Despatch for which they asked in order that the Villages through which they passed might give them assistance, his excuse being that he did not have orders from the King, and that if they were killed by the Barbarians or by some Native Indians they had with them, or if any other misfortune should come to pass, the Blame would be upon him. The Bishop gave them, beside the Appointment, orders and aids which I have spoken of, many Crosses, Knives, Shears and other trifles and Charms from Spain so that they might treat the Indians well; and he comforted 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, Briceño, 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
