XXII. FEASTS AND AMUSEMENTS OF THE MAYAS…

XXII. FEASTS AND AMUSEMENTS OF THE MAYAS

SPECIAL OBSERVANCES--FIXED FEASTS--SACRIFICE OF SLAVES--MONTHLY FEASTS OF THE YUCATECS--RENEWAL OF THE IDOLS--FEAST OF THE CHACS--HUNTING FESTIVAL--THE TUPPKAK--FEAST OF THE CACAO-PLANTERS--WAR FEAST--THE MAYA NEW YEAR'S DAY--FEASTS OF THE HUNTERS, FISHERS, AND APIARISTS--CEREMONIES IN HONOR OF CUKULCAN--FEAST OF THE MONTH OF MOL--FEAST OF THE YEARS KAN, MULUC, IX, AND CAUAC--YUCATEC SACRIFICES--THE PIT OF CHICHEN--SACRIFICES OF THE PIPILES--FEAST OF VICTORY--FEASTS AND SACRIFICES IN NICARAGUA--BANQUETS--DANCES--MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--GAMES.

Though the information concerning the feasts, religious and otherwise, of the Maya nations, is not so full as that touching the Nahuas, yet there is no doubt that the former people were quite as fond of such matters as the latter.

The Quichés had many festivals and special observances, in some of which the whole people took part, while others were performed by private persons through excess of piety. They always made a sacrifice before commencing any work of importance. There were four special things for which they besought the gods; namely, long life, health, progeny, and the necessaries of life. They had particular oratories where they went upon occasions of great distress, and drew blood from several parts of their body. When they desired to have sons they sacrificed at fountains. They had oratories in thick groves, and if they found a spot where a large tree grew over a spring, they held the place to be divine, because two divinities met in the tree and in the pool.[1013]

[Sidenote: SACRIFICIAL FESTIVALS.]

The religious feasts in which all the people took part were held on certain fixed days of the calendar. One of their most notable and solemn festivals was more a time of penance and vigil than of feasting. When the season of its celebration approached, the lord of a province with the principal men held a council and sent for a diviner, and advised with him concerning the day upon which the sacrifice should take place. The wise man at once began his sorceries, and cast lots in order to ascertain what day would be the most propitious. When the day was fixed, all men had from that time to sleep in houses apart from their wives during a period of sixty or eighty days, or even longer, according to the severity demanded. Upon each of these days every one had to offer sacrifice by drawing blood from his arms, thighs, tongue, and other parts of his body. This they did at certain hours of the day and night, and also burned incense. They could not bathe while the observances lasted. From the day when this lent began, the slaves who were to be sacrificed were allowed a certain freedom, and permitted to go about the town wheresoever they pleased. On the neck of each, however, was fastened a ring of gold, silver, or copper, through which a stick was passed, and as a further precaution against escape each was accompanied by a guard of three or four men. They were at liberty to enter any house, whether it was that of the supreme lord or of the poorest man, and wherever they applied for food or drink it was given them. The same liberty was accorded to the guard. When the day of sacrifice arrived, the high-priest attired himself in his finest vestments. These consisted of certain cloaks, with crowns of gold, silver, or other metal, adorned with precious stones. The idols were placed upon a frame ornamented with gold, silver, and gems, and decked with roses and other flowers. The slaves were then brought in procession to the temple yard amid songs, music, and dancing; and the idols were set upon altars, before which were the sacrificial stones. As the hour of sacrifice drew near, the supreme lord, and principal men with him, repaired to the room where the slaves were waiting; each then seized his slave by the hair and carried him before the god, crying with a loud voice: O God our Lord, remember thy servants, grant them health, offspring, and prosperity, so that they may increase and serve thee. Give us rain, O Lord, and seasonable weather to support us, that we may live, hearken to our prayers, aid us against our enemies, give us comfort and rest. On reaching the altar the sacrificing priest stood ready, and the lord placed the victim in his hands. He then, with his ministers, opened the breast with the sacrificial knife, tore out the heart and offered it to the idol, at the same time anointing it with the blood. Each idol had its holy table; the Sun, the Moon, the East, the West, the North, and the South had each one. The heads of the sacrificed were put on stakes. The flesh was seasoned, cooked, and partaken of as a holy thing. The high-priest and supreme lord were given the hands and feet, as the most delicate morsels, and the body was distributed among the other priests. All through the days of the sacrificing great liberty was permitted to the people, grand banquets were held, and drunken revels ensued.[1014]

Concerning the religious feasts and observances of the Yucatecs, Landa is the best and most complete authority, and I will therefore take from his work such scattered notices as he gives.

In the month of Chen they worked in fear and trembling, making new idols. And when these were finished, those for whom they were made gave presents of the best they had to those who had modeled and carved them. The idols were then carried from the building in which they had been made to a cabin made of leaves, where the priest blessed them with much solemnity and many fervent prayers, the artists having previously cleansed themselves from the grease with which they had been besmeared, as a sign of fasting, during the entire time that they remained at work. Having then driven out the evil spirit, and burned the sacred incense, the newly made images were placed in a basket, enveloped in a linen cloth, and delivered to their owners, who received them with every mark of respect and devotion. The priest then addressed the idol-makers for a few moments on the excellence and importance of their profession, and on the danger they would incur by neglecting the rules of abstinence while doing such sacred work. Finally, all partook of an abundant repast, and made amends for their long fast by indulging freely in wine.

In one of the two months called Chen and Yax, on a day determined by the priest, they celebrated a feast called ocna, which means the renovation of the temple in honor of the Chacs, whom they regarded as the gods of the fields. During this festival, they consulted the oracle of the Bacabs.[1015] This feast was celebrated every year. Besides this, the idols of baked clay and the braziers were renewed at this season, because it was customary for each idol to have its own little brazier, in which incense was burned before it; and, if it was necessary, they built the god a new dwelling, or renovated the old one, taking care to place on the walls an inscription commemorating these things, in the characters peculiar to them.

[Sidenote: FESTIVALS OF ZAC AND MAC.]

In the month of Zac, on a day appointed by the priest, the hunters held a feast similar to that which, as we shall presently see, took place in the month of Zip. This was for the purpose of averting the anger of the gods from them and the seed they had sown, because of the blood which had been shed in the chase; for they regarded as abominable all spilling of blood, except in sacrifice.[1016] They never went out to hunt without first invoking their gods and burning incense before them; and on their return from a successful hunt they always anointed the grim visages of the idols with the blood of the game. On another day of this month a great feast was held, which lasted for three days, attended with incense-burning, sacrifices, and general orgies. But as this was a movable feast, the priests took care to give notice of it in advance, in order that all might observe a becoming fast.

During the month of Mac, the old people celebrated a feast in honor of the Chacs, gods of the cornfields, and of another deity named Yzamna. Some days before this the following ceremony, called in their language tuppkak,[1017] was observed. Having brought together all the reptiles and beasts of the field that could be procured in the country, they assembled with them in the court of the temple, in the corners of which were the chacs and the priests, to drive away the evil spirit, each having by his side a jug filled with water. Standing on end, in the centre, was an enormous bundle of dry and fine wood, which was set on fire after some incense had been burned. As the wood burned, the assembled crowd vied with each other in tearing out the hearts of the victims they had brought with them and casting them into the flames. If it had been impossible to procure such large game as jaguars, pumas, or alligators, they typified the hearts of these animals by incense, which they threw into the fire; but if they had them, they were immolated like the rest. As soon as all the hearts were consumed, the chacs[1018] put out the fire with the water contained in their pitchers. The object of this feast and of that which followed was to obtain an abundance of water for their cornfields during the year. This feast was celebrated in a different manner from others, because no one fasted before it, with the exception of the beadle (muñidor) of the occasion. On the day of the feast called tuppkak, the people and the priests met once more in the courtyard of the temple, where was erected a platform of stone, with steps leading up to it, the whole tastefully decorated with foliage. The priest gave some incense to the beadle, who burned in a brazier enough to exorcise the evil spirit. This done, the first step of the platform was with great solemnity smeared with mud taken from a well or cistern; the other steps were stained a blue color. As usual, they ended these ceremonies by eating and drinking and making merry, full of confidence in the efficacy of their rites and ceremonies for this year.

In the month of Muan the cacao-planters held a festival in honor of the gods Ekchuah, Chac, and Hobnil, who were their patron deities.[1019] To solemnize it, they all went to the plantation of one of their number, where they sacrificed a dog having a spot on its skin of the color of cacao. They burned incense to their idols, and made offerings of blue iguanas, feathers of a particular kind of bird, and game. After this they gave to each of the officials[1020] a branch of the cacao-plant. The sacrifice being ended, they all sat down to a repast, at which, it is said, no one was allowed to drink more than three glasses of wine. All then went into the house of him who had given the feast, and passed the time pleasantly together.

[Sidenote: WAR-FEAST IN THE MONTH OF PAX.]

In the month of Pax, a feast was held, called Pacumchac, which was celebrated by the nobles and priests of the villages, together with those of the great towns. Having assembled, they passed five nights in the temple of Cit Chac Coh,[1021] praying and offering incense. At the beginning of these five days, they went all together to the house of the general of their armies, whose title was Nacon, and carried him in state to the temple, where, having placed him on a seat, they burned incense before him as though he had been a god. But though they prayed during these five nights, they did not by any means fast in the day-time, but ate and drank plentifully, and executed a kind of grand war-dance, which they called holkan okot, which is to say, 'dance of the warriors.' The five days being passed, the real business of the feast began, which, as it concerned matters of war and victory, was a very solemn affair. It was commenced with ceremonies and sacrifices similar to those already described as taking place in the month of Mac. Then the evil spirit was expelled in the usual manner, after which were more prayers, offerings, and incensing. While all this was going on, the nobles once more took the Nacon upon their shoulders, and carried him in procession round the temple. On their return a dog was sacrificed, its heart being torn out and presented to the idol between two dishes. Every one present then shattered a large jug filled with some beverage, which completed this part of the festival. The usual banquet followed, after which the Nacon was again placed upon the shoulders of the nobles and carried to his house.

There, the nobles and priests partook of a grand banquet, at which all got drunk, except the Nacon; the people, meanwhile, returning to their homes. On the morrow, having slept off the effects of the wine, the guests of the Nacon received from him large presents of incense which had been previously blessed. He also took advantage of this opportunity to deliver a long discourse, in which he recommended his hearers to observe scrupulously in both town and country the feasts of the gods, in order to obtain a prosperous and abundant year. As soon as the Nacon had finished speaking, there was a general and noisy leave-taking, and the guests separated, and set out for their respective homes. There they occupied themselves in celebrating the festivals proper to the season, keeping them up sometimes until the month of Pop. These feasts were called Zabacilthan, and were observed as follows. The people of each place or district sought among the richest of their number for some who were willing to defray the expenses of the celebration, and recommended them to take the matter into consideration, because it was customary to make merry during the three last months of the year. This having been settled, all met in the house of one of these prominent men, after having driven away the evil spirit as usual. Copal was burned, offerings were made, and the wine-cup, which seems to have been the chief attraction on these occasions, was not neglected. And all through these three months, the excesses in which the people indulged were pitiful to see; cuts, bruises, and eyes inflamed with drink were plentiful amongst them; to gratify their passion for drink they cast themselves away.

[Sidenote: THE MAYA NEW YEAR'S DAY.]

During the last five days of the month of Cumhu, which were the last days of the year, the people seldom went out of their houses, except to place offerings in the temples, with which the priests bought incense to be burned in honor of the gods. They neither combed their hair nor washed themselves during these five days; neither men nor women cleansed themselves; they did no work of any kind lest some misfortune should befall them.

[Sidenote: FESTIVITIES IN YUCATAN.]

The first day of the month of Pop, the Maya New Year's Day, was a season of rejoicing, in which all the nation took part. To give more importance to the event, they renewed at this time all the articles which they used, such as plates, cups, baskets, clothes, and the dresses of the idols; they swept their houses and cast everything into the place where they put their rubbish; and no one dared to touch what was cast away, even though greatly in need of it. To prepare for this feast, princes, priests, and nobles, and all who wished to show their devotion, fasted and abstained from their wives for a longer or shorter period, some for three months preceding it, some for two, according to their ideas of propriety, but none for less than thirteen days. During this season of abstinence, they ate their meat unseasoned, which was considered severe discipline. At this time, also, they elected the officers who were to assist the priest at the ceremony. The priest prepared a number of little balls of fresh incense on small boards made for the purpose, for those who fasted to burn before the idols. Great care was taken not to break the fast after it had been once commenced; for if this were done it was thought that misfortune must inevitably ensue.

New Year's Day having arrived, all the men assembled in the courtyard of the temple. Women could assist at no feast which was celebrated within the temple, except those who went to take part in particular dances; on other occasions, however, the women were allowed to be present. On the day in question the men came alone, adorned with paint, and cleansed from the grease with which they had been bedaubed during the days of penance. When all were assembled, with offerings of food and newly fermented wine, the priest purified the temple and seated himself in the centre of the court, clothed in his robes of office, and having by his side a brazier and the balls of incense before mentioned. After the evil spirit had been expelled, all present offered up prayers, while the assistants kindled the new fire for the year. The priest now cast one of the balls of incense into the brazier, and then distributed the remainder among the assembled worshipers. The nobles came first in the order of their rank, and as each received a ball from the priest, who gave it with great solemnity, he dropped it gently into the brazier and stood still until it was consumed. The inevitable banquet and orgies terminated the ceremonies. This was the manner in which they celebrated the birth of the new year. During the month, some of the most devout among them repeated the feast in their own homes, and this was particularly done by the nobles and priests, who were ever foremost in religious observances.

During the month of Uo the priests and sorcerers began to prepare for a festival called pocam, which was solemnized by the hunters and fishers on the seventh day of the next month, which was Zip. Having assembled, clothed in their ornaments, at the house of the prince, they expelled the evil spirit, and then uncovered their books and exposed them upon a carpet of green leaves and branches, which had been prepared for this purpose. They next invoked with reverence a deity named Cinchau Yzamna, who had been, they said, the first priest.[1022] To him they offered various gifts, and burned balls of incense in his honor. In the meantime others took a vessel and a little verdigris with some pure water, which had to be procured from a wood into whose recesses no woman had ever penetrated. They now cleaned the leaves of their books by moistening them; this done, the wisest among them opened a volume and examined the prospects of the coming year, which he declared aloud to all present. He concluded with a brief discourse, in which he advised them how to avoid coming evils. Jollity now reigned and the wine flowed freely--a consummation which many of the old priest's hearers had doubtless been long looking forward to impatiently. The solemnities on this occasion were varied at times by performing a dance called okot uil.

On the following day the doctors and sorcerers with their wives came together in the house of one of their number. The priests, having driven away the evil spirit, brought to view their medicine-bags, in which they kept a number of charms, some little images of Ixchel, goddess of medicine, from whom the feast was named ihcil ixchel, and some small stones called am, which they used in their sorceries. Then with great devotion the doctors and sorcerers invoked the gods of medicine, Yzamna, Citbolontum, and Ahau Chamahez, while the priests burned incense, and the assistants painted themselves blue, the color of the books used by the priests. Bearing their medicine bags in their hands, they then joined in a dance called chantunyab, after which the men seated themselves in a row on one side, and the women on the other; a day was appointed for holding the feast during the ensuing year, and then the usual drunken orgies commenced. It is said that the priests abstained from wine on this occasion, perhaps because the women were present; but they took their share, nevertheless, and reserved it for a more private opportunity.

On another occasion the hunters, with their wives, assembled in the house of one of their number, and performed there certain ceremonies. The first proceeding was, of course, to expel the evil influence; then the priests, who were never absent from these meetings, placed in the middle of the room some incense, a brazier, and some blue coloring material. Next, the huntsmen prayed with great devotion to the gods of the chase, Acanum, Zuhuy Zipi, Tabai, and others, and cast incense into the brazier. While this was burning, each took an arrow and a deer's head, which the priest's assistants had painted blue; thus equipped, some danced, holding hands; others pierced their ears or their tongue, and passed through the holes which they made seven leaves of an herb called ac. Then priests and their assistants made offerings to the gods and joined in the dance. Finally, the festivities closed by all present becoming, to quote the words of Bishop Landa, 'as drunk as baskets.'

The next day it was the turn of the fishermen to celebrate a feast, which they did in the same manner as the hunters, except that instead of a deer's head, they smeared their fishing implements with color; neither did they pierce their ears, but cut round about them, and after doing this they executed a dance called chohom. Then they consecrated a large tree, which they left standing. After the feast had been duly celebrated in the towns, it was customary for the nobles and many of the people to go down to the coast on a grand fishing expedition. The patron divinities of the fishermen were Ahkak Nexoi, Ahpua, Ahcitz, and Amalcum.[1023]

[Sidenote: FEAST OF THE APIARISTS.]

In the month of Tzoz, the apiarists prepared for a feast which was to take place in the next month, called Tzec, by a fast, which was, however, optional with all except the priests who were to officiate, and their assistants. The day of celebration having arrived, the participants came together in the house of him who gave the feast, and performed nearly the same ceremonies as the hunters and fishermen, except that they drew no blood from their bodies. The apiarists had for their patron deities the Bacabs, and particularly Hobnil. They made many propitiatory offerings at this time, especially to the four gods of abundance, to whom they presented four dishes adorned with figures of honey. The usual drunken bout was not omitted.

After the mysterious departure of Cukulcan,[1024] the Maya Quetzalcoatl, from Yucatan, the people, convinced that he had gone to the abode of the gods, deified him, and built temples and instituted feasts in his honor. These latter were scrupulously observed throughout the entire country up to the time of the destruction of Mayapan; but after that event they were neglected by all the provinces but that of Mani.[1025] In remembrance, however, of the respect shown of old to Cukulcan, these provinces sent annually, by turn, to Mani four or five magnificent feather banners, which were used in the ceremonies there. On the sixteenth day of the month of Xul, all the nobles and priests of Mani, being prepared by fast and penance for the occasion, came together, and with them came a considerable multitude of people. In the evening all set out in procession from the house of the lord, and, accompanied by a large number of professional actors, proceeded slowly towards the temple of Cukulcan, which had already been decorated in a suitable manner. Upon arriving they placed the banners on high in the temple, offered prayers, and going into the courtyard spread out their idols upon green leaves and branches; then they burned incense in many places, and made offerings of meat cooked without pepper or salt, bean-soup, and calabashes. After this, those who had observed the fast did not go home, but passed five days and five nights in the temple, praying, burning copal, and executing sacred dances. During this time the actors went from one house to another, representing their plays and receiving gifts from those whom they entertained. At the end of the five days they carried all their earnings to the temple and distributed them among the watchers there. Afterwards all returned to the prince's palace, taking with them the banners and the idols. Thence each betook himself to his home. They said, and confidently believed, that Cukulcan descended from heaven on the last day of the feast and received personally the gifts which were presented to him. This festival was called chic kaban.

During the month of Yaxkin it was the custom to prepare for a general festival, called olohzabkamyax, held in the month of Mol, in honor of all the gods. At this feast, after the usual preliminary rites, they smeared with blue coloring matter the instruments used in every profession, from the sacred implements of the priests to the distaffs of the women, and even the doors of their houses. Children of both sexes were daubed in the same manner, but instead of coloring their hands they gave them each nine gentle raps on the knuckles. The little girls were brought to the feast by an old woman, who for that reason was called ixmol, conductress. The blows were given to the children in order that they might become skilled workmen in the profession of their fathers or mothers. The usual conclusion ensued.

During the month of Mol the apiarists had another festival similar to that of the month of Tzec, in order to induce their patron gods to cause the flowers to grow, from which the bees gathered honey.

[Sidenote: FESTIVAL TO INSURE A CROP.]

