Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Page scan source:
http://www.archive.org/details/incidentstravel37stepgoog
2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
[Engraving 1: Frontispiece--Casa del Gobernador, Uxmal]
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL
IN
YUCATAN.
BY JOHN L. STEPHENS,
AUTHOR OF "INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN EGYPT, ARABIA PETRAEA, AND THE
HOLY LAND," "INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN CENTRAL AMERICA," ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY 120 ENGRAVINGS.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS
FOR HENRY BILL.
1848.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York
PREFACE.
In his "Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan,"
the author intimated his intention to make a more thorough exploration
of the ruins of the latter country. That intention has since been
carried into effect, and the following pages are the result. They
describe, as the author has reason to believe, the most extensive
journey ever made by a stranger in that peninsula, and contain the
account of visits to forty-four ruined cities, or places in which
remains or vestiges of ancient population were found. The existence of
most of these ruins was entirely unknown to the residents of the
capital;--but few had ever been visited by white inhabitants;--they
were desolate, and overgrown with trees. For a brief space the
stillness that reigned around them was broken, and they were again left
to solitude and silence. Time and the elements are hastening them to
utter destruction. In a few generations, great edifices, their facades
covered with sculptured ornaments, already cracked and yawning, must
fall, and become mere shapeless mounds. It has been the fortune of the
author to step between them and the entire destruction to which they
are destined; and it is his hope to snatch from oblivion these
perishing, but still gigantic memorials of a mysterious people. The
descriptions are accompanied by full illustrations from Daguerreotype
views and drawings taken on the spot by Mr. Catherwood, and the
engravings were executed under his personal superintendence.
CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
Embarcation.--Fellow-passengers.--A Gale at Sea.--Arrival at
Sisal.--Orinthological Specimens.--Merida.--Fete of San Cristoval.--The
Lottery.--A Scene of Confusion.--Principle of the Game.--Passion for
Gambling.--A deformed Indian.
CHAPTER II.
Housekeeping.--Description of a Bull-ring.--A
Bull-fight.--Spectators.--Brutal Torments inflicted on the
Bulls.--Serious Accidents.--A noble Beast.--An exciting
Scene.--Victims to Bullfighting.--Danger and Ferocity of
Bull-fights.--Effects on moral Character.--Grand Mass.--A grand
Procession.--The Alameda.--Calesas.--A Concert, and its
Arrangements.--Fete of Todos Santos.--A singular Custom.--An
Incident.
CHAPTER III.
An Old Friend.--Brief Account of Yucatan.--Early Voyages of
Discovery.--Columbus.--De Solis and Pinzon.--Expedition of
Cordova.--Voyages of Grijalva.--Expedition of Cortez.--Mission of
Montejo, who receives a Grant from Charles V.--Discoveries, Conquests,
and Sufferings of Montejo and his Companions.--Efforts to convert the
Natives.--Contreras.--Farther Particulars relating to the Conquest of
Yucatan.
CHAPTER IV.
Political State of Yucatan.--Alliance with Texas.--Presentation to the
Governor.--His Character and Personal Appearance.--A Cordial
Reception.--An Arrival of Strangers.--A Citizen of the World.--Another
old Acquaintance.--Population of Merida.--Climate.--General Aspect of
Merida.--An interesting Edifice.--Mode of naming Streets.--Sculptured
Figures.--Churches.--Franciscan Convent.--A Memorial of the
Past.--Ruined Cities of America.--Former Conclusions confirmed.
CHAPTER V.
Daguerreotype Apparatus.--Set up as Ladies' Daguerreotype Portrait
Takers.--Preparations.--A pretty young Lady to begin
with.--Preliminaries.--A Chapter of Contingencies.--Success of the
first Experiment.--Other successful Experiments.--A Change of
Fortune.--Give up this Business.--An Incident.--Take up the Practice of
Surgery.--Operation for Strabismus.--Details.--First Subject.--A
great Gathering of Squint Eyes.--A troublesome Patient.--A little
Hero.--Extraordinary Instance of Fortitude;--A Military Patient.--A
Female Patient--Practice of Surgery abandoned.--Instability of Fame.
CHAPTER VI.
