HISTORY OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF YUCATAN AND OF THE ITZAS

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The Road Completed as Far as the Lake. At the end of February and in
early March the two leagues of road between the camp and the lake were
completed. _Pyraguas_ had already been built and were finished by the
time the army encamped on the lake shore. Seeing such a display of
power, the Indians tried to rival it, but when they saw the galley and
_pyraguas_ they retired to their island. There were sundry attempts to
make friends with the Indians, but they showed themselves utterly
undeserving of confidence. On March 10, 1697, Don Martin Can, he who
had gone to Merida as ambassador for his uncle Canek and who was godson
of Ursua, hearing of the latter's arrival, came to him joyfully. As a
result of this the murmurs to the effect that he was a myth entirely
vanished.

Some squads of Indians approached the camp by land with arms. The
general soon saw it was but a pugnacious attempt to force the Spaniards
into a skirmish. At the same moment a large canoe beached on the shore
where the camp was. Can said that those in it were Chamaxculu and other