THE PEOPLE
THERE are but two classes of people in Guatemala, Creoles and Indians.
The Creoles include all those who are European or in whom the European
blood predominates. They are the business and professional men of the
country and the land owners. Although numbering not to exceed one-tenth
of the population, this class own all but a small fraction of the wealth
of the country. They busy themselves with the business and politics of
the country, while the Indians do the real work and even the fighting if
there is anything of that kind on hand to be done. A substantial middle
class which usually form the backbone of a nation’s strength has not yet
been developed.
The Creoles are an interesting race—kind, considerate and courteous.
They enjoy leisure, always have time for a friendly conversation and
welcome a holiday as a relief from the strain of business cares. If you
should chance upon an acquaintance on the street he is never in such a
hurry that he would not stop, shake hands, and inquire politely after
each member of your family, and would then politely listen in turn to
inquiries after each member of his own household, which you would be in
duty bound to make, as a courtesy to his own friendly interest. The
punctuality of an engagement never bothers them, and the man who
persists in keeping or insisting upon such a thing is rather a bore.
This easy-going, care-free nature has not hastened the progress of the
country.
The Creole woman has ever been a favourite theme of poets, and their
black, bewitching eyes have won many a eulogy from both poetic and prose
writers; and deservedly so, for woman is ever an excuse for a eulogy and
toast in all countries and in all languages. The Spanish-American woman
is always interesting, and perhaps, as often as in other bloods, is
beautiful. They are home lovers, and the _casa_, or home, is jealously
shielded from prying eyes by the husband or father, who is lord and
master. The idea of political suffrage or woman’s rights has never yet
agitated their gentle bosoms. Their life is a reminder of Oriental
exclusiveness, and a young woman is seldom seen on the street unless her
mother or some older woman is with her as a companion.
The windows and balconies furnish convenient seats for the young women
of the house, who, forbidden by custom to walk the streets
unaccompanied, plant themselves there and inconsiderately stare at all
who pass, and especially the men. You can look in return, for it is only
properly gallant and polite to stare at them as frankly as if they were
pictures or flowers. To the foreigner it is quite embarrassing to pass
this gauntlet of curious eyes. When the cool of the day comes Mamma,
together with Juanita and Carmencita, may be seen in the window, all of
them dressed up and made very beautiful, watching the street with their
faces close to the bar. One who knows them well may stop and talk with
them, being careful to pay all the attention to Mamma. It is just the
same at the bull-fight or theatre, for opera glasses will be levelled
with a steady gaze, such as an American would never experience in his
own country. It is not the coquettish glance seeking a flirtation, for
it is not accompanied by a smile, but is rather that of curiosity, or a
natural and uncontrollable interest in the genus represented—that
is—man.
These same balconies and window-seats also play a large part in the
courtship of the country. “Playing the bear” is the name given to it,
and it is very much the same as Mexican love-making. A young man who is
attracted by the black eye or coquettish glance of a _señorita_ will
follow her to her home and then “play the bear” by passing back and
forth in front of the house for a long time each day until he is
rewarded by a smile or wave of the hand from the object of his
attentions. I learned recently of one young man who used a telephone by
throwing one instrument up on the balcony and keeping the other. In this
way the “bear” would talk with the young lady for hours each day.
Finally the suit progresses until he can talk to her through the barred
window. Perhaps in the most casual way imaginable she may let her
fingers slip through the bars, for there is just a chance that Mamma may
be asleep, for she sits with her eyes shut—it is just a chance of
course, but the risk may be taken and Mamma was once young herself.
Later he may be invited to call at the house by the father or mother
after a family council, if his antecedents are all right, for they have
probably been investigated in the meantime by the sagacious parents of a
marriageable young lady.
To the independent American woman such a life is simply
incomprehensible. It would be dull, uninteresting—in fact, in many ways,
aggravating. From childhood to old age the Spanish-American woman rarely
does as she likes, but is a slave to antiquated customs. Think of a
woman not doing as she wants! As a child a servant accompanies her to
school and calls for her in the evening. When the marriageable age is
reached, her courting must all be done in the presence of others; and
there are so many romantic spots to be found where it could be done so
much more pleasantly in this warm climate. After the engagement the
vigilance of the parents is increased, and the young couple are never
even for a moment left to themselves. If they should go to a dance, the
family accompanying, of course, the girl must dance every dance with her
escort. When married the pleasure of a wedding trip is not for her,
unless the husband is wealthy. Last of all, if the marriage proves
unhappy, the consolation of a divorce is even denied her!
