Chapter XI: Gods, Supernatural Beings, and Worship (2)

The Nicaraguans had other deities presiding over the elements, seasons, and necessaries of life. Thus, Macat and Toste, also written Mazat and Teotost,[XI-87] the deer and rabbit, were gods of the chase. When a deer was killed, the hunter placed the head in a basket in his house, and regarded it as the representation of the god.[XI-88] Mixcoa was the god invoked by the traders, and those about to make purchases; Cacaguat was the patron of cacao-culture; Miquetanteot, god of hades, was evidently the same as Mictlantecutli of Mexico; there were, besides, others whose names have been given to the days of the month. In Martiari the chief deity was called Tipotani. In Nicaragua proper, they adored Tomaoteot, 'the great god,' whose son Teotbilche was sent down to mankind. This looks like another Christ-myth, especially when we read of attendant angels who had wings and flew about in heaven. The names of the two chief angels were Taraacazcati and Tamacaztobal.[XI-89] The Dirans revered in particular the goddess of the volcano Masaya; for her they placed food on the brink of the crater, into which they cast human beings, especially when she manifested her anger by earthquakes. On such occasions the chiefs and priests, who alone were permitted to look into the seething abyss, went to the summit and called upon the genius, who issued from the lake of fire in the form of an old woman and instructed them what to do. She is described as a naked, dark-skinned hag, with hanging breasts, scanty hair, long, sharp teeth, and sunken glaring eyeballs. The gods were invested with all the peculiarities of humanity, formed of flesh and blood, and lived on the food provided for man, besides blood and incense. They also appeared on earth dressed like the natives, but since the death of the cacique Xostoval these visits ceased.[XI-90] They were personified by idols of stone, clay, or wood, called _teobat_,[XI-91] whose forms their forefathers had transmitted; to them were brought offerings of food and other things, which were taken in at the door of the temple by boys serving there, for none except the consecrated were allowed to enter the sanctuary.[XI-92] To encourage the piety that prompted these offerings, the priests never failed to remind the people of the punishment inflicted on the inhabitants of the ancient capital of Nagrando, who having given themselves up to the pursuit of pleasure, and neglected the gods, were one night swallowed up, not a vestige of their city being left.[XI-93] The most acceptable offering was, of course, human blood. At certain times the favorite idol was set on a spear and planted in an open place amid gorgeously adorned attendants holding banners, and flowers. Here the priests gashed their tongues, and other parts, smearing the face of the image with the blood that flowed, while the devout approached to whisper their desires into the ear of the idol. Songs, dances, and games attended these ceremonies.

Before each temple was a conic or pyramidal mound of adobe, called _tescuit_, or _tezarit_, ascended by an interior staircase.[XI-94] From its summit, upon which there was room for about ten men to stand, the priest proclaimed the nature of the approaching festival, and the kind of sacrifice to be made, and here, upon a stone block, the victims, generally captives and slaves, had their hearts cut out, after which they were decapitated, the body to be cut up and prepared for the grand banquets, while the head, if that of a captive, was hung on a tree near the temple, a particular tree being reserved for each tribe from whom the victims were captured. The most prized victims were young boys and girls, who were brought up by the chiefs for the purpose and treated with great care and respect wherever they went, for they were supposed to become deified after death and to exercise great influence over the affairs of life. Women, who were held to be unworthy to perform any duty in connection with the temples, were immolated outside the temple ground of the large sanctuaries, and even their flesh was unclean food for the high-priest, who accordingly ate only of the flesh of males.[XI-95]

Fasts and baptismal rites, so prominent hitherto, do not appear to have been practiced in Nicaragua. A kind of sacrament was administered, however, by means of maize sprinkled with blood drawn from the generative organs, and confession was a recognized institution. The confessor was chosen from among the most aged and respected citizens; a calabash suspended from the neck was his badge of office. He was required to be a man of blameless life, unmarried, and not connected with the temple. Those who wished to confess went to his house, and there standing with humility before him unburdened their conscience. The confessor was forbidden to reveal any secret confided to him in his official capacity, under pain of punishment. The penance he imposed was generally some kind of labor to be performed for the benefit of the temple. Boys did not confess, but seem to have reserved the avowal of their peccadillos for maturer age.[XI-96]

[Sidenote: PRIESTS OF NICARAGUA.]

The office of high-priest was held by the caciques, who each in his turn left home and occupation and removed to the chief temple, there to remain for a year attending to religious matters and praying for the people. At the expiration of the term he received the honorable distinction of having his nose perforated. Subordinate duties were performed by boys. In the inferior temples other classes entered for a year's penance, living like the chief in strict seclusion, except at festivals perhaps, seeing none but the boys who brought food from their homes. The ordinary priests were called _tamagast_[XI-97] and lived on the offerings made to the idols, and perhaps by their own exertions, for the temples had no fixed revenues.[XI-98] They had sorcerers, _texoxes_, who sometimes caused the death of children by merely looking at them, and who could assume animal forms, for which reasons they were much feared by the people. To strengthen this belief they at times disguised themselves in skins of beasts.[XI-99] In Honduras the idea of a Supreme Being and Creator was connected with a worship of the sun, moon, and stars, to which the people made sacrifices.[XI-100] Near Truxillo were three chief temples[XI-101] in one of which was a chalchiuite in the form of a woman, to which the people prayed, and which answered them through the priests. Preparatory to any important undertaking, cocks, dogs, or even men, were sacrificed to secure the favor of the gods. In each of the sanctuaries presided a _papa_, or chief priest, to whom the education of the sons of the nobles was entrusted. These were unmarried men, distinguished by long hair reaching to the waist, though in some places they wound it round the head in plaits. Their sanctity and superior knowledge gave them great influence, and their advice was sought on all affairs of importance by the principal men, for none else dared to approach them. There were also sorcerers who could assume animal forms, in which guise they went about devouring men and spreading diseases.[XI-102]

[Sidenote: THE MOSQUITO PANTHEON.]

