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 that it is of that length. The principal _Peten_ or island (the court where the King lives) must be more than half a league long and is a high island from which many hills are seen all around. The situation is very pleasant on account of these hills being in sight, as well as the five _Petens_ which the lake encloses, so that from the said _Petun_ any one is seen who comes across the lake from a distance from any one of the four directions, as well as those who go fishing on the lake...." The Lake neither Rises nor Falls. "I asked them why they had their houses so close to the shore of the lake, and if they had any trouble with its risings and fallings. They told me that they had no trouble, since the lake never rose or fell. From this it is inferred that it is also true that no river enters it or flows out of it on the surface,--either of rapid or gentle current, as many who speak of this lake try to show; since, if such a stream entered it, or left it, it could not fail to increase with the freshets, as in dry times to grow smaller; although we should not be able to deny the hidden and subterranean connection of this lake with other neighboring lakes, because of its permanent preservation of level...."