Sandoval was very desirous of getting the above-mentioned chiefs into his power, and at length succeeded in capturing the principal one, who was tried, and sentenced to the stake. Several other Mexicans were brought in at the same time with this chief, but though they had equally deserved death, they were allowed to go at large, and thus one had to suffer for all. Sandoval then sent to the townships of the province of the Tzapotecs, which lay about forty miles further on, desiring them to despatch messengers of peace to him; but they refusing to do so, he ordered off the captain Briones (who had commanded one of the brigantines, and had, as he himself assured us, signalized himself in the Italian wars,) against them, with one hundred men, among whom there were thirty crossbow-men and musketeers, besides one hundred auxiliaries of the allied provinces. The Tzapotecs were duly apprized of Briones's approach, and lay in ambush for him, from which they fell suddenly upon him, and wounded more than a third part of his men, of whom one died soon after. The Tzapotecs inhabit the most rugged and inaccessible mountain districts, where no cavalry can approach, and even the foot soldiers could with difficulty move along narrow paths, one behind the other; besides which, these mountains are enveloped in everlasting mists, and the dew is always falling, which renders the ground so slippery that it is dangerous to move along. The lances of this people were also very formidable, and much longer than ours, and provided with a species of blade made of flint, which is much sharper than a Spanish sword. They also had light shields, which covered the whole body, and they use the bow, the pike, and the sling. When these wild people, who are excessively nimble, bounded from one rock to another, where our men could not get at them, they communicated with each other by means of piping and shouting, and the noise rolled and resounded through the mountains for a length of time, until lost in distant echoes. The captain Briones then returned with a great number of his men wounded, he himself having been struck by an arrow. The township where he met with this defeat was called Tiltepec, and the inhabitants subsequently submitted of their own accord, when the district was given as a commendary to a soldier, named Ojeda, the one-eyed, who at present lives in the town of San Ildefonso. When Briones called upon Sandoval to give him an account of his expedition, and said a great deal about the courage of the Tzapotecs, Sandoval reminded him of the many bloody engagements he had spoken of in his Italian campaigns, and added, "It appears, nevertheless, captain, that you experienced hotter work on this occasion than in any of your previous battles?"