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248 About the same time missionary expeditions were pressed forward into the northern forests by way of Cajabon, but met with little success amongst the Choles, Mopanes, and other scattered tribes of forest Indians, and when at last a small advance-guard of Spanish soldiers under Captain Juan Dias de Velasco actually reached the shores of the Lake of Peten they were attacked and annihilated by the Itzács.

Meanwhile the Governor of Yucatan had been clearing a road through the forest and was approaching Peten from the opposite direction. In the autumn of 1695 the road, was open to Chuntuchí, in lat. 17° 30′ N., and at the close of the year Padre Fray Antonio de Avendaño, accompanied by two Spanish monks and a few Indians, set out thence on an embassy to the chief of the Itzács. After sis days' rough march they reached the outlying villages of the Itzács, whence they were conducted to Tayasal. The embassy was well received by the chief, but at the end of three or four days, as it was evident that mischief was brewing amongst the people, he advised the Spaniards to leave the island at once and return by way of Tipu, so as to avoid observation. With the help of some of his family the chief secretly conveyed the Spaniards to the mainland during the night, and entrusted them to the care of one of his dependents, who was to furnish them with guides. The guides proved faithless and soon deserted the unfortunate Spaniards, who, after wandering on for ten days in the direction of Tipu, gave up all hope of reaching that settlement and, turning to the westward, groped their way for twenty-five days through the uninhabited forest, when fortunately they struck the new road from Merida to Chuntuchí and were saved from starvation by a party of Indian cargadores who were carrying food to the road-makers.

By February 1697 the road had been carried to within two leagues of the lake, and Don Martin Ursua, the Governor of Yucatan, arrived to take command of the expedition in person. When the Lake was reached, boats were built and launched, and on the 13th March the Governor embarked in his galley to cross to the Island of Tayasal. As the galley approached the island, canoes manned by Indian warriors came out in swarms to attack it, and for a time it seemed to rain arrows, but Ursua would not allow a shot to be fired in return, and ordered his interpreters to shout to the Indians that he came in peace. However, his words were of no avail, the patience of the Spanish soldiers was exhausted, and a shot fired by a wounded Spaniard was the signal for a general fusillade; then, as the galley touched the shore, the soldiers jumped overboard and stormed the town.

The effect of the firing from the guns was instantaneous and marvellous, the Itzács, who had up to this time shown such a bold front, at once took to flight, jumping out of their canoes and swimming to the mainland, and the