Mounds in the valley of the Usamacinta. — Lacandones. —
Catasaja. — Canoe voyage. — Rivers and Lagoons. — Alligators. —
Jonuta. — Cortes’s March to Honduras. — Cannibalism. — The
Mexican Emperor Guatimozin. — Palisada. — Laguna de Terminos. —
Island of Carmen. — Campeachy. — Yucatan. — Pyramidal Altar. —
Human sacrifices. — Tzibalché. — Maya Indians. — Arrival at
Uxmal.
At San Domingo Dr. Coller showed me a chart which he had drawn of
the country around for a distance of twelve miles, exclusive of the
neighbourhood of Palenque where the forest prevented him from making a
survey. Upon this chart he had placed the positions of eleven mounds
that he had discovered. They were situated near the left bank of the
Usamacinta. On the slopes of these mounds were loose slabs of worked
limestone which he thought must have formed part of houses built on
their summits. Some excavations had been made and it was proved that
the mounds were not burial places.
I met in the village the proprietor of a small hacienda near Balancan.
He told me that in one of his fields there was a large mound forty feet
high, which must have had a building upon it, for on the top there
were large blocks of squared stone. He wished to know what the mound
contained and had therefore dug through it, but he found nothing but
a curved grindstone precisely similar in shape and size to those now
used by the women in the neighbourhood. In the adjoining land he had
found near the surface numerous terra-cotta idols, but he had not seen
any human bones. It is a coincidence perhaps of some importance, with
reference to the origin of the race once occupying Palenque, that a
grindstone was also the only thing found within the mound opened by
the orders of Carrera on the plains of Mixco, in that part of Central
America which, before the conquest, had been occupied by the Quichés.
San Domingo is occasionally visited by groups of the wild Indians
called Lacandones who live isolated amongst the adjacent forests.
Dr. Coller told me that during his ten years’ residence, he had seen
several of these men enter the village for the purpose of exchanging
beans, tobacco and wax for spirits and other goods. They were always
dressed in long white cotton frocks which reached nearly to their feet,
and they wore their hair loose and very long. They seemed to be of a
shy and inoffensive disposition. It is probable that they are of the
same tribe as the Indians who live scattered amongst the Cordilleras
near Comitan, a few of whom occasionally come down to that town from
the forests bringing for barter bags of cocoa beans.
The journey from Palenque to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico had to
be made by rivers and lagoons. The embarkation place was at Catasaja,
where canoes were to be obtained. After riding eight leagues through
forests and savannahs we reached “Las Playas,” where I was welcomed by
the Licenciado Vadillo. Catasaja was a flourishing village, prettily
situated on the upper waters of a branch of the Usamacinta. It was in
an unusually busy state. Preparations were in progress for holding a
fair, and celebrating the annual festival of the church. Great numbers
of Indians and Ladinos were expected to arrive from the surrounding
country, and sheds were being built as shelters for them. In the
morning, at an early hour, I found that Señor Vadillo had made all
necessary arrangements for my journey, and had secured for me a good
canoe manned by trustworthy Indians. With his assistance I was able to
sell my mule. The saddle and hammock were retained as I should want
them in Yucatan.
In the forenoon the men reported that the boat was ready. After
paddling swiftly down the stream for several leagues we entered a
channel whose muddy banks were covered with alligators. The river also
swarmed with them. Upon several occasions I thought that the canoe was
in danger of being capsized by the waves made by the alligators, in
consequence, as we approached them, of their habit of slipping off the
bank into the river, and I told the Indians to be careful. They said
that the canoe was perfectly safe, but that if, by any accident, we
should be rolled over there was nothing to be feared, as the alligators
never attacked people in the water. I was doubtful about this theory,
although it may be correct. It is well known that natives in other
parts of the world have been seized by alligators when incautiously
going too near them when they were watching for their prey on the
banks. But I do not know if there is any evidence to show that they
would seize men in the same manner if they were actually floating in
the water.[85]
Lower down the river we came to a place where the stream was sluggish.