Departure from Merida.--Map of Yucatan.--Timucui.--Tekoh.--Human Skulls
and Bones.--Church of Tekoh.--Convent.--A revolting Spectacle.--View
from the Top of the Church.--Cura of Tekoh.--Journey continued.--A
curious Basin.--Telchaquillo.--A subterraneous Well.--An extraordinary
Cave.--Hacienda of Joaquin.--Ruins of Mayapan.--A remarkable
Mound.--Curious sculptured Remains.--Another extraordinary Cave.--A
circular Edifice.--A double Row of Columns.--Ranges of
Mounds.--Arches.--Derivation of the Word Yucatan.--Ancient City of
Mayapan.
CHAPTER VII.
An Accident.--Journey continued.--Hacienda of Xcanchakan.--An Indian
Dance.--Whipping an Indian.--Hacienda of Mucuyche.--A Bath in a
Senote.--Hacienda of San Jose.--Arrival at Uxmal.--First Sight of the
Ruins.--Changes since last Visit.--House of the Dwarf.--House of the
Nuns.--Casa del Gobernador.--Residence at the Ruins.--Unpromising
Appearances.--How to make a Fire.--Instance of Perseverance.--Arrival
of Luggage on the Backs of Indians.--First Night at Uxmal.
CHAPTER VIII.
Perplexities.--Household Wants.--Indian Mode of boiling
Eggs.--Clearings.--A valuable Addition.--Description of the
Ruins.--Casa del Gobernador.--Hieroglyphics.--Ornaments over the
Doorways.--Ground Plan.--Doorways.--Apartments.--Great Thickness
of the back Wall.--A Breach made in the Wall.--Prints of a Red
Hand.--Sculptured Beam of Hieroglyphics.--Wooden Lintels.--Loss of
Antiquities by the Burning of Mr. Catherwood's Panorama.--Terraces.--A
curious Stone.--Circular Mound.--Discovery of a Sculptured
Monument.--Square Stone Structure.--Sculptured
Heads.--Staircase.--House of the Turtles.
CHAPTER IX.
Journey to Jalacho.--Execrable Road.--Sight of Ruins at Sennisacal.--A
motley Multitude.--Village of Becal.--The
Cura.--Breakfast.--Ruins.--Arrival at Jalacho.--A great
Fair.--Fete of Santiago.--Miracles.--Figure of St. James.--Bull-fight
and Bull-fighters.--Horse-market.--Scenes in the
Plaza.--Gambling.--Primitive Circulating Medium.--A Memorial of
Home.--A Ball.--Search for Ruins.--Hacienda of Sijoh.--Mounds
of Ruins.--Remarkable Stones.--A long Edifice.--Hacienda of
Tankuche.--More Ruins.--A plastered Wall covered with
Paintings.--Annoyance from Garrapatas.--Return to the
Village.--Ball.--Fireworks.--Condition of the Indians.
CHAPTER X.
Sunday.--Mass.--A grand Procession.--Intoxicated Indians.--Set out for
Maxcanu.--A Caricoche.--Scenery.--Arrival at Maxcanu.--Cave of
Maxcanu.--Threading a Labyrinth.--An Alarm.--An abrupt
Termination.--Important Discovery.--Labyrinth not subterraneous.--More
Mounds.--Journey continued.--Grand View.--Another Mound.--An
Accident.--Village of Opocheque.--View from the Sierra.--More
Ruins.--Return to Uxmal.--Change of Quarters.--An Addition to the
Household.--Beautiful Scene.
CHAPTER XI.
Superintending Indians.--The Storm El Norte.--Arrival of Don
Simon.--Subterraneous Chambers.---Discovery of broken Pottery and a
Terra Cotta Vase.--Great Number of these Chambers.--Their probable
Uses.--Harvest of the Maise Crop.--Practical Views.--System of
Agriculture in Yucatan.--Planting of Corn.--A primitive Threshing
Machine.--News from Home.--More Practice in Surgery.--A rude
Bedstead.--A Leg Patient.--An Arm Patient.--Increasing Sickness on the
Hacienda.--Death of an Indian Woman.--A Campo Santo.--Digging a
Grave.--An Indian Funeral.
CHAPTER XII.
