REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS
THE Republic of Honduras is situated immediately east of Guatemala and
has a frontier line of perhaps two hundred miles next to that republic.
On the Caribbean Sea its coast line from Guatemala to Cape
Gracias-a-Dios (thanks to God) measures about four hundred miles. The
true boundary line between Honduras and Nicaragua has caused much
confusion and misunderstanding in the past, and it is hardly well
defined yet, although several commissions have been appointed by the two
governments and made their reports. It has but a small coast line on the
Pacific in the Bay of Fonseca.
There are many rivers which rise in the interior and wend their way
toward the ocean. The principal rivers flow northward and empty their
waters into the Gulf of Mexico. Of these the largest is the Ulua, which
drains a large expanse of territory and discharges a greater amount of
water into the sea than any other river of Central America. It is
navigable for a distance of a hundred and twenty-five miles for
light-draft vessels, and regular service is now maintained on it by a
small combined freight and passenger steamer operated by an American
company. It opens up a rich agricultural district to commerce. The
Aguan, Negro, Patuca and Coco, or Segovia, rivers are also considerable
streams which are navigated by the natives. The Lake of Yohoa, the only
lake of any note, is about twenty-five miles long and from three to
eight miles broad.
Cortez reported to his sovereign that Honduras was a “land covered with
awfully miry swamps. I can assure your majesty that even on the tops of
the hills our horses, led as they were by hand, and without their
riders, sank to their girths in the mire.” The great conqueror doubtless
landed during the rainy season, when the rains are literally “downpours”
and the rivers become torrents. At that season the mud does seem to be
almost without bottom, and the immense areas of mangrove-tree swamps
which cover the mud flats in the immediate vicinity of the mainland made
the finding of a good landing-place a difficult matter. Although he
found the natives tractable and the country was easily subdued, yet he
could not control nature, which here exhibits herself in her wildest and
most terrible aspects. He named his landing-place Puerto Caballos,
because he lost a number of horses, but it has since been named in his
own honour.
Honduras is not all swamp, for this condition only exists along the
coast of the Atlantic and Pacific and for a distance varying from only a
few miles to fifty miles inland. Then the land begins to rise, gradually
spreading out into plains and plateaus, until the mountainous region is
reached with its many volcanic peaks which lift their graceful heads
above the clouds. The same general mountain system that has been
described in Guatemala enters Honduras, and with many breaks takes a
general southeasterly course through the republic to Nicaragua. The mean
altitude is not nearly so high as in Guatemala, nor are there so many
lofty peaks, but there can be found almost every possible variety of
climate, soil and production.
Nature has been prodigal in her gifts to this republic, and nowhere upon
the whole earth can greater returns be realized with a minimum of
effort. It seems that all Nature is awaiting with welcoming arms the
farmer, the rancher and the fruit-grower, for there is very little of
the land that is not susceptible of some sort of profitable development.
Nowhere on earth are there more fertile valleys, more genial suns,
softer breezes, or fairer skies. And yet with all these natural
advantages, and with all this inducement to labour and development,
there is no place on this great globe where nature’s gifts are so poorly
utilized or so little appreciated, and to-day Honduras is the least
advanced of all the Central American republics.
[Illustration: Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York. THE HONDURAS
NAVY, _THE TATUMBLA_.]
It is as difficult and almost as long a journey from New York to reach
the capital of Honduras as the capital of Persia, which seems so far
away, while Central America is so near. One must go by steamer to Colon,
across the Isthmus of Panama by rail, then a several days’ journey on
the Pacific to Amapala, and lastly a three or four days’ journey by mule
to Tegucigalpa; or, he can take the steamer to Puerto Cortez, railroad
to San Pedro Sula, and an eight or ten days’ journey over the mountains
on the long-eared, but short-legged, nondescript quadrupeds above named.
There are no accommodations or comforts along the way and, on arriving
at the capital, one is obliged many times to depend on the good will of
citizens for a decent stopping-place as the hotel is not a very
desirable hostelry.
The harbour of Puerto Cortez, in the northwestern corner of the
republic, is large, commodious and safe. As our boat steamed through the
blue waters of the bay, the town set in among clumps of cocoanut palms
following the sweep of the shore, and with its background of mountains,
made a beautiful picture that lingers in the memory. We passed by the
Honduras navy resting at anchor. It consisted of a single vessel, the
_Tatumbla_, which made a great show of strength with its two little guns
which have seen little more warlike service than to fire a salute when a
foreign man-of-war has appeared in the harbour. Formerly it was the
private yacht of an American, then saw service in the Spanish-American
war, after which it was sold to Honduras.
Puerto Cortez is the principal Gulf port of the country and is a
fair-sized town of twelve hundred or more. There are a few frame and
corrugated-iron buildings which house the railroad office, custom-house,
steamship freight house, _commandancia_, and offices of the United Fruit
Company, generally known as the banana trust. A few frame houses are the
homes of the various consular agents stationed at this port. The native
quarters are made up of a row of mud and thatch huts facing the bay and
almost hidden by the foliage of the palms which overtower them. A
syndicate is now at work filling up the lowlands and converting it into
a modern seaport by the aid of steam shovels and a good force of
workmen.
Puerto Cortez is very subject to yellow fever and is often quarantined
for months at a time in the summer. I had one letter from a business man
written in July in which he stated that they had been quarantined since
May 22nd and that it would probably last until about the first of
October. This condition seriously interferes with business, for visitors
cannot come in and the planters all flee to the higher lands for safety.
Anyone desiring to visit the country should do so from October to March
when there is no danger of quarantine delay, and during the dry season
travelling is much pleasanter. Some day, perhaps, the government may
learn a lesson from Havana and Panama and introduce modern sanitation,
and thus destroy the breeding places of the troublesome _stegomya
fasciata_, the yellow-fever mosquito, which is at present the bane of
the country.
[Illustration: Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York. PUERTO
CORTEZ.]
The most pretentious building in the town is a large two-storied
building surrounded by verandas, looking like an old colonial home. In
the yard were two flag-poles, on one of which was the stars and stripes
and on the other the blue and white flag of Honduras. A closer
inspection showed that it was the home of the exiled Louisiana State
Lottery, now known as the Honduras National Lottery. After being driven
from the United States by the action of the Postmaster General, and
later by the State government of Louisiana, that State having refused a
renewal of its franchise, this insidious monster, which at one time
absorbed profits of many millions of dollars annually from the people,
and supported its officers in luxury, was obliged to seek a new
domicile. Mexico refused it a charter and even poverty-stricken Colombia
and liberal Nicaragua denied it a home. Honduras, however, gave it a
local habitation and a name upon the promise to pay an annual license
fee of twenty thousand dollars and twenty per cent. of its gross
receipts. So here it was housed in a great building, and here once each
month a drawing took place to see which one of the many foolish persons
investing their money was the successful gambler. There is not a
Spanish-American country, however, which does not charter some one or
more public lotteries, generally to raise money for charitable purposes,
and in almost all of these the vendor of lottery tickets is a familiar
sight on the streets.
From Puerto Cortez a railway runs about sixty miles inland to Pimienta.
The principal town on this transcontinental line, however, is San Pedro
Sula, about thirty-eight miles from that port. The train runs every
other day at irregular intervals, and is made up of some poor coaches, a
poor engine, and banana freight cars something like the open cars for
the transportation of live stock. The track at that time was in harmony
with the equipment. This line was built by an English company which took
the contract for constructing the line from coast to coast, passing
through the capital. The company was to do the work on a percentage
basis and the government to foot the bills. The construction company
worked in so many extras and padded the bills so that the government was
obligated for twenty-seven millions of dollars by the time the road
reached San Pedro Sula, or nearly three-quarters of a million dollars
per mile of actual track. By this time the government was bankrupted and
construction work stopped. Most of the bonds issued have never been paid
and a great part have been repudiated, although they are still the
subject of international dispute.
The road passes through a fine stretch of tropical swamp and jungle.
