B 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 ABORIGINAL AMERICAN 
 LITERATURE. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 D. G. BRINTON, M.D. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 1882. 
 
WE GETTY CENTER 
 LIBRARY 
 
BRINTON S LIBRARY OF 
 
 ABORIGINAL AMERICAN LITERATURE. 
 
 NUMBER I. 
 
 THE 
 
 MAYA CHRONICLES. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 DANIEL G. BRINTON, M.D. 
 
 D. G. BRINTON. 
 PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 1882. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 
 
 D. G. BRINTON. 
 1882. 
 
 THE GETTY CEHTEh 
 UBRAWf 
 
TO THE MEMORY 
 
 CARL HERMANN BERENDT, M.1X, 
 
 WHOSE LONG AND EARNEST PEVOTION TO THE ETHNOLOGY 
 
 AND LINGUISTICS OP AMERICA HAS MADE THIS WORK 
 
 POSSIBLE, AND WHOSE UNTIMELY PEATIf HAS 
 
 LOST TO AMERICAN SCHOLARS KESl'LTS 
 
 OF FAR GREATER IMPORTANCE, 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The belief that the only solid foundation for the 
 accurate study of American ethnology and lin- 
 guistics must be in the productions of the native 
 mind in their original form has led me to the ven- 
 turesome undertaking of which this is the first 
 issue. The object of the proposed series of 
 publications is to preserve permanently a number 
 of rude specimens of literature composed by the 
 members of various American tribes, and exhibit- 
 ing their habits of thought, modes of expressions, 
 intellectual range and aesthetic faculties. 
 
 Whether the literary and historical value of 
 these monuments is little or great, they merit the 
 careful attention of all who would weigh and 
 measure the aboriginal mind, and estimate its 
 capacities correctly. 
 
 The neglect of this field of study is largely 
 owing to a deficiency of material for its pursuit. 
 Genuine specimens of native literature are rare, 
 and almost or quite inaccessible. They remain in 
 manuscript in the hands of a few collectors, or, if 
 printed, they are in forms not convenient to obtain, 
 
 v 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 as in the ponderous transactions of learned socie- 
 ties, or in privately printed works. My purpose 
 is to gather together from these sources a dozen 
 volumes of moderate size and reasonable price, 
 and thus to put the material within the reach of 
 American and European scholars. 
 
 Now that the first volume is ready, I see in it 
 much that can be improved upon in subsequent 
 issues. I must ask for it an indulgent criticism, 
 for the novelty of the undertaking and its inherent 
 difficulties have combined to make it less finished 
 and perfected than it should have been. 
 
 If the series meets with a moderate encourage- 
 ment, it will be continued at the rate of two or 
 three volumes of varying size a year, and will, I 
 think, prove ultimately of considerable service to 
 the students of man in his simpler conditions of 
 life and thought, especially of American man. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 i. The Name Maya, p. 9. 2. The Maya Linguistic 
 Family, p. 17. 3. Origin of the Maya Tribes, p. 20. 
 4. Political Condition at the Time of the Conquest, 
 p. 25. 5. Grammatical Observations, p. 27. 6. 
 The Numeral System, p. 37. 7. The Calendar, p. 
 50. 8. Ancient Hieroglyphic Books, p. 61. 9. 
 Modern Maya Manuscripts, p. 67. 10. Grammars 
 and Dictionaries, p. 72. 
 
 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY p . 8 1 
 
 I. The Series of the Katuns, p. 89. Text, p. 95. Trans- 
 lation, p. 100. Notes, p. 106. 
 
 II. The Series of the Katuns, p. 136. Text, p. 138. 
 Translation, p. 144. Notes, p. 150. 
 
 III. The Record of the Count of the Katuns, p. 152. 
 
 Text, p. 153. Translation, p. 158. Notes, p. 163. 
 
 IV. The Maya Katuns, p. 165. Text, p. 1 66. Transla- 
 
 tion, p. 169. Notes, p. 173. 
 
 V. The Chief Katuns, p. 177. Text, p. 178. Transla- 
 tion, p. 180. Notes, p. 182. 
 
 THE CHRONICLE OF CHAC XULUB CHEN. 
 
 Introductory, p. 189. Text, p. 193. Translation, p. 
 
 216. Notes, p. 242. 
 VOCABULARY p. 261 
 
 vil 
 
I. . 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE NAME "MAYA." 2. THE MAYA LINGUISTIC FAMILY. 
 3. ORIGIN OF THE MAYA TRIBES. 4. POLITICAL CON- 
 DITION AT THE TIME OF THE CONQUEST. 5. GRAMMATI- 
 CAL OBSERVATIONS. 6. THE NUMERAL SYSTEM. 7. THE 
 CALENDAR. 8. ANCIENT HIEROGLYPHIC BOOKS. 9. 
 MODERN MAYA MANUSCRIPTS. 10. GRAMMARS AND 
 DICTIONARIES OF THE LANGUAGE. 
 
 i. 77*? Name "Maya" 
 
 In his second voyage, Columbus heard vague 
 rumors of a mainland westward from Jamaica 
 and Cuba, at a distance of ten days' journey 
 in a canoe. 1 Its inhabitants were said to be 
 clothed, and the specimens of wax which were 
 found among the Cubans must have been brought 
 
 1 " Tambien diz [el Almirante] que supo que . . . aquella 
 isla Espanola 6 la otra isla Jamaye estaba cerca de tierra firme, 
 diez jornadas de Canoa que podia ser sesenta a setenta leguas, y 
 que era la gente vestida alii." Navarrete, Viages, Tom. I, pag. 127. 
 
 B 9 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 from there, as they themselves did not know how 
 to prepare it. 
 
 During his fourth voyage (1503-4), when he 
 was exploring the Gulf southwest from Cuba, he 
 picked up a canoe laden with cotton clothing 
 variously dyed. The natives in it gave him to 
 understand that they were merchants, and came 
 from a land called MAIA. Z 
 
 This is the first mention in history of the terri- 
 tory now called Yucatan, and of the race of the 
 Mayas; for although a province of similar name 
 was found in the western extremity of the island 
 of Cuba, the similarity was accidental, as the evi- 
 dence is conclusive that no colony of the Mayas 
 was found on the Antilles. 2 These islands were 
 
 1 "In questo loco pigliorono una Nave loro carica di mercantia 
 et merce la quale dicevono veniva da una cierta provintia chia- 
 mata MAIAM vel luncatam con moke veste di bambasio de le 
 quale ne erono il forcio di sede di diversi colori." Informatione 
 di Bartolomeo Colombo. It is thus printed in Harisse, Bibliotheca 
 Americana Vetustissima, p. 473 ; but in the original MS. in the 
 Magliabechian library the words "vel luncatam" are super- 
 scribed over the word " MAIAM," and do not belong to the text. 
 (Note of Dr. C. H. Berendt.) They are, doubtless, a later gloss, 
 as the name " Yucatan" cannot be traced to any such early date. 
 The mention of silk is, of course, a mistake. Peter Martyr also 
 mentions the name in his account of the fourth voyage : " Ex 
 Guaassa insula et Taia Maiaque et cerabazano, regionibus Vera- 
 guas occidentalibus scriptum reliquit Colonus, hujus inventi prin- 
 ceps," etc. Decad. Ill, Lib. IV. 
 
 2 I have collected this evidence, drawing largely from the manu- 
 
THE NAME "MAYA." 11 
 
 peopled by a wholly different stock, the remnants 
 of whose language prove them to have been the 
 northern outposts of the Arawacks of Guiana, and 
 allied to the great Tupi-Guaranay stem of South 
 America. 
 
 MAYA was the patrial name of the natives 
 of Yucatan. It was the proper name of the 
 northern portion of the peninsula. No single 
 province bore it at the date of the Conquest, and 
 probably it had been handed down as a generic 
 term from the period, about a century before, 
 when this whole district was united under one 
 government. 
 
 The natives of all this region called themselves 
 Maya uinic, Maya men, or ah Mayaa, those of 
 Maya ; their language was Maya than, the Maya 
 speech ; a native woman was Maya fauplal; and 
 their ancient capital was Maya pan, the MAYA 
 
 script works on the Arawack language left by the Moravian mis- 
 sionary, the Rev. Theodore Schultz, and published it in a mono- 
 graph, entitled : The Arawack Language of Guiana in its 
 Linguistic and Ethnological Relations. ( Transactions of the 
 American Philosophical Society, 1871.) There was a province in 
 Cuba named Maiye ; see Nicolas Fort y Roldan, Cuba Indigena, 
 pp. 112, 167 (Madrid, 1881). According to Fort, this meant 
 "origin and beginning," in the ancient language of Cuba; but 
 there is little doubt but that it presents the Arawack negative pre- 
 fix ma (which happens to be the same in the Maya) and may be 
 a form of majiijun, not wet, dry. 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 banner, for there of old was set up the standard 
 of the nation, the elaborately worked banner of 
 brilliant feathers, which, in peace and in war, 
 marked the rallying point of the Confederacy. 
 
 We do not know where they drew the line from 
 others speaking the same tongue. That it exclu- 
 ded the powerful tribe of the Itzas, as a recent 
 historian thinks, 1 seems to be refuted by the docu- 
 ments I bring forward in the present volume ; 
 that, on the other hand, it did not include the in- 
 habitants of the southwestern coast appears to be 
 indicated by the author of one of the oldest and 
 most complete dictionaries of the language. 
 Writing about 1580, when the traditions of descent 
 were fresh, he draws a distinction between the 
 lengua de Maya and the lengua de Campeche? 
 The latter was a dialect varying very slightly from 
 pure Maya, and I take it, this manner of indicat- 
 
 1 Eligio Ancona, Historia de Yucatan, Tom. I, p. 31 (Merida, 
 1878). 
 
 2 Diccionario Maya-Espanol del Convento de Motul. MS. Sub 
 voce, icheck. The manuscript dictionaries which I use will be 
 described in the last section of this Introduction. The example 
 given is : 
 
 " ICHECH ; tu eres, en lengua de Campeche ; ickex, vosotros 
 seis ; in en, yo soy ; in on, nosotros somos. De aqui sale en 
 lengua de Maya, lech cech ichech e, tu que eres por ahi quien 
 quiera," etc. 
 
THE NAME "MAYA." 13 
 
 ing the distinction points to a former political 
 separation. 
 
 The name Maya is also found in the form 
 Mayab, and this is asserted by various Yuca- 
 tecan scholars of the present generation, as Pio 
 Perez, Crescencio Carrillo, and Eligio Ancona, to 
 be the correct ancient form, while the other is but 
 a Spanish corruption. 1 
 
 But this will not bear examination. All the 
 authorities, native as well as foreign, of the six- 
 teenth century, write Maya. It is impossible to 
 suppose that such laborious and earnest students 
 as the author of the Dictionary of Motul, as the 
 grammarian and lexicographer Gabriel de San 
 Buenaventura, and as the educated natives whose 
 writings I print in this volume, could all have 
 fallen into such a capital blunder. 2 
 
 The explanation I have to offer is just the re- 
 
 1 See Eligio Ancona, Hist, de Yucatan, Tom. I, p. 37. 
 
 2 " MAYA (accento en la primera) ; nombre proprio de esta 
 tierrade Yucatan." Diccionario de Motul, MS. " Una provincia 
 que llamavan de la Maya, de la qual la lengua de Yucatan se 
 llama Mayathan." Diego de Landa, Relacion de las Cosas de 
 
 Yucatan, p. 14. " Esta tierra de Yucatan, a quien los naturales 
 llaman Ma'ya," Cogolludo, Historia de Yucatan, Lib. IV, Cap. 
 III. " El antiguo Reyno de Maya 6 Mayapan que hoy se llama 
 Yucatan." Villagutierre, Historia de el Itza y de el Lacandott, p. 
 25. The numerous MSS. of the Books of Chilan Balam are also 
 decisive on this point. 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 verse. The use of the terminal b in "Mayab" is 
 probably a dialectic error, other examples of 
 which can be quoted. Thus the writer of the Dic- 
 tionary of Motul informs us that the form maab 
 is sometimes used for the ordinary negative ma, 
 no; but, he adds, it is a word of the lower classes, 
 es palabra de gente comun. So I have little doubt 
 but that Mayab is a vulgar form of the word, 
 which may have gradually gained ground. 
 
 As at present used, the accent usually falls on 
 the first syllable, Ma'ya, and the best old authori- 
 ties affirm this as a rule ; but it is a rule subject 
 to exceptions, as at the end of a sentence and in 
 certain dialects Dr. Berendt states that it is not 
 infrequently heard as Ma'ya' or even Maya'? 
 
 The meaning and derivation of the word have 
 given rise to the usual number of nonsensical and 
 far-fetched etymologies. The Greek, the Sanscrit, 
 the ancient Coptic and the Hebrew have all been 
 called in to interpret it. I shall refer to but a few 
 of these profitless suggestions. 
 
 The Abbe Brasseur (de Bourbourg) quotes as 
 the opinion of Don Ramon de Ordonez, the 
 author of a strange work on American archae- 
 
 1 Nombres Geograficos en Lengua Maya, folio, MS. in my 
 collection. 
 
THE NAME "MAYA." 15 
 
 ology, called History of the Heaven and the Earth, 
 that Maya is but an abbreviation of the phrase 
 ma ay ha, which, the Abbe adds, means word for 
 word, non adest aqua, and was applied to the pen- 
 insula on account of the scarcity of water there. 1 
 
 Unfortunately that phrase has no such, nor any, 
 meaning in Maya ; were it ma yan haa, it would 
 have the sense he gives it ; and further, as the 
 Abbe himself remarked in a later work, it is not 
 applicable to Yucatan, where, though rivers are 
 scarce, wells and water abound. He therefore 
 preferred to derive it from ma and ha, which he 
 thought he could translate either " Mother of the 
 Water," or "Arm of the Land!" 2 
 
 The latest suggestion I have noticed is that of 
 Eligio Ancona, who, claiming that Mayab is the 
 correct form, and that this means " not numer- 
 ous," thinks that it was applied to the first native 
 settlers of the land, on account of the paucity of 
 their numbers ! 3 
 
 All this seems like learned trifling. The name 
 may belong to that ancient dialect from which are 
 derived many of the names of the days and 
 
 1 Note to Landa, Rel. de las Cosas de Yucatan, p. 14. 
 
 2 Vocabulaire Maya-Francais-Espagnole, sub voce, MAYA. 
 * Hist, de Yucatan, p. 37. 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 months in the native calendar, and which, as an 
 esoteric language, was in use among the Maya 
 priests, as was also one among the Aztecs of 
 Mexico. Instances of this, in fact, are very com- 
 mon among the American aborigines, and no 
 doubt many words were thus preserved which 
 could not be analyzed to their radicals through 
 the popular tongue. 
 
 Or, if it is essential to find a meaning, why not 
 accept the obvious signification of the name ? Ma 
 is the negative "no," "not;" ya means rough, 
 fatiguing, difficult, painful, dangerous. The com- 
 pound maya is given in the Dictionary of Motul 
 with the translations "not arduous nor severe; 
 something easy and not difficult to do ; " cosa no 
 grave ni recta; cosafacily no dificultosa de hacer. 
 It was used adjectively as in the phrase, maya u 
 ckapakal, his sickness is not dangerous. So they 
 might have spoken of the level and fertile land of 
 Yucatan, abounding in fruit and game, that land 
 to which we are told they delighted to give, as a 
 favorite appellation, the term u luumil cek, u luumil 
 cutz, the land of the deer, the land of the wild 
 turkey; of this land, I say, they might well have 
 spoken as of one not fatiguing, not rough nor 
 exhausting. 
 
THE MAYA LINGUISTIC FAMILY. 17 
 
 2. The Maya Linguistic Family. 
 
 Whatever the primitive meaning and first 
 application of the name Maya, it is now used to 
 signify specifically the aborigines of Yucatan. In 
 a more extended sense, in the expression "the 
 Maya family," it is understood to embrace all 
 tribes, wherever found, who speak related dialects 
 presumably derived from the same ancient stock 
 as the Maya proper. 
 
 Other names for this extended family have 
 been suggested, as Maya-Kiche, Mam-Huastec, 
 and the like, compounded of the names of two or 
 more of the tribes of the group. But this does 
 not appear to have much advantage over the 
 simple expression I have given, though "Maya- 
 Kiche " may be conveniently employed to prevent 
 confusion. 
 
 These affiliated tribes are, according to the 
 investigations of Dr. Carl Hermann Berendt, the 
 following : 
 
 1 . The Maya proper, including the Lacandons. 
 
 2. The Chontals of Tabasco, on and near the 
 coast west of the mouth of the Usumacinta. 
 
 3. The Tzendals, south of the Chontals. 
 
 4. The Zotzils, south of the Tzendals. 
 
 5. The Chaneabals, south of the Zotzils. 
 
18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 6. The Chols, on the upper Usumacinta. 
 
 7. The Chords, near Copan. 
 
 8. The Kekchis, and 
 
 9. The Pocomchis, in Vera Paz. 
 
 10. The Pocomams. 
 
 11. The Mams. 
 
 12. The Kiches. 
 
 13. The Ixils. 
 
 In or bordering on 
 Guatemala. 
 
 14. The Cakchiquels. 
 
 15. The Tzutuhils. 
 
 1 6. The Huastecs, on the Panuco river and 
 its tributaries, in Mexico. 
 
 The languages of these do not differ more, in 
 their extremes, than the French, Spanish, Italian 
 and other tongues of the so-called Latin races ; 
 while a number resemble each other as closely 
 as the Greek dialects of classic times. 
 
 What lends particular importance to the study 
 of this group of languages is that it is that which 
 was spoken by the race in several respects the 
 most civilized of any found on the American 
 continent. Copan, Uxmal and Palenque are 
 names which at once evoke the most earnest 
 interest in the mind of every one who has ever 
 been attracted to the subject of the archaeology of 
 the New World. This race, moreover, possessed 
 
THE MAYA LINGUISTIC FAMILY. 19 
 
 an abundant literature, preserved in written books, 
 in characters which were in some degree phonetic. 
 Enough of these remain to whet, though not to 
 satisfy, the curiosity of the student. 
 
 The total number of Indians of pure blood 
 speaking the Maya proper may be estimated as 
 nearly or quite 200,000, most of them in the politi- 
 cal limits of the department of Yucatan ; to these 
 should be added nearly 100,000 of mixed blood, 
 or of European descent, who use the tongue in 
 daily life. 1 For it forms one of the rare examples 
 of American languages possessing vitality enough 
 not only to maintain its own ground, but actually 
 to force itself on European settlers and supplant 
 their native speech. It is no uncommon occur- 
 rence in Yucatan, says Dr. Berendt, to find whole 
 families of pure white blood who do not know 
 one word of Spanish, using the Maya exclusively. 
 It has even intruded on literature, and one finds it 
 interlarded in books published in Merida, very 
 
 1 A discussion of the items of the census of 1862 maybe found 
 in the work of the Licentiate Apolinar Garcia y Garcia, His- 
 toria de la Guerra de Castas de Yucatan, Tomo I, Prologo, pp. 
 Ixvii, etseq. (Merida 1865.) The completion of this meritorious 
 work was unfortunately prevented by the war. The author was 
 born near Chan Denote, Yucatan, in 1837, and was appointed Juez 
 de Letras at Izamal in 1864. 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 much as lady novelists drop into French in their 
 imaginative effusions. 1 
 
 The number speaking the different dialects of 
 the stock are roughly estimated at half a million, 
 which is probably below the mark. 
 
 3. Origin of the Maya Tribes. 
 
 The Mayas did not claim to be autochthones. 
 Their legends referred to their arrival by the sea 
 from the East, in remote times, under the leader- 
 ship of Itzamna, their hero-god, and also to a less 
 numerous immigration from the west, from 
 Mexico, which was connected with the history of 
 another hero-god, Kukul Can. 
 
 The first of these appears to be wholly mythi- 
 cal, and but a repetition of the story found among 
 so many American tribes, that their ancestors 
 came from the distant Orient. I have elsewhere 
 explained this to be but a solar or light myth. 2 
 
 The second tradition deserves more attention 
 from the historian, as it is supported by some of 
 their chronicles and by the testimony of several 
 
 1 See, for example, El Toro de Sinkeuel, Leyenda Hipica (Me- 
 rida, 1856), a political satire, said to be directed against General 
 Ampudia, by Manuel Garcia. 
 
 2 D. G. Brinton, The Myths of the New World ; a Treatise on 
 the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America, Chap. 
 VI (2d Ed. New York, 1876). 
 
ORIGIN OF THE MAYA TRIBES. 21 
 
 of the most intelligent natives of the period of the 
 conquest, which I present on a later page of this 
 volume. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the Mayas, the Kiches 
 and the Cakchiquels, in their most venerable 
 traditions, claimed to have migrated from the 
 north or west, from some part of the present 
 country of Mexico. 
 
 These traditions receive additional importance 
 from the presence on the shores of the Mexican 
 Gulf, on the waters of the river Panuco, north of 
 Vera Cruz, of a prominent branch of the Maya 
 family, the Huastecs. The idea suggests itself 
 that these were the rearguard of a great migra- 
 tion of the Maya family from the north toward 
 the south. 
 
 Support is given to this by their dialect, which 
 is most closely akin to that of the Tzendals of 
 Tabasco, the nearest Maya race to the south of 
 them, and also by very ancient traditions of the 
 Aztecs. 
 
 It is noteworthy that these two partially civilized 
 races, the Mayas and the Aztecs, though differing 
 radically in language, had legends which claimed 
 a community of origin in some indefinitely remote 
 past. We find these on the Maya side narrated 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in the sacred book of the Kiches, the Popol Vuh, 
 in the Cakchiquel Records of Tecpan Atitlan, and 
 in various pure Maya sources which I bring for- 
 ward in this volume. The Aztec traditions refer 
 to the Huastecs, and a brief analysis of them will 
 not be out of place. 
 
 At a very remote period the Mexicans, under 
 their leader Mecitl, from whom they took their 
 name, arrived in boats at the mouth of the river 
 Panuco, at the place called Panotlan, which name 
 means "where one arrives by sea." With them 
 were the Olmecs under their leader Olmecatl, the 
 Huastecs, under their leader Huastecatl, the 
 Mixtecs and others. They journeyed together 
 and in friendship southward, down the coast, 
 quite to the volcanoes of Guatemala, thence to 
 Tamoanchan, which is described as the terrestial 
 paradise, and afterwards, some of them at least, 
 northward and eastward, toward the shores of 
 the Gulf. 
 
 On this journey the intoxicating beverage made 
 from the maguey, called octli by the Aztecs, cii by 
 the Mayas, and pidque by the Spaniards, was 
 invented by a woman whose name was Mayauel, 
 in which we can scarcely err in recognizing the 
 
ORIGIN OF THE MAYA TRIBES. 23 
 
 national appellation Maya. 1 Furthermore, the 
 invention is closely related to the history of the 
 Huastecs. Their leader, alone of all the chief- 
 tains, drank to excess, and in his drunkenness 
 threw aside his garments and displayed his naked- 
 ness. When he grew sober, fear and shame 
 impelled him to collect all those who spoke his 
 language, and leaving the other tribes, he returned 
 to the neighborhood of Panuco and settled there 
 permanently. 2 
 
 The annals of the Aztecs contain frequent allu- 
 sions to the Huastecs. The most important 
 contest between the two nations took place in the 
 reign of Montezuma the First (1440-1464). The 
 attack was made by the Aztecs, for the alleged 
 reason that the Huastecs had robbed and killed 
 Aztec merchants on their way to the great fairs in 
 Guatemala. The Huastecs are described as 
 numerous, dwelling in walled towns, possessing 
 quantities of maize, beans, feathers and precious 
 stones, and painting their faces. They were sig- 
 
 1 Maya-uel may be from maya and ohel, to know either intel- 
 lectually or carnally ; or the last syllable may be uol, will, desire, 
 mind. This inventive woman would thus have been named "the 
 Maya wit" (in the old meaning of the word). 
 
 2 Sahagun, Historia de la Nueva Espana, Lib. X, Cap. XXIX, 
 p. 12. 
 
24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 nally defeated by the troops of Montezuma, but 
 not reduced to vassalage. 1 
 
 At the time of the Conquest the province of the 
 Huastecs was densely peopled; "none more so 
 under the sun," remarks the Augustinian friar 
 Nicolas de Witte, who visited it in 1543 ; but even 
 then he found it almost deserted and covered with 
 ruins, for, a few years previous, the Spaniards had 
 acted towards its natives with customary treach- 
 ery and cruelty. They had invited all the chiefs 
 to a conference, had enticed them into a large 
 wooden building, and then set fire to it and 
 burned them alive. When this merciless act 
 became known the Huastecs deserted their 
 villages and scattered among the forests and 
 mountains. 2 
 
 These traditions go to show that the belief 
 among the Aztecs was that the tribes of the Maya 
 family came originally from the north or north- 
 east, and were at some remote period closely con- 
 nected with their own ancestors. 
 
 1 Fray Diego Duran, Historia de las Indias de Nueva Espafia 
 y Islas de Tierra Firme, Cap. XIX (Ed. Mexico, 1867). 
 
 2 See Lettre de Fray Nicolas de Witt (should be Witte), 1554, 
 in Ternaux Compans, Recueil des Pieces sur le Mexique, p. 254, 
 286; also the report of the "Audiencia" held in Mexico in 
 1531, in Herrera, Historia de las Indias Occidentals, Dec. IV, 
 Lib. IX, Cap. V. 
 
THEIR EARLY POLITICAL CONDITION. 25 
 
 4. Political Condition at the Time of the Conquest. 
 When the Spaniards first explored the coasts 
 of Yucatan they found the peninsula divided into 
 a number of independent petty states. According 
 to an authority followed by Herrera, these were 
 eighteen in number. There is no complete list of 
 their names, nor can we fix with certainty their 
 boundaries. The following list gives their 
 approximate position. On the west coast, begin- 
 ning at the south 
 
 1. >Acalan, on the Bahia de Terminos. 
 
 2. Tixchel (or Telchac?) 
 
 3. Champoton (Chakanputun, or Potonchan). 
 
 4. Kinpech (Campech or Campeche) . 
 
 5. Canul (Acanul or H' Canul). 
 
 6. Hocabaihumun. 
 
 7. Cehpech, in which Merida was founded. 
 
 8. Zipatan, on the northwest coast. 
 
 On the east coast, beginning at the north 
 
 9. Choaca, near Cape Cotoche. 
 
 10. Ekab, opposite the Island of Cozumel. 
 
 1 1. Conil, or of the Cupuls. 
 
 13. Bakhalal, or Bacalar. 
 
 1 4. Chetemal. 
 
 15. Taitza, the Peten district, 
 c 
 
26 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Central provinces 
 
 1 6. H' Chel (or Ah Kin Chel) in which Itzamal 
 was located. 
 
 1 7. Zotuta, of the Cocoms. 
 
 1 8. Mani, of the Xius. 
 
 19. Cochuah (or Cochva, or Cocola), the princi- 
 pal town of which was Ichmul. 
 
 As No. 15, the Peten district, was not conquered 
 by the Spaniards until 1697, it was doubtless not 
 included in the list drawn up by Herrera's author- 
 ity, so that the above would correspond with his 
 statement. 
 
 Each of these provinces was ruled by a heredi- 
 tary chief, who was called batab, or batabil uinic 
 (mmc=ma.n). He sometimes bore two names, the 
 first being that of his mother, the second of his 
 father, as Can Ek, in which Can was from the 
 maternal, Ek from the paternal line. The surname 
 (kaba] descended through the male. It was called 
 hack kaba, the true name, or hool kaba, the head 
 name. Much attention was paid to preserving 
 the genealogy, and the word for "of noble birth" 
 was ah kaba, "he who has a name." 
 
 Each village of a province was organized under 
 a ruler, who was styled halach uinic, the true or 
 real man. Frequently he was a junior member 
 
GRAMMATICAL OBSERVATIONS. 27 
 
 of the reigning family. He was assisted by a 
 second in command, termed ah kulel, as a lieuten- 
 ant, and various subordinate officials, whose duties 
 will be explained in the notes to Nakuk Pech's 
 narrative. 
 
 Personal tenure of land did not exist. The town 
 lands were divided out annually among the mem- 
 bers of the community, as their wants required, 
 the consumption of each adult being calculated at 
 twenty loads (of a man) of maize each year, this 
 being the staple food. 1 
 
 ! 
 
 5. Grammatical Observations. 
 
 Compared with many American languages, the 
 Maya is simple in construction. It is analytic 
 rather than synthetic ; most of its roots are mono- 
 syllables or dissyllables, and the order of their 
 arrangement is very similar to that in English. It 
 has been observed that foreigners, coming to 
 
 1 I mention this particularly in order to correct a grave error in 
 Landa's Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, p. 130. He says, 
 " Suelen de costumbre sembrar para cada casado con su muger 
 medida de cccc pies que llaman hun-uinic, medida con vara de 
 XX pies, XX en ancho y XX en largo." The agrarian measure 
 uinic or hun uinic (one man) contained 20 kaan, each 24 yards 
 (varas) square. One kaan was estimated to yield two loads of 
 corn, and hence the calculation was forty loads of the staff of life 
 for each family. Landa's statement that a patch 20 feet square 
 was assigned to a family is absurd on the face of it. 
 
28 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Yucatan, ignorant of both Spanish and Maya, 
 acquire a conversational knowledge of the latter 
 more readily than of the former. 1 
 
 An examination of the language explains this. 
 Neither nouns nor adjectives undergo any change 
 for gender, number or case. Before animate 
 nouns the gender may be indicated by the prefixes 
 ah and ix, equivalent to the English he and she in 
 such expressions as he-bear, she-bear. The plural 
 particle is ob, which can be suffixed to animate 
 nouns, but is in fact the third person plural of the 
 personal pronoun. 
 
 The conjugations of the verbs are four in num- 
 ber. All passives and neuters end in /, and also 
 a certain number of active verbs ; these form the 
 first conjugation, while the remaining three are 
 of active verbs only. The time-forms of the 
 verb are three, the present, the aorist, and the 
 future. Taking the verb nacal, to ascend, these 
 forms are nacal, naci, nacac. The present indica- 
 tive is : 
 
 1 " La lengua castellana es mas difficultosa que la Maya para la 
 gente adulta, que no la ha mamado con la leche, como lo ha en- 
 sefiado la experiencia en los estranjeros de distintas naciones, y en 
 los negros bozales que se han radicado en esta provincia, que mas 
 facilmente han aprendido la Maya que la castellana." Apoli- 
 nar Garcia y Garcia, Historia de la Guerra de Castas en Yuca- 
 tan. Prologo, p. Ixxv. (folio, Merida, 1865). 
 
GRAMMATICAL OBSERVATIONS. 29 
 
 Nacal in cah, I ascend. 
 
 Nacal a cah, them ascendest. 
 
 Nacal u cah, he ascends. 
 
 Nacal c cah, we ascend. 
 
 Nacal a cah ex, you ascend. 
 
 Nacal u cah ob, they ascend. 
 
 When this form is analyzed, we discover that 
 in, a, u, c, a-ex, u-ob, are personal possessive pro- 
 nouns, my, thy, his, our, your, their; and that 
 nacal and cah are in fact verbal nouns standing in 
 apposition. Cah, which is the sign of the present 
 tense, means the doing, making, being occupied 
 or busy at something. Hence nacal in cah, 
 I ascend, is literally " the ascent, my being 
 occupied with." The imperfect tense is merely 
 the present with the additional verbal noun cue hi 
 added, as 
 
 Nacal in cah cuchi, I was ascending. 
 
 Nacal a cah cuchi, Thou wast ascending. 
 
 etc. 
 
 Cuchi means carrying on, bearing along, and 
 the imperfect may thus be rendered : 
 
 " The ascent, my being occupied with, carrying 
 on." 
 
 This is what has been called by Friedrich 
 Miiller the " possessive conjugation," the pronoun 
 
30 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 used being not in the nominative but in the pos- 
 sessive form. 
 
 The aorist presents a different mode of forma- 
 tion : 
 
 Nac-en, (i.e. Naci-en) I ascended. 
 
 Nac-ech, Thou ascended. 
 
 Naci, He ascended. 
 
 Nac-on, We ascended. 
 
 Nac-ex, You ascended. 
 
 Nac-ob, They ascended. 
 
 Here en, ech, on, ex, are apparently the 
 simple personal pronouns I, thou, we, you, and 
 are used predicatively. The future is also con- 
 jugated in this form by the use of the verbal bin, 
 binel, to go : 
 
 Bin nacac en, I am going to ascend. 
 
 Bin nacac ech, Thou art going to ascend. 
 
 etc. 
 
 The present of all the active verbs uses this 
 predicative form, while their aorists and futures 
 employ possessive forms. Thus: 
 
 Ten cambezic, I teach him. 
 
 Tech cambezic, Thou teaches him. 
 
 Lay cambezic, He teaches him. 
 
 Here, however, I must note a difference of 
 
GRAMMATICAL OBSERVATIONS. 31 
 
 opinion between eminent grammatical critics. 
 Friedrich Miiller considers all such forms as 
 
 Nac-en, I ascended, 
 
 to exhibit "the predicative power of the true verb," 
 basing his opinion on the analogy of such expres- 
 sions as 
 
 Ten batab en, I (am) a chief. 1 
 
 M. Lucien Adam, on the other hand, says : 
 "The intransitive preterit nac-en may seem morpho- 
 logically the same as the Aryan ds-mi; but here 
 again, nac is a verbal noun, as is demonstrated by 
 the plural of the third person nac-ob^faz. ascenders.' 
 Nac-en comes to mean 'ascender [formerly] me.'" 
 
 I am inclined to think that the French critic is 
 right, and that, in fact, there is no true verb in the 
 Maya, but merely verbal nouns, nomina actionis, 
 to which the pronouns stand either in the pos- 
 sessive or objective relations, or, more remotely, in 
 the possessive relation to another verbal noun in 
 apposition, as cah, cuchi, etc. The importance of 
 this point in estimating the structure of the lan- 
 guage will be appreciated by those who have paid 
 any attention to the science of linguistics. 
 
 1 Friedrich Miiller, Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft, II Band, 
 s. 309. (Wien, 1882). 
 
 2 Lucien Adam, Etudes sur six Langues Antericaines,^. 155. 
 (Paris, 1878). 
 
32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The objective form of the conjugation is com- 
 posed of the simple personal pronouns of both 
 persons, together with the possessive of the agent 
 and the particle ci, which conveys the accessory 
 notion of present action towards. Thus, from 
 moc, to tie : 
 
 Ten c in moc ech, I tie thee, 
 
 literally, I my present tying thee. 
 
 These refinements of analysis have, of course, 
 nothing to do with the convenience of the language 
 for practical purposes. As it has no dual, no 
 inclusive and exclusive plurals, no articles nor 
 substantive verb, no transitions, and few irregular 
 verbs, its forms are quickly learned. It is not 
 polysynthetic, at any rate, not more so than French, 
 and its words undergo no such alteration by 
 agglutination as in Aztec and Algonkin. Synco- 
 pated forms are indeed common, but to no greater 
 extent than in colloquial English. The unit of the 
 tongue remains the word, not the sentence, and 
 we find no immeasurable words, expressing in 
 themselves a whole paragraph, such as gramma- 
 rians like to quote from the Eskimo, Aztec, 
 Qquichua and other highly synthetic languages. 
 
 The position of words in a sentence is not 
 dissimilar from that in English. The adjective 
 
GRAMMATICAL OBSERVATIONS. 33 
 
 precedes the noun it qualifies, and sentences 
 usually follow the formula, subject verbal object. 
 Thus : 
 
 Hemac cu yacuntic Diose, itiz uinic. 
 He who loves God, [is] good man. 
 
 But transposition is allowable, as 
 
 Taachili u tzicic u yum uinic. 
 Generally obeys his father, a man. 
 
 As shown in this last example, the genitive rela- 
 tion is indicated by the possessive pronoun, as it 
 sometimes was in English, "John, his book;" but 
 the Maya is "his book John," u huun Juan. 
 
 Another method which is used for indicating 
 the genitive and ablative relations is the termina- 
 tion U. This is called "the determinative ending," 
 and denotes whose is the object named, or of 
 what. It is occasionally varied to al and el, to 
 correspond to the last preceding vowel, but this 
 "vocalic echo" is not common in Maya. While it 
 denotes use, it does not convey the idea of owner- 
 ship. Thus, u cheen in yum, my father's well, 
 means the well that belongs to my father; but 
 crenel in yum, my father's well, means the well 
 from which he obtains water, but in which he has 
 no proprietorship. Material used is indicated by 
 
34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 this ending, as xanil na, a house of straw (xan, 
 straw, na, house). 
 
 Compound words are frequent, but except 
 occasional syncope, the members of the compound 
 undergo no change. There is little resembling 
 the incapsulation (emboitement) that one sees in 
 most American languages. Thus, midnight, 
 chumucakab, is merely a union of chumuc, middle, 
 and akab, night ; dawn, ahalcab, is ahal, to awaken, 
 cab, the world. 
 
 While from the above brief sketch it will be 
 seen that the Maya is free from many of the 
 difficulties which present themselves in most 
 American tongues, it is by no means devoid of 
 others. 
 
 In its phonetics, it possesses six elements which 
 to the Spaniards were new. They are represented 
 by the signs : 
 
 eft, k, pp, th, tz, o. 
 
 Of these the ch resembles dch, pronounced 
 forcibly; the o is as dz; the pp is a forcible double 
 p; and in the th the two letters are to be pronounced 
 separately and forcibly. There remains the k 
 which is the most difficult of all. It is a sort of 
 palato-guttural, the only one in the language, and 
 its sound can only be acquired by long practice. 
 
GRAMMATICAL OBSERVATIONS. 35 
 
 The particles are very numerous, and make up 
 the life of the language. By them are expressed 
 the relations of space and time, and all the finer 
 shades of meaning. Probably no one not to the 
 manor born could render correctly their full 
 force. Buenaventura, in his Grammar, enu- 
 merates sixteen different significations of the 
 particle z/. 1 
 
 The elliptical and obscure style adopted by most 
 native writers, partly from ignorance of the art of 
 composition, partly because they imitated the 
 mystery in expression affected by their priests, 
 forms a serious obstacle even to those fairly 
 acquainted with the current language. Moreover, 
 the older manuscripts contain both words and 
 forms unfamiliar to a cultivated Yucatecan of 
 to-day. 
 
 I must, however, not omit to contradict formally 
 an assertion made by the traveler Waldeck, and 
 often repeated, that the language has undergone 
 such extensive changes that what was written a 
 century ago is unintelligible to a native of to-day. 
 So far is this from the truth that, except for a few 
 obsolete words, the narrative of the Conquest, 
 
 1 Gabriel de San Buenaventura, Arte de la Lengua Maya, 
 fol. 28 (Mexico, 1684). 
 
36 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 written more than three hundred years ago, by the 
 chief Pech, which I print in this volume, could be 
 read without much difficulty by any educated native. 
 
 Again, as in all languages largely monosyllabic, 
 there are many significations attached to one word, 
 and these often widely different. Thus kab means, 
 a hand; a handle; a branch; sap; an offence; 
 while cab means the world ; a country ; strength ; 
 honey ; a hive ; sting of an insect ; juice of a plant ; 
 and, in composition, promptness. It will be 
 readily understood that cases will occur where the 
 context leaves it doubtful which of these meanings 
 is to be chosen. 
 
 These homonyms and paronyms, as they are 
 called by grammarians, offer a fine field for 
 sciolists in philology, wherein to discover analo- 
 gies between the Maya and other tongues, and 
 they have been vigorously culled out for that pur- 
 pose. All such efforts are inconsistent with 
 correct methods in linguistics. The folly of the 
 procedure may be illustrated by comparing the 
 English and the Maya. I suppose no one will 
 pretend that these languages, at any rate in their 
 present modern forms, are related. Yet the 
 following are but a few of the many verbal simi- 
 larities that could be pointed out: 
 
THE NUMERAL SYSTEM. 37 
 
 MAYA. ENGLISH. 
 
 bateel, battle. 
 
 chab, to grab, to take. 
 
 hoi, hole. 
 
 him, one. 
 
 lum, loam. 
 
 pol, poll (head). 
 
 potum, a pot. 
 
 pul, to pull, carry. 
 
 tun, stone. 
 
 So with the Latin we could find such similarities 
 as volah=vo\o, ia = da.re, etc. 
 
 In fact, no relationship of the Maya linguistic 
 group to any other has been discovered. It con- 
 tains a number of words borrowed from the Aztec 
 (Nahuatl) ; and the latter in turn presents many 
 undoubtedly borrowed from the Maya dialects. 
 But this only goes to show that these two great 
 families had long and close relations ; and that we 
 already know, from their history, traditions and 
 geographical positions. 
 
 6. The Numeral System. 
 
 The Mayas had a mathematical turn, and pos- 
 sessed a developed system of numeration. It 
 counted by units and scores ; in other words, it 
 
38 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 was a vigesimal system. The cardinal numbers 
 were : 
 
 Hun, one. 
 
 Ca, two. 
 
 Ox, three. 
 
 Can, four. 
 
 Ho, five. 
 
 Uac, six. 
 
 Uuc, seven. 
 
 Uaxac, eight. 
 
 Bolon, nine. 
 
 Lahun, ten. 
 
 Buluc, eleven. 
 
 Lahca, twelve. 
 
 Oxlahun, thirteen. 
 
 Canlahun, fourteen. 
 
 Holhun, fifteen. 
 
 Uaclahun, sixteen. 
 
 Uuclahun, seventeen. 
 
 Uaxaclahun, eighteen. 
 
 Bolonlahun, nineteen. 
 
 Hunkal, twenty. 
 
 The composition of these numerals from twelve 
 
 to nineteen inclusive is easily seen. Lahun is 
 
 apparently a compound of lah hun (sc. uinic], "it 
 
 finishes one (man) ;" that is, in counting on the 
 
THE NUMERAL SYSTEM. 39 
 
 fingers. Lah means the end, to end, and also the 
 whole of anything. Kal, a score, is literally a 
 fastening together, a shutting up, from the verb 
 kal, to shut, to lock, to button up, etc. 
 
 From twenty upward, the scores are used : 
 Hun tu kal, one to the score, 21. 
 
 Ca tu kal, two to the score, 22. 
 
 Ox tu kal, three to the score, 23, 
 
 and so on up to 
 
 Ca kal, two score, 40. 
 
 Above forty, three different methods can be 
 used to continue the numeration. 
 
 1. We may continue the same employecf 
 between 20 and 40, thus : 
 
 Hun tu cakal, one to two score, 41. 
 
 Ca tu cakal, two to two score, 42. 
 
 Ox tu cakal, three to two score, 43, 
 
 and so on. 
 
 2. The numeral copulative catac can be used, 
 with the numeral particle tul ; as : 
 
 Cakal catac catul, two score and two, 42. 
 Cakal catac oxtul, two score and three, 43. 
 
 3. We may count upon the next score above, as : 
 Hun tu yoxkal, one on the third score, 41. 
 Ca tu yoxkal, two on the third score, 42. 
 Ox tu yoxkal, three on the third score, 43. 
 
40 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The last mentioned system is that advanced by 
 Father Beltran, and is the only one formally 
 mentioned by him. It has recently been carefully 
 analyzed by Prof. Leon de Rosny, who has shown 
 that it is a consistent vigesimal method. 1 
 
 It might be asked, and the question is pertinent, 
 and is left unanswered by Prof. Leon de Rosny, 
 why hun tu kal means "one to the score," and 
 hun tu can kal is translated, "one on the fourth 
 score." This important shade of meaning may be 
 given, I think, by the possessive u which originally 
 belonged in the phrase, but suffered elision. 
 Properly it should be, 
 
 Hun tu u can kal. 
 
 This seems apparent from other numbers where 
 it has not suffered elision, but merely incorpora- 
 tion, as : 
 
 Hun tu yox kal = hun tu u ox kal, 41. 
 Hu tu yokal = hun tu u ho kal, 81. 
 
 This system of numeration, advanced by 
 Beltran, appears to have been adopted by all of 
 the later writers, who may have learned the Maya 
 largely from his Grammar. Thus, in the transla- 
 
 1 Memoire sur la numeration dans la langue et dans r Ecriture 
 sacree des anciens Mayas, in the Compte-Rendu of the Congres 
 International des Americanistes, Vol. n, p. 439 (Paris, 1875). 
 
THE NUMERAL SYSTEM. 41 
 
 tion of the Gospel of St. John, published by the 
 Baptist Bible Translation Society, chap, n, v. 20 ; 
 Xupan uactuyoxkal hab utial u mental letile kulnaa, 
 "forty and six years was this temple in building;" 1 
 and in that of the Gospel of St. Luke, said to have 
 been the work of Father Joaquin Ruz, the same 
 system is followed. 2 
 
 Nevertheless, Beltran's method has been 
 severely criticised by Don Juan Pio Perez, who 
 ranks among the ablest Yucatecan linguists of 
 this century. He has pronounced it artificial, not 
 in accordance with either the past or present use 
 of the natives themselves, and built up out of an 
 effort to assimilate the Maya to the Latin numeral 
 system. 
 
 1 Leti u Ebanhelio Hezu Crizto hebix Huan, London, 1869. 
 This translation was made by the Rev. A. Henderson and the 
 Rev. Richard Fletcher, missionaries to the British settlements at 
 Belize. 
 
 2 Letiu Cilich Evangelio yesu Christo hebix San Lucas. Londres, 
 1865. The first draught of this translation, in the handwriting of 
 Father Ruz, with numerous corrections by himself, is in the 
 library of the Canon Crescencio Carrillo at Merida. A copy of it 
 was obtained by the Rev. John Kingdon of Belize, and printed in 
 London without any acknowledgment of its origin. It does not 
 appear to me to be accurate. For instance, chap. X, v. I, " The 
 Lord appointed other seventy also," where the Maya has xan 
 lahcatu cankal, " seventy-two ; " and again chap. XV, v. 4, the 
 ninety-nine sheep are increased to bolon lahu uaxackal, one 
 hundred and fifty-nine ! 
 
