CHAPTER IX._Guatemala

IN THE OLDEN TIME.

The physical features of Central America are rich and varied; but the

story of the races which have peopled it is tinged with a romance and

clouded with a mystery which accord intimately with the cloud-capped

summits, the impenetrable forests, and the earth-fires. Stories written

in stone, whose authors no man knows, whose meaning none can read,

carry us back beyond history and beyond legend; and until patient study

unravels the enigma, as it must in time, our vision of the aborigines is

illumined only by those legends which beautify and corrupt all history.

We may treat all legendary lore as mythic if we are willing to forget

that a myth is the creation of an advanced thought and civilization which

we do not usually concede to the long-perished races who have preceded

us; or we may simply accept what has been preserved for us, smile at its

simplicity, wonder at its beauty, or puzzle our brains to connect and

classify it with similar matter from other sources and of other times.

In an uncontroversial spirit I would accept the slight glimpses of early

human races which have lived upon this continent, and leave to others the

task, agreeable to their tastes, of weighing, measuring, and analyzing

these stories of a simple people who can no longer speak for themselves.

In most ancient times Votan[31] came to the coast now known as Tabasco,

found savages inhabiting the country, whom by patient labor he civilized,

thus founding the Empire of Xibalbay[32] and the dynasty of the

Votanides. He or his immediate descendants built Nachan or Culhuacan,

whose ruins at Palenque in Yucatan have astonished all travellers and

students since their discovery.[33] Similar ruins, inscribed with the

same hieroglyphic characters, are found at Copan in Honduras, Quirigua,

Tikal, and other places; and the arts of architecture and sculpture show

in these remains a development not attained by any succeeding inhabitants

of this continent until the present century. While Xibalbay was still

extending its empire over portions of Mexico and Central America,

another leader brought with him from the North a people called Nahoas,

who founded a city not far from Palenque, towards the southwest, naming

it Tula (whence this people are often called Tultecas). The chief bore

a symbolic name, as is even now usual with the Indian tribes of North

America, and Quetzalcoatl (serpent with the plumes of the quetzal), or

Gucumatz,—as he is known in the Guatemaltecan legends,—by his superior

ability (called magic by the people), brought his power to such a height

as wholly to overshadow the flourishing Xibalbay, whose conquered

inhabitants were scattered in various directions. Some went northward to

Mexico and founded a monarchy (according to Clavigero, in the seventh

century of our era), which after four hundred years of prosperity was

destroyed by famine; and the survivors, led by their king, Topiltzin

Acxitl, returned to the fruitful lands of Central America, and in

Honduras founded the kingdom of Hueytlat, with the principal city of

Copantl, now known by the wonderful ruins of Copan.

Other immigrations are mentioned by tradition, but no definite account of

their origin is given. It seems probable, however, that certain tribes,

called Mam[34] or Mem, came from the North and destroyed both Tula and

Nachan. Another inroad, led by the four chiefs Balam Agab, Balam Quitze,

Mahucutah, and Iq Balam, advanced as far as Mount Hacavitz in Verapaz,

north of Rabinal; and here these chiefs remained as freebooters and

founded that tribe known as the Quichés. They constantly attacked their

neighbors, and offered the captives taken in these encounters to their

god Tohil, who, with Avilitz and Hacavitz, formed the trinity in the

Quiché cult. Force and stratagem proving of no avail against them, the

surrounding tribes gradually submitted; and when peace was established,

the four captains conveniently disappeared, leaving the government in

the hands of three sons, Iq Balam having no offspring. And now we have

the curious account given by the unknown author of the “Popul Vuh,”

or sacred book of the Quichés, of which two translations exist, one

in Spanish by Ximenes, the other in French by the Abbé Brasseur de

Bourbourg. The annalist tells us that before the departure of the four

chiefs they charged their sons to undertake a journey to the East; and

the new rulers, in obedience to this command, passed the sea easily (Lago

de Izabal?) and came to the city of a great lord called Nacxit,[35]

who instructed them in the art of government and invested them with the

feather umbrellas,[36] throne, and other symbols whose Indian names both

translators fail to interpret.

On their return all their subjects received them with joy; but so

numerous had the people become that Mount Hacavitz could no longer

contain them, and now began the dispersion of the tribes.

One branch went westward and founded Izmachi, a city some distance

westward of Santa Cruz del Quiché. No rude Indios these who built Izmachi

of stone and mortar.

From this centre grew the Quiché power, until it reached from the borders

of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, and eastward to the Lago de Izabal.

Several tribes or feudatory monarchies owed allegiance to the ruler of

Izmachi; and if we may believe the “Popul Vuh,” we must recognize a

feudal system quite as elaborate as that of Europe in the Middle Ages. A

line of monarchs, extending to fourteen, or even twenty-four, exercised

authority; but so obscure are the accounts that the line cannot at

present be followed. Only this seems clear, that there were but three

great families of the Quichés, and these lived in peace for a time in

their new lands, perhaps during the fifth and sixth centuries of our era.

At last the jealousy of the tribe of Ilocab, or the ambitious designs

of the kings Cotuha and Iztayul, kindled the first of a long series of

wars that in local importance rivalled those between Rome and Carthage.

In the security of a long peace the guards of Cotuha were surprised by

well-armed visitors from Ilocab; but so complete was the military system

of the Quichés that immediately the hosts were collected, battled with

the rebels, and after utterly routing them, reduced some to slavery, and

sacrificed others on the bloody altar of Tohil.

The successors of Cotuha and Iztayul were Gucumatz and Cotuha II.,

during whose reigns the capital was removed to the site called Utatlan

or Gumarcah. On this platform, so admirably adapted for fortification,

palaces and altars, as well as fortifications, were built of cut stone.

Watch-towers rose high in air, and answered to those in the surrounding

mountain regions. The Plaza was paved with a smooth white cement superior

to the stucco of Pompeii, and the ruins so distinct forty years ago tell

a plain story of an advanced civilization. It may be of interest to read

what this most remarkable people say of themselves, that we may more

clearly see them before us. Their greatness passed away, as did all the

learning, art, and refinement of Athens and Rome, to be succeeded by

ignorance, slavery, and degradation; and alas! this nation of the New

World has left but few monuments to tell the story of what it once was.

So slight are the glimpses we have of that past, that the picture must

be a shadowy outline at best; but it is worth while to trace even

the outline, for the portrait will apply to the other inhabitants of

Guatemala as well as to the Quichés. The wisdom of the kings was magic

even to the Spanish annalists, and these tell of the “Rey portentoso”

Gucumatz that, like the prophet Mohammed, he ascended into heaven, where

he abode seven days; and that he descended into hell, where he tarried

other seven days. He transformed himself into a serpent, a tigre, an

eagle, and a mass of clotted blood, each change lasting seven days,—that

mystic number of the Cabala and of European black art. “And surely,” says

the Spaniard, “great was the respect he gained by these miracles before

all the lords and all those of his kingdom.”

Nothing puzzles the student more than the duplication and interchange

of names; but let it be remembered that the Quiché names that have come

to us are rather titles, and this is especially the case with Gucumatz,

a word equivalent to the Aztec Quetzalcoatl, which is applied to any

distinguished reformer or leader of his people. Cadmus and George

Washington might both claim the title.

I will translate from the “Popul Vuh,” using generally the Spanish

version of Ximenes, as less influenced by the theories of the translator

than the later one of Brasseur de Bourbourg. I begin with the creation of

the world and of man.

“Then the word came to Tepeu Gucumatz[37] in the shades of night; it

spoke to Gucumatz and said to him: It is time to consult, to consider,

to meet and hold counsel together, to join speech and wisdom to light

the way and for mutual guidance. And the name of this is Huracan, the

Voice which sounds: the Voice of Thunder is the first; the second is the

Flash of Light; the Lightning is the third. These three are the Heart

of Heaven, and they descended to Gucumatz at the moment when he was

considering the work of creation. Know that this water will retire and

give place to land, which shall appear everywhere; there shall be light

in the heaven and on earth: but we have yet made no being who shall

respect and honor us. They spoke, and the land appeared because of them.”

After the mountains and plains and rivers and all animals of the forest

had been created, the gods proceeded to form man. First they made him of

mud; but the rains descended and beat upon that being, and he dissolved.