Sometimes there are veritable tunnels of palms which reach within a few
feet of the track. Beyond there is an impenetrable net-work of vines,
creepers, ferns, and trees covered with all kinds of orchids. For many
miles the road passes through banana fields, or forests, they might be
called, for these tropical plants grow fifteen or twenty feet high in
this rich soil. It requires almost four hours to cover the distance
between the two towns, but the entire run was fortunately made without
an accident.
San Pedro Sula lies in a beautiful broad valley sixty miles long and
from five to thirty miles in width, which is known as the plain of Sula.
It is drained by several rivers, is comparatively low and level, and is
one of the richest districts in the entire republic. In spite of its low
altitude it is remarkably salubrious, which is due to the constant
winds. Banana fields surround it on all sides except one where it
nestles close to an imposing mountain. It is the most modern town in
Honduras and contains many good frame buildings. There are also a couple
of fairly good hotels in this city conducted by Americans, so that an
American can stop here under pretty favourable conditions so far as
physical comfort is concerned. A number of streams of clear water run
through the town which add to its attractiveness and cleanliness. There
is, of course, a native quarter much similar to other towns, but the
foreign influence has had a good effect even among them.
While in San Pedro an American “gentleman of colour” and a Jamaican
negro got into an altercation and the latter was terribly cut by the
other, for of course the weapons used were knives. The latter, although
seriously cut and unable to walk, was arrested, and the former was tied
with ropes and conducted to the jail. It is an almost invariable rule
that both parties to an affray are arrested and thrust into prison. They
are there held “_incommunicado_.” This means to be incarcerated
seventy-two hours in solitary confinement, without bail, at the end of
which time a judicial examination is given. Their theory is that after a
man has been kept in solitude for three days with only his own thoughts
for company, he is more likely to tell the truth than if he had been in
communication with his lawyers, friends and reporters all that time.
Witnesses are sometimes held in the same way, so that it is advisable
for a stranger to keep away from scenes of trouble or, if it arises in
his vicinity, to get out of that neighbourhood as soon as possible.
The railroad runs inland a few miles farther, but San Pedro Sula is
generally made the starting point for the capital for it is easier to
secure good mules and _mozos_ at this point. It is necessary not only to
have those but a certain amount of _impedimenta_ in the shape of
hammocks, blankets, etc. must be carried along, and it is even advisable
to carry such provisions as will not be affected by the climate. The
trail to the capital, Tegucigalpa, is nothing but a mule path, narrow
and winding, and for the average traveller it is an eight days’ journey.
The road passes through forests which comprise an enchanted wilderness
where the white-faced monkeys peer at you from the branches of the trees
and gaily-plumed parrots screech as they fly overhead; again it winds
among the mountains on a narrow ledge which causes the uninitiated
traveller to hold his breath when he gazes at the chasm below; at other
times it follows the bed of streams which, during the rainy season, are
raging torrents.
There are no hotels and few public inns on the route. It is generally
necessary to stop with the natives in the villages, or the public
_cabildo_, which is always at the service of the wayfarer. Hammocks are
used for sleeping on account of the insects. As one writer has put this
superabundance of insects:—“There will be sometimes as many as a hundred
insects under one leaf; and after they have once laid their claws upon
you, your life is a mockery, and you feel at night as though you were
sleeping in a bed of red pepper.”
Richard Harding Davis has given us an amusing account of his experience
one night as follows: “I took an account of the stock before I turned
in, and found there were three dogs, eleven cats, seven children, five
men, not including five of us, three women, and a dozen chickens, all
sleeping, or trying to sleep, in the same room and under the one roof.
And when I gave up attempting to sleep and wandered out into the night,
I stepped on the pigs, and startled three or four calves that had been
sleeping under the porch and that lunged up out of the darkness.”
The only town of any importance that is passed is Comayagua. This was
the former capital and at one time the largest city in the country. This
city was selected under direct orders of Cortez who directed one of his
lieutenants to lay out a capital midway between the two oceans. If a
straight line should be drawn across the country, Comayagua would be in
the exact centre. Its one time thirty thousand inhabitants are now
reduced to seven thousand who sleep and dream away life in the warm
sunlight and surrounded by groves of orange trees. It is a dull and
desolate place of one-storied buildings and contains a half dozen or
more old churches, some of them with roofless walls overgrown with moss
and vines that stand as a silent reminder of the religious fervour of
the earlier days. There is a fine old cathedral which stands as a good
example of the Spanish-Moorish architecture so prevalent in every land
colonized by the Spaniards. This, the second city in the republic, is
situated in a broad fertile valley which stretches away for miles, while
dim, cloud-crowned mountains surround it like grim sentinels. The
elevation is less than two thousand feet. It has gradually lost its
former prestige since the seat of government was removed to its rival.
Tegucigalpa, the capital since 1880, is situated on a bare, dreary plain
and is surrounded by several abrupt hills which guard the sleeping city.
It is a city of twelve thousand inhabitants and is a typical
Spanish-American town with all the characteristics which have heretofore
been described. The houses are usually painted pink, blue, yellow,
green, white or some other pronounced colour. The public buildings are
not pretentious, although it contains the administration buildings,
hospitals, colleges, etc. A clock on the cathedral tower marks the time
of which the inhabitants have a supply more than equal to the demand.
The town is divided by a small stream which is the public laundry, and
this is the only industry that is always running, for women may be seen
here from early morning until late at night rubbing and pounding their
clothes to a snowy whiteness. Although the hills contained enough water
to supply the city in abundance no effort was made until a few years ago
to utilize it, and all the water used was carried into the city in jars
from the river upon the heads of the women. A reservoir has been
constructed in the mountains a few miles away from which water is now
brought to the city by a pipe line so that the city is well supplied
with this necessity.
Tegucigalpa was founded in 1579 and soon grew to be as large a town as
it now is. For venerable antiquity Americans must doff their hats to
this old city. While Chicago was yet the site of Indian wigwams and long
before our great Eastern metropolis was more than a small town,
Tegucigalpa was a noted city. The name of the town comes from two native
words—_Teguz_, meaning a hill, and _Galpa_, meaning silver; thus it
means the “city on the silver hill.” A half-century ago it was perhaps a
larger town than it is to-day. There are several public squares of
considerable beauty. In Morazan Park, the principal square, there is a
fine equestrian statue of General Morazan, the liberator of Central
America. For a wonder in a Spanish town there is neither a theatre nor a
club, so that the cafés furnish the only social centres. Although hard
to believe from its somnolent character, yet Tegucigalpa has been the
scene of stirring events and has been a hotbed of revolutions. Only a
few years ago Tegucigalpa was besieged for six months, and many
buildings show the mark of bullets fired by the revolutionists. In this
city the execution of revolutionists has frequently taken place along
the walls of one of the churches, and there is a row of bullet holes in
the wall just about the height of a man’s chest. A revolutionist meets
death bravely and stoically as though he looked forward to that end with
pleasure. He is often compelled to dig his own grave which he does with
equanimity. He takes the gambler’s chance in a revolution. Success may
take him into the presidential chair and failure will probably place him
before a squad of soldiers with guns aimed at his heart.
Richard Harding Davis in “Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central
America” gives the following instance of the varying fortunes of
revolutionists: “I saw an open grave by the roadside which had been dug
by the man who was to have occupied it. The man who dug this particular
grave had been captured, with two companions, while they were hastening
to rejoin their friends of the government party. His companions in
misery were faint-hearted creatures, and thought it mattered but little,
so long as they had to die, in what fashion they were buried. So they
scooped out a few feet of earth with the tools their captors gave them,
and stood up in the hollows they had made, and were shot back into them,
dead; but the third man declared that he was not going to let his body
lie so near the surface of the earth that the mules could kick his bones
and the next heavy freshet wash them away. He accordingly dug leisurely
and carefully to the depth of six feet, smoothing the sides and
sharpening the corners. While he was thus engaged at the bottom of the
hole, he heard shots and yells above him, and when he poked his head up
over the edge of the grave he saw his own troops running down the
mountain-side and his enemies disappearing before them.”
