to this in Yucatan,[1] and there is even more in Central America. The old historians frequently refer to the histories of their own nations, written out by members of the Quiche, Cakchiquel, Pokomam and Tzendal tribes. Vasquez, Fuentes and Juarros quote them frequently, and with respect. They were composed in the aboriginal tongues, for the benefit of their fellow townsmen, and as they were never printed, most of them became lost, much to the regret of antiquaries.
Of those preserved, the Popol Vuh or National Book of the Quiches, and the Annals of the Cakchiquels, the latter published for the first time in this volume, are the most important known.
The former, the "Sacred Book" of the Quiches, a document of the highest merits, and which will certainly increase in importance as it is studied, was printed at Paris in 1861, with a translation into French by the Abbé Brasseur (de Bourbourg). He made use only of the types of the Latin alphabet; and both in this respect and in the fidelity of his translation, he has left much to be desired in the presentation of the work.
The recent publication of the Grammar also relieves me from the necessity of saying much about the structure of the Cakchiquel language. Those who wish to acquaint themselves with it, and follow the translation given in this volume by comparing the original text, will need to procure all the information contained in the Grammar. It will be sufficient to say here that the tongue is one built up with admirable regularity on radicals of one or two syllables. The perfection and logical sequence of its verbal forms have excited the
- ↑ See The Maya Chronicles, p. 67, and note.
