404 



pehuallztli, the hieroglyphic of water, atl, was 

 the sign* both of the day and of the night. 

 Three days after the vernal equinox, the day 

 4 ehecatl, or 4 wind, began a solemn fast of forty 

 days, in honour of the Sun. This fast finished 

 on the 30th of April, which corresponds to 1 

 tecpatl, or 1 flint. As the sign of this day is 

 accompanied by the Lord of the Night tletl, fire, 

 we find the hieroglyphic tletl, placed near the 



1 tecpatl, on the left of the triangle, the point of 

 which is directed toward the beginning of the 

 zodiac. At the right of the sign 1 tecpatl is 

 4 ocelotl, or 4 tiger, this day is remarkable from 

 the passage of the Sun through the zenith of the 

 city of Mexico. The whole of the small period 

 of thirteen days, in which this passage takes 

 place, and which is the eleventh of the ritual 

 year, was dedicated to the Sun. The sign 



2 ozomatli, or 2 ape, corresponds to the epocha 

 of the summer solstice, it is placed immediately 

 near 1 quiakuitl, or 1 rain, the day of the equi- 

 nox. 



We might be puzzled to explain 4 quiahuitl, 

 or 4 ram. In the first year of the cycle, this 

 day corresponded exactly to the second passage 

 of the Sun through the zenith of the city of 

 Mexico ; but in the year 13 acatl, the fasti of 

 which are found in this monument, the day 4 



* Nabui atl, at), atl ; see above, p. 316. 



