The Maya Chronicles

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The date, 1511, given as that of the first arrival of the Spaniards,
refers to the shipwreck of Aguilar and his companions, who in that year
were thrown on the eastern coast.

This introductory paragraph was entirely miscontrued[TN-27] by Avila, and
nearly as much so by Brasseur. I add their translations to illustrate
this.

_Translation of Avila._

"A la quinta vez que sento el noveno Rey en la guerra cuando llegaron
los Espanoles que se poblaron en la ciudad de Merida, el principal Rey
de esa ciudad era siempre cacique y el ano en que llegaron los Senores
Espanoles aqui en esta suelo fue el de 1511."

_Translation of Brasseur._

"C'est a la cinquieme division cimentee (dans le mur) de ce onzieme
Ahau-Katun qu'arriverent les Espagnols et qu'ils s'etablirent a Ti-Uoh
de ce pays de Ti-Ho, et c'est a la neuvieme de cet Ahau que s'etablit le
Christianisme, cette annee meme que vinrent nos seigneurs les Espagnols
en cette contree, c'est a dire, en l'annee 1511."

It will be seen that the former completely travesties the passage, while
the latter mistakes the proper names and destroys the chronological
value of the dates given.

2. _Hidalgos conquistadoren_, Spanish titles which we are surprised to
find a native claiming; but later on (Sec. 9) he informs us that he was
authorized to employ them by the Spanish officials.

Chichinica was a pueblo near Chicxulub, which is now no longer in
existence.

3. _Ti ma ococ haa tin pol cuchi_, "formerly, when the water will not
entered to my head" _i. e._, before I was baptized. This complicated
construction of the negative (_ma_), a future (_ococ_ from _ocol_) and
the sign of the past tense (_cuchi_), also occurs on an earlier page
(98), where we have the sentence _uacppel haab u binel ma [c]ococ u
xocol oxlahun ahau cuchi_, six years before the end of the 13th ahau.
_Ocol haa_, syncopated to _ocola_, and even _oca_, was the usual term
for Christian baptism.

Xulkumcheel was a pueblo which does not seem to have survived.

_Ah Naum Pech, likul tu cah Mutul._ Ah Naum Pech from, or native of, the
town Mutul. The latter is the modern Motul, about 22 miles easterly from
Chicxulub. The name is also spelled Mutul by Cogolludo (_Historia de
Yucatan_, Lib. VI, cap. VII).

_Halach uinic_, previously explained, was the ancient native title of
chief of a village. It is the same word which Oviedo, in his report of
Grijalva's expedition deforms into _calachini_ (_Historia de las
Indias_, Lib. XVII).

The date, 1519, like various others in the narrative, appears to have
been erroneously entered or copied. It should probably be 1539.
_Maxtunil_ does not at present exist. _[C]ilam_ is a town north of
Itzamal, near the sea coast. It is by some identified as the spot where
Francisco de Montejo embarked after his retreat from Chichen Itza, in
1528.

4. The _Kupuls_ were the family who reigned in the eastern province,
where Valladolid was founded. They long retained their hostility to the
Spaniards. _Ekab_ was situated on the coast opposite the island of
Cozumel. _[C]ekom_ should probably read Tekom. _Tixcuumcuuc_ no longer
exists. _Tinuum_ is a town 4 leagues north of Valladolid, on the road to
Itzamal. _[C]i [C]antun_ is a town north of Itzamal, said by Sanchez
Aguilar to have been the ancient capital of the princely house of the
Chels. _Ake_ is probably the modern [C]onatake. _Catzim_ is now the name
of a hacienda in the Department of Itzamal, some distance from the
coast. _[C]elebna_ is unknown.

The expression _tumen naob Bon cupul_, translated by Avila "porque esa
casa es de Bon Cupul," I think is an error of the copyist for _tumen
nacon Cupul_. See also Sec. 18.

5. _Hokzah uba_, they betook themselves. The termination _uba_ is that
of the third person of reflexive verbs.