The Mayas depended so much upon the produce of the soil for their sustenance that a failure of the crops was one of the heaviest misfortunes that could fall upon them. To avoid this they made four idols, named Chichac Chob, Ek Balam Chac, Ahcan Uolcab, and Ahbuluc Balam.[1026] Having placed them in the temple, and, according to custom, burned incense before them, they presented them with two pellets of a kind of resin called kik, some iguanas, some bread, a mitre, a bouquet of flowers, and a stone upon which they set great value. Besides this, they erected a great wooden arch in the court, which they filled with wood, taking care to leave openings through which to pass backwards and forwards. The greater part of the men then took each a long stick of dry wood, and while a musician mounted on the top of the pile sang and beat a drum, all danced reverently and in good order, as they did so passing in and out the wood-pile. This they kept up until evening, when, leaving their sticks behind them, they went home to eat and rest. During the night they returned, and each taking his faggot, lit it and applied it to the pile, which burned fiercely and rapidly.[1027] As soon as the heap was reduced to red-hot ashes, those who had danced gathered about it, and passed barefooted over the coals, some without injury, and some with; this they believed would avert misfortune and appease the anger of the gods.[1028]

It was customary in all the towns of Yucatan to erect at the limits of each of the four quarters, east, west, north, and south, two heaps of stones, facing each other, and intended to be used during the celebration of two solemn festivals, which were as follows. In the year of which the dominical letter was kan, the sign was hobnil, and, according to the Yucatecs, these both ruled in the south. They made this year, of baked earth, an idol which they called Kanu Uayeyab, and having made it they carried it out to the heaps of stones which lay towards the south. They then selected a principal man of the place, and in his house they celebrated the feast. For this purpose they made another image, of the god Bolon Zacab,[1029] and placed it in the chosen house, in a prominent place, so that all who arrived might see it. This done, the nobles, priests, and people came together, and set out by a road swept clean, ornamented with arches, and strewed with foliage, to the southern heaps of stones, where they gathered about the idol Kanu Uayeyab. The priest then incensed the god with forty-nine grains of maize, ground up and mixed with copal; the nobles next placed incense in the brazier, and burned it before the idol. The incense burned by the priest was called zacah, that used by the nobles, chahalté. When these rites were completed the head of a fowl was cut off and offered to the idol, which was now placed on a litter called kanté,[1030] and upon its shoulders were placed other little images, as signs of abundance of water and a good year, and these images were frightful to behold. Amid dances and general rejoicing the idol was carried towards the house where the statue of Bolon Zacab had been placed, and while the procession was on the road, the nobles and priests partook of a beverage made from four hundred and fifteen grains of roasted maize, which they called picula kakla. Arrived at their destination, they placed the image that they carried opposite the idol which they found there, and made many offerings of food and drink, which were afterwards divided among the strangers who were present, the officiating priest receiving only the leg of a deer. Some of the devotees drew blood from their bodies, scarified their ears, and anointed with the blood a stone idol named Kanal Acantun. They modeled a heart of dough of maize and of calabash-seeds, and offered it to the idol Kanu Uayeyab. And in this manner they honored both the idols during the entire time of the feast, burning before them incense of copal and ground maize, for they held it certain that misfortune would overwhelm them if they neglected these rites. Finally, the statue of Bolon Zacab was carried to the temple, and the other image to the western entrance of the town, where it remained until the next celebration of the feast.

[Sidenote: MAYA FESTIVALS.]

The ceremonies of the new year, under the sign of muluc, were very similar to those just described, though held in honor of other deities. A dance performed upon a high scaffolding, attended with sacrifices of turkeys; another executed by the old people, holding little baked-clay images of dogs in their hands; and the sacrifice of a peculiarly marked dog, were, however, additional features. The same may be said of the new year under the sign of yx, and of the new year under the sign of cauac, when the rites which were performed were sufficiently like those which have gone before to need no further description.[1031]

The gods of the Yucatecs required far fewer human lives at the hands of their worshipers than those of the Nahuas. The pages of Yucatec history are not marred by the constant blood-blots that obscure the Nahua record. An event which in Mexico would be the death-signal to a hecatomb of human victims, would in Yucatan be celebrated by the death of a spotted dog. The office of sacrificer which in Mexico was one of the highest honors to which a priest could attain, was in Yucatan regarded as unclean and degrading.[1032] Nevertheless, the Yucatec religion was not free from human sacrifice, and although captives taken in war were used for this purpose, yet it is said that such was their devotion, that should a victim be wanting they would dedicate their children to the altar rather than let the gods be deprived of their due.[1033] But it seldom happened that more than one victim was sacrificed at a time, at least in earlier days, and even then he was not butchered as by the Nahuas, but was shot through the heart with arrows before being laid upon the sacrificial stone.[1034]

[Sidenote: SACRIFICES AT CHICHEN ITZA.]

At Chichen Itza human sacrifices were made in a peculiar manner. In the centre of the city was an immense pit, containing water, and surrounded on all sides by a dense grove, which served to render the spot silent and solitary, in spite of its position. A circular staircase, rudely cut in the rock, descended to the edge of the water from the foot of an altar which stood upon the very brink of the pit.[1035] At first, only animals and incense were offered here, as the teachings of Cukulcan forbade the sacrifice of human victims, but after the departure of the great Maya apostle the Yucatecs returned to the evil of their ways,[1036] and the pit of Chichen was once more polluted with human bodies. At first one victim sufficed, but the number gradually increased, until, during the later years of Maya independence, hundreds were immolated at a time. If some calamity threatened the country, if the crops failed or the requisite supply of rain was wanting, the people hastened to the pit of horror, to offer prayers and to appease the wrath of the gods with gifts of human life. On the day of sacrifice, the victims, who were generally young virgins, were taken to the temple, clothed in the garments appropriate to the occasion, and conducted thence to the sacred pit, accompanied by a multitude of priests and priestesses of all ranks. There, while the incense burned on the altar and in the braziers, the officiating priest explained to them the things for which they were to implore the gods into whose presence they were about to be introduced. A long cord was then fastened round the body of each victim, and the moment the smoke ceased to rise from the altar, all were hurled into the gulf. The crowd, which had gathered from every part of the country to see the sacrifice, immediately drew back from the brink of the pit and continued to pray without cessation for some time. The bodies were then drawn up and buried in the neighboring grove.[1037]

The Pipiles had two idols, one in the figure of a man, called Quetzalcoatl, the other in the shape of a woman, called Itzqueye. Certain days of their calendar were specially set apart for each of the deities, and on these the sacrifices were made. Two very solemn sacrifices were held in each year, one at the commencement of summer, the other at the beginning of winter. At these, Herrera says, only the lords were present.[1038] The sacrifice was made in the interior of the temple, and the victims were boys between the ages of six and twelve years, bastards, born among themselves. For a day and a night previous to the sacrifice, drums and trumpets were sounded and on the day following the people assembled. Four priests then came out from the temple, each bearing a small brazier with burning incense; together they turned in the direction of the sun, and kneeling down offered up incense and prayers; they then did the same toward the four cardinal points.[1039] Their prayers finished, they retired within four small chapels built at the four corners of the temple, and there rested. They next went to the house of the high-priest, and took thence the boy who was to be sacrificed and conducted him four times round the court of the temple, dancing and singing. When this ceremony was finished, the high-priest came out of his house, with the diviner and guardian of the sanctuary, and ascended the steps of the temple, with the cacique and principal men, who, however, remained at the door of the sanctuary. The four priests now seized the boy by the arms and legs, and the guardian of the temple coming out with little bells on his wrists and ankles, opened the left breast of the victim, tore out the heart, and handed it to the high-priest, who placed it in a small embroidered purse which he carried. The four priests received the blood of the victim in four jicaras, or bowls, made from the shell of a certain fruit, and descending one after the other to the courtyard, sprinkled the blood with their right hands in the direction of the cardinal points. If any blood remained over they returned it to the high-priest, who placed it with the purse containing the heart in the body of the victim through the wound that had been made, and the body was interred in the temple. This was the ceremony of sacrifice at the beginning of each of the two seasons.

[Sidenote: PIPILE FEAST OF VICTORY.]

When information was received from their war chief that he had gained a victory, the diviner ascertained to which of the gods sacrifice was to be made. If to Quetzalcoatl, the ceremony lasted fifteen days; if to Itzqueye, five days; and upon each day they sacrificed a prisoner. These sacrifices were made as follows: All those who had been in the battle returned home in procession, singing and dancing, bringing with them the captives who were to be sacrificed, their wrists and ankles decorated with feathers and chalchiuites, and their necks with strings of cacao-nibs. The high-priests and other ministers went out at the head of the populace to meet them with music and dancing, and the caciques and captains delivered over those who were to be sacrificed to the high-priest. Then they all went together to the courtyard of their teupa, or temple, where they continued dancing day and night during the time the sacrifices lasted. In the middle of the court was a stone bench on which the victim was stretched, four priests holding him by the feet and hands. The sacrificing priest then came forward, adorned with many feathers and loaded with little bells, holding in his hand a flint knife, with which he opened the breast of the victim, tore out the heart, brandished it toward the cardinal points, and finally threw it into the air with sufficient force to cause it to fall directly in the middle of the court, saying: "Receive, Oh God, this thank-offering for the victory."[1040] This sacrifice was public and beheld by all the people. The men drew blood from their private parts, and the women from their ears, tongue, and other parts of the body; as the blood flowed it was taken up with cotton and offered by the men to Quetzalcoatl, by the women to Itzqueye.

When the Pipiles were about to undertake any hunting or fishing expedition, they first made an offering to their gods. For this purpose they took a living deer,[1041] and leading it to the temple yard, they there strangled and afterwards flayed it, saving the blood in a vessel. The liver, lungs, and stomach were chopped in small pieces, which were afterwards laid aside with the heart, head, and feet. The remainder of the deer was cooked by itself, and the blood likewise, and while this was being done the people danced. The high-priest with his assistant next took the head by the ears, and each of the four priests one of the feet, while the guardian of the sanctuary put the heart into a brazier and burnt it with copal and ulli to the god who was the protector of hunting. After the dance, the head and feet were scorched in the fire before the idol and given to the high-priest to be eaten. The flesh and blood were eaten by the other ministers of the temple before the idol, and the same was done with other animals sacrificed. The entrails of fish were burned before the idol.[1042]

[Sidenote: SACRIFICES IN NICARAGUA.]

Among the civilized nations of Nicaragua, it would appear there were eighteen distinct festivals, corresponding with the eighteen months in their calendar.[1043] These were proclaimed by the priest, holding the instrument of sacrifice in his hand, from the steps leading to the sacrificial altar in the court of the temple. He made known who and how many were to be sacrificed, and whether they were to be prisoners taken in battle or individuals reared among themselves for the purpose.[1044] When the victim was stretched upon the stone, the officiating priest walked three times round him, singing in a doleful tone; he then opened the victim's breast, plucked out his heart, and daubed his face with the blood. He next dismembered the body and gave the heart to the high-priest, the feet and hands to the king, the thighs to him who had captured him, the entrails to the trumpeters, and the remainder to the people, that all might eat.[1045] The heads of those sacrificed were set as trophies on trees appointed for the purpose.[1046] If the person sacrificed had been bought, they buried the entrails, hands, and feet, in a gourd, and burned the heart and all the rest.[1047] As it was lawful for a father to sell his own children, and each person himself, they therefore did not eat the flesh of such sacrifices because they were their own countrymen and relations. When they ate the flesh of foreigners sacrificed, they held exciting dances, and passed the days in drunken revels and smoking, but had no sexual intercourse with their wives while the festival lasted.[1048] At certain feasts they offered blood drawn from their own bodies, with which they rubbed the beard and lips of the idol.

The priests wore white cotton cloaks, some short and small, others hung from the shoulders to the heels, with bands having bags attached, in which they carried sharp stone knives, papers, ground charcoal, and certain herbs. The lay brothers bore in their hands little flags with the idol they held most in veneration painted thereon, and small purses containing powder and awls; the youths had bows and arrows, darts and shields. The idol, in form and appearance very frightful, was set upon a spear and carried by the eldest priest. The ascetics marched in file, singing, to the place of worship. They spread mantles and strewed roses and flowers, that the standards might not touch the ground. The procession halted; the singing ceased; they fell to prayer. The prelate clapped his hand; some drew blood from the tongue, others from the ears, from the privy member, or from whatever part their devotion led them. They took the blood on paper or on their fingers and smeared the idol's face. In the meantime the youths danced, leaped about, and shook their weapons. Those who had gashed themselves, cured their wounds by an application of powdered charcoal and herbs that they carried for the purpose. In these observances they sprinkled maize with the blood from their privy parts, and it was distributed and eaten as blessed bread.[1049]

[Sidenote: BANQUETS OF THE PEOPLE.]

Like the Mexicans the Mayas had a great predilection for entertaining each other at banquets, and it is related of them that they often spent on one such occasion a sum that it had taken them many months to earn. Seasons of betrothal and marriage were always enlivened by sumptuous feasts. Whenever any contract had to be arranged, a feast was given and the act of eating and drinking together in public and before witnesses sufficed to make such contract valid.[1050] The lords and principal men gave feasts to each other, and as it was incumbent upon all the guests to return the compliment, there must have been a continual round of feasting. Cogolludo states that meat was eaten at banquets only, and this may in some measure account for the frequency with which they occurred, and the etiquette that required the invitation to be returned.

They observed a certain formality at their entertainments, seating themselves either in twos or fours. Each of the guests received a roasted fowl, some bread, and an abundance of cacao. When the meal was finished, presents were distributed to the guests, each being presented with a mantle, a small stool, and a handsome cup. Beautiful women acted as cup-bearers, and when one of these presented a cup of wine to a guest, she turned her back to him while he drank. The feast lasted until all were intoxicated, and then the wives led their drunken husbands home. When a marriage banquet, or one in commemoration of the deeds of their ancestors, was given, no return invitation was expected.[1051] Their entertainments were usually enlivened by a company of dancers and musicians, who performed dramatic representations under the leadership of one who was called holpop, or master of the ceremonies; he gave instructions to the actors, directed the singers and musicians, and from him all had to take their cue. The actors were called balzam, a name corresponding to jester or mimic. As women were not permitted to take part in the mummeries, their places were supplied by men. Their movements during the play were grave and monotonous, yet they were clever in mimicry and caricature, which they frequently made use of as a means of reproving their chief men.[1052] The plays were generally of a historical character, having for their subject the great deeds of their ancestors; their songs consisted of ballads founded upon local traditions and legendary tales.[1053]

[Sidenote: MUSIC AND DANCES.]

A favorite dance of the Mayas was one called colomche; a large number of men took part in it, sometimes as many as eight hundred. These formed a ring, and were accompanied during their movements by a number of musicians. When the dancing began, two of the actors, still keeping step with the rest, came out from the ring, one holding in his hand a bunch of wands and dancing upright, while the other cowered down, still dancing. Then he who had the wands threw them with all his force at his companion, who with great dexterity parried them with a short stick. When the two had finished, they returned to their former position in the circle, and two others took their place and went through the same performance, the rest following in their turn. They had also war dances, in which large numbers joined, the performers holding small flags in their hands.[1054]

They had a variety of musical instruments, prominent among which was the tunkul, which was almost the same thing as the teponaztli of the Mexicans.[1055] They had other drums made of a hollow trunk and covered at one end with deer-skin, tortoise shells that they struck with deer's horns, trumpets,--some of marine shells and others of hollow canes with a calabash at the end,--whistles and flutes made from bone and cane, besides various kinds of rattles.[1056] Landa says that in every village there was a large house or rather shed, for it was open on all sides, in which the young men met for amusement.[1057] Oviedo, who witnessed some dances and games among the Nicaraguans, thus describes one he saw at Tecoatega after the harvesting of the cacao. As many as sixty persons, all men, though a number of them represented women, took part in a dance. They were painted of various colors and patterns, and wore upon their heads beautiful tufts of feathers, and about their persons divers ornaments, while some wore masks like birds' heads. They performed the dance going in couples and keeping at a distance of three or four steps between pair and pair. In the centre of a square was a high pole of more than sixty feet in height driven firmly into the ground; on the top was seated a gaudily painted idol which they called the god of the cacaguat, or cacao; round the top were fixed four other poles in the form of a square, and rolled upon it was a thick grass rope at the ends of which were bound two boys of seven or eight years of age. One of them had in one hand a bow and in the other a bunch of arrows; the other boy carried a beautiful feather fan and a mirror. At a certain step of the dance the boys came out from the square and the rope began to unroll; they went round and round in the air, always going further out and counterbalancing one another, the rope still unrolling. While they were descending, the sixty men proceeded with their dance to the sound of singers beating drums and tabors. The boys passed through the air with much velocity, moving their arms and legs to present the appearance of flying. When they reached the ground the dancers and singers gave some loud cheers and the festival was concluded.[1058] Another favorite amusement was a performance on a swinging bar. For this two tall forked posts were firmly planted in the ground; across them and resting in the forks a pole was strongly bound. This pole passed at right angles through a hole in the centre of a thick bar, made to revolve upon it and of very light wood; near the end of the bar were cross sticks for the performers to take hold of. A man placed himself at each end, and when the bar was set in motion they went tumbling round and round, to the delight of the spectators.[1059]

FOOTNOTES:

[1013] 'Los universales sacrificios se ofrecian ordinariamente cuando venian las fiestas, las cuales habia en unas provincias cinco, y en otras seis, ó se ofrecian por necesidad particular, por uno de estos dos respectos.' Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 177; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. clxxix.

[1014] 'Aquel dia era libertado para hacer grandes banquetes y borracheras, y así se mataban infinitas aves, mucha caza y vinos muy diferentes, hacian muchas danzas y bailes en presencia de los ídolos. Duraban aquestas fiestas, tres, cinco y siete dias, segun lo que ordenaban los ministros, y lo decian cuando habian de comenzar. En estos dias, en cada tarde andaban en procesion con grandes cantos y músicas, llevando al ídolo por las calles y plazas, y donde habia lugar preeminente, hacian altares y ponian mesas, y allí paraban, y como nosotros representamos farsas, así ellos jugaban á la pelota delante de sus dioses.' Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 187; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. clxxvii.

[1015] The manner in which this was done will be described elsewhere in this chapter.

[1016] 'Ce qui, d'accord avec divers autres indices, annoncerait bien que l'effusion du sang, et surtout du sang humain, dans les sacrifices, était d'origine étrangère, nahuatl probablement.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, p. 247.

[1017] Meaning 'quenching of fire.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, p. 254. Yzamna is otherwise called Zamná.

[1018] This word chacs, which before was interpreted as the 'gods of the cornfields,' probably here means the priests of those deities. In a former chapter we have seen the word applied to those who assisted at the rite of baptism.

[1019] 'Ekchuah, écrit ailleurs Echuah, était le patron des marchands et naturellement des cacaos, marchandise et monnaie à la fois.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, p. 261.

[1020] 'Officiales;' this may mean officiating priests, or overseers on the plantations, or almost anything else.

[1021] 'Cit paraît être une sorte de cochon sauvage; chac est le nom générique des dieux de la pluie, des campagnes, des fruits de la terre, etc. Coh est le puma ou lion américain; suivant d'autres, chac-coh est le léopard.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, p. 265.

[1022] 'Cinchau-Yzamná est une orthographe erroné, si l'on en juge après les leçons précédentes; c'est probablement une mauvaise abréviation de Kinich-Ahau-Ytzamná, donné, d'ailleurs, comme l'inventeur des lettres et de l'écriture, l'auteur de tous les noms imposés au Yucatan.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, pp. 284-5.

[1023] 'C'étaient là sans doute les dieux de la pêche, à propos desquels Cogolludo dit les paroles suivantes: "On dit aussi que bien après la conquête, les Indiens de la province de Titz imin, quand ils allaient pêcher le long de la côte de Choáca, avant de se mettre à la pêche, commençaient par des sacrifices et des oblations à leurs faux dieux, leur offrant des chandelles, des réaux d'argent et des cuzcas, qui sont leurs émeraudes, et d'autres pierres précieuses, en certain endroits, au ku et oratoires qui se voient encore dans les bras de mer (estuaires) et les lagunes salées qu'il y a sur cette côte vers le Rio de Lagartos."' (Hist. Yuc., tom. iv., cap. iv.); Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, pp. 292-3.

[1024] 'Cuculcan, écrit quelquefois Kukulcan, vient de kuk, oiseau qui paraît être le même que le quetzal; son déterminatif est kukul qui uni à can, serpent, fait exactement le même mot que Quetzal Cohuatl, serpent aux plumes vertes, ou de Quetzal.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, p. 35.

[1025] 'La province de Mani avait été colonisée par les Tutul-Xius, dont l'origine était toltèque ou nahuatl; les fêtes de Kukulcan se bornant à cette province après la destruction de Mayapan, ne laissent point de doute sur l'origine de ce personnage, et donnent lieu de penser que le reste du Yucatan, tout en vénérant jusqu'à un certain point ce mythe ou ce prophète, avait gardé au fond la religion qui avait précédé celle des Toltèques. Ce serait un point d'histoire d'une grande importance au point de vue philosophique. Nous trouverons plus loin d'autres indices du culte primitif des Mayas.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, pp. 300-1.

[1026] 'Ek-balam-chac signifie tigre noir dieu des champs: ce sont du reste des noms donnés au tigre encore aujourd'hui. Ahcan est le serpent mâle en général. Ahbuluc-Balam signifie Celui des onze tigres.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, pp. 230-1.

[1027] 'Ne croirait-on pas lire la description de cette fête des Scythes, rapportée par Hérodote, et que M. Viollet-Leduc a insérée dans ses Antiquités mexicaines, formant l'introduction de l'ouvrage de M. Désiré Charnay: Cités et Ruines américaines, page 16.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, pp. 232-3.

[1028] Landa, Relacion, pp. 230-2.

[1029] 'Bolon est l'adjectif numéral neuf, zacab, dont la racine est zac, blanc, est le nom d'une sorte de maïs moulu, dont on fait une espèce d'orgeat. Cette statue était-elle une image allégorique de cet orgeat offert en cette occasion?' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, pp. 212-13.

[1030] 'Kanté, bois jaune; c'est probablement le cèdre.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Relacion, p. 213.

[1031] Landa, Relacion, pp. 210-32.

[1032] 'La charge de Nacon était double; l'un était perpétuel et peu honorable, parce que c'était lui qui ouvrait la poitrine aux victimes humaines qu'on sacrifiait.' Landa, Relacion, p. 161. 'El oficio de abrir el pecho a los sacrificados, que en Mexico era estimado, aqui era poco honroso.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.

[1033] Ib.

[1034] Landa, Relacion, p. 166; Herrera, ubi sup.

