Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/121

 being ten or twelve varas long (a vara is 33 inches), of one piece, and folded like a fan.

Archæology was one of the sciences studied by the Maya wise men, which shows that the past was as great a mystery, and as attractive a subject for them as it is for antiquarians of our days. They also had works on medicine, on astronomy, on chronology, and geology; theology too was treated of in their writings, and they had a ritual explaining when certain religious festivals should be celebrated: the art of divination and gift of prophecy were likewise considered.

Many of the gentlemen were instructed in all those matters, being much respected for their learning, but never spoke about it, or made a display of it in public; they were no doubt bound not to divulge certain things revealed to them in the secrecy of initiation.

There were individuals who made a special study of genealogy; they were frequently employed to trace out the ancestry of persons who wished to boast of noble lineage.

They had books containing the early history of their own nation, and that of other people with