Nachi May, already mentioned, was a member of an ancient princely house
mentioned by Landa and Sanchez Aguilar. One of them, Ahkin May, was
apparently the hereditary high priest. The effort has been made to
derive from their name the word _Maya_, and Brasseur would carry us to
Haiti in order to discover its meaning (Landa, _Relacion_, p. 42, note),
but this is unnecessary. _May_ in the Maya tongue means "a hoof," as of
a deer, and is a proper name still in use. There is no reason to suppose
it in any way connected with _Maya_.

_Matanok_ I take to be an error for _matanon_, from _mat_ (pret.
_matnahi_).

6. _[C]ibikal_ may be, as suggested by Dr. Berendt, Tipikal, a town in
the district of Merida. There is another of the name in the Sierra Alta
(_Estadistica de Yucatan_, 1814).

Francisco de Bracamonte is mentioned by Cogolludo as among the first
settlers of Merida.

7. Cogolludo mentions Rodrigo Alvarez as "Escribano del juzgado," who
came with Montejo (_Historia de Yucatan_, Lib. III, cap. VI, and
elsewhere).

8. _U toxol cahob_, the distribution of the towns, literally "the
pouring out;" Avila translates it by "cuando se repartian los pueblos."
The Spanish system of "repartimientos" and "encomiendas" was adopted in
Yucatan,[TN-28]

9. The licentiate Alvares de Caravajal was alcalde mayor from 1554 to
1558. (Cogolludo, _Hist. de Yucatan_, Lib. V. cap. XV.)

10. This was apparently written by Don Pablo Pech, the son of the writer
of the remainder of the history, and inserted in order to corroborate
the statement just made by his father, that the latter had transferred
the magistracy to him.

11. The _holpop_, literally "head of the mat," perhaps because when the
company sat around or on the mat his place was at its head, was the
official who had charge of the _tunkul_ or wooden drum, with which
public meetings, dances, summons to war, etc. were proclaimed, and with
which the priests accompanied their voices in reciting the ancient
chants (Cogolludo, _Hist. de Yucatan_, Lib. IV, cap. V). He was called
_ahholpop_, and had charge of the public hall of the village, the
_popolna_, "casa de comunidad," in which public business was transacted
(_Diccionario de Motul_, MS.)[TN-29]

The _ahkulel_ was the official second in command in a town or district.
He acted in place of the _batab_ or the _ahcuchcab_. The verb _kulel_
means to transact business for another, to act as deputy.

_Ahkin_ was the ordinary word for priest in the old language; kin, sun,
day, time; _ahkin_, he who was familiar with the days and times, with
the calendar, and also with the past and the future.

12. _U chun u thanob_; the _chunthan_ or _ahchunthan_, literally, he who
has the first word, was the member of the village who took the leading
part in matters of business. The office and name are still in existence
in the native village communities of Yucatan. (See Garcia y Garcia,
_Historia de la Guerra de Castas en Yucatan_, Introd., p. xli.)

The _ahkul_ was an envoy or messenger, who carried the orders of the
prince to his people and to foreign princes. The title was usually
prefixed to the name of the person.

The _holcan_, "head caller," was a military official in each village,
whose duty it was when war was announced to summon the men in his
district capable of bearing arms (see Landa, _Relacion_, p. 174). The
Spanish writers translate it by _alferez_.

The _nacon_ was an elective war chief, who held his position for the
term of three years (Landa, _Relacion_, pp. 161, 173). The name is
derived from _nacal_, to rise, go up, and hence as a delegate or elected
representative (as is stated by the _Dicc. de Motul_).

13. The _nucteelob_ were the _ancianos_, the wise old men of the
village; _manak_, a trace or sign that appears at a distance and then
disappears. _U manak uinic ti ulah_=I saw the trace of a man to-day, but
it is no longer visible. _Diccionario de Motul, MS._

"The province of Ceh Pech" was that in which Merida was: "_u tzucub
ahcehpechob_, la provincia de los Peches al lado de Motul y Cumkal."
_Dicc. de Motul, MS._

14. _Kah_, _pinole_, is a drink made by mixing the meal of roasted maize
with water. The word _tuce_ (or, it may be, _tuze_) I do not find in any
dictionary, nor does Avila translate it. The passage is an obscure one.
Avila renders it "cuando fuimos a la guerra, bebian pinole y _tuce_,
porque estaban enojados con los Cristianos." Possibly these were two
articles of food especially used on warlike raids.

