20 
first victory over Havana^ king of th^ giants of 
the Island of Ceylon. 
The year over which the sign ce acatl presided 
was a year of famine, that destroyed the first 
generation of men. This catastrophe began on 
the day 4 tiger (nahui ocelotl) ; and it is proba- 
bly on account of the hieroglyphic of this day, 
that, according to other traditions, the giants, 
who did not perish by famine, were devoured 
by those tigers (tequanesj , the appearance of 
which was dreaded by the Mexicans at the end 
of every cycle. The hieroglyphic painting re- 
presents a malignant spirit descending on the 
earth to root up the grass and the flowers. Three 
human figures, among which we easily recog- 
nise a woman, by her headdress formed of two 
small tresses resembling horns hold in their 
right hands a sharp-edged instrument, and in 
their left, fruit, or ears of corn. The spirit, 
that announces famine, wears one of those rosa- 
ries 'f-, which, from time immemorial, have been 
in use in Thibet, China, Canada, and Mexico ; 
and which have passed from the east to the 
Christians of the west. Though among all the 
nations of the Earth the fiction of the giants, of 
the Titans, and of the Cyclops, appears to in- 
dicate the conflict of the elements, or the state of 
^ Plate XV, No. 3-7,3. 
t Plate XIV, No, 8. 