 D 
 
42 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I give his words in the original, from his unpub- 
 lished essay on Maya grammar. 1 
 
 "Los Indies de Yucatan cuentan por veintenas, 
 que llaman kal y en cierto modo tienen diez y 
 nueve unidades hasta completar la primera vein- 
 tena que es hunkal aunque en el curso de esta 
 solo se encuentran once numeros simples, pues los 
 nombres de los restantes se forman de los de la 
 primera decena. 
 
 "Para contar de una a otra veintena los 
 numeros fraccionarios 6 las diez y nueve unidades, 
 terminadas por la particula tul 6 su sincopa tu? se 
 juntan antepuestas a la veintena espresada ; por 
 exemplo, hunkal, 20; kuntukal, 21; catukal, 22; 
 y huntucakal, 41 ; catucakal, 42 ; oxtucankal, 83 ; 
 cantuhokal, 140, etc. 
 
 "El Padre Fr. Beltran de Santa Rosa, como 
 puede verse en su Arte de Lengua Maya, formo 
 un sistema distinto a este desde la 2 a veintena 
 hasta la ultima, pues para espresar las unidades 
 entre este y la 3* veintena pone a esta terminan- 
 dolas y por consiguiente rebajandole su valor por 
 solo su anteposicion a dichas unidades fraccion- 
 
 1 Apuntes para una Gramatica Maya. Por Don Juan Pio 
 Perez, MSS. pp. 126, 128. 
 
 2 "Me parece que tu es sincopa de/z ." (Note of Dr. Berendt.) 
 There is no doubt but that Dr. Berendt is correct. 
 
THE NUMERAL SYSTEM. 43 
 
 arias, y asi para espresar el numero 45 por 
 ejemplo dice ho tu yoxkal, cuando oxkal 6 yoxkal 
 significa 60. 
 
 " No se de donde tomo los fundamentos en que 
 se apoya este sistema, quiza en el uso de su 
 tiempo, que no ha llegado hasta este ; aunque he 
 visto en varies manuscritos antiguos, que los 
 Indies de entonces como los de ahora, usaban el 
 sistema que indico, y espresaban las unidades 
 integras que numeraban,y para espresar el numero 
 65 dicen ; Oxkal catac hotul u hotu oxkal, que 
 usa el Padre Beltran por 45. 1 
 
 "Mas el metodo que explico esta apoyado en el 
 uso y aun en el curso que se advierte en la i a y 2 a 
 veintena e indican que asi deben continuar las 
 decenas hasta la 2O a y no formar sistemas con- 
 fusos que por ser mas 6 menos analogos a la 
 numeracion romana lo juzgaban mas 6 menos 
 perfectos, porque la consideraban como un tipo a 
 que debia arreglarse cualquieraotra lengua, cuando 
 en ellas todo lo que no este conforme con el uso 
 recibido y corriente, es construir castillos en el 
 aire y hacer reformas que por mas ingeniosas que 
 scan, no pasan de inoficiosas." 
 
 In the face of this severe criticism of Father 
 
 1 This is not correct. Beltran gives for 45, hotu yoxkal, which 
 I analyze, ho ti it u ox kal. 
 
44 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Beltran's system, I cannot explain how it is that 
 in Pio Perez's own Dictionary of the Maya, the 
 numerals above 40 are given according to 
 Beltran's system ; and that this was not the work 
 of the editors of that volume (which was published 
 after his death), is shown by an autographic manu- 
 script of his dictionary in my possession, written 
 about 1846,' in which also the numerals appear in 
 Beltran's form. 
 
 Three other manuscript dictionaries in my 
 collection, all composed previous to 1690, affirm 
 the system of Beltran, and I am therefore obliged 
 to believe that it was authentic and current among 
 the natives long before white scholars began to 
 dress up their language in the ill-fitting garments 
 of Aryan grammar. 
 
 Proceeding to higher numbers, it is interesting 
 
 to note that they also proceed on the vigesimal 
 
 system, although this has not heretofore been 
 
 distinctly shown. The ancient computation was : 
 
 20 units =:one kal = 20 
 
 20 kal one bak = 400 
 
 20 bak = one pic = 8,000 
 
 20 pic one calab 160,000 
 
 20 calab i= one kinchil or tzotzceh = 3,200,000 
 
 20 kinchil = one alau =64,000,000 
 
 1 Apuntes del Diccionario de la Lengua Maya. Porunyucattco 
 aficionado a la lengua, 4to, pp. 486, MSS. 
 
THE NUMERAL SYSTEM. 45 
 
 This ancient system was obscured by the 
 Spaniards using the word pic to mean 1000 and 
 kinckil to mean 1,000,000, instead of their original 
 significations. 
 
 The meaning of kal t I have already explained 
 to be a fastening together, a package, a bundle. 
 Bak, as a verb, is to tie around and around with a 
 network of cords ; pic is the old word for the 
 short petticoat worn by the women, which was 
 occasionally used as a sac. If we remember 
 that grains of corn or of cacao were what were 
 generally employed as counters, then we may 
 suppose these were measures of quantity. The 
 word kal (qal], in Kiche means a score and also 
 specifically 20 grains of cacao ; bak in Cakchiquel 
 means a corn-cob, and as a verb to shell an ear of 
 corn, but I am not clear of any connection between 
 this and the numeral. Other meanings of bak in 
 Maya are "meat" and the paries pudendas of 
 either sex. 
 
 Calab, seems to be an instrumental form from 
 col, to stuff, to fill full. 1 The word calam is used 
 in the sense of excessive, overmuch. In Cakchi- 
 quel the phrase mani hu cala, not (merely) one 
 
 1 "CAL: hartar 6 emborrachar la fruta." Diccionario Maya- 
 Espanol del Convento de San Francisco, Merida, MS. I have 
 not found this word in other dictionaries within my reach. 
 
46 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cala, is synonymous with mani hu chuvi, not 
 (merely) one bag or sack, both meaning a count- 
 less number. 1 In that dialect the specific meaning 
 of cala is 20 loads of cacao beans. 2 
 
 The term tzotzceh means deerskin, but for 
 kinchil and alau, I have found no satisfactory 
 derivation that does not strain the forms of the 
 word too much. I would, however, suggest one 
 possible connection of meaning. 
 
 In kinchil, we have the word kin, day ; in alau, 
 the word u month, and in the term for mathematical 
 infinity, hunhablat, we find hun haab, one year, just 
 as in the related expression, hunhablazic^ which 
 signifies that which lasts a whole year. If this 
 suggestion is well grounded, then in these highest 
 expressions of quantity (and I am inclined to 
 think that originally hun hablat, one hablat^^zv 
 alau) we have applications of the three time 
 periods, the day, the month, and the year, with 
 the figurative sense that the increase of one over 
 the other was as the relative lengths of these 
 different periods. 
 
 1 Calepino en Lengna Cakchiquel par Fray Francisco de Varea, 
 MS. s. v. chitvi. This MS. is in the Library of the American 
 Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. 
 
 * F. Pantaleon de Guzman, Compendia de Nombres en Lengua 
 Cakchiquel, MS. This MS. is in my collection. 
 
THE NUMERAL SYSTEM. 47 
 
 I think it worth while to go into these etymolo- 
 gies, as they may throw some light on the graphic 
 representation of the numerals in the Maya 
 hieroglyphics. It is quite likely that the figures 
 chosen to represent the different higher units 
 would resemble the objects which their names 
 literally signify. The first nineteen ' numerals 
 were written by a combination of dots and lines, 
 examples of which we find in abundance in the 
 Codex Troano and other manuscripts. The follow- 
 ing explanation of it is from the pen of a native 
 writer in the last century : 
 
 m "Yantac thunyetel paiche tu pachob, 
 
 he hunppel thune hunppel bin haabe, 
 
 uaix cappele cappel bin haabe, uaix 
 
 oxppel thuun, ua canppel thuune, canp- 
 
 - pel binbe, uaix oxppel thuun baixan ; 
 
 he paichee yan yokol xane, ua hunppel 
 
 . . . . paichee, hoppel haab bin ; ua cappel 
 
 paichee lahunppiz bin ; uaix hunppel 
 
 paichee yan yokol xane, ua yan hunppel 
 
 ... thuune uacppel bin be ; uaix cappel 
 
 thuune yan yokol paichee uucppel bin be ; ua 
 
 oxppel thuun yan yokole, uaxppel binbe ; uaix- 
 
 canppel thun yan yokole paichee (bolonppel 
 
 binbe) ; yanix thun yokol (cappel) paichee buluc 
 
48 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 piz ; uaix cappel thune lahcapiz ; ua oxppel thuun, 
 oxlahunpiz." 
 
 "They (our ancestors) used (for numerals in 
 their calendars) dots and lines back of them ; one 
 dot for one year, two dots for two years, three 
 dots for three, four dots for four, and so on ; in 
 addition to these they used a line ; one line meant 
 five years, two lines ten years ; if one line and 
 above it one dot, six years ; if two dots above 
 the line, seven years ; if three dots above, eight ; 
 if four dots above the line, nine; a dot above 
 two lines, eleven; if two dots, twelve; if three dots, 
 thirteen." 1 
 
 The plan of using the numerals in Maya differs 
 somewhat from that in English. 
 
 In the first place, they are rarely named without 
 the addition of a numeral particle, which is suffixed. 
 These particles indicate the character or class of 
 the objects which are, or are about to be, enumer- 
 ated. When they are uttered, the hearer at once 
 knows what kind of objects are to be spoken of. 
 Many of them can be traced to a meaning which 
 
 1 Codice Perez, p. 92, MS. This is a series of extracts from 
 various ancient Maya manuscripts obtained by the late distin- 
 guished Yucatecan antiquary, Don Juan Pio Perez, and named 
 from him by Canon Crescencio Carrillo and other linguists. A 
 copy of it is in my collection. It is in quarto, pp. 258. 
 
THE NUMERAL SYSTEM. 49 
 
 has a definite application to a class, and they have 
 analogues in European tongues. Thus I may say 
 "seven head of" and the hearer knows that I 
 am going to speak of cattle, or sheep, or cabbages, 
 or similar objects usually counted by heads. So 
 in Maya ac means a turtle or a turtle shell ; hence 
 it is used as a particle in counting canoes, houses, 
 stools, vases, pits, caves, altars, and troughs, and 
 some general appropriateness can be seen ; but 
 when it is applied also to cornfields, the analogy 
 seems remote. 
 
 Of these numeral particles, not less than seventy- 
 six are given by Beltran, in his Grammar, and he 
 does not exhaust the list. Of these piz and pel, 
 both of which mean, single, singly, are used in 
 counting years, and will frequently recur in the 
 annals I present in this volume. 
 
 By their aid another method of numeration 
 was in vogue for counting time. For "eighty-one 
 years," they did not say hutuyokal kaab, but can 
 kal haab caiac hunpel haab, literally, "four score 
 years and one year." The copulative catac is also 
 used in adding a smaller number to a bak, or 400, 
 as for 450, hun bak catac lahuyoxkal, "one bak and 
 ten toward the third score." Catac is a compound 
 of ca tac, ca meaning " then" or " and," and tac, 
 
50 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 which Dr. Berendt considered to be an irregular 
 future of talel, to come, "then will come fifty," but 
 which may be the imperative of tac (tacah, tace, 
 third conjugation), which means to put something 
 under another, as in the phrase tac ex che yalan 
 cum, put you wood under the pot. 
 
 It will be seen that the latter method is by 
 addition, the former by subtraction. Another 
 variety of the latter is found in the annals. For 
 instance, "ninety-nine years" is not expressed by 
 bolonlahutuyokal haab, nor yet by cankal haab 
 catac bolonlahunpel haab, but by hunpel haab 
 minan ti hokal haab, "one single year lacking 
 from five score years." 
 
 7. The Calendar. 
 
 The system of computing time adopted by the 
 Mayas is a subject too extensive to be treated 
 here in detail, but it is indispensable, for the 
 proper understanding- of their annals, that the 
 outlines of their chronological scheme be ex- 
 plained. 
 
 The year, haab, was intended to begin on the 
 day of the transit of the sun by the zenith, and 
 was counted from July "i 6th. It was divided into 
 eighteen months, u (u, month, moon), of twenty 
 
THE CALENDAR. 51 
 
 days, kin (sun, day, time), each. The days were 
 divided into groups of five, as follows: 
 
 1. Kan. 6. Muluc. n. Ix. 16. Cauac. 
 
 2. Chicchan. 7. Oc. 12. Men. 17. Ahau. 
 
 3. Cimi. 8. Chuen. 13. Cib. 18. Imix. 
 
 4. Manik. 9. Eb. 14. Caban. 19. Ik. 
 
 5. Lamat. 10. Ben. 15. Eonab. 20. Akbal. 
 The months, in their order, were: 
 
 1. Pop. 7. De-yaxkin. 13. Mac. 
 
 2. Uo. 8. Mol. 14. Kankin. 
 
 3. Zip. 9. Chen. 15. Moan. 
 
 4. Zoo. 10. Yaax. 16. Pax. 
 
 5. Zeec. ii. Zac. 17. Kayab. 
 
 6. Xul. 12. Ceh. 1 8. Cumku. 
 As the Maya year was of 365 days, and as 18 
 
 months of 20 days each counted only 360 days, 
 there were five days intervening between the last 
 of the month Cumku and the 'first day of the 
 following year. These were called "days without 
 names," xma kaba kin (xma, without, kaba, names, 
 kin, days), an expression not quite correct, as 
 they were named in regular order, only they 
 were not counted in any month. 
 
 It will be seen, by glancing at the list of days, 
 that this arrangement brought at the beginning of 
 each year, the days Kan, Muluc, Ix and Cauac in 
 
52 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 turn, and that no other days could begin the 
 year. These days were therefore called cuch 
 haab, "the bearers of the years" (cuch, to bear, 
 carry, haab, year), and years were distinguished 
 as "a year Kan," "a year Muluc," etc., as they 
 began with one or another of these "year 
 bearers." 
 
 But the calendar was not so simple as this. 
 The days were not counted from one to twenty, 
 and then beginning at one again, and so on, but 
 by periods of 13 days each. Thus, in the first 
 month, beginning with i Kan, the i4th day of 
 that month begins a new "week," as it has been 
 called, and is named i Caban. Twenty-eight of 
 these weeks make 364 days, thus leaving one day 
 to complete the year. When the number of these 
 odd days amounted to 13, in other words when 
 thirteen years had elapsed, this formed a period 
 which was called "the katun of days," kin katun, 
 and by Spanish writers an "indiction." 
 
 It will be readily observed by an inspection of 
 the following table, that four of these indictions, 
 in other words 52 years, will elapse before a 
 "year bearer" of the same name and number 
 recommences a year. 
 
THE CALENDAR. 
 
 53 
 
 
 ist year. 
 
 ijth year. 
 
 2jth year. 
 
 4Oth year 
 
 I 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac 
 
 2 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac 
 
 Kan 
 
 3 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 4 
 
 Cauac 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 5 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac 
 
 6 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac 
 
 Kan 
 
 7 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 8 
 
 Cauac 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 9 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac 
 
 10 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac 
 
 Kan 
 
 II 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 12 
 
 Cauac 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 13 
 
 Kan 
 
 Muluc 
 
 Ix 
 
 Cauac. 
 
 A cycle of 52 years was thus obtained in a 
 manner almost identical with that of the Aztecs, 
 Tarascos and other nations. 
 
 But the Mayas took an important step in 
 advance of all their contemporaries in arranging 
 a much longer cycle. 
 
 This long cycle was an application of the 
 vigesimal system to their reckoning of time. 
 Twenty days were a month, u or uinal; twenty 
 years was a cycle, katun. To ask one's age the 
 question was put haypel u katunil? How many 
 katuns have you ? And the answer was, hunpel 
 katun, one katun (twenty years), or, hopel in 
 katunil, I am five katuns, or a hundred years old, 
 as the case might be. 
 
 The division of the katuns was on the principle 
 
54 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of the Beltran system of numeration (see page 40), 
 as, 
 
 xel u ca katun, thirty years. 
 
 xel u yox katun, fifty years. 
 
 Literally these expressions are, "dividing the 
 second katun," "dividing the third katun," xel 
 meaning to cut in pieces, to divide as with a 
 knife. They may be compared to the German 
 dritthalb, two and a half, or "the third a half." 1 
 
 The Katun of 20 years was divided into five 
 lesser divisions of 4 years each, called tzuc, a 
 word with a signification something like the 
 English " bunch," and which came to be used as a 
 numeral particle in counting parts, divisions, 
 paragraphs, reasons, groups of towns, etc. 2 
 
 1 All the examples in the above paragraph are from the 
 Appendix to the Diccionario Maya-Espanol del Convento de San 
 Francisco, Merida, MS. It also gives its positive authority to the 
 length of the katuns, as follows : " Dicese que los Indies conta- 
 ban los anos a pares (sic}, y cuando llegaba uno a veinte anos, 
 entonces decian que tenian hunpel katun, que son veinte afios. ' 
 I think the words a pares, must be an error for a veintenas ; they 
 may mean " in equal series." 
 
 . 2 The Diccionario de Motul MS. has the following lengthy en- 
 tries : 
 
 "Tzuc: copete 6 coleta de cabellos ; 6 de crines de caballo, 6 
 las barbas que echa el maiz por arriba estando en la mazorca ; y 
 la cabeza que tienen algunas hachas y martillos en contra del 
 tajo, y la cabeza del horcon, y las nubes levantadas en alto y que 
 dan que denotan segun dice tempestad de agua. Partes, enpar- 
 timientos. Cuenta para pueblos, para partes, parrafos i articulos, 
 diferencios y vocablos montones." 
 
THE CALENDAR. 55 
 
 These tzuc were called by the Spaniards 
 lustros, from the Latin lustrum, although that was 
 a period of Jive years. Cogolludo says : " They 
 counted their eras and ages, which they entered 
 in their books, by periods of 20 years each, and 
 by lustros of four years each. The first year they 
 placed in the East [that is, on the Katun-wheel, 
 and in the figures in their books], calling it cuch 
 haab; the second in the West, called Hijx; the 
 third in the South, Cavac; and the fourth, Muluc, 
 in the North, and this served them for the Domini- 
 cal letter. When five of the lustros had passed, 
 that is 20 years, they called it a Katun, and they 
 placed one carved stone upon another, cemented 
 with lime and sand, in the walls of their temples, 
 or in the houses of their priests." 1 
 
 The historian is wrong in saying that the first 
 year was called cuchhaab; that was the name ap- 
 plied to all the Dominical days, and as I have said, 
 means "year bearer." The first year was called 
 Kan, from the first day of its first month. 
 
 This is but one of many illustrations of how 
 cautious we must be in accepting any statement 
 of the early Spanish writers about the usages of 
 the natives. 
 
 1 Historia de Yucatan, Lib. IV, cap. v. 
 
56 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There is, however, some obscurity about the 
 length of the Katun. All the older Spanish writers, 
 without exception, and most of the native manu- 
 scripts, speak of it distinctly as a period of twenty 
 years. Yet there are three manuscripts of high 
 authority in the Maya which state that it embraced 
 twenty-four years, although the last four were not 
 reckoned. This theory was adopted and warmly 
 advocated by Pio Perez, in his essay on the ancient 
 chronology of Yucatan, and is also borne out by 
 calculations which have been made on the hiero- 
 glyphic Codex Troano, by M. Delaporte, in France, 
 and Professor Cyrus Thomas, in the United States. 1 
 
 This discrepancy may arise from the custom of 
 counting the katuns by two different systems, 
 ground for which supposition is furnished by vari- 
 ous manuscripts; but for purposes of chronology 
 and ordinary life, it will be evident that the writers 
 of the annals in the present volume adopted the 
 Katun of twenty years' length ; while on the 
 other hand the native Pech, in his History of the 
 Conquest, which is the last piece in the volume, 
 
 1 M. Delaporte's calculations are mentioned by Leon de Rosny, 
 Essai sur le Dechiffrement de r Ecriture Hieratique de rAmer- 
 ique Centrale, p. 25 (Paris, 1876) ; Professor Thomas' will be 
 found in the American Naturalist, for 1881, and in his Study of 
 the Codex Troano, Washington, 1882. 
 
THE CALENDAR. 57 
 
 gives for the beginning and the end of the Katun 
 the years 1 5 1 7-1 541 , and therefore must have had 
 in mind one of twenty-four years' duration. The 
 solution of these contradictions is not yet at hand. 
 
 This great cycle of 13x20 = 260 years was 
 called an ahau Katun collectively, and each period 
 in it bore the same name. 
 
 This name, aJiau Katun, deserves careful analy- 
 sis. Aliau is the ordinary word for chief, king, 
 ruler. It is probably a compound of ah, which is 
 the male prefix and sign of the nomen agentis,a.nd u, 
 collar, a collar of gold or other precious substance, 
 distinguishing the chiefs. Katun has been vari- 
 ously analyzed. Don Pio Perez supposed it was 
 a compound of kat, to ask, and tun, a stone, 
 because at the close of these periods they set up 
 the sculptured stone, which was afterwards re- 
 ferred to in order to fix the dates of occurrences. 1 
 This, however, would certainly require that kat 
 be in the passive, katal or kataan, and would give 
 katantun. Beltran in his Grammar treats the 
 word as an adjective, meaning very long, per- 
 petual. 2 But this is a later, secondary sense. Its 
 usual signification is a body or batallion of war- 
 
 1 Pio Perez, Cronologia Antigua de Yucatan. \ vni. 
 
 2 " Katun, para siempre." Beltran de Santa Rosa, Arte del 
 Idioma Maya, p. 177. 
 
58 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 riors engaged in action. As a verb, it is to fight, 
 to give battle, and thus seems related to the Cakchi- 
 quel c c at, to cut, or wound, to make prisoner. 1 The 
 series of years, ordered and arranged under a con- 
 trolling day and date, were like a row of soldiers 
 commanded by a chief, and hence the name ahau 
 katun. 
 
 Each of these ahaus or chiefs of the Katuns was 
 represented in the native calendars by the picture 
 or portrait of a particular personage who in some 
 way was identified with the Katun, and his name 
 was given to it. This has not been dwelt upon 
 nor even mentioned by previous writers on the 
 subject, but I have copies of various native manu- 
 scripts which illustrate it, and give the names of 
 each of the rulers of the Katuns. 
 
 1 The following extracts from two manuscripts in my hands will 
 throw further light on this derivation 
 
 KATUN : espacio de veinte anos ; hun katun, 20 anos ; ca 
 katun, 40 anos, etc. 
 
 KATUN : batallon de gente, ordenada de guerra y ejercito asi, y 
 soldados cuando actualmente andan en la guerra. 
 
 KATUN (TAH, TE) : guerrear, hacer^guerra, 6 dar guerra. 
 
 KATUNBEN : el que tiene tantas venteinas de anos, segun el 
 numeral que se le junta, hay katunben ech ? cuantas venteinas 
 de anos tienes tu ? ca katunben en, tengo dos venteinas. 
 
 DlCCIONARIO DE MOTUL, MS., ISQO. 
 
 (^AT (he) : generalmente sig a cortar algo con acha, cuchillo 6 
 hiera; detener algo que se huya, atajarlo, etc. 
 
 Varea, Calepino en Lengva Cakchiquel, MS., 1699. 
 
THE CALENDAR. 59 
 
 The thirteen ahau katuns were not numbered 
 from i upward, but beginning at the I3th, by the 
 alternate numbers, in the following order : 
 
 i3 u> 9> 7> 5. 3 J > I2 > I0 > 8, 6, 4, 2. 
 
 Various reasons have been assigned for this 
 arrangement. It would be foreign to my purpose 
 to discuss them here, and I shall merely quote the 
 following, from a paper I wrote on the subject, 
 printed in the American Naturalist, Sept., 1881 : 
 
 " Gallatin explained them as the numerical characters of the 
 days "Ahau" following the first day of each year called 
 Cauac; Dr. Valentini thinks they refer to the numbers of 
 the various idols worshiped in the different Ahaus ; Professor 
 Thomas that they are the number of the year (in the indiction 
 of 52 years) on which the Ahau begins. Each of these state- 
 ments is true in itself, but each fails to show any practical 
 use of the series ; and of the last mentioned it is to be ob- 
 served that the objection applies to it that at the commence- 
 ment of an Ahau Katun the numbers would run i, 12, 10, 8, 
 etc., whereas we know positively that the numbers of the 
 Ahaus began with 13 and continued n, 9, 7, 5, etc. 
 
 "The explanation which I offer is that the number of the 
 Ahau was taken from the last day Cauac preceding the Kan 
 with which the first year of each Ahau began for, as 24 is 
 divisible by 4, the first year of each Ahau necessarily began 
 with the day Kan. This number was the " ruling number " 
 of the Ahau, and not for any mystical or ceremonial purpose, 
 but for the practical one of at once and easily converting any 
 year designated in the Ahau into its equivalent in the current 
 
60 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Kin Katun, or 52 year cycle. All that is necessary to do 
 this is, to add the number of the year in the Ahau to the num- 
 ber of the year Cauac corresponding to this " ruling number." 
 When the sum exceeds 52, subtract that number. 
 
 "Take an example: To what year in the Kin Katun does 
 10 Ahau xi (the loth year of the nth Ahau) correspond? 
 
 " On referring to a table, or, as the Mayas did, to a ' Katun 
 wheel,' we find the nth Cauac to be the 24th year of the 
 cycle ; add ten to this and we have 34 as the number of the 
 year in the cycle to which 10 Ahau xi corresponds. The 
 great simplicity and convenience of this will be evident with- 
 out further discussion." 
 
 The important question remains, how closely, 
 by these cycles, did the Mayas approximate to 
 preserving the exact date of an event? 
 
 To answer this fairly, we should be sure that 
 we have a perfectly authentic translation of their 
 hieroglyphic annals. It is doubtful that we have. 
 Those I present in this volume are the most per- 
 fect, so far as I know, but they certainly do not 
 agree among themselves. Can their discrepancies 
 be explained? I think they can in a measure (i) by 
 the differing length of the katuns, (2) by the era 
 assumed as the commencement of the reckoning. 
 
 It must be remembered that there was appa- 
 rently no common era adopted by the Mayas; 
 each province may have selected its own; and it 
 is quite erroneous to condemn the annals off-hand 
 
ANCIENT HIEROGLYPHIC BOOKS. 61 
 
 for inaccuracy because they conflict between 
 themselves. 
 
 8. Ancient Hieroglyphic Books. 
 
 The Mayas were a literary people. They made 
 frequent use of tablets, wrote many books, and cov- 
 ered the walls of their buildings with hieroglyphic 
 signs, cut in the stones or painted upon the plaster. 
 
 The explanation of these signs is one of the 
 leading problems in American archaeology. It 
 was supposed to have been solved when the manu- 
 script of Bishop Landa's account of Yucatan .was 
 discovered, some twenty years ago, in Madrid. 
 The Bishop gave what he called "an A, B, C," of 
 the language, but which, when applied to the 
 extant manuscripts and the mural inscriptions, 
 proved entirely insufficient to decipher them. 
 
 The disappointment of the antiquaries was 
 great, and by one of them, Dr. Felipe Valentini, 
 Landa's alphabet has been denounced as "a 
 Spanish fabrication." 1 But certainly, any one 
 acquainted with the history of the Latin alphabet, 
 how it required the labor of thousands of years 
 and the demands of three wholly different 
 families of languages, to bring it to its perfection, 
 should not have looked to find among the Mayas, or 
 
 1 Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 1880. 
 
62 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 anywhere else, a parallel production of human 
 intelligence. Moreover, rightly understood, Landa 
 does not intimate anything of the kind. He dis- 
 tinctly states that what he gives are the sounds of 
 the Spanish letters as they would be transcribed 
 in Maya characters; not at all that they analyzed 
 the sounds of their words and expressed the pho- 
 netic elements in these characters. On the con- 
 trary, he takes care to affirm that they could not 
 do this, and gives an example in point. 1 Dr. 
 Valentini, therefore, was attacking a windmill, and 
 entirely misconstrued the Bishop's statements. 
 
 I shall not, in this connection, enter into a dis- 
 cussion of the nature of these hieroglyphics. It is 
 enough for my purpose to say that they were 
 recognized by the earliest Spanish explorers as 
 quite different from those of Mexico, and as the 
 only graphic system on the continent, so far as 
 they knew it, which merited the name of writing. 2 
 
 1 The example he gives is the word /^, which he says " para 
 escrivirle con sus caracteres habiendoles nosotros hecho entender 
 que son dos letras, lo escrivian ellos con tres," etc., thus plainly 
 saying that they did not analyze the word to its phonetic radicals 
 in their system. Relation de las Cosas de Yucatan, p. 318. 
 
 2 Las Casas says, with great positiveness, that they found in 
 Yucatan "letreros de ciertos caracteres que en otra ninguna 
 parte." Historia Apologetica, cap. CXXIII. I also add an inte- 
 resting description of their books and letters, furnished by the 
 companions of Father Alonso Ponce, the Pope's Commissary-Gen- 
 
ANCIENT HIEROGLYPHIC BOOKS. 63 
 
 The word for book in Maya is huun, a mono- 
 syllable which reappears in the Kiche vuh and the 
 Huasteca uuh. In Maya this initial h is almost 
 silent and is occasionally dropped, as yuunil Dios, 
 the book of God (syncopated form of u huunil 
 Dios, the suffix il being the " determinative " end- 
 ing). I am inclined to believe that huun is merely 
 a form of uoohan, something written, this being 
 the passive participle of uooh, to write, which, as 
 a noun, also means a character, a letter. 1 
 
 eral, who traveled through Yucatan in 1586, when many natives 
 were still living who had been born before the Conquest (1541). 
 Father Ponce had traveled through Mexico, and, of course, had 
 learned about the Aztec picture-writing, which he distinctly con- 
 trasts with the writing of the Mayas. Of the latter he says : " Son 
 alabados de tres cosas entre todos los demas de la Nueva Espana, 
 la una de que en su antiguedad tenian caracteres y letras, con 
 que escribian sus historias y las ceremonias y orden de los sacri- 
 ficios de sus idolos y su calendario, en libros hechos de corteza 
 de cierto arbol, los cuales eran unas tiras muy largas de quarta 6 
 tercia en ancho, que se doblaban y recogian, y venia a queder a 
 manera de un libro encuardenada en cuartilla, poco mas, 6 menos. 
 Estas letras y caracteres no las entendian, sino los sacerdotes de 
 los idolos, (que en aquella lengua se llaman 'ahkines'), y algun 
 indio principal. Despues las entendieron y supieron leer algunos 
 frailes nuestros y aun las escribien." (Relation Breve y Verda- 
 dera de Algunas Cosas de las Muchas que Sucedieron al Padre 
 Fray Alonso Ponce, Comisario- General en las Provincias de la 
 Nueva Espana, page 392). I know no other author who makes 
 the interesting statement that these characters were actually used 
 by missionaries to impart instruction to the natives. 
 
 1 "uooh; caracter o letra. uooh (tah, te) escribir. uoohan, 
 cosa que esta escrita." Diccionario de Motul, MS. 
 
64 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Another name for their books, especially those 
 containing the prophecies and forecasts of the 
 priestly diviners, is said to have been anahte ; 
 or analte. This word is not to be found in any 
 of the early dictionaries. The usual authority for 
 it is Villagutierre Sotomayor, who describes these 
 volumes as they were seen among- the Itzas of 
 Lake Peten, about I69O. 1 
 
 These books consisted of one long sheet of a 
 kind of paper made by macerating and beating 
 together the leaves of the maguey, and afterwards 
 sizing the surface with a durable white varnish. 
 The sheet was folded like a screen, forming pages 
 about 9x5 inches. Both sides were covered with 
 figures and characters painted in various brilliant 
 colors. On the outer pages boards were fastened, 
 for protection, so that the completed volume had 
 
 1 His words are : " Y satisfaciendoles por la quanta sefialada, que 
 ellos mismos tenian, de que vsavan, para ajustar sus antiguas 
 Profezias, y los Tiempos de su cumplimiento, que eran vnos Car- 
 acteres y Figuras pintadas en vnas cortezas de Arboles, como de 
 una quarta de largo cada hoja, 6 tabilla, y del gruesso como de 
 vn real de a ocho, dobladas a vna parte, y a otra, a manera de 
 Viombo, que ellos llamavan Analtees," etc., Historia de la Con- 
 quista de la Provincia de el Itza, Lib. VII. cap I (Madrid, 1701). 
 Pio Perez spells the word anahte, Diccionario de la Lengua Maya, 
 s. v. following a MS. of the last century, given in the Codice Perez. 
 The word foum7/e,from huunil, the "determinative" form of 
 " hun," and te, a termination to nouns which specifies or localizes 
 them (e. g. amay, an angle, amay te, an angular figure, etc)., 
 would offer a plausible derivation for analte. 
 
ANCIENT HIEROGLYPHIC BOOKS. 65 
 
 the appearance of a bound book of large octavo 
 size. 
 
 Instead of this paper, parchment was sometimes 
 used. This was made from deerskins, thoroughly 
 cured and also smoked, so that they should be less 
 liable to the attacks of insects. A very durable 
 substance was thus obtained, which would resist 
 most agents of destruction, even in a tropical 
 climate. Twenty-seven rolls of such parchment, 
 covered with hieroglyphics, were among the articles 
 burned by Bishop Landa, at Mani, in 1562, in a 
 general destruction of everything which related 
 to the ancient life of the nation. He himself says 
 that he burned all that he could lay his hands 
 upon, to the great distress of the natives. 1 
 
 A very few escaped the destructive bigotry of the 
 Spanish priests. So far as known these are. 
 
 1. The Codex Tro, or Troano, in Madrid, pub- 
 lished by the French government, in 1869. 
 
 2. What is believed to be the second part of 
 the Codex Troano, now (1882) in process of pub- 
 lication in Paris. 
 
 3. The Codex Peresianus, in the National Li- 
 brary, Paris, a very limited edition of which has 
 been issued. 
 
 1 " Se les quemamos todos lo qual a maravilla sentian y les 
 dava pena." Relation de las Cosas de Yucatan, p. 316. 
 
66 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 4. The Dresden Codex, in Kingsborough's 
 Mexico, and photographed in colors, to the number 
 of 50 copies, in 1880, which is believed to contain 
 fragments of two different manuscripts. 
 
 To these are, perhaps, to be added one other in 
 Europe and two in Mexico, which are in private 
 hands, and are alleged to be of the same character. 
 
 All the above are distinctly in characters which 
 were peculiar to the Mayas, and which are clearly 
 variants of those found on the sculptured beams 
 and slabs of Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Palenque and 
 Copan. 
 
 It is possible that many other manuscripts may 
 be discovered in time, for Landa tells us that it 
 was the custom to bury with the priests the books 
 which they had written. As their tombs were at 
 times of solid stones, firmly cemented together, 
 and well calculated to resist the moisture and other 
 elements of destruction for centuries, it is nowise 
 unlikely that explorations in Yucatan will bring 
 to light some of these hidden documents. 
 
 The contents of these books, so far as we can 
 judge from the hints in the early writers, related 
 chiefly to the ritual and calendar, to their history 
 or Katuns, to astrological predictions and divina- 
 tions, to their mythology, and to their system of 
 healing disease. 
 
MODERN MAYA MANUSCRIPTS. 67 
 
 9. Modern Maya Manuscripts. 
 As I have said, the Mayas were naturally a 
 literary people. Had they been offered the slight- 
 est chance for the cultivation of their intellects 
 they would have become a nation of readers and 
 writers. Striking testimony to this effect is offered 
 by Doctor Don Augustin de Echano, Prebend of 
 the Cathedral Church of Merida, about the middle 
 of the last century. He observes that twelve 
 years of experience among the Indians had taught 
 him that they were very desirous of knowledge, and 
 that as soon as they learned to read, they eagerly 
 perused everything they could lay their hands on; 
 and as they had nothing in their tongue but some 
 old writings that treated of sorceries and quack- 
 eries, the worthy Prebend thought it an excellent 
 idea that they should be supplied, in place of these, 
 
 with some sermons 7 1 But what else could 
 
 be expected of a body of men who crushed out 
 with equal bigotry every spark of mental inde- 
 pendence in their own country? 
 
 1 " La experiencia de manejar tan incessantemente a los Indies 
 en cerca de doce anos que los servi, me ensefio, que el motivo de 
 estar todavia muchos tan pegados a sus antiguedades, era porque 
 siendo los naturales muy curiosos, y aplicandose a saber leer : 
 los que esto logran. quanto papel tienen a mano, tanto leen : 
 y no aviendo entre ella, mas tratados en su idioma, que los 'que 
 sus antepasados escribieron, cuya materia es solo de sus hechice- 
 
68 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The "old writings" to which the Prebend alludes 
 were composed by natives who had learned to 
 write the Maya in the alphabet adopted by the 
 early missionaries and conquerors. An official 
 document in Maya, still extant, dates from 1542, 
 and from that time on there were natives who 
 wrote their tongue with fluency. But their favor- 
 ite compositions were works similar to those to 
 which their forefathers had been partial, prophe- 
 cies, chronicles and medical treatises. 
 
 Relying on their memories, and no doubt aided 
 by some of the ancient hieroglyphical manuscripts, 
 carefully secreted from the vandalism of the monks, 
 they wrote out what they could recollect of their 
 national literature. 
 
 There were at one time a large number of these 
 records. They are referred to by Cogolludo, 
 Sanchez Aguilar and other early historians. Pro- 
 bably nearly every village had one, which in time 
 became to be regarded with superstitious vene- 
 ration. 
 
 rias, encantos, y curaciones con muchos abusos, y ensalmos ; ya 
 se ve que en estos bebian insensiblemente el tosigo para vomitar 
 despues su malicia en otros muchos." Aprobacion del Doctor D. 
 Augustin de Echano, etc., to Dr. Don Francisco Eugenio Domin- 
 guez, Platicas de los Principals Mysterios de Nvestra S ta Fee, 
 hechas en el IdiomaYucateco. Mexico, 1758. This extremely 
 rare work is highly prized for the purity and elegance of the Maya 
 employed by the author. 
 
MODERN MAYA MANUSCRIPTS. 69 
 
 Wherever written, each of these books bore the 
 same name; it was always referred to as "The 
 Book of Chilan Balam." To distinguish them 
 apart, the name of the village where one was com- 
 posed was added. Thus we have still preserved 
 to us, in whole or in fragments, the Book of Chilan 
 Balam of Chumayel, of Kaua, of Nabula, etc., in 
 all, it is said, about sixteen. 
 
 "Chilan Balam" was the designation of a class 
 of priests. "Chilan," says Bishop Landa, "was the 
 name of their priests, whose duty it was to teach 
 the sciences, to appoint holy days, to treat the 
 sick, to offer sacrifices, and especially to utter the 
 oracles of the gods. They were so highly honored 
 by the people that usually they were carried on 
 litters on the shoulders of the devotees." 1 Strictly 
 speaking, in Maya, chilan means "interpreter," 
 " mouth-piece," from " c/iij" " the mouth," and in 
 this ordinary sense frequently occurs in other 
 writings. The word balam literally, "tiger," 
 was also applied to a class of priests, and is still 
 in use among the natives of Yucatan as the desig- 
 nation of the protective spirits of fields and towns, 
 as I have shown at length in a study of the word 
 
 1 Relation de las Cosas de Yucatan, page 160. 
 
70 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as it occurs in the native myths of Guatemala. 1 
 " Chilan Balam" therefore, is not a proper name, 
 but a title, and in ancient times designated the 
 priest who announced the will of the gods and 
 explained the sacred oracles. This accounts for 
 the universality of the name and the sacredness 
 of its associations. 
 
 The dates of the books which have come down 
 to us are various. One of them, "The Book of 
 Chilan Balam of Mani," was undoubtedly com- 
 posed not later than 1595, as is proved by internal 
 evidence. Various passages in the works of 
 Landa, Lizana, Sanchez Aguilar and Cogolludo 
 all early historians of Yucatan prove that many 
 of these native manuscripts existed in the sixteenth 
 century. Several rescripts date from the seven- 
 teenth century most from the latter half of the 
 eighteenth. 
 
 The names of the writers are generally not 
 given, probably because the books, as we have 
 them, are all copies of older manuscripts, with 
 
 1 The Names of the Gods in the Kiche Myths of Central Ameri- 
 ca. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 
 xix, 1881. The terminal letter in both these words " chilan" 
 " balam" may be either " n" or " m," the change being one of 
 dialect and local pronunciation. I have followed the older 
 authorities in writing "Chilan Balam," the modern preferring 
 "Chilam Balam" 
 
MODERN MAYA MANUSCRIPTS. 71 
 
 merely the occasional addition of current items of 
 note by the copyist ; as, for instance, a malignant 
 epidemic which prevailed in the peninsula in 1673 
 is mentioned as a present occurrence by the copy- 
 ist of " The Book of Chilan Balam of Nabula." 
 
 These " Books of Chilan Balam" are the princi- 
 pal sources from which Sefior Pio Perez derived 
 his knowledge of the ancient Maya system of 
 computing time, and also drew what he published 
 concerning the history of the Mayas before the 
 Conquest, and from them also are taken the various 
 chronicles which I present in the present volume. 
 
 That I am enabled to do so is due to the untir- 
 ing researches of Dr. Carl Hermann Berendt, who 
 visited Yucatan four times, in order to study the 
 native language, to examine the antiquities of the 
 peninsula, and to take accurate copies, often in fac- 
 simile, of as many ancient manuscripts as he could 
 discover. After his death, his collection came into 
 my hands. 
 
 The task of deciphering these manuscripts is by 
 no means a light one, and I must ask in advance 
 for considerable indulgence for my attempt. 
 Words and phrases are used which are not 
 explained in the dictionaries, or, if explained, are 
 used in a different sense from that now current. 
 
72 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The orthography is far from uniform, each syllable 
 is often written separately, and as the punctuation 
 is wholly fanciful or entirely absent, the separation 
 of words, sentences and paragraphs is often uncer- 
 tain and the meaning obscure. 
 
 Another class of documents are the titles to the 
 municipal lands, the records of surveys, etc. I 
 have copies of several of these, and among them 
 was found the history of the Conquest, by Nakuk 
 Pech, which I publish. It was added to the survey 
 of his town, as a general statement of his rights 
 and defence of the standing of his family. 
 
 My translations are not in flowing and elegant 
 language. Had they been so, they would not 
 have represented the originals. For the sake of 
 accuracy I have not hesitated to sacrifice the re- 
 quirements of English composition. 
 
 /0. Grammars and Dictionaries of the Language. 
 
 The learned Yucatecan, Canon Crescencio 
 Carillo y Ancona, states in his last work that there 
 have been written thirteen grammars and seven- 
 teen dictionaries of the Maya. 1 
 
 The first grammar printed was that of Father 
 Luis de Villalpando. This early missionary died 
 in 1551 or 1552, and his work was not issued until 
 
 1 Historia Antigua de Yucatan, p. 123 (Merida, 1882). 
 
GRAMMARS AND DICTIONARIES. 73 
 
 some years later. Father Juan Coronel also gave 
 a short Maya grammar to the press, together 
 with a Doctrina. It is believed that copies of both 
 of these are preserved. Beltran, however, ac- 
 knowledges that in preparing his own grammar 
 he has never seen either of these earlier 
 works. 1 
 
 In 1 684, the Arte de la Lengua Maya, composed 
 by Father Gabriel de San Buenaventura, a French 
 Franciscan stationed in Yucatan, was printed in 
 Mexico. 2 Only a few copies of this work are 
 known. It has, however, been reprinted, though 
 not with a desirable fidelity, by the Abbe Brasseur 
 (de Bourbourg), in the second volume of the 
 reports of the Mission Scientifique au Mexique et 
 a F Amerique Centrale, Paris, 1870. 
 
 The leading authority on Maya grammar is 
 Father Pedro Beltran, who was a native of Yuca- 
 tan, and instructor in the Maya language in the 
 convent of Merida about 1 740. He was thoroughly 
 conversant with the native tongue, and his Arte 
 
 1 Arte del Idioma Maya, p. 242 (2d ed). 
 
 2 Arte de la Lengua Maya, compuesto por el R. P. Fr. Gabriel 
 de San Buenaventura Predicador y difinidor habitual de la Pro- 
 vincia de San Joseph de Yucathan del Orden de N. P. S. Fran- 
 cisco. Ano de 1684. Con licencia; En Mexico, por la Viuda de 
 Bernardo Calderon, 410. ?ag. 1-4, leaves 5-41. 
 
 F 
 
74 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 was reprinted in Merida, in 1859, as the best work 
 of the kind which had been produced. 1 
 
 The eminent antiquary, Don Juan Pio Perez 
 contemplated writing a Maya grammar, and col- 
 lected a number of notes for that purpose, 2 as did 
 also the late Dr. Berendt, but neither brought his 
 work to any degree of completeness. I have copies 
 of the notes left by both these diligent students, 
 as also both editions of Beltran, and an accurate 
 MS. copy of Buenaventura, from all of which I 
 have derived assistance in completing the present 
 study. 
 
 The first Maya dictionary printed was issued in 
 the City of Mexico in 1571. It was published as 
 that of Father Luis de Villalpando, but as he had 
 then been dead nearly twenty years, it was prob- 
 ably merely based upon his vocabulary. It was in 
 large 4to, of the same size as the second edition 
 of Molina's Vocabulario de la Lengiia Mexicana. 
 At least one copy of it is known to be in existence. 
 
 1 Arte del Idioma Maya reducido a succintas reglas, y semi- 
 lexicon Yucateco por el R. P. F. Pedro Beltran de Santa Rosa 
 Maria. En Mexico por la Viuda de D. Joseph Bernardo de 
 Hogal. Ano de 1746. 8vo, pp. 8, 1-188. Segunda edicion, Me- 
 rida de Yucatan, Imprenta de J. D. Espinosa. Julio, 1859. 8vo, 
 9 leaves, pp. 242. 
 