After marriage the Señora settles down to a life of inactivity, and in a
few years she has lost her girlhood beauty. To do any of the household
work is beneath her, and the number of servants is limited only by the
means of her husband. She enjoys life in a rocking-chair, reads a
little, plays her music when the mood is upon her, and occasionally does
needlework. Families are large and, be it said to her credit, she is
usually a good mother and devoted to her children. She knows nothing of
the joys of “bargain days,” for she usually contents herself by sending
to the store and having the goods brought out to her carriage. The cook
practically runs the household and is given a fixed allowance for the
marketing, out of which there must be some margin for “graft,” or the
cook will leave and seek a more generous master. Seldom indeed is it
that a woman dares to depart from these conventionalities, however great
the desire, and the universal reason given is that “it is not the
custom.”
Boys may be sent away to liberal schools, but the girls are educated in
convents and, if sent abroad, go to Spain, thus retaining the old
Spanish customs. The girls are fairly pretty in youth, but this soon
fades. Their minds are not broadened by travel, and they grow up with
narrow views of life but proud of their ancestry. They are very devoted
to the outward ceremonials of the church and spend more time in learning
the lives of the saints than they do in reading useful literature. A
woman’s popularity in Guatemala City is judged by the number of pictures
of herself that are sold by the photographer; and he is at liberty to
sell the photographs of his lady patrons to whomsoever may desire them.
The more he sells the more his patron is pleased, for it flatters her
vanity.
The brown-skinned descendants of the ancient Toltecs and children of a
southern sun, whose warm rays have implanted a permanent tan on their
cheeks, comprise the great majority of the population and are an
interesting race. Dressed in their scanty garb, which is generally
clean, they loll away life basking in the sun when it is cool, and
hiding from the same when it is hot. They may breakfast on a glass of
water and dine on a banana, yet among themselves they are always happy
and laugh like grown-up children. Why should they work much? is their
philosophy. Fruit is abundant, game is plentiful, pigs and chickens need
little care, and kind nature richly rewards every effort to cultivate
her soil. In this climate wants are few. The latest fashions have no
temptation; the woods and jungle furnish material for their thatch and
reed cottages, and the morrow can take care of itself. They sleep, eat
and smoke when the inclination comes upon them, and drink “white-eye”
(native brandy) when they have money with which to buy it.
As an individual the peon is not a particularly lovable character except
for his fidelity. He is much like a child in many ways and has to be
frequently treated as one. He even fails to resent a chastisement by a
knock-down blow from his employer, if his conscience tells him he
deserves it. On the other hand a word of encouragement or a courteous
“_buenas dias_” (good morning) brings a smile of genuine pleasure to his
face which is unmistakable. The personal _mozo_, or body-servant of the
master, is especially useful and amiable. On a journey he thinks little
of himself, and never until every want and wish of the master has been
met and gratified. Although to-day not obliged to defend his master
against brigandish attacks as formerly, yet he would be perfectly
willing to lay down his life for him if necessary. Although times have
changed, the _mozo_ remains just the same faithful, trustworthy and
careful servant as formerly. He is not over intelligent, perhaps, or
over cleanly in appearance always, but he is as loyal and dependable a
servant as can be found anywhere in the world.
[Illustration: INDIAN GIRL WITH WATER JAR.]
Debt and improvidence is not confined to the poor peon. While the latter
is indebted to the planter, the planter has probably mortgaged his
growing crops to the merchant, and the merchant in turn demands
long-time credit from the foreign dealer. Thus it is that the business
is conducted on credit almost entirely and little actual money is
handled.
Guatemala has been called the land of “_no hay_,” meaning “there is
none,” because it is such a common answer and it illustrates one
characteristic of this race. If the people do not want to bother, that
will be their invariable answer. You might go up to a house where the
yard was full of chickens, the woman engaged in making _tortillas_, and
fruit trees loaded with fruit in the yard, and yet have a conversation
about like the following:
“Have you any meat?”
“_No hay_” (pronounced eye).
“Have you any eggs?”
