Besides, when represented as King of the Amenti—of the "West"—the symbol of Osiris was always a crouching leopard with an open eye over it. [Illustration] We must not lose sight of the fact that the leopard's skin worn by Nimrod and Bacchus was a sacred appendage to the Mysteries. It was used in the Eleusinian as well as in the Egyptian mysteries instituted in honor of Osiris. It is mentioned in the earliest speculations by the Brahmins on the meaning of their sacrificial prayers the _Aytareya Brahmana_, and is used in the _agnishtoma_ the initiation rites of the _Soma_ mysteries. When the neophyte is to be born again he is covered with a "leopard skin," out of which he emerges as from his mother's womb. A leopard skin is worn by the African warriors, who are so fortunate as to possess one, as a charm to render them invulnerable to spears according to the French traveler Paul du Chaillu. [Illustration] It would seem as if the manner in which _Coh_ met his death, by being stabbed with a spear, had been known to their ancestors, and that they imagined that wearing his totem would save them from being wounded with the same kind of weapon used in killing him. That the inhabitants of Africa had communications with those of the Western Continent there can be no doubt, since populations of black people existed on the isthmus of Panama and other localities at the time of the first arrival of the Spaniards; besides their pictures can be seen in the mural paintings at Chichen. As to the name _Osir_, or be it _Ozil_, it would seem to be a nickname given to _Coh_ on account of the great love his sisters, and the people in general, professed for him. _Ozil_ is a Maya verb that means to desire vehemently. He, therefore, who was very much desired—dearly beloved. _Osiris_ in Egypt, _Abel_ in Chaldea, _Bali_ in India, are myths. _Coh_, in Mayax, is a reality—a warrior whose mausoleum I have opened; whose weapons and jade ornaments are in my possession; whose heart I have found, and a piece of which was analyzed by Professor Thompson; whose statue, with his name inscribed on the tablets occupying the place of the ears, I have unearthed, and which is now in the National Museum in the City of Mexico, one of the most precious relics in that institution, having been robbed from me, by force of arms, by the Mexican authorities. _Isis_ was the wife and sister of Osiris. The word _Isis_ may simply be a dialectical mode of pronouncing the Maya word _iↄin_ (idzin) _the younger sister_. Her headgear, as a goddess, was a vulture. That bird was her totem and the peculiar type of maternity. [Illustration] Isis was often called the great mother-goddess _Mau_; a word certainly as suggestive of the name _Moo_, sister and wife of Coh and queen of Chichen, as the _vulture_ is of the _Macaw_. It must not be forgotten that one of the titles of Isis was the _royal wife and sister_. [Illustration]