Among the barbarians of the Mosquito Coast, we find, of course, a much lower order of belief, and one which calls to mind the ghouls and ghosts of Californian mythology. The natives acknowledged a good spirit or principle, to which they gave no definite name[XI-103] and rendered no homage, for there was no necessity, they said, to pray to one who always did good; as for thanking him for mercies received, such an idea seems never to have occurred to them. In fact, they had neither temples nor idols, and the only ceremonies that partook of a religious character were the conjurations of their _sukias_, or sorceresses, who were constantly engaged in breaking the spells of evil spirits, with which the people's fancy, excited by grewsome stories told round the camp-fire, had filled every dark and dismal place, every stream and mountain top. These gnomes were known by the name of Wulasha,[XI-104] and were supposed to issue from their hiding-places, especially at night, to do all manner of evil; they were especially addicted to carrying off solitary wanderers; it was, therefore, say the chroniclers, almost impossible to induce a native to go out alone after dark.

Amid the underwood and fallen trees about the sources of rivers, big snakes were thought to dwell. These monsters were assisted by a resistless upward current and a strong wind which swept the unwary boatman within the reach of the red jaws and slimy folds. Patook, among other rivers, had this bad reputation, and a white man who despite the warnings of the natives started to explore its mysteries, returned in a few days with the story that his progress had been opposed by a big white cock. Leewa[XI-105] was the name of the water spirit, who sucked the bather into pools and eddies and sent forth devastating waterspouts and hurricanes. Wihwin, a spirit having the appearance of a horse,[XI-106] with tremendous teeth to devour human prey, haunted the hills during the summer, but retired with the winter to the sea, whence he originally issued. In mountain caves, guarded by fierce white boars, lived the patron deity of the _warrees_, the wild pigs of the country, of childish form but immense strength, who directed the movements of the droves. There were, besides, certain venomous lizards, who after biting a man ran immediately to the nearest water: if the wounded person did the same and succeeded in reaching the water first, he was saved, and the lizard died; otherwise the man was doomed.[XI-107] The Sukias who were called upon to exorcise these malignant beings on every occasion of sickness, or misfortune, were generally old hags, supposed to have a compact with the evil one, in whose name they exacted half their fee before commencing their enchantments. The Caribs held regular meetings or festivals to propitiate these spirits, and the Woolwas, who seem to have had many religious forms in common with the Nicaraguans, had "dances with the gods."[XI-108]

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[Sidenote: GODS OF THE ISTHMIANS.]

Among the Isthmians several forms of worship appear, that in the vicinity of Panamá resembling the system prevalent in Hayti and Cuba, says Gomara.[XI-109] The heavenly bodies seem to have been very generally adored, especially in the northern part of the Isthmus, where all good things were thought to come from the sun and moon, which were considered as man and wife; but no accounts are given of temples, or forms of worship, except that prayers were addressed to the sun.[XI-110]

The most prominent personage in the Isthmian pantheon was Dabaiba, a goddess who controlled the thunder and lightning, and with their aid devastated the lands of those who displeased her. In South America, thunder and lightning were held to be the instruments used by the sun to inflict punishment upon its enemies, which makes it probable that Dabaiba was a transformed sun-goddess. Pilgrims resorted from afar to her temple at Urabá, bringing costly presents and human victims, who were first killed and then burned, that the savory odors of roasting flesh might be grateful in the delicate nostrils of the goddess. Some describe her as a native princess, whose reign was marked by great wisdom and many miracles, and who was apotheosized after death. She was also honored as the mother of the Creator, the maker of the sun, the moon, and all invisible things, and the sender of blessings, who seems to have acted as mediator between the people and his mother, for their prayers for rain were addressed to him, although she is described as controlling the showers, and once when her worship was neglected she inflicted a severe drought upon the country.

When the needs of the people were very urgent, the chiefs and priests remained in the temple fasting and praying with uplifted hands; the people meanwhile observed a four-days fast, lacerating their bodies and washing their faces, which were at other times covered with paint. So strict was this fast that no meat or drink was to be touched until the fourth day, and then only a soup made from maize-flour. The priests themselves were sworn to perpetual chastity and abstinence, and those who went astray in these matters were burned or stoned to death. Their temples were encompassed with walls and kept scrupulously clean; golden trumpets, and bells with bone clappers summoned the people to worship.[XI-111]

In the province of Pocorosa the existence of a rain-god called Chipiripe was recognized, who inhabited the heaven above, whence he regulated celestial movements; with him lived a beautiful woman with one child. Nothing else was known respecting this divine family. This ignorance of the deity was further manifested by the absence of any form of worship; the moral laws were well defined, however, so that adultery and even lying were regarded as sinful.[XI-112] Las Casas states that Chicune, 'the beginning of all,' who lived in heaven, was the one being to whom the people of Darien addressed their invocations and sacrifices, though a certain sect, or tribe, among them worshiped the water. In another chapter he declares that the Isthmians had little or no religion, for they had no temples and few or no gods or idols.[XI-113] According to Peter Martyr, the embalmed and bejeweled bodies of ancestors were worshiped in Comagre, and in Veragua gold was invested with divine qualities, so that the gathering of it was attended with fasting and penance.[XI-114] Tuira, whom the Spanish writers declared to have been the devil himself, was a widely known being who communed with his servants, _tequina_, 'masters,'[XI-115] in roofless huts kept for this purpose. Here the tequinas entered at night, and spoke in different voices, to induce the belief that the spirits were actually answering their questions; the result of the interview was communicated to their patrons. At times the evil one appeared in the guise of a handsome boy without hands[XI-116] and with three-toed feet, and accompanied the sorcerers upon their expeditions to work mischief, and supplied them with a protecting ointment. Among the evil deeds imputed to these sorcerers was that of sucking the navel of sleeping people until they died.[XI-117] These men naturally took care to foster ideas that tended to sustain or increase their influence, and circulated, besides, most extravagant stories of supernatural events and beings. Once a terrible hurricane, blowing from the east, devastated the country and brought with it two birds with maiden faces, one of which was of a size so great that it seized upon men and carried them off to its mountain nest. No tree could support it, and where it alighted upon the rocks, the imprint of its talons were left. The other bird was smaller and supposed to be the offspring of the first. After trying several plans to kill these man-eating harpies, they hit upon the device of fixing a large beam in the ground, near the place where they usually alighted, leaving only one end exposed, on which was carved the image of a man. With the dawn of day the larger bird came swooping down upon the decoy and imbedded its claws so firmly in the beam that it could not withdraw them, and thus the people were enabled to kill it.[XI-118]