Not being able to make man according to their desires, they called to

their aid the mysterious powers of Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, magic adepts,

and by incantation learned that man should be made of wood, and woman of

the pith of bulrush. This second edition of the human species was little

better than the first, although more durable. The stiff, wooden images

had neither fat nor blood; they could speak and beget children, but

lacked intelligence. Their eyes were never turned to heaven, and their

tongues never glorified Huracan. Then there fell from heaven a torrent of

bitumen and pitch on these ungrateful children, a bird named Xecotcovuch

tore out their eyes, another, named Camulotz, cut their heads, while an

animal called Cotzbalam ate their flesh, and the Tucumbalam crushed their

bones. The poor wretches climbed their roofs to escape the flood; but

the walls crumbled beneath them, and the trees fled from them, and when

they sought refuge in the caves of the mountains, the stone doors shut in

their faces. Of all the numerous progeny of this wooden couple, only a

few were preserved, and from them have descended the apes of the present

day.

A third attempt was more successful, as maiz was used to form blood and

flesh and fat. Xmucane ground the corn and cunningly concocted nine

beverages, which were changed into the various humors of the body. This

first successful creation was fourfold, and the names of the quartette

were identical with those of the four chiefs who conducted the Quichés

to Mount Hacavitz. While these primitive men slept, their wives were

built,—not, however, by robbing the men, but of the remaining portion of

the same meal.

The celestial powers did not, however, have everything as they wished.

The man was tolerable, but by no means perfect, for his teeth were

defective; and he was built too much like the apes to carry himself erect

with perfect safety, hence he became ruptured. But there was no time to

try again, for they had already a rival in the person of Vucub-caquix,—a

sort of Lucifer who imagined himself to be the sun, moon, and all the

stars. How he was punished, the “Popul Vuh” tells at length; and I am

tempted to translate literally, using the text of Ximenes, that my

readers may judge both of the style of this sacred book, and also of the

mode of thought and the belief among the Quichés at the time when Utatlan

was in all its glory.

“This is, or was, the cause of the destruction of Vucub-caquix by the

two young men. Hunahpu, so was called the one, and the other was called

Xbalanque: these moreover were gods, and therefore that arrogance seemed

evil to them, in that it claimed superiority to the Heart of Heaven; and

they said, the two young men: ‘It will not be right to let this go on,

for men will not live here on earth; and so we will try to shoot him with

the blow-gun (_cerbatana_) when he is eating: we will shoot him and

disable him; and then will be dispersed his riches, his precious stones,

and his emeralds, which are the foundation of his greatness;’ and so

said the youths, each one with his blow-gun on his shoulder. Now, that

Vucub-caquix had two sons: the elder was called Sipacua, and the second

was called Cabracan, and their mother was named Chimalmat. She was the

wife of Vucub-caquix. And that son of his, Sipacua, whose pasture-ground

was great mountains, that one moreover in one night before dawn made

the mountain called Hunahpupecul, Yaxcanulmucamob, Hulisnab, because in

a night Sipacua made a mountain; and his brother Cabracan (this is, of

two feet) used to move and shake the mountains both great and small. And

so moreover these two sons of Vucub-caquix became proud; and thus said

Vucub-caquix: ‘Know ye that I am the sun.’ ‘And I am the maker of the

earth,’ said Sipacua; ‘and I,’ said Cabracan, ‘am he who moves the earth,

I will demolish all the world.’ And thus the sons of Vucub-caquix became

arrogant even as their father was arrogant; and this seemed evil in the

sight of the two youths, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Nevertheless our first

fathers and mothers were not yet created, and thus the two youths plotted

the death of Vucub-caquix, of Sipacua, and of Cabracan.

“And here follows the telling of the blow the two youths gave to

Vucub-caquix, and how each one was destroyed by his arrogance.

“This Vucub-caquix had a tree of _nances_, because that was his only

food; and every day he climbed the tree to eat the fruit. This Hunahpu

and Xbalanque had observed that it was his food; and they lay in ambush,

the two youths, under the tree hidden among the leaves of the grass.

And then came Vucub-caquix; and while he was yet climbing the tree,

Hunahpu fired a shot which was well aimed, and hit him in the jaw; then,

groaning, he fell to the ground. And as soon as Hunahpu saw Vucub-caquix

fall, he sprang with the greatest promptitude to catch him. Then

Vucub-caquix seized Hunahpu’s arm and tore it off at the shoulder; and

then Hunahpu let Vucub-caquix go; and so the youths had the best of it,

for they were not beaten by Vucub-caquix, who ran home carrying Hunahpu’s

arm, but holding his broken jaws.

“‘What has happened to you?’ said Chimalmat to her husband Vucub-caquix.

“‘What has happened? But two devils shot me with a blow-gun and unhinged

my jaw; they knocked out all my teeth,—and how they ache! But I have here

the arm of one of them. Put it in the smoke over the fire against they

come for it, the two devils!’ said Vucub-caquix. And then she hung up the

arm of Hunahpu.

“But in the mean while Hunahpu and Xbalanque were consulting as to

what was to be done; and having taken counsel, they went to speak to

an ancient man whose hair was white, and an old woman who in truth was

very old; and so great was the age of the couple that they walked bent

double. The old man was called Saquinimac, and the old woman was called

Saquinimatzitz. And the two youths said to the old man and the old woman,—

“‘Come with us to get our arm at the house of Vucub-caquix. We will go

behind you, as if we were your grandchildren whose father and mother

were dead; and if they question you, say that we are in your company,

and that you are travelling about extracting the maggot that eats the

grinders and other teeth; and so Vucub-caquix will look upon us as mere

lads, and we will advise you what to do further.’ Thus spoke the two

youths.

“‘It is well,’ said the elders; and then they came to the corner of

Vucub-caquix’s house, where he was reclining on his throne. And then they

went on, the two elders, and the two boys playing behind them, and they

went under the house of Vucub-caquix, who was groaning with the pain of

his teeth. When he saw them, the elders and the boys, he asked,—

“‘Whence come you, grandparents?’

“‘We, lord, are going to seek our remedy.’

“‘How are you seeking your remedy? Are these your sons who are with you?’

“‘No, lord, they are our grandchildren; but we have had compassion on

them so far as to give them a bit of tortilla,’ the elders replied.

“Just then the lord had a very sharp twinge of toothache, so that he

could hardly speak; and he begged them to have pity on him.

“‘What is it that you do; what do you cure?’ said the lord.

“‘Sir, our cure,’ said the elders, ‘is to extract the maggot from the

teeth; and we cure eye-troubles, and likewise broken bones.’

“‘Well, if this is true, cure my toothache; for I am without rest, and

cannot sleep, and my eyes trouble me also, since the two devils shot me,

and so I cannot eat. Now have compassion on me, for all my teeth are

rattling about!’

“‘Surely, sir, it is a maggot which injures you; we will pull out your

teeth and put others in their place.’

“‘Oh! perhaps that won’t succeed; but I can’t eat without my teeth and

eyes.’

“And they replied,—

“‘We will put others in their place; we will put in ground bone.’

“But this ground bone was only white corn.

“‘It is well,’ said the lord; ‘pull them out and put them in order.’

“And then they took out the teeth of Vucub-caquix; and it was only white

corn that they put in the place of teeth, and the kernels of corn shone

in his mouth. And his countenance fell, and he never more appeared a

lord; but they took out all his teeth, and left his mouth smarting. And

when they cured the eyes of Vucub-caquix, they tore out the pupils. Then

they took away all his money, and he did not know it; for he was no

longer great nor arrogant. And this was done by the counsel of Hunahpu

and Xbalanque.

“And Vucub-caquix died, and then Hunahpu took his arm; and also Chimalmat

died, the wife of Vucub-caquix; and so was lost all the treasure of

Vucub-caquix. Then the doctor took all the precious stones which had

puffed him up with pride here on earth. The old man and old woman who did

these things were divine; and when they took his arm, they put it in its

place, and it reunited and was well. And they did these things only to

cause the death of Vucub-caquix because his pride seemed an evil thing to

them. So did the two youths, and it was thus done by the command of the

Heart of Heaven.”

Then follows an account of the pride and evil-doing of Sipacua, and how

he destroyed the “_cuatrocientos muchachos_” (four hundred young men);

and the Chronicle continues:—

“Then follows how Sipacua was conquered and killed; how another time he

was overcome by the youths Hunahpu and Xbalanque: to them he appeared

contemptible because he had killed the four hundred youths. And Sipacua

was alone fishing and hunting crabs on the river banks; this was his

every-day diet. Days he spent seeking his food, while at night he moved

mountains. Then Hunahpu and Xbalanque made an image of a crab. They made

the large claws of the crab of a leaf which grows on the trees and is

called _ec_, and the little ones of other smaller leaves called _pahac_;

and the shell and claws they made of flat stones. And they made it and

placed it in a cave under a hill called Meaban, where he was conquered.

Then they went along and met Sipacua by the rivulet, and asked him where

he was going. And Sipacua replied,—

“‘I am not going anywhere; I am only looking for something to eat.’

“And they asked him, ‘What is your food?’