Honduras has perhaps suffered more from revolutionary disturbances than
any of the other Central American republics. Bordering as she does on
all these states, except Costa Rica, she has not only had to contend
with her own troubles but has been the helpless and unwilling
battleground for contentions between Nicaragua on the one side and San
Salvador or Guatemala on the other. Weaker than any of these her own
government has often been dictated by one or more of her more powerful
neighbours. With all the machinery of a republic and with an excellent
constitution and laws on paper, a change of rulers is usually effected
by a revolution as that seems to be the only way the will of the people
can be determined. They are sometimes almost bloodless as two armies
manœuvre around until one decides it is weaker than the other and takes
to flight. Selfish partisanship too often passes for patriotism, and the
leaders are only too willing to plunge the country into war to gain the
spoils of office for themselves and their followers.
Although many men may not be killed in these revolutions, as very many
times they are only local, nevertheless they keep the country in a
continual ferment, for the vanquished never quite forgive the victors.
The most formidable disturbance in recent years was a war between
Nicaragua and Honduras in the winter of 1906–07. This war resulted in a
victory for Nicaragua, partly because of the revolutionary party in
Honduras grasping advantage of the conditions and taking arms against
the government. As a result Manuel Bonilla, who had been president for
several years, was driven from office and General Miguel Davila became
his successor. This war-revolution lasted for several months and as a
result the business was demoralized to a great extent for the whole
country was involved. United States marines were landed at Truxillo and
Puerto Cortez to preserve order. Since that time there have been no
serious disturbances. The agreement recently entered into between the
five republics promises to do away with the interferences from other
more powerful states in the internal affairs of Honduras, and the
extension of railroads and telegraphs, and the investment of foreign
capital promise much better conditions for the future.
Most presidents have begun their career as revolutionists, or, I
suppose, they would rather be termed reformers. A man is spoken of as a
“good revolutionist” as we would speak of a “good lawyer” or a “good
doctor,” meaning that he is successful in that line of work. The fate
suffered by many unsuccessful revolutionists would not be a bad one for
some of our own corrupt and selfish politicians. The history of Honduras
down to 1840 is so closely identified with Guatemala that it does not
need special mention. With the election of Francisco Ferrera as
president in that year it began a separate existence. There was much
agitation among the various towns because of the heavy burdens imposed
on them, and in 1847, during the Mexican war, one president practically
declared war against the United States, which challenge was ignored. On
several occasions Great Britain sent warships to the coast of Honduras
to enforce her demands which were not always just. During a part of the
time that Carrera was ruling Guatemala, President Guardiola was in
charge of the affairs in Honduras. He was a man of the same stripe, part
negro, and is said to have been “possessed of all the vices and guilty
of about all the crimes known to man. At the very mention of his
approach, the inhabitants would flee to the woods.” One writer calls him
“the tiger of Central America.” He was finally assassinated. Internal
trouble and disputes with her neighbours kept Honduras in turmoil down
to 1880, when President Soto was inducted into office. During his term
of three years, and that of his successor, General Louis Bogran,
progress began, agriculture was stimulated and trade increased.
Honduras is a country about the size of Ohio and contains forty-six
thousand four hundred square miles of territory, although the estimates
vary greatly for no accurate surveys have ever been made. For
governmental purposes it is divided into sixteen departments, each of
which has a civil head. Its governmental divisions and its legislative
and judicial systems are very much like those of Guatemala. The
president is assisted by a cabinet and circle of advisers.
On the Atlantic coast are five large and a number of smaller islands,
known as the Bay Islands. One of these, Roatan, has been described as a
lazy man’s paradise. It is forty miles long and about three miles in
width, with a population of three or four thousand. It is a beautiful
and prolific island where the people are lazy because work is not
necessary. Even the cocoanuts will drop to the ground to save the
inhabitants the necessity of climbing after them, and all he has to do
is to strike them on a sharpened stake driven into the ground in order
to prepare them for eating. Native yams will grow to a weight of forty
or fifty pounds, and a piece of cane stuck into the ground will renew
itself almost perennially. Roses and flowers grow wild. The climate
ranges from 66 degrees to 88 degrees, and the air is not even disturbed
by revolutions. The only jail is a little one-room hut in which a drunk
occasionally sleeps off a stupor.
Cassava bread, one of the staple articles of food, is made from the
tuberous roots of the manioc which often weigh as much as twenty pounds.
The roots are grated into a coarse meal which is then washed carefully
to remove the grains of starch. The mass is next placed in a primitive
press and the poisonous juice pressed out. The squeezed mass is then
made into flat loaves which are dried and then baked. It is said to make
a nutritious and quite palatable food. This bread forms one of the
principal articles of food of these natives.
The half-million inhabitants include a considerably smaller percentage
of Spanish descendants and a much larger number of negroes than
Guatemala. The “Zambos,” a mixture of Indian and negro, used to be quite
numerous along the Mosquito coast, but many of them have migrated to
Nicaragua. They were formerly ruled by a hereditary king. The Caribs,
who were originally inhabitants of St. Vincent, have taken their place
in the Gulf settlements. They are the best sailors along the coast and
can be seen at any time out on the sea in their dories. These dories are
hewed out of solid logs, equipped with sails, and vary in length from
thirty to sixty feet, and are from three to eight feet across the beam.
Their houses are always the same, with a high, peaked and thatched roof,
sometimes twenty-five to thirty feet in height. No nails are used in the
construction. They sometimes look almost like huge stacks of hay from a
distance.
The Caribs are said to have lived on the island of St. Vincent, where,
at the conclusion of the war between England and France, they were found
to be in such sympathy with the French that they were deported to the
island of Roatan. From there they drifted to the mainland and
established a number of settlements all along the coast. One writer
describes them as follows:—“They are peaceable, friendly, ingenious and
industrious. They are noted for their fondness of dress, wearing red
bands around their waists to imitate sashes, straw hats turned up, clean
white shirts and frocks, long and tight trousers. The Carib women are
fond of ornamenting their persons with coloured beads strung in various
forms. They are scrupulously clean and have a great aptitude for
acquiring languages, many of them being able to talk in Carib, Spanish
and English. Polygamy is general among them, some of them having as many
as three or four wives; but the husband is compelled to have a separate
house and plantation for each. It is the custom when a woman cannot do
all the work for her to hire her husband. Men accompany them on their
trading expeditions, but never by any chance carry the burdens, thinking
it far beneath them.”
The average native or half-breed on the higher lands lives from year to
year in his thatched hut. He may look after a few cows and make cheese
from their milk. He plants a small patch of maize each year and grows a
few bananas and plantains for food. He is content to live on the
plainest food and in the simplest way in order to live an indolent life.
Thus he exists during his allotted years until he drops into his grave
and in a year or two there is not even a sign to show where he was laid.
Occasionally graves of the early inhabitants are found, but the
burial-places of later generations are practically unmarked and no
attempt is made to preserve their location as there are no tombstones
and after a few months there is nothing to show its location.
[Illustration: A TYPICAL BEGGAR.]
Beggars are not very common except the blind, the lame and the sick. The
necessaries of life are so easily procured, so little clothing is
required, and any one may find land upon which to plant a little maize
or bananas that it does not require much money or much exertion to
sustain life. The condition of those who are helpless, however, is
pitiable in the extreme and the sympathy of a stranger is aroused each
day by a sight of some poor unfortunate.