Means by which the City was supplied with Water.--Aguadas.--A
delightful Bathing-place.--Manner of Living at the Ruins--How to roast
a Pig.--Nameless Mound.--Excavations made in it.--Great Exertions.--A
bitter Disappointment.--An Attack of Fever.--Visit from the Cura of
Ticul.--Departure for Ticul.--A painful Journey.--Arrival at the
Convent.--Arrival of Dr. Cabot, ill with Fever.--Gloomy Prospects.--A
simple Remedy for Fever.--Aspect of Ticul.--The Church.--Funeral
Urn.--Monument and Inscription.--Convent.--Character of the Cura
Carillo.--The Date of the Construction of the Convent
unknown.--Probably built with the Materials furnished by the Ruins of
former Cities.--Archives of the Convent.
CHAPTER XIII.
Another ruined City.--Relics.--Ruins of San Francisco.--Proved to be
those of the Aboriginal City of the name Ticul.--A beautiful
Vase.--Search for a Sepulchre.--Discovery of a Skeleton and Vase.--An
Indian Needle.--These Cities not built by Descendants of
Egyptians.--Their Antiquity not very great.--Examination of the
Skeleton by Doctor Morton, and his Opinion.--Mummies from Peru.--These
Cities built by the Ancestors of the present Race of Indians.--The
Seybo Tree.--The Campo Santo.--A quiet Village.
CHAPTER XIV.
Departure from Ticul.--The Sierra.--Nohcacab.--Ruins of Nohpat.--Return
to Uxmal.--The Campo Santo.--Work of Mr. Waldeck.--General Description
of the Ruins.--Two ruined Edifices.--Great Stone Rings.--House
of the Nuns.--Dimensions, &c.---Courtyard.--Facades.--A lofty
Edifice.--Complicated Ornament.--Painted Facades.--Sculptured
Doorways.--House of the Birds.--Remains of Painting.--An Arch.--House
of the Dwarf.--Building loaded with Ornaments.--Long and narrow
Structure.--Tasteful Arrangement of Ornaments.--Human
Sacrifices.--House of the Pigeons.--Range of Terraces called the Campo
Santo.---House of the Old Woman.--Circular Mound of Ruins.--Wall of the
City.--Close of Description.--Title Papers of Uxmal.--Of the Antiquity
of Uxmal.
CHAPTER XV.
Attacks from Fever and Ague.--Final Departure from Uxmal.--Newyear's
Day.--Fate of Chaipa Chi.--Painful Journey.--Chetulish.--Arrival at
Nohcacab.--Concourse of Indians.--A Casa
Real.--Plaza.--Improvements.--The Church.--A Noria, or Well.--Municipal
Elections.--The Democratic Principle.--Installation of
Alcaldes.--Illness of the Cura of Ticul.--Set out for
Ticul--Intoxicated Carriers.--Accident.--Arrival at Ticul.--A wandering
Physician.--Changed Appearance of the Cura.--Return to Nohcacab.--Take
up Quarters in the Convent.--Ancient Town of Nohcacab.--Ruined
Mounds.--Ruins of Xcoch.--A Mysterious Well.--Fine Grove.--Circular
Cavity.--Mouth of the Well.--Exploration of its Passages.--Uses of
the Well.--Return to the Village.--Fatal Accident.--A House of
Mourning.--Ceremony of El Velorio.
CHAPTER XVI.
Ruins of Nohpat.--A lofty Mound.--Grand View.--Sculptured Human
Figure.--Terraces.--Huge sculptured Figure.--Other Figures.--Skull
and Cross-bones.--Situation of Ruins.--Journey to Kabah.--Thatched
Huts.--Arrival at the Ruins.--Return to the Village.--Astonishment
of the Indians.--Valuable Servant--Festival of Corpus Alma.--A
plurality of Saints.--How to put a Saint under Patronage.--A
Procession.--Fireworks.--A Ball.---Excess of Female Population.--A
Dance.
CHAPTER XVII.