The banks were flat and covered with dense vegetation. Here we saw
an extraordinary scene. The water was thick, green, and putrid with
animal matter. The surface was covered with the inflated bodies of dead
alligators.
Large carrion birds were feeding upon them in the most revolting
manner. Their claws were firmly fixed upon the hard skin of the
reptiles, and they drove their beaks, like pickaxes, deep down into
their entrails and gorged themselves with the decaying flesh. The
stench was horrible, and together with the oppressive heat, the foul
state of the air and the enormous mosquitoes, made this part of the
journey very disgusting.
At sunset we arrived at a place called Jonuta, near the junction of the
river Palisada with the river Usamacinta, and the canoe was hauled
up on the bank. We could not have been far from the spot where Cortes
crossed over on his march to Honduras, one of the most extraordinary
military expeditions, through an absolutely unknown country and amongst
unknown men, that has ever been successfully accomplished. This part
of the march through the forest and across the numerous streams of
the estuary of the Usamacinta was especially difficult and laborious,
and at one time, the forces were driven to great straits for want of
provisions. The events that occurred here are described by Bernal
Diaz, who accompanied the troops, and by Cortes in his despatch to the
Emperor Charles V. One of these events was so remarkable that it at
once arrests the attention.
The Spaniards and their Indian allies had been for several days
suffering from famine, and the state of affairs in the camp was
becoming serious. It was then discovered that several acts of
cannibalism had taken place. “It appeared,” states Bernal Diaz, “that
certain Caciques from Mexico had captured two or three of the Indians
belonging to the villages that we had passed through, and had brought
them hidden amongst their baggage, and on account of the hunger on
the road they killed them and roasted them in ovens which were made
under the ground with stones, as was their custom in Mexico, and they
devoured them, and in the same way they had also secreted the two
guides that we had with us who had run away, and they ate them. When
Cortes knew what had happened he ordered the Mexican Caciques to be
called together and spoke angrily to them, and told them that if such
things occurred again he would punish them. The Franciscan friar, who
accompanied us, also preached to them many holy and good sayings and
after he had concluded his sermon Cortes, as a matter of justice,
ordered a Mexican Indian to be burnt on account of the murder of the
Indians that they had eaten.”
Cortes in reporting this punishment to the Emperor says,—“I ordered
him to be burnt, giving the said Señor to understand the reason for
this act of justice. That it was because he had killed an Indian and
eaten him; which act was forbidden by your Majesty and that I, in your
Royal name, had notified and ordered that it should not be done, and
that therefore for having killed and eaten him I ordered him to be
burnt.”[86]
Another strange event that took place whilst the troops were in this
region, was the tragic fate of Guatimozin, who had succeeded Montezuma
as Emperor of Mexico. It is difficult to understand what could have
been the object that Cortes had in view when he ordered this monarch
to be executed. He may have thought it expedient to destroy, as far
as possible, the whole race of caciques throughout New Spain and thus
minimise the risk of any organized rebellion. These chiefs ruled with
absolute power over the natives, and it is possible that the Spanish
authorities deemed it advisable to get rid of them. Hundreds of them
were burnt alive at the stake upon the slightest pretexts. After one
of the local insurrections the officer who suppressed it reported that
he had burnt forty of the rebellious caciques. In a similar manner the
leaders in Cuba and Haiti were also destroyed.
In the case of Guatimozin, Cortes considered that he and his cousin,
the King of Tlacupa, had been proved guilty of conspiring with other
Indians to kill the Spaniards; and he accordingly ordered them to be
put to death. The sentence was immediately carried out, and the two
Mexican monarchs were hanged upon a tree within sight of the army as it
continued its march through the forest.
The positions where these events occurred can only be approximately
determined. The wooden bridges which were constructed for the passage
of the troops have disappeared. All local records of this famous march
have passed away. The villages or pueblos mentioned by the conquerors
no longer exist, and their names are forgotten. It is only by the most
attentive study that even a presumptive knowledge of the route can be
obtained. From the accounts given in the official dispatches and the
statements of Bernal Diaz, and also from the fact that Cortes steered
a straight course by compass, it may be concluded that the forces must
have passed near Jonuta and about twenty-eight miles from the ruins of
Palenque.
