ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.
Fig. 1214.—Eclipse of the sun.
Fig. 1214.—Dakotas witnessed eclipse of the sun; they were terribly frightened. The sun is a dark globe and the stars appear. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1869-’70.
The left-hand design on the lower line of Pl. [XLIX] is reproduced from Kingsborough. “In this year there was a great eclipse of the sun.”
Humboldt infers from this painting that the Mexicans were informed of the real cause of the eclipses; which would not be at all surprising considering the many other curious things with which they were acquainted, the knowledge of which they must have derived from the West. It is proper to observe that on the 127th page of the Vatican MS., where a representation of the same eclipse occurs, the disk of the moon does not appear to be projecting over that of the sun. The Vatican MS. appears to have been copied from a Mexican painting similar to but not the same as that which Pedro de los Rios copied, whose notes and interpretations the Italian interpreter had before his eyes and strictly followed.
METEORS.
This group shows the pictorial representation of meteors by the Dakotas. The translations as well as the devices are suggestive.
Fig. 1215.