But to return to the treasurer Estrada. He grew excessively vain and proud when he found himself so highly favoured by his majesty as to be appointed sole governor of New Spain; and he had been assured that the emperor knew he was a son of his catholic majesty king Ferdinand. The first thing he did therefore was to despatch his cousin Diego de Mazariegos as captain to Chiapa, to institute an inquiry into the conduct of Don Juan Enriquez de Guzman, to whom Marcos de Aguilar had intrusted the chief command in that province, but who plundered and oppressed the inhabitants in the most shameful manner. In the same way he began to make preparations to subject the townships of the Zapotecs and of the Minxes, and to make success more sure they were to be attacked from two different points at the same time. The troops which were to operate on the north side he gave in command to a certain Barrios, who had previously been captain in Italy. He was a man of great courage, had but recently arrived from Spain, and must not be confounded with Cortes' cousin Barrios, of Seville. The number of his troops, on this expedition, amounted to above one hundred men, including several musketeers and crossbow-men. But this expedition terminated very unfortunately, for scarcely had he arrived in the Tiltepec townships, when one night he was suddenly attacked by the natives, and Barrios himself killed, with seven of his men. The greater part of the remaining troops were wounded, and the whole of them would undoubtedly have been cut to pieces if they had not made a precipitate retreat to Villa-Diego and the neighbouring friendly districts.
This, I think, is a sufficient proof of the difference between the veteran Conquistadores and the troops newly arrived from Spain, who have not the slightest notion of a war with Indians or of their artifices; and thus miserably did this expedition terminate.
The second body of troops were to fall into the Zapotec territory from the side of Guaxaca, and were commanded by an officer named Figuero, who, it was said, had likewise previously been a captain in Spain; one