_U zahacil in puczical_, a cant phrase probably borrowed from the
missionaries="the fear of my heart,"--in my humbleness. _Puczikal_
appears to be a root-word, though of three syllables. It means the heart
of men and animals, also the mind or soul, the desires, and the interior
of certain growths, as the pith of maize, etc. (_Dicc. de Motul._)

The year 1511 was that of the shipwreck of the deacon Geronimo de
Aguilar and his companions, who were the first whites known to the
natives of Yucatan.

The reference which is made in this section to a deputation of fifty
natives to Spain, is not mentioned, so far as I remember, by other
historians. As in some respects my translation differs from that of
Avila, I give his.

"Cuando llego ante el monarca Ahmacan Pech, D^on Pedro Pech, y sus
deudos, sus primeros descendientes, sus capitanes, todos fueron con el
para honrar el monarca y vea la cara a sus vasallos indigenas, y escogio
cincuenta de los grandes de ellos para llevar tras de el al monarca
reinante para servirlos en la mesa alli lejos en Espana, pero los que
vomitaron en el festejo delante del monarca reinante, esos entonces dijo
el Rey que pagaron tributos todos y todos sus descendientes, mas
nosotros los Peches," etc.

The phrase _mac xenahi tu tzicile_ Avila translates "who vomited at the
feasts;" but I believe _xenhi_, vomited, is a misreading for _xanhi_,
remained, and _tzicil_ is obedience, as serving-men.

_Lae te hantabi_, who was eaten; Aguilar himself was not eaten, as he
was rescued by Cortes, in 1519, and served him as interpreter. But some
of his companions were eaten by the natives, not of Cozumel, but of the
coast to the south, and this is what Pech meant to say, unless,
indeed--and I am inclined to prefer this view--we read _hantezahbi_
instead of _hantabi_, which would give the sense "the land was
discovered by Aguilar, who was given food (supported, maintained) by Ah
Naum," etc. For particulars about Aguilar see Herrera, _Hist. de las
Indias_, Dec. II, Lib. IV, cap. VIII.

_Lai yabil hauic_, etc. This is an important sentence, as fixing a date
in the ancient chronology. _U tunil balcah_ is an ancient term, not
explained in the dictionaries. _Balcah_ (or _baalcah_) means "a town and
the people who compose it" (Pio Perez, _Diccionario_), hence people, the
world, as the French use _monde_. From many references in the Maya
manuscripts I derive the impression that the last stone in the katun
pillar was placed in turn by the towns, each giving its name to the
stone and the cycle (see ante, p. 171).

Assuming the correctness of the figures 1517--and there is no reason to
doubt it--then Pech counted the katuns as of 24 years each, as Pio Perez
maintained was correct; because he has already informed us in his
introductory paragraph that the year 1541 was the close of the 11th
Ahau, and 1541-1517=24.

16. The two previous visits referred to were probably those of Cordova,
1517, and Grijalva, 1518. "Those who knew to speak the true words,"
refers to the Catholic priests. All the historians of Cortes' expedition
dwell on the effect produced on the natives of Cozumel by the religious
services he held there.

The date, Feb. 28, 1519, seems correct, although it is not mentioned by
any other writer I have at hand. Cortes left Havana, Feb. 19.

_Lai yabil_, "in this year," evidently a date is omitted, as the first
arrival of the Spaniards at Chichen Itza was either at the close of 1526
or beginning of 1527. One of the Maya MSS. gives the year as _bulucil
Muluc_, the 11th Muluc. The Maya year, it will be remembered, began on
the 16th of July.

"It was on the memorable thirteenth of August, 1521, the day of St.
Hippolytus, that Cortes led his warlike array for the last time across
the black and blasted environs which lay around the Indian capital,
etc." Prescott, _Conquest of Mexico_, Book VI, chap. VIII. There is
little doubt but that the tidings of the dreadful destruction of the
mighty Tenochtitlan was rapidly disseminated among the tribes far down
into Yucatan and Central America, and made a profound impression on
them.

