FEASTS AND AMUSEMENTS OF THE MAYAS.
SPECIAL OBSERVANCES--FIXED FEASTS--SACRIFICE OF
SLAVES--MONTHLY FEASTS OF THE YUCATECS--RENEWAL OF THE
IDOLS--FEAST OF THE CHACS--HUNTING FESTIVAL--THE
TUPPKAK--FEAST OF THE CACAO-PLANTERS--WAR FEAST--THE MAYA
NEW YEAR'S DAY--FEASTS OF THE HUNTERS, FISHERS, AND
APIARISTS--CEREMONIES IN HONOR OF CUKULCAN--FEAST OF THE
MONTH OF MOL--FEAST OF THE YEARS KAN, MULUC, IX, AND
CAUAC--YUCATEC SACRIFICES--THE PIT OF CHICHEN--SACRIFICES OF
THE PIPILES--FEAST OF VICTORY--FEASTS AND SACRIFICES IN
NICARAGUA--BANQUETS--DANCES--MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--GAMES.
Though the information concerning the feasts, religious and otherwise,
of the Maya nations, is not so full as that touching the Nahuas, yet
there is no doubt that the former people were quite as fond of such
matters as the latter.
The Quichés had many festivals and special observances, in some of
which the whole people took part, while others were performed by
private persons through excess of piety. They always made a sacrifice
before commencing any work of importance. There were four special
things for which they besought the gods; namely, long life, health,
progeny, and the necessaries of life. They had particular oratories
where they went upon occasions of great distress, and drew blood from
several parts of their body. When they desired to have sons they
sacrificed at fountains. They had oratories in thick groves, and if
they found a spot where a large tree grew over a spring, they held the
place to be divine, because two divinities met in the tree and in the
pool.[1013]
[Sidenote: SACRIFICIAL FESTIVALS.]
The religious feasts in which all the people took part were held on
certain fixed days of the calendar. One of their most notable and
solemn festivals was more a time of penance and vigil than of
feasting. When the season of its celebration approached, the lord of a
province with the principal men held a council and sent for a diviner,
and advised with him concerning the day upon which the sacrifice
should take place. The wise man at once began his sorceries, and cast
lots in order to ascertain what day would be the most propitious. When
the day was fixed, all men had from that time to sleep in houses apart
from their wives during a period of sixty or eighty days, or even
longer, according to the severity demanded. Upon each of these days
every one had to offer sacrifice by drawing blood from his arms,
thighs, tongue, and other parts of his body. This they did at certain
hours of the day and night, and also burned incense. They could not
bathe while the observances lasted. From the day when this lent began,
the slaves who were to be sacrificed were allowed a certain freedom,
and permitted to go about the town wheresoever they pleased. On the
neck of each, however, was fastened a ring of gold, silver, or copper,
through which a stick was passed, and as a further precaution against
escape each was accompanied by a guard of three or four men. They were
at liberty to enter any house, whether it was that of the supreme lord
or of the poorest man, and wherever they applied for food or drink it
was given them. The same liberty was accorded to the guard. When the
day of sacrifice arrived, the high-priest attired himself in his
finest vestments. These consisted of certain cloaks, with crowns of
gold, silver, or other metal, adorned with precious stones. The idols
were placed upon a frame ornamented with gold, silver, and gems, and
decked with roses and other flowers. The slaves were then brought in
procession to the temple yard amid songs, music, and dancing; and the
idols were set upon altars, before which were the sacrificial stones.
As the hour of sacrifice drew near, the supreme lord, and principal
men with him, repaired to the room where the slaves were waiting; each
then seized his slave by the hair and carried him before the god,
crying with a loud voice: O God our Lord, remember thy servants, grant
them health, offspring, and prosperity, so that they may increase and
serve thee. Give us rain, O Lord, and seasonable weather to support
us, that we may live, hearken to our prayers, aid us against our
enemies, give us comfort and rest. On reaching the altar the
sacrificing priest stood ready, and the lord placed the victim in his
hands. He then, with his ministers, opened the breast with the
sacrificial knife, tore out the heart and offered it to the idol, at
the same time anointing it with the blood. Each idol had its holy
table; the Sun, the Moon, the East, the West, the North, and the South
had each one. The heads of the sacrificed were put on stakes. The
flesh was seasoned, cooked, and partaken of as a holy thing. The
high-priest and supreme lord were given the hands and feet, as the
most delicate morsels, and the body was distributed among the other
priests. All through the days of the sacrificing great liberty was
permitted to the people, grand banquets were held, and drunken revels
ensued.[1014]
Concerning the religious feasts and observances of the Yucatecs, Landa
is the best and most complete authority, and I will therefore take
from his work such scattered notices as he gives.
In the month of Chen they worked in fear and trembling, making new
idols. And when these were finished, those for whom they were made
gave presents of the best they had to those who had modeled and carved
them. The idols were then carried from the building in which they had
been made to a cabin made of leaves, where the priest blessed them
with much solemnity and many fervent prayers, the artists having
previously cleansed themselves from the grease with which they had
been besmeared, as a sign of fasting, during the entire time that they
remained at work. Having then driven out the evil spirit, and burned
the sacred incense, the newly made images were placed in a basket,
enveloped in a linen cloth, and delivered to their owners, who
received them with every mark of respect and devotion. The priest then
addressed the idol-makers for a few moments on the excellence and
importance of their profession, and on the danger they would incur by
neglecting the rules of abstinence while doing such sacred work.
Finally, all partook of an abundant repast, and made amends for their
long fast by indulging freely in wine.
In one of the two months called Chen and Yax, on a day determined by
the priest, they celebrated a feast called _ocna_, which means the
renovation of the temple in honor of the Chacs, whom they regarded as
the gods of the fields. During this festival, they consulted the
oracle of the Bacabs.[1015] This feast was celebrated every year.
Besides this, the idols of baked clay and the braziers were renewed at
this season, because it was customary for each idol to have its own
little brazier, in which incense was burned before it; and, if it was
necessary, they built the god a new dwelling, or renovated the old
one, taking care to place on the walls an inscription commemorating
these things, in the characters peculiar to them.
[Sidenote: FESTIVALS OF ZAC AND MAC.]
