Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/137

Rh plates of the Manuscript and give the signification of them so far as I have been able to make this out. I will start with the. assumption that the conclusion drawn from the comparison just made—that they relate in part at least to the festivals of the supplemental days—is correct; and as affording additional evidence, I first call attention to the following facts: Landa, in his account of the ceremonies relating to the Muluc year, remarks that "the devil commanded them to offer squirrels and a cloth cover (or cloth ornament), without embroidery, woven by the old women whose office it was to dance in the temple for the purpose of appeasing the god Yax-coc-Ahmut." In the upper division of Plate XXI (that relating to the Muluc year) we see this cloth, which we judge from the figure was to be worn by the priests. It is plain and without ornamentation, save what is on the strips at the side.

The same account, as will be seen by reference to the quotation in full heretofore made, mentions that "among other things performed at this festival was a ballet or dance executed on very high stilts" (en muy altos zancos). In the upper division of the same plate (XXI) we see one of the dancers on stilts.

It also states that "they were required to present dogs of burnt clay bearing bread on the back"; that "the old women were obliged to dance with these dogs in their hands, and to sacrifice to the god a little dog with black shoulders." In the lower division of the same plate we observe three figures of small unspotted dogs, two of which are seated on human feet, which is doubtless intended to denote that they are carried during the dance. To the right is another figure of a dog marked with large black spots, and bearing on its back the symbol of Ymix or Imix mounted on that of Kan.

It is true these figures do not agree exactly with Landa's description, as he does not appear to refer to the two classes of dog images—the plain and the spotted—but to the latter only. But we may expect this writer, who mentions these things more incidentally than otherwise, to be more or less confused where so many particulars are to be remembered, especially if his work was written in Spain, where he had necessarily to rely to a great extent upon his memory. But the fact that these figures are found on