260 DAY SYMBOLS OF THE MAYA YEAR [ETH. ANN. 16 
be boards carried in the hands of individuals, on Tro. 32*b (LXVII, 49); 
and it also is seen on what appear to be wooden boxes or gums from 
which the honeycomb is being removed, as Tro. 5*¢ and 9*a._ Dr Seler, 
who gives guite a different interpretation of the character from that 
presented here, admits that these are boards. It is also found on trees, 
as Tro, 15*a (shown in LXVIL, 1) and 17*a, and Dres. 26e, 27e, and 28e. 
It is marked on the walls of houses or canopied seats, as Tro. 6b, 29*e, 
and 18*b. Under the last mentioned we observe the cab symbol, show- 
ing that itis a building placed on the ground and not on a stone founda- 
tion. It also appears on the ends of beams, as at Tro. 9a and 22*a, 
True, Dr Seler contends that these are stones instead of weight poles, 
but I think all trappers will decide against him. Again, it appears on 
seats (Tro, 13a and 14*a) and also marked on heads, one of which is 
shown in LXy1ul,2. That the symbol is not intended to indicate the difter- 
ent articles on which it is found is evident; hence it must be given to 
denote the substance of which these things are formed, which I main- 
tain can only be wood. That the trees and boards must be wood is 
admitted; that the walls of many of the houses and of some of the 
other buildings of Yueatan were of wood must be admitted; that seats 
were often of wood is well known. The heads with this mark are in all 
probability representations of wooden masks. Masks are represented 
in the hands of individuals at several places in the codices, as Dres. 
42(1)a and in Peresianus. I therefore conclude that in all these cases 
the symbol is to be interpreted by che, cheil, “ wood, tree, timber, stick.” 
In order to show the difference between the explanation given here 
and that by Dr Seler, I copy the latter: 
We find, for instance, on the one hand the undoubted application which is con- 
nected with the idea of cloud or rain. ‘Thus, in the hieroglyph, figure 80, the accom- 
panying hieroglyph of figure 46, i. e., the bird Moan. So also the one in figure 28 
(p. 107) the accompanying hieroglyph of the name Kinchahau, which, besides cauac, 
contains further the element of fire and that of the hatchet, which may remind us of 
the ray [or flash] darting from the cloud. The hieroglyph cauac is, however, used 
far more commonly in the sense of ‘‘stone” or “heaviness.” This is most clearly 
shown in the case of the animal figures pictured in Cod. Tro. 9a and 22*a, where the 
stone laid upon and weighing down the horizontal beam is represented by the element 
canac. But this explanation must be accepted also, because we find the pyramidal 
foundation of the temple covered with the element canac. And where, in Cod. Tro. 
15*a, to the Chae who is felling a tree is opposed the death god, also felling a tree, 
covered by the element cauac, it is clear that here there is substituted with the death 
god a rigid stone in place of what with the Chae is a sprouting tree. The numerous 
cases in which the hieroglyph cauac serves as a seat or footstool of the gods are some- 
times easily interpreted as signifying clouds, but in the majority of cases it undoubt- 
edly represents ‘‘stone,” homologous to the hieroglyph caban and the element tun, 
“stone,” itself (figure 85), both of which are found equally often denoting the seat 
and footstool of the gods. It is equally evident that in the hieroglyph figure 84, in 
which there is indicated the bearing of a burden on the back, the element cauac is 
to be understood simply as the expression of the weight, the burden. In the peculiar 
cases where we see the gods holding a board provided with the elements of the char- 
acter cauac, or where a board is placed before the gods, furnished with a plaited handle 
whose side bears the element cauac, the latter seems to relate to a sounding board, 
for the accompanying hieroglyphs seem to signify music. Finally, there can be 