In the month of Zac, on a day appointed by the priest, the hunters
held a feast similar to that which, as we shall presently see, took
place in the month of Zip. This was for the purpose of averting the
anger of the gods from them and the seed they had sown, because of the
blood which had been shed in the chase; for they regarded as
abominable all spilling of blood, except in sacrifice.[1016] They
never went out to hunt without first invoking their gods and burning
incense before them; and on their return from a successful hunt they
always anointed the grim visages of the idols with the blood of the
game. On another day of this month a great feast was held, which
lasted for three days, attended with incense-burning, sacrifices, and
general orgies. But as this was a movable feast, the priests took care
to give notice of it in advance, in order that all might observe a
becoming fast.
During the month of Mac, the old people celebrated a feast in honor of
the Chacs, gods of the cornfields, and of another deity named Yzamna.
Some days before this the following ceremony, called in their language
_tuppkak_,[1017] was observed. Having brought together all the
reptiles and beasts of the field that could be procured in the
country, they assembled with them in the court of the temple, in the
corners of which were the chacs and the priests, to drive away the
evil spirit, each having by his side a jug filled with water. Standing
on end, in the centre, was an enormous bundle of dry and fine wood,
which was set on fire after some incense had been burned. As the wood
burned, the assembled crowd vied with each other in tearing out the
hearts of the victims they had brought with them and casting them into
the flames. If it had been impossible to procure such large game as
jaguars, pumas, or alligators, they typified the hearts of these
animals by incense, which they threw into the fire; but if they had
them, they were immolated like the rest. As soon as all the hearts
were consumed, the chacs[1018] put out the fire with the water
contained in their pitchers. The object of this feast and of that
which followed was to obtain an abundance of water for their
cornfields during the year. This feast was celebrated in a different
manner from others, because no one fasted before it, with the
exception of the beadle (muñidor) of the occasion. On the day of the
feast called tuppkak, the people and the priests met once more in the
courtyard of the temple, where was erected a platform of stone, with
steps leading up to it, the whole tastefully decorated with foliage.
The priest gave some incense to the beadle, who burned in a brazier
enough to exorcise the evil spirit. This done, the first step of the
platform was with great solemnity smeared with mud taken from a well
or cistern; the other steps were stained a blue color. As usual, they
ended these ceremonies by eating and drinking and making merry, full
of confidence in the efficacy of their rites and ceremonies for this
year.
In the month of Muan the cacao-planters held a festival in honor of
the gods Ekchuah, Chac, and Hobnil, who were their patron
deities.[1019] To solemnize it, they all went to the plantation of one
of their number, where they sacrificed a dog having a spot on its skin
of the color of cacao. They burned incense to their idols, and made
offerings of blue iguanas, feathers of a particular kind of bird, and
game. After this they gave to each of the officials[1020] a branch of
the cacao-plant. The sacrifice being ended, they all sat down to a
repast, at which, it is said, no one was allowed to drink more than
three glasses of wine. All then went into the house of him who had
given the feast, and passed the time pleasantly together.
[Sidenote: WAR-FEAST IN THE MONTH OF PAX.]
In the month of Pax, a feast was held, called Pacumchac, which was
celebrated by the nobles and priests of the villages, together with
those of the great towns. Having assembled, they passed five nights in
the temple of Cit Chac Coh,[1021] praying and offering incense. At the
beginning of these five days, they went all together to the house of
the general of their armies, whose title was Nacon, and carried him in
state to the temple, where, having placed him on a seat, they burned
incense before him as though he had been a god. But though they prayed
during these five nights, they did not by any means fast in the
day-time, but ate and drank plentifully, and executed a kind of grand
war-dance, which they called _holkan okot_, which is to say, 'dance of
the warriors.' The five days being passed, the real business of the
feast began, which, as it concerned matters of war and victory, was a
very solemn affair. It was commenced with ceremonies and sacrifices
similar to those already described as taking place in the month of
Mac. Then the evil spirit was expelled in the usual manner, after
which were more prayers, offerings, and incensing. While all this was
going on, the nobles once more took the Nacon upon their shoulders,
and carried him in procession round the temple. On their return a dog
was sacrificed, its heart being torn out and presented to the idol
between two dishes. Every one present then shattered a large jug
filled with some beverage, which completed this part of the festival.
The usual banquet followed, after which the Nacon was again placed
upon the shoulders of the nobles and carried to his house.
There, the nobles and priests partook of a grand banquet, at which all
got drunk, except the Nacon; the people, meanwhile, returning to their
homes. On the morrow, having slept off the effects of the wine, the
guests of the Nacon received from him large presents of incense which
had been previously blessed. He also took advantage of this
opportunity to deliver a long discourse, in which he recommended his
hearers to observe scrupulously in both town and country the feasts of
the gods, in order to obtain a prosperous and abundant year. As soon
as the Nacon had finished speaking, there was a general and noisy
leave-taking, and the guests separated, and set out for their
respective homes. There they occupied themselves in celebrating the
festivals proper to the season, keeping them up sometimes until the
month of Pop. These feasts were called Zabacilthan, and were observed
as follows. The people of each place or district sought among the
richest of their number for some who were willing to defray the
expenses of the celebration, and recommended them to take the matter
into consideration, because it was customary to make merry during the
three last months of the year. This having been settled, all met in
the house of one of these prominent men, after having driven away the
evil spirit as usual. Copal was burned, offerings were made, and the
wine-cup, which seems to have been the chief attraction on these
occasions, was not neglected. And all through these three months, the
excesses in which the people indulged were pitiful to see; cuts,
bruises, and eyes inflamed with drink were plentiful amongst them; to
gratify their passion for drink they cast themselves away.
[Sidenote: THE MAYA NEW YEAR'S DAY.]
During the last five days of the month of Cumhu, which were the last
days of the year, the people seldom went out of their houses, except
to place offerings in the temples, with which the priests bought
incense to be burned in honor of the gods. They neither combed their
hair nor washed themselves during these five days; neither men nor
women cleansed themselves; they did no work of any kind lest some
misfortune should befall them.
[Sidenote: FESTIVITIES IN YUCATAN.]
The first day of the month of Pop, the Maya New Year's Day, was a
season of rejoicing, in which all the nation took part. To give more
importance to the event, they renewed at this time all the articles
which they used, such as plates, cups, baskets, clothes, and the
dresses of the idols; they swept their houses and cast everything into
the place where they put their rubbish; and no one dared to touch what
was cast away, even though greatly in need of it. To prepare for this
feast, princes, priests, and nobles, and all who wished to show their
devotion, fasted and abstained from their wives for a longer or
shorter period, some for three months preceding it, some for two,
according to their ideas of propriety, but none for less than thirteen
days. During this season of abstinence, they ate their meat
unseasoned, which was considered severe discipline. At this time,
also, they elected the officers who were to assist the priest at the
ceremony. The priest prepared a number of little balls of fresh
incense on small boards made for the purpose, for those who fasted to
burn before the idols. Great care was taken not to break the fast
after it had been once commenced; for if this were done it was thought
that misfortune must inevitably ensue.