“_No hay._”
“Have you any fruit?”
“_No hay._”
“Have you a house?”
“_No hay._”
“Have you anything to eat?”
“_No hay._”
In such a case the best way to do is to enter the house and hunt around
for yourself, and blandly order the woman to prepare whatever you chance
to find. Then, if you leave a small sum of money with her on departing,
she will not take any offence but will politely thank you. Time is the
only thing with which they seem to be well supplied. It is equally hard
to get anything done, for, unless the party is willing to do the work
requested, he will find some plausible excuse. An American travelling
across the country a few years ago found it necessary to have his horse
shod at one of the small towns. There were three blacksmiths in the
town; of these one was sick but had supplies, a second had no nails and
the third no charcoal. As there was no lending among the craft the horse
could not be shod.
The great vices of the inhabitants are a general indolence and
improvidence, and for that reason labour is hard to secure. This has led
to the system of peonage by means of which the labourer is obliged to
work for his employer so long as he is indebted to him. This condition
is generally entered into voluntarily on the part of the Indian by
borrowing a small sum of money from a plantation owner and the signing
of a contract of employment. The following is a literal copy of one of
these contracts which I obtained from the manager of a coffee
plantation:
The _mozo_ herewith employed binds himself:
1. To discharge with his work daily and personally the debt contracted
on this _finca_.
2. To do every class of work after the customs established on the
_finca_.
3. To absent himself from the _finca_ on no pretext without previous
permission in writing.
4. To pay all expenses made necessary in case of flight, and rendering
himself subject to the proceedings brought against him through the
proper authority.
5. To remain on the _finca_ eleven months of each year.
6. To subject himself to all articles of the law of labourers decreed by
the government.
7. The loan is given not to the man alone but to his entire family; and
each and every one will be individually responsible for what they
receive.
8. The _mozo_ who becomes security for another _mozo_ (be it man or
woman) assumes the same responsibilities as the one who receives the
loan.
This latter clause is inserted because in most instances one labourer
goes security for another by guaranteeing that the latter will carry out
his part, or he himself will assume it. If the _mozo_ flees, an order of
arrest will issue and an officer sent after him. For this purpose an
_alcalde_, or justice, is usually kept on each plantation.
When the labourer once assumes this condition he is generally bound for
life, as few of them ever succeed in paying back the loan, and the
plantation owner never encourages him to do it for he would lose his
labourer. On his part he is obliged to furnish medical attendance,
advance wedding, baptismal and burial fees, and, on the larger
plantation, to furnish a spiritual guide and teacher for the youth. It
is a sort of patriarchal relationship that exists between employer and
employee. The native will not work more than about two hundred days in
the year because of the numerous church and national holidays which he
must celebrate; likewise, every birth, death, and baptism in the family
gives another occasion for a holiday, and the saint’s day of each member
of his family as well as those of the master must be celebrated. Every
person is named after a saint, and they are surprised to find an
American who has not been named after any. “Who will protect and keep
you from harm?” they will ask.
The Indians in the hot country are less inclined to work than those on
the uplands, and one sees much of them. In fact you could not look in
their direction without seeing a great deal of them, for they wear no
superfluous clothing. The men frequently wear only a breech-cloth, the
women a short skirt, and no more. In fact, in travelling from the coast
to capital you pass through an entire evolution in the matter of
clothing from practical nakedness to a complete suit of sandals,
trousers and shirt. The dictator Barrios issued a decree requiring all
natives to wear sufficient clothes, or his market produce would be
confiscated when he entered a town. Even to this day it is not an
uncommon sight in some places to see the aborigine sitting by the
roadside near Retalhuleu, or Mazatenango, and enveloping himself, or
herself, in sufficient clothing to pass municipal inspection. In the
colder altitudes where clothing is more necessary for physical comfort,
each tribe has a distinct dress and the district from which the Indian
comes can be told by a glance at his outfit. In the hot country, those
who dress at all wear simply a white cotton shirt and trousers.
[Illustration: A CARGADOR ON THE ROAD.]
