THE PALES QUE INSCEIPTIONS. 141 



substantial gains ; we have discovered the face sign for 15, and we know that our 

 Ahau falls on 3 Mol. And, moreover, we have eliminated 7 Ahau from the problem. 

 Now let. us test 5 Ahau-3 Mol. It occurs in the 44th year of the calendar. Turning 

 back 11 years we come to the 32nd year, and counting off the 350 days we reach 8 Eb- 

 15 Pop. This is more satisfactory, for we felt certain the day numeral must be 1 or 8. 

 Assuming the date to be 8 Eb-15 Pop we have now a base from which to reckon the 

 initial count and fix its place in the chronological calendar. The day being Eb, it follows 

 that the odd days in the count must be 12 ; and, the chuen numeral being identical 

 with that of the month, that the number of chuens must be 15. Let us run back that 

 distance on the annual calendar and find the date with which the ahau begins. It is 

 8 Ahau-8 Zotz, in the 31st year. We may fancy we recognize all the other face numerals 

 now, but we will be cautious. One of them, however, is unmistakable — the 18 face 

 attached to the katun symbol. That is all we want. We have only to look through 

 the chronological calendar till we find 8 Ahau-8 Zotz occurring in an 18th katun in 

 order to arrive at the date, for the same date cannot fall in the same katun but once 

 in 18,720 years — a pretty reasonable margin to work upon. In this instance we look 

 in vain throughout the whole 54th great cycle for the desired concurrence. It is not 

 till we come to the 55th great cycle that we find an 8 Ahau-8 Zotz falling in the 

 proper katun, and there it is the 12th ahau of the 18th katun of the 3rd cycle — as we 

 divined it would be from the face numerals. 



