Page:History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas.pdf/135

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
112
SPANISH CONQUEST OF YUCATAN AND THE ITZAS

Buete. “In this place the same thing happened to us (as far as water is concerned) as in the preceding aguada. We left this place and traveled some two leagues and a half to a place called Buete. In this place we found twelve or thirteen houses of the heathen Indians, who had just surrendered to the Indian soldiers of Sahcabchen, without any violence, as I shall explain hereafter. This place has a very large aguada with much eel-grass and very many caimans. In this town and two others near by we found ample supplies of maize, beans and the rest of the fruits on which all live in this land; and it came very opportunely, since already the army had no other recourse, after the hunger which they had endured for three days past....

Lack of Supplies. “It happened then that the captains found themselves in want of supplies, and that they wrote several letters to Captain Don Juan del Castillo about the transportation of some supplies which some muleteers of the town of Teabo left in one of the aforementioned places called Tzucte, at a distance of eight leagues from Cauich, which supplies I saw when I passed through it, as well as the letters which were written about the despatch of provisions, and in spite of these letters or other special exertions in sending soldiers with mules from the camp for the supplies, they effected nothing....

Paredes Seizes Some Farms. “Seeing then such a clear and extreme need, Captain Alonso Garcia de Paredes, the head and leader of the other captains, determined to send Captain Pedro de Zubiaur, with some Spanish armed soldiers, following some confused rumors which an Indian named Juan Ake, who had guided them, had spoken of. He it is who mentioned these three ranchos in my presence in the town of Cauich. And although it is true, that there he mentioned these ranchos, here he appeared in doubt in speaking with the captains, showing himself to be totally ignorant of such towns, he being the cause that these Spaniards lost themselves in those forests. But the soldiers, availing themselves of their agility, climbed the trees and the hill-tops, from which they discovered a great smoke, and they went on in that direction; and having come up to it, they saw that there were the soldiers of the town