HISTORY OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF YUCATAN AND OF THE ITZAS

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expedition. He made especially elaborate and adequate preparations,
doing things which should have been done long before. He assembled a
sufficient number of carpenters to build brigantines and _pyraguas_ on
the shore of the lake, and he got together ample stores. Nothing was
said of all this to the King of Castile, as it was notorious that he
would have frowned upon such military preparations.


Lawsuits between Soberanis and Ursua. At this time the old enmity
between Soberanis and Ursua reawakened. Soberanis was at the viceregal
court, where, during the reign of the Conde de Galve, he opposed
Ursua's interests and plans with some success. Galve was succeeded,
however, by Don Juan de Ortega Montanes, Bishop of Michoacan, who was
appointed Viceroy _ad interim_ of Mexico. Ortega, being a broad-minded
man, could see the good of the wishes of both sides, and he determined
that the whole matter should be laid before the Council of the Indies.
The result was a long lawsuit, during which it became clear that