The naturall and morall historie of the East and West Indies Intreating of the remarkable things of heaven, of the elements, mettalls, plants and beasts which are proper to that country: together with the manners, ceremonies, lawes, governments, and warres of the Indians. Written in Spanish by the R.F. Ioseph Acosta, and translated into English by E.G.

Of the supputation of times, and the Kalender the Mexicaines vsed. CHAP. 2.

ANd to beginne then by the division and supputa∣tion of times which the Indians made, wherein truely wee may well perceive the great signes of their

vivacitie and good vnderstanding. I will first shew in what sorte the Mexica••nes counted and divided their yeere, their moneths, their kalender, their computati∣ons, their worldes and ages. They divided the yeare into eighteene moneths, to which they gave twentie dayes, wherein the three hundred and three score days are accomplished, not comprehending in any of these moneths the five dayes that remaine, & make the yeare perfect. But they did reckon them aparte, and called them the dayes of nothing: during the which, the peo∣ple did not any thing, neither went they to their Tem∣ples, but occupied themselves only in visiting one an∣other, and so spent the time: the sacrificers of the Tem∣ple did likewise cease their sacrifices. These five dayes being past, they beganne the computation of the yeare, whereof the first moneth and the beginning was in March, when the leaves beganne to growe greene, al∣though they tooke three dayes of the moneth of Fe∣bruary; for the first day of their yeere was, as it were, the sixe and twentie day of February, as appeareth by their kalender, within the which ours is likewise com∣prehended and contained with a very ingenious Arte, which was made by the antient Indians that knew the first Spaniardes. I have seene this Kalender, and have it yet in my custody, which well deserveth the sight, to vnderstand the discourse and industry the Mexicaine Indians had. Every one of these eighteene monethes had his proper name, and his proper picture, the which was commonly taken of the principall feast that was made in that moneth, or from the diversitie of tymes, which the yeere caused in that moneth. They had in this Kalender certaine dayes marked and distinguished for their feasts. And they accompted their weekes by

thirteene dayes, ma••king the dayes with a Zero or ci∣pher, which they multiplied vnto thirteene, and then beganne to count, one, two, &c. They did likewise marke the yeares of these wheeles, with foure signes or figures, attributing to every yeare a peculiar signe, whereof one was of a house, an other of a conny, the third of a reede, and the fourth of a flint. They painted them in this sort, noting by those figures the yeare that did runne, saying of so many houses, of so many flints of such a wheele, happened such a thing. For we must vnderstand that their wheele, which was an age, con∣tained foure weekes of yeares, every weeke containing thirteene yeares, which in all made fiftie twoo yeares. In the midst of this wheele they painted a Sunne, from the which went foure beames or lines in crosse to the circumference of the wheele; and they made their course, even as the circumference was divided into foure equall partes, every one with his line, having a distinct colour from the rest, and the foure colors were, greene, blew, red, and yellow: every portion of these foure had thirteene separations which had all their signes or particular figures, of a house, a conny, a reed, or a flint, noting by every signe a yeare, and vppon the head of this signe they painted what had happened that yeare.

And therefore I did see in the Kalender mentioned the yeare when the Spaniards entered Mexico, marked by the picture of a man clad in red, after our manner, for such was the habite of the first Spaniard, whome Fernand Cortes sent, at the end of the two & fifty years, which finished the wheele. They vsed a pleasant cere∣mony, which was, the last night they didde breake all their vesselles and stuffe, and put out their fire, and all

the lights, saying, that the worlde should end at the fi∣nishing of one of these wheeles, and it might be at that time: for (said they) seeing the worlde must then end, what neede is there to provide meate to eate, and ther∣fore they had no further neede of vessel nor fire. Vpon this conceit they passed the night in great feare, saying it might happen there would be no more day, and they watched very carefully for the day; but when they saw the day beginne to breake, they presently beat manie drummes, and sounded cornets, flutes, and other instru∣ments of ioy and gladnesse, saying, that God did yet prolong the time with another age, which were fiftie two yeares. And then beganne an other wheele. The first day and beginning of this age they took new fire, and bought new vesselles to dresse their meate, and all went to the high Priest for this new fire, having first made a solemne sacrifice, and given thanks for the com∣ming of the day, and prolongation of an other age. This was their manner of accounting their yeares, mo∣neths, weekes, and ages.