Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/202



It is not my intention at present to enter into a general discussion of the ancient Maya writings, as this will be found in the introduction by Dr. Brinton. On the contrary, I shall confine myself as strictly as possible to an examination of the characters found in this, occasional reference to the Dresden Codex and the inscriptions on the ruins being made only for comparison and illustration.

The interpretation of these written characters is, as a matter of course, the chief, though not the only object of our research and examination. Although my progress in this direction has been limited, yet I trust the result will show that I have made some positive advance. In discussing these characters there are some preliminary questions to be considered, which, if satisfactorily answered, may aid us in the attempt to decipher them:

First. The direction in which they are to be read.

Second. The order in which the parts of the compound characters are to be taken.

Third. Whether they are, in any sense, phonetic.

THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THEY ARE TO BE READ.

Brasseur de Bourbourg, influenced by the direction in which the figures appear to be moving and in which the faces are turned, which, in nearly all cases, is toward the left, concludes that the writing must be read by lines from right to left, and by columns from the bottom upward. His attempt at deciphering was made upon this theory, which I believe he subsequently confessed to be an error, although still retaining his theory in reference to a great geological cataclysm.

Mr. Bolloert followed the same method, reading from the bottom upwards and from right to left.