Du Chaillu asserts that the Ashangos, those of Otamo, the Apossos, the Fans, and many other tribes of equatorial Africa, consider it a mark of beauty to file their front teeth in a sharp point. He presents the Fans as confirmed cannibals. We are told, and the bas-reliefs on Chaacmol’s mausoleum prove it, that the Mayas devoured the hearts of their fallen enemies. It is said that, on certain grand occasions, after offering the hearts of their victims to the idols, they abandoned the bodies to the people, who feasted upon them. But it must be noticed that these last-mentioned customs seemed to have been introduced in the country by the Nahualts and Aztecs; since, as yet, we have found nothing in the mural paintings to cause us to believe that the Mayas indulged in such barbaric repasts, beyond the eating of their enemies’ hearts. The Mayas were, and their descendants are still, confirmed believers in witchcraft. In December, last year, being at the hacienda of X-Kanchacan, where are situated the ruins of the ancient city of Mayapan, a sick man was brought to me. He came most reluctantly, stating that he knew what was the matter with him: that he was doomed to die unless the spell was removed. He was emaciated, seemed to suffer from malarial fever, then prevalent in the place, and from the presence of tapeworm. I told him I could restore him to health if he would heed my advice. The fellow stared at me for some time, trying to find out, probably, if I was a stronger wizard than the _H-Men_ who had bewitched him. He must have failed to discover on my face the proverbial distinctive marks great sorcerers are said to possess; for, with an incredulous grin, stretching his thin lips tighter over his teeth, he simply replied: “No use--I am bewitched--there is no remedy for me.” Mr. Du Chaillu, speaking of the superstitions of the inhabitants of Equatorial Africa, says: “The greatest curse of the whole country is the belief in sorcery or witchcraft. If the African is once possessed with the belief that he is bewitched his whole nature seems to change. He becomes suspicious of his dearest friends. He fancies himself sick, and really often becomes sick through his fears. At least seventy-five per cent of the deaths in all the tribes are murders for supposed sorcery.” In that they differ from the natives of Yucatan, who respect wizards because of their supposed supernatural powers. From the most remote antiquity, as we learn from the writings of the chroniclers, in all sacred ceremonies the Mayas used to make copious libations with _Balché_. To-day the aborigines still use it in the celebrations of their ancient rites. _Balché_ is a liquor made from the bark of a tree called Balché, soaked in water, mixed with honey and left to ferment. It is their beverage _par excellence_. The nectar drank by the God of Greek Mythology.