Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/12

vi But there are reasons for believing that it pertained to a comparatively well-wooded section.

4th. That the people of the section where it was prepared were peaceable, not addicted to war; and were sedentary, supporting themselves chiefly by agricultural products, though relying upon their "gins and traps" and the chase to supply them with animal food. Twelve of the plates (VIII to XIX) are devoted to this latter subject; ten (I* to X*) to the business, festivals, &c., of the apiarists and honey-gatherers; and ten (XXIV to XXXIII) to rains, storms, and agricultural pursuits.

The execution and character of the work itself, as well as its contents, bear testimony to the fact that the people were comparatively well advanced in the arts of civilized life. But there is nothing here to warrant the glowing descriptions of their art and refinement given by some of the earlier as well as more modern writers, nor even to correspond with what might be inferred from the architectural remains in some parts of Yucatan. We find in the work indications of stone and wooden houses, but generally with thatched roofs; at least they always have wooden supports, and are of a temporary character.

The dress of the males appears to have consisted of a strip of cloth (probably cotton), passed once or twice around the loins, with one end hanging down behind and the other in front, or a small flap in front and the ends behind. That of the females consisted of a skirt fastened at the waist and hanging down to the ankles. A kind of broad anklets and wristlets appear also to have been quite common with the better class, but the feet were always bare. The women parted their hair in the middle, that of the matrons or married women not being allowed to hang down, while that of the younger or unmarried ones was allowed to hang in long locks behind.

Mats alone seem to have been used as seats.

The pottery, so far as I can judge by what is shown in the Manuscript (and in this prefatory statement I confine my remarks strictly to what seems to be shown here, unless otherwise expressly stated), was of an inferior grade as to form and decoration, but it is worthy of notice that pots with legs were common.-Some censers in the form of a snake's neck and head are the best specimens represented.