“‘Only fishes and crabs, and I have found none; and since the day before

yesterday I have not eaten, and now I cannot bear my hunger.’

“Then said they: ‘There is a crab below in the gulch; in truth it is very

large: would you might eat that! We wanted to catch it, but it bit us,

and we were in terror of it, or else we would have caught it.’

“‘Have pity on me and take me where it is,’ said Sipacua.

“‘We do not wish to,’ said they; ‘but go, you cannot lose your way. Go up

stream, turn to the right, and you will be in front of it under a great

hill; it is making a noise and making _hovol_: you will go straight to

it,’ said Hunahpu and Xbalanque.

“‘O miserable me! if perchance you had not found it,’ said Sipacua. ‘I

will go and show you where there are plenty of birds; you will shoot them

with the blow-gun. I alone know where they are, and in return for them I

will go under the rock.’

“‘And shall you truly be able to catch it? Do not make us return for no

purpose; because we tried to catch it, and could not, because we crawled

in on our bellies and it bit us; and so by a trifle we could not catch

it. So it will be well for you to go in pursuit tail-end first.’

“‘It is well,’ said Sipacua.

“And then they went with him to the gulch, and the crab was lying on his

side, and his shell was very bright-colored; and here under the valley

was the secret of the youths. ‘Hurrah!’ said Sipacua, joyfully; and he

wished to eat it, for he was dying with hunger. And he tried to enter

lying down; but the crab rose up, and he at once retreated. And the

youths said to him,—

“‘Didn’t you catch it?’

“‘I didn’t catch it, I just missed it; but as it has gone up high, it

will be well for me to enter head first.’

“And immediately he crawled in head first; and when he had got in all

but his knees, the mountain toppled down and fell quietly down upon his

breast, and he returned no more. And Sipacua became stone. And thus was

Sipacua conquered by the youths Hunahpu and Xbalanque; and they tell that

in ancient times it was he who made the mountains, this elder son of

Vucub-caquix. Under the mountain which is called Meaban he was overcome,

and only by a miracle was he conquered; and now will we tell of the other

who was puffed up with pride.

“The third fellow who was arrogant, the second son of Vucub-caquix, who

was called Cabracan, used to say, ‘I am the one who destroys mountains.’

“And so it came to pass that Hunahpu and Xbalanque declared that

they would put an end to Cabracan. Then Huracan, Chipa-caculha, and

Raxa-caculha spoke unto Hunahpu and Xbalanque, saying that the second son

of Vucub-caquix must be destroyed also.

“‘This have I commanded, because he does evil upon the earth; because he

makes himself very great; and this ought not so to be. Arise now, and

seek him towards the sunrise.’ So spoke Huracan to the two youths.

“‘It is well,’ they replied, ‘and it seems good to us to risk. There is

no danger. Is not your greatness, O Heart of Heaven, above all?’ Thus

spoke the two youths in reply to Huracan, and at the very time Cabracan

was shaking the mountains. Hardly had he shaken them a little, kicking

with his feet on the ground (then he was breaking the mountains great and

small), when the two youths met him and asked,—

“‘Where are you going, boy?’

“‘I am not going anywhere,’ he replied; ‘I am only here shaking the

mountains, and I shall always be shaking them.’

“Then said Cabracan to Hunahpu and Xbalanque, ‘What do you come here for?

I don’t recognize you, nor do I know what you are here for. What are your

names?’

“‘We have no name,’ replied they; ‘we are only hunters with the blow-gun,

and we catch birds with bird-lime. We are poor and have nothing, and we

are tramping over the mountains great and small. Here in the East we see

a great mountain, and its sweet odor is very pleasant. And it is so lofty

that it overtops all the other mountains. So we have not been able, it

is so high, to catch a single bird. So if it be true that you overturn

mountains,’ said Hunahpu and Xbalanque, ‘then you will aid us.’

“‘It certainly is true,’ said Cabracan. ‘Have you seen this mountain of

which you speak? Where is it? I will look at it, and I will topple it

down. Where did you see it?’

“‘There,’ said they, ‘it is, where the sun rises.’

“‘Very well,’ said Cabracan, ‘let us go; and it will be strange if we

don’t get some birds between us. One will go on the right hand, the other

on the left. We will take our blow-guns, and if there is a bird we’ll

shoot him.’

“So they went on happily, shooting birds (and it should be said that when

they shot, it was not with balls of clay, but only with a puff of breath

did they knock down the birds), and Cabracan went on astonished. Then

the youths made a fire and set about cooking the birds in the fire; and

one bird they anointed with _tizate_, white earth they put on it. ‘This

we will give him,’ said they, ‘when desire is strong upon him, smelling

its savor. This our bird shall conquer him, for in conquering him he must

fall to the ground; and in the ground must he be buried (wise is the

Creator!) before human beings are brought to light.’ So spoke the two

youths, and to themselves they said it. Great desire had Cabracan in his

heart to eat of it. Then they turned the bird on the fire and seasoned

it. Now it was brown, and the fat of the birds ran out, and the savor

was delectable; so Cabracan was most eager to eat them, and his mouth

watered, and the saliva dropped from it, because of the delicious smell

the birds gave out. And then he asked them,—

“‘What is this your food? Truly it is an appetizing odor I smell; give me

a bit.’

“He spoke, and then was given a bird to Cabracan for his destruction;

and he quickly finished the bird. And then they went on, and came to the

birthplace of the sun, where was that great mountain. But Cabracan was

now sickened, and he had no strength in his hands and feet, because of

that earth which they had put on the bird he ate; and now he could no

longer do anything to the mountains, nor could he overturn them. So the

youths tied his hands behind him, and likewise tied his feet together,

and threw him on the ground and buried him. So was Cabracan conquered by

Hunahpu and Xbalanque alone. It is not possible to tell the feats these

youths did here on earth.”

The author of the “Popul Vuh,” however, goes on to tell of some of the

wonders they did in Xibalbay,—which Ximenes considers hell,—and my

readers would find the story very amusing; but I have translated perhaps

enough to show the ideas of the Quichés ten centuries ago.

The Quiché kings had removed their capital from Izmachi to

Gumarcah,—afterwards called Utatlan,—not far from the modern Spanish town

of Santa Cruz del Quiché; and it was the poor remains of this city,

destroyed three centuries and a half ago, that I visited in journeying

through Guatemala. The situation was a fine one, well suited for the

metropolis of an extensive kingdom; for while roads and mountain-passes

gave access in all directions, the very mountains formed a wall easily

guarded, and watch-towers to discover approaching danger. It was situated

not unlike Granada on the Vega in the Sierras of Andalusia; and like

that noble capital of the Moorish kingdom, it was well fortified, and

embellished with all the knowledge and taste of the time.

[Illustration: Ancient Temple. (_From an old Manuscript._)]

On the platform where Frank and I had stumbled over the confused piles

of rubbish and tried in vain to trace the buildings, so distinct only

forty years before, the mighty Gucumatz had built high the altar of

the bloodthirsty Tohil,—a steep pyramid in the centre of the rebuilt

Gumarcah, now called Utatlan. Our knowledge of the ceremonial of that

Quiché worship is but slight; but enough is known to give an air of

reality to the pile of rubbish that alone marks the site of the holy

place of this ancient kingdom. I sat near the base of the altar, and the

city walls arose about me; the ruin of three centuries departed, and

again all was new and full of busy life. Around me, but at a suitable

distance from the altar-temple, were the palaces of the princes, built

of cut stone and covered with the most brilliant white stucco. From the

flat roofs of these massive dwellings floated banners of many colors and

strange devices; arches of evergreens and flowers spanned every entrance

to this Plaza, whose floor was of the smoothest, whitest stucco, and

heaps of fragrant flowers were piled at the palace-doorways and about

the great altar that towered like a mountain of light in the midst. All

around me were the phantom forms of the Indios, clad in garments of

rich colors, but silent and expectant; I seemed to know them all and

understand their tongue. It was the most sacred festival of the year; the

rains had ceased, and the summer was beginning,—and a summer at Utatlan

was a delight unequalled in the outer world.

[Illustration: Indio Sacrificing.]

For many months the high priest and king had hidden himself from the

sight of man, high in the mountains that overlook the Quiché plain. In

his _casa verde_ he was engaged in prayer and meditation, while his only

food was fruit and uncooked maiz. His body was unclothed, but stained

with dismal dyes; and twice every day, as the sun rose and set, he cut

himself with an obsidian knife on his arms, legs, tongue, and genitals,

that he might offer his choicest blood to the divinity he worshipped.

Once only in his life must he do this; and scattered in the remote

mountain-hermitages were many nobles keeping him company in the spirit.