The Indians are obliged by law to do carrying work across the country
when desired and paid for their services. If the traveller is unable to
get a cargador, an appeal to the proper official will secure one within
a reasonable time. That official will, if necessary, arrest a man and
lock him up over night in the _cabildo_, in order to have him on hand
when wanted. They can only be obliged to go about a two days’ journey
from home and carry a hundred pounds. Their wages are only a few cents
per day in gold, so that their services do not come very high. In case
of attempted overcharge the _Jefe_ (local governor) will settle all
disputes, and he is generally very fair in his conclusions. Many of the
cargadors use a framework called a _carcaste_ in which to carry their
loads.
If one desires to engage a cargador it is necessary to give him enough
time to prepare _tortillas_ for the journey. With a basket of these, a
plenteous supply of coffee, a cup, and a few twigs for fire, the Indian
is ready for the journey. He will not need to buy anything on the road
except some fruit or a little “white-eye,” the native brandy. Their
excuse for this extra would be like the old Guatemalan, who said: “One
wants to get rid of his memory once in a while.” At night they light
their fires either in the public hall, or out-of-doors under the
brilliant starlit canopy, where they make their coffee and warm their
_tortillas_. Embers of these fires may be seen on every hand as one
journeys across the country. The men are unobtrusive, and even when
gathered together in considerable numbers they are quiet if any
strangers are present. Among themselves, however, they are gay and
light-hearted and seem to enjoy life.
These cargadors are an ancient and honourable institution in Central
America. From time immemorial they have transported baggage and produce
from one part of the country to another, and they rather look upon the
encroachment of railroads with disfavour, for it will curtail their
business. They will carry a mule’s load of one hundred and fifty pounds
at even a greater speed, averaging five or six miles an hour, for they
travel at a sort of jog trot. Some of the couriers in olden times were
very fleet of foot for they used to be kept busy in time of war before
the introduction of the telegraph. President Rufino Barrios had a runner
in his employ of whom it is said that he carried a dispatch thirty-five
leagues into the interior and returned an answer in thirty-six hours,
making the two hundred and ten miles over mountains at the rate of six
miles an hour, including stops and delays for food and sleep. When
equipped for the road these men wear a costume consisting of short
trousers, like bathing-trunks, a white cotton shirt and sandals made of
cowhide.
[Illustration: PLAYING THE MARIMBA.]
The Indians are very fond of music and show considerable natural talent.
Many native bands, especially in the army, play popular and classical
music in a very pleasing way. One unique instrument, called the Marimba,
is met with only in Central America and southern Mexico. It has some
very pleasing tones that it is truly delightful to listen to. The larger
ones are made of a frame seven or eight feet long and two and one-half
feet high upon which strips of hard wood are placed, and beneath which
are fastened wooden resonators for different tones. Some of them have as
many as six complete octaves of tones and semitones. The sounds are
produced by striking with a rubber tipped stick the strips of wood, thus
resembling the xylophone. Those that I saw generally had three players,
each armed with two sticks in each hand with which they struck the wood
strips. Their playing was sometimes really marvellous in the dexterity
with which they played even difficult runs and maintained almost perfect
harmony—it seemed beyond the ability of these uneducated Indians who
played entirely by ear. The tone of the Marimba is sweet or, as one
writer has described it, “like several pianos and harps combined,
together with a bass effect not unlike a bass viol.” The repertoire of
the players is generally limited so that it becomes monotonous after a
while.
Nearly all the soldiers, except officers, are men of the Indian race.
Guatemala has a compulsory military law which compels every man to serve
in time of war and gives the government the right to impress them into
the military service when, in their judgment, the occasion demands
summary measures. One of the villages visited by me had just been the
scene of one of these “impressing” occasions, and the impression made
was still very vivid among the inhabitants left. The military officials
had swooped down upon this village, literally like the thief in the
night without any warning. If their purpose had become known they would
have found an Adamless village and no man at home. As it was, they
captured all the men in the village who were capable of bearing arms.
Thereupon there was great weeping and wailing among their fathers and
mothers, wives and sweethearts. The men, however, were marched to a
neighbouring village where they were allowed to fill up on “white-eye.”
Their courage rose as the liquor disappeared and they soon marched away
to the music of the band, shouting, “Long Live the Republic!” “Long Live
El President!” Hence, while the women bewailed their lot at home, the
men were eating government _tortillas_ and drinking the Cabrera brand of
patriotism, somewhere within the boundaries of the republic.
