The above association of ideas was doubtlessly accentuated by the fact that the word pilli means a nobleman, a chieftain; thence he terms pilconetl=the son of a nobleman and pilhua=he who has sons (pil in this case meaning son and hua=possessor of). This latter fact could have been very aptly conveyed in the picture-writings by employing fingers to express the sound "pilli." The number of sons a chieftain had could thus be easily expressed by his exhibiting a corresponding number of fingers. I shall revert to this possibility presently, and now referring to fig. 29, no. 2, direct attention to the obvious intention to express the idea that the fire produced was distributed to the four quarters by means of the figures, painted in symbolical colors, three of which are visible. Another picture in the same Codex represents four similar figures springing towards the cardinal points from a source or fountain of water, whilst a priest above a triangular cloak(7) holds a pair of weapons (?) in his hands (fig. 29, no. 1). If carefully studied, these groups seem to corroborate the derivation of the name Mexico, given above. What is more, the first group affords an explanation of the meaning and purpose of three strange recumbent stone figures bearing circular vessels, which have been respectively found in Mexico, Tlaxcala and Chichen-Itza and are now preserved at the National Museum in Mexico. They furnish the most convincing proof that an identical cult and symbolism had existed in these widely-separated localities. The conclusion I have previously expressed, that an actual connection had been established between Chichen-Itza and Mexico by the Maya high priest Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl, is thus corroborated by undeniable evidence, which will be supplemented later on.
The three monoliths have been described and illustrated in the Anales del Museo Nacional, Mexico, vol. 1, p. 270, by the late Señor Jesus Sanchez, and are here reproduced. The statue exhumed at Chichen-Itza by Dr. Le Plongeon (pl. IV, fig. 1) closely resembles that found at Tlaxcalla in Mexico (pl. III, fig. 2). Dr. Brinton, who erroneously describes the Chichen-Itza statue as representing "a sleeping god," points out the extremely important fact that there was a divinity worshipped in Yucatan called Cum-ahau, "the lord of the vase," who is designated in a MS. dictionary as "Lucifer (the lord of the underworld) the principal native divinity." He adds there is good ground to suppose that this lord of the vase ... was the god of fertility common to the Maya and Mexican cult (Hero-Myths, p. 165). Considering that the great market-place in the capital was actually the centre to which the entire product of the land was periodically carried from its remotest confines, was there classified, exchanged or distributed far and wide, the comparison to a central flowing source of maintenance was most appropriate.