[1035] The present appearance of the pit is thus described by Stephens: 'Setting out from the Castillo, at some distance we ascended a wooded elevation, which seemed an artificial causeway leading to the senote. The senote was the largest and wildest we had seen; in the midst of a thick forest, an immense circular hole, with cragged, perpendicular sides, trees growing out of them and overhanging the brink, and still as if the genius of silence reigned within. A hawk was sailing around it, looking down into the water, but without once flapping its wings. The water was of a greenish hue. A mysterious influence seemed to pervade it, in unison with the historical account that the well of Chichen was a place of pilgrimage, and that human victims were thrown into it in sacrifice. In one place, on the very brink, were the remains of a stone structure, probably connected with ancient superstitious rites; perhaps the place from which the victims were thrown into the dark well beneath.' Yucatan, vol. ii., p. 324.

[1036] We have seen that even the memory of Cukulcan was neglected in all the provinces of Yucatan but one.

[1037] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. i.; Medel, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 43; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 44-5.

[1038] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x.

[1039] 'Ivanse derechos todos quatro juntos á do sale el sol, i se hincavan de rodillas ante el, i le zaumavan diciendo palabras é invocaciones, i esto fecho se dividian hacia quatro partes, lest, oest, norte, sur, i predicavan sus rictos i ceremonias.' Palacio, Carta, p. 68.

[1040] 'Yua el sacristan y sacauale con la nauaja el coraçon, y arrojauale al dios, o a la diosa, y dezia, Toma el fruto desta vitoria.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x.

[1041] Brasseur de Bourbourg says: 'cerf blanc.' Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 557.

[1042] 'Le sacrifice du cerf blanc, d'abord un des plus augustes, devint, plus tard, l'offrande commune et exclusive des chasseurs qui désiraient se rendre favorables les dieux protecteurs de la chasse et des forêts.' Id., p. 557; Palacio, Carta, pp. 74-6.

[1043] 'Echauan las fiestas que eran diez y ocho, como los meses subidos en el gradario, o sacrificadero que tenian los patios de los templos.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii. In the evidence taken by Fray Françisco de Bobadilla the number of festivals is given as twenty-one and eleven; I must therefore leave the reader to decide for himself which is correct. 'Y.--En un año tenemos veynte é un dias de fiestas (é no juntos estos dias).... F.--En el tiempo de aquellas onçe fiestas, que deçis que teneys cada año.' Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 47, 52.

[1044] 'For there are two kindes of humane sacrifices with them: the one, of enemies taken in the warres, the other of such as are brought vp and maintained at home.' Peter Martyr, dec. vi., lib. vi.

[1045] 'And whosoeuer should haue no parte nor portion of the sacrificed enemie, would thinke he shoulde bee ill accepted that yeere.' Ib.

[1046] 'Euery King nourisheth his appointed trees in a fielde neere vnto him, obseruing the names of euery hostile country, where they hange the heads of their sacrificed enemies taken in the warres.' Ib.

[1047] Herrera gives a similar account of the disposal of the body, but adds: 'Saluo que ponian la cabeça en los arboles.' Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii. I think it improbable that the heads were treated in the same manner as those of their enemies. Peter Martyr says nothing distinctly of the disposal of the head, but, speaking of the sacrifice, says 'they reuerence all parts thereof, and partly bury them beefore the dores of their temples, as the feete, handes, and bowels, which they cast together into a gourde, the rest (together with the hartes, making a great fire within the view of those hostile trees, with shril hyms, and applauses of the Priestes) they burne among the ashes of the former sacrifices, neuer thence remooued, lying in that fielde.' Dec. vi., tom. vi.

[1048] 'En aquellas fiestas no trabaxamos ni entendemos en más de emborracharnos; pero no dormimos con nuestras mugeres, é aquellos dias, por quitar la ocasion, duermen ellas dentro en casa é nosotros fuera della: é al que en tales dias se echa con su muger, nuestros dioses les dan dolençia luego, de que mueren; é por esso ninguno lo osa haçer, porque aquellos dias son dedicados á nuestros dioses.' Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 52.

[1049] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii.; Peter Martyr, dec. vi., lib. vi., vii.; Squier, in Palacio, Carta, p. 116.

[1050] 'En las ventas, y contratos, no auia escritos que obligassen, ni cartas de papago, que satisfaciessen, pero quedaba el contrato valido con que bebiessen publicamente delante de testigos.' Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 180-1.

[1051] Landa, Relacion, pp. 122-4.

[1052] 'Son graciosos en los motes, y chistes, que dizen à sus mayores, y Iuezes: si son rigurosos, ambiciosos, auarientos, representando los sucessos que con ellos les passan, y aun lo que vèn à su Ministro Doctrinero, lo dizen delante dèl, y à vezes con vna sola palabra.' Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 187.

[1053] See Carrillo, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom. iii., pp. 259, 261; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 65-7; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.; Ternaux-Compans, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 47.

[1054] Landa, Relacion, pp. 126, 128.

[1055] 'El timbal yucateco (tankul ó tunkul,) es el instrumento mas notable de la música yucateca, y en general de la música americana, que acompañaban las danzas ó bailes sagrados, y el nombre maya de ese notable instrumento, nos revela hasta hoy el carácter sagrado de aquellas fiestas, pues el nombre de tunkul ó tankul, significa ligeramente la hora de la adoracion.' Carrillo, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom. iii., p. 259. I have one of these instruments in my possession.

[1056] Landa, Relacion, pp. 124, 126; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 77, 186; Carrillo, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom. iii., p. 260; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 64-5.

[1057] Landa, Relacion, p. 178.

[1058] This is very similar to the Nahua game, described on page 295, et seq., of this volume.

[1059] Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 93-4, 111-12, pl. v., fig. i., ii.

XXIII. FOOD, DRESS, COMMERCE, AND WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MAYAS

INTRODUCTION OF AGRICULTURE--QUICHÉ TRADITION OF THE DISCOVERY OF MAIZE--MAIZE CULTURE--SUPERSTITIONS OF FARMERS--HUNTING AND FISHING--DOMESTIC ANIMALS, FOWL, AND BEES--PRESERVATION AND COOKING OF FOOD--MEALS--DRINKS AND DRINKING-HABITS--CANNIBALISM--DRESS OF THE MAYAS--MAXTLIS, MANTLES, AND SANDALS--DRESS OF KINGS AND PRIESTS--WOMEN'S DRESS--HAIR AND BEARD--PERSONAL DECORATION--HEAD-FLATTENING, PERFORATION, TATTOOING, AND PAINTING--PERSONAL HABITS--COMMERCE--CURRENCY--MARKETS--SUPERSTITIONS OF TRAVELERS--CANOES AND BALSAS--WAR--MILITARY LEADERS--INSIGNIA--ARMOR--WEAPONS--FORTIFICATIONS--BATTLES-- TREATMENT OF CAPTIVES.

The tierra caliente and the low forest-clad foothills of the Usumacinta region on the confines of Yucatan, Guatemala, Chiapas, and Tabasco, present claims as strong at least as those of any other locality to be considered the birth-place of American civilization. Here apparently Votan and Gucumatz, demi-gods or civilizers, won their first triumphs over the powers of barbarism. In the most remote times to which we are carried by vague tradition and mythic fable, gods with strangely human attributes, or men of wonderful supernatural powers, newly arrived in this land, took counsel one with another how they might subject to their power and reclaim from barbarism the native bands of savages, or 'animals,' who roamed naked through the forests, and subsisted on roots and wild fruits. The discussion of the tradition with reference to its historic signification, is foreign to my present purpose, but as the story includes the traditional origin of agriculture and the discovery of maize under the form of a new creation, it is an appropriate introduction to the present chapter on the food, dress, and commerce of the Maya nations. The story runs as follows in the aboriginal Quiché annals:[1060]

Behold how they began to think of man, and to seek what must enter into the flesh of man. Then spake he who begets, and he who gives being, Tepeuh, Gucumatz, the creator and the former, and said: "Already the dawn is nigh; the work is finished; behold the support, the foster-father, is ennobled; the son of civilization, man, is honored, and humanity on the face of the earth." They came, and in great numbers they assembled; in the shadows of the night they joined their wise counsel. Then sought they and consulted in sadness, meditating; and thus the wisdom of these men was manifest; they found and were made to see what must enter into the flesh of man; and the dawn was near.

[Sidenote: DISCOVERY OF MAIZE.]

In Paxil, or Cayala ('land of divided and stagnant waters') as it is called, were the ears of yellow maize and of white. These are the names of the barbarians who went to seek food; the Fox, the Jackal, the Paroquet, and the Crow,--four barbarians who made known to them the ears of the white maize and of the yellow, who came to Paxil and guided them thither. There it was they obtained at last the food that was to enter into the flesh of man, of man created and formed; this it was that was his blood, that became the blood of man--this maize that entered into him by the provision of him who creates, of him who gives being.

And they rejoiced that they had at last arrived in this most excellent land, so full of good things, where the white and yellow maize did abound, also the cacao, where were sapotes and many fruits, and honey; all was overflowing with the best of food in this country of Paxil, or Cayala. There was food of every kind; there were large and small plants, to which the barbarians had guided them. Then they began to grind the yellow and white maize, and of them did Xmucané make nine drinks, which nourishment was the beginning of strength, giving unto man flesh and stature. Such were the deeds of the begetter and giver of being, Tepeuh, Gucumatz. Thereupon they began to speak of creating our first mother and our first father. Only yellow maize and white maize entered into their flesh, and these alone formed the legs and arms of man; and these were our first fathers, the four men who were formed, into whose flesh this food entered.

And from this time of its traditional discovery by Gucumatz, or Quetzalcoatl, down to the conquest by the Spaniards and even down to the present time, the yellow and white maize, in their several varieties, have been the chief reliance of the Maya as of the Nahua nations for daily food. Every year during the latter months of the dry season, from March to May, the farmer busied himself in preparing his milpa, or cornfield, which he did by simply cutting or uprooting the dense growth and burning it. The ashes thus produced were the only fertilizer ever employed, and even this was probably never needed in this land of tropical fertility. Just before the first rain fell, equipped with a sack of seed-maize on his shoulder and a sharpened stick in his hand, he made holes at regular intervals among the ashes, and in each deposited five or six grains, covering it with the same instrument, aided perhaps by the foot. In Yucatan the planters united in bands of twenty for mutual assistance, working together until the land of all the club was properly seeded. It was not customary to plant very large fields, but rather many in different localities, to guard against a possible partial failure of the crops from local causes. Hedges, ditches, and fences were constructed to enclose the milpas, so effective in the Lacandone country that the Spaniards' horses were unable to leap them. The corn was carefully kept free from weeds while growing, and watched by boys after it had begun to ripen. In Nicaragua, where, Oviedo tells us, more attention was paid to agriculture than in any other region visited by him, the boys took their station in trees scattered over the field, or sometimes on raised covered scaffolds of wood and reeds, called barbacoas, where they kept up a continual shouting to drive away the birds. Irrigation was practiced when the rains were backward, and if we may credit Oviedo, by thus artificially forcing the crop in Nicaragua, well-filled corn was plucked only forty days after planting the seed. Villagutierre states that the Itzas spent most of their time in worship, dancing, and getting drunk, trusting to uncultivated fruits and the fertility of their soil for a subsistence, and contenting themselves with very small milpas.

[Sidenote: CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL.]

After maize, cacao was perhaps the crop to which most attention was paid. It grew in hot and shady localities, and where there was no natural shade, trees were set out for the purpose. It was called cacaguat in Nicaragua, and was gathered from February to April. Several varieties, of a somewhat inferior quality, grew wild, and were much used by the natives. The cultivation of beans, pepper, cotton, and of numerous native fruits, was carried on extensively, but we have no details respecting the methods employed.[1061] In connection with the planting and growth of the various cultivated plants, the Mayas entertained some peculiar superstitions. Far from understanding the simplest laws of nature, they recognized only supernatural agencies in the growth or blighting of their crops. In Yucatan, Cogolludo states that no meat was eaten while cotton was growing, from fear that it would fail to mature. The Nicaraguans, according to Dávila, ate no salt or pepper, nor did they drink any intoxicating beverage, or sleep with their women during the time of planting. Oviedo also observed certain bundles of sticks placed at the corners of each field, as well as leaves, stones, and cotton rags, scattered over the surface by ugly and deformed old hags, for some unknown but doubtless superstitious purpose. Palacio tells us that the Pipiles before beginning to plant gathered in small bowls specimens of all the seeds, which, after performing certain rites with them before the idol, they buried in the ground, and burned copal and ulli over them. Blood was drawn freely from different parts of the body, with which to anoint the idol; and, as Ximenez states, the blood of slain fowls was sprinkled over the land to be sown. In the case of cacao the finest grains of seed were exposed to the moonlight during four nights; and whatever the seed to be planted, the tillers of the soil must sleep apart from their wives and concubines for several days, in order that on the night before planting they might indulge their passions to the fullest extent; certain persons are even said to have been appointed to perform the sexual act at the very moment when the first seeds were deposited in the ground. Before beginning the operation of weeding, they burned incense at the four corners of the field, and uttered fervent prayers to the idols. When the corn was ripe they plucked the finest ears and offered them to the gods, to the priests, and sometimes also to the poor. At harvest time the corn was heaped up in the field, and was not moved until the grain itself gave the signal that it was ready; the signal was, as Brasseur states it, the springing up of a fresh blade, or, according to Ximenez, the falling of an ear from the heap.[1062]

The home of the Mayas in nearly every part abounded in many varieties of game, and the authors report the natives to have been expert hunters and fishermen, but respecting the particular methods employed in capturing food from forest, ocean, and river, little information has been preserved. The people of Yucatan used the bow and arrow; were especially skillful at throwing a kind of arrow or dart by means of a piece of wood three fingers thick, pierced with a hole at one third its length; and, according to Cogolludo, they bred hunting dogs which were trained to follow and seize deer, tigers, and boars, as well as badgers, rabbits, armadillos, and iguanas. The latter animal was, as it still is, a favorite food. Tradition relates that the Tutul Xius when they first came to Yucatan used no weapons, but were famous for their skill in taking game by means of snares, traps, and similar devices. In Guatemala, a blow-pipe and earthen bullets were sometimes used to shoot birds. A portion of all game taken had to be given to the rulers of town and province, and also a large portion--half, Las Casas tells us, in Guatemala--must be offered to the god of hunting, or, in other words, furnished for the priests' tables. Fish and turtles were the chief articles of food in some coast regions, and the Nicaraguans are described by Oviedo as expert fishermen, who took fish from ocean and river by means of rods, lines, and flies, also in cotton nets, and by pens and embankments in the tide waters. They are said to have had a plant, the baygua, a decoction of which being put in the water brought the fish senseless to the surface. The Itzas and probably others used the harpoon. Young alligators just hatched were esteemed as delicacies in Vera Paz, and large fleets of canoes were sent at the proper season to take them. The tapir was also a favorite article of food. Toads and other reptiles seem to have been eaten when other supplies were not at hand.[1063]

[Sidenote: USE OF MEAT AS FOOD.]

As an article of daily food, meat was comparatively little used; Cogolludo even goes so far as to say it was never eaten in Yucatan except at feasts. Besides the game-supply, dogs of a certain species were raised for food. They were of small size, without hair, could not bark, and when castrated became immensely fat. They were called xulos in Nicaragua, and tzomes in Yucatan, but were probably the same as the techichis already mentioned in Mexico. Turkeys, ducks, geese, and other fowl were domesticated; and pigs, rabbits, and hares are mentioned as having been bred. Multitudes of bees were kept for their honey and wax, and hives are spoken of by Las Casas without description. Gomara says the bees were small and the honey somewhat bitter. The only methods of making salt that I find particularly mentioned were to bake tide-washed earth, boiling down the brine made of the product, and also to boil the lye produced by leeching the ashes of a palm called xacxam. The former method was practiced in Guatemala, at great cost of labor and wealth, as Herrera says; the second is referred to Yucatan. Many roots were of course utilized for food, and a peculiar herb, called yaat, was mixed with lime and carried constantly in the mouth by the Nicaraguans on the march or journey, as a preventive of fatigue and thirst.[1064]

Respecting the preservation and cooking of food, as well as the habits of the people in taking their daily meals, there are no differences to be recorded from what has been said of the Nahuas. The inevitable tortillas and tamales were the standard dish, made in the same way as at the north; meat was dried, salted, roasted, and stewed, with pepper for the favorite seasoning. Fruits were perhaps a more prominent article of food, and were eaten for the most part raw.[1065] Cogolludo informs us that the Yucatecs eat regularly once a day, just before sunset; and we are also told that they took great pains to keep their bright-colored table-cloths and napkins in a state of perfect cleanliness. In Nicaragua, they were accustomed to wash the hands and mouth after eating; and the chiefs, who sat in a circle on wooden benches and were served by the women, also washed at the commencement of the meal. The men and women eat always separately, the latter taking their food from the ground, or sometimes from a palm-leaf basket-work platter. Very little food sufficed for the Mayas and they could bear hunger for a long time, but like all the aboriginal inhabitants of America they eat plentifully when well supplied, taking no heed for a time in the future when food might be lacking.[1066]

[Sidenote: DRINKS PREPARED FROM MAIZE.]

We have seen that in the beginning, according to the tradition, Xmucané invented nine drinks, which were prepared from maize. The exact composition of these famous beverages of antiquity is not given; but Landa speaks of at least six, in the preparation of which maize was used, at least as an ingredient. To make the first, the corn was half-boiled in lime-water, coarsely ground, and preserved in small balls, which were simply mixed with water for use; this beverage was much used on journeys, and was often the only provision, serving for food as well. The second was made of the same hulled corn ground fine and mixed in water so as to form a gruel, which was heated and thickened over the fire, and was a favorite drink taken hot in the morning. The third was parched corn ground, mixed in water, and seasoned with pepper or cacao. The fourth was composed of ground maize and cacao, and was designed especially for public festivals. For the fifth a grease, much like butter, was extracted from cacao and mixed with maize. The sixth was prepared from raw maize ground. The fermented liquor, made of maize and cacao, which was drunk by the Itzas, was called zaca. Native wines were made of honey and water, of figs, and of a great variety of fruits; that made of the native fruit called jacote, and one of red cherries, were very popular in Nicaragua. Chicha was a fermented drink made of pine-apple juice, honey or sugar, and water. Pulque made from the maguey is mentioned, but this plant does not seem to have played so important a rôle in the south as in the north; at least there is very little said of it. A very strong and stinking wine is also mentioned as being prepared from a certain root. Herrera tells us that the maize-wines resembled beer, and Andagoya that their intoxicating properties were not very lasting. Benzoni complains that the native wines failed to comfort the spirit, warm the stomach, and sooth to sleep like those of Castile. Chocolate and other drinks prepared from cacao were universal favorites, and were prepared both from wild and cultivated varieties. Oviedo states that in Nicaragua none but the rich and noble could afford to drink it, as it was literally drinking money. He describes the manner of preparing the cacao, coco, or cacaguat. It was picked from the trees from February to April, dried in the sun, roasted, ground in water, mixed with a quantity of bixa until it was of a bright blood-color, and the dried paste was preserved in cakes. With this paste the natives delighted to bedaub their faces. To prepare the drink, they do not seem to have employed heat, at least in this part of the country, but simply dissolved the paste in water, and poured it from one dish into another to raise a froth.

The Mayas seem to have been a people greatly addicted to the vice of drunkenness, which was much less disgraceful and less severely punished by the laws than among the Nahuas. It was quite essential to the thorough enjoyment of a feast or wedding to become intoxicated; the wife even handed the tempting beverages to her husband, modestly averted her head while he drank, kindly guided him home when the festivities were over, and even became intoxicated herself occasionally, if Landa may be believed. The same authority represents the natives of Yucatan as very brutal and indecent when drunk, and Oviedo says that he who dropped down senseless from drink in a banquet was allowed to remain where he fell, and was regarded by his companions with feelings of envy.[1067]

[Sidenote: EATING HUMAN FLESH.]

The custom of eating the flesh of human victims who were sacrificed to the gods, was probably practiced more or less in all the Maya regions; but neither this cannibalism nor the sacrifices that gave rise to it were so extensively indulged in as by the Mexicans. Some authors, as Gomara, deny that human flesh was ever eaten in Yucatan, but others, as Herrera, Villagutierre, and Peter Martyr, contradict this, although admitting that cases of cannibalism were rare, and the victims confined to sacrificed enemies. Las Casas states that in Guatemala the hands and feet were given to the king and high-priest, the rest to other priests, and that none was left for the people. In Nicaragua the high-priest received the heart, the king the feet and hands, he who captured the victim took the thighs, the tripe was given to the trumpeters, and the rest was divided among the people. The head was not eaten. The edible portions were cut in small pieces, boiled in large pots, seasoned with salt and pepper, and eaten together with cakes of maize. At certain feasts also maize was sprinkled with blood from the genitals. According to Herrera some Spaniards were eaten in Yucatan, but Albornoz tells us that the natives of Honduras found the foreigners too tough and bitter to be eaten.[1068]

[Sidenote: DRESS OF THE MAYAS.]

