140 
and h represent serpents, which among all na- 
tions are the emblems of time. The under part 
of the stone exhibits at g the sign hisca^ which 
alludes to the nuptials of Bochica and Chia^, 
tlie sign of the lunar conjunction figured under 
the form of a temple shut. This is the end of 
the first revolution of the cycle. The sacrifice 
of the guesa is going to reopen the temple, and 
begin the second indiction. The intercalation 
of hisca is made after nine Muysca years, which 
is denoted by nine strokes at c, and d. The 
lock, which closes the temple, is the same as 
that made use of at present by the natives. It 
is pierced on both sides, to receive two pieces of 
cylindrical wood. On comparing this lock with 
that of the Egyptians,' sculptured on the walls of 
Karnak, and in use for thousands of years on the 
banks of the Nile We observe the difference 
which exists between the works of a rude peo- 
ple, and those of an ingenious nation advanced 
in the arts. 
Four of these pentagonal stones taught, as the 
Indians assert, the twenty intercalations of the 
deaf moon, which, according to the imperfect 
calendar of the Muyscas, took place in a cycle 
of seven hundred and forty sunas. This cycle 
contained twenty years of the priests of thirty- 
* Plate 44, fig. 4, No. 5. 
f Denon, Voyage en Egypte, Plate 139, fig. 14. 