 2 Apuntes para una Gramatica Maya. Por Don Juan Pio Perez, 
 pp. 45-136. MSS. 
 
GRAMMARS AND DICTIONARIES. 75 
 
 For more than three centuries no other dictionary 
 was put to press, although for some unexplained 
 reason that of Villalpando was unknown in Yuca- 
 tan. At length, in 1877, the publication was com- 
 pleted at Merida, of the Diccionario de la Lengua 
 Maya, by Don Juan Pio Perez. 1 It contains about 
 20,000 words, and is Maya-Spanish only. It is the 
 result of a conscientious and lifelong study of the 
 language, and a work of great merit. The deficien- 
 cies it presents are, that it does not give the princi- 
 pal parts of the verbs, that it omits or does not 
 explain correctly many old terms in the language, 
 and that it gives very few examples of idioms or 
 phrases showing the uses of words and the con- 
 struction of sentences. 
 
 I can say little in praise of the Vocabulaire 
 Maya-Francais-Espagnole, compiled by the Abbe 
 Brasseur (de Bourbourg), and printed in the 
 second volume of the Report of the Mission Scien- 
 tifique au Mexique et a I 1 Amerique Centrale. It 
 contains about ten thousand words, but many of 
 these are drawn from doubtful sources, and are 
 incorrectly given ; while the derivations and anal- 
 
 1 Diccionario de la Lengua Maya, por D. Juan Pio Perez. Merida 
 de Yucatan. Imprenta literaria, de Juan F. Molina Solis, 1866- 
 1877. Large 8vo, two cols. pp. i-xx, 1-437- 
 
76 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ogies proposed are of a character unknown to the 
 science of language. 
 
 Besides the above and various vocabularies of 
 minor interest, I have made use of three manu- 
 script dictionaries of the first importance, which 
 were obtained by the late Dr. Berendt. They 
 belonged to three Franciscan convents which 
 formerly existed in Yucatan, and as they are all 
 anonymous, I shall follow Dr. Berendt's example, 
 and refer to them by the names of the convents to 
 which they belonged. These were the convent of 
 San Francisco in Merida, that at the town of Ticul 
 and that at Motul. 
 
 The most recent of these is that of the convent 
 of Ticul. It bears the date 1690, and is in two 
 parts, Spanish-Maya and Maya-Spanish. 
 
 The Diccionario del Convento de San Francisco 
 de Merida bears no date, but in the opinion of the 
 most competent scholars who have examined it, 
 among them Senor Pio Perez, it is older than that 
 of Ticul, probably by half a century. It is also in 
 two parts, which have evidently been prepared, by 
 different hands. 
 
 The Diccionario del Convento de Motul is by far 
 the most valuable of the three, and has not been 
 known to Yucatecan scholars. A copy of it was 
 
GRAMMARS AND DICTIONARIES. 77 
 
 picked up on a book stall in the City of Mexico by 
 the Abbe Brasseur, and sold by him to Mr. John 
 Carter Brown, of Providence, R. I. In 1864 this 
 was very carefully copied by Dr. Berendt, who also 
 made extensive additions to it from other sources, 
 indicating such by the use of inks of different 
 colors. This copy, in three large quarto volumes, 
 in all counting over 2500 pages, is that which I now 
 have, and have found of indispensable assistance 
 in solving some of the puzzles presented by the 
 ancient texts in the present volume. 
 
 The particular value of the Diccionario de MotuL 
 is not merely the richness of its vocabulary and its 
 numerous examples of construction, but that it 
 presents the language as it was when the Span- 
 iards first arrived. The precise date of its com- 
 pilation is indeed not given, but the author speaks 
 of a comet which he saw in 1577, and gives other 
 evidence that he was writing in the first genera- 
 tion after the Conquest. 
 
THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 I. THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan Balam of Mani. 
 
 II. THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan Balam of Tizimin. 
 
 III. THE RECORD OF THE COUNT OF THE KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel. 
 
 IV. THE MAYA KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel. 
 
 V. THE CHIEF KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel. 
 
THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 The chronicles and fragments of chronicles 
 which I have collected here are all taken from the 
 various " Books of Chilan Balam." They consti- 
 tute about all that remains to us, so far as I know, 
 of the ancient history of the peninsula. There are, 
 indeed, in other portions of these " Books " refer- 
 ences to historical events before the Conquest, but 
 no other consecutive narrations of them. 
 
 Except the one given first, none of these has 
 ever been printed, nor even translated from the 
 Maya into any European language. Whether 
 they corroborate or contradict one another, it is 
 equally important for American archaeology to 
 have them preserved and presented in their origi- 
 nal form. 
 
 It does not come within my present purpose to 
 try to reconcile the discrepancies between them. 
 I am furnishing materials for history, not writing 
 it, and my chief duty is to observe accuracy, even 
 at the risk of depreciating the value of the docu- 
 ments I offer. 
 
 81 
 
82 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 I have, therefore, followed strictly the manu- 
 scripts which I possess in fac-similes of the origi- 
 nals, and when I believe the text is corrupt or in 
 error, I have suggested apart from the text what 
 I suppose to be the needed correction to the 
 passage. 
 
 In the notes I have also discussed such gram- 
 matical or historical questions as have occurred 
 to me as of use in elucidating the text. 
 
 There will be found considerable repetition in 
 these different versions, as must necessarily be 
 from their character, if they have a claim to be 
 authentic records ; but it is also fair to add that 
 details will be found in each which are omitted in 
 the others, and hence, that all are valuable. 
 
 This similarity may be explained by two suppo- 
 sitions ; either they are copies from a common 
 original, or they present the facts they narrate in 
 general formulae which had been widely adopted 
 by the priests for committing to memory their 
 ancient history. The differences which we find in 
 them preclude the former hypothesis except as it 
 may apply to the first two. The similarities in 
 the others I believe are no more than would occur 
 in relating the same incidents which had been 
 learned through fixed forms of narration. 
 
THE CHRONICLES. 83 
 
 The division into sections I have made for 
 convenience of reference. The variants I have 
 given at the bottom of the page are readings 
 which I think are preferable to those in the text, 
 or corrections of manifest errors ; but I have en- 
 deavored to give the text, just as it is in the best 
 MSS. I have, errors and all. 
 
 It is not my purpose to enter into a critical 
 historical analysis of these chronicles. But a few 
 remarks may be made to facilitate their examina- 
 tion. 
 
 Making the necessary omissions in No. II, 
 which I point out in the prefatory note to it, it 
 will be found that all five agree tolerably well in 
 the length of time they embrace. Nos. Ill and 
 IV begin at a later date than the others, but coin- 
 cide as far as they go. 
 
 The total period of time, from the earliest date 
 given, to the settlement of the country by the 
 Spaniards, is 71 katuns. If the katun is estimated 
 at twenty years, this equals 1420 years; if at 
 twenty-four years, then we have 1704 years. 
 
 All the native writers agree, and I think, in spite 
 of the contrary statement of Bishop Landa, that 
 we may look upon it as beyond doubt, that the 
 last day of the nth katun was July I5th, 1541. 
 
84 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Therefore the one of the above calculations would 
 carry us back to A. D. 121, the other to B. C. 173. 
 
 The chief possibility of error in the reckoning 
 would be from confusing the great cycles of 260 
 (or 312) years, one with another, and assigning 
 events to different cycles which really happened in 
 the same. This would increase the number of the 
 cycles, and thus extend the period of time they 
 appear to cover. This has undoubtedly been done 
 in No. II. 
 
 According to the reckoning as it now stands, six 
 complete great cycles were counted, and parts 
 of two others, so that the native at the time of the 
 Conquest would have had eight great cycles to 
 distinguish apart. 
 
 I have not found any clear explanation how this 
 was accomplished. We do not even know what 
 name was given to this great cycle, nor whether 
 the calendar was sufficiently perfected to prevent 
 confusion in dates in the remote past. 
 
 I find, however, two passages in the collection 
 of ancient manuscripts, which I have before re- 
 ferred to as the Codice Perez, which seem to have 
 a bearing on this point ; but as the text is some- 
 what corrupt and several of the expressions 
 
THE CHRONICLES. 85 
 
 archaic, I am not certain that I catch the right 
 meaning. These passages are as follows: 
 
 U hioil lahun ahau u DOCO! hun UUD katun, u zut tucaten oxla- 
 hunpiz katun oiban tu uichob tu pet katun ; la hun UUD katun u 
 kaba ca bin DOCOC u'thanlae, u hoppol tucaten; bay hoppci ca 
 Dib lae ca tun culac u yanal katun lae. Cabin DOCOC uaxac ahau 
 lae u hoppol tucaten lae. (Page 90.) 
 
 U hioil Lahun Ahau u DOCO! u nuppul oxlahunpez katun oiban 
 u uichob tu pet tzaton lo hun (sic) UUD katun u kaba ca bin DOCOC 
 u than lae, ca tun culac u yanal katun ca bin DOCOC uaxac Ahau 
 lae ; hu hoppol tucaten bay hoppci ca Dib. (Page 168.) 
 
 Translation. 
 
 At the last of the tenth ahau katun is ended one doubling of 
 the katun, and the return a second time of thirteen katuns is writ- 
 ten on the face of the katun circle ; one doubling of the katuns, as 
 it is called, will then finish its course, to begin again ; and when it 
 begins, it is written that another katun commences : when the 
 eighth katun ends it begins again (i. <?., to count with this eighth 
 as the first of the next " doubling"). 
 
 At the last of the tenth Ahau Katun is ended the joining together 
 of thirteen katuns (which is) written on the face of the katun circle ; 
 one doubling of the katuns, as it 4s called, will then finish its 
 course, and another katun will begin and will end as the eighth 
 katun ; this begins a second time, as it began (at first) and was 
 then written. 
 
 In other words, if I do not miss the writer's 
 meaning, the repetitions of the great cycle of thirteen 
 katuns were not counted from either of its termi- 
 nals, to wit, the thirteenth or the second katun, 
 but from the tenth katun. These repetitions were 
 
86 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 called uuj katun, the doubling or foldings over of 
 the katuns, and they were inscribed on the circle 
 or wheel of the katuns at that part of it where the 
 tenth katun was entered. These wheels were 
 called u pet katun, the circle of the katuns, or u 
 met katun, the wheel of the katuns, or u uazaklom 
 katun, the return of the katuns. I have several 
 copies of them, and one is given in Landa's work, 
 but I know of none which is a genuine original, 
 and, therefore, it is not surprising that I do not find 
 on any of them the signs referred to adjacent to 
 the tenth katun. 
 
 For the convenience of the reader I have drawn 
 up the following chronological table of the events 
 referred to in the Chronicles, arranging them 
 under the Great Cycles and Katuns to which they 
 would belong were the former numbered accord- 
 ing to the regular sequence given on page 59. I 
 have also inserted the katuns which were omitted 
 by the native chroniclers, but which, according to 
 that sequence, are necessary in order to complete 
 their records in accordance with the theory of the 
 Maya calendar. The references in Roman num- 
 erals are to the different chronicles. 
 
THE CHRONICLES. 87 
 
 SYNOPSIS OF MAYA CHRONOLOGY. 
 Great Cycle. Katun. 
 
 I. 8 They leave Nonoual (I.) 
 
 6 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 II. 13 They arrive at Chacnouitan (I.) 
 
 ii 
 
 9 
 7 
 5 
 3 
 I 
 
 12 
 10 
 
 8 Chichen Itza heard of (II.) 
 
 6 Bacalar and Chichen Itza discovered (I, II, 
 
 III.) 
 
 4 Ahmekat Tutulxiu arrives II ?, II.) 
 2 
 III. 13 Pop first counted (i. e. calendar arranged) (II, 
 
 III.) 
 1 1 Remove to Chichen Itza (I.) 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 5 
 3 
 
 I Abandon Chichen Itza ; remove to Champo- 
 ton (I, II.) 
 
 12 
 
 10 Abandon Chichen Itza ; remove to Champo- 
 
 ton (III.) 
 8 
 
 6 Champoton taken (I, II.) 
 4 Champoton taken (ill.) 
 2 
 
 IV. 13 
 
 ii 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 5 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 12 
 
 IO 
 
 8 Champoton abandoned (I, II, III.) 
 6 The Itzas houseless (I. II, III.) The well 
 dressed" driven out (IV.) 
 
THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 4 Return to Chichen Itza (I, II.) 
 
 2 Uxmal founded (I.) The League in Maya- 
 pan begins (I.) 
 
 V. 13 Mayapan founded (V.) 
 
 ii 
 
 9 
 7 
 
 5 Chichen Itza destroyed by Kinich Kakmo 
 
 (IV.) 
 
 3 
 
 i The last of the Itzas leave Chichen Itza (IV.) 
 12 
 
 10 Uxmal founded (II.) 
 
 8 Plot of or against Hunac Ceel (I, II, III.) 
 Zaclactun Mayapan founded (IV.) Cha- 
 kanputun burned (IV.) 
 
 6 War with Ulmil (I.) 
 
 4 The land of Mayapan seized (II, III.) 
 2 
 
 VI. 13 
 
 1 1 Mayapan attacked by Itzas under Ulmil and 
 
 depopulated by foreigners (I.) 
 9 
 7 
 
 5 Naked cannibals came (IV.) 
 
 3 
 
 1 Tancah Mayapan destroyed (IV.) 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 8 Mayapan finally destroyed (I, II, III, V.) 
 
 6 The Maya league ended (V.) 
 4 The pestilence (II, III, IV.) 
 
 2 Spaniards first seen (I, II.) Smallpox(IIL) 
 VII. 13 Ahpula died (I, II, III.) The pestilence (I.) 
 
 ii Spaniards arrive (I, II, III, IV, V.) Ahpula 
 died (IV.) 
 
I. THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan Balam of Mani. 
 
 The first chronicle which I present is the only 
 one which has been heretofore published. On 
 account of its comparative fullness it deserves 
 especial attention. It is taken from the Book of 
 Chilan Balam of the town of Mani. 
 
 This town, according to a tradition preserved by 
 Herrera, was founded after the destruction of 
 Mayapan, and, therefore, not more than seventy 
 years before the arrival of the Spaniards. Maya- 
 pan was destroyed in consequence of a violent 
 feud between the two powerful families who jointly 
 ruled there, the Cocoms and the Xius or Tutul 
 Xius. The latter, having slain all members of the 
 Cocom family to be found in the city, deserted its 
 site and removed south about fifteen miles, and 
 there established as their capital a city to which 
 they gave the name Mani, "which means 'it is past,' 
 as if to say 'let us start anew.' "' 
 
 1 " No lo pudiendo sufrir los otros Senores, se conjuraron con el 
 Sefior de los Tutuxius, i acudiendo en Dia senalado a la Casa del 
 Senor Cocom, le mataron con sus Hijos, salvo uno, que estaba 
 
 G 89 
 
90 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 At the time of the Conquest the reigning chief 
 oftheTutulxius was friendly to the Spaniards, and 
 voluntarily submitted to their rule, as we are in- 
 formed with much minuteness of detail by the 
 historian Cogolludo. 1 We may reasonably sup- 
 pose, therefore, that this chronicle was brought 
 from Mayapan in the " Books of Science," which 
 Herrera refers to as esteemed their greatest trea- 
 sure by the chiefs who broke up their ancient con- 
 federation when Mayapan was deserted. Hence 
 the records ran a better chance of being preserved 
 in this province than in those which were deso- 
 lated by war. As I have already said (page 65) 
 a large number were destroyed precisely at Mani 
 by Bishop Landa, in 1562. 
 
 I find among the memoranda of Dr. Berendt 
 
 ausente, i le saquearon la Casa, i le tomaron sus Heredades, i 
 desamparon la Ciudad [de Mayapan], deseando cada Senor 
 vivir en libertad en sus Pueblos, al cabo de quinientos Anos, que 
 se fundo, en la qual havian vivido con mucha Policia ; i havria 
 que se despoblo, segun la cuenta de los Indies, hasta que llegaron 
 los Castellanos a Yucatan, setenta Anos. Cada Senor procuro de 
 llevar los mas Libros de sus Ciencias, que pudo, a su Tierra, 
 adonde hicieron Templos ; i esta es la principal causa de los 
 muchos Edificios, que hai en Yucatan. Siguio toda su gente 
 Ahxiui, Senor de los Tutuxius, i poblo en Mani, que quiere decir, 
 ia paso ; como si dixese, hagamos Libro nuevo ; i de tal manera 
 poblaron sus Pueblos, que hicieron una gran Provincia, que se 
 llama oi dia, Tutuxiu." Herrera, Historia de las Indias Occiden- 
 tales, Dec. iv, Lib. x, caps, n, in. 
 
 1 Historia de Yucatan, Lib. in, cap. vi. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 91 
 
 reference to four " Books of Chilan Balam," of 
 Mani. These dated from 1689, 1697, 1755 and 
 1761, respectively, but I have not learned from 
 which of these Pio Perez extracted the chronicles 
 he gave Mr. John L. Stephens. Dr. Berendt adds 
 that it was from one which was in possession of a 
 native schoolmaster of Mani, who, having the sur- 
 name Balam, claimed to be descended from the 
 original Chilan Balam ! ' 
 
 The first publication of the document was in the 
 Appendix to the second volume of Mr. Stephens' 
 Incidents of Travel in Yucatan (New York, 1843). 
 It included the original Maya text, with a not very 
 accurate translation into English of Pio Perez's 
 rendering of the Maya. From Mr. Stephen's vol- 
 ume, the document has been copied into various 
 publications in Mexico, Yucatan and Europe. 
 
 1 1 quote Dr. Berendt's words . " Los datos historicos que pub- 
 lico Stephens en el Apendice de su obra fueron extractados de tal 
 libro de Chilam Balam en poder de un Indio de Mani, maestro de 
 escuela, que por tener el mismo apelido Balam pretendio ser 
 descendiente del sacerdote de los Mayas que llego a padrinar esta 
 clase de escritos." Chilam Balam, Articulos y Fragmentos en 
 Lengua Maya MSS., Advertencia, p. vil. 
 
 I have also in my collection a manuscript copy of what Yuca- 
 tecan scholars call the Codice Perez, a mass of materials copied by 
 Senor Pio Perez, among them this chronicle. The following is 
 his own note at its close : 
 
 " Hasta aqui termina el libro titulado Chilambalam que se con- 
 serva en el Pueblo de Mani en poder del maestro de Capilla." 
 
92 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 The other attempt at an independent transla- 
 tion was that of the Abbe Brasseur (de Bour- 
 bourg), published at Paris in 1864, in the same 
 volume with Landa's Relation de las Cosas de 
 Yucatan. The text he took from Stephens' book, 
 errors and omissions included, and his translation 
 is entirely based on the English one, as he evi- 
 dently did not have access to the original Spanish 
 of Pio Perez. 
 
 The most important recent study of the subject 
 has been made by Dr. Valentini, who published 
 the notes of Pio Perez on his translation, and gave 
 ,a general re-examination of ancient Maya history, 
 with a great deal of sagacity and a large acquaint- 
 ance with the related Spanish literature. 1 He is, 
 however, in error in stating that he was the first to 
 publish the notes of Perez, as they had previously 
 been printed in a work by Canon Carrillo. 2 
 
 Much use of this chronicle has been made by the 
 recent historians of Yucatan, Don Eligio Ancona 
 
 1 The Katunes of Maya History, A Chapter in the Early Chro- 
 nology of Central America, with special reference to the Pio Perez 
 Manuscripts. By Philip J. J. Valentini, Ph. D. Proceedings of 
 the American Antiquarian Society, 1879. (Worcester, Mass. 
 Press of Charles Hamilton, 1880). The reprint is 60 pages, octavo. 
 
 2 Crescencio Carrillo, Manual de- Historia y Geografia de la 
 Peninsula de Yucatan,^. 16-27. (12010: Merida de Yucatan ; 
 imprenta de J. D. Espinosa e Hijos.) 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 93 
 
 and the Canon Crescendo Carrillo y Ancona ; but 
 I am surprised to find that they have depended 
 entirely on the previous labors of Pio Perez, Ste- 
 phens and Brasseur, and have made no attempt to 
 verify or extend them. 
 
 Dr. Berendt, although earnestly devoted to col- 
 lecting and copying these records did not, as Dr. 
 Valentini observes, ever attempt a translation of 
 any of them. 
 
 No hint is given as to the author of the docu- 
 ment, nor do we know from what sources he 
 derived his information. It has been plausibly 
 suggested that it was an epitome of the history of 
 their nations, which was learned by heart and 
 handed down from master to disciple, and which 
 served as a verbal key to the interpretation of the 
 painted and sculptured records, and to the " katun 
 stones" which were erected at the expiration of 
 each cycle and inscribed with the principal events 
 which had transpired in it. 
 
 The Abbe Brasseur placed at the head of his 
 edition of this chronicle the title, in Maya: 
 
 " LELO LAI U TZOLAN KATUNIL TI MAYAB," 
 
 which he translates 
 
 "SERIES DES EPOQUES DE L'HISTOIRE MAYA." 
 This is an invention of the learned antiquary. 
 
94 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 There is no such nor any other title to the origi- 
 nal. It is simply called in the first line u tzolan 
 kat^m, the arrangement or order of the katuns. 
 The word tzolan is a verbal noun, the past parti- 
 ciple of the passive voice of tzol, which means to 
 put in order, to arrange, and is in the genitive of 
 the thing possessed, as indicated by the pronoun u. 
 Literally, the phrase reads, " their arrangement 
 (the) katuns." 
 
TEXT. 
 
 1. Lai u tzolan katun lukci ti cab ti yotoch 
 Nonoual cante anilo Tutulxiu ti chikin Zuiua u 
 luumil u talelob Tulapan 'chiconahthan. 
 
 2. Cante bin ti katun lie u ximbalob ca uliob 
 uaye yetel Holon Chantepeuh yetel u cuchulob. 
 Ca hokiob ti petene uaxac ahau bin yan cuchi uac 
 ahau, can ahau, cabil ahau, cankal haab catac 
 hunppel haab, tumen hun piztun oxlahun ahau 
 cuchie, ca uliob uay ti petene, cankal haab catac 
 hunppel haab, tu pakteil, yetel cu ximbalob lukci 
 tu luumilob ca talob uay ti petene Chacnouitan 
 lae ; uanoillaeSi 81. 
 
 3. Uaxac ahau, uac ahau ; cabil ahau kuchci 
 chacnouitan Ahmekat Tutulxiu ; hunppel haab 
 minan ti hokal haab cuchi yanob chacnouitan lae ; 
 lai u habil lae 99 anos. 
 
 4. Laitun uchci u chicpahal tzucubte Ziyan caan 
 lae Bakhalal ; can ahau, cabil ahau, oxlahun ahau, 
 oxkal haab cu tepalob Ziyan caan ca emob uay 
 
 1 chichcunahthan. 
 
 95 
 
96 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 lae ; lai u habil cu tepalob Bakhalal z chuulte laitun 
 chicpahci Chichen Itza lae 60 anos. 
 
 5. Buluc ahau, bolon ahau, uuc ahau, ho ahau, 
 ox ahau, hun ahau, uackal haab, cu tepalob Chichen 
 Itzaa, ca paxi Chichen Itza, ca binob cahtal Chan- 
 putun, ti yanhi u yotochob ah Itzaob kuyan uin- 
 cob lae ; lay u habil lae 1 20. 
 
 6. Uac ahau chucuc u luumil Chanputun. Can 
 ahau, cabil ahau, oxlahun ahau, buluc ahau, bolon 
 ahau, uuc ahau, ho ahau, ox ahau, hun ahau, lahca 
 ahau, lahun ahau, uaxac ahau paxci Chanputun ; 
 oxlahunkal haab cu tepalob Chanputun tumenel 
 Ytza uinicob ca talob u tzac le u yotochob tu eaten ; 
 laixtun u katunil binciob ah Itzaob yalan che, 
 yalan 2 aban, yalan ak ti numyaob lae ; lai u habil 
 cu 3 xinbal lae 260. 
 
 7. Uac ahau, can ahau, cakal haab, ca talob u 
 heoob yotoch tu eaten ca tu zatahob chakanputun ; 
 lay u habil lae 40. 
 
 8. Lai u katunil cabil ahau u heocicab Ahcuitok 
 Tutulxiu Uxmal ; cabil ahau, oxlahun ahau, buluc 
 ahau, bolon ahau, uuc ahau, ho ahau, ox ahau, hun 
 ahau, lahca ahau, lahun ahau ; lahun kal haab cu 
 tepalob yetel u halach uinicil chichen Itza yetel 
 Mayalpan ; lai u habil lae 200. 
 
 1 uchuc. 2 haban. 3 ximbal. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 97 
 
 9. Lai u katunil buluc ahau bolon ahau uuc 
 ahau, uaxac ahau, paxci u halach uinicil Chichen 
 Itzaa tumenel u kebanthan Hunac eel ; ca uch 
 ti Chacxibchac Chichen Itzaa tu kebanthan Hunac 
 eel u halach uinicil Mayalpan ich paae. Cankal 
 haab catac lahunpiz haab, tu lahun tun, uaxac 
 ahau cuchie lai u habil paxci tumenel Ahzinteyut 
 chan yetel Tzuntecum, yetel Taxcal, yetel Pan- 
 temit, Xuchueuet yetel Ytzcuat, yetel Kakaltecat; 
 lai u kaba uiniclob lae uuctulob ah Mayelpanob 
 lae 90. 
 
 10. Laili u katunil uaxac ahau lai ca binob u 
 paa ah Ulmil ahau tumenel u uahal uahoob yetel 
 ah Itzmal ulil ahau lae oxlahun UUD u katun- 
 ilob ca paxob tumen Hunac eel ; tumenel u 
 oabal u natob ; uac ahau ca ooci hunkal haab catac 
 canlahun pizi ; lai u habil cu 'xinbal 34. 
 
 11. Uac ahau, can ahau, cabil ahau, oxlahun 
 ahau, buluc ahau chucuc u luumil ich paa Mayapan, 
 tumenel u pach tulum, tumenel multepal ich cah 
 Mayalpan, tumenel Ytza uinicob yetel Ulmil 
 ahau lae, cankal haab catac oxppel haab ; 
 yocol buluc ahau cuchi paxci Mayalpan tumenel 
 ahuitzil DU! tan cah Mayapan 83. 
 
 1 2. Uaxac ahau lai paxci Mayapan ; lay u katunil 
 
 1 ximbal. 
 
98 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 uac ahau, can ahau, cabil ahau, lai haab, cu ximbal 
 ca yax mani espanoles u yax ulci caa luumi 
 Yucatan tzucubte lae oxkal haab paxac ichpaa 
 cuchie 60. 
 
 13. Oxlahun ahau, buluc ahau uchci mayacimil 
 ich paa yetel nohkakil; oxlahun ahau cimci Ahpula; 
 uacppel haab u binel ma oococ u xocol oxlahun 
 ahau cuchie ; ti yanil u xocol haab ti lakin cuchie, 
 canil kan cumlahi pop, tu holhunzip catac oxppeli, 
 bolon imix u kinil lai cimci Ahpula ; laytun afio cu 
 ximbal cuchi lae ca oheltab lai u xoc numeroil anos 
 lae 1536 anos cuchie, oxkal haab paxac ichpa cuchi 
 lae. 
 
 14. LailL ma DOCOC u xocol buluc ahau lae lai 
 ulci espanoles kul uincob ti lakin, u talob ca uliob 
 uay tac luumil lae ; bolon ahau hoppci cristianoil ; 
 uchci caputzihil ; laili ichil u katunil lae ulci yax 
 obispo Toroba u kaba; heix ano cu ximbal uchie 
 
 1544- 
 
 15. Yan cuchi uuc ahau cimci yax obispo de 
 landa ; ychil u katunil ho ahau ca yan cahi padre 
 manii lai ano lae - - - 
 
 1 6. Lai ano cu ximbal ca cahi padre yok haa 
 
 1552. 
 
 1 7. Lai ano cu ximbal ca uli Oidor la ca paki Es- 
 pital 1559. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 99 
 
 1 8. Lai ano cu ximbal ca kuchi Doctor Quijada 
 yax gob or uaye 1560. 
 
 1 9. Lai ano cu ximbal ca uchci chuitab lae 
 
 1562. 
 
 20. Lai ano cu ximbal ca uli Mariscal gob or ca 
 betab ' thulub 
 
 21. Lai ano cu ximbal ca uchci nohkakil lae 
 
 1609. 
 
 22. Lai ano cu ximbal ca hichiucal kaxob 1610. 
 
 23. Lai ano cu ximbal ca oibtah cah tumenel 
 Juez Diego Pareja 1 61 1 . 
 
 1 chulub. 
 
TRANSLATION. 
 
 1. This is the arrangement of the katuns since 
 the departure was made from the land, from the 
 house Nonoual, where were the four Tutulxiu, 
 from Zuiva at the west ; they came from the land 
 Tulapan, having formed a league. 
 
 2. Four katuns had passed in which they jour- 
 neyed when they arrived here with Holon Chante- 
 peuh and his followers. When they set out for this 
 country it was the eighth ahau. The sixth ahau, 
 the fourth ahau, % the second ahau (passed), four 
 score years and one year, for it was the first year 
 of the thirteenth ahau when they arrived here in 
 this country; four score years and one year in all 
 had passed since they departed from the land 
 and came here, to the province Chacnouitan. 
 These were years 81. 
 
 3. The eighth ahau, the sixth ahau ; in the second 
 ahau Ahmekat Tutulxiu arrived at Chacnouitan ; 
 they were in Chacnouitan five score years lack- 
 ing one year ; these were years 99. 
 
 4. Then took place the discovery of the pro- 
 
 100 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 101 
 
 vince Ziyan caan or Bakhalal ; the fourth ahau, 
 the second ahau, the thirteenth ahau, three score 
 years they ruled Ziyan caan when they descended 
 here : in these years that they ruled Bakhalal it 
 occurred then that Chichen Itza was discovered. 
 60 years. 
 
 5. The eleventh ahau, the ninth ahau, the seventh 
 ahau, the fifth ahau, the third ahau, the first ahau, 
 six score years, they ruled at Chichen Itza ; then 
 they abandoned Chichen Itza and went to live at 
 Chanputun ; there those of Itza, holy men, had 
 their houses ; these were years 1 20. 
 
 6. In the sixth ahau the land of Chanputun was 
 seized. The fourth ahau, the second ahau, the 
 thirteenth ahau, the eleventh ahau, the ninth ahau, 
 the seventh ahau, the fifth ahau, the third ahau, 
 the first ahau, the twelfth ahau, the tenth ahau ; 
 the eighth ahau Chanputun was abandoned ; thir- 
 teen score years Chanputun was ruled by the Itza 
 men when they came in search of their houses a 
 second time ; in this katun those of Itza were 
 under the trees, under the boughs, under the 
 branches, to their sorrow ; the years that passed 
 were 260. 
 
 7. The sixth ahau, the fourth ahau, two score 
 years, (had passed) when they came and estab- 
 
102 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 lished their houses a second time, and they lost 
 Chakanputun ; these were years 40. 
 
 8. In the katun the second ahau Ahcuitok Tu- 
 tulxiu founded (the city of) Uxmal ; the second 
 ahau, the thirteenth ahau, the eleventh ahau, the 
 ninth ahau, the seventh ahau, the fifth ahau, the 
 third ahau, the first ahau, the twelfth ahau, the 
 tenth ahau ; ten score years they ruled wjth the 
 governor of Chichen Ytza and Mayapan ; these 
 were years 200. 
 
 9. Then were the katuns eleventh ahau, ninth 
 ahau, sixth ahau ; in the eighth ahau the governor 
 of Chichen Itza was driven out on account of his 
 plotting against Hunac Eel ; and this happened 
 to Chac Xib Chac of Chichen Itza on account of 
 his plotting against Hunac Eel the governor of 
 Mayapan, the fortress. Four score years and ten 
 years, and it was the tenth year of the eighth ahau 
 that it was depopulated by Ah Zinteyut Chan, 
 with Tzuntecum, and Taxcal, and Pantemit, Xu- 
 chueuet and Ytzcuat and Kakaltecat : these were 
 the names of the seven men of Mayapan 90. 
 
 10. In this eighth ahau they went to the fortress 
 of the ruler of Ulmil on account of his banquet 
 to Ulil ruler of Itzmal ; they were thirteen divi- 
 sions of warriors when they were dispersed by 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 103 
 
 Hunac Eel, in order that they might know what 
 was to be given ; in the sixth ahau it ended, one 
 score years and fourteen ; the years that passed 
 were 34. 
 
 1 1. The sixth ahau, the fourth ahau, the second 
 ahau, the thirteenth ahau, the eleventh ahau ; 
 then was invaded the land of the fortress of Maya- 
 pan by the men of Itza and their ruler Ulmil -on 
 account of the seizure of the castle by the joint 
 government in the city of Mayapan ; four score 
 years and three years ; the eleventh ahau had 
 entered when Mayapan was depopulated by for- 
 eigners from the mountains in the midst of the 
 city of Mayapan 83. 
 
 12. In the eighth ahau Mayapan was depopula- 
 ted ; then were the sixth ahau, the fourth ahau, the 
 second ahau ; during this year the Spaniards first 
 passed and first came to this land the province of 
 Yucatan, sixty years after the fortress was depop- 
 ulated. 60. 
 
 13. The thirteenth ahau ; the eleventh ahau took 
 place the pestilence in the fortresses and the 
 smallpox; in the thirteenth ahau Ahpula died; 
 for six years the count of the thirteenth ahau 
 will not be ended ; the count of the year was 
 toward the East, the month Pop began with (the 
 
104 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 day) fourth Kan ; the eighteenth day of the month 
 Zip (that is), 9 Imix, was the day on which Ahpula 
 died ; and that the count may be known in num- 
 bers and years it was the year 1536, sixty years 
 after the fortress was destroyed. 
 
 14. The count of the eleventh ahau was not 
 ended when the Spaniards, mighty men, arrived 
 from the east ; they came, they arrived here in this 
 land; the ninth ahau Christianity began; baptism 
 took place ; also in this katun came the first bishop 
 Toroba by name; this was the year 1544. 
 
 15. In the seventh ahau died the first bishop de 
 Landa; in the fifth katun the Fathers first settled 
 at Mani, in the year 1550. 
 
 1 6. As this year was passing the fathers settled 
 upon the water 1552 
 
 1 7. As this year was passing the auditor came 
 and the hospital was built J 559 
 
 1 8. As this year was passing the first governor 
 Dr. Quijada, arrived here 1560 
 
 19. As this year was passing- the hanging took 
 place 1562 
 
 20. As this year was passing the Governor Mar- 
 shall came and built the reservoirs 1563 
 
 21. As this year was passing the smallpox oc- 
 curred 1609 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 105 
 
 22. As this year was passing those of Tekax 
 were hanged 1610 
 
 23. As this year was passing the towns were 
 written down by Judge Diego Pareja 161 1 
 
NOTES. 
 
 i. The introductory paragraph is not less obscure in 
 construction than it is important in its historical statements, 
 and I shall give it, therefore, a particularly careful analysis. 
 
 I have already explained the term u.tzolan katun; lukci is 
 the aorist of lukul, which forms regularly luki, but the mu- 
 tation to d is used when the meaning since or after that is to 
 be conveyed ; asBeltran says, " cuando el verbo traeestos ro- 
 mances, despues que d desde que, como este romance ; despues 
 que murio mi padre, estoy triste : dmd in yume, okomuol" 
 (Arte del Idioma Maya, p. 61). cab means country or place, 
 in the sense of residence, whereas luum, used in the same 
 paragraph, is land or earth, in the general sense. The Dice, de 
 Motulsays : "cab, pueblo d region; in cab, mi pueblo, don- 
 de yo soy natural." yotoch is a compound of the possessive 
 pronoun u, his or their, and otoch, the word for house when 
 it is indicated whose house it is ; otherwise na is used ; otoch 
 is probably allied to och a verbal root signifying to give food 
 to, the house being looked upon as specifically the place 
 where meals are prepared. 
 
 The word cante is translated by Perez and Brasseur a.?, four, 
 and applied to the Tutulxiu, while the intervening word anilo 
 is not translated by either ; cante is no doubt the numeral 
 four with the numeral particle te suffixed. But here a serious 
 difficulty arises. According to all the grammars and dic- 
 tionaries the particle te is never used for counting persons, 
 
 106 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 107 
 
 but only "years, months, days (periods of time), leagues, 
 cacao, eggs and gourds." Moreover, what is anilof We 
 have, indeed, the form tenilo, I am that one, from the par- 
 ticle /(Buenaventura, Arte de laLengua Jlfaya,fo\. 27, verso); 
 and we might have yanilo, they are those. But this necessi- 
 tates a change in the text, and if that has to be done I should 
 prefer to suppose that anilo was a mistake of the copyist, and 
 that we should read katun or katunile. This would reconcile 
 the numeral particle and would do away with the four 
 Tutulxius, of whom we hear nothing afterwards. 
 
 chikin, the West, literally, that which bites or eats the sun, 
 from chi, the mouth, and, as a verb, to bite. An eclipse is 
 called in Maya chibal kin, the sun bitten ; //' chikin, toward 
 the West. 
 
 talelob, plural form of tal or talel, to come to, to go from. 
 
 chiconahthan is not translated by either Pio Perez or Bras- 
 seur, nor in that precise form has it any meaning. I take it, 
 however, to be a faulty orthography for chichcunahthan which 
 means to support that which another says, hence, to agree 
 with, to act in concert with ; "chichcunah u thanil, having 
 renewed the agreement" (Dicdonario de Ticul}. It refers to 
 an agreement entered into by the different leaders who were 
 about to undertake the migration into unknown lands. Pos- 
 sibly, however, this is not a Maya word, but another echo of 
 Aztec legend. Chiconauhtlan, '''the place of the Nine," was 
 a village and mountain north of the lake of Tezcuco and close 
 to the sacred spot Teotiuacan, where, in Aztec myth, the gods 
 assembled to create the sun and moon (Sahagun, Historia 
 de Nueva Espana, Lib VII, cap. II ). Tulapan Chicona- 
 uhtlan would thus become a compound local name. 
 
108 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 It will be seen from the above that the translation which 
 I have given of this paragraph does not satisfy me as certainly 
 correct. I shall now give the original with an interlinear 
 translation, and also those of Pio Perez and Brasseur, adding 
 a free rendering which I am inclined to prefer, although it 
 modifies the text somewhat. 
 
 Interlinear Translation. 
 
 Lai u tzolan katun lukci 
 
 This (is) their order the katuns since they departed 
 
 ti cab, ti yotoch Nonoual cante 
 
 Irom the land from their house Nonoual the four 
 
 anilo, Tutulxiu ti. chikin Zuiua, 
 
 those the (?) Tutulxiu to the West (of) Zuiua 
 
 u luumil u talelob Tulapan chiconah than, 
 their land (which) they came (from) was Tulapan acting in concert. 
 
 Translation of Pio Perez. 
 
 Esta es la serie de Katunes corridos desde que se quitaron 
 de la tierra y casa de Nonoual en que estaban los cuatro Tu- 
 tulxiu al poniente de Zuina ; el pais de donde vinieron fu< 
 
 Tulapan. 
 
 Translation of Brasseur. 
 
 C' est ici la serie des epoques ecoulees depuis que s' enfuirent 
 les quatre Tutul Xiu de la maison de Nonoual etant a 1'ouest 
 de Zuina, et vinrent de la terre de Tulapan. 
 
 Free translation suggested. 
 
 This is the order of the Katuns since the four Katuns dur- 
 ing which the Tutulxiu left their home and country Nonoual 
 to the west of Zuiua, and went from the land and city of 
 Tula, having agreed together to this effect. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 109 
 
 I have said nothing of the proper names in this paragraph. 
 They are remarkable for the fact that three out of the four 
 are unquestionably Nahuatl or Aztec, and hence they have 
 given occasion for considerable theorizing in favor of the 
 "Toltec" origin of the Maya civilization, and also, of the 
 Nahuatl descent of the princely family of the Tutulxiu. 
 
 Their name is the only one in the paragraph with a distinc- 
 tively Maya physiognomy. It is a compound of xiu, the 
 generic term for herb or plant, and tutul, a reduplicated form 
 of /#/, an abundance, an excess, as in the verb tutulandl, to 
 overflow, etc. {Diccionario de Ticul, MS.). It would appear 
 therefore to be a local name, and to signify a place where 
 there was an abundance of herbage. The surname is Xiu 
 only, and as such is still in use in Yucatan. 
 
 But it may also be claimed that even this is a Nahuatl.name ; 
 for also in that tongue xiuitl means a plant, as well as a 
 turquoise, a comet, a year, and in composition a greenish or 
 bluish color ; while tototl is a bird or fowl. The Maya 
 xiu and the Nahuatl xiuitl (in which itl is a termination 
 lost in composition) are undoubtedly the same word. 
 Which nation borrowed it from the other? It is certainly 
 a loan-word, for these two languages have no common 
 origin, while, as we might expect from neighbors, each does 
 have a number of loan-words from the other. 
 
 I answer that the Maya xiu is unquestionably a loan from 
 the Nahuatl, and my reason for the opinion is that while in 
 Maya the root xiu is sterile and has no relations to other 
 words (unless perhaps to xiitil, to open like a flower, to brood as 
 a bird, to augment, to grow), in Nahuatl it is a very fertile 
 root, and nearly thirty compounds of it can be found in the 
 dictionaries (See Molina, Vocabulario de la Lengua Mexicana, 
 
110 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 fol. 159, verso). But the composition of the name follows 
 the Maya and not the Nahuatl analogy. 
 
 That in either language the name Tutulxiu can be trans- 
 lated " Bird-tree" (Vogelbaum), as is argued by Dr. Carl 
 Schultz-Sellack (Archivfur Ethnologic, Band XI, 1879), ^nd 
 on which translation he bases a long argument, is very doubt- 
 ful. It certainly could not in Maya ; and in Nahuatl, tototl 
 in composition would drop both its terminal consonants. 
 
 The remaining names, Nonoual, Zuiua, Tula-pan, clearly 
 indicate their Nahuatl origin. Zuiua, which was erroneously 
 printed in Pio Perez's version as Zuina is Zuiva; Nonoual is 
 Nonohual; Tulapan, literally "the standard of Tula, " refers 
 to the famous city of the Toltecs, presided over by Quetzal - 
 coatl. All these names are borrowed directly from the myth 
 of this hero-god. 
 
 Zuiven was the name of the uppermost heaven, the abode 
 of the Creator Hometeuctli, the father of Quetzalcoatl, and 
 the place of his first birth as a divinity. In later days, when 
 the Quetzalcoatl myth had extended to the Kiches and 
 Cakchiquels, members of the Maya family in Guatemala, 
 " Tulan Zuiva" was identified with the Aztec Chicomoztoc, 
 the famous "Seven Caves," " Seven Ravines," or " Seven 
 Cities," from which so many tribes of Mexico, wholly diverse 
 in language and lineage, claimed that their ancestors emerged 
 in some remote past (compare the Codex Vaticanus, Lam. I ; 
 Codex Zumarraga, chap. I, with the Popol Vuh, pp. 214, 227). 
 To this spot the ancestors of the Guatemalan tribes were 
 reported to have gone to receive their gods ; from it issued 
 the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli ; in it still were supposed to 
 dwell his mother and other mighty divinities ; and Quetzal- 
 coatl was again the youngest born of Iztac Mixcohuatl, the 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. Ill 
 
 mighty lord of the Seven Caves (Motolinia, Historia de los 
 Indios de Nueva sflafta p 10, etc.). 
 
 Tula, properly Tollan, a syncopated form of Tonatlan, 
 which means " the place of the Sun," was a name applied to 
 a number of towns in Mexico, all named after that magnifi- 
 cent city inhabited by the Tolteca (" dwellers in the place of 
 the Sun"), servants and messengers of the Light-God their 
 ruler, the benign, the virgin-born Quetzalcoatl. The com 
 mon tradition ran that it was destroyed by the wiles of Tez- 
 catlipoca, the brother, yet the eternal enemy, of Quetzalcoatl, 
 and that at its destruction the Toltecs disappeared, no one 
 knew whither, while Quetzalcoatl, after reigning a score of 
 years in Cholula, journeyed far eastward to the home of the 
 Sun, where he enjoyed everlasting life. 
 
 Nonohual 'also had a place in this myth. It was a moun- 
 tain over against Tulan. There it was that the eldest sister of 
 Quetzalcoatl resided. When he was made drunken by the 
 insidious beverage handed him as a healing draught by Tez- 
 catlipoca, he sent for this sister, held to her lips the intoxicat- 
 ing cup, and with her passed a night of debauch, the memory 
 of which filled him with such shame that nevermore dared he 
 face his subjects. Such is the story recited at length in the 
 Aztec chronicle called the Codex Chimalpopoca. 
 
 Nonoalco was also the name of a small village near the city 
 of Mexico which still appears on the maps. Sahagun tells us 
 that some extreme eastern tribes in Mexico called themselves 
 Nonoalca (Historia de la Nueva Espana, Lib. X, cap, XXIX, 
 p 12); and the licenciate Diego Garcia de Palacio mentions 
 "quatro lugares de Indios que llaman los Nunualcos" as 
 dwelling, in his time (1576), in the eastern part of the province 
 of San Salvador, of Aztec descent, and who had recently 
 
112 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 come there. (Carta al Rey de Espana, p. 60, New York, 1860). 
 It should be mentioned in reference to these names and all 
 others of similar vocalization, that both in Maya and Nahuatl 
 the Spanish constantly confound the short 6 and u. As the 
 Bachelor Don Antonio Vasquez Gastelu observes: "usan de 
 la o algunos tan obscuramente, que tira algo a la pronuncia- 
 cion 4e la u vocal " (Arte de lengua Mexicana, fol. i, verso, 
 La Puebla de los Angeles, 1726). 
 
