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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



torment, for it is their belief that when death claims them they 

 will be conducted to the gloomy abode to suffer for all the wrong 

 they have done, after which they will be in heaven for a time as 

 a recompense for their good deeds ; that then some ages having 

 elapsed they must be reborn on this earth, without any recol- 

 lection of the past or knowledge of the future. 



When one is dangerously ill, his relations make offerings to 

 the yumcimil, or " god of death." This offering consists of food 







t^-- 



A TONKUL. 



and drink, which they hang outside of the house. They call it 

 hex, or " exchange," because they offer it as a ransom for the life 

 of the patient. 



From remote times they have been accustomed to make offer- 

 ings to the souls of the departed, particularly a certain pie that 

 they call " food for the soul." The crust must be of yellow corn ; 

 the interior, tender chicken and small pieces of pork. These pies 

 are wrapped in leaves of the banana tree and baked underground 

 between hot stones. When done, they are placed on the graves or 

 hung from trees close by. Sometimes, after leaving them there 

 for an hour or two, the living take home the pies and enjoy them, 



