SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

BULLETIN 64

THE MAYA INDIANS OF SOUTHERN YUCATAN
AND NORTHERN BRITISH HONDURAS

BY

THOMAS W. F. GANN

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1918

[LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL]

Washington, D. C., November 4, 1916.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of a memoir entitled "The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras," by Thomas W. F. Gann, and to recommend its publication as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

Very respectfully,

F. W. Hodge,

Ethnologist-in-Charge.

Hon. Charles D. Walcott,

Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.

[CONTENTS]

[ILLUSTRATIONS]

[KEY TO PRONUNCIATION OF MAYA WORDS]

[THE MAYA INDIANS OF SOUTHERN YUCATAN AND
NORTHERN BRITISH HONDURAS]

By Thomas W. F. Gann

[PART 1. CUSTOMS, CEREMONIES, AND MODE OF LIFE]

[INTRODUCTION]

The southern and eastern parts of Yucatan, from Tuluum in the north to the Rio Hondo in the south, are occupied to-day by two tribes of Maya Indians, the Santa Cruz and Icaichè or Chichanha. The number of Santa Cruz was estimated by Sapper in 1895 at about 8,000 to 10,000, but at the present day has probably been reduced to about 5,000. The Icaichè, the number of whom he estimated at 500, and is given by the Guia de Yucatan in 1900 as 803, now comprise not more than 200. This decrease is due to the policy of extermination carried out among the Santa Cruz for years by the Mexican Government, and the consequent emigration of many of the Indians to British Honduras, Guatemala, and northern Yucatan. The northern and western parts of British Honduras contain between 5,000 and 6,000 Indians; those in the north are partly indigenous and partly immigrants drawn from Yucatecan tribes who have left their homes after various political disturbances, especially after the occupancy of their towns of Bacalar and Santa Cruz by the Mexican Government. The Indians of the western part of the colony are also partly indigenous, but for the greater part Itzas, who have come in from Peten in Guatemala.

The objects shown in figures [16], [17], [18], [19], [21], [31], [35], [36], [47], [51], [52], [55], [56], [57], [59], [62], [63], [64], [65], [69], [70], [76], and [77], and in plates [8], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18a], and [19] are in the Liverpool Museum; those shown in figures [15], [40], and [41] and in plate 9 are in the British Museum; those shown in figure [45] and in plates [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], and [28] are in the Bristol Museum; and those shown in figures [67] and [68] and in plates [20], [21], and [22] are in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.

[HABITAT]

Fig. 1.—Map showing Yucatan, Campeche, British Honduras, and part of Guatemala. The area dealt with is shaded.

The northern-part of British Honduras, between the Rio Hondo and the Rio Nuevo, consists of an almost level plain, having an area of nearly 1,000 square miles. The soil is a vegetal humus; varying from a few inches to several feet in depth, the average depth being about 2 feet; beneath this is a stratum of marly limestone, outcrops of which are found in many places. The southern part of Yucatan, which, unlike the northern part, is comparatively well watered, is also flat, though a few small hills are found along the northern bank of the Rio Hondo, commencing about 50 miles from its mouth (fig. [1]). Most of the land along the rivers is swampy, producing only reeds, coarse grasses, and mangrove trees. Beyond the swamp country are found "cuhun ridges," consisting of river valleys or depressions in the surface which have become filled with alluvium brought down by the rivers from the interior, forming an exceedingly rich soil suitable for the cultivation of maize and nearly every tropical product. It is upon these "cuhun ridges" that most of the mounds and other relics of the ancient inhabitants are found and that nearly all the villages of the modern Indians are built. Large tracts of what is known as "pine ridge" are scattered throughout this area; these are level or slightly undulating plains covered with gravel and coarse sand—exceedingly poor soil, producing only wiry grass, yellow pines, and small pimento palms. On these "pine ridges" Indian mounds are hardly ever found, nor do the Indians of to-day build villages upon them except in rare instances and for special local reasons. With the exception of the extreme northern part, nearly the whole of this area is well watered by rivers and streams, while scattered throughout it are numerous lagoons and lakes, the largest of which is the Bacalar Lagoon.

[PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS]

The manners, customs, religious conceptions, and daily life of all these Indians are very similar, though among the Indians of British Honduras, who come more closely in contact with outside influences, old customs are dying out, and old ideas and methods are being superseded by new. The language of the tribes here considered, with slight local dialectical variations, is the same; all are of the same physical type; in fact, there can be little doubt that they are the direct descendants of those Maya who occupied the peninsula of Yucatan at the time of the conquest. Physically, though short they are robust and well proportioned. The men average 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 3 inches in height, the women about 2 inches less. The skin varies in color from almost white to dark bronze. The hair of both sexes is long, straight, coarse, black, and luxuriant on the head, where it extends very low over the forehead, but is almost entirely absent from other parts of the body. The women usually wear their hair hanging down the back in two plaits. Their faces are round and full, with rather high cheek bones; the skull is highly brachicephalic in type. The following indices were taken from a small number of Santa Cruz Indians, mostly males of middle age:

The eyes are large and dark brown, the ears small and closely applied to the head, the nose rather broad, and the jaw prognathous. The mouth is fairly large and the teeth excellent, though toward middle age they become greatly worn down in many individuals from eating corn cake impregnated with grit from the stone metate, and from the same cause they are frequently much incrusted with tartar. The figure in both sexes is short and broad. The long bones and the extremities are small and delicate. Both men and women are, however, capable of considerable and prolonged exertion. The former can carry loads of 150 pounds for 20 miles in the macapal (tab), a netted bag which is slung over the back and held up by a band passing round the forehead, while the latter can work for hours at a time grinding corn on the metate without apparent fatigue. Many of the younger women would be considered very good looking, measured by the most exacting standard, though they reach maturity at an early age, and deteriorate in appearance very rapidly after marriage, the face becoming wrinkled and the figure squat and shapeless. In walking the men bend the body forward from the hips, keep the eyes fixed upon the ground, and turn the toes in, habits acquired from carrying the macapal on all occasions. So accustomed have they become to this contrivance that many of them, when starting on a journey of even a couple of miles, rather than go unloaded, prefer to weight the macapal with a few stones as a counterpoise to the habitual forward inclination of their bodies above the hips. Children begin carrying small macapals at a very early age, and it is probably to this habit and not, as Landa suggests, to the custom among the women of carrying their children astride the hip that the prevalence of bowlegs (kūlba ōk) among the Indians is due. These people have a peculiar and indescribable odor, rather pleasant than otherwise; it is not affected by washing or exercise, is much stronger in some individuals than in others, and is perceptible in both sexes and at all ages. The women are, on the whole, both physically and mentally superior to the men, and when dressed in gala costume for a "baile" with spotlessly clean, beautifully embroidered garments, all the gold ornaments they possess or can borrow, and often a coronet of fire beetles, looking like small electric lamps in their hair, they present a very attractive picture. They are polite and hospitable, though rather shy with strangers; indeed in the remoter villages they often rush into the bush and hide themselves at the approach of anyone not known to them, especially if the men are away working in the milpas. They are very fond of gossip and readily appreciate a joke, especially one of a practical nature, though till one gets to know them fairly well they appear dull and phlegmatic. When quarreling among themselves both women and girls use the most disgusting and obscene language, improvising as they go along, with remarkable quick-wittedness, not binding themselves down to any conventional oaths or forms of invective, but pouring out a stream of vituperation and obscenity to meet each case, which strikes with unerring fidelity the weak points in the habits, morals, ancestry, and personal appearance of their opponents. The young girls are as bad as, if not worse than, the older women, for whom they seem to have no respect. They are extremely clean in their persons, and wash frequently, though with regard to their homes they are not nearly so particular as hens, dogs, pigs, and children roll about together promiscuously on the floor, and fleas, lice, and jiggers abound only too frequently. The description given by Landa (chap. XXXII, p. 192) of the Indian women at the time of the conquest applies equally well to their descendants of the present day:

Emborachavanse también ellas con los combites, aunque por si, como comian por si, y no se emborachavan tanto como los hombres.... Son avisadas y corteses y conversables, con que se entienden, y a maravilla bien partidas. Tienen poco secreto y no son tan limpias en sus personas ni en sus cosas con quanto se lavan como los ermiños.

The women are very industrious, rising usually at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning to prepare the day's supply of tortillas or corn cake. During the day they prepare tobacco (kutz) and make cigarettes; gather cotton (taman), which they spin (kuch), weave (sakal), and embroider for garments; weave mats of palm leaf and baskets (xush) of a variety of liana (ak); make pottery (ul), and cotton and henequen cord, of which they construct hammocks (ǩan). In addition to these tasks they do the family cooking and washing, look after the children, and help their husbands to attend to the animals. Till late at night the women may be seen spinning, embroidering, and hammock-making by the light of a native candle or a small earthenware cuhoon-nut oil lamp, meanwhile laughing and chatting gayly over the latest village scandal, the older ones smoking cigarettes, while the men squat about on their low wooden stools outside the house gravely discussing the weather, the milpas, the hunting, or the iniquities of the Alcalde. Among the Indian women of British Honduras the old customs are rapidly dying out; spinning and weaving are no longer practiced, pottery making has been rendered unnecessary by the introduction of cheap iron cooking pots and earthenware, candles have given place to mineral oil lamps, and even the metate is being rapidly superseded by small American hand mills for grinding the corn. The men's time is divided between agriculture, hunting, fishing, and boat and house building, though at times they undertake tasks usually left to the women, as mat and basket making, and even spinning and weaving. The Indians of British Honduras who live near settlements do light work for the rancheros and woodcutters; they have the reputation of being improvident and lazy, and of leaving their work as soon as they have acquired sufficient money for their immediate needs, and this is to some extent true, as the Indian always wants to invest his cash in something which will give an immediate return in pleasure or amusement. The men are silent, though not sullen, very intelligent in all matters which concern their own daily life, but singularly incurious as to anything going on outside of this. They are civil, obliging, and good-tempered, and make excellent servants, when they can be got to work, but appear to be for the most part utterly lacking in ambition or in any desire to accumulate wealth with which to acquire comforts and luxuries not enjoyed by their neighbors. It happens occasionally that an individual does perforce acquire wealth, as in the case of the head chief of the Icaichè Indians, who was paid a salary by the Mexican Government to keep his people quiet, and royalties on chicle cut on his lands by various contractors. He accumulated a considerable sum, all in gold coin, which he stored in a large demijohn and hid in the bush. At his death, as no one knew the place where the demijohn was buried, the money was permanently lost. They are remarkably skillful at finding their way in the bush by the shortest route from point to point, possessing a faculty in this respect which amounts almost to an instinct; they are skillful also at following the tracks of men and animals in the bush by means of very slight indications, as broken twigs and disturbed leaves, imperceptible to an ordinary individual. The men are very stoical in bearing pain. I have removed both arms at the shoulder joints, with no other surgical instrument than a long butcher's knife, and no anesthetic except several drinks of rum, for an Indian, crushed between the rollers of a native sugar mill, without his uttering a single complaint. The Indians are undoubtedly cruel, but not wantonly so, as the shocking acts of cruelty reported as being perpetrated by them from time to time are usually by way of reprisal for similar or worse acts on the part of the Mexicans. Before the rising of the Indians in 1848, they were throughout this part of Yucatan practically in a state of slavery, and were often treated by their Spanish masters with the utmost barbarity. As an instance of this it is recorded of a well-known merchant of Bacalar that he was in the habit of burying his Indian servants in the ground to the neck, with their heads shaved, exposed to the hot sun; their heads were then smeared with molasses and the victims were left to the ants; and this punishment was inflicted for no very serious offense. It is hardly to be wondered at that such treatment left in the Indians' hearts an undying hatred for their masters which, when in their turn they gained the ascendancy, found vent in acts of the most horrible cruelty—flogging, burning, mutilation, and even crucifixion.