With respect to the acts of cannibalism it should be observed, in
justice to other tribes, that the caciques who devoured the bodies were
Mexicans, and there are reasons for believing that before the arrival
of the Aztecs cannibalism was unknown in Central America. The method
of cooking by baking in ovens which, after the holes had been dug out
of the ground, were surrounded and covered by heated stones, are the
same as those that were customary with the Maoris in New Zealand, who,
after their fights, feasted upon their captured enemies in that manner.
Upon the evening of the day upon which we left Jonuta, we reached
Palisada and brought to an end our wearisome canoe voyage down the
Usamacinta. At Palisada the logwood, which is obtained in the forests
bordering upon the upper parts of the rivers, is gathered together and
shipped upon small schooners which carry their cargoes of palo tinto
(red wood) to the town of Laguna on the island of Carmen, whence the
wood is sent to Europe and other parts of the world.
In one of these little fore-and-aft rigged schooners I embarked and
proceeded on my way down the river. In the afternoon we stopped in a
place where we could get some shade until sunset. I found a shelter
within a hut near the bank. Throughout the night the atmosphere was
very oppressive. We slowly made our way by the help of a small boat,
manned by our Indian crew, which took us in tow. All of us suffered
greatly from the attacks of myriads of mosquitoes. On the following day
we arrived at an open sheet of water, called the inner lagoon, where
it was perfectly calm and we had to endure on the open and exposed
deck, the full strength of the tropical sun. In the evening a strong
head wind called “el Norte” sprang up, together with heavy squalls and
showers of rain which continued all that night and the whole of the
next day. As we could not make any headway we anchored. The sun was
very powerful and it was not possible to escape from its influence.
The Indians appeared to be much affected by the weather and were in
a worn and prostrate condition. I had to endure, equally with them,
the alternate exposure to extreme heat and cold driving rain. During
the night the wind moderated, and towards the morning we weighed our
anchor and proceeded to the entrance of the outer lagoon and waited for
daylight. As the sun rose, the wind suddenly shifted, and we sailed
rapidly across the bay to the anchorage off the town, arriving there
early in the forenoon.
Thus terminated the voyage “par los rios” (by the rivers). The exposure
to the sun by day, the attacks of mosquitoes by night, and the sickly
condition of the banks of the rivers and lagoons, had combined to make
that part of the journey across the continent extremely exhausting.
The long narrow island of Carmen is placed like a natural breakwater,
sheltering the bay from the open sea of the Gulf of Campeachy. The
earliest notice of it occurs in the Reports of the Spanish expedition
under Grijalva in 1518. Bernal Diaz, who was one of those who took
part in it, mentions a fact that throws some light upon the religious
customs of the Indians. He observes that the fleet after having
visited the coasts of Yucatan arrived at this island and remained
for several days at anchor in the bay. Many of the officers and men
landed, he being amongst the number. After traversing the island it
was ascertained that it was not inhabited, but some small temples
(adoratorios) were seen. These were made of stone and mortar, and
contained many idols made of clay and of wood, some were like figures
of gods, others like women, and many seemed to represent serpents. At
the present time there are no remains visible of these adoratorios.
The fact, however, of their having been erected upon this island is
instructive. It tends to prove that temples were placed in positions
where there were no inhabitants, and thus, to some extent, supports the
theory that certain holy places were set apart for religious purposes,
and were not necessarily attached to centres of population.
During the stay of Grijalva’s fleet, a greyhound, belonging to one of
the ships, strayed on shore and was lost. The following year, upon the
arrival of a second expedition, when the ships anchored, the dog was
seen on the beach watching them. Bernal Diaz relates how the dog knew
his own ship, and fawned upon the crew when they landed, showing the
utmost happiness and affection. How the dog had obtained food and water
through such a long period was not known.
