PART 1. CUSTOMS, CEREMONIES, AND MODE OF LIFE

INTRODUCTION

The southern and eastern parts of Yucatan, from Tuluum in the north to

the Rio Hondo in the south, are occupied to-day by two tribes of Maya

Indians, the Santa Cruz and Icaichè or Chichanha. The number of Santa

Cruz was estimated by Sapper in 1895 at about 8,000 to 10,000, but at

the present day has probably been reduced to about 5,000. The Icaichè,

the number of whom he estimated at 500, and is given by the _Guia de

Yucatan_ in 1900 as 803, now comprise not more than 200. This decrease

is due to the policy of extermination carried out among the Santa Cruz

for years by the Mexican Government, and the consequent emigration of

many of the Indians to British Honduras, Guatemala, and northern

Yucatan. The northern and western parts of British Honduras contain

between 5,000 and 6,000 Indians; those in the north are partly

indigenous and partly immigrants drawn from Yucatecan tribes who have

left their homes after various political disturbances, especially after

the occupancy of their towns of Bacalar and Santa Cruz by the Mexican

Government. The Indians of the western part of the colony are also

partly indigenous, but for the greater part Itzas, who have come in from

Peten in Guatemala.

The objects shown in figures 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 31, 35, 36, 47, 51, 52,

55, 56, 57, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65, 69, 70, 76, and 77, and in plates 8, 11,

12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18a, and 19 are in the Liverpool Museum; those

shown in figures 15, 40, and 41 and in plate 9 are in the British

Museum; those shown in figure 45 and in plates 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and

28 are in the Bristol Museum; and those shown in figures 67 and 68 and

in plates 20, 21, and 22 are in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye

Foundation.

HABITAT

The northern-part of British Honduras, between the Rio Hondo and the Rio

Nuevo, consists of an almost level plain, having an area of nearly 1,000

square miles. The soil is a vegetal humus; varying from a few inches to

several feet in depth, the average depth being about 2 feet; beneath

this is a stratum of marly limestone, outcrops of which are found in

many places. The southern part of Yucatan, which, unlike the northern

part, is comparatively well watered, is also flat, though a few small

hills are found along the northern bank of the Rio Hondo, commencing

about 50 miles from its mouth (fig. 1). Most of the land along the

rivers is swampy, producing only reeds, coarse grasses, and mangrove

trees. Beyond the swamp country are found "cuhun ridges," consisting of

river valleys or depressions in the surface which have become filled

with alluvium brought down by the rivers from the interior, forming an

exceedingly rich soil suitable for the cultivation of maize and nearly

every tropical product. It is upon these "cuhun ridges" that most of the

mounds and other relics of the ancient inhabitants are found and that

nearly all the villages of the modern Indians are built. Large tracts of

what is known as "pine ridge" are scattered throughout this area; these

are level or slightly undulating plains covered with gravel and coarse

sand--exceedingly poor soil, producing only wiry grass, yellow pines,

and small pimento palms. On these "pine ridges" Indian mounds are hardly

ever found, nor do the Indians of to-day build villages upon them except

in rare instances and for special local reasons. With the exception of

the extreme northern part, nearly the whole of this area is well watered

by rivers and streams, while scattered throughout it are numerous

lagoons and lakes, the largest of which is the Bacalar Lagoon.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Map showing Yucatan, Campeche, British

Honduras, and part of Guatemala. The area

dealt with is shaded.]

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

The manners, customs, religious conceptions, and daily life of all these

Indians are very similar, though among the Indians of British Honduras,

who come more closely in contact with outside influences, old customs

are dying out, and old ideas and methods are being superseded by new.

The language of the tribes here considered, with slight local

dialectical variations, is the same; all are of the same physical type;

in fact, there can be little doubt that they are the direct descendants

of those Maya who occupied the peninsula of Yucatan at the time of the

conquest. Physically, though short they are robust and well

proportioned. The men average 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 3 inches in

height, the women about 2 inches less. The skin varies in color from

almost white to dark bronze. The hair of both sexes is long, straight,

coarse, black, and luxuriant on the head, where it extends very low over

the forehead, but is almost entirely absent from other parts of the

body. The women usually wear their hair hanging down the back in two

plaits. Their faces are round and full, with rather high cheek bones;

the skull is highly brachicephalic in type. The following indices were

taken from a small number of Santa Cruz Indians, mostly males of middle

age:

Maximum length of head cm. 17.52

Maximum breadth of head cm. 15.44

Cephalic index _88.11_

Facial height cm. 11.68

Maximum bi-zygomatic breadth cm. 12.84

Facial index _84.40_

Nasal height cm. 5.13

Nasal breadth cm. 3.55

Nasal index _69.80_

The eyes are large and dark brown, the ears small and closely applied to

the head, the nose rather broad, and the jaw prognathous. The mouth is

fairly large and the teeth excellent, though toward middle age they

become greatly worn down in many individuals from eating corn cake

impregnated with grit from the stone metate, and from the same cause

they are frequently much incrusted with tartar. The figure in both sexes

is short and broad. The long bones and the extremities are small and

delicate. Both men and women are, however, capable of considerable and

prolonged exertion. The former can carry loads of 150 pounds for 20

miles in the macapal (_tab_), a netted bag which is slung over the back

and held up by a band passing round the forehead, while the latter can

work for hours at a time grinding corn on the metate without apparent

fatigue. Many of the younger women would be considered very good

looking, measured by the most exacting standard, though they reach

maturity at an early age, and deteriorate in appearance very rapidly

after marriage, the face becoming wrinkled and the figure squat and

shapeless. In walking the men bend the body forward from the hips, keep

the eyes fixed upon the ground, and turn the toes in, habits acquired

from carrying the macapal on all occasions. So accustomed have they

become to this contrivance that many of them, when starting on a journey

of even a couple of miles, rather than go unloaded, prefer to weight the

macapal with a few stones as a counterpoise to the habitual forward

inclination of their bodies above the hips. Children begin carrying

small macapals at a very early age, and it is probably to this habit and

not, as Landa suggests, to the custom among the women of carrying their

children astride the hip that the prevalence of bowlegs (_kūlba ōk_)

among the Indians is due. These people have a peculiar and indescribable

odor, rather pleasant than otherwise; it is not affected by washing or

exercise, is much stronger in some individuals than in others, and is

perceptible in both sexes and at all ages. The women are, on the whole,

both physically and mentally superior to the men, and when dressed in

gala costume for a "baile" with spotlessly clean, beautifully

embroidered garments, all the gold ornaments they possess or can borrow,

and often a coronet of fire beetles, looking like small electric lamps

in their hair, they present a very attractive picture. They are polite

and hospitable, though rather shy with strangers; indeed in the remoter

villages they often rush into the bush and hide themselves at the

approach of anyone not known to them, especially if the men are away

working in the milpas. They are very fond of gossip and readily

appreciate a joke, especially one of a practical nature, though till one

gets to know them fairly well they appear dull and phlegmatic. When

quarreling among themselves both women and girls use the most disgusting

and obscene language, improvising as they go along, with remarkable

quick-wittedness, not binding themselves down to any conventional oaths

or forms of invective, but pouring out a stream of vituperation and

obscenity to meet each case, which strikes with unerring fidelity the

weak points in the habits, morals, ancestry, and personal appearance of

their opponents. The young girls are as bad as, if not worse than, the

older women, for whom they seem to have no respect. They are extremely

clean in their persons, and wash frequently, though with regard to their

homes they are not nearly so particular as hens, dogs, pigs, and

children roll about together promiscuously on the floor, and fleas,

lice, and jiggers abound only too frequently. The description given by

Landa (chap. XXXII, p. 192) of the Indian women at the time of the

conquest applies equally well to their descendants of the present day:

Emborachavanse también ellas con los combites, aunque por si, como

comian por si, y no se emborachavan tanto como los hombres.... Son

avisadas y corteses y conversables, con que se entienden, y a

maravilla bien partidas. Tienen poco secreto y no son tan limpias

en sus personas ni en sus cosas con quanto se lavan como los

ermiños.

