HISTORY OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF YUCATAN AND OF THE ITZAS

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province of Choaca,[4.3] was reached. Some of the chiefs of the region
came to see the Adelantado and were well received; they, however, were
treacherously minded, but their attempt to kill or injure Montejo was
foiled. From Coni the Spaniards went to the village of Choaca, where
their real trials began.


Description of the Campaign. In their early wanderings the Spaniards
suffered greatly from lack of proper water and from bad roads. Often
they found the villages deserted by their inhabitants or, still worse,
bristling with armed warriors. Led by an Indian whom they had picked up
at Coni, Montejo and his followers traveled through the province of
Choaca to a place called Ake. On the way they ran into an ambush of
armed Indians. The weapons of these latter consisted of arrows hardened
by fire, lances with sharp flint points, two-handed swords of very hard
wood, and shields made of very large tortoise shells adorned with snail
shells and antlers; their bodies were naked save for breech clouts of