New Year's Day having arrived, all the men assembled in the courtyard
of the temple. Women could assist at no feast which was celebrated
within the temple, except those who went to take part in particular
dances; on other occasions, however, the women were allowed to be
present. On the day in question the men came alone, adorned with
paint, and cleansed from the grease with which they had been bedaubed
during the days of penance. When all were assembled, with offerings of
food and newly fermented wine, the priest purified the temple and
seated himself in the centre of the court, clothed in his robes of
office, and having by his side a brazier and the balls of incense
before mentioned. After the evil spirit had been expelled, all present
offered up prayers, while the assistants kindled the new fire for the
year. The priest now cast one of the balls of incense into the
brazier, and then distributed the remainder among the assembled
worshipers. The nobles came first in the order of their rank, and as
each received a ball from the priest, who gave it with great
solemnity, he dropped it gently into the brazier and stood still until
it was consumed. The inevitable banquet and orgies terminated the
ceremonies. This was the manner in which they celebrated the birth of
the new year. During the month, some of the most devout among them
repeated the feast in their own homes, and this was particularly done
by the nobles and priests, who were ever foremost in religious
observances.
During the month of Uo the priests and sorcerers began to prepare for
a festival called _pocam_, which was solemnized by the hunters and
fishers on the seventh day of the next month, which was Zip. Having
assembled, clothed in their ornaments, at the house of the prince,
they expelled the evil spirit, and then uncovered their books and
exposed them upon a carpet of green leaves and branches, which had
been prepared for this purpose. They next invoked with reverence a
deity named Cinchau Yzamna, who had been, they said, the first
priest.[1022] To him they offered various gifts, and burned balls of
incense in his honor. In the meantime others took a vessel and a
little verdigris with some pure water, which had to be procured from a
wood into whose recesses no woman had ever penetrated. They now
cleaned the leaves of their books by moistening them; this done, the
wisest among them opened a volume and examined the prospects of the
coming year, which he declared aloud to all present. He concluded with
a brief discourse, in which he advised them how to avoid coming evils.
Jollity now reigned and the wine flowed freely--a consummation which
many of the old priest's hearers had doubtless been long looking
forward to impatiently. The solemnities on this occasion were varied
at times by performing a dance called _okot uil_.
On the following day the doctors and sorcerers with their wives came
together in the house of one of their number. The priests, having
driven away the evil spirit, brought to view their medicine-bags, in
which they kept a number of charms, some little images of Ixchel,
goddess of medicine, from whom the feast was named _ihcil ixchel_, and
some small stones called _am_, which they used in their sorceries.
Then with great devotion the doctors and sorcerers invoked the gods of
medicine, Yzamna, Citbolontum, and Ahau Chamahez, while the priests
burned incense, and the assistants painted themselves blue, the color
of the books used by the priests. Bearing their medicine bags in their
hands, they then joined in a dance called _chantunyab_, after which
the men seated themselves in a row on one side, and the women on the
other; a day was appointed for holding the feast during the ensuing
year, and then the usual drunken orgies commenced. It is said that the
priests abstained from wine on this occasion, perhaps because the
women were present; but they took their share, nevertheless, and
reserved it for a more private opportunity.
On another occasion the hunters, with their wives, assembled in the
house of one of their number, and performed there certain ceremonies.
The first proceeding was, of course, to expel the evil influence; then
the priests, who were never absent from these meetings, placed in the
middle of the room some incense, a brazier, and some blue coloring
material. Next, the huntsmen prayed with great devotion to the gods of
the chase, Acanum, Zuhuy Zipi, Tabai, and others, and cast incense
into the brazier. While this was burning, each took an arrow and a
deer's head, which the priest's assistants had painted blue; thus
equipped, some danced, holding hands; others pierced their ears or
their tongue, and passed through the holes which they made seven
leaves of an herb called _ac_. Then priests and their assistants made
offerings to the gods and joined in the dance. Finally, the
festivities closed by all present becoming, to quote the words of
Bishop Landa, 'as drunk as baskets.'
The next day it was the turn of the fishermen to celebrate a feast,
which they did in the same manner as the hunters, except that instead
of a deer's head, they smeared their fishing implements with color;
neither did they pierce their ears, but cut round about them, and
after doing this they executed a dance called _chohom_. Then they
consecrated a large tree, which they left standing. After the feast
had been duly celebrated in the towns, it was customary for the nobles
and many of the people to go down to the coast on a grand fishing
expedition. The patron divinities of the fishermen were Ahkak Nexoi,
Ahpua, Ahcitz, and Amalcum.[1023]
[Sidenote: FEAST OF THE APIARISTS.]
In the month of Tzoz, the apiarists prepared for a feast which was to
take place in the next month, called Tzec, by a fast, which was,
however, optional with all except the priests who were to officiate,
and their assistants. The day of celebration having arrived, the
participants came together in the house of him who gave the feast, and
performed nearly the same ceremonies as the hunters and fishermen,
except that they drew no blood from their bodies. The apiarists had
for their patron deities the Bacabs, and particularly Hobnil. They
made many propitiatory offerings at this time, especially to the four
gods of abundance, to whom they presented four dishes adorned with
figures of honey. The usual drunken bout was not omitted.
After the mysterious departure of Cukulcan,[1024] the Maya
Quetzalcoatl, from Yucatan, the people, convinced that he had gone to
the abode of the gods, deified him, and built temples and instituted
feasts in his honor. These latter were scrupulously observed
throughout the entire country up to the time of the destruction of
Mayapan; but after that event they were neglected by all the provinces
but that of Mani.[1025] In remembrance, however, of the respect shown
of old to Cukulcan, these provinces sent annually, by turn, to Mani
four or five magnificent feather banners, which were used in the
ceremonies there. On the sixteenth day of the month of Xul, all the
nobles and priests of Mani, being prepared by fast and penance for
the occasion, came together, and with them came a considerable
multitude of people. In the evening all set out in procession from the
house of the lord, and, accompanied by a large number of professional
actors, proceeded slowly towards the temple of Cukulcan, which had
already been decorated in a suitable manner. Upon arriving they placed
the banners on high in the temple, offered prayers, and going into the
courtyard spread out their idols upon green leaves and branches; then
they burned incense in many places, and made offerings of meat cooked
without pepper or salt, bean-soup, and calabashes. After this, those
who had observed the fast did not go home, but passed five days and
five nights in the temple, praying, burning copal, and executing
sacred dances. During this time the actors went from one house to
another, representing their plays and receiving gifts from those whom
they entertained. At the end of the five days they carried all their
earnings to the temple and distributed them among the watchers there.
