Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/125

 Landa had but an imperfect understanding of the Maya writings, and has given no translation of any of them; yet, with some inconsistency, he made a copy of the alphabetical signs, as well as others that stood for the names of days and months. It is well that he did this, for although he boasted of having burned all the books, four escaped falling into his hands—how, it is not known; and the few signs he condescended to copy and keep, now serve as a key to the translation of those precious volumes. They are known as Troano Manuscript, Dresden Manuscript, Codex Vaticano, and Codex Lettellier. This last is in the Imperial Library at Paris. We are not aware that any of these manuscripts have been copied, except the Troano.

This one belonged to a gentleman named Tro y Ortelano, Professor of Paleography at the Madrid University; he lent it to the learned archæologist Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, permitting him to reproduce it, the French government defraying expenses; one of those facsimile copies is in our possession.

The Troano Manuscript is divided in two parts, one having thirty-six plates, the other thirty-four, each measuring about ten by five inches, and being separated by broad, horizontal lines into two