Next to maize (corn) bananas and plantains form the principal food. The
latter are cooked in many ways, boiled, baked or made into pastry, but
are never eaten raw. Maize was indigenous on those shores, because the
Spanish conquerors found it growing and it formed the principal food of
the people. The banana is believed to have been introduced by the
Spaniards, and the one argument used for this theory is that all the
names of this plant are of Spanish derivation. In Honduras a sort of
beer is brewed from maize that the natives are very fond of, but they
prefer on “_fiestas_” the _aguardiente_ (brandy) because it is stronger
and affords more exhilaration. This is a drink brought by civilization,
for the earlier inhabitants, not having any distilled liquors, had to be
contented with the milder fermented forms of intoxicants.[3]
Footnote 3:
_Note._ “On the warmer plains the wine-palm is grown. The wine is very
simply prepared. The tree is felled and an oblong hole cut into it,
just above the crown of leaves. The hole is eight inches deep, passing
nearly through the trunk. It is about a foot long and several inches
broad; and in this hollow the juice of the tree immediately begins to
collect, scarcely any running out at the butt where it has been cut
off. In three days after cutting the wine-palm the hollow will be
filled with a clear yellowish wine, the fermented juice of the tree,
and this will continue to secrete daily for twenty days, during which
the tree will have yielded some gallons of wine.”—_Thomas Belt._
Cock-fighting is one of the principal forms of amusement among the
people of Honduras. Their mode of cock-fighting is very cruel, as they
usually tie long sickle-shaped knives onto their natural spurs with
which they are able to give each other fearful gashes and wounds. It is
no unusual sight to see a game cock tied up at the door by the leg, or
in some other part of the house, and being treated as an honoured member
of the family. The comb is cut off near the head in order that his
opponent cannot grasp him there and thus place him at a disadvantage.
Bets are made on every fight and considerable money is lost and won on
this sport.
Education is not far advanced although the number of schools has been
increased each year. There are very many full-grown boys and girls who
do not even know their letters. Perhaps not more than half the
inhabitants can boast of even a rudimentary education. There are only
about seven hundred schools for primary instruction in the entire
republic, with an average attendance of about twenty-five thousand
pupils. The wealthier families send their boys to the famous university
in Guatemala City for their education. They are not so much interested
in the matter of education for girls.
A large force of soldiers is always kept under arms—that is, large in
proportion to the population. Its standing army is almost half as great
as our own with about one one-hundred and fiftieth of the population.
Every town and village of any size has its _commandancia_, or barracks,
in which a force of troops is quartered. They are not formidable looking
troops, and yet they sometimes have a reckless way of shooting that is
destructive to human life. Military service is compulsory for men from
twenty-one to thirty years of age, and after that they remain members of
the reserve until they are forty. This is the written law but the
unwritten law of the revolutionary leader is far more potent.
As I have stated above, Honduras is the least progressive of the five
republics of Central America, and yet it is a country of wonderful
natural resources and is burdened with plenty of opportunities. The low
coast land sloping up to the high mountain plateaus furnish every
variety of climate and give a wide range of agricultural possibilities.
Bananas, cocoanuts, oranges, sugar cane, wheat, corn, rice, rye, barley
are among the list of profitable products that can be cultivated. Few
fields are properly plowed and the care bestowed on growing crops
amounts to nothing. The ground is so fertile that the mere insertion of
a kernel of corn in the earth is sufficient. A kernel thus planted on
Thursday has been found four inches high by the following Monday. With
all this fertility there is sometimes an insufficient food supply for
the cities. Agriculture is in the most primitive condition and will
probably remain so until there are better roads, better markets and
cheaper transportation facilities.
[Illustration: Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York. SOLDIERS OF
HONDURAS.]
In many parts of Honduras there are lands well suited to cattle raising.
They may be found grazing on the sterile slopes of the mountain ranges
as well as in the more fertile valleys. There is much fine rolling land,
well watered during the rainy season and rich in pasturage, to be found
in the republic, which is well suited to this industry. In the dry
season, however, many of those plains, or savannahs, furnish scant
fodder for the cattle. As irrigation has not been attempted the cattle
have a feast half the year and a famine the other half. No care whatever
is taken of their herds by the owners and they are left to forage as
best they can. It is not much wonder that the grade of stock is poor,
although hundreds of thousands of cattle are raised in this way, and
wander over the public domain. Each rancher has his own brand which is
recorded the same as in the United States. Thousands more would be
raised and sent out of the country were it not for the heavy export tax.
There are no industries in the country worthy of mention except
_aguardiente_ manufacture which is a government monopoly. The sugar cane
growers enter into a contract with the government to furnish a
stipulated amount of this brandy each month, and it is then sold by the
government to the regularly licensed dealers at a fixed price. A large
part of the revenue of the republic is derived from this source as many
hundred thousand gallons are consumed each year. A cheap grade of
“Panama” hat is also manufactured in one province which is exported to
the neighbouring republics and the United States.
Nearly the whole of the republic, except the lowlands, is mineralized.
Old workings among the gold-bearing formations show that the aboriginal
tribes understood the art of separating the gold from quartz. Documents
deposited in the archives of Tegucigalpa show that the Spaniards found
the mines of Honduras very profitable, and the king’s tithe no doubt
aided in building real castles in Spain. The Spaniards were good
prospectors but poor workers, for they did their work in the most
primitive way. Their work was mostly done by slave labour so that this
was an inexpensive item to them. Any of the natives could be drafted
into this work upon the initiative of the government. They were seldom
carried to any great depth, so that there are hundreds of mines
scattered over the country to-day which are abandoned and filled with
water. They cannot be operated successfully until roads are constructed
over which machinery can be transported.
The chief mining district is not far from the capital city. The Rosario
Mining Company is the most successful and best-known company and has
been placed on a profitable basis. Silver ores are the most abundant but
gold has been washed on the rivers of Olancho for many years in small
quantities. Silver is generally in combination with lead, iron, copper
or antimony. There are some valuable copper deposits in some places
containing eighty per cent of pure copper. Iron ores are common, zinc
occurs, but coal has been found only in very small quantities. Opals
have been found in considerable numbers and many of them are large and
beautiful. About one million dollars’ worth of the various minerals have
been mined annually in recent years.
Honduras has a small coast line on the Pacific with Amapala as its only
seaport on that ocean. It is situated on the island of Tigre about
thirty miles from the mainland, and nearly in the centre of the
magnificent Bay of Fonseca. This is a very poor open roadstead with no
pier, so that lighters are the only means of loading and unloading
vessels. The Atlantic coastline is much longer and well protected by
outlying islands which affords much better protection to vessels. Ceiba
is a pretty little port at the foot of the Congrehoy, the highest
volcanic peak in the country. It has a population of several thousand
and is in the centre of a rich banana belt. Recently a short railroad of
about thirty miles in length has been constructed here which reaches out
through this fertile field and will aid in developing this section of
the country. Many hundred thousand bunches of bananas are shipped from
this port each year and the number constantly increases. Truxillo, or
Trujillo, is another fair harbour on this coast. The town is not very
large yet, although it is nearly four centuries old, having been founded
in 1525. The filibusterer William Walker, who made himself dictator of
Nicaragua at one time, was captured by Honduras’ troops at this place
and executed, thus ending a romantic and venturesome career.
Honduras has never attained the prominence in commerce that her natural
resources would warrant one to reasonably expect. The total imports for
the year ending July 31st, 1908, were $2,829,979, according to the
statistics of that government. Of this amount the United States
furnished more than half. The exports to the United States for the same
period amounted to nearly $3,000,000, which was nearly five-sixths of
the whole exports. This is accounted for by the fact that the principal
export is bananas nearly all of which are sent to the various ports of
Uncle Sam. After minerals coffee and hides furnish the next two largest
items of export. All import duties are levied by weight, so that the
duties on many articles comparatively inexpensive in first cost become
expensive luxuries in Honduras. An ordinary cooking range might be cited
as an example. The shipping of imports and exports is almost entirely in
the hands of Germans who conduct all the great commission houses and do
a very profitable business. The importation of goods is oftentimes a
complicated matter for in addition to the fixed import duties there are
the fees for manifest, custom-house permit, transfer fee, sanitary fee
on goods destined for the interior, and a municipal impost at some
towns. Add to this the brokerage fees and the total expense oftentimes
amounts to quite a sum.
The money of Honduras is on a silver basis and is subject to all the
fluctuations of that metal. Guatemalan and Chilean silver coins are the
principal currency in circulation although one bank is authorized to
issue paper currency which passes at par with the silver. The silver
peso or dollar is the standard. As exchange varies from 215 to 250 per
cent it will be seen that its value ranges from about forty to
forty-five cents in gold. Even this is better than the paper money of
Guatemala.
