanish court. On the 13th of March 1690 a royal cédula was issued severely reprimanding the bishop[XXXV‑40] for his conduct toward the president.
On January 25, 1691, Fernando Ursino y Orbaneja, an oidor of Mexico, was appointed visitador to Guatemala, and he provisionally removed President Barrios. In 1694 Barrios was reinstated in office. The principal occupation in which he had previously been engaged was the conquest of the Lacandon country, into which he had personally led an expedition as will be narrated hereafter. He now began preparations for a second campaign. While thus employed his health failed, and he died on the 12th of November 1695.
The death of Barrios was followed by dissension in the audiencia relative to his provisional successor. By law the right of succession fell on the senior oidor, Francisco Valenzuela Venegas, but the licentiate José de Scals was by some means installed in the presidency. Hence arose a violent party feud,[XXXV‑41] and when Gabriel Sanchez de Berrospe arrived in March 1696, as the appointed president, the government was in a state of confusion which no efforts of his could rectify. In fact a political storm closed the history of Guatemala for the century. The opposition, led by Scals and his ally, the oidor Amézqueta, baffled Berrospe's attempts at legislation, by every artifice that could cause delay.[XXXV‑42]
On the 17th of June, 1699, Diego Antonio de Oviedo y Baños, an oidor of Santo Domingo, Gregorio Carrillo y Escudero, and two others were appointed oidores of Guatemala pending an investigation concerning the audiencia, with right of succession at the close of the former oidor's term. Oviedo was named as senior oidor, but being detained in Santiago de Cuba, Carrillo usurped the position and refused to give place to the former on his arrival.[XXXV‑43] Controversies continued until the coming of the licentiate Madriz as visitador in 1699, when affairs became still more serious, and acts of violence were resorted to by the two bitter factions which were immediately formed under the denominations of Berropistas and Tequelies.
The first act of Madriz was to depose Berrospe and appoint Amézqueta as provisional president. The oidores Carrillo and Duardo were then deprived of office, but they promptly affirmed that their removal was illegal, and resuming their seats ordered the arrest of the visitador, which they endeavored to effect on Palm Sunday, 1700. Madriz took refuge in the college of the Jesuits, which on the following day was surrounded by the friends of Carrillo and Duardo. The bishop came to his relief, and he made good his retreat to Soconusco where he incited the people to rise in arms against the Berropistas. Berrospe sent the oidor Pedro de Ezguaras with an armed force to suppress the tumult, and if possible effect the capture of Madriz. Ezguaras was at first repulsed, but in a subsequent encounter Madriz and his followers were put to flight and peace was restored. Berrospe had no easy time. Madriz had a powerful ally in the bishop, who issued manifestoes exhorting all persons to obey the visitador and not the pseudo audiencia. Against those who attempted to lay violent hands on Madriz he threatened excommunication. In February 1701 the visitador returned with an armed force from Oajaca whither he had fled, and in an encounter between the rival parties lost sixty of his men, while the loss of the audiencia was only ten.[XXXV‑44]
Berrospe now retires from the scene, having either returned to Spain or died while the political struggle was still undecided.[XXXV‑45] The other chief actors continued the contest somewhat longer. In 1702 José Osorio, oidor of Mexico, was appointed to supersede Madriz as visitador, and in September of the same year the latter was arrested in Campeche, and sent prisoner to Mexico, as the originator of the disturbances in Guatemala. Bishop Navas had constantly identified himself with the Tequelies, and when ordered by his metropolitan, the archbishop of Mexico, to withdraw his ban of excommunication against certain Berrospeists he refused to do so. He died in the midst of these dissensions, not without grave suspicions of having been poisoned.