By reason of the warmer climate in the southern lands, or of a difference in the popular taste, somewhat less attention seems to have been paid to dress and personal adornment by the Mayas than by the Nahuas, or rather the Maya dress was much more simple and more uniform among the different classes of society; and, so far as can be determined from the very scanty information extant, there was only a very slight variation in the dress of the different nations--much less, indeed, than would naturally be expected between the tribes of the low Yucatan plains and of the Guatemalan highlands. Very little of the information that has been preserved, however, relates to the people of Guatemala. Men wore almost universally the garment known in Mexico as the maxtli, a long strip of cotton cloth, wound several times round the loins and passing between the legs. This strip was often twisted so as to resemble a cord, and the higher the class or the greater the wealth of the wearer, the greater the length of the cord and the number of turns about the body. Among the Itzas and other tribes of Yucatan, instead of passing this garment between the legs, its ends were often allowed to hang, one in front and the other behind, being in such cases more or less embroidered or otherwise decorated.[1069] In more modern times the maxtli seems to have been, in some cases at least, replaced by cotton drawers, fastened with a string round the waist, and having the legs rolled up to the middle of the thigh.[1070] A large proportion of the Mayas, especially of the poorer classes, wore commonly no other garment than the one mentioned; but very few were without a piece of cotton cloth about four or five feet square, which was used as a covering at night and was often worn in the daytime, by tying two corners on the same side over the shoulders and allowing the cloth to hang down the back. The Spaniards uniformly apply the somewhat indefinite term 'mantle' to this garment. These mantles are still worn.[1071] The only other garment mentioned, and one not definitely stated to have been worn except in Yucatan, was a kind of loose sleeveless shirt reaching to the knees. These shirts as well as the mantles were worn both white and dyed in brilliant and variegated colors.[1072] I find no mention of other material than cotton used for clothing, except in the case of the Cakchiquels, who, according to Brasseur, wore both bark and maguey-fibre.[1073]

There is nothing to indicate that the dress of nobles, priests, or kings, differed essentially from that of the common people, except in fineness of material or richness and profusion of ornaments. It is probable, however, that the higher classes were always clad in the garments which have been described, while a majority of the plebeians wore only the maxtli, which was sometimes only a single strip of cloth passing once round the waist and between the legs. As rulers and priests are often spoken of as dressed in 'large white mantles' or 'flowing robes,' it is probable that the mantle worn by them was much larger, as well as of finer stuff, than that described. Landa speaks of a priest in Yucatan who wore an upper garment of colored feathers, with strips of cotton hanging from its border to the ground. Palacio tells us of priestly robes in Salvador of different colors, black, blue, green, red, and yellow. According to Remesal the priests of Guatemala were filthy, abominable, and ugly, in fact very hogs in dress. In Nicaragua, Herrera describes white cotton surplices, and other priestly vestments, some small, others hanging from the shoulders to the heels, with hanging pockets, in which were carried stone lancets, with various herbs and powders, indispensable in the practice of sacerdotal arts. Ximenez represents the Guatemalan king's dress as like that of the people, except that he had his ears and nose pierced, of which more anon.[1074]

[Sidenote: DRESS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.]

The women universally wore a skirt formed by winding a wide piece of cotton cloth round the body and fastening it at the waist. This garment reached from the waist to the knee, as worn by the plebeian women, but those of a higher class covered with it their legs as low as the ankles. In some parts of Nicaragua, especially on the islands, Herrera says that except this skirt, which was so scanty as hardly to merit a better name than breech-clout, the women were naked; but elsewhere they were always particular to cover their breasts from sight. This they accomplished in some cases by a piece of cloth round the neck, and fastened under the arms; but they also often wore a kind of chemise, or loose sack, with holes for the head and arms, and sometimes with short sleeves. The latter garment was always worn on feast-days by those who had it to wear. Andagoya mentions a sort of cape worn in Nicaragua, which had a hole for the head, and covered the breasts and half of the arms. Herrera speaks of a sack open at both ends, and tightened at the waist, worn in Nicaragua; and Landa mentions the same garment in Yucatan. The women, like the men, used a square mantle to sleep under, and carried it with them on journeys. Children were allowed to remain naked in Yucatan till they were four or five years old, and in Guatemala to the age of eight or nine years; but in Yucatan, Landa tells us, that a boy at the age of three years, had a white ornament tied in his hair, and a girl at the same age had a shell fastened by a string in such a manner as to cover certain parts of her person.[1075]

It is very difficult to form any definite idea of the Maya methods of dressing the hair, save that all allowed it to grow long, and most persons separated it into tresses, winding some of them about the head and allowing others to hang down the back. Landa informs us that the Yucatecs burned the hair on the crown, allowing it to remain short there, but permitted the rest to grow as long as it would, binding it round the head except a queue behind. In Nicaragua, the forehead was shaved, and sometimes the whole head except a tuft at the crown. The women everywhere and men generally took great pains with the hair; the former often mixed feathers with their raven locks, which were dressed differently according as the owners were married or single, and particular care was devoted to the coiffure of a bride. All the authorities agree that the priests in Yucatan wore the hair long, uncombed, and often saturated with sacrificial blood. Plumes of feathers seem to have been their usual head-dress. Palacio and Herrera mention a colored head-dress, mitre, or diadem with hanging plumes worn by a priest in Salvador. Over the hair a piece of cloth was usually worn by females, in which the Abbé Brasseur finds a resemblance to the Egyptian calantica. A tuft of hair hanging over the face of children often made them cross-eyed; indeed, mothers are said to have arranged it with a view to this very effect, deemed by them a desirable thing, or to have attached to the forehead a small hanging plaster for the same purpose. The number of 'bizcos' treated by Dr Cabot, who accompanied Mr Stephens in his excursion through Yucatan, shows that though squinting eyes are still common in the country, the defect has at least lost its charm to the Maya mothers.[1076]

No beard was worn, and the few hairs that made their appearance on the face were immediately extracted. According to Landa, mothers are said to have burned the faces of young children with hot cloths to prevent the growth of a beard in later years. After the Conquest many of the natives grew beards, which, though sometimes long, were always thin and coarse. Something like a beard is also to be seen on some of the sculptured faces among the Maya ruins. Oviedo met in Nicaragua a man about seventy years of age, who had a long flowing white beard.[1077]

The Mayas, when they covered the feet at all, wore a kind of sandal of coarse cloth, or more frequently of dry deer-skin. These sandals were simply pieces of skin, often double, covering and fitting somewhat the sole, and fastened by cotton strings from the ankle to the toes and perhaps also to the heel. I find no account of hand-coverings except in the Popol Vuh, where gloves are spoken of as being used in the game of ball.[1078]

[Sidenote: DISFIGUREMENT OF THE PHYSIQUE.]

Having provided for their comfort by the use of the articles of dress already described, the Mayas, like most other American aborigines, deemed it essential to modify and improve their physique by artificial means. This they accomplished by head-flattening, teeth-filing, perforation of the ears, nose, and lips, tattooing, and painting; yet it is not probable that all these methods of disfigurement were practiced by all the natives. In Nicaragua, the heads of infants were flattened; the people believed that the custom had been originally introduced by the gods; that the compressed forehead was the sign of noble blood and the highest type of beauty; and besides that the head was thus better adapted to the carrying of burdens. In Yucatan, according to Landa, the same custom obtained. Four or five days after birth the child was laid with the face down on a bed and the head was compressed between two pieces of wood, one on the forehead and the other on the back of the head, the boards being kept in place for several days until the desired cranial conformation was effected. So great was the pressure that the child's skull was sometimes broken. I find no account of forehead-flattening in Guatemala and Chiapas, though Mr Squier, following Fuentes' unpublished history, says that among the Quichés, Cakchiquels, and Zutugils the back of the head was flattened by the practice of carrying infants tied closely to a straight board. Yet from the frequent occurrence of this cranial type in the sculptured profiles in Chiapas, Honduras, and Yucatan, there can be no doubt that in the most ancient times a flattened forehead was the ideal of manly beauty, and I think we have sufficient reason to believe that the artificial shaping of the skull was even more universally practiced in ancient than in modern times. The origin of the custom is a most interesting topic for study and speculation.[1079]

The practice of filing the teeth prevailed to a certain extent among the women of Yucatan, whose ideal of dental charms rendered a saw-teeth arrangement desirable. The operation was performed by certain old women, professors of the art, by means of sharp gritty stones and water.[1080] The piercing of ears, nose, and lips was practiced among all the nations by both men and women apparently, except in Guatemala, where, Ximenez tells us, it was confined to the kings, who perforated the nose and ears as a mark of rank and power. We have no authority for supposing that persons of any class in Yucatan and Nicaragua were restrained from this mutilation of their faces, or from wearing in the perforated features any ornaments they could afford to purchase. Such ornaments were small sticks, bones, shells, and rings of amber or gold. Other ornaments besides those inserted in the ears, nose, and lips, were bracelets, rings, gold beads, and medals, shell necklaces, metallic and wooden wands, gilded masks, feathers and plumes, and pearls. Besides this piercing for ornamental purposes, it should be noted that perforation of cheeks and tongues, and scarifyings of other parts of body and limbs, were common in connection with religious rites and duties.[1081]

[Sidenote: TATTOOING AND PAINTING.]

Tattooing was effected in Yucatan and Nicaragua by lacerating the body with stone lancets, and rubbing the wounds with powdered coal or black earths, which left indelible marks. Stripes, serpents, and birds seem to have been favorite devices for this kind of decoration. The process was a slow and painful one, and to submit to it was deemed a sign of bravery. The tattooing was done by professors who made this art a specialty. Cogolludo says the Itzas had the whole body tattooed, but Landa and Herrera tell us that neither in Yucatan nor in Nicaragua were the breasts of the women subjected to this decorative mutilation.[1082] Painting the face and body was universal, but little can be said respecting the details of the custom, save that red and black were apparently the favorite colors, and colored earths the most common material of the paints. Bixa was, however, much used for red, and cacao tinted with bixa to a blood-red hue was daubed in great profusion on the faces of the Nicaraguans. In Yucatan young men generally restricted themselves to black until they were married, indulging afterwards in varied and bright-colored figures. Black was also a favorite color for war-paint. Odoriferous gums were often mixed with the paints, especially by the women, which rendered the decoration durable, sticky, and most disagreeable to foreign olfactories. It appears that in Guatemala, and probably elsewhere, a coat of paint was employed, not only for ornamental purposes, but as a protection against heat and cold. At certain Nicaraguan feasts and dances the naked bodies were painted in imitation of the ordinary garments, cotton-fibre being mixed with the paint.[1083]

[Sidenote: PERSONAL HABITS.]

All were fond of perfumes, and besides the odoriferous substances mixed by the ladies in their paint, copal and other gums were burned on many occasions, not only in honor of the gods, but for the agreeable odor of the smoke; sweet-smelling barks, herbs, and flowers were also habitually carried on the person.[1084] All the Mayas, especially females, were rather neat than otherwise in their personal habits, taking great pains with their dress and so-called decorations. They bathed frequently in cold water and sometimes indulged in hot baths, perhaps in steam-baths; but of the latter very little is said, although Brasseur says it was used in Guatemala under the name of tuh. The women were very modest and usually took much pains to prevent the exposure of their persons, but in bathing and on certain other occasions both sexes appear to have been somewhat careless in this respect. In both Yucatan and Nicaragua mirrors were employed by the men, but the women required or at least employed no such aids.[1085] Although such disfigurements as have been described, painting, tattooing, and perforation, are reported by all the authors, and were all doubtless practiced, yet one can hardly avoid forming the idea in reading the narratives of the conquerors, that such hideous mutilations were confined to certain classes and certain occasions, and that the mass of the people in every-day life presented a much less repulsive aspect.

* * * * *

I have already spoken of the tenure of landed property and the laws of inheritance among the Mayas. To the accumulation of wealth in the form of personal property they do not seem to have attached much importance. They were content for the most part with a supply of simple food for their tables, the necessary household utensils, and such articles of dress and ornament as were required by their social rank; with these and a sufficient surplus to entertain their friends in a fitting style, they took little care for the future. Yet traders were a class much honored, and their profession was a lucrative one. An active trade was carried on in each town, as also between different towns, provinces, and nations, in order that the people of each locality might be supplied with the necessary commodities both of home and foreign production. Few details have been preserved respecting the manner of conducting trade, but what is known on the subject indicates that the commercial system was identical with that of the Nahuas, to which a preceding chapter has been devoted. Commodities of every class, food, dress, ornaments, weapons, and implements, were offered for sale in the market-place, or plaza, of every village, where all transactions between buyers and sellers were regulated by an official who had full authority to correct abuses and punish offences against the laws of trade. Fairs were held periodically in all the larger towns, which were crowded by buyers and sellers from abroad. Traveling merchants traversed the country in every direction busied in the exchange and transport of varied local products. Yucatan did a large foreign trade with Tabasco and Honduras, from both of which regions large quantities of cacao were imported. Other international routes of commerce doubtless existed in different directions; we have seen that the Nahua merchants crossed the isthmus of Tehuantepec to traffic in Maya lands, and the southern merchants were doubtless not unrepresented in the northern fairs. Transportation was effected for the most part by carriers overland, and in many parts of the country, as in Yucatan, magnificent paved roads offered every facility to the traveler; quite an extensive coasting-trade was also carried on by water.

The ordinary mercantile transactions were effected by exchange, or barter, of one commodity for another; but where this was inconvenient cacao passed current as money among all the nations. Thus a rabbit in Nicaragua sold for ten cacao-nibs, and one hundred of these seeds would buy a tolerably good slave. Notwithstanding the comparatively small value of this cacao-money, Oviedo tells us that counterfeiting was sometimes attempted. According to Cogolludo, copper bells and rattles of different sizes, red shells in strings, precious stones, and copper hatchets often served as money, especially in foreign trade. Doubtless many other articles, valuable and of compact form were used in the same way. Landa speaks of net-work purses in which the money of the natives was carried.

[Sidenote: MARKET REGULATIONS.]

We are informed that in Yucatan articles of ordinary consumption, like food, were sold always at a fixed price, except maize, which varied slightly in price according to the yield. Maize was sold by the carga, or load, which was about one half of the Castilian fanega. In Nicaragua the matter of price was left altogether to the contracting parties. The Mayas of all nations were very strict in requiring the exact fulfilment of contracts, which, in Yucatan, as has been said, and in Guatemala also, according to Brasseur de Bourbourg, were legalized by the parties drinking together, the beverage being generally colored with certain leaves called max. In the Nicaraguan markets some extraordinary regulations were enforced. Men could not visit the market-place of their own towns, either to buy, sell, or for any other purpose; they even incurred the risk of receiving a sound beating, if they so much as peeped in to see what was going on. All the business was transacted by the women; but boys, into whose minds, by reason of their tender years, carnal thoughts were supposed not to have entered, might be present to assist the women, and even men from other towns or provinces, were welcome, provided they did not belong to a people of different language.

No peculiar ceremonies are mentioned as accompanying the setting-out or return of trading caravans, but some customs observed by travelers, a large proportion of whom were probably merchants, are recorded. In Yucatan all members of a household prayed often and earnestly for the safe return of the absent member; and the traveler himself, when he chanced to come in contact with a large stone which had been moved in opening the road, reverently laid upon it a green branch, brushing his knees with another at the same time as a preventive of fatigue. He also carried incense on his journey, and at each nightfall, wherever he might be, he stood on end three small stones, and on three other flat stones placed before the first he burned incense and uttered a prayer to Ekchua, god of travelers, whose name signifies 'merchant.' When the traveler was belated, and thought himself likely to arrive after dark at his proposed stopping-place, he deposited a stone in a hollow tree, and pulled out some hairs from his eyebrows, which he proceeded to blow towards the setting sun, hoping thereby to induce that orb to retard somewhat its movements. In Guatemala, small chapels were placed at short intervals on all the lines of travel, where each passer halted for a few moments at least, gathered a handful of herbs, rubbed with them his legs, spat reverently upon them, and placed them prayerfully upon the altar with a small stone and some trifling offering of pepper, salt, or cacao. The offering remained untouched, no one being bold enough to disturb the sacred token.[1086]

[Sidenote: MAYA BOATS AND NAVIGATION.]

Oviedo states that in Nicaragua, or at least in certain parts of that country, the people had no canoes, but resorted to balsas when it became necessary to cross the water. The balsa in this region was simply a raft of five or six logs tied together at the ends with grass, and covered with cross-sticks. The author referred to saw a fleet of these aboriginal vessels which bore fifteen hundred warriors. On the coast of Yucatan and in the lakes of Peten, the natives had many canoes for use in war and commerce, and were very skillful in their management. These canoes were 'dug-outs' made from single trunks, capable of carrying from two to fifty persons, and propelled by paddles. Cogolludo tells us that canoes with sails were seen by Córdova during his voyage up the coast, and some modern writers speak of the famous canoe met by Columbus off the Honduras coast as having been fitted with sails; but in the latter case there seems to be no authority for the statement, and that sails were ever employed may well be considered doubtful. The boat seen by Columbus was eight feet wide, "as long as a galley," bore twenty-five men, and an awning of mats in the centre protected the women and children. All the information we have respecting boats in Guatemala is the statement of Peter Martyr that the 'dug-outs' were also in use there, and of Juarros that the Lacandones had a large fleet of boats; Guatemala was a country, however, whose physical conformation would rarely call for navigation on an extensive scale. Villagutierre says that the Chiapanecs used gourd balsas, or 'calabazas.'[1087]

* * * * *

Wars among the Maya nations were frequent,--more so probably during the century preceding the Spanish conquest, when their history is partially known, than in the more glorious days of the distant past,--but they were also, as a rule, of short duration, partaking more of the character of raids than of regular wars. One campaign generally decided the tribal or national dispute, and the victors were content with the victory and the captives taken. Landa and Herrera report that the nations of Yucatan learned the art of war from the Mexicans, having been an altogether peaceful people before the Nahua influence was brought to bear on them. The latter also suspects that the Yucatec war-customs, as observed by the Spaniards, may have been modified by the teaching of Guerrero and Aguilar, white men held for several years as prisoners before the invaders came; but neither theory seems to have much weight.

The profession of arms was everywhere an honorable one, but military preferment and promotion seem to have been somewhat more exclusively confined to the nobility than among the Nahuas. According to Landa, a certain number of picked men were appointed in each town, who were called holcanes, must be ready to take up arms whenever called for, and received a small amount of money for their services while in actual war. This is the only instance of a paid soldiery noted in the limits of our territory.[1088]

In Nicaragua Tapaligui was the most honorable title a man could win by bravery, and from the number of those who bore the title the war-captain was in most provinces appointed either by the monexico, or council, or by the cacique. This captain was for the most part independent of the civil ruler in time of war, but Boyle speaks of certain cities where the cacique himself commanded the army. The civil chief, however, if he possessed the requisite bravery, often accompanied the troops to the field to take command at the captain's death, or appoint his successor.[1089] In Yucatan they had two war-captains, one of whom held his position by inheritance, while the other was chosen for a term of three years. The title of the latter was Nacon, and his office seems to have been attended with some inconveniences, since during the three years he could know no woman, eat no meat, indulge in no intoxication, and have but little to do with the public. Fish and iguana-flesh were allowed him, but it must be served on dishes used by no one but himself, and must not be served by women. In Vera Paz the captains were chosen from among the most distinguished braves, and seem to have held their position for life.[1090]

[Sidenote: INSIGNIA OF WARRIORS.]

In Yucatan skins and feathers, worn according to fixed rules, not recorded, were among the most prominent insignia of warriors. The face was painted in various colors; and tattooing the hands was a privilege accorded to the brave. The Itzas fought naked, but painted face, body, and limbs black, the brave tattooing the face in stripes. Feather plumes are the only insignia mentioned in connection with Guatemalan warriors; but the grade of a Pipile's prowess was indicated by the number of holes he had in ears, nose, and other features. All officers in the Nicaraguan armies had distinguishing marks, which they wore both in time of war and of peace; the Tapaligui was allowed to shave his head except on the crown, where the hair was left a finger long, with a longer tuft projecting from the centre. The arrangement of the feathers on the shield also indicated to the soldiers an officer's rank.[1091]

The universal Maya armor was a thick quilted sack of cotton, which fitted closely over the body and arms, and reached generally to the middle of the thighs, although Alvarado found the Guatemalans clad in similar sacks reaching to the feet. In Yucatan, according to Landa, a layer of salt was placed between the thicknesses of cotton, making the garment very hard and impenetrable. As the Guatemalan armor is described as being three fingers thick and so heavy that the soldiers could with difficulty run or rise after falling, we may suppose that salt or some similar material was also used by the Quichés. Squier mentions, apparently without sufficient authority, short breeches worn to protect the legs. The Spaniards were not long in recognizing the advantages of the native cotton armor, and it was commonly adopted or added to their own armor of steel. The head-armor, when any was worn, seems to have been ordinarily a kind of cap, also of quilted cotton. Landa says that in Yucatan a few leaders wore wooden helmets; they are also mentioned by Gomara and Las Casas. Peter Martyr speaks of golden helmets and breast-plates as worn in Nicaragua. Shields were made of split reeds, were round in form, and were covered generally with skins and decorated with feathers, though a cotton covering was also used in Nicaragua.[1092]

[Sidenote: ABORIGINAL WEAPONS.]