Dress

The men wear hats of platted palm leaf, which they make themselves; those woven from coarse split palm leaf are known as xani pok, those of very fine leaf, like Panama hats, bear the name bomi pok (pl. [1]). They wear cotton trousers (eex), or in some sections short cotton drawers (xkulex), with a short, loose, shirt-like jacket of cotton hanging outside the trousers. On the feet they use sandals of danta hide (xanapkeuel) held in place by a leather or henequen thong passing between the great and second toes and around the back of the heel to the front of the instep, where it is fastened. Formerly the cotton was grown, spun, and woven at home, but nowadays it is giving place to cheap imported English and American goods, while the sandals are being superseded by moccasins and even by imported shoes. The moccasins the Indians make themselves, tanning the hides (usually of deer or antelope) in lime and red mangrove bark and stitching the parts together with thin strips of leather. These moccasins, which are made on crude wooden lasts, are very comfortable and wear well.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 1.

GROUP OF SANTA CRUZ INDIANS

Fig. 2.—Gold earrings made and worn by the Santa Cruz Indians.

The women wear two garments of cotton; the huipil (yuptè), a loose short-sleeved blouse, cut square at the neck, and reaching nearly to the knees, and a short skirt reaching to between the knee and the ankle, known as a pik. The neck, the lower border, and the armholes of the blouse and the edge of the skirt were formerly beautifully embroidered in varicolored floral and geometrical devices; now, however, cotton manufactured in England or the United States and stamped in colors to imitate the original embroidery is rapidly coming into use. The women formerly went barefooted or wore loose slippers; now they frequently wear imported shoes, often with high heels, a feature which renders their walk and carriage awkward and stilted. They often go bareheaded, but sometimes wear a sort of shawl (bostch) around the head and shoulders. Many of them wear large round or oval plaques of gold (tup) in the ears, survivals, probably, of the enormous round ear disks worn by the ancient Maya (fig. [2]).

Fig. 3.—Cross of tancasche bark worn by children.

Some of the women wear long gold chains, with religious medallions attached, while the smaller children wear a variety of curious objects, as small coins, shells, beads, dried seeds, and berries, with figurines in wood, stone, pottery, and metal, strung round their necks. Many of these are worn as charms or amulets to protect the wearer against diseases, accidents, or evil spirits, or to bring good luck. A charm worn by nearly all children consists of a small cross of tancasche bark (fig. [3]) which is regarded as a sovereign remedy for flatulence, a complaint from which, owing to the nature of their diet, nearly all suffer.

Industrial Activities

AGRICULTURE

Of all the arts practiced by the Indian, agriculture is by far the most important; indeed the greater part of his time and labor are devoted to the milpa (kol), or corn plantation, which affords him his principal means of livelihood, for if the corn crop fails he knows that actual starvation will menace his family until the next crop is gathered. The virgin bush, in which the milpa is made, is cut down about December or January, only the large and hardwood trees being left standing. This is the most arduous part of the work, and the neighbors often assist in it, being helped in turn when making their own milpas. The bush is allowed to dry until the end of May (the dry season lasting from January to May), when it is burned off. After the burnt area has been cooled by the first shower of rain it is planted in corn (ixim). This is a simple operation, two or three men going over the ground, each with a bag of corn and a sharp-pointed stick, making small holes at fairly regular intervals, into each of which they drop a few grains of corn, and then cover them with earth. About October the corn begins to ripen, whereupon each stalk is bent about a foot below the ear and allowed to hang down for several days in order that rain may not gain entrance and spoil the grain in the final stages of ripening. During this period the owner spends nearly all his time in the milpa, sleeping there in a little palm-leaf shack at night, since many animals, as deer and wild hogs, are very fond of corn, which is subject to raids also by neighboring Indians and by tame pigs from the village. When the corn is ripe, it is stored, still in the husk, upon a low platform, in a small house specially built for the purpose, often, in order to avoid transportation, situated within the milpa. It is shelled as required for use, the surplus from that eaten by the family and stock being exchanged at the nearest village for cash or for cotton cloth, rum, iron cooking pots, ammunition, and other luxuries. The shelling is done by rubbing the husked ear against a rough flat surface, made by binding a number of corncobs (bacal) together into a circle with liana. Many fruits and vegetables besides corn are grown in the milpa, including yams (xaci macal), camote (īs), pumpkins (kuum), squashes (xka), tomatoes (paak), plantains (haz), colalu (xterkoch), aguacate (on), plums (abal), oranges (pakaal), siricote (kopte), sapodillas (ya), mamai (chacal haz), okra, garden egg, melon, breadfruit, sweet lime, pineapple, and a variety of others.

PROCURING FOOD; COOKING

Both men and women take for the first meal of the day a hot thick drink known as posol, made from ground corn and water, often flavored with honey; later they eat tortillas, beans, and chili pepper, accompanied with a cold drink made from corn. In the evening they make their principal repast, which includes game, pork, fish, or eggs, with beans and other vegetables, plenty of chili pepper, and either chocolate or some hot drink made from corn. They use a great variety of drinks concocted of ground maize and water, including chocosacan, a solution of the masa from which tortillas are made, in water, flavored with a little salt; pinol, a solution of ground toasted corn seasoned with pimento and other spices; posol, boiled corn ground to a paste and mixed with hot water; sachà, very much like posol, but the corn is not cooked soft, so that the beverage is gritty; and, lastly, atol, which is chocosacan boiled till the mixture becomes thick and glutinous.

Tortillas, or corn cake, sometimes eaten hot, sometimes cold, and at times toasted, are the Indian's chief mainstay in the way of food, as they appear at every meal, and at a pinch he can exist on them alone for a very long period. Tortillas are made in the following way: The grain is first soaked overnight in a lye of wood ashes, treatment which softens the grain and loosens the outer husk. The softened grain is next ground into a fine paste on an oblong stone, slightly concave, known as a metate (ka), by means of a stone rolling pin thicker in the middle than at the ends, designated as a brazo (u kabka). This procedure takes considerable time, as the grain has to be ground a number of times in order to get the paste to the required degree of fineness. When the paste or masa is ready it is flattened by hand into small round cakes (tortillas), which are baked on an iron or earthen plaque (xamach) over a glowing wood fire.

The hunters are experts at barbecuing (macan) the carcasses of various birds and animals, chiefly deer, peccary, wild turkey, and curassow, as they often get a large supply of game when several days' journey from the village, which, unless preserved in some way, would quickly spoil. The carcasses are cut into joints; the birds plucked, cleaned, and split open; and the meat thus prepared is hung in a small palm-leaf shack rendered as nearly airtight as possible, upon the floor of which is kindled a fire of damp cedar chips. These give off some heat and great quantities of aromatic smoke, so that in about 24 hours the meat is sufficiently cured to last for several weeks. Meat prepared in this way is considered a great delicacy. If it is wished to preserve the meat for longer periods the process is prolonged and salt may be rubbed in. Strips of meat and carcasses of birds may sometimes be seen hanging from the rafters over the fire in the kitchen so desiccated, hard, and blackened that it would appear impossible to eat them; but after months of drying this meat, when soaked in warm water for 24 hours, is not unpalatable. The Indians wash their hands before and after eating, a very necessary practice, as they eat exclusively with their fingers, using the tortillas to scoop up gravy, beans, and other mushy foodstuffs. They eat at small round tables about 16 inches high, sitting, or rather squatting, around them on little blocks of wood 4 to 5 inches high. They are very fond of salt, which among the coast Indians is obtained by evaporating sea water, among the inland villages by trade from Yucatan and Guatemala. Since this supply has been almost cut off, owing to the troubles with Mexico, the Indians frequently use for salt the ashes obtained by burning botan tops. Men and women do not eat together, as the women are preparing relays of hot tortillas for the men while the meal lasts. Their food and mode of eating is well described by Landa (chap. XXI, p. 120):

Que por la mañana toman la bebida caliente con pimienta, como esta dicho y entre dia las otras frias, y a la noche los guisados. Y que si no ay carne hazen sus salsas de la pimienta y legumbres. Que no acostumbravan comer los hombres con las mugeres, y que ellos comian por si en el suelo, o quando mucho sobre una serilla por mesa: y que comen bien quando lo tienen, y quando no, sufren muy bien la hambre y passan con muy poco. Y que se lavan las manos y la boca despues de comer.

Indeed, the foregoing description would apply almost as well to Indians of the more remote villages of the present day as to those of the time immediately after the conquest. In localities where they have come in contact with more civilized communities their menu has been considerably enlarged by the introduction of imported foodstuffs, while their methods of eating have been changed by the introduction of knives, forks, and spoons. The native methods of cooking are very primitive. Three large flat stones so placed as to form an equilateral triangle, known as koben, form the only fireplace; in this is kindled the fire of sticks or split logs, over which is placed the earthenware or iron cooking pots or plaque for baking tortillas, resting on the stones. Fire (kaak) is usually obtained through the use of matches among the Indians of British Honduras. Hunters and others who spend a great part of their time in the bush employ flint and steel. Among the Indians in the remote villages fire is still made by swiftly rotating a sharp-pointed shaft of some hardwood (usually dogwood) in a hole made in a small slab of very light dry wood (commonly gumbo limbo). There is no chimney to the kitchen, the smoke finding its way out as best it can through the doors and crevices in the walls; consequently the whole of the interior, with its permanent furnishings, is colored a fine rich brown.

HUNTING

Fig. 4.—Powder horn and measure of bamboo used by the Indians.

Fig. 5.—Watertight box for caps, matches, or tinder, with corncob stopper.

