History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas Part 15

The Cacique Cintanek's Villages. The five villages of Cintanek were Chaltuna, Sac peten, Maconche, Saca, and Coba. The nine villages subject, at this time, to Canek were Oraptun, Zacpui, Chee, Chacha, Sacfinil, Linil, Obonc.o.x, Chulul, and Eckixil. (Cf. Villagutierre, p.

435.) The people in these villages were very numerous; they knew nothing of the Kingdom of Guatemala beyond the fact that some five leagues away was a place called Mopan.

Can's Report. The Indians, Can and others, related how fifteen Spanish men came to the Indians of the Gran Cayo and asked for provisions, which were brought to them. (These Spaniards were, no doubt, a party sent out by Paredes just before he withdrew.) Even as they were eating, musket shots were heard on the sh.o.r.e. At once those who were eating on the island judged their companions were in danger and hastily armed themselves. A fight quickly took place, and the Spaniards even attacked the person of Canek himself. At length, however, the Spaniards fled.

The Commands of King Charles II. At last the letters and reports which, at the insistence of Ortega Montanes, the Viceroy Bishop, had been sent to the court of Spain earlier in the year, bore fruit, for the King sent new dispatches ordering Don Martin thus: acknowledgment was made of the good work done by Sargento Mayor, Don Martin de Ursua y Arizmendi, as well as of that done by Captain Alonso Garcia de Paredes, Captain Joseph Fernandez de Estenoz, and others. Don Roque de Soberanis y Centeno was ordered to give all possible a.s.sistance to Ursua and to refrain from hindering him in any way. The cedulas were signed at Buen Retiro on May 29, 1696. These dispatches, together with a commendatory letter from the Conde de Adanero, President of the Council of the Indies, arrived in Yucatan late in 1696. Fortunately Ursua had already made all his preparations for the next campaign. Don Martin sent copies of the cedulas and letter to the newly arrived Viceroy of Mexico, the Conde de Moctezuma, to the Audience of Guatemala, and to the Reverendissimo Don Fray Antonio de Arriaga, Bishop of Yucatan.

Before setting out there was one more formality to go through. Ursua therefore sent the orders of the King to Don Roque, asking him at the same time for certain aid. (Villagutierre, lib. viii, cap. 2.) Straightway Don Roque sent Don Juan Geronimo de Abad to Campeche to inform Ursua that Soberanis would give him all necessary aid for the fulfilment of the royal will. He also ordered Ursua to pick out those persons whom he thought ought to be captains, and Don Roque promised to confirm the appointments.

Soberanis and Ursua in Agreement at Last. Abad executed his errand and Don Martin replied that only the very numerous infidel Indians of the Laguna del Itza stood between him and the successful completion of the road, which was already open on the north almost as far as the lake and on the south as far as Cahabon. The intervening region contained the Itzas, whom Ursua purposed to conquer. He had already chosen as captains Alonso Garcia de Paredes, Joseph Fernandez de Estenoz, Pedro de Zuviaur, and Roque Gutierrez. At the same time Don Martin informed Abad that he had prepared all sorts of supplies and munitions, and he begged Don Roque de Soberanis to furnish him with advice as to the proper payment for various things. Don Roque approved of everything that Don Martin proposed, and he ordered that Abad, together with a scrivener and an interpreter, should see to the proper financial arrangements.

The Part to be Taken by Indian Villages. Ursua then asked that the mountain villages of Tecax and Oxcuscab should be made to supply service Indians. These, if granted, were to be under the orders of the captain of Tecax; but Soberanis pointed out that those villages had already done their share, and so he ordered that the Caciques of Zotuta, Yaxcava, Tixcacal, and Peto should furnish the needed labor.

The part each was to take was as follows:

Zotuta 16 mules; 16 arrieros; 16 other Indians Yaxcava 12 " 12 " 12 " "

Tixcacal 12 " 12 " 12 " "

Peto 20 " 20 " 20 " "

All these Indians were to be in charge of Don Juan del Castillo, captain of Tecax. Indians from Mani were to carry the supplies.