The knowledge that the human mind, no matter how low its condition, can be capable of such puerile conceptions, must bring with it a sense of humiliation to the thinking man; and well were it for him could he comfort himself with the belief that such debasing superstitions were at least confined to humanity in its first and lowest stages; but this he cannot do. It is true that the belief of the civilized Aztec was far higher and nobler than that of the uncivilized Carib, but can he who has read the evidence upon which old women and young maidens were convicted of riding upon broomsticks to witches' Sabbaths, by the most learned judges of the most learned law-courts of modern Europe, deny that the coarsest superstition and the highest civilization have hitherto gone hand in hand.

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[Sidenote: PHALLIC WORSHIP.]

Before leaving this division it will be well to say a few words concerning the existence of Phallic Worship in America.

One of the first problems of the primitive man is creation. If analogies lead him to conceive it as allied to a birth, and the joint result of some unknown male and female energy, then the symbolization of this power is liable to take the gross form of phallic worship. Thus it is that among the earliest nations of which we possess any knowledge, the life-giving and vivifying principle of nature has been always symbolized by the human organs of generation. The Lingham of India, the Phallus of Greece, the Priapus of Rome, the Baal-Peor of the Hebrew records, and the Peor-Apis of Egypt, all have plainly the same significance. In most mythologies the sun, the principle of fire, the moon, and the earth, were connected with this belief; the sun and moon as the celestial emblems of the generative and productive powers of nature, fire and the earth as the terrestrial emblems. These were the Father and the Mother, and their most obvious symbols, as already stated, were the phallus and wares, or the Skuas and yoni of Hindustan.

It is unnecessary to multiply quotations respecting the basal though often veiled idea of One, underlying the polytheistic systems. The difficulty to the human mind of considering anything in another than human aspect, and our natural delight in analogies, leads, however, in many cases to the consideration in certain aspects of this deity as a duality or joint essence of the masculine and the feminine. Take the learned Cory's summary of ancient mythology: "It recognizes, as the primary elements of all things, two independent principles, of the nature of male and female; and these, in mystic union, as the soul and body, constitute the Great Hermaphrodite Deity, The One, the universe itself, consisting still of the two separate elements of its composition, modified though combined in one individual.... If we investigate the Pantheons of the ancient nations, we shall find that each, notwithstanding the variety of names, acknowledged the same deities and the same system of Theology; and, however humble any of the deities may appear, each who has any claim to antiquity will be found ultimately, if not immediately, resolvable into one or other of the Primeval Principles, the Great God and Goddess of the Gentiles."[XI-119]

[Sidenote: RATIONALE OF PHALLIC WORSHIP.]

To the moral ideal of the present age, an ideal derived from acquired habit, not from nature, phallic worship will doubtless appear repulsive and indelicate in the extreme. It was, nevertheless, the most natural form of worship that the primitive man could adopt; for him the symbol had no impure meaning, and was associated with none of the disgusting excesses by means of which, as he became more sophisticated, he converted his reverence of Nature into a worship of Lust.

What could be more natural than that he should symbolize the fecundating principle, the creative power, by the immediate cause of reproduction, or as he doubtless took it, of creation, the phallus. He recognized no impurity or licentiousness in the moderate and regular gratification of any natural appetite; nor did it seem to him that the organs of one species of enjoyment were naturally to be considered as subjects of shame and concealment more than those of another. As Payne Knight remarks of the ancient nations of the old world: "In an age, therefore, when no prejudices of artificial decency existed, what more just and natural image could they find, by which to express their idea of the beneficent power of the great Creator than that organ which endowed them with the power of procreation, and made them partakers, not only of the felicity of the Deity, but of his great characteristic attribute, that of multiplying his own image, communicating his blessings, and extending them to the generations yet unborn." Nothing natural was to them offensively obscene. When the Egyptian matrons touched the phallus they did so with the pure wish of obtaining offspring. The gold lingam on the neck of the Hindoo wives was not an object of shame to them.

[Sidenote: RELICS OF PHALLIC WORSHIP.]

That the worship of the reciprocal principles of nature was recognized and practiced in America, there is in my mind no doubt. The almost universal prevalence of sun-worship, which is, as I have already intimated, closely connected with phallic rites, would alone go far to prove this, but an account of certain material relics and well known customs is still more satisfactory evidence.

In Yucatan, according to Stephens, "the ornaments upon the external cornice of several large buildings actually consisted of _membra conjuncta in coitu_, too plainly sculptured to be misunderstood. And, if this were not sufficient testimony, more was found in the isolated and scattered representations of the _membrum virile_, so accurate that even the Indians recognised the object, and invited the attention of Mr Catherwood to the originals of some of his drawings as yet unpublished."