It must be admitted that the Indian is no sportsman in the pursuit of game, the claims of the pot being always paramount. He rarely shoots at a flying bird unless to fire into the midst of a flock of parrots or wild ducks, and when after the larger game he waits till he can deliver the contents of his gun point-blank into some vital part. This practice may be due partly to the limitations of his weapon, which till recent years consisted of a muzzle-loading section of gas pipe, nearly as dangerous when discharged to the hunter as to the game, and partly to the fact that the bush is usually so dense that an animal, if not shot at point-blank range, can not be gotten at all. It is probably not more than four generations since the use of the bow and arrow died out among the Indians in the western part of British Honduras, as old men among them have told me that they could remember seeing a few still in use when they were very young. The flint arrowheads, they said, were obtained down the Mopan River. This seems quite possible, as at Baker's, not far from Belize, there is an outcrop of flint, where, judging by the great heaps of fresh-looking chips and rejects still in existence, a considerable "factory" must have existed at a comparatively recent date. Some of these old men could still make fairly serviceable bows and arrows, the heads of the latter being cut from hardwood.

The principal game animals of this region are the deer (ke), two species of wild hog, the warri and peccary (kekem), gibnut (halib), armadillo (vetsh), wild turkey (kutz), parrot (tut), pigeons of various kinds (mucui), curassow (kambul), quam (cosh), quail (num), and partridge (mankolom). Besides these, birds in great variety, reptiles, and mammals are killed and eaten from time to time, including plovers, garzas, toucans, water hens, wild ducks, and chichalacas. The iguana (tolok) is eaten by the Indians in the west of British Honduras, as are also the woula (ochkan), a large constrictor snake, and the rattlesnake, known as the cazon i kash, or "little shark of the woods." Turtles (sacak) are often captured along the east coast of Yucatan and the adjacent islands, and their eggs in the breeding season form a great delicacy for the Santa Cruz Indians living in the neighborhood of Tuluum. Hicatee (ak) and bucatora are caught in great numbers in all the rivers and lagoons. The tiger (balam), puma (coh), picote (chic), monkey (maash), tapir (tzimin), squirrel (kuuk), cane rat (tšo), and other animals are hunted from time to time, either for their skins or flesh. Deer are secured in considerable numbers in the rutting season by imitating their call with a wooden whistle (fig. [6]); they are also found in the milpas, just after the burning, where they come to lick the slightly saline ashes. At this time the owners build platforms on poles 10 to 12 feet high, on top of which they spend the whole night in an extremely cramped and uncomfortable position, waiting for deer or other game to approach near enough for an easy shot. A favorite method of hunting the larger game animals is to go out at night with a split-pine torch attached to the hat; this attracts animals of all kinds, whose eyes may be seen gleaming in the dark, affording an easy mark, though not infrequently a neighbor's errant pig pays the penalty of curiosity.

Fig. 6.—Whistle for attracting deer by imitating their call.

Traps of two kinds are in common use. One employed to snare larger game is constructed in the following way: A path frequented by game in going to and from a watering place is found; along this is dug a shallow trench opposite a good springy young sapling; two stakes are driven in, one on each side of the trench, the one farthest from the tree being crooked at the top. A piece of henequen cord, provided with a noose at one end, and with a stick long enough to extend from one stake to the other, firmly tied by its middle above the noose, is attached to the top of the sapling by its other end. The sapling is then bent down and held in place by the stick above the noose, which is fixed lightly between the crook in one stake and the stake opposite to it, the loop hanging suspended between the two. Lastly, a number of sticks and leaves are scattered lightly over the trench and beside the stakes and loop. Animals coming along the run are very apt to put their necks in the loop, and by pulling on this, to release the cross stick, whereupon they are immediately suspended in the air by the jerking back of the bent sapling. Animals of all sizes, from rabbits to tigers, are caught in traps of this kind, the strength and adaptability of which vary with the size of the bent tree and the adjustment of the noose. Another trap, used only for small animals, consists of an oblong cage made of split bamboo or cabbage bark. Over the opening, which is in the top, rests an accurately balanced strip of board, baited at one end with corn. When the animal endeavors to reach the bait it is precipitated into the trap, and the board swings back into place, covering the exit. Before they obtain guns the boys use slings, with which they can throw pebbles with remarkable force and accuracy, bringing down birds, squirrels, and other small game. They keep many tame animals, some for food, others as pets, including pigs, dogs, cats, peccaries, gibnuts, rabbits, quashes, nicos de noche, and squirrels; also birds, as parrots, doves, quam, curassow, chichalaca, sinsonte, pavo real, and many others.

FISHING

Many fish are found in the coastal waters, in the rivers, and in the lagoons of the interior, including cazones, tarpon, skipjacks, snappers, eels, baracoudas, stone bass, cobarli, jewfish, tubers, bay snooks, river snooks, and a variety of others. They are caught with hook and line, in cast and seine nets, in traps, and by spearing or harpooning. Fish traps are cylindrical in shape, with a funnel-shaped opening at each end, the apex of the funnel pointing toward the center of the trap, so that entrance is easy but exit very difficult. The traps, made of split bamboo, are placed upon the bottoms of rivers or lagoons, baited with "masa," which attracts multitudes of the tiny fish there abounding; these in their turn attract larger fish, which enter the trap in pursuit of the small fry and are captured. Harpooning at night by the light of a split-pine torch is about the nearest approach to real sport which the Indian enjoys; this is usually done near the bar of a river, on a calm dark night, by three men in a canoe, one paddling, one holding the torch, and the third wielding the harpoon. This implement consists of a slender cane 10 to 12 feet in length provided with a sharp barbed spindle-shaped steel head, fitting into the hollow at one end, so that on striking the fish the head parts from the shaft to which it is attached by a cord held in the hand of the harpooner. The fish are attracted by the light of the torch, and the harpooner strikes at the swirl which they make alongside the dory. Harpooning is rather an exciting form of sport, as it is impossible to tell what sort of fish has been struck until it is landed. Hicatee and bucatora are harpooned with an unbarbed triangular point, this giving the best hold on their tough shells; they are captured also by spreading small nets in the vicinity of the stumps and holes along the river banks, which they frequent.

CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND FURNITURE

Fig. 7.—Indian carrying load of bejuco, a liana used as rope in house building.

The Indians construct their houses in the following manner: First a number of straight trees about 8 inches in diameter at the base and crotched at the top are selected in the bush for posts. These are usually Santa Maria, chichem, sapodilla, or some hardwood. They are cut down, and after having been peeled are dragged to the site of the new house, where they are firmly planted, one at each of the four corners and others, the number depending on the size of the house, at short intervals between in the lines of the walls. In the crotches other slightly smaller poles 5 to 6 inches in diameter, also peeled, are laid; to these are attached still smaller poles, which run up to the ridgepole (honache), forming rafters (uinciche). All this framework is firmly bound together by means of ropes of liana (fig. [7]). Rows of long thin pliable sticks are next bound round the rafters, and to these are attached layer upon layer of "huana" (shaan) leaves till a thatch, sometimes 18 inches thick and quite impervious to rain, is formed (pl. [4]).

The walls between the posts are filled in with "tasistas," a small palm trunk, or in some cases with strips of split cabbage palm. The outer sides of the walls may be daubed with a mixture of mud and hair, or of chopped fiber (pakloom), and whitewashed, or they may be thatched with palm leaves. The floor is made of marl dust pounded down to a flat hard surface.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 2.

MAYA GIRLS FISHING.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 3.

FISH DRYING ON ONE OF THE CAYS OFF THE COAST OF YUCATAN.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 4.

a. LEAF-THATCHED HOUSE.

b. INDIAN HOUSE ON RIO HONDO.
MAYO INDIAN HOUSES

Doors and windows may be made of wickerwork of liana, of split cabbage palm, or of a frame of sticks thatched with palm leaves. When a man undertakes the building of a new house his neighbors usually help him, and the residence is ready for occupancy in a few days, as all the materials are growing ready to hand in the neighboring forest, and require only cutting down and assembling. The facility with which their dwellings are constructed, and the difficulty in getting more than one or two crops in succession from each plantation, with their primitive agricultural methods, probably account for the frequent changes in site which one notices in Indian villages. As the lands in one neighborhood become impoverished, the population has a tendency gradually to desert the old village, and start a new one in a more favorable locality.

The kitchen, which is a replica of the house on a small scale, is usually placed a few yards behind it.

Fig. 8.—Domestic altar.

The furniture is of the simplest, consisting of a small round cedar table, with a little bowl-shaped projection which contains a lump of masa when tortillas are being made and chili peppers or salt at mealtimes. The seats are mere blocks of wood, 3 or 4 inches high (caanche), with perhaps one or two more pretentious low hollow-backed wooden chairs covered with deer skin or "tiger" skin. A number of calabashes of all shapes and sizes, with a few earthen water jars, iron cooking pots, and plaques for baking tortillas, are found in all houses. Hammocks (káan) of cotton or henequen fiber are always conspicuous articles of furniture, as they are slung all around the room, making it very difficult to move about in it when they are let down. In many houses contact with the hammocks is not desirable, as lice have a habit of leaving the body of the hammock during the day and secreting themselves in the knots between the body and the arms, whence they may transfer themselves to the garments of the unwary. If the hammock is large the father and mother often sleep in one, their heads at opposite ends, while the smaller children, frequently to the number of three or four, occupy another. There can be no such thing as privacy, as the whole family commonly sleep, live, and eat in a single room, which at most is divided into two apartments by a flimsy cotton curtain. A prominent object in most Indian houses is an altar (canche), or high square table, upon which stands a wooden cross (fig. [8]). The altar is covered with a cotton cloth, embroidered in flowers and religious symbols; the cross is draped with ribbon or strips of colored fabric, and sometimes with crude models, in silver or gold, of legs, arms, and hands, representing thank offerings to some favorite Santo for the healing of corresponding parts of the body. Little images in wax, and, if the Indian can obtain them, religious oleographs and medallions, with colored-glass vases, are commonly found upon the altar, which is frequently dressed with fresh flowers.

The Indian's only tool is his machete, a heavy cutlass-like knife, about 16 inches long; with this he cuts and cleans his milpa, makes his house and most of his furniture, digs postholes, and fights and defends himself.

His indispensable belongings consist of a hammock, a few calabashes and pots, a machete, and a cotton suit, all of which he can carry slung over his back in a macapal; with his wife and dogs trotting behind him, he can leave his old home and seek pastures new with a light heart and untroubled mind, knowing that the bush will provide for all his needs.

POTTERY MAKING

Pottery making is rapidly dying out through the greater part of this area, owing to the importation of more convenient and durable vessels. It is undertaken almost exclusively by the older women, who employ a fine light yellow clay mixed with sand or powdered quartz. They make vessels in considerable variety, both as to size and shape, which are used for the storage of water and dry material, as corn, beans, and achiote, and as cooking pots. They do not use a potter's wheel, but mold the smaller utensils by hand and build up the larger by the addition of fragment upon fragment of clay. The outside is smoothed over with a little wooden spade-like implement. No polish, glaze, or paint is applied to the pottery, either inside or out; the highest effort at decoration resulting in merely a few incised lines just below the neck, or a rough scalloping around the rim. The pottery is burned in a clear, open wood fire; when completed the ware is known as ul.

