278 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



da, and, except attending to them, our time was de- 

 voted alniost exclusively to long and interesting con- 

 versations w^itli Don Pio on matters connected with 

 the antiquities of the country. I cannot sufficiently 

 express my obligations to this gentleman for the 

 warm interest he took, in facilitating our pursuits, and 

 for the labour he bestowed ungrudgingly in our be- 

 half. Besides preparing a series of verbal forms and 

 other illustrations of the grammar of the Maya lan- 

 guage, according to memoranda made by the same 

 distinguished gentleman before referred to, he gave 

 me a vocabulary in manuscript, containing more than 

 four thousand Maya words, and an almanac, prepar- 

 ed by himself, according to the Indian system of 

 computation, for the year from the 16th of July, 1841, 

 to the 15th of July, 1842, a translation of which is 

 pubhshed in the Appendix, as a key or supplement 

 to his calendar.* 



Besides these, he furnished me with the copy of 

 one other document, which, if genuine and authen- 

 tic, throws more light upon aboriginal history than 

 any other known to be in existence. It is a frag- 

 ment of a Maya manuscript, written from memory 

 by an Indian, at some time not designated, and en- 

 titled " Principal epochs of the ancient history of 

 Yucatan." 



It purports to give the series of " katunes," or 

 epochs, from the time of the departure of the Tol- 

 tecs from the country of Tulapan until their arrival 

 at this, as it is called, island of Chacno-uitan, occu- 



♦ See Appendix to vol. i. 