Ruins of Kabah.--General Description.--Plan of the Ruins.--Great
Teocalis.--Ruined Apartments.--Grand View.--Terrace and
Building.--Ranges of Buildings.--Hieroglyphics.--A rich
Facade.--Wooden Lintels.--Singular Structures.--Apartments,
&c.--Rankness of Tropical Vegetation.--Edifice called the
Cocina.--Majestic pile of Buildings.--Apartments, &c.--A solitary
Arch.--A Succession of ruined Buildings.--Apartments, &c.--Prints of
the Red Hand.--Sculptured Lintel.--Instruments used by the Aboriginals
for Carving Wood.--Ruined Structure.--Ornament in Stucco.--Great ruined
Building.--Curious Chamber, &c.--Sculptured Jambs.--Another Witness for
these ruined Cities.--Last Visit to Kabah.--Its recent Discovery.--A
great Charnel House.--Funeral Procession.--A Ball by Daylight.--The
Procession of the Candles.--Closing Scene.
ENGRAVINGS. VOL. I.
1. Frontispiece.
2. A ruined Mound.
3. Sculptured Figures.
4. Circular Edifice.
5. Hacienda of Xcanchakan.
6. Gateway at Mucuyche.
7. A Senote.
8. Plan of Uxmal.
9. Ornament over a Doorway.
10. Ornament called the Elephant's Trunk.
11. Elephant's Trunk in Profile.
12. Southern End of Casa del Gobernador.
13. Ground Plan of Casa del Gobernador.
14. Double-headed Lynx.
15. House of the Turtles.
16. Aguada at Uxmal.
17. Ticul Vase.
18. Seybo Tree.
19. Plan of the Monjas.
20. Part of the Facade of the Monjas.
21. Entwined Serpents over a Doorway.
22. View from the Nuns.
23. East Side of the Courtyard of the Monjas.
24. Southeast Corner of the Monjas.
25. Interior of an Apartment.
26. House of the Birds.
27. West Front of the House of the Dwarf.
28. East Front of the House of the Dwarf.
29. Front of the Casa de Palamos.
30. A Noria, or Well.
31. Mound at Xcoch.
32. Mound at Nohpat.
33. Colossal Stone Figure.
34. Sculptured Stone Figure.
35. Skull and Crossbones.
36. Street in the Village of Nohcacab.
37. Plan of Kabah.
38. Building (Casa No. 1).
39. Portion of a richly-sculptured Facade.
40. Interior of an Apartment.
41. Rankness of Tropical Vegetation.
42. Building (Casa No. 2).
43. Building (Casa No. 3).
44. Triumphal Arch.
45. Carved Wooden Beam.
46. Stucco Ornament.
47. Sculptured Stone Jamb.
48. Sculptured Stone Jamb.
49. Charnel House and Convent.
50. Skull.
51. Triangular Arch.
52. Gothic Arch.
53. Cyclopean Arch.
54. Arch used by the ancient American Builders.
MAP OF YUCATAN
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL
IN
YUCATAN.
CHAPTER I.
Embarcation.--Fellow-passengers.--A Gale at Sea.--Arrival at
Sisal.--Ornithological Specimens.--Merida.--Fete of San Cristoval.--The
Lottery.--A Scene of Confusion.--Principle of the Game.--Passion for
Gambling.--A deformed Indian.
The reader of my "Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and
Yucatan," may remember that the researches of Mr. Catherwood and myself
in the last-mentioned country were abruptly terminated by the illness
of the former. During our short sojourn in Yucatan, we received vague,
but, at the same time, reliable intelligence of the existence of
numerous and extensive cities, desolate and in ruins which induced us
to believe that the country presented a greater field for antiquarian
research and discoveries than any we had yet visited. Under these
circumstances, it was a severe hardship that we were compelled to leave
it, and our only consolation in doing so was the hope of being able to
return, prepared to make a thorough exploration of this unknown and
mysterious region. In about a year we found ourselves in a condition to
do so; and on Monday, the ninth of October, we put to sea on board the
bark Tennessee, Scholefield master, for Sisal, the port from which we
had sailed on our return to the United States.
The Tennessee was a down-Easter of two hundred and sixty tons burden,
turned out apparently from one of those great factories where ships are
built by the mile and chopped off to order, but stout, strong, well
manned and equipped.
Her cargo was assorted for the Yucatan market, and consisted of a heavy
stratum of iron at the bottom; midway were miscellanies, among which
were cotton, muskets, and two hundred barrels of turpentine; and on
top, within reach of the hatches, were six hundred kegs of gunpowder.
