Volume 2 — CHAPTER XXI. EDUCATION AND FAMILY MATTERS AMONG THE MAYAS.

Education of Youth—Public Schools of Guatemala—Branches of Study in Yucatan—Marrying Age—Degrees of Consanguinity allowed in Marriage—Preliminaries of Marriage—Marriage Ceremonies—The Custom of the Droit du Seigneur in Nicaragua—Widows—Monogamy—Concubinage—Divorce—Laws Concerning Adultery—Fornication—Rape—Prostitution—Unnatural Crimes—Desire for Children—Childbirth Ceremonies—Rite of Circumcision—Manner of Naming Children—Baptismal Ceremonies.

The Maya nations appear to have been quite as strict and careful in the education of youth as the Nahuas. Parents took great pains to instruct their children to respect old age, to reverence the gods, and to honor their father and mother.[933] They were, besides, encouraged while mere infants to amuse themselves with warlike games, and to practice with the bow and arrow. As they grew older, the children of the poor people were taught to labor and assist their parents. The boys were in their childhood educated by the father, who usually taught them his own trade or calling; the girls were under the especial care of the mother, who, it is said, watched very closely over the conduct of her daughters, scarcely ever permitting them to be out of her sight. Children of both sexes remained under the immediate control of their parents until they were of an age to be married, and any disobedience or contumacy was severely punished, sometimes even with death. The boys in Guatemala slept under the portico of the house, as it was thought improper that they should observe the conduct and hear the conversation of married people.[934] In Yucatan, also, the young people were kept separate from their elders. In each village was an immense whitewashed shed, under the shelter of which the youths of the place amused themselves during the day, and slept at night.[935]

The various little events in a child's life which among all peoples, savage or civilized, are regarded as of so great importance by anxious mothers, such as its being weaned, its first step, or its first word, were celebrated with feasts and rejoicing; the anniversaries of its birthday were also occasions of much merry-making. The first article that a child made with its own hands was dedicated to the gods.[936] In Yucatan children went naked until they were four or five years old, when the boys were given a breech-clout to wear and a piece of cloth to sleep under; girls began at the same age to wear a petticoat reaching from the waist downward.[937] In Guatemala children were left naked till they were eight or ten years of age, at which time they were required to do light labor.[938] As soon as a child reached the age of seven years, it was taken by its father to the priest, who foretold its future destiny and instructed it how to draw blood from its body, and perform other religious observances.[939]

EDUCATION OF CHILDREN.

The Mayas entrusted the more advanced education of youth entirely to the priesthood. In Guatemala the youths assisted the priests in their duties, and received, in turn, an education suited to their position in life. There were schools in every principal town, at which youths were instructed in all necessary branches by competent teachers. The principal of these was a seminary in which were maintained seventy masters, and from five to six thousand children were educated and provided for at the expense of the royal treasury.[940] Girls were placed in convents, under the superintendence of matrons who were most strict in their guardianship. It is said that they entered when eight years old, and were not free until about to be married.[941]

In Yucatan, social distinctions seem to have been more sharply defined than in Guatemala. Here, the schools of learning were only open to the children of the nobility; a poor man was content to teach his son his own trade or profession. The children of the privileged classes were, however, very highly educated. The boys were initiated, we are told, into the mysteries and strange rites of their religion; they studied law, morals, music, the art of war, astronomy, astrology, divination, prophecy, medicine, poetry, history, picture-writing, and every other branch of knowledge known to their people. The daughters of the nobles were kept in strict seclusion, and were carefully instructed in all the accomplishments required of a Maya lady.[942]

In Yucatan, the young men usually married at the age of twenty years.[943] In Guatemala, Las Casas tells us that the men never married until they were thirty, notwithstanding he has previously made the extraordinary assertion that the great prevalence of unnatural lusts made parents anxious to get their children wedded as early as possible.[944] Girls among the higher classes must have been married at a very early age in Guatemala, since it is related that when a young noble espoused a maiden not yet arrived at the age of puberty, her father gave him a female slave, to lie with him until the wife reached maturity. The children of this slave could not inherit his property, however.[945]

The Guatemalans recognized no relationship on the mother's side only, and did not hesitate to marry their own sister, provided she was by another father.[946] Thus, if a noble lady married an inferior in rank or even a slave, the children belonged to the order of the father, and not of the mother.[947] Torquemada adds that they sometimes married their sisters-in-law and step-mothers.[948]

DEGREES OF KINDRED.

