o lived around Palenque (see Stoll,
_Ethnographie der Rep. Guatemala_, pp. 89-93), but the reference in the
text is not to them, nor yet to the Mams, as Brasseur thought, but to a
nation speaking a non-Maya tongue.

_Vaya vaya ela opa_. I have given several reasons for the opinion that
these words are in the Xinca language. See my essay _On the Xinca
Indians of Guatemala_, in the _Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society_, 1885.

24. _Mem_, dumb, silent, incapable of speech. _Tin memuh vi_, I am dumb,
I keep silence; given in the text as the origin of the _nomen gentile_,
Mam. The Mams speak a dialect of the Maya, probably scarcely
intelligible to the Cakchiquels. They at present dwell in the
northwestern districts of the Republic of Guatemala. See Stoll,
_Ethnographie der Rep. Guatemala_, pp. 164-5.

25. _Nacxit_. On this passage Brasseur builds his theory of the
formation of a great Toltec empire in Central America, about the close
of the eleventh century (_Hist. des Nations Civilisees[TN-28] du
Mexique_, Tom. II, pp. 101-5). He explains _Nacxit_ as the last two
syllables of _Topiltzin Acxitl_, a title of Quetzalcoatl. _Cinpual
Taxuch_ is undoubtedly from the same tongue. _Orbal tzam_, Bored Nose,
the pendent from the nose being apparently a sign of dignity, as the
pierced ears of the Incas.

_vapal abah_, "the lintel stone," here used in the metaphorical sense of
"the corner stone."

26. The description of the dance of the Pokomams, leads us to suppose
that the author means it was a war dance. The Pokomams dwell at present
in the southeastern part of the Republic of Guatemala.

_chicop Cakbim_; the savage or barbarian Zakbim. See Introduction, p.
39.

27. _Tzaktzuy_. Brasseur translates "Chateau des Citrouilles," mistaking
_tzak_ for _[c,]ak_, as he does throughout the passage; _tzuy_ means
also cup or gourd, and the name may be rendered either "the ensnaring
cup," or "vine." Possibly it refers to a scene of drunkenness.

_ri retal_; the sign or mark. Brasseur translates it "limit" or
"landmark" of the Ahquehays. These were one of the noble families of the
Quiche stock.

28. _Oronic Cakhay_, "the Red House of the Nobles," said by Brasseur to
be a hill, one league west of the modern village of Rabinal.

_Tecpan_, "the royal house." See Introduction, p. 13.

_[c,]umah chi qui [c]ux_; Brasseur translates these words, "cuirasses
sur la poitrine," and says this was the name of the Pokomams (_Hist.