Page:Mexican Archæology.djvu/267

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THE MAYA: TRIBAL HISTORY
211

mentioned as the point of departure, but the statement is made that there are four Tulans, one in the east, one in the west (whence the Kakchiquel themselves came), one at Xibalba (the underworld) and one "where god is." It is impossible not to see in this a reference to the four cardinal points, which, as has been pointed out, were of such ceremonial importance among the Mexicans. The names of the ancestors of the Xahila division of the Kakchiquel are given as Gagavitz and Zactecauh, and after the creation they brought tribute to Tulan together with the Zotzil, the other division, consisting of jade, silver, feather-work and carvings. All that they brought away with them were their arms, bows and shields, and throughout the early portion of the annals insistence is continually being made on the fact that the Kakchiquel were warriors of the hills. "Let your rounded shields be your riches, your bows, your bucklers . . . there in the hills shall you lift up your faces." Various other tribes are mentioned as starting from Tulan about the same time, including the Rabinal, Tzutuhil, and Tukuchi, the last becoming subject subsequently to the Kakchiquel. A number of place-names occur in the account of the migration, which do not admit of identification, and at one point the sea is said to have been crossed by means of a causeway of sand which miraculously made its appearance. Finally the travellers come to Tapcu Oloman, where they fought with those of Nonoualcat, who come against them in boats, a statement which must surely point to the Olmec and the region east of the Totonac (between the rivers Papaloapan and Usumacinta) known to the Mexicans as Nonoualco. Whilst here they made an attack upon Zuiva, but were defeated. At this point the wandering peoples, who included the Quiché, adopted tribal names, and they then retraced their footsteps over the route by which they had come, fighting with various tribes by the way, until apparently they turned south