 Seuor Alfredo Chavero, in his Appendix to Duran's Historia 
 de las Indias de Nueva Espana (p. 45, Mexico, 1880), claims 
 that Nonoalca was the name given to the Maya-Kiche 
 tribes, or rather adopted by them, when, at an extremely 
 remote epoch, they penetrated to the central table land of 
 Mexico. He thinks that subsequently they became united 
 with the Toltecs, and were dispersed with that people at 
 the destruction of the city of Tula. The grounds for this 
 theory he claims to find in certain unpublished manu- 
 scripts, which unfortunately he does not give in extracts, 
 but only in general statements. Like much that this 
 writer presents, these assertions lack support. All the 
 names he quotes as of Nonoalca, that is, Maya origin, are 
 distinctly not of the latter tongue, but are Nahuatl. And the 
 introduction of the mystical city of Tula is of itself enough to 
 invest the story with the garb of unreality. 
 
 It is, in fact, nowhere in terrestrial geography that we need 
 look for the site of the Tula of Quetzalcoatl, nor at any time 
 in human history did the Tolteca ply their skillful hands, nor 
 Tezcatlipoca spread his snares to destroy them. All this is 
 but a mythical conception of the daily struggle of light and dark- 
 ness, and those writers who seek in the Toltecs the ancestors or 
 instructors of any nation whatsoever, make the once common 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 113 
 
 error of mistaking myth for history, fancy for fact. There- 
 fore, any notion that Yucatan was civilized by the Toltecs 
 after their dispersion, or owes anything to them, as so many, 
 and I might say almost all recent writers have maintained, is 
 to me an absurdity. 
 
 This reference to the Quetzalcoatl myth at the commence- 
 ment of the Maya chronicle needs not surprise us. We 
 encounter it also in the Kiche Popol Vuh and the Cakchiquel 
 Memorial de Tecpan Atitlan. These members of the Maya 
 family also grafted that myth upon their own traditions. As 
 history, it is valueless ; but as indicative of a long and early 
 intercourse between the Maya and Nahuatl speaking tribes, 
 it is of great interest. As this question will also recur in 
 reference to various later passages in the Maya chronicles, I 
 will discuss it here. 
 
 One of the earliest historians of Yucatan, the Doctor Don 
 Pedro Sanchez de Aguilar, states that six hundred years before 
 the Spanish conquest the Mayas were vassals of the Aztecs, 
 and that they were taught or forced by these to construct the 
 extraordinary edifices in their country, such as are found at 
 Uxmal and Chichen Itza. His words are: "Fueron tan 
 politicos y justiciosos en Yucatan como los Mexicanos, cuyos 
 vasallos habian sido seis cientos anos antes de la llegada de 
 los Espanoles. De lo cual tan solamente hay tradicion y 
 memoria entre ellos por los famosos, grandes y espantosos 
 edificios de cal y canto y silleria y figuras y estatuas de piedra 
 labrada que dejaron en Oxumual [Uxmal] y en Chicheniza 
 que hoy se veen y se pudieran habitar." Informe contra 
 Idolum Cultores del Obispado de Yucatan, fol. 87 (Madrid, 
 
 The vague tradition here referred to was made part of the 
 
114 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 testimony in a lawsuit at Valladolid, Yucatan, in 1618. 
 These old documents were brought to light by the late 
 eminent Yucatecan historian Doctor Justo Sierra, and Dr. 
 Berendt took a copy in manuscript of the most important 
 points. I think it worth while to insert and translate this 
 testimony. 
 
 VILLA DE VALLADOLID Affo DE 1618. 
 " DOCUMENTO i. A la primera pregunta dijo este testigo 
 que conoce al dicho Don Juan Kahuil y a la dicha Dona 
 Maria Quen su legitima muger y que todos los contenidos en 
 la pregunta, tuvo noticiamuy largade su padre de este testigo, 
 porque fue en su antiguedad ahkin, sacerdote entre los 
 naturales antiguos,antes que recibiesen agua de bautismo,como 
 los susodichos contenidos en la pregunta vinieron del reino 
 de Mexico y poblaron estas provincias, y que era gente belli- 
 cosa y valerosa y Senores, y asi poblaron a Chichenica los 
 unos, y otros se fueron hacia el Sur que poblaron d Bacalar, 
 y hacia el Norte que poblaron la costa ; porque eran tres o 
 cuatro Senores y uno que se llamo Tumispolchicbul era deudo 
 de Moctezuma, rey que fue de los reinos de Mexico, y que 
 Cuhuikakcamalcacalpuc era deudo muycercano de dicho Don 
 Juan Kahuil por parte de sus padres, y que dicha Ixnahaucu- 
 pul hija de Kukumcupul fue muger de su abuelo de dicho D. 
 Juan Kahuil, todos los cuales fueron los que vinieron de 
 Mexico a poblar estas Provincias, gente principal y Senores, 
 pues poblaron y se senorearon de esta tierra, porque como 
 dicho tiene, le oyo decir al dicho su padre que eran tenidos, 
 obedecidos y respetados como a Senores de esta tierra, y de 
 uno de ellos procede el dicho D. Juan Kahuil, y de estos hay 
 mucha noticia y dicho su padre le dijo muchas veces, que 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 115 
 
 habia constancia entre ellos de lo sucedido por estos 
 Senores. 
 
 "2. A la segunda pregunta dice este testigo, que como 
 dicho tiene, oyo decir a su padre y otros Indies principales que 
 los susodichos contenidos en la primera pregunta vinieron de 
 los reynos de Mejico a poblar estas provincias, los unos 
 se quedaron en Chichinica que fueron los que edificaron los 
 edificios sontuosos que hay en el dicho asiento, y otros se 
 fueron a poblar a Bacalar, y otros fueron a poblar la costa 
 hacia el norte, y este que fue a poblar la costa, se llamaba 
 Cacalpuc, de donde precede el dicho D. Juan Kahuil, y estos 
 que asi se repartieron, fueron a poblar las provincias susodic- 
 has, y las tuvieron sugetas y en govierno, y que le cupo a un 
 Cocom, el poblar en Chichinica, y le obedecian todos por 
 Senor, y los de la isla de cuzumel le eran sugetos ; y de alii 
 (de Chicinica) se pasaron a la provincia de Sotuta, donde 
 estaban, cuando los conquistadores vinieron, y siempre fueron 
 tenidos, obedecidos y respetados como Senores. 
 
 "3. A la primera pregunta dijo este testigo que conoce al 
 dicho D. Juan Kahuil, y a la dicha Da Maria Quen, su muger, 
 y que de todos los contenidos en la pregunta, tuvo muy larga 
 noticia de ellos, porque D. Juan Carnal, cacique gobernador 
 que fue del pueblo de Sisal, de los primeros que lo goberna- 
 ron por comision e titulo que le did el Oidor Tomas Lopez, 
 oiendo como era de los antiguos caciques del dicho pueblo en 
 estas provincias, lo trataba en conversacion a sus principales 
 y este testigo, que siempre estaba en su casa, y fue alguacil 
 mayor ordinario en ella, como los contenidos habian venido 
 de Mejico a poblar esta tierra de Yucatan, y que los unos 
 poblaron a Chichinica y hicieron los edificios que estan en 
 dicho asiento muy suntuosos, y que habiendo sido los que 
 
116 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 vinieron de Mejico, cuatro deudos 5 parientes con sus alle- 
 gados y gente que trajaron ; el uno poblo como dicho tiene 
 a Chichinica, y el otro fu6 a poblar a Bacalar, y el otro hacia 
 el Norte y poblo en la costa, y el otro fue hacia Cozumel ; & 
 poblaron con gente, y fueron Senores de estas provincias, y 
 las gobernaron y sefiorearon muchos anos ; y que oy6 decir 
 que uno de ellos llamado Tanupolchicbul era pariente de 
 Moctezuma, rey de Mejico." 
 
 ( Translation.} 
 
 CORPORATION OF VALLADOLID YEAR 1618. 
 " DOCUMENT No. i. To the first question the witness an- 
 swered that he knows the said Don Juan Kahuil and the said 
 Dona Maria Quen his lawful wife, and all those referred to in 
 the question; that this witness had full information from his 
 father, who formerly was ahkin or priest among the natives, 
 before they had received the water of baptism, how the par- 
 ties above mentioned in the question came from the kingdom 
 of Mexico, and established towns 1 in these provinces, and 
 that they were a warlike and valiant people and lords, and 
 thus some of them established themselves at Chichen Itza, 
 and others went to the south and established towns at Baca- 
 lar, and toward the north and established towns on the coast ; 
 because they were three or four lords, and one, who was 
 named Tumispolchicbul, was a kinsman of Montezuma, king 
 of the kingdom of Mexico, and that Cuhuikctkcamaleacalpuc 
 was a very near kinsman of the said Don Juan Kahuil on his 
 father's side, and that the said Ixnahaucupul, daughter of 
 Kukumcupul was wife of the grandfather of the said Don Juan 
 
 1 The Spanish word " poblar " does not mean to people an uninhabited 
 country, but to found villages and gather the people into communities. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 117 
 
 Kahuil, all of whom were those who came from Mexico to 
 found towns in these provinces, prominent people and lords ; 
 then they founded towns and ruled this land, because as he 
 said, he heard his said father say that they were regarded, 
 obeyed and respected as lords of this land, and that from one 
 of them proceeded the said Don Juan Kahuil ; and of these 
 there is abundant information, and his said father often said 
 to him that there was unanimity among them as to what took 
 place by these lords. 
 
 " 2ND. To the second question this witness answered that 
 as he has said, he heard his father and other leading Indians 
 say that the parties above mentioned in the first question 
 came from the Kingdom of Mexico to found towns in these 
 provinces ; some remained in Chichen Itza, who were those 
 who built the sumptuous edifices which are in the said local- 
 ity ; others went to found towns at Bacalar, and others to 
 found towns on the coast to the north ; and he who went to 
 found towns on the coast was named Cacalpuc, from whom 
 proceeds the said Don Juan Kahuil and those who thus made 
 division went to found towns in the above mentioned prov- 
 inces, and held them under subjection and government ; and 
 he chose a certain Cocom to rule in Chichen Itza, and they 
 all obeyed him as lord, and those of the island of Cozumel 
 were subject to him ; and from there (from Chichen Itza) 
 they passed to the province of Zotuta, where they were when 
 the conquerors came, and they were always regarded, obeyed 
 and respected as lords. 
 
 "3RD. To the first question this witness answered that he 
 knew all the parties mentioned in the question and had 
 abundant information about them, because Don Juan 
 Carnal who was chief and governor of Sisal, one of the first 
 
118 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 who governed it by commission and brief given him by the 
 Auditor Tomas Lopez, being one of the ancient chiefs of the 
 said town in these provinces, spoke of the subject in con- 
 versation with his leading men and with this witness, who 
 was constantly in his house and was chief clerk in ordinary in 
 it, saying the parties mentioned had come from Mexico to 
 found towns in this land of Yucatan, and that some settled at 
 Chichen Itza, and erected the very stately edifices which are 
 in the said locality, and that those who came from Mexico 
 were four kinsmen or relatives with their friends and the peo- 
 ple they brought with them ; one settled as heretofore said at 
 Chichen Itza, one went to settle at Bacalar, one went toward 
 th'e north and settled on the coast, and the other went toward 
 Cozumel ; and they founded towns with their people, and 
 were lords of these provinces, and governed them and ruled 
 them many years ; and that he had heard it said that one of 
 them named Tanupolchicbul was a kinsman of Moctezuma, 
 King of Mexico." 
 
 This legend is also related, with some variation, by Herrera, 
 and as I shall have occasion more than once to refer to his 
 account, I shall translate it. 
 
 "At Chichen Itza, ten leagues from Itzamal, the ancients 
 say there reigned three lords, brothers, who came from the 
 west, and gathered together many people, and reigned some 
 years in peace and justice ; and they constructed large and 
 very beautiful edifices. It is said that they lived unmarried 
 and very chastely ; and it is added that in time one of them 
 was missing, and that his absence worked such bad results 
 that the other two began to be unchaste and partial ; and thus 
 the people came to hate them, and slew them, and scattered 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 119 
 
 abroad, and deserted the edifices, especially the most stately 
 one, which is ten leagues from the sea. 
 
 " Those who established themselves at Chichen Itza call 
 themselves Itzas ; among these there is a tradition that there 
 ruled a great lord called Cuculcan, and all agree that he came 
 from the west ; and the only difference among them is as to 
 whether he came before or after or with the Itzas ; but the 
 name of the building at Chichen Itza, and what happened 
 after the death of the lords above mentioned, show that 
 Cuculcan ruled the country jointly with them. He was a 
 man of good disposition, was said not to have had either wife or 
 children, and not to have known woman; he was devoted to 
 the interests of the people, and for this reason was regarded 
 as a god. In order to pacify the land he agreed to found 
 another city, where all business could be transacted. He 
 selected for this purpose a site eight leagues further inland 
 from where now stands the city of Merida, and fifteen leagues 
 from the sea. There they erected a circular wall of dry stone, 
 about a half quarter of a league in diameter, leaving in it 
 only two gateways. They erected temples, giving to the 
 largest the name Cuculcan, and also constructed around the 
 wall the houses of the lords among whom Cuculcan had 
 divided the land, giving and assigning towns to each. To 
 the city he gave the name Mayapan, which means "the 
 Standard of the Maya," as Maya is the name of their 
 language. 
 
 " By this means the country was quieted and they lived in 
 peace for some years under Cuculcan, who governed with 
 justice, until, having arranged for his departure, and recom- 
 mending them to continue the wise rule he had established, 
 he left them and returned to Mexico by the same route he had 
 
120 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 come, remaining in Champoton some time, where, in memory 
 of his journey, he erected a building in the sea, which remains 
 to this day." 1 
 
 Bishop Landa and some other early writers also . give ver- 
 sions of this tradition, but do not add any facts to those in 
 the above quotations. Evidently it was a widespread legend 
 of the origin of the great buildings of Chichen Itza. Is it a 
 tradition of fact or is it a myth? 
 
 I confess that to me it has a suspiciously mythical aspect. 
 It is too similar to what I may call the standard hero-myth of 
 the American Aborigines. Everywhere, both in North and 
 South America, we find the myth of the four brothers who 
 divided the land between them, one of whom is superior to 
 the others and becomes the ruler and instructor of the ances- 
 tors of the nation. He does not die, but disappears, or goes 
 to heaven, and is often expected to return. Just so in one of 
 the Maya myths, Cuculcan did not return to Mexico, but 
 rose to heaven, whence once every year he descended to his 
 temple at Mayapan and received the gifts which from far and 
 wide pious pilgrims had brought to his shrine (Landa, Rela- 
 tion, p. 302). All these myths relate to the worship of the 
 four cardinal points and to the Light-God, as I have shown 
 in a previous work (The Myths of the New World, chap. 
 III. New York, 1876). 
 
 The proper names in the legend have nothing of a Nahuatl 
 appearance. They are all pure Maya. The " kinsman of 
 Moctezuma, " the second reading of whose name is the cor- 
 rect one, is given as tan u pol chicbul, " in front of the head of 
 the jay-bird," the chicbul being what the Spaniards call the 
 
 1 Historia de las Indias Occidentals Dec. IV, Lib. X, cap. II. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 121 
 
 mingo rey, which I believe is a jay (Beltran, Arte del Idioma 
 Maya, p. 229). The other long name is a compound of Zuhuy 
 kak carnal cacal puc. The historian Cogolludo informs us 
 that Zuhuy Kak, literally " virgin fire," was the daughter of 
 a king, afterwards deified as goddess of female infants (His- 
 toria de Yucatan, Lib. IV, cap. VIII). Carnal was and is a 
 common patronymic in Yucatan ; cacalpuc means " mountain 
 land," 1 and thus the whole name is easily identified as 
 Maya. Possibly the member of the family Carnal who bore 
 the name was a priest of the goddess. 
 
 It will be noticed that neither the legend nor the legal tes- 
 timony speaks of these foreigners as of a different language or 
 lineage, but leaves us to infer the contrary. Had they been 
 of Aztec race it would certainly have been noticed, for the 
 Mayas had frequent mercantile relations with these powerful 
 neighbors, they borrowed many words from the Nahuatl 
 tongue, and single chiefs in Yucatan formed alliances with 
 the Aztec rulers, and introduced Aztec warriors even into 
 Mayapan, as is shown by the Chronicles I publish in this 
 work, and also by the fact that a small colony of Aztecs, de- 
 scendants of these mercenaries, was living in the province of 
 Canul, west of Merida, when the Spaniards conquered the 
 country (Landa, Relation, p. 54). Therefore the Aztecs were 
 no strangers to the Mayas, and doubtless the learned members 
 of the priesthood and nobles in the fifteenth century were 
 quite well aware of the existence of the powerful empire of 
 Anahuac. 
 
 But regarding the legend I have quoted as, in part at least, 
 
 1 Cacal is reduplicated from cab, land, province, town. The change 
 from b to /is also seen in cacalluum, "tierra buenapara sembrar," Dic- 
 cionario de Motul ; also in the town names Tixcacal, Xcacal, etc. 
 
 I 
 
122 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 based on actual history, we may accept the fact that there 
 was an important emigration from Mexico, and yet not one 
 of either Aztecs or " Toltecs." It must be remembered that 
 the Huastecas, an important branch of the Maya family, oc- 
 cupied from time immemorial the coast of the Mexican Gulf 
 north of Vera Cruz, and west to the mountains of Meztitlan, 
 a province inhabited by a Nahuatl speaking race, but not 
 subject to the dynasty of the Montezumas. 
 
 I have already referred briefly to their history, and it is 
 possible that after their serious reverses, about 1450, they sent 
 migratory bodies to their relatives in Yucatan. At any rate, 
 there seems a consensus of testimony that the general trend of 
 migration of the Maya race, was from north to south, and in 
 Central America, from west to east. 
 
 We have in this paragraph examples of the use of three of 
 the "numeral particles." Cante bin ti katun, literally, "it 
 (i. e. time) went on for four katuns," and a few lines later 
 hunpel haab, one year, hunpiztun, the first year. 
 
 The correct translation tfpeten has been debated; it is from 
 the root pet, anything round, a circle, and usually means 
 " island." By a later use it signifies any locality with definite 
 boundaries, hence a province, or kingdom. The following is 
 the entry in the Diccionario de Motul : 
 
 " PETEN ; isla, item provincia, region, comarca uay tu 
 petenil Yucatan, aqui en la provincia de Yucatan." 
 
 The name of the first leader, Holon Chan Tepeuh, does not 
 recur in the Annals. Its signification is : holon, a generic 
 name for large bees and flies ; chan, sufficient, powerful, still 
 in use in Yucatan as a surname ; tepeuh, ruler, from tepeual, 
 to rule. This last word is marked in the Diccionario de Motul 
 as a " vocablo antiquo. " It is of Aztec origin, as in the 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 123 
 
 Nahuatl language tepeuani means " conqueror. " The name 
 we are considering should probably be rendered " Holon 
 Chan, the ruler." The province ruled by the Chan family at 
 the time of the conquest was on the eastern coast, south of that 
 of the Cupuls. 
 
 The name Chacnouitan is elsewhere, as we shall see, spelled 
 Chacnovitan and Chacnabiton. I am inclined to believe the 
 last mentioned is nearest the correct form. By Pio Perez it 
 was supposed to be an ancient name of Yucatan, and he trans- 
 lates the phrase, uay ti petene Chacnouitan, by " a esta isla de 
 Chacnavitan (Yucatan)." Dr. Valentini says : " the transla- 
 tion could as well stand for 'that distant island,' " and that 
 " Chacnouitan was neither the whole nor the northern part of 
 Yucatan, but a district situated in the southwest of the 
 peninsula," (loc. at. p. 38). 
 
 With this I cannot agree, as the adverb uay always refers 
 to the place (in no matter how wide an accepation) where the 
 speaker is. Therefore I translate it " here, (/. e. to this gen- 
 eral country of Yucatan, and at first) to the province Chac- 
 nouitan." The province referred to was, I doubt not, some- 
 where around Lake Peten. The word chac is often used in 
 local names in Yucatan, and usually means either "water" 
 or "red," as it is a homonym with several significations. 
 
 Several names similar to it are found in the Peten district. 
 On Lake Yaxta, are the ruins of the very ancient city Napeten, 
 and that lake may have once been called " Chac-napeten," 
 " the water of Napeten." Again, on the road from Peten to 
 Bacalar is the town Chacnabil, and the compound Chacna- 
 biltan would mean " toward or in the direction of Chac- 
 nabil' ' (see Itineraries y Leguarios que proceden de Merida, 
 etc., p. 15, Merida, 1851). The Itzas always remembered the 
 
124 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Peten district, and when they met with reverses in northern 
 Yucatan, they returned to it and established an important 
 State there, which was not destroyed until the last decade of 
 the seventeenth century. 
 
 3. Hunpel haab minan ti hokal haab, " one year lacking 
 from five score years. ' ' 
 
 The name Ahmekat is probably an old form for ahmeknah 
 or ahmektan, both of which are given in the Diccionario de 
 Motul for chieftain, leader, captain. 
 
 4. Lai tun, the relative lai with the particle tun, which is 
 called by Beltran a " particula adornativa." uchci is the aorist 
 of the defective verb uchul, uchi, uchuc, to happen, to take 
 place, come to pass. Emob is the third plural of emel, to de- 
 scend, to disembark, arrive. Pio Perez translates the phrase 
 ca emob uay lae, "luego bajaron aqui." As this was written 
 in the province of Mani, the " here ' ' now refers in a narrower 
 sense to the vicinity of the writer. The word chuulte I take 
 to be an error of transcription for uchci, as it is so translated 
 by Pio Perez. It is noteworthy that the word chicpahci, . 
 " discovered," conveys the sense that Chichen Itza was al- 
 ready in existence when the migration here recorded reached 
 northen Yucatan. It is from chicul, a sign or mark by which 
 something is recognized. 
 
 Of the proper names in this section Bakhalal, "the cane- 
 brakes ' ' (halal, the cane, bak, a roll or enclosure), is the mod- 
 ern province of Bacalar, on the east coast of the peninsula. 
 Ziyan caan appears to be used as a synonym of it, or else refers 
 to a part of it. Its meaning is a picturesque reference to 
 the view from the sea shore, where the horizon is clearly de- 
 fined, and the sky seems to rise from the water, " the birth of 
 the sky ; ' ' Ziyan, birth, caan, sky. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 125 
 
 The name Chi Cheen Itza was that of one of the grandest 
 ancient cities of Yucatan. Cheen is the name applied to a 
 tract of low-lying fertile land, especially suitable to the pro- 
 duction of cacao (Berendt) ; chi is edge or border. It is 
 therefore a name referring to a locality , " on the border of 
 the faeen of the Itzas." C^een also means well or cistern, 
 and another derivation is "at the mouth of the well," as chi 
 can also be rendered " mouth;" either of these is appropriate 
 to the features of the locality, as it is a fertile ^ow-lying tract 
 with two large natural reservoirs near by. 
 
 5. Paxi, from^aaxa/, a neuter form of the active verb pa, 
 to break in pieces ; it means " to go to pieces, to fall in ruins, 
 to be depopulated or deserted." Applied to a city it is often 
 translated " to be destroyed," but it does not convey quite so 
 positive a meaning. Kuyan uincob, " men of God," from Ku 
 the general name for Divinity. Chichen Itza was one of the 
 chief centres of religious life in Yucatan, and its priests were 
 esteemed among the most learned in the peninsula. 
 
 The name Chanputun, Champoton, or, reversed, Potonchan, 
 is derived by Gomara from the Nahuatl potonia, to smell 
 badly, and chan, house (in composition). Elsewhere, how- 
 ever, we find it in the form Chakanputun, and this is Maya. 
 Chakan is the term applied to a grassy plain, a savanna, and 
 it was especially applied to the ancient province in which the 
 city of Ho, now Merida, was situated, as appears from the 
 following entry in the Diccionario de Motul, MS. 
 
 "AHCHAKAN : el que es de M4rida, o de los pueblos de 
 aquella comarca, que se llama Chakan" 
 
 The correct form of the name is probably Chakan peten, the 
 savanna region. 
 
 6. The only obscure expression in this section is yalan the, 
 
126 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 yalan aban, yalan ak. This often recurs in the ancient Maya 
 manuscripts, and was evidently a well-known formula, 
 probably the refrain of one of their ancient chants. In Mr. 
 Stephens' translation it is rendered "under the uninhabited 
 mountains" (!) which is an attempt to render Pio Perez's 
 words " bajo los montes despoblados," "in the uninhabited 
 forests. ' ' Aban or haban is an obsolete word, only found in 
 compounds, as yoxhaban, huts made of branches. Both it 
 and ak were the names of various branches or twigs. The 
 phrase is literally " under the trees, under the branches, under 
 the foliage," and meant that those who thus lived were home- 
 less and houseless. It is a striking testimony to the love of 
 solid buildings and walled cities which .characterized the 
 Mayas. 
 
 I will add a verse from a curious prophetic chant in one of 
 the Books of Chilan Balam, where this expression occurs, and 
 which is an interesting example of these strange songs. 
 
 TZOLAH TI AHKIN CHILAM. 
 
 {Recital of the priest 
 
 Uien, uien, a man uah ; 
 
 Uken, uken, a man haa ; 
 
 Tu kin, puz lum pach, 
 
 Tu kin, tzuch lum ich, 
 
 Tu kin, naclah muyal, 
 
 Tu kin, naclah uitz, 
 
 Tu kin, chuc lum oiic, 
 
 Tu kin, hubulhub, 
 
 Tu kin, coo yol chelem, 
 
 Tu kin, eoeleo, 
 
 Tu kin, ox oalab u nak yaxche, 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 127 
 
 Tu kin, ox chuilab xotem, 
 
 Tu kin, pan tzintzin 
 
 Yetel banhob yalan che yalan haban. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 Eat, eat, thou hast bread ; 
 
 Drink, drink, thou hast water ; 
 
 On that day, dust possesses the earth, 
 
 On that day, a blight is on the face of the earth, 
 
 On that day, a cloud rises, 
 
 On that day, a mountain rises, 
 
 On that day, a strong man seizes the land, 
 
 On that day, things fall to ruin, 
 
 On that day, the tender leaf is destroyed, 
 
 On that day, the dying eyes are closed, 
 
 On that day, three signs are on the tree, 
 
 On that day, three generations hang there, 
 
 On that day, the battle flag is raised, 
 
 And they are scattered afar in the forests. 
 
 7. Heyob, from hey, hey el or ey, to fix firmly, to settle, to 
 found : hey el ca cah uaye, let us settle here, " poblamos aqui " 
 {Dice, de San Francisco, MS.). 
 
 8. The founding of Uxmal by Ahcuitok Tutulxiu is re- 
 corded in this paragraph ; ahcui is the name of a species of 
 owl , tok is the flint stone. By some old writers Uxmal is 
 spelled Oxmal, which would give the meaning " to pass 
 thrice," ox, three, mat, to pass. From mal, preterite mani, 
 also was derived the name of the chief city of the Tutulxiu, 
 with a peculiar signification explained in a note on a previous 
 page. 
 
 Mr. Stephens has taken considerable pains to prove that 
 
128 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Uxmal with its astonishing edifices was inhabited at and after 
 the conquest (Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol. II, p. 259); 
 there may, indeed, have been an Indian village there, but 
 the first European traveler who has left us a description of 
 it, and who visited it in 1586, when many natives, born 
 before the conquest, were still living, describes the massive 
 buildings as even then in ruins, and very large trees growing 
 upon them. An old Indian told him that according to their 
 traditions, these structures had at that time been built nine 
 hundred years, and that their builders had left the country 
 nearly that long ago. {Relation Breve y Verdadera de algu- 
 nas cosas de las muchas qui sucedieron al Padre Fray Alonzo 
 Ponce, in the Coleccion de Documentos para la Historia de 
 Espana, vol. LVIII, p. 461.) 
 
 The phrase u heyicab Ahcuitok Tutulxiu Uxmal is translated 
 by Pio Perez "se poblo en Uxmal," established himself in 
 Uxmal," conveying the impression that he merely moved to 
 that city. This is, however, not the sense of the original. 
 Hericab is an active verb governing Uxmal as its direct 
 object, and means to found firmly or promptly. 
 
 The expression halach uinicil, the real man, the true man, 
 is a common idiom for governor or ruler, he being the only 
 " real man " in an autocratic community (ante p. 26). 
 
 The name of Mayapan is given in the form Mayalpan, 
 which I think is dialectic. It is spoken of as an established 
 city under the joint rule of several chiefs at the date of the 
 founding of Uxmal. 
 
 9. This paragraph describes how the ruler of the Itzas lost 
 his share in the government of Mayapan. Kebanthan, 
 literally a plot, or to plot to do some injury " concertar de 
 hacer algun mal, y el tal concierto," Diccionario de Motul, 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 129 
 
 MS. I have followed Pio Perez in translating "against 
 Hunac Eel," although "by Hunac Eel" seems more correct. 
 Elsewhere the name is Hunac Ceel. Ancona argues that he 
 was a member of the Cocom family (Hist, de Yucatan, I. p. 
 
 >S7) 
 
 Several of the names of the seven "men of Mayapan " 
 have a Nahuatl appearance. Kakaltecat = Cacaltecatl, 
 He of the Crow ; Ytzcuat = Itzcoatl, Smirch-faced snake ; 
 Xuchueuet = Xochitl, the rose or flower ; Pantemit = Panten- 
 amitl, the Conqueror of the city wall. These would seem to 
 bear out what Landa and Herrera say, to the effect that at one 
 period the rulers of Mayapan invited Aztec warriors from the 
 province of Tabasco to come and dwell in the city and aid 
 them in controlling the inhabitants. 
 
 Both Dr. Valentini and Senor Pio Perez are of opinion the 
 Katuns at the commencement of this paragraph should read 
 the loth, 8th and 6th, instead of the nth, gth and 6th, as it is 
 necessary in order to establish consistency with what follows. 
 
 10. This is one of the most obscure sections in the 
 chronicle. The phrase tumenel u uahal uahob is rendered by 
 Pio Perez "because he made war," while Brasseur translates 
 it " because of his great feasts." The meaning of the root 
 uah is maize cakes, or, more generally, bread. The Dicci- 
 onario de Motul gives: " UAHIL ; banquete, convite 6 
 comida," which is in favor of Brasseur's translation. 
 
 Oxlahun HUJ, "thirteen divisions;" uuy or uuuy means 
 literally a fold or double, and hence appears to have been 
 applied to ranks of men in double rows. I do not find, how- 
 ever, any such meaning given in the dictionaries. As a 
 numeral particle it is used to count whatever occurs in folds 
 or doubles. 
 
130 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 The number thirteen had a sacredness attached to it, from 
 its frequent use in the calendar. It appears from a passage 
 in the Popol Vuh that the Cakchiquels, Pokomams and 
 Pokomchis also divided their tribes into thirteen sections 
 (Popol Vuh, p. 206). In the Maya language, 13 is also used to 
 signify a great but indefinite number: thus oxlahun cacab, 
 thirteen generations, is equivalent to "forever"; oxlahun 
 pixan, thirteen times happy, is to be happy in the supreme 
 degree ; more remote from customary analogies is the phrase 
 for " full moon," oxlhaun caan u, literally "the] thirteen-sky 
 moon," the moon which fills with its light the whole sky 
 (Diccionario de Motul, MS.). 
 
 The phrase u yabal u natob is not translated at all in the 
 English rendering in Stephens' Travels, nor in that of Valen- 
 tini. Brasseur paraphrases it "by him who gives intelligence. ' ' 
 
 The proper names Ulmil and Ulil seem both to be derived 
 from ula, host, the master of the feast. 
 
 Here, again, I shall give the originals of the two previ- 
 ous translators. 
 
 Translation of Pio Perez. 
 
 " En este mismo periodo 6 katun del 8 ahau fueron a 
 destruir al rey Ulmil porque le hacia la guerra al rey de Izamal 
 Ulil. Trece divisiones de combatientes tenia cuando los dis- 
 pers6 Hunac-eel para escarmentarlos : la guerra se concluyo 
 en el 6 ahau los 34 anos. ' ' 
 
 Translation of Brasseur. 
 
 " C'est dans la me'me periode du Huit Ahau qu 'ils allSrent 
 attaquer le roi Ulmil, a cause de ses grands festins avec Ulil, 
 roi d' Ytzmal : ils avaient treize divisions de troupes, lorsqu'ils 
 furent dSfaits par Hunac-Eel, par celui qui donne 1' intelli- 
 gence. Au Six Ahau, e'en etait fait, apr&s trente quatre ans." 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 131 
 
 The name Hunac Eel should be Hunac Ceel, as it is given 
 in the other chronicles. It means " he who causes great fear," 
 hunac in composition means much, great, and ceel, cold, 
 also the fright and terror which makes one shiver as with 
 cold (" espanto, asombro 6 turbacion que causa frio." Dice, 
 de Motul, MS). 
 
 ii. This important section describes the destruction of the 
 great city of Mayapan, which occurred somewhere between 
 A.D. 1420-1450. The reasons given for the act are not clear. 
 
 Tumenel u pack tulum, tumenel multepal ich cah Mayalpan, 
 appears to me to have the precise meaning I have given in the 
 text ; but Pio Perez translates the passage thus " fu6 invadido 
 por los hombres de Itza y su rey Ulmil, el territorio fortificado 
 de Mayalpan, porque tenia murallas, y porque gobernaba en 
 comun el pueblo de aquella ciudad." 
 
 The expression multepal, from mul, to do an act jointly, or 
 in common, and tepal, to govern, is interesting as showing 
 that the government of the country in its golden days of 
 prosperity was not one of an autocratic monarch, but a league 
 or confederation of the principal chiefs of the peninsula. This 
 is also borne out by the descriptions of the ancient govern- 
 ment to be found in the pages of Landa and Herrera. 
 
 The Itzas seized the territory in and around Mayapan, but 
 they were not the ones who destroyed the city. This was the 
 work of Ahuitzihul, foreign mountaineers, jut, is the com- 
 mon term for a foreigner in Maya, and is now-a-days applied 
 especially to the whites. Uitz, mountain, is used with refer- 
 ence to the high sierra which runs through central Yucatan, 
 and so Pio Perez understood ahuitzil, "los que tenian sus ciuda- 
 des en la parte montanosa. ' ' This is probably correct, though 
 
132 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 we do not know to whom this appellation refers. Yet it may 
 be added that another meaning can be given to the phrase ; 
 uitz is the term applied by the natives in some parts of the 
 peninsula to the artificial mounds or pyramids on which their 
 temples were situated, which are usually called muul.* In 
 this sense ahuitzil yul should be rendered " foreigners who 
 had great pyramids." 
 
 The words tan cah Mayapan (not Mayalpan as before) are 
 rendered by Pio Perez and Brasseur as the name of a province 
 or district; but as they simply mean " in the middle of the 
 city of Mayapan," it appears to be their signification here. 
 
 12. "After the fortress was depopulated" or destroyed. 
 This no doubt refers to the fortress of Mayapan, spoken of in 
 the previous section. Aguilar and his companions were 
 wrecked on the coast of Yucatan, in 1511, and this is proba- 
 bly the earliest date of any actual landing of Europeans, al- 
 though in 1506, Pinzon had sighted the eastern shores. 
 
 13. Mctyacimil, "the death of the Mayas," a term applied 
 to a general and fatal pestilence. Such are referred to by 
 Landa (Relation, X.) and Cogolludo (^Historia de Yucatan, 
 Lib. IV, cap. VI), The Dictionario de Motul, MS. has this 
 entry : 
 
 " MAYACIMIL : una mortandad grande que fu6 en Yucatan. 
 Y tomase por qualquier mortandad y pestilencia que lleva 
 mucha gente." 
 
 Noh kakil, noh, great, kak, fire, is the usual word for the 
 smallpox. 
 
 1 " En toda la Peninsula existen unos cerros a mano 6 monticulos arti- 
 ficiales, que comunmente llaman los naturales en idioma Maya Muul en 
 algunos lugares, y en otros Uitz." Don Jose T. Cervera in the Revista 
 de Merida, Dec. 3, 1871. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 133 
 
 The reference to the death of Ahpula, who, as we learn 
 from another chronicle, was a member of the royal Xiu fam- 
 ily, is especially valuable as assigning a definite date in both 
 the Maya and European calendars. It is specified with great 
 minuteness, and yet Pio Perez made the serious error in his 
 computations regarding the Maya calendar of reading "the 
 sixth year of the I3th ahau " instead of "six years from the 
 close of the i3th ahau," as, in fact, he himself elsewhere 
 translated it. 
 
 The expression u xocolhaab ti lakin cuchie, "the reckoning 
 of the year was toward the East," refers to the circle or 
 wheel marked with the four cardinal points by which the years 
 were arranged with reference to the four ' ' year-bearers ' ' 
 Kan, Muluc, Ix and Cauac. 
 
 The last words of this section, "sixty years after the for- 
 tress was destroyed," are an obvious error, as in the preced- 
 ing section this date is said to be that of the first arrival of 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 14. Kuluincob, "mighty men," from kul, strong, power- 
 ful, probably akin to ku, god, but not with the religious sig- 
 nification which kuyen has (see page 125). Caputzihil, lit- 
 erally "to be born a second time." Bishop Landa assures 
 us positively that a rite of baptism was known to the Mayas be- 
 fore the arrival of the whites, and that this name was applied 
 to it (Relation, p. 144). As will be seen on a later page, 
 Maya writers usually employed another term to express Chris- 
 tian baptism. 
 
 The year in which Bishop Francisco Toral first came to 
 Yucatan was 1562 (Cogolludo, Hist, de Yucatan, Lib. VI, 
 cap. VI). He died in Mexico in 1571. 
 
134 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 The remainder of this chronicle has never been translated 
 or published. It refers to facts after the Conquest, but I 
 think it of interest to give it completely, as its manner of 
 dealing with known dates will throw light on its general 
 accuracy. 
 
 15. Bishop Diego de Landa, second bishop of the diocese 
 ofMerida, died at that city in 1579, aged fifty-four years. 
 The first missionaries that came to Mani were Fathers Vil- 
 lalpando and Benavente, in 1547 (Cogolludo, Hist., Lib. V, 
 cap. VII). The convent there was established in 1549. 
 
 1 6. No town of the name Yokhaa is now known. But I 
 find on the ancient native map of Mani, dating from 1557, 
 given by Stephens (Travels in Yucatan, Vol. II, p. 264), a 
 locality marked Yokha, marked with a cross. This is no doubt 
 the reference in the text. 
 
 17. The Auditor Don Tomas Lopez came to Yucatan from 
 Guatemala. He was in Yucatan as early as 1552, and pub- 
 lished laws in that year (Cogolludo, Lib. V, cap. XIX, Lib. 
 VII, cap. XI). A hospital was founded very early in Mani, 
 according to Cogolludo, but he does not give the exact date 
 (ibid., Lib. IV, cap. XX). 
 
 1 8. Doctor Don Diego Quijada arrived in Yucatan in 
 1562, and remained until 1565. 
 
 19. When Landa was provincial, 1562-65, various Indians 
 were hanged on account of the prevalence of suicide. 
 
 20. What Marshall is referred to is uncertain, thulub should 
 probably be chulub, and so I have translated it. Berendt 
 suggested ca botab chulub, "when they paid for water," the 
 reference being to a great drought. 
 
 21. An epidemic of measles and smallpox, in 1609, is 
 referred to by Cogolludo (Lib. IX, cap. I). 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 135 
 
 22. In 1610 three Indians of Tekax were hanged for 
 having killed their chief Don Pedro Xiu (Cogolludo, Lib. 
 IX, cap. I). 
 
 23. The reference is to a census or assessment of the town. 
 None is mentioned in this year by Cogolludo, nor does he 
 speak of the Judge Diego Pareja. 
 
ii. THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan Balam of Tizimin. 
 
 Tizimin is a town of some importance, in the 
 district of Valladolid, about a hundred miles east 
 of Merida. The "Book of Chilan Balam" which 
 was found there is one of the most ancient known, 
 and appears to have been written about the close 
 of the sixteenth century. It is now in the posses- 
 sion of the eminent antiquary, the Canon Cres- 
 cendo Carrillo y Ancona, of Merida, who has de- 
 scribed it in his work on Maya literature. 1 It con- 
 tains 26 leaves, without numeration, and on the 
 1 7th this chronicle is inserted without title or 
 prefatory remarks. It is evidently a version of 
 that previously given from the Book of Mani, al- 
 though a few additional particulars are stated, 
 and there seems to have been an attempt to ar- 
 range the epochs in more completeness. 
 
 This has led to the insertion of a number of 
 katuns which I think it evident do not properly 
 come into the count. To correct the list the ka- 
 
 1 Disertacion sobre la Historia de la Lengua Maya b Yucateca, 
 in the Revista de Merida, 1870, p. 128. 
 
 136 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 137 
 
 tuns 8th, 6th, and 4th, mentioned in 2, should be 
 considered the same as 8th, 6th, and 4th, repeated 
 in 3 and 4. Again, in section n, the 8th ka- 
 tun, on which the attack on Mayapan occurs, is to 
 be considered the same as the 8th with which 12 
 begins, and the whole of the 25 katuns which are 
 either stated to have intervened, or must be added 
 in order to make the series correct, are to be 
 omitted. Finally, the 8th katun at the close of 
 10 should immediately follow the loth at the 
 close of 8. 
 
TEXT. 
 
 1. Uaxac ahau. 
 Uac ahau 
 Can ahau. 
 
 Cabil ahau " cakal hab catac humppel hab 
 tu humpiztun ahoxlahunahau. 
 
 2. Oxlahun ahau. 
 Uaxac ahau. 
 Uac ahau. 
 
 Ca ahau ; kuchci chacnabiton mekat tutul 
 xiu, humppel hab mati hokal hab. 
 
 3. Uaxac ahau ; uch cuchi 2 canpahal chichen 
 
 Ytza ; uch cu chicpahal tzucubte Zian 
 can lae. 
 
 4. Can ahau. 
 Cabil ahau. 
 
 Oxlahun ahau ; lai tzolci pop. 
 
 5. Buluc ahau. 
 Bolon ahau. 
 Uuc ahau. 
 Ho ahau. 
 
 1 cankal. 2 canlaahal. 
 
 138 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 139 
 
 Ox ahau. 
 
 Hun ahau ; lahunkal hab cu tepal chichen 
 Ytza, ca paxi ca binob t cahtal chakanputun 
 ti yanhi yotochob ahYtzaob kuyan uinicobi. 
 
 6. Uac ahau ; chuccu lumil chakanputun. 
 Can ahau. 
 
 Cabil ahau. 
 
 Oxlahun ahau. 
 
 Buluc ahau. 
 
 Bolon ahau. 
 
 Uuc ahau. 
 
 Ho ahau. 
 
 Ox ahau. 
 
 Hun ahau. 
 
 Lahca ahau. 
 
 Lahun ahau. 
 
 Uaxac ahau; paxci chakanputun; oxlahun- 
 kal hab cu tepal chacanputun tumen Ytza 
 1 unincob ; ca talob u tzaclob yotochob 
 tu eaten ; ca u zatahob be chakanputun ; 
 lay u katunil 2 biciob ahYtzaob yalan che, 
 yalan haban, yalan ak ti numyaob. 
 
 7. Vac ahau. 
 
 Can ahau ; cakal hab ca talob u heo yotochob 
 tu eaten ; ca u zatahob be chankanputun. 
 Cabil ahau. 
 
 1 uinicob. 2 binciob. 
 
140 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Oxlahun ahau. 
 Buluc ahau. 
 Bolon ahau. 
 Vuc ahau. 
 Ho ahau. 
 Ox ahau. 
 Hun ahau. 
 Lahca ahau. 
 
 8. Lahun ahau; u heocicab ahzuitok tutulxiu 
 
 uxmal ; lahunkal hab cuchi ca heoiob lum 
 Uxmal. 
 
 9, 10. Buluc ahau. 
 Bolon ahau. 
 Uuc ahau. 
 
 Ho ahau. 
 
 Ox ahau. 
 
 Hun ahau. 
 
 Lahca ahau. 
 
 Lahun ahau. 
 
 Uaxac ahau ; paxci u halach vinicil chichen 
 Ytza tu kebanthan hunac ceel, ah zinte yut 
 chan, tzumte cum, taxal, pantemit, xuchve- 
 vet, Itzcoat, kakal cat, lai u kaba u uinicilob 
 lae uuctulob tumen u uahal uahob y ytzmal 
 ulil ahau : oxlahun UUD u katunilob ca paxob 
 tumen hunac ceel, tumen u oabal u natob. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 141 
 
 1 1 . Uac ahau. 
 
 Can ahau; cakal hab ca chuci u lumil ahau, 
 
 tumen u kebanthan hunac ceel. 
 Cabil ahau. 
 Oxlahun ahau. 
 Buluc ahau. 
 Bolon ahau. 
 Uuc ahau. 
 Ho ahau. 
 Ox ahau. 
 Hun ahau. 
 Lahca ahau. 
 Uaxac ahau ; uchci puchtun ich paa Mayapan 
 
 tumen u pach tulum, tu tumen multepal ich 
 
 cah mayapan. 
 Uac ahau. 
 Cabil ahau ; oxlahun tun mani oulob u yaxil 
 
 cob u lumil Yucatan tzir nbte ; cankal hab 
 
 catac oxlahun pizi. 
 Buluc ahau. 
 Bolon ahau. 
 Uuc ahau. 
 Ho ahau. 
 Ox ahau. 
 Hun ahau. 
 Lahca ahau. 
 
142 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Lahun ahau, 
 Uaxac ahau. 
 Uac ahau'. 
 Can ahau. 
 Cabil ahau. 
 Oxlahun ahau. 
 Buluc ahau. 
 
 12. Uaxac ahau; paxci cah mayapan tumenel 
 
 vitzil oul ; lahunkal hab catac cankal habi. 
 
 13. Can ahau ; uchi maya cimlal ocnalkuchil 
 
 ych paa. 
 
 Cabil ahau ; uchci nohkakil. 
 
