APPENDIX. 



437 



15th, Moan, beginning on the 22d of April. 

 IGth, Pax, beginning on the I2th of May. 

 17th, Kayab, beginning on the 1st of June. 

 18th, Cumku, beginning on the 21st of June. 



As the 18 naonths of 20 days each contained but 360 days, and the com- 

 mon year consists of 365, five supplementary days were added at the end 

 of each year, which made part of no month, and which, for that reason, 



Neg. Name. Days. 



they called " days without name," xo7ia kaba kin. They called them also 



Vesx. 



uayab or uayeb Jaab; which may be interpreted two different ways. The 

 woidiuayab may be derived from uay, which means "bed" or " chamber," 

 presuming that the Indians believed the year to rest during those days ; or 

 uayah may equally be derived from another signification of uay^ viz., to be 

 destroyed, wounded, corroded by the caustic juice of plants, or with ley 

 and other strong liquids. And on this account the Indians feared those 

 days, believing them to be unfortunate, and to carry danger of sudden 

 deaths, plagues, and other misfortunes. For this reason these five days 

 were assigned for the celebration of the feast of the god Mzw, "grandfa- 

 ther." On the first day they carried him about, and feasted him with great 

 magnificence; on the second they diminished the solemnity; on the third 

 they brought him down from the altar and placed him in the middle of the 

 temple; on the fourth they put him at the threshold or door; and on the 

 fifth, or last day, the ceremony of taking leave (or dismissal) took place, that 

 the new year might commence on the following day, which is the first of 

 the month Pop^ corresponding with the 16th of July, as appears by the pre- 

 ceding table. The description of the god Mam may be seen in Cogolludo. 



The division of the year into 18 months of 20 days would have given 

 only the sum of 360 days ; and the first day of the year falling on Kan, the 

 last would have fallen on Akhal, so as to begin again the next j^ear with 

 the same Kan, making all the years alike. But as, in order to complete 

 the year, they added five days, the result was that the year which com- 

 menced in Kan ended in Lamat, the last of the first series of five days ; the 

 ensuing year commenced in Muluc, the first of the second series of five 

 days ; the third commenced in Gix, the first of the third series ; and the 

 fourth in Cauac (the first ending in Akbal), the last of the fourth series of 

 five days ; so that the fifth year again began with Kan. It has also been 

 stated that the year consisted of 28 weeks of 13 days each, and of one ad- 

 ditional day ; so that, if the year commenced with the number one of the 

 week, it ended with the same number, and the ensuing year began with 

 number two ; and so on through the thirteen numbers of the week, thus 

 forming, with the four initial days, the week of years, or indiction, of which 

 we shall speak hereafter. 



The following is the order of the twenty days in each of the 18 months 



