CHAPTER XXIV.

MAYA ARTS, CALENDAR, AND HIEROGLYPHICS.

Scarcity of Information—Use of Metals—Gold and Precious Stones—Implements of Stone—Sculpture—Pottery—Manufacture of Cloth—Dyeing—System of Numeration—Maya Calendar in Yucatan—Days, Weeks, Months, and Years—Indictions and Katunes—Perez' System Of Ahau Katunes—Statements of Landa and Cogolludo—Intercalary Days and Years—Days and Months in Guatemala, Chiapas, and Soconusco—Maya Hieroglyphic System—Testimony of Early Writers on the Use of Picture-Writing—Destruction of Documents—Specimens which have Survived—The Dresden Codex—Manuscript Troano—Tablets of Palenque, Copan, and Yucatan—Bishop Landa's Key—Brasseur de Bourbourg's Interpretation.

Our knowledge of Maya arts and manufactures, so far as it depends on the statements of the early Spanish writers is very slight, and may be expressed in few words; especially as most of these arts seem to have been very nearly identical with those of the Nahuas, although many of them, at the time of the Conquest at least, were not carried to so high a grade of perfection as in the north. Some branches of mechanical art have indeed left material relics, which, examined in modern times, have extended our knowledge on the subject very far beyond what may be gleaned from sixteenth-century observations. But a volume of this work is set apart for the consideration of material relics with numerous illustrative plates, and although the temptation to use both information and plates from modern sources is particularly strong in some of the topics of this chapter and the following, a regard for the symmetry of the work, and the necessity of avoiding all repetition, cause me to confine myself here almost exclusively to the old authors, as I have done in describing the Nahua arts.

KNOWLEDGE OF METALS.

Iron was not known to the Mayas, and it is not quite certain that copper was mined or worked by them. The boat so often mentioned as having been met by Columbus off the coast, and supposed to have come from Yucatan, had on board crucibles for melting copper, and a large number of copper hatchets. Similar hatchets together with bells, ornaments, and spear and arrow points of the same metal were seen at various points, and were doubtless used to a considerable extent throughout Yucatan, Chiapas, and Guatemala. But there are no metallic deposits on the peninsula, and the copper instruments used there, or at least the material, must have been brought from the north, as it is indeed stated by several authors that they were. No metallic relics whatever have been found among the ruins of Yucatan, and only very few in other Maya regions. Copper implements are not mentioned by the early visitors to Nicaragua, and although that country abounds in ore of a variety easily worked, yet there is no evidence that it was used, and Squier's statement that the Nicaraguans were skillful workers in this metal, probably rests on no stronger basis than the reported discovery of a copper mask at Ometepec. Godoi speaks of copper in Chiapas, and also of a metallic composition called cacao!

Small articles of gold, intended chiefly for ornamental purposes, were found everywhere in greater or less abundance by the Spaniards, the gold being generally described as of a low grade. Cortés speaks of the gold in Yucatan as alloyed with copper, and the same alloy is mentioned in Guatemala by Herrera, and in Nicaragua by Benzoni. The latter author says that gold was abundant in Nicaragua but was all brought from other provinces. He also states that there were no mines of any kind, but Oviedo, on the contrary, speaks of 'good mines of gold.' Articles of gold took the form of animals, fishes, birds, bells, small kettles and vases, beads, rings, bracelets, hatchets, small idols, bars, plates for covering armor, gilding or plating of wooden masks and clay beads, and settings for precious stones. Peter Martyr speaks of gold as formed in bars and stamped in Nicaragua, and Villagutierre of silver 'rosillas' in use among the Itzas. We have but slight information respecting the use of precious stones. Oviedo saw in Nicaragua a sun-dial of pearl set on jasper, and also speaks of wooden masks covered with stone mosaic and gold plates in Tabasco. Martyr tells us that the natives of Yucatan attached no value to Spanish counterfeited jewels, because they could take from their mines better ones of genuine worth.[1096]

STONE CARVING.