 Oxlahun ahau; 'uchci cimil ahpulha, uacppel 
 hab u binel ca oococ u xol oxlahun ahau 
 cuchie, ti yan u xocol hab ti lakin cuchie, 
 canil kan, cumlahi pop hool han, tu holhun 
 zip catac oxppeli, bolon imix u kinil cimci 
 ahpulha laitun hab =1536 cuchi. 
 
 14. Buluc ahau ; ulci Dulob kul uincob ti la- 
 
 kin u talob ca ulob uai tac lumile. 
 Bolon ahau; hopci xptianoil; uchci caputzihil; 
 lai li ichil u katunil ulci yax obispo toral 
 heix hab cu 2 xinbal cuchie 1544. 
 
 1 5. Vuc ahau ; cimci obispo Landa ichil u katunil. 
 
 1 6. Ho ahau, ca yum cahi padre mani lai hab cu 
 
 1 uchuc. 2 ximbal. 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 143 
 
 ximbal cuchi la 1550; lai hab cu ximbal 
 ca cahiob yok ha, 1552 cuchi. 
 
 17. 1559, hab ca uli oydor ca paki spital. 
 
 1 8. 1560, u habil ca uli Doctor quixada yax 
 
 halach uinic uai ti lume. 
 
 19. 1562, hab ca uchci chuitab. 
 
 20. 1563, hab ca uli mariscal. 
 
 21. 1569, hab ca uchi kakil. 
 
 22. 1619, u habil ca hichi u cal 'ahkaxob. 
 
 23. 1611, hab ca oibtabi cah tumenel Jues. 
 
 1 tikaxob. 
 
TRANSLATION. 
 
 1. The eighth ahau. 
 The sixth ahau. 
 The fourth ahau. 
 
 The second ahau ; four score years and one 
 year to the first year of the thirteenth ahau. 
 
 2. The thirteenth ahau. 
 The eighth ahau. 
 The sixth ahau. 
 
 The fourth ahau ; Mekat Tutulxiu arrived at 
 Chacnabiton ; five score years lacking one 
 year. 
 
 3. The eighth ahau ; it occurred that Chichen 
 
 Itza was learned about ; the discovery of 
 the province of Zian can took place. 
 
 4. The fourth ahau. 
 The second ahau. 
 
 The thirteenth ahau ; then Pop was counted 
 in order. 
 
 5. The eleventh ahau. 
 The ninth ahau. 
 The seventh ahau. 
 The fifth ahau. 
 
 144 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 145 
 
 The third ahau. 
 
 The first ahau; ten score years they ruled 
 Chichen Itza, then it was destroyed and they 
 went to live at Chakanputun, where were 
 the houses of those of Itza, holy men. 
 6. The sixth ahau ; the land of Chakanputun 
 was seized. 
 
 The fourth ahau. 
 
 The second ahau. 
 
 The thirteenth ahau. 
 
 The eleventh ahau. 
 
 The ninth ahau. 
 
 The seventh ahau. 
 
 The fifth ahau. 
 
 The third ahau. 
 
 The first ahau. 
 
 The twelfth ahau. 
 
 The tenth ahau. 
 
 The eighth ahau ; Chakanputun was aban- 
 doned ; for thirteen score years Chakanpu- 
 tun was ruled by the men of Itza ; then they 
 came in search of their houses a second 
 time ; and they lost the road to Chakan- 
 putun ; in this katun those of Itza were 
 under the trees, under the boughs, under 
 the branches, to their sorrow. 
 
146 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 7. The sixth ahau. 
 
 Thefourthahau: two score years, and they came 
 and established their houses a second time; 
 when they lost the road to Chakanputun. 
 
 The second ahau. 
 
 The thirteenth ahau. 
 
 The eleventh ahau. 
 
 The ninth ahau. 
 
 The seventh ahau. 
 
 The fifth ahau. 
 
 The third ahau. 
 
 The first ahau. 
 
 The twelfth ahau. 
 
 8. The tenth ahau ; Ahzuitok Tutulxiu founded 
 
 Uxmal : ten score years had passed when 
 they established the territory of Uxmal. 
 9,10. The eleventh ahau. 
 
 The ninth ahau. 
 
 The seventh ahau. 
 
 The fifth ahau. 
 
 The third ahau. 
 
 The first ahau. 
 
 The twelfth ahau. 
 
 The tenth ahau. 
 
 The eighth ahau ; the ruler deserted (de- 
 populated) Chichen Itza, on account of the 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 147 
 
 plot of Hunac Ceel ; Ahzinteyut Chan, 
 Tzumtecum, Taxal, Pantemit, Xuchueuet, 
 Itzcoat, Kakalcat, these were the names of 
 the seven men ; on account of the banquet 
 with Ulil, ruler of Itzmal ; there were 
 thirteen divisions of warriors when they 
 were driven out by Hunac Ceel, in order 
 that they might know what was to be given. 
 1 1. The sixth ahau. 
 
 The fourth ahau : two score years ; then the 
 ruler seized the land on account of the 
 plot of Hunac Ceel. 
 
 The second ahau. 
 
 The thirteenth ahau. 
 
 The eleventh ahau. 
 
 The ninth ahau. 
 
 The seventh ahau. 
 
 The fifth ahau. 
 
 The third ahau. 
 
 The first ahau. 
 
 The twelfth ahau. 
 
 The tenth ahau. 
 
 The eighth ahau ; fighting took place in the 
 fortress Mayapan, on account of the seizure 
 of the castle, and on account of the joint 
 government in the city of Mayapan. 
 
148 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 The sixth ahau. 
 
 The second ahau : on the thirteenth for- 
 eigners passed, they say for the first time, 
 to this land, the province Yucatan ; four 
 score years and thirteen. 
 
 The eleventh ahau. 
 
 The ninth ahau. 
 
 The seventh ahau. 
 
 The fifth ahau. 
 
 The third ahau. 
 
 The first ahau. 
 
 The twelfth ahau. 
 
 The tenth ahau. 
 
 The eighth ahau. 
 
 The sixth ahau. 
 
 The fourth ahau. 
 
 The second ahau. 
 
 The thirteenth ahau. 
 
 The eleventh ahau. 
 
 12. The eighth ahau; Mayapan was depopu- 
 
 lated by foreigners from the mountains ; 
 ten score years and four score years. 
 
 13. The fourth ahau ; the pestilence, the general 
 
 death, took place in the fortress. 
 The second ahau ; the smallpox took place. 
 The thirteenth ahau ; the death of Ahpulha 
 
 took place; it was the sixth year when ended 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 149 
 
 the count of the thirteenth ahau; the count of 
 the year was from the east, (the month) Pop 
 passed on the fifth kan ; on the eighteenth 
 of (the month) Zip, 9 Imix, was the day 
 Ahpulha died; it was the year 1536. 
 
 14. The eleventh ahau; foreigners arrived 
 
 mighty men from the east ; they came, they 
 arrived here in this land. 
 The ninth ahau ; Christianity began ; baptism 
 took place ; also in this katun came the first 
 bishop Toral; the year which was passing 
 was 1544. 
 
 15. The seventh ahau; bishop Landa died in 
 
 this katun. 
 
 1 6. The fifth ahau ; the Fathers settled at Mani ; 
 
 the year that was passing was 1 550 ; in the 
 year 1552 they settled upon the water. 
 1 7> J 559 ! this Y ear came the auditor and built 
 the Hospital. 
 
 1 8. 1560; this year arrived Doctor Quixada, 
 
 the first governor here in this land. 
 
 19. 1562 ; this year took place the hanging. 
 
 20. 1563 ; this year came Mariscal. 
 
 21. 1569 ; this year smallpox occurred. 
 
 22. 1610; this year those of Tekax were hanged. 
 
 23. 1 6 1 1 ; this year the towns were written down 
 
 by the Judge. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 The entire omission of the introductory paragraph of the 
 Mani chronicle, with its references to the Quetzalcoatl myth, 
 is noteworthy. 
 
 As neither chronicle begins with the beginning of an Ahau 
 Katun, it is obvious that some era was fixed upon in later 
 days from which to count the Katuns backward in time to the 
 dawn of tradition, as well as forward. 
 
 2. On the name Chacnabiton see page 123. 
 
 3. Canpahal I take to be an old form of canchahal or can- 
 laahal, both of which mean to learn or learn about. On Zian 
 can see page 124. 
 
 4. I am at a loss for the exact bearing of the expression 
 lai tzolci Pop. Pop is the first month in the Maya year ; tzoo- 
 lol is " to be counted in order " {Dice. Motul~); the preterite 
 in ci would seem to justify the rendering " since then Pop 
 was counted in regular succession ; ' ' (see remarks on the 
 effect of ci, on page 106); in other words, that the calendar 
 was adopted at that time, which was also at the beginning of 
 an Ahau Katun, and, by the count given (supplying the ka- 
 tuns not mentioned by the writer) thirty katuns, 600 years, 
 since their traditions began. 
 
 6. Chuccu, passive of chucah, to seize, take possession of. 
 
 Zatahob be, "they lost the road," probably meant, in a fig- 
 urative sense, that they were prevented by intervening un- 
 friendly tribes from continuing their intercourse with the 
 
 150 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 151 
 
 western coast. Biciob, evidently for binciob. The expres- 
 sion yalan che, yalan haban, yalan ak, has already been ex- 
 plained (page 126). 
 
 13. Ocnakuchil. The derivation of this word is stated to 
 be from ocol, to enter, na, the houses, kuch, the crow or buz- 
 zard, the number of the dead being so great that the carrion 
 birds entered the dwellings to prey upon the bodies. 
 
 In the account of Ahpula's death ca yococ should, I think, 
 read ca ma yococ, " when not yet was ended." 
 
in. THE RECORD OF THE COUNT 
 OF THE KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel. 
 
 The village of Chumayel is about six leagues 
 east of Mani, and within the boundaries of the 
 province anciently ruled by the Xiu family. 
 
 The copy of the Book of Chilan Balam which 
 was found there was a redaction made by an In- 
 dian, Don Juan Josef Hoil, in 1782. Like all these 
 volumes it is a sort of common place book, in which 
 were copied miscellaneous articles from much old- 
 er manuscripts. One of these bears the date 1689, 
 but most of them have no date attached. Hoil's 
 original is, I believe, in the possession of the Can- 
 on Crescencio Carrillo y Ancona, of Merida. A 
 fac-simile copy, by the hand of the late Dr. Berendt, 
 is in my possession. 
 
 At the close of the volume, ff. 40-44, are found 
 three summaries of the ancient history of Yucatan, 
 which are those I am about to give. They have 
 never been translated from the original, nor pub- 
 lished in any form, and they contain details of in- 
 terest. They are evidently from different sources, 
 and are also different from those previously given. 
 
 152 
 
TEXT. 
 
 U kahlay u xocan katunob uchi u chictahal 
 u Chicheen Ytza uchi lae lay oiban ti cab lae 
 uchebal yoheltabal tumen hijmac yolah yohel 
 te ti xocol katun lae. 
 
 VI. Uac ahau uchci u chictahal u chicheen 
 
 Ytza. 
 IIII. Can ahau lae. 
 
 II. Cabil ahau. 
 
 XIII. Oxlahunahau tzolci.pop. 
 XI. Buluc ahau. 
 IX. Bolon ahau. 
 
 VII. Uuc ahau. 
 V. Ho ahau. 
 
 III. Ox ahau. 
 
 I. Hun ahau. 
 XII. Lahca ahau. 
 
 X. Lahun ahau ; paxci u chicheen Ytza ; 
 uchi oxlahun UUD katun cacahi cha- 
 kanputun ti yotochob u katunil. 
 K 153 
 
154 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 2. VI. Uac ahau. 
 
 IIII. Can ahau ; chucci u lumil tumenob 
 
 Chakanputun. 
 II. Cabil ahau. 
 XIII. Oxlahun ahau. 
 XI. Buluc ahau. 
 IX. Bolon ahau. 
 VII. Uuc ahau. 
 V. Ho ahau. 
 III. Ox ahau. 
 
 I. Hun ahau. 
 
 XII. Lahca ahau. 
 
 X. Lahun ahau. 
 
 VIII. Uaxac ahau ; paxci chakan putunob 
 tumenob ah Ytza uinicob ca taliob 
 u tzacle u yotochob tu eaten ; oxla- 
 hun UUD u katunil ; cahanob chakan 
 putunob tic yotochob ; layli u katu- 
 nil binciob ah Ytzaob yalan che, ya- 
 lan haban, yalan ak, ti numyaob lae. 
 
 3. VI. Uac ahau. 
 IIII. Can ahau. 
 
 II. Cabil ahau. 
 
 XIII. Oxlahun ahau. 
 
 XI. Buluc ahau. 
 
RECORD OF THE COUNT OF THE KATUNS. 155 
 
 IX. Bolon ahau. 
 VII. Uuc ahau. 
 V. Ho ahau. 
 III. Ox ahau. 
 
 I. Hun ahau. 
 XII. Lahca ahau. 
 X. Lahun ahau. 
 
 VIII. Uaxac ahau; paxci ahYtza uinicob ti 
 yotochob tu eaten, tumen u keban- 
 than hun nac ceel, tumen u uahal 
 uahob y ahYtzmal ; oxlahunuuo u 
 katunil cahanobi ca paxiob tumen 
 hun nac ceel, tumen a Dabal u natob 
 ahYtzaob lae. 
 
 4. VI. Uac ahau. 
 
 IIII. Can ahau : chucci u luumil ichpaa 
 Mayapan tumen AhYtza uinicob, 
 likulob ti yotoche tumenel ahYtz- 
 malob, tumen u kebanthan - - - 
 hun nac ceel lae. 
 
 5. II. Cabil ahau. 
 XIII. Oxlahun ahau. 
 
 XI. Buluc ahau. 
 IX. Bolon ahau. 
 VII. Uuc ahau, 
 V. Ho ahau. 
 
156 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 III. Ox ahau. 
 
 I. Hun ahau. 
 XII. Lahca ahau. 
 X. Lahun ahau. 
 
 VIII. Uaxac ahau : uchci pucfttun ychpaa 
 Mayapan tumen u pach paa, u pach 
 tulum, tumen multepal ych cah Ma- 
 yapan lal lae. 
 
 6. VI. Uac ahau. 
 
 IIII. Can ahau : uchci mayacimlal ; uchci 
 
 ocnakuchil ych paa. 
 II. Cabil ahau : uchci kakil nohkakile. 
 
 7. XIII. Oxlahun ahau ; cimci Ahpula uacppel 
 
 haab ; u binel u xocol haab ti lakin 
 cuchie ; 'caanil kan cumlahci pop ti 
 lakin he tunte na cici pahool katun 
 haab ; hun hix cip catac oxppeli Bo- 
 Ion ymix hi ; u kinil lay cimci Ah- 
 pula lae napotxiu tu habil D. 158 
 anos. 
 
 8. XL Buluc ahau : hulciob kul uinicob ti la- 
 
 kin; u yah talzah; ulob u yaxchun 
 uay lae luumil coon maya uinice tu 
 habil D. 1523 anos. 
 
 IX. Bolon ahau : hoppci xpnoil\ uchci ca- 
 1 Canil. 
 
RECORD OF THE COUNT OF THE KATUNS. 157 
 
 putzihil ; laytal ychil u katunil hulci 
 obispo tora 'ua ; xane hauci 'huytabe 
 tu habil D. 1546 anos. 
 VII. Uuc ahau : cimci obispo de Landa. 
 V. Hoo ahau. 
 III. Ox ahau. 
 
 1 uay. chuytabe. 
 
TRANSLATION. 
 
 This is the Record of the count of the ka- 
 tuns from when took place the discovery of 
 Chichen Itza ; this is written for the town in 
 order that it maybe known by whoever wishes 
 to know as to the counting of the katuns. 
 
 VI. In the sixth ahau took place the dis- 
 covery of Chichen Itza. 
 IIII. This is the fourth ahau. 
 
 II. The second ahau. 
 XIII. The thirteenth ahau ; Pop was set in 
 
 order. 
 
 XI. The eleventh ahau. 
 IX. The ninth ahau. 
 VII. The seventh ahau. 
 V. The fifth ahau. 
 III. The third ahau. 
 I. The first ahau. 
 XII. The twelfth ahau. 
 X. The tenth ahau ; Chichen Itza was 
 158 
 
RECORD OF THE COUNT OF THE KATUNS. 159 
 
 abandoned ; at this time it took place 
 that thirteen divisions of warriors 
 went to Chakanputun for houses. 
 
 2. VI. The sixth ahau. 
 
 IIII. The fourth ahau ; the land was taken 
 in possession by those of Chakan- 
 putun. 
 
 II. The second ahau. 
 XIII. The thirteenth ahau. 
 XI. The eleventh ahau. 
 IX. The ninth ahau. 
 VII. The seventh ahau. 
 V. The fifth ahau. 
 III. The third ahau. 
 I. The first ahau. 
 XII. The twelfth ahau. 
 
 X. The tenth ahau. 
 
 VIII. The eighth ahau: Chakanputun was 
 deserted by the men of Itza when 
 they came in search of their houses 
 for the second time ; thirteen divi- 
 sions of warriors dwelt in the houses 
 at Chakanputun; in this katun those 
 of Itza were under the trees, under 
 
160 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 the boughs, under the branches, to 
 their misery. 
 
 3. VI. The sixth ahau. 
 IV. The fourth ahau. 
 
 II. The second ahau. 
 XIII. The thirteenth ahau. 
 XI. The eleventh ahau. 
 IX. The ninth ahau. 
 VII. The seventh ahau. 
 V. The fifth ahau. 
 III. The third ahau. 
 I. The first ahau. 
 XII. The twelfth ahau. 
 
 X. The tenth ahau. 
 
 VIII. The eighth ahau : the men of Itza 
 were driven out of their houses a 
 second time because of the plot of 
 Hunac Ceel, because of the festivi- 
 ties with those of Itzmal ; thirteen di- 
 visions of warriors dwelt there when 
 they were driven out by Hunnac 
 Ceel in order that those of Itza might 
 know what was to be given. 
 
 4. VI. The sixth ahau. 
 
 IIII. The fourth ahau ; the territory of the 
 fortress of Mayapan was seized by 
 
RECORD OF THE COUNT OF THE KATUNS. 161 
 
 the men of Itza as also the houses 
 by those of Itzamal because of the 
 plotting - - - - of Hunnac Ceel. 
 
 5. II. The second ahau. 
 XIII. The thirteenth ahau. 
 
 XI. The eleventh ahau. 
 IX. The ninth ahau. 
 VII. The seventh ahau. 
 V. The fifth ahau. 
 
 III. The third ahau. 
 I. The first ahau. 
 
 XII. The twelfth ahau. 
 X. The tenth ahau. 
 
 VIII. The eighth ahau : there was fighting 
 in the fortress of Mayapan because 
 of the seizure of the fortress and 
 the fortified town by the joint gov- 
 ernment in the city of Mayapan. 
 
 6. VI. The sixth ahau. 
 
 IV. The fourth ahau : the pestilence took 
 
 place, the general death took place 
 in the fortress. 
 
 II. The second ahau ; the smallpox broke 
 out. 
 
 7. XIII. The thirteenth ahau ; Ahpula died 
 
 the sixth year ; the count of the years 
 
162 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 was toward the east : (the month) 
 Pop began on 4 Kan to the east * 
 
 9 Imix was 
 
 the day on which Ahpula NapotXiu 
 died in the year of the Lord 158. 
 8. XI. The eleventh ahau : the mighty men 
 came from the East, they brought the 
 sickness ; they arrived for the first 
 time in this country we Maya men 
 say in the year 1513. 
 IX. The ninth ahau : Christianity began ; 
 baptism took place ; also in this ka- 
 tun arrived bishop Toral here ; also 
 the hanging ceased in the year 
 1546. 
 
 VII. The seventh ahau ; bishop Landa died. 
 V. The fifth ahau. 
 III. The third ahau. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 The writer states, in a brief introduction, the nature and 
 purpose of his composition. 
 
 U kahlay, the record, or the memoir, from kahal, to 
 remember. The concrete meaning of the root is "to know 
 by sight, to recognize." riban, past participle, passive voice, 
 of rib to write : the original signification of the word is "to 
 paint." Yoheltabal, passive form of ohel, to know, which is 
 always conjugated with the pronominal prefixes, u, a, y. Yolah, 
 syncopated form of u uolah, he wills, wishes, uol = volo, 
 uolah = voluntas. 
 
 It will be noticed that this chronicle is not called an 
 "arrangement" of the katuns, tzolan katun, but a count or 
 reckoning of them, xocan or xocol, from xoc, to count. 
 
 i. The count begins with the discovery of Chichen Itza, 
 mentions that Pop was " counted in order " at the beginning 
 of the next following Ahau Katun, and having stated the 
 desertion of Chichen Itza and the migration to Chakanputun, 
 the chronicler draws a line, as if to separate broadly these 
 occurrences from those which followed. 
 
 5. The distinction between paa and tulum appears to be 
 that tulum is an enclosure surrounded by a defensive wall, and 
 this wall itself; while paa is a castle, or, in Maya land, a 
 mound or pyramid with buildings on it erected for purposes 
 of defence. 
 
 163 
 
164 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 6. Kakil nohkakil, the fire, the great fire, but here in the 
 sense of a contagious febrile disease, probably the smallpox. 
 
 7. The text in this section is corrupt, and I leave a line 
 untranslated. The writer informs us, what was omitted in the 
 previous chronicles, that the Ahpula whose death is so care- 
 fully mentioned by all, was a member of the Xiu family which 
 reigned over the province of Mani. They were almost the 
 first of the powerful Maya nobles to make friends with the 
 Spaniards. The date 158 is apparently intended for 1538, or 
 perhaps 1508, which is more consistent with the following 
 section, but less so with the previous chronicles. 
 
 Kul uinicob, as remarked on page 133, means "the 
 mighty men," not the "holy men," as generally translated. 
 The term was applied to the Spaniards. The Dice, de Motul 
 MS. says: "KULVINIC: muy hombre, hombre de respeto y 
 de hecho, y llaman asi los Indies los Espanoles." U yah 
 talzah, they bring the sickness, probably the smallpox. Coon 
 or con, ist pers. pi. pres. indie, of the irregular verb cen 
 (cihi, ciac), to say, to tell. 
 
IV. THE MAYA KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel, 
 
 The following chronicle is stated by its writer 
 to be distinctively called the " Maya Katuns," and to 
 be written for (or by) the Itzas. We have, there- 
 fore, no longer to do with the reckoning of the sub- 
 jects of the Xiu family who ruled at Mani, but 
 with one which emanates from the priests of the 
 Cocomes, who were hereditary masters of Chichen 
 Itza. It is evidently of different origin, although 
 many of the same facts are referred to in it. 
 
 165 
 
TEXT. 
 
 U kahlay katunob utial ahYtzaob maya- 
 katun u kaba lae. 
 
 1. Lahca ahau. 
 Lahun ahau. 
 Uaxac ahau. 
 
 Uac ahau ; paxciob ahoni. 
 
 Can ahau. 
 
 Cabil ahau. 
 
 Oxlahun ahau. 
 
 Buluc ahau. 
 
 Bolon ahau. 
 
 Uuc ahau. 
 
 Hoo ahau ; paxci u cah yahau ahYtzmal kin- 
 
 ich kakmo y pop hoi chan tumenel hun nac 
 
 ceel. 
 Ox ahau. 
 
 2. Hun ahau : paxci yala ahYtza tu chicheen, 
 
 tu yoxpiztun ychil hun ahau paxci u chich- 
 een. 
 
 Lahca ahau. 
 
 Lahun ahau. 
 
 166 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 167 
 
 3. Uaxac ahau: u katunil heoci cah yala ahYtza 
 
 likul yan che yalan haban tan xuluc mul 
 u kaba ti likulob ca u heaahob luum Zac- 
 lactun Mayapan u kaba tu uucpiztun uax- 
 ac ahau u katunil ; laix u katunil cimci 
 Chakanputun tumen kak u pa cal yetel tec 
 uilue. 
 
 4. Uac ahau. 
 Can ahau. 
 Cabil ahau. 
 Oxlahun ahau. 
 Buluc ahau. 
 Bolon ahau. 
 Uuc ahau. 
 
 Hoo ahau: ulci oul ti chibil uinic, yxma pic 
 
 oul u kaba; ma paxci peten tumenelobi. 
 Ox ahau. 
 
 5. Hun ahau : paxci peten tan cah mayapan u 
 
 kaba tu hunpiztun ychil hun ahau u katun- 
 ile ; lukci halach uinic tutul y u Batabilob 
 cabe y cantzuc culcahobe; lay u katunil 
 paxi uincob tan cah x cauec 2 chahiob u Ba- 
 tabilob cabe. 
 
 6. Lahca ahau te chabi Otzmal u tunile. 
 Lahun ahau, te chabi Zizal u tunile. 
 
 1 caua. * cahiob. 
 
168 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Uaxac ahau, te chabi Kancaba u tunile. 
 Uac ahau, te chabi hunnacthi u tunile. 
 
 7. Can ahau, te chabi atikuhe u tunilae ; lay u 
 
 katunil uchci mayacimlal tu hopiztun ychil 
 
 can ahau u katunil lae. 
 Cabil ahau, te chabi chacalna u tunile. 
 Oxlahun ahau, te chabi euan u tunile. 
 
 8. Buluc ahau, u yaxchun kin coloxpeten chabi 
 
 u tunile ; laix u katunil cimci Ahpula Na- 
 potxiu u kaba tu hunpiztun Buluc ahau. 
 Laix u katunil yax hulciob espanolesob 
 uay tac lumil lae tu uucpiztun Buluc ahau 
 u katunil tiix hoppi xpnoil lae tu habil 
 quinientos diez y nueve anos D 1519 a s . 
 '9. Bolon ahau ma chabi u tunil lae; lay katun 
 yax ulci obispo Fray Fran co ' to Ral, huli tu 
 uacpiztun ychil ahBolon ahau katun lae. 
 
 Uac ahau, ma chabi u tunil lae ; lay u katu- 
 nil cimci Obispo e landa lae, tii xuli uhel 
 Obispo xani. 
 
 Hoo ahau. 
 
 Ox ahau. 
 
 1 Toral. 
 
TRANSLATION. 
 
 The Record of the Katuns by the men of 
 Itza called the Maya Katuns. 
 
 1. The twelfth ahau. 
 The tenth ahau. 
 The eighth ahau. 
 
 The sixth ahau ; the well dressed ones were 
 driven out. 
 
 The fourth ahau. 
 
 The second ahau. 
 
 The thirteenth ahau. 
 
 The eleventh ahau. 
 
 The ninth ahau. 
 
 The seventh ahau. 
 
 The fifth ahau; the town was destroyed by 
 Kinich kakmo, ruler of Itzmal, and Pop Hoi Chan 
 on account of Hunnac Ceel. 
 
 The third ahau. 
 
 2. The first ahau; the remainder of the Itzas at 
 L 169 
 
170 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Chichen were driven out; on the third year in the 
 first ahau Chichen was depopulated. 
 
 The twelfth ahau. 
 
 The tenth ahau. 
 
 3. The eighth ahau; in this katun was founded 
 a city by the remainder of the Itzas coming out of 
 the woods from under the branches, from the 
 midst of Xuluc Mul as it is called ; they came from 
 there and established the land called Zaclactun 
 Mayapan, in the seventh year of the eighth Ahau 
 katun; in this katun perished Chakanputun by 
 fire, which destroyed it quickly, and suddenly con- 
 sumed it. 
 
 4. The sixth ahau. 
 The fourth ahau. 
 The second ahau. 
 The thirteenth ahau. 
 The eleventh ahau. 
 The ninth ahau. 
 The seventh ahau. 
 
 The fifth ahau ; foreigners came seeking men 
 to eat; "breechless foreigners" they were called; 
 the country was not depopulated by them. 
 
 The third ahau. 
 
 5. The first ahau; the district in the middle of 
 Mayapan (or Tancah Mayapan) was depopulated 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 171 
 
 in the first year of the first ahau katun; there went 
 forth the governor Tutul, with the chiefs of the 
 country and four divisions from the towns; in this 
 katun the men in the centre of the town (or of 
 Tancah) were driven out, and the chiefs of the 
 country lost their power. 
 
 6. The twelfth ahau: the stone of Otzmal was 
 taken. 
 
 The tenth ahau ; the stone of Zizal was taken. 
 
 The eighth ahau ; the stone of Kancaba was 
 taken. 
 
 The sixth ahau ; the stone of Hunnacthi was 
 taken. 
 
 7. The fourth ahau ; the stone of Ahtiku was ta- 
 ken ; in this katun took place the pestilence, in the 
 fifth year in the fourth ahau katun. 
 
 The second ahau ; the stone of Chacalna was 
 taken. 
 
 The thirteenth ahau ; the stone of Euan was 
 taken. 
 
 8. The eleventh ahau : in the time of its beg-in- 
 
 o 
 
 ning, the stone of Coloxpeten was taken ; in this 
 katun died Ahpula Napotxiu, in the first year of 
 the eleventh ahau ; it was also in this katun that 
 the Spaniards first arrived here in this land, in the 
 seventh year of the eleventh ahau katun; also Chris- 
 
172 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 tianity began in the year fifteen hundred and nine- 
 teen, the year of our Lord 1519. 
 
 9. The ninth ahau ; no stone was taken at this 
 time ; in this katun first came the bishop Brother 
 Francisco Toral ; he arrived in the sixth year of 
 the ninth ahau katun. 
 
 The seventh ahau; no stone was taken: in 
 this katun died Bishop Landa ; then also ended 
 the bishop his successor. 
 
 The fifth ahau. 
 
 The third ahau. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 i. The writer begins with the i2th ahau, although nothing 
 is noted until the 6th. Here we have the brief entry paxciob 
 ahoni. This might be translated " those of Oni were driven 
 out or scattered." But no such locality is known or men- 
 tioned elsewhere. The Diccionario de Motul, MS. gives the 
 meaning of ahoni as "pulido, galan, muy bien vestido," 
 ahoni a talel ex, " you come very well dressed." I suppose, 
 therefore, that it was a term applied to some early tribe who 
 distinguished themselves in comparison with their ruder 
 neighbors by elegance of costume. Later we shall find a 
 similar term, " breechless foreigners," applied to another tribe 
 whose condition of nudity suggested their appellation. 
 
 The name Kinich Kakmo is mentioned by Cogolludo as 
 that of an idol worshiped at Itzamal. He says : "They had 
 another temple on another mound in the northern part of the 
 city, and this, from the name of an idol which they wor- 
 shiped here, they called Kinich Kakmo, which means the sun 
 with a face. They say that the rays were of fire and descended 
 at mid-day to consume the sacrifice, as the vacamaya flies 
 through the air (which is a bird something like a parrot, 
 though larger in size, and with finely colored feathers). They 
 resorted to this idol in time of mortality, pestilence or much 
 sickness, both men and women, and brought many offerings. 
 They said that at mid-day a fire descended and consumed the 
 sacrifice in the sight of all. After this the priests replied to 
 
 173 
 
174 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 their inquiries about the sickness, famine or pestilence, and 
 thus they learned their fate ; although it often turned out 
 quite the contrary of what he predicted. ' ' (Historia de Yuca- 
 tan, Lib. IV, cap. VIII.) 
 
 The title given by Gogolludo to the divinity appears to 
 have also been adopted by the ruling chief, who may also 
 have been the high priest. It is both imperfectly and incor- 
 rectly translated by the historian. Its components are kin, 
 the sun, day ; ich, the eye, the face ; kak, fire ; moo, the 
 macaw, Psittacus Macao, deemed sacred throughout Mexico 
 and Central America, on account of its beautiful plumage. 
 The full translation of the name is " the Eye of Day, the 
 Sacred Bird of Fire," a symbolic name of a solar deity. 
 
 The Chan family is mentioned by Sanchez Aguilar (Jnforme 
 contra Idolum Cultores, etc.), as among the princely houses of 
 Yucatan at the date of the Conquest. 
 
 Paxci u cah, "the town," that is, Chichen Itza. The 
 writer composed his chronicle at that place, so he does not 
 think it necessary to name it specifically. The distance in a 
 straight line from Chichen Itza to Itzamal is 40 geographical 
 miles. 
 
 2. Yala, the remainder, from a/a, above, over. A portion 
 of the Itzas remained in Chichen after the attack by Kinich 
 Kakmo ; these also now leave it. 
 
 3. The place Xuluc mul is unknown in the present geogra- 
 phy of the peninsula. It means "the completed mounds," 
 mul being, as I have before remarked, the name given to the 
 artificial pyramids and tumuli of stone so common in the 
 peninsula, probably so called from the joint labor of many in 
 their construction. 
 
 The province of Zaclactun-Mayapan is also unknown, 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 175 
 
 although there is a hacienda Zaclactun within the boundaries of 
 the modern district of Itzamal (Berendt, Nombres geograficos 
 en Lengua Maya, MS.). The name apparently means "the 
 place where white pottery is made. ' ' 
 
 4. Ti chibil uinic " for men to be eaten ;" chibil, the passive 
 of chii, to eat. The Diccionario de Motul gives chibil bak, 
 flesh to be eaten. Pic was the breech cloth or waist cloth, 
 fastened around the waist and falling to the knees, which was 
 the common dress of the women. The Dictionary just quoted 
 translates the word, "naguas de Indias que se sirven de saya 
 6 faldellin ordinario, para cubrir desde la cintura abajo ; y son 
 las blancas sin color ni bordado." The phrase ixma pic yul, 
 foreigners without a breech cloth, intimates that they were 
 nude. 
 
 Who were these naked cannibals, who raided the provinces 
 in order to obtain their unnatural food ? Those daring navi 
 gators, those naked man-eaters, the Caribs, from whose name 
 our word cannibal is derived, at once suggest themselves. 
 Curiously enough, the Abbe Brasseur has argued for the 
 probability of their invasions upon other (though I think 
 insufficient) grounds (see his Informe acerca de las Ruinas de 
 Mayapan y de Uxmal}. This passage of the chronicle renders 
 his theory probable. 
 
 5. Peten tan cah Mayapan could also be rendered, "the 
 district Tancah Mayapan." 
 
 6. Cftabi Otzmal u tunile, " the stone of Otzmal was 
 taken." Otzmal was a locality under the rule of the 
 Cocomes. (Cogolludo, Historia, Lib. Ill, cap. VI.) Other 
 versions read Itzmal and Uxmal. The reference is to the u 
 he) katun, the setting up of the Katun-stone as a memorial at 
 the end of each period of twenty years. Incomplete descrip- 
 
176 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 tions of this ceremony are given by Landa, Relation, IX, 
 and Cogolludo, Historia, Lib. IV, cap. IV. I propose a more 
 extended examination of this question in a future volume of 
 this series, devoted to documents relating to the calendars 
 and chronology of the Central American nations. 
 
 8. The death of Ahpula Napot Xiu is given with minute- 
 ness but not in accordance with previous chronicles. In 1519 
 Cortes touched at the Island of Cozumel, and that might 
 have been assumed as the date of the commencement of 
 Christianity. 
 
V. THE CHIEF KATUNS. 
 
 From the Book of Chilan, Balam of Chumayel. 
 
 The document which follows is brief, but of 
 peculiar interest. It does not appear to aim at a 
 connected history of events, but in the form of a 
 chant to refer certain incidents to the katuns in 
 which they occurred. It has more of a mythological 
 character, and the repetitions remind one of the 
 refrain of a song. 
 
 It is also found in the Book of Chilan Balam of 
 Chumayel, and is inserted without explanation or 
 introduction, copied, no doubt, from some ancient 
 writing. 
 
 177 
 
TEXT. 
 
 1. Can ahau u kaba katun ; uchci u zihilob 
 
 1 pauaha en cuh u yahauob. 
 
 2. 2 Oxhunte ti katun lie u tepalob, lay u kabaob 
 
 tamuk u tepalob lae. 
 
 3. Can ahau u kaba katun ; emciob 3 noh hemal, 
 
 4 oeemal, u kabaob lae. 
 
 4. Oxlahunte ti katun, lie u tepalob, lie u kabati- 
 
 cob, ti i ualac u cutob. Oxlahun cuthi, u 
 cutob lae. 
 
 5. Can ahau u katunil ; uchci u caxanticob 
 
 u chicheen Ytzua ; tii utzcinnahi mactzil 
 tiob tumen u yumoobe. Cantzuc lukciob 
 cantzucul cab u kabaob ; likul ti likin kin 
 colah peten bini huntzuci ; s kul xaman naco 
 cob 6 hok huntzucci ; heix hoki huntzucci hoi- 
 tun cuyuua ti chikin ; hoki huntzuccie canhek 
 uitz, bolonte uitz u kaba u luumil lae. 
 
 6. Can ahau u katunil 7 uhci u payalob tu cant- 
 
 zuccilob can tzuccul cab u kabaob, ca emiob tu 
 chicheen Ytzae ahYtza tun u kabaob. Ox- 
 
 1 pachah u cah. z oxlahunte. 3 nohemel. 
 4 oeDemel. 5 likul. e hoki. 7 uchci. 
 
 178 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 179 
 
 lahunte ti katun, lie u tepalob ; ca oci u ke- 
 banthanobi tumen hunnac ceeli. Ca paxci 
 u calob. Ca biniob tanyolche tan xuluc mul, 
 u kaba. Can ahau u katunil ; uchci yauat 
 pixanobi. Oxlahunte ti katun lie u tepalobi 
 y u numyaobi. 
 
 7. Uaxac ahau u katunil; uchci yulelob yalaob 
 ahYtza u kabaob. Ca ulob tii ca ualac u te- 
 palob Chakanputun. Oxlahun ahau u ka- 
 tunii u heoob cah mayapan mayauinic u ka- 
 baob. Uaxac ahau paxci u cahobi ; ca uacc- 
 habi ti peten tulacal. Uac katuni paxiob, 
 ca haui u Maya kabaob. Buluc ahau u kaba 
 u katunil hauci u maya kabaob; Maya uini- 
 cob Christiano u kabaob tulacal u cuchcabal 
 tzo ma Sane Pedro y Rey ahtepale. 
 
TRANSLATION. 
 
 1. The fourth ahau was the name of the katun ; 
 the births took place ; ; the towns were taken pos- 
 session of by the rulers. 
 
 2. It was the thirteenth katun in which they 
 ruled ; these were their names while they ruled. 
 
 3. The fourth ahau was the name of the katun ; 
 in it they arrived, the Great Arrival, the Less Ar- 
 rival, as they are called. 
 
 4. It was the thirteenth katun in which they 
 ruled, in which they took names, at that time, while 
 they resided here ; in the thirteenth the residence 
 was continued, they resided here. 
 
 5. The fourth ahau katun ; then took place the 
 search for Chichen Itza ; at that time they were 
 marvelously improved by the fathers. They went 
 forth in four divisions which were called the four 
 territories. One division came forth from the east 
 of Kin Colah Peten ; one division came forth from 
 the north of Nacocob ; one division came forth 
 from the gate of Zuyuua to the west; one division 
 came forth from the mountains of Canhek, the 
 Nine Mountains, as the land is called. 
 
 180 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 181 
 
 6. The fourth ahau katun ; then took place the 
 calling- together of the four divisions, the four ter- 
 ritories as they were called, and they arrived at 
 Chichen Itza and were called the men of Itza. It 
 was the thirteenth katun in which they ruled ; 
 then the plottings were introduced by Hunnac 
 Ceel, and the territories were destroyed. Then 
 they went into the midst of the forests, into the 
 midst of Xuluc Mul, so called. The fourth ahau 
 katun ; then singing for their happiness took place. 
 It was the thirteenth katun in which they governed 
 and had heavy labor. 
 
 7. The eighth ahau katun ; thus it took place that 
 there arrived the remainder of the Itza men as 
 they were called ; then they arrived ; and about 
 that time they governed Chakanputun. In the 
 thirteenth ahau katun those called the Maya men 
 founded the city Mayapan. In the eighth ahau 
 the towns were destroyed ; then they were driven 
 wholly out of the province. In the sixth katun 
 they were destroyed, and it was ended with those 
 called Mayas. It was the eleventh ahau katun in 
 which it ended with those called Mayas. The Maya 
 men were all called Christians and came under the 
 control of Saint Peter and the King, the rulers. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 1. U zihilob, the births, probably meaning the beginning of 
 things. Pauaha en cuh has no meaning that I can make out ; 
 I therefore suppose it an error for pachah u cah, and translate 
 in accordance with this emendation. The phrase seems to re- 
 fer to the first settlement of the country, or to the first time 
 the scattered inhabitants were gathered together in towns by 
 their chiefs. 
 
 2. "These were their names"; but no names are given. 
 They seem to have been omitted by the copyist. 
 
 3. Emciob noh hemal yeemal, faulty orthography for noh 
 emel, yeemel, the latter syncopated from Jeyemel. Literally, 
 "since they descended; the Great Descent, the Little De- 
 scent." 
 
 The tradition here referred to is given at more length by 
 Father Lizana, in his Historia de Yucatan, and is discussed also 
 by Cogolludo (Historia de Yucatan, Lib. IV, cap. III). As 
 the work of the former is wholly inaccessible, I quote from 
 the reprint of a portion of it in Brasseur's edition of Diego 
 de Landa's Relation p. 354. "In former times they called 
 the East Cen-ial, the Little Descent, and the West Nohen-ial, 
 the Great Descent. The reason they give for this is that on 
 the east of this land a few people descended, and on the west 
 a great many ; and with that syllable they understand little 
 or much, to the east and the west; and that few people came 
 from one direction and many from the other." Father Liz- 
 
 182 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 183 
 
 ana goes on to express his opinion that the few who came 
 from the East were the Carthaginians, and the many from the 
 West were the Mexicans. 
 
 The very corrupt form in which he has given the words has 
 led Senor Eligio Ancona to suppose they belonged to the ar- 
 chaic and secret language of the priests (Historia de Yucatan, 
 Tomo I, p. 24), and Dr. Carl Schultz-Sellack to imagine that 
 they referred to East and West, right and left, as he adopted 
 the misreading yiic, left, for yey, little (Die Amerikanischen 
 Goffer der Vier Welfgegenden, in the Archiv fur Ethnologic, 
 Band XI, 1879). But they are readily analyzed when we 
 have their correct orthography, as given above. The ref- 
 erence to them in this place shows that the author of the 
 chant was dealing with the most ancient legends of his race. 
 
 The Itzas who resided in the Peten district left the region 
 around Chichen Itza some time in the fifteenth century, 
 probably after the fall of Mayapan. They were ruled by an 
 hereditary chieftain, called by the Spaniards " the great king, 
 Canek." Under him the territory was divided into four 
 districts, each with its own chief, with whom the Canek con- 
 sulted about important undertakings. 
 
 Evidently in removing to Peten the Itzas were retracing 
 their steps on the line of their first entrance to the peninsula. 
 They even attempted to go further west, and guided, probably, 
 by ancient memories, a large number set out for Tabasco and 
 the banks of the Usumaciuta, where repose the ruins of 
 Palenque, possibly the home of their ancestors. But they 
 were attacked and driven back by the natives of Tabasco, 
 with the loss of their leader, a brother-in-law of the great 
 Canek. These and other particulars about them are repeated 
 
184 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 by Villagutierre Sotomayor, Historia de la Conquista de la 
 Provincia de el Itza, folio, Madrid, 1701. 
 
 4. The elliptical form of expression here renders the trans- 
 lation difficult. The verb cutal (old form cultal}, pret. 
 culhi or cuthi, fut. culac, means to sit down, to remain in a 
 place, to be at home there, to reside, etc. Perhaps the trans- 
 lation both here and in 2 should be, " for thirteen katuns 
 they ruled, etc." 
 
 5. The word yum, plural yumob, means father and also chief, 
 leader, ruler, etc. In modern Maya it is the translation of 
 Sir, Mister, Sefior. 
 
 The proper names of the localities whence the four divisions 
 are said to have come, have a mythological cast. I cannot 
 find any of them in the present geography of Yucatan. Kin 
 Colah Peten is mentioned in a "katun wheel" in this same 
 Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel, as the name of one of the 
 towns which furnished a katun stone. Zuiva I have already 
 referred to as appearing in the Quetzalcoatl myth (see 
 page no). 
 
 The mountains of Canhek and the Nine Mountains take us 
 to the Itzas around Lake Peten, in the extreme south of the 
 peninsula, this last mentioned division being, in fact, that 
 from the south. 
 
 6. Upayalob, plural passive of pay, to call, to summon. 
 Tan yol che, ol or yol is the heart or centre of the leaf or 
 
 plant; tan xuluc mul, see page 174. Yauat pixanobi, they 
 were happy in singing, or, they gained favor by singing. 
 The expression is obscure. The verb auat is applied to the 
 singing of birds, the crowing of cocks, and generally to the 
 natural sound made by any animal, and, in composition, to 
 
THE SERIES OF THE KATUNS. 185 
 
 the sound of musical instruments, as, auatzah, to play on the 
 flute, to blow a trumpet. 
 
 7. Uacchahi from uacchahal, appears to be a strongly 
 figurative expression. It is explained in Pio Perez' Dic- 
 tionary, " salirse con esfuerzo de su cubierta 6 encaje, saltarse 
 de ella como tripa par el ano" 
 
 Hauic, from haual, to end, finish, cease to exist. Thus the 
 chronicler closes his recital, repeating the to him no doubt 
 bitter fact that the Maya nation and the Maya name had 
 passed away. 
 
 M 
 
THE CHRONICLE 
 
 OF 
 
 CHAC XULUB CHEN. 
 
 BY 
 
 NAKUK PECH. 
 
 1562. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 
 
 Among the ancient documents collected by Pio 
 Perez was a series relating to the town of Chicxu- 
 lub, about six leagues north of Merida. They 
 are entitled Documentos de Tierras de Chicxulub, 
 1542. They consist of a history of the town and 
 of the conquest of the country, written by Nakuk 
 Pech, about 1562 ; a survey of the town lands by 
 several members of the Pech family, testified to 
 Feb. 7, 1 542 ; a partial list of the Spanish con- 
 querors ; a portion of an account by another mem- 
 ber of the Pech family, and a further statement by 
 Nakuk Pech. 
 
