146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY Ibull. 28 



mentioned, which enumerated the tribute to be paid by tlie various 

 cities. Our manuscript is a cashbook, in which an account is Ivept 

 of the receipts of the year. It is a kind of financial record, and as 

 such naturally afforded opportunity for other historical entries. Be- 

 sides the additions of new tributaries already mentioned these consist 

 of the notices of deaths and of the successors of the deceased. Deaths 

 are exj)ressed in the manner usual in Mexican picture annals, by a 

 minnmy bundle, with a name hieroglyph, usually seated in a chair 

 like a living person. Accession to office is expressed by the figure of 

 the living person, with his name hieroglyph, seated according to his 

 rank, either on a simple straw- seat, or on the royal chair provided 

 with a back; for omotlali, "" he has taken his seat", or motlatocatlali, 

 " he has seated himself as a ruler ", are the expressions by which the 

 Mexicans described accession to power. Where it is a question of 

 actual rulers, authority is usually expressed by the little tongue in 

 front of the mouth, which in Mexican paintings was a symbol of 

 speech; for tlahtouani, " he who speaks ", was the Mexican name for 

 a ruler or king. 



The most important of these figures are undoubtedly those which 

 appear in column a, the first, counting from the right. For here, in 

 a conspicTU)us place, we nuiy exjiect to fiud the names and the dates of 

 accession to power of those men who lived where these lists were pre- 

 pared, and who were therefore the actual reciiDients of tlie tribute. 

 It is important to note here that of the four figures of living persons 

 who are portrayed in this colunni only the one in square 53 wears the 

 xiuhuitzolli, the turquoise mosaic- headband of secular rulers and 

 nobles, and is characterized as of higher rank, as a king, by the straw 

 seat with a back. The other three have the hair merely bound with 

 a strap, their seat is without a back, and they bear on their backs, by 

 a cord slung round the neck and knotted in front, a small yelloAV 

 object flanked by two large gay tassels. This object is the so-called 

 ie-quachtli, the '' tobacco cloth ", a small pouch (taleguilla), in Avhich 

 the jDriests carried the incense pellets. The cord with the tassels, to 

 Vvhich the pouch is attached, is called mecacozcatl, " necklace of 

 agave-fiber rope '\ The little pouch is called ie-quachtli, "' tobacco 

 cloth ", because the incense pellets, which are called yaqualli and 

 described as pills or pellets shaped like mouse droppings, were made 

 of " tinta "; that is, probably of yauhtli, or iauhtli, " incense plant "," 

 mixed with pulverized tobacco leaves con polvos de una yerba que 

 ellos llaman yietl, que es como belefios de castilla (" with dust of an 

 herb which they call yietl, which is like henbane").^ Tobacco 



" One meaning of the syUable iauh is " incense plant ". Compare Sahagun, v. 2, pp. 25, 

 35, and the liieroglyph of Yaulitepec in the Mendoza codex, v. 26, p. 14. But it also means 

 "black": yaiih-tlaulli, " mayz moreno 6 negro" (Molina). 



" Sahagun, v. 2, p. 25. 



