The road through the Catuaro jungle resembles the descent through the Santa María mountain; the difficult parts are given odd names. You follow a narrow channel, scooped out by torrents and filled with a fine, sticky clay. In the steep parts the mules sit on their rumps and slide downhill. This descent is called Saca Manteca because the consistence of the mud is like butter. There is no danger in this descent as the mules are very skilled at sliding.

March 31st. (92) A contrary wind forced us to stay on the river bank until midday. We saw a part of the cane fields devastated by a fire spreading from a nearby forest. Nomadic Indians set the forest alight everywhere they set up camp for the night; during the dry season vast provinces would be in flames if it was not for the extreme hardness of the wood, which does not completely burn. We found trunks of desmanthus and mahogany (cahoba) that were hardly burned more than 2 inches deep.