212 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOI>OGY [bull. 28 



slender pieces probably represent boards and laths (see d and ^, 

 which are explained in the tribnte list, Mendoza codex, pages 25 and 

 28, as tablones de madera <iijrandes and niorillos de madera — ^" large 

 wooden j^lanks"). The large round circles and the broad four-cor- 

 nered pieces ma}^ be meant for table tojDs or possibly blocks of wood. 

 Moreover, on fragments TX (plate xiv) and X (plate xv) there are 

 drawings of pieces of bent wood ; on fragment X (plate xv) two rows 

 of seats; and on fragments X (plate xv) and XI (plate xvi), draw- 

 ings which seem to be bedsteads. The objects in the row" at the bot- 

 tom of fragment IX (plate xiv) arc probably meant for lath frames 

 or sleeping benches, for we find very similar figures drawn on page 

 34 of the Goupil-Boban atlas under the name of tlapechtli, rendered 

 tablado, andamio, cama de tablas ('" framework, scatfolding, a broad 

 bed"), Molina (see /', figure 4()). Finally, carpentry is clearly de- 

 noted by the figure of a carpenter (tlaxinqui) with an ax (tlaximal- 

 tepoztli) in his hand (see r/, Avhich designates carpenters, carpinteros, 

 in the Pinturna del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de Mexico). 



And, lastly, the delivery of stone or masonry is rejjresented on 

 fragment IX (plate xiv) by a heap of stones, and near the lower end 

 of fragment XII (plate xvii) by a row of stones. 



If, then, w^e read the details correctly, complaints are made in our 

 manuscript, first, at the bottom of fragment X (plate xv), of ill treat- 

 ment; then, of compulsory labor, at the top of fragment XI (plate 

 xvi) ; and, lastly, of unjust requisitions of or failure to pay for wood 

 and various wood articles, jiuhpie casks, stone, and pork. 



FRAGMENT XIII 



This is a strip of tolerably thin fine agave paper, 49 by 31 cm. in 

 size (plate xviii). Only the lower half is written on, and of this 

 only the lower portions are colored, the upper part being merely out- 

 lined, that is, unfinished, a ])roof that here, too, the w^riter began in 

 the old way, at the lower end of the strip, proceeding upward with his 

 entries. The lower end is imperfect; but, judging by the space occu- 

 pied by the Spanish document written on the reverse side, there can 

 not be much missing. At any rate, there was no other row beneath 

 the lowest one. 



The document is of precisely the same character as one of the 

 manuscripts which passed from the collection of the Hon Joel R. 

 Poinsett, formerly United States minister to Mexico, into the pos- 

 session of the American Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia, 

 and which is published in the Transactions of the American Philo- 

 sophical Society, new series, volume 12, part 2, article 4 (Phila- 

 delphia, 1892), under the title Tribute Roll 4 (Calendar 1). There, 

 as here, we see circles painted yellow alternating with red circles 



