194 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



district of Vera Paz, once called Tierra de Guerra, or 

 land of war, from the warlike character of its aborigi- 

 nal inhabitants. Three times the Spaniards were driven 

 back in their attempts to conquer it. Las Casas, vicar 

 of the convent of the Dominican order in the city of 

 Guatimala, mourning over the bloodshed caused by 

 what was called converting the Indians to Christianity, 

 wrote a treatise to prove that Divine Providence had 

 instituted the preaching of the Gospel as the only 

 means of conversion to the Christian faith; that war 

 could not with justice be made upon those who had 

 never committed any aggressions against Christians ; 

 and that to harass and destroy the Indians was to pre- 

 vent the accomplishing of this desired object. This 

 doctrine he preached from the pulpit, and enforced in 

 private assemblies. He was laughed at, ridiculed, and 

 sneeringly advised to put his theory in practice. Un- 

 disturbed by this mockery, he accepted the proposal, 

 choosing as the field of his operations the unconquerable 

 district called Tierra de Guerra, and made an arrange- 

 ment that no Spaniards should be permitted to reside in 

 that country for five years. This agreed upon, the 

 Dominicans composed some hymns in the Quiche lan- 

 guage, describing the creation of the world, "the fall of 

 Adam, the redemption of mankind, and the principal 

 mysteries of the life, passion, and death of our Saviour. 

 These were learned by some Indians who traded with 

 the Quiches, and a principal cacique of the country, 

 afterward called Don Juan, having heard them sung, 

 asked those who had repeated them to explain in detail 

 the meaning of things so new to him. The Indians 

 excused themselves, saying that they could only be ex- 

 plained by the fathers who had taught them. The ca- 

 cique sent one of his brothers with many presents, to 