Soon after my arrival I was informed that a small schooner called the
Rosita was about to sail for Campeachy and that her skipper would take
a few passengers. I accordingly made arrangements with him and went on
board. I found that the only accommodation was the open hold under the
main hatch. Here on the top of the cargo, made smooth and level for
the purpose, were placed mats. We embarked two ladies and some Spanish
officials and left La Laguna at daylight. The wind was against us and
we had to make a long tack towards the Yucatan coast, near Champoton.
During the night the wind became more favourable and in the forenoon
we sighted the white walls of Campeachy. The cathedral and mediæval
fortifications looked very picturesque from the sea as we approached
the coast. The Rosita did not draw much water, so we were able to
anchor within half a mile of the landing place. I was glad to find in
the town a tolerable inn called the Paloma, and a worthy, attentive
landlord named Ruiz. The constant exposure and the hardships endured
latterly had seriously affected my constitution, and I felt weak and
ill. It was a comfort to get shelter and quiet, and the shade and rest
which was obtained by having a large room opening upon an inner court.
Here I remained for several days suffering from very severe headaches
and without feeling that I was, in any perceptible degree, regaining my
strength.
On the morning of the fifth day I heard a gentle tap at the door, and
my landlady asked if she could come in. She looked at me with much
sympathy and said, “Señor, may I speak to you?” I replied, “Certainly.”
She then said, “Señor, you have upon you the lagoon fever, from which
strangers seldom recover, and I have come to ask you where you keep
your money and where your friends live, so that I may be able to carry
out your wishes.” I said, “My kind donna, perhaps I may get better if
I change the air. Do you know how I can get away?” The landlady looked
pleased and said that she knew that a certain Señor Escalanta was about
to start for a village called Tzibalché, and that perhaps he would
share with me the expenses of a conveyance. This arrangement was made,
and in the forenoon a covered cart, with three mules harnessed abreast,
was drawn up at the door of the inn. I took my place upon a mattress,
and before midday we were several leagues away breathing the pure and
bracing air of the open country. The change acted like magic. The fever
seemed almost immediately to leave me, but there remained a persistent
headache.
We stopped at a village to get dinner, and met an intelligent man who
was employed as constructor of a new road that was being made on this
part of the coast. It had happened, that in the course of his work, he
had made several cuttings and excavations, and discovered many things
of much antiquarian importance. He told us of a large pyramidal altar
or Kue which was situated in the neighbourhood, and as I particularly
wished to see it, Señor Escalanta consented to halt whilst an
examination of it was made.
We found the altar to be one of that type of structures upon the
summit of which the Mexican priests were accustomed to perform human
sacrifices. This Yucatecan Kue was more than fifty feet high and was
entirely faced with large, squared, well hewn blocks of hard limestone.
It was very steep. I estimated the angle of the slope to be about
70°. There were two ledges, respectively one-third and two-thirds up
the pyramid and on the top was the platform, which was in a ruinous
condition.
There were a number of small stone chambers built on the sides. The
existence of these singular little cells had caused the people in the
adjacent hamlets to form the opinion that the Kue had been inhabited
by dwarfs. We examined these chambers very carefully, and although it
was not possible to come to any satisfactory conclusion with regard to
their purpose, it was clear that they could not have been intended for
habitation. It seemed probable that they were either places for idols
or that they were used as vaults for burial. They were built with much
skill, and the squaring of the masonry was perfect. The inner wall of
these cells was formed by the stone casing of the pyramid. Several
small idols were found here. We were chiefly interested in examining
the method of construction followed by the Indian architects. This was
made apparent by the fact that portions of the outer casing had been
demolished. It appeared that the inner portion was a solid mass of
stones and mortar which, when completed, was covered with thick slabs
of masonry, smooth and well jointed. On the west face there were the
remains of a large chamber, but as that part of the pyramid was in a
ruinous condition, its dimensions could not be measured.
