nd again sent away.
With all their fanaticism and occasional cruelty, there is something
soul-stirring in the devotion of these early monks to the business of
converting the souls of the Indians.

In the year 1695, Don Martin Ursua obtained the government of Yucatan,
and, in pursuance of a proposal previously submitted by him to the
king, and approved by the council of the Indies, undertook the great
work of opening a road across the whole continent from Campeachy to
Guatimala. The opening of this road led to the conquest of Itza, and we
have a full and detailed account of this conquest, written by the
licenciado, or lawyer, Don Juan Villagutierres, a native of Yucatan. It
is entitled, "A History of the Conquest of Itza, reduction and
progress of that of Lacandon, and other barbarous Nations of Gentile
Indians in the Mediacion of Yucatan and Guatimala." It was published at
Madrid in the year 1701, and, what gives it great value, within four
years after the events referred to took place.

The work of opening the road was begun in 1695. In prosecuting it, the
Spaniards encountered vestiges of ancient buildings raised on terraces,
deserted and overgrown, and apparently very ancient. These, it is true,
may have been abandoned long before the conquest; but, as the Spaniards
had now been in the country one hundred and fifty years, it is not
unreasonable to suppose that the terror of their name may have made
desolate many places which their arms never reached.

On the twenty-first of January, 1697, Don Martin de Ursua set out
from Campeachy to take command of the expedition in person, with a
vicar-general and assistant, already nominated by the bishop, for the
province of Itza. On the last day of February he had timber cut on the
borders of Peten for the construction of vessels which should convey
them to the island. He sent before a proclamation, giving notice that
the time had come when they should have one cup and one plate with the
Spaniards. "If not," says the proclamation, "I will do what the king
commands me, but which it is not necessary now to express." The
thirteenth of March was appointed for the day of embarcation. Some of
the Spaniards, knowing the immense number of Indians on the island, and
the difficulty of conquering it, represented to the general the
rashness of his undertaking; but, says the historian, carried away by
his zeal, faith, and courage, he answered that, having in view the
service of God and t