Chapter V: The Chief Katuns (2)

11. The first descendants of Macan Pech and of Ah Kom Pech, of Xulkum Chel, came to their towns with their priests and chiefs, to the town of Yaxkukul, to Xulkum Chel and to Maxtunil; they came back with their companions to this town; they came also with their priests and chiefs and ministers back to their rulers, when they came to the town Yaxkukul; and we, also, when we arrived at this town of Chac Xulub Chen. When we settled here they appointed me, Nakuk Pech, by my father, Ah Kom Pech, son of Ah Tunal Pech, first descendant of Maxtunil, to govern this town.

12. When the Spaniards came to the towns of this land there were no Indians who had a will to pay tribute to the first Spaniards; therefore the first Spaniards made an account of what towns were to be given to be governed. I, Nakuk Pech, I first received the town here, in the district Chac Xulub Chen, when first they came with orders to take it, with the chiefs, and captains and priests, whose names are Ah Kul Matu and (Ah) Kul Che; and the first priests arrived, the priest Cocom, the priest Tacu; and the captains arrived, the captain Nachan Cen and the captain Xuluc, as their names were, the captains who commanded when they came to this land Maxtunil, with the priest Chuc and his captains, to take possession; thus they found the town here, Chac Xulub Chen, when came the soldiers and ensigns, Ensign Kan, Ensign Xuluc, Ensign Pot, Ensign May, Ensign Ek, such were the names of the ensigns, the names of those I commanded as chief when I, Nakuk Pech, came to this town Chac Xulub Chen; thus my mind was strengthened when these things happened, and when I came here to settle here in the land and district Chac Xulub Chen.

13. I, Nakuk Pech, came here by (order of) the governor that I should strengthen the town Chac Xulub Chen; then among old men there was no sign that the Spaniards would come here to this land, nor was the village of Chac Xulub Chen strengthened then; it was when they heard the account, when the Spaniards came to the city of Merida and Christianity was received by the men of the province of Ceh Pech. I finished by gathering together all the town of Chac Xulub Chen, I, Don Pablo Pech, and my father, Don Martin Pech, Conquistador of Xulkum Cheel.

14. When the war against the Spaniards began we spread out our forces together with them, and went with my father, Ah Macan Pech, of the first lineage of Yaxkukul, and Ixkil Y[c]am Pech, of the first lineage of Cumkal, and I went after them to the war; then began the obligation of tribute to our rulers for the Spanish governors in the town; when we went to the war there was _pinole_ and _tuce_ to drink, because they were disgusted with the Christians; for six months we and my companions followed the Christians in their misfortunes; my father was then governed by the regidors, who saw that all that I write in my information truly happened, everything, in order that it may be known by my family, my sons, in the hereafter, until the end of the world, for my title and evidence given me by our Lord God and our great lord, the reigning king; I have no tribute nor do I pay tribute, nor will my sons nor my daughters pay tribute, because our Lord God released me from it in the fear of my heart; before I had seen the face of the Spaniards I had been given willingness that I should deliver myself and all my town into the hands of the Spaniards, in order that they might be inhabited by the captains, the Adelantado and the first conquistadores who came here to this land, Yucatan; and the year the first foreigners came here to the land of the Cupuls was the year 1511.

15. In former times no one saw Spanish foreigners, not until Jeronimo de Aguilar was captured by the natives of Cozumel; then first the whole of the country became known, because all the country was marched over; but because the whole of the land was not made use of I spoke of it before the king, when there went before the king Ah Macan Pech, Don Pedro Pech, and his followers, and the first of his lineage, and all his chiefs after him; they went after him to honor the king, that he might see the faces of his servants; then fifty of the principal men went afterwards to the lord the ruling king, to obey him at table, far off in Spain, and those remained to obey before the ruling King; then the ruler said that all should pay tribute and all their sons, even we the Pechs of the first lineage in this land, and the first lineage of the Cupuls; then it was said, there is a great province, and many men and things in the land, and an account shall be made of it before our great king, and now they shall come to fix the limits of the land for our beloved king. Thus the land was discovered by Aguilar, who was eaten by Ah Naum Ah Pat at Cuzamil in the year 1517. In this year the katun ended, and then ended the placing of the town stone, for at each twentieth stone they came to place the town stones, formerly, when the Spaniards had not yet come to Cuzamil, to this land; since the Spaniards came, it has ceased to be done.

16. In the year 1519 first came the Spaniards here to Cuzamil, for the third time, Fernando de Cortes and Espoblaco Lara. On the 28th of February, there came to Cuzamil for the first time those who knew to speak the true words. In this year the eaters of anonas first arrived at Chichen, and then for the first time Chichen Itza became known to the great Spaniards, (and) to Don Francisco de Montejo, Adelantado, the governor, when they were posted at Chichen Ytza.

17. In the year 1521, on the 13th day of August, the territory of Mexico was taken by the Spaniards. The third attack on the same Spaniards took place by all the towns here in the town of Cupul, when they asked Ah Ceh Pech about the killing at Zalibna, and his companion-king Cen Pot of Tixkokhoch of the province of Ticanto, with the priest Ich Kak Mo of Itzmal the companion of Holtun Ake. The year in which the Spaniards arrived at Chichen Itza for the second time to settle at Chichen Itza was that when arrived the captain Don Francisco de Montejo, the just one, leader of the Cupuls. They arrived at the town twenty years after they arrived at Chichen Ytza (the first time), where they were called eaters of anonas, biters of anonas.

