52 ABORIGINAL WRITING IN MEXICO, ETC. 



water, «<?.* "Here," says Mr. Tylor, "we have real phonetic writing, for the 

 name is not to be read according to sense, 'knife-kettle-water,' but only according 

 to the sounds of the Aztec words, Itz-co-atl." f 



This is certainly phonetic writing in a certain sense, but not of as high an 

 order as that claimed by Landa for the native inhabitants of Yucatan. I am not 

 aware that other Spanish chroniclers of the sixteenth century have corroborated 

 his statement, excepting Mendieta, who observes that though the natives were 

 not acquainted with writing they did not feel its want on account of the paint- 

 ings and characters which they employed instead of letters. "But in the country 

 of Champoton, it is said, they were in use, and the natives understood each 

 other by means of them as we do by ours. "J This observation, though not very 

 positive, derives some value from the circumstance that it relates to the natives 

 of Champoton§, a place belonging to the peninsula of Yucatan. 



I do not know whether any one in the United States has practically tested 

 the value of Landa's alphabet by applying it to the purpose of interpretation. 

 Dr. Brinton, however, published in 1870 a pamphlet under the title "The Ancient 

 Phonetic Alphabet of Yucatan," in which he gives an interesting resume of the 

 subject and reproductions of the alphabetical signs. Having alluded to the 

 small number of manuscripts in the language of Yucatan that have been pre- 

 served, he says: "There is material almost inexhaustible in the inscriptions 

 preserved upon the stone temples, altars, and pillars of Yucatan, which we may 

 with great confidence look to see deciphered before many years. The only 

 serious difficulty which is at present in the way is our Avant of knowledge of the 

 ancient Maya language." He then refers to the complete and carefully composed 

 manuscript dictionary of the Maya language deposited in the Brown Library at 

 Providence, Rhode Island, and awaiting publication. "With it in hand," he 

 says, "the deciphering of the inscriptions at Palenque, Uxmal, Itza, and the 

 other ruined cities of Yucatan, and of the manuscripts already mentioned, will 

 become certainly a less serious task than that of translating the cuneiform inscrip- 

 tions of Nineveh." II This was Dr. Brinton's impression nine years ago; but 

 further researches have considerably modified his view, as the following extract 

 from a letter addressed to me (March 4th, 1879) will show : — "My later reading 

 has led me to doubt whether De Landa's alphabet is really an alphabet in 



* Brassour de Bourbourg: Histoire des Nations Civilisees etc., torn, i, p. xlt. — Many other examples might 

 be given. The system of writing here briefly indicated survived among the natives of Mexico for a long time after 

 the conquest, special officers being appointed for the purpose of interpreting the documents thus composed. 



t Tylor ; Kesearches into the Early History of Mankind ; London, 1870, p. 95, 



X '-Aunque en tierra de Champoton dicen que se hallaron, y que se entcndian por ellas, como nosotros per l.as 

 nucstras." — Mendieta: Jlistoria Eclesldstica Indiana; Mexico, 1870, p. 143.^Tho manuscript was edited by 

 Icazbalceta. Mendieta was a Franciscan friar who went to Mexico in 1554. 



§ Formerly also called Ponionchan by the natives. 



11 Brinton ; The Ancient Thonctic Alphabet of Yucatan ; New York, 1870, p. 7. 