What shall be done with this great unimproved country? That question is
reserved for the future to decide. I believe that the influence of
America and Americans will do far more toward the settlement of the
turmoil which has been so general in that country and the development of
the natural resources than any other one influence. The number of
Americans residing in Honduras is increasing each year, and their
influence is already being felt wherever they reside. Sometime the
people themselves may awaken to the fact that they have been living in
poverty with wealth at their very doors. The eastern coast is developing
more rapidly than the western because of the nearness to the markets of
the United States. Good steamship service is now maintained so that it
is only a four or five days’ journey to New Orleans and Mobile. Let
Americans waken up to the great possibilities of trade and development
that lie at their very door. Let American merchants and manufacturers
exploit their goods and secure the trade of this country that is now
controlled by British and German merchants. The people generally prefer
American goods, but the merchants of this country have never learned the
art of dealing with the Spanish-American. It is a situation that must be
studied, but success is worth the effort.
“_Adios_,” with the Spaniard means “how do you do,” “good-bye,” and “a
pleasant journey to you.”
I close this narrative with this one word to the reader which is
greeting, benediction and farewell, all three combined, trusting that
our acquaintance has been mutually beneficial.
ADIOS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX I
THE following table gives the names of the departments in Guatemala, the
name of the chief town, or capital, and the number of inhabitants and
elevation of that city, the compilation being made from the latest and
most reliable statistics available:—
DEPARTMENTS CHIEF TOWN INHABITANTS ELEVATION
(feet)
Alta Verapaz Coban 24,475 4,010
Amatitlan Amatitlan 10,000 4,212
Baja Verapaz Salamá 7,125 2,831
Chimaltenango Chimaltenango 14,000 5,365
Chiquimula Chiquimula 10,602 1,232
Escuintla Escuintla 12,000 1,248
Guatemala Guatemala 85,000 4,810
City
Huehuetenango Huehuetenango 10,000 7,052
Izabal Livingston 1,500 45
Jalapa Jalapa 10,000 4,777
Jutiapa Jutiapa 12,000 2,821
Peten Flores 6,000 478
Quezaltenango Quezaltenango 22,265 7,351
Quiché Sante Rosa 6,237 5,492
del Quiché
Retalhuleu Retalhuleu 10,000 968
Sacatepequez Antigua 8,000 5,314
San Marcos San Marcos 10,000 7,150
Santa Rosa Cuajinicuilapa 2,000 3,214
Sololá Sololá 15,000 6,974
Suchitepequez Mazatenango 10,000 1,085
Totonicapan Totonicapan 25,196 7,894
Zacapa Zacapa 12,000 536
------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX II
THE Republic of Honduras is composed of sixteen departments, or
provinces, and one territorial district. The territory of Mosquitia is
situated in the extreme northeastern section of the country and is the
second largest political division in the republic, comprising about
one-fifth of the entire landed surface and with a population of four
thousand, mostly a mixed race of negroes and Indians. This is an average
of about one person for every two square miles. The country is covered
with a dense forest of tropical verdure, through which the waters of
several rivers course. Along the rivers the lands have been partially
explored but much of the interior is still unknown. The Bay Islands
department comprises a group of five low islands lying at a distance of
from twenty-five to fifty miles from the northern shore. The names of
the islands are Utila, Roatan, Elena, Barbareta and Bonaca, and they
contain a total population of about five thousand whites, negroes and
Indians. The English language is quite commonly used on those islands
for they were long under the sovereignty of England.
The names of the different departments, together with the capital city,
its population and elevation, according to the best and most recent
statistics available, are as follows:—
DEPARTMENT CAPITAL POPULATION ELEVATION
(feet)
Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa 12,000 3,200
Copan Santa Rosa 10,000 3,400
Choluteca Choluteca 8,636 250
Gracias Gracias 5,324 2,520
Olancho Juticalpa 11,103 1,500
El Paraiso Danli 8,878 2,300
Santa Santa 3,593 750
Barbara Barbara
Valle Nacaome 8,913 110
Comayagua Comayagua 7,206 1,650
La Paz La Paz 4,490 2,000
Intibuca La Esperanza 4,026 4,950
Cortes San Pedro 7,182 255
Sula
Yoro Yoro 6,127 2,000
Colon Truxillo l4,040 sea
level
Atlantida La Ceiba 3,379 sea
level
Bay Islands Coxin Hole l500 sea
level
The uneven character of the configuration of the earth’s surface and the
effect of the trade winds gives the Central American republics a great
variety of climate. The so-called “seasons,” the wet and dry, do not
always express the real conditions, for local conditions influence the
temperature and amount of rainfall. There is a wide difference, for
instance, between the Atlantic and Pacific slopes. On the Atlantic coast
there is literally no dry season. The central plateaus have a climate of
their own subject neither to excessive droughts or heavy rains. When you
consider that the highest temperature inland rarely exceeds 90° F. and
does not go below 50° F. it will be seen that the land is quite
inhabitable, for there are no great extremes. The “wet” season from May
to November is called _invierno_, or winter, and the “dry” season from
November to May is termed _verano_, or summer.
In order to set forth clearly the temperature I herewith give a table of
the thermometer readings at Tegucigalpa for an entire year as given in a
handbook compiled by Mr. A. K. Moe, formerly United States Consul at
that city, and issued by the International Bureau of the American
Republics, to which same book I am indebted for some other valuable
information herein contained:—
AVERAGE AVERAGE EXTREME
MONTHS MINIMUM MAXIMUM LOWEST HIGHEST DIFFERENCE
January °F. 60 °F. 76 °F. 54 °F. 79 °F. 25
February 60 81 52 84 32
March 61 83 55 88 33
April 63 84 56 89 33
May 67 84 63 90 27
April 63 84 56 89 33
May 67 84 63 90 27
June 67 82 65 86 21
July 67 81 64 84 20
August 66 81 62 84 22
September 65 82 61 84 23
October 65 79 61 83 22
November 65 78 61 82 21
December 59 75 50 81 31
------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX III
VOLCANOES
PEOPLE living in volcanic regions do not seem to fear the presence of
these lofty peaks any more than people living in mountainous regions
fear their overhanging ridges. One would think that the terrible and
destructive eruptions of Vesuvius would leave that region depopulated,
but no sooner have the earth’s tremblings ceased than the people flock
again to their accustomed haunts, and the fertile fields once more
respond to the efforts of the farmer and gardener. And so it is in
Central America, where volcanic peaks abound and mild earthquakes are
common. The volcanoes of Hawaii are larger, those of South America
loftier, some in Italy and Java more destructive, but nowhere on the
world is there such an unbroken line of volcanic peaks as along the
Pacific coast of Central America. The Atlantic coast has but one
distinct cone of any great height and that is the Congrehoy (8,040 ft.),
which runs clear to the water’s edge. It is the only lofty peak in
Honduras and has perhaps the sharpest and most clearly marked cone in
that section of the world.
Little is known of the early history of the eruptions of these volcanoes
and earthquake disturbances, called by the natives “_temblors_.” The
early natives believed that earthquakes were caused by a god, Cabracan,
who was in the habit of shaking the mountains. The stories of the
Spanish conquerors are so mingled with devils and their work that they
are incredible and convey no enlightening information. Their chroniclers
tell an amusing instance of the attempt of a friar to draw up the lava,
which had the appearance of molten gold, in an iron bucket from a
crater. The bucket and chain as well melted as soon as it approached the
seething lava.
History records the birth of the volcano, Izalco, in San Salvador in
1770. For several days strange subterranean noises accompanied by
earthquake shocks had been heard in that vicinity and the people fled in
terror. After a few days a lateral opening appeared in a field from
which fire, smoke and lava belched forth. This was followed by sand and
stones from which a cone has been gradually built up, until now it is
higher than Vesuvius. It has been named the “lighthouse of Salvador” by
the sailors, because it is nearly always visible at night.
I append an account of an ascent of Santa Maria made a few months after
its destructive eruption of 1902, which appeared in the Scientific
American:—
“I began the ascent of the volcano from the plantation of La Sabina, a
favourite health resort famous for its springs of mineral water.
