anterior to the date on the stone before referred to, but it is
reasonable to suppose that the convent was not built until some time
after the beginning of the archives. The monks doubtless commenced
keeping a register of baptisms and marriages as soon as there were any
to record, but as they were distinguished for policy and prudence as
well as zeal, it is not likely that they undertook the erection of this
gigantic building until they had been settled in the country long
enough to understand thoroughly its population and resources, for these
buildings had not only to be erected, but to be kept up, and their
ministers supported by the resources of the district. Besides, the
great churches and convents found in all parts of Spanish America were
not built by means of funds sent from Spain, but by the labour of the
Indians themselves, after they were completely subdued and compelled to
work for the Spaniards, or, more generally, after they had embraced
Christianity, when they voluntarily erected buildings for the new
worship and its ministers. It is not probable that either of these
events occurred in this interior village so early as 1588.

These first entries are of the marriage, or rather marriages, of two
widowers and two widows--X. Diego Chuc with Maria Hu, and Zpo-Bot with
Cata Keul. In running over the archives, it appeared, I found, that
there was in those days an unusual number of widowers and widows
disposed to marry again, and, in fact, that the business of this kind
was in a great measure confined to them; but probably, as the relation
of husband and wife was not very clearly defined among the Indians,
these candidates for Christian matrimony had only parted from former
companions, and, through the charity or modesty of the monks, were
called widowers and widows.

The first baptisms are on the twentieth of November, 1594, when
considerable business seems to have been done. There are four entries
on that day, and, in looking over the pages, from my acquaintance with
the family I was struck with the name of Mel Chi, probably an ancestor
of our Chaipa Chi. This Mel seems to have been one of the pillars of
the padres, and a standing godfather for Indian babies.

There was no instruction to be derived from these archives, but the
handwriting of the monks, and the marks of the Indians, seemed almost
to make me a participator in the wild and romantic scenes of the
conquest; at all events, they were proof that, fo