THOMAS] INTERPRETATION OF CHARACTERS. 157 



see vessels of different kinds, on which are Kan symbols of a reddish or 

 orange color. As heretofore stated, we find over one of the groups (left 

 side of Plate IX*), a character accompanied by the numeral five, which I 

 have supposed denotes the Maya word ppecuah, pecuali, or pacach, "a tortilla 

 of maize." That these symbols could have no legitimate signification, if 

 interpreted by any of the meanings of Kan found in the lexicon, is appar- 

 ent to any one. The fact that they are in vessels — in one case a* vase 

 with the usual vase mark, in another a kind of platter, &c. — indicates 

 that they are offerings that can be appropriately presented in vessels of 

 this kind. 



In the lower division of Plate XXI we observe a bird in the act of 

 eating one of these Kan characters. Although this is probably a symbolic 

 representation relating to time, still the figure itself is intended as a repre- 

 sentation of that which is used as the symbol — a bird eating something, 

 doubtless corn or bread. 



On Plate XXVIII, second and fourth divisions, we notice, as I have 

 previously stated, the figure of a deity, which probably signifies the earth, 

 looking up in a supplicating manner, bearing in his hands, or in the hands 

 of the little figures he holds, Kan symbols. As there is good reason for 

 believmg these are symbolic repi-esentations of the parched earth pleading for 

 rain, it is more than probable that the Kan characters here denote corn or 

 maize. This supposition is rendered almost certain by the fact that the one 

 in the right hand of the lower figure presents a little opening blade or leaf, 

 showing that it has been planted and is sprouting; in the other hand is the 

 bread symbol. 



The two combined, or the Kan singly, are of frequent occurrence in 

 the hands of the priests in the Manuscript, where apparently engaged in 

 religious ceremonies. The Jmhs in the baskets carried by females (lower 

 divisions of Plates XIX* and XX*) I have already alluded to; there can 

 be scarcely any doubt that here they signify corn or bread, more likely the 

 former. I think it quite likely that here, and where not in the written por- 

 tion, these figures have more the character of pictographs than hieroglyphics, 

 as they are both tolerably fair representations of a grain of maize. 