BOAT BUILDING

The Indians living in the neighborhood of lakes and rivers possess dories or canoes which vary in size from tiny craft 5 to 6 feet long by 16 to 18 inches beam, capable of holding only a single individual, to large craft 25 feet or more in length, large enough to hold a dozen people. All their canoes are constructed by the simple process of hollowing out large logs, the more durable ones being made from cedar, the lighter ones from wild cotton (yaxche).

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 5.

MAYA WOMAN, 105 YEARS OLD, SPINNING COTTON.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 6.

The boats are pointed, bow and stern, and when steel tools are available to their makers the lines are often very graceful. Many of the boats, however, follow to some extent the contours of the logs from which they were made, being exceedingly clumsy and difficult to manage. On the rivers and lakes the only method of propulsion is by means of a broad-bladed cedar paddle about 5 feet long, or, where the water is shallow and the bottom hard, a long pole. Both men and women have acquired considerable dexterity in paddling and can keep it up at a 4-mile-an-hour gait from early morning till late at night, with very short intervals for refreshment. They use their canoes for trading corn, vegetables, lime, and live stock among villages along the river banks, for line fishing, spearing, and netting, and for getting from place to place. On the large lagoons and along the seacoast they sometimes use the pole to support a lug sail.

SPINNING AND WEAVING

Spinning (kuch) is done by means of a spindle (hechech) of hardwood, 12 to 14 inches long, weighted about 3 inches from the bottom with a hardwood or pottery ring (pl. [5]). The upper end is revolved by the finger and thumb of the right hand, which are constantly rubbed on a piece of stonelike substance, made from deerskin burned and ground to a powder, to prevent them from sticking (fig. [9]). The cotton (taman) may be held in the left hand, or on the shoulder; the lower end of the spindle rests in a small calabash (luch), which is cemented into a support of woven liana (met), the luch and met together being known as toh (fig. [10]).

Fig. 9.—Stonelike substance used to prevent fingers from sticking while spinning.

Weaving is done on a simple loom consisting of a cloth beam and yarn beam (xunche) of light strong wood, connected by the warp (cheil) (pl. [6]). The cloth beam is attached round the back of the weaver by a thick henequen cord (yamal), enabling him to tighten the warp at will by simply leaning backward. The yarn beam is usually attached to a doorpost. The shuttle (botosh) consists of a light stick, pointed at both ends, on which the weft is wound obliquely. All the alternate warp strands may be raised together by means of a heddle (mamacche) consisting of a number of loops attached to a rod, each loop passing round a warp strand, so that when the rod is raised the warp threads are raised with it. The lease rods (halahteh) consist of splints of hard heavy wood, usually sapodilla, 2 to 3 inches broad, one-third of an inch thick in the center, with sharp edges and pointed ends. A loose rod (toboche) about the size of the yarn beam is used to roll up the completed material (yoch). The loom for cotton cloth is usually 2¹/₂ to 3 feet broad, but much smaller looms are frequently used for narrower strips of material.

MINOR INDUSTRIES

Tobacco Curing

The tobacco leaves are hung in bunches, often under the roof of the corn house, in the milpa, in a free current of air, till they are thoroughly dry; they are then powdered in a shallow basin, or the bottom cut from a large calabash, and mixed with the leaves of the chiohle, a species of vanilla, which gives a distinctive flavor and fragrance to the tobacco; finally the mixture is rolled into cigarettes (chiople) in a covering of corn husk (coloch).

Fig. 10.—Calabash with liana base used in spinning.

Basket and Mat Weaving

Baskets are woven from a special thin tough liana and from split cane; those of liana (ak), which are large and coarse, are commonly used for carrying corn from the milpa, slung over the shoulders like a macapal. The split-cane baskets, which are smaller and more neatly woven, are used in the house for all sorts of domestic purposes.

Henequen fiber is used by the Indians for a great variety of purposes. The fiber is obtained from the leaf, which is cleaned upon a smooth board (pokche) about 4 feet long by 6 inches broad, in the following way: The top of the board is held against the lower part of the operator's chest while the lower end rests on the floor. The leaf is placed on the board and the pulp scraped from the fiber with a bar of hardwood, triangular in section. At the upper end of the board is a deep notch in its side, in which the cleaned part of the leaf is clamped, thus fixing the part which is being scraped. The cleaning has to be done very early in the morning, as when the sun gets hot the juice from the pulp produces an unpleasant itching rash upon the skin. The fiber when cleaned and dried is made into rope and cord; from the cord hammocks, sacks, a coarse kind of cloth, and many other articles are manufactured. Candles are made by dipping a wick of twisted cotton into melted black beeswax (box keb), obtained from wild bees. Sometimes a number of the logs in which the wild bees hive are brought in to the village and placed one above the other, on trestles, to form a sort of apiary, in order that honey and wax may be always obtainable.

Oil for cooking and for burning in small earthenware lamps with twisted cotton wicks is obtained by breaking up the kernel of the cuhoon nut and boiling it in water. A clear rather thin oil floats to the surface, which may easily be skimmed off. Near the sea coconut oil is prepared in the same way.

[SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS]

Villages

The villages vary in size from two or three houses to two hundred or more, with inhabitants numbering from 10 or 12 to more than 1,000. In the smaller villages the houses are very irregularly disposed; in the larger they are arranged more or less regularly so as to form streets around a large central space, or plaza, where the dance house and church are usually situated. Each house is surrounded by its own patio, or yard, generally inclosed in a fence of "tasistas," in which the bush is allowed to grow to a considerable height in order to provide a convenient latrine for the women and children. Dogs, pigs, and vultures serve as scavengers. Many of the Indians, especially the Santa Cruz, are at great pains to conceal the whereabouts of their villages. Along the main roads only a few scattered groups of huts will be seen, while the larger villages are approached by tracks so inconspicuous that they may easily be missed. The villages themselves are surrounded by a maze of narrow tortuous paths, in which a stranger may wander about for some time before finding his way in. The Santa Cruz are said sometimes to cut the tongues from their cocks in order to prevent them crowing and so betraying the situation of the village.

The Indians are very jealous of outside interference in their affairs and do not permit foreigners to reside in their villages. An exception was made in the case of a number of Chinese coolies imported into British Honduras many years ago, most of whom ran away to the Santa Cruz country, where they were well received and married Indian wives. Among their offspring, it is interesting to note, are found a very unusual proportion of defectives. On one occasion the Mexican Government commenced to cut a road through from Peto to Santa Cruz, the Indian capital. Five of the Santa Cruz Indians went to see the work going on and were well received and given useful presents. On returning to their own country, however, they were executed by the head chief as traitors for encouraging the entry of outsiders into their territory.

Marriage and Children

The Indian girls married formerly at about 14 or 15, the boys at about 17 or 18 years. After the conquest of Bacalar, however, and the expulsion of Yucatecans from Indian territory a law was passed making marriage compulsory for all girls of 12 years of age and upward. This was probably done with the idea of increasing the population, which had been considerably depleted by the long-continued war. Formerly, the first question of a girl's father to her suitor was "Hai tzak a kul hai tzak taman?" (How many macates of corn and cotton have you?); but at the present day there are not enough men to "go round." The Indians of British Honduras are usually married by the Catholic priest, though the actual ceremony is often performed months or even years after the young couple have set up housekeeping together, since owing to the remoteness of many of the Indian settlements the priest can visit them only at long intervals. Among the Santa Cruz marriages are not considered legal unless performed by an official known as the yumxcrib (probably derived from the Maya Yum, "lord," and Spanish escribano), who holds a position somewhat analogous to that of colonial secretary in a British colony.

The babies and smaller children in general are pretty, merry little things. The mothers almost invariably nurse them well into the second year, as the mammary glands are remarkably well developed and the secretion is abundant and long continued. Children are much desired by both parents and are well treated and loved, though not spoiled. If the father and mother separate, the very young children remain with the mother; of the older children, the boys go with the father, the girls with the mother. If small children are left destitute by the death of both parents, the nearest relative takes them, and in the absence of relatives they are distributed by the subchief among families of his choosing in their own village. When a man dies his widow takes the home, furniture, domestic animals, corn, and plantations; other possessions, if such exist, are divided equally between the widow and the older children, each taking such articles as will be most useful to him or her. When a woman dies her jewelry, ornaments, and clothes are divided between her daughters. The marriage tie is a somewhat loose one, and the more the Indians come in contact with civilization the looser it seems to become. In British Honduras, where the Indians are closely associated with Spaniards, Mestizos, Negroes, and other races, the women change their partners with the utmost facility. The Negroes are called kisinbosh, "black devils," by the Indians, a term which, however it originated, is now employed without any particularly opprobrious significance, as many of the Maya women show no repugnance to a Negro husband. A good deal of the immorality is brought about by the cheapness of rum and the facility with which it is obtainable by the Indians. The husband takes to drink, neglects his wife and family, and probably gets entangled with some other woman: the wife, in order to obtain food, clothing, and a shelter for herself and children, is driven to an alliance with some other man who is a better provider. The consequence is that in British Honduras all degrees of racial mixture are to be found between Indian women and European, East Indian, Chinese, and Negro men, who, again intermarrying, produce a bewildering racial kaleidoscope.

The Indians are a short-lived race, a fact due partly to their indigestible and badly cooked food and partly to the prevalence among them of malarial fever (chokuil), with accompanying anemia (xcan mucui) and splenic enlargement (canchikin), but chiefly to overindulgence in alcohol whenever an opportunity offers. Notable exceptions to this rule are, however, not uncommon, and once an individual passes the four-score mark he or she is quite likely to live to well over 100 years: dried up, wrinkled, and feeble, but clinging to life with an almost incredible tenacity.

Drunkenness

Landa frequently mentions the fact that in his day drunkenness (kaltal) was the curse of the Indians and the cause of many crimes among them, including murder, rape, and arson.[1] At the present time these remarks apply equally well; indeed, drunkenness is probably more prevalent than formerly, as the rum is made locally and is far more intoxicating than the balchè, which Landa describes as a drink made from fermented honey, water, and roots. Moreover, the people drink rum at all times and seasons, whereas both the preparation and consumption of balchè were to some extent ceremonial, as was the resulting intoxication. Drunkenness is not considered in any way a disgrace, but is looked on rather as an amiable weakness. The women, especially the older ones, drink a good deal but they usually do so in the privacy of their own houses. I have seen, however, a little girl of 14 or 15 purchase a pint of rum in a village liquor store, and go out on the plaza, where she drank it in a few gulps; then, lying down in the fierce heat of the afternoon sun, she lapsed into alcoholic coma. Alcohol effects an extraordinarily rapid change for the worse in the Indian's temperament; from a quiet, polite, rather deferential individual, he is converted almost in a moment into a maudlin idiot, staggering about singing foolish snatches of native songs, and endeavoring to embrace everyone he comes in contact with. When thwarted while in this condition his temper is likely to flare up at the slightest provocation, whereupon the thin veneer of civilization and restraint is sloughed in a moment, and he becomes savage, impudent, overbearing, and contemptuous toward the stranger, and ready to draw his machete and fight to kill, with friend or foe alike.