On January 23, 1697, Don Martin de Ursua set forth from Campeche after giving thanks for aid received. On arriving at Tzucthok they took the same road as on previous occasions. They camped at length two leagues from the lake, having pa.s.sed through Batcab. On the way south they learned that the cacique of Tzucthok and some of the Indians of that village had retired to such places as Apelchen, Bolonchen, Chabuhic, and Sacauchen. Some of the Chanes, however, remained faithful, for which Ursua rewarded them with presents. At about this time also, although Ursua probably did not know of it, Berrospe had ordered the troops of Guatemala to withdraw definitely from Mopan and other places.

The Road Completed as Far as the Lake. At the end of February and in early March the two leagues of road between the camp and the lake were completed. _Pyraguas_ had already been built and were finished by the time the army encamped on the lake sh.o.r.e. Seeing such a display of power, the Indians tried to rival it, but when they saw the galley and _pyraguas_ they retired to their island. There were sundry attempts to make friends with the Indians, but they showed themselves utterly undeserving of confidence. On March 10, 1697, Don Martin Can, he who had gone to Merida as amba.s.sador for his uncle Canek and who was G.o.dson of Ursua, hearing of the latter's arrival, came to him joyfully. As a result of this the murmurs to the effect that he was a myth entirely vanished.

Some squads of Indians approached the camp by land with arms. The general soon saw it was but a pugnacious attempt to force the Spaniards into a skirmish. At the same moment a large canoe beached on the sh.o.r.e where the camp was. Can said that those in it were Chamaxculu and other important Indians from Alain. They were received with all possible cordiality, and some of the Indians were found to be those who had been in Merida with Can. Chamaxculu was an old man of seventy years.

Quincanek Feigns Friendliness. Very soon after that Quincanek visited the camp. He was cordially welcomed and in conversation he promised to aid the opening of the road. Ursua discreetly decided it would be superfluous to make any allusion at that time to the idolatry, treachery, and other foibles of the Itzas. Everything seemed serene and amicable. The chiefs promised to return for dinner later.

They remained where they were from March 10 to 12, 1697. During those three days many Indian women came in canoes and unattended from Peten to the camp. Whether their purpose was to get themselves violated and thereby furnish an excuse to the lurking squads of Indians to attack the Spaniards, or whether they were led by mere curiosity, is not absolutely certain; but it is probable that the former was the case, for when, through good discipline, Ursua managed to restrain his men, the women made all sorts of obscene gestures to attract the soldiers, but to no purpose.

The Hostilities Begin. Finally the day arrived on which, according to his promise, Quincanek, was to bring Canek to dinner with Ursua. But instead of a peaceful Canek and Quincanek coming to have dinner with them, the Spaniards saw a huge fleet of canoes all decked out in warlike array approaching them. This, however, did not greatly dismay the Spaniards, as they knew that their own galley and _pyraguas_, which were all in readiness, would give them an immense advantage.

The Captains Urge Ursua to Fight; the Battle. Ursua called a council of war in which Paredes, Estenoz, Zuviaur, and all the other captains urged him to use force and thereby to conquer the Itzas finally. Ursua was still determined, however, to maintain peace as long as possible, being mindful of the King's wish.

On the following day, March 13, 1697, Ursua determined to go to the Peten Grande, which lay two leagues from his camp. Leaving a good garrison in the camp, he took two hundred men and Don Martin Can in the boats and sailed for Peten. Before long the Spaniards, who were under the strictest orders not to fire, were surrounded by a large fleet of canoes filled with Itzas, who shot arrows at the invaders. As one would naturally expect, all attempts to reason with the outraged Itzas proved futile. Finally one Bartolome Duran, maddened by an arrow wound, fired off his gun. This precipitated a hot skirmish in which everyone took part. At the end of it the Spaniards got upon the sh.o.r.e, and by means of the artillery at length put the Itzas to flight. The latter fled away as fast as they could by swimming, and when in due time Ursua and his men got to Peten Grande, they found nothing but old women and little children there. All who could had fled into and across the lake rather than face the vengeance of the Spaniards.

