[BULL. 64, GANN] IMAYA INDIANS OF YUCATAN AND BRITISH HONDURAS 33 



and upward. This ^vas probably done with the idea of increasing 

 the population, which had been considerably depleted by the long- 

 continued war. Formerly, the fii'st question of a girl's father to 

 her suitor was " Ilai tzak a hul hai tzak taman?" (How many macates 

 of corn and cotton have you T) ; 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 cere- 

 mony is often performed months or even years after the young 

 couple have set up housekeeping together, since owing to the re- 

 moteness 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 

 yumxcrih (probably derived from the Maya Yum, "lord," and Span- 

 ish escnhano), w^ho holds a position somewhat analogous to that 

 of colonial secretary in a British colony. 



The babies and smaller children m general are pretty, merry 

 little things. The mothers almost invariably nurse them w^eU into 

 the second year, as the mammary glands are remarkably well devel- 

 oped 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 remam with the mother; of the older children, the 

 boys go w^ith the father, the girls with the mother. If small chil- 

 dren are left destitute by the death of both parents, the nearest 

 relative takes them, and in the absence of relatives they are dis- 

 tributed 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 chil- 

 dren, each taking such articles as wiU 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 w4th civilization the 

 looser it seems to become. In British Honduras, where the Indians 

 are closely associated with wSpaniards, Mestizos, Negroes, and other 

 races, the women change their partners with the utmost facility. 

 The Negroes are called hisinbosh, "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 facil- 

 ity with which it is obtainable by the Indians. The husband "takes 

 to dr'nk, neglects his wife and family, and probably gets entangled 

 with some other woman; the wife, in order to obtain food, clothing, 

 70806°— IS— Bull. 64 3 