Bows and arrows, lances, and darts were used as weapons of war by all the Maya tribes, the projectiles being usually pointed with flint, but often also with fish-bone or copper. Arrows were carried in quivers and were never poisoned. The Yucatec bow, as Landa informs us, was a little shorter than the man who carried it, and was made of a very strong native wood; the string was made of the fibres of certain plants. The arrows were light reeds with a piece of hard wood at the end. Oviedo tells us of lances, or pikes, in Nicaragua, which were thirty spans long, and others in Yucatan fifteen spans long; Herrera says they were over twenty feet long in Guatemala, and that their heads were poisoned; though Oviedo denies that poison was used. In Nicaragua and Yucatan heavy wooden swords, called by the Mexicans macuahuitl, were used, but I find no special mention of these weapons in Guatemala. A line of sharp flints were firmly set along the two edges, and, wielded with both hands they were a most formidable weapon. Waldeck found in modern times the horn of a sawfish covered with skin and used as a weapon. He thinks the aboriginal weapon may have been fashioned after this natural model. Slings were extensively used in Yucatan, and also copper axes to some extent, but these are supposed to have been imported from Mexico, as no metals are found in the peninsula.[1093]

The Quichés, Cakchiquels, and other tribes inhabiting the high lands of Guatemala, chose the location of their towns in places naturally well nigh inaccessible, strengthening them besides with artificial fortifications in the shape of massive stone walls and deep ditches. Ruins of these fortified towns are very numerous and will be described elsewhere; a few words respecting Utatlan, the Quiché capital, and one of the most securely located and guarded cities, will suffice here. Standing on a level plateau, the city was bounded on every side by a deep ravine, believed to have been at some points artificial, and which could only be crossed at one place. Guarding this single approach a line of massive stone structures connected by ditches extends a long distance, and within this line of fortifications, at the entrance of the pass, is El Resguardo, a square-based pyramidical structure, one hundred and twenty feet high, rising in three terraces, and having its summit platform inclosed by a stone wall, covered with hard cement. A tower also rises from the summit. The Spaniards under Alvarado found their approach obstructed at various points in Guatemala by holes in which were pointed stakes fixed in the ground, and carefully concealed by a slight covering of turf; palisades, ditches, and walls of stone, logs, plants, or earth, were thrown across the road at every difficult pass; and large stones were kept ready to hurl or roll down upon the invaders. Numerous short pointed sticks were found on at least one occasion fixed upright in the ground, apparently a slight defense, but really a most formidable one, since the points were poisoned. Doubtless all these methods of defence had been practiced often before in their international wars against American foes. Strong defensive works are also mentioned in Chiapas, and Andagoya tells us of a town in Nicaragua fortified by a high and impenetrable hedge of cacti. In Yucatan the Spaniard's progress was frequently opposed, at points favorable for such a purpose, by temporary trenches, barricades of stone, logs, and earth, and protected stations for bowmen and slingers; but in the selection of sites for their towns, notwithstanding the generally level surface of their country, facilities for defence seem to have been little or not at all considered. One, only, of the many ruined cities which have been explored, Tuloom, on the Eastern coast, stands on an eminence overlooking the ocean, in a very strong natural position; but strangely enough it is just here, where artificial defenses were least needed, that we find a massive wall surrounding the chief structures,--the only city wall standing in modern times, though Mayapan was traditionally a walled town, and a few slight traces of walls have been found about other cities.[1094]

[Sidenote: DECLARATION OF WAR.]

The ambition of the native rulers to increase their dominions by encroachments upon their neighbors' territory was probably the cause of most wars among the Maya nations; but raids were also undertaken occasionally, with no other object than that of obtaining victims for sacrifice. In the consultations preceding the declaration of war the priesthood had much to say, and played a prominent part in the accompanying ceremonies. In Salvador the high-priest with four subordinates decided on the war by drawing of lots and by various other sorceries, and even gave directions how the campaign was to be carried on. The high-priest was generally on the ground, in charge of certain idols, when an important battle was to be fought. Supplies were carried, in Yucatan at least, on the backs of women, and the want of adequate means of transportation is given as one reason why the Maya wars were usually of short duration. The Nicaraguan soldier, as Oviedo states, regarded a calabash of water and a supply of the herb yaat already mentioned, as the most indispensable of his supplies. Respecting their ceremonies before giving battle we only know that on one occasion in Yucatan they brought a brazier of burning perfume which they placed before the Spanish forces, with the intimation that an attack would be made as soon as the fire went out; and also that Alvarado noticed in Guatemala the sacrifice of a woman and a bitch as a preliminary of battle.

All fought bravely, with no apparent fear of death, endeavoring to capture the enemy alive, rather than to kill them, and at the same time to avoid being captured themselves by the sacrifice of life if necessary. In most nations it was deemed important to terrify the enemy by shouting, clanging of drums, sticks, and shells, and blowing of whistles. The armies of Yucatan are said to have exhibited somewhat better order in their military movements than those of other nations. They formed their forces into two wings, placing in the centre a squadron to guard the captain and high-priest. The Nicaraguans fought desperately until their leader fell, but then they always ran away. He who from cowardice failed to do his duty on the battle-field was by the Nicaraguan code disgraced, abused, insulted, stripped of his weapons, and discharged from the service, but was not often put to death. As has been stated in a preceding chapter treason and desertion were everywhere punished with death. All booty except captives belonged to the taker, and to return from a campaign without spoil was deemed a dishonor.

[Sidenote: PIPILE WAR FESTIVAL.]

Captives, if of noble blood or high rank, were sacrificed to the gods, and were rarely ransomed. The captor of a noble prisoner received high honors, but was punished if he accepted a ransom, the penalty being death in Nicaragua. The heads of the sacrificed captives were in Yucatan suspended in the branches of the trees, as memorials of victory, a separate tree being set apart for each hostile province. The bones, as Landa tells us, were kept by the captors, the jaw-bone being worn on the arm, as an ornament. We read of no actual torture of prisoners, but the Cakchiquels danced about the victim to be sacrificed, and loaded him with insults. Among the Pipiles it was left to the priests to decide whether the sacrifice should be in honor of a god or goddess; if the former, the festival lasted, according to Palacio, fifteen days; the captives were obliged to march in procession through the town, and one was sacrificed each day; if the feast was dedicated to a deity of the gentler sex, five days of festivities and blood sufficed. Prisoners of plebeian blood were enslaved, or only sacrificed when victims of higher rank were lacking. They were probably the property of the captors. At the close of a campaign in which no captives were taken, the Nicaraguan captains went together to the altar, and there wept ceremonial tears of sorrow for their want of success. The authorities record no details of the methods by which peace was ratified; the Yucatecs, however, according to Cogolludo, expressed to the Spaniards a desire for a suspension of hostilities, by throwing away their weapons, and by kissing their fingers, after touching them to the ground.[1095]

FOOTNOTES:

[1060] This history, written with Roman characters, but in the Quiché language, in the early years of the Conquest, was quoted by Brasseur de Bourbourg as the MS. Quiché de Chichicastenango, in his Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., pp. 59-60; a translation into Spanish by Ximenez appeared in 1857, Hist. Ind. Guat., pp. 79-80; and a translation into French by Brasseur de Bourbourg in 1861, Popol Vuh, pp. 195-9. Brasseur's rendering is followed for the most part in my text, but so far as this extract is concerned there are only slight verbal differences between the two translations.

[1061] Landa, Relacion, p. 130; Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Id., p. 361. On the coast of Yucatan, 'des racines dont ils font le pain, et qu'ils nomment maïs.' Diaz, Itinéraire, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 8. The Lacandones applied themselves 'al trabajo de sus Milpas, y Sementeras de Maiz, Chile, y Frixoles, entre que sembravan Piñas, Platanos, Batatas, Xicamas, Xacotes, Zapotes, y otras Frutas;' their milpas were large, and were cleared with stone hatchets. Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 310-11. The Itzas had 'mucha Grana, Cera, Algodòn, Achiote, Baynillas, y otras Legumbres.' Id., pp. 353, 499. Many varieties of beans raised in Nicaragua. Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., p. 285. 'Vi muchos destos perales en la provinçia de Nicaragua, puestos á mano en las heredades é plaças ó assientos de los indios, é por ellos cultivados. É son tan grandes árboles como nogales algunos dellos.' Id., p. 353. Planting of maize, Id., pp. 265-6; tom. iv., pp. 104-5. See also on agriculture: Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nuovo, pp. 102-3; Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col. de Viajes, tom. iii., pp. 413-14; Cortés, Cartas, p. 405; Squier's Cent. Amer., pp. 551, 556; Viollet-le-Duc, in Charnay, Ruines Amér., p. 71; Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. i., p. 269; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., tom. i., p. 8.

[1062] Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., pp. 190-1; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 183; Palacio, Carta, pp. 72-4; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., p. 285; Dávila, Teatro Ecles., tom. i., p. 233; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 565-6.

[1063] In the province of Campeche the Spaniards were feasted on 'Peacockes and crammed foule both of the Mountaynes, Woods, and Water, as Patryches, Quayles, Turtles, Duckes, Geese, and fourefooted wilde beastes, as Boores, Hartes, and Hares: besides Wolfes, Lyons, Tygers, and Foxes.' Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. ii. 'Juntanse tambien para la caça de L en L, mas o menos, y la carne del venado assan en parillas, porque no se les gaste, y venidos al pueblo, hazen sus presentes al señor, y distribuyen como amigos y el mesmo hazen en la pesca.' Landa, Relacion, pp. 130-2, 46. In Vera Paz 'tejones, que tienen buena carne, el bilab es mejor que carnero: venadillos vermejos, y otros bayos, y muchos otros que los Indios flechan, y comen algunos desollados, otros ahumados, y assados, en barbocoa, y en charque, y todo malguisado.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. xiii., xiv., ii. At Cozumel 'el pescado es su casi principal manjar.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 22. See also Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., pp. 355, 424, 497, tom. iv., p. 33; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 187; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. 177; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, p. 63.

[1064] Landa, Relacion, p. 118; Las Casas, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., p. 148; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 184, 187-8, 700; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 41, 311; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., pp. 206-7, 411, 497, 507, tom. iii., p. 227; Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. vi., ii., dec. vi., lib. iii.; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. i., lib. v., cap. v., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. viii.; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 23; Id., Hist. Ind., fol. 61-2; Cortés, Cartas, p. 449; Fancourt's Hist. Yuc., p. 32.

[1065] Cortés, Cartas, p. 23, tells us that no bread was made in Yucatan, but that maize was eaten roasted. The best tortillas in Nicaragua were called tascalpachon. Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., pp. 267, 324, 355, 411, 513, 523, tom. iii., p. 227. See also Landa, Relacion, pp. 116-20, 135; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. xiii.

[1066] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 69; Landa, Relacion, p. 120; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 180; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 111.

[1067] Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 89, 98, 312; Landa, Relacion, pp. 116-20, 192; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. i., lib. v., cap. v., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. ix., lib. x., cap. iv.; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., pp. 267, 317-18, tom. iv., p. 95; Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nuovo, fol. 102-3, 109; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. clxxvii.; Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., p. 40; Cortés' Despatches, p. 4; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 51-2, 499.

[1068] In Yucatan: 'These Barbarians eate onely their enemies, or such strangers as come vnto them, otherwise they abstaine from mans flesh.' Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. vi. In Guatemala the heads and tripe were seasoned with wine. Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. clxxvii.; Id., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., p. 147; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 649, 651; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 62; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vi., vii., lib. vii., cap. iii., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 37, 51-2, 56, 108; Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col. de Viajes, tom. iii., p. 420; Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nuovo, fol. 35, 104; Albornoz, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 486; Helps' Span. Conq., vol. iii., p. 88; Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, p. 23; Morelet, Voyage, tom. i., p. 191.

[1069] The Itzas, men and women, wore 'faxas' 4 varas long and 1/3 vara wide. Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 312, 402, 498. At Campeche, a strip of cotton one hand wide, twisted and wound 20 or 30 times about the body. Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., pp. 512-13. This garment called mastate. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 2. Ends embroidered and decorated with feathers. Landa, Relacion, p. 116. Almayzares, called in New Spain mastil; otherwise naked. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. i., lib. v., cap. v., dec. ii., lib. iv., cap. vii.; Cortés' Despatches, p. 4. The Chiapanecs naked except this cloth about the loins. Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, pp. 292, 302.

[1070] Plate showing the costume of an Indian of the interior. Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., pl. v. Trowsers of cotton in Salvador. Squier's Cent. Amer., p. 321.

[1071] Called tilmas or hayates, a yard and a half square. Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 187. Mantles called zuyen. Id., p. 2. 'Mantas pintadas.' Las Casas, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., p. 147.

[1072] Cotton robes of bright colors. Squier's Cent. Amer., p. 551. 'Tuniques.' Ternaux-Compans, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 52. 'Sacks.' Fancourt's Hist. Yuc., pp. 284-5. 'Camisetas de colores.' Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., p. 497. 'Xaquetas de algodon.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 2. 'Camisette senza maniche.' Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nuovo, pp. 98, 104.

[1073] Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 172. Mayas dress like the Mexicans. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii.

[1074] Landa, Relacion, pp. 148-50; Palacio, Carta, pp. 62-4; Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, p. 137; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x., dec. ii., lib. ii., cap. xvii.; Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 197; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 54.

[1075] 'L'étoffe rayée d'une ou de plusieurs couleurs que les femmes se roulent encore autour du corps en la serrant à la ceinture comme un jupon, descendant plus ou moins bas au-dessous du genou, se trouve être exactement la même que l'on voit aux images d'Isis et aux femmes égyptiennes des époques pharaoniques.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 67. Skirt from the waist to feet, called pic. Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 187-8, 699. 'Ropas de algodon, que llaman naguas.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 2; Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col. de Viajes, tom. iii., p. 414; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.; Landa, Relacion, pp. 184-6, 16, 144-6, 180.

[1076] 'Es lo mas dificultoso en los Indios el reduzirlos à cortarles el pelo.' Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 498, 312. In Guatemala somewhat less attention seems to have been paid to the hair. 'Trayanlo encrespado, ò rebujado en la cabeça como estopas, à causa de que no se lo peynauan.' Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, p. 302; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 187, speaks of straw and palm-leaf hats, but he probably refers to his own time. Hair of priests filled with blood. Id., p. 5; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 3; Squier's Cent. Amer., pp. 321, 551. In Nicaragua 'traen rapadas las cabeças de la mitad adelante é los aladares por debaxo, é déxanse una coleta de oreja á oreja por detrás desde la coronilla.' Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 38, 108; Landa, Relacion, pp. 112-14, 184; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 68; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii., lib. viii., cap. x. Aguilar wore a 'corona y trença de cabellos, como los naturales.' Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 62; Id., Conq. Mex., fol. 23; Palacio, Carta, p. 62.

[1077] Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nuovo, p. 35; Charnay, Ruines Amér., p. 341; Landa, Relacion, p. 114; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii.; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 111.

[1078] 'Traian sandalias de cañamo o cuero de venado por curtir seco.' Landa, Relacion, p. 116. They generally went barefoot. Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 187. Sandals in Nicaragua called gutaras. Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 38-9; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 347; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, p. 77.

[1079] Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 54; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii.; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 345; Id., in Palacio, Carta, p. 106; Landa, Relacion, pp. 114, 180, 194.

[1080] Landa, Relacion, p. 182.

[1081] A war party: 'Agujeradas narizes, y orejas con sus narigeras, y orejeras de Cuzcas, y otras piedras de diuersos colores.' Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 73. The Itzas wore in the nose 'una baynilla olorosa,' and in the ears, 'vn palo labrado.' Id., p. 699. 'Sartales de Caracoles colorados,' much prized by the Itzas. Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, p. 48. Small sticks in the ears, and little reeds or amber rings, or grains of vanilla, in the nose. Id., pp. 312, 402. A few silver and gold ear-ornaments. Id., pp. 497-9. On the peninsula of Yucatan, 'trayan las orejas horadadas para çarcillos.' Landa, Relacion, p. 114. The priest carried 'un isopo en la mano de un palo corto muy labrado, y por barbas o pelos del isopo ciertas colas de unas culebras que son como caxcaveles.' Id., pp. 149-50. Women pierced nose and ears. Id., p. 182. In Nicaragua 'traen sajadas las lenguas por debaxo, é las orejas, é algunos los miembros viriles, é no las mugeres ninguna cosa destas, y ellos y ellas horadadas las orejas de grandes agujeros.' Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 38-9, tom. i., p. 497. King in Yucatan wore 'des bracelets et des manchettes d'une élégance égale à la beauté de la matière.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 54. 'Tecaüh, qui est le bijou que les chefs indiens portaient fréquemment à la lèvre inférieure ou au cartilage du nez.' Id., p. 92. See also Cortés, Cartas, p. 3; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcix., p. 144; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., lib. vii., cap. ix., dec. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii., lib. x., cap. iii., iv.; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 60, 62; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 347; Id., Cent. Amer., p. 551; Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 197; Diaz, Itinéraire, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., pp. 16, 25, 39; Las Casas, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., p. 147.

[1082] 'Los oficiales dello labravan la parte que querian con tinta, y despues sejavanle delicadamente las pinturas, y assi con la sangre y tinta quedavan en el cuerpo las señales, y que se labran poco a poco por el tormento grande, y tambien se ponen despues malos, porque se les enconavan los labores, y haziase materia, y que con todo esso se mofavan de los que no se labravan.' Landa, Relacion, pp. 120, 182; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 186, 699; Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, p. 293; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 402, 498; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 38; Ternaux-Compans, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 47; Fancourt's Hist. Yuc., pp. 121, 285; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., p. 205.

[1083] Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, p. 302; Landa, Relacion, pp. 114-16, 178-80, 182, 184; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 6, 77; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 107, 402, 490, 499; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., pp. 297, 318, 498, tom. iv., p. 111; Cortés, Cartas, p. 422; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 62; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, Popol Vuh, pp. 71-2, 189.

[1084] 'Eran amigos de buenos olores y que por esto usan de ramilletes de flores y yervas olorosas, muy curiosos y labrados.' Landa, Relacion, p. 114. 'Des roseaux longs de deux palmes, et qui répandaient une excellente odeur quand on les brûlait.' Diaz, Itinéraire, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 7; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii.; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 68; Valois, Mexique, p. 206.

[1085] 'Se vañavan mucho, no curando de cubrirse de las mugeres, sino quando podia cubrir la mano.' Landa, Relacion, p. 114. 'Se lavan las manos y la boca despues de comer.' Id., p. 120. The women stripped naked in the wells where they bathed; they took hot baths rather for health than cleanliness. Id., p. 184. The women 'tienen poco secreto, y no son tan limpias en sus personas ni en sus cosas con quanto se lavan como los ermiños.' Id., p. 192. 'Los hombres haçen aguas puestos en cluquillas, é las mugeres estando derechas de piés á dó quiera que les viene la gana.' Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 38; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii., iv.; Dávila, Teatro Ecles., tom. i., p. 203; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 263; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 263; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 68.

[1086] The following are my authorities on the Maya commerce, many references to simple mentions of articles bought and sold and to the use of cacao as money being omitted. Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 203; Las Casas, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., pp. 137, 147; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec i., lib. v., cap. v., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., lib. v., cap. xii., lib. vii., cap. ix., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. iii., ix.; Landa, Relacion, pp. 32, 128-30, 156-8; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 181, 183; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, p. 311; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., p. 316, tom. iii., p. 253, tom. iv., pp. 36-7, 49, 54, 104; Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. i.; Cortés, Cartas, p. 422; Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nuovo, fol. 102, 109; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 50-1, 71, 564; Id., Popol Vuh, p. 97; Squier's Nicaragua (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 346; Id., Cent. Amer., p. 320; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 8; Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col. de Viajes, tom. iii., p. 414.

[1087] Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 4; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 2; Diaz, Itinéraire, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 21; Id., in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 292; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 353, 369, 489, 76; Peter Martyr, dec. viii., lib. v.; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 100; Juarros' Hist. Guat., p. 271; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. i., lib. v., cap. v.; Folsom, in Cortés' Despatches, pp. 3-4; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, pp. 226-7. See vol. i., p. 699, of this work.

[1088] Landa, Relacion, pp. 174, 48; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii. The Chiapanecs were among the boldest warriors. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 178.

[1089] Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 38, 53; Gomara, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 264; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 342; Boyle's Ride, vol. i., p. 272.

[1090] Landa, Relacion, p. 172; Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 202.

[1091] Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 38; Landa, Relacion, p. 172; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. iv., cap. viii., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., lib. v., cap. x., lib. vii., cap. iii., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x.; Palacio, Carta, pp. 70-2; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 391, 498-9; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 342; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 558-9; Boyle's Ride, vol. i., p. 270.

[1092] Cotton armor called in some places escaupiles. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii. Both white and colored. Id., dec. iii., lib. v., cap. x., lib. iv., cap. vi., dec. ii., lib. ii., cap. xvii., lib. iii., cap. i. Called by the Quichés achcayupiles. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 91; Landa, Relacion, p. 172; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 6; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 2; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 62; Las Casas, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., p. 148; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 484, tom. iv., p. 53; Alvarado, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 140; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 347.