This section is confused and difficult. Avila translates:--

"Fueron atacados por tercera vez los mismos Espanoles por todos los
pueblos aqui en el pueblo de Cupul cuando hallaron a Ah Ceh Pech
muriendose en una casa no embarrada y a su companero el otro Rey Cen
Pot," etc.

18. The official date of the founding of the city of Merida was Jan. 6,
1542.

The anona or custard-apple does not seem to have been eaten by the
natives, and it impressed them as strange and somewhat unnatural to
witness the Spaniards suck them.

_Ca u tocahob nao bon Cupul_; this is translated by Senor Avila:
"quemaron al capitan Cupul:" they burned the captain Cupul; but I take
it to be a misreading for _ca u yotochob nacom Cupul_, and have so
translated it. There is no account of a leader of the Cupuls having been
burned, and, moreover, this is in accordance with Sec. 4.

Another important chronological statement is made in this section, to
wit, that the year 1542 (I suppose July 16, 1541-July 15, 1542 is meant)
was 13 Kan. As Pech has already told us that it was also the first year
of the 9th Ahau Katun, we have the date fixed in both methods of
reckoning, that is, by the Kin Katun as well as the Ahau Katun,
according to the calendar which his family used.

19. The town of Tikom is still in existence, but I have not been able to
find Popce on any of the maps. The Chels were a well known princely
family in ancient Yucatan. The _Dicc. de Motul_ says their province was
that of [C]izantun.

26.[TN-30] The Don Juan Caamal whose acts are briefly sketched in this
section is the same mentioned in the _auto_ given previously, page 117.
It is still a family name in Yucatan (Berendt, _Nombres Proprios en
lengua Maya_, folio. _MS._)[TN-31]

21. The first mission to Yucatan was that of Fr. Jacobo de Testera, with
some companions whose names have not been preserved, 1531 to 1534 (see
Geronimo de Mendieta, _Historia Eclesiastica Indiana_, pp. 380, 665;
Torquemada. _Monarquia Indiana_, Lib. IX, cap. XIII, Lib. XX, cap.
XLVII). They were stationed at Champoton and did not penetrate the
country. The next attempt was in 1537. Testera, then Provincial of
Mexico, sent five Franciscan friars, who returned after two years of
efforts. Their names are unknown (Cogolludo, _Historia de Yucatan_, vol.
I, pp. 175, 182). The third is the one referred to in the text. Its
commissary was Fr. Luis de Villalpando, and its members were Fr. Lorenzo
de Bienvenida, Fr. Melchor de Benavente, Fr. Juan de Herrera, Fr. Juan
de Albalata, and Fr. Angel Maldonado. Five other missionaries came with
Juan de la Puerta, in 1548 (Cogolludo).

22. The term _ahetzil_, I do not find, and translate it as _ahe[c]il_,
the practice of conjuring, or sorcery. But it is quite possibly for
_ahuitzil_, dwellers in the sierra. The next line is corrupt, and I can
only guess at the meaning. The date, Nov. 9, 1546, is correct, and the
history here given of the insurrection of the natives at that time is
substantially the same as is told at length by Cogolludo (_Hist. de
Yucatan_, Lib. V, cap. VII).

27. The Auditor Tomas Lopez came from Guatemala (not Spain) to Yucatan
in 1551 or 1552, and in the latter year promulgated his "Laws" for the
government of the natives, many of which are given in Cogolludo's
History.

The passing reference to the cruelties of the Spaniards are more than
borne out by the testimony of Fr. Lorenzo de Bienvenida. Writing to the
King in 1548 he says:--

"En esta villa (Valladolid) se levantaron este ano de quarenta y siete
los Indios * * * i este levantamiento por mal tratamiento que hacen a
los Indios los Espanoles tomandoles las mugeres y hijos y dandoles de
palos i quebrandoles las piernas i brazos i matandolos i desmasiados
tributos i desaforados servicios personales, i si V^a Alt^a no provee de
remedio con brevedad, no es possible permanecer esta tierra, digo de
justicia. * * * *