Journeying from Palmar to La Sabina we passed two plantations whose
buildings were ruined and fields devastated. We found the hotel of the
town buried many feet beneath mud. I found the crater a huge pit some
500 feet in depth, from the bottom of which spouted a magnificent
geyser. The steam issued with terrible force, roaring and crackling.
Almost at my very feet arose another geyser, through the vapour of which
there could be dimly seen a large pool formed by the condensed steam.
Besides the large geysers, innumerable small jets of steam spouted from
the edge of the crater in a vapourous fringe, sending forth little
clouds toward the centre. At intervals a strong odour of sulphur
assailed the nostrils. It is probable that when the volcano was in full
eruption the entire crater was open, for the earth seemed to have fallen
in and to have formed a kind of floor. Otherwise it would be impossible
to account for the enormous mass of material ejected by the crater.”
The following table gives a list of the principal volcanic peaks in
Guatemala, all of which are classed as “extinct,” or “quiescent,” except
Santa Maria:—
VOLCANIC PEAK HEIGHT
feet
Tajumulco 13,814
Tacana 13,334
Acatenango 13,012
Fuego 12,821
Agua 12,300
Atitlan 11,849
Cerro Cerchil 11,830
Cerro Quiché 11,160
Cerro Calel 10,813
Santa Maria 10,535
Cerro Quemado 10,200
Quezaltenango 9,238
Pacaya 7,675
Ipala 6,019
Chingo 6,019
------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX IV
RUINS OF COPAN
NO American has spent so much time in exploring the ruins of this
mysterious city of Honduras as Mr. George Byron Gordon. For a number of
years he spent the greater part of the year in making excavations,
removing debris, and in exploring every nook and corner of this ancient
seat of civilization. Through the courtesy of The Century Company I am
permitted to give the following description of Copan as written by Mr.
Gordon and published in the Century Magazine, which, though greatly
abbreviated, is yet sufficiently full to give the reader a fair idea of
the one-time grandeur and magnificence of this ancient city:—
Hidden away among the mountains of Honduras, in a beautiful
valley which, even in that little-travelled country, where
remoteness is a characteristic attribute of places, is unusually
secluded, Copan is one of the greatest mysteries of the ages.
Not only do the recent explorations confirm the magnitude and
importance of the ruins, but the collection of relics now in the
Peabody Museum is sufficient to convince the most skeptical that
here are the remains of a city, unknown to history, as
remarkable and as worthy of our careful consideration as any of
the ancient centres of civilization in the Old World. Whatever
the origin of its people, this old city is distinctly
American—the growth of American soil and environment.
The area comprised within the limits of the old city consists of
a level plain seven or eight miles long and two miles wide at
the greatest. This plain is covered with the remains of stone
houses, doubtless the habitations of the wealthy. The streets,
squares, and courtyards were paved with stone, or with white
cement made from lime and powdered rock, and the drainage was
accomplished by means of covered canals and underground sewers
built of stone and cement. On the slopes of the mountains, too,
are found numerous ruins; and even on the highest peaks fallen
columns and ruined structures may be seen.
On the right bank of the Copan River, in the midst of the city,
stands the principal group of structures—the temples, palaces,
and buildings of a public character. These form part of what has
been called, for want of a better name, the Main Structure—a
vast, irregular pile rising from the plain in steps and terraces
of masonry, and terminating in several great pyramidal
elevations, each topped by the remains of a temple which, before
our excavations were begun, looked like a huge pile of fragments
bound together by the roots of trees, while the slopes of the
pyramids, and the terraces and pavements below, are strewn with
the ruins of these superb edifices. Its sides face the four
cardinal points; its greatest length from north to south is
about eight hundred feet, and from east to west it measured
originally nearly as much, but a part of the eastern side has
been carried away by the swift current of the river which flows
directly against it.
Within the Main Structure, at an elevation of sixty feet, is a
court one hundred and twenty feet square, which, with its
surrounding architecture, must have presented a magnificent
spectacle, when it was entire. It was entered from the south
through a passage thirty feet in width, between two high
pyramidal foundations, each supporting a temple. The court
itself is inclosed by ranges of steps or seats rising to a
height of twenty feet, as in an amphitheatre; they are built of
great blocks of stone, neatly cut, and regularly laid without
mortar. In the centre of the western side is a stairway
projecting a few feet into the court, and leading to a broad
terrace above the range of seats on that side. The upper steps
in this stairway are divided in the midst by the head of a huge
dragon facing the court, and holding in its distended jaws a
grotesque human head of colossal proportions.
One temple, in many ways the most interesting yet explored,
furnishes a typical example of this class of building. From the
stone-paved terrace above the western side of the court, a great
stairway, with massive steps, leads up to a platform which runs
the whole length of the building, and is carried out at each end
upon solid piers to the line of beginning of the steps. From the
head of the stairway two graceful wing stones, extending across
the platform, guard the approach to the first entrance, which
gives access to the outer chambers. This doorway is nine feet
wide, and was covered with a vaulted roof, now fallen. Directly
opposite it, in the interior, is a second doorway, leading to
the inner chambers. In front of this second entrance is a step
two feet high, ornamented on the face by hieroglyphics and
skulls carved in relief. At each end a huge death’s-head forms a
pedestal for a crouching human figure supporting the head of a
dragon, the body of which is turned upward, and is lost among
the scrollwork and figures of a cornice that runs above the
doorway. All the interior walls were covered with a thin coat of
stucco, on which figures and scenes were painted in various
colours; and the cornices were adorned with stucco masks and
other ornaments, likewise painted. The roofs, with the massive
towers which they supported, had fallen and filled the chambers
completely. The horizontal arch formed by overlapping stones was
always used in the construction of roofs—a type that is common
to all the Maya cities. The outside of the building, profusely
ornamented with grotesques at every line, bears witness to the
ambitious prodigality of the architect, his love of adornment,
and his aversion to plain surfaces—a characteristic that is
manifested on all the monuments and carvings at Copan. An
elaborate cornice with foliated design, adorned with plumage,
all beautifully carved, ran around the four sides. Higher up, a
row of portrait-like busts was also carried around the entire
building. Whatever of plain surface remained was covered with
pure white stucco, and the same material was used upon the
sculptures to give a finish to the carving and a suitable
surface for the colours that were used to produce the desired
effect.
The northern slope of the main structure goes down abruptly, in
a broad, steep flight of steps, to the floor of the plaza, which
stretches away to the north, and terminates in an amphitheatre
about three hundred feet square, inclosed on the eastern,
northern, and western sides by ranges of seats twenty feet high.
The southern side is open, except that its centre is occupied by
a pyramid that rose almost to a point, leaving a square platform
on top. In the plaza stood the principal group of obelisks,
monoliths, or stelae, as they are variously designated, to which
Copan owes its principal fame. There are fifteen in all
scattered over the plaza, some overthrown and others still
erect. Although affording infinite variety in detail, in general
design and treatment these monuments are all the same. They
average about twelve feet in height and three feet square, and
are carved over the entire surface. On one side, and sometimes
on two opposite sides, stands a human figure in high relief,
always looking toward one of the cardinal points. Upon these
personages is displayed such a wealth of ornament and insignia
that the figures look over-burdened and encumbered, giving the
idea that the chief object of the artist was the display of such
adornment. While nearly all these human figures are
disproportionately short, the accurate drawing and excellent
treatment of the smaller figures in the designs surrounding the
principal characters show that this is not owing to deficient
perception on the part of the sculptor.
The sides of the monuments not occupied by human figures are
covered by hieroglyphic inscriptions. In front of each of the
figures, at a distance of a few feet, is a smaller sculpture,
called an altar. These measure sometimes seven feet across and
from two to four feet in height. The design sometimes represents
a grotesque monster with curious adornments; but a common form
of altar is a flat disk seven or eight feet in diameter, with a
row of hieroglyphs around the edge. Much of the carving on these
obelisks and altars is doubtless symbolical; and until this is
better understood it is useless to speculate upon the character
of the monuments themselves—speculations in which our ignorance
would allow us unlimited scope. Two of the figures have their
faces hidden by masks, a circumstance which seems to preclude
the theory that they are portraits, although that is suggested
by the striking individuality of many of the faces. But who can
tell? The statues may be those of deified kings or heroes; on
these altars a grateful people may have paid the tribute of
affection; or, as some would have us believe, they may have been
idols, insatiate monsters, on whose reeking altars the bloody
sacrifice prevailed. We would fain believe that the Mayas were a
humane and gentle people, given to generous impulses and noble
deeds; that these relics of their art, in which the thought and
feeling of the people strove to find expression, had for their
object and inspiration a better motive than the deliberate
shedding of human blood.
