baal-che_. The whites speak of the drink as _pitarilla_. It is quite
popular among the natives, and they still attribute to it a sacred
character, calling it _yax ha_, the first water, the primal fluid. They
say that it was the first liquid created by God, and when He returned to
His heavenly home He left this beverage and its production in charge of
the gods of the rains, the four Pah-Ahtuns.[9-[+]]

=5.= Intoxication of some kind was an essential part of many of these
secret rites. It was regarded as a method of throwing the individual out
of himself and into relation with the supernal powers. What the old
historian, Father Joseph de Acosta, tells us about the clairvoyants and
telepaths of the aborigines might well stand for a description of their
modern representatives:

"Some of these sorcerers take any shape they choose, and fly
through the air with wonderful rapidity and for long distances.
They will tell what is taking place in remote localities long
before the news could possibly arrive. The Spaniards have known
them to report mutinies, battles, revolts and deaths, occurring two
hundred or three hundred leagues distant, on the very day they took
place, or the day after.

"To practice this art the sorcerers, usually old women, shut
themselves in a house, and intoxicate themselves to the degree of
losing their reason. The next day they are ready to reply to
questions."[10-*]

Plants possessing similar powers to excite vivid visions and distort the
imagination, and, therefore, employed in the magical rites, were the
_thiuimeezque_, in Michoacan, and the _chacuaco_, in lower
California.[10-[+]]

=6.= In spite of all effort, the various classes of wonder-workers
continued to thrive in Mexico. We find in a book of sermons published by
the Jesuit Father, Ignacio de Paredes, in the Nahuatl language, in 1757,
that he strenuously warns his hearers against invoking, consulting, or
calling upon "the devilish spell-binders, the nagualists, and those who
conjure with smoke."[10-[++]]

They have not yet lost their power; we have evidence enough that many
children of a larger growth in that land still listen with respect to
the recitals of the mysterious faculties attributed to the
_nanahualtin_. An observant German traveler, Carlos von Gagern, informs
us that they are widely believed to be able to cause sicknesses and
other ills, which must be counteracted by ap