ity of the soul,
and its existence after its earthly mission was accomplished. They
believed that the sentient and intelligent principle, _pixan_,
which inhabits the body, survived the death of that body, and was
bound to return to earth, and live other and many mundane
existences; but that between each separate existence that _pixan_
went to a place of delight, _Caan_, where it enjoyed all sorts of
bliss for a proportionate time, and as a reward for the good
actions it had done while on earth. Passing to a place of
punishment, _Metnal_, it suffered all kinds of evils during also a
certain time in atonement for its sins. Then it was to return and
live again among men. But as the material body was perishable, they
made effigies in perfect resemblance to it. These were sometimes of
wood, sometimes of clay, and sometimes of stone, according to the
wealth or social position of the individual; and after burning the
body, the ashes were enclosed in the statue or in urns that they
placed near by. Around and beside these were arranged the weapons
and the ornaments used by the deceased, if a warrior; the tools of
his trade; if a mechanic; and books, if a priest or learned man, in
order that they should find them at hand when the _pixan_ should
come back and animate the statue or image.

To return to our investigations at Uxmal. On examining the
ornaments on the cornice of the Eastern front of the monument known
as "The House of the Governor," I was struck with their similarity
to those which adorn the most ancient edifice of Chichen and whose
construction, I judge, dates back 12,000 years. But what most
particularly called my attention were the hieroglyphics that
surrounded a sitting figure placed over the main entrance in the
centre of the building. There were plainly to me the names of
_Huuncay_ and _Chaacmol_, and on both sides of the figure, now
headless, the name of the individual it was intended to represent,
_Aac_, the younger brother and murderer. And on the North-west
corner of the second terrace was his private residence, a very
elegant structure of a most simple and graceful architecture,
ornamented with his totem. I afterwards found a pillar written with
his name in hieroglyphics and a bust of marble very much defaced.
Around the neck is a