Among the Pipiles, of Salvador, an ancestral tree, with seven main branches, denoting degrees of kindred, was painted upon cloth, and within these seven branches, or degrees, none were allowed to marry, except as a recompense for some great public or warlike service rendered. Within four degrees of consanguinity none, under any pretext, might marry.[949] In Yucatan there was a peculiar prejudice against a man marrying a woman who bore the same name as his own, and so far was this fancy carried that he who did this was looked upon as a renegade and an outcast. Here, also, a man could not marry the sister of his deceased wife, his step-mother, or his mother's sister, but with all other relatives on the maternal side, no matter how close, marriage was perfectly legitimate. A Yucatec noble who wedded a woman of inferior degree, descended to her social level, and was dispossessed of a part of his property, and deprived of his rank.[950] In Nicaragua no one might marry within the first degree of relationship, but beyond that there was no restriction.[951]

The question of dowry was settled in Guatemala by the relatives of the young couple.[952] The Yucatec son-in-law served his father-in-law for four or five years, and the omission of such service was considered scandalous;[953] while in Nicaragua the dower was usually paid in fruit or land.[954]

Each of the Maya nations seems to have had a method of arranging marriages peculiar to itself. In Guatemala the whole affair was managed by the nearest relatives of the betrothed pair, who were kept in profound ignorance of the coming event, and did not even know each other until the day of the wedding. It seems incredible that the young men should have quietly submitted to having their wives picked out for them without being allowed any voice or choice in the matter. Yet we are told that so great was their obedience and submission to their parents, that there never was any scandal in these things. If this be the case, what a strange phenomenon Guatemalan society must have been, with no love affairs, no wooing permitted, and Cupid a banished boy. But, for all that, many a Guatemalan youth may have looked coldly upon his bride as he thought of another and, to him, fairer face, and many a loyal young wife may have been sometimes troubled with the vision of a comely form that she had admired before she saw her lord.

PRELIMINARIES OF MARRIAGE.

When a man of rank wished to marry his son, he sent a number of his friends with presents to the parents of the young girl upon whom his choice had fallen. If the presents were refused it was a sign that the offer of alliance was declined, and no farther steps were taken in the matter; but if they were accepted it showed that the match was thought a desirable one. In the latter case, a few days having elapsed, another embassy, bearing more costly gifts than before, was dispatched to the parents of the girl, who were again asked to give their consent to the marriage. Finally, a third deputation was sent, and this generally succeeded in satisfactorily arranging the affair. The two families then commenced to treat each other as relations, and to visit each other for the purposes of determining the day of the wedding and making preparations for the event. Among the lower classes the father usually demanded the bride of her parents in person.[955] It was customary among the Pipiles of Salvador for the father of the boy, after having obtained the consent of the girl's parents to the match, to take her to his house when she was twelve years of age, and his son fourteen, and there educate and maintain her as if she were his own child. In return he was entitled to her services and those of his son, until they were able to sustain themselves, and of a suitable age to marry. The parents of the couple then jointly made them a present of a house and gave them the means to start in life. Thereafter, if the young man met his father-in-law in the street, he crossed to the other side of the way, and the girl paid the same courtesy to her mother-in-law.[956]

In the greater part of Nicaragua matches were arranged by the parents, but there were certain independent towns in which the girls chose their husbands from among the young men, while the latter were sitting at a feast.[957]

I have already alluded to the fact that if in Guatemala or Yucatan a young man married into a rank lower than his own he lost caste in consequence, hence his parents were the more careful to select for him a bride from among the maidens of his own standing in society. Among the Mayas of Yucatan when the day appointed for a marriage ceremony arrived, the invited friends assembled at the house of the bride's father, where the betrothed couple with their parents and the officiating priest were already waiting. For the joyful occasion a great feast was prepared, as it was customary to incur a large expense in food and wine for the entertainment of invited guests. When all were present, the priest called the bride and bridegroom with their parents before him and delivered to them an address concerning the duties of the wedded state. He then offered incense and certain prayers to the gods, concluding the ceremony by asking a blessing from heaven for the newly wedded couple.[958] No ceremonies took place when a widow or widower was married; in such case a simple repast or the giving of food and drink one to another was deemed sufficient to solemnize the nuptials.[959]

MARRIAGE CEREMONIES.

