Incidents of Travel in Yucatan Volume I Part 21

| &c. 3. Gix. | &c. 3. Cauac. | &c. 3. Kan. | &c. 3. Muluc.

| 4. Cauac. | 4. Kan. | 4. Muluc. | 4. Gix.

| 5. Kan. | 5. Muluc. | 5. Gix. | 5. Cauac.

| 6. Muluc. | 6. Gix. | 6. Cauac. | 6. Kan.

| 7. Gix. | 7. Cauac. | 7. Kan. | 7. Muluc.

| 8. Cauac. | 8. Kan. | 8. Muluc. | 8. Gix.

| 9. Kan. | 9. Muluc. | 9. Gix. | 9. Cauac.

| 10. Muluc. | 10. Gix. | 10. Cauac. | 10. Kan.

| 11. Gix. | 11. Cauac. | 11. Kan. | 11. Muluc.

| 12. Cauac. | 12. Kan. | 12. Muluc. | 12. Gix.

| 13. Kan. | 13. Muluc. | 13. Gix. | 13. Cauac.

This period of 52 years was called by the Indians _Katun_, and at its conclusion great feasts were celebrated, and a monument was raised, on which a large stone was placed crosswise, as is signified by the word _Kat-tun_, for a memento and record of the cycles, or _Katunes_, that had elapsed. It should be observed, that until the completion of this period, the initial days of the years did not again fall upon the same numbers of the week; for which reason, by merely citing them, it was at once known what year of that cycle was arrived at; being aided in this by the wheel or table on which the years were engraved in hieroglyphics.

8. _Of the great Cycle of 312 Years, or Ajau Katunes_.

Besides the cycle of 52 years, or _Katun_, there was another great cycle peculiar to the Yucatecos, who referred to its periods for dating their princ.i.p.al epochs and the most notable events of their history. It contained 13 periods of 24 years each, making together 312 years. Each period, or _Ajau Katun_, was divided into two parts; the first of 20 years, which was included in a square, and therefore called _amaytun_, _lamayte_, or _lamaytun_; and the other of four years, which formed, as it were, a pedestal for the first, and was called _chek oc Katun_, or _lath oc Katun_, which means "stool" or "pedestal." They considered those four years as intercalated; therefore believed them to be unfortunate, and called them _u yail Jaab_, as they did the five supplementary days of the year, to which they likened them.

From this separation of the first 20 years from the last four, arose the erroneous belief that the _Ajaus_ consisted only of 20 years, an error into which almost all have fallen who have written on the subject; but if they had counted the years which compose a period, and noted the positive declarations of the ma.n.u.scripts that the _Ajaues_ consisted of 24 years divided as above stated, they would not have misled their readers on this point.

It is incontrovertible that those periods, epochs, or ages, took the name of _Ajau Katun_, because they began to be counted from the day _Ajau_, which was the second day of those years that began in Cauac; but as these days and numbers were taken from years which had run their course, the periods of 24 years could never have an arithmetical order, but succeeded each other according to the numbers 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2. As the Indians established the number 13 as the first, it is probable that some remarkable event had happened in that year, because, when the Spaniards came to this peninsula, the Indians reckoned then the 8th as the 1st, that being the date at which their ancestors came to settle it; and an Indian writer proposed that they should abandon that order also, and begin counting from the 11th, solely because the conquest had happened in that. Now if the 13 _Ajau Katun_ began on a second day of the year, it must be that year which began on 12 _Cauac_, and the 12th of the indiction. The 11 _Ajau_ would commence in the year of 10 _Cauac_, which happens after a period of 24 years, and so on with the rest; taking notice that after that lapse of years we come to the respective number marked in the course of the Ajaues, which is placed first; proving that they consist of 24, and not, as some have believed, of 20 years.

