120 A STUDY OF THE MANUSCRIPT TROANO. 



these urns and steamed, in order to soften it, or, after carving, to give the 

 images themselves the desired color. 



The attention of the reader is called to the figures on which the indi- 

 viduals in the upper division of this and of Plate XIV* are seated. The 

 characters with which they are marked denote, as I believe, that they are 

 wooden seats or platforms. 



In the left-hand compartment of the third division of Plate XIV* we 

 see one of the priests, or artists, dressed to represent the god of death, pre- 

 paring the paint. The other two figures in the same division show them at 

 their devotions in their cabins. In the lower division they are at work 

 carving the images. The peculiar form of the instrument here figured (see 

 Fig. ^55) leads me to believe it was of metal. 



In the upper division of Plate XV* are the "messengers," who were 

 sent by the priests to procure the wood, with machetes in hand, chopping 

 down the trees. Although Landa states that cedar alone was used in this 

 work two difi'erent species of trees ai'e evidently represented here, the black 

 one doubtless the native ebony out of which their "black" images were 

 carved. 



Division two of Plates XV* and XVI*, and division four of XVII* and 

 XVIII*, represent the artists at work carving images, but here the machete 

 is the chief implement used. 



The upper division of XVII* contains two groups of figures which I 

 find it difficult to interpret satisfactorily. I think these are symbolic repre- 

 sentations, and not pictographs. The left group may possibly signify that 

 out of the earth (represented by the head in the lower left-hand corner) 

 springs the tree (denoted by the curved beam with Cauac characters upon 

 it); that it finally produces a god (the figure at the top) to which the 

 people and priests offer incense and viands. If this be the true interpreta- 

 tion it is a severe satire upon their worship, and reminds us strongly of the 

 sarcasm of the prophet Isaiah on the religion of the idolaters of his day. 



The group to the right is possibly a figurative representation of a similar 

 idea. At the base are two Tlaloc heads, emblems of fertility, out of which 

 arises a tree in the foi-m of a cross, on which is seated an idol. The plant 

 probably signifies the "tree of life," or "life-giving plant." 