These were the fathers of the young men who had not yet offered their

blood, and had been selected to be the god-children of their king and

priest. In these lonely retreats the fathers taught their sons manly

duties, and drew their blood from the five wounds.[38]

The votaries had gathered from their various cells at the sound of the

drum, which was beaten only on most solemn occasions, and were marching

in procession to the Plaza. I could see them as they filed on to the

narrow causeway that led into the town, and then they were lost to

sight as they climbed the steep ascent. In profound silence these men

and youths, naked as they were born, entered the enclosure and seated

themselves at the foot of the altar-steps. The solemn silence was now

suddenly broken by a crash of trumpets and drums, while a procession of

a different kind took up its march to the temple. Bright colors and the

gleam of gold and precious stones, the clang of barbaric music and the

sound of holy songs, reached the eye and ear as the idols, which had

been carefully concealed since the last fiesta, were now brought to the

place of sacrifice. Strange things these were,—not of “heaven above,

nor the earth beneath, nor of the waters which are under the earth,”

but carved from wood and stone and decked with beaten gold, hung with

jewels, and borne triumphantly on the shoulders of the noblest citizens.

Then all was joy and bustle in the Plaza. The hermits were clothed with

new robes and welcomed back with honor, the high priest put on his robes

and mitre, and for a while the people gave themselves up to music and

dancing and ball-playing; it seemed as if life had no other end. But a

terrible solemnity was to come. Even among the dancers I saw men clothed

in a peculiar but rich garb,—generally of another people, but not always

foreign; and I knew that these men had for days before the festival gone

freely through the town, entered any house, even the royal palace, where

the food they sought was freely given them, and they were treated with

marked respect. Outside the city-walls were some of them, with collars

about their necks, attended by four officers of the king’s guard. Food,

drink, and even the women were free to these honored men; but they were

captives taken in war, or perhaps men who were obnoxious to the king,

and were to be sacrificed to Tohil. A terrible death awaited them; but

they regarded their fate as a matter they could not help, and with Indian

stolidity enjoyed the frolics of the people and smiled at care. It was

strange to see how little any one seemed to be affected by the certainly

approaching death of their fellows. Every one knew what was coming; but

no dread anticipation marred the festive scene.

The music ceased in the Plaza, the chief idol was placed on the

altar-top, and the priests and nobles seized the victims by the hair

and passed them, struggling, one by one up the steep steps of the altar

to the chief priest, who stood high on the sacrificatorio in the sight

of all the people. There was no murmur, not even a shudder, among the

multitude, only the involuntary shrieks of the sacrifice as the priest

cut into his breast with the stone knife and tore out his quivering

heart. Holding this in the golden spoon of the temple, he placed it

reverently in the mouth of the idol, loudly chanting this prayer:

“Lord, hear us, for we are thine! Give us health, give us children and

prosperity, that thy people may increase! Give us water and the rains,

that we may be nourished and live! Hear our supplications, receive our

prayers, assist us against our enemies, and grant us peace and quiet!”

And the people cried, “So be it, O Lord!”

The body had been extended on a rounded sacrificial stone and the neck

held securely by the yoke; but now it was hurled down the side of the

pyramid where there were no steps, and those appointed carried the

remains to the caldron whither those who had the right came for the

cooked meat, the hands and feet being reserved for the officiating

priest.[39] One by one the victims were offered to the idol, while the

pyramid was no longer white, but crimson; and their death-shrieks were

ringing in my ear, when Frank laid his hand on my shoulder and asked if

I was asleep. Called back to deserted ruins and the humdrum present, I

could not entirely shake off the impression of the past. On that little

mound where we were sitting so peacefully, hundreds, yes, thousands,

of our fellow-men had writhed in agony to satisfy the enmity of their

fellows or to be an acceptable offering to the gods who were supposed

to be their creators.[40] Truly there are few nations whose religious

history is pleasant reading; let us turn to other matters.

The more artificial _civilization_ becomes, the weaker is the desire

for offspring; and we must relegate the Quichés, by this rule, to a

very primitive state, for the burden of their prayers was “Give unto us

children,” and their faith was incarnate in works. They believed, with

the psalmist, that “children are an heritage of the Lord; happy is the

man that hath his quiver full of them.” Hence the birth of a child was

a most auspicious event, to be celebrated with feasts and rejoicings,

and each returning birthday was duly remembered. With the truest mercy,

they put an end to all children born deformed or defective in mind or

body; hence deformed or idiotic persons are exceedingly rare among their

descendants.

[Illustration: Ideographs.]

[Illustration: Ancient Incense-burner.]

The Quichés possessed the art of writing, though in logographs or

ideographs, and they were skilled in the use of colors.[41] I present

some of the more common forms, traced from the copies in Kingsborough’s

“Antiquities.” The first, two interlocked elbows, signifies the fourth

day of the month; one of the elbows was colored red in the manuscript,

while the other was green, both having an inner border of yellow. The

simple hinge was of blue and red, with a yellow articulation; the hinge

enclosing a dagger was yellow and green with red inner borders, and the

dagger was red, yellow, and blue. The character denoting or representing

a temple is readily recognized, and its usual colors are red and yellow;

but it must not be supposed that these colors were always the same,

they evidently depended on the taste of the scribe. A rude figure of a

censer with a long handle through which the priest could blow upon the

burning gum copal used as incense, always denoted a sacrifice. This art

of pictorial representation could not strictly be called writing, but

was a very useful substitute for it, and it was continued long after the

Conquest. I have thought, after looking at some of the caricatures of the

priests of the new worship which was forced upon these Indios, of the

rite of baptism, and of the sacrifice of the Mass, that perhaps these

unfortunate subjects had as much influence in the wanton destruction of

aboriginal literature as had the alleged doctrine of devilish things with

which the books were said to be imbued. The old Spanish priests ought

to have felt little fear of a creature they knew so well as they knew

Satan. The shaven crowns of the padres were easily represented even by

less skilled draughtsmen than the Quichés, and the new doctrines gave the

irreverent splendid chances for effective caricatures.

In textile work they were advanced, obtaining results with their rude

hand-looms that even to-day would hold their own against the machine-made

fabrics of the present day for durability and aptness of design, even

as the barbaric cashmere shawl cannot be equalled by the skilled

artisans of France. To-day the weavers of this region produce cloths

of very attractive design and made of honest material, while their

shawls or blankets are often works of art. I once watched an Indian

woman weaving a girdle on a narrow loom not more than six inches wide;

and without pattern before her she traced figures resembling those in

the old manuscripts, though mingled with very modern-looking pictures.

The country abounds in dye-stuffs, so it is not surprising that their

color-sense has been well developed by use. For fibres they were limited

to cotton and wool in the looms, reserving the pita and other coarser

fibres for hammocks and _redes_.

Pottery of good shape and well baked is found among the ruins of Utatlan,

and Stephens saw a figure of terra-cotta that must have required no

little skill to model and bake. All the potsherds a diligent though

not extended search gave us were of dark red color, hard baked, and

evidently portions of spherical vessels. Not a sign of roof-tiles was

seen, nor any painted fragments, although figured work was common enough.

The Quiché rivers abounded in fish, and the forests and mountains in

game, while the fields produced abundant crops with little labor. No

wonder the Spanish conquerors found a civilization that astonished them,

a wealth which roused all their terrible cupidity, but a resistance more

determined and bloody than they had found in Mexico.

It may not interest my readers to go deeply into the forms of government

in those ancient times, but it may be said that it was an aristocratic

monarchy hereditary in this peculiar way. When the principal king

(Ahau-Ahpop) of the dual reign (there were always two kings at a time)

died, the crown he had worn passed to his oldest brother, who performed

the functions of Ahpop-Camhá, and as second king had share in the

government. The oldest son of the Ahau-Ahpop, who during the life of his

father had been Nim-Chocoh-Cawek, became Ahpop-Camhá, and his cousin (son

of the king’s brother), who had been Ahau-Ah-Tohil or high priest of this

god, Nim-Chocoh-Cawek, the elder son of the new sovereign taking the

vacant post.

In this wise method of civil service regencies were never needed, and

each king had fitted himself, by exercise of subordinate but important

offices, for the supreme rule. If any one of these dignitaries proved

his unfitness for advancement, he was passed over, and the next in

rank chosen; and thus through a long series of offices. The corrupting

influences of so-called popular elections, which are usually manipulated

by a few conscienceless politicians who use the “dear people” simply

as cat’s-paws, are certainly avoided; but was it not possible to hasten

the succession, or to have a sort of “commission of lunacy” condemn an

unpopular candidate, and so advance another unrighteously? The insignia

of the four chief dignitaries were feather canopies, of which the king

had four, and the others in descending series. A council of the chief

families advised the monarch in his government.