_Series of the years completed in two Ajau Katunes, having their beginning in the year of our Lord_ 1488, _in which the 13th Ajau commences on the 2d day of the year 12 Cauac, being the 12th of the first indiction._ ------|-----------------|------|--------------------| | 13th | | 13th | A.D. | Ajau. | A.D. | Ajau. | ------|-----------|-----|------|-----------|--------| 1488 | 12. Cauac | L | 1500 | 11. Cauac | L | 1489 | 13. Kan | a | 1501 | 12. Kan | a | 1490 | 1. Muluc | m | 1502 | 13. Muluc | m | 1491 | 2. Gix | a | 1503 | 1. Gix | a | 1492 | 3. Cauac | y | 1504 | 2. Cauac | y | 1493 | 4. Kan | t | 1505 | 3. Kan | t | 1494 | 5. Muluc | u | 1506 | 4. Muluc | u | 1495 | 6. Gix | n | 1507 | 5. Gix | n | 1496 | 7. Cauac | . | 1508 | 6. Cauac | . | 1497 | 8. Kan | | 1509 | 7. Kan | Laib | 1498 | 9. Muluc | | 1510 | 8. Muluc | oc | 1499 | 10. Gix | | 1511 | 9. Gix | Katun. | ------|-----------|-----|------|-----------|--------|

------|-----------------|------|--------------------| | 11th | | 11th | A.D. | Ajau. | A.D. | Ajau. | ------|-----------|-----|------|-----------|--------| 1512 | 10. Cauac | L | 1524 | 9. Cauac | L | 1513 | 11. Kan | a | 1525 | 10. Kan | a | 1514 | 12. Muluc | m | 1526 | 11. Muluc | m | 1515 | 13. Gix | a | 1527 | 12. Gix | a | 1516 | 1. Cauac | y | 1528 | 13. Cauac | y | 1517 | 2. Kan | t | 1529 | 1. Kan | t | 1518 | 3. Muluc | u | 1530 | 2. Muluc | u | 1519 | 4. Gix | n | 1531 | 3. Gix | n | 1520 | 5. Cauac | . | 1532 | 4. Cauac | . | 1521 | 6. Kan | | 1533 | 5. Kan | Chak | 1522 | 7. Muluc | | 1534 | 6. Muluc | oc | 1523 | 8. Gix | | 1535 | 7. Gix | Katun. | ------|-----------|-----|------|-----------|--------|

The fundamental point of departure from which to adjust the Ajaus with the years of the Christian era, to count the periods or cycles which have elapsed, and to make the years quoted by the Indians in their histories agree with the same era, is the year of our Lord 1392, which, according to all sources of information, confirmed by the testimony of Don Cosme de Burgos, one of the conquerors, and a writer (but whose observations have been lost), was the year in which fell the 7 _Cauac_, giving in its second day the commencement of 8 Ajau; and from this, as from a root, all that preceded and have followed it are adjusted according to the table of them which has been given; and as this agrees with all the series that have been found, it is highly probable that it is the correct one.

"At the end of each Ajau Katun, or period o/ 24 years," says a ma.n.u.script, "great feasts were celebrated in honour of the G.o.d thereof, and a statue of the G.o.d was put up, with letters and inscriptions." It must be supposed that these were expressed by means of signs or hieroglyphics.

The use of this cycle was of very great advantage and importance, because when, for example, the 8th Ajau was referred to in their histories in describing some event which it was necessary to distinguish from others, the 8th Ajau was established as a distinct date, and it was understood that the 312 years had elapsed, which made up the whole Katun, in order to return to the same number; this was more clear, if the writer explained that a _uudz Katun_ had elapsed, which is the sum total of the thirteen Katunes, or the great cycle.

They had various modes of quoting the _Ajaues_, as by saying generally the beginning, middle, or end of such an Ajau, or by mentioning the years of the Katun which had elapsed, without stating the month or day of the year, or by specifying all the particulars of the epoch, the year, month, and day. Such is the pa.s.sage in which is noticed the death of a certain, without doubt very notable, _Ajpula_. It is said that he died in the 6th year of 13 Ajau, when the first day of the year was 4 Kan at the east end of the wheel, in the day of 9 Ymix, 18th of the month Zip. This date being so circ.u.mstantial, we will trace it out, that it may serve as an example.

Looking at the series of years which belong to the 13 Ajau, and which we have given above, it will be seen that 12 Cauac falls in the year 1488, the second day of that year being, therefore, the beginning of the 13th Ajau; that the year 1493 is the sixth from the beginning of the said Ajau, and that its first day is designated as 4 Kan, which is the t.i.tle of that year, "18th of the month Zip." As this month begins on the 25th of August, the 18th corresponds with the 11th of September.

