Fig. 556.—Bella Coola Indians.
In the Verhandl. der Berliner Gesellsch. für Anthrop. (a) is the illustration from which Fig. 556 is reproduced. It shows a group of Bella Coola Indians, which is made interesting by the elaborate ceremonial coat worn by the middle figure in the foreground.
Fig. 557.—Guatemala priest.
Dr. S. Habel (c) gives the following description of Fig. 557, which reproduces only the upper part of the sculpture:
The design represents in low relief an erect human figure in profile, with the head and shoulders slightly inclined forward. The body is apparently naked, excepting those portions which are concealed by elaborate ornaments, the most prominent of which is a crab covering the head. Since there is every reason to believe the figure to represent a priest, the crab may be taken as the emblem of priestly rank.
Pls. LXV and LXVI of the Codex Mendoza, in Vol. I of Lord Kingsborough’s Antiquities of Mexico, exhibit the devices and insignia of the soldiers who advanced step by step to higher command, according to their military achievements. The chief criterion, indeed the only one mentioned for these steps and promotions, was the number of prisoners severally taken by the soldiers in war. From the large number of degrees in rank and titles of valor expressed in the above-mentioned plates, a number have been selected and copies of them, exact in drawing, size, and coloration, are presented here in Pls. XXVIII and XXIX. The quaint text relating to them is in Kingsborough (p).
