TO COIXTLAHUACA
(1900)
For a day we rested at Cuicatlan to make arrangements for a trip to
the land of the Chochos. We complained bitterly to the _jefe politico_
regarding the miserable animals which had been supplied us for our last
journey, and demanded something better.
Frank had had enough of practical anthropology, and left us, so there
were but four to be provided. At eight o'clock the following morning,
four decent horses and two pack animals were waiting at our door. A
mounted _arriero_ was in charge, to accompany us. Although he had been
inefficient on the preceding journey, the same jail-bird was sent with
us, as _mozo_, whom we had had before. At 8:30 our party of six persons
started; passing the river, which we forded, an excellent road took us,
for a league, over the sandy plain, which was fairly grown with trees,
supplying a little shade. The great _pitahayas_ were in bloom, and their
white flowers looked well against the ugly, stiff green branches. The
roadside was bordered with _acacias_ which, in full bloom, presented
masses of golden balls and perfumed the air with their delicate odor.
Passing a considerable sugar _hacienda_, the trail struck into the
mountains, and for three hours we made a steady ascent. The road itself
was excellent but the sun beat down with fearful force, and the heat
was reflected from the bare road and the rock cliffs along which we
travelled. At one place the vegetation consisted of a curious mixture of
gigantic cactuses, rising as single stalks as high as telegraph poles
but larger in diameter, and palms. Arriving at the crest, we saw a long
plain stretching before us, presenting a mingled growth of palms and
pines. At the very border of the ridge stood a hut of poles, where we
stopped to drink _tepache_ and to eat broiled chicken which we had
brought with us. We found the old woman, an indian--neither Cuicatec,
Chinantec, Mixtec, nor Zapotec, as we might expect--but a full Aztec
from Cordoba. She was bright and shrewd, and, as we chatted with her,
we noticed a little chicken a few days old awkwardly running about with
curiously deformed feet. Upon my noticing it, the old lady remarked that
the moon made it so. I inquired what she meant. She said, "Yes, we
know it is the moon which shapes the bodies of all young animals." We
followed the road a long distance over the hot plain, passing San Pedro
Jocotepec to our left, and shortly after, struck up the mountain side
and had another long and steady climb, until, at last, we reached the
crest of all the district. Here and there, we encountered bits of
limestone, which always, in this southern country, makes the worst
roads for travel. The rain erodes it into the oddest of forms, leaving
projecting ridges almost as sharp as knife-edges, with irregular hollows
pitting the surface, so that it forms a most insecure and unpleasant
foot-hold for the animals. Not only so, but the surface, rough as it is,
is frequently as polished as glass, and, whether wet or dry, is slippery
to the tread. Walking over these jagged surfaces of limestone is
destructive to any shoes. A single afternoon of this will do more wear
than a month of ordinary use. Troublesome as these limestones are, as
roads, they are ever interesting, because the masses by the roadside
present the most astonishing and beautiful forms of waterwear; upon a
mass eight or ten feet across, there will be worn a system of ridges
and intervening channels, which, in miniature, seems to reproduce the
orographic features of the whole country.
[Illustration: WOMEN WITH BABIES; SAN JUAN ZAUTLA]
[Illustration: CAIRN, ON ROAD TO COIXTLAHUACA]
While we were passing over one of these limestone stretches, a little
before reaching the summit, we found a spot of unusual difficulty. The
two pack animals were together, one tied to the tail of the other; the
second had several times acted badly, but in passing over this bit of
road, he jumped and plunged, so that his pack loosened and slid to one
side. Plunging, kicking, and falling, he dragged down the unfortunate
beast to whose tail he was tied; the old rope tugged and creaked, and,
for a moment, we expected to see the very tail of the forward animal
pulled out, and both packs destroyed by the struggling beasts.
Fortunately, at this moment, the rope itself broke. The forward
animal was loosened and quickly quieted; but the other one kicked and
struggled, with our load of plates and developing trays under him.
Quickly cutting the ropes that held the burden, we tried to release the
animal, but it lay exhausted, and, for a moment, we thought it dead.
Really, however, it was not hurt at all, and the loads themselves
appeared undamaged. The burdens having been repacked, we again started
on the journey. At several places on this road, we had noticed cairns,
or heaps of pebbles. On inquiring from Don Manuel--the funny little
man, who had the animals in charge--we learned that every Chocho indian
passing the place adds a pebble to the heap, to secure good luck and
insure his safe return home. At the summit, we found one of these piles
of stone surmounted by a cross, and learned that when the Chochos reach
this spot, they always stop, repeat a prayer, and dance for good health
and fortune before the cross. It was now almost dark. Soon we saw the
downward slope, at the foot of which Huauhtla lay. We hastened down
the slope, passing through a grove of oak trees, heavily loaded with
bromelias; at the foot of the slope, we crossed a stream of clearest
water, bordered with handsome cypress trees, and passing several houses,
came to the one where we planned to stop for the night. It was now dark.
