CHAPTER XXIII

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

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

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

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

[Sidenote: DISCOVERY OF MAIZE.]

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

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

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

[Sidenote: CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL.]

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

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

[Sidenote: USE OF MEAT AS FOOD.]

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

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

[Sidenote: DRINKS PREPARED FROM MAIZE.]

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

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

[Sidenote: EATING HUMAN FLESH.]

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

[Sidenote: DRESS OF THE MAYAS.]

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

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

[Sidenote: DRESS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.]

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

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

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

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

[Sidenote: DISFIGUREMENT OF THE PHYSIQUE.]

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

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

[Sidenote: TATTOOING AND PAINTING.]

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

[Sidenote: PERSONAL HABITS.]

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

* * * * *

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

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

[Sidenote: MARKET REGULATIONS.]

We are informed that in Yucatan articles of ordinary consumption, like food, were sold always at a fixed price, except maize, which varied slightly in price according to the yield. Maize was sold by the carga, or load, which was about one half of the Castilian fanega. In Nicaragua the matter of price was left altogether to the contracting

## parties. The Mayas of all nations were very strict in requiring the

exact fulfilment of contracts, which, in Yucatan, as has been said, and in Guatemala also, according to Brasseur de Bourbourg, were legalized by the parties drinking together, the beverage being generally colored with certain leaves called _max_. In the Nicaraguan markets some extraordinary regulations were enforced. Men could not visit the market-place of their own towns, either to buy, sell, or for any other purpose; they even incurred the risk of receiving a sound beating, if they so much as peeped in to see what was going on. All the business was transacted by the women; but boys, into whose minds, by reason of their tender years, carnal thoughts were supposed not to have entered, might be present to assist the women, and even men from other towns or provinces, were welcome, provided they did not belong to a people of different language.

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

[Sidenote: MAYA BOATS AND NAVIGATION.]

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

* * * * *

Wars among the Maya nations were frequent,--more so probably during the century preceding the Spanish conquest, when their history is

## partially known, than in the more glorious days of the distant

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

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

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

[Sidenote: INSIGNIA OF WARRIORS.]

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

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

[Sidenote: ABORIGINAL WEAPONS.]

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

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

[Sidenote: DECLARATION OF WAR.]

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

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

[Sidenote: PIPILE WAR FESTIVAL.]

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

FOOTNOTES:

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

[1061] _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 130; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Id._, p. 361. On the coast of Yucatan, 'des racines dont ils font le pain, et qu'ils nomment maïs.' _Diaz_, _Itinéraire_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., p. 8. The Lacandones applied themselves 'al trabajo de sus Milpas, y Sementeras de Maiz, Chile, y Frixoles, entre que sembravan Piñas, Platanos, Batatas, Xicamas, Xacotes, Zapotes, y otras Frutas;' their milpas were large, and were cleared with stone hatchets. _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 310-11. The Itzas had 'mucha Grana, Cera, Algodòn, Achiote, Baynillas, y otras Legumbres.' _Id._, pp. 353, 499. Many varieties of beans raised in Nicaragua. _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., p. 285. 'Vi muchos destos perales en la provinçia de Nicaragua, puestos á mano en las heredades é plaças ó assientos de los indios, é por ellos cultivados. É son tan grandes árboles como nogales algunos dellos.' _Id._, p. 353. Planting of maize, _Id._, pp. 265-6; tom. iv., pp. 104-5. See also on agriculture: _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nuovo_, pp. 102-3; _Andagoya_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viajes_, tom. iii., pp. 413-14; _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 405; _Squier's Cent. Amer._, pp. 551, 556; _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 71; _Humboldt_, _Essai Pol._, tom. i., p. 269; _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, tom. i., p. 8.

[1062] _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, pp. 190-1; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 183; _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 72-4; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., p. 285; _Dávila_, _Teatro Ecles._, tom. i., p. 233; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 565-6.

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

[1064] _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 118; _Las Casas_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., p. 148; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 184, 187-8, 700; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 41, 311; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., pp. 206-7, 411, 497, 507, tom. iii., p. 227; _Peter Martyr_, dec. iv., lib. vi., ii., dec. vi., lib. iii.; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. i., lib. v., cap. v., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. viii.; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 23; _Id._, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 61-2; _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 449; _Fancourt's Hist. Yuc._, p. 32.

[1065] Cortés, _Cartas_, p. 23, tells us that no bread was made in Yucatan, but that maize was eaten roasted. The best tortillas in Nicaragua were called _tascalpachon_. _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., pp. 267, 324, 355, 411, 513, 523, tom. iii., p. 227. See also _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 116-20, 135; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. xiii.

