Brintou.] . *^^ [Jan. 5, 



soldiery to guard their lands, and ihe captains, as well as many who were 

 not caplains, had their nauales. They called the capt&m ru g' alache ; 

 rohobachi, ti ru gaah, ru pocob, ru gh' amay a ghay ti be clii naualil [he 

 works magic with his shield, his lance, and his arrows]. 



"To practice such magical arts : tin naualih ('I practice magic '), an 

 active verb. They use it, for instance, when a man asks his wife for 

 something to eat or drink, and she has nothing, owing to his negligence, 

 she will say : 'Where do you suppose I can get what you want? Do you 

 expect me to perform miracles — xa 2)/^ t'i tinnaualih — that tliey shall come 

 to my hands ?' So when one is asked to lend or give sometliiug which he 

 has not, he will exclaim : Tin naualih pe ri puvak, etc. (' Can I perform 

 miracles,' etc.) 



" It also signifies to pretend something, concealing the truth, as xa ru 

 naualim ara neJi chu g' ux ri tzih tan tu bijii pedro, ' Peter is feigning this 

 which he is saying.' They are also accustomed to apply this word to the 

 power which the priests exert (in the sacraments, etc.)." 



A long and foolish account of the witchcraft supposed to be 

 practiced among the Pokonchis of Guatemala, also a tribe of 

 Mayan stock, is given by the Englishman, Thomas Gage, who 

 was cura of a parish among them about 1630, and afterwards re- 

 turned to England and Protestantism. He described, at weari- 

 some length, the supposed metamorphosis of two chiefs of neigh- 

 boring tribes, the one into a lion, the other into a tiger, and the 

 mortal combat in which they engaged, resulting in the death oi 

 one to whom Gage administered absolution. No doubt he had 

 been worsted in a personal encounter with his old enem}', and, 

 being a man of eighty years, had not the vigor to recover. The 

 account is of interest only as proving that the same supersti- 

 tions at that time prevailed among the Pokonchis as in other 

 portions of Guatemala.* 



15. A really mighty nagualist was not confined to a single 

 transformation. He could take on many and varied figures. 

 One such is described in the sacred books of the Quiches of 

 Guatemala, that document known by the name of the Popol 

 Vuh, or National Book. The passage is in reference to one of 

 their great kings and powerful magicians, Gucumatz by name. 

 It says : 



"Truly lie was a wonderful king. Every seven days he ascended to 

 the sky, and every seven days he followed the path to the abode of the 



* Gage, A New Survey of the West Indies, p. 3S8, seq. (4th Ed.). 