Afterwards all returned to the prince's palace, taking with them the
banners and the idols. Thence each betook himself to his home. They
said, and confidently believed, that Cukulcan descended from heaven on
the last day of the feast and received personally the gifts which were
presented to him. This festival was called _chic kaban_.
During the month of Yaxkin it was the custom to prepare for a general
festival, called _olohzabkamyax_, held in the month of Mol, in honor
of all the gods. At this feast, after the usual preliminary rites,
they smeared with blue coloring matter the instruments used in every
profession, from the sacred implements of the priests to the distaffs
of the women, and even the doors of their houses. Children of both
sexes were daubed in the same manner, but instead of coloring their
hands they gave them each nine gentle raps on the knuckles. The little
girls were brought to the feast by an old woman, who for that reason
was called _ixmol_, conductress. The blows were given to the children
in order that they might become skilled workmen in the profession of
their fathers or mothers. The usual conclusion ensued.
During the month of Mol the apiarists had another festival similar to
that of the month of Tzec, in order to induce their patron gods to
cause the flowers to grow, from which the bees gathered honey.
[Sidenote: FESTIVAL TO INSURE A CROP.]
The Mayas depended so much upon the produce of the soil for their
sustenance that a failure of the crops was one of the heaviest
misfortunes that could fall upon them. To avoid this they made four
idols, named Chichac Chob, Ek Balam Chac, Ahcan Uolcab, and Ahbuluc
Balam.[1026] Having placed them in the temple, and, according to
custom, burned incense before them, they presented them with two
pellets of a kind of resin called _kik_, some iguanas, some bread, a
mitre, a bouquet of flowers, and a stone upon which they set great
value. Besides this, they erected a great wooden arch in the court,
which they filled with wood, taking care to leave openings through
which to pass backwards and forwards. The greater part of the men then
took each a long stick of dry wood, and while a musician mounted on
the top of the pile sang and beat a drum, all danced reverently and in
good order, as they did so passing in and out the wood-pile. This they
kept up until evening, when, leaving their sticks behind them, they
went home to eat and rest. During the night they returned, and each
taking his faggot, lit it and applied it to the pile, which burned
fiercely and rapidly.[1027] As soon as the heap was reduced to red-hot
ashes, those who had danced gathered about it, and passed barefooted
over the coals, some without injury, and some with; this they believed
would avert misfortune and appease the anger of the gods.[1028]
It was customary in all the towns of Yucatan to erect at the limits of
each of the four quarters, east, west, north, and south, two heaps of
stones, facing each other, and intended to be used during the
celebration of two solemn festivals, which were as follows. In the
year of which the dominical letter was _kan_, the sign was _hobnil_,
and, according to the Yucatecs, these both ruled in the south. They
made this year, of baked earth, an idol which they called Kanu
Uayeyab, and having made it they carried it out to the heaps of stones
which lay towards the south. They then selected a principal man of the
place, and in his house they celebrated the feast. For this purpose
they made another image, of the god Bolon Zacab,[1029] and placed it
in the chosen house, in a prominent place, so that all who arrived
might see it. This done, the nobles, priests, and people came
together, and set out by a road swept clean, ornamented with arches,
and strewed with foliage, to the southern heaps of stones, where they
gathered about the idol Kanu Uayeyab. The priest then incensed the god
with forty-nine grains of maize, ground up and mixed with copal; the
nobles next placed incense in the brazier, and burned it before the
idol. The incense burned by the priest was called _zacah_, that used
by the nobles, _chahalté_. When these rites were completed the head of
a fowl was cut off and offered to the idol, which was now placed on a
litter called _kanté_,[1030] and upon its shoulders were placed other
little images, as signs of abundance of water and a good year, and
these images were frightful to behold. Amid dances and general
rejoicing the idol was carried towards the house where the statue of
Bolon Zacab had been placed, and while the procession was on the road,
the nobles and priests partook of a beverage made from four hundred
and fifteen grains of roasted maize, which they called _picula kakla_.
Arrived at their destination, they placed the image that they carried
opposite the idol which they found there, and made many offerings of
food and drink, which were afterwards divided among the strangers who
were present, the officiating priest receiving only the leg of a deer.
Some of the devotees drew blood from their bodies, scarified their
ears, and anointed with the blood a stone idol named Kanal Acantun.
They modeled a heart of dough of maize and of calabash-seeds, and
offered it to the idol Kanu Uayeyab. And in this manner they honored
both the idols during the entire time of the feast, burning before
them incense of copal and ground maize, for they held it certain that
misfortune would overwhelm them if they neglected these rites.
Finally, the statue of Bolon Zacab was carried to the temple, and the
other image to the western entrance of the town, where it remained
until the next celebration of the feast.
[Sidenote: MAYA FESTIVALS.]
The ceremonies of the new year, under the sign of _muluc_, were very
similar to those just described, though held in honor of other
deities. A dance performed upon a high scaffolding, attended with
sacrifices of turkeys; another executed by the old people, holding
little baked-clay images of dogs in their hands; and the sacrifice of
a peculiarly marked dog, were, however, additional features. The same
may be said of the new year under the sign of _yx_, and of the new
year under the sign of _cauac_, when the rites which were performed
were sufficiently like those which have gone before to need no further
description.[1031]
The gods of the Yucatecs required far fewer human lives at the hands
of their worshipers than those of the Nahuas. The pages of Yucatec
history are not marred by the constant blood-blots that obscure the
Nahua record. An event which in Mexico would be the death-signal to a
hecatomb of human victims, would in Yucatan be celebrated by the death
of a spotted dog. The office of sacrificer which in Mexico was one of
the highest honors to which a priest could attain, was in Yucatan
regarded as unclean and degrading.[1032] Nevertheless, the Yucatec
religion was not free from human sacrifice, and although captives
taken in war were used for this purpose, yet it is said that such was
their devotion, that should a victim be wanting they would dedicate
their children to the altar rather than let the gods be deprived of
their due.[1033] But it seldom happened that more than one victim was
sacrificed at a time, at least in earlier days, and even then he was
not butchered as by the Nahuas, but was shot through the heart with
arrows before being laid upon the sacrificial stone.[1034]
[Sidenote: SACRIFICES AT CHICHEN ITZA.]