The judges, who were also tax-gatherers, were appointed from the noble

families, and held office during good behavior; death was the penalty

for impeding these magistrates in their office. Capital punishment was

rendered more bitter by the confiscation of the victim’s possessions and

the enslavement of his immediate relatives. Breaches of trust ranked

first among crimes, and homicide, adultery, confirmed robbery, larceny

of sacred things, witchcraft, rape, were all capital crimes; and the

strangers who hunted or fished in the forests or rivers of the country,

as well as the slaves who ran away the second time, were punished with

death.

There were laws against polygamy, and only the first wife was legitimate;

but, as among the most civilized nations of modern times, there were many

concubines. In Guatemala perhaps this practice was more open and honest

than in modern states and times. Only the children of the lawful wife

could inherit, and the man who died without lawful issue was buried with

his wealth, consisting generally of cotton cloths, ornaments, feathers,

and cacao, which served as money. The laws of all the Central American

tribes were severe, and differed somewhat from those of the Quichés.

But it has not seemed desirable to discuss these here; we will rather

consider some of the customs common to most of the inhabitants of the

kingdom of Guatemala, and so pass beyond the walls of Utatlan, to which,

however, we shall presently return.

Agriculture among the Central American nations was mostly confined to the

planting of maiz and beans (_frijoles_), which were staple products and

served as a currency in gross, while cacao, which was said to have been

first planted by Hunahpu, eighth king of Quiché, served for small change.

They cultivated cotton, which furnished their clothing, and tobacco,

which they smoked with moderation. Chocolate was not a common drink, but

reserved for the nobles and soldiers who had distinguished themselves in

battle. The cacao was planted with great ceremony. Seeds of the largest

pods were selected and carefully fumigated with copal and other gums; and

these seeds were then left in the open air four nights during the time of

the full moon, and meanwhile the planters attended assiduously to their

marital duties. Onions, plantains, potatoes, yams, chickpease, squashes

of various kinds, supplied their table, and many native fruits added

to their comfort. The Indios then, as now, were very fond of flowers;

but whether they generally cultivated them, or found enough growing

spontaneously, we do not know. Certainly there were royal gardens at

Utatlan.

In manufactures, weaving was of first importance, and the threads were

dyed with indigo, cochineal, or purple. Embroidery was also much used.

Then from fibrous plants they plaited hammocks and nets, from reeds

(_junco_) they wove hats of great durability, and from withes, baskets

and sacks. The potter’s work was also of great importance, and the

vases, bowls, and jars, often of great size, were colored with certain

waters and mineral deposits. I do not know that they had any glaze, other

than perhaps salt.

They had no iron, but they made tools from an alloy of copper and tin to

which they gave an extraordinary hardness, and they also used obsidian

for knives and cutting instruments generally. Remains of knife-factories

are common enough through the country, and often, too where the raw

material is not _in situ_. Gold was found in the streams, and the

goldsmiths attained no little skill in making ornaments, which were often

enriched with precious stones, especially opals from Honduras. Curious

feather work was brought from Tesulutan in Verapaz.

They made paper from a bark called _amatl_, and also used parchment.

Maps were plotted, and the scribes had books in which were entered all

the divisions of the land; and to these, as to a registry of deeds, were

referred all disputes about real estate. Chroniclers there were who

compiled great books, many of which Las Casas saw; and these, he tells

us, were burned by the early missionaries, who have thus earned the

curses of succeeding generations. Superhuman must have been their good

deeds to counterbalance this destruction!

The Quichés, Cakchiquels, and nearly all the other tribes divided the

year into eighteen months of twenty days, adding five days (consecrated

to Votan) to complete the cycle, and every fourth year still another day.

There were twenty day-names, of which we have three slightly differing

lists; but the month was not subdivided into weeks.

[Illustration: Stone Ring for Ball Game.]

We know but little of the games and amusements of the Indios in ancient

times; but Torquemada has described[42] for us one national game,

which seems to have required more skill and agility than the game of

court-tennis (I do not speak of the effeminate lawn-tennis). The court

consisted of two parallel walls very thick, and about one hundred feet

apart. These walls were thirty feet high, and in each, at a height of

from twenty to twenty-four feet, was a stone ring usually sculptured

in some careful manner. At the open ends of the court were two little

temples. A ball of rubber, large and very hard, was used by the players,

who received the coming ball, not on a bat or racket, but on the padded

buttock, from which the player endeavored to throw it through the ring,

but without touching it with his hands. As the hole was only about

eighteen inches in diameter, this was a most difficult feat, requiring

great flexibility of the pelvic and thigh muscles. The victor was allowed

to take the clothes of any of the spectators; so it may be supposed these

went to the game in scant garb. Remains of these ball-grounds are found

in many cities, and the stone ring of the illustration is at Chichen

Itza; it is four feet in diameter, and decorated with the symbols of

Quetzalcoatl.

A nation of warriors, it would be supposed their arts would provide arms

both offensive and defensive; but there seems to have been nothing of

peculiar originality. Arrows and darts, often poisoned, hatchets and

wooden swords, in which were inserted obsidian teeth, were their weapons

of offence, and those of defence were coats of quilted cotton, which the

Spaniards were not slow to adopt, and shields of skins lined with cotton.

While the generals and other officers were clothed in skins of pumas,

jaguars, eagles, and other animals, it does not appear that the rank

and file had any especial uniform.[43] All joined battle with yells and

the lugubrious blasts of the _tun_ or _teponaztles_,—a sort of trumpet

sounding even worse than an Alpine _lure_.

Let us return to Utatlan, and follow for a while the fortunes of the

Quichés. Under brave kings their bounds had extended, and towns, tribes,

and nations were compelled to acknowledge the kings of Utatlan as their

lieges. In all this external prosperity, internal dissensions arose; and

the _plebs_, incited by demagogues, demanded privileges which the king,

Quicab, was compelled to grant after the palaces of the nobles had been

sacked by the mob. Another more serious trouble arose from this mob-rule.

It was the custom for the rulers of the conquered tribes to reside at

court at least a part of the year; and the two kings of the Cakchiquels,

Huntoh and Vucubatz, were visiting Quicab, when a street-riot, of no

importance in itself, turned the mob against the Cakchiquels, and they

loudly called upon Quicab to surrender the Cakchiquel kings to their

fury. The wise old king warned these of their danger, and advised them

to retire to Iximché, or Tecpan Quauhtemalan. They did so, and this

city became their capital. Now the fortunes of the Cakchiquels wax,

while those of the Quichés wane. The new capital is fortified, and its

inhabitants prepare for the strife evidently impending.

The first attack is made by the Quichés, who are beaten, and for a few

years remain quiet. Their king Quicab dies, and Tepepul II., the ninth

king, reigns with Iztayul III. The kings of the Cakchiquels were now

Oxlahuhtzi and Cablahu-Tihax, under whose reign a famine, caused by

unusual cold, troubles the capital. The Quichés saw a chance again to

subdue their rebellious vassals, and an army was gathered, which with

great pomp set out from Utatlan, carrying the god Tohil with it. A

deserter from the Quiché army warned the kings of Iximché of their peril,

and they bravely prepared for the contest. In the Cakchiquel Chronicle we

have this description of the battle:—

“As soon as the dawn began to brighten the mountain-tops the war-cries

were heard, standards were unfurled, drums and conchs resounded, and in

the midst of this clamor the rapidly moving files of the Quichés were

seen descending the mountains in every direction.

“Arrived at the banks of the stream that runs by the suburbs of the city,

they occupied some houses and formed in battle under the command of the

kings Tepepul and Iztayul.

“The encounter was awful and fear-inspiring. The war-cries and the

clangor of the martial instruments stupefied the combatants, and

the heroes of both armies _made use of all their enchantments_.

Notwithstanding, after a little the Quichés were broken, and confusion

entered their ranks. The most of their army fled without fighting, and

the losses were so great that they could not be calculated. Among the

captives were the kings Tepepul and Iztayul, who surrendered, together

with their god Tohil, the Galel-achi and the Ahpop-achi, grandfather and

son of the keeper of the royal jewels, the die-cutter, the treasurer, the

secretary, and plebeians without number; and all were put to the sword.

Our old men tell us, my children, that it was impossible to count the

Quichés who perished that day at the hands of the Cakchiquels. Such were

the heroic deeds with which the kings Oxlahuhtzi and Cablahu-Tihax, also

Roimox and Rokelbatzin, made the mountain of Iximché forever famous.”

After this defeat the Quiché kings appear in history only as names,—of

which seven, including two appointed by the Conquistadores, complete the

list. Dull as was their decline, their ending was brilliant; and none of

the people of Central America made such a brave struggle for independence

as this grand old tribe.

