194 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



had descended upon him ; and, carried away by zeal- 

 ous fervour, seized the foot of the horse with his 

 hand, mounted upon the statue, and broke it in 

 pieces. The Indians immediately cried out to kill 

 them ; but the king saved them, though they were 

 obliged to leave the island. 



In the beginning of October, 1619, the same two 

 monks, undaunted by their previous ill success, again 

 appeared on the island ; but the people rose up against 

 them. One of the padres remonstrated ; an Indian 

 seized him by the hair, twisted his neck, and hurled 

 him to the ground, tearing out his hair by the roots, 

 and throwing it away. He was picked up senseless, 

 and, with his companion and the accompanying In- 

 dians, put on board a bad canoe, without anything 

 to eat, and again sent away. With all their fanati- 

 cism 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 pro- 

 posal 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 con- 

 quest, 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 



