Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/161

Rh by turning to the middle division of Plate III, the same person, although still represented as standing, a headless trunk and covered with blood, while in close proximity is the fatal machete.

Above the bound figure we find the character heretofore given, which we have supposed may be the symbol for Ol, or "heart," and, if so, tends to confirm the idea indicated in what has been said concerning these figures. Be this as it may, we have here, undoubtedly, indications of human sacrifice. The mode indicated may not be exactly what we may have been led to expect from what has been stated by the old authors, but this does not necessarily prove our interpretation wrong. It is a significant fact that on the third page of the Dresden Codex we see human sacrifice distinctly shown. Thus it appears that each of these manuscripts bears the evidence of this horrible custom.

As bearing upon my interpretation of these characters, I call attention to the fact that they are also found on Plate 3 of the Codex, in connection with the figure denoting human sacrifice.

The white left-hand figure in the third division (PI. Ill), holding in his right hand the symbol of cu or Cauac, and in his left a spear head, represents, as I judge from the markings and this accompanying character, of the gods of death or underworld.

Plates III to VII, taken together, appear to represent among other things a journey of some kind, probably the journeyings of traveling merchants or peddlers. This is indicated by the marks of footsteps and by the figures of individuals with staves in their hands and packs on their backs, which are bound with cords.

The two individuals in the upper division of Plate VI appear to be in the act of producing fire by whirling a stick between the hands with the point pressed on a piece of wood, as was the custom.

The figure in the lower division of this plate is interesting chiefly on account of the peculiar head-dress of the large central figure. This, which is shown in the annexed cut (Fig. 13), represents a couch or seat in the form of a double-headed animal, on which is placed the head of a deer. This bears such a striking resemblance to the double-headed