them, and put new life into their zeal for this good purpose.

"The Citizens of Merida joined the Bishop in his joy and also in giving
the Padres increased Alms; and the Former Governor Don Antonio de
Figueroa gave them Rosaries, and Glass Beads, and the Citizens gave
them these and many other things, and still others were bought with the
Alms contributed by the _Encomenderos_. Even the Indians of the City
and the Villages through which they later passed, the Chiefs, and
Indian Women, gave them Clothing of the sort they were wont to use for
the improvement [of the Itzas], in order that they might be given to
the King Canek and to his Wife and to the other Chiefs of the Itzas."

The Padres Set out. "The present Governor alone, Briceno, gave them
nothing, and he even swindled them out of the Despatch of Favor and
Assistance, saying that he would give it to them the day of their
departure; then he said that they should wait for it at the Convent of
Tikax, which is the last one in the Sierra. So that without the
Despatch, but with the Blessing of God and that of the Bishop and their
own Prelate, and asking all to recommend to God the good outcome of the
Voyage, they set out from Merida for Bacalar, rejoicing, and on naked
feet.

"In a short space of time they arrived at the Convent of Tikax, for
they feared that the rains would begin. When they had waited some days
for the Despatches of the Governor, they received only a letter from
him in which he said that he did not intend to give them the Despatches
for the reasons he had already given them. The Padres greatly regretted
the coldness on the part of the Governor merely because they feared
that they would not have in Bacalar good Aid without the orders of the
Governor; for it was necessary to take Boats from there to go up the
Rivers from that Town to the Village of Tipu, where they were to make
their Headquarters, according to the instructions of the Bishop."

Their Route. "But nevertheless, and confiding only in God, they
continued their journey accompanied by some Indian Singers and
Sacristans who were at the Convent and whom God moved to offer
themselves as companions, although they knew the perils of the journey,
and thus they went alone, without human defense, to place themselves in
the hands of those Barbarous Caribes,[5.4] of whom it was known for
certain that they ate human Flesh; but they placed all fear behind
them.

"And the Padres, seeing that they ha