[1093] Macanas used as weapons in Nicaragua. Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 53, 33, tom. i., pp. 511-12, tom. iii., pp. 231, 484. Crystal-pointed arrows used by the Itzas, and chiefs had short flint knives, with feathers on the handles. Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 495, 41, 92. Hardened rods, or pikes. Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 77, 2. Darts thrown from a 'tiradera.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. ii., cap, xvii., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vi., lib. v., cap. x., lib. vii., cap. iii., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. ii. A bat was the sign of a Cakchiquel armory. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, p. 225. See also Maya weapons. Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 341, 347; Peter Martyr, dec. vi., lib. v.; Boyle's Ride, vol. i., p. 258; Scherzer, Wanderungen, p. 63; Landa, Relacion, pp. 48, 170; Las Casas, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., p. 148; Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., p. 64, with cut; Morelet, Voyage, tom. i., pp. 186, 194; Diaz, Itinéraire, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 25; Id., in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 295; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 2; Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 127.

[1094] See vol. iv., chap. iv., v., for a full description of Maya ruins, with plates. See Landa, Relacion, p. 174; Alvarado, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., pp. 112, 117; Godoi, in Id., p. 158; Cortés, Cartas, pp. 425-6; Juarros, Hist. Guat., p. 87; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., p. 534, tom. iii., pp. 477-8; Fuentes, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., p. 243; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii., lib. x., cap. iii.; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, p. 41; Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col. de Viajes, tom. iii., p. 407.

[1095] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 386; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 5, 77, 130, 181; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii., lib. viii., cap. x., lib. x., cap. iv.; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 72-3, 76, 142, 281; Landa, Relacion, pp. 168, 174, 176; Las Casas, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., pp. 144, 148; Palacio, Carta, pp. 70-2; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., pp. 276, 511-12, 523, tom. iii., pp. 230, 477, tom. iv., pp. 53-4; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 61, 264; Juarros' Hist. Guat., p. 185, etc.; Peter Martyr, dec. viii., lib. v.; Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., pp. 170, 198, 202-3; Alvarado, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., pp. 112, 138; Diaz, Itinéraire, in Id., pp. 17-18; Squier's Cent. Amer., pp. 325, 333; Id., Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 342; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 544, 558-9; Ternaux-Compans, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 46; Morelet, Voyage, tom. i., p. 186; Boyle's Ride, vol. i., p. 259; Fancourt's Hist. Yuc., pp. 92, 116.

XXIV. MAYA ARTS, CALENDAR, AND HIEROGLYPHICS

SCARCITY OF INFORMATION--USE OF METALS--GOLD AND PRECIOUS STONES--IMPLEMENTS OF STONE--SCULPTURE--POTTERY--MANUFACTURE OF CLOTH--DYEING--SYSTEM OF NUMERATION--MAYA CALENDAR IN YUCATAN--DAYS, WEEKS, MONTHS, AND YEARS--INDICTIONS AND KATUNES--PEREZ' SYSTEM OF AHAU KATUNES--STATEMENTS OF LANDA AND COGOLLUDO--INTERCALARY DAYS AND YEARS--DAYS AND MONTHS IN GUATEMALA, CHIAPAS, AND SOCONUSCO--MAYA HIEROGLYPHIC SYSTEM--TESTIMONY OF EARLY WRITERS ON THE USE OF PICTURE-WRITING--DESTRUCTION OF DOCUMENTS--SPECIMENS WHICH HAVE SURVIVED--THE DRESDEN CODEX--MANUSCRIPT TROANO--TABLETS OF PALENQUE, COPAN, AND YUCATAN--BISHOP LANDA'S KEY--BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG'S INTERPRETATION.

Our knowledge of Maya arts and manufactures, so far as it depends on the statements of the early Spanish writers is very slight, and may be expressed in few words; especially as most of these arts seem to have been very nearly identical with those of the Nahuas, although many of them, at the time of the Conquest at least, were not carried to so high a grade of perfection as in the north. Some branches of mechanical art have indeed left material relics, which, examined in modern times, have extended our knowledge on the subject very far beyond what may be gleaned from sixteenth-century observations. But a volume of this work is set apart for the consideration of material relics with numerous illustrative plates, and although the temptation to use both information and plates from modern sources is particularly strong in some of the topics of this chapter and the following, a regard for the symmetry of the work, and the necessity of avoiding all repetition, cause me to confine myself here almost exclusively to the old authors, as I have done in describing the Nahua arts.

[Sidenote: KNOWLEDGE OF METALS.]

Iron was not known to the Mayas, and it is not quite certain that copper was mined or worked by them. The boat so often mentioned as having been met by Columbus off the coast, and supposed to have come from Yucatan, had on board crucibles for melting copper, and a large number of copper hatchets. Similar hatchets together with bells, ornaments, and spear and arrow points of the same metal were seen at various points, and were doubtless used to a considerable extent throughout Yucatan, Chiapas, and Guatemala. But there are no metallic deposits on the peninsula, and the copper instruments used there, or at least the material, must have been brought from the north, as it is indeed stated by several authors that they were. No metallic relics whatever have been found among the ruins of Yucatan, and only very few in other Maya regions. Copper implements are not mentioned by the early visitors to Nicaragua, and although that country abounds in ore of a variety easily worked, yet there is no evidence that it was used, and Squier's statement that the Nicaraguans were skillful workers in this metal, probably rests on no stronger basis than the reported discovery of a copper mask at Ometepec. Godoi speaks of copper in Chiapas, and also of a metallic composition called cacao!

Small articles of gold, intended chiefly for ornamental purposes, were found everywhere in greater or less abundance by the Spaniards, the gold being generally described as of a low grade. Cortés speaks of the gold in Yucatan as alloyed with copper, and the same alloy is mentioned in Guatemala by Herrera, and in Nicaragua by Benzoni. The latter author says that gold was abundant in Nicaragua but was all brought from other provinces. He also states that there were no mines of any kind, but Oviedo, on the contrary, speaks of 'good mines of gold.' Articles of gold took the form of animals, fishes, birds, bells, small kettles and vases, beads, rings, bracelets, hatchets, small idols, bars, plates for covering armor, gilding or plating of wooden masks and clay beads, and settings for precious stones. Peter Martyr speaks of gold as formed in bars and stamped in Nicaragua, and Villagutierre of silver 'rosillas' in use among the Itzas. We have but slight information respecting the use of precious stones. Oviedo saw in Nicaragua a sun-dial of pearl set on jasper, and also speaks of wooden masks covered with stone mosaic and gold plates in Tabasco. Martyr tells us that the natives of Yucatan attached no value to Spanish counterfeited jewels, because they could take from their mines better ones of genuine worth.[1096]

[Sidenote: STONE CARVING.]

The few implements in common use among the Mayas, such as knives, chisels, hatchets, and metates, together with the spear and arrow heads already mentioned, were of flint, porphyry, or other hard stone. There is but little doubt that most of their elaborate sculpture on temples and idols was executed with stone implements, since the material employed was for the most part soft and easily worked. The carvings in the hard sapote-wood in Yucatan must have presented great difficulties to workmen without iron tools; but the fact remains that stone implements, with a few probably of hardened copper, sufficed with native skill and patience for all purposes. Villagutierre informs us that the Lacandones cut wood with stone hatchets. Cogolludo speaks of the remarkable facility which the natives displayed in learning the mechanical arts introduced by Spaniards, in using new and strange tools or adapting the native implements to new uses. All implements whether of the temple or the household, seem to have been ceremonially consecrated to their respective uses. Oviedo speaks of deer-bone combs used in Guatemala, and of another kind of combs the teeth of which were made of black wood and set in a composition like baked clay but which became soft on exposure to heat.

The early writers speak in general terms of idols of various human and animal forms, cut from all kinds of stone, and also from wood; Martyr also mentions an immense serpent in what he supposed to be a place of punishment in Yucatan, which was 'compacted of bitumen and small stones.' The Itzas constructed of stone and mortar the image of a horse, modeled on an animal left among them by Cortés. The Spanish authors say little or nothing of the sculpture of either idols or architectural decorations, except that it was elaborate, and often demon-like; but their observations on the subject would have had but little value, even had they been more extended, and fortunately architectural remains are sufficiently numerous and complete, at least in Yucatan, Honduras, and Chiapas, to supply information that, if not entirely satisfactory, is far more so than what we possess respecting other branches of Maya art. Brasseur de Bourbourg speaks of vases exquisitely worked from alabaster and agate in Yucatan; there is some authority for this in modern discoveries, but little or none, so far as I know, in the writings of the conquerors. Earthenware, shells, and the rind of the gourd were the material of Maya dishes. All speak of the native pottery as most excellent in workmanship, material, and painting, but give no details of its manufacture. Herrera, however, mentions a province of Guatemala, where very fine pottery was made by the women, and Palacio tells us that this branch of manufactures was one of the chief industries of Aguachapa, a town of the Pipiles.

All that is known of cloths and textile fabrics has been given in enumerating the various articles of dress; of any differences that may have existed between the Nahua and Maya methods of spinning and weaving cotton we know nothing. It is probable that the native methods have not been modified essentially in modern times among the same peoples. We are told that in Yucatan the wife of a god invented weaving, and was worshiped under the name of Ixazalvoh; while another who improved the invention by the use of colored threads was Yxchebelyax, also a goddess. Spinning and weaving was for the most part women's work, and they are spoken of as industrious and skillful in the avocation. Bark and maguey-fibre were made into cloth by the Cakchiquels, and Oviedo mentions several plants whose fibre was worked into nets and ropes by the Nicaraguans. The numerous dye-woods which are still among the richest productions of the country in many parts, furnished the means of imparting to woven fabrics the bright hues of which the natives were so fond. Bright-colored feathers were highly prized and extensively used for decorative purposes. Garments of feathers are spoken of, which were probably made as they were in Mexico by pasting the plumage in various ornamental figures on cotton fabric.[1097]

[Sidenote: SYSTEM OF NUMERATION.]

The following table will give the reader a clear idea of the Maya system of numeration as it existed in Yucatan; the definitions of some of the names are taken from the Maya dictionary, and may or may not have any application to the subject:

1 hun, 'paper' 2 ca, 'calabash' 3 ox, 'shelled corn' 4 can, 'serpent' or 'count' 5 ho, 'entry' 6 uac 7 uuc 8 uaxac, 'something standing erect' 9 bolon, bol, 'to roll or turn' 10 lahun, lah, 'a stone' 11 buluc, 'drowned' 12 lachá, (lahun-ca), 10 + 2 13 oxlahun, 3 + 10 14 canlahun, 4 + 10 15 holhun, (ho-lahun), 5 + 10 16 uaclahun, 6 + 10, etc. 20 hunkal, kal, 'neck,' or a measure, 1 × 20 21 huntukal, 1 + 20 22 catukal, 2 + 20, etc. 28 uaxactukal, or hunkal catac uaxac, 8 + 20, or 20 + 8 catac, 'and' 30 luhucakal, 2 × 20 - 10 (?) 31 buluctukal, 11 + 20 32 lahcatukal, 12 + 20 33 oxlahutukal, 13 + 20, etc. 40 cakal, 2 × 20 41 huntuyoxkal 42 catuyoxkal 50 lahuyoxkal 51 buluctuyoxkal 60 oxhal, 3 × 20 61 huntucankal 70 lahucankal 71 buluctucankal 80 cankal, 4 × 20 81 hutuyokal 82 catuyokal 90 lahuyokal 100 ho-kal, 5 × 20 101 huntu uackal 102 catu uackal 110 lahu uackal 115 holhu uackal 120 uackal, 6 × 20 130 lahu uuckal 131 buluc tu uuckal 140 uuckal, 7 × 20 141 huntu uaxackal 160 uaxackal, 8 × 20, etc. 200 lahuncal, 10 × 20 300 holhukal, 15 × 20 400 hunbak, 1 × 400 500 hotubak 600 lahutubak 800 cabak, 2 × 400 900 hotu yoxbak 1,000 lahuyoxbak or hunpic (modern) 1,200 oxbak, 3 × 400 1,250 oxbak catac lahuyoxkal, 3 × 400 + 50 2,000 capic (modern) 8,000 hunpic (ancient) 16,000 ca pic (ancient) 160,000 calab 1,000,000 kinchil or huntzotzceh 64,000,000 hunalau

Thus the Mayas seem to have had uncompounded names for the numerals from 1 to 11, 20, 400, and 8,000, and to have formed all numbers by the addition or multiplication of these. The manner in which the combinations were made seems clear up to the number 40. Thus we have 10 and 2, 10 and 3, etc., up to 19; 20 is hun-kal, 21 is hun-tu-kal, etc., indicating that tu, which I do not find in any dictionary, is simply 'and' or a sign of addition. The composition of lahu-ca-kal is clear only in the sense of ten from twice twenty; 40 is two twenties, 60 is three twenties, and so on regularly by twenties up to 400, for which a new word bak is introduced; after which the numbers proceed, twice 400, thrice 400, etc., to 8,000, pic, corresponding to the Nahua xiquipilli. But while the composition is intelligible so far as the multiples of 20 and 400 are concerned, it is far from clear in the case of the intermediate numbers. For instance, 40 is ca-kal, and forming 41, 42, etc., as 21 was formed from 20, we should have hun-tu-ca-kal, ca-tu-ca-kal, etc., instead of the names given, hun-tu-yox-kal, etc., or, interpreting this last name as the former were interpreted we should have 61 instead of 41. The same observation may be made respecting every number, not a multiple of 20, up to 400; that is, each number is less by 20 than the composition of its name would seem to indicate. If we gave to tu the meaning 'towards,' then hun-tu-yox-kal might be interpreted '1 (from 40) towards 60,' or 41; but in such a case the word for 21, hun-tu-kal, must be supposed to be a contraction of hun-tu-ca-kal, '1 (from 20) towards 40.' Other irregularities will be noticed by the reader in the numbers above 400. I have thought it best to call attention to what appears a strange inconsistency in this system of numeration, but which may present less difficulties to one better acquainted than I with the Maya language.[1098]

[Sidenote: THE MAYA CALENDAR.]

Authorities on the Maya calendar of Yucatan, the only one of which any details are known, are Bishop Landa and Don Juan Pio Perez. The latter was a modern writer who devoted much study to the subject, was perfectly familiar with the Maya language, and had in his possession or consulted elsewhere many ancient manuscripts. There are also a few scattered remarks on the subject in the works of other writers.[1099]

The Maya day was called kin, or 'sun'; malik ocok kin was the time just preceding sunrise; hatzcab was the time from sunrise to noon, which was called chunkin or 'middle of the day'; tzelep kin was the declining sun, or about three o'clock P. M.; oc na kin was sunset. The night was akab, and midnight was chumuc akab. Other hours were indicated by the position of the sun in the daytime, and by that of some star--the morning star, the Pleiades, and the Gemini as Landa says--during the night.

The following table shows the names of the twenty days with the orthography of different writers, and the meaning of the names so far as known:

Kan 'henequen string,' 'yellow,' 'serpent.' Chicchán chichan would be 'small,' a thing that grows or increases slowly. Cimi (Quimi, Cimij) preterite of cimil, 'to die.' Manik possibly 'passing wind.' Lamat possibly 'abyss of water,' found as lambat in Oajaca calendar. Muluc possibly 'reunion,' also in Chiapas calendar. Oc 'what may be held in the palm of the hand,' 'foot,' 'leg.' Chuen 'board,' or name of a tree, perhaps chouen of Quiché calendar. Eb 'stairway' or 'ladder.' Ben (Been) perhaps Been, an ancient prince, or 'to spend with economy.' Ix (Hix, Gix) possibly 'roughness.' The Quiché itz is 'sorcerer.' Men 'builder.' Cib (Quib) 'wax' or 'copal.' Caban Ezanab (Ecnab, Edznab) Cauac Ahau (Ajau) 'king,' beginning of the period of 24 (or 20) years. Ymix Imox, in Quiché calendar is the Mexican Cipactli. Ik (Yk) 'wind' or 'breath.' Akbal In Quiché, 'vase.'

The hieroglyphics by which the names of the days were expressed are shown in the accompanying cut in their proper order of succession,--Kan, Chicchan, etc., to Akbal; but it is to be noted that although this order was invariable, yet the month might begin with any one of the four days Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac.

The month, made up as I have said of twenty days, was called u, or 'moon,' indicating perhaps that time was originally computed by lunar calculations. It was also called uinal, a word whose signification is not satisfactorily given. The year contained eighteen months, whose names with the hieroglyphics by which they were written, are shown in the cut on the opposite page, in their order, Pop, Uo, Zip, etc., to Cumhu.

Not only did the months succeed each other always in the same order, but Pop was always the first month of the year, which began on a date corresponding to July 16 of our calendar, a date which varies only forty-eight hours from the time when the sun passes the zenith--an approximation as accurate as could be expected from observations made without instruments.

[Sidenote: MONTHS OF THE MAYA CALENDAR.]

The following table shows the names of the months, their meaning, and the day on which each began, according to our calendar:

Pop (Poop, Popp) 'mat' July 16 Uo (Woo, Voo) 'Frog' Aug. 5 Zip (Cijp) name of a tree, 'defect,' 'swollen' Aug. 25 Tzoz (Zoc, Zotz) 'bat' Sept. 14 Tzec (Zeec) possibly 'discourse,' 'skull' Oct. 4 Xul 'end' Oct. 24 Yaxkin (Dze-Yaxkin, Tze Yaxkin) 'beginning of summer' Nov. 13 Mol (Mool) 'to reunite'. Dec. 3 Chen (Cheen) 'well' Dec. 23 Yax (Yaax) 'green' or 'blue' or 'first' Jan. 12 Zac (Zak) 'clear,' 'white' Feb. 1 Ceh (Qeh, Quej, Queh) 'deer' Feb. 21 Mac, 'to close,' 'lid,' a measure Mar. 13 Kankin, 'yellow sun' Apr. 2 Muan (Moan) 'showery day,' the bird called 'ara' Apr. 22 Pax (Paax) a musical instrument May 12 Kayab, 'singing' June 1 Cumhu (Cumkú) noise of an explosion, as of thunder June 21 [1100]

[Sidenote: INTERCALARY DAYS.]

The year was called haab, and consisted of the eighteen months already named,--which would make 360 days,--and of five supplementary, or intercalary days, to complete the full number of 365. These intercalary days were called xma kaba kin, or 'nameless days,' and also uayab or nayeb haab, u na haab, nayab chab, u yail kin, u yail haab, u tuz kin, or u lobol kin, which may mean 'bed' or 'chamber' of the year, 'mother of the year,' 'bed of creation,' 'travail of the year,' 'lying days,' or 'bad days,' etc. They were added at the end of each year, after the last day of Cumhu, and although they are called nameless, and were perhaps never spoken of by name, yet they were actually reckoned like the rest;--that is, if the last day of Cumhu was Akbal, the five intercalary days would be reckoned as Kan, Chicchan, Cimi, Manik, and Lamat, so that the new year, or the month of Pop, would begin with the day Muluc.

Besides this division of time into years, months, and days, there was another division carried along simultaneously with the first, into twenty-eight periods of thirteen days each,[1101] which may for convenience be termed weeks, although the natives did not apply any name to the period of thirteen days, and perhaps did not regard it as a definite period at all, but used the number thirteen as a sacred number from some superstitious motives;[1102] yet its use produces some curious complications in the calendar, of which it is a most peculiar feature. The name of each day was preceded by a numeral showing its position in the week, and these numerals proceeded regularly from one to thirteen and then began again at one. Thus 1 Kan meant 'Kan, the first day of the week'; 12 Cauac, 'Cauac, the twelfth day of the week,' etc. It is probable also that the days of the month were numbered regularly from 1 to 20, as events are spoken of as occurring on the 18th of Zip, etc., but the numeral relating to the week was the most prominent. The table shows the succession of days and weeks for several months:

========================================= | 1 | | | 2 | | a | POP. | b | a | UO. | b | ---+----------+----+----+----------+----+ 1 | Kan | 1 | 8 | Kan | 1 | 2 | Chicchán | 2 | 9 | Chicchán | 2 | 3 | Cimi | 3 | 10 | Cimi | 3 | 4 | Manik | 4 | 11 | Manik | 4 | 5 | Lamat | 5 | 12 | Lamat | 5 | 6 | Muluc | 6 | 13 | Muluc | 6 | 7 | Oc | 7 | 1 | Oc | 7 | 8 | Chuen | 8 | 2 | Chuen | 8 | 9 | Eb | 9 | 3 | Eb | 9 | 10 | Ben | 10 | 4 | Ben | 10 | 11 | Ix | 11 | 5 | Ix | 11 | 12 | Men | 12 | 6 | Men | 12 | 13 | Cib | 13 | 7 | Cib | 13 | 1 | Caban | 14 | 8 | Caban | 14 | 2 | Ezanab | 15 | 9 | Ezanab | 15 | 3 | Cauac | 16 | 10 | Cauac | 16 | 4 | Ahau | 17 | 11 | Ahau | 17 | 5 | Ymix | 18 | 12 | Ymix | 18 | 6 | Ik | 19 | 13 | Ik | 19 | 7 | Akbal | 20 | 1 | Akbal | 20 | ========================================= a: Day of Week. b: Day of Month.