The women are very industrious, rising usually at 3 or 4 o'clock in the

morning to prepare the day's supply of tortillas or corn cake. During

the day they prepare tobacco (_kutz_) and make cigarettes; gather cotton

(_taman_), which they spin (_kuch_), weave (_sakal_), and embroider for

garments; weave mats of palm leaf and baskets (_xush_) of a variety of

liana (_ak_); make pottery (_ul_), and cotton and henequen cord, of

which they construct hammocks (_ǩan_). In addition to these tasks they

do the family cooking and washing, look after the children, and help

their husbands to attend to the animals. Till late at night the women

may be seen spinning, embroidering, and hammock-making by the light of a

native candle or a small earthenware cuhoon-nut oil lamp, meanwhile

laughing and chatting gayly over the latest village scandal, the older

ones smoking cigarettes, while the men squat about on their low wooden

stools outside the house gravely discussing the weather, the milpas, the

hunting, or the iniquities of the Alcalde. Among the Indian women of

British Honduras the old customs are rapidly dying out; spinning and

weaving are no longer practiced, pottery making has been rendered

unnecessary by the introduction of cheap iron cooking pots and

earthenware, candles have given place to mineral oil lamps, and even the

metate is being rapidly superseded by small American hand mills for

grinding the corn. The men's time is divided between agriculture,

hunting, fishing, and boat and house building, though at times they

undertake tasks usually left to the women, as mat and basket making, and

even spinning and weaving. The Indians of British Honduras who live near

settlements do light work for the rancheros and woodcutters; they have

the reputation of being improvident and lazy, and of leaving their work

as soon as they have acquired sufficient money for their immediate

needs, and this is to some extent true, as the Indian always wants to

invest his cash in something which will give an immediate return in

pleasure or amusement. The men are silent, though not sullen, very

intelligent in all matters which concern their own daily life, but

singularly incurious as to anything going on outside of this. They are

civil, obliging, and good-tempered, and make excellent servants, when

they can be got to work, but appear to be for the most part utterly

lacking in ambition or in any desire to accumulate wealth with which to

acquire comforts and luxuries not enjoyed by their neighbors. It happens

occasionally that an individual does perforce acquire wealth, as in the

case of the head chief of the Icaichè Indians, who was paid a salary by

the Mexican Government to keep his people quiet, and royalties on chicle

cut on his lands by various contractors. He accumulated a considerable

sum, all in gold coin, which he stored in a large demijohn and hid in

the bush. At his death, as no one knew the place where the demijohn was

buried, the money was permanently lost. They are remarkably skillful at

finding their way in the bush by the shortest route from point to point,

possessing a faculty in this respect which amounts almost to an

instinct; they are skillful also at following the tracks of men and

animals in the bush by means of very slight indications, as broken twigs

and disturbed leaves, imperceptible to an ordinary individual. The men

are very stoical in bearing pain. I have removed both arms at the

shoulder joints, with no other surgical instrument than a long butcher's

knife, and no anesthetic except several drinks of rum, for an Indian,

crushed between the rollers of a native sugar mill, without his uttering

a single complaint. The Indians are undoubtedly cruel, but not wantonly

so, as the shocking acts of cruelty reported as being perpetrated by

them from time to time are usually by way of reprisal for similar or

worse acts on the part of the Mexicans. Before the rising of the Indians

in 1848, they were throughout this part of Yucatan practically in a

state of slavery, and were often treated by their Spanish masters with

the utmost barbarity. As an instance of this it is recorded of a

well-known merchant of Bacalar that he was in the habit of burying his

Indian servants in the ground to the neck, with their heads shaved,

exposed to the hot sun; their heads were then smeared with molasses and

the victims were left to the ants; and this punishment was inflicted for

no very serious offense. It is hardly to be wondered at that such

treatment left in the Indians' hearts an undying hatred for their

masters which, when in their turn they gained the ascendancy, found vent

in acts of the most horrible cruelty--flogging, burning, mutilation, and

even crucifixion.

DRESS

The men wear hats of platted palm leaf, which they make themselves;

those woven from coarse split palm leaf are known as _xani pok_, those

of very fine leaf, like Panama hats, bear the name _bomi pok_ (pl. 1).

They wear cotton trousers (_eex_), or in some sections short cotton

drawers (_xkulex_), with a short, loose, shirt-like jacket of cotton

hanging outside the trousers. On the feet they use sandals of danta hide

(_xanapkeuel_) held in place by a leather or henequen thong passing

between the great and second toes and around the back of the heel to the

front of the instep, where it is fastened. Formerly the cotton was

grown, spun, and woven at home, but nowadays it is giving place to cheap

imported English and American goods, while the sandals are being

superseded by moccasins and even by imported shoes. The moccasins the

Indians make themselves, tanning the hides (usually of deer or antelope)

in lime and red mangrove bark and stitching the parts together with thin

strips of leather. These moccasins, which are made on crude wooden

lasts, are very comfortable and wear well.

[Illustration: PLATE 1

GROUP OF SANTA CRUZ INDIANS]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Gold earrings made and worn by the Santa Cruz

Indians.]

The women wear two garments of cotton; the huipil (_yuptè_), a loose

short-sleeved blouse, cut square at the neck, and reaching nearly to the

knees, and a short skirt reaching to between the knee and the ankle,

known as a _pik_. The neck, the lower border, and the armholes of the

blouse and the edge of the skirt were formerly beautifully embroidered

in varicolored floral and geometrical devices; now, however, cotton

manufactured in England or the United States and stamped in colors to

imitate the original embroidery is rapidly coming into use. The women

formerly went barefooted or wore loose slippers; now they frequently

wear imported shoes, often with high heels, a feature which renders

their walk and carriage awkward and stilted. They often go bareheaded,

but sometimes wear a sort of shawl (_bostch_) around the head and

shoulders. Many of them wear large round or oval plaques of gold (_tup_)

in the ears, survivals, probably, of the enormous round ear disks worn

by the ancient Maya (fig. 2). Some of the women wear long gold chains,

with religious medallions attached, while the smaller children wear a

variety of curious objects, as small coins, shells, beads, dried seeds,

and berries, with figurines in wood, stone, pottery, and metal, strung

round their necks. Many of these are worn as charms or amulets to

protect the wearer against diseases, accidents, or evil spirits, or to

bring good luck. A charm worn by nearly all children consists of a small

cross of _tancasche_ bark (fig. 3) which is regarded as a sovereign

remedy for flatulence, a complaint from which, owing to the nature of

their diet, nearly all suffer.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Cross of tancasche bark worn by children.]

INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES

AGRICULTURE

Of all the arts practiced by the Indian, agriculture is by far the most

important; indeed the greater part of his time and labor are devoted to

the milpa (_kol_), or corn plantation, which affords him his principal

means of livelihood, for if the corn crop fails he knows that actual

starvation will menace his family until the next crop is gathered. The

virgin bush, in which the milpa is made, is cut down about December or

January, only the large and hardwood trees being left standing. This is

the most arduous part of the work, and the neighbors often assist in it,

being helped in turn when making their own milpas. The bush is allowed

to dry until the end of May (the dry season lasting from January to

May), when it is burned off. After the burnt area has been cooled by the

first shower of rain it is planted in corn (_ixim_). This is a simple

operation, two or three men going over the ground, each with a bag of

corn and a sharp-pointed stick, making small holes at fairly regular

intervals, into each of which they drop a few grains of corn, and then

cover them with earth. About October the corn begins to ripen, whereupon

each stalk is bent about a foot below the ear and allowed to hang down

for several days in order that rain may not gain entrance and spoil the

grain in the final stages of ripening. During this period the owner

spends nearly all his time in the milpa, sleeping there in a little

palm-leaf shack at night, since many animals, as deer and wild hogs, are

very fond of corn, which is subject to raids also by neighboring Indians

and by tame pigs from the village. When the corn is ripe, it is stored,

still in the husk, upon a low platform, in a small house specially built

for the purpose, often, in order to avoid transportation, situated

within the milpa. It is shelled as required for use, the surplus from

that eaten by the family and stock being exchanged at the nearest

village for cash or for cotton cloth, rum, iron cooking pots,

ammunition, and other luxuries. The shelling is done by rubbing the

husked ear against a rough flat surface, made by binding a number of

corncobs (_bacal_) together into a circle with liana. Many fruits and

vegetables besides corn are grown in the milpa, including yams (_xaci

macal_), camote (_īs_), pumpkins (_kuum_), squashes (_xka_), tomatoes

(_paak_), plantains (_haz_), colalu (_xterkoch_), aguacate (_on_), plums

(_abal_), oranges (_pakaal_), siricote (_kopte_), sapodillas (_ya_),

mamai (_chacal haz_), okra, garden egg, melon, breadfruit, sweet lime,

pineapple, and a variety of others.

PROCURING FOOD; COOKING

Both men and women take for the first meal of the day a hot thick drink

known as _posol_, made from ground corn and water, often flavored with

honey; later they eat tortillas, beans, and chili pepper, accompanied

with a cold drink made from corn. In the evening they make their

principal repast, which includes game, pork, fish, or eggs, with beans

and other vegetables, plenty of chili pepper, and either chocolate or

some hot drink made from corn. They use a great variety of drinks

concocted of ground maize and water, including _chocosacan_, a solution

of the masa from which tortillas are made, in water, flavored with a

little salt; _pinol_, a solution of ground toasted corn seasoned with

pimento and other spices; _posol_, boiled corn ground to a paste and

mixed with hot water; _sachà_, very much like posol, but the corn is not

cooked soft, so that the beverage is gritty; and, lastly, _atol_, which

is chocosacan boiled till the mixture becomes thick and glutinous.

Tortillas, or corn cake, sometimes eaten hot, sometimes cold, and at

times toasted, are the Indian's chief mainstay in the way of food, as

they appear at every meal, and at a pinch he can exist on them alone for

a very long period. Tortillas are made in the following way: The grain

is first soaked overnight in a lye of wood ashes, treatment which

softens the grain and loosens the outer husk. The softened grain is next

ground into a fine paste on an oblong stone, slightly concave, known as

a metate (_ka_), by means of a stone rolling pin thicker in the middle

than at the ends, designated as a brazo (_u kabka_). This procedure

takes considerable time, as the grain has to be ground a number of times

in order to get the paste to the required degree of fineness. When the

paste or masa is ready it is flattened by hand into small round cakes

(tortillas), which are baked on an iron or earthen plaque (_xamach_)

over a glowing wood fire.

The hunters are experts at barbecuing (_macan_) the carcasses of various

birds and animals, chiefly deer, peccary, wild turkey, and curassow, as

they often get a large supply of game when several days' journey from

the village, which, unless preserved in some way, would quickly spoil.