We had a valuable addition to our party in Dr. Cabot, of Boston, who
accompanied us as an amateur, particularly as an ornithologist. Besides
him, our only fellow-passenger was Mr. Camerden, who went out as
supercargo.
The first morning out we woke with an extraordinary odour of
turpentine, giving us apprehensions that a barrel had sprung a leak,
which, by means of the cotton, might use up our gunpowder before it
came to the hands of its consignee. This odour, however, was traced to
a marking-pot, which quieted our apprehensions.
On the evening of the fourth day we had a severe thunder-storm. This
was an old acquaintance of ours in the tropics, but one which at that
time we were not disposed to welcome very cordially. Peals of thunder
broke and crashed close over our heads, lightning flashed across the
dark vault of the heavens, lighting up the surface of the water, and
making fearfully visible our little vessel, tossing and pitching, a
mere speck in immensity; and at times an angry ray darted toward the
horizon, as if expressly to ignite our gunpowder. We discussed, though
rather disjointedly, the doctrine of conductors and non-conductors, and
advised the captain to put a few links of a chain cable round the
mainmast, and carry the end of it over the side. We had some
consolation in thinking that six hundred kegs were no worse than sixty,
and that six would do our business; but, in fact, at the moment, we
were very much of opinion that lightning and gunpowder were the only
dangers of the sea. The night, however, wore through, and morning
brought with it the usual, and, unhappily, almost the only change in
those who go down to the sea in ships--forgetfulness of past danger.
On the evening of the seventeenth we passed, with a gentle breeze, the
narrow passage known as the Hole in the Wall, and before morning we
were lying broadside to the wind, and almost flying before it. The gale
was terrific; nothing could stand upright to windward, and the sea was
portentous. The captain sat under the quarter rail, watching the
compass, and turning anxiously to the misty quarter of the heavens from
which the winds seemed let loose. At breakfast large drops of sweat
stood on his forehead; and though at first unwilling to admit it even
to himself, we discovered that we were really in danger. We were
driving, as fast as the wind could send us, upon the range of sunken
rocks known as Abaco reef. Directly under our lee was the worst part of
the whole reef, marked on the chart "Dangerous rocky shore." Unless the
gale abated or the wind hauled, in eight or ten hours we must strike. I
must confess I saw but little hope of a change, and this rocky reef was
but a few feet under water, and twenty miles distant from terra firma.
If the vessel struck, she must go to pieces; nothing made by man's
hands could stand against the fury of the sea, and every moment we were
nearer destruction. We sat with the chart before us, looking at it as a
sentenced convict might look at an advertisement of the time fixed for
his execution. The sunken rocks seemed to stand out horribly on the
paper; and though every glance at the sea told us that with daylight no
human strength could prevail against it, it added to our uncomfortable
feelings to know that it would be nearly night when the crisis arrived.
We had but one consolation--there were no women or children on board.
All were able-bodied men, capable of doing all that men could do in a
struggle for life. But, fortunately for the reader of these pages, to
say nothing of the relief to ourselves, at one o'clock the wind veered;
we got on a little canvass; the good ship struggled for her life; by
degrees she turned her back upon danger, and at night we were again on
our way rejoicing.
On the twenty-seventh we furled sails off the port of Sisal. Five
vessels were at anchor, an extraordinary circumstance for Sisal, and
fortunate for us, because otherwise, as our captain had never been
there before, though carefully looking for it, we might not have been
able to find it. Our anchorage ground was on the open coast, two or
three miles from land, at which distance it was necessary to keep, lest
we should be driven ashore in case of a norther. Captain Scholefield,
in fact, before he had discharged his cargo, was obliged to slip his
cables and put to sea, and did not get back to his anchorage ground in
nine days.
It was only four o'clock in the afternoon, but, by the regulations of
the port, no passenger could land until the vessel had been visited by
the health and custom-house officers. We looked out till dark, and long
after the moon rose, but no notice whatever was taken of us, and, with
no very amiable feelings toward the lazy officials, we turned in again
on board.