Let us see now whether this 18th day falls on 9 Ymix. The first month of that year commenced with 4 Kan, since 4 Kan designates that year (see the rule given in treating of the months). We find the numbers (of the week) annexed to the first days of the following months by successively adding 7 to each month, &c. (or, which is the same thing, by the rule _buk xoc_). The number of the 1st day of the 1st month being in this case 4, the number of the 1st day of the 2d month will be 4+7=11, and that of the 1st day of the 3d month, viz., of Zip, will be 11+7-13=5. That month begins, therefore, in that year, with 5 Kan, and the following days are,

|-------------|------------------|-------------|------------------| | Days of | Days of | Days of | Days of | | Aug. | Zip. | the Week. | Aug. | Zip. | the Week. | |------|------|------------------|------|------|------------------| | 25 | 1 | 5. Kan. | 1 | 8 | 12. Chuen. | | 26 | 2 | 6. Chicchan. | 2 | 9 | 13. Eb. | | 27 | 3 | 7. Quimi. | 3 | 10 | 1. Ben. | | 28 | 4 | 8. Manik. | 4 | 11 | 2. Gix. | | 29 | 5 | 9. Lamat. | 5 | 12 | 3. Men. | | 30 | 6 | 10. Muluc. | 6 | 13 | 4. Quin. | | 31 | 7 | 11. Oc. | 7 | 14 | 5. Caban. |

|--------------|------------------| | Days of | Days of | | Sept. | Zip. | the Week. | |-------|------|------------------| | 8 | 15 | 6. Edznab. | | 9 | 16 | 7. Cauac. | | 10 | 17 | 8. Ajau. | | 11 | 18 | 9. Ymix. | |-------|------|------------------|

Thus the 11th of September was the 18th of Zip, which does fall on 9 Ymix, and accords with the date given in the MS. This date appears, therefore, to have been very correct.

_Of the Origin of this Cycle._

The origin and use of this species of age, epoch, or cycle, and (the time) when it commenced, are not known. Neither the Mexican nor Toltecan authors, nor those who corrected the chronological system for the computation of time, ever used it, nor had their writers any knowledge of its existence. The few and incomplete ma.n.u.scripts which exist in this peninsula make no mention of it; so that there is neither record nor even conjecture to guide us, unless there be something on the subject in the work written by Don Cristobal Antonio Xiu, son of the King of Mani, by order of the then government, which, according to the padre Cogolludo, existed in his time, and some allege to be even yet extant.

It appears only that the Chevalier Boturini had some knowledge, though imperfect, of that mode of reckoning time; inasmuch as Don Mariano Veytia, in the second chapter of his "Historia Antigua de Mexico,"

transcribes literally the explanation which Boturini gives at page 122 of the work which he published under the t.i.tle of "Idea of a New History of North America," and says, "that the Mexican Indians, when they reckoned in their calendar the first sign of their indiction under number 1, as, for instance, Ce Tecpatl (1 Tecpatl), it was understood that it was (so placed) only one time in every four cycles, because they spoke then of the initial characters of each cycle; and thus, according to the contrivance of their painted wheels, Ce (1) Tecpatl was but once the commencement of the four cycles" [meaning--began a cycle but once in four cycles. But the fact is not so: both in the Mexican and the Yucatec calendar, every cycle of 52 years begins with the same initial character of the year]; "for which reason, any character of those initial signs placed in their history means that four Indian cycles of 52 years each have elapsed, which makes 208 years before they can again occur as initial, because, in this way, no account is taken of characters which are in the body of the four cycles; and though the same characters are found there, they have not the same value."

Veytia affirms that he did not find any similar explanation, or anything alluding to the system of Boturini, in any of the ancient monuments which he had collected or examined, or mentioned by any Indian historian, not even in order to designate the epochs of the most remarkable events. But I believe that, in answer to this remark of Veytia, it may be said that Boturini, as Veytia states elsewhere, had examined the calendars used in old times by the Indians of Oaxacac, Chiapas, and Soconusco, and these being similar to that of the Yucatecos, it is not unreasonable to suppose that they, like the Yucatecos, computed by cycles greater than the Mexicans employed; and that Boturini took from them the idea, though confused and incorrect, of our Ajaus, or great cycles. This incorrectness might arise either from his not understanding the mechanism of their mode of computing, owing to the defective explanation given by the Indians, or from the ma.n.u.scripts which Boturini had before him being mutilated, or, finally, from the possible fact that the Indians in those provinces had a particular custom of counting by cycles of four indictions, or of 208 years, which, notwithstanding the difference observed in their calculation, and the number of years which it produces, have a great a.n.a.logy with the Yucateco cycles of 312 years. The only thing for which Boturini may be censured, if the Mexicans had no knowledge of that cycle, and did not use it, was the ascribing of it to them as being in common use for the computation of the greater periods of time.