The sculptured pillars to be seen at Copan and other ruins in Central America, which are acknowledged to be connected with sun worship, are very similar to the sculptured phallus-pillars of the East.[XI-120] Mr Squier is of the opinion that they may be considered as such, and the Abbé Brasseur takes the same view in making the plain cylindrical pillar found in so many places the representation of the volcano, the goddess of love, and whence it issues as the symbol of new life. On another page he terms the phallus the Crescent, the land whence the Nahuas originated, and the continent of America the body.[XI-121] Some of the pillars appear without ornament, as the _picote_ at Uxmal, a round stone of irregular form, which stood in front of one of the ruins, but the worshipers of Priapus at Thespia and other places were content with a rude stone for an image in early times. In Mexico according to Gama, the presiding god of spring, Xopancalehuey Tlalloc, was often represented without a human body, having instead a pilaster or square column, upon a pedestal covered with various sculptured designs.[XI-122] In Pánuco images of the generative organs were kept in the temples as objects of worship, and statues representing men and women performing the sexual act in various postures stood in the temple-courts.[XI-123] Near Laguna de Terminos, on the coast of Yucatan, Grijalva found images of men committing acts of indescribable beastliness, while close by lay the bodies of victims recently sacrificed in their honor.[XI-124] The united symbols of the sexual organs were publicly worshiped in Tlascala, and in the month of Quecholli a grand festival was held in honor of Xochiquetzal, Xochitecatl, and Tlazolteotl, goddesses of sensual delights, when the prostitutes and young men addicted to sodomy were allowed to solicit custom on the public streets.[XI-125] On Zapatero Island, around Lake Nicaragua, and in Costa Rica, a number of idols have been found of which the disproportionately large _membrum generationis virile in erectione_ was the most prominent feature. Palacio relates that at Cezori, in Honduras, the natives offered blood drawn from the organs of generation and circumcised boys before an idol called Icelaca, which was simply a round stone,[XI-126] with two faces and a number of eyes, and was supposed to know all things, past, present, and future.[XI-127] The frequent occurrence of the cross, which has served in so many and such widely separated parts of the earth as the symbol of the life-giving, creative, and fertilizing principle in nature, is, perhaps, one of the most striking evidences of the former recognition of the reciprocal principles of nature by the Americans; especially when we remember that the Mexican name for the emblem, tonacaquahuitl, signifies 'tree of one life, or flesh.'[XI-128] Of two terra-cotta relics found at Ococingo, in the state of Chiapas, one would certainly attract the attention of any one who had investigated the subject of phallic worship or had seen the phallic amulets and ornaments of the old world.[XI-129] In the Museum at Mexico are two small images which were evidently used as ornaments. Each of these represents a human figure in a crouching posture, clasping with both hands an enormous phallus. Col. Brantz Mayer kindly showed me drawings of these made by himself. One of these figures is reproduced in another volume of this work.

[Sidenote: PHALLIC RITES.]

The Pipiles abstained from their wives for four days previous to sowing, in order to indulge in the marital act to the fullest extent on the eve of that day, evidently with a view to initiate or urge the fecundating powers of nature. It is even said that certain persons were appointed to perform the sexual act at the moment of planting the first seed. During the bitter cold nights of the Hyperborean winter, the Aleuts, both men and women, joined hands in the open air and whirled perfectly naked round certain idols, lighted only by the pale moon. The spirit was supposed to hallow the dance with his presence. There certainly could have been no licentious element in this ceremony, for setting aside the discomfort of dancing naked with the thermometer at zero, we read that the dancers were blindfolded, and that decorum was strictly enforced. In Nicaragua, maize sprinkled with blood drawn from the genitals was regarded as sacred food.[XI-130] The custom of drawing blood from this part of the body was observed as a religious rite by almost every tribe from Mexico to Panamá, though this, of course, does not prove that it was in all cases connected with phallic worship. Circumcision is regarded by Squier as a phallic rite, but there is not sufficient testimony to support this view. Tezcatlipoca, the chief god of the Nahuas, who has been frequently identified with the sun, was adored as a love-god, according to Boturini, who adds that the Nahua Lotharios held disorderly festivals in his honor, to induce him to favor their designs.[XI-131] Orgies, characterized by the grossest licentiousness are met with at different places along the coast, as among the Nootkas, the Upper and Lower Californians, in Sinaloa, Nicaragua, and especially in Yucatan, where every festival ended in a debauch. During a certain annual festival held in Nicaragua, women, of whatever condition, could abandon themselves to the embrace of whomever they pleased, without incurring any disgrace.[XI-132]

The feast of the Mexican month Xocotlhuetzin, 'fall, or maturity of fruit,' is to me a most striking evidence of the former existence of phallic worship, or at least recognition of the fecundating principle in nature. I will, however, leave the reader to draw his own conclusions. This feast of the 'maturity of fruit' was dedicated to Xiuhtecutli, god of fire, and, therefore, of fertility, or fecundity. The principal feature of the feast was a tall, straight tree, which was stripped of all its branches except those close to the top and set up in the court of the temple. Within a few feet of its top a cross-yard thirty feet long was fastened; thus a perfect cross was formed. Above all, a dough image of the god of fire curiously dressed was fixed. After certain horrible sacrifices had been made to the deity of the day, the people assembled about the pole, and the youth scrambled up for the image, which they broke in pieces and scattered upon the ground.[XI-133] A great number of similar analogies may be detected in the rites and customs of the people, and it is almost reluctantly that I refrain from giving my views in full. I have made it my aim, however, to deal with facts, and leave speculation to others. Those who wish to thoroughly investigate this most interesting subject, cannot do better than study Mr Squier's learned and exhaustive treatise on the Serpent Symbol.

