1894.] 55 [Brinton. 



and good things, and all that thou hast orwishest? Because we know very 

 well tliat nuiuj' of you so believe at this very time." * 



Down to quite a recent date, and perhaps still, these green 

 stones are employed in certain ceremonies in vogue among the 

 Indians of Oaxaea in order to ensure a plenteous maize harvest. 

 The largest ear of corn in the field is selected and wrapped np 

 in a cloth with some of these chalchiuite. At the next corn- 

 planting it is taken to the field and buried in the soil. This is 

 believed to be a relic of the worship of the ancient Zapotec 

 divinity, Quiegolani, who presided over cultivated fields. f 



They are still in use among the natives as lucky stones or 

 amulets. In the Zotzil insurrection of 1869, already referred to, 

 one was found suspended to the neck of one of the slain In- 

 dians. It came into the possession of M. Maler, who has de- 

 scribed and figured it.| It represents a human head with a curi- 

 ous expression and a singular headdress. 



From specimens of these amulets preserved in museums it is 

 seen that any greenish stone was selected, preferably those yield- 

 ing a high, vitreous polish, as jadeite, turquoise, emerald, chlor- 

 melanite or precious serpentine. The color gave the sacred 

 character, and this, it seems to me, was distinctl}^ meant to be 

 S3'mbolic of water and its effects, the green of growing plants, 

 and hence of fertility, abundance and prosperity. 



31. There is another s3'mbol, still venerated among the pres- 

 ent indigenous population, which belongs to Xagualism, and is 

 a survival from the ancient cult ; this is the Tree. The species 

 held in especial respect is the ceiba, the silk-cotton tree, the 

 ytzaniatl (knife-leaved paper tree) of the Xahuas, the yax che 

 (green, or first tree) of the Mayas, the Bomhax ceiba of the 

 botanists. It is of great size and rapid growth. In Southern 

 Mexico and Central America one is to be seen near many of the 

 native villages, and is regarded as in some way the protecting 

 genius of the town. 



Sacred trees were familiar to the old Mexican cult, and, what 

 is curious, the same name was applied to such as to the fire, 



* Alva, Cov/essionario en Lcngua Mexicana, fol. 9. 



t Carriedo, Estudios Historicos, pp. 6, 7. 



I In the lieviie d' Ethnographic, Tom. iii, p. 313. Some very fine objects of this class are 

 described by E. G. Squier, iu liis " Observations on the Chalchihuitl," in the Annals of 

 the Lyceum of Xatural History, Vol. i CNevv York, 1869). 