Chiefs

On the death of the head chief (noh calan or nohoch yumtat) among the Santa Cruz and Icaichè the oldest of the subchiefs (chan yumtopilob) is supposed to succeed him; as a matter of fact there are always rival claimants for the chieftainship, and the subchief with the strongest personality or greatest popularity among the soldiers usually succeeds in grasping the office. There are nearly always rival factions endeavoring to oust the chief in power, and the latter rarely dies a natural death. The village subchiefs are elected by the people. The power of the head chief is practically absolute over the whole tribe. Some years ago, when Roman Pec was head chief, one of the subchiefs came to Corozal, the nearest town in British Honduras, to purchase powder, shot, and other supplies. He remained some time, as he had many friends in the place, and obtained, among other things, a bottle of laudanum to relieve toothache. On returning to his village he was met by three soldiers, who informed him that he was to go with them at once to the head chief, as the latter was angry with him on account of his long absence from the country. Aware that this was equivalent to a sentence of death, he asked permission to retire to his house for a few minutes, to get ready for the journey, and taking advantage of the opportunity, he swallowed the whole contents of the bottle of laudanum. This began to take effect very shortly, and long before reaching the capital he was dead.

The method of executing those sentenced to death is curious. The accused does not undergo a formal trial, but the evidence against him is placed before the head chief; if he is convicted, he has an opportunity of defending himself and of producing witnesses in his behalf. Three or four soldiers are chosen by the chief to carry out the sentence; this they do by chopping the victim to death with their machetes when they catch him asleep or off his guard. Several men always perform this act, all chopping the victim at the same time, so that no single individual may be directly responsible for his death. Imprisonment as a punishment for crime is unknown, fine, flogging, and death being the only three methods employed for dealing with criminals. Fines and flogging may be administered by the subchiefs, but sentence of death can be passed only by the head chief. The severity of the flogging is regulated by the nature of the offense, and after it is over the recipient is compelled publicly to express sorrow for his crime and go around humbly kissing the hands of all the spectators, after which he is given a large calabash of anise to drink. The heaviest punishment is inflicted for witchcraft or sorcery, as the pulya, or sorceress, is greatly dreaded by the Indians. She is literally chopped limb from limb; but whereas the bodies of other victims executed in this way are always buried, that of the pulya is left for the dogs and vultures to dispose of.

Military service is compulsory for all adult males among the Santa Cruz, though many avoid such service by payment to the chief of a certain sum in money or its equivalent. Small garrisons were kept up at Santa Cruz, Chan Santa Cruz, Bacalar, and other Indian towns where soldiers were permanently stationed. No uniform was provided, though many of the men were armed with Winchester rifles. They were provided also with a ration of corn and beans, and often took their wives along with them as cooks.

Diseases and Medicines

Indian men and women of all ages and classes, when attacked by any serious malady, are found to be lacking in vitality and stamina; they relinquish hope, and relax their grip on life very easily, seeming to hold it lightly and as not worth a fight to retain. An elderly man or woman will sometimes take to the hammock without apparent physical symptoms of disease beyond the anemia and splenitis from which nearly all suffer, and merely announce Ile in cimli, "I am going to die." They refuse to eat, drink, or talk, wrap themselves in a sheet from head to foot, and finally do succumb in a very short time apparently from sheer lack of vitality and absence of desire to continue living.

Malaria is without doubt the chief scourge of the Indian's existence. Many of the villages are built in low-lying situations, with mosquito-breeding swamps all round them, while the scrubby bush and rank vegetation are allowed to grow in the yards right up to the houses, furnishing good cover and an excellent lurking place for the insects; moreover, the Indians seldom use mosquito curtains, as they seem to have acquired a sort of immunity to the irritation caused at night by the noise and biting of the pests. Practically all Indians suffer from malaria, which is the main cause of the splenic enlargement and anemia so prevalent among them. In some cases the spleen reaches an enormous size, nearly filling the abdominal cavity, and deaths from a slight blow or fall, causing rupture of this organ, are by no means uncommon. Malaria is usually treated by means of profuse sweating (kilcabankil), the patient lying wrapped in a cotton sheet in the hammock, with a fire burning beneath and drinking sudorific bush medicine. This in itself is an excellent remedy, but in the midst of the sweat patients frequently plunge into cold water, thus becoming thoroughly chilled, a procedure very apt to bring on pneumonia, to which they are peculiarly subject.

The splenic enlargement is treated by applying a number of small circular blisters (xacal) containing chichem juice to the skin, over the affected organ, which seem to be remarkably efficacious in reducing the swelling.

In the winter when the nights are cold the Indians often lie out all night in the wet, a practice which frequently results in pneumonia and death. Hookworms and many other varieties of intestinal parasites are prevalent, owing to the earth-eating habits of the children, the earth being taken usually from the immediate vicinity of the house, where pigs and other domestic animals have their quarters. This disgusting habit no doubt accounts in part for the swollen bellies and earthy color of many of the children.

Smallpox (ǩak) invading an Indian village is a terrible scourge, far worse than in a more civilized community of the same size, where partial immunity has been acquired. Sometimes the whole unaffected population depart en masse, leaving the dead unburied and the stricken lying in their hammocks, with a supply of food and water, to do the best they can for themselves. The Indians employ the same mode of treatment for this disease as for malarial fever—sweating followed by immersion in cold water, treatment which, it need hardly be said, is not infrequently followed by disastrous results.

Venereal diseases of all kinds are remarkably rare among all the Indian tribes. Among the Santa Cruz and Icaichè such diseases were practically unknown. Even among the mixed breeds of British Honduras they are comparatively rare, notwithstanding the fact that these natives have come much in contact with people of many other races, especially of late years with Mexican Chicleros, nearly all of whom are affected with venereal disease in one form or another.

Simple fractures of the long bones are set very neatly and skillfully in the following way: The fractured limb is pulled away from the body with considerable force in order to overcome the displacement; over the fractured bone is wound a thick layer of cotton wool, and over this are applied a number of small round, straight sticks, completely surrounding the limb, their centers corresponding nearly to the seat of fracture; these are kept in place by a firm binding of henequen cord. The limb, if an arm, is supported in a sling; if a leg, the patient is confined to his hammock till the fracture is firmly knit. Excellent results are secured by this method, the union being firm, and the limb nearly always uniting in good position.

Bleeding, a favorite remedy for all complaints, is especially resorted to in cases of headache and malarial fever. Usually the temporal vein, less frequently one of the veins in the front of the forearm, is opened, having been first distended with blood by tying a ligature around the upper arm. A chip of obsidian, a sharp splinter of bone, or a snake's tooth, serves as a crude lancet; the use of the last causes considerable pain, but is believed to have some esoteric virtue connected with it.

Decoctions made from the charred carcasses of animals at one time were much employed, certain animals being regarded as specifics for certain diseases. Thus, during an epidemic of whooping cough (xinki sen) a decoction from the charred remains of the cane rat was almost exclusively given to the children to relieve the cough, though in this case it is difficult to trace the connection between the remedy and the disease.

Many eye troubles are treated by placing a small rough seed beneath the lower lid of the affected eye, where it remains for a day; when the seed is withdrawn it is covered with mucus, to which the doctor points as the injurious matter, the cause of all the trouble, which he has removed.

Massage is practiced chiefly for uterine and ovarian pains by the older women, who also act as midwives; it is used also in conjunction with kneading and manual manipulation in the cure of neuralgic pains, strains, stiffness, and rheumatism.

In confinements, which usually take place either in the hammock or on the floor, the dorsal position is invariably assumed. In such cases also massage over the uterus is performed by the midwife. If the desired results are not secured, the patient is made to vomit by thrusting a long coil of hair down her throat, while a woman of exceptional lung power is sent for to blow into her mouth, with the object of hastening delivery.

The Indians use for medicinal purposes a great variety of plants which grow in their country; some of these are purely empirical remedies; others produce definite physiological results and are frequently used with good effect, while a few, apparently on the assumption that "similia similibus curantur," are employed because of some fancied resemblance in form to the diseased part, as xhudub pek, twin seeds of the size of small eggs, the milky juice of which is used as an external application for enlarged glands and for various forms of orchitis.

The following plants are used medicinally by the Indians as remedies for the diseases named, respectively:

Acitz.—The milky juice of a tree, used as an application for chronic sores and ulcers.

Acam.—The leaves of this plant are applied hot to reduce the swelling and relieve the pain in enlargement of the spleen and liver.

Purgacion Xiu.—An infusion made from the leaves is administered warm in bladder and urethral troubles.

Pakaal.—An infusion made from the leaves of the orange tree is given as a sudorific.

Pichi.—A paste made from the leaves of the guava is applied to "bay sore," a specific ulcer somewhat resembling "oriental sore."

Pomolche.—A mouth wash made from the milk of this tree is used in cases of stomatitis and ulceration of the mouth.

Quimbombo.—The wild okra is greatly esteemed as an external application in cases of snake bite.

Sisim.—An infusion made from the leaves is used as a sudorific in cases of malarial fever.

Sicilpuz.—A yellowish fruit sometimes used as a purgative.

Cabalpixoy.—The fruit of this tree is given in cases of diarrhea, and an infusion made from the bark is used in diarrhea and dysentery.

Claudiosa Xiu.—An infusion made from the whole bush is greatly esteemed as a bath and lotion in all uterine and ovarian complaints.

Chalche.—The spinous leaf of this plant is used as a local application to relieve neuralgic pains, and an infusion made from the leaves is given for rheumatism.

Chamico.—An infusion made from the leaves of the convolvulus mixed with other leaves is given to relieve asthma and bronchial catarrh.

Chaac.—The arrowroot, eaten raw, is regarded as a useful remedy in all bladder and urethral complaints.

CuƆuc.—The wood, ground into a paste, is applied to the heads of small children suffering from fever and convulsions.

Ruda.—The leaves of this plant are universally used as an external application for children suffering from convulsions, and frequently in the same manner for the relief of almost any nervous complaint in adults.

Pica pica.—A sort of cowhage which, mixed with atol or some corn beverage, is largely used as a vermifuge for children.

Games

Both children and adults play many games, most of which have probably been introduced since the conquest. A favorite among these is a game known as tak in kul, in which a number of players stand in a row with their hands behind their backs while one, who holds a small pottery disk in his hand, stands behind the row, another standing in front. The one holding the disk places it in the hands of one of those in the line, who in turn passes it to his neighbor, so that it travels rapidly up and down the line. The player in front has to guess in whose hand the disk is at the moment of guessing. If he is right, the holder of the disk has to come in front while the one who guessed correctly joins the line.

Chac is a sort of "knucklebones," played with pottery disks, which are tossed from the palm to the back of the hand and back again; the one who drops fewest disks in a given number of double throws wins the game.

The boys make little bows (pohoche) and arrows (hul) tipped with black wax, with which they play war and hunting games.

