l are aware, is only a conventional sign
and presumably not phonetic. The second may be phonetic, though
apparently but an abbreviation of the first. In Plate 65_c_ (see marginal
No. 20) and Plate 41_c_ the two forms are brought into such relation to
each other as to show that the latter is used as a symbol to represent
the idea conveyed by the first. The proof in these cases is too strong
to admit of doubt and explains Landa's method of obtaining his B, which,
as before stated, was by selecting the symbol of that which is denoted by
a Maya word of one syllable having B as its chief letter element, _Be_
being the Maya word for "way," "journey," "walking," &c.

The symbol for the cacao given above in marginal No. 22 contains his
eleventh letter _Ca_ twice and is probably that from which it was taken;
likewise that of the _Kukuitz_ or Quetzal (marginal No. 26) and of the
_Kuch_ or vulture (marginal No. 27_a_), each of which contains his _Ku_,
being double in the former and single in the latter. I am as yet unable
to trace these two symbols to their origin; we might suppose, from
Landa's figure of the latter, that it was intended to represent a bird's
nest containing eggs, but an examination of the symbol as found in the
manuscript renders this conclusion doubtful.

The evidences of phonography are few and, as must be admitted, not
entirely satisfactory; yet they are apparently sufficient to justify the
somewhat general belief that the writing of the Mayas had reached that
stage where characters are sometimes used to indicate sounds. That
comparatively little advance had been made in this direction at the time
of the conquest is possible; moreover there is nothing to justify the
belief that they made use of true letters as Landa supposed. If they had
a phonographic system of any kind it was very imperfect and was only in
that primary stage in which syllables are represented by single
characters and words of more than one syllable by compound characters.
Judging by the changes observed in the relation of the parts of compound
characters to one another, we conclude that the order of arranging these
parts was not uniform or essential. It is also doubtful, if any of these
characters are phonetic, whether the parts of the longer words were
always written out in full. I am led to believe, from a few slight
indications, that, in forming words of more than one syllable, they often
used only the leading phonetic elements of the sin