The carcasses are cut into joints; the birds plucked, cleaned, and split

open; and the meat thus prepared is hung in a small palm-leaf shack

rendered as nearly airtight as possible, upon the floor of which is

kindled a fire of damp cedar chips. These give off some heat and great

quantities of aromatic smoke, so that in about 24 hours the meat is

sufficiently cured to last for several weeks. Meat prepared in this way

is considered a great delicacy. If it is wished to preserve the meat for

longer periods the process is prolonged and salt may be rubbed in.

Strips of meat and carcasses of birds may sometimes be seen hanging

from the rafters over the fire in the kitchen so desiccated, hard, and

blackened that it would appear impossible to eat them; but after months

of drying this meat, when soaked in warm water for 24 hours, is not

unpalatable. The Indians wash their hands before and after eating, a

very necessary practice, as they eat exclusively with their fingers,

using the tortillas to scoop up gravy, beans, and other mushy

foodstuffs. They eat at small round tables about 16 inches high,

sitting, or rather squatting, around them on little blocks of wood 4 to

5 inches high. They are very fond of salt, which among the coast Indians

is obtained by evaporating sea water, among the inland villages by trade

from Yucatan and Guatemala. Since this supply has been almost cut off,

owing to the troubles with Mexico, the Indians frequently use for salt

the ashes obtained by burning botan tops. Men and women do not eat

together, as the women are preparing relays of hot tortillas for the men

while the meal lasts. Their food and mode of eating is well described by

Landa (chap. XXI, p. 120):

Que por la mañana toman la bebida caliente con pimienta, como esta

dicho y entre dia las otras frias, y a la noche los guisados. Y que

si no ay carne hazen sus salsas de la pimienta y legumbres. Que no

acostumbravan comer los hombres con las mugeres, y que ellos comian

por si en el suelo, o quando mucho sobre una serilla por mesa: y

que comen bien quando lo tienen, y quando no, sufren muy bien la

hambre y passan con muy poco. Y que se lavan las manos y la boca

despues de comer.

Indeed, the foregoing description would apply almost as well to Indians

of the more remote villages of the present day as to those of the time

immediately after the conquest. In localities where they have come in

contact with more civilized communities their menu has been considerably

enlarged by the introduction of imported foodstuffs, while their methods

of eating have been changed by the introduction of knives, forks, and

spoons. The native methods of cooking are very primitive. Three large

flat stones so placed as to form an equilateral triangle, known as

_koben_, form the only fireplace; in this is kindled the fire of sticks

or split logs, over which is placed the earthenware or iron cooking pots

or plaque for baking tortillas, resting on the stones. Fire (_kaak_) is

usually obtained through the use of matches among the Indians of British

Honduras. Hunters and others who spend a great part of their time in the

bush employ flint and steel. Among the Indians in the remote villages

fire is still made by swiftly rotating a sharp-pointed shaft of some

hardwood (usually dogwood) in a hole made in a small slab of very light

dry wood (commonly gumbo limbo). There is no chimney to the kitchen, the

smoke finding its way out as best it can through the doors and crevices

in the walls; consequently the whole of the interior, with its

permanent furnishings, is colored a fine rich brown.

HUNTING

[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Powder horn and measure of bamboo used by the

Indians.]

[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Watertight box for caps, matches, or tinder,

with corncob stopper.]

It must be admitted that the Indian is no sportsman in the pursuit of

game, the claims of the pot being always paramount. He rarely shoots at

a flying bird unless to fire into the midst of a flock of parrots or

wild ducks, and when after the larger game he waits till he can deliver

the contents of his gun point-blank into some vital part. This practice

may be due partly to the limitations of his weapon, which till recent

years consisted of a muzzle-loading section of gas pipe, nearly as

dangerous when discharged to the hunter as to the game, and partly to

the fact that the bush is usually so dense that an animal, if not shot

at point-blank range, can not be gotten at all. It is probably not more

than four generations since the use of the bow and arrow died out among

the Indians in the western part of British Honduras, as old men among

them have told me that they could remember seeing a few still in use

when they were very young. The flint arrowheads, they said, were

obtained down the Mopan River. This seems quite possible, as at Baker's,

not far from Belize, there is an outcrop of flint, where, judging by the

great heaps of fresh-looking chips and rejects still in existence, a

considerable "factory" must have existed at a comparatively recent date.

Some of these old men could still make fairly serviceable bows and

arrows, the heads of the latter being cut from hardwood.

The principal game animals of this region are the deer (_ke_), two

species of wild hog, the warri and peccary (_kekem_), gibnut (_halib_),

armadillo (_vetsh_), wild turkey (_kutz_), parrot (_tut_), pigeons of

various kinds (_mucui_), curassow (_kambul_), quam (_cosh_), quail

(_num_), and partridge (_mankolom_). Besides these, birds in great

variety, reptiles, and mammals are killed and eaten from time to time,

including plovers, garzas, toucans, water hens, wild ducks, and

chichalacas. The iguana (_tolok_) is eaten by the Indians in the west of

British Honduras, as are also the woula (_ochkan_), a large constrictor

snake, and the rattlesnake, known as the _cazon i kash_, or "little

shark of the woods." Turtles (_sacak_) are often captured along the east

coast of Yucatan and the adjacent islands, and their eggs in the

breeding season form a great delicacy for the Santa Cruz Indians living

in the neighborhood of Tuluum. Hicatee (_ak_) and bucatora are caught in

great numbers in all the rivers and lagoons. The tiger (_balam_), puma

(_coh_), picote (_chic_), monkey (_maash_), tapir (_tzimin_), squirrel

(_kuuk_), cane rat (_tšo_), and other animals are hunted from time to

time, either for their skins or flesh. Deer are secured in considerable

numbers in the rutting season by imitating their call with a wooden

whistle (fig. 6); they are also found in the milpas, just after the

burning, where they come to lick the slightly saline ashes. At this time

the owners build platforms on poles 10 to 12 feet high, on top of which

they spend the whole night in an extremely cramped and uncomfortable

position, waiting for deer or other game to approach near enough for an

easy shot. A favorite method of hunting the larger game animals is to go

out at night with a split-pine torch attached to the hat; this attracts

animals of all kinds, whose eyes may be seen gleaming in the dark,

affording an easy mark, though not infrequently a neighbor's errant pig

pays the penalty of curiosity.

[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Whistle for attracting deer by imitating their

call.]

Traps of two kinds are in common use. One employed to snare larger game

is constructed in the following way: A path frequented by game in going

to and from a watering place is found; along this is dug a shallow

trench opposite a good springy young sapling; two stakes are driven in,

one on each side of the trench, the one farthest from the tree being

crooked at the top. A piece of henequen cord, provided with a noose at

one end, and with a stick long enough to extend from one stake to the

other, firmly tied by its middle above the noose, is attached to the top

of the sapling by its other end. The sapling is then bent down and held

in place by the stick above the noose, which is fixed lightly between

the crook in one stake and the stake opposite to it, the loop hanging

suspended between the two. Lastly, a number of sticks and leaves are

scattered lightly over the trench and beside the stakes and loop.

Animals coming along the run are very apt to put their necks in the

loop, and by pulling on this, to release the cross stick, whereupon they

are immediately suspended in the air by the jerking back of the bent

sapling. Animals of all sizes, from rabbits to tigers, are caught in

traps of this kind, the strength and adaptability of which vary with the

size of the bent tree and the adjustment of the noose. Another trap,

used only for small animals, consists of an oblong cage made of split

bamboo or cabbage bark. Over the opening, which is in the top, rests an

accurately balanced strip of board, baited at one end with corn. When

the animal endeavors to reach the bait it is precipitated into the trap,

and the board swings back into place, covering the exit. Before they

obtain guns the boys use slings, with which they can throw pebbles with

remarkable force and accuracy, bringing down birds, squirrels, and other

small game. They keep many tame animals, some for food, others as pets,

including pigs, dogs, cats, peccaries, gibnuts, rabbits, quashes, nicos

de noche, and squirrels; also birds, as parrots, doves, quam, curassow,

chichalaca, sinsonte, pavo real, and many others.

FISHING

Many fish are found in the coastal waters, in the rivers, and in the

lagoons of the interior, including cazones, tarpon, skipjacks, snappers,

eels, baracoudas, stone bass, cobarli, jewfish, tubers, bay snooks,

river snooks, and a variety of others. They are caught with hook and

line, in cast and seine nets, in traps, and by spearing or harpooning.

Fish traps are cylindrical in shape, with a funnel-shaped opening at

each end, the apex of the funnel pointing toward the center of the trap,

so that entrance is easy but exit very difficult. The traps, made of

split bamboo, are placed upon the bottoms of rivers or lagoons, baited

with "masa," which attracts multitudes of the tiny fish there abounding;

these in their turn attract larger fish, which enter the trap in pursuit

of the small fry and are captured. Harpooning at night by the light of a

split-pine torch is about the nearest approach to real sport which the

Indian enjoys; this is usually done near the bar of a river, on a calm

dark night, by three men in a canoe, one paddling, one holding the

torch, and the third wielding the harpoon. This implement consists of a

slender cane 10 to 12 feet in length provided with a sharp barbed

spindle-shaped steel head, fitting into the hollow at one end, so that

on striking the fish the head parts from the shaft to which it is

attached by a cord held in the hand of the harpooner. The fish are

attracted by the light of the torch, and the harpooner strikes at the

swirl which they make alongside the dory. Harpooning is rather an

exciting form of sport, as it is impossible to tell what sort of fish

has been struck until it is landed. Hicatee and bucatora are harpooned

with an unbarbed triangular point, this giving the best hold on their

tough shells; they are captured also by spreading small nets in the

vicinity of the stumps and holes along the river banks, which they

frequent.

CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND FURNITURE

The Indians construct their houses in the following manner: First a

number of straight trees about 8 inches in diameter at the base and

crotched at the top are selected in the bush for posts. These are

usually Santa Maria, chichem, sapodilla, or some hardwood. They are cut

down, and after having been peeled are dragged to the site of the new

house, where they are firmly planted, one at each of the four corners

and others, the number depending on the size of the house, at short

intervals between in the lines of the walls. In the crotches other

slightly smaller poles 5 to 6 inches in diameter, also peeled, are laid;

to these are attached still smaller poles, which run up to the ridgepole

(_honache_), forming rafters (_uinciche_). All this framework is firmly

bound together by means of ropes of liana (fig. 7). Rows of long thin

pliable sticks are next bound round the rafters, and to these are

attached layer upon layer of "huana" (_shaan_) leaves till a thatch,

sometimes 18 inches thick and quite impervious to rain, is formed (pl.

4).

[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Indian carrying load of bejuco, a liana used

as rope in house building.]

The walls between the posts are filled in with "tasistas," a small palm

trunk, or in some cases with strips of split cabbage palm. The outer

sides of the walls may be daubed with a mixture of mud and hair, or of

chopped fiber (_pakloom_), and whitewashed, or they may be thatched with

palm leaves. The floor is made of marl dust pounded down to a flat hard

surface.

[Illustration: PLATE 2

MAYA GIRLS FISHING]

[Illustration: PLATE 3

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

[Illustration: PLATE 4

a. LEAF-THATCHED HOUSE

b. INDIAN HOUSE ON RIO HONDO

MAYO INDIAN HOUSES]

Doors and windows may be made of wickerwork of liana, of split cabbage

palm, or of a frame of sticks thatched with palm leaves. When a man

undertakes the building of a new house his neighbors usually help him,

and the residence is ready for occupancy in a few days, as all the

materials are growing ready to hand in the neighboring forest, and

require only cutting down and assembling. The facility with which their

dwellings are constructed, and the difficulty in getting more than one

or two crops in succession from each plantation, with their primitive

agricultural methods, probably account for the frequent changes in site

which one notices in Indian villages. As the lands in one neighborhood

become impoverished, the population has a tendency gradually to desert

the old village, and start a new one in a more favorable locality.

The kitchen, which is a replica of the house on a small scale, is

usually placed a few yards behind it.

[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Domestic altar.]

The furniture is of the simplest, consisting of a small round cedar

table, with a little bowl-shaped projection which contains a lump of

masa when tortillas are being made and chili peppers or salt at

mealtimes. The seats are mere blocks of wood, 3 or 4 inches high

(_caanche_), with perhaps one or two more pretentious low hollow-backed

wooden chairs covered with deer skin or "tiger" skin. A number of

calabashes of all shapes and sizes, with a few earthen water jars, iron

cooking pots, and plaques for baking tortillas, are found in all houses.

Hammocks (_káan_) of cotton or henequen fiber are always conspicuous

articles of furniture, as they are slung all around the room, making it

very difficult to move about in it when they are let down. In many

houses contact with the hammocks is not desirable, as lice have a habit

of leaving the body of the hammock during the day and secreting

themselves in the knots between the body and the arms, whence they may

transfer themselves to the garments of the unwary. If the hammock is

large the father and mother often sleep in one, their heads at opposite

ends, while the smaller children, frequently to the number of three or

four, occupy another. There can be no such thing as privacy, as the

whole family commonly sleep, live, and eat in a single room, which at

most is divided into two apartments by a flimsy cotton curtain. A

prominent object in most Indian houses is an altar (_canche_), or high

square table, upon which stands a wooden cross (fig. 8). The altar is

covered with a cotton cloth, embroidered in flowers and religious

symbols; the cross is draped with ribbon or strips of colored fabric,

and sometimes with crude models, in silver or gold, of legs, arms, and

hands, representing thank offerings to some favorite Santo for the

healing of corresponding parts of the body. Little images in wax, and,

if the Indian can obtain them, religious oleographs and medallions, with

colored-glass vases, are commonly found upon the altar, which is

frequently dressed with fresh flowers.

The Indian's only tool is his machete, a heavy cutlass-like knife, about

16 inches long; with this he cuts and cleans his milpa, makes his house

and most of his furniture, digs postholes, and fights and defends

himself.

His indispensable belongings consist of a hammock, a few calabashes and

pots, a machete, and a cotton suit, all of which he can carry slung over

his back in a macapal; with his wife and dogs trotting behind him, he

can leave his old home and seek pastures new with a light heart and

untroubled mind, knowing that the bush will provide for all his needs.

POTTERY MAKING

Pottery making is rapidly dying out through the greater part of this

area, owing to the importation of more convenient and durable vessels.

It is undertaken almost exclusively by the older women, who employ a

fine light yellow clay mixed with sand or powdered quartz. They make

vessels in considerable variety, both as to size and shape, which are

used for the storage of water and dry material, as corn, beans, and

achiote, and as cooking pots. They do not use a potter's wheel, but mold

the smaller utensils by hand and build up the larger by the addition of

fragment upon fragment of clay. The outside is smoothed over with a

little wooden spade-like implement. No polish, glaze, or paint is

applied to the pottery, either inside or out; the highest effort at

decoration resulting in merely a few incised lines just below the neck,

or a rough scalloping around the rim. The pottery is burned in a clear,

open wood fire; when completed the ware is known as _ul_.

BOAT BUILDING

The Indians living in the neighborhood of lakes and rivers possess

dories or canoes which vary in size from tiny craft 5 to 6 feet long by

16 to 18 inches beam, capable of holding only a single individual, to

large craft 25 feet or more in length, large enough to hold a dozen

people. All their canoes are constructed by the simple process of

hollowing out large logs, the more durable ones being made from cedar,

the lighter ones from wild cotton (_yaxche_).

[Illustration: PLATE 5

MAYA WOMAN, 105 YEARS OLD, SPINNING COTTON]

[Illustration: PLATE 6

MAYA LOOM

_a._ Yamal. _b._ Xunche. _c._ Sikinche. _d._ Toboche.

_e._ Cheil. _f._ Mamacche. _g._ Yoch. _h._ Botoch.

_i._ New spindle. _k._ Old spindle. _l._ Cotton cloth.]

The boats are pointed, bow and stern, and when steel tools are available

to their makers the lines are often very graceful. Many of the boats,

however, follow to some extent the contours of the logs from which they

were made, being exceedingly clumsy and difficult to manage. On the

rivers and lakes the only method of propulsion is by means of a

broad-bladed cedar paddle about 5 feet long, or, where the water is

shallow and the bottom hard, a long pole. Both men and women have

acquired considerable dexterity in paddling and can keep it up at a

4-mile-an-hour gait from early morning till late at night, with very

short intervals for refreshment. They use their canoes for trading corn,

vegetables, lime, and live stock among villages along the river banks,

for line fishing, spearing, and netting, and for getting from place to

place. On the large lagoons and along the seacoast they sometimes use

the pole to support a lug sail.

SPINNING AND WEAVING

Spinning (_kuch_) is done by means of a spindle (_hechech_) of hardwood,

12 to 14 inches long, weighted about 3 inches from the bottom with a

hardwood or pottery ring (pl. 5). The upper end is revolved by the

finger and thumb of the right hand, which are constantly rubbed on a

piece of stonelike substance, made from deerskin burned and ground to a

powder, to prevent them from sticking (fig. 9). The cotton (_taman_) may

be held in the left hand, or on the shoulder; the lower end of the

spindle rests in a small calabash (_luch_), which is cemented into a

support of woven liana (_met_), the _luch_ and _met_ together being

known as _toh_ (fig. 10).

[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Stonelike substance used to prevent fingers

from sticking while spinning.]

Weaving is done on a simple loom consisting of a cloth beam and yarn

beam (_xunche_) of light strong wood, connected by the warp (_cheil_)

(pl. 6). The cloth beam is attached round the back of the weaver by a

thick henequen cord (_yamal_), enabling him to tighten the warp at will

by simply leaning backward. The yarn beam is usually attached to a

doorpost. The shuttle (_botosh_) consists of a light stick, pointed at

both ends, on which the weft is wound obliquely. All the alternate warp

strands may be raised together by means of a heddle (_mamacche_)

consisting of a number of loops attached to a rod, each loop passing

round a warp strand, so that when the rod is raised the warp threads are

raised with it. The lease rods (_halahteh_) consist of splints of hard

heavy wood, usually sapodilla, 2 to 3 inches broad, one-third of an inch

thick in the center, with sharp edges and pointed ends. A loose rod

(_toboche_) about the size of the yarn beam is used to roll up the

completed material (_yoch_). The loom for cotton cloth is usually 2-1/2

to 3 feet broad, but much smaller looms are frequently used for narrower

strips of material.

MINOR INDUSTRIES

TOBACCO CURING

The tobacco leaves are hung in bunches, often under the roof of the corn

house, in the milpa, in a free current of air, till they are thoroughly

dry; they are then powdered in a shallow basin, or the bottom cut from a

large calabash, and mixed with the leaves of the _chiohle_, a species of

vanilla, which gives a distinctive flavor and fragrance to the tobacco;

finally the mixture is rolled into cigarettes (_chiople_) in a covering

of corn husk (_coloch_).

