From this place, continuing his march, Alvarado was
continually harassed by the Indians of Quetzaltenango,
and came at length to a defile in a high mountain,
where the ascent was about a league and a half.
On arriving at the summit, a remarkably fat woman
was found in the act of sacrificing a dog, which is
an infallible token of intended hostilities; and immediately
afterwards, great numbers of armed Indians were seen
advancing on all sides, in a difficult broken ground,
where the cavalry of Alvarado were unable to act.
In this rough and impracticable place, above 6000 of
the warriors of Utatlan, a district adjoining to Quetzaltenango,
made an attack upon our troops; and being soon put
to flight, they rallied shortly after, reinforced
by great numbers of fresh troops, who waited the advance
of our forces, and fought them bravely hand to hand.
On this occasion, three or four of the enemy uniting
their efforts, used to seize a horse before and behind,
endeavouring to pull him to the ground, and it required
the most strenuous exhortations both of Alvarado and
Father Olmedo to animate the exertions of our troops,
who at length succeeded in defeating and dispersing
the Indians. Our army halted in the field of battle
for three days, unmolested by the enemy, and then
marched to Quetzaltenango, where Alvarado hoped to
have given his troops some repose; but he found two
xiquipils of warriors, or 16,000 men assembled to oppose
him in a plain, where he gave them so complete a defeat,
with so heavy a loss of warriors, that they remained
for a long time under complete awe of the Spaniards.
The chiefs of these Indians sent a deputation to Alvarado,
offering peace and submission, under which they had
concealed a plan for destroying his army in the following
manner. At a short distance there was a place
called Utatlan, in a very difficult rugged country,
and surrounded by defiles, to which they invited him
to march, intending to fall upon him there with all
their forces, as in that place the cavalry could not
act.
Alvarado accordingly marched to Utatlan, a town of
considerable strength, which had only two gates, the
ascent to one of which was by a stair of about twenty-five
steps, and the other opened to a very bad broken causeway,
the streets likewise being very narrow, and the houses
very close together. Observing the bad situation
of this place, and that the women and children had
disappeared, Alvarado began to suspect that some mischief
was in contemplation; and he was informed by some Indians
of the place he had last quitted, that a number of
warriors were concealed all round the place, to which
they meant to set fire in the night, and then assault
him with all their forces. Alvarado immediately
called his troops to arms, and marched out into the
open country, telling the chiefs that he did so for
the purpose of procuring grass for his horses.
They did not seem pleased with this change; and as
soon as Alvarado was completely clear of the town,
