e two proponents' names, and, counting them by twos, if one
remained over, it meant a son; then counting by threes any remainder
also meant sons; by fours the remainder meant either sons or daughters;
and by five and six the same; and if there was no remainder by any of
these five divisors the marriage would result in no sons and was
prohibited.

It is obvious that this method of fortune-telling was most auspicious
for the lovers; for I doubt if there is any combination of two numbers
below fourteen which is divisible by two, three, four, five and six
without remainder in any one instance.[15-[+]]

The Zapotecs were one of those nations who voluntarily submitted
themselves to the Spaniards, not out of love for the Europeans, but
through hatred of the Aztecs, who had conquered them in the preceding
century. Their king, Coyopy, and his subjects accepted Christianity and
were generally baptized; but it was the merest formality, and years
afterwards Coyopy was detected secretly conducting the heathen ritual of
his ancestors with all due pomp. He was arrested, sent to the city of
Mexico, deprived of his power and wealth, and soon died; it is
charitably supposed, from natural causes. There is no question but that
he left successors to the office of pontifex maximus, and that they
continued the native religious ceremonies.

=12.= The sparse notices we have of the astrology of the Mixtecs,
neighbors and some think relatives of the Zapotecs, reveal closely
similar rites. The name of their king, who opposed Montezuma the First
some sixty years before the arrival of Cortez, proves that they made use
of the same or a similar calendar in bestowing personal appellations. It
is given as _Tres Micos_, Three Monkeys.

Unfortunately, so far as I know, there has not been published, and
perhaps there does not exist, an authentic copy of the Mixtec calendar.
It was nevertheless reduced to writing in the native tongue after the
conquest, and a copy of it was seen by the historian Burgoa in the
Mixtec town of Yanhuitlan.[16-*] Each day was named from a tree, a plant
or an animal, and from them the individual received his names, as Four
Lions, Five Roses, etc. (examples given by Herrera). This latter writer
adds that the name was assigned by the priests when the child was seven
years old (as among the Tzentals), part of the rite being to conduct it
to the temple and bore its ears. He refers also to their auguries
relating to marriage.[16