Concerning the ecclesiastical history of the province, we learn that after the decease of Bishop Córdoba, in 1598,[XXXV‑46] the mitre was bestowed on Juan Ramirez de Arellano, a man said to be of royal lineage. The honor was bestowed in recognition of his zeal in the conversion of the natives of Miztecapan. He had previously made a pilgrimage from Spain to Home on foot, in as humble guise as ever journeyed the apostles of old, and was received with peculiar honor by the pope. When he arrived in Guatemala in 1601, he changed in nothing the austere mode of life for which he was noted when a simple friar. His fervor and determination in the cause of the church brought on him the enmity of the cabildo,[XXXV‑47] whose members prayed the king that the bishop might be removed to some other diocese, and their own allowed a period of tranquillity. His death, which occurred not long afterward, released the citizens of Santiago from further anxiety. During the administration of Ramirez it is commonly supposed that the bishopric of Vera Paz was abolished and its territory annexed to that of Guatemala.[XXXV‑48] Bishop Juan Cabezas Altamirano of Cuba was transferred to Guatemala in 1610, and took possession of the episcopal chair the following year. In 1613 he consecrated with imposing ceremonies Alonso Galdo, bishop-elect of Honduras, this being the first ceremony of the kind performed in Guatemala. Two years later Altamirano was seized with apoplexy and died, when the mitre was offered to Pedro de Valencia, who before his arrival in Guatemala was promoted to the bishopric of La Paz. The bishopric remained vacant till 1621, Francisco de la Vega Sarmiento, dean of Mexico, having declined to accept it, and Pedro de Villa Real, bishop of Nicaragua, the next one appointed, dying before he reached the diocese. It was then bestowed on Juan Zapata y Sandoval, bishop of Chiapas, who was born of one of the noblest families in Mexico. He was noted for his charitable disposition and was the first bishop who conferred degrees in the college of Santo Tomás of Guatemala. After occupying the episcopal chair for nine years he died in January 1630, and was buried in the cathedral of Guatemala.[XXXV‑49]
The next occupant, Bishop Agustin de Ugarte y Saravia, came also by promotion from Chiapas, and presided over the diocese for nine years. He made valuable presents to the monastery of La Concepcion; laid the foundation stone of the convent of Santa Catarina Mártyr, and founded the convent of Nuestra Señora del Cármen. He was promoted to Arequipa in Peru in 1641, and afterward to Quito, where he died in 1650.
His successor, Bartolomé Gonzalez Soltero, had held a variety of important trusts, having been thrice rector of the university in Mexico, visitador of libraries, fiscal, and afterward member of the inquisition. How soon after Saravia's transfer to Peru Soltero entered upon his duties is not quite certain, but probably not for some time.[XXXV‑50] His rule was peaceful, and his devotion to the sick, during a time of pestilence, won the respect of the cabildo.[XXXV‑51] He died on the 25th of January 1650, and was buried in the cathedral of Santiago.
The income of the diocese in 1648, as officially reported, was eight thousand pesos per annum, and at that time there were in the city of Santiago convents belonging to the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, Jesuits, Mercenarios, and the order of San Juan de Dios. In charge of the Dominicans was the hospital of San Alejo, and in 1641 that of Santiago was assigned to the care of the friars of San Juan de Dios.[XXXV‑52] Under the management of this society was also the hospital of San Lazaro. There were, moreover, in the city four nunneries, two in charge of the Dominican order, one of the order of La Concepcion, and one of the order of Santa Catarina Mártyr, the latter containing four hundred inmates besides a large number of pupils.
In wealth and luxuries these orders had reached a degree second only to that attained by the regulars in Mexico and Peru. The cloister of the Dominicans, for instance, had large revenues flowing in from its Indian dependencies, water-mill privileges, and farms, sugar plantations, and a silver mine.[XXXV‑53] Within the ample grounds of their convent were artificial lakes, fish-ponds, and fruit and flower gardens, and their church was rich with costly ornaments and jewelry. The Dominicans may have fared better than the other orders, but to none was lacking either comfort or affluence. Hardly less wealthy than the Dominicans was the cloister of the nuns of La Concepcion, the inmates of which were very numerous. It is narrated by Gage that one fair sister of this society, Doña Juana de Maldonado, daughter of the judge, so bewitched the bishop with her youth and charms, that to gratify her he strove to install her as lady superior and abbess, despite her youth and inexperience. In fact the prelate's conduct was such as to create scandal, and many noted citizens, whose relatives were inmates, entered the convent prepared to effect a change by compulsion. The intervention of President Guzman and the young lady's father resulted in a relinquishment of her ambitious designs.