[1066] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 69; _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 120; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 180; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., p. 111.

[1067] _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 89, 98, 312; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 116-20, 192; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. i., lib. v., cap. v., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. ix., lib. x., cap. iv.; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., pp. 267, 317-18, tom. iv., p. 95; _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nuovo_, fol. 102-3, 109; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. clxxvii.; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 40; _Cortés' Despatches_, p. 4; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 51-2, 499.

[1068] In Yucatan: 'These Barbarians eate onely their enemies, or such strangers as come vnto them, otherwise they abstaine from mans flesh.' _Peter Martyr_, dec. iv., lib. vi. In Guatemala the heads and tripe were seasoned with wine. _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. clxxvii.; _Id._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., p. 147; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 649, 651; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 62; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vi., vii., lib. vii., cap. iii., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., pp. 37, 51-2, 56, 108; _Andagoya_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viajes_, tom. iii., p. 420; _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nuovo_, fol. 35, 104; _Albornoz_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 486; _Helps' Span. Conq._, vol. iii., p. 88; _Pimentel_, _Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena_, p. 23; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., p. 191.

[1069] The Itzas, men and women, wore 'faxas' 4 varas long and 1/3 vara wide. _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 312, 402, 498. At Campeche, a strip of cotton one hand wide, twisted and wound 20 or 30 times about the body. _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., pp. 512-13. This garment called _mastate_. _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 2. Ends embroidered and decorated with feathers. _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 116. _Almayzares_, called in New Spain _mastil_; otherwise naked. _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. i., lib. v., cap. v., dec. ii., lib. iv., cap. vii.; _Cortés' Despatches_, p. 4. The Chiapanecs naked except this cloth about the loins. _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, pp. 292, 302.

[1070] Plate showing the costume of an Indian of the interior. _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pl. v. Trowsers of cotton in Salvador. _Squier's Cent. Amer._, p. 321.

[1071] Called _tilmas_ or _hayates_, a yard and a half square. _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 187. Mantles called _zuyen_. _Id._, p. 2. 'Mantas pintadas.' _Las Casas_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., p. 147.

[1072] Cotton robes of bright colors. _Squier's Cent. Amer._, p. 551. 'Tuniques.' _Ternaux-Compans_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 52. 'Sacks.' _Fancourt's Hist. Yuc._, pp. 284-5. 'Camisetas de colores.' _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., p. 497. 'Xaquetas de algodon.' _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 2. 'Camisette senza maniche.' _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nuovo_, pp. 98, 104.

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

[1074] _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 148-50; _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 62-4; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, p. 137; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x., dec. ii., lib. ii., cap. xvii.; _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 197; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 54.

[1075] 'L'étoffe rayée d'une ou de plusieurs couleurs que les femmes se roulent encore autour du corps en la serrant à la ceinture comme un jupon, descendant plus ou moins bas au-dessous du genou, se trouve être exactement la même que l'on voit aux images d'Isis et aux femmes égyptiennes des époques pharaoniques.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 67. Skirt from the waist to feet, called _pic_. _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 187-8, 699. 'Ropas de algodon, que llaman naguas.' _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 2; _Andagoya_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viajes_, tom. iii., p. 414; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 184-6, 16, 144-6, 180.

[1076] 'Es lo mas dificultoso en los Indios el reduzirlos à cortarles el pelo.' _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 498, 312. In Guatemala somewhat less attention seems to have been paid to the hair. 'Trayanlo encrespado, ò rebujado en la cabeça como estopas, à causa de que no se lo peynauan.' _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, p. 302; Cogolludo, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 187, speaks of straw and palm-leaf hats, but he probably refers to his own time. Hair of priests filled with blood. _Id._, p. 5; _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 3; _Squier's Cent. Amer._, pp. 321, 551. In Nicaragua 'traen rapadas las cabeças de la mitad adelante é los aladares por debaxo, é déxanse una coleta de oreja á oreja por detrás desde la coronilla.' _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., pp. 38, 108; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 112-14, 184; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 68; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii., lib. viii., cap. x. Aguilar wore a 'corona y trença de cabellos, como los naturales.' _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 62; _Id._, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 23; _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 62.

[1077] _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nuovo_, p. 35; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 341; _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 114; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii.; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., p. 111.

[1078] 'Traian sandalias de cañamo o cuero de venado por curtir seco.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 116. They generally went barefoot. _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 187. Sandals in Nicaragua called _gutaras_. _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., pp. 38-9; _Squier's Nicaragua_, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 347; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. 77.

