The American Egypt : a record of travel in Yucatan . our-token of their chief is shown in the same way as our knightsof old had painted on their shields the arms of their feudallords. When in battle array they invariably wear the thick,quilted cotton vest reaching from their necks to their thighs, soclosely woven as to be proof against the enemys darts. Whennot in battle this is discarded for the more easygoing uitor loin-cloth. Caciques and priests are dressed more ela-borately. We see the heavy beplumed head-dress, the legornamentation and sandals far more elaborate than thethick, plaited, d
The American Egypt : a record of travel in Yucatan . our-token of their chief is shown in the same way as our knightsof old had painted on their shields the arms of their feudallords. When in battle array they invariably wear the thick,quilted cotton vest reaching from their necks to their thighs, soclosely woven as to be proof against the enemys darts. Whennot in battle this is discarded for the more easygoing uitor loin-cloth. Caciques and priests are dressed more ela-borately. We see the heavy beplumed head-dress, the legornamentation and sandals far more elaborate than thethick, plaited, deerskin, two-thonged foot-covering of theirfollowers. Last but perhaps not by any means least in importanceamong these paintings is the much-discussed red have spoken of its probable origin on p. 265. We haveseen it, as have others, on the ruins of the mainland ; butmore, we have found it on the walls buried under the debrisof fallen roofs in the islands. The best examples of it werefound by us at Cozumel in ruins on which probably no other. -^mr j m L_-* W^3ft J! i ACADE OF BUILDING AT KABAH. p. 31S] HIEROGLYPHICS AND PAINTINGS 319 white man has ever looked. On the ruins of the mainlandit is rare, but one ruin we discovered, described on p. 180, wasliterally covered with this form of ornamentation, and herefor the first time we realised that the human hand was notalways used. It was not always the impression of an actualhand, as has been insisted by many, but of something of aroughly similar shape. The paintings in all the ruins are fast crumbling away, andto-day a gentle tap upon the walls will show that the layersof paint are losing those adhesive qualities which have heldthem in position for centuries. How were such arts of writing and painting attained ?The latter question is easily answered. The knowledge ofpainting in elementary colours has often been found amongthe most inartistic peoples ; but as we have said before, themural paintings of the monuments of Centr
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