The great similarity between the names of the days in the calendar of Oajaca, Chiapas, and Soconusco, and those of the Yucatecos, has been mentioned, and appears clearly by comparing the latter with those of the said provinces, which Veytia has transcribed in his history, chap.

xi., at the end.

|---------------------|-------------------| | Days of the | Days of the | | Oajaquian Month. | Yucateco Month. | |---------------------|-------------------| | 1. Votan. | 1. Kan. | | 2. Ghanan. | 2. Chicchan. | | 3. Abagh. | 3. Quimi. | | 4. Tox. | 4. Manik. | | 5. Moxic. | 5. Lamat. | | 6. Lambat. | 6. Muluc. | | 7. Molo or Mulu. | 7. Oc. | | 8. Elah or Elab. | 8. Chuen. | | 9. Batz. | 9. Eb. | | 10. Enoh or En.o.b. | 10. Ben. | | 11. Ben. | 11. Hix or Gix. | | 12. Hix. | 12. Men. | | 13. Tzinkin. | 13. Quib. | | 14. Chabin. | 14. Caban. | | 15. Chue or Chic. | 15. Edznab. | | 16. Chinax. | 16. Cauac. | | 17. Cahogh. | 17. Ajau. | | 18. Aghual. | 18. Ymix. | | 19. Mox. | 19. Yk. | | 20. Ygh. | 20. Akbal. | |---------------------|-------------------|

Oajacan Ghanan, _gh_ being p.r.o.nounced as _k_, is the same with the Yucateco _Kan_ or _Kanan_ (yellow); Molo or Mulu, _Muluc_; Chue, _Chuen_; Aghual, _Akbal_ ox _Akual_; Ygk, _Yk_; Lambat, _Lamat_; Ben and Hix, _Be-en_ and _Gix_ or _Hix_. These a.n.a.logies, and the fact that some of the Yucateco names have no known signification, induce the belief that both calendars had a common origin, with only such alterations as the priests made on account of particular events or for other reasons; which alterations our Indians adopted, leaving the other signs unchanged, either because they were accustomed to them, or because their signification, now forgotten, was then known.

The Indians of Yucatan had yet another species of cycle; but as the method followed by them in using it cannot be found, nor any example by which an idea of its nature might be imagined, I shall only copy what is literally said of it in a ma.n.u.script, viz.: "There was another number, which they called _Ua Katun_, and which served them as a key to find the Katunes. According to the order of its march, it falls on the days of the _Uayeb jaab_, and revolves to the end of certain years: Katunes 13, 9, 5, 1, 10, 6, 2, 11, 7, 3, 12, 8, 4."

[N.B. Uayeb jaab is one of the names given to the five supplementary days of the year, and also to the last four years of the Ajau of 24 years.]

_Series of Ajaues, from the beginning of the vulgar era to the present year, and those following until the end of the cycle. It is formed of three columns: the first containing the years of the Christian era; the second, the years of the indiction in which the Ajaues commenced, on their second day; and the third, the succession of these Ajaues._ (_The vulgar era began in the year_ 7 _Kan, which was the 2d of_ 7 _Ajau, that commenced the second day of the year of the indiction_ 6 _Cauac_).

