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656 and with 5,000 raw soldiers awaited the attack of the disciplined French army under Gen. Lau- rencez. On 5 May the French commander, despis- ing the small and badly equipped Mexican force, tried to carry the hills by storm, but was thrice repelled, and with a shattered army retired to Orizava. Zaragoza afterward marched against Orizava, in combination with Gonzalez Ortega, but the surprise of the latter's division at Cerro del Borrego forced him to retire to Puebla, where he was preparing his army for defence against French re-enforcements, when he died of typhus fever. The anniversary of his defence of Puebla is celebrated as a national holiday ; his name was inscribed in gold letters in the chamber of congress, and the full pay of his grade was voted to his family, while the city that he defended bears offi- cially the name of Puebla de Zaragoza.

ZARATE, Airostin de (thah'-rah-tay), Spanish historian, b. in Andalusia about 1493 ; d. in Madrid about 1460. He was appointed in 1528 secretary of the council of Castile and comptroller of the province, and in 1543 was promoted treasurer- feneral of the Indies and Tierra firme, and sent to 'eru to examine the accounts of the viceroyalty, and to endeavor to restore the revenues of Spain, which had greatly fallen off since the rebellion of the younger Almagro. Sailing from San Lucar, 3 Nov., 1543, with the newly appointed viceroy, Blasco Nufiez de Vela, he took an important part in the civil war that raged in Peru, and after Nufiez's deposition was despatched by the au- diencia with Antonio de Rivera on an embassy to Gonzalo Pizarro, who was marching against Lima. Zarate urged the latter to dismiss his troops, and before Pizarro's council pleaded for the safety of Lima, which most of the officers were talking openly of pillaging. He was sent back to the audiencia with Pizarro's propositions, and throughout the difficult negotiations that followed displayed remarkable ability and acuteness. He employed the remainder of his sojourn in Peru in collecting documents about the history of the con- quest and civil war, but met with difficulties, as some of Pizarro's lieutenants had an interest in the suppression of all such papers. On his return to Europe he became treasurer of the government of the low countries at Brussels, which office he filled till shortly before his death. He wrote " His- toria del Descubriiniento y Conquista del Peril " (Antwerp, 1555; Seville, 1577), which was trans- lated into French (2 vols., Paris and Amsterdam, 1700), and into Italian (2 vols., Verona, 1098), etc. It extends from the discovery of Peru till the government of Pedro de la Gasca.

ZARATE, Geronimo, Mexican historian, lived in the 17th century. He entered the Franciscan order in the city of Mexico, and accompanied as chaplain the various expeditions to New Mexico that were sent by the viceroys Luis de Velasco and Count de Monterey. He wrote "Relación de un Viaje al Nuevo Mexico," dated 1617; "Rela- ción de las Expediciones al Nuevo Mexico, remitida al General del Orden de San Francisco en 1624": and "Relación de todas las eosas que se han visto y sabido en el Nuevo Mexico, asi por mar coino por tierra, desde el afio 1538 hasta 1626" (13 small volumes). The manuscripts of all these works were in the Franciscan archives in Mexico, but have been transferred to the National library. The last-mentioned is specially noteworthy, as ft gives an account of all the expeditions that had been sent to the north before the author's time.

ZARATE, Miguel, Spanish educator, b. in the province of Alava in the beginning of the 16th century; d. in Puebla, Mexico, in 1583. He en- tered the Franciscan order in his native province, and about 1525 went to Mexico, where he was pro- fessor of philosophy and theology in the College of Santa Cruz de TJaltelolco. In a short time he be- came so proficient in Aztec that he was appointed professor of that language, and taught many scholars, among whom was the famous Father Juan Bautista. He was also an efficient mission- ary, greatly beloved by the natives, and became superior of the convent of Puebla, in which post he died, leaving many interesting manuscripts, which were first preserved in the archives of the College of San Buenaventura, but are now in the National library in the city of Mexico. They in- clude " Noticias interesantes a la Historia civil y ecclesisastica de Mexico " and " Opusculos doctri- nales y morales en Lengua Mexicana." Agustin Betancourt and Leon Pinelo mention them and give frequent extracts from his history. ZARATE, Pedro Ortiz de, Spanish judge, b. in Segovia about 1490 ; d. in Lima, Peru, in 1545. He was grand provost of Segovia, when he was appointed, in 1543, one of the four auditors to found the audiencia of Lima, and accompanied the new viceroy, Blasco Nufiez de Vela, but soon came in collision with the latter, who solicited Za- rate's recall on the ground that he was a poor Latin scholar. When Nufiez gave orders to seize and carry on board a man-of-war the nephews of Gonzalo Pizarro, Zarate opposed the measure, urg- ing that the people disapproved it, as they feared Pizarro's resentment. Nevertheless, when Nufiez was imprisoned by the audiencia, 18 Sept., 1543, Zarate refused to take part in the proceedings, but remained in Lima, and at the entry of Pizarro, 21 Oct., by his influence saved the city from pillage, signing the commission of governor for Pizarro under the protest that he yielded only to force and to the wish to prevent bloodshed. He continued in office after the audiencia was reorganized to the great displeasure of Gonzalo, and checked many abuses. It is said that he was poisoned by some powders that were sent to him by Pizarro, and, though this fact is disputed, it is conceded that the latter showed unmistakable signs of relief when he heard of Zarate's death.

ZARCO, Francisco (thar'-co), Mexican journal- ist, b. in Durango, 4 Dec, 1829 ; d. in the city of Mexico, 29 Dec, 1869. He studied in his native city, and after the occupation of the capital by the American forces, 16 Sept., 1847, Luis de la Rosa, the general minis- ter of the Mexi- can government in Queretaro, appoint- ed him chief clerk. On the evacuation of the capital by the American forces, Zarco became a member of the staff of the paper "El Siglo XIX," and shortly, afterward he took the direc- tion of the weekly " La Ilustracion, ' in which he pub- lished a series of  notable articles on customs, literature, history, and criticism under the pen-name of " Fortun." From 184!) till 1853 he was editor-in-chief of " El Siglo XIX." He also edited a satirical paper, " La Cosquilla," which at-