The Bethlehemites appeared in Guatemala about the middle of the seventeenth century, the founder of their order being Fray Pedro de San José Vetancur. Their first habitation was a small house which was purchased for forty pesos obtained by contribution. The order did not, however, long remain in poverty, and in a few years large gifts of money were annually presented to the society. In 1667 Vetancur was succeeded by Fray Rodrigo as the leader of the brotherhood, and soon afterward a church was erected by the Bethlehemites in Santiago at an expense of seventy thousand pesos,[XXXV‑54] as well as other costly edifices. In 1667 they adopted a code; but the Franciscan provincial objected to its approval, as it provided the same habit as that worn by his own order. This difficulty obviated, the rules and regulations were approved by the bishop on the 6th of February 1668.[XXXV‑55] The society was reorganized in 1681 on a basis which was sanctioned by the pope and the king, but not until Fray Rodrigo had spent fifteen years in advocating its cause in Madrid and Rome.
After Bishop Soltero's death the episcopal palace was not occupied by a prelate until 1659. Juan Garcilaso de la Vega was first appointed to succeed him, but died at Tehuantepec on the 5th of May, 1654, while on his way to Santiago. His remains were conveyed thither and interred in the cathedral. Fray Payo Enriques de Ribera was next appointed to the vacant see, and took possession in February 1659.
In 1660 a royal order arrived rendering more obligatory former instructions as to the extent and stipends of curacies. Curates had been employing secular assistants, to whose charge they either partly or entirely committed their spiritual duties. They nevertheless collected all fees and dues. It was not permitted for a curate to have charge of more than four hundred natives, and when the renewed mandate arrived Bishop Ribera undertook to enforce its observance. The fiscal, Pedro Frasso, however, claimed that right and also all surplus moneys received by curates who had more than the legal number under their charge. The controversy waxed warm and extended to great length.[XXXV‑56]
Ribera traversed the length and breadth of his diocese in his zeal for the church, and the establishment of the hospital of San Pedro in Santiago was due to his labors. He was transferred to the bishopric of Michoacan and left Guatemala in February 1668.
His successor, Juan de Santo Matías Saenz Mañosca y Murillo, arrived in the following June, having previously occupied the see of Habana. The most important ecclesiastical event during his rule was the founding of a new cathedral, the corner-stone of which he laid with imposing ceremonies on the 30th of October 1669. The edifice was completed in 1680, and its dedication marked by brilliant ceremonies and festivities which lasted for eight days. The mornings were devoted to religious services and the evenings to banquets and balls. Two bands of dancers had been trained with great care and performed on alternate days; the one, composed of twelve young men, chosen from the noblest families, and arrayed in splendid costumes, exhibited the ancient dances of the New World; the other, formed of the same number of young women of great accomplishments, richly dressed in Spanish style, represented sibyls. Midnight was made radiant by spectacular fireworks provided by the different orders and congregations. When the programme of the clergy had been exhausted, three additional days were given to unreserved enjoyment. Theatrical performances, bull-fights, horse-races, and other amusements were provided, and attended by throngs of people.
After the close of his duties as president of the audiencia, Mañosca remained in office until his decease in the year 1675, having just before received notification of his appointment as bishop of La Puebla de los Angeles.[XXXV‑57]
In February 1676 the new bishop Juan de Ortega y Montañez arrived, and held office until 1682, when he was promoted to Michoacan, being succeeded by Andrés de las Navas y Quevedo, whose politico-ecclesiastical views and mode of administration have won for him an unenviable prominence among the Guatemalan prelates of the seventeenth century.
