ee_, or signs which assured us that we were on the path to the
nation of the heathen Ytzaes. So indistinct was the path in itself,
that to tell whether or not it was a path, required that _Batchee_,
which was what we followed. After half a league of this road, we came
across a little stream. It is called Chinchinucum, in the language of
the Cehaches. Two leagues from there we found another larger stream,
called Nohucum; at half a league farther on, a great _aguada_ called
Akalcay. Two leagues and a half on the right is found a great pond,
called Yavilain; another two leagues and a half from there is an
_aguada_ called Chuncopo. This is an accidental _aguada_ in the middle
of the road, which has abundance of water in the rainy season, from its
being in the midst of low hills and _akalchees_. Beyond this place is a
great ravine, which in this language is called _nohem_. It is about a
league and a half [long]. This ravine they call the 'Hell of the
Ytzaes' from the danger of its descent, on account of its being
necessary that the road should go through it, though we passed many
others which are more dangerous and worse than this ravine. On account
of the impossibility of the passage which they had described to us, it
being necessary to pass through it, so as to carry out our special
undertaking and in order to accomplish it the better and to facilitate
the passage, we chose as its patron Saint our Padre San Antonio of
Padua, by whose intercession, without doubt, the passage of the said
ravine became much easier for us than they had described to us up to
this time; we did not fail to pass over some hard hills and rough
roads, but from here they were the worst of all I had seen up to this
time."

The Hardships of the Journey. "Two leagues from this ravine we began to
hesitate about the road, because we met with a large river, although it
was then dry; but in the rainy season, it is plainly seen, it carries a
great mass of water. On account of this we found a variety of passages
and _Batchees_, but, thanks to God and good fortune, in the courses of
this dry river, which is called Cohucum, we recognized some mud or
signs of earth among its pebbles, so that by following this sign for a
long distance, we not only came across, in a bend of the river, a
spring of water, to satisfy our need of drinking which we already felt,
but also we recognized on its banks the _Batchee_ and the lost path, so
that at one time we had two consol