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which is full of gourds, another of blood, and come to four cross-roads, coloured yellow, red, white and black, the colours associated with the four cardinal points. They take the last and arrive at Xibalba, where they are received by the rulers Hun Camé and Vukub Camé. The court at Xibalba seems to have been conducted on the principle of a secret society with a definite form of initiation, for the new-comers are forthwith submitted to various tests at all of which they fail, and they are finally sacrificed by having their hearts torn out before being allowed to engage in the game for which they had come. Hun Hunahpu's head is suspended in a tree which immediately becomes covered with calabashes so that the head is indistinguishable from the fruit. The head however retains its vital properties, since when Xquik, daughter of one of the high officials of Xibalba, is standing near the tree, it spits into her hand, causing her to conceive. When her condition is discovered, she is delivered over to the owl messengers to be killed, but escapes to the upper world where she seeks out the dwelling of Xmukané and gives birth to Hunahpu and Xbalanque mentioned above. With Xmukané are living Hun Batz and Hun Chuen, also sons of Hun Hunahpu, who are accomplished musicians, dancers and artisans. These two persecute their half-brothers, who take their revenge as follows: The four start out to hunt, and Hun Batz and Hun Chuen are persuaded to climb into the trees to drive the birds. Hunahpu and Xbalanque cause the trees to start growing, so that their half-brothers cannot come down, and persuade them, when they complain, to loosen their girdles so that their movements may be the less restricted. The loosened girdles immediately become tails, and Hun Batz and Hun Chuen are transformed into monkeys. After a series of events Hunahpu and Xbalanque, by the aid of a rat, discover the existence of a set of implements and ornaments, used in the ball-game, which had formerly