A seesaw made from a small tree balanced on a stump is popular, as is also a sort of merry-go-round constructed from a cross of poles fixed on top of a stump by means of a wooden pin, which rotates freely. The children sit at the extreme ends of the poles and make the contrivance rotate by kicking against the ground vigorously at intervals as they go around.

The bull roarer, made from a dry seed pod, is popular in some villages and is probably one of the few toys used by the natives before the conquest.

Cricket, baseball, marbles, kites, and spinning tops have been introduced among the Indians of British Honduras, and all have their devotees.

Religion

The Indians, who are extremely superstitious, believe that the air is full of pishan, or souls of the dead. They imagine that these souls are at liberty at all times to return to earth, and that at certain seasons they are compelled to do so. They are regarded as being capable of enjoying the spirit, though not the substance, of food or drink provided for them. Some of these pishan the Indians believe to be friendly and some inimical to mortals. They believe also in spirits, usually mischievous or harmful, known as xtabai, who often take the form of beautiful women, though they have never been human. The natives will whisper a message into the ear of a corpse with the certainty of having it conveyed to a friend or relative in the next world. They firmly believe that the clay images of the gods upon incense burners, at one time found in considerable numbers in forests which had been uncut since the days of their ancestors, live, walk about, and dance at certain seasons. Another belief held by the Indians is that the images of Christian saints are endowed at times with life and perform acts desired by their devotees. A celebrated wooden image, supposed to represent San Bernardo, was credited with considerable powers in this respect, and when an Indian wanted rain for his milpa, the return of an errant wife, or any similar blessing, he would come and pray to the image to obtain it for him. On one occasion an Indian came asking the saint to aid him in the recovery of pigs which he had lost, and on returning to his village found that the pigs had arrived home before him. Next day he returned with the intention of making an offering to the saint, and incidentally to the owner of the house where the image was kept. He found the poor Santo with torn clothes and many burs sticking all over him. On inquiring how this happened he was informed that the saint had been out in the bush hunting for pigs, a quest which had given him a great deal of trouble before he could find and drive them home, and that when he got back he was tired out, his clothes torn by thorns, and covered with burs—an explanation with which the Indian was perfectly satisfied.

The men are very unwilling to dig either in ancient mounds or ruins, as they are afraid of being haunted by the pishan of those whose remains they may disturb; and nothing will induce them to go into caves or burial chambers in mounds. Many curious superstitions hang about the ruins found throughout the country. I was assured by an Indian at Benque Viejo that he had gone on one occasion to the ruins situated near the village, and seeing a pigeon seated on a tree, raised his gun to shoot it; before he could do so, however, the pigeon turned into a cock, and this almost immediately into an eagle, which flew at him, driving him away. There is another superstition about these ruins to the effect that when the first settlers came to Benque Viejo they wished to build the village near the ruins, where the land is very good for growing corn, but were repeatedly driven off by a little old man with a long gray beard. At last, giving up the idea, they contented themselves with the present site for the village.

For many years, between the expulsion of the Yucatecans from Bacalar by the Indians and the conquest of the latter by the Mexican troops, some 12 years ago, no Catholic priests were permitted to visit the Santa Cruz country. The Indians, however, appointed priests from among themselves, who carried out, so far as can be ascertained from those of their number who left the territory and settled in British Honduras, a sort of travesty of the rites of the Roman Catholic Church freely interspersed with many of those of their ancient religion, which had survived. The headquarters of this religious cult was the capital, where it centered around what was known as the "Santa Cruz," a plain wooden cross, 2 to 3 feet high, which had probably been removed from some church after the expulsion of the Spaniards. This cross was supposed to be gifted with the power of speech (a belief arising no doubt from the exercise of ventriloquial powers by one of the priests), and acted as a sort of oracle, to whom all matters of importance—civil, military, and religious—were submitted for decision. It need hardly be said that the cross never failed to return an answer to all these questions, in entire conformity with the wishes of the chief.[2]

The Indians here under consideration occupy an intermediate position between the civilized Maya of northern Yucatan, who have lost nearly all tradition and traces of their former civilization, and the Lacandones of the Usumasintla Valley, who have probably changed but little in their customs and religious observances since the conquest. Nominally they are Christians, but the longer one lives among them, and the better one gets to know them, the more he realizes that their Christianity is to a great extent merely a thin veneer, and that fundamentally their religious conceptions and even their ritual and ceremonies are survivals—degenerate, much changed, and with most of their significance lost—but still survivals of those of their ancestors of pre-Columbian days. To Christianity, not as a separate religion, but as a graft on that which they already practiced, they seem to have taken kindly from the first; and at the present day, as will be seen, the sun god, the rain god, St. Laurence, and Santa Clara may all be invoked in the same prayer, while the Cross is substituted in most of the ceremonies for the images of the old gods, though many of the latter are called on by name. The four principal religious ceremonies of the Indians are, as might be supposed, closely associated with agriculture, especially with the corn crop. The first of these ceremonies takes place at the cutting of the bush in which the corn plantation is to be made, the second at the planting of the corn, the third during its ripening, and the fourth at harvest time. Of these the third, known as the Cha chac, which takes place during the ripening of the corn, and whose object is to secure sufficient rain for that purpose, is by far the most important, and it alone will be described, as it embraces the offerings and ritual of all the other ceremonies.

Fig. 11.—Chichanha Indian priest in front of altar at Cha chac ceremony.

The day previous to the ceremony the men of the family prepared the pib, an oblong hole in the ground, in which the various corn offerings were to be baked, while during the night the women were busy grinding corn to make masa (a thick paste of ground maize) and pumpkin seeds to make sikil. Very early in the morning of the day of the ceremony the priest with his assistant arrived at the house of the giver. This priest called himself men, but was called by the owner a chac, while the Chichanha priest called himself an ah kin. The Indians chose a site in the midst of a grove of large trees. After clearing away the undergrowth they swept clean a circular space about 25 feet in diameter. In this they proceeded to erect two rude huts, one 12 feet the other 6 feet square; both were thatched with huano leaf, and the floor of the smaller hut was covered with wild plantain leaves. In the center of the larger hut was erected a rough altar 6 by 4 feet and 4 feet 6 inches high, built of sticks bound together with bejuco (fig. [11]). The central part of this altar was covered by an arch of "jabin" branches with the leaves still attached. About a dozen small calabashes in their ring supports (Maya chuyub) were placed on the altar, and three more were hung to a string passing from the side of the shed to a post a few yards away. The masa prepared the previous night was then brought out in four large calabashes, two of these being placed under the altar and two on top of it; a large calabash of sikil and one of water were also placed on the altar and a jar of balchè (a drink made of fermented honey in which is soaked the bark of a tree) beneath it.

Fig. 12.—Priest tracing cross on cake and filling it in with sikil.

Beneath the suspended calabashes was placed a small table containing piles of tortillas and calabashes of masa and water. In carrying out this ceremony it is essential that everything used in it be perfectly fresh and new; the leaves, sticks, bejuco, and jabin must be freshly cut, and the masa, sikil, balchè, and even the calabashes must be freshly made. The masa was taken from the large to the small shed, where the priest and several male members of the family sat around it. After flattening out a small ball of the masa the priest placed it on a square of plantain leaves and poured over it a little sikil (a thin paste made of ground pumpkin seed and water). Then the next man flattened out a piece of masa, which he placed over the sikil, and the process was continued until a cake was formed containing 5 to 13 alternating layers of masa and sikil. On top of each cake, as it was completed, the priest traced with his forefinger a cross surrounded with holes; these were first partly filled with balchè, which was allowed to soak into the cake, after which they were filled completely with sikil, whereupon the whole cake was carefully tied up in plantain leaf, with an outer covering of palm leaf (fig. [12]). These cakes are known as tutiua; their number is generally gauged by the number of participants in the ceremony. When sikil is not available, a paste of ground black beans is used; in this case the cakes are known as buliua (Maya bul, "bean"; ua, "bread"). The priest next made a deep depression in a ball of masa about the size of a tennis ball, which he filled with sikil, covering it with the masa, so as to leave a ball of masa with a core of sikil.

Fig. 13.—Sacrificing a turkey at the Cha chac ceremony.

A number of these balls, known as yokua, were made, each wrapped in plantain leaves. When finished, all of them were wrapped in a large palm leaf and tied into a bundle with split palm-leaf strands. Two more tutiua were next made, and lastly all the masa and sikil left were mixed together with a few ounces of salt. After being well kneaded this mass was divided into two portions, each of which was tied up in plantain and palm leaf coverings. In the meantime some members of the family had filled the pib or oven with firewood, over which they placed a layer of small blocks of stone. The priest next made a bowl of sachà (literally "white water," a drink made from ground corn and water), with which he filled the small calabashes on the altar, as well as the suspended calabashes; these he explained were for the tuyun pishan, or solitary souls. A turkey and four fowls were then placed in front of the altar, alive, while the priest lighted a black wax candle by blowing a piece of glowing wood to a flame; this candle he placed upon the altar. He next took up the turkey, around whose neck the assistant had placed a wreath of jabin leaves, and poured a little balchè down its throat, its legs being held by the assistant (fig. [13]). While doing this the priest murmured the following prayer:

In kubic ti hahnal cichpan colel, ti San Pedro, San Pablo, San Francisco.

Translation

I offer a repast to the beautiful mistress, to San Pedro, San Pablo, San Francisco.

The turkey and the other fowls were then killed by having their necks wrung, and the carcasses of all five were removed to the house to be prepared by the women. The various bundles of masa and sikil in their leaf coverings were next removed to the pib, where the fire had burned itself out, leaving the hole half full of ashes and red-hot stones. A lining of plantain bark was laid over the stones, upon which the bundles were arranged; over these were placed more hot stones and over the latter palm leaves; lastly, the earth which had been dug from the pib was raked over all. The priest next took a small quantity of the sachà from a calabash, in a jabin leaf, and scattered it on the ground in three directions, meanwhile murmuring this prayer:

Cin kubic ti atepalob, ti noh yum kab yetel uahmetan, atepalob, tiaca tzib nah.

Translation

I offer to the majestic ones, to the great lord, corn cake, great ones. [Tiaca tzib nah is somewhat obscure. The reading, according to Don Juan Martinez, of Merida, should be tia ca Ɔib-nah.]