The few implements in common use among the Mayas, such as knives, chisels, hatchets, and metates, together with the spear and arrow heads already mentioned, were of flint, porphyry, or other hard stone. There is but little doubt that most of their elaborate sculpture on temples and idols was executed with stone implements, since the material employed was for the most part soft and easily worked. The carvings in the hard sapote-wood in Yucatan must have presented great difficulties to workmen without iron tools; but the fact remains that stone implements, with a few probably of hardened copper, sufficed with native skill and patience for all purposes. Villagutierre informs us that the Lacandones cut wood with stone hatchets. Cogolludo speaks of the remarkable facility which the natives displayed in learning the mechanical arts introduced by Spaniards, in using new and strange tools or adapting the native implements to new uses. All implements whether of the temple or the household, seem to have been ceremonially consecrated to their respective uses. Oviedo speaks of deer-bone combs used in Guatemala, and of another kind of combs the teeth of which were made of black wood and set in a composition like baked clay but which became soft on exposure to heat.

The early writers speak in general terms of idols of various human and animal forms, cut from all kinds of stone, and also from wood; Martyr also mentions an immense serpent in what he supposed to be a place of punishment in Yucatan, which was 'compacted of bitumen and small stones.' The Itzas constructed of stone and mortar the image of a horse, modeled on an animal left among them by Cortés. The Spanish authors say little or nothing of the sculpture of either idols or architectural decorations, except that it was elaborate, and often demon-like; but their observations on the subject would have had but little value, even had they been more extended, and fortunately architectural remains are sufficiently numerous and complete, at least in Yucatan, Honduras, and Chiapas, to supply information that, if not entirely satisfactory, is far more so than what we possess respecting other branches of Maya art. Brasseur de Bourbourg speaks of vases exquisitely worked from alabaster and agate in Yucatan; there is some authority for this in modern discoveries, but little or none, so far as I know, in the writings of the conquerors. Earthenware, shells, and the rind of the gourd were the material of Maya dishes. All speak of the native pottery as most excellent in workmanship, material, and painting, but give no details of its manufacture. Herrera, however, mentions a province of Guatemala, where very fine pottery was made by the women, and Palacio tells us that this branch of manufactures was one of the chief industries of Aguachapa, a town of the Pipiles.

All that is known of cloths and textile fabrics has been given in enumerating the various articles of dress; of any differences that may have existed between the Nahua and Maya methods of spinning and weaving cotton we know nothing. It is probable that the native methods have not been modified essentially in modern times among the same peoples. We are told that in Yucatan the wife of a god invented weaving, and was worshiped under the name of Ixazalvoh; while another who improved the invention by the use of colored threads was Yxchebelyax, also a goddess. Spinning and weaving was for the most part women's work, and they are spoken of as industrious and skillful in the avocation. Bark and maguey-fibre were made into cloth by the Cakchiquels, and Oviedo mentions several plants whose fibre was worked into nets and ropes by the Nicaraguans. The numerous dye-woods which are still among the richest productions of the country in many parts, furnished the means of imparting to woven fabrics the bright hues of which the natives were so fond. Bright-colored feathers were highly prized and extensively used for decorative purposes. Garments of feathers are spoken of, which were probably made as they were in Mexico by pasting the plumage in various ornamental figures on cotton fabric.[1097]

SYSTEM OF NUMERATION.

The following table will give the reader a clear idea of the Maya system of numeration as it existed in Yucatan; the definitions of some of the names are taken from the Maya dictionary, and may or may not have any application to the subject:

Thus the Mayas seem to have had uncompounded names for the numerals from 1 to 11, 20, 400, and 8,000, and to have formed all numbers by the addition or multiplication of these. The manner in which the combinations were made seems clear up to the number 40. Thus we have 10 and 2, 10 and 3, etc., up to 19; 20 is hun-kal, 21 is hun-tu-kal, etc., indicating that tu, which I do not find in any dictionary, is simply 'and' or a sign of addition. The composition of lahu-ca-kal is clear only in the sense of ten from twice twenty; 40 is two twenties, 60 is three twenties, and so on regularly by twenties up to 400, for which a new word bak is introduced; after which the numbers proceed, twice 400, thrice 400, etc., to 8,000, pic, corresponding to the Nahua xiquipilli. But while the composition is intelligible so far as the multiples of 20 and 400 are concerned, it is far from clear in the case of the intermediate numbers. For instance, 40 is ca-kal, and forming 41, 42, etc., as 21 was formed from 20, we should have hun-tu-ca-kal, ca-tu-ca-kal, etc., instead of the names given, hun-tu-yox-kal, etc., or, interpreting this last name as the former were interpreted we should have 61 instead of 41. The same observation may be made respecting every number, not a multiple of 20, up to 400; that is, each number is less by 20 than the composition of its name would seem to indicate. If we gave to tu the meaning 'towards,' then hun-tu-yox-kal might be interpreted '1 (from 40) towards 60,' or 41; but in such a case the word for 21, hun-tu-kal, must be supposed to be a contraction of hun-tu-ca-kal, '1 (from 20) towards 40.' Other irregularities will be noticed by the reader in the numbers above 400. I have thought it best to call attention to what appears a strange inconsistency in this system of numeration, but which may present less difficulties to one better acquainted than I with the Maya language.[1098]

THE MAYA CALENDAR.

Authorities on the Maya calendar of Yucatan, the only one of which any details are known, are Bishop Landa and Don Juan Pio Perez. The latter was a modern writer who devoted much study to the subject, was perfectly familiar with the Maya language, and had in his possession or consulted elsewhere many ancient manuscripts. There are also a few scattered remarks on the subject in the works of other writers.[1099]

The Maya day was called kin, or 'sun'; malik ocok kin was the time just preceding sunrise; hatzcab was the time from sunrise to noon, which was called chunkin or 'middle of the day'; tzelep kin was the declining sun, or about three o'clock P. M.; oc na kin was sunset. The night was akab, and midnight was chumuc akab. Other hours were indicated by the position of the sun in the daytime, and by that of some star—the morning star, the Pleiades, and the Gemini as Landa says—during the night.

The following table shows the names of the twenty days with the orthography of different writers, and the meaning of the names so far as known:

The hieroglyphics by which the names of the days were expressed are shown in the accompanying cut in their proper order of succession,—Kan, Chicchan, etc., to Akbal; but it is to be noted that although this order was invariable, yet the month might begin with any one of the four days Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac.

The month, made up as I have said of twenty days, was called u, or 'moon,' indicating perhaps that time was originally computed by lunar calculations. It was also called uinal, a word whose signification is not satisfactorily given. The year contained eighteen months, whose names with the hieroglyphics by which they were written, are shown in the cut on the opposite page, in their order, Pop, Uo, Zip, etc., to Cumhu.

Not only did the months succeed each other always in the same order, but Pop was always the first month of the year, which began on a date corresponding to July 16 of our calendar, a date which varies only forty-eight hours from the time when the sun passes the zenith—an approximation as accurate as could be expected from observations made without instruments.

MONTHS OF THE MAYA CALENDAR.

The following table shows the names of the months, their meaning, and the day on which each began, according to our calendar:

INTERCALARY DAYS.

The year was called haab, and consisted of the eighteen months already named,—which would make 360 days,—and of five supplementary, or intercalary days, to complete the full number of 365. These intercalary days were called xma kaba kin, or 'nameless days,' and also uayab or nayeb haab, u na haab, nayab chab, u yail kin, u yail haab, u tuz kin, or u lobol kin, which may mean 'bed' or 'chamber' of the year, 'mother of the year,' 'bed of creation,' 'travail of the year,' 'lying days,' or 'bad days,' etc. They were added at the end of each year, after the last day of Cumhu, and although they are called nameless, and were perhaps never spoken of by name, yet they were actually reckoned like the rest;—that is, if the last day of Cumhu was Akbal, the five intercalary days would be reckoned as Kan, Chicchan, Cimi, Manik, and Lamat, so that the new year, or the month of Pop, would begin with the day Muluc.