During this period the province of Chiapas reached its highest degree of prosperity. From the time of its subjugation by Mazariegos the natives had made no attempt to recover their political freedom, and uninterrupted tranquillity had reigned in the land. The natives submitted quietly to their lot, and the Spaniards enjoyed the fruit of their labors. It is true that the territory possessed no mines, but the productiveness of the soil was such that abundance prevailed. Cacao, cochineal, and cotton were produced in large quantity and were of great commercial value, while agriculture and cattle-raising prospered in all parts of the country. Populous towns[XXXV‑58] were situated in the fertile valleys,[XXXV‑59] the rivers of which supplied the inhabitants with abundance of fish, and the forests abounded with game. But during this period a great change was gradually taking place in the character and constitution of the two races. The Spaniards became enervated and effeminate from indolence and inactivity, while the Indians were acquiring a knowledge of manly exercises and sports which their too slothful conquerors no longer practised with energy or performed with skill.[XXXV‑60] With regard to the capital of the province Gage calls it "one of the meanest Cities in all America,"[XXXV‑61] nor is he more complimentary to the Spaniards inhabiting it. These he describes as being grossly ignorant, pompous, arrogant, and cowardly, while the female portion of the community, with no high reputation for virtue, had gained a terrible notoriety as poisoners when their jealousy was aroused or their anger excited by slight or indifference; but we must not forget that Gage was a foreigner and a fanatic.[XXXV‑62]
The government of the province was as heretofore vested in an alcalde mayor,[XXXV‑63] whose power was almost despotic, though subject to a certain extent to the president and audiencia of Guatemala.[XXXV‑64] With occasional exceptions the political and ecclesiastical authorities seem to have worked more in harmony than those of other provinces, and the episcopal seat was successively occupied by prelates who yearly made the circuit of their diocese to administer confirmation.[XXXV‑65] Churches were built and convents founded, and the Christian faith so successfully inculcated that it was professed throughout the length and breadth of the land. But as will be seen later, this tranquillity was pregnant with the elements of revolt. The contributions collected by the ecclesiastics for the performance of the religious ceremonies were burdensome to the natives, and the taxation and exactions of the governors even more oppressive; nor can it be asserted that the harsh treatment to which the Indians were subjected by the earlier rulers was, to any extent, mitigated by their successors.
Early Efforts at Pacification—Priests and Soldiers Sacrificed—Massacre of Mirones and his Party—El Prospero Expedition—Indifference of the Orders—Bishop Navas in the Field—A Tripartite Campaign Determined upon—Expedition of President Barrios—Meeting with Mazariegos—Velasco's Operations—The Expeditions Return—Further Expeditions—Fate of Velasco and his Command—Failure—Ursua's Enterprise—Progress of Paredes—Negotiations with the Canek—Opposition of Soberanis—Ursua Takes Command—Treacherous Allurements—The Itzas Conquered—Peten Garrisoned—Jealousy of Soberanis—Unsatisfactory Operations—Questionable Possession.
The region which lay between Yucatan and the pacified portions of Guatemala was inhabited by various unsubdued nations, conspicuous among which were the Lacandones, Itzas, Manches, and Choles. In 1603 certain members of the Dominican order, led by Juan de Esguerra, succeeded in penetrating a considerable portion of the Manche territory, and induced many of the natives to accept Christianity. In 1608 no less than eight villages[XXXVI‑1] were regulated by Christian custom and teaching, and the aspect of affairs was encouraging until 1626, when the Lacandones made a sudden and fierce assault upon the christianized natives and Spaniards of that district, advancing as far as within six leagues of Copan. Many native Christians were slain, and a still greater number carried off prisoners. This onslaught was followed the next year by an invasion of the Itzas, when more than three hundred of the native converts were captured, including the principal chief, Martin Cuc. These disasters had a bad effect on the Manches, who finding that the Spaniards would not protect them, threw off their allegiance, and with it their profession of Christianity.
