Brinton.] \)oZ [Nov. 4, 



was the impressioa it made upou their uututored minds that even to this 

 day, after more than three hundred years of Christian teaching, it is not 

 the mild Judean Virgin, nor the severe Christian God who is their highest 

 deity, but it is the wise Naoh, the Spirit of Knowledge, the Genius of 

 Reason, who in seci*et still receives their prayers as the greatest of all the 

 gods. They have also other divinities whose Avorship has constantly been 

 retained in spite of all the efforts of the missionaries.* 



The word naual appears also to have been used to express that intellec- 

 tual communion with the lower animals which the priests often claimed, 

 to the effect that they could understand the songs of birds, etc. Coto re-, 

 marks that the natives had the superstition that twins are by birth naual 

 to rats, "that is, that they have the characteristics of rats, that they will 

 gnaw the clothing of those who irritate them," etc.f 



The name Voc is that of a species of bird (Cakchiquel Vaku.). Coto de- 

 scribes it as having green plumage, and a very large and curved bill, 

 apparently a kind of parrot. Elsewhere in the myth (p. 70) it is said to 

 be the messenger of Hurakan, resting neither in the heaven nor in the un- 

 derworld, but in a moment flying to the sky, to Hurakan who dwells there. 



The tribal gods are first mentioned in the last part of the Popol Yuh, and 

 they are said to have been given the people in " Tulan Zuiva, " a town 

 where they went to receive them (p. 315). The Tecpan-Atitlan records 

 state that these gods were first given "in Tullan in Xibalbay, " one of the 

 four places of the name of Tulan, which that ancient and interesting 

 legend refers to. The names of these gods were Toliil, Avilix, Hacavitz, 

 and Nicahtagah. 



*"Die bedeutendsten Gottheiten der Indianer von Istl&vacan, denen sie noch 

 bis zur Stunde zu gewissen Zeiten im Geheimen, im dtlsteren Urforst opfern. 

 nud zu deren Ehren siezaweilen sogar Festebegehen, heissen: Noj, der Genius 

 der Vernunft, Ajmak, der Genius der Gesundheit, Ik, der Mond, Kanil, der Ge- 

 nius der Aussaat und Juiup, der Gott derErde, welcher unter den Indianerndas 

 bose Princip vorstellt, im Gegensatze zu Ki.j, dem Gott des Lichtes, deni guten 

 Princip." Dr. K. Sciierzer, Die Indianer von Sobnta Catalina IsUduacan, p. 12. 

 These Indians are said to be the pure-blooded descendants of the ancient 

 Kiches. Of these names Noh, Naoh, is explained above ; Ahmak is the name 

 of a day in the calendar, meaning uncertain; Ik, the moon; Kanil, yellow, 

 refers to the color of maize when ripe and hence the harvest ; Juiup, probably 

 ulhc the earth ; Kij = g'ih, sun, day, light, &c. Dr. Scherzer says that they still 

 look upon mountains, trees, etc., as habitations of particular gods. He also adds 

 that to this day among tliem every child at his birth is named after and put 

 under the protection of some species of animal ; and this animal is called his 

 nagualovnawal. In one curious episode in the Popol Vuh where the people 

 sent forth to the bath two beautiful maidens in order to seduce the god Tohil, It 

 is related that what they wished was that these virgins should be deflowered , 

 qui naual Tohil, by the mystic power of Tohil (p. 2GS). Tlie verb noh has the sig- 

 nification to fill, and hence to impregnate, fecundate, and is often so used in the 

 Popol Vuh (e. g. p. 12). This gives occasion for a combination of genesiac rites 

 and myths with the woi-ship of Reason. 



t That particular form of superstition called iVag'Matom, which still prevails 

 among some Central American nations, derives its name from this root. It has 

 been described by the Abb6 Brasseur in his Voyage sur I'Isthme de Tehuantepec, 

 Paris, 1861, and in the Bull, de la Soc. de Geographie, Paris, Ser i, xiii. 



