up and down as we had been through, we were thirsty enough, so that God furnished this aguada, from which we had a very good drink. In about an eighth of a mile we came to the descent from this height, after which we passed two days of woods, some that were somewhat level, without so many or so high hills, but it is wonderful that though these forests in which we traveled for two days and the three preceding ones, consist of an infinite number of sapote and ramon trees, we did not find in them all a bit to eat,- a thing which happens in these woods as in the rest that I saw. Seeing their sterility, I said, 'They appeared in every respect like those of Gilboa.'
Deserted Buildings. "With so few comforts and so great affliction, our strength went on diminishing very quickly, knowing for truth the proverb which the Biscayans, my fellow countrymen, say: 'It is the guts which carry and support the legs and not the legs, the guts.' Among these high hills which we passed over, there is a variety of old buildings, excepting some in which I recognized apartments, and though they were very high and my strength was little, I climbed up them (though with trouble). They were in the form of a convent, with the small cloisters and many living rooms all roofed over, and arched like a wagon and whitened inside with plaster, which is very abundant through that region, since all the ridges are composed of it. So that these buildings do not resemble those which are here in this Province, for the latter are of pure worked stone, laid without mortar, particularly the part which relates to arches; but the former are of rough stone and mortar, covered with plaster.
False Hopes; Further Hardships. "It seemed to us that these buildings stood near a settlement, from the information which the soldiers had given us, when we were going on the new road to Guatemala, but it turned out to be the dream of a blind man, since we found ourselves, as we saw afterwards, very far from a settlement. We traveled through these woods when we came upon a dry river, which we followed a long while to see if we found water, which we came across, though late, which is better than never. Before that, God willed that we should meet a Kamas, or a great mound of earth, which the ants