Afterward the priest repeated the performance with sachà from the calabashes on the altar, and lastly with some from the calabashes of the tuyun pishan. The sachà was then distributed in calabashes to the participants, it being essential that every drop of it be drunk. After a wait of about an hour all proceeded to the pib, which, after it had been sprinkled by the priest with balchè from a small calabash, was opened. The red-hot leaf-wrapped bundles were carried to the small shed, where the coverings were removed, exposing the tutiua and yokua, crisp, brown, and hot. These were placed upon the altar, with the exception of one tutiua, which was tied to the string holding the calabashes of the tuyun pishan. The cakes made from the remainder of the masa and sikil were now crumbled into a large calabash and mixed with another large calabash of kool (a reddish liquid made from water, ground corn, black pepper, and achiote). The two mixtures were stirred with a peeled wand of jabin till they formed a thick paste known as sopas. While the sopas was being made the hearts, heads, and intestines of the fowls were removed to the pib where they were buried, lest some animal by eating them should defile the offering. The cooked and dismembered turkey and other fowls were brought out to the small shed in calabashes; the livers, gizzards, and immature eggs were chopped up fine and well mixed with the sopas. A small calabash full of this mixture was placed with the calabashes of the tuyun pishan, while the rest, in a large calabash, the fowls' claws standing upright in it, was placed upon the altar, together with the dismembered birds wrapped in a clean cotton cloth. The priest next removed some balchè from the jar and filled a calabash, which he placed upon the altar, as he did so murmuring these prayers:

Ea, in cichpan colel kanleoox, yetel bacan tech in cichkelem tat yum San Isidro, ah kolkal, yetel bacan tech yum kankin, culucbalech ti likin, yetel bacan in chanttupchaac, culucbal chumuc caan, ti likin, yetel bacan yum canchaacoob; kin kubic yetel bacan ahooil atepalo chumuc caan, yetel bacan tech in cichkelem tata ahcanan kakabool, yetel bacan tech in cichkelem tata Cakaal Uxmal, yetel bacan tech in cichpan colel Santa Clara, yetel bacan tech in cichkelem tata yum xualakinik, yetel bacan tech in cichpan colel Xhelik, yetel bacan tech in cichkelem tatayum Santo Lorenzo, yetel bacan tech in cichpan colel Guadelupe, yetel bacan tech tun yum Mosonikoob, meyahnaheex ichil cool kat tocah. Cin kubic bacan letie Santo Gracia, utial a nahmateex, yetel bacan tech u nohchi Santo uai yokol cab halibe in yumen sates ten in cipil. Minan a tzul pachkeech letie Santo Pishan, Ooki in mentic letie Santo Promicia.

Translation

Now my beautiful lady of the yellow-leaf breadnut, as well as you, my handsome father San Isidro, tiller of the earth; as well as you, lord sun, who art seated at the east; as well as you, Chanttupchaac, who art seated in the middle of the heavens, in the east; as well as you, Yumcanchaacoob: I deliver to you, with the majestic servants in the middle of the heavens. As well as you, my handsome father, Ahcanankakabool; as well as you, my handsome father Cakaal Uxmaal; as well as you, my beautiful lady Santa Clara; as well as you, my handsome father Xualakinik; as well as you, my beautiful lady Xhelik; as well as you, my handsome father San Lorenzo; as well as you, my beautiful lady of Guadelupe; as well as you, Lord Mosonicoob, that blows within the milpa when it is burnt. I deliver then to you this Holy Grace, that you may taste it, and because you are the greatest Santos on earth. That is all my master. Pardon my sins; you have not to follow the holy souls, because I have made this holy offering.

Cin Kubic ti nah tatail, ti u cahil San Roque, u cahil Patchacan, ti Chan Sapote.

Translation

I offer you, great father, for your town of San Roque, your town of Patchacan, and Chan Sapote.

The assistant then brought up some burning incense (pom) on a piece of plantain bark, which the priest took, and after waving it about for a short time placed it upon the altar, after which he dipped out a small portion of balchè and scattered it in three directions, murmuring while doing so the following prayer:

Noh Nah ti Uxmal, ti atepaloob Ixcabach Chen Mani, ti Xpanterashan, Chacanchi, Chacantoc, ti Xnocachan, Xcunya, Yaxutzub, Yaxaban, ti atepaloob.

Translation

Great house of Uxmal, of the majestic Ixcabach, Chen Mani, of Xpanterashan, Chacanchi, Chacantoc, of Xnocachan Xcunya, Yaxatzub Yaxaban of the majestic ones.

A small portion of balchè was next passed around to each of the participants, the priest again scattering a little on the ground and repeating the prayer. The calabash, which was now nearly empty, was then removed to the house for the benefit of the women. It was soon brought back by the assistant and refilled from the jar, and the same procedure gone through again. This was repeated till no more balchè remained to be drunk. The priest then scattered some of the sopas in four directions, using one of the fowls' claws to scoop it up from the calabash, after which what remained of the sopas was divided up among the participants, each one being given a calabash in which a fowl's claw was placed for use as a fork. A small quantity of the mixture which remained was taken to the house for use of the women. Lastly the priest removed the tutiua and yokua from the altar, and divided these among the participants, giving each one at the same time a corn-husk cigarette. The ceremony was now finished, and the last act was completely to destroy all the objects used in it, including buildings, altar, calabashes, and chuyubs; this was done by fire.

This Cha chac ceremony as performed by the Santa Cruz and Icaichè Indians bears a strong resemblance to certain ceremonies performed before the conquest, in honor of the Chacs, or Rain gods, and also to ceremonies carried out at the present day by the Lacandon Indians.

The names given to the modern priests were, according to Landa, all in use in his day. The Chacs were four old men chosen to assist the priests.[3] The men was an inferior priest or sorcerer, while the name Ahkin[4] was applied after the conquest, both to their own and to Christian priests by the Maya. Landa also mentions (Chap. XL, p. 260) a fiesta given to the Chacs, in conjunction with other gods, held in one of the plantations, when the offerings were consumed by the people after being first presented to the gods; these offerings consisted of turkeys and other fowls, corn cake, sikil, and posol,[5] all of which are used in the modern Maya Cha chac.

The god Yumcanchacoob (Lord of all the Chacs) of the Santa Cruz probably corresponds to Nohochyumchac (Great Lord Chac) of the Lacandones, as does the Ahcanankakabol (keeper of the woods) of the Santa Cruz, to the Kanancash of the Lacandones, whose name has practically the same significance. A belief in Xtabai, or spirits, and Ikoob, or Wind gods, seems common alike to the Santa Cruz, the Lacandones, and the Indians of Yucatan.

[PART 2. MOUND EXCAVATION IN THE EASTERN MAYA AREA]

[INTRODUCTION]

Classification of the Mounds

In the following pages is a description of the mounds opened during the last few years in that part of the Maya area now constituting British Honduras, the southern part of Yucatan, and the eastern border of Guatemala (pl. [7]). For descriptive purposes these mounds may be divided, according to their probable uses, into six main groups:

1. Sepulchral Mounds.—This group includes mounds which, originally constructed for other purposes, were afterwards used as burial sites.

2. Refuse Mounds.—This group includes kitchen middens, shell heaps, deposits of waste material remaining after the manufacture of lime, and heaps of stones gathered from the surface of the ground.

3. Foundation Mounds.—As the buildings themselves invariably stood on the summits of flat-topped mounds, such mounds, capped with the débris of the earlier structures, formed the bases of later ones.

4. Defensive Mounds.—Some of these mounds were crescent-shaped; others were in the form of a horseshoe.

5. Lookout Mounds.—These mounds extend in chains, at intervals of 6 to 12 miles, along the coast and up some of the rivers; they are lofty, steep-sided, and usually form the nuclei of groups of other mounds. As a rule they contain neither human remains nor artifacts, though in one or two of them superficial interments seem to have been made at a comparatively late date.

6. Mounds of Uncertain Use.—No trace of human interment was found in these mounds. Many of them are too small at the summit to have supported buildings, and it seems probable that they are sepulchral mounds, in which no stone, pottery, or other indestructible objects were placed with the corpse, and in which the bones have entirely disintegrated. The larger mounds of this class, many of them flat topped, are carefully constructed of blocks of limestone, marl dust, and earth, and no doubt at one time served as bases for buildings either small temples or houses—which, being built of wood, have long since vanished.

Most of the mounds are distributed in small and large groups, the latter usually containing one or more examples of each class, the former consisting for the greater part of small burial mounds, probably of late date, as they are less carefully constructed than the mounds of the larger groups, and the objects which they contain are of rougher and cruder workmanship.

The burial mounds comprise more than half of all the mounds opened, followed in order of numbers by (a) foundation mounds; (b) mounds of uncertain use; (c) refuse mounds; (d) lookout mounds; (e) defensive mounds.

It has been found that, as a rule, rich land contains many mounds; poor land, fewer; and sour-grass savannah, pine ridge, and swamp, none at all. The better the land the more numerous the mounds scattered over it, as is natural, since the more fertile the land the denser the population it would sustain. Not all the mounds opened have been described, as small burial mounds, especially in the same group, in both construction and contents, resemble one another closely, as do foundation mounds also.

This part of the Maya area must either have been occupied during a very considerable period or at one time must have supported a dense population, as wherever it is possible to cultivate the soil, especially to raise maize, mounds are to be found in great abundance; moreover, the surface everywhere bears such indestructible rubbish as potsherds, flint chips, and fragments of obsidian knives. It would probably be impossible to find anywhere in this area an acre of moderately good land on which dozens of such objects could not be discovered. This indicates that what is now dense tropical bush, with a few small Indian villages scattered through it at considerable intervals, was at one time a highly cultivated and thickly populated country.

Referring to Yucatan before the conquest, Landa uses the words, "toda la tierra parescia un pueblo;"[6] while 200 years after the conquest Villagutierre[7] mentions by name 10 tribes with whom the Itzas were at war, who lived to the east of the lagoon, nine days' journey away—in a region corresponding to the territory of coastal tribes of British Honduras and Quintana Roo.

Ancient Inhabitants of the Region

From the contents of the mounds we are able to deduce many valuable facts relating to the physical appearance, social life, religion, and art of the former inhabitants of this area.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

A very accurate idea of the physical appearance of these people may be derived from the figurines, paintings, stucco moldings, and skeletons found in the mounds. It would appear that they very closely resembled the modern Maya Indians.[8] They were broad of face, with small features and rather high cheek bones; without beard or mustache, but with straight, black, coarse hair, which was allowed by both men and women to grow long.

The skull was naturally brachicephalic, and as this characteristic was (and is now by the Maya) admired, it seems to have been almost invariably accentuated artificially by pressure applied over the occipital and frontal regions during early infancy.[9] The average cephalic index of eight skulls removed from the mounds was found to be 110. The following list gives the average lengths of a number of bones of adults taken from the mounds, though in no case were all the bones of one individual found in a sufficiently perfect condition to permit of their accurate measurement:

Humerus, 29.21 cm.
Ulna, 25.38 cm.
First phalanx (little finger), 3.04 cm.
Femur, 36.83 cm.
Tibia, 33.27 cm.
Metatarsal bone of great toe, 5.33 cm.

The bones are small, the ridges for muscular attachment not well marked, and the phalanges, metacarpal, and metatarsal bones small and delicate, indicating a body with rounded contours, poor muscular development, and small extremities. The front teeth in some cases were filed, in others filled with round plugs of obsidian, iron pyrites, or jadeite, for ornamental purposes.