No regular burying-place has yet been found at Copan, but a
number of isolated tombs have been explored. The location of
these was strange and unexpected—beneath the pavement of
courtyards and under the foundations of houses. They consist of
small chambers of very excellent masonry, roofed sometimes by
means of the horizontal arch, and sometimes by means of slabs of
stone resting on the top of the vertical walls. In these tombs
one, and sometimes two, interments had been made. The bodies had
been laid at full length upon the floor. The cerements had long
since moldered away, and the skeletons themselves were in a
crumbling condition, and give little knowledge of the physical
characteristics of the people; but one fact of surpassing
interest came to light concerning their private lives, namely,
the custom of adorning the front teeth with gems inlaid in the
enamel, and by filing. The stone used in the inlaying was a
bright-green jadeite. A circular cavity about one-sixteenth of
an inch in diameter was drilled in the enamel of each of the two
front teeth of the upper row, and inlaid with a little disk of
jadeite, cut to a perfect fit, and secured by means of a bright
red cement.
Besides the human remains, each tomb contained a number of
earthenware vessels of great beauty and excellence of
workmanship, some of them painted with figures in various
colours, and others finished with a peculiar polish resembling a
glaze. Some of these vessels contained charcoal and ashes; in
others were various articles of use and adornment. The beads,
ear-ornaments, medallions, and a variety of other ornaments,
usually of jadeite, exhibit an extraordinary degree of skill in
the art of cutting and polishing stones, while the pearls and
trinkets carved from shell must have been obtained by trade or
by journeys to the coast. In the same tombs with these ornaments
were frequently found such objects of utility as knives and
spear-heads of flint and obsidian, and stone hatchets and
chisels. These were doubtless family vaults, though none of them
contained the remains of many burials.
As to the antiquity of the city, although we have no data that
will enable us to fix a date, there are certain historical facts
that remove it from the reach of history or tradition, and place
the era of its destruction long anterior to the discovery of
America.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX V
BIBLIOGRAPHY
For the benefit of those who may wish to pursue their study of these
countries more extensively I append herewith a list of a few of the
books which give information about Guatemala and Honduras:—
_Bard, S. A._: Waikna: Adventures on the Mosquito Shore. London, 1855.
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_: Popul Vuh. Sacred book of the Quiché Indians.
Paris, 1861.
_Bancroft, Hubert Howe_: History of Central America. San Francisco,
1886.
_Bancroft, Hubert Howe_: The Native Races of the Pacific Coast of North
America. San Francisco, 1880.
_Brigham, William T._: Guatemala: The Land of the Quetzal. New York,
1887.
_Casas, Bartolomeo de Las_, Bishop of Chiapas: London, 1699. This is a
narrative of an eye witness of the Spanish invasion in Mexico and
Central America. A very interesting and very rare book.
_Charles, Cecil_: Honduras: The Land of Great Depths. Chicago, 1890.
_Curtis, William Eleroy_: Capitals of Spanish-America. New York, 1888.
_Diaz del Castillo, Bernal_: True History of the Conquest of New Spain.
Madrid, 1632. An English edition. London, 1844.
_Dunn, Henry_: Guatemala in 1827–8. London, 1829.
_Davis, Richard Harding_: Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central
America. New York, 1896.
_Humboldt, Alexander von_: Political Essay on New Spain. Berlin, 1811.
_Keane, A. H._: Central America and West Indies. London, 1901.
(Stanford’s compendium of geography and travel.)
_Morlan, A. P._: A Hoosier in Honduras. Indianapolis, 1897.
_Maudslay, Anne C. and Alfred P._ A glimpse at Guatemala and some notes
on the ancient monuments of Central America. London, 1899.
_Pepper, Charles M._ Guatemala, the country of the future; a monograph,
Washington.
_Squier, E. G._: Honduras; descriptive, historical, statistical. London,
1870.
_Stephens, John Lloyd_: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas,
and Yucatan. New York, 1841.
_Vincent, Frank_: In and Out of Central America. New York, 1896.
_Wells, William V._ Explorations and Adventures in Honduras. New York,
1857.
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INDEX
Agriculture, 26, 91;
in Honduras, 272.
Aguardiente, 270.
Agua, volcano of, 55.
Agua Caliente, 31.
Aguacate, 98.
Alcaldes, 120.
Alvarado, Pedro de, 13, 14, 166.
Amapala, 275.
Amatitlan, Lake of, 6, 27.
American Club, 70.
Americans, 43–44.
Amusements, 68.
Aniline dyes, 139.
Animals, wild, 88.
Ants, 83.
Antigua, 55–58.
Aqueducts, 77.
Army, the, 127.
Atitlan, Lake of, 6.
Aztecs, the, 149.
Balconies, 111.
Bamboo, the, 83.
Bananas, 99, _et seq._, 253.
Banana plantations, 47.
Baptism of natives, 204.
Barillas, President, 22.
Barrios, J. Rufino, 67, 70, 76, 124, 141, 188, 190–194.
Barrios, José Maria, 196.
Bargaining, 73.
Bay Islands, 265, 282.
Bear, playing the, 112–123.
Beds, native, 35.
Beggars, 269.
Belgian colony, 46.
Belize, 235, 238, 244.
Belize River, 240, 244.
Bibliography, 300–301.
Birds, 86–87.
Bogran, General, 264.
Books, Ancient, 153–154.
Bonilla, Manuel, 263.
Boys, 114.
Brandy, native, 97.
Bull-fight, 68–69, 111.
Butterflies, 89.
Cabrera, President, 24, 126, 195–201.
Cabildo, the, 122.
Caballeria, 92.
Cacao, 97–98.
Cakchiquels, 14.
Calendar of the ancients, 155.
Campeche, 244.
Cantinas, 44.
Caribs, 127–128, 240, 267.
Caribbean Sea, 235–236, 264.
Carcaste, 123.
Cargadors, 122–125.
Carera, Rafael, 181–187.
Casa, the, 110.
Cassava bread, 266.
Cathedral, the, 59, 66.
Cattle raising, 273.
Ceiba trees, 83, 276.
Central America. United Provinces of, 175, 193.
Central America, conquest of, 12. _et seq._
Central Railroad, 138–139.
Cerna, Vicente, 187.
Chocon River, 50.
Cholera, 181.
Champerico, 19, 23.
Chicle, 244.
Churches, 209.
Cisterns, 241.
Cities, location of, 61.
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 237.
Climate, 8, 10, 60, 248, 284.
Clothing, 121–122.
Coban, 7, 50, 146–147.
Cochineal, 25, 139.
Cocoanut palm, 95.
Cock-fighting, 270.
Coffee, 105–108, 136.
Columbus, Christopher, 13, 165.
Colon, statue of, 63;
theatre, 67.
Comayagua, 257–258.
Commandancias, 127.
Commerce in Honduras, 276–278.
Congress, First, 175.
Congrehoy, 276, 286.
Conventionality, 113–114.
Copan, ruins of, 151, 160, 164, 290, _et seq._
Cordilleras, 9.
Corn, 91.
Cortez, Hernan, 90, 246.
Costa Rica, 100.
Costume, 129.
Courting customs, 112–113.
Credit, 117, 224.
Creoles, 109, _et seq._, 212.
Cruelty of Spaniards, 166, 205.
Crusades, the, 203.
Currency, 220–221.
Customs, 33, 65, 71–73, 110–111, 227.
Custom-house, 20.
Dandies, 65.
Davila, Miguel, 263.
