referred to by the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg as the _Memorial de
Tecpan Atitlan_, The Records from Tecpan Atitlan.[33] It is an
historical account of his family and tribe, written in the sixteenth
century by a member of the junior branch of the ruling house of the
Cakchiquels. His name was Don Francisco Ernantez Arana Xahila, and a
passage of the MS. informs us that he was writing in 1581. After his
death the work was continued by Don Francisco Tiaz Gebuta Queh. The
style is familiar and often vivid, and the work is addressed to his
children. It begins with the earliest myths and traditions of the tribe,
and follows their fortunes to the lifetime of the writer. In respect
both to mythology, history and language, it is one of the most
noteworthy monuments of American antiquity. A loose paraphrase of it was
made by Brasseur de Bourbourg, based upon which, a Spanish rendering was
published by the "Sociedad Economica de Guatemala," under the auspices
of Senor Gavarrete. Neither the original nor any correct translation has
been printed.

A copy of this MS. is in my collection, and both the original and a
second copy are in Europe; but there were a number of similar historical
accounts, committed to writing by this people and their immediate
neighbors, of which we know little but the titles and a few extracts.
Thus, the historian of Guatemala, Don Domingo Juarros, quotes from the
MSS. of Don Francisco Gomez, _Ahzib Kiche_, or Chief Scribe of the
Kiches, of Don Francisco Garcia Calel Tzumpan, of Don Juan Macario,
nephew, and Don Juan Torres, son, of the Chief Chignavincelut, and "the
histories written by the Quiches, Cakchiquels, Pipils, Pocomans, and
others, who learned to write their tongues from their Spanish teachers."
These MSS. gave the genealogies of their families and the migrations of
their ancestors "from the time when the Toltecs, from whom they trace
descent, first entered the territory of Mexico, and found it inhabited