Meanwhile efforts to convert the Itzas had been made from Yucatan by the Franciscans. Of all the nations inhabiting this wild country the Itzas were the most powerful and aggressive. The difficulties of penetrating their territory, and their secure position on the islands of the great lake of Peten,[XXXVI‑2] rendered them apparently secure and independent. To attempt peaceful intercourse was, indeed, a bold proceeding; and yet in 1618 friars Bartolomé Fuensalida and Juan de Orbita, both conversant with the Maya tongue, left Mérida on such a mission. On their arrival at Tipu, after delays and difficulties, the cacique Cristóbal Na received them hospitably, and despatched an embassy to Tayasal, the capital of the Itzas.[XXXVI‑3] This attention obtained from the canek, or Itza king, an invitation for the missionaries to visit his city. On reaching the lake by night, they were received with welcome; a flotilla of canoes was sent to escort them across the water; the town was illuminated with torches, and a vast crowd assembled to greet them. Having visited the canek, or king, they were conducted through the city, after which Fuensalida, by the canek's permission, addressed the people in his presence, and explaining the doctrines of Christianity touched upon the object of their visit. The friar was listened to with dignified attention, but the answer, though politely expressed, was not encouraging. The fathers were welcome, but certain prophecies were current in the nation which declared that in time the Itzas would become Christians. That time, however, had not yet arrived, and the strangers, when their visit was terminated, could go back to their people and return at a more convenient season.
Hospitable as was the reception of the missionaries, an act of folly on the part of Orbita changed friendly feeling into indignation, and placed the visitors' lives in jeopardy. Entering one of the cues, the great idol, Tzimenchac,[XXXVI‑4] an image of a horse sejant, excited the wrath of the friar, who, seizing a stone, battered it to pieces, and scattered the fragments on the temple floor. The outcry was vehement, and it was only through the intervention of the friendly cacique of Tipu that the friars were allowed to depart unharmed.[XXXVI‑5]
The persistent friars, nevertheless, again attempted to introduce the faith among the islanders of Lake Peten, and a few months later, accompanied by a large escort of Tipus, paid them a second visit. The canek received them with kindness as before, but the priests of Itza were on their guard, jealous for their religion. If they could induce the canek to view the matter as they did, all would be well. To this end the king's wife was importuned by the Itza priests, and through her the fears of the king were aroused. It was then arranged that the mitote[XXXVI‑6] should be celebrated with unusual grandeur; and at this feast the canek should learn that the gods of Itza did not wish the missionaries to remain. The preparations for this ceremony excited the alarm of the Tipus, who warned the friars of danger. Nor were their fears unfounded. On the morning of the festival an armed multitude surrounded the dwelling of the missionaries, and having forcibly entered, hurried off the friars with violence[XXXVI‑7] to the lake, where they cast them into an old canoe, and left them to make their way back as best they could. Famished and dispirited they arrived at Tipu, and thenceforth abandoned all efforts to convert the Itzas.
Yet in the propagation of the faith, as is well known, failure usually excites to greater activity. In 1621 one Franciscan father, Diego Delgado, labored in the province of Bacalar, establishing a new town, Zaclun, in the mountains of Pimienta. This success induced Captain Francisco Mirones to enter into a contract with Governor Cárdenas for the subjugation of the Itzas. While waiting at Zaclun for reënforcements, which were slow in coming, the dealings of Mirones with the natives were so unjust as to excite their resentment. Delgado remonstrated in vain; Mirones became more and more arbitrary in his extortions till the town was ripe for an outbreak.
Meanwhile the friar obtained permission of his provincial to depart for the capital of the Itzas; and in 1623, accompanied by several Spaniards and about four score friendly Tipus, he proceeded to Lake Peten, where he was received by the Itzas with their customary kindness. Allured by false professions the ill-fated party passed over to the island, where as soon as they landed they were overwhelmed by numbers[XXXVI‑8] and bound, presently to be immolated on the heathen altar-stone. Delgado was reserved as the last. The heads of the victims were then placed on stakes erected on the hillside in full view of the city. Shortly afterward Mirones sent two Spaniards to inquire how Delgado and his party had fared, but their heads were soon added to the ghastly collection. A native guide who accompanied them managed to escape to tell the tale,[XXXVI‑9] but not believing it Mirones put him to torture.