[Illustration: FIG. 10.--Calabash with liana base used in spinning.]

BASKET AND MAT WEAVING

Baskets are woven from a special thin tough liana and from split cane;

those of liana (_ak_), which are large and coarse, are commonly used for

carrying corn from the milpa, slung over the shoulders like a macapal.

The split-cane baskets, which are smaller and more neatly woven, are

used in the house for all sorts of domestic purposes.

Henequen fiber is used by the Indians for a great variety of purposes.

The fiber is obtained from the leaf, which is cleaned upon a smooth

board (_pokche_) about 4 feet long by 6 inches broad, in the following

way: The top of the board is held against the lower part of the

operator's chest while the lower end rests on the floor. The leaf is

placed on the board and the pulp scraped from the fiber with a bar of

hardwood, triangular in section. At the upper end of the board is a deep

notch in its side, in which the cleaned part of the leaf is clamped,

thus fixing the part which is being scraped. The cleaning has to be

done very early in the morning, as when the sun gets hot the juice from

the pulp produces an unpleasant itching rash upon the skin. The fiber

when cleaned and dried is made into rope and cord; from the cord

hammocks, sacks, a coarse kind of cloth, and many other articles are

manufactured. Candles are made by dipping a wick of twisted cotton into

melted black beeswax (_box keb_), obtained from wild bees. Sometimes a

number of the logs in which the wild bees hive are brought in to the

village and placed one above the other, on trestles, to form a sort of

apiary, in order that honey and wax may be always obtainable.

Oil for cooking and for burning in small earthenware lamps with twisted

cotton wicks is obtained by breaking up the kernel of the cuhoon nut and

boiling it in water. A clear rather thin oil floats to the surface,

which may easily be skimmed off. Near the sea coconut oil is prepared in

the same way.

SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS

VILLAGES

The villages vary in size from two or three houses to two hundred or

more, with inhabitants numbering from 10 or 12 to more than 1,000. In

the smaller villages the houses are very irregularly disposed; in the

larger they are arranged more or less regularly so as to form streets

around a large central space, or plaza, where the dance house and church

are usually situated. Each house is surrounded by its own patio, or

yard, generally inclosed in a fence of "tasistas," in which the bush is

allowed to grow to a considerable height in order to provide a

convenient latrine for the women and children. Dogs, pigs, and vultures

serve as scavengers. Many of the Indians, especially the Santa Cruz, are

at great pains to conceal the whereabouts of their villages. Along the

main roads only a few scattered groups of huts will be seen, while the

larger villages are approached by tracks so inconspicuous that they may

easily be missed. The villages themselves are surrounded by a maze of

narrow tortuous paths, in which a stranger may wander about for some

time before finding his way in. The Santa Cruz are said sometimes to cut

the tongues from their cocks in order to prevent them crowing and so

betraying the situation of the village.

The Indians are very jealous of outside interference in their affairs

and do not permit foreigners to reside in their villages. An exception

was made in the case of a number of Chinese coolies imported into

British Honduras many years ago, most of whom ran away to the Santa Cruz

country, where they were well received and married Indian wives. Among

their offspring, it is interesting to note, are found a very unusual

proportion of defectives. On one occasion the Mexican Government

commenced to cut a road through from Peto to Santa Cruz, the Indian

capital. Five of the Santa Cruz Indians went to see the work going on

and were well received and given useful presents. On returning to their

own country, however, they were executed by the head chief as traitors

for encouraging the entry of outsiders into their territory.

MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

The Indian girls married formerly at about 14 or 15, the boys at about

17 or 18 years. After the conquest of Bacalar, however, and the

expulsion of Yucatecans from Indian territory a law was passed making

marriage compulsory for all girls of 12 years of age and upward. This

was probably done with the idea of increasing the population, which had

been considerably depleted by the long-continued war. Formerly, the

first question of a girl's father to her suitor was "_Hai tzak a kul hai

tzak taman?_" (How many macates of corn and cotton have you?); but at

the present day there are not enough men to "go round." The Indians of

British Honduras are usually married by the Catholic priest, though the

actual ceremony is often performed months or even years after the young

couple have set up housekeeping together, since owing to the remoteness

of many of the Indian settlements the priest can visit them only at long

intervals. Among the Santa Cruz marriages are not considered legal

unless performed by an official known as the _yumxcrib_ (probably

derived from the Maya _Yum_, "lord," and Spanish _escribano_), who holds

a position somewhat analogous to that of colonial secretary in a British

colony.

The babies and smaller children in general are pretty, merry little

things. The mothers almost invariably nurse them well into the second

year, as the mammary glands are remarkably well developed and the

secretion is abundant and long continued. Children are much desired by

both parents and are well treated and loved, though not spoiled. If the

father and mother separate, the very young children remain with the

mother; of the older children, the boys go with the father, the girls

with the mother. If small children are left destitute by the death of

both parents, the nearest relative takes them, and in the absence of

relatives they are distributed by the subchief among families of his

choosing in their own village. When a man dies his widow takes the home,

furniture, domestic animals, corn, and plantations; other possessions,

if such exist, are divided equally between the widow and the older

children, each taking such articles as will be most useful to him or

her. When a woman dies her jewelry, ornaments, and clothes are divided

between her daughters. The marriage tie is a somewhat loose one, and the

more the Indians come in contact with civilization the looser it seems

to become. In British Honduras, where the Indians are closely associated

with Spaniards, Mestizos, Negroes, and other races, the women change

their partners with the utmost facility. The Negroes are called

_kisinbosh_, "black devils," by the Indians, a term which, however it

originated, is now employed without any particularly opprobrious

significance, as many of the Maya women show no repugnance to a Negro

husband. A good deal of the immorality is brought about by the cheapness

of rum and the facility with which it is obtainable by the Indians. The

husband takes to drink, neglects his wife and family, and probably gets

entangled with some other woman: the wife, in order to obtain food,

clothing, and a shelter for herself and children, is driven to an

alliance with some other man who is a better provider. The consequence

is that in British Honduras all degrees of racial mixture are to be

found between Indian women and European, East Indian, Chinese, and Negro

men, who, again intermarrying, produce a bewildering racial

kaleidoscope.

The Indians are a short-lived race, a fact due partly to their

indigestible and badly cooked food and partly to the prevalence among

them of malarial fever (_chokuil_), with accompanying anemia (_xcan

mucui_) and splenic enlargement (_canchikin_), but chiefly to

overindulgence in alcohol whenever an opportunity offers. Notable

exceptions to this rule are, however, not uncommon, and once an

individual passes the four-score mark he or she is quite likely to live

to well over 100 years: dried up, wrinkled, and feeble, but clinging to

life with an almost incredible tenacity.

DRUNKENNESS

Landa frequently mentions the fact that in his day drunkenness

(_kaltal_) was the curse of the Indians and the cause of many crimes

among them, including murder, rape, and arson.[1] At the present time

these remarks apply equally well; indeed, drunkenness is probably more

prevalent than formerly, as the rum is made locally and is far more

intoxicating than the _balchè_, which Landa describes as a drink made

from fermented honey, water, and roots. Moreover, the people drink rum

at all times and seasons, whereas both the preparation and consumption

of _balchè_ were to some extent ceremonial, as was the resulting

intoxication. Drunkenness is not considered in any way a disgrace, but

is looked on rather as an amiable weakness. The women, especially the

older ones, drink a good deal but they usually do so in the privacy of

their own houses. I have seen, however, a little girl of 14 or 15

purchase a pint of rum in a village liquor store, and go out on the

plaza, where she drank it in a few gulps; then, lying down in the fierce

heat of the afternoon sun, she lapsed into alcoholic coma. Alcohol

effects an extraordinarily rapid change for the worse in the Indian's

temperament; from a quiet, polite, rather deferential individual, he is

converted almost in a moment into a maudlin idiot, staggering about

singing foolish snatches of native songs, and endeavoring to embrace

everyone he comes in contact with. When thwarted while in this condition

his temper is likely to flare up at the slightest provocation, whereupon

the thin veneer of civilization and restraint is sloughed in a moment,

and he becomes savage, impudent, overbearing, and contemptuous toward

the stranger, and ready to draw his machete and fight to kill, with

friend or foe alike.

CHIEFS

On the death of the head chief (_noh calan_ or _nohoch yumtat_) among

the Santa Cruz and Icaichè the oldest of the subchiefs (_chan

yumtopilob_) is supposed to succeed him; as a matter of fact there are

always rival claimants for the chieftainship, and the subchief with the

strongest personality or greatest popularity among the soldiers usually

succeeds in grasping the office. There are nearly always rival factions

endeavoring to oust the chief in power, and the latter rarely dies a

natural death. The village subchiefs are elected by the people. The

power of the head chief is practically absolute over the whole tribe.

Some years ago, when Roman Pec was head chief, one of the subchiefs came

to Corozal, the nearest town in British Honduras, to purchase powder,

shot, and other supplies. He remained some time, as he had many friends

in the place, and obtained, among other things, a bottle of laudanum to

relieve toothache. On returning to his village he was met by three

soldiers, who informed him that he was to go with them at once to the

head chief, as the latter was angry with him on account of his long

absence from the country. Aware that this was equivalent to a sentence

of death, he asked permission to retire to his house for a few minutes,

to get ready for the journey, and taking advantage of the opportunity,

he swallowed the whole contents of the bottle of laudanum. This began to

take effect very shortly, and long before reaching the capital he was

dead.

