HISTORY OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF YUCATAN AND OF THE ITZAS

Back Forward Menu

tried not to go out of their houses, and so they always provided
themselves with what was necessary beforehand so as not to have to go
to the fields or elsewhere. At this time they attended especially to
their Heathen Rites, begging their Idols to keep them free from harm in
those dangerous days and to grant that the following year might be
fertile and abundant. And these days so greatly feared were the 11, 12,
13, 14, 15 and 16 (sic) of our July. All the days of the month had each
its name, which I leave untold for fear of prolixity.

"By means of this count they know the time in which to clear the
woodlands and to burn the underbrush, to expect rains, to sow the Maize
and other vegetables, for all which actions they have their Proverbs.
The first Religious (says Aguilar), holy men, and true Keepers of the
Vineyard 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