|---------|---------------|--------------| | Years | Years | Ajaues | | of our | of the | that began | | Lord. | Indiction. | in them. | |---------|---------------|--------------| | 24 | 4. Cauac. | 5. Ajau. | | 48 | 2. Cauac. | 3. Ajau. | | 72 | 13. Cauac. | 1. Ajau. | | 96 | 11. Cauac. | 12. Ajau. | | 120 | 9. Cauac. | 10. Ajau. | | 144 | 7. Cauac. | 8. Ajau. | | 168 | 5. Cauac. | 6. Ajau. | | 192 | 3. Cauac. | 4. Ajau. | | 216 | 1. Cauac. | 2. Ajau. | | *240 | *12. Cauac. | *13. Ajau. | | 264 | 10. Cauac. | 11. Ajau. | | 288 | 8. Cauac. | 9. Ajau. | | 312 | 6. Cauac. | 7. Ajau. | | 336 | 4. Cauac. | 5. Ajau. | | 360 | 2. Cauac. | 3. Ajau. | | 384 | 13. Cauac. | 1. Ajau. | | 408 | 11. Cauac. | 12. Ajau. | | 432 | 9. Cauac. | 10. Ajau. | | 456 | 7. Cauac. | 8. Ajau. | | 480 | 5. Cauac. | 6. Ajau. | | 504 | 3. Cauac. | 4. Ajau. | | 528 | 1. Cauac. | 2. Ajau. | | *552 | *12. Cauac. | *13. Ajau. | | 576 | 10. Cauac. | 11. Ajau. | | 600 | 8. Cauac. | 9. Ajau. | | 624 | 6. Cauac. | 7. Ajau. | | 648 | 4. Cauac. | 5. Ajau. | | 672 | 2. Cauac. | 3. Ajau. | | 696 | 13. Cauac. | 1. Ajau. | | 720 | 11. Cauac. | 12. Ajau. | | 744 | 9. Cauac. | 10. Ajau. | | 768 | 7. Cauac. | 8. Ajau. | | 792 | 5. Cauac. | 6. Ajau. | | 816 | 3. Cauac. | 4. Ajau. | | 840 | 1. Cauac. | 2. Ajau. | | *864 | *12. Cauac. | *13. Ajau. | | 888 | 10. Cauac. | 11. Ajau. | | 912 | 8. Cauac. | 9. Ajau. | | 936 | 6. Cauac. | 7. Ajau. | | 960 | 4. Cauac. | 5. Ajau. | | 984 | 2. Cauac. | 3. Ajau. | | 1008 | 13. Cauac. | 1. Ajau. | | 1032 | 11. Cauac. | 12. Ajau. | | 1056 | 9. Cauac. | 10. Ajau. | | 1080 | 7. Cauac. | 8. Ajau. | | 1104 | 5. Cauac. | 6. Ajau. | | 1128 | 3. Cauac. | 4. Ajau. | | 1152 | 1. Cauac. | 2. Ajau. | | *1176 | *12. Cauac. | *13. Ajau. | | 1200 | 10. Cauac. | 11. Ajau. | | 1224 | 8. Cauac. | 9. Ajau. | | 1248 | 6. Cauac. | 7. Ajau. | | 1272 | 4. Cauac. | 5. Ajau. | | 1296 | 2. Cauac. | 3. Ajau. | | 1320 | 13. Cauac. | 1. Ajau. | | 1344 | 11. Cauac. | 12. Ajau. | | 1368 | 9. Cauac. | 10. Ajau. | | 1392 | 7. Cauac. | 8. Ajau. | | 1416 | 5. Cauac. | 6. Ajau. | | 1440 | 3. Cauac. | 4. Ajau. | | 1464 | 1. Cauac. | 2. Ajau. | | *1488 | *12. Cauac. | *13. Ajau. | | 1512 | 10. Cauac. | 11. Ajau. | | 1536 | 8. Cauac. | 9. Ajau. | | 1560 | 6. Cauac. | 7. Ajau. | | 1584 | 4. Cauac. | 5. Ajau. | | 1608 | 2. Cauac. | 3. Ajau. | | 1632 | 13. Cauac. | 1. Ajau. | | 1656 | 11. Cauac. | 12. Ajau. | | 1680 | 9. Cauac. | 10. Ajau. | | 1704 | 7. Cauac. | 8. Ajau. | | 1728 | 5. Cauac. | 6. Ajau. | | 1752 | 3. Cauac. | 4. Ajau. | | 1776 | 1. Cauac. | 2. Ajau. | | *1800 | *12. Cauac. | *13. Ajau. | | 1824 | 10. Cauac. | 11. Ajau. | | 1848 | 8. Cauac. | 9. Ajau. | | 1872 | 6. Cauac. | 7. Ajau. | | 1896 | 4. Cauac. | 5. Ajau. | |---------|---------------|--------------|

From the preceding series it is manifest that from the birth of Christ until the beginning of this cycle, have elapsed 6 great cycles, one epoch, and 17 (years) of another; the first epoch of the first cycle requiring a year, as has been stated.