FOOTNOTES:

[XI-1] 'Toda esta Tierra, con estotra, ... tenia vna misma manera de religion, y ritos, y si en algo diferenciaba, era, en mui poco.' 'Lo mismo fue de las Provincias de Quatimala, Nicaragua, y Honduras.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 54, 191. Tylor thinks that 'the civilizations of Mexico and Central America were originally independent, but that they came much in contact, and thus modified one another to no small extent.' _Anahuac_, p. 191. 'On reconnaît facilement que le culte y était partout basé sur le rituel toltèque, et que les formes mêmes ne différaient guère les unes des autres.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 559.

[XI-2] Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 42, calls him the sun.

[XI-3] Representations of the sun, with whom he seems to be identified, are not impossible to these peoples if we may judge from the sun-plates with lapping tongues and other representations found on the ruins in Mexico and Central America.

[XI-4] 'Porque à este le llamaban tambien Ytzamnà.' _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 196, 192.

[XI-5] The daughter of Ixchel, the Yucatec medicine goddess. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 43. He writes the virgin's name as Chiribias. Ixchel seems to be the same as the Guatemalan Xmucané, mother of the gods.' _Id._, _Quatre Lettres_, p. 243.

[XI-6] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxxiii.; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 190; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, p. 246; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. iii., p. 133.

[XI-7] 'Celle de l'eau matrice d'embryon, _ix-a-zal-uoh_.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _MS. Troano_, tom. ii., p. 258.

[XI-8] 'Idolo, ò Zemì.' _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, p. 33. 'Zemes which are the Images of their familiar and domesticall spirites.' _Peter Martyr_, dec. iv., lib. vi.

[XI-9] 'Les dieux de l'Yucatan, disent Lizana et Cogolludo, étaient presque tous des rois plus ou moins bons que la gratitude ou la terreur avait fait placer au rang des divinités.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 20; _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 158; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 198.

[XI-10] _Lizana_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 356; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 197; Brinton, _Myths_, p. 188, speaks of 'Zamna, or Cukulcan, lord of the dawn and four winds,' and connects him with Votan also. 'Il y a toute apparence qu'il était de la même race (as Votan) et que son arrivée eut lieu peu d'années après la fondation de la monarchie palenquéenne.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 76, et seq. The hand in picture-writing signifies strength, power, mastery, and is frequently met with on Central American ruins, impressed in red color. Among the North American savages it was the symbol of supplication. Their doctors sometimes smeared the hand with paint and daubed it over the patient. _Schoolcraft_, in _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 476-8.

[XI-11] Lizana, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 360, translates the name as 'Sol con rostro que sus rayos eran de fuego,' _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 198, 178; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _MS. Troano_, p. 270; _Id._, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 5-6; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 475. In the syllable _mo_ of the hero's name is found another reference to the sun, for _moo_ is the Maya term for the bird _ara_, the symbol of the sun.

[XI-12] 'El que recibe, y possee la gracia, ò rozio del Cielo.' 'No conocian otro Dios Autor de la vida, sino à este.' _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 179. 'Celui qui demande ou obtient la rosée ou la glace, ou rempli de l'eau en bras de glace, _itz-m-a-tul_.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _MS. Troano_, tom. ii., p. 257; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 284-5.

[XI-13] After staying a short time at Potonchan, he embarked and nothing more was heard of him. The _Codex Chimalpopoca_ states, however, that he died in Tlapallan, four days after his return. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 18. In another place this writer refers to three brothers, _itzaob_, 'saintly man,' who were probably sent by Quetzalcoatl to spread his doctrines, but who ultimately founded a monarchy. They also seem to throw a doubt on the identity of Cukulcan with Quetzalcoatl. 'Il n'y a pas à douter, toutefois, que, s'il est le même que Quetzalcohuatl, la doctrine aura été la même.' _Id._, pp. 10-1, 43. Torquemada, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 52, states that the Cocomes were his descendants, but as the hero never married, his disciples must rather be accepted as their ancestors. _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 35-9, 300-1; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. ii. Veytia connects him with St. Thomas. _Hist. Antig. Mej._, tom. i., pp. 195-8. Speaking of Cukulcan and his companions Las Casas says: 'A este llamaron Dios de las fiebres ò Calenturas.... Los cuales mandaban que se confesasen las gentes y ayunasen; y que algunos ayunaban el viernes porque habia muerto aquel dia Bacab; y tiene por nombre aquel dia Himis.' _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxxiii. '_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.

[XI-14] _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 22; _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 158; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 202; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 46-7. 'Se tenian por santificados los que alla auian estado,' _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.

[XI-15] Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 50, calls the god of death Rakalku. Baeza, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., pp. 168-9, mentions a transparent stone called _zatzun_, by means of which hidden things and causes of diseases could be discovered.

[XI-16] 'Cette divinité paraît être la même que le _Tihax_ des Quichés et Cakchiquels, le _Tecpatl_ des Mexicains, la lance ou la flèche.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 363.

[XI-17] _Zee-Rovers_, p. 64; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 178, 190-1, 196-7; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 206-8; _Lizana_, in _Id._, pp. 356-64; _Ternaux-Compans_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., pp. 40-4; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., pp. 17, 32; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, pp. 245-6; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 4-10, 20, 42-50.

[XI-18] 'Tra le Croci sono celebri quelle di Jucatan, della Mizteca, di Queretaro, di Tepique, e di Tianquiztepec.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 14. There were also crosses at Palenque, on San Juan de Ulloa, at Copan, in Nicaragua, and other places. 'Die Tolteken haben nämlich die Verehrung des Kreuzes mit durchaus bewusster Beziehung desselben auf den Regen, von der alten Urbevölkerung aufgenommen.' _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, pp. 498-9; _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 88.