18. In the year 1542, the Spaniards settled the territory of Merida; the first speaker, the companion priest Kinich Kakmo and the king of the Tutulxiu of the capital Mani humbled their heads, and the first families were settled; then first they came under tribute the third time (the Spaniards) came to this land, and they established themselves permanently, and stopped here. The first time when they came here to Chichen Itza they began to eat anonas; never before had anonas been eaten, and when the Spaniards ate them they were called anona-eaters; the second time they came to Chichen they stopped at the house of the Captain Cupul; the third time they arrived they settled permanently, in the year 1542 they settled permanently in the territory of Merida, the 13th Kan being the year-bearer, according to the Maya reckoning.

19. In the year 1543 the Spaniards went north of the Chels to procure Maya men for servants because there were no men for servants at Merida; they came to procure men for servants for their bidding; when they reached Popce the tribute was increased by those from Merida, when those who command arrived at Popce, and they went on to Tikom, and the Spaniards remained at that time in Tikom more than twenty days before they departed.

20. In the year 1544 the Spanish Captain Asiesa was posted in Cauaca, and the chiefs were gathered together from Cauaca for the tribute, and they gave in Cauca honey, pheasants and maize; then they placed in prison the priest Caamal from Sisal, and asked for an account of all the towns; one year he was kept by them in prison; he then served as guide to the Spaniards when they came to Valladolid, and this priest Kamal of Sisal entered as chief at Valladolid, and was called Don Juan Caamal de la Cruz, because he spoke very truthfully; he first introduced the cross in Cauaca, and he was listened to by the Spaniards, and for this he entered as chief at Sisal, and being chief a long time he died. He was also guide to the Spaniards when they went to war with Tixkochnah; and when the Spaniards had been posted one year in Cauaca, they went forth and came to Valladolid on purpose to see the men the chief Kamal had placed in prison.

21. In the year 1545 the Spaniards were posted at Valladolid, and in this year Christianity began by the fathers of the order of San Francisco in the port of Champoton; there first came the fathers having in their hands the Redeemer Jesus Christ by name, that they might teach the serving men; and first they came to the port of Champutun to the west of this province called here Ichcansiho, then to Merida, the town Ichcansiho as it is called. These are the names of the fathers who began Christianity in this country Yucatan, Fr. Juan de la Puerta, and Fr. Luis de Villarpando, and Fr. Diego de Becal, and Fr. Juan de Guerrero, and Fr. Merchol de Benavente, these began Christianity in the west of this country, before Christianity came here to Cupul; afterwards the trumpet of Christianity came here, as I was saying, and it began here at Cupul.

22. In the year 1546 there was a conjuration in the highlands of the country; on the 9th of November there had been peace for four months, and it occurred on the 9th day of November of the year 1546 that there was war after four months: it began and continued for one year among the men, when they were gathered together for the second time for the tribute of wax; when the war began it took place that the conjurors came from the west to deceive the people and to set in order the war; the conjuror Cunul and Ah Camal came from the west and killed the Spaniards and two sons of the Spaniards, scholars at Mena; they died at Chamax, where they wished to remain; then came to Valladolid all the Spaniards who were well when the war broke out, and then began the massacre; the conjuror Camal Tipakan, of Pakam, killed Surusano over against Nicte; at the towns one night the Spaniards were slain because the people fell sick in their hands and feet; there was then for a day and a night war in all the towns.

23. In the year 1547 a ship was destroyed by Ex Box at Ecab; then the Spaniards went to make him fear, and made war against Box of Ecab, son of Ek Box.

24. In the year 1548 the father Ermitanyo came to Valladolid to begin Christianity.

25. In the year 1550 there was a general reunion of the towns and their dependencies at Mani.

26. In the year 1551 the father guardian, Fr. Fernando Guerrero, came from Valladolid to Sisal and he baptized the people and introduced Christianity here into all the territory of Valladolid west of the Chels; they came from Ecab, they came from Cozumel, they came from the north, they came from the south, and also he began the building of the monastery Valladolid-Sisal.

27. In the year 1552 the fathers settled here; in this year they came to teach and sing here at Sisal, they came from the west to teach and sing mass vespers with the singing of the organ and flute, and the canto llano, which never before did we know here.

In the year 1553 the Auditor, Don Thomas Lopez arrived here in this land of Yucatan from Castilla, and he arrived as a messenger from our great ruler, the reigning king of Castilla, to protect us against the hand of the Spaniards here. He put a stop to our being burned by the Spaniards, he put a stop to our being bitten by dogs, he introduced the appointing of chiefs in each village by the giving of the baton; he also adjusted the tribute for the third time, the tribute introduced by the Spaniards, mantles, wax, pheasants, maize, buckets, salt, peppers, broad beans, narrow beans, jars, pots, vases, all for tribute to our Spanish rulers, which we paid before the Auditor had given his attention to these things. At this time occurred the capture of the priest Chuuc by Ah Macan Pech when we left Sisal, because he wished the priest Chuc to be captured, as he had prevented the capture of Ah Ceh Pech here in Cupul; afterwards the priest Pech, Macan Pech with the servants of Macan Pech and his captains, came here to this town of Yaxkukul.

28. From the year 1519 when the Spaniards came here to the town of Conah Itza, here in this land, Yucatan, I have set forth the days, the months and the years as above stated, I, Don Pablo Pech, the son of Don Martin Pech of Xul Kum Cheel, conquistador, here at Maxtunil and Chac Xulub Chen; since we received the Spaniards with good will and heart, nor did we make war upon them, Don Juan de Montejo, Adelantado, and the rest of the captains, as their names are in the book; we also first received Christianity, we the conquistadores, Don Martin son of Don Fernando Pech, Don Pablo Pech son of Don Martin Pech, on the 13th day of the month of October, 1518; all my subjects received baptism in Maxtunil; they were baptized by the first bishop to the Maya people, Don Francisco Toral; and when he baptized us our father the bishop showed the images of the saints to all the villages, images of Saint Peter and St. Paul, and St. John and St. Louis, and St. Antony, and St. Michael, and St. Francis, and St. Alonzo, and St. Augustin and St. Sebastian, and St. Diego; and they desired the oils, and he who was called Peter took the oils.