It was customary in Guatemala, when all preliminaries of a marriage had been settled and the day fixed for the wedding, for the bridegroom's father to send a deputation of old women and principal men to conduct the bride to his house. One of those sent for this purpose carried her upon his shoulders, and when they arrived at a certain designated point near the bridegroom's home, she was met by other men also chosen by her father-in-law, who offered incense four or five times before her and sacrificed some quail or other birds to the gods, at the same time giving thanks for her safe arrival. As soon as she came to the house she was seated with much ceremony upon a couch covered with mats or rich carpets; immediately a number of singers began a song suited to the occasion; musicians played on their instruments; dancers came forth and danced before her.[960] The consent of the cacique had to be obtained to all marriages that were celebrated in his territory; before the ceremony the priest desired the young man and his bride to confess to him all the sins of their past life. No person was allowed to marry in Yucatan until the rite of baptism had been administered.[961] In Guatemala, if the betrothed belonged to the higher classes of society, the cacique joined their hands and then tied the end of the man's mantle to a corner of the woman's dress, at the same time advising them to be faithful and loving toward each other. The ceremony ended, all partook of the wedding feast and the bride and bridegroom were carried to the house intended for them, upon the shoulders of some of those who had assisted at the marriage; they were then conducted to the bridal chamber and, as Ximenez tells us, received instructions from two of the most honored old women respecting certain marital duties.[962]

The marriage ceremonies of the Pipiles were simple and unique; matches were made by the cacique and carried into effect under his direction. At the appointed time the kinsfolk of the bride proceeded to the house of the bridegroom, whence he was borne to the river and washed. The relatives of the bride performed the same act of cleansing upon the person of the bride. The two parties with their respective charges then repaired to the house of the bride. The couple were now tied together by the ends of the blankets, in which they were enfolded naked and laid away—married.[963] After the ceremony an interchange of presents took place between the relatives of the newly married couple and they all feasted together.

Among the civilized nations of Nicaragua, when a match was arranged to the satisfaction of the parents, some fowls were killed, cacao was prepared, and the neighbors were invited to be present. The father, mother, or whoever gave away the bride, was asked in presence of the assembled guests whether or not she came as a virgin; if the answer was in the affirmative, and the husband afterwards found that she had been already seduced, he had the right to return her to her parents and she was looked upon as a bad woman; but if the parents answered that she was not a virgin, and the man agreed to take her for a wife, the marriage was valid.[964]

When they were to be united the cacique took the parties with his right hand by the little fingers of their left hands and led them into the house set apart for marriages, leaving them, after some words of advice, in a small room, where there was a fire of candlewood. While the fire lasted they were expected to remain perfectly still, and not until it was burned out did they proceed to consummate the marriage. The following day if the husband made no objection in respect to the girl's virginity, the relations and friends assembled and expressed their gratification with loud cries of joy, and passed the day in feasting and pleasure.[965]

DROIT DE SEIGNEUR.

