thohas.) ASSIGNMENT OF DAYS TO THE CARDINAL POINTS. 39 



fled the northern side. The fourth letter is Cauac, which is assigned 

 to the western side.' 



" This, as we see, places Kan at the south, Muluc at the east, Ix at 

 the north, and Cauac at the west, conflicting directly with the state- 

 ments made by Cogulludo and Perez. If we turn now to the descrip- 

 tion of the four feasts as given by Lauda, and heretofore quoted, I think 

 we shall find an explanation of this difference. From his account of 

 the feast at the commencement of the Kan year (the intercalated days 

 of the Cauac year) we learn that first they made an idol called Kun-u- 

 uayeyab, which they bore to the heap of stones on the south side of the 

 village; next they made a statue of the god Bolon-Zacab, which they 

 placed in the house of the elected chief, or chief chosen for the occasion. 

 This done they returned to the idol on the, southern stone heap, where 

 certain religious ceremonies were performed, after which they returned 

 with the idol to the house, where they placed it vis-a-vis with the other, 

 just as we see in the lower division of Plates XX-XXIII of the Manu- 

 script Troano. Here they kept constant vigil until the uulucky days 

 ( Uayeyabhaub) had expired and the new Kan year appeared ; then they 

 took the statue of Bolon-Zacab to the temple and the other idol to the 

 heap of stones at the east side of the village, where it was to remain 

 during the year, doubtless intended as a constant reminder to the com- 

 mon people of what year was passing. 



•• Similar transfers were made at the commencement of the other 

 years; at that of Muluc, first to the east, then to the house, and then 

 to its final resting place on the north side; of Ix, first to the north, then 

 to the icest ; of Cauac, first to the west, then to the south. 



" This movement agrees precisely with the order given by Perez ; the 

 fiual resting places of their idols for the year being the cardinal points 

 of the dominical days where he fixes them ; that is, Kan at the east, 

 Muluc at the north, Ix at the west, and Cauac at the south. There is, 

 therefore, no real disagreement between these authorities on this 

 point." 



Most of the modern authors who have touched upon this topic, 

 although in some cases apparently at sea, without any fixed opinion on 

 the subject, are disposed to follow Lauda's statement, without compar- 

 ing it with his account of the supplemental days, and appear to rely 

 upon it rather than upon the statements of Cogulludo and Perez ; and 

 hence they refer Kan to the south, Muluc to the east, Ix to the north, 

 and Cauac to the west. 



Brasseur, in his Histoire des Nations civilisees du Mexique et de VAme- 

 rique Centrale, 1 * assigns Kan to the east, Muluc to the north, Hix to the 

 west, and Cauac to the south. But in his supplement to Etudes sur le 

 Mannscrit Troano, 19 and in his note to Landa's Relation, 20 refers Kan to 

 the south, Muluc to the east, Ix to the north, and Cauac to the west, 



"Vol. Ill, p. 471. 19 P. 234. «>P. 209. 