29. Such is the chronicle of everything I have collected for the books, in order that the people might know it, whoever wished to know it, as had decreed it from the beginning our great lord God who governs the universe. It is the declaration of how the Spaniards came to this land, here to this country; by the will of the lord, the ruling God, also by the orders of our lord Don Juan de Montejo, and Don Francisco de Montejo, who first came here to this land, and gave orders that churches should be built in the plastered villages, in the outlying districts, and a town house and a temple for our great ruler, and also a public house for travelers.

30. Thus also said our great father, Ah Naum Pech, Don Francisco de Montejo Pech, and Don Juan Pech, as were their names when they were baptized by the fathers; and as the Adelantado, the Captain, those who came here to this land Yocol Peten, but called Yucatan by the first Spaniards, as they the Spaniards, clearly relate. When our lord the Spaniards said that we are to live eternally with God, and when the Maya men heard the names, then spoke Naum Pech to those he commanded, with suavity:--"Know ye, there comes to the town the one God, to the country the true God, the sign of the true God; go ye to live with Him, joyfully receive Him, do not war against Him, and if they have not to eat or drink give them maize, fowls, pheasants, honey, beans to eat, that Christianity may enter and that we may be servants of God;" thus they wished it, and they did not make war, but rose up and went to aid the Spaniards in the conquest and marched together with the foreigners.

31. Thus also Nachi Cocom, who dwelt in the chief town of Zututa in the province Chichen Itza, that called Chichen Itza, and Ah Cahuot Cocom, aiding the word of God and our great King, delivered up their standards and banners for the sake of our great King, for the conquest, and received the Adelantado and the father the priest in their towns, nor did they make war, but abstained from all injury, and laid out churches and town-houses for their followers.

32. And Na[c]i Mabun Chan settled in the district, and understood that the eternal life had come to his village, and wished that to God truly would be delivered the Catzins and Chuls in the district of Mani, and the Tutulxiu, and the Chels in the East, and the (middle) Tan Cupuls and in Campeche Na[c]acab Canul; thus this earth was given by God to be redeemed, this land Zacuholpatal Zacmutixtun; and Tunal Pech of Mutul settled here in this town.

33. And Ah Naum Pech called the youths and said to him--"Know ye, that on the day called 1 Ymix it will dawn, there will come from the eastern lands bearded men with the sign of the only God to this land; go to receive them with true pleasure;" therefore they went and marched under the trees, under the branches, and they arrived at the house of Na[c]ay Cab, of Canul at Campech and said:--"He, your guest, is now coming, Ah Na[c]a Cab of Canul, receive him promptly." Thus they said when the ships appeared in the port of Campeche, when they saw the banners waving, the white standard, and they came, when he had cast anchor, to the Adelantado, and were asked in Castilian by the Christians, and the Adelantado, whether they had been baptized; but they did not know his language, and replied: "We do not understand the words;" so they said, and thus they named this land here Yucatan, (which was known to us as) the land of the wild turkey, the land of the deer.

34. Thus then the captains and our lord the Adelantado Don Francisco de Montejo went on; and they made much cloth and thread to cut into clothing for the horses, as they wished to go to the town of Mani, to the Tutulxiu. When they came to Yiba they held a talk in Yiba; they arrived at Nohcacab coming out of Becal; thus the Spaniards passed and arrived at Mani, to Tutulxiu, and then were appointed the chief Ikeb, the chief Caixicum and the chief Chuc to go to invite Ah Cuat Cocom. They were at first taken and placed in a cave by his followers: then their eyes were put out in that great cave of weasels, and there was not one who did not have his eyes put out in the cave of weasels; their eyes were put out and they were given the road to go groping to the Adelantado at Mani; and thus returned those who were cast out of the town of Cuat Cocom. Then Ah Naum Pech rose up with both of them and came to Ah Cuat Cocom; when they arrived, he said to Ah Naum Pech that he had not seen nor heard of it; he said he had gone to Chichen Itza, and he came promptly to the towns with the Pechs, and they arrived at Mani to deliver up promptly (the offenders); and the Cocom said he had not witnessed what had happened in his village, and he would give permission that they should be taken who had done it.

35. Then Ah Pech came to the towns in order to see the people governed in them; the Spaniards also came, but on account of the massacre of the foreigners by the people, they passed on and went to Ah Batum Pech of Chel, whom they saw, and passed on, and went to Maxtunil, to Nachi May and Ah Macan Pech; they then returned to their lands to the towns they governed at Yaxkukul; Don Pablo Pech, Ah Macan Pech, was governor of all the district to the west, nor did his captains at all give up their spirits; soon I was appointed to guard the territory Chac Xulub Chen, because the serving men were at war on account of the labor given them, and by taking them the will of God was fulfilled in the towns.

