red,
and he consecrated it and used it as an altar stone, and at this day it
is so employed on the grand altar of the convent of _San Francisco de
Tecpan goathemala_, and it is considered a jewel of unusual beauty and
value. The size of the stone is a full half yard in each direction.

"The principal gate of this stronghold or citadel was upon the causeway
mentioned; and they say it was closed with two doors set in the solid
wall, the external one opening outward, the internal one inward, and
both were of the stone called _chay_. Thus, one of these doors backed up
against the other, as we sometimes see double doors in our prisons.
They were always guarded with double guards, one within, the other
without, and these guards were changed every seven days. In the open
country, on the other side of the ravine, there were a number of mounds,
about a quarter of a league apart, extending for a considerable
distance. On these, lookouts were constantly stationed, to give notice
of the invasions of the Quiches or of the Sotojil king."

The site of Iximche was visited in 1840 by the eminent American
traveler, John L. Stephens. He states that its position, the steep and
profound barranca, and the plain, "warrant the description given of it
by Fuentes." A century and a half had, however, almost erased the
vestiges of human life. "The ground was covered with mounds of ruins. In
one place we saw the foundations of two houses, one of them about one
hundred and fifty feet long by fifty feet broad."

Mr. Stephens was also fortunate enough to see and examine the mysterious
divining stone, preserved in the church of Tecpan Guatemala. But a great
disappointment awaited him. "This oracular slab is a piece of common
slate, fourteen inches by ten, and about as thick as those used by boys
at school, without characters of any kind upon it."[27-1]

A few years after Mr. Stephens' visit, the government of Guatemala
appointed a commission to survey and examine these ruins. They completed
their labors successfully, but I have been unable to learn that the
results were published, although they were written out and placed in the
governmental archives.[28-1]

_Computation of Time._

I propose, in a future work, to discuss the methods of reckoning time in
use in Central America; but a brief explanation of that adopted by the
Cakchiquels is essential to a comprehension of their _Annals_.

The Cakchiquels were probably acquainted with the length o