THOMAB J CHARACTERS FOR THE CARDINAL POINTS. 7 1 



Turning to the "title page" of the same manuscript, we find that these are 

 the first four characters in the second transverse line. 



The position of the characters on the plates mentioned led me, at an 

 earl}- stage of my investigations, to believe they were intended to denote the 

 four cardinal points; but the fact that the order was not always the same, 

 and the apparent impossibility of finding words in the Maya lexicon agree- 

 ing with Landa's letter characters and at the same time denoting the cardi- 

 nal points, induced me for a time to doubt the correctness of this theory; 

 but the discovery of the signification of these four plates of the Dresden 

 Codex induces me now to believe that this first impression was correct. It is 

 possible these characters have also some other signification, but that they 

 are intended to designate the cardinal points I can no longer doubt. 



In the last or lowest transverse line of characters on Plate 27 of the 

 Di-esden Codex (our Plate VII) — the one relating to the close of the Cauac 

 and_ commencement of the Kan years — we find the character No. 1 (Fig. 8) 

 in close proximity with another character, which I will presently show signi- 

 fies "stone" or a "heap of stones." If this indicates a cardinal point it must 

 be south or east; if it refers to the place to which the idol was first taken it 

 would then signify south, if to its last resting place it would then signify 

 east. In the corresponding line of Plate 28 (our Plate VIII) we find char- 

 acter No. 2; in that of 25 (our Plate V), character No. 3; in that of 26 (our 

 Plate VI), character No. 4. If we suppose these characters to indicate the 

 final resting places of the idols then character No. 1 would signify east, 2 

 north, 3 west, and 4 south; but if the first resting place, then character No. 

 1 v/ould signify south, No. 2 east, No. 3 north, and No. 4 west. That Nos. 

 1 and 3 relate to the places of the rising and setting of the sun, I think is 

 evident from the following facts: 



First. That these are the only two out of the four characters which 

 have anything similar in them. 



Second. The lower half of each is precisely like the lower half of 

 Landa's symbol for the month Yaxkin, from which we may infer that it 

 signifies kin, "sun." This also agrees with the fact that the Maya words 

 for east and west {likin, chiUn) both end with "kin," which signifies sun 

 or day. Although Landa gives this figure without the wing as the character 