At Chichen Itza human sacrifices were made in a peculiar manner. In
the centre of the city was an immense pit, containing water, and
surrounded on all sides by a dense grove, which served to render the
spot silent and solitary, in spite of its position. A circular
staircase, rudely cut in the rock, descended to the edge of the water
from the foot of an altar which stood upon the very brink of the
pit.[1035] At first, only animals and incense were offered here, as
the teachings of Cukulcan forbade the sacrifice of human victims, but
after the departure of the great Maya apostle the Yucatecs returned to
the evil of their ways,[1036] and the pit of Chichen was once more
polluted with human bodies. At first one victim sufficed, but the
number gradually increased, until, during the later years of Maya
independence, hundreds were immolated at a time. If some calamity
threatened the country, if the crops failed or the requisite supply of
rain was wanting, the people hastened to the pit of horror, to offer
prayers and to appease the wrath of the gods with gifts of human life.
On the day of sacrifice, the victims, who were generally young
virgins, were taken to the temple, clothed in the garments appropriate
to the occasion, and conducted thence to the sacred pit, accompanied
by a multitude of priests and priestesses of all ranks. There, while
the incense burned on the altar and in the braziers, the officiating
priest explained to them the things for which they were to implore the
gods into whose presence they were about to be introduced. A long cord
was then fastened round the body of each victim, and the moment the
smoke ceased to rise from the altar, all were hurled into the gulf.
The crowd, which had gathered from every part of the country to see
the sacrifice, immediately drew back from the brink of the pit and
continued to pray without cessation for some time. The bodies were
then drawn up and buried in the neighboring grove.[1037]
The Pipiles had two idols, one in the figure of a man, called
Quetzalcoatl, the other in the shape of a woman, called Itzqueye.
Certain days of their calendar were specially set apart for each of
the deities, and on these the sacrifices were made. Two very solemn
sacrifices were held in each year, one at the commencement of summer,
the other at the beginning of winter. At these, Herrera says, only the
lords were present.[1038] The sacrifice was made in the interior of
the temple, and the victims were boys between the ages of six and
twelve years, bastards, born among themselves. For a day and a night
previous to the sacrifice, drums and trumpets were sounded and on the
day following the people assembled. Four priests then came out from
the temple, each bearing a small brazier with burning incense;
together they turned in the direction of the sun, and kneeling down
offered up incense and prayers; they then did the same toward the four
cardinal points.[1039] Their prayers finished, they retired within
four small chapels built at the four corners of the temple, and there
rested. They next went to the house of the high-priest, and took
thence the boy who was to be sacrificed and conducted him four times
round the court of the temple, dancing and singing. When this ceremony
was finished, the high-priest came out of his house, with the diviner
and guardian of the sanctuary, and ascended the steps of the temple,
with the cacique and principal men, who, however, remained at the door
of the sanctuary. The four priests now seized the boy by the arms and
legs, and the guardian of the temple coming out with little bells on
his wrists and ankles, opened the left breast of the victim, tore out
the heart, and handed it to the high-priest, who placed it in a small
embroidered purse which he carried. The four priests received the
blood of the victim in four jicaras, or bowls, made from the shell of
a certain fruit, and descending one after the other to the courtyard,
sprinkled the blood with their right hands in the direction of the
cardinal points. If any blood remained over they returned it to the
high-priest, who placed it with the purse containing the heart in the
body of the victim through the wound that had been made, and the body
was interred in the temple. This was the ceremony of sacrifice at the
beginning of each of the two seasons.
[Sidenote: PIPILE FEAST OF VICTORY.]
When information was received from their war chief that he had gained
a victory, the diviner ascertained to which of the gods sacrifice was
to be made. If to Quetzalcoatl, the ceremony lasted fifteen days; if
to Itzqueye, five days; and upon each day they sacrificed a prisoner.
These sacrifices were made as follows: All those who had been in the
battle returned home in procession, singing and dancing, bringing with
them the captives who were to be sacrificed, their wrists and ankles
decorated with feathers and chalchiuites, and their necks with strings
of cacao-nibs. The high-priests and other ministers went out at the
head of the populace to meet them with music and dancing, and the
caciques and captains delivered over those who were to be sacrificed
to the high-priest. Then they all went together to the courtyard of
their _teupa_, or temple, where they continued dancing day and night
during the time the sacrifices lasted. In the middle of the court was
a stone bench on which the victim was stretched, four priests holding
him by the feet and hands. The sacrificing priest then came forward,
adorned with many feathers and loaded with little bells, holding in
his hand a flint knife, with which he opened the breast of the victim,
tore out the heart, brandished it toward the cardinal points, and
finally threw it into the air with sufficient force to cause it to
fall directly in the middle of the court, saying: "Receive, Oh God,
this thank-offering for the victory."[1040] This sacrifice was public
and beheld by all the people. The men drew blood from their private
parts, and the women from their ears, tongue, and other parts of the
body; as the blood flowed it was taken up with cotton and offered by
the men to Quetzalcoatl, by the women to Itzqueye.
When the Pipiles were about to undertake any hunting or fishing
expedition, they first made an offering to their gods. For this
purpose they took a living deer,[1041] and leading it to the temple
yard, they there strangled and afterwards flayed it, saving the blood
in a vessel. The liver, lungs, and stomach were chopped in small
pieces, which were afterwards laid aside with the heart, head, and
feet. The remainder of the deer was cooked by itself, and the blood
likewise, and while this was being done the people danced. The
high-priest with his assistant next took the head by the ears, and
each of the four priests one of the feet, while the guardian of the
sanctuary put the heart into a brazier and burnt it with copal and
ulli to the god who was the protector of hunting. After the dance, the
head and feet were scorched in the fire before the idol and given to
the high-priest to be eaten. The flesh and blood were eaten by the
other ministers of the temple before the idol, and the same was done
with other animals sacrificed. The entrails of fish were burned before
the idol.[1042]
[Sidenote: SACRIFICES IN NICARAGUA.]
