142 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 64, gann] 



surely who built these buildings or when they were built, though some of them did 

 their best in trjdng to explain the matter, but in doing so showed foolish fancies and 

 dreams, and nothing fitted into the facts or was satisfactory. The truth is that to-day 

 the place is called Uxmal, and an intelligent old Indian declared to the father delegate 

 that according to what the ancients had said it was known that it was more than nine 

 hundred years since the buildings were built. ' 



From this account there appears to be httle doubt that at the time 

 of the conquest the great buildings of Uxmal were deserted and al- 

 ready falling into ruins. In the minds of the Indians they were 

 evidently associated with the practice of their ancient reUgious rites 

 at a much later date, for one of the reasons given by the regidor when 

 he applied for a grant of the land upon which the ruins stand was 

 that— 



It would prevent the Indians in those places from worshipping the devil in the 

 ancient buildings which are there, having in them idols to which they burn copal, 

 and performing other detestable sacrifices as they are doing every day notoriously and 

 publicly.^ 



The ruins of Uxmal were probably venerated by the Indians up to 

 a very recent period, as in one of the chants used by the modern 

 Maya of southern Yucatan in their "Cha chac" or rain ceremony the 

 "Noh Nah ti Uxmal," ''Great house of Uxmal," is introduced, which 

 possibly refers to the Casa del Gobernador, as this is the largest build- 

 ing among the ruins. 



JRelacion Breve, quoted by Spinden, A Study of Maya Art, pp. 7-8. 

 2 Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, vol. i, p. 323. 