36. Such is the complete history of how passed the Spaniards and how the first fathers were received, and the names of the first conquerors I shall set forth according to the register, because this is composed in order that it may be known how the conquest occurred, and in what manner they labored here, under the trees, under the branches[TN-26] under the bushes, in those years and months; and what the people and their sons found to eat; for from two to three years they labored in the distribution of the towns, by our rulers the Spaniards; they also labored in the measuring of the towns, and the measuring of the forests of the towns by the Auditor Tomas Lopez, holding in his hand the Cedula of our great lord the king, that forests should be cut by whoever settled. When there were no towns we were natives here of official houses, Naum Pech being governor of all, nor at that time had the Spaniards come here to establish Christianity in this land; but when the day came that their arrival took place, when the Spaniards came to this land Yucatan, we received them with a friendly heart, and Christianity was introduced into this land, and we were appointed to guard the villages, when as yet there was no church; and now they have ceased building official houses or villages.

37. Thus I began to relate how the conquest took place and how many sufferings we underwent with our lords, the Spaniards, from the natives who were not willing to deliver themselves to God; thus I recount what I heard concerning the town Maxtunil.

38. We did not settle there, but descended to the town Chac Xulub Chen, and when the Holy Church was finished in Cumtal, we measured its sides and took possession so that our children should remain there from the beginning until the end of the world, so that the natives should not obstruct us, nor enchant by the throwing of stones anything which had been given us by God and our lord through the fear of our hearts; for this our great lord the ruling king gave us the authority; and when the church was prepared in which to worship our lord and God, and the public house to the east of the church and the temple of our great king and the residence.

39. I also built my house of stone to the north of the church. And that the natives may not in the future say that it belongs to them, for this I show forth the occurrences as I did them with my father, I, Don Pablo Pech, Ah Macan Pech, and my father Don Martin Pech, Ah Com Pech, my lord Senor Don Ambrosio Pech, his native name being Op Pech, and Ixil Yzam Pech, and Don Esteban Pech, Ah Culub Pech.

40. We received the royal commissions to measure the forests. The license was given by our great monarch the ruling king through our lord the first auditor, Tomas Lopez, that he should give us years ago his order that the uncultivated fields should be measured wherever they are, here back of the town, that we may know where the boundaries of our lands pass in order that parents and children may maintain them and give food to the Encomenderos. Therefore I swear before the people that this information is true, that they may have it in sight so that no uncultivated field shall entrench upon another uncultivated field; for this reason I set forth the truth.

41. The first Encomendero here in Chac Xulub Chen was Don Julian Doncel, who ordered the chiefs that they should go to place the marks of the limits of their forest lands here back of the towns they governed, and thus they were led to measure the boundaries of their lands and the forests toward the East, the South and the West, for the benefit of all who dwell therein; because already Christianity was established in this land of Chac Xulub Chen with our holy lord Santiago the patron who guards the town of Don Pablo Pech.

NOTES.

1. "The fifth division of the 11th Ahau Katun was placed" (_i. e._ in the wall or in the Katun Stone), (see page 57, where this expression is explained). In other words, the first arrival of the Spaniards at Merida took place at the close of the 11th Ahau Katun. This was July, 1541, and it is in gratifying conformity with Bishop Landa, who also states that that month was the commencement of a 20-year period; but he says that at that date the 11th Katun began, while Pech goes on to say that it was the next in order, the 9th. (See Landa, _Relacion_, p. 314.)

_Noh cah te ti Ho_, the great town at Ho. This was the native name of the ancient city which stood on the present site of Merida, and, by the Mayas, is in use to this day. _Ho_ is the numeral 5, and some have supposed that the name was given on account of five large mounds or buildings said to have been conspicuous in the ancient city. That there were precisely five is not positively stated by the old historians, though four are specified. This theory would suppose that the name was given to the city only after these large structures were completed, and that its name during that time had been lost. But this is not improbable.

In fact, the ancient name of Merida was not Ho, but _Ichcanzihoo_, as appears from a later passage in Pech's narrative and from numerous others in the Books of Chilan Balam. _Ho_ is only the abbreviation of this long name. It appears to mean "The five (temples) of many serpents." _Can_ is the generic term for serpent, and _ich_ used as a prefix denotes a place where there is an abundance of what the noun means: thus _ichche_=a place where the trees are tall and dense; _ichxiu_, a place where the grass is tall and thick (_Diccionario de Motul_). The serpents were probably those sculptured in stone or painted on the walls. This theory receives additional probability from an entry in the _Diccionario de Motul_, MS., which relates that the largest mound in ancient Merida, situated back of the present convent of San Francisco, was called by the natives _ahchuncan_, and that this was the name of the idol which used to be worshiped there. Its signification would be "the first or primitive serpent," or "the first speaker," _i. e._ oracle, as _can_ means both serpent and speech.

The temples at Ho were not in use when the Spaniards arrived, nor had they been for many generations. Apparently only a few huts of wood and straw made up the village, while these vast ruins were even then covered to the summit with a heavy growth of timber in all respects like the virgin forest around them. This is clearly stated by the Friar Lorenzo de Bienvenida, who came to Merida in 1545. I quote his expressions from a letter to the King in 1548:--

"La ciudad esta la tierra adentro treinta y tres leguas; llamase la _ciudad de Merida_; pusieronle asi por los edificios superbos que hai en ella, que en todo lo descubierto en Indias no se han hallado tan superbos edificios, de canteria bien labrada, i grandes las piedras; no hai memoria de quien los hizo; parecenos que se hicieron antes de la venida de Christo porque tan grande estaba el monte encima dellos como en lo bajo de la tierra; son altos de cinco estados de piedra seca i encima los edificios, quatro quartos todo de celdas como de Frailes, de veinte pies de luengo i de diez de ancho, i todas las portadas de una piedra, lo alto de la puerta i de boveda, i destos hai en la tierra otros muchos. Esta gente natural no habitaba en ellos, ni hacen casa sino de paja y madera, habiendo mas apareja de cal i piedra que en todo lo descubierto. En estos edificios tomamos sitio los Frailes para casa de San Francisco; lo que habia sido cultura de demonios, justo es que sea templo donde se sirve a Dios, etc." (_Carta de Fr. Lorenzo de Bienvenida, 1548, MS._)

The date, 1511, given as that of the first arrival of the Spaniards, refers to the shipwreck of Aguilar and his companions, who in that year were thrown on the eastern coast.

