Page:History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas.pdf/140

Rh The Captains Promise to Give Warning before Fighting. "The captains... promised their assent to the advice which we might give them hereafter, adding that, when an opportunity offered to enter any town, a proclamation should be issued, with a penalty of death on any one who should dare to go against it....

A Skirmish. "At this time the Indian road openers went on with their work, bringing as their guard the Indian musketeers from Sahcabchen, who never did anything well, owing to the said Captain Alonso, who, on account of his interest in their spoils, sends them out by themselves, without any Spanish people of intelligence to oversee that their duties are performed in a proper way. While engaged in this, they discovered a town of the Cehaches, Chunpich, already abandoned, as they had heard the rumor of the Spaniards, on account of which they found in one house only twenty-five loads of maize. Seeing many traces of people, they entered in fear, and notifying the said captain of their having discovered the said town, they all asked him for reinforcements, since they feared a hard fight. He gave them the reinforcements they asked for, together with their arms, though they did not arrive in time, since before they arrived there came as many as twenty-five Indians with their baskets for that maize which they had left. The soldiers, well prepared, carried their arms for whatever might turn up, since going prepared with arms was always the cause of many victories as opposed to many defeats. On the other hand they do less harm, the better provided they are. So it happened to these men; since having posted six Indian musketeers as sentinels in the direction they supposed the ruined town lay, so as to defend themselves and the workmen on the road, until their reinforcements arrived, it happened that the sentinels, seeing the said twenty-five Indians coming, they seemed to them to be thousands, and with the fear which never accomplished a good thing and with their evil disposition, which always has done much harm, without letting them enter so as to direct their fire well, our men broke ranks, which not only gave our opponents a better chance to get ready for a battle, but also frightening more the rest of our men who became aware of