The patience of the Zaclunes was now exhausted, and they determined to throw off the yoke. On the 2d of February 1624, while Mirones and his party were attending mass, and unarmed, they were assailed in the church and taken alive. The vengeance of the Indians was satisfying and complete. The hearts of Mirones and the officiating priest were torn from their breasts in the sacred building, and their bodies thrown into a hole, while the remaining captives, having suffered a similar death, were placed on stakes fixed in the road, by which Spanish reënforcements were expected. Then church and town were burned, and the natives betook themselves to the mountains.[XXXVI‑10]
This uprising was followed by that of the Tipus; and though some of those who had massacred Mirones and his party were captured and put to death, the country was no longer under subjection. And it further pleased the aboriginals to manifest their scorn and insult by erecting ludicrous figures of Spaniards in the mountain passes, which were guarded by images of hideous idols.[XXXVI‑11]
Royal cédulas were so frequently issued to the rulers of New Spain, Guatemala, and Yucatan, enjoining the conquest of the country which lay between the two latter territories, that from time to time individuals had proposed to the crown to undertake the enterprise at their own cost. Such a proposition was made by Diego Ordoñez de Vera y Villaquiran, a military officer and encomendero of Mita. His offer was accepted by the council of the Indies in 1639, and the title of adelantado of the province, which was to be named Reino del Próspero, was bestowed as a reward for his anticipated services.[XXXVI‑12] In 1645 Villaquiran arrived in Yucatan to make preparations for his expedition, and being without the necessary means,[XXXVI‑13] received assistance from the governor and the religious provincial. He then published the terms of capitulation with the crown, distributed offices, and made preparations for taking possession of his province.
The zeal of missionary friars, however, made them anxious that the cross should precede the sword in the work of pacification; hence in February 1646 two Franciscans, Hermenegildo Infante and Simon de Villasis, proceeded from Campeche to Usumasinta, the most advanced Christian settlement of Yucatan. They were shortly afterward joined by Villaquiran, who, finding the friars still resolute in going before, addressed a letter to the commander of Nohhaa, one Captain Juan de Vilvao, a mestizo, and the cacique Pedro XIX., instructing them to render the missionaries every assistance. Attempts were made by messengers from Nohhaa to dissuade them from visiting the town, but they were unavailing; and on their arrival at that place Vilvao warned them of danger, and extended to them a churlish hospitality. It was evident that they were not welcome, and the treatment which they received soon gave cause for alarm. To add to the difficulty of their position their first letters to Villaquiran, who had returned to Campeche, were never delivered, and it was with difficulty that they at last succeeded in sending a messenger to him.[XXXVI‑14] The continued absence of tidings from Villaquiran caused Fray Simon to return to Mérida, but having suffered from severe illness and hardship on the road, his health no longer permitted him to take part in the mission. Fray Bartolomé de Gabaldá was now sent to assist Infante in his dangerous position, but well nigh perished on the road before he reached his destination.
The adelantado again arrived at Usumasinta about the beginning of 1647 at the head of his forces. But he was a man utterly unfit for command. Instead of proceeding to Nohhaa, the true centre of action, as Infante, who had joined him, urged him to do, he tarried day after day at Usumasinta, till his inactivity disgusted his followers, who, seeing no hope of success under such a leader, gradually abandoned him. At last with a remnant of his former force[XXXVI‑15] he moved on to Nohhaa, where he arrived on the last day of July, 1647.[XXXVI‑16] The Indians, having previously ill-treated the friars, had fled to the mountains, but their cacique had already made his peace with Villaquiran, and Father Infante was now despatched to Guatemala to obtain pecuniary assistance, as the adelantado was destitute of funds. At Palenque, however, he received letters from Villaquiran informing him of his illness. Infante hastened to return, but found that in his absence threats of coercion on the part of the adelantado, for the purpose of obtaining provisions from the cacique, had so enraged the Indians that they had set fire to the town, and the adelantado with his followers had barely escaped with their lives to Petenecte.[XXXVI‑17] In this outlying Indian village, Diego Ordoñez de Vera y Villaquiran,[XXXVI‑18] broken down in mind and body, lingered in destitution till April 1648, when death released him from anxiety and suffering. He was buried in Petenecte, and with him ended all attempt to establish the province of El Próspero, a name not specially appropriate to the scene of so ill-conducted and unfortunate an undertaking.