Among the civilized nations of Nicaragua, it would appear there were
eighteen distinct festivals, corresponding with the eighteen months in
their calendar.[1043] These were proclaimed by the priest, holding
the instrument of sacrifice in his hand, from the steps leading to the
sacrificial altar in the court of the temple. He made known who and
how many were to be sacrificed, and whether they were to be prisoners
taken in battle or individuals reared among themselves for the
purpose.[1044] When the victim was stretched upon the stone, the
officiating priest walked three times round him, singing in a doleful
tone; he then opened the victim's breast, plucked out his heart, and
daubed his face with the blood. He next dismembered the body and gave
the heart to the high-priest, the feet and hands to the king, the
thighs to him who had captured him, the entrails to the trumpeters,
and the remainder to the people, that all might eat.[1045] The heads
of those sacrificed were set as trophies on trees appointed for the
purpose.[1046] If the person sacrificed had been bought, they buried
the entrails, hands, and feet, in a gourd, and burned the heart and
all the rest.[1047] As it was lawful for a father to sell his own
children, and each person himself, they therefore did not eat the
flesh of such sacrifices because they were their own countrymen and
relations. When they ate the flesh of foreigners sacrificed, they
held exciting dances, and passed the days in drunken revels and
smoking, but had no sexual intercourse with their wives while the
festival lasted.[1048] At certain feasts they offered blood drawn from
their own bodies, with which they rubbed the beard and lips of the
idol.
The priests wore white cotton cloaks, some short and small, others
hung from the shoulders to the heels, with bands having bags attached,
in which they carried sharp stone knives, papers, ground charcoal, and
certain herbs. The lay brothers bore in their hands little flags with
the idol they held most in veneration painted thereon, and small
purses containing powder and awls; the youths had bows and arrows,
darts and shields. The idol, in form and appearance very frightful,
was set upon a spear and carried by the eldest priest. The ascetics
marched in file, singing, to the place of worship. They spread mantles
and strewed roses and flowers, that the standards might not touch the
ground. The procession halted; the singing ceased; they fell to
prayer. The prelate clapped his hand; some drew blood from the tongue,
others from the ears, from the privy member, or from whatever part
their devotion led them. They took the blood on paper or on their
fingers and smeared the idol's face. In the meantime the youths
danced, leaped about, and shook their weapons. Those who had gashed
themselves, cured their wounds by an application of powdered charcoal
and herbs that they carried for the purpose. In these observances they
sprinkled maize with the blood from their privy parts, and it was
distributed and eaten as blessed bread.[1049]
[Sidenote: BANQUETS OF THE PEOPLE.]
Like the Mexicans the Mayas had a great predilection for entertaining
each other at banquets, and it is related of them that they often
spent on one such occasion a sum that it had taken them many months to
earn. Seasons of betrothal and marriage were always enlivened by
sumptuous feasts. Whenever any contract had to be arranged, a feast
was given and the act of eating and drinking together in public and
before witnesses sufficed to make such contract valid.[1050] The lords
and principal men gave feasts to each other, and as it was incumbent
upon all the guests to return the compliment, there must have been a
continual round of feasting. Cogolludo states that meat was eaten at
banquets only, and this may in some measure account for the frequency
with which they occurred, and the etiquette that required the
invitation to be returned.
They observed a certain formality at their entertainments, seating
themselves either in twos or fours. Each of the guests received a
roasted fowl, some bread, and an abundance of cacao. When the meal was
finished, presents were distributed to the guests, each being
presented with a mantle, a small stool, and a handsome cup. Beautiful
women acted as cup-bearers, and when one of these presented a cup of
wine to a guest, she turned her back to him while he drank. The feast
lasted until all were intoxicated, and then the wives led their
drunken husbands home. When a marriage banquet, or one in
commemoration of the deeds of their ancestors, was given, no return
invitation was expected.[1051] Their entertainments were usually
enlivened by a company of dancers and musicians, who performed
dramatic representations under the leadership of one who was called
_holpop_, or master of the ceremonies; he gave instructions to the
actors, directed the singers and musicians, and from him all had to
take their cue. The actors were called _balzam_, a name corresponding
to jester or mimic. As women were not permitted to take part in the
mummeries, their places were supplied by men. Their movements during
the play were grave and monotonous, yet they were clever in mimicry
and caricature, which they frequently made use of as a means of
reproving their chief men.[1052] The plays were generally of a
historical character, having for their subject the great deeds of
their ancestors; their songs consisted of ballads founded upon local
traditions and legendary tales.[1053]
[Sidenote: MUSIC AND DANCES.]
A favorite dance of the Mayas was one called _colomche_; a large
number of men took part in it, sometimes as many as eight hundred.
These formed a ring, and were accompanied during their movements by a
number of musicians. When the dancing began, two of the actors, still
keeping step with the rest, came out from the ring, one holding in his
hand a bunch of wands and dancing upright, while the other cowered
down, still dancing. Then he who had the wands threw them with all his
force at his companion, who with great dexterity parried them with a
short stick. When the two had finished, they returned to their former
position in the circle, and two others took their place and went
through the same performance, the rest following in their turn. They
had also war dances, in which large numbers joined, the performers
holding small flags in their hands.[1054]
They had a variety of musical instruments, prominent among which was
the _tunkul_, which was almost the same thing as the teponaztli of
the Mexicans.[1055] They had other drums made of a hollow trunk and
covered at one end with deer-skin, tortoise shells that they struck
with deer's horns, trumpets,--some of marine shells and others of
hollow canes with a calabash at the end,--whistles and flutes made
from bone and cane, besides various kinds of rattles.[1056] Landa says
that in every village there was a large house or rather shed, for it
was open on all sides, in which the young men met for amusement.[1057]
Oviedo, who witnessed some dances and games among the Nicaraguans,
thus describes one he saw at Tecoatega after the harvesting of the
cacao. As many as sixty persons, all men, though a number of them
represented women, took part in a dance. They were painted of various
colors and patterns, and wore upon their heads beautiful tufts of
feathers, and about their persons divers ornaments, while some wore
masks like birds' heads. They performed the dance going in couples and
keeping at a distance of three or four steps between pair and pair. In
the centre of a square was a high pole of more than sixty feet in
height driven firmly into the ground; on the top was seated a gaudily
painted idol which they called the god of the _cacaguat_, or cacao;
round the top were fixed four other poles in the form of a square, and
rolled upon it was a thick grass rope at the ends of which were bound
two boys of seven or eight years of age. One of them had in one hand a
bow and in the other a bunch of arrows; the other boy carried a
beautiful feather fan and a mirror. At a certain step of the dance
the boys came out from the square and the rope began to unroll; they
went round and round in the air, always going further out and
counterbalancing one another, the rope still unrolling. While they
were descending, the sixty men proceeded with their dance to the sound
of singers beating drums and tabors. The boys passed through the air
with much velocity, moving their arms and legs to present the
appearance of flying. When they reached the ground the dancers and
singers gave some loud cheers and the festival was concluded.[1058]
Another favorite amusement was a performance on a swinging bar. For
this two tall forked posts were firmly planted in the ground; across
them and resting in the forks a pole was strongly bound. This pole
passed at right angles through a hole in the centre of a thick bar,
made to revolve upon it and of very light wood; near the end of the
bar were cross sticks for the performers to take hold of. A man placed
himself at each end, and when the bar was set in motion they went
tumbling round and round, to the delight of the spectators.[1059]
FOOTNOTES:
[1013] 'Los universales sacrificios se ofrecian ordinariamente cuando
venian las fiestas, las cuales habia en unas provincias cinco, y en
otras seis, ó se ofrecian por necesidad particular, por uno de estos
dos respectos.' _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 177; _Las Casas_,
_Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. clxxix.