There was no opportunity for sleeping in the hut, and so we prepared
to lie down outside. The people in the house prepared _tortillas_ and
beans, and, after eating, we rolled up in our blankets and lay down on
some dried corn-husks on the ground. It was a night of suffering; the
cold was so great that our blankets furnished no protection, and the
place swarmed with fleas innumerable. At last, at four o'clock, two
hours before sunrise, we started on our journey in the hope of getting
warm. The air was damp and heavy, and, until the sun rose, we had
a desolate journey. We were again upon a limestone district, with
interesting features of scenery, and with few difficulties in the road.
We passed many oblong hills of limestone, the horizontal layers of which
upon the slopes present tiers of steps, one behind the other. These
hills were astonishingly overgrown with trees, and formed masses of
the darkest green. There was a great deal of subterranean water, and
sink-holes produced by caving over such streams were frequent. The soil
generally was a residual red or brownish clay. Flocks of gray pigeons
were startled from their roosts by our passing; and little doves were
plentiful; great hawks and small eagles were seen in pairs, hovering
high in the air. We passed several little ranches, to one of which the
name of El Zapato is given from a foot-print which is said to be painted
on the rocks at that point. Finally, we saw before us the hill behind
which, Don Manuel assured us, lay Coixtlahuaca. To mount and drop down
behind it seemed a simple thing, but we had to traverse the whole length
of the rather irregular ridge, which seemed interminable. The road which
led up to it was called the Rio Blanca--white river--an appropriate
name, as it was broad and deeply worn into the soft rock of which the
ridge consisted. When we reached the crest, we found the ridge extending
as a flat plain of light, buff-colored tufa, with many trails worn
deeply into it, and giving out, under the bright sunshine, a frightful
reflection of light and heat. Long before we reached the end of this
dreary stretch, we saw Coixtlahuaca and its adjoining indian villages,
Nativitas and San Cristobal. As we drew nearer, the view was striking.
The town is broad, but of little depth; its streets are laid out with
regularity; its great church, with masses of ruin on either side, is
conspicuous; the _plaza_ is large for the size of the town. To one side
of it are the _portales_ and the town-house and _jefatura_. To the
right of the town and behind it is a large, walled cemetery with many
gravestones. Back of all, rise hills of tufa, such as we had just
traversed. The houses, similar to those at Huautla, and in the country
between there and here, appear to be constructed with a view to cold.
At least, two houses usually occur in one inclosure; the one, more
important, corresponds to the god-house of the Aztecs and the other
to the cook-house. The former is better built, and has low, carefully
constructed walls, and a high abruptly four-pitched, heavily thatched
roof. Going to the _jefatura_, the young clerk there was much impressed
by the documents we presented, and asked us if we would accompany him to
the _jefe's_ house, as thus no time would be lost. Upon arriving at the
house of the _jefe_, we found that a wedding was about to be celebrated
in the church. The _jefe_ received us with magnificent promises; we
should room at the palace, arrangements should be made for boarding at
a private house, beds and other proper furniture should be brought
immediately, and the following day we should journey on horseback
through all the indian towns of the vicinity. This was all very fine,
but we told him that meantime we were hungry--we had eaten nothing since
the night before and then had fared badly--and that we must unload our
animals, which we had left with the rest of our company, standing in
front of the palace. The unloading was done at once and we were given
the schoolhouse for our quarters, at the rear of the _patio_ of the
palace. At this moment, however, everything else was neglected for the
wedding. This we all attended, and it was, indeed, an occasion. The
bride in white, with veil and orange-blossoms, was accompanied by her
mother, god-mother, and other female friends. She was really a pretty
and wholesome indian girl, and the groom was a decent young _mestizo_,
with gray wool sombrero, and linen jacket, cloth trousers, etc. He
and his god-father were bustling about attending to all sorts of
preliminaries. In the solemn procession which took place to the church,
the company of ladies preceded; the _jefe_ and myself led the line of
male friends, and, when we filed into the church, the building was
fairly filled. The special friends, including our party, moved in
procession to the high altar, where the ceremony was performed. The
bridal company knelt with candles in their hands. Other candles, some of
enormous size, were burning in various parts of the church. The priest,
with much ceremony, gave the sacrament of the communion to the couple,
and then fastened two golden chains, crossing, about both their necks.