This expedition was not followed by any others for a number of years. Some little work was effected by the Dominicans in the country of the Choles, between 1675 and 1677, and the missionaries succeeded in establishing several towns. These, however, had no permanency, and though many natives were baptized the Choles relapsed into idolatry and the friars abandoned the field.[XXXVI‑19] Complaints were made against the Dominicans by the alcalde mayor of Vera Paz, and a royal cédula, dated November 30, 1680, ordered that they resume their work and be provided with all needful assistance from the treasury. The Dominicans were not slow to defend themselves; but there is little doubt that their dissensions with civilians caused some indifference on their part, while the extortionate oppression of the latter roused among the Choles a hatred of Christianity which the friars could not control.
Cédula followed cédula, issued by the Spanish monarch, impatient over the delay in the pacification of the Choles, Lacandones, and Itzas; but no positive measures were taken until 1684 when Bishop Navas of Guatemala announced his intention of visiting Vera Paz with the object of insisting that the royal wishes should be carried out. This had some effect. President Guzman convened a council, and promised to extend all possible assistance to the undertaking. He also addressed the governor of Yucatan, asking for his coöperation. The zeal of the ecclesiastics was again awakened, and both the Dominican and Merced orders offered their aid. It was finally agreed that in the ensuing spring attempts should be made simultaneously by way of Vera Paz and Huehuetenango. Accordingly in the beginning of 1685 the bishop, accompanied by Agustin Cano the Dominican provincial and other friars, proceeded to Vera Paz, while Diego de Rivas, the provincial of La Merced, went to Huehuetenango. Neither attempt met with success. From Cajabon,[XXXVI‑20] under the instructions of the bishop, the parish priest sent an embassy of five Indians with a friendly invitation to the Choles. The messengers were assailed while asleep at night in the house of a cacique, and only one returned to tell the tale.[XXXVI‑21] This failure so cooled the zeal of the bishop that he returned to Santiago. Cano was a man of more mettle, and with his brother friars, penetrating some distance into the mountains, reached San Lúcas, one of the villages formerly established in the country of the Choles, and induced a number of them to settle there. It was but labor in vain. In 1688 the fickle neophytes apostatized, set fire to the town and church, and again returned to their nomad life.
Nor was the undertaking conducted by the Provincial Rivas, at the head of the Merced friars, attended with better result. He fearlessly pushed his way into the Lacandon country accompanied by Melchor de Mencos, corregidor of Huehuetenango, with ten soldiers, and reached one of the head-waters of the Tabasco River.[XXXVI‑22] Abandoned corn patches and deserted dwellings were discovered, and at the summit of a hill was found an ancient temple, also abandoned, built of stone and lime, in which was an idol in the form of a lion sejant. This they destroyed and trod underfoot, erecting in its place a large cross. A blessing was then pronounced upon the place, which was dignified with the name of Nuestra Señora de Belen. But the few Lacandones, who occasionally appeared in sight, always fled at their approach. Considering it dangerous to advance farther along a route which was now becoming almost impassable they retraced their steps.
Once more on the 24th of November 1692 the council of the Indies transmitted a peremptory order of the king that the conquest of the Choles and Lacandones be undertaken simultaneously from Vera Paz, Chiapas, and Huehuetenango; but as President Barrios had been temporarily suspended, operations could not be opened immediately. Upon his restoration in 1694 the matter was pressed upon his attention by two Franciscans, Melchor Lopez and Antonio Margil, who had already a varied experience among those natives, having, at the request of the alcalde mayor of Copan, twice penetrated into the Lacandon country at the risk of their lives. In June 1694 they went to Guatemala, and in forming the plan of the future campaign their views were carefully considered.
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.
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.