Notwithstanding the disgrace attached to a woman who had lost her virginity before marriage and concealed the fact, we are assured by Andagoya that in Nicaragua a custom similar to the European 'droit du seigneur' was practiced by a priest living in the temple, who slept with the bride during the night preceding her marriage.[966]

A widow was looked upon as the property of the family of her deceased husband, to whose brother she was invariably married, even though he might have a wife of his own at the time. If she had no brother-in-law, then she was united to the nearest living relative on her husband's side.[967] In Yucatan, the widow could not marry again until after a year from her husband's death.[968]

Monogamy seems to have been the rule among the Maya nations, and many authors assert positively that polygamy did not exist. It was only in the border state of Chiapas that the custom is mentioned by Remesal. To compensate for this, concubinage was largely indulged in by the wealthy. The punishment for bigamy was severe, and consisted, in Nicaragua, of banishment and confiscation of the entire property for the benefit of the injured wife or husband, who was at liberty to marry again, a privilege which was not, however, accorded to women who had children. Landa tells us that the Chichen Itza kings lived in a state of strict celibacy, and Diaz relates that a tower was pointed out to him on the coast of Yucatan, which was occupied by women who had dedicated themselves to a single life.[969]

With their loveless marriages it was fortunate that divorce could be obtained on very slight grounds. In Yucatan, says Landa, the father would, after a final separation, procure one wife after another to suit the tastes of his son. If the children were still of tender age at the time the parents separated, they were left with the mother; if grown up, the boys followed the father, while the girls remained with the mother. It was not unusual for the husband to return to the wife after a while, if she was free, regardless of the fact that she had belonged to another in the meantime.[970] In Guatemala the wife could leave her husband on the same slight grounds as the man, and if she refused to return to him after being requested to do so, he was allowed to marry again; she was then considered free, and held of no little consequence. In Nicaragua the husband decided whether the children were to remain with him or the divorced wife.[971]

INTERCOURSE OF THE SEXES.

The Mayas seem to have dealt more leniently with adulterers than the Nahuas. In Guatemala, the married man who committed adultery with a maiden was, upon complaint of the girl's relations, compelled to pay as a fine from sixty to one hundred rare feathers. It generally happened, however, that the friends of the woman were careful to keep the matter secret, as such a scandal would cause great injury to her future prospects. If a married man was known to sin with a married woman or a widow, both were for the first or even the second offence merely warned, and condemned to pay a fine of feathers; but if they persevered in their crime, then their hands were bound behind their backs, and they were forced to inhale the smoke of a certain herb called tabacoyay, which, although very painful, was not a fatal punishment. The single man who committed adultery with a married woman was obliged to pay to the parents of the latter the amount which her husband had paid for her; doubtless this fine was handed over to the injured husband, who, in such a case, repudiated his wife. It sometimes happened, however, that the husband did not report the matter to the authorities, but gave his unfaithful wife a bird of the kind which was used in sacrifices, and told her to offer it to the gods, and, with her companion in crime, to confess and be forgiven. Such a husband was regarded as a most virtuous and humane man.[972] A noble lady taken in adultery was reprimanded the first time, and severely punished or repudiated for the second offence. In the latter case she was free to marry again.[973] It was a capital crime to commit adultery with a lord's wife; if he who did so was a noble, they strangled him, but if he was a plebeian, they flung him down a precipice.[974]

Cogolludo says that among the Itzas the man and woman taken in adultery were put to death. The woman was taken beyond the limits of the town to a place where there were many loose stones. There she was bound to a post, and the priest who had judged her having cast the first stone, and the injured husband the second, the crowd that was never missing on such occasions joined so eagerly in the sport that the death of their target was a speedy one. The male adulterer, according to the same account, was also bound to a post, and shot to death in the same manner with arrows.[975]

ADULTERY AND FORNICATION.

In Vera Paz, incorrigible adulterers were enslaved.[976] In Nicaragua, the faithless wife was repudiated by her husband, and not allowed to marry again, but she had the right of retaining her dowry and effects. The adulterer was severely beaten with sticks, by the relations of the woman he had led astray. The husband appears to have taken no part in the matter.[977] In Yucatan, adultery was punished with death. According to Cogolludo, offenders of both sexes were shot to death with arrows; Landa tells us that the man was killed with a stone by the husband of his paramour, but the woman was punished with disgrace only. It is said that in more ancient times adulterers were impaled or disemboweled. But so great was the horror in which the Yucatecs held this crime, that they did not always wait for conviction, but sometimes punished a suspected person by binding him, stripping him naked, shaving off his hair, and thus leaving him for a time.[978] Among the Pipiles of Salvador he who made advances to a married woman, and did nothing worse, was banished, and his property was confiscated. The adulterer, if we may believe Palacio,[979] was put to death; Squier says he became the slave of the dishonored husband.[980]