The method of executing those sentenced to death is curious. The accused

does not undergo a formal trial, but the evidence against him is placed

before the head chief; if he is convicted, he has an opportunity of

defending himself and of producing witnesses in his behalf. Three or

four soldiers are chosen by the chief to carry out the sentence; this

they do by chopping the victim to death with their machetes when they

catch him asleep or off his guard. Several men always perform this act,

all chopping the victim at the same time, so that no single individual

may be directly responsible for his death. Imprisonment as a punishment

for crime is unknown, fine, flogging, and death being the only three

methods employed for dealing with criminals. Fines and flogging may be

administered by the subchiefs, but sentence of death can be passed only

by the head chief. The severity of the flogging is regulated by the

nature of the offense, and after it is over the recipient is compelled

publicly to express sorrow for his crime and go around humbly kissing

the hands of all the spectators, after which he is given a large

calabash of anise to drink. The heaviest punishment is inflicted for

witchcraft or sorcery, as the _pulya_, or sorceress, is greatly dreaded

by the Indians. She is literally chopped limb from limb; but whereas the

bodies of other victims executed in this way are always buried, that of

the _pulya_ is left for the dogs and vultures to dispose of.

Military service is compulsory for all adult males among the Santa Cruz,

though many avoid such service by payment to the chief of a certain sum

in money or its equivalent. Small garrisons were kept up at Santa Cruz,

Chan Santa Cruz, Bacalar, and other Indian towns where soldiers were

permanently stationed. No uniform was provided, though many of the men

were armed with Winchester rifles. They were provided also with a ration

of corn and beans, and often took their wives along with them as cooks.

DISEASES AND MEDICINES

Indian men and women of all ages and classes, when attacked by any

serious malady, are found to be lacking in vitality and stamina; they

relinquish hope, and relax their grip on life very easily, seeming to

hold it lightly and as not worth a fight to retain. An elderly man or

woman will sometimes take to the hammock without apparent physical

symptoms of disease beyond the anemia and splenitis from which nearly

all suffer, and merely announce _Ile in cimli_, "I am going to die."

They refuse to eat, drink, or talk, wrap themselves in a sheet from head

to foot, and finally do succumb in a very short time apparently from

sheer lack of vitality and absence of desire to continue living.

Malaria is without doubt the chief scourge of the Indian's existence.

Many of the villages are built in low-lying situations, with

mosquito-breeding swamps all round them, while the scrubby bush and rank

vegetation are allowed to grow in the yards right up to the houses,

furnishing good cover and an excellent lurking place for the insects;

moreover, the Indians seldom use mosquito curtains, as they seem to have

acquired a sort of immunity to the irritation caused at night by the

noise and biting of the pests. Practically all Indians suffer from

malaria, which is the main cause of the splenic enlargement and anemia

so prevalent among them. In some cases the spleen reaches an enormous

size, nearly filling the abdominal cavity, and deaths from a slight blow

or fall, causing rupture of this organ, are by no means uncommon.

Malaria is usually treated by means of profuse sweating (_kilcabankil_),

the patient lying wrapped in a cotton sheet in the hammock, with a fire

burning beneath and drinking sudorific bush medicine. This in itself is

an excellent remedy, but in the midst of the sweat patients frequently

plunge into cold water, thus becoming thoroughly chilled, a procedure

very apt to bring on pneumonia, to which they are peculiarly subject.

The splenic enlargement is treated by applying a number of small

circular blisters (_xacal_) containing chichem juice to the skin, over

the affected organ, which seem to be remarkably efficacious in reducing

the swelling.

In the winter when the nights are cold the Indians often lie out all

night in the wet, a practice which frequently results in pneumonia and

death. Hookworms and many other varieties of intestinal parasites are

prevalent, owing to the earth-eating habits of the children, the earth

being taken usually from the immediate vicinity of the house, where pigs

and other domestic animals have their quarters. This disgusting habit no

doubt accounts in part for the swollen bellies and earthy color of many

of the children.

Smallpox (_ǩak_) invading an Indian village is a terrible scourge, far

worse than in a more civilized community of the same size, where partial

immunity has been acquired. Sometimes the whole unaffected population

depart en masse, leaving the dead unburied and the stricken lying in

their hammocks, with a supply of food and water, to do the best they can

for themselves. The Indians employ the same mode of treatment for this

disease as for malarial fever--sweating followed by immersion in cold

water, treatment which, it need hardly be said, is not infrequently

followed by disastrous results.

Venereal diseases of all kinds are remarkably rare among all the Indian

tribes. Among the Santa Cruz and Icaichè such diseases were practically

unknown. Even among the mixed breeds of British Honduras they are

comparatively rare, notwithstanding the fact that these natives have

come much in contact with people of many other races, especially of late

years with Mexican Chicleros, nearly all of whom are affected with

venereal disease in one form or another.

Simple fractures of the long bones are set very neatly and skillfully in

the following way: The fractured limb is pulled away from the body with

considerable force in order to overcome the displacement; over the

fractured bone is wound a thick layer of cotton wool, and over this are

applied a number of small round, straight sticks, completely surrounding

the limb, their centers corresponding nearly to the seat of fracture;

these are kept in place by a firm binding of henequen cord. The limb, if

an arm, is supported in a sling; if a leg, the patient is confined to

his hammock till the fracture is firmly knit. Excellent results are

secured by this method, the union being firm, and the limb nearly always

uniting in good position.

Bleeding, a favorite remedy for all complaints, is especially resorted

to in cases of headache and malarial fever. Usually the temporal vein,

less frequently one of the veins in the front of the forearm, is opened,

having been first distended with blood by tying a ligature around the

upper arm. A chip of obsidian, a sharp splinter of bone, or a snake's

tooth, serves as a crude lancet; the use of the last causes

considerable pain, but is believed to have some esoteric virtue

connected with it.

Decoctions made from the charred carcasses of animals at one time were

much employed, certain animals being regarded as specifics for certain

diseases. Thus, during an epidemic of whooping cough (_xinki sen_) a

decoction from the charred remains of the cane rat was almost

exclusively given to the children to relieve the cough, though in this

case it is difficult to trace the connection between the remedy and the

disease.

Many eye troubles are treated by placing a small rough seed beneath the

lower lid of the affected eye, where it remains for a day; when the seed

is withdrawn it is covered with mucus, to which the doctor points as the

injurious matter, the cause of all the trouble, which he has removed.

Massage is practiced chiefly for uterine and ovarian pains by the older

women, who also act as midwives; it is used also in conjunction with

kneading and manual manipulation in the cure of neuralgic pains,

strains, stiffness, and rheumatism.

In confinements, which usually take place either in the hammock or on

the floor, the dorsal position is invariably assumed. In such cases also

massage over the uterus is performed by the midwife. If the desired

results are not secured, the patient is made to vomit by thrusting a

long coil of hair down her throat, while a woman of exceptional lung

power is sent for to blow into her mouth, with the object of hastening

delivery.

The Indians use for medicinal purposes a great variety of plants which

grow in their country; some of these are purely empirical remedies;

others produce definite physiological results and are frequently used

with good effect, while a few, apparently on the assumption that

"similia similibus curantur," are employed because of some fancied

resemblance in form to the diseased part, as _xhudub pek_, twin seeds of

the size of small eggs, the milky juice of which is used as an external

application for enlarged glands and for various forms of orchitis.

The following plants are used medicinally by the Indians as remedies for

the diseases named, respectively:

_Acitz._--The milky juice of a tree, used as an application for

chronic sores and ulcers.

_Acam._--The leaves of this plant are applied hot to reduce the

swelling and relieve the pain in enlargement of the spleen and

liver.

_Purgacion Xiu._--An infusion made from the leaves is administered

warm in bladder and urethral troubles.

_Pakaal._--An infusion made from the leaves of the orange tree is

given as a sudorific.

_Pichi._--A paste made from the leaves of the guava is applied to

"bay sore," a specific ulcer somewhat resembling "oriental sore."

_Pomolche._--A mouth wash made from the milk of this tree is used

in cases of stomatitis and ulceration of the mouth.

_Quimbombo._--The wild okra is greatly esteemed as an external

application in cases of snake bite.

_Sisim._--An infusion made from the leaves is used as a sudorific

in cases of malarial fever.

_Sicilpuz._--A yellowish fruit sometimes used as a purgative.

_Cabalpixoy._--The fruit of this tree is given in cases of

diarrhea, and an infusion made from the bark is used in diarrhea

and dysentery.

_Claudiosa Xiu._--An infusion made from the whole bush is greatly

esteemed as a bath and lotion in all uterine and ovarian

complaints.

_Chalche._--The spinous leaf of this plant is used as a local

application to relieve neuralgic pains, and an infusion made from

the leaves is given for rheumatism.

_Chamico._--An infusion made from the leaves of the convolvulus

mixed with other leaves is given to relieve asthma and bronchial

catarrh.

_Chaac._--The arrowroot, eaten raw, is regarded as a useful remedy

in all bladder and urethral complaints.

_CuƆuc._--The wood, ground into a paste, is applied to the heads

of small children suffering from fever and convulsions.

_Ruda._--The leaves of this plant are universally used as an

external application for children suffering from convulsions, and

frequently in the same manner for the relief of almost any nervous

complaint in adults.