A scarf of satin was placed upon them so as to cover both, passing over
the head of the woman, and the shoulders of the man. From the church,
our procession, dwindled to the particular friends and guests of honor,
walked through the village to the justice-court, where the civil
ceremony was performed. The matter having been accomplished with full
respect to the requirements of the law, we thought again of dinner. The
_jefe_ told us that to-morrow we should go to our boarding-place, but
that to-day we were to dine together in state. Time passed, hour after
hour lagged by, until the _mozo_ and _arriero_ struck for money, with
which to buy themselves something to eat. Meantime, we waited. Finally,
at three o'clock in the afternoon, we were summoned, and the _jefe_,
myself, and our companions, started down the hot, dusty, main street.
On and on we walked, until, at last, the _jefe_ himself impatiently
demanded of our guide how far we had to go. At last, we heard the
strains of music, and, shortly, found ourselves in a yard crowded with
people, among whom two bands of music were present, one with stringed
instruments and the other with brass. It was the house of the bride, and
after a moment's waiting in the yard, we were ushered, by the _jefe's_
clerk, into the building. It had been cleared of all its contents and a
long table, set in the middle, ran lengthwise of the place. Benches were
placed beside it. A line of vases, filled with bouquets, occupied the
middle of the table and between these were bottles of wine, _catalán,
mescal, pulque, tepache_, beer, etc. The ladies were already seated; we
took the remaining seats. The company consisted of the bride and groom,
their parents, god-parents, families, and particular friends. And then,
we had a dinner which amply compensated for the thirty-six hours through
which we had been fasting--good bread, soup, stews, broiled meat, _mole,
mole prieto_, chicken, beans, sweetmeats, coffee, with the beverages
before mentioned. Dishes, when they came in, were politely passed across
the table to the ladies opposite; no one ate till all were served, and
when we were through, the place was cleared, and another room full of
friends sat down to the bountiful repast. And then a third, and then
a fourth, till everyone had feasted, even to the commonest, and the
musicians, to whom abundance was carried after those invited in had
eaten. Through all this lengthy feasting the bands of music alternated
with each other. When all had eaten, the women quickly cleared the
house, the tables were moved, and all the chairs of the neighborhood
were set stiffly around the walls, after which dancing began, continuing
through the night.
[Illustration]
After having eaten, we stepped outside to visit with the crowd. Among
them, several drunken men showed special friendliness. One of these
insisted upon showing us an idol, which, from his description, should
have been a rather beautiful piece. It turned out to be a very
crudely-made head, wrought in coarse, cellular lava. Considering the
material, the work was really fine; nor was it a fragment broken from
the body, as there had never been more than what we saw. From here, a
yet more drunken _dulcero_ insisted on our going to his _dulceria_ and
bake-shop, where he told us that he had a much finer piece. We found
he really had an enormous head, made of coarse, but rather bright, red
stone; it was another example of the same type of separate head, a type
which must be characteristic of the district.
Notwithstanding the fine promises, we found no beds or other furniture
when we returned to our room. This was not, perhaps, surprising, in view
of the excitement over the wedding, which might drive lesser matters out
of the mind of the great official. With difficulty, we secured some mats
from the chief of police, and made our beds with these upon the desks
and benches of the school room. But, though we remained in Coixtlahuaca
several days, no beds were forthcoming, though we referred to them often
enough; nor did the private boarding-house materialize. We, however,
found a little place in the village where we got plenty of good food
cheaply. Nor did the ride on horseback through the neighboring villages,
which had been so pleasantly suggested by the _jefe_, materialize.
However, each day of our stay we were assured that all arrangements had
been made for it to take place on the morrow.
We have already mentioned the _plaza_ as large in proportion to the size
of the town. On Sunday it was crowded, and while many things were bought
and sold, the trade in _sombreros_ surpassed all others. This is a
specialty of all the district; throughout the Chocho towns, they make an
excellent grade of palm-hats and everyone engages in the making. Both
men and women braid palm, and in every yard there is excavated in the
soft, tufaceous rock, a _cueva_, or cave, in which they work. Here
the palm is left between times, and here two persons generally work
together, each braiding at a hat, while a little cross, cut in the
rock-wall, looks down upon the work, for good luck. These caves have a
narrow opening upward and are scarcely large enough to admit the two
persons who sit at their work. The object of the cave is to keep the
work moist, as the plaiting cannot be well done, if the palm dries out.
