It was
fastened to the waist with wide ribbons, tied behind in a knot forming a
large bow, the ends of which reached to the ankles. Their shoulders
were covered with a tippet falling to the elbows, and fastened on the
chest by means of a brooch. Their feet were protected by sandals, kept
in place by ropes or ribbons, passing between the big toe and the next,
and between the third and fourth, then brought up so as to encircle the
ankles. They were tied in front, forming a bow on the instep. Some wore
leggings, others garters and anklets made of feathers, generally yellow;
sometimes, however, they may have been of gold. Their head gears were of
different kinds, according to their rank and dignity. Warriors seem to
have used wide bands, tied behind the head with two knots, as we see in
the statue of Chaacmol, and in the bas-reliefs that adorn the queen's
chamber at Chichen. The king's coiffure was a peaked cap, that seems to
have served as model for the _pschent_, that symbol of domination over
the lower Egypt; with this difference, however, that in Mayab the point
formed the front, and in Egypt the back.

The common people in Mayab, as in Egypt, were indeed little troubled by
their garments. These consisted merely of a simple girdle tied round the
loins, the ends falling before and behind to the middle of the thighs.
Sometimes they also used the short trowsers; and, when at work, wrapped
a piece of cloth round their loins, long enough to cover their legs to
the knees. This costume was completed by wearing a square cloth, tied on
one of the shoulders by two of its corners. It served as cloak. To-day
the natives of Yucatan wear the same dress, with but slight
modifications. While the aborigines of the _Tierra de Guerra_, who still
preserve the customs of their forefathers, untainted by foreign
admixture, use the same garments, of their own manufacture, that we see
represented in the bas-reliefs of Chichen and Uxmal, and in the mural
paintings of _Mayab_ and Egypt.

Divination by the inspection of the entrails of victims, and the study
of omens were considered by the Egyptians as important branches of
learning. The soothsayers formed a respected order of the priesthood.
From the mural paintings at Chichen, and from the works of the
chroniclers, we learn that the Mayas also had several manners of
consulting fate. One of the modes was by the inspection of the entrails
of victims; another by the manner of the cracking of the