In the morning, when we went on deck, we saw anchored under our stern
the brig Lucinda, in which we had thought of taking passage; she had
sailed from New-York four days after we did, and arrived during the
night.
Very soon we saw coming off toward us the separate canoes of the health
and custom-house officers. We were boarded by a very little man with a
very big mustache, who was seasick before he mounted the deck, and in a
few minutes betook himself to a berth. The preliminaries, however, were
soon settled, and we went ashore. All disposition we might have had to
complain the night before ceased on landing. Our former visit was not
forgotten. The account of it had been translated and published, and, as
soon as the object of our return was known, every facility was given
us, and all our trunks, boxes, and multifarious luggage were passed
without examination by the custom-house officers.
The little town of Sisal had not increased either in houses or
inhabitants, and did not present any additional inducements to remain
in it. The same afternoon we sent off our luggage in a carreta for
Merida, and the next morning started in calezas ourselves.
From the suburbs of the town the plain was inundated, and for more than
a mile our horses were above their knees in water. When we passed
before, this ground was dry, parched, and cracking open. It was now the
last of the rainy season, and the great body of water, without any
stream by which to pass off, was drying up under a scorching sun, to
leave the earth infected with malaria.
We had arrived in the fulness of tropical vegetation; the stunted trees
along the road were in their deepest green, and Dr. Cabot opened to us
a new source of interest and beauty. In order to begin business at
once, he rode in the first caleza alone, and before he had gone far, we
saw the barrel of his gun protrude on one side, and a bird fall. He had
seen at Sisal, egretes, pelicans, and ducks which were rare in
collections at home, and an oscillated wild turkey, which alone he
thought worth the voyage to that place; and now, our attention being
particularly directed to the subject, in some places the shrubs and
bushes seemed brilliant with the plumage and vocal with the notes of
birds. On the road he saw four different species which are entirely
unknown in the United States, and six others which are found only in
Louisiana and Florida, of most of which he procured specimens.
We stopped at Huncuma during the heat of the day; at dark reached
Merida, and once more rode up to the house of Dona Micaela. Coming
directly from home, we were not so much excited as when we reached it
after a toilsome and comfortless journey in Central America; but even
now it would ill become me to depreciate it, for the donna had read the
account of my former visit to Merida, and she said, with an emphasis
that covered all the rest, that the dates of arrival and departure as
therein mentioned corresponded exactly with the entries in her book.
We had arrived at Merida at an opportune moment. As on the occasion of
our first visit, it was again a season of fiesta. The fete of San
Cristoval, an observance of nine days, was then drawing to its close,
and that evening a grand _function_ was to be performed in the church
dedicated to that saint. We had no time to lose, and, after a hasty
supper, under the guidance of an Indian lad belonging to the house, we
set out for the church. Very soon we were in the main street leading to
it, along which, as it seemed, the whole population of Merida was
moving to the fete. In every house a lantern hung from the balconied
windows, or a long candle stood under a glass shade, to light them on
their way. At the head of the street was a large plaza, on one side of
which stood the church, with its great front brilliantly illuminated,
and on the platform and steps, and all the open square before it, was a
great moving mass of men, women, and children, mostly Indians, dressed
in white.
We worked our way up to the door, and found the church within a blaze
of light. Two rows of high candlesticks, with wax candles eight or ten
feet high, extended the whole length from the door to the altar. On
each side hung innumerable lamps, dotting the whole space from the
floor to the ceiling; and back at the extreme end, standing on an
elevated platform, was an altar thirty feet high, rich with silver
ornaments and vases of flowers, and hung with innumerable lamps
brilliantly burning. Priests in glittering vestments were officiating
before it, music was swelling through the corridor and arches, and the
floor of the immense church was covered with women on their knees,
dressed in white, with white shawls over their heads. Through the
entire body of the church not a man was to be seen. Near us was a bevy
of young girls, beautifully dressed with dark eyes, and their hair
adorned with flowers, sustaining, though I was now a year older and
colder, my previous impressions of the beauty of the ladies of Merida.
The chant died sway, and as the women rose from their knees, their
appearance was like the lifting of a white cloud, or spirits of air
rising to a purer world; but, as they turned toward the door, the
horizon became dusky with Indian faces, and half way up a spot rose
above the rest, black as a thunder-cloud. The whole front ranks were
Indians, except a towering African, whose face, in the cloud of white
around, shone like the last touch of Day and Martin's best.
