ABORIGINAL WRITING IN MEXICO, ETC. 59 



M. de Charencey has made some attempts to decipher Palenquean 

 glyphs. He gives in the " Actes de la Societe Philologique" (Tome 1", 

 No. 3, Mars 1870) his " Essai de DechiflFremcnt d'uii Fragment d'Inscription 

 Palenqueenne." His exposition is also contained, in an abbreviated form, in 

 Dr. Brinton's "Ancient Phonetic Alphabet of Yucatan." He selected for 

 translation two glyphs of the Group of the Cross, but unfortunately based his 

 experiment upon the illustration accompanying Del Rio's report. He first 

 considers the character or combination of characters seen immediately above the 

 child in the hands of the priest, and tries with great pains to show that it 

 expresses the word Hunah-ku, which is the name of a Maya god. The worst 

 feature of the proceeding consists in his founding the interpretation upon an 

 incorrect delineation of the glyph. The latter is seen in Fig. 6 — the reproduc- 

 tion of a part of Del Rio's plate. It was differently drawn by Catherwood, as a 

 glance at the accompanying outline plate will show. In Waldeck's delineation, 

 Fig. 7, the middle oval or shield of the glyph encloses a kind of Maltese cross 

 instead of dots, and Fig. 8, finally, shows the outline of the glyph drawn after 

 Charnay's photograph, which, though not very distinct, exhibits it under a form 

 certainly differing from that underlying De Charencey's interpretation. I cannot 

 here follow his somewhat complicated analysis of the component parts of the 

 character ; but I may state that, according to my conception, he has failed in 

 identifying a single one of these parts with one of Landa's signs, and, further, 

 that his attempts to prove them to be variations of the latter appear to me 

 equally unsuccessful. 



The second figure he tries to interpret is the uppermost in the single row 

 behind the priest. This glyph pertains to the Smithsonian slab, and was copied 

 by Castaiieda when the three tablets forming the Bas-relief of the Cross were 

 still in place. The outline plate gives a correct drawing of it, which differs 

 considerably from the same figure in Del Rio's plate (Fig. 6). A comparison 

 will show in how far both designs are unlike each other. M. de Charencey 

 thinks the glyph expresses the name Kukulcan, which is that of a Yucatec 

 deity corresponding to the Quetzalcohuatl of the Mexicans. In this case the 

 interpreter's analysis, if possible, is still less satisfactory than in the former ; 

 but I could not state the reasons for my opinion without entering into details 

 incompatible with the proposed extent of this publication. ^ 



In consideration of the foregoing statements it hardly can be expected that 

 I should express any hope as to the decipherment of the Palenquean glyphs by 

 the means at present at our command. Landa's key will not suffice, and the 

 prospects for a future solution of the difficulty are rather gloomy, unless some 

 new discovery is made Avhich will afford us a more efficient help for obtaining that 

 most desirable result. Indeed, Brasseur himself seems to have been looking out 

 for such coming assistance in alluding to the possible " discovery of one of those 