[1079] _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., p. 54; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii.; _Squier's Nicaragua_, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 345; _Id._, in _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 106; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 114, 180, 194.

[1080] _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 182.

[1081] A war party: 'Agujeradas narizes, y orejas con sus narigeras, y orejeras de Cuzcas, y otras piedras de diuersos colores.' _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 73. The Itzas wore in the nose 'una baynilla olorosa,' and in the ears, 'vn palo labrado.' _Id._, p. 699. 'Sartales de Caracoles colorados,' much prized by the Itzas. _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, p. 48. Small sticks in the ears, and little reeds or amber rings, or grains of vanilla, in the nose. _Id._, pp. 312, 402. A few silver and gold ear-ornaments. _Id._, pp. 497-9. On the peninsula of Yucatan, 'trayan las orejas horadadas para çarcillos.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 114. The priest carried 'un isopo en la mano de un palo corto muy labrado, y por barbas o pelos del isopo ciertas colas de unas culebras que son como caxcaveles.' _Id._, pp. 149-50. Women pierced nose and ears. _Id._, p. 182. In Nicaragua 'traen sajadas las lenguas por debaxo, é las orejas, é algunos los miembros viriles, é no las mugeres ninguna cosa destas, y ellos y ellas horadadas las orejas de grandes agujeros.' _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., pp. 38-9, tom. i., p. 497. King in Yucatan wore 'des bracelets et des manchettes d'une élégance égale à la beauté de la matière.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 54. '_Tecaüh_, qui est le bijou que les chefs indiens portaient fréquemment à la lèvre inférieure ou au cartilage du nez.' _Id._, p. 92. See also _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 3; _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcix., p. 144; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., lib. vii., cap. ix., dec. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii., lib. x., cap. iii., iv.; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 60, 62; _Squier's Nicaragua_, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 347; _Id._, _Cent. Amer._, p. 551; _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 197; _Diaz_, _Itinéraire_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., pp. 16, 25, 39; _Las Casas_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., p. 147.

[1082] 'Los oficiales dello labravan la parte que querian con tinta, y despues sejavanle delicadamente las pinturas, y assi con la sangre y tinta quedavan en el cuerpo las señales, y que se labran poco a poco por el tormento grande, y tambien se ponen despues malos, porque se les enconavan los labores, y haziase materia, y que con todo esso se mofavan de los que no se labravan.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 120, 182; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 186, 699; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, p. 293; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 402, 498; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., p. 38; _Ternaux-Compans_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 47; _Fancourt's Hist. Yuc._, pp. 121, 285; _Bussierre_, _L'Empire Mex._, p. 205.

[1083] _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, p. 302; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 114-16, 178-80, 182, 184; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 6, 77; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 107, 402, 490, 499; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., pp. 297, 318, 498, tom. iv., p. 111; _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 422; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 62; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, pp. 71-2, 189.

[1084] 'Eran amigos de buenos olores y que por esto usan de ramilletes de flores y yervas olorosas, muy curiosos y labrados.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 114. 'Des roseaux longs de deux palmes, et qui répandaient une excellente odeur quand on les brûlait.' _Diaz_, _Itinéraire_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., p. 7; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii.; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 68; _Valois_, _Mexique_, p. 206.

[1085] 'Se vañavan mucho, no curando de cubrirse de las mugeres, sino quando podia cubrir la mano.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 114. 'Se lavan las manos y la boca despues de comer.' _Id._, p. 120. The women stripped naked in the wells where they bathed; they took hot baths rather for health than cleanliness. _Id._, p. 184. The women 'tienen poco secreto, y no son tan limpias en sus personas ni en sus cosas con quanto se lavan como los ermiños.' _Id._, p. 192. 'Los hombres haçen aguas puestos en cluquillas, é las mugeres estando derechas de piés á dó quiera que les viene la gana.' _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., p. 38; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iii., iv.; _Dávila_, _Teatro Ecles._, tom. i., p. 203; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 263; _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 263; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 68.