Other nations occupied portions of Guatemala; and before we follow the

course of the Cakchiquels we may consider some of these. In Soconusco

were several bands of Tultecs who had left the Aztec plateau, and in

course of time were attacked by Olmecs and reduced to the most abject

slavery. At last this became unbearable, and by the advice of their

priests they decided to emigrate; and under sacerdotal guidance they

journeyed twenty days along the Pacific coast, until they came to the

Rio Michatoya, where the priest who had led them sickened and died.

The delay and uncertainty this event caused resulted in the foundation

of Itzcuintlan (Escuintla) by some who were weary of the journey. The

greater part went on twenty leagues farther; and here came another

halt, half remaining there at Cuscatlan (San Salvador) and Xilopanco

(Ilopango), while the others went on to the Gulf of Conchagua, on the

bounds of Honduras and Nicaragua. These people were called Cholutecas, or

Exiles, and their descendants Pipiles.

The Cakchiquels soon got into trouble with a branch of their own

people,—the Akahales, who occupied the country between the Volcan

de Pacaya and the Lago de Izabal. The king of the Akahales was

Ychal-amoyac,—a brave and wealthy man, whose capital, Holum, rivalled

Tecpan Quauhtemalan. His wealth was coveted by the victorious

Cakchiquels, and he was summoned to their court. Warned of the impending

fate, he obeyed the summons, accompanied only by five of his friends. As

they entered the audience chamber, in the very presence of the two kings

the unfortunate Akahales were assassinated. Their riches were seized, and

their towns quietly incorporated into the Cakchiquel kingdom.

Although the Akahales seem to have submitted without fighting, some of

the neighboring tribes saw with concern this lawless act of the powerful

kings of Tecpan, and felt that their turn might come next. Wookaok, king

of the Atziquinihayi, whose country bordered on the Lago de Atitlan,

and Belehe-Gih, a mountain cacique on the borders of Quiché, became

leaders; and the former intrenched himself in a strong fortress which the

Cakchiquels besieged for fifteen days, and on its fall they put to the

sword the entire garrison.

Now the Cakchiquels were by far the most important of the ruling tribes

of Central America, and it was near the close of the fifteenth century.

The white men had already landed on the coast of America, and the history

of the tribes was hastening to a close. Insurrections here, treasons and

plots there, make the substance of what there is to tell. The attempt of

Cay-Hunahpù to incite rebellion shook the kingdom, but failed in the end.

Revolutions gradually loosed the feudal chains that bound the subject

tribes, and several of them proclaimed their independence. Chief among

these were the Sacatepequez, who chose a king from their own tribe with

the title Achi-Calel, and the capital of their kingdom was Yampuk; only

three kings reigned, until the Conquest. The Pokomans from Cuscatlan came

to Sacatepequez seeking land, and they were well provided with lands and

settlements by the Sacatepequez, that they might not ally themselves with

the hated Cakchiquels.

In 1510 the king of the Cakchiquels, Oxlahuhtzi, died, and the next

year his colleague, Cablahu-Tihax, died also; and Hunig and Lahuh Noh

succeeded their fathers. Their reign was remarkable for an embassy sent

by Montezuma to the kings of Central America. What the object of the

Mexicans may have been, the Chronicles do not explain. Fuentes supposes

that not Montezuma, but the eighth Mexican king Ahuitzotl was the one who

tried to communicate with his southern neighbors. Certainly this king

carried his arms as far as Nicaragua along the shores of the Pacific

Ocean; but there is no proof that he ever penetrated the interior of

Guatemala. Whatever the ambassadors wanted, whether conquest or an

alliance against the coming invaders, they met with poor success. At

Utatlan the Quiché king refused to listen to them, on the excuse that he

could not understand what they said. They went thence to Tecpan, where

they found a better reception; but we do not hear that they made any

treaty. When they came to the chiefs of Atitlan they were driven away by

arrow-shots; and they retreated to Utatlan, when the king warned them

to leave his capital that very day, and the country within twenty suns.

This is the only record we have of any communication between Mexico and

Guatemala before the famous march of Cortez.

In Utatlan Vahxaki-Caam and Quicab were kings when a Cakchiquel wizard,

who some say was the king’s son, came by night to the palaces of Utatlan

and yelled and shouted so that the poor kings could not sleep; and as

bootjacks were not yet invented, they had to listen to this ancient

tomcat, who, when they put their heads out of the window, called them

_mama-caixon_ and other dreadfully opprobrious epithets. Next day the

king called together all his wizards and offered large rewards for the

capture of the nocturnal enemy. A Quiché wizard undertook the task, and

chased the foreigner a long time, both jumping from mountain to mountain.

At last he captured the Cakchiquel and brought him before the royalty

he had insulted. When asked if he had made the horrid noises at night,

he replied that he had. “Then,” said the king, “you shall see what a

festival we will make with you.” Then the nobles began a war-dance to

celebrate the capture of that wizard, and transforming themselves into

eagles, lions, and tigers, they danced around and clawed the poor

Indio. All things being ready for his execution, he turned to the king

and all the others, crying, “Wait a bit, until you hear what I wish to

say to you. Know that the time is at hand when you will despair at the

calamities which are to come upon you, and that _mama-caixon_ must die;

and know that some men clothed—not naked like you—from head to foot,

and armed, men terrible and cruel, sons of Teja, will come, perhaps

to-morrow, perhaps the next day, and will destroy all these palaces, and

will make them dwellings for the owls and wildcats, and all the grandeur

of this court shall pass away.” When he had spoken they sacrificed him,

and paid little attention to his prophecy. Warring here and there,

suffering defeat seldom, but troubled with diseases and epidemics, a

plague came at last which nearly depopulated the city of Tecpan, and was

especially fatal among the nobility, both kings dying. So great was the

mortality that there was not time to bury the dead, and they were often

left to the vultures.

When this scourge had passed, Achi-Balam and Belehé-Qat were called to

the throne, and during their reign came the news of the terrible work of

the Spaniards in Mexico. These young kings decided to send an embassy

to the mighty chief of the invaders, begging his protection and aid

against their enemies. We have to-day the letter of Cortez to Charles V.,

dated in Mexico, Oct. 15, 1524, describing this embassy of Guatemalans

to surrender their country and countrymen to the foreign devils who had

destroyed their neighbors beyond the forests of the North. One almost

feels that these wretched Cakchiquels deserved the miseries they brought

upon themselves. Whether by any combination the tribes of Central

America could have resisted the invaders, as did the Lacandones, no man

can say. Probably their time had come, and no human or divine influence

could change the event; but it is sad to see these many tribes, while the

storm was gathering over their devoted heads, fighting among themselves

in the most headstrong way: and so they fought until the coming of Pedro

Alvarado. Guatemala held three hostile camps,—the Quichés at Utatlan;

the Cakchiquels at Iximché or Tecpan Quauhtemalan; and the Tzutohiles at

Atitlan.

December 6, 1523, the greatest general and most trusted friend of Cortez,

Pedro de Alvarado, departed from the City of Mexico at the head of

three hundred infantry (of whom one hundred and thirty were archers and

gunners), and one hundred and twenty cavalry. He took four small cannon,

in which were used stone balls, forty reserve horses, and his native

allies were two hundred Tlaxcaltecas and one hundred Mexicans, besides a

large number of _tlamenes_ to carry the baggage. With this warlike array

went two ministers of the Prince of Peace, Juan Godinez and Juan Diaz.

The conquest of Guatemala was the end to be attained.

Alvarado marched south to Soconusco, and here met his first opponents.

Unlike the contemptible Cakchiquels, the brave Quichés would make no

terms with the invaders of their country, and as the Spaniards approached

they hastened to join the men of Soconusco, and near Tonalá fought their

first battle with the white men. The Indios were utterly routed; but

they fell back and made preparations for a greater struggle. Oxib-Queh

was then Ahau-Ahpop of the Quichés, and his fellow-king or Ahpop-Camhá

was Beleheb-Tzi; Tecum-Umam and Tepepul were the other principal chiefs.

Tecum, as commander-in-chief of the army, designated Chuvi-Megena

(Totonicapan) as the rendezvous of the Quiché forces. His army was

immense (the annalists make it equal to the enrolled army of Germany!);

but no one knows the exact number of naked soldiers he brought together.