[1014] 'Aquel dia era libertado para hacer grandes banquetes y
borracheras, y así se mataban infinitas aves, mucha caza y vinos muy
diferentes, hacian muchas danzas y bailes en presencia de los ídolos.
Duraban aquestas fiestas, tres, cinco y siete dias, segun lo que
ordenaban los ministros, y lo decian cuando habian de comenzar. En
estos dias, en cada tarde andaban en procesion con grandes cantos y
músicas, llevando al ídolo por las calles y plazas, y donde habia
lugar preeminente, hacian altares y ponian mesas, y allí paraban, y
como nosotros representamos farsas, así ellos jugaban á la pelota
delante de sus dioses.' _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind. Guat._, p. 187; _Las
Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. clxxvii.
[1015] The manner in which this was done will be described elsewhere
in this chapter.
[1016] 'Ce qui, d'accord avec divers autres indices, annoncerait bien
que l'effusion du sang, et surtout du sang humain, dans les
sacrifices, était d'origine étrangère, nahuatl probablement.'
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 247.
[1017] Meaning 'quenching of fire.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in
_Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 254. Yzamna is otherwise called Zamná.
[1018] This word _chacs_, which before was interpreted as the 'gods of
the cornfields,' probably here means the priests of those deities. In
a former chapter we have seen the word applied to those who assisted
at the rite of baptism.
[1019] '_Ekchuah_, écrit ailleurs _Echuah_, était le patron des
marchands et naturellement des cacaos, marchandise et monnaie à la
fois.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 261.
[1020] 'Officiales;' this may mean officiating priests, or overseers
on the plantations, or almost anything else.
[1021] '_Cit_ paraît être une sorte de cochon sauvage; _chac_ est le
nom générique des dieux de la pluie, des campagnes, des fruits de la
terre, etc. _Coh_ est le puma ou lion américain; suivant d'autres,
_chac-coh_ est le léopard.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_,
_Relacion_, p. 265.
[1022] '_Cinchau-Yzamná_ est une orthographe erroné, si l'on en juge
après les leçons précédentes; c'est probablement une mauvaise
abréviation de _Kinich-Ahau-Ytzamná_, donné, d'ailleurs, comme
l'inventeur des lettres et de l'écriture, l'auteur de tous les noms
imposés au Yucatan.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_,
pp. 284-5.
[1023] 'C'étaient là sans doute les dieux de la pêche, à propos
desquels Cogolludo dit les paroles suivantes: "On dit aussi que bien
après la conquête, les Indiens de la province de Titz imin, quand ils
allaient pêcher le long de la côte de Choáca, avant de se mettre à la
pêche, commençaient par des sacrifices et des oblations à leurs faux
dieux, leur offrant des chandelles, des réaux d'argent et des
_cuzcas_, qui sont leurs émeraudes, et d'autres pierres précieuses, en
certain endroits, au _ku_ et oratoires qui se voient encore dans les
bras de mer (estuaires) et les lagunes salées qu'il y a sur cette côte
vers le _Rio de Lagartos_."' (_Hist. Yuc._, tom. iv., cap. iv.);
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 292-3.
[1024] '_Cuculcan_, écrit quelquefois _Kukulcan_, vient de _kuk_,
oiseau qui paraît être le même que le quetzal; son déterminatif est
_kukul_ qui uni à _can_, serpent, fait exactement le même mot que
_Quetzal Cohuatl_, serpent aux plumes vertes, ou de Quetzal.'
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 35.
[1025] 'La province de Mani avait été colonisée par les Tutul-Xius,
dont l'origine était toltèque ou nahuatl; les fêtes de Kukulcan se
bornant à cette province après la destruction de Mayapan, ne laissent
point de doute sur l'origine de ce personnage, et donnent lieu de
penser que le reste du Yucatan, tout en vénérant jusqu'à un certain
point ce mythe ou ce prophète, avait gardé au fond la religion qui
avait précédé celle des Toltèques. Ce serait un point d'histoire d'une
grande importance au point de vue philosophique. Nous trouverons plus
loin d'autres indices du culte primitif des Mayas.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 300-1.
[1026] '_Ek-balam-chac_ signifie tigre noir dieu des champs: ce sont
du reste des noms donnés au tigre encore aujourd'hui. _Ahcan_ est le
serpent mâle en général. _Ahbuluc-Balam_ signifie Celui des onze
tigres.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 230-1.
[1027] 'Ne croirait-on pas lire la description de cette fête des
Scythes, rapportée par Hérodote, et que M. Viollet-Leduc a insérée
dans ses _Antiquités mexicaines_, formant l'introduction de l'ouvrage
de M. Désiré Charnay: _Cités et Ruines américaines_, page 16.'
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 232-3.
[1028] _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 230-2.
[1029] '_Bolon_ est l'adjectif numéral neuf, _zacab_, dont la racine
est _zac_, blanc, est le nom d'une sorte de maïs moulu, dont on fait
une espèce d'orgeat. Cette statue était-elle une image allégorique de
cet orgeat offert en cette occasion?' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in
_Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 212-13.
[1030] '_Kanté_, bois jaune; c'est probablement le cèdre.' _Brasseur
de Bourbourg_, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 213.
[1031] _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 210-32.
[1032] 'La charge de _Nacon_ était double; l'un était perpétuel et peu
honorable, parce que c'était lui qui ouvrait la poitrine aux victimes
humaines qu'on sacrifiait.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 161. 'El oficio de
abrir el pecho a los sacrificados, que en Mexico era estimado, aqui
era poco honroso.' _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap.
iv.
