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feathers, and a peculiar rule existed in accordance with which the player who was fortunate enough to send the ball through the ring, a feat which was but rarely performed, could claim all the cloaks of the spectators. Now it is an interesting fact that remains of tlaxtli-courts are not found elsewhere in the Maya country except at Chacula and Alta Vera Paz in the west of Guatemala, where they are-exactly similar to those in the Zapotec region at Quiengola. Moreover, the ball-court at Chichen Itza belongs to the later buildings, since the temples attached to it are ornamented in Toltec style, the figures do not exhibit head-deformation, and the reliefs include glyphs of a non-Maya character. I think it is fair to assume that the game was not played by the builders of the earlier monuments, but was introduced in later times from Mexico. I believe that the Popol Vuh gives a hint of its introduction. It will be remembered that the heroes Hun Hunahpu and Vukub Hunahpu give offence to the people of Xibalba by playing the game. "Their game is an insult to us," are the words used, and they are forthwith challenged to a contest. But before they are allowed to engage in competition, they are submitted to a number of tests, a fact which seems to indicate that they were called upon to prove their acquaintance with certain mysteries peculiar to the tribe. Failing in these, they are put to death without being permitted to engage in the game. The idea that certain games are the property of certain tribes is not unfamiliar to students of ethnography, especially in the case of games which possess the ceremonial significance which is so noticeable a feature of tlaxtli. The tests therefore which the lords of Xibalba impose upon the heroes have the object of discovering whether the latter possess the right to play the game which they claim, and it will be remembered that the victory of Hunahpu and Xbalanque is in a sense regarded as the capture of the tlaxtli-game, since they pro-