Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/217

Rh upon this character furnishes a strong reason for believing it should in such cases be rendered "earth."

Turning to Plate XXIV*, we observe, in the third division, the figure of a large brown tree, and a person standing by with hatchet in hand in the act of cutting; in the inscription immediately above is Fig. 76. There can be little, if any, doubt that this refers to cutting into the tree. The Caban character may signify a particular species, but I think it more than probable the word denoted is cabal, "at the foot or base," "at the ground"; and that the proper rendering is "cut with a hatchet at the base," or "at the ground." The cut or opening at the base of the brown tree appears to correspond with this interpretation, especially as the tree to the right in the same division is severed at a short distance above the base.

If my rendering of this character, in the different uses to which it is applied, be correct, it must be to some extent at least phonetic.

On the wall and base of the dwelling, or whatsoever it may be, on Plate (30) of the Codex, it is probably used to denote that it is earthen, or plastered.

This character is closely allied to the symbol for the day Cib (Kib), which is usually given thus in the Manuscript (Fig. 77). In each of the words we have the sound of k and b, but one of the characters has a line of dots that is wanting in the other. The inner line and the little cross-marks usually found in Cib in the Manuscript, and represented in Fig. 77, do not appear to be essential.

The character represented in Fig. 78 occurs in the middle division of Plate V. As the figures in the spaces probably represent traveling merchants, it is possible that this should be rendered u beom—the "traveler" or "merchant."

The third division of Plate XXIX (the lower of the two shown in Fig. 79), is divided into four compartments, each with its figure and superscription, the latter consisting of four compound characters in each