6o Shells as evidence of the Migrations. 



churned the ocean/"' out of which was then produced the 

 ainrita, or water of Hfe, and thirteen other gems.'"" A 

 variant of this account is given by Picart {op.cit., p. 415) 

 who says that "using this serpent as a cable, they hfted 

 up tlie mountain, and afterwards let it fall again, till the\- 

 at last forc'd this haughty element [the sea] to restore all 

 the wealth which had made it so proud." (See Fig. 2, 

 plate facing p. 62 ). 



Turning to the Dresden Maya manuscript wc find, on 

 P^ge 17''^^ ^ representation of the Old Bald-headed God 

 (tlie Moon God) with the shell of the tortoise on his 

 back'"" — an incarnation, in fact, of the god as a tortoise. 

 But an even more striking picture is seen on \). 19b of 

 the Codex Cortes. The illustration there given"" shows 

 the tortoise on the top of a churn-like structure about 

 which is coiled an object resembling a snake (Seler calls 

 it a rope, but it appears to possess scales). On the left 

 side of the central object are two dark coloured gods or 

 demons holding on to the snake ; on the right side, simi- 

 larly em[jlo)'ed, stands the Long-nosed God (= Chac, 

 the Rain God), and another indefinite personage. Appa- 

 rently seated on the back of the tortoise is another God 

 {.^ Roman-nosed God) who also iiolds the snake. In 

 describing this picture, Seler calls attention to the tortoise 

 being marked with a hieroglyphic sign which occurs in 

 the ;//';^rt/-name yax and vax-kiii, and which periiaps 

 signifies " tree " or " wood." He further slates : "It [the 



'"■ C. F. Olilhani, "The Sun and llie Serpent." London, 1905, p. 58, 

 regards " the churning of ihe ocean," alluded to in ihe '* jMalial)harala "' as 

 "an allegorical descripLion ol sea borne commerce in its early days"" (quoted 

 by Dr. G. Elliot Smith, '-Tlie Migrations of Early Culture,'" Manchester, 

 1915, 11. 82). 



'"" IJirdwoo.l, tfi/. c//., p. 57 ; Thomson. " Bhagavad-dita,'" p. 147. 

 '"'' Seler, Zcit. //ir Eihiio/.. 42. p. 51, f. 73S. 

 ' ' " Seler, Z.fiir E., 42, p. 48, f. 724. 



