possession a copy of one as far back as 1542, unquestionably the oldest
monument of the Maya language extant. Sometimes these titles were
accompanied by a family history. Such is "The Chronicle of Chac Xulub
Chen," written by the Chief Nakuk Pech, in 1562, which I have published.
It gives, in a confused style, a history of the Conquest, and throws
light on the methods by which the Spaniards succeeded in overcoming the
various native tribes.[29]

We owe the preservation of most of the Maya MSS. to the enlightened
labors of Don Juan Pio Perez, a distinguished Yucatecan scholar, and the
compiler of the best printed dictionary of the Maya tongue.[30] The most
complete collection now in existence is that of the Canon Crescencio
Carrillo y Ancona, a learned archaeologist, and author of an excellent
history of Maya literature.[31]

After the Maya, the most important of these associated dialects was the
Cakchiquel. It was, and still is, spoken in Guatemala; and the Kiche
(Quiche), also current there, is so nearly allied to it that they may be
treated as one idiom. The Cakchiquel possesses an extensive Christian
literature, as it was cultivated assiduously by the early missionaries.
Indeed, there was, for many years, a chair in the University of
Guatemala created for teaching it, and it is often referred to as the
_lengua metropolitana_, Guatemala having been the see of an
archbishop. There are in existence extensive lexicons of Cakchiquel, and
in it, besides various collections of sermons, was written the once
celebrated work of Father Domingo de Vico, the _Theologia Indorum_,
probably the most complete theological treatise ever produced in a
native American tongue.[32]

The most notable aboriginal production in Cakchiquel is one frequently