194 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 



by him. The Spaniard on the opposite (the upper) side of the 

 fragment, who turns his head away and ansAvers at great length, is 

 evidently the defendant, who denies the accusation brought against 

 him. There were hieroglyphs behind all these persons, except the 

 second witness. Unfortunately those behind two of the judges are 

 destroyed. 



One of the persons can be identified beyond a doubt by these hiero- 

 glyphs. This is the Mexican. Behind him is the figure of a bow 

 (tlauitoUi) as his name hieroglyph. It is apparent that he occupied 

 a high position among the natives, that he must have been of royal 

 rank, for he is represented sitting on the tepotzoicpalli, the straw 

 chair with a high back. Now, we actually know, that in the middle 

 of the sixteenth century men by the name of Tlauitol, descendants of 

 the old Tezcucan royal family, ruled in Tezcuco. Chimalpahin 

 mentions one, San Antonio Pimentel Tlauitoltzin, whom he calls the 

 son of King Nezahualpilli, who died in 1515 — ^Torquemada describes 

 him as the grandson of Nezahualpilli — who was installed as king 

 ftlahtouani) of Tezcuco-Aculhuacan in the year 1540 by the Span- 

 iards, and died in 1564 after reigning twenty-five years. This state- 

 ment is unquestionably based on an error. In the Sahagun manu- 

 script, which was written in the year 2 Acatl, that is, 1559, Don An- 

 tonio Tlauitoltzin is mentioned as the twelfth king of Tezcuco, the 

 seventh after Nezahualpilli, and it is stated that he reigned six years. 

 And after that Don Hernando Pimentel is mentioned as thethirteenth 

 king of Tezcuco, his Mexican name being luian, that'is, " the mild ", 

 " the modest ", a word Avhich is reproduced in the name hieroglyph 

 accompanying the picture of this king hy two bare feet, perhai^s ex- 

 pressing " chi va piano, va sano ". The latter at the time that this 

 was written (in the year 2 Acatl, or A. D. 1559) nnist already have 

 reigned fifteen years, and therefore have come to the throne in 1545. 

 The si$ years during which Don Antonio Pimentel Tlauitoltzin was 

 said to have reigned must have been the years 1540-1545. Chimal- 

 pahin has evidently merged the periods of rule of these two men 

 into one. 



Of Don Antonio Pimentel Tlauitoltzin we know from Torquemada, 

 who mentions him in various places, that he Avas a quiet, sensible man, 

 who devoted himself with special interest to collecting and writiug 

 down the ancient traditio;is of his family and his race. Torquemada 

 possessed a " Memorial " written by him, in which he gives an 

 account " of ancient things, en estilo de historia, al modo que usamos 

 nosotros ("in historic style, in the manner which w^e use"). Juan 

 Bautista de Pomar says of him, that he cultivated mulberry trees 

 and bred silkworms, that in his (Pomar's) time, that is, in the year 

 1582, there were still mulberry trees in the vicinity of Tezcuco, y en 



" Monarquia Indiana, v. IG, chap. 19. 