 The longest and the most interesting of these 
 is the history of the Conquest, or, as the writer 
 calls it, "the history and the chronicle of Chacxu- 
 lubchen " u belil u kahlail Chac Xulub Cfaen 
 this being one of the native forms of the name of 
 the town. It is headed "Conquest and Map," but 
 the map has disappeared. Usually such " maps " 
 accompanying the title papers of towns in Yuca- 
 tan have as a central figure the outlines of a 
 
 189 
 
190 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 church with the name of the town ; around this is 
 drawn the figure of the town lands, with the names 
 of the wells, trees, stones and other landmarks 
 mentioned in the titles. 
 
 The writer, Nakuk Pech, baptized Pablo Pech, 
 must have been between sixty and seventy years 
 of age when he drew up his statement, inasmuch 
 as he mentions occurrences as late as 1562, and 
 also speaks of himself as an adult in 1519. He 
 belonged to a noble family, the Pechs of Cumkal, 
 who are mentioned by Sanchez Aguilar as heredi- 
 tary batabs, or independent chiefs. They appear 
 to have given their names to the province on the 
 west coast called Kin Pech, or Campech, known 
 to the English as Campeachy, and to that of Ceh 
 Pech, in which the city of Ho, afterwards called 
 Merida, was situated. The Abbe Brasseur, on 
 very slight grounds, surmised that they were not 
 originally of Maya stock, but probably descend- 
 ants of the Caribs. 1 
 
 He states that he was the son of Ak Kom Pech, 
 in baptism Martin Pech, and the grandson of Ah 
 Tunal Pech, while the head of the house of Pech 
 seems to have been Ah Naum Pech, baptized Don 
 Francisco de Montejo Pech. 
 
 1 See his Infornte acerca de las Ruinas de Mayapan y de Uxmal. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 191 
 
 Pech always uses as the name of his town Chac 
 Xulub Chen, which means "the well of the great 
 horns," probably because some huge antlers were 
 found there, or were set up to mark the spot. 
 The modern name Chic Xulub was probably 
 applied to it as a parody, or a play on words. It 
 means to cuckold one, to put horns on him. 1 
 
 A literal translation of the document was made by 
 Don Manuel Encarnacion Avila, of Merida, about 
 1860, and this has been of service to me in com- 
 pleting the present rendering. But Senor Avila, 
 though familiar with the Maya of to-day, was evi- 
 dently not at all acquainted with the ancient terms 
 with reference to the calendar, and the usages of 
 the natives before the Conquest. He therefore 
 made serious errors wherever such occurred. 
 
 Moreover, as it was his purpose to give an ex- 
 tremely literal translation, he often sacrificed to this 
 both clearness and correctness, and in various pas- 
 sages his sentences are unintelligible. 
 
 The Abbe Brasseur(de Bourbourg) commenced 
 to copy the original when in Merida, but completed 
 only the first two paragraphs. He applied for a 
 
 y_ " CHIJCXULUB : poner los cuernos ; hacer cabron a uno: u 
 chiicah bin u xulub u lak ; diz que puso los cuernos a su compa- 
 nero 6 proximo ; que se aprobecho de su muger 6 manceba," 
 Diccionario de Motul, MS. 
 
192 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 copy of the remainder; but by an error he received 
 instead of this an unfinished transcript of another 
 paper by the Pech family. These fragments he 
 inserted, with a translation of his own, in the sec- 
 ond volume of the Reports of the Mission Scien- 
 tifique au Mexique et a I* Ameriqiie Centrale, pp. 
 no- 1 20 (4 to, Paris, Imprimerie Imperiale: 1870). 
 As his lexicographic resources were, by his own 
 statement, quite deficient (id., note to p. 116), he 
 is scarcely to be criticised if, as is the case, much 
 of his translation but faintly presents the meaning 
 of the original. 
 
 It will be seen that I have sacrificed every at- 
 tempt at elegance in the English translation to an 
 endeavor to preserve faithfully the style of the 
 original, even to its needless repetitions and awk- 
 ward sentences. 
 
TEXT. 
 
 Concixta yetel Mapa. 
 
 1 . U hotzuc ca culhi ah buluc ahau lai katun ca uli 
 Espafiolesob ca cahiob te ti noh cah te ti Ho ; lae 
 te ix ah bolon ahaue ti tun cahi cristianoili ; lae 
 he hab yax ulci ca yum Espanolesob uay ti lum 
 lae tu habil 1511 anos. 
 
 2. Ten cen yn Nakuk Pech yax hidalgos con- 
 cixtadoren, uay ti lum lae tu cacabil Maxtunil cin 
 oabal ti yax cah tu cacabil chacxulub Chen. Bai 
 bic oaa nen in canante tumen in yumob Ah Naum 
 Pech lie utzcinic utz olal u belil u kahlail uay ti 
 cacab Chac Xulub Chen in yax mekthantah lai 
 cah lae capel cacab Chichinica y uay Chaac Xulub 
 Chen. 
 
 3. Cen Nakuk Pech in kaba cuchi ti ma ococ 
 haa tin pol cuchi u mehenen Tahkom Pech D oh 
 Martin Pech ti cah Xulkum Cheel ; bai bic oaanoon 
 canan hoi cacabob tumen in yum Ah Naum Pech 
 likul tu cah Mutul ca tah culcintaben in canante 
 cacab Chac Xulub Chen lae ti manan to u manac 
 
 193 
 
194 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 u talel ca yum Espanolesob uay tac lumi Yucatan 
 lae ten tun halach uinic uai ti cah uai ti luum Cftac 
 Xulub Often lae ca tun uli ca yum Sr. Adelanta- 
 do uai ti peten lae ichil yabil 1519 anos cuchi lae 
 ten ix yax batab ; ca uli Espanolesob tu lumil uai 
 Maxtunil lae toonix kame tu yabal oaolalobe too- 
 nix yax oaicpatanyetel oicil tiobjy ca oaic hanalob ti- 
 obcapitanob Espanolesob; hek Adelantadou kabae 
 lai uli uai Maxtunil tu tancabal Nachi May ; ti ya- 
 nob ca binon cilob uchebal ca oaic cicioltiob ; may- 
 to ococob ti cah cuchi chenbel zutucahob paibe 
 uai ti lume oxppel u oanlob uai tu cacabil Maxtu- 
 nile uai tun likulob cu binelob tu holpai ounul tu 
 hoi u payil ^ilam tancoch yoxpel hab cahanobi. 
 
 4. Tiob yan cuchi ca bini u kubulte in yumob 
 tiob ; lai Adelantado u kaba lai zutui uai ti lum ; 
 lae Ixkakuk u kaba u oa in yum tiob lai u kaba lai 
 xcftuplal u oah tiob menyahticob y tzenticob tiob 
 tan yan cuchi ca tal katuntabilob tumen Cupulob 
 ca tun lukobi ca biniob ti cahtalob ti Ecab kantan- 
 enkin u kaba u lumil cahlahciob ; tix yanob cuchi ca 
 katuntabiob tumen Ah Ecabob ca lukobie ca cu- 
 chob Cauaca ti tun ocobi te maniob ti cah l ^ekom 
 ti u kaba cuhe manciob ca cuchiob ti cah Tixcuum- 
 cuUuc u kaba cah kuchciob ti liculob ca kuchoob 
 1 Tekom. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 195 
 
 Tinuum u kaba cah kuchciob calx u tzaclahob u 
 Chicften Ytza u kaba ti tun u katahob u Rey cah 
 u lahanobi ca alab tiobi : " Yan ahau, yume," ci 
 yalalob, " ye yan Ahau Cocom Aun Pech Ahau 
 Pech, Namox Cheel Ahau Cheel 2)ioan tun ; Katun 
 Dul, te xebnae," ci yalalob tumen f naob Bon Cu- 
 pul ; u lukulob tu Chicheen Ytza lae catun cuchiob 
 yicnal Ahau Ixcuat Cocom te Akee : " Yume, ma- 
 tab a binelex te lae; bin zatacex," cibin yalablob 
 tumen Ahau Ixcuat Cocom ca ualkahiob tutulpa- 
 chob, ca binob ca cuchob Cauaca tu caaten, caix 
 kuchob tu holpayal Catzim u kaba tix nakob ti 
 kankabe, ca biniob ti cahtalob tuyulpachob tet ^e- 
 lebnae u kabae lai yax cahicob ca ulob uai ti luum 
 lae. 
 
 5. Lai ye tan Chanpatune uacppel hab cahanobi 
 caix u hokzahubaob te Campeche ; lai Adelantado 
 u kaba yax oule lai mani uai ti lum ; lae tiob tun 
 yan Campech cuchica u katahob patan caix u yabi 
 u thanob tumen batabob tu cahalcahobe tulacal bi- 
 ni patan ; tiob te maaniob ti kaknabe yahpulul pa- 
 tanob; lae ca tun binen y inlakob Ah MaCamPech 
 y u yit oin Ixkil Ytzam Pech in yahaulil cah Cum- 
 kale y in yum yan ti cah Xulcum Cheele ; lai in 
 lakob cat binen tu pach patan, laix ca yilahob, laix 
 
 1 nacon Cupul. 
 
196 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 ca alak Nachi May, yoklal yohel maa yohel ma u 
 thanob yoklal u yax ulob ichil yotoch, ca uliob lae 
 laitah oklal u thanahob u lakintob, ca binob tu pach 
 patan yoklal yettail tahiob Espafiolesob ti tun ku- 
 biob tumenel capitanobe ; tiix c 'matanok zayojy 
 capote y zapato y u y ppoc cicialtabion tumen te 
 capitanob ; caix lukon ca ooci ca oaic zilileb Espafio- 
 lesob yan tacix ca buc ca ulon lay zayo y capote, 
 lay Ixkil Ytzam Pech yan Conkale laix ca lakah 
 Macan Pech yan Yaxkukule y in yum Ahkom 
 Pech u noxibal ca binon. 
 
 6. Cen ix Nakuk Pech lae in kaba ten yax ba- 
 tab yax kubob patan ca binon Campech ca kubob 
 patan, caix uloon tutul pache tamuk u talel Espafi- 
 olesob tu bel Campech talel u cahob ti cahtal Ich 
 can zi hoo ti nohcah ti Hoe ; tuchi ix ca yubah u 
 talelob Espafiolesob tu bel Campech, ca binon ca 
 oab ziltiob tolo ten caix binon tu caaten cat kube 
 patan. Cen ix Nakuk Pech uai tu cabil Chac 
 Xulub Chen y Ah Macan Pech yan tu cabil Yax 
 Kukul y Ixkil Ytzam Pech u noh batabil Conkale y 
 ten cen Ixnakuk Pech batab uai ti cah Chac Xu- 
 lub Chen teix oci ca ziltiob tucaaten te 3ibkale r ix 
 u chucan u nahubaob tucaaten ca kube ziltiob u 
 lum y cab y u chahucil hanalob u kamciob te 
 
 1 matanon. 1 Tipikal. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 197 
 
 kale ti tamuk u talel yocolob ti cahtal ti Hoo lay 
 D n Fran co de Montejo, yax capitan General yax 
 uli uai tu peten ti Hoo laejy D a Fran co de Braca- 
 monte y Fran co Tamayo y Juan de Pacheco y Pe- 
 rarberes lai capitanesob uliob ichil habil 1541 anos. 
 
 7. Lai hab ca uliob ti Hoo ti cahtalob lay capi- 
 tanob mektanmail Espanolesob, ca uliob ti Ho 
 lae tenili batab cen Ix Nakuk Pech, ca uli Espan- 
 olesob te ti Hooe tenix kubi patan ti concixtadore- 
 sob ti Hoo, tenix batab uai ti cacab Chac Xulub 
 Chen lae tamuk u escribanoil Roderigo Alvares 
 ichil yabil 1 542 anos. 
 
 8. U tan u toxol cahob ti concixtadoresob tumen 
 capitanob adelantado lay yax Espanolesob y escri- 
 bano Roderigo Alvares lai oibtic u xocaan patanob 
 ti yulel hun huntzuc ti cahob, baix tamuk u kubic 
 patan in lakob tulacal lai in chibalob lae ti tamuk 
 ban patane yoklal toxbil patan tiob Espanolesob 
 tumen capitanob adelantado y escribano Rodrigo 
 Alvarez ichil hun hunteel hab uli Espanolesob ti 
 Hoo ; tulacal ca ix chaben cen Ix Nakuk Pech ca 
 oaben ti Don Julian Doncel encomendero lai u 
 yax yumil cah uay Chaac Xulub Chen lae lai yax 
 encomendero, caix machi in kabjy tu tan capitan 
 Don Fran co de Montejo adelantado ten tun oabi ti 
 batabil ti D n Julian Donsel tu kab, ca hoppi in tan 
 lie u patan u yumil kul uinicilob. 
 
198 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 9. Cen Ix Nakuk Pech lae ten tan lie in bata- 
 bil cuchi ca uli Albares yax alcalde mayor uai tu 
 petenil Yucatan ti Hoo lae, caix uli Alvara de 
 Carvayor alcalde Mayor, li xan caix uli Oidor D n 
 Tomas Lopez tenili batab cuchie heix in kabatah 
 cen ix Nakuk Pech ca oci ha tin pole y ca tin ka- 
 ma bautismo D n Pablo Pech lay in kaba ca hau J in 
 kabatic Nakuk Pechil ; hidalgoson yax batabon 
 tumen capitanob cat yax chuca uai ti peten lae ton 
 ix yax kubob patan ti oulob cat oab u chucil toon 
 tumen Dios y Rey ahtepal ; lae ton u chibalon hi- 
 dalgos tu yalomal in mehenob tulacal tu tan kinil 
 cu binel tu nak u hayalcab ; lae ton batabon yahau- 
 bil uai ti luum ti ma yanac Santa Yglesiaob ti ca- 
 cabob, tan to u ximbal tabal lumob tumen Espano- 
 lesob uatub ci tan u moltalob utial u kulteob ti yok- 
 lal piz uinicob cuchi ti ma christianacobi tulacal 
 in mektan cahil uinicob tumen in kamci in Cristian- 
 oil, cen Nakuk Pech cuchi laili batab en cuchi ca in 
 kamah Santo Oleos y Santo ocolal, utial in cam- 
 zic in mektan cahilob tulacal tenix yax mache vara 
 utial justiciail, tumen t binen in nant u than Diosjj/ 
 ca noh Ahau Rey Ahtepal ; laitun ca yum ti Oidor 
 D n Tomas Lopes ca uchi lae yax oai u xicin patan 
 ti batabob ti cahal cahob ; lai temes ti ca yatan oooc- 
 
 1 hauah. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 199 
 
 tun yahaubil Oidor D n Tomas Lopes ca tun tin ku- 
 bah in bara ti in mehen D n Pedro Pech ichil habil 
 152 a s . 
 
 i o. Lai cu xocol yabil cuchi lae ca in kamah u ba- 
 ra in yum Nakuk Pech D n Pablo Pech Ursula Pech 
 ixan uai ti cacab Chac Xulub Chen, lae utial in 
 meyactic Dios y ca noh ahau Rey ahtepal utial in 
 mektantic lai cah lae uai ti cacab Chac Xulub Chen 
 lae. 
 
 1 1 . La tun ulicob tu cahalob yetel u yahkulelobjy 
 u holpopob bay tu cahal Yaxkukul, bay tu cahal 
 Xulkum Cheel, bai tu cahal Maxtunil yaxchibal 
 Macan Pech yaxchibal Tahkom Pech Xulkum 
 Cheel, yet ulcob ix yahkinob yaxchibal Macan Pech 
 yaxchibal Tahkom Pech Xulkum Cheel, yet ulcobix 
 u cuchulob tu pachob, ca uliob uai ti cahtale yet 
 ulcobix yahkinob u holpopob y yahkulelob tu 
 pachob u halach uinicob, ca uliob tu cacabil Yaxku- 
 kul baix toon xan cat uloon uai tu cacabil Chac 
 Xulub Chen lae, ca cahiob uai lae lai culcinaben Tah 
 Nakuk Pech, tumen in yum Tah Koon Pech u 
 mehen Tah Tunal Pech yaxchibal Maxtunile 
 mektantic cah. 
 
 1 2. Lae cat uli oulob uai tu lumil cacabob lae 
 manan Maya uinicob ti kuchi yolob u kube patan 
 ti yax oulob cuchi, lae lai u yax cantahob oulob 
 
200 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Espanolesob oocan ili tun u oabal cah canante. 
 Cen tab Nakuk Pech in yax kamici cah uai ti ca- 
 cab Chac Xulub Chen, ca uliob u chun u thanob 
 tu pachob y yahkulel y u holpopob y yahkinob lae, 
 lai u kaba Ah Kul Matu y Kulche y ulcob ix yax 
 kinob Ahkin Cocom Ahkin Tacu y ulcob ix u 
 holpop Nachan Cen y holpop Xuluc, lai u kaba, 
 holpop lai mektanmailob ca ulob uai tii u lum 
 Maxtunil y Ah Kul Chuc y u holpop tu pachob ; 
 lai u heoahob u cacabil uai Chac Xulub Chen caix 
 uliob u holcanob u nacomob, nacom Kan, nacom 
 Xuluc, nacom Pot, nacom May, nacom Ek, lai u 
 kaba nacomob, layobi u kab nacomob yah mek- 
 tanul batab tah Nakuk Pech ca ulen uai ti cah 
 Chac Xulub Chen; lai chiccunic yol lai in cu uchu- 
 lob cat ulen uai ti cahtah uai ti luum uai tu cacabil 
 Chac Xulub Chen. 
 
 1 3. Cen tah Nakuk Pech lae ca ulen tumen u halach 
 uinic tenob ca chichi cah uai ti Chac Xulub Chen ; 
 lae tumen u nucteelob cuchi lae manan u manak 
 u talel Espanolesob uai ti luum, lae minan u yana 
 cah chicunic cah uai Chac Xulub Chen ; lai yobi 
 t ubahilob lae ti xocan ili, yulel Espanolesob ti 
 noh cah ti Ho, y u kamal cristianoil tumen uinicob 
 uai Tah Ceh Peche oocan ili ix in molic cah uai 
 tulacahal Chac Xulub Chen, cen D n Pablo Pech 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 201 
 
 y in yum D n Martin Pech, conquixtador, Xulkum 
 Cheel. 
 
 14. Lae ti turn lae ti hoppi u licil u katun Espa- 
 nolesob ich mul cochleah x ca binon, y in yum Ah 
 Macan Pech yaxchibal Yaxkukul, y Yxkil Yoam 
 Pech yaxchibal Cumkal, y ti binen tu pach katun ; 
 ca oci u patan kooch uahobe lai tun mektanmai u 
 yumil kul uiniclob cah, ca ti binon ti katun yah, 
 yukul kah y tuce tumenel u kuxilob ti kul uinicob; 
 ichil uacpe u yanonie y in lakob tu pach kul uini- 
 cob ti numia; mektanan tun in yum tumen u chun- 
 thanob, lay yobi hach ilaob yuchul tulacal tu 
 banalob tin cantah ichil in informacion tulacal lae 
 uchebal yoheltabal tumen in chibalob in mehenob 
 tin pach ti uchen cimic uai okolcab 2 lae yoklal in 
 titulo in probanza oaan ten tumen ca yumil ti Dios 
 y ca noh Ahau Rey ahtepal ; manan in patan maix 
 uchac in botic patan maix in mehenob maix in 
 u ixmehenob bin u bote patan yoklal tu lukzah ten 
 ca yumil ti Dios ichil u zahacil in puczical; ti mato 
 in uilal u uich Espanolesob cuchi tu oahten ich ich 
 olal utial in kubic inba tu kab Espanolesob y in 
 cahalob tulacal utial u cahal cahob tumenel capi- 
 tanob Adelantado yax concixtadoresob ; uliob uai ti 
 
 1 cochlahal. 2 yokolcab. 
 
 N 
 
202 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 u lumil Yucatane ; he hab yax ulci oulob tu lumil 
 uai ti Cupule lae 1511 afios. 
 
 15. Cuchi mahun ilabac oulob Espanolesob ca 
 chuci Jeronimo de Aguilar tumenob a Cusamilob; 
 lai lae u chun yohelabal peten tulacal lae yoklal 
 ooci u xinbaltabal uchi lumob tulacal, lai tah oklal 
 ma talan uchi lumob peten tulacal lai tun cin 
 oolic 1 tu tan Ahau ca tu cuchi tu tan Ahau Ah 
 Macan Pech D n Pedro Pech y u cuchteelob yax 
 chibalob u nacomob tu pachob tulacal binob tu pach 
 yoklal utzilob Ahau ylal u uichob u maseual uini- 
 cob; caix tu te ta lahun cakal u nucil uinicob u 
 bines tu pach ti Ahau Rey ahtepal u tzicob ti 
 messa nachi ti Espana, heix mac xenahi 2 tu tzicile 
 tu tan Rey ahtepale; lai tun tu yala Ahau ca u 
 bote patanob tulacal, yal u mehenob tulacal, heix 
 ton Ah Pechob yaxchibal uai ti lum y yaxchibal 
 tal ti Cupul, ca bin tu yalah yabil peten y yabil 
 maya uinicob u bal lum, caix bin tu tzolah u xocan 
 tu tanil ca noh Ahau ca uoac 3 u talel heobil u chi 
 him u Chinante Ahau ; bay tun chacanhic ca lumil 
 lae lai Aguilar, lae te hantabi tumen ah Naum Ah 
 Pot Cusamile tu yabil 1517 afios; lai yabil hauic 
 cha katun, lae lai hauic u uacuntabal u tunil balcah, 
 yoklal hunhunkal tun u talel uaatal u tunil balcah 
 
 1 tzolic. 2 xanhi. 3 utznac. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 203 
 
 cuchi ti man uluc oul Espafiolesobe Cusamil cuchi 
 uaital petenil; tumen ulic Espanolesob ca t haul 
 u betabal. 
 
 1 6. 1 5 1 9 afios lai yabil yax ulcob Espanolesob 
 uai Cusamil tu yox mal, Fernando de Cortes y 
 Espoblaco Lara. A 28 de Febrero cuchi ca uliob 
 Cusamilob u yax mal ahohelilob hahal u cibel 
 than. Lai yabil cuchcob tu Chichen tah mak opile 
 ti tun yax oheltabi u Chicheen Ytza tumen noh 
 Espanolesob D n Fran co de Montejo Adelantado, u 
 halach uinicob ca oanob tu Chichen Ytza. . 
 
 17. 1521 anos tu yoxlahunpiz u kinil agosto 
 chucic u lumil Mexico tumen Espanolesob ; uchci 
 u yox katun tabalob * Espanolesob tumen cah tu- 
 lacal uai tu cahal Cupule ; cauthi katahob Ah Ceh 
 Pech tu cimil Zalibna y etahau Lenpot Tixkochoh 
 tu provinciail Ticanto y yicnal ah Kinichkakmo 
 Ytzmal u nup u than holtun Ake ; lai yabil lae u- 
 chic u kuchul Espanolesob tu Chicheen Ytza tu 
 eaten u heoob u Chichen Ytza, ti ca uli Capitan D n 
 Fran 00 de Montejo yahtohil yahtochil Naocom Cu- 
 pul kuchal u cah. Hunkal hab yax kuchcob tu 
 Chichen Ytza ti u kabahob ah makopilobe ah DUO- 
 opob. 
 
 1 8. 1542 anos lai hab ca u heoahob lum Espan- 
 
 1 tubalob. 
 
204 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 olesob ti Hich can Ziho chuncan u nup u than Kin- 
 ich Kakmo ahkin y Ahtutul Xiu yahaulil cabecera 
 Man! u pol u meta u heoahob yaxchibalob, lai yax 
 hoppic yocol patan tiob lae tu yoxten tun yulelob 
 ta lumil, ca tun hunkul culhob, lae heklai culicob ; 
 helelae u hunten, ulcobe tu Chichen Ytzae ti u yax 
 makahob oop, matech u makal lai oop, ca u maka- 
 hop Espanolesob u kabatcob ahmakoopilob ; u ea- 
 ten ulcobi tu Chichene ca J u tocahob naobon Cu- 
 pul ; tu yoxten yulelobe ca tun hunkul culhiob lae 
 lai yabil lae 1542 anos lai tun hunkul culhiob uai ti 
 lum Ychcanzi hoo yanilob, helelae oxlahun Kan 
 ahcuchhab ti Maya xoclae. 
 
 19. 1543 anos lai yabil binci Espanolesob tet 
 xaman Cheile u xachete Mayab uinicob u maseu- 
 altobe yoklal manan maseual uinic u palilob ti Ho; 
 *ai talob ti xache uinicob u maseualtob tu chi tun, 
 ca kuchob ti Popce ti uch ban patan tiobi likulob ti 
 Ho, cat kuchob ti Popce tu chi, ca ulob ca biniob 
 Tikom, man ti kin yanhicobe te Tixkome ti hum- 
 kal u kinil yanob ca lukabi lai Espanolesob. 
 
 20. Lae 1544 anos lai hab ca Dan oul Cauaca 
 Asiesa u capitanil, ca oanoob te Cauacae ti u chi 
 pach yumili 2 ti oki patan tiobi cab ulum ixim oab- 
 tiob tiob yan Cauacae, catun ca tu kalahob ti mas- 
 
 1 yotochob nacon. 2 tiobi. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 205 
 
 cab ahkul Caamal tal Sisal ca tu kata u xocal cah 
 tuiacal, hun hab tialan ti mazcab tumenob, lai paye 
 u bel Espanolesob ca taliob ti cahtal Sachi, heclai 
 Ahkul Kamal lae lai oci ti batabil Saci Sisale D n 
 Juan Caamal de la Cruz u kabatah yoklal hach 
 hahal u than, lai yax utzcit Cruz Cauacae, u yabi 
 u than tumen oulob, lae lai tumen lai ti oci ti bata- 
 bil Sisal, ontkin ac u batabil cat cimil ; lai ti pay u 
 bel Espanolesob ca binob ti katun yah Tixkochnah; 
 xane he oulob lae hunppel hab oananob Cauaca, 
 lukob cat talob Saci hunkul hi u kal uinicob ti 
 mazcab yilab batab Caamal. 
 
 21. Lae i545anosoaniDulob Saci laix yabil hopp 
 ti cristianoil tumen padresob orden de San Fran co , 
 te tu holhaa Champotone hali yax ulcob padresob 
 u machmaob cahlohil ti Jehucristo tu kabob lai lie 
 yezic ti maseual uinicob, cat yax ulob tu tu holhaa 
 Chanpoton, lae te chikin uai tu cuchcabal u than 
 uai Ichcansihoo, ti Hoo tu cahal Ichcansihoo lai u 
 kaba ; lai padresob hoppez Cristianoil uai ti cah 
 peten Yucatan lae lai u kabaobe Fr. Juan de la 
 Puerta y Fr. Luis de Villarpando y Fr. Diego de 
 Becal y Fr. Juan de Guerrero y Fr. Merchol de 
 Benavente layob hoppes Cristianoil uai ti peten 
 chikin lae ti mato tac Cristianoil uai Cupul ; pachal 
 horn to tac Cristianoil, baito bin cantic, ca bin 
 hoppoc toon uai ti Cupule. 
 
206 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 22. 1 546 anos, lai hab ca uchi ahetzil J lae altose 
 la tierra : 9 de Noviembre bol ulo de pasen 4 
 meses ca uchi tu bolonpis u kinil noviembre ti 
 yabil de 1546 anos canppel u cinanil katun ; lae ca 
 zihi lae kuchi hunppel hab yalcab uinicob ; ca 
 tali u molicubaob tu eaten ocol u cibal patan, ca 
 zihi katune-ulel u cibahob ahezobob tali chikin 
 tabsic uinicob ca yutzcinah katun lae Etz Cunul y 
 Ah Carnal talob chikin he oul cimsabiobe catul 
 mehen oulob u camzah palil Mena ti cimob 
 Chamaxe, ppatal u cibahob ; ca talob Saci tohyol 
 tulacal Dulob ca liki katun yokolob lae 2 tihi t tun u 
 cimsabal ; Ah Etz Carnal Tipakan Ah Pakam tu 
 cimilhi Surusano yokol Nicte ; tumen u cahalobe 
 hunppel akab hi u cimil oul tumen uinicob lae ko- 
 han yooc y u kaboob, ca bini tu kinil katun ti akab 
 ti cah tulacal. 
 
 23. 1547 anos lai hab ca paxi u chem Exboxe 
 Ecabe; ca bini Espanolesob bakzahticob u oahob 
 katun yok Boxte Ecabe ual Ekboxil. 
 
 24. Lae 1548 anos ulci padre Emitanyo Saci 
 chumes 3 Cristianoil. 
 
 25. Lae 1550 anos mol ci cah tulacal tabal tal 
 Manii. 
 
 26. 1551 anos ulci padre Guadian Fr. Fernando 
 
 1 aheoil. 2 tiihil. 3 chunbez. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 207 
 
 Guererro Saci Sisal lai oces haa tu hoi uinicob lai 
 chunbezob cristianoil uay tu cuch eabal Saci tula- 
 cal, tal chikin Cheel, tali Ecab, tali Cusamil, tali ti 
 xaman, tali ti nohol, xan lai chunmes ' u pakal 
 monisterio Saci Sisal. 
 
 27. Lae 1552 anos lai hab cahciob padresob 
 yokab cuchi; lai yabil ulcob ah canbesah y kayob 
 uai Zisale, talob chikin laobi canbez u kayob missa 
 y bisperas ti canto de organo y chul y cantolano 
 ti hunkul ma ohelon uai cuchi. 
 
 Lae 1553 afios lai hab ca uli Oidor D. Tomas 
 Lopes uai tal lumil Yucatan lae tali Castella ca uli 
 tu 2 chibil tumen ca noh ahau Rey ahtepal de Cas- 
 tilla u yanton tu kab Espanolesob uaye, lai haues 
 ca tocabal tumen Espanolesob, laix haues u chi 
 on pek, laix ti chunmes u yanhal batabob ti cahal 
 cah, ca tu oa u barail, laix ti oai u takail patan xan 
 oxppel u yocol patan ti Espanolesob yub te cib 
 uluum ixim choyche y sulbiltab y yic, buul, yib 
 cuum, xamach, ppuul, ca muc yoklal patan ta c 
 yumil oulil c beta ti matac oidor oaic u nucul 
 bahunbal ; lai uchci u chabal kul chuuc tumen 
 AhMacan Pech ca lukon Sisal yoklal u katci ah 
 chucil kulchuc, lae tumen lai toci u chucil Ah Ceh 
 Pech uay Cupul, lae lai talic uai tu pach Ah kin 
 
 1 chunbez. 2 chabil. 
 
208 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Pech Macan Pech u palil Ahmacan Pech yetel u 
 nacomob ti cab Yaxkukul lae. 
 
 28. De 1519 anos lai hab ca uli Espanolesob uai 
 tac cahal Con ah Ytza uai ti lum Yucatan, lae lai 
 tin chicilbesah u kinil, yuiljj/ yabil yan canal, Cen 
 D n Pablo Pech, u mehen en D n Martin Pech, ti 
 Xulcum Cheel, concixtadoren, uai lae Maxtunil 
 yetel Chac Xulub Chen, tal kamah ix oulob tu uolol 
 ca puczikal, maix ca oaab katun yah tiob laob lae 
 D n Juan de Montejo Adelantado y u chayanil capi- 
 tanob bay yanil u kabaob ti libro ; ton ix yax 
 kamah Cristianoil concixtadores D n Martin Pech 
 u mehen D n Fernando Pech, D n Pablo Pech u 
 mehen en D n Martin Pech, hel tu yoxlahunpis u 
 kinil u de Octubre de 1518, ocic ha tu holob in 
 mektan cahilob ti hunmolhob Maxtunile, ti ocol ha 
 tu polob tumen yax obispo D n Fran co Toral ti 
 Maya uinicob; ca ' oha tu polob men ca yum 
 obispo lae cat 2 es sabi u uinbail santo tiob cahob 
 tulacal u uinbail S. Pedro y S. Pablo y S. Juan, y 
 S. Luis y S. Antonio y S. Miguel y S. Francisco 
 y S. Alonso y S. Agustin y S. Sebastian y S. 
 Diego, ca u 3 oibotahob oleos ca u kabatah P yan 
 cha oleos. 
 
 29. Lay u kahlail tulacal lae tin hun molcinzah 
 
 1 ociha. 2 ezabil. 3 oiboltahob. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 209 
 
 uay ti librose uchebal u nuctic uba uinicob himac 
 bin oltic yohelto u ooc lukanil yanomal ca noh 
 ahau Dios uchac tumen tusinile. U patanil hibic 
 ulci Espanolesob uay tac lumil lae tumen u yolat 
 ca yumil ti Dios ahtepal uay ti peten ; lae baix u 
 than ca yum Senor D n Juan de Montejo y D. 
 Fran 00 de Monte lay yax ulob uai tac lumil lae 
 laix tu oah u thanil u cumtal iglesia ti oucenoucil 
 cahob u hoi cababob y yotoch cah u kuna ca yum 
 noh ahau bay u cah mensone u yotoch ah na mul- 
 beobe '. 
 
 30. Bay xan cu yalic ca noh yum Ah Naum 
 Pech D n Fran 00 de Montejo Pech y D n Juan Pech 
 lai u kabaob ca oci haa tu holob tumen padresob 
 y adelantado lay capitan hi layob ulob uai ti lume 
 Yocolpeten, hek lai kabanzabi ti Yucatanil tumen 
 ca yax yumob Espanolesob lae baix bin u patcantic 
 ca yum Espanolesob, hebic u beltahob, caxtu yalah 
 binil hunkul cuxlacon tumen Dios, caix ti yubah 
 Maya uinicob heklay u kabaob lae, ca tu yalah 
 Naum Pech ti u mektan cahil ti ououcencil: 
 " Oheltex, talel u cah hunabku, ti peten heklai 
 hahal Diose, u chicul hahal Dios ; binex cuxlac, ca 
 cici kamex, ma a oaicex katun yokolob ca pas ma 
 u hanalob y yukalob ixim, cax, uluum, cab, buul u 
 
 1 mulbaobe. 
 
210 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 hanalob yoklal ' u colcah ti Cristianoil lai u palil ton 
 Dios ;" bay tun cibahob maniac oai katun calx tu 
 likzahubaob ca bin u yan teob Espanolesob tu 
 concixtob tu yet xinbal tahob oulob. 
 
 3 1 . Bay xan he Nachi Cocom ti cahan tu hol- 
 cacab Sutuytae tu chuccabal Chichen Ytzae hek- 
 lay kabansabi Chichen Ytzaile he Ah Cohuot Co- 
 come tu yantah u than Dios y ca noh ahau tu luk- 
 sah u 2 ponob u banderasob, utia ca noh ahau utial 
 conquixta y adelantado y yum padre clerigo tu 
 cuch cahil xan maix u oa yah katun u lukzahuba- 
 ob ichilob kaxahob kunal y yotoch cah tu cuchtee- 
 lob. 
 
 32. Hex Naoi Mabun Chane culhi tu ca cabil u 
 natatah bicil talel u cah hunkul cuxtal yoltah u 
 kububaob ti Dios tu hahil Ah Catzimob y AhChu- 
 limob tu chuccabil Manil, y Ah Tutul Yiu hex uay 
 ti lakin Chel y Tan Cupulob hex ti Campeche 
 Naoacab Canul ; bay oa lukanhi u tan hahil Dios 
 uay ti peten uay tu lumil Sacuholpatal Sacmutix 
 tun, Ah Mutule, Tunal Pech culhi uay ti cah lae. 
 
 33. He Ah Naum Peche uay u payahe mehe- 
 nob caix ti yalah : " Oheltex, hun ynix u kaba 
 kin ahbalcab bin uluk ahlikin cabob hun mexob 
 Ahpul tu chicul hunabku ti peten ca xicex ti kam 
 
 1 ocol cah. 2 panob. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 211 
 
 bu hahil asilex 1 :" bay tan binciob tu xinbalob yal- 
 an che yalan haban, ca kuchiob tu tancabal Naaay- 
 cab Canule Campech, ca yalahob: "Hele tac u 
 yulel a uula, Ah Naoacab Canule, caxti kam tuze- 
 bal la umen ; " yalab lae ca tipp u chemob tu hoi 
 u kaknabil Campech, caix ti 2 yalahob ca yumtah 
 banderasob sasacpon, ca ulon pixtahob Adelantado 
 caix katabitiob tumen lai Cristianoob Adelantado 
 uatub ocahalob ichil Castellano than, matan u na- 
 tob ca uchen nucahob than : " matan c ubah 
 than ;" ci u thanob caix alabi Yucatanilob uay tu 
 lumil cutz tu lumil ceh. 
 
 34. Bay tun binciob capitanesob y ca yum Adel- 
 antado D n Fran co de Montejo lay tu beltah u ya- 
 bal ppis y kuuch utial muse utial bucoh oimin 3 tu- 
 men binel u cibahob tu cahal Manii yicnal Ahtu- 
 tul Xiu : ca kuchob Yiba caniob Yibae, kuchob 
 Nohcacab likul tal Becal, bay tun manciob Espan- 
 olesob ca kuchob Mani yicnal Tutul Xiu caix ti 
 uacuntabic nacon Ikeb nacon Caixicum nacon Chuc 
 lay bin xic u paye Ah Cuat Cocom ; lay tun u chun 
 u culcintabal 4 ahactan ob tumen u cuchulob ca 
 lukzabi u uichob yalan nohoch 5 yacatun sa bin tal 
 pulbil huntul lay ma lukzabi u uich ti yacatun 
 
 1 a ciil ex. 2 yilahob. 3 tzimin. 
 
 4 ahactunob. 5 actunzabin. 
 
212 THE 'CHRONICLES. 
 
 sabin, luksabi u uich ca oa be ti ca bin nacpalan- 
 cal ti yicnal Adelantado Manii, caix ualkahi 
 yah pululob tu cahal Cuuat Cocom ; catun liki 
 Ah Naum Pech y tu catulilob xic u talez Ah 
 Cuat Cocom ; cu kuchulob, ca yalah ti Naun Pech 
 bicil ma yilahi maix yabahi ca yalah bicil ti binan 
 tu Chicften Ytzae tuzebal tal ci tu cail tumen 
 Ahpechob, ca kuchob Manil kube u chasahob tu- 
 sebal u yalci Ah Cocom ma yilah bal uch tu cahal 
 caix oab u chucil ti cabin u chucob mac u beltah- 
 lobe. 
 
 35. Baixtun tal ci Ahpechtucahalob yila u mektan 
 cahilob uinicilobe baytun talciob hex cat tal oulob 
 tumen bin uchci u cimsabal ouul ti cah tumen u 
 cuchulob, catun manobca biniob yicnal Ah Batun 
 Pech Cay Chel, lay tun yilahobe ca manob ca binob 
 Maxtunil yicnal Machi May y tun Ah Macan Pech ; 
 bai tun ualkahciob tu lumilob tu mektan cahilob 
 tu Yaxkukule; lai D n Pablo Pech Ah Macan 
 Cam Pech tumenel halach uinic lai mektanmail 
 tulacal lai uay ti chi kin lae yoklal maix u lukul 
 yol nacomob, tulacal bayxan lay tumen culcinaben 
 in canant lay cacab Chac Xubub Chen lae tumenel 
 maseneal uinicob lae tan u T sa uinolabob lai tumen 
 2 chic u nakci u yolah Dios ti cahob. 
 
 1 oa uinalalob. 2 chiic. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 213 
 
 36. Lae hex lay ytoria lae tujacal tux manel S r 
 Espanolesob y kubabaob yax padresob, y u kaba 
 yax oulob bin ooloc x tumen lai u oilibal, lae yoklal 
 mentahan utial yoheltabal bic uchic concixta, uabic 
 numya tu mansahob uay yalan chee yalan aak 
 yalan haban, ichil lay hab lae y u cha yan yax uin- 
 icob mehentzilob hancabob yoklal manal cappel 
 oxppel hab cahanob ta muktun u oablahal cahob 
 tumen ca yumil oulilob, laeta muktun u ppizil cahob 
 u ppizil u kaxilob cahob tumen OidorTomas Lopes 
 yan sedula tu kabob tumen ca noh Ahau utial tun 
 xotlahal kaxob ti mac cu cahtalob, ti ma yanac 
 cahob cuchi tumen te zihnalon be nae tulacalob, 
 ti cu halach uinicil Naum Pech cuchi, ti ma uluc 
 oulob heoic Cristianoil uay ti lum cuchi, he tun cat 
 kuchi u kinil u yulah uay ti peten, lae cat ul oulob 
 uai ti lum Yucatan lae, ca binon kameob tumen u 
 zahacil ca puczikal, cat ooci Cristianoil uay ti lum 
 lae cat oablahon canante cacabob, ti ma yanac S a 
 Yglesia cuchi, cat hau u cahil lay bena lae ma 
 cah. 
 
 37. Helelae lay u chun in patcantic hen cex bin 
 uchic u yuchul concixta bahun numya t mansahjj' 
 S r Espanolesob yoklal maya uinicob cuchi matan 
 yoke ukuubaob ti Dios, ten tun cen D. Pablo Pech 
 tin tzolah u xicinob ti cacab Maxtunil. 
 
 1 tzoloc. 
 
214 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 38. Bay tan matan culhani catun emon ti cacab 
 Chac Xulub Chen, ooci tun u Cumtal S a iglesia, lae 
 catun ppisahcappisbituDutpach cahlahbal yanumal 
 in mehenob u chen cimic yokolcab, tumen ma u 
 macan tu baltiob 1 tumen Maya uinicob, ma u man- 
 bal cuntabalob u chinal hen cex bax tu oahton ca 
 yumil ti Dios tumen u zahacil puczikale, lay tumen 
 oab u chucil ton tumen ca noh ahau Rey Ahtepal 
 y catun cumcintah S a iglesia utial kultic ca yumil ti 
 
 DiosjK yotoch cah tu lakin iglesia u kuna ca noh 
 Ahau yetel meson. 
 
 39. Bay xan licix in betic in uotoch pakil na tu 
 xaman iglesia; ma u yalic Maya uinicob ua utialtob 
 tu kinil, lay tumen ci chicilbezic hebix in mentah 
 mailobe y yum D n Pablo Pech Ah Macan Pech, y 
 in yum D n Martin Pech Ah kom Pech,jy in yum D n 
 Ambrosio Pech Op Pech ix u Maya kaba y Yxkil 
 Ytzam Pech y D n Estevan Pech Ahkulul Pech. 
 
 40. Tac kamah u noh comisionil u ppiz kaxob, 
 tu oah u licenciail ca noh Ahau Rey ahtepal ti ca 
 yumil yax Oidor Tomas Lopes utial ca u oa nucte 
 u than ton utial ca ppizic u pach ca tocoynail he 
 tux cahantacob uay uay tu pach cahal utial ca 
 utzac oheltic tux cu manel u ppizil ca luumil utial 
 kilacabob utial u tzenticubaob u oaic u hanalob ca 
 
 1 beltahob. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 215 
 
 encomenderosob, lay oklal cin oaic u juramentoil 
 tu tanil tulacal uinicob lay informacion lae u hahil 
 cu yilicob u tocoynailob tu xma yocol u yanal to- 
 coynail, lay oklal oaic u hahil. 
 
 41. Heix macx yax encomendero uay ti cacab 
 Chaac Xulub Chen lae D n Julian Donsel encomen- 
 dero hi uay ti cacah lae ca tu yalah ti batab caxi- 
 cob u Dabob u chicul chi kax u luumob uay tu pach 
 u mektan cahil; yoklal tan u ppizil u chi lumob u 
 chi kaxob ti lakin, ti nohol, ti chikin, tulacal hen 
 cex max cu cahtalob, tumen ooctun u heoel Cris- 
 tianoil uay ti lume Chaac Xulub Cheen, y lix caci- 
 lech u yum Santiago patron ah canan cah utial 
 D n Pablo Pech. 
 
CONQUEST AND MAP. 
 
 1. The fifth division of the nth Ahau Katun 
 was placed when the Spaniards arrived and set- 
 tled the city of Merida ; it was during the Qth Ahau 
 that Christianity was introduced ; the year in which 
 first came our lords the Spaniards here to this land 
 
 was the 
 
 year 1511. 
 
 2. I, who am Nakuk Pech, of the first hidalgos 
 conquistadores here in this land in the district 
 Maxtunil, I am placed in the first town in the dis- 
 trict Chac Xulub Chen. As thus it is given me 
 to guard by my lord Ah Naum Pech, I wish to 
 compose carefully the history and chronicle of the 
 district of Chac Xulub Chen here, my first com- 
 mand, the town having two districts, Chichinica 
 and, here, Chac Xulub Chen. 
 
 3. My name was Nakuk Pech before I was bap- 
 tized, son of Ah Kom Pech, Don Martin Pech, of 
 the town of Xul Kum Chel ; thus we were given 
 the districts to guard by our lord Ah Naum Pech 
 from the town Mutul, and I was promoted to 
 guard the district Chac Xulub Chen ; when our 
 
 216 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 217 
 
 lords, the Spaniards, did not pass nor come here 
 to this land Yucatan, I was then governor here in 
 this town, here in this land, Chac Xulub Chen. 
 When our lord, the Serior Adelantado came here 
 to this province in the year 1519, 1 was head chief; 
 when the Spaniards came here to the land of 
 Maxtunil we received them with loving attention; 
 we also first gave them tribute and respect, and 
 then we gave to eat to the Spanish captains; he 
 who was called Adelantado came here to Maxtu- 
 nil to the dwelling of Nachi May; then we went 
 to see that they should be given pleasures; they 
 did not even enter the towns, not even visited 
 the towns; they were here in this land for three 
 months, being placed here in the district of Max- 
 tunil; then they departed and went to begin a 
 seaport, the seaport ^ilam, and remained there 
 three years and a half. 
 