"(El adelantado) dio la capitania a un sobrino que llaman Manso Pacheco.
Nero no fue mas cruel que este. Este paso adelante y llego a una
provincia que llaman _Chatemal_, estando de paz, i sin dar guerra los
naturales la robo i les comio los mantenimientos a los naturales, i
ellos huyendo a los montes de miedo de los Espanoles porque en tomando
alguno luego lo aperreaban, i desto huian los Indios i no sembraban i
todos murieron de hambre, digo todos porque habia pueblos de a
quinientos casas i de a mil, i el que agora tiene ciento es mucho;
provincia rica de cacao. Este capitan por sus proprias manos exercitaba
las fuerzas, con un garrote mate muchos i decia, 'este es buen palo para
castigar a estos;' i desque lo habia muerto, 'O, quan bien lo de.' Corto
muchos pechos a mugeres, i manos a hombres i narices i orejas i estaco,
i a las mugeres ataba calabazas a los pies i las echaba en las lagunas
ahogar por su pasatiempo, i otras grandes crueldades." _Carta de Fr.
Lorenzo de Bienvanida,[TN-32] 1548. MS._

28. The town Conah Itza, or Con Ahitza, Con of the Itzas, may refer to
the seaport, Coni, the eastern coast, where Montejo landed on his first
expedition. Bishop Toral did not arrive in Yucatan until 1562, so the
mention of him proves that this narrative was written after that date.

29. No such person as Juan de Montejo is known.

30. _Yocol peten_; so it is first spelled in the original manuscript,
and afterwards altered to _Yucalpeten_. This latter occurs as a name
applied to the peninsula, or a portion of it, in a number of passages of
the Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel. These have been quoted by the
Canon Crescencio Carrillo in a recent work (_Historia Antigua de
Yucatan_, pp. 137, 140, Merida, 1882), to support his view that the name
Yucatan is an abbreviation of Yucalpeten.

Apart from the difficulty of explaining such an extensive abbreviation,
which is not at all in the spirit of the Maya tongue, the words of Pech
in this section and Sec. 33 conclusively prove that the two names are
entirely distinct in origin. Carrillo is of opinion that _yucal_ should
be divided into _y_, _u_, _cal_, and he translates the name "la perla de
la garganta de la tierra o continente." This appears far-fetched.
_Yocal_ is probably merely _yoc hail_, upon the water (_il_,
determinative ending denoting what water); hence _yocal peten_, the
region upon the water, applied to Yucatan or some part of its coast
district. The _h_ is nearly mute and frequently elided, as in _ocola_
(_ocol haa_) to baptize.

A prophecy of the priest Pech, which is perhaps the one here referred
to, appears in several of the Books of Chilan Balam, and also Spanish
translations of it in the Histories of Lizana and Cogolludo, and a
French version in Brasseur's report of the _Mission Scientifique au
Mexique_, etc.

The text is quite corrupt, but I insert it as I have emended it from a
comparison of three copies.

U THAN AHAU PECH AHKIN.

Tu kinil uil u natabal kine,
Yume ti yokcab te ahtepal.
Uale can[c]it u katunil,
Uchi uale hahal pul.
Tu kin kue yoklal u kaba,
In kubene yume.
Ti a-uich-ex tu bel a uliah, Ahitza,
U yum cab ca ulom.
Than tu chun ahau Pech ahkin,
Tu kinil uil can ahau katun,
Uale tan hi[c]il u katunil.

THE WORD OF THE LORD PECH, THE PRIEST.

At that time it will be well to know the tidings,
Of the Lord, the ruler of the world.
After four katuns,
Then will occur the bringing of the truth.
At that time one who is a god by his name,
I deliver to you as a lord.
Be your eyes on the road for your guest, Men of Itza,
When the lord of the earth shall come.
The word of the first lord, Pech, the priest,
At the time of the fourth katun,
At the end of the katun.

The only line in which I have taken much liberty with the text is the
fifth, where, after the word _kue_, one MS. reads: _yok taa ba akauba_,
and another, _yok lac kauba_, neither of which is intelligible.

If the date assigned in these lines be a correct one, they were
delivered by the prophet in 1469. It is not impossible. The words are
obscure and the prediction so indistinct that it might quite well have
been made by an official augur at that time.

31. Nachi Cocom, head of the ancient and powerful Cocom family, ruled at
Zotuta when Montejo made his settlement at Merida, and was a determined
enemy of the Spaniards. He was defeated in 1542, in a sanguinary battle,
and then accepted terms of peace. I have in my possession the copy of a
survey which he made of the lands of the town of Zotuta in 1545, when he
was evidently on good terms with the Conquerors.

