The suppression of the Zacatepec rebellion being completed, Alvarado's lieutenant[V‑5] next turned his attention to the stronghold of Sinacam. This fortress, built of stone and lime, was situated in an almost inaccessible position in the Comalapa mountains.[V‑6] In the fastnesses of this range, seamed with gloomy cañons, numbers of the Cakchiquels had taken refuge. Far down in the sierra is a precipitous ravine through which flows the Rio Nimaya.[V‑7] The stream when it reaches the valley below is of great depth, abounds in fish, and is fringed in places with beautiful glades and stretches of fertile land, which can be approached only by difficult and dangerous paths.[V‑8] Here Sinacam's followers planted and gathered their maize in safety, while river and forest supplied them with additional food. No better place for a stronghold could have been selected than that to which the chief of the Cakchiquels had withdrawn the remnant of his once powerful nation.[V‑9] [Sidenote: SIEGE OF THE STRONGHOLD.] At the head of a numerous and well appointed force[V‑10] Puertocarrero took up a suitable position before it,[V‑11] and for two months prosecuted the siege in vain. During this time he made frequent overtures of peace, which were answered only with contempt,[V‑12] while his men, smarting under the taunts of the foe, who felt secure in his position and had no fear of hunger, were repulsed at every attack, rocks and trunks of trees being hurled down on them from the overhanging heights. Meanwhile they were harassed by repeated sorties from the natives, who, whenever they perceived any want of vigilance in the camp of the Spaniards, swept down from the mountains with inconceivable rapidity, fell upon the weakest point of their lines, and as quickly regained the shelter of their stronghold.[V‑13]