Simple fornication was punished with a fine, to be paid in feathers of a certain rare bird, which, by the laws of Vera Paz at least, it was death to kill without express permission, as its plumage formed a most valuable article of trade with the neighboring provinces.[981] But if any complaint was raised, such as by a father in behalf of his daughter, or by a brother for his sister, the seducer was put to death, or at least made a slave.[982] In Yucatan, death seems to have been the inevitable fate of the seducer.[983]

In Guatemala and Salvador, consummated rape was punished with death. He who merely attempted rape was enslaved.[984] In Nicaragua, the penalty for this crime was not so severe, since he who committed it was only obliged to compensate pecuniarily the parents of his victim; though if he could not do this he became their slave. He who ravished the daughter of his employer or lord was, however, always put to death.[985] Incest is said to have been an unknown crime.[986]

Public prostitution was tolerated, if not encouraged, among all the Maya nations. In every Nicaraguan town there were establishments kept by public women, who sold their favors for ten cocoa-nibs, and maintained professional bullies to protect and accompany them at home and abroad. Parents could prostitute their daughters without shame; and it is said, further, that during a certain annual festival, women, of whatever condition, could abandon themselves to the embrace of whomever they pleased, without incurring any disgrace.[987] It was no unusual thing for parents of the lower orders to send their daughters on a tour through the land, that they might earn their marriage portion by prostitution.[988]

UNNATURAL VICES.

All the old writers appear anxious to clear the civilized aborigines from the charge of sodomy, yet the fact that no nation was without strict laws regarding this unnatural vice, combined with the admissions reluctantly made by the reverend fathers themselves, seems to show that pederasty certainly was not unknown. Thus, Las Casas says that sodomy was looked upon as a great and abominable sin in Vera Paz, and was not known until a god,[989] called by some Chin, by others Cavil, and again by others Maran, instructed them by committing the act with another deity. Hence it was held by many to be no sin, inasmuch as a god had introduced it among them. And thus it happened that some fathers gave their sons a boy to use as a woman; and if any other approached this boy he was treated as an adulterer. Nevertheless, if a man committed a rape upon a boy, he was punished in the same manner as if he had ravished a woman. And, adds the same writer, there were always some who reprehended this abominable custom.[990] In Yucatan certain images were found by Bernal Diaz which would lead us to suppose that the natives were at least acquainted with sodomy,[991] but here again the good father[992] takes up the cudgels in behalf of his favorites. In Nicaragua sodomites were stoned to death.[993]

The desire to possess children seems to have been very general, and many were the prayers and offerings made by disappointed parents to propitiate the god whose anger was supposed to have deferred their hopes. To further promote the efficacy of their prayers, the priest enjoined upon man and wife to separate for a month or two, to adhere to a simple diet, and abstain from salt.[994] Several superstitious observances were also regarded; thus, among the Pipiles, a husband should avoid meeting his father-in-law, or a wife her mother-in-law, lest issue fail them.[995] These observances tend the more to illustrate their longing to become parents, since the women are said to have been very prolific. The women were delivered with little difficulty or pain,[996] yet a midwife was called in, who attended to the mother's wants, and facilitated parturition by placing a heated stone upon the abdomen. In Yucatan an image of Ixchel, the goddess of childbirth, was placed beneath the bed. Among the Pipiles and in Guatemala, the woman was confessed when any difficulty arose, and it not unfrequently happened that an officer of justice took advantage of such opportunities to obtain criminating evidence. If the wife's confession alone did not have the desired effect, the husband was called upon to avow his sins; his maxtli was besides laid over the wife, and sometimes blood was drawn from his tongue and ears, to be scattered towards the four quarters with various invocations.[997] After delivery a turkey hen was immolated, and thanks rendered to the deity for the happy issue. The midwife thereupon washed the child, placed a bow and arrow in its hands, if a boy, a spindle, if a girl, and drew a mark upon its right foot, so that it might become a good mountaineer.

