Page:The Annals of the Cakchiquels.djvu/28

22 plateau, almost on a line connecting Gumarcaah, the capital of the Quiches, with the modern city of Guatemala, about twelve leagues from the latter and eight from the former. Its name, Iximche, is that of a kind of tree (che = tree) called by the Spanish inhabitants ramon, apparently a species of Brosimium. Ratzamut, literally "the beak of the wild pigeon," was the name given to the small and almost inaccessible plain, surrounded on all sides by deep ravines, on which Iximche was situated. Doubtless, it was derived from some fancied resemblance of the outline of the plain to the beak of this bird.

The capital was also called simply tinamit, the city (not Patinamit, as writers usually give it, as pa is not an article but a preposition, in or at); and by the Aztec allies of the conqueror Alvarado, Quauhtemallan, "place of the wood-pile," for some reason unknown to us. The latter designation was afterwards extended to the province, and under the corrupt form Guatemala is now the accepted name of the State and its modern capital.

The famous captain, Pedro de Alvarado was the first European to visit Iximche. He entered it on April 13th, 1524 (old style). In his letter describing the occurrence, however, he says little or nothing about the size or appearance of the buildings.