We waited till the last passed out, and, leaving the empty church
blazing with light, with rockets fireworks, drums, and violins all
working away together on the steps, we followed the crowd.
Turning along the left side of the plaza, we entered an illuminated
street, at the foot of which, and across it, hung a gigantic cross,
also brilliantly illuminated, and apparently stopping the way. Coming
as we did directly from the church, it seemed to have some immediate
connexion with the ceremonies we had just beheld; but the crowd stopped
short of the cross, opposite a large house, also brilliantly
illuminated. The door of this house, like that of the church, was open
to all who chose to enter, or rather, at that moment, to all who could
force their way through. Waiting the motion of the mass before us, and
pressed by those behind, slowly, and with great labour, we worked our
way into the sala. This was a large room extending along the whole
front of the house, hot to suffocation, and crowded, or rather jammed,
with men and women, or gentlemen and ladies, or by whatever other names
they may be pleased to be called, clamorous and noisy as Bedlam let
loose. For some time it was impossible for us to form any idea of what
was going on. By degrees we were carried lengthwise through the sala,
at every step getting elbowed, stamped upon, and occasionally the rim
of a straw hat across the nose, or the puff of a paper cigar in the
eyes. Very soon our faces were trickling with tears, which there was no
friendly hand to wipe away, our own being pinned down to our sides.
On each side of the sala was a rude table, occupying its whole length,
made of two rough boards, and supporting candles stuck in little tin
receivers, about two feet apart. Along the tables were benches of the
same rough materials, with men and women, whites, Mestizoes, and
Indians, all sitting together, as close as the solidity and resistance
of human flesh would permit, and seemingly closer than was sufferable.
Every person at the table had before him or her a paper about a foot
square, covered with figures in rows, and a small pile of grains of
corn, and by its side a thumping stick some eighteen inches long, and
one in diameter; while, amid all the noise, hubbub, and confusion, the
eyes of all at the tables were bent constantly upon the papers before
them. In that hot place, they seemed like a host of necromancers and
witches, some of the latter young and extremely pretty, practising the
black art.
By degrees we were passed out into the corridor, and here we were
brought to a dead stand. Within arm's length was an imp of a boy,
apparently the ringleader in this nocturnal orgy, who stood on a
platform, rattling a bag of balls, and whose unintermitted screeching,
singsong cries had throughout risen shrill and distinct above every
other sound. At that moment the noise and uproar were carried to the
highest The whole house seemed rising against the boy, and he,
single-handed, or rather single-tongued, was doing battle with the
whole, sending forth a clear stream of vocal power, which for a while
bore its way triumphantly through the whole troubled waters, till,
finding himself overpowered by the immense majority, with a tone that
set the whole mass in a roar, and showed his democratic principles, he
cried out, "Vox populi est vox Dei!" and submitted.
Along the corridor, and in the whole area of the patio, or courtyard,
were tables, and benches, and papers, and grains of corn, and ponderous
sticks, the same as in the sala, and men and women sitting as close
together. The passages were choked up, and over the heads of those
sitting at the tables, all within reach were bending their eyes
earnestly upon the mysterious papers. They were grayheads, boys and
girls, and little children; fathers and mothers; husbands and wives;
masters and servants; men high in office, muleteers, and bull-fighters;
senoras and senoritas, with jewels around their necks and roses in
their hair, and Indian women, worth only the slight covering they had
on; beauty and deformity; the best and the vilest in Merida; perhaps,
in all, two thousand persons; and this great multitude, many of whom we
had seen but a few minutes before on their knees in the church, and
among them the fair bevy of girls who had stood by us on the steps,
were now assembled in a public gambling-house! a beautiful spectacle
for a stranger the first night of his arrival in the capital!
But the devil is not so black as he is painted. I do not mean to offer
any apology for gambling, in Yucatan, as in all the rest of Mexico, the
bane and scourge of all ranks of society; but Merida is, in a small
way, a city of my love, and I would fain raise this great mass of
people from the gulf into which I have just plunged them: at least, I
would lift their heads a little above water.