========================================= | 3 | | | 4 | | a | ZIP. | b | a | TZOZ. | b | ---+----------+----+----+----------+----+ 2 | Kan | 1 | 9 | Kan | 1 | 3 | Chicchán | 2 | 10 | Chicchán | 2 | 4 | Cimi | 3 | 11 | Cimi | 3 | 5 | Manik | 4 | 12 | Manik | 4 | 6 | Lamat | 5 | 13 | Lamat | 5 | 7 | Muluc | 6 | 1 | Muluc | 6 | 8 | Oc | 7 | 2 | Oc | 7 | 9 | Chuen | 8 | 3 | Chuen | 8 | 10 | Eb | 9 | 4 | Eb | 9 | 11 | Ben | 10 | 5 | Ben | 10 | 12 | Ix | 11 | 6 | Ix | 11 | 13 | Men | 12 | 7 | Men | 12 | 1 | Cib | 13 | 8 | Cib | 13 | 2 | Caban | 14 | 9 | Caban | 14 | 3 | Ezanab | 15 | 10 | Ezanab | 15 | 4 | Cauac | 16 | 11 | Cauac | 16 | 5 | Ahau | 17 | 12 | Ahau | 17 | 6 | Ymix | 18 | 13 | Ymix | 18 | 7 | Ik | 19 | 1 | Ik | 19 | 8 | Akbal | 20 | 2 | Akbal | 20 | =========================================

Of the twenty days only four,--Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac--could begin either a month or a year. Whatever the name of the first day of the first month, every month in the year began with the same day, accompanied, however, by a different numeral. The numeral of the first day for the first month being 1, that of the second would be 8, and so on for the other months in the following order: 2, 9, 3, 10, 4, 11, 5, 12, 6, 13, 7, 1, 8, 2, 9, 3. To ascertain the numeral for any month 7 must be added to that of the preceding month, and 13 subtracted from the sum if it be more than 13.

[Sidenote: SUCCESSION OF THE YEARS.]

By extending the table of days and months over a period of years,--an extension which my space does not permit me to make in these pages,--the reader will observe that by reason of the intercalary days, and of the fact that 28 weeks of 13 days each make only 364 instead of 365 days, if the first year began with the day 1 Kan, the second would begin with 2 Muluc, the third with 3 Ix, the fourth with 4 Cauac, the fifth with 5 Kan, and so on in regular order; therefore the years were named by the day on which they began, 1 Kan, 2 Muluc, 3 Ix, etc., since the year would begin with any one of these combinations only once in 52 years. Thus the four names of the days Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac served as signs for the years, precisely as the signs tochtli, calli, tecpatl, and acatl with their numerals served among the Aztecs. In the circle in which the Mayas are said to have inscribed their calendar, these four signs are located in the east, north, west, and south respectively, and are considered the 'carriers of the years.'

It will be seen that, starting from 1 Kan, although every fifth year began with the day, or sign, Kan, yet the numeral 1 did not occur again in connection with any first day until thirteen years had passed away; so that 1 Kan or Kan alone not only named the year which it began, but also a period of thirteen years, which is spoken of as a 'week of years' or an 'indiction.' The first indiction of thirteen years beginning with 1 Kan, the second began with 1 Muluc, the third with 1 Ix, and the fourth with 1 Cauac.

After the indiction whose sign was 1 Cauac, the next would begin again with 1 Kan; that is 52 years would have elapsed, and this period of 52 years was called a Katun, corresponding with the Aztec cycle, as explained in a preceding chapter.

Thus we see that the four signs Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac served to name certain days of the month; they also named the years of the indiction, since in connection with certain numerals they were the first days of these years; they further named the indictions of the Katun, of which with the numeral 1 they were also the first days; and finally they named, or may have named, the Katun itself which they begun, also in connection with the numeral 1. How the Katuns were actually named we are not informed. The completion of each Katun was regarded by the Mayas as a most critical and important epoch, and was celebrated with most imposing religious ceremonies. Also a monument is said to have been raised, on which a large stone was placed crosswise, also called katun as a memorial of the cycle that had passed. It is unfortunate that some of these monuments cannot be discovered and identified among the ruins. Thus far the Maya calendar is, after a certain amount of study, sufficiently intelligible; and is, except in its system of nomenclature, essentially identical with that of the Nahuas. The calendars of the Quichés, Cakchiquels, Chiapanecs, and the natives of Soconusco, are also the same so far as their details are known. The names of months and days in some of these calendars will be given in this chapter.

[Sidenote: THE AHAU KATUNES.]

Another division of time not found in the Nahua calendar, was that into the Ahau Katunes. The system according to which this division was made is clear enough if we may accept the statements of Sr Perez; several of which rest on authorities that are unknown to all but himself. According to this writer, the Ahau Katun was a period of 24 years, divided into two parts; the first part of 20 years was enclosed in the native writings by a square and called amaytun, lamayte, or lamaytun; and the second, of the other four years, was placed as a 'pedestal' to the others, and therefore called chek oc katun, or lath oc katun. These four years were considered as intercalary and unfortunate, like the five supplementary days of the year, and were sometimes called a yail haab, 'years of pain.' This Katun of 24 years was called Ahau from its first day, and the natives began to reckon from 13 Ahau Katun, because it began on the day 13 Ahau, on which day some great event probably took place in their history. The day Ahau at which these periods began was the second day of such years as began with Cauac; and 13 Ahau, the first day of the first period, was the second of the year 12 Cauac; 2 Ahau was the second day of the year 1 Cauac, etc. If we construct a table of the years from 12 Cauac in regular order, we shall find that if the first period was 13 Ahau Katun because it began with 13 Ahau, the second, 24 years later, was 11 Ahau Katun, beginning with 11 Ahau; the third was 9 Ahau Katun, etc. That is, the Ahau Katunes, instead of being numbered 1, 2, 3, etc., in regular order was preceded by the numerals 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2. 13 of these Ahau Katunes, making 312 years, constituted a great cycle, and we are told that it was by means of the Ahau Katunes and great cycles of 312 years that historical events were generally recorded.

Sr Perez states that the year 1392 of our era was the Maya year 7 Cauac, 'according to all sources of information, confirmed by the testimony of Don Cosme de Burgos, one of the conquerors, and a writer (but whose observations have been lost).' Therefore the 8 Ahau Katun began on the second day of that year; the 6 Ahau Katun, 24 years later, in 1416; the 4 Ahau in 1440; the 2, in 1464; the 13, in 1488; the 11, in 1512; the 9, in 1536; the 7, in 1560; the 5, in 1584; the 3, in 1608, etc. As a test of the accuracy of his system of Ahau Katunes, the author says that he found in a certain manuscript the death of a distinguished individual, Ahpulá, mentioned as having taken place in the 6th year of Ahau Katun, when the first day of the year was 4 Kan, on the day of 9 Ix, the 18th day of the month Zip. Now the 13 Ahau began in the year 12 Cauac, or 1488; the 6th year from 1488 was 1493, or 4 Kan; if the month of Pop began with 4 Kan, then the 3d month, Zip, began with 5 Kan, and the 18th of that month fell on 9 Ix, or Sept. 11. All this may be readily verified by filling out the table in regular order.

On the other hand we have Landa's statement that the Ahau Katun was a period of 20 years; he gives however the same order of the numerals as Perez,--that is 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2. He also states that the year 1541 was the beginning of 11 Ahau; but if 11 Ahau was the second day of 1541, that year must have been 10 Cauac, and 1561, 20 years later, would have been 4 Cauac, the second day of which would have been 5 Ahau; which does not agree at all with the order of numerals. In fact no other number of years than 24 for each Ahau Katun will produce this order of numerals, which fact is perhaps the strongest argument in favor of Sr Perez' system. Cogolludo also says that the Mayas counted their time by periods of 20 years called Katunes, each divided into 5 sub-periods of four years each. Sr Perez admits that other writers reckon the Ahau Katun as 20 years, but claims that they have fallen into error through disregarding the chek oc katun, or 4 unlucky years of the period. A Maya manuscript furnished and translated by Perez is published by Stephens and in Landa's work, and repeatedly speaks of the Ahau Katun as a period of 20 years. Again, this is the very manuscript in which the death of Ahpulá was announced, and the date of that event is given as 6 years before the completion of 13 Ahau, instead of the sixth year of that period as stated in the calculations of Sr Perez; and besides, the date is distinctly given as 1536, instead of 1403, which dates will in nowise agree with the system explained, or with the date of 1392 given as the beginning of 8 Ahau. Moreover, as I have already said, several of the statements on which Perez bases his computations are unsupported by any authority save manuscripts unknown to all but himself. Such are the statements that the Ahau Katun began on the 2d day of a year Cauac; that 13 Ahau was reckoned as the first; and that 8 Ahau began in 1392. These facts, together with various other inaccuracies in the writings of Sr Perez are sufficient to weaken our faith in his system of the Ahau Katunes; and since the other writers give no explanations, this part of the Maya calendar must remain shrouded in doubt until new sources of information shall be found.[1103] The following quotation made by Sr Perez from a manuscript, contains all that is known respecting what was possibly another method of reckoning time. "There was another number which they called Ua Katun, and which served them as a key to find the Katunes, according to the order of its march, it falls on the days of the uayeb haab, and revolves to the end of certain years: Katunes 13, 9, 5, 1, 10, 6, 2, 11, 7, 3, 12, 8, 4."

[Sidenote: BISSEXTILE ADDITIONS.]

We have seen that the Maya year by means of intercalary days added at the end of the month Cumhu was made to include 365 days. How the additional six hours necessary to make the length of the year agree with the solar movements were intercalated without disturbing the complicated order already described, is altogether a matter of conjecture. The most plausible theory is perhaps that a day was added at the end of every four years, this day being called by the same name and numeral as the one preceding it, or, in other words, no account being made of this day in the almanac, although it was perhaps indicated by some sign in the hieroglyphics of these days. The Nicaraguan calendar was practically identical with that of the Aztecs, even in nomenclature although there were naturally some slight variations in orthography. The following table shows the names of the months in several other Maya calendars, whose system so far as known is the same as that in Yucatan.

Chiapas Quiché.[1104] Cakchiquel.[1104] and Soconusco.[1105] ------------------------+---------------------------+-------------- 1 Nabe Tzih '1st word' | I Bota 'rolls of mats' | Tzun 2 U Cab Tzih '2d word' | Qatic 'common seed' | Batzul 3 Rox Tzih '3d word' | Izcal 'sprouts' | Sisac 4 Che 'tree' | Pariche 'firewood' | Muetasac 5 Tecoxepual | Tocaxequal 'seeding time' | Moc 6 Tzibe Pop | Nabey Tumuzuz | Olati 'painted mat' | '1st flying ants' | | Rucab Tumuzuz | Ulol 7 Zak 'white' | '2d flying ants' | 8 Chab 'bow' | Cibixic 'time of smoke' | Oquinajual 9 Huno Bix Gih | Uchum 'resowing time' | Veh '1st song of sun' | | 10 Nabe Mam | Nabey Mam '1st old man' | Elech '1st old man' | | 11 U Cab Mam | Ru Cab Mam '2d old man' | Nichqum '2d old man' | | 12 Nabe Ligin Ga | Ligin Ka 'soft hand' | Sbanvinquil '1st soft hand' | | 13 U Cab Ligin Ga | Nabey Togic '1st harvest' | Xchibalvinquil '2d soft hand' | | 14 Nabe Pach | Ru Cab Togic '2d harvest' | Yoxibalvinquil '1st generation' | | 15 U Cab Pach | Nabey Pach | Xchanibalvinquil '2d generation' | '1st generation' | 16 Tziquin Gih | Ru Cab Pach | Poin 'time of birds' | '2d generation' | 17 Tzizi Lagan | Tziquin Gih | Mux 'to sew the standard'| 'time of birds' | 18 Cakam 'time of | Cakam | Yaxquin red flowers' | 'time of red flowers' |

[Sidenote: DAYS IN GUATEMALA AND CHIAPAS.]

The names of the days in the same calendars are as follows:

Quiché and Cakchiquel.[1106] Chiapas (Tzendal?) Soconusco.[1107] ---------------------------------+------------------------------------ 1 Imox 'sword-fish' | Imox or Mox 2 Ig 'spirit' or 'breath' | Igh or Ygh 3 Akbal 'chaos' | Votan 4 Qat 'lizard' | Chanan or Ghanan 5 Can 'snake' | Abah or Abagh 6 Camey 'death' | Tox 7 Quieh 'deer' | Moxic 8 Ganel 'rabbit' | Lambat 9 Toh 'shower' | Molo or Mulu 10 Tzy 'dog' | Elab or Elah 11 Batz 'monkey' | Batz 12 Ci or Balam, 'broom,' 'tiger' | Evob or Enob 13 Ah 'cane' | Been 14 Yiz or Itz 'sorcerer' | Hix 15 Tziquin 'bird' | Tziquin 16 Ahmak 'fisher,' 'owl' | Chabin or Chahin 17 Noh 'temperature' | Chic or Chiue 18 Tihax 'obsidian' | Chinax 19 Caok 'rain' | Cahogh or Cabogh 20 Hunahpu 'shooter of blowpipe' | Aghual

I shall treat of the Maya hieroglyphics by giving first the testimony of the early writers respecting the existence of a system of writing in the sixteenth century; then an account of the very few manuscripts that have been preserved, together with illustrative plates from both manuscripts and sculptured stone tablets; to be followed by Bishop Landa's alphabet, a mention of Brasseur de Bourbourg's attempted interpretation of the native writings, and a few speculations of other modern writers on the subject. The statements of the early writers, although conclusive, are not numerous, and I will consequently translate them literally.

Landa says that "the sciences which they taught were--to read and write with their books and characters with which they wrote, and with the figures which signified (explained, or took the place of?) writings. They wrote their books on a large leaf, doubled in folds, and inclosed between two boards which they made very fine (decorated); and they wrote on both sides in columns, according to the folds; the paper they made of the roots of a tree, and gave it a white varnish on which one could write well; these sciences were known by certain men of high rank (only), who were therefore more esteemed although they did not use the art in public." "These people also used certain characters or letters with which they wrote in their books their antiquities and their sciences; and by means of these and of figures and of certain signs in their figures they understood their things, and made them understood, and taught them. We found among them a great number of books of these letters of theirs, and because they had nothing in which there were not superstitions and falsities of the devil, we burned them all, at which they were exceedingly sorrowful and troubled."[1108] According to Cogolludo, "in the time of their infidelity the Indians of Yucatan had books, made of the bark of trees, with a white and durable varnish, ten or twelve yards long, which by folding were reduced to a span. In these they painted with colors the account of their years, wars, floods, hurricanes, famines, and other events." "The son of the only god, of whose existence, as I have said, they were aware, and whom they called Ytzamná, was the man, as I believe, who first invented the characters which served the Indians as letters, because they called the latter also Ytzamná."[1109] The Itzas, as Villagutierre tells us, had "characters and figures painted on the bark of trees, each leaf, or tablet, being about a span long, as thick as a real de à ocho (a coin), folded both ways like a screen, which they called analtees."[1110] Mendieta states that the Mexicans had no letters, "although in the land of Champoton it is said that such were found, and that they understood each other by means of them, as we do by means of ours."[1111] Acosta says that in Yucatan "there were books of leaves, bound or folded after their manner, in which the learned Indians had their division of their time, knowledge of plants and animals and other natural objects, and their antiquities; a thing of great curiosity and diligence."[1112] The Maya priests "were occupied in teaching their sciences and in writing books upon them."[1113] In Guatemala, according to Benzoni, "the thing of all others at which the Indians have been most surprised has been our reading and writing.... Nor could they imagine among themselves in what way white paper painted with black, could speak."[1114] Peter Martyr gives quite a long description of the native wood-bound books, which he does not refer particularly to Yucatan, although Brasseur, apparently with much reason, believes they were the Maya analtés rather than the regular Aztec picture writings. The description is as follows in the quaint English of the translator. "They make not their books square leafe by leafe, but extend the matter and substance thereof into many cubites. They reduce them into square peeces, not loose, but with binding, and flexible Bitumen so conioyned, that being compact of wooden table bookes, they may seeme to haue passed the hands of some curious workman that ioyned them together. Which way soeuer the book bee opened, two written sides offer themselues to the view, two pages appeare and as many lye vnder, vnlesse you stretch them in length: for there are many leaues ioyned together vnder one leafe. The Characters are very vnlike ours, written after our manner, lyne after lyne, with characters like small dice, fishookes, snares, files, starres, & other such like formes and shapes. Wherein they immitate almost the Egyptian manner of writing, and betweene the lines they paint the shapes of men, & beasts, especially of their kings & nobles.... They make the former wooden table bookes also with art to content and delight the beholder. Being shut, they seeme to differ nothing from our bookes, in these they set downe in writing the rites, and the customes of their laws, sacrifices, ceremonies, their computations, etc."[1115]

[Sidenote: MAYA HIEROGLYPHIC SYSTEM.]

Respecting hieroglyphic records in Chiapas and Guatemala, we have the statement of Ordoñez that "Votan wrote a work upon the origin of the Indians," and that he, Ordoñez, had a copy of the book in his possession; a complaint in the Quiché annals known as the Popol Vuh, that the 'national book' containing the ancient records of their people had been lost; and finally the reported discovery and destruction in Soconusco of archives on stone by Nuñez de la Vega in 1691. All this amounts to little save as indicating the ancient use of hieroglyphics by the followers of Votan, a fact sufficiently proven, as we shall see, by the engraved tablets of Palenque and Copan.[1116] The Nicaraguans at the time of the conquest had records painted in colors upon skin and paper, undoubtedly identical in their figures with those of the Nahuas, to whom the civilized people of Nicaragua were nearly related in blood and language. No specimens of these southern hieroglyphics have, however, been preserved. Oviedo and Herrera slightly describe the paintings and later writers have followed them.[1117]

[Sidenote: MAYA MANUSCRIPTS.]

Of the aboriginal Maya manuscripts three specimens only, so far as I know, have been preserved. These are the Mexican Manuscript, No. 2, of the Imperial Library at Paris; the Dresden Codex; and the Manuscript Troano. Concerning the first we only know of its existence and the similarity of its characters to those of the other two and of the sculptured tablets. The document was photographed in 1864 by order of the French government, but I am not aware that the photographs have ever been given to the public. The Dresden Codex is preserved in the Royal Library of Dresden. A complete copy was published in Lord Kingsborough's collection of Mexican antiquities, and fragments were also reproduced by Humboldt. It was purchased in Vienna by the librarian Götz in 1739, but beyond this nothing whatever is known of its history and origin. It was published by Kingsborough as an Aztec picture-writing, although its characters present little if any resemblance to those of its companion documents in the collection. Its form was also different from all the rest, since it is written on both sides of five leaves of maguey-paper. At the time of its publication, however, the existence of any but Aztec hieroglyphics in America was unknown. Mr Stephens in his antiquarian exploration of Central America, at once noticed the similarity of its figures to those of the sculptured hieroglyphics found there, but he used this similarity to prove the identity of the northern and southern nations, since it did not occur to him that the Aztec origin of the Dresden document was a mere supposition. Mr Brantz Mayer, fully aware of the differences between this and other reputed Mexican picture-writings, went so far as to pronounce it the only genuine Aztec document that he had seen. There can be no reasonable doubt, however, at this day, that the Maya and Nahua (or Maya and Aztec, since some authors will not agree with my use of the term Nahua) hieroglyphic systems were practically distinct, although it would be hardly wise to decide that they are absolutely without affinities in some of their details. The accompanying cut from Stephens' work shows a small fragment of the Dresden Codex.[1118]

[Sidenote: THE MANUSCRIPT TROANO.]

The Manuscript Troano was found about the year 1865 in Madrid by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, and was reproduced in fac-simile by a chromo-lithographic process by the Commission Scientifique du Mexique, under the auspices of the French Government. Its name comes from that of its possessor in Madrid, Sr Tro y Ortolano, and nothing whatever is known of its origin; two or three other old American manuscripts are reported to have been brought to light in Spain since the publication of this. The original is written on a strip of maguey-paper about fourteen feet long and nine inches wide, the surface of which is covered with a whitish varnish, on which the figures are painted in black, red, blue, and brown. It is folded fan-like into thirty-five folds, presenting when shut much the appearance of a modern large octavo volume. The hieroglyphics cover both sides of the paper, and the writing is consequently divided into seventy pages, each about five by nine inches, having been apparently executed after the paper was folded, so that the folding does not interfere with the written matter. One of the pages as a specimen is shown in the following plate, an exact copy, save in size and color, of the original.

The regular lines of written characters are uniformly in black, while the pictorial portions, or what may perhaps be considered representative signs, are in red and brown, chiefly the former, and the blue appears for the most part as a background in some of the pages. A few of the pages are slightly damaged, and all the imperfections are, as it is claimed, faithfully reproduced in the published copy, which with the editor's comments fills two quarto volumes in the series published by the Commission mentioned.[1119]

[Sidenote: MAYA INSCRIPTIONS IN STONE.]

