It was through the exertions of Bartolomé de Las Casas that the pacification of Vera Paz was achieved without the aid of an armed force. The native name of this territory was Tuzulutlan. The Spaniards after their entrance into Guatemala made several unsuccessful attempts to subdue it, and from this cause and the fierce character of the natives they called it Tierra de Guerra.[XX‑36] Its dimensions at the time the Dominicans entered it nearly corresponded with its present limits. In 1574 friars of the convent at Coban reported that Vera Paz, as already bounded by royal decree, extended sixty leagues from east to west, measured from the river Nito[XX‑37] to the river Zacapulas, and fifty leagues from south to north, commencing from the northern slope of the Canal and Rabinal mountains.[XX‑38] The surface was rugged and mountainous; roads were almost unknown, and the inhabitants active and warlike.[XX‑39] Nevertheless Las Casas proposed to penetrate it in defiance of danger, exposure, and hardship. [Sidenote: PEACEFUL CONQUESTS.] Previous to 1536 he had published a treatise,[XX‑40] in which he condemned conquest by force of arms, and urged that to civilize and convert the Indians was the true system of subjugation. These precepts he incessantly upheld in Santiago both from the pulpit and in conversation, and his teachings only drew upon him general ridicule and enmity, and eventually the people of Santiago dared him to put his principles in practice by accomplishing the conquest of Tuzulutlan. The undaunted padre accepted the challenge, and in conjunction with Fray Rodrigo de Ladrada and Fray Pedro de Angulo, agreed to undertake the perilous enterprise on the condition that the natives should never be assigned in encomiendas, and that for a period of five years, dating from the entrance of the friars into the province, no Spaniards should be permitted to enter the country.[XX‑41] Las Casas at once proceeded to put his designs in execution, and by the employment of converted Indians and the establishment of frontier posts, opened friendly relations with the hitherto exclusive inhabitants of Vera Paz,[XX‑42] and laid the basis of the future acknowledgment of the sovereignty of Spain.[XX‑43] Nevertheless the work of conversion could not be straightway accomplished. Though Las Casas was convinced of the practicability of his scheme, the small number of friars in the country rendered its immediate execution impossible. Moreover much opposition was offered to his broad and uncompromising views, and although the work was begun under the best auspices, so far as the action of the native chiefs was concerned, he felt himself compelled to suspend operations until he had had a personal interview with the emperor.[XX‑44] Accordingly he left Guatemala and proceeded by way of Mexico to Spain.[XX‑45]