g in the direction in which they were
opening the road from this province to that of Guatemala."

Chuntuci. "The next day, which was that of the Holy Kings, on January
6th of this year of '96, I said mass, which the army listened to; after
which we started from the town for Chuntuci of the said nation of the
Cehaches, which is four leagues of very bad roads during the rainy
season, on account of the many overflowed and dangerous places that
there are in them in some parts which they call in this language
_akalchees_ or _hulbalex_, and in Castilian _pantanos_. On the said
road likewise are found two rivers in the first league,--a small one
which is not permanent except in the rainy season; as is the case with
an _aguada_ which is found in the middle of the road on the slope of a
ridge which is ascended in times of rain with some difficulty, although
the other river, which is found about three leagues off, is permanent,
the water of which, though it is somewhat sluggish, for they say it is
a river of copper, nevertheless is very cool and raises very good fish,
though not very large ones. A league and a half from this river is the
said town of Chuntuci, which consists of not more than eight houses
close together, though there are many others in the corn fields a
little more or less distant, in a circuit of about half a league.

"We journeyed from this town of Chuntuci in a southerly direction a
distance of a good league, where there is a great overflowed space or
_aguada_, which in this tongue is called _nohcib_, in the midst of
which is discovered a great _aguada_, which without doubt is the origin
or cause of some great river of those which flow to the Laguna de
Terminos. At half a league beyond this we came across a little crystal
stream, which left us in the belief that it had its origin from a great
swamp near there towards the East, which is dimly seen on the other
side of this little stream. About six quarters of a league from here,
we discovered an indistinct little path in the direction of the
South-east, following which without suspicion, though we were armed, we
rushed forward with eager confidence, following the path through the
thickets without fearing any shipwreck, saying the prayer '_in exitu
Israel de Egiptu_' that we may imitate in their victory the Israelites,
who succeeded in passing through the waves of the Red Sea. We followed
the said path for some distance, during which we fell in with the
_Batch