722 PICTURE-WRITING OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 
for Lzanab, is very common in these figures. 
This probably marks the end of the beam which 
was placed on the wall to support the roof. 
The curved line running from this to the top 
\portion probably represents the rafter; the 
slender thread-like lines (yellow in the original) 
the straw or grass with which the roof was 
thatched. 
The checkered part may represent a matting 
of reeds or brushwood on which the straw was 
placed. 
Champollion (h) 
gives the Egyptian 
characters for house, 
reproduced in Fig. 
a 
1213. b 
Fi@.1212,—Dwelling. Maya. Fic. 1213.—House. Egyptian. 
ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. 
Fig. 1214.—Dakotas witnessed eclipse of the sun; they were terribly 
frightened. The sunis adark globe and the stars appear. The-Swan’s 
Winter Count, 1869-70 
x The left-hand design on the lower line of PI. 
4 XLIX is reproduced from Kingsborough. ‘In 
this year there was a great eclipse of the sun.” 
Humboldt infers from this painting that the 
Mexicans were informed of the real cause of the 
eclipses; which would not be at all surprising 
Fia. 1214.—Kelipse of the sun. eonsidering the many other curious things with 
which they were acquainted, the knowledge of which they must have 
derived from the West. It is proper to observe that on the 127th page 
of the Vatican MS., where a representation of the same eclipse occurs, 
the disk of the moon does not appear to be projecting over that of the 
sun. The Vatican MS. appears to have been copied from a Mexican 
painting similar to but not the same as that which Pedro de las Rios 
copied, whose notes and interpretations the Italian interpreter had 
before his eyes and strictly followed. 
METEORS. 
This group shows the pictorial representation of meteors by the 
Dakotas. The translations as well as the devices are suggestive. 
Fig. 1215.—A large roaring star fell. It came from the east 
and shot out sparks of fire along its course. Cloud-Shield’s 
Winter Count, 182122. Its track and the sparks are 1 : 
a shown in the figure. White-Cow-Killer says ‘“ One- a 
star-made-a-great-noise winter.” 
This and the three following figures evidently 
refer to the fall of a single large meteor in the land 
j of the Dakotas some time in the winter of 1821—22. 
Fic. 1215. The fact can not be verified by scientific records, Fic. 1216. 
‘ 
4 
: 
i 
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