e expedition proceed with all speed, it was
decided that Captain Diaz de Velasco should go ahead of the main body
of troops. He took with him seventy soldiers and thirty Indians; Cano
went with him. Guided by the Itza named Cuixam or Cuixan, Diaz de
Velasco set forth from Mopan (whither the force had moved) on March 7.
It was arranged that, from a place called Yxbol, near Tayasal, Cuixam
was to be sent on to ascertain Canek's attitude, and that the Captain,
Diaz de Velasco, and his men were to wait for him. On the tenth of
March, Amezquita and Cano left Mopan. They kept receiving letters and
messages from those ahead until they reached the Chacal River, where
all traces of their vanguard completely vanished.

The Fate of Diaz de Velasco; Amezquita Follows him. The reason for this
cessation of communication was briefly as follows: Captain Diaz de
Velasco sent Cuixam ahead, as had been planned, to Tayasal. Cuixam
reported that two Franciscans were on the island. The Captain would not
believe this. Still, he was so bold as to embark in a canoe rowed by
natives, who, as soon as the vessel was clear of the shore, began a
sharp struggle which resulted in the death of all the Spaniards in
the party. In due course Amezquita followed in the footsteps of the
ill-fated Captain. On arriving at the shores of the lake he learned the
fate that had befallen Diaz de Velasco. Seeing that there was nothing
he could do with so small a force as that which he had at his disposal,
Amezquita withdrew to Chacal, and later on, by the order of Don Gabriel
Sanchez de Berrospe, the new President of the Audiencia of Guatemala,
he withdrew to Guatemala City.

Conclusion of the Subjection of the Itzas Begun. After the series of
events which we have just studied came to an end there was, for a time,
a lull in the war. Our knowledge of the incidents which followed the
break is derived from Villagutierre y Sotomayor. (Lib. v, caps. 7, 8,
etc.) According to this authority, events occurred in the following
order.

Parades is Ordered to March to Los Dolores. Ursua determined to bring
matters to a satisfactory conclusion by means of another expedition
into the Itza country. Accordingly he sent his orders to Alonso Garcia
de Paredes, who, with the soldiers of that unsuccessful expedition on
which Avendano had gone, was still in Tzucthok. In substance Paredes
was ordered to go and place himself and his men under the orders of the
President of Guatemal