SELKR] MEXiCATf PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT II l7l 



The thorn, the sharp point of the agave leaf, is divided by an oblique 

 line, and one half is painted red, to indicate that it is covered with 

 blood. These thorny points of the agave Jeaf were used in religious 

 self-castigations, and, as we frequently see on the last pages of the 

 Mendoza codex, also largely for purposes of punishment and edu- 

 cational discipline. The word uitznauatl was a title, which in 

 Mexico and elsewhere was connected with a certain military or polit- 

 ical office. We saw above that Motelchiuh bore this title. The plu- 

 ral, uitznaua, denoted a class of evil spirits, Avhich were conquered 

 and destroyed by IJitzilopochtli, and uitznauac, oi- uitznauatlami)a, is 

 the region of the south. 



In division 13 we have again a head with hair hanging straight 

 down. The note says uaxtepecatl petlacalcatl. The first name 

 means ''one from Uaxtepec " (from the place of the uaxin. Acacia 

 osculenta). Uaxtepec was a place in the district of Cuernavaca, 

 therefore in a temperate region (" tierra templada "). Here Avas the 

 Jardin d'Acclimation of the kings of Mexico; that is, they trans- 

 planted hither such trees and plants from the tierra caliente as seemed 

 to them interesting, and came themselves for rest and recreation. 

 The i^lace is hieroglyphically represented b}' /^ figure 38, that is, 

 by a mountain and a tree from whose branches hang the long knobby 

 acacia pods (usually painted red). Petlacalcatl means " the steward 

 of the mat house ". This was a kind of public storehouse, where 

 were kept mats and other articles of furniture which were used when 

 foreign royal guests came. The petlacalcatl directed the public 

 works, as shown in / taken from the Mendoza codex, page 71. Here 

 the petlacalatl is represented on the left, with nuiny little tongues 

 before his mouth, to express the admonitions which he bestows upon 

 those commanded to do the work. In the middle are the basket 

 and the tool (uictli, or coauacatl), wdth which we are already 

 acquainted, and to the right crouches the weeping youth commanded 

 to do the work. The hieroglyph behind the man's head in division 

 13 of our manuscript (plate vii) refers to this function of the petla- 

 calcatl, and represents the above-mentioned implement, which we 

 have already met with as the hieroglyphic expression of tlacohtli. 

 The first word in the accompanying note, " uaxtepecatl ", is not ex- 

 pressed in the hieroglyph. I know of no person by this name. 

 It is prol)able that " uaxtepecatl " does not stand here for the name 

 of a person, but denotes the district to which the official belonged. 

 ^ye often find the- governors of provinces mentioned by the adjective 

 form of their district instead of by their proper name — Cuetlaxtecatl, 

 " the governor of Cuetlaxtlan ", etc. So here, too, uaxtepecatl petla- 

 calcatl may mean merely '' the keeper of the stores, the steward of 

 tlie district of Uaxtepec ". 