It is strange that so little is known concerning the ancient rites and
ceremonies performed by the priests upon these high altars. Immediately
after the conquest these Indian customs ceased, and all the signs of
their religion and religious usages disappeared like a dream. When
Grijalva’s expedition reached the Bay of Campeachy, they saw a large
Kue which must have been similar to that we were examining. Bernal
Diaz in his history relates that they landed to get a supply of water
for the ships near a spot where there was a village. The natives came
down to the beach in a friendly manner, and asked them if they arrived
from the spot where the sun rose. They then proposed that they should
go with them to their pueblo, and took them to a large building made
of stone and mortar. Whilst the Spaniards were looking about them
and observing the habits of the people, “Ten Indians dressed in long
white cloaks came out of another adoratorio. Their long thick hair was
clotted with blood and so twisted, that it could not have been combed
or spread without cutting it off. These men were sacerdotes of the
idols, and in New Spain they called themselves Pápas. Again I say that
in New Spain they called themselves Pápas, and thus I shall name them
henceforwards. These Pápas brought to us perfumes like a kind of resin
which they call copal, and with earthen braziers filled with fire they
commenced to incense us.” Diaz thought that the stone buildings were
altars, and he saw numerous idols, and “it appeared to us,” he says,
“that at this time they had been sacrificing to the idols certain
Indians to give them the victory over us.”
On their further voyage near another part of the Mexican coast, where
is now situated the town of Vera Cruz, the fleet arrived at the Island
of Sacrificios, a name that was given to that land in consequence of
what was observed to take place there. The island was explored by the
Spaniards, and they discovered two Kues made of lime and stone, and
ascended by steps. “In these altars,” observes Diaz, “were idols of
evil figures which were their gods, and here they had sacrificed on
the previous night five Indians. Their breasts were opened and their
arms and thighs were cut off and the walls were covered with blood.”
It happened that the Chaplain-General of the Fleet wrote an itinerary
of this voyage, and he also visited these temples. He mentioned the
extraordinary fact of having noticed within one of the shrines “some
bordered stuff made of silk, similar to what was worn by the Moors and
which were called by them “Almaizales.”[87] At another temple, situated
near the coast, four Indian priests were seen, who had lately been
performing sacrifices. In this instance they had sacrificed two young
boys. Their breasts had been opened and their hearts had been taken out
and placed before the idol as an offering. The Spaniards were surprised
when they observed that these priests were dressed like Dominicans and
wore long cloaks and capes. This, together with their manner of using
incense, seemed in some inexplicable degree to resemble the observances
of their own monastic fraternities.
In the various accounts that have been given by the conquerors
concerning the Indians, there is nothing mentioned about the burial
customs, and even at the present time the subject is obscure. I was
therefore interested in listening to the contractor’s remarks about
some discoveries made by his workmen when excavating along the line of
road. They found the ruins of several houses. Each of them contained
beneath the centre of the principal room a vaulted tomb, in which it
was supposed that the proprietor had been buried when he died. They
also found, when tracing the direction of the work, several small Kues
of pyramidal shapes, around the sides of which were numerous small
stone cells. The contractor told me that he had measured and surveyed
these carefully. He had come to the conclusion that they were burial
places.
These discoveries were important, and corroborated in every essential
particular the statements of several Indian caciques dwelling beyond
Uxmal, in the sixteenth century. They informed the Spanish missionaries
that it had been customary, with the common people in Yucatan, to
bury their dead either inside their houses or at the back of them.
In certain cases they afterwards abandoned these dwellings and moved
elsewhere. The bodies of caciques and chiefs were burnt, and the ashes
were placed in urns. Small pyramids or temples were sometimes raised
over them.[88]
I was sorry when it became necessary to proceed on our journey. The
road contractor was an official who took a comprehensive interest
in whatever related to the ancient inhabitants, and his practical
knowledge was invaluable.
