The principal representation on all the four pages is a priest, but disguised as an animal with the head of a beast of prey as a mask (always the same one) and also with a tail. He is pictured with the same three articles in each of the four representations, viz:—First, in his right hand, the staff of office with the hand at the top, which, according to Seler, "Mittel-Amerik. Musikinstrum.," p. 112, is the rattle-stick, second the incense-pouch, i.e., for copal, and third in his left hand a rattle, or, according to Schellhas, "Vergleichende Studien" (1880), a fan. There is one point, however, in which the first two pages differ from the other two; on the first two the priest is walking on dry land and on the second two through a stream of water. Was the city, to which this calendar especially refers, bordered in two directions by water, so that the road led across it?
On all the four pages, however, the priest carries on his back a different deity, and I cannot find out by what rule these gods are connected with one another, or with the one which is represented below them, or with the years. On page 25 the god is B, on 26 he has the form of a jaguar (Ix), on 27 he is undoubtedly E, and on page 28 he is the god A, Cimi.
Now to the left of the priest on each page there is one of the familiar Chuen bundles, such as are also frequently found in the the Tro-Cortesianus. Here, on pages 25-28, there are always three of these Chuen signs in a bunch. If Chuen really denotes the eighth day (which, of course, is only possible when Kan = 1), and at the same time the period of 8 days, then in this passage these three Chuen signs would properly designate the 24 days which elapse before the last day of the year, which is the last day of the 18th month. In the same way we shall find the Chuen bundle appropriately given this meaning on pages 42c-45c. Likewise the simple Chuen sign at the top of page 52 seems to denote 8 days. But what do the Chuen bundles in the Tro-Cortesianus mean, some of which are much larger?
In close proximity to these Chuen bundles we find numbers as follows:—on page 25 numbers 8 and 9, on 26 number 13, on 27 number 2 and on 28 number 13. I can offer no opinion,
which would be even approximately acceptable in regard to the meaning of these numerals, but we shall discuss them later.
3. The Top Hieroglyphs.
I shall discuss these glyphs in this place, although each group seems to relate not merely to the top picture, but to the whole page. There are 16 on each page, and arranged as follows:—
| 1 | 2 | 9 | 10 | ||
| 3 | 4 | 11 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 13 | 14 | ||
| 7 | 8 | 15 | 16 | . |
Unfortunately, the writing at the top is obliterated, which makes it impossible to understand not merely this passage, but also those on all the rest of these pages. Of the 16 signs in the top line only one is legible, and that is the first on page 28. This is the usual cross b; as a comprehensive heading it perhaps occupied places 1 and 9 on each page, alternating with another sign in 2 and 10.
In spite of this obliteration there are a few points which can be profitably discussed here.