 4. They were there when my father went to make 
 delivery to them ; he called the Adelantado re- 
 turned here to this land; the maid servant named 
 Ixkakuk was presented to them by my father to 
 give them food and wait upon them ; and they 
 were there when they were attacked by the 
 Cupuls ; and they departed, and went to live at 
 Ecab Kantanenkin, as is called the land where 
 o 
 
218 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 they settled ; they were there when they were 
 attacked by those of Ecab, and they departed and 
 arrived at Cauaca, which they entered, and passed 
 to the town ^ekom, as the town is called; they 
 passed it and arrived at the town Tixcuumcuuc, 
 so-called; and they departed from there and 
 arrived at the town called Tinuum ; and then they 
 all set out in search of Chichen Itza, so-called ; 
 there they asked the King of the town to meet 
 them, and the people said to them ; " There is a 
 King, O Lord," they said, " there is a King, 
 Cocom Aim Pech, King Pech, Namox Chel, King 
 Chel, of ^iaantun ; foreign warrior, rest in these 
 houses," they said to them, by the Captain Cupul. 
 They departed from Chichen Itza and arrived with 
 King Ixcuat Cocom of Ake ; " Lords, you cannot 
 go, you will lose yourselves," was said to them by 
 the King Ixcuat Cocom, and they turned back 
 again, and went and arrived' at Cauaca for the 
 second time, and they reached the seaport called 
 Catzun, where they marched by the sea, and went 
 and returned to ^elebnae, as it is called, where 
 they first settled when they first came to this land. 
 5. They remained in Chanpatun six years, when 
 they went forth to Campeche ; he, called the Ade- 
 lantado, the first Spaniard, passed here to this 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 219 
 
 land ; they were at Campeche when they asked 
 
 * 
 
 tribute ; according to orders by the chiefs to all the 
 'villages there was tribute. They passed on by 
 the sea (asking) for tribute to be brought to them. 
 Then I went with my companions Ah Macan Pech 
 and his younger brother Ixkil Ytzam Pech, the 
 king of the town Cumkal, and my father, who was 
 in the town Xulcumcheel ; these were my com- 
 panions when I went back for the tribute ; they 
 saw it ; also Nachi May accompanied us, because 
 he knew that he (the Adelantado), did not know 
 the language ; because they first stayed at his 
 house when they came, and for this reason they 
 spoke to him to accompany them when they went 
 after the tribute, because he was a friend to the 
 Spaniards when it (the tribute) was delivered to 
 the captains ; from them we received coats and 
 cloaks and shoes and rosaries and hats, and had 
 much pleasure from the captains; we left when the 
 Spaniards had ended giving these gifts ; already 
 we had our clothes when we arrived, the coats and 
 cloaks (we) Ixkil Ytzam Pech of Conkal, our com- 
 panions Ah Macan Pech of YaxKukul, and my 
 father Ah Kom Pech, who were the greatest of us. 
 6. And I Nakuk Pech by name was head chief 
 when they first delivered tribute, when we went to 
 
220 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Campech to deliver tribute, and we came back 
 when the Spaniards coming on the road from Cam- 
 pech came to the towns to dwell at Ichcanzihoo, 
 the city of Merida; and when it was heard that 
 the Spaniards were coming on the road from Cam- 
 pech we went to give them gifts, and I went the 
 second time to deliver tribute. And I Nakuk Pech 
 of this district of Chac Xulub Chen, and Ah Ma- 
 com Pech of the district Yan Kukul, and Ixkil 
 Ytzam Pech the head chief of Conkal, and also I 
 Nakuk Pech, chief here in the town Chac Xulub 
 Chen, entered into giving gifts to them a second 
 time at ^ibikal, and they wished an abundance a 
 second time, and they were given gifts, pheasants, 
 and honey, and sweet food at ^ibilkal, when they 
 came to settle at Merida ; Don Francisco de Mon- 
 tejo, first Captain General, first came here to this 
 land, to Merida, with Don Francisco de Braca- 
 monte and Francisco Tamayo and Juan de Pache- 
 co and Perarberes ; these captains came in the 
 year 1541. 
 
 7. In the year when these captains who com- 
 manded came to Merida to settle, then I, Ix Na- 
 kuk Pech, was chief, and when the Spaniards came 
 to Merida, I paid tribute to the conquerors at 
 Merida, as I was then chief here in the district 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 221 
 
 Chac Xulub Chen, Roderigo Alvarez being Sec- 
 retary in the year 1542. 
 
 8. When the Adelantado made the distribution 
 of towns to the conquerors by the captains, and 
 the Secretary Roderigo Alvarez wrote out the 
 list of tributes according to each division of the 
 towns, all my companions and kinsmen paid trib- 
 ute, sufficient tribute according to the division of 
 tribute to the Spaniards which the Adelantado 
 made by the captains, and the Secretary Roderigo 
 Alvarez, in the first year the Spaniards came to 
 Merida ; and I, Nakuk Pech, was taken and given 
 to Don Julian Doncel the Encomendero, the first 
 lord of the town Chac Xulub Chen, the first En- 
 comendero, and my hand was given him by the 
 captain Don Francisco de Montejo, and I was 
 given for a chief to Don Julian Doncel, in his hand, 
 and I began to take tribute for the holy fathers. 
 
 9. And I, Nakuk Pech, was thus chief when Alva- 
 rez, the first Alcalde Mayor, came to this province 
 Yucatan, to Merida, and when Alvara de Carvayor 
 was Alcalde Mayor; and when the Auditor 
 Thomas Lopez came I was chief, and I was called 
 Ix Nakuk Pech, and when I entered the water and 
 received baptism, I was called Don Pablo Pech ; 
 and I ceased to be called Nakuk Pech ; we first 
 
222 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 chiefs were created hidalgos by the captains when 
 possession was first taken of this province, and 
 we first paid tribute to the foreigners, and posses- 
 sion was given to us by God and the ruling king; 
 and our descendants are hidalgos, and all our sons, 
 until the time shall come when the world shall end ; 
 and we chiefs were rulers in this land when there 
 was no Holy Church in the districts, and before 
 the Spaniards began to march over the country, 
 or to congregate together in order to worship ; 
 and formerly, when the men were not Christians, 
 I ruled wholly the men, and when I received 
 Christianity I, Nakuk Pech, I was a chief; and I 
 received the Holy Oils and the Holy Faith in order 
 that I might teach it to all my subjects ; and I was 
 also the first to receive the rod of the justicia, because 
 I went to aid the Word of God and our great Lord 
 the ruling king ; then our Lord, the Auditor Don 
 Thomas Lopez, was the first who divided the trib- 
 ute of the chiefs according to the towns they occu- 
 pied ; and when the tribute was satisfactorily fin- 
 ished by the governorship of the Auditor Don 
 Thomas Lopez, I gave my rod to my son Don 
 Pedro Pech, in the year 1552. 
 
 10. This was the number of the year when I 
 received the rod from my father, Nakuk Pech, 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 223 
 
 Don Pablo Pech and of Ursula Pech, here in this 
 town of Chac Xulub Chen, to serve God and our 
 great ruler, the reigning king, in order that I may 
 govern the town at this place Chac Xulub Chen. 
 
 11. The first descendants of Macan Pech and of 
 Ah Kom Pech, of Xulkum Chel, came to their 
 towns with their priests and chiefs, to the town of 
 Yaxkukul, to Xulkum Chel and to Maxtunil ; they 
 came back with their companions to this town; 
 they came also with their priests and chiefs and 
 ministers back to their rulers, when they came to 
 the town Yaxkukul; and we, also, when we ar- 
 rived at this town of Chac Xulub Chen. When 
 we settled here they appointed me, Nakuk Pech, 
 by my father, Ah Kom Pech, son of Ah Tunal Pech, 
 first descendant of Maxtunil, to govern this town. 
 
 12. When the Spaniards came to the towns of 
 this land there were no Indians who had a will to 
 pay tribute to the first Spaniards ; therefore the 
 first Spaniards made an account of what towns 
 were to be given to be governed. I, Nakuk Pech, 
 I first received the town here, in the district Chac 
 Xulub Chen, when first they came with orders to 
 take it, with the chiefs, and captains and priests, 
 whose names are Ah Kul Matu and (Ah) Kul 
 Che ; and the first priests arrived, the priest Cocom, 
 
224 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 the priest Tacu ; and the captains arrived, the 
 captain Nachan Cen and the captain Xuluc, as 
 their names were, the captains who commanded 
 when they came to this land Maxtunil, with the 
 priest Chtic and his captains, to take possession ; 
 thus they found the town here, Chac Xulub Chen, 
 when came the soldiers and ensigns, Ensign Kan, 
 Ensign Xuluc, Ensign Pot, Ensign May, Ensign 
 Ek, such were the names of the ensigns, the names 
 of those I commanded as chief when I, Nakuk 
 Pech, came to this town Chac Xulub Chen ; thus 
 my mind was strengthened when these things hap- 
 pened, and when I came here to settle here in the 
 land and district Chac Xulub Chen. 
 
 13. I, Nakuk Pech, came here by (order of) the 
 governor that I should strengthen the town Chac 
 Xulub Chen ; then among old men there was 
 no sign that the Spaniards would come here to this 
 land, nor was the village of Chac Xulub Chen 
 strengthened then ; it was when they heard the 
 account, when the Spaniards came to the city of 
 Merida and Christianity was received by the men 
 of the province of Ceh Pech. I finished by gather- 
 ing together all the town of Chac Xulub Chen, I, 
 Don Pablo Pech, and my father, Don Martin 
 Pech, Conquistador of Xulkum Cheel. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 225 
 
 14. When the war against the Spaniards began 
 we spread out our forces together with them, and 
 went with my father, Ah Macan Pech, of the 
 first lineage of Yaxkukul, and Ixkil Yoam Pech, of 
 the first lineage of Cumkal, and I went after them 
 to the war ; then began the obligation of tribute to 
 our rulers for the Spanish governors in the town ; 
 when we went to the war there was pinole and tuce 
 to drink, because they were disgusted with the 
 Christians ; for six months we and my compan- 
 ions followed the Christians in their misfortunes ; 
 my father was then governed by the regidors, who 
 saw that all that I write in my information truly 
 happened, everything, in order that it may be 
 known by my family, my sons, in the hereafter, 
 until the end of the world, for my title and evi- 
 dence given me by our Lord God and our great 
 lord, the reigning king ; I have no tribute nor do 
 I pay tribute, nor will my sons nor my daughters 
 pay tribute, because our Lord God released me 
 from it in the fear of my heart; before I had seen 
 the face of the Spaniards I had been given willing- 
 ness that I should deliver myself and all my town 
 into the hands of the Spaniards, in order that they 
 might be inhabited by the captains, the Adelantado 
 and the first conquistadores who came here to this 
 
226 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 land, Yucatan ; and the year the first foreigners 
 came here to the land of the Cupuls was the year 
 1511. 
 
 15. In former times no one saw Spanish for- 
 eigners, not until Jeronimo de Aguilar was cap- 
 tured by the natives of Cozumel ; then first the 
 whole of the country became known, because all 
 the country was marched over; but because the 
 whole of the land was not made use of I spoke of 
 it before the king, when there went before the 
 king Ah Macan Pech, Don Pedro Pech, and his 
 followers, and the first of his lineage, and all his 
 chiefs after him ; they went after him to honor the 
 king, that he might see the faces of his servants ; 
 then fifty of the principal men went afterwards to the 
 lord the ruling king, to obey him at table, far off 
 in Spain, and those remained to obey before the 
 ruling King; then the ruler said that all should 
 pay tribute and all their sons, even we the Pechs 
 of the first lineage in this land, and the first lineage 
 of the Cupuls ; then it was said, there is a great 
 province, and many men and things in the land, 
 and an account shall be made of it before our 
 great king, and now they shall come to fix the 
 limits of the land for our beloved king. Thus the 
 land was discovered by Aguilar, who was eaten by 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 227 
 
 Ah Naum Ah Pat at Cuzamil in the year 1517. 
 In this year the katun ended, and then ended the 
 placing of the town stone, for at each twentieth 
 stone they came to place the town stones, formerly, 
 when the Spaniards had not yet come to Cuzamil, 
 to this land; since the Spaniards came, it has ceased 
 to be done. 
 
 1 6. In the year 1519 first came the Spaniards here 
 to Cuzamil, for the third time, Fernando de Cortes 
 and Espoblaco Lara. On the 28th of February, 
 there came to Cuzamil for the first time those who 
 knew to speak the true words. In this year the 
 eaters of anonas first arrived at Chichen, and then 
 for the first time Chichen Itza became known to 
 the great Spaniards, (and) to Don Francisco de 
 Montejo, Adelantado, the governor, when they 
 were posted at Chichen Ytza. 
 
 1 7. In the year 1 5 2 1 , on the 1 3th day of August, 
 the territory of Mexico was taken by the Span- 
 iards. The third attack on the same Spaniards 
 took place by all the towns here in the town of 
 Cupul, when they asked Ah Ceh Pech about the 
 killing- at Zalibna, and his companion-king Cen 
 Pot of Tixkokhoch of the province of Ticanto, 
 with the priest Ich Kak Mo of Itzmal the compan- 
 ion of Holtun Ake. The year in which the Span- 
 
228 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 iards arrived at Chichen Itza for the second time 
 to settle at Chichen Itza was that when arrived the 
 captain Don Francisco de Montejo, the just one, 
 leader of the Cupuls. They arrived at the town 
 twenty years after they arrived at Chichen Ytza 
 (the first time), where they were called eaters 
 of anonas, biters of anonas. 
 
 1 8. In the year 1542, the Spaniards settled the 
 territory of Merida ; the first speaker, the compan- 
 ion priest Kinich Kakmo and the king of the Tu- 
 tulxiu of the capital Mani humbled their heads, and 
 the first families were settled ; then first they came 
 under tribute the third time (the Spaniards) came 
 to this land, and they established themselves per- 
 manently, and stopped here. The first time when 
 they came here to Chichen Itza they began to eat 
 anonas; never before had anonas been eaten, and 
 when the Spaniards ate them they were called ano- 
 na-eaters ; the second time they came to Chichen 
 they stopped at the house of the Captain Cupul ; the 
 third time they arrived they settled permanently, 
 in the year 1 542 they settled permanently in the 
 territory of Merida, the i3th Kan being the year- 
 bearer, according to the Maya reckoning. 
 
 19. In the year 1543 the Spaniards went north 
 of the Chels to procure Maya men for servants 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 229 
 
 because there were no men for servants at Meri- 
 da ; they came to procure men for servants for 
 their bidding ; when they reached Popce the trib- 
 ute was increased by those from Merida, when 
 those who command arrived at Popce, and they 
 went on to Tikom, and the Spaniards remained at 
 that time in Tikom more than twenty days before 
 they departed. 
 
 20. In the year 1544 the Spanish Captain Asie- 
 sa was posted in Cauaca, and the chiefs were gath- 
 ered together from Cauaca for the tribute, and 
 they gave in Cauca honey, pheasants and maize ; 
 then they placed in prison the priest Caamal from 
 Sisal, and asked for an account of all the towns ; 
 one year he was kept by them in prison ; he then 
 served as guide to the Spaniards when they came 
 to Valladolid, and this priest Kamal of Sisal en- 
 tered as chief at Valladolid, and was called Don 
 Juan Caamal de la Cruz, because he spoke very 
 truthfully; he first introduced the cross in Cauaca, 
 and he was listened to by the Spaniards, and for 
 this he entered as chief at Sisal, and being chief a 
 long time he died. He was also guide to the Span- 
 iards when they went to war with Tixkochnah ; 
 and when the Spaniards had been posted one year 
 in Cauaca, they went forth and came to Vallado- 
 
230 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 lid on purpose to see the men the chief Kamal had 
 placed in prison. 
 
 21. In the year 1 545 the Spaniards were posted at 
 Valladolid, and in this year Christianity began by 
 the fathers of the order of San Francisco in the 
 port of Champoton; there first came the fathers 
 having in their hands the Redeemer Jesus Christ 
 by name, that they might teach the serving men ; 
 and first they came to the port of Champutun to 
 the west of this province called here Ichcansiho, 
 then to Merida, the town Ichcansiho as it is called. 
 These are the names of the fathers who began 
 Christianity in this country Yucatan, Fr. Juan de 
 la Puerta, and Fr. Luis de Villarpando, and Fr. 
 Diego de Becal, and Fr. Juan de Guerrero, and 
 Fr. Merchol de Benavente, these began Christian- 
 ity in the west of this country, before Christianity 
 came here to Cupul; afterwards the trumpet of 
 Christianity came here, as I was saying, and it 
 began here at Cupul. 
 
 22. In the year 1546 there was a conjura- 
 tion in the highlands of the country; on the gth 
 of November there had been peace for four 
 months, and it occurred on the Qth day of 
 November of the year 1546 that there was war 
 after four months : it began and continued for one 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 231 
 
 year among the men, when they were gathered 
 together for the second time for the tribute of wax ; 
 when the war began it took place that the conju- 
 rors came from the west to deceive the people and 
 to set in order the war; the conjuror Cunul and 
 Ah Carnal came from the west and killed the Span- 
 iards and two sons of the Spaniards, scholars at 
 Mena; they died at Chamax, where they wished 
 to remain; then came to Valladolid all the Span- 
 iards who were well when the war broke out, and 
 then began the massacre; the conjuror Carnal 
 Tipakan, of Pakam, killed Surusano over against 
 Nicte; at the towns one night the Spaniards were 
 slain because the people fell sick in their hands 
 and feet; there was then for a day and a night 
 war in all the towns. 
 
 23. In the year 1547 a ship was destroyed by 
 Ex Box at Ecab; then the Spaniards went to make 
 him fear, and made war against Box of Ecab, son 
 of Ek Box. 
 
 24. In the year 1548 the father Ermitanyo came 
 to Valladolid to begin Christianity. 
 
 25. In the year 1550 there was a general re- 
 union of the towns and their dependencies at 
 Mani. 
 
 26. In the year 1551 the father guardian, Fr. 
 
232 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Fernando Guerrero, came from Valladolid to Sisal 
 and he baptized the people and introduced Chris- 
 tianity here into all the territory of Valladolid west 
 of the Chels; they came from Ecab, they came 
 from Cozumel, they came from the north, they 
 came from the south, and also he began the build- 
 ing of the monastery Valladolid-Sisal. 
 
 27. In the year 1552 the fathers settled here; in 
 this year they came to teach and sing here at 
 Sisal, they came from the west to teach and sing 
 mass vespers with the singing of the organ and 
 flute, and the canto llano, which never before did 
 we know here. 
 
 In the year 1553 the Auditor, Don Thomas 
 Lopez arrived here in this land of Yucatan from 
 Castilla, and he arrived as a messenger from our 
 great ruler, the reigning king of Castilla, to pro- 
 tect us against the hand of the Spaniards here. 
 He put a stop to our being burned by the Span- 
 iards, he put a stop to our being bitten by dogs, 
 he introduced the appointing of chiefs in each vil- 
 lage by the giving of the baton ; he also adjusted 
 the tribute for the third time, the tribute introduced 
 by the Spaniards, mantles, wax, pheasants, maize, 
 buckets, salt, peppers, broad beans, narrow beans, 
 jars, pots, vases, all for tribute to our Spanish 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 233 
 
 rulers, which we paid before the Auditor had 
 given his attention to these things. At this time 
 occurred the capture of the priest Chuuc by Ah 
 Macan Pech when we left Sisal, because he wished 
 the priest Chuc to be captured, as he had pre- 
 vented the capture of Ah Ceh Pech here in Cupul; 
 afterwards the priest Pech, Macan Pech with the 
 servants of Macan Pech and his captains, came 
 here to this town of Yaxkukul. 
 
 28. From the year 1519 when the Spaniards came 
 here to the town of Conah Itza, here in this land, 
 Yucatan, I have set forth the days, the months and 
 the years as above stated, I, Don Pablo Pech, the 
 son of Don Martin Pech of Xul Kum Cheel, con- 
 quistador, here at Maxtunil and Chac Xulub Chen; 
 since we received the Spaniards with good will 
 and heart, nor did we make war upon them, Don 
 Juan de Montejo, Adelantado, and the rest of the 
 captains, as their names are in the book ; we also 
 first received Christianity, we the conquistadores, 
 Don Martin son of Don Fernando Pech, Don 
 Pablo Pech son of Don Martin Pech, on the i3th 
 day of the month of October, 1518; all my sub- 
 jects received baptism in Maxtunil ; they were 
 baptized by the first bishop to the Maya people, 
 Don Francisco Toral ; and when he baptized us 
 p 
 
234 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 our father the bishop showed the images of the 
 saints to all the villages, images of Saint Peter 
 and St. Paul, and St. John and St. Louis, and St. 
 Antony, and St. Michael, and St. Francis, and St. 
 Alonzo, and St. Augustin and St. Sebastian, and 
 St. Diego ; and they desired the oils, and he who 
 was called Peter took the oils. 
 
 29. Such is the chronicle of everything I have 
 collected for the books, in order that the people 
 might know it, whoever wished to know it, as had 
 decreed it from the beginning our great lord God 
 who governs the universe. It is the declaration 
 of how the Spaniards came to this land, here to 
 this country; by the will of the lord, the ruling God, 
 also by the orders of our lord Don Juan deMontejo, 
 and Don Francisco de Montejo, who first came here 
 to this land, and gave orders that churches should 
 be built in the plastered villages, in the outlying 
 districts, and a town house and a temple for our 
 great ruler, and also a public house for travelers. 
 
 30. Thus also said our great father, Ah Naum 
 Pech, Don Francisco de Montejo Pech, and Don 
 Juan Pech, as were their names when they were 
 baptized by the fathers; and as the Adelantado, 
 the Captain, those who came here to this land 
 Yocol Peten, but called Yucatan by the first 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 235 
 
 Spaniards, as they the Spaniards, clearly relate. 
 When our lord the Spaniards said that we are to 
 live eternally with God, and when the Maya men 
 heard the names, then spoke Naum Pech to those 
 he commanded, with suavity : " Know ye, there 
 comes to the town the one God, to the country the 
 true God, the sign of the true God; go ye to live 
 with Him, joyfully receive Him, do not war against 
 Him, and if they have not to eat or drink give them 
 maize, fowls, pheasants, honey, beans to eat, that 
 Christianity may enter and that we may be ser- 
 vants of God ;" thus they wished it, and they did 
 not make war, but rose up and went to aid the 
 Spaniards in the conquest and marched together 
 with the foreigners. 
 
 31. Thus also Nachi Cocom, who dwelt in the 
 chief town of Zututa in the province Chichen Itza,that 
 called Chichen Itza, and Ah Cahuot Cocom, aiding 
 the word of God and our great King, delivered 
 up their standards and banners for the sake of our 
 great King, for the conquest, and received the 
 Adelantado and the father the priest in their towns, 
 nor did they make war, but abstained from all 
 injury, and laid out churches and town-houses for 
 their followers. 
 
 32. And Naoi Mabun Chan settled in the district, 
 
236 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 and understood that the eternal life had come to 
 his village, and wished that to God truly would be 
 delivered the Catzins and Chuls in the district of 
 Mani, and the Tutulxiu, and the Chels in the East, 
 and the (middle) Tan Cupuls and in Campeche Na- 
 oacab Canul ; thus this earth was given by God to 
 be redeemed, this land Zacuholpatal Zacmutixtun ; 
 and Tunal Pech of Mutul settled here in this town. 
 33. And Ah Naum Pech called the youths and 
 said to him " Know ye, that on the day called i 
 Ymix it will dawn, there will come from the eastern 
 lands bearded men with the sign of the only God 
 to this land ; go to receive them with true pleas- 
 ure; " therefore they went and marched under the 
 trees, under the branches, and they arrived at the 
 house of Naoay Cab, of Canul at Campech and 
 said : " He, your guest, is now coming, Ah Naoa 
 Cab of Canul, receive him promptly." Thus they 
 said when the ships appeared in the port of Cam- 
 peche, when they saw the banners waving, the white 
 standard, and they came, when he had cast anchor, 
 to the Adelantado, and were asked in Castilian by 
 the Christians, and the Adelantado, whether they 
 had been baptized ; but they did not know his lan- 
 guage, and replied : " We do not understand the 
 words ; " so they said, and thus they named this 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 237 
 
 land here Yucatan, (which was known to us as) 
 the land of the wild turkey, the land of the deer. 
 
 34. Thus then the captains and our lord the 
 Adelantado Don Francisco de Montejo went on ; 
 and they made much cloth and thread to cut into 
 clothing for the horses, as they wished to go to the 
 town of Mani, to the Tutulxiu. When they came 
 to Yiba they held a talk in Yiba ; they arrived at 
 Nohcacab coming out of Becal ; thus the Spaniards 
 passed and arrived at Mani, to Tutulxiu, and then 
 were appointed the chief Ikeb, the chief Caixicum 
 and the chief Chuc to go to invite Ah Cuat Cocom. 
 They were at first taken and placed in a cave by 
 his followers : then their eyes were put out in that 
 great cave of weasels, and there was not one who did 
 not have his eyes put out in the cave of weasels ; 
 their eyes were put out and they were given the 
 road to go groping to the Adelantado at Mani ; 
 and thus returned those who were cast out of the 
 town of Cuat Cocom. Then Ah Naum Pech rose 
 up with both of them and came to Ah Cuat Co- 
 com ; when they arrived, he said to Ah Naum 
 Pech that he had not seen nor heard of it; he said 
 he had gone to Chichen Itza, and he came prompt- 
 ly to the towns with the Pechs, and they arrived 
 at Mani to deliver up promptly (the offenders); 
 
238 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 and the Cocom said he had not witnessed what 
 had happened in his village, and he would give 
 permission that they should be taken who had 
 done it. 
 
 35. Then Ah Pech came to the towns in order to 
 see the people governed in them; the Spaniards 
 also came, but on account of the massacre of the 
 foreigners by the people, they passed on and went 
 to Ah Batum Pech of Chel, whom they saw, and 
 passed on, and went to Maxtunil, to Nachi May 
 and Ah Macan Pech; they then returned to their 
 lands to the towns they governed at Yaxkukul ; 
 Don Pablo Pech, Ah Macan Pech, was governor 
 of all the district to the west, nor did his captains 
 at all give up their spirits; soon I was appointed to 
 guard the territory Chac Xulub Chen, because the 
 serving men were at war on account of the labor 
 given them, and by taking them the will of God 
 was fulfilled in the towns. 
 
 36. Such is the complete history of how passed 
 the Spaniards and how the first fathers were re- 
 ceived, and the names of the first conquerors I shall 
 set forth according to the register, because this is 
 composed in order that it may be known how the 
 conquest occurred, and in what manner they 
 labored here, under the trees, under the branches 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 239 
 
 under the bushes, in those years and months; and 
 what the people and their sons found to eat; for 
 from two to three years they labored in the dis- 
 tribution of the towns, by" our rulers the Spaniards; 
 they also labored in the measuring of the towns, 
 and the measuring of the forests of the towns 
 by the Auditor Tomas Lopez, holding in his hand 
 the Cedula of our great lord the king, that forests 
 should be cut by whoever settled. When there 
 were no towns we were natives here of official 
 houses, Naum Pech being governor of all, nor at 
 that time had the Spaniards come here to estab- 
 lish Christianity in this land; but when the day 
 came that their arrival took place, when the Span- 
 iards came to this land Yucatan, we received them 
 with a friendly heart, and Christianity was intro- 
 duced into this land, and we were appointed to 
 guard the villages, when as yet there was no 
 church; and now they have ceased building official 
 houses or villages. 
 
 37. Thus I began to relate how the conquest 
 took place and how many sufferings we under- 
 went with our lords, the Spaniards, from the 
 natives who were not willing to deliver themselves 
 to God ; thus I recount what I heard concerning 
 the town Maxtunil. 
 
240 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 38. We did not settle there, but descended to the 
 town Chac Xulub Chen, and when the Holy 
 Church was finished in Cumtal, we measured its 
 sides and took possession so that our children 
 should remain there from the beginning until the 
 end of the world, so that the natives should not 
 obstruct us, nor enchant by the throwing of stones 
 anything which had been given us by God and our 
 lord through the fear of our hearts; for this our 
 great lord the ruling king gave us the authority ; 
 and when the church was prepared in which to 
 worship our lord and God, and the public house 
 to the east of the church and the temple of our 
 great king and the residence. 
 
 39. I also built my house of stone to the north 
 of the church. And that the natives may not in the 
 future say that it belongs to them, for this I show 
 forth the occurrences as I did them with my father, 
 I, Don Pablo Pech, Ah Macan Pech, and my father 
 Don Martin Pech, Ah Com Pech, my lord Senor 
 Don Ambrosio Pech, his native name being Op 
 Pech, and Ixil Yzam Pech, and Don Esteban Pech, 
 Ah Culub Pech. 
 
 40. We received the royal commissions to 
 measure the forests. The license was given by 
 our great monarch the ruling king through our 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 241 
 
 lord the first auditor, Tomas Lopez, that he should 
 give us years ago his order that the uncultivated 
 fields should be measured wherever they are, here 
 back of the town, that we may know where the 
 boundaries of our lands pass in order that parents 
 and children may maintain them and give food to 
 the Encomenderos. Therefore I swear before the 
 people that this information is true, that they may 
 have it in sight so that no uncultivated field shall 
 entrench upon another uncultivated field ; for this 
 reason I set forth the truth. 
 
 41. The first Encomendero here in Chac Xulub 
 Chen was Don Julian Doncel, who ordered the 
 chiefs that they should go to place the marks of 
 the limits of their forest lands here back of the 
 towns they governed, and thus they were led to 
 measure the boundaries of their lands and the 
 forests toward the East, the South and the West, 
 for the benefit of all who dwell therein ; because 
 already Christianity was established in this land of 
 Chac Xulub Chen with our holy lord Santiago the 
 patron who guards the town of Don Pablo Pech. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 i. "The fifth division of the nth Ahau Katun was placed" 
 (/'. e. in the wall or in the Katun Stone), (see page 57, where 
 this expression is explained). In other words, the first arrival 
 of the Spaniards at Merida took place at the close of the nth 
 Ahau Katun. This was July, 1541, and it is in gratifying con- 
 formity with Bishop Landa, who also states that that month 
 was the commencement of a 20-year period ; but he says that 
 at that date the nth Katun began, while Pech goes on to say 
 that it was the next in order, the pth. (See Landa, Relacion, 
 
 P- 3U.) 
 
 Noh cah te ti Ho, the great town at Ho. This was the na- 
 tive name of the ancient city which stood on the present site 
 of Merida, and, by*the Mayas, is in use to this day. Ho is 
 the numeral 5, and some have supposed that the name was 
 given on account of five large mounds or buildings said to 
 have been conspicuous in the ancient city. That there 
 were precisely five is not positively stated by the old histori- 
 ans, though four are specified. This theory would suppose 
 that the name was given to the city only after these large struc- 
 tures were completed, and that its name during that time had 
 been lost. But this is not improbable. 
 
 In fact, the ancient name of Merida was not Ho, but 
 Ichcanzihoo, as appears from a later passage in Pech's nar- 
 rative and from numerous others in the Books of Chilan Ba- 
 lam. Ho is only the abbreviation of this long name. It ap- 
 
 242 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 243 
 
 pears to mean "The five (temples) of many serpents." Can 
 is the generic term for serpent, and ich used as a prefix de- 
 notes a place where there is an abundance of what the noun 
 means : thus ichche=.& place where the trees are tall and dense; 
 ichxiu, a place where the grass is tall and thick (Diccionario 
 de Motu). The serpents were probably those sculptured in 
 stone or painted on the walls. This theory receives addition- 
 al probability from an entry in the Diccionario de Motul, MS., 
 which relates that the largest mound in ancient Merida, situ- 
 ated back of the present convent of San Francisco, was called 
 by the natives ahchuncan, and that this was the name of the 
 idol which used to be worshiped there. Its signification 
 would be " the first or primitive serpent," or " the first speak- 
 er," i. e. oracle, as can means both serpent and speech. 
 
 The temples at Ho were not in use when the Spaniards 
 arrived, nor had they been for many generations. Apparently 
 only a few huts of wood and straw made up the village, while 
 these vast ruins were even then covered to the summit with a 
 heavy growth of timber in all respects like the virgin forest 
 around them. This is clearly stated by the Friar Lorenzo 
 de Bienvenida, who came to Merida in 1545. I quote his 
 expressions from a letter to the King in 1548: 
 
 " La ciudad esta la tierra adentro treinta y tres leguas ; 
 llamase la ciudad de Merida ; pusieronle asi por los edificios 
 superbos que hai en ella, que en todo lo descubierto en Indias 
 no se han hallado tan superbos edificios, de canteria bien 
 labrada, i grandes las piedras ; no hai memoria de quien los 
 hizo ; parecenos que se hicieron antes de la venida de Christo 
 porque tan grande estaba el monte encima dellos como en lo 
 bajo de la tierra ; son altos de cinco estados de piedra seca i 
 encima los edificios, quatro quartos todo de celdas como de 
 
244 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Frailes, de veinte pies de luengo i de diez de ancho, i todas 
 las portadas de una piedra, lo alto de la puerta i de boveda, i 
 destos hai en la tierra otros muchos. Esta gente natural no 
 habitaba en ellos, ni hacen casa sino de paja y madera, 
 habiendo mas apareja de cal i piedra que en todo lo descu- 
 bierto. En estos edificios tomamos sitio los Frailes para casa 
 de San Francisco ; lo que habia sido cultura de demonios, 
 justo es que sea templo donde se sirve a Dios, etc." (Carta 
 de Fr, Lorenzo de Bienvenida, IS 48, MS. ) 
 
 The date, 1511, given as that of the first arrival of the 
 Spaniards, refers to the shipwreck of Aguilar and his com- 
 panions, who in that year were thrown on the eastern coast. 
 
 This introductory paragraph was entirely miscontrued by 
 Avila, and nearly as much so by Brasseur. I add their trans- 
 lations to illustrate this. 
 
 Translation of Avila. 
 
 "A la quinta vez que sento el noveno Rey en la guerra 
 cuando llegaron los Espanoles que se poblaron en la ciudad 
 de Merida, el principal Rey de esa ciudad era siempre cacique 
 y el afio en que llegaron los Sefiores Espanoles aqui en esta 
 suelo fue el de 1511." 
 
 Translation of Brasseur. 
 
 " C'est a la cinquiSme division ciment^e (dans le mur) de 
 ce onzieme Ahau-Katun qu'arrivSrent les Espagnols et qu'ils 
 s'etablirent a Ti-Uoh de ce pays de Ti-Ho, et c'est a la 
 neuvieme de cet Ahau que s'etablit le Christianisme, cette 
 anne mme que vinrent nos seigneurs les Espagnols en cette 
 contr6e, c'est a dire, en l'anne"e 1511." 
 
 It will be seen that the former completely travesties the 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 245 
 
 passage, .while the latter mistakes the proper names and 
 destroys the chronological value of the dates given. 
 
 2. Hidalgos conquistadoren, Spanish titles which we are sur- 
 prised to find a native claiming ; but later on ( 9) he informs 
 us that he was authorized to employ them by the Spanish 
 officials. 
 
 Chichinica was a pueblo near Chicxulub, which is now no 
 longer in existence. 
 
 3. Ti ma ococ haa tin pol cuchi, " formerly, when the wa- 
 ter will not entered to my head " /'. <?., before I was baptized. 
 This complicated construction of the negative (ma), a future 
 (ococ from ocol} and the sign of the past tense (cuchi\ also 
 occurs on an earlier page (98), where we have the sentence 
 uacppel haab u binel ma yococ u xocol oxlahun ahau cuchi, six 
 years before the end of the i3th ahau. O col haa, syncopated 
 to ocola, and even oca, was the usual term for Christian 
 baptism. 
 
 Xulkumcheel was a pueblo which does not seem to have 
 survived. 
 
 A h Naum Peek, likul tu cah Mutul. Ah Naum Pech from, 
 or native of, the town Mutul. The latter is the modern Mo- 
 tul, about 22 miles easterly from Chicxulub. The name is 
 also spelled Mutul by Cogolludo (Historia de Yucatan, Lib. 
 VI, cap. VII). 
 
 Halach uinic, previously explained, was the ancient native 
 title of chief of a village. It is the same word which Oviedo, 
 in his report of Grijalva's expedition deforms into calachini 
 (Jfistoria de las Indias, Lib. XVII). 
 
 The date, 1519, like various others in the narrative, appears 
 to have been erroneously entered or copied. It should probably 
 be 1539. Maxtunil does not at present exist, ^ilam is a town 
 
246 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 north of Itzamal, near the sea coast. It is by some identified 
 as the spot where Francisco de Montejo embarked after his 
 retreat from Chichen Itza, in 1528. 
 
 4. The Kupuls were the family who reigned in the eastern 
 province, where Valladolid was founded. They long retained 
 their hostility to the Spaniards. Ekab was situated on the 
 coast opposite the island of Cozumel. ^ekom should probably 
 read Tekom. Tixcuumcuuc no longer exists. Tinuum is a 
 town 4 leagues north of Valladolid, on the road to Itzamal. 
 31 ^antun is a town north of Itzamal, said by Sanchez Aguilar 
 to have been the ancient capital of the princely house of the 
 Chels. Ake is probably the modern ^onatake. Catzim is now 
 the name of a hacienda in the Department of Itzamal, some 
 distance from the coast, ^elebna is unknown. 
 
 The expression tumen naob Bon cupul, translated by Avila 
 " porque esa casa es de Bon Cupul," I think is an error of 
 the copyist for tumen nacon Cupul. See also 18. 
 
 5. Hokzah uba, they betook themselves. The termination 
 uba is that of the third person of reflexive verbs. 
 
 Nachi May, already mentioned, was a member of an ancient 
 princely house mentioned by Landa and Sanchez Aguilar. 
 One of them, Ahkin May, was apparently the hereditary high 
 priest. The effort has been made to derive from their name 
 the word Maya, and Brasseur would carry us to Haiti in 
 order to discover its meaning (Landa, Relation, p. 42, 
 note), but this is unnecessary. May in the Maya tongue 
 means "a hoof," as of a deer, and is a proper name still in 
 use. There is no reason to suppose it in any way connected 
 with Maya. 
 
 Matanok I take to be an error for matanon, from mat 
 (pret. matnahi}. 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 247 
 
 6. jibikal may be, as suggested by Dr. Berendt, Tipikal, a 
 town in the district of Merida. There is another of the name 
 in the Sierra Alta {Estadistica de Yucatan, 1814). 
 
 Francisco de Bracamonte is mentioned by Cogolludo as 
 among the first settlers of Merida. 
 
 7. Cogolludo mentions Rodrigo Alvarez as " Escribano del 
 juzgado," who came with Montejo (Historia de Yucatan, Lib. 
 Ill, cap. VI, and elsewhere). 
 
 8. U toxol cahob, the distribution of the towns, literally 
 " the pouring out ; " Avila translates it by "cuando se re- 
 partian los pueblos." The Spanish system of " repartimi- 
 entos " and " encomiendas " was adopted in Yucatan, 
 
 9. The licentiate Alvares de Caravajal was alcalde mayor 
 from 1554 to 1558. (Cogolludo, Hist, de Yucatan, Lib. V. 
 cap. XV.) 
 
 10. This was apparently written by Don Pablo Pech, the 
 son of the writer of the remainder of the history, and inserted 
 in order to corroborate the statement just made by his father, 
 that the latter had transferred the magistracy to him. 
 
 11. The holpop, literally "head of the mat," perhaps be- 
 cause when the company sat around or on the mat his place 
 was at its head, was the official who had charge of the tunkul 
 or wooden drum, with which public meetings, dances, sum- 
 mons to war, etc. were proclaimed, and with which the priests 
 accompanied their voices in reciting the ancient chants (Co- 
 golludo, Hist, de Yucatan, Lib. IV, cap. V). He was called 
 ahholpop, and had charge of the public hall of the village, the 
 popolna, "casa de comunidad," in which public business was 
 
 transacted < ' Diccionario de Motul, MS.) 
 
 The ahkulel was the official second in command in a town 
 or district. He acted in place of the batab or the ahcuchcab. 
 
248 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 The verb kulel means to transact business for another, to act 
 as deputy. 
 
 Ahkin was the ordinary word for priest in the old language ; 
 kin, sun, day, time; ahkin, he who was familiar with the 
 days and times, with the calendar, and also with the past 
 and the future. 
 
 12. U chun u thanob ; \fatchunthan or ahchunthan, literally, 
 he who has the first word, was the member of the village who 
 took the leading part in matters of business. The office and 
 name are still in existence in the native village communities 
 of Yucatan. (See Garcia y Garcia, Historia de la Guerra de 
 Castas en Yucatan, Introd., p. xli.) 
 
 The ahkul was an envoy or messenger, who carried the 
 orders of the prince to his people and to foreign princes. 
 The title was usually prefixed to the name of the person. 
 
 The holcan, "head caller," was a military official in each 
 village, whose duty it was when war was announced to sum- 
 mon the men in his district capable of bearing arms (see 
 Landa, Relation, p. 174). The Spanish writers translate it 
 by alferez. 
 
 The nacon was an elective war chief, who held his position 
 for the term of three years (Landa, Relation, pp. 161, 173). 
 The name is derived from nacal, to rise, go up, and hence as 
 a delegate or elected representative (as is stated by the Dice, 
 de Motul}. 
 
 13. The nucteelob were the ancianos, the wise old men of 
 the village ; manak, a trace or sign that appears at a distance 
 and then disappears. U manak uinic ti ulah = I saw the trace 
 of a man to-day, but it is no longer visible. Diccionario de 
 Motul, MS. 
 
 "The province of Ceh Pech " was that in which Merida 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 249 
 
 was : " u tzucub ahcehpechob, la provincia de los Peches al lado 
 de Motul y Cumkal." Dice, de Motul, MS. 
 
 14. Kah, pinole, is a drink made by mixing the meal of 
 roasted maize with water. The word tuce (or, it may be, 
 fuze) I do not find in any dictionary, nor does Avila translate 
 it. The passage is an obscure one. Avila renders it "cuando 
 fuimos a la guerra, bebian pinole y tuce, porque estaban eno- 
 jados con los Cristianos." Possibly these were two articles 
 of food especially used on warlike raids. 
 
 U zahacil in puczical, a cant phrase probably borrowed from 
 the missionaries = " the fear of my heart," in my humble- 
 ness. Puczikal appears to be a root-word, though of three 
 syllables. It means the heart of men and animals, also the 
 mind or soul, the desires, and the interior of certain growths, 
 as the pith of maize, etc. {Dice, de Motul.) 
 
 The year 1511 was that of the shipwreck of the deacon Ge- 
 ronimo de Aguilar and his companions, who were the first 
 whites known to the natives of Yucatan. 
 
 The reference which is made in this section to a deputation 
 of fifty natives to Spain, is not mentioned, so far as I remem- 
 ber, by other historians. As in some respects my translation 
 differs from that of Avila, I give his. 
 
 " Cuando llegd ante el monarca Ahmacan Pech, D on Pedro 
 Pech, y sus deudos, sus primeros descendientes, sus capitanes, 
 todos fueron con el para honrar el monarca y vea la cara a sus 
 vasallos indigenas, y escogi6 cincuenta de los grandes de ellos 
 para llevar tras de el al monarca reinante para servirlos en la 
 mesa alii lejos en Espafia, pero los que vomitaron en el festejo 
 delante del monarca reinante, esos entonces dijo el Rey que 
 pagaron tributes todos y todos sus descendientes, mas nosotros 
 los Peches," etc. 
 Q 
 
250 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 The phrase mac xenahi tu tzicile Avila translates "who 
 vomited at the feasts;" but I believe xenhi, vomited, is a 
 misreading for xanht, remained, and tzicil is obedience, as 
 serving- men. 
 
 Lae te hantabi, who was eaten ; Aguilar himself was not 
 eaten, as he was rescued by Cortes, in 1519, and served him as 
 interpreter. But some of his companions were eaten by the 
 natives, not of Cozumel, but of the coast to the south, and this 
 is what Pech meant to say, unless, indeed and I am inclined 
 to prefer this view we read hantezahbi instead of hantabi, 
 which would give the sense " the land was discovered by 
 Aguilar, who was given food (supported, maintained) by Ah 
 Naum," etc. For particulars about Aguilar see Herrera, 
 Hist, delaslndias, Dec. II, Lib. IV, cap. VIII. 
 
 Lai yabil hauic, etc. This is an important sentence, as 
 fixing a date in the ancient chronology. U tunil balcah is 
 an ancient term, not explained in the dictionaries. Balcah 
 (or baalcaJi) means " a town and the people who compose it " 
 (Pio Perez, Diccwnario), hence people, the world, as the 
 French use monde. From many references in the Maya 
 manuscripts I derive the impression that the last stone in the 
 katun pillar was placed in turn by the towns, each giving its 
 name to the stone and the cycle (see ante, p. 171). 
 
 Assuming the correctness of the figures 1517 and there 
 is no reason to doubt it then Pech counted the katuns as of 
 24 years each, as Pio Perez maintained was correct ; because 
 he has already informed us in his introductory paragraph that 
 the year 1541 was the close of the nth Ahau, and 1541 
 1517 24. 
 
 1 6. The two previous visits referred to were probably those 
 of Cordova, 1517, and Grijalva, 1518. "Those who knew 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 251 
 
 to speak the true words," refers to the Catholic priests. All 
 the historians of Cortes' expedition dwell on the effect pro- 
 duced on the natives of Cozumel by the religious services he 
 held there. 
 
 The date, Feb. 28, 1519, seems correct, although it is not 
 mentioned by any other writer I have at hand. Cortes left 
 Havana, Feb. 19. 
 
 Lai yabil, " in this year," evidently a date is omitted, as 
 the first arrival of the Spaniards at Chichen Itza was either at 
 the close of 1526 or beginning of 1527. One of the Maya 
 MSS. gives the year as bulucil Muluc, the nth Muluc. The 
 Maya year, it will be remembered, began on the i6th of July. 
 
