f. 4v., full page of text

The text continues here to mention that the observations and celebrations will happen on the day of our venerable father, St. Michael. All of his property is being cultivated. The 500 mecatl (cords),* liberally marked, are shown in their full extension, and these shall always be observed, without any alteration, by the inhabitants. The inhabitants will always fulfill (their duties on this land). The writer concludes that everything is written here adequately and in order that everything can be fulfilled. The author is named here to be Esteban Jacobo, and he states that he was writing under the orders of the local lord, “here in the palace” (tecpancalli). This multiple page text all appears to be in the same hand, and the ink is a brown color. [SW] ---------- *The "mecatl" (Nahuatl for rope, cord) was a linear measure of land that became "mecate" in Spanish. Its length may have varied regionally. And, in some places, the cord may have been an areal measure, although we do not know its exact dimensions without further information. The term mecatl was used in the Techialoyan corpus across vast regions, rather indiscriminately, and is not necessarily a reflection of local practice. In the Valley of Toluca, one local linear measure was a stick. The number 500 sounds more like a round number in the decimal system than a typical vigesimal round number, suggesting a possible European influence. [SW]