The exertions of Las Casas during the time he remained in Spain were, as the reader is already aware, mainly directed to the promulgation of the new code of laws. In 1545 he again arrived in New Spain to take charge of his diocese as will be hereafter related, and in July, being anxious to witness the progress that had been made in Vera Paz, he visited that province. He found the condition of affairs to be so satisfactory that he caused the depositions of six Spaniards to be taken for the purpose of reporting to the emperor the true nature of the conquest of this formerly warlike region. From the statements of these deponents it appears that previous to the entrance of the Dominicans the inhabitants of these districts opposed all attempts to subdue them,[XX‑51] but that by infinite labor and care the friars had overcome their ferocity and exasperation. In his progress through the country the bishop everywhere met with a kind welcome. Escorted by Don Juan, a son of the lord of Coban, with many of his subjects, he proceeded from town to town,[XX‑52] receiving offerings and presents at each place. At Coban he was gratified to find that a substantial wooden church had been erected, and that every day many natives eagerly received religious instruction. Proceeding thence to the town of Tuzulutlan he there met Bishop Marroquin, who was making a similar visit[XX‑53] and I apprehend that the two prelates did not entertain such friendly feelings to each other as had been displayed to both of them by the natives. But Las Casas had still to learn that however successful his own efforts had been he could not ward off the oppression of his countrymen. The Spaniards now began to enter the region, impose tributes, and make slaves as was their wont, and in October following Fray Luis Cancer wrote to him—the prelate being then at Gracias á Dios—stating that more than seven hundred slaves of both sexes had been taken from the town of Tuzulutlan alone, and that the tribute which the natives of Vera Paz were called upon to pay was intolerable.[XX‑54] Moreover he was soon to find, greatly to his mortification, that his peaceful system of conversion was not necessarily unattended by bloodshed, as was shown a few years later by the martyrdom of Luis Cancer and two brothers of the Dominican order. [Sidenote: FURTHER EFFORTS.]