Besides this division of time into years, months, and days, there was another division carried along simultaneously with the first, into twenty-eight periods of thirteen days each,[1101] which may for convenience be termed weeks, although the natives did not apply any name to the period of thirteen days, and perhaps did not regard it as a definite period at all, but used the number thirteen as a sacred number from some superstitious motives;[1102] yet its use produces some curious complications in the calendar, of which it is a most peculiar feature. The name of each day was preceded by a numeral showing its position in the week, and these numerals proceeded regularly from one to thirteen and then began again at one. Thus 1 Kan meant 'Kan, the first day of the week'; 12 Cauac, 'Cauac, the twelfth day of the week,' etc. It is probable also that the days of the month were numbered regularly from 1 to 20, as events are spoken of as occurring on the 18th of Zip, etc., but the numeral relating to the week was the most prominent. The table shows the succession of days and weeks for several months:

Of the twenty days only four,—Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac—could begin either a month or a year. Whatever the name of the first day of the first month, every month in the year began with the same day, accompanied, however, by a different numeral. The numeral of the first day for the first month being 1, that of the second would be 8, and so on for the other months in the following order: 2, 9, 3, 10, 4, 11, 5, 12, 6, 13, 7, 1, 8, 2, 9, 3. To ascertain the numeral for any month 7 must be added to that of the preceding month, and 13 subtracted from the sum if it be more than 13.

SUCCESSION OF THE YEARS.

By extending the table of days and months over a period of years,—an extension which my space does not permit me to make in these pages,—the reader will observe that by reason of the intercalary days, and of the fact that 28 weeks of 13 days each make only 364 instead of 365 days, if the first year began with the day 1 Kan, the second would begin with 2 Muluc, the third with 3 Ix, the fourth with 4 Cauac, the fifth with 5 Kan, and so on in regular order; therefore the years were named by the day on which they began, 1 Kan, 2 Muluc, 3 Ix, etc., since the year would begin with any one of these combinations only once in 52 years. Thus the four names of the days Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac served as signs for the years, precisely as the signs tochtli, calli, tecpatl, and acatl with their numerals served among the Aztecs. In the circle in which the Mayas are said to have inscribed their calendar, these four signs are located in the east, north, west, and south respectively, and are considered the 'carriers of the years.'

It will be seen that, starting from 1 Kan, although every fifth year began with the day, or sign, Kan, yet the numeral 1 did not occur again in connection with any first day until thirteen years had passed away; so that 1 Kan or Kan alone not only named the year which it began, but also a period of thirteen years, which is spoken of as a 'week of years' or an 'indiction.' The first indiction of thirteen years beginning with 1 Kan, the second began with 1 Muluc, the third with 1 Ix, and the fourth with 1 Cauac.

After the indiction whose sign was 1 Cauac, the next would begin again with 1 Kan; that is 52 years would have elapsed, and this period of 52 years was called a Katun, corresponding with the Aztec cycle, as explained in a preceding chapter.

Thus we see that the four signs Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac served to name certain days of the month; they also named the years of the indiction, since in connection with certain numerals they were the first days of these years; they further named the indictions of the Katun, of which with the numeral 1 they were also the first days; and finally they named, or may have named, the Katun itself which they begun, also in connection with the numeral 1. How the Katuns were actually named we are not informed. The completion of each Katun was regarded by the Mayas as a most critical and important epoch, and was celebrated with most imposing religious ceremonies. Also a monument is said to have been raised, on which a large stone was placed crosswise, also called katun as a memorial of the cycle that had passed. It is unfortunate that some of these monuments cannot be discovered and identified among the ruins. Thus far the Maya calendar is, after a certain amount of study, sufficiently intelligible; and is, except in its system of nomenclature, essentially identical with that of the Nahuas. The calendars of the Quichés, Cakchiquels, Chiapanecs, and the natives of Soconusco, are also the same so far as their details are known. The names of months and days in some of these calendars will be given in this chapter.

THE AHAU KATUNES.

