At the time of the Conquest the province of the Huastecs was densely peopled; "none more so under the sun," remarks the Augustinian friar Nicolas de Witte, who visited it in 1543; but even then he found it almost deserted and covered with ruins, for, a few years previous, the Spaniards had acted towards its natives with customary treachery and cruelty. They had invited all the chiefs to a conference, had enticed them into a large wooden building, and then set fire to it and burned them alive. When this merciless act became known the Huastecs deserted their villages and scattered among the forests and mountains.[24-2] These traditions go to show that the belief among the Aztecs was that the tribes of the Maya family came originally from the north or northeast, and were at some remote period closely connected with their own ancestors. § 4. _Political Condition at the Time of the Conquest._ When the Spaniards first explored the coasts of Yucatan they found the peninsula divided into a number of independent petty states. According to an authority followed by Herrera, these were eighteen in number. There is no complete list of their names, nor can we fix with certainty their boundaries. The following list gives their approximate position. On the west coast, beginning at the south-- 1. _Acalan_, on the Bahia de Terminos. 2. _Tixchel_ (or Telchac?) 3. _Champoton_ (Chakanputun, or Potonchan). 4. _Kinpech_ (Campech or Campeche). 5. _Canul_ (Acanul or H' Canul). 6. _Hocabaihumun._ 7. _Cehpech_, in which Merida was founded. 8. _Zipatan_, on the northwest coast. On the east coast, beginning at the north-- 9. _Choaca_, near Cape Cotoche. 10. _Ekab_, opposite the Island of Cozumel. 11. _Conil_, or of the Cupuls.[TN-3] 13. _Bakhalal_, or Bacalar. 14. _Chetemal._ 15. _Taitza_, the Peten district. Central provinces-- 16. _H' Chel_ (or Ah Kin Chel) in which Itzamal was located. 17. _Zotuta_, of the Cocoms. 18. _Mani_, of the Xius. 19. _Cochuah_ (or Cochva, or Cocolá), the principal town of which was Ichmul. As No. 15, the Peten district, was not conquered by the Spaniards until 1697, it was doubtless not included in the list drawn up by Herrera's authority, so that the above would correspond with his statement. Each of these provinces was ruled by a hereditary chief, who was called _batab_, or _batabil uinic_ (_uinic_=man). He sometimes bore two names, the first being that of his mother, the second of his father, as _Can Ek_, in which _Can_ was from the maternal, _Ek_ from the paternal line. The surname (_kaba_) descended through the male. It was called _hach kaba_, the true name, or _hool kaba_, the head name. Much attention was paid to preserving the genealogy, and the word for "of noble birth" was _ah kaba_, "he who has a name."