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Show IJ I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. All this will be more clearly undedl:ood in the table of the century, which we {hall afterwards fubjoin. The Mexican year confified ljke ours, of three hundred and .fixty-five day s ; for although it was cornpofed of eighteen months, each of which contained twenty days, which make up only three hundred and fixty, they added after the bft month five days, which they called Nemontemi, or ufelefs; becaufe in thefe day~ they did nothing but receive and return vifits. The year I Tochtli, the firft of their century, began upon the twenty-fixth day of February (x); but every four years the Mexican century anticipated one day, on account of the odd day of our biifextile, or leap-year; from whence in the laft years of the Mexican century, the year began on the fourteenth of l"ebruary, on account of the thirteen days which intervene in the courfe of fifty-two years. But at the expiration of the century, the commencement of the year returned to the twenty: fixth of February. 1 he names which they gave their months were taken both from the employments and fcfiivals which occurred in them, and alfo from the accidents of the feafon which attended them. Thefe names appear differently arranged among authors; becaut'e, in faCt their arrangement \vas not only different among different nations, but even among the the Mexicans thcmfdves it varied. The following was the mofi com-mon: 1. Atlacahtta!co (y). 2. 1'/a caxipehualizt li. 3. 7'ozoztontli. 4· Hueitozoz t/i. 5· Toxcatl. 6. Etzakualiz tli. '· cr rcpcnt~d with the f.·unc number; but how is it poffiblc, that this could hnppcn in the pe· r'iod of two hundred ;1nd eight years, while the chamtters were only four and the numbers ufcu hut thirteen, as he himfdf allows. (.\') Atnhors differ in opinion rcfpcEling the dny on which the Mexican year commenced. The rcafon of this wns llnquct!ion:lbly the difference which is occaiioncd hy our leap ycnrs, to wh~ch probnbly thofc :tuthors tlid nnt ndvert. It m:1y alto have been the cafe, that fi>me t) f them fpoke of the a!\ronomic:tl year of the Mexicans, :md n<>t of the religiolt s, of which we t 1!.'M. · ( J.) Gomnrn, ~ala~cs, and oth.er authors make TlncaJ.·iprlmnli;::,tli, the firfl month of rhe Mcx t~an yea r, wl11ch 10 our tahlc ts the fccond. The nmhor~ of the cdit:on of the Letters of Cortes, publilhed :~t Mexico in 178o1 make Atemoztli the firrt, which is the t6th in our table. Eut Motolini~,. whofe authority has mofr weight, has put, :u we do, Atlnbunlco for the fi rfr mo~>~ th; nnd I orqucmad:~, Retancourt, and Martin•1 di Leon, :1 Dominican, thinks as he does. 'To avoid trO L1 blinJi our rc:u.lcre1 we omit the fironrr rca font which have induced us to adopt r , • <> u tr pre1e11t opuuon, 7. '[ecuil- HISTORY 7. '!'ecuilhuitont li. 8. Hueitecui/huitl. 9· 'l'laxocbtinaco. 1 o. Xocohuetzi. I r. Ochpaniztli. I 2. 7'eot!eco. 0 F ME X I C 0. I 3· 'T epeii!Juit 1. I 4· ff<.gechplli, 15. Panquetzalitz!i. 16. Atemoztft'. 17. Tititl. I 8. Izcalli. 291 BOOK VL ' .. Their month confi11:ed as we have already mentioned of twenty S£cT. xxv. days, the names of which arc thefe; · I. Cipatlli. I I. Ozomat!i. 2. Ebecatl. 12. Malina/li. 3· Calli. 1 3. A ca tl,, 4· Cuetzpalin. 14, Ocelot/, 5 · Coat/. 15. ~auhtli. 6. Miquitzli. 16. Cozcaquaht!i ( z). 7· Maz at/. 17. Olin t01zatiub. 8. 'fochtli. I 8. 7'ecpat/. 9· At/~ 1 9· fi(:,tiahutli. I o. Itzcuintli. 20, Xochitl. fAh lthlodu gh th· e .f igns or charaCters ' which are fignified by tl 1e [ce names., ou be d1finbutc~ amm.1g the twenty days, according to the order above.' .neverthelefs m thc1r mode of reckoning, no regard was p::tid to the dtvdi~n of months, nor that of ye::trs, but to periods of thirteen da!s (firr~tlar to t~ofe of thirteen years in the century), which run 011 without mterruptwn from the end of a month or year. The fir11: day of the century was I. CtpaCI!i ; the fecond 2. Ehccat! or wir1d. tl th. ·d ' . . ' , ' . ' le II, 3· Cal!t, Ol hou(e; andfo on to thrrteen, wh1chwas 13, Acat/, or reed. The I 4th day began another period, reckoning I. Ocelot/ (tyger), 2 • . ~uauht!J' (eagle), &c. until the completion of the month 7· Xoc!Jit! (flower)) and in the n.ext month they continued ~o co.unt 8. Cipatlli, 9· Ehecat!, &c. Twenty of the[e periods made 10 thtrteen months a cycle of two hundred and fixty days: and during thewhol e o f t hIS. t·im e, the fame fign or charaCter was not rcpe-.ited w. u(. zpl Co.u:1~1 quca1 uhfr li is cite name of a bird wh'ich we deC. ribr.d in 01.1r fi rfl book • C av. Botu• Uts 111 ~ a o it V"ettlt'tltlll, or the llone ufed to grind m ai ~c OJ' c oco~ s . p p 2 with The Mexican mouth. |