The Monday we were there, the victory of February 5th was celebrated.
The day began with music by the brass-band, from the roof of the
_presidencia_. The band, a large one, consisted almost entirely of boys
about fifteen years of age. Only the director and one among the players
were men grown. At sunrise the national flag was raised, and at seven
the church-bells were rung. Through the afternoon, games of ball and
cock-fights furnished amusement. Among the crowd, at the house of the
bride, we had met a little, stout man of about twenty-five or thirty
years, who considered himself superior to the other people, and who
variously attempted to make himself familiar. At several times during
our measuring and bust-making, he had hung around, making smart remarks,
but we had never invited him to submit to measure, as he did not seem to
be a really full-blood indian. He had made a nuisance of himself, but,
finally, one day, when he was standing in the crowd, which was looking
on, he called my attention to a friend of his, remarking that here was
a good subject. On calling this young man to be measured, we met with
unexpected resistance. He was purely indian, short, well-dressed, and
well-mannered, but he refused to be measured. We had had some little
trouble with our subjects that afternoon, and therefore insisted that he
should undergo the operation. He refused. Of course, the officials were
on our side, and the police led him off to jail. When he saw that there
was no escape, he consented to be measured, and they brought him back,
under guard, until the operation was performed. So much feeling had been
raised by the matter, that his foolish friend, to whose jocularity he
owed the unpleasant experience, thought best himself to be measured.
Accordingly measures were taken, although it was after dark, and a
candle had to be used in reading. As our day's work was done, we
returned to our room, making ready to go to supper. The crowd had
departed. To our surprise, we found these foolish fellows at our door
awaiting us. "Sir," they said, "we would speak with you a moment." Going
aside with them, I asked their wishes. They then launched out, with
weeping and groans and much wringing of hands, into a dreary tale. They
were young teachers waiting for appointment; one of them had a little
family; it would be a dreadful thing for them to be taken away and
forced into the army. It was impossible to convince them that there was
no harm in the matter. After long discussion and elaborate explanations,
they cheered up somewhat, but insisted that I must go to the house of
one of them, the one who had given trouble, to take _pulque_. We
went, three abreast, each one of them taking one of my _brazitos
queridos_--"beloved little arms;" as we went, they alternately indulged
in admiring exclamations--"Ah, Severo, what a _maestro_! how fine a
gentleman! how amiable! Say Manuelito, was there ever such a one." At
the house, which was neat and clean, I met the mother and two little
ones, who would be left behind in case Severo were forced to go into the
army. Then the _pulque_ was brought in and sampled. As I was leaving to
go to supper, they said, no, I must go to my room; they would accompany
me. In vain I reminded them that my companions were waiting for me at
the eating-place; I must be seen back to my very door, then I might go
where I pleased; but with them I had gone forth, and until they saw me
home again, they would be responsible for my person.
Coixtlahuaca itself is largely a _mestizo_ town. But immediately in its
neighborhood, and on its outskirts, are indian villages. All Chochos
know Spanish, and but few talk their own language. There is little of
interest in their life and nothing characteristic in their dress, which
is that of _mestizos_ in general. But the physical type is well defined.
The stature is small; the face is short and broad; the nose is wide and
flat, with a fat, flattened tip; the hair is somewhat inclined to curl,
especially on top behind.
Despairing of the promised trip through the villages, we issued orders
for our animals to be ready early one morning. Only after vigorous
complaints and threats were they actually ready. The owner of the beast
which I, myself, mounted went with us on foot, and a _mozo_ was supplied
for carrying instruments. In spite of fair promises that we would
leave at three, it was 4:40 before we started, though we had risen at
half-past-two. Our _arriero_ was the best we ever had; far from
sparing his good horse and grumbling at our speed, he was continually
complaining at our slowness. "Why don't the boys want to go fast?" he
would say. "Don't you want to get there at a good hour? Why do you go
so slowly?" And then, striking the horse, he trotted along at wonderful
speed. We reached Huautla at half-past-eight, stopping an hour to feed
our horses and to eat beans and _tortillas_. We then pushed on down the
slope, and out over the long ridge, passing the hut of our Cordoban
Aztec woman. It was the hottest hour of the day when we descended the
broad road, over the hot rocks, and saw Cuicatlan in the distance.
Thanks to our _arriero_, we drew up at Doña Serafina's when it was but
3:40 in the afternoon, having been upon the road eleven hours.
[Illustration]