_Additional Note at End of Don J. P. Perez's Essay._

Since this exposition was written, I have had an opportunity of seeing the work, above quoted, of Chevalier Boturini, in which, speaking of the Toltec Indians, he says:

After their peregrination through Asia, they reached the Continent (America), and penetrated to Hutchuetlapallan, the first city of New Spain, in which their wise men convened 130 and some years before the birth of Christ; and seeing that the civil did not agree with the astronomical year, and that the equinoctial days were altered, they determined to add in every four years one day, in order to recover the hours which were (annually) lost. And it is supposed that they effected it by counting one of the symbols of the last month of the year twice (as the Romans did with their biss.e.xtile days), without disturbing their order, because adding or taking away (a symbol) would destroy their perpetual system; and thus they made the commencement of the civil year to agree with the vernal equinox, which was the princ.i.p.al and governing part of the year.

He adds, that although the intercalated day had not a place in the order of the symbols of the days of the year, but was thrust in, as it were, like an interloper, still it gave a name (or character) to the biss.e.xtile year, having most solemn feasts reserved to it, which, even in the third age, were sanctioned by the emperor or king of those provinces; and they were held in honour of the G.o.d _Xinteuctli_, "lord of the year," with great preparation of viands and sumptuous dances, in which the lords alone danced and sang; and for this reason they were called "the songs and dances of the lords." In the same biss.e.xtile year was held the solemn ceremony of piercing the ears of the girls and young men, it being reserved for the high-priest to execute that function, a.s.sisted by G.o.dfathers and G.o.dmothers.

In the 27th paragraph of the observations he says, that there was in the third age another mode of intercalating, applied only to the ritual calendar, and that, in order not to disturb either the perpetual order of the fixed feasts, or of the sixteen movable feasts, which circulated among the symbols of the days of the year, by (or for the sake of) counting twice the symbol of the last month of the biss.e.xtile year, which caused them much anxiety on account of the displeasure of their G.o.ds, it was held better to reserve the 13 biss.e.xtile days for the end of the cycle of 52 years; which (days) are distinguished in their wheels or tables by thirteen ciphers, (painted) blue or of some other colour; and they belonged neither to any month nor any year, nor had they particular or individual symbols, like the other days. It was with them as if there were no such days, nor were they dedicated to any of their G.o.ds, on which account they were reputed "unfortunate." The whole of those 13 days was a time of penitence and fasting, for fear that the world should come to an end; nor did they eat any warm food, as the fire was extinguished through the whole land till the new cycle began, when the ceremony of the new fire was celebrated.

But as all these were matters relating only to rites and sacrifices (not to the true computation of time), this mode of intercalating had no application to the natural year, because it would have greatly deranged the solstices, equinoxes, and beginnings of the years; and the fact is abundantly proved by the circ.u.mstance that the days thus intercalated (at the end of the cycle) had none of the symbols belonging to the days of the year, and the ritual calendar accounted them biss.e.xtiles at the end of each cycle, in imitation, though by a different order, of the civil biss.e.xtiles, which (as being more accurate) were more proper for the regulation of public affairs.

AN ALMANAC, ADJUSTED ACCORDING TO THE CHRONOLOGICAL CALCULATION OF THE ANCIENT INDIANS OF YUCATAN, FOR THE YEARS 1841 AND 1842, BY DON JUAN PIO PEREZ.

