A SACRED STONE. 



149 



went out on the corridor and consulted with a brother 

 about as old and round as himself, and at length told us 

 to wait in that room and he would bring it. As he went 

 out he ordered all the Indians in the courtyard, about 

 forty or fifty, to go to the cabildo and tell the alcalde to 

 send the guide. In a few minutes he returned, and 

 opening with some trepidation the folds of his large 

 gown, produced the stone. 



Fuentes, in speaking of the old city, says, " To the 

 westward of the city there is a little mount that com- 

 mands it, on which stands a small round building about 

 six feet in height, in the middle of which there is a ped- 

 estal formed of a shining substance resembling glass, 

 but the precise quality of which has not been ascertain- 

 ed. Seated around this building, the judges heard and 

 decided the causes brought before them, and their sen- 

 tences were executed upon the spot. Previous to exe- 

 cuting them, however, it was necessary to have them 

 confirmed by the oracle, for which purpose three of 

 the judges left their seats and proceeded to a deep ra- 

 vine, where there was a place of worship containing a 

 black transparent stone, on the surface of which the 

 Deity was supposed to indicate the fate of the criminal. 

 If the decision was approved, the sentence was execu- 

 ted immediately ; if nothing appeared on the stone, the 

 accused was set at liberty. This oracle was also con- 

 sulted in the affairs of war. The Bishop Francisco 

 Marroquin having obtained intelligence of this slab, 

 ordered it to be cut square, and consecrated it for the 

 top of the grand altar in the Church of Tecpan Guati- 

 mala. It is a stone of singular beauty, about a yard 

 and a half each way." The " Modern Traveller" re- 

 fers to it as an " interesting specimen of ancient art;" 

 and in 1825 concludes, " we may hope, before long, to 