_Pica pica._--A sort of cowhage which, mixed with atol or some

corn beverage, is largely used as a vermifuge for children.

GAMES

Both children and adults play many games, most of which have probably

been introduced since the conquest. A favorite among these is a game

known as _tak in kul_, in which a number of players stand in a row with

their hands behind their backs while one, who holds a small pottery disk

in his hand, stands behind the row, another standing in front. The one

holding the disk places it in the hands of one of those in the line, who

in turn passes it to his neighbor, so that it travels rapidly up and

down the line. The player in front has to guess in whose hand the disk

is at the moment of guessing. If he is right, the holder of the disk has

to come in front while the one who guessed correctly joins the line.

_Chac_ is a sort of "knucklebones," played with pottery disks, which are

tossed from the palm to the back of the hand and back again; the one who

drops fewest disks in a given number of double throws wins the game.

The boys make little bows (_pohoche_) and arrows (_hul_) tipped with

black wax, with which they play war and hunting games.

A seesaw made from a small tree balanced on a stump is popular, as is

also a sort of merry-go-round constructed from a cross of poles fixed on

top of a stump by means of a wooden pin, which rotates freely. The

children sit at the extreme ends of the poles and make the contrivance

rotate by kicking against the ground vigorously at intervals as they go

around.

The bull roarer, made from a dry seed pod, is popular in some villages

and is probably one of the few toys used by the natives before the

conquest.

Cricket, baseball, marbles, kites, and spinning tops have been

introduced among the Indians of British Honduras, and all have their

devotees.

RELIGION

The Indians, who are extremely superstitious, believe that the air is

full of _pishan_, or souls of the dead. They imagine that these souls

are at liberty at all times to return to earth, and that at certain

seasons they are compelled to do so. They are regarded as being capable

of enjoying the spirit, though not the substance, of food or drink

provided for them. Some of these _pishan_ the Indians believe to be

friendly and some inimical to mortals. They believe also in spirits,

usually mischievous or harmful, known as _xtabai_, who often take the

form of beautiful women, though they have never been human. The natives

will whisper a message into the ear of a corpse with the certainty of

having it conveyed to a friend or relative in the next world. They

firmly believe that the clay images of the gods upon incense burners, at

one time found in considerable numbers in forests which had been uncut

since the days of their ancestors, live, walk about, and dance at

certain seasons. Another belief held by the Indians is that the images

of Christian saints are endowed at times with life and perform acts

desired by their devotees. A celebrated wooden image, supposed to

represent San Bernardo, was credited with considerable powers in this

respect, and when an Indian wanted rain for his milpa, the return of an

errant wife, or any similar blessing, he would come and pray to the

image to obtain it for him. On one occasion an Indian came asking the

saint to aid him in the recovery of pigs which he had lost, and on

returning to his village found that the pigs had arrived home before

him. Next day he returned with the intention of making an offering to

the saint, and incidentally to the owner of the house where the image

was kept. He found the poor Santo with torn clothes and many burs

sticking all over him. On inquiring how this happened he was informed

that the saint had been out in the bush hunting for pigs, a quest which

had given him a great deal of trouble before he could find and drive

them home, and that when he got back he was tired out, his clothes torn

by thorns, and covered with burs--an explanation with which the Indian

was perfectly satisfied.

The men are very unwilling to dig either in ancient mounds or ruins, as

they are afraid of being haunted by the _pishan_ of those whose remains

they may disturb; and nothing will induce them to go into caves or

burial chambers in mounds. Many curious superstitions hang about the

ruins found throughout the country. I was assured by an Indian at Benque

Viejo that he had gone on one occasion to the ruins situated near the

village, and seeing a pigeon seated on a tree, raised his gun to shoot

it; before he could do so, however, the pigeon turned into a cock, and

this almost immediately into an eagle, which flew at him, driving him

away. There is another superstition about these ruins to the effect that

when the first settlers came to Benque Viejo they wished to build the

village near the ruins, where the land is very good for growing corn,

but were repeatedly driven off by a little old man with a long gray

beard. At last, giving up the idea, they contented themselves with the

present site for the village.

For many years, between the expulsion of the Yucatecans from Bacalar by

the Indians and the conquest of the latter by the Mexican troops, some

12 years ago, no Catholic priests were permitted to visit the Santa Cruz

country. The Indians, however, appointed priests from among themselves,

who carried out, so far as can be ascertained from those of their number

who left the territory and settled in British Honduras, a sort of

travesty of the rites of the Roman Catholic Church freely interspersed

with many of those of their ancient religion, which had survived. The

headquarters of this religious cult was the capital, where it centered

around what was known as the "Santa Cruz," a plain wooden cross, 2 to 3

feet high, which had probably been removed from some church after the

expulsion of the Spaniards. This cross was supposed to be gifted with

the power of speech (a belief arising no doubt from the exercise of

ventriloquial powers by one of the priests), and acted as a sort of

oracle, to whom all matters of importance--civil, military, and

religious--were submitted for decision. It need hardly be said that the

cross never failed to return an answer to all these questions, in entire

conformity with the wishes of the chief.[2]

The Indians here under consideration occupy an intermediate position

between the civilized Maya of northern Yucatan, who have lost nearly

all tradition and traces of their former civilization, and the

Lacandones of the Usumasintla Valley, who have probably changed but

little in their customs and religious observances since the conquest.

Nominally they are Christians, but the longer one lives among them,

and the better one gets to know them, the more he realizes that their

Christianity is to a great extent merely a thin veneer, and that

fundamentally their religious conceptions and even their ritual and

ceremonies are survivals--degenerate, much changed, and with most

of their significance lost--but still survivals of those of their

ancestors of pre-Columbian days. To Christianity, not as a separate

religion, but as a graft on that which they already practiced, they

seem to have taken kindly from the first; and at the present day, as

will be seen, the sun god, the rain god, St. Laurence, and Santa Clara

may all be invoked in the same prayer, while the Cross is substituted

in most of the ceremonies for the images of the old gods, though many

of the latter are called on by name. The four principal religious

ceremonies of the Indians are, as might be supposed, closely associated

with agriculture, especially with the corn crop. The first of these

ceremonies takes place at the cutting of the bush in which the corn

plantation is to be made, the second at the planting of the corn, the

third during its ripening, and the fourth at harvest time. Of these the

third, known as the _Cha chac_, which takes place during the ripening

of the corn, and whose object is to secure sufficient rain for that

purpose, is by far the most important, and it alone will be described,

as it embraces the offerings and ritual of all the other ceremonies.

[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Chichanha Indian priest in front of altar at

Cha chac ceremony.]

The day previous to the ceremony the men of the family prepared

the _pib_, an oblong hole in the ground, in which the various corn

offerings were to be baked, while during the night the women were busy

grinding corn to make masa (a thick paste of ground maize) and pumpkin

seeds to make _sikil_. Very early in the morning of the day of the

ceremony the priest with his assistant arrived at the house of the

giver. This priest called himself _men_, but was called by the owner

a _chac_, while the Chichanha priest called himself an _ah kin_. The

Indians chose a site in the midst of a grove of large trees. After

clearing away the undergrowth they swept clean a circular space about

25 feet in diameter. In this they proceeded to erect two rude huts,

one 12 feet the other 6 feet square; both were thatched with huano

leaf, and the floor of the smaller hut was covered with wild plantain

leaves. In the center of the larger hut was erected a rough altar 6 by

4 feet and 4 feet 6 inches high, built of sticks bound together with

bejuco (fig. 11). The central part of this altar was covered by an

arch of "jabin" branches with the leaves still attached. About a dozen

small calabashes in their ring supports (Maya _chuyub_) were placed on

the altar, and three more were hung to a string passing from the side

of the shed to a post a few yards away. The masa prepared the previous

night was then brought out in four large calabashes, two of these

being placed under the altar and two on top of it; a large calabash of

_sikil_ and one of water were also placed on the altar and a jar of

_balchè_ (a drink made of fermented honey in which is soaked the bark

of a tree) beneath it.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Priest tracing cross on cake and filling it

in with sikil.]

Beneath the suspended calabashes was placed a small table containing

piles of tortillas and calabashes of masa and water. In carrying out

this ceremony it is essential that everything used in it be perfectly

fresh and new; the leaves, sticks, bejuco, and jabin must be freshly

cut, and the masa, _sikil_, _balchè_, and even the calabashes must be

freshly made. The masa was taken from the large to the small shed,

where the priest and several male members of the family sat around

it. After flattening out a small ball of the masa the priest placed

it on a square of plantain leaves and poured over it a little _sikil_

(a thin paste made of ground pumpkin seed and water). Then the next

man flattened out a piece of masa, which he placed over the _sikil,_

and the process was continued until a cake was formed containing 5

to 13 alternating layers of masa and _sikil_. On top of each cake,

as it was completed, the priest traced with his forefinger a cross

surrounded with holes; these were first partly filled with _balchè_,

which was allowed to soak into the cake, after which they were filled

completely with _sikil_, whereupon the whole cake was carefully tied up

in plantain leaf, with an outer covering of palm leaf (fig. 12). These

cakes are known as _tutiua_; their number is generally gauged by the

number of participants in the ceremony. When _sikil_ is not available,

a paste of ground black beans is used; in this case the cakes are known

as _buliua_ (Maya _bul_, "bean"; _ua_, "bread"). The priest next made

a deep depression in a ball of masa about the size of a tennis ball,

which he filled with _sikil_, covering it with the masa, so as to leave

a ball of masa with a core of _sikil_.