After the victory at Tonalá, Alvarado marched inland towards Zapotitlan,

the capital of Suchitepequez; and as he approached the city, sent some

spies he had captured in the mountains with friendly messages to their

chiefs. No answer, either good or bad, was returned, but a battle was

fought on the Rio Tilapa, and again the Spaniards were victorious. Some

of the inhabitants of Zapotitlan called from a distance to the invaders

and invited them to come into the city; but Alvarado preferred to choose

his own time, and the Indios again attacked him. Desperately fighting,

they were constantly driven back, and the invaders trampled over their

bodies even through the streets of the city and for half a league beyond,

where the battle ended; and Alvarado returned to the city and camped

in the market-place. More like hungry locusts than human beings, these

land-pirates went on destroying army after army in a way that is painful

to read about. On the plains of the River Olintepec so great was the

slaughter of the Indios that the stream was colored for days with their

blood. The loss of the Spaniards was only a few men and horses wounded.

Tzakahá was occupied without resistance, and the Mexican allies changed

the name to Quezaltenango. Under a canopy of branches the ambassadors

of the Prince of Peace offered sacrifice to the god of battles. Here at

the first mass celebrated in Guatemala these blood-stained murderers

knelt. No wonder that the priests have in their turn been driven from the

country!

Xelahuh was found deserted, and here Alvarado rested three days to

remove the rusting blood from his arms. Then came the news that another

Quiché army (Alvarado writes to Cortez that it was composed of twelve

thousand men from Utatlan and countless numbers from the neighboring

towns) was approaching; and the Spaniards marched out to meet them on

the magnificent plain between Quezaltenango and Totonicapan. This was

the decisive battle, and marvellous are the Indian legends gathering

around it. Over the head of Tecum, the Quiché commander, hovered a

gigantic quetzal (the _nagual_ of the chief), who savagely attacked

the Spanish general. At last the Spanish lance killed the bird, and at

the same moment the unfortunate Tecum fell lifeless at the feet of the

Conquistador.

In his report to Cortez, Alvarado writes: “That day I killed and captured

many people, many of them captains and persons of rank.”

All the prisoners taken in this war (both men and women) were branded

on the cheek and thigh and sold as slaves at public auction, a fifth of

their price belonging to the King of Spain.

The last army of the noble Quichés being destroyed, and their utmost

efforts being unavailing to turn aside the destroyers of their country,

it is not difficult to imagine the terror in Utatlan or the hurried

counsels of the two kings. In desperation they decided to sacrifice their

city, if they might destroy at the same time these invincible Spaniards.

The enemy was to be lured within the walls, and the only two means

of entrance closed, and then the thatched and wooden roofs were to be

fired, and so the imprisoned enemy destroyed. It was an effective plan,

and might have been successful with a less wary general than Alvarado.

He discovered the plot after he had entered Utatlan; but feigning

friendship, he managed to get out of the city on the plea that his horses

could not bear the paved streets, and the next morning begged the honor

of a visit from the two kings. Oxib-Queh and Beleheb-Tzi came with a

considerable retinue of nobles, and Alvarado received them with pretended

friendship. When all the preparations were made, a party of soldiers

loaded the guests with chains, and then their host bitterly reproached

them (the poor heathen) for their plot. By a court-martial they were

condemned to be burned alive. This horrible sentence was carried out,

and during Holy Week, April, 1524, the last legitimate sovereigns of the

most powerful nation in Central America perished in the flames. Bishop

Marroquin named the city that succeeded Utatlan, Santa Cruz (holy cross),

because the Indian capital was captured on Good Friday!

Alvarado wrote to Cortez: “That I might bring them to the service of His

Majesty, I determined to burn the lords; ... and for the well-being and

peace of this land I burned them (_yo los quemé_), and commanded their

city to be burned and razed to its foundations.”

The scattered Quichés, driven to fury by the awful death of their beloved

monarchs, fought to the death; and Alvarado was obliged to despatch

messengers to Iximché to demand aid from his Cakchiquel allies, who

hastened to send four thousand warriors to crush the bleeding remains of

their ancient rivals.

The reception of the Spaniards at Iximché, the fights with the

Tzutohiles, and the destruction of Atitlan, seem tame enough after the

martyrdom of the Quichés, the sole defenders of their country. Henceforth

the rebellions and battles are only outbursts against individual

oppression. Many tribes followed the Cakchiquel example, and submitted

without a struggle. Itzcuintlan (Escuintla) refused; but the Spaniards

entered the city on a stormy night and murdered most of the inhabitants.

Alvarado marched to San Salvador in spite of considerable unorganized

opposition, and returned to Iximché, where he founded on the 25th of July

the capital of the kingdom of Guatemala, claiming as patron Santiago

(Saint James) of Spain. This was afterwards removed to Almolonga (Ciudad

Vieja).

While in Iximché, Alvarado showed his foolish Indian allies what his true

character was. One of the chiefs of the Cakchiquels had just espoused

the beautiful princess Xuchil; but the lustful eye of the Conquistador

had fallen on her, and he sent for her on the pretext that he wished to

consult her about the people to the southward whom he intended to subdue.

The husband in well-grounded alarm begged the general, with tears in

his eyes, to return his beloved wife, offering with his petition a rich

present of gold and ornaments. “But the proud and hard-hearted Spanish

knight, who thought he did honor by his passion for the bride of a

Cakchiquel prince, as he had done in Mexico with the daughter of one of

the lords of Tlaxcala, accepted the present, but refused with disdain

the prince’s petition.” Again Alvarado called upon the kings of Iximché,

Belehé-Qat and Cahí-Ymox, to bring him all the gold and silver they

possessed, even to the royal insignia; and to emphasize his demand he

snatched from the wretched kings their earrings, so that they shed tears

at the physical pain. “If within five days all your gold is not here,

woe be unto you! I know well my heart!” The kings, advised by a native

priest, decided to leave the city with their wives and children, and

they resolutely refused to return when Alvarado sent friendly messages

and promises to them. Then the Spaniards began a war of extermination

and slavery against the Cakchiquels, and the Quichés and Tzutohiles now

took the side of the invaders against their hereditary enemies. All this

destruction and misery had come upon Guatemala in one year, 1524. When

the tribes were conquered, one by one, their sufferings only commenced;

for so terrible was the slavery to which the Indian population of

Guatemala was reduced that death was welcomed by the sufferers, and the

Quiché nobles refused to rear children to serve their conquerors.

[Illustration: ETHNOGRAPHIC CHART OF GUATEMALA, AFTER OTTO STOLL.]

I do not care to follow the history of Guatemala under Spanish rule;

it would be no pleasure excursion through the sloughs of deceit and

over mountains of tyranny. Priests and soldiers vied with each other in

iniquity; and the Indios, then as now, seem to have been the most moral

part of the population.

In closing this long chapter on the early people of the kingdom, I would

call the attention of my readers to the present Indians of Guatemala and

their relationship, according to Dr. Otto Stoll. This learned ethnologist

classifies the Indios mainly by language rather than by physical data,

and I am myself sceptical of the value of linguistic distinctions. I

know Bengalis who speak English most perfectly, and I can well imagine

their losing their mother-tongue from disuse or disassociation with their

brethren; but the Bengali does not thus become an Anglo-Saxon. I believe

very little stress should be put on lingual relationships; and also do

I protest against any system of classification founded on the cranium

alone: the whole body, outer integuments as well as osseous frame, must

be called in witness; and one day perhaps the study of human proportions

and physical peculiarities will result in a classification in which

language plays no part, or at least a very subsidiary one. In the mean

time let us take the chart of the Swiss professor as the best thing we

have at present. The nineteen tribes or families Dr. Stoll names as

follows, and their location is indicated by the numbers on the chart:—

1. Mam.

2. Ixil.

3. Aguacateca.

4. Uspanteca.

5. Poconchi.

6. Quekchi.

7. Chol.

8. Mopan.

9. Quiché.

10. Tzutohil.

11. Cakchiquel.

12. Pipil.

13. Sinca.

14. Pupuluca.

15. Pokomam.

16. Chorti.

17. Alaguilac.

18. Maya.

19. Carib.

Of the Aztec stem, only the Pipiles (12) are found in Guatemala. They are

probably the descendants of the Tultecs, who were subdued by the Olmecs.

Of the Mije stem are the small tribe of Pupulucas (14). The Caribbean

stem is represented on the coast by the Caribs (19); and of these so many

differing accounts have been given that I am tempted to give a fuller

description.

[Illustration: Carib Woman.]

When the West Indies were discovered, they were peopled by several races;

but among them none were so formidable as the inhabitants of the southern

islands of that sea, now called, from their supposed name, Caribbean.

