IN THE OLDEN TIME. 
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baked, and evidently portions of spherical vessels. Not a 
sign of roof-tiles was seen, nor any painted fragments, 
although figured work was common enough. 
The Quiche rivers abounded in fish, and the forests and 
mountains in game, while the fields produced abundant 
crops with little labor. No wonder the Spanish con¬ 
querors found a civilization that astonished them, a 
wealth which roused all their terrible cupidity, but a 
resistance more determined and bloody than they had 
found in Mexico. 
It may not interest my readers to go deeply into the 
forms of government in those ancient times, but it may 
be said that it was an aristocratic monarchy hereditary 
in this peculiar way. When the principal king (Ahau- 
Ahpop) of the dual reign (there were always two kings 
at a time) died, the crown he had worn passed to his 
oldest brother, who performed the functions of Ahpop- 
Camha, and as second king had share in the government. 
The oldest son of the Ahau-Ahpop, who during the life 
of his father had been Nim-Chocoh-Cawek, became Ah- 
pop-Camha, and his cousin (son of the king’s brother), 
who had been Ahau-Ah-Tohil or high priest of this god, 
Nim-Chocoh-Cawek, the elder son of the new sovereign 
taking the vacant post. 
In this wise method of civil service regencies were 
never needed, and each king had fitted himself, by exercise 
of subordinate but important offices, for the supreme rule. 
If any one of these dignitaries proved his unfitness for 
advancement, he was passed over, and the next in rank 
chosen; and thus through a long series of offices. The 
corrupting influences of so-called popular elections, which 
are usually manipulated by a few conscienceless politicians 
