Bartolomé de Las Casas was the first person that wrote about the region when he said that "Maniey" (now, "Maniel") was a Taíno province. Maniey or Maniel meant "a place where there are peanuts"; mani ( (Spanish) is the Taíno word for peanut. Peter Martyr d'Anghiera did not write about the "Maniey" but he wrote about a lake in the region of Rancho Arriba; there is not a lake (or lakes) there anymore, only a swamp.