832 BUREA.U OF AMEETCAN ETHNOLOGY [bfll. 2S 



to be founded on any more exact information. Nakuk Pecli gives 

 the name of the 3^ear 1542, in which the Spanish founded the city 

 of Merida, as 13 Kan. This accords with the other agreements 

 occurring in the books of Chihim Balam — with one exception, of 

 which I shall speak directly — and also with the above computation. 



The second one of the dates which are recorded with comparative 

 accuracy is that of the death of a certain Ahpula, or Ahpulha, who is 

 called Napot Xiu in the second list of the Chilam Balam of Chuma- 

 yel. The latter is the true name of the man, who Avas, therefore, on 

 his father's side, of the tribe of Xiu, the reigning dynasty of Mani, 

 and on his mother's side of the Pot tribe. The other word, appar- 

 ently, merely signifies the quality, the trade, the occupation of the 

 person in question. Ah-pul, " the thrower ", or ah-pul-ya, ah-pul- 

 3'^aah, " thrower of evil ", " thrower of diseases ", was the technical 

 name for a certain class of magicians of whom it was believed that 

 they busied themselves in casting sickness upon their fellow-men. 

 The death of a dreaded conjurer was therefore announced. From the 

 ■ name we must suppose that it was an event which especially affected 

 the territory of the principality of Mani. Ah Napot Xiu, by the way, 

 also occurs as the name of a mythic or historic i)ersonage for whom 

 one of the 13 katuns is named. 



The death of this Ahpula is given in three of the lists — the Chilam 

 Balam of Mani, that of Tzimin, and the first list of the Chilam 

 Balam of Chumayel — in perfect agreement and with remarkable 

 accuracy. According to these authorities Ahpula died six years 

 before the expiration of katun 13 Ahau, in the year 4 Kan, on the 

 18th of the month Zip, and on the day 9 Imix. The second list of the 

 Chilam Balam of Chumayel, differing from these, sets down Ahpu- 

 la's death in the first division of 11 Ahau. Besides, the Chilam 

 Balam of Mani and that of Tzimin give the year as answering to 

 the year 1536 of the Christian chronology; but in the first list of the 

 Chilam Balam of Chumayel the figure 158 is given, which is open 

 to various interpretations." 



Definite as these statements seem to be, we nevertheless meet with 

 insoluble contradictions when we undertake a closer comparison of 

 the dates handed down to us. A serious discrepancy is encountered 

 at the outset in the divergent assertion of the second list of the 

 Chilam Balam of Chumayel. On the other hand, " six years before 

 the close of 13 Ahau " can not have been the year 1536. It was 

 either (as according to my reckoning) the year 1528 or (if we con- 

 sider the statement of Nakuk Pech that the establishment of the 

 Spaniards in Merida was the fifth division of 11 Ahau to be correct) 

 the year 1530. And if, as Perez did,^ we read " in the sixth year 



" Brintou, Maya Chronicles, pp. 98, 142, l.'jt). 



'' Sl('|)li('iis, iHcidonts of Trnvcl in Yiicnian, v. 1, p. 4-1:!. 



