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the Iroquois name for the town=can-ada, a word which, in Maya, would
describe a metropolis divided into four quarters.

The question naturally suggests itself whether the affix can, frequently
met with in Mexico combined with names of localities, was not of Maya
origin and expressed also a centre of quadruple government. It occurs in
the Nahuatl name for metropolis to-tec-ua can and in Teoti-hua can, for
instance. The Nahuatl scholars have rendered its meaning as "place of."

Mr. Hale tells us that, amongst the "Five Nations," the tradition exists
that the confederacy was originally divided into "seven tribes," each of
which was composed of 2x4=8 gentes or clans. Another wampum belt he
figures exhibits a heart between 2x2=4 squares, a symbol which would be
interpreted by a Mexican or Maya as well as by a Huron or Iroquois, as
meaning "four nations, one heart," the latter being as common a symbol for
union of rule or government or for chieftain, as a "head."

Combined with other testimony it seems impossible to evade the question
whether in remote times the Iroquois and Hurons had not shared in some way
or other the civilization of the Mayas. If so the ancient
earthwork-builders of the Ohio valley, who are authoritatively regarded as
of southern origin by Professor Putnam, and whose art exhibits a strong
resemblance to that of the Mayas, seem to constitute the missing link
between the northeastern and the southeastern tribes. It is curious to
find that the terminal che, which occurs in the name Quiche and which
signifies in Maya, tree, and, by extension, tribe, is preserved in the
names of the Nat-che-z tribe still inhabiting the Mississippi valley. It
is also present in Coman-che, Apa-che, etc.

It is to be hoped that, before long, authorities who have made special
studies of the above tribes will make searching comparisons of their
languages, social organization and symbolism with that of the Mayas, in
particular, it seeming evident that the coast communication along the gulf
of Mexico, from Yucatan to the mouth of the Mississippi river, was not
only easy but was favored by sea-currents.

It is interesting to note that if we now proceed to the southwest of the
United States and study the Pueblo people, we seem to find not only more
distinctly marked affinities between their customs, etc., and those of the
Mexicans, but also traces of similarity with certain Maya symbols.

In several important pub