ayapan with salt which they had got....

"The Lords were absolute in power and caused their orders to be
executed with severity. There were Caciques placed in the Villages, or
some other leading person to hear suits and public demands. This
officer received the litigants or disputants, heard the cause of their
coming, and, if the matter were a grave one, talked it over with the
Lord. In order to try the case, other Ministers were appointed who were
like Advocates and Constables and who always attended in the presence
of the judges.... They were not in the habit of writing down the
lawsuits, although they had characters (of which many are to be seen in
the ruins of their buildings). All was set forth in words by means of
the Ministers before referred to, and what was then and there
determined remained valid and permanent without either of the parties
venturing to work against it. But if the affair which was to be tried
concerned many, they had a great meeting of all the interested
together; then the gist was communicated, upon which followed the
decision of the matter.

"In sales and contracts they had neither writings to oblige them to
keep their word nor promissory notes with which to give satisfaction,
but still the contract remained valid provided only that the parties
drank together publicly before witnesses. This was particularly the
usage in sales of slaves or of cacao-lands, and even today (it is said)
they use it still among themselves in the sale of horses and cattle.
The debtor never denied the debt even though he could not pay at once;
but all was made certain by the debtor's confessing his debt, for the
wife, children and relatives of the debtor would pay the debt after his
death....

"In the wars which because of their ambition they made upon one
another, some were taken prisoners, those of the conquered who were
taken remaining slaves. In this situation they were very rigorous,
treating the enslaved with asperity, and making use of them in all
sorts of bodily labor.

"In food-supplies there were no bargains, because they were always
fixed at one price, save Maize, which was wont to go up when crops were
poor, but it never passed what it is now worth, a _real_ or so, the
load (which is half a Castillian fanega).

"The money that they used was little bells and jingles of copper, which
had value according to their size, and some red shells, which were
brought from far away from this land, which they str