DRESS

Among the lower class the men seem to have worn no garment except the maxtli, consisting of a loin-cloth wound several times around the waist, the ends hanging down in front and behind, like small aprons. The women wore two garments, similar to those of the modern Maya, the huipil, or loose, sleeveless upper garment reaching to the hips (at the present this is worn longer, reaching well below the knees) and a short, loose skirt, both of cotton, and both embroidered in colors at the borders.[10] The warriors wore in addition to the maxtli a breastplate of thick quilted cotton, saturated with salt, arrow and spear proof, and ornamented with bows, studs, and tassels. To its upper border was attached a hollow bar, through which passed a cord, continued round the back of the neck, holding the breastplate in place.

Both warriors and priests wore very elaborate headdresses. Those of the former were decorated with plumes of feathers and many of them held in front the head of some animal carved in wood,[11] as the jaguar, eagle, peccary, snake, or alligator. Some of the headdresses of the priests were shaped like a bishop's miter, while others resembled the Egyptian headdress. All classes wore sandals of leather or platted henequen fiber. The ornaments worn consisted of large circular ear plugs of shell, greenstone, or pottery, many with a tassel dependent from the center; studlike labrets at each side of the mouth; and occasional triangular ornaments attached on each ala of the nose. Round the neck were worn strings of beads, some in the form of human or animal heads, others with a gorget of greenstone or shell in the form of a human mask dependent from them. Wristlets and anklets of large oval beads, fastened with ornamental loops, were common, and copper finger rings have been found on two occasions, though it is possible that these may not have been introduced till after the conquest. Among the upper classes the ornaments were made from jade, greenstone, iron pyrites, obsidian, mother-of-pearl, and copper; among the lower, from pottery, shell, and stone.

WEAPONS

The offensive weapons of the natives here dealt with consisted of flint and obsidian tipped arrows,[12] javelins, and spears, flint and stone axes, with slingstones, and stone-headed clubs, made for the most part of hard limestone. Their defensive weapons were small circular shields of leather-covered wickerwork and thick cotton breastplates.

HOUSES

The lower classes probably lived exclusively in thatched pimento-walled houses, identical in construction with those used by the Maya of the present day; naturally, these have completely disappeared, but the former sites of villages composed of such huts may easily be recognized by the presence of half-choked wells and the great number of malacates, broken pots, weapons, implements, ornaments, and rubbing stones, which are to be found scattered all over them. The priests, caciques, and upper classes doubtless lived in the stone houses, the remains of which lie buried in considerable numbers in the mounds. The walls of these houses were of stucco-covered stone and lime, the floors of hard cement, and the roofs, no doubt, of beams and thatch, as many of them are too wide to have been covered by the so-called "American arch."

Many of these buildings were doubtless used as temples, but probably the majority of them were private houses.[13] In one of them an interment had taken place beneath the floor of the house before the structure was destroyed.[14]

ARTS

The former inhabitants of this part of the Maya area do not seem to have fallen far behind those of northern Yucatan in the arts of sculpture upon stone, stucco molding, mural painting, ceramics, and the manufacture of stone implements and weapons, as excellent examples in all these fields have been found.

At Seibal, Holmul, Naranjo, and Benque Viejo, cities of the old Empire lying along the British Honduras-Guatemala frontier, examples of sculptured stelæ and altars have been found, equal in fineness of workmanship to those found at any other site within the Maya area. The molded stucco figures at Pueblo Nuevo are beautifully executed, while the painted stucco upon the temple walls at Santa Rita is probably the finest example of this kind of decoration yet brought to light in the whole Maya area. The colors used (green, yellow, red, blue, black, and white) seem to have been derived from colored earths and vegetal dyes ground to a paste in small shallow stone mortars with spatulate flint grinders, which have been found with traces of paint still adhering to them. Ornaments in the form of human and animal faces and heads nicely cut from jadeite and greenstone are not uncommon. Some bear incised hieroglyphic inscriptions. The greenstone shell from Kendal, described later on, in its fineness of finish and accurate imitation of the natural form, is a remarkable example of gem cutting.

Most of the domestic pottery used was of a rather coarse hard red ware. This comprises large amphora-like water jars, shallow dishes, saucers, and bowls, used probably to hold food; cooking pots of various sizes and shapes, chocolate pots with upright spouts, and disks for baking tortillas. In addition to these, thick brittle vessels of very coarse pottery, some of exceptionally large size, are found, which were probably used as receptacles for corn, beans, pepper, and other light dry substances. Of the finer kinds of pottery some are ornamented with incised devices, executed after the vessels had been fired, others are covered with devices in polychrome, and still others with ornaments molded while the clay was plastic. Lastly, these three methods, or any two of them, may be combined in the decoration of any one vessel.

The objects most frequently depicted on the vases are human heads, simple glyphs, animal and mythological figures, and flowers. Most of the vessels are polished, some of them to a high degree, but the art of glazing does not seem to have been understood. The finer kinds of pottery are thin, tough, light, and very hard. The appliqué work, displayed best in incense burners, upon which the figure of the god in high relief is built up bit by bit, is rather coarse, but in some examples very effective. Stone implements and weapons of great variety have been discovered, including ax, spear, javelin, and arrowheads, knives, clubs, throwing stones, hammerstones, scrapers, chisels, borers, paint and corn grinders, fiber cleaners, and many others. Flint, chert, obsidian, greenstone, and limestone were the materials most commonly used in the manufacture of implements and weapons. Very remarkable eccentrically shaped objects, including crosses, crescents, rings, and a variety of other forms, chipped with great care and precision, from flint, chert, and obsidian, are also found, though not in great numbers. They seem to be confined almost exclusively to this part of the Maya area.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

With the exception of clay whistles of from one to four notes, no musical instruments have been found in the mounds, unless the hollow cylinder (10¹/₂ inches high by 4 inches in diameter) from Yalloch may be regarded as a small hand drum similar to those mentioned by Landa as having been in use at the time of the conquest,[15] and somewhat resembling the clay jar with a piece of gibnut hide stretched over the opening for a head, still in use as a drum among the Lacandones.[16] The late Sir Alfred Moloney obtained in the village of Succots a tunkul, or wooden drum, with two rubber-tipped drumsticks, which had been brought by the Indians from Guatemala at the time of their emigration from that country. This had been handed down from Alcalde to Alcalde from time immemorial, and was used to summon the villagers on special occasions, as a fire or the election of new Alcaldes.

FOOD

The staple article of diet among the ancient Maya seems to have been maize, as it is at the present day among their descendants. Numbers of rubbing-stones and rubbers, both broken and whole, are found in the mounds, as are also the clay disks used for baking corn cakes. The bones of various animals, which had probably been used for food, are also found; among these are the peccary, gibnut, armadillo, puma, tapir, and manatee, together with woula (snake), alligator, and (of birds) the curassow and wild turkey. Shells of the conch, cockle, oyster, and freshwater snail are also found in abundance. The Maya probably kept small domestic animals and birds,[17] as great numbers of rough stone troughs are found in the mounds, precisely similar to those manufactured and used by the modern Maya Indians for watering their fowls, while eggs, with turkeys and other birds, have been found, held in the hands of figurines upon the incense burners, as offerings to the gods. They seem to have made periodical expeditions to the cays and islands off the coast to fish and collect shellfish, as quantities of net-sinkers, flint chips, potsherds, and broken javelin heads are found on many of the cays. But few mounds, however, which give evidence of permanent human occupancy have been discovered in this situation.

SPINNING AND WEAVING

Judging by the great number of spindle-whorls found in the mounds and on village sites, cotton spinning must have been practically universal among the women. Oval perforated stones of a size suitable for loom weights have been found, and it is probable that they were used as such, as they do not seem to be adapted to any other purpose. With this exception we learn nothing of the art of weaving from the contents of the mounds. Henequen fiber was doubtless used for the manufacture of rope, mats, hammocks, and other objects, as grooved flat stones for beating the pulp from the fiber are common.

GAMES

The appliances for at least two distinct games have been found.[18] The first consists of a large spherical block of limestone, nicely polished, and about 1 foot in diameter, found associated with 6 to 12 smaller spherical stones, each about 3 inches in diameter, of very light material somewhat resembling pumice stone. The second consists of a number of small disks of shell, about three-fourths of an inch in diameter. Collections of these have been found together on several occasions; they might have been used as beads or ornaments but for the fact that they are neither perforated nor decorated with incised figures as shell beads usually are.

RELIGION

Of the 15 gods of the codices classified by Schellhas five may be recognized in this area with a fair degree of certainty. God A, the god of death, in the form of a human skull, decorates the outside of not a few small pottery vessels, and is depicted upon the painted stucco wall at Santa Rita. God B, the long-nosed god, is usually identified with Cuculcan. Representations of this god are found throughout the whole area in great abundance, painted upon pottery and stucco, incised on bone and stone, and modeled in clay. This god is associated with the cities of Chichen Itza and Mayapan, and is supposed to have entered Yucatan from the west; indeed it is possible that he may originally have been the leader of one of the Maya immigrations from that direction. He appears to have been by far the most popular and generally worshiped deity in this area, and it is his image which is found on nearly half of all the incense burners discovered. God D, probably Itzamna, appears in the codices as an old man with a Roman nose, shrunken cheeks, toothless jaws, and a peculiar scroll-like ornament beneath the eye, to the lower border of which are attached two or three small circles. In some representations a single tooth projects from the upper jaw, and in a few the face is bearded. This god is not infrequently found associated with the serpent. A typical representation of him is seen upon the Santa Rita temple wall;[19] here he is depicted standing upon intertwined serpents, holding in his right hand a feather-plumed serpent. This god is represented upon some incense burners, and is found not infrequently associated with Cuculcan.

God K, the god with an elaborate foliated nose, often closely associated with God B, his face in some cases forming the headdress ornament of the latter god, is unmistakably depicted upon the Santa Rita temple wall.[20] God P, the Frog god, is found on some small pottery vases, and on a few incense burners. Nothing found in the mounds proves definitely the practice of human sacrifice in this area, but that it existed is almost certain, as Villagutierre refers to it as prevalent among the Itza of Peten at the time of their conquest,[21] at the end of the seventeenth century, and Landa mentions it as occurring among the Maya at the time of the coming of the Spaniards.[22] Near the headwaters of the Rio Hondo a mound was opened, which contained, in a stone-walled chamber, a number of human skulls unaccompanied by other bones. It is possible that these may have been the remains of sacrificial victims, as it was customary to remove the head of the victim after death, which became the perquisite of the priests.

Human sacrifice among the Maya was probably a somewhat rare event, taking place only on extraordinary special occasions, as in times of public calamity—for example, during the prevalence of famine, war, or pestilence—when it was felt that a special propitiatory offering to the god was called for. This practice was confined to one, or at most to a very small number of victims, never reaching the proportions which it did among the Aztec, by whom it was probably introduced into Yucatan. The main offering of the Maya to their gods seems to have consisted of an incense composed of copal gum and aromatic substances. Landa mentions this as largely employed at the time of the conquest; Villagutierre encountered it among the Itza at the end of the seventeenth century; and Tozzer found it in use among the Lacandon Indians at the present day. The incense itself has been found all over this area, as well as great numbers of incense burners.