UTATLAN AND IXIMCHE. 31 



' Chronicles ' of the Cachiquels : the fact that they are written in Roman characters 

 shows that the transcription at least is of recent date ; but whilst they are of undoubted 

 interest with regard to mythology and traditional history, they afford no guide to the 

 then prevailing state of civilization. 



After making due allowance for the inaccuracies of the available descriptions, it may 

 undoubtedly be conceded that at the time of the Spanish conquest the Quiches and 

 Cachiquels lived in organized communities and that they were fairly proficient in 

 the arts, without attempting to exhalt their culture to the same level with that 

 of the builders of Palenque or Copan, or the great towns in Yucatan. For their 

 history since the Spanish invasion we must turn to the earliest accounts of them left to 

 us by their conquerors. 



Alvarado left Mexico in December 1523, with an army of 120 horsemen, and 40 led 

 horses, 300 infantry, of whom 130 were crossbowmen and arquebusiers, four pieces 

 of artillery, and some thousands of picked Indian warriors. He passed over the 

 Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and marched on through the province of Soconusco, fighting 

 a battle near Tonala, and on the 11th April he addressed a despatch from Utatlan to 

 his great Captain Hernando Cortes, who was then in Mexico, as follows : — 



" Seiior, from Soconusco I wrote to your Highness all that had happened to me as 

 far as that place, and said something of what I looked to find ahead of me. And after 

 I had sent my messengers to this country to inform the people that I was coming to 

 conquer and pacify certain provinces which were unwilling to place themselves under 

 the dominion of His Majesty, I begged help and assistance from them as vassals (for as 

 such they had offered themselves to your Highness begging favour and aid for their 

 country) and said that if they gave their assistance in the way they ought to do as °-ood 

 and loyal vassals of His Majesty, they would be well treated by me and the Spaniards 

 in my company ; and if not, I would make war on them as against traitors rebelling 

 and fighting against the dominion of our Lord the Emperor, and as such they would 

 be treated, and in addition to this, that we would make slaves of all taken alive in the 

 war. And having done all this and despatched the messengers, who were men of their 

 own people, I reviewed all my people, both foot and horse, and the next day, on the 

 morning of Saturday, I set out in search of their land, and after marching for three 

 days through uninhabited forest, we pitched our camp, and the scouts whom I had sent 

 out captured three spies from a town in this land named Zapotitlan. I asked them 

 what they came for, and they told me that they were collecting honey, but it was 

 notorious that they were spies. . . ." 



Alvarado had so far been marching through the tropical forest on the Pacific slope ; 

 now that he wished to turn inland and reach the plateau he found the path barred by 

 a great host of Indians. A battle was fought at Zapotitlan, and the victorious 

 Spaniards rested for two days in that town. Then Alvarado led his army up the 

 Cuesta de Santa Maria to the high land, and at the top of the pass, near the town of 

 Xelahu or Quezaltenango, another great battle was fought with the Quiche warriors. 