CHILDBIRTH AND CIRCUMCISION.

The birth of a son was celebrated with especial rejoicings, and extensive invitations issued for the feasts that took place on or about the day when the umbilical cord was to be cut,[998] a ceremony which seems to have borne the same festive character as baptism among the Nahuas and other nations. The ahgih, astrologer, was asked to name a favorable day for the rite. The cord was then laid upon an ear of maize to be cut off with a new knife and burned. The grains were removed from the cob and sown at the proper season; one half of the yield to be made into gruel and form the first food of the child aside from the mother's milk, the other half to be sent to the ahgih, after reserving a few grains for the child to sow with his own hands when he grew up, and make an offering thereof to his god. At the same time a kind of circumcision may have been performed, a rite which could not, however, have been very general, if indeed it ever existed, for Cogolludo positively asserts that it never was practiced in Yucatan, and Landa thinks that the custom of slitting the foreskin, which the devout performed before the idol, may have given rise to the report. Palacio asserts that certain Indians in Salvador are known to have scarified themselves as well as some boys in the same manner.[999]

NAMING THE CHILDREN.

The naming of the child was the next important affair. Among the Pipiles it was taken to the temple on the twelfth day, over a road strewn with green branches,[1000] and here the priest gave it the name of its grandfather or grandmother, after which offerings of cacao and fowl were presented to the idol, and some gifts to the minister. In Guatemala the child was named after the god to whom the day of its birth was dedicated, for it was not thought desirable to call it after the parents; other names were, however, applied afterwards, according to circumstances.[1001] Las Casas adds that the parents lost their name on the birth of the first son and daughter, the father being called 'father of Ek,' or whatever might be the name of the son, and the mother receiving the cognomen of 'mother of Can,' etc.[1002] The Itzas gave their children a name formed of the combined names of the father and mother, that of the latter standing first; thus, in Canek, can is taken from the mother's name, ek from the father's. In Yucatan, the former home of this people, the custom was almost the same, except that na was prefixed to the names of the parents; thus, Na-Chan-Chel denoted son of Chel and Chan, but as the name of the father, according to Landa, was perpetuated in the son only, not in the daughter, it follows that the girl could not have been named in the same order; it is possible that the mother's name was placed last, and served as surname in their case. In later years this name was not usually imposed until the time of baptism; but in earlier times a distinctive name was given by the priest at the time of taking the horoscope, shortly after birth. The name of the father was borne till the marriage day, the names of both parents being assumed after that event.[1003] On the conclusion of the above ceremonies, the Guatemalan or Pipile infant and mother were taken to a fountain or river, near a fall if possible, to be bathed, and during the bath incense, birds, or cacao were offered to the water, apparently with a view of gaining the good will of the god of that element. The utensils which had served at the birth, such as warming stone, cups, and knife, were thrown into the water at the same time.[1004]

The mothers were good and patient nurses, suckling their infants for over three years, for the habit of taking warm morning drinks, the exercise of grinding maize, and the uncovered bosom, all tended to produce large breasts and an abundant supply of milk. Otherwise the children received a hardy training, clothing being dispensed with, and the bare ground serving for a couch. When working, the mother carried them on her back; in Yucatan, however, they were usually borne across the hip, and for this reason a large number became bow-legged. Landa also mentions another deformity, that produced by head-flattening, which is to be noticed on the sculptures of the Maya ruins.[1005]

BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES.