Another division of time not found in the Nahua calendar, was that into the Ahau Katunes. The system according to which this division was made is clear enough if we may accept the statements of Sr Perez; several of which rest on authorities that are unknown to all but himself. According to this writer, the Ahau Katun was a period of 24 years, divided into two parts; the first part of 20 years was enclosed in the native writings by a square and called amaytun, lamayte, or lamaytun; and the second, of the other four years, was placed as a 'pedestal' to the others, and therefore called chek oc katun, or lath oc katun. These four years were considered as intercalary and unfortunate, like the five supplementary days of the year, and were sometimes called a yail haab, 'years of pain.' This Katun of 24 years was called Ahau from its first day, and the natives began to reckon from 13 Ahau Katun, because it began on the day 13 Ahau, on which day some great event probably took place in their history. The day Ahau at which these periods began was the second day of such years as began with Cauac; and 13 Ahau, the first day of the first period, was the second of the year 12 Cauac; 2 Ahau was the second day of the year 1 Cauac, etc. If we construct a table of the years from 12 Cauac in regular order, we shall find that if the first period was 13 Ahau Katun because it began with 13 Ahau, the second, 24 years later, was 11 Ahau Katun, beginning with 11 Ahau; the third was 9 Ahau Katun, etc. That is, the Ahau Katunes, instead of being numbered 1, 2, 3, etc., in regular order was preceded by the numerals 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2. 13 of these Ahau Katunes, making 312 years, constituted a great cycle, and we are told that it was by means of the Ahau Katunes and great cycles of 312 years that historical events were generally recorded.

Sr Perez states that the year 1392 of our era was the Maya year 7 Cauac, 'according to all sources of information, confirmed by the testimony of Don Cosme de Burgos, one of the conquerors, and a writer (but whose observations have been lost).' Therefore the 8 Ahau Katun began on the second day of that year; the 6 Ahau Katun, 24 years later, in 1416; the 4 Ahau in 1440; the 2, in 1464; the 13, in 1488; the 11, in 1512; the 9, in 1536; the 7, in 1560; the 5, in 1584; the 3, in 1608, etc. As a test of the accuracy of his system of Ahau Katunes, the author says that he found in a certain manuscript the death of a distinguished individual, Ahpulá, mentioned as having taken place in the 6th year of Ahau Katun, when the first day of the year was 4 Kan, on the day of 9 Ix, the 18th day of the month Zip. Now the 13 Ahau began in the year 12 Cauac, or 1488; the 6th year from 1488 was 1493, or 4 Kan; if the month of Pop began with 4 Kan, then the 3d month, Zip, began with 5 Kan, and the 18th of that month fell on 9 Ix, or Sept. 11. All this may be readily verified by filling out the table in regular order.

On the other hand we have Landa's statement that the Ahau Katun was a period of 20 years; he gives however the same order of the numerals as Perez,—that is 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2. He also states that the year 1541 was the beginning of 11 Ahau; but if 11 Ahau was the second day of 1541, that year must have been 10 Cauac, and 1561, 20 years later, would have been 4 Cauac, the second day of which would have been 5 Ahau; which does not agree at all with the order of numerals. In fact no other number of years than 24 for each Ahau Katun will produce this order of numerals, which fact is perhaps the strongest argument in favor of Sr Perez' system. Cogolludo also says that the Mayas counted their time by periods of 20 years called Katunes, each divided into 5 sub-periods of four years each. Sr Perez admits that other writers reckon the Ahau Katun as 20 years, but claims that they have fallen into error through disregarding the chek oc katun, or 4 unlucky years of the period. A Maya manuscript furnished and translated by Perez is published by Stephens and in Landa's work, and repeatedly speaks of the Ahau Katun as a period of 20 years. Again, this is the very manuscript in which the death of Ahpulá was announced, and the date of that event is given as 6 years before the completion of 13 Ahau, instead of the sixth year of that period as stated in the calculations of Sr Perez; and besides, the date is distinctly given as 1536, instead of 1403, which dates will in nowise agree with the system explained, or with the date of 1392 given as the beginning of 8 Ahau. Moreover, as I have already said, several of the statements on which Perez bases his computations are unsupported by any authority save manuscripts unknown to all but himself. Such are the statements that the Ahau Katun began on the 2d day of a year Cauac; that 13 Ahau was reckoned as the first; and that 8 Ahau began in 1392. These facts, together with various other inaccuracies in the writings of Sr Perez are sufficient to weaken our faith in his system of the Ahau Katunes; and since the other writers give no explanations, this part of the Maya calendar must remain shrouded in doubt until new sources of information shall be found.[1103] The following quotation made by Sr Perez from a manuscript, contains all that is known respecting what was possibly another method of reckoning time. "There was another number which they called Ua Katun, and which served them as a key to find the Katunes, according to the order of its march, it falls on the days of the uayeb haab, and revolves to the end of certain years: Katunes 13, 9, 5, 1, 10, 6, 2, 11, 7, 3, 12, 8, 4."