[1086] The following are my authorities on the Maya commerce, many references to simple mentions of articles bought and sold and to the use of cacao as money being omitted. _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 203; _Las Casas_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., pp. 137, 147; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec i., lib. v., cap. v., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., lib. v., cap. xii., lib. vii., cap. ix., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. iii., ix.; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 32, 128-30, 156-8; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 181, 183; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, p. 311; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., p. 316, tom. iii., p. 253, tom. iv., pp. 36-7, 49, 54, 104; _Peter Martyr_, dec. iv., lib. i.; _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 422; _Benzoni_, _Hist. Mondo Nuovo_, fol. 102, 109; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 50-1, 71, 564; _Id._, _Popol Vuh_, p. 97; _Squier's Nicaragua_ (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 346; _Id._, _Cent. Amer._, p. 320; _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 8; _Andagoya_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viajes_, tom. iii., p. 414.

[1087] _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 4; _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 2; _Diaz_, _Itinéraire_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., p. 21; _Id._, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 292; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 353, 369, 489, 76; _Peter Martyr_, dec. viii., lib. v.; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., p. 100; _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, p. 271; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. i., lib. v., cap. v.; _Folsom_, in _Cortés' Despatches_, pp. 3-4; _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_, pp. 226-7. See vol. i., p. 699, of this work.

[1088] _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 174, 48; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii. The Chiapanecs were among the boldest warriors. _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 178.

[1089] _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., pp. 38, 53; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 264; _Squier's Nicaragua_, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 342; _Boyle's Ride_, vol. i., p. 272.

[1090] _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 172; _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 202.

[1091] _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., p. 38; _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 172; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. iv., cap. viii., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., lib. v., cap. x., lib. vii., cap. iii., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x.; _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 70-2; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 391, 498-9; _Squier's Nicaragua_, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 342; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 558-9; _Boyle's Ride_, vol. i., p. 270.

[1092] Cotton armor called in some places _escaupiles_. _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii. Both white and colored. _Id._, dec. iii., lib. v., cap. x., lib. iv., cap. vi., dec. ii., lib. ii., cap. xvii., lib. iii., cap. i. Called by the Quichés _achcayupiles_. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 91; _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 172; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 6; _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 2; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 62; _Las Casas_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., p. 148; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., p. 484, tom. iv., p. 53; _Alvarado_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., p. 140; _Squier's Nicaragua_, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 347.

[1093] Macanas used as weapons in Nicaragua. _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., pp. 53, 33, tom. i., pp. 511-12, tom. iii., pp. 231, 484. Crystal-pointed arrows used by the Itzas, and chiefs had short flint knives, with feathers on the handles. _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 495, 41, 92. Hardened rods, or pikes. _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 77, 2. Darts thrown from a 'tiradera.' _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. ii., cap, xvii., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vi., lib. v., cap. x., lib. vii., cap. iii., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. ii. A bat was the sign of a Cakchiquel armory. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Popol Vuh_, p. 225. See also Maya weapons. _Squier's Nicaragua_, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 341, 347; _Peter Martyr_, dec. vi., lib. v.; _Boyle's Ride_, vol. i., p. 258; _Scherzer_, _Wanderungen_, p. 63; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 48, 170; _Las Casas_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., p. 148; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 64, with cut; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., pp. 186, 194; _Diaz_, _Itinéraire_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., p. 25; _Id._, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 295; _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 2; _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 127.

[1094] See vol. iv., chap. iv., v., for a full description of Maya ruins, with plates. See _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 174; _Alvarado_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., pp. 112, 117; _Godoi_, in _Id._, p. 158; _Cortés_, _Cartas_, pp. 425-6; _Juarros_, _Hist. Guat._, p. 87; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., p. 534, tom. iii., pp. 477-8; _Fuentes_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., p. 243; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii., lib. x., cap. iii.; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, p. 41; _Andagoya_, in _Navarrete_, _Col. de Viajes_, tom. iii., p. 407.

[1095] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 386; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 5, 77, 130, 181; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iv., lib. iii., cap. iii., lib. viii., cap. x., lib. x., cap. iv.; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 72-3, 76, 142, 281; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 168, 174, 176; _Las Casas_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., pp. 144, 148; _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 70-2; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., pp. 276, 511-12, 523, tom. iii., pp. 230, 477, tom. iv., pp. 53-4; _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 61, 264; _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, p. 185, etc.; _Peter Martyr_, dec. viii., lib. v.; _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, pp. 170, 198, 202-3; _Alvarado_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., pp. 112, 138; _Diaz_, _Itinéraire_, in _Id._, pp. 17-18; _Squier's Cent. Amer._, pp. 325, 333; _Id._, _Nicaragua_, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 342; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 544, 558-9; _Ternaux-Compans_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 46; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., p. 186; _Boyle's Ride_, vol. i., p. 259; _Fancourt's Hist. Yuc._, pp. 92, 116.

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