[XI-19] This and other prophecies, which, if not mere fabrications, bear at least marks of mutilation and addition, may be found in _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. iii., pp. 132-3; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, pp. 245-6; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 99-100; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 603-6. Brinton thinks that they may refer to 'the return of Zamná, or Kuckulcan, lord of the dawn and the four winds, worshipped at Cozumel ... under the sign of the cross.' _Myths_, p. 188. The report circulated by Aguilar of his people and of the cross, may have given the prophets a clue.

[XI-20] 'The formation of such an opinion by the Spaniards seems to shew almost conclusively, that the aborigines of the country did not retain any traditional history on the subject that would justify the simple belief, that Catholic Europeans had ever possessed influence enough among them to have established so important a feature in their superstitious observances.' _McCulloh_, _Researches in Amer._, p. 327. 'Afirmaban que por que habia muerto en ella un hombre mas replandeciente que el sol.' _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxxiii.; _Peter Martyr_, dec. iv., lib. i.

[XI-21] Mr Godfrey Higgins, in his _Celtic Druids_, p. 126, says: 'Few causes have been more powerful in producing mistakes in ancient history, than the idea, hastily taken up by Christians in all ages, that every monument of antiquity marked with a cross, or with any of those symbols which they conceived to be monograms of Christ, were of Christian origin.... The cross is as common in India as in Egypt, and Europe,' Mr Maurice, in his _Indian Antiquities_, vol. ii., p. 361, writes: 'Let not the piety of the Catholic Christian be offended at the preceding assertion that the cross was one of the most usual symbols among the hieroglyphics of Egypt and India.' The emblem of universal nature is equally honored in the Gentile and Christian world. 'In the cave at Elephanta, in India, over the head of the principal figure, again may be seen this figure (the cross), and a little in the front the huge Lingham (phallus).'

[XI-22] Constantio holds it to be a symbol of the solstices. _Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., pp. 464-5; _Humboldt_, _Exam. Crit._, tom. ii., pp. 354-6; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 24; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, pp. 497-500; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. iii., pp. 133, 200-6, 299; _McCulloh's Researches_, pp. 331-6; _Klemm_, _Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., p. 143; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 63. Brinton refers to a statement that the Mexicans had cruciform graves, and supposes that this referred to four spirits of the world who were to carry the deceased to heaven, but there seems to be a mistake on both of these points. _Myths_, pp. 95-8; _Gould's Curious Myths_, vol. ii., p. 79, et seq.; _Cox's Mythology of the Aryan Nations_, vol. ii., pp. 369-72. Some of the crosses referred to lack the head piece, and being of this shape, "T", resemble, somewhat, a Mexican coin.

[XI-23] 'No solo se hallò vna Cruz, sino algunas.' _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 199-302; _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 3; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. iii., cap. i.; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 24. Stephens found a cross at the church of Mejorada, in Mérida, which an old monk had dug out of the ruins of a church on Cozumel Island. 'The connecting of the "Cozumel Cross" with the ruined church on the island completely invalidates the strongest proof offered at this day that the cross was ever recognized by the Indians as a symbol of worship.' _Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 377-8. Rather a hasty assertion when made in the face of so many old authorities.

[XI-24] This seems to confirm the idea that it was worshiped, yet Constantio regards it as a representation of the birth of the sun in the winter solstice, and holds the ruin to which the cross belongs to be a sun temple. _Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., pp. 464-5; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 498; _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., pp. 345-8. Squier, who denies that the Tonacaquahuitl was intended to represent a cross, thinks that the Palenque cross merely represents one of these trees with the branches placed crosswise. _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 120-1. Jones, _Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 149, et seq., who identifies almost every feature of Central American worship with the Phœnician, asserts that the Palenque cross proves the Tyrian origin of the aborigines.

[XI-25] Cogolludo says, however: 'Solian ayunar dos, y tres dias, sin comer cosa alguna.' _Hist. Yuc._, p. 194.

[XI-26] These mutilations were at times very severe. 'Otras vezes hazian un suzio y penoso sacrificio añudandose los que lo hazian en el templo, donde puestas en rengla, se hazian sendos aguzeros en los miembros viriles al soslayo por el lado, y hechos passavan toda la mas cantidad de hilo que podian, quedando assi todos asidos.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 162-3. This author thinks that the practice of slitting the prepuce gave rise to the idea that circumcision existed in Yucatan.

[XI-27] _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 164-8; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 193-4; _Medel_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 43; vol. ii., pp. 704-5, of this work. 'For want of children they sacrifice dogges.' _Peter Martyr_, dec. iv., lib. vi. 'El numero de la gente sacrificada era mucho: y esta costumbre fue introduzida en Yucatan, por los Mexicanos.' 'Flechauan algunas vezes al sacrificado ... desollauanlos, vestiase el sacerdote el pellejo, y baylauo, y enterrauan el cuerpo en el patio del templo.' _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii., iv. Tradition relates that in a cave near Uxmal existed a well like that of Chichen, guarded by an old woman, the builder of the dwarf palace in that city, who sold the water for infants, and these she cast before the snake at her side. _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 425.

[XI-28] _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 165; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 25, 180; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 62.

[XI-29] _Relacion_, p. 154; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv. For description of baptismal rites, see vol. ii., pp. 682-4, of this work.

[XI-30] 'Que se deriva de un verbo _kinyah_, que significa "sortear ó echar suertes."' _Lizana_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 362.

[XI-31] 'Longues robes noires.' _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., p. 168.

[XI-32] _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 198; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 6; _Ternaux-Compans_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., pp. 39-41. Temples are described in vol. ii., pp. 791-3, of this work.

[XI-33] 'Célèbres dans toutes les traditions d'origine toltèque, comme les pères du soleil et de la magie.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 120.

