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placed in the trees. Large canoes were constructed for use on the sea, propelled by oars and sails, and one is mentioned as being seen in the neighbourhood of Cape Cotoche large enough for a crew of forty men. In hunting and fishing, when practised in common, a portion of the catch was reserved for the lord and the rest was divided. One principal meal was taken during the day, about an hour before sunset, and the hands and mouth were washed afterwards; the women ate apart from the men. Most ceremonial occasions were marked by a feast, and the Maya were rather given to debauchery. The nobles frequently gave banquets, and the invited guests were supposed to be under the obligation of returning the compliment on some future occasion. Indeed, the debt was considered so binding, that it became transferred to their heirs in the case of their death. On such occasions the wine was handed by women, who turned their backs while the guest drank, and at the end of the festivities-each of those present received a mantle as a gift, together with the cup from which he had drunk. Invitations to a wedding-feast, or to a banquet held in commemoration of some ancestor, involved no return invitation. 'Tobacco-smoking seems to have been practised, since pipes have been found in Guatemala, though only one is known to have been discovered in Honduras. It would seem as if some form of dramatic performance was occasionally given on festive occasions, since Landa speaks of "comedians who gave representations with much grace," but the principal form of amusement was the dance, of which there were many varieties. A number of musical instruments are shown in the manuscripts (Fig. 63) and mentioned in the early accounts. These include hollow gongs of wood, sounded with rubber-headed beaters, which could be heard over a distance of two leagues, drums of two types, gongs formed of tortoise-carapaces, beaten with the hand, and rattles and rattle-staves similar to the