In pursuance of this declaration they wrote to the king and suggested as the only efficient remedy the removal of the hostile natives to certain unsettled districts beyond Ciudad Real, thus placing this city between them and the settlements of Chiapas and Vera Paz. In order to reduce the expense of their removal it was further suggested that an expedition be authorized and the Spaniards induced to join it at their own expense under promise that the Lacandones should be granted to them in repartimiento. In accordance with these suggestions a royal cédula dated March 16, 1558, directed the audiencia de los Confines to take steps for the immediate removal of the Indians. If practicable it was to be done peaceably, but if force were necessary all harshness was to be avoided, though the prisoners taken were to become the lawful slaves of their captors. [Illustration: LACANDON WAR.] [Sidenote: MUSTERING OF FORCES.] This decree was published in Santiago in the beginning of 1559; and attracted by the prospect of gain thus held out, and the charm of adventure and mystery which attaches to the invasion of an unknown and hostile province, large numbers of settlers in Guatemala and Chiapas offered to accompany the expedition. President Ramirez was appointed commander-in-chief, as he had already certain military renown not altogether merited. Early in the same year the respective forces arrived at Comitlan, the appointed rendezvous. The total Spanish force is not stated but is said to have included many persons of quality. The troops from Chiapas were commanded by Gonzalo Dovalle, and besides the colonists, comprised a native contingent of eight hundred warriors. A thousand Indians are said to have accompanied the Spanish from Guatemala. Supplies of all kinds were collected, and two brigantines were built in sections, each vessel being capable of holding a hundred men. A small army of carriers and attendants was required to transport the baggage and wait on the Spaniards, and preparations were on a scale better befitting a conflict with Europeans than with Americans. At Comitlan a review was held which, according to Remesal, presented one of the most brilliant spectacles ever seen in those parts, for no expense had been spared by the Spaniards in their dress, equipments, and arms. At last, the flags having been blessed and mass said, the army set out. Fifteen days of toilsome march, during which a path had to be cut through the dense vegetation, brought them to the shores of Lake Lacandon. At their approach the natives retreated to the island, after catching and sacrificing a negro boy who was out after some corn which grew in the gardens on the borders of the lake. From their retreat the Lacandones closely watched the movements of the Spaniards, who in turn eagerly scanned the high bare rock with its white houses and dusky inhabitants, lest any signs of hostile preparation should escape them.