It was late when we finished the survey of the pyramid and its
chambers; we consequently travelled throughout the night at our best
speed. We passed through the pueblos of Tenabon and Hekelchakan and
reached Señor Escalanta’s house in Tzibalché at daylight. We were
received by the ladies of the establishment with cold and tranquil
apathy. Without saying a word, they turned out of their hammocks, and
proceeded to carry out their respective household duties. It must be
understood that the arrangements with all Ladino families are very
simple. In the tierras calientes or hot regions every one sleeps in a
hammock. The hammocks are slung to the cross poles in the principal,
and often, only apartment. At night when the ladies wish to go to bed
they turn in, to use a sailor’s expression, all standing. The women
of all ages, young or old, wear but one dress which is always a long
cotton garment reaching from the shoulders to the feet. This is worn
day and night. The languid indifference of men and women, towards
each other and to all around them, is a marked characteristic of the
whole of the Ladino race throughout Central America. Nothing seems to
arouse their indolent natures, and although many of them are fairly
educated, they do not appear to have those qualities which form the
foundation of a good and energetic population. It cannot be considered
that the enervating influences of a tropical climate are chiefly the
cause of this inertness, for it exists in varying altitudes. It should,
however, be acknowledged that this half-caste race retains much of the
old-fashioned courtesy of their Spanish ancestors. The Ladinos have
ceased to intermarry with the Indians, and there is now no sympathy
between the two races. The Indians have almost as great a dislike to
them as they have to the Spaniards.
At Tzibalché I enlisted in my service an Indian, named Anastasio, and
after some difficulty, hired a horse of doubtful merit. Anastasio
declared that we could avoid the long round to Uxmal by the main roads,
as he knew a short cut across the country which would shorten the
journey. By that path, he said, the distance to the hacienda at Uxmal
did not exceed nine or ten leagues. Accordingly we quitted the village
at sunrise and soon afterwards entered the bush.
This part of Yucatan was covered with a thin light kind of brushwood
which grew to a height of about twelve feet. Our path was cut through
this bush which excluded all view to the right or left. Occasionally
we passed through a few acres of open land where the Indians were
cultivating some crops, but the soil was poor and stony. At noon we
arrived at a farm; the proprietor was inclined to be hospitable and
gave me food and shelter. I was suffering from a recurrence of what I
had endured at Campeachy and could scarcely bear the fatigue of the
journey, especially as the rays of the nearly vertical sun were very
powerful.
During the afternoon, whilst resting in the shade, I listened to the
loud, discordant, and grating sounds pronounced by the Indians around
me. The language spoken was Maya, which has been ascertained to be the
parent stock of most of the languages and dialects spoken in Guatemala,
Yucatan and the bordering territories. I asked my host to give me a
specimen of their dialect. He replied that he would tell me what had
happened in the morning, and he leant forward and said:—“Ti lé kin
béhilá, kuch yuayé humpel tzul ingles, bin tiar ten. Tumentin, katah
uchi y etel tin káhol ta hatchutz apockzi chalé; katin kámá tin nayle,
katin sah balu hante kati álá téné bin ku bétic Uxmal, tacthoh cásumac
tuh lú mil.” “This day came here an English Señor and spoke to me.
Having questioned him and knowing him to be of a good heart, I received
him in my house and gave him to eat. Then he told me that he was going
to Uxmal, and thence to Merida and afterwards to his own land.”
Towards the end of the day, when the sun was low, I ventured out of
the hut, mounted my horse, and pushed forward rapidly towards Uxmal.
After passing through several plantations of sugar-cane attached to
small Indian farms, we reached some rising ground and I saw, about four
miles distant towards the east, the great building, called the Casa
del Gobernador, with its terraces and adjacent pyramids standing out
high and distinct. The sun had disappeared below the horizon, and the
sky was brilliant with the vivid colouring of a tropical sunset. The
Casa del Gobernador was clear and well defined in the midst of this
magnificent frame of evening splendour, looking scarcely less beautiful
than a Greek temple on some lofty headland, when seen at twilight from
Ægean seas.
It was getting dark when we slowly passed round the base of a Teocalli,
and it was night when we halted at the hacienda. The proprietor and
the agent were both absent, but the mayor-domo received me with much
kindness. He gave me a large room next to one which he told me had
been occupied by the Empress Charlotte when she visited Uxmal in 1866.
The next morning, after giving Anastasio directions to join me at the
Casa del Gobernador and to bring with him my hammock and provisions, I
walked out to the ruins.
[Illustration:
CASA DEL GOBERNADOR. CASA DE LAS TORTUGAS. CASA DE LAS PALOMAS.
UXMAL.]