ppearance a few
centuries ago. As visitors to Tayasal usually either came or left by
way of Tipu, the distance from Tayasal to the shore which they
generally traveled was that from the village to the eastern end of the
lake, a journey often said to be six leagues in length, which is
approximately correct. Perhaps the most important piece of evidence is
that given by Avendano's sketch map (Pls. Ia, Ib). He gives three
_cayos_ or islands in the lake. They are arranged in such a way that
the Cayo Grande (Tayasal) is to the east; just northwest of it is Otro
Cayo (Another Cayo). I believe that after the general level of the lake
fell these two _cayos_ were united and formed the present peninsula.
Flores is on the _cayo_ shown by Avendano as just south and east of
these two. Maler, who is among those who have used the name Tayasal,
says that the name means "in the midst of green waters."

Description of Peten and its Surroundings. We will now give Padre
Avendano's account of the region occupied by the Itzas and ruled by
their king, Canek: "Before we leave the said Peten Ytza, it is well to
give the clearest information about it, its territories and its people,
so that, in the future, historians may have clear light about it and
may give in full the necessary information. Peten Ytza is situated in
the middle of a great lake and there are not only this one on which the
King lives, but also four other _Petens_, or islands which also lie in
the said lake. Others say that these _Petens_ are seven in number, and
still others that there are thirty, and that this lake also surrounds
the seven, as some say, as well as the thirty which the others speak
of. What is certain is that I stopped there and asked purposely what
number of people and _Petens_ the Ytzalana nation contained, and they
told me that there were only five _Petens_. The lake which surrounds
them is large, its length I have not measured, nor have I gone over
more than the part of it by which I came, which was three leagues
across, more or less (entering it at the West and going eastward), till
one reaches the _Peten_ on which the King lives. But the length of the
said lake which runs from North to South (as far as we could see it),
although we did not succeed in seeing to its end, was probably from
eight to ten leagues.[2.2] There are some who say that the said lake is
sixty leagues long. If it is true that it surrounds the above thirty
_Petens_, it is not improbable