This introductory paragraph was entirely miscontrued[TN-27] by Avila, and nearly as much so by Brasseur. I add their translations to illustrate this.

_Translation of Avila._

"A la quinta vez que sento el noveno Rey en la guerra cuando llegaron los Espanoles que se poblaron en la ciudad de Merida, el principal Rey de esa ciudad era siempre cacique y el ano en que llegaron los Senores Espanoles aqui en esta suelo fue el de 1511."

_Translation of Brasseur._

"C'est a la cinquieme division cimentee (dans le mur) de ce onzieme Ahau-Katun qu'arriverent les Espagnols et qu'ils s'etablirent a Ti-Uoh de ce pays de Ti-Ho, et c'est a la neuvieme de cet Ahau que s'etablit le Christianisme, cette annee meme que vinrent nos seigneurs les Espagnols en cette contree, c'est a dire, en l'annee 1511."

It will be seen that the former completely travesties the passage, while the latter mistakes the proper names and destroys the chronological value of the dates given.

2. _Hidalgos conquistadoren_, Spanish titles which we are surprised to find a native claiming; but later on (Sec. 9) he informs us that he was authorized to employ them by the Spanish officials.

Chichinica was a pueblo near Chicxulub, which is now no longer in existence.

3. _Ti ma ococ haa tin pol cuchi_, "formerly, when the water will not entered to my head" _i. e._, before I was baptized. This complicated construction of the negative (_ma_), a future (_ococ_ from _ocol_) and the sign of the past tense (_cuchi_), also occurs on an earlier page (98), where we have the sentence _uacppel haab u binel ma [c]ococ u xocol oxlahun ahau cuchi_, six years before the end of the 13th ahau. _Ocol haa_, syncopated to _ocola_, and even _oca_, was the usual term for Christian baptism.

Xulkumcheel was a pueblo which does not seem to have survived.

_Ah Naum Pech, likul tu cah Mutul._ Ah Naum Pech from, or native of, the town Mutul. The latter is the modern Motul, about 22 miles easterly from Chicxulub. The name is also spelled Mutul by Cogolludo (_Historia de Yucatan_, Lib. VI, cap. VII).

_Halach uinic_, previously explained, was the ancient native title of chief of a village. It is the same word which Oviedo, in his report of Grijalva's expedition deforms into _calachini_ (_Historia de las Indias_, Lib. XVII).

The date, 1519, like various others in the narrative, appears to have been erroneously entered or copied. It should probably be 1539. _Maxtunil_ does not at present exist. _[C]ilam_ is a town north of Itzamal, near the sea coast. It is by some identified as the spot where Francisco de Montejo embarked after his retreat from Chichen Itza, in 1528.

4. The _Kupuls_ were the family who reigned in the eastern province, where Valladolid was founded. They long retained their hostility to the Spaniards. _Ekab_ was situated on the coast opposite the island of Cozumel. _[C]ekom_ should probably read Tekom. _Tixcuumcuuc_ no longer exists. _Tinuum_ is a town 4 leagues north of Valladolid, on the road to Itzamal. _[C]i [C]antun_ is a town north of Itzamal, said by Sanchez Aguilar to have been the ancient capital of the princely house of the Chels. _Ake_ is probably the modern [C]onatake. _Catzim_ is now the name of a hacienda in the Department of Itzamal, some distance from the coast. _[C]elebna_ is unknown.

The expression _tumen naob Bon cupul_, translated by Avila "porque esa casa es de Bon Cupul," I think is an error of the copyist for _tumen nacon Cupul_. See also Sec. 18.

5. _Hokzah uba_, they betook themselves. The termination _uba_ is that of the third person of reflexive verbs.

Nachi May, already mentioned, was a member of an ancient princely house mentioned by Landa and Sanchez Aguilar. One of them, Ahkin May, was apparently the hereditary high priest. The effort has been made to derive from their name the word _Maya_, and Brasseur would carry us to Haiti in order to discover its meaning (Landa, _Relacion_, p. 42, note), but this is unnecessary. _May_ in the Maya tongue means "a hoof," as of a deer, and is a proper name still in use. There is no reason to suppose it in any way connected with _Maya_.

_Matanok_ I take to be an error for _matanon_, from _mat_ (pret. _matnahi_).

6. _[C]ibikal_ may be, as suggested by Dr. Berendt, Tipikal, a town in the district of Merida. There is another of the name in the Sierra Alta (_Estadistica de Yucatan_, 1814).

Francisco de Bracamonte is mentioned by Cogolludo as among the first settlers of Merida.

7. Cogolludo mentions Rodrigo Alvarez as "Escribano del juzgado," who came with Montejo (_Historia de Yucatan_, Lib. III, cap. VI, and elsewhere).

8. _U toxol cahob_, the distribution of the towns, literally "the pouring out;" Avila translates it by "cuando se repartian los pueblos." The Spanish system of "repartimientos" and "encomiendas" was adopted in Yucatan,[TN-28]

9. The licentiate Alvares de Caravajal was alcalde mayor from 1554 to 1558. (Cogolludo, _Hist. de Yucatan_, Lib. V. cap. XV.)

10. This was apparently written by Don Pablo Pech, the son of the writer of the remainder of the history, and inserted in order to corroborate the statement just made by his father, that the latter had transferred the magistracy to him.

