d of Jesus Christ, tried to abolish this count, holding it to be
superstitious, but they did not progress far because most [of the
Indians] know it. This matter was laid before a great and Apostolic Man
named Padre Solana, and before another scarcely less great called Fray
Caspar de Naxara, who were great Ministers and Preachers and who felt
that it was not prejudicial to the Christianizing of the Indians; but
Padre Fuensalida says in his Relacion, treating of the ancient counts:
'It would be far better in every way if the Indians did not learn and
know of the ancient peoples, because they have been found still at
their idolatries, and those who were converted to our Holy Catholic
Faith still perform the rites, adoring the Demon through thousands of
Idols which have been found in this Province.' ...

"They counted their eras and ages which they put in their books by
groups of twenty years and by lustra of four years. The first year they
fixed in the East, calling it _Cuchhaab_; the second in the West,
calling it _Hijx_; the third in the South, _Cavac_; the fourth in the
North, called _Muluc_." These refer to the four dominical days, which
he has given incorrectly. They should be Kan, Muluc, Ix (Hijx), and
Cauac. (See Bowditch, 1910, p. 278.) "When these lustra reached five,
which is exactly twenty years, they called it a _Katun_ and placed a
carved stone upon another, fixing them with lime and sand in the
walls of their Temples and the houses of their Priests, as is
to be seen today in the edifices which have been spoken of and
in certain ancient walls of our Convent in Merida, over which
there are cells. In a village called Tixualahtun, which signifies
Place-where-a-carved-stone-is-placed-upon-another, it is said that
there were Archives where were preserved all the events, as is done in
Spain at the Archivo de Simancas.

"The common way of counting their age was by these periods or Katuns,
as, for instance, to say 'I have sixty years' _Oxppelvabil_--'I have
three eras of age,' that is, three stones; for seventy it is three and
a half. Wherever it was known that there were not too many barbarians,
they continued to live by this count, and it was said to be very
accurate, so much so that not only did they know with certainty of an
event, but also of the day and month on which it took place."]

[Footnote 9.7: A gloss reads "the devil excites their minds."]

[Footnote 9.8: A gloss reads "varias cosas que tratamos."]