The samples of soldiers that one sees at the various _commandancias_, or
barracks, were not very terror-inspiring although decidedly picturesque.
Dressed in jumper and overalls of the familiar blue jeans, barefooted
and wearing a battered old straw hat of any shape, or without shape,
they looked like play-soldiers. They are like children in their
artlessness, and in fact even an old Indian is a child in worldly
wisdom. The man who wore a pair of shoes was pretty sure of promotion to
sergeant. Many of the soldiers were mere boys not older than sixteen.
The number of men under arms at that time was said to exceed twenty-five
thousand, and the government claimed they could soon raise it to fifty
thousand. This does not seem like a large force and yet it is as large
in proportion to the population as an army of a million and a quarter
would be in the United States, which contains at least fifty times as
great a population.
The race generally known as Caribs, and who dwell along the shore of the
Caribbean Sea, predominate at Livingston and along this coast. They have
an olive complexion, round heads, abundant black hair, which is usually
straight but sometimes kinky. They are also short and erect, but
muscular. It has only been in recent years that they wore any clothing
at all, and they are not burdened with it yet. Every place where there
is water is a bathing resort, and the only bathhouses are big mahogany
logs, hewn square. Sharks and alligators sometimes make it exciting for
them. The Caribs have negro blood in them which dates from the
foundering of an African slave ship on these shores, several centuries
ago. They claim to be good catholics but still retain much of their
pagan rites and superstitions; they are exclusive and seldom intermarry
with the native Indians of whom Guatemala has more pure bloods than any
other of the Central American republics.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF CARIBS.]
The women wear the most picturesque costumes in Central America and are
more tastily dressed than any of the native women in Mexico, with the
single exception of those in Tehuantepec. They have a dark
complexion—almost as dark as a mulatto—and the young women are famous
for the beauty of their figure, which is as perfect as nature can make
it unaided by art. They walk erect with a graceful carriage and with an
elastic footstep full of grace and freedom. Nearly all have raven black
hair which hangs down the back in a double braid. They are kind hearted,
frank and good natured. By far the largest share of the work falls upon
the shoulders of the gentler sex; but they bear their burdens with
becoming fortitude and are generally loyal to their lord and master,
even when the native “white-eye” takes away what little sense he has.
Drunkenness is quite common. It is surprising to an American to see a
native stretched at full length even in a public street in a drunken
stupor. No one pays any attention to him, unless by a little kick, until
the stupor passes away and he is able to navigate for himself again.
The fondness for bright colours among the native women can be observed
in their extremely simple but artistic costume. The entire outfit
consists of three pieces and the style does not change with the seasons.
The skirt consists of a piece of cotton cloth, generally a plaid,
wrapped around the hips and held in place by a sash; the waist is a
square piece of figured material, sometimes richly embroidered, with a
hole cut in the centre to pass the head through and the ends tucked down
under the skirt. Their straight, black hair is usually braided down the
back and they are both bareheaded, and barefooted, and, probably, rather
empty-minded. The man may afford a pair of sandals made from a piece of
sole leather and strapped on his feet, but the women seldom afford this
luxury. A little washing would not injure their natural complexion. They
seldom walk but go along with a peculiar swing, or jog-trot, over hill
and down dale, with a heavy basket on their heads and baby swung over
their shoulders. In this way they will make six miles an hour and will
beat the average mule. Some of the more fortunate ones come leading or
driving mules with loads almost as large as themselves, but the owners
themselves walk. This gives them, however, a chance to ride on the
return to their humble cottage home.
The women are not without their faults for they can smoke to their
heart’s content. There is no law against it and custom seems rather to
approve of the vice. It is not only a common sight to see them smoking
cigarettes but cigars as well. One day I saw a mother with three
children, two boys and a girl, and the oldest one not more than nine or
ten years of age, each puffing away at a big fat cigar that was black
enough to appal the average man smoker. There is a naturalness and
simplicity in their manner that rather astonishes an American when he
happens to stumble upon a group of them bathing without any regard for
the simple clothing that would be considered necessary at Atlantic City,
and they are not afraid of strangers either. Then one can see them
nursing their babies and searching for specimens in the little
youngster’s hair at the same time. Yet this absence of prudishness or
unnaturalness does not mean an absence of the virtues, although morality
has not yet reached an ideal stage.
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