11. The _holpop_, literally "head of the mat," perhaps because when the company sat around or on the mat his place was at its head, was the official who had charge of the _tunkul_ or wooden drum, with which public meetings, dances, summons to war, etc. were proclaimed, and with which the priests accompanied their voices in reciting the ancient chants (Cogolludo, _Hist. de Yucatan_, Lib. IV, cap. V). He was called _ahholpop_, and had charge of the public hall of the village, the _popolna_, "casa de comunidad," in which public business was transacted (_Diccionario de Motul_, MS.)[TN-29]

The _ahkulel_ was the official second in command in a town or district. He acted in place of the _batab_ or the _ahcuchcab_. The verb _kulel_ means to transact business for another, to act as deputy.

_Ahkin_ was the ordinary word for priest in the old language; kin, sun, day, time; _ahkin_, he who was familiar with the days and times, with the calendar, and also with the past and the future.

12. _U chun u thanob_; the _chunthan_ or _ahchunthan_, literally, he who has the first word, was the member of the village who took the leading part in matters of business. The office and name are still in existence in the native village communities of Yucatan. (See Garcia y Garcia, _Historia de la Guerra de Castas en Yucatan_, Introd., p. xli.)

The _ahkul_ was an envoy or messenger, who carried the orders of the prince to his people and to foreign princes. The title was usually prefixed to the name of the person.

The _holcan_, "head caller," was a military official in each village, whose duty it was when war was announced to summon the men in his district capable of bearing arms (see Landa, _Relacion_, p. 174). The Spanish writers translate it by _alferez_.

The _nacon_ was an elective war chief, who held his position for the term of three years (Landa, _Relacion_, pp. 161, 173). The name is derived from _nacal_, to rise, go up, and hence as a delegate or elected representative (as is stated by the _Dicc. de Motul_).

13. The _nucteelob_ were the _ancianos_, the wise old men of the village; _manak_, a trace or sign that appears at a distance and then disappears. _U manak uinic ti ulah_=I saw the trace of a man to-day, but it is no longer visible. _Diccionario de Motul, MS._

"The province of Ceh Pech" was that in which Merida was: "_u tzucub ahcehpechob_, la provincia de los Peches al lado de Motul y Cumkal." _Dicc. de Motul, MS._

14. _Kah_, _pinole_, is a drink made by mixing the meal of roasted maize with water. The word _tuce_ (or, it may be, _tuze_) I do not find in any dictionary, nor does Avila translate it. The passage is an obscure one. Avila renders it "cuando fuimos a la guerra, bebian pinole y _tuce_, porque estaban enojados con los Cristianos." Possibly these were two articles of food especially used on warlike raids.

_U zahacil in puczical_, a cant phrase probably borrowed from the missionaries="the fear of my heart,"--in my humbleness. _Puczikal_ appears to be a root-word, though of three syllables. It means the heart of men and animals, also the mind or soul, the desires, and the interior of certain growths, as the pith of maize, etc. (_Dicc. de Motul._)

The year 1511 was that of the shipwreck of the deacon Geronimo de Aguilar and his companions, who were the first whites known to the natives of Yucatan.

The reference which is made in this section to a deputation of fifty natives to Spain, is not mentioned, so far as I remember, by other historians. As in some respects my translation differs from that of Avila, I give his.

"Cuando llego ante el monarca Ahmacan Pech, D^on Pedro Pech, y sus deudos, sus primeros descendientes, sus capitanes, todos fueron con el para honrar el monarca y vea la cara a sus vasallos indigenas, y escogio cincuenta de los grandes de ellos para llevar tras de el al monarca reinante para servirlos en la mesa alli lejos en Espana, pero los que vomitaron en el festejo delante del monarca reinante, esos entonces dijo el Rey que pagaron tributos todos y todos sus descendientes, mas nosotros los Peches," etc.

The phrase _mac xenahi tu tzicile_ Avila translates "who vomited at the feasts;" but I believe _xenhi_, vomited, is a misreading for _xanhi_, remained, and _tzicil_ is obedience, as serving-men.

_Lae te hantabi_, who was eaten; Aguilar himself was not eaten, as he was rescued by Cortes, in 1519, and served him as interpreter. But some of his companions were eaten by the natives, not of Cozumel, but of the coast to the south, and this is what Pech meant to say, unless, indeed--and I am inclined to prefer this view--we read _hantezahbi_ instead of _hantabi_, which would give the sense "the land was discovered by Aguilar, who was given food (supported, maintained) by Ah Naum," etc. For particulars about Aguilar see Herrera, _Hist. de las Indias_, Dec. II, Lib. IV, cap. VIII.

_Lai yabil hauic_, etc. This is an important sentence, as fixing a date in the ancient chronology. _U tunil balcah_ is an ancient term, not explained in the dictionaries. _Balcah_ (or _baalcah_) means "a town and the people who compose it" (Pio Perez, _Diccionario_), hence people, the world, as the French use _monde_. From many references in the Maya manuscripts I derive the impression that the last stone in the katun pillar was placed in turn by the towns, each giving its name to the stone and the cycle (see ante, p. 171).

Assuming the correctness of the figures 1517--and there is no reason to doubt it--then Pech counted the katuns as of 24 years each, as Pio Perez maintained was correct; because he has already informed us in his introductory paragraph that the year 1541 was the close of the 11th Ahau, and 1541-1517=24.

16. The two previous visits referred to were probably those of Cordova, 1517, and Grijalva, 1518. "Those who knew to speak the true words," refers to the Catholic priests. All the historians of Cortes' expedition dwell on the effect produced on the natives of Cozumel by the religious services he held there.

