The Washington herald., 1922-02-05

found in bundle Of discarded papers ready
for the trash in Paris. In Madrid yet
another Maya. manuscript was found torn
in two, one-hah Of 1t in possession Of an
individual and the other half in the posses
sion Of the Royal Academy Of History.
These manuscripts are painted in hero
glyphlc characters upon a sort of fiber paper
which was produced in Yucatan. This
papyrus folds screen-like into neat and
compact packages.
s"T>HESE three books which have been
L found seem to be very largely religious
in their nature and it is doubtful If they
contain any Maya history even if they could
be read. In Central America we have
searched diligently for any surviving manu-
scripts, but none has been found, and It
is doubtful if any manuscripts made of this
perishable material could survive under the
climatic conditions that prevail in that part
of the world. If any further manuscripts
are found they will probably turn up in
Libraries and collections in Europe which
were made during the period of the Spanish
Conquest.
'Foerstemann worked diligently upon the
manuscript that he discovered in Dresden
and succeeded in establishing many basic
facts with relation to the Maya calendar.
1t was a peculiar thing that an American,
J. T. Goodman, Of Alameda, Calf, should
at about the same time have been working
upon the same problem and that he, too,
should have succeeded in working 1t out.
"Supplementing the work of Foerstemann
and of Goodman, an Englishman by the name
of Alfred Maudsley, who married the daush-
ter of Gouverneur Morris, made very ex-
tensive explorations in the Maya field and
printed many volumes upon It Aside from
which there have been brought to light by
Daniel Garrison Brinton, of the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, five historical manu-
scripts which were written by Maya students
during the century after the Spanish Con-
quest and which set forth in the characters
of the Spanish script which the priests were
teaching these students, but in the Maya
language, some Of the facts contained in
Maya hieroglyphic manuscripts still e1tant
at that time, but which could be read by
these same students.
with this as a basis it Is possible to
decipher perhaps as much as one half Of the
hieroglyphics inscribed upon the monuments
Of Central America. 1t is possible to read,
for example, a certain date which con-
stantly repeats itself in the Maya chronol-
ogy and which, because Of its recurrence.
there is reason to believe represents some
historical event similar to our Declaration
Of Independence.
1T is possible to, read certain historical
events in, for example, the record Of the
accession of Montezuma to the Aztec throne,
which also is shown herewith in the original
Aztec. 1t is possible to read the record
of certain earthquakes and eclipses painted
in the fiber books, examples Of which are
also shown"
DIR. Morley drew for me the hieroslyphie
characters that tell the story Of these events.
He drew them in an easy and offhand way,
much as You or I would write a number in
Roman numerals. He read them in the terms
of the Maya and Aztec languages. An Of
which led up to the problem Of the few
signs he has been able to interpret and
the story Of how he had worked these out.
There is the ''hotun," for instance. q
picture Of which is shown. DR.. Morley
worked out the meaning Of the hotun and
this discovery opened up quite a prospect.
The 'gliffer" had not been prowling
around in Central America very long until
he noticed the recurrence of this sign. In
the ancient Maya cities virtually all Of the