Tayasal Becomes a Spanish Possession. The battle was over by eight in the morning. The standard of Jesus Christ was set up; the royal arms were engraved over the door of what had been the princ.i.p.al temple; and thanks were given to G.o.d for the victory. A church was founded and the houses of the idols were cleaned out. Oddly enough the temple where Canek and his idolatrous priests had once torn out human hearts was chosen as the Christians' place of wors.h.i.+p.

Thus ends the history of the long, brave but fruitless struggle of the Itzas against the Spanish conquerors. After so many romantic interests it is but natural that any account of subsequent events should be an anti-climax. The later history of the Itza country can be dismissed in a word.

Later History of Tayasal. Since the conquest, Tayasal has been a mere Spanish provincial village with nothing to distinguish it from scores of others. In the first half of the nineteenth century serious insurrections took place in the region. At about the same period the name Tayasal was taken away and Flores was subst.i.tuted, in honor of one Cyrilo Flores, a local patriot. It is a pity that the old, unusual, and euphonious name was not kept. At present Flores (Pl. III) is the capital of the Department of Peten, Guatemala.

APPENDIX I

THE QUESTION OF ORTHOGRAPHY

Possibly the reader has noted in these pages a tendency toward inconsistency in the matter of spelling proper names. I do not deny that I have failed to avoid such inconsistency, but at the outset, after due thought on the matter, I decided that it is most difficult to try and lay down any hard and fast rule for the spelling of the proper names used in this book. In many cases it is utterly impossible to say "This is the correct spelling of this name." To show just the nature of the sort of orthographical variations encountered in this work I give here most of the variants of the name Itza.

Itza usual modern form Itzae Maler, 1910, p. 168 Itzaob Bra.s.seur de Bourbourg, 1858, vol. ii, p. 13 Itzaex Villagutierre Ytza Cogolludo and Avendano Ytzaex Cogolludo and Avendano Ytzalana Cogolludo and Avendano Yiza On some church bells at Los Dolores (Morley) Ahiza Cano Ahizaes Cano Taiza Cortes, Lizana, 1893, p. 120 Taitza Brinton, 1882, p. 25 Tayca Gomara, 1826, vol. ii, p. 138 ff.

Ahitzaes Jose Sanches de Leon, p. 146 Ayasal Garcia de Palacio (Gates-Bowditch photographed MS.) Ayajal Garcia de Palacio, 1860 (Squier), p. 96 Yzues Ottens Atlas, 1740; Sanson d'Abbeville, 1656 Tavasal M. Bonne M. de Mathem, 1771 Tayasal Maler; Bellin, 1764; Charnay, etc.

Iguastal Abbe Mongez, 1779 Laguastal Popples' map, about 1740

Many of the other proper names have variations just as confusing as these.

APPENDIX II

THE DIALECT OF PETEN

This Appendix it a translation of a MS. written by Dr. Berendt at Sacluk in 1866-1867. The original is in Spanish, but for the sake of consistency I have translated it. In some cases Dr. Berendt's clear and beautiful script has become blurred either through exposure to dampness or from some other cause. In such a case I have hazarded a guess if it seemed safe to do so, otherwise I have left a blank.[A2.1]

The MS. is in the Brinton Collection in the Library of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and I wish to acknowledge the kindness of Dr. G. B. Gordon in giving me permission to publish it here.

The dialect of Peten is spoken in the PARTIDO DE LAS SABANAS at

Villages: Guadalupe Saduk, Tziche, Chilonche S. Juan de Dios, Oxpayac, Simaron, Chachachurun, Santa Ana, Juntecholol.

It is spoken in the PARTIDO DE DOLORES at

Dolores, Machaquita, Petenzuc, Poctun, San Toribio, Yaxche (= Yaxha?), San Luis.

And in the PARTIDO DEL CENTRO at

San Jose. In the other villages of the Partido del Centro, and in that of San Antonio, the Yucatec dialect is spoken. In the Partido de la montana or of Holmul is spoken the dialect of the East.

PETEN YUCATAN

juyu, a small basin for pounding corn. [Yucatan: huyub]

majaz, fiber....?

xemech, an earthenware pan for cooking maize. [Yucatan: xamach]

ma yaan, there is none. [Yucatan: minan]

uneec, a seed. [Yucatan: hinah]