in Mayach;1 and of many other customs, the list of which is too long to be enumerated in these pages-are these also coincidences? But if they are not, what then? The Egyptians invariably following the habits of their ancestors, must we infer that they and the Mayas had a common ancestry?

In another tableau (Plate XLIV.) we see the same individual whose offer of marriage was rejected by the young queen, in consultation with a Nubchi, or prophet, a priest whose exalted rank is indicated by his headdress, and the triple breastplate he wears over his mantle of feathers. The consulter, evidently a personage of importance, has come attended by his hachetail, or confidential friend, who sits behind him on a cushion. The expression on the face of said consulter shows that he does not accept patiently the decrees of fate, although conveyed by the interpreter in as conciliatory manner as possible. The adverse decision of the gods is manifested by the sharp projecting centre part of the scroll, but it is wrapped in words as persuasive and consoling, preceded by as smooth a preamble as the rich and beautiful Maya language permits and makes easy.

His friend is addressing the prophet's assistant. Reflecting the thoughts of his lord, he declares that the Nubchi's fine discourse and his pretended reading of the will of the gods are all nonsense, and exclaims "Pshaw!" which contemptuous exclamation is pictured by the yellow scroll, pointed at both ends, escaping from his nose like a sneeze. The answer of the priest's assistant, evidenced by the gravity of his features, the assertive position of his hand, and the bluntness of his speech, is evidently, "It is so!"

Should you ask occultists why the feet of the consulter and

1 Landa, Las Cosas de Yucatan, xxxix., p. 236. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, vol. iii., chap. xiii, p. 107. Champollion Figeac, L'Univers. Egypte, p. 236. See Appendix, note xvi.

of the prophet are in such close contact, they would tell you that it is to establish and maintain the magnetic rapport between them.

In another tableau (Plate XLV.) we see a third, a youthful, admirer of Queen Móo. His name is Citam (peccary). He also desires to peer into futurity. His headdress shows him to belong to the nobility. In fact, he has been Móo's companion of infancy, and accompanied her when she went to the H-men to consult the Pou. He comes naked, in humility, to ask the aruspice to consult Fate on the motion of the entrails of a peccary. The interpreter of the decrees of destiny points out to him the working of the intestines of the animal, which he has cut open with his sacrificial adze. Judging from the expression on his face, the future shows itself full of tribulations. The young man listens with sad and respectful attention to the words of the aruspice. He will submit to the inevitable. He will always be Queen Móo's stanch friend in her days of happiness, never forsaking her in those of adversity.

Not so, however, her brother Aac, who is madly in love with her. In Plate XLVI. he is not portrayed approaching the interpreter of the will of the gods divested of his garments, in token of humility in presence of their majesty and of submission to their decrees. He comes full of arrogance, arrayed in gorgeous attire, and with regal pomp. He comes not as a supplicant, to ask and accept counsel; but, haughty, he makes bold to dictate. He is angered at the refusal of the priest to accede to his demand for his sister Móo's hand, to whose totem, an armadillo on this occasion, he points imperiously. It was on an armadillo's shell that the Fates wrote her destiny when consulted by the performance of the Pou ceremony. The yellow flames of wrath darting from all over his person, the sharp yel