Debt, 117.
Departments of Guatemala, 281;
of Honduras, 283.
Diaz, Porfirio, 12, 199.
Dogs, 138.
Drunkenness, 129.
Earthquakes, 5, 287–288.
Education, 75, 114–115, 219;
in Honduras, 271.
El Carmen, church of, 58.
El Rancho, 141.
Engineers, American, 147.
Escuintla, 26, 138–139, 140.
Exports, 221–222;
of Honduras, 277.
Farming, 92.
Fiestas, 38, 77, 207.
Flores, Vice-President, 6, 176.
Flowers, 241–242.
Fonseca, Bay of, 245, 276.
Food, 32.
Foreigners, 71.
Foreign trade, 221–222.
Forests, tropical, 81, _et seq._
Fruits, 98, 241.
Fuego, Volcano of, 5, 55.
Gainza, Gavino, 172–173.
Golfete, Gulf of, 48.
Gracias-a-Dios, Cape, 245.
Granados, 187, 188, 189.
Granadilla, 98.
Gualan, 42, 143.
Guardiola, President, 264.
Guardia Viejo, 77.
Guatemala, Kingdom of, 13.
Guatemala, area of, 9;
population of, 11;
travelling in, 24, _et seq._
Guatemala City, 8, 54, _et seq._, 115, 141, 271;
destruction of, 5, 55.
Guatemala Northern Railway, 100.
Hidalgo, 170.
Hieroglyphs, 155, _et seq._, 294.
Holidays, 121.
Honduras, 100.
Honduras, History of, 204.
Hotels, 78, 254, 256.
Houses, 62.
Humming birds, 53.
Hustler, a tropical, 101.
Hut, building of, 45.
Idols, 156.
Iguala, Plan of, 174.
Iguana, 88–89.
Imports, 221–222;
of Honduras, 277.
Improvidence, 117–119.
Indians, 31, 38, 74, 116;
Customs of, 115–118.
Independence, 173, _et seq._
Industries, lack of, 273.
Inquisition, 167.
Insects, abundance of, 52, 86, 89, 256.
Izabal, Lake, 6, 8, 47, _et seq._, 100;
town, 49.
Java, an American, 82.
Jefe, 123.
Jesuits, 190.
Labor, laws of, 93.
Land, cost of, 92.
Las Casas, 167.
Laundries, public, 77.
Livingston, 7, 47, 128.
Logwood, 84, 94, 243.
Lotteries, 25.
Machete, 42, 84.
Mahogany, 83, 94, 244.
Maize, 91.
Mañana, 143, 227.
Mango, 99.
Mangrove-tree Swamps, 246.
Manufacturing, 228.
Manzana, 96.
Marimba, the, 125.
Markets, 72–74, 114, 241.
Marriage, 112–113.
Matapolo, the, 85.
Mayas, the, 150, 297.
Mazatenango, 9, 122, 138.
Medicinal plants, 93.
Mexican War, 264.
Mexico, Annexation to, 175.
Military service, 272.
Minerva, Festival of, 219;
temple of, 77.
Mining, 229;
in Honduras, 274–275.
Missions, Protestant, 191, 214–216.
Mistletoe, 34.
Monroe Doctrine, 2, 226.
Montagua River, 144, 157–158, 230.
Montezuma, 151.
Money, 20, 72, 220–221, 278.
Monkeys, 86–87.
Morazan Francisco, 176–179, 184, 259.
Mosquito coast, 236, 266.
Mountains, 3, 247.
Mozo, the, 116–117, 122–125.
Mulua, 137.
Music, 124–125, 210.
Museum, 75.
Nature, Prodigality of, 247–248.
Natives of Honduras, 267–269.
National Palace, 63.
Navy of Honduras, 249.
Negroes, 144, 238.
Newspapers, 219.
New Orleans, 145.
“No hay,” land of, 117–118.
Nopal, the, 25.
Northers, the, 243.
Northern Railroad, 140–145.
Nutmegs, 98.
Occidental Railroad, 134, 136–138.
Ocos, 5, 18, 146.
Opportunities, 222;
in Honduras, 278–279;
in British Honduras, 243.
Orchids, 83, 242.
Outlaws, 182.
Oxen, use of, 29.
Pacific slope, 105.
Palms, 82, 94.
Panama, 135.
Panama hats, 274.
Pan American Railroad, 134–136.
Panzos, 146.
Parasitic growths, 83.
Parks, 76.
Parrots, 86.
Paseo de la Reforma, 76.
Passion-flower, fruit of, 98.
Patio, 63.
Patulul, 138.
Peonage, 119–121.
Peten, Lake, 6, 50, 151.
Picture writing, 154.
Pirates, 235–236.
Plaza de Armas, 63.
Plants, medicinal, 93.
Political divisions, 11.
Polochic River, 7, 50, 146.
Popul Vuh, 152.
Possibilities in tropics, 225.
Post office, 75.
Pottery, 229.
Presbyterian missions, 71, 191, 214–216.
President, term and election of, 12.
Prisoners, 79.
Priests, Spanish, 153, 206.
Prisons, 254–255.
Pronunciamentos, 171.
Processions, Religious, 212.
Protestant Missions, 214.
Puerto Barrios, 7, 46, 145–146.
Puerto Cortez, 249–252.
Quahtemala, Kingdom of, 90.
Quetzalcoatl, 201–202.
Quetzal, 75, 86.
Quezaltenango, 8, 137, 176.
Quiché Indians, 14, 208–209.
Quirigua, 151, 155, _et seq._
Railroads, 132, _et seq._, 231;
of Honduras, 252–253, 276.
Rancho San Agustin, 39.
Religion of ancients, 151.
Retalhuleu, 9, 23, 122, 136.
Revolutions, fear of, 22, 261–263.
Rio Dulce, 47, 91.
Rivers of Honduras, 245–246.
Roads, 33.
Roatan, Island of, 265, 267.
Routes to Honduras, 248.
Royal palm, 95.
Rubber, 96.
Ruins, 149, _et seq._, 202.
Saint day, 121.
Salina Cruz, 16.
Salvador, San, 143.
Santa Maria, Volcano of, 4, 6, 137, 288.
San Benito, 17.
Sanarate, 34.
San Felipe, Fort of, 49.
San Felipe, 137.
San Jose, 139.
San Juan, Fort of, 79.
San Pedro Sula, 252–254.
Santo Tomas, 46.
Sarsaparilla, 85.
Scavengers, 138.
Schools, 75.
Señoras, 114.
Señoritas, 111–113.
Servants, 116.
Sierra de Santa Cruz, 47.
Sierras de las Minas, 40, 47.
Sloth, the, 88.
Smoking, 130–131.
Snakes, 88.
Soldiers, 64, 79, 126–127, 271.
Spaniards, Government by, 165, _et seq._
Spanish-American women, 101–101.
Staring, custom of, 111.
Sugar cane, 96–97, 274.
Superstition, 209.
Tacana, Volcano of, 4.
Tajumulco, Volcano of, 4.
Tapachula, 22, 134.
Tegucigalpa, 248, 255, 258–259.
Temperature of Honduras, 284.
Theatre, 111.
Tierra caliente, 9, 42.
Tierra fria, 10.
Tierra templada, 10.
Timber, variety of, 93.
Tobacco, 98.
Toltecs, the, 150.
Tortillas, 75.
Totonicapan, 8.
Travelling, 61, 255.
Tram cars, 79.
Transportation, 132.
Tropics, vegetation of the, 51.
Tropical fruits, demand for, 104.
Truxillo, 276.
Tula, 150.
Turtles, 88.
Umbrella ants, 90.
University of Guatemala, 75.
Vanilla, 85.
Vegetation, 37.
Volcanoes, 4, 56, 286–290.
Wages, 221.
White-eye, 97.
Wizards, Indian, 209.
Women, 110, 128–129, 140.
Yellow fever, 250.
Yohoa, Lake of, 246.
Yucatan, 149.
Zacapa, 143.
Zambos, 236, 266.
Zutugils, 14.
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● Transcriber’s note:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.