BISSEXTILE ADDITIONS.

We have seen that the Maya year by means of intercalary days added at the end of the month Cumhu was made to include 365 days. How the additional six hours necessary to make the length of the year agree with the solar movements were intercalated without disturbing the complicated order already described, is altogether a matter of conjecture. The most plausible theory is perhaps that a day was added at the end of every four years, this day being called by the same name and numeral as the one preceding it, or, in other words, no account being made of this day in the almanac, although it was perhaps indicated by some sign in the hieroglyphics of these days. The Nicaraguan calendar was practically identical with that of the Aztecs, even in nomenclature although there were naturally some slight variations in orthography. The following table shows the names of the months in several other Maya calendars, whose system so far as known is the same as that in Yucatan.

DAYS IN GUATEMALA AND CHIAPAS.

The names of the days in the same calendars are as follows:

I shall treat of the Maya hieroglyphics by giving first the testimony of the early writers respecting the existence of a system of writing in the sixteenth century; then an account of the very few manuscripts that have been preserved, together with illustrative plates from both manuscripts and sculptured stone tablets; to be followed by Bishop Landa's alphabet, a mention of Brasseur de Bourbourg's attempted interpretation of the native writings, and a few speculations of other modern writers on the subject. The statements of the early writers, although conclusive, are not numerous, and I will consequently translate them literally.

Landa says that "the sciences which they taught were—to read and write with their books and characters with which they wrote, and with the figures which signified (explained, or took the place of?) writings. They wrote their books on a large leaf, doubled in folds, and inclosed between two boards which they made very fine (decorated); and they wrote on both sides in columns, according to the folds; the paper they made of the roots of a tree, and gave it a white varnish on which one could write well; these sciences were known by certain men of high rank (only), who were therefore more esteemed although they did not use the art in public." "These people also used certain characters or letters with which they wrote in their books their antiquities and their sciences; and by means of these and of figures and of certain signs in their figures they understood their things, and made them understood, and taught them. We found among them a great number of books of these letters of theirs, and because they had nothing in which there were not superstitions and falsities of the devil, we burned them all, at which they were exceedingly sorrowful and troubled."[1108] According to Cogolludo, "in the time of their infidelity the Indians of Yucatan had books, made of the bark of trees, with a white and durable varnish, ten or twelve yards long, which by folding were reduced to a span. In these they painted with colors the account of their years, wars, floods, hurricanes, famines, and other events." "The son of the only god, of whose existence, as I have said, they were aware, and whom they called Ytzamná, was the man, as I believe, who first invented the characters which served the Indians as letters, because they called the latter also Ytzamná."[1109] The Itzas, as Villagutierre tells us, had "characters and figures painted on the bark of trees, each leaf, or tablet, being about a span long, as thick as a real de à ocho (a coin), folded both ways like a screen, which they called analtees."[1110] Mendieta states that the Mexicans had no letters, "although in the land of Champoton it is said that such were found, and that they understood each other by means of them, as we do by means of ours."[1111] Acosta says that in Yucatan "there were books of leaves, bound or folded after their manner, in which the learned Indians had their division of their time, knowledge of plants and animals and other natural objects, and their antiquities; a thing of great curiosity and diligence."[1112] The Maya priests "were occupied in teaching their sciences and in writing books upon them."[1113] In Guatemala, according to Benzoni, "the thing of all others at which the Indians have been most surprised has been our reading and writing.... Nor could they imagine among themselves in what way white paper painted with black, could speak."[1114] Peter Martyr gives quite a long description of the native wood-bound books, which he does not refer particularly to Yucatan, although Brasseur, apparently with much reason, believes they were the Maya analtés rather than the regular Aztec picture writings. The description is as follows in the quaint English of the translator. "They make not their books square leafe by leafe, but extend the matter and substance thereof into many cubites. They reduce them into square peeces, not loose, but with binding, and flexible Bitumen so conioyned, that being compact of wooden table bookes, they may seeme to haue passed the hands of some curious workman that ioyned them together. Which way soeuer the book bee opened, two written sides offer themselues to the view, two pages appeare and as many lye vnder, vnlesse you stretch them in length: for there are many leaues ioyned together vnder one leafe. The Characters are very vnlike ours, written after our manner, lyne after lyne, with characters like small dice, fishookes, snares, files, starres, & other such like formes and shapes. Wherein they immitate almost the Egyptian manner of writing, and betweene the lines they paint the shapes of men, & beasts, especially of their kings & nobles.... They make the former wooden table bookes also with art to content and delight the beholder. Being shut, they seeme to differ nothing from our bookes, in these they set downe in writing the rites, and the customes of their laws, sacrifices, ceremonies, their computations, etc."[1115]