[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Sacrificing a turkey at the Cha chac

ceremony.]

A number of these balls, known as _yokua_, were made, each wrapped in

plantain leaves. When finished, all of them were wrapped in a large

palm leaf and tied into a bundle with split palm-leaf strands. Two more

_tutiua_ were next made, and lastly all the masa and _sikil_ left were

mixed together with a few ounces of salt. After being well kneaded

this mass was divided into two portions, each of which was tied up in

plantain and palm leaf coverings. In the meantime some members of the

family had filled the _pib_ or oven with firewood, over which they

placed a layer of small blocks of stone. The priest next made a bowl

of _sachà_ (literally "white water," a drink made from ground corn

and water), with which he filled the small calabashes on the altar,

as well as the suspended calabashes; these he explained were for the

_tuyun pishan_, or solitary souls. A turkey and four fowls were then

placed in front of the altar, alive, while the priest lighted a black

wax candle by blowing a piece of glowing wood to a flame; this candle

he placed upon the altar. He next took up the turkey, around whose neck

the assistant had placed a wreath of jabin leaves, and poured a little

_balchè_ down its throat, its legs being held by the assistant (fig.

13). While doing this the priest murmured the following prayer:

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

Francisco.

_Translation_

I offer a repast to the beautiful mistress, to San Pedro, San

Pablo, San Francisco.

The turkey and the other fowls were then killed by having their necks

wrung, and the carcasses of all five were removed to the house to be

prepared by the women. The various bundles of masa and _sikil_ in

their leaf coverings were next removed to the _pib_, where the fire

had burned itself out, leaving the hole half full of ashes and red-hot

stones. A lining of plantain bark was laid over the stones, upon which

the bundles were arranged; over these were placed more hot stones and

over the latter palm leaves; lastly, the earth which had been dug from

the _pib_ was raked over all. The priest next took a small quantity of

the _sachà_ from a calabash, in a jabin leaf, and scattered it on the

ground in three directions, meanwhile murmuring this prayer:

Cin kubic ti atepalob, ti noh yum kab yetel uahmetan, atepalob,

tiaca tzib nah.

_Translation_

I offer to the majestic ones, to the great lord, corn cake, great

ones. [_Tiaca tzib nah_ is somewhat obscure. The reading,

according to Don Juan Martinez, of Merida, should be _tia ca

Ɔib-nah_.]

Afterward the priest repeated the performance with _sachà_ from the

calabashes on the altar, and lastly with some from the calabashes of

the _tuyun pishan_. The _sachà_ was then distributed in calabashes to

the participants, it being essential that every drop of it be drunk.

After a wait of about an hour all proceeded to the _pib_, which,

after it had been sprinkled by the priest with _balchè_ from a small

calabash, was opened. The red-hot leaf-wrapped bundles were carried

to the small shed, where the coverings were removed, exposing the

_tutiua_ and _yokua_, crisp, brown, and hot. These were placed upon the

altar, with the exception of one _tutiua_, which was tied to the string

holding the calabashes of the _tuyun pishan_. The cakes made from

the remainder of the masa and _sikil_ were now crumbled into a large

calabash and mixed with another large calabash of _kool_ (a reddish

liquid made from water, ground corn, black pepper, and achiote). The

two mixtures were stirred with a peeled wand of jabin till they formed

a thick paste known as _sopas_. While the _sopas_ was being made the

hearts, heads, and intestines of the fowls were removed to the _pib_

where they were buried, lest some animal by eating them should defile

the offering. The cooked and dismembered turkey and other fowls were

brought out to the small shed in calabashes; the livers, gizzards, and

immature eggs were chopped up fine and well mixed with the _sopas_. A

small calabash full of this mixture was placed with the calabashes of

the _tuyun pishan_, while the rest, in a large calabash, the fowls'

claws standing upright in it, was placed upon the altar, together with

the dismembered birds wrapped in a clean cotton cloth. The priest next

removed some _balchè_ from the jar and filled a calabash, which he

placed upon the altar, as he did so murmuring these prayers:

Ea, in cichpan colel kanleoox, yetel bacan tech in cichkelem tat

yum San Isidro, ah kolkal, yetel bacan tech yum kankin, culucbalech

ti likin, yetel bacan in chanttupchaac, culucbal chumuc caan, ti

likin, yetel bacan yum canchaacoob; kin kubic yetel bacan ahooil

atepalo chumuc caan, yetel bacan tech in cichkelem tata ahcanan

kakabool, yetel bacan tech in cichkelem tata Cakaal Uxmal, yetel

bacan tech in cichpan colel Santa Clara, yetel bacan tech in

cichkelem tata yum xualakinik, yetel bacan tech in cichpan colel

Xhelik, yetel bacan tech in cichkelem tatayum Santo Lorenzo, yetel

bacan tech in cichpan colel Guadelupe, yetel bacan tech tun yum

Mosonikoob, meyahnaheex ichil cool kat tocah. Cin kubic bacan letie

Santo Gracia, utial a nahmateex, yetel bacan tech u nohchi Santo

uai yokol cab halibe in yumen sates ten in cipil. Minan a tzul

pachkeech letie Santo Pishan, Ooki in mentic letie Santo Promicia.

_Translation_

Now my beautiful lady of the yellow-leaf breadnut, as well as you,

my handsome father San Isidro, tiller of the earth; as well as

you, lord sun, who art seated at the east; as well as you,

Chanttupchaac, who art seated in the middle of the heavens, in the

east; as well as you, Yumcanchaacoob: I deliver to you, with the

majestic servants in the middle of the heavens. As well as you, my

handsome father, Ahcanankakabool; as well as you, my handsome

father Cakaal Uxmaal; as well as you, my beautiful lady Santa

Clara; as well as you, my handsome father Xualakinik; as well as

you, my beautiful lady Xhelik; as well as you, my handsome father

San Lorenzo; as well as you, my beautiful lady of Guadelupe; as

well as you, Lord Mosonicoob, that blows within the milpa when it

is burnt. I deliver then to you this Holy Grace, that you may

taste it, and because you are the greatest Santos on earth. That

is all my master. Pardon my sins; you have not to follow the holy

souls, because I have made this holy offering.

Cin Kubic ti nah tatail, ti u cahil San Roque, u cahil Patchacan,

ti Chan Sapote.

_Translation_

I offer you, great father, for your town of San Roque, your town

of Patchacan, and Chan Sapote.

The assistant then brought up some burning incense (_pom_) on a piece

of plantain bark, which the priest took, and after waving it about

for a short time placed it upon the altar, after which he dipped out

a small portion of _balchè_ and scattered it in three directions,

murmuring while doing so the following prayer:

Noh Nah ti Uxmal, ti atepaloob Ixcabach Chen Mani, ti Xpanterashan,

Chacanchi, Chacantoc, ti Xnocachan, Xcunya, Yaxutzub, Yaxaban, ti

atepaloob.

_Translation_

Great house of Uxmal, of the majestic Ixcabach, Chen Mani, of

Xpanterashan, Chacanchi, Chacantoc, of Xnocachan Xcunya, Yaxatzub

Yaxaban of the majestic ones.

A small portion of _balchè_ was next passed around to each of the

participants, the priest again scattering a little on the ground and

repeating the prayer. The calabash, which was now nearly empty, was

then removed to the house for the benefit of the women. It was soon

brought back by the assistant and refilled from the jar, and the same

procedure gone through again. This was repeated till no more _balchè_

remained to be drunk. The priest then scattered some of the _sopas_

in four directions, using one of the fowls' claws to scoop it up from

the calabash, after which what remained of the _sopas_ was divided

up among the participants, each one being given a calabash in which

a fowl's claw was placed for use as a fork. A small quantity of the

mixture which remained was taken to the house for use of the women.

Lastly the priest removed the _tutiua_ and _yokua_ from the altar, and

divided these among the participants, giving each one at the same time

a corn-husk cigarette. The ceremony was now finished, and the last

act was completely to destroy all the objects used in it, including

buildings, altar, calabashes, and _chuyubs_; this was done by fire.

This Cha chac ceremony as performed by the Santa Cruz and Icaichè

Indians bears a strong resemblance to certain ceremonies performed

before the conquest, in honor of the Chacs, or Rain gods, and also to

ceremonies carried out at the present day by the Lacandon Indians.

The names given to the modern priests were, according to Landa, all

in use in his day. The Chacs were four old men chosen to assist the

priests.[22] The _men_ was an inferior priest or sorcerer, while the

name _Ahkin_[4] was applied after the conquest, both to their own

and to Christian priests by the Maya. Landa also mentions (Chap. XL,

p. 260) a fiesta given to the Chacs, in conjunction with other gods,

held in one of the plantations, when the offerings were consumed by

the people after being first presented to the gods; these offerings

consisted of turkeys and other fowls, corn cake, _sikil_, and

_posol_,[5] all of which are used in the modern Maya Cha chac.

The god Yumcanchacoob (Lord of all the Chacs) of the Santa Cruz

probably corresponds to Nohochyumchac (Great Lord Chac) of the

Lacandones, as does the Ahcanankakabol (keeper of the woods) of

the Santa Cruz, to the Kanancash of the Lacandones, whose name has

practically the same significance. A belief in _Xtabai_, or spirits,

and _Ikoob_, or Wind gods, seems common alike to the Santa Cruz, the

Lacandones, and the Indians of Yucatan.