“_Magic_ or _Necromancy_: _puz_ or _naual_; and they were accustomed to call their magicians or sorcerers by the same terms. It was a kind of magic which they invoked in order to transform themselves into eagles, lions, tigers, etc. Thus, they said, _ru puz_, _ru naual_, _pedro læ cot_, _balam_, ‘Peter’s power, his _naual_, is a lion, a tiger.’ They also applied the words _puz_ and _naual_ to certain trees, rocks and other inanimate objects, whence the Devil used to speak to them, and likewise to the idols which they worshiped, as _gazlic che_, _gazlic abah_, _huyu_, _k’o ru naual_, ‘The life of the tree, the life of the stone, of the hill, is its _naual_,’ etc.; because they believed there was life in these objects. They used to have armies and soldiery to guard their lands, and the captains, as well as many who were not captains, had their _nauales_. They called the captain _ru g’ alache; rohobachi, ti ru gaah, ru pocob, ru gh’ amay a ghay ti be chi naualil_ [he works magic with his shield, his lance, and his arrows]. “To practice such magical arts: _tin naualih_ (‘I practice magic’), an active verb. They use it, for instance, when a man asks his wife for something to eat or drink, and she has nothing, owing to his negligence, she will say: ‘Where do you suppose I can get what you want? Do you expect me to perform miracles--_xa pe ri tin naualih_--that they shall come to my hands?’ So when one is asked to lend or give something which he has not, he will exclaim: _Tin naualih pe ri puvak_, etc. (‘Can I perform miracles,’ etc.) “It also signifies to pretend something, concealing the truth, as _xa ru naualim ara neh chu g’ ux ri tzih tan tu bijh pedro_, ‘Peter is feigning this which he is saying.’ They are also accustomed to apply this word to the power which the priests exert (in the sacraments, etc.).” A long and foolish account of the witchcraft supposed to be practiced among the Pokonchis of Guatemala, also a tribe of Mayan stock, is given by the Englishman, Thomas Gage, who was cura of a parish among them about 1630, and afterwards returned to England and Protestantism. He described, at wearisome length, the supposed metamorphosis of two chiefs of neighboring tribes, the one into a lion, the other into a tiger, and the mortal combat in which they engaged, resulting in the death of one to whom Gage administered absolution. No doubt he had been worsted in a personal encounter with his old enemy, and, being a man of eighty years, had not the vigor to recover. The account is of interest only as proving that the same superstitions at that time prevailed among the Pokonchis as in other portions of Guatemala.[24-*]