The game which they were engaged in playing is called La Loteria, or
the Lottery. It is a favourite amusement throughout all the Mexican
provinces, and extends to every village in Yucatan. It is authorized by
the government, and, as was formerly the case to a pernicious extent
with the lotteries in our own country, is used as an instrument to
raise money, either for the use of the government itself, or for other
purposes which are considered deserving. The principle of the game, or
the scheme, consists of different combinations of numbers, from one to
ninety, which are written on papers, nine rows on each side, with five
figures in each row. As ninety figures admit of combinations to an
almost indefinite extent, any number of papers can be issued, each
containing a different series of combinations. These papers are stamped
by the government, and sold at a real, or twelve and a half cents each.
Every player purchases one of these papers, and fastens it to the table
before him with a wafer. A purse is then made up, each player putting
in a certain sum, which is collected by a boy in a hat. The boy with
the bag of balls then announces, or rather sings out, the amount of the
purse, and rattling his bag of balls, draws out one, and sings the
number drawn. Every player marks on his paper with a grain of corn the
number called off, and the one who is first able to mark five numbers
in a row wins the purse. This he announces by rapping on the table with
the stick, and standing up in his place. The boy sings over again the
numbers drawn, and if, on comparison, all is found right, delivers the
purse. The game is then ended, and another begins. Sometimes mistakes
occur, and it was a mistake that led to the extraordinary clamour and
confusion we had found on reaching the neighbourhood of the boy.
The amount played for will give some idea of the character of the game.
Before commencing, the boy called out that the stake should in no case
exceed two reals. This, however, was considered too high, and it was
fixed by general consent at a medio, or six and a quarter cents. The
largest amount proclaimed by the boy was twenty-seven dollars and three
reals, which, divided among four hundred and thirty-eight players, did
not make very heavy gambling. In fact, an old gentleman near whom I was
standing told me it was a small affair, and not worth learning; but he
added that there was a place in the neighbourhood where they played
monte for doubloons. The whole amount circulated during the evening
fell far short of what is often exchanged at a small party in a private
drawing-room at home, and among those who would not relish the
imputation of being accounted gamblers. In fact, it is perhaps but just
to say that this great concourse of people was not brought together by
the spirit of gambling. The people of Merida are fond of amusements,
and in the absence of theatres and other public entertainments, the
loteria is a great gathering-place, where persons of all ages and
classes go to meet acquaintances. Rich and poor, great and small, meet
under the same roof on a footing of perfect equality; good feeling is
cultivated among all without any forgetting their place. Whole families
go thither together; young people procure seats near each other, and
play at more desperate games than the loteria, where hearts, or at
least hands, are at stake, and perhaps that night some bold player, in
losing his medios, drew a richer prize than the large purse of
twenty-seven dollars and three reals. In fact, the loteria is
considered merely an accessory to the pleasures of social intercourse;
and, instead of gaming, it might be called a grand _conversacione_, but
not very select; at least such was our conclusion; and there was
something to make us rather uncharitable, for the place was hot enough
to justify an application to it of the name bestowed in common parlance
on the gambling-houses of London and Paris.
At about eleven o'clock we left. On our way down the street we passed
the open door of a house in which were tables piled with gold and
silver, and men around playing what, in the opinion of my old adviser
of the loteria, was a game worth learning. We returned to the house,
and found, what in our haste to be at the fiesta we had paid no
attention to, that Dona Micaela could give us but one room, and that a
small one, and near the door. As we expected to remain some days in
Merida, we determined the next morning to take a house and go to
housekeeping. While arranging ourselves for the night, we heard a loud,
unnatural noise at the door, and, going out, found rolling over the
pavement the Cerberus of the mansion, an old Indian miserably deformed,
with his legs drawn up, his back down, his neck and head thrust
forward, and his eyes starting from their sockets; he was entertaining
himself with an outrageous soliloquy in the Maya tongue, and at our
appearance he pitched his voice higher than before. Signs and threats
had no effect. Secure in his deformity, he seemed to feel a malicious
pleasure that he had it in his power to annoy us. We gave up, and while
he continued rolling out tremendous Maya, we fell asleep. So passed our
first night in Merida.