[1033] _Ib._
[1034] _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 166; _Herrera_, ubi sup.
[1035] The present appearance of the pit is thus described by
Stephens: 'Setting out from the Castillo, at some distance we ascended
a wooded elevation, which seemed an artificial causeway leading to the
senote. The senote was the largest and wildest we had seen; in the
midst of a thick forest, an immense circular hole, with cragged,
perpendicular sides, trees growing out of them and overhanging the
brink, and still as if the genius of silence reigned within. A hawk
was sailing around it, looking down into the water, but without once
flapping its wings. The water was of a greenish hue. A mysterious
influence seemed to pervade it, in unison with the historical account
that the well of Chichen was a place of pilgrimage, and that human
victims were thrown into it in sacrifice. In one place, on the very
brink, were the remains of a stone structure, probably connected with
ancient superstitious rites; perhaps the place from which the victims
were thrown into the dark well beneath.' _Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 324.
[1036] We have seen that even the memory of Cukulcan was neglected in
all the provinces of Yucatan but one.
[1037] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. i.; _Medel_,
in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 43; _Brasseur
de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 44-5.
[1038] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x.
[1039] 'Ivanse derechos todos quatro juntos á do sale el sol, i se
hincavan de rodillas ante el, i le zaumavan diciendo palabras é
invocaciones, i esto fecho se dividian hacia quatro partes, lest,
oest, norte, sur, i predicavan sus rictos i ceremonias.' _Palacio_,
_Carta_, p. 68.
[1040] 'Yua el sacristan y sacauale con la nauaja el coraçon, y
arrojauale al dios, o a la diosa, y dezia, Toma el fruto desta
vitoria.' _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x.
[1041] Brasseur de Bourbourg says: 'cerf blanc.' _Hist. Nat. Civ._,
tom. ii., p. 557.
[1042] 'Le sacrifice du cerf blanc, d'abord un des plus augustes,
devint, plus tard, l'offrande commune et exclusive des chasseurs qui
désiraient se rendre favorables les dieux protecteurs de la chasse et
des forêts.' _Id._, p. 557; _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 74-6.
[1043] 'Echauan las fiestas que eran diez y ocho, como los meses
subidos en el gradario, o sacrificadero que tenian los patios de los
templos.' _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii. In
the evidence taken by Fray Françisco de Bobadilla the number of
festivals is given as twenty-one and eleven; I must therefore leave
the reader to decide for himself which is correct. 'Y.--En un año
tenemos veynte é un dias de fiestas (é no juntos estos dias)....
F.--En el tiempo de aquellas onçe fiestas, que deçis que teneys cada
año.' _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., pp. 47, 52.
[1044] 'For there are two kindes of humane sacrifices with them: the
one, of enemies taken in the warres, the other of such as are brought
vp and maintained at home.' _Peter Martyr_, dec. vi., lib. vi.
[1045] 'And whosoeuer should haue no parte nor portion of the
sacrificed enemie, would thinke he shoulde bee ill accepted that
yeere.' _Ib._
[1046] 'Euery King nourisheth his appointed trees in a fielde neere
vnto him, obseruing the names of euery hostile country, where they
hange the heads of their sacrificed enemies taken in the warres.'
_Ib._
[1047] Herrera gives a similar account of the disposal of the body,
but adds: 'Saluo que ponian la cabeça en los arboles.' _Hist. Gen._,
dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii. I think it improbable that the heads
were treated in the same manner as those of their enemies. Peter
Martyr says nothing distinctly of the disposal of the head, but,
speaking of the sacrifice, says 'they reuerence all parts thereof, and
partly bury them beefore the dores of their temples, as the feete,
handes, and bowels, which they cast together into a gourde, the rest
(together with the hartes, making a great fire within the view of
those hostile trees, with shril hyms, and applauses of the Priestes)
they burne among the ashes of the former sacrifices, neuer thence
remooued, lying in that fielde.' Dec. vi., tom. vi.
[1048] 'En aquellas fiestas no trabaxamos ni entendemos en más de
emborracharnos; pero no dormimos con nuestras mugeres, é aquellos
dias, por quitar la ocasion, duermen ellas dentro en casa é nosotros
fuera della: é al que en tales dias se echa con su muger, nuestros
dioses les dan dolençia luego, de que mueren; é por esso ninguno lo
osa haçer, porque aquellos dias son dedicados á nuestros dioses.'
_Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., p. 52.
[1049] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii.; _Peter
Martyr_, dec. vi., lib. vi., vii.; _Squier_, in _Palacio_, _Carta_, p.
116.
[1050] 'En las ventas, y contratos, no auia escritos que obligassen,
ni cartas de papago, que satisfaciessen, pero quedaba el contrato
valido con que bebiessen publicamente delante de testigos.'
_Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 180-1.
[1051] _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 122-4.
[1052] 'Son graciosos en los motes, y chistes, que dizen à sus
mayores, y Iuezes: si son rigurosos, ambiciosos, auarientos,
representando los sucessos que con ellos les passan, y aun lo que vèn
à su Ministro Doctrinero, lo dizen delante dèl, y à vezes con vna sola
palabra.' _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 187.
[1053] See _Carrillo_, in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, 2da época, tom.
iii., pp. 259, 261; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom.
ii., pp. 65-7; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.;
_Ternaux-Compans_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii.,
p. 47.
[1054] _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 126, 128.
[1055] 'El timbal yucateco (_tankul ó tunkul_,) es el instrumento mas
notable de la música yucateca, y en general de la música americana,
que acompañaban las danzas ó bailes sagrados, y el nombre maya de ese
notable instrumento, nos revela hasta hoy el carácter sagrado de
aquellas fiestas, pues el nombre de _tunkul ó tankul_, significa
ligeramente la hora de la adoracion.' _Carrillo_, in _Soc. Mex. Geog.,
Boletin_, 2da época, tom. iii., p. 259. I have one of these
instruments in my possession.
[1056] _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 124, 126; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._,
dec. iv., lib. x., cap. iv.; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, pp. 77, 186;
_Carrillo_, in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, 2da época, tom. iii., p.
260; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 64-5.
[1057] _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 178.
[1058] This is very similar to the Nahua game, described on page 295,
et seq., of this volume.
[1059] _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., pp. 93-4, 111-12, pl. v.,
fig. i., ii.