We are now prepared to enter upon the discussion of the symbols of the
cardinal points, of which figures have already been given in connection
with the quotations from Rosny's work (Fig. 1), but as I shall have
occasion to refer to them very frequently I again present them in Fig.
7.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Symbols of the cardinal points.]
As it is conceded by all who have discussed this subject, that _a_ and
_c_ must be assigned to the east and west or equatorial points, the only
dispute being as to which should be referred to the east and which to
the west, it follows that the others must be referred to the polar
points. As each one of the four areas or compartments contains one of
these symbols--the top or upper compartment _a_, the left-hand _b_, the
bottom _c_, and the right-hand _d_--we naturally infer that the other
figures in these compartments have some reference to the cardinal points
with which they are respectively associated.
I think that Rosny is correct in assuming that this plate places these
symbols in their proper positions, and hence that if we can determine
one with satisfactory certainty this will determine the rest. If their
correct positions are given anywhere it would seem that it would be
here, in what is evidently a general calendar table or possibly a
calendar wheel.
I have already discussed the question of the assignment of the cardinal
symbols to some extent in my former work,[14] and will take for granted
that the reader is familiar with what is there stated.
That one of the two characters _a_ and _c_ (Fig. 7), denotes the _east_
or sunrise and the other _west_ or sunset, may, I think, be safely
assumed from what is given in the work mentioned, and from the evidence
presented by Rosny,[15] and Schultz-Sellack.[16] But which, east and
which west is the rock on which the deductions have been, so far, split
asunder; Rosny and Schultz-Sellack maintaining that _a_ is west and _c_
east, and I that _a_ is east and _c_ west. If we admit that they are
correctly placed on this plate it necessitates the admission on my part
that I have been incorrect in my reference of two of them. If _a_ is
east then I have reversed those denoting north and south; if it is west,
then I was correct as to those denoting north and south, but have
reversed those indicating east and west.
Without at present stating the result of my re-examination of this
subject I shall enter at once upon the discussion, leaving this to
appear as we proceed.
It is well known that each of the dominical days or year-bearers
(_Cuch-haab_, as they were termed by the Mayas), Kan, Muluc, Ix, and
Cauac, was referred to one of the four cardinal points. Our first step,
therefore, is to determine the points to which these days were
respectively assigned.
I have given in my former paper[17] my reasons for believing that Cauac
was referred to the south, Kan to the east, Muluc to the north, and Ix
to the west, from which I quote the following as a basis for further
argument:
"Landa, Cogulludo, and Perez tell us that each of the four dominical
days was referred by the Indians to one of the four cardinal points. As
the statements of these three authorities appear at first sight to
conflict with each other, let us see if we can bring them into harmony
without resorting to a violent construction of the language used. Perez'
statement is clear and distinct, and as it was made by one thoroughly
conversant with the manners and customs of the natives, and also with
all the older authorities, it is doubtless correct.
"He says, 'The Indians made a little wheel in which they placed the
initial days of the year. _Kan_ at the _east_, _Muluc_ at the _north_,
_Gix_ or _Hix_ at the _west_, and _Cauac_ at the _south_, to be counted
in the same order.'
"The statement of Cogulludo, which agrees substantially with this, is as
follows: 'They fixed the first year at the east, to which they gave the
name _Cuch-haab;_ the second at the west, and called it _Hiix;_ the the
third at the south, named _Cauac_, and the fourth, _Muluc_, at the
north.'
"Turning now to Landa's work (_Relac. de las Cosas_, §§ XXXIV), we are
somewhat surprised to find the following language: 'The first of these
dominical letters is _Kan_. * * * They placed this on the south, side.
* * * The second letter is _Muluc_, which is placed on the eastern side.
* * * The third of these letters is _Yx_, * * * and it signified the
northern side. The fourth letter is _Cauac_, which is assigned to
the-western side.'
"This, as we see, places Kan at the south, Muluc at the east, Ix at the
north, and Cauac at the west, conflicting directly with the statements
made by Cogulludo and Perez. If we turn now to the description of the
four feasts as given by Landa, and heretofore quoted, I think we shall
find an explanation of this difference. From his account of the feast at
the commencement of the Kan year (the intercalated days of the Cauac
year) we learn that first they made an idol called _Kan-u-uayeyab_,
which they bore to the heap of stones on the south side of the Village;
next they made a statue of the god _Bolon-Zacab_, which they placed in
the house of the elected chief, or chief chosen for the occasion. This
done they returned to the idol on the southern stone heap, where certain
religious ceremonies were performed, after which they returned with the
idol to the house, where they placed it _vis-a-vis_ with the other, just
as we see in the lower division of Plates XX-XXIII of the Manuscript
Troano. Here they kept constant vigil until the unlucky days
(_Uayeyab-haab_) had expired and the new Kan year appeared; then they
took the statue of _Bolon-Zacab_ to the temple and the other idol to the
heap of stones at the _east_ side of the village, where it was to remain
during the year, doubtless intended as a constant reminder to the common
people of what year was passing.
"Similar transfers were made at the commencement of the other years; at
that of Muluc, first to the east, then to the house, and then to its
final resting place on the _north_ side; of Ix, first to the north, then
to the _west_; of Cauac, first to the west, then to the _south_.
"This movement agrees precisely with the order given by Perez; the final
resting places of their idols for the year being the cardinal points of
the dominical days where he fixes them; that is, Kan at the _east_,
Muluc at the _north_, Ix at the _west_, and Cauac at the _south_. There
is, therefore, no real disagreement between these authorities on this
point."
Most of the modern authors who have touched upon this topic, although in
some cases apparently at sea, without any fixed opinion on the subject,
are disposed to follow Landa's statement, without comparing it with his
account of the supplemental days, and appear to rely upon it rather than
upon the statements of Cogulludo and Perez; and hence they refer Kan to
the south, Muluc to the east, Ix to the north, and Cauac to the west.
Brasseur, in his _Histoire des Nations civilisées du Mexique et de
l'Amérique Centrale_,[18] assigns Kan to the east, Muluc to the north,
Hix to the west, and Cauac to the south. But in his supplement to
_Études sur le Manuscrit Troano_,[19] and in his note to Landa's
_Relacion_,[20] refers Kan to the south, Muluc to the east, Ix to the
north, and Cauac to the west, although afterwards, in the same work, in
a note to Perez' _Cronologia_, he quotes Cogulludo's statement without
explanation or objection.
Dr. Brinton, in his _Myths of the New World_,[21] places these dominical
days at the same points to which I have assigned them--Kan at the east,
&c.--although referring in a note at the same place to the very page of
Landa's _Relacion_, where they are assigned as given by Rosny. In a
subsequent work, _Hero Myths_, referring to the same passage in Landa,
and with Cogulludo's work before him, he assigns them to the same points
as Rosny--Kan to the south, &c.--yet without any reference whatever to
his former expressed opinion.
Schultz-Sellack, in an article entitled _Die Amerikanischen Gotter der
vier Weltrichtungen und ihre Tempel in Palanque_, in the _Zeitschrift
für Ethnologie_ for 1879,[22] comes to the same conclusion as Rosny.