[XI-34] '_Hun-Ahpu-Vuch_ un Tireur de Sarbacane au Sarigue et _Hun-Ahpu-Utïu_ un Tireur de Sarbacane au Chacal.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, pp. cxviii., cxix., pp. 2-5. They are also referred to as conjurers. _Id._, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 54. Ximenez spells the latter name Hun-ahpu-uhú, and states that they are held as oracles. _Hist. Ind. Guat._, pp. 4, 156-8, 82. Las Casas, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxxiv., refers to these beings as having been adored under the name of grandfather and grandmother before the deluge, but later on a woman appeared who taught them to call the gods by other names. This woman, Brasseur de Bourbourg holds to be the traditional and celebrated queen Atit, from whom Atitlan volcano obtained its name, and from whom the princely families of Guatemala have descended. The natives still recall her name, but as that of a phantom. _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 74-5. He further finds considerable similarity between her and Aditi of the Veda. In his solution of the Antilles cataclysm he identifies Xmucane as the South American part of the continent and Xpiyacoc as North America. _Quatre Lettres_, pp. 223-4, 235-8. Garcia, _Origen de los Ind._, pp. 329-30, calls these first beings Xchmel and Xtmana, and gives them three sons, who create all things. In the younger of these we recognize the two legitimate sons of Hunhun Ahpu, who will be described later on as the patrons of the fine arts.

[XI-35] To be afflicted with buboes implied the possession of many women and consequently wealth and grandeur. _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 157; see this vol. p. 60; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. 3.

[XI-36] Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Popol Vuh_, p. 315, does not understand why Ximenez, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 125, translates heaven and Xibalba as heaven and hell, but as both terms doubtless refer to provinces, or towns, it is better to retain the figurative name. Xibalba is, besides, derived from the same source as the Insomuch 'demon' of the Yucatecs. Brasseur translates: 'Chaque sept (jours) il montait au ciel et en sept (jours) il faisait le chemin pour descendre à Xibalba;' while Ximenez with more apparent correctness renders: 'Siete dias se subia al cielo y siete dias se iba al infierno.' In _Quatre Lettres_, p. 228, the Abbé explains Xibalba as hell. See also vol. ii., pp. 715-7, of this work.

[XI-37] _Popol Vuh_, p. cxvii.-cxx., 7, 9; see this vol., pp. 48-54. The occurrence of the number 4 in mythical and historical accounts of Mexico and Central America is very frequent.

[XI-38] 'Parait venir des Antilles, où il désignait la tempête et le grondement de l'orage.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. 8.

[XI-39] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 496.

[XI-40] Garcilaso says: 'C'est encore l'idée du Tonnerre, de l'Eclair et de la Foudre, contenus dans un seul _Hurakan_, le centre, le coeur du ciel, la tempête, le vent, le souffle.' _Comentarios Reales_, lib. ii., cap. xxiii., lib. iii., cap. xxi., lib. iii.; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. ccxxxv., 9; _Id._, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 51.

[XI-41] 'Ximenez dit qu'il signifie _Pluie, Averse_: mais il confond ici le nom du dieu avec le signe. _Toh_, ... est rendu par le mot _paga_, paie, _pagar_, payer. Mais le MS. _Cakehiquel_ ... dit que les Quichés reçurent celui de _Tohohil_, qui signifie grondement, bruit,' etc. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. 214. He seems identical with the Maya Hunpictok.

[XI-42] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 553, tom. i., p. 128.

[XI-43] Brinton, _Myths_, pp. 156-7, who holds Hurakan to be the Tlaloc, connects Tohil with Quetzalcoatl--ideas taken most likely from Brasseur de Bourbourg--states that he was represented by a flint. This must refer to his traditional transformation into a stone, for the Abbé declares that no description of his idol is given by the chroniclers. _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 552. Now, although the Abbé declares Tohil to be the same as Quetzalcoatl, in the _Popol Vuh_, p. 214, and other places, he acknowledges that the tradition positively identifies him with Hurakan, and confirms this by explaining on p. cclxvii., that Tohil, sometimes in himself, sometimes in connection with the two other members of the trinity, combines the attributes of thunder, flash, and thunderbolt; further, he gives a prayer by the Tohil priests in which this god is addressed as Hurakan. _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 553. Gucumatz, the acknowledged representative of Quetzalcoatl, is, besides, shown to be distinct from Tohil. Every point, therefore, tradition, name, attributes, connect Tohil and Hurakan, and identify them with Tlaloc.

[XI-44] _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 552-3.

[XI-45] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. cclxvii., 235; _Id._, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 554. The turning into stone 'veut dire que les trois principaux volcans s'éteignirent ou cessèrent de lancer leurs feux.' _Id._, _Quatre Lettres_, p. 331.

[XI-46] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 497, 75; _Id._, _Popol Vuh_, p. cclxii.; see note 7.

[XI-47] _Id._, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 521; _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, p. 384.

[XI-48] '_Hunhun-Ahpu_ signifie Chaque Tireur de Sarbacane; _Vukub-Hun-Ahpu_, Sept un Tireur de Sarbacane.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. cxxxv. Their chief name, Ahpu, 'désigne la puissance volcanique.' _Id._, _Quatre Lettres_, p. 225.

[XI-49] Hun Ahpu, a sarbacan shooter. '_Xbalenque, de balam_, tigre, jaguar; le _que_ final est un signe pluriel, et le _x_ qui précède, prononcez _sh_ (anglais), est alternativement un diminutif ou un signe féminin.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. cxxxv. Ximenez, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, pp. 146-7, 156, remarks the similarity of these personages to the God, son, and virgin of the Christians.

