THE GROUP OF THE CROSS. 41 



the service of the temple were kept. At its foot was an ench)sure built of 

 stone and lime, embattled and whitewashed, and in the midst of it a cross of lime, 

 three varas high, which they held to bo the god of rain, being quite confident 

 that it never would be wanting if they prayed devoutly for it. And in other 

 parts of this island and in many of Yucatan were seen crosses of the same shape, 

 and painted, and not made of latten, as Gromara says, because they never had 

 any, but of stone and wood."='= 



Herrera's description of the tower (teocalli) and cross corresponds to that of 

 Gomara, the earlier of the two authors. According to the latter, the cross was 

 ten spans high {tan alta como diez palmos) , and was worshiped by the Indians 

 as the god of rain, to whom they went with great devotion in procession when 

 rain and water failed, offering sacrifices of quails, burning incense, and sprinkling 

 water, for appeasing his anger. This veneration of the cross, he says, made 

 them more ready to adopt the Christian symbol. f The Yucatan crosses are 

 further referred to by Cogolludo, Peter Martyr, and others ; but having said all 

 that is necessary for my purposes, I refrain from quoting fi-om these authors. 



The Licentiate Palacio saw among the ruins of Copan, in Honduras, a cross 

 of stone, three spans in height, with one of the arms broken off.J The Abbe 

 Clavigero mentions several places in Mexico where crosses of Indian origin have 

 • been noticed, yet without stating for what purpose the natives had erected them. 

 Concerning the supposed missionary labors of Saint Thomas in America he 

 prudently says : "We never could reconcile ourselves to this opinion." § Father 

 Antonio Ruiz speaks of a miraculous cross found in a part of Paraguay, which, 

 owing to this circumstance, has been called Santa Cruz. The father regards this 

 cross as a proof for confirming the opinion that the Apostle Saint Thomas had 

 announced the Christian religion in Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru.|| 



Garcilasso de la Vega, the chronicler of Peru, gives an account of a cross 



* " Vieron algunos Adoratorios, i Teraplos, i vno en particular, cuia forma era de vna Torre quadrada, ancha 

 del pie, i hueca en lo alto, con quatro grandes Ventanas, con sus Corredores, i en lo hueco, que era la Capilla, 

 estaban Idolos, i a las espaldas estaba vna Sacristia, adonde se guardaban las cosas del servicio del Templo : i al pie 

 de est'! estaba vn cercado de Piedra, i Cal, almenado, i enlucido, i enmedio vna Cruz de Cal, de tres varas en alto, a 

 la qual tenian por el Dios de la Uuvia, cstando mui certificados, que no les faltaba, quando devotamente se la pedian: 

 i enotras partes de esta Isla.i enmuchasdc Jucatan, se vieron Crucesdela mismamanera, i pintadas, i no de Latdn, 

 porque nunca lo buvo, como dice Gomara, sino de Piedra, i Palo." — Herrera: Historia General de los Hechos de 

 los Castellanos en las Idas y Tierra Firme del Mar Oceano ; Madrid, 172-5-30, dec. ii, lib. iii, cap. i.— The first 

 edition .appeared in 1605-15. 



f Gomiira: Ilispania Victrix. Priracra y Segvnda Parte de la Historia General de Lis Indias. . . Con la 

 Conquista de Mexico y de la Nueva Espaiia; Medina del Campo, 1553; segunda parte, fol. 10. 



X Carta dirijida al Key de Espaiia, por el Licenciado Dr. Don Diego Garcia de Palacio, aiio 157G ; with English 

 translation and notes by E. G. Squier ; New York, 1860, p. 93. 



§ Clavigero: History of Mexico; translated from the Italian by Charles Cullen; Philadelphia, 1817, vol. ii, 

 p. 14. 



II Pvuiz : Conqvista Espiritval heoba por los Religiosos do la Compania de Jesus, en las Prouincias del Para- 

 guay, Parana, Vruguay, y Tape; Madrid, 1639, §§ xxi-sxv. In this book the sheets only are numbered. 

 6 