The date, Feb. 28, 1519, seems correct, although it is not mentioned by any other writer I have at hand. Cortes left Havana, Feb. 19.

_Lai yabil_, "in this year," evidently a date is omitted, as the first arrival of the Spaniards at Chichen Itza was either at the close of 1526 or beginning of 1527. One of the Maya MSS. gives the year as _bulucil Muluc_, the 11th Muluc. The Maya year, it will be remembered, began on the 16th of July.

"It was on the memorable thirteenth of August, 1521, the day of St. Hippolytus, that Cortes led his warlike array for the last time across the black and blasted environs which lay around the Indian capital, etc." Prescott, _Conquest of Mexico_, Book VI, chap. VIII. There is little doubt but that the tidings of the dreadful destruction of the mighty Tenochtitlan was rapidly disseminated among the tribes far down into Yucatan and Central America, and made a profound impression on them.

This section is confused and difficult. Avila translates:--

"Fueron atacados por tercera vez los mismos Espanoles por todos los pueblos aqui en el pueblo de Cupul cuando hallaron a Ah Ceh Pech muriendose en una casa no embarrada y a su companero el otro Rey Cen Pot," etc.

18. The official date of the founding of the city of Merida was Jan. 6, 1542.

The anona or custard-apple does not seem to have been eaten by the natives, and it impressed them as strange and somewhat unnatural to witness the Spaniards suck them.

_Ca u tocahob nao bon Cupul_; this is translated by Senor Avila: "quemaron al capitan Cupul:" they burned the captain Cupul; but I take it to be a misreading for _ca u yotochob nacom Cupul_, and have so translated it. There is no account of a leader of the Cupuls having been burned, and, moreover, this is in accordance with Sec. 4.

Another important chronological statement is made in this section, to wit, that the year 1542 (I suppose July 16, 1541-July 15, 1542 is meant) was 13 Kan. As Pech has already told us that it was also the first year of the 9th Ahau Katun, we have the date fixed in both methods of reckoning, that is, by the Kin Katun as well as the Ahau Katun, according to the calendar which his family used.

19. The town of Tikom is still in existence, but I have not been able to find Popce on any of the maps. The Chels were a well known princely family in ancient Yucatan. The _Dicc. de Motul_ says their province was that of [C]izantun.

26.[TN-30] The Don Juan Caamal whose acts are briefly sketched in this section is the same mentioned in the _auto_ given previously, page 117. It is still a family name in Yucatan (Berendt, _Nombres Proprios en lengua Maya_, folio. _MS._)[TN-31]

21. The first mission to Yucatan was that of Fr. Jacobo de Testera, with some companions whose names have not been preserved, 1531 to 1534 (see Geronimo de Mendieta, _Historia Eclesiastica Indiana_, pp. 380, 665; Torquemada. _Monarquia Indiana_, Lib. IX, cap. XIII, Lib. XX, cap. XLVII). They were stationed at Champoton and did not penetrate the country. The next attempt was in 1537. Testera, then Provincial of Mexico, sent five Franciscan friars, who returned after two years of efforts. Their names are unknown (Cogolludo, _Historia de Yucatan_, vol. I, pp. 175, 182). The third is the one referred to in the text. Its commissary was Fr. Luis de Villalpando, and its members were Fr. Lorenzo de Bienvenida, Fr. Melchor de Benavente, Fr. Juan de Herrera, Fr. Juan de Albalata, and Fr. Angel Maldonado. Five other missionaries came with Juan de la Puerta, in 1548 (Cogolludo).

22. The term _ahetzil_, I do not find, and translate it as _ahe[c]il_, the practice of conjuring, or sorcery. But it is quite possibly for _ahuitzil_, dwellers in the sierra. The next line is corrupt, and I can only guess at the meaning. The date, Nov. 9, 1546, is correct, and the history here given of the insurrection of the natives at that time is substantially the same as is told at length by Cogolludo (_Hist. de Yucatan_, Lib. V, cap. VII).

27. The Auditor Tomas Lopez came from Guatemala (not Spain) to Yucatan in 1551 or 1552, and in the latter year promulgated his "Laws" for the government of the natives, many of which are given in Cogolludo's History.

The passing reference to the cruelties of the Spaniards are more than borne out by the testimony of Fr. Lorenzo de Bienvenida. Writing to the King in 1548 he says:--

"En esta villa (Valladolid) se levantaron este ano de quarenta y siete los Indios * * * i este levantamiento por mal tratamiento que hacen a los Indios los Espanoles tomandoles las mugeres y hijos y dandoles de palos i quebrandoles las piernas i brazos i matandolos i desmasiados tributos i desaforados servicios personales, i si V^a Alt^a no provee de remedio con brevedad, no es possible permanecer esta tierra, digo de justicia. * * * *

"(El adelantado) dio la capitania a un sobrino que llaman Manso Pacheco. Nero no fue mas cruel que este. Este paso adelante y llego a una provincia que llaman _Chatemal_, estando de paz, i sin dar guerra los naturales la robo i les comio los mantenimientos a los naturales, i ellos huyendo a los montes de miedo de los Espanoles porque en tomando alguno luego lo aperreaban, i desto huian los Indios i no sembraban i todos murieron de hambre, digo todos porque habia pueblos de a quinientos casas i de a mil, i el que agora tiene ciento es mucho; provincia rica de cacao. Este capitan por sus proprias manos exercitaba las fuerzas, con un garrote mate muchos i decia, 'este es buen palo para castigar a estos;' i desque lo habia muerto, 'O, quan bien lo de.' Corto muchos pechos a mugeres, i manos a hombres i narices i orejas i estaco, i a las mugeres ataba calabazas a los pies i las echaba en las lagunas ahogar por su pasatiempo, i otras grandes crueldades." _Carta de Fr. Lorenzo de Bienvanida,[TN-32] 1548. MS._

28. The town Conah Itza, or Con Ahitza, Con of the Itzas, may refer to the seaport, Coni, the eastern coast, where Montejo landed on his first expedition. Bishop Toral did not arrive in Yucatan until 1562, so the mention of him proves that this narrative was written after that date.