[XI-50] '_Hun-Batz_, Un Singe (ou un Fileur); _Hun-Chouen_, un qui se blanchit, ou s'embellit.' They seem to correspond to the Mexican Ozomatli and Piltzintecutli. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, pp. cxxxv., 69, 117. The _ba_ in Hun-Batz refers to something underground, or deep down, and Hun-Chouen '"Une Souris cachée" ou "un lac en sentinelle."' Both names indicate the disordered condition and movement of a region (the Antilles). _Id._, _Quatre Lettres_, pp. 227-9.

[XI-51] 'Les deux frères, s'étant embrassés, s'élancent dans les flammes.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 137.

[XI-52] Vukub Cakix, 'seven aras,' a type of the sun, although declared in one place to have usurped the solar attribute, seems to have been worshiped as the sun; his two sons, Zipacna and Cabrakan, represent respectively the creator of the earth and the earthquake, which confirms their father's high position. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, pp. 31-9, cciv., ccliii.

[XI-53] The allegorical account of these events is related on pp. 31 to 192 of _Popol Vuh_, and Brasseur's remarks are given on pages cxxxiv. to cxl. Juarros, _Hist. Guat._, p. 164, states that Hun Ahpu discovered the use of cacao and cotton, which is but another indication of the introduction of culture. According to Las Casas, Xbalanque descends into hell, Xibalba, where he captures Satan and his chief men, and when the devil implores the hero not to bring him to the light, he kicks him back with the curse that all things rotten and abhorrent may cling to him. When he returns, his people do not receive him with due honor, and he accordingly leaves for other parts. _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxxiv.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 53-4.

[XI-54] _Quatre Lettres_, pp. 225-53; see this vol. 261-4.

[XI-55] On one occasion the people 'égorgèrent chacun un de leurs fils, dont ils mirent les cadavres dans les fondations.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 561-4.

[XI-56] _Indianer von Istlávacan_, pp. 11-3. The natives believed that they would have to share all the sufferings and emotions of their naguals. _Gage's New Survey_, p. 334; Herrera, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. iv., also refers to naguals, and states that the Honduras protégé made his compact with it in the mountains by offerings and blood-letting.

[XI-57] _Espinosa_, _Chrón. Apost._, pp. 344-5; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, p. 726; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 151-3.

[XI-58] 'Tenian por sus Dioses à los Venados.' _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, p. 43.

[XI-59] _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 699, 489-93, 509; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 100-2, 182, 500-2; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. ii., p. 32; _McCulloh's Researches in Amer._, p. 318.

[XI-60] '_Cha-malcan_ serait donc Flèche ou Dard frotté d'ocre jaune,' etc. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, pp. 248-9.

[XI-61] _Id._, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 173.

[XI-62] _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 475. In their want of idols they contrasted strongly with their neighbors. _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, p. 74; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. ii., p. 79.

[XI-63] 'C'est à eux qu'elles offraient presque tous leurs sacrifices.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 556; _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 66-70.

[XI-64] 'L'époque que les événements paraissent assigner à cette légende coïncide avec la période de la grande émigration toltèque et la fondation des divers royaumes guatémaliens.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 81; _Id._, _Popol Vuh_, p. cxxviii. Near the village of Coatan was a small lake which they regarded as oracular, into which none dared to peer least he should be smitten with dumbness and death. _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 50.

[XI-65] 'Aujourd'hui de _Gracias_.... Il y a encore aujourd'hui un village du même nom, paroisse à 12 l. de Comayagua.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 106.

[XI-66] 'Aunque otros dicen, que eran sus Hermanos.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 336.

[XI-67] _Carta_, pp. 82-4. As an instance of the respect entertained for the idols, Las Casas relates that on the Spaniards once profaning them with their touch, the natives brought censers with which they incensed them, and then carried them back to their altar with great respect, shedding their blood upon the road traversed by the idols. _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. clxxx.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., 326; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. iv.

[XI-68] See vol. ii. of this work, pp. 719-20.

[XI-69] _Roman_, _Republica de los Indios_, in _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, pp. 176-81; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 564-566; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. clxxix.; _Juarros_, _Hist. Guat._, p. 196.

[XI-70] The ancient Quichés 'recueillirent leur sang avec des éponges,' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. 259.

[XI-71] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 559-63; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. clxxvii.; vol. ii. of this work, pp. 688.

[XI-72] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, pp. 226-7; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxxiv., clxxvii.; _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, p. 225; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 54; _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 66; _Squier_, in _Id._, pp. 116-7; _Cortés_, _Cartas_, pp. 417-8; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 699; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 392, 502; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 268; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 40; see also, this vol. pp. 688-9, 706-10, 735; _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 184-5. Ximenez, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 210, states, that in case of a severe illness, a father would not hesitate to sacrifice his son to obtain relief. The very fact of such a tale passing current, shows how little human life was valued.

[XI-73] 'Ils n'avaient pour toute nourriture que des fruits.' MS., _Quiché de Chichicastenango_, in _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 552-553, 496-7; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxxxiii.

[XI-74] Ternaux-Compans renders it _tuti_, _Recueil de Doc._, p. 29, while Squier gives it as _tecti_. _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 62. But as an Aztec word, it ought to be written _teoti_.

[XI-75] _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 62-6; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x.; _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, pp. 200-1; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 105, 555-6; _Salazar y Olarte_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, pp. 315-6.

[XI-76] _Hist. Conq. Itza_, p. 61; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, pp. cxviii., cclxvi.; _Scherzer_, _Indianer von Istlávacan_, p. 10.

[XI-77] Gomara says with regard to this: 'Religion de Nicaragua que casi es la mesma Mexicana.' _Hist. Ind._, fol. 63.

[XI-78] The similarity of the name of _tamachaz_ and _tamagast_, names given to angels and priests, is striking. The ending _tat_ might also be regarded as a contraction of the Aztec _tatli_, father. _Buschmann_, _Ortsnamen_, pp. 164-5.

[XI-79] _Buschmann_, _Ortsnamen_, p. 163.