32. The names Chan, Catzim and Chul belong to well known ancient
Yucatecan families, and many who bear them are still found among the
natives (Berendt, _Nombres Proprios en Lengua Maya_, MS.)[TN-33]

The words Zacuholpatal Zacmutixtun are rendered by Avila as proper
names, and I have followed his example. I have not found a satisfactory
explanation of them.

33. The day _One Imix_ was a day of peculiar sanctity in ancient
Yucatan. Landa makes the rather unintelligible assertion that the count
of their days, or their calendar, invariably commenced on that day
(_Relacion_, p. 236).

Imix is the 18th day of the month, and it is possibly[TN-34] that it and
the two following days were used for intercalary days.

More to the purpose of explaining the prophecy in the text is the
statement of Francisco Hernandez, who, as reported by Bishop Las Casas,
relates that in the mythology of the Mayas, the god or gods Bacab, those
who support the four corners of the heaven and who are identified with
the "year bearers" or Dominical days of the calendar, died on the day
One Imix, and after three days came to life again. (Las Casas, _Historia
Apologetica de las Indias Occidentales_, cap. CXXIII.) This has
reference apparently to the intercalary days Imix, Ik, and Akbal, which
were counted so as to allow the next Kin Katun period to begin on
I[TN-35] Kan. I have explained this theory fully in a paper, "Notes on
the Codex Troano and Maya Chronology," in the _American Naturalist_,
Sept. 1881. Naturally this was supposed by the Spanish missionaries to
be a reference to Christian traditions.

_Ca tip u chemob_, when the ships were rocking; _tipil_ represents the
slipping and sliding movement of a partially submerged or hidden body;
thus the beating of the heart and the pulse is _tipilac_. _Ca yumtah
banderas ob_, when the banners waved; _yumtah_ is to swing to and fro as
a hamack or a flag. _Piixtahob_, from _pixitah_, to unreel or reel off
yarn, etc., from a spindle. I suppose it refers to letting go the
anchor.

The derivation of the name Yucatan here given is interesting, for
several reasons. In the first place, it makes it evident that Pech did
not believe it was an abbreviation of Yucalpeten (see ante, page 255).
Again, although it has very often been stated that the name arose from a
misunderstanding of some native words by the Spaniards, there has been
no uniformity of opinion as to what these words were. Several of the
phrases suggested have been such as have no meaning in the Maya tongue;
(see full discussions of the question in Eligio Ancona, _Historia de
Yucatan_, Vol. I, pp. 219, 220, and Crescencio Carrillo, _Historia
Antigua de Yucatan_, cap. V.) As given by Pech it is perfectly
intelligible and good Maya. Without syncope it would be "_Matan ca ubah
a than_" shortened to "_Ma c'ubah than_,[TN-36] "We do not understand
your speech." Pech is in error, however, in supposing that the name
arose on the arrival of Montejo; it was in use immediately after the
expedition of Cordova (1517), and if Bernal Diaz was correct in his
recollection, was applied to the land by the Indians Cordova brought
back to Cuba with him from the Bay of Campeachy. (See Bernal Diaz,
_Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de Nueva Espana_, cap. VII.)

34. This is no doubt the same occurrence which is described at
considerable length by Cogolludo, _Hist. de Yucatan_, Lib. III, cap. VI.
But the details differ very much and the names of the messengers and the
chief to whom they were sent are not identical. I believe this
discrepancy can be explained, but it would extend this note too far to
go into the subject here. The word _yacatunzabin_, which Avila renders
"en dicha cueva," seems a compound of _y_, _actun_, _zabin_. The last is
the name of the weasel; _actun_ means both a cave and a stone house. By
some it is supposed to be a compound of _ac_, tortoise, and _tun_,
stone, a cave resembling a hollow tortoise shell.

35. _Yoklal maix u lukul yol nacomob_, "porque no se cansaban los
capitanes" (Avila).

36. Pech adds a list of the names of Conquistadores which I have not
inserted, as it is less complete than that found in Cogolludo.

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