The vanquech, or place of worship, seems to have been an unroofed inclosure of stakes, within which, on a hurdle, was placed the image of the god Chinigchinich. This image was the skin of a coyote or that of a mountain-cat stuffed with the feathers of certain birds, and with various other things, so that it looked like a live animal; a bow and some arrows were attached to it on the outside, and other arrows were thrust down its throat so that the feathers of them appeared at the mouth as out of a quiver. The whole place of the inclosure was sacred, and not to be approached without reverence; it does not seem that sacrifices formed any part of the worship there offered, but only prayer, and sometimes a kind of pantomime connected with the undertaking desired to be furthered--thus, desiring success in hunting one mimicked the actions of the chase, leaping and twanging one's bow. Each vanquech was a city of refuge, with rights of sanctuary exceeding any ever granted in Jewish or Christian countries. Not only was every criminal safe there whatever his crime, but the crime was as it were blotted out from that moment, and the offender was at liberty to leave the sanctuary and walk about as before; it was not lawful even to mention his crime; all that the avenger could do was to point at him and deride him, saying: Lo, a coward, who has been forced to flee to Chinigchinich! This flight was rendered so much a meaner thing in that it only turned the punishment from the head of him that fled upon that of some of his relatives; life went for life, eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, even to the third and fourth generation, for justice' sake.
Besides Chinigchinich they worshiped, or at any rate feared, a god called Touch; who inhabited the mountains and the bowels of the earth, appearing, however, from time to time in the form of various animals of a terrifying kind. Every child at the age of six or seven received, sent to him from this god, some animal as a protector. To find out what this animal or spirit in the shape of animal was, narcotic drinks were swallowed, or the subject fasted and watched in the vanquech for a given time, generally three days. He whose rank entitled him to wait for his guardian apparition in the sacred inclosure, was set there by the side of the god's image, and on the ground before him was sketched by one of the wise men an uncouth figure of some animal. The child was then left to complete his vigil, being warned at the same time to endure its hardships with patience, in that any attempt to infringe upon its rules, by eating or drinking or otherwise, would be reported to the god by the sprawling figure the enchanter had drawn in the clay, and that in such a case the punishment of Chinigchinich would be terrible. After all this was over, a scar was made on the child's right arm, and sometimes on the thick part of the leg also, by covering the part, "according to the figure required," with a peculiar herb dried and powdered, and setting fire to it. This was a brand or seal required by Chinigchinich, and was besides supposed to strengthen the nerves and give "a better pulse for the management of the bow."[V-23]