It is related by all the old Spanish historians, that when the Spaniards first visited the kingdom of Yucatan they found there traces of a baptismal rite; and, strangely enough, the name given to this rite in the language of the inhabitants, was zihil, signifying 'to be born again.' It was the duty of all to have their children baptized, for, by this ablution they believed that they received a purer nature, were protected against evil spirits and future misfortunes. I have already mentioned that no one could marry unless he had been baptised according to their customs; they held, moreover, that an unbaptised person, whether man or woman, could not lead a good life, nor do anything well. The rite was administered to children of both sexes at any time between the ages of three and twelve years. When parents desired to have a child baptised they notified the priest of their intentions. The latter then published a notice throughout the town of the day upon which the ceremony would take place, being first careful to fix upon a day of good omen. This done, the fathers of the children who were to be baptised, selected five of the most honored men of the town to assist the priest during the ceremony. These were called chacs.[1006] During the three days preceding the ceremony the fathers and assistants fasted and abstained from women. When the appointed day arrived, all assembled with the children who were to be baptised, in the house of the giver of the feast, who was usually one of the wealthiest of the parents. In the courtyard fresh leaves were strewn, and there the boys were ranged in a row in charge of their godfathers, while in another row were the girls with their godmothers. The priest now proceeded to purify the house with the object of casting out the devil. For this purpose four benches were placed one in each of the four corners of the courtyard, upon which were seated four of the assistants holding a long cord that passed from one to the other, thus enclosing part of the yard; within this enclosure were the children and those fathers and officials who had fasted. A bench was placed in the centre, upon which the priest was seated with a brazier, some ground corn, and incense. The children were directed to approach one by one, and the priest gave to each a little of the ground corn and incense, which, as they received it, they cast into the brazier. When this had been done by all, they took the cord and brazier, with a vessel of wine, and gave them to a man to carry outside the town, with injunctions not to drink any of the wine, and not to look behind him; with such ceremony the devil was expelled.[1007] The yard was then swept clean, and some leaves of a tree called cihom, and of another called copo, were scattered over it. The priest now clothed himself in long gaudy-looking robes, consisting, according to Landa, of a jacket of red feathers with flowers of various colors embroidered thereon; hanging from the ends were other long feathers, and on his head a coronet of plumes. From beneath the jacket long bands of cotton hung down to the ground. In his hand he held some hyssop fastened to a short stick. The chacs then put white cloths upon the children's heads and asked the elder if they had committed any sins; such as confessed that they had, were then placed apart. The priest then ordered the people to sit down and be silent; he next blessed the boys, and offering up some prayers, purified them with the hyssop with much solemnity. The principal officer who had been elected by the fathers, now took a bone, and having dipped it in a certain water, moistened their foreheads, their features, and their fingers and toes.[1008] After they had been thus sprinkled with water the priest arose and removed the cloths from the heads of the children, and then cut off with a stone knife a certain bead that was attached to the head from childhood; they were then given by one of the assistants some flowers to smell, and a pipe through which they drew some smoke, after which they were each presented with a little food, and a vessel full of wine was brought as an offering to the gods, who were entreated to receive it as a thanksgiving from the boys; it was then handed to one of the officials, who had to drink it at one draught. A similar ceremony took place with the female children, at the conclusion of which their mothers divested them of a cord, which was worn during their childhood, fastened round the loins, having a small shell that hung in front. The removal of this signified that they could marry as soon as their parents permitted.[1009] The children were then dismissed, and their fathers distributed presents among those who had assisted at the ceremony. A grand banquet called emku, or 'the descent of god,' was then held, and during the nine succeeding days the fathers of the children fasted, and were not to approach their wives.[1010]

DOMESTIC DISCIPLINE.

The Nicaraguan husbands are said to have been so much under the control of their wives that they were obliged to do the housework while the women attended to the trading. The latter were, moreover, great shrews, and would on the slightest provocation drive their offending husbands out of the house; we are told that it was no unusual occurrence for the neighbors to be suddenly called in to appease some unfortunate man's Xanthippe.[1011] The women of Yucatan were renowned for their modesty and conjugal faithfulness. Landa, one of the first bishops of Yucatan, relates an anecdote illustrating this trait. Alonso Lopez de Avila, during the war against Bacalar, took prisoner a very beautiful Indian girl. Struck by her beauty the captor endeavored by all means to induce her to gratify his desires, but in vain. She had promised her warrior-husband, who during those perilous times was constantly face to face with death, that none but he should ever call her wife; how then, while perhaps he yet lived, could she become another's mistress. But such arguments did not quench the Spaniard's lust, and as she remained steadfast, he ordered her to be cast among the bloodhounds, who devoured her—a martyr at the hands of the men who pretended to preach Jesus Christ, and him crucified.[1012]