 "It was on the memorable thirteenth of August, 1521, the 
 day of St. Hippolytus, that Cortes led his warlike array for 
 the last time across the black and blasted environs which lay 
 around the Indian capital, etc." Prescott, Conquest of 
 Mexico, Book VI, chap. VIII. There is little doubt but that 
 the tidings of the dreadful destruction of the mighty Tenoch- 
 titlan was rapidly disseminated among the tribes far down into 
 Yucatan and Central America, and made a profound impres- 
 sion on them. 
 
 This section is confused and difficult. Avila translates : 
 
 " Fueron atacados por tercera vez los mismos Espanoles por 
 todos los pueblos aqui en el pueblo de Cupul cuando hallaron 
 a Ah Ceh Pech muriendose en una casa no embarrada y a su 
 companero el otro Rey Cen Pot," etc. 
 
 18. The official date of the founding of the city of Merida 
 was Jan. 6, 1542. 
 
 The anona or custard-apple does not seem to have been 
 eaten by the natives, and it impressed them as strange and 
 somewhat unnatural to witness the Spaniards suck them. 
 
252 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Ca u tocahob nao bon Cupul ; this is translated by Senor Avi- 
 la : " quemaron al capitan Cupul :" they burned the captain 
 Cupul; but I take it to be a misreading for ca uyotochob na- 
 com Cupul, and have so translated it. There is no account 
 of a leader of the Cupuls having been burned, and, moreover, 
 this is in accordance with 4. 
 
 Another important chronological statement is made in this 
 section, to wit, that the year 1542 (I suppose July 16, 1541- 
 July 15, 1542 is meant ) was 13 Kan. As Pech has already 
 told us that it was also the first year of the gth Ahau Katun, 
 we have the date fixed in both methods of reckoning, that is, 
 by the Kin Katun as well as the Ahau Katun, according to the 
 calendar which his family used. 
 
 19. The town of Tikom is still in existence, but I have not 
 been able to find Popce on any of the maps. The Chels were 
 a well known princely family in ancient Yucatan. The Dice, 
 de Motul says their province was that of ^izantun. 
 
 26. The Don Juan Caamal whose acts are briefly sketched 
 in this section is the same mentioned in the auto given previ- 
 ously, page 117. It is still a family name in Yucatan (Be- 
 rendt, Nombres Proprios en lengiia Maya, folio. MS. ) 
 
 21. The first mission to Yucatan was that of Fr. Jacobo de 
 Testera, with some companions whose names have not been 
 preserved, 1531 to 1534 (see Geronimo de Mendieta, Historia 
 Eclesiastica Indiana, pp. 380, 665 ; Torquemada. Monarquia 
 Indiana, Lib. IX, cap. XIII, Lib. XX, cap. XLVII). They 
 were stationed at Champoton and did not penetrate the 
 country. The next attempt was in 1537. Testera, then 
 Provincial of Mexico, sent five Franciscan friars, who returned 
 after two years of efforts. Their names are unknown (Co- 
 golludo, Historia de Yucatan, vol. I, pp. 175, 182). The third 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 253 
 
 is the one referred to in the text. Its commissary was Fr. 
 Luis de Villalpando, and its members were Fr. Lorenzo de 
 Bienvenida, Fr. Melchor de Benavente, Fr. Juan de Herrera, 
 Fr. Juan de Albalata, and Fr. Angel Maldonado. Five other 
 missionaries came with Juan de la Puerta, in 1548 (Cogolludo). 
 
 22. The term ahetzil, I do not find, and translate it as 
 aheyil, the practice of conjuring, or sorcery. But it is quite 
 possibly for ahuitzil, dwellers in the sierra. The next line is 
 corrupt, and I can only guess at the meaning. The date, Nov. 
 9, 1546, is correct, and the history here given of the insur- 
 rection of the natives at that time is substantially the same as 
 is told at length by Cogolludo (Hist, de Yucatan, Lib. V, 
 cap. VII). 
 
 27. The Auditor Tomas Lopez came from Guatemala (not 
 Spain) to Yucatan in 1551 or 1552, and in the latter year pro- 
 mulgated his "Laws" for the government of the natives, 
 many of which are given in Cogolludo's History. 
 
 The passing reference to the cruelties of the Spaniards are 
 more than borne out by the testimony of Fr. Lorenzo de Bi- 
 envenida. Writing to the King in 1548 he says : 
 
 " En esta villa (Valladolid) se levantaron este ano de qua- 
 renta j siete los Indies * * * i este levantamiento por mal 
 tratamiento que hacen a los Indies los Espanoles tomandoles 
 las mugeres y hijos y dandoles de palos i quebrandoles las 
 piernas i brazos i matandolos i desmasiados tributes i desafor- 
 ados servicios personales, i si V* Alt* no provee de remedio 
 con brevedad, no es possible permanecer esta tierra, digo de 
 justicia. * * * * 
 
 "(El adelantado) dio la capitania a un sobrino que llaman 
 Manso Pacheco. Nero no fue mas cruel que este. Este pas6 
 adelante y llego una provincia que llaman Chatemal, estan- 
 
254 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 do de paz, i sin dar guerra los naturales la robo i les comi6 
 los mantenimientos a los naturales, i ellos huyendo a los 
 montes de miedo de los Espanoles porque en tomando algu- 
 no luego lo aperreaban, i desto huian los Indios i no sembra- 
 ban i todos murieron de hambre, digo todos porque habia 
 pueblos de a quinientos casas i de mil, i el que agora tiene 
 ciento es mucho ; provincia rica de cacao. Este capitan por 
 sus proprias manos exercitaba las fuerzas, con un garrote mat6 
 muchos i decia, ' este es buen palo para castigar a estos ;' i 
 desque lo habia muerto, ' O, quan bien lo d6. ' Corto muchos 
 pechos a mugeres, i manos a hombres i narices i orejas i esta- 
 co, i a las mugeres ataba calabazas a los pies i las echaba 
 en las lagunas ahogar por su pasatiempo, i otras grandescruel- 
 dades." Carta de Fr. Lorenzo de Bienvanida, 1548. MS. 
 
 28. The town Conah Itza, or Con Ahitza, Con of the 
 Itzas, may refer to the seaport, Coni, the eastern coast, where 
 Montejo landed on his first expedition. Bishop Toral did not 
 arrive in Yucatan until 1562, so the mention of him proves 
 that this narrative was written after that date. 
 
 29. No such person as Juan de Montejo is known. 
 
 30. Yocolpeten; so it is first spelled in the original manu- 
 script, and afterwards altered to Yucalpeten. This latter 
 occurs as a name applied to the peninsula, or a portion of it, 
 in a number of passages of the Book of Chilan Balam of Chu- 
 mayel. These have been quoted by the Canon Crescencio 
 Carrillo in a recent work (Historia Antigua de Yucatan, pp. 
 137, 140, Merida, 1882), to support his view that the name 
 Yucatan is an abbreviation of Yucalpeten. 
 
 Apart from the difficulty of explaining such an extensive 
 abbreviation, which is not at all in the spirit of the Maya 
 tongue, the words of Pech in this section and 33 conclusively 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 255 
 
 prove that the two names are entirely distinct in origin. 
 Carrillo is of opinion that yucal should be divided into y, 
 u, cal, and he translates the name " la perla de la garganta de 
 la tierra 6 continente." This appears far-fetched. Yocal is 
 probably merely yoc hail, upon the water (//, determinative 
 ending denoting what water) ; hence yocal peten, the region 
 upon the water, applied to Yucatan or some part of its coast 
 district. The h is nearly mute and frequently elided, as in 
 ocola (ocol had) to baptize. 
 
 A prophecy of the priest Pech, which is perhaps the one 
 here referred to, appears in several of the Books of Chilan 
 Balam, and also Spanish translations of it in the Histories of 
 Lizana and Cogolludo, and a French version in Brasseur's 
 report of the Mission Sdentifique au Mexique, etc. 
 
 The text is quite corrupt, but I insert it as I have emended 
 it from a comparison of three copies. 
 
 U THAN AHAU PECH AHKIN. 
 
 Tu kinil uil u natabal kine, 
 
 Yume ti yokcab te ahtepal. 
 
 Uale canoit u katunil, 
 
 Uchi uale hahal pul. 
 
 Tu kin kue yoklal u kaba, 
 
 In kubene yume. 
 
 Ti a-uich-ex tu bel a uliah, Ahitza, 
 
 U yum cab ca ulom. 
 
 Than tu chun ahau Pech ahkin, 
 
 Tu kinil uil can ahau katun, 
 
 Uale tan hioil u katunil. 
 
256 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 THE WORD OF THE LORD PECH, THE PRIEST. 
 
 At that time it will be well to know the tidings, 
 
 Of the Lord, the ruler of the world. 
 
 After four katuns, 
 
 Then will occur the bringing of the truth. 
 
 At that time one who is a god by his name, 
 
 I deliver to you as a lord. 
 
 Be your eyes on the road for your guest, Men of Itza, 
 
 When the lord of the earth shall come. 
 
 The word of the first lord, Pech, the priest, 
 
 At the time of the fourth katun, 
 
 At the end of the katun. 
 
 The only line in which I have taken much liberty with the 
 text is the fifth, where, after the word kue, one MS. reads : 
 yok taa ba akauba, and another, yok lac kauba, neither of which 
 is intelligible. 
 
 If the date assigned in these lines be a correct one, they 
 were delivered by the prophet in 1469. It is not impossible. 
 The words are obscure and the prediction so indistinct that 
 it might quite well have been made by an official augur at 
 that time. 
 
 31. Nachi Cocom, head of the ancient and powerful Co- 
 com family, ruled at Zotuta when Montejo made his settle- 
 ment at Merida, and was a determined enemy of the Span- 
 iards. He was defeated in 1542, in a sanguinary battle, and 
 then accepted terms of peace. I have in my possession the 
 copy of a survey which he made of the lands of the town of 
 Zotuta in 1545, when he was evidently on good terms with 
 the Conquerors. 
 
 32. The names Chan, Catzim and Chul belong to well 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 257 
 
 known ancient Yucatecan families, and many who bear them 
 are still found among the natives (Berendt, Nombres Proprios 
 cnLengua Maya, MS.) 
 
 The words Zacuholpatal Zacmutixtun are rendered by Avila 
 as proper names, and I have followed his example. I have 
 not found a satisfactory explanation of them. 
 
 33. The day One Imix was a day of peculiar sanctity in 
 ancient Yucatan. Landa makes the rather unintelligible 
 assertion that the count of their days, or their calendar, 
 invariably commenced on that day (Relation, p. 236). 
 
 Imix is the i8th day of the month, and it is possibly that 
 it and the two following days were used for intercalary days. 
 
 More to the purpose of explaining the prophecy in the text 
 is the statement of Francisco Hernandez, who, as reported by 
 Bishop Las Casas, relates that in the mythology of the Mayas, 
 the god or gods Bacab, those who support the four corners of 
 the heaven and who are identified with the " year bearers " 
 or Dominical days of the calendar, died on the day One Imix, 
 and after three days came to life again. (Las Casas, Historia 
 Apologetica de las Indias Occidentals, cap. CXXIII.) This 
 has reference apparently to the intercalary days Imix, Ik, 
 and Akbal, which were counted so as to allow the next Kin 
 Katun period to begin on I Kan. I have explained this the- 
 ory fully in a paper, " Notes on the Codex Troano and Maya 
 Chronology, " in the American Naturalist, Sept. 1881. Natur- 
 ally this was supposed by the Spanish missionaries to be a 
 reference to Christian traditions. 
 
 Ca tip u chemob, when the ships were rocking ; tipil repre- 
 sents the slipping and sliding movement of a partially sub- 
 merged or hidden body ; thus the beating of the heart and 
 the pulse is tipilac. Ca yumtah banderas ob, when the banners 
 
258 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 waved ; yumtah is to swing to and fro as a hamack or a flag. 
 Piixtahob, from pixitah, to unreel or reel off yarn, etc., from a 
 spindle. I suppose it refers to letting go the anchor. 
 
 The derivation of the name Yucatan here given is inter- 
 esting, for several reasons. In the first place, it makes it 
 evident that Pech did not believe it was an abbreviation of 
 Yucalpeten (see ante, page 255). Again, although it has very 
 often been stated that the name arose from a misunderstand- 
 ing of some native words by the Spaniards, there has been no 
 uniformity of opinion as to what these words were. Several 
 of the phrases suggested have been such as have no meaning 
 in the Maya tongue ; (see full discussions of the question in 
 Eligio Ancona, Historia de Yucatan, Vol. I, pp. 219, 220, 
 and Crescencio Carrillo, Historia Antigua de Yucatan, cap. 
 V.) As given by Pech it is perfectly intelligible and good 
 Maya. Without syncope it would be " Matan ca ubah a 
 than" shortened to " Ma c 1 ubah than, "We do not under- 
 stand your speech." Pech is in error, however, in suppos- 
 ing that the name arose on the arrival of Montejo ; it was in 
 use immediately after the expedition of Cordova (1517), 
 and if Bernal Diaz was correct in his recollection, was applied 
 to the land by the Indians Cordova brought back to Cuba 
 with him from the Bay of Campeachy. (See Bernal Diaz, His- 
 toria Verdadera de la Conquista de Nueva Espana, cap. VII.) 
 
 34. This is no doubt the same occurrence which is described at 
 considerable length by Cogolludo, Hist, de Yucatan, Lib. 
 Ill, cap. VI. But the details differ very much and the names 
 of the messengers and the chief to whom they were sent are 
 not identical. I believe this discrepancy can be explained, 
 but it would extend this note too far to go into the subject 
 here. The word yacatunzabin, which Avila renders "en 
 
CHRONICLE OF CHICXULUB. 259 
 
 dicha cueva," seems a compound of y, actun, zabin. The last 
 is the name of the weasel ; actun means both a cave and a 
 stone house. By some it is supposed to be a compound of ac, 
 tortoise, and fun, stone, a cave resembling a hollow tortoise 
 shell. 
 
 35. Yoklal maix u lukul yol nacomob, "porque nose can- 
 saban los capitanes" (Avila). 
 
 36. Pech adds a list of the names of Conquistadores which 
 I have not inserted, as it is less complete than that found in 
 Cogolludo. 
 
 39. Ma u manbal cuntahbalob u fainal; Avila translates this 
 " that they shall not destroy"; but the word cuntahbal, from 
 cun, cumtah, means that which is to be enchanted, and ctdnal 
 is the throwing of stones. I suppose, therefore, it refers to 
 some act of shamanism the design of which was to injure a 
 neighbor. 
 
VOCABULARY. 
 
 A 
 
 Ac, n. A turtle ; a turtle shell. 
 
 Actun, n. (From ac, turtle shell, tun, stone.) A cave ; a stone 
 house. 
 
 Ah, A prefix signifying possession or action ; also sign of mas- 
 culine. See pp. 28, 57. 
 
 Ahau, n. (From ah, prefix, and u, collar? See p. 57.) A ruler, 
 chief, king ; a period of time. 
 
 Ahbalcab, n. The coming dawn. " Quiere amanescer." Dice. 
 Motul. 
 
 Ahez, n. (From ah, prefix, ezah, to show, to feign.) A sorcerer, 
 magician. 
 
 Ahkin, n. (From ah, and kin, the sun, day, etc.) A priest. 
 
 Ahkulel, n. (From ah and kulel, to arrange business, etc.) A 
 
 lieutenant, deputy, pp. 27, 247. 
 Ahoni, n. Well-dressed persons, p. 173. 
 Ahpul, n One who carries or bears. 
 Ahpulul, n. He or that which is carried or brought. 
 Ahtepal, n. A ruler, governor. 
 Ahtohil, n. A lover of justice; a righteous man. 
 Ahuitzil, n. Mountaineers, p. 131. 
 
 Ak, n. Osiers, willow branches. " Ramo de miembre." Pio 
 Perez. Dice. 
 
 Akab, n. Night, the night time. 
 Al, n. Son or daughter of a woman. Yal, her son. 
 Alah, v. pres. alic, fut. alab. To speak, say, tell, order. 
 Alatl, A numeral, p. 46. 
 
 Anahte. n. A book. p. 64, 
 
 Atan, n. Wife. 
 
 Auat, v. aor. a/a^,fut. aute. To shout, to sing. " Dar gritos." 
 
 261 
 
262 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 B 
 
 Bahlin, adv. How much. 
 
 Bak, n. i. Meat, flesh ; the private parts. 2. The number 400. 
 3. The turn of a rope around anything. 4. In composition, 
 an intensive particle, or conveys the idea of enveloping 
 with cords. 
 
 Bal or Baal, n. Thing, business, matter. 
 Balam, n. A tiger ; a priest, p. 69. 
 
 Baalcah, n. The town and its inhabitants ; the world. " El 
 mundo con los que en el viven." Dice. Motul. 
 
 Ban or Ban ban, adv. Much, too much. 
 
 Batab, n. Chief, ruler. See p. 26. 
 
 Be or Bel, n. A path, a road; a business; condition; history. 
 
 Beltah or Beel or Betah, v. aor. tah, fut. te. To do, to 
 
 make. 
 
 Binel, v. irreg. aor. bini, fut. binxic. To go. 
 Bolon, Nine. 
 Botah, v. To pay. 
 Buc, n. Covering, clothing. 
 Buluc, Ten. 
 Buul, n. A broad bean. 
 
 c 
 
 Ca, adv. Then, when. conj. And. pron. We. adj. Two. 
 
 Caan, n. The sky, the heavens. 
 
 Cab, n. I. Land, earth, p. 106. 2. Honey; a hive. 
 
 Cacab, n. A town and the land belonging to it; a township, 
 commune. 
 
 Cah, n. A town, village. 
 
 Cah, part. A suffix and sign of the present and imperfect 
 tenses, p. 29. 
 
 Cahal, n. A town, village, v. To reside, live in or at. 
 Cahtal, v. aor. cahlahi, f. calac . To live, dwell, reside. 
 
VOCABULARY. 263 
 
 Cal, n. Throat, neck; voice; in compos, an intensive particle. 
 Calab, A numeral, p. 45. 
 Cambezah, v. To teach, to instruct. 
 
 Can, n. I. Conversation, talk. 2. The generic name for ser- 
 pents. 3. The number four. 4. A gift or present. 
 
 Can, v. aor. tah, fut. te. To converse, to tell stories, aor. ah, 
 fut. e. To teach, to impart information ; to give another 
 a contagious disease. 
 
 Can, part, in compos. Strongly, powerfully, as cankax, to tie 
 very firmly. 
 
 Canantah, v. To watch, to guard over. 
 Canlaahal, v. To learn about. 
 
 Caputzihil, n. Baptism (ca, twice, zihil, to be born; an an- 
 cient word ; see Landa, Relation, p. 144). 
 
 Catac, conj. And ; used to connect numerals, p. 49. 
 
 Caten, adv. The second time. Tu eaten, for the second time. 
 (From ca, two.} 
 
 Catlll, adv. Two. Tu catulli, both, the two. 
 
 Caua, conj. And, then. 
 
 Cax, n. A fowl, a hen. 
 
 Caxan, v, aor. tah, fut. te. To seek, to find, to hunt for. 
 
 Caxtun, adv. Then, be it so, thus. 
 
 Ceh, n. A deer. - 
 
 Cen, v. irreg. aor. cihi, fut. ciac. To say, to tell. 
 
 Ci, Cici, part. These prefixes mean pleasant, agreeable ; origi- 
 nally, what is pleasant to taste. 
 
 Cibah, v. aor. cibhi, fut. cibic. To wish, to permit, to dare. U 
 cibah ua a yum. Did your father permit it ? 
 
 Cicithan, n. (Yromctti, pleasant, than, words.) Words of love 
 or blessing. 
 
 ClClOl, n. (From cici and ol.) Joy, pleasure, peace, happiness. 
 Cli, n. The pulque liquor. See p. 22. 
 Cill, n. Delight, pleasure. 
 Cilich, adj. Saintly, holy. 
 Cob, v. 3d pi. pres. indie, oicen. 
 
264 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Cimil, v. To die. 
 
 Coch, in comp. Conveys the notion of extending or broadening. 
 
 Cochhal or Cochlahal, v. To make broad, to extend, to 
 
 spread out. 
 
 Cuch, n. i. Position, place. 2. Burden, load; met. sin. 3. 
 Goods, possessions, treasures. 
 
 Cuch, v. aor. ah, fut. e. i. To carry, to bear along. 2. To 
 govern a town or state. 
 
 Cuchcabal, n. A province, region ; the family, people or sub- 
 jects of one ruler. 
 
 Cuchhab, n. The year -bearer or Dominical sign. p. 52. 
 Cuchi. Sign of past tense, p. 29. 
 
 Cuchul, n. The family or retainers of one person. " La familia 
 6 gente que uno tiene en su casa." Dice, Motul. 
 
 Clll, n. A vase or cup. 
 
 Clllcinah, v. To appoint, to promote, to establish ; culcinta- 
 haan, appointed or promoted to an office or dignity. 
 
 Cultal or Cutal, v. aor. culhi, fut. culac. To sit down, 
 remain, be present, be at home, etc. 
 
 Culul or Cuulul or Culicil, v. To rest or stop ; to reside, 
 
 to settle down. 
 Cum Or Cuum, n. A vase, jar. 
 
 Cumcintah, v. To prepare for use, to put in order. Probably 
 a form of culcinah. 
 
 Cumlaahaal, v. To stop, to check. 
 
 L-Umtal, v. aor. lahi, fut. ac. To set up, to put in a place. 
 
 Cun or Cunah or Cunal, n. Enchantment, sorcery, con- 
 jury. Au ohel ua u cunal 
 cfauplal? Do you know the 
 conjury of a woman ? Dice. 
 Motul (i. e., to make her sub- 
 mit to the will of a man). 
 
 Cuntabal, Passive supine ; from cunah, to conjure. 
 CutZ, n. The wild turkey, 
 
 Ch. 
 
 Chac, n. Water, rain, a giant, a god. adj. red. In comp. much 
 or very. 
 
 Chacaan, n. Something plain, open, visible. 
 
VOCABULARY. 265 
 
 Chacanhal, v. To become visible, to show itself. 
 Chahal, v. To lose strength, to weaken. 
 Chakan, n. A savanna, p. 125. 
 Chapahal, v. To sicken. 
 Chayanil, n. The rest, the remainder. 
 Che, n. A tree ; wood ; adj. wooden. 
 Chem, n. A boat, a ship. 
 Chen, adv. Solely, only, merely. 
 Chenbel, adv. Vainly, fruitlessly. 
 
 Chi, n. The mouth ; a border, limit, edge ; a bite, as u chipek, 
 the bite of a dog. 
 verb, to bite, to eat. 
 
 Chicilbezah, v. To set landmarks, to point out. 
 Chichcunah, v. To strengthen, to fortify. 
 
 Chichcunahthan, v. To support another's words, to agree 
 with, to act in concert with. p. 107. 
 
 Chicul, n. A sign, mark, token. 
 Chikm, n. The West. 
 
 Chicpahal, v. aor. pahi, fut. pahac. To find, to discover, to 
 recover that which is lost ; " parecerlo perdido." 
 Pio Perez, Dice. 
 
 Chilan, n. An interpreter, p. 69. 
 
 Chin, v. aor. ah, fut. <?. To stone, to throw stones at. 
 
 Chin, adj. A term of endearment. 
 
 Chinchin, v. To incline, lean over, be out of line. 
 
 Choy, n. A bucket ; choyche, a wooden bucket. 
 
 ChllUC Or ChllC, v. aor. ah, fut. e. To grasp, seize, to take 
 possession of. 
 
 Chilean, n. Completeness, sufficiency, abundance. 
 Chuccabil, n. A province, district. 
 Chul, n. A flute. 
 
 Chlllub, n. Rain water ; reservoirs. 
 
 Chun, n. Foundation; trunk (of a tree) ; beginning; cause. 
 R 
 
266 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Chunbezah, v. To cause, to occasion, to begin. 
 
 Chlinthan, n. (From chun, first, than ; speech, he who speaks 
 first.) A principal, a presiding officer. 
 
 Ch 
 
 Chaa, or Chaab, v. aor. faaah, fut. chae. \. To take, to 
 carry ; to carry off; hence to kill. 2. To 
 recover that which is lost. 
 
 Chahucil or Chuhucil, n. Sweets. 
 
 Cneen, n. Lowland ; well. pp. 33, 125. 
 Qlibal, n. Lineage, generation. 
 Chuplal, n. Woman, girl. 
 Cftuytab, v. To hang. 
 
 E 
 
 Et, A particle indicating similitude. As a verb, to hold alike in 
 the two hands. Hence, eta, friend ; etel, companion ; <?/a, 
 wife ; etcah, fellow townsman ; yetel, and, with, etc. 
 
 Ez, n. Enchanter, sorcerer. 
 
 Ezah, v. To show, to make public ; to imitate, feign. Ezabil, 
 what is to be or should be shown or published. 
 
 H 
 Haa, n. Water. 
 
 Haab, n. Year. p. 50. 
 Haban, n. Branch, twig. p. 126. 
 Hach, adv. Much, very. 
 Hahal, adj. and adv. True, truly. 
 
 Halach, adj, and n. True, truth ; halach than, an oath ; halach 
 uinic. p. 26. 
 
 Halal, n. The cane. 
 
 Hanal, v. aor. hani, fut. hanac. To eat. 
 
 Haual, v. aor. haul, fut. hauac. To cease, to stop. 
 
 , v. To level with the ground, to destroy ; from hay, thin, 
 flat ; hence hayalcab, the final end and destruction of 
 the world. 
 
VOCABULARY. 267 
 
 Heo or ED, v. aor. ah, fut. e. To fix firmly, to establish, to 
 found ; to select a site. 
 
 HeDCab, v. To fix or establish promptly ; " poner 6 afirmar 6 
 asentar de presto alguna cosa que quede ferine." 
 Dice. Motul. 
 
 Hicfical, v. To tie up by the neck, to hang. 
 
 HlD or HlDil, n. The close or last of the week, month, or year, 
 as u hiill buluc ahau katun, the last day of 
 the eleventh Ahau katun. Chilan Balam. 
 
 Ho, adj. Five. 
 
 Hokol, v. aor. hoki. To set out for, to go out from; of seeds, 
 to sprout ; of the beard, etc., to begin to grow. 
 
 Hokzahuba, v. To take oneself away from. 
 
 Hol, n. The end of anything, hence the door of a house, the 
 gate of a town, the mouth of a bag or jar, a hole, an 
 aperture ; verb, sensu obscceno, to seduce a girl, to 
 penetrate her. Dice. Motul. 
 
 Holcan, n. A warrior; adj. brave, valiant. 
 Holhaa, n. A seaport. See haa. 
 Holpay, n. A seaport. See pay. 
 
 Holpop, n. A chieftain (from hoi and/0/, mat) ; " he who is at 
 
 the end or head of the mat." 
 Hom, n. A trumpet. 
 Hoppol, v. To begin. 
 Hun, adj. One. 
 Hunakbu, n. The one God. 
 
 Hunkul, adv. Once and forever, really, permanently. 
 Hunmol, adj. United together, congregated in one place 
 Hunten, adv. On one occasion, at one time. 
 Huun, n. A book. p. 63. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ich, n. i. Face ; eyes ; twins ; surface. 2. Fruit ; longing ; color. 
 Ich, prep. In, into, within. 
 
 Ilah, v. aor. ilah, fut. He. or ilab. To see, to look at, to visit, to 
 test, to try. 
 
268 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Ix, fern, prefix. See page 28 ; conj. and also n. urine. 
 Ixim, n. Maize. 
 Ixmehen, n. A daughter. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kaan, n. A measure, p. 27. 
 Kab, n. The hand, the arm. 
 Kaba, n. A name. See p. 26. 
 Kabanzah, v. To give a name. 
 
 Kah, n. Pinole, meal of roasted maize, used for stirring in water 
 to drink. 
 
 Kahal, v. To remember, recall. 
 Kahlay, n. Memory, memorial, record. 
 Kak, n. Fire ; also a febrile disease. 
 Kaknab, n. The sea, the ocean. 
 Kal, n. A score, p. 39 ; verb, to imprison. 
 
 Kam or Kamah, v. To accept, receive ; to take possession 
 of. 
 
 Kan, adj. Yellow, n. The name of the first day of the Maya 
 
 month. 
 
 Kat, v. To wish, to desire. To ask, to ask for, to inquire. 
 Katun, n. A body of warriors ; a period of time. p. 58. 
 Kax, n. Forest, woods. 
 Kaxah, v. To join, unite, tie together. 
 
 Kay or Kayah, v. To sing. 
 
 Keban, n. Sin, evil. 
 
 Kebanthan, v. To plot evil, to calumniate ; to commit trea- 
 son ; " kebanthanil, traicion." Dice. Motul. 
 
 Kilacale, n. Ancestors. 
 Kin, n. The sun ; a day ; time. 
 Kinchil. A numeral, p. 46. 
 
 Koch or Kooch, v. To carry on the shoulders as a burden , 
 hence, fig. n. obligation, fault, sickness. 
 
VOCABULARY. 269 
 
 Kohan, n. Sickness. 
 
 K.U, n. God, divinity. 
 
 Kubulte, n. Delivery, deposit. 
 
 Kuchul, v. aor. kuchi, fut. kuchuc. To arrive, to come to. 
 
 Kill, in comp. much, very; kulvinic. pp. 133, 164. 
 
 Klina, n. (From ku, god, na, house). A temple, a church. 
 
 Kuuch, n. Cotton threads. 
 
 Kuxil, n. Aversion, disgust, annoyance ; verb, to feel disgust 
 at. 
 
 Kuyan, adj. Consecrated to God, holy. 
 
 L 
 
 Lahal, v. To finish, to end. 
 Lahca. Twelve. 
 
 Lahun. Ten. p. 38. 
 
 Lai or Lay, rel- and dem. pron. This, that, these, those, 
 which, what, etc. 
 
 Lak, n. Companion, neighbor. 
 
 Lie Or Licil, rel. In which, by which. 
 
 Likil, v. To rise, to raise ; as likil katun, to begin war. 
 
 Likin or Lakin, n. The East. 
 
 Liklll, prep. From, out of. 
 
 Likzah, v. To lift up, to raise ; likzahuba, to raise oneself. 
 
 Loh, v. To redeem, to set at liberty. 
 
 Lohil, n. The Redeemer, the Saviour. 
 
 Lllkanil, n. That which is set apart or separated. 
 
 Lllkul, v. aor. luki, fut. lukuc. To leave a place, to depart 
 from, go out of. 
 
 Lllkzah, v. To free, to separate from ; lukzahuba, to quit, to 
 abstain from. 
 
270 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 M 
 
 Ma, adv. No, not. From this are the negatives, matan, not, 
 emphatic ; mato, matac, maina, not even ; maix, matla, 
 neither ; mamac, no one ; manan, without, etc. 
 
 Mac, rel. pron. Who. 
 
 Maccah, v. To obstruct, close up roads, etc. Hence macan 
 p. p. p. that which is obstructed. 
 
 Mach, v. aor. ah, fut. e. To take with the hand, to hold in the 
 hand. 
 
 MactZll, adj. Marvelous, miraculous; n. a miracle, an act of 
 Providence. (From mac, most, and tzibil, to be 
 obeyed or reverenced.) 
 
 Mak, v. To eat soft things, to eat without chewing. 
 
 Mai or Malel, v. aor. mani, fut. manac. To pass. 
 
 Manak, n. A sign or mark. 
 
 Manal, adv. Too much, in excess. 
 
 Manbal, adv. Nothing. 
 
 Mat, v. To receive, obtain. 
 
 Maya, n. Derivation of. p. 16. 
 
 Mayacimil, n. The pestilence, p. 132. 
 
 Mazcab, n. A prison, gaol. 
 
 Mazeual, n. Vassal, servant. Nahuatl, maceualli. 
 
 Mehen, n. A son. 
 
 Mek, n. An armful, hence 
 
 Mektantah, or Mektanma, v. To hold in one's power, to 
 
 rule, govern. 
 
 Mektancah, n. Jurisdiction, municipality. 
 Mektanmail, n. A ruler, governor. 
 Mentah, v. To make, manufacture. 
 Menyah, v. To work, serve, n. Work, service. 
 Met, n. A wheel, p. 86. 
 Mex or Meex, n. The beard. 
 Meyah, v. To serve, to labor for one. 
 
 Minantal, v. p. p. minaan. To lack, to be absent or wanting, 
 not to have. 
 
VOCABULARY. 271 
 
 Molcintah, v. To gather together, join, unite. 
 
 Moltah, v. To gather around. 
 
 Mothtal, v. To humble, to submit. 
 
 Muk, n. Fortitude, bravery. 
 
 Muktan, v. To suffer with fortitude. 
 
 Mill or Mol, part, in comp. Jointly, in common. 
 
 Mulba, v. To congregate, to come together. 
 
 Multepal, v. To rule or govern jointly, p. 131. 
 
 Muz, v. To cut. 
 
 N 
 
 Na, n. A house, not designating whose. 
 
 Naat, v. To know, understand. 
 
 Nacal, v. To ascend, p. 28. 
 
 Nachi, adv. Far off, distant. 
 
 Nacpalancal, v. To grope, to feel one's way. 
 
 Nah, v. To suit, wish, desire ; nahuba, to suit, etc., for oneself. 
 
 Nak, n. The abdomen, belly, the end; verb, to end, finish; 
 to join, to stick ; tu nak, at the end, near, close to. 
 
 Nakal, v. To approach, to join on. 
 Nant, v. See Naat. 
 Noh, adj. Great, large. 
 Nohkakil, n. Smallpox, p. 132. 
 Nohoch, adj. Great, large. 
 Nohol, n. The South. 
 NllC, adj. Great, large. 
 NllC, v. To answer; n. an answer. 
 Nuctah, v. To understand, perceive. 
 
 NllCte, adj. Old, ancient; nucteel, the elders and leading men 
 of a town. 
 
 Nlicul, n. Signification, meaning ; manner, form, figure. 
 
272 
 
 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Numya, n. Toil, misery, unhappiness. 
 Nucahthan, v. To reply, to answer. 
 JNupthan, n. Companion, associate. 
 
 O 
 
 Oc, n. The foot ; yooc his foot, their feet. 
 
 Oca<?r Ochaa or Ocolha, (From v. ocol, to enter, haa, water,) 
 
 To baptize. 
 
 Ocnakuchil, n. A pestilence, p. 151. 
 Ocol, v. aor. act, fut. ococ. To enter ; also sensu obscceno. 
 Ohel, v. aor. tah, fut. ti>. To know, to recognize. 
 Ol, n. Mind, intention, will. 
 
 Olah, v. To wish, to desire; n. will, goodwill, wish. 
 On, pron. We. 
 
 Ontkin, adv. For a long time. 
 Op Or Oop, n. The anona, custard apple. 
 OtOCn, n. House, dwelling, denoting whose, p. 106. 
 Ox, adv. Three; oxlahim, thirteen, p. 130. 
 
 P 
 
 Pa or Paa, n. A walled town, stronghold, fortress, p. 163. 
 Pa, v. To break, break down, destroy. 
 Pach, To take possession of, to select a place. 
 
 Pach, n. The back of the shoulders ; the outer or back part ; 
 hence, the last or end of anything ; tu pack, behind, 
 after. 
 
 Pachal, adv. Afterwards, late. 
 Paiche, n. A mark, a line. 
 
 Pak or Pakil, n. A wall of stone, verb, aor. ah, fut. e. To 
 found, build, sow, plant ; hence 
 
 Pakal, n. A building, founding, etc. 
 Pakte or Pakteil, adv. All together, in all. 
 
VOCABULARY. 273 
 
 Palll, n. A servant, man-servant. 
 
 Pan, n. Standard, banner. 
 
 Patan, n. Tribute, tax ; from paatah, to watch, to guard. 
 
 PatClinah, v. To declare, set forth, explain ; n. an explanation, 
 etc. 
 
 Paxal or Paaxal, v. aor. xi, fut. xac. To forsake, abandon, 
 desert, depopulate ; " desamparar y des- 
 poblar pueblo." Dice. Motul. 
 
 Pay, n. The sea-coast. 
 
 Pay, v. aor. tah, fut. te. To draw or call toward one, hence, 
 payal, to be called or summoned. 
 
 Paybe, n. (From pay, and be, a road). A guide; hence, adv., 
 
 first, before." 
 Pek, n. A dog. 
 
 Pet, n. A circle, wheel. 
 
 Peten, n. An island, country, province, p. 122. 
 
 TV ' 
 
 r 1C. A numeral, p. 45. 
 
 Pix Or Piixtah, v. To unwind, to cast anchor. 
 
 Pixan, n. Soul; happiness; adj. happy. 
 
 Pol. n. Head; hair. 
 
 Puchtun, n. Fighting, quarreling. 
 
 Puczical, n. Heart ; mind, will, soul. 
 
 Pill, v. To bring, to carry. Ahpulul, one who brings. 
 
 PP 
 
 Ppatal, v. To remain, to stay. 
 
 PplZ, n. A measure of grain, etc. 
 
 PpOC, n. A hat. 
 
 Ppul or Ppuul, n. An earthen jar. 
 
 T 
 
 Taab, n. Salt. 
 
 Tab, v. To tie together ; hence 
 
 Tabal, n. Relationship ; anything attached to or dependent on 
 another. 
 
274 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Tabzah, v. To deceive, to delude, to tie. 
 
 Tah, adv. Whence, whither, thence, to, unto. pron. For us, 
 for our part. 
 
 Xakal, v. To stick to ; to add to, to increase. 
 
 Tal, prep. From ; tii tal en, I am from there. Dice . San Fran- 
 cisco. 
 
 Tal, v. aor. ah, fut. e. To touch, to begin to take ; to make use 
 of. 
 
 Talel, v. aor. tali, fut. talae or tae. To come, to go. 
 Tamilk, adv. While, when. 
 
 Tan, n. The breast ; hence, the middle of anything, as tan cah, 
 the middle of the town. p. 132. 
 
 Tan, postposition. Toward, as lakintan, toward the East. 
 
 Tancabal, n. The premises of a house ; a house and its 
 grounds. 
 
 Tancoch, n. A half (from tan, and cochil, the width, the size 
 of a thing). 
 
 Tec, adv. Quickly, suddenly. 
 
 Tern or Temah, v. To satisfy, please. 
 
 Ten, pron. I. Ten c en, I who am I. 
 
 Tepal, v. To rule, govern. 
 
 Than, n. Word, speech. 
 
 Thun, n. A drop, a spot, a dot. 
 
 Tl, prep. To, by, for ; sign of dative and ablative. ' 
 
 Tiihil, v. To happen there, to take place there. 
 
 Tipp, v. To exceed in size ; to go forth from ; as tippan kin, the 
 sun having appeared. 
 
 Toe OT ToOC, v. aor. tocah, fut. e, To burn. 
 Toch, adj. Severe, firm, rough. 
 
 Tocoyna, n. A deserted house or field ; " solar yermo." Dice. 
 Motul. 
 
 Toh, adj. Just, righteous ; ahtohil, a magistrate. 
 Tohyol, adj. Healthy, well (from toh, ol}. 
 
VOCABULARY. 275 
 
 Tox, v. To pour out ; tax haa ti pol, to pour water on the head, 
 /'. e., to baptize. Dice. Motul. Toxol, the person bap- 
 tized ; also a distribution or outpouring, as toxol cahob, 
 a distribution of towns to different rulers. 
 
 Till, adj. Full, abounding, p. 39. 
 
 verb. To fill to overflowing, to rise (of the tide). For 
 tutu I see p. 109. 
 
 Tulpach, v. To go back, to return. 
 Tulum, n. A wall, walled town. p. 163. 
 Turnen, prep. For, by reason of, because of. 
 1 un, n. A stone. A euphonic particle, p. 124. 
 Tux or Tuux, adv. Where, in what part or place. 
 Tuzebal, adv. "Promptly. 
 Tuzinil, adv. All, in all parts. 
 Tzac, v. To seek, to follow. 
 Tzen, n. Food, sustenance ; hence, 
 
 Tzentah, To give food to. 
 
 Tzicil, v. To obey, to serve. 
 Tzimin, n. A horse. 
 
 Tzol, n. A string, thread ; hence, verb, to arrange on a string, 
 to put in order, to adjust ; tzolan, an arrangement, 
 series, order. 
 
 Tzuc, n. A part, division, p. 54. 
 Tzucub, n. A province. 
 
 u 
 
 U, n. The moon ; a month ; menstrual period ; a string of 
 beads, a collar ; rosary, pron. His, her, its, their. Also 
 a euphonic particle before vowels. 
 
 Uaatal, v. To set up, erect. 
 
 Uabic, adv. How, in what manner. 
 
 Uac, Six. 
 
 Uacchahal, v. To emerge with force, p. 185. 
 
276 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Uaciintah, v. To set on end, to put in place ; to designate, 
 appoint ; uacuntahbal, the putting in place, etc. 
 
 Uah, n. Tortilla, bread ; itahal uahob . p. 129. 
 Uahil, n. Banquet ; guest. 
 Ualac, adv. While, meanwhile. 
 Ualkahal, v. To turn oneself, to return. 
 
 Uaxac, Eight. 
 
 Uay or Uai, adv. Here, in this place. 
 Uazaklom, n. A return, p. 86. 
 Ubah, v. To hear, understand. 
 Uchebal, conj. In order that. 
 
 Uchul, v. aor. uchi, fut. uchuc. To happen, to occur, take 
 place, come to pass. 
 
 Uinalal, n. Labor, work. 
 
 Uinbail, n. Image, figure. 
 
 Uinic, n. Man ; a measure, p. 27. 
 
 UitZ, n. A mountain, a hill. p. 131. 
 
 Ulul, v. To arrive, return. 
 
 Ulum, n. A bird, a pheasant. 
 
 Uooh, v. To write, p. 63. 
 
 U tial, prep. For, on account of. 
 
 Utz, adj. Good; utzil, the good, the well-being. 
 
 U tzcinah, v. To make better, to perfect ; to compose a speech 
 or essay ; to set in order. 
 
 Utzuac, adv. Now, be it now. 
 
 Uuc. Seven. 
 
 UuD, n. A folding, doubling ; a line of warriors. 
 
 X 
 
 Xachetah, v. To seek, to procure. 
 Xamach, n. A large pot or jar. 
 
VOCABULARY. 277 
 
 Xaman, n. The North. 
 
 Xan, n. Straw ; conj. also adv. slowly. 
 
 Xantal, v. aor. xanhi fut. xanac. To stay behind, to remain. 
 
 Xenhi, v. TO vomit. 
 
 Xic, v. To split, to divide. 
 
 Xicin, n. The ear, the hearing. 
 
 Ximbal, v. to journey, to pass. 
 
 XlU, n. Grass, herbage, name of a noble family, p. 109. 
 
 Xma, prep. Without. 
 
 Xocol, v. To count, to read. 
 
 Xotlahal, v. TO cut. 
 
 Xlll, n. End, limit ; v. to end, also xulul. 
 
 Y 
 
 Ya, n. i. Love. 2. Pain, wound, sickness. 3. Difficulty. 4. A 
 shoe. 
 
 Y aab, adj. Much, abundant : yaabil, abundance, multitude. 
 
 Yacunah, v. To love. 
 
 Yah or Yaah, n. Severe sickness. 
 
 Yala, The rest, remainder. 
 
 Yalan, prep. Under, beneath. 
 
 Yan or Yanhal, v. To have, to be, to stand. 
 
 Yax, adv. First, freshly ; adj. green, young. 
 
 Yaxchlin, n. The beginning, cause. 
 
 Yetel, conj. And, with, a compound of u etel, his or its com- 
 panion, usually abbreviated to y. 
 
 Yib, n. A bean. 
 
 YlC, n. Red peppers. 
 
 Yok, prep. On, over, in front of. 
 
 Yoklal, prep. By reason of, because of. 
 
278 THE CHRONICLES. 
 
 Yokolcab, adv. On the earth, in the world. 
 
 Yol, n. Mind, spirit. 
 
 Yxma, prep. Without, = xma. 
 
 Yub, n. Cloak, coat. 
 
 Yum, n. Father ; lord ; ruler ; head of a family. 
 
 Yum or Yumtah, v. To wave, to move to and fro. 
 
 Z 
 
 Zabin, n. A weasel. 
 
 Zah or Zahal or Zahacil, n. Fear, terror ; verb, to fear. 
 
 Zat, v. aor. ah, fut. e. To lose. 
 
 Zi, n. Wood. 
 
 Zihnal, n. Birth, a native. 
 
 Zil or Ziil, v. To give, to present ; n. gifts. 
 
 Zinah, v. To cut wood. 
 
 Zuhuy, n. A virgin. 
 
 Zulbil-taab, n. Purified salt, from zul, to soak. 
 
 Zut, v. To return ; tu zut pack, back again, over again. 
 
 
 
 "~)a v. aor. Jaah, fut. yae or yaab. To give ; yabal, past part, 
 pas. that which is to be given. 
 
 f)a, v. To avail, to be of advantage. 
 
 ), n. A seal, mould, press. 
 1, v. To devastate, ruin. 
 
 ), v. To suck ; yajopob, suckers of anonas, a name given to 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 1, v. To desire, wish for. 
 
 ^)ib or ^ibah, v. To write. 
 
 f)icil, n. Bravery ; encouragement. 
 
VOCABULARY. 279 
 
 , n. A register, record. 
 
 3OC, n. The end, the last. 
 
 v. To happen, to occur ; to tear down. 
 adv. Already. 
 
 v. To end, finish. 
 3UD, v. To kiss, to suck. 
 
 l, adj. Made of mud, or plastered. 
 , n. A foreigner, stranger, p. 131. 
 l, v. To make a beginning. 
 
 , v. To act mildly and kindly; from yuy, to kiss, 
 to suck. 
 
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