29. No such person as Juan de Montejo is known.

30. _Yocol peten_; so it is first spelled in the original manuscript, and afterwards altered to _Yucalpeten_. This latter occurs as a name applied to the peninsula, or a portion of it, in a number of passages of the Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel. These have been quoted by the Canon Crescencio Carrillo in a recent work (_Historia Antigua de Yucatan_, pp. 137, 140, Merida, 1882), to support his view that the name Yucatan is an abbreviation of Yucalpeten.

Apart from the difficulty of explaining such an extensive abbreviation, which is not at all in the spirit of the Maya tongue, the words of Pech in this section and Sec. 33 conclusively prove that the two names are entirely distinct in origin. Carrillo is of opinion that _yucal_ should be divided into _y_, _u_, _cal_, and he translates the name "la perla de la garganta de la tierra o continente." This appears far-fetched. _Yocal_ is probably merely _yoc hail_, upon the water (_il_, determinative ending denoting what water); hence _yocal peten_, the region upon the water, applied to Yucatan or some part of its coast district. The _h_ is nearly mute and frequently elided, as in _ocola_ (_ocol haa_) to baptize.

A prophecy of the priest Pech, which is perhaps the one here referred to, appears in several of the Books of Chilan Balam, and also Spanish translations of it in the Histories of Lizana and Cogolludo, and a French version in Brasseur's report of the _Mission Scientifique au Mexique_, etc.

The text is quite corrupt, but I insert it as I have emended it from a comparison of three copies.

U THAN AHAU PECH AHKIN.

Tu kinil uil u natabal kine,
Yume ti yokcab te ahtepal.
Uale can[c]it u katunil,
Uchi uale hahal pul.
Tu kin kue yoklal u kaba,
In kubene yume.
Ti a-uich-ex tu bel a uliah, Ahitza,
U yum cab ca ulom.
Than tu chun ahau Pech ahkin,
Tu kinil uil can ahau katun,
Uale tan hi[c]il u katunil.

THE WORD OF THE LORD PECH, THE PRIEST.

At that time it will be well to know the tidings,
Of the Lord, the ruler of the world.
After four katuns,
Then will occur the bringing of the truth.
At that time one who is a god by his name,
I deliver to you as a lord.
Be your eyes on the road for your guest, Men of Itza,
When the lord of the earth shall come.
The word of the first lord, Pech, the priest,
At the time of the fourth katun,
At the end of the katun.

The only line in which I have taken much liberty with the text is the fifth, where, after the word _kue_, one MS. reads: _yok taa ba akauba_, and another, _yok lac kauba_, neither of which is intelligible.

If the date assigned in these lines be a correct one, they were delivered by the prophet in 1469. It is not impossible. The words are obscure and the prediction so indistinct that it might quite well have been made by an official augur at that time.

31. Nachi Cocom, head of the ancient and powerful Cocom family, ruled at Zotuta when Montejo made his settlement at Merida, and was a determined enemy of the Spaniards. He was defeated in 1542, in a sanguinary battle, and then accepted terms of peace. I have in my possession the copy of a survey which he made of the lands of the town of Zotuta in 1545, when he was evidently on good terms with the Conquerors.

32. The names Chan, Catzim and Chul belong to well known ancient Yucatecan families, and many who bear them are still found among the natives (Berendt, _Nombres Proprios en Lengua Maya_, MS.)[TN-33]

The words Zacuholpatal Zacmutixtun are rendered by Avila as proper names, and I have followed his example. I have not found a satisfactory explanation of them.

33. The day _One Imix_ was a day of peculiar sanctity in ancient Yucatan. Landa makes the rather unintelligible assertion that the count of their days, or their calendar, invariably commenced on that day (_Relacion_, p. 236).

Imix is the 18th day of the month, and it is possibly[TN-34] that it and the two following days were used for intercalary days.

More to the purpose of explaining the prophecy in the text is the statement of Francisco Hernandez, who, as reported by Bishop Las Casas, relates that in the mythology of the Mayas, the god or gods Bacab, those who support the four corners of the heaven and who are identified with the "year bearers" or Dominical days of the calendar, died on the day One Imix, and after three days came to life again. (Las Casas, _Historia Apologetica de las Indias Occidentales_, cap. CXXIII.) This has reference apparently to the intercalary days Imix, Ik, and Akbal, which were counted so as to allow the next Kin Katun period to begin on I[TN-35] Kan. I have explained this theory fully in a paper, "Notes on the Codex Troano and Maya Chronology," in the _American Naturalist_, Sept. 1881. Naturally this was supposed by the Spanish missionaries to be a reference to Christian traditions.

_Ca tip u chemob_, when the ships were rocking; _tipil_ represents the slipping and sliding movement of a partially submerged or hidden body; thus the beating of the heart and the pulse is _tipilac_. _Ca yumtah banderas ob_, when the banners waved; _yumtah_ is to swing to and fro as a hamack or a flag. _Piixtahob_, from _pixitah_, to unreel or reel off yarn, etc., from a spindle. I suppose it refers to letting go the anchor.