MAYA HIEROGLYPHIC SYSTEM.

Respecting hieroglyphic records in Chiapas and Guatemala, we have the statement of Ordoñez that "Votan wrote a work upon the origin of the Indians," and that he, Ordoñez, had a copy of the book in his possession; a complaint in the Quiché annals known as the Popol Vuh, that the 'national book' containing the ancient records of their people had been lost; and finally the reported discovery and destruction in Soconusco of archives on stone by Nuñez de la Vega in 1691. All this amounts to little save as indicating the ancient use of hieroglyphics by the followers of Votan, a fact sufficiently proven, as we shall see, by the engraved tablets of Palenque and Copan.[1116] The Nicaraguans at the time of the conquest had records painted in colors upon skin and paper, undoubtedly identical in their figures with those of the Nahuas, to whom the civilized people of Nicaragua were nearly related in blood and language. No specimens of these southern hieroglyphics have, however, been preserved. Oviedo and Herrera slightly describe the paintings and later writers have followed them.[1117]

MAYA MANUSCRIPTS.

Of the aboriginal Maya manuscripts three specimens only, so far as I know, have been preserved. These are the Mexican Manuscript, No. 2, of the Imperial Library at Paris; the Dresden Codex; and the Manuscript Troano. Concerning the first we only know of its existence and the similarity of its characters to those of the other two and of the sculptured tablets. The document was photographed in 1864 by order of the French government, but I am not aware that the photographs have ever been given to the public. The Dresden Codex is preserved in the Royal Library of Dresden. A complete copy was published in Lord Kingsborough's collection of Mexican antiquities, and fragments were also reproduced by Humboldt. It was purchased in Vienna by the librarian Götz in 1739, but beyond this nothing whatever is known of its history and origin. It was published by Kingsborough as an Aztec picture-writing, although its characters present little if any resemblance to those of its companion documents in the collection. Its form was also different from all the rest, since it is written on both sides of five leaves of maguey-paper. At the time of its publication, however, the existence of any but Aztec hieroglyphics in America was unknown. Mr Stephens in his antiquarian exploration of Central America, at once noticed the similarity of its figures to those of the sculptured hieroglyphics found there, but he used this similarity to prove the identity of the northern and southern nations, since it did not occur to him that the Aztec origin of the Dresden document was a mere supposition. Mr Brantz Mayer, fully aware of the differences between this and other reputed Mexican picture-writings, went so far as to pronounce it the only genuine Aztec document that he had seen. There can be no reasonable doubt, however, at this day, that the Maya and Nahua (or Maya and Aztec, since some authors will not agree with my use of the term Nahua) hieroglyphic systems were practically distinct, although it would be hardly wise to decide that they are absolutely without affinities in some of their details. The accompanying cut from Stephens' work shows a small fragment of the Dresden Codex.[1118]