The plates on the following pages from the works of Stephens and Waldeck I present as specimens of the Maya writing, as it is found carved in stone in Yucatan, Honduras, and Chiapas. For particulars respecting the ruins in connection with which they were discovered, I refer the reader to volume IV. of this work. Fig. 1 represents the hieroglyphics sculptured on the top of an altar at Copan, in Honduras, the thirty-six groups cover a space nearly six feet square. Fig. 2 is a tablet set in the interior wall of a building in Chichen, Yucatan. The tablet is placed over the doorways and extends the whole length of the room, forty-three feet; only a part, however, is shown in the cut. Fig. 3 is a full-size representation of the carving on a green stone, or chalchiuite, found at Ococingo, Chiapas. I take it from the English translation of Morelet's Travels. Many of the monoliths of Copan have a line of hieroglyphics on their side. Plates representing specimens of these monuments will be given in Volume IV. Fig. 4 shows a portion of the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the famous 'tablet of the cross' at Palenque.[1120]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: BISHOP LANDA'S ALPHABET.]

I have given on a preceding page in this chapter, the signs by which the natives of Yucatan expressed the names of their days and months, taken from the work of Bishop Landa. The same author has also preserved a Maya alphabet. On account of Landa's failure to appreciate the importance of the native hieroglyphics, or to comprehend the system, and also very likely on account of his copyist's carelessness--for the original manuscript of Landa's work has not been found--the passage relating to the alphabet is very vague, unsatisfactory, and perhaps fragmentary; but it is of the very highest importance, since the alphabet here given in connection with the calendar signs already spoken of, furnish apparently the only ground for a hope that the veil of mystery which hangs over the Maya inscriptions may one day be lifted. I therefore give Landa's description as nearly as possible in his own words, copying also the original Spanish in a note.

"Of their letters I give here (see alphabet on the next page) an A, B, C, since their heaviness (number and intricacy?) permits no more; because they use one character for all the aspirations of the letters, and another in the pointing of the parts (punctuation), and thus it goes on to infinity, as may be seen in the following example: lé means 'a snare' or to hunt with it; to write it with their characters, we having given them to understand (although we gave, etc.) that they are two letters, they wrote it with three, placing after the aspiration l the vowel e, which it has before it, and in this they do not err, although they make use, if they wish, of their curious method. Example:

Then at the end they attach the adjoined part. Ha which means 'water,' because the haché (sound of the letter h) has a, h, before it, they put it at the beginning with a, at the end in this manner:

They also write it in parts but in both ways. I would not put (all this) here, nor treat of it, except in order to give a complete account of the things of this people. Ma in kati means 'I will not'; they write it in parts after this manner."[1121]

[Illustation: ma i n ka ti]

Respecting this alphabet Landa adds: "this language lacks the letters that are missing here; and has others added from ours for other necessary things; and they already make no use of these characters, especially the young who have learned ours." It will be noticed that there are several varying characters for the same letter, and several syllabic signs.

The characters of Landa's alphabet, and the calendar signs can be identified more or less accurately and readily with some of those of the hieroglyphic inscriptions in stone, the Manuscript Troano, and the Dresden Codex. The resemblance in many cases is clear, in others very vague and perhaps imaginary, while very many others cannot apparently be identified. Although Landa's key must be regarded as fragmentary, I believe there is no reason to doubt its authenticity. But one attempt has been made to practically apply this key to the work of deciphering the Maya documents, that of the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg. This writer, after a profound study of the subject, devotes one hundred and thirty-six quarto pages to a consideration of the Maya characters and their variations, and fifty-seven pages to the translation of a part of the Manuscript Troano. The translation must be pronounced a failure, especially after the confession of the author in a subsequent work that he had begun his reading at the wrong end of the document,[1122]--a trifling error perhaps in the opinion of the enthusiastic Abbé, but a somewhat serious one as it appears to scientific men. His preliminary examinations doubtless contain much valuable information which will lighten the labors and facilitate the investigations of future students; but unfortunately, such is their nature that condensation is impracticable. A long chapter, if not a volume, would be required to do them anything like justice, and they must be omitted here.

Brasseur de Bourbourg devoted his life to the study of American primitive history. In actual knowledge of matters pertaining to his chosen subject, no man ever equaled or approached him. Besides being an indefatigable student he was an elegant writer. In the last decade of his life he conceived a new and complicated theory respecting the origin of the American people, or rather the origin of Europeans and Asiatics from America, made known to the world in his Quatre Lettres. His attempted translation of the Manuscript Troano was made in support of this theory. By reason of the extraordinary nature of the views expressed, and the author's well-known tendency to build magnificent structures on a slight foundation, his later writings were received for the most part by critics, utterly incompetent to understand them, with a sneer or, what seems to have grieved the writer more, in silence. Now that the great Américaniste is dead, while it is not likely that his theories will ever be received, his zeal in the cause of antiquarian science and the many valuable works from his pen will be better appreciated. It will be long ere another shall undertake with equal devotion and ability the well nigh hopeless task.

[Sidenote: INTERPRETATION OF MAYA RECORDS.]

I close the chapter with a few quotations from modern writers respecting the Maya hieroglyphics and their interpretation. Tyler says "there is even evidence that the Maya nation of Yucatan, the ruins of whose temples and palaces are so well known from the travels of Catherwood and Stephens, not only had a system of phonetic writing, but used it for writing ordinary words and sentences."[1123] Wuttke suggests that Landa's alphabet originated after the Conquest, a suggestion, as Schepping observes, excluded by Mendieta's statement, but "otherwise very probable in consideration of the phoneticism developed in Mexico shortly after the Conquest."[1124] And finally Wilson says, "while the recurrence of the same signs, and the reconstruction of groups out of the detached members of others, clearly indicate a written language, and not a mere pictorial suggestion of associated ideas, like the Mexican picture-writing." "In the most complicated tablets of African hieroglyphics, each object is distinct, and its representative significance is rarely difficult to trace. But the majority of the hieroglyphics of Palenque or Copan appear as if constructed on the same polysynthetic principle which gives the peculiar and distinctive character to the languages of the New World. This is still more apparent when we turn to the highly elaborate inscriptions on the colossal figures of Copan. In these all ideas of simple phonetic signs utterly disappear. Like the bunch-words, as they have been called, of the American languages, they seem each to be compounded of a number of parts of the primary symbols used in picture-writing, while the pictorial origin of the whole becomes clearly apparent. In comparing these minutely elaborated characters with those on the tables, it is obvious that a system of abbreviation is employed in the latter. An analogous process seems dimly discernible in the abbreviated compound characters of the Palenque inscription. But if the inference be correct, this of itself would serve to indicate that the Central American hieroglyphics are not used as phonetic, or pure alphabetic signs; and this idea receives confirmation from the rare recurrence of the same group.... The Palenque inscriptions have all the characteristics of a written language in a state of development analogous to the Chinese, with its word-writing; and like it they appear to have been read in columns from top to bottom. The groups of symbols begin with a large hieroglyphic on the left-hand corner; and the first column occupies a double space. It is also noticeable that in the frequent occurrence of human and animal heads among the sculptured characters they invariably look toward the left; an indication, as it appears to me, that they are the graven inscriptions of a lettered people, who were accustomed to write the same characters from left to right on paper or skins. Indeed, the pictorial groups on the Copan statues seem to be the true hieroglyphic characters; while the Palenque inscriptions show the abbreviated hieratic writing. To the sculptor the direction of the characters was a matter of no moment; but if the scribe held his pen, or style, in his right hand, like the modern clerk, he would as naturally draw the left profile as we slope our current hand to the right. Arbitrary signs are also introduced, like those of the phonetic alphabets of Europe. Among these the T repeatedly occurs: a character which, it will be remembered, was also stamped on the Mexican metallic currency."[1125]

FOOTNOTES:

[1096] Two spindles with golden tissue. Cortés, Cartas, pp. 3, 422. Six golden idols, each one span long, in Nicaragua. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. v. 20 golden hatchets, 14 carats fine, weighing over 20 lbs. Id., lib. iv., cap. vi. Houses of goldsmiths that molded marvellously. Id., cap. vii. See also Id., dec. i., lib. v., cap. v. Little fishes and geese of low gold at Catoche. Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 4. Golden armor and ornaments at Tabasco River. Id., pp. 12-13. Idols of unknown metals among the Itzas. Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 495, 497. Gilded wooden mask, gold plates, little golden kettles. Diaz, Itinéraire, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x. pp. 16, 25. Vases of chiseled gold in Yucatan. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 69; Id., in Landa, Relacion, p. 32; Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nuovo, fol. 102; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 39, 95, tom. i., p. 520; Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. i., dec. vi., lib. ii., vi.; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 354; Godoi, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 178; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 346. Respecting a copper mask from Nicaragua and two copper medals from Guatemala, see vol. iv. of this work.

[1097] For slight notices of the various mechanical arts of the Mayas see the following authorities: Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., pp. 276, 350, 521, tom. iv., pp. 33, 36, 105-9; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 354, tom. ii., p. 346; Laet, Novus Orbis, p. 329; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 4, 13, 187, 196; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. ii., cap. xvii., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. ix., lib. x., cap. ii., xiv.; Landa, Relacion, pp. 116, 120, 128-9; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 100, 311-12, 495, 499-501; Remesal, Hist. Chyapa., p. 293; Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. ii., dec. vi., lib. iii.; Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nuovo, fol. 98, 102-3; Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 203; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 268; Cortés, Cartas, p. 489; Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col. de Viajes, tom. iii., p. 416; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxiv.; Id., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., pp. 147-8; Palacio, Carta, p. 44; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., pp. 339, 346; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, p. 212; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 69, 172, 563.

[1098] Beltran de Santa Rosa María, Arte, pp. 195-208; Id., in Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano, tom. ii., pp. 92-9. 'El modo de contar de los Indios es de cinco en cinco, y de quatro cincos hazen veinte.' Landa, Relacion, p. 206; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.

[1099] Landa, Relacion, pp. 202-316; Perez, Cronologia Antigua de Yuc., with French translation, in Id., pp. 366-429; English translation of the same in Stephens' Yucatan, vol. i., pp. 434-59; original Spanish also in the Registro Yucateco; Orozco y Berra, Geografía, pp. 103-8, 163-4; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. 137; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 65-6; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 104-14; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 462-7; Id., MS. Troano, tom. i., pp. 73-97.

[1100] Cogolludo omits the month Tzoz, and inserts a month Vaycab, Vtuz Kin, or Vlobol Kin, between Cumhu and Pop. He also in one place puts Cuchhaab in the place of Kan. Hist. Yuc., p. 185-6. See also Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 466-7; Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., p. 22. The Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, in his attempted interpretation of the Manuscript Troano, gives the following curious etymologies of the names of these months. 'Le vocable pop, que Beltran écrit long, poop, signifie la natte, "estera ò petate," dit Pio Perez, qui donne encore à pop le sens d'un arbrisseau ou d'une plante qu'il ne décrit point, mais qui, fort probablement, doit être de la nature des joncs dont on fait les différentes espèces de nattes connues au Yucatan. En prenant ce vocable avec l'orthographe de Beltran, poop se composerait de po, primitif inusité, exprimant l'enflure, la vapeur, l'expansion par la chaleur d'une matière dans une enveloppe, et de op, briser, rompre pour sortir, crevasser par la force du feu.... Beltran ajoute que uo désigne en outre le têtard, une sorte de petit crapaud et un fruit indigène, appelé pitahaya aux Antilles ... uo, au rapport du même auteur énonce l'idée des caractères de l'écriture, en particulier des voyelles.... Cet hiéroglyphe paraît assez difficile à expliquer. Sa section inférieure renferme un caractère qui semble, en raccourci, celui de la lettre h, et la section supérieure est identique avec le signe que je crois une variante du ti, localité, lieu. Ce qu'on pourrait interpréter par "le possesseur enfermé du lieu," indice du têtard, de l'embryon dans son enveloppe. (?) L'ensemble de l'idée géologique, qui a présidé à la composition du calendrier maya, se poursuit dans les noms des mois, ainsi que dans ceux des jours. Après le marécage, déjà crevassé par le chaleur, apparaît le têtard, l'embryon de la grenouille, laissé au fond de la bourbe, symbole de l'embryon du feu volcanique couvant sous la terre glacée et qui ne tardera pas à rompre son enveloppe, ainsi qu'on le verra dans les noms des mois suivants.... Zip, analysé, donne Zi ip, bois à brûler qui se gonfle outre mesure, sens intéressant qui rappelle le grand arbre du monde, gonflé outre mesure par les gaz et les feux volcaniques, avant d'éclater.... J'inclinerais à penser que Landa a voulu exprimer par tzoz, non la chauve-souris zos, mais tzotz, la chevelure, vocable qui dans toutes les langues du groupe mexico-guatémalien indique symboliquement la chevelure de l'eau, la surface ondoyante, remuante de la mer, d'un lac ou d'une rivière: c'est à quoi semblent correspondre les signes de la glace qui se présentent dans l'image du mois Tzoz. Il s'agirait donc ici de la chevelure, de la surface des eaux gelées au-dessus de la terre et que la force du feu volcanique commence à rider, à faire grimacer, ainsi que l'énonce le nom du mois suivant.... Tzec.... Ce que l'auteur du calendrier a voulu exprimer, c'est bien probablement une tête de mort de singe, aux dents grimaçantes, image assez commune dans les fantaisies mythologiques de l'Amérique centrale et qu'on retrouve sculptée fréquemment dans les belles ruines de Copan.... Une intention plus profonde encore se révèle dans ces têtes de singes. Car si les danses et les mouvements de ces animaux symbolisent, dans le sens mystérieux du Popol Vuh, le soulèvement momentané des montagnes à la surface de la mer des Caraìbes, leurs têtes, avec l'expression de la mort, ne sauraient faire allusion, probablement, qu'à la disparition de ces montagnes sous les eaux, où elles continuèrent à grimacer, dans les récifs et les Ronfleurs, comme elles avaient fait grimacer la glace, en se soulevant.' As it would occupy too much space to give the Abbé's explanations of all the months, the above will suffice for specimens. See MS. Troano, tom. i., pp. 98-108.

[1101] Landa says, however, 'vingt-sept trezaines et neuf jours, sans compter les supplémentaires.' Relacion, p. 235.

[1102] The number 13 may come from the original reckoning by lunations, 26 days being about the time the moon is seen above the horizon in each revolution, 13 days of increase, and 13 of decrease. Perez, in Landa, Relacion, pp. 366-8. Or it may have been a sacred number before the invention of the calendar, being the number of gods of high rank. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Ib.

[1103] 'Contaban sus eras, y edades, que ponian en sus libros de veinte en veinte años, y por lustros de quatro en quatro.... Llegando estos lustros a cinco, que ajustan veinte años, llamaban Katùn, y ponian vna piedra labrada sobre otra labrada, fixada con cal, y arena en las paredes de sus Templos, y casas de los Sacerdotes, como se vè oy en los edificios.' Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 186. 'Llaman a esta cuenta en su lengua Uazlazon Katun que quiere dezir la gerra de los Katunes.' Landa, Relacion, p. 313. 'Para cuenta de veintenas de años en calendarios de los indios yucatecos, lo mismo que las indicciones nuestras; pero de mas años que estas, eran trece ahaues que contenian 260 años, que era para ellos un siglo.' Beltran de Santa Rosa María, Arte, p. 204. Brasseur de Bourbourg is disposed to reject the system of Sr Perez, but he in his turn makes several errors in his notes on the subject. In Landa, Relacion, pp. 402-13, 428. The Maya MS. referred to in the text is found with its translation in Id., pp. 420-9, and Stephens' Yucatan, vol. ii., pp. 465-9.

[1104] The Quiché year, according to Basseta, began on December 24, of our calendar. Following an anonymous MS. history of Guatemala, the Cakchiquel year began on January 31; and the 1st of Parichè in 1707 was on January 21. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 466-7.

[1105] 'Algunos de estos nombres estan en lengua zotzil, y los demas se ignora en qué idioma se hallan.' Pineda, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. iii., p. 408; Orozco y Berra, Geografía, pp. 205-6.

[1106] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 462-3.

[1107] Brasseur de Bourbourg, ubi sup.; Boturini, Idea, p. 118; Humboldt, Vues, tom. ii., pp. 356-7; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 104; Orozco y Berra, Geografía, p. 105; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. 137, makes Votan the first month; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 66; Pineda, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. iii., p. 344.

[1108] Landa, Relacion, pp. 44, 316.

[1109] Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 185, 196. The same author quotes Fuensalida to the effect that the Itza priests still kept in his time a record of past events in a book 'like a history which they call Analte.' Id., p. 507.

[1110] Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 393-4. 'Analtehes, ò Historias, es vna misma cosa.' Id., p. 352.

[1111] Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 143.

[1112] Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 407; Clavigero, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 187.

[1113] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec, iv., lib. x., cap. ii.

[1114] Benzoni, Hist. Mondo Nuovo, fol. 109-10.

[1115] Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. viii., or Latin edition of Cologne, 1574, p. 354; also quoted in Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano, tom. i., pp. 2-3; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, p. 77. Carli tells us that the inhabitants of Amatitlan in Guatemala were especially expert in making palm-leaf paper for writing. Cartas, pt ii., p. 104; Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., p. 470. References to modern authors who, except possibly Medel, have no other sources of information than those I have quoted, are as follows: 'Dans le Yucathan, on m'a montré des espèces de lettres et de caractères dont se servent les habitants.... Ils employaient au lieu de papier l'écorce de certaines arbres, dont ils enlevaient des morceaux qui avaient deux aunes de long et un quart d'aune de large. Cette écorce était de l'épaisseur d'une peau de veau et se pliait comme un linge. L'usage de cette écriture n'était pas généralement répandu, et elle n'était connue que des prêtres et de quelques caciques.' Medel, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcvii., pp. 49-50; Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., p. 40; Squier's Cent. Amer., p. 552; Morelet, Voyage, tom. i., p. 191; Fancourt's Hist. Yuc., p. 119; Carrillo, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom. iii., pp. 269-70; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. 79.

[1116] Ordoñez, Hist. Cielo, etc., MS., and Nuñez de la Vega, Constit. Diæces., quoted by Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., pp. 71, 74; Id., Popol Vuh, p. 5; Juarros, Hist. Guat., p. 208; Pineda, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. iii., pp. 345-6.

[1117] Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 36; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii.; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 8; Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., p. 472; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., pp. 347-8.

[1118] Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. iii., No. 2; Humboldt, Vues, tom. ii., pp. 268-71, pl. xvi. Mr Prescott, Mex., vol. i., pp. 104-5, says that this document bears but little resemblance to other Aztec MSS., and that it indicates a much higher stage of civilization; but he also fails to detect any stronger likeness to the bas-reliefs of Palenque, of which latter, however, he probably had a very imperfect idea. It cannot be interpreted, for 'even if a Rosetta stone were discovered in Mexico, there is no Indian tongue to supply the key or interpreter.' Mayer, Mex. as it Was, pp. 258-9. 'Le Codex de Dresde, et un autre de la Bibliothèque Nationale à Paris, bien qu'offrant quelque rapport avec les Rituels, échappent à toute interprétation. Ils appartiennent, ainsi que les inscriptions de Chiappa et du Yucatan à une écriture plus élaborée, comme incrustée et calculiforme, dont on croit trouver des traces dans toutes les parties très-anciennement policées des deux Amériques.' Aubin, in Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. lxxi. See Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. ii., pp. 342, 453-5; Id., Yucatan, tom. ii., pp. 292, 453.

[1119] Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano; Études sur le système graphique et la langue des Mayas, Paris, 1869-70, 4º, 2 vols., 70 colored plates.

[1120] Waldeck, Palenqué, pl. 21; Stephen's Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 136-7, 140-2; Id., Yucatan, vol. ii., pp. 300-1; Morelet's Trav., p. 98; Vol. iv., pp. 91-2, 97-9, 234, and chap. vi., of this work.

[1121] The Spanish text is as follows: 'De sus letras porne aqui un a, b, c, que no permite su pesadumbre mas porque usan para todas las aspiraciones de las letras de un caracter, y despues, al puntar de las partes otro, y assi viene a hazer in infinitum, como se podra ver en el siguiente exemplo. Lé, quiere dezir laço y caçar con el; para escrivirle con sus carateres, haviendoles nosotros hecho entender que son dos letras, lo escrivian ellos con tres, puniendo a la aspiracion de la l la vocal é, que antes de si trae, y en esto no hierran, aunque usense, si quisieren ellos de su curiosidad. Exemplo: e l e lé. Despues al cabo le pegan la parte junta. Ha que quiere dezir agua, porque la haché tiene a, h, antes de si la ponen ellos al principio con a, y al cabo desta manera: ha. Tambien lo escriven a partes pero de la una y otra manera, yo no pusiera aqui ni tratara dello sino por dar cuenta entera de las cosas desta gente. Ma in kati quiere dezir no quiero, ellos lo escriven a partes desta manera: ma i n ka ti.' Landa, Relacion, pp. 316-22; also in Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano, tom. i., pp. 37-8.

[1122] Bibliothèque Mexico-Guatémalienne, Paris, 1871, p. xvii.

[1123] Tylor's Researches, pp. 100-1.

[1124] Wuttke and Schepping, in Spencer's Descriptive Sociology, no. 2., div. ii., pt 1-B, p. 51. See note 16 of this chapter.

[1125] Wilson's Pre-Historic Man, p. 378, et seq.