It seems likely that in the earlier times the priestly rule was paramount, and that the rulers were high-priests or _vice versa_. Even in Yucatan the traditions seem to point to a later transference of political power from sacred to secular rulers. Among the Quiché too, the first rulers, under whose guidance the principal migrations were made, held authority as the interpreters of the will of the gods assigned to the various divisions of the tribe, and the later chiefs claimed descent from them. Among the Kakchiquel there were two high-priests who held office for life, and were elected by the king and council. One of these seems to have supervised the ritual, while the other was the guardian of the sacred books and presided over the calendar. There were also certain old men who lived in the temple-buildings and were consulted as diviners on ordinary occasions. These were distinguished by their hair, which they wore in plaits. In Campeche, Diaz mentions priests who wore their hair long and matted with blood, in Mexican style, and he further states that the people of Chiapas brought with them into battle a “priestess or goddess” with an incense-burner and stone idols. This priestess wore body-paint with white down stuck upon it, another Mexican custom. Many of the reliefs of the older Maya culture show priests engaged in various functions, and the elaborate dresses in which these are often clad have given rise to the supposition that many religious offices were performed by priestesses. Figures in flowing robes are particularly noticeable at Menché (Pl. XXII; p. 294), but, especially in later Yucatan, women as a general rule were excluded from the more important ceremonies, and I think that these figures merely represent men in priestly _insignia_, which would naturally be of a more elaborate nature than the ordinary dress. Sacrifice was common throughout the Maya region, but the question how far human offerings were made in early times is difficult to settle. There is only one scene upon the monuments which maybe interpreted as a human sacrifice,[7] and this occurs at Piedras Negras, but the negative evidence afforded by the other reliefs throughout the Maya region would seem to suggest that the practice was, at most, exceptional. Even the Dresden codex furnishes no definite proof that the rite existed when it was written, though there are scenes which may possibly be interpreted as suggesting the custom. For instance, Fig. 63 (p. 301) shows a head lying on an altar; but as it is clearly the head of the maize-god, the scene may be interpreted as representing merely an offering of grain. In the Quiché myths, the introduction of human sacrifice is associated with the “Yaqui,” a name afterwards used of the Mexicans, and it is the god Tohil, whom this people received from Tulan, who, by a trick, obtains the right to the hearts of the other tribes in return for the gift of fire. But the open and extensive practice of the rite belongs to