Book of Mormon Evidences From Ancient Aztec and Mayan Writings

* Torquemada ... "It is true that the Indians of of the Island of Cuba say that they knew that theheaven and other things had been created; and they affirm by three persons, one of whom camefrom such a part, and the other two from other parts; and that they were perfectly informed also ofthe deluge, and that the world had been destroyed by a quantity of water. The old men aboveseventy and eighty years of age reported, when first our countrymen settled in that island, that anold man knowing that the deluge was about to happen, built a large ship, in which he embarkedwith his household and many animals, and that he dispatched from thence a crow, which did notreturn, staying to prey upon the dead caucuses; and that afterwards sent a dove; which came backcooing, bringing a leafy branch which resembled a hop, although not one: on which he quitted theship, and made wine of mountain grapes and became drunk ... VI 393* M. de Humboldt says that "The people of Mechoacan preserved a tradition, according to whichCoxcox, whom they named Tezpi, embarked in a large acalli, (a word compounded of atl watwr,and calli a house) with his wife, his children, and animals and seeds of various kinds, thepreservation of which was valuable to mankind. As soon as the great spirit Tezcatlipocacommanded the waters to retire, Tezpi caused a vulture, the Zopilote, (Vultur aurea) to leave thebark. This bird, whose food is carrion, did not return, on account of the number of dead bodies withwhich the earth only just was strewed. Tezpi sent other birds, of which the Colibri (or hummingbird)alone returned, bearing in its bill the leafy branch of a tree. Tezpi then perceiving that theearth began to be covered with new verdune, quitted his ark near the mountain of Colhuacan." VI117Funeral Rites and Imponderables* In reasoning on the probality of the Indians being descended from the Jews, from a strikingresemblance in their mourning ceremonies and funeral rites, the reflection naturally presents itselfto the mind, that all mankind are subject to the same feelings of grief for the loss of those dear tothem, so the mode of expressing those feelings is among all nations nearly the same, except wherethe custom has produced a change. When, therefore, we find the Indians and Jews differed from allother nations in their manner of mourning for the dead, and agreed with each other in manyarbitrary rites, such as in burning a portion of their household goods, in anointing their bodies withoil, in burning them amidst the loud lamentations of women hired as mourners, in celebratingfuneral feasts, in depositing great wealth in their tombs, in mourning for a stated period of timeafter the decease, in gathering their bones to those of their fathers, and, lastly, in employing thesame personal demonstrations of grief, such as falling on their face on the ground, and lying in thatposition sometimes for three days, placing their hands upon their mouths, humiliating themselvesin the dust, blackening their faces with ashes of charcoal, lying in ashes, uttering the ejaculation,Ah, brother! and amongst other Indian tribes, rending the garments, cutting the flesh, and oft thehair, both which latter customs, though strictly forbidden to the Jews ... were commonly practised... VIII 388 Supplement* The curious analogy in the customs of the ancient Jews and the Peruvians will more fully appearfrom a comparison of the following passage from the ninth chapter of Balboa's inedited,'Miscellanea Antarctica', descriptive of the grief of Mango Capoc for the death of his brotherAyarcache, with the thirtieth verse of the thirteenth chapter of the first book of Kings, and theeighteenth verse of the twenty-second chapter of Jeremiah, from which it is evident that it was aHebrew custom to utter the ejaculation "Ah, my brother!" or, "Ah, sister!" at funerals:I compliance with the request of their brother Ayarcache, they repeatedly invoked his name andbewailed his loss: Ah, my brother! ...VIII 200, 201