n the length of two lives as protracted as that of
the author himself. This result is that generally obtained by a careful
scrutiny of American traditions. They very rarely are so far-reaching as
has usually been supposed. Anything spoken of as more than three or four
generations distant, may safely be assumed as belonging to myth, and not
to history.

It was the expressed intention of the Abbe Brasseur to edit the original
text with his translation, but this he did not live to accomplish. He
incorporated numerous extracts from it in his _Histoire des Nations
Civilisees du Mexique et de l'Amerique Centrale_, and added a few
paragraphs in the original at the end of the first volume of that work;
but these did not give much idea of the document as a whole.

When, with the aid of the previous partial translations and the
assistance of some intelligent natives, he had completed a version into
French, of that portion composed by the first two writers he gave a copy
of it to Don Juan Gavarrete. This antiquary translated it into Spanish,
and published it serially, in the _Boletin de la Sociedad Economica de
Guatemala_, beginning with No. 29, September, 1873, and continuing to
No. 43. Copies of this publication are, however, so scarce that I have
been unable to learn of a complete file, even in Guatemala. The
dissolution of the Sociedad Economica by order of the late President
Barrios, scattered the copies in its own archives.

_Synopsis of the Annals of Xahila._

The work opens with a statement that the writer intends to record the
ancient traditions of his tribe, as handed down from their early heroes,
Gagavitz and Zactecauh. He begins with a brief genealogical table of the
four sub-tribes of the Cakchiquels (Secs. 1-3), and then relates their
notions of the creation of man at one of the mythical cities of Tulan,
in the distant west (4, 5). Having been subjected to onerous burdens in
Tulan, they determine to leave it, and are advised to go by their
oracles (6-14).

They cross the sea, proceeding toward the east, and arrive at a land
inhabited by the Nonoualcats, an Aztec people (15-17). Their first
action is formally to choose Gagavitz and Zactecauh as their joint
rulers (18-19), and under their leadership they proceed to attack the
Nonoualcats. After a severe conflict the Cakchiquels are defeated, and
are obliged to seek safety in further wanderings. At length they reach
localities in Guatemala (20). At this point an