The Caribs dwelt also in the valley of the Orinoco; but seldom chose

their home far from the sea. They were understood to have the habit of

eating their fellow-men; and it is from a corruption of Caribal that

we have the opprobrious term “cannibal.” Whether they did limit their

diet to the orthodox fare or not, is by no means clear; for the Spanish

conquerors did not scruple to indict, condemn, and put to death the

innocent natives who opposed them,—and no stouter opponents than the

Caribs did they find. Two distinct tribes are generally included under

the name,—the black Caribs, and the yellow: the latter with straight

black hair; but the former are no doubt the mixed breed of the true

Carib (who was generally at war with the European intruder) and the

African slaves who escaped to the protection of the aborigines from their

tyrannical masters. In 1796 England removed these troublesome people from

St. Vincent to Roatan,—one of the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras,

whence they gradually emigrated to the mainland; and now their villages

are found from Belize to Cape Gracios á Dios.

[Illustration: A GROUP OF CARIB CHILDREN.]

All along this coast they are of distinct and uniform character, to the

casual observer differing little from the negro type; of good stature,

firm, muscular build, and powerful limbs,—women as well as men. To

one who is used to study the physical character of men, the outward

resemblance to the negro is less marked. The hair is woolly; but the nose

is less flattened, the mouth not so wide, nor are the lips so thick. The

shoulders are broad, but so are the hips; and the narrow pelvis of the

African is generally wanting. The fingers have large joints, and from

the last all the fingers, but especially the thumb, taper sharply to the

end. The heel is not so projecting, and the feet are very broad. Other

differences are of interest to the student of the human form rather than

to the public.

Almost all speak some English,—seldom using the baby-talk of the negro,

but not always conforming to the correct idiom; more familiar still with

Spanish, they always use their own language in conversation with each

other. Several grammars and vocabularies of the dialects spoken by these

islanders and by their namesakes in South America have been published

(as may be seen in the list of books given in the Appendix), but I

have not studied this language enough to learn the difference, if any,

between the speech of the yellow and the black tribes. The Caribbee has a

disagreeable sound,—perhaps by contrast to the Spanish; but the syllables

_ber_ and _bub_ are frequent, and the enunciation is exceedingly rapid,

making it very difficult for an alien to catch the words. Add to this the

curious fact that the men and women speak a distinct language, and the

obstacles a learner meets are important. To illustrate, here are a few of

the man and woman words:—

Man. Woman.

Father yumaan nucuxili

Mother ixanum nucuxum

Son macu, imulu nirajö

Daughter niananti nirajö

House tubana tujonoco

Earth nonum cati

Brother ibuguia (?)

The traveller becomes familiar with such expressions as _Igarybai_, “let

it alone;” _Buraba duna nu_, “bring me water;” _Kimoi_, “let us go;”

_Fagai_, “paddle;” _Mawèr_, “O Lord!” _Ih hj_, “I don’t know,”—pronounced

with a contemptuous nasal twang that would outdo the veriest Yankee.

[Illustration: TWO CARIB BOYS.]

Talkative beyond measure, it is difficult to quiet them in camp at night,

unless they have had a hard day’s work. Good-natured when well treated,

they have a very good opinion of themselves, and their self-love is

easily disturbed. Superstitious to an extreme, they are not in public

very religious; but there are strange stories told of human sacrifices

in which a child was the victim. I have noticed that they put a rude

cross on the window and door openings of an unfinished house to keep out

the devils. When becalmed in a dory with Caribs, I have often heard the

prayer:—

“_Sopla, San Antonio, barba de oro cachimba de plata!_

Blow, Saint Antony, with golden beard and silver pipe!”

And if the saint did not blow when asked repeatedly, the next proceeding

was to make a cross of sticks and tow it astern; this last performance,

like reading the Lord’s Prayer backwards, usually raised a breeze. The

worship of Mafìa (the devil) I believe is general; but they do not like

to talk about it. Caribs are less musical than any of the black races I

have met; but they are fond of noisy drums, and will dance until utterly

exhausted. Some of their dances last two days.

[Illustration: Indian Women, Pocomam Tribe.]

Of all the languages of Central America, no one has been more studied

than the Maya. It is the language of Yucatan, and there many foreigners

both speak and read it. In Guatemala it is the parent tongue of the

great majority of the tribes, including the Quichés, Cakchiquels, and

Tzutohiles,—those long-time enemies. The reader may see by the table of

words I borrow from Dr. Berendt the similarity of certain common words in

sixteen of these dialects.

COMPARISON OF CERTAIN WORDS IN THE MAYA DIALECTS.

+-----------+------------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+

+-----------+------------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+

|Maya |xib, xiblál |ch’uplál |yum |na |jaá |

|Chontal |vuiník |ixík |pap |naá |jaá |

|Tzental |vuiník |antz |tat |nan |jaá |

|Tzotzil |vuiník |antz |tot |me |joó |

|Chañabal |vuiník |ixúk |tat |nan |ja |

|Quekchi |vuínk |ixk |yuvuá |na |ja |

|Ixil |ná |ixó |bal |chuch |a |

|Aguacateca |yáje, yaátz |xnan |ta |chu |a |

|Mam |ca, íchang |ching, xuj|mán |chúy |a |

+-----------+------------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+

+-----------+----------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+

+-----------+----------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+

|Cakchiquel |qu’iqu’él |k’ij |ak’á |utz |itzél |

|Aguacateca |chich |k’e |a’kbál |ban |yab |

|Mam |chi’c |? |? |ban |? |

+-----------+----------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+

The Lacandones, those unconquered Indios of the Usumacinta, speak a

dialect cognate with that spoken in Yucatan, Campeche, and the sacred

island Cozumel; and what gives additional interest to the Maya language

is the fact that all the inscribed monuments of Tikal, Copan, Quirigua,

and Usumacinta belong to this race, and if interpreted, this is probably

the key.

The Quekchi language (6) is spoken by the Indios of Coban Cahabon,

Senajú, and adjoining parts of Alta Verapaz, while close at hand (San

Cristobal, Tactic, Tucurú, La Tinta, and Teleman) we have the Poconchi

form. Externally both tribes are alike, although the Quekchis perhaps

dress rather better.

[Illustration: CARIB PLAITING A PETACA.]

The extant literature of the Quichés has been freely consulted in the

preparation of this chapter. Would my readers like to see what the

original language of the “Popul Vuh” is like?

Are u xe oher tzih varal Quichbe | This is the beginning of the story

u bi. | of those who were formerly in the

| land that is called Quiché.

Varal xchekatzibah, xchikatiqiba | There begins and commences

vi oher tzih, u tiqaribal, u xenabal| the knowledge of the earlier time,

puch ronohel xban pa ’tinamit | the origin and beginning of all

Quiche, r’amag Quiche vinak. | done in the Quiché state in the

| home of Quiché men.

Uspantán has a little dialect all to itself (4). Of the Cakchiquel

language we have a most interesting remnant in the “Cakchiquel

Manuscript,” next in importance to the “Popul Vuh.” In it the account of

the creation is copied, as was natural, from the Quiché narrative; but

the main portion of the work is a history of the revolution which led to

the departure from Utatlan and the occupation of Iximché, and also of the

advent of the Spaniards and the subsequent events until the establishment

of Christianity as the State religion. The author was the grandson of the

king who died of the pest in 1519; and his story goes to the year 1582,

when another member of the same family continues it to 1597.

The Tzutohiles (10), who, it will be remembered, were a fighting tribe on

the shores of the Lago de Atitlan, are still of the same spirit; and when

Mr. Maudslay attempted to photograph them, the women shook their fists

in his face. The unwillingness to be photographed I also found among the

Quiché women (old ones) of Sacapulas; but a word from the comandante

subdued their opposition.

The Ixils (1) dwell in the Sierras west of Coban, and the Mames (2)

are found at San Marcos, Chiantla, and Huehuetenango, all westward to

Soconusco and south to Ocós. The Aguacateca (3) occupies a small space

north of Utatlan, and the vocabulary given by Stoll differs entirely from

that of Dr. Berendt’s already quoted. Chorti (16) is spoken at Chiquimula

and Zacapa, and in the opinion of some is the language of the sculptors

of the glyphs at Copan. Sinca (13) and Alaguilac (17) are almost unknown,

and Stoll cannot classify them.

[Illustration: Mozos de Cargo, Quichó.]

The personality of these tribes is wholly absent from Dr. Stoll’s learned

treatise; and my own knowledge of their appearance and way of thought is

too limited to lead me to venture to fill the void. I have noticed what

every one else speaks of,—the sober bearing of the Guatemaltecan Indios;

but I have often seen the face of my mozo de cargo brighten as I greeted

him, and I have been even led to think that his mourning expression is

worn much as civilized ladies wear their black,—to save themselves

trouble. It is laid aside in the family, or with a friend they can trust.

Many of the men are well formed, although small, and their faces are

often very attractive. I believe them to be neater in their persons and

garb than the ladino population.

[Illustration: Carved stone Seat (Museo Nacional).]