_Observations_.--The notes or remarks _utz_, _yutz kin_, a lucky day, _lob_, _u lob kin_, an unlucky day, signify that the Indians had their days of good and of ill fortune, like some of the nations of ancient Europe; although it is easily perceived that the number of their days of ill fortune is excessive, still they are the same found by me in three ancient almanacs which I have examined, and found to agree very nearly. I have applied them to the number, not the name, of the day, because the announcements of rain, of planting, &c, must, in my opinion, belong to the fixed days of the month, and not to the names of particular days; as these each year are changed, and turn upon the four primaries, _Kan_, _Muluc_, _Gix_, and _Cauac_, chiefs of the year. In another place, however, I have seen it laid down as a rule that the days _Chicchan_, _Cimi_ or _Kimi_, _Oc_, _Men_, _Ahau_, and _Akbal_, are the days of rest in the month; and this appears probable, as I see no reason why there should be so great an excess of days of ill fortune. In the almanacs cited above, this order was not observed, either from ignorance or excessive superst.i.tion.

Thus the days on which the burner takes his fire, kindles it, gives it free scope, and extinguishes it, are subject to the 3d, 4th, 10th, and 11th of the days _Chicchan_, _Oc_, _Men_, and _Ahau_; as they say, for example, that on the 3d Chicchan the burner takes his fire, on the 10th Chicchan he begins, the 4th Chicchan he gives it scope, and the 11th Chicchan he extinguishes it; the same may be said of Oc, Men, and Ahau; from which we see that these epochs are movable, as the days 3, 4, 10, and 11 do not always fall on the same days of the month, but only according to the combination of the weekly numbers with the days referred to.

It may be asked, who is this burner that takes his fire, kindles it, permits it to destroy, and extinguishes it? To this I cannot reply, as I have been unable to find an explanation of the mystery; perhaps the days specified might be days of sacrifice, or some other act of superst.i.tion.

1ST INDIAN MONTH, "POP," OF THE YEAR 1 KAN.

|----------------|------|-----------------------------------|-------| | | Pop. | | July. | |----------------|------|-----------------------------------|-------| | 1. Kan. | 1 | Hun Kan, utz licil u cutal, Pop | | | | | (good, as the beginning of Pop). | 16 | | 2. Chicchan. | 2 | Ca Chicchan, utz u tial pakal | | | | | (good for planting). | 17 | | 3. Quimi. | 3 | Ox Quimi, lob kin (an unlucky | | | | | day). | 18 | | 4. Manik. | 4 | Can Manik, utz u tial pakal | | | | | (good for planting). | 19 | | 5. Lamat. | 5 | Ho Lamat, utz kin (a good day). | 20 | | 6. Muluc. | 6 | Uac Muluc, utz kin (6 Muluc; a | | | | | day). | 21 | | 7. Oc. | 7 | Uuc Oc, utz u tial ahguehob | | | | | (good for hunting; for the | | | | | settlers). | 22 | | 8. Chuen. | 8 | Uaxxac Chuen, yutz kin, kal ikal | | | | | u chibal tok (good day; without | | | | | wind). | 23 | | 9. Eb. | 9 | Bolon Eb, u lob kin ( 9 Eb; a | | | | | bad day). | 24 | | 10. Been. | 10 | Lahun Been, yutz kin (10 Been; | | | | | a good day). | 25 | | 11. Hix. | 11 | Buluc Hix, yutz kin (11 Hix; | | | | | a good day). | 26 | | 12. Men. | 12 | Lahca Men, yutz kin (12 Men; | | | | | a good day). | 27 | | 13. Quib. | 13 | Oxlahun Quib, u lob kin (13 Quib; | | | | | an unlucky day). | 28 | | 1. Caban. | 14 | Hun Caban, u lob kin (1 Caban; | | | | | an unlucky day). | 29 | | 2. Edznab. | 15 | Ca Edznab, yutz kin, licil u | | | | | zihil ahmiatz yetel ahdzib | | | | | hun.o.b (good day; in which are | | | | | born writers and wise men.) | 30 | | 3. Cauac. | 16 | Ox Cauac, yutz kin (a good day). | | | | | (good for planting). | 31 | | 4. Ahau. | 17 | Can Ahau, yutz kin ti almehen.o.b; | | | | | yalcab u kak ahtoc (a good day | | | | | for the n.o.bles; the burner | | | | | gives the fire scope). |Aug. 1 | | 5. Ymix. | 18 | Ho Ymix, u lob kin (a bad day). | 2 | | 6. Yk. | 19 | Uac Yk, u lob kin (an unlucky | | | | | day). | 3 | | 7. Akbal. | 20 | Uac Akbal, yutz kin (a good day). | 4 | |----------------|------|-----------------------------------|-------|